Jim Fisher Parrot Anafi The Parrot Anafi puts all emphasis on size—the small, folding drone is ideal for travel, thanks to 4K video capture, a small airframe, and USB charging.
Very small. Charges via USB-C. 4K video with HDR. 3x digital zoom lens. Upward gimbal tilt. Big battery for 25-minute flights.
No obstacle detection. Digital zoom cuts into 4K quality. Requires smartphone. Construction feels a little flimsy.
The Parrot Anafi puts all emphasis on size—the small, folding drone is ideal for travel, thanks to 4K video capture, a small airframe, and USB charging.
Parrot is no stranger to small drones. Its Bebop series is one of our top picks for casual flyers who don't need a high-powered model with pro features. Its latest effort, the Anafi ($699.99), is smaller than the Bebop 2, but also much more capable. It sports real gimbal stabilization, 4K video, and innovative additions like HDR video capture, a camera that can tilt upward, and Hyperlapse (moving time lapse). We like it a lot, especially for travelers who don't want to be bothered to pack yet another battery charger, putting it right up there with the DJI Mavic Air in the world of compact, 4K-capable drones.
The Parrot Anafi seems like it was designed from the ground up with world travel in mind. It's one of the smallest drones we've seen with a real 4K camera and gimbal stabilization. It measures 2.5 by 2.6 by 9.6 inches (HWD) folded, and 2.5 by 6.9 by 9.4 inches with its arms out and ready to fly.
It's not just a small drone, it's also pretty light. It weighs just 11.3 ounces—heavy enough to require FAA registration, but not to the point where it will add to much weight to your bag. The materials used in its construction play a big part in its size. Parrot has used a mix of lightweight plastic and carbon fiber. Even the propellers are noticeably smaller and of lighter-weight material than other drones in this class.
I think the Anafi feels a little flimsy, despite the use of carbon fiber in its design. The hinges that hold the arms in place don't feel as solid as I'd like them to. That said, I don't think the Anafi is in danger of falling apart—you just want to make sure to put it in the included zippered carrying case when it's not in use.
The basic safety features are included. The Anafi has a GPS and will automatically return to its takeoff point if it loses connection with the remote control. There are downward sensors to help it stay steady when hovering, but it doesn't have any sort of obstacle detection system, so you have to be careful when piloting.
The case is very nice. It's skinny and ovular, matching the elongated design of the folded Anafi. It holds the drone perfectly, and is rigid enough that you can toss it into your backpack or camera bag without worry. In addition to the standard kit, Parrot also sells the Anafi Extended. It's priced at $799, and includes two extra batteries, a few extra sets of propellers, a dedicated carrying case, and a two-month subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud's Photoshop/Lightroom plan or its Premiere Pro plan. The Extended case is a small shoulder bag, covered in gray cloth with a bit of a heather pattern. It reminds me of the material that Peak Design uses for its backpacks and bags.
The Extended case has room for the remote control too. If you buy the standard edition you'll need to find space for it. The remote is gray plastic, about the same size a Nintendo Switch or Xbox controller, and like the aircraft battery, charges via USB-C. Parrot calls it the Skycontroller 3, and it's definitely a lot smaller and more reasonable than the first-generation Skycontroller that was sold with the first Bebop drone.
The remote is comfortable to hold and fairly minimalist in design. It has the expected control sticks—the left to adjust altitude and yaw, the right to move in a direction along the x-axis. There's no power switch—instead the remote turns on when you flip up the integrated smartphone clip. It's big enough to hold an iPhone 8 Plus, although I did have to take the phone out of its case to get it to sit properly. The remote has a USB-A port to plug your smartphone in, as well as a USB-C port for charging.
The Return-to-Home and Take Off/Landing buttons are revealed at the center when the phone clip extends. Aside from that, the only controls of note are the shoulder buttons and rocker controls. They adjust the camera tilt and zoom.
The microSD memory card slot is located underneath the battery. A 16GB card is included, good enough for about 20 minutes of 4K video storage. It's the style that requires you to place the card carefully against bare metal contacts and secure it with a tiny metal clip. I ran into one issue during testing in which a card formatted in the drone wouldn't mount as a drive on my iMac. I was able to transfer video to my phone using the Parrot FreeFlight app. The issue was a one-off—after applying a firmware update and reformatting the card, it works fine. Make sure you update the Anafi's firmware before you start using it.
Battery life is very good. Parrot advertises 25 minutes of flight per charge. Typically those figures are a bit inflated—based on hovering in place rather than the more typical maneuvers you'll make with a drone. But my test flights netted flight times very close to Parrot's claims.
The battery charges via a USB-C port. It requires about 2.5 hours to charge using a standard AC adapter, but you can shave an hour off by using a high-speed model. Parrot includes a cable with the Anafi, but you need to bring your own AC adapter—if you have a modern flagship smartphone, it most likely comes with an adapter that supports high-speed charging.
The Anafi is, at its heart, a camera—just one with propellers instead of a tripod socket. The front-mounted camera is stabilized using a mechanical gimbal. The result is aerial footage that is silky smooth, even when making turns or changes in altitude. It can tilt to face all the way down, but also can point upward. This is a rarity for drones, and allows you to capture some angles that others can't manage.
You'll need to download a smartphone app to take full advantage of the Anafi's camera features. Parrot FreeFlight 6 is a free download for Android and iOS. The app gives you a view from the Anafi's lens, lets you change frame rate and resolution settings, and also shows a map of where you're flying—helpful if you're trying to grab video or a photo of a specific landmark.
The video feed is smooth and of high quality. I had no problem seeing what the drone's camera was seeing from my comfortable spot on the ground. I experienced no issues with communication—the Anafi delivered a solid signal to the remote when the drone was within visual range, even in a suburban area rife with home Wi-Fi networks.
As for the actual video quality, you can record at 4K UHD, 2.7K, or 1080p. I opted for 4K at 24fps, but you can push the frame rate to 30fps if you prefer, or up to 60fps at 1080p. For stills, the Anafi shoots in JPG or Raw format at 21MP resolution. Despite packing more pixels than a phone or other drones in this price range, the Anafi's camera sensor is the same 1/2.3-inch size you find in others. Image quality is most certainly smartphone level, although that's no longer a stigma.
The Anafi sets itself apart from others by offering HDR capture for both video and stills. It's very handy on days when you want to shoot with a bit lower contrast. Shadow detail opens up and highlights aren't quite as bright. You don't want to turn it on all the time, but it's a helpful tool for videographers who want video that's ready to be shared without extensive color grading.
Of course, if you're a pro and want to take the time to grade footage yourself, it's an option. You'll need to turn off the HDR function and dive into video settings, but in addition to the standard Natural profile, the Anafi records video with a flat, low-contrast look in its P-Log profile setting, ideal for grading. If you don't want to fuss with color correction, or simply don't have the right video editing software to do it, the Natural profile can be tuned to adjust sharpening, contrast, and color saturation.
In addition to standard video, the Anafi shoots in Hyperlapse—moving time lapse—with 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240x speeds available. Of course, you'll need a long flight to get a dramatic Hyperlapse at the top settings. You can also shoot half-speed slow-motion at 1080p—the Anafi app allows you to shoot with the video already slowed down, or roll standard speed at 60fps so you can slow down as needed when editing. Regardless of video mode, the drone doesn't record sound. I added some royalty-free music to our sample reel, but aside from that, the only edits are simple cuts from scene to scene.
The Anafi offers zoom, but not the optical variety. Its lens supports digital zoom, the first drone to do so. It has 3x power, covering a 26-78mm angle of view for video and 23-69mm for stills. Parrot bills it as lossless in quality, but that's only true for 1080p recording where it has 2.8x power before losing quality. At 4K the video starts to degrade as you zoom, but it still looks pretty good through about the 2x setting. At 3x you can really notice the cropping—detail drops and grain increases.
For 1080p shooters, the FreeFlight app allows you to limit the zoom to the lossless range. But there's no way to set a zoom limit with 4K. You can take care to manually cap your zooms to 2x, but I'd love for zoom limit to be something you can set in the app, just so I would have one less thing to distract me from safe flying.
It's possible to pull off the dolly zoom effect—either zooming in while pulling away from your subject, or vice versa—with the Anafi. Hitchcock made the shot famous in Vertigo. The drone sports an automated dolly zoom effect—along with some others, including perfectly circular orbits—but it's pretty easy to pull off manually too.
You might also be looking at the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom when shopping—it offers similar image and video quality, but has an optical zoom lens rather than a digital one, so you can zoom in on 4K footage without losing anything. Price is a concern, though. At $1,249, the Mavic 2 Zoom isn't exactly twice the cost of the Anafi, but it's not far off.
Image quality is as good as you'd expect from a flagship smartphone. To get better images out of a compact drone you need to move up to one with a larger sensor, which is a more costly proposition. The DJI Mavic 2 Pro has a sensor that's four times as large, but with roughly the same level of pixels as the Anafi's. It will net crisper photos, and can also get good results at twilight, but it's a lot more expensive—$1,500.
You can shoot in Raw DNG format to get the most flexibility out of photos. But, as with P-Log video, Raw images need some work before they're ready to share. If you prefer easy sharing, JPG capture is an option. The Anafi supports HDR image capture, but is a bit short on other fancy imaging modes. Panoramic stitching is coming later this month via a free software update, however.
We've seen small drones before, but there have been some caveats. The DJI Spark is tiny and can be charged via USB, but its video tops out at 1080p. The DJI Mavic Air is even easier to transport than the Spark thanks to a folding design that makes it easier to stow, but requires you to bring an external battery charger and power cord to top off its battery.
The Anafi gets all the travel considerations right. It's small, it includes a very practical and protective carrying case, and it doesn't require its own proprietary charger. You can grab the drone and remote, a USB-C cable and an AC adapter, and you're ready to hop a flight to an exotic locale in order to capture some aerial footage of your own.
There are certainly things missing from the Anafi. An obstacle avoidance system is one. No, they're not perfect, but they can certainly prevent accidents. If that's a concern, think about spending an extra $100 on the Mavic Air, which is the Anafi's closest counterpart in terms of price and design.
There are some things the Mavic does better than the Anafi, but the opposite is true as well. The Anafi is an excellent performer in its own right, and includes features you don't get from the Mavic—digital zoom, HDR video, and Hyperlapse to name a few. Both the Anafi and the Air are examples of what a compact, 4K drone can do. It's up to you whether you value the digital zoom, extended gimbal tilt, and USB charging offered by the Anafi, or the Mavic Air's automated obstacle avoidance and other exclusive features.
Bottom Line: The Parrot Anafi puts all emphasis on size—the small, folding drone is ideal for travel, thanks to 4K video capture, a small airframe, and USB charging.


Developing information systems is a high-risk occupation and user acceptance testing (UAT) is the backstop that can avoid disasters.
Not convinced? In June 2012, the interruption to NatWest and RBS payments following a routine update to software cost an eye-watering £170m to fix.
Similar disasters, which might have been avoided by thorough UAT, have been experienced by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the UK Passport Agency, the London Ambulance Service, Heathrow Terminal 5 and Microsoft Xbox 360.
In spite of its importance, UAT is usually chaotic, problematic and ineffective. Often treated as an intuitive process – an exercise in which users and subject matter experts "have a go at trying to break the system" – it is actually a process that requires careful preparation.
Subject matter expertise is not enough, but it is vital that UAT is carried out by users, though it is not enough merely to be a user.
What is needed to enable users to become an effective UAT team is some custom-built training. Not a run-of-the-mill course on UAT, but training designed specifically to address the complex demands on users deployed as user acceptance testers.
Download a free extract from Brian Hambling and Pauline van Goethem's book, How to build an effective User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Team.
Users have a unique perspective that is vital in user acceptance testing, and UAT training has to turn a group of users into a functioning team in which all members understand and take ownership of the quality of the system they test.
Users should have a thorough understanding of the business objectives and should feel comfortable carrying out all the tasks they are expected to complete, including writing requirements, test conditions, test cases and test scripts.
The key is incremental learning and development, supplementing short classroom courses with development of skills continued within the project team, supported by more experienced colleagues.
What is required is a mix of training content and a process that supports users through the period of their learning, which will last for the length of the project and beyond.
This strategy to support the learning and the quality of the training is what underpins the confidence and skills that will make UAT effective. The ability of users to consult on, create content for and carry out UA testing should relieve some of the common time, budget and confidence pressures that may be felt by any project so close to implementation.
No training or on-the-job learning (relying on the skills of business analysts and testers) carries the risk that UAT is not relevant enough to the needs of the business.
Promotes team formation and set out roles and responsibilities.
Using a considered approach to the learning and development needs of the UAT team will help to prevent the project falling at the very last hurdle.
Brian Hambling (pictured) and Pauline van Goethem have nearly 60 years' combined experience in the IT industry in a wide variety of development, testing and project management roles. Brian has been chair of the Software Testing Examination Board at ISEB and an examiner at the ISTQB. Pauline is a member of the ISTQB Glossary review team.


Letters respond to Ian Frazier’s account of fires on the Great Plains, Tad Friend’s profile of Gavin Newsom, and Claire Friedman’s Shouts & Murmurs.
It’s telling that the word “ecology” is nowhere to be found in Ian Frazier’s heart-wrenching account of the extensive prairie fires last year (“The Day the Great Plains Burned,” November 5th). Journalists tend to see wildfires as evidence of the harm caused to humans by climate change. How, given this widespread blindness, are people to learn about and work with nature’s logic? The article hints at ecological realities, but doesn’t connect the dots. Fire plays a role in any healthy ecosystem. On the prairie, wildfires convert the previous year’s dead grass into fertilizer, which explains why, as Frazier writes, “the grass came back better than before.” Native Americans “used fire as an environmental tool” because the nourishing regrowth attracted game. The native prairie grasses funded by the Conservation Reserve Program prevent erosion and sequester carbon in their deep roots. Like carbon dioxide, prairie fire is a friend until it’s turned into an enemy. If only the community-building generosity and coöperation shown in a disaster’s wake could be channelled into understanding and proactively working with nature to avoid future calamities.
Before reading Frazier’s article, I was apprehensive about how the people who lived on the plains would be portrayed. Thankfully, Frazier describes them without resorting to cliché. He picked up on two related attributes that characterize the people of the region: a kind of fatalism and a stubborn streak of communitarianism. (Oklahoma once had the largest Socialist Party in the nation, and Kansas was not far behind.) The people here have a realistic understanding of the scale of humans in relation to the universe, and they know that they have to work together to survive. This humility contributes to their skepticism regarding climate change—they question how mere humans could change the entire climate—and also to their historically low levels of voter participation. But, when they are moved to unite as a community and work toward a higher purpose, like rebuilding after a wildfire, they can accomplish great feats.
Tad Friend’s excellent profile of Gavin Newsom treats his legalization of gay marriage in San Francisco, in 2004, when he was mayor, as a bit of a rookie blunder (“Golden Boy 2.0,” November 5th). On the contrary, Newsom’s decision was the greatest single act of any American politician in my lifetime. The reality of 4,036 married gay couples completely changed the national conversation about gay rights. What was unimaginable in 2003 gained widespread acceptance and became law in 2013. I don’t know what Newsom thought would happen when he sent his order to the city clerk, but he changed the world that day—or, at least, he gave it a big shove in the right direction.
I very much enjoyed Claire Friedman’s “How to Read ‘Infinite Jest’ ” (Shouts & Murmurs, November 5th). My daughter has been reading the book for what seems like several years. Every so often, I will ask her how she’s doing with it and she laughs in the way people do when asked about how their back-yard vegetable-garden plan is coming along.


Washington Capitals Photo Tribute to Scott Stevens.
Twenty-five years ago, an 18-year-old defenseman named Scott Stevens made the leap from the blueline of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers to the Washington Capitals. He ended up playing 22 seasons in the league, winning three Stanley Cup titles and playing in 1,635 regular season and 233 playoff games. Stevens has played more regular season and more postseason games than any other defenseman in NHL history.
On Monday, Stevens was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto in his first year of eligibility. He went in alongside three of his longtime NHL peers: defenseman Al MacInnis and forwards Mark Messier and Ron Francis. All four were chosen in NHL drafts between 1979 and 1982, all were team captains in the NHL and all gained enshrinement in their first year of eligibility. Between them, they won a dozen Stanley Cup championships. That quartet of players and longtime hockey executive Jim Gregory make up the 2007 class of inductees for the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Stevens spent the first eight of those seasons, the first 601 of those regular season games and the first 67 of those playoff contests wearing a Capitals sweater. He led the team in assists twice and in penalty minutes five times. With 1,628 career penalty minutes, Stevens ranks second only to Dale Hunter (2,003) on Washington’s all-time franchise ledger in that department. With 429 career points as a Capital, Stevens still ranks among the franchise’s all-time top 10 (he’s ninth). Although he played only about a third of his career with the Caps, Stevens netted exactly half (98) of his 196 career goals in a Capitals uniform.
After Philadelphia chose Ron Sutter with the fourth overall choice in the 1982 Entry Draft, there were those within the Caps’ scouting contingent who were lobbying for the team to take Sutter’s twin brother Rich with the fifth pick. There was dissent in the ranks, but interim general manager Roger Crozier made an executive decision.
Washington spent its first choice (fifth overall) in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft on Stevens, a defenseman for the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers who had led all rookie defensemen in scoring in that league with 42 points in 1981-82. Stevens never did get to show what he could do as a sophomore with Kitchener.
An offseason injury to blueliner Lee Norwood and a strong training camp showing on Stevens’ part landed the 18-year-old youngster a berth on the Washington blueline. At the time, the Capitals had never made the Stanley Cup playoffs. During Stevens’ eight-season tenure in the District, the Caps never missed the playoffs.
“He’s thrown three of the best checks I’ve seen in a couple of years,” Caps bench boss Bryan Murray, then in his first full season on the job, told The Hockey News in October of Stevens’ rookie season. “We’ve taken him aside and talked with him about position and using his partner, and he’s responded well. There’s no doubt in my mind he can step right in.
He worked at it, and he had help from a pair of newly acquired Caps defenders. Blueliners Rod Langway and Brian Engblom had come to the Capitals in a six-player trade with Montreal just prior to the start of training camp in 1982. For the early part of his career, Stevens was often paired with Engblom. The veteran guidance he got from Engblom and Langway combined with his own work ethic ensured that Stevens did not go back to juniors, and that he never spent a day of his 22-year career in the minor leagues.
That they did. In the season before the arrival of Stevens and Langway, the Capitals averaged just 11,377 paying customers a night. During the summer of 1982, newspapers were filled with speculation of whether or not team owner Abe Pollin would be able to keep the failing franchise in town. A group of worried fans formed a “Save the Caps” group and telethons and other fund-raising elements were introduced.
Beginning in 1982-83, attendance rose steadily, proving that quality hockey and a winning team would put people in the seats in Washington. Attendance rose to a franchise high of 17,251 in 1989-90, the first time the Caps reached the conference finals. But that’s also when Washington let Stevens loose, refusing to match a lucrative restricted free agent offer sheet proffered by the St. Louis Blues in the summer of 1990. Instead, the Caps chose to accept five first-round draft choices as compensation for the loss of one of the game’s best blueliners.


When the sun is shining, many of us are unable to resist a trip to the beach to soak up the rays, despite recommendations that we should cover up to reduce the risk of skin cancer. And now, researchers have discovered why; ultraviolet radiation from the sun releases endorphins - "feel-good" hormones - that act like a drug, making exposure to sunlight addictive.
The research team, including senior author David Fisher of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, recently published their findings in the journal Cell.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the US. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, over 3.5 million skin cancers are diagnosed in more than 2 million people every year.
Approximately 90% of nonmelanoma skin cancers and 86% of melanoma skin cancers - the deadliest form of the disease - are caused by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and tanning beds or lamps.
To reduce the risk of skin cancer, public health experts recommend that people stay in the shade when the sun is at its strongest (usually around midday), wear clothing that covers arms and legs, wear a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, use sunscreen with a minimum sun protective factor (SPF) of 15 and avoid indoor tanning.
However, many of us tend to ignore these recommendations due to a desire to feel the sun on our skin.
According to Fisher and his colleagues, previous studies have indicated that many people who adopt UV-seeking behavior meet the clinical criteria for substance addiction. But Fisher notes that the mechanisms underlying UV addiction have been unclear.
In an attempt to unravel the workings behind UV addiction, the team conducted a study in which shaved mice were exposed to UV rays 5 days a week for 6 weeks.
Love to tan? Researchers say that UV radiation releases endorphins - "feel-good" hormones - that make us addicted to sun exposure.
The UV rays the mice were exposed to were the equivalent of a fair-skinned human of average tanning ability being exposed to 20-30 minutes of ambient midday sun in Florida during summer.
After 1 week, the researchers found that endorphin levels in the bloodstream of the mice increased. Endorphins are hormones that relieve pain by activating opioid receptors via the same pathway used by prescription painkillers, heroin and morphine.
After 6 weeks of UV exposure, some of the mice received an opioid-blocking drug. This caused them to experience withdrawal symptoms, such as shaking, teeth chattering and tremors. These mice then avoided box locations where they had received the drug, indicating that excessive UV exposure triggers addiction-like behavior and physical dependence.
"This information might serve as a valuable means of educating people to curb excessive sun exposure in order to limit skin cancer risk as well as accelerated skin aging that occurs with repeated sun exposure.
Our findings suggest that the decision to protect our skin or the skin of our children may require more of a conscious effort rather than a passive preference."
Fisher says it is "surprising that we're genetically programmed to become addicted to something as dangerous as UV radiation." He hypothesizes that it could be down to vitamin D synthesis - the body's main source of vitamin D is the sun.
"However," he adds, "in the current time, there are much safer and more reliable sources of vitamin D that do not come with carcinogenic risk, so there is real health value in avoiding sunlight as a source of vitamin D."
Medical News Today recently reported on a study published in the journal Nature, which suggests that using sunscreen alone is not enough to protect against melanoma skin cancer.
Skin b-Endorphin Mediates Addiction to UV Light, David Fisher et al., published in Cell, 19 June 2014.
Cell Press news release, accessed 20 June 2014 via EurekAlert.
Additional source: Skin Cancer Foundation, skin cancer statistics, accessed 20 June 2014.
Additional source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, What can I do to reduce skin cancer risk?, accessed 20 June 2014.
Whiteman, Honor. "'Feel-good hormones' make sun exposure addictive, study suggests." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 20 Jun. 2014. Web.


Tens of thousands of Turks spilled into their streets Sunday after a call by a minor Islamist party to protest Israel's deadly asault on Gaza which has claimed more than 485 lives. Police refused to give a number for the demonstrators filling up the sprawling Caglayan square in central Istanbul under drizzling rain, but organisers claimed there were as many as 700,000 people in the 180,000-square-meter venue. Waving Turkish and Palestinian flags, the protesters chanted "Damn Israel" and "Allahu Akbar" or "God is great" as they burnt Israeli flags, a foreign news agency correspondent said. "Stop the massacre, Palestine is dying," read a banner brandished by the protesters, many of them wearing headbands with the inscription "We are all Palestinians."


The likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin were in attendance as US$36m worth of prizes were awarded to some of the world’s top scientists in California yesterday.
The Breakthrough Prizes fund is divided into separate awards of US$3m, representing well over twice the financial value of winning the Nobel prize which is, unlike these, often given to experts nearing the end of their career.
"The world faces many fundamental challenges today, and there are many amazing scientists, researchers and engineers helping us solve them,” Mark Zuckerberg said.
“This year's Breakthrough Prize winners have made discoveries that will help cure disease and move the world forward. They deserve to be recognised as heroes."
The award in life sciences honours transformative advances toward understanding living systems and extending human life, with one prize this year dedicated to work that contributes to the understanding of Parkinson’s disease. The award in fundamental physics recognises major insights into the deepest questions of the universe, while this year also saw mathematicians honoured for the first time.
The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Wojcicki, Jack Ma, Cathy Zhang, Yuri and Julia Milner, Priscilla Chan, Zuckerberg and Brin. The prizes aim to celebrate scientists and generate excitement about the pursuit of science as a career.
“Most of our time is spent on mundane matters. Tonight we thought about the molecules of life, the structure of prime numbers, and the fate of the Universe. It was an uplifting occasion for everyone," said Yuri Milner.
“The remarkable scientists we honour refuse to accept ‘conventional wisdom’ as we know it. They question everything. They venture into new worlds," said Ma.
The full its of winners can be found here.


"Two Brothers" roars mightily when the cameras rest on the titular feline siblings. When the story trails off into human concerns, the effect is more like a whimper.
Fortunately, the two tiger brothers command most of the footage.
French director Jean-Jacques Annaud , who gave us 1989's widely praised "The Bear," has generally had better luck with animals than with human actors. "Two Brothers" does not prove otherwise. The animal characters are more expressive than lead actor Guy Pearce , whose deadpan earnestness shows no variety.
Still, "Two Brothers" is not the equal of "The Bear." The story never reaches the heart-pounding heights that Annaud so obviously intended, but there is both sentiment and fun along the way, and the feline brethren move with expected grace and majesty.
We first meet Kumal and Sangha as tiger cubs, having been born into a loving habitat governed by momma and poppa cat. They play together with coltish camaraderie and quickly grasp the unwritten laws of the jungle.
Then man comes along and disrupts their paradise. The unspecified time is circa 1920, and the place is French colonial Indochina. Hunter Aidan McRory (Pearce) enters the jungle to plunder temples for artifacts that will bring hefty prices. He stumbles upon the feline family, shoots poppa cat and makes off with Kumal.
He sells Kumal to a circus run by a greedy, sometimes sadistic ringmaster. Parents should be warned that some scenes of animal mistreatment, though not excessive, could disturb children.
Sangha, meanwhile, winds up in the home of an ambitious French administrator, where he's gentle enough to share a bed with the administrator's young son. This privilege drives the household dog into fits of enraged jealousy, with results that are initially funny but later doleful.
After the passage of more than a year, both Kumal and Sangha are fully grown and meet as adversaries in a public arena. By this time, McRory has developed a conscience and tries to help the beautiful brothers.
Both feline leads had three "doubles," and all are exquisitely expressive. These tigers are as tenacious as terriers but with sad, soulful eyes even in their carefree moments.
The two-dimensional human characters are often played for laughs, some of which are cleverer than others.
The film, shot in 180 days in Cambodia and Thailand, is a major technical achievement for Annaud. It's great to look at and never painful to listen to. And anyone who subscribes to the popular theory that cats are cold and detached will think twice before making such a statement again.
½ Rated: PG (for violence). 109 min.


(JTA) — A firebombing at the Moscow offices of the largest Jewish organization in Russia caused minimal damage and no injuries.
Footage from the incident Monday night at the offices of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia showed a person whose facial features are not clearly visible throwing the firebomb and fleeing as it bursts into flames, the online edition of the L’Chaim Jewish newspaper reported Wednesday. The offices are adjacent to the Marina Roscha Synagogue.
Moscow Metropolitan Police shared the footage with the local media.
The Marina Roschina Synagogue complex, which is also the seat of Berel Lazar, one of Russia’s two chief rabbis and the head emissary of the Chabad movement to the former Soviet Union, has blast-proof windows and doors and is guarded during the day by security personnel carrying automatic weapons. All visitors must pass through a metal detector.
This story "Firebombs Tossed At Russian Jewish Group’s Moscow Office" was written by JTA.


Overhaul Games recently revealed that they would be bringing a refreshed and revamped version of Baldur’s Gate, dubbed the Enhanced Edition, to the iPad this summer. The updated version of the game would feature improved graphics, as well as controls adapted for a touchscreen. You can add another new feature to the list, one that definitely sounds exciting: multiplayer support.
In an interview with Kotaku, the COO of Beamdog Cameron Tofer revealed that the game would include multiplayer support when it hits the iPad this summer. He also said that the game wouldn’t cost more than $10, and said it would be “crazy” to charge more than that for a PC game made in 1998.
Baldurs Gate is a pretty big game and we’re not cutting it down to size. There’s a boatload of content there, 80+ hours. But past ten dollars doesn’t make sense.
And when you do eventually make it through the original game on the iPad, you can look forward to the sequel. An enhanced edition of Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn is due to be released later this year.
The enhanced edition of Baldur’s Gate will feature the original game and the Tales of Sword Coast expansion pack. A new adventure and party member will also be included. It’s expected to be released sometime this summer.


The Washington Redskins may be abysmal at home in recent seasons -- they have not had a winning record at FedEx Field since 2007 -- but you could at least count on them to send the fans home happy in their home opener, having not lost one since 2006.
That is, until Sunday. The Redskins fell to the Cincinnati Bengals in a game that was really a tale of two halves.
Since most of you, as Redskins fans, are gluttons for punishment, here are some unsettling first-half tidbits. I suggest that you mute the highlights and listen to this instead.
The Bengals' first play from scrimmage was a 73-yard touchdown pass from a wide receiver to another wide receiver. The one who threw it, Mohamed Sanu, had more passing yards in the first half on one pass than Robert Griffin III had after 10 pass attempts (36).
In fact, the Bengals had more yards on the aforementioned pass than the Redskins' offense had combined in the first half (73 to 68).
Yeah, we're just gonna forget about this one, Josh Wilson.
The second half started off better as the defense settled down enough to allow the offense to score 17 unanswered points to tie the game at 24-24. Unfortunately, the adequate defensive play did not last long as Cincinnati took advantage of Washington's depleted defensive corps, first with a five-play, 80-yard touchdown drive and then a 59-yard catch by Andrew Hawkins that gave the Bengals a 38-24 lead.
Griffin's rushing touchdown cut the deficit to 38-31 and the Redskins had a chance to tie the game in the final minute, but a 1st-and-10 at the Bengals' 19 turned into a 3rd-and-50 after the Bengals sacked RGIII and two penalties -- the last one an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (for some reason) -- pushed the Redskins back to their side of the field. Griffin's Hail Mary attempt fell short to end the game.
Since a season-opening win against the New Orleans Saints, the Redskins have dropped two games to beatable opponents and the Redskins have allowed 30-plus points in five straight games and seven of their last eight dating back to last season. Of course, missing guys like, well, the entire defense certainly doesn't help.
You know what they say: you can put a lipstick on a pig, but at the end of the day, it's still a pig.


This week, the New York Times unveiled the "United States of Thanksgiving," a collection of recipes that capture the spirit and culture of each state. It's an admirable exercise to unite the nation under a gluttonous holiday that's steeped more in myth than in fact.
Idaho has hasselback potatoes with garlic-paprika oil, which makes sense because of the whole Idaho potato thing. Maine has lobster mac and cheese, and Mississippi has the sufficiently Southern-sounding ale-braised collard greens with smoked ham hock.
So which recipe did the New York Times determine to encapsulate the very essence of Texas? Well Georgia laid claim to pecan pie, which should be ours, even though pecan pie is gross. Since the nutty dessert staple was taken, Texas was left with turkey tamales.
A highly unscientific flash poll of my co-workers and dinner companions found nothing offensive about the recipe, but it also failed to ignite a passion for Texas that state-themed food tends to do. When the topic of turkey tamales came up, it was met with a resounding meh.
The recipe published in the Times comes from Tamales Place in Texas, a Leander-based, family-owned business that specializes in the Mexican holiday favorite. Shredded turkey breast and leg meat is mixed with a tomatillo purée that includes jalapeño and serrano chilies for that necessary extra heat. Spread the mixture on the traditional masa; wrap it all in a corn husk; steam the tamales and enjoy.
The most common question people asked when the topic of turkey tamales was brought up was whether or not the turkey would dry out and lose its flavor. It seems the tomatillo puree remedies that anticipated problem. Others declared the only right way to make tamales is with pork, but we're not ones to veto any nontraditional takes on Mexican culinary standards. The main problem it seems with the Texans I talked to about turkey tamales is that, while the recipe seems both Texas and Thanksgiving-enough, no one has ever thought to make or try them. So maybe we'll give them a go with our Turkey Day leftovers on Friday, but until then, the jury is still out.
That lobster mac and cheese, though. We can totally get behind that.


Are you interested in pedagogy & design? Want to have your voice heard at UB? The UB Pedagogy & Design Committee is looking for student members. Email Tanja Aho (gsa-president@buffalo.edu) if you would like to serve!
This is a standing committee whose work contributes to the review and assessment of instructional facilities at the university, the recommendation of policies and processes for classroom utilization, and the development of a running three year plan for classroom renewal.
Core responsibilities of the the Pedagogy and Design Committee include recommending improvements to instructional facilities that integrate student learning with classroom design; identifying and recommending learning environments required to deliver all educational programs at UB; working with colleagues to develop physical design and online learning standards for learning environments; and developing renovation cost models for learning environments by space type and size.
This committee is the primary source of faculty and student input into the process.


SYDNEY, Aust., - May 4, 2010 - Nearly all of the entertainment devices in today's living rooms use remote controls, so for most people a remote that simplifies complex home-entertainment systems is essential to performing even the simplest of activities, such as watching TV. Today, Logitech Australia added to its award-winning line of Logitech® Harmony® remotes by unveiling the Logitech® Harmony® 600 Remote. Giving you one-click control over your favourite activities, the new remote is simple to set up, simple to use, and can replace up to five other remotes.
"Why have one remote for the TV, one for the DVR, one for your DVD player and one for your A/V deck?" asked Ashish Arora, vice president and general manager of Logitech's digital home group. "A Logitech Harmony remote brings it all together, making entertainment fun and simple for you, your family or anyone who picks up the remote."
When you're gathered around the TV with your friends and family, a Logitech Harmony remote makes everything simpler. To automatically turn on the right devices and select the appropriate input settings, the Logitech Harmony 600 remote offers one-click activity buttons. After completing the online setup, you just click what you want to do - such as "Watch a DVD" - and your Logitech Harmony remote automatically turns on the right devices and selects the right inputs.
With the Logitech Harmony 600 Remote, you'll see the commands you need for the devices you're using, such as power and volume, on the monochrome backlit screen. The smart display can even provide help if you need it - just select the Help button and answer the questions that follow.
The new remote joins the ever expanding line of Harmony remotes, an award-winning family that includes the Logitech® Harmony® 700 Remote - which controls up to six devices and is rechargeable - and the iconic Logitech® Harmony® One with its stunning touch-screen display.
Setting up a Logitech Harmony remote is a snap. Simply connect the remote to your computer, go to https://www.logitech.com/MyHarmony, and download the software. You'll then be prompted to enter the make and model number of your entertainment devices - the Logitech Harmony software does the rest. From Betamax to Blu-ray, you can be sure the Logitech Harmony remote can control virtually any IR home-electronic device.
Logitech supports more than 250,000 home-entertainment devices from more than 5,000 brands. Our database of devices grows every day, so you can be confident your remote will work with what you own today or what you might buy in the future.
The Logitech Harmony 600 Remote will be available in Australia from early May for a suggested retail price of AUD$99.95 inc GST. The Logitech Harmony 700 Remote and the Logitech Harmony One Remote are available now worldwide for a suggested retail price of AUD $299.95 inc GST and AUD $499.95 inc GST, respectively.


Welcome to the Chemistry Drop-in Tutoring Room. Our tutors are piloting a new queuing system to work with students. You are welcome to sit in the space and study or work without ever submitting a question. When you have a question, submit your responses in the Google form below and when a tutor is available to work with you, they will call your name. The data you provide is public, so please consider using your initials or first name only.
You must be in the Chemistry Drop-in Room before you add your name to the queue.


AFRO pop artiste, Adekunle Temitope, popularly called Small Doctor, and three others were yesterday arrested by police operatives for threatening to shoot a traffic policeman.
It was gathered that the musician before now had a case at the Lagos State Crime Investigation and Intelligence Department for shooting at his Agege show where he injured four persons.
The state Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, who confirmed the arrest, said the musician had, last week, fired some shots with a pump action rifle during a show at Agege area of Lagos, injuring four persons.
He said: “ You would have thought the incident would wisen him up but surprisingly today, I got a situation report from traffic monitors at Oshodi expressway alleging that four unknown gunmen in green unregistered SUV brought out a weapon and threatened to shoot the policemen.
“Fortunately, the DPO and other policemen at Shogunle intercepted the suspects and arrested them.
“When they were brought here it was discovered that one of them was the same Adekunle Temitope aka Small Doctor with three others and they were arrested with a functional rifle, a cartridge and some personal items.
He added “I am concerned as one will expect that a popular musician like him would be a role model but his character of gangsterism is nothing to emulate.” he said.
The CP further urged celebrities to stop involving themselves in gangsterism and conflicts that do not portray them well.
“You will recall that the Inspector General of Police, I-G Ibrahim Idris has a window period for submission of all firearms as all licenses had been cancelled and all approvals suspended.
“I have directed that the case be properly investigated and they will be charged for threatening violence on policemen and being in possession of firearms,” he said.
According to the commissioner, ‘Small Doctor’ had earlier been involved in a similar offence and is currently under investigation for firing live ammunition at the Agege stadium after a show on November 27.


Environmental campaigners in America are concerned about a new danger to the world's whale population.
It's sonar - powerful sound waves used by submarines and ships to track activity underwater.
Research has shown that the sonar waves can be heard by whales and dolphins - and campaigners believe it may be causing the whales to beach.
It was a stranding of rare beak nosed whales in the Caribbean which gave scientists their first proof of the harm sonar can inflict.
In spite of the efforts of local people, six whales died.
Each whale ear was sliced into a thousand sections and stained to reveal bone and blood. Red areas show the bleeding caused by exposure to military sonar.
At the moment, we think sonar precipitated the strandings, " says Dr Darlene Ketten.
"The animals were driven to strand by the stress of being exposed to this particular sonar."
The sonar implicated in this stranding was mid-frequency.
The new system is lower and louder and travels much further. The noise is the equivalent of a jumbo jet taking off.
The American Navy says it needs a more powerful device to keep track of potentially threatening submarines. But it's continuing to research into the effects of sonar on marine life.
"There is no finite correlation between low frequency sonar and negative effects on marine wildlife.
"Can marine life hear it? Yes. Does it have a major effect? We don't know."
This uncertainty alarms wildlife groups. They're now threatening legal action to protect sea-life from the sonar.
"It causes us great concern that the navy proposes to deploy one the loudest sound systems devised by man over 80 per cent of the world's oceans without really understanding what the implications are."
Whales are already under threat from pollution, fishing nets and collisions with boats. Although the research is inconclusive, conservationists say we should avoid any further risks to them.


George Lessens began his career at WZZM 13 in 1980 as weekend meteorologist. From 1985 through 1991, he anchored weekday morning weathercasts before returning to the 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM weekend newscasts. George became WZZM 13's Chief Meteorologist in July 2001. In October, 2007, he became the longest-tenured meteorologist at any single West Michigan TV station: 26 years, 11 months.
George has been passionate about weather ever since the 1965 Palm Sunday tornadoes hit West Michigan. He grew up in Lowell, Michigan, and formed a weather club as a youth to scan the skies for storms and tornadoes. Although he has never seen a tornado, he has been inside the damage paths of many of these storms. In the early morning hours of his 21st birthday, a small tornado touched down in his hometown. George heard the storm coming and alerted his family members. This storm destroyed the Lowell Showboat, toppled a church steeple, and caused considerable damage to the surrounding community. He rode out a "derecho" windstorm during the July 4, 1991 holiday weekend in a van parked under a highway bridge overpass! Another "derecho" hit West Michigan on May 31st, 1998, and this time he waited out the storm in the WZZM 13 studios, co-anchoring nearly 12 hours of continuous severe weather coverage.
During his career at WZZM 13, George has been recognized and honored with many distinguished awards including the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Michigan Association of Broadcasters “Best Weathercast” award and a 2009 Michigan Emmy Award in the On-Camera Talent - Anchor - Weather Category. Previously he received the "Distinguished Alumni" award from Grand Rapids Community College in 2008. He was also awarded a 2007 Michigan Association of Broadcasters "Best Weathercast" and "Merit Weathercast" Award, the second time he has received both awards in the same year. He also swept the weather awards for "Best Weathercast" and "Merit Weathercast" in 2003. George also won a 2005 Michigan Emmy for Weather and a third "Best Weathercast" Award in 2005. He is a "Distinguished Alumnus" from Lowell High School. He has been the recipient of the Muskegon County "Farm Bureau Agricultural Service Award", Best Graphics awards from UPI Michigan Broadcasters, the Detroit Press Club Foundation award for TV Documentary on "The Flood of '86", and a Michigan Emmy Nomination for "Toys for Tots."
In the past, George delighted thousands of school children with his "Lessons on Science" programs covering subjects such as "Space," the "Environment," and a Michigan Emmy award-winning series on "Birds." George continues to give speeches to many school and civic groups highlighting his passion for weather.
Over the years, George has provided weather forecasts for WCUZ, WVTI, WSNX and WLHT radio stations, and has prepared agricultural weather forecasts for West Michigan farmers. Currently, he can be heard afternoons on WLAV-FM. For many years George also wrote a weekly weather column for the Advance Newspapers, enlightening readers with his vast knowledge of West Michigan weather trivia, facts and folklore.
George is a member of the American Meteorology Society (AMS) and holds its highest seal of approval as a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM.) He recently served on the National AMS Broadcast Board of Meteorology, the governing body that evaluates meteorologists seeking to obtain the AMS or CBM Seals of Approval. He is also a member of the National Weather Association. George is an Eagle Scout, having earned the Boy Scouts' highest honor from Troop 102, Lowell, Michigan.
In his spare time, George loves working with computers, gardening and landscaping around his home. He lives in East Grand Rapids with his wife, Sherry, his two children, Eric and Ariel.


(Reuters Health) - Waiting at least three minutes to clamp the umbilical cord after birth is associated with a lower risk of anemia in babies, according to a study in Nepal.
Children with anemia and iron deficiency may have impaired nervous system development, which affects cognitive and motor abilities and behavior. Typically, they’re treated with foods and supplements that provide extra iron, but some previous research has suggested delayed umbilical cord clamping may reduce the odds of iron deficiency by giving babies a transfusion of iron-rich blood from the placenta.
For the current study, researchers examined data on 540 babies who were randomly selected to have either delayed cord clamping at least three minutes after birth or earlier clamping within one minute of delivery.
After eight months, babies with delayed cord clamping were 11 percent less likely to have anemia and 42 percent less likely to have iron deficiency than infants who got early cord clamping, researchers report in JAMA Pediatrics.
“If a baby gets clamped early, it will not gain access to the part of its own blood that is still in the placenta,” said senior study author Dr. Ola Andersson, a pediatrics researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden.
“That extra blood could have protected the baby from anemia and iron deficiency during its first year of life,” Andersson added by email.
Iron deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is more common in developing nations, but it is also the only nutritional deficiency that is widespread in industrialized countries.
An estimated 2 billion people worldwide are anemic, mostly due to iron deficiency. In the developing world, the risk of anemia is compounded by a variety of infections that can lead to iron deficiency such as malaria, HIV and hookworm infestation.
Treatment guidelines may need to change for more babies to get delayed cord clamping, Andersson said.
Currently, the World Health Organization recommends waiting at least one minute to do this, while the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises a delay of 30 to 60 seconds after delivery.
In the study, half of the babies randomly assigned to delayed clamping didn’t get this done until at least 192 seconds after delivery. Half of the babies selected for early clamping had this done no later than 32 seconds after birth.
Among the subset of 400 babies who returned to the clinic for evaluations at age 8 months, 73 percent of babies who got delayed clamping had anemia, compared with 82 percent of infants in the early clamping group.
At one year, 344 babies got assessed again, and anemia remained less common in the delayed clamping group.
One limitation of the study is that many babies dropped out before they could be assessed at 8 and 12 months of age, the authors note. Another drawback is that many clinicians delivering babies clamped the cord too soon for babies assigned to the delayed cord clamping group.
Still, widespread use of this intervention could translate into 5 million fewer infants with anemia at age 8 months, the researchers conclude. The biggest benefit would be seen in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa where the prevalence of anemia is highest.
“The take home message is that a delay of umbilical cord clamping for more than three minutes improves infants’ iron stores in general, can protect against anemia in communities where iron deficiency anemia is common, and has earlier been shown to have favorable effects on developmental outcomes at 4 years of age even in a well nourished population,” Andersson said.
SOURCE: bit.ly/2jHdhwj JAMA Pediatrics, online January 17, 2017.


Have you ever wanted to switch to a certain window, not just the application it belongs to? While you can use Expose to switch windows, doing so can be very clumsy if you're the keyboard-only type of user. And don't all of these windows look just the same when they are scaled down? Witch lets you access all of your windows (in all Spaces, if you're using Mac OS X 10.6 and Witch 3.2 or newer) by pressing a shortcut and choosing from a clearly arranged list of window titles. Moreover, you can use Witch to. Directly access minimized windows without using your mouse. Close minimized windows without bringing them to front first. Zoom, de-/minimize, and close windows on the fly.


IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited (ITNL), promoted in November 2000 by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), is one of the largest BOT road asset owners in India. ITNL acts as a developer, operator and facilitator of surface transportation infrastructure projects, taking projects from conceptualization through commissioning to operations and maintenance.
ITNL had initiated an Initial Public Offering (‘IPO’) of its equity shares which was concluded in March 2010 and the shares were listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd (BSE) on March 30, 2010.
ITNL is a market leader in the transportation infrastructure sector in India with its portfolio comprising 22 projects in various stages of development with an aggregate cost of about USD 8.14 billion. The project portfolio of ITNL has an optimum blend of revenue from ‘toll’ and ‘annuity’ based projects, is geographically diversified with presence in 14 states covering the length and breadth of India and has projects in various stages of commissioning as well as commissioned projects thus offering significantly de-risked and scalable business model.
ITNL has also ventured into development of projects in transportation sub-sectors such as Railways, Urban Transportation Systems and Border Check-posts. ITNL is currently developing a metro rail project in Gurgaon, an emerging business and software hub close to New Delhi; a border check post project for the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; and operating a city bus transportation network in the city of Nagpur, a major commercial and political centre in the state of Maharashtra in India.
In March 2008, ITNL commenced its international operations through the acquisition of Elsamex S.A. (“Elsamex”), a Spanish group involved in providing maintenance services primarily for highways and roads in many European and Latin American countries.
ITNL is today positioned as an unique infrastructure company with a diversified asset base, financial and managerial resources, effective management systems and technology exposure, backed by strong managerial support from IL&FS.
ITNL has been awarded the "Infrastructure Company of the Year - 2011" at the "Essar Steel Infrastructure Excellence Awards Ceremony" in association with CNBC TV18. ITNL was selected from amongst six short-listed firms, by an eminent jury consisting of panelists including senior administrative officials and industry stalwarts.
ITNL has a fully functional in-house design team, through which it has developed its capabilities for highway and structural design works. The design team’s expertise is also being leveraged to enable ITNL assess and develop Projects without relying entirely on the contracting agencies.
The design team is also equipped with latest software for analyzing and design of highways and structures some of which include MX-Road, Stadd Pro. and Survey equipments including Dual Frequency Global Positioning System (DGPS), Total station and Digital level instrument etc. The inputs of the design team, have helped ITNL reduce construction costs, to optimize designs and improve the success of a bid and to assess the possible quantity variation and escalation risks.
Besides design activities, an Independent Quality Audit Team (IQAT) has been formed as part of the design unit for carrying out quality check of works executed on various project sites.
There is a designated Safety and Quality Officer (SQO) for each of our Project sites, who are trained on all aspects of safety by a professional institute imparting safety training. They keep track of accidents at project site, analyse the data and identify weak spots, take necessary action to reduce accidents and also provide first aid to accident victims. All the project offices are equipped with adequate fire fighting systems and access to first aid. ITNL also ensures that the contractors appointed for the construction work at each site adhere to the best safety standards.
The IL&FS Group has an Environment and Social Policy Framework (ESPF), which has been adopted by ITNL. The Environment Management Plan (EMP) is made part of the EPC Contract to ensure that all our Projects adhere to the best practices in environmental management.
Weather monitoring systems installed in our commissioned projects constantly monitor the environment conditions on the road and where required the necessary action is taken.
Parivartan is being implemented to empower communities along the NH-9 (between Pune and Solapur in the state of Maharashtra) and NH-33 (between Ranchi and Hazaribagh in the state of Jharkhand in central India) areas, where the highways are being developed by ITNL.
Parivartan’s impact on the social development of the region has been recognized through the award of the prestigious S<och Virtual Corporation Award, 2011.
NKEL carried out rehabilitation and widening of existing carriageway to 4 lane dual carriageway on Belgaum – Maharashtra Border section of National Highway no. 4 (NH – 4) including service road in the State of Karnataka under the annuity model on Built – Operate – Transfer (BOT) basis.
The Project was awarded by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the nodal agency instituted by the Government of India for developing National Highways of the country.
The Project is a part of the “Golden Quadrilateral” - the most prestigious National Highway Development Programme undertaken by Government of India through the NHAI.
The State Government of Rajasthan (a state in the north-western region of India) and IL&FS have set up Road Infrastructure Development Company of Rajasthan Ltd (RIDCOR) as a 50:50 joint venture company for the effective leveraging of public and private expertise, to implement the single largest road sector project in the country taken up under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework. The Project envisaged improvement of important North-South road corridors linking National Highways passing through the State aggregating a total length of 1,053 km, to world class standards at an estimated cost of over Rs. 1500 Crore.
RIDCOR has been selected for the “The Innovation Award for Road Transport in Developing Countries (InARoaD)” in the category of "Finance & Economics" by the International Roads Federation (IRF), Geneva”. This award recognizes the positive impacts of the improved road infrastructure and transport conditions on the quality of life of communities and for the contribution of the Project to poverty reduction.


While sports enthusiasts all around the world are gearing up for the 2018 Winter Olympics, officials in PyeongChang, South Korea—where the next Olympics is located—are putting the finishing touches on the venues that will host the XXIII Games.
Although this is the second time the Olympics have been held in South Korea — the 1988 Summer Games took place in Seoul — it’s the country’s first Winter Games and PyeongChang’s first international sporting event of this caliber. South Korea previously made unsuccessful bids on both the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
The Olympic Rings are illuminated in PyeongChang. The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images.
The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images.
The 2018 Winter Olympics will consist of 102 events in 15 different sports over the course of 18 days. These events will take place at 13 venues spread across the counties of PyeongChang and Jeongseon, as well as the coastal city of Gangneung. The Opening and Closing ceremonies and most snow sports will be located in PyeongChang, with the Alpine Speed events in Jeongseon and ice sports in Gangneung. The Alpensia Resort in PyeongChang’s township of Daegwallyeong-myeon will be the Games’ central hub.
“With PyeongChang’s strategic position in Asia, and its access to a young and fast growing youth market, the 2018 Olympic Winter Games will no doubt expose new generations of potential athletes to the power of winter sport,” reads the official Olympics website.
The Alpensia Ski Jumping Center in Pyeongchang.
Pronounced “pyuhng-chahng,” PyeongChang is located in the Gangwon province of South Korea in the Taebaek Mountains. It sits just over 100 miles east from South Korea’s capital, Seoul, and around 50 miles from the border of North Korea. The closest international airport to PyeongChang is in the nearby town of Yangyang. However, the Incheon International Airport in Seoul will function as the main airport for Olympic visitors.
While forecasts predicted the weather in PyeongChang in February would be cold — World Weather & Climate Information projected temperatures would range from an average high of 33-35 degrees Fahrenheit (1-2 degrees Celsius) to an average low of 17 degrees Fahrenheit (-8 degrees Celsius) — conditions are shaping up to be even chillier than expected. This year’s Games may set a record for being the coldest since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, with temperatures in PyeongChang potentially hovering around 7 degrees Fahrenheit with wind chill during the Opening Ceremony.
The first competitive events of the 2018 Winter Olympics will take place in PyeongChang on Thursday, Feb. 8, with the Opening Ceremony set for Friday, Feb. 9. The Games will conclude on Sunday, Feb. 25.


While pregnant with twins, Chicago Southsider Sherri Edwards thought she might want to use cloth diapers. But when it came time to search for the products, she hit a bump in the road.
While pregnant with twins, Chicago Southsider Sherri Edwards thought she might want to use cloth diapers. But when it came time to search for the products, she hit a bump in the road. “I realized there weren’t any nearby stores that carried cloth diapers and had to find everything online,” Edwards says. “When shopping online, people have to invest in a product with no idea of what it’s really like, and, after spending the money, realize it may not work.” To solve the problem, Edwards decided to make an assortment of cloth diapers more accessible for Chicagoland women with Cutie Poops and Bottoms (14910 S. LaGrange Rd., Orland Park; 708-873-4588, cutiepoopsandbottoms.com). “People can come in, see, and touch the diapers before buying them,” she says. The selection takes up one side of the entire store and includes different brands, such Chinese pre-folds (from $1.25) to Gro Baby hybrids (from $16.95). Aside from diapers, the store carries baby toys, accessories, and gear. Exclusives include baby slings from Maya Wrap ($65.95 to $94.50), Moses baskets with polka dot bedding ($69.99), and Ah Goo Baby plush changing pads ($24.99). Edwards also sells a Cutie Poops and Bottoms line of short- and long-sleeved onesies (from $10), which feature eco-friendly sayings like “My mommy is green. What color is yours?” The boutique also offers an ongoing series of nighttime classes that teach techniques of Lamaze, infant massage, and more. For a full schedule, visit cutiepoopsandbottoms.com. This weekend—December 18th through 20th—mention “Chicago magazine” for 10 percent off all boutique purchases.
The Sustainable Style Sale and Soiree includes clothing, accessories, jewelry, and shoes from local designers as well as hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and music on Thursday, December 17th from 5 to 9 p.m., at Colori Eco Paint Boutique (2243 W. North Ave.) For more information, visit chicagofashionresource.com.
Chicago magazine readers receive 50 percent off all jewelry from Chic Gems (888-801-8265, chicgemsetc.com) through Saturday, December 26th. Enter code “chicagomaghol” to receive discount. Also, buy one gift certificate and get a second gift certificate of the same value for free.
Heidi Hess (210 N. Halsted St.; 312-738-1112) features drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and designs from Lara Miller, Kate Boggiano, and Objets d’Envy on Thursday, December 17th and Friday, December 18th from 6 to 9 p.m. Receive 30 percent off purchases by 7 p.m., 20 percent off purchases by 8 p.m., and 10 percent until the event ends.
Lara Miller (931 W. Cornelia Ave., 1B; 773-296-4442, laramiller.net) celebrates 30 years with a party and sale on Sunday, December 20th from 12 to 8 p.m. It’s the first time the studio opens to the public.
Take 50 percent off everything at Zella Brown (1444 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 773-276-1746, zellabrown.com) through Wednesday, December 23rd.
Through Thursday December 24th, Zola Jones (1944 W. Montrose Ave.; 773-848-3257, zolajonesdesigns.com) is giving ten percent of all sales to the Tree House Humane Society (treehouseanimals.org).
Krista K (3458 N. Southport Ave.; 773-248-1967, kristak.com) and Krista K Maternity + Baby (3530 N. Southport Ave.; 773-248-4477) host a guy’s shopping night with drinks and 15 percent off all $100 purchases on Thursday, December 17th from 6 to 8 p.m. Also that day, Krista K holds a Lana jewelry trunk show from 1 p.m. to close.
Take 25 to 75 percent off dresses; 25 percent off jewelry; and up to 75 percent off coats, sweaters, hats, and gloves at Hubba-Hubba (3309 N. Clark St.; 773-477-1414, hubbahubbachicago.com) through Thursday, December 24th.
Late-er Night Andersonville, hosted by the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce (5356 N. Clark St.; 773-728-2995, andersonville.org) features discounts from area shops, entertainment, and refreshments Friday, December 18th from 6 to 10 p.m.
Spend $250 at The Blues Jean Bar (2210 N. Halsted St.; 773-248-5326, thebluesjeanbar.com) before Thursday, December 24th and receive 20 percent off the purchase. Spend $350 and receive 25 percent off the purchase.
His Stuff (3162 N. Broadway St.; 773-281-6111, hisstuffchicago.com) takes 10 percent off everything in the store Thursday, December 17th from 6 to 9 p.m. The shopping event also includes drinks and appetizers. Ten percent of evening sales go to the Chicago House (chicagohouse.org).
Take 25 percent off all online orders from Mali (204 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-263-0326, malijewelry.com) through Thursday, December 31st. Enter ‘25’ at checkout to receive discount.
House of Sole (1237 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-834-0909) holds its Winter Wonderland sale with up to 50 percent off select shoes, outerwear, and accessories, Thursday, December 17th through Sunday, December 20th. Snacks and cocktails will be provided from 6 to 9 p.m.
Save up to 50 percent on all artwork from Dolan Geiman (etsy.com/shop/dolangeiman) during the local artist’s third annual holiday sale through Sunday, December 20th. Spend $100 or more and receive a free gift.
Wolfbait & B-Girls (3131 W. Logan Blvd.; 312-698-8685, wolfbaitchicago.com) holds a Veronica Riley Martens jewelry trunk show Saturday, December 19th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Enjoy a preview of the spring 2010 collections, hors d’oeuvres, and Champagne at Gamma Player (2035 W. Division St.; 773-235-0755, gammaplayer.com) on Wednesday, December 16th from 6 to 8 p.m. RSVP to info@gammaplayer.com.
Spex (522 Dempster St., Evanston; 847-864-5200, spexchicago.com) holds the opening reception for its next ART + VISION event with ceramics by Richard Cohen Friday, December 18th from 5 to 8 p.m. Guests receive complimentary gift bags, drinks, and appetizers.
Save up to 50 percent on selected clothing collections at The Lake Forest Shop (265 E. Market Square, Lake Forest; 847-234-0548, lakeforestshop.com) through Thursday, December 24th. The shop also hosts a Lafayette 148 trunk show through the 24th.
Neapolitan (715 Elm St., Winnetka; 847-441-7784, neapolitanonline.com) features Carolina Herrera’s spring 2010 collection Thursday, December 17th to Saturday, December 19th.
Donate items to national charities during the first Southport “Gives Back” (onsouthport.com); the event kicks off on Thursday, December 17th from 5 to 8 p.m. with exclusive discounts, drinks, and snacks for those who bring in donations to participating area shops.


San Bernardino County (Calif.) Employees' Retirement Association's investment committee agreed to recommend that the board terminate Tricadia Credit Strategies and end dealings with two York Capital Management funds, confirmed Michael Tamony, spokesman for the $9.7 billion pension fund.
Tricadia Capital Management managed approximately $36.2 million for SBCERA as of April 30 in Tricadia Credit Strategies, a multistrategy credit hedge fund. The investment committee recommended termination because of performance issues.
SBCERA approved a commitment of $100 million to the York Structured Credit Opportunities Fund in January; it will be rescinded. During negotiations, the pension plan's investment committee staff found an unfavorable key term to SBCERA in the fund documents, and a resolution has not been reached, meeting minutes show.
The committee also agreed to redeem SBCERA's $157.3 million interest in York's Global Credit Income Fund due to a similar term in its current contract with that fund.
These actions will be presented to the board for approval at its Aug. 2 meeting.
A spokeswoman from Tricadia declined to comment. A spokesman from York Capital could not be immediately reached for comment.


South Gibson is the new No. 1 team in the girls soccer Elite Eight.
A look at the top high school girls soccer teams in West Tennessee, as ranked by the USA Today Sports network. Teams eligible come from The Jackson Sun’s 13-county coverage area - Madison, Gibson, Henderson, Chester, Hardeman, Haywood, Crockett, Weakley, Carroll, Benton, Decatur, McNairy and Hardin counties.
1. South Gibson (8-1) – The Lady Hornets did take their first loss in the North Side Shootout, but they were 3-1 overall this past week. Last week: No. 3. This week: Tuesday at Crockett County; Thursday at Dyersburg.
2. Madison (2-4) – The Lady Mustangs lone match was postponed. They will get tested this weekend playing in Memphis. Last week: No. 1. This week: Tuesday vs. White Station; Thursday vs. Trenton Peabody.
3. Lexington (4-3) – The Lady Tigers took their first loss this past week, but the three losses came against quality teams in the Rivals Tournament. Last week: No.2. This week: Smoky Mountain Cup this weekend.
4. USJ (3-3-1) – The Bruins tied Henry County before the weather came in last week, and they are the third team in the poll that will be playing in Memphis this weekend. Last week: No. 4. This week: Tuesday at Sacred Heart; Thursday at Jackson Christian.
5. McNairy Central (7-0) – The Lady Bobcats are still unbeaten after going 3-0 in the North Side Shootout of the weekend. Last week: No. 5. This week: Thursday vs. Hardin County.
6. Jackson Christian (6-1) – The Lady Eagles are 2-1 in district play, but the biggest rivalry game in West Tennessee soccer is Thursday. Last week: No. 6. This week: Thursday vs. USJ.
7. Adamsville (3-0) – The Lady Cardinals have not allowed a goal yet this season in the first three matches. Last week: No. 7. This week: Thursday at Wayne County.
8. Chester County (5-3) – After falling below .500, the Eaglettes won all three matches in the North Side Shootout to stay in the rankings.. Last week: No. 8. This week: Tuesday at South Side; Thursday at Liberty.


The Navy SEAL and actor in "Act of Valor" spoke Wednesday night as part of Veteran's Week.
Former Navy Seal Rorke Denver spoke Wednesday at Jesse Auditorium. Denver had a role in the movie "Act of Valor."
As zombies hunted humans around Jesse Hall, Rorke Denver talked inside Jesse Hall to audience of ROTC members, veterans and civilians about a different kind of battle.
Denver, a former Navy SEAL, spoke as a part of Veterans Week at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and stayed to talk with the audience until well after 10 p.m. His presentation primarily focused on training, teamwork and leadership.
For Denver, the battle was not in the deserts of Iraq but in training. He said training is what "pushes you into that next level." Denver was once a training officer for the SEALs, who are renowned for their grueling program. He showed a video demonstrating how hard the training is for hopeful SEALs.
Jordan Webb, an MU senior and Air Force ROTC member, said he came to the presentation to hear about some lessons Denver has learned, as well as what the military did for him personally beyond just being a career. Webb said he wants to pilot helicopters.
“It’s a good opportunity to hear firsthand about the type of things we will face in our careers,” Webb said.
Denver also starred in "Act of Valor," a 2012 film based on Tom Clancy’s novel of the same title. Even though the Navy placed him under orders to do the movie, he would not have done it if it wasn’t done right, Denver said to the audience. Thus, the action sequences in the movie are real and include actual SEALs, not stunt men.
Cale Sears, co-chair of the MSA/GPC speakers committee, said Denver was engaging since he did not stand behind the podium and came off as a real person.
Denver also engaged the audience by asking them to jump, his favorite training exercise. SEALs in training might do around 1200 jumps in the sand, Denver said. Those in attendance at Jesse only had to do three jumps.
To conclude his talk on training, Denver asked the audience to participate in another activity. He asked for everyone to put their hands in the air and reach as high as they could, and then he asked for another inch.
“That one inch that you just reached for is your ability to improve in an elite environment," Denver said after the activity. "You can always find that one inch. Everyone has an inch they can go for and improve."
Travis McCartney, associate vice president for Missouri Student Veterans Association, is getting ready to leave for training for the Army and was looking for leadership guidance from Denver.
“I’ll be looking for that extra inch,” McCartney said.
Denver also showed clips from his movie throughout the presentation. He didn’t watch the screen while the clip played, comparing it to listening to your own phone message, 1000 times over.
The clips demonstrated two of his points, balance and the idea that "calm is contagious." In the clip, Denver spoke to his team about balancing their personal lives with other duties so the job can get done.
Ethan Welch, a student at Moberly Area Community College, will leave for the Army in January. He said he liked Denver’s message about balance. Welch brought a promotional movie poster for "Act of Valor" that stood taller than him for Denver to sign.
“It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Welch said.
The other clip highlighted Denver’s point that "calm is contagious," a lesson he learned during his last days in SEAL training. Denver concluded his presentation by thanking the audience.
The audience returned the favor by giving Denver a standing ovation.


Cable Bahamas is a strong company, with positive growth prospects, one of our best-known and most actively traded equities. Yet the share price quoted on BISX gives the impression of a severe loser, with a decline of about nearly 40 percent in the last year, from $3.68 to $2.29. Why?
Surely not because the recession has caused mass liquidations to meet household expenses or feed the kids. No - the real reason is Bahamian shareholders are uneasy about any company that does not pay a dividend, even during a period of capital growth when cash is needed for investment. Unlike in more sophisticated markets, we have no tradition of funding new ventures requiring long-term commitment. Until a few years ago, Cable’s initial price of $1.00 rose gradually towards $5.00, then began to fall as soon as the investments in ALIV and Summit Broadband in Florida were initiated, even though these new projects were essential for Cable’s success. Without them, Cable would have become a relatively stagnant business with minimal growth potential.
Instead of looking at the potential, it seems shareholders have focused exclusively on the metric of net income, which has declined from $14.1 million in 2013 to a loss of ($52.5 million) in 2018, with no consideration given to the increases in revenue to $224 million and EBITDA to $33 million (It should be noted that any direct comparisons between 2017 and 2018 fiscal years are not feasible since the former covered 18 months and the latter only 12 months) Clearly, the corporate objective is continue to raise revenue and reduce cash spent on investment, so that “the corner will be turned” to profitability, and net income will permit paying dividends once again, which should happen this year or next.
Although the 2018 Annual Report and the AGM held on January 15 portrayed a well-run company operating with imagination, management could have done more to explain these financial realities to shareholders. They could have put more emphasis on details of the various divisions, rather than just “Segment Information” buried in the auditor’s footnotes. They could have played up that over the last eight quarters revenue has increased from $45 million to $59 million, while net income and EPS were down.
In future, for a company as complex as Cable, shareholders need more frequent and more explanatory reporting than just the bare figure of quarterly statements. As with public companies in the US, periodic sessions should be held with securities analysts and the public, as arranged by a pro-active Investor Relations Department. This might well stimulate more BISX trading that would better reflect market value and improve liquidity.
Within a year or two, management must be prepared to report to shareholders a major change in Cable’s structure. Government has indicated it will make a public offering of its 81.75 percent of ALIV’s equity shares, as soon as ALIV is showing a profit and can meet all the requirements for an IPO governed by the Securities Commission and by BISX rules. The total value of the placement may well be more than $100 million, and all the detailed terms of disclosure, pricing and distribution will have to be carefully negotiated between Government, ALIV, Cable and the investment bankers handling the deal (with plenty of lawyers and accountants involved). At the end of the day, ALIV will be a separate company with its own BISX listing and management cadre. Its financials will no longer be consolidated with Cable but simply a major investment with a fluctuating market value. The Cable shareholders will be left with a security whose value is heavily determined by the market value of ALIV shares. Of course Cable shareholders will be free to buy ALIV shares, and vice versa, giving many arbitrage opportunities.
In our view, these pretty revolutionary changes could justify commencement of planning at an early date.
Disclosure Note: Richard Coulson is an owner of ordinary shares of Cable Bahamas.
It is now the official position of our Government that The Bahamas should join the World Trade Organization, following the rules for accession as soon as we are formally invited. This was made clear to me by reading the 16-page document published by our Ministry of Financial Services under the rubric “wtobah”. Terms of the Goods Offer and the Financial Services Offer from The Bahamas have already been presented to the WTO Secretariat. Although further consultations with private-sector stakeholders are in order, it’s expected that any serious sticking points will be resolved to allow Government to sign on without massive public disagreement.
The next WTO session for approving new members has just been delayed until March, probably because of the profound trade dispute continuing between China and the USA, a bilateral power struggle outside normal WTO procedures. This will allow more time for cultivating public awareness, a vital task for our Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation (BCCEC), which recognizes that many Bahamians remain ignorant of WTO and its probable impact, or even hostile to it.
Therefore, I urge BCCEC take a new approach, serving as impartial educator rather than apparent advocate. The multi-member body, with its own budget, is in no way dependent on Government or obligated to follow the accepted party line. While I personally believe that our country will benefit from joining WTO, I speak to many Bahamians, often successful business owners. who are deeply sceptical. They deserve a venue where their views will be heard.
• How will Government fund the revenue shortfall resulting from the decline in the average import duty rate from 30 percent to 15 percent?
• Which of our many industries really deserve protection from foreign competition: Lawyers, by restrictive work permits? Farmers, by high agricultural tariffs?
• How can our retailers defend against vast marketers like Amazon, who have full internet access without ever opening a store here?
• Does the cumbersome Dispute Resolution process work fairly for small nations?
In answering these questions, Bahamians must be disabused of the opinion that we are not an exporting nation, with nothing to gain from WTO membership—a serious misconception. Although low on manufactured items, our goods and services external account provides about $400 million annually (mainly in agriculture and financial services), plus the millions of local expenditures by tourists and-resident foreigners. In economic terms, we are in effect exporting our invaluable climate, beaches and tropical way of life.
By giving all doubters and naysayers a formal opportunity to be heard and answered, the BCCEC will be rendering a major service towards democratic decision-making.
"While I personally believe that our country will benefit from joining WTO, I speak to many Bahamians, often successful business owners. who are deeply skeptical..."
WHY? You are just another robotic zombie spewing off the tired old story we hear over and over again that it will be beneficial for the Bahamas to join the WTO without offering ONE single example of a benefit. Not one. The article claims that Mr. Laing held a conference where he outlined the benefits to us of joining - but again fails to mention ONE thing that he listed as a benefit.
Why is this a big secret? I know the benefit of putting fresh oil in my car twice a year. It prevents corrosion of the metal inside the engine - the piston rings and the piston chamber valves and the bearings of the crank shaft, all of which are very expensive to repair or replace if they are allowed to corrode and wear down. The clean new oil prevents this from happening. Oil itself wears down over time (due to complex chemical reactions of the hydrocarbons) - therefore it has a "shelf life" so to speak when inside your car's engine. To increase engine life by preventing the above listed wear and tear, it should be changed regularly, and at least twice a year.
The benefit to the Bahamas of joining the WTO is …………?????
MadHatter, respectfully, I am not certain you read the article in its entirety, or you missed the point of the article. The author acknowledges his own bias about joining the WTO, but strongly argues for a venue where dissenters can be heard! How is that a "robotic zombie"? Methinks the person that you should have the least problems with is Richard Coulson.
"In past public seminars about WTO, BCCEC has presented the lead negotiators (originally accountant Ray Winder, now former Finance Minister Zhivago Laing) who described all the plus features, followed by a few comments or questions from the floor, often by people uneducated on the issues."
Here he suggests that those asking questions are "uneducated on the issues". In other words if you dont just accept WTO without question, then you are an uneducated idiot.
Why would someone attend a seminar except to learn something new about a subject. Of course they dont know everything about WTO that's why they are there - to learn.
I would like to learn too. But there is ZERO information available about the benefits to us of joining WTO ecxept that we can export crayfish. We are already exporting crayfish and whoever in Europe chooses not to buy our crayfish because we are not a member of WTO can just go without. Our crayfish species does not live anywhere else in the world. If our defense force would start shooting Domicans dead on sight like you would any invading army then we will hold Europe in check.
But instead Europe sends us a blank WTO page to sign first and they fill in later and we are told if we dont agree with it then we are uneducated morons and not modern.
Why isnt everyone supporting WTO in this country promptly arrested as a traitor?
MadHatter, I think in your second paragraph, Richard is suggesting - and I stand to be corrected - that where there was a formal seminar for people who proposed joining WTO, there should equally be a formal venue where dissenters can offer their objections. And, I think he further, correctly - in my opinion - that dissenters views should not be limited to the everyday person (like me) who attend these events and asks questions. If you are allowing formal pro-WTO speakers, then you should allow formal anti-WTO speakers. I think that was his point. But, yes, I do agree perhaps he needn't have had to say they were "uneducated", although I think most of them would probably say that there are uneducated.
I also agree that both government and private sector should do a better job of explaining the pros and cons to the Bahamian people. Though, I will also add that a quick google of "WTO" provides a very good, albeit basic, starting point for the pros/cons of joining. Bahamians should take some initiative as well.
Your penultimate paragraph is well taken.
My apologies to Richard. Sincerely. This is just a totally disgusting situation and i really dont think government realizes how many Bahamians are getting down to their last straws.
That little pipsqueak taxi strike a week ago is only the beginning. If only we had real unions like used to have in the 80s - this country would be shut down right now. These wimps dont know how to strike.
We need a national strike until govt withdraws from all discussion and action toward WTO and until they tell us what has happened to all the VAT money collected since Jan 2015.


Property rights are foundational to American liberty. Our Declaration of Independence reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness....” The “pursuit of happiness” is interchangeable with property rights.
These opposing ideals clashed at the UN’s climate change meeting taking place in Bonn, Germany, where a three-member panel, introduced by a representative from the United Nations University, discussed “climate risk” insurance.
“Climate Risk" insurance is to cover “loss and damage” due to climate events, such as typhoons and floods, but panelists deceptively used free market rhetoric while advocating socialism. Let me explain.
Weather events have historically rendered heavier damages on people and properties in undeveloped countries, mostly because poor countries are ruled by corrupt governments that do not allow private property rights, nor do they make it a priority to improve infrastructure that could minimize storm affects on their citizens and properties. In spite of these facts, the insurance industry bowed to the anti-property rights UN.
The way it works is that money from the developed world goes into one of several UN funds. The “Adaptation Fund,” for example, received $50 million Euros from Germany on the opening day of this conference and is expected to receive more pledges before its conclusion. Another called the “Green Climate Fund” is to transfer $100 billion annually by 2020 from developed to undeveloped nations. And if the Carbon Tax is implemented, which is the UN’s goal, then it would have TRILLIONS to redistribute. It is no wonder that the panelists were eager to partner with the UN.
When asked to contrast the hurricane’s impact on Houston, Texas, where homeowners purchased insurance, with those in undeveloped countries where property rights and insurance coverage are foreign ideas, the response was classic socialism: “Even the poor and uninsured care for their families,” and “It’s a moral responsibility.” In other words, the industry is willing to prop up the corrupt governments that deprive their citizens of property rights and safer infrastructure, while calling it familial “care” and a “moral responsibility.” In reality, it is a greedy industry wanting a closer relationship with the UN and its potential TRILLIONS at the poor’s expense.
The bottom line is that the insurance industry’s “climate risk” coverage is not insurance at all, but rather a new way for it to link with the UN’s largess to redistribute wealth to corrupt governments that deny their citizens property rights and refuse to make infrastructure improvements that could save lives and lessen storm damages.
Since 1997, I have watched more and more companies and governments set aside liberty and free market principles, and sell out to the UN climate change agenda. Unsurprisingly, these meetings are now the UN’s largest annual meetings.
Americans should be pleased that the first week’s negotiations in Bonn proved that President Trump was correct to remove the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, which amounted to Obama’s unilateral sell-out at the UN’s 2015 meeting. America’s low profile in Bonn is likewise the right thing to do. The U.S. does not have an elaborate display like in years past, a welcome pause in American pandering that had become increasingly elaborate since the 1997 meeting in Kyoto, Japan. And U.S. negotiators are not hosting press conferences, which robs the world’s press of opportunities to take cheap shots.
Leaders at this COP, Conference of the Parties, just reported the first week’s accomplishments: a gender action plan and an indigenous peoples action plan. Nazhat Shameem Khan, Fiji’s chief negotiator, excitedly said the gender inclusion “changes global governance.” The other so-called accomplishment is an increased “relevance” of the Adaptation Fund, due to the German $50 million Euros and pledges for more money expected during the second week.
This conference is to conclude on Friday, November 17. In the past, negotiations have extended into the weekend, but due to the lack of U.S. pandering at this meeting, it just may conclude as scheduled on Friday. We will see.


WAYNE ROONEY will be definitely be in England's Euro 2016 squad if fit, Roy Hodgson has confirmed.
Rooney is currently sidelined with a knee ligament injury and will miss the friendlies with Germany and the Netherlands at the end of the month.
He is expected to be back in action for Manchester United in April and will be looking to improve his poor goalscoring form in the league in the run up to summer tournament.
“He’s not missed one squad of the last eight squads. He has never let us down.
“I’m not prepared to say categorically about any players at this stage that they will go but I certainly will dismiss any discussions about Wayne Rooney and whether or not he should go.
Rooney has made 109 appearances for England since making his debut at the age of 17 and is now the record goalscorer with 51, surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton's long-standing record last year.


LONDON—Scrub, a division of HHB specializing in post production, has supplied three Avid’s S6 control surfaces and the latest Pro Tools systems for Smoke & Mirrors’ new London audio department.
The Avid S6 enables the engineers to choose the modules they need and custom configure the console layout to meet the requirements of each new studio. From the 16-fader S6 M10 console in Studio 1 to two compact 8-fader M10s in Studios 2 and 3, S6 is an extremely flexible system that compliments their short-form advertising and broadcast work.
Scrub worked alongside Smoke & Mirrors’ Head of Audio Scott Little to specify the equipment for each room. The new consoles and Pro Tools HDX and version 11 software was installed and custom configured onsite by Scrub’s technical service engineers. The new rooms have been fully booked since the launch, and the audio department is set for further expansion in the very near future.
Imagine Communications announced that its Platinu™ IP3 routing technology has been deployed in the new London headquarters of international post production company Smoke & Mirrors.
Avid said German public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk has selected Avid solutions to power its post-production workflow.
HHB Communications Ltd. has provided Rapid Pictures’ new 5.1-equipped audio post production room with a 24-fader Avid D-Command console and a Genelec DSP loudspeaker system in a custom configuration.


On Wednesday the undefeated pound-for-pound boxing kingpin Floyd Mayweather Jr. (aka the 50-million-dollar-man) announced he will meet the 22 year-old also undefeated Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on September 14th.
"Money" Mayweather (44-0) who holds a welterweight and junior middleweight world title comes into the fight off an unanimous decision victory over Roberto Guerrero while Canelo is coming off of an unanimous decision victory against Austin Trout where he unified the WBC, WBA and The Ring Magazine Light-Middleweight titles. I know, I know, if you don't follow boxing it seems like there is a ridiculous amount of weight classes, titles and promotions, well, because there is. For this fight though, all that matters is the two will meet at a catch-weight of 152 pounds.
I say it is about time boxing fans are given the fight that we want to see. All those years of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather flirting with the idea of fighting each became null and void when Manny got KO'ed by Marquez in a pointless fourth fight (who the hell fights the same person four times any more??) and all that fruitless posturing between the two camps left a lot of boxing fans with a sour taste in their mouth.
Thankfully we won't miss out on the closest thing to a super fight the world of boxing has to offer us. Whether you love him or hate him, and a lot of people sure do hate him, Mayweather is an absolute beast with some of the quickest hands the sport of boxing has ever seen. On September 14th he will get one hell of a test in Canelo, an undefeated young gun with the power to put "Money" to sleep.
I'm getting chills just thinking about it.
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