AUGUSTA — Fourteen community college students were named to the All-Maine Academic Team for two-year colleges at a ceremony held last night at the Senator Inn in Augusta. The event was hosted by the Maine Community College System Board of Trustees.
The students named to the All-Maine Academic Team each received a $500 scholarship. Among the 14 honorees were two local students: Rebecca DeSimone of Springvaile who attends York County Community College in Wells and Diane Griffin of Wells who also attends YCCC.
DeSimone is majoring in Liberal Studies and some of her achievements include Phi Theta Kappa member and Thanksgiving Food Drive Initiative volunteer.
Griffin is majoring in Medical Assisting and some of her achievements include Phi Theta Kappa member, Presidential List Award, YCCC Presidential Search and Review Committee volunteer, Student Senate member, New Student Tour volunteer, Community Garden volunteer, Toys for Tots volunteer, and Partners for a Hunger-Free York County volunteer.
The All-Maine Academic Team is part of the national Phi Theta Kappa program, an international honor society for two-year colleges. Students are nominated and selected for the team by their college based on outstanding academic achievement, leadership, and service. The All-Maine Academic Team program is co-sponsored by Camden National Bank, Bangor Daily News, Creative Awards of Scarborough, Phi Theta Kappa, and the MCCS.


To: All persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of Puma Biotechnology Inc. ("Puma Biotechnology") (NYSE: PBYI) between July 23, 2014 and May 13, 2015.
The complaint alleges that defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (a) the Company's New Drug Application filing would be for a positive early stage breast cancer indication, rather than the previously announced metastatic breast cancer; (b) Puma would need to submit additional safety data from preclinical carcinogenicity studies with its NDA filing, which Puma did not have; (c) the additional studies required would push the timelines for filing the NDA; and (d) the Company overstated results from its Phase III ExteNET Trial.
If you suffered a loss in Puma Biotechnology you have until August 3, 2015 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.


Google is one of the biggest companies in the world. Founded in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, it has since become one of the most successful businesses. In terms of its value, it is presently estimated to be bigger than Apple. As of May 2016, the company was valued at about $498 billion, according to CNN. At the time, Apple was worth approximately $495 billion.
Google currently specializes in online services, which range from advertising to computing software and hardware. It was started by two Stanford University Ph.D. students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in 1998. The two were close friends, and it was Brin’s data mining program that helped start the search engine.
They started out small, using numerous cheap computers crammed in their dorm. Their search engine quickly became popular in the institution and within a short period, the two had to defer their studies to focus on their new venture. In September the same year, Google was incorporated as a privately-held company.
An Initial Public Offering of the corporation was undertaken in 2004. Presently, the search engine holds a 79.88 percent market share, with Microsoft’s Bing coming in second at 9.9 percent. This is as reported by Search Engine Journal.
Google and Apple have been involved in numerous contractual agreements with each other in an effort to dominate their respective fields. Just recently, a report indicating just how much the two companies worked together revealed that Google may have paid Apple as much as $3 billion in the year ending September 30, 2016 to allow it to have its search engine as the default in iOS devices. This is according to Toni Sacconaghi, a Bernstein analyst, and as reported by CNBC.
On the grand scheme of things, Toni views their relationship as an uneasy one, given that Google may decide to stop paying if it comes to the conclusion that Apple users will choose its search engine anyway. But this, he observes, would be too risky, considering that iOS users account for up to 50 percent of Google’s revenue. Presently, both Apple and Google are facing a push by EU countries such as France and Germany to pay taxes.


A cat shoe rack, yogi garden dogs, bean bags, an LED bonsai tree, and more!
1. A bean bag chair that unfolds into a cushiony lounger.
2. An 11-piece cookware set that'll inspire every kid's inner chef.
3. An owl lamp that can't hoot but still knows how to look cute.
4. A bonsai tree with LED blossoms that imbue magic into the air (indoors or outdoors).
5. A smiling cow that's perfectly content being a bean bag chair.
6. A model-worthy cat scratch post tree.
7. A satisfying array of mixing utensils that snap together for convenient storage.
8. A shoe rack that reminds kids to take off their shoes and place them under the care of a friendly cat.
Comes with three adjustable tiers.
9. A buzzing play tent that definitely won't sting your child.
10. A zebra-print heated throw that you'll want to snuggle with indefinitely.
11. A set of flannel sheets that's swarmed by schools of fish.
12. A few zenned out dogs that might as well teach yoga to humans.
13. A gorgeous floral painting that's marked in geometric precision.
14. A wheelbarrow planter that's all the more charming because it takes the form of an old tricycle.
15. A dynamic rug that looks like a canvas awash with swirls of acrylic paint.
Get it starting at $12.
16. A floating wall planter with beautiful turquoise accents.
17. Pillows covers that come with intricate designs and panels of denim.
18. A minimalist coat rack that adds a touch of elegance without taking up too much space.
19. An enamel-coated tea kettle that one could look at all day.
20. A bright couch protector that improves the look of your living room furniture.
21. A 4-in-1 convertible crib that can easily turn into a daybed.
22. A beet-red comforter set with both microfleece and Sherpa fleece that completes the definition of luxurious sleep.
23. A 17-piece play set that captures all the fun in making sandwiches.
24. A brilliant blue vase that'll enliven any room.
25. Star Wars glasses that maintain the force in the kitchen.
26. A ping pong table that folds into a portable case, allowing you to take the game with you.
27. A griddle with two large surfaces that can cook foods that require different heats at the same time.
28. An elevated feeder that can adjust to the optimal height for your pets.
29. A dainty and modern Minnie mosaic that adds just enough cheer to your room.
Get it for $7.74 per sq ft.


Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and new queen of gall, used the occasion of the birth of Martin Luther King to demand that President Obama — at long last — stop being so racist.
Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and new queen of gall, used the occasion of Martin Luther King Day to demand that President Obama — at long last — stop being so racist.
As we all know, the election of Obama in 2008 marked the end of racism in the United States. It had been dead for about a decade prior, as fans of Dinesh D'Souza's The End of Racism know, but on January 20, 2009, that became common knowledge. Here's how use of the term "post-racial" has trended on Google since 2005.
See? We're post-race now. Racism doesn't exist.
Palin, who has embraced post-racial America, is calling on the president to end one of the only remaining outposts of racial animus, Democrats' using race as an excuse to win political arguments. So she hammered to the door of Facebook a challenge in the name of the fallen civil rights leader.
Mr. President, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and all who commit to ending any racial divide, no more playing the race card.
It's not the first time Palin has reflected on King's legacy. Last year, she exhorted her followers to "let freedom ring," as King demanded. "To these freedoms we cling so that future generations may know and love the America that those before us so sacrificially gave." Somewhere MLK nodded.
Update, 5:00 p.m.: Here's Glenn Beck, making the argument on his radio show today.
America is in a new place. We are no longer in the 1960s. [Obama] wasn't elected by people with brown skin. He was elected by people with brown skin and red skin and yellow skin and — majority — white skin. This is a new era. Get over it. Please.
Trivia: Four other sitting Congressmen voted against MLK Day, too: Sen. Shelby of Alabama and Reps. Petri (Wisconsin), Rogers (Kentucky), and Sensenbrenner (Wisconsin).
In retrospect, it would have been interesting to see how racial politics played out had Obama lost in 2008 — to Sen. John McCain and Palin. There would have been no post-racial era, and Palin's MLK message would have been filtered through the lens of the vice president's office. Though MLK Day itself would have been fraught; after all, President McCain was one of the members of the House that voted against creating the holiday. But they lost — probably because Obama played the race card, as McCain suggested in August 2008.
Obama has not yet responded to Palin's challenge. This may be because she didn't use the Facebook post-tagging tool which would have made the mention of President Obama into a link to his profile and which would also have displayed her post on his Facebook wall. Or maybe it doesn't deserve response.


PARIS (Reuters) - A carbon price corridor mechanism with floor and ceiling prices, and an auction system, could help fix the European Emissions Trading System (ETS), in which prices have tumbled due to a glut of permits, according to a proposal by a French committee.
The mechanism is one of several that is expected to be put forward by the government-appointed committee headed by Engie's Chairman and former Chief Executive Officer Gerard Mestrallet, to review European carbon pricing.
France, which currently chairs the United Nations climate negotiations COP21, said in April it would unilaterally set a carbon price floor in the absence of a broader European initiative to strengthen carbon pricing.
World leaders, businesses and international finance institutions have also urged more countries to launch schemes that put a price on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Mestrallet will present the committee's pre-findings during a high-level forum on carbon pricing in Paris on Friday.
Mestrallet said his committee, appointed by French Environment Minister Segolene Royal in March, had studied carbon price mechanisms in several countries and also held discussions with businesses.
He said the mechanism, inspired by the auction system in North America, involved a carbon price corridor in Europe.
"If the auction price does not reach the minimum defined price, the auction will be canceled and if the price goes above the ceiling price, the certificate will be put in the market and sold at the ceiling price," Mestrallet told journalists.
"This solution seems possible because such as mechanism could be put in place through an EU ETS directive to introduce a floor and ceiling price and also a revision of the current auction rules," he added.
"Also, from a judicial point of view, this mechanism will not lead to a re-qualification of the ETS system as a tax which would require a unanimous agreement of the EU member states, something that would be difficult," he added.
In order to avoid a negative impact on the competitiveness of European industry, Mestrallet said a system that will prevent carbon leakages should also be introduced at the same time.


Yahoo! Search Marketing late last week notified search marketers that text ads would be limited to 70 characters--which also is the maximum size of Google AdWords ads. Previously, Yahoo! allowed marketers to include up to 190 characters in their ads.
Yahoo! framed the move as an attempt to make ads easier for users to read, but some search marketers say the decision also seems designed to court advertisers. Josh Stylman, a managing partner at Reprise Media, said it's likely that Yahoo! believes it will be easier for advertisers to run campaigns on both Yahoo! and Google if they can use the same creative text. "It's interesting that Yahoo! is moving in line with Google. It would obviously make it easier for Google clients to test Yahoo!," Stylman said.
He added that Yahoo! is playing catch-up with Google. "Yahoo!'s clearly got many fewer advertisers than Google at this stage," he said.
Another rationale behind the move could also be to free up advertising space on the Yahoo! Publishing Network--Yahoo!'s answer to Google's AdSense. The move "should make the service more appealing to publishers, and allow [Yahoo!] to compete directly with AdSense for publisher real estate," said Bryan Wiener, president of 360i.
And, ultimately, seeing the ad unit sizes come together will allow advertisers to spend less time character-crunching, and more time moving products. "Standardization is a good thing," Wiener said. "It allows advertisers to focus more on other variables that drive ROI."


The United Nations owes India USD 38 million, the highest it has to pay to any country, for the peacekeeping operation.
United Nations: The United Nations owes India USD 38 million, the highest it has to pay to any country, for the peacekeeping operations as of March 2019, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said as he voiced concern over the world body's deteriorating financial health.
In his report on improving the financial situation of the world body, he said, as of March 31, 2019, the total amount payable to troop- and police-contributing countries with respect to active peacekeeping missions was USD 265 million.
Of this, the UN owes USD 38 million to India, followed by Rwanda (USD 31 million), Pakistan (USD 28 million), Bangladesh (USD 25 million) and Nepal (USD 23 million), Antonio Guterres said in his report.
He said the arrears to troop and police contributing countries (TCCs/PCCs) could increase to USD 588 million by June 2019 "in the worst-case scenario".
"That has created a paradox. The United Nations is now effectively borrowing for prolonged periods from troop- and police-contributing countries. Many of them are low-income countries for which that imposes a significant financial burden," he said.
"At the same time, the Organisation is asking those same countries to do more to train their personnel and improve the quality of their equipment, all while operating in increasingly challenging environments. The United Nations, however, is not fulfilling its obligation towards them in a timely manner," he said.
Antonio Guterres further said that troop- and police-contributing countries make every effort to provide well-trained and well-equipped personnel to peacekeeping operations, and they continue to improve on that objective.
Earlier this year, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin had said that the financial situation of the United Nations peacekeeping, particularly the non-payment/delayed payment of arrears to the troop/police contributing countries, is a "cause for concern".
Mr Guterres said while the UN is working to become more effective, nimble, accountable, transparent and efficient, the success of the organisation's efforts depends not only on the internal efforts of the Secretariat, but also on the support of Member States and on the predictability and adequacy of their financial contributions to UN programmes and activities.
The UN had a positive cash balance of USD 412 million at the end of 2010 but it finished 2018 with a negative cash balance of USD 323 million - a decrease of USD 735 million in an eight-year period.
Mr Guterres said that regular budget assessments are issued at the beginning of each year and member states are required to pay their contributions in full within 30 days.
"Regrettably, some member states pay neither in full nor on time. The level of arrears at the end of 2018 was USD 529 million, equivalent to more than 21 per cent of that year''s assessments and nearly 150 per cent of the liquidity reserves," he said.
The United States is responsible for 22 per cent of the USD 5.4 billion regular budget for 2018 and 2019 and more than 28 per cent of the USD 6.7 billion peacekeeping budget for the year to June 30.
As of the end of the 2017/18 peacekeeping fiscal year, outstanding contributions to peacekeeping operations amounted to almost USD 2 billion, well above the USD 1.3 billion unpaid as on June 30, 2017.
The UN chief requested the General Assembly to increase the Working Capital Fund to USD 350 million effective July 1, 2019 and to create a Peacekeeping Working Capital Fund of USD 250 million and authorise its use to address the liquidity challenges of active peacekeeping operations among ways to help improve the financial situation of the world body and deal with timely payment of dues to troop and police contributing countries.


The first mammals emerged during the reign of the dinosaurs, adopting a nocturnal lifestyle to stay safe. It was only until the dinosaurs were wiped off the face of the planet that certain mammals began to assert themselves during the daylight hours, according to new research.
New evidence published in Nature Ecology & Evolution suggests that the first diurnal (daytime) mammals emerged at some point between 52 to 33 million years ago. The timing would suggest that mammals had been “stuck” in a nocturnal mode of existence during the reign of the dinosaurs, which ended some 66 million years ago, and that the sudden disappearance of dinos allowed mammals to assert themselves during the day. The new study improves our understanding of mammalian evolution, but other researchers say more evidence is required for us to be absolutely certain about the timing of this important transition.
Mammalian fossils dating back to this period are hard to come by, but even if paleontologists and evolutionary biologists had tons of fossils, it would still be hard to discern an animal’s behavior from a pile of bones—including whether or not an animal was active during the day or night. That said, scientists are reasonably confident, based on the scant fossil evidence they do have, that the first mammals were nocturnal. They’re just not sure when our distant ancestors first started to emerge from the darkness.
To get a better sense of when this happened, a team of researchers from the University of College-London and Tel Aviv University constructed multiple family trees (phylogenies) based on the 2,415 species of mammals alive today.
Both of the phylogenic timelines constructed by the researchers pointed to the same conclusion: mammals switched over into diurnal mode only after the dinosaurs were gone. The change was gradual, however, requiring millions of years of evolution; the “big switch” happened at some point between 52 to 33 million years ago (that’s a big window, even for evolutionary biology).
“We were very surprised to find such close correlation between the disappearance of dinosaurs and the beginning of daytime activity in mammals, but we found the same result unanimously using...alternative analyses,” explained lead author Roi Maor in a statement.
Of significance, ancestors of simian primates, such as gorillas, gibbons, and tamarins, were among the first to reject the night life. The new analysis is consistent with the fact that simian primates are the only mammals to have evolved adaptations to seeing well in daylight.
That said, Polly said the paper is based on a phylogeny that’s controversial in terms of which different subgroups of mammals arose.
David Grossnickle, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Chicago, also not involved in the new study, agrees with Polly, saying a study based solely on phylogeny has its limitations.
Biologist Stephen Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh said the team did a “great job” in mapping out the patterns of modern mammals on a family tree, and by running a variety of statistical tests to estimate when different types of activity patterns, like daytime behavior, evolved.


WASHINGTON--U.S. housing starts decreased for the third consecutive month in May, a sign home builders are struggling to meet buyer demand.
Housing starts dropped 5.5% in May from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.092 million, the Commerce Department said Friday. This figure carries a margin of error of 11.9%.
Residential building permits, an indication of how much construction is in the pipeline, fell 4.9% to an annual pace of 1.168 million last month, the agency said.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 3.4% increase for starts and a 0.8% rise for permits.
Starts fell in May for single-family and multifamily construction. Permits last month were down 10.4% for buildings with multiple units and down 1.9% for single-family homes.
Data on housing starts tend to be volatile from month to month and can be subject to sharp revisions. Looking past month-to-month fluctuations, starts in the first five months of the year were up 3.2%. Permits during this period increased 5.5%.


The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) recently announced West Hawaii Community Health Center has received recognition as a Patient-Centered Medical Home 2011 program for using evidence-based, patient-centered processes that focus on highly coordinated care and long-term participative relationships.
The patient-centered medical home is a model of care that promotes partnership among practitioners, patients, and their families and ensures that decisions respect patients’ wants, needs, and preferences.
Patients are provided the support and education that help them make decisions and participate in their own care.
Each patient is supported by a health care team who addresses the patient’s health care needs and coordinates and facilitates their treatments across the health care system.
Research shows that medical homes can lead to higher quality and lower costs and improve patients’ and providers’ reported experiences of care.


Come September, "Groundhog Day: The Musical" will officially end its time loop.
Producers of the award-winning musical announced Tuesday that the show will end its Broadway run Sept. 17, after 176 performances, seven Tony nominations and one gnarly knee injury.
"It's been a joy to share 'Groundhog Day' over and over again with Broadway audiences," the show's producers said in a statement. "We could not have asked for a more magnificent, devoted company to bring Danny Rubin's heartfelt words, Tim Minchin's dynamic score and Matthew Warchus's ingenious direction to the August Wilson Theatre stage every night."
"Groundhog Day," about an arrogant TV weatherman stuck in a time loop, opened in April at the August Wilson Theatre. Andy Karl starred as Phil Connors, a role originally made famous by Bill Murray in the hit 1993 movie of the same name.
Karl busted his knee onstage in the spring just three days before the show was set to debut, but made a triumphant return in time for the official opening.
Following its exit from the Great White Way, the show — which scored an Olivier award for Best New Musical — will embark on an 18-month national tour and eventually head back to London, where it made its world premiere last summer.
If you go before the curtains close for good, keep an eye out for Murray — just last week, the eccentric actor caught the musical twice in as many nights.


The BBC recently found that employees at a U.K.-based Amazon warehouse are working under conditions that a stress expert said could cause "mental and physical illness."
Billy Joel once sang that working too hard can give you a heart attack. And according to a BBC investigation into a U.K.-based Amazon warehouse, that just might be the case.
The news agency this week alleged that employees at the warehouse are working under conditions that a stress expert said could cause "mental and physical illness."
Based on video footage collected by undercover reporter Adam Littler, working as a "picker" who collects orders from 800,000 square feet of storage, the BBC reported rough conditions at the Amazon fulfillment center. During one night shift, Littler was expected to walk about 11 miles in total and collect orders every 33 seconds. When he took too long, a handset he carried would beep.
"We are machines, we are robots, we plug our scanner in, we're holding it, but we might as well be plugging it into ourselves," Littler said in the BBC report. "We don't think for ourselves, maybe they don't trust us to think for ourselves as human beings, I don't know."
The BBC also consulted Prof. Michael Marmot of the University College London, who said that working conditions at the warehouse were "all the bad stuff at once." Marmot claimed based on the evidence Littler presented that the requirements of the picker job would lead to an increased risk of illness or physical injury.
"There are always going to be menial jobs, but we can make them better or worse. And it seems to me the demands of efficiency at the cost of individual's health and well-beingit's got to be balanced," Marmot said.
Amazon strongly refuted the charges made in the BBC report.
"The safety of our associates is our No. 1 priority, and we adhere to all regulations and employment law," the U.K. arm of the company said in a statement.
Amazon has reportedly added an average of 12 percent to annual base pay for its U.K. warehouse workers in the past five years, boosting a two-year associate's salary to £8.98 per hour for a day shift, or £10.78 per hour for working nights. Litter, who was new to the position, began at a daily rate of £6.50, and was bumped to £8.25 when he opted for the night shift.
Once, after the 10.5-hour shift during which he walked nearly 11 miles, Littler said he was "absolutely shattered" from physical exhaustion.
"Amazon has retained an independent expert who has visited our buildings and associates," the online retail giant continued in its defense. "In the independent expert's opinion, a picking role is similar to jobs in many other industries and does not increase the risk of mental and physical illness.
"We understand that our progress depends on good execution and good judgment from thousands of employees. Together, we're working hard to make sure that we are better tomorrow than we are today."
According to the BBC, Amazon has invested £1 billion in the U.K. and created 5,000 permanent jobs.
Amazon isn't the only company that's been scrutinized for its working conditions. Main Apple manufacturer Hon Hai (a.k.a. Foxconn) has made headlines for employee suicides and riots based on poor conditions  a problem the company is reportedly slowly fixing.


SONY has confirmed a major change to the way it refunds games to PSN users, but the news has been met with mixed emotions due to some flawed features.
Sony seems to spend half their time ignoring what fans want (crossplay, free money, a nice house) and the other half granting their wishes using a monkeys’ paw. Every single wish they grant has some horrible drawback. This isn’t an RPG, you can in fact just give us nice things.
For example, while we can now change our PSN IDs it doesn’t work across the board and can actively mess up some games that have online functionality (all games have online functionality).
This time it comes with a new refund policy. While the old refund policy may not have been what everyone wanted, this one seems actively antagonistic by comparison. Everything you download is now no longer refundable.
Aside from a few small subscription services on PSN, everything that enters your PS4’s hard drive is no longer an option for a refund. If that seems utterly absurd to you then that’s because it is.
The idea that the second you get the chance to try something out it becomes ineligible is absurd. What if the game simply doesn’t work because it is a buggy mess? What about those games that instantly trash the console they get downloaded to? What if you weren’t the one to buy it, and you somehow purchased Senran Kagura because of your baby as chewing on the controller? Nope, nothing, nada, zip.
There is good news if you pre-order something at least. Though again, not if you download it. If you pre-order you now have a full two weeks to request a refund. This only applies if you haven’t started the download or the pre-load though, so be very careful with what you’re letting your PS4 do.
With all of this, you may be thinking “well, at least if I am careful I can get my money back”. Well, not quite. As per the rest of the refund policy, this part has not been put together in your best interests.
If you buy a game or some DLC the only refund you can get is through the PlayStation wallet. Meaning if you put money into the Sony ecosystem, it is probably going to stay there.
What can you do about it though? Turn off automatic downloads for one. You can do this by going to Settings, then System, then go into Automatic Downloads and make sure it is turned off.
This may well seem a little bit extreme, but if Sony won’t be reasonable, then you have to make sure you are looking out for yourself. It is always a good idea to make sure you aren’t going to get stung if a game is a mess.
Sony has said they will still refund buggy games, but it is hard to say how you could prove this or exactly what the criteria are.
Is a game that crashes regularly considered buggy? What about if it doesn’t crash but has missing textures, or characters refuse to load? What if it’s Anthem?
Having this kind of grey area in an official policy from a company is a given, unfortunately. It just doesn’t normally come with so many stipulations in the first place.
This may well be the worst refund policy out there. Sure, it is better than no policy at all, but only by an infinitesimal amount.
This could well be down to the arrogance of being in first place that Sony seems to be suffering from.
This is yet another thing that could easily come back to haunt them when the next console generation releases and Xbox are flirting with gamers everywhere.
Destiny 3: New enemies, 12-player raid and more leaked ahead of release date announcement?


Discussions have been taking place at St. Marys Cement Plant in Charlevoix Township of producing wind-generated electricity at the facility.
"We have a desire, it's a good thing to do," said Courtney Schmidt, St. Marys environmental director.
Wind-generated electricity requires the use of windmills or "wind turbines." Wind turbines use wind forces to spin the rotor of the turbine and drive the shaft of an electric generator.
Schmidt said moving forward with the project would require using an anemometer to study the velocity of wind on the property. Preliminary plans are in the works for a wind study.
"We're pursuing the next logical step in the process," Schmidt said. "We'd like to do one, we have not solicited quotes to do one."
Schmidt said he is acknowledging community concerns of noise and light flicker that can be generated from wind turbines that are improperly designed.
"We're cognizant of the fact that there are some issues associated with it," Schmidt said. "We have to talk to the community to make sure what we're doing is consistent with what they want to do."
Bill Henne, President of Water and Air Team Charlevoix (W.A.T.C.H) said distance needs to be considered when placing the turbines but if the plant can work it out, it would be a pretty great thing.
"They may have place on the property that would be suitable for that purpose," Henne said.
Last year, Schmidt was approached by a Charlevoix resident who mentioned that the plant could be at the perfect location to generate wind power. Since then, Schmidt and others at the plant have been discussing the feasibility of generating wind power on plant property.


The PGA Tour returns to Paramus this week for the first time since 2014. And Tiger Woods returns to Jersey for the first time since 2013.
PARAMUS — The eyes of the golf world will turn to North Jersey this week, as the PGA Tour returns to Ridgewood Country Club for The Northern Trust.
The best golfers in the world, and most of the biggest names, will be playing in one of the lucrative events on the PGA Tour.
So what should you expect? Here are five big storylines to follow during The Northern Trust.
Expect the crowds to be out in full force to see Tiger Woods. And for good reason. First of all, he’s coming off impressive performances in each of the last two majors. Less than two weeks ago, at the PGA Championship, Woods shot a final-round 64, his lowest-ever final round in a major to finish in second — his best finish at a major in 10 years.
Woods has had some success the last few times he’s played in New Jersey. He finished tied tied for 12th at Ridgewood in 2010 (the only time he played in Paramus). And he finished tied for second at this event at Liberty National GC in Jersey City in 2009 and 2013 (the last time he played in New Jersey).
The 42-year-old is relevant as ever, as proven by the spike in television ratings and the massive crowds at the PGA Championship outside of St. Louis. And Woods has proven that he can once again be a force on the PGA Tour as he returns from four back surgeries, including a spinal fusion last week. All that’s left now is for him to win.
The Northern Trust is the first event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs. And there’s a lot at stake for just about everyone in the field.
So what are the playoffs? Throughout the PGA Tour season, players accumulate points. The regular season wrapped up last week, at the Wyndam Championship, and at that point only the top 125 players in the standings are eligible to compete in The Northern Trust, which is the first event of four in the playoffs.
Only the top 100 in the standings after The Northern Trust advance to the second event of the playoffs, the Deutschebank Championship. Only the top 70 players in the standings advance to the third event, the BMW Championship. And only the top 30 advance to the final event, the Tour Championship.
The winner of the FedEx Cup at the end of the playoffs gets a $10 million reward.
And so there’s a lot at stake all over the leaderboard this week .Those in contention on Sunday will have the chance to claim one of the biggest cash prizes in pro golf. The overall purse for the tournament is $9 million, with $1.62 million going to the winner. The guys near the bottom of the standings are fighting for the chance to advance and secure a career-changing payday. It should be interesting.
The Northern Trust will draw one of the strongest fields the PGA Tour sees all season. The top five players in the world will all be in action: Dustin Johnson (the defending champion at The Northern Trust), Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm. And of the top 30 players in the world, only four will not be playing in Paramus this weekend.
Rory McIlroy took the event off to get his game in order. Rickie Fowler is dealing with an abdominal injury and won’t play. Henrik Stenson withdrew from the tournament on Monday because of an elbow injury and Sergio Garcia finished outside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings, which made him ineligible for the tournament.
Players who withdraw are not replaced. So as of Monday afternoon, only 121 players are set to compete in The Northern Trust. But the field that remains is strong, and don't be surprised to see a big-name leaderboard on the weekend.
After two years on Long Island, the PGA Tour returns to New Jersey for the first time since 2015 when this event was hosted by Plainfield CC in Edison. This will be the fourth PGA Tour event to be hosted at Ridgewood. And the course, an A.W. Tillinghast gem opened in 1929, is a favorite on tour.
Vijay Singh won in 2008, defeating Sergio Garcia in a playoff at 8-under par. Singh, 55, now plays on the senior tour and did not qualify for this event. Matt Kuchar won in 2010, beating Martin Laird in a playoff at 12-under par. Kuchar is 64th in the standings to start the playoffs this year. Hunter Mahan won at 14-under par when the event was played at Ridgewood in 2014. Mahan did not qualify for the event this year.
Players made plenty of birdies at Ridgewood in 2010 and 2014, but expect scoring conditions to be tougher this year. The course has been punished by rain over the last couple of weeks, but it drains well and should play firm by the weekend. But all that rain has made the rough quite thick and tough, which could give the week a major championship feel when it comes to scoring.
So what is it going to take to win.


Trade ministers from 142 countries have agreed a deal to launch an ambitious new trade round at talks in the Gulf Arab state of Doha. BBC News Online explains why it matters for all of us.
Why does the deal matter?
World trade has been the fastest way to boost economic growth over the last 50 years, raising the standard of living of many countries.
Part of the reason has been the steady reduction in trade barriers which make it cheaper to sell goods around the world.
But plans to extend trade liberalisation stalled following demonstrations in Seattle in 1999.
World leaders hope, that with a dramatic slowdown in the world economy underway, made worse by the events of 11 September, starting a new round of trade talks will boost economic confidence.
Not really. The current deal in Doha is about the agenda for a new set of trade talks, which will now begin in January 2002.
But the plan is for an expanded range of issues to be considered by trade ministers, covering such areas as trade and environment, trade and investment, and the traditional areas like trade in manufacturing products and agricultural goods.
Eventually, the deal could mean that there is a big expansion of free trade around the world.
However, some developing countries have won more access to Western markets, especially for textiles, based on previous agreements, which will come into force earlier.
One of the aims of the Doha trade round was to provide more benefits to developing countries.
They have gained the right to bypass patent protection for drugs needed to fight health emergencies, and may gain more access for their agricultural products if talks proceed as planned.
But many developing countries are worried that some of the new items on the trade agenda might be difficult for them to deal with - although in some cases they will have the right to opt out.
Unexpectedly, it is the European Union who appears to have gained most from this trade deal.
That is because it was the EU who wanted to widen the range of topics discussed to include such items as environment (where many Europeans feel strongly) and investment (where European companies may now gain the right of equal treatment in relation to US multinationals when investing in developing countries).
Before the talks began, many people thought this was far too ambitious.
In return, the EU has had to make some concessions on its highly protected agricultural sector.
However, it has limited the damage with a qualifying clause that does not commit it to zero subsidies.
Is it good for the environment?
In the past, moves to protect the environment have been ruled out of order because of trade legislation.
For example, countries trying to stop the import of shrimp caught in a way that damaged turtles could be told this was illegal under WTO rules.
Now the EU has won the right to examine the relationship between trade rules and environmental protection laws.
The EU will also be able to press the case for environmental labelling to tell consumers, for example, that imported timber has been produced under environmentally sound conditions.


Dubbed PhoneSnoop by creator Sheran Gunasekera, the software sits quietly on a targeted BlackBerry and monitors the phone number of each incoming call. When it detects a number set up in the program's preferences section, it silently turns on the speakerphone, allowing an attacker to monitor all conversations within earshot of the device.
Although programs such as FlexiSPY have long claimed to do much the same thing, Gunasekera said he believes PhoneSnoop is the first software to bring those capabilities to the BlackBerry free of charge.
"What I wanted to do was bring some awareness to this problem, so I'm releasing it pretty much for free and trying to show them that this can be done," said Gunasekera, who is director of security for Hermis Consulting in Jakarta, Indonesia. "It's not well known that these threats exist."
Gunasekera said he was inspired to write PhoneSnoop after witnessing an attempt in July by United Arab Emirates mobile operator Etisalat to sneak snooping software onto customers' Blackberry handsets. Subscribers reported receiving an SMS message from the carrier instructing them to install an official patch.
An analysis and reverse engineering of the update made it clear that the update installed a program that had the ability to forward all outgoing emails to a server under Etisalat's control, Gunasekera said. He added that it's not known if the spyware was ever activated. Because the software cloaked itself from users, it may never have been discovered were it not for a bug that drained batteries in as little as 30 minutes.
The carrier denied the software spied on its customers, but even BlackBerry maker Research in Motion warned users of the SMS message and took the unusual step of offering an application that removed the Etisalat software.
Unlike FlexiSPY and the spyware that was installed on Etisalat customers' handsets, PhoneSnoop doesn't try to hide itself. But Gunasekera said it would be trivial for him to modify the program to hide all its processes and icons from casual users. He plans to release a free utility in a week or two that will make it easy for users to list all software and processes running on their BlackBerries.
PhoneSnoop complements a previous program Gunasekera released at this month's Hack in the Box security conference that silently forwards emails to an attacker. Eventually, he plans to release companion software that will forward all SMS messages and monitor a user's location using the BlackBerry's built-in GPS features.
Unlike Apple's iPhone and other smartphones, the BlackBerry hasn't suffered from known vulnerabilities over the past couple of years that would allow an attacker to remotely install snooping software onto the device. That means attackers need physical access to the device they want to bug or somehow trick its user into installing it.
"Security has always been, and continues to be, a core part of the BlackBerry solution. BlackBerry is widely recognized for the high level of security built into BlackBerry smartphones and, as this article points outs, this type of software relies on tricking an unsuspecting user into downloading, installing and running a malicious application."
Users should download apps only from trusted sources, he added.


This tuition bill is really outrageous! Especially given my GPA.
Families and taxpayers can’t just keep paying more and more and more into an undisciplined system where costs just keep on going up and up and up. We’ll never have enough loan money, we’ll never have enough grant money to keep up with costs that are going up five, six, seven percent a year. We’ve got to get more out of what we pay for.
Obama pledged to unveil most of the details in a subsequent speech. Some elements will probably involve executive action, including encouraging colleges to take steps on their own. (Obama promised to “call college presidents.”) The ultimate solution is probably going to require some kind of legislation, and David Wessel previews some good ideas along these lines.
But this agenda is also likely to create even deeper fissures within the Democratic agenda than cost control did. After all, there isn’t a much more loyal Democratic constituency than people who work in higher education.
Jonathan Rees’s polemic in Slate against MOOCs today is an important preview of the coming fight within the Democratic base. MOOC stands for “massive open online course,” which is a super-cheap way to provide college instruction. It’s one of the tools Obama referenced as a solution to the tuition crisis. The concept is extremely new, and the trick is to develop it in such a way that you can weed out cheating, and ensure that students really learn. If you can do that, then prestigious universities can start providing degrees for their online courses, and you would have a powerful, extremely affordable new path for cash-strapped kids to obtain the benefits of a college degree.
But, uh – are we sure the only way to teach people what to do with facts is face-to-face? This seems like something that could at least conceivably be taught to more than one person at once. I can remember lots of professors teaching me what to do with facts via lectures in extremely large auditoriums, which is not that different than a lecture you watch online. Nobody claims that the technical barrier has been solved, but it’s amazing that Rees is already declaring it unsolvable.
That is sad. College professors are good people, and nobody wants to hurt them. At the same time, designing a higher education system around maintaining living standards for college professors is an insane idea. The goal of the system ought to be making higher education effective and affordable for students. Rees waxes poetic about the joys of in-person liberal education, and I greatly enjoyed my classic college experience, with the gorgeous campus green and intramural basketball and watching campus protestors say interestingly crazy stuff at rallies. But insisting that’s the only way a student ought to be able to get a degree, in an economy where a college degree is necessary for a middle-class life, is to doom the children of non-affluent families to crushing college debt, or to lock them out of upward mobility altogether.
Rees urges his fellow academics: “It’s time for us non-superprofessors to forcefully explain to our newly famous colleagues how their MOOCs are already adversely affecting the terms and conditions of our employment.” Forcefully! Perhaps some of the students who can’t afford to get a college degree should forcefully explain their plight to him.


If Adam Stockhausen does the job well, you won’t notice — and he’ll have made Steven Spielberg, Wes Anderson, Steve McQueen, and Noah Baumbach happy. The production designer’s CV is among the most enviable and, per the Academy, acclaimed in contemporary film, but this year is an especially notable month, seeing as it does the release of Anderson’s Isle of Dogs and Spielberg’s Ready Player One. Having seen one and seen material from the other, surely there’d be a lot to ask… except for the fact that this interview was conducted at Camerimage in November, months before either even screened. But more than a good overview of how those directors do what they do so well, the following details his alternately painstaking, exhausting, and, sometimes, invisible contributions to the art.
The Film Stage: Do you have a “production design” eye for everywhere?
Adam Stockhausen: You’re kind of looking. It’s either in terms of how the place is either really interesting or, in this case, not so interesting. You’re always looking around; but then also just details. You see bits and pieces of amazing things.
I wonder if people are self-conscious about having you over.
I hope not! But it’s not even really that. It’s more… well, sometimes it is that a little. [Laughs] But also, last night, I was looking around, and [Pulls out phone] there was the most amazing stairwell.
It was just right here! It’s, like, next to us. There’s stuff everywhere. It’s amazing.
I’m usually only in Europe for this festival, but, each time, I think about how people who live here are probably sick of the day-in, day-out. I say, “Oh, this building is so cool” — even if it’s just a building.
It’s cool, isn’t it? My favorite: have you seen the building with the big typeface on it? It’s on the river, and it’s so cool. It has this gigantic, 30-foot-tall… it’s so beautiful! But it’s fun. The gold duck that’s on the building across the street from us? It’s so great!
You just showed me pictures for both things you referenced. Do you take photos of every building you like?
Does it often work into your job?
Often. Always. Always. I mean, it does in an incredibly literal way with Wes. We’ll go around, we’ll go scouting, and we’ll find amazing stuff, and I’ll go back and get it, bring it, and put it on the set — the actual thing. For Moonrise Kingdom, we scouted this amazing house in the Narragansett Bay called “Clingstone.” It was built upon a rock and had the most incredible details; there was this ping-pong paddle with these paddles that were all faded from the sun, and we got a ping-pong table and paddles and put them in the movie. Those kind of details are so exciting, and it’s nice to go grab them and use them. But also in a more broad way of just getting inspired by your general surroundings and letting it bleed in and inform the stories — and become the primary inspiration for a lot of them, the visual design.
Do you find yourself still doing work on Widows and Isle of Dogs, even thought they’re in post-production?
Widows is in edit right now, so it’s pretty quiet from my end — they don’t really need very much. There will probably be a little bit of additional photography, would be my guess, and I’ll get back involved for that. Isle of Dogs has ongoing questions and small stuff as it finishes up, but that, too, is getting done.
Talking to Robert Yeoman last year, I was told they were already well into shooting. I feel a little sheepish saying this to the person who does it, but I sometimes get stressed-out just thinking about the process of a stop-motion film. It sounds exhausting in a way I can’t compute.
I do, too. But it’s important to know that I wasn’t really there for the actual animation process because I was with Wes at the very beginning of the film, looking at images and sketching through various, different sets for the film. Then Paul Harrod came on and was designing through the animation process; then I went off, because I was getting ready to do Ready Player One with Steven. So I feel the same way you do: it totally stresses me out. [Laughs] But it’s an incredibly complicated machine. It’s amazing and impressive, and every time I would go and visit the set, it’s kind of overwhelming what they’re doing. It really blows you away. I just found it inspiring. I found it really inspiring to watch what they were doing and see the different states of animation on 30 different sets all at the same time. It was really unbelievable.
Do you know how many seconds per day they tend to get?
What was looked at for Isle of Dogs?
Kurosawa, like High and Low. We looked at loads of Japanese films. Just the whole catalogue, really.
How often are you on set for a live-action feature?
Every day. My typical day on a shooting day would be that I would open the set in the morning — so I’ll be there before call in the morning. “Open the set” is kind of just a term for being there when the shooting crew arrives. Because every set that you go to, I’ve been there with my people for days or weeks or whatever ahead of time getting it ready, but then the actual day, when filming occurs, I’m there for that as well. Then, once they’re up and running, I’ll stay there through at least the first couple of shots, and then I walk away, and go off and visit the set that’s shooting the next day. Then I will probably swing by the art department or construction shot or both, and check on things that are coming multiple days out. I’ll go visit another location that shoots in three days or a week or whatever — in a much earlier stage of its process — and ask questions there. Meet with the painters at that location; go back to the location for the next day’s shooting, meet my set decorator who’s there, finishing that up. Work on all those things, get it ready.
Hopefully the thing that’s shooting the next day is actually done, and I’m visiting the thing that shoots the day after that — with the goal being to take photographs of it early enough in the day. Then I get back to the original set where we’re shooting and I stand around and annoy everybody. In-between shots, I’m like, “Hey, can you look at my computer? I’d like to show you photographs for tomorrow and the next day and the next day.” I say “annoy” because it actually does annoy them sometimes, when they’re trying to focus on one thing and I’m there literally annoying them, but it’s actually great because, if you can manage to do that, then everyone’s on the same page.
Yes. Literally. We’re working on Bridge of Spies in New York, and we shot 30-something days before we came to Berlin. It just moved so quickly. The amount we shot at that speed was really head-spinning. So you take what I was describing about what my day was like to get ready for the next day. That’s one thing, when you’re just in this bizarre-looking room today, another tomorrow, and one at a time, slowly and methodically. Bridge of Spies: we did a day where we were shooting at a park in Astoria, where he’s painting the bridge and cars are going by.
Then we moved to do the hotel, where he gets arrested, and the cars pull up to the hotel; that was deeper into Astoria. Then we moved from there to Dumbo, where we did a shot of Abel coming out and walking down the street — all in one day. That was a lot of scenery in one day. Trying to stay in front of that is like a steamroller coming in: as fast as you possibly can. It’s intense. At that point, I’m doing all the same things I described — it’s just running.
What do you think it is? He has a number of collaborators (e.g. Janusz Kamiński) with whom there’s a shorthand. Maybe it’s actors rehearsing, not doing a lot of takes.
I think it’s all of the above. But it’s also incredible decisiveness about, “This is the shot. We’re going to do it from here. It’s going to be like that, that, and that. We’re going to do this and probably need this to turn around, but we’re not going to need these four other things. These are the shots. Go.” Janusz goes and everyone goes, and, of course, there’s an incredible team of people who are just totally at the top of their game. They all click in and boom — it all happens, and it all happens very quickly. In all respects. From the decision-making of what the shots are to the execution, it’s all seamless and it’s all fast.
Can you confirm if Isle of Dogs’ title is a pun?
You’ll have to talk to Wes about that. As in… similar to the actual island?
“Dogs.” Oh. You should call Mr. Anderson.
Maybe he has Google Alerts that will direct him here. I’d like to hear about the difference in creating objects for animation. It’s not just size.
It’s funny, because I’ve been working on Isle of Dogs, which is animated and stop-motion, and Ready Player One, which is computer-animated — but also an animated film — and you could answer the question the same way for both, which is: you can’t, unfortunately, just grab real objects and use them. I can’t say, “I love that fire extinguisher; let’s put it in the movie.” You can say, “Do you like that fire extinguisher or one of these 20 others?” You say, “We know we need one. Let’s look at the history of fire extinguishers. Let’s pick some really interesting ones and find one we like.” The difference is: you can’t just go grab it; you have to make it. So either you’re making a tiny little version of it, by hand, painstakingly; or, just as painstakingly, making a 3D digital file of it and custom doing it. So we did that on Ready Player One. The objects are very “designed,” but executed in a fundamentally different way.
How proficient are you with 3D animated design? When did you get into that realm?
So it’s not like there’s a huge standard practice space for any of this stuff, and I think I got comfortable with it right along with everybody else. But then I should say, in terms of the actual process, these people — and I mean the illustrators working for me, and animators at ILM, and environment artists at ILM — are incredible, and the technical stuff they can do on the computer just so, so does circles around everything that I can do. They’re really amazing artists.
When you’re looking at visual effects in both nascent and completed forms, are you observing on a theater-sized screen? You often hear technicians express a preference for that. Is that the case for you?
And try to keep in mind those differences next time I’m looking at the smaller screen so that I’m not fooling myself or not responding to phantoms that aren’t really there, or make them into a list of notes like, “Huh. Not sure. Will have to check those details next time I’m on the big screen.” But you’re always kind of crouching around, because life isn’t perfect where you walk into a screening room every day and there’s a magnificent… so you’re always trying to leap around, look at it from multiple sides, and be aware of what you’re missing.
This relates to the fire extinguisher: a pet peeve I have is seeing a film set in a certain year, and every period-specific thing looks like it was brought the previous day.
Like things look brand-new and sparkly? Yeah. It’s tough.
Do you have particular pet peeves?
No, I mean… I do and I don’t. Yes, there’s stuff I see, and yes, I can’t stand when there’s the brand-new cookware that’s clearly never been used. Sure, it drives me crazy. But I will say that my experience watching films… if there’s 1% of that, for me there’s 99% of being kind of overwhelmed with the amazing work that other people are doing.
You probably pick up on things others just won’t.
Yeah. And it’s amazing. I see good work and just get completely energized by it. Overwhelmingly, that’s my experience. So, no, I’m pretty easygoing.
What are some things about the processes of Anderson and Spielberg you might only know from intimately working with them? How they behave, operate on a set.
I don’t know what’s known and what’s unknown. We were talking, just now, on the process of making Bridge of Spies, and how fast Steven talks about. I know it’s talked about, but I don’t know how widely it’s talked about, working with Wes and the careful arrangement of these frames — just the process of looking at it in a storyboard sense, then finding it in a more-developed sketch, and an even more-developed sketch, then mocking it up and seeing it, and being there with Bob Yeoman — putting an actual lens on it, seeing if it works, move it again.
Oh, one really particular story: there’s this sequence in Moonrise Kingdom where we are introduced to the Bishop house for the first time, and it’s a series of these tracking shots dollying through the first floor of the house, then the second floor of the house, then a whip-pan to look at Suzy. That whole sequence, even though there was a set for each one of those pieces, was a whole set. Pulling back was a set. Pulling up was a set. Going left-right was a set; going right-left was a set. And it was really an amazing process of, first, a million sketches and a million ground plans with a little camera, a line, and a turn, and building it up into sketches, and really rough animatic, and then when you start building it and it’s all really rough — unpainted, raw plywood walls where we’re laying out the footprint of what we’ve talked about in the sketches and lining it up.
Then you do the same thing, and now you get out a real lens and you can kind of slide along and see if it’s working. And we made a lot of changes because an actual lens just behaves a lot differently than the little lens tool in whatever program you’re using to handle it; it’s just different. Those in particular, we said, “Nope, can’t see the ceilings; they’re too high.” So we chop it all down, and slide the ceilings down before we paint it and finish it and get too far down the road to make a change like that. That process was sort of curated, and each of those frames was really fun and enjoyable — an amazing thing, before you get to the final shot that everybody sees in the movie.
As a big fan, I find it frustrating when people say one movie is just like the last. You can tell there’s a lot of thought.
Some people are saying that because he has a visual style, that represents a lack of effort? Really?
Because it’s recognizable, that means it’s not distinct.
Isle of Dogs is now in limited release and Ready Player One opens tonight.


A leading contender for the vacant United Nations Ambassador role made a not so subtle pitch for the job in a Fox News interview on Wednesday.
John James, a former Michigan Republican Senate candidate, said "of course" he wants to be the next US ambassador to the UN, during the interview. The Iraq War veteran emphasized his military experience and business background and called it an "honor" to be considered for the position.
But he's not the only figure in the running as President Donald Trump considers candidates to replace Nikki Haley after his initial pick, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, withdrew her candidacy on Saturday.
Earlier this week, CNN reported that Trump has mentioned James as a leading contender for role, according to a source close to the White House. US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, US Ambassador to France Jamie McCourt, US Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft and former National Security Council official Dina Powell are also being considered.
While James made his interest known on Trump's favorite TV station, Grenell will be stopping in Washington for unplanned meetings at the White House later this week.
Grenell, who is not Trump's top choice for the job according source familiar with the process, is seen as one of the few US ambassadors who has a direct line to the White House and has close ties to national security adviser John Bolton.
The administration's plan to downgrade the position from the Cabinet level post Haley held has made it less attractive to Grenell, according to sources familiar with his thinking.
Earlier this week Grenell hosted about a dozen leaders from the LGBT community in Europe at his residence in Berlin, according to a State Department spokesperson and those familiar with the meeting. Grenell, who is openly gay, is coordinating with US embassies in the region to press countries to decriminalize homosexuality.
However, State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino seemed to downplay Grenell's initiative on Tuesday.
"This really is not a big policy departure," Palladino said. "This is longstanding and it is bipartisan."
While James and Grenell are in the limelight this week -- with James on Fox News and Grenell heading to Washington -- Powell has not publicly indicated that she is interested in the job.
Before Nauert was picked by Trump, Powell was initially considered a top choice. She took herself out of consideration when she decided to stay at Goldman Sachs and spend time with her family. It does not appear that anything has changed that would make her want the job now that it is open again.
McCourt has stayed quiet and carried on with her duties in France. But she has made it clear on social media, that she is hard at work. On Wednesday she tweeted a photo of her with President Emmanuel Macron and his wife. She wrote that she was "delighted" to be a member of the G7 Advisory Council for Gender Equality.
Craft is well-liked by the White House, with some insiders saying she is a top pick for the job. In Ottawa, she sought to help maintain relations between the US and Canada during the NAFTA renegotiations. She also has some experience at the UN as she was an alternate delegate to the body during President George W. Bush's administration.


Huge military display for N Korea anniversary Jump to media player North Korea is holding huge celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.
North Korea celebrates ruling party Jump to media player North Korea is preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.
Inside North Korea's underground system Jump to media player BBC correspondent Stephen Evans is allowed rare access to North Korea's underground system in the capital Pyongyang.
Inside the reclusive North Korea Jump to media player A BBC team has been granted rare access inside the reclusive state of North Korea.
A huge military display is under way in North Korea, to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.
The parade in the vast main square of the capital Pyongyang involves thousands of soldiers, tanks and missiles.
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has addressed the crowd with a message of unity and defiance.


The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am usually isn’t a haven for equipment changing, but Phil Mickelson, Tommy Fleetwood and others made significant changes for the week. Though most were likely focused on the celebrities or the beautiful views of the Monterey Peninsula, we focused on the equipment scene. Here’s what we found.
Phil Mickelson earned his fifth AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am title as play concluded Monday, adding to his impressive resume on Monterey Peninsula, where he also has two seconds and two thirds in 22 prior starts. As familiar as he is at Pebble Beach, with his grandfather being one of the original caddies at the legendary links, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that he went back to a familiar driver for this week, using the low-spinning Callaway Rogue Sub Zero he used most of last season. Lefty also added a new 3-wood for the week, putting Callaway’s new Epic Flash in play. During an opening-round 65 Mickelson hit 13 of 13 fairways off the tee, the first time since 1998 he hit every fairway during a round in a PGA Tour event, according to Shotlink. Also impressive is Phil's driving distance for the year—currently ranking fifth on tour at 316 yards. All particularly impressive stats considering Mickelson is now 48 years old.
Lucas Glover signed a one-year endorsement deal in January with Argolf to play its Arthur blade putter. At the time, it might have seemed an opportunity for Glover to pocket a little cash after finishing outside the top 100 in earnings in six of the past seven seasons. However, armed with his Argolf putter all of this season (even before the endorsement deal was official), Glover has played well in 2018-'19, playing his first 20 rounds in even par or better and posting five top-25 finishes, including a top-10 prior to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am where he finished T-7. The Arthur is a blade-style, plumbers-neck putter with a half-shaft offset and designed to work for those with a slight arc in their stroke.
Tommy Fleetwood ended his time with his Nike VR Pro blade irons in Abu Dhabi, using TaylorMade’s P7 TW irons, but that’s not the only TaylorMade clubs in his bag. Fleetwood also is using the company’s M6 driver and GAPR Mid utility club. The GAPR Mid blends a driving iron and traditional hybrid with a neutral-weighted head bias, iron-like profile and medium-wide sole making it useful both off the tee and off the ground.
Srixon has touted its new line of irons and utility irons as being easy to use in a mixed set. Shane Lowry apparently took heed of that. At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Lowry had a set that was right out of central casting for the company, using a Z U85 utility 3-iron, 4- and 5-irons in the cavity-back Z 585 model and the rest of his irons the more blade-like Z 785 for the rest of his set.


Yahoo took a big step toward making its mobile experience better by acquiring location discovery app Alike today.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has indicated that she would focus more efforts on mobile and wouldn’t hesitate to acquire companies to help with that aim. Yahoo acquired Snip.it in January and acquired the team behind video platform OnTheAir in December. Yahoo has also boosted its mail apps on mobile with new iPhone, Android, and Windows 8 apps.
Alike offered consumers ways to find nearby places that your friends also like and that you might like based on your interests. It will shut down its iPhone and web applications and join Yahoo’s mobile team.
At Alike, we’ve spent the last couple of years working hard to build amazing mobile experiences to delight our customers, which is why we’re thrilled to announce some big news: we’re joining Yahoo! Mobile. We’ve always been passionate about the growing power of intelligent mobile experiences. We believe that distilled information, deeply personalized and made accessible anytime and anywhere, is what makes mobile experiences a part of our customers’ daily lives. In Yahoo! we’ve found a team as excited about this vision as we are, and who are serious about making it real. We’re super excited to join Yahoo!’s mobile team, where we can march toward that vision faster than ever. As of today, we will no longer support the Alike Nearby iPhone and Web apps. Thank you to all our customers, partners, investors, and advisors who’ve supported us from day one! We’ve taken a big step on our journey, and we could not have done it without your support.


Waterford boss Davy Fitzgerald is a hero once again after his team’s big All-Ireland quarterfinal 2-23 to 2-13 win over Galway on Sunday, just two weeks after he received hate calls in the wake of the heavy Munster final loss to Tipperary.
Fitzgerald was emotional after his team’s demolition job on Galway put that Tipp memory to rest.
Fitzgerald said, “It has been a difficult two weeks. There were a lot of things said and I suppose we deserved some of them.
“We had two weeks to make up for it and get back. We worked very hard and we didn’t do ourselves justice in the Munster final.
“All of them mysterious calls in the middle of the night I enjoy them, keep them coming! I’m not going into it, they are not worth even talking to. They can keep ringing, that’s all I’ll say to you.
“There are people close to me who doubted me and gave me stick. I never doubt myself and the most important thing is that I never doubted the lads.
“I think today we went out and showed what we were really about. I’m just delighted for the boys. It is nothing to do with me. It is the boys that went out on the field that played with heart and courage. Hats off to them.
Kilkenny are next for the Waterford men, and Fitzgerald is relishing the prospect of a semi-final crack at the Cats.
He added, “Galway are not a bad team. I think they were odds-on favorites today and the question is now is what are we going to do after this?
“Are we going to clap ourselves on the back or are we going to coming out again fighting again in the next game, playing one of the best teams that have been out there in hurling?
“I think it is very unfair, a lot of the stuff that has been said. In the last four years only two teams have beaten us. It is funny the two of them have won All-Irelands the whole time.
Waterford forward John Mullane revealed that his team went back to basics for the Galway match.
“This time two weeks ago we were frightened to even come outside the house, but today there’s a better feeling. There’s a better feeling all around the county and we’ve restored some pride,” he said.
“After the Tipperary defeat, we threw a few things out on the table and ironed out a few things and decided we were going to push forward in a positive way.
“We learned an awful lot and we went back to the old style Waterford way and just played off the cuff. Tactics went out the window and every fella just went out and won their own individual battle.
We won in probably nearly every area of the field.
“There was an awful lot of tension in the Munster final and a lot of players got caught up in the tactics and weren’t concentrating on hitting the ball.
“Hurling’s a simple game and we just went out and hurled the ball. We created 43 scoring chances and took 25 of them and that’s what we’re capable of if we are allowed to hurl.
Waterford are underdogs against Kilkenny and that suits Mullane fine.


This white paper features insight from about the issues facing companies that need an adaptable financial system but not necessarily a full-blown enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.
"Managing your company's financials is the backbone of your business and is vital to the long-term health and viability of your company. To continue applying the necessary financial rigor to support rapid growth, you need the right tools to most efficiently achieve this. Read this white paper to understand the 10 essentials of a complete financial management system and how the right solution can help you keep up with the rapidly changing business world.
Technology plays an integral role in enabling businesses to have access to insightful analytics. By providing metrics on core workforce facts, workforce financials, productivity and performance, talent development and succession and human capital risk, companies are able to identify those 10- 15 metrics most important to business goals. This will enable them to present the Board of Directors with a comprehensive and concise story of workforce capabilities. The best place, we suggest, is with expert, practical guidance. Download this informative resource.
SAP HANA Accelerated Finance and Controlling Rapid-Deployment solution: Financials are the lifeline of your organization. It’s essential to have real-time access to the data to make accurate decisions. Download this white paper to learn more!
Every night for several years, the five Latin America offices of Michigan-based medical technology products manufacturer Stryker Corporation were forced to burn the midnight oil to turn their daily financials into a single consolidated report. Each office has its own independent ERP system, so the process required three hours to compile the data for each territory plus another 90 minutes for a financial analyst at division headquarters to merge the five spreadsheets into one document.
Despite slower initial adoption, more finance leaders are now turning to public cloud SaaS for their applications. This joint video between Gartner Research and Workday explores why the financials market is shifting and what advantages await finance leaders in the cloud.
Priority Health recently implemented two HP P9500 Disk Arrays to handle its Oracle database, financials, and other critical data totaling around 200 TB.
"This Frost & Sullivan report sparks IT infrastructure economics conversation and fosters expert decisions with the following insights: 6 myths about IT financials debunked 3 basic tenets of IT the CFO needs to understand 2 tables assessing IT options from a TCO and business goals perspective"


Will Aitken is a Montreal-based novelist, journalist and film critic.
Will Aitken is an American-Canadian novelist, journalist and film critic. His nonfiction work, Antigone Undone, is based on his travels to Luxembourg for the final rehearsals and world premiere of Antigone. The memoir is a behind the scenes look at the production combined interwoven with interviews of the principals involved in production.


Is your Facebook NewsFeed cluttered with outraged links to disgusting websites peddling sexist, racist nonsense? Time for a little spring cleaning, ladies!
The blog TL;DR points out that Facebook now allows you to block a big chunk of content from websites that consistently drive you up the wall. (It's not a brand new feature, but it hasn't been very well publicized, either.) The next time you see something from the objectionable site, just click on the upper right-hand corner, select "Hide all from X." Your nemesis is now out of your NewsFeed—kinda. I tested this out with the omnipresent BuzzFeed, and at least one headline still slipped through—it might be that it's simply blocking content shared through the site's Facebook page. Still, it made a big, big dent.
TL;DR offers the example of Upworthy, whose O M G headlines are the bane of many journalists' existence. However, the ideal use case for Jezebel's readers is likely Return of Kings, a steaming cow patty that deserves to be ignored until it disappears into the earth.
"But, but, echo chamber!" you say. Whatever. You've got your blood pressure to think about. Sure, keep Fox News and the National Review and, hell, The Blaze, but do yourself a favor and just block the outright bottom-feeding trolls. Give yourself the gift of a Facebook NewsFeed that's mostly stories about cute animals.


BRITAIN’s financial watchdog is looking into whether cancer patients get a fair deal when it comes to travel insurance.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is asking firms for feedback to better understand the difficulties faced by consumers who have, or have had, cancer when trying to find appropriate insurance.
The watchdog is also looking at the reasons for pricing difference in the premiums quoted by insurers.
The move is part of a wider focus by the FCA on the challenges people can face when trying to find insurance that meets their needs.
Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said the charity hears from people having trouble accessing travel insurance on an every day basis.
"They may have been quoted sky-high prices, had their cancer excluded from cover or had to deal with endless phone calls or mountains of paperwork in order to apply for a policy," she said.
"We want insurers to give clearer explanations about how quotes have been calculated. Travel insurance policies should be clear and fairly priced for everyone, including people with cancer,” she added.
Christopher Woolard, from the FCA, said being able to access financial services is critical for people to fully participate in society.
“Given our previous findings in this area, we see this as a critical time to fully explore these issues and consider potential solution,” he added.
Nel Mooy, head of travel, AXA UK, said it is "incredibly important" for holidaymakers who have medical conditions to buy travel insurance before they book their trip.
She said: "Cover for those with medical conditions can cost more but, for less than a tenth of the average cost of a holiday, the vast majority of British holidaymakers can take out a travel insurance policy.
"Most insurers cover a range of medical conditions and there is a healthy market of specialist providers, who focus on covering cancer and heart conditions.
"Even if you’ve had a condition in the past but are no longer having symptoms, you need to tell your insurer about it to make sure you are covered for all eventualities."
The FCA consultation will close in September. The regulator plans to publish its findings and set out its next steps by the end of 2017.
WE asked experts from insurance comparison website Medical Travel Compared and specialist travel insurance provider Insurancewith.com for their advice.
Buying the right policy from specialist: Most insurers cover a range of medical condition but a range of health market specialist providers might be better able to help, advise and offer the best quotes.
Get help from the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA): the UK's leading general insurance intermediary organisation can direct consumers to an insurance broker via the Find a broker service.
Use a comparison tool: Medical Travel Compare offers a comparison tool that will enable customers to compare travel insurance companies that cover medical conditions as part of their policies and get the best price.
Do not travel with excluded conditions on your policy without understanding their meaning: Many insurers will consider ‘proximate cause’ and you may find your ‘excluded condition’ become linked to what you considered to be a new event.
Obtain cover before booking your trip: As if you struggle to obtain insurance then you may find yourself with a cancellation charge for a holiday which you will be unable to recover.
Annual VS Single Trip: If you only travel once or twice a year, then single trip cover is likely to work out cheaper than an annual.
Choose your destination wisely: When you have pre-existing medical conditions, where you travel can make a real difference to the travel insurance premium. It can even be the difference to whether you’re offered a quote or declined cover.
Check your home insurance: Many people are not aware that they are covered on their home and contents insurance for personal belongings when they travel. If your home insurance does cover you in this way, then you could save money by excluding ‘personal belongings’ cover on your travel insurance policy.
Get a European health insurance card: The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is not a substitute for travel insurance, however, it can still save you money when making a medical expenses claim on your policy.


The White House named Chesky as a presidential ambassador for global entrepreneurship on Monday. Obama is scheduled to lead a Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi in July.
Chesky said he has “no immediate plans” to take his company public.


The U.S. derivatives regulator published a long-awaited discussion paper on computerized trading, a first step to what could become new rules for a sector often blamed for market disruptions.
Seeking public comment on more than 100 topics, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is working closely with the industry as it looks to adapt its rule-book to new technologies such as ultra-fast trading.
"Traditional risk controls and safeguards that relied on human judgment and speeds must be reevaluated in light of new market structures," the agency said on Monday.
A raft of glitches have plagued financial markets in the past few weeks, most notably when thousands of stocks listed on Nasdaq OMX Group's were paralyzed for three hours last month because of a technological problem.
The CFTC's Technology Advisory Committee, which groups together regulators and industry participants, will discuss the report at a meeting on September 12.
High-frequency trading uses so-called algorithmic software that can post orders in fractions of a second without human intervention, and is a favored tool of hedge funds and other institutional traders.
The practice accounted for more than 60 percent of the entire volume of futures trading in 2012 on U.S. exchanges such as CME Group and IntercontinentalExchange, according to industry research group The Tabb Group.


The Cavern Grotto is a newly opened restaurant located more than 200 feet underground in the Grand Canyon. As many as 16 diners can sit down at four tables on a dining platform that overlooks a 345-million-year-old cavern system for an all-you-can-eat lunch or dinner. Meals have time limits (90 minutes for lunch, two hours for dinner) to prevent groups from lingering too long in the fascinating setting.
The restaurant is connected to the Grand Canyon Caverns on historic Route 66, which operates tours of the cavern system via an elevator that travels 21 stories from the inn to the underground attractions. But don't worry. The dining platform isn't on the tour, so fanny pack-wearing tourists won't be snapping pics of you while you dine. A tour is included with your meal.


A Hampton Bays woman was arrested for allegedly driving while high on drugs, drifting into oncoming traffic and causing a crash that killed her 80-year-old father on Thursday, Southampton Town police said.
Claudette Sephens, 53, was driving a Nissan Quest minivan eastbound on Flanders Road when she drifted into the opposite lane of traffic and crashed head-on into a westbound Honda near Long Neck Boulevard in Flanders at 4:52 p.m., police said.
Stephens and her 16-year-old son were taken to Peconic Bay Medical center for treatment of their injuries. Her father, John Loetscher, of Hampton Bays, who was in the seated in the rear of the Nissan, was pronounced dead several hours later.
The other driver, a 33-year-old Riverhead woman, was taken to the same hospital, where she is listed in stable condition.
Stephens was charged her with driving while ability impaired by drugs and endangering the welfare of a child.
Southampton Town Detectives are continuing the investigation and ask anyone who may have witnesses the crash to call them at 631-702-2230.


The Irish squad for the November Test window will be unveiled on Wednesday and Simon Zebo would not be human if he didn’t feel a twinge of sadness when his name is not included. But he also knew the fairly inevitable consequences of his move to Racing 92, and Saturday’s 44-12 win over Ulster also demonstrated the flipside of the coin.
Watching him dovetail ‘live’ with his kindred spirits, especially Finn Russell, made you appreciate that if Zebo could have handpicked an alternative home for the way he likes to play rugby, it would probably have been Racing 92. At the Arena where it never rains, they are given full rein to put on a show where the premium is very much on entertainment, however it is dressed up or blasted out in a venue without natural grass, light or – pretty much – noise.
He, his partner Elvira, and children Jacob and Sofia are happy out with their new life, and so is he with his nouveau rugby experience.
Nor is it just the rugby Zebo is enjoying in the French capital he knows from his youth and where his father grew up.
“Food has never been my strong point in terms of discipline but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am the way I am, and I’m not going to change. I’m feeling good, I’m feeling fresh, my mind is fresh more so than anything, which means I have a little bit extra drive.
The Top 14 is on a par with Europe, while the memory of last season’s final is “definitely at the back of the players’ minds, especially when they probably shot themselves in the foot, if you look back on it. It is a final that got away from them”.
That Zebo stayed on the pitch against Ulster despite strapping to an injured left knee that had been causing him pain from the first half demonstrated how much playing against an Irish province (other than Munster) meant to him.
This additional motivation may have explained why he uncharacteristically pointed a finger at Michael Lowry before grounding the ball.
This game also showcased Zebo’s big left boot, and there were a couple of breaks, while he never lost the ball in contact, and the try was his seventh in seven games. It’s play what you see, and he says this is easy in tandem with Russell, labelled the X facteur to his Z facteur.
“There’s no shackles, there’s no fear, we’re able to do things. Just one call or one whisper on the pitch and it happens.
He’s found his home from home.


JURGEN KLOPP will turn to German youngster Max Meyer if top target Lorenzo Insigne turns Liverpool down.
The Reds are looking for potential Philippe Coutinho replacements amid fears they could lose their battle to keep the player.
Coutinho wants out of Anfield and Barcelona could launch a third bid after seeing two offers turned down.
Insigne is said to be Liverpool’s No.1 choice to come in for the Brazilian.
He scored 20 goals for Serie A giants Napoli last term and Klopp is a big fan of the midfielder.
But he’ll turn to Meyer if the Italian doesn’t fancy a switch.
The 21-year-old has just a year left on his contract at Schalke and The People say he’s turned down a new offer.
And they add he’s open to moving to Liverpool and taking up the opportunity to work with Klopp.
Bayern Munich are also keen on Meyer.
Tottenham have also been tracking the youngster, who helped Germany win the Under-21 European Championships last summer.


Thank you, Chairman Dunford, for that tribute to the President and the First Lady’s commitment to our troops and their families.
Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Department of Defense leadership, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – welcome, as the Department honors our Commander-in-Chief of eight critical years one last time. This afternoon, I’d like to do so by speaking of those aspects of his service and commitment to our national defense that have been so striking and that will be so memorable, each one a constant throughout his tenure as our President: his focused strategic leadership around the world; his steps to strengthen our force, both in its people as well as its capabilities; and his decision-making.
Through it all, President Obama has led our military with an appreciation that America’s defense is so vital that we, to whom it is entrusted, must ensure its continuity and excellence across the years and across the domains of armed conflict – not just air, land, and sea, but also space, and cyberspace – across parties, across government agencies, from strategic era to strategic era, and from presidential administration to presidential administration. And he’s done so not only for the last eight years; even today, as we prepare for a new administration, we’re following the President’s leadership and ensuring a smooth and orderly transition.
Our military is a global force, one that President Obama has steadfastly and strategically led in every region of the world to ensure the men and women of the strongest and most principled fighting force in history effectively defend our country, deter our adversaries, bolster our alliances and partnerships, and make a better world for our children.
In the Asia-Pacific, President Obama has sustained a comprehensive rebalance of military power to that region, the single most consequential for America’s future. There, we’re repositioning 60 percent of our naval forces and overseas air assets, including some of our most advanced new systems. And we’re strengthening and modernizing key alliances and partnerships – with Japan, with South Korea, India, Vietnam, Australia, and many others.
In Europe, following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and use of hybrid warfare techniques, President Obama has stood strong with our NATO allies and led a united response to deter Russian aggression, enhancing U.S. force presence and implementing a new playbook so NATO can adapt against 21st century threats.
In the Middle East, President Obama secured an accord that’s verifiably preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon – removing a key source of danger in the region. But as we continue to counter Iran’s other destabilizing activities, he’s also strengthened defense relationships with all our key regional partners – for example, providing our ally Israel unprecedented security assistance and advanced capabilities across domains.
And around the world, in the face of terrorist threats from al-Qaeda to al-Shabab to ISIL, President Obama has led the most robust and sustained counter-terrorism fight in American history.
At the same time, President Obama made sure our military stayed strong and grew stronger – in our people, and our capabilities – to meet those ambitious but necessary commitments.
Indeed, our President knows very well that the single factor above all others that makes the U.S. military the finest is its people – some represented here today, far more around the world.
President Obama has been dedicated to improving the quality of life of our force, making sure our servicemembers get what they need – not only when it comes to training and equipment, but also important benefits critical to recruitment and retention, like maternity and paternity leave.
He’s helped keep sacred commitments to wounded warriors, to families of the fallen, to military families, and to veterans.
He’s helped keep sacred the commitment to wounded warriors, the commitment to the memories of the fallen, to military families, and to veterans.
He’s made sure our people are treated with the dignity and honor befitting the profession of arms – from supporting DoD’s efforts to rid our ranks of sexual assault, to improving our suicide prevention efforts.
He’s helped ensure the long-term viability of what is, after all, an all-volunteer force recruited in comparatively small numbers from the entire American population, recognizing we have to compete for top talent, and that to have the best we must select the best based solely on their qualifications to meet our high standards – not race, gender, identity, or sexual orientation – rather, focusing only on whether someone can meet our standards.
And he’s also supported veterans in their transition to whatever’s next for them in life – whether it’s earning a degree, finding a job, or starting a business. I know how much that matters, because I’m old enough to remember a shameful time when veterans were treated very differently.
After our people, it’s America’s capabilities that make our military edge second-to-none – and President Obama has sharpened that as well. He always asks, “Are we looking around the corner?” – to ensure we not only anticipate the changing nature of warfare and future threats, but also stay ahead of them, and take full advantage of new technology.
Under his leadership, DoD began returning to full-spectrum capability in the Army and Marine Corps after many years of skillful but all-absorbing focus on large counterinsurgency deployments. We grew the size and lethality of our Navy, and drove forward development and production of new fighters, bombers, and tankers for the Air Force. We increased funding for innovative technologies and R&D – notably in critical domains like space, cyber, and electronic warfare – all this amidst persistent budget turbulence and uncertainty. And even as President Obama has worked toward a world without nuclear weapons, he’s also ensured the United States maintains a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent for as long as these weapons exist.
And finally, finally, from the vantage of someone who has worked for 11 defense secretaries over the last 35 years, under both Democratic and Republican presidents, and now being Secretary myself, I want to offer some perspective on the nature and quality of President Obama’s leadership and decision-making as our Commander-in-Chief. Because it’s often most appreciated by those who’ve had to sign deployment orders, who’ve been to Dover, Bethesda, Walter Reed – who know the decisions he makes have consequences.
Most Americans don’t get the chance to see how President Obama makes decisions about our national security. So let me give you a window into what it’s like when we meet in the Situation Room or the Oval Office.
To begin with, he’s steady, and deliberate, and rigorous, and demanding – of himself and of us – always reflecting the seriousness with which he approaches the grave responsibilities of the presidency. He makes us think through the consequences of a proposed course of action as thoroughly as they can be foreseen. And he always focuses first and fixedly – soberly actually – on our North Star: America’s national interests.
I’ve been grateful that I always got a full hearing for my views and recommendations. And in my observation, Chairman Dunford always did as well – for President Obama valued not only my strategic advice and his other advisors, but also candid professional military advice. And he was always willing to listen to what we had to say, even if I knew it wasn’t something he wanted to hear.
President Obama also knows it’s not only whether the decisions made are good that matters, but also whether they are implemented with excellence. Now, that’s a management style that’s actually rare among policymakers in Washington. Whether it was accelerating the counter-ISIL campaign, stopping the spread of Ebola, or rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific, President Obama has always insisted on seeing the job done right to the end. He never hesitates to ask hard questions, and keep asking until there’s an answer. That’s not only because he wanted his decision met and our objective achieved – though both are important – but because he was committed to making sure all our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines had what they needed to do their job.
As you heard from Chairman Dunford, that kind of commitment means a lot to our troops. I’ve seen that up close as well. Many times I’ve visited servicemembers on bases after the President had stopped by, or wounded warriors and their families at military hospitals after he’s visited with them. And no matter how much time had passed – whether he’d visited the week before, the month before, or the year before – they remember the genuineness of President Obama. They can feel, as only young troops can, the unending concern he has for our men and women in uniform and their families, and the boundless care with which he makes decisions that put them in harm’s way.
Over the course of eight years, President Obama’s level of dedication and mastery of his responsibilities has been remarkable. It’s difficult for anyone to imagine the toll of never being able to unplug from their duties and their stakes for that long, all the while being a gracious and inspiring example – and all the while also helping raise two daughters. It’s impossible to imagine a man carrying more – although possibly two sons!
Mr. President, for all this and more, I have been proud to serve as your Secretary of Defense. And from me and the entire Defense Department, thank you in full measure for your leadership, your support, and your devotion to our country and its defense. May you begin to feel the great weight shift from your shoulders. May you feel the warm wind of a nation’s gratitude at your back. May God bless you and your family. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Barack Obama.


Scott's Mayfair: A favourite among celebrities | HELLO!
Scott's restaurant is situated opportunely in swanky Mayfair surrounded by the capital's finest hotels including Claridge's and The Connaught.
So it's no wonder that one of London's most legendary seafood spots, owned by Caprice Holdings, whose portfolio includes other gastronomic havens such as The Ivy, Le Caprive and J. Sheekey, draws plenty of famous faces every week.
Formula 1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone, Ronny Wood and wife Sally Humphreys, Tom Hanks and Milla Jovovich are just a few celebrities to have dined there recently.
The incident that unravelled Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson's marriage also took place at Charles' favourite table outside Scott's in June last year, but it did little to tarnish the restaurant's impeccable reputation.
In fact, Charles has returned to his favourite terrace table several times since, with new love interest Trinny Woodall.
Scott's has been delighting A-lister's palates since opening on the Haymarket in 1851 and moving to its present site on Mayfair's Mount Street in 1968.
It's most famous for its fine oysters, fish and crustacea – a detail that's apparent in the stylish setting as tables look on to the elegant oyster and Champagne bar.
If you head to Scott's, don't be shy of spending – oysters range from £4.50-£39. Dressed crab will set you back £18.75 while the dover sole costs around £42/52.
Those not so mad about seafood and fish needn't miss out on Scott's delicacies – seasonal game, meat and vegetarian dishes also feature on the menu.
The selection of meats on offer include Bannockburn rib steak with Bérnaise sauce and chips (£35.50) and the mouthwatering roast Gressingham duck with fig tart, crispy bacon and port wine sauce.
To wash it all down, splash out on a bottle of Rarita Cantino, which comes with a price tag of £295.