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Dec 09, 2022 I Nick Redfern
Dragons: Did They Really Live? Myth or Reality?
For three years Richard Freeman worked as Head of Reptiles at Twycross Zoo, England and, today, is the Zoological Director of one of the world's premier cryptozoological investigation groups: namely, the Center for Fortean Zoology. And while Freeman has a passion for all aspects of cryptozoolgy, it is the dragon that fascinates him most of all. "I started my career as a zoologist – so I had a grounded training," says Freeman. "But cryptozoology was my passion. Now, I have had a particular passion – an obsession, I suppose – for years with dragons. But there was something that always puzzled me: no-one had ever thought, for more than a hundred years, to publish a definitive, non-fiction book on the subject. And as I am a qualified zoologist, I thought: why not me?" Why not, indeed? In fact, that is precisely what Richard did in his book, Dragons: More Than A Myth? I asked Freeman about his theories and discoveries with regard to dragons. He replied: "Well, that's a bit difficult to answer because there are several things going on. It's important to note that I've traveled the world pursuing these creatures – the Gambia, Mongolia, Thailand, and right here in England with some of the old legends from past centuries. And of one thing I can be certain: there isn't just one answer to the question of what dragons are or what they may be."
Richard continued: "There are many creatures that have become linked to the lore and legend of what today we perceive and view as dragons, and some of these creatures are distinctly different to each other. But that should not take away from the fact that dragons are a real phenomenon." On this latter point, Freeman elaborates: "I am absolutely certain, having reviewed many ancient reports of dragon activity, that many sightings – perhaps two or three hundred years ago and probably further back – were genuine encounters, but where the witnesses were seeing what I believe to have been huge snakes, giant crocodiles, and the Australian 'monster lizard' Megalania." Freeman makes a noteworthy, and thought-provoking, point: "Any mention of dragons always conjures up images of fire-breathing monsters, and there are definitely reports that fall into that group. But, when you look into many of the earliest, ancient legends, you find that the dragon is more often associated with water. So, I have a theory that some of the better lake monster accounts from centuries ago may well have influenced dragon tales."
On this point, he adds: "Personally, I also believe that some classic tales of dragons in England in Medieval times, and tales of beasts such as the Lambton Worm, probably have their origins in lake monster accounts, giant eels, etc., that have then mutated into tales of dragons on the loose. But the important point is that this shouldn't detract from the fact that people did see something." I asked him: "You mean that the ancients were seeing lake monsters and, having been exposed to dragon legends, believed them to be – or interpreted them as – dragons, too?" "Exactly," Freeman replied. Of course, the biggest question of all was: are there creatures still living today that Freeman believes have helped perpetuate the image of the dragon? He is certain there are: "I would pretty much stake my life on the fact that Megalania still exists – or did until very recently – in the large forests of Australia, and that also roamed New Guinea. This was a huge, killer-beast; a massive monitor lizard that exceeded thirty feet in length. In literal terms, this was a classic dragon-type animal."
(Richard Freeman) Many thanks to my good friend, Richard Freeman, for the use of the cover of his book, Dragons: More Than a Myth?
I questioned Richard about his research into an animal known as the Naga of Thailand that he believes is responsible for some dragon tales. He told me: "There is no excuse for not getting out into the field and doing firsthand investigations; none at all. In fact, it's vital. I have no time for the armchair theorist. And one of the experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life was traveling to Thailand with the Discovery Channel in 2000, where we chased giant snakes – the Naga – in the caves and tunnels that exist deep below Thailand. "It's very easy to see why the inhabitants in times past considered them to be dragons. The Naga is apparently a large snake, a very large one – maybe in the order of literally tens of feet in length, oil-drum-sized bodies, and definitely big enough to take a whole man." And similar accounts abound elsewhere, too: "There have come reports from the Congo of an animal known as Mokele-mbembe. Again, it has cross-over qualities with dragon legends, but I'm sure that it will be shown in time to be some sort of giant monitor lizard, too." But what of the definitive, fire-breathing dragons of legend: does, or did, such a creature exist? Freeman makes a very intriguing observation:
"Back in 1979 Peter Dickinson wrote a book that was titled The Flight of Dragons. Dickinson had come up with this idea – an excellent theory, in fact – that real-life dragons did exist and that they were the descendants of dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Dickinson suggested that these animals developed large, expanded stomachs that would fill with hydrogen gas, which would come from a combination of hydrochloric acid found in the juices of the digestive system that would then mix with calcium found in the bones of their prey. Then, from there, the hydrogen – a lighter-than-air gas – allowed these creatures to take to the skies and then control their flight by burning off the excess gas in the form of flame. Anyone seeing this would be seeing the closest thing to the image of the dragon that we all know and love. Dickinson's theory is an excellent one, and may well be a perfect explanation for sightings of real dragons – in times past, and perhaps today, I believe." Freeman says: "The dragon has its teeth and claws deep into the collective psyche of mankind, and it's not about to let go. Our most ancient fear still stalks the earth today. Beware: this is no fairytale. When your parents told you that there were no such things as dragons, they lied!"
Now, onto another case of dragons. A fascinating and harrowing encounter with a monster of the oceans occurred on May 30, 1908, and involved highly credible individuals. They were Captain W.H. Bartlett, Second Officer Joseph Ostens Grey, and the rest of the crew of the cargo steamer, Tresco. Captain Bartlett and his crew had sailed from Philadelphia just forty-eight hours earlier. All was well and completely normal – for a while, at least. When they reached a point around ninety miles off of Cape Hatteras, however, the crew noticed that the water appeared decidedly disturbed and inexplicably oily. High-strangeness was afoot. Suddenly, and rather incredibly, a group of around three to four dozen sharks were seen racing through the waters, almost as if something terrifying and deadly was in hot pursuit. It turns out that was exactly what was going on. And, it must be said, there are very few things that frighten sharks! Shortly afterwards, and at a distance, the crew saw what they first took to be a boat, possibly one that had capsized and with the bottom of the hull protruding out of the water. A boat, it was not. That much was in evidence when a huge head and neck surfaced from the water, revealing that what the crew had encountered was a huge animal of a distinctly unknown and massive kind. An understanding of the sheer size of the leviathan can be gained from the description of the neck. It was, said Captain Bartlett, "as thick as a cathedral pillar."
(Nick Redfern) Richard Freeman, an expert on the legends of dragons
As the crew tentatively closed in, they were astonished to see that the monster most closely resembled a classic dragon of ancient Chinese lore and mythology! What was perceived to be nothing stranger than a legend, just might have been something else, entirely. It was described as being in excess of 100 feet in length, had a width of around eight feet, and had a pair of wing-like protuberances, one on each side of its long body. The entire body was scaly and green in color – further amplifying the dragon-like associations. The most detailed and amazing description came from Second Officer Grey, who had the good presence of mine to quickly write the details down, as soon as the encounter was over. He committed the following to paper: "There was something unspeakably loathsome about the head, which was five feet long from nose to upper extremity. Such a head I never saw on any denizen of the sea. Underneath the jaw seemed to be a sort of pouch, or drooping skin. The nose, like a snout upturned, was somewhat recurved. I can remember seeing no nostrils or blow-holes. The lower jaw was prognathous, and the lower lip was half projecting, half pendulous. Presently I noticed something dripping from the ugly lower jaw. Watching I saw it was saliva, of a dirty drab color. While it displayed no teeth, it did possess very long and formidable molars, like a walrus's tusks. Its eyes were of a reddish color. They were elongated vertically. They carried in their dull depths a somber baleful glow, as if within them was concentrated all the fierce menacing spirit that raged in the huge bulk behind."
Clearly aware it was being watched, the dragon made a menacing warning in the direction of the crew: it violently thrashed its tail in the water for a few moments, and shook the boat in a precarious fashion. Fortunately, and evidently, when the monster was done and satisfied that it had made its point, it sank beneath the waves, never to be seen again by the crew of the Tresco.
And, now, a fascinating story of nothing less than a real-life dragon can be found in the pages of Charles Igglesden's 1906 book, A Saunter Through Kent With Pen & Pencil. Kent being a county in southern England. Of a dragon reportedly seen in Cranbrook, Kent, centuries earlier, Igglesden wrote: "The magnificently wooded park of a hundred and fifty acres is richly watered by a huge lake made in 1812 and a smaller one within the grounds, while further west is an old mill pond that rejoices in a curious legend. It is an old one and the subject of it is very ancient indeed and as rare as it is horrible." He continued that nothing less than a flying dragon was said to haunt the pond but that "on certain – or uncertain – nights of the year it wings its flight over the park and pays a visit to the big lake yonder. But he always returns to the Mill Pond and it is said to pay special attention of a vicious kind to young men and women who have jilted their lovers. A legend with a moral is this. But a winged dragon! A dragon of the ordinary kind is bad enough. But a flying dragon! Augh!"
Igglesden had more to add to the story: "It is a Mr. Tomlin's opinion that there is stronger evidence of the existence of this dragon than of most of his kind and of his fires gone out in the closing years of the last century. Nothing short of this monster's malign influence could account for the curious fact that, till the coming of Mr. Tomlin's eldest daughter, no child had been born at Angley Park for upwards of a hundred years." Over the years, numerous monster-seekers have flocked to the specific area in question – in hopes of encountering the dragon. Its presence is far less today, however, than it was in centuries past. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that in December 1997, a local policeman, on duty during the early hours of a chilly, windy, Saturday morning, caught a brief sight of a "bloody great bird, about twenty feet across," in the skies of Cranbrook. The ancient dragon crossing the night sky? Maybe!
(Nick Redfern) Creatures yet to be identified
In 1916, explorer Irwin J. O'Malley told a fascinating story of his discovery of the fossilized remains of a massive animal. That the creature was never formally identified has led to rumors that what O'Malley came upon were the remains of nothing less than an example of a legendary Chinese dragon! His story goes like this: "During the latter part of a holiday trip to the Yangtze Gorges undertaken by my wife and self in November, 1915, we met Mr. M. Hewlett, British Consul at Ichang, and his wife, and in their company spent a day in the Ichang Gorge, landing at various points to climb the cliffs and explore some of the numerous caves. While exploring a large cave on the right of the bank of the river, and about one mile above the Customs Station at Ping Shon Pa, we discovered the fossils about to be described. The cave is reputed by the Chinese to extend some twenty miles to a point near Ichang. It is reported that a party from H.M.S. Snipe spent three days in the cave some years ago and that they failed to reach the end. Evidence that the party penetrated beyond the point where the discovery was made exists in the name of their ship painted on the cave walls at a point considerably further in."
And there is more: "The Chinese name of the cave is Shen K'an Tzu, which means 'The Holy Shrine,' and one of the characters forming the word K'an is the Chinese character for dragon.' A large rock is seen at the entrance, and some eight to ten yards behind this there is a peculiar piece of curved rock bearing some slight resemblance to a portion of a dragon's body; the resemblance is possibly suggestive enough to impress the Chinese mind, but altogether fails to impress the foreigner. After proceeding some hundreds of yards inside the cave we found ourselves walking on a peculiar ridge in order to avoid the surrounding pool of water. The ridge curved backward and forward across the width of the cave like the curves of a large serpent, the suggestion being so strong we lowered our lamps in order to examine the ridge more closely. To our astonishment and delight, we found that we were in very truth walking along a perfect fossil of some huge reptile. Further inspection revealed the presence of six or eight of these enormous monsters. Having taken a few small specimens of loose portions of scale for examination in a better light, we left, to return the following morning for the purpose of measurement.
"On our return the following morning we selected one of the largest fossils lying for a great part of its length isolated from the others, the coils of the remainder being rather entangled. The isolated portion measured seventy feet, so that is absolutely certain that the length is at least seventy feet, and as far as we could ascertain, this same specimen extended for another sixty or seventy feet. However, I admit that error is possible here, owing to the interlacing coils of the reptiles. The depth of the body seen in the foreground is two feet. The head is partially buried in the cave wall and appears to be a large, flat head similar to that of Morosaurus comperi. About twelve or fourteen feet from the head two legs are seen partially uncovered, and again to more about fifty feet from the head. The fact that several persons have penetrated this cave in former years beyond the point where the discovery was made seems to indicate the fossils have been but recently uncovered; by a heavy discharge of water through the cave. It seems probable that these reptiles were trapped by some volcanic disturbance and starved to death; the size of the bodies compared to their length would indicate this."
"A point of peculiar interest is the resemblance to the Chinese dragon of these fossils. I believe that it has therefore been supposed that the Chinese borrowed their idea of the dragons from Western mythology. The discovery has created a great stir among the local Chinese and foreigners, who are daily flocking to view the fossils. I am attempting to interest the Chinese authorities in Pekin and also the Chinse Monuments Society in order that the specimens may be preserved from damage." Richard Freeman has suggested that what O'Malley examined were the fossilized remains of a huge Chinese sauropod named Mamenchisaurus. On the other hand, O'Malley's reference to the remains having a "resemblance to the Chinese dragon," has given rise to the possibility that, just possibly, in the distant past, fire-breathing dragons really did exist.
Nick Redfern works full time as a writer, lecturer, and journalist. He writes about a wide range of unsolved mysteries, including Bigfoot, UFOs, the Loch Ness Monster, alien encounters, and government conspiracies. Nick has written 41 books, writes for Mysterious Universe and has appeared on numerous television shows on the The History Channel, National Geographic Channel and SyFy Channel.
Dog-Men: Centuries Ago They Were Known as Werewolves. It's All the Same, Though
Jan 28, 2023 I Nick Redfern
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Primate Fossils Found on Arctic Island - Proof of Bigfoot?


Newspaper report and cartoon of Addams seconding the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt at the Progressive Party Convention.
Pidgin asks Addams if the new Progressive Party has a stance on Mormon polygamy.
Mason asks Addams to stay out of politics.
Harvier congratulates Addams on her speech at the Progressive Party Convention.
Garland congratulates Addams for her speech at the Progressive Party Convention nominating Theodore Roosevelt.
The anonymous African-American correspondent chastises Addams for sacrificing African American rights for woman suffrage.
Theophile T. Allain to Jane Addams, August 9, 1912.
Allain asks Addams why the Progressive Party Platform abandoned African Americans.
Addams writes Haldeman that she is sending her a copy of her speech at the Progressive Party Convention and sends news about their brother.


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Human Head Studios — фирма-разработчик компьютерных игр, расположенная в штате Висконсин.

История
Human Head была основана в 1997 году группой из шести разработчиков, работавших ранее в Raven Software. Первоначальный список сотрудников — Крис Райнхарт, Пол МакАртур, Бен Гоки, Тед Хальстед, Джим Самвольт, Шейн Гурно. Позднее к ним присоединился продюсер игр Тим Герритсен. Первой разработанной игрой компании является экшен-слешер от третьего лица про викингов Rune.

В 2002 году внутри компании было создано подразделение, занимающееся созданием ролевых, настольных и карточных игр. В июле 2006 фирма выпустила шутер от первого лица Prey. Игра находилась в финальной стадии разработки Human Head пять лет по заказу 3D Realms.

В апреле 2007 года в новостях появилось сообщение о частичном разрушении штаб-квартиры Human Head в результате пожара. Никто не пострадал. 1 октября 2007 года компания переехала обратно в отремонтированный офис.

Весной 2014 года была выпущена игра Minimum.

12 ноября 2019 года Human Head выпустила свою последнюю игру — Rune II. На следующий день, 13 ноября, студия была закрыта, её активы были выкуплены компанией Bethesda Softworks, а сотрудники перешли в её новую дочернюю студию — Roundhouse Studios.

Игры студии

Другие продукты
 Redhurst Academy of Magic (2002)
 Gothica: Dracula's Revenge (2003)
 Gothica: The Halloween Scenarios (2004) (только онлайн-версия)
 Gothica: Frankenstein's Children (2005)
 Villainy — The Supervillainous Card Game (2006)
 Normal, Texas Roleplaying Game (2006)

Примечания

Ссылки
 Сайт компании

Производители компьютерных игр США
Появились в 1997 году в США
Производители компьютерных игр по алфавиту

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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A REPEAT OF CUP VICTORY WASN'T TO BE FOR POPPIES
Picture supplied by Avril Lancaster
Poppies travelled to the Gang Warily Stadium on Saturday to take on Blackfield & Langley in need of league points following a 3:0 defeat at home to AFC Porchester mid-week.
Poppies haven't picked up a point in their last four games and were looking to follow up with their impressive FA Vase victory over Blackfield & Langley back in October but Blackfield almost certainly didn't want another repeat of their cup upset.
It however wasn't to be for Poppies on this occasion as last seasons Southern League Premier Division side displayed a dominant performance throughout netting four past Sam Jones. It was substitute Matthew Lock who got the only goal for Poppies as they fell to a fifth successive straight defeat, dropping a place to 13th in the league table and five points from safety. Final score Blackfield & Langley FC 4, Bournemouth FC 1.
During the second national lockdown and a suspension of the Sydenhams Wessex League, Poppies have seen players depart the club and with injury still looming over the experienced Will Prior it would seem an uphill battle for manager Leo Cabeleira at the moment.
Poppies have conceded 35 goals in 13 league games so far this season and travel to league leaders Hamworthy Utd on Tuesday (15th Dec) evening where they will be looking to reduce their goal difference and come away with a much needed three points. Kick Off 7:30pm at the Specsavers County Ground, Hamworthy, BH15 4BF.
Following the away fixture to Hamworthy Utd on Tuesday, Poppies will begin a five game stretch of home fixtures at Victoria Park commencing Saturday 19th December against Baffins Milton Rovers, 3pm Kick Off.
Spectators are reminded that home fixture match day tickets can now be purchased online through the clubs website using PayPal, simply click on the home fixture and purchase your ticket from the "Buy Tickets" section. Match day tickets can be printed or downloaded as an E-Ticket and shown on the gate upon entry into the ground.
All spectators will be required to use the NHS App QR Code or provide Track and Trace details along with participating in temperature testing as a condition of entry on match days. COVID-19 safety measures will be in place around the ground and all spectators are required to adhere to the Government Guidance throughout the duration of the game. Club officials will be monitoring the safety or all spectators, players, staff and match officials within the ground to ensure compliance.
The football club will be offering a hot/cold drinks + snacks takeaway service from the clubhouse side entrance however the clubhouse will remain closed to the public throughout. Toilet facilities will remain open.
The official Bournemouth FC match day programme can be downloaded from the homepage on the clubs website.
← Poppies out of FA Vase to United Services Portsmouth
GAME OFF, WATERLOGGED PITCH →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Again, this is a superb value-for-money piece of essential fishing gear from the Hardwear stable. Light, strong and – importantly – versatile. Legs are independently adjustable to enable a level seat on the roughest ground and even on steeply sloped banks the back legs can be folded-up to effect even seating. There's nothing to dig into the backs of your legs either! As ever, the extraordinarily reasonable price of this Hardwear item bears no relation to its quality: this is an robust, highly portable and very comfy chair for pleasure fishing and specimen hunting alike.


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It's Not Just a Police Problem, Americans Are Opting Out of Government Jobs | Aici
Admin@aici.co.in 1 week ago 022 mins
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a city of 411,000 with a violent crime rate twice the national average, police officials are struggling to fill 160 vacant officer jobs.
Having 800 officers do the work of nearly 1,000 makes public safety Tulsa's most critical problem, Mayor G.T. Bynum said last November in his annual "State of the City" speech.
"The toxic national dialogue that demonizes police officers has made police department staffing significantly more difficult for every major city in America," Bynum said Nov. 15, adding, "All it takes is a 30-second out-of-context clip on the internet to tarnish their reputation or even ruin their career. "
Bynum is one of dozens of city leaders, police chiefs and sheriffs around the country who have blamed police hiring woes primarily on protests and public expressions of distrust, which swelled after the May 2020 killing of George Floyd.
But in the same places where police officers are scarce, recruiters are having a hard time finding firefighters, bus drivers and other government workers, The Marshall Project found. Employment numbers show that Americans have been slowly opting out of all local government jobs over the last few years.
An analysis of two years of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau data shows a steady decline in both law enforcement and local government jobs during the pandemic. From March 2020 to August 2022, the number of government workers dropped by 5%, while the number of local law enforcement officers decreased by 4%, the most recent data shows. The Census Bureau's government payroll survey shows similar trends.
Police Jobs Continued to Decline While the U.S. Job Market Bounced Back
At the beginning of the pandemic, the number of people working in police departments remained steady, while the overall U.S. job market shrank by 8%. But police employees edged down in 2021 and 2022, as employment recovered overall.
As recently as a few months ago in Tulsa, school districts were struggling to find bus drivers. Lawmakers statewide considered moving schools to a four-day week last October to combat a shortage of teachers.
The city's fire department only recently recovered from a deficit of more than 60 members of its squad of nearly 700. And fire department officials cross-trained a group of firefighters as paramedics in December to fix a lack of first responders.
Places like Phoenix and Philadelphia are facing similar problems, offering both police officers and firefighters signing bonuses to fill staffing shortages. Leaders in other cities that are struggling to find officers are also scrambling to hire sanitation and tech workers.
Tulsa Police Officer Mark Ohnesorge said he understands why some people believe that anti-police talk has driven officers out of the profession. But as the person in charge of recruiting for the department, he said he almost never hears those concerns from people who decide against law enforcement careers.
Instead, Ohnesorge and experts said, police departments are losing officers to jobs in the private sector, which offer both more money and more flexibility.
"It's never been easier to start your own business," Ohnesorge said. "You can go online right now and start an Etsy business and have the capacity to make large sums of money depending on how well you do. With jobs like policing, there's an income ceiling that you won't be able to get past no matter how well you do."
People seeking jobs in the private sector and those who work remotely in Tulsa can get incentives, including cash bonuses. Tulsa Police also offers signing bonuses, Ohnesorge said, but both new recruits and seasoned officers from other departments have to go through his department's paid 10-month process of training and supervised field observation before they can get to work.
Ohnesorge points out that Floyd's death was not the first time a police-involved killing has sparked national outrage. But after previous incidents, he said, police agencies have struggled less to fill open jobs.
Historical employment numbers back him up. Even after 2014, when protests erupted in Ferguson, Missouri, after the police killing of Michael Brown, census survey numbers show police employment still rose nationally. The increase continued year after year, as other controversial police killings made national headlines and distrust of police heightened, especially in Black and other minority communities, until the pandemic reversed the employment trend.
Like Other Local Government Jobs, Police Numbers Declined in the Pandemic's First Year
From March 2020 to March 2021, the number of people working in state and local law enforcement fell by about 1%, according to government payroll data compiled by the Census Bureau. Meanwhile, the overall number of government employees dropped by 1.2%.
Compare police employment with
civilian police worker
It is true that there have been instances of police officers either quitting or retiring in response to how their departments dealt with protests and public criticism.
In Austin, Texas, for example, several officers resigned or retired early in the wake of the Floyd protests. The departures added more tension to a department already at odds with the community over the abrupt retirement of an assistant chief, who was alleged to have used racial slurs in reference to former President Barack Obama and others.
More officers quit or retired as a public panel reviewed department training videos that some critics said promoted racial stereotypes, contributing to a combined decline of 352 officers from the 1,600 member force in 2020 and 2021.
In Buffalo, New York, and Portland, Oregon, entire squads of crowd control and emergency response officers resigned their posts in protest over how their departments handled their interactions with protesters.
While economists believe that the social and political landscape could have contributed to burnout for police officers, they attribute the drop in police numbers largely to two other causes: COVID-19, and mass early retirements.
In both 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 was the leading cause of on-duty deaths for police officers. The pandemic made 2021 the most dangerous year to be a police officer since 1930. And like other workers across the country, many police officers chose to retire early during the pandemic.
"COVID changed our perspectives on work-life balance," said Myriam Quispe-Agnoli, associate professor of economics at Mercer University in Atlanta. "We've seen this for teachers and nurses, flight attendants. And maybe there were officers who were close to retirement anyway who looked at everything and decided to leave earlier."
The early retirements, Quispe-Agnoli and others said, only heightened a previously expected exodus from the workforce as baby boomers reach retirement age. This era, which researchers have called the "silver tsunami," will see more than a quarter of U.S. workers reach age 55 or older by 2030.
Professions like policing and education have experienced unique challenges in this regard because fewer people are applying to replace retiring workers.
Because of this, the International Association of Police Chiefs warned in 2019 about shortages — not only of police officers, but also of other skilled workers in nursing, education and construction work.
In 2021, the Marshall Project reported that while police employment had dropped by just 1% through the start of the pandemic, jobs across the economy had fallen more than 6% in the same timeframe. Layoffs in the private sector accounted for most of the overall decline. But while jobs overall rebounded, rising 2% since 2020, police and government jobs are still declining, according to the latest available data.
Government jobs, including police positions, are usually less volatile than the private sector, said Nicholas Hill, a labor economist. Hill, a professor and dean of the School of Business at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He listed the explosion of tech jobs during the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s and subsequent layoffs as an example of the boom-and-bust job cycle. During the height of the pandemic, restaurants and other businesses shut down, leaving millions suddenly unemployed. And in the past few months, big companies have announced massive layoffs, an early sign of a possible recession.
Despite this, Hill said, most people who have left the workforce or switched jobs over the past several years have done so voluntarily. In 2022 especially, Hill said, resignations spiked to 3% of all workers, compared to 1% in 2021.
The Marshall Project's analysis of the Census Bureau's government payroll data found that from March 2020 to March 2021, nearly 80% of cities saw a decrease in both the number of overall government workers and the number of sworn officers. But in the vast majority of these cities, the changes in both these sectors were slight, leaving experts like Hill to say the overall trends fall far short of critical labor shortages.
The problems may seem more severe because the sharpest declines have been in cities with more than 1 million residents, such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, where the number of sworn officers dropped twice as fast as the national average.
"What we saw was people moving away overall from jobs where they had to interact with the public," Hill said. "And in bigger cities, the potential level of public interaction would be higher."
The government job trends also fit the COVID-influenced migration of the entire U.S. workforce away from expensive, densely populated urban areas to smaller cities where people could work remotely and enjoy a better cost of living.
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Sheriff Kieran Donahue, in his second term as the top lawman in rural Canyon County, Idaho, has spent hours talking to fellow sheriffs and police chiefs about how to recruit and keep officers. In the past three years, 33 road patrol and corrections officers from his 170-member force have left. Almost half went to better paying departments, he said. The rest went to higher paying jobs in the private sector.
Donahue said he thinks often about the two deputies currently working for him who are living in campers because they can't afford to rent or buy a home.
"Pay is a big thing," Donahue said. "These people are trying to find the revenue to take care of their families."
Work flexibility might be just as important. Elmon Dean Todd lasted a decade as a police officer in Florida's panhandle before he quit in 2021 to work full-time on his passion of writing fantasy fiction novels and developing video games. He had already published several books while working for the Pensacola Police Department in road patrol and at the airport. He spent his last 18 months in law enforcement as a school resource officer for the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's office.
Unlike the Idaho officers who left Donahue's department, Todd said in an interview that he had no struggles with the pay in law enforcement. But that was because he ran an e-commerce business in his spare time that made him much more money than the $46,000 average annual salary he received.
He soured on policing because he said he felt restricted by increasing demands to work long shifts and inability to take time off when he needed it.
"I was a police officer because that was truly what I enjoyed doing," Todd said in an interview earlier this month. "But I didn't like how I was chained to the agency."
Now, he's able to travel the world, work remotely, spend more time with his children and devote himself to developing a video game based on his series of books.
To appeal to workers tempted by better opportunities, law enforcement leaders are trying to meet prospective officers where they are, with an emphasis on diversity.
Taylor Reeves, the officer in charge of recruiting for the police department in Tacoma, Washington, sets up an information booth at events around the city, including the recent Vietnamese Lunar New Year festival, to encourage people who haven't thought about a career in law enforcement to give it a try.
Even in cities without police shortages, law enforcement leaders are trying to stave off future shortages by amping up their college recruitment. In Missouri's capital, Jefferson City Police Lt. David Williams doubles as an instructor at Lincoln University's Law Enforcement Training Academy, which, in 2021, became the nation's first police academy at a historically Black college or university.
Williams said his department has held steady at 90 people until last year, when it hired an additional officer to help manage the agency's move to using bodycams. He was surprised that government jobs fell at the same rate as police jobs between 2020 and 2021, but he attributed the government exodus to COVID.
Fewer people are becoming cops because fewer people than ever see it as a calling, Williams said: "I hope with all my heart that it gets better, but I think it's going to get more difficult for a while before it gets better."
Ohnesorge is more optimistic, at least in the short term. With growing predictions that the economy may be headed into a recession, he is banking on historical trends of people flocking to government jobs for stability during harsher economic times.
Long term, however, he's cautious. "People aren't looking as much for a 30-year career in the same place," he said. "They're looking for a place where they can work 3 to 5 years and then move to something else."
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text:
Life Near a Landfill: The Towns and People Who End Up with NYC Trash
Author By Jarrett Murphy
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A truck on its way to the Seneca Falls landfill.
You've probably never met Glen Silver and he's probably never met you. But chances are he has, at some point, smelled your garbage.
"It's like nothing else in the world," Silver says of the odor from the Seneca Meadows Landfill, located more than three miles from his home in Waterloo, N.Y. "Sickly sweet. Acrid. Stomach churning, depending on what the mix of the day is. It's almost like you're smelling chemicals from a dry-cleaning establishment or what benzene smells like. It doesn't smell like something you should be breathing."
It isn't just the stink that bothers Silver and other members of the group Concerned Citizens of Seneca County, which has battled against the landfill for six years. They are also troubled by the height of the growing mound at the landfill, which at 275 feet is the tallest manmade structure for miles, and the truck traffic that hauls an average of 5,500 tons of trash to the landfill daily.
"There's a lot happening here around what I think of as an assault on this area of New York," Silver says.
New York City's Department of Sanitation collects more than 12,600 tons of material from households and institutions every day. Only about 16 percent of it gets recycled. Almost all the rest heads to one of five landfills in New York or 24 other facilities spread around Connecticut, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia. The top recipient in 2014, Atlantic Waste landfill in Waverly, Va., accepted 794,000 tons of New York City refuse last year.
The road trip our garbage takes is not a cheap one. The Department of Sanitation currently has contracts for municipal solid-waste export worth $8.2 billion with 13 companies. The city's fiscal 2016 executive budget calls for $368 million to be spent on waste disposal next year alone.
At the Earth Day unveiling of the his OneNYC strategy Mayor de Blasio committed New York City to a "zero waste to landfills" goal by 2030, touching off debate about what his pledge really entailed and how the city could possibly achieve it. The city will face tough choices to reach the mayor's goal, including whether to wind down shipments to landfills by increasing its use of plants that incinerate trash to generate energy.
Even without action by the de Blasio administration, however, the landfill landscape is changing because of work by residents and regulators at a few of the sites New York City dumps on.
Timing out at Tullytown?
Dave Hamilton has lived in Florence, N.J., since the 1960s and has smelled garbage since 1988 when the Tullytown Landfill opened just across the Delaware River.
Tullytown was the 11th biggest recipient of New York City trash last year. Nearby is the GROWS North landfill, which accepted 521,000 tons of New York waste in 2014, second only to the Waverly site in volume received from DSNY. Both Tullytown and GROWS North are operated by Waste Management, whose current contracts with New York City are worth $3.8 billion.
Both those landfills sit in Pennsylvania but on New Jersey's doorstep, and that's created tensions for years. Waste Management pays host fees to municipalities in the Keystone State—2014 budget documents indicate the firm would provide $3.7 million of Tullytown's $5.7 million in revenue—but it's the Garden State that's downwind. "It's been a constant problem ever since they put the landfill in," Hamilton says. "Predominantly, the wind blows west to east so when there are odor problems, they blow right to Florence. This thing is just massive."
In 1998, Waste Management settled a lawsuit with Florence residents, agreeing to pay $3.1 million in damages and take steps to reduce odors. But the stink has persisted, Florence residents say. "Last summer, three or four days out of seven it was really just undesirable to be outside on our property. We couldn't use our yards. It was like sitting next to a trash can," Hamilton recalls. When Florence residents would complain via a Waste Management hotline, he says, they'd be told, "'We got a bad load in. We'll turn on our misters and deal with it.'"
Last fall, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection inspectors crossed the Delaware to conduct "multiple odor inspections" and determined that "the location, type, frequency, duration and intensity of the odors detected constitute a public nuisance," according to a notice of violation issued to Waste Management in October. The notice concluded that the company's odor-control practices were "inadequate."
A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania agency told City Limits earlier this month that Waste Management had taken steps to address the NOV, including reducing daily tonnage accepted at Tullytown, using more soil to cover up the garbage and installing additional misters to dampen down the stink. No fines were assessed for the violation.
But for Waste Management, the timing of the regulatory action was inopportune—coming just a few months before Pennsylvania considered whether to renew or revoke the permit that allows the company to bury trash at Tullytown. On Thursday, PADEP announced that it would shut down the landfill in two years' time. Citing "public concerns regarding ongoing odor, noise, bird and aesthetic nuisances" the department said Waste Management could be subject to enforcement in the meantime if it doesn't get control of the smell.
"We are thankful that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has renewed our permit and has allowed us to complete the construction of Tullytown Landfill," Waste Management said in a statement. "We remain fully committed to minimizing and controlling potential off-site impacts. We will continue our daily quality assurance patrols and maintain our relationships with nearby communities to assure that we are doing everything we can to be a good neighbor."
Where NYC's Garbage Went
Hamilton views the decision as a victory for Florence. Had the DEP shut Tullytown down immediately, Waste Management might have had strong grounds for mounting an appeal that, win or lose, would have kept the landfill open for far longer than two years as the legal battle played out.
Even after Tullytown closes, landfills will continue to affect the area. Waste Management is applying for a permit to start a new landfill at the site of an old steel factory next to the GROWS-North facility. The breezes off that site will affect residents outside of Florence, Hamilton says, but he sympathizes. "Those are cute little towns. They're going to experience what we've been experiencing the last 26 years," he says. And they don't even know it's coming."
To burn or not to burn
Some of New York City's garbage journeys about an hour southwest along the Delaware River from Tullytown to Chester, Pa., and a plant operated by Covanta Energy, which burns trash to generate power. The Chester site and three other Covanta facilities—in Hempstead, N.Y., Rahway, N.J. and Newark—accepted a total of 500,000 tons of New York garbage last year. More could be on the way: Under a 20-year, $2.8 billion contract now in place, Covanta agreed to take up to 800,000 tons from DSNY. The firm is upgrading another plant in Niagara Falls, N.Y. to deal with some of that volume.
Covanta dubs itself the world's largest operator of "energy-from-waste" plants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calls the process used at Chester and elsewhere "energy production from waste." But Mike Ewall, a veteran environmental justice advocate in the Chester area, contends that language is misleading. "It's important to understand that 'waste-to-energy' is not an accurate term," he says. "Incinerators are still incinerators even if they produce electricity."
No one disputes that plants like Covanta's employ massive boilers to burn garbage and use the resulting heat to turn water into steam that drives turbines to generate electricity. The argument is over whether "waste-to-energy" plants adequately capture enough of the pollutants that are produced by trash-burning or continue to release dangerous toxins into the air the same way old-fashioned incinerators did.
"The emissions control systems that we have in place" are what distinguishes the Chester plant from old-fashioned incinerators, according to Covanta director of communications James Regan. "It's not an open burning system. We have sophisticated filtering systems that scrub acid gasses and bag houses that get particulate matter." Regan says the Chester plan emits dioxins at a level 92 percent below what is allowed in Pennsylvania while generating up to 80 megawatts of power.
There appears little question that waste-burning plants generate less pollution than they used to. Since regulatory changes in 1990, the 86 energy-producing incinerators around the country have emitted levels of mercury, cadmium, lead and particulate matter 95 percent lower than before, according to the EPA. The issue is whether those reductions have eliminated the toxic potential of burning trash. Ewall believes the Chester plant is a threat to the health of people in the area, citing what he says are higher-than-average asthma hospitalization rates in the area. He's also concerned that many waste-to-energy incinerators monitor their own emissions or pay another private company to do so with regulators looking only at results.
The Chester facility has been fined 11 times for a total of $330,000 in administrative orders under the Clean Air Act over the last five years, according to an EPA database. In 2010, Covanta settled a lawsuit by environmental justice advocates in Newark over the operation of its plant there and agreed to install more sophisticated pollution prevention equipment. It promised to upgrade that plant again in 2012, before it inked the current long-term deal with the city of New York. In 2011, it paid a $400,000 fine to the state of Connecticut after the company detected excessive dioxin emissions at its Wallingford facility.
Adi Talwar
NEW YORK'S TRASH CHALLENGE:
This sidebar is part of a series about the challenge New York City faces in reducing the environmental and economic costs of its municipal waste. Click here to read more.
It's unclear whether plants like Covanta's will play a bigger role in handling New York's garbage down the road given de Blasio's "zero waste to landfills" pledge.
"We're going to constantly drive down the amount of waste we create through composting, through better recycling. We're going to constantly drive that down to the point that nothing goes from New York City to a landfill in the future," the mayor said on April 22. "It will be a hard effort. It's going to take a lot of resources. It's going to take a lot of public education. It's going to take a lot of community organizing. But this is the way of the future if we're going to save our earth."
The administration hasn't explained whether de Blasio's pledge, which focused on landfills, means more burning of trash for energy. Some environmental advocates argue against a literal adoption of "zero waste" precisely because it implies that garbage will be incinerated, which they oppose. They note that incineration can't eliminate all need for landfills: According to the EPA, about 10 percent of the volume of the garbage that waste-to-energy plants burn remains as ash, which then must be disposed of—usually in landfills.
"There is no such thing as 'zero waste to landfill,'" Ewall says. A true zero-waste policy "means to neither bury nor burn waste. Incineration is what needs to come off the table first."
Regan, however, argues that landfills are the far greater health threat. Energy producing trash incinerators are easier for regulators to monitor and can install pollution controls, if the owners are willing to pay for them.
"As opposed to the alternative of trucking waste to landfills as far as South Carolina, we are far superior to landfills, in our view," he argues. "Landfills generate methane gas with 30 times more potency than carbon dioxide for global warming and have hundreds of uncontrolled emissions." And sometimes landfills burn trash, too, but in an uncontrolled manner: An underground fire burned for years at a landfill in Bridgeton, Mo.
'It's a Wonderful' landfill
Like Tullytown, GROWS, Waverly and the Covanta plants, Seneca Meadows accepts trash from sources besides New York City. The Seneca site is located in a rich vein of Americana: Seneca Falls (population 9,040), where the facility is located, is believed by many to have been the model for the fictional Bedford Falls in the Jimmy Stewart classic "It's a Wonderful Life," and next-door Waterloo (population 5,182) boasts of being the site of the nation's very first Memorial Day Parade.
Waterloo mayor Ted Young says there are pros and cons to living so close to a landfill. "It's close by enough for our residents and local municipalities in the county to dispose of their waste—garbage and trees and other stuff that they take out there," Young says. "The downside is that it's a huge mountain that gives off an odor every once in a while that has an effect on village residents and town residents who happen to be in the windfall."
The benefits of Seneca Meadows are more quantifiable in Seneca Falls, where more than half the funding for the town's $5.4 million budget comes from landfill host fees. Waterloo and other nearby towns see the truck traffic and smell the trash but don't see any of that money, Young says.
Yet Silver acknowledges that there's hardly a groundswell of opposition to the landfill in the area. He attributes that to the small population—Seneca County's territory is about as large as New York City, but the entire county's population is no larger than the headcount of the NYPD—and prevailing conservative mindset. "It's not a sexy enough issue to be on people's radar screens," he says. Concerned Citizens of Seneca County is pursuing a challenge to the permits Seneca Meadows uses to operate the landfill. "To my mind, landfills are the scourge of the earth," he says. A landfill "is a polluter of air, land and water at the same time." Seneca Meadows didn't return a call for comment.
A 2011 assessment by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation indicated that Seneca Meadows still had 28 million tons of capacity under its permit, enough for about 14 years of operation. Altogether, DEC estimated that the 27 active landfills in the state had room to bury 220 million more tons of garbage, enough to keep the bulldozers working for 29 years unless cities like New York find a different way to deal with their trash than burying or burning it in someone else's backyard.
Follow City Limits' other investigations. Get our free, weekly newsletter.
To Meet Waste Goals, NYC Needs to Scrap How it Thinks About Garbage
The scene at the former Fresh Kills landfill, of beautiful scenery built about decades of bad trash policy, gives reason for optimism that the city will find a way to deal with the rising costs of managing waste. But it will take a change in mindset, not just policy.
6 thoughts on "Life Near a Landfill: The Towns and People Who End Up with NYC Trash"
EnergyJustice on May 22, 2015 at 3:04 pm said:
Thanks for covering these sides of the story, Jarrett! So much to add, though…
* The "waste-to-energy" term… to see why it's inaccurate, see: http://www.energyjustice.net/incineration/waste-to-energy
* Incinerators still require landfills for their toxic ash. For every 100 tons burned, you get 30 tons of ash (the 10% figure is by volume, but disposal is done by tonnage). This makes the landfills more toxic, threatening groundwater, after the incinerator makes the air far more toxic than a landfill ever could on its own.
* The Chester, PA incinerator ("Covanta Delaware Valley") is lacking the "sophisticated filtering systems" that most incinerators have. It's totally missing any controls for nitrogen oxides (NOx) that cause asthma, which is why that incinerator is one of the largest sources of NOx in the region. Most incinerators have these, plus carbon injection to limit mercury and dioxin pollution. The Chester incinerator doesn't, even though it's the nation's largest and in a dense, urban black community. Even EPA inspectors questioned this (but did nothing about it). See http://www.ejnet.org/chester/pollutioncontrol.html and http://www.ejnet.org/chester/covantapollution.html Of all 80-some trash incinerators in the nation, the Chester plant is #1 in particulate matter, #3 in sulfur dioxide pollution, #6 in mercury and #7 in NOx, according to the latest national data from EPA (National Emissions Inventory, 2011).
* The article says that methane gas is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It's actually 34 times more, if you still look at it over a 100 year time-frame, but the latest science looking at it over a (more appropriate) 20-year time frame, shows that it's 86 times as bad as CO2. See http://www.energyjustice.net/naturalgas#GWP That's why we need to digest trash before landfilling it (and skip the incinerator altogether), to minimize global warming pollution. Incinerators are 2.5 times as bad as coal plants for global warming, according to EPA's eGRID data — looking at it in tons of CO2 per megawatthours generated. Conventional landfills are even worse because of the methane, but not if you digest things first, to get the methane out in an enclosed situation where it's possible to capture it all. This also avoids having gassy, stinky landfills. Here's what a real zero waste system looks like: http://www.energyjustice.net/zerowaste/
Unfortunately, the 20-30 year contract to burn trash in Chester and Niagara Falls has provisions that make it costly for NYC to back out of it, essentially locking in the worst possible option for what to do with the waste. NYC could at least have required that Covanta bring it to plants that have modern pollution controls installed! This injustice needs to be addressed. Poisoning Chester, PA residents for 20-30 more years is unacceptable. Black lives matter.
Pingback: How will Chester handle New York trash? | Chester City Blog
Roberta G. Zuckerman on May 28, 2015 at 2:16 pm said:
Plans are that the garbage from the East 91st Street Marine Transfer Station in NYC will ultimately be sent to Chester Pennsylvania so what is being accomplished by building this WHITE ELEPHANT?
James Hack on May 29, 2015 at 10:18 am said:
A well written and concise article about NYC's waste problem. I wish more focus was on how inefficient and wasteful DSNY is with its long-term waste disposal contracts. The DSNY has a budget of over $1 billion per year and does not charge for its service. Their budget comes from the general fund. The only way to get people to recycle and reduce waste is to actually charge for disposal. But the DSNY response is always that NYC is unique from other cities because it's made up of high rise buildings and you can't determine who is throwing out what. That's nonsense because the DSNY should just charge the whole building for the waste it generates and leave it up to the building on how to divide the bill among residents. Sadly, there is very little traction to move this initiative forward.
DLH on May 31, 2015 at 8:03 am said:
You are right – NYC is drowning in the garbage we all create and the only way to stem the tide is through price incentives. Most cities charge for garbage collection and disposal directly – often as a utility. Residents and businesses in these cities can see exactly what they pay – and the cities are able to offer cost savings or increases if the amount of waste set out for collection is changed. NYC pays for waste management out of a huge general tax fund – so NYers have no way to know what they pay for garbage processing – and they have no way to change how much they pay by reducing, reusing and recycling more waste.
DSNY and City Hall have avoided facing our waste problems directly by coming up with costly, elaborate and outdated schemes to move garbage around differently – and send it far away to distant, poor cities for incineration and landfilling. One of these schemes (E91 MTS) will triple what we pay for garbage processing without addressing the real issue – the huge amount of waste we generate. It's time for NYC to face the problem and develop real solutions – make it easier to reduce, reuse and recycle – and develop a price incentive plan to change behavior.
Laura on June 3, 2015 at 1:42 pm said:
People of Staten Island dealt with this for years and years , and no one really cared. The amount of people who lived near the dump with cancer is outrageous; people with no history of cancer, no attributing lifestyle choices other than the dump and no one cared because it was Staten Island.


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How Trump Dragged ZTE Into the US-China Trade War—And Why It Didn't Work
By Sissi Cao • 07/05/18 4:46pm
The opportunity to use ZTE as a leverage in trade talks was too tempting for Trump to resist. JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images
Since last week, the trade tension between the U.S. and China seems to have subsided as President Donald Trump redirected his energy to car tariff disputes with the European Union. But his business with China is far from over. At this point, maybe the president just doesn't want people to pay too much attention anymore because it doesn't look like he's winning the game.
ZTE, China's second largest telecommunication company whose recent fate has been closely tied to the U.S.-China trade talks, is still teetering on the verge of collapse despite President Trump's personal promise to keep it afloat.
But how did one single tech company take center stage within the two countries' trade negotiations over $500 billion of imports and exports in the first place?
To understand the role ZTE plays in international policies, it's important to know that there has been a U.S.-China tech war parallel to the U.S.-China trade war. As Chinese tech giants' global influence rises, so does America's fear over their threat to U.S. national security.
In February, top officials at six U.S. intelligence agencies openly advised U.S. citizens against using smartphones made by Huawei, China's largest smartphone maker which was about to launch a new phone in the U.S. The officials were particularly concerned with Huawei's close relationship with the Chinese government. They feared that using its smartphones would expose American consumer data to Beijing.
The government's pressure directly led to AT&T's last-minute withdrawal from a carrier deal with Huawei. (Huawei's head of consumer business got so angry that his own communication team had to distance him from the company to avoid damaging the corporation's image.)
In that context, ZTE, although lesser known to American consumers, is an even bigger threat in the eyes of U.S. regulators.
ZTE purchases most of its key components, including smartphone chips, from American companies like Qualcomm and Intel. According to previous media reports, about 30 percent of ZTE's components are made in the U.S. In March 2017, the Commerce Department slapped the company with a record $1.2 billion fine after finding out that ZTE had been exporting products containing American components to Iran and North Korea, which violated the U.S. sanctions against these two countries. The Commerce Department also ordered ZTE to punish all employees involved in the export violation.
However, the Department later found that ZTE had not enforced these non-financial terms and made false compliance statements. As a result, in April 2018, the department issued a denial order to ban ZTE from buying U.S. components altogether for seven years.
The denial order's impact on ZTE was devastating. Shortly after it was issued, ZTE suspended all normal operations and even halted its stock trading.
But the story took an unexpected turn when President Trump decided to personally get involved.
On May 14, four days after ZTE halted business, Trump tweeted that he and China's President Xi Jinping were "working together" to give ZTE "a way to get back into business."
The surprising tweet was largely interpreted by media as a tactic to push China into buying more U.S. goods during the trade talks later that month—except it appears that Trump was more likely the one being pushed into this negotiation, rather than the one pushing for it.
China brought ZTE into the trade talks, and Trump was too tempted to say no. Kaitlyn Flannagan for Observer
"The only reason President Trump wanted to save ZTE from going out of business is [so] the Chinese government would give him some kind of concession in trade talks in exchange," Matt Gold, an adjunct trade law professor at Fordham University and a former deputy assistant to U.S. trade representatives, told Observer.
But ZTE shouldn't be part of the trade negotiation. As Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in May, to which Gold agreed, the denial order on ZTE is a law enforcement matter independent of trade.
Still, to Trump, the opportunity to leverage ZTE to earn a badge in the trade war was too tempting to resist.
"Trump is not a confident trade negotiator. He constantly puts himself in situations where he's negotiating for something that he has publicly demanded but doesn't have the leverage inside the negotiation room to get what he demanded," Gold explained. "Apparently, he was trying to get something out of the U.S.-China trade negotiation, which is politically face-saving for him, but he could be embarrassed if he comes out with nothing."
"China brought ZTE into the trade talks. But no president other than Donald Trump would have considered doing this, because the enforcement of U.S. national security law is not a negotiable element," Gold continued.
One day after Trump promised to save ZTE on Twitter, White House sources told The Wall Street Journal that the two sides were near a deal. The same week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that the trade war was "on hold."
China did promise to buy more American goods to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, but it wouldn't specify how much until the pardon on ZTE was final.
Two weeks later, the Commerce Department said the ban on ZTE was lifted and replaced with a $1 billion penalty (separate from the first penalty issued in March 2017).
Unfortunately, that peace didn't last very long.
On June 18, the senate voted to block the Commerce Department's alternative penalty and reinstate the denial order.
Although the $1 billion fine is equivalent to ZTE's entire 2017 profit, Congress apparently doesn't believes that a monetary penalty in any amount would stop ZTE from breaking the rules again.
In fact, ZTE's export violations can be traced back almost a decade; ZTE began shipping products to Iran in 2010. When the Commerce Department found out around 2013, the company reportedly stopped this conduct and agreed to cooperate with the investigation, while secretly launching a new shipment program to Iran. When U.S. regulators caught it again in 2017, they issued the $1.2 billion fine that led to the ensuing events.
The same week as the June 18 Senate vote against ZTE, Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of Chinese goods. China said it would retaliate with equivalent tariffs. In the meantime, it's trying to reverse the denial order on ZTE one more time.
Currently, ZTE is under a temporary permit to conduct business with U.S. suppliers to fulfill contracts signed before the denial order.
Filed Under: Business, Politics, International Politics, Economy, Donald Trump, Wilbur Ross, US China trade war, Steven Mnuchin, ZTE, Matt Gold, Huawei national security


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
VERDICT: BARNSLEY
ANDY Garner says that despite the tense finish that the Brewers deserved the three points and a vital 2-1 win at Barnsley.
The first team coach said: "I think it was a thoroughly deserved three points, especially after the first half performance which was as good as we have played - some really good football.
"It was as good a start as we have had and when you get the goals as well you go in at half time very happy.
"In the second half we have to learn we can't defend for 45 minutes and if you do it's all about them but I thought we did enough to warrant the three points.
"Second half we gave the goal away and then it was pressure on and they threw balls into our box. But we had a young side out there and they have to learn in terms of sitting back too much. You have to get out and take the pressure off.
"But McFadzean, Naylor and Buxton when he came on did very well for us. We were thinking about bringing McCrory on as well as there were tired legs out there - that's bound to be when you are using the same people all the time. I
"t's not the biggest squad and injuries are hurting but we have still come here and got the three points which is what we wanted.
"We will rest up as much as we can now and get ready for Millwall and another hard battle.
"As tired as they are you don't feel as tired when you get on the bus knowing you have won 2-1.
"It's a massive result for us make no mistake."
Barnsley vs Burton Albion on 20 Feb 18
Nigel Clough


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Tenuta Chiccheri: Hidden Treasure in Valpolicella
Nestled among the verdant hills of unspoilt Val d'Illasi, a wild portion of Valpolicella region, Tenuta Chiccheri is an exclusive estate that might be difficult to reach and, because of this, is even more charming.
Giancarlo Ruffo, a successful entrepreneur from Verona who's always been deeply attached to the countryside, in the early 80's bought the farmhouse and turned it into a family retreat, whose 16 hectares surrounding land was covered in woods, fruit trees and olive groves.
With a passion for wine and an understanding for farming practices, Ruffo began to grow his vineyards, taking inspiration from the Chiccheri's family, whose name most probably derives from the word "chicchera" - old Italian for "cup of coffee". Starting almost as a hobby, the winery was officially founded in 2003 and currently produces about 50.000 bottles a year. Relying on a calcareous soil, a southern exposure and a certain height above the sea level, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes are grown to turn into the classic Amarone and Valpolicella, a white of excellence and some full-bodied sparkling wines produced according to metodo classico.
Greeted by the excellent Giulia Gagliardi, who's responsible for the hospitality and has been working with the family for a long time, we've visited the winery more than once. Surrounded by pristine nature, no wonder why the estate is defined as an enchanting, out of the world place! What's more important, each step of the delicate transformation process from grape to bottled wine, is led with the greatest attention for quality, a value that for Giancarlo Ruffo has always been a priority.
"True values can't be bought, they just belong to you all life long" is the inspiring statement you can read on Tenuta Chiccheri's website. Tasting their wines and enjoying the family's hospitality, you really feel the love these people put in each and every little detail, realizing that their motto is not just smoke and mirrors, but a true style of life. That's why we won't hesitate in recommending this experience to whoever is looking for elegance and authenticity.
Have a Glass in Venice is happy to include this special place into its Valpolicella wine region tours, confident that it's going to be an unforgettable experience.
For more info visit: http://www.tenutachiccheri.it/
#valpolicella #valdillasi #verona #veronawine #ilovewine #winelovers #winetours #veneto #haveaglassinvenice #tenutachiccheri #amarone #champagne #metodoclassico #offthebeatenpath #hiddenjewels #italy #winery


Kamala Devi 57 Years old lady presenting with pain and inability to bear weight on right lower limb. Patient developed intraoperative supracondylar fracture of the femur during TKR in Feb 2011 . 4 days later Open Reduction Internal Fixation with Retrograde Intramedullary Nailing was done. Implant failed and revision surgery (ORIF with DFLP + Bone Grafting) done in Aug 2013. Augmentation with local BMP also done in Oct 2013 but fracture did not unite. Distal Femoral Locking Plate was removed and Revison Total Knee Replacement with Rotating Hinge knee was done. Post operatively patient is comfortable and walking with the walker.


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Ajon (Russisch: Айон), in de tsaristische periode ook wel Sabadej (Сабадей) genoemd, is een groot eiland aan westzijde van de monding van de Tsjaoenbaai en aan oostzijde van de Golf van Kolyma aan zuidzijde van de Oost-Siberische Zee en behoort bestuurlijk gezien tot het district Tsjaoenski in het noordwesten van de Russische autonome okroeg Tsjoekotka. Aan noordwestzijde ligt het plaatsje Ajon, waarbij sinds 1941 het poolstation Ajon functioneert. De Tsjoektsjen bedrijven in de zomer nomadische rendierhouderij op het eiland.

Naam
De naam Ajon werd voor het eerst geregistreerd in 1857 door de Russische missionaris Andrej Argentov en is een verbastering van de Tsjoektsjische naam Ajojan (Айоян) en werd in de 19e eeuw ook wel geschreven als Anojan (Аноян), Ojon (Ойон) of Joen (Юн). De naam werd aanvankelijk vaak vertaald naar het Russisch als 'mozg'/'mozgovoj' (van het Tsjoektsjische 'айо' of 'аё'; айо), wat in het Nederlands kan worden vertaald als '(been)merg', 'hart', 'brein'; dit vanwege het reliëf van het eiland, dat hierop lijkt. Volgens eilandbewoner Pjotr Inenlikej, deskundige op het gebied van Tsjoektsjo-Kamtsjadaalse talen, komt het van эйю (ejjoe) of айо (ajo), wat "herleven", "opleven", "plaats van opleving/herleving" kan betekenen in de zin van de rendieren die op de groene taigaweiden van het eiland weer konden opleven (grazen) en aankomen nadat ze vermagerd uit hun winteronderkomens op het vasteland waren gehaald naar het eiland.

Geografie
Het eiland meet ongeveer 63 kilometer van west naar oost en ongeveer 38 kilometer van noord naar zuid. De oppervlakte bedraagt ongeveer 2000 km². Het eiland heeft lage en sterk ingesneden kusten, die op sommige plaatsen erg steil zijn. Het eiland is sterk heuvelachtig en loopt in het binnenland op tot 66 meter hoogte. De ondergrond bestaat uit door ijs gevormde Pleistocene en Holocene formaties met een dikte tot 70 meter. Het eiland is overwegend bedekt met toendra, maar langs de noordoostkust liggen enkele kilometers brede nauwelijks begroeide zandduinen. Op het eiland bevinden zich talrijke kleine meren en riviertjes, waarvan de naar het noorden stromende en tot 50 meter brede Ryvejem het grootste is. Thermokarstinsnijdingen zijn wijdverbreid in het eiland.

Van het vasteland (het schiereiland Kettyk) wordt het eiland aan zuidwestzijde gescheiden door de nauwe (2 km) en ondiepe Kleine Tsjaoenstraat. Van het noordoostelijker gelegen eilanden Groot-Rooetan (N) en Klein-Rooetan (Z) wordt het gescheiden door de Straat Sredni. Rondom het eiland liggen diverse kleinere kusteilandjes. De grootste zijn:
 Ryjanranot (Рыянранот; noordoostzijde; ) 8 kilometer lang en 1,5 kilometer breed. Gescheiden van Ajon door een 1,2 kilometer brede zeestraat.
 Tsjenkoel (Ченкул; noordoostzijde; ) 10,5 kilometer lang en 1,7 kilometer breed op het breedste punt. Wordt gescheiden van Ajon door de 5 kilometer brede Tsjenkoelbaai (Tsjenkoelski zaliv).
 Mosej (Мосей of Janranot; Янраот; in de Kleine Tsjaoenstraat; ) 3 kilometer lang.

Flora
In de zanderige gebieden van het eiland groeien ondanks het strenge klimaat (met een juligemiddelde van minder dan +5°C) steppeachtige plantensoorten, waaronder endemische en zeldzame soorten, zoals Oxytropis sverdrupii, Phippsia concinna en verschillende soorten mossen en korstmossen. In het westen van het eiland is 13 hectare aangewezen als botanisch natuurmonument (Ajonski). Dit gebied omvat de westelijke en zuidelijke hellingen van een hoog zanderig terras waar typische steppesoorten voorkomen.

Geschiedenis
Op het eiland zijn overblijfselen gevonden van neolithische kampen (oude jaranga's, pijlpunten, (o.a. keramieken) voorwerpen en grafheuvels) die erop wijzen dat nomadische rendierjagers hier reeds leefden in prehistorische tijden. Lange tijd konden de Tsjoektsjen hun gang gaan op het eiland, tot in 1933 de collectivisatie het eiland bereikte en de 'kameraadschap' Enmitagino werd opgericht door de beweging 'Rode Jaranga', waarin de rendierhouders werden ondergebracht en die zich ook richtte op de jacht op zeedieren en op de bontjacht. Voortaan leefden rendierhouders er niet alleen meer in de zomer (hoewel enkelen er ook 's winters reeds verbleven), maar het hele jaar. In 1944 woonden er reeds 23 gezinnen van in totaal 103 personen in de plaats die lange tijd 'kamp Enmitagino' werd genoemd. Iets eerder werd in 1941 het poolstation opgericht door bemanningsleden van de ijsbreker Krasin. Na 1991 is het samenwerkingsverband Enmitagino blijven bestaan en heeft nu een kudde van ongeveer 2700 rendieren.

Het eiland werd in 1762 ontdekt en beschreven door de Russische handelaar Nikita Sjalaoerov, die het 'Zavedej' (Заведей) of 'Zavalej' (Завалей) noemde, wat later in 1841 door Ferdinand von Wrangel werd omgevormd tot 'Sabadej' (Сабадей) of 'Sabodej' (Сабодей).

Russisch eiland in de Noordelijke IJszee
Siberisch eiland
Geografie van Tsjoekotka
Oost-Siberische Zee


In fact, CRS can provide you with a host of offerings that you can easily adopt into your business. Choose from an array of programs and systems that you can't afford to implement by yourself, but working through CRS will provide you with competitive advantages that will help your agents take more listings and secure more buyers.
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Don't wait until you're bigger to be better.
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Q: Google Marketplace App - setting up test environments? In Google Console I am configuring Google Drive SDK. On configuration page it asks for
Open URL (This URL is used when the user opens an existing Google Drive item with your application).

It looks like I can only define only one URL, so how does one go about testing this functionality locally? I can switch the URL to point to a localhost but what if my app is already live and I need to debug locally?

A: It is one of the problems with Drive that there is little support for dev/test environments.
The only solution I can think of for your specific question is around host name resolution. Something like ...

*

*Register a subdomain, driveopenhost.example.com

*Have the DNS for driveopenhost cname to your actual host (eg. www.example.com)

*On your development PC, configure /etc/hosts (or the windows equivalent) to resolve driveopenhost.example.com to 127.0.0.1

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Lee and Sachin had exchanged quite a few memorable on-field battles during their playing days.
Over the course of their respective cricketing careers, former Australia fast bowler Brett Lee and legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar had exchanged quite a few memorable on-field battles. And now nearly after the 5-year of their retirement, both of them are set to lock horns against each other on a racing track.
In a 4 minute 25 seconds long video, Lee and Tendulkar talked at length about their 'Go Karting' contest. The speedster recalled how the batting maestro first time introduced him to the Karting track.
"There is one thing on my mind for 11 years. Back in 2006, you tear me up here at the 'Go Karting' track. It has been weighing heavily on my mind, mate. So, I am back for revenge. This is it, good luck mate," Binga said.
Brett Lee also shared this on his official Twitter page and wrote, "@sachin_rt and I had some great battles on the field. We recently went head to head on the Karting track in Mumbai...check it out and make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel."
Watch the video here to find out who won the race.


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Our in-house installation team will install your blinds efficiently and courteously with the least possible fuss. Blinds World distributes quality products throughout South Africa and abroad.
All our products are meticulously made in our factory where imported machinery and highly skilled staff combine to manufacture products of distinction that will surely add value to your home and office.


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Researchers Compute Their Way to the Centre of the Earth Gauss Centre for Supercomputing e.V.
Researchers Compute Their Way to the Centre of the Earth
Research Highlight – December 18, 2017
Multi-disciplinary research team uses theory and experiment on its journey to understand material and geologic processes in high pressure and temperature conditions.
Using JSC's JUQUEEN supercomputer, University of Cologne researchers were able to simulate the structure of silicon dioxide at a variety of different pressures. The image shows how the the shape and structure of the atoms change as pressure increases.
Copyright: Prescher, C., Prakapenka, V.B., Stefanski, J., Jahn, S., Skinner, L.B., Wang, Y.
In order to more fully comprehend the complexities of Earth's interior, humanity has to dig deep—literally. To date, scientists have been able to bore a little over 12 kilometres deep, or about half the average depth of the Earth's crust.
Why would researchers need to peer into deeper depths? Both to better understand how the earth formed and how the interior might have an effect on our life on the surface of the Earth today, such as by the magnitude and reversals of the Earth's magnetic field.
However, experiments investigating materials at conditions deep in the Earth are challenging, meaning that to continue gaining insights into these phenomena, experimentalists must turn to modeling and simulation to support and complement their efforts.
To that end, researchers at the University of Cologne's Institute for Geology and Mineralogy have turned to computing resources at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) to help better comprehend how materials behave in the extreme conditions below the surface of the Earth.
The team, led by University of Cologne's Prof. Dr. Sandro Jahn and Dr. Clemens Prescher, has been using JSC's JUQUEEN supercomputer to simulate the structure of melts by studying silicate glasses as a model system for melts under ultra-high pressures. The team recently published its initial findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Understanding properties of silicate melts and glasses at ultra-high pressure is crucial to understand how the Earth has formed in its infancy, where impacts of large asteroids led to a completely molten Earth," said Prescher. "In fact, all of the internal layered structure we know today was formed in such events."
It's a glass
When most people think of the word glass, they think of windows or bottles. Glass, however, is a term describing a wide range of non-crystal solids. Atoms in a solid can organize themselves in a variety of ways, and materials considered glasses have some of the more "chaotic" atomic structures possible in solids.
A glass can also be seen as a frozen melt. Thus by understanding the properties of glasses at ultra-high pressures, researchers can gain insights into the melts' properties in the deep Earth's interior, providing a clearer view into the physical processes which made the Earth and might be still occurring today.
Using a variety of geophysics measurements and laboratory experiments, researchers are capable of gaining some degree of insight into material properties under certain pressure conditions without actually being able to make direct observations.
Enter supercomputing. As computing power has gotten stronger, geophysics researchers are able to complement and expand their studies of these inner-Earth processes through the use of numerical models.
In the case of the University of Cologne researchers, they wanted to get a more detailed insight into the structure of the silicate glass than their experimental efforts were able to provide. The team utilized ab initio calculations of atoms' electronic structures and put these calculations in motion using molecular dynamics simulations. Ab initio calculations mean that researchers start with no assumptions in their mathematical models, making a simulation more computationally expensive but also more accurate.
Due to having many calculations for each atom's structure and computationally demanding molecular dynamics calculations, the team keeps its simulations relatively small in scale—the team's largest runs typically have between 200-250 atoms in the simulation. This size allows the team to run simulations under a variety of different pressure and temperature combinations, ultimately allowing it to calculate a small but representative sample of material interactions under a variety of conditions.
To test its model and lay the foundation for modeling increasingly complex material interactions, the team decided to simulate silicon dioxide (SiO2), a common, well-studied material, most well-known as the compound that forms quartz.
Among silicate materials, SiO2 is a good candidate on which to base computational models—researchers already understand how its atomic structure patterns and material properties change under a variety of pressure conditions.
The team chose to focus on a relatively simple, well-known material in order to expand the range of pressure it could simulate and attempt to validate the model with experimental data. Using JUQUEEN, the team was able to extend its investigation well beyond the experimentally achieved 172 Gigapascals, corresponding to 1.72 million times the Earth's atmospheric pressure, or roughly the amount of pressure the Eiffel Tower would apply by pressing down on the tip of a person's finger.
The researchers also found that at high pressures, oxygen atoms are much more compressible than silicon atoms. The varying size ratio between the two leads to hugely different glass structures of SiO2 at low and at high pressures.
By validating its model, the team feels confident that it can move on to more complex materials and interactions. Specifically, the team hopes to expand its investigations deeper into the realm of melts. Think of lava as a melt—molten rock erupts from below the earth's surface, rapidly cools when it reaches the surface, and may form obsidian, a glassy rock.
In order to do more advanced simulations of melts, the team would like to be able to expand its simulations to account for a wider range of chemical processes as well as expand the number of atoms in a typical run.
As JSC and the other two Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (GCS) facilities—the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart and the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Garching—install next-generation supercomputers, the team is confident that they will be able to gain even greater insight into the wide range of complex material interactions happening many kilometres below the surface.
"A faster machine will enable us to simulate more complex melts and glasses, which is crucial to go from model systems, such as SiO2 glass in this study, to the real-world compositions we expect in the Earth's interior," Prescher said.
Prescher also noted that JSC support staff helped the team work more efficiently by assisting with implementing the team's code.
This type of support represents GCS' plans for the future. With the promise and opportunity connected to next-generation computing architectures, GCS centre leadership realizes that closer collaboration with users and application co-design will be a key component for ensuring researchers can efficiently solve bigger, more complex scientific problems.
Whether studying deep in space among the stars or deep below the surface of the Earth, the collaboration between supercomputing centres and researchers will play an increasingly important role in solving the world's toughest scientific challenges.
-Eric Gedenk, e.gedenk@gauss-centre.eu
This research used Gauss Centre for Supercomputing resources based at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre.
Tags: Universität zu Köln Earth Science JSC
11/20/2017 17:11 First-Principles Modeling of Minerals, Melts and Fluids at High Pressures and High Temperatures
Materials Sciences and Chemistry
First-Principles Modeling of Minerals, Melts and Fluids at High Pressures and High Temperatures
Eric Gedenk
Regina Weigand


If You Weren't at Jack-Sons for the Game, You Missed One Hell of a Party!
When I found out that I was going to host the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl party, I was honestly bummed out. Those of you who know me know that I'm very passionate about my football. Having to work a game that I would be COMPLETELY INTO and waited my whole life for, was not ideal for me at all.
If the game had gone any other way, it probably would have been a struggle to get through it.
But that game was AWESOME! And I had one of the best times in my life.
Having been to CenturyLink more than a few times, I tried to bring some of that spirit to the party. First down... Seahawk chants, we did them all.
Big thanks to everyone who came out. It was great to see the Monday Night Football crew come back for the big game, and it was really special getting to experience what I've been waiting for my whole life with people I'd already built a lot of football memories with.
Read our blogs about the Seahawks!