1. The grant consists of two separate issuances of Restricted Stock Units. One issuance consists of 9,000 units which vest as follows: 1/16th of the units vest quarterly commencing December 15, 2015, subject to the Reporting Person's continued service to the Issuer. The second issuance consists of 13,503 units, for which vesting was subject to the satisfaction of both performance-based conditions and time-based criteria. The performance-based conditions were previously deemed by the Issuer's Board of Directors to have been met and exceeded, and the time-based vesting criteria are as follows: 1/4th of the units vested on the one year anniversary of the vesting commencement date of September 15, 2015 and an additional 1/16th of the units will vest quarterly thereafter, subject to the Reporting Person's continued service to the Issuer.
2. The grant consists of three separate issuances of Restricted Stock Units, each with vesting subject to the Reporting Person's continued service to the Issuer. The first is 9,000 units vesting as follows: 1/16th of the units vest quarterly commencing December 15, 2016. The second is 5,539 units, for which vesting was subject to the satisfaction of both performance-based conditions and time-based criteria. The performance-based conditions were deemed met and exceeded by the Issuer's Board of Directors, and the time-based vesting criteria are as follows: 1/4th of the units vested on September 15, 2017 and an additional 1/16th of the units will vest quarterly thereafter. The third consists of units for which vesting will be determined based on the Issuer's total shareholder return percentile ranking relative to a set peer group, over a three year period ending on July 31, 2019.
4. The Restricted Stock Units vest as follows: 1/4th of the units vest on the one year anniversary of the vesting commencement date of December 15, 2014 and an additional 1/16th of the units vest quarterly thereafter, subject to the Reporting Person's continuous service.


In case you missed it, because it was released on the eve before the Fourth of July in a pre-holiday news dump (which raises the obvious question, "Why"?), the Senate Intelligence Committee completely refuted Rep. Devin "Midnight Run" Nunes' bogus House Intelligence Committee report on Russian interference in the 2016 campaign that was ballyhooed by the Twitter-troll-in chief and FAUX News aka Trump TV.
Trump insists that the Russians did not have a preference for his campaign, and has even tried to project onto Clinton that Putin would have preferred Hillary Clinton as president. Sorry, but NO.
[T]he panel stressed that intelligence analysts were under "no politically motivated pressure to reach any conclusions," and that their conclusions had been prescient as well as accurate, noting that "the Committee's investigation has exposed a far more extensive Russian effort to manipulate social media outlets to sow discord and to interfere in the 2016 election and American society" than the officials who drafted the assessment realized at the time they were writing it.
This conclusion refutes Sean Hannity's favorite conspiracy theories about FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The political sentiments they expressed in their private emails did not affect their official actions. Professionals do their job and separate their personal views from their work. Not everyone is a single-minded ideological political hack like Sean Hannity.
The committee's report indicates lawmakers also intend to address questions about [the Steele] "dossier" of allegations about Trump's alleged Russia ties. The document, which was compiled by a British ex-spy, did not inform the intelligence community's assessment "in any way," the Senate committee found.
Another nail in the coffin of the oft-debunked right-wing conspiracy theory that the Russia investigation began with the Steele dossier.
The report released by Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ranking Minority Member Mark Warner (D-VA) comes ahead of Trump's planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16 in Helsinki.
Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) led the eight-member delegation on a multiday tour of St. Petersburg and Moscow, a trip that included meetings with Russia's foreign minister and parliamentarians. It did not include a session that senators had been hoping for: a meeting with Putin, whom President Trump is scheduled to meet at a summit this month.
Doh! Stood up by bad boy Vlad. How embarrassing. He is more interested in his useful idiot Donald Trump, who is trying to dismantle NATO and the Western alliance for him.
Joining Shelby were Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.).
It played well in Moscow, but not on the home front.
He's a funny guy! Who knew?
The senators who posted Fourth of July messages on social media while still in Moscow took some of the sharpest criticism, some of which highlighted that while they met with Kremlin-connected officials, Britain discovered that two of its citizens had been poisoned by a suspected Russian nerve agent, the same substance that injured a former Russian spy and his daughter in England in March.
Others pointed out that while the delegation was in Russia, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report finding Russia had interfered in the 2016 presidential election with a clear preference for helping Trump defeat former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Only one of the delegation participants, Kennedy, sits on a congressional panel that has looked into the Russia probe.
Sen. Shelby chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. Also on Appropriations are Sens. Daines, Hoeven, Moran, and Kennedy. Senator Johnson chairs the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which should keep you awake at night.
"We sent a very strong message and a direct message to the Russian government," he said, ticking off four items he said they pressed while there: Don't interfere in U.S. elections, respect the sovereignty of Ukraine, work with us toward peace in Syria, and uphold obligations under nuclear arms treaties.
That message did not appear to have much impact, though.
"We heard things we'd heard before, and I think our guests heard rather clearly and distinctly an answer that they already knew — we don't interfere in American elections," said Sergey Kislyak, the former Russian ambassador to the United States and now a member of Russia's upper house of parliament.
On Russian state television, presenters and guests mocked the U.S. congressional delegation for appearing to put a weak foot forward, noting how the message of tough talk they promised in Washington "changed a bit" by the time they got to Moscow.
"We need to look down at them and say: You came because you needed to, not because we did," Igor Korotchenko, a Russian military expert, said on a talk show on state-run television.
The congressional GOP's prominent foreign policy voices have remained quiet about the trip, declining to comment about the visit's significance.
What's far more alarming are the specific details of this particular trip.
At issue is seven Republicans traveling to an adversary's capital less than two years after it launched an attack on our sovereignty. Did the Americans make the trip to take a firm stand against our attackers? Hardly. They had no interest in confronting Russian officials over their election interference, preferring instead to let bygones be bygones.
There was no reason for the delegation to be partisan, but it was. There was no reason for these Republicans to give the Kremlin a pass on its misdeeds, but they did. There was no reason for the GOP lawmakers to exclude election meddling and the fate of Crimea from their discussions, but they did that, too.
If the Republicans who were in Moscow consider this a compliment, they're badly missing the point.
As the 2018 midterm elections approach, there are widespread concerns among U.S. officials about Putin's government launching another intelligence operation against our political system. The more Russia thinks it can get away with these attacks, the more emboldened it will be to launch them.
In the recent past, Republicans saw Russia as an adversary, convinced of the need to show strength. That was before it became Donald Trump's party.
President Donald Trump will initially meet one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month, senior administration officials said Thursday, a risky approach to dealing with the experienced Russian leader driven by Trump himself.
"The president has determined that now is the time for direct communication," a senior administration official told reporters on a conference call when asked why Trump is not including top foreign policy advisers in the discussion.
That tete-a-tete in Helsinki will be followed by an extended bilateral meeting and then a working lunch, both of which will be attended by senior U.S. and Russian officials, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman said on the call.
Putin, in contrast, is expected to arrive in Finland with a much clearer set of objectives: further dividing the U.S. from Europe, for instance, escaping sanctions imposed over his ongoing aggression in Ukraine, and gaining a freer hand to operate in Syria.
Putin's Puppet may give him everything he wants just so he can say "He likes me! He really likes me!" This is how Trump thinks he can close the deal on Trump Tower Moscow. He has been wanting this for years.
"Putin will have mastered his brief on every issue and under no circumstances should President Trump be advised to do the meeting in a truly one-on-one setting," Donilon added.
For a president who prides himself on relying on personal charm instead of briefing books, it's a high risk gambit to take on a former KGB officer skilled in manipulation.
Daniel Fried, a former senior diplomat and harsh Putin critic, said that if Trump clashes with NATO allies much as he did with leaders at last month's G-7 summit in Canada, the president will arrive in Finland even more susceptible to Putin's will.


text:
Arash_Yavari_me
Arash Yavari
Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Joint Appointment in the Woodruff School)
Location: Mason Building, Room 322B
Email: arash.yavari@ce.gatech.edu
Research Area: Mechanics of Materials
Professor Yavari joined the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in January 2005. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 1997. He continued his studies at The George Washington University where he obtained an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2000. He then moved to Pasadena, CA and obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Applied Mechanics option with minor in Mathematics) from the California Institute of Technology in 2005. Professor Yavari is a member of the American Academy of Mechanics.
Professor Yavari's interests are in developing systematic theories of discrete mechanics for crystalline solids with defects. Defects play a crucial role in determining the properties of materials. The development of atomistic methods including density functional theory, bond-order potentials and embedded atom potentials has enabled a detailed study of such defects. However, much of the work is numerical and often with ad hoc boundary/far-field conditions. Specifically, a systematic method for studying these discrete yet non-local problems is lacking. Design in small scales requires solving inverse problems and this is not possible with purely numerical techniques. From a mechanics point of view, defective crystals are modeled as discrete boundary-value problems. The challenging issues are extending the existing techniques from solid state physics for non-periodic systems, new developments in the theory of vector-valued partial difference equations, existence and uniqueness of solutions of discrete boundary-value problems and their symmetries, etc. The other efforts in this direction are understanding the geometric structure of discrete mechanics and its link with similar attempts in the physics and computational mechanics literatures and investigating the rigorous continuum limits of defective crystals.
It has been known in physics for quite some time that the configuration spaces of physical phenomena, in general, are not linear, i.e. Euclidean, and instead they are manifolds (finite or infinite dimensional). Modeling physical theories on manifolds has been pursued for several decades in the theoretical physics literature and ideas from differential geometry have led to many profound advances in physics, the most celebrated one being Einstein's general theory of relativity. In engineering, and in particular in mechanics, manifold theory has not been appreciated perhaps mainly because engineering scientists have been involved in solving many specific technological problems in the last few decades and this has forced them to work with the simplest possible mathematical models. This need of working with simple models formulated in Euclidean spaces has resulted in a disconnect between different methods and a lack of deep understanding of the connections between different numerical methods, structure of governing equations of discrete and continuous systems, etc. One of Dr. Yavari's interests is to use ideas and techniques from differential geometry, exterior calculus, and algebraic topology in several problems in continuum and discrete mechanics in order to advance the understanding of different aspects of mechanics of continuous and discrete systems and their connections, differences and similarities.
Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, Editorial Board Member 2011
OCCAM Visiting Fellow, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Summer 2011
Engineering Fracture Mechanics Top 10 Most Cited Articles, 2005 to 2009.
AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award, 2010
Engineering Fracture Mechanics Top 10 Most Cited Articles from 2005 to 2009
Excellence in Research Award, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010
Bill Schultz Junior Faculty Teaching Award, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007
ScienceDirect Top25 Hottest Articles (see publications)
Publications & Patents
A. Yavari and A. Goriely, Weyl geometry and the nonlinear mechanics of distributed point defects, Proceedings of The Royal Society A, to appear.
R. Mirzaeifar, R. DesRoches, A. Yavari, and K. Gall, Coupled thermo-mechanical analysis of shape memory alloy circular bars in pure torsion, International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 47, 2012, pp. 118-128.
A. Yavari and A. Goriely, Riemann-Cartan geometry of nonlinear disclination mechanics, Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, DOI:10.1177/1081286511436137.
A. Yavari and A. Goriely, Riemann-Cartan geometry of nonlinear dislocation mechanics, Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis 205(1), 2012, pp. 59–118.
A. Yavari and J.E. Marsden, Covariantization of nonlinear elasticity, Zeitschrift fuer Angewandte Mathematik und Physik (ZAMP), DOI: 10.1007/s00033-011-0191-7.
H. Khezrzadeh, M.P. Wnuk, and A. Yavari, Influence of material ductility and crack surface roughness on fracture instability, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 44, 2011, 395302.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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You are here: Home / Featured / Can Scotland meet EU economic criteria?
Can Scotland meet EU economic criteria?
March 20, 2020 by David Gow 25 Comments
Such is the binary nature of political debate in Scotland that views on the economic prospects for an independent Scotland to join the European Union are overwhelmingly Manichean.
Either the country will sail through the accession process in a matter of months post-independence. Or the economic, fiscal and monetary obstacles will be so high it may never happen – and Scotland will forever be saddled with outsider status. A North Sea Belarus.
It should go without saying that neither of these extreme positions – ultra-independista and nec plus unionista – is based in reality. What matters is less the current state of the Scottish economy – hard to disentangle from a 313-year-old economic and monetary union – than what it might or could be x years from hence when or if Scotland is an independent country. And that is a big unknown.
One reason for this uncertainty is that (at the moment of writing) the UK government has published a negotiating mandate for the talks with the EU on future relations that puts the accent on divergence.
The more a post-Brexit UK, including willy nilly Scotland, pursues deliberate divergence the harder it will be for an independent Scotland to meet the criteria for (re)joining, although the Scottish government hopes to stay aligned to EU law in some devolved areas of policy including the environment. As a sub-state, albeit with devolved powers, Scotland has limited room for manoeuvre economically. It could easily be dragged down in any UK-wide recession.
And the longer this economic uncertainty goes on, and the lengthier the process of seeking and winning independence, it will become even more difficult to meet the specifically fiscal and monetary criteria for EU membership.
The State of Scotland
The Scottish Fiscal Commission delivered its latest 5-year forecasts for the Scottish economy in early February (post-Scottish budget, pre-UK budget), showing GDP growth a shade over 1% per annum. Tax revenues, however, show a much healthier upward trend, largely on the back of sustained wages growth bringing a higher income tax yield. But no forecast for the budget deficit is given. Equally, other neutral commentators such as the Fraser of Allander Institute are sceptical about the degree of wages growth forecast (3% a year roughly).
The budget deficit is a key number when it comes to accession to the EU but not as determinant as some commentators (disingenuously) suggest. In 2018-2019, the deficit, including a share of North Sea revenues, was 7% when the UK's was 1.2%. The OBR forecasts it will hover around 6% up to 2023-24 – or the period when, on a generous time horizon, Scots might be waking up to being in an independent country. In comparison, the current eurozone government deficit is 0.7% and that of the EU28 0.9%, with the suggestion that this is an inappropriate straitjacket imposed by the Germans and other "frugals" when the eurozone economy faces recession. In Scotland, meanwhile, there is considerable debate over the true scale of the deficit upon independence and whether or how to bring it down to such low value.
The Scottish Government, drawing on the report of the Sustainable Growth Commission, estimated[i] an inherited deficit in 2021-22 of 5.9% of GDP, assuming lower spending on defence, debt servicing and "some other services". It says: "An independent Scotland would need tight public spending rules to bring the country's deficit down from around 6% in 2021-22 to below 3% over a period of 10 years". The 3% target is that set by the EU's Stability & Growth Pact (SGP) aka Maastricht criteria. So far, there has been no credible indication of what policies, let alone concrete spending measures or cuts, would be put in place to achieve such an outcome. The Growth Commission proposed that total public spending should increase by 1% less than GDP for the first decade post-independence. As it assumed GDP growth of 1.5% a year, spending on public services and benefits would increase annually by just 0.5%. The Institute for Fiscal Studies observed: "Such an approach would see spending on public services and benefits fall by about 4% of GDP over that decade. Add on the growing amount the Scottish government would have to spend on servicing its increasing post-independence debt, and overall public spending and hence the deficit would fall by 3% of GDP. Together with some assumed but unspecified efficiency savings (0.3% of GDP), that brings the forecast deficit down to 2.6% of GDP one decade after Scottish independence."[ii] Of course, the Growth Commission is targeting 3% annual GDP growth which, if attainable (a big if), would imply a softer fiscal regime and easier path towards a sustainable deficit.
For the year to end-March 2019, UK government debt stood at 85.2% of GDP, a shade below that of the eurozone (EA19) at 86.1% in Q3 2019, and above that of the EU28 at 80.1% compared with the Maastricht reference value of 60%. Central government gross debt stood at £1.8 trillion at end-March 2019, but we have no idea what Scotland's share of this would be. The 2013 Scottish government white paper, before the 2014 independence referendum, suggested this could be either via population share or aggregated fiscal deficit (starting arbitrarily at 1980-81 in that report or just prior to when North Sea oil revenues kicked in.)[iii] Another suggestion[iv] in that period was to follow the example of the Czechs and Slovaks during their 'velvet divorce' of 1993 and divide assets on a geographic basis (oil, say, in the Scottish case) and debt via the share of population. The Growth Commission suggests – somewhat airily – that national debt should "not increase" beyond 50% of GDP and stabilise at that level.
Meeting the criteria
Political commentators, often across the binary divide, confuse the criteria for joining the EU with those for adopting the single currency, the euro. There is no demand for an extant budget deficit of 3% or debt-to-GDP ratio of 60% for entry to the EU: these are, once again, the Stability and Growth Pact reference values, not a barrier as the Croatian case underlines and are more relevant (though not absolute) for adopting the euro. The Croats joined the EU in 2013 when their net government deficit was 5.3% after falling to as low as 2.4% in 2007 and rising to 7.9% in 2011 as the financial crisis and economic slump took their toll.
In other words, they had to show they were on a downward path and indeed the country registered a small surplus (0.2%) German-style in 2018, with similar ones projected for this year and next. The crucial point, however, is what happened post-accession. Croatia was rapidly, after its first 6 months only, put under the EU's Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) and then carried out a fiscal squeeze to comply with the deficit conditions. So, an independent Scotland could ask for a transition period during which it would work towards meeting the Stability and Growth Pact targets, pointing out any progress already made but the Commission and the member states would decide whether progress towards the targets was adequate. And it and they could insist on a tight schedule.
Here the question is whether the Scottish polity, let alone populace, is aware of how severe the spending squeeze might have to be – coming not that long after a decade of austerity. Would an independent Scottish government and civil society be both able and willing to accept strict spending controls/cuts? The typical answer that independence will, by itself, trigger an entirely different set of (positive) economic outcomes may be wishful thinking. As matters stand, we simply have no way of knowing whether that's likely or not.
Equally, there is no doubt that an independent Scotland would have to indicate its willingness to join the euro – at an unspecified point. Eight EU countries, including Denmark, which has an opt-out, and Sweden, which does not, are not in the single currency. In this case, the five convergence criteria – on inflation, deficit, borrowing costs – are stricter than for entering the EU per se.
What matters more is the currency question itself, arguably the one that undermined Alex Salmond in the 2014 independence referendum. His successor, Nicola Sturgeon, simply asserts that "… it is not true to say that we would have had to have established an independent currency before joining the European Union." She abides by the Growth Commission process of 'sterlingisation' or sharing sterling before adopting an independent Scottish currency further down the line. That may be problematic. Initially, at least, the Scottish Central Bank (as proposed by the Growth Commission) would not set its own monetary policy, including interest rates – unlike, say, the Slovenes which set theirs up as early as 1991 in the break-up of Yugoslavia. Slovenia entered the EU on January 1 2004 and joined the euro exactly three years later. But, two decades later at least, a newly independent Scotland might face a different – and very political – interpretation of whether it met the economic criteria, including the key one of "macroeconomic stability (including adequate price stability as well as sustainable public finances and external accounts)".
The national debate about an independent Scotland joining the EU, broken off to all extents and purposes in 2014, has been rebooted but at a low energy level within the Scottish Government and Holyrood. If it is to be meaningful, there needs to be far more active engagement by both the political class and civil society. At the core of this national debate must be the economy and whether it can be brought to a position where Scotland can and will meet the criteria for accession if it so wishes. So far, it does not meet those economic criteria in their entirety – notably monetary policy as well as exchange rate, as set out in Chapter 17 – but the true state of the economy if and when the Scottish government embarks upon the EU accession process may be more favourable then.
Ultimately, this will be a political decision. And the EU holds many if not most of the cards. As the latest iteration of enlargement policy spells out: "The Union's capacity to absorb new members, while maintaining the momentum of European integration, is also an important consideration. The EU reserves the right to decide when a candidate country has met these criteria and when the EU is ready to accept the new member."
[i] https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/foi-eir-release/2018/09/foi-18-02282/documents/foi-18-02282—summary-report/foi-18-02282—summary-report/govscot%3Adocument/FOI-18-02282%2B-%2Bsummary%2Breport.pdf
[ii] https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/13072
[iii] https://www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk/opinions/scottish-independence-debt-and-assets
[iv] https://www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk/opinions/scottish-independence-and-uks-debt-burden
First published by the Scottish Centre on European Relations as Chapter 9 of its report, An Independent Scotland in the EU: Issues for Accession
Filed Under: Economy, Featured, Independence, Policy Tagged With: Europe, eurozone, Scotland in Europe
About David Gow
David Gow edits sceptical.scot. He is also editor of Social Europe and a former European Business Editor and Germany Correspondent at The Guardian. He contributed to The Red Paper on Scotland (1975). He co-wrote Basta! An end to austerity politics (2013). He lives in Scotland and France.
Keith Macdonald says
There are some useful points here but I do not think the article addresses the central problem of the effect of constitutional changes on Scotland's economy.
Our overwhelmingly important relationship is with the UK (more than a quarter of the entire Scottish economy). This is currently within the legal framework of the United Kingdom.
The nationalists want to break up that union. If they had succeeded in 2014 the legal framework would have been replaced by the rules of the European Union, which would have guaranteed at least some of unrestricted trade and exchange which is so vital to Scotland. That has now gone.
If Nicola Sturgeon got and won her referendum, the economic and other relationships between Scotland and the UK would have to be negotiated from scratch. There is no reason to believe that would be easy or painless. It must be borne in mind that this relationship is much more important to us than to the UK because it is a much bigger proportion of our life. That gives the UK an enormous advantage in the negotiations.
If the UK does not have an open economic relationship with the EU (and of course we know nothing about that at the minute) it is very difficult to see how Scotland can have one with them both. Of itself that could rule out EU membership.
In a recent speech, Nicola Sturgeon drew attention to the need for Scotland to align its two most important relationships, with the UK and the EU. She was absolutely right. Her solution, to leave the more important union and join the less important one, looks decidedly unbalanced. It is time this dilemma was honestly faced.
Joe Mellon says
It may be that the question which Scots have to urgently answer is not "What are an independent Scotland's economic prospects?", but rather "What are Scotland's social, political and economic prospects inside the UK?".
The election of a serial incompetents and clowns as PM, the Brexit vote, the response to the CoViD crisis and many other events and processes (the involvement in wars of agression, the continuing Windrush scandal, the Universal Benefits fiasco, the Assange trial, …) point to a state in meltdown: politically, socially, juristically and economically.
It may not come down to "how problematic is a deficit of X% for …" but rather "How can we get out of this failing state?"
Can you say if there will be a hard boarder between England & Scotland if independence is successful.
William Brown says
Then why not come together and change for the better as opposed to adopt brexi2 for Scotland ? There are facts to be dealt with and like brexit, snp will not be willing for facts or to find facts if it goes against their narrative. Then we get to anyone talking about reality being branded a 'traitor' as I heard snp supporters in the streets of Stirling say last time. Not to mention the mindless vandalism of the 'No' banners. And I did not see a 'Yes' banner vandalised as much as some have tried to say.
Instead of spending energy on coming together, nationalism, as it has done throughout history aims to instil hate towards others who are not like them.
William Ross says
I thought that this was a useful and balanced article by David Gow.
I have been a life-long supporter of Scottish independence but on recently entering my seventh decade of life, I think that we must promote balanced views of the constitutional debate. 2014 is from another world.
We now know that there is no way that RUK would agree to share Sterling with Indy Scotland.
We have two alternatives: try to immediately launch our own currency or sterlingise. David rightly highlights how nasty sterlingisation would be but does not highlight its dangers. Would it actually work at all? Could we get enough sterling? Would we need huge foreign currency reserves to make it work ( Prof Ronald McDonald). Could we stop our sterling migrating to England. If it went wrong, we would have to launch our own currency in the worst possible circumstances ( ie let Scots Pound float– meaning it would sink like lead – devastating mortgages and pensions)
My good friend Michael Fry once wrote that currency options are like fetishes. What does it matter what currency we have? I categorically disagree with him. Currency is constitutional and currency is destiny. Look at Greece, Italy and Venezuela.
The SNP really does not know what its currency policy is. Is the Sustainable Growth Commision actually SNP policy? If not sterlingisation, we would have to rely on the tender mercies of MMT, Commonweal and George Kerevan. My fear is that we have no good currency option.
A huge problem for the SNP ( and even its opposition) is that the Scottish voters have no sophistication on how new currency arrangments work. Frankly, William Ross is no expert either. I have no answers but only questions.
The comentator above states that the UK is a "failed state". You have to wonder about his ability to perceive the World. Last week, Rishi Sunak unleashed one of the greatest fiscal stimuli in history. A Scotland using the UK pound without permision would have been completely helpless. If he wants to find failed states let me recommend (not) a visit to Venezuela, Cuba or Russia.
Well done, David. This is the type of article we need. Now you should start getting realistic about the EU itself.
Willliam
Karl Simpson says
This is a question now utterly irrelevant and improper in our current state of affairs. If and when we are lucky to get out of this crisis intact the question of Scottish independence will (or should) be the last thing on most people's minds. When the time does come, it is more than likely that the EU will not exist in its current form. The Covid 19 crisis will have a profound effect on EU states and a huge knock on to the EU itself.
Me Bungo Pony says
Why is there this expectation that a newly independent Scotland would have to take on ANY of the UK's humongous debt? No other country has had to take on this burden from the state they achieved independence from. If the UK decides to be a "continuing state", thus making Scotland a "new state", then ALL the debt remains with it. It is ALL in the UK's name so it will retain ALL requirements to repay it. Scotland will have no obligation to pay a penny of it to anyone. If a lodger moves out of their lodgings, the householder cannot expect them to continue paying a share of the mortgage and bills; and the mortgage provider and utility firms will fully expect the householder to continue paying in full.
The SNP's Growth Commission talks of "Solidarity Payments" to the UK govt to cover a "share" of the UK's eye watering debt …. but the clue is in the name. "Solidarity Payments" would be, by their very nature, completely voluntary on Scotland's part. There would be no legal compulsion for payment.
Unionists have claimed that this would entail the newly independent Scotland "defaulting on its debt and that this would make it a pariah state. This is nonsense. The debt is entirely in the UK's (Continuing State) name so Scotland cannot "default" on it. Also, govts and markets would look askance at the newly independent Scotland taking on massive debt unnecessarily when it had no legal necessity to do so.
The removal of the £bns of UK debt servicing from the newly independent Scotland's budget would probably bring the Scottish budget deficit below the "magic" 3% alone. The rest is largely a construct of having to live within the Westminster system and the ridiculous expectation Scotland would continue to mirror the decisions of the UK govt after independence. Most serious economists acknowledge that is not a credible position and the GERS figures it is based on do not reflect the position a newly independent Scotland would find itself in.
Keith says
You are forgetting two things. The first is legally Scotland can not leave the UK without its agreement. If we did we would not be recognised by other countries, including the EU.
The second is that we need to trade freely with the UK since that trade is more than a quarter of our total economy and supports over 500, 000 jobs. Out of the EU, the UK has no commitment to a free trade agreement except that negotiated during the withdrawal process.
Perhaps you enjoyed the Brexit process, but even if you did, let me tell you that the process of Scotland's withdrawal from the UK will be far more difficult and painful and no one in Scotland will enjoy it one bit.
I am afraid that Me Bungo Pony is into fantasy land here. There are only two ways for Scotland to become independent. Firstly, we could declare UDI, but that is not happening even in the wildest scenario. The second way is with the agreement of Westminster through an act which might be called the "Government of Scotland Act" or some such thing. MBP is quite right to observe that RUK will take on the LEGAL obligation to pay the UK national debt to the creditors. However, Westminster will simply insist that we take on at least our population share of the UK debt. That means that we pay Westminster, not the creditors. Anything else is simply a fantasy.
MBP thinks we are going to benefit from years of Barnett and then walk away from the debt completely? We need something to cheer us up!
A recent commentator made the good point that covid 19 may signall the death knell for the EU. Think of the situation of Italy. Italy needs a massive monetary stimulus as much as or more than the UK. However, it can only raise these gargantuan sums by borrowing which the EU will not allow it to do. What commercial lenders are going to Italy at this time. Only the ECB can do it but will the Germans allow this? Italy is a helpless giant. It is not a sovereign independent country. I greatly fear for Italy and twice devasted Greece. My family afre Venezuelan and I try not to think of Venezuela.
First let me say I said nothing about "the how" of Scotland achieving independence, only the legal standing of the UK's stunning national debt in relation to it.
To address William's points; UDI not withstanding, it would not be a credible option for the rUK to negotiate a portion of its debt on to another state. The hit to its international standing and credibility would be significant. By effectively signalling to the international community it was unable to service its own debts in full, confidence would fall along with Sterling and the international credit rating.
Politically, by denying Scots the independence they would have voted for to allow this scenario to take place if the don't acquiesce to "blackmail" would be catastrophic to rUK's international standing. It would confirm the notion Scotland was being held hostage by rUK, leading to civil unrest with international sympathies firmly on Scotland's side. The UK's international standing is already in the toilet. It can't afford to lower itself to pariah state.
As to Barnett, just before indyref1 Lord Ashcroft commissioned a report into how much Scotland "owed" to the UK thinking it would hole the independence argument below the water line. Disastrously for his stated aim it proved the exact opposite. To his credit he published the report anyway which showed Scotland had been net subsidising the UK for decades and even the recent GERS "deficits" won't have changed that by much. The "subsidy junkie" trope does not help the rUK here. In any "illegal" negotiation as to what Scotland "owed" the UK would only confirm this.
As to Keith's separation scare stories, trade between a newly independent Scotland and the rUK would not cease. The bulk of unionist arguments depend on the implication it would. It would continue though possibly under different circumstances. It would depend on what was negotiated and that could include a free trade agreement (at least until we rejoin the EU).
The fact 25% of Scotland's trade is currently with rUK is not a strength; it is a weakness. It shows how being part of the UK is limiting Scotland. Prior to EU membership, 50% of Ireland's trade was with the UK and it was poor. Now it is less than 12% and it is wealthy. That is what Scotland should aspire to.
As to the complexity of independence, please indicate what these would be. If small Caribean islands can manage it I'm sure "mere Scots" could give it a go. Brexit was only complicated because the UK would not accept the fact it could not enjoy all the advantages of EU membership while giving it the finger. Leavers promised the people of the UK it would be a life of wonder outside the EU while knowing they could not realistically deliver on it. None-the-less, they whinged and whined and tried to blame the big bad EU when in reality it was their own intransigence that was at fault.
C. Whyte says
Hahaha! Another fantasy dream for the separatists to ponder! Nobody buys a house with a mortgage they can not afford, let alone have nothing to furnish it or pay the running costs! Scotland does not have the revenue to pay even the most modest running costs. That is a fact. We do not raise enough money in taxes to cover or very basic necessities, where will that money come from? There is absolutely no reason that the E.U. Should want an independent Scotland to join with exceptional circumstances therefore Scotland will need to meet ALL of the criteria, then join the queue to get in, but will the EU want a new country, foundering in lack of funds, to join? I doubt it because that would mean being able and willing to help finance it. Between Greece and Italy at present the E.U. really doesn't not need more poor countries.
You are admitting that a free trade agreement with the UK would likely conflict within EU membership. That is at least honest – far more than Nicola has been.
There is a simple way to test whether my worries are scare stories or not. Let Nicola promise to hold a confirmatory vote on the withdrawal terms if we vote to leave on the first one. That would be in line with what the SNP supported for Brexit and is demanded by every consideration of democracy, fair dealing and integrity.
Did we get a confirmatory vote on Brexit???? I must have missed that. I mean, we wouldn't want to have independence for Scotland on the back of one vote if we got two on Brexit. that would be wrong. Wait a minute …. !!!!
As to a Free Trade agreement conflicting with EU membership, of course it would. But a Free Trade agreement with the biggest market in the World (the EU) and through that advantageous trade agreements with most of the rest of the planet is easily a better arrangement than being tied to a relatively small market that is struggling to get good trade agreements with …. anywhere. Scotland would still be trading with rUK, just on different conditions. With EU membership, they would likely be good conditions.
Thanks for your reply MBP.
But I am afraid that you have not got my National Debt point. No one is disagreeing that RUK will be legally liable to pay off the accumulated pre -independence UK National Debt. In fact, George Osborne explicitly confirmed the point during the last Indy ref. The point is that Westminster will never agree to enact a Scotland Independence Act without the Scots agreeing to pay to Westminster ( ie NOT the creditors) a population share of the said UK National Debt. The international community and every fair-minded person would be fully in support of this position because if not the Scots would be free-booters. Alex Salmond agreed in last Indyref.
There were years when Scotland did subsidise the UK through a geographic share in oil revenues but you have to pick your period carefully. Actually, it is irrelevant. The key fact is that on independence day, assuming we are using UK sterling, prices in Scotland should not significantly change and neither should the Scottish tax take. GERS shows that we would be in a sizeable ( massive) deficit. It is day 1 that counts, not 3 years down the road. Austerity or Carthaginian debt?
Unionists are not in the main arguing that trade between Scotland and England would cease.This is just as stupid a notion that trade between the UK and the EU will cease on Brexit. However, it will be more difficult for some goods and services. The SNP have foolishly argued that our exit from the EU will be devastating and catastrophic for Scotland. Well, if that is so ( which it is not) then our exit from the UK to transition to EU membership will indeed be far worse.
But look at the reality. We have unimagined gridlock across the frontiers and Europe and the World. And the effect on our food supply? Civil unrest?
It was all a complete Remainer myth.
Scottish independence will make Brexit look like a walk in the park. Firstly, there is no equivalent of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty so we can only leave the Union with Westminster`s blessing. They are the status quo power and they can wait. Secondly, we have the intractable currency issue which the SNP are not close to solving. They do not even have a policy. Thirdly, we have the EU problem which cannot be predicted in advance. How long does it take Scotland to get in? What does it do in the interim? Follow RUK or follow EU? Our only bargaining chip is international public opinion which was very helpful to Catalonia.
Let`s go for Scottish independence but let`s not build castles in the air. It is going to be tough.
William, I understood your point perfectly well. I just fundamentally disagree with it.
The basic unarguable fact (which you agree with) is that a newly independent Scotland would have absolutely no legal obligation what so ever to pay a penny of the rUK's national debt. End of story. Your fantasy of internationally approved extortion that would see iScotland paying "Tribute" to the rUK is simply not credible. What is the basis of this "Tribute"? How long would iScotland have to humbly pay it? Forever? Can you name just one other country paying " Tribute" to it's former state? Just one? Why is it only Scotland that would be expected to do this? Why is it different for Scotland …. yet again?
Currency is already decided. Retain Sterling for the shortest possible period of time and then move to a Scottish currency. Just as every country that has gained independence has done with no difficulty. Again, why should it be different for Scotland …. alone?
EU membership would be rapid. EU officials have already indicated this would be so. The access to markets of the World under advantageous Trade Agreements are a prize worth working towards. We cannot rely on the tiny rUK market, with it's inevitably disadvantageous trade deals with whoever deigns to agree to one, to match the benefits EU membership would confer on us.
Any complexity in the independence process can only come from a rUK govt determined to make it so. As I said, the Brexit negotiations were only "complex" because the UK govt refused to accept the EU would not cave in to every ridiculous demand made of it. It's down to them how "difficult" they want it to be. A surly rUK should not prevent Scots achieving the independence their country needs.
Duuuude says
WM cannot make a profit from debt (re)payments. WM currently does not pay off/make payments on the national debt – no payments. That is unlikely to change. If Scotland is paying WM a share, WM will have to pay its debts. Which as we established it doesn't currently and likely won't in the future. This means then, that if WM is not making payments on its national debt, Scotland will nt have to pay WM its share -regardless of what "share" was negotiated prior to Scotland going independent.
It is revealing that the best argument you can come up with is that there was not one during the disastrous Brexit process. I thought one of the main arguments for leaving the UK was that we could do a lot better.
In fact the SNP supported the confirmatory vote until near the end and if there had been one Britain would still be in the EU, Boris Johnson would be nothing but a memory and a reforming government would be investing billions in the Scottish economy.
You are not getting it. There will be NO independent Scotland without Westminster`s agreement. And Westminster will not agree to Scottish independence without us paying Westminster for the Union national debt contracted for our benefit. You can avoid this result notionally by UDI. But UDI is not an option. Are we going to give the UK a haircut for hundreds of billions of pounds sterling?
You are evading the point on currency. No sophisticated modern western state has ever broken up. Such a state has high reliance on national and personal debt and social provision. The break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia is in no way comparable. Poor backward states can certainly launch their currencies easily. But we cannot. That is the sole reason why Italy and Greece are still in the euro. If they left the euro their massive euro denominated debts would become massively more burdensome as these would have to be paid in volatile lira and drachmas. You are living in a fantasy world.
You say that the EU issue would be easy. Who really knows. It will be in lap of the unelected elites who beat the living daylights out of Greece. I do not want to rely on them for anything.
Sorry William, but you're just making mountains out of molehills. Bottom line; a newly independent Scotland would owe the "continuing" rUK nothing in terms of its national debt. This idea you have in your head of rUK holding a financial gun to the head of the newly independent Scotland and saying to Scots "hand over your money or I'll pull the trigger" is laughable. It would make rUK even more of a pariah state than it already is. International extortion is not an acceptable way for a civilised country to behave. As I said, NO other country has had to shoulder the debts of another country; why is it so different for Scotland …. alone?
Currency has been done to death. Unionists pretend it is some kind of unfathomable conundrum in order to frighten people. Just another lie to keep the Jocks in their place, The truth is it is not and more and more people are coming to realise that. The international community looks at us and wonders why on Earth we're even discussing it. I have told you what the policy on it is. That that causes you to go into financial garbled mode to sound "experty" is your problem, not mine.
Similarly with the "scary complexity" of "breaking up". Again, unionists pretend it is some kind of Gordian knot that is simply too difficult to unravel. And again, the truth is it isn't.
As they say, the truth will set you free. Which is why unionists remain tied to mother's apron strings. If the truth will set them free, then they will happily avoid it at all costs.
J.Smith says
You are absolutely deluded.
You are of course correct in saying that the negotiations for Scotland's withdrawal from the UK are likely to be far more difficult than Brexit. Once Johnson has got rid of the Scottish MPs he has no reason whatsoever to try to help us. I think you may have also forgotten about Faslane – which he is likely to want to keep. If Nicola stuck to her promise to close it we would be in for a very hard time.
It is also clear that there is no way the nationalists will tell the truth about this in the referendum campaign. Anyone who does will be shouted down as unpatriotic or scaremongering.
Does that not mean that there should be no question of another referendum unless there is a confirmatory vote on the actual terms of withdrawal so the Scots know exactly what they are getting.?
Other than the sheer bloody-mindedness of rUK, why would it be more complex? Unionists never explain why it would be so complex. They just state it and hope it's enough to put people off. "Independence is fine for every dot on the map …. but not you Scotland …. it's far too complicated for you to manage".
As to Faslane, it's not forgotten about at all. I've no doubt the PM would love to hold on to the UK's mighty phallic symbol. And, for a time, he would be allowed to. Obviously it would take time to relocate the services etc away from Scotland which would mean a transitional period when it still resides at Faslane. However, it would not be rent free. The rent for Faslane alone would knock a large chunk off the notional GERS "deficit".
Confirmatory vote ……… zzzzzzzzz
You might think a confirmatory vote is a zzzzzzz but the Scots won't because without one they are going to be conned by people like you who will promise anything to break up the UK. That sort of thing would get you driven off any respectable e-commerce site and I don't see why we should put with anything less when it comes to the future of our country.
Again, why would there need to be a confirmatory vote for Scotland only? There wasn't one for Brexit, which is bizarrely your reasoning behind this demand. You also seem to assume independence would be rejected by a second vote. If the first vote was won with every scare story, smear and put-down unionists could come up with being flung at the people of Scotland, what makes you think further dissembling, threats and intransigence from rUK would endear them to the Union? I think you are basically conceding indyref2 is already lost to unionists and are clutching at the last desperate straw.
I'm not assuming anything but I am wondering what nationalists have got to hide when they won't allow the Scottish people a proper vote on the vital withdrawal terms. I wouldn't buy anything from Amazon if I couldn't send it back and neither would you.


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Voice-over: Before he was the baddest boy of rock 'n' roll, Axl Rose was a sweet-faced choirboy.
Phil Hurt: Of course I've always known him as Bill Bailey.
Host: In Lafayette, Indiana they know him as Bill Bailey, a cute kid who used to sing in the school choir. But he's grown up to be Axl Rose, one of the wildest stars in rock 'n' roll. Now his hometown is singing "Don't you come home, Bill Bailey".
Voice-over: They sell millions of records and make millions of dollars, but Guns N' Roses is more famous for the offstage antics of their lead singer than their heavy metal music. Axl Rose has become the undisputed bad boy of rock 'n' roll and the tattoo-covered lead singer has done plenty to earn that title.
Bob Guccione Jr.: I don't think Axl Rose sits at home and wonders how he can make himself look more of a bad boy. I think he's just a bad person.
Voice-over: Last year Axl was arrested in Los Angeles, although the charges were dropped. His next-door neighbor insists that he hit her over the head with a wine bottle.
Bob Guccione Jr.: That's not the act of somebody who is completely stable.
Voice-over: This past summer in St. Louis dozens of people were injured when a riot broke out at a Guns N' Roses concert. Several lawsuits were filed accusing Rose of inciting that riot, all because a fan was taking pictures.
Bob Guccione Jr.: Axl Rose is a guy who's really - he's a classical bully. He punches out paying customers who want to take a photograph of him.
Voice-over: But back in Lafayette, Indiana, where Axl grew up, many were surprised that the sweet-faced kid in the high school choir turned in to the rude rock 'n' roller.
Ron Campbell (Axl's former teacher): There was nothing in his particular background here at Jeff High School that would lead you to think that that's the way his behavior was going to be. He was just a nice young man.
Voice-over: But Axl Rose wasn't always the controversial bad boy. In fact, he wasn't always Axl Rose. He was plain old Bill Bailey.
Phil Hurt (Axl's high school coach): When I turned on my MTV it stunned me and I really think of it being Bill Bailey, because they said "Axl Rose" and of course I've always known him as Bill Bailey.
Ron Campbell: There was nothing radical about him, and, when he'd walk in or when I'd see him, I'd say this thing, "Bill Bailey, won't you please come home?" and things like that. I mean, he was just a personable little redheaded kid.
Phil Hurt: And he was like any typical 8th grader - you know, a little immature. And he used to spout off quite a bit.
Voice-over: Axl Rose is now famous for his X-rated lyrics that some would like banned. Back then his buddies had a better way of keeping him quiet.
Phil Hurt: They got mad and they taped his mouth shut, because he wouldn't shut up. And then, also, they stuffed him into a locker and closed the locker on him at that time, because of just his mouth.
Voice-over: Even in the 8th grade there might have been a hint of the man to come.
Monica Gregory (Axl's friend): He was not your normal Lafayette kid. It's a conservative city, very conservative. Extremely conservative.
Voice-over: Monica Gregory says her good friend, Axl, had problems with Lafayette police. Records show that he was arrested several times for minor offenses.
Monica Gregory: He got hassled a lot, because he had longer hair, maybe he wore a bandana... Which once again goes right back to the fact that he was different, unique – you know, special.
Voice-over: There was no love lost between the angry kid and his hometown. Bill Bailey dropped out of high school and left Lafayette as soon as he was old enough. Axl nowadays refers to Indiana as a concentration camp.
Ron Campbell: I'm kind of disappointed, I guess, that he has kind of disavowed himself or disowned the city of Lafayette, as I understand it, and said, "I never want to go back" and things of that sort.
Dennis Blind (Axl's high school principal): At this point, we'll probably have no reason to invite him back and I don't know whether or not he would even come back.
Voice-over: Lafayette isn't throwing any parades for their hometown boy gone bad. The only place he's loved is in the record stores.
Monica Gregory: He's looked up to incredibly by the teenagers. He has given a goal to a lot of young people in this town.
Voice-over: But to most people in Lafayette, Axl Rose is anything but a role model.
Dennis Blind: He would have a chance to make a great impact on the youth of America if he'd become a positive role model.
Voice-over: With his new album setting sales records all over the country, it doesn't look like Axl Rose will go back to being Bill Bailey anytime soon.
Axl: Well, everyone except for Ron Campbell. He was the principal of the school and I saw Ron a lot. I was always in his office and he was great to me. He always tried to help me. And Mr. Blind, he didn't really have much to do with anything except jerking people around. And Mr. Hurt was my coach who, you know, he made me run. You know, I broke my leg and he didn't believe that I'd hurt myself and I had to run extra miles all the time. And once I mentioned Alice Cooper, and the man almost strangled me. And when he talked about me getting my mouth taped shut, I was at 7th grade, and these guys were in 12th grade, and the only reason they taped my mouth shut is cuz I wouldn't take their crap. And I don't miss those people either, you know?
Bob Coburn: Yeah, yeah. Well, maybe if they don't want your coming back home, then you don't want to invite them over your house.
Axl: They have some good names. Mr. Hurt and Mr. Blind.
Bob Coburn: Mr. Hurt and Mr. Blind (laughs). What a poetic justice, my, my. Amy, thanks for the call.


The last time these AFC East rivals faced each other was in late September; the Jets won that game 20-6. Since then, both the Dolphins and the Jets have won two of its last three games.
The Dolphins continue to perform above expectations as the season continues.
After two big wins over the Tennessee Titans and NFC Divisional Champions Atlanta Falcons, the Dolphins look to continue the trend against the Jets in the Sunshine State Sunday afternoon.
Quarterback Jay Culter has five touchdown passes with 857 passing yards, a 61.6 percent completion rate, along with four interceptions.
Standout running back Jay Ajayi is not having the best start to the season, considering his performance last year, but is still producing at a high level. Ajayi has rushed for 391 yards on 102 attempts, averaging 78.2 yards per game.
Wide receiver Jarvis Landry leads the Dolphins' receiving core in receptions, targets, yards, and touchdowns: 38 receptions, 57 targets, 272 yards with two touchdowns.
Despite losses to the Bills, Raiders, and Patriots, the New York Jets are in a much better place this season compared to last year, in which the Jets won one of its first six games.
Veteran quarterback Josh McCown has the young, talented offense pointed in the right direction. McCown has seven touchdown passes on 1,374 passing yards, a 70.1% completion rate, a rushing touchdown and 6 interceptions.
In his seven seasons with the Jets, running back Bilal Powell is looking like the prospect they expected the Florida native to be. Powell already has two rushing touchdowns on the season, nearing his career-high of four rushing touchdowns in 2012. Powell earned his two touchdowns this season on 240 yards in 51 attempts, averaging 4.7 yards along with 72 receiving yards on the season.
Former Seahawks receiver, Jermaine Kearse, has been the go-to guy in his first season with the Jets. Kearse has three touchdowns on the season on 299 yards, 33 targets, and 26 receptions. Also nearing his career-high in touchdowns (5 touchdowns in 2015), Kearse will likely set a new career high this season.
Look for Cutler to extend his touchdown total on the season on Sunday.
Expect Landry's targets to skyrocket with the risk-taking Jay Cutler under center.
Watch for Kearse to have a productive game against the Dolphin's 21st ranked pass defense on Sunday.


text:
Retired Justice John Paul Stevens admits Brett Kavanaugh is doing a good job on the Supreme Court
Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens once said that Brett Kavanaugh was too biased to serve on the Supreme Court. Now, the liberal judge says that Kavanaugh is doing a good job.
The 99-year-old former justice told CNN Tuesday that his past comments were "unfortunate."
Stevens walks back criticism
Stevens told CNN that he doesn't like how partisan the Supreme Court has become, pointing to Bush v. Gore and District of Columbia v. Heller as decisions that have tainted the court's reputation as an institution that is supposed to be above politics. But it seems that not even former Supreme Court justices, who are supposed to be wise and above the partisan warfare, are immune to political bias.
When Kavanaugh was up for the court, Stevens caused a stir when he joined the chorus of liberals calling for his nomination to be withdrawn. The former justice, who ought to have known how much weight his words carry, said that Kavanaugh was too political in his confirmation hearings to be trusted.
Stevens had previously said he approved of Kavanaugh's work, but changed his mind when the judge came out guns blazing against the partisan smearing of his character, which he called a "calculated and orchestrated political hit" organized by leftists seeking "revenge on behalf of the Clintons."
"He has demonstrated potential bias involving enough potential litigants before the court that he would not be able to perform his full responsibilities," Stevens said at the time. "And I think there is merit in that criticism and that the senators should really pay attention to it. For the good of the court, it's not healthy to get a new justice that can only do a part-time job."
But now? It's like the Kavanaugh hearings never happened. Stevens told CNN that his comments were "unfortunate" because "he's really a good judge."
"Do you regret, then, saying during the confirmation hearings that you didn't think he should be confirmed?" interviewer John Berman asked. Stevens answered: "Perhaps I shouldn't have said what I did, but I think his decisions will determine how good a judge he'll be."
All it took for Stevens to change his mind, it seems, was losing. When leftists still had a chance to stop Kavanaugh, nothing was off the table to keep him off the court — no accusation was too outlandish.
Of course, progressives took up arms against Kavanaugh the moment his nomination was announced, warning that he would destroy abortion rights forever, threaten "millions" of lives, and usher in a Christian theocracy. But none of this rhetoric actually mattered; the only thing that mattered was winning. Even a former Supreme Court justice joined in with the partisan attacks when they counted, only to walk them back in his interview with CNN.
The interview itself was partisan softball, with Berman never labeling Stevens a liberal despite his left-wing positions on everything from abortion to guns. This omission is based in a common liberal theme: liberal judges are mysteriously "neutral," while conservative ones are "biased," so Stevens' political alignment is not worth emphasizing.
When Berman asked Stevens if President Donald Trump "understands" the Supreme Court's role, inviting him to trash the president, Stevens said that Trump doesn't understand that the Supreme Court is non-partisan. There are no "Obama judges," he said, as Trump infamously complained of a judge last year.
"I think he often speaks about them as Obama judges and other kinds of judges," Stevens said. "But I think John Roberts was dead right when he said that there are only one kind of judges and they're all working for the federal government."
But Stevens' apparent belief in the neutrality of the Supreme Court, and his concern that it's becoming too political, are belied by his own partisan comments. In a new memoir, Stevens blasted the Heller decision, which affirmed the Second Amendment right to bear arms, as the "worst" decision of his entire 35 years on the court. But Kavanaugh showed too much "bias?"
It's a shame how partisan the Supreme Court has become. Even more surprising is the bald prejudice of the judges entrusted to interpret the Constitution. The future of the Supreme Court looks bleak.
Nancy Pelosi temporarily blocked from speaking during floor fight over Trump tweets
House Democrats passed a resolution to condemn President Donald Trump's now-notorious "go back" tweets Tuesday night, but not before the...
Rep. Al Green introduces new resolution to impeach Trump
After debating the matter for months, Democrats are finally prepared to move forward with articles of impeachment targeting President Donald...
Trump administration ends federal funding for abortion referrals in blow to Planned Parenthood
President Donald Trump banned the use of federal funding for abortion referrals on Monday in a move hailed by pro-life...
Citing Trump's 'racism,' retired Texas judge leaves GOP
Former Texas judge Elsa Alcala said on her Facebook page Monday that she is leaving the Republican Party over the...
Planned Parenthood ousts president in 'secret meeting'
The president of Planned Parenthood was terminated after just eight months. The Washington Examiner reports that Dr. Leana Wen was...


text:
PwC + Microsoft Launch European Legal Tech Accelerator…(But, It Has Some Issues)
9th April 2021 artificiallawyer Incubator/Accelerator 0
Big Four firm, PwC, and Microsoft, have launched a new legal tech and 'tax tech' accelerator for companies based in Europe. The project will run through PwC's Spanish division and will favour products that are a good fit locally. After a period of mentoring and support the programme will culminate in a presentation to potential investors in October this year. PwC may also invest if it chooses to.
That said, the investment terms and licence rights demanded by PwC need some careful examination, (see below). Some of them seem quite onerous and difficult to justify. They will probably end up turning away some companies that otherwise would have joined. PwC will hopefully re-think those terms before the programme gets going.
This is the second incubator-type programme run by PwC for legal technology, as it already has the Scale project, which is based in London and normally takes place each year. Microsoft will support the accelerator with mentoring and 'co-promote the project' – which means having one of the world's largest tech companies give some publicity to those startups that get into the project.
Springboard, as it has been branded, will focus on not just legal use cases, but also more broadly on compliance and tax. Interestingly, PwC said that a key reason for doing this is so that they can 'offer our clients new innovative … solutions in their sector' – which is also handy if you are looking to expand your business in Europe. Microsoft will also potentially introduce some of the startups to their own clients.
You need your company to have a base in the European Union. Because of Brexit that means that companies solely based in the UK cannot take part, and the same goes for US companies that may only have a European office in London.
Also, as this is going to be run through the Spanish arm of PwC, having a Spanish language capability will clearly be a benefit. That said, many legal tech tools are applicable in any language, and plenty of commercial lawyers in centres such as Madrid and Barcelona will be dealing with English-language documents on a daily basis.
More specificially, PwC said it is looking for:
International Tax & Legal Tech startups whose tax or legal solution is at an advanced stage of development and that need to validate the integration and adaptation of their product or service to the Spanish legal or tax sector.
Startups that do not yet offer Tax & Legal Tech solutions. but which have a working technological solution that is not yet adapted to the Spanish or international legal or tax sector, with which to establish at least one use case and co-create a solution that is applicable in the Spanish legal or tax sector, together with PwC Tax & Legal and in collaboration with Microsoft.
If you'd like to sign up, the assessment phase runs from 7th April – 7th May. See more here.
Those taking part will receive:
Business mentoring from PwC, in collaboration with Microsoft.
A priority channel to offer its solutions to PwC and/or Microsoft clients.
PwC and/or Microsoft will facilitate or mediate in the presentation of Accelerated Startups to a certain number of investors.
Accelerated Startups will be able to test their solutions through PoC (proofs of concept) under the mentoring of professionals from PwC Tax & Legal and Microsoft in order to identify vectors for improvement.
PwC Tax & Legal (with the collaboration of Microsoft, if appropriate) and the Accelerated Startups will co-create jointly to achieve an MVP (minimum viable product) adapted to a use case within the Spanish legal or tax field.
Technical, Commercial and Financial Mentoring.
A credit to be used for a Microsoft product or service.
However….there is also one other very important area you need to think about before applying and that is in relation to PwC's investment rights and also in terms of its preferential access to your startup. Have a look at the conditions here, which are as stated by PwC in its terms and conditions small print:
'Right of first refusal or preferred subscription
PwC Tax & Legal may participate in the Accelerated Startup's funding rounds that take place during the acceleration program and for two years following completion. PwC Tax & Legal will have preferred subscription rights, under the same conditions as the investors leading each round, up to a maximum of 10% of the Accelerated Startup's share capital.
Right of first refusal and preferred acquisition of the business
PwC Tax & Legal will have the right of first refusal with respect to the acquisition of the specific business related to the solution developed by the Accelerated Startup, if it wishes to transfer or sell the business, for 2 years following the completion of the acceleration program.
Testing Right
During the acceleration program and for the following two years, PwC Tax & Legal has the right to a free trial of the complete solutions developed by each of the Accelerated Startups. The trial will be for a maximum of 12 months and a maximum of 2% of the total licences that could be necessary for PwC Tax & Legal will be granted so that it may test and validate the solution and decide whether to acquire licenses.
Right to a price reduction on the acquisition of licenses
During the acceleration program and for two years following its completion, PwC Tax & Legal may acquire rights to use the Accelerated Startup's solutions at a market price, with a 20% discount.
Right to a fee for any sale mediation
When the sale of a solution by any of the Accelerated Startups is achieved by the direct management of PwC Tax & Legal or through the presentation of a buyer by PwC Tax & Legal, and when legally possible, a 5% fee will accrue to PwC Tax & Legal applied to the sale price of the solution (base price, excluding VAT) for that party, for the following 24 months.
Right to Investment fees
When an investment in an Accelerated Startup is achieved through the direct management of PwC Tax & Legal, a 5% fee will be applied to the amount of the investment obtained by the Accelerated Startup.'
All in all it looks useful for those companies that want to grow in the European market. Moreover, client introductions from PwC and Microsoft could have a very positive impact, not to mention the mentoring and support you will receive.
There is then also the important caveat with regard to PwC's investment and preferred status conditions. Think about those carefully before you sign up.
This site has to say that although it's great to see another legal tech incubator/accelerator project, especially in Europe, loading it up with financial obligations, as noted above, seems to just make it harder for people to join and could sour the whole experience.
Google's Stack App Offers Doc Sorting + Data Extraction
Is the Legal Market Really 'A Market'?


Q. 1) Explain bilge keel ?
Q. 2) Crankshaft deflection intrepetation of results.what is the unit of readings taken ?
Q. 3) Explain sewage treatment plant and values ?
test results laid n ispp cert.
shal nt produce visible float nor discoloration of surrounding water.
Q. 4) Differnce between major non conformity and non conformity ?
Q. 5) Refrigeration cycle principle ?
Q. 6) Setting of safety valves of boiler ?
Q. 7) Difference between constant and pulse type t / see ?
Q. 9) Lifeboat regulations ?
Q. 10) What is hawse pipe and spurling pipe ?


text:
Hilary Swank to be honoured for 'Boys Don't Cry' role
Hilary Swank to be honoured for 'Boys Don't Cry' role
Hilary Swank is set to be honoured by organisers at Outfest for her role as a transgender man in 1999 film 'Boys Don't Cry'.
By: Press Trust of India | Los Angeles |
September 24, 2014 2:42:30 pm
Hilary Swank is set to be honoured by organisers at Outfest for her role as a transgender man in 1999 film 'Boys Don't Cry'.
(Source: Reuters)
Actress Hilary Swank is set to be honoured by organisers at Outfest for her role as a transgender man in 1999 film 'Boys Don't Cry'.
The 40-year-old 'Million Dollar Baby' star, who won the first of her two Oscars for her portrayal of Brandon Teena in the drama, will receive the Trailblazer Award at Outfest's Legacy Awards in Los Angeles on November 12, reported Los Angeles Times online.
The ceremony will mark the 15th anniversary of the film and serve as a fundraiser in support of the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, the largest archive of Lgbt moving images in the world.
hilary swank


text:
Pokémon Nicknames: Bruxish
Alola cousins! (Denny imitating Professor Kukui): "Have you tried the fish tacos?"
Bruxish (in Japanese: ハギギシリ "Hagigishiri" is a Water and Psychic dual type. Thus far, there are no known evolutionary forms. It is given "Gnash Teeth" as its Pokémon category. Gnash teeth? I can hear Mrs. Sinnoh's teeth gnashing whenever I am playing Pokémon and I'm supposed to be doing chores and home repair.
I was excited and very interested to see this new Alola region Pokémon. It looks weird, and maybe a little unnatural, but that is what I like about it. Some Pokémon resemble their real animal counterparts a little too much. Bruxish is based on a real life Hawaiian Reef Triggerfish. Bruxish's wild psychedelic coloration also remind me of a real-life Parrotfish as well. Bruxish's body is more "head-shaped" than fish-shaped it seems. Its mouth reminds me of the Kissing Fish, and and the sharp teeth remind me of a Piranha.
Bruxish has an odd flower-like protuberance on the top of its head. It is this organ which is the source of its psychic power. Bruxish's full biology is described at the Bulbapedia site linked here.
My old hippie friend thinks that you should catch this fish, dry-cure the protuberance – then SMOKE IT for a really mellow buzz. I disagree. I am anti-drugs for one thing, plus I think that Poké-animals should be treated a little more kosher. They are spiritual beings, and they should not exist merely to be over-harvested, or in order to make us feel good about ourselves… but I digress.
I used my psychic powers to nab this fish.
I nicknamed a female Bruxish with "Outstanding" potential "Kiss-Me-Kate" after the famous musical of the same name. Here is a song from the movie version. My Kiss-Me-Kate is a ladyfish with the "Strong Jaw" ability, which enhances her "biting" moves. "Psychic Fangs" is her signature move.
I named another "RazzleDazzel" because the fish's coloration may dazzle opponents. It has the "Dazzling" ability, which surprises the enemy and makes the opponents' "priority moves" useless.
You could name these fish after famous impressionist artists – "Picassofish" after the painter. I think that "Matisse" would be a good arty name, and would work for males or females. You can think of your favorite artist. I named one "ColorMeGone" after the alt-rock group. You may like "ColorMeBad" rather.
Haruka also suggested the name "Fish Taco" I don't know why.
I named one toothy fish "Britishsmiles" after an episode of "The Simpsons". Ralph Wiggims was wary of going to a dentist, and lied about brushing his teeth regularly. The dentist pulled out a photo book titled "The Big Book of British Smiles". The joke being this book would scare children into taking care of their teeth, so that they would not end up looking like a Cockney prostitute. That humorous clip is LINKED HERE.
Also along the British theme, I named a Bruxish "Brexit" because I just thought the fit the fish. It will beat you, then exit. Of course, the real Brexit will never happen, as Britain's central government does not want the U.K. to leave the EU and will delay the process until it can be voted down in another election. … and yes, I do digress again …
The hippie movement and psychedelia thing could be mined for more "SummerOfLove" and other groovy names."Love + Peace" for example. If only there were some way to get this HKT48 song piped into the White House and the Kremlin at the same time.
Some other names I might suggest, but have not used yet include:
"Humuhumu" would be a great (shortened) name for the real triggerfish's Hawaiian name: "humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa".
The song is LINKED HERE.
"Trig" as Bruxish resembles a trigger-fish, although that name sounds a little too macho for such a gay-colored fish.
Um … I think this was a translation error from the original Japanese Sun Moon anime.
"Dragqueen" due to its lip coloration, and arguably the fish resembles a guy wearing makeup. Covered with makeup, but you can still tell it is a guy. They are pretty good about not gnashing there their teeth though. Ahem … you should see what types of images dirty-minded people are posting about Bruxish on Tumblr … and yes, I digress again.
You have to watch how you pet these Snapper-fish.
"Headshop" due to its shape, and its psychedelic coloration. "Bad Acid" as in the quote "remember the time you took that bad acid, and you got up on top of the roof, and said that you were Jesus Christ and that you could fly?"
What … wait … Fish tacos? You mean those are really real, Haruka ? … I always thought "Fish Taco" was just a euphemism.
What is the name of your Psychic Fish? Please comment!
Art, Culture, Entertainment, Humor, Pop Culture
Hippie culture
Pokémon Nicknames: Wingull and Pelipper
All photo credit goes to my little buddy.
Wingull (in Japanese: キャモメ "Camome") is a WATER and FLYING dual-type Pokémon. Wingull evolves into Pelipper (in Japanese: ペリッパー "Pelipper") when raised to level 25, where it remains a WATER and FLYING dual-type.
Credit goes to the artist (Whatshername).
Among my favorite names for Wingull are "Jonathan" or "Livingston" after the philosophical book (and later movie) by Richard Bach called "Jonathan Livingston Seagull." Trailer linked here.
Sure it was thought provoking. I read it and thought — "What? .. he what? … you wanna what?"
Follow your heart — link here.
"The gull sees farthest who flies highest" ― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull
I also like to name them "Top Gun" (and also use the star-symbol), after the 1980s movie of the same name. Wingull usually knows "Water Gun" which is one of the cutest Pokémon moves, although I eventually replace it with stronger moves like "Water Pulse" or "Scald". I put one out on the Wondertrade named "She Squirts".
I also used the names for coastal places where there are a lot of seabirds. A good name for Wingull is "Nantucket" after the island and the famous dirty limerick.
If you are a student of American comedy history, you can appreciate the names "Gertrude" and "Heathcliff" after the famous comedy bit by the late-great comedy legend Red Skelton.
Another possible Wingull name is "MineMineMine" which was what the seagulls were calling in the movie "Finding Nemo".
I have named Pelipper "Skipper" after the Skipper from the Giligan's Island TV show. Once I went on a theme-naming spree, and named Pelipper "Alan Hale". You could make a Double-Battle team with a Pelipper and a Wingull named "The Skipper" and "Little Buddy". Of course, your opponent would have to be familiar with that 1960s TV show.
A good name for a male Pelipper would be "Charleston" after the beautiful South Carolina city. You may want to use other coastal names where pelicans live. Perhaps "Carolina" or "Myrtle" after the staes or the town of Myrtyle Beach.
A name that would work fro female Wingull/Pelipper is "Gullah" the name of the dialect spoken by the African-American residents of the "Sea Islands" region of Georgia. The dialect was preserved due to the island's relative isolation from the rest of Georgia.
Credit goes to the original Gullah region painter.
The people who speak the dialect are sometimes referred to as "Geechee" – but be careful – the word has been used as derogatory slur. You might use this Pokemon name, but do so only to honor the unique historical culture of the region.
See you in Charleston, Gullah!
Bird Pokemon
Gullah
Pokémon Nicknames: Swablu and Altaria
Swablu (in Japanese: チルット "Tyltto") is a dual Normal-Flying type Pokémon. It is termed the "Cotton-Bird" Pokémon.
Swablu evolves into Altaria (in Japanese: チルタリス "Tyltalis") at level 35, where it becomes a Dragon-Flying dual type, and is dubbed the "Humming Pokémon". (Humming? … What?)
Altaria can Mega Evolve into Mega Altaria using the Altarianite.
Although Swablu is a "cotton" Pokémon, its wings resemble clouds. Fair weather cumulus clouds are often described as having a cotton-ball appearance. This flying-type would appear to be able to mingle amongst the puffy convective clouds. I often give Swablu and/or Altaria a cloud type name … but more on that later. Enjoy this Swablu cosplay for now …
The "blu" in Sawblu coordinates with its "sky-blue" color. This sky-blu color is sometimes called "Tar Heel blue" as this shade of light blue is the official color of The University of North Carolina. Thus I have named them "Tar Heel" and "Go Blu".
I sometimes have my head in the clouds.
Female Swablu could be aptly named "Carolina". Perhaps even "NC" after the famous UNC logo.
Perhaps "Kitty Hawk" would be a good name for a flying type, as it was the North Carolina beach (seen above) where the Wright Brothers first flew!
In general I like to name Swablu and Altaria after cloud types, such as "Cumulus", "Cirrus", "Stratus", "Nimbus", "Nimbostratus", etc.
The mega-evolved Altaria looks like an imposing Cumulonimbus (which just makes it in at twelve letters.) Perhaps you could think of other sky/storm related names – "Hailbringer" for example.
Wouldn't it be cool if Altaria could change its nickname when it mega-evolves? It would be cool if its name could change from cumulus to cumulonimbus as it grew into an intimidating thunderstorm! … what? … oh … you're not a "weather-geek" you say? Perhaps you will enjoy this Altaria cosplay:
The Japanese-game name Tyltalis is appropriate for a dragon-type. It comes from the old name "Tyl". This was the traditional name for Epsilon Draconis, a star in the constellation of Draco the Dragon. Thus, you could use the nickname "Epsilon" if you are an "astronomy-geek"!
If you are more of a "computer-geek", then you might prefer the name "Altair 8800", which was released in 1975 as (ahem … cough) … the "first personal computer".
Yes, it was a personal computer. Even though it did not have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, operating system, or software. … what good was it for then? Humming?
Maybe try the name "I-Cloud" if you like Apple products.
Names I liked from users on the Name Rater site are Azure, Cloud 9, Cloud Nine, Nubes Arem for Altaria and Q-Tip for Swablu. I also noticed that several cloud names were also submitted … to be insulted … you know how the name rater is!
What is the name of your Tar-Heel blue-color Pokémon? Please comment!
http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.serebii.net/
Cloud types
Tar Heels
KIMONOS ON MONDAY: I am still drawn to Yui Yokoyama!
… and who wouldn't be? Actually this is a DRAWING of the lovely Yuihan wearing a kimono. The original drawing is by Rodolfo Cortez. You can view more of his drawings — AKB and otherwise — on his web page linked here. Yokoyama-san has very intense eyes. Do you think that he did a good job of capturing their intensity? I also like that little "48" clasp he drew on the kimono.
There are also some great paintings of Yui Yokoyama in kimono in her first photo book released earlier this year. The artist is Japanese painter Yasunari Ikenaga. The photo books are mostly photographs, but there is this nice little part of about her making this kimono painting.
Here is Yui lying down on the kimono pattern, to see how it looks with her.
This is her kimono (yukata actually) that the painting is based on. Note the floral pattern and the obi-sash pattern below was used in the painting.
Guess what my favorite part of this photo is!
Here is the basic drawing before color painting.
I would have to say that the picture turned out well.
I sure would have to have this Yui panel in my tea room! It looks like Ms. Yokoyama also approves of the art …
I am probably even easier to please than Yuihan.
Even her painting is INTENSE!
The photobook is available from CD Japan linked here.
It only costs $12 … Gulp … so why can't I have one?. (There is also a DVD-Blu-Ray photobook if you have a Japanese player.)
Starlight: The photobook was released February 2015.
ANOTHER FANBOY POST, Art, Culture, Fashion, Pop Culture, Pop Music
Well, Lewis Carroll is probably doing SOMETHING in his grave …
I am starting to like the HKT48 a lot!. HKT48 stands for "Hakata" 48, as the group performs in their own HKT48 Theater in the Hawks Town Mall located in Hakata ward of Fukuoka, Japan. When I think HKT however, I think GO HAWKSTOWN! HKT48 is centered/managed by (the somewhat older) Rino Sashihara. Now, why Sashi is in Hawks Town is … ahem … another story, but let's just say that I am glad that they put this Irishwoman in charge. (What, she's an O'Hara, right?)
The HKT48 are a lot of fun, and they have a lot of youthful energy! They remind me of AKB48 when the original members were first starting out years ago. They are always so happy and enthusiastic when they do their dances in their pretty outfits. I super-love their single "12 Seconds". There is a great music video for it, but for right now, let's view a live performance in 1080 HD!
I think that 12 Byou is a cool, rockin' power-pop song. I especially love the uniforms that they use for the MV and for this dance. Haruka Kodama is amazingly pretty … and did you see those CUTE SOCKS?
You are killing me with those socks Haruppi!
I hope yourtube does not remove it, because I want to watch this PV all summer. Just in case, I downloaded the MP4 and played it on my PS3 USB, where it looks PDQ on the IT.
The more I watch HKT48, the more I like them! I also like some of those "kick" moves that they put into the dance. See time 2:00 — I actually make those same knee-kicks like that whenever my leg goes to sleep, or if I have a really bad "Charley Horse"! Thanks, young ladies, for showing me how to stay limber.
Now for the music video: The HKT48 girls go "down the rabbit hole" and become part of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". It is a lot of fun, and the sets look great. Unfortunately YouTube only has the "preview" version of the official MV, but you can find the full version out there if you know where to look.
I was able to find it on Jpopsuki website, but you have to wait a long time for it to load. Watch in a new window on Jpopsuki linked here.
Alternatively you could watch it in a new window on Voz48.com linked here. Much less loading time. What a Lolita-styled beauty is the "Alice" here!
If all else fails, you can go with YouTube, but the company will only let me show you the preview. Dag-nabbit wabbit, it still sounds and looks so inspiring I'm interested in both the fine literature AND the pretty skirts!
The "Alice in Wonderland" theme here gives rise to the speculative question:
Was noted British author Lewis Carroll a pedophile? (Note: "Lewis Carroll" was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.) It is commonly known that the author based the "Alice" in his books on Alice Liddell, his neighbor, and the daughter of his church leader. It is well documented that he had a friendly relationship with Alice and her family, however the extent of their relationship has given rise to some speculation. (Link here.)
Denny turns his bar stool to face the reader: Look, regarding these famous writers and your English majors, scholarly professors and the like — they all go one of two ways: Either they are 1) a total "fruit salad" and thus are harmless to women, or 2) they are lecherous serial womanizers that think they are above common decency. … but I digress.
Furthermore, a British documentary produced earlier this year investigates the relationship between Carroll, Alice and her other young sisters. They conclude that although Carroll was obsessed with the young girl, he was too "repressed" by his religion and conscience to act upon it. There is evidence that he took photographs of Alice and her sisters, but they were NOT sexualized images. Researchers uncovered an old photograph of Carroll and Alice in an embrace however. I will NOT show that photograph here, but it is available on a Pinterest page linked here. It is argued that the photo has been faked in order to diminish the author. There is no evidence that the late Mr. Dodgson ever had an inappropriate relationship with any child.
Ok, that being said, I think that Lewis Carroll would have approved of HKT48 and how they bring his concepts to life! I think he would also enjoy these performances. Here is another PV of the "12 seconds" single: Enjoy the silky pastel colors version in 1080 HD!
Before I go, here is a rockin' instrumental version with guitar by YouTube user Arif Hadianto.
"Party on Garth!!!"
Starlight: You would have traveled 2,232,000 miles if you were going at the speed of light!


text:
Kjonga () je řeka v Tomské oblasti v Rusku. Je 498 km dlouhá. Povodí má rozlohu 8 570 km².

Průběh toku
Řeka teče přes Vasjuganskou rovinu. V jejím povodí se nachází mnoho nevelkých jezer. Je pravou zdrojnicí řeky Parabel (povodí Obu). Největším přítokem je zleva Jemeldža.

Vodní režim
Zdroj vody je sněhový a dešťový. Nejvyšších vodních stavů dosahuje od dubna do června, ale také v srpnu dochází k povodním. Průměrný roční průtok vody činí 23,6 m³/s.

Literatura

Řeky v Tomské oblasti
Povodí Obu

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


A recording of The Revival's "Let's Talk Show" from 14 September 2008 where Shaykh Ibrahim Ossi Effa is bombarded with questions about Islam mainly on topics where there are misconceptions held either within the Muslim community or by Non Muslims.
A few other questions were sprinkled in for good measure.
whats happened to the play button?
It's back - just some settings somewhere gone wrong.
So... has anyone actually listened to this? what did you think of it? Any answers that impressed you? others that you hated/thought dodged the question or were plain wrong?
Should there be more audio content?
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Finally the Lets Talk Show is on the site!
And you cant skip it forward either can you? You need to add that feature otherwise u hav eto listen to it from the start everytime!
Why have you visited this website?
Do you believe that Jews hate Islam?
Sign up to our newsletter and keep informed about the latest news and content.


This classic work of science fiction is widely considered to be the ultimate time-travel novel. When Daniel Eakins inherits a time machine, he soon realizes that he has enormous power to shape the course of history. He can foil terrorists, prevent assassinations, or just make some fast money at the racetrack. And if he doesn't like the results of the change, he can simply go back in time and talk himself out of making it! But Dan soon finds that there are limits to his powers and forces beyond his control. This replaces 0553290061.


Exciting news for our pupils, we have a new catering firm which will be providing our school lunches.
"At Edwards & Blake we understand that good food is vital to life. We're a leading contract caterer and since 1998 we've put food quality at the heart of all we do with fresh, healthy, nutritious ingredients at the core of our business from day one.


Polson to Ronan distance is 18 KM.
Polson to Ronan travel time is 0 hours and 18 minutes. Polson Ronan distance is 18 KM. we are providing various distance for various mode of travel; If there are any other mode of transport between Polson and Ronan alike flight, ferry, train , walk and bycycle. You can use our distance tool to get the flight distance, train distance and road distance. Our driving direction from Polson to Ronan helps you to plan your travel properly and make your journey more convenient. Polson to Ronan road map assist you when you drive by your car and other own vehicle. If you are going from Polson to Ronan first time, do not worry, we are assisting for your travel with more travel information. We are trying to provide the the following travel time and distance if it is available between Polson to Ronan. Polson to Ronan train and train timings, Polson to Ronan bus timings.
Polson to Ronan road map is most important one for you to accomplosh your travel . Some time it is very difficult to travel to the new place without know the exact route map, so you can use our route map from Polson to Ronan . Our website has been using google road map from Polson to Ronan which consist of most of the roads and lanes, petrol pump, hotels, tourist places, train route and more.
Polson to Ronan driving direction is comming from google map , you can get direction for various travel routes and shortest route. You can select you travel route based on your vehicle, even small lane can be used to travel by bicycle. Some shortest route can be used only for car and small vehicle. Some longest route may be broad one and it may be in good condition to reach Ronan.


Blowout Sale! Up to 58% off on Bluetooth Car Kits at All Company Mobiles. Top brands include Bovee, Paplio, Yomikoo, etopbest, DEI, AMIR, bovee, AUKEY, iClever, MICARSKY, ZEEPIN, Mpow, & viseeo. Hurry! Limited time offers. Offers valid only while supplies last.


text:
package org.easit.core.controllers.facebook;

import java.security.Principal;
import java.util.List;

import javax.inject.Inject;

import org.easit.dao.model.PSMetadata;
import org.springframework.social.MissingAuthorizationException;
import org.springframework.social.facebook.api.Facebook;
import org.springframework.social.facebook.api.FriendRequest;
//import org.springframework.social.facebook.api.FriendRequest;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.Model;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ExceptionHandler;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;

@Controller
public class FacebookNotificationsController {

	private final Facebook facebook;

	@Inject
	private FacebookNotificationsController(Facebook facebook) {
		this.facebook = facebook;
	}

	@ExceptionHandler(MissingAuthorizationException.class)
	public String handleAuthorizationException(Principal currentUser) {
		return "redirect:/connect/facebook";
	}

	@RequestMapping(value = "facebook/notifications", method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String getFriendRequests(Model model, String offset) {
		int resultOffset = 0;
		int resultLimit = 0;
		int listSize = 0;
		int int_offset = 0;
		if (offset != null) {
			int_offset = Integer.valueOf(offset);
		}

		listSize = facebook.notificationOperations().getFriendRequests().size();

		if (listSize <= int_offset + PSMetadata.FACEBOOK_LIMIT_RESULT) {
			resultLimit = listSize;
		} else {
			resultLimit = int_offset + PSMetadata.FACEBOOK_LIMIT_RESULT;
		}
		if (listSize <= int_offset) {
			resultOffset = listSize;
		} else {
			resultOffset = int_offset;
		}

		List<FriendRequest> fr = facebook.notificationOperations().getFriendRequests().subList(resultOffset, resultLimit);
		model.addAttribute("notif", fr);
		model.addAttribute("offset", resultOffset);
		model.addAttribute("pageSize", listSize);
		return "facebook/notifications";
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub