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Surface Transportation Board > Resources > Environmental > Frequently Asked Questions
June 7, 2019 by brian.oboyle
To help familiarize parties with the environmental rules, the Board's Office of Environmental Analysis has written a series of questions and answers that address key provisions of these regulations. Please note that the term "applicant" includes any person or entity seeking Board action, whether by application, petition, notice of exemption, or any other means that initiates a formal Board proceeding. This guide is presented as only an overview of the environmental rules. A copy of the complete environmental rules is available here.
1.) When does the Board normally prepare an environmental impact statement?
2.) When does the Board normally prepare an environmental assessment?
3.) What actions are exempted from environmental review?
4.) Can actions before the Board be reclassified to require a different type of environmental review (e.g., an EA rather than an EIS)?
5.) When must an applicant submit an environmental report?
6.) On whom must the applicant serve copies of its environmental report?
7.) Must an applicant certify that it has served the appropriate agencies?
8.) How should applicants handle responses from agencies?
9.) What type of newspaper notice is required for abandonment exemptions?
10.) Describe the type and scope of information that must be contained in environmental reports?
11.) When must applicants submit historic reports?
12.) What type of actions are exempt from historic reporting requirements?
13.) When and to whom must an applicant send its historic report?
14.) Describe what information is required in the historic report?
15.) How long does the historic review process generally take?
An environmental impact statement (EIS) will normally be prepared for rail construction proposals with the exception of the construction of certain connecting track. [See 49 C.F.R. § 1105.6(a)]
Environmental assessments (EA) will normally be prepared for the following proposed actions. [See 49 C.F.R. § 1105.6(b)]
Construction of certain connecting track;
Abandonment of rail lines;
Discontinuance of passenger train service and freight service (except for discontinuances under modified certificates and trackage rights where the affected line will continue to be operated);
An acquisition, lease or operation which exceeds the thresholds specified in 49 C.F.R. §§ 1105.7(e)(4) or (5); and
A rulemaking, policy statement, or legislative proposal that has the potential for significant environmental impacts.
No environmental documentation will normally be prepared for the following actions (although a historic report may be required under 49 C.F.R. § 1105.8). [See 49 C.F.R. § 1105.6(c)]
Actions that do not result in significant changes in carrier operations; e.g., acquisitions, or operations that do not exceed specified environmental thresholds, and transactions involving corporate changes such as issuance of securities. [See 49 C.F.R. § 1105.6(c)(1)(i)-(vi)];
Rate, fare and tariff actions;
Common use of rail terminals and trackage rights;
Discontinuance of rail freight service under a modified certificate;
Discontinuance of trackage rights where the affected line will continue to be operated; and
A rulemaking, policy statement, or legislative proposal that has no potential for significant environmental impacts.
Yes. The Board may reclassify or modify the requirements for individual proceedings. In a rail construction case, an applicant may request with written substantiation that an EA rather than an EIS be prepared. For actions generally requiring an EA, the STB may prepare an EIS because of the probability of significant impacts. For actions that normally require no environmental documentation, the Board may decide that because of potential environmental impacts an environmental report is required and an EA or EIS warranted. [See 49 C.F.R. § 1105.6(d)]
An environmental report must be submitted with or prior to the filing of an action for which an EIS or EA is normally required. [See 49 C.F.R. § 1105.6(a) and (b).] However, no environmental report will be required in those cases (e.g., rail constructions) where an independent third-party consultant working under the Board's supervision has been retained by the applicant to assist OEA in preparing the EIS or EA.
The applicant must serve the following agencies listed under 49 C.F.R. § 1105.7(b):
The State Clearinghouse of each state involved (in a notice of exempt abandonment, the appropriate State Clearinghouse must be notified 20 days prior to the notice's filing under § 1105.7 (c));
The State Environmental Protection Agency of each involved state;
The State Coastal Zone Management if the activity would affect land or water use within that state's coastal zone;
The head of each county including any Indian reservations through which the line goes;
The appropriate regional offices of the Environmental Protection Agency;
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
The National Park Service;
The Natural Resources Conservation Service;
The National Geodetic Survey; and
Any other agencies that have been consulted in preparing the report.
Yes. In its environmental report the applicant must certify that it has sent copies of the environmental report to the agencies listed under 49 C.F.R. § 1105.7(b) and that it has consulted with all appropriate agencies in preparing the report. Additionally, in a notice of abandonment exemption, the applicant must also certify that it has notified the appropriate state clearinghouse at least 20 days prior to filing the notice.
Any written responses (such as letters and e-mails) received from agencies contacted in preparing the environmental report must be attached to the report. Oral responses from such agencies must be briefly summarized in the report and include the names, titles, and telephone numbers of the person contacted.
In both notices of abandonment and petitions for abandonment exemptions, the applicant must certify that it has published a notice in a newspaper in each county through which the line passes. This notice must alert the public to the proposed abandonment, available reuse alternatives, and how to participate in the Board proceeding. The newspaper notice is not required in regulated abandonment cases. (See sample newspaper notice for abandonment exemptions under 49 C.F.R. § 1105.12.)
Environmental reports should include all of the information specified in 49 C.F.R. § 1105.7(e). The environmental report should also include any required historic report. The required information is listed below:
Proposed action and alternatives;
Transportation system;
Land use;
Energy;
Air;
Noise;
Safety;
Biological resources;
Water;
Proposed mitigation; and
Certain additional information for rail constructions.
The Board may waive or modify information requirements when the information is not necessary to evaluate the environmental impacts of the proposed action. [See 49 C.F.R. § 1105.7 (g)]. If some information requested does not apply in a case, the applicant should explain why in the environmental report.
The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires the Board to consider the effects of certain of its actions on railroad-owned historic properties. To assist the Board in complying with NHPA, each applicant must submit the historic report described in 49 C.F.R. § 1105.8(d) for the following types of action [unless exempted under § 1105.8 (b); see Q. 12]:
Actions identified in § 1105.6(a), in which an EIS is normally required (see above);
Actions identified in § 1105.6(b), in which an EA is normally required (see above); and
Certain actions identified in § 1105.6(c) that would result in the lease, transfer or sale of a railroad's line, sites, or structures.
The actions exempted from historic review under 49 C.F.R. § 1105.8(b) of the environmental rules include:
A sale, lease or transfer of a rail line where rail service will continue; there are no plans to dispose of or alter railroad properties 50 years old or older; and further Board approval is required to abandon any service;
A sale, lease or transfer of property between corporate affiliates where there will be no significant change in operations;
Trackage rights, common use of rail terminals, common control through stock ownership, or similar action which will not substantially change the level of maintenance of railroad property; and
A rulemaking, policy statement, petition for declaratory order, petition for waiver of procedural requirements, or proceeding involving transportation rates or classifications.
If an action is exempt, the applicant must state in its filing the specific exemption that applies and show how the exemption criteria are met. (For example, if the 49 C.F.R. § 1105.8(b)(1) exemption applies, the applicant should specifically reference this exemption and state how it meets the particular exemption criteria; e.g., applicant has no plans to dispose of or alter railroad properties 50 years or older.)
The applicant must send the historic report to the appropriate State Historic Preservation Officer(s) (SHPO) (i.e, the SHPO for each state the rail line goes through), preferably 60 days in advance of its filing, but not later than 20 days prior to the filing with the Board. If an environmental report is required, the historic report should be combined with this document.
The historic report should contain the information required by 49 C.F.R. § 1105.8(d). This information includes the following:
A description of the proposal;
Maps and written descriptions of the right-of-way;
Photographs;
Certain construction information;
A brief narrative history of the operations involved;
Identification of documents in the carrier's possession such as engineering drawings; and
The railroad's opinion as to whether the property is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, etc.
A description of any known prior subsurface ground disturbance or fill, environmental conditions that might affect the archaeological recovery of resources, and the surrounding terrain.
Submission of the historic information specified in 49 C.F.R. § 1105.8(d) is critical to conducting the Section 106 historic review process required under the National Historic Preservation Act.
The Board working with the railroads, the State Historic Preservation Officers, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, will do its utmost to ensure that the historic review process is completed in a timely manner. The amount of time, of course, will vary with the nature and scope of the case. Early consultation with the SHPO(s) and a complete historic report will help expedite the process.


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module Puppet::Parser::Functions
  newfunction(:strip, :type => :rvalue, :doc => <<-DOC
    This function removes leading and trailing whitespace from a string or from
    every string inside an array.

    *Examples:*

        strip("    aaa   ")

    Would result in: "aaa"

    Note: from Puppet 6.0.0, the compatible function with the same name in Puppet core
    will be used instead of this function.
    DOC
             ) do |arguments|

    raise(Puppet::ParseError, "strip(): Wrong number of arguments given (#{arguments.size} for 1)") if arguments.empty?

    value = arguments[0]

    unless value.is_a?(Array) || value.is_a?(String)
      raise(Puppet::ParseError, 'strip(): Requires either array or string to work with')
    end

    result = if value.is_a?(Array)
               value.map { |i| i.is_a?(String) ? i.strip : i }
             else
               value.strip
             end

    return result
  end
end

# vim: set ts=2 sw=2 et :

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Mail Bonding
Dupont Circle residents get familiar with prolific postal thief.
by Jonathan York January 19th, 2007 August 29th, 2020
Credit: Illustration by Devon Bowman
Word was out among the civically active around Dupont Circle: Wayne Bridgeforth is back on the streets.
When Bridgeforth, 50, was at large in 2005, Mary Ann McGrail lost bank statements; now she watches the catch bin beneath her mailbox. Lex Rieffel lost a mail-order jacket and a pair of pants; now she won't have packages left at the door. One of Rob Halligan's parcels was ripped open; now there's a lock on his mailbox.
These three live in a wealthy neighborhood where this petty criminal has been scavenging for years. They have to take countermeasures because Bridgeforth doesn't banish easily. Court documents show that in February 2002 cops saw him at 17th and Corcoran Streets NW. They knew that weary face; they knew he had a five-block stay-away order for the area. But when the cops told him he didn't belong, Bridgeforth said he'd spent all day at the Frank D. Reeves Center, seven blocks away at 14th and U Streets. "Fuck that judge," he told the officers. "I live around here, and I can stand here if I want."
That mind-set may well explain one of Bridgeforth's latest escapades. On Jan. 10, police say they caught him with three mail-order parcels, a packing slip, and a large nickel-plated candlestick. At the time, Halligan was speaking at an ANC meeting about the damage caused by career thieves.
Lt. Scott Dignan beamed over the arrest. "I know he's been an issue to this community for some time," he says.
For his allegedly sticky fingers, Bridgeforth caught a second-degree theft charge. He was released on his own recognizance on Jan. 11, subject to another Dupont-area stay-away order. That's his seventh since 2002. He has a charge sheet of at least 31 D.C. criminal cases.
In a black watch cap and a long gray parka, he walks the area, scanning porches and mailboxes. When he sees something he wants, he grabs it—and most of the grabbing takes place in the several-block radius around the Safeway on 17th Street NW.
Bridgeforth's interest in other people's mailboxes dates back to 1984, when he was convicted of obstructing the mail and possessing stolen mail. He seeks a variety of treasures, including bicycles ('96, '02), a clarinet ('02), drill bits ('03), and a chain saw ('03).
"From everything I hear about this guy, it just sounds like he's not quite right in the head," says McGrail. If Bridgeforth meant to steal her identity along with her bank statements, though, he didn't have the patience or the savvy to do it. McGrail received no mysterious charges or credit card bills. On learning that he's been around again, she says, "I certainly will watch my mailbox real closely."
The neighbors know that Bridgeforth is never away for long. After all, he hasn't served more than five years of a single prison term.
The activists fixate on an incident in 2005, when the thief got picked up for violating conditions of release. He was given a plea bargain on one count of second-degree theft—for stealing mail—and one count of contempt, which led to a 220-day prison sentence. Halligan wrote an e-mail to the U.S. Attorney's office, demanding to know why Bridgeforth wasn't charged in federal court for stealing mail.
"This one fell through the cracks and I blame the US Attorney's office," Halligan wrote. "I've personally witnessed this guy: steal mail out of a mailbox, break into a garage to steal a chain saw, and break into a car in broad daylight." Kenneth Wainstein, then U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, replied that misdemeanor charges were "the best way to bring this case to a quick and just resolution."
Channing Phillips, a spokesperson for the local U.S. Attorney's office, says that mail theft in the District usually is charged under city law. Federal mail theft carries a prison sentence of up to five years, while D.C. mail theft is punishable with up to 10 years. But a defendant has to steal more than $250 in value to risk those 10 years, and Bridgeforth's ambitions have always been smaller.
His mug shot shows a slightly frowning man with a big brow, scant hair, gray stubble, and creases along his cheeks and under his eyes. Court papers describe him as usually broke, unemployed, using crack, and without a regular address. He claimed to work for a flower vendor for more than eight years; once, when the police booked him for violating a stay-away order, he said he was waiting for "the flower guy."
The court couldn't confirm that he peddled blossoms any more than it was able to reach his probation officer or to find him at the last two addresses he gave. One of those addresses is a refurbished town house near LeDroit Park where a well-dressed young man answers the door. Hardly the digs of a man whose last listed income was $240 per month.
Occasionally Bridgeforth turns violent. He once was charged with making threats of bodily harm and another time was convicted of simple assault. In 1996, he shoved a woman away from her bike near Dupont Circle, punched her in the face, grabbed the bike, and fled. The cops saw him running—not riding—with the woman in hot pursuit. Then he fell.
Bridgeforth also can exhibit a self-defeating honesty. Officer Manuel Rodriguez, in 2002, saw him hiding a white object in brown paper and stuffing it in his pocket. Rodriguez asked what he had. According to records, Bridgeforth replied, "It's crack. You got me, Rodriguez." "What kind of crack?" the officer pursued. "Crack cocaine. You got me." He got arrested.
"He's polite, you know," says Lt. Mike Smith. "He's not arrogant or anything like that, not towards me. Maybe toward some of the other officers." Bridgeforth is so familiar to officers, Smith says, that he was brought up in a discussion of how to explain stay-away orders in a training video. "Citizens call over him all the time," Smith says. "It's been a while since I've actually encountered [him], but I remember them well because we get so many complaints coming in."
The familiarity is ongoing: Police caught Bridgeforth again last Saturday with a Graco Pack 'N Play and a Playtex Diaper Genie, says Denise Backus, spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Because these baby items were sent by U.S. Mail, he is under investigation for federal mail theft. He was arraigned on Monday in D.C. court on charges of first-degree theft and contempt. They didn't let him out on bond this time.
In the visiting hall at the D.C. Jail on Tuesday, Bridgeforth declined an interview. He asked a reporter several times if the latest charges are the only new ones. "Why would I do a story and incriminate myself?" he said.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
China Choose a country Albania Argentina Australia Austria Bahrain Belarus Belgium Belize Bermuda Bolivia Brazil Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Cayman Islands Chile China Costa Rica Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast Japan Kazakhstan Kuwait Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Malaysia Maldives Malta Mauritius Mexico Monaco Morocco New Zealand Nicaragua Norway Oman Panama Paraguay Peru Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia San Marino Saudi Arabia Scotland Serbia Singapore Slovenia South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand The Bahamas The Netherlands The Philippines The United Kingdom The United States Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay Venezuela Vietnam
Dalian Choose a city Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou Dalian Hangzhou
Moving to Dalian
Work Guide
Working in Dalian
Having one of China's largest ports through Dalian Bay, the city brings in not only the ships and their cargo but the jobs that go along with it. Expats who will work in this lovely oriental destination will enjoy chasing making their dreams come true while being surrounded by the breathtaking beauty of nature.
It is not why surprising that this little city in China registered a total of 80,000 immigrants from other provinces, cities, and other countries from all over the world. The truth is Dalian doesn't just attract expat workers but foreign investors as well. Since 2008, this city had 13,133 new enterprises, 908 of which were foreign-funded. Foreign investments then amounted to 2.68 billion USD (US Dollar). Significantly, aside from foreign investors, the locals are motivated to establish their own businesses. And as new businesses translate to more job opportunities in Dalian, the unemployment rate remained manageable at 2.4%. In fact, the employment rate is at 70% and there are more than 160,000 persons employed in the city's urban and town areas.
Dalian's Goliath Industries
Dalian is China's fifth-biggest port city whereas the local government strives on making it the new 'Hong Kong of the North'. Petrochemicals, ship building, equipment manufacturing, information technology and electronics are the pillars of Dalian's stable economy. Nowadays, the city also boasts several booming industries which include software development and high end manufacturing.
In 2015, the service sector accounted to 51% of the city's Gross Domestic Product. Aside from logistic and trade, financial services also became a significant role player in Dalian's economy. There are now several foreign banks and insurance companies that set up their headquarters in the city. The demand for IT-related skilled workers are also high, and Dalian definitely responds with its 26,000 experienced software engineers. The city is empowered by 22 universities and technical institutes that produce around 3,800 software engineering graduates annually.
Big Japanese electronic brands had found Dalian's business environment not only conducive but also cost-effective. Manufacturing giants have established factories in Dalian:
Sanyo Electric
The city's investment scheme didn't only attract the Tokyo crowd but also brought known IT brands such as Dell, GE (General Electronic), and HP (Hewlett-Packard) to Dalian to put-up customer support centres in the city.
Average Salary and Work Hours
Minimum wage in Dalian is at 600 RMB (Chinese Yuan/Renminbi) or 87.89 USD (US Dollar). Salary packages vary mostly based on your job and qualifications but the monthly average salary in this city:
General average: CNY 29,675 or USD 4,300.
Information technology average: CNY 33,600 or USD 4,800
Business planning average: CNY 10,000 or USD 1,500.
Generally speaking, China implements a five-day workweek which spans from Mondays to Fridays with Saturday and Monday off. The Chinese standard work time should be 40 hours per week whereas the typical work day starts from are from 9 am to 6 pm with a two-hour break which is usually from 12nn to 2 pm.
Dalian's Business Culture
Chinese people base most of their decisions on the relationships, at work or in business transactions, which they have formed with business partners or employees. The concept of Guanxi (which means relationships or connections) is a network of trust formed through a sincere and supportive relationship. The terms 'mutual respect' and 'guest behaviour' are also part of this, which basically refers to avoiding the humiliation of another person in public, and observing modesty in social conversations.
Punctuality is important. You'd usually find your Chinese bosses (or business partners) arriving early during meetings or social gatherings, thus it is expected that you do the same. Directness is good, but not always when dealing or in working in China. Make sure that your statement would not put the other person 'on the spot' or in a humiliating situation.
They would also appreciate if you would not give negative answers like 'no', 'never', or 'that's not possible'; a 'maybe' or 'I'll look into it' would be more tolerated. In China, a nod doesn't always means 'yes', it only means the other person is listening.
Working in China
Expat Services in Dalian
Don't miss our Expat Services in China
Dalian Guide
Services in Dalian


After much anticipation, the Switch YouTube app is now available for download. It's free right now on the eShop and supports 360 videos and the system's touchscreen.
The Switch YouTube app uses the touchscreen in handheld mode although it's not as fully featured as you might expect. You can search and navigate the app with the touchscreen but you can't swipe up. For comparison, Hulu still has no touchscreen support.
Its right Joy-Con doesn't do anything in the app. Nintendo told The Verge that it will "continue to evaluate the best ways of using Nintendo's hardware." This could likely mean more intuitive touchscreen support along with some more control options.
The Switch YouTube app is just one of the few video offerings the console currently has. Hulu came last November but the system is still waiting on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, and more. Best Buy allegedly leaked in June 2018 before E3 that YouTube and Netflix were both coming to the system. However, Nintendo has not confirmed if Netflix is on its way to the platform. Netflix is available on the Wii U and 3DS.
Nintendo COO Reggie Fils-Aimé told Bloomberg in June 2018 that the company is having "conversations" about adding other services for the platform.
Nintendo's relationship with video streaming has always been peculiar. The Wii initially required that users have a physical disc for Netflix before dropping that "feature" in 2010. It didn't have many other streaming options outside of that Netflix. The Wii U had Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and CrunchyRoll so it's possible—and likely—that the Switch will receive these video services in one way or another.


Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden accepted the challenge of compatriot Shane Warne and took to the streets of Chennai in an undercover attire in a comical fashion.
Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden took to the streets of Chennai in an undercover attire in a comical fashion. The former batsmen would torment bowlers back in the day but now he plies his trade as a commentator. Donning a fake beard and lungi, Hayden visited T Nagar in Chennai and posted his picture on social media, which has gone viral among the cricket fans.
While the social media was buzzing with his picture, the Aussie revealed that it was a bet with Rajasthan Royals brand ambassador Shane Warne that saw him go shopping in the streets of Chennai.
"It was a challenge by Warne to buy items for under Rs 1,000. That's why I went around the market to buy some lungis, shirts, Rajini sunnies and a watch," he revealed.
Talking about the disguise, Hayden said it went okay. "T Nagar is one of the oldest markets and the disguise worked OK, even though it wasn't fool-proof. Could probably have lost my hat," he said.


Jill Alter is the Director of Marketing and Business Relations for Alter Surety Group, Inc. and has held this position since the company's inception. She brings a wide variety of experience with one common denominator…BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS! With her passionate and energetic personality, she thrives on making introductions and cultivating relationships.
After earning a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from the University of South Florida in 1989, Jill moved to Atlanta, Georgia and began her professional career as a certified Paralegal at the law firm of Franklin, Moran & Boyle. She was responsible for initial client interviews, legal research & presentation, and drafting & filing of legal documents. During this time she was also a member of the Atlanta Falcon Cheerleaders where she had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of charities along with her practice and performance responsibilities.
In 1992, she met Warren Alter and moved to South Florida where they were married and she continued her paralegal career. Having her first child in 1995, she focused her energy on her family as a stay at home mom and community involvement. Her passion and ease in cultivating relationships awarded her with an opportunity to become the Director of Marketing for State Wide Appraisal Corporation in 2001. During this time she also earned her Real Estate License and became recognized by her peers as persistent, loyal and extremely committed to her clients. In 2009 when Alter Surety Group, Inc. opened its doors, Jill continued her proven track record building brand awareness and client loyalty to this rapidly growing surety agency.
Jill is very involved in her community. She has participated in American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer's fight against Breast Cancer for the past 10 years. She was a youth cheerleading coach for 3 years and Director for two years for the Weston Warriors Cheerleading organization. She also assisted her children with founding Cheer Buddies and Basketball Buddies which are cheer and basketball programs for kids with special needs. During her free time, Jill enjoys working out, going to the beach and spending time with Warren and their two children.


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The latest updates from AFAR.
Board Member in the News: S. Jay Olshansky shares insights on telomeres in healthy aging in WebMD
On April 19, 2017, WebMD featured insights from AFAR board member, S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, on how large of a role telomeres play in extending human healthspan. The article, What Tiny Telomeres May Tell Us About Aging, highlights different ideas existing on telomeres (the protective tips on the ends of chromosomes) and aging. One theory speculates living a healthy lifestyle might stabilize telomeres or increase telomerase and help prevent aging. Some doctors and scientists argue that idea oversimplifies the science and the topic needs further research. Dr. Olshansky cautions: "Are they the magic bullet that will allow us to live…
Grantee Spotlight Interview: Yin Shen, PhD
AFAR's grant programs in the biology of aging are central to our mission to support and advance healthy aging through biomedical research. At leading institutions nationwide, our grantees hard work, ingenuity, and leadership are advancing cutting-edge research that will help us all live healthier, longer. In this Grantee Spotlight interview, 2016 New Investigator Awards in Alzheimer's Disease recipient, Yin Shen, PhD shares what inspired her to enter the field of aging research and what impact she hopes her research will make thanks to AFAR's support. Read Dr. Shen's Grantee Spotlight Interview here.
Grantee in the News: Christopher van Dyck on his exercise and Alzheimer's study in the New Haven Register
On April 22, 2017, the New Haven Register reported on 1995 AFAR Research Grant recipient, Christopher van Dyck, MD and his team's research on the effect physical activity has on slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease symptoms. The article, Yale seeks participants for study of exercise's effects on Alzheimer's, details a phase three study observing the correlation between exercise and cognitive abilities. The study will consist of two groups of 300 sedentary adults between the ages of 65 and 89 years old. For four days a week over an 18-month period, one group will perform aerobic exercises, and…
Partner Event: the 16th MIXiii-BIOMED 2017 Conference and Exhibition featuring AFAR panel
On May 23, 2017, approximately 6,000 senior executives, scientists, and engineers will convene at the 16th MIXiii-BIOMED 2017 Conference and Exhibition in Tel Aviv, Israel. Co-sponsored by AFAR, this is premier meeting for players of Israel's healthcare industry with their colleagues from around the globe. This annual meeting is co-organized by leading international healthcare institutions with the objective of exposing industry participants to leaders and experts to share knowledge and ideas. As part of this program, four AFAR experts will be presenting a panel, "Longevity: Genetics and Epigenetics". The presenters are Scientific Director Steven Austad, PhD; Deputy Scientific Director…
AFAR in the News: Scientific Director Steven Austad and multi-AFAR grantee Brian Kennedy on Metformin and Rapamycin in True Viral News
On March 29, 2017, True Viral News featured insights from AFAR Scientific Director Steven Austad, PhD, and 2009 Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research, 2003 AFAR Research Award, and 2008 Julie Martin Mid-Career Award in Aging Research recipient, Brian K. Kennedy, PhD on metformin and rapamycin. The article, Could a Pill Put the Breaks on Aging?, takes an in-depth look at two drugs with potential to increase human healthspan: metformin and rapamycin. The subject of the AFAR-managed Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME) Trial, metformin is the most common drug prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes. The drug is also believed to encourage cell mitochondria…
Grantee Spotlight Interview: Jennifer L. Garrison, PhD
AFAR's grant programs in the biology of aging are central to our mission to support and advance healthy aging through biomedical research. At leading institutions nationwide, our grantees hard work, ingenuity, and leadership are advancing cutting-edge research that will help us all live healthier, longer. In this Grantee Spotlight interview, 2016 AFAR Research Grant for Junior Faculty recipient, Jennifer Garrison, PhD shares what inspired her to enter the field of aging research and what impact she hopes her research will make thanks to AFAR's support. Read Dr. Garrison's Grantee Spotlight Interview here.
Grantee in the News: Ian Lanza on how interval exercise improves muscle cells, in Cell Metabolism
On March 7, 2017, Cell Metabolism published research co-authored by 2011 AFAR Research Grant for Junior Faculty recipient, Ian R. Lanza, PhD on how interval exercise strengthens and increases cell mitochondria previously reduced and weakened from aging. The researchers took baseline measurements for aerobic fitness, blood-sugar levels, gene activity, and mitochondrial health of the muscle cells of 72 sedentary participants, broken into two groups. One group was comprised of individuals aged 30 years or younger, and the other was comprised of individuals older than 64 years of age. The participants were assigned either to weight training, interval exercise, moderate aerobic exercise with light weight training, or…
Board Member in the News: Scientific Director Steven Austad on high-risk factors for heart disease linked to later-in-life Alzheimer's disease in HealthDay
On April 11, 2017, HealthDay News featured insights from AFAR's Scientific Director Steven Austad, PhD on a study revealing middle-aged people who were high-risk for heart disease were more likely to have elevated brain amyloid deposition (proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease) decades later. The article, A Healthy Middle-Aged Heart May Protect Your Brain Later, describes a study that examined heart health data from nearly 350 participants, around 52 years of age, and followed-up using brain scans about 25 years later. None of these participants started the study with dementia, but the follow-ups found that a participant with two or more risk…
Grantee in the News: S. Duke Han on brain differences and risk of financial exploitation in HealthDay
On April 13, 2017, HealthDay News featured insights from 2012 Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging winner, S. Duke Han, PhD in an article on how brain impairments in older adults may impact their vulnerability to financial exploitation. The article, Seniors' Brain Changes Could Make Them Vulnerable to Scams, explains research that compared the brains of two groups of 13 older adults who were exposed to exploitative schemes. One group had been financially-manipulated, and the other group had recognized and avoided the scams. Forty-five behavioral tests were performed on both groups to measure aspects such as memory, personality, financial reasoning,…
Grantee Spotlight Interview: Shin-Ichiro Imai, MD, PhD
AFAR's grant programs in the biology of aging are central to our mission to support and advance healthy aging through biomedical research. At leading institutions nationwide, our grantees hard work, ingenuity, and leadership are advancing cutting-edge research that will help us all live healthier, longer. In this Grantee Spotlight interview, 2016 Glenn/AFAR Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Award winner Shin-Ichiro Imai, MD, PhD, shares what inspired him to enter the field of aging research and what impact he hopes his research will make thanks to AFAR's support. Read Dr. Imai's Grantee Spotlight Interview here.
Grantees in the News: Sei J. Lee, Alexander Smith, and Kenneth Covinsky co-author 10-year Study on Older Adults and Managing Medications and Finances
On April 7, 2017, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society published a study co-authored by 1999 Beeson scholar, Kenneth E. Covinsky, MD, PhD, MPH, 2010 Center of Excellence Fellow and 2011 Beeson scholar, Sei J. Lee, MD, MAS, and 2012 Beeson scholar, and 2011 Center of Excellence Fellow, Alexander K. Smith, MD, MS, MPH, among others. The aim of the study was to examine the frequency of developing difficulty in managing medications and finances in older adults. In Difficulty Managing Medications and Finances in Older Adults: A 10-year Cohort Study, the authors enlisted 9,434 participants, aged 65 and older, who didn't need assistance managing medications or…
AFAR in the News: Nir Barzilai and Thomas Perls on the significance of behavior and genes in longevity
On March 27, 2017, Kaiser Health News published an article featuring 1997 Beeson Scholar and 2007 AFAR Award Grantee and Deputy Scientific Director Nir Barzilai, MD and 1998 Beeson Scholar Thomas Perls, MD, MPA, FACP on factors impacting longevity. The article explores different lifestyles among centenarians and turns to our experts on the matter of increasing human lifespan. Dr. Perls explains that most people have the genes to live until their late 80's, so behaviors, such as diet and smoking, have a larger impact up until that point. Genetics appears to have more influence on why people reach 90 years or older. The article draws…
Grantee in the News: Arti Hurria interviewed on providing optimal care for older breast cancer patients by Medscape.com
On April 7, 2017, Arti Hurria, MD, a 2005 Beeson Scholar, was interviewed on Medscape on how to best meet the needs of older patients diagnosed with breast cancer. Dr. Hurria emphasizes the importance of providing patients with individualized care based their geriatric assessment and functional age, and then utilizing that information as part of the treatment decision-making process. She advocates for older patients and their doctors to use an online geriatric assessment tool found on the Cancer and Aging Research Group website for appointment speed and efficiency. Dr. Hurria also discusses her research finding that age (72 years old and older) is a…
Grantee in the News: Viviana Perez in Aging Cell on new mechanism of Rapamycin
On April 5, 2017, Aging Cell Journal published research co-authored by 2008 Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR Postdoctoral Fellow and 2013 AFAR Research Grant recipient, Viviana I. Perez, PhD., which details new insights into the drug, rapamycin. The article explains that rapamycin was already known to increase a regulator that activates genes to reduce cells secreting damaging compounds as we age. This secretion of damaging compounds creates a toxic environment called, senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Dr. Perez and fellow Oregon State University researchers have discovered that rapamycin could also affect levels of SASP directly, and in a way that would protect neurons and other types…
AFAR in the News: David Sinclair and Steve Austad on the TAME Trial on Discovery's Seeker.com
On March 31, 2017, Discovery's Seeker.com, which is dedicated to curiosity and innovation, featured AFAR Board Member and 2000 Research Grant recipient, David Sinclair, PhD, and Scientific Director, Steve Austad, PhD, in an article on the progress of the TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin) Trial, which AFAR is helping manage. The article discusses the challenges in TAME's goal of seeking FDA recognition of aging as a treatable medical condition. The FDA currently only approves drugs for specific "indications" or recognized medical conditions--of which aging is currently not classified as one. The TAME Trial—led by…
AFAR in the News: Two-time AFAR Grantee, David M. Sabatini, MD, PhD receives Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences from the Foundation for the NIH
David M. Sabatini, MD, PhD, recipient of the 2015 Glenn/AFAR Breakthroughs in Gerontology Award and the 2009 The Julie Martin Mid-Career Award in Aging Research, has been awarded the Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH). Dr. Sabatini was awarded this prize for identifying the mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) cellular pathway as a key regulator of growth and metabolism in response to nutrients and its impact on age-related diseases. The prize includes a $100,000 honorarium donated by Ms. Ann Lurie, philanthropist and FNIH Board Member. Ms. Lurie states, "The Lurie Prize in…
National Institute on Aging selects AFAR as the first Coordinating Center for the Nathan Shock Centers for Excellence in the Biology of Aging.
The American Federation for Aging Research has been selected by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) as the first Nathan Shock Centers for Excellence in the Biology of Aging Coordinating Center. AFAR has received first-year funding of $444,018 with a total of $1.3 million expected over a three-year award period. There are a total of six Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging across the United States. The Centers aim to provide leadership and technical support in the pursuit of basic research into the biology of aging by administering local pilot grant funds and leading national annual meetings…
SEE ALL TWEETS


How much does the average student know about the Owens Art Gallery? While much has been published in the Argosy about the installations and exhibits featured at the Owens over the years, relatively little has been said about its permanent collection or the gallery itself.
If you take a right at the reception desk, you will find a room dedicated to the works of Alex Colville, a graduate of the class of '42 and later a faculty member at Mount Allison. His most prominent and renowned work, Athletes, was displayed in the Athletic Centre until 2016, when it was moved to the Owens for permanent exhibition due to damage caused by high air humidity near the pool.
Maker Maker Button making workshop held in September 2017.
All in all, the Owens has a lot to offer, not just when it's actively hosting a temporary exhibit. Even if you think that art isn't really your thing, it would definitely be worth your while to pay a quick visit.


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New initiative to combat single-use plastic bottles
New initiative to combat single-use plastic bottles at Share Discovery Village
By Jessica Campbell Reporter
To help stop the pollution of the streets, lakes and oceans with plastic bottles, Share Discovery Village have become an official 'Refill Station,' offering free water refills to anyone using a reusable bottle.
The lakeside charity based on the outskirts of Lisnaskea have introduced the initiative to encourage their customers to not use single-use plastic bottles.
'Refill' is an award winning campaign designed to help individuals reduce their plastic pollution, by making it easier to refill reusable water bottles instead of buying a plastic one.
Share Discovery Village signed up to the "revolution" after becoming aware of some of the statistics regarding the use of plastic bottles.
CEO Peter McEvoy commented: "It was quite shocking to find out that the average person in the UK will use 150 plastic water bottles every year. If just one in ten people refilled once a week, we'd have 340 million less plastic bottles a year in circulation."
He continued: "Our leisure suite staff alerted us to the campaign and noted that the majority of our members used single-use bottles that were getting thrown out after sessions. Some members would ask for us to refill their bottle so we thought it would be a great idea to become an official 'Refill Station' to try and encourage everyone attending the leisure suite to do their bit and use a reusable bottle."
Since the introduction of the initiative at Share, Leisure Suite staff member Susan Hall has already seen an "encouraging" increase in the number of people using reusable bottles at the centre. Susan said: "Since we got the sign on the door and mentioned it to our regular members, we have noticed several of them now ditching the plastic bottles and coming to ask us for a refill with their reusable bottles – it's great to see,"
National Refill Day took place on June 19 and the campaign is encouraging everyone to go public if they have #GotTheBottle to help create a new social norm for carrying a reusable water bottle and making sure everyone, everywhere, knows how easy it is to find free drinking water with 'Refill.'
Community mourns death of 'happy' Anna Monaghan


Following the mysterious release on Monday of a new track, "Julia, (or, 'Holy to the LORD' on the Bells of Horses)" and the appearance of a countdown clock heralding a pre-order beginning Friday at midnight on their website, experimental rock act mewithoutYou have revealed two new releases. The band digitally released a brand new EP, [untitled] e.p., today while simultaneously announcing a new album, [Untitled], which arrives October 5, 2018 on Run For Cover Records. Pre-order for both releases is now available. Additionally, mewithoutYou announced a fall US headlining tour in support of the releases today. Pre-sale tickets are currently available, and on-sale starts next Friday (all tour dates below).
"It's a perennial question within the band of how far to push out into the unknown," says vocalist Aaron Weiss. "Of course it's nice to do something new, but to what extent, and to what end?" For [Untitled] novelty came naturally. Weiss had become a husband and father and relocated to Idaho, where a makeshift home studio rig and MIDI keyboard facilitated lo-fi, synthetic experimentation. Meanwhile in Philadelphia, guitarists Mike Weiss (Aaron's brother) and Brandon Beaver stockpiled ideas ahead of the recording session with producer Will Yip. And the addition of Dominic Angelella—who took up bass duties while Greg Jehanian was on sabbatical (he's since returned to the band)—gave drummer Rickie Mazzotta the chance to spread out and explore a new sonic palette. The result is two works of tragicomic beauty, the likes of which only mewithoutYou could create.
The lyrics on [Untitled] are still deeply poetic, and the themes are familiar—e.g., mysticism, metamorphosis, mental illness—but, moreso than recent mewithoutYou albums, are built on Weiss' lived experiences. He describes his attempts to "go into greater depths of whatever I am and face what's there—however petty, incoherent or humiliating—and emerge with some reason for hope, a reason for joy regardless. To have that be the takeaway, to stare down my deepest misery and sickness and then find a positive resolution, that's at least part of what I'm going for." It's noticeable in tracks like "Julia," "Flee, Thou Matadors!," and "Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore," as mewithoutYou transmute their most primal urges and "non-drug-induced hallucinations" into expansive, all-consuming compositions that feel outright celebratory by the end.
While Weiss may appear to be at the center of the journey on [Untitled] and [untitled], his bandmates trace similar paths forward. Beaver and Mike Weiss craft rich, intricate guitar melodies and psychedelic panoramas that quake deep inside the listener's chest, while songs like "Wendy & Betsy," "Cities of the Plain," and "Winter Solstice" find the band at its most chaotic, meditative, and pop-oriented, respectively. This expansiveness can likewise be felt in the rhythm section, as Angelella and Mazzotta guide the albums through a dizzying array of landscapes, anchoring the explosive moments and giving the ambient sections a propulsive heft.
Their finest work to date, [Untitled] and [untitled] secure the band's position as a pacesetter in the world of thoughtful, aggressive music.


This beautiful field was just so perfect. The neat little rows and the bees just loved the lavender here. In the video you can see me here taking some preliminary photographs before going back early the next morning to do the Alla Prima oil study below.
The lavender fields outside Bonnieux in Provence.
Now I am back in the studio and looking forward to painting from the photographs I took while the colours and essence of this mesmerising place are still fresh in my memory.
Alla Prima oil sketch from my balcony in Roussillon, Provence.
Each of the sketches on this page took about 3 hours. You can see that they have a sense of immediacy that you can only capture when you are outside and on location.
The watercolour has already sold but if you are interested in purchasing the oil paintings above – please email me directly here.
The paintings are only available to newsletter subscribers for £20 each unframed.


Years of planning has paid off for the Whakatohea Maori Trust Board as it looks to develop its own aquaculture interests in the Eastern Bay.
The board has received 950 thousand dollars from the Government's provincial growth fund.
The money will go towards investigating the potential for a commercial mussel farm and spat catching site.
Board Chief Executive Dickie Farrar says it's fantastic news and reflects a lot of hard work.


Indy was placed into a pet home in 2011, 6mths later she was picked up by the pound, I collected a very happy Indy from the pound. She stayed with us til her passing.
8yrs old. Correct head, rose ears, elegant neck, correct topline, correct front, excellent presentation, beautiful character.


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Red and Black Hockey
Canes keep losing, Rats keep winning
by David Lee on 10/25/09 at 03:08 PM ET
The Hurricanes four game road trip came to a close on Saturday, and they didn't have much to show for it. They lost a rollercoaster 5-4 game in Denver on Friday, then lost 3-2 in overtime at Minnesota on Saturday. On the four game trip, the Canes only managed two standings points and have yet to win on the road. For the third time this season, they will now have three days off before their next game. Wednesday night, they'll be back in the RBC Center against the Blues. While they've been lousy on the road, the Canes have grabbed five out of eight standings points at home.
While the Canes are struggling, the Albany River Rats are doing well. They have a record of 5-3-0 and sit atop the Eastern division. More importantly, they beat the Adirondack Phantoms 3-2 on Saturday to grab a two games to none lead in the 12-game season series with the hated rival.
I've been busy this weekend with a chili cook-off, so I didn't get a chance to post about the Avs game, and I didn't even get a chance to watch the Wild game.
Tuomo Ruutu has been suspended for three games by the league after running Darcy Tucker from behind on Friday. Unlike some Canes fans, I don't have a problem with this. Ruutu didn't leave his feet, and he didn't hit tucker with an elbow or anything like that, but there's no doubt that it was from behind and there's no doubt that the puck was long gone. He has already served one of the three games, and will become eligible to rejoin the team November 1 against the Sharks.
While nobody will accuse Ruutu of being a dirty player, this was a dirty play and he will serve the suspension without grievance or appeal. While he is in the press box, Brandon Sutter has been called up from Albany. Jerome Samson continues to lead the team and is second in the AHL with 12 (4/8) points, but Sutter is going to be the guy who gets called up. Every time.
Before being tossed from the game on Friday, Ruutu was having a good night. He had a goal and an assist in the first period. In that game, Stephane Yelle and Chad LaRose each got his first point of the year with an assist each.
Ray Whitney, who has played in 1002 NHL games, had a decent road trip with one goal and three assists. He's leading the team with eight (4/4) points. On November 1, prior to the game against San Jose, the Hurricanes will have a small ceremony to honor Whitney's NHL career. Of his 1002 games, 302 have been in a Carolina uniform. In the "games played" category, The Wizard is 28th among active players.
I didn't get to watch the game (or even the highlights) against the Wild, but one thing jumps out at me from the scoresheet. Tim Conboy of the Canes and John Scott of the Wild were given matching minor penalties at 11:32 of the first, and as soon as they came out of the penalty boxes, they dropped the gloves. Their fighting majors were handed out at 13:36 of the period.
Speaking of fighting, there were two fights in the Rats/Phantoms game last night. The cumulative number of fighting majors in the series is six. The total number of goals scored is eight. So far I'm still wrong about my guess that the fighting majors would outnumber the goals. Typically, those games get chippier later in the season, and it's a safe bet that there'll be a line brawl in at least one of the games.
So the Canes are out of action until Wednesday. This should give Tim Gleason some time to heal up and the team some time to work on their passing.
Filed in: |	Red and Black Hockey | Permalink
Tags: albany+river+rats, brandon+sutter, carolina+hurricanes, ray+whitney, tuomo+ruutu
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The end of the line for RBH
Canes use special teams to beat Sabres
The ride is over for Ryan Murphy
Canes finally get first win
Canes steal a point from Caps
New faces, but same old Canes
Murphy to sit opening night
Carolina to carry nine defenseman to start the season—Nash cut
Auxiliary "Latebird" fantasy league now open
looking for a few more fantasy hockey managers
About Red and Black Hockey
David Lee is a restaurant manager with an unused degree in political science. He can be found at Carolina Hurricanes games, Scrabble tournaments and indie-rock shows. Sometimes, all in the same day.
David has contributed to CBC.ca for their Stanley Cup playoff coverage in 2006 and to the New York Times Slapshot blog for theirs in 2008. Red and Black Hockey was founded in July of 2005.


text:
Az 569 Misa egy a Naprendszer kisbolygói közül, amit Johann Palisa fedezett fel 1905. július 27-én.

Kapcsolódó szócikkek

 Kisbolygók listája

Jegyzetek

C típusú kisbolygók

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Bill Browder Forces Cancellation of Film Critical of Him Minutes Before Screening in Brussels
"... the case against Browder that Nekrasov unintentionally stumbled upon when making the film is clearly so persuasive and so massive that even some leading members of the anti-Putin coalition in Europe feel strongly that the truth must out, whatever the consequences."
Gilbert Doctorow Thu, Apr 28 2016 | 2700 words 7,252 Comments
Gilbert Doctorow is the European Coordinator of The American Committee for East West Accord Ltd. His most recent book, Does Russia Have a Future? was published in August 2015.
Without crossing the Channel from his headquarters in London, William Browder, chairman of Hermitage Capital, unrelenting crusader behind the 2012 Magnitsky Act in the United States and the lobbyist behind two resolutions of the European Parliament to pass a similar measure going back to 2012, succeeded yesterday in pulling off a stunning show of force in the Parliament building: cancellation of the screening of the film "The Magnitsky Act: Behind the Scenes" just minutes before invitees entered the auditorium.
Consequently the event took an unexpected but nonetheless very informative turn, which has barely been touched upon in television reporting of the non-event that followed soon after. Instead of watching and then discussing a film, the few of us who showed up under the circumstances were drawn precisely to the person of the absent puppet master, Bill Browder.
We heard about the inconsistencies of the Magnitsky narrative that Browder has peddled in all venues, and the eureka moment of the film maker that led him to change the message of his film mid-way through production into what ultimately became a scathing critique of Browder, and also a serious critique of the entire concept of applying personal sanctions against alleged human rights abusers without due process, as was the case in the compilation of the Magnitsky List.
Last but not least, we were given tantalizing details of what was behind the last minute decision to cancel the showing and what now puts in jeopardy the film's broadcast on the Franco-German television station ARTE on 3 May, which as of this morning was still announced on their website along with a precis of the film and a brief streaming trailer.
Let us begin with the door and the door mat. In the rush of journalists to hear from the star of the hour, Russian film director Andrei Nekrasov, they gave scant attention to the organizer and hostess of the day, Finnish Member of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala. And yet her hosting the event was in its own way as important, possibly more important than anything that Nekrasov could say: by definition, his medium of expression, his art, is precisely what we were denied, whereas politics and finely honed words are the life blood of MEPs.
Madam deputy Hautala was one of the founders of the Greens movement in her native Finland and as MEP belongs to the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. The dominant force within that bloc is the German Greens, who in terms of foreign policy orientation are resolutely anti-Putin, or if we put subtletiesaside, are resolutely anti-Russian. In this group, Hautala serves as vice-chair under the leadership of Rebecca Harms (MEP-Germany), one of the most active Russia-bashers in the Parliament.
Like the Greens generally, aside from environmental issues, where Hautala has done a good deal of work in the Finnish legislature, she has taken a strong interest in defending human rights globally, including in Russia. She mentioned in her opening remarks yesterday that she was the first MEP to call for sanctions against Russia over the death in detention of Sergei Magnitsky and to this day she favors targeted sanctions against human rights violators, though she sets 4 operating principles for this to be workable, all of which come down to adhering to the rule of law: they must be verifiable, proving the connection of the persons to the violation; they must be transparent, so that everyone can judge the grounds; they must provide access to remedy for the targeted persons; and they must contain a sunset clause or duration period for possible reevaluation of the grounds.
Hautala also mentioned that she is one of 17 MEPs on Russia's black list of 89 European politicians and influential persons. She complained that she has never received from Russian authorities the individual justifications on why she is on the list and has no access to a remedy to appeal that arbitrary decision.
Thus, at a minimum, we witnessed yesterday in Hautala's organizing the presentation of a film known to question the whole Browder narrative of the Magnitsky case an extraordinary act of political courage and show of integrity by someone who otherwise wears her anti-Russian positions on her sleeve. Moreover, it is not for nothing that Hautala described herself at the conclusion of the session as a "dissident" and stressed that the event was solely hers, without the support of her parliamentary bloc.
What she did not say and what surely few if any others in the auditorium understood is the amount of effort and arm-twisting it must have taken for MEP Hautala to secure the splendid auditorium seating approximately 200 and equipped with 21st century simultaneously translation and recording facilities for the showing of the film. Such rooms are in great demand within the EP and normally are allocated only to the main parliamentary fractions, not to individual MEPs, who consider themselves lucky to get conference rooms seating 20.
It also bears mention exactly how Hautala exercised her rights as organizer. The event was a previewing for MEPs and others to whom they passed along the invitation, a select and privileged audience who were given an opportunity to engage the director in Q&A. But Hautala also admitted to the auditorium several of the most authoritative and interested representatives of the other side of the Browder/Magnitsky story. The event was by registration only, meaning that she could have quietly eliminated anyone she wished. And yet in our midst was none other than Pavel Karpov, one of the two Ministry of Interior officers who were accused by Browder of overseeing the torture and murder of Magnitsky, and of doing so to cover up their theft of $230 million in assets from his Hermitage Capital operation in Moscow which Magnitsky was said to have been investigating.
As could be anticipated, Karpov used the opportunity to explain his challenge to these allegations as unsubstantiated and how his bringing of defamation charges against Browder in London courts never was heard. Moreover, Natalya Veselnitskaya, a Moscow lawyer known to Nekrasov and evidently also to Hautula, was given the floor to issue a lengthy denunciation of Browder for his crimes of egregious tax evasion that were the motive for his creating the Magnitsky case. Veselnitskaya is the attorney of Denis Katsyv, the son of a Vice President of Russian Railways whose assets in the US were frozen under the Magnitsky Act under allegations that he had somehow enjoyed a share of the purloined Hermitage Capital money.
Hautala also admitted to her session Russian electronic and print media journalists, including, most significantly, Yevgeni Popov, the Vesti television presenter and director of a hard-hitting documentary entitled The Browder Effect which was aired on the flagship Pervy kanal state channel on 13 April. Popov flew in for the European Parliament event and later in the evening his interview taken with Nekrasov on the streets of Brussels was part of a featured news item on the cancellation of the film's screening that was still being repeated this morning.
From all of the foregoing, I draw three conclusions. First, the case against Browder that Nekrasov unintentionally stumbled upon when making the film is clearly so persuasive and so massive that even some leading members of the anti-Putin coalition in Europe feel strongly that the truth must out, whatever the consequences.
Second, we owe a debt of gratitude to MEP Hautala for her show of integrity and for following the truth wherever it leads. In return, we urge the Russian government to heed her call and reexamine its decision with respect to her listing. While in the U.S., the Russian black list was a source of mirth as Congressmen said they would gladly forego vacations or real estate opportunities in Russia, from her words, it is clear that Hautala does not enjoy what she considers undeserved ignominy.
Third, given the Russian action against Hautala, given the U.S. action against Karpov and others on the tit-for-tat lists, the notion of targeted sanctions on specific individuals is necessarily deeply flawed in practice even if it appears praiseworthy to some in theory. In practice, politicians seek instant results. They have neither the skills and experience of courtroom judges nor the time for scrupulous case by case evaluations of those whom they target. Thus Hautala's criteria for "just" sanctions will never be met. Lynch law necessarily operates. Human rights watchers everywhere, beware!
Now let us turn our attention to the St. Petersburg film director Andrei Nekrasov, who is at the center of the storm. Nekrasov is an internationally recognized artist who has won prizes for dramas, documentaries and arts programs in Germany and France. His work has been presented at festivals around the world. He took parts of his professional education in France and the UK. He is fluent in German, French and English in addition to his native Russian.
In his home country, Nekrasov has a reputation as a nonconformist. He did an important film on the Litvinenko case in 2007. Another film of his argues that the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings were organized by the KGB successor organization (FSB) to justify the second war in Chechnya that brought Vladimir Putin to power.
In a word, Nekrasov has not been a friend, still less a "stooge" of the Putin regime. Indeed, as he explained at the start of his brief speech, before taking the assignment to do a film about Magnitsky for the ARTE television channel Nekrasov had friendly relations with Bill Browder, whom he had met a number of times in different settings, and he fully believed in Browder's narrative of the murder of his "lawyer" over Magnitsky's investigation into the theft of his company's assets by crooked Ministry of Internal Affairs officials.
Nekrasov explained that his eureka moment came in the middle of shooting the film, when Browder's people handed him a copy of the affidavit signed by Sergei Magnitsky that was said to have led to his murder in detention. The introduction to the document laid out precisely that argument, but the content, the actual text signed by Magnitsky, said nothing whatever about his investigating the theft of $230 million and made no charges whatsoever against Ministry of Internal Affairs officers. That glaring discrepancy prompted Nekrasov to gather more and more evidence, leading ultimately to his conclusion that the Magnitsky case was a sham fabricated by Browder, that there was no murder, that Magnitsky's death was a case of negligence and nothing more sinister, the sort of thing that happens quite routinely in U.S. and other prisons around the world, however sad that may be.
Moreover, this discovery set Nekrasov's mind to thinking about how and why what was now obvious to him was hidden to all others through whose hands the facts, factoids and allegations of the Magnitsky affair had passed over the past seven years. His inescapable conclusion was the explanation was to be found only in blind anti-Russian prejudice, the denigration not only of the country's leader but of its entire political establishment if not the nation as a whole. Nekrasov began to wonder how anyone could accept as reasonable the assumption that in that country of 146 million people there was not a single honest or professionally competent judge, not a single policeman who was not a crook.
In this connection, Nekrasov expressed his concern for his own future welfare in consequence of the publicity surrounding the film he has produced and the change in political orientation that followed his discovery of unpleasant truths. Not in the West, he says. There he is confident that his professional reputation will carry him through. But in Russia, where, he says, there are Putin-hating, pro-Browder people who are going to be pursue him. What he meant was explained to me by a member of his entourage as we were leaving the room: the Intelligentsia who populate the 'creative class,' where film directors socialize will not forgive his betrayal of the cause.
Finally, let us consider what I have called the tantalizing disclosures of how and why the screening of the film was cancelled last night. This came out of the answer to questions directed at both MEP Heidi Kautala and film director Andrei Nekrasov.
No, Kautala told us, it was not any action taken by the President of the European Parliament or his colleagues, all of whom surely took a dim view of the exercise in truth and reconciliation of the MEP from Finland.
Nekrasov put it down to two urgent and last minute appeals.
The first, significant but in no way decisive, was a protest from MEP Marieluise Beck (Germany) a leading member of the Greens in the Bundestag and like-minded person to the aforementioned Rebecca Harms, who called upon Nekrasov to remove the segment of the film in which he interviewed her. For Nekrasov, Beck had become emblematic of everything wrong with the position held by Browder's defenders in Europe. When he confronted her with the discrepancies, with the reasons he had changed his view of the
Magnitsky affair, Beck insouciantly replied that 'this is just details' about which she did not care and that the overriding fact remained the same: that Magnitsky died in prison.
The second and decisive intervention came from the general director of the main sponsor of the film project, the German television channel ZDF. He told Nekrasov to stop the showing the film because he had been threatened by Browder's lawyers with law suits that would spell the financial ruin of the company.
Nekrasov expressed his surprise and alarm that Browder had the money and the contacts to so intimidate the backers of his film. But his own position vis-à-vis Browder is now inescapably one of self-defense rather than slinking away. Browder has publicly claimed that the film is flawed by inadmissible fabrications and falsifications. It is Nekrasov's stated intent to take Browder to court for defamation.
It is unclear whether The Magnitsky Case: Behind the Scenes will be aired on ARTE on 3 May given the vast resources Browder has mobilized to prevent it. However, we may take as a given from yesterday's non-event that one of two charges made against Browder by Russian state television on 13 April is winning strong support in the West: that his creation of the Magnitsky affair was fraudulent from the beginning and was intended to cover his own tracks of criminal activity and fend off Russian demands for extradition to face pending prosecution.
The open question is whether the second allegation against Browder in Popov's film can be made to stick: namely that William Browder was a contractor working with/for British intelligence (MI6) and the CIA as from 1996, and that since 2006 he has been controlling the Russian non-systemic opposition leader Alexei Navalny on a mission to destabilize the Russian government and prepare the way for regime change. In these matters, if verifiably authentic evidence is presented in Moscow, one can be sure that Mr. Browder has no chance of muzzling those who oppose him.
Update posted April 29 by the author:
A reader of this article in SPD headquarters in Berlin issued an important correction to the text above: ZDF is not a private company. Rather it is the German public national broadcaster and as such it is in his words 'inconceivable' that it could be bankrupted. Put in simple English, the director of the ZDF simply behaved in a cowardly manner and caved in to the bluster coming from Browder and his lawyers.
Another reader, in RI, has left a comment that normal legal procedure would be for the prospective plaintiff to wait for the offending film to be made public in one way or another and THEN slap those who organized the release with a libel suit. The fact that Browder has moved proactively to snuff out the film before its release strongly suggest that he holds a very weak hand.
May ARTE show more courage in resisting the tyrant.
Dear American 'Liberals': Everything You Think You Know About Russia Is Wrong


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The Garmin inReach Explorer Plus is modern technology that all wilderness backpackers should have with them on their wilderness adventures. As a solo backpacker I always carry a GPS Satellite Communicator with me. There are various types of satellite communicators in the market. I have used different types and the Garmin inReach Explorer Plus is my first choice when I decide to head into a rugged and remote wilderness area.
The Garmin inReach Explorer Plus is the newest version of the older Delorme InReach Explorer. Garmin acquired Delorme and they merged companies. Garmin then came out with the new InReach Explorer Plus.
The Garmin inReach Explorer Plus has many new features with an upgraded ergonomic look and feel. One of the new features this unit has is the 24K topographical map. The earlier version (Delorme inReach Explorer) did not. The Garmin inReach Explorer Plus uses a text messaging system to communicate with family and friends using satellites.
A paid subscription is required to use this feature. This unit will also allow family and friends to track you on a map anywhere in the world. The Garmin inReach Explorer Plus can connect to your phone via Bluetooth so you can type with ease and view a larger screen. The Garmin inReach Explorer Plus uses the Iridium satellite system to send and receive texts.
• Get weather forecasts based on where you are located.
• View a built-in Topographical map.
• Send SOS messages in emergencies (subscription required).
• Set waypoints and routes.
The Garmin inReach Explorer Plus uses a subscription service for its data capabilities. The unit can be used with its GPS functions without paying for this service. If you do not have the subscription then the data communication to include SOS features will not work.
The Garmin inReach Explorer Plus is a vast improvement over its predecessor. The ergonomics of the inReach Explorer Plus mimics many of Garmin's other top-selling GPS units. I have posted (2) videos below. The first video is my review of the functions and features of the unit. The second is my field test. These videos will give you a better insight on the Garmin inReach Plus Explorer.
This entry was posted in Electronic Gear and tagged GPS, Land Navigation on August 16, 2018 by americanbackpacker.
The Garmin Fenix 5X watch is a multi-functional GPS watch. The Garmin Fenix 5X is advanced technology that you wear on your wrist. The Fenix 5X comes with a many features and it has the capability to download maps. The Fenix 5X is always with you and you will not misplace it or lose it unless you take it off your wrist. The Garmin Fenix 5X is one of many GPS watches that Garmin manufactures and it comes with a pre loaded 100K topographical map.
I purchased this watch for my wilderness backpacking adventures. I am a big fan of wearable GPS watches this being my second GPS watch. The Garmin Fenix 5X is a very busy watch. When I say busy I mean that it has a lot of functions and features for the outdoor and sports minded individual.
The Garmin Fenix 5X Basic Features and Specifications.
Smart watch mode up to 12 days.
In GPS mode (20 hours).
In Ultra-Trac mode up to 35 hours without wrist heart rate.
I field tested the Garmin Fenix 5X in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness located in the Southwest portion of Oregon. The Kalmiopsis Wilderness is a very remote and rugged area and it was a perfect place to test out this watch. I started out from the Briggs Creek Trailhead and I headed west.
Before my trip, I downloaded (2) routes and several waypoints. I used the waypoints as markers to test the accuracy of my Fenix 5X. During my 6 days and 5 nights in the Kalmiopsis my Garmin Fenix 5X did not lose a GPS signal. It kept me on my routes and it found all of my waypoints.
I was very happy with the navigational features of this watch as I bushwhacked off the trail. While on my adventure, I charged the watch 4 times, using my solar panel, during my 5 night 6 day journey in this Wilderness. Overall, I enjoyed using this watch and I will be using it on other future wilderness adventures.
This entry was posted in Backpacking Blog, Electronic Gear on May 12, 2018 by americanbackpacker.
The FLIR Scout TK is lightweight unit that can reasonably detect objects up to 100 yards away. The unit runs about $600 dollars before taxes.
I did a field test on this unit while on a wilderness expedition in the Hells Canyon Wilderness located in Idaho. The unit is not only portable and lightweight (less than 7 oz.), but also very durable. Throughout my 4-night 5-day adventure I had the unit in my pocket or in my backpack without a case. I never had to charge the unit during my trip and I used it at my basecamp in the evening.
Having this unit with you in a wilderness area allows you to have a safe and more relaxed stay at your basecamp at night. All thermal imagers can be used in complete darkness during the day since it detects heat and not light.
The FLIR Scout is very simple to use and it has 8 color palettes to choose from. This unit can also be used around your house for security or for other daily activities when you are not in a Wilderness environment .
Below is my FLIR Scout TK video that I made while on my adventure in the Hells Canyon Wilderness (Idaho). The introduction of this affordable thermal imager it is something you may consider having on your next wilderness adventure.
This entry was posted in Backpacking Blog, Electronic Gear on May 11, 2018 by americanbackpacker.


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text:
Approval of the Regulations and the tax return for Spanish Digital Services Tax
Published on 25th Jun 2021
The Spanish Digital Services Tax: development of the rules on the location of devices and formal obligations and the approval of tax return 490.
On 9 June 2021, Royal Decree 400/2021 was published in the Official State Gazette (the "Royal Decree"), implementing the rules regarding the localisation of users' devices and the formal obligations for the Spanish Digital Services Tax ("DST").
In addition, on 11 June, the Order HAC/590/2021 of June 9 was also published, in relation to the Royal Decree, approving the DST tax return (Form 490) and establishing the form and procedure for the filing of such return (the "Order").
The most significant aspects and fundamental elements of the tax were analysed in the Newsletter dated 5 November 2018 relating to the "Preliminary Draft on the Tax on Certain Digital Services" (https://www.osborneclarke.com/es/insights/spanish-digital-services-tax/ ) and in the Newsletter of 23 October 2018 on "Final Approval by the Spanish Parliament of the Draft on the Tax on Certain Digital Services" (https://www.osborneclarke.com/insights/final-approval-spanish-parliament-draft-law-tax-certain-digital-services/) to which reference is made in order to avoid unnecessary repetition.
However, it is worth recalling, very briefly, that this tax is levied on companies whose net turnover in the previous calendar year exceeded 750 million euros and that obtained income in Spain (also in the previous calendar year) of at least 3 million euros from any of the following sources: (i) online advertising services; (ii) online intermediation services; or (iii) sale of data generated from information provided by the user on digital interfaces. Such income shall be taxed at the rate of 3%.
a) Royal Decree 400/2021
The Royal Decree mainly defines the mechanisms for tracing users' devices and the formal obligations on DST taxpayers.
The rules on the location of the devices are based on the legal provision that digital services are deemed to be provided on the Spanish territory when the user is present therein. A series of specific rules for each of the digital services are established based on where the devices have been used. A user's device will be deemed to be located in the place determined by its IP address, unless proof can be provided, by any other admissible means, that the device was located someplace else (e.g. through the use of other geolocation tools).
Taxpayers' formal obligations include:
(i) The keeping of separate records for each type of service. Such record should contain the parameters necessary to determine the taxable amount and to assess the tax, in particular:
For online advertising services: (i) the total revenue derived from online advertisements; (ii) the number of times the advertisement is displayed on devices located on Spanish territory; and (iii) the total number of times such advertisement is displayed on any device, regardless of where the device is located.
For online intermediation services where there is facilitation of supplies of underlying goods or services directly between users: (i) the total revenue earned; (ii) the number of users located in Spain; and (iii) the total number of users involved in that service, wherever located.
For other online intermediation services: (i) revenues derived directly from users where the accounts allowing access to the digital interface used were opened while using a device that was located at the time of opening in Spain; and (ii) the number of accounts opened during the taxable period.
For data transmission services: (i) the total revenue obtained; (ii) the number of users who have generated such data that are located in Spain; (iii) the total number of users who have generated such data, wherever located.
These records are not in any particular format and should only be provided to the Tax Authorities upon request to the taxpayer.
(ii) The preparation of a descriptive report containing the processes, methods, algorithms and technologies used to analyse the DST liability, the location of the place where the services are provided, the calculation of the revenue and the identification of the files, programs and applications used in the above processes for each taxable period. This report is also not subject to any specific format and should only be provided to the Tax Authorities upon request to the taxpayer.
(iii) The establishment of systems, mechanisms or arrangements for tracing users in the tax territory requiring taxpayers to use one of these methods to capture the data necessary for tracing.
Finally, the Royal Decree amends the General Regulations on tax management and inspection actions and procedures to cover census actions in relation to the DST.
b) Order HAC/590/2021
The Order establishes that the corresponding tax return (Form 490) shall be filed on a quarterly basis. Each return must be filed during the month following the end of the corresponding quarter. However, the tax return for the first quarter of 2021 will be filed during the tax return period for the second quarter, i.e. from 1 July to 2 August 2021 (although if the payment is made by direct debit, the payment must be made from 1 to 28 July). In addition, in the event that no amount is payable, a negative tax return must be filed.
With regard to the presentation of Form 490, the Order establishes that electronic filing through Internet is mandatory.
Furthermore, should the taxpayer not be able to ascertain the taxable base in the taxable period and therefore set it provisionally (in order to be able to correct it later when the correct amount is known), the Order establishes that this correction of previously submitted tax returns must be made in the return corresponding to the period in which the definitive amount is known. This adjustment must be made no later than 4 years after the accrual of the tax. If at the time of the adjustment the taxpayer is no longer a taxpayer, the adjustment must be made through supplementary or corrective returns.
Lastly, the Spanish Directorate General for Taxation has issued a Draft Resolution (currently under public consultation), which will have binding effects when approved and is directed at establishing a clear and precise interpretative framework. The Resolution should provide legal certainty in the practical application of the rules relating to the DST, which is much needed in light of the novelty of the tax, the fact that it will apply immediately, and its complexity.
Daniel Riopérez
Partner, Spain
+34 91 576 44 76 Email Daniel Full biog
Ana Malagón
Lawyer, Spain
+34 91 576 44 76 Email Ana Full biog
Esther Villa
+34 93 419 18 18 Email Esther Full biog