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MainBlogsIf you talk to them, what would you say?
If you talk to them, what would you say?
Paula R. Stern, 14/12/12 09:12
לבן ריק
צילום: ערוץ 7
Paula R. Stern
Paula R. Stern is CEO and founder of WritePoint Ltd., a leading technical writing company offering documentation services and training seminars. She made aliyah in 1993 when her oldest son was 6 years old. In March 2007, Elie entered the Artillery Division of the Israeli army and Paula began writing about her experiences as A Soldier"s Mother. The blog continues as Elie moved on to Reserve Duty, her second son, Shmuel served in Kfir and continues as her youngest son David now serves in Givati. She recently opened a publishing house, helping other authors fulfill their dream to publish. Links to the Author's blogs: * A Soldier"s MotherPaulaSays Israel Blogger...
It's an interesting question my mother asked me.
An international media organization has contacted me - no one would ever accuse them of being pro-Israel; few would even really consider them balanced when it comes to coverage of the Middle East. They want to ask me about my life, my blog, where I live, and what I think. They want me to talk about E1 - not that that topic would take long...hill, no building, no disruption, next...
I've seen media twist words before - I'm not naive. I know the way the game is played. I've seen instances where reporters leave out parts of a statement to make it seem so different than what was intended. Should I open myself up to having my words distorted, to allowing them to take the beauty of where I live and turn it into something wrong, ugly, even stolen?
Years ago, I took a reporter around Maale Adumim and then to the Jewish communities in Gaza. She had once worked for this very media organization now asking to interview me. I took her to the home of a woman who has two children who were injured in terror attacks. The reporter didn't ask about how her children were coping with their injuries and their trauma...she asked how it felt to live in a house that was stolen?
No, this woman didn't live in a house that was stolen, not even on land that was occupied. She moved here more than 20 years ago and bought an apartment. She made it a home and raised her children here. There was so much she could have spoken about, but that first question was so telling. It was phrased with cruelty and ignorance, with the reporter's agenda clear to all.
Before we left the city, I was already regretting my decision to take her to Gaza. I wanted to show her the amazing things Israel does. In Maale Adumim, I took her to a beautiful new children's park nearby - built in sections so that children of varying ages can play, so many safety issues addressed - soft ground under climbing equipment, things that could withstand the sun, railings and fences and benches for the parents to sit and watch. Surrounded by gardens and paths where it is pleasant to walk, it's a gathering place all week long for so many.
She didn't compliment the park's planning - she asked why Palestinians can't come there. She asked why the Palestinians don't have similar parks in THEIR neighborhoods in a tone that made it clear she blamed us, that it was OUR responsibility to build for them the things they didn't bother building for themselves. I told her she should ask them. The money we pay in taxes goes to building parks here - where does the money go in Palestinian areas, and what happens to the parks and schools we do build in their areas?
In Gaza, I took her to several families - to a man who lost an arm in one war and then several fingers on his remaining hand when he was attacked years later by a terrorist. He told her of the body of a young mother that he found in a car on the side of the road - and how the terrorists had sat in waiting. The dead woman was bait for whatever target came next. They relied on the goodness and caring of the next person to stop and see if she needed help. He was badly wounded, saved more by a malfunctioning grenade than the soldiers who followed and eliminated the terrorist.
I took her to the greenhouses to show her the incredible farms and produce and to meet other people and see other places. And finally, I took her to the home of a family who had lost a son in war and was about to not only lose their home but would be faced with digging up their son's grave and having it moved rather than leaving it to be desecrated in Gaza. It was the one time I begged her not to ask anything about politics, "please, don't do that to them - don't ask them about stolen land and how it feels to lose their home..." She was very good, actually, and I appreciated that she simply asked them to tell her about their son.
In the middle of the night we spent there, mortars were fired at the village and we heard the explosions. There wasn't enough time to run - not even the 15 seconds they have in Sderot. I listened to the explosions and waited for the ambulance sirens. After a few minutes of quiet, I smiled in the dark and thanked the Arabs for showing her what life was like for too many Israelis - then and now. In Hebrew, the hosts apologized in the morning and I laughed, "did you fire the mortars?" They smiled and wished me a good day. I turned to the reporter and said it was time to go.
A bit shaken, she asked me to confirm that she had been awakened by the firing of mortars or rockets nearby. "Yup," I answered without hesitation. "Yes, indeed."
The time I finally lost my ability to watch her be a journalist in silence was when I was taking her through the beautiful zoo in Neve Dekalim, past the animals and the green lush gardens there. I had let the people speak for themselves but realized there was no one to speak for that place, the animals, the young children who had taken the time to paint such beautiful murals on the walls, for Shauli the Camel, and so much more.
As she took pictures and interviewed the zoo keepers to ask what would happen to the animals, I remained quiet, feeling the anger growing inside and finally I asked her if I could speak. We walked quietly and as we did, I began.
"What harm does this zoo do to anyone?" I asked. "If it wasn't here, do you think there would be peace?"
"Why can't the Arabs come to the zoo? Why don't they have one?" she asked me.
"Because," I answered in anger, "when they come into this community, they come with weapons. They come to kill and so no, they cannot come to see animals when in coming, some would use it as a chance to murder people. If they made peace, they could come to the zoo but if all they want to do is kill us, then no, we can't safely let them in."
And then I asked her, "but why don't you ask the Arabs why THEY don't build a zoo? Why they spend money on rockets instead of playgrounds and zoos and hospitals? Why do they find it acceptable to shoot rockets at us? And what do you expect us to do? Not only do you not want us to shoot back, you think we should open our homes up despite the security threat! You think it is okay for them to shoot at us, but not okay that our zoo is closed?"
And more, I told her in the anger that was boiling inside me, "okay, so we'll destroy this zoo; we'll move the animals to other zoos all over Israel and we'll ruin the beautiful communities these people have built...will THAT bring peace? We'll evacuate all the Jews from Gaza - and what will happen? Do you think the Arabs will be happy and use their money to build zoos and parks? Will the poor Palestinian children across the road who don't have a playground like this, suddenly get one?"
Instead, I told her, what was most likely to happen is exactly what did happened a few weeks ago and has been happening for most of the 7 plus years since we left Gaza: rockets on Askhelon, Ashdod, Beersheva and even Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
And now I have a choice - I can talk to this international media organization and answer their questions. I can show them E1 and ask them how building up the mountain would cut off a four lane super highway that offers both Jews and Arabs free movement to points north and south, east and west. I can show them my beautiful city and I can point to the barren mountains that surround it on all sides and say - THAT is what these hills looked like before we built here. No one lost anything; nothing was stolen.
I could tell them they were talking to the wrong side. We are the ones building the parks and the zoos and the schools. We built the bowling center, the gardening shops, the furniture stores, the fire station and the ambulance squad that covers a huge region treating Arabs and Jews equally.
No, don't ask us why we build parks and schools, I could say...ask the Arabs why they don't. Ask them why they need to come to OUR health centers for real emergencies and why their ambulances have to be stopped and searched and don't accept any answer other than the truth - when you put weapons on an ambulance - you force Israel to search them.
Ask them why my sons who regularly volunteer for the local ambulance squad have to wait for an army escort to go into the Arab villages to help injured or sick Arabs who need medical treatment. Ask them why they oppose our building on barren hills. If their claim to having lived here for generations were true - why didn't they build?
And if they oppose our building - what gives them the right to build? Ask them how it is possible that Isawiya has almost doubled in size in the last few years and ask them why we had to build the bypass road because they were stoning cars - and the bypass to the bypass road because the attacks had escalated and they were shooting, attacking with rocks and even throwing washing machines and couches down on the cars below.
Ask them why they opened fire and killed a monk from near Jericho on his way to Jerusalem...and ask them why they sent a suicide bomber up the road. We were lucky that time - a brave police officer paid the ultimate price when he suspected the car and driver and pulled it over. The driver blew himself up, killing the Bedouin policeman on the side of the road - I heard the explosion and just knew it was a bomb. I heard the sirens - and it was Israel that built a memorial site near where he was murdered.
What would I say to this news agency? This is my home - we have made the desert bloom, as we were promised. From a barren hill, we have created such beauty. Don't ask me why the Palestinians don't have playgrounds like we do - ask them. And if they claim poverty - look at the cars they are driving...the BMWs, the Volvos, the large cars and buildings and more.
And if you come into my city, take a moment to look in the mall - see how many Arabs DO come into the city every day, to work, to shop. And ask the Arabs why it isn't safe for me to go into their neighborhoods as they come into mine. Ask them about my neighbor who was lynched and his body partially burned.
Ask them why they never have to worry about being lynched in Maale Adumim.
Ask them why in the last few months, Arabs have come and stabbed a security guard at the gates of our city and another came up and said he was going to attack. Ask them why they don't feel they have to build a security fence around their neighborhoods and hire full-time guards at the gates to protect them.
And ask them why, if we are the aggressors, why it is OUR homes that have bomb shelters and not theirs.
So many questions, so many thoughts - but maybe I'm not the right person for this. I can only show what we have built, the gardens and flowers. I can show them the lake in the desert that we built - silly and charming at the same time but I can never answer why the Arabs haven't channeled their resources into similar things for them and I can never answer why our enjoying the fruits of our hard work is wrong.
If I talk to them...what would I say? This is my home, my land. By God, by right, by history, perhaps by might, but most of all, by love, this is my home.
Tags:Media, Rockets, Gaza Region, Maale Adumim, E1


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What To Watch In Louisiana's Two Special Elections
Mar. 18, 2021 , at 6:00 AM
By Nathaniel Rakich and Geoffrey Skelley
Filed under Special Elections
Julia Letlow, widow of Republican U.S. Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, could avoid a runoff by winning over 50 percent of the vote on Saturday.
Brett Duke / AP Photo
We're barely two months removed from the last election of 2020, but Saturday marks the first congressional elections of the 2022 midterms: a pair of special elections for Louisiana's 2nd and 5th districts. While there's little question about which party will ultimately win each seat — the 2nd District is solidly Democratic, the 5th solidly Republican — that's not why these elections are interesting.
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Always a state that marches to its own beat, Louisiana holds elections a little differently than most (as the Saturday election date might imply): Rather than pitting a Republican against a Democrat, the two elections are what's known as jungle primaries, where all candidates, regardless of party, run on the same ballot. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the top two finishers will advance to a runoff election on April 24. So the big questions going into Saturday's elections are which wing of the Democratic Party will come out on top in the 2nd — and whether a second round of voting will even be necessary in the 5th.
Louisiana 2nd
Back in November, 75 percent of voters in Louisiana's 2nd District supported Joe Biden for president — but none did more to help Biden win than Rep. Cedric Richmond, Biden's campaign co-chair who helped convince him to run and guided him through some of the toughest moments of the campaign. Biden rewarded Richmond with one of the earliest appointments to his administration, and on Jan. 15 the five-term representative resigned from Congress to become the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Related: 9 Of The 10 House Republicans Who Voted For Impeachment Already Have Primary Challengers Read more. »
And Richmond's departure has left a power vacuum in this New Orleans-based district that local politicians have rushed to fill: Fifteen candidates, including eight Democrats and four Republicans, are on the ballot. However, two clear front-runners with similar profiles — even similar names — have emerged. Troy Carter and Karen Carter Peterson (no relation) are both Democratic state senators from New Orleans. Both have sought a promotion to Congress in the past (they even ran against each other for this seat in 2006) and are longtime players in the Democratic political establishment, but they hail from different factions of that establishment.
Local power brokers have largely lined up behind Carter, the highest-ranking Democrat in the Louisiana state Senate. And according to Roll Call, 76 percent of the $519,000 that Carter raised in January and February came from donors who live in Louisiana. Carter also has arguably the campaign's most valuable endorsement: that of Richmond himself. He's aligned with the Biden-Richmond wing of the party on policy, too: He has said he prefers a public option to single-payer health care, and while he thinks the Green New Deal is "a good blueprint," he doesn't think it's realistic to implement in one go. On the campaign trail, he has also emphasized his ability to build relationships with people of all political stripes.
By contrast, Peterson is more progressive on policy and isn't afraid to make waves: "When I go to Washington, my job is not to agree with Steve Scalise all the time," she told The Advocate. But the former chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party is also a pragmatist willing to compromise to achieve her goals (for instance, she is fine phasing in single-payer health care over time). Her tenure as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee has also lent a decidedly national flavor to her list of endorsers, headlined by Stacey Abrams. Per Roll Call, at least half of the $450,000 she raised in January and February came from outside Louisiana; the Democratic women's group Emily's List has also spent $457,000 to help her get elected. Locally, Peterson is also aligned with BOLD, an influential political organization founded by her father that frequently clashes with Richmond and his allies.
Related: Sometimes Senators Just Retire. Don't Read Too Much Into The Recent GOP Exodus. Read more. »
Polls have consistently found Carter in first place with 23-35 percent and Peterson in second with 17-24 percent. But polls of House special elections have such large margins of error that it's possible another candidate will leapfrog Peterson or Carter for a spot in the all-but-guaranteed runoff election. The likeliest to surprise is probably activist Democrat Gary Chambers, who is third in both January-February fundraising ($304,000) and the polls (6-13 percent). Chambers shares Peterson's progressive views but better embodies the movement's outsider, grassroots ethos: He gained thousands of social-media followers when a video went viral of him excoriating a white school board member for shopping online during a hearing over renaming a high school named for Robert E. Lee, and 74 percent of his January-February fundraising total came from small donors, far more than Peterson (14 percent) or Carter (2 percent).
Notably, Carter, Peterson and Chambers are all Black, meaning there's an excellent chance that the 2nd District will continue to have a Black representative. That's important for a district whose population is 61 percent Black and whose former representative was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Louisiana 5th
While Richmond's departure was a long-expected development, the vacancy in Louisiana's 5th Congressional District was unexpected. In fact, the general election runoff to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Ralph Abraham had just wrapped in early December, but then tragedy struck: GOP Rep.-elect Luke Letlow announced on Dec. 18 that he had tested positive for COVID-19, and just 11 days later, complications from the disease claimed his life at the age of 41.
Given the district's strong Republican lean — former President Trump won it by 30 points — and the deep GOP bench, many Republicans eyed the special while waiting to see if Abraham might run for his old seat. But then Julia Letlow, Letlow's widow, announced her plans to run in January. Accompanied by endorsements from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, her campaign deterred other big names from getting in. Letlow's candidacy may have been boosted by the tragic circumstances surrounding it, but her front-runner status owes a great deal to her own credentials as an administrator at the University of Louisiana Monroe, where she was also a finalist to become university president last year. Tellingly, Letlow had raised nearly $700,000 by the end of February, almost 10 times what the next-closest contender had collected.
Related: The Ideas That Are Reshaping The Democratic Party And America Read more. »
As such, the main question for Saturday is whether Letlow will win an outright majority to avoid a runoff. There's no public polling, but given her fundraising and backing from GOP leaders, including Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, Letlow is near-certain to finish first. Nevertheless, there are 12 candidates overall, so the rest of the field — including eight no-name Republicans — could attract just enough votes to keep Letlow below the 50 percent mark she needs to win. But if there is a runoff, Letlow will likely face Democrat Sandra "Candy" Christophe, who ran for the seat in 2020 and is the only Democrat running in the special, meaning she will probably attract most of the 30 percent or so of the district's vote that is Democratic. But in such a heavily Republican seat, a Letlow-Christophe runoff would be a mere formality.
In other words, regardless of whether it's after Saturday or an April 24 runoff, Letlow looks to be on her way to Congress, which would push the record number of Republican women in the House to 31. Letlow's prospective rise to Congress, sparked by tragedy, echoes that of another famous Louisianian: the late Rep. Lindy Boggs, widow of Democratic House Majority Leader Hale Boggs. In October 1972, Hale Boggs was campaigning in Alaska with Democratic Rep. Nick Begich — former Alaska Sen. Mark Begich's father — when their flight disappeared, never to be found. Boggs won reelection posthumously, but the House declared the seat vacant, precipitating a March 1973 special election won by his late wife Lindy Boggs. It remains to be seen if Letlow will stick around Congress for many years — she has said she intends to seek a full term in 2022 — but if she did, that would be reminiscent of Boggs, who went on to represent the New Orleans area until 1991.
Did Joe Biden get lucky in 2020? | FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast
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Nathaniel Rakich is a senior elections analyst at FiveThirtyEight. @baseballot
Geoffrey Skelley is an elections analyst at FiveThirtyEight. @geoffreyvs
Special Elections (137 posts) House of Representatives (97) Louisiana (34) House Elections (7) Cedric Richmond (2) Louisiana Politics (2)

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Bloomsbury backs down over book cover race row
Publisher revises cover for Justine Larbalestier's Liar following storm of protest about 'whitewashing' book
Alison Flood
Mon 10 Aug 2009 07.57 EDT
Australian author Justine Larbalestier has won a battle with her American publishers to feature a black girl on the cover of her new book, after the original jacket featuring a white girl provoked controversy from bloggers and commentators across the internet.
The original cover design
Larbalestier's new novel, Liar, is about a short-haired black girl called Micah, but the advance reading copies sent out by Bloomsbury Children's Books used a photograph of a long-haired white girl on its jacket, prompting a wave of criticism. "It's bad enough to misrepresent the character in other ways, but changing the race on the cover of the book just seems wrong," blogged a librarian. "I am appropriately stricken. And outraged, nauseous, flabbergasted ... I wish I could say I can't imagine what they were thinking, but in fact I do have a guess. I just can't imagine why they thought no one would notice," wrote a children's book editor.
On second thoughts ...
"I was very upset. Both my agent and I requested that it be changed," said Larbalestier, who was flooded with messages of support after laying out her concerns about the cover on her blog. "Are the big publishing houses really only in the business of selling books to white people?" she wrote. "That's not a very sustainable model if true."
Bloomsbury has now bowed to the pressure and will publish the hardback of Liar this October featuring a black girl. The publisher told US trade magazine Publishers Weekly that it regretted that its "original creative direction for Liar – which was intended to symbolically reflect the narrator's complex psychological makeup – has been interpreted by some as a calculated decision to mask the character's ethnicity". Australian publication – with a text-focused jacket – is also lined up for October, but UK rights in Liar have not yet sold.
Larbalestier said she was "very impressed" with "how quickly and decisively" Bloomsbury responded, and that she was "very happy" with the new look for Liar, which follows the story of Micah, for whom lying is second nature until her boyfriend Zach dies. "I was hopeful that people would notice and speak up and that if they were loud enough that there'd be a change for the paperback edition. People spoke up sooner and louder than I dreamed. I'm extremely grateful," she said. "I think the new cover is gorgeous. While it's true that the model is not exactly as I imagined Micah (she looks quite a lot like the American basket ball player Alana Beard) she is much, much closer than the previous model."
But Larbalestier believes the issues of "whitewashing" of covers, ghettoising of books by people of colour, and low expectations for these books are industry-wide. In 2004, Ursula Le Guin asked why "even when [my characters] aren't white in the text, they are white on the cover ... I have fought many cover departments on this issue, and mostly lost. But please consider that 'what sells' or 'doesn't sell' can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If black kids, Hispanics, Indians both Eastern and Western, don't buy fantasy – which they mostly don't – could it be because they never see themselves on the cover?"
Larbalestier, also the author of How to Ditch Your Fairy and the Magic or Madness trilogy, agreed that the idea that "black books don't sell" could be a self-fulfilling prophecy. "I don't think anyone can know until books with black faces on them get a big marketing push. You can't tell anything if such books get very little promotion," she
said. "I think the belief that white people won't buy books about black people is a widely held one, but I do think the furore over the cover of Liar is causing people to rethink that. And to ask themselves 'if it is true, what can we do to change it?'". She urged readers to start buying books by "people of colour", recommending Coe Booth's
Kendra and M Sindy Felin's Touching Snow.
Children and teenagers
Teen books


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A local Muslim organization said Friday the Chicago Cubs have committed to "concrete steps" they can take to combat Islamophobia in the wake of the leaking of racist emails sent by Joe Ricketts, patriarch of the family that owns the team.
Members of local Muslim groups met with Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts and Julian Green, the team's vice president of communications, for about 90 minutes Friday afternoon at the offices of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Ahmed Rehab, executive director the chapter, was "positive and hopeful" after the meeting, according to a summary of the discussion he posted on Facebook Friday night. He added that "concrete steps" the team must take to "combat Islamophobia in ways that are genuine, meaningful, and visible" were laid out, but he did not offer details.
"We will in the next few days release a joint press statement announcing those concrete steps" once he has met with Green to follow up, he wrote on Facebook.
The leaked emails show Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade, engaging in racist jokes and spouting anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.
The point was to emphasize for the Cubs executives "the reality of Muslims in America, as juxtaposed with the false narratives that feed the erasure, demonization and exclusion," Rehab said in his post.


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Phulbari Solidarity Blog
IN OPPOSITION TO COAL MINING, COAL POWER PLANTS AND LAND GRABBING
Phulbari Demo in London
December 22, 2012 by Paul V Dudman
News: Anger and honour outside the GCM Resources AGM
From the London Mining Network website:
Anger and honour outside the GCM Resources AGM
Demonstrators from a number of groups gathered outside GCM Resources' Annual General Meeting in London yesterday. The event was organized by the UK branch of National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas-Mineral Resources and Port-Power of Bangladesh ('UK Committee') with the support of other organizations.
Demonstrators chanted slogans calling for GCM Resources to leave Bangladesh, and for an end to the Phulbari coal mine project.
Akhter Sobhan Khan Masroor, Member Secretary of the UK Committee welcomed the demonstrators.
Rumana Hashem of Phulbari Solidarity Group called for two minutes silence. She explained that this was "to honour the three martyrs, Tariqul, Salekin and Al-Amen, who were killed on 26 August 2006 when paramilitary troops opened fire on the massive protest against Asia Energy in Phulbari; and the 121 victims of the latest garment factory tragedy in Bangladesh, who died in late November, because they were denied exit via the main gate when the fire alarm was raised in their factory, which did not have any fire-escape – and were forced to burn to death."
She added that the silence would also commemorate Catholic priest Bert White, a close friend of some of those involved, who had died in a fire on 20th December in 1999 and who, she said, would have been on the demonstration if he had lived, as he had been very much on the side of the poor, oppressed and dispossessed, and had always opted for the cause of justice and liberation.
She concluded, "As we demonstrate against corruption and human rights violations, we take the spirit of all of the above people in our heart and we demonstrate with the spirit that they are with us on the demo."
There were speeches by representatives of the groups involved, and a letter (below) to the British Prime Minister was read out. There was anger at the involvement of the British Government in support for GCM Resources' attempts to push forward the Phulbari project. The letter is to be signed by Bangladeshi organizations and sent to Downing Street.
The Eviction Notice at the end of this posting below was to have been handed over to the company, but the presence of armed police prevented demonstrators from entering the building – it will therefore be delivered to the company by post.
Details and photos of the theatrical events outside the AGM and the police response, can be found athttp://londonminingnetwork.org/2012/12/santa-claus-delivers-coal-to-gcm-board-inside-agm-two-arrests-following-coal-dumped-on-institute-of-directors-front-door/, http://www.foilvedanta.org/news/from-phulbari-to-niyamgiri/, http://www.newint.org/blog/2012/12/21/phulbari-mine-agm-protest/ andhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/20/bangladesh-mine-activists-coal-gcm.
Letter to the British Prime Minister
The Rt Hon David Cameron MP
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2 AA
Dear Prime Minister
Subject: call out to hold Global Coal Resources plc and Asia Energy's business to account
Seeking to prevent a "humanitarian and ecological catastrophe" in the north-west of Bangladesh, Phulbari, we, the Bangladeshi community in UK and the undersigned activists for environment and human rights have been campaigning against the London-based and AIM-listed multinational company, the Global Coal Management Resources (GCM) Plc, formerly known as Asia Energy, for six years now.
We would like to prevent GCM and its subsidiary Asia Energy from building one of the world's largest open-pit coal mines that would forcibly displace an estimated 130,000 people, and would create crisis of drinking water for as many as 220,000 people, and destroy 14,500 acres of fertile farmland in one of the world's development countries, Bangladesh, in which nearly half of all people currently live below the nutrition poverty line.
Opposition to GCM's Phulbari project led to bloodshed in August 2006 when paramilitary forces opened fire on tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators, killing three people including a 14-year-old boy and wounding hundreds.
The potential for violence has remained high in this project ever since August 2006. In the aftermath of the killings on 26th August 2006, a national strike shut the region down for four days and was brought to an end only when the government agreed to permanently throw GCM/ Asia Energy out of the country and ban open pit mine in Bangladesh. Despite violence and intimidation aimed at silencing opponents, some 100,000 people participated in a 250-mile Long March from Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, to Phulbari, in October 2010.
The project has generated grave concern at national and international levels including the United Nations and among human rights and environmental organisations worldwide. With their concerns about impending and grave human rights violations unaddressed, seven Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations issued a joint UN press release on 28 February, 2012, calling for an immediate halt to the project on the grounds that it threatens the fundamental human rights of hundreds of thousands of people, including entire villages of indigenous people, and poses an immediate threat to safety and standards of living.
The incident was reported to British parliament on several occasions and three submissions, including Rumana Hashem's eye witness on the violation of human rights in Phulbari by Asia Energy, were made to the Joint Committee for Human Rights in 2009. But the UK government has failed to hold GCM's business to account. Instead they favoured the corrupted businessmen by publishing misleading response from the investors of GCM. British MP John McDonell recently (28 Nov, 2012) pointed out, 'what is interesting is that the company is one of those that have been promoted by this Government, as it was by the previous Government. Despite receiving a series of freedom of information requests recently, the Government have refused to provide information about their relationship with the company and about the support they have given it and its operation in Bangladesh. In its response, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office explains it will not provide the information.'
The situation in Phulbari has become very tense and volatile since 14 October 2012, when the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), under heavy pressure of the lobbyists for GCM, approved permission for survey to be conducted in Phulbari for the proposed coal project. The GoB wrongly instructed local officials and police to cooperate with Asia Energy, the Bangladesh subsidiary of GCM, in carrying out surveys in the area. We view this as a very ominous development, and it is what catalyzed the demonstration last month in defiance of a colonial era ban 144 – slapped in place in an avert to prevent protest.
A 48 – hour general strike called by the National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas-Mineral Resources and Port-Power in Bangladesh halted trains, blockaded highways, and closed all shops and educational institutions in Phulbari on 22-23 Nov 2012. Strike was halted only when govt. officials agreed to speak with higher ups to press demands of the National Committee for fulfilment of the 6-point Phulbari Agreement, which includes permanently expelling GCM from Bangladesh and nationwide ban on open-pit mining, and press their demand for withdrawal of the Home Ministry circular. National Committee has promised tougher nation-wide action if their demands are not fulfilled by 31 Dec.
Despite huge protests and the tense situation in Phulbari, GCM Resources plc is aggressively moving on to implement this immense open pit coal mine. Financed by global hedge fund and banks including UBS, Credit Suisse, LR Global, and Argos Greater Europe Funds, the company claims that they have a valid contract for coal extraction in Phulbari, while the Energy Advisor of Bangladesh has repeatedly denounced this claim.
In this situation, and as part of National Committee's commitment to Protect Oil-Gas-Mineral Resources and Port-Power in Bangladesh, the Committee in UK, in conjunction with Phulbari Solidarity Group, London Mining Network, Corporate Watch, Climate Justice Collective, held a demo outside the Annual General meeting of GCM, at 10:00am at the Institute of Directors, 116-123 Pall Mall London, Greater London SW1Y 5ED. Several international human rights and environmental organisations including Agitartworks, Foil Vedanta, South Asian Solidarity Group, the Socialist Party in UK, World Development Movement, Udichi Shilpi Gosthi, UK, and Nari Diganta – a progressive women's organisation based in Tower Hamlet, have expressed full solidarity to the Committee's decision to hold the demo and to block GCM.
We, the Bangladeshi community in London and the transnational activists for environment and human rights, are determined to throw GCM Resources and Asia Energy out of Bangladesh. Today, in our demo, herein we seek to deliver the message to the investors of GCM. We seek to deliver the final words from Phulbari to the investors of GCM/Asia Energy that they must stop their aggression in Phulbari. There is no chance for them to get back to Phulbari or any other part of Bangladesh for coal in future.
We believe that the Government of UK will respect and promote our decision. We call upon the Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron, to instruct his administration to take necessary steps to hold GCM's business to account. We demand that the Government of UK tells GCM to end its unethical business in Bangladesh, and ensures that no other UK businessman demonstrates aggression towards open pit mine in Phulbari and Bangladesh.
Department of Housing
We regret to inform you that your home has been taken over for the coal reserve found underground
Effective Immediately
If you do not leave now, you will be beaten, tear-gassed and fired upon. If you die, your family should be happy for not obstructing the path of our profit-making spree.
This may sound harsh, but believe it or not, this had happened in the green countryside of north-west Bangladesh. A London-based and AIM-listed company, GCM Resources plc, formerly known as Asia Energy, financed by global hedge funds and banks including UBS, Credit Suisse, LR Global and Argos Greater Europe Fund, is aggressively moving on to displace an estimated 130,000 people from a densely populated and fertile location, called Phulbari, in Bangladesh for extracting coal that they propose to export for their profit. They will destroy trees, businesses, homes, barns, boundary walls, schools, health facilities, mosques, temples, churches and archaeological sites. They want to displace over 50, 000 indigenous communities who were peacefully living in the region but now are living threats of eviction. People in Phulbari are tremendously resisting these threats. They were brutally repressed on 26th August 2006; when 3 of the protestors were killed and over 200 were injured.
People from Phulbari need your solidarity! Please join the blockade against the plunderers at GCM and write to: GCM Resources plc, Level 2, Foxglove House, 166 – 168 Piccadilly W1J 9EF
From: Department of Housing (On behalf of People of Phulbari, Bangladesh)
TO: GCM RESOURCES plc.
We regret to inform you that your office in Bangladesh has been taken over: Effective Immediately
On behalf of the people in Phulbari, Bangladesh, we serve you this eviction notice to leave our country at once. You have been charged with provocation to violence, corruption, political manoeuvring, and abusive practices to get a deal that is disastrous for people, for environment, and for our national interest. You are unexpected in Phulbari. You have been expelled from Phulbari. You have been expelled from Bangladesh.
WE DO NOT WANT GCM RESOURCES PLC IN PHULBARI!! WE DO NOT LET GCM RESOURCES IN BANGLADESH!!
WE SHALL PROTECT OUR RESOURCES WITH OUR LIVES!!
NO OPEN PIT MINE IN BANGLADESH! NO DESTRUCTION OF 80% FERTILE LAND IN PHULBARI!
NO FOREIGN COMPANY! NO EXPORT!
GCM, GO AWAY RIGHT NOW! OUR LAND OUR RIGHT, GET OFF NOW!! GCM, YOU HAVE BEEN EVICTED!!!
This entry was posted in AGM 2012, Global Coal Management, Phulbari and tagged GCM AGM 2012, London Mining Network, Phulbari. Bookmark the permalink.
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When a couple marries and has children, they do not plan for issues like divorce down the road. But when divorce happens, resolving issues involving the children are of the highest priority for both parents. Fortunately, most issues can be worked out with patience and some guidance from your legal advisor and a satisfactory Custody Order put in place.
Joint physical custody is granted in most cases when both parents are able to care for and nurture the children. This means the child lives half the time with one parent, half with the other, with options like week on/week off, split 3 days/4 days within the week and even half days if parents are working day/night shifts. The courts allow some creativity within the rules of evenly split custody which allows parents to work out schedules that best fit their situations.
Primary physical custody in Nevada is where one parent has custody 60% or more of the time and the other parent has visitation rights. This may be granted when one parent is less able to spend time with the children, travels for work, there is an extreme amount of conflict, or there has been domestic violence, or other reasons exist that effectively make him or her less able to share custody equally.
Sole physical custody may be granted when one parent is deemed not competent to care for the children, such as due to drug use or prior abuse situations.
How is child custody decided in Nevada?
Parenting history – have both parents been responsible caregivers and providers? Are there past issues of domestic violence, abuse or neglect?
Current situation – are both parents able to provide for and nurture children? Do they have stable and safe living arrangements?
Parental behavior – are there any behavioral, psychological, legal or other issues with either parent that might be unhealthy or dangerous for the children to experience?
The children – judges may listen to the preferences of the children, especially older children who are able to articulate their feelings and wishes. And, do the children get along with both parents? Do siblings get along?
Responsibility – are both parents maturely able to act fairly regarding custody issues and do they exhibit willingness to work out issues that may come up? Do the parents get along or is there ongoing conflict?
Child custody has a significant impact on a child's long-term health and well-being, and it significantly affects both parents' lives as well. In addition to determining the children's living arrangements, it can affect child support payments and whether, for example, a parent may be able to move out of state for work or other reasons. For everyone involved, it is of utmost importance that child custody issues be handled thoughtfully and a workable plan put in place that also allows for changes down the road as situations change. In a divorce, the parent will also have to take a seminar for separating parents called a COPE class.
For help with your child custody situation in Las Vegas, call or contact the Page Law Office for a free consultation.


Coding Theory and Applications Электронный ресурс : Second International Castle Meeting, ICMCTA 2008, Castillo de la Mota, Medina del Campo, Spain, September 15-19, 2008. Proceedings / /edited by David Hutchison, Takeo Kanade, Josef Kittler, Jon M. Kleinberg, Friedemann Mattern, John C. Mitchell, Moni Naor, Oscar Nierstrasz, C. Pandu Rangan, Bernhard Steffen, Madhu Sudan, Demetri Terzopoulos, Doug Tygar, Moshe Y. Vardi, Gerhard Weikum, Ángela Barbero.
$a Coding Theory and Applications $h Электронный ресурс $b Second International Castle Meeting, ICMCTA 2008, Castillo de la Mota, Medina del Campo, Spain, September 15-19, 2008. Proceedings / $c edited by David Hutchison, Takeo Kanade, Josef Kittler, Jon M. Kleinberg, Friedemann Mattern, John C. Mitchell, Moni Naor, Oscar Nierstrasz, C. Pandu Rangan, Bernhard Steffen, Madhu Sudan, Demetri Terzopoulos, Doug Tygar, Moshe Y. Vardi, Gerhard Weikum, Ángela Barbero.


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Recent developments in technology have led to new specifications for adapters, and more benefits for users of various mobile devices. Adapters have evolved considerably in the last few years, and there is no longer a need to carry around a collection of them for different purposes, or while travelling across countries. Advances in technology have led to different specifications and, in turn, new benefits when using a particular type of adapter, especially in the case of mobile devices and set-top boxes (STBs).
An adapter is a device that converts the attributes of one electrical device or system to that of an otherwise incompatible device or system. While some modify power or signal attributes, others simply adapt the physical form of one electrical connector to another. An adapter can be referred to as a connector that changes the plug's shape to match the outlet. Since it does not change the voltage or electrical output, a converter or a transformer is used in case the equipment requires a specific voltage. Let us look at some common types of adapters.
Travel adapter: When an electrical device with a unique plug needs to be used in another country that uses a different socket, an electric power adapter or a travel plug will come in handy. Though many countries use the same 230V system, connectors are used in case of any differences, in order to protect the device. An adapter does not convert electricity and simply allows a dual voltage appliance, a transformer or a converter from one country to be plugged into the wall outlet of another country. The voltage required depends on the device and country, for which there are several types of single as well as universal adapters.
Travel adapters come in various shapes and sizes, from small and simple single-region adapters to larger universal versions that cover most countries across the world. The universal ones are considered to be most convenient. In case the various electronic devices can be charged with a USB, it is an added bonus for travellers. Several companies make compact two- or four-socket USB travel adapters that help to charge multiple gadgets from the same wall socket.
Plug adapter: It is important to note that not all gadgets need a voltage converter and a simple plug adapter can be adequate. It allows you to use the device without the need to convert electricity, but the charger has to be rated at both voltages.
In India and China, the standard is 220V, in the US it is 120V, and in most of the European Union, the UK, Australia and Singapore the standard is 220V-230V. Japan uses 100V outlets. This means a gadget from India with a plug adapter can be used right away in most parts of the world, except the US and Japan, where a voltage adapter will be needed apart from a plug adapter.
AC adapter: Also called a power cube or recharger, the AC adapter is a small power supply that changes household electric current from the mains voltage (either 120V or 230V AC) to a low voltage suitable for most consumer electronic devices. AC adapters, AC/DC adapters, or AC/DC converters are external power supplies that are generally enclosed in a case similar to an AC plug. There are other common terms for them like a plug pack, plug-in adapter, adapter block, domestic mains adapter, line power adapter, wall wart, power brick and power adapter. These adapters are used for electrical devices that require power but do not have the sinternal components to draw the required voltage and power from the mains supply. Adapters for battery-powered equipment are described as chargers or rechargers.
Computer port adapters: For computers and related items, there are serial port adapters that enable connections between connectors. These do not affect electrical power and signalling related attributes.
LAN adapters: These are also often referred to as network interface cards, and are expansion boards used to connect a computer or computing device to a network.
Digital media adapter: This is used for receiving and viewing video content. It is a set-top box (STB) or dongle with inbuilt Wi-Fi that connects to a network, and has an HDMI port to plug into a television. It consists of operating systems, various applications and processors to assist streaming services. There are various types of media adapters like Apple TV, Google's Chromecast, Fire TV, Roku, VIZIO Co-Star's streaming STB and Netgear's Neo TV STB.
USB Type-C cable: This cable brings the power of universal connectors to smartphones, laptops and other devices. It provides a way to standardise cables and connectors, enabling communication and power transfer between electronic devices.
Since all such cables are not safe and are known to damage the hardware of the device, it is important to choose the right USB Type-C cable. The good varieties are produced by using the deep draw extrusion method and, generally, the plug is made from a single metal with no seam visible on any side of it. It is advised not to use a stamped and folded connector and to always purchase a certified product. The USB-IF cable is tested rigorously and ensures that optimum quality is maintained.
Threaded adapters: These help to switch between different metric threads to suit specific application needs. Some also fit into knock-out holes on boxes and enclosures, and can be used with lock nuts. In addition to being a quick and easy solution, this adapter reduces or enlarges the thread size on any threaded connector or plug.
Other types of adapters: Some other types of adapters include the display port to high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) adapter, the HDMI to iOS device adapter, adapters for video graphics array (VGA) to older and new iOS devices, VGA to HDMI adapters, mini display port to VGA and HDMI adapters, as well as VGA to USB-C adapters.
Universal serial bus connectors (USBs) have become very popular, and are being widely used for sharing data, transmitting video and audio signals, and for charging electronic devices. In the consumer electronics industry, especially for smartphones and other mobile devices, Type C USB cable connectors are in demand.
Increased use of mobile devices like smartphones, personal digital assistants, tablets and laptops, due to greater Internet penetration, has raised the demand for cable connectors and adapters. A recent report by Transparency Market Research says that opportunities in the global cable connectors and adapters market will touch US$ 85.75 billion by 2022, rising at a CAGR of 7.8 per cent, between 2015 and 2022. Besides the rising expenditure on IT and telecom infrastructure, the global market will flourish because of new age technologies such as cloud computing, e-commerce, and high speed Internet.
Due to extensive digitalisation, especially in China and India, the Asia-Pacific region is considered to be the fastest growing market for adapters. With the use of STBs, smartphones, entertainment systems, high definition television (HDTV), widespread mobile computing and the rising number of data centres in the region, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow to a significant 40 per cent of the global market by 2022.
Varun Kamboj, managing director, Verto Corporations.
EB: What is the main difference between adapters for mobile devices and set-top boxes?
An adapter is used for any electronic device that does not have a battery in it. For mobile devices, the right term is a 'charger'. Since STBs do not have batteries in them, the word 'adapters' ought to be used. This is a common mistake, with several leading companies currently using the word 'adapter' instead of mobile charger.
EB: What are the major types of adapters and chargers that you manufacture?
We manufacture general-purpose adapters, CCTV camera power supplies, power supplies for LED strips, AC-DC mobile chargers and DC-DC car chargers for mobiles, among others. In addition to providing consultancy for any specific product required to be developed with particular voltage and current specifications, we work as original equipment manufacturers for several leading companies.
EB: What are the latest technologies used to manufacture chargers for mobile devices and adapters for set-top boxes?
Among the new technologies that have been developed in recent times, fast-charging and dash-charging chargers have gained huge popularity. Chargers for mobile devices have different protocols and specify the value of current to be given to the mobile phone, which ultimately determines the time required to charge a mobile phone battery. Previously, the protocol used in mobile devices was BC1.0, which gave a current of not more than 1 ampere at 5 volts and took a longer time compared to today's charging technology.
Currently, most of the phones and chargers are based on the BC1.2 protocol, which gives current up to 3 amperes. This increases the charging rate by up to 50 per cent. But for these protocols, two resistors are added across the USB data pins to support all phones. Hence, a data cable instead of a charging cable is required to charge the mobile device at a faster rate. Recently, Qualcomm introduced its 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 4.0+ ICs, which result in 80 per cent faster charging. This quick-charge technology is being used in the Samsung mobile device chargers.
The other new technology, known as dash-charge, has been introduced by companies like Oppo and OnePlus to charge their mobile phones even faster. Instead of using the traditional 5 volts to charge its mobile devices, Samsung uses 9 volts and 1.5 amperes for fast charging. It is to be noted that even if Samsung's charger is used for mobile phones from any other brand, the device will get charged at 5 volts only since the mobile charger can output both 5V and 9V, as the adapter specifications indicate. However, according to the specifications given by OnePlus, at 5 volts and 4 amperes, it has increased the current to charge its phones.
Both types of chargers perform well.
EB: What are the benefits of these technologies over traditional products?
These new technologies can be used to charge the mobile device from 0 to 100 per cent nearly three times faster than traditional technologies. These technologies are known to charge mobile devices from 0 to 50 per cent in less than 15 minutes, thus saving a lot of time.
EB: What are the growth drivers of the charger and adapter market?
Since the current technology used in chargers is complex, growth is being driven by companies like Qualcomm, which are designing new and sophisticated ICs for chargers.
The various components used to manufacture traditional adapters were very commonly available but with the new technologies, ICs have emerged as an integral component. Thus, for increased manufacturing of fast-charging adapters, such ICs should be made easily available or else only bigger companies will rule the market.
This micro-USB electric and travel adapter can be used for iPh4, iPh3, iPad2, iPod and all micro-USB-supported smartphones, among other electronic devices.
These adapters are certified by global safety agencies including Energy Star Level V, the European ErP Directive and NRCan.
This travel adapter is equipped with two outlets that can be used in the US, two USBs and micro USB cables. It can be used for mobile phones, the iPhone, iPad, laptops and other devices in many countries across the globe. It can charge five devices with a single outlet.
These adapters connect USB Type-A devices to computers and hubs that have a USB Type-C port. While USB Type-C is the latest USB interface standard, it is the USB Type-A that is the most ubiquitous connector in use, and the two are not compatible – so these adapters bridge this connectivity gap.
This fast-charging charger can be used for Gionee S6, Marathon M5 Plus, Microsoft Lumia 950 XL, LG Nexus 5X, OnePlus 2, Xiaomi Mi 4c, Mi 5, Huawei Nexus 6P, LeEco Le 1s, Le 2, Le 2 Pro, Le Max 2 and all Type-C compatible devices. It comes under the travel charger category.


Do not use this tag just to say that you're binding something to something else.
The excerpt itself advises against the use of this tag. In the tag wiki, there's a long list of things that this tag applies to.
Yes, it is, in most cases. Questions about DNS server binding are, however, off topic.
Based on the wide applicability to various software, this doesn't seem like a great meta tag. I'm open to correction though.
No, it could refer to a principle, a software, a function, or method, depending on the context. It does, however, imply something is bound to something else (however the wiki explicitly advises against using the tag just to describe that).
Based on the boxes ticked above, and seeing as (almost) every question (from what I've seen) is on topic, perhaps we can disambiguate the tag, or just burninate it completely because I do not see it adding any value as a tag.
[Survey]: Should we burninate this tag?
Should we, [like], burninate this tag?
Should we [gather] the strength to burninate this tag?


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[W]hen you look at the actual proposals Obama offers, he's doesn't really address the core issues. He's for the vast panoply of pre-K and after-school programs that most of us are for. But the crucial issues are: What do you do with teachers and administrators who are failing? How rigorously do you enforce accountability? Obama doesn't engage the thorny, substantive matters that separate the two camps.
Now, if we do all this and find that there are teachers who are still struggling and underperforming, we should provide them with individual help and support. And if they're still underperforming after that, we should find a quick and fair way to put another teacher in that classroom.
That's about as unambiguous a statement in favor of accountability as you'll see a Democratic politician make. And now that Obama's achieved his goal of surviving the Deomcratic primary without incurring the wrath of the teachers' unions, it'll be interesting to see if he plays up his reformist credentials a bit more.


If you have ever suffered a neck injury such as whiplash you will be aware of how limiting and painful it can be. We rely on the neck to support our head and when the ligaments and muscles within the neck are damaged, the head's range of movement is restricted.
Whiplash symptoms may occur immediately or minutes to hours after the initial injury; the sooner after the injury that symptoms develop, the greater the chance of serious damage.
This may stop us from carrying out normal day-to-day tasks such as driving, sitting at our desks for long periods of time, and doing the house work and many of us are keen to find relief for whiplash injury symptoms as soon as possible. Some rely on the marvels of modern medicine while others turn to more unconventional techniques such as acupuncture.
"A Randomized Trial Comparing Acupuncture and Simulated Acupuncture, for Sub-acute and Chronic Whiplash," Cameron ID, Wang E, et al, Spine (Phila Pa 1976), 2011 April 7; [Epub ahead of print]. (Address: Rehabilitation Studies Unit, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia).


The International Olympic Truce Centre organized on July 31, 2012 a highly informative open forum with international and multi-cultural guests. The discussion focused on whether and to what extent the concept of the Olympic Truce is relevant nowadays and how it can be effectively implemented. The event took place at the House of Hellenes in London 2012 Games.
Dr. Constantinos Filis, Director of the International Olympic Truce Centre, moderated the discussion that followed.
Apart from the panelists, among the dynamic audience were Tommy Sithole, Director of the International Cooperation and Development Department of the IOC, Isidoros Kouvelos, the Chief of the Greek mission in London Olympics and President of the International Olympic Academy, the President of the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, Mr Ikonomopoulos, representatives of the London Peace Network, Greek and foreign media.
All speakers agreed that creating a Culture of Peace should be the ultimate objective. At the end of the event, IOTC presented its new video and the soprano Anastasia Zannis performed the famous Beatle song "Imagine".


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Rector on Dies Natalis: 'WUR has the expertise needed to tackle a pandemic'
The 103rd Dies Natalis is to take place on 9 March. Online, this time, due to the global outbreak of COVID-19. Wageningen University & Research is also affected by the pandemic and is working on preventing future outbreaks in different ways. Experts discuss this topic with, among others, Marion Koopmans (Erasmus MC) and Henk Bekendam (formerly WHO) on 9 March during the celebration entitled Pandemic Prevention, Prediction and Preparedness. Rector Magnificus Arthur Mol sheds light on the choice for this topic and looks ahead at a Dies Natalis celebration that is far from traditional.
Could this years' Dies Natalis have centred on a different issue?
'It certainly could have. The last thing we want is to have the umpteenth discussion on COVID-19. However, as an organisation, we cannot ignore an issue so closely related to our expertise on the relationships between humans and animals, zoonoses (viruses that can be transmitted from animals to humans, ed.), and how our living conditions contribute to the outbreak and spread of the virus. Thus, we have elected to look towards the future. We never want to be caught off-guard by a pandemic as we now were. WUR can offer a valuable contribution to avoiding this in the future.'
The COVID-19 pandemic is a real wake up call for WUR also
WUR preventing a pandemic, rather ambitious, is it not?.
'Indeed. And I am not saying WUR can do this alone. But we have a unique capability to integrate different knowledge domains. After all, you don't just want to know all the details of the virus, but also how the virus develops and how we humans influence the start, spread and mitigation of an outbreak and our society's resilience. This has everything to do with how we keep animals, how close together we live, and how healthily or unhealthily we live. In the extensive ERRAZE@WUR research programme that was recently launched, we intend to learn from the current pandemic and be better prepared for the next one.'
If WUR has all this expertise, why didn't our researchers see the COVID-19 outbreak coming?
'Virologist, including those at WUR, have been warning about a pandemic for years. Still, COVID-19 caught us all by surprise, particularly the scope of the spread. At the start, we expected the virus to remain in China, as the west had remained largely unaffected by previous outbreaks of SARS and Ebola. However, COVID-19 is of a different calibre. Have we been naive? Possibly, although no one could have predicted our 21st-century society would grind to a halt due to a virus. In this sense, the pandemic is a true wake up call, for WUR also.'
The idea of preventing the next pandemic sounds hopeful, but is it realistic?
'Preventing it altogether may be difficult because the growing world population has people and animals living closer together, and with it, the chances of viruses being transmitted increase. Globalisation leads to the rapid spreading of disease. But how an outbreak is approached is something we can influence. A next virus must be detected and isolated as rapidly as possible, and preventative (health) measures put in place. If these fail, it is essential to combat the virus effectively with a vaccine and suitable health treatments. The latter falls, of course, more within the domain of the academic medical centres, with which WUR collaborates intensively within the Netherlands Center for One Health (NCOH). With ERRAZE@WUR, we hope to establish a roadmap that can aid policymakers in a future outbreak.'
Our integrated knowledge of humans, animals and environment is unique
Regardless of how well-prepared the Netherlands is, if a virus outbreak starts elsewhere, such as in China this time, we are at a disadvantage.
'Yes, and it is precisely for this reason that I feel WUR should seek international collaboration at a scientific level as much as possible. And we do. With China as well. To prevent a global pandemic, you simply need each other and must learn from each other. When China locked down all public life in Wuhan at the start of 2020, it surprised everyone. But, looking back, this may have been a wise decision. Eventually, countries in the west took similar steps. We must move towards a system of linking global research on this issue, monitoring infections and sharing expertise through an international communications network. Collaboration fosters trust. This allows us to signal and address issues sooner. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has worked hard to combat COVID-19, but direct scientific contacts are often faster.'
Are you petitioning for an international science network?
'Precisely. This corona epidemic demonstrates how essential the role of scientists is. Having so many scientists present at daily talk shows was unthinkable a few years ago. The most striking thing to me is that the general public and journalists accept that scientists are not all-knowing. Before COVID-19, that was different: if a professor said he was unsure of precisely by how many degrees the earth would heat up, he would be deemed untrustworthy.'
The Dies Natalis is an excellent opportunity to celebrate the acknowledgement of science. But how does one show that pride through a screen?
'I intend to mention it in my address, and we have a programme that underscores the value of WUR's work in the field of virus outbreaks. Wim van der Poel will discuss the interaction between humans and animals, and Emely de Vet explains how an unhealthy lifestyle makes us vulnerable in a pandemic. But, in all honesty, an online event does not give the same feeling as a traditional Dies Natalis. There is no academic procession, nor is there the contact of 700 peers, the audience's reactions and the conversations before and after the event.'
Is an online Dies Natalis worth the effort?
'Of course! After a year of remote education and countless virtual meetings, we will succeed in celebrating the Dies Natalis online. We gave the form much thought. Instead of keynotes for a large audience, we have elected to have a round table discussion moderated by Marcia Luyten (of the programme Buitenhof), with our experts and external guests Marion Koopmans and Henk Bekedam, and two young researchers. And, the best thing is: everyone across the globe can attend this extraordinary celebration.'
Read more about the Dies Natalis and register
Leading up to Wageningen University on 9 March, the keynote speakers shed their light on this year's theme: 'Pandemic Prevention, Prediction and Preparedness'. How do they contribute to (helping) prevent new pandemics?
Read more stories from this series:
Rector magnificus Wageningen University: 'WUR has the expertise needed to tackle a pandemic'
Emely de Vet (professor of Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles): 'A healthy population is better equipped to handle a pandemic'
Virologist Wim van de Poel: 'Never again do we want to be caught off-guard by a virus'
Make the Netherlands healthier
A series of interviews with 4 young researchers
Any questions? Ask our press officer: JH (Annet) Blanken
Rector Magnificus Arthur Mol (foto: Jonne Seijdel)
See the programme
Dies Natalis - 9 maart 2021
De raad van bestuur van Wageningen University & Research nodigt u van harte uit om op dinsdag 9 maart 2021 de viering bij te wonen van de 103e...
ERRAZE@WUR: being prepared for new pandemics
Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH)
Spotlight: Making the Netherlands healthier
cn|中文


Can I avoid selling the Family Home to pay for Long Term Care Fees?
With no prospect of a Government cap on long term care costs, and annual fees for care homes exceeding £30,000, having to sell the family home to pay for a place in a care home is a major worry for many older people.
But is it possible to protect the family home and other assets from the impact of long term care fees, asks Andrew Simpson, Lead Panel Solicitor with legal and financial planning specialist Ensure Inheritance.
Legal trusts, often known as Wealth Preservation Trusts, when used for estate planning purposes can have the useful side effect of protecting assets from the impact of long term care fees, but they cannot be used specifically to avoid care fees.
Many people do not realise that current legislation demands that anyone owning assets valued in excess of £23,250 is required to make a 100% contribution towards the cost of their care. However, anyone requiring care with assets worth less than £14,250 is not required to make any contribution from their capital.
The legislation also prevents people from deliberately moving their assets in order to avoid paying care fees. But it does not prevent anyone in relatively good health, who is not presently intending going into long term care, from estate planning and establishing a Wealth Preservation Trust.
By placing assets in a Wealth Preservation Trust, you are no longer (technically) the owner of the assets, but rather the principal beneficiary of the trust. So it can fully protect your assets for your children, provided the local authority cannot prove that at the time the trust was set up it was reasonably foreseeable you would enter long term care.
Using a Wealth Preservation Trust to plan your estate is a powerful means of achieving total control over what happens to your assets, who benefits from them, and who controls them.
Wealth Preservation Trusts can avoid claims on your estate after your death; reduce the time it takes for beneficiaries to receive their inheritance; protect your children against disinheritance; protect your assets from bankruptcy; protect your assets from divorce, as well as protecting your assets from the impact of long term care fees.
Setting up Wealth Preservation Trust is a job for a specialist solicitor who can establish the trust to meet your particular needs and future wishes, according to your unique set of financial circumstances.
Based in Seaham in County Durham, Ensure Inheritance provides a range of legal and financial planning services which help protect financial assets to provide their clients and their loved ones with peace of mind. In addition to long term care planning and wealth preservation trusts, services include funeral planning and pre-payment plans, Wills and Estate planning, funeral planning, inheritance tax planning, powers of attorney, court of protection deputyships, and probate.
Ensure Inheritance is a limited company registered in England and Wales and our company registration number is 07974126.


"unable to add image options measurement: Invalid Parameter"
I found this question already asked/answered, but it doesn't pertain to my situation because I have neither an Nvidia card nor TPM. Halp?
I also looked through this about EFISTUB, but none of the commands worked.


I used to run a small IT company before I founded FourteenFish with Duncan in 2012. I'm now the lead mobile developer at FourteenFish. I love trying to make things really intuitive to use and finding innovative ways to solve problems.
What I do outside of FourteenFish: I spend most of my spare time either with my family or riding my bike!
Fun fact: I can juggle five balls.


Animal lovers had a Cat-Tastic afternoon when they helped raise £1,351.07 for Bluebell Ridge on Sunday 24 July.
We welcomed a fantastic number of visitors to our open day, which had a variety of stalls, including children's games, nail art, raffles and a tombola.
The public also had the chance to visit the cats that were looking for homes. We had numerous enquiries and reserves taken on the cats, with five possibly being found new homes.
Our next Open Day will be on Sunday 25 September.


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Advocacy Champions
Transportation Infrastructure Maintenance & Improvement
Fighting for Infrastructure Updates
A substantial infrastructure of roads, bridges, railways and waterways transports soybeans from farms to customers. Illinois is uniquely situated with prime access to navigable waterways, major rail lines and vast interstate highways, creating advantages to move soybeans around the world efficiently and economically. Unfortunately, an aging transportation infrastructure is eroding those advantages, causing travel restrictions and delays, and costing soybean producers money.
The current inadequacies of the Illinois transportation system are resulting in as much as $1 per bushel additional expense for soybean farmers, depending on how far soybeans are traveling, and in what form. For example, when the Beardstown Bridge on highway 67 in Cass County was posted in fall 2014, the resulting truck detour meant traveling an additional 72 to 144 miles out of route.
Crumbling roads, railroads, waterways and underutilized intermodal containers make Illinois soybeans less competitive in domestic and international markets, damage efficiency and productivity, and foreshadow future cost increases for Illinois farmers. Nearly half of soybeans grown in Illinois are exported, so the reliability and efficiency of logistics and transportation networks is crucial. Research studies confirm just how much soybean farmers stand to lose if solutions aren't found. Informa Economics, Inc., conducted research on behalf of the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA). Highlights include:
— Roads. Increasing current road weight limits from 80,000 pounds to 97,000 pounds would decrease by 20 percent the need for drivers moving agricultural products and could save $84 million industry-wide per year. Allowing heavier trucks also would save $3 to $5 million in transportation and facility operating costs. Learn more here.
— Bridges. Many Illinois bridges are unfit to support modern farm equipment such as grain trucks. Researchers studied 12 Illinois bridges and estimated an average return of $10.24 to the local economy for every dollar invested in repairs.
— Waterways. More than 1,100 miles of navigable waterways border or pass through Illinois. However, the Illinois Waterways' system of locks and dams is outdated and in dire need of repair. Waterway infrastructure recently received a failing grade from America's Waterway Initiative. Deferred critical maintenance to locks and dams is backlogged by approximately $560 million. Clearing the projects will lead to savings totaling $1.2 billion. What's more, should a waterway close for emergency maintenance, existing roads and rails can't handle the increased volume. According to this research, if the LaGrange Lock located near Versailles, Ill., on the Illinois River, closed for 90 days during peak soybean harvest movement, 341 barge loads would need to be diverted to other modes – a volume equivalent to 21,000 truck loads or 5,200 rail carloads.
— Railways. More than 7,000 miles of rail cross the state of Illinois and all 8 Class-I railroads operate here. Rail plays an important role for commodity movement: the six state soy processing facilities annually receive half of all soybeans by rail. A checkoff-funded study by the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) found U.S. soybean exports are increasingly dependent on rail. The study suggests that between 2012 and 2035, a $1.55 billion annual funding gap between expected rail investments and need due to increased volume will exist. It is estimated using USDA AMS data and research reports that annually, there are around 35 million bushels moved by domestic rail and 74 million bushels exported by rail, for an average of 109 million bushels originating from Illinois by rail annually.
Transportation Update June 6, 2018
The House passed the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) authorizing $3.5 billion of Army Corps of Engineers projects and programs. The Senate is expected to consider its version, called America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (S115), this summer.
Transportation Update January 2018
Following passage of the tax reform legislation in December, President Trump hopes to find similar success with infrastructure legislation. However, budgetary and immigration issues will come first. The White House has indicated it hopes a bill on infrastructure will pass before November mid-term elections.
Transportation Update September 14, 2017
The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3353, a bill that cuts federal appropriations for transportation programs like Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) and transit Capital Investment Grant (CIG). The bill would provide $17.8 billion for the Transportation Department, a nearly 8 percent decrease from current spending levels. It has not been reviewed by the Senate yet.
President Donald Trump announced more details at an "Infrastructure Week" rally in Cincinnati about his $1 trillion plan for modernizing the nation's aging system of levees, dams and locks – which includes a $200 billion direct federal investment. Illinois Soybean Growers is committed to working together with industry, government, academia and other transportation stakeholders to develop innovative solutions to infrastructure challenges.
Transportation Update December 13, 2016
President Obama signed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act into law. The WIIN legislation encompasses the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016, authorizing Army Corps of Engineers water resources and infrastructure operations and programs including locks, dams and dredging. These programs are crucial for allowing soybean farmers to transport their crop and remain competitive in the global market.
ISG applauds Congress for the passage of the WRDA authorization and hopes there will be continued investment in waterway infrastructure initiatives in 2017.
In the FY2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill, the Energy & Water section provides significant increases for maintenance and operations of waterways and ports.
Specifically, the bill:
Increases funding for the construction, operation and maintenance of projects administered by the Army Corps of Engineers along the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
Provides $1.25 billion for eligible activities funded by the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, which fulfills the agreement enacted in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) passed in 2014.
Transportation Update December 4, 2015
President Barack Obama signed the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act. The final legislation, titled Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, is a multi-year reauthorization that provides certainty for state and local governments to maintain and move forward with transportation projects, including new flexibilities and a more streamlined environmental review process. The bill also establishes new national freight policies and programs aimed at improving freight movement.
For more information about all modes of transportation: Transportation Resources
© 2019 Voice For Soy | Funded by Membership Dollars


Somerset Community College will be hosting the annual Kids Kollege program this summer for children ages six to 12. Kids Kollege, now in its 37th year, will be held in two sessions with the first being June 20 to 23 and the second June 27 to 30, 2016. All classes will be held on the SCC Somerset Campus, located at 808 Monticello Street in Somerset. Classes will be Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. until noon with check in beginning at 7:45 a.m. the first Monday of each week in the SCC Harold Rogers Student Commons. Registration must be done in advance.
Wet and Wild Outdoor Adventure, led by Elaine Kohrman, Patrick Gaskin, Kelly Johnson, and Dr. Amanda Waterstrat: Go deep into a tropical rain forest, explore wildlife on Safari, brave white water rapids. Well not really, but it will sure seem like it when you sign up for Wet and Wild Outdoor Adventure. Youll be knee deep (sometimes, literally) for four days with some of SCCs best Biological Science instructors. Along the way you will be learning all about stream health and basic water chemistry, habitat assessment and much more. This class is rain or shine and has 2 days of creek adventure; so come prepared: YOU WILL GET WET!!!
Kool Krafty Kids, led by Holly Bowers and Donnia Vanschoyck: Let your creative juices flow as Holly and Donnia guide you through a variety of fun and imaginative projects. Let your inner van Gogh wild with tie dyeing, leather works (bracelets and necklaces) and Crayola masterpieces.
A Day in the Life: Allied Health Careers, led by Jennifer Wilson, Shana Catron, Tracey Franklin , Samantha Feldman: For the young, up-and-coming health care professional, experience first-hand what its like to be a Physical Therapist Assistant, Registered Nurse, X-Ray Tech or Paramedic. Each day you'll receive a Healthy Dose of useful information and fun activities.
Children at Play, led by Jacob Phelps and Patrick Mayer: Jacob and Patrick will get you up and running playing school yard favorites like Kickball, Frisbee Golf, Whiffle Ball, Dodge Ball (foam balls) and more. This class is guaranteed to get your heart pumping and sweat pouring. You can Dodge dehydration and sunburn by bringing gatorade and sunscreen!
To find out more about registering for Kids Kollege, call (606) 451-6746. You may also visit Somerset.kctcs.edu and click on the Visitors and Community link, then Youth Programs to view the entire Kids Kollege brochure and registration information.


July 28 (UPI) -- Jerry Seinfeld has taken the No. 1 spot atop the Forbes annual list of highest-paid comedians, ahead of Chris Rock and Louis C.K.
The list, released Thursday, has the Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee star earning $69 million over the past year, thanks in part to a Netflix stand-up deal he signed and syndication checks from hit '90s sitcom Seinfeld.
Coming in second place is Chris Rock, who earned $57 million and then Louis C.K. with $52 million.
All top five comedians listed, including Dave Chappelle in fourth place with $47 million and Amy Schumer, the lone woman on the list, with $37.5 million in fifth place, made big profits over the past year due to deals with Netflix.
Last year's top earner Kevin Hart has fallen to sixth place with $32.5 million, as he has focused more on his film career then taking the stage for stand-up shows.
Seinfeld's lucrative deal with Netflix was announced in January, and includes bringing over his series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee to the streaming service along with filming two new stand-up specials and helping the company develop scripted and non-scripted programming.


New tires are an expense that almost every vehicle owner will have to take on at some point. Unfortunately, this can be out of budget for many, which can leave them driving in an unsafe vehicle. If you want to extend the life of your tires so you can potentially avoid replacing them for longer, Temecula Car Wash recommends regular cleaning!
Why Is Tire Cleaning Important?
When you have your tires washed, it gets rid of the dirt and grime that builds up every time you drive. In addition to this, it can alert you to any nails or small holes that otherwise wouldn't be noticeable underneath dirt and rock. By having these patched as soon as possible, you can minimize the damage and keep your tires properly inflated for longer.
How to Wash Your Tires?
At Temecula Car Wash, we recommend coming in to our facility to have your tires (and car) washed. We have the proper washing tools and supplies to get rid of dirt, rock, and any other impurities that might be stuck on your tires. We'll also wash up the wheels so the bottom of your car looks like new.
If you're in Temecula or the surrounding area, come in and see us! We offer affordable service and custom tire washes.