text:
The Long Arm of the OIC
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is the second-largest international body after the UN. It represents 57 Muslim (or putatively Muslim) nations, and bills itself as the deliberative body of the Ummah, the collective of the world's Muslims.
When examining the reach and influence of the OIC, it's useful to take a look at Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, one of the wealthiest and most influential Islamic activists in the world. In September 2005, Prince bin Talal bought 5.46% of voting shares in News Corp, making him the fourth-largest voting shareholder in the parent of Fox News. Just by coincidence, 5.46% is the precise amount necessary to have a seat on the board of directors. It was a shrewd move, giving Prince bin Talal direct influence on broad editorial policies at America's most popular cable news outlet — which is also generally perceived to be "conservative".
The prince made no bones about his strategy. Years earlier, in 2002, bin Talal boasted about his influence on the news content seen by viewers all over the world:
Arab countries can influence U.S. decision-making "if they unite through economic interests, not political," (Alwaleed) stressed. "We have to be logical and understand that the U.S. administration is subject to U.S. public opinion. We (Arabs) are not so active in this sphere (public opinion). And to bring the decision-maker on your side, you not only have to be active inside the U.S. Congress or the administration but also inside U.S. society."
He gave an outline of a broader Muslim strategy in a speech on May 28, 2005 at the 25th anniversary of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC):
… there is too much at stake. That is why I, through Kingdom Holding Company, have already begun the process of establishing think-tanks, foundations and centers, as well as partnering with institutions of higher learning in the United States. Needless to say, we are more than prepared to work with organizations such as ADC, CAIR, Arab-American Institute, to name only a few, and to provide needed support. What we have before us will not be easy, but I am convinced that with your help, and the help of others, God willing, we will eventually succeed. Rest assured that I for one will spare neither effort nor treasure in reaching our common goals.
A few months later Prince bin Talal put his treasure where his mouth was, and bought his share of Fox News.
But what does this have to do with the OIC?
A general rule about Sunni Islamic activism is that it is all interconnected, and the tentacles of connection inevitably lead back to the Muslim Brotherhood. The ADC, CAIR, and MPAC are all Muslim Brotherhood organizations, and all were unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation trial.
These and similar Muslim organizations are affiliated with the OIC and work co-operatively with it. In 2006 CAIR issued its own press release with references to the ADC and the OIC:
OIC, CAIR, ADC TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE ON ISLAM/WEST RELATIONS
The Secretary General of The Organization of Islamic Conference and Local Chicago leaders to comment on Muslim-US relations, Muslim-Catholic relations
(CHICAGO, IL 9/20/2006) — The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) and the Chicago chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination committee (ADC) will join his Excellency, Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), in a press conference this Saturday on the subject of US-Muslim relations 5 years after 9/11.
So all roads in the Ummah lead to the OIC.
As regular readers know, the OIC is now halfway through a ten-year plan to eliminate Islamophobia throughout the non-Muslim world. It views recent developments in Switzerland and the Netherlands with alarm, since they indicate that Islamophobia has leaped from the personal level to legal initiatives and political institutions. According to the OIC website:
The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has called on Member States to convene a high-level meeting to elaborate a unified Islamic plan on how to relate with the west in addressing the spate of Islamophobia.
This proposal was contained in the Secretary General's address to the preparatory senior officials meeting for the thirty-seventh session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, held at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah on 12 April 2010, and lasting three days.
The Secretary General underscored the challenges facing the OIC, foremost of which is the campaign against Islam and Muslims in the west, in the context of what has come to be known as Islamophobia. He stressed that this phenomenon must be addressed especially because "it has become a serious matter which portends grave consequences." In this regard, he underlined that the ban on the construction of minarets in Switzerland was a dangerous indication pointing to growing hostility towards Islam and Muslims. Islamophobia has graduated from being an individual act and newspaper articles to the level of laws and constitutions to underpin the phenomenon, thus featuring in the agenda of political contests at elections.
So how does Prof. Ihsanoglu propose dealing with the scourge of Islamophobia? Why, through the UN, of course:
The Secretary General asserted that the commitment of Member States to support the position of the OIC in voting on the resolution against defamation of religions at the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the United Nations General Assembly was very crucial. This was in spite of the strong opposition they faced from the western states. He cautioned about negligence on the matter for that would mean a loss of the political and legal support needed to defend our religion, values and holy sites. He called on Member States to accord utmost importance to the matter.
Every year since 1999 the UN Human Rights Council has voted for an OIC-sponsored resolution proposing a binding decision that requires member states to enact laws that criminalize "defamation of religion" — which in practice means criticism of Islam. Every year the United States and European countries vote against it, but with Barack Hussein Obama in charge of American foreign policy, the OIC is that much closer to achieving its stated goal.
The topics of the OIC, CAIR, and Prince al-Waleed bin Talal all converge in what is on the sides of Miami-Dade Transit's municipal buses. Or, rather, in what is not on the sides of Miami-Dade Transit's municipal buses: CAIR has successfully pressured the bus system into dropping paid advertisements that it considers "Islamophobic".
What makes this article from Fox Business doubly interesting is the fact that it has virtually republished a CAIR press release. It retails uncritically all the Muslim Brotherhood talking points, including vicious attacks on Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer:
CAIR: Anti-Islam Ads Pulled From Miami Buses
CAIR-SFL applauds end to 'campaign of hatred and intolerance'
The South Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFL) today announced that Miami-Dade Transit is dropping bus advertisements sponsored by an anti-Islam hate group.
"We believe Miami-Dade Transit did the right thing in dropping this campaign of hatred and intolerance," said CAIR-SFL Executive Director Muhammed Malik. "The advertisement's reference to apostasy is merely a smoke-screen for the promotion of anti-Islam bigotry and the attempted marginalization of American Muslims."
He said Stop the Islamization of America's leaders, Pam Geller and Robert Spencer, are considered by many Muslims to be among the nation's most vicious Islamophobes.
On her personal blog, Geller has written of President Obama: "[O]ne thing is for sure: Hussein is a muhammadan [sic]." [emphasis added]
Now here comes a professionally-executed example of the art of the smear:
Geller has been vocal in her criticism of the black population in South Africa and seemingly supportive of the slain South African apartheid leader Eugene Terre'blanche. Following Terre'blanche's recent murder, Geller wrote: "All I see in South Africa is Black supremacism. Terreblanche [sic] may have been a white supremacist, but he's the dead one."
This is a clever guilt-by-innuendo hatchet job worthy of Charles Johnson. Whites in South Africa — including the followers of the late Eugene Terre'blanche — are victims of an ongoing genocide at the hands of blacks. This fact is indisputable, even if the mainstream media in the United States choose to ignore it. And genocide is genocide, even if some of the victims are "racists" themselves.
But because Ms. Geller dares to point it out — voilà! She becomes a de facto racist "white supremacist". OK, OK, a Jewish white supremacist, but still…
Dr. Goebbels would be proud.
CAIR Fox Business continues:
Geller has even been criticized by other Islamophobes for her extremism and for supporting far-right fascist groups in Europe. In fact, Stop the Islamization of America is an outgrowth of a similar group in Europe that seeks to block the construction of mosques on that continent. Stop the Islamization of Europe also "considers Islamophobia to be the height of common sense" and claims that Islam "considers lying to be not only acceptable, but obligatory."
Note the absence of quote marks around the word "Islamophobes" or "fascist", and the lack any other attempt by a supposedly independent news organization to investigate the validity and spin of the CAIR party line.
Needless to say, there's nothing in that "Islamophobic" platform that we (and most of our readers) don't agree with. But there's no indication that Fox has even considered the possibility that "Islamophobes" might have valid points to make. The "article" displays an uncritical acceptance of the BlokWatch/LGF designation of parties like Vlaams Belang as "fascist", and thus extends the label by association to Mr. Spencer and Ms. Geller.
Robert Spencer has also been criticized for the extremism exhibited on his personal anti-Muslim web site "Jihad Watch," which recently compared Muslims to Nazis. Jihad Watch Board Vice President Hugh Fitzgerald wrote: "When I see thousands of people in a mosque, I am put in mind not of a gathering at St. Peter's, but rather, of a Nuremberg Rally, a horizontal collective affair, rather than vertical, with the prostration itself performing, or signifying, blind obedience of the kind that, at the real Nuremberg, is signified by the heil-hitlering salute of thousands, yelling in unison, and saluting, and re-saluting." [Spencer refused to repudiate those statements.]
And why would he need to "repudiate" them? Would Fox News care to examine the arguments demonstrating the similarities (not to mention the institutional liaison) between Nazism and Islam?
No, that's apparently too much trouble for the dedicated news-sleuths at good ol' "Fair and Balanced".
This brief quote is also interesting:
One then right-wing critic wrote of Spencer's blog: "His website has descended into a true hate site at this point, dominated by extreme, bigoted commenters who regularly advocate genocide and mass murder of Muslims." [That writer has since broken with the far-right, in part because of pervasive anti-Islam bigotry its proponents often exhibit.]
"That writer" just happens to be Charles Johnson. "Right-wing critic"! Hah!
I wonder how Il Duce of LGF feels about being not only a public asset for CAIR, but also a favorably-quoted source for a Fox Business story…
And now for the Gates of Vienna connection:
In 2007, Spencer spoke at a so-called "Counterjihad Brussels" conference in Belgium attended by those with links to far-right parties such as Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang (Belgium) and Ted Ekeroth of Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden). Both parties have been accused of either having a racist platform, a neo-Nazi past or having links to neo-Nazis and other racists.
Yes indeed! These are our people. And, yes, they have been accused of "having a racist platform, a neo-Nazi past or having links to neo-Nazis and other racists."
Accusations are easy and fun to obtain. Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has been accused of barbecuing puppies in his basement — or so I hear. Prince al-Waleed bin Talal has been accused of keeping ten-year-old blonde Norwegian girls as sex slaves. I read that somewhere; can't remember where.
Let's hear it for "being accused"!
And what about Nihad Awad, the National Executive Director of CAIR? What has he been accused of? Perhaps of being the most prominent shill for the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States of America:
"The bus ads are part of a growing 'Islamophobia machine' nationwide that must be challenged by Americans of all faiths," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
The rest of the MSM was already in the tank for the Muslim Brotherhood. Now that Fox News has taken its thirty pieces of silver and crossed over to the other side, there is virtual unison within the nation's major news outlets on the topic of Islam. Prince bin Talal has reason to consider his money well-spent.
The "Islamophobes" in Europe have the wind at their backs these days, as recent events in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium demonstrate. Watch the upcoming elections in Sweden and Britain: the breeze may strengthen even further.
But the gale is hard in our faces here in the USA, and the high-powered wind machine generating it is a joint venture of the major media outlets, Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, the OIC, CAIR, MPAC, ISNA, MSA, and all the other innumerable morsels in the great alphabet soup of Muslim Brotherhood front groups in the United States.
Hat tips: TB and TV.
Zenster said...
Jihad Watch Board Vice President Hugh Fitzgerald wrote: "When I see thousands of people in a mosque, I am put in mind not of a gathering at St. Peter's, but rather, of a Nuremberg Rally, a horizontal collective affair, rather than vertical, with the prostration itself performing, or signifying, blind obedience of the kind that, at the real Nuremberg, is signified by the heil-hitlering salute of thousands, yelling in unison, and saluting, and re-saluting." [Spencer refused to repudiate those statements.]
And why would he need to "repudiate" them?
Why, indeed, would anyone accusing Muslims of acting like Nazis find any need to repudiate this?
Takuan Seiyo said...
A liberal lawyer of my acquaintance argued recently why Fox News is an "extreme right-wing" network. He characterized the Fox audience as: "1. Rich people who detest paying taxes, 2. The religious right, 3. Anti-abortion people, 4. Anti-government people (like Timothy McVeigh). 5. Anti-immigration people, 6. Anti-minority people."
So there you have it, all the cardinal sins, and all the buttons that the liberal establishment/ dhimmi 5th column need to press to elicit the desired response. In view of the article above, and other footprints of the Al-Waleed influence, it's sad what passes for an extreme right wing media outlet. And as to the quality of such arguments, I'll quote what I told him relative to #4, among others:
"It may be reasonable to impute an anti-government attitude to the Fox News audience. But you failed to substantiate, (a) Why this is objectionable, and (b) What does it have to do McVeigh. Would you say that people who watch the Animal Planet Channel are dog lovers (like Adolf Hitler)?"
And lawyers are trained in rational thought processes...
EscapeVelocity said...
Not only is Islamophobia growing, but anti-Islam, anti Islamization, anti Muslim(the carriers of the ideology) sentiment is growing, Islamophobia's non cowardly cousin.
Homophobic Horse said...
You forgot to mention that CAIR raises money for Hamas.
Jedilson Bonfim said...
Hugh Fitzerald's comments, as quoted by Zenster, are nothing but the naked truth... I think it was on Vladtepesblog that, not too long ago, I watched a long clip filmed on the streets of Paris during the mahoundians' weekly Nuremberg rallies, and their bullying and intimidation of everyone trying to move through the blocked roads or get them to get their rear ends up somewhere else was just one piece of evidence of that. And, from extra info on the clip, that display of inbred bedouin savagery lasts on average for 2 hours.
Had Hitler declared itself a prophet, just like Mahound, and stated that Mein Kampf was as divine a revelation as Mein Qurampf, we critics of nazism would all be labeled racist naziphobes by leftards and the UN.
What I don't understand is why a reasonable country is still in the UN. If I was the president of the US, my first act would be to get out of the UN and NATO and to kick all the UN officials out of the country, while repealling all the UN treaties that the US signed.
Mad Dog Gazza said...
RV,
I concur. NATO needs to be gotten rid of. Turkey is in it, of all things. Its about time the EU has its own army. Free of external influence. Probably too late now, though.
Afonso Henriques said...
I believe that by now it is evident that European and European derived countries will have to leave the United Nations or severely restrict its powers.
As the United Nations is actually an European idea - a very naïve and dangerous idea, at that - I can't figure how the European countries will restrict its powers while still allowing non-European countries to rule through it, albeit with less powers.
I imagine it will happen as it did with the Society of Nations, with Mussolini leaving it because his Italy wouldn't beneffit from it, and Hitler leaving it in order to actually rule his Germany at will. Unable to deal with massive absences as Germany, Italy or the Soviet Union - I'm not sure weather the United States of America were in or not - the system of the Society of Nations crumbled, because too much in the world was happening without passing through it, it became irrelevant.
The big question is who will start the trend and when?
I don't see European countries leaving the ONU as something radical, as if a complete paradigm shift in which we start to live in a complete different world is needed to take place first. That will actually mark the ending of the current paradigm as the current European (Western) elites start to understand that under the ONU system they have not the upper hand. They will run way to carry on their supremacy.
How can the current deranged European elites be under the yoke of the muslim elites, composed of arrogant absolutist and tyranical royalty as well as vicious religious warriors? Or the Chinese patriots, with so little regard for liberty or the individual vallue of the person, as we assume as basic in Europe: While lately in European Civilisation we have romanticiesed and overvalorised the individual, going even so far as to "embed the individual with personality so that we can devoid persons of personality in order to treat the persons as mere lose individuals", East Asians don't recognise the individual vallue of a person as a mere individual as we do, and focus instead on the collective, trying to de-personificate the individual. Although respecting the Human Person, they don't give the individual much importance.
Or even African elites, so damned tribal; and Bolivarianist Latin American elites: filled with anti European sentiment and an aggressive strain of Communism.
They simply can't be under these elites. They can tolerate them as long as they are on top, but when these elites gain power over the current Europeans ones, our elites will feel a need to retreat to a more docile and understanding people, easier for them to dominate because we already accept so much of the precepts that function as a condition to the imposition of their worldview, and their prevalence at the top of our societies.
So I see a Switzerland being the first Western country to leave the ONU (is it part of it?) or a poor victim like Serbia or a too dynamic anapologetic country like the Netherlands or Denmark.
But I believe the first of the big ones to leave it will be Russia, which is also a very one-of-a-kind and singular country. Then, we'll know the UN is dead.
Ah! And the intromission of the muslims in non muslim countries is sickening and it only happens because we allow them to do so. The United Nations is an European idea and will only exist as it beneffits the European elites (even if only theoretically, as it offers a divine legitimacy and "reality" to their worldview. It's a proof of good that legitimates our elites. It is also a main key to the implementation of their New World Order and Trans Nationalist (TRANZI) movement), and when it ceases to serve them, the UN will crumble.
In the end, the OIC is doing a great work to destroy the UN. For those who believe that the UN is a step to further, let's hope they don't read my comment and continue to harass our elites.
Cudoine said...
Mein kampf and the protocols of the elders of zion are widely available throughout the muslim world, best sellers in some parts. I've had devout muslim doctors tell me that the protocols are authentic. If a society believes in secret plans and groups plotting their destruction or subjugation, makes sense that a count would arise. viola...muslim brotherhood, saudi influence at News Corp., and Fox subsidiary, all the cash spent on propagation of islam, including bribes to Western officials.
Concerning South Africans, I believe they will be extinct. Rape, genocide and (forced) miscegenation with European women will be enough to erradicate them in 4 generations (80 to 100 years).
But in the process they will serve as the perfect example of what happens when liberalism takes place and an ethnic group precieved to be superior - sorry, this is exactly the word I am searching for although I'm not judging who's superior or not, I want to leave this clear - goes trough a spectacular process of denigration, humiliation and ridicule of everything particular of it:
Genetics, Race, Origins, Homeland, Cultural Norms and Beliefs as well as Culture properly and also its Past, its History. And let's see what about their religion once that the Boers seem to have a lot in common with the early European inhabitants of New England.
The Boers may pay a very high price for having severed their ties with Europe. So I ask, do the Dutch feel strong connections to the Boer? Do they have any place where to return, where they would be not percieved as usurpers (please, don't answer USA)?
I don't know, I recently met two Dutch businessmen (or so they claimed) who were drunk and while changing insults and mocking each other just because, we happened to talk about the comming World Cup in Africa and praising each other's National Teams.
Portuguese: Here noone goes to the World Cup because in South Africa their favourite past time is to shoot Portuguese people.
Dutchmen: Yeah, they just shoot all white people.
He said that with a saddened tone, which made me think if there's a special relation between the Dutch and the Boer.
"about time the EU has its own army."
... and a chilly breaze blows right behind my lower back while reading these scary words.
And Cudoine: "If a society believes in secret plans and groups plotting their destruction or subjugation" ah okay. But still, you believe that muslims, the CAIR or the Muslim Brotherhood have a secret plan to...
Jedilson Bonfim: Hugh Fitzerald's comments, as quoted by Zenster, are nothing but the naked truth... I think it was on Vladtepesblog that, not too long ago, I watched a long clip filmed on the streets of Paris during the mahoundians' weekly Nuremberg rallies ...
Thank you, JB, and permit me to say how delightful it is to see you posting your articulate invective hereabouts with renewed regularity.
Should anyone doubt the Islam-Nazi connection, consider how Yasser Arafat's 'Uncle', Muhammed Amin al-Husseini, met with Adolph Hitler or that pro-Hamas demonstrations routinely feature crowds who chant, "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas".
Can it be any more clear? What other Nazi sympathizing behavior is required to connect these continent-sized dots?
rebelliousvanilla: What I don't understand is why a reasonable country is still in the UN. If I was the president of the US, my first act would be to get out of the UN and NATO and to kick all the UN officials out of the country, while repealling all the UN treaties that the US signed.
Satisfying as such an eviction might sound, I have seen posts by a retired member of America's intelligence community to the effect that information "gathered" by monitoring signals and traffic at the UN outweighs any benefit derived from giving them the proverbial heave ho. Emphasis on the word "ho".
Stop Islamophobia. Criticize Islam.
Islamophobia is the fear of Islam, particularly the fear of criticizing Islam in any way. The OIC, CAIR, MSA, EU, the so-called "United Nations Human Rights Council" and other major organizations actively promote Islamophobia in the name of supposedly combating Islamophobia.
Meanwhile, a small band of freedom loving people is fighting valiantly against Islamophobia. The Gates of Vienna is a major center of resistance. Moreover, Geert Wilders, Bat Ye'or, Andrew Bostom, and Ibn Warraq are heroes in the fight against the real Islamophobia. They are true heroes of our time.
Few events in modern history promote Islamophobia more than the September 11 attacks. The cartoon riots, the murder of Theo van Gogh, and a murder campaign by an organization calling itself al-Qaeda all promote Islamophobia.
I say Islam is nothing to be feared. It should be understood for what it is, and peaceful it is not. We should not fear telling the truth. We should not fear the waves of intimidation from Muslim fanatics. We must not let the House of Sa'ud or any other totalitarian state pull a veil over liberty.
So again, I say we must stop the Islamophobia that Muslim states are trying to impose upon humanity, and we must stop western subservience to those who would make others fear Islam, fear talking about Islam honestly, and fear criticizing Islam.
The freedom of speech is precious, far more precious than any stone idol. Islamophobia? Let's use every media campaign against Islamophobia as a means to promote our message that the only people who aren't Islamophobic are the ones who are not afraid to criticize Islam.
Cyrus said...
Afonso,
With regard to Dutch sentiments regarding the Boers, I recall an article I linked to from GoV recently in which some South Africans were recalling their experience in Holland. After some time there it was quite clear to them that they were Africans, not Europeans even though this had been a key element in their self-identity. I wouldn't be surprised if the Dutch feelings concerning South Africans was of a similar nature.
Likewise, I am assuming you know the feelings of a Portuguese with regards to Brazilians (not Angolans, Mozambiquans, or Cape Verdans). The only case that should be different today is with France's overseas depts. where they are through and through Metropolitan French rather than colonial or creole, ie. St. Pierre & Miquelon off of Newfoundland are not Quebecois.
Gary, the EU doesn't need an army, the EU has to get abolished. The idea that the EU would get an army it's quite frightening. The last thing I want is to have my country under occupation, which is what the EU army would be.
Afonso, the UN needs to get abolished completely. It's existence is one of the features of the ideology that made us weak and allowed Islam to do what it's doing. Also, if the paradigm falls, I don't see why the Boers wouldn't get a separate state. If they won't be able to do that it means that we won't be in a better position either in 80 years. Glad I will probably be dead then. lol
Zenster, the problem is that UN treaties that get signed by the POTUS and passed by the Senate become as valid as the US constitution. Also, if people really do things that intel services need around the UN, they are stupider than I thought.
rebelliousvanilla: Also, if people really do things that intel services need around the UN, they are stupider than I thought.
As Einstein once said:
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
If you would like an example of monumental stupidity in the espionage world, consider this:
Thinking that such apparatus could not be tapped, the USSR routinely sent unencrypted signals on its deep-water underseas cable.
The USA, using the ruse of developing underseas rescue equipment for its submarine crews, literally invented the sub-surface aquatic robot vehicle and then employed said craft to place taps on these same underwater Soviet telecom cables.
If the Communist's espionage experts were so lax, imagine how indiscreet rich relatives of this world's sundry tin pot dictators must be. The towering hubris of Third World diplomats is legendary.
As noted in the linked article:
These guys are obstinately oblivious regarding consequences.
As the most basic of examples, please think of how the UN's Oil-For-Palaces scandal broke open an entire web of European cooperation with Saddam's petroleum export subterfuge.
The hive of scum and villany known as the UN is a treasure trove of incompetent attachés who are so used to farting through silk they wouldn't know a CIA honeypot if she bit them on the neck, which probably happens during the requisite entanglements.
White South Africans, including Afrikaaners, have been emmigrating to the Anglo Nations primarily. UK, USA, Australia, even NZ and Canada. Much more so than Holland. So there is your answer Afonso.
Id be interested in discussion on the term Holland, how prevalent is its use, and by whom? How these groups differ in their perceptions fo that term? And so on and so forth.
As regards the UN, the GOP are generally hostile to it. John Bolton, GW Bush's appointment as UN Abassador for the US, is case in point.
Unfortunately, no European countries that I know of have any political parties with any power, that are hostile to the UN in a similar manner. Perhaps the Czech Republic, Russia.
How is that any different to NATO. I would speculate that NATO is a bigger problem because it has the US influencing it and it also has Turkey.
If the EU exists, then an EU defence force makes sense. But it should be free of American and Turkish influence.
Armance said...
The EU already has a strong special police force called European Gendarmerie Force with thousands of employees from many member countries. The main goal of EGF is to "deal with big civil disturbances", which means they will use force against European citizens (of course, only natives) in case of disobedience and riots.
All that EU lacks to be the second Soviet Union is a strong repressive military force and the Gulag, but they're working hard on it. It's just a matter of time.
Cyrus, thanks for your reply.
About the Boers realising that they are actually African, I still don't understand how much of it is just nonesensical moaning.
I know several white Portuguese who have been born in Africa and had been there for generation. They may claim that they are really African and that but they have integrated wonderfully in this society. They're like 10% of the population (Well, those who've return, not those who've stayed there for generations).
Africa is a magnific country (especially the Southern part of it), or so they tell us. And as they were somewhat privilleged there, they probabily find life in Europe too difficult, cold and more boring.
"I don't see why the Boers wouldn't get a separate state."
Gee, honey! They are a tiny, insignificant, powerless and demonised minority - however wealthy.
Their State would meet more resistance than Israel. And they're not Jewish so not even our right wingers would support them.
My take? I don't care what they do. But they had all in their hands and toss it away.
"If they won't be able to do that it means that we won't be in a better position either in 80 years."
Open your eyes then! Of course that you're able to see why it is such a great difference.
I said that there will be needed 100 years or four generations to extinguish the Boers. How many generations will be needed to put Europeans in the same situation of South African whites?
That is, to be 10% of the population.
Rocha said...
The Boers will survive. But yes it would be intelligent to them to run for Botswana and or Namibia where they could become the majority. Unless a Mugabe appears on South Africa they will be opressed but that in my view is a good thing BECAUSE opressed people take their survival more seriously.
Now ONLY if the country breaks apart they can get their share of land. And ONLY if they do it quickly.
Europeans will be a minority before i die. Now from there things go quickly. Brazilians are 50% white now in 20 years we are expected to be 30%. How much more time to 10%? Ask your wifes...
Thanks for the nice words Zenster, and I greatly enjoy your razor-sharp comments and observations too.
Gary, NATO doesn't have executive power, the EU does. For example, the DOD of my country decides what the Romanian troops do, even in NATO operations. A EU military force would operate under exclusive EU command.
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Crooks, Loons, and Monster-Loons
We Hold These Words
EDL Demo in Aylesbury on May 1st
Fjordman: The European Union and "Beautiful" Minarets
The Long Arm of Surtr
A Rosetta Stone for Col. West: Part Eight
"Colonel and Candidate" Allen West Makes Waves
The Evolution of Homo Sapiens
The Limits to the Welfare State
Tea Party 2010 @ the Charlottesville Post Office
Tea Party Day
A Rosetta Stone for Geert Wilders: Part Twelve
First Dibs
Aristotle and the History of Scientific Logic
Fjordman: Astrobiology and the Search for Extrater...
A Rosetta Stone for Geert Wilders: Part Eleven
Analysis: The Qatar Smoker Was Simply a Spoiled Brat
"There Is No Enrichment At All"
Power Belongs to Allah!
Integrate This!
The Real Roots of Modern Moral Sensibilities
Did the Arabs Really Destroy the Library of Alexan...
Fjordman: Why Israel's Struggle Is Our Struggle, Too
Regaining the Ottoman Empire via Pennsylvania
The Fate of the Library of Alexandria
A Rosetta Stone for Geert Wilders: Part Ten
Islam is Leaving Albania
The Stigmatization Fallacy
Let Them Come to Berlin
A Rosetta Stone for Geert Wilders: Part Nine
A Muslim Brotherhood for Turks
The Origins of Moral Repugnance
Massive Loss for Poland
The Circumstances of Our Oppression
Gates of Vienna News Feed 4/9/2010


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text:
Ninety minutes pass quickly as Prosper Lincoln drivers gather once a month to provide updates and collaborate on the many community-wide efforts taking place to lift Lincoln higher.
What started as 2,100 ideas to address the 2014 Lincoln Vital Signs findings has evolved into a focused community agenda. LCF has provided backbone funding for Prosper Lincoln since its inception. The first phase of the agenda included three focus areas and three developers. Now in its second phase, the work of Prosper Lincoln has been embedded within the community through the drivers – leaders from different organizations who wake up every day thinking about the phase two focus areas.
Anne Brandt, executive director of Lincoln Littles, is the driver of Early Childhood. Anne's work focuses on ensuring access to high-quality early childcare for all children in Lincoln through business and community engagement, policy change, collaboration, and awareness.
Nola Derby-Bennett, director of Community Learning Centers (CLC) at Lincoln Public Schools, is the co-driver of Prosper Lincoln's Strong Neighborhoods focus area. Nola oversees the 29 CLC's located throughout the community and works with four new community builders.
Allison Hatch, director of workforce development at the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, is the new driver of Innovative Workforce, following Bryan Seck. Allison works with local employers and agencies to connect individuals to full-time careers.
Wynn Hjermstad, community development manager with the City of Lincoln, is the driver for the Affordable Housing focus area. Wynn implements Lincoln's Affordable Housing Coordinated Action Plan while also managing the pandemic-related Housing and Utility Assistance funds, Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction efforts, and federally funded housing assistance programs.
Shawn Ryba, former executive director of South of Downtown Community Development Organization, served as the co-driver for Prosper Lincoln's Strong Neighborhoods. Shawn worked on South of Downtown's redevelopment and strategy plan and responded to community residents' priorities.
Janell Walther, senior research manager at the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, is a consultant for Prosper Lincoln and facilitates monthly meetings with the drivers. This provides a rich opportunity for overlap and collaboration. Discussion topics range from rent and utility assistance for residents impacted by Covid to workforce needs related to childcare, from community health events providing hiring opportunities and free physicals for students, to new affordable housing developments.
A common thread that runs throughout the drivers' work is the effort to achieve equity in social and economic mobility in our community. This year LCF was selected to participate in NEON, a cohort of seven community foundations working to develop common measurements and share strategies and progress reports with each other as they work to dismantle structural and systemic racism and achieve equity in their communities.
"We learned from Lincoln Vital Signs that Lincoln is growing stronger in many ways, but at the same time, not everyone is prospering," said LCF President Barbara Bartle. "Being a member of the NEON cohort is building upon our commitment to increase equity of opportunity in Lincoln."
Another benefit of being a part of the NEON cohort is the opportunity to engage in ground-breaking work with Urban Institute as they develop ways to measure outcomes for systemic change.
The Prosper Lincoln drivers bring their experience and passion to the table and work together to solve complex issues facing our community. The opportunity to collaborate both deepens and strengthens their work to build a more prosperous future for all Lincolnites.
Thank you to Shawn Ryba for his dedication to the South Downtown community. He has recently been named Executive Director for Big Brothers Big Sisters Lincoln. Congratulations!
To learn more about the community agenda and work of Prosper Lincoln, visit ProsperLincoln.org.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
class PlatformVideoInfo
{
   // # of devices
   // description
   // manufacturer
   // chip set
   // driver version
   // VRAM
public:
   enum PVIQueryType
   {
      PVI_QueryStart = 0,     ///< Start of the enum for looping

      // The NumAdapters query is the only non-adapter specific query, the following
      // queries are all specific to an adapter.
      PVI_NumDevices = 0,     ///< Number of sub adapters
      PVI_Description,        ///< String description of the adapter
      PVI_Name,               ///< Card name string
      PVI_ChipSet,            ///< Chipset string
      PVI_DriverVersion,      ///< Driver version string
      PVI_VRAM,               ///< Dedicated video memory in megabytes

      // Please add query types above this value
      PVI_QueryCount,          ///< Counter so that this enum can be looped over
      PVI_NumAdapters,        ///< Number of adapters on the system
   };

   struct PVIAdapter
   {
      U32 numDevices;
      String description;
      String name;
      String chipSet;
      String driverVersion;
      U32 vram;
   };

private:
   Vector<PVIAdapter> mAdapters; ///< Vector of adapters

   /// Signal handling method for GFX signals
   // bool processGFXSignal( GFXDevice::GFXDeviceEventType gfxEvent );

protected:
   /// This method will be called before any queries are made. All initialization,
   /// for example Win32 COM startup, should be done in this method. If the return
   /// value is false, no querys will be made.
   virtual bool _initialize() = 0;

   /// This is the query method which subclasses must implement. The querys made
   /// are all found in the PVIQueryType enum. If NULL is specified for outValue,
   /// the sub class should simply return true if the query type is supported, and
   /// false otherwise.
   virtual bool _queryProperty( const PVIQueryType queryType, const U32 adapterId, String *outValue ) = 0;

public:
   PlatformVideoInfo();
   virtual ~PlatformVideoInfo();

   bool profileAdapters();

   const PVIAdapter &getAdapterInformation( const U32 adapterIndex ) const;
};

#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


If there are any celebrities left who aren't on a gluten-free diet, then we haven't met them! And if you haven't been living under a stone for the last few years you will probably know that avoiding gluten is a BIG thing. But how do you know whether it is right for you?


Larry Fedora is the head football coach at the University of North Carolina and he had a few interesting things to say at ACC football media days this week.
Fedora believes that if football declines in the United States — due to links between playing the game and CTE, a chronic and debilitating brain disease — the country will decline as well.
"There will be the decline of our country, no doubt," Fedora said.
First of all Coach Fedora, only a small minority of primarily one gender actually plays football in this country. Is that small minority responsible for making this country great? Two, while there definitely can be some positive benefits from playing football (physical fitness, leadership skills, teamwork, dealing with adversity, etc.), all those benefits can be derived from playing other sports, or participating in a variety of other activities for that matter. One doesn't need to bash one's head in hundreds — and in some cases, thousands — of times a year, as is the case in football, to reap those benefits. Third, Americans are predominantly sports spectators, not sports participants. Does Fedora believe we as Americans can learn important life lessons by simply plopping down on the couch on Saturday or Sunday and watching football games while eating pizza and drinking beer?
Fedora touched on a few other topics that are worth addressing.
For example, he thinks the United States has a strong and powerful military thanks to football. His reasoning is that a general once told him that we are the only football-playing nation in the world (sorry Canada). Powerful military. Only football-playing country. Well, that surely must be a causal relationship, right?
But what about the fact that football has only been our major sport for 50 years, at the most? Before that, baseball was our clear national pastime and smart people like Jacques Barzun said that to know America you must understand baseball. In addition, we've had a tough and strong military during a lot of wars throughout our history, from the Revolutionary War on, and football wasn't a big part of our culture during most of them.
The above comments by Fedora, and others like them, are pretty benign. I figure it's just a football coach being a football coach. But when Fedora started talking about CTE and football at the ACC meetings, that's when things got scary.
Fedora's not sure football causes CTE. He says there's no definitive proof. Well, technically, he's right on that point. There isn't any definitive, absolute proof that football causes CTE, and all the devastating effects associated with the disease. But there certainly is a giant mound of research suggesting a strong link between football and CTE.
First, CTE is a degenerative brain disease predominantly found in people who've experienced repetitive head trauma. Second, and maybe most importantly, it's not just concussions that we need to worry about when it comes to CTE and lifetime brain damage. It's sub-concussive repetitive blows to the head in which the brain pounds into the side of the skull. A perfect example, is the repetitive sub-concussive blows to the head that football linemen experience on nearly every play.
Most people associate CTE with the NFL — specifically retired NFL players.
But CTE is more than a pro football issue. While the Boston University CTE Center has discovered CTE in the brains of 110 of 111 former NFL players (99%), the Center has also found CTE in the brains of 48 of 53 former college players (91%) who didn't go on to play football in the NFL. Moreover, 21% of the 14 brains of former high school football players studied at the Center had evidence of CTE. And those players never played a single down of football beyond high school.
A summary of all the studies now linking football with brain injuries would be a very long summary indeed. The question is: Even without definitive, absolute proof that football can cause CTE, should youth and high school athletes be playing football, a game in which repetitive brain trauma is inherent in the sport? Especially when the brains of youth, high school, and yes, even college football players are still in the developmental stage (the human brain is still developing into the early 20's)?
Before jumping to a quick answer on that question, consider this finding: Purdue University researchers have compared changes in the brains of high school football players who had suffered concussions with the brains of high school football players who were concussion-free and found brain tissue damage in both. That's scary stuff. That means brain injuries are occurring without players, coaches or parents even being aware of it.
Wake Forest researchers followed 25 boys ages 8 through 13 over a season of tackle football. They placed sensors inside the players' helmets to measure impacts. Players accumulated between 250 to 580 "crashes" during the season. The MRIs of the kids' brains taken before and after the season showed that those "who experienced more cumulative head impact exposure had more changes in brain white matter." The stunning part is not one player had suffered a concussion. Brain damage had occurred without any concussions in the group. And, like the Purdue study, the players and the parents weren't even aware of it.
No, we don't have all the scientific evidence yet to absolutely state that football causes CTE but we do have enough to believe that playing football is one scary game of Russian Roulette.
Fedora did suggest that kids shouldn't play football until after middle school. That's good. But due in large part to the fact their brains are still developing, football remains very dangerous for high school and college players as well.
Football is a fun and entertaining game. I played the game in my younger days and have long enjoyed watching it. I appreciate that coaches like Fedora — along with thousands, if not millions, of fans are passionate about the game.
But there are some realities in life that just aren't fun to face, and this is one of them: Football is very dangerous to the human brain. For the sake of our young people, we can't continue to avoid that reality.
Ken Reed is sports policy director for League of Fans, a sports reform project. He is the author of Ego vs. Soul in Sports and How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan.


text:
Chelsea McClammer: State Champion and Veteran Paralympian
Katharine Lotze
Aside from missing the first two weeks of her freshman year in high school, veteran Paralympian Chelsea McClammer said that going to Beijing to compete was a great experience. Only 14 years old when she wheeled the 800 meters in the now-famous Bird's Nest, Chelsea wasn't the most experienced racer in China; however, she said racing in the 2008 Paralympics will help her when she goes back in 2012. "I won't be as nervous," she says. In China, she placed eighth in the world and was also the youngest member of the US Paralympics team. She smashed her previous 800 time, finishing in 1:51, a time that would put many professional runners to shame.
After her Olympic debut, Chelsea came back to start her freshman year in high school at Kiona-Benton City High School in Benton City, Washington. She was received with a hero's welcome; her homecoming was integrated into the school's own homecoming assembly, which was held the week she began classes. Although she was late getting started, Chelsea joined the school's cross country team, coached by Jim Perry. After a season of only a few meets, she raced at the state meet on Saturday, winning with a time of 7:29 for 2.1 miles. Chelsea set a new state record, and only beat her friend, Amber Webber, by one second to take the state title. "I was excited to race Amber, I hadn't seen her in a while," Chelsea said. "I was a little nervous, but not as nervous as in Beijing because there weren't as many people." She also said she just focused on staying ahead, but also having fun. On crossing the finish line, she said, "I was like 'Wow.' It was really cool to represent Ki-Be and take the gold."
Besides track and cross country, you can find Chelsea playing basketball or tennis; snowskiing and waterskiing. She competes for Kiona-Benton City High School and for Team at St. Luke's in Washington state and also for the US Paralympics team.
Hanford boys, Southridge girls take team titles at Connell Invitational Sep 27, 2006


text:
American Buffalo
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How Has the Value of the Julia Grant First Spouse Gold Coin Changed Since It Was Issued?
Released on June 23, 2011 by the United States Mint in accordance with the Presidential $1 Coin Act that brought the program to fruition, the Julia Grant First Spouse Gold Coin is a remarkable representation of the other coins in the series. While the initial price for the Julia Grant First Spouse Gold Coin was $929.00 for the Proof version of the coin and $916.00 for the Uncirculated version, they changed weekly due to the new pricing policy created by the U.S. Mint to reflect the price of gold. Prices have since increased: according The Official Redbook: A Guide Book of United States Coins 2014 the Julia Gran Gold Coin is now valued at $1,000.00 for the Uncirculated coin, and $1,025.00 for the Proof. When it comes to graded versions of the coin, which is done by companies like NGC and PCGS, the quality insured coins see even more value. As shown on the NGC website at the writing of this article (1/30/15).
The Julia Grant First Spouse Gold Coin certainly achieves what the program was designed for; imparting historic and intrinsic significance back into American coinage. Owning a part of the program would be a welcome addition to any collection or investor's portfolio. If you'd like to learn more about making this beautiful coin a part of your collection, give the experts at Global Monetary Reserve a call at 877-795-9585 today, or if you would like to take a look at our fantastic inventory, that includes others in the First Spouse set, visit our E-commerce site by Clicking Here!
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Gold Comes on Strong in the Face of a Weaker Dollar, Lower Bond Yields, and Rising Global Tensions
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GMRgold's Precious Metals Market Report - June 2018
GMRgold's Bullion Box: What It Is and Why It Makes Perfect Sense
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Paper securities are passe. Enter the world of dematerialised shares, bonds and other securities. Convert your securities to dematerialised form with IDBI Bank Demat Account. It's as simple as opening a Savings Account.
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text:
indecisive's Activity (24)
indecisive added a new comment in
Saudi Arabia Announces "The Line" — A Zero Carbon City With No Cars Or Streets
This is so great! I love how people are finding ways to help the environment! :P
indecisive added a book review.
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell
If you wish to feel lost in a magical, fantastical world of fairy-tales and fables that you might have read when you were younger, then "The Land of Stories" is the perfect book series for you. Alex Bailey was always a studious kind of girl; she payed attention in school with utmost respect. Her twin brother, Conner, is similar appearance-wise with his blue eyes and strawberry-blonde hair. His personality, on the other hand, is quite the opposite of Alex's. Conner is constantly sleeping in class, and doesn't put forward his best effort toward school. Even though Bailey twins didn't realize it, their life was about to change drastically, and the word "normal" would take on a whole new meaning. For their birthday, they received an old storybook as a present from their beloved grandmother. The twins felt shocked. Conner and Alex's grandmother had owned this storybook (titled The Land of Stories) for a very long time, and now she was passing it on to them. They reluctantly accepted the gift from her. When Alex noticed the storybook's pages glowing, the twins discovered its magical qualities and accidentally tumbled into it. They were transported into the breathtaking Land of Stories. It's an incredibly different world where fairy-tales are real and quite alive. The twelve-year-old twins met familiar characters they know and love from stories they have read in their childhood, as well as a talking frog who warmly welcomed them. As enthused as the twins feel about this magical world, they desperately want to return home to their mother. Alex and Conner don't have the storybook they used to teleport to the Land of Stories, so they have no clue how to get home to their mother. That is, until they learn about a powerful spell which can take them back home safely: the magical, wondrous Wishing Spell. The Wishing Spell allows one to wish for anything they could possibly want. (Although I'm not exactly sure if you can wish for more wishes. How about wishing for more Wishing Spells? Ha-ha, I don't know, honestly.) The Bailey twins craft a plan to wish their way home. To create the Wishing Spell, one would need to collect these eight rare items (and of course they're phrased in a riddle-like manner): 1) glass that housed a lonely soul up 'til midnight's final toll, 2) a saber from the deepest sea, meant for a groom's mortality, 3) the bark of a basket held in fright while running from a bark with bite, 4) a stony crown that's made to share, found deep within a savage lair, 5) a needle that pierced the lovely skin of a princess with beauty found within, 6) a wavy lock of golden rope that once was freedom's only hope, 7) glittering jewels whose value increased after preserving the false deceased, and 8) teardrops of a maiden fairy feeling neither magical nor merry. Conner and Alex Bailey embark on a treacherous journey that will take them across the amazing Land of Stories. And, in addition to all of the good characters in a book, there's always an antagonist. The Land of Stories is no exception. There are trolls and goblins, but that's the least of Alex and Conner's worries. Little do the twins know that someone is also after the Wishing Spell ingredients for themselves. Chris Colfer has an phenomenal writing style that makes you feel as if you were traveling with the Conner and Alex in the Land of Stories. This is truly one of the best series I've ever read, and I can't recommend this book enough! If you do read "The Wishing Spell," enjoy!
Origami-Inspired "Lunark" Aims To Provide A Comfortable Abode For Space Travelers
Wow, such impressive tech!
A Warning for All You Harry Potter Fans
This. Article. Is. Amazing. Oof for Charlie, poor kid. I'm glad the cone was removed from his head.
So inspiring!
A Thousand-Year-Old Mystery Of A Medieval Blue Ink Has Finally Been Solved
Wow. It's really phenomenal how it changes color after exposure to sunlight! It's cool how people back then knew to do that. If they didn't know, they probably used trial and error to discover how! The colors are nice and vibrant!
The World's Smallest-Known Dinosaur Measured Less Than 2.25 Inches!
Wow, this is so interesting! I had no idea!
"Wizard" Teacher Transforms His Middle School Classroom Into A Magical Harry Potter Wonderland
Me in that classroom: What spells are we learning today? Teacher: None. We're learning math.
Anonymous Harry Potter Fan Pays An Astounding $394,000 For J.K. Rowling's Chair
Nice chair. It's unique. I wonder what the person's going to do with it. Use it at the kitchen table? Probably not. Put it in the living room? Maybe. Bedroom? Also maybe. What about putting it in your attic where it will never be seen again? Person: . . . no.
Video Of The Week — Muggles Play Quidditch Harry Potter Style
Wow, this is really cool! Scary, but cool. J.K. Rowling has definitely made a huge impact on so many people! Go Griffindor and Hufflepuff! I took a few quizzes and those mixed results. I'm a Griffinpuff I guess. :P
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In his magisterial work The Open Society and Its Enemies philosopher Karl Popper contrasts closed societies with open ones. Closed societies are more collectivist. A key feature is that an individual rarely struggles to understand what the right thing to do is, as social custom has made that clear. Identity, meaning, and purpose are clear.
Open societies are ones in which individuals are "confronted with personal decisions." One must create one's identity and social relations rather than having them created for oneself.
While the shift from more traditional, closed societies to more modern, open ones has created benefits, it has also come with losses. In modern societies many people are lonely and they feel the strain of having to make personal decisions.
It is part of the strain that we are becoming more and more painfully aware of the gross imperfections in our life, of personal as well as of institutional imperfection; of avoidable suffering, of waste and unnecessary ugliness; and at the same time of the fact that it is not impossible for us to do something about all this, but that such improvements would be just as hard to achieve as they are important. This awareness increases the strain of personal responsibility, of carrying the cross of being human.
Popper claimed that this strain explained the appeal of totalitarian states at the time of his writing in the 1940's. It might explain the current reactions against immigrants and refugees and advances in women's and LGBT equality.
But if we wish to remain human, then there is only one way, the way into the open society. We must go on into the unknown, the uncertain and insecure, using what reason we may have to plan as well as we can for both security and freedom.


This 10-day motorbike tour will provide a unique experience, combining an amazing insight to Morocco's most stunning landscapes with the unique experience of SPA and Hammam treatments in awesome hotels combined with visits of the legendary cities of Essaouira and Marrakesh.
Arrival to Marrakesh Transfer to your hotel, where you will be able to settle in and relax by the pool to prepare for your trip the next morning. You will meet your tour guide and go through a welcome briefing as well as the formalities required before the start and you will receive your welcome pack.
Today we will discover to the vast planes that lay between the Atlas and the Ocean. Our ride will take us through smaller country roads to our first stop – the stellar coastal town of Essaouira. The afternoon we will visit the city, exceptional example of a late-18th-century fortified town, built according to the principles of contemporary European military architecture in a North African context and the favourite city of Bob Marley. You will have the chance to explore the old medina, walk on the wide sandy beach, make a nice Segway ride or enjoy the laid back souks and stellar seafood.
Today's ride will take us on one of the most amazing coastal roads of Morocco. We will ride through the Souss-Massa National Park, where you will have the chance to spot the many goats climbing on the Argan trees. The afternoon we will arrive to our Paradise for the next two days, a fantastic surf and yoga retreat hotel with beautiful SPA facilities and on-site surf school.
You can either enjoy your rest day taking surf or yoga lessons at the beach, or opt for a short day-trip on the bike to Paradise Valley and the Cascade of Immouzer.
Another wonderful touring day awaits us full of twists and turns on less frequented roads, combined with beautiful surroundings as we ride to Taroudant. Our stop for the day will be in a riyadh in the village of Taroudant, where you can take a nice walk and there would be great opportunity to buy some Argan oil and the legendary Moroccan saffron growing around this area.
Everyone will love this day as we'll ride on Morocco's famous Tizi n'Test pass to climb over 2,200 metres in The Atlas. Our ride will take us through the High-Atlas National Park, where there will be plenty of turns and switchbacks to enjoy before we arrive to our next stop, Ouirgane.
Today we will continue our journey through the Atlas before descending to Marrakesh. During today's leg, you will enjoy the amazing view of the High-Atlas and the ride through the curvy roads on a perfect tarmac. We will spend the afternoon on a guided tour in Marrakech, to explore the Old Medina, the Jamaa el Fna square with the snake-charmers and its food stalls, the Jarding Majorelle, and there will be plenty of opportunity to buy some gifts and souvenirs. You can also opt for a relaxing afternoon by the pool, or refreshing SPA treatments at the hotel.


Click here to register for date night!
Leap Ahead Preschool is excited to announce that DATE NIGHT has returned. We will try to run at least 2 date nights a month.
You will be provided with instructions on how to access the security cameras if your kiddos are at date night.
NOTE: Reserving a spot is highly recommended, as we are obligated to meet certain state children to teacher ratios. Drop offs without reservations will be accepted on a case by case basis only.


text:
class AddExtraScriptsFields < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def change

    # extra options to be passed to actions as part of hash when creating actions
    add_column :scripts, :analysis_action_params, :JSON
  end
end


I've had an iPhone for about a year and a half now, after previously owning a Windows Phone and Palm Pre. Each time I switch platforms, there's something I miss from my previous experiences, and something I long for in a platform I haven't tried yet. For me, Google Now for Android was this feature that I so desperately wanted to try.
A couple of weeks ago, Google released an update for the Google Search app on the iPhone, with Google Now as the headline feature. A while back, it was rumored that Google would be releasing this update with Now baked in, though this rumor was shot down by Apple, and Google later admitted that Eric Schmidt's comments were not necessarily accurate (or, rather, not interpreted correctly).
Recently, Google Now was also featured at Google's I/O conference. In addition to new cards, such as location aware reminders and public transit information, Google revealed several new services designed with a similar goal to Now– to make your life easier, and to delve deeper into your personal information.
Today, Facebook launched their new "Home" experience and the HTC First. Conceptually, the Android home screen replacement seems like a fantastic idea– it places bright, large photos on your lock screen that can be swiped through when you have a free moment, and focuses on your friends.
But, there's a fundamental issue with placing user generated content on your home screen.
Email is something most working people deal with every day, and have been dealing with for a long time. It's never fun to open your email inbox at the beginning of a work day and see a mix of help requests, advertisements, and the truly important stuff all mixed into a big list of words and colors.
If you've recently noticed a little bar appearing at the top of your screen on this website asking you to follow me on Twitter, then you've already experienced ThreeBar, a new service I've been working on.
In summary, ThreeBar is a welcome bar service that allows you to promote content to your visitors. Whether you're looking to draw visitors to your book's home page, get people to follow you on Twitter, or simply say hello, ThreeBar is designed for you.
In 2010, Pixi Dust made a splash in the WebOS App Market, garnering over 100,000 downloads on the Palm Pre alone. I'm happy to announce that Pixi Dust is now available for Windows 8 tablets and desktops, from the Microsoft Surface RT to the most powerful multi-core x86 gaming desktops.
Recently, I attended and presented at the 2012 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference in Chicago, Illinois. RSNA is a massive gathering– one of the largest in the world–and is a venue for manufacturers and medical software companies to show off the latest Radiology equipment and software. Being a software developer, I sought out several presentations by Radiology residents and graduate students that pertained to technology and medical software. During one of the hands on courses, in which the audience participated in the setup of web based Radiology software (including launching XAMPP and navigating PHPMyAdmin to view the MySQL table structure), I noticed something extremely peculiar.
Update: The experiment has been taken down due to Nodejitsu shutting down their free plans. I'll look into reuploading it at some point.
I've been working pretty hard on one of my projects and decided to take a small break and do a little experiment. A while ago (years?), I saw a website that allowed anyone to type anywhere on the screen. I decided to take a couple of hours tonight and recreate it using Node.JS.
My version of the Wall of Text app is available here.
It's built with Node.JS, Socket.IO, and Express (which really was unnecessary, but I was lazy and didn't want to work with the vanilla Node.JS HTTP server). Nodejitsu is providing the hosting.
The wall resets every six hours and shows the number of users connected in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
Around eight years ago, I sat down at the computer for the first time as a programmer. Little did I know, the simple, tacky website I built was the first step towards the person I am today.


text:
What is Sky Q?
What is HDR?
How to watch Amazon Prime Video
Best Blu-ray players
Nokia TV news
It looks like Nokia is about to launch a smart TV
Maggie Tillman · 6 December 2019
Make this holiday period special with the gift of entertainment - AT&T Unlimited & More SM Premium allows you to go all in this Christmas
- It's 4K and runs an Android-based OS
Nokia is no stranger to licensing its name to third parties, and the latest example comes in the form of a smart TV - a first for the Nokia brand.
Gadgets 360 recently noticed Flipkart, a massive e-commerce retailer in India, is using the Nokia brand on a TV. Described as a "global first for the brand in the TV category" by Flipkart, the new "Nokia Ultra HD 4K LED Smart Android TV" is a 55-inch set with two 24-watt speakers and a sound system from JBL by Harman. To be clear, the TV runs an Android-based operating system, but it might not be Android TV, specifically.
Nokia brings back the flip phone - and it even has Google Assistant
Other features include a 16:9 display with a 60Hz refresh rate, support for Dolby Vision and HDR10, three HDMI ports, two USB ports, a quad-core processor, 2.25GB of RAM, 16GB of ROM, and support for Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi. So, it's decently specc'd for a budget television.
Flipkart is quoted saying it wants to help make "Nokia-branded smart TVs accessible and affordable". As a result, its Nokia-branded TV will launch on 10 December for 41,999 Indian rupees (about $589 in the US or £448 in the UK). There's no indication it will launch internationally, however.
Nokia 8110 4G "banana phone" now on pre-order, relive the 90s
Shop for cell phones, prepaid phones and cell phone plans at AT&T Wireless. AT&T is a wireless telecommunications company providing coverage to millions of customers in the U.S. AT&T offers exclusive products from Apple, Nokia, Sharp, Sony, LG, Moto, Samsung and other manufacturers. The cellular company remains a favourite of consumers who like its sharp voice quality and discounts on cell phone plans.
Source: Flipkart
Via: Gadgets 360
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Cheap flights Airlines
© Lukasz Janyst / 123RF
Aigle Azur Flight Information
Compare the flight prices of your airline tickets with Aigle Azur , among other airlines or low cost sold through travel agents that we are comparing. Find the best prices with Aigle Azur to enjoy your stay. We offer a small listing of the company's history, alliances, customer services and on-board and list of destinations served by Aigle Azur.
Aigle Azur : Presentation
IATA Code: ZI
Website: www.aigle-azur.com
Telephone number : 0 810 797 997
Call sign : Aigle Azur
Headquarters : Tremblay, France
Based at : 5833
Fleet size : 12
Number of yearly passengers : 2 million
Hand luggage size : 56 x 45 x 25 cm
Maximum weight of check in luggage : 20 kg
Aigle Azur : History
Aigle Azur is a French airline company founded in 1946. It belongs to the group GoFast which offers regular flights from France to destinations in Algeria, Portugal, Tunisia, Mali and Russia. Aigle Azur flights also connect passengers with the main cities in Morocco, like Casablanca, Marrakech, Agadir, Fes, Tangier and Oujda. Therefore, although Aigle Azur does not offer direct flights from the UK, it is possible that you may have to take an Aigle Azur connection from France if you wish to visit one of these destinations. In 2010 Aigle Azur and Air Mali created a partnership which allowed the French airline company to advertise flights to other cities in Africa such as Dakar, Abidjan and Brazzaville. In 2010 the Aigle Azur route map was extended further to include Baghdad, however this connection is no longer available due to lack of popularity.
Aigle Azur is a member of the Chinese group HNA which owns 48% of Aigle Azur shares. Later, in 2012 the French airline company joined Corsair in a partnership which continues to this day.
Aigle Azur's main base is at the Paris Orly Airport in France. The Aigle Azur fleet serves flights to 23 destinations from 10 different airports in France and directs more than 300 flights each week.
Aigle Azur : Information about the airline
There are several ways to complete the Aigle Azur check in. Passengers are advised to benefit from the Aigle Azur online check in service in order to avoid long queues at the airport. This service opens 48 hours before the flight departure and remains open until 3 hours before take-off. Alternatively, customers may check in at the airport desk or using the airport's self-service kiosks. All passengers must be present at the gate 45 minutes before boarding.
Aigle Azur baggage restrictions allow each passenger to take one item of carry-on luggage onto the plane. For Aigle Azur Economy Class passengers this item must not weigh more than 10kg, and for Business Class passengers the maximum hand baggage weight is 15kg. The item must also be less than 55x40x20cm in size.
The restrictions placed on Aigle Azur hold baggage vary depending on the different ticket classes and the flight duration and destination. Economy Class passengers may bring one item to place in the hold weighing no more than 20kg without incurring any extra charges (35kg maximum with overweight baggage costs). It is worthwhile checking the Aigle Azur official website for your individual flight's requirements before packing.
Customer and on Board Services Aigle Azur
Onboard Your FlightOnce on board, the safety announcements on Aigle Azur flights are given in the languages of all destinations served by this airline company (Arabic and Berber for Tunisia, Portuguese for Portugal and Songhay for Mali). As for the onboard refreshments, Economy Class passengers can look forward to a hot meal or snack and free drinks. Eco Premium passengers receive preordered food and drinks and those travelling in Business Class will be served with gourmet meals accompanied by champagne and wine, as well as preordered refreshments throughout the flight.
After Your Flight, Loyalty ProgrammeAigle Azur Plus is the airline's loyalty programme through which passengers can cumulate and exchange air miles for discounts, extra baggage allowances and priority check in. Each customer can personalize their loyalty account according to their own needs and interests with the different membership options offering different advantages.
List of destination served by Aigle Azur
Flights France
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Flights to Marseille
Flights to Lille
Flights to Mulhouse
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Flights Algeria
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Flights to Constantine
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Flights to Batna
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Flights to Biskra
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See all flights Algeria
France: Other airlines
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The AUSMEPA Environment Award is presented to worthy recipients to recognise and promote achievements, innovation and best practice in minimising marine pollution and the protection of the marine environment.
and also by email to info@ausmepa.org.au by 30 September each year.
As Executive Officer I am proud to announce that the Port of Brisbane is our most recent SILVER Sponsor. The Port recognises the importance of the health of the marine environment and the education work undertaken by AUSMEPA and the other MEPAs around the world.
In turn, the AUSMEPA Board are pleased to acknowledge the high quality of the Port of Brisbane and welcome their assistance toward our goals in raising awareness, education and action with mariners as well as schools, teachers, students and communities in the Brisbane region.
The AUSMEPA poster packs keep flying off the shelves with another 52 requests being answered this week. We are so glad that you love them but we need your help.
Teachers if you've been using our materials, posters, online units, and e-books or even our new Kid Investigating Sea Solutions we would LOVE some photos of what your students have accomplished and permission to share them on our website.
Occasionally we find teachers have spotted that odd typo that need to be corrected, send that along too.
Teachers, we are so happy that you have enjoyed and continue to enjoy using our free poster sets and we'd like to ask a favour. Can you please keep your eyes open for a request from Survey Monkey about our materials. It will help us to better serve your needs and provide information to our Board as to what you like, use, want and need. Thanks in advance!
A tremendous resource for teachers can be found at the annual Queensland Education Resources Expo (QUEDREX) being held on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July at the RICC Brisbane Showgrounds. Admission is free.
Kids who are investigating things that have to do with the ocean need to keep up with the latest. AUSMEPA has many ways to help you do this and our newest one is specially for you, our KISS News flash. For instance, did you know that June 7th was World Ocean Day?
You can find our easy to read items here.
DON'T KNOW WHERE IT GOES? FIND RECYCLING CENTRES NEAR YOU!
PLANET ARK has supported some great initiatives over the years since it started. One enduring example is their promotion of the RecyclingNearYou.com.au website. On this webpage you merely select your state, provide your suburb, council name, and postcode and you can even select from a wide range of particular products to be recycled. It's worth exploring.
There is little more exciting than finding a grotto or cave in a rocky reef when diving or snorkelling. It begs for its mysteries to be discovered.
This KISS CRAFT project, ROCKY REEF, centres around one of Australia's iconic fish, the Leafy Sea Dragon, Phycodurus eques. This seahorse relative is a graceful creature who moves slowly and relies on their leafy appendages to camouflage them from discovery by predators. The Leafy Seadragon is also the state fish of South Australia and is found across the southern coastline of Australia. View the link here for more information on how to use repurposed and recycled materials to build your own grotto.
Below find the official government media release regarding the international agreement for greater protection related to shipping routes.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has agreed to the Australian Government's proposed extension of the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) to protect the South West Coral Sea.
Overnight the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in London agreed to the new arrangements, which will see an additional 565,000 square kilometres of the South-West Coral Sea added to the existing Great Barrier Reef and Torres strait PSSA—a 140% increase on the current 403,000 square kilometres.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said the adoption of the new PSSA will better protect this beautiful and unique oceanic region.
"The Coral Sea is one of the world's most distinctive and undisturbed marine ecosystems," Mr Truss said.
"It behoves us to do all we can to reasonably and responsibly protect one of our greatest natural resources.
"Our new measures enhance protection for the Coral Sea—as well as the adjacent Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area—by helping ships traverse the region safely and avoid potentially hazardous areas.
"This is a concrete example of the Australian Government taking the necessary steps to protect the Great Barrier Reef, implementing measures outlined in the North East Shipping Management Plan released in October 2014."
Designation as a PSSA helps to protect seas where significant ecological, socio-economic or scientific attributes may be vulnerable to damage by international shipping. The Great Barrier Reef was declared the world's first PSSA in 1990.
Three Associated Protective Measures will support the new PSSA, including a new Area to be Avoided and two supporting two-way routes. These measures will enhance ship safety by keeping traffic away from the many reefs, cays, islets, sandbars and shoal patches within the area. This reduces the risk of groundings and allows more time for intervention in developing situations, such as a ship suffering a mechanical breakdown.
The PSSA will come into effect once the Associated Protective Measures are adopted by the IMO Maritime Safety Committee, expected in June. The APMs would come into effect six months later.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) represents Australia at the IMO to develop standards for ship safety, prevention of marine pollution from ships, search and rescue and maritime communications.
One of AUSMEPAs firm supporters and sponsors, Sun Enterprises, has reported that on 14th of March 2015 one of the tankers under its management, M/T AXIOS, was involved in a successful rescue at sea of 24 persons, including the crew of the fishing vessel SHOFOKU MARU NO 78.
The fishing boat was in distress and on fire. The crew had abandoned it for a life raft north west of Dampier, Western Australia, when the tanker, under instructions from RCC Australia, rescued 6 Japanese and 18 Indonesians on the boat.
The vessel diverted from his original destination to Port Headland, Western Australia, where all survivors disembarked in good health into the hands of the proper authorities.
Come and visit us at the Australian Grains Industry Conference here in Melbourne 27‐29th July 2015. AUSMEPA sponsors Holman Fenwick Willan have kindly donated some space in their exhibition booth. This way AUSMEPA will provide an opportunity to show our amazing array or resources and encourage new sponsorship opportunities to a different industry that relies on shipping and ports in Australia's prestigious waters.
In December 2014 two of AUSMEPA's Ship Member sponsors, SMIT and PB Towage have joined to become SMIT Lamnalco. Smit Lamnalco is recognised as a world leader in marine services. They have the ability to expand and operate to the highest standards in challenging locations. They can make arrangements for specialised vessels to suit most marine services. The company is fully committed to maximizing the local content of our operations.


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Смешанная стоимость (смешанная ценность)  — термин, относящийся к формирующейся концептуальной структуре, при которой некоммерческие организации, бизнес и инвестиции оцениваются на основе их способности создавать смесь финансовой,  и  ценности. Появление термина обычно приписывают Джеду Эмерсону (Jed Emerson), иногда он используется как синоним концепции тройного критерия.

В основе появления смешанных ценностных предложений лежит тот факт, что зачастую ценность не может быть разделена по указанным типам, и по сути находится более чем в одном измерении производительности. Например, под смешанной ценностью в случае коммерческих предприятий понимается социальное и экологическое воздействие на общество, наряду с традиционными финансовыми показателями деятельности предприятия. В том же контексте для некоммерческих организаций учитывается их финансовая эффективность и устойчивость в тандеме с социальными и экологическими показателями.

Смешанно-ценностный подход предполагает, что истинный показатель деятельности любой организации заключается в её способности целостно проанализировать все 3 составляющих своей деятельности.

Смешанная ценность на практике

5 «силосов» смешанной ценности
Смешанная ценность, по Джеду Эмерсону, может быть представлена в виде 5 секторов, или так называемых «силосных башен», в которых организации, чаще всего целенаправленно, ищут сочетание социальных, экологических и финансовых элементов деятельности.

В эти 5 «силосных башен» входят:
 Социальное предприятие: предприятия, которые используют бизнес-навыки и подходы для полноценного и устойчивого социального воздействия, а не максимизации прибыли. Социальные предприниматели стараются обогатить жизнь бедных, больных и бесправных людей.
 Инвестиции социального воздействия: частные инвесторы в стремлении к финансовой, социальной и экологической отдаче предоставляют капитал устойчивым предприятиям с социальной миссией.
 Стратегическая филантропия: подход к благотворительной деятельности, выходящий за рамки простых пожертвований. Филантропическая деятельность ведётся с целью создания социальной ценности, что роднит стратегическую филантропию с инвестициями социального воздействия.
 Программы корпоративной социальной ответственности: термин КСО относят к компаниям и бизнес-менеджерам/лидерам, последовательно интегрирующим стратегии создания экологических и социальных ценностей в свои программы, операции и цепи поставок. КСО также может проявляться в управлении инвестициями и благотворительностью.
 Устойчивое развитие: принцип международного сотрудничества, в котором акцент ставится на , а также улучшении экономического и социального положения развивающихся стран.

Смешанно-ценностные бизнес-модели
Организации, использующие смешанно-ценностные бизнес-модели активно стремятся к максимизации своей ценности для общества, также максимизируя свою финансовую эффективность. В качестве примера можно назвать кооперативы , создающие социальную ценность через гарантированные минимальные закупочные цены на кофе и прямые инвестиции в развитие сообщества. Способность такого кооператива создавать смешанную ценность зависит от его финансовой состоятельности. Прирост смешанной ценности свидетельствует о том, что все 3 компонента (социальный, финансовый, экологический) интегрированы в любое измерение ценности.

Другой пример — социальные предприятия, такие как индийская . Клиники сети предлагают высокое качество лечения глаз, при скользящей шкале расценок — тех, кто не может позволить себе медицинскую помощь, лечат бесплатно, с остальных взимается плата. Даже после поведения лечения более 32 миллионов пациентов (большинство операций проведены бесплатно или на субсидии для бедных людей), клиники сети остаются весьма прибыльными предприятиями. Их финансовая устойчивость, в сочетании с влиянием на здоровье миллионов сельских жителей Индии, позволяет Аравинду поддерживать высокий уровень смешанной ценности.

Цепи поставок
Бизнес-модели цепи поставок также должны учитываться при оценке смешанной добавленной стоимости. Для компании, торгующей одеждой, например, источники продукции с «», вроде обрушившейся в 2013 году в Саваре — будет генерировать низкий уровень социальной ценности. Организации (коммерческие и некоммерческие), выдвигающие смешанно-ценностные предложения, должны тщательно выбирать поставщиков, которые, в свою очередь, также должны генерировать высокую смешанную стоимость; продолжая приведенный выше пример, можно отметить, что компания, выбирающая в качестве поставщика , работающую по принципам справедливой торговли, может обеспечить высокий уровень смешанной добавленной стоимости.

Смешанная стоимость в инвестировании
Джед Эмерсон предложил термин «смешанная стоимость» в контексте инвестирования социального воздействия для описания различных категорий отдачи, к которой должен стремиться инвестор. Эмерсон выдвигает идею о том, что измерение инвестиций только с точки зрения финансовой отдачи — это неискренние оценки реальности, потому что существуют социальные и экологические последствия, связанные с предпринимательской деятельностью. Есть небольшое различие между бизнес-моделью, создающей смешанную стоимость, и инвестицией, также создающей смешанную ценность. Разницу можно объяснить на основе концепции дополнительности.

 — это добавленная стоимость, которую можно отнести к инвестициям (то есть, если инвестиции имеют высокую степень дополнительности, то большая часть воздействия организации может быть выделена и отнесена к определенному вливанию капитала). Обособление этой части предназначено для того, чтобы показать, как именно инвестиционный капитал создает различные уровни стоимости. Организации собирают сведения для того, чтобы сообщать о своих успехах своим инвесторам. Когда инвесторы стремятся к созданию смешанные ценности, они также стремятся к социальной, экологической и финансовой отдаче. Хотя на данный момент не существует единой стандартизированной системы измерения, чтобы определить эту отдачу для инвесторов, такие организаций как GIIN и GIIRS  прикладывают усилия для создания набора инструментов измерения и показателей для целостной оценки инвестиций.

Существующие системы включают в себя:
 IRIS — Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (Стандарты отчётности и инвестирования)
 Рейтинг GIIRS
 SROI — Social Return on Investment (социальный возврат на инвестирование)
 PULSE.

Примечания

Литература

Бизнес-модели
Социальная экономика

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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30 new Covid-19 cases reported, 9 of them new arrivals from Philippines
By Daisy CL Mandap
8 Filipina DHs and one returning resident were among 14 imported cases today
A record number of new arrivals from the Philippines were among 40 new Covid-19 cases reported Monday, Mar 15, by Hong Kong health authorities.
Nine of today's 14 imported cases were all Filipinas, and all except one were foreign domestic workers. All nine carried the mutated strain of the coronavirus, according to Dr Albert Au from the Centre for Health Protection.
Five all flew in aboard Cathay Pacific flight CX 906 which arrived from Manila at about 1:30pm Saturday, prompting Hong Kong authorities to impose a two-week ban on that flight starting today. They included the 43-year-old returning resident and FDHs aged 30 to 43.
Three others landed on the same day, and tested positive at the airport. Two of them aged 32 and 39, took Cebu Pacific flight 5J 272 from Manila; while the third, aged 26, flew in via Philippine Airlines flight PR 300.
The ninth infection involved a 30-year-old Filipina domestic worker who arrived on flight 5J 272 on Mar 2, and tested positive on her 12th day in hotel quarantine.
The number of infected new arrivals from the Philippines was the biggest since Hong Kong imposed stricter travel restrictions on those flying in from abroad on Mar 25 last year.
To date, the biggest number of new arrivals from the Philippines who tested positive on arrival was recorded on Jul 11 last year, when 7 Filipina DHs deployed by a single recruitment agency in the Philippines came in with the virus.
Two other imported cases tested positive for the more infectious coronavirus strain: a male traveler from Pakistan who arrived on Mar 13, and another male traveler from Bangladesh who developed symptoms and tested positive on his 10th day in quarantine.
Rounding up the list of imported cases were another male resident who flew in from Pakistan on Mar 13, and two travelers who tested positive on their 12th day in quarantine – a returnee from Togo and a female domestic worker from Indonesia.
Asked what could explain the rise in the number of imported cases, Au said this reflected the current global situation. "It may be related to the number of cases globally," he said.
For sure, the Philippines is among those currently experiencing a surge in cases, with new daily infections hovering around 5,000 in the past several days.
Of the 16 local cases, 15 are linked to previous infections and one was untraceable. Of the linked cases, 13 were related to the outbreak in Ursus Fitness in Sai Ying Pun.
Au said the total number of cases linked to the gym cluster has gone up to 122, comprising 7 staff members, 85 customers and 30 close contacts. About 860 people identified as close contacts of the confirmed cases have been moved to quarantine centers.
Six more buildings linked to this outbreak were listed for compulsory testing, including the ritzy Borret Mansions, Tregunter Tower 1, Glory Heights and Kam Yuen Mansion in Mid-Levels; and Bellevue Garden on Old Peak Road.
A third case was also found in the HSBC headquarters on Queen's Road Central, prompting the issuance of a compulsory testing order on all workers in the building. But Au said that while the first two were linked to Ursus, the third case had not been to the gym.
Two staff at the US Consulate tested preliminary positive for Covid-19
There were more than 10 preliminary positive cases recorded, including two staff members at the United States Consulate General who were found during the overnight lockdown of Dynasty Court in Mid-Levels that started Sunday.
The couple, a 40-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman, showed no symptoms and last went to work on Friday. The last time they were out of Hong Kong was in September last year, so they are considered as local cases.
Au said the pair recently visited a bar on Staunton Street in Central and a restaurant in Sai Kung but did not go out much.
Hong Kong officials are said to be liaising with the US Consulate on the cases. Au said that if the two are confirmed to have Covid-19, they will be moved to a hospital and isolated in accordance with standard practice. All staff at the Consulate will also be ordered to go for testing.
In a statement, the US Consulate said the employees in question worked in offices where they did not interact with the public. It also said the consulate building has been closed for disinfection and cleansing.


text:
Delaware Man Charged With Adding Cleaner to Coworker's Drink - WBOC-TV 16, Delmarvas News Leader, FOX 21 -
Delaware Man Charged With Adding Cleaner to Coworker's Drink
Friday, January 3, 2020 11:14 AM EST
NEWARK, Del. (AP)- A Delaware man accused of spiking a coworker's drink with a cleaning liquid has been charged with a felony, a police spokesman confirmed to news outlets this week.
A worker at a Newark-area industrial tool plant told police she thought a colleague had been messing with her food and drink for a while, according to court documents obtained by the Delaware News Journal. She told Newark police that on one occasion in April 2019, she left her drink at her desk and when she returned, it smelled like Pine-Sol.
She turned it over to officers, who sent it to a crime lab where it was determined the beverage contained isopropyl alcohol, the documents detailed.
A monthslong investigation concluded when Curtis Malloy, 50, confessed to having added the cleaning solution to the drink, Newark police spokesman Lt. Andrew Rubin told the newspaper. When police confronted Malloy, he told investigators the woman had teased him and he was upset with her, the court documents said. He's charged with adulteration.
Security video from the workplace also showed Malloy at the woman's desk at odd times, Rubin said.


The course of fire has been added to the COF page. Due to popular demand we will be continuing with the 5 practice format so the round count will be at least 52 rounds.
This entry was posted in Competition on 03/18/2015 by Captain Comms.