text:
Infobox Legislature
name = United States Senate
coa_pic = Senate Seal.svg
coa-pic =
session_room = US Senate Session Chamber.jpg
house_type = Upper house
leader1_type = President of the Senate
leader1 = Richard B. Cheney
party1 = (R)
election1 = January 20, 2001
leader2_type = President pro tempore
leader2 = Robert C. Byrd
party2 = (D)
election2 = January 4, 2007
leader4_type = Majority Leader
leader4 = Harry Reid
leader5_type = Minority Leader
leader5 = Mitch McConnell
members = 100
p_groups = Democratic Party
(49 Members*)
(49 Members)
(1 member)
Independent Democratic
(* Both independents caucus with Democrats, for a 51-49 Majority)
election3 = November 7, 2006
meeting_place = Senate Chamber
website = http://www.senate.govThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the Constitution (which does not use the terms "upper" and "lower"). Regardless of population, each U.S state is represented by "two" senators and is therefore based on the equal representation of each state. Senators serve six-year terms that are staggered, so that every two years, a third of the Senate will be elected, while the other third will be elected in another two years, a constant reshuffle. Hence, there are Senate races every two years. According to a theory long popular among scholars of United States government, the Senate is regarded as a more deliberative body than the House of Representatives because the Senate is smaller and its members serve longer terms, allowing for a more collegial and less partisan atmosphere that is somewhat more insulated from public opinion than the House. The Senate has several exclusive powers not granted to the House, including consenting to treaties as a precondition to their ratification and consenting to appointments of Cabinet secretaries and federal judges.
The Framers of the Constitution created a bicameral Congress out of a desire to have two houses to be accountable to each other. One house was intended to be a "people's house" that would be sensitive to public opinion. The other house was intended to represent the states. It was to be a more deliberate forum of 'elite wisdom' where six-year terms insulated the senators from public opinion. The Constitution provides that the approval of both chambers is necessary for the passage of legislation.
The Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate. The name derives from the "senatus", Latin for "council of elders" (from "senex" meaning "old man" in Latin). [cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/senate |title=Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: "senate" |accessdate=2008-06-01]
The chamber of the United States Senate is located in the north wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C., the national capital. The House of Representatives convenes in the south wing of the same building.
Members and elections
Originally, Senators were elected by the state legislatures, not by the citizens. Direct election was established in 1913 by the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, although as many as 29 had previously provided for direct election by way of referendum confirmed by the legislature. [cite web |url=http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Direct_Election_Senators.htm |title=Direct Election of Senators |publisher=U.S. Senate official website] The Constitution further stipulates that no constitutional amendment may deprive a state of its equal representation in the Senate without that state's consent. The District of Columbia and territories are not entitled to any representation. [The District of Columbia elects two Shadow Senators, but they are officials of the D.C. city government and not members of the U.S. Senate.] As there are presently 50 states, the Senate has 100 members.
eniority
In accordance with the convention of Senate seniority, the senator with the longer tenure in each state is known as the "senior senator"; the other is the "junior senator". This convention, however, does not have any official significance.Fact|date=July 2008
Currently, the most-junior "Senior Senator" is Norm Coleman of Minnesota at 77th in seniority; the most-senior "Junior Senator" is Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico at 17th in seniority.
Term of office
Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the Senate seats are up for election every two years. The staggering of the terms is arranged such that both seats from a given state are never contested in the same general election (except when a mid-term vacancy is being filled).
Senate elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, Election Day, and coincide with elections for the House of Representatives. [USC|2|1] Each senator is elected by his or her state as a whole. Generally, a primary election is held first for the Republican and Democratic parties, with the general election following a few months later. Ballot access rules for Independent and minor party candidates vary from State to State.
The winner is the candidate who receives a plurality of the popular vote. In some states, runoffs are held if no candidate wins a majority. Once elected, a senator continues to serve until the end of his or her term, death, resignation, or removal.
The Constitution permits the Senate to expel any member by a two-thirds majority vote. Fifteen senators have been expelled in the history of the Senate: William Blount, for treason, in 1797, and fourteen in 1861 and 1862 for supporting the Confederate secession. Jesse D. Bright was the last Senator to be expelled. Although no senator has been expelled since 1862, many senators have chosen to resign when faced with expulsion proceedings—for example, Bob Packwood in 1995. The Senate has also passed several resolutions censuring or condemning members; censure requires only a simple majority and does not remove a senator from office.
The Seventeenth Amendment provides that vacancies in the Senate, however they arise, may be filled by the executive of a state. Some states provide a special election to fill a vacancy. A special election for a Senate seat need not be held immediately after the vacancy arises; instead, it is typically conducted at the same time as the next biennial congressional election. If a special election for one seat happens to coincide with a general election for the state's other seat, then the two elections are not combined, but are instead contested separately. A senator elected in a special election takes office immediately and serves until the original six-year term expires, and not for a full term. Furthermore, the amendment provides that any state legislature may empower the Governor to temporarily fill vacancies. The interim appointee remains in office until the special election can be held. All states have passed laws authorizing the Governor to make temporary appointments; however, Alaska voters repealed that authorization for their Governor by ballot initiative in 2004. [http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Elections_Campaigns_vrd.htm Elections.] United States Senate. Retrieved on 19 June 2006.] [cite web |url=http://ltgov.state.ak.us/elections/initbal.htm |title=Alaska's ballot initiatives |date=August 3, 2006 |publisher=Alaska Division of Elections |accessdate=2007-12-21]
alary and benefits
The annual salary of each senator, as of 2008, is $169,300; [ [http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/senate_salaries.htm Salaries.] United States Senate. Retrieved on 19 June 2006.] the President pro tempore and party leaders receive $188,100. [ [http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm USGovInfo.com] (accessed Dec. 14, 2007).] Analysis of financial disclosure forms by CNN in June 2003 revealed that at least 40 of the then senators were millionaires. [Loughlin, Sean and Yoon, Robert. " [http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/06/13/senators.finances/ Millionaires populate U.S. Senate] ". CNN, 13 June 2003. Retrieved on 19 June 2006.] In addition to their salaries, senators' retirement and health benefits are identical to other federal employees, and are fully vested after five years of service. [http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa031200a.htm USGovInfo.com] (accessed Dec. 14, 2007).]
Members elected since 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Those elected prior to 1984 were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). In 1984, all members were given the option of remaining with CSRS or switching for FERS. As it is for all other federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3% of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2% of their salary in Social Security taxes. The amount of a senator's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a senator's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary. In 2006, the average annual pension for retired senators and representatives under CSRS was $60,972, while those who retired under FERS, or in combination with CSRS, was $35,952.
In general, Senators are regarded as more important political figures than members of the House of Representatives because there are fewer of them, and because they serve for longer terms, represent larger constituencies (except for House at-large districts, which also comprise entire states), sit on more committees, and have more staffers. The prestige commonly associated with the Senate is reflected by the background of presidents and presidential candidates; far more sitting Senators have been nominees for the presidency than sitting Representatives.
Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for senators: 1) each senator must be at least 30 years old, 2) must have been a citizen of the United States for at least the past nine years, and 3) must be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they seek to represent. The age and citizenship qualifications for senators are more stringent than those for representatives. In Federalist No. 62, James Madison justified this arrangement by arguing that the "senatorial trust" called for a "greater extent of information and stability of character."
The Senate (not the judiciary) is the sole judge of a Senator's qualifications. During its early years, however, the Senate did not closely scrutinize the qualifications of members. As a result, three Senators that were constitutionally disqualified due to age were admitted to the Senate: Henry Clay (aged 29 in 1806), and Armistead Thomson Mason (aged 28 in 1816) and John Eaton (aged 28 in 1818). Such an occurrence, however, has not been repeated since. [ [http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Youngest_Senator.htm 1801-1850, November 16, 1818: Youngest Senator.] United States Senate. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.] In 1934, Rush D. Holt, Sr. was elected to the Senate at the age of 29; he waited until he turned 30 to take the oath of office. Likewise, Joe Biden was elected to the Senate shortly before his 30th birthday in 1972; he had passed his 30th birthday by the time the Senate conducted its swearing-in ceremony for that year's electees in January 1973.
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution disqualifies from the Senate any federal or state officer who had taken the requisite oath to support the Constitution, but later engaged in rebellion or aids the enemies of the United States. This provision, which came into force soon after the end of the Civil War, was intended to prevent those who sided with the Confederacy from serving. That Amendment, however, also provides a method to remove that disqualification: a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress.
The "Majority party" is the political party which either has a majority of seats or can form a coalition or caucus with a majority of seats; if two or more parties are tied, the Vice President's affiliation determines which party is the majority party. The next-largest party is known as the minority party. The President "pro tempore", committee chairmen, and some other officials are generally from the majority party; they have counterparts (for instance, the "ranking members" of committees) in the minority party. Independents and members of third parties (so long as they do not caucus with or support either of the larger parties) are not considered in determining which is the majority party.
Presiding over the Senate
The Vice President of the United States is the "ex officio" President of the Senate and can only vote to break a tie. By convention, however, the Vice President presides over very few Senate debates, attending only on important ceremonial occasions (such as the swearing-in of new senators) or at times when his vote may be needed to break a tie vote. The Constitution authorizes the Senate to elect a President "pro tempore" (Latin for "president for a time") to preside in the Vice President's absence; the most senior senator of the majority party is customarily chosen to serve in this position. Like the Vice President, the President pro tempore does not normally preside over the Senate, but typically delegates the responsibility of presiding to junior senators of the majority party. Frequently, freshmen senators (newly elected members) are allowed to preside so that they may become accustomed to the rules and procedures of the body.
The presiding officer sits in a chair in the front of the Senate chamber. The powers of the presiding officer of the Senate are far less extensive than those of the Speaker of the House. The presiding officer calls on Senators to speak (by the rules of the Senate, the first Senator who rises is recognized); ruling on points of order (objections by Senators that a rule has been breached, subject to appeal to the whole chamber); and announcing the results of votes.
Party leaders
Each party elects Senate party leaders. Floor leaders act as the party chief spokespeople. The Senate Majority Leader is responsible for controlling the agenda of the chamber; for example, by scheduling debates and votes. Each party elects a whip to assist the leader; the whip works to ensure that his party's senators vote as the party leadership desires.
Non-member officers
The Senate is served by several officials who are not members. The Senate's chief administrative officer is the Secretary of the Senate, who maintains public records, disburses salaries, monitors the acquisition of stationery and supplies, and oversees clerks. The Secretary is aided in his work by the Assistant Secretary of the Senate. Another official is the Sergeant-at-Arms, who, as the Senate's chief law enforcement officer, maintains order and security on the Senate premises. The Capitol Police handles routine police work, with the Sergeant-at-Arms primarily responsible for general oversight. Other employees include the Chaplain, who is elected by the Senate, and Pages, who are appointed.
Like the House of Representatives, the Senate meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At one end of the Chamber of the Senate is a dais from which the presiding officer presides. The lower tier of the dais is used by clerks and other officials. One hundred desks are arranged in the Chamber in a semicircular pattern and are divided by a wide central aisle. By tradition, Democrats sit on the right and Republicans to the left of the center aisle as viewed from the presiding officer's chair. Each senator chooses a desk on the basis of seniority within his party. By custom, the leader of each party sits in the front row along the center aisle. Sessions of the Senate are opened with a special prayer or invocation and typically convene on weekdays. Sessions of the Senate are generally open to the public and are broadcast live on television, usually by C-SPAN 2.
Senate procedure depends not only on the rules, but also on a variety of customs and traditions. In many cases, the Senate waives some of its stricter rules by unanimous consent. Unanimous consent agreements are typically negotiated beforehand by party leaders. Any senator may block such an agreement, but in practice objections are rare. The presiding officer enforces the rules of the Senate, and may warn members who deviate from them. The presiding officer sometimes uses the gavel of the Senate to maintain order.
A "hold" is placed when the Leader's office is notified that a senator intends to object to a request for unanimous consent from the Senate to consider or pass a measure. A hold may be placed for any reason and can be lifted by a senator at any time. A senator may place a hold simply to review a bill, to negotiate changes to the bill, or to kill the bill. A bill can be held for as long as the senator who objects to the bill wishes to block its consideration.
Holds can be overcome, but require time-consuming procedures such as filing cloture. Holds are considered to be private communications between a senator and the Leader, and are sometimes referred to as "secret holds." A senator may disclose that he or she has placed a hold.
The Constitution provides that a majority of the Senate constitutes a quorum to do business. Under the rules and customs of the Senate, a quorum is always assumed to be present unless a quorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise. Any senator may request a quorum call by "suggesting the absence of a quorum"; a clerk then calls the roll of the Senate and notes which members are present. In practice, senators rarely request quorum calls to establish the presence of a quorum. Instead, quorum calls are generally used to temporarily delay proceedings; usually such delays are used while waiting for a senator to reach the floor to speak or to give leaders time to negotiate. Once the need for a delay has ended, any senator may request unanimous consent to rescind the quorum call.
During debates, senators may only speak if called upon by the presiding officer, but the presiding officer is required to recognize the first senator who rises to speak. Thus, the presiding officer has little control over the course of debate. Customarily, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader are accorded priority during debates even if another senator rises first. All speeches must be addressed to the presiding officer, who is addressed as "Mr. President" or "Madam President", and not to another member; other Members must be referred to in the third person. In most cases, senators do not refer to each other by name, but by state or position, using forms such as "the senior senator from Virginia", "the gentlewoman from California", or "my distinguished friend the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee".
Aside from decorum, or civility, there are very few restrictions on the content of speeches; there is no requirement that speeches be germane to the matter before the Senate.
The rules of the Senate provide that no senator may make more than two speeches on a motion or bill on the same legislative day. A legislative day begins when the Senate convenes and ends with adjournment; hence, it does not necessarily coincide with the calendar day. The length of these speeches is not limited by the rules; thus, in most cases, senators may speak for as long as they please. Often, the Senate adopts unanimous consent agreements imposing time limits. In other cases (for example, for the budget process), limits are imposed by statute. In general, however, the right to unlimited debate is preserved.
The filibuster is a tactic used to defeat bills and motions by prolonging debate indefinitely. A filibuster may entail long speeches, dilatory motions, and an extensive series of proposed amendments. The Senate may end a filibuster by invoking cloture. In most cases, cloture requires the support of three-fifths of the Senate; however, if the matter before the Senate involves changing the rules of the bodyndash this includes amending provisions regarding the filibusterndash a two-thirds majority is required. In current practice, the threat of filibuster is of more importance than its actual use; almost any motion that does not have the support of three-fifths of the Senate effectively fails. Cloture is invoked rarely, particularly because bipartisan support is usually necessary to obtain the required supermajority, and a bill that already has bipartisan support is rarely subject to threats of filibuster in the first place. If the Senate does invoke cloture, debate does not end immediately; instead, further debate is limited to 30 additional hours unless increased by another three-fifths vote. The longest filibuster speech in the history of the Senate was delivered by Strom Thurmond, who spoke for over 24 hours in an unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. [Quinton, Jeff. " [http://www.jquinton.com/archives/000171.html Thurmond's Filibuster] ". "Backcountry Conservative". 27 July 2003. Retrieved on 19 June 2006.]
When debate concludes, the motion in question is put to a vote. In many cases, the Senate votes by voice vote; the presiding officer puts the question, and Members respond either "Aye" (in favor of the motion) or "No" (against the motion). The presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote. Any senator, however, may challenge the presiding officer's assessment and request a recorded vote. The request may be granted only if it is seconded by one-fifth of the senators present. In practice, however, senators second requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy. When a recorded vote is held, the clerk calls the roll of the Senate in alphabetical order; each senator responds when his or her name is called. Senators who miss the roll call may still cast a vote as long as the recorded vote remains open. The vote is closed at the discretion of the presiding officer, but must remain open for a minimum of 15 minutes. If the vote is tied, the Vice President, if present, is entitled to a casting vote. If the Vice President is not present, the motion fails.
On occasion, the Senate may go into what is called a secret or closed session. During a closed session, the chamber doors are closed, and the galleries are completely cleared of anyone not sworn to secrecy, not instructed in the rules of the closed session, or not essential to the session. Closed sessions are quite rare and usually held only when the Senate is discussing sensitive subject matter such as information critical to national security, private communications from the President, or deliberations during impeachment trials. Any senator may call for and force a closed session as long as the motion is seconded by at least one other member.
chedules
The Senate maintains a Senate Calendar and an Executive Calendar. [ [http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/d_three_sections_with_teasers/calendars.htm "Calendars & Schedules"] via Senate.gov] The former identifies bills and resolutions awaiting Senate floor actions. The latter identifies executive resolutions, treaties, and nominations reported out by Senate committee(s) and awaiting Senate floor action. Both are updated each day the Senate is in session.
:"See List of United States Senate committees for the full list."The Senate uses committees (as well as their subcommittees) for a variety of purposes, including the review of bills and the oversight of the executive branch. The appointment of committee members is formally made by the whole Senate, but the choice of members is actually made by the political parties. Generally, each party honors the preferences of individual senators, giving priority on the basis of seniority. Each party is allocated seats on committees in proportion to its overall strength.
Most committee work is performed by 16 standing committees, each of which has jurisdiction over a specific field such as Finance or Foreign Relations. Each standing committee may consider, amend, and report bills that fall under its jurisdiction. Furthermore, each standing committee considers presidential nominations to offices related to its jurisdiction. (For instance, the Judiciary Committee considers nominees for judgeships, and the Foreign Relations Committee considers nominees for positions in the Department of State.) Committees have extensive powers with regard to bills and nominees; they may block nominees and impede bills from reaching the floor of the Senate. Standing committees also oversee the departments and agencies of the executive branch. In discharging their duties, standing committees have the power to hold hearings and to subpoena witnesses and evidence.
The Senate also has several committees that are not considered standing committees. Such bodies are generally known as select committees or special committees; examples include the Select Committee on Ethics and the Special Committee on Aging. Legislation is referred to some of these committees, although the bulk of legislative work is performed by the standing committees. Committees may be established on an "ad hoc" basis for specific purposes; for instance, the Senate Watergate Committee was a special committee created to investigate the Watergate scandal. Such temporary committees cease to exist after fulfilling their tasks.
The Congress includes joint committees, which include members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Some joint committees oversee independent government bodies; for instance, the Joint Committee on the Library oversees the Library of Congress. Other joint committees serve to make advisory reports; for example, there exists a Joint Committee on Taxation. Bills and nominees are not referred to joint committees. Hence, the power of joint committees is considerably lower than those of standing committees.
Each Senate committee and subcommittee is led by a chairman (usually a member of the majority party). Formerly, committee chairmanship was determined purely by seniority; as a result, several elderly senators continued to serve as chairmen despite severe physical infirmity or even senility. [See, for examples, "American Dictionary of National Biography" on John Sherman and Carter Glass; in general, Ritchie, "Congress", p. 209] Committee chairmen are elected, but, in practice, seniority is rarely bypassed. The chairmen hold extensive powers: they control the committee's agenda, and so decide how much, if any, time to give to a bill; they act with the power of the committee in disapproving or delaying a bill or a nomination by the president; they manage the bills the committee reports on the floor, which was particularly important in mid-century, when floor amendments were thought uncollegial. They also have considerable influence: a Senator who cooperates with his committee chairman is likely to accomplish more good for his State than one who does not. The Senate rules and customs were reformed in the twentieth century, largely in the 1970s; committee chairmen have somewhat less power, and are in general more moderate and collegial in exercising it, than they were before reform. [Ritchie, "Congress", p. 44. Zelizer, "On Capitol Hill" describes this process; one of the reforms is that seniority within the majority party "can" now be bypassed, so that a chairman does run the risk of being deposed by his colleagues. See in particular p. 17, for the unreformed Congress, and pp.188-9, for the Stevenson reforms of 1977.] The second-highest member, the spokesperson on the committee for the minority party, is known in most cases as the Ranking Member. [Ritchie, "Congress", pp .44, 175, 209] In the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Select Committee on Ethics, however, the senior minority member is known as the Vice Chairman.
Legislative functions
Bills may be introduced in either House of Congress. However, the Constitution provides that "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives." As a result, the Senate does not have the power to initiate bills imposing taxes. Furthermore, the House of Representatives holds that the Senate does not have the power to originate appropriation bills, or bills authorizing the expenditure of federal funds. Historically, the Senate has disputed the interpretation advocated by the House. However, whenever the Senate originates an appropriations bill, the House simply refuses to consider it, thereby settling the dispute in practice. The constitutional provision barring the Senate from introducing revenue bills is based on the practice of the British Parliament, in which only the House of Commons may originate such measures.
Although the Constitution gave the House the power to initiate revenue bills, in practice the Senate is equal to the House in the respects of taxation and spending. As Woodrow Wilson wrote: [Wilson|"Congressional Government", Chapter III: "Revenue and Supply". Text common to all printings or "editions"; in "Papers of Woodrow Wilson" it is Vol.4 (1968), p.91; for unchanged text, see p. 13, "ibid." ]
The approval of both the Senate and the House of Representatives is required for any bill, including a revenue bill, to become law. Both Houses must pass the exact same version of the bill; if there are differences, they may be resolved by a conference committee, which includes members of both bodies.
The Constitution provides several unique functions for the Senate that form its ability to "check and balance" the powers of other elements of the Federal Government. These include the requirement that the Senate may advise and must consent to the President's government appointments; also the Senate must ratify all treaties with foreign governments; it tries all impeachments, and it elects the Vice President in the event no person gets a majority of the electoral votes.
The President can make certain appointments only with the advice and consent of the Senate. Officials whose appointments require the Senate's approval include members of the Cabinet, heads of most federal executive agencies, ambassadors, Justices of the Supreme Court, and other federal judges. Under the Constitution, a large number of government appointments are subject to potential confirmation; however, Congress has passed legislation to authorize the appointment of many officials without the Senate's consent (usually, confirmation requirements are reserved for those officials with the most significant final decision-making authority). Typically, a nominee is first subject to a hearing before a Senate committee. Thereafter, the nomination is considered by the full Senate. The majority of nominees are confirmed, but in a small number of cases each year, Senate Committees will purposely fail to act on a nominations in order to block it. Also, the President sometimes withdraws nominations when they appear unlikely to be confirmed. Because of this, outright rejections of nominees on the Senate Floor are quite infrequent (there have been only nine Cabinet nominees rejected outright in the history of the United States).
The powers of the Senate with respect to nominations are, however, subject to some constraints. For instance, the Constitution provides that the President may make an appointment during a congressional recess without the Senate's advice and consent. The recess appointment remains valid only temporarily; the office becomes vacant again at the end of the next congressional session. Nevertheless, Presidents have frequently used recess appointments to circumvent the possibility that the Senate may reject the nominee. Furthermore, as the Supreme Court held in "Myers v. United States", although the Senate's advice and consent is required for the appointment of certain executive branch officials, it is not necessary for their removal. [ [http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RS21308.pdf Recess Appointments FAQ] (PDF). US Senate, Congressional Research Service. Retrieved on November 20, 2007; Ritchie, "Congress" p. 178.]
The Senate also has a role in the process of ratifying treaties. The Constitution provides that the President may only ratify a treaty if two-thirds of the senators vote to grant advice and consent. However, not all international agreements are considered treaties, and therefore do not require the Senate's approval. Congress has passed laws authorizing the President to conclude executive agreements without action by the Senate. Similarly, the President may make congressional-executive agreements with the approval of a simple majority in each House of Congress, rather than a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Neither executive agreements nor congressional-executive agreements are mentioned in the Constitution, leading some to suggest that they unconstitutionally circumvent the treaty-ratification process. However, the validity of such agreements has been upheld by courts. [For an example, and a discussion of the literature, see Laurence H. Tribe, " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0017-811X%28199504%29108%3A6%3C1221%3ATTASSR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K Taking Text and Structure Seriously: Reflections on Free-Form Method in Constitutional Interpretation] ", "Harvard Law Review", Vol. 108, No. 6. (Apr., 1995), pp. 1221-1303. ]
The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach federal officials for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and empowers the Senate to try such impeachments. If the sitting President of the United States is being tried, the Chief Justice of the United States presides over the trial. During any impeachment trial, senators are constitutionally required to sit on oath or affirmation. Conviction requires a two-thirds majority of the senators present. A convicted official is automatically removed from office; in addition, the Senate may stipulate that the defendant be banned from holding office in the future. No further punishment is permitted during the impeachment proceedings; however, the party may face criminal penalties in a normal court of law.
In the history of the United States, the House of Representatives has impeached sixteen officials, of whom seven were convicted. (One resigned before the Senate could complete the trial.) [ [http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Senate_Impeachment_Role.htm#4 Complete list of impeachment trials.] United States Senate. Retrieved on November 20, 2007] Only two Presidents of the United States have ever been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both trials ended in acquittal; in Johnson's case, the Senate fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
Under the Twelfth Amendment, the Senate has the power to elect the Vice President if no vice presidential candidate receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College. The Twelfth Amendment requires the Senate to choose from the two candidates with the highest numbers of electoral votes. Electoral College deadlocks are very rare; in the history of the United States, the Senate has only had to break a deadlock once, in 1837, when it elected Richard Mentor Johnson. The power to elect the President in the case of an Electoral College deadlock belongs to the House of Representatives.
Current composition and latest election results
The 110th United States Congress, which began January 4, 2007:
Note: In the months between the election and the swearing in of the Congress, Sen. Joe Lieberman (Connecticut for Lieberman Party-CT) initially refused to rule out caucusing with the Republicans, which would have put Republicans in control of the Senate. [" [http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/11/12/lieberman_refuses_to_close_door_on_switching_parties/ Lieberman refuses to close door on switching parties] ". "Boston Globe", November 12, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.] A similar situation happened in the Great Senate Deadlock of 1881. [ [http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Senate_Deadlock_1881.htm The Great Senate Deadlock of 1881.] United States Senate. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.] However, any future changes in the party composition in the Senate during the 110th Congress would not necessarily change Democratic control of the Senate due to the organizing resolutions agreed to at the beginning of the session. [Weisman, Jonathan and Shailagh Murray. " [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/04/AR2007010400802_pf.html Democrats Take Control on Hill: New Speaker Pelosi Shepherds Ethics Bills To Passage in House] ." "Washington Post", January 5, 2007, p. A01. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.]
*Demographics of the United States Congress
*List of former United States Senators
*United States postal abbreviations
*Women in the United States Senate
Official Senate histories
The following are published by the Senate Historical Office.
* "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1989"
* Robert C. Byrd. "The Senate, 1789–1989". Four volumes.
**Vol. I, a chronological series of addresses on the history of the Senate
**Vol. II, a topical series of addresses on various aspects of the Senate's operation and powers
**Vol. III, Classic Speeches, 1830–1993
**Vol. IV, Historical Statistics, 1789–1992
* Dole, Bob. "Historical Almanac of the United States Senate"
* Hatfield, Mark O., with the Senate Historical Office. "Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789–1993" ( [http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Vice_President.htm essays reprinted online] )
*Frumin, Alan S. " [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/riddick/index.html Riddick's Senate Procedure] ". Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1992.
*Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, "The Almanac of American Politics 1976: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts" (1975); new edition every 2 years
*Davidson, Roger H., and Walter J. Oleszek, eds. (1998). "Congress and Its Members", 6th ed. Washington DC: "Congressional Quarterly." (Legislative procedure, informal practices, and member information)
*Congressional Quarterly " Congress and the Nation: 2001–2004: A Review of Government and Politics: 107th and 108th Congresses " (2005); massive, highly detailed summary of Congressional activity, as well as major executive and judicial decisions; based on "Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report" and the annual CQ almanac.
**Congressional Quarterly, "Congress and the Nation: 1997–2001 " (2002)
**Congressional Quarterly. "Congress and the Nation: 1993–1996 " (1998)
**Congressional Quarterly, "Congress and the Nation: 1945–1964 " (1965), the first of the series
*Baker, Richard A. "The Senate of the United States: A Bicentennial History" Krieger, 1988.
*Baker, Richard A., ed., "First Among Equals: Outstanding Senate Leaders of the Twentieth Century" Congressional Quarterly, 1991.
*David W. Brady and Mathew D. McCubbins. "Party, Process, and Political Change in Congress: New Perspectives on the History of Congress" (2002)
*Caro, Robert A. "The Years of Lyndon Johnson. Vol. 3: Master of the Senate." Knopf, 2002.
*Comiskey, Michael. "Seeking Justices: The Judging of Supreme Court Nominees" U. Press of Kansas, 2004.
*Cooper, John Milton, Jr. "Breaking the Heart of the World: Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the League of Nations. " Cambridge U. Press, 2001.
*Gould, Lewis L. "The Most Exclusive Club: A History Of The Modern United States Senate" (2005)
*Hernon, Joseph Martin. "Profiles in Character: Hubris and Heroism in the U.S. Senate, 1789–1990" Sharpe, 1997.
*Hoebeke, C. H. "The Road to Mass Democracy: Original Intent and the Seventeenth Amendment." Transaction Books, 1995.(popular elections of Senators)
*Lee, Frances E. and Oppenheimer, Bruce I. "Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation." U. of Chicago Press 1999. 304 pp.
*McFarland, Ernest W. "The Ernest W. McFarland Papers: The United States Senate Years, 1940–1952." Prescott, Ariz.: Sharlot Hall Museum, 1995 (Democratic majority leader 1950–52)
*Malsberger, John W. "From Obstruction to Moderation: The Transformation of Senate Conservatism, 1938–1952." Susquehanna U. Press 2000
*Mann, Robert. "The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights." Harcourt Brace, 1996
*Ritchie, Donald A. "Press Gallery: Congress and the Washington Correspondents". Harvard University Press, 1991.
*Ritchie, Donald A. "The Congress of the United States: A Student Companion" Oxford University Press, 2001 (2nd edition).
*Ritchie, Donald A. "Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corps" Oxford University Press, 2005.
*Rothman, David. "Politics and Power the United States Senate 1869–1901" (1966)
*Swift, Elaine K. "The Making of an American Senate: Reconstitutive Change in Congress, 1787–1841". U. of Michigan Press, 1996
*Valeo, Frank. "Mike Mansfield, Majority Leader: A Different Kind of Senate, 1961–1976" Sharpe, 1999 (Senate Democratic leader)
*VanBeek, Stephen D. "Post-Passage Politics: Bicameral Resolution in Congress." U. of Pittsburgh Press 1995
*Weller, Cecil Edward, Jr. "Joe T. Robinson: Always a Loyal Democrat." U. of Arkansas Press, 1998. (Arkansas Democrat who was Majority leader in 1930s)
*Wilson, Woodrow. "Congressional Government." New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1885; also 15th ed. 1900, repr. by photoreprint, Transaction books, 2002.
*Wirls, Daniel and Wirls, Stephen. "The Invention of the United States Senate" Johns Hopkins U. Press, 2004. (Early history)
*Zelizer, Julian E. "On Capitol Hill : The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948–2000" (2006)
*Zelizer, Julian E., ed. "The American Congress: The Building of Democracy" (2004) (overview)
* [http://www.senate.gov The United States Senate Official Website.]
* [http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/search.tkl?q=senate&search_crit=subject&search=Search&date1=Anytime&date2=Anytime&type=form Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding the Senate]
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present".]
* [http://rules.senate.gov/senaterules/ Standing Rules of the Senate]
* [http://www.hs.ttu.edu/research/reifman/senatedata.htm Chart of all U.S. Senate seat-holders, by state, 1978–present]
* [http://dca.tufts.edu/features/aas A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825]
* [http://www.aggdata.com/political/us-senators Complete Downloadable List of U.S. Senator Contact Information]
Prise de fer
IEEE 754 revision
United States Senate — Der Senat ist neben dem Repräsentantenhaus eine der beiden Kammern des Kongresses der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. Jeder Bundesstaat ist in der Parlamentskammer durch zwei Senatoren vertreten, die beide auf sechs Jahre gewählt sind. Im… … Deutsch Wikipedia
United States Senate — noun the upper house of the United States Congress • Syn: ↑U.S. Senate, ↑US Senate, ↑Senate • Hypernyms: ↑senate • Member Holonyms: ↑Congress, ↑United States Congress, ↑ … Useful english dictionary
United States Senate — (also the Senate) the upper house of the US Congress. There are 100 Senators (two from each state), and they are elected for periods of six years. Laws must be passed by both houses (i.e. the Senate and the House of Representatives), but the… … Universalium
United States Senate — upper house of Congress … English contemporary dictionary
United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008 — 2002 ← November 4, 2008 → 2014 … Wikipedia
United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, 2010 — 2006 ← January 19, 2010 (2010 01 1 … Wikipedia
United States Senate election in Illinois, 2010 — 2004 ← November 2, 2010 → 2016 … Wikipedia
United States Senate election in Connecticut, 2006 — 2000 ← November 7, 2006 → 2012 … Wikipedia
United States Senate election in Oregon, 2008 — 2002 ← November 4, 2008 → 2014 … Wikipedia
United States Senate election in New York, 2006 — 2000 ← November 7, 2006 → 2010 2012 … Wikipedia


text:
Q: gcloud machine learning error compatibility keras incompatibility I'm working with machine learning on gcloud using SDK on my local terminal.
I'm running the following command:
gcloud ai-platform jobs submit training segmentation_maskrcnn_test_16 \
    --runtime-version 2.1 \
    --python-version 3.7 \
    --job-dir=gs://image-segmentation-meat/training_process \
    --package-path ./object_detection \
    --module-name object_detection.model_main_tf2 \
    --region us-central1 \
    --scale-tier CUSTOM \
    --master-machine-type n1-highcpu-32 \
    --master-accelerator count=8,type=nvidia-tesla-k80 \
    -- \
    --model_dir=gs://image-segmentation-meat/training_process \
    --pipeline_config_path=gs://image-segmentation-meat/mask_rcnn_inception_resnet_v2_1024x1024_coco17_gpu-8.config

But I got several errors like this:

I used this command to fix the problem direct on my terminal:
conda install -c conda-forge keras-preprocessing==1.1.0

I'm using miniconda on ubuntu 20.02, but didn't work. How and where I fix this?

A: In the end it was a simple error, I just needed to change the comand line on my terminal.
    gcloud ai-platform jobs submit training segmentation_maskrcnn_test_16 \
        --runtime-version 2.5 \
        --python-version 3.7 \
        --job-dir=gs://image-segmentation-meat/training_process \
        --package-path ./object_detection \
        --module-name object_detection.model_main_tf2 \
        --region us-central1 \
        --scale-tier CUSTOM \
        --master-machine-type n1-highcpu-32 \
        --master-accelerator count=8,type=nvidia-tesla-k80 \
        -- \
        --model_dir=gs://image-segmentation-meat/training_process \
        --pipeline_config_path=gs://image-segmentation-meat/mask_rcnn_inception_resnet_v2_1024x1024_coco17_gpu-8.config

So I changed --runtime-version 2.1 with --runtime-version 2.5.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


HUNK² Apollo Cerise² is part of our sexiest and premium quality sale trunks collection. Premium among premium , Apollo Cerise² is available in pink and white colors.
The new members of the Apollo collection, these premium trunks bring the best of HUNK² prints and top quality fabrics. HUNK² Apollo Cerise² is part of our sexiest and premium quality sale trunks collection. Premium among premium , Apollo Cerise² is available in pink and white colors.


A chocolaty, dense, super moist cake filled good hidden ingredients. This is a great cake for Mother's Day or any time you want to cheat without all of the guilt.
For the moms who appreciate treats without all the guilt, this cake is the perfect choice for Mother's Day. It tastes exactly as it looks, chocolaty, fudgy, dense and super moist. Even better, you can't taste what you don't see. What you don't see is a whole lot of goodness; avocado, black beans, flaxseed. And you won't miss what is not there, saturated fat filled butter, cholesterol ridden eggs, and a whole lotta sugar.
Keep it light with a dusting of powdered sugar or make it fancy with icing galore (I know, this defeats the purpose of the "healthy" cake, but it's your cake, your call GOSH DARN IT!).
One word of warning; this little beauty takes a really long time to bake, over 2 hours. But as they say, all good things are worth the wait. Be patient and enjoy the process!
In this household, I am known for sneaking secret ingredients into my dishes, although it may not be evident based most of the recipes you see on this site. To find more healthy recipes, check out my old blog.
Happy Mother's Day to all those hard working moms out there!!
Pour about 1/2 inch of water in a large shallow pan (needs to be a few inches wider in diameter than the bundt cake pan) and place it in the oven.
Heat some water on the stovetop and set aside.
Place dark chocolate in a small microwaveable bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. If there are lumps, microwave for an additional 15 seconds. Set aside.
Place black beans, avocado and 3/4 cup water into a food processor. Puree until smooth.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, flaxseed, sugar, and Stevia powder. Blend well using a whisk. Make 2 holes. Add vinegar in one, baking soda in the second. Pour the remaining water, oil, dark chocolate, and vanilla extract over the mixture and blend well using a wire whisk. Add the black bean and avocado puree. Whisk until well blended.
Generously coat a 12-cup bundt cake pan with cooking spray. Pour in batter. Coat a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray. Cover the top of the bundt cake pan and seal the edges. Place in oven in the water bath. Add enough hot water to go 2/3 way up the side of the cake pan. Bake for 1hr 50 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a faint brown smear. Cool for 15 minutes. Remove cake from pan. Cool, inverted on a wire rack.
Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with icing.
To make icing, whisk first 3 ingredients until smooth. Equally divide into two separate bowls. To one bowl, add a few drops of food coloring to obtain desired color. Place content of each bowl into separate sturdy plastic bags. Make a tiny cut in a corner of each bag. Pipe icing onto cake.
Note: I use a tablespoon of Stevia powder to replace 7 to 8 tablespoons of sugar. Keep this in mind if you are using other sugar substitutes and adjust accordingly.
That looks DELISH!!! Happy Mother's Day to you!!!


text:
Genesis 27:30 - 40
Book of Genesis
Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, "Let R790 my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you R791 F491 may bless me."
Isaac his father said to him, "Who R792 are you?" And he said, "I am your son, your R793 firstborn, Esau."
Then Isaac trembled F492 violently, and said, "Who R794 was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, R795 and he shall be blessed."
When Esau heard the words of his father, he R796 cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!"
And he said, "Your R797 brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing."
Then he said, "Is F493 he not rightly named Jacob, R798 for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing." And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"
But Isaac replied to Esau, "Behold, I have made him your R799 master, and all his relatives F494 I have given to him as F495 servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?"
Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his voice and wept. R800
Then Isaac R801 his father answered and said to him, "Behold, away R802 F496 from the fertility F497 of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away F496 from the dew of heaven from above.
"By your sword you shall live, And your brother you R803 shall serve; But it shall come about when R804 you become restless, That you will break F498 his yoke from your neck."
F491 Lit your soul
F492 Lit trembled with a very great trembling
F493 Or Was he then named Jacob that he has
F494 Lit brothers
F495 Lit for
F496 Or of
F497 Lit fatness
F498 Lit tear off
R790 Genesis 27:19
R791 Genesis 27:4
R793 Genesis 25:33,34
R795 Genesis 25:23; 28:3,4; Numbers 23:20
R796 Hebrews 12:17
R798 Genesis 25:26,32-34
R802 Genesis 27:28; Deuteronomy 33:13,28
R803 Genesis 25:23;
R804 2 Kings 8:20-22

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Фудбалска репрезентација Есватинија (, ) национални је фудбалски тим који на међународној фудбалској сцени представља афричку државу Есватини (до 2018 познату под именом Свазиланд). Делује под ингеренцијом Фудбалског савеза Есватинија који је основан 1968, а у пуноправном чланству КАФ и ФИФА је од 1976, односно од 1978. године.

Репрезентација је позната под надимком -{Краљев штит}-, национална боја је плава, а своје домаће утакмице тим игра на стадиону Краљ Собуза II у Мбабанеу. ФИФА кôд земље је -{SWZ}-. Најбољи пласман на ФИФа ранг листи репрезентација Есватинија остварила је у периоду април−мај 2017. када је заузимала 88. место, док је најлошији пласман имала током септембра и октобра 2012. када је заузимала 190. место.

Репрезентација Есватинија се у досадашњој историји никада није пласирала на неко од светских или континенталних првенстава.

Резултати на светским првенствима

Афрички куп нација

Види још
 Фудбалски савез Есватинија
 Есватини

Референце

Спољашње везе
 Званичан сајт ФС Есватинија
 Профил Савеза и репрезентације на сајту ФИФА
 Профил на сајту -{national-football-teams.com}-

Есватини
Фудбал у Есватинију
Репрезентације Есватинија

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This amazing technique will make your doll bend and strike poses!
ileneccc + 1 Thank you very much!
Nurunisa + 2 Thank you very much!
sundrop016 + 6 Thank you very much!
Madlen + 3 Thank you very much!
This works with fabric dolls as well. I used to use pipe cleaners with hand made dolls when I was younger.
Merci pour le pas à pas de la réalisation de ce "Skeleton for Amigurumi Dolls".
Uau! Thank you so much! This is very helpfull to make poseable dolls!
Thank you for sharing. This is very useful information.
I never use one but, still, that could be useful one day !
2019-4-19 14:57 GMT+8 , Processed in 0.076367 sec., 28 queries , Gzip On, XCache On.


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GridView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:id="@+id/gridview"
    android:horizontalSpacing="5dp"
    android:verticalSpacing="5dp"
    android:numColumns="auto_fit">

</GridView>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


WHWS Listens: Week Of Sept. 25th!
Catch up on this week's video for new music from Maggie Rodgers, Rostam, Parquet Courts and Knox Fortune!
Previous PostPrevious WHWS Listens: Week of Sept. 18th, 2017 !
Next PostNext WHWS Listens: Week of Oct. 2nd, 2017!


Students slowly made their way into the old caf as the day was coming to an end. They gathered around the tables on Friday, May 11th to start what would be a long discussion on monologues and character building. Some of the class was absent but this did not stop Mr Howe when it came to reading monologues.
Mr Howe, the senior acting teacher, had previously encouraged the students to go out into the Mill Bay community and interview people. The class also did the same thing on the Brentwood campus. He wanted us to ask the people about their life and how they are affected by Brentwood College School. With those interviews, we were asked to create monologues. He wanted the students to explore every possible aspect of living in Mill Bay, whether it be from a student's point of view, a staff's or even someone living outside of Brentwood. He wanted to create something similar to Working, a musical based on a collection of stories of people and their work. He thought that if we created monologues that we could put them together and form a script similar to that of Working.
Hayden U, Ellis '19, wrote a monologue in which his character talked about not wanting to be at Brentwood. His character seemed very pessimistic about life, and talked about not wanting to die from an asthma attack because a bigger kid had sat on him for too long. Phoebe H, Hope '19, based her character's monologue on Ms Widenmaier, how she used to be a nun, and her time as a young adult. The reading of the monologues continued. Ash M, Mackenzie '20, based their character off someone they had interviewed the previous week. The character complained that she didn't like signing in at the cafeteria, and how she believed that there was a lack of communications between the staff.
Mr Howe was very interested in all of the monologues and ushered us to continue to perfect them. Then, with all the monologues in hand, Mr Howe thanked the class for finally having their work handed in on time and excused them for dinner - and be sure to sign in.


text:
Congress Needs an Opioid Intervention
J. RICH | From the November 2018 Issue
(GeorgePeters/iStock)
In an effort to "combat the opioid crisis" in America, Congress is calling for a slate of governmental interventions that have been tried, tested, and shown to cause more harm. In June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed 50 bills, with more to come, that throw billions of dollars at already rich universities, hand responsibility for determining addiction treatment procedures to the federal government, and allow the U.S. attorney general to ban vaguely defined substances, among many other clumsy actions. Too much of the new legislation is grounded in the "overprescription" hypothesis, which blames the current unprecedented rates of overdose on an expansion in the number of opioid prescriptions that began in the 1990s. The consensus around this theory has prompted Congress to further restrict opioid prescription access.
In responding this way, Congress is ignoring decades of its own data and a lesson Americans should have learned long ago: When government restricts access to something people want, it drives demand to the black market. In this case, as opioids have become increasingly difficult to obtain legally in the last decade, users have switched to "diverted" prescription medications and illicit alternatives, including heroin. And just as Prohibition pushed bootleggers to switch from beer to potent bathtub gin, traffickers are increasingly adulterating their narcotics with potent synthetic opioids such as sufentanil—a substance that can be up to 500 times stronger than morphine.
Thanks to prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), state-level limits on the number of pills a patient can receive, and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) orders to reduce opioid manufacturing, prescription rates are now at their lowest level since 2006. Yet the overdose death toll over the last eight years is at a historic high.
It is true that leading up to peak prescribing, at the end of the last decade, prescription opioids caused the majority of drug overdoses. It also seems likely that the increased availability of pain relievers made prescription drugs more popular among users. (Overdoses from other drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, decreased during this period as users switched to opioids.) But cracking down on those prescriptions not only failed to stem the tide of overdose deaths—it threw the crisis into high gear. The opioid overdose mortality rate has increased by more than 90 percent since 2010.
It's clear that the black market has claimed the economy ceded by restrictions on the legal market. Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that pain reliever abuse rates have been flat since 2002. Heroin abuse rates, meanwhile, increased only after opioid prescription rates started to decline.
Looking more closely at the states with the highest opioid death rates (along with Washington, D.C.) brings the problem into focus. Notice on the following chart the sharp increases in fatality numbers that follow legislated reductions in opioid prescribing. That relationship holds throughout the country and becomes more profound as the length and magnitude of opioid restrictions increase.
Joanna Andreasson
In 2011, Ohio became one of the first states to require doctor participation in PDMPs, which force practitioners to report all opioid prescriptions to an electronic medical records database that can be raided by federal drug authorities* at any time. Prescription rates declined, but the state now has the most opioid overdoses in the country.
Legislators should have noticed the large spike in overdoses and wondered if their involvement was making the problem worse. Instead, they doubled down. Last year, Ohio lawmakers passed a seven-day limit on acute pain medications—meaning no matter what the malady, your doctor can only give you one week's worth of painkillers.
Obviously, the intention was to stem the overdose epidemic in the state. But preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that the total number of overdoses in Ohio likely set another national record in 2017.
Despite that failure, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman has introduced an even shorter nationwide limit on acute pain prescriptions—including for all surgeries. If enacted, patients will have to physically show up to their doctors' offices every three days to plead for a refill. In addition to being an incredible burden on people who are, by definition, already suffering, this policy is unlikely to save any lives: Opioid prescription deaths that are not the result of heroin or fentanyl use have remained constant at just under 10,000 per year since prescription rates started decreasing in 2010.
Members of Congress from Ohio are also aggressively pushing PDMP participation across the country, which risks making that state's problems nationwide.
The goal of these programs is to stop negligent opioid overprescription, but there is strong evidence that fearful practitioners are now giving people less medication than they need to keep pain at tolerable levels. Although most doctors want to prioritize their patients' needs, they are understandably willing to sacrifice patient comfort to avoid criminal prosecution, and prescriber infractions are treated differently than most crimes under federal law. The Controlled Substances Act authorizes the DEA to circumvent Fourth Amendment judicial approval and seize PDMP records without a warrant. Oregon* and Utah have both sued to stop this practice, but the courts have sided with the feds, finding that when it comes to highly regulated pharmaceuticals, "physicians and patients have no reasonable expectation of privacy from the DEA."
Evidence from abroad shows that there are far more effective approaches to dealing with an opioid crisis. In France, policy makers successfully addressed their own overdose epidemic by relaxing regulations on medication-assisted treatment, which combines addiction therapy with less-dangerous prescription opioids like buprenorphine and methadone. The result was a 79 percent drop in overdose deaths in four years. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, however, would not consider legislation that called for similar access.
Congress needs an intervention. Instead of learning from the French experience, and the unanimously positive experiences in other liberalizing countries, lawmakers intend to spend billions of dollars and pile on even more red tape to paper over the conundrums government itself created. America is not alone in grappling with an overdose crisis, yet many of our peers in the developed world are on the road to recovery. We're still searching for rock bottom.
CORRECTION: The original version of this article named Colorado, not Oregon, as a state that sued to stop warrantless seizure of PDMP records. This version also clarifies that while federal drug authorities can pull those records without a warrant, state and local law enforcement may be subject to different privacy requirements.
LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE: https://reason.com/2018/10/18/congress-needs-an-opioid-inter
TAG: J. Rich, GeorgePeters/iStock, Colorado, Oregon, House of Representatives, overprescription, PDMP, Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, reason.com
Tags: Colorado GeorgePeters/iStock House of Representatives J. Rich Oregon overprescription PDMP Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs
← Addiction -vs- Dependence
How Do You Define Pain? →


text:
Q: Objective-C++ file not linking to Cocoa when building library with cmake I have a file in my API that is objective c++. The library builds fine but when I go to compile an application that uses the library I get linker errors for all my objective-c calls:
Undefined symbols:
  "_objc_msgSend", referenced from:
      agui::OSXClipboard::copy(std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&)in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::copy(std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&)in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::copy(std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&)in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::copy(std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&)in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::copy(std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&)in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::copy(std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&)in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::paste()     in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::paste()     in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::paste()     in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::paste()     in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
     (maybe you meant: l_objc_msgSend_fixup_release, l_objc_msgSend_fixup_alloc )
  "_NSPasteboardTypeString", referenced from:
      agui::OSXClipboard::paste()     in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
  "_OBJC_CLASS_$_NSArray", referenced from:
      objc-class-ref-to-NSArray in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
  "_OBJC_CLASS_$_NSString", referenced from:
      objc-class-ref-to-NSString in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
  "_objc_msgSend_fixup", referenced from:
      l_objc_msgSend_fixup_alloc in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      l_objc_msgSend_fixup_release in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
     (maybe you meant: l_objc_msgSend_fixup_release, l_objc_msgSend_fixup_alloc )
  "_OBJC_CLASS_$_NSAutoreleasePool", referenced from:
      objc-class-ref-to-NSAutoreleasePool in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
  "_NSStringPboardType", referenced from:
      agui::OSXClipboard::copy(std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&)in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
      agui::OSXClipboard::copy(std::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&)in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
  "_OBJC_CLASS_$_NSPasteboard", referenced from:
      objc-class-ref-to-NSPasteboard in libAgui.a(OSXClipboard.mm.o)
ld: symbol(s) not found

My goal is not to have to link to cocoa every time I build an app with my gui lib.
Here is the cmake file:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.6)

project(agui)

OPTION(WANT_SHARED "Build agui and the backend as a shared library" OFF)

OPTION(WANT_ALLEGRO5_BACKEND "Build the Allegro 5 backend" ON)

if(APPLE AND NOT IPHONE)
    set(MACOSX 1)
endif(APPLE AND NOT IPHONE)

if(MACOSX)
ADD_DEFINITIONS("-x objective-c++")
endif(MACOSX)

if(MACOSX)
find_library(COCOA_LIBRARY Cocoa)
endif(MACOSX)

set(CLIPBOARD_SOURCE)

if(WIN32)
set(CLIPBOARD_SOURCE src/Agui/Clipboard/WinClipboard.cpp)
endif(WIN32)

if(MACOSX)
set(CLIPBOARD_SOURCE src/Agui/Clipboard/OSXClipboard.mm)
endif(MACOSX)

set(AGUI_SOURCES
    ${CLIPBOARD_SOURCE}
    src/Agui/Clipboard/Clipboard.cpp
    src/Agui/ActionEvent.cpp
    src/Agui/ActionListener.cpp
    src/Agui/BaseTypes.cpp
    src/Agui/BlinkingEvent.cpp
    src/Agui/BorderLayout.cpp
    src/Agui/Color.cpp
    src/Agui/Dimension.cpp
    src/Agui/EmptyWidget.cpp
    src/Agui/EventArgs.cpp
    src/Agui/FlowLayout.cpp
    src/Agui/FocusListener.cpp
    src/Agui/FocusManager.cpp
    src/Agui/Font.cpp
    src/Agui/FontLoader.cpp
    src/Agui/Graphics.cpp
    src/Agui/GridLayout.cpp
    src/Agui/Gui.cpp
    src/Agui/Image.cpp
    src/Agui/ImageLoader.cpp
    src/Agui/Input.cpp
    src/Agui/KeyboardListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Layout.cpp
    src/Agui/MouseListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Point.cpp
    src/Agui/Rectangle.cpp
    src/Agui/ResizableText.cpp
    src/Agui/ResizableBorderLayout.cpp
    src/Agui/SelectionListener.cpp
    src/Agui/TopContainer.cpp
    src/Agui/Widget.cpp
    src/Agui/WidgetListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Button/Button.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Button/ButtonListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/CheckBox/CheckBox.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/CheckBox/CheckBoxListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/DropDown/DropDown.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/DropDown/DropDownListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Frame/Frame.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Frame/FrameListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Label/Label.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Label/LabelListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/ListBox/ListBox.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/ListBox/ListBoxListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/RadioButton/RadioButton.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/RadioButton/RadioButtonListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/RadioButton/RadioButtonGroup.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/ScrollBar/HScrollBar.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/ScrollBar/HScrollBarListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/ScrollBar/VScrollBar.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/ScrollBar/VScrollBarListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/ScrollPane/ScrollPane.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Slider/Slider.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Slider/SliderListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Tab/Tab.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Tab/TabbedPane.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/Tab/TabbedPaneListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/TextBox/TextBox.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/TextBox/TextBoxListener.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/TextBox/ExtendedTextBox.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/TextField/TextField.cpp
    src/Agui/Widgets/TextField/TextFieldListener.cpp
    )

set(ALLEGRO5_BACKEND_SOURCES
    src/Agui/Backends/Allegro5/Allegro5Font.cpp
    src/Agui/Backends/Allegro5/Allegro5FontLoader.cpp
    src/Agui/Backends/Allegro5/Allegro5Graphics.cpp
    src/Agui/Backends/Allegro5/Allegro5Image.cpp
    src/Agui/Backends/Allegro5/Allegro5ImageLoader.cpp
    src/Agui/Backends/Allegro5/Allegro5Input.cpp
    )

    include_directories (./include)
if(WANT_SHARED)
  add_library(agui SHARED ${AGUI_SOURCES})

  if(MACOSX)
  target_link_libraries (agui ${COCOA_LIBRARY})
  endif(MACOSX)

  set_target_properties(agui PROPERTIES DEFINE_SYMBOL "AGUI_BUILD")
  if(WANT_ALLEGRO5_BACKEND)
    add_library(agui_allegro5 SHARED ${ALLEGRO5_BACKEND_SOURCES})
  set_target_properties(agui_allegro5 PROPERTIES DEFINE_SYMBOL "AGUI_BACKEND_BUILD")
  target_link_libraries (agui_allegro5 agui)
  endif()
else()
  add_library(agui STATIC ${AGUI_SOURCES})

  if(MACOSX)
  target_link_libraries (agui ${COCOA_LIBRARY})
  endif(MACOSX)

    if(WANT_ALLEGRO5_BACKEND)
    add_library(agui_allegro5 STATIC ${ALLEGRO5_BACKEND_SOURCES})
   set_target_properties(agui_allegro5 PROPERTIES COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "ALLEGRO_STATICLINK")
  endif()
endif()

I'm telling cmake to find and link to cocoa but it does not seem to do it.
Thanks

A: I had linker errors when compiling an objective-c++ app too. I needed to add this to my CMakeLists.txt:

add_definitions("-x objective-c++") # as you already have
set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS "-framework ServiceManagement -framework Foundation -framework Cocoa")

Without this, the __OBJC__ wasn't defined.


text:
Q: Using R and regex to parse data from unstructured html using XML library My goal is to extract date frequency of news articles from a downloaded html news service file. Step 1: extract dates from html file. Step 2: calculate frequency of articles on a particular date.
I am struggling to parse the data as the file seems relatively unstructured, although I am no XML expert. My process has been as follows:
library(XML)
test <- htmlParse('Xi.html')
rt <- xmlRoot(test)

table(names(rt))

This yields:
body head
   1    1

table(unlist(xmlApply(rt,names)))

which returns:
a     b    br  font    hr  meta style table
1     1     3     2     2     1     2   661
 text title
    3     1

So it seems the majority of information is in the tables. However, these are not structured in a way that could be retrieved via htmlTable() as the data is presented on separate lines BUT the columns are effectively concatenated with no separation of the text.
nodeset <- getNodeSet(test,"//table")
head(nodeset)

gives
[[1]]

[[2]]

1.
港人喜見黃金馬車 馳向中英關係黃金時代

[Ta Kung Pao] 2015-10-27    B21 通識新世代   中英社評

[[3]]

[[4]]

2.
High-level exchanges between China and ROK

[China Daily] 2015-10-27        Asia-Pacific

[[5]]

So rather than trying to extract data by somehow creating a dataframe, I think my only option would be to use a regex to extract the dates from the whole text. I thought a first step to doing this might be to perform a string split on the list after the "]" where all dates in the file are located, so I tried:
b <- unlist(strsplit(test,"]"))

But this returns thee error:
Error in strsplit(test, "]") : non-character argument

I'm appreciative of any help to put me on the right track.
All dates are in the below format:
2015-10-27

A: I know R only a little bit, but strsplit expects a string. You give it test, which is the result from htmlParse and seems to be some sort of tree.

R's regular expressions are either extended or Perl-like. To match all dates no matter what, you can use
\d\d\d\d-\d\d-\d\d

Looking through strsplit's manual, it seems to be the wrong tool for extracting the dates. You should rather look into grep. Something like
dates <- grep("\d\d\d\d-\d\d-\d\d", htmltext, value = TRUE)

might work and should return the dates.


text:
エルゴプラクシ
In a future where the world has been ravaged by a nuclear apocalyse, there exists salvation in a domed city named "Romdo", where humans and their android servants, the AutoReiv, live in. Under the implementation of complete management control, it is a paradise where feelings are literally discarded, and the governing council dictates the way of lif… more In a future where the world has been ravaged by a nuclear apocalyse, there exists salvation in a domed city named "Romdo", where humans and their android servants, the AutoReiv, live in. Under the implementation of complete management control, it is a paradise where feelings are literally discarded, and the governing council dictates the way of life the citizens should live. But this utopian landscape is soon broken by a series of mystifying murders. Re-l Mayer, a female inspector from the Citizen Information Bureau, along with her autoreiv partner Iggy, are tasked to solve the murder cases. She is soon attacked by a creature drawn to her which is neither human nor android, and learns about the mysterious phenomena called "Awakening", an event which draws her further into the case…and to the world beyond the limits of Romdo. less
Category: Dubbed Anime
Rating: 9.71 (7 Votes) Rate it!
Genres: Mystery, Psychological, Sci-Fi
Watch Ergo Proxy
Ergo Proxy Episode 23 Nov 11, 2013
Ergo Proxy Episode 9 Nov 11, 2013


It was a World Cup Qualifying international break, and the weekend turned out better for some nations than others. Here are the four teams and people who ended up with the worst case of the Mondays today.
You'd expect the 30th-ranked team in the world to beat the 65th-ranked team in the world — but not this badly.A turmoil-ridden United States — albeit coming off a lately incredibly disappointing Klinsmann era and settling into old-new coach Bruce Arena, as well as sitting dead last in their qualifying group — was of course favorited to win. They are theoretically a better team, playing a relatively poor Honduras with only 1 win so far in qualifying. But the fact that the U.S. won 6-0 was relatively shocking; this is the same United States that just lost 4-0 to Costa Rica just four months ago, after all. At least, it's shocking in theory, because the way Honduras were playing they could've easily given up more.Now, Honduras are the ones at the bottom of the group. Their -5 goal difference (thanks to the United States) keeps them below both the U.S. and Trinidad and Tobago, also on 1 point. There's still a relatively long way to go, but it isn't looking great right now.
In Ireland's World Cup Qualifying match against Wales, captain Seamus Coleman fractured two parts of his leg after a horrifically dangerous tackle from Neil Taylor. He underwent successful surgery after the match but is likely to be out til the beginning of 2018 — missing the rest of Ireland's qualifying, as well as the rest of Everton's Premier League season and the beginning of the next.The defender played a big part of getting Ireland to the knockout stages of Euro 2016, and he's helped Everton get up to 7th place so far this season while conceding only 30 goals. His absence will be a big loss for both club and country, as Everton is just slightly behind a Europa league spot and Ireland hopes to secure a spot in the 2018 World Cup.Speedy recovery, Seamus.
The Netherlands are in trouble.A 2-0 loss to Belgium sees them 4th in their qualifying group, 6 points off 1st (for an automatic qualification) and 3 points off 2nd (for a playoff spot), which puts them on track to possibly miss the second major tournament in a row (after Euro 2016 last summer).To give them a boost for the last five games of qualifying — starting back up in June — they've also fired their manager, Danny Blind, and look to find a replacement that will jumpstart their chances — just like they did right during Euro 2016 qualifying, incidentally, in hiring Blind. Unlike last time, will this change of pace be enough? Or do the Netherlands simply not have enough quality in the squad to get them where they need to be?


text:
Ayreon 'The Theater Equation' DVD Trailer released
Trailer for DVD release due out on June 17th.
Ayreon's 'The Theater Equation' DVD/Blu-Ray package was recently announced for release on June 17th, 2016, and you can now watch the full trailer for it here:
In September 2015, over the course of four sold-out shows, Ayreon's legendary progressive rock concept album 'The Human Equation' was brought to life as a full-blown musical production at the Nieuwe Luxor theater in Rotterdam.
This limited run of performances was witnessed by die-hard fans from across the world, but now Arjen Lucassen's story can be witnessed by all, as a recording of the final night of those special evenings is being released as both a DVD & Blu-Ray package on June 17th, 2016. 'The Theater Equation' is subtitled in nine different languages and includes nearly one-and-a-half hours of bonus content.
Arjen comments: "Even today as I write this, I am amazed and touched by how hard everyone worked and how much love and care they generously gave to make it all happen. Sometimes the dream becomes reality!"
The stage show stars Dream Theater frontman James Labrie in his original roll as "Me" and features nearly the entire cast of vocalists from the original 2004 album. The main cast is supported by a specially put-together 19-strong Epic Rock Choir. This is a unique document of an undertaking that was surely once in a lifetime.
James LaBrie as 'Me'
Devon Graves as 'Agony'
Heather Findlay as 'Love'
Eric Clayton as 'Reason'
Magnus Ekwall as 'Pride',
Marcela Bovio as 'Wife'
Irene Jansen as 'Passion'
Anneke van Giersbergen as 'Fear',
Jermain van der Bogt (Wudstik) as 'Best Friend'
Mike Mills as 'Rage/Father'
Nienke Verboom as 'Nurse'
Peter Moltmaker as 'Doctor'
Anita van der Hoeven as 'Mom'
Ed Warby: Drums
Jeroen Goossens: Flutes and woodwinds
Johan van Stratum: Bass
Maaike Peterse: Cello
Ben Mathot: Violin
Marcel Coenen: Guitars
Freek Gielen: Guitars
Erik van Ittersum: Keyboards/synths
Ruben Wijga: Keyboards/synths
Epic Rock Choir
'The Theater Equation' will be available as a special edition 2CD+DVD Digipak, standalone Blu-ray, & audio-only Digital Download.
THE HUMAN EQUATION STORY
After a mysterious single-car accident, the victim – a man in his late 30s – lies comatose in the hospital. Before the accident he was a powerful businessman, wildly successful by any measure but also known for his cutthroat business tactics. Now he finds himself trapped in a prison that took him a lifetime to build: the prison of his own mind.
Guarding the prison are his emotions, which have taken on vivid personas inside his mind. Some are friends, some are foes, and they all have their own agendas. Some aim to trick him or dominate him, others to comfort or inspire him. But the one objective they all share is to force him to face up to the demons of his past and the deep truths about who he is and how he's lived his life, all of which he's conveniently ignored until now. Fear, Rage, Agony, Love, Passion, Reason and Pride take turns engaging the man in this emotional warfare.
Two people hold vigil at the man's bedside: his wife and his best friend. They are desperate to understand how the accident happened and to see even the tiniest sign that the man will regain consciousness. But the man's recovery is not their only concern: is it possible that he somehow found out their secret, and that the "accident" wasn't really an accident at all? Would he ever be able to forgive them?
Will the man have the strength to face the truth about himself and the ones he loves? The story unfolds over his twenty-day emotional struggle with Fear, Rage, Agony, Love, Passion, Reason and Pride, in which each day of coma is represented by a song.
arjen lucassen ayreon dvd trailer james labrie the theater equation
Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman announce US tour dates
Anderson / Stolt release trailer for "Invention of Knowledge"
Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Star One shares new single & video for "Prescient" feat. Micheal Mills and Ross Jennings
Arjen Lucassen shares video for second single "Fate of Man" from upcoming Star One album 'Revel in Time'
Dream Theater announce rescheduled Top Of The World US tour dates for 2022
Dream Theater announce Devin Townsend as support for The Top Of The World Europe tour in 2022


text:
Michael Clarke and Catherine McNeil pose for Bonds
CRICKET star Michael Clarke has a new model in his life. After his split with headline magnet Lara Bingle, Clarke has been getting cosy with catwalk queen Catherine McNeil - but only for the cameras.
The pair, who appear together in the new Bonds underwear campaign, have both recently ended long-term relationships.
Clarke ended his engagement to Bingle in March, while McNeil broke up with girlfriend Ruby Rose last month. A newly single status is not the only thing the two have in common.
They have both been left with tattoos of the initials of their exes. McNeil has a small RR tattooed on the left side of her rib cage, while Clarke has LB inked on his right arm.
Clarke said he had no plans to get his former flame's initials removed or covered up.
"I'm proud of my tattoos and every tattoo that I've got has meaning to me," Clarke told Grazia magazine.
"And I think they look great. I certainly haven't changed any tattoos on my arm and I haven't even thought of doing it."


Banks and technology companies led U.S. stocks to modest gains Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to its second record close in two days.
Big retail chains and other consumer-focused stocks were among the gainers. Energy companies rose as the price of crude oil increased. Phone companies and utilities lagged the market.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 4.58 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,447.83. The Dow rose 20.95 points, or 0.1 percent, to 21,553.09. The Nasdaq composite added 13.27 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,274.44. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks inched up 1.34 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,425.66.
The major indexes are all on pace to end the week with gains.
Trading was mostly subdued for much of the day as investors weighed new economic data on applications for unemployment benefits and prices at the wholesale level.
Overall, investors were focused on the coming wave of corporate earnings.
"Markets are really biding their time until we get into tomorrow's more robust earnings releases," said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager for Private Wealth Management at U.S. Bank.
Banks and other financials stocks posted the largest gains. T. Rowe Price Group added $3.61, or 4.8 percent, to $79.19. Goldman Sachs Group rose $3.01, or 1.3 percent, to $230.40. Morgan Stanley picked up 56 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $45.52.
The gains among financial companies came as investors looked ahead to Friday, when several big banks, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo release their second-quarter results.
"Banks certainly operate a bit in their own orbit, but at the same time financials globally are a proxy for the overall economy. Investors are definitely looking to see how those come out," Davidson said.
Traders will be focused on companies' latest quarterly earnings for the next few weeks. The market expects earnings per share growth of about 7 percent from companies in the S&P 500.
Delta Air Lines released its earnings Thursday. Its shares slid 1.8 percent after the company reported a smaller profit and less revenue than analysts expected. The stock shed 98 cents to $54.50.
Traders also bid up shares in technology sector companies. NetApp rose $1.21, or 3 percent, to $41.38. PayPal gained $1.35, or 2.4 percent, to $57.90.
Several large retailers had a good day.
Gap notched the biggest gain among S&P 500 companies. The stock climbed $1.21, or 5.6 percent, to $22.78. Macy's rose 87 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $22.10.
Investors cheered Target's latest quarterly outlook. The retailer raised its second-quarter forecasts and said sales and customer traffic increased. The stock gained $2.44, or 4.8 percent, to $53.31.
"That's been a bit of fresh air in a very, very challenged sector," Davidson said.
NRG Energy climbed 5.3 percent a day after the company disclosed plans to raise up to $4 billion through asset sales in order to lower its debt. The stock picked up $1.11 to $22.20.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's second day testifying before Congress didn't generate any major market-moving news.
Yellen, appearing before a Senate committee, spoke about the dual risks of inflation: prices rising too slowly and prices accelerating too quickly. Her comments appeared to be an effort to modify the impact of her comments before a House committee on Wednesday.
The House remarks were seen as signaling that the Fed might slow the pace of rate hikes if inflation does keep falling below the Fed's 2 percent target. Those remarks assuaged concerns among some traders that the Fed was raising interest rates too quickly in the face of stalling inflation and sluggish U.S. economic growth, setting off a broad market rally.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.35 percent from 2.33 percent late Wednesday.
Benchmark U.S. crude gained 59 cents, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $46.08 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 68 cents, or 1.4 percent, to close at $48.42 per barrel in London.
In other energy futures trading, wholesale gasoline inched up less than 1 cent to $1.53 a gallon. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.49 a gallon. Natural gas fell 2 cents to $2.96 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold fell $1.80 to $1,217.30 an ounce. Silver slid 20 cents to $15.69 an ounce. Copper lost 2 cents to $2.66 a pound.
The dollar slipped to 113.23 yen from 113.25 yen late Wednesday. The euro weakened to $1.1406 from $1.1415.
Major stock indexes in Europe closed mostly higher.
Germany's DAX rose 0.1 percent, while the CAC 40 in France gained 0.3 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was flat.
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.2 percent after a report showed that Chinese trade growth accelerated for a second month in June. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index was flat. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.7 percent.


text:
Q: Google Application Credentials set and not found I have an Amazon EC2 with Linux Instance set up and running for my Java Web Application to consume REST requests. The problem is that I am trying to use Google Cloud Vision in this application to recognize violence/nudity in users pictures.
Accessing the EC2 in my Terminal, I set the GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS by the following command, which I found in the documentation:
export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=<my_json_path.json>

Here comes my first problem: When I restart my server, and ran 'echo $GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS' the variable is gone. Ok, I set it to the bash_profile and bashrc and now it is ok.
But, when I ran my application, consuming the above code, to get the adult and violence status of my picture, I got the following error:
java.io.IOException: The Application Default Credentials are not available. They are available if running in Google Compute Engine. Otherwise, the environment variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS must be defined pointing to a file defining the credentials. See https://developers.google.com/accounts/docs/application-default-credentials for more information.

My code is the following:
Controller:
        if(SafeSearchDetection.isSafe(user.getId())) {
            if(UserDB.updateUserProfile(user)==false){
                throw new SQLException("Failed to Update");
            }
        } else {
            throw new IOException("Explicit Content");
        }

SafeSearchDetection.isSafe(int idUser):
    String path = IMAGES_PATH + idUser + ".jpg";

    try {
        mAdultMedicalViolence = detectSafeSearch(path);
        if(mAdultMedicalViolence.get(0) > 3)
            return false;
        else if(mAdultMedicalViolence.get(1) > 3)
            return false;
        else if(mAdultMedicalViolence.get(2) > 3)
            return false;

    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return true;

detectSafeSearch(String path):
    List<AnnotateImageRequest> requests = new ArrayList<AnnotateImageRequest>();
    ArrayList<Integer> adultMedicalViolence = new ArrayList<Integer>();

    ByteString imgBytes = ByteString.readFrom(new FileInputStream(path));

    Image img = Image.newBuilder().setContent(imgBytes).build();
    Feature feat = Feature.newBuilder().setType(Type.SAFE_SEARCH_DETECTION).build();
    AnnotateImageRequest request = AnnotateImageRequest.newBuilder().addFeatures(feat).setImage(img).build();
    requests.add(request);

    ImageAnnotatorClient client = ImageAnnotatorClient.create();

    BatchAnnotateImagesResponse response = client.batchAnnotateImages(requests);
    List<AnnotateImageResponse> responses = response.getResponsesList();

    for (AnnotateImageResponse res : responses) {
        if (res.hasError()) {
            System.out.println("Error: "+res.getError().getMessage()+"\n");
            return null;
        }

        SafeSearchAnnotation annotation = res.getSafeSearchAnnotation();
        adultMedicalViolence.add(annotation.getAdultValue());
        adultMedicalViolence.add(annotation.getMedicalValue());
        adultMedicalViolence.add(annotation.getViolenceValue());

    }
    for(int content : adultMedicalViolence)
        System.out.println(content + "\n");

    return adultMedicalViolence;

A: My REST application was built above a Tomcat8. After no success running the command:
System.getenv("GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS")

I realize that my problem was in the Environment Variables to Tomcat installation. To correct this, I just created a new file setenv.sh in my /bin with the content:
GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=<my_json_path.json>

And it worked!


Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited has announced an employment notification for 256 Assistant Accountant jobs. All eligible candidates can apply for the posts through online mode before the last date. The last date for submission of the online application form is on 28th October 2016. The job notification includes many details such as age limit, educational qualification, how to apply, important dates, vacancy details, etc.
Educational Qualification: The candidates must have done graduation degree in any recognised university. For more details, refer the official notification.
Age Limit: The candidate's minimum age should be 21 years, and maximum age should be 40 years.
The candidates who belong General/UR and OBC category have to pay the application fee of Rs 900/-.
SC/ST category candidates should pay the application fee of Rs 600/-.
Physically disabled candidates need to pay the application fee of Rs. 10/-.
The candidates will be selected based on their performance in the written exam and interview which will be conducted by the organisation.
If the candidates got selected in this recruitment, then the salary would be Rs Rs. 5,200/- to Rs. 20,200/- with Grade pay of Rs. 3000/-.


Sometimes the arts can be useful in slogging through the ache we feel within. I've assembled some resources below I hope you'll find useful to you in your struggle to persist through suffering. Please let me know if you have recommendations for other resources!
Visuals of Suffering – Paintings, photographer, video.
Music of Suffering – Music, with or without words from a variety of genres.
Scriptures of Suffering – Scriptures which portray the struggle with suffering.
Scriptures for the Suffering – Scriptures that offer comfort to the suffering.


text: ![](RefProgram.png)


Processor:- Apple A8, Dual-core 1.4 GHz Cyclone (ARM v8-based), PowerVR GX6450 (quad-core graphics).
Operating System:- iOS 8, up-gradable.
Camera:- Front- 1.2 MP, Back- 8 MP.
Processor:- Snapdragon 801, Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400, Adreno 330.
Operating System:- Android v4.4.4 (KitKat), up-gradable.
Display:- 4.6 Inches, Shatter proof glass (Triluminos display, X-Reality Engine).
Internal Memory:- 16 GB upto 128 GB.
Camera:- Front-2.2 MP, Back-20.7 MP.
Battery:- Non- removable Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery.
Processor:- Snapdragon 801, Quad-core 2.3 GHz (US/EMEA)/ 2.5 GHz (Asia, China) Krait 400, GPU Adreno 330.
Operating System:- Android v4.4.2 (KitKat), up-gradable.
Display:- 5.0 Inches, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 (HTC Sense UI 6.0).
Internal Memory:- 16/32 GB, microSD upto 128 GB.
Camera:- Front-5 MP, Back- Dual 4 MP.
Battery:- Non- removable Li-Po 2600 mAh battery.
Operating System:- Android v4.4.2 (KitKat) up-gradable.
Display:- 5.5 Inches, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 (CyanogenMod 11S).
Camera:- Front-5 MP, Back- 13 MP.
Battery:- Non- removable Li-Po 3100 mAh battery.
Display:- 5.1 Inches, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 (TouchWiz UI).
Camera:- Front- 2 MP, Back- 16 MP.
Battery:- Li-Ion 2420 mAh battery (BV-5QW).


January 12-13, 2017 many professionals in medicine and biology from molecular and cell biologists to allergists and immunologists met each other in Lviv, Ukraine to participate in International Conference "Christmas Studies in Allergology and Immunology: scientific and practical aspects" organized by Ukrainian INUNIMAI Coordinator Prof. Valentyna Chopyak (Med. Sci.). In addition to Ukrainian specialists, clinicians from Poland, Austria, Germany and USA have also visited this event. Lviv authorities and religion leaders have also participated in the Opening ceremony of the Conference (January 12, 2017) enhancing the importance of the aspects to be discussed at the conference for the public health.
At the Opening Ceremony Prof. Chopyak gave a talk about the role of Danylo Halytsky National Medical University in the formation of the Ukrainian allergological school. Opening Ceremony ended by the musical surprise from the Organizing committee – conference participants enjoyed Ukrainian Christmas songs and the new classics – Leonard Cohen's song "Halleluyah" performed with pandoras and violin.
The second day of the Conference has started with plenary lectures of leading Ukrainian and European molecular and cell biologists, allergists and immunologists who have presented latest research and clinical results and have discussed modern trends and perspectives in diagnosis and therapy of allergy and autoimmune diseases. Plenary lectures have been started by the talk of Prof. Igor Kaidyshev about famous Ukrainian immunologists and allergists and their impact on world medical science.
Professor Martin Herman from the University of Erlangen (Germany) devoted his talk to the role of post-translational modifications of immune proteins and his colleagues – Dr. Luis Munos and Dr. Marcus Hoffman – talked about autoantibodies against secondary necrotic cells and inflammatory memory in arthritis.
Dr. Denys Kolybo (Palladin Institute of Biochemistry NAS of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine) has shed the light on the development of eatable vaccines and their possible use in allergology and immunology whereas Prof. Rostyslav Stoyka (Institute of the Biology of the Cell, Lviv, Ukraine) talked about the importance and multiple roles of antioxidants in physiological processes and pathologies.
Prof. Valentyna Chopiak told about the use of microRNAs as the markers of different autoimmune diseases, which undoubtedly is the new and promising approach of applied molecular biology. Speaking generally, the plenary part of the Conference demonstrated high research level of speakers as well as the importance of obtained results for the modern biology and medicine.
After the lunch conference has been continued by the format of allergology, rheumatology, infectology and reproductology sections. We have visited Allergology section to get new information about novel approaches and advances in allergy research, diagnosis and therapy. Section have been started by the talk of Prof. Victoria Garib (Medical University of Vienna, Austria), Vice President of INUNIMAI, about distribution of panallergens and their role in the development of allergy. Dr. Havier Alkover (Madrid, Spain) shared the information about the progress in bacterial and mold personalized immune therapy and Prof. Ralf Morges (Cologne, Germany) told about novel approaches in the therapy of allergic rhinitis and hives.
Section appeared to be extremely rich in talks covered virtually all possible aspects in diagnosis and therapy of respiratory, food and medical allergy including regional distribution of allergic diseases. Growing interest of clinicians to the molecular mechanisms of allergic reactions is especially worth to be mentioned: it is well known that allergy manifestations are often caused by the allergen structure. Therefore, the more molecular data about allergens we know and use in routine practice, the clearer clinical history of each patient will be.
It is also worth to note that several talks and posters have been made under the auspice of INUNIMAI and Ukrainian School of Molecular Allergy and Immunology (USMAI) – INUNIMAI affiliated institution in Ukraine. Presented data have raised genuine interest of professionals keen in trends of molecular allergology.
To sum up, there were lot of extremely educational and useful scientific and applied talks in addition to the brilliant organization of the conference. We are highly confident that the majority of this knowledge will be the basis of fruitful scientific discussion and development of new approaches for better understanding of the nature of allergic and immune diseases as well as for their diagnosis, therapy and prophylaxis. Some of them might be probable presented in next "Christmas Studies"at the beginning of 2018.