text:
OpinionSummariesCase details
Almond v. Boyles
Citing Cases
Hutto v. S.C. Ret. Sys.
The district court rejected the NC Retirement System's defense that it was immune from suit under the…
11 Citing Cases
Full title:Robert P. ALMOND, Jerry A. Calloway, Vernon G. Cox, Allen E. Dail, Janice…
Court:United States District Court, E.D. North Carolina, Raleigh Division
Date published: Jun 25, 1985
612 F. Supp. 223 (E.D.N.C. 1985)
From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research
United States District Court, E.D. North Carolina, Raleigh Division
holding that the control factor did "not weigh heavily in favor of either party," after noting the detailed statutory regime, the political nature of the appointment of the members of the board of trustees, the retirement system's corporate status, and the board's powers to sue and be sued and to buy and sell property
Summary of this case from Hutto v. S.C. Ret. Sys.
See 3 Summaries
No. 84-138-Civ-5.
June 25, 1985.
John Q. Beard, Robert W. Spearman, Steven J. Levitas, Charles R. Hassell, Jr., Raleigh, N.C., for plaintiffs.
William F. Briley, Reginald L. Watkins, Norma S. Harrell, Raleigh, N.C., for defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
BRITT, Chief Judge.
This action is brought pursuant to the Randolph-Sheppard Act (Act) by visually handicapped persons who operate vending stands in North Carolina. See 20 U.S.C. § 107-107f. They filed the action on 17 February 1984 against officials of the North Carolina Department of Human Resources (DHR) and the North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System (Retirement System). Plaintiffs allege that the defendants have violated their constitutional and statutory rights by unlawfully deducting the "employer" contributions to the Retirement System from vending stand proceeds, and by refusing to return the "employer" contributions to the plaintiffs in 1983 when they were given the option to withdraw from the Retirement System. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated Randolph-Sheppard vendors to recover all monies that they were forced to contribute to the System. The matter is before the court on the plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment and class certification and the defendants' motions to dismiss and for summary judgment.
The Randolph-Sheppard Act was enacted in 1936 to provide business opportunities for the visually handicapped. Since 1955 DHR and its predecessor agencies have administered the Randolph-Sheppard vending stand program in North Carolina. This program has been funded primarily by the federal government. Pursuant to the vocational Rehabilitation Act, the federal government matches at a rate of 4 to 1 non-federal funding for purposes of Vocational rehabilitation. See 29 U.S.C. § 701 et seq. The non-federal share of the vending program budget has come primarily from vending stands proceeds. In applying for designation as a Randolph-Sheppard licensing agency, and in exchange for the federal grants it received to operate the program, DHR agreed to administer the program in accordance with the Randolph-Sheppard Act and regulations promulgated thereunder.
Prior to 1974 the Randolph-Sheppard Act provided that deductions from the "proceeds" of vending facilities could be "set aside" for only four purposes:
1. Maintenance and replacement of equipment;
2. The purchase of new equipment;
3. Management services; and
4. Assuring a fair minimum return to operators of vending stands.
The Act further provided that "in no event shall the amount of such funds to be aside from the proceeds of a vending stand exceed a reasonable amount which shall be determined by the Secretary." See 20 U.S.C. § 107b(3). In 1974 Congress amended the Act to provide that vending stand proceeds could be set aside for the purchase of retirement benefits and other fringe benefits for the vendors, but only after full disclosure and a majority vote by the vendors. The 1974 amendments further provided that deductions for any of the five purposes allowed by the Act were to be made from the vending stands' net proceeds, rather than the gross proceeds. Id.
The Act's language and legislative history indicate that Congress intended for the Randolph-Sheppard vendors to be treated as self-employed independent contractors. Nevertheless, in North Carolina DHR has in many ways treated the vendors like they were state employees. Since 1971 DHR has collected the vending stands' gross proceeds, made deductions therefrom, and then distributed the balance to the vendors. Prior to 1971, however, vending stand operators were paid a weekly salary and bonuses. DHR kept the surplus proceeds in a special reserve account. As a result, DHR accumulated $300,000 in reserves from vending stand proceeds. These funds were transferred to the state's general fund in 1971. At that time the North Carolina General Assembly decided to examine the retirement benefits available to the vendors. The vendors had set up a private retirement program, though it was clearly inadequate to meet their needs. The General Assembly hired an actuarial firm to conduct a study to examine the vendors' retirement program and determine the best way to provide the vendors with adequate retirement benefits. The actuarial firm concluded that the vendors should be brought into the North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System. Thus, all Randolph-Sheppard vendors in North Carolina became members of the state Retirement System. The vendors' private retirement plan assets of $163,490.09 and an additional one-time state appropriation of $145,000 were transferred to the Retirement System.
The Retirement System provides benefits for the employees of state agencies and the employees of several non-state entities, such as county and city school boards. Under state law, funding for the Retirement System is divided into two parts, the "employer" contribution (9.12%) and the "employee" contribution (6%). The "employer" contribution is paid by the state agency employer or non-state employer. In the case of Randolph-Sheppard vendors, however, both the "employer" and "employee" contributions were deducted from vending stand proceeds.
In 1983 the General Assembly finally came to realize that Randolph-Sheppard vendors were properly classified as self-employed individuals rather than state employees. On 30 September 1983 the General Assembly passed an act which provided that Randolph-Sheppard vendors licensed in the future would not be allowed to participate in the Retirement System. Furthermore, all licensed vendors who had been participating in the Retirement System were required to make an irrevocable election to: (1) Continue contributing both the "employer" and "employee" shares to the Retirement System; or (2) cease contributing to the System and (a) receive a refund of "employee" contributions plus statutory interest; (b) apply for and commence receiving a monthly retirement allowance; or (c) leave accumulated contributions in the System and retain the right to receive an actuarially reduced pension at some future date. The vendors were not given the option to withdraw both the "employer" and "employee" contributions from the System.
On 17 February 1984 plaintiffs filed this action on behalf of themselves and all similarly-situated Randolph-Sheppard vendors, seeking both declaratory and injunctive relief. In effect, plaintiffs want the Retirement System to give them the option to withdraw from the Retirement System and receive a refund of all the money they were required to contribute to the System. This court finds that the plaintiffs were wrongfully required to pay both the "employer" and "employee" contributions to the Retirement System and are entitled to the relief requested.
RANDOLPH-SHEPPARD ACT VIOLATION
There was clearly a violation of the Randolph-Sheppard Act in this case. Prior to 1974 the establishment of retirement or fringe benefit programs was not one of the four purposes for which vending stand proceeds could be set aside. See 20 U.S.C. § 107b(3). In 1974 Congress added a fifth purpose, retirement or fringe benefit programs, for which state licensing agencies could set aside vending stand proceeds. After the 1974 amendments, state licensing agencies could set aside vending stand proceeds for retirement benefits, but only "after a majority vote of blind licensees licensed by such State agency." Id. DHR never gave the vendors an opportunity to vote on whether they wanted to join the Retirement System. This court does not doubt the General Assembly's good faith in attempting to provide for the vendors' retirement needs. Nor does this court doubt DHR's contention that many vendors were happy to be included in the state's Retirement System. Nevertheless, because of the fiduciary duty which DHR owes to the vendors, the Randolph-Sheppard Act requires a majority vote by the vendors before vending stand proceeds can be set aside for retirement benefits. The only equitable solution at this point is to give the vendors the option to withdraw from the Retirement System and receive a refund of their "employer" and "employee" contributions to the Retirement System plus statutory interest.
There is no merit to the Retirement System's argument that it cannot be compelled to refund the vendors' "employer" contributions because the Retirement System played no part in wrongfully diverting the vendors' money. It would be ridiculous to suggest that one state agency can take a person's property, give it to another state agency, and thereby prevent the wronged person from recovering his property. The principle of equitable restitution is to "deprive the defendant of benefits that in equity and good conscience he ought not to keep, even though he may have received those benefits quite honestly in the first instance. . . ." D. Dobbs, Handbook on the Law of Remedies, § 4.1 at 224 (1978).
ELEVENTH AMENDMENT IMMUNITY
The eleventh amendment does not permit private parties to obtain retrospective monetary relief which "must inevitably come from the general revenues" of a state. See Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974). Describing the requested relief as "equitable restitution" does not avoid the eleventh amendment barrier. Thus, the critical question in this lawsuit is whether requiring the Retirement System to refund the vendors' "employer" contributions would in effect be the same as a retroactive award of monetary damages against the state. Although state decisions and legislation dealing with the character and status of state agencies will influence federal courts, the question of eleventh amendment immunity is ultimately one of federal law. See 13 C. Wright, A. Miller F. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure, § 3524 at 137-38, and n. 32 (1984) (hereinafter referred to as Federal Practice and Procedure). The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently opined that an award of monetary damages against the Retirement System would be barred by the eleventh amendment. See Stanley v. Retirement and Health Benefits Division, 66 N.C. App. 122, 310 S.E.2d 637 (1984). On the facts of this case, this court respectfully disagrees.
The two most important factors in analyzing the eleventh amendment question are (1) the degree of autonomy given to the agency and (2) whether recovery against it would come from state funds. See 13 Federal Practice and Procedure at 135-36. The "autonomy" factor does not weigh heavily in favor of either party in this case. The defendants emphasize the control which the state exercises over the Retirement System through the detailed statutory provisions governing the Retirement System, appointment of members of the board of trustees, performance of numerous management and administrative functions by the treasurer's department, and subjection of the Retirement System to numerous laws governing state agencies and their employees. On the other hand, the plaintiffs emphasize that the Retirement System is vested with the "power and privileges of a corporation," it is administered by a board of trustees which has the right to sue and be sued and to acquire and dispose of real and personal property, and all property acquired is held in the corporate name.
Since the "autonomy" factor is not decisive, the critical factor becomes whether recovery against the Retirement System would come from the state's general revenue funds. This factor weighs in favor of the plaintiffs. The case which may be most instructive on this question is Blake v. Kline, 612 F.2d 718 (3d Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 921, 100 S.Ct. 3011, 65 L.Ed.2d 1112 (1980). In Blake the district court dismissed the action prior to discovery and held that the Public School Employees' Retirement Board (PSERB) was an "alter-ego" of the state and enjoyed sovereign immunity. The court relied on a state court case that had held that a related agency, the State Employees' Retirement Board, was an "alter-ego" of the state. The district court found that PSERB was also an "alter-ego" of the state because it was exempted from both municipal and state taxation, and that the payment of benefits was expressly made an obligation of the state. The Third Circuit reversed and remanded, holding that the district court had relied too heavily on the state court's decision and the vague statutory language. Of particular interest in the Blake opinion is the Third Circuit's emphasis that for eleventh amendment purposes, the "nature" of the state's obligation to contribute to an award of monetary damages may be more important than the size of the contribution. See Blake v. Kline, 612 F.2d at 723.
There are three reasons why this court believes that an award of monetary relief in this case would not infringe upon the state's "general revenue funds." First, a substantial portion of the money held by the Retirement System was not appropriated by the General Assembly. Contributors to the Retirement System include state employees, non-state employers, the employees of these non-state entities, and investment income. Second, state funds appropriated to the Retirement System lose their identity as "general revenue funds" and become earmarked for a particular purpose. At the 4 April 1985 hearing, defense counsel argued that the state should not be "punished" for ensuring that Retirement System funds were not used for any other purpose. While the state's efforts to ensure the financial integrity of the Retirement System are laudable, the law is clear that the isolation of Retirement System funds from the state's general revenues weighs heavily against the Retirement System's eleventh amendment argument. See Blake v. Kline, 612 F.2d at 724.
Third, and most importantly, the defendants have not shown the court that the relief requested by the plaintiffs would inevitably lead to an additional appropriation of state funds. The facts of this case are very different from the facts in Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, 519 F.2d 559 (2d Cir. 1975), rev'd on other grounds, 427 U.S. 445, 96 S.Ct. 2666, 49 L.Ed.2d 614 (1976). In Fitzpatrick, the state was required to appropriate funds to the Connecticut State Employees' Retirement Commission annually on an actuarial basis such that at least 75% of the total retirement income payment for each year had to be made by the state. The court found that "[a] judgment against the fund would thus automatically increase the obligations of the general state treasury and amount to a judgment against the state." See Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer, 519 F.2d at 565. In this case, although the State of North Carolina has not expressly immunized itself from the Retirement System's general or specific liabilities, the defendants have put forth no evidence to rebut plaintiffs' contention that the requested relief may be satisfied by investment income or a slight decrease in the amount of benefits paid to other beneficiaries of the Retirement System. Therefore, the relief requested by the plaintiffs is not barred by the eleventh amendment.
North Carolina's three-year statute of limitations for liabilities created by a statute applies to this action. See N.C.Gen.Stat. § 1-52(2). Therefore, the claims of vendors who withdrew from the Retirement System more than three years before this action was commenced are time-barred. In addition, the defendants argue that the statute of limitations limits plaintiffs' recovery to those contributions paid in within three years of the date this action was filed. This court disagrees. The defendants' deduction of "employer" contributions was a continuing wrong for which the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the defendants stopped making the deductions in 1983. See Taylor v. Meirick, 712 F.2d 1112, 1118-19 (7th Cir. 1983). Noting that statutes of limitations serve a dual purpose of precluding claims brought on stale evidence and providing repose, the Seventh Circuit explained that "the defendant's uncertainty as to whether he will be sued at all will be confined to the statutory period. His uncertainty about the extent of his liability may be greater, but that is often true in litigation." Id. at 1119. The "continuing wrong" doctrine is especially appropriate in cases such as this one where there is a "special relationship between the plaintiff and defendant which offers the possibility of correction of the injury." See Lewis v. Local No. 100 or the Laborers' International Union of North America, 750 F.2d 1368, 1379 (7th Cir. 1984). Thus, plaintiffs' recovery is not limited to those contributions paid in within three years of the date this action was filed.
EXTENT OF RELIEF
Plaintiffs' recovery should be reduced by the amount of benefits they have actually received from the Retirement System in the form of disability retirement, disability salary continuation, or death benefits. The defendants argue that plaintiffs' recovery should also be reduced by the value of
[T]he protection of disability retirement provisions for those employees with more than five years, the protection of disability salary continuation provisions for those employees with more than one year, the protection of the death benefit for those employees with more than one year membership service, and the right to participate in the group health insurance plan for teachers and state employees at a favorable rate and benefit level.
In addition to the fact that these benefits are not readily quantifiable, courts have held in analogous situations that the intangible value of lost "protection" is not recoverable. See Spagnuolo v. Whirlpool Corp., 550 F. Supp. 432, 433 (W.D.N.C. 1982), rev'd on other grounds, 717 F.2d 114 (4th Cir. 1983). Therefore, plaintiffs' recovery shall not be reduced by the value of the "protection" provided by the Retirement System.
CLASS CERTIFICATION
This court finds that the requirements for maintaining a class action set forth in Rules 23(a) and 23(b)(2) have been met in this case. The relief sought by plaintiffs is injunctive in nature, and the defendants' liability is rooted in grounds applicable to all members of the class. See Brown v. Porcher, 502 F. Supp. 946 (D.S.C. 1980), aff'd 660 F.2d 1001 (4th Cir. 1981), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1150, 103 S.Ct. 796, 74 L.Ed.2d 1000 (1983). Thus, plaintiffs' motion for class certification is allowed. The class shall consist of
all persons licensed at any time since 1 July 1971 as vending stand operators under the North Carolina Randolph-Sheppard Program, except those who have retired or died, who have been forced to make both `employer' and `employee' contributions to the North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System and have not been allowed to withdraw from the Retirement System and receive a refund of all their contributions to the System.
Pursuant to Rule 23(d)(2) the defendants shall give personal notice of this order to members of the plaintiff class. The cost of mailing the class action notices shall be borne by the defendants. See Meadows v. Ford Motor Co., 62 F.R.D. 98, 101-02 (W.D.Ky. 1973).
STIPULATED DISMISSALS
Pursuant to the parties' 4 April 1985 stipulation, defendants Thomas Z. Osborne and the Board of Trustees of the Retirement System are dismissed from this action. This dismissal does not pertain to the individual members of said Board, who have been sued in their official capacities.
The plaintiffs' motions for class certification and summary judgment are granted. The defendants' motions to dismiss and for summary judgment are denied. The North Carolina State Commission for the Blind, from 1 July 1971 through 30 June 1973, and the Department of Human Resources, from 1 July 1973 through 30 September 1983, unlawfully deducted both the "employer" and "employee" contributions to the Retirement System from the plaintiffs' vending stand proceeds in violation of the Randolph-Sheppard Act. The plaintiffs are entitled to a refund of all funds held by the Retirement System which were contributed by the plaintiffs either as "employer" or "employee" shares.
It is hereby ORDERED that:
1. Within twenty (20) days from the filing date of this order, the parties shall file with this court a proposed notice to be mailed to members of the plaintiff class concerning the terms of this order. Specifically, the notice shall contain a brief description of the parties, the background of the case, and the relief granted by this order.
2. The defendants provide the plaintiffs with a full and complete accounting of all funds that have been contributed to the Retirement System as "employer" contributions; and
3. The Retirement System shall give members of the plaintiff class the option of receiving an immediate refund of both the "employer" and "employee" contributions to the Retirement System, reduced by the amount of benefits actually received, plus four per cent (4%) interest.
Summaries of
holding that state's wrongful deduction from blind vendors was "a continuing wrong for which the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the defendants stopped making the deductions"
Summary of this case from Comm. of Blind Vendors v. Dist. of Col.
applying state statute of limitations and "continuing wrong" doctrine
Summary of this case from Comm. of Blind Vendors v. Dist. of Columbia
Case details for


I wrote my code on Emacs and tried to compile it using clang++ command.
However, as you can see above, I keep coming back to command insert instead of the output.
I will explain anyways in case people cannot see the picture.
However, when I try to compile this with clang++ pointer.cpp (My emacs file name with the code above is pointer.cpp), there is no output.
.. this is what I get.
I tried some other pointer codes and basic Hello! (cout examples) stuff and no progress.
The codes I tried are 100% correct since I got them from lecture slides and they work fine with my professor.
I also tried another computer, but got the same result. Is this a problem with virtualbox?
Thread moved to Programming Talk.
Welcome. You'll have to give a lot more info about what exactly you are doing and some output to get any meaningful feedback or help with this.
Thank you for letting me know Bucky!
Hope this image shows up this time..
I will explain anyways in case people cannot see.
I have similar other codes from my lecture slides that work fine with my lecturer.
I did not know I had to type in the a.out :( I feel so bad.
I use make to compile my simple C/C++ program.
and it produce an executable named myprog.
I use this with gcc.
I learn this when I first time found below link.


text:
Q: timegm, mktime changing struct tm I try to read some dates in format (d-m-Y) from a file. The dates are in pairs and if the second date is equal to '-' then I register that date as a nullptr. Here is the file:
30-05-2009 20-02-2020
12-06-2012 04-01-2017
22-06-2012 26-04-2017
15-03-2006 15-01-2012
25-09-2002 02-02-2006
15-07-2005 -
20-03-2000 23-01-2004
12-01-2012 19-03-2017
14-08-2008 15-08-2008
27-11-2006 18-06-2007
03-10-2006 24-01-2007
20-12-2010 23-04-2018
27-01-2007 02-03-2018
16-10-2013 11-10-2015
09-07-2003 09-10-2014
31-03-2007 28-12-2013
11-01-2012 06-09-2017
15-08-2007 18-03-2011
24-12-2004 19-08-2008
23-11-2009 -
10-05-2000 11-02-2012
26-12-2005 07-04-2007
12-01-2003 04-10-2008
24-03-2004 04-01-2016
31-05-2001 21-01-2002
27-11-2001 21-03-2013
29-09-2007 21-02-2020
13-10-2004 06-04-2015
12-06-2005 07-05-2008
14-03-2001 21-07-2005
23-11-2003 16-01-2017
13-05-2003 15-07-2016
02-12-2006 17-04-2013
20-03-2004 06-08-2014
18-12-2016 10-03-2017
22-01-2000 13-02-2004
02-03-2000 18-12-2015
01-12-2004 31-03-2019
29-04-2006 19-03-2012
14-04-2007 11-03-2015
02-03-2002 13-12-2015
03-12-2001 16-01-2013
10-12-2000 16-05-2015
08-04-2000 04-04-2018
01-02-2008 30-11-2009
30-03-2006 -
08-09-2010 21-02-2017
19-02-2002 15-03-2003
17-09-2007 18-09-2010
23-01-2007 -

Here is my code as well:
#include <ctime>
#include <fstream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <iostream>
#include <sstream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char const *argv[]) {
  //variables for reading file
  string tempDate;
  struct tm *entryDate, *exitDate;

  ifstream file("dates.txt");
  string input;

  // read file
  if (file.is_open()) {
    cout << '\n';
    entryDate = new struct tm;

    while (getline(file, input)) {
      istringstream inputStream(input);

      inputStream >> get_time(entryDate, "%d-%m-%Y") >> tempDate;

      if (!tempDate.compare("-")) {
        exitDate = nullptr;
      } else {
        istringstream dateStream(tempDate);
        exitDate = new struct tm;
        dateStream >> get_time(exitDate, "%d-%m-%Y");

        // timegm changes strut tm????
        cout << "Before: " << exitDate->tm_mday << ' ' << exitDate->tm_mon << ' ' << exitDate->tm_year << "\n";
        cout << timegm(entryDate) << ' ' << timegm(exitDate) << boolalpha << ' ' << (timegm(entryDate) > timegm(exitDate)) << "\n";
        cout << "After: " << exitDate->tm_mday << ' ' << exitDate->tm_mon << ' ' << exitDate->tm_year << "\n";

        if (timegm(entryDate) > timegm(exitDate)) { // if entryDate is after exitDate
          cerr << "Error: entryDate is later than exitDate\n";
          cout << put_time(entryDate, "%d-%m-%Y") << ' ' << put_time(exitDate, "%d-%m-%Y") << '\n';
          continue;
        }
      }

      entryDate = new struct tm;
    }
    file.close();
  } else {
    cerr << "Error: Cannot open file\n";
    return 1;
  }
  return 0;
}

At some point I try to check if the first date is bigger than the second one because he first date is a hospital entry date and the second is an exit date. But when i tried to convert the struct tm to time_t so I can compare the dates, I realized that for some inputs the struct had changed after I called the timegm function (it happens with mktime as well). I've seen people having problems with these functions  usually because of DST, but I can't see how that affects my program.

A: Found the solution after I came across an example in linux manpages that used a struct tm variable and had nothing to do with timegm. If anyone has the same problem just initialize the struct tm to all zero bytes like this:
memset(date, 0, sizeof(struct tm));

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


One of the areas holding Tiger Woods back during his latest comeback is par 5 scoring. Once an aspect of the game in which the 14-time major champ dominated, Woods entered this week's Memorial Tournament ranked 85th in the stat on the PGA Tour. Things didn't change much during Thursday's first round when Woods played Muirfield Village's four par 5s in a dismal one over, but Friday was a huge step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, a weather delay has Woods waiting to attempt that putt and finish the rest of his round. But at four under through three par 5s already on Friday, this version of Tiger Woods is looking awfully familiar.


text:
Home Arts & Culture Garen Boyajian Wins Best Supporting Actor Award
Garen Boyajian Wins Best Supporting Actor Award
Re-Consecration of St. Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakir
By Kin Abrin
Garen Boyajian recently returned from London with his second major acting award in tow. He earned the coveted "Best Actor in a Supporting Role" award for his affecting role as Jamal in the controversial and much talked about film, THREE VEILS. Garen reflects on his humbling experience in England, "earning the nomination was exciting news. Once I read the list of fellow nominees, I truthfully didn't expect to win."
The International Filmmakers Festival was held October 14-15 and screened over 30 films from around the world. This prestigious film festival was established with a mission of selecting and presenting the next generation of exceptional film talent to the world. A full list of nominees and award recipients may be found on the official festival website.
Garen has also earned the "Best Actor in a Leading Role" award in 2008 at the Monaco International Film Festival. Up next, he can be seen in the Disney blockbuster BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA 3, while presently preparing to film an untitled psychological thriller movie sometime early 2012.
THREE VEILS was recently awarded the "Best Picture" award at the Arpa International Film Festival and will be screening at the Arab Film Festival and Chinese Film Festival. Garen is expected to be in attendance at both Los Angeles screenings.
New French Co-Chair of OSCE Minsk Group Assumes Office
PARIS — The new French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Stephane…
Society for Armenian Studies to Hold 45th Anniversary Banquet October 12 in Los Angeles
FRESNO — The Society for Armenian Studies (SAS) will mark the 45th…
Azeri and Turkish Military Hold Joint Exercises
BAKU (RFE/RL) — Turkish and Azerbaijani troops began on Monday joint military…
Thousands Rally in Times Square to Mark Centennial of Armenian Genocide
NEW YORK (RFE/RL) –Thousands of people rallied in New York on…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I like the way you put this, "with a bit less 'design'…" It's a very good golf course but it was just a bit too intense for me, particularly #11.
Interesting point on Number 4, suggesting the area grow wild to further penalize those who choose to go for the green in 2. I've never worried about the shot because bunkers don't bother me all that much, but fescue would make me sweat. A true Redan hole on a public course in the Philly area is almost non-existent, so it's nice to get the one on 14 at least. Great review and GM indeed gives you a great experience.
A strong review of what I feel is a very entertaining course among Philly's top few publics. I love the challenge, the tranquility, and the "easier than it looks" touches. It's worth mentioning that there is no housing on the course, and Weed left plenty of the natural edges despite perhaps over-designing a few sections. You make it painstakingly obvious you feel that a course can't be great if it has cart paths, but many of us out-of-shape Joe Public golfers wouldn't play Glen Mills' daunting hills without one. You make an interesting point about shortening the 17th to make the 18th a more memorable hole… a good concept that would have created a more interesting tee carry on the 18th.


This product will be the price of the full kit to be attached to the HONDA S2000 (AP1 & AP2).
※ will be the kit for the S2000 of NA. If there is such as a pipe of the supercharger, there are times when processing is required.


Ask 5: Which QB from 2016 NFL Draft do you prefer?
Published: Sept. 27, 2017 at 10:33 a.m.
Updated: Sept. 27, 2017 at 10:42 a.m.
Now that we are almost at the quarter mark for the NFL season, I thought it would be a good time to check in on the sophomore quarterback class. Jared Goff is showing tremendous improvement this season, while Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott continue to impress. In fact, Goff and Prescott will meet on Sunday when the Rams visit the Cowboys (1 p.m. ET on FOX). If you had to choose one of these signal-callers to build your team around, which one would you pick? I reached out to five NFL personnel executives to get their thoughts on the subject. Here are their answers.
"I'd go with Dak Prescott. I love his toughness, leadership and ability to make plays off platform. He's a great player right now and he's only going to improve."
"I'd rank them like this: Dak, Wentz and then Goff. Dak is the best thrower, runner and leader. Actually, I'd say Wentz and Dak have the same leadership qualities. Goff is playing well, but I think he's still a distant third to these two guys."
"I love Wentz. He has the best combination of football smarts, arm talent and athleticism."
"Wentz would be my guy. Goff has the most arm talent but I'd still rank him third in this group. Dak is the best leader but he does benefit from playing behind that offensive line and he has the most skill talent around him. Wentz has the best combination of arm talent and leadership."
"I really like all three of those guys (Goff, Wentz and Prescott) but I'd give the slight nod to Wentz."
Summary: That's 3 votes for Wentz and 2 for Prescott.
Conclusion: I spent a lot of time around the Rams during the preseason and it was easy to notice the improved talent around Goff. He finally has some targets that are capable of separating down the field, and he also has one of the best play callers in the league (head coach Sean McVay) orchestrating the Rams' offense. This has led to increased confidence for Goff, and he's playing outstanding football. Prescott continues to impress me with his poise and playmaking both inside and outside of the pocket.
However, if forced to choose only one of these quarterbacks to lead my team, I would still stick with my pre-draft ranking and select Wentz. I love his blend of arm strength, toughness and creativity. He's on his way to becoming a special player. I'm excited to watch all three of these guys continue to grow.


Jikun Kathy Sankey has experienced many journeys. My Name is Mahataa is her newest novel where she helps us to see life in a different perspective through her characters journey.
Hosts: Christina Souza Ma With Special Guest Kathy Sankey. Airing on Wednesdays @ 11am PT (2pm ET).


Viacom Looking Inside For Next CEO?
Today's news that Tom Dooley will be stepping down from his post as interim CEO of Viacom is leading to the inevitable chatter over who'll get the permanent post. While there has been speculation that an outsider such as former Fox chief Jim Gianopulos or former DWA chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Peter Chernin or Les Moonves would be ideal fits, sources say Shari Redstone is looking to make the hire from within.
My oddsmakers have established two favorites in this horse race: Bob Bakish, the president/CEO of Viacom International, and Viacom CFO Wade Davis. There is strong sentiment that Davis has a good shot here, for keeping stability and unlocking revenue in the digital realm, which is key to any of these guys getting top jobs in the future. Insiders say that Viacom International has turned in a strong performance as well, which reflects well on Bakish. Dooley will exit November 15, so this race will happen soon. We'll keep you posted.


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Facebook will soon have a Dislike button, Says Mark
Facebook will soon have a Dislike button, says Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook will now let you show your wrath over any of your friend's status updates or photos. After getting thousand of requests, Mark Zuckerberg has finally decided to create a "Dislike" button for his social networking website Facebook.
Facebook Dislike button
In his recent public Q&A session at the Facebook headquarters in California, Mark Zuckerberg announced this move.
The young billionaire said, "People have asked about the dislike button for many years. We've finally heard you and we're working on this and we will deliver something that meets the needs of the larger community."
As per the statement of Mark made in the Q&A session, the team has already started working on it will soon start testing the feature. Mark also said that the reason behind not having the Dislike button for so many years was that he never wanted Facebook to be a forum or community where people can vote up or down on others' posts and show their anger or hatred publicly.
On the other hand, Mark agrees to the fact that it is important to give people more options to express their feelings than just a 'Like'. Giving an example where the users share a status update or someone's demise, Mark said that people do need some more quick options to emote their feelings and this is what made him think about the need of a 'Dislike' button on FB.
During the session Mark also talked about the Milestone hit by Facebook when more than 1bn people used the site in a single day i.e. on 28th August 2015.
While Zuckerberg still don't want or feel the need of a Dislike button on Facebook, this move is just because thousands of users have been clamoring for it for last many years. However here is no official word about how the Facebook 'Dislike' button will look or work, we will keep you updated about the same. Stay Tuned.
Head over to the Highlights from Q&A with Mark to know more.
Date: September 16, 2015 Tags: Facebook
Shiwangi Peswani is a qualified writer and a blogger, who loves to dabble with and write about computers and the Internet. While focusing on and writing on technology topics, her varied skills and experience enables her to write on any topics which may interest her.
Fix Microsoft Office black screen glitch
Printer only printing Half Page [Fix]


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Sterling "Old Pap" Price (20. september 1809 – 29. september 1867) var inden den amerikanske borgerkrig politiker fra Missouri og under borgerkrigen generalmajor i Sydstaternes hær. Han førte en hær tilbage til Missouri på en mislykket ekspedition for at tilbageerobre staten til Konføderationen. Efter krigen tog han sine resterende tropper til Mexico frem for at overgive sig til Unionens hær.

Tidlige liv og karriere
Price blev født i nærheden af Farmville i Virginia. Han læste jura på Hampden-Sydney College, og arbejdede i retsbygningen nær sit hjem. Han blev optaget i advokatsamfundet og etablerede en advokatpraksis. I efteråret 1831 flyttede han og hans familie til Fayette i Missouri. Et år senere flyttede han til Keytesville, Missouri, hvor han drev et hotel og en butik. Den 14. maj 1833 giftede han sig med Martha Head fra Randolph County, Missouri. De fik syv børn, hvoraf de fem nåede at blive voksne.

Under Mormon krigen i 1838 var Price medlem af delegationen fra Chariton County, Missouri som blev sendt af sted for at undersøge forlydender om uroligheder mellem mormoner og anti-mormonske bander, som opererede i den vestlige del af staten. Hans rapport var til fordel for mormonerne og udtalte at de efter hans mening var uskyldige i de anklager som blev rejst mod dem af deres fjender. Efter at mormonerne havde overgivet sig i 1838 blev Price af Missouris guvernør Lilburn Boggs beordret til Caldwell County med et kompagni mænd for at beskytte mormonerne fra yderligere plyndringer efter deres nederlag.

Price blev valgt til Missouris Repræsentantenternes Hus i 1840, hvor han sad i fire år. Han blev valgt som formand. Derefter blev han valgt for Demokraterne til USAs Kongres i Washington D.C., hvor han sad fra 4. marts 1845 til 12. august 1846, hvor han trådte tilbage for at kunne deltage  i den Mexicansk-amerikanske krig.

Mexicansk-amerikanske krig
Price opstillede det 2. frivillige kavaleriregiment fra Missouri og blev udpeget til dets oberst den 12. august 1846. He marcherede sit regiment til Santa Fe, hvor han overtog kommandoen over territoriet New Mexico efter at General Kearney var taget af sted til Californien. Price gjorde tjeneste som militærguvernør i New Mexico, hvor han stoppede revolten i Taos, et oprør blandt indianere og mexicanere i januar 1847. Præsident James K. Polk forfremmede Price til brigadegeneral i den frivillige hær den 20. juli 1847.

Price havde kommandoen over den Vestlige hær i Slaget ved Santa Cruz de Rosales, Chihuahua, den 6. marts 1848. Slaget blev udkæmpet fordi Price fik en falsk melding om en mexicansk indtrængning i New Mexico. Det er værd at bemærke i dag, fordi det var det sidste slag i krigen, og foregik efter at Traktaten ved Guadalupe Hidalgo var blevet ratificeret af De Forenede Staters Kongres den 10. marts.

Efter krigen blev Price hjemsendt fra hæren den 25. november 1848, og vendte tilbage til Missouri. Han købte en farm og gav sig i gang med at drive landbrug på Bowling Green prærien. Han blev slaveejer og dyrkede tobak. Altid populæ blev han let valgt som guvernør og beklædte posten fra 1853 til 1857. Som guvernør var han en ledende kraft bag udbygningen af jernbanen i staten og efter at hans embedsperiode var slut blev han State Bank Commissioner fra 1857 til 1861. Price blev valgt til presiding officer of the Missouri State Convention den 28. februar 1861, som stemte imod udtræden af Unionen.

Borgerkrigen
Price var oprindelig imod at Missouri skulle udtræde af Unionen, men da Francis P. Blair, Jr. og brigadegeneral Nathaniel Lyon besatte militsens lejr Camp Jackson ved St. Louis blev Price rasende. Han blev udpeget af guvernør Claiborne Jackson til at lede den nye Missouri State Guard i maj 1861. Han førte sine unge rekrutter (som kærligt gav ham øgenavnet "Old Pap") i en kampagne som skulle bringe Missouri ind i Konføderationen.

Price blev senere udnævnt til generalmajor i Sydstaternes hær, og hans Missouri State Guard blev lagt sammen med Vesthæren. Blandt hans slag under Borgerkrigen kan nævnes:  Slaget ved Wilson's Creek, Missouri,  Slaget ved Lexington I, Missouri, Slaget ved Pea Ridge, Arkansas, Slaget ved Corinth II, Mississippi, Slaget ved Helena, Arkansas, Slaget ved Lexington II, Missouri, Battle of Carthage, Missouri, Slaget ved Prairie D'Ane, Arkansas, Slaget ved Pilot Knob, Missouri, Slaget ved Westport, Missouri og Slaget ved Mine Creek, Kansas. Selv om han troede på Sydstaternes sag, så han kun militære operationer i forhold til at befri Missouri. De fleste af hans senere slag blev udkæmpet mod overvældende modstand og endte i nederlag.

Han havde kommandoen over Army of Missouri i Price's Missouri Raid i 1864, hvor han førte sin hær af tidligere Missouri State Guardsmen fra Arkansas og over Missouri. Den første større træfning indtraf ved Pilot Knob hvor han uden held forsøgte at erobre fort Davidson, og forårsagede en unødvendig nedslagtning af mange af sine mænd. Fra Pilot Knob drejede han mod vest, væk fra St. Louis og mod Kansas City, Missouri. Lige syd for byen blev kan klemt inde mellem to adskilte Unionshære og tvunget i kamp. Price kæmpede ved Westport (som nu er en del af Kansas City), men det forløb ikke til hans fordel og han blev tvunget til at trække sig tilbage til Kansas. Price blev igen tvunget til at kæmpe og led endnu et nederlag ved Mine Creek. Hans anslagne og nedbrudte hær måtte trække sig tilbage til Texas.

Efter krigen
I stedet for at overgive sig ved krigens slutning førte han resterne af sin hær ind i Mexico hvor han uden held søgte tjeneste hos kejser Maximilian af Habsburg.

Price ledede en koloni af konfødererede i eksil i Carlota, Veracruz. Da kolonien viste sig at være en fiasko vendte han tilbage til Missouri, forarmet og med dårligt helbred. Han døde i St. Louis, Missouri i 1867 i en alder af 58, og blev begravet på Bellefontaine Cemetery.

I erindringen
 Sterling Price Camp #145, Sons of Confederate Veterans, i St. Louis er opkaldt efter ham.
 Under borgerkrigen blev en dampbåd der var bygget i Cincinnati, Ohio, i 1856 som Laurent Millaudon indsat i konføderationens tjeneste og omdømt til CSS General Sterling Price. Hun blev sænket under Slaget ved Memphis, hævet, repareret og gjorde tjeneste i Unionens flåde under navnet USS General Price selv om den fortsat blev omtalt som "General Sterling Price" i Unionens depecher.
 Der er en statue af Price i Keytesville, Missouri, og et Sterling Price Museum. Den lille bypark hvor den står er opkaldt efter ham og byens kapitel af SCV Post #1743 er hvert år vært for the Sterling Price Days (festival og parade).
 Et andet monument over Price står i Springfield National Cemetery (Springfield, Missouri). Indviet den 10. august 1901, er bronzefiguren til ære for soldater fra Missouri og  General Price. Den blev bestilt af United Confederate Veterans fra Missouri.

Noter

Referencer
 Rea, Ralph R., Sterling Price, the Lee of the West, Little Rock, Arkansas: Pioneer Press, 1959
 Twitchell, Ralph Emerson, The History of the Military Occupation of the Territory of New Mexico from 1846 to 1851, Denver, Colorado: The Smith-Brooks Company Publishers, 1909
  The Battle of Lexington, Fought in and About the City of Lexington, Missouri on September 18th, 19th and 20th, 1861.  Lexington Historical Society.  1903.

Eksterne henvisninger

 Sterling Price Camp #145, Sønner af Konfødererede veteraner
 Fotogalleri om Sterling Price
 History of the ship, CSS General Sterling Price
 Greene County biografi over Price
 Biografisk skitse på U.S. Congress website
 Charter, constitution and by-laws, officers and members of Sterling Price Camp, United Confederate Veterans, Camp No. 31: organized, October 13th, 1889, in the city of Dallas, Texas. published 1893, hosted by the Portal til Texas' historie.

Militærfolk fra USA
Personer fra Missouri
Personer i den amerikanske borgerkrig
Politikere fra USA

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Biological tissue sensor startup Sensome rakes in $5.4M in funding
By Laura Lovett
Franz Bozsak, CEO and cofounder of Sensome, explaining the technology.
Paris-based Sensome, a company that makes sensors to identify biological tissues, just landed $5.4 million (4.6 euro) in a funding round led by Kurma Partners. The latest funding is expected to help the startup bring its smart stroke guidewire, the Clotild, to market.
"This financing round will enable us to bring Clotild through clinical testing and to the European market, and to explore the next applications of our technology," Franz Bozsak, CEO and cofounder of Sensome, said in a statement.
Clotild is aimed at treating ischemic strokes, a type of stroke that happens when the arteries leading to a person's brain get blocked or narrowed. These strokes can be treated in various ways but, the company said, it can be difficult to determine the best treatment without knowing the composition of the clot.
Sensome's technology works to identify biological tissues by using an impedance-based micro-sensor combined with a machine learning algorithm. The Clotild system will allow the sensors to be mounted on a probe, then inserted into the blood vessel of the stroke patient. The sensors will then be able to characterize the composition of the blood clot in real-time. The idea is to help doctors chose the right tools for emergency interventions.
"Our sensor based and connected medical device provides what doctors need most, information for the treatment of not only strokes, but also heart attacks and to prevent the loss of a limb," Bozsak, said in an informational video on the webpage. "Our technology will be a great companion tool for the physicians' decision making process and will significantly reduce mortality and disabilities caused by cardio vascular disease."
The French company began working on the technology in 2014. This is the startup's third seed funding round. Prior to this investment the company had a total of $6.7 million (5.7euros) in funding, according to Crunchbase.
"We have been very impressed by Sensome's progress over the past year," Philippe Peltier, board director at Sensome representing Kurma Partners, said in a statement. "We share Sensome's vision of connected medical devices to benefit an extended number of patients and are excited to be part of this upcoming revolution."
Sensome, ischemic stroke diagnostic device, stroke, funding


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The Battle for International Law, South-North Perspectives on the Decolonization Era, Edited by Jochen von Bernstorff and Philipp Dann (OUP) (2019); Image: Am 7 (26), Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1926)
Back to Symposium
The Battle for International Law
It's the system, stupid!
Systematicity as a conceptual weapon
The title of The Battle for International Law evokes Rudolf von Jhering's ("The Struggle / Battle for Law"). In this work, Jhering describes law as the product of struggle between conflicting interests and therefore as fundamentally enmeshed with politics. On the European continent, international lawyers generally see the idea of systematicity, especially in its Kelsenian variant, as being fundamentally opposed to Jhering's conception of law. Mónica García-Salmones Rovira has shown masterfully that the aim of producing a science of law purged from morality and politics, despite rejecting the 'political' struggle of interests as part of legal science, paved the way for a particular political project with its own idea of a struggle of interests. This particular project included a movement from morality to economy and therefore to another vocabulary of necessity and incontestability. As Jochen von Bernstorff and Philipp Dann state in the Introduction, the volume at hand sets out to offer "new historical insights into the conditions, contingencies, and necessities of what led to [the world's] current depressing and desolate state". Legal and economic vocabularies working together to make the neoliberal model of world order seem inescapable certainly play a role in providing answers to this question. The idea of international law as a coherent legal system deserves more attention as part of these vocabularies.
One of the themes of the volume at hand consists in tracing how "the inherent conservative bias of law as ingrained social practice was used by Western actors to counter requested revolutionary innovations as incompatible with the 'system' or internal 'coherence' of a specific notion of 'international law'" (p. 5–6). However, the volume does not dedicate a separate chapter to the notions of 'system', 'coherence', or 'order' as conceptual weapons ('Kampfbegriffe', as the subtitle to the respective part of the volume reads). This contribution traces the instances in which The Battle for International Law evokes these notions and links some of the book's themes to a critical reading of German international law scholarship.
The "legal" and "political" divide
Across the battlefield that is international law, the Global North's strategy of the second half of the 20th century stands out: invoking a firm boundary between the 'legal' and the 'political'. The Global South's claims have consistently been labelled as 'political' and the attempts at reasserting the North's dominance as strictly 'legal'. The concepts of 'system', 'order', and 'coherence' have been crucial elements of the weaponry that the North has deployed as part of this strategy. It may strike some international lawyers – especially those trained on the European continent – as odd to speak of the notions of 'system', 'order', and 'coherence' as conceptual weapons. These notions constitute the foundations on which their belief in the rationality, objectivity, and neutrality of international law rests. For lawyers trained in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in particular, Systemdenken is just the way we were trained to think about law. Martti Koskenniemi identified Systemdenken as one of the main themes in the German heritage in international legal thought from the 17th century to the present. Engaging with the notions of 'system', 'coherence', or 'order' as conceptual weapons in the battle for international law, therefore, means engaging with the positions of German(-speaking) international legal scholars.
In 1976, i.e. toward the end of the period the volume on The Battle for International Law covers, the journal ZaöRV dedicated a special issue on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL) in Heidelberg to the topic of 'International Law as Legal Order'. As Hermann Mosler and Rudolf Bernhardt state in the preface to this special issue, the topic was a reference to the very first article published in the same journal in 1929. In this inaugural article, Viktor Bruns, the first director of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut in Berlin, set the academic standard and defined the method that should guide the newly founded institute. Bruns characterised international law as a legal order for the community of states, a system of legal principles, institutions, and rules, which are interconnected and constitute an ordered arrangement. As Felix Lange pointed out in his account of German international legal scholarship, the method of systematisation, prevalent both within the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut and the renamed MPIL, served the purpose of keeping a distance from politics and of focusing on the practice of international law. Lange portrays the method of systematization as the alternative to which the members of the Institute resorted who did not wish to participate in providing legal justifications for Nazi politics. Accordingly, systematisation was less discredited after World War II and was therefore the means of choice for the MPIL to regain the international scholarly community's trust.
It is in this spirit of trying to remain 'neutral', of offering 'legal' rather than 'political' analysis that German international lawyers in the 1950s to 1970s were complicit in reproducing and upholding the exclusion of the Third World from having a say in determining what counts as international law.
Take it or leave it – Coherence, system, and the story of statehood in the battle for international law
The seemingly innocuous description of international law as a legal system played a crucial role in countering claims of the Third World amidst and immediately after formal decolonization. In her chapter on 'Acquired Rights and State Succession', Anne Brunner draws attention to one way in which the idea of the systematicity of international law – the idea that its rules and principles are interconnected and necessarily form a whole – was employed to counter the claims of the newly independent states to start their existence with a clean slate regarding obligations under customary international law. As an example of how international lawyers deployed this argumentative tactic, Brunner cites D.P. O'Connell, who argued that "[n]ew states can hardly claim the privileges and faculties of states and yet repudiate the system from which these derive" and that "a state, when it comes into existence as a state, does so in a structural context which gains its form from law". The cited argument is particularly hypocritical: it reflects the way in which actors in the Global South often found themselves trapped in the colonial logic of international law once they engaged in international law arguments to support their claims. As Sundhya Pahuja has pointed out, the people in the Global South did not exactly choose to seek independence from colonial rule in the form of sovereign states. The juristic monopoly, which international law held before decolonization, meant that international law provided 'a structure by which the heterogeneous movements for decolonisation could be smoothed into a coherent story', namely the story of sovereign statehood. Framing the struggle for independence in the language of sovereignty and statehood was simply the only option available under international law. O'Connell's argument therefore reflects a pernicious line of argument, which may be simplified as follows: You want independence? Fine, we can offer you independence only as states. You want to have a say in what your obligations are? Sorry, you should not have chosen to be a state then.
The North as the guardian of 'proper' system-building: the battle over customary international law
The notions of system, order, and coherence played a decisive role in labelling Third World attempts at reshaping sources doctrine as 'political' and opposing them to purportedly neutral and 'legal' arguments, which just happened to preserve Western dominance. As Jochen von Bernstorff notes in his chapter on 'The Battle for Recognition of Wars of National Liberation', "[m]any Western governments and international lawyers from the mid-1960s onwards attempted to delegitimize all those UN organs as 'politicized' that – with the new Asian/ African majority – adopted documents that were not in line with their political agenda".
Antony Anghie and Bhupinder S. Chimni, in their article on TWAIL methodology – notoriously excluded from the famous AJIL symposium on methods in international law – highlighted Third World states' attempts at formulating a new approach to sources doctrine. The UN General Assembly was at the heart of this new approach. The aim was to create a more democratic and participatory international legal system. As Anghie and Chimni describe it, the attempts "were often defeated by positivist arguments regarding sources and consent".
An illustrative example is Christian Tomuschat's contribution to the 1976 special issue of the ZaöRV mentioned above. Tomuschat's contribution is devoted to the legally binding force of the Charter of the Economic Rights and Duties of States (CERDS, UNGA Res 3281 [XXIX]) and of UNGA resolutions in general. Employing a technique David Kennedy has described as characteristic of 'mainstream' international law, Tomuschat frames his position as a 'reasonable middle ground' between two extreme positions. On one side of the extremes, Tomuschat situates the position of international legal scholars from the Third World, including Obed Asamoah and R.P. Anand, who presented arguments for lowering the threshold for creating customary law through UNGA resolutions. On the other side of the extremes, Tomuschat distances himself from what he calls a 'strictly traditionalist' conception of the law – without, however, specifying what such strict traditionalism might entail and how his position differs from it.
Tomuschat arrives at a position situated between these extremes. UNGA resolutions may be legally binding – or at least exert a kind of authority that compels international lawyers to consult the resolution – if what the states consented to in adopting the resolution is supposed to be a systematic compilation of the rules covering an area of international law. Systematicity thus acts as the litmus test for the legal validity of a document. This standard of systematicity requires both the substance of the document and the process that led to its adoption to fit in with the body of international rules established before formal decolonization – and therefore without participation by the Third World.
By adopting this 'middle ground' position described above, Tomuschat intends to halt a 'virulent' process of 'erosion' (p. 467) and to counter a growing tendency to 'politicize' the debate on the legal status of UNGA resolutions (p. 476). In describing the role of the Group of 77 (G77) in the UN General Assembly, the tone of the article shifts and the language is hardly reconcilable with the position of a purportedly neutral observer. Tomuschat sees the process that led to the adoption of the CERDS as an illustration of complete domination of the G77 in the General Assembly ("wie total die Gruppe der 77 die Szenerie beherrscht", p. 488). The mere possibility of adopting resolutions in a manner that Tomuschat describes as 'steamrolling' precludes, in his opinion, the recognition of the General Assembly as a legislative body. This steamrolling, in his account, presents a stark contrast to the cautious ("behutsam") approach to international law-making, which the International Law Commission (ILC) displays (p. 449). Tomuschat drives his point home by invoking the spectre of a tyrannic world government subduing the world using an overwhelming majority. This, he goes on, would amount to a death sentence for some states, while the UN would not be able effectively to protect life and limb of these imperilled states' populations (p. 489). Note that European lawyers did not display a similar horror in the face of majority rule when it came to the ILC or the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Conclusions for current battles
The examples in this short piece offer a glimpse into how Western international lawyers have invoked the idea of international law as a coherent legal system to defer responsibility for their positions on substance to 'the structure' or 'the system'. These examples are an invitation for European lawyers to question the idea of Systemdenken as the pinnacle of a detached and unpolitical 'legal science'. Reflecting on our own position is a prerequisite for performing the roles of an international lawyer responsibly amidst current battles.
Sué González Hauck It's the system, stupid!: Systematicity as a conceptual weapon, Völkerrechtsblog, 29.12.2020, doi: 10.17176/20210107-181817-0.
Sué González Hauck
Dr. Sué González Hauck is a postdoctoral researcher at DeZIM Institute Berlin and an editor at Völkerrechtsblog.


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Trump says he does not see white nationalism rising after New Zealand mosque shooting
President Donald Trump said on Friday he does not see a rise in white nationalism but it may be an issue in New Zealand, where a gunman who is believed to espouse those views killed 49 people at two mosques.
Asked by a reporter if he sees an increase in white nationalism, Trump said: "I don't really. I think its a small group of people."
Trump also said he had not seen a manifesto in which the suspected gunman denounced immigrants and praised Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose."
Trump's comment come after and more than 40 people are being treated for injuries after at least one shooter opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch, on Friday, according to New Zealand police.
A 28-year-old man was charged with murder and is set to appear in Christchurch District Court, while two others remain in police custody.


AriensCo say the success of previous Sales Skills events will see them repeating the events this November and December 2018 with training for all garden machinery dealers, not just those who carry AriensCo brands. What's more, say AriensCo, all the courses are kept free of charge for the dealer.
There will be five training events, three Level 1 sessions on 27th and 28th November at Countax House, Oxfordshire and 11th December at Ripley Castle, North Yorkshire and two Level 2 sessions on 29th November at Countax House and 12th December at Ripley Castle.
Sales Skills will be presented by Matt Wilson, UK sales manager, John Horn, who has run previous Sales Skills events and Jef O'Riley, marketing manager EMEA & Asia.
The company says the free training courses provide dealer principals, sales managers and those new to the industry with practical advice for promoting their business and attracting customers into their showrooms.
Sales Skills Level 1 focuses on developing product knowledge and creating the right conditions for selling and selling techniques. The aim is to help dealers in forging long-lasting relationships with customers. With the emphasis on highlighting the added value they provide, dealers can learn how to engage with customers and address their needs effectively, without relying on the 'hard sell.' This helps to differentiate them and the dealership from the competition. The events offer the opportunity for dealers to share ideas on how to improve the customer experience in the showroom, addressing areas such as access to the dealership, customer facilities and product displays. They will also learn how to deliver an effective product demonstration to customers, both pre and post purchase, through presenting the benefits of products according to customer needs.
Sales Skills Level 2 provides dealers with the tools required to promote their business and engage with potential customers in their local area. The focus is on sales and marketing practices, providing dealers with practical advice for attracting customers into their showrooms. The sessions will cover marketing communication theory and practices, such as targeting, segmentation and positioning, together with developing an effective marketing strategy and campaigns. Here the dealers can find out how to have a bigger impact when talking to customers and discover practical ideas for building their own brand. Here too they will learn how digital marketing can bring in new customers.


There are numerous examples of top players rejected as juniors by various clubs across the world. Most teams will, at some point, have suffered a variation of the Decca Records moment when they chose to put Alan Shearer in goal.
Having been identified as a talented individual by Borussia Mönchengladbach at eleven years old, Lewis Holtby was well schooled for three years before suffering heartbreaking rejection. Too small and too slow the damning verdict by Die Fohlen, with nothing likely to alter in the next few years. Bundesliga 2 outfit Alemannia Aachen stepped in, continued Holtby's apprenticeship and Jörg Schmadtke granted the then seventeen year old a debut against St Pauli in 2007.
Holtby soon grew into the Aachen first team and as performances improved, so the scouting community of Germany's top sides became more fixated with Alemannia's skilful midfielder. In 2009 Holtby moved to Schalke 04 and, unable to make an immediate dent on the first team, was loaned to VfL Bochum; a move which resulted in rapid progress. But it was a further loan spell, this time to FSV Mainz 05 for the 2010-2011 season that was the true making of the player.
Presented with the opportunity to adopt a relatively free role in Thomas Tuchel's attack minded side, Holtby was one of the star performers in a fine season for his adopted club. Having captained the German under 21 team, Holtby made his debut for the national side in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Azerbaijan at the end of a relatively successful 2010-11.
This appearance was particularly significant as it terminated any interest that England maintained in persuading Holtby to don the three lions. Holtby's father, a former English serviceman, had been stationed at the Rheindahlen RAF base in Mönchengladbach and his German born son had acquired his father's passion for Everton and English football; young Lewis making no secret of his desire to one day represent the toffees.
If we were to liken Lewis Holtby to any current English player, there are certain similarities to Joe Cole. Holtby is left footed and operates as a creator with an ability to pick a killer pass or swing in a tempting cross. Traits that have not gone unnoticed by Joachim Löw, hence an early move to halt England's advances.
A first full season at Schalke has begun well, Holtby has clearly benefitted from the extra playing time gained at Mainz but he could certainly do with adding more goals to his game. He has a very good coach in Huub Stevens though and there does seem to be a clear intent to improve on the goalscoring front.
The main issue for Holtby's international aspirations is competition. With Özil, Muller, Götze and several other fine young players keen to demonstrate that they possess the where with all to drive the German national side, Holtby will really have his work cut out to win caps. If he is able to force his way into Löw's first XI, Lewis Holtby will deserve his place.
C+ This could be a big season, keep working hard.


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Q: Issue of object.recycle, and when to do it I have been fairly rigorous in recycling Notes Objects, but I have run into a situation where I can't recycle the object because it is passed back from a method to the calling code. So in a class I have this code:
public Database getAppDB() {
            Database appDB = null;
            try{
                Session s = ExtLibUtil.getCurrentSession();
                serverName = s.createName(s.getCurrentDatabase().getServer()).getCommon();
                appDB = s.getDbDirectory(serverName).openDatabaseByReplicaID(this.getAppRepID());
                return appDB;
            }catch (NotesException e){
                System.out.println(e.toString());
                return appDB;
            }finally{
                Utils.recycleObjects(s);
            }

        }

Which openes a database then passes the appDB back to the calling program. Clearly if I instantiate the database in my calling program I will need to recycle it, but in this class method I can not recycle it because it is getting passed back. Am I creating a ticking time bomb with this? If so is there a way around the issue? This method could be called hundreds of time over the life cycle of session.

A: Simply: the code that calls your method is responsible to recycle the database object.
This rule applies to SSJS code too!
You must not recycle the session either, because it recycles all object derived from it.

A: The Session is recycled at the end of each request and with it all descendants (Database, View, Document etc). I only tend to recycle Documents or ViewEntries in loops and DateTimes. The other thing to recycle is if your using .getColumnValues(), pass that into a Vector and recycle the column values using Session.recycle(Vector). Even if you just get one column value, it gets all. So if you have a date column, that's created as a DateTime and the only way to recycle it is with Session.recycle(Vector). Don't confuse that with Session.recycle, which recycles the Session itself. See http://www.intec.co.uk/go-green-and-recycle-the-important-information-any-non-java-xpages-dev-needs-to-know/
My preferred method of recycling now is to use the OpenNTF Domino API and let that recycle for me.

A: While its a great idea to be rigorous about your .recycle() calls, in this case it's unlikely to matter. No matter how many times you call this routine, if the getAppRepID returns the same replicaID, you'll keep getting a Database bound to the same C++ handle. So the greatest number of open handles you could ever have is whatever number of entries you have in your Map. Once the operation is complete and the Session recycles, all the Database handles it had will also be recycled.
Given that the number of C++ handles allowed on most server OS's these days is around 180,000 you're probably safe in your scaling. That is 180,000 for all concurrent requests, so if this process is happening simultaneously for 1000 user requests and you're putting 200 Database in the Map, you'll have problems, but I'm guessing that's unlikely.
OR you could just use the OpenNTF Domino API, which will totally eliminate this issue for you and let you delete every .recycle() call in your code.