Datasets:

fla-hub

/

slimpajama-test

like 0

Follow

fla-hub 18

– estimate 400 edited photos. – estimate 200 edited photos. – 50% payment upon confirmation 1 week before events. – Surcharge RM200 for booking less than 1 week period. – Price not include makeup, hair setting, costume and transportation and accommodation for outstation trip. – 50% payment upon confirmation before work start. Duration of work less than 1 week. – Non refundable 50% payment upon confirmation 1 week before events. – Surcharge RM200 for booking and changes less than 1 week period. – Transportation and accommodation for outstation work is not included within the pricing rates. – Price rate is not fixed and will change within time and work specification. RM200 = 40 custom design pages included covers design. Estimation 150 edited touch up photos for 40 pages. All touched up photos will be saved in DVD. Online preview and proofing on the layout design before printing finalized or to be sent for online printing order. RM250 = 40 pages photo paper wire bound photo book album with size up to 7.3″ x 10.3″ print with cover. High quality ink jet print photo paper 220gm. 50% price of work is needed upon agreement and to start the job and the balance paid after proofing and before the print process.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The New Hampshire House will decide whether to broaden the state's definition of a political advocacy organization without the guidance of its election law committee, which was unable to agree Thursday on whether to require additional groups to register with the state. The Senate passed a bill in February that would require organizations to register with the secretary of state's office and file financial reports if they spend $5,000 or more per year on communication that refers to a candidate in any way within 60 days of an election. Current law requires registration only when such communication is likely to be interpreted as advocating for or against a candidate or measure. The House delayed its vote on the bill and instead sent it back to its election law committee for further review. Taking up the bill Thursday, members split 10-10, with nine Democrats and one Republican supporting the bill, and 10 Republicans opposing it. That means it will go to the full House in the next session without a recommendation. The bill had passed the Senate with bipartisan support, and supporters on the House committee argued that it would address hate mail from out-of-state groups that hurts Republicans and Democrats alike. Rep. Travis Bennett, D-Plymouth, said it was "absurdly hypocritical" for lawmakers to voice concern about fraudulent votes cast by out-of-state residents while being "perfectly fine" with not regulating outside groups. But opponents said the bill is too broad, arguing it could apply to newspapers, civic groups that publish candidate surveys or scorecards or even newsletters published by the New Hampshire Municipal Association. With little or no debate, the committee recommended the full House kill five other bills related to voter eligibility, registration and running for office.

Identification: Adult brownish grey with black and chestnut belly. White supercilium and black crown and eye-stripe. Winter adult more brown. Juvenile brown, slightly scalloped above, and streaked black below with broad white supercilium.

How do you do a Snow White movie without Snow White? Well that's apparently just what the good people over at Universal studios are planning to show us. The studio is reportedly set to shelf current plans for the sequel and instead focus more on Chris Hemsworth's Huntsman character, according to sources which spoke to The Hollywood Reporter. This comes in the aftermath of the cheating scandal which resulted in Stewart being labelled a "Trampire" by angry Twilight fans, some of whom even expressed their displeasure by making videos of themselves weeping. Director Rupert Sanders, who Stewart had cheated on boyfriend Robert Pattinson with, is still signed on to his project. His wife has forbidden him from ever working with Stewart again, after the news broke. Screenwriter David Koepp, who had been hired to work on the sequel is also getting the axe too. "The studio is currently exploring options to continue the franchise," a Universal spokeswoman says. Well, we certainly aren't shedding tears for Stewart.

Business Practices or Labels? Since the 1980's cities all over the world have increasingly relied on bike messengers to safely deliver the most urgent packages in their urban centers. This increase in bicycle traffic has also led to an easy scapegoat for the traffic dangers in these same cities. As a result of complaints rather than safety concerns, cities often turned to a system they like to call "licensing". The type of licensing favored as a solution by most cities was a miserable failure. It was both ineffective and costly. Most cities adopted a system of licensing that is better termed "labeling" whereby messengers were required to display a numbered sign on their bike and/or bag at all times. The thinking behind this type of system is that a visible label will act as a deterrent to unsafe riding and it would make it much easier to identify those who violate traffic laws. The reality is that none of those benefits were realized and in fact it lead to harassment of both messengers and other cyclists who may look like messengers. It also lead to a DECREASE in traffic enforcement as police focused on enforcing the bureaucratic requirements of the labeling laws rather the original traffic laws. In fact the labeling laws added nothing to the already existing traffic laws. These types of labeling systems come from incorrect perceptions and misunderstandings about the bicycle courier industry. Many cities look at bicycle safety in response to symptoms of the problems. They respond to complaints. Most of the complaints are as a result of near misses rather than accidents and most of these are blamed on the most visible cyclists - bike messengers. In Sydney Australia, city council ADMITTED to approving a labeling system even after a council report indicated the council had "received numerous complaints about bicycle couriers, DESPITE the small number of accidents they cause." Perception is such a problem that the flawed Australian STAYSAFE 30 report on bicycle messengers relied almost exclusively on anecdotal evidence, casual observations, media fluff articles and fashion and lifestyle television programs. Whatever statistical evidence was presented was discounted as unreliable and "significantly underreported" because it did not support the inflexible perceived behaviour. However even the STAYSAFE report recommended solutions include developing a system of bicycle lanes, including contra flow lanes on one way streets and pedestrian malls, improved bicycle parking and bicycle priority signals at selected signalized intersections within the Sydney central business district. Unfortunately the council only implemented labeling and harassment. A 1992 study on the Safety of Bicycle Couriers in various cities, (including Washington D.C.) prepared by the Automobile Insurance Society of Quebec, concluded "it is reasonable to assume that [couriers] behavior draws attention mainly because their clothing and bag (often bearing the company name or courier service logo) make them more visible". In fact couriers "have no more of a propensity for accidents per kilometer traveled than other bicycle riders; the difference in mishap rates between the two groups might well be statistically insignificant. For that reason, caution is advised in imputing accident risk to couriers in order to justify specific intervention targeting this type of road user." "There is nothing to indicate, however, that [messengers] act more recklessly than other cyclists using the downtown core of a city where vehicular and pedestrian traffic is heavy." A "labeling" type of licensing system only makes messengers more visible which explains why public complaints remain unchanged after the implementation of licensing. However, professional bicycle messengers are skilled and knowledgeable riders who recognize their responsibility to better road safety. They have greater urban experience than other cyclists and spend more time on the roads. Yet there remain great opportunities for messengers to improve their safety record. The success of these opportunities requires a collaborative effort by government, the courier industry and messengers themselves. First, road safety begins with the road design. Messengers ride on the most congested and dangerous roads in the city. They are forced to work on roads that were designed without their safety in mind. These roads are designed mainly for the convenience of cars with sidewalks for pedestrians. Cyclists are barely tolerated. Cities must consider the safety of ALL road users in urban planning, road design and road safety decisions in the future. Second, messenger behavior is heavily influenced by the business practices of the courier industry itself. The courier industry practices what the United Nations and International Labor Organization (ILO) terms "disguised employment." Many companies disguise their messengers as independent contractors in order to avoid their statutory obligations such as workers compensation, labor standards and payroll taxes. By hiding from these legal requirements companies contribute to more dangerous roads by forcing messengers to work on commission often for less than minimum wage. In fact these companies use their disguised status to exert even more control over messengers than they would employees. Messengers are paid on commissions that companies have continually lowered in order to focus on volume. In addition many companies lure clients by offering discounts on the more time sensitive items sent by bike messenger but charge extra for the longer distance items sent by car. As a result bike couriers must ride faster and longer to make the same money they made in years past. Courier companies also disguise their employees in order to avoid legal liability in the event of accidents. Recently, the High Court of Australia (Hollis v Vabu Pty Ltd [2001] HCA 44) ruled that a courier company was vicariously liable for any injuries inflicted by its bicycle couriers. The court "found that on the basis of the control test and other indicators, the bicycle couriers were clearly employees" and they declared the independent contractor label as "unrealistic" when applied to bicycle couriers. If companies were forced to accept legal responsibility for their messengers they would be encouraged to implement business practices that promoted road safety but sadly the messenger courier industry promoties legislative changes that would make it even easier for them to disguise employees. Courier companies offer delivery guarantees that can be dangerous. Messengers may be required to deliver items in less than 15 minutes or a half an hour and the messenger may not be paid if he or she is late. This type of business practice has been shown to increase the risk of accidents on the roads. In the past pizza restaurants such as Domino's offered similar delivery guarantees. Domino's was sued as a result of many accidents involving their drivers and these "lawsuits brought the conclusion that the guarantee was relevant to the cases". As a result the company dropped the guarantee after making payment to the victims of crashes. It comes as no surprise that courier industry business practices play a key role in road safety. Nearly every city that looks at the safety of bicycle messengers has recognized it. In 1987, D.C. Council member Jim Nathanson (D-Ward 3) said the pressure for couriers to "tempt the law…{and} be as quickly free-spirited as they can" comes from the system by which they are paid according to the number of deliveries." (Washington Post, October 22, 1987) A Boston Globe editorial from 1997 also recognized the role of business practices on messengers. "Couriers operate in a high pressure business where speed is at a premium, working for commissions as independent contractors with no benefits. This can encourage reckless riding, and indeed a culture of risk-taking has developed that attracts thrill-loving bikers to these jobs. Hundreds of fines have been levied for infractions of the rules of the road, but police report that the number of accidents involving cyclists remain high." (Boston Globe Editorial, November 8, 1997) In Toronto, Metro Councilor Howard Moscoe, (who was investigating licensing for bicycle couriers) noted that "it's the nature of the business to be reckless…. It's free enterprise on wheels. The whole system just encourages (the couriers) to whiz around as fast as they can, bowling people over, bolting in front of cars and causing havoc." Bike couriers, Moscoe notes are paid strictly on commission, with their take based solely by the number of deliveries they make." And Toronto city planner, Dan Egan suggested "that paying couriers an hourly wage would slow them down." (Toronto Star, July 15, 1990) Now some of these comments are obviously exaggerated and influenced by the speaker's own perceptions and bias but they do address the root problem rather than the symptoms. The business practices of the courier industry are a deterrent to road safety. Fortunately for the community this is partially offset by the skill and vulnerability of bicycle messengers on the roads. Ultimately if cities wish to improve the safety of bike messengers they must address the business practices of the messenger courier industry. More on business practices from the DBCA here and here. More on licensing at Messengerville Next: Diguised Employees Back to : The end of messengers?

What to do with amazing Valdani Threads, leftover snippets of fabric and those funky vintage men's ties. Design CCR2- Coming 2016! http://www.quiltfest.com Stay tuned! Let's Celebrate Quilting Arts TV 10th Anniversary!

Actor/Actress Film / TV Director TV / Radio Host Model / Fashion Designer Writer / Author Journalist / Reporter Judge / Attorney Factceleb /biography/allan-kayser-bio-age-wife-net-worth-height-affair-nationality-sara-kayser Fact Celeb Allan Kayser - Biography Mama's Family 1.80 meter (5 feet 11 inch) 79 kg (174.16 lb) Bicep Size: Chest Size: Waist Size: Born on : December 18, 1963 (age 57) Birth Name / Allan Joseph Kayser II Littleton, Colorado, USA Horoscope: Allan Joseph Kayser I University: Central Missouri State University Sexual Orientation: Married Date: Wife's Name: Sara Kayser Ex-Spouse: Lori Kayser Table of contents [Hide] Who is Allan Kayser? Allan Kayser is an actor. Allan Kayser: Age, Family, Education Allan Kayser's birth took place on December 18, 1963, in Littleton, Colorado, United States. He was also raised there. His full name/birth name is Allan Joseph Kayser II. The name of his parents is not known. However, as his birth name is Allan Joseph Kayser II, his father's name might be Allan Joseph Kayser I. Also his parents were of North American ethnicity. Credit: Instagram (Allan Kayser with a fan) About education, Kayser attended Columbine High School, having joined in 1978. He graduated from the same in 1982. He then studied at the Central Missouri State University in the late 1990s. Does Allan Kayser have any siblings? The fact on the question is not revealed at the present. Also read: Lauren Holly - Actress of NCIS Allan Kayser: Wife, Marriage, Divorce, Children Allan Kayser was married to Lori Kayser. The former couple has two children together. But the identities of their children are a mystery. He and his wife teamed up to run a dance academy in Warrensburg, MO. The academy was named Lori's Performing Arts Academy which now has been changed to CenterStage Academy for the Performing Arts. In spite of having a strong relationship, the marriage could not last. They eventually separated and divorced. The dates of their marriage and dating duration are not known. However, we do know that they divorced in the 2000s. Credit: ebay (an autographed picture of Allan Kayser) Kayser then went on to date Sara Kayser. He married his girlfriend on 23 August 2014. From this marriage as well, he has two children. As of 2019, the couple seems to be happy with their marriage and relationship. Also, there have been no rumors of divorce and extra-marital affairs. Also read: Demián Nájera - Actor of The Nun Allan Kayser: Career Soon after graduating high school, Allan Kayser moved to Los Angeles, California where he began a career in acting. After numerous auditions, he finally landed a role in 1985 movie Hot Chili as Jason. The following year he landed the role of Brad in Night of the Creeps and as Mitchel "Bubba" Higgins in Mama's Family. Credit: celeb wiki (Allan Kayser on Mama's Family) He portrayed the role of Higgins for a total of 95 episodes from 1986 to 1990, which is also the role he is best known for. Allan Kayser's pursued acting led him to portray several roles over the years. Also read: Travis Tritt - Singer, Songwriter, Actor Series, Films These include Journey of the Heart (1997), Double Teamed (2002), More Than Puppy Love (2002), Shimmer (2006), All Roads Lead Home (2008), Next Caller (2009) and House of Forbidden Secrets (2013). Allan Kayser most recent role is as Cliff Rifton in 2013's House of the Witch Doctor. In addition, Allan Kayser has made guest appearances in The $25,000 Pyramid (1987), The New Hollywood Squares (1987, 1989), Circus of the Stars #14 (1989). As of his net worth, there are few online sources that claim it to be $1.5 million. But this only an unofficial estimation and not an official one. Credit: it's bloggin evil (Allan Kayser in House of the Witch Doctor) On the set of House of the Witch Doctor, Kayser worked with Leslie Easterbrook, Bill Moseley, Emily Bennett, Danny Miller. Allan Kayser: Awards and Nominations For his dedication to acting, Allan Kayser has been received several awards and nominations. He was nominated for 1989's Young Artist Award as Best Young Actor Guest Starring in a Drama or Comedy Series. Also in the 1980s, following the role in Mama's Family, he was considered the teen idol. Allan Kayser: Net Worth, Salary His net worth is estimated to be around $1.5 million whereas facts on his annual salary has not been shared with the public. Allan Kayser: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Kayser is absent from social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and has been so for many years. Also read: Jerome Flynn - Actor, Singer of Game of Thrones We endeavour for accuracy. If you believe our content has any misinformation, violates your copyright, or you want to propose an update, please feel free to contact us. Visit FactCeleb's Homepage for more Tags : Mama's Family Actor Allan Kayser House of the Witch Doctor All Roads Lead Home lacasting Chase Tang – Actor, Wiki, Movies, Wife, Family, Net Worth Phaedra Parks – Bio, Wiki, RHOA, Boyfriend, Children, Husband, Net Worth, Ethnicity, Family Thomas Cocquerel – Girlfriend, Wife, Siblings, Parents, Net Worth, Family Nanna Blondell – Wiki, Husband, Children, Parents, Net Worth Gerry Dee – Bio, Wiki, Stand Up, Children, Wife, Net Worth, Ethnicity, Girlfriend, Divorce, Family Andrea Brooks – Husband, Children, Wiki, Family, Movies, Series Tyler Hynes – Bio, Wiki, Actor, Height, Wife, Children, Girlfriend, Brother, Net Worth, Ethnicity Finn Jones Wiki, Bio, Game of Thrones, Iron Fist, Adoption, Girlfriend, Net Worth David Cross bio, age, movies, men in black, tour, stand up, wife, children, net worth Mahalia - Burkmar, Singer, Boyfriend, Net Worth, Songs, Tour Chris Grundy – DIY, Wiki, Net Worth, Wife, Ethnicity, Mother Chanelle Peloso – Wiki, Parents, Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Net Worth Amber Riley – Boyfriend, Husband, Net Worth, Ethnicity, Children Nico Hiraga – Height, Movies, Net Worth, Parents, Girlfriend Jodie Turner-Smith – Bio, Wiki, Height, Parents, Siblings, Husband, Children, Divorce, Net Worth Andrea Riseborough – Bio, Wiki, Husband, Net Worth, Children, Movies, Parents, Sister, Grudge, Boyfriend Kathrine Narducci – Bio, Wiki, Son, Husband, Boyfriend, Children, Movies, Net Worth Connor Calland – Wiki, Girlfriend, Parents, Net Worth, Ethnicity Jeroen van Koningsbrugge Bio, Wiki, De Lama's, Spiderman, Wife, Children, Divorce, Net worth Dylan Gelula – Boyfriend, Parents, Siblings, Net Worth, Partner, Ethnicity Luke Perry Bio, Acting, Movies, Beverly Hills, 90210, Wife, Children, Divorce, Riverdale, Net worth Bob Morley – Bio, Wiki, The 100, Height, Wife, Children, Girlfriend, Divorce, Net Worth Marisol Nichols – Siblings, Children, Divorce, Husband, Net Worth, Boyfriend, Awards Kristin Chenoweth – Bio, Wiki, Height, Net Worth, Parents, Series, Boyfriend, Husband, Children Livia Matthes – Bio, Wiki, X Company, Ig, Movies, Boyfriend, Husband, Children, Net Worth Christopher Meyer – Actor, Wiki, Films, Girlfriend, Family, Net Worth Fact Celeb © 2019-2020

Complete reference covers history, traditions, and basic hooking directions for 12 beautiful designs that include flowers, leaves, animals, birds, and abstracts. Easy-to-follow text with many helpful hints and expert advice. 78 illustrations, including 21 in full color.

New students are assigned an advisor after they register. Register for classes by phone 1-800-818-3434, fax 1-978-656-3443, via the web at MiddleNet, mail or by walking into a Student Information Center in Bedford or Lowell. Although evening students do not receive an assigned advisor, advisors are available in the evening.

Hey Erica - really nice music. Very tight. Particularly like God In A Box -it's got some grit! Great songs .I would like to forward your music on to my contacts at some major Chrisyian ;labels.Please let me know I have you permission.God Bless as ypu seek to worship Jesus with your gift. Love "Pour out my oil" ...just beautiful! Well.......I would love to have mp3 and chord chart for "Remember." : ) I lead the praise team at our church and I'm pretty sure they'd be excited to hear it. Thanks! Hi Erica. I just listened to "Remember" on Fan Faves. What an awesome song! You write some great stuff and your recordings are high quality. Our congregation has been singing "I Rejoice" for awhile now. They love it! God bless you and your ministry. erica's music leads me into deep worship that reveals a tremendous God who loves. Your CD gets better each time I hear it. hiya, you have a beautiful voice, very audiophile! very good songs as well, quite a nice wide range of genres, great variety. stay blessed! Hey Erica...love your music. Great songwriting. Keep lifting Him up with the wonderful gifts He has given you! The new cd sounds great - we miss you - have a very Merry Christmas. Congratulations on your new CD!! Your new music is excellent! We're so impressed here at the IH office, we love it when we see an artist so committed to excellence and passion. We pray you see a huge return on your investment of your talents. We're sure you will! Erica I really like How Excellent is Your Name. Congrats on the new CD! Way to go! Please send link when "Devoted" is ready so we can order it! I heard your song "Jesus, What A Friend for Sinners" on Fan Faves, and loved it! It sounds so beautiful! Thanks for sharing it. Great arrangement! Anna told me about your music. Your voice is very soothing. keep doing what you're doing -- great work! be sure to let me know when you're playing in l.a. so we can hook up! "The God Who Sings" is inspirational as it is a wonderful melody and praise to our awesome God! 'Summon Your Power' is the one for me and my dad mykey! Keep Loving Jesus!!! Hi Erica. You bless us with your wonderful music and generous spirit! Erica, Love your voice, love your music. Blessings in your ministry. Erica - just love the groove on Summon Your Power! I loved hearing you on the IH Radio Show! Hi Erica! It was a joy to meet you in Nashville! Continued blessings in your life and ministry! I'm so glad we meet at the Summit. I love your music. Your heart for the Lord and your humble desire to follow only the path He sets before you are so very encouraging. Keep up the good work and please keep in touch. You are our favorite music artist! You have gained quite a following in Asia! Hi Erica! I see your comments (and picture) all the time on the boards. Had to come check the music out. I can see Jesus in your countenance and hear your passion for Him in your music. Beautiful! Hey Erica This neighbor just discovered you! Thanks for your post on our site.. Alan Kisaka.."The Strangers" I love the R&B flavor of Summon your power...you Go Girl! Blessings to you and your ministry. Hey Erica!!! The new album sounds awesome :-). HEY i'm heathers girl i can't wait to meet you this sunday . Awesome voice and music. God has truly gifted you. May God use you in mighty ways to challenge us all to enter into presence every moment of each day. Very professional. You have worked hard for this. God's blessings on your success. Erika, Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift of music with all of us. May God bless you. You are such a talented woman. You go girl! Love the songs and the photos look great. Praying for God's protection of you and your ministry. God inspired worship!! Buy this CD!! Awesome!!! I am so proud to have known you. You are absolutely fantastic! What a pleasure tohear this fine worshipful CD. It is a treasure. Mom, you're the best !!!! Erica, your music is really good. You have such a beautiful voice, keep praising God!! Erica, Your songs are such a blessing. The words are truly anointed. And like the voice of an angel may God continue to bless and open doors for you in the future. I'm not easily impressed, and less often blessed. These are more than just well written, worshipfull songs, they are anointed. To God be the glory, Amen ! Keep abiding. Erica ... greetings from "the heartland" I love your sound ... we can hear your love for God in your voice as well as in the words and music. Spirit-filled words and God given music - what a blessing. Hi Neighbor, Beautiful voice, I love "Master's Hand." Hope our paths cross outside of cyberspace. Your music is very uplifting and worshipful! What a blessing! God has gifted you, Erica. Your songs really minister to me.

Villan of the Week: David Dervit Lockwood This blog's focus on North American Villans means that we meet a lot of newer fans who chose to follow the team as adults. I don't think there's a single thing wrong with that (after all, I am one of those newer fans). But it's important to me to hear from supporters with a lifetime's perspective, too—those who, if not born in claret and blue, were certainly swaddled in it from an early age. David Dervit Lockwood, born in Brum and living in Louisiana, has a lifetime of memories to draw on, starting with a rescue, by his sneaky grandpa, from a household of Birmingham City supporters. He's seen the biggest ups, and the biggest downs, and has never wavered in his support of the Villa. I was born at the old St. Chad's hospital in Edgbaston in 1957. I now live in Louisiana, north of New Orleans, where I work as a senior HVAC technician. I chose Villa because my late grandfather took me to my first game (against Burnley, I think) when I was three. He loved Villa and wanted to raise his first grandson the right way. He was the only Villa fan in the family. The rest were all Bluenoses and he took great delight in my joining him, much to the annoyance of my parents. I continued to attend Villa games with my grandfather until he passed away. By then, I was old enough to attend games myself. My fondest memory of him was a Boxing Day derby at the Sty: all the rest of family in with the Bluenoses, me and Grandad in with the Villa fans. We won 3-1. My happiest moment is a choice of two: either winning in Rotterdam or beating Manchester United 3-1 in the League Cup final. Both times we weren't given a chance, and both times we proved them all wrong. Relegation to the old Division Three at the end of the 1969–70 season. I remember crying all the way home. We had beaten Sheffield United, but results had gone against us. I couldn't even eat my chips on the bus home. (The 74 to Dudley then the 125/126 to Coseley.) As the season is nearly over, which team did you most enjoy beating this year—or which team do you most wish we had beaten? The team I most enjoyed beating this season was Chelsea. I don't know why, but I love seeing them lose. At the moment it's Brad Guzan. He gave us a second chance and has shown he is Villa through and through. There are so many to choose from, but I have to go with Charlie Aitken. He could tackle, organize the defense, and, in my opinion, was the best left back we ever had. He was claret and blue through and through—561 games speaks for itself! That's loyalty you don't get these days. Why he was never capped for Scotland more than once remains a mystery. He was an ever-present with an impeccable conduct record, excellent distribution, and a cooler head than I've seen on any defender since. The AVFC official site and social-media Villa sites. Best quality is that I've followed them all my life, through thick and thin, and never jumped on the Man United, Arsenal, etc. bandwagon. Worst quality is that I'm sometimes too critical without giving the boys a chance. I currently watch every game on NBC Sports, much to my wife's dismay. Normally drinking coffee or tea . . . its 9 a.m. here! Gaze into your crystal ball . . . where do you think the team will finish this year, and what do you think next year holds? I actually think we will finish 16th or 17th. For next season I don't know, it's hard to say. A lot depends on who is in charge and whether the purse strings are relaxed. Arsenal, Aston Villa, AVFC, Birmingham, Birmingham City, Bluenoses, Brad Guzan, Burnley, Charlie Aitken, Chelsea, David Dervit Lockwood, Division Three, Edgbaston, League Cup Final, Louisiana, Manchester United, NBC Sports, New Orleans, North American Villans, Rotterdam, Scotland, Sheffield United, St. Chad's, Villan of the Week

Q: Django Rest Framework Integrity Error on save() with is_valid() returning true UPDATE Issue was that I was not correctly applying migrations after changing the model to allow null/blank values. Original Post I'm using Django-rest-framework to enable tagging data during playback of Vimeo videos. I've built an endpoint at /watchtape/videotojam/ and am using jquery to post to the endpoint using the current time of the video as the start_time VideoToJam field. I'm getting an django.db.utils.IntegrityError: player_list_videotojam.video_id may not be NULL exception thrown when the view calls serializer.save(), even though serializer.is_valid() returns True. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, since the video foreign key relationship is created with blank=True, null=True and the serializer representation indicates that video is not a required field. This seems to be related to IntegrityError in django rest framework however the fix of adding video = serializers.PrimaryKeyRelatedField() to the serializer throws AssertionError: Relational field must provide aquerysetargument, or set read_only=True and when I set read_only=True the IntegrityError exception returns. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Serializer class VideoToJamSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer): class Meta: model = VideoToJam fields = ('id', 'start_time', 'end_time', 'video', 'jam', 'timecode_url') Model class VideoToJam(models.Model): start_time = models.CharField(max_length=200, validators=[_timecode_validator]) end_time = models.CharField(max_length=200, validators=[_timecode_validator], blank=True) video = models.ForeignKey(Video, blank=True, null=True) jam = models.ForeignKey(Jam, null=True, blank=True) timecode_url = models.URLField(max_length=255, blank=True) class Video(models.Model): SITES = ( ('vimeo', '''http://vimeo.com'''), ('youtube', '''http://youtube.com'''), ('', 'unknown'), ) url = models.URLField(max_length=255) source = models.CharField(max_length=200) site = models.CharField(max_length = 7, choices=SITES) #URL for vimeo embed code player_url = models.CharField(max_length=2000) def get_absolute_url(self): return(reverse("video_player", kwargs={'video_id':self.id})) def __str__(self): return("Video {0}".format(self.id)) View @api_view(['GET', 'POST']) def viewvideotojam_list(request): if request.method == 'POST': serializer = VideoToJamSerializer(data=request.data) if serializer.is_valid(): serializer.save() return Response(serializer.data, status=status.HTTP_201_CREATED) return Response(serializer.errors, status=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST) videotojams = VideoToJam.objects.all() serializer = VideoToJamSerializer(videotojams, many=True) return Response(serializer.data) Urls urlpatterns = patterns('', url(r'^videotojam/$', views.viewvideotojam_list, name='videotojam_list'), ) A: Setting blank=True, null=True should be enough. The null=True causes a schema change, did you generate a migration for it? If you're on Django prior to 1.7 and you're using South, you should run migrate and schemamigration. If you're on Django 1.7 or greater, you should run migrate and makemigrations.

The Upper Skagit Library District is accepting Letters of Interest and Statements of Qualifications from architects to provide design and construction bid documents, cost estimates and administration of construction contract for minor tenant improvements to an existing 3,750sf, 70-year-old building located at 45952 Main Street, Concrete, WA 98237. Statements of Qualification must be submitted electronically in PDF format (<10mb) to Brooke Pederson, Library Director; email bpederson@upperskagit.lib.wa.us. 3 hard copies must be mailed to Upper Skagit Library, PO Box 99, Concrete, WA 98237, Attn: Brooke Pederson. Submittals must be received by April 25, 2019. •Designing a restroom facility to be constructed in an operating warehouse. •Retrofitting and/or extending water, sewer, power, and other utilities necessary for the restroom facility within the constraints of the built environment, especially in the case that work below the concrete slab is proposed that may require modification to the landfill gas collection and dispersion system. Submittals are due no later than 5 PM, May 6, 2019 and must be delivered to the Port Administrative Office to: Brian Keenan, PE; Port of Bellingham, 1801 Roeder Avenue, P.O. Box 1677, Bellingham, Washington 98225. Scope of Work: This Request for Qualifications is for the purpose of selecting an On-Call Campus Architect(s) for the Community Colleges of Spokane to provide professional services for the Spokane Community College and Spokane Falls Community College campuses as well as outlying District Facilities as needed. These services shall be contracted from the date of agreement execution through June 30, 2021. The scope of work includes architectural design, engineering, construction administration, as well as architectural and engineering consultation for a range of minor works program, preservation, roof, and repair projects, pre-designs, studies, estimates, and/or scope budget alignment. Projects could be heavily mechanical and/or electrical in nature or require specialized sub-consulting. Funding for these projects will be from a variety of sources including state appropriations for minor works, repair and minor improvement, and local college funding. The On-Call Campus Architect(s) may also assist the Community Colleges of Spokane with the biennial Facilities Condition Survey as well as the development of new major and minor capital project requests. Other projects and tasks could be assigned at the College's discretion. Firms shall have the capacity to produce project deliverables on multiple, simultaneously occurring projects and be capable of meeting strict biennial spending deadlines. For selection process questions please contact Amanda Witt, 360.407.8028, amanda.witt@des.wa.gov. The on call Campus Architect will provide architectural and engineering consultant services for a wide variety of capital improvement projects at Lake Washington Institute of Technology, Kirkland, WA. The work will consist of the design, construction management, and project planning of legislatively approved projects, and scoping and project budget development of new project for future capital budget request. Potential projects include A&B building Sprinkler Addition, Phased Fire Alarm Upgrades, Campus Electrical Infrastructure testing & upgrades, Athletic fields dugout roof, B building classroom renovations, concrete repairs, roof repairs, house demo, B building classroom renovations, HVAC rooftop replacement and replace fire alarm in C building. The goals of each project are to minimize the disruptions to the College operations; maximize the efficiencies for the Consultant and the College Staff; to maintain consistent planning and design standards; and to maintain a coordinated program schedule for completing all the work in a thoughtful organized manner. Consultants should have a strong background in multi-phased State Agency Construction, the State of Washington capital budget process, planning, and sustainable design in educational facilities. The work will consist of the design, construction management, and project planning of legislatively approved projects, and scoping and project budget development of new project for future capital budget request. Potential projects include Multi-Cultural Center in Building H, H 102, 103, 104 (Assembly Rooms) Upgrades, Campus Irrigation System repairs, Campus Fire Alarm repairs, Campus Center Bldg. Chiller Replacement, Fire Alarm Upgrades campus wide and repair hollow metal doors and window frames.

UT Dallas President Issues Statement on Immigration Executive Order By Office of Media Relations •Jan. 30, 2017 Dear colleagues and students: From its founding, UT Dallas has benefited from the advantages of a diverse community. This University stands firmly committed to the educational growth that comes from cultural exchange that takes place when we interact with scholars from around the world. So, it is understandable that the events of this weekend related to the executive order that bars individuals from seven countries into the United States have prompted many questions about the impact upon our campus. The order suspends admission for nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen for at least 90 days from the date of the order. UT System Memo Message from Chancellor McRaven Of immediate concern is the safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff. To the best of my knowledge, no member of our campus community has been barred from entry. The issues related to the executive order will continue to unfold in the coming days. Let me reassure you that the leadership team and I will continue to monitor the events at hand and remain in touch with The University of Texas System and its Office of General Counsel. I urge anyone with questions, especially those related to international travel, to seek guidance from Cristen Casey in the University's International Center at [email protected], or 972-883-4189. Finally, I want to strongly reaffirm that UT Dallas serves the entire University community, regardless of race, religion, immigration status or nation of origin. Dr. Richard C. Benson Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership

Canada to invest $50 million in G7 climate risk insurance initiative in developing countries OTTAWA, Dec. 5, 2015 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced Canada's contribution of Can$50 million to the G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance to help people in developing countries protect themselves against the economic consequences of more intense and increasingly frequent natural catastrophes like severe flooding, droughts or heavy storms. Insurance helps poor and vulnerable countries build resilience to the impacts of climate change by covering a portion of the risks that arise from natural hazards and extreme weather events. Together with the G7 and our partner countries, Canada is working to provide up to an additional 400 million poor people with insurance against the risks of climate change by 2020. Canada is a leading contributor in supporting climate risk insurance in developing countries, notably through its participation in the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility. Since its inception in 2007, the Facility has made 13 payouts for hurricanes, earthquakes and excess rainfall totalling approximately US$38 million to eight member governments. Canada's contribution to the G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance will help to stimulate greater coverage of effective climate risk insurance markets in countries that are the most vulnerable to natural disaster. In doing so, we will work closely with all stakeholders by funding insurance policies. Today's announcement is part of Canada's pledge of Can$2.65 billion over the next five years to support developing countries' transition to low carbon economies that are both greener and more climate resilient. This is the most significant Canadian climate finance contribution ever. "The risks and costs of climate change on developing countries are very significant and Canada is proud to do its part in providing greater access to insurance." – The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change "Developing countries are the most affected by climate change. Canada is committed to supporting the poorest and most vulnerable countries to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change, including by using innovative mechanisms like climate risk insurance." – The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie Climate risk insurance is a means of obtaining insurance against the risks of extreme weather events such as severe flooding, droughts or heavy storms. It can play an important role in providing security against the loss of assets, livelihoods, and lives, and the G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance aims to increase the number of people covered by this kind of insurance by 400 million by 2020. Canada was the largest contributor to the establishment of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, providing $25 million from 2007-2012. Canada will also contribute $10 million to the World Meteorological Organization to support better early warning systems in the most vulnerable communities under the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative. This funding contributes to the overall goal of assisting developing nations to become more climate-resilient. Prime Minister announces investment in Global Climate Change Action Associated Link International Climate Financing Environment and Climate Change Canada's Twitter page Conserve, Restore, and Connect with Nature Facebook page Environment and Climate Change Canada on Flickr SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada For further information: Caitlin Workman, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 819-938-9436; Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-934-8008 Climate action project in the District of Kitimat gets investment from Canada and British Columbia The Barclay Construction Group Inc. agreed to pay $175K to the Environmental Damages Fund as part of an alternative measures agreement related to excavation work near Lake Ontario Statement - Minister Guilbeault welcomes the 2022 Annual Report from the Net-Zero Advisory Body

TOP FLOOR! 2 BALCONIES with VIEW! 2 PARKING! Just some of the extras that come with this absolutely GORGEOUS one bedroom suite. Professionally renovated and decorated by award winning Enviable Designs…it's like a page out of House & Home. It's all here…fantastic floor plan that feels so much larger than 584 sqft, 2 large view balconies that are perfect for entertaining, bright south facing, big bedroom, open gourmet kitchen w/breakfast bar, stainless steel appliances, hardwood floors fireplace & storage locker. Connaught Park, Kitsilano Community Centre, restaurants & cafes just steps away. Short stroll to 4th Ave shopping and Kits Beach plus quick access to downtown & UBC. A must see! Call Joseph @ 604-803-6233 today to view.

Northampton man charged in double stabbing CREATAS CREATAS '; } NORTHAMPTON — An 18-year-old Northampton man pleaded not guilty in Northampton District Court on charges related to a double stabbing at Meadowbrook Apartment Tuesday night. Northampton Police arrested Jesus J. Baez on two counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (knife) resulting in serious bodily injury after Baez allegedly stabbed an 18-year-old male and a 19-year-old male during a fracas outside Baez's Bridge Road apartment. The Northampton Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Northwestern district attorney's office are still investigating the incident. Both victims were transported to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and are currently in "critical, but stable" condition, according to the DA's office. They are both expected to survive. Each charge of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury carries a maximum potential penalty of up to 15 years in state prison or 2 1⁄2 years in the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction. During Baez's arraignment, Northampton District Court Judge Jacklyn M. Connly granted prosecutors' request to hold Baez on $20,000 cash bail. The case was continued for a pretrial hearing on Friday, Sept. 23. Northampton Police Department Northampton District Court A Look Back: Jan. 30 By JIM BRIDGMAN - Today 50 Years Ago■Northampton's first application for preferential tax treatment for a developer building in a "blighted, open, decadent, or substandard...

Give your bed a fresh, new look with our duvet cover and pillow cases, edged with our unique colored piping's. Crafted in Portugal from 100% premium, 230Tc certified Oeko-Tex Cotton – our percale is mid-weight and durable with a crisp finish that only gets better with time. " These Sheets are soft, Cool and Crisp to The Touch" "Just like Sleeping in Hotel Bedding! with an added bonus of the unique colored Piping's " Our signature Hotel style Soft Washed Premium White Cotton Percale Duvet sets are cool and Crisp to the touch. the 230 thread count long fiber cotton will only become softer with age, making this product something you are going to want to keep forever We have given this new addition to our percale range a gentle stone wash giving them an exclusive lived in look. The fabric is produced in one of Portugal's world renowned mills, by Weavers who have been producing bedding since the 18th century. We have added an orange piping around all 4 sides of the duvet covers and pillow cases, making this product truly unique.The closure is updated with a concealed zipper. WHAT IS PREMIUM COTTON PERCALE ? Our signature Hotel style Soft Washed Premium White Cotton Percale Duvet sets are cool and Crisp to the touch. the 230 thread count long fiber cotton will only become softer with age, making this product something you are going to want to keep forever We have given this new addition to our percale range a gentle stone wash giving them an exclusive lived in look. The fabric is produced in one of Portugal's world renowned mills, by Weavers who have been producing bedding since the 18th century. We have added an Yellow piping around all 4 sides of the duvet covers and pillow cases, making this product truly unique.The closure is updated with a concealed zipper.

Savannah is a senior at Patrick Henry College where she studies history and the classical liberal arts. She enjoys good stories and coffee. Follow @savannahpetree on Twitter. Ásgeir Trausti Einarsson is Iceland's most popular artist, and his new album will release this year. Country artist Sturgill Simpson's authenticity reminds everyone just how absurd Beyonce and Drake really are. Your family and friends know you're working on a budget so they'll understand. If you put time and thought into your gift, it'll show.

Candice at Jubilee Events has announced the winner of her Full Service Package Give-a-way! My friend Candice at Jubilee Events decided to run a contest to give away a full service wedding package! Read this charming little story of Jody & Eric here. I know you'll enjoy the planning process with Candice! Congratulations Jody & Eric!

Aryan Magat aka DJ Aryan is a Manila based party rocker who specializes in multi-format live sets such as Hip-Hop, EDM, Top 40 from classics to current and Video Mixing. As an 18-year pro, he has handled residencies around top clubs and night spots around Manila, headlining events and festivals around the country plus guestings in Thailand, Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Some foreign acts he had shared the stage with are MARSHMELLO, The Triple Threat DJs, Leroy Thornhill of Prodigy, Joel Madden, DJ Shortkut and DJ Qbert. During the first ever Red Bull Thre3style DJ Battle in the Philippines in 2014, he bagged the 2nd runner up award on the national finals. Among his other achievements, Pioneer DJ PH included DJ Aryan to their official list of Top 20 DJs in the Philippines, making him backed up by the world's industry standard in DJ gear. DJ Aryan has also paved the way to new breed of talents and creating successful and award-winning DJs from his mentoring stint at the Beat Project Manila.

The High Court's Judgment in Miller and Others – four brief remarks | Centre on Constitutional Change l Researching the issues. Informing the debate. Last week's decision by the High Court of England and Wales that the UK government does not have the power under the Royal Prerogative to initiate the process of withdrawing from the EU laid down in Article 50 TEU came as a surprise to many. This is not so much because the legal points argued by the claimants were baseless – they clearly weren't – but because the legal realists among us probably thought that, much like the Northern Ireland High Court, the judges would not want to burn their fingers on a highly emotive issue such as Brexit. There will be plenty of blog articles analysing the constitutional dimensions of this ruling better than I could (such as this one by Jo Murkens). Therefore, I will confine myself to making four brief remarks. First, the government made a cardinal mistake in conceding that a notification under Article 50 TEU cannot be revoked. This question is contentious (see eg Paul Craig's excellent analysis) and, once that point had been given away, the claimants' argument that Article 50 sets into motion an unstoppable chain of events at the end of which individuals will be deprived of their EU law rights was onto a winner. An important question for the government's appeal to the Supreme Court will be whether this point can be reopened. If it can, there is a possibility that this question (and only this question) will be referred to the European Court of Justice. Second, the High Court's judgement demonstrates an acute awareness of the differences between supranational EU law and ordinary international law. The High Court pointed out at various points in the ruling that EU law has direct effect and that the European Communities Act 1972 – which allows for EU law to have domestic effect – was 'as a practical matter' required for the UK to become a member of the EU (Paragraphs 41-42 and 66). The High Court was at pains to point out the special constitutional significance of the Act (Paras 87-88). True, the High Court thereby respects the dualist nature of the UK legal system: EU law rights are only effective in the UK because of the European Communities Act. At the same time, it considered it practically impossible to divorce the effects of the European Communities Act from that of the EU treaties. In the Court's own words, this would be 'highly formalistic'. This point will presumably be the main ground for attacking the High Court judgement (the government received some forceful support for refining its argument in these two blog articles). Whether the Supreme Court agrees with the High Court as to the special nature of EU law or not remains to be seen. Third, what does the ruling – if it stands – mean in practice? It requires Parliament to decide by way of statute. This means that a bill will have to be introduced by the government and voted on in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In practice, there is little doubt that Parliament will vote in favour of a bill authorising the government to trigger Article 50. However, might Parliament be tempted to make amendments to it in an attempt to frame the government's negotiating position? It could, for instance, be imagined that Parliament might want to make sure that a certain degree of access to the Single Market (however that would be defined) should be retained. And might the House of Lords delay the bill, which is possible for up to one year under the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949? Fourth, are the parliaments of the devolved nations going to get a say as well? There is a constitutional convention that devolved parliaments are asked for their consent where the Westminster Parliament either legislates with regard to devolved matters – now expressly in Section 28(8) of the Scotland Act 1998 – or where it legislates to augment or reduce the powers of the devolved parliaments or executives. If the claimants' arguments continue to run in the Supreme Court and a bill allowing Article 50 to be triggered is introduced, would this lead to Legislative Consent Motions? The situation is not entirely clear. On the one hand, one could adopt the reasoning of the High Court in Belfast, which ruled that EU matters were an excepted matter (or in the Scottish context a reserved matter) and therefore no legislative consent was required. On the other hand, an argument can be constructed that, because the triggering of Article 50 will inevitably lead to Brexit, it will inevitably lead to a change in the powers of the devolved parliaments and executives so that the convention kicks in. Certainly, the convention is only a convention (ie there is no way of legally enforcing it). Moreover, it only applies 'normally', and Brexit could be considered abnormal. At the end of the day, these subtleties do not matter much. It is chiefly a political question, which will need to be played out between London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff.

Home » Events » Older Programs (2006-2009) Saddam Hussein's Right to a Fair Trial We will explore one of our preeminent values and rights as it pertains to the trial of what many claim is one of the modern world's greatest villains. Topics will include the right: to counsel of your own choosing; to counsel's safety; to call and cross examine witnesses; of a middle eastern government to act harshly after an assassination attempt on its leader during a time of war. We will discuss the criminal responsibility of Saddam for the actions of his underlings as well as how a fair trial is necessary to heal Iraq and set the stage for peace. Come prepared to discuss and ask questions about a topic that many of us have given little thought to. Fellowship member and attorney, Les Kraus, will facilitate the discussion and add his legal insight and knowledge. Finding a Spiritual and Musical Voice (Cancelled due to Nancy Everson's death. Fellowship members gathered instead to support Tom.) Jazz and the Unitarian-Universalist community have much in common. They both host conversations by people who share a common purpose, who bring to the conversation their past, present and future concerns and desires, who absorb the same from the other participants, and who can create together something never seen, heard, or experienced before. This program will combine jazz with readings and thoughts from saxophonist and author Richard Terrill and pianist Larry McDonough. Writer and saxophonist Richard Terrill has won the 2004 Minnesota Book Award for poetry for Coming Late to Rachmaninoff, and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and Associated Writing Programs for his books. He has written a jazz memoir, Fakebook: Improvisations on a Journey Back to Jazz. He teaches creative writing at Minnesota State, Mankato. He's also been a Fulbright professor in China, Korea, and Poland, and lately has been speaking at UU churches in the area. Larry McDonough is a St. Paul jazz pianist, singer and composer. He has performed at jazz festivals, concert halls, jazz clubs, and churches around the country. His solo piano and voice CD, "Tuscarora: Short Stories for Jazz Piano," is dedicated to the memory of friends Paul and Sheila Wellstone and benefits WellstoneAction. His new group CD, "Simple Gifts," includes jazz, popular, historical, and spiritual pieces in new arrangements. He is an attorney, representing low income tenants at the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis, and teaches at the University of Minnesota and University of St. Thomas Schools of Law. Music That Brings You Joy The program itself will be performances. If you want to perform music that brings you joy, contact Karen Wendt at 474-9570 or k.wendt@mchsi.com. After the performances, we will eat (bring food to share) and have fellowship. We want music during that time also, so please bring along a CD with music that brings you joy. Questions? Contact Laurie Gauer (952-474-4951) Blue Wisdom Tim Velner will share with us his book Blue Wisdom, which he wrote in response to his journey of the last 10 years from religion to spirituality. It is written from the point of view of the family dog, Blue, in response to the little girl Lucy's common life questions. The book is written in a daily affirmation style, in which Blue's answers are given with inspirational wisdom. From King James to the Scholar's Version and UU History: An Autobiography From the King James Bible, Plimouth Plantation, President John Adams, Jefferson Bible, William Ellery Channing's 1819 Sermon, the SV (Scholar's Version) Bible and Ghandiji, to a safe haven in the UU. Fellowship member Alan Anderson takes us through his religious autobiography. Varieties of the Experience of Love as Expressed Through Song and Verse The love song… we all seem to know what that is... from Love Me Tender to That Old Black Magic and all those universes in between… but if God is love, would not a study of love be a study of God? Singer, songwriter and musician, Peter Rykhus will explore the varieties of the experience of love as expressed through song and verse. From the streets of Europe to the pubs, coffeehouses, churches, theatres and block parties of Midwestern America, Peter has mined the mother lode of American Roots music for inspiration to write, play and perform music uniquely his own and most definitely our own. How Jesus and Paul Ignited a Revolution and Transformed the Ancient World Fellowship member Sharon Dana will provide a brief history of the origins of Christianity, including the political, economic and social landscape that gave rise to a truly revolutionary religious movement, and explore the relationship between early Christianity and Christian churches today. Sophia Lyon Fahs: A Pioneering UU Educator Sophia Lyon Fahs was one of our earliest pioneers in the field of religious education, and her contributions are many and extraordinary. As we become more and more a two wage-worker family society, it is interesting to look at what her great contributions cost her and those around her. Our speaker is Catie Chi Olson, who became a candidate for UU ministry this fall and has had an enduring interest in Sophia Lyon Fahs for many years. Catie currrently serves the UUA as a Beyond Categorical Thinking Trainer, co-chair for the MultiRAC caucus of DRUUMM (Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries) and coordinates the UU students at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Our spring programming continues with the historical roots of UUism, looks at current moral and justice issues, and offers music and programs to feed the soul. The Potential Power Hiding in our Grief: Keeping An Open Heart in the Midst of Big Pain Have you ever wondered how people like Candy Lightner (parent of a child killed by a drunk driver and Founder of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) moved through their intense grief to became agents of change in the world? Have you ever wondered how to keep an open heart when tempted to protect it and close it? Have you ever struggled to stay in the present moment when confronted with difficult circumstances? Ever had the awareness that you are living too much in your thoughts and in your head? Ever wondered how you are going to just make it through a season of loss? Come explore the dynamics of grief and the workings of the heart with: Kristen Wernecke, raised at Unity Church Unitarian, is a Hands-On-Healer, Massage Therapist and Teacher. She is an Ordained Minister of Healing and has 17 years of transformational healing work with individuals and teaching groups… and… Tom Esch, MDiv., is a facilitator of group transformation disguised as a construction supply salesman. He is a spark igniting awareness and action. He is an activist with a strong contemplative side. Kristen and Tom have been married 7 years and have a 5-year old son named Elijah. The Religious Roots of American Democracy (rescheduled from October) On a recent Minnesota Public Radio "Speaking of Faith" program, Jacob Needleman, an acclaimed philosopher of contemporary America, turned his attention to what he calls the meaning of America and discovered a profound sense of spirituality at the root of our Democratic ideals. He explored the spiritual sensibility of the founders and uncovers the subtleties of familiar patriotic sentiments: our "inalienable rights" were inseparable from duties, the "pursuit of happiness" was linked with virtue, and democracy was not simply a set of external structures but inward work on one's character, spirit, and intellect. Fellowship member Les Kraus will use the program to jumpstart our discussion of our founders' spirituality. Let's Get Real Fellowship member Susie Kraus will facilitate a dialogue about our integrity as UU's, looking at the question about whether our walk matches our talk regarding the first two beliefs of Unitarian Universalists.* Are these beliefs that we really hold to and to which we hold ourselves accountable or do we simply look at them as guidelines or ideals? We will explore the challenges inherent in living by these beliefs and ask ourselves if there are any dangers in upholding them. Perhaps we will conclude that we wish to change the first two principles or perhaps we will find that we need to make deep changes within ourselves. Come prepared to share yourself with others in a safe and dynamic conversation. *Briefly, "We believe in the freedom of religious expression," and "We believe in the toleration of religious ideas." March 26 is Justice Sunday Each spring, in conjunction with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, UU congregations nationwide stand together, and set aside one Sunday for worship and education focused on one pressing human rights issue. It's Not Just About Marriage – Gay or Otherwise: Understanding the Full Impact of the Defense of Marriage Amendment As Minnesota gets ready to decide on whether to pass a Defense of Marriage Amendment, our speakers implore us to look at the impact similar amendments have had in other states. So far, there are 17 states that have passed some form of Anti-Marriage constitutional amendment. Of those, 11 banned civil unions as well as domestic partner registrations. A new initiative will bar foster care and adoption for gay/lesbian couples. In some states, domestic abuse laws are tied to marital status in such a way as to disallow legal intervention when a heterosexual pairing is involved. And it goes on and on… For our speakers, Peter and Carole Lawson of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and for many others concerned with social justice, the Defense of Marriage Amendment is a civil rights issue which affects everyone. Transcendentalists: Theological Infidels and Social Revolutionaries Maren Aspaas, a UTS M.Div. graduate and Unitarian Universalist Chaplain will speak about her favorite time in Unitarian Universalist history: the Rise of the Transcendentalists. Philosophy and social justice merge in the sermons and lives of 19th century New Englanders to lay foundational stones for our religion and for U.S. democracy. Finding a Spiritual and Musical Voice (rescheduled from January 19) Writer and saxophonist Richard Terrill won the 2004 Minnesota Book Award for poetry for Coming Late to Rachmaninoff, as well as awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and Associated Writing Programs for his books. He has written a jazz memoir, Fakebook: Improvisations on a Journey Back to Jazz. He teaches creative writing at Minnesota State, Mankato. He's also been a Fulbright professor in China, Korea, and Poland, and has been speaking lately at UU churches in the area. Spring Equinox & Easter Celebration Come celebrate spring with our own new and ancient traditions and rituals including our annual children's treasure hunt and a potluck feast! Sign-up sheet for the potluck will be posted on the bulletin board. With Dignity for All, Almost We UUs like to feel we have stood bravely for the oppressed and accorded dignity where others have not. Yet there is a large group of Americans who look a lot like us but whom we are quick to categorize as "them." We need to understand our own prejudices and face them. Hint: You'll hear some country music. We welcome back the UU Gospel Twins (UUGT), Kelli Clements and Paul Riedesel. Paul and Kelli first performed together in the summer of 1999. By early 2000 they had agreed to make the UUGT a permanent arrangement. While there was initially a tongue-in-cheek aspect to the UUGT name, they soon realized that it expressed an essential goal: the joining of the spirit of old-time music with that of liberal religion. And while "gospel" is popularly associated only with evangelical Christianity, its root meaning is "good news" which Unitarian Universalism has to offer as well. Musically, the appeal of the UUGT starts with Kelli's rich lead vocals, which are backed with close tenor harmony by Paul. Their instrumentation has remained simple--Paul's collection of guitars which he flatpicks almost exclusively. Kelli and Paul seek to bring people together in a way that only music—sung music—can. Moral Politics Fellowship member Chris Hall will use the book, Moral Politics, How Liberals and Conservatives Think by George Lakoff to lead a discussion of how the unconscious worldviews of Liberals and Conservatives influence politics on a number of issues. The differences in worldviews, George Lakoff argues, are not mere matters of partisanship, but arise from radically different concepts of morality and ideal family life. No Room in the Church: Illegitimate Thoughts about the Birth of Jesus (rescheduled from January 22) Our speaker, Frank Reilly, is a Roman Catholic theologian and public thinker. He has spent much of his forty-year career speaking and writing--occasionally on the Opinion page of the Star Tribune-- about controversial issues that face not only his church, but traditional Christian faith in all its forms. Throughout that career, Frank's great project has been a radical reinterpretation of the story of the virginal conception of Jesus. That is his topic this morning. Made to Order: Songs and Poems to Feed the Community What are you hungry for? Courage? Peace? Beauty? Irreverence? For the last program of the year, singer/songwriter Barbara McAfee will cook up a program made-to-order based on conversation with the community that day. Come and co-create this feast of song, story and poetry. Barbara McAfee has been bringing her musical programs to Lake Fellowship for the past 15 years. Besides our venue, her musical keynotes have brought heart and sass to events at Best Buy Women's Leadership forum, YMCA national training, and numerous wellness events around the US. She has also lent her music to keynotes by national authors Margaret Wheatley and Peter Block. She also has a lively voice coaching practice where she supports all kinds of people in finding more power and pleasure in expression. Before becoming a speaker, Barbara was an organizational change facilitator for 12 years with a special emphasis on improving communities for children and families. As a self-producing artist, Barbara has released 5 compact discs and 4 volumes of poetry. Her new CD, While You're Alive, will be released in April, 2006. Welcome back to Lake Fellowship! Lighting of the Candle, Music, Reading of Seven Principles of UU, Member Susie Kraus interviews Lee and Jo Hermann (two of Lake Fellowship's earliest members), Fellowship song, Salute to the four directions (outside on grass or in the woods, WEATHER PERMITTING), Walk of the Fellowship Grounds Global Warming: Clean, Efficient Energy Solutions J. Drake Hamilton of Fresh Energy will discuss the science of global warming, its projected impacts, and focus on the many solutions available to slow global warming and to reduce its dangerous impacts. The clean, efficient technologies that comprise the solutions will also benefit our economy, create sustainable jobs and economic development, and improve people's health. J. Drake Hamilton is Science Policy Director at the private, nonprofit Fresh Energy, which works to lead a clean energy transition. Fresh Energy is on the web at www.fresh-energy.org Share a Good Book The Summer is a good time to read and we are sure that everybody read some good books (or intends to) and would be glad to share them with the Fellowship. This program will consist of members presenting synopses of book(s) they have read, allowing 5-10 minutes per person for a discussion format. Please call Chris (952.930.1967) or Marilyn (763.479.2484) to let them know if you are planning to share a book review so we can make time arrangements Pre-election Discussion Many of us are unsatisfied with the direction that the country has been led in the past six years. What are your concerns about the upcoming election? What are your hopes and fears for the upcoming election? Lake Fellowship member Les Kraus will moderate this pre-election discussion. Rebellion, Freedom and Going Green The UU World fall issue has a number of interesting articles: "Five Years after 9/11"; "Hungry for Democracy"; "Original Perfection?"; and articles and poems touching on rebellion, freedom and going green. Please read the articles for this Sunday's program as well as the questions on page 63. In our usual democratic manner we will vote on the 3 or 4 most interesting and/or relevant articles and will have a discussion on those top votegetters. (NOTE – if you do not receive the UU World magazine, copies of some of the articles can be provided at the Aframe or you may be able to borrow a copy of the magazine from a Lake Fellowship member.) Church and State separation? It has become increasingly a concern for some people that religion does not play a large enough role in politics, while for others religion is too much involved in politics. An ex-president and a national correspondent have each written a book about the danger of not separating Church and State. Fellowship member Chris Hall will present a program on this subject using Jimmy Carter's book "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis" and Ray Suarez's book "The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America." October 22nd Musical Performance by The Recliners Music on this Sunday will be provided by The Recliners, a group of musicians who perform a mix of old-time country, folk, and bluegrass with occasional excursions into classic rock 'n' roll, and pop. They're suckers for a good harmony part, morbid murder ballads, brother duets, and the poetry of Chuck Berry. The group's members are Deb Carlson (vocals/guitar), Bob Carlson (bass), John Whitehead (guitar, mandolin and vocals), Stew Lelievre (lead guitar), Scott Washburn (resophonic guitar), and Rick Swanson (banjo and vocals). Hedgehog on the Left: Identifying a Progressive Philosophy Tom Vellenga will make his case for the necessity of identifying a public progressive philosophy and offer a road map toward that end. Honoring Our Losses We will celebrate Hallowed Eve/Halloween or Samhain by honoring our past year's losses. All endings bring about new beginnings, where life is never exactly the same as before the loss or change. We will share our community of love and compassion for each other. Neen Lillquist, past Lake Fellowship visitor and presenter (as well as a close friend to Lake Fellowship member Marilyn Vialle), will lead us in this program. Neen is a founding member of the Bemidji Headwaters UU Fellowship where this annual Memorial Service is a tradition. She is a Priestess graduate of the Re-formed Congregation of the Goddess Theological Institute and performs all life passage rituals.

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound Billy Rose Theatre Division Found 2 collections related to Coke time (Television program) Elson, James, 1925-1970 James Elson papers, 1950-1962 James Elson was a director and producer of theater, radio, and television. He directed television shows such as The Tonight Show, That Was the Week That Was, and The Steve... more James Elson was a director and producer of theater, radio, and television. He directed television shows such as The Tonight Show, That Was the Week That Was, and The Steve Allen Show . The papers contain correspondence, production materials, and scripts. less Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989 Irving Berlin collection of non-commercial sound recordings [sound recording] Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound | *L (Special) 91-11 555, sound recordings; 555, sound recordings This collection contains non-commercial recordings of Irving Berlin and his music. The recordings are from radio broadcasts, live performances, and private recordings. The performers on the recordings include Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Eddie... more This collection contains non-commercial recordings of Irving Berlin and his music. The recordings are from radio broadcasts, live performances, and private recordings. The performers on the recordings include Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Eddie Fisher, Al Jolson, Ethel Merman and Kate Smith. Some of the gems in the collection include Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" for the first time and the first London performance of "Annie Get Your Gun.". less I'm not afraid / Irving Berlin

Will Trump ever face consequences? (Photo: LS d'Avalonia) byICT OPINION Aug 1, 2019 -edited If in the future Congress wants its constitutional powers of oversight to be taken as gravely as they should be, then leaders need to take concrete steps to enforce those powers immediately says Elizabeth Wydra Elizabeth Wydra In the Trump era, Congress and the courts are like cops walking the beat to protect the rule of law. In the wake of former special counsel Robert Mueller's testimony, however, President Donald Trump is laughing at both of them. The question remains: When will there be consequences for the unprecedented level of shameless, flagrant corruption and lawlessness in this administration? The House of Representatives has issued subpoena after subpoena — for Trump tax records, records relating to his business interests, and testimony and records from administration officials — just to be ignored by Trump, his team, and his Republican supporters on Capitol Hill. In response to some of these, the House has delivered contempt citations, which are disregarded almost as soon as they're issued. Meanwhile, threats to involve the courts are met with a yawn, as the president knows his first term is almost complete and the wheels of justice move … slowly. More and more, Congress risks sounding like the old Robin Williams joke, shouting at the President "Stop! Or we'll say 'Stop' again!" as he walks away, effectively permitted to violate the law with impunity. The American people witness this slow-motion erosion of the Constitution and wonder, rightly, if the president is ever going to be held accountable. Trump seems incapable of being influenced through normal channels, whether that be concerns about his reputational integrity or basic appeals to his humanity. This makes the prospect of facing hard consequences for any criminal, unconstitutional, or otherwise reprehensible behavior even more vital. Anything short of actual punishment, or the credible threat of such punishment, is essentially a license to continue tearing at the fabric of the rule of law. And this matters not just in terms of ensuring that no one — not even the president — is above the law, but also for the fundamental survival of our constitutional democracy. Every provision of the Constitution that is disregarded and disobeyed without consequence places the lasting protection of our rights and liberties at risk. Every order from Congress that goes effectively unenforced weakens the institution's ability to protect the American people from corruption or other lawless behavior from the White House. Not just this White House, but every White House from here on that believes, as Trump proclaimed recently, that Article II of the Constitution gives him "the right to do whatever I want as president." That's not how any of this is supposed to work. Article II of the Constitution does not make this or any president a king. And congressional subpoenas are not mere requests. They aren't invitations or guidelines. When issued by the branch of government closest to the people — defined in that part of the Constitution President Trump apparently skipped over, Article I — such demands are to be met, full stop. When they are refused, as President Trump is doing, that branch of government designed to interpret and apply the law — the courts, set out in Article III — is meant and designed to enforce them. Last Friday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) announced fresh steps in the right direction. He discussed new court filings to seek the underlying grand jury material in Mueller's investigation, and the prospect of seeking court enforcement of a subpoena for the testimony former White House counsel, Don McGahn. Those are critically important actions. We cannot ignore, however, the press of time. We are more than four months after the conclusion of Mueller's investigation and three months after Attorney General William Barr's stage-managed release of a redacted version of the report. It is also just five months before the start of a presidential election year when the prospects for robust congressional oversight, removed from the taint of 2020 politics, become vanishingly small. The closeness of the presidential election in 2020 has prompted many to say that seeking to hold the Trump Administration accountable through any mechanism other than ballot box is pointless, or even harmful. But it is extremely dangerous to treat what this president and his administration are doing as merely the usual stuff of political disagreement, ultimately resolved by the tally of votes. This president has repeatedly ignored or violated the Constitution. The endless stream of corruption and lawlessness threatens eroding constitutional democracy to a breaking point. If we let it pass as politics as usual, we risk normalizing this disregard for our Constitution and reducing its power and authority. If in the future Congress wants its constitutional powers of oversight to be taken as gravely as they should be, then leaders need to take concrete steps to enforce those powers immediately. Take Trump to court quickly. Ask the courts to act expeditiously, every single time. Anything less, appallingly weakens the Congress as an institution, gravely undermines our constitutional democracy, and sets a terrible precedent: Future presidents may be able to get away with virtually any wrongdoing they commit while in office. Elizabeth Wydra, a former clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, is president of Constitutional Accountability Center, a public interest law firm and think tank dedicated to promoting the progressive promise of the Constitution's text and history. Follow her on Twitter @ElizabethWydra. Note: originally published at thehill.com; re-published with permission. (Image: The Hill) DANCING EYES I REALY DOUBT IT, HE IS A RICH WHITE MAN AND WE ALL KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. THEY SEEM TO BE ABOVE THE LAW. BUT SHOULD NOT BE. EditorICT OPINION #YDL … Being a female Native reporter in Washington Washington EditorJourdan Bennett-Begaye Declaring support and visibility for Native students in higher education Opinions ContributorAmanda R. Tachine Why are Diné LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit people being denied access to ceremony? Congressional Republicans abandon constitutional heritage and Watergate precedents in defense of Trump In 2020, let's recognize immigration as a reproductive justice issue An open letter to Deb Haaland: Jewish Voice for Peace demonizes Indigenous people Opinions ContributorSamara Brill Alpern With the US and Iran on the brink of war, the dangers of Trump's policy of going it alone become clear Changing Elizabeth Warren's story to one about Native America The white supremacy of Elizabeth Warren Opinions ContributorTwila Barnes

Q: @ApiOperation vs @ApiResponse in Swagger @ApiOperation has an attribute response to which we can pass the Response type. In @ApiResponse also we have an attribute response to which we can pass the Response type. So What is the exact difference between them? A: You must specify the success response in @ApiOperation while you can specify ALL possible response objects in @ApiResponse. @ApiResponse is used wrapped inside @ApiResponses and generally used to specify error codes and exceptional cases like Resource Not Found or Bad Request etc. You can also specify success response, but it is not mandatory to do so, as the success response is anyway mentioned in @ApiOperation. A: The usage of @ApiOperation and @ApiResponse is a bit different. With @ApiOperation you can specify the return type of the REST method using response. With @ApiResponse you can send back other information like HTTP code, user defined message and other headers if any you want to return

Chris Griffin-Woods' paintings have won top awards in national and international juried exhibitions. Her work has hung in both the Cincinnati Art Museum and Indianapolis Museum of Art, as well as in private and public collections, including the Governor's Residence of Indiana Permanent Collection. Chris' painting "Michela Farm: The Water" is published in the book Painting Indiana III: Heritage of Place. "American Art Collectors" has featured Chris in a full-page Artist Focus article, and her work has been featured in articles on the Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional, Salon and National Exhibitions. Chris' miniatures were featured in an article about Miniature and Small Painting in "American Art Collectors." "Fine Art Connoisseur" and "Southwest Art" have also featured Chris' work. Chris' work has been accepted and shown in the Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, the Salmagundi Club in Manhattan, NY, the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club in Manhattan, NY, the 82nd International Juried Exhibition in Pennsylvania, the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Annual Exhibition, the Hudson River Valley Association of New York, the Viewpoints National Exhibition in Cincinnati, and many other highly regarded exhibitions. Chris has had solo shows in the Chelsea International Arts District in Manhattan, as well as many in the Ohio-Indiana-Kentucky area. From miniatures to murals, Chris' paintings display the enjoyment of light and texture and the search for poetry in paint, using subject material that has meaning and memory.

Major League BaseballAmerican LeagueAmerican League CentralMinnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins and New York Mets Stole the MLB Offseason Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Offseason, Opinions & Predictions The New York Yankees traded for Giancarlo Stanton; the Boston Red Sox signed J.D. Martinez; the Chicago Cubs signed Yu Darvish; the San Diego Padres signed Eric Hosmer; the St. Louis Cardinals traded for Marcell Ozuna; the Los Angeles Angels signed Shohei Ohtani; the Milwaukee Brewers added Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain; the San Francisco Giants traded for Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen; the Houston Astros traded for Gerrit Cole. But in the midst of those headline-grabing transactions, the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets stole the MLB offseason. Sunday afternoon, Fox Sports' Jon Morosi reported that the Twins and former Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Logan Morrison agreed to a one-year, $6.5 million deal. Coming off a year in which he hit a career-high 38 home runs and drove in 85 runs, the 30-year-old is a great get for Minnesota at that price. He can man first base from the get-go, allowing Joe Mauer to DH, or manager Paul Molitor can flip-flop the two over the duration of the season. In addition to Morrison, the Twins also added another former Ray this offseason, right-handed pitcher Jake Odorizzi. While he had an underwhelming 4.14 ERA in 2017, Odorizzi has started 28-plus games in each of the last four seasons and has a 3.83 ERA in his six-year career. With Odorizzi only costing the Twins minor league infielder Jermaine Palacios, his addition will be welcome. He'll be slotted into the middle of their rotation behind Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios, adding more depth to their staff. The Twins also added Anibal Sanchez and Michael Pineda, who could both potentially crack their starting rotation. The Twins have bolstered their bullpen, too. Adding backend relievers Addison Reed and Fernando Rodney, they've inserted some proven commodities into their bullpen. Reed is viewed as one of the better setup relievers in baseball, and Rodney, while maybe not as stellar as he once was, is still a veteran presence in the pen. Reed is a strikeout-savvy arm (at least 75 strikeouts in each of the last two seasons) and Rodney is accustomed to finishing off games in the ninth (39 saves last year and has 300 in his career). Source: Ron Schwane/Getty Images North America Coming off an 85-win season and improving themselves in the offseason, the Twins are poised to be back in the AL Wild Card mix and cannot be ruled out to potentially chase the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central in 2018. The Mets find themselves in a situation similar to the Twins. They didn't bring in a big fish this offseason, instead opting to spend shrewdly. Their first order of business was signing reliever Anthony Swarzak — who had a career-low 2.33 ERA in 77.1 innings pitched last season — to a two-year deal. The righty will deepen a pen that already includes Jeurys Familia, AJ Ramos, and Jerry Blevins. The arrival of lefty Jason Vargas will add depth to manager Mickey Callaway's rotation. Last season, Vargas had a 2.22 ERA going into July and earned a spot on the American League All-Star team. While he did fade late in 2017 and isn't a strikeout pitcher, Vargas is still capable of being a middle- to top-of-the-rotation arm. And with the never-ending injuries that hit the Mets rotation, the lefty provides a safety net and much-needed depth. In terms of addressing their everyday order, the Mets did well in free agency. Adding third baseman Todd Frazier, right fielder Jay Bruce, and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, they bargain-bought on the free agent market for players who might man starting roles. While Frazier has hit below .230 in each of the last two seasons, he has still hit 102 home runs over the last three years and is one of the better fielding third basemen in the game. His two-year, $17 million deal is a compete steal for general manager Sandy Alderson. After trading him away in August, the Mets brought back Bruce in free agency on a three-year, $39 million deal. While not known for his glove, the right fielder provides the Mets with a middle-of-the-order power bat, which certainly has value. And for Gonzalez, he'll compete with Dominic Smith to be the team's starting first baseman. For the veteran's minimum, Gonzalez is a no-risk signing that could pan out to be the Mets' best offseason transaction. While maybe not a big enough threat to dethrone the Washington Nationals in the NL East, the Mets, barring an insurmountable number of injuries, will certainly be a threat to snatch a Wild Card seed in the National League. The Twins and Mets aren't expected to win their respective divisions and neither team made a franchise-altering move in the offseason. But while the rest of MLB was monitoring and in awe of the remarkable silence concerning top-tier free agents, the Twins and Mets pounced on under-the-radar impact players and happened to sign them on team-friendly contracts. Both were able to improve their ballclubs without overpaying for anyone in free agency or via trade. That is how you quietly steal the offseason. BaseballMinnesota TwinsMLBNew York Mets BBE 2018 Position Rankings: MLB's Top 15 Starting Pitchers Reports: Texas Rangers to Sign Tim Lincecum to Major League Deal Robbie Stratakos is an MLB Editor and Writer at Baseball Essential; he previously wrote at HardBallScoop (Part of Scout/247Sports/CBSInteractive), Last Word on Baseball, and District on Deck. In addition to covering MLB, Stratakos is also an NBA Writer at ClutchPoints; he previously wrote at Sir Charles In Charge, Elite Sports NY, Last Word on Pro Basketball, and Empire Writes Back. MLB Free Agency: Eddie Rosario is an Impact Bat Hiding in Broad Daylight The Angels Should Trade for Luis Castillo Minnesota Twins Should Focus on Adding Positional Versatility The New York Mets are Checking Their Offseason Boxes Locked On Dodgers: Dodgers Bobbleheads That Should Be Giveaways in 2022

JOSE MOURINHO has already contacted 'multiple players' to bring to Manchester United, according to reports. Mourinho has long been linked with a move to Old Trafford and Sunday's FA Cup final was reportedly Louis van Gaal's last game in charge of United. Express Sport understands the former Chelsea boss's agent Jorge Mendes will fly in to Manchester on Tuesday to finalise the Portuguese's contract. And he will be handed a mega £200million summer war chest to re-shape the squad an win next season's Premier League title. And according to French outlet RMC, Mourinho has already begun making plans for his squad and has reached out to a number of targets. RMC journalist Mohamed Bouhafsi tweeted: "Jose Mourinho has already contacted multiple players to ask them to follow him to Manchester United." Top of his list is reportedly free agent Zlatan Ibrahimovic who, according to Swedish newspaper Sportsbladet, will come in as a player-coach. And a number of players in Italy have also been linked with a switch to Old Trafford including Inter Milan pair Miranda and Mauro Icardi. José Mourinho has already contacted multiple players to ask them to follow him to Manchester United.

Nicely, I needed to find out so I visited Zenni Optical and examined the location. Most of their primary frames and kinds are priced at twenty to forty six dollars but there have been fairly a few choices at $6.95. What are you going to get for that worth I requested myself? I recall paying $one hundred sixty.00 for my eyeglasses with all of the bells and whistles which included anti-scratch, anti reflective, UV coating and color tint. So I assumed I might test it out. I maintain my prescription in my wallet so for $6.ninety five prescription eyeglasses ; why not order a back up pair in the off chance they would not disintegrate in forty eight hours. The fallacy of the biomedical strategy that avoids the inclusion of socioeconomic and ethnic threat elements is confirmed by the truth that the social welfare system in some Western nations had failed to handle the social gradient of health outcomes despite of the universal entry to healthcare. The frequent notion that equalizing access to healthcare and the marvel of contemporary medication" will remedy health inequalities is flawed (Home, 2002). Equal entry is less likely to solve crucial inequalities, until and unless physicians are willing to incorporate socioeconomic risk (E.g.: occupational and environmental stress) and racial risk (E.g.: racism, discrimination) within the biomedical framework of healthcare organization (House, 2002). Again, you're already paying for it, to not less than some degree. Employed, insured individuals also smoke and drink, and use unlawful drugs, and apply unhealthy consuming habits and endure from a scarcity of adequate train. Laura Candler shares tips on how to make and how one can use reading journals. The free printable pages she mentions can be found on her website on this web page in direction of the bottom. Enterprise and Finance Analysts and Examiners, including forensic accounting, worldwide business, and rising business accounting on the moon, low-Earth orbit asteroids, and Mars. You will be positioned in teams of three. Father or mother, CNA, recorder for the Head Measuring Lab CNA individual will put on scrub high, so if you already have one bring it to class. Very good article. Well researched and written! Too unhealthy people will not see the reality because of the propaganda everywhere in the airwaves stirring up individuals. Quite a lot of clinical checks will show that the taking this weight reduction tablets actually work. However this can solely work whether it is finished with a low calorie food regimen and an exercise plan. Simone Smith, Good Hub! Nice ideas to help maintain safe when residing alone! Thank you for sharing, Peace & Blessings! The Vandal Health Training Useful resource Room is located within the Scholar Recreation Heart on campus, a thousand Paradise Creek Street , Room 102. As a bonus to the article, we also share with our readers a one-month diet plan for gaining weight. I like the thought of making, 'A happiness journal.' I am into the habit of writing diary, however this is barely totally different. It will likely be good to rely the positives and can assist to leave behind the negatives of LIFE. After you submit your utility, you will get details and instructions in your eligibility outcomes screen and in a discover you'll be able to obtain or obtain within the mail.

Facebook's widening privacy scandal affects you like you never imagined possible. Facebook's scandal gets worse as more details emerge about how they tracked you like you never knew before. In my podcast, I talk to some of the leading technology and data breach attorneys, John Yanchunis and Steven Teppler, about what's in store for Facebook and also what we can do to protect ourselves in this age of dwindling privacy. It's become clear that your information is the currency of the 21st century. Have we lost trust in Facebook?

Yes, yes, I know Easter is still a week away, but I've been looking forward to this lunch box for months, and besides, next week is Spring Break. Anyway, maybe this advance posting will give some of you time to join me in making adorable Musubi Eggs this Easter! To make these eggless eggs I followed the recipe for Musubi in Vegan Lunch Box. (Also known as onigiri, musubi are Japanese sticky rice balls.) I pressed the sticky rice into a plastic Easter egg sprayed with nonstick spray to start forming the egg, then used my hands to solidify and finish the shaping. I pushed the filling in where an egg yolk would be. These are filled with cashew butter but tart, salty umeboshi plum is traditional. To decorate the eggs I used mamenori -- thin, vegetable-dyed sheets of edible soybean paper (please note that the pink sheets are colored with cochineal and are therefore not vegan). I cut the sheets with scissors, pinking sheers, and paper punches, then set them in place with a dab of water. The mamenori tended to curl when wet but wouldn't stick without a bit of water, which was a big pain. In the end, though, I was happy with our little eggs and loved the pastel colors. As you may have noticed if you followed the mamenori link above, these sheets cost a pretty penny, especially if you want to use an assortment of colors. I was lucky enough to work out a trade with Cooking Cute for a few sheets -- thanks, Ngoc! If mamenori is out of your price range, other options include using nori or dyeing the rice itself with natural food coloring. I even think those thin "fruit by the foot" fruit leathers I've seen at the grocery store would work. I was also inspired recently by the fruit-filled bouquets over at Edible Arrangements, and decided try my hand at making my own tiny arrangement for Easter. I cut out a pineapple flower with a cookie cutter, used an apple corer to remove the center, then wedged a cantaloupe ball in the middle and surrounded the flower with honeydew leaves. On the side is Sprout Salad with Mandarin Orange Dressing (also from Vegan Lunch Box). The dressing is hiding in a little plastic carrot down below, nestled next to a happy warren of jicama bunnies. A small container of sunflower seeds can be eaten as is or sprinkled on the sprouts. Verdict: The first thing shmoo said upon seeing this lunch? "Oooh, honeydew!" Yes, melon is exciting when it's out of season! The eggs were a hit, too. Shmoo was tickled that he could actually eat the colored paper. He loves squeezing his dressings out of all these little plastic squeeze bottles, but still doesn't seem too keen on actually eating his salads. 5 stars. Happy Easter! Although I dearly love the kid-friendly Laptop Lunch System I use for shmoo, I still like to keep my eye out for larger, plastic-free lunch boxes that fit us big people and our big, plant-based appetites. Yes, sometimes even my To Go Ware doesn't hold enough salad to satisfy my veggie-lovin' tummy. It's time to Super Size It! For its maiden voyage I packed my new food carrier with a hearty lunch for two for shmoo and his Dad, who took off together on a day-long Field Trip of Science. Two white bean hummus and grated carrot sandwiches are packed in the first tier alongside a few radishes. I jammed as many fresh tangerine segments as I could into the second container (shmoo has been known to eat that many all by himself, so I hope he remembers to share!) In the bottom tier are tortilla chips and salsa and a few "seedy fudge balls" made from ground sesame, sunflower, and flax seeds mashed together with tahini, cashew butter, dates, raisins, and a splash of tangerine juice. I rolled them in cocoa so they look like little truffles. Verdict: Shmoo is quite taken with these stainless steel containers, and is getting old enough to take them apart and put them together by himself. But is he old enough to carry one to school without swinging and denting it, and possibly someone's head in the process? I don't think so. He's sticking with the plastic lunch box. Shmoo enjoyed the fruit and the fudge balls and ate all but the crusts of his sandwich. My husband took one small bite of his sandwich and ate all the chips and salsa. Guess who's the picky eater in this family? 4 stars. After seeing my recent pea-filled St. Patty's Sandwich, Vegan Lunch Box reader Roxy shared this tip: "I like to blend peas into guacamole--it adds more nutrition to the already nutritious dip and you really can't tell the peas are in there. I use about 1/4 cup of peas to every large avocado. Yum!" Thanks, Roxy, I love it! In fact, it inspired me to make a post especially for sharing these kinds of ideas. Sometimes it seems like the only way you can get children to eat vegetables is to slip a bit in quietly here and there. Kids might also be resistant to eating beans, or nuts, or ground flaxseed, or their daily vitamin. What is a parent to do? As those of you who have read my book will know, I love getting sneaky! And when it comes to getting healthy foods into reluctant kids, I think a Vita-Mix is a Sneaky Momma's Best Friend. I use mine almost every day to blend vegetables into creamy soups, cooked kale into pizza sauce, even spinach into breakfast smoothies! Of course, I don't actually lie about what is in my blended concoctions, but even when I tell my son that his favorite black bean soup is filled with onions, zucchini, and peppers, he tends to shrug and keep on eating. I guess it's "out of sight, out of mind", and what he can't see can't gross him out. What other tips do you have for us desperate Sneaky Mommas (and Poppas)? Please share! And don't worry -- your secrets are safe with us. Shmoo Review: Benji Bean Sprout Doesn't Eat Meat! Reviewed by special guest blogger Shmoo. "Benji Bean Sprout Doesn't Eat Meat! is a kind of neat book. It's about a kid who eats vegetarian and other kids think he's weird because he doesn't eat meat. He eats vegetarian meat. The kids who make fun of him are mean but then they try his food and then they don't think he's so weird anymore. He goes to an animal sanctuary. I want to go to an animal sanctuary some day. I want to see a tiger. "Vegetarian kids will like this book, or meat eating kids so they can learn about what happens in factory farms and what happens to the animals. Maybe they would lose their appetite for meat, or maybe they would be nicer to vegetarians. "I have different lunches like this kid. Sometimes other kids wonder what I have for lunches. What was funny was one time this other kid said he liked the smell of my lunch. I like my lunches, too!" St. Patrick's Day (coming up on March 17th) is quite the event in the McCann household, with lots of wearin' and eatin' o' the green. Well, we eat green every day, but on St. Pat's lots of things start turning green! Case in point: these St. Patty's Peanut Butter sandwiches from Disease-Proof Your Child. Cooked peas are blended with peanut butter to make a stunning green spread. I added some agave syrup to make it a bit sweeter for shmoo. Other green goodies include grapes, romaine lettuce with pumpkin seeds and a little shamrock squirt bottle filled with raspberry-balsamic vinegar. And what would St. Patrick's Day be without potatoes? Here are two Potato Beetles from Vegan Lunch Box, packed with a container of ketchup. Chive antennae and nori smiles make these two very happy beetles. Verdict: The potatoes were a huge hit, with demands for many more "potato 'polies" (he says he thinks they look like "rolypoly" bugs now) for snacks later. He left most of the salad but finished everything else. 4 leaf clovers. Happy St. Patrick's Day! A Vegan Lunch Box reader named Melissa emailed me a few months ago suggesting that this recipe for pupusas would make a tasty vegan lunch. Pupusas are traditional El Salvadorian corn masa "cakes" filled with meat, cheese, or beans that are patted flat and fried. They are often sold by street vendors in El Salvador and Honduras. My lumpy little pupusas are filled with refried black beans and cilantro. I must admit I have not yet achieved Masa Mastery; my dough kept tearing and sticking, leaving bits of refried bean poking out as I tried to round the dough balls and pat them flat. Eventually I came out with a few decent-looking pupusas, but even the really ugly ones still tasted good. I packed them with a small container of salsa. Melissa serves her pupusas with a simple pickled radish slaw, so I followed her lead. This slaw is filled with green and purple cabbage, radishes, vinegar, and cilantro (I'm on a real slaw kick lately, now that I know I like it). I also made my recipe for Calabacita con Elote (Mexican zucchini and corn) from Vegan Lunch Box. As I revisit some of my recipes with the nutritional knowledge I now have, I'm finding ways to make them healthier. In this case, I steam-fried the veggies with a bit of water instead of oil, then stirred in the marjoram with a tablespoon of Late Harvest Riesling Vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar, sugar and salt. We actually preferred the lighter taste of the white grape vinegar over the original recipe. Verdict: Sadly, this wasn't one of shmoo's favorites, although I thought it made a nice-looking, healthy, well-balanced lunch. He liked the fruit and pupusas and ate them all, but just picked some of the radishes and corn out of the veggie dishes. 3 stars. Thanks so much, Melissa, for introducing us to pupusas!

11 Plus, 13 Plus, English and History Michael is a creative, experienced and thoughtful practitioner with a strong professional record as an outstanding teacher and intervention specialist. His tailored approach enables students to gain exam confidence, develop new skills and meet personal targets in their learning. Economics, History and Politics With over 13 years teaching students across the secondary age range, Anna has many years successful experience teaching IB, A-Level, GCSE and IGCSE History both within the U. K. Peter studied History at St Catherine's College, Oxford. After graduating, Peter spent four years working in state secondary schools, teaching KS3, GCSE and A Level. History, Politics and RE A Cambridge graduate, Andrew has spent five years working at an outstanding state secondary school, ranked fifth in the country for pupil progress. He taught at KS3, GCSE, and A Level. 11 Plus, 13 Plus, Other School Entrance, English, History, Media Studies, Philosophy, Politics, RE, Sociology and Theory of Knowledge Before Andrew found teaching he had been a financial consultant, a marketing, communications and PR officer, a company manager and business development manager, a yoga and meditation teacher, an actor, a chef, a creative and artist, a music festival producer and manager and more! Andrew left his own education with 5 and a half A-levels of his own as well as a BA in Politics (with Philosophy) and a Masters in International relations, Ethics and Philosophy. Andrew first came to teaching through becoming a Special Education Needs Teaching assistant; he also completed lots of work experience in other secondary and primary schools (for example Highgate School and Grafton Primary School). KS3 History tutors GCSE AQA History tutors GCSE Edexcel History tutors GCSE OCR History tutors IGCSE History tutors A Level AQA History tutors A Level Edexcel History tutors A Level OCR History tutors Pre-U History tutors IB Standard Level History tutors IB Higher Level History tutors IB MYP History tutors Advanced Placement History tutors Undergraduate History tutors

Calm and contemporary, these upholstered pieces are a perfect way to center your home around zen style. The sloping track arms feature clipped corners for an inviting aesthetic. Designed and crafted with the utmost of care, this collection is sure to impress your guests for years to come.

Tag Archives: Ross Douthat Us And Egypt, Egypt And Us Bruce Riedel at The Daily Beast: The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia has sent a shock wave through the Arab world. Never before has the street toppled a dictator. Now Egypt is shaking, Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-old regime faces its most serious threat ever. The prospect of change in Egypt inevitably raises questions about the oldest and strongest opposition movement in the country, the Muslim Brotherhood , also known as Ikhwan. Can America work with an Egypt where the Ikhwan is part of a transition or even a new government? The short answer is it is not our decision to make. Egyptians will decide the outcome, not Washington. We should not try to pick Egyptians' rulers. Every time we have done so, from Vietnam's generals to Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai, we have had buyer's remorse. But our interests are very much involved so we have a great stake in the outcome. Understanding the Brotherhood is vital to understanding our options. The Muslim Brethren was founded in 1928 by Shaykh Hassan al Banna as an Islamic alternative to weak secular nationalist parties that failed to secure Egypt's freedom from British colonialism after World War I. Banna preached a fundamentalist Islamism and advocated the creation of an Islamic Egypt, but he was also open to importing techniques of political organization and propaganda from Europe that rapidly made the Brotherhood a fixture in Egyptian politics. Branches of the Brotherhood grew across the Arab world. By World War 2, it became more violent in its opposition to the British and the British-dominated monarchy, sponsoring assassinations and mass violence. After the army seized power in 1952, it briefly flirted with supporting Gamal Abdel Nasser's government but then moved into opposition. Nasser ruthlessly suppressed it. Andrew McCarthy at National Review on Riedel: One might wonder how an organization can be thought to have renounced violence when it has inspired more jihadists than any other, and when its Palestinian branch, the Islamic Resistance Movement, is probably more familiar to you by the name Hamas — a terrorist organization committed by charter to the violent destruction of Israel. Indeed, in recent years, the Brotherhood (a.k.a., the Ikhwan) has enthusiastically praised jihad and even applauded — albeit in more muted tones — Osama bin Laden. None of that, though, is an obstacle for Mr. Riedel, a former CIA officer who is now a Brookings scholar and Obama administration national-security adviser. Following the template the progressive (and bipartisan) foreign-policy establishment has been sculpting for years, his "no worries" conclusion is woven from a laughably incomplete history of the Ikhwan. By his account, Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna "preached a fundamentalist Islamism and advocated the creation of an Islamic Egypt, but he was also open to importing techniques of political organization and propaganda from Europe that rapidly made the Brotherhood a fixture in Egyptian politics." What this omits, as I recount in The Grand Jihad, is that terrorism and paramilitary training were core parts of Banna's program. It is by leveraging the resulting atmosphere of intimidation that the Brotherhood's "politics" have achieved success. The Ikhwan's activist organizations follow the same program in the United States, where they enjoy outsize political influence because of the terrorist onslaught. Banna was a practical revolutionary. On the one hand, he instructed his votaries to prepare for violence. They had to understand that, in the end — when the time was right, when the Brotherhood was finally strong enough that violent attacks would more likely achieve Ikhwan objectives than provoke crippling blowback — violence would surely be necessary to complete the revolution (meaning, to institute sharia, Islam's legal-political framework). Meanwhile, on the other hand, he taught that the Brothers should take whatever they could get from the regime, the political system, the legal system, and the culture. He shrewdly realized that, if the Brothers did not overplay their hand, if they duped the media, the intelligentsia, and the public into seeing them as fighters for social justice, these institutions would be apt to make substantial concessions. Appeasement, he knew, is often a society's first response to a threat it does not wish to believe is existential. Ron Radosh: As bad as Mubarak is, and the Egyptian people have good reason to despise him, he is a lot better than other dictators who have led regimes in the Middle East. Remember Saddam Hussein, and also recall the forces that took power in Iran after the populace ousted the shah in 1979. I vividly remember all those student protesters on U.S. campuses bearing photos of the victims tortured by the shah's secret police, and demanding the Shah's ouster and his replacement by the great democratic revolutionaries led by the Ayatollah Khomeini. That was a popular theme as well in precincts of the always wise American left, symbolized by the arguments of Princeton University political scientist Richard Falk, or the comment of Jimmy Carter's UN Ambassador Andrew Young that Khomeini was a "saint." It is most instructive to look back at Falk's arguments, made a scant two weeks after the shah's government fell and he fled Iran, and the Grand Ayatollah Khomeini returned to the country. Khomeini, Falk wrote in The New York Times (Feb.16, 1979), "has been depicted in a manner calculated to frighten," and President Jimmy Carter had "associated him with religious fanaticism." He was also "defamed" by the news media, some of whose pundits dared to call Khomeini an advocate of "theocratic fascism." Rather than being a religious leader who fit any of those dire characteristics made by his enemies, the movement had "a nonviolent record." In addition, the would-be radical Islamist was a man who pleaded with Iran's Jews to stay in the country. Certainly, even Falk had to acknowledge that the coming leader was against Israel. But that "of course" was due to the fact that Israel "supported the shah" and had not "resolved the Palestinian question." Khomeini was not dissembling, Falk assured his readers, since he expressed "his real views defiantly and without apology." Moreover, his closest advisers were "uniformly composed of moderate, progressive individuals" and those he sought to lead a new government, all of whom "share a notable record of concern for human rights and see eager to achieve economic development that results in a modern society." The reason the entire opposition deferred to Khomeini was not due to coercion, but because they knew that he and the Shiite "tradition is flexible in its approach to the Koran and evolves interpretations that correspond to the changing needs and experience of the people." Its main desire and "religious orientation" was concern "with resisting oppression and promoting social justice." He knew that Khomeini sought "not to govern," but instead simply to "inspire." That is why he would live in the holy city of Qum, a place removed "from the daily exercise of power." He would simply be a "guide or, if necessary, …a critic of the republic." He would thus be able to show the world what "a genuine Islamic government can do on behalf of its people." Falk assured readers that Khomeini scorned "so-called Islamic Governments in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Pakistan." Thus one could talk of "Islam's finest hour," in which Khomeini had created "a new model of popular revolution based, for the most part, on nonviolent tactics." Iran, he knew, would" provide us with a desperately needed model of humane governance for a third-world country." And you wonder why those of us who have become conservatives no longer trust the great spokesmen of the American left/liberal intelligentsia. Ross Douthat in NYT: The memory of Nasser is a reminder that even if post-Mubarak Egypt doesn't descend into religious dictatorship, it's still likely to lurch in a more anti-American direction. The long-term consequences of a more populist and nationalistic Egypt might be better for the United States than the stasis of the Mubarak era, and the terrorism that it helped inspire. But then again they might be worse. There are devils behind every door. Americans don't like to admit this. We take refuge in foreign policy systems: liberal internationalism or realpolitik, neoconservatism or noninterventionism. We have theories, and expect the facts to fall into line behind them. Support democracy, and stability will take care of itself. Don't meddle, and nobody will meddle with you. International institutions will keep the peace. No, balance-of-power politics will do it. But history makes fools of us all. We make deals with dictators, and reap the whirlwind of terrorism. We promote democracy, and watch Islamists gain power from Iraq to Palestine. We leap into humanitarian interventions, and get bloodied in Somalia. We stay out, and watch genocide engulf Rwanda. We intervene in Afghanistan and then depart, and watch the Taliban take over. We intervene in Afghanistan and stay, and end up trapped there, with no end in sight. Sooner or later, the theories always fail. The world is too complicated for them, and too tragic. History has its upward arcs, but most crises require weighing unknowns against unknowns, and choosing between competing evils. The only comfort, as we watch Egyptians struggle for their country's future, is that some choices aren't America's to make. Justin Logan at Cato on Douthat: The fact that theories are imperfect does not make them any less necessary. We take refuge in foreign policy theories because there is no alternative. As Ben Friedman pointed out in responding to Douthat previously, it is impossible to have foreign policies without foreign-policy theories. The same goes for economics, domestic politics, and a whole range of human behavior. People take (or oppose) various actions based on their expectations about what outcomes the actions will (or will not) produce. Whether people are conscious of it or not, our expectations are products of our theories. People disagree about which theories are good and which are bad, but we all have them. Laura Rozen at Politico: Just got late word that Dunne, Kagan and others from their group including former Bush NSC Middle East hand Elliott Abrams, as well as George Washington University Middle East expert Marc Lynch, and the National Security Network's Joel Rubin, formerly a U.S. Egypt desk officer, have been invited to the White House Monday. "We do think-tank sessions on an almost weekly basis," a senior administration official told POLITICO's Playbook. "The goal is to bring in some of the top opinion leaders and thinkers on a given subject and have a candid conversion. We've done it with China, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. Today's topic is Egypt." Tagged as Andy McCarthy, Bruce Riedel, Cato, Daily Beast, Egypt, Justin Logan, Laura Rozen, Middle East, National Review, New York Times, Politico, Ron Radosh, Ross Douthat "Star Wars… Nothing But Star Wars…" Michael Lind at Salon: On the left, technological optimists were replaced by Rousseauian romantic primitivists. In the 1970s, Green guru Amory Lovins promulgated the gospel that "hard" sources of energy like nuclear power are bad and that called for a "soft path" based on hydropower, wind and solar energy. Other Green romantics decided that even hydropower is wicked, because it is generated by dams that despoil the prehuman landscape. The New Left of the 1960s and 1970s longed for small, participatory communities, and rejected the giant organizations that New Deal liberals had taken pride in. In the 1980s and 1990s, new urbanists converted most progressives to their nostalgia for the ephemeral rail-and-trolley based towns of the late nineteenth century. GM foods, which New Deal liberals like Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson would have embraced as a way to feed multitudes while sparing land for wilderness, were denounced by progressives who favored "heirloom" turkey and melons that the Pilgrims might have eaten. The increasingly reactionary American left, disenchanted with nuclear power plants and rockets and suburbs, longed to quit modernity and retire to a small town with an organic farmers' market and an oompah band playing in the town park's bandstand. A similar intellectual regression to infantilism took place on the right in the late twentieth century. Between the 1930s and the 1970s, conservatism was defined by big business anti-statism, not by neotraditionalism. The Republican opponents of New Deal Democrats shared the New Dealers' faith in science, technology and large-scale industry. They just wanted business to keep more of its prerogatives. Contrast Eisenhower-era business conservatism with the religious right of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and other evangelicals and fundamentalists in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. By 2000, an entire national party, the Republicans, was intimidated by religious zealots. No Republican presidential candidate could support legal abortion or criticize the pseudoscientific "creationist" alternative to evolutionary biology. Hatred of biotechnology, in the form of GM foods and human genetic engineering, was shared by the regressives of the left and the right. First a Democratic president, Jimmy Carter, then a Republican, George W. Bush, sought votes by claiming he had been "born again" with the help of Jesus, something that no president before the 1970s would have claimed. Today optimism about science and technology is found chiefly on the libertarian right. At least somebody still defends nuclear energy and biotechnology. But in libertarian thought, science and technology are divorced from their modernist counterparts — large-scale public and private organizations — and wedded to ideals of small producers and unregulated markets that were obsolete by the middle of the nineteenth century. Libertarian thought is half-modern, at best. To its credit, it does not share the longing of many on the left for the Shire of Frodo the Hobbit or the nostalgia of most of the contemporary right for the Little House on the Prairie. If there was a moment when the culture of enlightened modernity in the United States gave way to the sickly culture of romantic primitivism, it was when the movie "Star Wars" premiered in 1977. A child of the 1960s, I had grown up with the optimistic vision symbolized by "Star Trek," according to which planets, as they developed technologically and politically, graduated to membership in the United Federation of Planets, a sort of galactic League of Nations or UN. When I first watched "Star Wars," I was deeply shocked. The representatives of the advanced, scientific, galaxy-spanning organization were now the bad guys, and the heroes were positively medieval — hereditary princes and princesses, wizards and ape-men. Aristocracy and tribalism were superior to bureaucracy. Technology was bad. Magic was good. The Dark Age that began in the 1970s continues. Today's conservatives, centrists, progressives — most look like regressives, by the standards of mid-20th century America. Tea Party conservatives argue that federal prohibitions on child labor are unconstitutional, that the Fourteenth Amendment should be repealed, and that the Confederates were right about states, rights. Religious conservatives, having lost some of their political power, continue to their fight against Darwinism. Fiscally conservative "centrists" in Washington share an obsession with balanced budgets that would have seemed irrational and primitive not only to Keynes but also to the 19th-century British founder of The Economist, Walter Bagehot. And while there is a dwindling remnant of modernity-minded New Deal social democrats, most of the energy on the left is found on the nostalgic farmers'market/ train-and-trolley wing of the white upper middle class. Here's an idea. America needs to have a neomodernist party to oppose the reigning primitivists of the right, left and center. Let everyone who opposes abortion, wants to ban GM foods and nuclear energy, hates cars and trucks and planes and loves trains and trolleys, seeks to ban suburbia, despises consumerism, and/or thinks Darwin was a fraud join the Regressive Party. Those of us who believe that the real, if exaggerated, dangers of technology, big government, big business and big labor are outweighed by their benefits can join the Modernist Party. While the Regressives secede from reality and try to build their premodern utopias on their reservations, the Modernists can resume the work of building a secular, technological, prosperous, and relatively egalitarian civilization, after a half-century detour into a Dark Age. Cathleen Kaveny at dotCommonweal: It strikes me that this new two-party system would also leave many Catholics without a home –for obvious reasons, which we DON'T need to discuss here. In other words, THIS IS NOT A POST ON ABORTION. But the underlying question, which I DO want to discuss here, is what is the Catholic idea on progress? It strikes me that it is complicated. Any ideas? Daniel Larison: One of the things that Lind's preferred states all have in common is that they are expansive, bureaucratic, centralized states ruled by autocrats or unaccountable overseers, and they are capable of extracting far larger revenues out of their economies than their successors. Obviously, Lind finds most of these traits desirable, and he seems not terribly bothered by the autocracy. In the case of the UFP, one simply has a technocrat's utopian post-political fantasy run riot. Indeed, the political organization of the Federation has always struck me as stunningly implausible and unrealistic even by the standards of science fiction. It was supposed to be a galactic alliance with a massive military whose primary purposes were exploration and peacekeeping, and which had overcome all social problems by dint of technological progress. If ever there were a vision to appeal to a certain type of romantic idealists with no grasp of the corrupting nature of power or the limits of human nature, this would have to be it. Lind's article is not very persuasive, not least since his treatment of the change from antiquity to the middle ages is seriously flawed. Lind writes: But few would disagree that the Europe of Charlemagne was more backward in its mindset, at least at the elite level, than the Rome of Augustus or the Alexandria of the Ptolemies. Nor are the great gains of decolonization and personal liberation in recent decades necessarily incompatible with an intellectual and cultural Dark Age. After all, the fall of the Roman empire led to the emergence of many new kingdoms, nations and city-states, and slavery withered away by the end of the Middle Ages in Europe. Well, count me among the "few" that would disagree. For one thing, the "Europe of Charlemagne" was also the Europe of the Byzantines, and under both the Carolingians and the Macedonians later in the ninth century there was extensive cultivation of literary and artistic production that significantly undermines claims that this was an "intellectual and cultural Dark Age." This was an era of substantial manuscript production, and one marked by the learning of Eriugena and Photios. The Carolingian period was actually one of the more significant moments of political reunification in Europe prior to the later middle ages, but it is true that Charlemagne and his successors did not have a large administrative state apparatus at their disposal. The Iconoclastic emperors in the east were hostile to religious images, but in many other respects they cultivated learning and drew on the mathematical and scientific thought that was flourishing at that time among the 'Abbasids. Obviously, we are speaking of the elite, but it is the elites of different eras that Lind is comparing. The point is not to reverse the old prejudice against medieval Europe and direct it against classical antiquity, nor we do have to engage in Romantic idealization of medieval societies, but we should acknowledge that this approach to history that Lind offers here abuses those periods and cultures that do not flatter the assumptions or values of modern Westerners. For that matter, it distorts and misrepresents the periods and cultures moderns adopt as their precursors, because it causes them to value those periods and cultures because of how they seem to anticipate some aspect of modernity rather than on their own terms. Ioz on Larison: I understand that Gene Roddenberry's retromod vision of the future had Kirk kissing Nichelle Nichols, but even before the stylish sixties gave way to the weird, hierarchical, technocratic dictatorship of The Next Generation, the United Federation of Planets played barely the part of a supernumerary. The governing organization always seemed to be Starfleet, whose motto . . . to boldly go . . . and shoot with lasers . . . Their missions of exploration always seemed to lead to armed conflict, and the bold, interracial, transspecies future had as a model of its money-free, egalitarian, merit-based society something more or less directly descended from the British Admiralty, circa Trafalgar. Meanwhile, if we must read Star Wars as something other than someone talking that old hack and fraud Joe Campbell a leeeetle bit too seriously, then let me just remind you that the "advanced, scientific, galaxy-spanning organization" was an evil empire run by a cyborg monster and an evil wizard, and that in almost every visual detail its model was not the New goddamn Deal, but the Third fucking Reich. Ross Douthat: So here's my question: What did Lind think of the prequels? Because in a sense, George Lucas addressed nearly all of Lind's issues with the "Star Wars" universe in movies one through three. (I am bracketing the more creative interpretations of those films …) Queen Amidala of Naboo, Princess Leia's mother, turned out to be an elected queen, who moved on to senatorial duties after serving out her term as monarch. (How a teenager managed to navigate Naboo's version of the Iowa caucuses remains a mystery …) The once-mystical Force was given a scientific explanation, in the form of the "midichlorians," the micro-organisms that clutter up the bloodstream of the Jedi and give them telekinetic powers as a side effect. And the lost Old Republic that the rebels fight to restore in the original films was revealed to be , well, "a sort of galactic League of Nations or UN," with the Jedi Knights as its peacekeeping force and the lightsaber as the equivalent of the blue helmet. For Lind, then, I can only assume that watching the prequels was an immensely gratifying experience. And for the rest of us, the knowledge that Lind's prescription for "Star Wars" helped produce three of the most disappointing science-fiction blockbusters ever made should be reason enough to reject his prescription for America without a second thought. Filed under Go Meta, Movies Tagged as Andrew Sullivan, Cathleen Kaveny, Commonweal, Daniel Larison, Go Meta, Michael Lind, Movies, Ross Douthat, Salon, Who is Ioz? The Smoked Salmon At Iwo Jima Alexander Burns at Politico: THE REVIEWS ARE IN – SNAP POLL FROM CBS: "An overwhelming majority of Americans approved of President Obama's overall message in his State of the Union on Tuesday night, according to a CBS News Poll of speech watchers. According to the poll, which was conducted online by Knowledge Networks immediately after the president's address, 92 percent of those who watched the speech approved of the proposals Mr. Obama put forth during his remarks, while only 8 percent disapproved. … Americans who watched the speech were generally more Democratic than the nation as a whole." … FROM CNN: "A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey indicated that 52 percent of speech watchers had a very positive reaction, with 32 percent saying they had a somewhat positive response and 15 percent with a negative response. … Those numbers indicate that the sample is about nine to ten points more Democratic than the population as a whole." … AND FROM GQR, VIA POLITICO44: "The firm monitored the reactions of swing voters and unmarried women from Colorado as they watched the speech. According to the analysis, before the address, the test group's approval of the president was 30 percent – by the end of the speech, the approval rating had gone up to 56 percent." http://bit.ly/dMdVnT and http://bit.ly/fhBhgN and http://politi.co/ffVLil Jonathan Chait at The New Republic: The substance of Obama's speech was moderate liberalism — we like business, but government has a role too, neither too much nor too little, etc. It's hard to attach that kind of case-by-case pragmatism to an overarching theme. But I do think Obama pulled it off pretty well. He took a fairly hackneyed idea — the future — and managed to weave it into issue after issue, from infrastructure to energy to deficits to education and even foreign policy. I thought Obama explicated his idea about American unity better than he has in the past. The notion of unity has always sat in tension with the fierce ideological disagreement of American politics, and indeed the latter has served as a rebuke to the former. I thought Obama effectively communicated that the messiness of political debate is a part of what makes America great, to turn that into a source of pride. He simultaneouly placed himself both within and above the debate. If you were a visitor from Mars, watching tonight's State of the Union address and Paul Ryan's Republican response, you would have no reason to think that the looming insolvency of our entitlement system lies at the heart of the economic challenges facing the United States over the next two decades. From President Obama, we heard a reasonably eloquent case for center-left technocracy and industrial policy, punctuated by a few bipartisan flourishes, in which the entitlement issue felt like an afterthought: He took note of the problem, thanked his own fiscal commission for their work without endorsing any of their recommendations, made general, detail-free pledges to keep Medicare and Social Security solvent (but "without slashing benefits for future generations"), and then moved swiftly on to the case for tax reform. Tax reform is important, of course, and so are education and technological innovation and infrastructure and all the other issues that the president touched on in this speech. But it was still striking that in an address organized around the theme of American competitiveness, which ran to almost 7,000 words and lasted for an hour, the president spent almost as much time talking about solar power as he did about the roots of the nation's fiscal crisis. Ryan's rejoinder was more urgent and more focused: America's crippling debt was an organizing theme, and there were warnings of "painful austerity measures" and a looming "day of reckoning." But his remarks, while rhetorically effective, were even more vague about the details of that reckoning than the president's address. Ryan owes his prominence, in part, to his willingness to propose a very specific blueprint for addressing the entitlement system's fiscal woes. But in his first big moment on the national stage, the words "Medicare" and "Social Security" did not pass the Wisconsin congressman's lips. Allah Pundit David Frum at FrumForum: What to like in Obama's SOTU: The gracious congratulations to the Republicans and John Boehner. His reminders of the country's positive accomplishments, including the country's huge lead in labor force productivity. His explanation that the challenge to less-skilled US labor comes much more from technology than from foreign competition. Opening the door to firing bad teachers. Call for a stepped-up national infrastructure program. If only he'd explained how this would work. Call for lower corporate tax rates with fewer loopholes. Openness to amendments on healthcare reform. Endorsement of cuts to Medicare & Medicaid. Endorsement of malpractice reform. Bringing forth the designer of the Chilean miner rescue tunnel. Nice! What's not to like: The disingenuous suggestion that China's growth is driven by superior Chinese education system. Don't confuse Amy Chua's kids with off-the-farm peasants in Chinese factories. The call for more creative thinking in American education. Creative thinking is good, obviously. But the kids who are in most trouble need more drill, not more questions about their feelings. The too clever-by-half slip from the need for government to invest in basic research (yes) to the value of government investment in development of particular energy technologies (a record of failure). The pledge to put electric vehicles on the roads. So long as 50% of our power comes from coal, electric vehicles are not "clean." The pledge to reach 80% clean electricity by 2035. If this is done by neutral across -the-board means like carbon taxes, fine. If done by favoritism for particular energy forms – and especially by tax credits or subsidies – it's national industrial planning and is bad. The misleading implication that bestowing more college degrees will address educational deficits. It's the low quality of American secondary education that is the problem. The endorsement of DREAM – made worse by the total fuzz of the commitment to immigration enforcement. No mention of Colombia FTA in trade section of speech. Very backhanded comments on deregulation Repudiation of benefit cuts to future Social Security beneficiaries. Silly earmarks pledge 100% guaranteed to be broken. Graceless comment about restoring America's standing: ill-judged from a president whose foreign policy becomes more continuous with his predecessor's seemingly with every month. If you were expecting a moderate Obama or a bold Obama, you were disappointed, most likely, by Tuesday's State of the Union Address. In a nutshell: Obama proposed a ton of new domestic spending, promised to freeze discretionary spending (attained by savaging defense), abstained from offering specifics on entitlement reform and largely ignored major foreign policy changes. Moreover, the delivery was so listless that this State of the Union address likely garnered less applause than any address in recent memory. But the mystery is solved: There is no new Obama, just a less snarly one. But it was also a flat and boring speech, too long by a third. Can you recall a single line? After the Giffords memorial service, this effort seemed like Obama had phoned it in. Perhaps that is because the name of the game is to pass the buck to Congress to do the hard work of digging out of the fiscal mess we are in. Scott Johnson at Powerline: Obama's domestic policy is big on "investments" — not yours, the government's. That is, spending. It's a throwback to the vocabulary of the Clinton era. "The kids" must not be far behind. And there they are. They need more of your dough for their education. "We do big things," Obama says. I think when he says "we," he means big government. The speech is long on domestic policy cloaked in the characteristically disingenuous rhetoric designed to conceal the substance. Obama advocates some kind of a freeze in federal spending. I'm not sure how that squares with the call for more "investments." Obama acknowledges the tumult in Tunisia thusly: "We saw that same desire to be free in Tunisia, where the will of the people proved more powerful than the writ of a dictator. And tonight, let us be clear: the United States of America stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people." Where does the United States of America stand tonight with respect to the people of Iran? We're still waiting to hear from Obama on that one, but I guess we can infer he supports their aspirations as well. The people of Iran are included in "all people." The speech does have several good lines. Here is one of them: "I call on all of our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and the ROTC." It's a pity that Obama has to gild it with the usual gay rights boilerplate. This line also deserves a nod: "I know there isn't a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth." Unlike most of the rest of the speech, it has the advantage, as Henry Kissinger might say, of being true. Obama's advent gets the usual iteration tonight: "That [American] dream is why I can stand here before you tonight." And he includes Biden: "That dream is why a working class kid from Scranton can stand behind me." But Biden's rise too is a tribute to the advent of Obama." And he includes an uncharacteristically gracious salute to Speaker Boehner: "That dream is why someone who began by sweeping the floors of his father's Cincinnati bar can preside as Speaker of the House in the greatest nation on Earth." It's a pity that Obama hasn't found previous occasions to articulate American exceptionalism. Indeed, he has essentially denied it. Maybe he didn't think it was true before the advent of the Age of Obama, or maybe he chooses not to share his innermost thoughts on the subject with his fellow citizens tonight. Erick Erickson at Redstate: Much has been made of Michelle Bachmann's "Tea Party" response to the State of the Union. For days the media has been playing this up as a major conflict within the Republican Party. In fact, a number of Republican leadership aides pulled out all the stops trying to get the networks to ignore Michelle Bachmann. Kudos to CNN for its willingness to cover the speech in full. I must admit I was deeply nervous about the speech, but I am delighted to say I was wrong. Michelle Bachmann gave the best speech of the night. While the President sputniked and Paul Ryan went off on some high minded rhetoric, Michelle Bachmann kept to nuts and bolts. Her speech was based on actual economic data with actual, substantive policy suggestions for change. Paul Ryan's speech was okay. His blood shot eyes and Eddie Munster, Jr. haircut could have used some work. But he was good. Michelle Bachmann, however, shined in an easy to understand speech with a common man touch. I'm glad I was wrong. And it just goes to show that the narrative of concern, built up in the media in large part by nervous Republicans, was silly. It yet again shows the GOP is unwilling to seriously treat the tea party movement as a legitimate player. Mark Joyella at Mediaite: Rep. Michele Bachmann made history tonight–not just for being the first representative of the Tea Party to give a State of the Union response, but also for flatly refusing to look America in the eye.Bachmann, who came equipped with charts and Iwo Jima photos, began her speech looking slightly off camera. As Bachmann spoke, viewers–including the former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann–took to Twitter to ask a simple question: "what's she looking at?" As Olbermann tweeted, "Why isn't Rep. Bachmann LOOKING AT THE DAMNED CAMERA?" He added later, "Seriously, somebody at the Tea Party needs to run on the stage, grab her, and POINT TO WHERE THE CAMERA IS." On CNN, Erick Erickson reported that Bachmann mistakenly focused on a camera recording the speech for the Tea Party Express, instead of the other camera capturing the speech live for the entire country. Jeepers. Compared to President Obama's traditional SOTU speech, and Rep. Ryan's response, the Bachmann speech was unique. It had charts and multimedia, and it had the weird vibe of listening to a person who seems to be talking to somebody else. Conor Friedersdorf at Sully's place: He still loves his wife. But after 25 years of marriage, he has lost his enthusiasm for sex with her. Still. It is Valentine's Day. And she has been hinting. So he takes her to a nice dinner, uncharactertistically orders an after-dinner drink, and feels extra discouraged when it only makes him more tired. He is 55. And so tired. Upon returning home, he wants more than anything to just fall asleep, but damnit, he makes the effort. He surprises her with a gift, lights candles, and dutifully makes love to her in the fashion he thinks that she will most enjoy. It is with similar enthusiasm that some responses to the State of the Union are penned. Everyone expects that it will be covered by political bloggers, newspaper columnists and magazine writers. Especially at movement magazines on the left and right, lots of people are going through the motions, feigning passionate intensity that isn't there. In marriage, it is perfectly understandable for one partner to occasionally perform despite not being in the mood. Sex is built into the expectations. Justifiably so. But I'm skeptical about the system of expectations in political letters. Fresh insights are nice. I've read good stuff about last night's SOTU. We've linked some of it here. What I find pointless is the completely predictable boilerplate that gets published. The banal right-leaning editorial inveighing against the speech. The left-leaning editorial vaguely extolling its virtues. If every possible reader will agree with everything in a piece what exactly is the point of writing it? Filed under Political Figures Tagged as Alexander Burns, Allah Pundit, Conor Friedersdorf, David Frum, Erick Erickson, FrumForum, Jennifer Rubin, Jonathan Chait, Mark Joyella, Mediaite, Paul Krugman, Political Figures, Politico, Powerline, Redstate, Ross Douthat, Scott Johnson, The New Republic James Fallows: After this horrible news from Tucson…. … let me amplify something I said half-coherently in a live conversation with Guy Raz on All Things Considered a little while ago. My intended point was: Shootings of political figures are by definition "political." That's how the target came to public notice; it is why we say "assassination" rather than plain murder. But it is striking how rarely the "politics" of an assassination (or attempt) match up cleanly with the main issues for which a public figure has stood. Some killings reflect "pure" politics: John Wilkes Booth shooting Abraham Lincoln, the German officers who tried to kill Hitler and derail his war plans. We don't know exactly why James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King, but it must have had a lot to do with civil rights. There is a longer list of odder or murkier motives: – Leo Ryan, the first (and, we hope, still the only) Representative to be killed in the line of duty, was gunned down in Guyana in 1978 for an investigation of the Jim Jones/Jonestown cult, not any "normal" political issue. – Sirhan Sirhan horribly transformed American politics by killing Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, but Sirhan's political causes had little or nothing to do with what RFK stood for to most Americans. – So too with Arthur Bremer, who tried to kill George C. Wallace in 1972 and left him paralyzed. – The only known reason for John Hinckley's shooting of Ronald Reagan involves Jodie Foster. – It's not often remembered now, but Manson family member Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme tried to shoot Gerald Ford, again for reasons that would mean nothing to most Americans of that time. – When Harry Truman was shot at (and a policeman was killed) on the sidewalk outside the White Blair House, the attackers were concerned not about Cold War policies or Truman's strategy in Korea but about Puerto Rican independence. – The assassinations of William McKinley and James Garfield were also "political" but not in a way that matched the main politics of that time. The list could go on. So the train of logic is: 1) anything that can be called an "assassination" is inherently political; 2) very often the "politics" are obscure, personal, or reflecting mental disorders rather than "normal" political disagreements. But now a further step, 3) the political tone of an era can have some bearing on violent events. The Jonestown/Ryan and Fromme/Ford shootings had no detectable source in deeper political disagreements of that era. But the anti-JFK hate-rhetoric in Dallas before his visit was so intense that for decades people debated whether the city was somehow "responsible" for the killing. (Even given that Lee Harvey Oswald was an outlier in all ways.) That's the further political ramification here. We don't know why the Tucson killer did what he did. If he is like Sirhan, we'll never "understand." But we know that it has been a time of extreme, implicitly violent political rhetoric and imagery, including SarahPac's famous bulls-eye map of 20 Congressional targets to be removed — including Rep. Giffords. It is legitimate to discuss whether there is a connection between that tone and actual outbursts of violence, whatever the motivations of this killer turn out to be. At a minimum, it will be harder for anyone to talk — on rallies, on cable TV, in ads — about "eliminating" opponents, or to bring rifles to political meetings, or to say "don't retreat, reload." Jack Shafer at Slate: The attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and the killing of six innocents outside a Tucson Safeway has bolstered the ongoing argument that when speaking of things political, we should all avoid using inflammatory rhetoric and violent imagery. "Shooting Throws Spotlight on State of U.S. Political Rhetoric," reports CNN. "Bloodshed Puts New Focus on Vitriol in Politics," states the New York Times. Keith Olbermann clocked overtime on Saturday to deliver a commentary subtitled "The political rhetoric of the country must be changed to prevent acts of domestic terrorism." The home page of the Washington Post offered this headline to its story about the shooting: "Rampage Casts Grim Light on U.S. Political Discord." The lead spokesman for the anti-inflammatory movement, however, was Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, whose jurisdiction includes Tucson. Said Dupnik at a Jan. 8 press conference in answer to questions about the criminal investigation: I'd just like to say that when you look at unbalanced people, how they are—how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths, about tearing down the government, the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry. Embedded in Sheriff Dupnik's ad hoc wisdom were several assumptions. First, that strident, anti-government political views can be easily categorized as vitriolic, bigoted, and prejudicial. Second, that those voicing strident political views are guilty of issuing Manchurian Candidate-style instructions to commit murder and mayhem to the "unbalanced." Third, that the Tucson shooter was inspired to kill by political debate or by Sarah Palin's "target" map or other inflammatory outbursts. Fourth, that we should calibrate our political speech in such a manner that we do not awaken the Manchurian candidates among us. And, fifth, that it's a cop's role to set the proper dimensions of our political debate. Hey, Dupnik, if you've got spare time on your hands, go write somebody a ticket. Sheriff Dupnik's political sermon came before any conclusive or even circumstantial proof had been offered that the shooter had been incited by anything except the gas music from Jupiter playing inside his head. For as long as I've been alive, crosshairs and bull's-eyes have been an accepted part of the graphical lexicon when it comes to political debates. Such "inflammatory" words as targeting, attacking, destroying, blasting, crushing, burying, knee-capping, and others have similarly guided political thought and action. Not once have the use of these images or words tempted me or anybody else I know to kill. I've listened to, read—and even written!—vicious attacks on government without reaching for my gun. I've even gotten angry, for goodness' sake, without coming close to assassinating a politician or a judge. From what I can tell, I'm not an outlier. Only the tiniest handful of people—most of whom are already behind bars, in psychiatric institutions, or on psycho-meds—can be driven to kill by political whispers or shouts. Asking us to forever hold our tongues lest we awake their deeper demons infantilizes and neuters us and makes politicians no safer. Alex Massie: So apparently a pretty stupid Sarah Palin poster from last year in which gunsights were slapped over 20 districts carried by John McCain from which the Democratic incumbent had voted for Obamacare, is now to be considered the inspiration for this atrocity. Mrs Palin has some influence, but let's not get carried away. For what it's worth – and readers know that I'm hardly her greatest fan – I do not think she is very much more responsible for this abomination than Jodie Foster was for John Hinckley's attempt to murder Ronald Reagan. In any case, Palin's poster was only a souped-up version of a campaign trope that both parties have been happy to employ in the past. (That said, Palin Presidential Futures, already worth shorting, took another dive yesterday.) But the sordid temptations of politics are such that people who argue there's little sensible connection between Hollywood "violence" and real-world violence now suddenly insist that it just takes a silly poster and plenty of over-heated rhetoric to inspire America's Top Kooks to come out of the closet, all guns blazing. And of course the reverse is also true: people happy to blame Grand Theft Auto for just about anything now insist there's no connection at all between the tone of political discourse ("Second Amendment Solutions!") and some nut taking these notions just a little bit too seriously. Clearly, things are a little more complicated than that. While you cannot legislate for lunatics there's also little need to give them any encouragement. But the more we learn about Jared Loughner the more it seems probable – at this stage – that he's the kind of mentally unstable person who neither needed nor took any inspiration from Palin or the Tea Party or anything other than powerful fantasies that were his own creation. And this too is normal. Political violence of this type is almost definitionally unhinged but it's striking how rare it turns out to be the case that the perpetrators can be fitted into one neat political profile or another. And even when they can their targets are frequently so at odds with the meaning of their supposed "philosophy" that trying to "make sense" of such matters becomes an even more frustrating task. Anyway, we may think these are unusually turbulent times, fanned by unusual quantities of cheap and phoney populism, scaremongering and hysteria but this is not in fact the case. 'Twas ever thus and the 1960s offer a perspective that might be worth looking at if only, despite all the huffing and puffing, to appreciate how calm and at peace America is these days. Remember McKinley and Garfield too, if you want to go still further back. America ain't tearing itself apart these days, no matter how much Paul Krugman tries to persuade you it must be. The paranoid style has rarely lacked followers and, just as significantly, the centre has also always had a healthy paranoia of its own. Sometimes, as is the case today or in the aftermath of any other act of grim violence, this will seem unusually plausible. Most of the time, however, the scare stories about a new era of Militiamen or whatever are seriously over-cooked. The temper of these American times – despite what you will read everywhere today and tomorrow – is not unusually rebarbative or even uncommonly obtuse. (What might be said, mind you, is that the level of rhetoric is out of proportion to the stakes involved in the political game these days.) The fact of the matter is that a country of 300 million people cannot help but be generously larded with oddballs, freaks, paranoids and assorted other nutters. Couple that with the American genius for self-realization and you soon begin to wonder why there isn't more politically-themed violence than is actually the case Radley Balko: We're going to hear a lot of talk in the coming days about putting an end to anti-government rhetoric. I've been listening to it all morning on the Sunday talk shows. Let's get the obvious out of the way, here: Initiating violence against government officials and politicians is wrongheaded, immoral, futile, and counterproductive to any anti-government cause. As is encouraging or praising others who do. I ban anyone who engages in that kind of talk here. But it's worth remembering that the government initiates violence against its own citizens every day in this country, citizens who pose no threat or harm to anyone else. The particular policy that leads to the sort of violence you see in these videos is supported by nearly all of the politicians and pundits decrying anti-government rhetoric on the news channels this morning. (It's also supported by Sarah Palin, many Tea Party leaders, and other figures on the right that politicians and pundits are shaming this weekend.) I hope Rep. Giffords—and everyone wounded yesterday—makes a full recovery. It's particularly tragic that she was shot while doing exactly what we want elected officials to do—she was making herself available to the people she serves. And of course we should mourn the people senselessly murdered yesterday, government employees and otherwise: U.S. District Judge John Roll, Dorothy Murray, Dorwin Stoddard, nine-year-old Christina Green, Phyllis Scheck, and Gabe Zimmerman. That said, I long for the day that our political and media figures get as indignant about innocent Americans killed by their own government—killed in fact, as a direct and foreseeable consequence of official government policy that nearly all of those leaders support—as they are about a government official who was targeted by a clearly sick and deranged young man. What happened this weekend is not, by any means, a reason to shunt anti-government protest, even angry anti-government protest, out of the sphere of acceptable debate. The government still engages in plenty of acts and policies—including one-sided violence against its own citizens—that are well worth our anger, protest, and condemnation. Jonathan Martin in Politico Keach Hagey in Politico Nick Gillespie at Reason: There's no question that the GOP and its proponents are more than ready to play a similar game. Any moral lapse by a Democrat, for instance, is an ethical rot that stems directly from the malefactor's stance on the minimum wage or Don't Ask Don't Tell, say, while hypocrites such as Sen. Larry Craig and Tom DeLay are ethical one-offs. The most-unbelievable response in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks was longterm GOP activist Jerry Falwell's announcement on Pat Robertson's TV network that gays and women wearing pants etc. were responsible for radical Islamists killing 3,000 people (even more sadly, years after Falwell apologized for his self-evidently retarded statement, conservative writer Dinesh D'Souza blew out the thesis into a full-length book). I'm not trying to be "fair and balanced" here by bringing up GOP stupidity; I'm trying to point out that we're in a decade of this sort craptastic instantaneous spin that latches on to everything in its path. I say this as someone who was fingered as broadly responsible for the culture that produced "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh. Readers of this site know I'm no Sarah Palin fan, but to accuse her of complicity in the murderous spree of a clearly insane person is one of the main reasons that partisan political parties are losing market share. I had myself tweeted that blaming Palin for Jared Loughner's mass killing would be like blaming J.D. Salinger for Mark David Chapman shooting John Lennon (and as Jesse Walker pointed out, in Chapman's case, at least we could be sure Chapman had read Salinger). Given Loughner's fixation on grammar and the supposed lack of literacy evinced by most Americans, maybe William Safire and S.I. Hayakawa should be held responsible. Like Matt Welch and Jack Shafer, I don't think that today's political rhetoric is particularly overheated or vitriolic and, even if it were, I don't think that would be a problem. I suspect that most people are like me in that they respond to folks who actually believe something and are willing to fight for it when it comes to a particular political issue. I don't like bipartisanship, which usually means that all of us get screwed, but it's easy enough to respect someone you virulently disagree with if you think they are arguing in good faith. The problem isn't with the current moment's rhetoric, it's with the goddamn politicization of every goddamn thing not even for a higher purpose or broader fight but for the cheapest moment-by-moment partisan advantage. Whether on the left or on the right, there's a totalist mentality that everything can and should be explained first and foremost as to whether it helps or hurt the party of choice. That sort of clearly calculated punditry helps explain one of last week's other big stories, which is how both the Dems and the GOP have really bad brand loyalty these days. In its most recent survey of political self-identification, Gallup found that the Dems were at their lowest point in 22 years and that the GOP remains stuck below the one-third mark. The affiliation that has the highest marks for the past couple of decades on average and is growing now is independent. Faced with the way that the major parties and their partisans try to bend every news story, trend, box office hit or bomb, you name it, whether truly horrific (as Saturday's shooting was) or totally banal, is it any wonder that fewer people want to be affiliated with the Dems and Reps? This is a long-term trend. Indeed, Harris Poll numbers that stretch back to the late '60s show the same trend: Fewer and few folks want to view themselves as Democrats and the GOP has never been popular (even though far more people consider themselves "conservative" than "liberal"). And note what Gallup are Harris are talking about there is not party registration. It's identification and self-affiliation; how you see yourself. It's a cultural identity. Paul Krugman at The New York Times Ross Douthat at The New York Times Tom Maguire on Krugman At 2:00 a.m. on Saturday—about eight hours before he allegedly killed six people and wounded 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), in Tucson—Jared Lee Loughner phoned an old and close friend with whom he had gone to high school and college. The friend, Bryce Tierney, was up late watching TV, but he didn't answer the call. When he later checked his voice mail, he heard a simple message from Loughner: "Hey man, it's Jared. Me and you had good times. Peace out. Later." That was it. But later in the day, when Tierney first heard about the Tucson massacre, he had a sickening feeling: "They hadn't released the name, but I said, 'Holy shit, I think it's Jared that did it.'" Tierney tells Mother Jones in an exclusive interview that Loughner held a years-long grudge against Giffords and had repeatedly derided her as a "fake." Loughner's animus toward Giffords intensified after he attended one of her campaign events and she did not, in his view, sufficiently answer a question he had posed, Tierney says. He also describes Loughner as being obsessed with "lucid dreaming"—that is, the idea that conscious dreams are an alternative reality that a person can inhabit and control—and says Loughner became "more interested in this world than our reality." Tierney adds, "I saw his dream journal once. That's the golden piece of evidence. You want to know what goes on in Jared Loughner's mind, there's a dream journal that will tell you everything." Peter Beinart at Daily Beast: Liberals should stop acting like the Tea Party is guilty of inciting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' shooting until proven innocent. That's unfair. If someone finds evidence that violent anti-government, or anti-democratic, rhetoric helped trigger Jared Lee Loughner's shooting spree, then the people making those statements should pay with their political careers. But so far, at least, there is no such evidence. Of course, Sarah Palin should stop using hunting metaphors to discuss her political opponents. She should stop doing that, and a dozen other idiotic things. But just as Tea Partiers are wrong to promiscuously throw around terms like "communist" and "death panels," liberals should avoid promiscuously accusing people of being accessories to attempted murder. That's too serious a charge to throw around unless you have the goods. I want Barack Obama to derail the congressional Republicans as much as anyone. But not this way. The Giffords shooting doesn't prove that Sarah Palin has blood on her hands. What it does prove is that when it comes to terrorism, people like Sarah Palin have a serious blind spot. On the political right, and at times even the political center, there is a casual assumption—so taken for granted that it is rarely even spoken—that the only terrorist threat America faces is from jihadist Islam. There was a lot of talk a couple of weeks back, you'll remember, about a terrorist attack during the holiday season. And there's been a lot of talk in the last couple of years about the threat of homegrown terrorists. Well, we've just experienced a terrorist attack over the holiday season, and it was indeed homegrown. Had the shooters' name been Abdul Mohammed, you'd be hearing the familiar drumbeat about the need for profiling and the pathologies of Islam. But since his name was Jared Lee Loughner, he gets called "mentally unstable"; the word "terrorist" rarely comes up. When are we going to acknowledge that good old-fashioned white Americans are every bit as capable of killing civilians for a political cause as people with brown skin who pray to Allah? There's a tradition here. Historically, American elites, especially conservative American elites, have tended to reserve the term "terrorism" for political violence committed by foreigners. In the early 20th century, for instance, there was enormous fear, even hysteria, about the terrorist threat from anarchist and communist immigrants from Eastern or Southern Europe, people like Sacco and Vanzetti. In the aftermath of World War I, large numbers of immigrant radicals were arrested and deported. Nothing similar happened to members of the white, protestant Ku Klux Klan, even though its violence was more widespread. Similarly today, the media spends the Christmas season worrying how another attack by radical Muslims might undermine President Obama's national-security credentials. But when Jared Lee Loughner shoots 20 people at a Safeway, barely anyone even comments on what it says about the president's anti-terror bona fides. And yet Loughner's attack is, to a significant degree, what American terror looks like. Obviously, jihadists have committed their share of terrorism on American soil in the last couple of decades—from the attempted bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 to the 9/11 attacks to Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan's murder of 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. But there have been at least as many attacks by white Americans angry at their own government or society. For almost two decades, culminating in 1995, Unabomber Ted Kaczynski sent mail bombs to people he considered complicit in industrial America's assault on nature. (A surprising amount of recent American terrorism comes from militant environmentalists.) That same year, Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the second-largest recent terrorist attack on U.S. soil after 9/11. In 1996, Eric Rudolph bombed the Atlanta Olympics to protest abortion and international socialism. According to the FBI, opposition to abortion also played a role in the 2001 anthrax attacks (you know, the ones Dick Cheney were sure had been masterminded by Saddam Hussein). In 2009, Wichita, Kansas, abortion doctor George Tiller was murdered. (He had already been shot once, and his clinic had been bombed.) That same year octogenarian neo-Nazi James Wenneker von Brunn shot a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Last February, a man angry at the federal government flew a small plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas. Instapundit at The Wall Street Journal None of this, of course, will ease the suffering of Giffords or her family, nor of any of the other individuals and families directly affected by this morning's slaughter. For them, the process of grieving and recovering has barely begun. Loughner's shooting might've been motivated by mental illness, but the people in that parking lot were motivated by democracy: It was a meeting between a congressional representative and those she represents. They were attacked for being good citizens, and nothing can ever put that right. But one way that people might pay tribute is to follow their example and attend the next meeting held by their representative. It is so easy and safe to participate in the American political system that we sometimes take doing so for granted. Today was a horrifying look into a world in which that isn't so, and it should leave us with renewed appreciation for, and determination to protect, the world we have. On this, Giffords was way ahead of us: When the 112th session of the House of Representatives convened to read the Constitution earlier this week, she chose to read the section guaranteeing Americans the right "peaceably to assemble." Filed under Crime, Political Figures, Politics Tagged as Alex Massie, Crime, Daily Beast, Ezra Klein, Instapundit, Jack Shafer, James Fallows, Jonathan Martin, Keach Hagey, Michelle Malkin, Mother Jones, New York Times, Nick Baumann, Nick Gillespie, Paul Krugman, Peter Beinart, Political Figures, Politico, Politics, Radley Balko, Reason, Ross Douthat, Slate, Tom Maguire, Wall Street Journal $100 Billion Here And $100 Billion There, Here A $100 Billion, There A $100 Billion, Everywhere A $100 Billion Jackie Calmes at NYT: Many people knowledgeable about the federal budget said House Republicans could not keep their campaign promise to cut $100 billion from domestic spending in a single year. Now it appears that Republicans agree. As they prepare to take power on Wednesday, Republican leaders are scaling back that number by as much as half, aides say, because the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, will be nearly half over before spending cuts could become law. While House Republicans were never expected to succeed in enacting cuts of that scale, given opposition in the Senate from the Democratic majority and some Republicans, and from President Obama, a House vote would put potentially vulnerable Republican lawmakers on record supporting deep reductions of up to 30 percent in education, research, law enforcement, transportation and more. Now aides say that the $100 billion figure was hypothetical, and that the objective is to get annual spending for programs other than those for the military, veterans and domestic security back to the levels of 2008, before Democrats approved stimulus spending to end the recession. Yet "A Pledge to America," the manifesto House Republicans published last September, included the promise, "We will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving us at least $100 billion in the first year alone." Allah Pundit: Their excuse will be that the fiscal year, which began on October 1, will already be almost half over by the time the budgetary resolution that was passed during the lame duck runs out in March. That means they'll only have seven months to work with this fiscal year; when they said they'd cut $100 billion, they meant the first full fiscal year that they're in charge. But wait, you say! Shouldn't it be fairly easy to find $100 billion to cut in an annual budget that exceeds $3.5 trillion? Well, yes — except that the GOP's limiting itself to cutting discretionary spending (Social Security and Medicare are, as ever, completely off-limits) and even within discretionary spending they refuse to touch "security" budgets, i.e. Defense and Homeland Security. That leaves just $500 billion or so for this year to play with, and since, as Rich Lowry noted earlier at the Corner, a good chunk of that will already have been spent by the time the continuing resolution expires in the spring, they'd have to make huge cuts to what's left in order to get to $100 billion in savings overall. The point to ponder here, I think, is that even the highly touted $100 billion figure is just a small fraction of last year's deficit. Even with a tea-party Congress, even with a gigantic pool of expenditures to cut from, political reality is such that not only can't they reach that modest, largely symbolic target in seven months, they'll actually have to move heaven and earth during the next full fiscal year to get Obama and the Senate Democrats to agree to it. This is what we've been reduced to — the suspense of wondering whether the new Republican majority can achieve cuts that will barely make a dent in our annual budget shortfall. Hugely depressing. Hugely depressing, but hopefully hugely instructive as well. The pledge to cut $100 billion was always more of a symbolic sop to the Tea Parties than a real step toward fiscal discipline. The question for the new Republican majority has always been whether it will make any serious progress on entitlement reform and tax reform, not whether it will find inevitably-marginal ways to trim discretionary spending. You can't have fiscal responsibility if you keep entitlements, tax expenditures and defense spending off the table, and the fact that these realities have been exposed in the very first week of G.O.P. control, thanks to the peculiarities of the fiscal calendar, is probably good news for fiscal conservatism. The sooner we get certain fond illusions out of the way, the better. Peter Suderman at Reason: I'm somewhat sympathetic to the political reality of the situation; $100 billion in cuts would have been a tall order. But the excuses given here seem designed to test one's sympathy. Are all figures attached to campaign promises now potentially hypothetical? Were Republicans not aware of the timing of the fiscal year when making the $100 billion promise? At least the feeling isn't universal: GOP Senator-elect Rand Paul has already responded to the article by saying that $50 billion in cuts isn't enough. Robert Stacy McCain: I'm not sure that anyone will be outraged over this. The important thing is for Congress to move in the right direction and stop the kind of out-of-control deficit spending by which Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats increased the national debt by $5.2 trillion in four years.Excerpts from Speaker Boehner's opening speech today: "The American people have humbled us. They have refreshed our memories as to just how temporary the privilege to serve is. They have reminded us that everything here is on loan from them. That includes this gavel, which I accept cheerfully and gratefully, knowing I am but its caretaker. After all, this is the people's House. This is their Congress. It's about them, not us. What they want is a government that is honest, accountable and responsive to their needs. A government that respects individual liberty, honors our heritage, and bows before the public it serves." That's the written text, which doesn't include the part where he gets all choked up and starts crying. (It's OK, Mr. Speaker, we like the crying.) Boehner's speech — crying and all — will be livestreamed. Oh, I see. Republican pledges are "hypothetical" promises. The Pledge to America must have included asterisks and disclaimers in font so small, the country missed the caveats. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Budget Committee, said, "I think they woke up to the reality that this will have a direct negative impact on people's lives…. You know, it's easy to talk about these things in the abstract. It's another thing when you start taking away people's college loans and Pell Grants or cutting early education programs." To be sure, I'm delighted Republicans aren't actually going to pursue this indefensible goal. When political leaders start breaking high-profile promises right out of the gate, it's generally not a positive development, but in this case, we're all better off with GOP leaders having changed their minds. Of course, this doesn't change the fact that Republicans never should have made this promise to begin with, and shouldn't have put themselves in a position in which they're breaking their own pledge immediately after taking office. Jonathan Chait at TNR: The basic situation is that you have a tiny handful of principled conservatives who genuinely want to cut the size of actual government programs. But that accounts for a tiny slice of the general opposition to government programs, which is rooted in misperceptions about what government spends money on alongside strong support for the programs that actually exist. Government programs are popular. Some of them serve little purpose (think farm subsidies) but those generally exist precisely because they have powerful constituencies. Filed under Conservative Movement, Economics, Politics Tagged as Allah Pundit, Conservative Movement, Economics, Jackie Calmes, Jonathan Chait, New York Times, Peter Suderman, Politics, Reason, Robert Stacy McCain, Ross Douthat, Steve Benen, The New Republic There's Something About Mittens David Frum at Frum Forum: There is an old joke that Wagner's music is not as bad as it sounds. Something similar can be said of Romney's campaign economics. Concealed within the triangulation are some very smart ideas. I remain convinced: this man could be a very good conservative president – if conservatives will permit it. Mickey Kaus at Newsweek I hear similar things from Romney supporters (or people trying to convince themselves to be Romney supporters) with remarkable frequency. Yes, the argument runs, Romney seems serially insincere, and nearly every position he stakes out comes across as a blatant (and often inconsistent-looking) pander to a conservative electorate that regards him with suspicion. But there are good ideas concealed within the pandering — you just have to know where to look! And in your heart, you know he's a smart guy who'd make a solid center-right president — wonkish, detail-oriented, sensible on policy, all the rest of it. He's just a prisoner of the process! And heck, maybe his transparent insincerity is even a virtue: It shows that try as he might, he can't give himself over completely to the carnival of a primary campaign, because he's fundamentally too sober and serious to be a carnival barker. (He's no Palin, is the implication …) Even when he's mid-pander, you always know that he knows that it's all just a freak show, and you can always sense that he'd rather be at a policy seminar somewhere, instead of just forking red meat. There's a highly competent chief executive trapped inside his campaign persona, in other words, and the only way to liberate him is to put him in the White House! This is an … unusual argument. That doesn't mean it's wrong: There were probably people who said the same thing about George H.W. Bush during his lackluster 1988 race — and he did turn out to be a reasonably good president, all things considered. But there's still an element of absurdity about it. I believe that Mitt Romney is a more serious person, and would probably be a better president, than his campaign style suggests. But issue by issue, policy by policy, that same campaign style makes it awfully hard to figure out where he would actually stand when the pandering stops and the governing begins. In the last couple years, Romney has taken high-profile positions that I agree with (opposing the G.M. bailout), high-profile positions that I disagree with (opposing the START Treaty), and high-profile positions on issues I'm uncertain about (the current tax deal). But because everything he does feels like a pander, I don't know where he really stands on any of them. And freak show or no freak show, base or no base, that's no way to run for president. Frum responds to Douthat: I sometimes imagine that Romney approaches politics in the same spirit that the CEO of Darden Restaurants approaches cuisine. Darden owns Olive Garden, Longhorn steakhouses, and Red Lobster among other chains. Now suppose that Darden's data show a decline in demand for mid-priced steak restaurants and a rising response to Italian family dining. Suppose they convert some of their Longhorn outlets to Olive Gardens. Is that "flip-flopping"? Or is that giving people what they want for their money? Likewise, the "pro-choice" concept met public demand so long as Romney Inc. was a Boston-based senatorship and governorship-seeking enterprise. But now Romney Inc. is expanding to a national brand, with important new growth opportunities in Iowa and South Carolina. A new concept is accordingly required to serve these new markets. Again: this is not flip-flopping. It is customer service. You may say: But what does Romney think on the inside? Which of his positions is the "real" Romney? I'd answer that question with another question. Suppose an Olive Garden customer returns to the kitchen a plate of fettuccine alfredo, complaining the pasta is overcooked. What should the manager do? Say "I disagree"? Explain that it's a core conviction to cook pasta to a certain specified number of minutes and seconds, and if the customer doesn't like it, she's welcome to take her patronage elsewhere? No! It doesn't matter what the manager "really" thinks. What matters is satisfying each and every customer who walks through the door to the very best of the manager's ability. Ross Douthat fails to understand that meeting customer expectations is itself a principle! I enjoyed this analogy, but it doesn't work. The presidency carries a four-year lock-in, while the Olive Garden doesn't. Put it this way: If going to the Olive Garden meant only eating at the Olive Garden for the next four years, it'd be a real problem if they lured you in with pasta and breadsticks and then, three months later, turned the place into a hookah bar that served only salmon burgers. Some people might find that to be an improvement, and some people might not, but that's not the point: A fishy hookah bar isn't what you signed up for. Frum is right that customer service can be a principle in and of itself. And I'd be really interested to see a presidential candidate promise to better represent the people by explicitly using polls to steer his or her presidency. But that's not what Romney is promising. He's promising to do certain things, and uphold certain values, when in office. If he's lying about that, it's not customer service. It's betrayal yoked to a four-year contract. Ezra Klein points out some problems with this line of thought. But I think the real issue here has to do with character. The executives of Darden Restaurants are basically trying to make money. And so are the owners of the firm. And that's fine. Most of us aren't so distressed by the idea that the firm is, on some level, a soulless money-making machine. But on this view, Romney is . . . what? A soulless power-seeking machine? To a large extent our political system is already biased toward promoting power-crazed sociopaths into positions of authority. The public's aversion to people who appear to have this quality to a greater extent than other high-profile politicians seems very understandable to me. Meanwhile, at the end of the day Ross Douthat is right to say that this still leaves you necessarily puzzled by the question of what a Romney Administration would actually do. Is it so crazy for political activists and pundits to be curious about this? Something that helps make sense of Romney's positioning is its largely reactive quality. Despite his past claims that he understands leadership, he never leads on any issue. During the presidential campaign, Romney endorsed granting Detroit a huge subsidy when he thought it might help him in the Michigan primary. Later the same year, he fiercely opposed bailing out Detroit, because he perceived that support for the auto industry was not useful to him. He supported the TARP when that was the default Republican leadership position to take, and has since become a fierce critic of the management of the TARP once he realized that being identified as pro-TARP was politically toxic. The candidate who famously said that he "liked mandates" and has endorsed a mandate as the "conservative position" when he wanted to brag about his achievements cannot abide the individual mandate when it positions him against the health care bill. In other words, he has the ability to position himself for short-term political advantage rather well, but seems to have no notion of how to take one position–whether he "really" believes it or not–and stand by it for more than a year or so if there is some brief advantage to be had in changing positions in the meantime. This is what creates the impression that he has no enduring goal or vision other than the acquisition of political office and influence. All the while, he has the insufferable habit of embracing each and every new position with the zeal of a convert, convinced that he now has the moral authority to denounce anyone who disagrees, and then casually abandoning or neglecting the issue when something else shiny catches his attention. My guess is that Romney doesn't "really" have a stand on any of these issues, but what is annoying is not simply Romney's lack of principle. Many and possibly most politicians are not that deeply committed to principles, and that's to be expected, but Romney attaches a degree of smugness and sanctimony to the exercise that is genuinely obnoxious. What should be bothersome to his supporters is that his pandering is so impermanent and fleeting that he inspires no confidence that he will be in the same place a year or two from now. Very simply, he can't be counted on and can't be trusted. Jonathan Cohn at TNR: You may not believe this, but I know how Douthat and Frum feel. Notwithstanding my liberal beliefs and general affinity for Democratic politicians, I once had very high hopes for Romney as a presidential candidate. He had raw intelligence and management acumen, as his tenure at Bain Consulting demonstrated. In Massachusetts politics, he'd staked out moderate positions, pledging not to interfere with a woman's right to abortion (in part because a family friend had died after an illegal procedure) and criticizing conservatives like Jesse Helms and Pat Robertson in interviews with gay community newspapers. Most important of all, Romney had accomplished something meaningful in office, signing the Massachusetts health care reforms. In a profile for TNR, here's how I described that episode: Romney's subsequent work on the health care bill showcased his best qualities–reminiscent, in many ways, of his days at Bain. For advice, he tapped some of the state's top minds on health–even those, like MIT's Jonathan Gruber, who had traditionally advised Democrats. For political support, he reached out to traditional champions of expanded coverage, such as former House member John McDonough, turning these would-be adversaries into allies. And, above all, he went into negotiations with an open mind. The result was a bill that had enough support to get all the way through the legislative process. Romney ended up signing the bill in a grand public ceremony on the steps of Fanueil Hall. Standing at his sidewas his old nemesis, Ted Kennedy–who, it turns out, had worked closely with Romney on sealing the deal. "I'm a partisan Democrat, and, in a lot of ways, I think he was a terrible governor," says one high-ranking legislative staffer who worked on the measure."But I do give him credit for participating in the health care debate and helping to advance that agenda." All of this made me think that Romney was the heir to the tradition of moderate Republicanism that his father, former Michigan Governor George Romney, had once championed. During the 1960s, the elder Romney had fought the good fight against the Republicans' Goldwater wing, urging the party to distance itself from John Birchers and other conservative extremists. The elder Romney never made it as a presidential candidate but maybe the younger Romney would. Mitt wouldn't be getting my vote, obviously: He was still pretty conservative, particularly on economic issues. But I thought his problem-solving instincts and apparently sincere interest in public service would serve him well and that, when it was all over, he might end up doing good things in office. But by early 2007, when I began the reporting of my profile, Romney was in full pander mode–saying whatever it took to win over the Republican base, even if that meant campaigning as precisely the sort of conservative ideologue his father had once disdained: …if any one moment epitomized the new Mitt Romney, it was his speech before the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) in February. There, gathered in one place, were the intellectual and ideological heirs to the conservative movement that first captured control of the Republican Party in the 1960s. But Mitt Romney had not come to carry on his father's fight against the right wing. He had come, instead, to do what every other aspiring Republican presidential nominee was doing: beg for the group's approval. After being introduced by Grover Norquist, the conservative activist perhaps most responsible for the radical makeover of government economic policy in the last decade, Romney began his speech by suggesting it was a "good thing" the crowd would soon hear from Ann Coulter, who was next on the speaking agenda. From there, he fed the crowd red meat–attacking Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, and the press; promising to fight the liberal social agenda, to close U.S.borders, and to never, ever raise taxes. "This is not the time for us to shrink from conservative principles," Romney thundered. "It is time for us to stand in strength." Romney's latest panders make me wonder not if those of us who believed in Romney were wrong about him from the beginning. After all, it was Ted Kennedy, back in 1996, who first zeroed in on Romney inconsistencies on abortion with the devastating line: "He's not pro-choice, he's not anti-choice. He's multiple choice." Mori Dinauer at Tapped: I think Ross Douthat is essentially correct when he says that Mitt Romney's policy dexterity is so extreme that it renders judgment on his hypothetical presidential administration all but futile. I used to think that because Romney will bend in any direction he could be reasoned with, and thus could be a reasonable president. Not any more. The fact that we have no idea what he would do strongly suggests that he is no longer qualified for the office in the first place. Cynthia Tucker: Mitt, you old chameleon, you Tagged as Andrew Sullivan, Cynthia Tucker, Daniel Larison, David Frum, Ezra Klein, FrumForum, Jonathan Cohn, Matthew Yglesias, Mickey Kaus, Mori Dinauer, Newsweek, Political Figures, Ross Douthat, The American Prospect, The New Republic The Washington Wizards Drink Our Milkshake Tyler Cowen in The American Interest: […] All that said, income inequality does matter—for both politics and the economy. To see how, we must distinguish between inequality itself and what causes it. But first let's review the trends in more detail. The numbers are clear: Income inequality has been rising in the United States, especially at the very top. The data show a big difference between two quite separate issues, namely income growth at the very top of the distribution and greater inequality throughout the distribution. The first trend is much more pronounced than the second, although the two are often confused. When it comes to the first trend, the share of pre-tax income earned by the richest 1 percent of earners has increased from about 8 percent in 1974 to more than 18 percent in 2007. Furthermore, the richest 0.01 percent (the 15,000 or so richest families) had a share of less than 1 percent in 1974 but more than 6 percent of national income in 2007. As noted, those figures are from pre-tax income, so don't look to the George W. Bush tax cuts to explain the pattern. Furthermore, these gains have been sustained and have evolved over many years, rather than coming in one or two small bursts between 1974 and today.1 These numbers have been challenged on the grounds that, since various tax reforms have kicked in, individuals now receive their incomes in different and harder to measure ways, namely through corporate forms, stock options and fringe benefits. Caution is in order, but the overall trend seems robust. Similar broad patterns are indicated by different sources, such as studies of executive compensation. Anecdotal observation suggests extreme and unprecedented returns earned by investment bankers, fired CEOs, J.K. Rowling and Tiger Woods. At the same time, wage growth for the median earner has slowed since 1973. But that slower wage growth has afflicted large numbers of Americans, and it is conceptually distinct from the higher relative share of top income earners. For instance, if you take the 1979–2005 period, the average incomes of the bottom fifth of households increased only 6 percent while the incomes of the middle quintile rose by 21 percent. That's a widening of the spread of incomes, but it's not so drastic compared to the explosive gains at the very top. The broader change in income distribution, the one occurring beneath the very top earners, can be deconstructed in a manner that makes nearly all of it look harmless. For instance, there is usually greater inequality of income among both older people and the more highly educated, if only because there is more time and more room for fortunes to vary. Since America is becoming both older and more highly educated, our measured income inequality will increase pretty much by demographic fiat. Economist Thomas Lemieux at the University of British Columbia estimates that these demographic effects explain three-quarters of the observed rise in income inequality for men, and even more for women.2 Attacking the problem from a different angle, other economists are challenging whether there is much growth in inequality at all below the super-rich. For instance, real incomes are measured using a common price index, yet poorer people are more likely to shop at discount outlets like Wal-Mart, which have seen big price drops over the past twenty years.3 Once we take this behavior into account, it is unclear whether the real income gaps between the poor and middle class have been widening much at all. Robert J. Gordon, an economist from Northwestern University who is hardly known as a right-wing apologist, wrote in a recent paper that "there was no increase of inequality after 1993 in the bottom 99 percent of the population", and that whatever overall change there was "can be entirely explained by the behavior of income in the top 1 percent."4 And so we come again to the gains of the top earners, clearly the big story told by the data. It's worth noting that over this same period of time, inequality of work hours increased too. The top earners worked a lot more and most other Americans worked somewhat less. That's another reason why high earners don't occasion more resentment: Many people understand how hard they have to work to get there. It also seems that most of the income gains of the top earners were related to performance pay—bonuses, in other words—and not wildly out-of-whack yearly salaries.5 It is also the case that any society with a lot of "threshold earners" is likely to experience growing income inequality. A threshold earner is someone who seeks to earn a certain amount of money and no more. If wages go up, that person will respond by seeking less work or by working less hard or less often. That person simply wants to "get by" in terms of absolute earning power in order to experience other gains in the form of leisure—whether spending time with friends and family, walking in the woods and so on. Luck aside, that person's income will never rise much above the threshold. It's not obvious what causes the percentage of threshold earners to rise or fall, but it seems reasonable to suppose that the more single-occupancy households there are, the more threshold earners there will be, since a major incentive for earning money is to use it to take care of other people with whom one lives. For a variety of reasons, single-occupancy households in the United States are at an all-time high. There are also a growing number of late odyssey years graduate students who try to cover their own expenses but otherwise devote their time to study. If the percentage of threshold earners rises for whatever reasons, however, the aggregate gap between them and the more financially ambitious will widen. There is nothing morally or practically wrong with an increase in inequality from a source such as that. If we are looking for objectionable problems in the top 1 percent of income earners, much of it boils down to finance and activities related to financial markets. And to be sure, the high incomes in finance should give us all pause. The first factor driving high returns is sometimes called by practitioners "going short on volatility." Sometimes it is called "negative skewness." In plain English, this means that some investors opt for a strategy of betting against big, unexpected moves in market prices. Most of the time investors will do well by this strategy, since big, unexpected moves are outliers by definition. Traders will earn above-average returns in good times. In bad times they won't suffer fully when catastrophic returns come in, as sooner or later is bound to happen, because the downside of these bets is partly socialized onto the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and, of course, the taxpayers and the unemployed. To understand how this strategy works, consider an example from sports betting. The NBA's Washington Wizards are a perennially hapless team that rarely gets beyond the first round of the playoffs, if they make the playoffs at all. This year the odds of the Wizards winning the NBA title will likely clock in at longer than a hundred to one. I could, as a gambling strategy, bet against the Wizards and other low-quality teams each year. Most years I would earn a decent profit, and it would feel like I was earning money for virtually nothing. The Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics or some other quality team would win the title again and I would collect some surplus from my bets. For many years I would earn excess returns relative to the market as a whole. Yet such bets are not wise over the long run. Every now and then a surprise team does win the title and in those years I would lose a huge amount of money. Even the Washington Wizards (under their previous name, the Capital Bullets) won the title in 1977–78 despite compiling a so-so 44–38 record during the regular season, by marching through the playoffs in spectacular fashion. So if you bet against unlikely events, most of the time you will look smart and have the money to validate the appearance. Periodically, however, you will look very bad. Does that kind of pattern sound familiar? It happens in finance, too. Betting against a big decline in home prices is analogous to betting against the Wizards. Every now and then such a bet will blow up in your face, though in most years that trading activity will generate above-average profits and big bonuses for the traders and CEOs. To this mix we can add the fact that many money managers are investing other people's money. If you plan to stay with an investment bank for ten years or less, most of the people playing this investing strategy will make out very well most of the time. Everyone's time horizon is a bit limited and you will bring in some nice years of extra returns and reap nice bonuses. And let's say the whole thing does blow up in your face? What's the worst that can happen? Your bosses fire you, but you will still have millions in the bank and that MBA from Harvard or Wharton. For the people actually investing the money, there's barely any downside risk other than having to quit the party early. Furthermore, if everyone else made more or less the same mistake (very surprising major events, such as a busted housing market, affect virtually everybody), you're hardly disgraced. You might even get rehired at another investment bank, or maybe a hedge fund, within months or even weeks. Moreover, smart shareholders will acquiesce to or even encourage these gambles. They gain on the upside, while the downside, past the point of bankruptcy, is borne by the firm's creditors. And will the bondholders object? Well, they might have a difficult time monitoring the internal trading operations of financial institutions. Of course, the firm's trading book cannot be open to competitors, and that means it cannot be open to bondholders (or even most shareholders) either. So what, exactly, will they have in hand to object to? Perhaps more important, government bailouts minimize the damage to creditors on the downside. Neither the Treasury nor the Fed allowed creditors to take any losses from the collapse of the major banks during the financial crisis. The U.S. government guaranteed these loans, either explicitly or implicitly. Guaranteeing the debt also encourages equity holders to take more risk. While current bailouts have not in general maintained equity values, and while share prices have often fallen to near zero following the bust of a major bank, the bailouts still give the bank a lifeline. Instead of the bank being destroyed, sometimes those equity prices do climb back out of the hole. This is true of the major surviving banks in the United States, and even AIG is paying back its bailout. For better or worse, we're handing out free options on recovery, and that encourages banks to take more risk in the first place. In short, there is an unholy dynamic of short-term trading and investing, backed up by bailouts and risk reduction from the government and the Federal Reserve. This is not good. "Going short on volatility" is a dangerous strategy from a social point of view. For one thing, in so-called normal times, the finance sector attracts a big chunk of the smartest, most hard-working and most talented individuals. That represents a huge human capital opportunity cost to society and the economy at large. But more immediate and more important, it means that banks take far too many risks and go way out on a limb, often in correlated fashion. When their bets turn sour, as they did in 2007–09, everyone else pays the price. But it's interesting to read it in tandem with Cowen's earlier piece critiquing the "break up the banks" argument advanced by Simon Johnson and James Kwak, and embraced by the progressive left (along with a few libertarians and conservatives). There, Cowen argued that shrinking the banks would treat the symptoms of the bailout culture, rather than the disease: There's a different way to think about the bailouts, namely that the U.S. government stands at the center of a giant nexus of money raising, most of all to finance the U.S. government budget deficit and keep the whole show up and running. The perception at least is that our country requires the dollar as a reserve currency, requires New York City as a major banking center with major banks, and requires fully credible governmental guarantees behind every Treasury auction and requires liquid financial markets more generally. Furthermore the international trade presence of the United States (supposedly) requires the federal government to strongly ally with major commercial interests, just as our government sides with Hollywood in trade and intellectual property disputes. To abandon banks is to send a broader message that we are in commercial and political decline and disarray, and that is hardly an acceptable way to proceed, at least not according to the standards of the real Washington consensus. … This analysis bears on one of the main policy recommendations of Johnson and Kwak, namely to break up the big banks so they cannot soil Washington with such powerful lobbying and privileges. I believe this recommendation will not achieve its stated ends and that Washington would find another way to assemble privileged financial institutions — no matter what their exact form — within its ruling coalition. Breaking up the large banks would be striking at symptoms rather than at root causes, namely the ongoing growth of political power and the reliance of that power upon an ongoing inflow of capital. If you do wish to break or limit the power of the major banks, running a balanced budget is probably the most important step we could take. It would mean that our government no longer needs to worry so much about financing its activities. This, too, seems plausible to me. But what if you wove both a balanced budget and the Johnson-Kwak bank break-up into the same agenda (as, arguably, Tom Coburn tried to do this year), simultaneously downsizing the national debt and downsizing the too-big-to-fail banks that effectively fund it? I understand that this is not the most politically realistic conceit, since it would require some sort of progressive-conservative alliance in the service of policies that (as Cowen notes) most voters reject in favor of the more appealing combination of "high government spending and relatively low taxes." But it seems like the approach that's implied by his arguments. And I wonder if it's better to advance politically unrealistic solutions, in the hopes of making them more realistic, than to give up and accept a system that's all-too-likely, in Cowen's words, to "again bring our economy to its knees" as "the price of modern society." Will Wilkinson at DiA at The Economist: I've long had the sense that folks in finance are getting spectacularly rich by somehow gaming the system, but the nature of the system is too inscrutable for me to formulate a sufficiently informed hypothesis on my own. But it's not so inscrutable to Mr Cowen. He offers what sounds to me a quite plausible story about the way the financial-regulatory-political system has been, and continues to be exploited and destabilized. "It's as if the major banks have tapped a hole in the social till and they are drinking from it with a straw," Mr Cowen writes. His account of the way strategies of "going short on volatility" both increase inequality and threaten the stability of our entire market system is too detailed to summarise here, but merits close attention. I strongly sense that some story like this one largely explains the top 1%'s dramatic separation from the rest of the income distribution. Here's Mr Cowen's bottom line: For the time being, we need to accept the possibility that the financial sector has learned how to game the American (and UK-based) system of state capitalism. It's no longer obvious that the system is stable at a macro level, and extreme income inequality at the top has been one result of that imbalance. Income inequality is a symptom, however, rather than a cause of the real problem. The root cause of income inequality, viewed in the most general terms, is extreme human ingenuity, albeit of a perverse kind. That is why it is so hard to control. Surely there is some kind of structural injustice here. But it's just terrifically hard to say where precisely it lurks and what ought to be done about it. We can easily treat symptomatic inequality through progressive redistribution, but this won't cure our deeper institutional malady. The deeper problem is that Wall Street can and continues to drink our milkshake—that there is a draining hole in the social till that has already caused our economy to collapse once—not that the banker's portions of milkshake are growing faster than ours. Ryan Avent at DiA at The Economist Mike Konczal at Rortybomb: Tyler Cowen has written an article for the American Interest titled The Inequality That Matters. It's about inequality, the financial sector and the possibility of reform. I really enjoyed the essay and recommend you check it out; I'm going to write a few critical comments. 1. The essay doesn't tackle what I think is, in one sense, the most important question – how much did a broken financial system inflate the housing bubble, especially in the United States? It's one thing if the financial sector drinks our milkshake a bit; it's another if they are creating bubbles to profit on the way up and on the way down, either by choice or by accident. The Magnetar Trade (given musical treatment above) is instructive here, where you can take informational asymmetries in the private securitization market combined with opaque pricing of CDS to pump hot money into housing that you profit on if it collapses. The analogy used, a correct one, is to the movie The Producers, but this is at the scale of hundreds of billions of dollars. Research by Adam Levitin and Susan Wachter in their paper Explaining the Housing Bubble finds that mortgage debt prices were dropping in 2004-2006 as volume was rising, which is consistent with a shift of the supply curve outward. But this supply was through private mortgage-backed securities which were both difficult to price on fundamentals and difficult to cross-compare to other instruments; the private-financial market for these MBS are thus created as complex, heterogeneity and without regulatory standards. So it's not just that finance sits at the center of some profitable things; it reorganizes the space to its own advantage, and the disadvantage of all other players. 2. The essay talks about how the financial sector goes "short on volatility", which is a bet that things won't go crazy in the short term, or a bet that takes on tail risk. As Kevin Drum mentions someone is on the other side of that bet. And what do we call a product that pays out in times of high volatility, in times when an event out of the ordinary happens? One thing to call it is "insurance." Speaking at a conceptual level, I think it is fair to say that we regulate the #$@% out of people who hang the sign "insurance" on their door, and do not for those, like AIG did, that provide insurance without hanging the sign. As a result actual insurance agents who hang the sign are kind of how we idealize the boring bankers of times gone past. There's good reason we regulate insurance – it needs to pay out exactly at the moment when it is the least likely to get paid. I wrote a post for the Atlantic Business section that asked how should you think of zombie insurance? How would you price a contract that paid $100 if the world turned into The Walking Dead, where cities were overrun with armies of zombies? The short answer is that you wouldn't pay anything, since when you need to collect it the person on the other end is probably a zombie. This "who can credibly commit to backstopping bad events" goes towards a notion of the role the government can play in financial markets. Tyler Cowen has a big piece about income inequality in The American Interest that's well worth reading. However, it's not really about the growth of inequality. It's about Wall Street. In particular, it's about this question: why do financial professionals make so damn much money? The answer, of course, is that they work in an industry that's become ungodly profitable. But how? Tyler attributes it to the practice of "going short on volatility." That is, modern finance professionals mostly gamble that what happened in the past will keep happening in the future, and disasters will never happen. In most years this makes them a lot of money (because, in fact, disasters rarely happen). But this is mysterious. After all, not everyone is going short on volatility. In fact, by definition, only half of the punters on Wall Street are doing it. The other half are taking the other side of the bet. Tyler explains this with an analogy to a bet that the Washington Wizards, one of the worst teams in basketball, won't win the NBA championship. If you make that bet year after year, you'll keep making money year after year. This is a useful analogy precisely because it wouldn't work. After all, to make that bet, you have to find someone willing to take the other side and bet that disaster will strike and the Wizards will win. But they know just how unlikely that is, so they're going to require very long odds. On a hundred dollar bet, they'll want $100 if they win but will only be willing to pay off one dollar if you win. That won't make you rich. So how can you make money doing this? Answer: find someone who doesn't know much about basketball and pays off two dollars on this bet instead of one. Additionally, you need to borrow money so you can make lots of bets. So instead of placing a $100 bet and making a dollar, you borrow a million dollars, make lots of bets on lots of teams, and make $20,000. It's the road to riches. The questions this raises should be obvious. First, why would anyone be dumb enough to offer you such mistaken odds? Second, shouldn't the interest on the loan wipe out the profit from such a tiny betting margin? Third, why would anyone loan you this money in the first place, knowing that you have no chance of paying it back if disaster strikes, one of your teams wins, and you lose your entire stake? As near as I can tell, the answer to #1 is that Wall Street traders are bad at pricing tail risk. The answer to #2 is that Wall Street hedge funds, using techniques pioneered in the mid-90s by Long Term Capital Management, have figured out ways to borrow large sums of money at virtually no cost. And the answer to #3 is that Wall Street lenders are also bad at pricing tail risk. Or are they? Tyler argues that, in fact, both sides are betting that as long as everyone is doing this, the occasional disasters will be so epically disastrous that central banks will bail them out. They have no choice, after all, if the alternative is the destruction of the global economic system. So the tail risk is smaller than you think. Borrowers will make money in good years and default in bad years. Lenders, meanwhile, will also make money in good years, secure in the knowledge that on the rare occasions when everything goes pear shaped and borrowers can't pay back their loans, the government will make them whole. As Tyler reminds us, "Neither the Treasury nor the Fed allowed creditors to take any losses from the collapse of the major banks during the financial crisis." But I don't find this persuasive as a behavioral explanation. The problem is that there's simply no evidence I'm aware of that Wall Street executives ever thought about this or priced it into their models. Sure, they may have been reckless or stupid. However, they weren't setting prices for financial instruments based on the idea that, yes, they were taking a genuine risk of going bust, but they could price that away because they'd get bailed out by Uncle Sugar when it happened. Rather, they really, truly, believed that they weren't exposed to very much risk. As near as I can tell, this was true on both the buy side and the sell side. Tim F. answers Kevin: To answer Kevin, finance is incredibly profitable because the finance sector has a greater information asymmetry between buyers and the sellers than almost any other sector on Earth. Even today most customers more or less take it on faith that the people selling them financial instruments are dealing on good faith. They do it because from FDR until the 70's or so that was true. Financial instruments were less complicated and oversight was much stronger. That is to say that it was harder to cheat and more cheaters got caught. They also do it because they have to; if you don't want to take your bank's word for it then you can either keep a lawyer on retainer, or else live in a cave on public land. Too bad for us that assumption is no longer remotely true. Computers became a commodity and investors started making more bets on other people's bets. That is to say, cheating got a lot easier because most people could no longer understand what their banks were up to. At the same time deregulation made it that much harder to catch cheaters and also opened vast new opportunities for semi-legal schemes as well as the nakedly illegal kind. The lack of any real risk premium (after all, we're all hostages if they fail) certainly pads the bottom line, but the meat and potatoes for Goldman and BofA is the vast gulf between how well they understand what they're doing versus how well their customers understand it. They don't even need to understand their own business that well. The sizable fortune that they made and kept over mortgage derivatives just emphasizes how important it is to know more than your customers, who largely had no idea about the flyblown shit that Goldman and company shoveled into each AAA-rated MBS. These days Goldman has a supercomputer that sits on the main trading network and jumps everyone else's bid by milliseconds. Nobody seems to care. If that isn't a straw comfortably stuck in the social till then I don't know what is. James Joyner Filed under Economics Tagged as Democracy In America, Economics, Ezra Klein, James Joyner, Kevin Drum, Matthew Yglesias, Mike Konczal, Rortybomb, Ross Douthat, Ryan Avent, The American Interest, The Economist, Tim F., Tyler Cowen, Will Wilkinson

Q: Operator Norm of Composition/Koopman Operator Let $g:\mathbb{R}^n\rightarrow \mathbb{R}^m$ be a continuous bijective map and suppose that $g^{-1}$ is well-defined, of class $C^1$, and satisfies $$ \sup_{x\in \mathbb{R}^n}\, |\operatorname{det}J_{g^{-1}}(x)|=:M<\infty. $$ Fix a positive integer $n$. A perturbation of the argument of this article shows that the associated composition operator $$ \begin{aligned} C_g: L^2(\mathbb{R}^n,\mathbb{R}^n) & \rightarrow L^2(\mathbb{R}^n,\mathbb{R}^n)\\ f &\mapsto f\circ g \end{aligned} $$ is a well-defined bounded-linear operator. Actually this follows from the change-of-variable formulate from multivariate calculus since we have assumed that $g^{-1}$ is of class $C^1$. If I am not mistaken then the operator norm of $C_g$ can be estimated as follows. Suppose that $f\in L^2(\mathbb{R}^n,\mathbb{R}^n)$ and the $\|f\|_{L^2}=1$. Then, $$ \begin{aligned} C_g(f) := & \int_{x \in \mathbb{R}^n}\, \|f\circ g(x)\|^2 dx \\ = & \int_{u \in g^{-1}(\mathbb{R}^n)}\, |\det J_g^{-1}(u)| \|f\circ g\circ g^{-1}(u)\|^2 du \\ = & \int_{u \in g^{-1}(\mathbb{R}^n)}\, |\det J_g^{-1}(u)| \|f(u)\|^2 du \\ \leq & \sup_{v\in \mathbb{R}^n}\, |\det (J_g^{-1}(v))| \, \int_{u \in g^{-1}(\mathbb{R}^n)}\, \|f(u)\|^2 du \\ \leq & M \|f\|_{L^2}. \end{aligned} $$ Whence we conclude that $$ \|C_g\|_{op} := \sup_{f\in L^2(\mathbb{R}^n,\mathbb{R}^n);\, \|f\|_{L^2}=1}\, \|C_g(f)\|_{L^2} \leq M \|f\| = M . $$ Is this proof correct? If so does anyone know of sharper estimates? Interesting related note: I have found several results on the operator norm of composition operators when the involved spaces are not $L^2$ but rather the complex Hardy space (e.g. this 2016 paper or this old Annals of Math paper) Another cute reference: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1705.00325.pdf

Exclusive: Airbnb hires senior Vanderbilt administrator to lead new diversity push The online home-rental platform has accelerated goals to increase its female and minority workforce this year. Exclusive: Airbnb hires senior Vanderbilt administrator to lead new diversity push The online home-rental platform has accelerated goals to increase its female and minority workforce this year. Check out this story on Tennessean.com: https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/05/08/airbnb-hires-senior-vanderbilt-nashville-administrator-lead-diversity-push/1140245001/ Sandy Mazza, Nashville Tennessean Published 12:00 p.m. CT May 8, 2019 Airbnb, the largest online home-rental marketplace, has hired a senior Vanderbilt administrator to lead a new workforce diversity push, company officials told The Tennessean Wednesday. Melissa Thomas-Hunt most recently served as Vanderbilt University's vice provost for inclusive excellence and will relocate to San Francisco for the new role as head of global diversity and belonging, which begins on Monday. She will launch a global effort to fulfill the company's stated mission of becoming "authentically diverse and inclusive." Melissa Thomas-Hunt (Photo: Submitted) The scope of the job has been expanded since the firm created the position in 2016 as tech firms faced criticism for having an overwhelmingly white, male workforce. Airbnb's former diversity director, David J. King III, left last year. "I felt deeply called by Airbnb's mission and purpose," Thomas-Hunt said. "We can help individuals shift and shape their trajectory to realize their full potential, and I am honored to join Airbnb to help achieve these goals." Airbnb's workforce was nearly 48 percent white, 38 percent Asian, and 11 percent black or Hispanic at the end of 2018, according to data from the company. The vacation-rental platform vowed to "redouble" efforts to diversify this year, in a memo released in March. Company officials committed to increasing the number of U.S.-based employees from underrepresented communities to 13 percent by the first quarter of 2020 and to increase female representation from 43.9 percent to 50 percent. "We aspire to be a global leader in diversity and belonging," Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said. "To have the impact we want on the world, we have to start inside our own walls and make sure every employee at Airbnb feels like they belong. Melissa is a visionary in this space who has spent her career exploring the causes of inequality, finding solutions to promote inclusion, and producing real change." Thomas-Hunt previously worked as University of Virginia's senior associate dean and global chief diversity officer. She obtained master's and doctoral degrees from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and also has a undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University. Her specializations include conflict management, inclusive leadership, and "the effects of status and power on negotiation processes and outcomes," according to her Vanderbilt biography. "Leaders are ultimately curators and stewards of an organization's climate and culture," Thomas-Hunt said. "My role at Airbnb is to equip them with the skills to connect with individuals across backgrounds, embed conversations about diversity, inclusion and belonging throughout all of our businesses, and to help weave an organizational fabric that enables every member of our global team to feel like they belong." Sandy Mazza can be reached via email at smazza@tennessean.com, by calling 615-726-5962, or on Twitter @SandyMazza. Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/05/08/airbnb-hires-senior-vanderbilt-nashville-administrator-lead-diversity-push/1140245001/ Trump's tariffs may cost tens of thousands of U.S. jobs, distillers say This growing industry is changing Nashville's economy Celebrated chef Sean Brock will head Grand Hyatt restaurant downtown GM announces $40M investment in Spring Hill plant House built for Parade listed Goodlettsville What $498K-$500K will buy in Williamson County

 Search Practice Areas & Sectors About Weil Weil Login Weil Lawyers Recognized in 2017 by Best Lawyers in Germany  Handelsblatt, a leading German economic newspaper, in cooperation with Best Lawyers, issued their "Best Lawyers in Germany" rankings for 2017. Weil's German lawyers received 9 recommendations in the following categories: Corporate: Gerhard Schmidt and Christian Tappeiner Finance: Michael Kohl Mergers & Acquisitions: Heiner Drüke and Gerhard Schmidt Private Equity: Uwe Hartmann and Gerhard Schmidt Restructuring and Insolvency: Gerhard Schmidt Tax: Tobias Geerling The list is compiled via a peer-to-peer-survey. Since the first ranking for Best Lawyers Germany in 2009, Weil lawyers have been included every year in the league table. Business Finance & Restructuring Firm News and Announcements Contact Weil Copyright © 2019 Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, All Rights Reserved. The contents of this website may contain attorney advertising under the laws of various states. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is headquartered in New York and has office locations in Beijing, Boston, Dallas, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Miami, Munich, New York, Paris, Princeton, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Warsaw, and Washington, D.C. Privacy Shield Notice

Q: Redshift: Import csv file of large size (~6GB) with comma in the name column I tried to import a csv file (of size ~6GB) from s3 to redshift with the COPY command: copy test.test_pat_temp from 's3://some_location/large_file.csv' credentials 'aws_access_key_id=<access_key>;aws_secret_access_key=<Secret_Key>' DELIMITER AS ',' EMPTYASNULL BLANKSASNULL; But got the following error: An error occurred when executing the SQL command: copy test_qa.test_pat_temp from 's3://some_location/large_file.csv' credentials 'aws_access_... Amazon Invalid operation: Load into table 'test_pat_temp' failed. Check 'stl_load_errors' system table for details.; Execution time: 42.34s 1 statement failed. The reason for the error in 'stl_load_errors' table is "Extra column(s) found". I checked the csv file and it had comma (,) in many cells of name column. e.g. Lastname,Firstname. How do I handle the comma while importing the csv file in redshift? I googled the error and just got the generic answer "handle the commas in the required column". Can anyone give me some details on how to handle the comma? A: There are 329 columns and one of the columns is FULL_NAME with value say "Last_name, First_name". The values of the row are separated by comma. so a row would be something like: 1,2,88,,"Last_name,First_name",Company,,,,stack,overflow,,,, and so on. I managed to import the file by simply adding REMOVEQUOTES option: copy test.test_pat_temp from 's3://some_location/large_file.csv' credentials 'aws_access_key_id=;aws_secret_access_key=' EMPTYASNULL BLANKSASNULL REMOVEQUOTES;

Badger Bother Some years ago while following a wide trail through a Yorkshire wood I came across a bunch of roughnecks in muddy boots who were offloading shovels and pickaxes from the back of a rusty van. Terriers were barking furiously in the back of an adjacent truck. I was surprised that none of the little dogs jumped over the tailgate because they have a reputation for valor, and they were there for a cruel 'sport.' I remember the confrontation, for which I was scolded later for being stupid. I asked one of the men, "You're not digging for badgers, are you?" If he scowled after turning to his mates I couldn't see, but his back made me feel uncomfortable. There was no other reason why men who had come prepared for digging would be there, and a few yards away was the circumstantial evidence. Outside the yawning entrance holes of a badger sett there were fresh scrapings that proved it was occupied. "'eck no!" he grinned when turned to me. "What's yer business 'ere? You're no tyke (Yorkshireman)?" I pretended the land owner was friend and wildlife lover who often watched these badgers. This confused the men who went into a huddle, but I took the opportunity to beat a diplomatic retreat. I flash-photographed this English badger returning to its sett in 1968 Great Seal of the Badger State The Eurasian badger (Meles meles) looks like a distant relative of the American species (Taxidea taxus) and though both have head stripes it is, I think, a more handsome beast. Wisconsin is known as the Badger State, although more for historical reasons than any special affection for the animal. Lead miners were called 'badgers' in the early days when they lived in caves cut out of hillsides. The nickname wasn't a compliment, but much later on a badger was depicted on the Great Seal of the state over the shield and a pile of pig lead. Badgers have rarely fared well when they encountered our species, but were probably better off in North America than in Europe where we have bothered these shy animals for centuries. Since 1835, badger baiting has been banned in the UK, and the species now has the distinction of its own law, the Protection of Badgers Act, 1992, which carries a maximum 6-month prison sentence for interfering with them. After digging an unlucky animal out of its sett, the badger men would put it in a pit with a dog to bet on which would survive the contest. Dogs were often mortally wounded because badgers are great fighters with a tremendous bite because their jawbone can't be dislocated, but a winning badger was always dispatched by clubbing afterwards. Animal welfare organizations suspect badger baiting is on the rise again. Badgers have a mighty bite because the lower jaw is firmly articulated under the zygomatic arch and jaw muscles are attached to a thick sagittal crest Although related to polecats, badgers are said to be tasty, which is another misfortune. Badger hams were served in West County restaurants (perhaps still are, covertly), and in some regions of France blaireau au sang is a sett menu. For a species as nocturnal as the badger, it is currently getting a lot of limelight. Like foxes, white-tailed deer and many other mammals, it can be infected with the bovine tubercle bacillus, but badgers are disproportionately blamed for outbreaks of tuberculosis in English cattle herds. The story goes back to 1971 when the first case was reported, which was presumably because a badger had been foraging in a pasture where an infected cow was exhaling or voiding bacilli. From that time badgers have been blamed for outbreaks of tuberculosis in herds, and a tremendous economic loss for farmers. Infected wildlife suffers too, although the disease is chronic and mainly respiratory in badgers. Humans rarely develop the bovine form of TB because livestock that tests positive are slaughtered and our milk is pasteurized. As an influential lobby, the farming community has been on the backs of the British Government to do something. Successive administrations set up inquiries which concluded that badgers are at least partly responsible through recycling the disease, and so began a controversial control program. In the first cull thousands of badgers were gassed in their underground homes with hydrogen cyanide, but after the practice was criticized for being inhumane they were shot. The cull outraged a nation of animal-lovers who hold the badger as an icon of the British countryside and voted it the first or second most popular native animal. Objectors petitioned the government to stop the killing, marched through farming country to protest, and formed badger patrols to find and care for animals wounded by marksmen. Politicians and policy wonks plead that decisions guided by science must be rational, honest, and transparent. But if there is still leeway in data to argue different viewpoints about big issues like climate change, uses of antibiotics, renewable energy, and stem cells we might expect the same with badgers. Science started commanding enormous authority in World War II, especially in the USA under the inspiring genius of Vannevar Bush (1890-1974), an engineering visionary who became presidential science advisor to FDR and the leading administrator of the Manhattan Project. In his book, Science, The Endless Frontier (1945), he wrote "…without scientific progress no amount of achievement in other directions can insure our health, prosperity, and security as a nation in the modern world." The physicist Robert Oppenheimer shared Bush's optimism, but in hoping that scientists would keep control of discoveries, including the atom bomb, he became a symbol of how clever scientists can fall into folly. Over two thousand years ago, the philosopher-ruler was one of Socrates' fine ideas but it fatally ignored realpolitik. Some British scientists have felt a similar disappointment that politics has trumped scientific evidence in the Randomised Badger Culling Trial. They may design the trial and analyze the data, but don't own the interpretation and can only complain when a government minister offers his explanation and justification for culling. One animal ecology expert was so exasperated that he mocked a ministerial announcement by paraphrasing it, "It is not scientific, we cannot conclude anything, but it is sufficient for policy…" When the minister was challenged in a BBC interview about the failure of the badger cull he famously replied that, "the badgers have moved the goalposts." The Prime Minister replaced him last week and the cull has been trimmed down to a couple of counties. So far as I understand, the results are ambiguous. Infection rates in cattle herds are lower at the center of a killing zone, but they are higher at the periphery. When setts lose their occupants they are quickly adopted by immigrating animals, which possibly carry TB, and so culling may aggravate the distribution of disease. Some people argue that improvements in health of livestock have happened too soon to be explained by reducing the badger population, and might be due instead to changes in animal husbandry that reduce cattle-to-cattle transmission. Differences in husbandry may indeed help to explain some of the regional differences in bovine TB. Overall, it's a very confusing picture. For someone like me whose affection for badgers was nurtured by watching for hundreds of hours as they went about their private lives in the countryside it is a tragic destruction of life with no benefit to show. Perhaps new attempts to create a more effective vaccine for both cattle and wildlife will bring a truce between warring farmers and conservationists, and cause politicians to sigh with relief. Under the full protection of law again, the police force may then be re-energized for prosecuting badger-baiters. And then badgers will have the quiet life again that they enjoy, as their friend Rat once described: "Badger hates society, and invitations, and dinner, and all that sort of thing" (Wind in the Willows, 1908). Rat and Mole visit Mr. Badger in the Wild Wood. From first edition of Wind in the Willows (1908) Next Post: Here be Dragons Categorized as Animalia Tagged badger, badger baiting, badger cull, badger sett, Badger state, bovine tuberculosis, The Badger Trust asouth says: Thanks – interesting post. I think another issue to consider in relation to the badger cull is the evidence on cost effectiveness. Although the RBCT did show some reduction in TB in the cull zones, the costs of the cull were so great that it's just not cost-effective. That's why the pilot cull has used a different method (free shooting) from the RBCT (cage trapping) – it was thought to be cheaper. But it turns out free shooting is just not good enough at killing badgers, so they ended up resorting to cage trapping again, increasing the costs. I wrote a piece about the evidence to policy issues around the cull http://wildsouthuk.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/the-badger-cull-an-evidence-to-policy-perspective/ You are right – the cull is a political decision, rather than an evidence-based one. The Genius of Charles Darwin

Hotel News / Travel Events News Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg celebrate at the World Travel Awards Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg defends World Travel Awards crown For the fifth time, Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg has been named Russia's Leading Conference Hotel by the World Travel Awards. The event acknowledges outstanding achievements in the tourism industry around the world. The Europe Gala Ceremony took place in St. Petersburg, for the first time, over the weekend, with the property defending the title in won in 2016, 2013, 2012 and 2011. Corinthia St. Petersburg general manager, Jonathan Pace, said: "We are extremely honoured to receive such a prestigious award for the fifth time and in the hotel's 15th anniversary year. "It underlines the exceptional professionalism and care our teams deliver every day when looking after all our guests and MICE partners. "We provide service at the top level of global hospitality". The 388-room Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg is the only five-star property which offers such a large number of rooms and event spaces in the historical city centre. The hotel offers 17 convertible event spaces with a total capacity of up to 1,000 people. The hotel caters for a variety of events, including international conferences, sumptuous banquets, private weddings and high-end events. Currently, Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg is implementing a large-scale investment project aimed at updating the design of guestrooms and the concept of the lobby. Some 162 newly-designed rooms will be opened in the coming months, following on from phase one, when 120 guest rooms were refurbished and opened in the main wing of the hotel this spring. The renovation is expected to be completed by the summer of 2018. Armani Dubai to host World Travel Awards Middle East Gala Ceremony Nearly 2,000 jobs go as Monarch goes into administration world travel awards corinthia hotels World Travel Awards Europe Gala Ceremony 2017 Saturday, 30th September 2017 World Travel Awards will be announcing its 2017 European winners at the annual Europe Gala Ceremony to be held this year in St. Petersburg, Russia on September 30th. Mauritius delegation woos Middle East visitors in Dubai The Ascott sees record growth in 2021 Jamaica poised for influx of US visitors Yas Island celebrates year of success Jetex offers passengers Christmas in the Sky Jamaica shines at World Travel Awards Winners Day World Travel Awards reveals global winners Jamaica prepares for return of cruise sector

Next Society, Politics & Psychology Next Society & Culture Next Social Groups Next Ethnic Studies Next Black & Asian Studies Black & Asian Studies 9780815629153-01-000 9780815629153-01-000 9780815629153 https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/north-star-country-upstate-new-york-and-the-crusade-for-african-americ/milton-c-sernett/paperback/9780815629153-01-000.html North Star Country Upstate New York and the Crusade for African American Freedom By Milton C. Sernett (Author) https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/north-star-country-upstate-new-york-and-the-crusade-for-african-americ/milton-c-sernett/paperback/9780815629153-01-000.html £16.95 The compelling and wide-ranging tale that examines the moral choices made by blacks and whites of New York State to aid the newly freed slaves to secure the promise of freedom. The North Star was both an astronomical reference guiding slaves north to freedom, and a symbol of the moral enterprise that sought to end slavery. This crusade for freedom in the north was born of the religious revivals of the 1820s and 1830s in central and western New York - known as the ""Burned-Over District,"" which lit the fires that eventually burst into the conflagration of the Civil War. Milton C. Sernett begins with a history of slavery in upstate New York and ends with John Brown's execution and burial in the Adirondacks. He includes great abolitionists - among them Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Gerrit Smith, Beriah Green, Jermain Lougen, and Samuel May - and many lesset-known characters who rescued fugitives from slave hunters, maintained safe houses along the Underground Railroad, and otherwise furthered the cause of freedom. MILTON C. SERNETT is professor of African American studies and history and adjunct professor of religion at Syracuse University. He is the author of Abolition's Axe: Beriah Green, Oneida Institute, and the Black Freedom Struggle, also by Syracuse University Press. Contributor: Milton C. Sernett Imprint: Syracuse University Press Publisher: Syracuse University Press Series: New York State History and Culture Biography: MILTON C. SERNETT is professor of African American studies and history and adjunct professor of religion at Syracuse University. He is the author of Abolition's Axe: Beriah Green, Oneida Institute, and the Black Freedom Struggle, also by Syracuse University Press. Milton C. Sernett https://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/north-star-country-upstate-new-york-and-the-crusade-for-african-americ/milton-c-sernett/paperback/9780815629153.html £16.95

Renowned for combining opulence with excellent performance, Jaguar is a manufacturer extremely capable of catering to the needs of every driver, regardless of their personality and lifestyle. At Southern Car Sales, you will find an excellent selection of quality used Jaguars, all of which have undergone a thorough pre-delivery inspection to make sure that they meet the standards and that they are safe enough to be driven on the roads. We also have a friendly, experienced and professional team of finance experts who will help arrange a fair finance deal on your dream Jaguar. Simply get in touch with us through our website, call our team or pay us a visit here in Near Brighton today!

Broadway Technology, LLC, the emerging leader in high-performance trading solutions for top-tier global banks and hedge funds, celebrates the eight-year anniversary of its founding on October 3, 2003. Broadway has been profitable every year since its launch eight years ago, with revenues growing more than 50% annually the past four years, thanks to Broadway's innovative turnkey software solutions and groundbreaking patented enterprise platform the TOC™, an event driven, distributed data-oriented architecture that underpins all Broadway's solutions. The TOC simplifies and accelerates the development of large scale low-latency distributed systems using any mix of technologies. It allows Broadway's customers to build their own advanced trading systems and integrates easily with their existing infrastructure. With the asset-agnostic TOC doing the heavy lifting, Broadway's customers can focus on building their own unique proprietary technology that gives them a competitive edge in the markets. Broadway's software has the unique capacity to meet every trading organization's needs and manages billions of dollars in transactions daily worldwide. Broadway Technology is the emerging leader in high-performance financial trading solutions for top-tier global banks and hedge funds. Broadway's software manages billions of dollars in transactions daily worldwide for premier financial institutions. Founded in 2003 by experts in computer science, high frequency algorithmic trading and enterprise software, Broadway has been profitable every year since its inception, with revenues having grown more than 50% annually since 2008. The company has employees spread across five countries with headquarters located in New York and Austin. To learn more about Broadway, visit us at: www.broadwaytechnology.com, or contact us at: info@broadwaytechnology.com or tel: 646.912.6450.

about club live contact 🏳️‍🌈 Fatoumata Diawara Wednesday 5 th February 2020 // 7:00 PM Hailed as one of the most vital standard-bearers of modern African music, Fatoumata Diawara takes her artistry to fresh and thrilling heights on her new album FENFO. Boldly experimental yet respectful of her roots, it's a record that defines her as the voice of young African womanhood – proud of her heritage but with a vision that looks confidently to the future and a message that is universal. Those she has worked with include some of the biggest names in contemporary music. She recorded with Bobby Womack and Herbie Hancock; played Glastonbury and other major festivals; and toured with the Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca. She assembled a West African super-group featuring Amadou and Mariam, Oumou Sangaré and Toumani Diabaté to record a song calling for peace in her troubled homeland; and climbed aboard Damon Albarn's star-studded Africa Express, which culminated in her sharing a stage with Sir Paul McCartney. Presented by Band on the Wall. Opens: 7:00 PM Curfew: 10:00 PM Price: £18.50 +BF adv Live Listings Beans on Toast Alt-folk troubadour Beans on Toast twisted an age-old genre with a D.I.Y. approach and contemporary concerns. The musician, real name Jay McAllister, first came to... Alt-folk troubadour Beans on Toast twisted an age-old genre with a D.I.Y. approach and contemporary... Having hit a peak of inventiveness and productivity, Wire have been playing strings of sold-out shows and achieving career-best album sales, as well as being... Having hit a peak of inventiveness and productivity, Wire have been playing strings of sold-out... ANTI-FLAG + special guests Pittsburgh political punk band Anti-Flag announce vital UK and European tour dates for January 2020. Read the official band statement here:"We need these shows. We need... Pittsburgh political punk band Anti-Flag announce vital UK and European tour dates for January 2020. Read... Algiers is a band of musicians born in Atlanta, Georgia, the rotten hub of the Ol' American South, where W.E.B. Dubois once saw a riot... Algiers is a band of musicians born in Atlanta, Georgia, the rotten hub of the... Hailed as one of the most vital standard-bearers of modern African music, Fatoumata Diawara takes her artistry to fresh and thrilling heights on her new... Hailed as one of the most vital standard-bearers of modern African music, Fatoumata Diawara takes... After one of our favourite shows of recent times when they played The Haunt in June 2019, we're bringing back Mongolian metal outfit The HU... After one of our favourite shows of recent times when they played The Haunt in... Slum Village X Abstract Orchestra Detroit hip hop legends Slum Village join forces with the UK's orchestra hip hop powerhouse the Abstract Orchestra.Slum Village have been carrying the torch for... Detroit hip hop legends Slum Village join forces with the UK's orchestra hip hop powerhouse... Gentleman's Dub Club Bursting into 2019 with a brand-new album causing earth-shattering tremors and screams of delight among their faithful fans, Gentleman's Dub Club aren't taking their feet... Bursting into 2019 with a brand-new album causing earth-shattering tremors and screams of delight among...

This week, puppies are sooo much fun. They're getting bigger every day, they play frequently and they're exploring the whole world around them. Of course, the most fun toys are things like empty water bottles and cleaning rags...and each other!

Home » Blog » The COVID-19 Anxiety Cycle: A Mental Health Perspective The COVID-19 Anxiety Cycle: A Mental Health Perspective March 18, 2020 David Smith In addition to uncertainty over the impact the coronavirus (COVID-19) will have on business, the pandemic is also having an effect on individuals' mental health. David Smith, EHS Commercial Director from our Melbourne office, writes that organizations need to protect the mental well-being of their most important asset, now more so than ever. After weeks of confusion and a host of ambiguous data from governments, health experts and our social media feeds locking us in echo chambers, many of us are watching the development of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with feelings of concern and uncertainty. The impact of this ambiguity is affecting us all; it's dramatically changing how we live out our daily lives. When I took my daughter to school this morning and saw the three-quarters empty playground, the ominous quiet and stillness (a far cry from how a playground should sound) and the absence of parent chatter, handshaking, hugs and laughter, I felt sad. We are bombarded with alarming news, with seemingly every other word being "coronavirus" or "COVID-19" and our society is in apparent lock-down – but to actually feel the impact on your community, on the people you have a deep connection with, can leave you feeling very distressed and somewhat helpless. You can't help but take this feeling with you into your workplace, whether you are continuing to work from an office location or as part of a growing population of workers operating remotely. It can feel like you are not in control; it's so easy for our brains to spin stories of fear and dread. We may know what to do about COVID-19, but we may not know what to do with our fear. Whether in business, our families, or our communities, we all have a role to play to help deal with that mounting fear and anxiety. Facts minimize fear Employers and employees have a joint responsibility to promote health and safety in the workplace. Most employers will have already introduced additional physical controls, such as hygiene measures to help limit exposure to coronavirus or asking their people to work from home. But what about the mental health and well-being implications on our people? The increasing severity of the pandemic may have many people on edge. And we're currently facing a risk of an "infodemic," in which misinformation spreads; adding to the mounting levels of uncertainty and anxiety. When we can't control our anxiety, that emotional fever spikes into panic. You only have to look at the empty toilet roll aisles in grocery stores all around the world to fully appreciate the unique nature of this crisis and the state of collective panic it is inducing. In the coming days, weeks and months, this fear and anxiety will likely increase as our lives continue to be disrupted and social distancing and self-isolation becomes the norm. Self-isolation in itself is likely to have a negative impact on some people's mental well-being. The need for human contact is a basic instinct, therefore when you are forced to be alone, it can have a negative impact on well-being and psychological health. A review of the psychological impact of quarantine published in the Lancet in February stated that, "Separation from loved ones, the loss of freedom, uncertainty over disease status, and boredom can, on occasion, create dramatic effects. Suicide has been reported, substantial anger generated, and lawsuits brought following the imposition of quarantine in previous outbreaks." When talking about prevention of stress and fear, during a recent Q&A session, Aiysha Malik, a Technical Officer at the World Health Organization's Mental Health and Substance Use Department, called out the need to ensure focus on vulnerable groups, such as those with existing mental health conditions or substance use dependencies. We need to be clear, honest, open and be communicating often with our people – in fact, all those we interact with. There is no substitution for calm and measured messaging from employers in relation to setting realistic expectations where work is changing and clearly communicating response plans, all of which may help to reduce anxiety in the workplace. Communicating accurate information, little and often, and embedding a "keep calm and carry on" attitude, will help our people not get caught-up in the waves of anxiety and panic. Reality for EHS professionals As EHS professionals, we support our business leaders with nurturing healthy and trusting relationships with all of our employees. If we aren't focusing enough on mental health right now, we will have a mountain to climb as the impacts of isolation, anxiety and uncertainty build in our employee communities. This is why, in the face of such uncertainty, we should be tapping into our discipline's structured methodology and stepping up to help our organizations and our people. Our business leaders look to us for leadership during times of crisis – how many times have you heard someone in your company say, "I'm not a Health and Safety person, so you need to tell me what we need to do!" – so what can we do and say? Many of us will have mental health strategies and already established relationships with Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), using these resources as a starting point will allow you to take action quickly and demonstrate care – not just to your people, but to their families as well. We need to understand the landscape and work within it so that we can counteract its far-reaching implications and disrupting uncertainty. As humans, we crave fairness, certainty and relatedness so let's all do what we can to provide this to our leaders and to our people. However dangerous this virus proves to be, we need to be cautious of fallout from the panic, stressful aftermath and the chaos of imposed anti-virus measures. This is the long tail and should serve to focus our minds on where to invest our time and resources. We all need to protect ourselves and in doing so protect others. We cannot wait for a vaccine. COVID-19 is not waiting. We must follow the sensible medical guidelines and since containment has proved impossible, delay is our key defense. Let us all be leaders in changing behaviors to ensure the approach begins at work and permeates the way our people, customers and stakeholders behave outside of the workplace too. It's time to shift the balance and turn adversity into action, threat into opportunity and fear into courage. Mental Health resources available: Manage Anxiety and Stress The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published guidance to manage stress and anxiety for a number of COVID-19 scenarios. Mental Health Considerations during COVID-19 Outbreak (pdf) The World Health Organization (WHO) Mental Health Department developed a resource for mental health considerations as support for mental and psychological well-being during COVID-19 outbreak. Living With Mental Illness During COVID-19 Outbreak– Preparing For Your Wellness Mental Health America curated tips and hotline resources for individuals with pre-existing physical and mental illness. Mind UK Mind is a mental health charity in England and Wales. Founded in 1946 as the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH) SANE Australia A national mental health charity making a real difference in the lives of people affected by complex mental health issues through support, research and advocacy. See our health & safety resources for EHS professionals to monitor and ensure the health and safety of workers during COVID-19. Learn more about our Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) solutions. David  Smith is Commercial Director EHS at SAI Global. A seasoned EHS, sustainability risk management professional and thought leader, David has more than 20 years of experience delivering EHS strategies for leading organizations across a wide range of industries, including energy, defense, pharmaceuticals, and financial services. As part of the EHS portfolio at SAI Global, David utilizes his EHS practitioner perspective to help drive product innovation, the commercial growth of the portfolio as well as helping to identify the needs of our customers to enable them to achieve operational excellence. David has a first Honours Degree in Environmental Science and PG Cert focused in Occupational Safety and Health from the University of Greenwich. Follow on Linkedin More Content by David Smith Leadership in a Pandemic: Countering COVID-19 with Vlogs, Goofy Pants & Engagement As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to develop and change at rapid pace, Paul Johns, Chief Mar... 3 Signs of Impending Regulatory Compliance Failure You Can't Afford to Ignore When is the right time to invest in upgrades to your regulatory compliance program? Ideally, before you are... Health and safety resources for your organization during COVID-19 Five Compliance and Risk Predictions for 2021: Be Prepared for Anything The pandemic didn't change the risks companies face, it simply added new ones. Flexibility, vigilance and patience will be keys to thriving in 2021. Read our 5 predictions for risk managers. 4 Risk Areas to Watch in the Final Months of 2020 What you need to know to keep your business safe from cybersecurity threats, social and political unrest, and a global spike in Coronavirus cases. Risk & Compliance Fines Add Up as 2020 Closes; Inadequate Internal Controls Are a Common Culprit US regulator OCC announced significant fines against big banks for failing to address compliance and risk management deficiencies – and internal control is at the heart of the problem. Global Workplace Bullying Developments Continue during Covid-19 We are all leaning into a newly unfolding workplace future. As research shows over and over, workplace bullying harms both the organization and its employers. We review current anti-bullying laws. 11 Webinar Moments to Remember: Ethics & Compliance Greatest Hits from 2020 As 2020 comes to a close, the SAI Global team is reflecting on the year that's been and prepare for 2021. Take a look at some of the highlights from our online events and webinars. New DOJ and CFTC Regulatory Guidance on Corporate Compliance: Where Do We Go from Here? In reviewing new guidance from DOJ and CFTC, your corporate compliance program needs to be actively monitored and assessed. Ideally, it should evolve as your business evolves. How BCM and EHS can Successfully Work Together through the Pandemic Recovery Why has it taken a pandemic for organizations to pay attention to the synergies between business continuity management (BCM) and environmental, health and safety (EHS) disciplines? Cyber Threat Alert in Healthcare: 3 Steps to Stay Ahead of Digital Risks Cybersecurity attacks are coming on strong in the last months of 2020. Here are a few key aspects where SAI Global can help you prevent these digital risks. Benchmarking Seasonal Risks in Global Ethics & Compliance Programs A review of data from our seasonal benchmark survey, which takes the temperature of global ethics and compliance programs in the fall of 2020. IIA's 'OnRisk' Report Assesses 2021 Risk Landscape; Focuses on Importance of Business Continuity How are boards, executive management and internal audit aligning around risk management? IIA's OnRisk 2021 report provides insights that stress the importance of business continuity and cybersecurity. Healthcare Compliance in the New Normal: Part 3 Highlights from a recent panel discussion with compliance officers who shed light on how they are meeting the staffing and workload challenges of healthcare compliance through COVID-19. Part 3/3. This Compliance Officer Day, We All Deserve Some Headspace With the fifth annual Compliance Officer Day comes an opportunity to step back, reflect on what a year it has been and provide a simple but impactful source of relief. Read & React: "How to Build a Company that Actually Values Integrity" by Robert Chesnut in HBR SAI Global's Learning designers, content managers and product designers discuss a Harvard Business Review article on culture, reporting and the code of conduct. A Note from David Smith on Recalibrating EHS during COVID-19 and Beyond A look at the recent breakdown of types of workplaces affected by the latest Victoria outbreak gives us an indication that more needs to be done in workplace health and safety during the pandemic. Highlights from a recent panel discussion with compliance officers who shed light on how they are meeting the challenges of healthcare compliance through the COVID-19 pandemic. Insights on the DOJ's 2020 Compliance Program Guidance In a preview of an upcoming webinar discussion, healthcare compliance expert Richard Kusserow explores the questions and potential impact of the DOJ's new 2020 compliance guidance. Bouncing Back from Adversity in the Time of COVID-19 A recent roundtable discussion examined the need for organizations in Australia to stay operationally resilient and explored what this means in practice. With Ethics and Compliance Programs, It's All a Matter of Time Three new charts from a recent SCCE survey represent a cause for concern for E&C programs – they're red flags in an internal risk assessment of budget and resources. The State of Ethics and Compliance in 2020: A Conversation with Tiffany Archer, Luis Canuto, and Rebecca Turco Our speakers share perspectives on what an effective E&C program looks like at the most fundamental level, and how our current environment puts some of those circumstances to the test.

On October 10, 2018, as part of our annual VIVA Day celebrations, VIVA will launch our first ever FA3 Fun Run to benefit our community. This non-competitive activity is open to all fitness levels and provides an opportunity to connect our employees through giving back to the community we have called home for the last eighteen years. This is not a race, there will be no timing, just a chance to get out as a group and enjoy each other while helping our neighbors. This year, the FA3 Fun Run will benefit Twinbrook Elementary School. Check back to see the pictures and see how team VIVA is making moves for our community. VIVA Celebrates National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day!

Android Tablets If you are using the stock internet browser on a new Android tablet, chances are it doesn't have Flash. The Chrome Browser and Dolphin browser actually have a Flash Player built... 22/08/2013 · Adobe Flash Player on my Windows 8 tablet. Would like to know why we can't install Adobe Flash Player on Windows 8. It is not offered in the Windows App Store and without I can't download the older, original versions of Angry Birds. In some instances, Flash Player will mistake ancillary content as the primary content and switch everything else to "Click to Play" when encountering a low memory situation. Media: Camera and Microphone support is not included in Flash Player on Android 2.2.

me too. do you have any info???? I have MBA finance degree (3.5year). would i need to present equalance to MS certificate as its mentioned in advertisement? AoA All. Application process is online and very easy. Go to joinpaknavy dot gov dot pk and Select your branch and after that screen will automatically show criteria. You've to be careful that while applying select 0 in from of marks and total marks of any irrelevant field. After that your registration will be complete. NAVY will take 2-3 days and after that you can download the slip by putting your NIC number. Take printout of slip, attach PASSPORT SIZE PIC, TAKE 300RS cash and original CNIC to centre on the test date which is visible on your roll number slip. After you clear test, experience section and its verification will come after that. Dear All i have applied in the special brarnch lt/lt cdr . I have dome ms in telecom. But in the gradustion column there was no option of not applicable few days back. so i wrote 0,0 in the total and obtained narks coulmn. Suddenly to i opend the site of pak navy ab wahsn not applicable ka option arha hai. But ab wahan arha hsi k you are already registered. Graduation pe meri slip pe BE electrical arha hai jo k relavent nai aur marks 0,0 but relavent ms telecom hai woh bhi slip pe arha hai. So koi issue to nai hoga? Please share test details. How many Q and timings etc. And all educational documents in original is required when going for intial test?? Bring all educational documents with you in original. sometimes you win and sometime you learn....!!

I can't believe how cheap this table is - price not quality! They are fantastic for our catering business. We're all women, so we needed something smaller we could carry ourselves. Each one of us can handle one of these, and the adjustable height feature has come in handy on several different occasions. We saw other tables out there like this for $100 or more. And free shipping! They are really heavy duty - we'll have 4-5 loaded crock pots on one with decorations, utensils, and they have no problem at all.

Today I had the pleasure of spending my lunch break chatting with Crafty Devil's Rich Dale about the upcoming demo of their Planzai web app at Showcase. I was aware that they had been working on a tool aimed at helping up and coming bands and musicians get off the ground, what I actually saw simply blew me away. The project is not quite in stealth mode though I can't say too much yet. A private Beta is planned soon so in the meantime I can hopefully whet your appetite. From the very moment he fired up his Macbook Pro and launched the app in a browser the user interface alone told me that I was seeing something special. First impressions last. This app is still impregnated on my eyeballs. Planzai is a web app aimed initially at the music industry, which intends to make musicians' lives easier. Planzai helps them achieve their business goals by providing expert content, broken down step-by-step. Each step becomes a task in the user's calender, and our content helps them understand the 'how, when and who' of achieving their goals. The concept is also applicable to other sectors where people need to become experts quickly, avoiding trial and error. Before seeing it I was concerned that it might be too niche to make a real impact. Niche isn't necessarily a bad thing mind you but my view is that when you are bringing a new product or service to market it's best to have as broad a spectrum of customers and potential applications as possible. Believe me this solution has applications across numerous sectors, countries, market and demographic segments. That is what really excited me and spurred me into naming Rich Dale as my first Project Athene Geek to God nominee. In my post on Project Athene I talked about elevating our geeks to rock star status. Rich has a head start; he already plays bass. He also has Planzai. When you have a solution that can have applications in areas as diverse as music, marriage, property development and new venture creation to name but a few as well as the potential to go viral it is going to go far. Couple that with its potential for numerous revenue streams, price differentiation, white labelling and ecosystem development that is a recipe for some serious figures. I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on the Beta so I can see if my hunch is justified. I have a feeling it will. It will certainly be one of the highlights in Derry on the 16th September. First time I saw this, I was also blown away. I think their idea will change the way we do project management! Kudos to Rich and the team! Kudos indeed Matt. Kudos indeed.

Portable mini fire extinguisher canister filled with flame retardant fluid. Non-toxic, environmentally safe & ozone friendly. Great for keeping around key points of your home & car for accidental fires. 500ml Canister comes with a stand & usage instructions.

Marlborough MA funeral homes provide local funeral services. Find more information about Brown and Short Funeral Home , Rowe John P Funeral Home Inc , Slattery Funeral Home by clicking on each funeral home listing. Send funeral flower arrangements to any Marlborough funeral home delivered by our trusted local florist.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that as we age, our health can take a bit of a beating. Bones start to creak, gravity takes hold of our bodies in ways we never suspected could happen, and, to add insult to injury, our risk of cancer rises. In fact ageing is one of the main risk factors when it comes to cancers like breast cancer and bowel cancer with the majority of people diagnosed with these cancers aged 50 or older. It's not all bad news though, because as we also know, with age comes wisdom - and retirement - from traditional work at least. More time to contemplate the important things like golf and/or travel and/or grandchildren and/or gardening and/or volunteering. There's also the fun of activities like the Victorian Seniors Festival which "kicks off" this week. It's a time when more experienced Victorians are invited to take part in a wide range of activities including lunches, music and trivia, yoga and even tours of historic properties. And as part of the Seniors Festival festivities, the CYCR team will be spreading the good word about staying healthy and active as you age, eating well and screening for cancers including bowel, breast and skin cancer. As we've stated above, the statistics here in Victoria show that the majority of men and women diagnosed with bowel and breast cancers are aged 50 and older. And SunSmart reports that two-thirds of Victorians diagnosed with melanoma are aged 55 or older. Cancer Councils across the country (and the National Health and Medical Research Council which advises the Federal Government) recommend men and women complete a bowel cancer screening test called an FOBT or faecal occult blood test, every two years once they reach the age of 50. They also recommend women have a mammogram (breast x-ray) every two years from the age of 50 once they've weighed up the pros and cons of screening. And just because you're older and wiser, doesn't mean you can forget about sun protection or getting your skin checked for melanoma. As SunSmart says, it's never too late to protect your skin. Over 95% of skin cancers can be successfully treated if found early so getting familiar with your skin is also important. If you notice any unusual spots, lumps or bumps see your doctor. So, if you have time in between all your seniors' festivities - we suggest you book in for a health check up and make sure you're up to date with your appropriate cancer screening tests. Is anyone planning anything special for the Victorian Seniors Festival?

A film by Alison Klayman in cinemas & on demand 12 july Follow Trump's former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon through the 2018 mid-term elections in the United States, shedding light on his efforts to mobilise and unify far-right parties in order to win seats in the May 2019 European Parliamentary elections. coming soon to itunes The Brink - Official UK Trailer When Steve Bannon left his position as White House chief strategist less than a week after the Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally in August 2017, he was already a notorious figure in Trump's inner circle, and for bringing a far-right ideology into the highest echelons of American politics. Unconstrained by an official post — though some say he still has a direct line to the White House — he became free to peddle influence as a perceived kingmaker, turning his controversial brand of nationalism into a global movement. The Brink follows Bannon through the 2018 mid-term elections in the United States, shedding light on his efforts to mobilise and unify far-right parties in order to win seats in the May 2019 European Parliamentary elections. To maintain his power and influence, the former Goldman Sachs banker and media investor reinvents himself — as he has many times before — this time as the self-appointed leader of a global populist movement. Keen manipulator of the press and gifted self-promoter, Bannon continues to draw headlines and protests wherever he goes, feeding the powerful myth on which his survival relies. Alison Klayman Alison Klayman's directorial debut Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry about the Chinese artist and activist premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival where it was awarded a US Documentary Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Defiance. The film was released theatrically around the globe and shortlisted for the Academy Award. Her other films include The 100 Years Show (theatrical run at Film Forum) about Cuban-American artist Carmen Herrera, the Netflix Original Take Your Pills (SXSW 2018) and the upcoming short Flower Punk about Japanese artist Azuma Makoto. She also executive produced the award-winning documentaries Hooligan Sparrow and On Her Shoulders. "Startling" "Gripping" "A must-see" If you like The Brink Best of Enemies

Civil liberties are specific limitations on government power to protect our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Never before have these freedoms been so threatened, as the government continues to invade our privacy and circumvent the due process of law. The constitutionally protected rights to freedom of speech, right to a fair trial, and promise of equal treatment under the law must be defended at all costs. http://www.freedomworks.org/issue/civil-liberties?page=31 All the Latest Key Votes The FreedomCast - Episode 43 - Abuse of Power with Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com "https:\/\/www.freedomworks.org\/content\/freedomcast-episode-43-abuse-power-ed-morrissey-hotaircom?social=facebook_share" BY Kristina Ribali On today's edition of The FreedomCast, Senior Editor at HotAir.com, Ed Morrissey joins me to discuss the ongoing DOJ scandal, whether Eric Holder perjured himself and how absolute power corrupts absolutely. Related links: "https:\/\/www.freedomworks.org\/content\/letter-support-fourth-amendment-preservation-and-protection-act-2013?social=facebook_share" Key Vote Letter in Support of the Fourth Amendment Preservation and Protection Act of 2013 BY Matt Kibbe Dear FreedomWorks member, As one of our millions of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your Senators and urge them to cosponsor S. 1037, the Fourth Amendment Preservation and Protection Act of 2013. Introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the bill would extend Fourth Amendment guarantees to electronic communications. The Fourth Amendment Preservation and Protection Act is needed to protect against the violations of our Fourth Amendment rights online. "https:\/\/www.freedomworks.org\/content\/texas-bringing-freedom-your-email?social=facebook_share" Texas Bringing Freedom to Your Email BY Jon Gabriel The state of Texas is becoming the standard for freedom in America. Already attracting thousands of new employers for its pro-business stance and hundreds of thousands of new residents for its pro-individual policies, now the Lone Star State wants to revolutionize online freedom. Dick Durbin Questions The Wisdom Of The First Amendment "https:\/\/www.freedomworks.org\/content\/dick-durbin-questions-wisdom-first-amendment?social=facebook_share" BY Jeff Reynolds While many Americans were recognizing the solemn events of the Memorial Day Weekend, the inside the beltway Sunday news shows rolled inexorably on. One US Senator used the opportunity to call question the wisdom of one of the most sacred of all liberties that are protected by the Constitution. In a poorly timed attack on the freedoms that the soldiers we honored fought and died for, Dick Durbin questioned the First Amendment protections enjoyed by bloggers and users of social media: 5 Reasons Why the IRS Scandal Will Haunt Democrats in 2014 "https:\/\/www.freedomworks.org\/content\/5-reasons-why-irs-scandal-will-haunt-democrats-2014?social=facebook_share" BY Rusty Weiss Whether it's tapping into journalists e-mail accounts and phone lines, coverups in Benghazi, or shaking down FreedomWorks focuses its civil-liberties advocacy on issues related to privacy and due process.

Culture ● Music ● People ● Caribbean Diaspora ● The Amazing Ms Nicki Minaj Nigel Telesford traces the rapper's meteoric career from her beginnings in Trinidad and Tobago By Nigel Telesford | Issue 111 (September/October 2011) Minaj greets her fans while performing in Trinidad. Photograph by Andrea De Silva Nicki Minaj. Photograph by D Project Records/Young Money Entertainment Minaj performs in Trinidad. Photograph by Andrea De Silva Photograph by D PROJECT RECORDS/ YOUNG MONEY ENTERTAINMENT Born in St James, Trinidad, in 1984, Onika Tanya Maraj is now the genre-defying, multiple-accented songwriter, recording artiste, and performer known as Nicki Minaj. She's been featured on MTV in a half-hour documentary, My Time Now, in which she shared her life story, her achievements, and scenes from a trip home that she made late last year. Millions of viewers saw her take charge of her career as a businesswoman and express her talent in the studio and onstage as a spotlight-stealing rapper. They also witnessed her emotional side as she broke down and cried on camera during an emotional conversation about her late grandmother. It's this combination of music, drama, sex appeal, and multiple personalities that has captivated millions of fans around the world and drawn them to this young MC and singer. "From the time she was born," her mother Carol said, "I knew she was talented, and by the time she turned 11, she was always performing and doing stuff. Her success at this level still really took me by surprise, but I'm enjoying it. I'm very proud of her." Minaj's family migrated to the US when she was five. She dealt with a delinquent, alcoholic father while studying drama at La Guardia High School in Queens, New York. After leaving school, she did a few odd jobs before focusing on music and working the mix-tape circuit. But she was turned down by almost all the major recording labels before multi-platinum rapper Lil Wayne scooped her up to join his Young Money crew in 2009. In less than two years, she rose to the top of the Billboard charts and became a star. But that doesn't mean it was easy. "Hard work is key," Minaj said during her visit to Trinidad. "You'll be surprised how once you start working hard, the stars will align. I had been rejected so much that I didn't want to go to a record company and hear that again. I just did my own thing and let them come to me, so now I have the power of what kind of contract I'm gonna sign. It doesn't matter where you are in life, but when you do your own thing and you master you, they're gonna come…but if you think it's gonna happen overnight, you're gonna fail. I always believed that God was gonna answer my prayers 'cause I'd been praying for this forever. That's my outlook on life." She also advised up-and-coming artistes, "The Internet is bridging so many gaps. Market yourself and use the Internet. That's what we have at our disposal right now. You don't need a record company, you can do it yourself. "I'm a Trinidadian artiste and I got this far, so you can do anything you put your mind to. That's how I live my life, that's what I believe." Minaj is focusing on one aspect of her career at a time. So although she's been receiving and reading various movie scripts, she isn't going to get into that field right away. "I studied acting for four years," she said, "so yes, I want to explore that. But right now I'm just really focused on my album, Pink Friday, and that's the only thing that my life has been about, so I kind of put acting to the side for now. Right now, it's all about the music." Minaj also withdrew from performing on Rihanna's "Last Girl on Earth" tour last year to focus on recording her debut album. She knew exactly how she wanted it to sound. "When I started rapping," she explained, "people were trying to make me like the typical New York rapper, but I'm not that. No disrespect to New York rappers, but I don't want people to hear me and know exactly where I'm from. I wanted the album to be universal and versatile. It really feels like it speaks for every one of my personalities." Minaj says she's proud of her Trinidad & Tobago heritage and was exposed to Caribbean culture during her formative years. "One thing I always do, and I'm gonna do more, is just say I'm from Trinidad." She remembered her mother playing calypso at home. "But I do remember them playing a lot of Bob Marley when I was little," she added. "I heard the accent. And my aunts would play a lot of calypso in the house. We would also go to Labor Day in New York." She said she was interested in collaborating with soca performers Machel Montano and Destra Garcia. "I actually wanted to do a track with Destra and Machel for my album, but we didn't get it together in time. I didn't want to put them on something with me and dilute their true essence. I want it to be an authentic-sounding song. I went on the computer and I googled Machel's stuff, and I really liked the song 'Congo Man'. ("Congo Man", of course, is actually a version of the Mighty Sparrow's 1965 classic, which Sparrow remade with Montano in 2008.) "I will definitely work with them sometime soon. With Destra, I've never even spoken to her, but I always hear her and I love her voice. I 'rep' Trinidad proudly and once my album comes out, I think I'll be in a better space to bring Trinidad to the world. You know, the music, the culture – everything." In August 2010, Minaj became the first female rapper to top Billboard's rap chart unaccompanied since Missy Elliot in 2002 with her smash hit "Your Love". In October, she set a new record as the first artiste to have seven singles on the Hot 100 chart simultaneously. Her collaborations included: • "My Chick Bad" Ludacris • "Knockout" Lil Wayne • "Bottom's Up" Trey Songz • "Lil Freak" Usher" • "Letting Go (Dutty Love)" Sean Kingston • "2012 (It Ain't the End)" Jay Sean According to Soundscan, these songs amassed over US$4 million in sales and her own single, "Your Love," earned over US$750,000 before she even released an accompanying video. To round off her breakthrough year, Minaj also won several BET, MTV Video, Underground Music, and BET Hip Hop Awards, and was nominated for Best International Act at the UK's MOBO Awards. Pink Friday facts Released on November 22, Pink Friday debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 Chart, just behind one of her collaborators, Kanye West. The album straddles various genres as Minaj flows effortlessly from boisterous hip-hop ("Roman's Revenge", "Did It On Em"), glossy pop ("Check It Out", "Your Love") and vulnerable R&B ("Right Thru Me", "Here I Am"). The eclectic list of collaborators includes Will.i.am, Drake, Rihanna, and Natasha Bedingfield, and the CD features production by West, Swizz Beatz, Bangladesh, Drew Money, and Oak, among others. Praise from her peers Last December, Rolling Stone magazine crowned Minaj the new "Queen of Hip-Hop". Jay-Z suggested her to Robin Thicke for their eventual collaboration, "Shakin' It for Daddy". Kanye West called her "the scariest artist in the game right now". He went on to say: "She has the most potential out of everyone to be the number-two rapper of all time ('cause nobody's gonna be bigger than Eminem)." The pleasures of Port Antonio, Jamaica Chris Browne: third world filmmaker

My first paid project was a tri-fold brochure for a local business back in 2000. My current projects deal with helping businesses formulate content strategies that combine traditional with social media marketing. That means targeting audiences in the right channels and engaging them with lead generating content, as well as planning editorial calendars for clients to use for blogging and social media updates. I also ghost-blog for a limited number of clients, and have just finished co-authoring a band new book entitled: Solving the Social Media Puzzle: 7 Simple Steps to Planning a Social Media Marketing Strategy for Your Business. That has to be the moment I saw my co-author hold up a newly-printed copy of our book! I write my "To Do" list every evening before quitting work for the day. Early morning is usually checking email, looking at my Google Reader account for interesting articles to share, and posting updates. My goal is to have scheduling and posting social updates for my clients done by mid-morning, then making any phone calls I have to make. My best creative time is early afternoon to evening, so I save my writing and editing projects for that time period. It really works best if I can lock the door, turn off the phone, email and other distractions. If not, I sometimes have to work late into the evening! But it's almost like reading a good book – once you're on a roll, you have a hard time stopping. I'm very deadline motivated, so very often I end up working late because I hate to have things hanging over my head. In between, I schedule client interviews and listen to webinars on industry topics. One day a week I keep a morning slot open for physical networking to get out of the basement and interact with people. I love the fact that I have a 10-second commute to my basement office, and I have the flexibility to work around the family schedule. I've owned and operated several small businesses before, but didn't like the fixed schedule and other limitations (not to mention having to work every holiday). I feel much less restrained and free to create now. Also, my husband, who is a graphic designer, joined the business full-time. We work together to create social profiles and content for clients, and he's also my in-house editor for all my writing projects. It's a great partnership! The best tip I can give is to have a written plan for your day, week, month and year, and schedule your writing time in your calendar every day. You can get much more done if you prioritize your work, schedule no more than 4-5 MUST DOs each day, and don't beat yourself up too much if you don't get all of them all done. Also, make sure your clients can find you on social channels as well as your website. In this day and age, it's really essential to be active on social platforms. Pick one or two where your clients are most likely to spend time, develop a good profile for yourself that ties into your web brand, and use an editorial calendar to keep yourself on track for posting content. Limit your time on social channels, however, so it doesn't become a huge time-drain. Use an egg-timer and set it for 15 minutes, do what you have to do, and log out. Once I developed a niche specialty and was able to charge more for my work, it began to be less of a struggle and much more fun. It took a few years to build up a decent portfolio. However, once that milestone was reached, I felt confident that I was delivering real value to my clients and getting paid to do something I don't just like but LOVE. That was it!

Brought some rice and scraps of Jamie's sushi from dinner last night. Had the rice for breakfast. Lunch was a few bites left from the omelet Debbie took home from KW Sunday. I'm starting to really get into this scavenger roll. It's very interesting how in tune you become about how much food gets tossed in the garbage every day. I could do a long write up about that. Sashimi pieces for pre dinner snack at work. Cheats - Admittedly I had a small bowl of chocolate chips and mini marshmallows (twice). I hope I don't pay the price for this indulgence - meaning a head banger. We'll see. Let's call it a mini experiment to see if my body can handle it.

push-android-library ==================== This repository contains both the Android library, as well as a demo application that implements the library. ## Importing into Eclipse Once cloned on to your local filesystem, do the following: 1. In Eclipse, go to **File** -> **Import**. 2. Under **Android**, select **Existing Android Code into Workspace**. 3. For the **Root Directory** value, navigate to the top-level of this repository. You should see both the library and demo app show up in the list of projects. 4. Click **Finish**. **NOTE:** Once the project is imported, you WILL have a build error, as the installer certificate cannot be located (it's purposely left out of the repository). You will need to deposit your p12 installer certificate into the res/raw folder of the demo app. Then, everything will be happy. ## Running the Application Should be as simple as plugging in your phone, installing the app, and running it (assuming you have the installer certificate installed in your app's directory).

Schools Information – Education and Families SEND (Local Offer) Farway Church Of England Primary School We would like to reassure you that we are closely monitoring the situation and working with the government and NHS. For guidance on coronavirus and the latest information for Devon, visit Devon County Council's coronavirus (COVID-19) advice pages. Latest Update: Colleges, schools and childcare settings during the national lockdown Farway EX24 6EQ see on map Executive Head Mrs Katie Gray Kate Prince admin@farway.devon.sch.uk www.farway.devon.sch.uk Federation details Admission details DfE number School sector Voluntary Aided School Local learning community See latest Ofsted School Inspection Report See latest Performance Tables This school is part of The Jubilee With Pebblebed Federation Other schools in this federation Branscombe Church Of England Primary School Broadhembury Church of England Primary School Littleham Church of England Primary School Woodbury Salterton Church Of England Primary School Feeder school(s) Honiton Community College Number on roll Places offered for admission in Appeals for admission in Published Admission Number Supplementary Information Form Oversubscription Criteria 2021-22 Looked after children and children who were previously looked after but immediately after being looked after became subject to adoption, a child arrangements order, or special guardianship order. Priority will next be given to children based on their exceptional medical or social needs or those of their parents.[1] Priority will next be given to children living within the catchment area set out in the map,[2] who are siblings of pupils on roll at this school. Priority will next be given to other children living within the catchment area. Priority will next be given to children living outside the catchment area, who are siblings of pupils on roll at this school. Priority will next be given to children who regularly attend (or whose parents regularly attend)[3] a Christian church.[4] Priority will next be given to children of members of staff who have been employed at this school for more than two years or recruited within the past two years to fill a vacancy for which there was a skills shortage. Other children. [1] To request this priority, the application must be accompanied by a completed Supplementary Information Form for Exceptional Need which will include evidence, from a medical specialist or social worker of the need and why the child must attend this school rather than any other, based on those needs. If evidence is not submitted to the with the application, exceptional need cannot be considered. [2] Children whose home lies on the boundary line will be considered to be in the catchment. [3] To regularly attend, either the parent or child attends church services on at least a monthly basis, and for a minimum period of two years immediately prior to the application being made. [4] A church which subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity or a church recognised by Churches Together in England. Priority will next be given to children living within the catchment area set out in the map,[2] who are siblings of pupils of this school. Priority will next be given to children outside the catchment area, who are siblings of pupils on roll at this school. Priority will next be given to children living outside the catchment area, who regularly attend (or whose parents regularly attend) a Church of England church. [1] Each application must be accompanied by a completed Devon Supplementary Information Form for Exceptional Need which will include evidence, from a medical specialist or social worker of the child's/parent's need and why they must attend this school rather than any other, based on those needs. If evidence is not submitted to the [school or the Local Authority] with the application, a child's or parent's medical or social needs cannot be considered. Non pupil days Holidays / Bank holidays 2020 / 2021 Academic Year Count: 190 Download / Print term dates Early years provision Nursery Class Under two-year olds Is the school run provision on the school site? Number of weeks open a year admissions@devon.gov.uk www.devon.gov.uk/admissions schooltransportservicequeries-mailbox@devon.gov.uk www.devon.gov.uk/school_transport Schools Find a school, admissions, term dates, transport, school meals, support for schools Child protection What to do if you are worried about a child Early years and childcare Children's centres, childcare, early years education funding for 2, 3 and 4-year-olds, information for providers Family support The Family Information Service, Family Group Conference Plus, Drug and alcohol services and domestic violence support Young people Children in care, youth enquiry service, youth offending teams Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Local Offer and vision Information for parents of children with special educational needs Adoption and fostering Information about adoption, fostering and private fostering services in Devon Devon Children and Families Partnership Information about child abuse, keeping children safe and general health and wellbeing Give feedback Let us know what you think about education and learning csc.cyps@devon.gov.uk

Robert Yamartino ryamartino@sullivanlaw.com Bob represents institutional, private equity and REIT clients in acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, financings and leasing matters. His experience includes representing property owners, purchasers, borrowers and investors in the acquisition, disposition, financing and leasing of office, industrial, retail and bio-medical facilities. He also has experience representing both institutional investors and operating partners in joint venture transactions. Prior to joining Sullivan as counsel, Bob was an associate at a large multinational law firm. Representative Client Work Represented a Canadian pension fund in a $700 million acquisition, financing and subsequent ground lease of large tech company headquarters in Manhattan Represented a national insurance company in the $650 million acquisition of a ground lease interest of a bio-medical technology company headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts Represented a national insurance company in the acquisition of a $100 million acquisition of an office tower in Miami, Florida Represented a Boston-based institutional investor in the formation of a real estate investment fund, the negotiation of joint venture agreements with various operating partners, and the acquisition and financing of over 30 industrial properties across the southeastern United States Represented an institutional investor in the acquisition of a portfolio of 23 "term for years" estates located across the eastern United States which were subleased to a regional supermarket chain J.D., with honors, University of Connecticut School of Law B.A., with honors, Bates College Sullivan & Worcester Adds Real Estate Counsel in Boston Office Acquisitions & Dispositions

Q: Typescript/Jest mocking a shared function from a service I have a service for NestJS, but this is not really a NestJS issue. However, NestJS testing is in play, and I use it to create the service for testing, etc. My service is used to make a number of calls, and return all the data. In my scenario, there is a service (myservice) which will get some results (an object of data) that combines results from various sources. The external sources are all Promise (async/await) based, and are used to get all the different data points, combine this into the myservice (a base service that is extended by others) to combine the error handling, promise result processing, etc. I am having an issue trying to mock the external calls for testing. My issue is for the function that reads data from NodeJS. I can test the function on its own without issue, but now I am trying to mock out this function call in my service. A short sample of the functions in questions, as part of: myservice.ts public async GetData(DataType: number = DATA_TYPES.TEXT): Promise<ResultFile> { const ResultData: ResultFile = new ResultFile(DataType); return new Promise<ResultFile>((resolve, reject) => { const Data$: Promise<string> = this.GetResultFileContents(); const StatusCode$: Promise<number> = this.GetResultFileStatusCode(); Promise.all([Data$, StatusCode$]) .then((Results) => { ResultData.Contents = Results[0]; // Promise returns a string ResultData.StatusCode = Results[1]; // Promise returns a number resolve(ResultData); }) .catch((Exception: Error) => { ResultData.StatusCode = HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND; ResultData.Contents = Exception.message; reject(ResultData); }); }); } The above is the main method trying to retrieve different data. This calls more promises than the 2 that are there, but two will show my issue. public async GetResultFileContents(): Promise<string> { try { const Results$: string = await ReadFileContents(this.Directory_, this.BaseName_); return Results$; } catch (Exception) { throw new HttpException(`File not found: ${this.BaseName_} in ${this.Directory_}`, HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND); } } public async GetResultFileStatusCode(): Promise<number> { let StatusCode: number = 0; try { const StatusCodeFile: string = `${this.BaseName_}.err`; const StatusCodeData$ = await ReadFileContents(this.Directory_, StatusCodeFile); StatusCode = GetIntegerFromText(StatusCodeData$); } catch (Exception) { StatusCode = HttpStatus.OK; // Return OK since a specific status was not set to be returned. } return new Promise<number>((resolve) => { resolve(StatusCode); }); } The two methods that are called, to return promises, both use an external function, ReadFileContents(). This is the function I want to mock, as it can return the data as a string, or throw an exception, wrapping the OS checks (among other things) for the file(s) containing the data. This function is common, and shared by a number of the methods that read data from the file system. There is also something similar to REST calls, which have the same issue, but this is a simple example. My issue now comes in the test file. While I can test the service, and the methods within the myservice.ts, but I do not know how to mock the external call to ReadFileContents() to ensure my methods in the myservice.ts are executing properly. I want to test different return strings, as well as the catch of exceptions when files do not exist, etc. My test: import { Test, TestingModule } from '@nestjs/testing'; import { MyService } from './my.service'; // TODO: Need to mock the internal calls to ReadFileContents() to throw exceptions describe('MyService (mock)', () => { let service: MyService; afterEach(() => {}); beforeEach(async () => { const module: TestingModule = await Test.createTestingModule({ providers: [MyService], }).compile(); service = module.get<MyService>(MyService); }); it('should be defined', () => { expect(service).toBeDefined(); }); it('should handle exceptions when reading missing .hdr file', async () => { // const mockReadFileContents = jest.spyOn(service.???); }); }); In the last function, I do not know how to mock the ReadFileContents, as it is just a function within the service, which is in another source file. I really do not want make a public method in the service, to simply call this function, so I can mock it, if I can help that. Please ignore missing functions, or other typos as this was a quick edit to provide the sample of what I am trying to accomplish. A: I have continued to work on this, and could not get the mock to work. I did then change the functions I was trying to mock, to be in another service (fsService) and used this service in the myService, via the constructor with Dependency Injection. constructor( private FileSystem_: fsService, ) {} This can then be easily mocked in a test by either mocking the service, providing a fake definition ( {provide: fsService, useClass: fsServiceMock }) etc. import { Test, TestingModule } from '@nestjs/testing'; import { MyService } from './my.service'; import { FsService } from './fs.service'; describe('MyService (mock)', () => { let service: MyService; let FSService_: FsService; afterEach(() => { jest.resetAllMocks(); }); beforeEach(async () => { const module: TestingModule = await Test.createTestingModule({ providers: [ FSService, MyService, ], }).compile(); FsService_ = module.get<FSService>(FSService); service = module.get<MyService>(MyService); }); it('should be defined', () => { expect(service).toBeDefined(); }); it('should handle exceptions when reading missing .hdr file', async () => { FSService_.ReadFileContents = jest.fn().mockRejectedValue(new Error('ENOENT: File not Found')); ... }); });

This is Nauli Kriya in yoga. Hippie yoga girl Namastay home and get high shirt or Official hippie yoga girl Namastay home and get high T-shirt. The massage of the internal organs such as the stomach, liver, spleen, urinary bladder, pancreas, gall bladder, and large and small intestine helps the body increase gastric fire and eliminate toxins in the digestive tract. The blond chick on your show that helps commentate, her laugh is extremely annoying to the point I hardly watch it anymore. People making a joke on this. Whatever she is showing on the public domain just to help us so we can keep our health benefits. Please don't make a joke on any kind of health tip. Otherwise, nature will make a big joke on you and that time you will definitely cry. Weird enough but ever since I was little I could do all that. Never seen anyone else ever be Hippie yoga girl Namastay home and get high shirt, I just thought I was super weird. If you ever watched the Hulk movie with Edward Norton when he's in Brazil and the guy is teaching him to control his stomach or this is what she's doing just more intense. I could be wrong but I think that is a Brazilian martial art breathing technique. Maybe I watched hulk to many times. I seen this in the hulk with Edward Norton was doing it in order to control his emotions it makes your brain viral. It's cool but I saw this twenty years ago Believe me she didn't invent it yoga practitioners have been doing that same move for hundreds of years. People making a joke on this. Whatever she is showing other public domain just for help us so we can keep our health benefits. Please don't make a joke on any kind of health tip.

The aim of the course is to offer an introduction into the study of the Holocaust, the destruction of the European Jews, its causes and mechanisms. The course is given once a year during the spring semester, day-time. The course is a free-standing course for beginners, but priority is given to exchange students. Follow the link for the course syllabus (kursplan) and literature list (litteraturlista). The course includes an overview of Nordic history from the Viking Age to the present. The students will learn about selected topic for discussions in historical theory as well as to train historical argumentation. The course is given once a year during the autumn semester, day-time. The course is a free-standing course for beginners, but priority is given to exchange students. The course provides an introduction to Swedish politics. The political system in general, the constitution, the government and the political parties are discussed in a historical as well as in a contemporary perspective. The course is given once a year during the spring semester, day-time. The course is a free-standing course for beginners, but priority is given to exchange students. These courses are open for non-exchange students. Apply for courses at the university admission's Swedish website antagning.se. Contact the Lund University admissions office for assistance with your application: email: lantstu.luse Telephone: +46 (0)46 222 9300 (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, between 10:00 and 12:00). No Bachelor's programme in History is offered in English. No Master's programme in History is offered in English. The Department of History is responsible for the graduate school in history, which is a collaboration between the Department of History in Lund, the University of Gothenburg, Malmö University, Linnaeus University and Södertörn University. Read more about PhD studies. Please note that the specific admission requirements are a MA degree, a degree project in history worth at least 15 credits at Master's level and the ability to understand written Swedish. For all students that are already admitted and registered for courses at the Department of History. The teachers at the department does not use the web portal Live@Lund for every course. Instead the students at the department are recommended to use the Student Portal (formely known as STiL - STudent in Lund) to register, view course registrations and academic results, print certificates or transcripts of records, gain access to the e-library, as well as to access the student email account. This student email is used for all communication between the lecturer and students. Registrations for our English courses are made as web registration on the Student Portal or at the reception at the department. The introduction meeting is mandatory, contact the department if prevented to attend. The teacher will inform you of all course related information such as course curriculum, schedules, literature, rules and regulations. The literature list and syllabus are also found on the relevant course website. Please note that the Library guide for History on the course website is only available in Swedish. You can use the English version from Archaeology and ancient history instead, to educate yourself on how to get a library card, on academic conduct & reference management, where and how to search for information & encyclopaedias of interest. For further information, contact the academic advisor.

Everybody got upset a couple of weeks ago when Apple released their fancy new Thunderbolt cable. First of all, people didn't understand why it took the company four months after announcing the new blazing fast connectivity standard just to release a cable. Second, Steve Jobs was charging a whopping $50 for the cable. And third, Apple didn't even make anything you could plug it into! The furrowed-brow Apple fanboys must have cheered when for some odd reason, Apple posted some stray photos of a new display that uses the Thunderbolt technology. MacRumors found the images on Friday morning and pointed out how previous rumors about updates to the MacBook Pro line were apparently false. A tipster found a stray image of a new display model -- as evidenced by the OSX Lion background -- and quickly found several more that showed a laptop and what may be a new Mac Mini model connected to the display. It's out of character for the company to leak any information, of course.

A pair of NOS 1967 Michigan Boat License Plates, these 67 MI DMV Boat Tags are beige with black letters, 1967 is printed across the top, and Boat along the bottom. The Department of Motor Vehicles registration number varies and the condition is new old stock excellent minus to excellent. Each pair comes with its original wrapper. We have more than one pair of 1967 Michigan Boat License Plates available for sale at Brandywine General Store, so the one in the picture might not be the one you receive, but all of these classic 67 MI Boat Tags will be in the same NOS excellent minus to excellent condition. These plates are to be attached one on each side of the vessel, or one fore and one aft, in a manner so that they are plainly visible at all times. They must be positioned so that any tarpaulin or other covering will not obscure them at any time.

At least seven more people were wounded by the bomb, which was planted either inside the civilian bus, or just by it and exploded in a busy district of Lebanon's second largest city. A bomb killed at least 18 people, including nine soldiers, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Wednesday, security sources said. The bomb wounded at least 45 people. It had been placed in a bag at a bus stop where soldiers usually gather, the army said in a statement, describing the attack as a "terrorist bombing" -- a phrase used in the past by the military when it suspects militant Islamist involvement. The blast struck at 7.45 a.m. (0445 GMT) as people made their way to work. Red Cross workers ferried casualties to hospital. The ground was spattered with blood and covered in shards of glass. "It seems that the bomb was detonated wirelessly by remote," local police chief Ashraf Reefi said. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack in Lebanon's second largest city, which has been the scene of fighting between security forces and Islamist militants and sectarian violence linked to political tension in Lebanon.

Realize the lies There is a Lie being sold, question is are you buying? Tag Archives: Terrorism realizethelies 11:34 am on September 25, 2016 Tags: Cover ups ( 6 ), State Sponsered Terrorism, Terrorism, War on Terror ( 27 ) 9/11's "Known Knowns" Years of willful deception, the sands of time, and simple neglect all tend to cloud our perception of the reality of history. This is especially true for politically radioactive topics like 9/11. With the debate over 9/11 heating up at the 15th anniversary of that fateful day, it's a good time to get back up to speed. There are essential pillars of the 9/11 debate that must be acknowledged by all parties before any healthy discussion of that paradigm-changing topic can take place. What follows is a refresher list of "known knowns" — select, broad aspects of 9/11 that are at present beyond reasonable doubt: . The money (financial funding and Fraud) trail was never followed to its logical conclusion. The 9/11 Commission concluded the question of who funded the attacks "was of little practical significance." . The Bush Administration pushed back against any independent investigation into 9/11.Once the White House agreed to an investigation, it provided a budget of $3 million, or 27% of the amount requested by 9/11 Commission co-chairs, Thomas Keane and Lee Hamilton. . The Bush White House's first choice to lead the 9/11 Commission was the highly controversial Henry Kissinger. Under intense pressure due to conflicts of interest, he resigned a month later. The 9/11 Commission was compromised by having White House policy advisor Philip Zelikow as its executive director. He was alleged to have been in close contact with controversial White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove throughout the investigation. . Saudi agents — some with ties to the White House — sent financial and logistical support to men who then provided that support to the hijackers. That's according to the Congressional 2002 Joint Inquiry report, multiple media accounts and at least one FBI agent who worked on 9/11 cases. Efforts to further investigate Saudi nationals were resisted by the White House and CIA over and over again. . Indian intelligence, corroborated by the FBI, showed a wire transfer of $100,000 from the phone of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Mahmud Ahmad to 9/11 lead hijacker Mohammed Atta in 2000. Ahmad was in Washington D.C. on the morning of the attacks, meeting with US lawmakers.(including a Future Director of the C.I.A.) . The $100,000 transaction was never mentioned in the 9/11 Commission report — and Ahmad was never detained for questioning. . Multiple, overlapping war game drills created some level of confusion at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) on the morning of the attacks. . Around noon on 9/11, air traffic controllers who handled some of the hijacked flights made a recording recalling their experiences of the events from a few hours earlier. The tape was later destroyed by an unidentified FAA supervisor without any transcripts taken.(destruction of evidence in a criminal investigation) . Blaming Iraq was the talking point advanced by the Bush administration within days of the attacks. Later, multiple reports surfaced alleging that the neoconservatives who made up the hawkish Project for a New American Century think tank and the Bush Administration had been planning for and discussing the need to publicly justify an invasion of Iraq (and Afghanistan) long before 9/11. This is by no means a full list of inadequately-investigated facts surrounding 9/11. People loyal to the official narrative at first denied the veracity of many of these facts. Later, when the corroborations and confirmations became overwhelming, they shifted gears, insisting these "knowns" didn't matter. Via Who What Why realizethelies 3:32 pm on April 10, 2016 Tags: Intelligence Agencies ( 4 ), Saudi Arabia ( 4 ), Terrorism, War on Terror ( 27 ) Secret 9/11 Report Holds Vital Clues On Saudi Arabia's Role In Attacks Government officials, members of Congress, and 9/11 victims are demanding that the government declassify a top-secret 28-page report that potentially spills the beans on Saudi Arabia's role in the 2001 attacks. Bob Graham, the former Florida governor, Democratic U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, says that the public deserve to know the truth about the extent of Saudi's role in the 9/11 atrocities. Graham and his Joint Inquiry co-chair in the House, former Representative Porter Goss (R-FL) — who went on to be director of the CIA — say the 28 pages were excised from their report by the Bush Administration in the interest of national security.Graham wouldn't discuss the classified contents, but says the 28 pages outline a network of people he believes supported hijackers in the U.S. He tells Kroft he believes the hijackers were "substantially" supported by Saudi Arabia. Asked if the support was from government, rich people or charities, the former senator replies, "all of the above." Graham and others think the reason for classifying the pages was to protect the U.S. relationship with ally Saudi Arabia. Bob Graham and Porter Goss,should know that there is more than just the official story of 9-11. Being that they were the 2 representatives meeting with Pakistani ISI chief General Mahmoud Ahmad, the alleged "money-man" behind the 9-11 hijackers. So are they getting cold feet on the 9-11 coverup? Via: Your News Wire realizethelies 12:41 pm on March 10, 2016 Tags: Domestic Spying ( 21 ), Domestic Terrorism, Government Watch List, Terrorism 9 Ways To Get Your Name on a Government Watch List You might think that government watch lists are reserved for violent radical extremists. You might be wrong.There is a very serious war taking place, a "war on terror". Which should sound ludicrous to any rational, thinking human being. How can we wage a war on terror? Terror is a consequence of war itself. You can't fight a war on something that war produces? Talk about a vicious cycle. And terror doesn't only exist overseas. There are apparently very dangerous people here on domestic soil, too. Dangerous people that don't follow the herd. Who don't walk in orderly lines. Scary people that oppose corrupt systems. Some people consider earning a spot on the government watch list as a badge of honor. Fortunately for them, it doesn't seem too difficult to land yourself on one of these government watch lists (at least not if you've ever had a thought independent of the ones the media is constantly spoon feeding you… or if you're a fairly normal and boring human being). 1. Displaying Bumper Stickers on Your Vehicle If you think the display of snarky bumper stickers all over the back of your minivan is just a form of self-expression, you're wrong. It could be an act of terrorism. According to a training manual used in the State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training program for law enforcement. stickers could be indications of terrorist activity. Some suspicious sticker subjects include pro-life, pro-freedom, anti-genetic engineering, anti-United Nations, and patriotism. 2. Paying With Cash Suspicious, isn't it? That you would pay cold hard cash for anything? Maybe because it's harder for the powers that be to keep tabs on cash purchases than electronic ones. Think twice about pulling out a few ones to pay for your morning coffee. It's probably even more terrifying if you pay for your bulk peanut butter, toilet paper, and ravioli with a few twenties. 3. Voting Third Party Step outside the two-party political illusion and you might be considered a terrorist threat. A law enforcement report (2009) from the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) listed libertarians (and Ron Paul supporters) as potential terrorist threats. In fact you probably don't even have to vote with a third party, perhaps just thinking about voting for someone outside the two party system would be enough to get you in trouble with the "thought police". 4. Homeschooling your child Unless you're teaching your kids how to field strip a rifle in under a minute you probably think that you're safe. All of those worksheets and museum trips and popsicle-stick art couldn't possibly be a threat to national security. Yet the documentary film, 9/11: The Road To Tyranny, featured footage of a lecturer at a FEMA symposium for first responders stating that homeschoolers were terrorists and should be treated with the utmost suspicion and brutality in times of national emergency. 5. Believing in Conspiracy Theories After reading this list, it's easy to believe in some insane government conspiracy to land every American citizen on a government watch list. Beware: Believing in conspiracy theories… well, that's reason enough to land your name on a government watch list. In fact Half of the population is considered dangerous, due to free thinking and openly questioning official stories. Full Story: The Rundown Live realizethelies 1:58 pm on February 19, 2016 Tags: Data ( 2 ), Metadata ( 3 ), predator drones ( 2 ), Terminator, Terrorism, UAV Drones ( 22 ), War on Terror ( 27 ) NSA's SKYNET program(Remote Assaination) may be killing thousands of innocent people The "war on Terror" is just a warm up on the playground for Future Robotic Warfare. We all thought the Terminator was pure Sci-Fi, well the sick folks at the N.S.A/C.I.A. are taking AI, Big Data, and Robotics to the next level. Using these tools for training, of how to kill current and future enemies. It's not enough that they can use Data, and Supercomputers to spy on the whole world. The world is now there Battlefield playground. Today A.I. and unmanned drones are killing "terrorists" halfway around the world, Tomorrow They'll be taking on "insurgents" and Dissidents in order to preserve the public "peace" and "Democracy". A recent examination of National Security Agency documents previously released by whistleblower Edward Snowden shows that the CIA and other U.S. agencies may be killing innocent people as a result of their reliance on metadata. The NSA's SKYNET is a program that surveils phone metadata in order to track suspected terrorists. Through SKYNET, the security agency engages in mass surveillance of Pakistan's mobile phone network, affecting 55 million people — but that's not all. Once the data is gathered, it's run through a machine learning algorithm that attempts to rate whether a particular individual is more or less likely to be a terrorist. According to Human Rights Data Analysis' executive director Patrick Ball, the NSA's methods are "ridiculously optimistic" and "completely bullshit." If Ball is correct, SKYNET's methodology may be putting thousands of innocent lives in danger because they are being falsely identified as terrorists. The documents made available by The Intercept show the NSA works with the data of only seven known terrorists. NSA officials reportedly feed six of the terrorists' information into the machine, tasking SKYNET with the duty of finding the seventh in a random group of 100,000 citizens. Somewhere between 2,500 and 4,000 people have been killed by drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004, and most of them were classified by the US government as "extremists," the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported. In the years that have followed, thousands of innocent people in Pakistan may have been mislabelled as terrorists by that "scientifically unsound" algorithm, possibly resulting in their untimely demise. SKYNET works like a typical modern Big Data business application. The program collects metadata and stores it on NSA cloud servers, extracts relevant information, and then applies machine learning to identify leads for a targeted campaign. Except instead of trying to sell the targets something, this campaign, given the overall business focus of the US government in Pakistan, likely involves another branch of the US government—the CIA or military—that executes their "Find-Fix-Finish" strategy using Predator drones and on-the-ground death squads. Similar apps, like the one used by Facebook, are prone to making major mistakes, but the consequences of Facebook's errors are relatively innocuous. When SKYNET makes similar mistakes by wrongly identifying a terrorist, the consequences are deadly. President Barack Obama has been under heavy scrutiny for authorizing drone campaigns that result in gross mistakes, killing a great number of innocent people while targeting "confirmed terrorists." Since 2004, there have been 401 US drone strikes in Afghanistan, alone, killing 3,058 people total. In Pakistan, hundreds, including children, have died in pursuit of a mere two dozen declared terrorists. Via The AntiMedia Ars Technica realizethelies 9:09 pm on November 15, 2015 Tags: False Falg Terrorism ( 6 ), Paris Attacks, Syria ( 16 ), Terrorism, War ( 29 ) Paris Attack: Hegelian Manipulation and Deep State Terrorism? The Hegelian Dialectic perfectly at work once again in a High profile Terrorist Attack. Problem,Reaction,Solution all manipulated by the Deep State. The previous justifications to involve The U.S. and E.U. in the Syrian conflict have fallen short. Bogus Syrian Regime Chemical Weapons didn't work. The creation,funding and Fear propaganda of the Islamic State terror group didn't fool the public. The involvement of Russia in the conflict has made the public even more wary of becoming involved and taking on the nuclear armed Russian military. Now the public must be pushed towards outrage,shock and horror, So that they demand an intervention in the conflict. Paris Attacks: A Perfect Pretext For NATO To Mobilize in Syria and Iraq To anyone who is really paying attention, the real agenda behind this 'terror' event in Paris – is a NATO-sponsored intervention in Syria and northern Iraq.Also, the following will now be buried: any talk of preserving privacy rights in the west, a debate on mass surveillance and bulk data collection, opposition against mandatory biometric ID's in Europe.Israel's isolation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Iraq War Inquiry in Britain, and of course – any political opposition to an increased western military presence in Syria, Iraq (and any where else). French and German Intelligence Services Knew Paris Attack Was Coming a Month Ago Startling information has just surfaced that indicates French National Police met with German BKA federal police and German BND federal intelligence service to discuss an imminent pre-planned terrorist attack on Paris weeks ago. According to a report by SOFREP: Industrial targets were already being probed by suspected terrorists in France, and a bomb which failed to detonate was found in one facility. The explosives employed were those stolen in a little-publicized theft from a French military armory months prior. The French and German federal police and intelligence services strongly believed at that time that terrorists were casing soft targets inside Paris and that it was, "A matter of when, not if." The only point of contention within the French security services was whether or not the target would be soft (civilian) or hard (military, government, industrial) in nature Planned multi-site attack exercise' was live at time of Paris attack In a million-to-one chance and as fate would have it a direct contact of French President François Hollande, a man by the name of Dr. Patrick Pelloux, likely an intelligence operative, who was also the first witness to arrive on scene at January's Charlie Hebdo Shooting, has once again managed to emerge himself into the media's spotlight after being one of the first responders to Friday's bloody attacks. Now new bombshell forensic audio evidence suggests Dr. Pelloux was already with emergency personnel who were coincidentally involved in a live, "planned […] multi-site attack exercise" which was taking place that very morning.Dr. Pelloux also said during the brief interview that because everyone was "prepared" and there was a quick mass "mobilization" of forces they were able to contain the carnage as much as possible suggesting a prestagging of sorts. Via IntelliHub Tags: Government sponsored terrorism ( 2 ), Terrorism, War on Terror ( 27 ) CIA Chief: "The War On Terror Will Never End" Central Intelligence Agency boss John Brennan took part in a question and answer session at Harvard last week. The most important thing to take away from the event is that the nation's top intelligence official does not believe the war on terror will ever end. The Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) was surprisingly candid (for a man who lies for a living) when he answered questions regarding the likelihood of the disastrous War on Terror ever ending. He ham-handedly attempted to stick to the tired old clichés and talking points, but he was open and honest about one fact: America's sons and daughters will continue to die under this ill-conceived foreign policy for "millennia" to come. To be sure, there were plenty of statements regarding how terrorists are evildoers, that they hate us for our freedom, that we have to fight them over there or we'll fight them here, and that it's technology's fault; but observers could tell that even the DCI didn't believe the intended soundbytes. When questioned on when the War on Terror will end, Brennan said: "It's a long war, unfortunately. But it's been a war that has been in existence for millennia, at the same time—the use of violence for political purposes against noncombatants by either a state actor or a subnational group. Terrorism has taken many forms over the years. What is more challenging now is, again, the technology that is available to terrorists, the great devastation that can be created by even a handful of folks, and also mass communication that just proliferates all of this activity and incitement and encouragement. There is evil in the world and some people just want to kill for the sake of killing…This is something that, whether it's from this group right now or another group, I think the ability to cause damage and violence and kill will be with us for many years to come. The DCI refuses to acknowledge any legitimate policy concerns of the opposition, which is of course setting the stage for an endless war by removing the possibility of changing the political climate. Without entertaining the idea for a policy shift, the only option left is war. So as long as mass communication exists and the US continues to funnel arms into the region, the war will continue. realizethelies 6:55 pm on August 20, 2014 Tags: False Falg Terrorism ( 6 ), Middle East ( 14 ), Terrorism Western Governmnents creating Terrorism: Annie Machon Whistleblower realizethelies 11:18 pm on August 15, 2014 Tags: Bio-Terrorism, Ebola ( 3 ), False Flag Terrorism ( 11 ), Terrorism Ebola Crisis: U.S preparing for future planned Biowarfare? With the current Ebola Crisis in West Africa that has killed 1069 patients so far, The ebola crisis fear has spread to the United States. WithIn one week very significant events relating to this crisis just so happened to take place. On July 31st President Obama signed an executive order that allows for the permanent detention of citizens exhibiting signs/symptoms of "respiratory ilnesses". Police state USA: The powers currently claimed by the federal government conceivably allow for situations where any communicable disease — even influenza — can become the basis for a large-scale military-enforced federal quarantine in which civil rights are suspended, civilian movement is restricted, and citizens are involuntarily detained — perhaps indefinitely.On July 31st, 2014, President Obama expanded the list of communicable diseases for which the federal government is prepared to institute a quarantine. Together, with the expansions made by previous presidents, the list includes the widest set of potential triggers for suspending American rights that the country has yet seen. Is this a Coincidence? lets look a little further. In the same week that, the ebola crisis began to make the headlines, New York City officials and multiple agencies participated in one of the largest surprise Bio-terrorism Drill's. Disclose TV :August 3, 2014 – officials throughout the city conducted the largest unannounced bio-terror drill in U.S. history. The Rapid Activation for Mass Prophylaxis Exercise (RAMPEx), which had over 1500 participants between 30 locations, was conducted with 13 city agencies as reported by CBS New York. Supposedly, the drill was for airborne bio-weapons such as Anthrax, however, one must question if the true nature of the drill was based on the recent Ebola outbreak. Also In the same week on August 1st two Americans infected with Ebola were flown back to the U.S.. Pretty strange action to take against a Virus that is 70-90 percent lethal in most cases, something that you would want to quarantine, keep out, not fly back into your country. Could it be related to the fact the CDC and US Government own a patent on a certain strain of the Ebola virus, and need to harvest sample's from living patients in order to fine tune it into a more lethal bioweapon? Global Research: Harvesting Ebola from victims to file patents From the patent description on the EboBun virus, we know that the U.S. government: 1) Extracts Ebola viruses from patients. 2) Claims to have "invented" that virus. 3) Files for monopoly patent protection on the virus. To understand why this is happening, you have to first understand what a patent really is and why it exists. A patent is a government-enforced monopoly that is exclusively granted to persons or organizations. It allows that person or organization to exclusively profit from the "invention" or deny others the ability to exploit the invention for their own profit.It brings up the obvious question here: Why would the U.S. government claim to have "invented" Ebola and then claim an exclusively monopoly over its owners. If there is a Bio terrorism event in the United States at any time in the near future, Let the facts stand that the U.S. government holds the world largest repository of Bio-warfare viruses and weapons. So now you know who would be the most likely suspect in this type of event. realizethelies 3:59 pm on September 11, 2013 Tags: 9/11 ( 8 ), False Flag Terrorism ( 11 ), Terrorism, War on Terror ( 27 ) I've been hearing it all day, Never forget 9/11…. What am I supposed to never forget..? Never forget the official propaganda/government approved conspiracy theory. Never forget to remember this day only in terms of officially sanctioned history, and to "not tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories" of the official events? Never Forget that the US Government/C.I.A created the very same "terrorist" enemy, Al-Qaeda, that it blamed these attacks on? Which in turn ushered in the new era of an American Police Sate, with draconian legislation such as the Patriot Act, Military commissions act and the NDAA. Never forget that these events almost perfectly mirrored the Reichstag Fire, The Lavon Affair, or Operation NorthWoods in that the excuse to expand the power of the Shadow Government and to wage war, in everyone of these cases was "Terrorism" Never forget how the US Government used September 11 as a pretext for endless war, military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and continuing intervention in the Middle East? Never forget how the US Government used September 11 as a pretext for illegal imprisonment, secret courts and torture. Yes I get the fact that we should keep dear to us, those who lost their lives on that tragic day. But what does it serve them and the sacrifices they made that day, if we aren't willing to ask questions about the events and real planners of the events of that day? realizethelies 3:57 pm on August 2, 2013 Tags: Department of Homeland Security ( 4 ), DHS, Domestic Spying ( 21 ), F.B.I. ( 8 ), Terror Suspects, Terrorism Every American Is Now A Terrorist According to The US Government It's official, every single American can now be classified as a terrorist by the US government. The label of 'terrorist' no longer applies to members of al-Qaeda of 'extremists', but the average citizen of this nation. literally 100% of the population can be classified as a terrorist under the truly outrageous Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FBI characteristics that define a terrorist or terrorist activity. These broad qualifications of 'terrorism' that have spawned a new wave of absolute paranoia within the population regarding their fellow citizens, who the nightly news says may be sleeper cell terrorists. Simply doing a google search on Pressure cookers, or posting lyrics on Facebook,can now lead to federal investigation and being charged with "Terrorism' Here are qualifications of a terrorist in the United States under the Department of Homeland Security and FBI guidelines. 'Terrorists' Pay With Cash Have you ever payed with cash instead of a credit card? The FBI, operating alongside the DHS in helping to stop terrorism and detain terrorists, says you are likely a terrorist if you do so often. Under the FBI's Communities Against Terrorism (CAT) program, using cash instead of debt-inducing credit cards means that you are a terrorist suspect 'Terrorists' Care About Privacy If you're concerned about the NSA spying on all of your private emails or listening to your intimate phone calls, you are likely a terrorist under FBI guidelines. And don't even consider voicing concern for your privacy in a public area, which the FBI says is a definite red flag of a terrorist. According to the FBI and Justice Department's Communities Against Terrorism initiative,being concerned about your privacy might just send you to Guantanamo. (Because if you have nothing to hide, then you shouldn't be concerened that every aspect of your life is spied on, It worked for the citizens of Nazi Germany, why not here?) 'Terrorists' Know About GMOs Extremist terrorists most of all are familiar with GMOs and dare to agree that they should be labeled, which 93-96% of the country actually is in favor of. According to a major report out of Germany, this demographic is even targeted by the US military for desiring GMO labeling and all forms of political activism. So just this category alone covers about 96% of the US population alone, leaving around 4% left to be absorbed through other terrorist activities. Full Story @ StoryLeak.com Biometric Health Passports And The Panopticon DHS/IARPA pushing for advancements in Biometrics & Facial Recognition.Public advocacy finally seeing the Dangers of Big Brother Tech?? Ghost in the Xmas Machine,SantaNet AI could destroy the world The "Great Reset" The Technocratic/Transhuman Corporate world takeover Digital currency, Digital I.D. plans being rolled out in the post COVID era Archives Select Month January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 March 2019 February 2018 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 November 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 Categories Select Category 9-11 Aliens Alternative Media C.I.A. Chemtrails Commentary Conspiracy Corporatism DARPA Deep State F.B.I. Geoengineering Martial Law Mind Control N.S.A N.S.A. News Police State Propaganda Qoutes Science Secret Societies Shadow Government Social Engineering Space Surveillance Symbolism Technocracy Technology Transhumanism UFO'S Uncategorized Alien Digest Alien Scientist All News Pipeline American Empire Exposed (Joachim Hagopian) Another Day In The Empire Anti-Media Bibliotec pleyades: Black Budget Bibliotec Pleyades: Illuminati Bibliotec Pleyades: Mind control Carnicom Institute (GeoEngineering) Chris Everard Conspiracy Archive Conspiracy Club Daily Sheeple Dark Government Dave Mcgowan: Center for an informed america David Livingstone (Ordo Ab Chao) David Livingstone: Terrorism and the Illuminati Deoxy End the Lie Erik Karlstrom (Mind control, Gang Stalking) Error 404: Status Quo: Concepts Not Found ExoHuman F.William Engdahl Fear and Clothing Feral House Press Frater Solamente GeoEngineering Watch Huff Post-UFO News Inner Traditions (Xaviant Haze) Institute for the study of Globalization and Covert Politics InteliHub International Center Against Abuse of Covert Technologies Investigating The Terror Jim Marrs Josh Reeves/ Global Reality Just Wondering? Last American Vagabond Leak Project (Rex Bear) Lloyd Pye Missing 411/ David paulides Muck Rock Nick Redfern Niel Sanders (Mind Control) No More Fake News(John Rappaport) Occult investigations (William Ramsey) ParaPolitical Peter Dale Scott Realities Watch Rebellious Investigative News and Film Richard Metzger/ Dangerous Minds Sage of Quay Secret Arcana Servando Gonzalez SHTFPLAN Station Six Underground Stop The Crime Storm Clouds Gathering Story Leak Strawman Info (Clint Richardson) Symbol Dictionary Technocracy News The Arcane Front The Awareness Act The Constantine Report The Control Connection The Crowhouse (Max Igan) The FKN Newz The Middle Chamber/ Frater X The Mind Unleashed The Revolution will Be Televised! The Truth Behind The scene's Tim Shorrock / Salon.com Top Info Post News TransAlchemy Trine Day Press Truth Stream Media U.S.A VS U.S UFO Mania Underground Documentaries Unsealed:Alien Files Vetereans Today Washingtons Blog Webster Tarpley Welcome to the War What on Earth is Happening(Mark Passio) Who What Why WikiSpooks WTF Really? XrepublicTV Follow Realize the lies on WordPress.com

Disney is developing a romantic comedy called The Girlfriend Equation. The film will be based on a pitch that the studio acquired. Vince DiMeglio and Tim Rasmussen have been hired to write the story, which first appeared on Public Radio International's This American Life. Pinay Films' Andrew Panay is producing with This American Life host Ira Glass serving as executive producer. According to THR, The Girlfriend Equation is "loosely inspired by the true story of an MIT grad student who attempted to identify and woo the love of his life through complex math equations." Panay has been developing a number of comedy projects at Disney. He and Underground Films has a teen comedy project called Something Cliqued in the workd. He's also developing Father Figures, a comedy spec script by Laurie Craig about a father and stepfather who misplace their son. DiMeglio and Rasmussen have experience with romantic comedies, they wrote the Robin Williams-John Krasinski starrer License to Wed as well as Marmaduke. They also have the comedy Father of the Brides set up at Warners with David Dobkin attached to direct. Panay is also producing that later. I am not a huge fan of romantic comedies. What are your thoughts on this news?

Dion Shuffle: Boz Scaggs featured on new blues-rock song by doo-wop legend Boz Scaggs is featured on a brand-new song by doo-wop and rock 'n' roll great Dion DiMucci, a grooving blues-rock tune called "I've Got to Get to You." The track is available now as a digital download and via streaming services, and will be featured on Dion's next studio album, which is due out in the fall. Scaggs contributes some guest vocals to the song, which also includes the talents of the father and son guitar duo Joe and Mike Menza. You also can check out a video for "I've Got to Get to You" at Dion's official YouTube channel. The clip mixes scenes of people using all sorts of modes of transportation with footage of Dion and his backing band playing the tune and, separately, of the Menzas jamming out on the song. Explaining why he wanted to collaborate with Scaggs, Dion notes that Boz "is one of my wife Susan's favorite singers, and I'm right there with her. He continues, "I've wanted for decades to record a song with this guy. There's no mistaking his voice for anyone else's — and here it is, as pure and clear as ever, on 'I've Got to Get to You.'" Dion also reveals that he was "inspired to write this song after a conversation with Roy Orbison more than fifty years ago," adding, "Now that Boz has sung on it, it's finally done. It doesn't get any better than this." Meanwhile, Scaggs says of Dion, "[He's] one of my favorite singers," adding about the collaboration, "Our voices are a natural blend." Dion's most recent album, 2020's Blues with Friends, included appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, The Stray Cats' Brian Setzer and more.

Q: How to pass parameters to the dotnet test command while using NUnit or XUnit I'm developing some end-to-end tests using C# with .NET Core, Selenium and NUnit. Now i want to write a login testcase. My tests are started from console simply by using the dotnet test command. I simply want to pass username and password to this command and get them in my tests. I can not use NUnit-Console since it doesn't support .NET Core at the moment. Whats the suggested way to solve this problem? I would prefer to not store the settings in a file but to directly input them into the console. A: This documentation suggests that it should now be possible to pass in arguments on the command line, instead of within a runsettings file. https://github.com/Microsoft/vstest-docs/blob/master/docs/RunSettingsArguments.md dotnet test -- MSTest.MapInconclusiveToFailed=True MSTest.DeploymentEnabled=False Note the space after -- . Edit 1 What worked for me was a combination of adding a runsettings file, and then overriding the param I wanted to, using this syntax: dotnet test -- TestRunParameters.Parameter(name=\"myParam\", value=\"value\") A: If you want to avoid a runsettings file, you can use this workaround. One of the recommended ways of passing parameters, is through environment variables. So in your C# nunit (or xunit) file, you can do something like: // in mytest.cs var user = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("TestUser"); var password = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("TestPassword"); var url = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("TestUrl"); If you do not want to definitively set your environment variables, remember you can always set them temporarily for just your session process. One way of doing this, is by creating a simple cmd file #launchtests.cmd SETLOCAL SET TestUser='pete001' SET TestPassword='secret' SET TestUrl='http://testserver.local/login' DOTNET TEST mytest.csproj And now the fun part. You can parameterize every aspect of this. So you can change it to: #run wity launchtests.cmd pete001 secret 'http://testserver.local/login' SETLOCAL SET TestUser=%1 SET TestPassword=%2 SET TestUrl=%3 DOTNET TEST mytest.csproj Or if you want to launch the test from an Azure DevOps (fka VSTS or TFS) pipeline, you can simply use the $(...) notation to inline variables, even if they're marked secret and/or come from Azure KeyVault. #In Azure DevOps, variables not marked as secret are already added to the environment SET TestPassword=$(TestPassword) dotnet test $(Build.SourcesDirectory)\MyCompany.MyProduct.UITests\MyTest.csproj --configuration $(BuildConfiguration) --collect "Code Coverage" --logger trx --results-directory $(Agent.TempDirectory) A: Unfortunately, the only way to pass settings from dotnet test into NUnit is to use a .runsettings file. There's no way for NUnit to create custom command line arguments for the dotnet test tool - although we'd love there to be! Take a look at the sample .runsettings file here. The specific bit you'll need: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <RunSettings> <!-- Parameters used by tests at runtime --> <TestRunParameters> <Parameter name="webAppUrl" value="http://localhost" /> <Parameter name="webAppUserName" value="Admin" /> <Parameter name="webAppPassword" value="Password" /> </TestRunParameters> </RunSettings> You should just be able to then pass this file into dotnet test with the -s flag. dotnet test myProj.csproj -s mySettings.runsettings

Sewer oil collecting sighting in Kunming! 11 pm Nov 29th, Monday night . We just witnessed two guys collecting sewer oil in the north part of Kunming, in a very nice part of town with restaurants. They were equipped with a man hole sewer opener( steel rod with J end), each had a small pot at the end of a long stick. After skimming inside the hole they dumped the contents and oil in the barrels. The van had 8 barrels. We were next to the van, my friend got photos. This was sickening to see!! That's why I've decided to not eat out. It is so disgusting to know that people would do this. They reuse the oil and use it in the 'hotpot' restaurants and places where they sell 'noodles'. Yuk! From what I've heard, not only the Hot Pot and the noodles restaurants use this gutter oil, but almost all the restaurants here, maybe only the really expensive ones don't. I've even heard they sell it in supermarkets, reusing oil bottles from known brands. So,I also don't eat out anymore unless it's at a foreign-owned place.. It's really sad cos I love Chinese food! Never really gave this a second thought since I figured they were just taken away for animal fodder: What about those white and blue plastic canisters that every restaurant has where they dump all the patrons' leftovers and the kitchen fry in? They get collected every evening by those tri-bikes and taken somewhere else. Are they also skimmed for reusable oil you think? I mean, if people go through the trouble of skimming sewers then it's hard to imagine all that oil is just given to the animals. Damn,, I'm kinda talking myself into never eating out again here. Disgusting indeed! I never even thought about that until I came to China! Fake Designer things, fake rice, reused oil, fake medicine, etc. It's really scary. I was getting stomach pains after I would finish eating meats. My wife told me that the meat wasn't from the ones we often see on the news but I told her from now on, I will not eat any meat. Lo and behold, my stomach feels much better. Be careful where you buy your stuff. I never buy stuff from the small stores since they tend to receive these fake stuff like sodas, oil, etc. I presume they do skim the oil from the restaurant leftovers although this is still not correct it's not as bad as skimming oil from sewers. Sewers contain many toxic chemicals including heavy metals which can accumulate in one's body, mercury, lead and the list goes on. Stay tuned on this one. My mail is that there will be a part-time home-based restaurant that will feature Chinese home style cooking on Saturday nights starting in the next few weeks. It will be by reservation only. You will be able to enjoy great and affordable Chinese food uncontaminated by sewer oil before you know it. harukimurakami, this is an interesting phenomenon, which, as I'm sure you know, is growing fast in other cities around the world. Closed-door restaurants at people's homes, where trust levels are a lot higher can deliver high quality cuisine at an affordable level. However, I'm sure the authorities will not want small groups of people meeting behind closed doors, so I would imagine there will be action at some point soon to stop people carrying out these revolting acts.

A cake that's easy to bake and is oh so yummilicious. Who knew pumpkin could taste so good when baked! Some simple ingredients, a great oven and a little patience is all you need to prepare this amazing cake that's a perfect fit for tea-time or as an after dinner dessert. Adapted from whipperberry.com, this pumpkin cake will blow you away. Set your oven to preheat at 350 degrees. Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Blend eggs, pumpkin, sugar and oil and combine this mixture with the dry one. Spray non-stick cooking spray in the cake tin and pour the cake batter into it. Put in the oven and bake for 1 hour at least or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Despite different age brackets of preferences, in terms of songs, I got delighted with the song you sent us in the last newsletter. The video accompanied with the letters (the lyrics)was great. You're absolutely right when you say that music plays an important role in the language learning process. By using it, not only do we improve our pronunciation, but we get in contact with an informal kind of language that is not at all similar to the language considered to be high standard usage in terms of grammar correction. A long time ago when I was beginning to teach English to a private course, I had a colleague of mine who had excellent pronunciation that seemed native like English. " I love music, I'm a music addict, and I owe the English I have mainly because I've always been a good and constant listener to lyrics". So, I praise the fact that you're going to use music in your materials. Another piece of advice I have got to give as a suggestion (who am I to be your adviser): As much as you can, present real conversations with the subtitles and story-telling narration recorded. For example, mystery stories, detective stories that can hold the student's attention and which will provide them with lots of lively English language with good and clear voices recorded and with difficult words, phrasal verbs and updated idioms explained in plain language. You might add questions about the dialogues and the narratives, also providing them with an answer-key. My dear Diana, once again I want to thank you for your consideration towards me. What a wonderful email. Thank you for taking the time to write me. Your emails are always very interesting and contain useful information. Not only for me (you inspire many good ideas) but for other learners as well. As for music, I think that it awakens something inside us all. Something that makes us forget about "language" and focus on the experience. (Especially good music like Florence and the Machine creates). Florence and the Machine is an amazing group. Florence is one of the best singers I have ever heard. :) The style is "timeless" and I love to list to it when I work. I will send you more information about how to prepare for an online class. Actually I will write an article and post it on the website so that everyone can know exactly how the classes work and what you need to have in order to join a class.

HistoricPlacesLA.org is the first online information and management system specifically created to inventory, map, and describe Los Angeles significant historic resources. Although data entry into HistoricPlacesLA is in progress, the goal is to include all of the city's Historic-Cultural Monuments and Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZs), properties listed in the National and California registers, and information gathered through SurveyLA, the citywide survey of historic resources. SurveyLA represents the most ambitious historic resources survey in the United States and is a multi-year public/private partnership between the City and the Getty, including both the Getty Conservation Institute and the Getty Foundation. To view a map showing which Community Plan Areas of the city already have SurveyLA data available through HistoricPlacesLA, please click here. HistoricPlacesLA is powered by Arches, a new open-source, web- and geospatially-based information platform built to inventory and ultimately to protect cultural heritage places. Arches was developed by the Getty Conservation Institute and the World Monuments Funds. Importantly, HistoricPlacesLA is the first customization of Arches by the Getty Conservation Institute. It is now the most advanced cultural resources inventory management system in the nation. HistoricPlacesLA has put Los Angeles at the forefront of historic preservation. Because it was developed following state and federal preservation standards and terminology it is also applicable to municipalities and agencies nationally.

Healthcare Marketing: Take a Lesson from Starbucks on Social Media Starbucks has become the most popular brand on Facebook because they are engaging with their customers. Starbucks recently surpassed Coca-Cola as the most popular brand on Facebook with over 3.6 million fans. The Altimeter Group also named it the "Most Engaged Brand". Why has Starbucks been so successful with their social media efforts? Alexander Wheeler, Digital Strategy Director for Starbucks credits really listening to the conversation and engaging in the discussion in a way that makes sense. Hospitals are beginning to use social media. In many cases it's experimental, just trying it. And in too many cases it's a half-hearted effort. Certainly, a hospital won't rival Starbucks but it would be worthwhile to learn how to make use of social media effectively. It's more than just entry now and then. It's more than just slapping up a page and sending occasional tweets. It's about listening to the consumer and engaging them where they are, with information that's important to them. Alexander continues, "It isn't a PR indicative; its alleviating and creating great consumer value and great consumer relationships." It's about using the medium to build relationships. Its listening and responding to needs and interest. It's not just about being where people are, but it's about being relevant and creating valuable experiences. Starbucks has the advantage of using social media to promote events like Red Day and Free Pastry Day. It's pretty hard for hospitals to do that. But Starbucks has received over 75,000 ideas from their social community. They are engaging their fans and followers. They are building relationships. Hospital marketers can get more than just a cup of Joe from Starbucks. Posted in Healthcare Advertising, Healthcare Branding, Social Media for Healthcare and tagged Alexander Wheeler, Altimeter Group, engaging with customer, Facebook, Healthcare Advertising, Healthcare Branding, Jimmy Warren, most engaged brand, Social Media for Hospitals, starbucks on September 9, 2009 by Jimmy Warren. Leave a comment

Workers have installed the new benches that were presented to the school as a Senior Gift by the Class of 2011, with additional financial support from the HCHS PTA. We hope you'll enjoy this new seating at the corner of Park and 94th Street, surrounding the 9/11 Memorial Tree. Thank you, Class of 2011!

Make Buying Your Dream Home Today a Reality! Why Risk Buying Contingent and Losing Out? Our Guaranteed Sale Program allows you to buy the home of your dreams before you've found a buyer for yours. Will I find a buyer in time? Will I need to make a double move? Will I own two homes at once? Will the equity that I receive from the sale of my home be enough? If your home doesn't sell in time, we'll buy it. You save time, money, and major headaches by not having to make a double move. You won't own two homes at one, guaranteed! You will know in advance what your available equity will be. If we do buy your home any profits on the resale will be shared with you.

Home Sports $1 million GLO sponsorship cash goes missing from GFA's accounts $1 million GLO sponsorship cash goes missing from GFA's accounts GLO were title sponsors of the Ghana Premier League nine years ago The Kwesi Nyantakyi led administration cannot account for $1 million of the $1.5 million out-of-court settlement paid by Telecom giants GLO for their previous sponsorship of the Ghana Premier League, Ghana Sports Online has learnt. GLO made a payment of $1.5m to the Ghana FA in January 2018 meant to be shared among the 16 Premier League clubs who took part in the Ghanaian top-flight league between 2009 and 2013. But, the GFA through Kojo Yankah, have claimed they have received $500,000 instead of the $1.5 million. Ghana Sports Online checks confirmed GLO presented an invoice worth $1.5m which was sighted by other top officials of the GFA. The GFA took GLO to court to pursue payment of $6.3 million but the Nigerian company opted for an out of court settlement. Ghana Sports' incontrovertible sources have confirmed that $1.5m, an agreement which was reached by the parties in court, was paid in full. Outspoken football administrator Takyi Arhin, who was CEO of B. A Stars during the sponsorship, has maintained that $1.5m was paid and not $500,000. "I've heard that Yakubu Moro has said that if Kwesi [Nyantakyi] is going then he should refund the $1 million before he leaves," he told Sunyani-based Moonlite FM. Arhin confirmed that clubs have not received their share of the $500,000 which Nyantakyi admitted in an Executive Committee meeting has been paid. Whilst clubs are waiting to receive their share of the money Arhin has claimed that the $500,000 has been used for administrative expenses. "The money has been used for administrative expenses," he further stated. The GLO sponsorship was dogged by scandals right from the onset with agency fee payment taking centre stage. Source: ghanasportsonline GLO sponsorship Kwesi Nyantakyi Missing Cash Previous article2 men lynched over rumours shared across WhatsApp platforms Next articleDubious GVGKelni contract is just a tip of the iceberg; Ghana now a "Cartel Republic" – Franklin Cudjoe

The GB7C Garth Brooks signature model was designed as a collaboration between Takamine R&D and country legend Garth Brooks. This model matches a solid cedar top, finished in a silky smooth natural satin finish, to a solid rosewood back and features a unique soundhole that mirrors the shape of the guitar. Sonically, the guitar performs well in soft fingerstyle passages and aggressive strumming. The mahogany neck is joined to the body with a traditional, ultra strong dovetail joint. Includes Takamine's CT4B II preamp system paired with the unique Palathetic™ under-saddle pickup for peerless amplified response. The highly acclaimed CT4B II preamp system with three-band EQ, volume control and built-in tuner.

Deedie Runkel Watermark Books & Cafe will host Deedie Runkel for an author talk and signing of Scone by Scone on Monday, July 9 at 6:00 p.m. This is a story of reinvention, beginning when we turned 60. My husband and I found ourselves unemployed. Being unemployed is not that unusual in Washington, DC, but we'd never been jobless together. A mortgage, college tuition for our youngest, and our self-esteem were all in jeopardy, as we did not have a Plan B. Or a fat savings account. I wished I was an RN and David was a lawyer so we'd have an easier time finding employment. Using all our contacts, we madly looked for jobs. Then we decided to be consultants (a typical trajectory in Washington.) Consulting and the constant supplication it requires didn't agree with us. Plus, it was 2001 and we had no interest in working for the Government. After a year, we realized we were done with Washington and Washington was done with us. Lurking deep inside my soul was a sense that we'd be great at inn keeping. David was reticent, but nonetheless a little desperate. Our search for the right B&B began in earnest. Within months, we had moved across the country and purchased Anne Hathaway's Bed & Breakfast. Our only real preparation had been playing host for years, and I'd been collecting salts and peppers, with the excuse that someday we'd need them. Our introduction to our new life was swift. We arrived in town one day. The next morning before 7, I had my first lesson in scone making, we bought the place at 9 and welcomed new guests at 3. We had signed away our life and gotten not only the building, but the guests in their beds and the milk in the refrigerator. Ashland, Oregon is the home of the world-class Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to which hundreds of thousands of people come each year, February through June. This book highlights our experiences hosting theatre lovers, actors, newlyweds, travellers, and just about every other type of person you can imagine. Scone by Scone...Tales of an Innkeeper's Life, shares what it's really like backstage at an inn, through stories of the myriad situations an innkeeper faces. Whether it's producing an impromptu wedding one afternoon, discovering that a guest was my host 20 years ago in a remote village in Africa, or introducing actors to early morning breakfast - nearly every day has brought another fascinating story to our door. Each chapter contains not just our recipe for business success, but also the recipe for whichever item on our prize-winning menu is featured in the story. Neither of us had ever run a business and we had definitely never worked side-by-side 24/7. It wasn't long before marital discord erupted over who was in charge of what, who knew best how to grill sausage, how to handle the guest who woke all the other guests -- much drama behind closed doors. Our trip to marriage counseling is the focus of one chapter. Underpinning all the hilarity and fun was the business derring do that continued to be our hallmark. We expanded from 6 rooms to 16. We put our children on our Board of Directors. We expanded the gardens. We served a grand English tea every afternoon. To our surprise, we discovered that innkeeping is indeed our vocation. It's inspiring, transforming work, and calls on skills we didn't know we had. And is laced with entirely unexpected ingredients - the love and friendship of many amazing people who came to us as guests but whom we now count as treasured friends for life. Monday, July 9, 2018 - 6:00pm Scone By Scone: Tales from an Innkeeper's Life (Paperback) By Deedie Runkel Published: BookBaby - May 12th, 2018

A war veteran, Gabbard served in the field medical unit of the Hawaiian National Guard and was deployed to Iraq and later, Kuwait. At 21, she became the youngest female legislator in the US when she was elected to Hawai'i's House of Representatives. During her tenure, she strongly supported clean energy and voiced for the improvement of the environment. However, she came under fire for supporting her father's anti-gay organization which had been voicing for conversion therapies. She then got elected to Honolulu city council where she worked on loosening parking restrictions. She got elected to the US House of Representatives in 2013 from Hawai'i's 2nd congressional district. During her tenure, she famously met with Bashar al-Assad and voiced her opposition for the Syrian dictator's removal. As a presidential candidate, she supports universal healthcare, voices for abortion rights and has changed her stance on LGBT rights.

At Boogie Wipes®, we're all about raising confident kids. Whether that means they're confident in getting themselves dressed every morning, pouring their own milk, potty training, or even learning a new language, we want all kids to approach life with an I Can Do It attitude. How do we instill confidence in our kids? In addition to taking the time to empower our kids to be independent, research shows that teaching kids another language can increase their confidence levels and actually help them do better in school, become better problem solvers and even increase their creativity. Partnering with Little Sponges Boogie Wipes® has teamed up with Little Sponges®, a Bilingual Immersion™ program, to empower parents to teach their kids another language. Through the use of puppets, engaging storytelling, interactive practice and relevant videography, Little Sponges covers key preschool and kindergarten topics providing great supplemental material for schools and parents who are teaching their "little sponges" and preparing them to thrive in the globally connected world. Watch a Little Sponges Video The Beginnings of Little Sponges Founder of Little Sponges and mother, Natalya Seals, has seen the results with her own kids. Natalya is a Russian native, but quickly found that it wouldn't be as easy as she thought to teach her kids to speak Russian. "Language experts recommended that I speak to my children only in Russian and to have my husband speak only in English. After trying this for several months, we realized that it was not enough to raise our children bilingual. Plus, our family and friends could not understand Russian so our children did not want to learn it." After trying a classroom program and a flashcard system, Natalya took matters into her own hands. "I knew I had to make language learning fun & effective if I wanted my kids to grow up multilingual," said Natalya. She researched. She read. She met with language and early childhood experts. She researched some more. she created a new video-based teaching method that was different from anything else out there. Her kids were hooked and begging for more. Even her husband who's been trying to learn Russian for years found it very helpful! "It really started from there. We showed our program to a few teachers, language experts and about 30 bilingual children and received very positive feedback! Then, the Cincinnati Country Day Schools piloted the program. They measured the effectiveness of the program in Spanish and French with terrific results and Little Sponges® was born." What started out as a way to teach her children Russian has morphed into an immersive bilingual program that covers key pre-school and kindergarten topics and offers English/Spanish, English/French, English/Russian and English/Chinese options. Each language program includes native speakers, 2,000 vocabulary words and useful phrases in 30 learning videos and enough content to supplement world languages world languages and ESL/ELL curriculum for up to two years. FOR PARENTS: How to Use Little Sponges Parents can visit Little-Sponges.com to watch demo videos. Once you purchase, you have access to the entire program in the language of your choice. Little Sponges has been proven to increase language retention rates among children by 300%. It gives parents the ability to facilitate effective language learning for their children anywhere, anytime and on any device! You can stream the Little Sponges videos in the car on the way to a playdate, while you are waiting at the doctor's office or ask the nanny to watch them with the kids while you're at work. Use the code LEARN to save 20% on Little Sponges now. FOR EDUCATORS: How to Use Little Sponges for Schools In a recent case study, the Little Sponges® program delivered a 300% increase in language acquisition when integrated into the curriculum. This data is being used to help schools around the world make decisions on how to shape their language curriculum for preschool and kindergarten students. "Because the videos include English and another language, they can also be used to teach children English. Several schools are licensing the program to teach English to ESL/ELL students while teaching Spanish to Native English speakers in the same classroom. This creates an atmosphere in which every child is valued and included and every child can reach their full potential," says Natalya. If you would like to see this program in your school, and receive a risk-free 30-day trial, click here to contact Natalya. In the meantime, you can download this poster to get your kids started.

ARNHEM, the Netherlands -- Teijin Aramid is launching a new anti-ballistic spall-liner solution at the DSEI show in London next week. The new fabric, Twaron T765, offers cost-effective ballistic protection in ground vehicles. It is ideal for protecting military vehicles in high-threat situations, but it can also provide protection in civilian vehicles against lower-level threats. Spall liners made of Twaron T765 can be used for protecting vehicles such as tanks, trucks and armored personnel carriers and its passengers. Spall liners provide extra support for the outer faces of armored vehicles. In the event of an impact or explosion on the surface, they help to prevent or reduce fragmentation of the vehicle structure. This is important, as fragments flying around the interior can often cause more injury to passengers than the explosion itself. Twaron T765 is ideal for use in composite armor solutions designed for the armoring of vehicles especially in combination with steel, ceramic, aluminum and titanium. Usually, fabrics used for spall liners are woven structures. Twaron 765, however, uses warp-knitting technology. This state-of-the-art-process, which is also used to create advanced 3D glass-fiber constructions, results in a fabric that's heavier and sturdier. This means that less layers are needed to meet the high ballistic specifications. In addition, less material has to be purchased, processed and treated during production. All in all, this can lead to substantial savings and enable more economical ballistic solutions, while delivering a high level of ballistic protection. Teijin Aramid has extensive experience in developing ballistic solutions for armoring vehicles. Twaron T765 has been tested rigorously. Combined with other materials it protects against bullets, fragments, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), mine blasts and projectiles according to STANAG 4569, levels 1-4. The introduction of Twaron T765 will take place at the DSEI in London, from 10 to 13 September 2013, stand number S6-216. Teijin Aramid is a subsidiary of the Teijin Group and world leader in aramids. For more information: http://www.teijinaramid.com. Teijin (TSE: 3401) is a technology-driven global group offering advanced solutions in the areas of sustainable transportation, information and electronics, safety and protection, environment and energy, and healthcare. Please visit http://www.teijin.com. Pool Pipe Relining System conserves effort and water. Roll-On Truck Bed Liner offers DIY alternative to spray liners. Duct Liner has water-repellent enhanced surface.

Simril Design and Construction has almost four decades of experience delighting homeowners on the west side of Los Angeles with smart, sensible, and innovative bathroom remodeling services. From basic bathroom renovations and updates to spa-quality master bathroom remodels, Simril is known for using high-quality materials and workmanship to create beautiful, functional bathrooms that provide years of enjoyment to homeowners. What Do You Want in a Bathroom Remodeling Contractor? Do you want your bathroom remodeler to have a good reputation? Do you want them to provide you with great bathroom remodeling ideas and designs? Do you want your bathroom contractor to have years of proven experience? Do you want them to deliver a quality bathroom remodel that delivers a lifetime of enjoyment, is a good value, and is on budget? Then you owe it to yourself to consider Simril Design and Construction for your next bathroom remodeling project. If you are looking for a bathroom remodeler serving the west side of Los Angeles for one or more of your bathrooms please contact us about our Bathroom Remodeling and Renovation services.

A Window To Europe (RFE/RL Russian Service) Hypersonic: An Arms Race At Five Times The Speed Of Sound An August 8 explosion in northern Russia, which some have linked to the Kremlin's development of an advanced generation of super weapons, has focused attention on hypersonic missile systems. Analysts say this new arms race has the potential to scuttle global security agreements. Abandoned Russian Chemical Plant Threatens Ecological 'Chernobyl' The derelict Usolyekhimprom chemical plant, spread across hundreds of hectares in Russia's Irkutsk region, contains tanks of chlorine, mercury, and other deadly substances. The head of Russia's environmental safety agency has warned that the site poses a potential environmental disaster on the scale of Chernobyl. U.K. Firm Says It Verified Russian Presence In Ukraine A British research firm used machine learning to compile what it says is visual evidence of Russian military involvement in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Uzbek Bakers Made Destitute By 'Prosperous Village' Project Owners of a thriving Uzbek bakery says they've been put out of business by President Mirziyoev''s "Prosperous Village" program, described as promoting beautification and infrastructure. One of the owners sent RFE/RL a video showing their ovens rusting in a field, after their home and the bakery's premises were demolished. RFE/RL has previously reported that workers have been forced to work for the program without pay. Trump 'Very Favorably' Inclined Toward Russia Rejoining G8 Days ahead of this year's G7 summit in the southern French resort town of Biarritz, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is in favor of letting Russia back in to the exclusive Group of Seven advanced economies when the United States hosts the event next year. Russian Opposition Politician Ilya Yashin Jailed Again At his August 20 hearing, Yashin, who has been struggling to register for the Moscow city council elections next month, likened the judicial procedure to "a performance" out of Franz Kafka's novel, The Trial. He started reading the novel aloud in the courtroom, telling the audience that "the original is always better than cheap remakes." Moscow Says Serbia To Sign Free-Trade Pact With Eurasian Economic Union Russia's ambassador to Serbia, Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko, announced that Belgrade is expected to sign a free-trade pact with the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union on October 25. He called Serbia's entry into the trade zone a "completely new stage of [its] presence in Eurasia." Russian Military Vulnerable Due To Outdated GLONASS Satellites Russian media reports that 13 out of 23 satellites comprising the Russian navigation system GLONASS are beyond the manufacturer's warranty, and pose risks to the Russian military if they begin to fail. The system, which is Russia's alternative to the GPS, is also reportedly suffering problems due to Western sanctions. (Russian Service) Kyiv Court Rules To Launch Corruption Probe Against Poroshenko, Klimkin A court in Kyiv has ordered Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau to launch a probe against former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and former Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin on charges of abuse of power. A court notice says the ruling cannot be appealed, and provides no information on specific charges. Ukraine's Zelenskiy Ventures To Reform State Spy Agency Fresh off huge election victories that brought him and his fledgling Servant of the People party to power, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy -- a former comedian who has vowed to end endemic corruption and implement sweeping reforms – may have a chance to do what none of his predecessors did: revamp the Security Service of Ukraine and restore its credibility. Lithuania Buys $1 Million Worth Of Iodine Pills As Belarus Readies Nuclear Power Plant More than 4 million iodine tablets will be handed out to citizens in case of a radiation leak at Belarus's Astravets nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russian assistance just 50 kilometers from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. Romanian President, Seeking Reelection, Gets Boost From Trump U.S. President Donald Trump told Romanian President Klaus Iohannis during an August 20 White House visit, "You're going to do very well [in the November election] because you're very talented, you love the people." Bid To Form New Bosnian Government Fails Over Differences On NATO The members of Bosnia-Herzegovina's tripartite presidency again failed to form a new government at an August 20 meeting in Sarajevo more than 10 months after a general election. Bosian Serb Milorad Dodik rejected a package that would include adopting a plan that would move Bosnia closer to becoming a member of NATO. Tashkent Moves To Floating Exchange Rate For Uzbek Currency Uzbekistan announced on August 20 it will no longer restrict citizens from purchasing foreign currencies and will end a cap on the som's daily fluctuations, removing the last roadblocks to a fully floating currency. The Turkmen President Is Alive, But What About His Prisoners? Following the weeks-long disappearance from public view of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and calls for Ashgabat to prove he was still alive, rights groups are calling for him to prove that scores of prisoners -- the country's other "disappeared" people -- are still alive, too. ICYMI: John Oliver, Trevor Noah Make Hay With Turkmen Leader's Disappearance IRAN: The 14 Women Who Want To Change The Islamic Republic Of Iran INFOGRAPHIC: The Hypersonic Age PRESSROOM: Washington Post Calls For Support Of Azeri Journalist Khadija Ismayilova From Continued Persecution

State Flags are offered in several fabric types. Below is a description along with specifications of the various types. ENDURA-GLOSS MOUNTED FLAGS - Beautifully printed on silk-like material these flags offer the highest quality in a mounted flag. All four sides are hem stitched to provide a longer lasting flag. 4" x 6" flags come mounted on a 3/16" x 10" black plastic staff, 8" x 12" are mounted on a 1/4" x 18" black wood staff and 24" x 36" (classroom size) are mounted on a 7/16" black wood staff. ENDURA-POLY MOUNTED FLAGS - Beautifully printed on lightweight polyester material these flags offer exceptional quality in a mounted flag. All four sides are hem stitched to provide a longer lasting flag. 12" x 18" are mounted on a 5/16" x 30" natural wood staff. NYLON OUTDOOR FLAGS are made of 100% heavyweight 200 denier nylon specially treated to resist sun and chemical deterioration. These flags are extremely durable and fast drying. All outdoor flags are finished with a strong durable white header and brass grommets. ENDURA- POLY OUTDOOR FLAGS - Beautifully printed on lightweight polyester material these flags offer the most economical state flags. All four sides are hem stitched to provide a longer lasting flag. They fly in the slightest of breezes and offer superb color retention. All are finished with a strong white header and solid brass grommets. POLY-MAX OUTDOOR FLAGS - These are the most durable of all flags. Made of 2 ply 100% polyester bunting. This material resists wear to wind, dirt and abrasion better than any other material. This type flag is highly recommended for use where the flag is flown every day such as institutions, businesses, schools, etc. It is the longest lasting flag available. Any outdoor flag can be modified for use as an indoor or parade flag by adding a pole hem and fringe. See a listing on this site for pricing on adding a pole hem and fringe by size of flag. If the size or fabric you are interested in is not shown - please call 610-584-4996. FDFriendly is a supplier of custom flags and banners and your flag can be created to your specifications.

Check out the latest Advent Calendars 2018 on My Subscription Addiction! Disney Sock Advent Calendars – As Low As $15.99! Rick and Morty Sock Advent Calendar On Sale for $15.99! Birchbox Man Countdown to Grooming 2018 Advent Calendar – Available Now + Spoilers! Birchbox 2018 Advent Calendar – Early Access for Aces! Clarins Festive Surprises Advent Calendar Available Now + Full Spoilers! Stickii Club 2018 Advent Calendar – Available Now!

That complexity is why integrating with primary care is so important, says Tilus. If patients with diabetes aren't taking their medication, for example, Tilus and his colleagues offer tips on exercise and diet and cognitive-behavioral therapy, as well as order blood work so that both the providers and patients can monitor the diabetes. that prescribing psychologists are trained to interpret lab studies. medication they prescribe won't cause any medical problems. RxP in action at the Crow/Northern Cheyenne Indian Health Service Hospital: From left to right, Dr. Michael Tilus, Deborah Russell, Dr. Marie Greenspan and Dr. Earl B.H. Sutherland Jr.

Coventry University set to become centre of sports... Coventry University set to become centre of sports and wellbeing with launch of Future Health hannah.smith@coventry.ac.uk Coventry is set to become a centre of athletic excellence in the year it celebrates City of Sport with a new hub to keep the region active and a place of high performance training. The Coventry University Future Health initiative will offer athletes and sports teams in the city everything from sports therapy and physiotherapy, to nutrition advice to help teams boost their performance, and keep athletes at the top of their game. Launched on Wednesday, the hub will offer access to state-of-the-art facilities including an environmental chamber, sports therapy clinics, biometrics assessments, gait analysis using 3D motion capture, exercise physiology testing, and sport psychology suites. Opened by city sports advocate and former chief executive of UK Athletics, David Moorcroft, the hub will focus on boosting sport and exercise as well as helping injured athletes return to full-time training. As well as offering specialist training services previously only available through NHS partnerships all under one roof, the initiative will bring new opportunities for students to learn from some of the leading experts in exercise and nutrition. Currently, different services are available through referrals and via professional sports teams across Coventry and once established, Future Health will look to host a dedicated sports doctor and range of orthopaedic sports services. Anyone interested in services can contact the team via the website at www.coventry.ac.uk/study-at-coventry/faculties-and-schools/health-and-life-sciences/future-health For further press information, please contact Hannah Smith, press officer at Coventry University, on 024 77658352 or at hannah.smith@coventry.ac.uk. Image captions: Coventry University Future Health facilities; and Professor Helen Maddock, Councillor Kamran Caan, and Dr Anne Coufopoulos at the launch on Wednesday evening. Sporting students race their way to victory at Transplant Games Coventry students past, present and future have once again triumphed at the British Transplant Games - bringing home medals and helping hundreds of athletes stay on...

Hugo Chavez returns to Cuba for medical tests Venezuelan president flys to island to undergo "rigorous examinations" to evaluate the progress of his cancer treatment. Chavez will be undergoing what he described as 'rigorous examinations' [EPA] Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has returned to Cuba to undergo a series of medical tests to evaluate the progress of his cancer treatment. The president, who finished what he described as his fourth and final round of chemotherapy in Cuba last month, said he will be undergoing what he described as "rigorous examinations". "I have faith that we'll get through these tests," said Chavez, speaking at Simon Bolivar International Airport before boarding a plane for Cuba on Sunday. Chavez, 57, underwent surgery on the island in June to remove a tumour from his pelvic region. He has not revealed what type of cancer he is battling, but he has said that tests have shown no signs of a recurrence. He expects to return to Venezuela with a few days with "good news". Chavez, a former paratroop commander who was first elected in 1998, has repeatedly vowed to beat cancer, fully regain his health and sail to a victory in next year's presidential election. He recently announced that doctors predict his hair will soon grow back, and even joked about growing an "afro" before he begins campaigning for next year's October 7 vote. Grave condition Many Venezuelans, particularly the president's critics, are skeptical of his assurances that he is recovering. Some suspect that Chavez has not revealed all the details regarding his illness because he is in grave condition. "The president must understand the country cannot continue with this uncertainty regarding his illness," said Gustavo Azocar, an opposition politician and radio talk show host who believes Chavez is unfit to continue governing. "He has attempted to hide the true circumstances of his health." Azocar argues Chavez should step down. "The president is not in physical condition to continue as president," he said. "He should focus on his medical treatment and follow the instructions of his doctors."

E3 News Nintendo Switch Tales Of Vesperia: Definitive Edition Coming To Switch This Winter June 10, 2018 June 10, 2018 Craig Majaski 0 Comments Switch-Tales-Vesperia The long-rumored Tales of Vesperia port is coming to the Switch this winter. The game will feature additional scenarios, locations, and costumes as well as enhanced visuals. Check out the press release for more information! Leading videogame and interactive entertainment developer and publisher, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc., today announced TALES OF VESPERIA™: Definitive Edition for the Xbox One® video game system, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Nintendo Switch®, and PC via STEAM®. TALES OF VESPERIA: Definitive Edition includes upscaled screen resolution, new characters, events, and additional content never released outside of Japan. This updated version of the RPG classic will be released this winter. Follow Yuri Lowell, a resident in the Lower Quarter of Zaphias and former Imperial Knight, as he accepts a mission to retrieve a stolen Blastia Core used to regulate his neighborhood's water supply. This simple mission spins into a series of events that finds Yuri befriending a colorful cast of characters, traveling to exotic locations, and being pushed into the middle of a nefarious plot that threatens the destruction of the entire planet. TALES OF VESPERIA: Definitive Edition features two new fully playable party members for North America; Patty Fleur, a young pirate searching for her lost memories, as well as Yuri's rival and best friend, Flynn Scifo. Along with these two new playable characters, TALES OF VESPERIA: Definitive Edition will include additional scenarios, locations, and costumes that will be all-new for Western players. TALES OF VESPERIA: Definitive Edition uses a specialized version of the TALES OF series' Linear Motion Battle System for combat. Players control a single party member in real-time combat while the other three party members are controlled by a customized set of A.I. commands. Players can swap between the four characters at any time during battles and can perform both physical and Mystic Artes attacks. "TALES OF VESPERIA holds a special place in the hearts of many TALES OF fans around the world," said Abelina Villegas, Associate Brand Manager for BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. "The Japanese version of the game, with additional content not seen in the original North American version, will surely delight fans. We are excited to bring TALES OF VESPERIA: Definitive Edition to TALES OF fans outside of Japan, and whether players choose to play on PC or consoles, they will have more content to explore and enjoy." TALES OF VESPERIA: Definitive Edition will be available for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 system, Nintendo Switch, and PC via STEAM this winter. For more information about TALES OF VESPERIA: Definitive Edition or other titles from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc., please visit; https://www.bandainamcoent.com, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoUS, or join the conversation at https://www.twitter.com/BandaiNamcoUS. ← FIFA 19 Kicks Onto Switch On September 28 Nintendo Times Radio 64.2: E3 2018 Special – XBOX Press Conference Reactions → Nintendo Download: Tales Of Mario Getting Double Crossed Tales Of Vesperia: Definitive Edition Arrives On January 11 September 10, 2018 Craig Majaski 0 Tales Of Vesperia: Definitive Edition Review January 22, 2019 January 21, 2019 Austin Eastwood 0

Τσαλγατίδου Αφροδίτη Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια atsalga di [dot] uoa [dot] gr Πτυχίο Xημικού, Πανεπιστήμιο Aθηνών, Iούνιος 1982 M.Sc. in Computation, Πανεπιστήμιο Manchester, Aγγλία, Oκτώβριος 1985 Ph.D. in Computation, Πανεπιστήμιο Manchester, Aγγλία, Iούλιος 1988 1995 - Σήμερα: Eπικ. Καθηγ. Tμήματος Πληροφορικής Πανεπιστημίου Aθηνών 1991 - 1995: Λέκτωρ Tμήματος Πληροφορικής Πανεπιστημίου Aθηνών 1989 - 1991: Δ/ντρια του Τμήματος Έρευνας και Ανάπτυξης της εταιρείας 01 Πληροφορική 1979 - 1997: ΟΤΕ Full list of publications of Aphrodite Tsalgatidou Journals with full reviewing system J.1 A. Tsalgatidou, "Modelling and Animating the Dynamics of Information Systems", Information Processing Letters, North-Holland, Vol. 36, Nov. 1990, pp. 123-127. J.2 A. Tsalgatidou, P. Loucopoulos, "Rule-Based Behaviour Modelling (RBM): Specification and Validation of Information Systems Dynamics", Information and Software Technology, Elsevier, Vol. 33, no. 6, July/August 1991, pp. 425-432. J.3 A. Tsalgatidou, D. Gouscos, C. Halatsis, "Towards the Development of Effective and Flexible Information Systems", Australian Journal of Information Systems, vol. 1, no. 2, 1994. J.4 A. Tsalgatidou, C. Halatsis, M. Spiliopoulou and M. Hatzopoulos, "A Multimedia Title Development Environment (MTDE)", Information Processing and Management, Pergamon Press, vol. 31, no. 1, 1995, pp. 101-112. J.5 A. Tsalgatidou, P. Louridas, G. Schizas and T. Fesakis, "Multilevel Petri Nets for Modeling and Simulating Organizational Dynamic Behaviour", Simulation & Gaming, Special Issue on Simulation of Information Systems, Vol. 27, No. 4, Dec. 1996, pp. 484-506. J.6 M. Papazoglou, P. Riebbers and A. Tsalgatidou "Integrated Value Chains and their Implications from a Business and Technology Standpoint", Decision Support Systems, Vol. 29, No.4, December 2000, pp. 323-342. J.7 A. Tsalgatidou, E. Pitoura, "Business Models and Transactions in Mobile Electronic Commerce: Requirements and Properties", Journal of Computer Networks, Special Issue on Electronic Business Systems, Vol. 37, No. 2, Nov. 2001, pp. 221 - 236. J.8 M. Nikolaidou, D. Anagnostopoulos, A. Tsalgatidou, "Business process Modelling and Automation in the Banking Sector: A case study", International Journal of Simulation: Systems, Science and Technology, Special Issue on "Business Process Modelling", Vol. 2, No 2, Dec. 2001, pp. 65-76. J.9 A. Tsalgatidou, T. Pilioura, "An Overview of Standards and Related Technology in Web Services", International Journal of Distributed and Parallel Databases, Special Issue on E-Services, Vol. 12, No. 2, Sept. 2002, pp. 135-162. J.10 T. Pilioura, S. Hadjiefthimiades, A. Tsalgatidou, M. Spanoudakis, "Using Web Services for Supporting the Users of Wireless Devices", Decision Support Systems (DSS) journal. Special Issue on "Mobile Commerce: Strategies, Technologies and Applications (MCSTA)", Vol. 43, Issue 1, February 2007, pp. 77-94, Elsevier Publishing Company. J.11 A. Tsalgatidou, G. Athanasopoulos, and M. Pantazoglou, "Interoperability Among Heterogeneous Services: The case of integration of P2P Services with Web Services" International Journal of Web Services Research (JWSR), 5(4), 79-110, October-December 2008. J.12 T. Pilioura, A. Tsalgatidou, 2009, "Unified Publication and Discovery of Semantic Web Services", ACM Transactions on the Web, 3(3), June 2009, Article No. 11, 10.1145/1541822.1541826 J.13 M. Pantazoglou, and A. Tsalgatidou, 2011, "A generic query model for the unified discovery of heterogeneous services", IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, July 2011. J.14 E. Koutrouli, and A. Tsalgatidou, 2012, "Taxonomy of attacks and defense mechanisms in P2P reputation systems — Lessons for reputation system designers", Computer Science Review, 6(2-3), 47-70, May 2012. J.15 M. Pantazoglou, J. Pogas, and A. Tsalgatidou, 2014. "Decentralized enactment of BPEL processes", IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, Volume 7, Issue 2, 184 – 197, April-June 2014, DOI: 10.1109/TSC.2013.6 J.16 E. Koutrouli, and A. Tsalgatidou, 2016, "Reputation Systems Evaluation Survey", ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR),Vol. 38, Issue 3, Article No. 35, February 2016. J.17 A. Panagopoulos, E. Koutrouli, A. Tsalgatidou (2017): "Modeling and Evaluating a Robust Feedback-Based Reputation System for E-Commerce Platforms", ACM Transactions on the Web, 11(3): 18:1-18:55 Other Peer-Reviewed Journals OJ.1 A. Tsalgatidou and S. Junginger, "Modelling in the Re-engineering Process", ACM SIGOIS, Special Issue: Business Process Reengineering, August 1995, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 17-24. OJ.2 T. Pilioura, A. Tsalgatidou, S. Hadjiefthimiades, "Scenarios of using Web Services in M-Commerce", ACM SIGecom, Vol.3, No.4, January, 2003, pp. 28-36. OJ.3 A. Tsalgatidou et al, "Developing Scientific Workflows from Heterogeneous Services", SIGMOD Record, Vol. 35, No. 2, June 2006. Book Chapters (peer reviewed) B.1 D. Georgakopoulos and A. Tsalgatidou, 1998, "Technology and Tools for Comprehensive Business Process Lifecycle Management", in Workflow Management Systems and Interoperability, Asuman Dogac, Leonid Kalinichenko, Tamer Ozsu and Amit Sheth (Eds.), NATO ASI Series F, Springer Verlag, 1998, pp. 324-365. B.2 M. P. Papazoglou, A. Tsalgatidou and J. Yang, 2001, "The Role of eServices and Transactions for Integrated Value Chains", in the book Business to Business Electronic Commerce: Challenges and Solutions, Merrill Warkentin (editor), Idea Group Publishing, 2001, ISBN 1-930708-09-2, pp. 141-170. B.3 A. Tsalgatidou, M. Nikolaidou, 2003, "Re-engineering and Automation of Business Processes: Criteria for Selecting Supporting Tools", in Effective Databases for Text and Document Management, Shirley A. Becker (ed.), IDEA Group Publishing, Hershey, PA, ISBN 0-201-42289-1, 2003, pp. 221-233 B.4 A. Tsalgatidou, G. Athanasopoulos, M. Pantazoglou, A.J. Berre, C. Pautasso, C., R. Gronmo and H. Hoff, 2008, "Unified Discovery and Composition of Heterogeneous Services: The SODIUM Approach", In At your service: An overview of results of projects in the field of service engineering of the IST programme, Chapter 4, pp. 67-100, Elisabetta di Nitto, Paolo Traverso, Anne-Marie Sassen, Arian Zwegers, Eds., MIT Press Series on Information Systems, ISBN 978-0-262-04253-6. B.5 Pantazoglou M., Athanasopoulos G., Tsalgatidou A., and Kouki P., 2014, "Distributed and adaptive business process execution: a scalable and performant solution architecture", Handbook of research on architectural trends in service-driven computing, Chapter 3, pp. 42-72, R. Ramanathan, K. Raja IGI Global ISBN: DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-6178-3.ch003. Full Papers in International Conference Proceedings (Peer-reviewed) C.1 A. Tsalgatidou, P. Loucopoulos, 1990, "An Object-Oriented Rule-Based Approach to the Dynamic Modelling of Information Systems", Proceedings of the International Working Conference on Dynamic Modeling of Information Systems (DYNMOD-I), April 9-10, 1990, Noordiwijkerhout, The Netherlands, Delft University Press, pp. 131-148. C.2 A. Tsalgatidou, V. Karakostas, P. Loucopoulos, 1990, "Rule-Based Requirements Specification and Validation", Advanced Information Systems Engineering, Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE 90), B. Steinholz, A. Sölvberg, L. Bergman (eds.), Stockholm Sweden, May 1990, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 436, G. Goos & J. Hartmanis (eds.), Springer-Verlag, pp. 251-264. C.3 A. Tsalgatidou, D. Gouscos, C. Halatsis, 1993, "Rule-Based Behavioural Modelling of Information Systems", Proceedings of the 26th Hawaiian Conference on Systems & Science (HICSS-26), Hawaii, January 1993, vol. IV, J.F. Nunamaker, R.H. Sprague (eds.), IEEE Computer Society Press, 1993, pp. 409-418. C.4 A. Tsalgatidou, M. Spiliopoulou, K. Apostolaki, I. Roussou, M Hatzopoulos, 1994, "A Hypermedia Tourist Guide", Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism, (ENTER 94), Innsbruck Austria, January 1994, W. Schertler, B. Schmid, A. Min Tjoa and H. Werthner (eds.), Springer-Verlag, 1994, pp.72-79. C.5 A. Tsalgatidou, D. Gouscos, C. Halatsis, 1994 "Specifying and Validating Requirements: the VENUS System", Proceedings of Technology of Object-Oriented Languages and Systems (TOOLS Europe 94), Versailles France, March 1994, B. Magnusson, B. Meyer, J.-M. Nerson, J.-F. Perrot (eds.), Prentice-Hall, 1994, pp. 89-102. C.6 A. Tsalgatidou, D. Gouscos, C. Halatsis, 1994, "Dynamic Process Modelling through Multi-level RBNs", Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Dynamic Modelling of Information Systems (DYNMOD-IV), Sept. 28-30, 1994, Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, A. Verbraeck. H.G. Sol, P.W.G. Bots (eds.), Delft University Press, pp. 327-341. C.7 A. Tsalgatidou, Z. Palaskas, C. Halatsis, M. Hatzopoulos, 1994 "An Integrated and Customisable Support System for Building Hypermedia Training Applications", Proceedings of DEXA 94, The 5th Conf. on Applications of Databases and Expert Systems, Athens, Sept, 1994, Springer-Verlag, pp. 540-549. C.8 A. Tsalgatidou, 1998, "Selection Criteria for Tools Supporting Business Process Transformation for Electronic Commerce", Proceedings of EURO-MED NET '98, Nicosia, Cyprus, March 4-7 1998, pp. 244-253. C.9 A. Tsalgatidou, D. Plevria, M. Anastasiou, M. Hatzopoulos, 1997, "HILDE: A Generic Platform for Building Hypermedia Training Applications", Proceedings of EMMSEC '97, The European, Multimedia, Microprocessor Systems and Electronic Commerce - 7th Annual Conference and Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 3-5 Nov. 1997. Published in "Advances in Information Technologies: The Business Challenge", J.-Y. Roger, B. Stanford-Smith and P. T. Kidd (eds.), IOS Press, 1998, pp. 469-476. C.10 A. Tsalgatidou, M. Anastasiou, D. Plevria, M. Hatzopoulos, 1998, "Authoring Hypermedia Training Applications", Proceedings of SYBEN '98, Zurich, 18-22 May 1998, SPIE Proceeding Series, Vol. 3408, 1998, pp. 476 – 485. C.11 M. Nikolaidou, A. Tsalgatidou, G. Pyrounakis, 1999, "A Systematic Approach to Organizational Workflow Application Development", Proceedings of the 6th European Concurrent Engineering Conference 1999 (ECEC '99), Erlangen-Nurenberg, Germany, April 21-23, 1999. C.12 A. Tsalgatidou and J. Veijalainen, 2000, "Requirements for Mobile E-Commerce", Proceedings of the E-business and E-work Conference, Madrid, Spain, 18-20 October 2000, in E-Business: Key Issues, Applications, Technologies, B. Stanford-Smith and P. Kidd (eds.), IOS Press, pp. 1037-1043. C.13 A. Tsalgatidou and J. Veijalainen, 2000, "Mobile Electronic Commerce: Emerging Issues", Proceedings of EC-WEB 2000, 1st International Conference on E-Commerce and Web Technologies, London, Greenwich, UK, September 4-6, 2000. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 1875, Electronic Commerce and Web Technologies, Kurt Bauchkecht, S.K. Madria and G. Pernul (eds.), Springer, pp. 477-486. C.14 J. Veijalainen and A. Tsalgatidou, 2000, "Electronic Commerce Transactions in a Mobile Computing Environment", BEST PAPER AWARD Proceedings of IS 2000 International Conference on Information Society in the 21st Century: Emerging Technologies and New Challenges, Aizu-Wakamatsu City, Fukushima, Japan, November 5-8, 2000. C.15 A. Tsalgatidou, J. Veijalainen and E. Pitoura, 2000, "Challenges in Mobile Electronic Commerce", Proceedings of IeC 2000, 3rd International Conference on Innovation through E-Commerce, Manchester UK, November 14th-16th, 2000. C.16 M. Nikolaidou, D. Anagnostopoulos, A. Tsalgatidou, M. Kitrinakis, 2002, "A Business Process Modelling Environment for Describing Dynamic Processes", in Proceedings of SCS ECEC 2002, Italy, 2002 C.17 A. Tsalgatidou, J. Veijalainen, J. Markkula, A. Katasonov and S. Hadiefthymiades, 2003, "Mobile E-Commerce and Location-Based Services: Technology and Requirements", Proceedings of ScanGIS' 2003 - The 9th Scandinavian Research Conference on Geographical Information Science, 4-6 June 2003, Espoo, Finland, Kirsi Virrantaus and Håvard Tveite (eds.) pp. 1-14. C.18 J. Veijalainen, Peter Yamakawa, J. Markkula, A. Tsalgatidou, S. Hadjiefthymiades, M. Matsumoto, 2003, "On requirements for mobile commerce", Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Mobile Business, mBusiness 2003, June 22-24, G.M. Giaglis, H. Werthner, V. Tschammer, K.A. Froeschl (eds.). Oesterreichishe Computer Gesellschaft, 2003, pp. 453- 464. C.19 T. Pilioura, G.D. Kapos, A. Tsalgatidou, 2004, "Seamless Federation of Heterogeneous Services Registries", Proceedings of EC-Web 2004, Zaragoza, Spain, 30 Aug – 3 Sept., 2004, k. Baucknecht, M. Bichler and B. Proll (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science 3182, Springer-Verlag, pp.86-95, 2004. C.20 G.D. Kapos, A. Tsalgatidou, M. Nikolaidou, 2004, "A Web Service-based Platform for CSCW over Heterogeneous End-User Applications", Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing Systems, (PDCS-2004), San Francisco, CA, USA, September 15-17, 2004. C.21 A. Tsalgatidou, E. Koutrouli, 2005, "Interoperability and eServices", Proceedings of the 5th IFIP WG 6.1 International Conference on Distributed Applications and Interoperable Systems (DAIS 2005), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag GmbH, ISBN: 3-540-26262-8, Vol. 3543/2005, pp. 50-55. C.22 A. Tsalgatidou, G. Athanasopoulos, M. Pantazoglou, 2005, "Semantically Enhanced Discovery of Heterogeneous Services", Presented in the 1st International IFIP/WG12.5 Working Conference on Industrial Applications on Semantic Web (IASW 2005), Jyväskylä, Finland, 2005 Published in the book "Industrial Applications of Semantic Web", Book Series "IFIP International Federation for Information Processing", Volume 188/2005, 978-0-387-28568-9, pp. 275-292. C.23 M. Pantazoglou, A., Tsalgatidou, and G. Athanasopoulos, 2006, "Discovering Web Services and JXTA Peer-to-Peer Services in a Unified Manner", In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Service Oriented Computing (ICSOC 2006), December 2006, Chicago, USA, Eds. A. Dan and W. Lamersdorf, 104-115. C.24 M. Pantazoglou, A. Tsalgatidou, and G. Athanasopoulos, 2006, "Quantified Matchmaking of Heterogeneous Services", In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Web Information Systems Engineering (WISE 2006), October 2006, Wuhan, China, Eds. K. Aberer et al., 144-155. C.25 G. Athanasopoulos, A. Tsalgatidou and M. Pantazoglou, 2006, "Unified Description and Discovery of P2P Services", Procs of the 2006 Int. Conference on Software and Data Technologies (ICSOFT 2006), September 2006, Portugal, pp. 203-209, INSTICC Press. C.26 G. Athanasopoulos, A., Tsalgatidou, and M. Pantazoglou, 2006, "Interoperability among Heterogeneous Services", In Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Services Computing (IEEE SCC 2006), September 2006, Chicago, USA, IEEE Computer Society, 174-181. C.27 E. Koutrouli and A. Tsalgatidou, 2006, "Reputation-based Trust Systems for P2P Applications: Design issues and comparison framework", In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Trust, Privacy and Security in DigitalBusiness (TrustBus 2006), September 2006, 152-161. C.28 G. Athanasopoulos and A. Tsalgatidou, 2010, "An Approach to Data-Driven Adaptable Service Processes", In proceedings of International Conference on Software and Data Technologies (ICSOFT 2010), 22-24 July 2010, Athens, Greece. C.29 E. Koutrouli and A. Tsalgatidou, 2011, "Credibility Enhanced Reputation Mechanism for Distributed e-Communities", 19th Euromicro International Conference on Parallel, Distributed and Network-Based Computing (PDP 2011), Ayia Napa, Cyprus, Feb. 2011. C.30 E. Koutrouli E., and A. Tsalgatidou, 2013, "Credible Recommendation Exchange Mechanism for P2P Reputation Systems", Trust, Reputation, Evidence and other Collaboration Know-how (TRECK) Track, ACM Symposium on Applied Computing 2013, March 18-22 2013, http://www.trustcomp.org/treck/ C31. C. Tsagkani, and A. Tsalgatidou, 2015, "Abstracting BPMN models", 19th Panhellenic Conference on Informatics, October 2015, ACM. C.32 E. Koutrouli, I. Kanellopoulos, A. Tsalgatidou, 2016, "Reputation Mechanisms in on-line Social Networks – The case of an Influence Estimation System in Twitter", accepted for presentation at the IEEE South-East Europe Design Automation, Computer Engineering, Computer Networks and Social Media Conference, IEEE SEEDA_CECNSM 2016, to take place in Kastoria, Greece, http://kastoria.teiwm.gr/seeda/ Peer-reviewed papers in Workshops, Symposiums, Forums, Posters, etc. OC.1 T. Pilioura, A. Tsalgatidou, 2001, "E-Services: Current Technology and Open Issues", in Proceedings of the VLDB Workshop on Technologies for E-Services (TES '01), Springer-Verlag, Sept. 14-15, 2001, Rome Italy. Published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science by Springer Verlag, pp. 1-14. OC.2 T. Pilioura, A. Tsalgatidou, A. Batsakis, 2003, "Using WSDL/UDDI and DAML-S in web service discovery", in Proceedings of the WWW 2003 Workshop on E-Services and the Semantic Web, Budapest, Hungary, May 20, 2003. OC.3 T. Pilioura, G. D. Kapos, A. Tsalgatidou, 2004, "PYRAMID-S: A Scalable Infrastructure for Semantic Web Service Publication and Discovery", Proceedings of RIDE-DGS '2004: 14th International Workshop on Research Issues on Data Engineering: Digital Government Services, in conjunction with the IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE 2004), Boston, Massachusetts, March 28-29, 2004. OC.4 T. Pilioura, G. D. Kapos, A. Tsalgatidou, 2004, "A Scalable Infrastructure for Unified Publication and Discovery in Heterogeneous Service Registries", Proceedings of CAiSE 2004 Forum, The 16th International Conference on Advance Information Systems Engineering, Riga, Latvia, June 7-11, 2004. pp. 173-182. OC.5 Α.Tsalgatidou, M. Pantazoglou, G. Athanasopoulos, 2005, "Semantically Enhanced Unified Service Discovery", Presented in the W3C Workshop on Frameworks for Semantics in Web Services, Innsbruck, Austria, 2005. OC.6 Α. Tsalgatidou, G. Athanasopoulos, P. Liaskovitis, 2005, "A UML Profile for Software Architectures and Peer to Peer Dependable Applications", CAISE 2005 Forum, Porto, Portugal. OC.7 A. Tsalgatidou et al, 2006. "Unified Discovery and Composition of Heterogeneous Services", Poster Presented at the conference: Interoperability for Enterprise Software and Applications Conference" I-ESA'06," Bordeaux France, March 22nd - 24th, 2006 OC.8 M. Pantazoglou, A. Tsalgatidou, G. Athanasopoulos and T. Pilioura, 2006, "A Unified Approach towards the Discovery of Web and Peer-to-Peer Services", In Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Web Services (IEEE ICWS 2006), September 2006, Chicago, USA, IEEE Computer Society, 901-902. OC.9 M. Pantazoglou, A. Tsalgatidou, and G. Spanoudakis, 2007, "Behavior-aware, Unified Service Discovery". Proceedings of the Service-Oriented Computing: a look at the inside Workshop, SOC@Inside'07, September 17, 2007, Vienna, Austria. OC.10 M. Pantazoglou and A. Tsalgatidou, 2008, "A P2P Platform for Socially Intelligent Web Service Publication and Discovery", In Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Computational P2P Networks: Theory & Practice (ComP2P 2008), part of ICCGI 2008, pp. 271-276, July 27 - August 1, 2008, Athens, Greece. OC.11 G. Athanasopoulos, A. Tsalgatidou, and M. Pantazoglou, 2008, "Platform Specific Extensions in the SOA-Pro Profile for the Description of Peer-to-Peer and Grid Services", In Proceedings of the 3rd Modeling, Design, and Analysis for Service-oriented Architecture Workshop (MDA4SOA 2008), co-located with the 12th IEEE International EDOC Conference (EDOC 2008), 17 September 2008, Munchen, Germany. OC.12 G. Athanasopoulos and A. Tsalgatidou, 2010, "Data-driven adaptation of heterogeneous service processes", Proceedings of 8th EUROMICRO International Conference on Parallel, Distributed and Network-based Computing (PDP 2010), Pisa, Italy, February 17-19, 2010. OC.13 G. Athanasopoulos, A. Tsalgatidou, P. Kouki, I. Pogkas, M. Pantazoglou, 2010, "Adaptable Environmental Service Chains: The Challenges of Distributed Execution and Informatiοn Collection", Proceedings of the Environmental Information Systems and Services, Infrastructures and Platforms (ENVIP 2010), Workshop at EnviroInfo2010, Bonn/Cologne, October 6-8, 2010 OC.14 E. Koutrouli and A. Tsalgatidou, 2010, "Credibility Reputation Metric for P2P Communities", poster presented at the 18th International Conference of Cooperative Information Systems (CooPIS 2010), Crete, Greece, October 27 – 29, 2010. OC.15 C. Tsagkani and A. Tsalgatidou, 2016, "Business Process Abstraction Framework", 6th International Symposium on Business Modeling and Software Design, 20-22 June, Rhodes, Greece. Peer-reviewed papers in Greek Journals and Conferences GR.1 A. Tsalgatidou, 1989, "A model for representing evolutionary aspects of Information Systems", in Proceedings of the 5th Panhellenic Conference on Physics and Informatics, Athens, Dec. 1989. GR.2 D. Gouscos, A. Tsalgatidou and C. Halatsis, 1993, "An object based data model and its formal definition", 4th Hellenic Conference on Information System, Patras, Nov. 1993. GR.3 D. Gouscos, A. Tsalgatidou, C. Halatsis, 1993, "An Entity-Based Model and its Mathematical Definition", in Proceedings of the 4th Hellenic Conference of Informatics, Patras, Dec. 1993, Hellenic Computer Society, pp. (II) 641-654. GR.4 P. Maniatis, A. Tsalgatidou, S. Velonakis, S. Patikis, H. Koulentianos, 1996, "Deployment of a Relational Database onto a Radiology Department", Greek Radiology, Journal Vol. 27, No. 4, Oct-Dec. 1996 (in Greek). GR.5 T. Pilioura, A. Tsalgatidou, 2001, "The E-services Revolution", in Proceedings of the 8th Panhellenic Conference on Informatics, Nicosia, Cyprus, 8-10, November, 2001. GR.6 E. Koutrouli, A. Tsalgatidou, 2008, "P2P Reputation Systems Credibility Analysis: Tradeoffs and Design Decisions", In Proceedings of 12th Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics (PCI 2008), Published by IEEE Computer Society, 28-30 August, 2008, Samos, Greece. Guest Editorials and Workshop Reports GE.1 A. Tsalgatidou, 1998, "Business Process Reengineering and Supporting Technologies for Electronic Commerce", DEXA 98 Workshop Report by Workshop Chair, ACM SIGGROUP Bulletin, Vol. 19, No. 3, December 1998, pp. 45-48 GE.2 A. Tsalgatidou and M. Papazoglou, 1999, "Introduction to the HICSS-32 Minitrack on Electronic Commerce Technologies", 32nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, Hawaii - January 5-8, 1999 http://cgi.di.uoa.gr/~hicss32/e-commerce.html GE.3 M. Papazoglou and A. Tsalgatidou, 1999, "Guest Editorial: Special Issue on Information Systems Support for E-Commerce", Information Systems, 24 (6), 1999, pp. 425-427 GE.4 M. Papazoglou and A. Tsalgatidou, 2000, "Guest Editorial: Business to business electronic commerce issues and solutions", Decision Support Systems, 29 (4) Dec. 2000, pp. 301-304 Εισαγωγή στην Πληροφορική και στις Τηλεπικοινωνίες Ανάλυση/Σχεδίαση Συστημάτων Λογισμικού Tsalgatidou_cv.pdf

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement Tech Home Entertainment Apple TV 4K (2021) review: New remote can't make up for high price Streamers from Roku and Google cost much less and do basically the same thing. May 28, 2021 4:00 a.m. PT Apple's latest streaming device, the second generation of the Apple TV 4K, is finally here. The new version offers many of the same features, lives in an identical-looking black box and costs the same $179 (£169, AU$249). The most notable improvements are a faster processor and a revamped Siri remote. That remote is indeed a big upgrade compared to the controversial, trackpad-driven controller it replaces, but it's not enough to justify the high price. If your goal is to find a streamer that can deliver Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu and the rest to your TV, you're better off saving the money and getting something like the $40 Roku Express 4K Plus or $50 Chromecast with Google TV. Apple TV 4K (2021) $124 at Amazon $130 at Best Buy $129 at Apple You're receiving price alerts for Apple TV 4K (2021) Score Breakdown Ecosystem 10 Performance 9 Features 10 Value 5 Design 8 New Siri Remote is excellent Supports all major streaming apps Don't Like No Find My feature for remote No apps or games that take advantage of improved specs Yes, the remote is really good now The word "Finally!" sums up the reaction of many longtime Apple TV fans when they first heard about the new remote. The black glass remote bundled with the older Apple TV had a sleek-looking design, but a slippery, imprecise trackpad was its downfall. I constantly found myself struggling with basic navigation tasks using the older remote. The trackpad's sensitivity caused me to overshoot menu items like movies, apps, TV shows or text, making even the simplest scrolls and selections a chore to control. Eli Blumenthal/CNET The new Siri Remote solves many of those woes. Bundled with new Apple TV purchases, or available as a separate $59 (£55, AU$79) upgrade that works with the older Apple TV, the new remote replaces that trackpad with something Apple calls a "clickpad." It's basically a circular controller that combines a touchpad with directional buttons you can actually click. Apple TV Siri Remote (2021) $60 at Best Buy I found myself greatly appreciating the return of the button-based directional controls. I also like that Apple didn't completely remove touchpad functionality, which is useful for quickly scrolling through a list or playing certain Apple Arcade games. If you hate the touchpad on the clickpad, you'll be pleased to know that Apple does allow you to disable the feature in the Remote and Devices section of the Settings menu. I still have a hit-or-miss relationship with the feature with moments of overshooting my intended target so I may soon turn it off, but I appreciate that there is an option either way. The new Siri Remote, left, compared to the older Apple TV remote. In addition to the clickpad, the new remote also features three new (and long overdue) buttons for back, mute and controlling your TV's power. The Siri button, previously on the front, has been relegated to the right-hand side, similar to its location on iPhones. Unlike Roku's $30 Voice Remote Pro upgrade, the microphone inside the Siri Remote isn't "always listening." Instead, you'll still need to press and hold to summon Apple's virtual assistant. The new remote continues to be charged through Apple's Lightning charger and a cable is included in the Apple TV 4K box or if you buy a remote separately. The Siri Remote is a bit longer and thicker than the older Apple TV remote, but it felt much more comfortable to hold. Hopefully, the larger size and silver coloring will make it harder to lose inside the couch cushions. But remotes get lost and, unlike Roku, Apple doesn't include any kind of remote finder with its clicker. That's a big missed opportunity, especially with Apple building out the Find My app with AirTags. Why not integrate that technology, with its U1 chip, into this remote? Doing so wouldn't only be a nice selling point to lure people over from other players, but really justify the $59 from existing Apple TV owners. If only Apple baked the AirTag into the actual remote. For now, I'm thinking of taping an AirTag to it, with the hope that someone comes out with a decent case that lets me combine the AirTag with the new remote. A few people have taken to 3D printing AirTag cases for the older Apple TV controller. Same box and basic features Whereas the remote got an overhaul, the Apple TV 4K's actual box looks virtually identical to the square black puck of its predecessor. There are no new ports along its glossy sides and the rear of the device still houses ports for power, HDMI-out and Ethernet. The Apple TV runs on the latest version of the TVOS software, with the same tile-heavy interface that has been featured on Apple TVs for years. It will work with Apple services like Arcade, Apple TV Plus, Apple Music and Fitness Plus and the software also supports all the major streaming services including Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube TV and Sling TV. Setting up the device was simple. My iPhone quickly acknowledged it with a pop-up appearing to sync my iCloud account and Wi-Fi settings to the Apple TV. The device even pulled in apps from my old Apple TV, but I still needed to manually log back into apps like Netflix and Disney Plus. Under the hood, the Apple TV 4K has received a sizable boost in the form of an upgrade to the company's A12 Bionic processor. The older box, which was first introduced in 2017, ran on what's now an aging A10X chip. Apps opened quickly and at times seemed to be a bit faster compared to the older Apple TV 4K. But it is not like they struggled on the prior box. As mentioned above, with both boxes running TVOS 14 there isn't too much discrepancy between them. They both run the same apps, can playback content in Dolby Vision and Atmos and can take advantage of Apple's clever color calibration tool for optimizing non-Dolby Vision sets (my colleague, CNET's TV expert David Katzmaier, covered that feature in detail here). Apple says the new box will be able to support high-frame-rate HDR video, but I haven't found many apps that take advantage of the feature, at least not yet. The real test will be in how the device handles more intensive tasks like gaming which for now still leaves plenty to be desired. The graphics in NBA 2K21 Apple Arcade Edition on the Apple TV 4K won't rival what you get on modern Xboxes or PlayStations. Faster processor, but it doesn't boost Arcade (yet) The biggest boost I was hoping for in the new Apple TV 4K was in gaming. Apple Arcade recently added several big titles that seem perfect for the big screen such as a special edition of NBA 2K21. In practice? A lot of work is still needed. As someone who has played a fair amount of NBA 2K on consoles, playing the Arcade Edition on the Apple TV 4K felt like I went back to the Xbox 360 days. There were lags in gameplay and the graphics were just decent (at best). There was no ability to run plays or complete direct passes to a particular player, while the presentation lacked all elements of a broadcasting team. I wasn't expecting graphics or performance to match next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series S and Series X, but I was expecting more than this. When Apple added a version of the A12 to the iPad Pro in 2018 it touted a comparison to the Xbox One S, and that type of performance would go a long way in justifying the $179 starting price this box commands for its 32GB version. Other Arcade titles for more casual fans appeared to be in need of an update for the new Siri Remote. The older Apple TV remote -- with its larger trackpad, accelerometer and gyroscope -- was much easier to use when playing Super Impossible Road compared to the newer, smaller clickpad on the Siri Remote. How quickly developers update apps for this new remote is an open question. With rumors of Apple designing its own controller, it's hard to say what exactly the company's plans are for gaming. Perhaps it is something that will be improved on in future Arcade and TVOS releases. Right now, however, I'm a bit let down. Who is the Apple TV 4K for, anyway? That answer isn't as clear as you'd think. Apple fans who need the latest and greatest devices the company makes? Sure, but you were going to buy this anyway. Current Apple TV owners? The $59 remote upgrade seems like the better move today if you have a first-generation Apple TV 4K. If you have an Apple TV HD and like Apple's interface, the jump to the new Apple TV 4K makes sense and you'll appreciate not only the better remote but the faster app launching. Everyone else? If your main priority is getting access to streaming apps on a TV, I can't recommend dropping $179 -- or $199 (£189, AU$279) for the 64GB version -- for an Apple TV 4K. Roku's $40 Express 4K Plus and Google's $50 Chromecast with Google are just as capable in terms of streaming, and if your priority is voice, I'd take Google Assistant over Apple's Siri. And, of course, Roku now has AirPlay 2 (and it works great) as do numerous smart TVs, making actual Apple TV hardware even less necessary. Google's device, meanwhile, has Dolby Vision if that format is a priority for you. If Apple's software starts taking advantage of the beefier specs this new Apple TV 4K offers, maybe it can warrant the price tag sometime down the road. Apple has a great track record of improving its devices over time, after all. We'll see. More streaming advice 10 Ways to Save Money on Streaming How to Cut the Cable TV Cord in 2023 See More at Streaming TV Insider

TCU vs Texas. All the information, images, videos and links. TCU vs Texas: TCU hosts rebuilding Texas on Saturday at noon ET. TCU is an 18-point favorite and the over-under for total points scored is 50.5 in the latest TCU vs. Texas odds. TCU vs Texas Live""Two teams coming off their biggest games of the season collide Saturday when No. 17 TCU travels to Texas. TCU opened as a 2.5-point favorite and is now laying three. Official Twitter account of The University of Texas Football Team. The Horns better come to play because TCU beat on them boys. #ThisIsntTexas. Fort Worth, Texas. U were behind the tcu bench about four rows up and third from the end. Thanks. Case McCoy on why TCU is favorite vs. Texas: "Probably because I'm the quarterback, right?" 9:47 - 21 окт. 2013 г. 184 ретвита. Последние твиты от Texas Basketball ???? (@TexasMBB). The official Twitter account of The University of Texas Men's Basketball program. ...Texas Longhorns vs TCU Horned Frogs free online streaming. Please kindly let your comments about TCU vs Texas. We are earing you! BigOnlineNews is not linked or endorsed in any way with the sites, images, videos and comments related with TCU vs Texas. The information in this site only shows or make reference to the links, images, videos and some other useful and related general data about TCU vs Texas. If you want to research directly about TCU Vs Texas, please visit the source links included at the top of this article. Thanks.

Interview with Ami Doshi Shah of Ami Doshi Shah Ooooota Adepo1. 8. 2020 Foto: Rhys Frampton Blazer vest, shorts, Loza Maleombho (sold at Koibird); tights, Wolford; boots, Michael Kors; necklace, Ami Doshi Shah (sold at Koibird). Ooooota: Through your Salt of the Earth collection, please discuss how you investigate the concepts of power and submission. Ami: Salt of the Earth was one of a number of conceptual projects I've partaken in since I began my design practice. The first point of research was the phrase, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." Matthew 5:13, King James Bible 1611 It has now come to be used as a colloquial idiom referring to the fundamental and basic goodness in a person, verging on naïve. I started doing further research and discovered that medieval conquerors used to 'salt the earth' of conquered lands and people to render it infertile and used this mineral as a form of poison. I became fascinated by the fact that one mineral can express itself with duality and began researching how I could translate those metaphorical and symbolic characteristics in the properties of salt into a story of Kenya's neo-colonial legacy. It's essentially natural to life with conversely destructive properties. Power and Submission. After all, colonial rule re-organised local life, affecting access to land, resources, property, authority structures and had huge cultural ramifications including dress. Dress and adornment have always been a tool for individual self-expression and social identity but also a tool for subjugation and conformity. The bodies adorned with animal skins, feathers, beads became a source of derision despite the innate connection to nature and the spiritual symbolism to status and rites of passage. Post-colonial times meant we were and are constantly under the Western gaze. Internally, pursuing equality and personal freedoms that democracy dictates yet still playing to western perception and stereotypes to some level. The aim of the installation presentation of this work at Somerset House last year was to create an immersive space where the pieces express salt's ability to poison, erode and decay using the process of patina and conversely the material's ability to create, rejuvenate and give life – the literal and physical manifestation – crystallisation. The story of a fraught legacy and our own ability to rise above, resist and ultimately triumph. AMI DOSHI SHAH Ooooota: As a Kenyan native, you use locally sourced materials and remnants of the mining industry as your raw materials. Why is it important to create from Kenya's portion of Earth? Ami: One of the remits for when I started my design practice was to work with materials that were locally available be it brass or leather or locally sourced minerals. My work tends to be an experimentation of scale, form and texture and I wanted to use materials that are not innately precious and engineer them in unexpected ways. I wanted to work with them with a sense of preciousness. Even when I use minerals, I love using uncut, raw stones or faceting them in irregular ways. I suppose that it's important to create from Kenya's portion of Earth because it's my way of expressing the incredible human and natural beauty that Kenya represents. Ooooota: Some of your adornments are bold with heavy tribal motifs, while some of your jewellery feels modern and contemporary. Why is it important to show that African design, particularly in jewellery can have the same lines, finesse and at times minimalism that we encounter with other modern designers, in addition to being assertive? Ami: I think I mentioned before that there is a huge misnomer of what constitutes African design. We are a continent of 54 Countries, each with our own national identity. I am a Kenyan with South Indian heritage and a European education. What I create is a product of thousands of visual, human and cultural experiences and with the globalised world we live in, this is magnified even more so. I am drawn to simple and clean forms with an element of whimsy, scale and texture. Each designer on the continent is carving out their own aesthetic and collectively, we exhibit the plethora of style, craftsmanship, colour and personalities that constitute African design. Ooooota: Do you produce entirely in Kenya? If so, how do you ensure your team is adequately trained to uphold the standard of quality expected in today's jewellery market? Ami: Yes, I produce entirely in Kenya and up until last year, the majority of what I made and sold, was made by me in my studio. I have now started working with a very accomplished maker and metalsmith to produce collections since Salt. We have a wonderful level of trust and understanding in the interpretation and making of the master samples, which has been invaluable, personally and to the brand. Ooooota: Would you like to see more collaboration and connectivity amongst African designers on the continent or in the diaspora? If so, why? Ami: Absolutely, I would love more collaboration and connectivity amongst African designers. During the IFS programme (of which Salt of the Earth was the culmination) run by the British Council, British Fashion Council and the London College of Fashion, I had the opportunity to build friendships and communities with 16 other designers from around the world. Two of them, Cedric Mizero and Thebe Magugu were from the continent. Both are incredible designers and human beings whom I hugely respect. But had it not been for IFS or people like Sunny Dolat (Nest Collective), Omoyemi Akerele of Lagos Fashion Week, Style House Files and organisations like SheTrades, I feel like my world would be a much smaller place. Ooooota: Your collections seem to encourage a reverence towards the Earth's raw materials and precious/semi-precious stones. Do you see human beings as having a responsibility over the mindful use of these resources? Ami: I do. I actively choose not to use precious stones in my work but for me the important thing is to make objects in very limited production runs and to recycle or up-cycle as much as possible. I think that hopefully COVID-19 has taught us to be more considerate of what and why we choose to have the things that we do. Whether that's a piece of jewellery or relationships. They have to bring you some joy. Ooooota: What does beauty mean to you? Ami: I'm going to use a quote by author Alan Moore where he says: "Beautiful things are prepared with love. The act of creating something of beauty is a way of bringing good into the world. Infused with optimism, it says simply: Life is worthwhile." Ooooota: How can jewellery be used to embellish, enhance, and/or tell a story? Ami: The home or context of jewellery is the human body, the most poignant storyteller of all. Jewellery or adornment is our way of telling the world this is who I am, what I stand for or simply…my identity. Away from the body, a piece of jewellery is simply a static object. Ooooota: Where do you derive inspiration? Ami: Architecture, books on Art history or anthropology, the news, a conversation, a postcard, a landscape and sometimes, simply the material itself. The point of inspiration is honestly limitless, but I have an instinctual draw to a certain aesthetic. Ooooota: How important is it for African designers to collaborate with each other and/or with the rest of the world? Is the former type of collaboration of greater value than the latter? Ami: It is very important as that is how we can continue to dispel the preconceptions of what is African Fashion/ Art/ Design. Cross-pollination and creative collaborations are important regardless of where they come from and who they are with as long as there are synergies in approach and thought process. Ooooota: How do you see the Ami Doshi Shah brand evolving? Ami: I'd like the brand to remain small but would like to extend into other areas of product design. I really have huge gratitude for being able to do what I do and seeing the brand growing organically. Creativity in Africa V24 Media

Thinking of diving into the exciting world of eBay but not quite sure where to start? You've come to the right place. You are holding in your hands a thorough guide to everything you need to know about the online marketplace: from how it started to how it can help you, from making your first bid on an exciting item to setting up your own eBay shop. Through this guide, we look at how to be a successful buyer and seller on eBay. We won't sugar coat it – we'll point out the cons as well as the pros, and help you avoid common pitfalls. Magazine covers are used for illustrative purposes only and you may not receive a copy of the particular issue depicted. Your subscription will include the most recent issue once your subscription begins. Magazine covers are the property of the publisher. This site is not officially affiliated with, associated with, or endorsed by Independent Guide to Ebay (Digital) or the publisher.

Besides unmanaged plans, you can choose VPS hosting USA with cPanel/WHM. Our USA VPS hosting is powered by KVM, cutting-edge SSD and Intel Xeon Processors. Our USA VPS hosting plans are available in two locations across the USA-LAX AND EWR. Free and fast setup is included with every EwigHost USA VPS hosting plan. With full root access, you get full control over your USA virtual private servers. You can create unlimited domains, sub domains, databases, FTP accounts. Choose between Los Angeles and Newark and start your project! Our data centers are engineered to the highest standards for reliability. Our hosting USA includes unlimited bandwidth. Go unlimited with EwigHost! Choose between various OS: CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, Windows and more! At EwigHost, clients are at the heart of our business. We are here for you! Our VPS are located in California, Los Angeles and Newark, New Jersey. You can choose data centers during the checkout process. At EwigHost, we offer data center locations on three continents. Besides USA, you can order VPS in the following locations: Canada, Italy, France, Finland, Germany, UK, Netherlands and Asia.