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Brazil is better off for the change. Although the current crisis is beginning to bite, Brazil has overcome the stagnation and corruption that halted growth after the first oil shocks and the Third World debt crisis, and is now one of a handful of countries with the power to shape the new century. And this hasn't just been the story in Brazil; more and more "developing" countries are turning into the pacesetters of liberal global capitalism. So Lula is right: the global crisis emerged from a system built, with all its many flaws, by blue-eyed palefaces. But if countries like Brazil can stick with their own versions of Dutch finance, the future of the system will increasingly be shaped by people who look more like Lula - and the palefaces are going to have to run hard to keep up. Mead, the author of "God and Gold: Britain, America and the Making of the Modern World," is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

London 2012 Olympics: Claire Hallissey and Dave Webb added to Team GB marathon squad That was good enough only for 11th place overall but, crucially, her time was quicker than the 2-28.24 set by Jo Pavey in the same race a year ago, putting herself in pole position to take the one remaining GB marathon spot. Radcliffe and Yamauchi had already been selected. It was a gamble that clearly backfired and Pavey's hopes of competing at the London Olympics will now depend on whether she can qualify in the 5,000 or 10,000 metres. Hallissey, 29, has made huge strides in the last year after slicing nearly seven minutes off her lifetime best when she finished in the Chicago Marathon in October in 2-29.27. She is a Cambridge University graduate with a doctorate in immunology from Bristol University but moved to the United States because of her husband's job. She now lives in Arlington, Virginia. Dave Webb was also added to the men's team and will line up alongside the already selected Scott Overall. Webb, who did not run on Sunday, is qualified for Team GB by virtue of finishing in the top 20 at last year's World Championships in Daegu.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

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Fighters stroll across, ferrying in arms and medicine, and greeting refugees and defectors passing the other way. It is reported that Syrian soldiers patrolling the border have to be flown into some posts, since they are unable to cross hostile territory by land. A UN expert reckons that 40% of Syria's populated area is no longer fully under government control. The rebels have begun to gain ground, especially in the north-west and the east. In suburbs closer to the centres of power, the battle is also intensifying. Mr Assad's forces have shown no mercy there. Deploying tanks, artillery and air power, and now also routinely using spotter drones and helicopter gunships, they have smashed parts of Douma, a Damascus suburb that has been controlled by the opposition and is home to 300,000-plus people, most of them Sunni Muslims increasingly disloyal to a regime dominated by the minority Alawite sect, to which the Assad family belongs. In Zamalka, another rebellious Damascus suburb, a bomb, widely said to have been planted by security forces, recently killed scores of mourners at the funeral of a rebel fighter. Such firepower, along with thousands of arrests and the systematic use of torture (chillingly documented in a detailed report issued on July 3rd by Human Rights Watch, a New York-based lobby) has kept the centres of Damascus and Aleppo, Syria's second city, broadly under regime control. Yet attacks such as a recent bomb blast at a government ministry show that the rebels can slip in. Even as state television showed street sweepers returning to a "cleansed" (but also deserted) Douma, foreign journalists were being escorted among scores of armed FSA fighters just a few miles away, casually patrolling in full daylight. The rebels are felling soldiers at an increasing rate, with clashes doubling in number between March and June, the bloodiest month of the uprising so far; in the last week of it, around 100 people were said to be dying every day. Many security men now move around in inconspicuous shabby cars, thanks to a rash of assassinations, many of them in the capital. Higher-ranking officers, including brigadiers and generals, are fleeing. Turkish officials reported that on June 5th alone 85 military defectors crossed the border, bringing their families along to spare them retribution. The regime is loth to bring out of the barracks enough units to tackle all rebellious places simultaneously, fearing defections of the Sunni bulk. Instead, it relies increasingly on armed irregulars, many of them Alawites. Known as shabiha, they often make up the first wave of raiders and looters after bombardments by the army have subsided. But though the regime's forces can take back territory at will, victories against the rebels tend to be short-lived. FSA groups sprout again as soon as the firefighting squads move on to bash the next rebellious town, prolonging a game of whack-a-mole: as one insurgent pocket is squashed, another pops up. "This is a war not for gains, but to exhaust the other side," says Razan Zeitouneh, a lawyer in hiding in the capital, noting that the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, where a rebellion seemed to have been suppressed a few months ago, is now aflame again. Moreover, Mr Assad is also feeling the heat of a failing economy. Inflation is running at 30% a year. The currency's value has slumped. Fuel is getting scarce. A Western boycott of Syria's oil, 90% of which was exported to Europe, is draining state coffers. Tourism is dead. The perception of Syria as a pariah state is blighting international trade and commerce. With the war spreading, the economy in trouble and diplomacy intensifying, Mr Assad looks ever more isolated and vulnerable. Even the Russians" loyalty may begin to wilt.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

D.C. gets a foothold with Mark Morris Rita Donahue was in high school when she saw the Mark Morris Dance Group for the first time. Her mother, a fan of cellist Yo-Yo Ma, took her to George Mason University's Center for the Arts to see Morris's "Falling Down Stairs," with Ma playing Bach's Third Suite for unaccompanied cello onstage, as the dancers swirled around him. Donahue, a serious dance student at the time, fell in love with the music and with the tumbling, slippery, soaring quality of the dancing. "I remember thinking, 'I could do that,' " she says, laughing drily at her folly. Turns out Donahue, 30, can do it now. ("Not always," she demurs, folly having been replaced by humbling experience.) After double-majoring in English and dance at George Mason, where she performed in a student production of a Morris work and was coached by the choreographer himself on one of his stopovers there, the Fairfax native won a coveted spot in Morris's company. That was in 2003, and it marked the beginning of a trail of Washington area dancers to the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn, headquarters of Morris's acclaimed modern-dance company. Today, among the troupe's 18 dancers, four are local. At least three of them (and possibly the fourth, an understudy) are slated to appear during the Dance Group's annual engagement at George Mason this Friday and Saturday. The program, featuring live chamber music and four dances (including Morris's newest, "Petrichor") is one of the season's biggest events in modern dance. That's a sizable chunk of suburban Washington in Morris's company, which tours internationally and is one of the busiest in the country. Dance positions of any sort - ballet, modern or other forms - are exceedingly hard to come by: The service organization Dance/USA reports that in 2009, there were 4,500 dancers in performing-arts companies. (In troupes like Morris's, with budgets of $3 million and up, Dance/USA counts just 1,329 dancers. Those in the top modern-dance companies can make about $35,000 a year.) The competition for jobs adds extra brilliance to the achievements and good fortune of Donahue, William Smith III, Spencer Ramirez and Elisa Clark, to name the four local dancers in Morris's troupe. This area may be reputed for the overblown egos of its political elite, but its creative capita - at least in dance - is of a quieter sort. Workaholics rule the studios. And more than that, if we can go by the success that these dancers have had with Morris, those who develop an ego-less air stand out, paradoxically, to choreographers looking for versatile performers that they can groom to their liking. The Fairfax connection Dan Joyce, a dance professor at George Mason University, is one of the links between Morris and Fairfax. He was a member of the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1988 to 1998. About eight years ago Joyce and fellow professor Susan Shields, who also danced with Morris, began teaching Morris works to their students; that led to the choreographer overseeing rehearsals when his company happened to be performing on campus. "What he does not appreciate is melodrama," Joyce says. "Maybe that's why he's been attracted to our dancers - a lot of dancers have affectations they are not aware of or in control of. He needs people who are a blank slate that he can mold." This is because Morris invents a different movement vocabulary with just about every dance. There is no Morris technique, as there is for Martha Graham or Merce Cunningham. He borrows freely from various schools and epochs of ballet, from throughout the modern dance spectrum, and mostly from his own imaginings. "I think that's something he does not get enough credit for," Joyce says. "He doesn't make the same work over and over." For this reason, Joyce adds, he needs dancers who can change their look and style as easily as he does.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Nuclear power champions Japan and France turn away By Karolin Schaps and Henning Gloystein LONDON (Reuters) - Two of nuclear power's greatest champions dealt the industry a heavy blow on Friday, with Japan deciding to phase out its plants and France confirming plans to cut its heavy reliance on the technology following concern over the Fukushima disaster. Japan, which produced more than 10 percent of global nuclear power before it suffered last year's accident at Fukushima, joins Germany, Switzerland and Belgium in deciding to shut down nuclear plants and to spend money on renewable energy instead. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced Japan would pull out of nuclear power by the 2030s and triple the share of renewable sources to 30 percent of its energy mix. In Paris, President Francois Hollande confirmed his campaign pledge to cut the share of nuclear power in France's energy mix to 50 percent by 2025 from 75 percent. At the same time he urged the European Union to set tough targets for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for 2030 and 2040. "We have an ambitious strategy," Hollande told an environment conference, calling for a 40 percent cut in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2030 and a 60 percent reduction by 2040 at the EU level, well beyond the 20 percent target set for 2020. Greenhouse gases are emitted mainly by burning fossil fuels - nuclear power plants are not big contributors. The International Energy Agency (IEA), which represents the energy interests of the industrialized world, said it understood the Japanese and French moves but warned of their consequences. "While I understand those decisions and the background, one should understand the challenges in terms of climate change and rising energy costs," Fatih Birol, chief economist at Paris-based IEA said. "Except for nuclear and renewables, we don't have many options to produce energy without emissions. If those countries believe that the gap coming from the reduction in nuclear will be 100 percent filled by renewables, they are wrong. There will be gas, coal and even oil," he added. The decisions by Japan and France send an anti-nuclear message to countries that have been undecided. "If you were looking at investing in an energy source at the moment, why would you invest in nuclear when you've just seen two major countries turning off their plants?" said Richard George, energy campaigner at Greenpeace. The industry saw a renaissance over the past decade when governments worldwide stepped up efforts to reduce carbon. The industry promotes itself as a reliable alternative to polluting fossil-fuel plants and less expensive than renewable power projects such as offshore wind farms. "You've got to go back to the fundamentals of why nuclear is important. It's the drive towards low-carbon technology and nuclear will provide you that in large baseload amounts," David Powell, vice president of the European region at U.S.-Japanese nuclear joint venture GE Hitachi, told Reuters. GE Hitachi is involved in major new-build projects around the world. The Fukushima accident in March 2011, the worst such event in 25 years, revived fears of radiation contamination; billions of euros in cost overruns to build new nuclear plants in Europe have put a question mark over nuclear's cost competitiveness. The growing anti-nuclear feeling is likely to further dent the order books of the world's major nuclear power players, such as France's Areva or Westinghouse, majority-owned by Japan's Toshiba, with forecasts for new nuclear capacity already projected to fall by 12 percent by 2020. At a major nuclear energy conference in London this week, executives said the sector needed to redefine itself and regain the public's trust. "I am scared by the decisions in Japan and France because these are short-term visions influenced by public pressure," said Francois Perchet, technical adviser at the World Nuclear University and formerly employed at French utility EDF. "These people will be judged in 2080 for acting in their own interest instead of that of the planet." As a result of the nuclear closures, Japan's fossil fuel imports surged since March 2011, helping create a record trade deficit of 2.5 trillion yen ($32.10 billion) in the first half of 2012, five times greater than the deficit a year earlier. But some analysts say that Japan and France are well placed to deal with the results of their decisions. "Regulators (in Japan and France) are not being irresponsible because with gas generation there is a credible alternative," Luis Uriza, of consultancy Bain & Company said. "Japan is already one of the world's biggest gas importers and is experienced in the market, and France has many options, including imports from the North Sea, Russia, Africa and the Middle East or even to develop its own large shale gas reserves." Uriza said export capacity improvements in the global gas sector made the political moves in Japan, France and Germany possible.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

North Korea claims it should also have ICBMs PYONGYANG, North Korea, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- North Korea, two days after its third nuclear test, Thursday asserted it too should have intercontinental ballistic missiles if "imperialists" have them. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency quoted Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's main Communist newspaper, as saying in a political review the country should have ICBMs to strengthen its self-defense. The Communist newspaper, in an apparent reference to the United States, said if the "imperialist" has a nuclear arsenal, ICBMs and other types of space-bound weapons, North Korea should have them as well. The newspaper, described as generally reflecting state policy, said the North's nuclear capability is a justifiable choice. The North conducted an underground nuclear test Tuesday, its third such test, despite existing U.N. sanctions imposed in response to its first two tests in 2006 and 2009. Those sanctions were further tightened last month after the North fired a long-range rocket Dec. 12, which was seen as a cover to test its intercontinental ballistic missile capability. Yonhap quoted experts as saying the Unha-3 rocket launched Dec. 12 effectively had a range of an ICBM of nearly 7,000 miles. The Rodong Sinmun article said the North would be a merciless adversary if it is challenged and there "can be no compromise in the last fight to herald the victory for independence for humanity and strike a blow to end imperialism." Separately, the North's official Korean Central News Agency has already warned the situation on the Korean Peninsula has become so precarious even a small regional incident can lead to full-fledged war.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Friendship, birthday card span 50 years MILWAUKEE, March 6 (UPI) -- Two lifelong friends from Wisconsin with the same name have been keeping one birthday card going for half a century. The card told them to, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The verse on it reads: "This birthday card brings wishes as bonnie as can be, and my name is signed in pencil (tis the thrifty way, you see). When my day comes, erase the name and sign your name instead, and we'll send the greetin' back and forth for many years ahead." On the front of the card is a rabbit in a Scottish tam, holding a pencil that once had an actual eraser attached. Bonnie Jean Klamar and Bonnie Marie Magistrelli, grew up in Hales Corners, Wis., near Milwaukee, and became friends at age 4. Bonnie Marie bought the card and mailed it to Bonnie Jean on her 18th birthday, March 3, 1962. For Bonnie Marie's 19th birthday, which fell that Sept. 1, Bonnie Jean sent it back. "We didn't erase the sender's name. We just kept adding to it," Bonnie Jean said. Bonnie Marie now lives in Massachusetts. "Neither one of us was going to be the one to break the chain," said Bonnie Jean, who lives in Milwaukee.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

== Orgin of the phrase? == Was reading "the road to serfdom" and to quote one of the footnotes: 3. The nineteenth century Liberal statesmen Sir William Vernon Harcourt (1827-1904) originated the phrase, "We are all socialists now." -Ed. Can this be confirmed and added to the article? Also in the UK, Peter Mandelson has been quoted saying "we are all Thatcherites now" Noun|Adjective Noun] (talk)

We are all Keynesians now

Suspect arrested in connection to California teen found dead in park A suspect has been arrested in connection to a 13-year-old girl found dead in a California park. Police have arrested Anthony Lamar Jones who was identified as a suspect early on in the case and placed under surveillance, Fox40.com reported. Police believe he acted alone and say he was not a danger to the public while under surveillance. Genelle Conway-Allen had been reported missing Jan. 31. after she left a foster home in nearby Suisan City. The naked body of Conway-Allen was discovered by a passerby Feb.1 in the city's Alan Witt Park. An autopsy was performed, but officials would only say there were no obvious signs of trauma. Investigators were trying to track the girl's activities in the hours before she ended up in Alan Witt Park. Sacramento television station CBS13 reported the girl attended Green Valley Middle School, which is about eight miles from the park. School Principal Gregg Hubbs declined to comment on the girl's death, and Fairfield police couldn't say if she had attended school on the day she was reported missing. Police are not looking for any other suspects. Click here for more from Fox40.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Cheshmeh Khani (چشمه خاني) may refer to: Cheshmeh Khani, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Cheshmeh Khani, Kermanshah Cheshmeh Khani, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Cheshmeh Khani, Delfan, a village in Delfan County, Lorestan Province, Iran Cheshmeh Khani, Kakavand, a village in Delfan County, Lorestan Province, Iran Cheshmeh Khani-ye Olya, a village in Delfan County, Lorestan Province, Iran Cheshmeh Khani-ye Sofla, a village in Delfan County, Lorestan Province, Iran

Cheshmeh Khani

Indian Police Charge 12 in Journalist's Murder Indian police have charged 12 people, including a fugitive reputed gangster, in the murder of a Mumbai crime reporter nearly six months ago. Jyotirmoy Dey was working as investigations editor for MiD Day newspaper when he was gunned down in daylight by motorcycle-riding assailants on June 11 in a Mumbai suburb. Police believe that reputed gang leader and fugitive Chhota Rajan ordered the hit in retaliation for several negative stories, and that he allegedly paid the attackers 500,000 rupees, or about $11,000 according to the exchange rate at the time. The indictment filed Saturday in a Maharashtra state court names Rajan along with 11 other people, including the alleged gunmen and those suspected of providing cash, cellphone SIM cards and the revolver used in the killing.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Abu Qatada will return to Jordan if its parliament agrees anti-torture treaty Radical cleric Abu Qatada has pledged to finally leave Britain as soon as a new treaty offering guarantees that torture evidence will not be used against him becomes law, an immigration tribunal heard today. Representing Qatada at a bail application hearing, Edward Fitzgerald QC said the terror suspect will return to Jordan once the treaty, revealed last month by the Home Secretary, is ratified by the UK and Jordanian parliaments. However, Qatada will have to wait to find out if he can be released from Belmarsh prison in the mean time after Mr Justice Irwin at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) adjourned his bail application to 20 May. The Government has been trying to deport Qatada to Jordan, where he was convicted of terror charges in his absence in 1999, for nearly eight years. Immigration judges decided last year that Qatada, also known by another surname, Othman, could not be deported over fears that evidence obtained through torture would be used against him in the Middle Eastern country. Last month, the Home Secretary unveiled a new treaty between the UK and Jordan offering fresh guarantees that such torture evidence will not be used. Mr Fitzgerald QC told the tribunal: "There has been a development in the form of a treaty signed on March 24. "That treaty is clearly designed to meet the requirements laid down by Mr Justice Mitting as to evidence admissible at a retrial, if there is a retrial. "If and when the Jordanian parliament ratifies the treaty, Mr Othman will voluntarily return to Jordan."

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Police appeal after golden eagle poisoned in Angus 19 December 2013 Last updated at 20:28 A golden eagle that was found dead in Angus earlier this month was poisoned, tests have revealed. Police said the bird of prey was discovered in the Glen Lethnot area after satellite tracking equipment indicated it had stopped moving. Officers have appealed for anyone who was in the area between 10-25 November to contact them. The force said it was also conducting searches in an attempt to uncover any poisonous bait. The eagle, named Fearnan, was ringed as a chick in a nest near Loch Tay in Perthshire in June 2011 and had spent much of its life in Badenoch, before moving to the Angus glens in early November. Just three weeks later, it had been poisoned. Continue reading the main story "Start Quote In cases where poisoned baits are used to target birds of prey, the poisons present a wider threat" End Quote Stuart Housden RSPB Scotland Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, said: "Incidents such as this show very clearly why this iconic bird needs not just our recognition, but also greater protection. We sincerely hope that those responsible are swiftly brought to justice and would encourage those with information to come forward." In the past five and a half years, another four eagles, a red kite and seven buzzards have been shot, poisoned or trapped on sporting estates situated in the Angus Glens, RSPB Scotland said. In January 2013, the nest tree of a pair of white-tailed eagles was felled. No-one has been prosecuted for any of these offences, according to the charity. Mr Housden added: "I will be asking the environment spokesperson of all the parties in the Scottish Parliament to take cross-party action to stiffen the penalties for those convicted of such offences and to look again at the regulation of sport shooting. The current state of affairs is simply unacceptable." 'Cruel action' A recent report by RSPB Scotland revealed that a significant number of incidents of illegal killing of birds of prey took place in areas managed for driven grouse shooting. PC Blair Wilkie, Wildlife Liaison Officer for the Angus area, said: "Given the rural location of this crime, we appeal to anyone who was out walking, working, or indeed out on the hills for whatever purpose between those dates, to get in touch. "You may not think that any information you have is of value to us, but please let us be the judges of that. It's also important to stress to the public that in cases where poisoned baits are used to target birds of prey, the poisons present a wider threat. "They are, without question, a significant health risk to both humans and animals. If you find what you suspect to be poisoned bait - do not touch it." Scottish Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse said he was "disgusted and angry" by what appeared to be a "deliberate, illegal and cruel action against a protected species." He added: "It is a great regret that such actions undermine the reputation of sporting estates at a time when there has been genuine progress on the part of the majority of estates and gamekeepers. "The actions of a small and ignorant minority are extremely damaging and the Scottish public will rightly be outraged by this news and I share that sense of outrage. "Crimes like this, and the buzzard found recently near Stirling, strongly reinforce the need, and give a very clear justification, for the measures I announced in July this year. "I have said before that whilst there has been progress we will continue working to put those measures into practice, but there is more work to be done to tackle wildlife crime in Scotland. Police Scotland are carrying out enquiries and I will await any developments in respect of this case with great interest." 'Mindless minority' Douglas McAdam, chief executive of Scottish Land and Estates, said the organisation was "appalled" by the eagle's death. He added: "Scottish Land and Estates is an enthusiastic member of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime Scotland and will continue to do whatever it can to help the police and the Scottish Government, working in partnership with relevant agencies and organisations, to eradicate wildlife crime in all its forms and we wholeheartedly condemn the mindless minority who commit such acts." A spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said news of the poisoning was "terrible," particularly given the "significant progress made in recent times." He said: "We would like to reiterate that the SGA will not condone the poisoning of birds of prey. If any SGA member is convicted of such a crime, they are removed from our organisation. "We will not allow the actions of a minority to tarnish the reputations of the vast majority of sporting estates who manage responsibly."

2013-12-31 00:00:00

£4m climate change study launched The programme is being funded by the Welsh Assembly Government via the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW). Professor Phillip Gummett, HEFCW chief executive, said it was an important investment in the future of climate change research in Wales and the UK, and will help both C3W and the institutions be recognised internationally as a centre of excellence. Human-induced climate warming "It will add to other recent investments in Wales in research into a low-carbon future and environmental sustainability, and will help with developing policies in Wales and beyond." Education Minister Jane Hutt said: "Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today and the assembly government is committed to playing its part in tackling it." Ms Hutt said C3W has the double aims of "improving our understanding of the causes, nature, timing and consequences of climate change on our environment as well as establishing Wales as a recognisable authority in terms of climate research." Professor Noel Lloyd, vice chancellor of Aberystwyth University, said the rational for the consortium was the recognition that climate change is a major global issue. He said there was a scientific consensus that "human-induced climate warming is a reality and rapidly leading to irreversible consequences, such as more extreme weather events, changing patterns of aridity and rising sea levels." Professor Lloyd said: "The research to be conducted by C3W scientists will be of direct benefit to the development of great sustainability." Research areas Bangor University vice chancellor Professor Merfyn Jones said the institution has developed a particularly strong profile in climate change science, and C3W would build on the recognised work of research groups there. Dr David Grant, vice chancellor of Cardiff University, said it was already involved with some of Wales' leading allied research areas of low-carbon energy and energy-use efficiency. He said being a member of C3W "will play a major role in the university's further contribution to a more sustainable future for us all." Prof Richard B Davies, Swansea University's vice chancellor said the ambition of the consortium must be "no less than establishing Wales as a world-leading centre for climate change research." "Researchers will be supporting C3W from across the Swansea campus, including glaciologists, marine biologists, climate modellers, lawyers, engineers and ageing experts."

2009-12-31 00:00:00

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Financial Highlights (in thousands) For the Years Ended For the Three Months Ended (Audited) (Audited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) Operating income (loss) 7,356 16,082 (3,135) 4,771 Other expenses, net (17,859) (16,930) (4,374) (4,341) (Loss) income before provision (benefit) for income taxes (10,503) (848) (7,509) 430 Provision (benefit) from income taxes* 853 (307) 1,846 (288) Net (loss) income $ (11,356) $ (541) $ (9,355) $718 (Loss) earnings per share Basic and Diluted $ (2.18) $ (0.10) $ (1.80) $0.14 Weighted average shares outstanding Total cash dividends per share $0.10 $0.30 $0.10 $- * The provision for income taxes in 2008 includes a $3,403,000 valuation allowance against its net deferred tax asset. The benefit for income taxes in 2007 includes $460,000 recorded in the 4th quarter 2007 related to the statutory rate change for Maryland and its impact on our net deferred tax assets. U.S. Operating Real Estate Segment For the year ended December December Operating revenues $39,515 $38,416 Operating expenses 18,189 19,235 Net operating income 21,326 19,181 Management and other fees, substantially all from related entities 157 194 General, administrative, selling and marketing (1,441) (2,252) Impairment charges (1,256) - Depreciation and amortization (6,082) (5,592) Operating income 12,704 11,531 Other expense (10,405) (9,998) Income before provision for income taxes 2,299 1,533 Provision for income taxes (1,624) (463) Net income $675 $1,996 Depreciation 6,082 5,592 Puerto Rico Operating Real Estate Segment For the year ended December December Operating revenues $22,728 $22,306 Operating expenses 11,512 11,433 Net operating income 11,216 10,873 Management and other fees, substantially all from related entities 624 635 General, administrative, selling and marketing (3,631) (3,159) Depreciation and amortization (3,769) (3,694) Operating income 4,440 4,655 Other expense (5,837) (4,536) Income before benefit for income taxes (1,397) 119 Provision for income taxes 37 373 Net loss $ (1,434) $ (254) Depreciation and unconsolidated entity adjustment 3,769 2,194 1. Net Operating Income ("NOI") is calculated as real estate rental revenue less real estate operating expense. NOI is a non-GAAP measure. Management believes that NOI is helpful to investors as it captures the performance of our real estate operations in a measure that is comparable with other entities that have different capitalization. 2. Funds From Operations ("FFO") is a non-GAAP financial measure, that we believe, when considered with the financial statements, prepared in accordance with GAAP, is helpful to investors in understanding our performance because it captures features particular to real estate performance by recognizing that real estate generally appreciates over time or maintains residual value to a much greater extent than do other depreciable assets such as machinery, computers or other personal property. The Company computes FFO in accordance with the Board of Governors of the National Association of Real Estate Investments Trusts, or NAREIT, which defines FFO as net income (loss) computed in accordance with GAAP, excluding gains or losses from sales of depreciable property, plus depreciation and amortization, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. SOURCE American Community Properties Trust Copyright 2009 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

The News Sun is an American daily newspaper published in Kendallville, Indiana. It is the flagship newspaper of KPC Media Group. It covers the city of Kendallville and several nearby communities in LaGrange and Noble counties. ==History== Though it numbers its issues from August 1911 and celebrated 2011 as its 100th anniversary, The News Sun The Daily Sun oldest predecessor was the weekly Noble County Journal, founded ; it later became the Kendallville Standard. The Weekly News began in 1877. By 1906 both had converted to dailies; in 1911 the two newspapers' publishers, O.E. Michaelis and George W. Baxter, established Kendallville Publishing Company Inc. and merged their papers. They established offices on North Main Street in Kendallville, in the same building where The News Sun and KPC Media Group remain headquartered today, more than 100 years later. Baxter and Michaelis sold the newspaper to Charles O. Merica in 1913; his wife Alice Merica inherited it in 1918 and remained publisher until her death on January 25, 1969, at age 103. She was the oldest newspaper publisher in the United States. Originally an afternoon newspaper printed six days per week, in 2000 The News Sun added a Sunday edition and on April 6, 2009, it converted to morning publication. ==Sister papers== The News Sun is one of three daily newspapers published by KPC Media Group; the other two, both of which cover adjoining counties, are The Herald Republican and The Star. The company also owns several monthly publications in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and three weekly newspapers, including The Advance Leader, which overlaps with The News Sun coverage in western Noble County. The Advance Leader was formed May 14, 1975, after KPC purchased and merged the Cromwell Advance of Cromwell (founded 1912) and the Ligonier Leader of Ligonier (1880). == References == == External links == KPC Media Group LaGrange County, Indiana Noble County, Indiana Media in Fort Wayne, Indiana Newspapers published in Indiana Publications established in 1911

The News Sun

Azad Gan (ازادگان, also Romanized as Āzād Gān; also known as Ebrāhīm Shāh) is a village in Almeh Rural District, Samalqan District, Maneh and Samalqan County, North Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 431, in 131 families. == References == Populated places in Maneh and Samalqan County

Azadegan (Samalqan)

==Untitled== does anyone now if teardrops charted anywhere outside the uk Ae12079410

Teardrops (The 411 song)

Order barring Ecuador from collecting $18B vacated NEW YORK (AP) - A federal appeals court vacated an order Monday by a New York judge that barred an $18 billion judgment in Ecuador against Chevron Inc. for contaminating the Amazon. The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously expressed skepticism that a New York judge could wield jurisdiction outside the U.S. The lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, Pablo Fajardo, told The Associated Press by phone on Monday that they expected to be able to begin to collect by the first quarter of 2012 the damages that a Lago Agrio, Ecuador, court ordered Chevron to pay. "We can now at least dream there will be justice and compensation for the damage, the environmental crime, committed by Chevron in Ecuador," he said, adding that the decision "lets the world see that we are right, not just in Ecuador but in any court in the world." Chevron has appealed the Lago Agrio decision, which was issued in February, and Fajardo said he expects an appeals court ruling in Ecuador in the next few months. "Chevron remains confident that once the full facts are examined, the fraudulent judgment will be found unenforceable and those who procured it will be required to answer for their misconduct," the oil company said in a statement posted on its website Monday. In New York, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had barred collection of the award, after determining that Chevron could prove that lawyers had manipulated a corrupt legal system in Ecuador to secure the judgment. The company had argued that the plaintiffs would collect the judgment before an appeals process was completed in Ecuador. But a lawyer for the Ecuadorean plaintiffs told the appeals court in oral arguments Friday that they would not attempt to recover damages until the appeals process in Ecuador was completed. The award followed nearly two decades of litigation. The Ecuadorean plaintiffs blamed the oil company Texaco, a subsidiary of Chevron since 2001, for environmental contamination and illnesses resulting from its operation of an oil consortium from 1972 to 1990 in the country's lush rainforest. Chevron has long argued that a 1998 agreement Texaco signed with Ecuador after a $40 million cleanup absolves it of liability. It claims Ecuador's state-run oil company is responsible for much of the pollution in the oil patch that Texaco quit more than two decades ago. Associated Press writer Frank Bajak in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Feds arrest man in sting operation over alleged car bomb plot at N. California bank Published February 08, 2013 Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO - Federal authorities have arrested a man they say intended to detonate a car bomb in front of a Northern California bank. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that authorities had arrested 28-year-old Matthew Aaron Llaneza on Thursday night following a multi-month sting operation in which an undercover FBI agent helped Llaneza build an explosive that the agent secretly rendered inoperable. The FBI says it had been tracking Llaneza for months and arrested him after he tried to set off the bomb with a cellphone in front of a Bank of America branch in Oakland. The FBI says Llaneza hoped to spark a civil war by making the bomb blast appear to be the work of anti-government "militias."

2013-12-31 00:00:00

HSBC Mobile Banking App Ranks No. 1 in UAE App Store DUBAI, UAE, December 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- HSBC UAE Mobile Banking app tops Finance category New app was also rated in Top 25 most popular "Free" apps on UAE app store Almost 15% of Internet Banking logons through mobile in first two weeks HSBC's mobile banking solution received an outstanding vote of confidence from its customers as the app achieved a ranking of No. 1, in the Finance category, on the UAE Apple app store, within 48 hours of launch. The new mobile banking app was also rated amongst the Top 25 most popular "Free" apps. HSBC UAE recently launched its new Mobile Banking solution in UAE, delivering the bank's Internet Banking platform customised for smartphone screens. HSBC customers, owning any Apple device, now have access to most of the same functions as desktop users via any GPRS, 3G and wireless (Wi-Fi) network. Using the new digital solution, customers in the UAE can view account details and transaction history, transfer funds between HSBC UAE accounts, access exclusive credit card offers in the UAE and worldwide, make credit card and bill payments, view exchange rates, and more. A survey conducted by the Bank in the UAE revealed that 94 per cent of its 2,580 respondents used a Smartphone while independent research carried out by the Informa Intelligence Centre projected that Smartphone penetration in the UAE would leap 15 per cent between 2009 and 2015. "The response from customers to our Mobile Banking solution has been truly encouraging. In the first two weeks almost 15% of total logons on Internet Banking were through mobile. While we are not the first to market with a mobile solution, we focused our efforts towards developing an enhanced customer friendly interface and improved technology that is more modern than many other offerings in the market. Looking at the uptake of the app on the UAE app store, our customers evidently second that," said Robert Crossman, Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, UAE, HSBC. Customers do not need to register for the new service. They simply need to download the free app and then enter their existing HSBC Personal Internet Banking username and password as they would to access their account through their desktop. Alternatively, customers can visit http://www.hsbc.ae using their Smartphone's web browser and access HSBC Internet Banking following standard log-in process. Crossman also added: "Our customers' in the UAE lead very busy lifestyles managing work, family and social commitments simultaneously, making it difficult for them to find time to visit branches or to sit down in front of a computer to ensure their finances are in order. The mobile banking platform created by HSBC is simple, secure and efficient, and will allow customers to effortlessly integrate their everyday banking with other daily tasks." According to Crossman, as mobile phone penetration increases, solutions such as HSBC's Mobile Banking will become the future of digital banking: "We are witnessing a trend where more and more banking customers will be moving away from desktop computers and going mobile. We look forward to charting these trends and bringing efficient banking solutions to our customers." With a view to offering a secure and safe banking experience, HSBC's Mobile Banking service currently provides basic transaction services recognized as the most used online transactions by customers in UAE. For services such as Telegraphic Transfers, change of personal details or opening new accounts and so on, customers will still need to access Internet Banking using desktop computer. The HSBC Mobile Banking App is available for free from UAE Apple app store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices at http://itunes.apple.com/ae/app/hsbc-uae/id475681838?mt=8 About HSBC in the MENA Region HSBC is the largest and most widely represented international banking organisation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with operations in 14 countries. HSBC has branches and offices in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Algeria and the Palestinian Autonomous Area. In Saudi Arabia, HSBC is a 40% shareholder of Saudi British Bank (SABB), and a 49% shareholder of HSBC Saudi Arabia for investment banking in the Kingdom. In Iraq, HSBC holds a majority shareholding in Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank. HSBC also maintains a representative office in Libya. This presence, the widest coverage of any bank in the region, comprises some 285 branches and offices, and around 12,000 people. In the full year 2010, HSBC made a profit before tax of $892 million in the MENA region.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Shopkeeper chases gunman after theft A SHOPKEEPER chased an armed robber who stole a three-figure sum of money from his store in Edinburgh. The owner was threatened with what appeared to be a gun at Meadows Wine in Melville Drive at around 9pm on Friday. The man stole the cash and was then chased by the 40-year-old shopkeeper along Sciennes Place. The robber was described as 6ft, of medium to heavy build, wearing blue jeans and a waist-length black Helly Hansen jacket, a beige beanie hat and a black ski mask or balaclava. A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "The area was busy at this time of the evening and I'm sure someone must have seen this 40-yard chase along Sciennes Place. "Indeed, the shop was busy with customers immediately prior to the male entering and someone may have seen the male hanging around the shop prior to him entering. Anyone with information is asked to contact the police."

2011-12-31 00:00:00

In the Region - New Jersey - In New Jersey, an Endless Supply of "Colonials" - NYTimes.com IN the practical sense, of course, it matters little what architectural label is slapped on a house in a real estate listing. A "Cape Cod" called a "Cotswold cottage" or a "center-hall colonial" has its list of attributes and drawbacks, regardless. Nor does its property tax bill go up or down based on its description. Even a purist like Peter A. Primavera, a cultural anthropologist by training and a historic preservationist by trade, concedes that this is so. "It's a free country," said Mr. Primavera, whose company, the Cultural Resource and Consulting Group, is in Highland Park. "I guess people have a right to toss terminology around without knowing what they are talking about - even real estate agents." An agent listing a house is, in fact, free to write whatever he wants in the "remarks" section of a multiple-listing form. As for a style designation, though, the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service asks agents to choose from a menu of categories: colonial, Cape Cod, bilevel, split-level, contemporary and ranch. Agents can then choose a "substyle" designation from another list. For example, a colonial may be secondarily classified as center-hall, Georgian, Tudor, Victorian, side-hall, French Provincial, other or none. The categories were drawn up by real estate agents who are members of the listing service, a spokeswoman said. When faced with the menu, listing agents untutored in architecture nearly always choose "colonial," agents and housing specialists said. "Absolutely everything is a colonial, and especially a center-hall colonial," said Sam Joseph, an agent with Re/Max Village Square. "It's hysterical, but that's the way the game is played." Mr. Joseph, who attended art school in London before becoming a real estate salesman in northern New Jersey, said he had seen everything from a Queen Anne-style house to a Dutch colonial described as a center-hall colonial. Such descriptions are generally perceived as referring to the look of a house, and not its actual provenance - as, for example, the Colonial era ended in 1776, and the Victorian era in the early 20th century. Even so, it is "kind of wacky" the way the colonial designation prevails, said Martin Schwartz, a builder whose Montclair company, Textured Home, specializes in updating older houses without stripping them of "authenticity." "Calling something a colonial appears to mean it has four walls and a peaked roof," he said. Creating a listing last spring for a pretty blue house on the market in Jackson, Dawn Ciccone, an agent with Diane Turton Realtors, started as she usually does with "colonial," and as a substyle chose "Victorian." The house in question, with stylistic elements reminiscent of both architectural eras but clearly belonging to neither, was built as part of a subdivision in 1996. Although Ms. Ciccone's listing for a "beautiful Victorian colonial" is a contradiction in terms to people like Mr. Schwartz and Mr. Primavera, she said she had relied primarily on the description supplied by the seller. "It's not a real Victorian," she acknowledged. "There are very few of those in the Jackson area. But it does have that look, with the gabled roof and the porches." Still, merely having the look of something does not suffice for people like John K. Turpin, the retired president of Turpin Realtors, who co-wrote the two-volume "New Jersey Country Houses: The Somerset Hills" (Mountain Colony Press, 2005), and has another book in the works on Morris County homes. Mr. Turpin described some real estate descriptions of home styles as "cringe-worthy." "My own company shares the burden of trying to be accurate, if not necessarily scholarly, with its promotional material," he said, acknowledging that "things do slip through, because most real estate agents haven't got a clue about architecture." One Turpin Realtors listing, for instance - an 18,000-square-foot estate on a private peninsula of the Navesink River in Rumson - might or might not be an example of misnomer-ism. The house, listed for $29.9 million, is described as "a masterwork of shingle style architecture." Mr. Primavera counts himself among those specialists who see "shingle" as a type of exterior wall covering rather than an architectural style. But Mr. Turpin noted that references to shingle style architecture are easily found online and in scholarly works. Both men do agree on the need for more descriptive precision.

2010-12-31 00:00:00

Weeding on a Herculean scale On a sweltering morning deep in the San Gabriel Mountains, Katie VinZant donned work gloves and boots, hoisted a pickax and began bashing alien species. The 31-year-old botanist enjoys a Sunday in the Angeles National Forest as much as the next person. But when it comes to weeds that have colonized and multiplied since the 2009 Station fire, she's a terminator. Slender and trim in a T-shirt, grubby pants and tattered straw sombrero, VinZant swiped the sweat stinging her eyes. "I know it sounds crazy," she said, "But I plan to get rid of as many weeds as possible. They don't belong on the landscape." One plant at a time, one weekend at a stretch, VinZant is helping to weed the 640,000-acre forest that is the playground and backdrop to Los Angeles. This is weeding on a Herculean scale. But the U.S. Forest Service employee and pioneer in the Angeles National Forest's weed removal program, is unstoppable. She leads a team that aims to map and remove entire populations of 48 nonnative plant species crowding out alders, cottonwoods, willows and chaparral. With a dozen employees and volunteers she calls "my die-hards" on a stretch of the Santa Clara Divide Road, 16 miles northwest of Pasadena, with the temperature 100 degrees and tarantulas climbing up their pant legs, they dug and pried thickets of Spanish broom from the hard ground and granite crevices along a crumbling asphalt road on the burned slopes west of Mt. Gleason. These stands had grown 4-feet tall, with spiky green branches that spread 3 feet across. The root systems of the spindly, highly flammable yellow-flowering Mediterranean native can be so dense that toads can't burrow into the sandy soil. A crew member began with a pair of shears, lopping away the top branches. Then another moved in with a spade and trowel, methodically exposing the root. About an hour later, they crouched together and attached the steel jaws of a weed wrench to the main root. Then they began rhythmically rocking back on the tool's 4-foot handle. Eventually, the soil heaved and the root released its hold with a soft pop. They left behind a hole about a foot deep and 2 feet wide. After a five-minute breather, they moved to the next quarry a few yards away. "Spanish broom is awful - just awful," VinZant said. "And a pain to remove." Introduced in a misguided erosion-control program in the 1930s, Spanish broom and other imported plants and trees were spread by vehicle tires and now thrive in the ashen shadow of the county's largest wildfire. But removing the invader from the wilderness is not as glamorous as the ongoing effort - being undertaken by hundreds of volunteers - to plant 3 million pine and fir trees over the 10,000 acres scarred by the Station fire. "Everybody wants to plant trees, which is hard work but also fun stuff," said Vance Russell, director of California programs for the National Forest Foundation, which administers private gifts and funds for the benefit of the national forests. "Pulling weeds in the Angeles National Forest is a Sisyphean task; with some weeds, you could have all the people in Los Angeles going after them for 50 years and not make a dent. "That is why plants, compared to animals, often get less attention and funding. Yet they are the base, after the soil, in a thriving habitat, and bringing back species people want to see, from flowers and Manzanita to bobcats and migrating birds." Small signs of progress keep VinZant and company going. She pointed to a mountainside a few hundred yards to the east, the rising slopes peppered with green. "We took hundreds of brooms off that slope, and they haven't come back," she said. "The green patches you see there now are native plants and grasses that are flourishing again." Then she turned uncharacteristically glum. "We still have five miles of road to go, and it's the cruelest section of all because the brooms are really dense." Dick Sailors, 68, a retired Pasadena middle school teacher, seemed unfazed. He joined VinZant's war nearly two years ago, after the Station fire scorched more than 161,000 acres of chaparral, oak and pine forests. Since then, unwanted imports have infested an estimated 3,400 acres in the burn area.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Bills QB Fitzpatrick agrees to new deal Bills QB Fitzpatrick agrees to new deal The Associated Press updated 7:36 p.m. ET Oct. 28, 2011 ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn't intend to shed his scraggly beard or lose his large collection of T-shirts after signing a 6-year, $59 million contract on Friday that secures him as the Buffalo Bills franchise quarterback. Given how much he'll be making and his new high-profile status, Fitzpatrick might have a hard time sticking with the "No-Name" label though. The one-time journeyman, 2005 seventh-round draft pick and Harvard graduate has formally arrived as a bona fide NFL starter after being rewarded with what could potentially become the most lucrative contract in team history. It's a bold move by a team that's spent much of the past 15 years searching for someone to fill the quarterback role, and a reward for a player who as a first-time starter this season has led a revived offense that has Buffalo off to a surprising 4-2 start. "It's been a long road. There's been a lot of hurdles and obstacles that I've had to overcome," Fitzpatrick said. "I think we've got this thing headed in the right direction. So to be a part of that, and to be able to continue to be a part of that for years to come, I'm really excited about it." Fitzpatrick becomes the first starting quarterback since Doug Flutie in 1999 to earn a contract extension with Buffalo. And Fitzpatrick's deal includes $24 million in guaranteed money, according to a person familiar with negotiations, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the team does not release contract terms. That's a significant raise over the $3.22 million base salary he was making this season. Fitzpatrick was in the final year of the three-year contract - worth $7.405 million in base salary - he signed upon joining the Bills as a free agent in 2009. "I'm excited about Ryan getting this done. He'll be our quarterback for a long time," general manager Buddy Nix said, who said the key to any team's success depends on having a quarterback in place. "It really makes everything easier for us. It's easy to put good players around him if you've got that position that you feel good about. And we do." Nix had initially hoped to conduct contract talks with Fitzpatrick this offseason, but was delayed as a result of the lockout. The deal was reached shortly after practice ended on Friday, as the Bills come out of their bye week to "host" Washington (3-3) in Buffalo's annual game at Toronto. Until Fitzpatrick's emergence, the quarterback position has been unsettled in Buffalo since Hall of Famer Jim Kelly retired following the 1996 season. The Bills, over that stretch, have gone through the likes of Rob Johnson, Drew Bledsoe, J.P. Losman, Kelly Holcomb and, most recently, Trent Edwards. Of all those players, Fitzpatrick has the unlikeliest pedigree. The Bills are his third team since Fitzpatrick was selected 250th overall in the 2005 draft by St. Louis. He later spent two seasons with Cincinnati, including 2008, when he finished the season going 4-6-1 in taking over for injured starter Carson Palmer. Last season, Fitzpatrick provided the offense some semblance of spark despite the team's 4-12 finish. Going 4-9 as a starter, he finished with 3,000 yards passing - the first Bill with that many since Losman in 2006. And he threw 23 touchdowns, the most since Bledsoe had 24 in 2002. With a 13-15 record in Buffalo, Fitzpatrick has been the quarterback for all but one victory over the past two-plus seasons. With 1,477 yards passing and 12 touchdowns to go with just six interceptions this season, Fitzpatrick ranks in the top 10 in four statistical categories, including being tied for fifth in TDs. More important, he has a fuller command of coach Chan Gailey's offensive approach after replacing Trent Edwards as the starter in Week 3 of last season. Edwards was then cut a week later. Numbers aside, Fitzpatrick has established himself as a team leader. During the lockout, he helped organize several player workouts, including one at his native Arizona, where he had his teammates stay at his house. The work has paid off given how the passing attack has remained productive despite a group of no-name receivers after Buffalo lost two regulars to season-ending injuries and traded its most proven threat, Lee Evans, to Baltimore in August. The Bills currently rank 10th in the NFL in yards gained, and third with 188 points scored. Word of Fitzpatrick's contract drew praise from his teammates, who posted notes on their respective Twitter accounts.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Fantasy Focus: Stars and Scrubs, and How For most of this spring, my colleague Jeff Erickson and I have been running mock drafts during our Sirius-XM radio show, often replicating the 15-team mixed league formats used by the National Fantasy Baseball Championship. That process allowed us to determine where we would like to draft in the main event, as draft slots are chosen Kentucky Derby style, meaning that the first choice simply affords an owner to pick his own seat. The mock drafts made it clear that picking in the back half of Round 1 is the preferred option because when the draft order snakes back in Round 2, there is a significant drop-off in talent after the first 20 or so players are taken. Subsequently, this leaves a large group of 40 or so players who will be selected in the middle and late part of Round 2 through the early picks in Round 5 with little to separate them. Entering Saturday's auction in mixed-league Tout Wars, an elite industry competition, I was primed to use a "stars and scrubs" strategy to stockpile the strongest bats and take advantage of the excellent depth in the pitching pool on the cheap. Admittedly, the potential inflation of second-tier players did not influence my selection of that approach, if only because every auction generates its own market. The takeaway is that there is a good chance that the second tier gets inflated in instances where the elite players do not, and quickly indentifying the marketplace allows for any strategy to be executed in a fashion that maximizes its relative effectiveness. The first 10 players came off the board at the following prices: Roy Halladay, $26 - won by Scott Swanay ($1 above projected earn value) Justin Upton, $40 - Zach Steinhorn ($2 above proj. earn value) Hanley Ramirez, $39 - Nando DiFino ($9 above proj. earn value) Curtis Granderson, $33 - Paul Singman ($6 above proj. earn value) Clayton Kershaw, $30 - Gene McCaffery ($4 above proj. earn value) Jacoby Ellsbury, $37 - Nando DiFino ($4 below proj. earn value) Ryan Braun, $40 - Eric Mack ($3 below proj. earn value) Adrian Beltre, $30 - Gene McCaffery ($5 above proj. earn value) Dustin Pedroia, $36 - Seth Trachtman ($5 above proj. earn value) Matt Kemp, $40 - Derek VanRiper ($4 below proj. earn value) To be fair, I was surprised that the bidding stopped at $40 on Kemp, and I would have gone to at least $42 (still lower than most, in my opinion) before backing off a bit, given my expectations for him this season. Instead, I won a player I wasn't previously targeting at a price $4-$6 cheaper than I expected and saw a clear path to top-10 players being potentially undervalued. Put simply, stars and scrubs became locked in. Although I did not hit the gas pedal on Miguel Cabrera when he was purchased by Nando at $41, I built around players who will deliver something in all five categories by getting Carlos Gonzalez at $40 and Jose Bautista at $37 to secure the first-, fifth- and 10th-ranked players on my board. Meanwhile, the second tier of players often drafted in that aforementioned 25-65 range regularly commanded bids well above the projected earn values, taking plenty of cash off the table and increasing the quality players available for $5 or less in the later stages of the auction. My complete roster with prices rounded out as follows: C - Josh Donaldson ($4) C - Tyler Flowers ($1) 1B - Paul Konerko ($20) 2B - Ryan Roberts ($5) SS - Jose Reyes ($27) 3B - Jose Bautista ($37) MI - Ryan Raburn ($1) CR - Justin Smoak ($1) OF - Carlos Gonzalez ($40) OF - Matt Kemp ($40) OF - Shin-Soo Choo ($21) OF - Colby Rasmus ($5) OF - Vernon Wells ($5) UT - Nolan Reimold ($1) P - James Shields ($15) P - Brandon League ($10) P - Derek Holland ($7) P - Edwin Jackson ($6) P - Hiroki Kuroda ($4) P - Francisco Liriano ($3) P - Bud Norris ($2) P - Vinnie Pestano ($2) R - Rafael Furcal R - Joel Peralta R - Brett Anderson R - Danny Duffy

2012-12-31 00:00:00

style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | ERA ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | SO |- align="center" | || 39 || 258.2 || 21 || 7 || 2.30 || 152 |- align="center" | || 37 || 221.2 || 17 || 9 || 2.88 || 106 |- align="center" |} ====Other pitchers==== Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable" |- ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="16%" | Player ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | G ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | IP ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | W ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | L ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | ERA ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | SO |- align="center" | || 29 || 130 || 8 || 8 || 4.15 || 45 |- align="center" |} ====Relief pitchers==== Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts {| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable" |- ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="16%" | Player ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | G ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | W ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | L ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | SV ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | ERA ! style="background:black;color:#f47937;" width="9%" | SO |- align="center" | || 57 || 12 || 4 || 7 || 2.10 || 64 |- align="center" | || 56 || 10 || 7 || 19 || 2.35 || 64 |- align="center" | || 33 || 2 || 5 || 2 || 3.25 || 38 |- align="center" | || 20 || 1 || 3 || 0 || 4.02 || 14 |- align="center" | || 6 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 4.70 || 5 |- align="center" | || 6 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 8.31 || 4 |- align="center" |} == 1954 World Series == The New York Giants swept the Cleveland Indians in what would be their final World Series win in New York. It was the first time the Cleveland Indians had been swept in a World Series. The only highlight for the Indians was that they kept the Yankees from winning their sixth straight series. The last time the Yankees had not won the series or pennant beforehand was 1948, when, again, the Indians kept them out (although that year, they won the Series). It was also the only World Series from to which did not feature the Yankees.

1954 New York Giants (MLB) season

Questor share tip: LNG in Asia should see Cape return to growth "In overall terms revenue was in line with our plan and with our high levels of revenue visibility, we confidently expect a return to revenue growth in-line with our double-digit target range in the second half," Mr May said. There was a slowdown in the Middle East in the first half of the year, a region which generates about 20pc of company revenues. But prospects for the group in Pacific Rim are bullish. The company is heavily involved in liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and many are being constructed in Australia. Indeed, LNG is looking more attractive in the region following the Japanese nuclear crisis at Fukushima earlier this year. Analysts are expecting news on such contracts relatively soon. The group increased the interim dividend to 4.5p from 4p and it will be paid on October 7. The shares trade without the right to the payment from tomorrow, Wednesday, September 7. The order book was about £850m on June 30, with £600m of this relating to maintenance services contracts and £250m to construction support services. The company has achieve a lot over the last few years - bringing its debt under control, moving from Aim to the main market in June this year. The group also reinstated its dividend payments. It is also likely that in the next index reshuffle the company will enter the FTSE 250. The shares are trading on a December 2011 earnings multiple of 10.9, falling to 9.5 next year. With the prospects in the Pacific for LNG work looking bright over the next few years, this does look cheap. The prospective yield this year is 2.7pc. Questor last advised a purchase in June when the shares were at 550p. They are now below this level following a dire August in global markets. Investors who bought into the shares when Questor first recommended a purchase on March 22, 2009, at 65½p would be sitting on gains of 646pc, although Questor has suggested "top slicing" this investment on numerous occasions. The rating on these shares remains a buy ahead of the group's inclusion in the FTSE 100 and the prospect of contract wins in Asia.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Obama Makes a Vow to Veterans, but Can He Keep It? Late summer is the season of annual veterans service organization conventions, and this year, much to the chagrin of other groups vying for his attention, President Obama chose to address the American Legion in Minneapolis. Not surprisingly, with Washington focused on reducing the deficit, the president addressed the issue of possible cuts to veterans" programs in his remarks. "As a nation, we're facing some tough choices as we put our fiscal house in order," Mr. Obama told the legionnaires. "But I want to be absolutely clear: We cannot, we must not, we will not, balance the budget on the backs of our veterans. As commander in chief, I won't allow it." Yet just how much power Mr. Obama will have to prevent such cuts is not quite clear. The bipartisan "super committee" created to recommend $1.5 billion trillion in spending cuts over the coming decade will undoubtedly include some veterans programs on its agenda; already some of those proposals are floating around Congress and inside the Pentagon, including one that would revamp military pensions to make them similar to 401 (k) retirement programs. And if Congress cannot agree with the committee's plan, then across-the-board cuts will be mandated, some of which will almost certainly fall on the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has seen its budget increase by more than 20 percent since Mr. Obama took office. Mr. Obama also addressed the issue of jobs: the unemployment rate among younger veterans is higher than the rate among their civilian peers. He called for not only expanding programs to prepare service members for the private sector, but also creating tax credits for companies that hire unemployed or disabled veterans. "When Congress returns from recess, this needs to be at the top of their agenda," the president said. "For the sake of our veterans, for the sake of our economy, we need these veterans working and contributing and creating the new jobs and industries that will keep America competitive in the 21st century." The president also acknowledged that, despite highly touted efforts by the Department of Veterans Affairs to reduce the backlog in disability claims, that backlog has continued to grow, due largely to new claims for illnesses related to Agent Orange, he said. "When our veterans who fought for our country have to fight just to get the benefits that you've already earned, that's unacceptable," he said.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Pakistan: Nine killed in Nowshera hotel blast

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault

Education in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

NATO Rescues 20 Held Hostage By Pirates The Associated Press Somali pirates attacked two ships off the Horn of Africa on Saturday, capturing a Belgian dredger and its 10-man crew. NATO forces intervened in the other assault, chasing the pirates down and freeing 20 fisherman on a Yemeni dhow. As pirates forced the Belgian ship to slowly head north toward Somalia, 430 miles (700 kilometers) away, a Spanish military ship, a French frigate and a French scout ship all steamed toward the area to try to intercept it. In Brussels, government officials held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and possible intervention. The high-seas drama underscored the dangers off the coasts of Somalia and east Africa despite the best efforts of an international flotilla that includes warships from the United States and the European Union. Pirates from anarchic, clan-ruled Somalia have attacked more than 80 boats this year and are now holding 18 ships and over 310 crew members hostage. In Saturday's first attack, pirates hijacked the Belgian-flagged Pompei in the Indian Ocean, a few hundred miles (kilometers) north of the Seychelles islands, said Portuguese Lt. Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes, who is traveling with the NATO fleet patrolling the region. Belgium reported the ship sounded three alarms before dawn Saturday indicating it was under attack on its way to the Seychelles with a cargo of concrete and stones. It had 10 crew: two Belgians, one Dutch captain, three Filipinos and four Croatians. "There is no contact with the pirates, not with the crew, not with any other parties," Jaak Raes, director general of the Belgian Crisis Center, told reporters. "We are sure that the ship now is heading to the coast of Somalia." Just a few hours after that hijack, pirates further north in the Gulf of Aden attacked a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker with small arms and rockets. Fernandes said that ship, the Handytankers Magic, issued a distress call shortly after dawn but escaped the pirates using "speed and maneuvers." A Dutch frigate from the NATO force responded immediately to the tanker's distress call. It trailed the pirates "on a small white skiff, which tried to evade and proceed toward a Yemeni-flagged fishing dhow" that had been seized by the pirates Thursday, Fernandes said. He said pirates were using the Yemeni vessel as a "mother ship," a boat that allows the pirates' tiny skiffs to operate far off the Somali coast. The pirates boarded the dhow and Dutch marine commandos followed soon after, freeing 20 fishermen whose nationalities were not known. There was no exchange of fire and Dutch forces seized seven Kalashnikov rifles and one rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Seven Somali pirates were detained, but they were soon released because "NATO does not have any detainment policy," Fernandes said. The seven could not be arrested or held because they were seized by Dutch nationals and neither the pirates, the victims nor the ship were Dutch, he explained. The Gulf of Aden - a vital short cut between Europe and Asia - is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. For that reason, it has been hard hit by pirates, who can earn $1 million or more in ransom for each hijacked vessel. AccuWeather.com says weather in the region is likely to favor the pirates for the next several weeks. Very small waves and light winds make it easier for the pirates to operate the small speedboats they use to attack ships. Unrestricted visibility at day will help lookouts on vessels watching for attacks, but little or no moonlight works for the brigands, the weather service said. Pirates plucked from the sea by navy warships could be tried anywhere from Mombasa to New York, Paris to Rotterdam - but most are simply set free to wreak havoc again because of legal issues. Among the difficulties facing prosecutors is assembling witnesses scattered across the globe and finding translators. Many countries are wary of hauling in pirates for trial for fear of being saddled with them after they serve their prison terms. The United States, the European Union and Britain all have signed agreements with Somalia's southern neighbor, Kenya, clearing the way for a slew of court cases in the southern port city of Mombasa. And the most prominent recent case - a scrawny Somali teenage pirate who stormed the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama this month and was later arrested by the U.S. Navy - will be tried in New York. The captain of the Maersk Alabama, Richard Phillips, got a hero's welcome Friday when he returned to his hometown of Underhill, Vermont.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

The term most certainly did not originate during World War II. It may have come into the vocabulary of a new group of people at that time, but at least for a number of African Americans of the U.S. South, the expression was already old. If it can only be doccumented back to the 1920s, that may be because we don't have earlier recordings of African American blues. It at least goes back to Bunk Johnson's generation (whenever that was). In philology, as well as in sociology, to arrive at a clear definiton one has to suspend ethnocentric-type thinking, no particular group of people can claim ownership of a word, term, or expression because they first put it to music, or gave it its most popular meaning - since by definition slang has a static meaning to begin with. (If that were the case the majority of rap artists today would be suing each other). To try & determine the origin of a slang expression, it is easy but logically incorrect to assume the period when it enters into mainstream culture or the venue by which it is introduced that the people who introduced it must be the originator of the expression & the time it is introduced as its only inception; when actually it existed long before but with a slightly different meaning. Using this same but faulty logic you can reverse the argument & said that it did originate during WWII because the slang term at that time acquired a meaning that has remined more or less the same ever since, or that since the expression acquired its most users or entered into the majority of mainstream culture at that time that they "own" the expression more than the people who used it during the emerging blues scence of the 1920s, thus, slang expressions are "time-shared" having a unique meaning to a particular group of people for a limited amount of time - in short, same expression, different meaning, no one "owner". Academically then, "easy rider" originated when the words "easy" & "rider" were first formed to convey a meaning - probably the day after the saddle or first bicycle or automobile was invented. Hscully3 280605 == Veers off == Beginning with the railroad "references" in the third paragraph this article veers off topic badly. The article needs a serious re-writing. Teneriff == Led Zeppelin Lyrics == Isn't it a violation of copyright to post song lyrics on Wikipedia? If the lyrics are under copyright it is; if not it is not. Do the Led Zeppelin lyrics differ from other versions? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.75.234.239 (talk). An earlier reference in rock and roll was made by Iron Butterfly

Easy rider (slang)

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future results, performance or achievements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could affect the forward-looking statements contained herein include: that the U.S. government and ex-U.S. governments may choose not to issue a request for peramivir to treat influenza or such requests, if any, may not result in an order or such order, if any, may not be profitable for BioCryst; that to the extent peramivir is used as a treatment for H1N1 flu (or other strains of flu), there can be no assurance that it will prove effective; that HHS may further condition, reduce or eliminate future funding of the peramivir program; that ongoing peramivir clinical trials or our peramivir program in general may not be successful; that our product candidates may not receive required regulatory clearances from the FDA; that ongoing and future pre-clinical and clinical development may not have positive results; that we or our licensees may not be able to continue future development of our current and future development programs; that our development programs and partnerships may never result in future product, license or royalty payments being received by BioCryst; that BioCryst may not be able to retain its current pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for further development of its product candidates or it may not reach favorable agreements with potential pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for further development of its product candidates; that our actual cash burn rate may not be consistent with our expectations; that BioCryst may not have sufficient cash to continue funding the development, manufacturing, marketing or distribution of its products and that additional funding, if necessary, may not be available at all or on terms acceptable to BioCryst. Please refer to the documents BioCryst files periodically with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically BioCryst's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, most recent Registration Statement on Form S-3 (filed November 28, 2008), Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K, all of which identify important factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections and forward-looking statements. SOURCE BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Then there's the vexed question of what sort of parent Dahl had been himself; with AS Byatt's A Children's Book shortlisted for this year's Man Booker prize, the richly ironic cloth of the dysfunctional families of the great purveyors of children's literature has been spread before us: a counterpane world of suicides, mental breakdowns and addictions. As for Dahl, was he the delightfully playful, loving and inventive paterfamilias that some of his five children have recalled - or the crushingly dominating patriarch, subject to terrifying rages that looms in others' accounts? Standing 6ft 6ins, was Dahl not so much a BFG as a Big Angry Giant? Nor am I keen on probing further back, to the miserable boarding school boy's separation from his doting mother, or the early death of his father. Dahl may have got some of the furniture for his children's stories from testing Cadbury's products at school, his hated masters and the folk tales of his Norwegian grandmother - but if a children's writer doesn't gather material from his own childhood, where else is there? I'm more interested in Dahl's children's fiction as a perfectly achieved analogue of his distinctive worldview, with those elements that are wholly unsuitable for children obliterated - as if by some insult to the brain - yet their ghosts informing what remains. Dahl had a good war: an RAF fighter pilot, he achieved record numbers of "kills," and his early short stories traded on his wartime experiences. And yet can there ever really be such a thing as "a good war"? Even from the air the obliteration of human life is a vile business, while especially from up above, the pretensions of human morality are miniaturised. In Dahl-world, political institutions are shoved well to the background, while the notion of an orderly society is never seriously entertained: at best we have a little community anti-authoritarianism, as in Danny, the Champion of the World. Take Dahl's most famous work, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: its boy protagonist's family is immiserated, his carers are incapable of looking even after themselves - so salvation comes through luck, and the arbitrary beneficence of a deranged feudal-capitalist with a happily mancipated workforce. Of course, the spur that initially drives Charlie on is a lust for sweet things that, were it transferred to an adult plane, could only result in a work entitled something like "Charlie and the Huge Seraglio full of Compliant Nymphomaniacs." The NAACP slated the black pygmy Oompa-Loompas in the original text - and so Dahl changed them to a fictional light-skinned subspecies - but he couldn't get rid of the brown sugar. My equation of sweets with sex is not facetious; in Dahl-world, oral gratification is pretty much the only thing that matters. The misogyny that haunts Dahl's adult writing is also short-circuited in his sexless children's fiction, for here his heroes and heroines can be either orphans (the aforementioned Charlie, James of giant-peach lusting), or else, as in The Magic Finger, an unnamed, and thus family-free, eight-year-old girl. The eponymous heroine of Matilda has parents who are neglectful to the point of being abusive. Sophie in The BFG is extracted from her natal home in order to experience good and bad surrogacy - from giants (ie Dahlesquely huge men). The infanticidal witches of The Witches stand proxy for all mothers - who kill that which they claim to love; true, the boy's Norwegian grandmother is a good enough parent, but then she's safely de-sexed by age and illness. Only Danny, the Champion of the World presents an idealised parent - and that, also, has to be a man. Danny is the most naturalistic of the Dahl children's books, and its evocation of rural English life in the 1950s gives us more substantial clues to its author's political perspective than any of the other, more cartoonish works. True, there are the satirical personifications of consumerism (Veruca Salt) and mass media (Mike Teavee) in Charlie, while even in a squib such as The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me we get little vignettes of a ruptured organic society - but it's only in Danny that the whole Red Tory cloth of his convictions is unfurled. With its portrayal of happy poaching folk, existing in impoverished but mutually supporting symbiosis with a rough-shooting aristocracy, Dahl registers his wholesale revulsion from the modern world.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Bonuses may make a comeback (for some) By Allison Linn, senior business writer Here's a sign of a slightly improving economy: It appears some companies are starting to worry that employees - many of whom have endured several years cutting budgets and perks while adding workload - will jump ship. About 40 of the approximately 100 human resources executives recently polled by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said they are growing more concerned that competitors will poach their top workers as the economy improves. About half said that's always a concern, even in a recession. But you can't necessarily do much about it when the economy is in the doldrums. About 60 of the 100 companies polled said they had to reduce or eliminate employee perks due to the recession. Now, with the economy slowly improving, about 40 of the HR executives said they are bringing some perks back, and nearly 20 said they have reinstated all of them. About 25 have introduced new perks. We hear a lot about low-cost ways to make employees happy, but HR professionals appear to know a new coffee machine isn't going to make your best salesperson stick around. Nearly 80 of the 100 said performance bonuses - that's right, cash - is the best way to keep the most talented workers from moving on. A 401 (k) plan, vacation or personal time and flexible schedules also ranked high among ways to retain the most talented workers. Related content: You're working harder, they're making money Biggest loser for factory jobs? Not Detroit Where the health insurance is {"contentId":"6965402,""totalVotes":"100"} Do you think your company will offer bonuses this year?

2011-12-31 00:00:00

A gentleman scientist is a scientist with a private income who can pursue scientific study independently as he wishes without excessive external financial pressures. Scientists

Independent scientists

{| width="100%" style="background:transparent" {| width="100%" style="background-color:#F5FFFA" |style="width: 50%; border:1px solid #084080; background-color:#F5FFFA; vertical-align:top"| {| width="100%" cellpadding="2" style="vertical-align:top; background-color:#F5FFFA" | Hello,, and Welcome to Wikipedia! Please remember to sign your name on talk pages by clicking or or by typing four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your username and the date. Also, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field. Below are some useful links to facilitate your involvement. Happy editing! Moonriddengirl (talk) |} {| width="100%" style="background-color:#F5FFFA" |style="width: 50%; border:0; background-color:#F5FFFA; vertical-align:top"| {| width="100%" cellpadding="2" style="vertical-align:top; background-color:#F5FFFA;" |- ! Getting started |- |style="color:#000"| Introduction The five pillars of Wikipedia How to edit a page Intuitive guide to Wikipedia |- ! Finding your way around |- | style="color:#000"| Table of contents Department directory |- ! Editing articles |- | style="color:#000"| How to develop an article Manual of Style |- |} |style="width: 50%; border:0; background-color:#F5FFFA; vertical-align:top"| {| width="100%" cellpadding="2" style="vertical-align:top; background-color:#F5FFFA" ! Getting help |- |style="color:#000"| Frequently asked questions Cheatsheet Where to ask a question Help pages New contributors' help page Article Wizard - a Wizard to help you create articles |- ! How you can help |- |style="color:#000"| Contributing to Wikipedia Community Portal Follow Wikipedia etiquette Practice civility |- |} |} |} |} == Reply == Please see private e-mail sent to you for response. Chris (talk) Hi, I don't use Skype, MSN, Google Talk or Yahoo Messenger. Please suggest an alternative. Deb (talk) E-mail is fine. You should be able to e-mail me through wikipedia. Deb (talk) I would also be willing to be contacted through email - just use Wikipedia's mail here PhantomSteve/talk|contribs\ Perfect, I will send you an email by the end of this weekend, Thank you, Natalia Olaru Do you have a script? If so email works well for me. If on the other hand you want a more open interview, then grab me on Skype (note I am usually status "online" regardless of whether I am in, out asleep or in my Tardis). Rich Farmbrough,. I can send you the questions via email by the end of this weekend, but if you would have time to meet on skype that would be good too. Thank you, Natalia Olaru ==WikiWomen's Collaborative==

MulgaEscu

Chris Brown: "Is There Such Thing as Loving Two People?" (JosiahW/Splash News; David McNew/Getty Images; Alo Ceballos/FilmMagic/Getty Images) Chris Brown is letting the rumors about him and ex-girlfriend Rihanna continue to swirl with a new video in which the R&B star talks about loving two women. Could he mean anyone but Rihanna and his most recent ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran? In the video, titled "The Real Chris Brown," the singer appears to be on his way home from a club. He warns fans that he is drunk but wants to "be honest." The video also shows shots of Brown, 23, and Rihanna, 24, dancing in a club. "When you share history with somebody then you tend to fall in love with somebody else, it's kind of difficult," he says in the video. "Is there such thing as loving two people? I don't know. I don't know if that's possible but for me, I feel like that." He added that he doesn't want to "hurt either" and that he's "not trying to be a player." The video was posted hours after Brown announced he had officially split with Tran, who he had been dating for several months. Three hours after the video was online Tran tweeted, "All I'm saying is.. You don't mess with people's genuine feelings. You just don't!" "Life moves on.. So let's all," she added. Rihanna also had a cryptic tweet Thursday evening, saying, "Ain't nobody bidness..... But mine and my baby!" Brown and Rihanna have been spotted together in New York recently, and they exchanged what appeared to be a kiss at the MTV Video Music Awards in September. SHOWS: Good Morning America

2012-12-31 00:00:00

MetaplasticityBot The following discussion is an archived debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. The result of the discussion was Approved. ==MetaplasticityBot== Operator: Metaplasticity Automatic or Manually Assisted: Automatic collection, supervised changes Programming Language(s): PHP Function Overview: API interface and scraping bot for a web program in development: Metaplasticity. Edit period(s):Continuous Already has a bot flag (Y/N):N Function Details: An interface for a larger program that will access and scrape neuroscience-related data from wikipedia. Its function will be merely to gather data through queries. ===Discussion=== How often will you be hitting the API and what will you primarily be pulling? Do you have a link to this project? Also, please note that if you plan on having the bot edit, multiple users may not use it to edit per the Username policy, which states that only the maintainers of the bot may share accounts. Nakon Hello, and thanks for your replies/queries. Apologies for the delay in my reply. Was having some vacation time. MZMcBride: My primary interest will be in grabbing the internal and external links for particular wikipedia entries. I will also be grabbing the number of edits for particular entries. I am building an interactive knowledge visualization of the information relating to the neurosciences, and I am interested in initially representing both the connections between topics as well as the activity that exists within topics. The application shouldn't be hitting the API too often, as I will be implementing a database for the results of all previous queries to speed things up over time. Nakon: I have a domain for this project (http://www.metaplasticity.com), but I haven't parked anything there yet as the project is still in the early stages. The project is being written in Flex/Actionscript. I have been querying the API using PHP, but the interaction with the visualization is sluggish because of the necessary repeated calls to the API to grab the links and other information (the cap is ten links per query as you know). Having a bot would speed things up for the user. Editing will not be necessary; I hadn't thought things through entirely at the time of my application. I look forward to your replies. I'll look towards MZM and MrZ on making sure this meets PERF since that is my only concern. If the bot is only making API queries, it would not need to edit. Would you mind it we blocked the bot from editing so it can only use the query function? MBisanz talk Thanks for your reply MBisanz. Blocking the bot from editing would be fine. Bumping this. Looks ready for approval. Needs a bot flag (and an indefinite block). The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Bots/Requests for approval/MetaplasticityBot

== Seriously == No response? Certainly there's a reason for community-based posts on a project talk page. I am sorry to know you are offended that someone would want to share in the joy of the work instead of sniping at other users, and it's unfortunate that you didn't feel you could mention something like this to me. I hope I won't ever be so bitter as to complain about an editor's thanking other editors and sharing an appreciation of their contributions to a WikiProject. Are you just getting too stressed out on Wikipedia to be OK with something like that? If so, maybe you ought to talk to someone or take a break. == Shark Boy and Norman Smiley == - - Why is it that you insist on continually removing them from the TNA roster page, they have teamed many times, they are set to team several more times in the near future, and they are an official tag team! Sevenzeroone says: Poopy is not fun! - Well in the spoilers for the future Impacts, it has one of them (I think it was Smiley) getting attacked after a match and the other one coming out to help. Stereotypical of a tag team, yes? TNA considers them a tag team, they should be noted as such. Sevenzeroone says: Poopy is not fun! - As you saw on a recent episode of Impact, Shark Boy specifically came out to Smiley's aid as he was being attacked by Christian Cage, I think this is enough to verify that the team is still together. Sevenzeroone says: Poopy is not fun! I think the run-in is plenty enough to justify them still being a team. In fact, I don't understand how it doesn't basically prove that they are still a team. Sevenzeroone says: Poopy is not fun! == Apology == I am sorry that I ignored the comment you left on my talk page before; it was unintentional. I also apologize for repeatedly asking you for justification for what is really just a difference of opinion. I do think you do great work on Wikipedia, and I would like to be able to work together on things. Although my life outside of Wikipedia is improving, I am currently stressed out by the WP and the addition of my new admin duties. I am definitely burning out. I continue to try to look upon things optimistically, and the 15,000th post thing for me really was about my enjoyment of WP:CMC and the editors I have found who share similar goals for the project. You are among those. I ask that you try to accept the community-building I am now trying to do now and that if you ever have a problem with something I am doing, leave a message on my talk page or e-mail me. I hope we can put this minor squabble behind us and return to cooperating in the betterment of the project and WP. ==Survivor Series 06== First of all, I don't appreciate the fact that you referred to my note as stupid. Secondly, WWE.com noted that DX/Edge and Orton were the captains of the two teams, it never listed the official team names. If I am wrong, I apologize, but I would appreciate it a lot if you could show me where on WWE.com the official team names are listed, so I don't screw up in the future. Thanks ==Speedster (comics)== Hi. Sorry to bother you, but it looks we might have an edit war at speedster (comics) between myself and Ace Class Shadow. If you could chime in with your opinion on that article’s talk page, so that we can achieve some sort of consensus, it would be appreciated. Thanks. Nightscream == Sources? == Hello Rob. I have a question about your edit to Horde (Warcraft). Does this page really need cited sources? The information on it seems to be common knowledge. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Seer of Shadows (talk • contribs) Hope you don't mind me butting in Rob. Yes, you do need to cite sources for any and all edits to wikipedia. The relevant rules can be found here: OR, NOT, V, CITE, WAF, and CN. Edits that do not cite sources are subject to removal. Cheers. L0b0t == Apology == I am very sorry about my extreme post on the wikipedia trivia cleanup discussion page. I know that I have offended some good users including you and I am sorry. I gave an explaneation to all good users here.

RobJ1981/Archive 5

Senate "fundamentally flawed," Manitoba calls for its abolition Manitoba is calling for abolition of the Senate, saying the institution is "fundamentally flawed" but that provinces need to have a say in its fate. The province says it is making its submission, or factum, on Tuesday to the Supreme Court, which the federal government has asked to weigh in on options for Senate reform, including abolition. Manitoba is intervening in the issue, and argues that Parliament "does not have the constitutional authority to enact significant unilateral changes to the structure of the Senate or to the selection of its members," according to a news release Tuesday. "In our view, the Senate is fundamentally flawed and it's time to abolish it. I urge the federal government to engage the provinces in consultation with the ultimate goal of finding consensus to abolish the upper chamber," Manitoba's Attorney General and Justice Minister, Andrew Swan, said in the written statement. Manitoba currently has an NDP government. The federal NDP have long called for Senate abolition, and federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is on a cross-country tour this week promoting his party's "roll up the red carpet" campaign. Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, another New Democrat, hosted Mr. Mulcair on Monday and also called for abolition. "We abolished the Senate here in 1928 and I've been through five or six general elections now, and nobody's ever asked me to bring it back.... I don't think we miss it all that much," Mr. Dexter told The Canadian Press. It's not just NDP leaders making the push, though. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, leader of the conservative Saskatchewan Party, has called for Senate abolition after his party members adopted the policy in a mail-in-ballot vote earlier this year. Other provinces are expected to submit factums by the end of this week, including British Columbia. Premier Christy Clark has previously called for the Senate to be overhauled or done away with, but that the province deserves a say, a spokesperson for the Premier said. The federal government has said the Senate must change or be done away with, as was the case with the defunct senates of several provinces. Manitoba, for instance, abolished its Senate in 1876. If the Senate is not abolished, Manitoba's justice minister urged reform instead, including the election of senators. Currently, only Alberta elects senators-in-waiting, though they still must then be appointed by the Prime Minister of the day.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Think of this the next time you see snails on a menu: Robyn Shrader gets $1 a snail. Yes, she's a snail farmer. Just ordinary ones like the ones you've got at home eating your garden. I know - people think they're special ones but they're not. She does things to them though before she sells them, if you've suddenly thought you can maybe quit your unfulfilling job and harvest your problem snails. She lost thousands of them in the Victorian bushfires, the Black Saturday ones, but they're big breeders. (There is, I should warn you, a fair bit of sex talk here.) Matt Moran - this is his show - is in the Yarra Valley tonight for the first episode. I wasn't sure how this would go, another chef behind the wheel of a car, fake discovering food and telling us what to eat, but I really liked this a lot. It's not stuff we always see, or so far anyway. He goes to a great salmon farm at Thornton where they hand milk the eggs, really unusual. It's a good story, the sort you would've maybe once seen on that great ABC series Landline. I see you shrugging your shoulders from here. I was also massively impressed with Bruce Adams' brussels sprouts farm - the biggest in Victoria. They're hugely in now, you're going to see them shredded with apple and vinegar in salads everywhere. You wait. I think you're going to like this show, the countryside is beautiful, and there are some terrific recipes. It's just a really appealing mix in what is a pretty congested market. Follow me on Twitter @DiOnTelevision

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Stock to watch: Trevali Mining poised for new life as zinc producer Trevali Mining Corp. Monday's close: 0.96, down 4 cents, or 4 per cent. 52-week trading range: 74 cents to $1.67 a share Annual dividend: none Analysts" ratings: There were 10 buys, no holds and no sells, according to Bloomberg data. Target prices ranged from $1.50 a share, an estimate by Haywood Securities analyst Stefan Ioannou, to $2.80 a share by Dundee Securities analyst Joseph Gallucci. Recent history: Shares of the Vancouver-based junior zinc miner with operations in Canada and Peru have shed nearly 40 per cent over the past year, partly on concerns about securing financing for its projects and equity dilution. Junior mining companies have struggled because of investors" aversion to riskier stocks. Trevali acquired the Caribou mine and milling complex in New Brunswick last year from Maple Minerals Corp. in $23.8-million stock-warrant deal to help speed up its zinc projects in the province. Trevali also has manged to negotiate a $60-million (U.S.) debt-financing deal with a unit of FirstRand Group of South Africa. Last week, Trevali got approval in principle for $30-million of the loan to be used to reactivate the Caribou mine later this year. The second part of the financing is expected to be in place by April. Last Friday, the company said that its Santander zinc-silver mine in Peru is set to begin production by the end of this month. Manager insight: Trevali shares are worth a look because the company is transitioning from being an exploration company to a producer, says Robert McWhirter, president of Selective Asset Management Inc. "Travali's 2013 zinc production is estimated to be 112 million pounds, and it is forecast to more than double to 242 million pounds in 2014." The industry outlook is also improving because zinc supply is expected to tighten as some large mines close over the next few years, while its price has rebounded to around 93 cents a pound recently from 80 cents last September, he said. There is also the potential "kicker" from zinc's new-found use as an agricultural product because the commodity can increase crop yields when added to conventional fertilizer, he added. Once the Peruvian mine is operating, Trevali will have an internal source of cash to expand zinc production capacity in addition to increasing power generation at its nearby hydro-electric facility by about 2014, he said. "Electricity is a huge expense...Their costs will drop by 5 cents per pound, which is another $5-million straight to the bottom line." There will also be more demand for Trevali shares because the company will soon meet investment criteria required by Peruvian pension funds that cannot buy companies only involved in mining exploration, said Mr. McWhirter, who is eyeing Trevali closely for an investment. "Now that the Santander mine is coming into production, the Peruvian pension funds that have large amounts of money can end up investing in it." The stock, he noted, is also cheap because it trades at 1.5 times enterprise value (EV) to forecast 2014 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Materials stocks trade at about 3 times EV/EBITDA. The biggest risk is if Trevali's mines don't hit forecast production levels, he said.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Did Israeli Strike Target Syrian Chemical Weapons? Were the trucks that Israel targeted at the Lebanese border overnight transporting chemical weapons from Syria to its ally, the Islamic Hezbollah group? An Israeli F-15 Eagle fighter jet takes off from an Israeli Air Force base in November. Israel attacked a convoy of trucks at the Syrian border overnight. (Jack Guez/AFP, via Getty) Israeli officials have kept quiet since reports of the strike surfaced earlier today, neither confirming nor denying them. Reuters and other news agencies, citing Western diplomats and regional security sources, described a heavy presence of Israeli jets over Lebanon for much of the night. At least 12 Israeli planes took part in the attack, according to the reports. Israel is certainly worried about leakage from Syria's vast arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, as the civil war there rages on and the regime continues to disintegrate. A top Israeli official said earlier in the day that the Air Force would respond at the first sign the nonconventional weapons were being moved. "Any development which is a development in a negative direction would be something that needs stopping and prevention," Israel's vice premier, Silvan Shalom, told Israel Radio. But experts and former officials said Israel was also tracking the movement of medium-range missiles and antiaircraft batteries that Russia supplied to Syria over the years and might spring to action even if chemical weapons were not involved. "The Syrians never dared to send advanced antiaircraft missiles or very advanced Scud missiles to Hezbollah, because they knew it would be a red line for Israel," said Giora Eiland, who headed Israel's National Security Council from 2004 to 2006. "So if one of these kinds of weapons was making its way to Lebanon, that could well have triggered the attack." He mentioned specifically SA-17s - small and highly mobile antiaircraft batteries that could threaten Israeli drones and other aircraft. Eiland, now a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said Israel pressed Russia repeatedly to withhold advanced weapons from Syria because of the fear that they would end up in the hands of Hezbollah - Israel's sworn enemy. Russia always dismissed the concerns, assuring Israel that Syria would never let such sophisticated hardware leave its borders. Syria has long supplied Hezbollah with other weapons, including missiles and antitank rockets. "It's possible the Iranians are the ones moving these weapons systems to Lebanon." Eiland, who emphasized that he had no specific knowledge about the nature of the strike, would not rule out the possibility that the shipment targeted overnight included chemical or biological agents. Another former official, Itamar Rabinovich, said it wasn't clear yet if embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad intended for his country's nonconventional arsenal to end up with Hezbollah if his regime collapses. But he said Iran, which has significant influence over Assad, might be pushing in that direction. Like Syria, Iran is also a patron of Hezbollah. "Iran sees that Hezbollah stands to lose its Syrian sponsor. And since it's important to Iran that Hezbollah be the dominant party in Lebanon, it's possible the Iranians are the ones moving these weapons systems to Lebanon," said Rabinovich, who served in the 1990s as Israel's chief negotiator with Syria. Both Eiland and Rabinovich said Hezbollah, which fought a monthlong war against Israel in 2006, was unlikely to retaliate for last night's assault. Though the group has thousands of missiles that could reach Israel's main cities, they said Hezbollah would not want to risk a broad confrontation with the Jewish state. Rabinovich also said Iran was not interested in seeing an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah at the moment. "An escalation could provide a very convenient environment for Israel to attack Iran as well," he said, referring to threats by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike at Iran's nuclear installations. At his weekly cabinet meeting Monday, Netanyahu said both Syria and Iran posed a threat to Israel. "It is necessary to look at our surroundings, both at what is happening with Iran and its proxies and what is happening in other arenas - lethal weaponry in Syria, which is steadily breaking up," he said.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Tell us which geek gift gets the goods American 3B Scientific This necklace and set of earrings reflect the molecular structure for caffeine. By Alan Boyle What suits a science geek best? A bit of space rock? How about a nice little hand-held microscope? Or jewelry that celebrates molecular structures? Maybe a science kit, or a spaced-out calendar? It's up to you to decide which gift is best for science geeks - and which science geek is the best candidate to get this year's gift bag. So check out these top five suggestions and vote for your favorite. The finalists are presented here in chronological order, based on when they were sent in response to last week's call for entries. Molecular jewelry: Babagranny writes, "For my science-teacher daughter, I like to get molecular and chemical jewelry from American 3B Scientific." The online shop offers earrings and necklaces that pay homage to the molecular structure of a variety of chemicals, including caffeine, estrogen, serotonin and theobromine (the alkaloid that gives chocolate its tangy flavor). Price: $45 for earrings, $85 for necklace. Carson The Carson MicroMax LED Portable Microscope fits in a pocket. Portable microscope: Vlad in TN says the Carson MicroMax LED Portable Microscope is "pretty cool and very inexpensive for the cheap geek." It's a 60x-100x magnification microscope you can hold in your hand or tuck in your pocket, and features a built-in LED bulb for illumination. The gadget costs less than $15, which Vlad says is "the best reason you'll like it." Thames & Kosmos The Thames & Kosmos Physics Pro kit delves into statics and dynamics. Physics kit: Amy brought a smile to my face with her suggestion. "My 10-year-old daughter confused Santa this year by asking for American Girl doll stuff, and robotics and physics kits. High on her list is the Thames & Kosmos Physics Pro kit. [$80 or less] She wouldn't mind getting something to learn to DNA sequencing either. She keeps telling me she needs these things so she can build a brain to operate the teleporter she is working on. She frightens me." Aerolite.org You'll find space rocks galore at Aerolite.org. Meteorites: "Get them something literally out fo this world. A meteorite!" Zekenix writes. "Visit Geoff Notkin's website at Aerolite.org and pick up one of the meteorite samples they have for sale." The offerings range from inch-wide bits that go for less than $100, to big rocks costing thousands of dollars. For more out-of-this-world ideas, check out DVice's list of 16 gifts that come from space. YearinSpace.com The Year in Space 2013 Wall Calendar is packed with geeky goodness. Space calendar: Steve Cariddi suggests "The Year in Space 2013 Wall Calendar," which he publishes in cooperation with the Planetary Society. "I designed this calendar to appeal to a wide-ranging audience, including kids. I also wanted it to be big, impressive, and chock-full of geeky space goodness: cool images, astronomy facts, daily moon phases, space history, sky events, biographies, etc." The calendar costs $12.95, which includes free U.S. shipping. Other ideas: Doug liked the Theremin Mini Kit, which I mentioned in the call for entries. "Get one of those mini-theremins so you can play the world's most annoying duets with your teakettle," he quipped. Kel66Kel suggested Buckyball toys, "tiny magnet balls that form an infinite number of shapes." We mentioned Buckyballs a couple of years ago, but since then they've been the subject of regulatory action because of the potential hazard to young children. On the Cosmic Log Facebook page, Barbara Burns Yassin says a gyroscope would make a fine geek gift. ThinkGeek happens to sell an old-fashioned $7.99 model that's tried and true. Please cast your ballot by clicking the buttons on our handy-dandy Live Poll. The suggestion with the most votes by 5 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 10, will be designated this year's Science Geek Gift - and the person behind the suggestion will be eligible to receive a geek goodie bag that includes an "I Love Nerds" pocket protector from the Nerdery, complete with pen; the latest annotated edition of James Watson's "The Double Helix"; your very own pair of cardboard 3-D glasses from Microsoft Research's WorldWide Telescope project; and a signed copy of my book, "The Case for Pluto." To the five geek finalists, I say: May the odds be ever in your favor!

2012-12-31 00:00:00

"It doesn't mean giving nationality to everyone born on your territory. It's just about giving nationality to stateless persons born on your territory." Kohn also urged governments to abolish citizenship laws which discriminate against women -- another big cause of statelessness. In at least 30 countries, mothers cannot pass nationality to their children. If the father is stateless, foreign or absent, the child usually ends up stateless. Some hope There have been some successes. For example, Sri Lanka has amended laws to allow Hill Tamils, descendants of immigrants from India, to obtain nationality. Ukraine has reintegrated Crimean Tartars deported to Central Asia under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. And experts believe awareness is growing. "I think states are actually starting to recognize that there is a potential overlap between statelessness and national security issues," Kohn said. "Obviously, if you disenfranchise people. that can lead to all sorts of social and potentially security issues, and in the worst cases civil war." In December the UNHCR will host a ministerial-level meeting where countries will be asked to join the 1961 convention and make pledges to address specific concerns on their territory. "It's an issue whose time has come," said Maureen Lynch, a consultant to the International Observatory on Statelessness. Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions. More from World news

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Switched on - Scotsman.com Published Date: 24 July 2009 It is right that STV be encouraged to produce more programmes made in Scotland? There is a solution to the issue of viewers missing out on programmes elsewhere in the UK. Channel Four could repeat them, and make space by ditching Big Brother and other nonsensical shows. Andrew J T Kerr, Castlegate, Jedburgh The full article contains 55 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper. Last Updated: 23 July 2009 6:17 PM Source: The Scotsman Location: Edinburgh

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Appointments British military appointments

Senior appointments of the British Army

BBC News - Nottingham playgrounds to go smoke-free

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Claret is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. ==Population== ==See also== Communes of the Hérault department ==References== INSEE Communes of Hérault

Claret, Hérault

NASA / Nature This chart graphically shows the estimates of the new planets' radius and mass, as well as how they would fit in among the solar system's planets and other worlds that have been discovered (Kepler-10b and CoRoT-7b). The newly discovered planets (shown in blue) are more similar in composition to Uranus and Neptune than to Earth and Venus. The findings suggest that the composition of planets up to 10 times as massive as our own can be "extremely variable," said Jonathan Fortney, a member of the research team from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Lissauer said it's "more likely than not" that astronomers will be detecting more of these mini-Neptunes than super-Earths. But that doesn't mean the search for alien Earths will be fruitless. "There could very well be as many true Earth analogs as people have previously suspected," Lissauer told me. "Over the next two, three, four years, Kepler will be weighing in on that. It just takes a long time for us to collect enough data to address that question directly." To untangle the complicated orbital dynamics of the Kepler-11 system, scientists tracked the apparent planets' movements for months. Usually, astronomers can confirm the existence of distant planets by checking for slight gravitational wobbles in the star that they orbit. But in Kepler-11's case, the planets were too small and the star was too far away to use that method. Instead, the Kepler team worked out the timing of the planets' movements so precisely that they could figure out their masses using those calculations alone. "The timing of the transits is not perfectly periodic, and that is the signature of the planets gravitationally interacting," Daniel Fabrycky, a postdoctoral researcher at UC-Santa Cruz, explained in a news release. "By developing a model of the orbital dynamics, we worked out the masses of the planets and verified that the system can be stable on long time scales of millions of years." The same method should come in handy as Kepler gathers more data on potential alien Earths. "We expect to be doing a lot of those analyses," Fabrycky said. In addition to Lissauer, Fabrycky and Fortney, the authors of the Nature paper, "A Closely Packed System of Low-Mass, Low-Density Planets Transiting Kepler-11," include Eric B. Ford, William J. Borucki, Francois Fressin, Geoffrey W. Marcy, Jerome A. Orosz, Jason F. Rowe, Guillermo Torres, William F. Welsh, Natalie M. Batalha, Stephen T. Bryson, Lars A. Buchhave, Douglas A. Caldwell, Joshua A. Carter, David Charbonneau, Jessie L. Christiansen, William D. Cochran, Jean-Michel Desert, Edward W. Dunham, Michael N. Fanelli, Thomas N. Gautier III, John C. Geary, Ronald L. Gilliland, Michael R. Haas, Jennifer R. Hall, Matthew J. Holman, David G. Koch, David W. Latham, Eric Lopez, Sean McCauliff, Neil Miller, Robert C. Morehead, Elisa V. Quintana, Darin Ragozzine, Dimitar Sasselov, Donald R. Short and Jason H. Steffen. Join the Cosmic Log community by clicking the "like" button on our Facebook page or by following msnbc.com science editor Alan Boyle as b0yle on Twitter. To learn more about Alan Boyle's book on Pluto and the search for planets, check out the website for "The Case for Pluto."

2011-12-31 00:00:00

, colloquially, is a diacritic sign most often used in the Japanese kana syllabaries to indicate that the consonant of a syllable should be pronounced voiced, for instance, on sounds that have undergone rendaku (sequential voicing). Handakuten, colloquially, is a diacritic used with the kana for syllables starting with h to indicate that they should instead be pronounced with. ==History== The kun-yomi pronunciation of the character is nigori; hence the daku-ten may also be called the nigori-ten. This character, meaning muddy or turbid, stems from Chinese phonetics, where consonants were traditionally as clear (清 "voiceless"), lesser-clear (次清 "aspirated") and muddy (濁 "voiced"). (See: Middle Chinese#Initials) Dakuten were used sporadically since the start of written Japanese; their use tended to become more common as time went on. The modern practice of using dakuten in all cases of voicing, in all writing, only came into being in the Meiji period. ==Glyphs== The dakuten resembles a quotation mark, while the handakuten is a small circle, similar to a degree sign, both placed at the top right corner of a kana character: ◌゙: dakuten, Unicode ◌゚: handakuten, Unicode Both the dakuten and handakuten glyphs are drawn identically in [and

Dakuten and handakuten

Elaine Paige duets with famous friends for new album

2010-12-31 00:00:00

Mpho Franklyn Parks Tau is the current mayor of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a member of the African National Congress, and is the second elected mayor, after Amos Masondo, of the Unified City of Johannesburg. ==Early life== Tau was born in Orlando, Soweto and became active in student politics at a young age. Tau was elected president of the Soweto Youth Congress and later served on the Pretoria Witwatersrand Vereeniging (PWV) region of the newly launched ANC Youth League in 1990. He was elected Regional Secretary of the ANC Johannesburg region and is the Regional Deputy Chairperson. ==Controversy== ===Tender Rigging Scandal=== In late September 2012, a consortium called Coral Lagoon, which was formed by the ANC, bought an empowerment stake from Capitec Bank using capital provided by the Industrial Development Corporation. Several high profile members of society made up the beneficiaries, including Pilisiwe Twala-Tau, Parks Tau's wife. Parks Tau was alleged to be involved in the tender process as it seemed convenient that his wife was a part of it while he was still the head of the mayoral committee in charge of financial strategy and economic development. However, his official spokesperson, Fred Mokoko, asserted that no council member, including mayors, are allowed to be involved in any way whatsoever in tender processes. Despite the statement from his spokesperson, Tau was accused of rigging the tenders to the benefit of Regiments, an empowerment firm with close ties to the ANC and to Coral Lagoon, the consortium that made Pilisiwe Twala-Tau a millionaire. In August 2013, Parks Tau was cleared of all allegations that he irregularly benefited from the financial consortium's transactions. ===City Power Outage=== After City Power employees went on strike in early September 2013, much of Johannesburg was left in darkness with many areas being affected by power outages. Mmusi Maimane, a politician from the opposition party accused Tau of inaction in the face of cries for help from the community, alleging that up to 30 000 people were affected by the power outages. Fred Mokoko issued a statement on 7 September 2013 in which he assured affected individuals that the city was well aware of the situation and that they would be working closely with the South African Police Service and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that the matter was taken care of. He also communicated that Tau condemned the striking action and that criminal activity was likely the cause of the outages. ==Charity Work== Tau is involved in numerous charitable activities. He took part in the 2013 edition of the Mayoral Charity Golf day which raised over R1 million for various non-governmental organizations that assist in improving the lives of those suffering with HIV/AIDS. On 10 December 2011 and 1 December 2012, Tau hosted a birthday party called the Every Child Birthday Party, which is a party hosted for children who may suffer from a range of vulnerabilities, including disabilities and being orphaned. ==References== Living people Mayors of Johannesburg African National Congress politicians

Parks Tau

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Jcbeau~enwiki

FT.com / Lex - UBS: time to unscramble the omelette When the dust settles following the unauthorised trading loss that has cost UBS $2bn, two things should be obvious. First, that the bank's risk management and control systems need refinement. Second, that if it is in over its head in proprietary trading, it should not be doing it, whatever the pressure to generate a return on its ample capital base. In the short term, the Swiss bank should use its scheduled strategy review in November to overhaul management (again) and consider exiting areas where its chances of cutting it as a tier one operator are remote, such as fixed income, commodities and currencies. Despite the apparent source of the loss, UBS should stick to its top-notch core equities business, and to advisory. UBS shareholders, meanwhile, may ponder whether the bank's foray into investment banking has been worth it at all. The bank cannot maintain the pretence that its "integrated" strategy has benefited investors. Cumulative pre-tax numbers for the past seven years show that the investment bank lost SFr40bn, while non-investment banking areas (wealth and asset management and domestic banking) made SFr50bn. Or consider that UBS has returned 30 per cent less than the FTSE Eurofirst 300 banks index over the same period, and more than 70 per cent less than the Swiss market. What is more, the investment banking outlook is hazy and the hefty extra capital requirements of Swiss regulators mean that UBS will have to run harder to make returns. Two-thirds of capital is tied up in the investment bank, JPMorgan Cazenove notes, and two-thirds of that in its fixed income, commodities and currencies business. Wealth management needs far less capital. The antecedents of UBS illustrate the mix of businesses from which it has been hewn. UBS's performance suggests that it has been in vain. It is time to unscramble the omelette. E-mail the Lex team in confidence at lex@ft.com Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Mother's Day: 50 Most Memorable Mums in the arts By Rupert Christiansen Last Updated: 1:06PM GMT 20 Mar 2009 From religious iconography to film, TV and literature, from Marge Simpson to the Virgin Mary, mothers have always loomed large in our cultural lives. Our Mother's Day list of the finest matriarchal moments in the arts includes Mamma Mia and Mother Courage, but more suggestions would be welcome. 1 Mary Virgin mother of Jesus, Sancta Maria, mater dolorosa. Depicted as the Madonna in hundreds of thousands of icons, sculptures and paintings from the fourth to the 17th centuries, when the cult of Mariolatry dominated Christendom. Today she has appeared in many new forms, from feminist icon (in the fiction of Michele Roberts) to surrealist fantasy (Dali's The Madonna of Lligat) to old battleaxe (played by Terry Jones in Monty Python's The Life of Brian). 2 Medea The central figure of Euripides' tragedy, Cherubini's opera and Pasolini's movie is a witch from Colchis, seduced by Theseus, to whom she bears two children. When Theseus takes her to Corinth and abandons her for Glauce, Medea takes the ultimate revenge, killing Glauce and the children. 3 Marge Simpson With her beehive hair and croaking voice, the much put-upon Marge is the linchpin of television's most famous cartoon family. Loyal through thick and thin to her dysfunctional son Bart and loser husband Homer, as well as a staunch if uninspired homemaker, she embodies the morality of small-town working class America. 4 Mama Rose The central figure in the musical Gypsy is this archetypally monstrous stage mom, who ruthlessly propels her daughters to stardom and then turns against them, demanding a dream for herself. A belt of a role played by Ethel Merman, Rosalind Russell, Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone. 5 Herodias Mother to Salome, she eggs her teenage daughter on to ask her stepfather Herod for John the Baptist's head on a platter. And that's what she gets in a story by Flaubert, a play by Oscar Wilde and operas by Richard Strauss and Massenet. 6 Gertrude More sinned against than sinning, or complicit in the crime of killing her husband? Hamlet has a nasty case of the Oedipus Complex and can't decide whether his mother is to be blamed or pitied. Either way, he still wants a cuddle. 7 Mammy In The Jazz Singer, the 1927 movie which introduced the world to talking pictures, Al Jolson crooned (in black face) a song called Mammy, in which he claimed that "he'd walk a million miles/for one of your smiles" thereby making him every mother's dream boy. 8 Constance Shakespeare's most impassioned mother, whose son Arthur is imprisoned by King John to forestall his claim to the throne. Her laments provided a popular showpiece for Victorian actresses. "My boy, my Arthur, my fair son,/ My life, my joy, my food, my all the world." 9 Madame Arkadina It's Hamlet all over again in Chekhov's The Seagull, when Arkadina, a self-centred actress, takes the novelist Trigorin as her lover and fails to engage with the emotional needs of her sensitive son Konstantin. 10 Mrs Bates "A boy's best friend is his mother," says creepy Norman Bates in Hitchcock's slasher thriller Psycho. He loves her so much he can't bear to let her go even when she's dead, and the appearance of her carefully preserved corpse has become one of cinema's most brilliant and shocking visual coups. 11 Azucena Oops, the gloomy old gipsy in Verdi's opera Il trovatore is so crazed by a wrong done to her own mother that she throws a baby into the fire. But who is it who goes up in flames - her own son or the son of the man on whom she wants revenge? 12 Sophie Zawistowska The Polish heroine of Sophie's Choice, a novel by William Styron turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep, was forced at Auschwitz to choose between life for her son or her daughter. The decision she makes leads her to suicide. 13 Lady Bracknell The formidable, cynical snob in Oscar Wilde's comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, who is famously outraged when she learns that her daughter Gwendolen's suitor, Jack, was a foundling deposited in the left luggage department of Victoria Station in a handbag.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

5 albert square (talk) You should wait for others to write an article about subjects in which you are personally involved, instead of writing it yourself, as you did at Srinivas kollaparthi. This applies to articles about you, your achievements, your band, your business, your publications, your website, your relatives, and any other possible conflict of interest. Creating an article about yourself is strongly discouraged. If you create such an article, it might be listed on articles for deletion. Deletion is not certain, but many feel strongly that you should not start articles about yourself. This is because independent creation encourages independent validation of both significance and verifiability. All edits to articles must conform to No original research, Neutral point of view, and Verifiability. If you are not "notable" under Wikipedia guidelines, creating an article about yourself may violate the policy that Wikipedia is not a personal webspace provider and would thus qualify for speedy deletion. If your achievements, etc., are verifiable and genuinely notable, and thus suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia, someone else will probably create an article about you sooner or later. (See Wikipedians with articles.) Thank you. 5 albert square (talk)

Kswaughs

The White House travel office controversy, sometimes referred to as Travelgate, was the first major ethics controversy of the Clinton administration. It began in May 1993, when seven employees of the White House Travel Office were fired. This action was unusual because although theoretically staff employees serve at the pleasure of the President and could be dismissed without cause, in practice, such employees usually remain in their posts for many years. The White House stated the firings were done because financial improprieties in the Travel Office operation during previous administrations had been revealed by an FBI investigation. Critics contended the firings were done to allow friends of President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to take over the travel business and that the involvement of the FBI was unwarranted. Heavy media attention forced the White House to reinstate most of the employees in other jobs and remove the Clinton associates from the travel role. Further investigations by the FBI and the Department of Justice, the White House itself, the General Accounting Office, the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, and the Whitewater Independent Counsel all took place over the subsequent years. Travel Office Director Billy Dale was charged with embezzlement but found not guilty in 1995. In 1998, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr exonerated Bill Clinton of any involvement in the matter. Hillary Clinton gradually came under scrutiny for allegedly having played a central role in the firings and making false statements about her role in it. In 2000, Independent Counsel Robert Ray issued his final report on Travelgate. He sought no charges against her, saying that she had made factually false statements but there was insufficient evidence her statements were either knowingly false or that she understood that her statements led to the firings. ==The White House Travel Office== The White House Travel Office, known officially as either the White House Travel and Telegraph Office or the White House Telegraph and Travel Office, dates back to the Andrew Jackson administration and serves to handle travel arrangements for the White House press corps, with costs billed to the participating news organizations. By the time of the start of the Clinton administration, it was quartered in the Old Executive Office Building, and had seven employees with a yearly budget of $7 million. Staffers serve at the pleasure of the president; however, in practice, the staffers were career employees who in some cases had worked in the Travel Office since the 1960s and 1970s, through both Democratic and Republican administrations. Travel Office Director Billy Ray Dale had held that position since 1982, serving through most of the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, and had started in the Travel Office in 1961. To handle the frequent last-minute arrangements of presidential travel and the specialized requirements of the press, Dale did not conduct competitive bidding for travel services, but relied upon a charter company called Airline of the Americas. ==Initial White House actions== According to the White House, the incoming Clinton administration had heard reports of irregularities in the Travel Office and possible kickbacks to an office employee from a charter air company. They looked at a review by KPMG Peat Marwick which discovered that Dale kept an off-book ledger, had $18,000 of unaccounted-for checks, and kept chaotic office records. White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty and the White House counsels thus decided to fire the Travel Office staff and reorganize it. The actual terminations were done on May 19, 1993, by White House director of administration David Watkins. There was also a feeling among the White House and its supporters that the Travel Office had never been investigated by the media due to its close relationship with press corps members and the plush accommodations it afforded them and favors it did for them. (Congress would later discover that in October 1988, a whistleblower within the Travel Office had alleged financial improprieties; the Reagan White House counsel looked into the claim but took no action.) Republicans and other critics saw the events differently. They alleged that friends of President Bill Clinton, including his third cousin Catherine Cornelius, had sought the firings in order to get the business for themselves. Dale and his staff had been replaced with Little Rock, Arkansas-based World Wide Travel, a company with a substantial reputation in the industry but with several ties to the Clintons. In addition, Hollywood producer and Inauguration chairman Harry Thomason, a friend of both Clintons, and his business partner, Darnell Martens, were looking to get their air charter company, TRM, the White House business in place of Airline of the Americas. The Clinton campaign had been TRM's sole client during 1992, collecting commissions from booking charter flights for the campaign. Martens wanted the White House to award TRM a $500,000 contract for an aircraft audit, while also seeking Travel Office charter business as an intermediary which did not own any planes.

White House travel office controversy

UK must be'readier to explore' GM food as farmers' woes increase By James Hall in Birmingham Published: 2:59PM GMT 24 Feb 2010 Lord Smith of Finsbury, chairman of the Environment Agency and the former culture secretary, said that the introduction of GM food could help farmers mitigate the impact that wetter summers and warmer winters will have on crop-growing patterns. His comments immediately reignited the debate on the safety and environmental dangers of GM foods. The Soil Association said that there is "absolutely no evidence that GM is the answer to tackling climate change or feeding the world." Meanwhile a spokesman for the Conservative party said that while it recognises the "important role" of technology to strengthen food security, it is "aware of the public concern that exists around genetic modification." Speaking at the National Farmers" Union (NFU) in Birmingham, Lord Smith said: "My own personal view is that we probably need to be readier to explore GM options, coupled of course with proper environmental safeguards, in adapting to the changes that the climate will bring." Lord Smith said that climate change will "create new demands on land and environmental resources" and could "provide opportunities for novel crops and systems." He said that the farming industry - which employs 531,000 people in the UK - needs to put science "at the forefront of development and innovation" over the years to come. "We can already see wildlife following climate change - the mayfly is now found some 40 miles further north than before, and warmer winters and wetter summers are thought to be a major factor in the rapid decline of pollinating insects. "The reliance on seasonal weather patterns means that farming will follow climate change too," he said. He said that new technology such as satellites and nano-technology could be used to support "precision farming," which could boost yields and production in the face of changing weather patterns. However he added: "We need to understand the environmental implications of novel approaches in order to embrace them and be clear how they will help us achieve long-term goals." Peter Kendall, the NFU's president, said that Lord Smith's comments were "very, very sensible." GM foods have returned to the political agenda in recent months. Last year it was reported that some of the UK's biggest supermarkets held secret talks with civil servants to consider the best way to introduce more GM food to Britain as the price of stocks untouched by genetic modification rose. In the late-1990s, many supermarkets banned genetically altered food from stores amid widespread concern about its safety. According to the Food Standards Agency, GM foods and other types of so-called "novel" foods can only be marketed in the EU if they have passed a rigorous safety assessment. The Conservative spokesman said: "Trials must be allowed to go ahead under strict conditions, but commercial planting of GM crops should only be considered if it is safe for human health and the environment. "It is a matter of concern that guidelines to prevent cross-contamination are still lacking in this country, despite consent for certain GM crops to be grown here. We will not permit any commercial planting of GM crops until and unless it has been assessed as safe for people and the environment." A Soil Association spokesman said: "We have to radically change our farming systems to deal with the challenges of climate change and GM is still based on the usual industrial model which relies on oil-based inputs. After nearly a third of a century of research, billions of dollars invested, and nearly fifteen years of commercial cultivation, the combined area of all GM crops in 2009 covered just 2.7pc of all agricultural land. The vast majority of GM avoids going into the direct human food chain because of global opposition."

2010-12-31 00:00:00

Netanyahu in Moscow to press Russia on Iran Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Moscow Monday to persuade Russian leaders to harden their line on Iran amid signs that Russia could finally be taking a tougher stance against Tehran. With international frustration with Iran soaring over its failure to agree a deal to end the nuclear crisis, the Israeli leader was to hold talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Iran is Israel's arch foe and the Jewish state accuses Tehran of trying to develop a nuclear weapon. By contrast, Russia has the strongest ties with Iran of any major power and has repeatedly urged restraint in the nuclear standoff. This is Netanyahu's first official trip to Moscow since taking office a year ago, but follows a clandestine visit in September, a secretive move that highlighted the key role Russia plays in the nuclear standoff. "We will discuss a range of issues, but first and foremost Iran," Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting hours before he was due to leave for Moscow for the two-day visit. "Israel believes that strong pressure must be applied to Iran, especially very tough sanctions," he said, echoing his calls last week for "crippling sanctions" on the Islamic republic. Russia, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council with the power to veto any resolution, has in recent weeks toughened its stance towards Iran. Russia has questioned the "sincerity" of Iran's pledges not to develop nuclear weapons and, in an apparent policy shift, said fresh UN sanctions on Tehran were a "realistic" option. It has also yet to fulfill a contract to deliver sophisticated S-300 missile systems to Tehran, a deal that worried Israel as it would significantly strengthen Iranian air defences against military action. But in a sign the talks in Moscow may not be entirely smooth, the deputy secretary of the Russian security council Vladimir Nazarov said Sunday that care must be taken to ensure sanctions do not "back Iran into a corner." He also said there was no reason not to send Iran the S-300 missile system, saying a "contract was signed which we must fulfill." Iran declared on Tuesday it had started the process of producing 20-percent enriched uranium, as the United States stepped up its efforts to pass a new round of sanctions against Tehran by the United Nations Security Council. Widely considered to be the Middle East's sole, if undeclared, nuclear power, Israel, like the West, suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a charge Tehran denies. Israel considers the Islamic republic its top enemy after repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state was doomed to be "wiped off the map" and the scale of the Holocaust was exaggerated. Bringing Moscow on board for harsher sanctions has been a key goal of Israel and the United States. Russia has long-standing ties with Tehran and is helping to build Iran's first civilian nuclear power plant in the city of Bushehr, but Moscow says it is opposed to Tehran acquiring an atomic weapon. Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

2010-12-31 00:00:00

L.A. Auto Show notebook: Robert A. Lutz returns as Lotus advisor Outspoken and colorful auto industry veteran Robert A. Lutz, who has worked for all the major American car companies and retired from General Motors Co. in May, has resurfaced, helping British sports car maker Lotus expand its range of vehicles. "I am convinced that this company has the best team in the history of Lotus. This may be the first time they have had it all together," he said. Lutz, who has spent 47 years in the industry, sat down with The Times at the Los Angeles Auto Show and talked about Lotus and GM's return to the stock market. The auto show is open to the public this weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center and continues through Nov. 28. Lutz is joining the advisory board of Lotus as the automaker gets ready to develop a range of five new or new-generation sports cars over the next four or five years. He noted that Lotus has had an up-and-down history, plagued by capitalization problems and gyrations in direction and philosophy. Lotus said it had lined up $1.2 billion to devote to bringing the vehicles to market. Lutz also had some fond words for his former employer and its initial stock offering this week. "I predicted that the offering would be oversubscribed," said Lutz, who was GM's vice chairman when he retired. He said he put in an order for 800 shares, the most he could purchase under the allotment system for former employees. Other show highlights include: • Smart's electric bicycle: Not everything is automotive at the show. Several cars were displayed with bicycles and bicycle racks and Fiat was showing off a special folding bike that will fit inside its tiny 500 subcompact car that comes to market this model year. The German manufacturer of the Smart car showed off an electric drive version of a bicycle - the Smart Ebike Concept. Like many production electric bicycles already on the market, the Smart Ebike is propelled by a 250-watt brushless DC motor in the rear-wheel hub and a 36-volt lithium-ion battery pack hidden in its aluminum frame. Designed in collaboration with the Berlin-based electric-bicycle manufacturer Grace, Smart's Ebike works in conjunction with a smart phone. A dock in the center of the handlebars holds the phone, which not only activates the electric drive system but also functions as the bicycle's speedometer and GPS system. Removing the phone automatically locks the drivetrain, preventing the bike from being wheeled away by thieves. The Smart Ebike is operated with a "muscle power/electric hybrid drive." In other words, the electric motor kicks in whenever the rider pedals. • Subaru's plans: Subaru used the auto show to give us a look into its crystal ball. The company recently announced a new design philosophy of Confidence in Motion, and debuted the first practical application of it here with the Impreza Concept. Tim Mahoney, Subaru's chief marketing officer, said the Impreza would be the next model that Subaru introduces, but he wouldn't say what we could expect in the way of a powertrain. He did allow that this design study was "a good hint" at what the Impreza would look like, and said the basic proportions of the concept would carry over into production. Overall, the car is certainly larger than the current Impreza and features cleaner, more mature styling. The design maintains the unique look of Subaru in a class in which many cars are treated as little more than appliances. Look for a more production-ready version to show its face at an auto show sometime in 2011. For extensive L.A. Auto Show coverage online, visit http://www.latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/autos Times staff writers Susan Carpenter and David Undercoffler contributed to this report.

2010-12-31 00:00:00

As transfer fee was considered as a purchase of a capital, the real effect of transfer fee was the amortisation of the transfer fee, which is proportionally to the contract length. For example, Torres's £50 million transfer fee had to be amortised by about £9 million a season, which in the 2010–11 season amounted to only £4.5 million (due to half season). The club may lower the expense of amortisation by selling players and extending the player contract. Chelsea's transfer spending that season was the club’s biggest outlay since 2004 when they made losses of £87.8 million at the start of an eight-year period during which they won a number of trophies. Arsène Wenger, whose club Arsenal have been cited as an example of good financial governance by UEFA, questioned Chelsea’s behaviour after the signings, saying "Chelsea supported the financial fair play. In the morning they announce a £70 million loss, in the afternoon they buy £75 million worth of players. Where's the logic in that?" In Italy, Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani criticised English teams for their transfer spending in the wake of the big money moves for Torres and the £35 million spent by Liverpool on Andy Carroll as Torres' replacement; "Everyone's talking about balancing the books, but then they spend like crazy people, Chelsea strengthened in an amazing way spending €80 million, I just don't know where financial sense will end up." In response, Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay insisted that the club were in "a strong position" to meet UEFA's initiatives and were on course to halve their losses during the following financial year, having reduced their player’s bonus scheme, negotiated new sponsorship deals, raised ticket prices and were able to count on additional TV revenue from higher UEFA Champions League and SKY television rights. Following news of Manchester City's interim financial results showing another huge deficit, Michel Platini said he had been given personal assurances from club management that they would abide by the new rules. UEFA’s Head of Licensing Andrea Traverso also stated, "We are in talks with the club, they are aware of the rules and they probably have a strategy to raise their income." Despite Chelsea and Manchester City’s losses, Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said that he did not expect UEFA’s rules to lead to any English club being banned from European competition. He stated; "I don't see any circumstances where any of our clubs could get near to exclusion.... UEFA is too sensible, and it's not in its interests to do so. It's more about taking the steam out of the system and acting as a speed bump rather than about barring clubs." ===UEFA reminder=== In all, English clubs spent £225 million during the January 2011 transfer window, prompting UEFA to issue a reminder that the activity counted towards the 2012 to 2015 period over which they were only allowed to lose £39 million in total, and that it would affect the amount they could spend in later years. This was due to the principle of amortisation - whereby a players transfer fee must be divided out between the number of years in his contract (i.e. a player bought for £20m with a four-year contract must be represented on the club balance sheet as a £5m net payment - or loss - over each of the four years of his contract) A UEFA statement said, ==="The last wake up call"=== UEFA's club licensing report on top-flight clubs for 2010 (2009–10), the last full financial year before the regulations had been approved, showed annual losses in the main leagues topping €1.6 billion (£1.3 billion), a 36 percent rise on the previous year although the German the Bundesliga managed to produce an overall total gross profit of €130 million (£109 million/$171 million) for the 2009 -10 season The survey of 665 clubs showed that 56 percent were in the red at the end of the 2010 financial year. Although UEFA pointed to some improvements in the situation such as the 6.6 percent rise in overall income, a small drop in the proportion of clubs' revenue going on players' wages, and an increase in the number of home-grown players in the Champions League these were the worst statistics on record. UEFA's head of legal affairs, Alistair Bell, said, "The system is not going to have much credibility if a big club that is in serious breach of the rules is not punished in an effective way. For me the sanctions need to be effective enough that people come into compliance with the system, otherwise clubs are going to become disillusioned rapidly." The general secretary of European football's governing body Gianni Infantino said, "This is the last wake-up call.

UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations

DR Congo vote: Vital Kamerhe wants election annulled

2011-12-31 00:00:00

FT.com / Global Economy - Global warming graph attacked by study A key piece of evidence in climate change science was slammed as "exaggerated" on Wednesday by the UK's leading statistician, in a vindication of claims that global warming sceptics have been making for years. Professor David Hand, president of the Royal Statistical Society, said that a graph shaped like an ice hockey stick that has been used to represent the recent rise in global temperatures had been compiled using "inappropriate" methods. "It used a particular statistical technique that exaggerated the effect [of recent warming]," he said. The criticism came as part of a report published on Wednesday that found the scientists behind the "Climategate" e-mail scandal had behaved "honestly and fairly" and showed "no evidence of any deliberate scientific malpractice." The e-mails were hacked last autumn from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. They caused a storm, as they appeared to show scientists manipulating and concealing data. Although Wednesday's report - commissioned by UEA with advice from the Royal Society, the UK's prestigious national science academy - exonerated the unit's scientists, it criticised climate experts for failures in handling statistics. "It is very surprising that research in an area that depends so heavily on statistical methods has not been carried out in close collaboration with professional statisticians," the report concluded. The hockey stick graph was a key part of the scandal. In the e-mails, UEA's Professor Phil Jones referred to a "trick" to "hide the decline" in temperatures suggested by certain sources of data. A similar trick was used in the hockey stick graph. The UEA scientists said that "trick" merely referred to a scientific technique - an explanation accepted by some sceptics, including Lord Lawson, former Tory chancellor. Prof Hand said his criticisms should not be seen as invalidating climate science. He pointed out that although the hockey stick graph - which dates from a study led by US climate scientist Michael Mann in 1998 - exaggerates some effects, the underlying data show a clear warming signal. He accused sceptics of "identifying a few particular issues and blowing them up" to distort the true picture. The handful of errors found so far, including the exaggerated hockey stick graph and a mistaken claim by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035, were "isolated incidents," he said. "If you look at any area of science, you would be able to find odd examples like this. It doesn't detract from the vast bulk of the conclusions," he said. The report into the science produced by UEA, which came from a panel chaired by Lord Oxburgh, a scientist and former Shell chairman, was the second investigation into Climategate in the UK. The first, by a committee of MPs, also found the scientists innocent of manipulating data, though it said they may have breached Freedom of Information legislation. An investigation into the scientists" handling of FOI requests is still under way.

2010-12-31 00:00:00

Wales police: Overtime payments rise in 3 of 4 forces 19 June 2013 Last updated at 07:29 By Alun Jones BBC Newyddion Ar-lein Overtime payments by three of Wales' four police forces have risen substantially in the last financial year amid UK government efforts to cut costs, BBC Wales has learned. Overtime costs rose in the South Wales, Dyfed-Powys and Gwent areas but fell in North Wales Police. The highest amount of overtime pay received was by one person working for South Wales Police who got £21,404. The Home Office said police reforms were "working and crime is falling." The figures were obtained by BBC Wales' Welsh-language news website, Newyddion Ar-lein in a Freedom of Information request. Overtime spend in South Wales Police increased from £6.6m in 2011/12 to £8.4m in 2012/13, a rise of 27%. It was paid to 3,522 individuals in 2012/13. The total spend on Olympics overtime was £918,065. It covered planning and policing of the Olympic Torch and Olympic events in Cardiff, mutual aid to London and Dorset including cover costing around £600,000 after G4S failed to provide enough security staff. Umar Hussain, the chief financial officer for the force, said: "Overtime in South Wales Police has reduced by £1m between 2008 and 2012. This reduction has been achieved despite a fall in police officer numbers. "The increase reflected in the figures for 2012/13 is mainly due to the Olympics and also reflects a significant number of officers who have been deployed on mutual aid to assist other forces in dealing with major incidents. These costs will be reimbursed to the force." Continue reading the main story "Start Quote It is inevitable that overtime has increased with officers finding themselves having to do more work with less resources" End Quote John Giblin Police Federation of England and Wales There was an increase of £432,449 (20%) in overtime for officers and staff, to £2.6m in 2012-13. The largest sum paid to an individual in overtime was £20,062 in 2011-12 and £15,139 in 2012-13. A spokesperson said: "In the financial year 2012-13 referred to here the force has had to deal with major high-profile operations and investigations, such as the investigation into the abduction and murder of April Jones in Machynlleth. "These types of operations and investigations require exceptional resources in order to ensure the best possible outcomes and ensure the same level of service continues for the public of Dyfed-Powys in its entirety." There was an increase of £124,023 (7%). The largest sum paid to an individual in overtime was £16,516 in 2011-12 and £13,760 in 2012-13. Gwent Police said: "Overtime working must meet specific criteria which demonstrates necessity and value for money. "In some operational circumstances this is the most cost effective and flexible use of resources." Overtime fell from £3.7m to £3.5m, although the number of individuals who received overtime rose from 1,704 to 1,809. The largest sum paid to an individual in one month was £4,065. The force said: "General overtime has been closely monitored and managed during the course of the financial year." 'Make up the gap' The Comprehensive Spending Review of 2010 announced that central government police funding from the Home Office, Department of Communities and Local Government and Welsh government would reduce by 20% in real terms by 2014/15. Continue reading the main story "Start Quote The funding settlement for the police is a challenging one but, as the vast majority of forces are demonstrating, it is manageable" End Quote Home Office The move has been opposed by the Labour party. Shadow policing minister and Delyn MP David Hanson said: "It's no surprise that overtime has increased because this government has insisted on reckless cuts to our police service, and our hard-working police officers refuse to let standards slip so they are having to work longer hours more often to make up the gap." Meanwhile, John Giblin, the Welsh representative for the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: "It is inevitable that overtime has increased with officers finding themselves having to do more work with less resources. "However, even without resource shortages, overtime is often required at short notice or because of the specialised roles officers undertake." But a Home Office spokesperson said: "Police reforms are working and crime is falling. "The funding settlement for the police is a challenging one but, as the vast majority of forces are demonstrating, it is manageable."

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Timothy Adams is the name of: Timothy D. Adams (born 1961), Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury 2005–2007 Timothy Adams (actor) (born 1967), American actor

Timothy Adams

Cyber crime and house prices among bank managers" top concerns The classic image of a bank heist, replete with guns and balaclava-clad criminals, increasingly belongs in the past. Real-life robberies remain a threat. But financial companies are becoming more concerned by scams of a virtual kind. The Bank of England's twice-yearly systemic risk poll, released on Monday, found that more respondents, mostly risk managers in financial businesses, were viewing cyber crime as a main threat to the stability of their bank. Almost a quarter said they were worried about "operational risk" - from 14 per cent in the previous poll - with cyber security the threat that was most frequently mentioned. More On this topic IN UK Business The release of the survey comes after Andy Haldane, the BoE's executive director for financial stability, told MPs last week that hacking posed an increasing threat to the UK's financial system because of its potential to "wreak havoc" on society through its impact on the payments systems that channel cash around the economy. "This is a rapidly rising area of risk with potentially systemic implications. It calls for a system-wide response," he told parliament's influential Treasury select committee last Wednesday. Mr Haldane said four of the UK's five largest lenders had identified cyber crime as a concern for the first time at a meeting with BoE officials earlier this year. "Boards are starting to say this is one of their top priorities," said Ken Allan, a partner at Ernst & Young. "Previously, when one person raised the issue of cyber security, someone else might say, is it more important than Libor?" The growing concern over cyber crime reflects an increase in the frequency of attacks. Cyber criminals have also become more sophisticated, going beyond mere phishing scams. So-called distributed denial of service attacks, which involve attempts by hackers to stymie online banking services, are more common. "The threat has evolved towards targeted attacks, and they tend to be very difficult to detect," said Ruggero Contu, an analyst at Gartner, a research firm. Last month US prosecutors said cybercriminals had stolen $45m from cash machines in 26 countries within hours by hacking into bank systems and raising the withdrawal limits on individual accounts. Financial companies in Britain are particularly likely to arouse the interest of hackers. "Criminals like to target fast payment systems. In the UK, banks have to execute payments within hours, whereas in the US it could be days," George Tubin, a strategist at security software company Trusteer, said. "The UK banks know this, and have some of the best crime prevention systems out there." Meanwhile, a quarter of respondents to the BoE survey identified the risk of property price falls as a growing concern. The BoE said the higher figure - from 14 per cent in the previous poll - "could be consistent with views of prices becoming overinflated or about to become overinflated." Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the BoE, is one of a number of high-profile officials who have criticised the Help to Buy scheme, unveiled by chancellor George Osborne in the budget in March to buoy the housing market. The risks posed by an economic downturn or a sovereign default remained at the top of concerns cited by risk managers. However, the number of respondents identifying sovereign risk as the number one threat declined from 68 per cent to 38 per cent. The BoE data also show that risk managers are less concerned about a "high impact" event destabilising the UK financial system than at any time since the survey began. Only 8 per cent of respondents, from a fifth during the previous survey, believe there is a high or very high probability of such an event occurring before 2016. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Hungary Aims to Close IMF Office, Repay Loan Early Hungary said Monday it was considering paying back its bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund early as well as closing the organization's office in Budapest. National Bank of Hungary President Gyorgy Matolcsy said in a letter addressed to IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde that, while they appreciated "the valuable support" the Washington-based group gave the country, the stand-by credit program "is almost complete." As such, Matolcsy said, it was no longer necessary for the IMF to keep an office in Hungary. The IMF said that since the current IMF representative in Hungary was due to leave soon anyway, it would comply with Hungary's request. "As Ms. Iryna Ivaschenko's posting as Resident Representative in Hungary was due to end in late August and the IMF's presence in member countries is at the invitation of country authorities, the IMF will not seek to replace her," the IMF said in a statement. "The IMF looks forward to continued cooperation with Hungary in the context of regular bilateral consultations as with other member countries." Hungary still has $2.125 billion to pay the IMF from its original credit line of $25.5 billion. The last installment is due in early 2014, close to the country's national elections. The country was given the credit line from the IMF and other creditors in 2008, during a Socialist-led government, after markets shunned its bond bond auctions - making it difficult for Hungary to repay its loans - while its currency and stock market plunged. But Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government chose not to renew the deal in 2010 to avoid closer IMF scrutiny of its economic policies. In late 2011, however, Matolcsy, then the economy minister, said Hungary would again seek a "precautionary" deal with the IMF at a time when the forint, the Hungarian currency, had weakened sharply, bond sales were unsuccessful and the country's debt rating was about to be downgraded to below investment grade - or junk - by the main ratings agencies. But the new IMF loan never materialized and Hungary's announcement - and the months of negotiations with the Fund that followed - were considered by analysts as part of a delaying tactic to gain time until the international financial situation stabilized and the country's bonds again became attractive to investors. In February, Hungary sold $3.25 billion in foreign-currency bonds to investors, returning to the international debt market for the first time in nearly two years. In his letter to Lagarde, Matolcsy outlined some of the successes achieved by the government, including of cutting of the state budget deficit to below 3 percent of its gross domestic product, as a result of "bold fiscal consolidation measures" and structural reforms. Some of the "bold" measures have included the nationalization of some $14 billion in assets previously managed by private pension funds, windfall taxes on banks and other companies, taxes on all financial transactions and telephone calls, a flat income tax rate of 16 percent, forcing gas and electricity companies to cut utility prices for households and, at 27 percent, the EU's highest VAT rate.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Buenos Aires to host Youth Olympics in 2018 By Brian Homewood LAUSANNE (Reuters) - Buenos Aires will host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games after beating the Colombian city of Medellin in an International Olympic Committee vote on Thursday. Glasgow was eliminated in the first round of voting and the Argentine capital won 49 votes to Medellin's 39 in the second round. Four Buenos Aires bids for the senior Olympics, the most recent for the 2004 Games, have ended in rejection. "We won on our experience in staging major sporting events and the compactness of the venues," Gerardo Werthein, president of the Argentine Olympic Committee, told reporters. "We have bid four times for an Olympics, this event is tailor-made for our country, for our possibilities." The choice of Buenos Aires appeared to break with an unwritten principle that the youth games should be staged in cities which are too small to have any hope of staging the senior Olympics. Medellin, home to the notorious Medellin drug cartel in the 1980s, had been hoping to be awarded the games as recognition of its recent transformation. Known as the city of eternal spring thanks to its balmy Andean climate, it has a thriving cultural scene and its innovative urban projects, including cable cars to the hillside shanty-towns, have been copied elsewhere in Latin America. Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos took part in Medellin's presentation. "Colombia and Medellin have moved forward in an amazing way from very difficult times," he said during the presentation. "It's a new Colombia, a nation that likes to think big.." Medellin's mayor Anibal Gaviria added: "I believe this would be an opportune symbol of this reconciliation." The Youth Olympic Games were first held in Singapore in 2010 and the next edition will be hosted in Nanjing, China, next year. (Editing by Robert Woodward)

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Pentagon chief urges lawmakers to avert government shutdown By David Alexander ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel appealed on Saturday for lawmakers to take action to avert a government shutdown next week, saying it was "astoundingly irresponsible" to try to influence policymaking by triggering a funding crisis. Hagel, speaking to reporters en route to Seoul to mark the 60th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea defense alliance, said he had spent much of the week working on future spending cuts while planning for a shutdown next week that could force 400,000 civilian defense workers to take unpaid leave. For many of the civilians it would be the second time in as many months they have been forced to take unpaid leave. More than 600,000 civilian U.S. defense employees were required to take unpaid leave in early August in a bid to reduce spending after across-the-board budget cuts went into force in March. "When you look at the greatest democracy in the world, the largest economy in the world, and we're putting our people through this - that's not leadership, that's abdication of responsibilities," Hagel said. "This is an astoundingly irresponsible way to govern," he added, saying he hoped members of Congress would work to find "some common ground to govern and at least make the big decisions in the larger interest of this country." Funding for many U.S. government operations runs out next week with the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, and unless Congress reaches a deal to pay for its activities, much of the government will be forced to shut down. Only certain activities permitted under law are allowed to continue, officials said. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is expected later on Saturday to vote on a bill to fund the U.S. government in the new fiscal year but with a delay on implementation of President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare law. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, has said the Democratic-controlled Senate would not accept any funding measure aimed at derailing "Obamacare" and the White House has promised to veto the legislation if it passes Congress. Failure to pass a funding bill would close down much of the government for the first time since 1996. A contingency plan released by the Defense Department on Friday said the Pentagon's 1.4 million uniformed military personnel would continue to report to work in the event of a shutdown. But about half of the 800,000 civilian employees would be placed on unpaid leave. The plan said contractors working under fully funded agreements awarded before appropriations ran out would continue working, but new or extended contracts could not be executed. "No funds will be available to pay such new contracts or place additional increments of funding on contracts until Congress appropriates additional funds," the contingency plan said. Hagel said treatment of civilians under the law governing shutdowns was short-sighted because civilians provided much of the support structure for the military. "When you look at the defense of America, it isn't just the military," he said. "Our civilian employees, our civilian components, are integral parts of the defense and security of the United States.... The entire support base for our military, the fighters, comes from the civilian community." Hagel's trip to Asia is the third since he took office at the end of February. It comes as Obama's administration shifts some of its strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region following more than a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While in Seoul, Hagel also will take part in consultative meetings on the future direction of the U.S.-South Korea security alliance and attend a change of command ceremony for U.S. forces in Korea. Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, the former director of the U.S. Joint Staff, will take over as commander of U.S. forces in Korea from Army General James Thurman. Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Samuel Locklear, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, also will be attending the meetings in Korea. After four days in South Korea, Hagel will travel to Tokyo where he and Secretary of State John Kerry will participate in so-called two-plus-two talks with their Japanese counterparts, the first time they have done so in Japan. "Especially at a time when the United States in particular is focused on internal domestic issues, beginning with the budget... I think it's very, very important that we continue to assure our allies in this region of the world that we are committed to these alliances," Hagel said. (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Paul Simao)

2013-12-31 00:00:00

drug accord after 10 years 30 January 2013 Last updated at 13:11 The Russian government has abandoned an agreement with the US on fighting crime and the drugs trade, in an apparent sign of worsening relations. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the decade-long agreement no longer addressed "realities" and had "exhausted its potential." The agreement saw the US funding anti-crime projects in Russia. Meanwhile, two US non-governmental organisations removed Russian staff who were reportedly threatened with arrest. The National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, which both promote democracy, closed their Moscow offices last year after laws were passed cracking down on organisations which receive foreign funding. Speaking to the BBC's Russian service, unnamed sources in the NGOs said six Russian staff members and their families had arrived in Lithuania at the end of December or early in January on tourist visas. Staff had been approached by Russia's domestic security service, the FSB, and other law enforcement agencies who warned them they could face prosecution for treason, one of the sources said. There was no immediate confirmation of the report from the two NGOs. Kremlin anger News that the anti-drugs-trade agreement was being scrapped appeared in a decree on the Russian government's website. It came a few days after the US government pulled out of a joint working group with the Russians on civil society. Russia has been grappling for years with a huge heroin abuse problem, exacerbated by its proximity to drug-trafficking routes from Afghanistan. It has accused the US of failing to use its influence in Afghanistan to tackle the trade effectively. Ever since Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency last May, a chill has returned to US-Russian relations, the BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports from Moscow. The two countries seem locked into a spiral of deteriorating ties, he says. Underlying it is US concern at the state of democracy and human rights under President Putin, and Moscow's anger at being lectured by the Americans, our correspondent says. The US Magnitsky bill adopted late last year sparked particular fury in Moscow as the law bars Russian officials suspected of human rights violations from entering America and freezes any US assets they may have. In response Moscow has not only barred US officials it suspects of rights abuses, it has banned American families from adopting Russian children.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Welcome! Hello, Deltafunction, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful: The five pillars of Wikipedia Tutorial How to edit a page How to write a great article Manual of Style I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place before the question. Again, welcome! J Milburn (talk) ==Image source problem with Image:TPM drift.jpg== Thanks for uploading TPM drift.jpg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged. If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. J Milburn (talk) ==Image source problem with Image:TPM Experiment.ogg== Thanks for uploading TPM Experiment.ogg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged. If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. J Milburn (talk) ==Image source problem with Image:Tpm.ogg== Thanks for uploading Tpm.ogg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, then a link to the website from which it was taken, together with a restatement of that website's terms of use of its content, is usually sufficient information. However, if the copyright holder is different from the website's publisher, their copyright should also be acknowledged. If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have specified their source and tagged them, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Unsourced and untagged images may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If the image is copyrighted under a non-free license (per Fair use) then the image will be deleted 48 hours after. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. J Milburn (talk) ==Image source problem with Image:TPM.JPG== Thanks for uploading TPM.JPG. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright.

Deltafunction~enwiki

To what extent, and how does the content reflect that?==== Mosedschurte View: Here, I think the answer is a most definite "no." This is all secondary sourced material. No conclusions are drawn from it. In fact, the stated text directly matches that stated in the secondary sources. The two suggested sentences to be added back to the article state: Sentence#1: "While serving on the Board of Supervisors, Milk attended and spoke at at the controversial Peoples Temple, including after Jones and many Temple members fled to Guyana following allegations criminal wrongdoing." SOURCES: (1) VanDeCarr: "Milk spoke at a service for the last time in October 1978. He had been enthusiastically received at Peoples Temple several times before, and he always sent glowing thank-yon notes to Jones afterward. After one visit, Milk wrote, "Rev. Jim, It may Lake me many a day to come back down from the high that I reach today. I found something deal" today. I found a sense of being that makes up for all the hours mad energy, placed in a fight. I found what you wanted me to find. I shall be back. For I can never leave." (2) Time magazine:"Supervisor Harvey Milk, 48, who had spoken at political rallies at the Peoples Temple, had candidly proclaimed his homosexuality and won election to the city's eleven-member governing board." (3) Reiterman: Merely that Milk attended the July 31st Temple rally, which it states. Sentence#2: "Although Milk defended Temple leader Jim Jones in a letter to President Jimmy Carter in 1978, he and his aides distrusted Jones." SOURCES: (1) Coleman: "In a letter to President Jimmy Carter, Supervisor Harvey Milk defended Jones as a friend to minority communities." (2) Shilts: Cites the "Well fuck him" quote along with the "creepy and dangerous" quote ACTUAL COPY OF THE LETTER I DELETED: I deleted a link to the actual copy of the February 19, 1978 Milk letter to Carter, even though it was cited by secondary source Coleman, in which Milk states: "Rev. Jones is widely known in the minority communities and elsewhere as a man of the highest character" and "t is outrageous that Timothy Stoen could even think of flaunting this situation in front of Congressman with apparent bold-faced lies. "Mosedschurte (talk) Moni3: I actually wrote the sentences in question here, trying to come to an agreeable solution that 1) somehow tie the material into the rest of the article, and 2) put it in proper perspective. They were, in my edit, in a footnote, where they belonged if included at all. Mosedschurte, however, reverted the edits to appear in full text. That is unacceptable. I will agree to placing these issues again in a footnote. They do not belong in full text alongside truly notable events in Milk's life. Reply: Well, full disclosure here, I actually wrote the original sentence on the Carter letter, which was in this version. You then deleted it and put the above sentence in a footnote. I then took the sentence you wrote, in the hopes of a compromise, and put it in the paragraph in the "Supervisor" section. Which you then deleted. In any event, addressing the Mediator's #2 point, it is not original research, as demonstrated.Mosedschurte (talk) To Mosedschurte: What is wrong with the compromise here? What would be better? Xavexgoem (talk) 3 issues with that: (1) It was in the "Briggs Initiative" section (the Peoples Temple had nothing to do with the Briggs Initiative) rather than the "Supervisor" section; (2) If you look closely, the only Milk support of Jones sentence (the Carter letter sentence), is jammed in a footnote, not the text (look at the edit, it is in the ref note section); and (3) It deleted the entire first sentence stating: "While serving on the Board of Supervisors, Milk attended and spoke at at the controversial Peoples Temple, including after Jones and many Temple members fled to Guyana following allegations criminal wrongdoing." That's not there. Note that I actually took the second sentence to use in the text to add back. But it was then deleted.

Mediation Cabal/Cases/2008-09-18 Harvey Milk

Green power goal to add more jobs, study suggests WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A national mandate requiring utilities to generate 25 percent of power from sources such as wind and solar energy by 2025 will create three times more jobs than weaker measures Congress is considering, a study released by renewable energy advocates said on Thursday. Green Business RES-Alliance for Jobs, a coalition of green power businesses and trade groups, is using the new study to promote the benefits of a high federal renewable electricity mandate. "A strong renewable electricity standard is crucial to create a stable investment environment and grow this highly promising sector," said Don Furman, senior vice president for development, transmission, and policy at wind energy company Iberdrola Renewables. "Without a strong RES, the US wind industry will see no net job growth, and will likely lose jobs to overseas competitors," Furman added. Clean energy backers have been lobbying Congress to adopt a higher national renewable mandate than the measures lawmakers are considering, but they face opposition from lawmakers concerned about raising energy prices during a recession. The study commissioned by the alliance found the industry would create 274,000 more jobs under a 25 percent renewable power standard than it would create without a mandate. Such a standard would add three times more jobs than would be gained under a House approved renewable power target and a similar measure that's pending in the Senate, the study found. The House passed a bill last year that would require at least 15 percent of electricity generated by utilities to come from renewable sources by 2020. A mandate approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee would also set a 15 percent renewable power target, but states could meet up to a quarter of the mandate through energy efficiency measures. Lawmakers from regions without a great deal of solar and wind resources have argued against imposing a stringent renewable electricity standard, saying their constituents would be penalized with more expensive power bills. To counter this opposition, the alliance pointed to the study's findings that every state would gain more jobs from a higher renewable standard. The Southeast, which is heavily reliant on coal, would benefit from thousands of new jobs in the biomass industries, the study said. (Editing by David Gregorio) (ayesha.rascoe@thomsonreuters.com; +1 202 310 5683; Reuters Messaging: ayesha.rascoe.reuters.com@reuters.net))

2010-12-31 00:00:00

The New York State Banking Department was created by the New York Legislature on April 15, 1851, with a chief officer to be known as the Superintendent. The New York State Banking Department was the oldest bank regulatory agency in the United States. The Department was the primary regulator for state-licensed and state-chartered financial entities, including domestic banks, foreign agencies, branches and representative offices, savings institutions and trust companies, credit unions and other financial institutions operating in New York including mortgage bankers and brokers, check cashers, money transmitters, and licensed lenders, among others. Total assets of the institutions regulated were nearly $2.2 trillion. Effective October 3, 2011, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature consolidated the New York State Banking Department and the New York State Insurance Department and created the New York State Department of Financial Services. == Mission == The Department's legislative mandate was to insure the safe and sound conduct of these businesses, to conserve assets, to prevent unsound and destructive competition, to maintain public confidence in the banking system, and to protect the public interest and the interests of depositors, creditors and shareholders. The New York State Banking Department was headquartered at One State Street in New York City and had an office in the state capital at the Empire State Plaza, Albany, and an office in Syracuse, New York to serve the most Northern and Western parts of the State. Revenues to fund the Department's operating budget were derived from fees paid to it by state-chartered institutions. The Department was included in the New York State Executive Budget, and all expenses were paid by the New York State Comptroller out of State funds, reimbursed by the amounts assessed against the institutions subject to supervision. Expenses of examination and operation were paid entirely by the institutions subject to regulation. == Employees == The Banking Department was headed by a Superintendent appointed by the Governor of New York. Almost 73 percent of the agency's nearly 600 full-time employees were bank examiners. == The Banking Board == The Banking Board was established in 1932 by N.Y.S. Banking Law § 13 and 14, and was a quasi-legislative body. The Banking Board was created to advise and cooperate with the Banking Department in the formulation of banking standards and regulations and to exercise power to approve or disapprove the issuance of bank charters and licenses and the establishment of branch banks. The Board's powers were broad and affected many aspects of banking supervision. In 2011, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature abolished the Banking Board as part of the consolidation of the Banking Department and New York State Insurance Department and the creation of the New York State Department of Financial Services. ===Banking Board membership=== The Board had seventeen members. The Superintendent of Banks was the Board's chairperson and executive head. Each of the other 16 members were appointed by the governor and approved by the senate for a three-year term. Eight were public members, while the other eight had to have banking experience and had to represent various segments of the banking community. Members with banking experience were selected, one from each of the following eight groups: Group one: banks, trust companies and private bankers located in the city of New York and having total assets of one billion dollars or more, as shown in their last report to the Superintendent. Group two: banks, trust companies and private bankers located outside the city of New York and having total assets of one hundred fifty million dollars or more, as shown in their last report to the Superintendent. Group three: banks, trust companies and private bankers other than those in group one and group two. Group four: savings banks located in the city of New York and the counties of Westchester, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk. Group five: savings banks other than those in group four. Group six: savings and loan associations. Group seven: credit unions. Group eight: foreign banking corporations licensed to maintain a branch or agency in the state. The member from this group must be a resident of the state but need not be a citizen of the United States. == Unique undertakings of the Banking Department == Banking Development District (BDD) Program: Section 96-d of the Banking Law, entitled 'Banking Development Districts' addresses a program created to encourage the establishment of bank branches in areas with a demonstrated need for banking services, with the goals of stimulating local economies and helping more New Yorkers enter the financial mainstream. Banks partner with local governments to establish a BDD in an under-banked neighborhood, and, when approved by the Banking Department, are eligible to receive municipal deposits at below-market interest rates from the State.

New York State Banking Department

Muted commemoration as Hawaii turns 50 as a state HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaii welcomed its entry as the 50th state with a new postage stamp Friday but independence supporters marked the day with passionate protest - including an effigy of Uncle Sam being beaten and Hawaii's star cut out from the U.S. flag. State leaders called Friday's events a "commemoration" of Hawaii's 50 years of statehood rather than a "celebration" out of respect to Native Hawaiians and their unresolved claims since the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. A few hundred Native Hawaiians marched through the street of downtown Honolulu with an effigy of a 15-foot Uncle Sam holding machine guns and riding in a tank made of cardboard. They chanted in Hawaiian, blew on conch shells, waved ti leaves, carried upside-down Hawaii state flags and yelled, "We are not Americans! We want our country back!" "Genocide" and "imperialist" were written across the cardboard machine guns. At the end of the march, protesters knocked off Uncle Sam's hat, which contained a U.S. flag from which they cut out a star that represented Hawaii. They lit the star on fire and held it up to a crowd yelling "freedom." "We were never the 50th state," said Kaleo Farias, one of protesters that cut the U.S. flag. "It was an illusion, fabrication, something that was told to us that never happened.... We're not part of the United States." The events commemorating Hawaii's 1959 admission into the union have been light on flag-waving and parades. Instead, they have focused on the state's economic future with panel discussions on tourism, alternative energy and Hawaiian rights. Elsewhere in the nation, however, Hawaii statehood was being marked as a cause for celebration with one of the more elaborate displays taking place Friday in New York City's Times Square, where dancers dressed in traditional Hawaiian costumes and taught people how to Hula dance. Outside the Hawaii Convention Center, the protesters argued that Hawaii's statehood was never legal and that the islands should return to its status as a sovereign nation. Lynette Cruz, an organizer of the march, said the demonstration was recognizing that, "the United States has engaged in imperialism forever. The idea of building a state on top of a wrong doesn't make sense." Inside the convention center, the official statehood events highlighted Hawaii as a model for diversity while attempting to dispel misconceptions of the islands as an exotic location separate from the rest of the country. Hawaii's Bryan Clay, who claimed the title of "world's greatest athlete" after winning gold in the decathlon in Beijing last year, said many Americans still think of the islands as a place with grass huts that requires a passport to visit. "Hawaii is far more than just a beautiful vacation spot," Clay told a packed audience of more than 2,100. "In the case of Hawaii, more so than in other states, perception is different from reality." Others spoke about how the rest of the country should look to Hawaii as a model for how people of different backgrounds can get along, preserve their natural resources and develop renewable power. "The mere mention of Hawaii draws recognition that overcomes language and geographic barriers," said Gov. Linda Lingle. "We are regarded as a true island paradise where the unique hospitality of our people, abundant natural resources, diverse heritage and host culture sets us apart." President Barack Obama, who was born in the state, signed a proclamation marking the anniversary and said that in his youth he learned from Hawaii's diversity and how different cultures, blended together into one population, were made stronger by their shared sense of community. The proclamation said: "The Aloha Spirit of Hawaii offers hope and opportunity for all Americans." The postage stamp, available nationwide Friday, shows a painting of a longboard surfer and two paddlers in an outrigger canoe. On the Net: Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Prosecutors may present unaired portions of NBC News' Sandusky interview Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky's lawyers plan to argue that he suffers from histrionic personality disorder, a rare psychiatric illness that results in inappropriate behavior. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports and TODAY's Savannah Guthrie discusses how the new defense plan may affect Sandusky's sex abuse trial. By Michael Isikoff, NBC News Pennsylvania prosecutors may seek to use unaired portions of an NBC News interview with Jerry Sandusky in November in which the former Penn State defensive coach said, "I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped." The unaired portions of the "Rock Center with Brian Williams" interview-- conducted by NBC Sports host Bob Costas -- could become an issue this week as Sandusky's lawyers start presenting their defense to charges that he repeatedly abused 10 young boys over a 15 year period. On Friday, a prosecutor from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office contacted an NBC News lawyer asking the network to re-authenticate a full unedited transcript of the Costas interview. Because the network had already released the transcript, and it had been published on a Pennsylvania news website, the network agreed. The unaired portions of the Costas interview include an exchange about Sandusky's work with young people. Sandusky founded a charity for troubled kids, called The Second Mile, and, according to prosecutors, he met every one of his alleged victims through the charity. "I'm a very passionate person in terms of trying to make a difference in the lives of some young people," Sandusky said in the interview. "I worked very hard to try to connect with them. To make them feel good about themselves. To be something significant in their lives. Maybe this gets misinterpreted, has gotten depending on.... I know a lot of young people where it hasn't. I have worked with many, many young people where there has been no misinterpretation of my actions and I have made a very significant difference in their lives. Former Penn State University assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky speaks to NBC's Bob Costas in a Rock Center exclusive interview. Sandusky was charged earlier this month with 40 criminal counts accusing him of sexual abuse of minors. Costas then challenged Sandusky. "But isn't what you're just describing the classic MO of many pedophiles?" he asked. "And that is that they gain the trust of young people, they don't necessarily abuse every young person. There were hundreds, if not thousands of young boys you came into contact with, but there are allegations that at least eight of them were victimized. Many people believe there are more to come. So it's entirely possible that you could've helped young boy A in some way that was not objectionable while horribly taking advantage of young boy B, C, D and E. Isn't that possible? Does it matter if Sandusky has a personality disorder? Analysis: Prosecution presented strong case against Jerry Sandusky Sandusky replied: "Well -- you might think that. I don't know. In terms of -- my relationship with so many, many young people. I would -- I would guess that there are many young people who would come forward. Many more young people who would come forward and say that my methods and -- and what I had done for them made a very positive impact on their life. And I didn't go around seeking out every young person for sexual needs that I've helped. There are many that I didn't have -- I hardly had any contact with who I have helped in many, many ways." NBC News legal analyst Wes Oliver said that Sandusky's reply to Costas complicates his defense. It also could provide fodder for prosecutors if Sandusky decides to take the witness stand this week and testify in his defense. "A reasonable interpretation of that statement is that he did in fact have sexual contact with these young men he supposedly helped," Oliver said. More content from msnbc.com and NBC News: Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook

2012-12-31 00:00:00

'Tender Mercies' to 'Nashville': best country-themed movies Country music was born of hard-luck lives and heartbreak, with its singers as raw and roughed up as the songs. Its early singers were the stuff of legends - unashamed of humble beginnings, dogged by tragedy, uneasy with fame, often in search of redemption. The stories captured the imagination of Hollywood, with filmmakers turning them into classics - and clunkers ("Rhinestone," anyone?). It is the wail of the American heartland that appeals, and the plain-spoken lyrics make for easy plot points - "Help me make it through the night," "She's actin' single, I'm drinkin' doubles," "Take this job and shove it," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." The best scripts that emerged cut across social and economic lines, and the music was always there when the words failed. "Country Strong" is the latest to join that rich tradition, with Gwyneth Paltrow starring as a broken singer-songwriter in search of a little saving grace. The film is expanding into theaters around the country this week, so Times pop music critic Ann Powers and Times film critic Betsy Sharkey were asked to pick their four favorites from the past for a gallery available at left. It was mostly a peaceable process, except when it came to "Coal Miner's Daughter." Whether it was graciousness or grit that won the day, we'll never tell. - Ann Powers and Betsy Sharkey Top photo: Gwyneth Paltrow in "Country Strong." Credit: Scott Garfield /Sony-Screen Gems. Bottom photo: Ronee Blakley and Henry Gibson in Robert Altman's "Nashville." Credit: Paramount Pictures.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

== Summary == Author: Hswebmaster == Licensing ==

FestivalatSandpoint.jpg

MEGA Brands to report first quarter 2009 results MONTREAL, May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - MEGA Brands Inc. (TSX: MB) will report its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 after markets close on May 13, 2009. An analyst conference call will be held at 4:30 p.m. on May 13, 2009 to discuss the results. Participants may listen to the call by dialing 1 (800) 588-4942. For those unable to participate, a replay will be available until May 20, 2009. The replay phone number is 1 (416) 640-1917, access code 21305336#. About MEGA Brands MEGA Brands is a trusted family of leading global brands in construction toys, games & puzzles, arts & crafts and stationery. We offer engaging creative experiences for children and families through innovative, well-designed, affordable and high-quality products that deliver on our Creativity to the Rescue promise. For more information, please visit http://www.megabrands.com. The MEGA logo, Creativity to the Rescue, MEGA BLOKS, ROSE ART, MAGNETIX and BOARD DUDES are trademarks of MEGA Brands Inc. or its affiliates. Copyright 2009 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Can the 'game-changer' still live up to its name? First domestic commercial Dreamliner flight since grounding was completed on Monday Boeing CEO: "We're very sorry about the delay caused by the technology workaround" Bendy, plastic wings made an impression on this author and aviation enthusiast (CNN) -- This was no ordinary plane ride. No longer grounded for battery problems, United's Dreamliner 787 Flight 1 gained takeoff speed down a Houston runway Monday, en route to Chicago O'Hare. After months of concern about the 787's future, the excitement and tension was palpable aboard the first domestic commercial flight since January 16. In Seats 32 J, K, and L, Charles Marine, his wife Amira and 6-year-old son Dominic were going home after visiting the Lone Star State. Dominic, wearing a red T-shirt and headphones, chewed gum with a serious look on his face as the plane raced toward the end of the runway. Amira had a pillow on her lap, her hands folded as she faced forward. At one point, her husband placed his hand on hers. The plane, carrying 219 passengers including many reporters and executives from Boeing and United, began to lift into the air. Outside the Dreamliner's oversized windows, it was clear the plane's wings were bending upward. Dreamliner's turbulent debut Dreamliner's turbulent debut Dreamliner's turbulent debut Dreamliner's turbulent debut Dreamliner's turbulent debut Dreamliner's turbulent debut Dreamliner interactive: The Boeing 787 layout Watching the wings of an airliner bend during takeoff might be a little bit disturbing for most passengers. But the wings of this plane are made mostly of carbon reinforced plastic. They're supposed to bend. Then, Dreamliner's wheels magically left the Earth. That triggered passenger applause that rang throughout the aircraft. The 787 was back in domestic service after being grounded because of fears of onboard lithium-ion battery fires. Two incidents on Japanese 787s in January prompted the FAA to ground all six U.S. Dreamliners, which are all operated by United. Engineers designed a fix of the system which involved insulating the batteries and putting them in a ventilated armor-plated box to protect the rest of the plane. Dreamliner returns: Five things to know 'It's a relaunch!' Dreamliner "was a fairly expensive piece of sculpture to have on the ground," joked United CEO Jeff Smisek during a pre-flight ceremony. The average list price for a 787 is currently about $207 million. His counterpart at manufacturer Boeing apologized. "We're very sorry about the delay caused by the technology workaround," said Boeing CEO Jim McNerney. "Safety means everything to us." Both men were passengers on Flight 1. In Seat 21J, Michael Reynolds, 64, was headed home after his oldest granddaughter's high school graduation ceremony. He had no idea he was booked on arguably the most-watched airliner in America, touted by Boeing as the "airplane of the future." "It was a surprise to see the media circus," he said. Charles Marine also was in the dark about the flight until he arrived at the gate. Was he concerned about the battery problems? "I guess there's a little bit of something in the back of my mind," he said. But to have all these CEOs on the plane," he said he felt safe. Aviation enthusiasts call it Dreamliner 2.0. Others call it Reboot: 787. "It's a relaunch!" said a United flight attendant wearing the name tag, Alejandro. "That's what they told us to call it!" Whatever it's labeled, the fastest airliner in the world is back. Up in the cockpit, Capt. Niels Olufsen clocked it at about 647 mph. The plane beat about 10 minutes off other airliners by the time it hit Chicago traffic. The slick new cockpit display allows pilots to more easily see maps, speed and altitude data. "It's easier to fly because we have better displays," said Capt. Bill Blocker, another pilot on Flight 1. "It lands nice, it flies nice, it's real responsive, it's actually one of the easier planes I've ever flown." It also soars higher than other airliners. Flight 1 maxed out at 41,000 feet -- which actually is 2,000 feet below its limit. A typical airliner altitude is around 30,000 feet up. But Dreamliner's most important trick is to save on fuel expense. Surprisingly, it takes less fuel to fly high. "That's just how jet engines work," said Capt. Michael Barksdale, another United pilot who attended the pre-flight ceremony.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Printer Friendly Each morning Wambui Kamau, the personal assistant to a Nairobi-based entrepreneur, boards a matatu taxi bus to get to the city centre. This morning, like every other, it is flagged down at a police checkpoint, where the driver hands an officer 100 shillings. At lunchtime, Wambui heads to the Ministry of Immigration to pick up a new passport. It miraculously surfaces when she offers the clerk 100 shillings. Heading home, the matatu is stopped at the same checkpoint and another bribe paid. Bad news awaits. A deed allowing the family to sell part of a plot has not materialised. The certificate costs 500 shillings, but Wambui has spent six months and paid 10,000 shillings in bribes trying to extract it from Nairobi city council. "You go to the office and it's always "so and so has the file'. It's an endless chain of people wanting to "eat'." Wambui (not her real name) pays up to five bribes a week. The anti- corruption group Transparency International reports that kitu kidogo (a "little something") features in 54per cent of the average Kenyan's dealings with institutions. Six years after President Moi made way for an Administration sworn to clean government, Kenya is suffocating in sleaze. "The only difference in Moi's time," Wambui says, "was that no one tried to hide it. Now people feel ashamed, but do it anyway." In the West, where we would no more dream of pressing a £5 note into a policeman's hand than we would tip our GP, we struggle to grasp the mundane reality of corruption in countries such as Kenya. The situation there bears out the saying that "a fish rots from the head down." Generalised palm-greasing briefly halted after President Mwai Kibaki took power in 2003 promising that corruption would cease to be a way of life. Seated under signs reading "You have the right to free service," petty officials no longer dared to make their usual demands. Since then, looting by their political masters has been so brazen that all restraint has gone. In the fight against graft, personal example matters. And what a feeding frenzy there has been. John Githongo, the former anti-corruption chief and Kibaki appointee who made a permanent return to Kenya this month, fled in 2005 after realising that his ministerial colleagues were implicated in the $750 million Anglo Leasing affair, a scandal over inflated military contracts. Anglo Leasing almost seems distant history now, so thick and so fast have the fresh scams come. A scandal over diverted maize reserves jacked up supermarket prices and emptied shelves, just when a drought put 10 million Kenyans at risk of starvation. A scam over fuel deliveries left petrol pumps dry and drove up transport costs. Members of the Kenyan diaspora, or anyone, like me, in regular contact with the country, will have experienced a sudden surge in e-mails and calls from friends and relatives begging for that Western Union transfer to ensure the family doesn't go hungry. There is a weary inevitability to this explosion of corruption. In a system where every well-connected conman goes scot free, what else was to be expected? Anglo Leasing was in many ways Kenya's Watergate, only the Nixon character - Mwai Kibaki, who Mr Githongo says was fully aware of the corruption - refused to leave office, oversaw the rigging of the next election and reappointed corruption-tainted cronies to Cabinet. Kenya was meant to have put such ruthless pillaging behind it. The coalition formed a year ago between Kibaki and Raila Odinga's opposition movement represented recognition that the "it's our tribe's turn at the trough" approach adopted since the days of Jomo Kenyatta had brought this nation of 48 ethnic groups to the brink of disintegration. The ruling party's crude vote-tampering after the 2007 polls convinced Mr Odinga's supporters that Mr Kibaki's Kikuyu people and their allies regarded the fruits of presidential office as indefinitely theirs. At least 1,500 Kenyans died and 600,000 were displaced as mobs clashed with police and militias drove "foreign" tribes from coveted land. But all the wrong lessons have been learnt. As various commissions set up under Kofi Annan's guidance grind out worthy reports, fundamental reform remains a distant dream. So does justice: Britain's Serious Fraud Office abandoned this month an attempt to probe Anglo Leasing, citing the Kenyan Government's lack of co-operation. Politicians who paid the men with machetes will face no domestic reckoning after MPs refused to approve a Kenya-based tribunal, delegating the problem to the International Criminal Court.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

The silver stater with a Turtle is a coin from the 6th century Greece. The front has a sea turtle design, while the back has a punch mark, found on most coins at that time. The earliest coins were made of electrum, a mix of gold and silver. The coins were first made in the island of Aegina off the south east side of Greece. Some historical sources say the first coins were made by the king off Argos, Pheidon. The coins with 'turtle' design are considered "an important early trading currency". ==References== Coins of ancient Greece

Coinage of Aegina

As good as a rest A book of Gordon Brown's collected speeches (2007-2009) is reported to have sold only 32 copies. This surely cannot be explained by its contents, which include such favourites as the address to the 2009 TUC Congress in Liverpool. Then, on the cover, 16 famous names, from Barack Obama to Kofi Annan are named as providing introductions to the chapters. You'd think they might each have bought a copy. If not, a telephone call from the author in the early hours might go some way to persuading them. No, the explanation must be the title: The Change we Choose. Like Labour's election motto, "A future fair for all," it sounds like nothing so much as a crossword clue. What can the answer be? "Change" suggests an anagram. An anagram of "we choose" is "woe's echo." Is that it? Or the reference may be to spare change. With a price of £20 a copy that won't quite be enough.

2010-12-31 00:00:00

Fox and MLB Network to Collaborate on Pregame Show March 21, 2012, 3:31 pm Fox Sports" Saturday baseball 30-minute pregame show emanated from its Los Angeles studio for years. More recently, it was less a show than a 10-minute segment hosted from a game site by Chris Rose. Starting next month, Fox said Wednesday, the expanded half-hour program will be broadcast from the studios of MLB Network in Secaucus, N.J., where it will be hosted by Matt Vasgersian, with a group of analysts that will include Harold Reynolds, Kevin Millar, Mitch Williams and Eric Byrnes. The arrangement gives MLB Network a high-profile slot on broadcast television that will let it promote itself. Fox gets access to MLB Network's large corps of analysts and its studio cameras. The show will be a co-production of Fox and MLB Network. Vasgersian works for both companies. Fox has moved through a variety of hosts for its pre-game show since acquiring M.L.B. rights in 1996. Chip Caray, Keith Olbermann and Jeanne Zelasko preceded Rose.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

Mr. Le's wife, Mai Tran, handles most of the cooking at the restaurant, but he serves as the genial host, buzzing from the simmering pots on the stove to the six tables laden with spicy sauces. The other day he spoke rapid-fire Vietnamese at one table, kept an eye on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg speaking on TV with the local news and demonstrated for an American customer the proper way to eat noodle soup. The counters of his restaurant are piled high with seasonal treats: sweet rice cakes filled with pork and wrapped in banana leaves. A bucket filled with fake pink roses sits by the window. His menu is larger than his rival's; besides pho, the house specialties include duck with bamboo shoots and banh mi sandwiches that are half the price of those sold in some Manhattan shops. "Banh mi has been my favorite since I was 5 years old," he said. "I eat one every day." Jenny Ng, a manicurist, said Pho Saigon had quickly become her favorite restaurant. "I know a lot of restaurants in Manhattan, but the food is better here," she said as she dug into a plate of duck skin. In Manhattan, "the food is for American tastes." Mr. Le said he did not expect to push his rival out of business, nor did he not want to. "I want them to live like we do," he said. "If they closed, I wouldn't be too happy. There's enough for both."

2010-12-31 00:00:00

JonBenet Ramsey: Grand jury voted to indict parents for child abuse The murder, which set off years of sensational news coverage remains one of America's most infamous unsolved crimes. John and Patsy Ramsey (AP) The district attorney at the time, Alex Hunter, who presented the evidence to the grand jury, declined to pursue charges saying: "I and my prosecutorial team believe we do not have sufficient evidence to warrant the filing of charges against anyone who has been investigated at this time." Only pages that had been signed by the grand jury foreman and were considered official action of the jury were released. The numbering of the charges implies that there were other charges the jurors considered but rejected. Hunter did not return a phone message left Thursday by The Associated Press in anticipation of the documents' release. The grand jury met three years after the beauty queen's body was found bludgeoned and strangled in their home in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996. The indictments alleged the crimes occurred between Dec. 25 and Dec. 26. Lurid details of the crime and striking videos of the child in adult makeup and costumes performing in pageants propelled the case into one of the highest profile mysteries in the United States in the mid-1990s. It also raised questions about putting children on display in beauty contests long before the popularity of reality shows such as "Toddlers & Tiaras" and "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," which features moms and their child beauty pageant contestants. The Ramseys maintained their innocence, offering a $100,000 reward for the killer and mounting a newspaper campaign seeking evidence. Former prosecutor and law professor Karen Steinhauser said grand juries sometimes hear evidence that won't be admitted during trial that can form the basis of indictments. But she added that prosecutors must have a good faith belief that they could prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt before pursuing charges. "I'm not sure that the release of this indictment is going to change the fact that there has not been able to be a prosecution and probably won't be able to be a prosecution," she said. Patsy Ramsey died of cancer in 2006, the same year a globe-hopping school teacher was arrested in Thailand after falsely claiming to have killed JonBenet. Former District Attorney Mary Lacy cleared the Ramseys in 2008 based on new DNA testing that suggested the killer was a stranger, not a family member. Lacy did not return a phone call. Over the years, some experts have suggested that investigators botched the case so thoroughly that it might never be solved. Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said the case remains open but it's not an active investigation. He predicted the indictment's release wouldn't change anything. "Given the publicity that's been out there, many people have formed their opinions one way or another," he said. Earlier this week, John Ramsey asked officials to release the entire grand jury record if the unprosecuted indictment was made public. However, the judge said transcripts of grand jury proceedings and evidence presented to it are not considered "official action" under the law governing criminal court records. He also said releasing such information could hurt other grand juries, whose work is secret. An attorney representing John Ramsey, L. Lin Wood, has said he's confident that no evidence in the grand jury case implicated the Ramsey family and the public should be able to see that for themselves.

2013-12-31 00:00:00

Cascade Mountain is a mountain located in the Bow River Valley of Banff National Park, adjacent to the town of Banff. The mountain was named in 1858 by James Hector after the waterfall or cascade on the southern flanks of the peak. The mountain has also been called Stoney Chief, which is related to the name of the smaller neighbouring mountain Stoney Squaw, which is still in use. Cascade is the highest mountain adjacent to the townsite. == Climbing routes == The mountain can be climbed starting from the Norquay Ski Area base. The first portion is a fairly moderate hike, up to the Cascade Amphitheatre. Continuing upwards, the route ascends along the ridge edge until it reaches the crest where it dips before it rises to the false summit. While the false summit can be descended at its end, it is much easier to follow a trail around the western side along the exposed foot. Snow typically blocks this route almost until mid July and attempting it while snowy can entail considerable avalanche risk due to the slabby terrain and exposure. A long window of clear weather - full day - should be anticipated before attempting this climb, as many climbers have gotten into trouble and needed rescue (or died) when a storm suddenly blows in. The ascent normally takes 3 to 4 hours while the descent along the same path takes 2 to 3 hours. ==References== Mountains of Banff National Park Mountains of Alberta

Cascade Mountain (Alberta)

== Your submission at Articles for creation == Emma Ferreira, which you submitted to Articles for creation, has been created. The article has been assessed as Start-Class, which is recorded on the article's talk page. You may like to take a look at the grading scheme to see how you can improve the article. You are more than welcome to continue making quality contributions to Wikipedia. Note that because you are a logged-in user, you can create articles yourself, and don't have to post a request. However, you are more than welcome to continue submitting work to Articles for Creation. If you have any questions, you are welcome to ask at the help desk If you would like to help us improve this process, please consider. Thank you for helping improve Wikipedia! Aaron Booth (talk) == April 2012 == Welcome to Wikipedia. It might not have been your intention, but your recent edit removed content from Emma Ferreira with this edit. When removing content, please specify a reason in the edit summary and discuss edits that are likely to be controversial on the article's talk page. If this was a mistake, don't worry; the content has been restored, as you can see from the. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia, and if you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. Thank you. Dusty777 == Wikipedia Help Survey == Hi there, my name's Peter Coombe and I'm a Wikimedia Community Fellow working on a project to improve Wikipedia's help system. At the moment I'm trying to learn more about how people use and find the current help pages. If you could help by filling out this brief survey about your experiences, I'd be very grateful. It should take less than 10 minutes, and your responses will not be tied to your username in any way. Thank you for your time, the wub (talk) (Delivered using Global message delivery) == July 2012 == Welcome to Wikipedia, and thank you for your contributions. One of the core policies of Wikipedia is that articles should always be written from a neutral point of view. A contribution you made to Emma Ferreira appears to carry a non-neutral point of view, and your edit may have been changed or reverted to correct the problem. Please remember to observe this. Thank you. Aaron Booth (talk) Welcome to Wikipedia. Everyone is welcome to contribute to the encyclopedia, but when you add or change content, as you did to the article Emma Ferreira, please cite a reliable source for your addition. This helps maintain our policy of verifiability. See Citing sources for how to cite sources, and the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia. Thank you. Aaron Booth (talk)

Yonnivalencia

For similar terms, see Cacique (disambiguation). Cassiques (junior) and landgraves (senior) were intended to be a fresh new system of titles of specifically American lesser nobility, created for hereditary representatives in a proposed upper house of a bicameral Carolina assembly. ==Carolina Assembly== They were proposed in the late 17th century and set out in the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina. The Fundamental Constitutions were never ratified by the assembly, and were largely abandoned by 1700. The upper house, consisting of the Landgraves and Casiques..are..a middle state between Lords and Commons. (1702) They are there by Patent, under the Great Seal of the Provinces, call'd Landgraves and Cassocks, in lieu of Earls and Lords. (1707) Cacique, a native chief or ‘prince’ of the aborigines in the West Indies and adjacent parts of America. (1555) ==Native American leaders== The title Cassique was bestowed upon the Chief (Chieftain) or leader of the Native American tribes (mainly the Kiawah Indians) which originally settled the low-country of South Carolina, near modern day Charleston, South Carolina. The Kiawah Indians referred to the area where the peninsula of the city of Charleston, SC located between the modern day Ashley River (then known as the Kiawah River) and the Cooper River (called the Wando River) as "Chicora". The Cassique of Kiawah, who had traded with the Cape Fear Barbadian colony and sent his nephew as an emissary to England with explorer Captain Robert Sandford in 1666, was a friend to the English and urged the English to settle the area known as "Chicora". The Cassique's motivating factors were both financial and the Intrinsic motivation of Tranquility as the Kiawah Indians would gain an established trading partner with the English as well as protection from the Spanish in Florida and the neighboring Westoe tribe who were known cannibals and had attacked the Kiawah Indians on several occasions. The Cassique and his Kiawah tribes were quite persuasive and the English established the settlement Charles Towne, named for the Lord Proprietors' benefactor King Charles II of England, on the West bank of the Ashley (Kiawah) River at Albemarle Point in 1670. Thus, the Kiawah Indians became comrades with the English as perhaps was predetermined when the Kiawah originally greeted the colonists upon arrival at Bull's Bay with the phrase "Bony Conraro Angles!" (meaning "Good English Comrades") in poorly spoken Spanish. ==Identified landgraves, landgravines, and cassiques== This is a list of identified South Carolina landgraves, landgravines (female version) and cassiques (female term unknown). Their "baronies" often had Native American names. Seemingly, only about half of this colonial South Carolina nobility ever reached its soil. One man was both Cassique and Landgrave. In some cases, the title seems to have been inherited. Gov. John Archdale, Landgrave, Created 1694 Christopher Arthur, Esq., Landgrave/Cassique? (Created c1724, of "Cypress" Barony) John Ashby, Esq., Cassique, "Quenby" (aka "Yadhaw"), Created 1682 John Ashby, Jr., Esq., Cassique?, Inherited? after 1699 John Ashby, III, Esq., Cassique?, Inherited? c1716 (d1729) Hon. Daniel Axtell, Sr., Landgrave, Created 1681 Hon. Holland Axtell, Landgrave, Created 1692 Lady Rebecca Pratt Axtel, Landgravine? (Of "Newington" Barony) John Bailey, Esq., Landgrave, Created 1682 (Of "Otter Island" Barony) John Bayley, Esq., Landgrave/Cassique? (16,200a "Hilton Head Island" Barony?) Sir Edmund Bellinger, Sr., Landgrave, Created 1698 (Of "Tombodly" & "Ashepoo" Baronies) Edmund Bellinger, Jr., Esq., Landgrave, Inherited c1705 Sir Edmund Bellinger, III, Landgrave, Inherited c1739 Edmund Bellinger, IV, Esq., Landgrave, Inherited?

Cassique

Please note that the previous content of your user talk page has been moved to your user page,. ==Copyright problems with Agrasensamiti== Hello. Concerning your contribution, Agrasensamiti, please note that Wikipedia cannot accept copyrighted text or images obtained from other web sites or printed material, without the permission of the author(s). This article or image appears to be a direct copy from http://www.flickr.com/people/agrasensamiti/. As a copyright violation, Agrasensamiti appears to qualify for deletion under the speedy deletion criteria. Agrasensamiti has been tagged for deletion, and may have been deleted by the time you see this message. If you believe that the article or image is not a copyright violation, or if you have permission from the copyright holder to release the content freely under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License (CC-BY-SA) then you should do one of the following: However, for textual content, you may simply consider rewriting the content in your own words. While contributions are appreciated, Wikipedia must require all contributors to understand and comply with its copyright policy. Wikipedia takes copyright concerns very seriously, and persistent violators will be blocked from editing. Thank you. Metropolitan90 (talk)

Agrasensamiti

· AO Talk Advance Wars has but this page doesn't. Then just add "" to it's talk page. · AO Talk Done...btw, I feel that it would be more uniform with the other WikiProjects if wee made it so that the template has a proj at the end: sgameproj or something like that. Just a suggestion...probably not worth editing every page with this template though... :Actually, we only have to edit the template page. What exactly do you mean? This: This article has been rated as Start-Class on the assessment scale. This article is on a subject of low priority within gaming for inclusion in Wikipedia 1.0 Is that what you mean by project? · AO Talk ::No he means that if you put the template on a page it is whereas 1984 thinks it should be to reflect the look of other project templates (like VGs is ). However, that does bring up the idea of a rating scale and an importance scale again... :::Does Wikipedia 1.0 do that, or do we more or less judge how good/important it is? · AO Talk ::::Well 1.0 has the final decision on what they think should go in, but each wikiproject can classify and rate an article on their own. For example, I am working on the Eragon (video game) article, and the two different projects give it two different ratings and classifications. I think the reason behind this is that the members of a wikiproject specific to that topic probably know about it more than a random 1.0 member. :::::Okay, sounds alright. Do we just rate articles, or is it by nomination? I mean, one person might say a certain article is GA, while another might say B-class. How do we keep tabs on that? I'll look into the CVG project (and it's incredibly complicated banner) later. Perhaps you'r already familiar with this though? · AO Talk ::::::Ratings are basically opinions based on this by the user that asseses it. GAs and FAs go through the process, and A's are usually failed FACs, but the rest is done by the project member. BTW, I looked into the syntax of the cvgproj banner and it is fun. :::::::Fun? Right... I'll probably have time to review it today. · AO Talk ::::::::The link was the important part of that thread. :::::::::Yes, I saw the link. Anyways, I'll (try to) look into the template now, or maybe tomorrow morning. · AO Talk ::::::::::Okay, I've "filtered" it. I passed it to AndonicO/SGames template, since I doubt it is ready. Feel free to test it there; we'll probably have red links galore, so get ready to create subpages. · AO Talk :::::::::::I added what I think is the final version to Civilizations at War to use as an example (because it only works in article-space). If you think it's fine, I'd say we change the old template for this one. If not, tell me, and I'll fix the problem. (P.S. THAT WAS HARD!!! )· AO Talk Looks really good (you are a better man than I). Can there be two adjustments made? rojects may have that covered? Alright, lets see how it can be improved then. I think we should have a rating system, as an important strategy article isn't necessarily notable in a more extensive WikiProject. | AndonicO Talk | Sign Here Well if you want the editing the template to be easier, we probably should move the temp box to SGames, or something. Also, I was going to request bot help to tag related S.Games articles. These are the related categories I found. What did I miss? Just go ahead and add it. :Very good; it took me a while to think of others. (ok, I confess, I used the article) :-) I think we should have the final version ready before posting it anywhere, so let's try to have it ready in the next few days. Perhaps by Wednesday we'll have it. | AndonicO Talk | Sign Here ::Don't worry, I only tagged stuff I knew I was going to be able to find again, so removing the draft one and replacing it with the final will be no issue. EDIT: Oh yeah, I was thinking that when we look at articles for improv.

WikiProject Video games/Strategy/Archive 1

Michelle Obama's First Book "American Grown" Crown Publishing Group The title has been announced for first Lady Michelle Obama's book about the White House garden. "American Grown: How the White House Kitchen Garden Inspires Families, Schools, and Communities" is scheduled to hit bookshelves April 10, 2012. "Through telling the story of the White House kitchen garden, Mrs. Obama will explore in "American Grown" how increased access to healthy, affordable food can promote better eating habits and improve health of families and communities across America," according to the publisher. The cover, which was also unveiled today, shows Obama holding a basket of vegetables from the garden. "American Grown" will also include family recipes from the first lady and tips for starting your own garden. "The book will be inspirational and instructive and will provide ideas and resources for readers to get involved in the movement to create community, school and urban gardens, support local farmers" markets, and make small lifestyle changes to achieve big health results," according to Crown publishing. The book, Obama's first, will be available in print and digital editions. The first lady did not take any advance for the project, which was first announced in March, and all proceeds will be donated to charity.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Christiane Guhel is a French ice dancer. With partner Jean Paul Guhel, she is the 1962 European champion, 1962 World silver medalist, and 1960 World bronze medalist. ==Results== ===Ice Dance=== (with Jean Paul Guhel) ==References== French ice dancers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists

Christiane Guhel

All the same, he feels there may well not be as many farms in upland areas in 20 years' time - just as there are not as many farms now as there were 20 years ago. That is why it is important that the Commission for Rural Communities holds its inquiry now, he says, "to see that communities do survive."

2009-12-31 00:00:00

ElKevbo (talk) Lemme see if there's something on the External links/Noticeboard... If not, I could start a discussion that could lead to clarification of the issue. WhisperToMe (talk) Thanks! Would you please hold off on adding the link to other articles until this has been hashed out? In return, I won't go around removing the ones you've already added. :) ElKevbo (talk) That'll do! Here is External links/Noticeboard#Mobile_phone_editions_of_websites WhisperToMe (talk) == Jelena Jensen/Chapman University links == Much as it seems there are sockpuppets afoot at Chapman University right now, they do have a point. I'm not seeing strong sourcing to connect Jelena Jensen to the university. There was a reference to IMDB in this version of Jensen's article. However, IMDB was the only source supporting the change. (And since I invoked sockpuppets, I'm not seeing anything abusive about how the accounts are acting to warrant any action on that front right now.) If you pursue further and find a more reliable source on Jensen, let me know. If you were just (like me) patrolling changes made by new accounts and reverted the suspect removal and aren't doing anything futher, no problem. I'll probably do a little digging myself, and I may add one or both articles to my watchlist. —C.Fred (talk) I'll poke around a bit but I'm not particularly committed to including her in Chapman's article. Someone is clearly whitewashing the article but they have a point when they say that Jensen isn't particularly notable. But that doesn't seem to be a good reason to remove Chapman University from her article and I object to that without a better reason than whitewashing the image of Chapman University and less-than-ideal sourcing. A quick search (not something you want to do from work!) shows many websites linking Jensen with Chapman University. But I don't know how reliable any of them are and if they should be used as sources as it's likely that many of them got their information from us in the first place. ElKevbo (talk) I'm not at work, so I searched. :) (Yeah, don't open Jensen's official site at work, in front of kids, etc.) The Playboy TV bio of her corroborated the degree from Chapman. Now, they probably got the info from Jensen directly, so it may run a little close to self-published/primary sourcing. However, I'm willing to put a little more faith in Playboy saying that she graduated from there—or that Jensen claims she graduated from there—than I'm willing to put in a fan-editable source like IMDB. —C.Fred (talk) == Help US... == Hi ElKevbo, We just now saw the wiki black list we are shocked to see our website hotcoursesusa has been posted from various IP. i don't totally disagree with the point what you said, we have posted some external link with the IP 203.197.128.222, because of the ignorance of SEO person he has been repeatedly posting in external link. we have advised him not to engage like this activity again. hopefully we will make sure this wont happen again. Thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.197.128.222 (talk) I don't control the blacklist; the folks at WikiProject Spam do. That would be the best place to appeal your website's inclusion in the blacklist. ElKevbo (talk) == Articles for deletion/List of Ivy League business schools == I thought I was supposed to nominate them all together. Happy to let discussion on one get settled first. Jadunne (talk) I think it would be okay if you were to explicitly group all of them together in one nomination. I just don't think it would be very productive to nominate all of them individually as it seems that they are (or should) all come to the same conclusion. Incidentally, I think you're completely wrong about the utility of these groupings. And it wouldn't even matter if you were right because these groupings are widely used in and out of academia. However, you might get some traction if you argue that the lists should be deleted as they're duplicative of the categories. In fact, I think I would support that as we should be letting the templates - which themselves should add/transclude the categories - do what they're meant to do instead of duplicating the categories with lists.

ElKevbo/Archive 12