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ACLU Wants Investigation of Hollywood's Bias Against Women Directors
Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...
Written by Jeffrey Johnson
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According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
A large body of statistical evidence reveals dramatic disparities in the hiring of women directors in film and television; women are effectively excluded from directing big-budget studio films and seriously under-represented in television directing.
The ACLU claims that women are systematically excluded from directing as a result of:
studios', networks', and producers' intentional and discriminatory failure to recruit, consider, and hire qualified women directors;
use of discriminatory recruiting and screening practices that have the effect of shutting women out, such as word-of-mouth recruiting and use of short lists on which women are under-represented;
reliance on, and perpetuation of, sex stereotyping in hiring and evaluation of women;
ineffective programs within the industry to increase hiring of women and people of color that do not lead to women getting directing jobs;
lack of enforcement of internal industry agreements to increase the hiring of women and people of color.
The ACLU reported that, allegedly as a result of this discrimination,
Only 1.9% of directors of the top-grossing 100 films of 2013 and of 2014 were women.
Of the 1,300 top-grossing films from 2002-2014, only 4.1% of all directors were women.
In 2014, women were only 7% of directors on the top 250 grossing films.
In an analysis of more than 220 television shows, representing about 3500 total episodes, women were only 14% of directors in 2013-2014.
A whopping 70 television shows (31%) had no women directing even a single episode in the 2013-2014 season.
The ACLU says this "glaring absence" of women directors is "highly indicative of systemic employment discrimination." The ACLU is thus asking the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and other agencies to launch an investigation of Hollywood's employment practices, focusing on major Hollywood studios, television networks, and talent agencies.
Federal law makes it unlawful for an employer to
fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin…
(Emphasis added.)
The EEOC held hearings about employment discrimination against minorities in Hollywood in the 1960s and asked for the US Justice Department to intervene. The Justice Department found that discrimination existed and reached a settlement with the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers and several entertainment industry unions.
The ACLU said that past enforcement measures to prevent employment discrimination by Hollywood eventually failed.
Melissa Goodman, director of the L.G.B.T., Gender and Reproductive Justice Project at the A.C.L.U. of Southern California, said in the New York Times:
Women directors aren't working on an even playing field and aren't getting a fair opportunity to succeed. Gender discrimination is illegal. And, really, Hollywood doesn't get this free pass when it comes to civil rights and gender discrimination.
Oscar Snub?
Some saw race and/or gender bias in the snubbing by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Selma director Ava DuVernay. The film was nominated for best picture but not best director.
In the 87 year history of the Oscars, only one woman has won the best director award – Kathryn Bigelow, for The Hurt Locker, in 2010.
A woman — Alice Guy-Blaché – directed the very first narrative film, in 1896.
Have you been a victim of employment discrimination?
If you feel that you've been a victim of employment discrimination, you may wish to contact an employment law or civil rights attorney in your area.


Back in 2009 while I was working on my first novel, I had some great zombie influences. I always try to take in multiple media for entertainment. George A Romero's "Of The Dead" movie series have always been a guilty pleasure. The "Resident Evil" video game series and "Zombie Zin" wine still make it into my house to this day. And Joe McKinney's "Dead City" was the first zombie novel I read that really made me like the genre.
Runners up were "Marvel Zombies" and Michael Jackson's "Thriller".
What are some of your favorite Zombie stories or influenced things? Make sure to tag #scrypthalloween.
Roberta of "Homemade Delish" (also my wife) joins me on the latest episode of Think, Sip, Write as we discuss wine after visiting our favorite vineyard.
Here's a little different post that I wanted to share for all of the wine lovers out there. When I write and am in the mood, I've got a cup of coffee by my side. When I'm enjoying my final work or relaxing, I prefer a glass of wine instead.
I'm quite picky with my wines, and I tend to shop with a certain mind set. Then I started to see wines that had similar themes to my books. I decided to pick up the bottles and try them out. So far, I haven't found a bad one.
From the left is Zombie Zin, Vampire Merlot, Ghost Pines Cabernet Sauvignon, Once Upon A Vine Big Bad Red Bled, Casillero del Diablo Merlot, Montes Cabernet Sauv, and Root 1 Cab Sav.
Since I've represented zombies, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, Demons, angels, and Eden, I'm still looking for a few others. Does anyone know of any themed wines that might match with Technology, Pandora's Box or anything else that would fit? Feel free to comment and by all means, if you try the wines listed, post a review.
Raising a glass to you all on my birthday. Cheers!
For Day #2 in my 31 Days of Halloween series, I figured I'd focus on my second novel. This time I'll share some historical events that I tied into BLOOD, THE SECOND HELPING. How do vampires fit into human history? What events were they directly involved with? Is our history as true as we are taught? Here's a list of hints toward what happens.
1) King Arthur was the first human to figure out the weakness of a vampire he encountered, so the legendary sword, Excalibur was forged from silver to be placed in the "stone," which is not quite what legend says.
2) The Sphinx in Egypt has been a mystery for ages, but there is much more to the mystery and riddle than we know. Two vampires that ruled the land long ago had the monument built to hide something that could prove fatal to their kind.
3) Vlad "The Impaler" Tepes may not be the Dracula that Bram Stoker wrote about, but he is certainly tied closely to the man who truly is the dark vampire lord.
4) Chicago in the early 1900s was filled with heavy mob activity. Imagine that scene when a vigilante vampire begins abducting them. Tempers will rise and betrayal will ensue.
5) Wine has changed throughout history, but no one knows that wine is good for the blood more than a vampire. The longest lived vineyard in the world rises and falls.
6) The Fountain of Youth holds the key to the mysteries of why the Amazon rainforest is so vast and full of life, but the Fountain itself is a mystery. Could Abel (the world's first victim of murder) be the answer?
7) Elizabeth Bathory's name may make some people think of the game where you stare into the mirror and call "Bloody Mary", but what are the true origins of that urban legend and why?
8) There've been numerous stories in the past thirty years about teens who actually believed they were vampires. In reality they aren't but following the trail of one of these teens might make you see it in a different manner.
9) Various faiths tell the story of when Cain killed Abel, but what was the mark that was truly placed on Cain by God?
10) What was going on behind the lines during the most violent battle of the Russo Japanese War?
11) The CIA has been involved in many conspiracies, but there is one that has been kept a secret for over 40 years… They know about the existence of vampires and may even have employed the like in their ranks.
12) The story of Samson and Delilah is filled with betrayal, lust, and (you guessed it) a vampire.
BLOOD, THE SECOND HELPING and its spinoff graphic novel comic, LEGENDS OF VAMPIRE, are available through links on the right side of this page. Stay tuned for more 31 days of halloween, tomorrow.
My fourth novel, "Souls 4 Supper," and its comic book spinoff, "Ghostly Hauntings" center around the topic of death and the afterlife. The stakes are upped for all of the protagonists as the deal with ghostly entities. What kind of ghosts are we talking? All kinds. As with my other novels, i attempted to incorporate all variations of lore and bring about something new, where it can all coexist.
1) Seeing the dead: Some people with near death experiences survive only to be able to communicate with the lost souls of the dead. They are forever tormented unless they find a way to release each lost soul into the afterlife.
2) Ghost Towns: More than just myths and urban legends, if an entire city's residents were to die from some tragic event, and their souls are unable to find their way to the afterlife, then their ghostly remnants are left behind to wander. Unfortunately over millennium, they begin to lose their minds, so while some ghosts have purpose, most wander aimlessly, unaware of their former existence or the need to find final rest.
3) Djinns (Genies): These are people who have done something so wrong, that their spirits are forced inside a magical object. The longer their spirits remain, the more powerful they become. However, their powers come at a cost, as it is unpredictable to how their final usage will appear.
4) Children: Up until the age of 5, most human children are able to see ghostly apparitions. They often giggle, and interact with what us adults perceive as them having imaginary friends. In reality, the children aren't imagining anything.
5) Hoaxes: Many ghostly reports are false. Some people thrive on scaring others by creating spectres, photographs, and tall tales to create the urban haunting legends.
6) Ghosts trying to communicate: Some spirits are trapped here with a purpose. They will not rest until their murderer is discovered. Often these ghosts move objects in our world to try to leave clues for us to find. These spirits often become angered, and frustrated at our lack of perception.
7) Catching Ghosts: Ghosts can be captured by linking the four planes of existence. There is Heaven, Hell, Earth, and the spirit realm. By disrupting these planes with extreme emotion, it is possible to summon a spirit here or make it visible. Then it can be contained through certain uses of EMF (Electromagnetic Frequencies).
8) Dreaming: When we dream, our souls have the ability to leave our bodies. In this state, our spirits travel to different places, times, possible futures, and alternate realities. The reason that we cannot often recall these dreams is because the human brain can't fully process this type of travel. Our souls are fully aware of what happens even though we may not.
9) Reincarnation: If you were to die, would you come back as someone else? Depending on whether you repent for your misdeeds or are honored for your heroism, tells how those can return. Not everyone is reincarnated. Only a few are given this chance.
10) Famous Encounters: Traveling spirits take a look closely at events throughout history. Veronica Beranice wiping Jesus' face, Joan of Arc, JFK's assassination, The Tower of Babel, The Rosetta Stone, Hua Mulan, Bonnie and Clyde, and Atlantis are some of these seen closer in Souls 4 Supper.
11) Pandora's Box: This fabled box is in fact shaped like a pyramid. Its contents, if opened will spew forth chaotic realms. It acts as a gateway for souls to enter to the afterlife, or something more powerful to exit into our world. Chaos comes in many spiritual forms. It all depends on who opens it.
12) Book of Knowledge: This haunted book will be different for every reader. Its spiritual essence, born of the tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden, will gaze into one's soul and biography their life.
13) Possession: Some spirits are friendly, while others are quite the opposite. When two souls inhabit the same body, an internal struggle begins. Only the most powerful and willing soul will become the dominant entity.
14) Ectoplasm: Ghosts powerful enough to exist in this world will leave behind a gooey residue. This residue will evaporate however in direct sunlight or bright light, which makes analyzing it a difficult task.
15) Wraiths: Wraiths are vampires that die and are unable to pass on to the afterlife. These immortal beings are strengthened and able to return to the real world if they consume enough powerful souls to empower them.
Rick's favorite video game involving ghosts is Silent Hill. His favorite ghost movie is the Sixth Sense. His favorite ghostly character is DC comics' Deadman. One of his favorite ghostly books is Philadelphia Ghost Stories by Charles J Adams III.
Dan's favorite video game involving ghosts is Soul Reaver. His favorite movie about ghosts is Ghostbusters. Lloyd the bartender from The Shining is Dan's best ghost of the year. Shakespeare's Macbeth is Dan's favorite ghostly book.
What are your favorites? Are you a ghost story fan? Grab yourself a copy of "Souls 4 Supper" the novel. It is available at www.lulu.com in softback book and on www.amazon.com for the Kindle. Also, the spinoff comic book "Souls 4 Supper: Ghostly Hauntings" is available for purchase at www.indyplanet.com. Help support our soul sucking.


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When muralist Anna Starling (née Smith) graduated in Fine Art almost 18 years ago she identified a gap in the market for professionally painted murals to commission.
So, combining her love of painting and business acumen Anna founded Muraldesign and has never looked back.
The thriving and ever-growing company retains its personal touch by painting beautiful and bespoke murals and canvases to commission – and Anna ensures the client's vision is always made reality.
Although much of Muraldesign's work is based in and around London, many of the murals have taken Anna as far afield as Milan, Zurich and to the very north of Scotland.
Anna's journey has been full of adventure and excitement, and highlights include bringing a painting assistant (who happens to be a good friend and is now known as 'glamorous assistant'!) on board in 2004, getting married in 2010 and having a daughter in 2013 and a second daughter at the end of 2016. There's also been the odd celebrity client along the way too.
In addition to private homes, Anna's creative touch has transformed an array of public and commercial settings including hotels, hospitals and hair salons along with wine bars, stately homes and cruise ships (client list).
From the initial consultation to approval of sketches and finally the completion of the commission, Muraldesign provides a personal and professional service.
I feel very blessed to have such an enjoyable career and one in which no two days are the same. I meet wonderful people and many of my clients have become friends over the years.
Painting murals is such a fun, rewarding and satisfying job and when I started Muraldesign 15 years ago, I never imagined it would be where it is today.
There are always challenges to overcome such as the weather, tight timescales and working on scaffolding but I love the fact that I never know what's around the corner and I'm extremely excited for what the future holds.
Muraldesign is a member of an Association of Professional Muralists.
Fine Art with Art History Degree, (University of Wales Aberystwyth) 1997 – 2000
Art Foundation (University of Portsmouth) 1996 – 1997
Havant College, Hampshire, 3 A-Levels, Art, English and Geography 1994 – 1996
Browse work by tag
animals Bagpipes Beaches Birds bookcase Buildings and landscapes Buses Cars & Bikes Castles Cats Children Churches circus City Clothes clouds Dinosaurs Dogs doors Fairies Fantasy Fish Flowers Forest Gardens Horses jungle Lilies Nautical Orchids Pirates Poppies Roses Safari Sea Sky Space Sports Sunsets Teddy Bears Trains & Planes trees Tulips Wild West Windows

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Ryan Gosling has grown accustomed to crowds of rowdy girls screaming his name, but his biggest fans might be his La La Land co-stars Emma Stone and John Legend. ET caught up with the film's cast in Los Angeles on Monday, where the stars couldn't say enough good things about Gosling.
Stone famously worked with Gosling in 2011's Crazy, Stupid, Love, in which the duo recreated the famous Dirty Dancing lift. They return to the dance floor in La La Land, so ET's Carly Steel asked Stone to describe Gosling's dance moves in three words.
"Really super great," Stone answered.
In the upcoming musical, directed by Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), Stone plays an aspiring actress named Mia involved in a love affair with a dedicated jazz musician named Sebastian (Gosling). Set in modern day Los Angeles, the couple struggles to stay together as success mounts and the dreams they've worked so hard to cultivate threaten to come between them.
Stone and Gosling had some coaching in the dance department from Dancing With the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev and choreographer Mandy Moore, but his two-step wasn't the only skill Gosling had to master for the project.
The actor practiced piano four hours a day for three months during pre-production to play well enough to shoot without the help of doubles, so when you see him tickling the keys on screen, that's all Gosling!
"Piano is always something I wish I had the time to learn," Gosling admitted in a featurette. "What other job is a part of your job to sit in front of a piano for three months and play? It was really one of the most fulfilling pre-production periods that I've ever had."
"I'm, like, skeptical," joked Legend, who has been playing piano since he was 4. "I'm thinking he was secretly learning since he was 4, too."
With seven GRAMMYs, a Golden Globe and an Oscar to his name, you might think that Legend had a hand in mentoring Gosling through his musical performance, but Legend said he was more focused on his own performance.
"He had a piano coach with him, so he didn't need tips from me," Legend said. "And then I was getting guitar coaching from somebody else. [Gosling] was more just telling me 'good job' on the acting stuff, so I would feel comfortable and know that I was doing OK with the acting."
Besides work, Legend and Gosling had plenty to bond over. Earlier this year, they both had daughters just days apart from each other. Legend and wife Chrissy Teigen welcomed their first child, Luna, on April 14, while Gosling and girlfriend Eva Mendes had their second child, Amada, on April 29.
"We had just announced that we were pregnant right around when we were filming the movie," Legend recalled. "He definitely kind of shared how joyous it is to be a new father and gave me something to look forward to."
Still, Luna and Amada have yet to set a play date.
"They have not yet. She hasn't had a play date with anybody," Legend explained. "You can barely say she's had it with Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker's boy, Hank. But Hank is quite a bit older than her by a few months, so she hasn't really had a genuine play date with anyone her age just yet."
La La Land opens Dec. 9.


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Wozniacki beats Mertens, reaches 1st Australian Open final
Associated PressJan 25, 2018, 1:56 AM EST
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Caroline Wozniacki has reached the Australian Open final for the first time with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) win Thursday over Elise Mertens, moving within one win of a Grand Slam breakthrough.
It's her first Grand Slam final anywhere outside of the United States, where she lost U.S. Open finals in 2009 (to Kim Clijsters) and 2014 (to Serena Williams).
Wozniacki appeared to be coasting against the 22-year-old Mertens, getting breaks in the middle of each set. But she began getting tight when she was serving for the match at 5-4: From 30-15, she double-faulted twice and Mertens passed her with a forehand winner in between to make it 5-5.
The No. 37-ranked Mertens lifted, holding her serve at love and then having two set points in the next game before Wozniacki eventually held a game that lasted almost 8 1/2 minutes.
Wozniacki dominated the tiebreaker and put memories of her last Australian Open semifinal behind her – she had match points against Li Na in the semifinal in 2011, but was unable to convert.
This time, experience helped.
"It means so much to me. I got really tight at 5-4. I kind of felt head against the wall," she said. "I knew I had to try and stay calm.
"Once she had set points. I thought, `OK, now you just have to go for it … she's nervous now too."
Mertens, who trains at Clijsters's academy in Belgium, was appearing in the semifinals on her debut at Melbourne Park and in just her fifth Grand Slam tournament. She had won 10 matches in as row after successfully defending her Hobart International title two weeks ago.
She took out No. 4-seeded Elina Svitolina in straight sets in the quarterfinal but was struggling to match a consistent Wozniacki until late in the second set.
Wozniacki's win moves here a step closer to potentially regaining the No. 1 ranking, a position she hasn't held in six years.
No. 1-ranked Simona Halep was playing two-time major winner Angelique Kerber later Thursday in the second of the semifinals.
More AP coverage: http://www.apnews.com/tag/AustralianOpen


Cloud Analytics: Six Tips For Success | Constellation Research Inc.
We still live in a hybrid world, but data analysis is moving steadily into the cloud. Here are six tips on how to succeed with online BI and analytics.
The cloud movement that started more than a decade ago has turned into a stampede in nearly every category of enterprise software. It's no different in business intelligence and analytics, as I observed last month, but there's no one set path or approach to bringing data-exploration and analysis into the cloud.
One argument is that data analysis is moving into the cloud because more and more data lives there. Google Analytics and social networks like Facebook and Twitter, for example, keep generating more data. And storage-and-analysis options like Amazon Redshift are among the fastest-growing cloud services. In fact, data is originating and being dispersed all over the cloud, according to Adam Hall, head of technical product marketing at Google Cloud Platform, so companies are placing bets on multiple platforms.
"We're seeing customers setting up [virtual] containers that they can run anywhere, and most assume they're going to be running in multiple clouds, including public and private," said Hall, one of several executives on a panel discussion I recently had the pleasure of moderating in San Francisco.
1. Start with a clear use case. Tor Stahl of Practice Fusion, the practitioner on our panel, took this approach when he waded into cloud-based analysis. Practice Fusion is a Web-based electronic health records platform for doctors and patients. Due to HIPPA compliance concerns, it has, until recently, managed all of its data in on-premises company data centers.
Since 2006, Stahl, the company's data services & business intelligence program manager, has used Tableau Desktop to analyze Practice Fusion's HIPPA-regulated data and Tableau Server to analyze aggregated (sans personal health information) data. Earlier this year, Practice Fusion chose cloud-based Tableau Online as the platform for a new online service for pharmaceutical companies.
The new service provides insight into the use and effectiveness of competitor drugs within a cohort of patients with a specific diagnosis. Before launching the service, Stahl says Practice Fusion ensured that a third-party firm could de-identify and certify that the data sets used could not be reverse engineered to reveal identities.
Practice Fusion's new service was a good fit for the cloud because it was destined to be consumed outside the company's firewall. Indeed, the most common adoption pattern for Tableau Online is "organizations that need to share and collaborate with data outside of the firewall or when they want to support mobile employees, such as salespeople," said Ellie Fields, VP of product marketing at Tableau.
2. Focus on outcomes, not features. Amid all the hype about big data and next-generation technologies, it's easy to dream about state-of-the-art capabilities. But Arsalan Tavakoli, VP of customer engagement at Databricks, the commercial company behind Apache Spark, relayed a cautionary anecdote about a retailer who inquired about the Spark Streaming engine. "When I asked him about the need for real-time data [on orders], it turned out they updated their shipment data only once a week," Tavakoli said, noting that the company would have little opportunity to act on real-time insights.
Think about the outcomes that are desired versus those that are practicable. Unless those latest-greatest features, like streaming analysis, can really make a difference in your business, maybe it's better to settle for more routine performance specs.
3. Take an iterative approach. If you're moving to the cloud adopt the ways of the cloud by embracing agile, iterative development. As on-premises practitioners know all too well, if you spend too much time defining requirements and getting everything right, users are likely to shrug their shoulders and say their needs have changed by the time you deliver new functionality. Start small with a single analysis. Then add depth and breadth incrementally trough rapid release cycles, gathering user feedback during every step along the way.
4. Build the right team. Peters of Birst advises that you need a strong project champion who understand the business case and the data available as well as a capable "ninja" who has the technical skills to refine and combine the data and develop the analyses.
5. Ensure adequate resources. Resources include time, talent and treasure, and they're essential not only during the initial implementation, but also on an ongoing basis. Projects and programs that are starved for these resources are doomed to failure.
6. Enlist a visible and supportive executive sponsor. The higher-level and more visible the sponsor, the better.
Most of the points above apply to on-premises projects as well as those in the cloud. If there's one theme I heard from every panelist, it's that agility and reduced resource requirements are the cloud difference makers.
Have a use case you want to get up and running quickly? Think cloud. Want to take an iterative approach? Spin up sandboxes and pilots in the cloud. Ready for production? Add compute and storage capacity at the push of a button. Worried about building the right team? Don't add server and storage babysitters to the list; go cloud and focus on the data and the analysis.
Need to ensure adequate resources? Here's where you'll have to ensure that your executive sponsor is signed on for the cloud rather than vested in on-premises agendas. In my view most enterprises are entering into and will remain in a hybrid world, but they're on a one-way street to the cloud. So many executives I talk to – including Stahl of Practice Fusion – say they have cloud mandates, even if they accept that some things will remain on premises.
Health care businesses and banks are among the more conservative types holding back on cloud deployments, but that's changing. When I pointed out that Google, Birst and other cloud players like GoodData have achieved HIPPA compliance, Stahl admitted that he'd like to move more (non-PHI) data and analyses into the cloud. For now, Practice Fusion has only recently launched that first cloud analytics use case. Next comes the steady, iterative expansion into new areas.


text:
Drive, Obama said
Susan Walsh
Tessa Solomon, [email protected]
Travel with President Obama from the court to the campaign trail and eventually into the Oval Office in Sports Illustrated senior writer Alexander Wolff's new book, The Audacity of Hoop: Basketball and the Age of Obama.
Wolff will speak about the book at 7 p.m. today at Prairie Lights, 15 S. Dubuque St. Interspersed by vibrant photography, it details Obama's relationship with basketball. Part political chronicle and cultural history, Wolff's narrative explores not only how Obama the president was shaped by Obama the ballplayer, but also how today's game is being influenced by both.
The Daily Iowan spoke with Wolff about The Audacity of Hoop.
Daily Iowan: Can you explain the title?
Alexander Wolff: Obama wrote a book when he was a senator and beginning to explore a run for the presidency called The Audacity of Hope. I had written a story for Sports Illustrate* about the role that the game played on his development, his racial identity, and how he used it to introduce himself to voters. That piece had run under the headline "The Audacity of Hoops," but I just thought the singular worked a little better as a play on hope.
DI: What drove you to expand your article into a full book?
Wolff: That story had run right before he was inaugurated, and I remember thinking at that time, "I wonder if he's going to have that relationship with the game in office." I made this vow to myself that I would watch to see if the game continued to be a part of his life as president. Sure enough, he was filling out his NCAA bracket on ESPN, using the game when he was going overseas to bond with foreign leaders. At that point, I figured there was enough material here to write a book. I didn't want to do a book if he was going to be a one-term president, though, so the real green light came when he was re-elected.
DI: How would you describe the genre? It's not quite a straightforward sports or politics book.
Wolff: It focuses on one personality, so it has a biographical thread, using sports as a lens to get at that person. The last two chapters are more about politics and society, the fourth and the third chapter are political because they talk about how Obama got elected and how he used the game in office to govern and connect with voters. The other thing that makes it a hybrid is how pictorial it is. It's a case of the pictures speaking to the text and vice versa. They showed him with players or at ease around the game, giving you a little glimpse of who he is that I thought was a really important part of the whole package.
DI: How do you feel the book would have been different without those visuals?
Wolff: The pictures reinforce a lot of the themes. To me, they spoke to a certain spontaneity, moments where you can really capture his mood. Pete Souza, who's the official White House photo secretary, told me that there was something about the game that brought [Obama] to life when he was around an NBA player or just had a ball in his hand. You can flatter yourself as a writer and say you can still convey that in words, but there are some things that take a picture to convey.
DI: You mention past presidents' relationship with sports, but what about Obama's bond with basketball do you think is special?
Wolff: I think basketball has a particular standing in his story. I can imagine another president having a similar relationship with another sport; certainly, Eisenhower and golf really embodied the '50s. I think the themes of the Obama presidency — ethnic diversity, having the millennial generation put its stamp on American life, and this radical inclusion mentality we've seen with same-sex marriage — basketball is very in line with all of that. So it's not just him where the game seems to fit, I think the game fits themes that have emerged during the course of his time in the Oval Office.
DI: How important do you think basketball will be in his legacy?
Wolff: I don't think it will overshadow anything, but unless we get future presidents who are similarly identified with sports, this will stand out. Basketball is a game that's unusually vigorous; it requires a certain amount of youth to play it effectively, and he was still playing in office at a really high level, which I think that underscores his youth. What determines how anything is viewed in history is often what happens afterwards; it puts it in a complete context. My guess is we're not going to see a president for a while who's as into basketball. To find a president that plays golf is commonplace.
DI: How do you think the sidebars affect the narrative?
Wolff: There's a main thread throughout the five chapters, but there were so many aspects of the story that I still wanted to touch on. Those sidebars gave me an opportunity to burrow into them. They're little stories that can stand on their own. For example, the one about Dennis Rodman and his trip to North Korea didn't really have anything to do with Obama per se, but they had implications for his foreign policy, and I'm sure he followed that with great interest. Those are the kind of things that I felt deserved special treatment.
DI: What do you hope readers take away from The Audacity of Hoop?
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Englert Theatre announces 2021 Mission Creek lineup


Balloon Animals made of granite. I almost feel like I don't need to say anything else.
A series of animals all made to look like classic balloon animals - dogs, swans, horses and the like - are part of a public art installation on the Thunder Bay Waterfront. And how cool is it that kids were part of the decision making process on picking the final installation?
The installation is called Naturally Inflated and is by Paul Slipper and Nadine Stefan. I could have stared at these things for hours (except for the creepy guy that launched into a tirade about the waterfront development and kept getting too close). But I can't get them out of my head. Best public sculptures ever.
These are wonderful, thanks for posting this.
oh man...you just got me on a very giddy afternoon. I have many great titles for these sculptures, all of which I cannot publicly say.
These are amazing, nice to see something you can relate to.
Wow! What great fun! Thanks for sharing.
This is an amazing blog about granite..i think this is the only blog having all types of granites in the world. thanks for sharing …keep on posting new articles…all the best..


text:
BillFixers is an American company that negotiates with television, internet service providers, and cell and landline companies on behalf of consumers or businesses. It was founded in July 2014 by brothers Ben and Julian Kurland with the goal of lowering household monthly bills from telecommunications service providers. BillFixers is an expert as a service (ExaaS) or justice-as-a-service company, which optimizes on work that feels menial to individual consumers. As of February 2020, BillFixers has over 25,000 clients and claims a combined savings of over $5,000,000. BillFixers was acquired by Experian in April 2022.

History
Ben and Julian Kurland founded the company in Nashville, Tennessee, in July, 2014. Later that year, a customer service call between Comcast and tech entrepreneur/journalist Ryan Block went viral. The Kurlands posted on Reddit about their speciality in haggling with Comcast and thus received their first customers. In the first year, the Kurlands and their cousin Peter Zimbicki were the sole negotiators. By 2016, the business had grown to over 1,200 clients and was featured on NBC Nightly News and in The New York Times. On April 1, 2022, BillFixers was acquired by Experian Consumer Services.

Services
BillFixers works primarily on TV, internet, and phone bills, although their services may extend to satellite radio, home security, and propane bills. They claim a 95% success rate and average savings of $300 per bill.

How it works
The service operates by hiring experts to negotiate on behalf of consumers. When a client submits their bill, BillFixers calls the provider (like Comcast or AT&T) to seek a lowered rate. Their success is due to industry know-how and expertise on promotional and custom deals. The business generates revenue on a contingency basis, meaning payment is reliant on customer's savings.

Reception
BillFixers was praised by NBC News as an "ingenious idea", and a CNET review reports 100% satisfaction. In September 2015, BillFixers was nominated as the Small Business Innovator of the Year by USA Today. A 2016 article in The New York Times questioned the legality of negotiators representing themselves as clients, but found no violation. BillFixers has also received positive feedback from My Money Blog and Debt Departure.

References

External links

Financial services companies established in 2014
American companies established in 2014
Companies based in Nashville, Tennessee
Finance websites
Online financial services companies of the United States

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


How do I get reimbursed for health care services I received outside of the U.S.?
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text:
International health policy survey in 11 countries: assessment of non-response bias in the Norwegian sample
Oyvind A Bjertnaes1Email author,
Hilde H Iversen1 and
Geir Bukholm1, 2
BMC Health Services Research201010:38
https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-10-38
© Bjertnaes et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010
Received: 6 November 2009
International health policy surveys are used to compare and evaluate health system performance, but little is known about the effects of non-response. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of non-response in the Norwegian part of the Commonwealth Fund international health policy survey in 2009.
As part of an international health policy survey in 2009 a cross-sectional survey was conducted in Norway among a representative sample of Norwegian general practitioners. 1 400 randomly selected GPs were sent a postal questionnaire including questions about the Norwegian health care system, the quality of the GPs' own practice and the cooperation with specialist health care. The survey included three postal reminders and a telephone follow-up of postal non-respondents. The main outcome measures were increase in response rate for each reminder, the effects of demographic and practice variables on response, the effects of non-response on survey estimates, and the cost-effectiveness of each reminder.
After three postal reminders and one telephone follow-up, the response rate was 59.1%. Statistically significant differences between respondents and non-respondents were found for three variables; group vs. solo practice (p = 0.01), being a specialist or not (p < 0.001) and municipality centrality (least central vs. most central, p = 0.03). However, demographic and practice variables had little association with five outcome variables and the overall survey estimates changed little with additional reminders. In addition, the cost-effectiveness of the final reminders was poor.
The response rate in the Norwegian survey was satisfactory, and the effect of non-response was small indicating adequate representativeness. The cost-effectiveness of the final reminders was poor. The Norwegian findings strengthen the international project, but restrictions in generalizability warrant further study in other countries.
Postal Survey
Average Response Rate
Postal Reminder
Final Reminder
Physicians and other healthcare professionals are frequently asked to participate in postal surveys, but challenges with response rates are common for such surveys [1]. In an analysis of 178 studies published in medical journals in 1991, it was found that the average response rate in physician surveys was 54%, significantly lower than the average response rate in surveys of other respondent groups [2]. Another study of a random sample of studies from 1985 to 1995 found the average response rate in physician surveys to be 61%, and 52% in large surveys with more than 1,000 observations [3]. Low response rates threaten scientific validity because it challenges the demand for representative findings [4–6]. Therefore, various methods to increase response rates have been suggested including the total design approach [7–9].
Studies reporting the effectiveness of initiatives to increase response rates are important for survey planning, but the generally low response rates in postal surveys of healthcare professionals implies that even a substantial increase in response rates is no guarantee of representative data. Therefore, systematic assessment of the effects of non-response should be conducted. There are two approaches to assess non-response bias. Securing relevant variables in the sampling frame and analyzing differences between respondents and non-respondents for these variables is one approach, another is attempting to interview non-respondents [3]. In spite of problems with response rates in postal surveys of healthcare professionals these approaches are seldom applied [3, 10]. Consequently, a large part of the scientific literature using postal surveys is unable to document generalizability, a core part of scientific validity.
Norway participated in the Commonwealth Fund's international health policy survey for the first time in 2009. Eleven countries participated in the survey: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States. The surveys were conducted among primary care physicians in each country. In the Norwegian survey a random sample of Norwegian GPs was sent a postal questionnaire. Postal surveys of GPs have the same challenges with response rate as other healthcare groups [11–14]. Therefore, the data collection methods were based on recent survey research among GPs in Norway and included both multiple postal reminders and a telephone follow-up of postal non-respondents [15]. The aim of multiple postal reminders was to increase the response rate, whereas the telephone follow-up was designed to assess non-response bias and was not a part of the ordinary survey. The main outcome measures in this study were increase in response rate for each reminder, the effects of demographic and practice variables on response, the effects of non-response on survey estimates, and the cost-effectiveness of each reminder.
The study sample was randomly selected from a list of all GPs in Norway being a part of the Regular General Practitioner (RGP) scheme. The questionnaire was mailed to 1,400 regular GPs. Eight GPs were excluded from the survey because of incomplete practice address or other reasons for ineligibility (leave of absence, quitted as GP).
The Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services conducted the postal survey. The first postal mailing was sent March 9, 2009. The letter included a recommendation to take part in the survey by the leader of the Norwegian Association of General Practitioners. Non-respondents were sent three postal reminders with 10-14 days between each. To assess non-response bias non-respondents were telephoned after four postal contacts, starting approximately three weeks after the last reminder. An external market research company (TNS Gallup) carried out the telephone follow-up using the Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) method.
Researchers at the Commonwealth Fund and Harris Interactive designed the four-page questionnaire, with advice and review by experts in each country [16, 17]. It focused on indicators for primary care practice capacity to manage care well and on payment incentives to support quality improvement. The questionnaire consisted of the following core topics: health system views and practice satisfaction, access, patient care, teams, coordination of care, office systems and information technology, measuring practice performance, and financial support or incentives. The final English questionnaire was translated independently to Norwegian by two Norwegian researchers. The researchers reached an agreed upon version after review and discussions of the two separate translations. The final Norwegian translation was sent to three GPs in Norway to assess face validity. The questions have varying response formats, from a simple "yes or no" format to a Likert format with five response options.
The postal questionnaire was quite extensive consisting of 58 main questions in addition to ten questions about practice profile and demographical data. This combined with the fact that the telephone follow-up aimed to achieve responses from a difficult target group made us decide to use a short version of the postal questionnaire in the telephone interviews. The criteria for selection of questions for telephone interviews were: coverage of questionnaire domains; relevance in Norway; data quality as assessed by preliminary review of completed postal questionnaires. The selection process reduced the questionnaire from 58 to 23 questions. Because the telephone interviews are an important part of this study we chose to confine the study to the short version of the questionnaire (23 questions).
Demographic and practice related data about GPs came from the Norwegian Medical Association (NMA) and the Norwegian Labour and Welfare organisation; gender, age, number of years as GP, type of practice (group/solo), being a specialist in general practice medicine or not, available positions on GP list (yes/no), and practice address. Two independent variables were based on practice address; health region (South-East, West, Middle, North) and municipality size (< 5 000, 5-15 000, 15-50 000, > 50 000).
Costs relating to data collection were registered using an electronic internal accounting system. Costs related to the postal administration included printing, mailing and salaries for administrative staff organising mailings, receiving and scanning questionnaires. Since the telephone follow-up was conducted by an external market research company, the payment to them forms the cost of conducting the follow-up.
GPs were placed in one of five groups: group 1, respondents before the first reminder; group 2, respondents to the first reminder; group 3, respondents to the second reminder; group 4, respondents to the third reminder; and group 5, respondents to the telephone follow-up. It takes a minimum of five working days from sending a postal reminder to a GP and receipt of a completed questionnaire which was used to define the response group.
The cumulative response rate was assessed through the five survey phases. Response probability was assessed by a multiple logistic regression with response as dependent variable (yes/no) and eight demographic and practice related variables as predictors.
The effects of non-response bias on survey results were firstly assessed through linear regression. The 23 questions were grouped into six questionnaire topics: overall view of the health system and practice satisfaction; access; use of guidelines; coordination of care; office systems and information technology; measuring practice performance. The aim was to select one item from each topic, the main criteria being pure statistical; the variables should be suited as dependent variables in linear regression. Five of six topics included questions with three to five response options, and were selected as dependent variables in multiple linear regressions with eight demographic and practice variables as predictors. The five questions were recoded so that higher values represent a more positive evaluation. The second approach to analysing the effects of non-response bias on survey results consisted of a comparison of questionnaire scores for the five response groups using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Total costs were calculated for each postal respondent group. The cost-effectiveness of each reminder or follow-up was calculated by dividing total costs for each respondent group with total responses in each group.
SPSS version 15.0 was used for statistical analyses, except for cost calculations which used Microsoft Office Excel 2003.
Completed questionnaires were returned by 406 (29.2%) GPs before any reminders were received. The response rates increased to 42.7% (595), 50.4% (701) and 55.4% (771) after the first, second and third postal reminders, respectively. A further 3.7% (n = 52) completed a telephone-administered short version of the questionnaire, giving a total response rate of 59.1% (823) after five contacts.
The logistic regression showed that three of eight variables were significantly related to the response variable (table 1). GPs in group practice had higher probability of answering than GPs in solo practice (OR = 1.6, p = 0.01). The regression also showed that specialists in general practice medicine answered more often than non-specialists (OR = 2.0, p < 0.001), while GPs in the most rural municipalities answered more often than GPs in the most urban municipalities (OR = 1.6, p = 0.03).
Logistic regression model: association between background variables and response
Odds ratio (OR)
OR 95% confidence interval
Male (vs. female)
Mean age
Mean years as GP
Group practice (vs solo practice)
Specialist (vs not specialist)
<0.001***
Available positions on GP list (vs not available)
Health region
West (vs South/East)
Middle (vs South/East)
North (vs South/East)
Municipality centrality
Least central (vs most central)
Little central (vs most central)
Quite central (vs most central)
Significance levels: ***p < .001,; **p < .01,; *p < .05
Non-response and survey estimates
Linear regression analysis showed that the independent variables had a relatively weak association with the five dependent variables (table 2). In all five models the independent variables only explained a small amount of the variance in the dependent variables; from 3.5% for job satisfaction to 5.8% for discharge letter time and electronic laboratory results. Only two variables had more than one significant regression coefficients after controlling for the other independent variables; age was negatively associated with job satisfaction (B = -0.01, p < 0.001) and positively associated with perception of discharge letter time (B = 0.01, p < 0.001), while being a specialist in general practice medicine was negatively associated with job satisfaction (B = -0.15, p = 0.02), and positively associated with assessment of waiting time for specialist (B = 0.14, p = 0.03) and performance assessment (B = 0.18, p = 0.001).
Linear regression models: association between demographic and practice variables and the five dependent variables
Waiting time for specialist
Discharge letter time
Electronic access to laboratory results
Receive information about performance compared to others
Female (vs. male)
Years as GP
Group practice (vs. solo practice)
Specialist (vs. not specialist)
Available positions on GP list (vs. not having positions available)
West (vs. South-East)
Middle (vs. South-East)
North (vs. South-East)
Municipality size
< 5 000 (vs. > 50 000)
5-15 000 (vs. > 50 000)
15-50 000 (vs. > 50 000)
Note: All models are significant (p < .05). R square range from 0.035 (job satisfaction) to 0.058 (discharge letter time and electronic laboratory results). In the regressions the dependent variables are recoded; higher values represent better responses.
a ***p < .001 **p < .01 *p < .05
The differences in item scores for the five groups of respondents were small (table 3). The largest difference between any of the groups on the five questions was only 0.2, this relating to the questions about job satisfaction, waiting time for specialist and performance measurement. One-way ANOVA tests showed that the only question with significant variation between the groups was waiting time for specialists (p = 0.03).
Item scores for the five respondent groups
Groups 1-4 postal respondents
Itema
Total respondents
1 Initial respondents
4 Third
(n = 70)
5 Telephone respondents
(n = 52)c
Note. One-way ANOVA tests. ***p < .001 **p < .01 *p < .05
a Items are recoded; higher values represent better responses.
Survey costs
The total cost of data collection was €30 385 (table 4). The cost per response for each of the five groups was estimated to be €23.8 for group 1 (no reminders), €35.5 for group 2 (one reminder), €48.2 for group 3 (two reminders), €62.3 for group 4 (three reminders) and €87.4 for group 5 (telephone). The percentage of the total survey costs was 31.8%, 22.1%, 16.8%, 14.4% and 15% for the five groups respectively.
Costs for the five respondent groups
2 First reminder
3 Second reminder
4 Third reminder
Total costs for each respondent group (€)
Cumulative survey costs (€)
Percentage of survey costs in each respondent group
Costs per response for each respondent group (€)
Compared to other relevant studies the Norwegian survey reached an acceptable response rate. The final response rate was five percent higher than the average response rate in physician surveys in the study by Asch et al. [2], seven percent higher than the average response rate for large physician surveys with over 1,000 observations in the study by Cummings et al. [3], and higher than nine of ten other countries in the Commonwealth Fund survey in 2009 [17].
However, the central issue in surveys is not response rate in itself but the degree of non-response bias [2, 3]. Very few studies have assessed non-response bias. In the study by Cumming et al. [3], only 18% of the articles performed any type of comparison between respondents and non-respondents. In another study of 350 studies from 1996 to 2005, Cook et al. found that only 17% reported some form of non-response analysis [10]. The current study assessed the effect of non-response using available methods. First, there was a range of variables included within the sampling frame which were used to assess variables related to non-response. Only three variables had a significant association with the response variable, and these variables were not at all or only weakly related to the main dependent variables. Secondly, results for postal respondents and telephone respondents were compared, the latter group giving estimates for postal non-respondents. Small and largely non-significant differences were found between the five respondent groups. Therefore, both methods for analysing non-response bias indicate a small bias. Of course, it cannot be known with certainty whether non-response has introduced bias, but available methods were used to assess the likelihood of bias. Together with an acceptable response rate and the available sampling frame for statistical weighting, there are sufficient reasons to conclude that the survey results can be generalized to the population of GPs in this survey.
The Commonwealth Fund health policy survey was conducted in eleven countries in 2009 [17]. The findings in the current study indicate adequate representativeness in the Norwegian sample, but the validity of this finding for the ten other countries needs to be considered. Both the data collection methods and the response rate varied considerably between the eleven countries; data was collected by both postal survey, telephone interview and email survey, and the number of reminders, incentive structure and several other factors varied [17, 18]. Therefore, it is difficult to generalize the Norwegian findings about non-response bias to all countries. However, they should be most relevant for countries using approximately the same data collection methods. This primarily relates to The Netherlands and Sweden who used a postal survey with multiple reminders, but also Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and USA used this approach but also offered an incentive to the invited primary care physicians. The response rate is far below 50% for USA and Canada, a marked difference from the other countries using a postal design. However, the findings in the present study show that estimates from the first 30% of GPs are close to the item scores for all respondents. This is in accordance with other relevant studies [15, 19–21]. Consequently, the low response rates in USA and Canada have the potential of constituting a representative survey, but organizational or cultural differences needs to be further considered. The validity of comparing Norwegian results from the current study with data from France, Italy and United Kingdom who used a different data collection mode, is more uncertain, indicating the need for further research.
The postal questionnaire consisted of 58 main questions. The telephone interviews were reduced to 23 questions because non-respondents after four postal contacts were considered a difficult target group. The criteria for selection of questions for telephone interviews were coverage of questionnaire domains, relevance in Norway and data quality as assessed by preliminary review of completed postal questionnaires. The 23 questions were grouped into six questionnaire topics in this study, and then we selected five questions from five topics based on statistical criteria. A relevant question concerns the validity of findings for the questions not included in this study. Results not shown here confirm that the analysis in table 2 and 3 with the other questions from the telephone interviews in large degree coincide with the findings in this study, indicating validity for all questions in the questionnaire. The only exception is related to questions about the GPs' use of clinical guidelines; telephone respondents had systematically higher scores than other respondent groups. This finding coincides with other studies and indicates a social desirability bias in telephone interviews [13–15], whereby respondents over-report positive behaviour. This finding implies that the value of assessing non-response bias by means of telephone follow-ups of postal non-respondents is restricted for questions affected by social desirability. It also raises concerns about the validity of comparing countries using different data collection methods, especially postal vs. telephone modes and especially for questions affected by social desirability. This issue warrant further research, but in general we recommend standardized data collection methods in international surveys.
The cost-effectiveness of the final reminders was poor and the survey cost would have been almost halved without the last three reminders. Ending data collection after the first postal reminder would have produced the same results for the main variables, at the same time 72% of the respondents would have been secured. Other studies have also found small differences in results between early and late respondents [15, 19–21]. Therefore, after considering a broader set of criteria it might be argued that a more modest approach to postal data collection in GP surveys could be a fruitful approach, especially in studies where costs and time are limiting factors. This would also be more sensitive to the high practice workload of GPs which constrains their participation in surveys [12].
We thank Saga Høgheim, Tomislav Dimoski and Marit Skarpaas for administrative and technical help, and Trygve Deraas, Signe Flottorp, John Nessa and Ingeborg Strømseng Sjetne for contributions in different parts of the project.
OAB planned the paper together with HII and GBU, carried out the statistical analysis, conducted the study together with administrative staff, and drafted the paper. HII planned the study together with OAB and GBU, and revised the draft critically. GBU planned the study together with OAB and HII, and revised the draft critically. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Department for Quality Measurement and Patient Safety, Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services, Oslo, Norway
Institute of Health Management and Health Economics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/10/38/prepub


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Award-winning journalist Julian Assange languishes in a British super max prison at the behest of the Biden regime
By Dr Leon Tressell
The United States and its NATO allies have weaponised the issue of human rights, using it to attack their geopolitical opponents particularly Russia and China. Sadly, the mainstream media in the West fails to point out the glaring hypocrisy of this.
In mid February, the Biden regime indicated that it was carrying out an 'inter- agency' review with a view to closing Guantánamo Bay by the end of the president's term of office. This sounds eerily familiar. Barack Obama within days of taking office also promised to close the infamous prison which stills holds 40 people in detention.
The overwhelming majority of media outlets in the West carrying news of Biden's promise fail their readers. They fail to remind their readers that the journalist, who exposed the violations of human rights committed by the US at Guantánamo Bay, is locked up in a British supermax prison.
Gitmo Files
Ten years ago WikiLeaks began its release of the infamous Gitmo files (Guantánamo Bay) for which Julian Assange faces a 40 year prison sentence if extradited to the United States.
The Gitmo files expose the systematic and routine violations of the Geneva Convention and the abuse and torture of nearly 800 prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. They reveal that the United States government knowingly imprisoned 150 innocent men and boys without charge. These prisoners ranged from an 89 year old Afghan man with dementia to a 14 year old boy who had been kidnapped.
The Standard Operating Procedure manual of Camp Delta was revealed by WikiLeaks. It shows how the American military used both physical and psychological torture on prisoners. One particularly notorious technique employed by the American military was the torture technique that involved waterboarding , that is the simulated drowning of prisoners in an attempt to obtain a confession.
Investigative Journalist Andy Worthington used the Gitmo Files to expose the repeated lies of the United States government that it was not detaining children at Guantánamo Bay. Worthington's investigations revealed at least 22 children were held at Guantánamo Bay in direct contravention of international law. The Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict emphasises "the physical and psychosocial rehabilitation and social reintegration of children who are victims of armed conflict." Children should not be punished by imprisoning them alongside adult prisoners.
On 15th June 2011 Worthington observed: "It remains disgraceful that so many juveniles were held at Guantánamo — and that three former child prisoners are still held — but it is just as disgusting that, under President Obama, one of these former child prisoners was obliged to accept that, in modern-day America, lawmakers and the executive branch, without a murmur of dissent from the judiciary, have arranged for opponents of the US military in wartime to be criminalized, their actions regarded incorrectly as war crimes, and their very existence declared illegal.''
Julian Assange a victim of Psychological Torture
Here we are ten years later and the man who helped expose these crimes now resides in a British supermax prison full of convicted murders and armed robbers.
Julian Assange is kept in solitary confinement amidst incredibly restrictive and harsh conditions. He has been denied visits from his family for over six months now. During this last winter he has been denied the warm clothing sent by his family and left to shiver in a cold prison cell against the background of a deadly global pandemic.
Julian Assange is suffering from a variety of physical and mental health conditions, yet he is expected to prepare his defence against extradition to the United Sates from his prison cell. This outrageous state of affairs has led Professor Nils Melzer, who is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, to call for the British government to release Julian Assange's from prison.
On 17th April Professor Melzer spoke at the International Symposium of Parliamentarians in the case of Julian Assange. Special rapporteur Meltzer visited Julian in Belmarsh prison in May 2019 accompanied by two experts in physical and psychological torture. They each examined the WikiLeaks editor separately. The evidence gathered from these separate assessments led Professor Melzer to state unequivocally that Julian Assange was a victim of psychological torture at the hands of four states working in tandem.
During his briefing, Nils Melzer addressed parliamentarians from 40 countries and gave a damning indictment of how the US, UK, Sweden and Ecuador had come together to persecute a journalist for exposing evidence of war crimes.
"What is being done here is a prosecution that is not pursuing law and justice but is pursuing political purposes. And therefore it is a persecution: it is not a prosecution. All of this hinges on the good faith of the prosecuting states and here I am talking not only about the United States, I'm also speaking of the United Kingdom. I'm speaking of Sweden. I'm speaking of Ecuador. In all of those four states in every single proceeding that happened against Julian Assange or involving his procedural rights, I can assert that as an international lawyer his procedural rights have been systematically violated in each stage of each proceeding in each jurisdiction.''
Melzer also told parliamentarians how he had written to all four states, declaring that he had identified serious violations of human rights law in the case of Julian Assange. He further added that he had asked for those states to cooperate with his investigation. Melzer pointed out that all four states refused to engage in any kind of constructive dialogue with him.
It is possible that in May the High Court in London will begin to hear the appeal of the Biden regime against the January court decision not to extradite Julian Assange to the US.
Now more than ever it is vitally important that ordinary people across the world take actions to support a journalist who is threatened with 175 years in prison for exposing war crimes, torture and corruption.
The Labour Party leadership must end its shameful silence over this case and demand that the UK government comply with its obligations under international human rights law and release Assange from prison.
You can make a donation to the legal defence of Julian Assange here
Leon Tressell is a geo-political historian who has written extensively about the new Cold War between the US and Russia/China as well as the persecution of whistle blowers such as Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.
Image: Author: Val Brown, London Guantánamo Campaign
Equality/Justice
Previous Tory cuts to Discretionary Housing Payments are reckless and cruel
Next Disappointing, declining and definitely not left wing


text:
Van Selection
Berlingo 2008 – 2018
Berlingo 2018 +
Transit MK/67
Vito 2014 +
Partner 2008 -18
Partner 2018 +
Combo D 2011-17
Combo E 2018 +
Vivaro 2019 +
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Fiat Automobiles is the largest automobile manufacturer in Italy. During its more than century-long history, it remained the largest automobile manufacturer in Europe and the third in the world after General Motors and Ford for over 20 years, until the car industry crisis in the late 1980s. In 2013, Fiat S.p.A. was the second largest European automaker by volumes produced and the seventh in the world, while currently FCA is the world's eighth-largest auto maker. In 1970, Fiat Automobiles employed more than 100,000 in Italy when its production reached the highest number, 1.4 million cars, in that country. As of 2002, it built more than 1 million vehicles at six plants in Italy and the country accounted for more than a third of the company's revenue. Fiat has also manufactured railway engines, military vehicles, farm tractors, aircraft, and weapons such as the Fiat–Revelli Modello 1914. Fiat-brand cars are built in several locations around the world. Outside Italy, the largest country of production is Brazil, where the Fiat brand is the market leader. The group also has factories in Argentina, Poland and Mexico (where Fiat-brand vehicles are manufactured at plants owned and operated by FCA US for export to the United States, Brazil, Italy and other markets) and a long history of licensing manufacture of its products in other countries. Fiat Automobiles has received many international awards for its vehicles, including nine European Car of the Year awards, the most of any other manufacturer, and it ranked many times as the lowest level of CO2 emissions by vehicles sold in Europe. Background / history information taken from Wikipedia.
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text:
AmCan project gets pricier
By Dan Judge |
PUBLISHED: August 14, 2007 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: August 30, 2018 at 12:00 a.m.
AMERICAN CANYON – Unexpected costs have sent the price tag for a local road-widening project spiraling upward, according to city officials.
The original $5.6 million bid for the job that was awarded to Argonaut Constructors Inc. in 2005 has crept up to $8.2 million – or by about 50 percent – due to unforeseen construction expenses.
The chief cause of the increase was the urgency in getting the traffic-congestion relief project underway as quickly as possible, Public Works Director Robert Weil said Monday.
"This was a very high priority for the City Council," he said. "It was put out to bid with a lot of the details unknown. As the project went along, we got prices for those details."
The project was designed to make a number of improvements to American Canyon Road between the intersections at Newell Drive/Flosden Road and Broadway (Highway 29).
The work will include an expansion from two lanes to four, more efficient turn lanes, a smoother surface and a crosswalk that, for the first time, will allow pedestrians to cross busy Highway 29.
Standard Pacific Homes, developer of the Vintage Ranch subdivision along American Canyon Road, paid the engineering firm MacKay & Somps to draw up plans for the project as part of an agreement with the city.
Those plans were completed, however, before Caltrans, PG&E and other agencies with jurisdiction over various portions of the project had signed off on the work and how it would be done.
There were also unexpected setbacks, like the encroachment of the project on environmentally sensitive areas like American Canyon Creek, which had to be mitigated.
So far, the city has approved 11 change orders for the project.
While costs have gone up, Weil said the project is not over budget. A total of $18 million was allocated for the project, but the funds left over are earmarked for repaying Standard Pacific for infrastructure upgrades it has funded.
Weil said the high number of change orders isn"t typical for civil engineering projects. "Whenever there are change orders, it sends the wrong message to the public," he said. "In hindsight, I would have had more of the details worked out before we went out to bid."
On the other hand, he noted that the project would not have even been started until now if the city had waited for all the permits to be secured first. It is currently slated for completion in December, a year behind schedule.
Since the American Canyon Road project was bid, City Manager Richard Ramirez said, the city has refined its planning process for such projects.
"At the end of the day, the road-widening project is a significant improvement to the city, but we will certainly learn from the experience and make sure our civil works projects are much tighter before we bid them again," Ramirez said.
E-mail Dan Judge at UBDJudge@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6831.
Dan Judge


text:
Q: config sql server connection in hibernate I want to connect to sql server in hibernate with windows authentication as the login methond. So my config as this but not connect to sql.
I also add sql maven dependency to pom.xml.
I try with comuter name and localhost in url connection but not connect to db.
 <property name="hibernateProperties">
        <props>
            <prop key="hibernate.dialect">org.hibernate.dialect.SQLServerDialect</prop>
            <prop key="cache.use_query_cache">true</prop>
            <prop key="cache.use_second_level_cache">true</prop>
            <prop key="hibernate.connection.driver_class">
                com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver
            </prop>
            <prop key="hibernate.connection.url">jdbc:sqlserver://.;databaseName=test;integratedSecurity=true</prop>
            <prop key="hibernate.connection.username">windows username
            </prop>
            <prop key="hibernate.connection.password">windows password
            </prop>
            <prop key="show_sql">true</prop>
            <prop key="hibernate.c3p0.min_size">5</prop>
            <prop key="hibernate.c3p0.max_size">20</prop>
            <prop key="hibernate.c3p0.timeout">300</prop>
            <prop key="hibernate.c3p0.max_statements">50</prop>
            <prop key="hibernate.c3p0.idle_test_period">3000</prop>
        </props>
  </property>

this exeption apear in out put
com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.login(SQLServerConnection.java:1105)
    com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerConnection.connect(SQLServerConnection.java:827)
    com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerDriver.connect(SQLServerDriver.java:1012)
    com.mchange.v2.c3p0.DriverManagerDataSource.getConnection(DriverManagerDataSource.java:146)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Mizukoshi Dam is a gravity barrage type dam located in Yamaguchi prefecture in Japan. The dam is used for power production. The catchment area of the dam is 270 km2. The dam impounds about 14  ha of land when full and can store 796 thousand cubic meters of water. The construction of the dam was started on  and completed in 1965.

References

Dams in Yamaguchi Prefecture
1965 establishments in Japan


text:
from gevent import monkey; monkey.patch_all()

import gevent
from ws4py.client.geventclient import WebSocketClient

if __name__ == '__main__':
    ws = WebSocketClient('ws://localhost:9000/ws', protocols=['http-only', 'chat'])
    ws.connect()

    ws.send("Hello world")
    print((ws.receive(),))

    ws.send("Hello world again")
    print((ws.receive(),))

    def incoming():
        while True:
            m = ws.receive()
            if m is not None:
                m = str(m)
                print((m, len(m)))
                if len(m) == 35:
                    ws.close()
                    break
            else:
                break
        print(("Connection closed!",))

    def outgoing():
        for i in range(0, 40, 5):
            ws.send("*" * i)

        # We won't get this back
        ws.send("Foobar")

    greenlets = [
        gevent.spawn(incoming),
        gevent.spawn(outgoing),
    ]
    gevent.joinall(greenlets)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Romance and flying saucers certainly aren't an unheard-of pairing (check out Encounter 106 if you doubt me) but few interplanetary romances were as intense or interesting as that of South Africa's Elizabeth Klarer in the 1950s (although she didn't write her book Beyond the Light Barrier until much later. This week, we'll be looking at Klarer's story as well as the complex context in which that story developed.
You can get Klarer's book on Amazon and you can get my book on contactees, Extraterrestrials and the American Zeitgeist there as well.
Previous Encounter 201: Will the real OH KRILL Please Stand Up?


text:
Q: SQL Query with conditional order by for a specific condition Here is how my data looks like
CompanyName   |    CompanyCode
-----------        -----------
                   B190
ARBOT              B213
INFRA              A946
MichalesTest       B207
MyCompany          Alerf
MyCompany          lerf
SNELSY             A857
SNELSY             A954

I want to sort the list with CompanyName = 'MyCompany' to be the first in the list with its associated CompanyCode sorted in ASC.
And all other items to be listed after 'MyCompany' with its CompanyName sorted in ASC. Entries with null CompanyName can be at the end of the list.
I've tried so far with the below query but I didn't get the expected result. I was following the link here
SELECT [CompanyName], [CompanyCode] FROM  [dbo].COND_ORDERBY_TEST
    ORDER BY CASE CompanyName WHEN 'MyCompany' THEN CompanyName
    ELSE CompanyName END, CompanyCode

I expect my final result set like the below
CompanyName   |    CompanyCode
-----------        -----------
MyCompany           Alerf
MyCompany           lerf
ARBOT               B213
INFRA               A946
MichalesTest        B207
SNELSY              A857
SNELSY              A954
                    B190

I'm sure there should be an elegant way to do this but I'm not getting it. Any help would be appreciated.

A: When I face this kind of situation, I generally do this:
SELECT [CompanyName]
     , [CompanyCode]
     , SortOrder = case when CompanyName is null then 3
                        when CompanyName = 'MyCompany' then 1
                        else 2
                    end
  FROM [dbo].COND_ORDERBY_TEST
 ORDER BY 3 asc, CompanyName asc

As you are always ordering by the same field, SQL Server will not guess what order do you want...
Try it :)

A: I would add a column in the select to solve this problem and then sort using that column
SELECT [CompanyName], [CompanyCode],
(CASE WHEN COMPANYNAME='MyCompany' THEN 0 ELSE 1 END) AS SortCol
FROM  [dbo].COND_ORDERBY_TEST
ORDER BY SortCol, CompanyName, CompanyCode

A: Try this
ORDER BY CASE WHEN CompanyName = 'MyCompany' THEN 0 ELSE 1 END,
    CompanyName, CompanyCode

A:       with temp as
        (
       SELECT CompanyName, CompanyCode,
      CASE WHEN COMPANYNAME='MyCompany' THEN '0' ELSE CompanyName END AS tempcol
      FROM  table name order by CompanyName
      )
      select CompanyName, CompanyCode from temp order by tempcol asc;

A:   SELECT [CompanyName], [CompanyCode]
  FROM (
    SELECT [CompanyName], [CompanyCode],
         CASE WHEN CompanyName = 'MyCompany' THEN 1
              WHEN CompanyName is null THEN 3
              ELSE 2 END as orderer
    FROM [dbo].COND_ORDERBY_TEST
  ) T
  ORDER BY orderer ASC, CompanyName ASC


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