text:
1. US Congress on PRC Human Rights
1. DPRK SEZ Governor Arrested
2. DPRK-US Talks
3. DPRK-ROK Relations
4. DPRK Defector getting US Residency
5. UN Drop in DPRK Humanitarian Aid
6. DPRK and IMF
7. DPRK and IAEA
8. ROK Anti-US Student Protests
9. Inter-Korean Relations: Asian Games
10. DPRK Passenger Boat ROK Arrival
1. PRC on UN Iraq Resolution
2. PRC-Japan 30th Anniversary of Diplomatic Ties
3. PRC-DPRK Relations
4. PRC Attitude towards Korean Peninsula Development
5. PRC Naval Developments
6. PRC National Day
7. Taiwan APEC Representation
1. Japan DPRK Spy Ship
2. Japan Cabinet Reshuffle
3. Japan Nuclear Industry Scandal
4. DPRK Japanese Abduction Victims
6. Japan-US Relations
7. Japanese Logistic Support for US
1. Current News
Campaign Against Al-Qaeda
1. News and Analysis
India-Pakistan Situation
3. Pakistan Domestic Situation
4. US - Pakistan Relations
6. US-India Relations
7. Kashmir Elections
8. India, Pakistan, US
The US Congress urged President George W. Bush to impose new pressure on the PRC over its human rights record, in a new report which top senators claimed pulled no punches. The report was the first issued by the Congressional Executive Commission on the PRC, established under legislation passed two years ago which de-linked the PRC's trade privileges from its human rights performance. "This is the most comprehensive document produced by Congress on human rights in China," commission chairman Senator Max Baucus said at a press conference. Human rights activists have decried the commission as nothing more than a smokescreen set up to smother questions on the issue during the debate over granting permanent normal trade relations to China.
"US Congress on PRC Human Rights" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 1, US)
PRC authorities reportedly arrested tycoon Yang Bin, the Dutch-Chinese governor of the fledgling DPRK capitalist zone, threatening to throw Pyongyang's already confused scheme into chaos. Police in the northeastern city of Shenyang hauled the orchid tycoon in for questioning over alleged financial impropriety as he prepared to leave the PRC for the DPRK, reports said. Police in Shenyang and authorities in Beijing were unable to confirm the 5:00 am September 29 arrest. However diplomatic sources in the PRC capital stated that it was related to tax evasion, stock speculation and illegal real estate development. PRC's official China News Service then reported that Yang had been placed under house arrest.
"DPRK SEZ Governor Arrested" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 3, US)
"DPRK Market Liberalization Credibility" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 2, US)
"DPRK Special Economic Zone Chief" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 1, US)
"Restriction of South Koreans to Sinuiju" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, ROK)
Special envoy James Kelly was holding a second day of talks in Pyongyang on Friday. Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and his nine-member delegation made the short flight out over the Yellow Sea and on to Pyongyang. In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Kelly had talks with a delegation led by DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-gwan and an informal dinner with the same foreign ministry officials on Thursday evening. "His mission is...to explore comprehensive dialogue with North Korea and, based on close coordination with South Korea and Japan, to explain US policy and seek progress on a range of issues of long-standing concern to the United States."
"DPRK-US Talks" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 3, US)
"DPRK-ROK-US Relations" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 2, US)
"Kelly's Visit to DPRK" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 1, ROK)
"DPRK-US Relations" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 1, US)
"DPRK US Envoy Announcement" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, US)
"James Kelly's Visit to DPRK" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, ROK)
"US Comment on DPRK" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, ROK)
"US-DPRK Relations" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, PRC)
The Defense Ministry of ROK set up a hotline on September 24 with the military of DPRK for the reconnection of railways and roads through their heavily mined frontier. It reported that previously the only connection was a rickety Soviet-era landline between the DPRK military and a United Nations guard post in the truce village of Panmunjom, in the heart of the Demilitarized Zone, which bisects the Korean peninsula. The report said that military officials from both sides agreed on September 17 to install the first direct line between their militaries to ensure mine-clearing troops could work safely and without misunderstandings. The report said that testing of the line was carried out on September 24.
"DPRK-ROK Relations" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, PRC)
Another DPRK defector has been given refugee status in US, the third defector from DPRK to obtain US residency rights. Kim Soon-hee, 39, who had been arrested near the border crossing at San Diego, California in April 2001, was approved for resettlement in US by a federal immigration court in San Diego on Monday, US time. She will be given permanent residency in US, one year from the day of the hearing. Kim, who had been released after her detention as an illegal immigrant into the custody of a former English teacher in ROK, obtained a job with the help of the Korean-American community in San Diego and joined a Catholic church there.
"DPRK Defector getting US Residency" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 1, ROK)
Donation shortfalls are forcing the UN to cut grain rations to nearly 3 million people in the DPRK, threatening years of work to end starvation in that country, a UN official said Monday. The halt will take effect over the next two months, with another 1.5 million people threatened with cutoffs early next year, said Rick Corsino, World Food Program country director for the DPRK. Such cutbacks "would cause suffering on a massive scale," Corsino said at a news conference in Beijing. He said about 100,000 metric tons (110,000 tons) of grain were urgently needed to cover the immediate shortfall. The WFP provides food assistance to about one-third of the DPRK's 23 million people. The WFP provided almost 1 million metric tons of food to DPRK in 2001, but will probably provide only half that amount this year, Corsino said. While primary donors ROK and the US have provided about the same amounts as last year, Japan, which gave 500,000 metric tons (550,000 tons) in 2001, hasn't provided any so far this year.
"UN Drop in DPRK Humanitarian Aid" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, US)
The DPRK will be invited to the annual conference of the International Monetary Fund next year, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said Sunday. Horst Koehler, managing director of the fund, told Finance Minister Jeon Yun-churl on Saturday that he will invite DPRK as a special guest at the conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. If DPRK wants to be a member of the International Monetary Fund, Koehler said, it will be provided with technical support to bring its institutions up to international standards, the ministry said. Considering the new movement of DPRK toward opening its economy, DPRK is likely to accept the invitation, an official said.
"DPRK and IMF" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, ROK)
The spokesperson for the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, Melissa Fleming, announced Sunday that the organization has already begun negotiations with DPRK on nuclear inspections. The negotiations were prompted by remarks from DPRK's leader, Kim Jong Il, who agreed with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in their September 17 summit to allow international nuclear inspectors into the country. Fleming said in an e-mail interview with The Chosun Ilbo. "Negotiations are underway between the IAEA and North Korea on the scope and timeframe of the inspections." The IAEA and DPRK were to begin working-level talks for the implementation of the Nuclear Safety and Security Treaty in Pyongyang, June 25 to 29, but DPRK called off the talks.
"DPRK and IAEA" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, ROK)
ROK students staged violent anti-United States protests here as a top US envoy briefed ROK officials ahead of the resumption of high-level US-DPRK talks frozen for nearly two years. James Kelly, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, arrived in ROK to consult with Foreign Minister Choi Sung-Hong and key aides to President Kim Dae-Jung ahead of three days of talks in DPRK from Thursday. During the 40-minute meeting with Choi, more than 2,000 students staged what some witnesses said was the biggest anti-US demonstration seen in the ROK capital since US President George W. Bush took office in January last year.
"ROK Anti-US Student Protests" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 2, US)
Athletes from the DPRK and the ROK struck a sporting blow for peace, marching together in a show of unity at the Asian Games opening ceremony. ROK and DPRK athletes strode into the Busan Main Stadium hand-in-hand and side-by-side at the rear of the 42 other nations competing in an event second only to the Olympics in size. In another sign of improving inter-Korean ties following the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue in August, they followed the neutral unification flag, showing a blue emblem of the Korean peninsular on a white background. The DPRK's football goalkeeper Ri Chong-Hui and South Korean handball player Hwangbo Sung-Il carried the symbol together after the Olympic Council of Asia relented on its protocol of only one athlete being allowed to carry a national flag. ROK President Kim Dae-Jung clapped enthusiastically from the stands as the crowd erupted and the electronic scoreboard flashed up "Korea". Hundreds of DPRK flags, banned in the ROK, were vigorously waved by a DPRK cheer squad shipped in for the event.
"Inter-Korean Relations: Asian Games" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, US)
"Inter Korean Sports Exchange" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, ROK)
A DPRK passenger boat carrying hundreds of Asian Games supporters arrived here in a landmark visit to ROK. The 9,672-ton Mangyongbong 92, carying 343 DPRK supporters, including a 150-member music band, pulled in at Dadaepo Port Saturday amid cheers from hundreds of Busan citizens waving "unification flags" and banners. It marked the first time that a DPRK passenger boat has entered ROK waters and moored at a since the end of the Korean War. The DPRK boat was marked with their national flag -- a red star and blue and red stripes --- but it also flew a unification flag, commonly used by the two sides and decorated with the blue Korean peninsula image. "Thank you all for welcoming us so warmly," Li Myong-Won, who led the cheering squad, told the audience. "We'll root for not only our athletes but for the unification of the fatherland."
"DPRK Passenger Boat ROK Arrival" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, US)
The PRC is reflecting on a draft UN resolution setting tough new terms for Iraq on disarming, which a British envoy discussed with senior PRC officials in Beijing on Monday, a British embassy official said. But PRC Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan told his Russian counterpart that the PRC still favored a political solution and the priority was for UN arms inspectors to return to Iraq. The consultations came as Britain and the US lobbied fellow UN Security Council permanent members PRC, France and Russia to back a resolution requiring Baghdad to comply with new arms inspection rules within 30 days or face military action. The PRC is expected to abstain in a vote on the resolution. But diplomats say it is taking a more pragmatic, rather than principled, stance compared to when it abstained on almost all Security Council votes before the 1991 Gulf War and opposed sanctions on Iraq afterwards.
"PRC on UN Iraq Resolution" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, US)
Japan and the PRC vowed on Sunday to forge closer and stronger bilateral ties, as they marked the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji exchanged messages to commemorate the 30th anniversary of forging diplomatic ties, Japan's Foreign Ministry said. "The two countries have strengthened ties in various fields and now both have extremely important responsibilities concerning peace and prosperity not only in the region but the world," Koizumi said in his message to Zhu. "I hope to continue to strengthen wide-ranging cooperative relations with your country," he said, according to a copy of his massage released by Japan's Foreign Ministry.
"PRC-Japan 30th Anniversary of Diplomatic Ties" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, US)
"PRC-Japan Relations" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, PRC)
PRC Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said on September 24 that PRC and Kirghizstan will hold joint anti-terror military exercises on their border areas focusing on the threat posed by Eastern Turkistan terrorists. Zhang said in the report that "to carry out the UN Charter, as well relevant conventions of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization, this is the first bilateral anti-terrorism military exercise since the founding of the organization". It reported that this military exercise will not only strengthen the mutual trust of the two countries, but also have a significant effect on maintaining peace in the border areas of the two neighbors.
"PRC-DPRK Relations" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, PRC)
PRC Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said on September 26 that the PRC welcomes the recent reconciliation trend on the Korean Peninsula. Zhang said in the report that improvement has been apparent recently in the relations between DPRK and US, Japan and Russia, and PRC regards the upcoming US envoy to DPRK "as another positive step". PRC also hopes all sides involved will further improve relations with DPRK to enhance bilateral trust through honest dialogue so as to further promote the trend, said Zhang. The report also mentioned that on September 23 and 24 US and DPRK representatives met in New York to discuss the US envoy's visit.
"PRC Attitude towards Korean Peninsula Development" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, PRC)
In the past decade, the PLA navy has bolstered its mostly indigenous surface fleet with the addition of two Sovremenny-class destroyers from Russia to its eastern fleet based opposite Taiwan. Two more are on order. What makes them worrisome, analysts say, are their supersonic SS-N-22/Sunburn anti-ship missiles. No Asian navy can shoot them down, a report to the US Congress said in July. Below the waves, too, the PRC is enhancing its submarine force, now a collection of 50-60 mostly noisy and outdated boats. The PLA navy has recently added four Russian-made Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines. The ships are nearly silent and the PRC has eight more on order. The PRC is also expected to buy about 40 Russian Su-30MKK fighter planes before year-end, equipped with radar systems that let them fire precision air-to-surface anti-ship missiles, Jane's Defence Weekly reported in August. Finally, the PRC navy has put growing stock in its large arsenal of increasingly sophisticated anti-ship mines, a crucial element in a blockade of Taiwan. For the time being, plans for an aircraft carrier are on the back burner because of the high cost, analysts say.
"PRC Naval Developments" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 2, US)
The PRC marked its 53rd anniversary with a show of confidence ahead of crucial leadership changes, as millions hit the road at the start of a week-long holiday. State-run newspapers Tuesday reassured their National Day readers that reform would continue after the top-level adjustments expected at the 16th Congress of the Communist Party starting November 8. Based on "the solid groundwork" laid by the current leadership around President Jiang, the PRC will advance faster in the years to come, the China Daily argued. "This will be further proved when the Party Congress is convened in November," it said.
"PRC National Day" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 2, US)
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's has won praise for appointing Nobel Prize laureate Lee Yuan-tseh his special envoy to the 2002 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico October 26-27. When he announced the appointment at a press conference yesterday, Chen Shih-meng, presidential secretary-general, quoted Mexican President Vincente Fox, the host of the summit, as saying he was "very impressed by Dr. Lee's credentials." The United States, Chen said, also hailed Lee as a "very, very ideal" person to attend the summit on President Chen's behalf.
"Taiwan APEC Representation" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 2, US)
Japan's Transport Minister Chikage Ogi announced that aA vessel salvaged in early September from the East China Sea was definitely a DPRK spy ship. "We have concluded that the ship was a North Korean spy vessel," said Ogi at a news conference on Friday. "Physical evidence backs this up." The government also indicated it was not likely to strongly protest the matter with the DPRK, as it had already received an apology from DPRK supreme leader Kim Jong-Il at an historic summit last month. "There has already been an apology," the government's top spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, told reporters. "Clearing up this matter during the normalization talks is appropriate," he said. Although the mystery ship was determined to be a spy vessel, Fukuda pointed out "We don't have proof of what exactly its actual mission was." He added it was not clear if Japan could ask for compensation for damage incurred in a firefight with the ship.
"Japan DPRK Spy Ship" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 3, US)
"Japan DPRK Mystery Vessel" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 1, US)
The appointment of Shigeru Ishiba as director-general of the Defense Agency has raised the hopes of fellow hawks that new military emergency legislation will finally pass the Diet. Ishiba is regarded as one of the Diet's most knowledgeable defense policy experts. But that very fact may conversely result in a delay in passage of the bills because Ishiba says he is not satisfied with some aspects of the proposed legislation. Ishiba has insisted provisions be made to deal with terrorist attacks on Japan and intrusions into Japanese waters by suspected spy ships. In its current form, the proposed legislation deals only with a full-scale military attack on Japan. In his first news conference after being named director-general, Ishiba indicated he was willing to consider alternatives before revising legislation.
"Japan Cabinet Reshuffle" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, Japan)
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, in an interim report out Tuesday, ripped Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and other power companies for failing to adequately check their nuclear power operations. The report cited "paralyzed checking functions" throughout the industry as the fundamental cause of the scandals. It said TEPCO's in-house inspections had been reduced to a formality and most staff had inadequate understanding of ethical codes for accident prevention. But the report stopped short of calling the lack of reports "illegal." Questions remain as to whether the top echelon of TEPCO executives were actually involved in the cover-ups. The agency report failed to identify who instructed whom to conceal damages. The agency's decision not to pursue criminal responsibility on the part of utilities has only stoked anger of local governments hosting nuclear reactors.
"Japan Nuclear Industry Scandal" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, Japan)
"Japanese Nuclear Industry Scandal" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, Japan)
The families of Japanese kidnapped by the DPRK demanded Thursday their loved ones return to Japan - despite their videotaped claims that they are happy in the DPRK and do not want to come home. The families spoke after watching videotapes of five surviving kidnap victims and the daughter of one who the DPRK says has died. A Japanese government mission brought back the videotape earlier this week. The mission visited Pyongyang to discover the fate of 13 Japanese nationals that the DPRK admitted last month to abducting in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies in Japanese language and customs and to allow agents to take on their identities. All the victims said on the videotape that they were leading happy lives and expressed reluctance about returning to Japan. But families in Tokyo said they doubted the DPRK would allow their relatives to speak their minds.
"DPRK Japanese Abduction Victims" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 1, US)
"Japanese Abductees in DPRK" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 1, ROK)
"DPRK-Japan Abduction Suicide" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 2, US)
"Japan DPRK Abduction Fact Finding Mission" (NAPSNet Daily Report, October 2, US)
Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi fired a top economic adviser Monday in the first reshuffle of his Cabinet since taking office more than a year ago. Koizumi sacked Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa. Koizumi retained most of his main ministers - including Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa and Heizo Takenaka, the economic and fiscal policy minister. Yanagisawa's position was assumed by Takenaka. The new Cabinet includes four women, as did the previous lineup. Also replaced was Agriculture Minister Tsutomu Takebe, who had been strongly criticized for the government handling of Japan's mad cow disease outbreak. In other changes, Shigeru Ishiba was named as head of the Defense Agency, which was involved in a privacy violation scandal, and Sadakazu Tanigaki as chief of the National Public Safety Commission, which oversees police and national security issues.
"Japan Cabinet Reshuffle" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, US)
Japan agreed to allow US customs officials to help screen US-bound cargo containers docked in its ports for nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction. It reported that since the September 11 attacks, US authorities have feared a potential strike against port cities using chemical, biological or nuclear devices stowed in containers. "Last year alone, almost six million cargo containers entered US ports", "but this system is vulnerable to terrorism, and to the risk that terrorists might use one of these boxes to smuggle a weapon-potentially, even a weapon of mass destruction", US Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner said in the report.
"Japan-US Relations" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, PRC)
Japanese Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani on Friday denied media reports that the US has asked Japan to expand the scope of its logistic support for antiterrorism military operations in Afghanistan. Nakatani said, however, that diplomatic and defense authorities of the two countries have been "exchanging information" but declined comment on details of the bilateral consultations. "We have not received any kind of requests," Nakatani told a news conference after the day's Cabinet meeting.
"Japanese Logistic Support for US" (NAPSNet Daily Report, September 30, Japan)
The Press Trust of India reported that India would begin the commercial production of supersonic anti-ship Brahmos cruise missile, with a range of 280 km, by 2004. India also test fired Trishul, its short-range surface-to-air missile. A new US government funded study finds it unlikely that terrorists will be able to steal Pakistani or Indian nuclear weapons. President Pervez Musharraf has stated that Pakistan's "minimum deterrence needs would continue to be pursued, while avoiding an arms race."
"Related News and Analysis" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
According to a daily News (Pakistan) report, the US forces have launched an operation aimed at capturing former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The daily Frontier Post reports that the US army has increased its troops in Afghanistan's Nimrouz province that borders Iran. A single rocket was reportedly launched at a US special operations base in southeastern Afghanistan. General Dan McNeill, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, organized and mediated a meeting between Gul Agha Shirazi and Ismail Khan, governors of Khandahar and Herat province respectively. The meeting was aimed at easing tensions between the two former warlords. The UN is preparing a team to investigate the reports of a mass grave found in northern Afghanistan which is believed to contain bodies of hundreds of Taliban prisoners.
"Current News" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
The Pakistani government has announced more arrests of alleged members of extremist religious groups. Rauf Klasra (News, Pakistan) reports that Pakistan has informed the US that 33 activists of the banned Harkatul ul Mujahidin Al-Alami - "equipped with deadly weapons like rocket launchers and detonators" - are still at large. Klasra also writes that Pakistan has asked the US to 'gradually' decrease FBI's role in Pakistan's campaign against extremist religious groups. Meanwhile, the FBI is reportedly planning to install close-circuit cameras at selective spots in Karachi. According to a government spokesperson, Pakistan has so far handed about 420 alleged al-Qaeda and Taliban activists to the US.
"News and Analysis" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
India's Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha has stated that "there is no chance of a dialogue, until and unless Pakistan puts an end to cross-border terrorism." President Musharraf, on his part, stated that "if they don't want to talk to us, we don't want to talk to them either... there is no problem."
"News" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
M.P. Bhandara's essay in Dawn, Pakistan, notes ambiguities in President Musharraf's statements about Pakistan's role in supporting militancy in Kashmir and argues that "there should be no room for training camps in Pakistan or in Azad Kashmir."
"Analysis" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
Unidentified assailants killed 7 Christian employees of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Karachi. The killing was strongly condemned by Pakistan's political parties and NGOs. The daily Dawn called the killings a "chilling reminder of the growing threat posed to Pakistan's Christian community by extremists." The Daily Times writes that the killings show "our deep internal regression over the past three decades..." The Super-7 fighter aircraft - result of the biggest-ever joint venture between Pakistan and China - will go through its first flight by June 2003 in China. Pakistan's federal cabinet has approved the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 to "ensure all citizens' access to public records."
"Domestic Situation" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
Pakistani and US defense officials have restarted a joint consultative forum after a four-year suspension. The daily News (Pakistan) reports that the meeting is "unlikely to have any major breakthrough because of the reluctant approach by the US team." "US - Pakistan Relations" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
Thirty people were killed when two gunmen attacked a Hindu temple in Gujarat. The gunmen were later killed in a commando strike. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed Pakistan for the attack. Pakistan condemned the attack and called Indian allegations of Pakistan's role in the attack "highly irresponsible." About 3000 Indian army troops were moved into Gujarat to prevent anti-Muslim violence in areas around Ahmadabad, the capital of Gujarat and the site of the attacked temple. The daily Hindu called upon "the entire political class .. [to] .. reach out to the masses with the message of communal amity and harmony, [and] not seek to drive a wedge between different religious groups for narrow partisan gains."
"India: Domestic Situation" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
C. Raja Mohan (Hindu) believes that "as a rising power, India is more sympathetic to the American effort to rework the rules of the global game from which it could benefit. Europe, on the other hand, is a staunch defender of the present order."
"US-India Relations" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
Increased violence preceded the second phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) state elections. The second phase of polling in J&K ended with official voter turnout of 42 per cent. Two reports by Indian Express' Muzamil Jaleel describe the atmosphere and the activities surrounding the polling. Rajindar Sachar (Hindu) warns that "the mildly satisfactory polling should not deceive the Government of India into assuming that people's resentment has vanished... It should initiate talks not only with the elected representatives but also other groups."
"Elections" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)
Robert Blackwill, the US Ambassador to India, has stated that infiltration of militants across the line of control is "is certainly going on -- absolutely. Our judgment is it is up in August and up in September and we condemn it." Amin Lakhani's essay in the daily Dawn argues that "Pakistan should permanently cease its backing for any military action in Indian-controlled Kashmir. It should disarm all militants and disband all supporting camps and training facilities."
"India, Pakistan, US" (SANDNet Weekly Update, V.3 #32)


Nestled among lush mediterranean scrub, Villa Hanbury and its Botanical Gardens are a one-of-a-kind gem, created in 1867 by the Englishman Sir Thomas Hanbury. After he came back from the East Indies, where he built a fortune with the tea commerce, Sir Hanbury decided to spend the rest of his days living on the Ligurian Riviera: he bought a villa and the surrounding plot and started collecting species from all over the world. With the help of botanics, agronomists and landscape architects, a great and harmonic ensemble was created, which has no equivalent in whole Europe from the botanical point of view (5800 species of plants) and from the landscape point of view. The lucky position of the property, the sun and the gentle breeze constantly blowing from the sea make this garden a heaven on earth both for the botanical species and for the guests visiting. Board a minivan for a short ride to the Gardens. Once inside you will have 2 ½ hours of free time to visit the gardens at your leisure. Return to your hotel with the minivan.


I am pretty sure I married into the wildest party animals. These Brits can drink and dance and they don't need sleep. There isn't a night we've gone to bed before 3am for 5 straight nights.
The joke is that when we get to London, maybe we'll finally get some rest!
Here are pics from Christmas.
Festive table setting with shrimp cocktail—my favorite!


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The Global Commission on Drug Policy ⁄ Commissioner ⁄ Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Former President of Poland
Aleksander Kwaśniewski is the former President of the Republic of Poland (1995 – 2005). He was born on 15 November 1954 in Białogard, Poland.
He participated in the famous "Round-Table" negotiations in Poland that finally brought the peaceful transformation of Poland and the whole Central and Eastern Europe from communism to democracy. A co-founding member and first chairman of the Social Democratic Party of the Republic of Poland. He won the presidential elections for the first time in 1995, running against the incumbent Lech Walesa. He is the co-author of the new democratic Constitution of Poland, which he signed into law on 16 July 1997.
A great advocate of Poland's membership in both NATO and the European Union, it was under his leadership that Poland finally joined NATO in 1999. He is an active supporter of further alliance enlargement under the "open door" policy. A strong proponent of European integration, Kwaśniewski campaigned for approval of the European Union accession treaty in 2003, and saw Poland become a member on 1 May 2004.
Aleksander Kwaśniewski was one of the leading figures in European politics. Author of numerous local and regional initiatives, he joined the global war on terror and backed the decision to send Polish troops in Iraq. As a longstanding supporter of Ukraine's independence and sovereignty, Aleksander Kwaśniewski inspired the international mediation efforts during the Orange Revolution, helping the young democracy in Ukraine to prevail.
During his presidency, he courageously confronted the past, significantly contributing to the reconciliation between the Poles and the Germans and the Jewish and Ukrainian people.
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Paul Volcker (1927-2019)
Former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve and of the Economic Recovery Board, US
The purpose of The Global Commission on Drug Policy is to bring to the international level an informed, science-based discussion about humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs and drug control policies to people and societies.
1211 Geneva 1
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Oracle query inner join trouble select
     s.w

i have this simple query setup where i can list the wisdom of a given avatar, but how do i list more than one avatar, for example the above query only list the dads wisdom, but if i remove the m.dad line, it lists the mums wisdom, but how do i list both. any help would be greatly appreciated.

A: Just use different aliases for your SuperAvatars and reference them in the SELECT list:
select
     mum.wisdom as wisdom_mum,
     dad.wisdom as wisdom_dad
from
     megaAvatars m
     inner join superAvatars mum on mum.sAvatarsID = m.mum
     inner join superAvatars dad on dad.sAvatarsID = m.dad
where
     m.hoard = 100

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
CAMERICAN INTERNATIONAL ACQUIRES KHI
Paramus, NJ and Atlanta, GA – Oct 14, 2016 - Camerican International ("Camerican") announced today that it has acquired KH International ("KHI"). KHI is a leading international food sourcing and sales company based in Atlanta with additional offices in Oregon, Chile, Hong Kong and China. KHI's strength is in sourcing frozen and processed fruit products. The combination of Camerican and KHI creates a highly complementary and diversified portfolio of imported products. The combined entity will have approximately $400 million in annual revenue. Camerican is part of the Gellert Global Group which will now have over $1.1 billion in annual sales revenues.
"KHI's frozen fruit sourcing expertise perfectly complements our core strength in frozen vegetable procurement. Combined with our sourcing of canned fruits, vegetables, seafood and specialty items, we will be able to offer our customers a full range of imported items," said Josh Gellert, Executive Vice President at Camerican.
"I am pleased to welcome KHI into the Camerican family," said Larry Abramson, President and Chief Executive Officer at Camerican. "I have known Karen Holzberg for over 20 years, and have watched with admiration as she has put together a great team and turned KHI into a force in the imported frozen fruit industry. We are very excited to be able to combine our companies."
"I look forward to working with the Camerican team, a company that shares our values and passion for providing customers with high quality products from trusted processors around the world," said Karen Holzberg, founder of KHI. "By partnering with Camerican, we can leverage its operating strengths to allow KHI's sourced items to reach an even wider customer base. We are thrilled to be part of the Camerican team and the potential for our combined future business."
George Gellert, Chairman of Gellert Global Group said, "I am delighted to add KHI to the Group. Karen and the KHI team have an excellent reputation and we are excited to have them as part of our team."
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. KHI will continue operating out of its office in Atlanta, Georgia. Camerican International was advised by Corporate Fuel Advisors. BB&T was the exclusive advisor to KHI.
About Camerican International
In 2016, Camerican is celebrating 100 years in the global sourcing business. Camerican sources canned and frozen fruits, vegetables, seafood, meat, and grains from over 40 different countries around the world working with over 125 active suppliers. Camerican prides itself on working with a carefully selected number of processors in each of these countries that meet a rigid criteria for quality control, performance excellence, financial stability, and business integrity. Camerican's customer base includes many of the largest food companies in the United States. Camerican's website is www.camerican.com.
About KHI
Since its launch in 1992, KHI has been a recognized leader in the sourcing, transportation and sale of exceptional quality fruit and food products throughout the world. KHI sources products from over 100 active suppliers and processing plants in 43 countries that meet the industry's highest food safety standards. KHI has continued to open new markets throughout the world, most recently opening an office in China where product is both sourced and sold. KHI prides itself on developing long-lasting relationships with growers, suppliers and customers. many of whom have been with KHI since its founding. KHI's website is www.khinternational.com.
About Gellert Global Group
The Gellert Global Group is a third generation family-owned business comprised of 11 companies including Atalanta Corp, Camerican International, JF Braun and Sons, Finica, Swiss Chalet and Tipico. The Gellert Global Group continues to grow organically and through acquisitions, importing over 6,000 different food items sourced from trusted supply partners in over 60 countries worldwide. The Group successfully services all facets of the U.S food industry including manufacturers, retailers, food service distributors and restaurant chains. With combined revenues of over $1 billion, the GGG is a leader in the food industry and proud to be one of the largest and most established food importers in the United States.
Visit our sister company's website www.camerican.com


text:
Health Industry News
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Ebola in the United States: Short on Accountable 'Open' Information, Effective Systems Planning and Decision Making
By Marc Wine | October 29, 2014
The CDC issued new guidelines for workers in U.S.. hospitals who care for Ebola patients. Even when they follow all recommended guidelines for wearing personal protective gear, they "might not have realized they have been exposed." Statement from CDC, Washington Post October 28, 2014
Marc WineThis personal article relays some of my experiences and efforts related to helping produce a robust and integrated biosurveillance capability for the nation with connections to international disease surveillance systems, in order to provide early warning and ongoing characterization of disease outbreaks like Ebola.
Events in the present Ebola crisis prompt unease that the United States deployment of Web based, standardized population health and biosurveillance information services is fragmented, incomplete and insufficient, prompting me to write this article.
The United States has made significant progress in public health and medical preparedness since the 9/11 terrorist attacks; yet, poorly interconnected information systems add to our vulnerability to planning and response to viruses like Ebola or enviro virus EV-D68 that threaten the health of large populations.
Today, a gap exists between information technology specialists and public health programmatic or scientific personnel. Overall, their intergovernmental attention to interoperable data management for meeting the challenges of notifiable disease reporting, outbreak detection, emergency response, program evaluation, and public communications in relation to syndromic disease outbreaks, is divided by lack of program collaboration and timely, accurate data sharing.
The will of the nation's public health decision-makers has been divided between federal, state and local politics that prevent connecting content, analysis and integrated electronic health information systems from every hospital, clinic, county, state and federal departments of health with the people.
Today, the Ebola outbreak that began in West Africa, killing over 5,000 people so far, moved from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas to the Washington, D.C. area with the transfer and now released Nina Pham the first nurse diagnosed with Ebola after caring for now deceased Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan, to the situations in New York with Ebola diagnosed Craig Spenser and quarantined Kaci Hickox in New Jersey plus the dozen U.S., military personnel quarantined in Vicenza, Italy following their mission in West Africa.
My sympathies are deep for the people and families stricken by the virus; further, my empathy is heightened for all people who are missing the promise of security and protection from not having a deployed and interoperable nationwide information system for the continuous predictive analysis and communications in the common handling of critical disease and public health threats.
What we do see are the results of the gaps and dangers of the unfulfilled policies of the National Strategy for Biosurveillance (The White House July 2012).
My own observations of the wide-scale implementation of electronic health information systems for surveillance show challenges, barriers and missed opportunities suggesting the U.S.. failure to fully harness the laws and comprehensive systems of early warning of health threats and early detection of deadly disease events, including bootstrapping comprehensive and unremitting education especially among health care workers.
Situational awareness in real-time, that ought to have enabled the more appropriate response behavior of the health systems workers in Dallas, Texas for example, remain uncoordinated with federal and global signs of the Ebola crisis. Governments around the globe have stalled, unwilling to recognize this outbreak as the humanitarian, information and resources crisis it is. Even though, we knew about Ebola at least since the 1976 Sudan outbreak, the U.S. is looking months into the future before any efficacious vaccine may be expected.
Looking back, beginning within about three months of the 9/11 attacks, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Under Secretary of Health Dr. Jonathan Perlin requested that the VA Federal Interagency Health IT Sharing (HITS) program to demonstrate within 90-days the capability for VA to exchange the data of all VA ambulatory lab results system-wide with the CDC's Office of Public Health Informatics in near real-time.
The first goal of the initiative was to electronically exchange the data from VA to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plus create algorithms for analyzing the lab test results for flagging any evidence of atypical diseases or syndromic incidences; supporting the monitoring and detection or population disease or biosurveillance outbreaks. The outlier lab tests of unusual and unexplained results would be exchanged back to VA end-users for considering potential bioterrorist or syndromic disease events.
Then working on the mission to plan with the CDC associate director for health informatics, we helped deliver on the Undersecretary's request for the development of a data exchange and analysis demonstration between VA labs and CDC. Accordingly, It marked the first time VA was to share lab data electronically on a wide-scale with CDC for public health disease monitoring. Although, it was not until about a year later that the VA and CDC could show the initial capability of how to cleanly exchange electronic disease surveillance data, initially via an over-night batch processing solution.
Eventually, this evolved as a part of today's BioSense 2.0 that provides a mechanism to collect and share information on emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and other health related data from multiple sources, including VA, the Department of Defense (DoD), and civilian hospitals from around the country.
In 2002, I discovered that VA clinical researcher Dr. Sylvain DeLisle of the VA Medical Center in Baltimore was awarded CDC's first grant to mine VA's VistA electronic health record (EHR) system for the purpose of identifying evidence of influenza-like symptoms that may be indicative of serious population health threats. Dr. Delisle's results, gained from applying his methodology used to optimize VA's VistA EHR data, evaluated the performance of an automated text classifier for syndromic surveillance.
This VA data mining automatically processed VistA health record source documents, patient diagnostics, and was used for informing decisions regarding electronic textual data sources for potential applications with computerized biosurveillance systems. In other words, Dr. DeLisle's analytic method would automatically flag certain patient diagnostics for potential unexplained disease incidence.
My reaction immediately and vigorously was to help promote Dr. Delisle's surveillance methodology as an innovative direction toward advancing 'open' solutions, that would be used for generating decision support and knowledge. The analysis of existing patient information could be used to inform the public and health care workers about high potential, critical disease outbreaks across health systems that can be predicted accurately from patients' electronic health records.
The vision I held then, was that semantically accurate disease predictive analytics can be combined with online learning modules that would be able to inform health workers in real-time how to apply precautions and procedures for emergency response to threatening outbreaks. Now, in the era of Ebola and enviro viruses, it still looks as if the nation's health system is not there, despite the development of policies and capabilities based on billions of dollars invested over at least a decade-and-a-half.
It appears that CDC Director Thomas Frieden's answers to questions about Dallas health worker's lacking a clear understanding about how to handle Ebola is not his part of his responsibility; yet, it represents another view that U.S.. leadership with population health and biosurveillance systems is sadly lagging behind policies, plans and political commitments dating at least back to 9/11.
In 2007, my experience working within the the Defense Department's, Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), proved again that the U.S.. was planning but not working effectively to produce and deploy an interoperable and integrated data sharing and decision support system for the public's protection and health care worker's knowledge of future pandemic or bioterrorist diseases like Ebola.
In July 2012 the CDC published a report titled, "CDC's Vision for Public Health Surveillance in the 21st Century." The authors of the report emphasized, "…federal, state, and local agencies and health departments have failed to obtain access to desired administrative or survey data…" in relation to collaborating Information from disparate sources or programs that can display patterns of disease that individual program data cannot.
While I was at TATRC the deputy director assigned me to serve as "the belly-button" for promoting innovative health information technology solutions that would be used for managing biosuveillance in educating, informing and analyzing real-time bioterrorist or syndromic disease events. To accomplish my assignment at TATRC, I set out to accomplish three goals:
Analyze the alignment of the rules and regulations governing how and why population health data are collected and released.
Coordinate planning for innovations generating the processes to put the data into a form that can be shared across the Web and between DoD, VA and CDC.
Encourage the willingness to use those resources across the public-private sectors.
Then Associate Director for Science, National Center for Public Health Informatics at CDC Dr, Tom Savel visited TATRC, and we agreed to work together on identifying gaps of interoperability between CDC, DoD and VA public health data surveillance systems.
At the time there was no existing useful sharing involving all three of the federal government's disease surveillance systems across CDC, VA and DoD. My work entailed bringing together managers and leaders of the federal disease surveillance systems from, DoD, VA and CDC for mapping ways to address the policy and technical barriers to cross government data communications about potentially deadly disease outbreaks.
The lesson I learned from facilitating collaborative efforts to meet the needs of public health surveillance programs through collaboration, innovation and open data solutions was that no common standards for communicating, interpreting and educating people from top-to-bottom across the nation were operating; moreover, the efforts just to get the different departments talking to one another proved arduous.
Earlier in 2006, I was invited to attend a small meeting at The White House Executive Office Building where I saw presented the first model for rapid identification of "conditions favorable" for Ebola epidemics using satellite imagery.
As it turned out, this was somewhat related to innovation projects with the TATRC portfolio that I was promoting in 2008. The most forceful realization of this initial disease information satellite project was the possibility of connecting a global biosurveillance system seamlessly to hospitals in America using information technology so that patients would not be seen by American healthcare workers without access to immediate situational awareness of what that patient might have been exposed to while traveling overseas.
With the history, benefits and opportunities that CDC Director Dr. Frieden has behind him, not to overlook the nation's high priority commitments to systematically inform its health workers and people of the granular details and data about Ebola fully and in advance, how can he not accept responsibility for what happened with Ebola in the Dallas hospital and the incidences involving the subsequent illnesses and gaps overall?
Indeed, an apparent breakdown in the nation's ability to use electronic health information systems for providing disease surveillance, share open data with interoperability, including situational knowledge in real-time from hospitals across cities and towns, to counties and states, to federal decision-makers and global leaders is contributing to fundamental weaknesses in our global preparedness for future epidemics, which given the interconnectedness of modern life, will likely occur.
Not only does today's call for answers to the problem of being ready and smart about Ebola cry out for open solutions across all boarders, but my own experience speaking within the Washington, D.C.. and global community about the substantial need to be ready with health information systems, shows how little we listen and take action successfully when it comes to national and global governments collaborating effectively.
For example, in 2008 after I was invited to organize and moderate a meeting of top disease surveillance leaders from the U.S.. and Canada, including DoD, VA and Canada's public health departments, hosted at the Canadian Embassy, I became curiously intrigued at the slow pace that America moved with global partners in response to the laws and demands for implementing a reality-based integrated population health disease information network, including virtual reality programs for educating health professionals that CDC itself promoted.
Still, the goal that is evasive in the midst of the Ebola outbreak in the U.S., is that all data potentially relevant to public health surveillance would be harmonized across data systems, interoperable, and easily accessed by the maximum number of users in as timely a manner while protecting confidentiality and privacy of respondents.
More recently, in 2013, I was invited to meet again with CDC officials. This time the initial request was for me to organize a meeting with the CDC public health Community Guide directors and The White House Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The purpose of the talks and was for enhancing the planning and design of a nationwide public health decision support system that would generate usable knowledge, from the federal level with secondary epidemiological and population health research, and deliver it in real-time to all state and local levels of public health directors for their use in planning and preventing serious disease or other public health threats.
On the one hand, the success of my talks with the CDC officials about how to design an infrastructure for an advanced health information decision support system, one that would responsively handle knowledge sharing about an Ebola outbreak for example, in an extreme instance, was noted by their appreciation for learning how to proceed. On the other hand, I am substantially more concerned today than ever before in my experiences that far too few have stepped up in advance to provide the resources and services including technical expertise and political will that are so desperately needed to fight Ebola at every level.
Final Observations & Recommendations
These are selected observations and recommendations for working urgently towards a more responsible network for filling the gaps of systems interoperability, plus sharing health and disease information.
The job of deploying a comprehensive disease surveillance information system is unfinished.
Today, this presents the nation with a critical imbalance from having to react lesser prepared than it could have, as did health workers handling Ebola in Dallas, to benefiting from having an open and uniform infrastructure for surveillance information and knowledge for all.
By identifying, sharing and integrating diverse information sources and expert analysis, collectively we will be more likely to identify trends signaling an incident, analyzing prevalence and better able to answer key questions that President Obama and Dr. Frieden have stumbled into.
Pursue more 'open' biosurveillance activities that purposefully mix and match efforts and the sharing of information between and among Federal, State, local, tribal, territorial, private, nongovernmental, academic, and other national enterprise participants.
Develop connections through collaborative international biosurveillance activities that will accelerate effective response to domestic and international incidents.
Ensure the nationwide, vertical top-to-bottom 'open source' distribution of a cloud-based data integration platform supporting collection and integration of biosurveillance of information from a variety of governmental and other sources, including social media and news reports.
The president and CDC director should be held immediately accountable for comprehensive disease security and data sharing through the elimination of differences in coding, formatting, definitions, and methods that differ substantially or in the ways data are stored in incompatible formats.
Directors of the states departments of public health should be held accountable for limiting sharing disease surveillance data by the lack of user-friendly data dissemination tools or adequate and detailed documentation and distribution.
The White House and Congress should lead a review of all funding steams and mechanisms the affect how disease surveillance data are collected. All data, analytics and systems deemed to be essential for public health safety, security and learning should be considered open source for the purposes of national security and disease protection.
Data-use agreements should be shared widely to provide models for others interested in sharing data; data sharing should be promoted by developing supportive funding mechanisms, devoting resources, fostering partnerships and centralizing support; and methods and procedures should require open standardized across datasets.
The White House and CDC should immediately re-commit their agencies and departments to assessing the utility of having surveillance data directly flow into information systems that support public health interventions and information elements or standards that facilitate this linkage of surveillance to action and improving access to and use of information produced by a surveillance system for workers in the field and health-care providers.
Public health and hospital electronic health records (EHR) systems should accelerate their capacity to process both structured and unstructured data access and standardized interpretations faster than HHS ONC Meaningful Use Stage 2 and 3 criteria would require.
Concerns related to disease managements best practices, data quality, data standardization, process automation, work flow design, and system validation all need to be addressed. The need to use new and legacy systems in parallel for a period must be considered and planned for, including the challenging process of transitioning users off legacy systems. Therefore, emergency federal, state and local resources should be made available immediately and effectively in order to establish accountability among all the nation's hospital networks for identifying and handling Ebola plus other population-level disease threats.
Finally, the future Learning Health System Governance and Policy Framework that is being planned with leadership from the University of Michigan Department of Health Informatics should include the real-time, anywhere, anytime decision-support that the people around the globe will demand in relation to public health events.
References for More Information:
National Strategy for Biosurveillance, The White House July 31, 2012 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/01/national-strategy-biosurveillance
Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-2, Public Health and Medical Preparedness http://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspd/hspd-21.htm
Public Health Surveillance in the United States: Evolution and Challenges, CDC July 27, 2012 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6103a2.htm?s_cid=su6103a2_x
Ebola Outbreak A Test for Data Mining and Analytics, Information Week Health Care, October 16, 2014 http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/analytics/ebola-outbreak-a-test-for-data-mining-analytics/d/d-id/1316666
Collected articles on 'open' biosurveillance solutions and activities posted in Open Health News (OHNews).
Accelerating Identification and Tracking of Pandemic Disease Outbreaks
VA Selects Bitscopic's Praedico for Public Health Surveillance
Mike O'Neill and Seong K. Mun on OSEHRA - The VistA Open Source Custodial Agent
Google Joins VistA Team Proposing Open Source EHR for the Department of Defense
BioSense 2.0
biosurveillance
Bitscopic
Department of Defense (DoD)
disease surveillance systems
Ebola in the US: Short on Accountable 'Open' Information
Effective Ebola Outbreak
EHR interoperability
electronic health information systems for surveillance
Electronic Health Record (EHR)
Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR)
Federal Interagency Health IT Sharing (HITS) program
infectious disease outbreaks
integrated biosurveillance capability
integrated electronic health information systems
international disease surveillance systems
Jonathan Perlin
learning health system
Marc Wine
open source EHR
pandemic disease outbreaks
Praedico
semantically accurate disease predictive analytics
Sylvain DeLisle
syndromic disease outbreaks
Systems Planning and Decision Making
Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC)
Thomas Frieden
University of Michigan Department of Health Informatics
US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
VistA EHR
Copyright ©2011-2016 Open Health Marketplace, LLC. All Rights Reserved.


Fig Apricot Eau de Parfum soothes with delicate peach, juicy lychee, and apricot. This delightful fragrance lingers with refreshing green tea and marine undertones.
Notes: Turkish Apricot, Peach Skin, Lychee, Fig Leaf, Petitgrain, Dandelion, Green Tea, Musk, Marine Notes.


text:
Dorcadion neilense is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Escalera in 1902. It is known from Spain.

See also
Dorcadion

References

neilense
Beetles described in 1902

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Electrodes placed directly on the surface of peoples' brains allow them to type just by thinking of letters. Image credit: stockxpert.
These findings make up one more step on the road to mind-machine interfaces that may one day help people communicate with just their thoughts. Researchers have recently employed brain scans to see numbers and maybe even pull videos from inside people's heads.
The neuroscientists were monitoring two patients with epilepsy for seizure activity with electrodes placed directly on the surface of their brains to record electrical activity generated by the firing of nerve cells. This kind of procedure requires a craniotomy, a surgical incision into the skull.


Share in your toddler's creative growth as you create and play with clay! This class is the perfect introduction to ceramics for little potters who love exploring. You and your little artist will learn the basics of handbuilding and create unique pieces.


The aspiring young players from Antigua and Barbuda impressed the NBA coaches and showed great athleticism on the court during the recently-held Digicel Jumpstart basketball Clinics.
The Digicel Jumpstart Clinics sees some of the most talented players across the Caribbean learning from NBA-certified coaches techniques that will take their game to the next level.
Players in Antigua and Barbuda showed great skill during the recently-held Digicel Jumpstart Clinics, hosted by NBA coaches.
The Digicel Jumpstart Clinics is a once in a lifetime opportunity for young players to showcase their talent and learn from official NBA coaches. It also teaches importance of work ethic, values, proper sportsmanship and motivates children to be the best they can be on and off the court.


Heres a three letter acronym that I have used for the longest time to help me keep going n the toughest of times. It may just help you too.
In this video, Brad shares with you his top factors in deciding which tools to use and how to make fast choices without wasting valuable time.


The National Assembly Thursday voted (98 in favor, none against) to approve supplementary budgetary spending authority to the maximum amount of 900 million leva on the executive budget for the account of the overperformance of revenues for 2007, BTA reports. When the resolution, moved by the Council of Ministers, was put to the vote,the opposition MPs walked out of the debating chamber.
The Government requested that up to 570 million leva of the 3,500 million leva budget surplus be approved for spending, and Economic Policy Committee Chairman Yordan Tsonev MP of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms proposed that the amount be up to 900 million leva.
The money will be allocated to construction of road, rail and environmental infrastructure, as well as to Sofia's underground railway. The resources will also be spent on honouring commitments assumed under the Energy and Telecommunications chapters of Bulgaria's EU Accession Treaty, as well as on short-term interest-free loans from the central-government budget for financing municipalities' expenditures, including value added tax, on approved projects and programs co-financed by the EU.
By May 31, 2008, the Finance Minister will transfer the surplus under the consolidated fiscal programme, reported at the end of 2007, in excess of 3 per cent of GDP to the State Fund guaranteeing the sustainability of the public pension system.
A motion by Antonela Poneva MP of the right-wing opposition Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) that one extra monthly wage in the public-financed sector and one extra average pension to each pensioner be paid from the budget surplus was defeated, 45-46 and 49 abstentions.
"Over the last 24 hours, the ruling majority set up a slush fund of its own amounting to 1,200 million leva," DSB Deputy Floor Leader Vesselin Metodiev told journalists in Parliament. For her part, Antonela Poneva said that the surplus "must be appropriated, not misappropriated as the ruling majority are doing on."
Yordan Tsonev told the media that this is the first time that the National Assembly has approved the spending of resources from the budget surplus, as this has been done so far by the Council of Ministers. He added that Thursday's resolution specifies the areas in which the money will be spent: roads, railways, energy projects etc. He argued that the transparency of spending the budget surplus is ensured by the state budget implementation reports and by the checks of the National Audit Office.
Deputy Finance Minister Lyubomir Datsov said that the bulk of the surplus goes mainly for roads, infrastructure, environmental protection and purchase of fuel. Datsov explained that the responsibility for the proper spending of the funds rests with the individual ministries, while the Finance Ministry is responsible only for the total cash flow. "The budgets of the separate ministers are audited by the National Audit Office and other control authorities," he noted.