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Business News Digital Legal Top Stories
KickassTorrents man "like a drug broker" of piracy, says US government
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 8 November 2016
The US government has responded to efforts by lawyers working for the alleged owner of KickassTorrents to have the criminal case against their client dismissed. United States Attorney Zachary Fardon rejects claims that Kickass man Artem Vaulin can't be held criminally liable for the copyright infringement he enabled, likening the KAT website to a "flea market" and Vaulin himself to a "drug broker".
As previously reported, Vaulin, who is Ukrainian, was arrested in Poland earlier this year at the request of the American authorities as the Kickass site was taken offline. Extradition proceedings are now underway, though legal reps for Vaulin are trying to have the case dismissed in the US courts, on the basis that the secondary or contributory infringement he may or may not be liable for is not a criminal matter under American law.
KAT, like most file-sharing apps and websites, did not itself distribute or host any copyright infringing content. Which is why file-sharing set-ups are usually sued for so called secondary, contributory or authorising infringement. But Vaulin's legal reps argue that while the KAT operation may be liable for that kind of infringement in the civil courts, the Americans can't use that liability to pursue a criminal case and extradition.
Fardon does not agree. He argues that when it comes to the charge of "conspiracy to commit copyright infringement", the distinction between 'direct' and 'secondary' infringement is irrelevant. "A defendant is accountable for any act of reasonably foreseeable infringement committed by any co-conspirator that furthers the conspiracy", he says.
And: "For the defendant to claim immunity from prosecution because he earned money by directing users to download infringing content from other users is much like a drug broker claiming immunity because he never touched the drugs".
Fardon then argues that the defence in the case are down-playing the role KAT had in encouraging and enabling music and movie piracy.
Far from being a simple neutral search engine, he says, "they sought out infringing material and trumpeted that to their users, targeting the infringement-minded with rewards and honours for posting torrents for copyright infringing material in order to blatantly promote and encourage the availability of entire categories of infringing works".
KAT, he continues, "enabled users to obtain copyrighted content from other users, including from the defendant's own servers" and therefore "functioned like a (lucrative) flea market for infringing movies, television shows, video games, music and computer software".
It remains to be seen how the US court now responds. Meanwhile efforts also continue in Poland on Vaulin's part to argue against America's extradition application.
READ MORE ABOUT: KickassTorrents
Setlist: Music industry hits out at BBC Introducing cuts


Catch up with the best of the action from stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia.
The 18th stage of the 2017 Giro d'Italia sees the peloton stay in the mountains, with a short 137km stage from Moena to Ortisei/St. Ulrich, packing in no fewer than five climbs.
If stage 16 with its two ascents of the Passo dello Stelvio was the queen stage of the race, then this is the princess stage, featuring spectacular scenery in the heart of the Dolomites.
With only a few days remaining until the race reaches Milan, this is one of a diminishing number of chances for the GC contenders to really shake up the top of the standings, with plenty of opportunities for long-range attacks.
Catch-up with the best bits of the stage here or read our full report on everything that happened on the 18th day of racing here.


Homewood Suites by Hilton Grand Rapids Downtown & Jam'n Bean Coffee Company at the Waters Center - ArtPrize Venue - An open art contest based in Grand Rapids Michigan, the world's largest Art Prize.
Homewood Suites by Hilton Grand Rapids Downtown & Jam'n Bean Coffee Company is at the EPPI-Centre of Downtown Grand Rapids. This Large venue is new to the Venue Arena. With the completion of a $29 million total face-lift, the Waters Building is will be the center attraction for top artist.


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D'Weston Haywood. Let Us Make Men: The Twentieth-Century Black Press and a Manly Vision for Racial Advancement. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2018. 352 pp. $34.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-4696-4339-7; $90.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-4696-4338-0.
Reviewed by Eric Walls (Johnston Community College)
Published on Jhistory (January, 2021)
Commissioned by Robert A. Rabe
Race and gender are currently two of the more popular lenses of historical and historiographical inquiry among historians, and much ink has been spilled over questions of the influence of racial and gendered discourse in the discipline of history during recent decades. With the current sociopolitical trends surrounding these issues in modern American society and the growing popularity of intersectionality as an interpretive tool within the humanities in general, such lines of investigation display no signs of abating any time soon. D'Weston Haywood, Hunter College at City University of New York associate professor of history, enters this fray with Let Us Make Men: The Twentieth-Century Black Press and a Manly Vision for Racial Advancement. Haywood, however, takes a slightly different tack than most scholars currently mining this field. Where most scholars examine issues of gender through a distinctly feminine lens, Haywood focuses on manhood and masculinity. This approach is not unprecedented, but it is certainly underutilized as an interpretive tool. His application of the gendered lens of masculinity as a framework through which to study the influence of African American journalism on American society, and the African American community in particular, is also a fairly novel approach that yields some interesting insights.
The central argument of Let Us Make Men is that a distinct theme of black masculinity, particularly the promotion of models of defiant yet socially and personally responsible images of black manhood, can be traced in the pages of the black press throughout the twentieth century. Haywood makes this argument through detailed investigations of the lives and work of six of the leading and most provocative and controversial black journalists and publishers of the twentieth century: W. E. B. DuBois and his publication Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races; Robert S. Abbott and his nephew and protégé John Sengstacke and their paper, the Chicago Defender; Marcus Garvey and Negro World; Robert F. Williams and the Crusader; and Malcom X and Muhammad Speaks. Through this investigation, Haywood traces a trajectory of increasingly militant and often combative gendered discourse that simultaneously united and divided the black press and the black community while providing similar yet competing models of black advocacy and black manhood.
According to Haywood, "black people's ideas, rhetoric, and strategies for black protest and racial advancement during the twentieth-century black freedom struggle grew out of a quest for proper black manhood led by black newspapers" (p. 3). This focus on black manhood and masculinity was a key component of the black freedom struggle precisely because white society consistently used gendered discourse to emasculate black men and justify a dominant position in American society. The black press in the age of segregation "represented one of the few spaces with a public function that black men could shape, if not control, at this time" (p. 5). As a result, the black press became the locus of the twentieth-century black freedom struggle as it was the one public space through which the black community in general, and black men in particular, could safely articulate their grievances and establish a set of mores and values in conscious and concerted efforts to redeem and elevate the black community to a more respectable and equitable place in American society. It was precisely the "embrace of a proper black manhood for the benefit of the race" that, Haywood argues, guided the rhetoric of the black press, "making the fight for racial justice a fight for manhood as well" (pp. 6, 7).
Haywood begins with an examination of the lives and work of DuBois and his publication Crisis, backed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and Abbott and the Chicago Defender, one of the longest running, most widely distributed, and most influential black publications of the twentieth century. The Defender began in 1905 and Crisis in 1910, a period that witnessed the solidification of Jim Crow laws in the South and the dawn of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to urban centers in the North, a profound legal, social, and demographic change that undergirded both the inauguration of the modern black press, as exemplified by Crisis and the Defender, and the nascent civil rights movement itself. Indeed, both publications openly encouraged black migration and couched it in terms of the redemption of black manhood from the emasculating effects of the Jim Crow South. Haywood identifies Abbott's efforts in particular as critical to this phenomenon. He notes that it was Abbott, more so than DuBois, that laid the foundation for the trajectory of the black press, its use of gendered discourse, and its influence throughout the twentieth century. "Abbott's particular approach to covering the migration," he asserts, "helped fuel the movement and ultimately turned the black press into a leading force in the urban struggle for racial advancement" (p. 22). This approach was steeped in appeals to black masculinity as Abbott and the Defender framed black migration "as the first step any black man could take to begin restoring his manhood" (p. 23). By framing black migration in such gendered terms, early twentieth-century black publications like Crisis and the Defender established a foundation for black racial advancement and intimately tied civil rights into notions of black masculinity and manhood, a model that the black press in general quickly assimilated and consistently used thereafter.
The second chapter focuses on the highly polarizing and controversial figure of Garvey and his publication Negro World. Garvey's entrance into the early twentieth-century black press milieu marked a more militant turn in the rhetoric surrounding African American civil rights. He particularly caught the attention of black soldiers returning from World War I who found "they remained second-class citizens despite their service to the country" (p. 60). The reaction of the established black press, like Abbott's Defender, to Garvey's militant and separatist message initiated an internecine war of words that, Haywood demonstrates, was steeped in appeals to black masculinity. Black publishers fought among one another not only for the hearts and minds of the African American population in the United States but also over the very essence and meaning of black manhood itself.
Established black publications like the Defender viewed Garvey's separatist message as an affront and threat to their more integrationist position on black civil rights and made it their mission to delegitimize Garvey and his work through scathing editorial diatribes that sought to undermine the public perception of Garvey's own masculinity. Garvey responded in kind in his own publication, turning his ideological opponents' tactics against them, defending his own masculinity and offering emasculating rhetoric, and initiating a tit for tat smear campaign on both sides that used ideas of black manhood and masculinity as ammunition in a high stakes struggle for readership and influence within the African American community. Having established black masculinity as intimately correlated and even interdependent with black racial advancement and civil rights, the black press came to use the rhetoric of masculinity, or the perceived lack thereof, as the very core of its strategy to not only uplift the black race in general in American society but also simultaneously denigrate those within that same community who offered competing visions of black advancement in efforts to strengthen their own position and influence. This internecine conflict "transformed the black press into both a tool for the promotion of black male leadership and a tool for its destruction" as newspapermen like Abbott and Garvey attempted to cement their own ideas of black manhood and racial advancement as the best way forward for the African American community. As Haywood points out, this internal conflict directly "counters the traditional historical narrative of the black press coming together to rail against racial oppression and promote racial unity" (p. 60).
Chapter 3 returns to the world of the Chicago Defender as the reins of the paper, and with them claims to black male leadership within the African American community, were transferred from Abbott to his nephew and protégé, Sengstacke. By the end of the 1920s, Garvey's opponents had successfully managed to discredit him, signaling a victory for the more moderate and integrationist approach to black civil rights. Abbott and the Defender emerged from this fray stronger than ever, having "outstripped much of his competition and achieved levels of commercial success unseen by many black publishers" (p. 98). This success made Abbott a model of black manhood and his paper arguably the leading voice of black masculinity and the black struggle for civil rights. Abbott bequeathed this mantle to his protégé, Sengstacke, who sought to use it as a unifying force for the institution of the black press, a position that was at least in part a direct response to the fracturing of the institution that resulted from the row between Garvey and his detractors in the pages of the black press, and in part a representation of a new generation of black male leadership that responded to the growing socialist/communist influences that spread throughout the country and within the black community as a result of the economic upheavals of the Great Depression. Sengstacke was certainly influenced by these developments, a distinct break with his uncle and mentor's approach, and came to view organizing the institution of the black press along such models as essential to the progress of black manhood and black racial advancement. He recognized the power of the press to shape public opinion and perception. Only through an organized front could the black press use its power and influence to achieve its ultimate goals—the thorough redemption of black manhood, with newspapermen and other successful black men like Sengstacke as models, and through such the redemption of the entire race.
With these ideals in mind, Sengstacke initiated the formation of the Negro Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) in 1940. He pitched this organization in distinctly masculine terms as a "fraternity for the common good and welfare for all," which echoed the rhetoric of "Communist's and labor organizers' ideas and ideals of brotherhood" that "helped construct a vocabulary of masculinist terms that many activists," including an increasingly activist black press, "used to articulate demands for rights, and mobilize for them" (p. 126). Indeed, Haywood notes that the communist and labor organizers' influence did much to foster a new, more militant aesthetic among the black press as a whole, a development that seemed to vindicate, at least in part, the previous efforts of Garvey and his ilk. The NNPA did much to unify the spirit and message of the black press under this fraternal banner, providing a solid foundation through which black media helped to launch the social and political civil rights struggles of the next few decades—a struggle that put the very essence of black masculinity to the test.
The surge in militancy of the mainstream black press, however, was relatively short-lived as the rising tide of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and the advent and growing influence of new black male leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr. who advocated for a distinctly nonviolent approach, coupled with a new Cold War era fear of anything influenced by or resembling socialism/communism, made such militant rhetoric a faux pax to many that threatened the growing gains that King's approach underscored. Such militancy did not disappear, however. The black community was certainly not completely unified around King's message. A new generation of black male leaders and publications separate and distinct from those under the NNPA banner emerged to challenge the mainstream black press and called them to task for their abandonment of the more militant tone that highlighted the 1940s and secured significant changes in attitudes as well as policy, as exemplified by the Double V campaigns during and after World War II. Haywood uses the example of Williams and his independent publication the Crusader to highlight such challenges in chapter 4. The challenges issued by Williams and his ilk and the subsequent editorial battles between him and the mainstream black press, which overwhelmingly supported King's approach, echoed the battles between Garvey and his opponents decades earlier, with similar appeals to notions of black masculinity and similar weaponization of the same.
Williams, perhaps best known for his highly controversial 1962 monograph Negroes with Guns, was one of the most vocal opponents of King's nonviolent, turn-the-other-cheek approach to black civil rights. Although his independent, self-published periodical, the Crusader, did not have the financial resources or widespread circulation of his peers in the mainstream black press, the coverage of Williams in that press helped to increase the influence of his rhetoric far beyond his paper's relatively limited exposure. In the face of a surge in violence against African Americans following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that began the long desegregation process, Williams's advocacy of black self-defense stood in stark contrast to King's approach that called for blacks to sacrifice their own bodies for the sake of advancing the civil rights agenda. Williams and King presented two opposing visions of black manhood that jockeyed for influence within the African American community. King's approach "promoted the courageous nonviolent activist, or 'strong man,' as King came to call him, as the new model of black masculinity" (p. 140). To Williams, King's "strong man" was anything but strong but rather an affront to black men's dignity and manhood. The mainstream black press latched itself onto King's message and used its platform to denigrate Williams and his supporters as a dangerous anachronism, ill-suited for the times.
In taking King's side in the debate over the proper expression of black masculinity and civil rights, Haywood argues, the mainstream black press essentially sealed its own fate as the voice of the black public. As King's nonviolent approach began to make headway and effect actual change in both attitudes and policy, interest in and advocacy of the black civil rights movement among whites increased exponentially and the movement garnered more and more coverage in the mainstream white media. This created a crisis in the black press. "For the first time," writes Haywood, "black newspapers had to compete directly with the white press for black readers." White papers also began to siphon away many of the most talented black journalists as they were deemed "more suited than white ones to go into black communities for stories" (p. 178). Inexorably, the mainstream black press lost much of its influence as many of the ideals regarding black civil rights became more and more accepted in the pages of the white press and by the general public.
The black press did not die, however. The black civil rights movement took a more militant turn in the 1960s, despite and perhaps because of the embrace of King's rhetoric and strategies by the mainstream black press. As white media began to attract black readers and black talent, the alternative and increasingly radicalized black press, as exemplified by Williams's Crusader, became the de facto voice of a black public increasingly disillusioned with King's nonviolent approach in the face of continued social and racial unrest. Haywood examines this shift through the lens of the Nation of Islam, Malcom X, and their publication Muhammad Speaks in his final chapter. Much scholarship has been focused on Malcom X and the Nation of Islam's role in the black freedom struggle, but little of it highlights the role that Muhammad Speaks had in advancing the organization's message. Like its predecessors, Muhammad Speaks provided a vehicle for the redemption of black men and black manhood. Unlike many of those predecessors, with the notable exception of Garvey and his Negro World, the paper rejected the long-standing tradition of the black press's advocacy of integration, focusing rather on the idea that the best way for black manhood to be redeemed was for African Americans to discard any desire to be "part of a society that was categorically incapable of giving black people their rights, respect as human beings, and real manhood and womanhood" (p. 182).
Haywood makes the case that the message of the Nation of Islam and Muhammad Speaks brought the vision of black manhood that emerged in the early twentieth century in the pages of black newspapers like the Chicago Defender full circle while simultaneously standing that vision on its head. While men like Abbott saw the Great Migration and theoretical integration of blacks into urban centers in the North as the path to black male redemption in the early twentieth century, Malcom X and the Nation of Islam saw the decay of the black communities in those urban centers by the 1960s as a sign that the path to redemption was a failure. Only through the rejection of the urban ideal for blacks and the embrace of self-sufficiency and self-responsibility could black men and black manhood be thoroughly redeemed, and black people finally be accorded their rightful standing in the world. Although the emphasis on self-sufficiency and responsibility or the promotion of the separation of African Americans from mainstream American society were not new ideas or positions, the context of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s put these ideas in a different perspective. Whereas the mainstream black press managed to successfully de-platform men like Garvey decades before when the foundation of a successful black civil rights movement as promoted in the pages of the black press was just beginning to be built, when it seemed that movement stood on the brink of success but had reached the limits of the gains possible through integrationist approaches like King's, the separatist message and vision of a respectable yet defiant black manhood in the pages of Muhammad Speaks found new traction among an increasingly frustrated black public, particularly young black men.
Indeed, it was the radical militancy expressed by men like Williams and Malcom X that initiated a distinct shift in the tone and tenor of the black civil rights movement in the 1960s, especially after King's assassination in 1968. As the integrationist approach long advocated by the mainstream black press became increasingly co-opted by white media, the radical black press exploded. Haywood notes the direct influence of both Williams and the Nation of Islam on new radical black organizations like the Black Panthers with its Black Power rhetoric, which became a new standard for black civil rights and a strident black masculinity. This was a double-edged sword, however: while Black Power gave new strength to the movement and to black men, it also engendered heightened backlash from a growing conservative movement in the United States that challenged the liberal turn in American politics of the 1960s.
Haywood's work traces the trajectory and history of the twentieth-century black press and its use of the rhetoric of proper black manhood to underscore that trajectory. The gendered perspective that Haywood pursues breaks new ground in both the study of twentieth-century African American history in general and the ways the black press provided an ideological and rhetorical foundation grounded in concepts of manhood and masculinity for the civil rights movement of that century. For perhaps the first time, the significance of the debates surrounding concepts of black masculinity and the long mission to redeem black manhood in both the eyes of the African American community and the American body politic in general is revealed in all of its twists, turns, contradictions, and similarities. This work is especially poignant today as the last several decades have revealed a new crisis in black masculinity: the African American community struggles with issues of absentee fathers; chronic male unemployment; and a youth culture that celebrates violence, drug use, and misogyny. These are some of the very issues that the twentieth-century black press strove to address with its rhetoric of a strong, articulate, responsible, and confident black masculinity to counter long-held—and grossly overstated—stereotypes of blacks, and black men in particular, as idle, shiftless, ignorant, and not deserving of respect or a place in mainstream American society.
Haywood ends his work by briefly returning to Sengstacke as he took the helm of the NNPA for the fifth and final time in 1978. Sengstacke agreed to this precisely because he saw a new crisis emerging as the black press continued to lose influence and its message of what were and were not proper expressions of black manhood faded from view as American society struggled to reorient itself after the tumultuous social, political, and economic upheavals of the 1960s and '70s. It is interesting that Haywood ends his study here, right on the cusp of a new revolution in black culture with the advent of rap and hip-hop, which promoted a version of black masculinity rooted in the radicalism of men like Williams, Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers' Huey Newton, but in many ways in opposition to the general standard of black manhood long advocated by the twentieth-century black press in its heyday. This raises new questions of how the black press responded to these changes and how it countered and/or supported these cultural shifts and expressions of black masculinity. There is also the question of whether the responses to these changes by the black press were effective in any way as the last decades of the twentieth century and the first few decades of the twenty-first saw the phenomenon of the integration of black journalists into the mainstream white media identified by Haywood as beginning in the 1960s continue at an exponentially faster rate as the years progressed. There does still exist a distinct black press and journalistic tradition, but its voice has been muted considerably as the mainstream press steadily loses its whiteness and adopts and adapts to a more multicultural reality. Then there is the issue of the recent cultural shifts in concepts and attitudes of gender and whether the rhetoric of manhood and masculinity is not itself merely an anachronistic relic devoid of any meaningful impact in a society that is questioning the very idea of masculinity.
Indeed, Haywood's work raises as many questions as it answers, but that is merely a sign of a job well done. Part of the historian's role is to help raise such questions in the quest for a more complete understanding of history and the ways it shapes the present and the future. Haywood has laid a foundation for a gendered perspective on the history of the black press, the civil rights movement, and African American culture and society that leaves the door wide open for future scholars to pursue similar examinations. Even as concepts of gender shift and morph into forms that most people of the last century would find alien, investigations into how that gendered rhetoric and concepts shaped the ideologies, societies, and cultures of the peoples of the past can help illuminate the origins and meanings behind such shifts, how the present came to be what it is, and how the future may be navigated with a bit more nuance and finesse.
If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at: https://networks.h-net.org/jhistory.
Citation: Eric Walls. Review of Haywood, D'Weston, Let Us Make Men: The Twentieth-Century Black Press and a Manly Vision for Racial Advancement. Jhistory, H-Net Reviews. January, 2021.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Combest pushes committee for Easter completion date
It may have been difficult to tell from the outside looking in, but Chairman Larry Combest said members of a House-Senate conference committee were making progress on resolving their differences on a new farm bill.
Enough progress that Combest at press time reportedly was pushing conferees to complete work by March 19 so the House and Senate could approve a conference report before they break for the Easter recess March 22.
The conference committee, which held its first meeting March 13, was scheduled to meet again on March 15, but the meeting was canceled. Congressional staffers said no one should read too much into that. "If the conferees weren't making progress, they would be getting together and wailing at each other in public," one staffer said.
The next meeting of the conference committee was scheduled for March 19 and could be a long one if Combest is on target about efforts to complete a bill in time for it to be presented to the House and Senate before they recess on March 22.
Despite Combest's optimism, other leaders were less hopeful the bill could be wrapped up so soon. On March 15, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said he did not expect the bill to be finished before the recess.
"I don't see any reason why they can't continue to make a lot of progress with an expectation that it is still within the realm of possibilities," said Daschle, who reportedly has a big stake in the farm bill because of pressure from farmers back in South Dakota. "As I say, I don't expect it, but it would be nice."
Budget issues remain the biggest obstacle to finishing the bill, and the announcement that the Senate bill is $6.3 billion over last year's budget resolution isn't helping. "Chairman Combest instructed the committee staffs to work out a compromise on spending between the titles," said an observer, referring to the House bill spending significantly more money on commodity programs. "Until the conferees agree to spending levels, negotiations on policy items cannot take place."
At week's end, a "Dear Colleague" letter signed by 82 House members, including Tom Osborne of Nebraska, Mike Pence of Indiana, Allen Boyd of Florida and Marion Berry of Arkansas, urged conferees to earmark at least $49 billion of the $73.5 in additional funding provided by the budget resolution for commodity programs.
Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman also weighed in with a letter to Combest, reminding conference committee members that the administration believes the farm bill funding must follow the budget resolution and be spread over 10 years — two slaps at the Senate bill.
She said the administration also prefers a farm bill that supports farmers without encouraging overproduction and further depressing prices. "The administration continues to support marketing loan rates — an existing counter-cyclical program — that are equivalent to those contained in the House bill," she wrote.
Noting that the administration supports a "strong, reliable safety net," she said, "the House bill's increased funding for fixed, decoupled payments ensures farmers a consistent, predictable income safety net while maintaining market-oriented planting flexibility."


Painting a room is an easy and inexpensive way to redecorate and give your home a completely new feel. While it is tempting to simply dive in and apply the new paint over the old, preparing the walls is an essential step if you want a great look that will last.
In order to paint a wall, it needs to be clean, dry and relatively free from imperfections. If the wall has been painted a number of times and there are runs or drips on the old surface, it may need to be sanded down for a smooth finish. Depending upon the condition, you may be able to simply go over rough areas with a piece of sandpaper or a sanding block, then remove the dust with a tack cloth.
If previous paint jobs have left you with an abundance of flaws, drips and puddles, you may wish to go over the entire wall with an electric hand sander and fine grit non-loading sandpaper.
Before you begin any extensive sanding, be sure to check for leaded paint. Sanding these surfaces could release dangerous lead-filled dust into your home. If you find lead paint on your wall, consult a professional for removal or sealing procedures. Even if your walls are lead paint-free, you'll want to seal the room off from other areas of the house while you sand, and use a painter's respirator to protect your lungs.
Once the surface is smooth, inspect the wall for any cracks, holes or other damage that needs to be repaired.
Small holes and cracks can be filled with spackling or wall joint compound. Apply a small amount in and over the hole with a putty knife and smooth carefully, feathering the putty out in all directions as you move away from the hole. Allow the hole to dry before continuing and if necessary, sand and fill the hole a second time. Don't forget to inspect areas around windows and doors, as well as corners for small cracks that need to be repaired. Fill these with a paintable latex caulk. Once the filler is completely dry, sand the surface smooth.
Larger cracks or missing areas of plaster will need to be repaired with patching plaster. The pros at your local home store can tell you about the supplies and tools you'll need to do the job.
Wipe the walls down with a tack cloth, or soft damp cloth to remove any dust and debris and to improve adhesion; paint does not stick very well to dirty walls. If the surfaces are quite dirty, as in a kitchen where greasy film can build up over the years, use a TSP solution to wash the walls. Let all surfaces dry completely before you paint�at least overnight. For a neater paint job, remove outlet covers, doorknob plates, light switch covers and window coverings.
Cover the floor or carpet with drop cloths � absorbent cloths are better than plastic as they soak up spills and drips before they're tracked around.
If you're painting a bare wall for the first time, painting a wall which has been sanded extensively, painting a wall in a historic home, or painting over patching plaster, spackling or joint compound, you need to seal the walls before you apply your color. A good quality acrylic primer/sealer will do the trick in most cases. Some surfaces will require a shellac sealer to prevent bleed-through of stains, cigarette deposits, or old oil paint � Kilz is the best known brand of shellac sealant and is available in most home stores and some discount stores.
Allow all sealers to dry for the full length of time listed on the can.
Preparing a wall for painting is tedious work but ensures that your paint job lasts longer and looks professional. If happen to be painting for a bedroom and not sure as to the color or theme, check out some helpful bedroom painting ideas to get inspired.


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Women's state pension age rises to 65
By Ashleigh Webber on 6 Nov 2018 in Gender, Retirement, Latest News, Pensions
Women qualify for their state pensions at the same age as men – currently 65 – from today. The pension age has been harmonised for both genders, 25 years after the plan was initiated by John Major's government.
State pension age changes
Half of people at state pension age plan to delay retirement
State pension rates 2018/19
In October 2020, the state pension age changes to 66 for both genders and is expected to increase to 67 from 2026.
The Department for Work and Pensions proposed a new timetable for state pension changes in the summer which, if taken forward, would see the minimum age people can claim their state pension increase to 68 between 2037 and 2039 – earlier than under current legislation, which states it will rise between 2044 and 2046.
When the proposed timetable was announced in July, former work and pensions secretary David Gauke said the government needed to ensure the pensions system was fair, sustainable and "reflective of modern life", as the population continues to age.
Earlier this year the Office for National Statistics said the number of people over state pension age in the UK is expected to grow by one third between 2017 and 2042.
The state pensions age changes have saved the Treasury £30bn, according to the BBC.
However, campaign group Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) has claimed that the short notice changes have caused "significant hardship" for many women, as many did not know about plans to increase the age at which they were able to draw their state pension.
It also noted that women often have lower wages and broken employment periods.
The campaign group told the Guardian: "Clearly, equalisation is not simply just about the age you reach retirement, but also about your ability to accrue a full state pension entitlement, and generate a private pension to have any hope of security in retirement."
Last month the High Court ruled that Lloyds Banking Group must pay up to £150 million to female members of its pension scheme after three women complained that their pension incomes were increasing at a lower rate than those of their male colleagues.
One Response to Women's state pension age rises to 65
Ann Taylor 13 Nov 2018 at 10:22 pm #
Harmonise you have to be kidding. No harmony – 39% less on retirement goes to women.
1950s women did ALL childcare which enabled men to get larger pension.
Then they call this equality?
Harmonise, bloody harmonise!
Judicial review begins into 'unfair' increase in state pension age
A group of women will appear at the High Court today (5 June) for a judicial review.
Wider NHS pension reform needed to remove overtime deterrent
Plans to offer NHS doctors more flexible pensions will need to be part of wider reforms if the government wants...


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Cody James Bellinger (n.Scottsdale, Arizona, 13 de julio de 1995) es un beisbolista estadounidense que pertenece a los Chicago Cubs de las Grandes Ligas (MLB).

Anteriormente jugó para Los Angeles Dodgers equipo con el que debutó el 25 de abril de 2017.

Carrera

Carrera amateur
Bellinger jugó en la Serie Mundial de Little League 2007 para el equipo de Chandler, Arizona y jugó al béisbol de la escuela secundaria en Hamilton High School en Chandler. Si bien se lo conoce principalmente por su capacidad de bateo, Bellinger también lanzó para su escuela secundaria y lanzó una blanqueada de cuatro hits, completa, con 10 ponches en un torneo nacional.

Ligas Menores

Bellinger fue seleccionado por los Dodgers de Los Ángeles en la cuarta ronda del Draft de Grandes Ligas de 2013 y firmó con ellos el 13 de junio de 2013, por un bono de $ 700,000, a pesar del compromiso verbal de jugar pelota colegial en la Universidad de Oregón. Hizo su debut profesional con los Dodgers de la Liga de Arizona, bateando .210 en 195 apariciones en el plato. Tuvo algunas dificultades para establecer contacto en su primera temporada profesional, ponchando 46 veces en 47 juegos, pero los cazatalentos dijeron que se mostró prometedor y que tenía mucho potencial de poder.

En 2014, fue promovido a los Raptors de Ogden de la Pioneer League y, a pesar de sufrir una lesión en el hombro a principios del verano, bateó .328 en 46 juegos para los Raptors. Jugó en 2015 con Rancho Cucamonga Quakes y fue seleccionado para el equipo de las estrellas de la Liga de California a mitad de temporada, así como para el equipo de estrellas de la postemporada. En 128 juegos, bateó para .264 con 30 jonrones (empató en el segundo lugar en la liga), liderando la liga en carreras (97) y remolcadas (103). Recibió una invitación no incluida en la lista para el entrenamiento de primavera de los Dodgers en 2016. Bellinger fue asignado a los Petroleros de Tulsa ( equipos Triple-A) en la Liga de Texas para comenzar la temporada 2016. En 114 juegos para Tulsa bateó .263 con 23 jonrones (3º en la liga), 59 bases por bolas (empató en 3er lugar en la liga) y 65 carreras impulsadas (9º en la liga), lo que le valió un ascenso a la Triple temporada. -A Oklahoma City Dodgers, donde tuvo seis hits en 11 en bates (promedio de .545) y tres jonrones. Fue asignado a Glendale Desert Dogs de la Liga de Otoño de Arizona después de la temporada y participó en el juego Fall Stars de los mejores prospectos de la liga.

Comenzó la temporada 2017 con Oklahoma City y fue convocado a las mayores por primera vez el 25 de abril de 2017.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Comenzó en el jardín izquierdo en su debut el 25 de abril de 2017, contra los Gigantes de San Francisco y tuvo un hit en tres turnos al bate, con una caminata intencional. Era el tercer jugador de los Dodgers en la historia en ser caminado intencionalmente en su debut (Chico Fernández, Dick Nen). El primer hit de Grandes Ligas de Bellinger fue un sencillo en el cuadro junto a Neil Ramirez. Conectó su primer jonrón de Grandes Ligas el 29 de abril ante Zach Eflin de los Filis de Filadelfia y siguió con un segundo jonrón en el mismo juego, este contra Héctor Neris. Fue apenas el tercer jugador de los Dodgers con un juego de dos jonrones entre sus primeras cinco aperturas, uniéndose a Charlie Gilbert (1940) y Yasiel Puig (2013). Bateó su primer grand slam el 6 de mayo, frente a Miguel Díaz de los Padres de San Diego. Fue el primer jugador de los Dodgers en conectar cinco jonrones en sus primeros 11 juegos. Bellinger fue nombrado Jugador de la Semana de la Liga Nacional durante la primera semana de mayo. Con nueve jonrones en mayo, Bellinger tuvo un empate tripartito con Joc Pederson (mayo de 2015) y James Loney (septiembre de 2007) para la mayoría de jonrones por novato de los Dodgers en un mes calendario. Fue nombrado el novato del mes de la Liga Nacional en mayo.

Bellinger conectó dos jonrones contra los Rojos de Cincinnati el 11 de junio, luego lo hizo nuevamente en el próximo juego de los Dodgers el 13 de junio contra los Indios de Cleveland, para convertirse en el primer jugador de los Dodgers en conectar dos jonrones consecutivos; desde Adrián Beltré en la temporada 2004 y tuvo cuatro juegos multi-hogar en sus primeros 45 juegos, convirtiéndose en el jugador más rápido en la historia de la MLB para lograr eso, superando a Bob Horner que lo hizo en 63 juegos en 1978. Conectó nuevamente dos jonrones el 19 de junio, contra los Mets de Nueva York, y en el proceso empató a Wally Berger y Gary Sánchez con los jugadores más rápidos para conectar 20 jonrones. El 20 de junio, se convirtió en el primer novato en la historia de la MLB con 10 jonrones en un lapso de 10 juegos. Tuvo su sexto juego de casa múltiple el 25 de junio, contra los Rockies de Colorado, pasando a Mike Piazza para establecer un nuevo récord de novatos de los Dodgers. Ganó su segundo premio al jugador de la semana por su trabajo esa semana. Fue nombrado en el Juego de las Estrellas de las Grandes Ligas 2017 como una reserva. También compitió en el Home Run Derby, avanzando a la segunda ronda antes de caer ante el eventual campeón Aaron Judge. El 15 de julio, bateó para el ciclo contra los Miami Marlins, y fue el primer novato en la historia de la franquicia en hacerlo. El 2 de septiembre, conectó su jonrón 35 de la temporada para empatar con Mike Piazza en el récord de novatos de los Dodgers. Rompió el récord al día siguiente. Ataron a Wally Berger y Frank Robinson para el récord de la Liga Nacional cuando bateó su 38vo jonrón el 16 de septiembre. Bateó su número 39 el 22 de septiembre contra los Gigantes de San Francisco.

En su primera temporada en Grandes Ligas, Bellinger jugó en 132 juegos con un promedio de bateo de .267, 39 jonrones y 97 carreras impulsadas. Fue seleccionado como el novato del año de Sporting News NL. En el Juego 5 de la Serie Mundial 2017, Bellinger llegó al bate en la quinta entrada, y con dos Dodgers en la base, conectó un jonrón. El jonrón de tres carreras puso temporalmente a los Dodgers arriba.

Durante la postemporada de 2017, Bellinger estableció el récord de MLB para la mayoría de los ponches en una postemporada con 28 ponches, 17 ponches en la Serie Mundial por sí solo.

Vida personal
La familia de Bellinger es de ascendencia francesa, alemana y griega, y su padre, Clay, jugó en Grandes Ligas de Béisbol (MLB) para los New York Yankees y Anaheim Angels. Su hermano menor, Cole Bellinger, fue el lanzador ganador de Hamilton High School (Chandler, Arizona) en los juegos del campeonato estatal 2016 y 2017 y fue seleccionado por los Padres de San Diego en la ronda 15 del Draft de la MLB 2017.

Véase también
 Los Angeles Dodgers
 Temporada 2017 de las Grandes Ligas de Béisbol
 Serie Mundial de 2017

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Cody Bellinger en Facebook.
 Cody Bellinger en Twitter.
 Cody Bellinger en Instagram.

Beisbolistas de Estados Unidos
Beisbolistas de Los Angeles Dodgers
Nacidos en Scottsdale (Arizona)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Credit: Julien Gomba (CC BY)
Lago Agrio: Ontario Court of Appeal Vacates Order on Costs
Yesterday the Ontario Court of Appeal vacated an earlier order of a single justice requiring the Lago Agrio plaintiffs to give security for the costs of the appeal. This will allow the LAPs to proceed with their appeal without paying nearly $1 million to cover their costs in case they lose—and without having to disclose whether they have any third-party litigation financing supporting their efforts.
The gist of the court's decision is that while it's true that the plaintiffs didn't show that they were impecunious, the question of security for costs is always one addressed to the judge's discretion, and the overriding consideration is whether such an order is just. Here, the court held, because the litigation is essentially public interest litigation, and because Chevron doesn't need the money and apparently sought security as a way to bring the litigation to a close, the order was not just. I think this is a defensible decision, though one that could have come out either way, especially given the deference due to the single justice's decision.
Two points of interest in the new decision: First, the court held, correctly I think, that the LAPs' claim is not frivolous. This is of course a low bar, but it must come as some relief to the LAPs, after the first judge held they were unlikely to succeed. I would rather be told I'm likely to lose than that I'm guaranteed to lose! Second, the court noted but was unmoved by the LAPs' failure to disclose whether they have third-party funding. If I were on the bench, that would have been a key consideration for me in deciding on the justice of the order. What makes the order potentially unjust is the plaintiffs' apparent poverty, since we ought to prefer litigation be decided on the merits without regard to the plaintiffs' financial means. But if there is a pot of litigation funding out there, the question of justice is a lot murkier. It seems right that security should not be invariably required just because there is third-party funding, but on the other hand the existence of funding seems like a key fact.
Tagged: Canada, Ecuador, Lago Agrio
Peter Lynn says:
Having just read the Canadian decision, it appears to me that there are justices within the Canadian legal system who see some merit in the LAPs case. This is the most positive document I have seen in some time. They acknowledge that Texaco have been found to contribute towards the 'environmental devastation' that has wrecked peoples lives, and point out that these findings have yet to be undermined in their courts. They also do not dismiss veil piercing out of hand, but state that law evolves through novel arguments, such as those presented. Finally they recognise that Chevron has consistently 'employed all available means to resist enforcement', and this appears to be an important factor in leading them to view the order as a tactic to end litigation.
However, whilst encouraging, the possibility of successful enforcement still looks remote at this stage. For this reason, third party funding must be difficult to attract – who would put up a bond of almost £1million when it is almost certainly going to be lost?
Ted Folkman says:
Peter, thanks for the comment. I agree that this is a positive sign for the LAPs, though it's a sign of how badly things have been going for them that a decision that their case is not frivolous seems like a ray of sunshine.
Like any other investment, third-party funding has risks and rewards. There may be some investors who can bear the risk in return for a speculative big win. I don't know whether there's any funding here, but I suspect there is, otherwise the LAPs would've said there was none. But that's just speculation.
Lago Agrio Court: STJ Rejects Ecuadoran Judgment | Letters Blogatory | Letters Blogatory
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text:
Events in the year 2010 in Japan.

Incumbents
 Emperor – Akihito
 Prime Minister – Yukio Hatoyama (Democratic Party–Hokkaidō) until June 8, Naoto Kan (Democratic Party–Tokyo)
 Chief Cabinet Secretary: Hirofumi Hirano (D–Ōsaka) until January 7, Yoshito Sengoku (D–Tokushima)
 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Hironobu Takesaki
 President of the House of Representatives: Takahiro Yokomichi (D–Hokkaidō)
 President of the House of Councillors: Satsuki Eda (D–Okayama) until July 25, Takeo Nishioka (D–proportional) from July 30
 Diet sessions: 174th (regular, January 18 to June 16), 175th (extraordinary, July 30 to August 6), 176th (extraordinary, October 1 to December 3)

Governors
Aichi Prefecture: Masaaki Kanda
Akita Prefecture: Norihisa Satake
Aomori Prefecture: Shingo Mimura
Chiba Prefecture: Kensaku Morita
Ehime Prefecture: Moriyuki Kato (until 30 November); Tokihiro Nakamura (starting 1 December)
Fukui Prefecture: Issei Nishikawa
Fukuoka Prefecture: Wataru Asō
Fukushima Prefecture: Yūhei Satō
Gifu Prefecture: Hajime Furuta
Gunma Prefecture: Masaaki Osawa
Hiroshima Prefecture: Hidehiko Yuzaki
Hokkaido: Harumi Takahashi
Hyogo Prefecture: Toshizō Ido
Ibaraki Prefecture: Masaru Hashimoto
Ishikawa Prefecture: Masanori Tanimoto
Iwate Prefecture: Takuya Tasso
Kagawa Prefecture: Takeki Manabe (until 4 September); Keizō Hamada (starting 5 September)
Kagoshima Prefecture: Satoshi Mitazono
Kanagawa Prefecture: Shigefumi Matsuzawa
Kochi Prefecture: Masanao Ozaki
Kumamoto Prefecture: Ikuo Kabashima
Kyoto Prefecture: Keiji Yamada
Mie Prefecture: Akihiko Noro (until 20 April); Eikei Suzuki (starting 21 April)
Miyagi Prefecture: Yoshihiro Murai
Miyazaki Prefecture: Hideo Higashikokubaru
Nagano Prefecture: Jin Murai (until 31 August); Shuichi Abe (starting 1 September)
Nagasaki Prefecture: Genjirō Kaneko (until 1 March); Hōdō Nakamura (starting 2 March)
Nara Prefecture: Shōgo Arai
Niigata Prefecture: Hirohiko Izumida
Oita Prefecture: Katsusada Hirose
Okayama Prefecture: Masahiro Ishii
Okinawa Prefecture: Hirokazu Nakaima
Osaka Prefecture:Tōru Hashimoto
Saga Prefecture: Yasushi Furukawa
Saitama Prefecture: Kiyoshi Ueda
Shiga Prefecture: Yukiko Kada
Shiname Prefecture: Zenbe Mizoguchi
Shizuoka Prefecture: Heita Kawakatsu
Tochigi Prefecture: Tomikazu Fukuda
Tokushima Prefecture: Kamon Iizumi
Tokyo: Shintarō Ishihara
Tottori Prefecture: Shinji Hirai
Toyama Prefecture: Takakazu Ishii
Wakayama Prefecture: Yoshinobu Nisaka
Yamagata Prefecture: Mieko Yoshimura
Yamaguchi Prefecture: Sekinari Nii
Yamanashi Prefecture: Shōmei Yokouchi

Events

 January 1 – The towns of Nijō and Shima merged with the city of Maebaru to form the city of Itoshima.
 January 3 – Japan doubles a state-sponsored credit line to troubled airline Japan Airlines to ¥200bn (US$2.2bn).
 January 6 – Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii resigns at the age of 77 due to ill health.
 January 12 – A gunman kills three people at a bar in Habikino, Japan, before turning the gun on himself.
 January 19 – Japanese air carrier Japan Airlines files for bankruptcy protection.
 February 1 – The town of Kozakai merged into the city of Toyokawa.
 May 20 – JAXA successfully launched the venus probe Akatsuki (formerly "Planet-C").
 April 17 – Snowfall in central Tokyo matches a record set in April 1967.
 April 25 – Nearly 100,000 people rally in Okinawa, Japan, demanding the removal of an American base from the island.
 June – September – According to Japanese government and Japan Meteorological Agency official confirmed report massive heat wave and extreme high temperature hit around Japan, total 1,731 person were human fatalities relative heat stroke.
 June 2 – Prime minister Yukio Hatoyama announced that he would be resigning as Prime Minister.
 June 4 – Naoto Kan is elected as the leader of the Democratic Party and therefore as Prime Minister of Japan, defeating Shinji Tarutoko.
 June 13 – The first Japanese asteroid probe, Hayabusa returned to Earth, after having landed on 25143 Itokawa in an effort to collect samples.
 July 11 – House of Councillors election
 August 9 – Japan marks the 65th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
 September 11 – Jordan signs a nuclear co-operation treaty with Japan to build a nuclear power plant within 10 years.
 September 14 – Naoto Kan is reelected as the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and therefore as Prime Minister of Japan, defeating powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa.
 October 20 - Devastating floods and landslide in Amami Island, 3 people die.
 December 7 – The spacecraft Akatsuki reaches Venus but fails to enter orbit around the planet.

Prefectural elections
 February 21 – In the 2010 Nagasaki gubernatorial election former vice governor Hōdō Nakamura is elected as successor of retiring incumbent Genjirō Kaneko.
 March 14 – Governor Masanori Tanimoto of Ishikawa is reelected for a fifth term.
 April 11 – 2010 Kyōto gubernatorial election: Incumbent Keiji Yamada wins a third term with support from both major parties.
 July 11 – In the 2010 Shiga gubernatorial election, center-left supported governor Yukiko Kada is reelected against LDP supported former national representative Ken'ichirō Ueno and a Communist candidate.
 August 8 – 2010 Nagano gubernatorial election: Supported by the center-left parties, Shuichi Abe, formerly vice governor under polarising governor Yasuo Tanaka, narrowly beats LDP supported outgoing vice governor Yoshimasa Koshihara by 5.000 votes to succeed retiring incumbent Jin Murai who had defeated Tanaka in 2006.
 August 29 – 2010 Kagawa gubernatorial election: With broad support from the non-Communist parties Keizō Hamada is elected to succeed governor Takeki Manabe who retired after three terms.
 October 31 – Governor Yūhei Satō of Fukushima is reelected against only one Communist challenger.
 November 28 – 2010 Wakayama gubernatorial election: Incumbent Yoshinobu Nisaka is reelected with centre-right support; 2010 Ehime gubernatorial election: Tokihiro Nakamura is elected to succeed retiring governor Moriyuki Kato; 2010 Okinawan gubernatorial election: Governor Hirokazu Nakaima defeats anti-USMC-base candidate Yōichi Iha.
 December 12 – 2010 Ibaraki prefectural election: With 39 percent of the vote, the LDP wins 33 of 65 seats and defends its majority.
 December 26 – In the 2010 Miyazaki gubernatorial election, vice governor Shunji Kōno wins a clear victory; incumbent comedian and former governor Hideo Higashikokubaru had retired after only one term in office.

The Nobel Prize
 Ei-ichi Negishi, Akira Suzuki: 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners.

Deaths

January
 January 1 – Tetsuo Narikawa, Japanese actor and karate instructor. (born 1944)
 January 4 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings (born 1916)
 January 13 – Isamu Tanonaka, Japanese voice actor (born 1932)
 January 16 – Takumi Shibano, Japanese novelist (born 1926)
 January 17 – Maki Asakawa, Japanese singer (born 1942)
 January 17 – Daisuke Gōri, Japanese voice actor (born 1952)
 January 28 – Keiko Tobe, Japanese manga artist (born 1957)

February
 February 1 – Atsushi Kuroi, Japanese professional drifting driver (born 1969)
 February 5 – Hiroyuki Oze, Japanese baseball player (born 1985)
 February 8 – Wahei Tatematsu, Japanese novelist (born 1948)
 February 11 – Umetsugu Inoue, Japanese film director (born 1923)
 February 17 – Makoto Fujita, Japanese actor and comedian (born 1933)
 February 26 – Nujabes, Japanese hip hop composer (born 1974)
 February 28 – Chushiro Hayashi, Japanese astrophysicist (born 1920)

March
 March 4 – Tetsuo Kondo, Japanese politician, former Minister of Labour (born 1929)
 March 16 – Hachiro Maekawa, Japanese baseball player (born 1912)
 March 21 – Takeo Kimura, Japanese art director (born 1918)
 March 23 – Jiro Nagasawa, Japanese Olympic swimmer and national coach (born 1932)
 March 26 – Kwon Hyi-ro, Japanese-born Korean murderer (born 1928)

April
 April 3 – Yasunori Watanabe, Japanese rugby player (born 1974)
 April 4 – Shio Satō, Japanese manga artist (born 1952)
 April 6 – Katsumi Nishikawa, Japanese film director (born 1918)
 April 7 – Takuya Kimura, Japanese baseball player and coach (born 1972)
 April 9 – Hisashi Inoue, Japanese pacifist playwright (born 1934)
 April 10 – Hiro Muramoto, Japanese news cameraman and journalist (born 1966)
 April 20 – Mr. Hito, Japanese professional wrestler (born 1942)
 April 27 – Tanie Kitabayashi, Japanese actress (born 1911)
 April 30 – Tadahiro Ando, Japanese politician, former Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture (born 1895)

May
 May 2 – Kama Chinen, Japanese supercentenarian, verified oldest living person (born 1895)
 May 9 – Teruji Kogake, Japanese Olympic athlete (born 1932)
 May 18 – Shusaku Arakawa, Japanese artist and architect (born 1936)
 May 30 – Hanji Aoki, Japanese sports official (born 1915)

June
 June 1 – Kazuo Ohno, Japanese dancer (born 1906)
 June 11 – Shunsuke Ikeda, Japanese actor (born 1941)
 June 15 – Tadashi Kawashima, Japanese manga artist (born 1969)
 June 23 – Hiromu Naruse, Japanese chief test driver for Toyota Motor Company (born 1944)
 June 26 – Akira Nakamura, Japanese historian (born 1934)

July
 July 9 – Nobuyoshi Tamura, Japanese aikidoka (born 1933)
 July 14 – Tetsuo Mizutori, Japanese voice actor (born 1938)
 July 15 – Daisuke Ochida, Japanese vocalist (born 1978)
 July 19 – Daiki Sato, Japanese footballer. (born 1988)

August
 August 4 – Daikirin Takayoshi, Japanese sumo wrestler (born 1942)
 August 21 – Masaru Nashimoto, Japanese reporter (born 1944)
 August 23 – Kihachirō Kawamoto, Japanese puppet designer and animator. (born 1925)
 August 24 – Satoshi Kon, Japanese anime film director (born 1963)

September
 September 1 – Wakanohana Kanji I, Japanese sumo wrestler (born 1928)
 September 5 – Shoya Tomizawa, Japanese motorcycle rider (born 1990)
 September 11 – Kei Tani, Japanese comedian (born 1932)
 September 16 – Keiju Kobayashi, Japanese actor (born 1923)

October
 October 7 - Keiji Ohsawa, Japanese baseball player (born 1932)
 October 8 - Ryō Ikebe, Japanese actor (born 1918)
 October 29 - Takeshi Shudo, Japanese scriptwriter (born 1949)

December
 December 28 - Hideko Takamine, actress (born 1924)

See also
 2010 in Japanese music
 2010 in Japanese television
 List of Japanese films of 2010

References

Years of the 21st century in Japan


Community – where did it all go wrong?
I am passionate about life, the awesomeness of our beautiful planet and the incredible scale of the universe that we inhabit. The miracle of life, where we as Homo-sapiens can articulate the infinite power of thought that creates our consciousness that forms our paradigm on life. Where we can learn and grow and become better human beings and to help and care for others.
We have also been born onto the earth in a time where we have so much choice. So many exciting things we can do, to go, to meet, to be part of, that our ancestors could only have dreamed of.
Where communication and connecting has brought people together, (we live in a global village, you have heard that one). Where technology has made our lives easier, creating a better standard of living. Allowing us more free time to enjoy life and be happy, the world is our oyster as they say.
Stop Peter, your first two paragraphs are 100% correct, (I hope you would agree), the third paragraph is wrong. That is what should have happened in the 21st Century. That's what the TV program Tomorrow's World said would happen in the last century. Where technological advance in the 21st Century would create a utopian world for all mankind on planet earth. I am stressing all mankind here.
I have never seen people so busy, so stressed, so angry, so miserable, so negative, so unhealthy as they are in our 'utopian world' of the 21st Century. Where mental health issues are rising massively and are now affecting every level of society. Including our children, (which we should be ashamed of), we are certainly not happy.
Bottom line we have lost our connection with who and what we really are. Our ancestors spent a lot of their time exploring their spirituality, the reason for life the purpose for life. They didn't have the science books to hand, but they knew instinctively that community and connection was the essence of life. There was always someone 'minding your back'. Without community and working together we would not have survived as a species.
In the 21st Century when 'we know everything' we have Facebook and reality TV. We do not have time to explore ourselves, "that is what religious people do and we don't need to do it, and anyway I am too busy" as someone told me recently.
Have you stopped to think about it? Think about it now, do you agree with my observations? My contention is that our minds have been hacked, where the mantra is now about money, existence and consumption. We are bombarded with noise, soundbites, and propaganda, where our algorithm knows us better than we do. We know this and we have allowed it to happen. We have to take back control of our actions and our lives.
What we are looking for is a silent mind. We have to break out of our little worlds that we have created for ourselves through our thinking and find our inner world of infinite possibilities. Once we have a silent mind will we then be able to see clearly who we really are and for the world of infinite possibilities to open up to us.
We are going 'back to the future' that is the only way for mankind to survive. The future is community, it is connecting face to face, it is coping, it is contributing.
I am only just scratching the surface with this blog. Stay connected, become part of our Live Great community we are creating.