Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has hit back at a US government report that urges president Barack Obama not to pardon him.
On the day before the release of the Snowden Movie, US lawmakers released a highly critical report of the disclosures made by the man who has been living in Russia since 2013.
The executive summary of the report comes amid a growing backlash from civil rights groups and some US citizens saying that Snowden should be issued a pardon before Obama's presidency finishes. The White House has rejected any possible pardon that would see Snowden exonerated for his whistleblowing.
The report from the US House of Representatives argues that information released by Snowden – concerning US mass surveillance and data collection by the NSA and other governments around the world – caused "tremendous damage to national security".
"Snowden was not a whistleblower," the report continues to say. It also goes on to claim that the former contractor had a "spat" with managers two weeks before he started to download documents; says he "was, and remains, a serial exaggerator and fabricator".
"Finally, the Committee remains concerned that more than three years after the start of the unauthorised disclosures, NSA, and the intelligence community as a whole, have not done enough to minimise the risk of another massive unauthorised disclosure," the executive summary says.
A separate letter sent to Obama from lawmakers also says that Snowden should not be given a pardon and "the U.S. government must hold him accountable for his actions".
Snowden himself, through a long series of tweets, has strongly denied the claims issued by the House of Representatives report.
"Their report is so artlessly distorted that it would be amusing if it weren't such a serious act of bad faith," he says in response. "Bottom line: after "two years of investigation," the American people deserve better. This report diminishes the committee."
Snowden, who, while in Russia is a director at Freedom of The Press, rejected multiple points of the report. In one instance, where it was claimed he "doctored performance evaluations" he said he had reported a hacking vulnerability in the CIA's systems.
He has been living in Russia for the last three years after disclosing thousands of classified documents that revealed mass phone and internet surveillance in the US and UK.
Among the disclosures were details of how secret court orders allowed the NSA to collect US citizens' phone records and PRISM. The latter being the NSA's program to request user data from technology giants including Facebook and Google.
Elsewhere in the disclosures were details of how the UK taps fiber optic cables around the world, through its Tempora program and how the NSA spies on foreign countries and world leaders.


text:
Home Latest News NBA stars set for inaugural "NBA 2K Players Tournament" on ESPN and...
NBA stars set for inaugural "NBA 2K Players Tournament" on ESPN and ESPN2
Joe Streeter
2K, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) is set to launch the "NBA 2K Players Tournament," an NBA 2K20 gameplay tournament between 16 current NBA players.
Being broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2, players – including top seeds Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks – will compete in a single- elimination, player-only tournament on Xbox One.
The winner will be crowned the ultimate NBA 2K20 champion and select a charity beneficiary to receive a $100,000 donation from 2K, the NBA and the NBPA in support of ongoing coronavirus relief efforts.
Jason Argent, 2K Senior Vice President, Sports Strategy and Licensing commented: "We're thrilled to partner with the NBA and NBPA to bring basketball back to fans throughout the world and to help those in need during these uncertain times. Entertainment, especially sports, has the ability to bring communities together – including athletes, fans and families – and we hope that everyone will enjoy the tournament."
Matt Holt, NBA SVP of Global Partnerships added: "We are excited to tip off the first 'NBA 2K Players Tournament' in partnership with the NBPA and 2K, continuing an ongoing effort to stay connected with NBA fans around the world, while also giving back in this time of need."
Based on players' seeding – which is determined first by NBA 2K rating, second by tenure – players will go head- to-head online in NBA 2K20. Prior to the tournament beginning, every player will choose eight of today's NBA teams, each of which can only be used once. If a mirror match is set, the away team is awarded first choice of team. Rounds one and two will be single elimination, with the semifinals and finals running best of three.
Josh Goodstadt, EVP of Licensing for THINK450, the commercial arm of the NBPA concluded: "This tournament offers a unique opportunity for our players to compete with one another while also supporting their philanthropic efforts and engaging with their fans. We are excited to work with 2K and the NBA to bring this experience to life for the entire NBA community."
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Betby links with Aposta Ganha to expand Brazilian esports presence
PointsBet launches 'Count It' basketball betting show
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Low6 revamps Sacramento Kings' Pick'em Game 'Call The Shot'
Countdown for Canadian sports betting bill as Senate prepares for summer...
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


To promote the care, well-being and development of children in need, especially the deprived, the abused, the destitute and the homeless.
Increase comprehensive and integrated care and support for street children and mobilise and strengthen community-based Orphan and Vulnerable Children responses.
To take all necessary steps to promote the rehabilitation of Nigeria's street children.
Wherever possible, to work towards reuniting children with their families and strengthen the capacity of families to cope with their problems.
To provide counselling, education and vocational skills training for children and youths in need, enabling them to become self-supporting and independent.
To create awareness among the general public of the existence of children and youths in need.


text:
A Serbian Film - (2012)
An aging porn star agrees to participate in an "art film" in order to make a clean break from the business, only to discover that he has been drafted into making a pedophilia and necrophilia themed snuff film.
Genders: Mystery, Horror, Thriller
Countries: Serbia
Subtitles: 57
Indonesian Blu-ray (8 months ago)
Portuguese Blu-ray (9 months ago)
Indonesian N/A (2 years ago)
Incoming (2018) - (2018)
The International Space Station is now a prison - the ultimate black site. No one's getting out. And no one knows it's there. But when the imprisoned terrorists take over the Station and turn it into a missile aimed at Moscow, only a shuttle pilot and a rookie doctor can stop them. Their task is complicated by a rogue CIA agent (Scott Adkins) who has his own plans for the station and the terrorists within.
Genders: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Time: min
Indonesian Not rated (0 seconds ago)
English Not rated (0 seconds ago)
Panama - (2015)
Genders: Drama, Thriller, Romance
Farsi/Persian Blu-ray (0 seconds ago)
Indonesian Blu-ray (0 seconds ago)
Cinema Komunisto - (2012)
When history has a different script from the one in your films, who wouldn't invent a country to fool themselves? The collapsing sets of Tito's Hollywood of the East take us on a journey ...
Genders: History, Documentary
Farsi/Persian N/A (4 years ago)
Tomorrow Morning - (2006)
After twelve years spent abroad, the main character returns to his native city, where he meets his old love, friends and parents again They spend four days together and after that nothing ...
Ukranian DVD (0 seconds ago)
See You in Montevideo - (2014)
A football team from Belgrade, in the former Yugoslavia, gets a chance to go to the First World Football Championship, but things get complicated along the way.
Genders: Adventure, Sport, Comedy
Romanian DVD (0 seconds ago)
Danish DVD (4 years ago)
Who the Fuck Is Milos Brankovic? - (2008)
A story of a struggling filmmaker delving deep into Belgrade underworld in order to make a documentary about a young architect struggling in the corrupt and decaying world of contemporary Serbia.
Genders: Thriller
Crni Gruja i kamen mudrosti - (2007)
Based on a comedy TV series about Serbian "aristocracy" during the Turkish "answer" to the Serbian Uprising during the Serbian-Turkish war in the 19th century. During this time it was of ...
Genders: Fantasy, Comedy
Clip - (2013)
Jasna is a teenage girl living in the poor suburbs in the south of Belgrade, Serbia. She likes to record everything around her using a mobile phone camera. She is making videos of herself, ...
Vietnamese Blu-ray (0 seconds ago)
English Blu-ray (0 seconds ago)
Montevideo: Taste of a Dream - (2010)
A story about one team that decides to follow a dream that takes them on a journey to the First World Football Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930. A dream that allows them to become true stars and living legends.
Genders: Drama, Adventure, Comedy
Indonesian DVD (0 seconds ago)


Xtremax is seeking an Project Executive who wants to work in a fast-paced innovative environment. The successful candidate will work with a team to build websites, mobile applications and other projects that deliver interactive experiences.
Minimum Diploma or Degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, Marketing or equivalent.


text:
25 Nov 2020 nasarawaeye
NSHA Passes N20.2bn 2020 Supplementary Budget Into Law
The Nasarawa State House of Assembly, has passed the 2020 supplementary budget of N20.2billion into law as sent to the House by Gov. Abdullahi Sule.
Rt. Hon. Ibrahim Balarabe-Abdullahi, the Speaker of the House announced the passage of the 2020 supplementary appropriation bill into law after bill scale third reading during the House proceedings in Lafia today.
Balarabe Abdullahi said that the speedy passage of the bill was to enable the state government address some challenges and was due to the effects of COVID19 pandemic on the economy.
" A Bill for a Law to Issue Out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State ( Supplementary Appropriation Bill) the sum of N20, 203, 376, 300 only for the Services of Nasarawa State Government for the period of two months, commencing 1st November, 2020 and ending 31st December, 2020 scale third reading and passed into law," the speaker said
Balarabe Abdullahi appreciated his colleagues for their support in giving the 2020 supplementary bill speedy passage.
" I appreciate your commitment and I appreciate your passion for the development of the state.
" I sincerely thank you all, " he said.
The speaker directed the clerk to the House to produce a clean copy of the bill to the governor for his assent.
Earlier, Hon Tanko Tunga, the Majority Leader of the House moved a motion for the 2020 supplementary bill to scale third reading.
Hon Luka Iliya Zhekaba, the Deputy Minority Leader of the House seconded the motion for the bill to scale third reading.
The House unanimously passed the budget into third reading .
It would be recalled that on Nov. 11, 2020 Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, has presented N20.2billion 2020 supplementary budget to the state House of Assembly for consideration and approval.
The Sum of N14,816,626,602b is for recurrent expenditure while N5,386,719,300b is for capital expenditure.
It would be recalled that on July 20, 2020, Gov. Abdullahi Sule has presented a revised 2020 budget of N62.96billion to the state house of assembly for consideration and approval.
It would also be recalled that on December 4, 2019, Gov. Abdullahi Sule has presented the 2020 budget proposal of N100.52 billion to the state House of Assembly for consideration and approval.
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Organised by ADA (Appui au développement autonome), BRS (Belgian Raiffeisen Foundation), Cera Bank, KBC, … the Midi de la Microfinance/Microfinance Lunch Break with Johnathan Morduch will take place 18th February in Luxembourg and 21st February in Brussels.
The topic will be 'How can microfinance optimize the poor's portfolios?'.
Etiquetas ADA, Brussels, conference, February 2011, Johnatan Morduch, jornada, Luxemburgo, microfinance, microfinanzas, Portfolios of the poors.


text:
Melina León (Lima, Perú, 1977) es una directora peruana radicada en Lima y Nueva York. Estrenó su ópera prima, Canción sin Nombre, en la Quincena de Realizadores de Cannes 2019, convirtiéndose en la primera directora peruana en ser seleccionada por el festival.  La cinta fue nominada a los Premios Goya en la categoría Mejor Película Iberoamericana y fue la candidata de Perú a los premios Oscar. Canción sin Nombre ha sido seleccionada en más de 100 festivales internacionales, obteniendo alrededor de 50 premios entre los cuales destacan Mejor Dirección en el Thessaloniki Film Festival, Mejor Película en el Stockholm Film Festival y el Premio Cinevision a la Mejor Directora Emergente del Festival de Cine de Munich.

Ambientada en Perú, el año 1988, la cinta está inspirada en un caso real de tráfico de niños originalmente reportado por Ismael León, padre de la directora.

Graduada de la Universidad de Columbia, Nueva York, su cortometraje, El Paraíso de Lili, tuvo su debut internacional en el 47th New York Film Festival.

Es fundadora de la productora audiovisual "La Vida Misma Films", junto a Inti Briones y Michael J. White.

Filmografía
 Una 45 para los gastos del mes (cortometraje, 2000)
Silencio (2002), cortometraje - productora
El paraíso de Lili (cortometraje, 2011)
Canción sin nombre (2019)

Premios y nominaciones

 2001. Conacine. Premio al mejor cortometraje por Una 45 para los gastos del mes

 2009. Conacine. Premio al mejor cortometraje por El paraíso de Lili

 2020. Festival de Cine de Madrid (FCM-PNR) Premio al Mejor Largo PNR

Referencias

Enlaces externos

 Melina León, primera directora peruana en Cannes

Directoras de cine de Perú
Alumnado de la Universidad de Lima
Alumnado de la Universidad de Columbia
Mujeres guionistas de cine
Guionistas de Perú
Productores de cine de Perú
Nacidos en Lima

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Proven leader takes helm of Oak Bay Marine Group
Peter Ciceri steps into some legendary shoes this July, as he takes over the Oak Bay Marine Group of Companies as chief executive officer
Jun. 17, 2014 6:00 a.m.
Peter Ciceri steps into some legendary shoes this July, as he takes over the Oak Bay Marine Group of Companies as chief executive officer.
After many years as a successful CEO, corporate director, and international executive, Victoria-based international businessman Ciceri has a successful private practice as an executive coach and corporate director, helping CEOs build through effective leadership and management practices.
"Peter brings a wealth of experience to the table and we are delighted to have him aboard" said Director Sharon Halkett.
"As we continue to build upon Bob Wright's legacy, Peter's guidance will be a tremendous asset to the management team."
Wright started the company in 1962 with the Oak Bay Marina and was a true west coast entrepreneur, eventually operating a diverse array of businesses in three countries. Wright was known to be singularly focused on his business empire until his death in April of last year.
The Oak Bay Marine Group employs approximately 600 people and operates world class resorts, marinas, and tourist attractions in Canada, the United States, and the Bahamas.
PENINSULA: Return bike racks to Beacon
Victoria West property tax hike hard to swallow


Wake up to morning sunshine with a smooth Vanilla Coating Yogurt bar. So tasty and nutritious, a great way to enhance any part of the day whether it`s for breakfast, lunch or dinner treat. our fabulous Vanilla Yogurt Bar Coated with rich black chocolate.
Ingredients: nonfat milk, sugar, corn sweetener, milk fat, mono & diglycerides, cellulose gum, guar gum, carob bean gum, artificial flavor, carrageenan, salt, active yogurt cultures, caramel color and artificial colors (FD&C YELLOW #5 & RED #40).


Grundy County Animal Control is located at the address 95 N Dwight Rd in Morris, Illinois 60450. They can be contacted via phone at (815) 942-9214 for pricing, hours and directions.
For maps and directions to Grundy County Animal Control view the map to the right. For reviews of Grundy County Animal Control see below.


In life certain emotions become dominant, the food to share and joy to give, the laughter to feel and sorrow to bare, and how come different emotions differently affect people. Is it really all to do with person's mentality or state or is it all to do with luck as do money and happiness...or are they!?!
"John...HURRY ON BOY" Jacob roared, a scream that opens our story with the disturbed father echoing through a narrow corridor where the one bedroom apartment used to be. "I'M COMMING DAD" replied John, "the enterprise isn't going anywhere dear father" he then continued; realizing the displeasure that yelling may have caused for his father. "AS DO YOU POOR POCKET IF YOU DONT CHANGE THAT ATTITUDE" the father's voice got higher as the words of his own! opened the past to a different image where he flashed-back to a time where looking for money and ways to live wasn't that hard, and why would anyone work from 5 at the morning to 9 at night just to have a good meal before bed. "What happened dad" surprised John by his father. Daydreaming. The father snapped"who..humm...NOTHING" walking through the corridor that ends with a worn-out door that opens to the city's outskirts where productivity was the only mean to survive.(not to be great...to survive) as the morning breeze became rotten with the sense of despair and a group of homeless villagers where between life and death lining up across a sandy most dried-up alley where there was no water to drink and food to eat, and for the major dilemma there were no dreams to take them away from their inclining state. "go straight and never stare.....be grateful and wish them an easy end." Jacob said. the air gets heavy congested with the variety of different emotion that the people had.
Upon arriving at a small hut in the corner of the marketplace. Where the cats lived John looked to his dad "when are we going inside the city dad", said the ambitions boy. "the city is no place for commoners my child" opening the door to the 4 - axe cabin. "grab your axe boy..timber today is as bad as our future is if we don't work hard". "Sure thing dad" the boy smiled looking at the trees visualizing the day that he will change his life work his way to the top, while a desperate father paying the price for his past mistake is struggling to provide for his family. The day opens up as the two woodcutters began the major factor for success which is hard-word.


text:
Il doppio standard consiste nell'applicazione di principi di giudizio diversi per situazioni simili, o nei confronti di persone diverse che si trovino nella stessa situazione. È l'antitesi del precetto kantiano dell'autonomia della legge morale, perché attinge da situazioni concrete di interesse utilitario (eteronomia) per negare la possibilità di una linea di condotta uguale dinanzi a situazioni uguali.

Tipologia
Il doppio standard può prendere la forma di un giudizio morale che considera accettabile un determinato concetto (una norma sociale, una regola, una frase, un apprezzamento) se applicato da un gruppo di persone, mentre è considerato inaccettabile, o tabù, se applicato da un diverso gruppo. Ad esempio, il concetto di doppio standard è stato applicato a differenti strutture morali, sugli uomini rispetto alle donne e viceversa.

Quando il giudizio riguarda la sfera morale, si parla di doppia morale.

Il doppio standard può essere definito, quindi, come una sorta di bias cognitivo che determina una sospensione del giudizio, moralmente ingiusta (nei confronti di un certo gruppo), di quel principio che statuisce l'uguaglianza dei singoli nella loro sfera di libertà.

Nel diritto
L'adozione di un doppio standard è ingiustificata se vista in rapporto a principi giuridici accolti in molti sistemi costituzionali, secondo cui tutti i soggetti sono considerati uguali di fronte alla legge. Il doppio standard infrange anche un principio di imparzialità della giustizia, secondo il quale un determinato standard di giudizio legale deve essere applicato indifferentemente a ogni sorta di persona, a prescindere da pregiudizi personali, da discriminazioni e favoritismi fondati sullo status e sull'appartenenza sociale, sul ruolo sociale ed etnico, sull'identità di genere, sulla confessione religiosa, sull'orientamento sessuale, sull'età o su altre distinzioni. Il doppio standard viola tale principio, in quanto permette che persone diverse siano giudicabili secondo standard differenti.

In campo giuridico, del resto, il pericolo della "giustizia di classe" si è storicamente riscontrato nelle legislazioni riconducibili ad ordinamenti non pluralisti. In tali fasi c'è il serio rischio di stabilire due pesi e due misure a seconda che si debba perseguire e punire le trasgressioni delle classi dominanti o delle classi subalterne (si dice che la legge è forte con i deboli e debole con i forti): così si assiste a una depenalizzazione delle violazioni a carico dei cosiddetti colletti bianchi e un inasprimento delle misure punitive per gli stessi delitti se vengono commessi da individui delle classi inferiori.

Nel diritto internazionale

Analogamente, nelle relazioni internazionali l'invocazione di principi universalistici come linea di azione si presta all'obiezione della disparità di trattamento tra situazioni analoghe e, quindi, all'accusa che i moventi dell'azione siano assai meno nobili (ovvero maggiormente determinati dall'interesse nazionale degli Stati più potenti) di quanto si voglia far credere.

Anche l'abuso del diritto riconosciuto dai trattati, da parte di chi li vìola, può dare luogo a casi di doppio standard: è il contenuto dell'accusa rivolta dal Parlamento europeo il 15 settembre 2022, quando ha stigmatizzato "che il governo ungherese ignora il principio del primato del diritto dell'Unione sancito dalla giurisprudenza della CGUE, ma si appella alla stessa quando si tratta di presentare ricorsi contro atti europei in vigore".

Esempi
L'applicazione di doppi standard è un caso frequentemente studiato nei comportamenti sociali.

Percezione del rischio "accettabile"
Il sociologo Niklas Luhmann, ad esempio, rilevava la "doppiezza" di giudizio nei confronti della percezione di accettabilità del rischio: non si è disposti a correre rischi che derivino da imposizione altrui, mentre si è disposti a correre rischi elevatissimi sulla base di proprie decisioni. Ne deriva, ad esempio, che la percezione e l'accettabilità del rischio sociale sottostanno a oscillazioni così imprevedibili del giudizio, da essere praticamente sottratte a ogni valutazione condotta su basi cognitive o morali.

Morale sessuale

Una doppiezza storicamente durevole si apprezza nei giudizi che attengono alla sfera del comportamento sessuale: il libertinismo e il permissivismo sono, in genere, accettati e giustificati, in materia sessuale, se messi in atto da maschi, mentre analoghe condotte sessuali libere sono disapprovate, in misura più o meno aspra, quando riguardano la sfera sessuale femminile. Un'analisi retrospettiva di trenta studi, pubblicati tra il 1980 e il 2002, ha mostrato come il doppio standard sia "influenzato da fattori interpersonali e situazionali (come l'età del campione, il livello di motivazione relazionale e il numero di partner sessuali), e che i doppi standard sono costruzioni locali, con differenze che emergono tra gruppi etnici e culturali.

Altro esempio legato alla sfera sessuale è la diversa percezione dell'opinione pubblica riguardo alle violenze sessuali, che spesso sono  considerate meno gravi se perpetrate da donne a danno di uomini.

Religione
Esempi di doppi parametri di giudizio nella religione sono evidenti nel manicheismo e nel marcionismo, in cui esisteva una duplicità di standard nel giudizio morale basata sulla funzione: un sistema di giudizio rigoroso, dettagliato, e inflessibile, riguardava i religiosi, uno più tollerante era applicabile ai semplici credenti laici. Si tratta, in questo caso, di una disparità di trattamento basata sul ruolo assolto dalle persone.

Doppia morale cattolica
Nel lessico sociologico italiano, si parla di doppia morale cattolica con riferimento al cinismo dei rapporti intrattenuti dalla gerarchia cattolica con lo Stato italiano "quando sono in gioco i suoi interessi come istituzione di potere". La sociologa Chiara Saraceno ritiene che in questo atteggiamento sia da individuare una corresponsabilità nel degrado etico e civile nel quale si dibatte l'Italia sul finire degli anni novanta del XX secolo.

Note

Voci correlate
 Ipocrisia
 Discriminazione
 Discriminazione sessuale
 Doppio legame (psicologia)
 Etica della reciprocità/Regola d'oro
 Moralità
 Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi
 Paradosso
 Contraddizione
 Bispensiero
 Chiagni e fotti
 Malafede

Discriminazione
Etica
Teorie femministe


Background Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is an uncommon benign intramedullary fibro-osseous lesion. Cervical spine compromise is rare with only cases reported. Currently, the natural history of cervical FD is poorly understood, and its treatment remains controversial.
Methods A review of the literature was performed to analyze and discuss the management of cervical FD through a case report and literature review.
Results Cervical FD is a rare benign pathology. Clinical presentation is usually casual or only clinical pain. Computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous biopsy is a safe and effective technique for evaluation of spinal lesions; however, the accuracy of the preoperative biopsy findings has been disappointing. Although all treatments are valid, no one has been demonstrated to be better. Our proposed treatment, a corpectomy and fixation with a titanium mesh cage filled with allograft bone and an anterior cervical plate, showed good results.
Conclusions The rarity of cervical FD and the lack of detailed reports with long-term follow-up periods complicate the research on the optimal treatment approach in these cases, but apparently all are valid for pain control. In our case, a corpectomy and fixation with a titanium mesh cage filled with allograft bone and an anterior cervical plate was carried out and showed good results. We submit this surgery option to be considered in these rare type of injuries.
Disclosures and COI: The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this paper.


text:
Seo Joon-yong (Koreaans: 서 준 용; 14 maart 1988) is een Zuid-Koreaans wielrenner die anno 2018 rijdt voor KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling. In 2014 werd hij nationaal kampioen op de weg.

In 2016 nam Seo deel aan de wegwedstrijd op de Olympische Spelen in Rio de Janeiro, maar reed deze niet uit.

Overwinningen

2008
7e etappe Ronde van Korea
2012
5e etappe Ronde van Thailand
2013
8e etappe Ronde van Korea
2014
 Zuid-Koreaans kampioen op de weg, Elite
3e etappe Ronde van Hokkaido
2015
5e etappe Ronde van Langkawi
2017
5e etappe Ronde van Thailand
2018
 Zuid-Koreaans kampioen op de weg, Elite

Resultaten in voornaamste wedstrijden

Ploegen
 2008 –  Meitan Hompo-GDR (stagiair vanaf 1-8)
 2009 –  EQA-Meitan Hompo-Graphite Design
 2010 –  Seoul Cycling
 2011 –  Seoul Cycling Team
 2012 –  Seoul Cycling Team
 2013 –  KSPO
 2014 –  KSPO
 2015 –  KSPO
 2016 –  KSPO
 2017 –  KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling
 2018 –  KSPO Bianchi Asia Procycling

Zuid-Koreaans wielrenner
Zuid-Koreaans olympisch deelnemer


text:
Have You Heard Of Saxon Switzerland?
If you haven't, let me fix this unfortunate injustice and tell you more about Saxon Switzerland — a place that, as a matter of fact, isn't actually in Switzerland.
Located in Germany, on the border with the Czech Republic, Saxon Switzerland is one of Europe's most beautiful national parks, according to The Guardian. And indeed, the unusual landscapes of Sächsische Schweiz, as known in German, are so dramatically monumental that it's hard to remain indifferent.
Weirdly enough, while I was living in Saxony for almost two years, I never visited that area. So when I expatriated to Ecuador I thought I would never get a second chance to explore it. But thankfully, the odds were in my favour so after I eventually settled down in Berlin, I knew it was high time I saw Saxon Switzerland.
The easiest way to go there is first to arrive to Dresden — check out MeinFernbus for cheap bus connections. When you're in Dresden (I highly recommend to spend at least day there, by the way), take a regional train (S-Bahn) to either Pirna, Stadt Wehlen, Kurort Rathen, Königstein or Bad Schandau — you can start hiking from any of these. I chose to make a stop at Wehlen, which is a small candy-looking town on the banks of the Elbe river with a super cute market square.
See also: Is This Bavaria's Most Beautiful Town? Why You Should Visit Bamberg
From there, I drafted an itinerary through the Malerweg trail — a well-known route that is famed for providing inspiration to even better-known artists, painters and musicians. They say that Anton Graff and Adrian Zingg were the first ones to "discover" Saxon Switzerland in the 19th century and soon after, half of the European artistic avant grade followed their steps, including the one and only Richard Wagner.
There's actually a memorial to Wagner, which unfortunately I didn't see because I was hurrying to Felsentor at Uttewalder Grund…
…which are huge labyrinth-like rock formations that I literally had to squeeze myself through.
This wasn't an easy job, let me be honest. It was drizzling that day, too, so everything was moist and slippery — and given the fact that I'm the clumsiest person I know, you can imagine that classy and elegant scene.
All that drama, however, didn't stop me from going on. I continued walking through a forest with a soft brown carpet of leaves.
And then after an hour of wandering, I finally ended up where I wanted to be — at the Bastei Bridge.
You definitely must have seen it somewhere on Pinterest before — amidst the huge sandstone rocks, there stands this monumental bridge, the artful piece of architecture!
"What depth of feeling it pours into the soul! You can stand here for a long time without being finished with it (…) it is so difficult to tear yourself away from this spot."— Carl Heinrich Nikolai, the first wanderer of Saxon Switzerland
The view over the Bastei Bridge was simply beautiful — I wish I had something better than my iPhone camera to capture it. I have never seen anything like it before, to be honest — these were just enormous pieces of rock that don't hardly resemble traditional-looking like mountains, really.
If you cross the bridge, you will actually see a memorial plaque to Carl Heinrich Nikolai — a person who I never knew existed and yet whom we all apparently owe the discovery of Saxon Switzerland.
The national park has around 1000 summits for rock climbers and hundreds of kilometres of market hiking trails. Over the weekend, I covered around 40 km — not too bad for somebody who doesn't know what the word "gym" means — ending up at the Königstein Fortress. Also known as the "Saxon Bastille", this is the largest fortress in Germany (and one of the largest in Europe) that attracts around 700,000 visitors every year.
It's cool to just walk around the fortress that actually feels like a town within a town. There are around 50 buildings, few museums, a hotel and a restaurant, where I ate the most delicious pie ever that helped me to regain my strength after an exhausting hike up the hill.
Again, the view from to fortress was just amazing! It was super windy that day, and later on it even started raining, but I didn't care.
Yes, sheep.
So, have you heard about Saxon Switzerland before?
P.S. You might also like:
10 Cutest Small Towns In Germany
Hiking Near Zurich: Exploring Uetliberg


text:
Pop & Hiss
Liz Phair on new record: 'I'm going to get this one right'
By Todd MartensGame Critic
Liz Phair is working on a new album, and last week in Los Angeles she shared her dreams for it. 'My fantasy is that this comes out on Matador,' she says, referring to the famed independent label that released her first three albums, including the career-defining 1993 debut 'Exile in Guyville.'
She's going to have to record it before she worries about finding a label, but Phair hopes to be on the road this fall, either previewing or supporting what she says will be a rock-focused album.
Phair was last heard on 2010's 'Funstyle,' an Internet release that placed sarcasm and experimentation ahead of songcraft. It was a wild left turn from her last major-label effort, 2005's 'Somebody's Miracle,' an album that was drenched in studio gloss and attempted to force Top-40 hooks into Phair's loose, conversational approach. Phair resurfaces next week with an end-credits song to the DreamWorks/Touchstone film 'People Like Us,' a song that is a collaboration with Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman.
Pop & Hiss will have more on the partnership in coming days, but speaking on the afternoon of the film's premiere Phair promised that fans wouldn't have to wait too long for a new album. Unlike the off-the-cuff 'Funstyle,' songs that Phair said cost her management and label deals, the new record will be a more cohesive affair.
'I'm working on a proper rock record, a good, old-school rock record. Finally. I had a lot of issues to work out,' Phair says, laughing and slinking into her chair.
'But this record has been a very beautiful experience. I'm not going to screw up the production, either. I'm going to get this one right. I have my head screwed on right. I haven't been this way in a long time.'
She credits her performance in 2010 at the Matador's 21st anniversary concerts in Las Vegas as reinvigorating her approach to music. Phair shared a stage with the likes of Guided by Voices and Yo La Tengo, and even dueted with Ted Leo.
'Oh, my God, what a godsend that was,' she says of the experience. 'What an amazing homecoming. That ended a whole cycle of pain. It was a rebirth. I remembered who I once was, and they remembered not to hate me so much. They remembered that it's not all that ferociously awful, what I have done.'
As for her new record, Phair says she's targeting a more stripped-down, stark approach. She cites a few artists as inspiration. 'I want the production to be kind of Jack White-ish, Ryan Adams-ish, that style of production,' she says. 'I want it to sound [messed]-up, but at a level of mastery that is respectable.'
And for those still confused by the scattershot production of 'Funstyle,' which ranged from Bollywood to spoken-word goofiness, get over it. There's more where that came from, but Phair is now reticent to release it.
'I was going to do 'Funstyle,' 'Funnerstyle' and Funnererstyle.' I've got all these songs, but I can't handle people freaking out,' she says. 'There's just all this bad material that really ought to be heard at some point.'
Album review: Fiona Apple's 'The Idler Wheel ...'
Ice-T gets back to hip-hop roots in 'The Art of Rap'
Nicki Minaj, Glen Campbell, Wilco among L.A.'s top summer concerts
-- Todd Martens
Todd Martens
Todd Martens joined the Los Angeles Times in 2007 and covers a mix of interactive entertainment (video games) and pop music. Previously, Martens reported on the music business for Billboard Magazine. He has contributed to numerous books, including "The Big Lebowski: An Illustrated, Annotated History of the Greatest Cult Film of All Time." He continues to torture himself by rooting for the Chicago Cubs and, while he likes dogs, he is more of a cat person.


This site focuses on significant examples of bad social behaviour, regardless of responsibilities, regardless of ISO 26000.
This is another evident government failure.
This seems to be a marvellous example on how governments can work. On the picture you see the island of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
This was published in the context of the 2010 earthquake. We see Haiti with rocks, and the side of the Dominican Republic with green forests.
The picture speaks volumes in regard of good and not good working governments.


text:
Net users of Ripple's $0,99 digital currency have benefited from a new fee imposed on banks, according to a new study.
The new fee is one of the most significant changes to the Ripple network's digital currency, the Ripple Coin, that's expected to impact the way banks and other financial institutions manage and track digital assets.
The fee, which is currently set at 0.01% of the amount transferred, has caused some people to take the Ripple coin off the Ripple Network, a popular cryptocurrency that's designed to enable instant transfers of money between accounts.
It also means that Ripple has had to compete with some of the world's largest banks, which have also adopted new fees to control the digital currency's use and usage.
While the new fee may be good for Ripple's network, it could be detrimental to banks that do not have the technology to manage and store digital assets, according a report by Credit Suisse analysts.
In the report, Credit Suise said that banks have long been reluctant to integrate Ripple into their systems, because it can be difficult to track and track a digital asset in real time, making it harder for the bank to determine if an asset has value or not.
That means the Ripple fee, or "network fee," could also hurt banks that already struggle to track digital asset holdings, said the report.
The Credit Suises study did not quantify the impact of the new network fee on banks' balance sheets, but noted that the fee could affect how the banks manage digital assets within their systems.
According to the report:In its latest financial results, the bank said it expects that the average value of assets held by its digital asset custodians will be reduced by 0.06% compared to 2016 levels.
Credit Suisse said that its research suggests that banks may also see a decrease in the value of their digital assets held as a result of the network fee.
In 2016, Ripple held over $5 billion in assets, the report said.
The report does not give any details on how many banks might be impacted by the network fees.
However, a spokesperson for Credit Suiser said that the firm expects the impact to be significant.
"We expect that the network charge will likely cause banks to scale back digital asset management, reducing liquidity and decreasing their ability to manage their digital asset portfolios," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Ripple said it plans to adjust the network charges and increase the fees that banks pay to handle the digital assets in its system.
In response to the news, Ripple's CEO Brian Armstrong said that he's confident that banks will find ways to continue managing their digital wallets.
"I believe that most banks will adjust their fees to keep their digital wallet digital and secure," Armstrong said.
"The banks that will be most affected by this change will be the largest financial institutions.
And they'll be the banks that have the least incentive to innovate and make it easier to manage digital money."
Follow CNN Money on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news, trends and the latest in financial technology.
Gold collapsing amid renewed push for a bailout


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text:
Why the Japanese Don't Illegally Download Music. Much.
The Grand Narrative East Asia, Japanese Movies, Japanese Music, Korean Media, Korean Movies, Korean Music July 1, 2013 July 24, 2013
For all their passion, home-grown fans are not paying enough for K-Pop.
The CD industry is stagnant, and digital music sites are seen as vastly underpriced, with some charging just a few cents a song.
Bernie Cho, head of music distribution label DFSB Kollective, says online music sellers have dropped their prices too low in a bid to compete with pirated music sites….
….With downward pressure on music prices at home, "Many top artists make more money from one week in Japan than they do in one year in Korea."
(BBC, June 2011)
With many implications for the Korean music industry, and raising many questions about the curious preferential treatment given Korean fans over international ones, I've been quoting Bernie ever since. So too Sony Pictures chief Michael Lynton and Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore on movies, the latter of whom suggested that cultural differences are the main reason that Koreans illegally download so much more of them than the Japanese:
…governments around the world are subsidizing and promoting the ubiquity of high speed broadband to make their economies more efficient and competitive. With this increase in speed, content will travel that much more easily on the Internet. But without restraints, much of that content will be contraband.
I've already seen it happen in South Korea, which has one of the most highly developed broadband networks in the world. But piracy has also become so highly developed there that we and virtually every other studio has recently had to curtail or close down our home entertainment businesses. It's hard to sell a legal DVD when it can be stolen without any repercussions.
(Michael Lynton, The Telegraph, May 2009; source, below)
…Paramount is holding back the release of "Iron Man 2" in Japan for several weeks, having little fear about the country being swamped with bootleg copies of the film.
However, when it comes to Korea, it's a different story. "For better or worse, there are certain countries — notably like Korea — where it's culturally acceptable to download movies online pretty much right away," said Moore. "By the third week of a movie's release, you're starting to see a large part of the audience who will start consuming the film online. It's why Korea has almost no home video business anymore."
(Rob Moore, Los Angeles Times, May 2010; via The Marmot's Hole)
Given Lynton and Moore's frustrations, readers — and myself — can be forgiven for accepting that culture must have something to do with it, and that this would necessarily apply to music too. However, I've just finished reading Ian Condry's brilliant Hip-Hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization (2006), a must-read for all Japanese and — yes — Korean music fans (I'll explain in a review later this month), who adds two crucial economic and technological reasons that few outsiders to Japan would be aware of:
Two other aspects that distinguish Japan's music market are rental CD shops and low rates of online piracy. These characteristics further demonstrate that abstract markets do not operate separately from their concrete settings. In Japan, recorded music sale rose steadily during the postwar period, peaked in 1998, and then began a sharp decline that continued through 2004. The start of the decline coincided with the emergence of Napster in 1999, but there are reason to think that online piracy offers only a partial explanation for the decline in sales. As I discuss elsewhere, online piracy is less prevalent in Japan than in the United States. In Japan, most young people access the Internet using cell phones, which as yet tend to have neither broadband connections not substantial hard drives. In addition, ubiquitous CD rental shops make it relatively easy and inexpensive to sample new music without relying on unauthorized downloads. CD prices are high in Japan, generally between ¥2,500 and ¥3000 (US $23-27), but renting a CD is very cheap, generally around ¥300 ($3). The widening availability of CD burners contributes to this "sneaker net" for passing around music and also limits the attractiveness of online file sharing. This suggests that the lack of online piracy arises less from a national respect for copyright than from the combination of a business setting in which rental shops make it easy for consumers to sample music cheaply and a technology environment dominated by Internet-ready cell phones that make downloading over peer-to-peer networks unfeasible.
(pages 190-191; my emphasis)
Written well before smartphones had made their debut, clearly that description is a little dated. Indeed, by 2012, the Recording Industry Association of Japan estimated that only 1 in 10 music downloads were legally purchased, prompting the Japanese government to introduce harsh fines and jail times* for — uniquely — the illegal downloading (rather than the more usual uploading) of content, which in turn provoked an attack on government websites by Anonymous.
However, the Japanese are notorious for stubbornly sticking to outdated technology. Common-sense dictates that looking only at digital downloads would give a very skewed impression of the Japanese music market, which is still the second biggest in the world.
For just last week, Japan Realtime reported that CD sales are booming:
"The Japanese market is very different from the rest of the world," said Mr. Minewaki [CEO of Tower Records Japan]…
….While global sales of physical CDs have been plunging under pressure from the digital download market, Japanese CD sales bucked this trend in 2012 with a 9% rise from a year earlier, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan. Tower Records Japan is majority-owned by Japan's largest wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc.
Mr. Minewaki said CDs continue to do well in Japan because of legal constraints that curbs rapid discounting, a lag in consumers switching from feature phones to smartphones, and the popularity of rental CD shops where consumers can rent then copy music, a cheaper alternative than buying songs or albums online.
But the compact disc business isn't completely immune to the marching popularity of digital downloads…
Meanwhile, here in Korea, I don't think I've even touched a CD in the last year. Although I do have hundreds, being 37 years old and all…
How about yourself? Are CD rental stores also still around in Japan?
*Like most articles praising the rapid rise of the Korean digital music market and the supposed success of Korean anti-piracy efforts, this article completely fails to mention how absurdly cheap Korean digital tracks are, as noted by Bernie Cho in the opening quote.
CD Rental Stores
Ian Condry
Jananese Hip-Hop
Published July 1, 2013 July 24, 2013
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23 thoughts on "Why the Japanese Don't Illegally Download Music. Much."
Yep. CD rental shops still around. In fact, there are about 3 within 5-10 minute walking distance in my area.
Before I read and added the information about booming CD sales from the Japanese Realtime article, I would have expressed surprise, but now not so much!
Are DVD rental stores still around too? In Korea, they've all but disappeared, clinging on I once read only because — seriously! — older Korean men were understandably too embarrassed to ask their sons how to use the internet to find porn, so they had to rely on DVDs instead.
martininkorea says:
This was a refreshing post! Though I enjoyed the previous ones about sexuality and its related issues here in South Korea, it's nice to read about music, movies, and pop culture from another country such as Japan. I've always enjoyed Japanese pop, rock and hip-hop.
Thanks. This is a blog about sexuality and South Korea and so on though, so I'm afraid 90%+ of posts will continue to be about those sorry. But I am coming to realize the important similarities (and differences) between the Korean and Japanese music industries especially, and how a study of one informs an understanding on the other, so do expect more Japanese music-related posts in the future!
p.s. The next movie review will be a Japanese one too!
I love your blog because of the main focus. Living in South Korea, and in a very conservative area (Andong), your blog brings up many of the things my friends and I discuss. I only wish more Koreans would be as open to such topics.
Mori says:
About the Japanese's respect for copyright:
Once I asked a Japanese person to find the lyrics of a Japanese song for me online because I couldn't find it myself. Their answer was: you probably couldn't find it because it's illegal to post lyrics on the Internet, you'll have to buy the album if you want to get the lyrics. So I said okay I don't want to buy the whole album just for one song's lyrics, so could you please just write down the lyrics (it was a song with only a few lines) and send them to me in an email? But they said no, it's illegal so they won't do it! I was like what the heck… No one is going to throw your ass in jail for writing a few lines of song lyrics in a private email!
I guess I can't really understand their respect for copyright because my country is like Korea, where literally _everyone_ downloads movies and songs from the Internet, even my cousins who all work for the police, and no one thinks it's bad.
Thanks, and that does beggar belief — it's almost like one of those anecdotes in those numerous expat-writes-about-crazy-Japan books, like one off the top my head that opened with how a Japanese person wouldn't jaywalk, even at 3am on a deserted road.
Not that I'm not saying you made it up, or anything like that though. But when was this? Surely not in the last 10 years or so??
Gag Ha;frunt says:
Off-topic, but Asian Junkie has done another post arguing that
plastic surgery in Korea has nothing to do with Western beauty standards. I know that you're gone over this issue at great length already so I'm not necessarily expecting you to respond yet again, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention.
There's an interesting comment on the Asian Junkie entry:
I know pale skin has been favored in most cultures since time immemorial, but what about the V-line and double eyelids? I know they weren't present before Korea had much contact with the West…not to say that they came from them, but it is interesting that the ideal standard of Korean beauty currently resembles those of half-caucasions like Tia from Chocolat.
The same thought had occurred to me — or rather it had come to me the other way around: Tia is the "face of the group" and gets more outside work (MCing, endorsements, etc.) because she comes closer to the current Korean beauty standard than Chocolat's other half-American members do. The beauty standard is Western-inspired but requires certain specific features; it doesn't favour people who just happen to be half-white.
Thanks, although –yes — frankly, I don't really think I have anything new to add to the topic. Also, my previous writing experiences have taught me that, regardless of the content, a Caucasian male writing on the subject just brings out too much vitriol in people, so it's not something I'm all that eager to take up again!
Four quick things though:
1) If you haven't read it already, Joanna Elfing-Hwang's recent article "Cosmetic Surgery and Embodying the Moral Self in South Korean Popular Makeover Culture" at The Asia-Pacific Journal is a must read.
2) That comment about the V-line betrays an almost complete lack of knowledge about where it and other terms like it really come from (and how recently!).
3) Again with that comment, I've often heard that double-eyelids were popular and common well before Westerners arrived. Without necessarily disputing that though, I've yet to come across someone who provided actual evidence that they were either.
4) What you wrote about Tia makes a lot of sense!
It's no big deal really, but just for the record, all of the above comments were made before I edited the post to include the information from the Japanese Realtime article. Cheers.
Pingback: Recommended Reading: July 1st, 2013 | Idolminded
Music has become like pornography. You could never survey all the free stuff in one lifetime so why on Earth would anyone pay for it? If you're never not within reach of a button you can press and go on Youtube, and there's nothing you can't find on Youtube, why still pay for CDs?
Donato Bozzuto says:
Interesting. Just a few days ago Ian Martin of Japan Times (actually one of my favourite writers) wrotethis on his blog, and it sounds like a crucial point to me:
"So what countervailing advantages does pursuing a core fan strategy have for the Japanese music industry? Well, at one extreme, just look at mass idol collective AKB48 and their legions of obsessive fans, some willing to spend millions of yen on thousands of copies of a single in order to gain multiple voting rights in the group's annual "senbatsu election" of the most popular members. Not only the CDs, but an ever growing pile of goods that the fans are encouraged to buy and buy again in order to show their devotion to the goddess of their particular sect within the AKB cult. AKB48 are an extreme example, but they're the big success story in the domestic industry, and their success in monetising fans within a shrinking market has been noted with interest by their competitors."
You can read the whole article here: https://clearandrefreshing.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/why-music-industry-rapprochement-with-the-internet-might-not-work-to-fans-benefit/ , a very good read.
I'm also glad you mentioned Condry's book, I have it on my whishlist since I just finished "Japanese Popular Music: Culture, Authenticity and Power" by Carolyn Stevens. Do you have any other book to suggest? I'm just starting this: http://www.amazon.it/Idols-Celebrity-Japanese-Culture-ebook/dp/B009M98D7W, which is more a collaction of essays, some of them already covered on the Neo-japonism website, but from the first chapter I can tell it's a great work!
I hope you'll keep writing about japanese pop from time to time, I'd especially like what you think about Koda Kumi, since she's a very controversial figure yet as "corporate" as other idols.
Thanks for the comment and interesting links, and sorry for the late reply. To add to Ian Martin's post, by coincidence I just read here about the growing pile of goods fans need to buy here in order to attend any of the four major music shows, with exactly the same logic as Ian outlines:
When the fanstaff come (time listed on the fancafe) they will check if you have the things you need to get in with the group. Once they've checked/gotten the people who have priority in the right order they will write a number on your wrist and that will be your entry number with the group. The higher your number/the lower your ranking is the less likely you are to get in.
Most guides say you just need the group's most recent CD. The fact that you need the CD is correct, but it is literally the bare minimum. All groups give priority to registered/paid official fanclub members, and most groups require other items such as proof you've leveled up on the fancafe (ex. Tasty, NU'EST), require you to sign up on the cafe beforehand for priority (ex. BAP, B1A4), have printed off proof-of-purchase of the songs (음원구매내역서) on an official Korean site (Melon, M!Net, Soribada, etc…) (ex. almost all groups!), ringtone/callback tone (ex. DBSK, NU'EST during FACE), printed off fanchant from the fancafe (ex. Infinite), or require you to buy official goods (ex. Infinite's slogan). Those are just examples that I know of, and to know more specifically you NEED to check each group's fancafe. Most stuff translates easily in Google Translate if you do it sentence/word at a time, the one that doesn't I wrote up there in Korean.
If you are missing any of the things you need, you will be pushed to the back of the line and be less likely to get in. If you don't have the CD you can't even line up except for rare cases (VIXX let's people with just proof-of-purchase online get in behind people with the CDs). No excuses work. (My friend saw a girl telling BAP fanstaff she hadn't brought her CD because it was raining that day and she didn't want to get it wet. This DOES NOT WORK AT ALL.)
I have heard of Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture (as it happens, via one of the editors tweet-complaining about how people were posting entire digital copies online for their friends!), and linked to it in a recent post actually, and I'm very annoyed that there's no paperback version available yet. But I can't recommend anything else sorry, because frankly I know next to nothing about Japanese music, and actually *cough* don't even know who Koda Kumi is. I'm afraid you must be mistaking me for someone else!
Potentially relevant to all this, Avex are launching a new group called FAKY, which "consists of bilingual members as it looks to expand its reach outside of Japan as the next generation girls group from Tokyo". It sounds as if Avex want the group to attract an international following just as K-Pop groups have done. They've revealed two members so far, and one of them, Anna, was born in New Zealand.
And there's a slightly tenuous Korean connection. :) Anna acted in the film Ninja Assassin, starring Rain.
P.S They've just revealed a third member, Tina. Diane and Tina are both half-American and Tina is a cheerleader…hmm, this is reminding me of a certain Korean idol group. :)
In a recent interview, the group that shall not be named said this about their mixed-race heritage:
Ever since their debut three years ago, [the group that shall not be named] has attracted attention for being 'mixed-race idols'. What are their thoughts about this title that continues to follow them?
"To be honest, I don't like the emphasis that we're mixed-race. We all have Korean citizenship and social security numbers too. We love Korea." (Tia)
They hope that people will see them as Korean rather than mixed-race.
For obvious reasons, this seems a big disingenuous to me. But I'm curious as to why their management company are doing a complete 180 on that.
The mixed-race idol angle hasn't exactly made Chocolat massively popular with the Korean public, and it could have backfired, especially as the mixed-race members are all children of Korean women who married American servicemen. I presume that this heartwarming piece of PR was intended to counter the particular prejudices against children with that background. In fact, Melanie once got called a Russian prostitute during an unofficial webchat (incidentally, they confirmed that the missing member Jaeyoon had quit and was not, as per the official story, ill)..
Since that unique selling point didn't work, I suppose that the only thing left is to emphasise the members' credentials as regular Korean girls and hope that the whole issue will eventually fade away. That said, I wonder if it's as much the members being honest as a change in the company line, because I don't think that Paramount Music/PM Entertainment/whatever they;re called have anything like the media management skills of bigger K-Pop companies. The girls chat unofficially to fans and go off-message, and even in official interviews they say things that the management wouldn't be happy about. Melanie reportedly blabbed on Arirang radio that she gets jealous when guys are interested in Tia (and Tia's ideal type is basically her), and oddly enough that episode is not available online. There was another Arirang interview where they were asked what they did in their spare time and they replied "sleep and eat". I can't tell you which member said that, because that episode isn't online either.
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, and for not really having anything to say in reply. But good points, and I'll bear them in mind next time I hear anything about PM.
Tia has joined Ask.fm. Someone asked her "does chocolat earn big incomes?" and she replied "No we haven't gotten any incomes yet."
Thanks — good to know for future reference. That Chocolat members haven't made any money themselves yet I mean (surprising about Tia considering all her endorsements though), although it's good that Tia singed up for Ask.fm too (by coincidence, I did a couple of weeks ago too).
P.P.S. Turns out that Anna's Korean connection is very tangible. :) In Ninja Assassin she kisses Lee Joon of MBLAQ..
cawaiilingerie says:
idol group's senbatsu sousenkyo, handshake event, photopack, two-shoot photo is great way to fight piracy in music industry. Wondering if 48 franchise would work in SK. You can meet those idols everyday on theater, seeing how they grow form debut.


Bowling is one of the most popular of indoor sports in the US. It is also referred to as "Tenpin Bowling". This game which involves a wooden lane and ten pins originated in ancient Egypt. Europeans took this game of target pins to North America where it blossomed into a modern competitive sport. The game consists of 10 frames. The ten pins are positioned in a triangle at the end of the bowling lane. The pins are made of wood or synthetic material and are covered with a protective plastic layer. The bowling balls are made from non- metallic material and are less than 16 pounds. There are also finger holes in the bowling ball which are meant for gripping and handling the ball. The total area under the pins and the distance from the foul line to the center pin measures to be 19.16 meters in length and the lanes are 1.04 to 1.07 meters in width.
Each bowler rolls the ball twice in each frame unless they hit all ten pins in one try. This is called a strike when a bowler knocks down all ten pins with the first ball. A spare occurs when a bowler knocks down all ten pins with two balls in the same frame. Other bowling terms are a brooklyn, a cherry, a loft, a tap, a split and a turkey. A turkey is when a bowler scores three strikes in a row. A tap is when a bowler knocks down all the pins except for one. A bowler can't step or cross the foul line and there is a penalty if they do. There are also special bowling shoes that have soft soles which protect the bowling floor from scarring or it is less hazardous for the bowler to be wearing them. Gutters are on each side of the lane which catch badly aimed or tossed balls. Now that you know the basics for bowling, bring your whole family and bowl.


text:
Q: What configuration need to be done in my MAC 10.8.5 to act as ssl enabled ldap client for openldapserver I configured my openldap 2.4 in Centos . And I have Mac client for it. Now i wanted to enable SSL for secured Ldap connection. I generated self certified  certificate and configured my ldap.I followed following Document http://easylinuxtutorials.blogspot.in/2013/11/installing-configuring-openldap-server.html. But in this it is centos client, but my problem is how to configure Mac client. In some google search i found that just enabling SSL option in LDAPv3 of Directory server will do the job for us. But it didnt helped me. please help me in doing some missed configurations.

A: I solved it myself
Firstly we should edit ldap.conf file ,which is in the path /etc/openldap/ldap.conf of client.
we should add the line
TLS_REQCERT never

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Do you love to draw? Have you considered sketching as your life? Check this short course of TESDA – Illustration NC II in the Philippines now! This course will equip you with enhanced skills and training in your drawings. You may be able to learn new stuff with regards on how to store your drawings without them being wasted. Develop some knowledge in terms of defining your drawing well, and learn how to use a variety of tools and materials for your sketches.
As more people are becoming avid readers, some of them would want to visualize the image of what's happening in the story they are reading, therefore, your works could be of use in this matter. You may become an illustrator of a book and the like.
In addition, teenagers, nowadays, are so fond of reading mangas, magazines, picture books, etc. that they seek colors from those materials; flyers are more appealing to the crowd if they have pictures; even invitations and walls are now being used as canvas of those professional illustrators!
Illustration NC II is a short TESDA course that will train you in providing creative illustrations which will be used either as a standalone drawing or as an accompanying image for books, magazines, flyers, and other similar materials.
Illustration NC II simply takes up a minimum of 234 hours to complete.
Students who are enrolled in the Illustration NC II course are to be required to undergo a Competency Assessment before graduation. A National Certificate (NC II) shall be issued to students who passed this assessment. You can find more information on assessments and certifications at the official website of TESDA.


text:
Korea contributes to Kurdistan government modernization
by Kurt T May 1, 2018
The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) met with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil last week to sign a memorandum. The memorandum was titled "Modernization of the Public Procurement System in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq." The directer of KOICA, Ra Kapchae, met with the Minister of Planning, Dr. Ali Sindi, to sign the document. A statement from the KRG read, "The project will consist of consulting services, development of E-procurement system, provision of IT equipment and training programs for capacity building." A total of $6 million will be put toward the project by the government of South Korea. The plan will conclude in 2021 but is scheduled to begin some time this year.
Dr. Sindi later stated to press, "Our government started procurement reform in 2015 and now has a new procurement regulation that is in line with international standards, e-Procurement is the next stage of our reform plan and with the generous contribution of KOICA we will start implanting e-procurement later this year," after the meeting's conclusion. He also expressed his gratitude for Korea's efforts toward creating a better Kurdistan.
The Republic of Korea's Consul General, Park Young-Kyu, was also in attendance. He expressed that the Korean government acknowledges the KRG's continued efforts towards establishing a successful and conspicuous government, to that end the Korean government wants to aid the KRG in achieving its goal. He also emphasized that virtuous service to this modern governmental system would be the primary effort of the new program.
While largely operating inauspiciously in the region, the Korean government has been supporting Kurdistan and Iraq since 2003 in a variety of economic and governmental sectors. The KRG's efforts to digitize/modernize the government and its infrastructure has mostly been a preventative measure against corruption and excess bureaucracy.
The KRG's director for the Department of Information Technology, Hiwa Afandi, later tweeted, "South Korea has contributed effectively and generously to the KRG's modernization efforts. Managing director of KOICA in Kurdistan paid a visit to DIT's IT Academy which was sponsored by KOICA in 2007. Positivity surprised how we have elevated it to the next level."
Featured image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
About Kurt T View All Posts
Spent 4 years with the United States Marine Corps and an additional 3 years with the Kurdish Peshmerga and Ukrainian Army.
Japan will be reworking Iraqi-Kurdistan's electrical grid over the next 10 years
Airports in Kurdistan are to be re-opened by the Iraqi government
Kurdistan's prime minister meets with incoming Dutch consul general
The Tragedy That May Just Change Romania for the Better
Iraq struggles as unemployment rates rise
Legislation to revamp IT and prevent cyber attacks underway in Congress
Jeffrey L · 2 years ago
Kurt,
Unlooked for generosity from the South Koreans (public and private efforts) not without precedent.
From the 1970s (after Marxist takeover) through the 2000s, Ethiopia had war followed by civil war. While many suffered, one group hit very hard the survivors of the 5000 Ethiopian members of the Imperial Guard who served as part of the American 7th Division from 1951 through the end of the war in 3 installments of one battalion each. (My father was their first liaison officer...) Their reputation was splendid.
Marxists didn't see it that way. Some survivors jailed or worse. By the time that the Marxist dictator fled to Zimbabwe, many of the remaining Kagnew ("Conqueror") battalion(s) survivors reduced to begging on the street. But South Korea suddenly jumped in... All Kagnew veterans and their families getting monthly pensions from South Korean government. South Korean government and private organizations also investing in Ethiopian schools and other projects...
http://sofrep.com/24968/a-d...
-Yankee Papa-


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There are many fantastic action camera photographs out there. We love these cool action camera photographs taken with action cameras and they certainly should inspire you to go for those awesome shots when you are making memories on your travels.
We love these cool action camera photographs taken with action cameras and they certainly should inspire you to go for those awesome shots when you are making memories on your study abroad travels. If you're looking for a unique way to share your travel adventures with friends and family. The camera is small, light, powerful, and will withstand way more abuse than normal point and shoot cameras.
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text:
package org.deeplearning4j.streaming.kafka;

import kafka.serializer.StringEncoder;
import org.apache.camel.CamelContext;
import org.apache.camel.impl.DefaultCamelContext;
import org.deeplearning4j.streaming.embedded.EmbeddedKafkaCluster;
import org.deeplearning4j.streaming.embedded.EmbeddedZookeeper;
import org.deeplearning4j.streaming.embedded.TestUtils;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.nd4j.linalg.api.ndarray.INDArray;
import org.nd4j.linalg.factory.Nd4j;

import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;

/**
 * Created by agibsonccc on 7/30/16.
 */
public class NDArrayPublisherTests {

    @Test
    public void testPublish() throws Exception {
        String topicName = "testkafka";
        EmbeddedZookeeper embeddedZookeeper = new EmbeddedZookeeper(TestUtils.getAvailablePort());
        embeddedZookeeper.startup();
        EmbeddedKafkaCluster embeddedKafkaCluster = new EmbeddedKafkaCluster(embeddedZookeeper.getConnection());
        embeddedKafkaCluster.startup();
        embeddedKafkaCluster.createTopics(topicName);
        CamelContext camelContext = new DefaultCamelContext();
        INDArray arr = Nd4j.linspace(1,4,4);
        String kafkaUri = KafkaUriBuilder.builder()
                .kafkaBroker(embeddedKafkaCluster.getBrokerList())
                .consumingTopic(topicName).groupId("dl4jgroup")
                .zooKeeperHost("localhost").zooKeeperPort(embeddedZookeeper.getPort())
                .build().uri();
        NDArrayPublisher publisher = NDArrayPublisher.builder()
                .camelContext(camelContext).kafkaUri(kafkaUri).topicName(topicName)
                .build();
        camelContext.start();
        publisher.start();

        NDArrayConsumer consumer = NDArrayConsumer.builder()
                .kafkaUri(kafkaUri).topicName(topicName)
                .camelContext(camelContext).build();
        consumer.start();

        publisher.publish(arr);

        Thread.sleep(5000);

        INDArray get = consumer.getINDArray();
        assertEquals(arr,get);

        embeddedKafkaCluster.shutdown();
        embeddedZookeeper.shutdown();
        camelContext.stop();
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


We offer exchanges for a different size or a product of the same value, provided that the item is unworn and in it's original condition. Please contact us within: 7 days of delivery. You must return items back to us within: 14 days of delivery.
We don't accept returns or cancellations as we make everything to order, once the fabric is cut, it cannot be used for something else; please contact us if you have any problems with your order.
- If your items shows signs of wear or has been laundered the order will be returned to you.
We recommend you wash your items on a cool 30 degree wash, inside out and leave to air dry. All of our fabric is OEKO-TEX standard and we use water based pigment ink this is to minimise the effect on babies skin; therefore due to the nature of the fabric slight shrinkage and fading may occur. By not following these washing instructions could result in fading and shrinkage of your items. We cannot accept responsibility for this and you will not be issued a refund or replacement.


text:
Earl Sweatshirt's 'Some Rap Songs' Album Toys With Convention
Chris Gibbons
Chris Gibbons Published: December 7, 2018
2018 Tan Cressida, under exclusive license to Columbia Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment
XL111121111
Tan Cressida
Earl Sweatshirt has never seemed comfortable in the limelight. He's had the pressure of living up to fans' incredibly high standards throughout his career. Earl's 2010 breakthrough mixtape, Earl, largely blew up while he was off the grid at a boarding school in Samoa. By the time he returned, he'd achieved cult status. Fans of his Odd Future crew were rabid to hear new music from an artist who left the U.S. as a talented 16-year-old MC with incredible technical ability, but just a minor following.
Earl's 2013 studio debut Doris saw the young lyricist switching up his subject matter from violent shock-value raps to introspective tracks about the pressures that come with his newfound fame and the depression he's experienced throughout his life. The raw follow-up, 2015's I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Out Side, further explores Earl's depression over a lo-fi, experimental production style. Both albums were critically acclaimed, leading many fans to declare Earl one of the best rappers of his generation. Expectations and pressure for what he would do next continued to mount.
Earl essentially disappeared for three years after I Don't Like Shit, with barely a verse released since 2015. Some Rap Songs is Earl's first new material in years, and his return to the public eye. It might be his best, most uncomfortable record yet.
A title like Some Rap Songs suggests simplicity, but the album is anything but. Earl doubles down on the experimental nature of I Don't Like Shit, once again wallowing in darkness while the production becomes more avant-garde, consisting of disorienting loops of jazz and soul samples that catch the listener off guard while Earl bears his soul.
Earl is still a master craftsman when it comes to constructing verses, but this time his dense raps are structured more off-kilter than ever. He regularly raps lines off-beat to emphasize his words. Every verse has a spontaneous, almost improvisational feel to it. Meanwhile, the subject matter on Some Rap Songs once again tackles Earl's personal demons.
"I think I spent most of my life depressed/Only thing on my mind was death/Didn't know if my time was next/Tryna refine this shit, I redefined myself," he confesses on "Nowhere2go." On "Ontheway!," he raps, "My mood really swinging, I peruse like a native would do/What I'm thinking I should do for the sake of myself," before calling out the fans who've been constantly bothering him for new tracks ("I need you now, closed lips make the mouth breathers frown").
Earl originally recorded Some Rap Songs to send to his estranged father, South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile. It was meant to be a gesture for the two to reconcile a bit, but Kgositsile passed away in January before Earl could send him the album. Their relationship has always been a part of Earl's raps, as he was dealt with pressure to live up to his father's accomplishments. Some Rap Songs features that more evidently than ever. On "Red Water," Earl repeats the same eight bars, four times throughout the song, including the lines, "Blood in the water, I was walkin' in my sleep/Blood on my father, I forgot another dream."
The track "Playing Possum" doesn't feature any rapping from Earl. Instead, he intersperses vocal samples from his father reciting the poem "Anguish Longer Than Sorrow" and his mother Cheryl Harris giving a keynote speech at UCLA's law school. The track ends with applause after the two voices are done speaking. It's an incredibly powerful moment as Earl takes a moment to let his parents speak for themselves.
While most of the album was recorded before Earl's father passed, the final two tracks were added afterwards. "Peanut" sees him dealing with the depression in the immediate aftermath: "Flushin' through the pain, depression, this is not a phase/Picking out his grave, couldn't help but feel out of place." Then Earl shouts out his Uncle Hugh, South African jazz musician Hugh Masekela, who died just a few weeks after Kgositsile. The final track "Riot!" is an instrumental that samples Masekela. It's a joyous respite—a moment of hope after a dark journey.
Some Rap Songs packs a lot in 25 minutes, making for an unsettling listen that is also one of the most personal, gripping rap records of the year.
See 20 of Your Favorite Rappers Naming Their Favorite Rappers
Source: Earl Sweatshirt's 'Some Rap Songs' Album Toys With Convention
Filed Under: Earl Sweatshirt, Feature, review
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Antiquing, once a pastime reserved almost exclusively for the rich and leisured, is becoming increasingly democratized online—it's never been easier to find mid-century modern furniture, Hollywood Regency decor, or pop-culture ephemera from the 1970s. One such purveyor of vintage goods is BLK MKT Vintage, whose founders, Jannah Handy and Kiyanna Stewart, curate a selection of cultural artifacts related to black history and life that they offer for sale on Instagram, and, soon, in a brick-and-mortar space.
"Whiteness as default is a ubiquitous concept, but it's such an odd experience going into spaces that are devoted to antiquity, to our past, and you're not expressly represented in any of it. It's nostalgic dissonance, if you will," Handy and Stewart told HuffPost in a 2017 interview. They aim to challenge this dissonance while bringing a love of antiques to a new audience. A scroll through their wares online makes it easy to believe in their mission: Objects recently on offer include a 1970 issue of Ebony magazine, a rare first edition of Zora Neale Hurston's Tell My Horse, and a beaded South African fertility doll.
A version of this story originally appeared in the September/October 2018 issue of Pacific Standard. Subscribe now to support independent journalism in the public interest.


text:
New Laws Target Wikileaks
In Politics, Rights, Technology
The Labor Government is tightening up Australian law in areas that will have a direct impact on organisations such as WikiLeaks. Only the Greens are challenging the new bills in parliament, and they are receiving scant media attention.
There's a new extradition law that will make it easier for foreign governments to request extradition of Australians and a new spying law that broadens ASIO's reach, which has been dubbed the WikiLeaks Amendment.
And finally there's a bill that will make it easier to retain digital data for Australians, and easier also to pass that information to overseas law enforcement agencies. Senator Scott Ludlam, the Greens' spokesperson for communications, told New Matilda that the Attorney-General wants all digital records for all people for all time to be trapped and recorded so that intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies, and welfare agencies can mine the data.
The new extradition law contains elements that make it easier for foreign governments to request that people be extradited from Australia. The new federal law also enables people to be prosecuted in Australia for alleged crimes overseas — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Previous PostSelf-healing plastic mimics skinNext Post Villa W / CMA
What Do Foreign Correspondents Think of the US? / The New Yorker
Journalists from around the world are reporting on the 2020 Presidential race — and offering perspectives not found in American media ...
Art Politics
Trump is a rac/pist / Adamtots
— via Adamtots
Same-sex marriage bill passes House of Representatives after hundreds of hours of debate
Same-sex marriage will be legal in Australia, with Parliament agreeing to change the Marriage Act and end the ban on gay ...
Politics Rights Technology
Former Irish Chief Justice slams data retention as mass surveillance and threat to fundamental rights
Former Chief Justice of Ireland John L Murray has warned that retained telecommunications data poses a threat to fundamental rights and ...
Trump's Media Pals Are Busy Creating a Left-Wing 'Threat' to Balance Out the Awful Racist Right-Wing Hordes That Threaten Civil Society
In these dark days, an intergenerational warning is in order: Antifa folks, be wary. They are coming for you. Some of us have seen this movie before. In my generation, when I was a teenage member of MSU's SDS in the late 1960s, I remember the gu...
New Education System Explained / Clarke and Dawe
Richard Dawkins Education Minister Originally aired on television 10/03/1989 Re-broadcast from the archives: 10/08/2017 — via Youtube
Load More In Politics


A Kurdistan-focused oil and gas group has promised a maiden dividend next year, despite falling to a heavy loss after writing down the value of a gasfield.
Genel Energy posted a pre-tax loss of $283 million for 2018, compared with a $272 million profit a year earlier, because of a $424 million impairment of the Miran gas field.
It said that it would pay out at least $40 million a year, starting in 2020, "with the intention for this to grow".
It is to seek permission from its bondholders to start paying the dividend this year, requiring them to waive a covenant restricting payouts. Despite the dividend promise, the shares fell 12p, closing down 5.3 per cent, at 213p.


text:
Q: Cant' connect to Cassandra with cqlsh When i tried to connect to my cassandra cluster with cqlsh, i had this following error :
Connection error: ('Unable to connect to any servers', {'127.0.0.1': error(111, "Tried connecting to [('127.0.0.1', 9042)]. Last error: Connection refused")})
So i go to the cassandra.yaml file but my rpc_adress and listen_address parameters are goods.
There is my listen_adress :
# ipv4. If there is only one address it will be selected regardless of ipv4/ipv6.
listen_address: localhost
# listen_interface: eth0
# listen_interface_prefer_ipv6: false
And my rpc_address :
rpc_address: localhost
# port for Thrift to listen for clients on
rpc_port: 9160
I also tried to modify the file, but i dont have the right for it.
Thank you in advance


The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington jolted Americans awake to many new realities – plus one that should come as no surprise: that public radio plays a crucial role during times of crisis.
Not long ago, NPR News was ill equipped to do what it is doing now. But it is a testament to the vision, growth and maturity of the entire NPR system – and the abandonment of news by commercial radio -- that NPR and its member stations now serve as a primary news source for America.
Local stations are following NPR's lead, investing in news formats and local news departments. Increasingly, they see a vacuum in their markets and are emerging as primary news providers.
There is no more crucial time to have developed your local news muscles than at times of crisis. And if you haven't started, you should get busy.
Take it from personal experience.
At KPBS-FM in San Diego, we got a surprise wake-up call earlier this year, when a 15-year old student took a rifle to school and blasted more than a dozen classmates, killing two of them. The Santana High School shootings didn't compare to Columbine in terms of national impact, but you can imagine what a shock they were to local San Diegans, particularly to thousands of parents in Santee.
KPBS has a robust department (even with several positions currently frozen) and practices a rather aggressive daily news regimen. On the morning of the shootings, we mobilized the entire newsroom to cover the story in news updates. But it became apparent that we hadn't fully planned for something of this magnitude.
After each breaking news update, we returned to regular format only to hear talking heads going on about what now seemed totally irrelevant – the search for an AIDS vaccine and, later, foreign policy issues.
I remember the troubling conversation I had with managers that afternoon – me, defending our decision to go with breaking news updates rather than "wall-to-wall" coverage like the TV stations do. I explained that the news was fragmented, that we were being diligent in confirming facts, that we were being sensitive not to thrust shocked children onto the air live, and so on.
There were plenty of good reasons to justify our approach – but there was no good reason for this: when concerned listeners rushed to KPBS with high expectations of breaking news coverage – on a momentous local story -- they got an NPR foreign policy discussion instead.
Many folks did compliment us for our coverage – that day and during the many days to follow – but we all knew we have to do better. From that mantra grew a task force on crisis coverage… and the decision-making model that follows.
I share this plan by request, knowing it is only a framework, a beginning step, requiring adjustments and refinements. I'd be interested in your comments and suggestions.
I presented this working plan to the PRNDI conference in San Diego in July. Afterward, some 25 news directors requested copies. Apparently, there are many stations taking up the challenge to become more than a pass-through for NPR programming… preparing for the day when they too must rise to the occasion as a primary source of information -- and comfort -- during times of crisis. Let's hope none needs to use it.
• KPBS Radio is a primary news source in San Diego County.
• At all times, KPBS maintains its journalistic values of accuracy, fairness and independence.
• KPBS strives to imbue all coverage with context, civility and craftsmanship.
1. Vital Information Resource: KPBS provides calm, factual accounts of what is happening, where it is happening, who is affected, how things are changing, and explains why.
2. Communication Lifeline: KPBS saves lives by relaying critical information to and from affected parties.
3. Early Warning Beacon: KPBS saves lives and property by transmitting timely, reliable information that prevents harm.
4. Community Forum: KPBS connects citizens, giving them a way to come together, share concerns and support one another during difficult times.
• First person aware notifies news management.
• Management sets appropriate response level.
• Studio staff is the first need – to feed air.
• Newsroom staff is the second need – to feed studio.
• Field staff is next – to feed newsroom and studio.
• Present facts calmly, carefully.
• Adjust coverage proportionately to severity, interest, resources.
Does the emergency directly affect few people (1-4)?
Is it clear the emergency isn't becoming worse?
Can public curiosity wait until a scheduled newscast?
News Anchor feeds air in newscasts.
News Reporter covers if assigned.
Does the emergency directly affect relatively few people (5-20)?
Are the impacts severe or potentially severe?
Is it clear the emergency won't become worse (anytime soon)?
Does public interest/curiosity warrant timely updates?
Can the facts be summed up in brief?
News Director assesses response, makes assignments.
Air Host or Metro Traffic may provide info in breaks.
News Anchor may provide added newscasts.
News Reporters cover as assigned.
Use scheduled newscasts or unscheduled newscasts (in format).
Examples: Major storm watches, major highway tie-ups, large fires (smoke visible, no imminent threat), major crimes or events of public interest (no imminent threat).
Does the emergency directly affect or potentially affect many people (20+)?
Is it possible the emergency will become worse?
Does public concern or curiosity warrant immediate updates?
News Director assesses response/makes assignments.
News Anchor provides special updates as soon as possible.
Air Host and/or Metro Traffic and/or Talk Host may also provide info in breaks.
Available News Reporters check-in for duty.
Break in with special updates.
Return to regular programming after update.
Examples: Severe storm warnings, extreme highway closures with casualties or risks, large fires with smoke and potential threat, major crimes with potential threat, isolated civil disturbance, local but minor earthquakes.
Does the emergency directly affect many people (100+)?
Does public interest/curiosity override most other programming options?
Is the emergency or its aftermath continuing?
Can you sustain extended coverage?
Talk Host helps anchor extended coverage.
All News Reporters check-in for duty.
Significant natural disasters, singular events with widespread casualties, riots, war or military attack or major event with widespread implications or overriding public concern.
Does the emergency directly affect most or all people in San Diego?
Are the impacts severe or momentous?
Does public interest/curiosity override all other programming options?
Can you deploy all available resources to support coverage?
Can you sustain non-stop coverage?
News Anchor provides special updates.
Extra Station Staff may be necessary.
Examples: Catastrophic local natural disaster, unfolding event with major casualties or potential for casualties, widespread civil disturbance, war or attack or events of universal public concern.
– a break for "host(s)"
– Access to air time.
– Key Staff: announcers, operations, technical directors.
– Liaison to NPR programming.
– Liaison to Radio Engineering.
– Conversations with reporters and experts and callers.


text:
Thrift store benefitting first responders opens in Tyrone
December 5, 2019 December 5, 2019 Christopher Dunn
A new thrift store is coming to Tyrone for a good cause. With proceeds supporting all first responders, 4heroes Thrift Store is now open.
The thrift store itself will offer your traditional selection of clothing, furniture, and housewares, but it's where the money goes that sets 4heroes apart, and FireChaplain.org is the driving force behind the business.
"We provide emotional and spiritual support to first responders. We work with a eight agencies in three different counties," said Frank Mercer, president of FireChaplain.org and senior pastor at Rolling Hills Baptist Church. "We are trying to provide boots on the ground, active chaplains to service these agencies by being present, being at the fire station, riding in the squad car, and being at critical incidents."
FireChaplain.org supports first responders when they're off the clock. Death by suicide far outnumbers line-of-duty deaths, and they also see 75 percent of marriages end in divorce.
"We're concerned about how these folks are doing mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We're trying to give them an anchor and support," Mercer said. "We're trying to offer resources to help them with their families, to help them be more anchored, and we want to just be available and present for them."
Their services are available to any first responders, regardless of faith.
"We are Christian chaplains, but we are chaplains for everybody," said Mercer. "It doesn't matter where you come from in terms of faith or any other qualifying characteristic you might have, we're here for everybody, but we're motivated by our faith."
The 4heroes Thrift Store is located at 992 Senoia Road in Tyrone in the old Real Life storefront.
"We want it to be a thrift store that does what the Real Life store did in terms of being a resource for the community, a place people can come and relax and feel like they're part of a family," said Mercer. "We also really want folks to understand that when they donate or when they buy from us, this is what their money is going to. It's going to support first responders in our community."
For more information on getting involved with the 4heroes thrift store, contact. Pam Mercer
"They should contact the store manager," said Frank. "She is a very attractive young lady named Pam Mercer, who I happen to be married to."
She can be reached at 4heroesthrift@gmail.com or call the store at 770-632-3590.
For more information on the group behind the store, visit firechaplain.org.
Community, Top Stories
Family Jewel


text:
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Stonewall, Manitoba
Email: webfoot@ducks.ca
Website: www.ducks.ca
Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) has been committed to wetland conservation for more than 65 years. Despite this, wetland loss continues across Canada. As much as 70 per cent of Canada's original wetlands have been lost in some areas of the country.
DUC—a national, private, non-profit organization—is Canada's Conservation Company. It's a responsibility DUC does not take lightly.
DUC's conservation efforts take many forms. On-the-ground work is guided by the wetland and environmental research of DUC's scientists. DUC works to change policy in favour of wetland and habitat conservation. DUC also delivers wetland and environmental education programs to teach Canadians about wetlands and the need to conserve them.
As a non-profit organization, DUC relies on the support of Canadians from across the country. DUC's dedicated volunteers, members and staff work very hard to help DUC in achieving its conservation mission and vision.


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NOTE: although it is a natural oil, Camphor is NOT recommended for pregnant women, nursing women and children under the age of 2.
What's In It: Shea Butter, Avocado oil, cera alba, Eucalyptus oil, Camphor oil and Menthol oil.


Alice: Phenotyping sorghum lines for phosphorus efficiency.
Additional Information: Karine da Costa Bernadino; JURANDIR VIEIRA DE MAGALHAES, CNPMS; ROBERT EUGENE SCHAFFERT, CNPMS.
Title: Phenotyping sorghum lines for phosphorus efficiency.
Publisher: In: SORGHUM IN THE 21st CENTURY, Cape Town, 2018. Food, feed and fuel in a rapidly changing world: abstracts. Cape Town: [s.n], 2018.