Tensions are growing in Syria as the Arab League prepares to present a detailed assessment of the monitoring mission’s findings on the situation in the country. Meanwhile, the opposition is getting ready to release its own report.
A report prepared by the head of the mission, Gen. Mohammed al-Dabi, will be the main topic of discussion at an Arab League meeting Saturday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
On Friday, Human Rights Watch urged the Arab League to release the observers' report to the public, but the League’s ministerial committee said it would have to discuss its next moves first.
Agence France Press reported Saturday that Arab League deputy chief of operations, Ali Jarush, says al-Dabi is satisfied with the achievements of the operation – and that the mission is likely to be extended.
But the Syrian National Council (SNC), the country's main opposition group, claim that “leaks” from the report say monitors were unable to determine who is committing the killing.
A decision on whether the Arab League's observers will remain in Syria for another month is expected to be made on Sunday.
If the result is positive, more monitors will be sent to Syria in three days following a short training period, despite complaints from the Syrian opposition that the mission has failed to curb bloodshed in the country.
On Saturday, the SNC also formally requested that the Arab League refer Syria’s case to the UN Security Council.
The organisation is pushing for the League to address the Syrian crisis in terms of “genocide” and “war crimes."
At the same time a group of leading Syrian opposition figures is reportedly preparing to release its "counter report."
"We should submit such a report to the Arab league to reveal to the members what exactly happened when the observers were in Syria, because we believe the report which the head of the observing mission will present will not reveal everything," an unnamed source was quoted by the Germany-based DPA news agency as saying.
Meanwhile, street demonstrations are continuing across Syria, both for and against the ruling Assad regime.
According to media reports, the president’s supporters gathered for a pro-government demonstration in central Damascus on Friday. Protesters oppose any foreign intervention, demanding unity and reforms instead of anarchy.
Conversely, there have been numerous reports that thousands of people across Syria attended Friday rallies called by activists "in support of the revolution's prisoners."
The 165-strong observer mission has been in Syria since December 26 to oversee how an Arab League peace roadmap is being implemented.
The roadmap stipulates that the Syrian government should stop violence against protesters and pull its military out of cities, release prisoners detained because of current events, begin talks with the opposition and allow monitors to move freely across all parts of Syria to see the reality of the situation.
On January, 15 President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree granting a general amnesty for crimes committed during the Syrian uprising, which began in March 2011.
Despite this, Syrian activists report continuing violence against civilians.
The UN estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed since the start of the mass protests. The Syrian authorities insist 2,000 members of the security forces have also been killed.
According to local activists, security forces have killed 506 civilians since the Arab League monitors began their mission in Syria on December 26, 2011.


After she was cast as Dorothy, the actress not only had to master every nuance of her performance, but also trained to work as a dog handler — because it is she who gives Nigel and Loki, the two adorably talented cairn terriers that play Toto, their commands onstage.
Watch closely and you’ll see subtle interaction between Dorothy and Toto.
Lasko says she could not have asked for better canine friends and co-workers.
“It’s been fun learning how to be a dog handler onstage,” she says. “It’s definitely a challenge having a live animal onstage, but it’s also been really quite easy because they’re so good at what they do.
Nigel, the main Toto, and Loki, the understudy, have even bonded with Lasko off the stage.
He was in an animal shelter there. I found him online and I called and adopted him sight unseen.
These dogs’ tales — from hardscrabble early lives to stardom — are classic showbiz success stories. They are both rescue animals, given their second chances because Bill Berloni, their guardian/trainer, saw something extraordinary in them.
In addition to the current North American tour of The Wizard of Oz, which began in December, Nigel has appeared as Toto in The Wiz alongside Ashanti on the New York stage, and co-starred with Marcia Gay Harden in the 2011 movie Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You.
Loki’s first production of The Wizard of Oz was as the understudy in the 2009 national tour. The next year, he took over as the lead Toto on that tour.
Nigel is basically a hero dog. He’s not afraid of anything ... Loki is more of a snuggler ... He could lay in your lap or in your arms forever.
They have distinctly different personalities.
“Nigel is basically a hero dog,” Lasko says. “He’s not afraid of anything. He’s my protector. If we are out in public and there’s another dog, he’s always ready to make sure that I’m safe.
Those traits show up on stage, too.
“Onstage, Nigel is always ready to do anything,” Lasko says. “He would jump through hoops on fire. He’s kind of fearless. Loki is more the kind who’s ready for you to take the lead.
Toto is a very demanding role for a dog actor: people onstage and backstage running in all directions, bright lights, loud noises, people in the audience.
“It is one of the most complicated shows for an animal performer, because in our story Toto is with Dorothy pretty much in every scene,” Berloni says. “So we do give him rest breaks throughout the show.
“But believe it or not, out of all the things he has to do over the course of the evening, the hardest of all is simply sitting still when Dorothy sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Beloni is legendary within his industry. The first dog he trained for stage work was for the role of Sandy in the original Broadway production of Annie in 1977.
That dog was a rescue animal — and every one that Berloni has trained since has been a rescue, as well.
When Berloni’s animals aren’t on tour or working in film or TV, they get to kick back on his 90-acre farm in Connecticut.
“We currently own 34 dogs,” he says. “There are young ones in training, there are the ones who do the work and there are the ones who have retired and are living out their lives with us.
“The active ones can work until they get arthritic — and even then, they can have careers in films playing old dogs.
“When they’re not working, they live with us. They eat, they sleep, they go outside and hang out, all of them grouped in appropriate play groups — and they just have regular dog lives.
Does your pet have what it takes to be a star like Nigel and Loki?


Organizations are only as strong as their people. Hone your skills as a visionary leader and prepare for increasingly strategic roles, ready to lead your organization at the next level.
Embrace your strengths and drive your organization to new heights. In The Women's Leadership Program, you'll develop a vision for how you lead and influence on multiple fronts.
You'll study the behavior of individuals and organizations, refining key principles through case studies led by senior businesswomen and faculty members focused on corporate culture, negotiation, communication, conflict management, leveraging differences, crisis leadership and decision-making under pressure. You'll customize these skills through discussions, simulations, workshops, and one-on-one professional and personal coaching. A wellness program and development of a personal action plan will round out your ability to assess and address your unique challenges and opportunities.
Strengthen your knowledge of strategy, negotiation, communication and leadership, as they pertain to the highest level of an organization.
Identify your leadership strengths and practice applying them across your current and future organizational responsibilities.
Learn to actively manage your professional development and secure managerial support for innovative ideas and strategic opportunities.
Build and strengthen your critical network of allies and partnerships.
Practice anticipating future industry trends and predicting their impact on your company's success.
Envision your way to leading high performing teams with both heart and mind.
This course is designed for female executives and women with management responsibilities, especially those leading teams, direct reports, and product lines and verticals. Past leaders who improved their effectiveness and vision include corporate presidents and vice presidents, directors, senior HR managers and scientists, independent consultants and many more.
Assistant Professor Yael Grushka-Cockayne's research and teaching activities focus on forecasting, project management, strategic and behavioral decision making. Her research is published in numerous academic and professional journals, and she is a regular speaker at international conferences in the area of decision analysis, project management and management science. She is also an award-winning teacher, winning the Darden Morton Leadership Faculty Award in 2011, the University of Virginia's Mead-Colley Award in 2012 and the Darden Outstanding faculty award in 2013. Yael teaches the core Decision Analysis course and an elective she designed on Project Management. Before starting her academic career, she worked in San Francisco as a marketing director of an Israeli ERP company. As an expert in the areas of project management, she has served as a consultant to international firms in the aerospace and petroleum industries. She is a UVA Excellence in Diversity fellow and a member of INFORMS, the Decision Analysis Society, the Operational Research Society and the Project Management Institute (PMI). She is also currently the Secretary/Treasurer of the INFORMS Decision Analysis Society.
Disclaimer: When you click submit, we will send an email on your behalf to Darden Executive Education from which you are requesting information. The email will contain your contact information so a school representative will be able to get in touch with you.


The TPR graph is a combination of all our benchmarks in which NVIDIA and ATI are on an even playing field.
3DMark Vantage, Heaven Benchmark V2, Resident Evil 5, Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., Mafia 2 (PhysX Off), Lost Planet 2, Aliens vs. Predator, Final Fantasy XIV, Street Fighter IV, Far Cry 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum (PhysX Off) and our four High Quality tests which include Mafia 2, Aliens vs. Predator, Street Fighter IV and Far Cry 2.
What we see is with all the numbers together the card does fall a little behind the GTX 460 overall. That's mainly due to the higher number benchmarks like 3DMark Vantage and Final Fantasy XIV impacting overall performance a bit more. Of course, it has to be taken into account that the GTX 460 is overclocked quite high and the HD 6850 is at stock clocks.


Tshego Koke has emerged as a pop culture force in his own right.
Tshego Koke finds himself at the intersection of TV, radio, music and fashion.
Not too bad for a man who was unemployed and slipping into depression, before his big MTVBase VJ Search win a year and a half ago. Now it's a case of catch him if you can, because he is running with it.
Koke, 27, from Ga-Rankuwa north of Pretoria (now based in Johannesburg), has set himself apart as one of the most influential in youth pop culture.
His crisp street style, charisma and smooth demeanour have endeared him to many social media followers.
"When I joined MTVBase I didn't want to be like any other presenter, so I explored my fashion tastes which are not high end, but vintage and urban.
"People relate better when you look like them and being on a youthful channel, I needed to reflect that," he said.
Koke presents NewsISH, an insert about the latest entertainment news, and What Went Down, a show about behind the scenes access to industry parties and events.
"It has been a beautiful journey which has seen me grow in my craft and on a personal level."
He is also a presenter of Boom Wave on Massiv Metro 7pm to 9pm on Wednesdays, a gig he landed last year after he ambushed DJ Sbu.
Not that he's lost to TV. Koke also just finished shooting the MTV Shuga: Down South season two preview that he co-presented with Bontle Modiselle.
"I have never worked with five cameras and an audience and this experience stretched me. I realised that presenting is a lot of work. It takes precise effort because you need to understand the etiquette to keep the viewer engaged."
To further entrench his influence in fashion, Koke says he will be working on a blog to share his insights, as if that is not enough, he will also get into studio, and teases that his sound would have an indie feel and is inspired by the works of Una Rams, Frank Ocean, A-Reece, Nasty C, Riky Rick and Big Hash.
Looking back over his career, Koke says he feels finally unchained to be his real self. "Everyday I find a piece of me, I'm not altering who I am but I'm unlocking elements about myself and I like that people are accepting and loving.
"I see young kids pose with the peace sign like I do, they pierce the nose, dye the hair and tell me that I have changed how they look at their dreams. I feel like I'm living, ke a phela and I appreciate people who support me."
Shirts, classic and matured in different colours.
What makes a good Instagram post?
It's about translating a feeling and showing off what I want to show properly.
Johannesburg for the aesthetic. It's a beautiful city too and cultural things happen here.
Downtown Jozi. I go with my squad, we leave our phones behind and find good places for rings, necklaces and pieces that give life.
What's your dream holiday destination?
The Maldives, that's where I'd go to honeymoon.


UPDATE on Sunday, November 5: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon tapings scheduled for the week of November 6-10 has been canceled in wake of Jimmy Fallon's mother's death and reruns will air instead.
"On behalf of everyone at NBC, we extend our deepest condolences to Jimmy and all his family at this time of enormous loss," the network said in a statement to E! News. "Our hearts go out to Jimmy and everyone else whose lives were so touched by Gloria Fallon's love, kindness and support."
Jimmy Fallon's mother, Gloria Fallon, has passed away on Saturday, E! News can confirm. She was 68.
In a statement given to E! News, a rep said, "Jimmy Fallon's mother, Gloria, died peacefully on Saturday. Jimmy was at his mother's bedside, along with her loved ones, when she passed away at NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC. Our prayers go out to Jimmy and his family as they go through this tough time."
The news comes one day after the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon host cancelled a taping of the late-night talk show.
On Friday, Variety reported that NBC had cancelled the show's taping due to "a private Fallon family matter."
The peacock network aired a repeat episode of the show from September instead.
According to IMDB, the funnyman's mother has appeared as her self on the late-night show two times since Fallon begain hosting in 2014.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jimmy and his family.


President Trump Donald John TrumpHouse Dems demand Barr cancel 'inappropriate' press conference on Mueller report DOJ plans to release 'lightly redacted' version of Mueller report Thursday: WaPo Nadler accuses Barr of 'unprecedented steps' to 'spin' Mueller report MORE is thinking about nominating Stephen Moore and Herman Cain to the Federal Reserve Board, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources.
Cain, a former director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Cain, 73, has served as CEO of the restaurant chain Godfather's Pizza and worked for companies including Burger King and Pillsbury.
Moore, 59, is a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He also started the Club for Growth, a conservative group that advocates for lower taxes and has been part of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board and worked on Congressional Joint Economic Committee.
Moore, an opinion contributor to The Hill, was also a Trump campaign adviser and worked on the campaign's economic policy.
The board has two open seats.
The Hill has reached out to the Federal Reserve Board and the White House for comment.


COUNCIL has voted unanimously to launch a campaign to demand tunnels be reinstated on the Coffs Harbour bypass.
A motion raised by councillor Keith Rhoades and carried unanimously will see a working group called Coffs Harbour Bypass Impact Working Group formed to progress the campaign as a matter of urgency.
Mayor Denise Knight and councillors Keith Rhoades and Paul Amos will sit on the working group.
Necessary funds from council's communications and advertising budgets will be used to run the campaign.
"I didn't think we would have to revisit this. We now have major open cuttings. That's a complete turnaround from when this community was basically told they would get tunnels," Cr Rhoades said.
He highlighted noise as one of the main problems with cuttings.
"The echoing effect that is going to come down into Coffs Harbour...I just don't want to think about it because it is going to be astronomical."
Coffs bypass in planning: RMS Director Northern Region John Alexander gives the latest update on the Coffs Harbour bypass planning.
Mayor Denise Knight also spoke passionately about the need to fight to ensure tunnels are reinstated.
"The government are being cheap skates as usual and we are paying the price," Cr Knight said.
"To think that they can just swan in and treat us like second rate citizens like this - I am tired of being kicked around.
"Our region deserves better than this," Cr Knight said to a round of applause.


BEIJING, March 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBPO, "China Biologic" or the "Company"), a leading fully integrated plasma-based biopharmaceutical company in China, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year of 2018.
· *Total sales* in the fourth quarter of 2018 increased by 33.5% in RMB terms and 27.5% in USD terms to $114.9 million from $90.1 million in the same quarter of 2017.
· *Gross profit* increased by 30.4% to $77.3 million from $59.3 million in the same quarter of 2017. *Gross margin* increased to 67.3% from 65.8% in the same quarter of 2017.
· *Income from operations* increased by 116.8% to $42.5 million from $19.6 million in the same quarter of 2017. *Operating margin* increased to 37.0% from 21.8% in the same quarter of 2017.* Excluding TianXinFu, income from operations *increased by 120.6% in RMB terms and 110.7% in USD terms in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the same quarter of 2017, and *operating margin* increased to 38.9% from 21.8% in the same quarter of 2017.
· *Non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* increased by 36.0% in RMB terms and 29.6% in USD terms to $39.8 million from $30.7 million in the same quarter of 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* increased by 25.5% in RMB terms and 19.9% in USD terms in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the same quarter of 2017.
· *Net **income** attributable to the Company*, increased by $59.4 million to $34.8 million from a net loss of $24.6 million factoring in $40.3 million repatriation tax charge in the same quarter of 2017. *Fully **d**iluted **earnings** per share *was $0.87 compared to fully diluted loss per share of $0.86 in the same quarter of 2017.
· *Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to the Company* increased by 23.9% in RMB terms and 18.5% in USD terms to $30.7 million from $25.9 million in the same quarter of 2017. *Non-GAAP adjusted **earnings* *per share* decreased to $0.76 from $0.90 in the same quarter of 2017.* Excluding TianXinFu, non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to the Company* increased by 19.2% in RMB terms and 13.9% in USD terms in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the same quarter of 2017.
· *Total sales* in 2018 increased by 23.5% in RMB terms, or 26.1% in USD terms, to $466.9 million from $370.4 million in 2017.
· *Gross profit* increased by 30.7% to $320.1 million from $244.9 million in 2017. Gross margin increased to 68.6% in 2018 from 66.1% in 2017.
· *Income from operations* increased by 7.6% to $146.2 million from $135.9 million in 2017. Operating margin decreased to 31.3% in 2018 from 36.7% in 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, income from operations *decreased by 7.2% in RMB terms and 5.1% in USD terms in 2018 compared to 2017, and *operating margin* decreased to 30.6% in 2018 from 36.7% in 2017.
· *Non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* increased by 0.7% in RMB terms and 3.6% in USD terms to $177.7 million from $171.6 million in 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* decreased by 13.7% in RMB terms and 11.4% in USD terms in 2018 compared to 2017.
· *Net income attributable to the Company*, factoring in $7.5 million repatriation tax reversal and $40.3 million repatriation tax charge, respectively in 2018 and 2017, increased by 81.9% in RMB terms and 88.7% in USD terms to $128.1 million from $67.9 million in 2017. *Fully **d**iluted **earnings** per share *was $3.53 compared to $2.38 in 2017.* Excluding TianXinFu, net **income** attributable to the Company* increased by 63.6% in RMB terms and 69.4% in USD terms in 2018 compared to 2017.
· *Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to the Company* increased by 0.6% in RMB terms, or 3.3% in USD terms, to $145.9 million from $141.2 million in 2017. Fully diluted non-GAAP adjusted net income per share decreased to $4.02 from $4.95 in 2017.* Excluding TianXinFu, non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to the Company* decreased by 12.3% in RMB terms and 10.0% in USD terms in 2018 compared to 2017.
"While China's plasma industry continues to adapt to a changing regulatory environment and intensified competition, we delivered results in line with our previously revised guidance. While we anticipate that policy headwinds will continue to be challenging in the short term, we remain confident in our vision of building a world-class biopharmaceutical and biotechnology company," said Joseph Chow, Chairman of the China Biologic Board of Directors. "I am thankful for the confidence that the Board has placed in me as Chairman and I look forward to continuing to work with the Board and management team to develop strategies to realize our vision and create greater value for our shareholders."
Dr. Bing Li, CEO of China Biologic, commented, "We made meaningful progress in improving our sales and marketing capabilities during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018, including hiring new industry talent, further broadening our sales channel coverage, and reducing inventory levels. In particular, the task of improving inventory levels for IVIG at our Guizhou subsidiary was well executed, and I am confident that we are on the right track for a return to healthy inventory levels in the future. We are also glad that Dr. Homer He, with over 30 years of experience working with global healthcare leaders in China and overseas, has joined us as Chief Business Officer to help accelerate the transformation of our sales efforts. We look forward to Dr. He's leadership and contributions as we expand our business."
"Looking to the year ahead, we will continue to focus on strengthening China Biologic's commercial capabilities and expanding our sales force penetration at the hospital level, as well as managing inventories and hiring key industry talent. We will further increase our efforts to educate Chinese doctors about the benefits of IVIG, PCC and other coagulation factor products in treating patients across a wide range of clinical indications. We are also significantly increasing our research and development efforts to support expanded product pipelines in our plasma and medical device businesses, and in particular, the clinical development of key late-stage products. We are pleased with our Board's recent approval of our capital expansion plan to build a replacement fractionation facility in Guizhou with the aim of improving China Biologic's ability to meet the increasing market demand for plasma therapeutics in China and enhancing our production efficiency and quality with state-of-the-art technologies. As part of our core strategy, we will also consider suitable acquisition targets that will position China Biologic for long-term growth."
On March 4, 2019, the Board of Directors of the Company approved the extension to the Company's previously authorized $100 million share repurchase program for another six months until October 31, 2019. The Company's repurchases may be made from time to time on the open market at prevailing market prices, in negotiated transactions off the market, in block trades or through other legally permissible means. The timing and extent of any purchases will depend upon market conditions, the trading price of its shares and other factors, and are subject to the restrictions relating to volume, price and timing under applicable law.
*Total sales* in the fourth quarter of 2018 increased by 33.5% in RMB terms, or 27.5% in USD terms, to $114.9 million from $90.1 million in the same quarter of 2017. The increase in total sales was partly attributable to an $8.8 million contribution from TianXinFu, which accounted for approximately 7.7% of total sales for the quarter. Excluding TianXinFu, total sales in the fourth quarter of 2018 increased by 23.2% in RMB terms, mainly attributable to the sales increases in human albumin and IVIG products. For plasma products, total sales in the fourth quarter of 2018 increased by 25.2% in RMB terms, or 19.8% in USD terms, to $90.3 million from $75.4 million in the same quarter of 2017.
*Cost of sales *increased by 22.1% to $37.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 from $30.8 million in the same quarter of 2017. As a percentage of total sales, cost of sales decreased to 32.7% from 34.1% in the same quarter of 2017. The decrease in cost of sales as a percentage of total sales mainly reflected the higher gross margin of TianXinFu. Excluding TianXinFu, cost of sales increased to 35.1% of total sales, mainly because of lower sales prices for the Company's human albumin and IVIG products, which was partly offset by a higher sales price of its placenta polypeptide product.
*Gross profit* increased by 30.4% to $77.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 from $59.3 million in the same quarter of 2017. *Gross margin* was 67.3% and 65.8% in the fourth quarter of 2018 and 2017, respectively.
*Total operating expenses* in the fourth quarter of 2018 decreased by $4.9 million, or 12.3%, to $34.8 million from $39.7 million in the same quarter of 2017. As a percentage of total sales, total operating expenses decreased to 30.3% in the fourth quarter of 2018 from 44.1% in the same quarter of 2017. Excluding TianXinFu, total operating expenses decreased by $12.1 million, or 30.5%, to $27.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. This decrease mainly consisted of a decrease of $13.1 million in general and administrative expenses, excluding TianXinFu.
*Income from operations* for the fourth quarter of 2018 increased by 127.7% in RMB terms, or 116.8% in USD terms, to $42.5 million from $19.6 million in the same period of 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, income from operations* increased by 120.6% in RMB terms, or 110.7% in USD terms, in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the same quarter of 2017.
*Income tax expense* was $8.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to $44.7 million in the same quarter of 2017. Income tax expense in the fourth quarter of 2017 included a one-time charge of $40.3 million, which represented management's estimate of the amount of U.S. corporate income tax based on the deemed repatriation to the United States of the Company's accumulated earnings mandated by the new U.S. income tax law that went into effect on December 22, 2017 (the "*U.S. Tax Reform*"). Excluding the impact of the income tax charge in 2017, the effective income tax rate was 17.5% and 19.5% for the fourth quarter of 2018 and 2017, respectively.
*Net income* *attributable to the Company, *increased to $34.8 million from a net loss of $24.6 million, factoring in the one-time $40.3 million income tax charge in the same quarter of 2017. *Fully **d**iluted **earnings** per share* was $0.87 compared to fully diluted loss per share of $0.86 in the same quarter of 2017.
*Non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* increased by 36.0% in RMB terms and 29.6% in USD terms to $39.8 million from $30.7 million in the same quarter of 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* increased by 25.5% in RMB terms and 19.9% in USD terms in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the same quarter of 2017.
*Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to the Company *increased by 23.9% in RMB terms, and 18.5% in USD terms, to $30.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018 from $25.9 million in the same quarter of 2017. *Non-GAAP net margin* decreased to 26.7% in the fourth quarter of 2018 from 28.7% in the same quarter of 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to the Company* increased by 19.2% in RMB terms and 13.9% in USD terms in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the same quarter of 2017.
*Non-GAAP adjusted net income per diluted share *decreased to $0.76 in the fourth quarter of 2018 from $0.90 in the same quarter of 2017.
*Non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* for the fourth quarter of 2018 excludes $4.6 million in reversal of non-cash employee share-based compensation expenses, and $1.8 million in amortization expense of intangible assets and land use rights related to the acquisition of TianXinFu.
*Non-GAAP adjusted net income and diluted earnings per share* for the fourth quarter of 2018 exclude $5.4 million in reversal of non-cash employee share-based compensation expenses, and $1.2 million in amortization of acquired intangible assets and land use rights related to the acquisition of TianXinFu.
*Total sales* in 2018 increased by 23.5% in RMB terms and 26.1% in USD terms to $466.9 million from $370.4 million in 2017. The increase in sales for 2018 was partly attributable to a $44.7 million contribution from TianXinFu, which accounted for approximately 9.6% of total sales for 2018. Excluding TianXinFu, total sales in 2018 increased by 11.7% in RMB terms as a result of increases in the sales of placenta polypeptide products, human albumin products, certain special immunoglobulin products, and coagulation factor products, which was partly offset by decreases in the sales of IVIG products. For plasma products, total sales in 2018 increased by 8.0% in RMB terms, or 10.2% in USD terms, to $354.0 million from $321.2 million in 2017.
During 2018, human albumin and IVIG products remained the Company's two largest sales contributors. Revenue from human albumin increased by 10.4% in RMB terms, or 12.8% in USD terms, from $132.5 million in 2017 to $149.4 million in 2018. Revenue from IVIG products decreased by 5.7% in RMB terms, or 3.4% in USD terms, from $117.5 million in 2017 to $113.5 million in 2018. As a percentage of total sales, sales from human albumin and IVIG products were 32.0% and 24.3%, respectively, in 2018. Excluding the contribution from TianXinFu, human albumin and IVIG products represented 35.4% and 26.9% of total sales, respectively, compared to 35.8% and 31.7%, respectively, in 2017. The large decrease of IVIG sales' percentage mainly reflected the combined effects of decreased sales volume and decreased sales prices year over year.
The sales volume of human albumin products increased by 17.0%, primarily due to increased sales volumes in the distributor and pharmacy channels, which was partly offset by decreased prescription volumes at various hospitals due to the ongoing healthcare regulatory changes in China. The sales volume of IVIG products decreased by 3.4% for 2018, mainly reflecting decreased prescription volumes at various hospitals.
The average prices for human albumin and IVIG products decreased by 5.6% and 2.3%, respectively, in RMB terms in 2018 compared to 2017 because of greater sales volume in the distributor channel and lower prices to certain distributors reflecting intensified market competition for major plasma products. In USD terms, the average price for human albumin decreased by 3.6% in 2018 compared to 2017, and the average price for IVIG remained stable in 2018 compared to 2017.
Revenue from other immunoglobulin products increased by 18.8% in 2018 compared to 2017, reaching 12.7% of total sales as compared to 13.5% of total sales in 2017, mainly attributable to the increase in sales volume of both human rabies immunoglobulin and human tetanus immunoglobulin products.
Revenue from other plasma products, including human coagulation factor VIII, human prothrombin complex concentrate, and the newly launched human fibrinogen products, increased by 47.9% in RMB terms, or 49.8% in USD terms, in 2018 compared to 2017, representing 6.8% of total sales in 2018. The growth mainly came from the launch of our human fibrinogen products in the beginning of 2018, and the increased sales volumes of the Company's human coagulation factor VIII and human prothrombin complex concentrate products, which is reflective of the Company's ongoing medical marketing activities.
Revenue from placenta polypeptide products increased by 38.5% for 2018 as compared to 2017, reaching 14.6% of total sales, which was supported by higher unit selling prices in connection with the wider implementation of the two-invoice policy. However, the sales volume of placenta polypeptide products declined as a result of their inclusion in regional adjuvant drug lists, which put pressure on their prescription volume.
*Cost of sales *was $146.8 million in 2018 compared to $125.5 million in 2017. As a percentage of total sales, cost of sales decreased to 31.4% from 33.9% in 2017. The decrease in cost of sales as a percentage of total sales mainly reflected the higher gross margin of TianXinFu. Excluding TianXinFu, cost of sales decreased to 33.6% of total sales, mainly because of a higher sales price for the Company's placenta polypeptide product, which was partly offset by lower sales prices for its human albumin and IVIG products.
*Gross profit* increased by 30.7% to $320.1 million in 2018 from $244.9 million in 2017. *Gross margin* was 68.6% and 66.1% in 2018 and 2017, respectively.
*Total operating expenses* in 2018 increased by 59.5% to $173.9 million from $109.0 million in 2017. As a percentage of total sales, total expenses increased to 37.3% for 2018 from 29.4% for 2017. Excluding TianXinFu, total operating expenses increased by $42.5 million, or 39.0%, to $151.5 million for 2018. This increase (excluding TianXinFu) mainly consisted of an increase of $43.6 million in selling expenses, partly offset by a decrease of $1.8 million in general and administrative expenses.
*Selling expenses *in 2018 increased by $60.8 million, or 174.7%, to $95.6 million from $34.8 million for 2017. Nearly half of the increase came from selling expenses associated with placenta polypeptide products with the remainder related to the sales of plasma products and TianXinFu's sales of its dura mater products. For placenta polypeptide products and certain hyper-immune products, as certain previous multi-layer distribution channels were disqualified due to the two-invoice policy, the Company implemented new sales strategies including using internal sales force or engaging third-party contract service entities to promote our products. For other plasma products, in order to strengthen our competitiveness in front of distribution channel customers, the Company incurred additional promotion and marketing costs. TianXinFu's selling expenses included an amortization expense of $7.7 million for the intangible asset of customer relationships associated with the Company's acquisition of TianXinFu. Excluding this intangible asset amortization expense, selling expenses accounted for 18.8% of total sales in 2018 compared to 9.4% in 2017.
*General and administrative expenses *in 2018 increased by $1.1 million, or 1.6%, to $68.8 million from $67.7 million for 2017. As a percentage of total sales, general and administrative expenses decreased to 14.8% for 2018 from 18.3% for 2017. The slight increase in general and administrative expenses from 2017 to 2018 was a combined result of 1) general and administrative expenses of TianXinFu; 2) increased legal fees mainly in relation to the lawsuit filed against the Company in the Cayman Islands by Mr. David (Xiaoying) Gao, the former Chairman and CEO of the Company whose employment with the Company had previously been terminated for cause; and 3) Shandong Taibang's increased depreciation expenses and property tax for its new facility, which was partially offset by a decrease in share-based compensation expenses.
*Research and development expenses* in 2018 increased by $3.0 million, or 46.2%, to $9.5 million from $6.5 million for 2017. In 2018 and 2017, the Company received government grants totaling $0.7 million and $0.4 million, respectively, and the Company recognized them as a reduction of our research and development expenses. Excluding this impact, our research and development expenses increased by $3.3 million for 2018 from 2017. As a percentage of total sales, our research and development expenses, excluding the impact of these recognized government grants, increased to 2.2% for 2018 from 1.9% for 2017. The increase mainly consisted of TianXinFu's research and development expenses.
*Income from operations* in 2018 increased by 5.0% in RMB terms and 7.6% in USD terms, to $146.2 million from $135.9 million in 2017. *Operating margin* decreased to 31.3% in 2018 from 36.7% in 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, income from operations* in 2018 decreased by 7.2% in RMB terms, and 5.1% in USD terms, to $129.0 million, and operating margin decreased to 30.6%.
*Income tax expense *in 2018 decreased by $46.2 million, or 72.0%, to $18.0 million for 2018 from $64.2 million for 2017. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company recorded a one-time income tax charge of $40.3 million, which represented the management's estimate of the amount of U.S. corporate income tax based on the deemed repatriation to the United States of the Company's accumulated earnings mandated by the U.S. Tax Reform. Based on new regulations and rules issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in August 2018, the management reassessed the amount and an amount of $7.5 million was reversed in the third quarter of 2018. Excluding the impact of repatriation tax, our effective income tax rate was 15.4% and 16.3% for 2018 and 2017, respectively.
*Net income* *attributable to the Company* increased by 81.9% in RMB terms, or 88.7% in USD terms, to $128.1 million in 2018 from $67.9 million in 2017. *Net margin* increased to 27.4% in 2018 from 18.3% in 2017. *Diluted net earnings per share* increased to $3.53 in 2018 compared to $2.38 in 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, net income attributable to the Company* increased by 63.6% in RMB terms, or 69.4% in USD terms, in 2018 compared to 2017, and *net margin* increased to 27.2%.
*Non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* increased by 0.7% in RMB terms, or 3.6% in USD terms, to $177.7 million in 2018 from $171.6 million in 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* decreased by 13.7% in RMB terms, or 11.4% in USD terms in 2018 compared to 2017.
*Non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to the Company *increased by 0.6% in RMB terms and 3.3% in USD terms, to $145.9 million in 2018 from $141.2 million in 2017. *Non-GAAP net margin* decreased to 31.2% in 2018 from 38.1% in 2017. *Non-GAAP adjusted net income per diluted share *decreased to $4.02 in 2018 from $4.95 in 2017. *Excluding TianXinFu, non-GAAP adjusted net income attributable to the Company *decreased by 12.3% in RMB terms, or 10.0% in USD terms, in 2018 compared to 2017.
*Non-GAAP adjusted income from operations* for 2018 excludes $23.1 million in non-cash employee share-based compensation expenses, and $8.4 million in amortization expense of intangible assets and land use rights related to the acquisition of TianXinFu.
*Non-GAAP adjusted net income and diluted earnings per share* for 2018 exclude $19.7 million in non-cash employee share-based compensation expenses, $5.7 million in amortization of acquired intangible assets and land use rights related to the acquisition of TianXinFu, and an income tax benefit of $7.5 million related to U.S. Tax Reform.
As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $338.9 million in cash on hand and demand deposits, $537.5 million in time deposits, and $76.0 million in short term investments.
*Net cash provided by operating activities* for 2018 was $103.9 million, including a $21.8 million contribution from TianXinFu, as compared to $102.2 million for 2017. Excluding TianXinFu, the $20.1 million decrease in net cash provided by operating activities was mainly attributable to the increase in accounts receivable and decrease in income tax payable.
Excluding TianXinFu, accounts receivable increased by $53.5 million during 2018 as compared to $39.9 million during 2017. The accounts receivable turnover days for plasma products increased to 95 days during 2018 from 58 days during 2017, reflecting longer credit terms to hospitals as a result of the nationwide implementation of healthcare reform measures and intensified competition in the distribution channel.
Excluding TianXinFu, income tax payable increased by $43.1 million in 2017 and decreased by $12.6 million in 2018. The increase in 2017 was mainly because of the one-time repatriation tax charge of $40.3 million. In the first half of 2018, the Company made the first batch of tax payment of approximately $3.3 million. Based on new regulations and rules issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in August 2018, the management reassessed the total repatriation tax amount and an amount of $7.5 million was reversed in the third quarter of 2018.
Excluding TianXinFu, inventories increased by $42.1 million in 2017 and $42.5 million in 2018, reflecting a slow-down of production and sales in reaction to the weaker market demand due to more-aggressive-than-expected implementation of government healthcare reform policies.
*Net cash used in investing activities *for 2018 was $558.9 million as compared to $60.9 million for 2017. In 2018, the Company paid $36.6 million for the acquisition of property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and land use rights, $10.8 million prepayments for investments in equity securities and the Company also purchased time deposit and short term investments in the amount of $2,726.8 million. This was partly offset by $97.7 million in cash received upon acquisition of TianXinFu and $2,117.6 million from the maturity of time deposits and short term investments. In 2017, the Company paid $38.3 million for the acquisition of property, plant and equipment, intangible assets, and land use rights and the Company also made time deposit of $22.7 million.
*Net cash provided by financing activities *for 2018 was $571.3 million as compared to net cash used in financing activities of $18.3 million for 2017. Net cash provided by financing activities for 2018 mainly included proceeds of $590.3 million from the issuance and sale of an aggregate of 5,850,000 ordinary shares of the Company to certain investors, and $1.1 million from stock options exercised, partially offset by a dividend of $10.1 million paid by Shandong Taibang to its non-controlling interest shareholders and $10.0 million prepayment to an investment bank for potential share repurchases. Net cash used in financing activities in 2017 mainly consisted of a dividend payment of $18.8 million made by the Company's subsidiary to the non-controlling interest shareholder, which was partially offset by proceeds of $0.9 million from stock options exercised.
For the full year of 2019, the Company expects both non-GAAP adjusted income from operations and non-GAAP adjusted net income to increase by 4% to 6% in RMB terms over full year 2018 financial results.
This guidance does not factor in any potential foreign currency translation impact. Having previously adopted an exchange rate of approximately RMB6.59 = $1.00 based on weighted average quarterly exchange rates in 2018 in translating 2018 financial results, the Company expects that the total sales and non-GAAP adjusted net income in USD terms in 2019 could be affected by the foreign currency translation impact.
This guidance excludes potential acquisitions, and necessarily assumes no significant adverse product price changes during 2019. This forecast reflects the Company's current and preliminary views, which are subject to change.
A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available through the Company's investor relations website at http://chinabiologic.investorroom.com.
China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBPO) is a leading fully integrated plasma-based biopharmaceutical company in China. The Company's products are used as critical therapies during medical emergencies and for the prevention and treatment of life-threatening diseases and immune-deficiency related diseases. China Biologic is headquartered in Beijing and manufactures over 20 different dosage forms of plasma products through its indirect majority-owned subsidiary, Shandong Taibang Biological Products Co., Ltd. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Guizhou Taibang Biological Products Co., Ltd. The Company also has an equity investment in Xi'an Huitian Blood Products Co., Ltd. Since the acquisition of TianXinFu (Beijing) Medical Appliance Co., Ltd. in 2018, China Biologic is also engaged in the manufacturing and sale of medical devices, primarily regenerative medical biomaterial products. The Company sells its products to hospitals, distributors and other healthcare facilities in China. For additional information, please see the Company's website www.chinabiologic.com.
This news release contains non-GAAP financial measures that exclude non-cash compensation expenses related to options and restricted shares granted to employees and directors under the Company's 2008 Equity Incentive Plan, amortization of acquired intangible assets and land use rights, and an income tax benefit related to U.S. Tax Reform. To supplement the Company's consolidated financial statements presented on a GAAP basis, the Company has provided non-GAAP financial information excluding the impact of these items in this release. The Company's management believes that its presentation of non-GAAP financial measures provides useful supplementary information to and facilitates additional analysis by investors. A reconciliation of the adjustments to GAAP results appears in the table accompanying this news release. This additional non-GAAP information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP financials. The non-GAAP financial information that the Company provides also may differ from the non-GAAP information provided by other companies.
In addition, as the Company evaluates certain key items of its financial results on a local currency basis (i.e., in RMB) in addition to the reporting currency (i.e., in USD), this news release contains local currency information that eliminates the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The Company believes that, given its operations primarily based in China, providing local currency information on such key items enhances the understanding of its financial results and evaluation of performance in comparison to prior periods. Changes in local currency percentages are calculated by comparing financial results denominated in RMB from period to period.
This news release may contain certain "forward-looking statements" relating to the business of China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intend," "believe," "expect," "are expected to," "will," or similar expressions, and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Among other things, the management's quotations and forecast of the Company's financial performance in this news release contain forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect.
Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including, without limitation, quality of purchased source plasma, potential delay or failure to complete construction of new collection facilities, potential inability to pass government inspection and certification process for existing and new facilities, potential inability to achieve the designed collection capacities at the new collection facilities, potential inability to achieve the expected operating and financial performance, potential inability to find alternative sources of plasma, potential inability to increase production at permitted sites, potential inability to mitigate the financial consequences of a temporarily reduced raw plasma supply through cost cutting or other efficiencies, and potential additional regulatory restrictions on its operations and those additional risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company's periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website (http://www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements.
China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc.
Net income attributable to China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc.
Comprehensive income attributable to China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc.
Total equity attributable to China Biologic Products Holdings, Inc.


I'd have put John Carmack up there somewhere, perhaps not top 5, but maybe given i'd say he's had a fairly large impact on all modern pc games (atleast, not 2d).
Also, why the hell is the iPhone even there? This is like a crazy list, for crazy people. I've probably done more for gaming than the iPhone, that's how little it has done for "real" gaming.
"Real" gaming? Is that like "no true Scotsman"? Gaming is gaming, and to deny the massive influence the iPhone has had is to be blindly foolish. But putting Steve Jobs at #1 is a bit much. I'd accept top 10 somewhere at most.
But i'm not sat here holding my breath in anticipation of the next release of "angry birds".
Skyrim next week... a "Real" game. Yes there is a difference, one pushes things along, one is just to make money in the short term.
Jobs? Zuckerberg? Tim Berners Lee?
This list suffers from the classic 'what's important right now' syndrome. Sure right now the most important growth platforms for gaming are iOS web and facebook, but those stand at the end of a long road and you can't ignore the people who built it.
To name but two of the striking omissions from that list. Just goes to show that execs never actually understand the industry they're working in.
Molyneux was struck off because of the Fable series - oh and Black and White.
And everything else he has done since Populous really.
Powermonger was not that bad!
And I won't even start on Dungeon Keeper.
But indeed, nothing really interesting since he left Bullfrog... I even wonder if he *really* was the real designers of the former games.
Did they somehow forget the influence of all the great stuff from the 80s?
Might I humbly suggest the Atari VCS2600 as having had some small influence?
He should be up there too.
Are those "1000 executives", by any chance, 16 years old?
Much younger. Either that...or their collective IQ is 16.
yep, and they had a free ipod nano as well.
Jobs will posthumously also win the Pulitzer price, the Nobel for physics, chemistry and peace, the Turing award, the Hugo and the Nebula, and make Number 1 in the Grand National and at Crufts.
I just wish I hadn't read that article.
Wednesday 2nd November 2011 19:04 GMT Chad H.
Look I wouldn't list jobs on a list of influential persons in gaming; but he has more of a right to be there than Berners -Lee.
After all, Tim Berners-Lee only inadvertently created the infrastructure used by modern gaming, whereas Saint Steve made the far more significant contribution of doing absolutely nothing in connection with games design at any point in his career.
The closest you could say Jobs ever got to being involved with games development was marketing several different platforms that could be used for games - the Apple II and the iPhone (let's forget about the Pippin, shall we?) - all of which merely followed in someone else's footsteps rather than innovate and none of which were as popular as their predecessors.
Thursday 3rd November 2011 17:50 GMT Chad H.
Tim Berners Lee created the Web; one particular facet of said infrastructure used by modern gaming (the internt). In fact, I'd go as far as to say if the web disipeared tomorrow, there'd be little to no immediate effect on gaming. Multiplayer? Fine - still got Internet even with no web.
The Web has little if anything to do with gaming - as great as it is.
Don't know what medication Jeff Minter was on when he wrote his games, but I felt like I was on medication when I played them.
Even now just look at all the post-Geometry Wars stuff; if that isn't a riff on the Tempest 2000 aesthetic then I don't know what is.
Steve Job, gaming? give me a break, also how many Wii's are now sat gathering dust?
What about the people making sure every day that we can still play the old games? I'd like to give special mentions to Nicola Salmoria, David Haywood, Aaron Giles and the others who work tirelessly on projects like MAME. By allowing us to access a huge back catalog of games they've had a far bigger influence on the development of current ones than anybody in those lists, look at how many current games pay homage to older ones which could otherwise have been lost to time.
Peter Veenstra and the DOSBox Crew should be held in the same regard again for putting games which were highly influential on PC platforms into the hands of current developers many of whom are too young to have experienced them first hand. What about ScummVM, who hasn't used that? Props must go to Eugene Sandulenko there.
History is important, lest we forget it, those who help preserve it long after it's commercial value are more valuable and influential to the industry than the current fads. The most influential people are not the most visible ones.
So it's a Bean Counters list, not a gamers list. When I look at it that way the choices are easier to understand.
you mean nothing to do with that he coraked a couple of weeks ago.
Fine by me, Apple invented mp3 players, mobile phones, touchscreens, home computing, laptops, video games and electricity. Why wouldnt' they be No. 1, All hail Apple!
Space Invaders was huge, made video games something everyone knew about.
Also Gunpei Yokoi for Game & Watch and the idea of making games mobile (what does the iPhone add to this idea? At best some aspects of the Wii's control and Steam's delivery - nothing truly innovative).
WTF, Steve Jobs as a game guy... are you all completely and hopelessly clueless?
Or was it one of those conferences where following the plenary session all these ugly guys go back to their hotel rooms, get high and, getting bored while waiting for the hookers, fills out a survey like this?
When is the Pope going to make Steve a bona fida saint?
Why would he downgrade him?
How big was the list, and did it have names down? Did they have to pick from 10-20 names or write their own choices down? How many of these 1,000 people actually are developing games for the iDevices?
Gaming, god, go back to the 80's/90's and people whacking away at code on their ZX, C64, A500 etc. bringing out shareware releases or what-not They had an influence and some probably went on to work for big companies.
EA, love it or loath it, the guy behind EA has brought out some of the most successful games in history, BF3, The Sims.
Influencial people, Chris Sawyer (Transport Tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon), Peter Molyneux (Black and White, Fable), John Carmak (Doom, Wolfenstien).
Systems? Why isn't the PC on that list? No PC = no Steam/Facebook, the PC has always been an important machine when it comes to games, one could also suggest that games have been a major influence on PC's too.
I dunno what the world is coming to, people choosing an Apple platform over a PC platform when it comes to gaming, let's all sell our PC's, PS3's, XBoxes, Wii's, PSP's, DS's etc. and buy an iPhone, we'll get such quality gaming that no other system can compare with.
What about JRPG's too? Megadrive/Snes, no Snes, no super mario, no Sega, no Sonic, the list is endless, no Nintendo, no Pokemon.... I'm going to stop before I pop a vein.
peanut butter, polio vacine, initial modern speech, as well as the concept of fonts, all should be credited to the grubby lil collegiate. Getting very tiring hearing about the nasty lil prick.
Is that because some games use the web? Sheesh! Tossers!
What about Maxwell or Faraday, since none of these games would work without leccy?
What about Newton, since Maxwell used calculus?
What about Fibbonacci, or any number of nameless Arabs or Indians.
What about the first Neanderthal who found it mildly amusing to clobber things with a big stick.
To answer my own question, the only reasonable place to stop is when you encounter people who haven't actually done a video game, merely promoted some facilitating technology. So Tim's out, and frankly so is St Steve of Jobs and his phone.
No Geoff Crammond? This list is chuffing nonsense. Fact.
David Braben & Ian Bell.
Over at the Frontier Developments website, there's a whole forum of people waiting (probably in vain) for Elite 4. And 30-odd years on, Oolite's still goes strong.
(Yeah, I'm a sad F--ker).
And Blue Danube in entrenched in my head for another afternoon.
in 4 years. That is more than all the playstation 2 & 3 added together. Add in the fact that iOS has brought thousands and thousands of new developers in to the market, and you can see where the thinking of the judges came from.
Any list of the five most influential people in videogames that doesn't list John Carmack is pretty dumb. I mean, 3D first-person shooters are KIND OF POPULAR NOW.
Echoes of Princess Diana here.
Are we now going to have a certain newspaper splashing him across every front page for the next 10 years, and the parents of his lover telling whoever will listen that he was murdered and it was all a conspiracy?
...somewhat useless, but being good at being in the papers.
He was probably murdered by an iOS 5.0 beta tester.
Excessive fame in quick death"
I'd echo the sentiments of John Carmack who did a lot to shape PC games in the 90s.
Steve jobs didn't even like games.
Ever since the mac. It was someone else who suggested gaming for the ipod touch.


WASHINGTON (KFVS) - The federal government plans to make a big investment at a transportation hub in the Heartland, and a local farmer is excited about the investment.
The Southeast Regional Port Authority was awarded a $19.8 million grant through the Department of Transportation this week.
According to SEMO Port Executive Director Cary Harbison, the funding will go toward the construction of two 12,000 foot long loops of rail road track near the transportation hub.
This week the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority honored Congressman Smith for his work to enhance rural infrastructure in southeast Missouri.
Harbison says the new infrastructure make it easier to transfer tons of product from rail cars to river barges, and vice versa.
“There are loops available in St. Louis and down by Memphis, but in our general area this would be the only public loop track facility available, such that any customer can come to us,” Harbison said.
Farmer Kevin Fennewald manages a grain bin complex in Scott County.
He says the proposed railway loop at SEMO Port could lower his cost to transport rice and thinks it would in turn boost the local economy which is mainly driven by agriculture industry.
Harbison, says the loop track will SEMO Port the flexibility to unload unit trains, which can have more than 100 cars of one or two products.
From there he says they could put directly onto a river barge which Harbison says the cheapest way transport goods.
Harbison tells me the local Port Authority moves up to 1.5 million tons of goods each year with all modes of transportation. He is optimistic they can increase that amount by using the loop track.
Harbison said the Port can start using the $20 million federal grant after they complete the agreement process, which takes about a year.
But the transportation authority has already started grading work where the first sections of loop track will be built.
Two Federal lawmakers from Missouri also praised the decision for the US Department of Transportation to allow SEMO Port to be part of the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program.


SAN LEANDRO, Calif., Oct. 28, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Energy Recovery Inc. (Nasdaq:ERII), the leader in pressure energy technology, announced today that the Company won the 2014 Southwest Oil & Gas Awards for New Technology Development of the Year on October 23, 2014. The annual gala ceremony was held at the Westin Park Central in Dallas, TX, where hundreds of oil and gas executives gathered together to celebrate Operational Excellence, innovations in technology, CSR, Health & Safety and Environmental Stewardship.
"Showed how they were able to capture energy from high pressure fluids and transfer it to power applications, creating reusable energy from what was formerly waste energy. Good environmental benefits as well as cost savings from the energy recovery solution."
" Energy savings by being creative and cutting edge deserves the award."
"We are thrilled to receive this prestigious award for new technology development in the oil and gas industry. Innovation is what drives us as a cutting edge technology firm and we're being recognized for all our hard work. Our focus is to bring technologies to the oil and gas sector that zero in on energy savings, safety, and operational excellence," states Tom Rooney, CEO of Energy Recovery.
The Oil & Gas Awards recognize the outstanding achievements made within the upstream and midstream sectors of the North American oil and gas industry. The Awards are a platform for the industry to demonstrate and celebrate the advances made in the key areas of environment, efficiency, innovation, corporate social responsibility and health and safety. The Awards show the industry's motivation to develop by recognizing and rewarding the efforts of corporations and individuals. For more information about the Oil & Gas Awards, all regional awards and award categories can be reviewed on their website at www.oilandgasawards.com.


CAIRO (Reuters) - A Russian broadcaster has removed an opinion poll about ownership of Red sea border triangle disputed between Egypt and Sudan after Cairo protested to Moscow.
The protest came ahead of a meeting in Moscow between the foreign and defence ministers of Russia and Egypt on Monday.
The Halayeb triangle, which is controlled by Egypt, has been claimed by Sudan since 1958. Cairo says it is Egyptian territory and it has long been a source of contention between the two neighbours.
Relations between Egypt and Sudan have been further strained in recent months by Khartoum’s support for Ethiopia over a hydroelectric dam Addis Ababa is building which Egypt fears will restrict its water access.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday it had demanded an explanation from Moscow about the opinion poll, which was aired by state-controlled broadcaster Russia Today on its Arabic news channel on Friday.
“The Foreign Ministry contacted the Russian side on the morning of Saturday May 12th to express its strong condemnation of the opinion poll conducted by the Russian government-affiliated channel, and demanded an urgent explanation for this unacceptable conduct,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in the statement.
The survey had been removed from Russia Today’s website by late Saturday afternoon.
The spokesman said Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had cancelled an interview he had planned with Russia Today ahead of Monday’s foreign and defence ministers meeting.
The Russia Today survey also included questions relating to Israeli air strikes on Syria and the Iran nuclear deal.
Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) said Russia Today removed the survey after calls to Moscow by its officials.
“The SIS explained to the Russian side the seriousness of such irresponsible and unprofessional actions which actually aim to divide the Egyptian and Russian people and hurt the feelings of the Egyptian people,” SIS said in a statement.


Founding Partner at Vantage Point, the world's leading sales management training firm.
I’ve spent my entire career helping companies affect change. As a consultant and trainer to global sales forces, I’ve attempted every type of change imaginable inside a sales force: implementing sales processes, mapping sales territories, deploying CRM, upskilling talent, designing compensation plans, launching new products, entering new markets, merging sales forces ... you name it, I’ve tried it.
But that’s not to say every effort has been a smashing success. As an outside advisor, I’ve had to exert influence over the change — not manage it. Consequently, I’ve been involved in a range of successes from home runs to strikeouts. And during that time, I’ve come to recognize that there are two very common management mistakes that have always, in my experience, led to failure. To help you avoid the strikeouts, I've described them below.
When senior leadership commits to making a meaningful change, there’s a seemingly natural tendency to go big. Therefore, the scope of the change effort becomes too large. Or sometimes the change starts small but grows in scope as more and more stakeholders are engaged. It’s like buying a house with input from the entire family. What begins as "we should buy a house closer to the city" becomes a house closer to the city with a bathroom for each kid, an office for each parent, a garage for each car, a bedroom for guests, a playroom for friends, a pool for relatives, a yard for the dog, a shed for the mower and a deck for the grill. You get the idea.
Here is a true story that perfectly demonstrates this phenomenon. I was once hired to help design and implement a CRM tool for a telecommunications company. The departure point was "we need to replace our current system because the legacy databases are too slow and costly." In effect, they wanted a replacement for their current CRM with the same functionality but better performance. But then it occurred to them that they could include a pricing module, a product configuration engine, links to other enterprise systems and a half-dozen other things that would have been incredibly useful … if they’d ever gotten to use it.
The company ultimately spent (I’m not making this up) tens of millions of dollars on software and services to build this tool, yet no salesperson ever used it. I think it’s fair to characterize change efforts like these as strikeouts.
The moral of the story is that it’s okay to think small. If my client had begun by simply updating the technology underlying the existing functionality, the sales team would have celebrated a home run. Then they could have layered a pricing module on top of that. And a configuration engine beside that. And they probably could have done it with less time and money than they effectively donated to the consulting industry.
When it comes to change, think small and win big. Limit the scope of change efforts. Break big projects into small projects. Celebrate quick wins and move on to the next challenge. By doing so, you can build forward momentum and create a culture of success.
Equally as important as biting off change small enough to chew is accepting the reality that meaningful change is tough meat — it requires a lot of effort to chew and digest. Yet, again and again, I’ve seen executives try to change ingrained organizational behaviors with nothing more than a single email to employees. "Effective immediately, please make every effort to keep your desks organized." Yeah, good luck with that.
Jokes aside, I've found that leadership often underestimates the level of persistence required to change the knowledge, skills, and behaviors of its people. We were once contacted by a company who had attempted — and failed — to improve the coaching abilities of its frontline sales managers. When we asked what they had done to date, they responded that they’d distributed our book to the management team and then conducted a series of conference calls to discuss its key concepts. The change had not taken hold.
This highlights the distinction between notifying someone of a change and driving that change to a successful end. We advised the company to clearly define the desired outcomes, design a change process, customize a training program, alter management reports, preview the change with participants, provide online prework, conduct face-to-face workshops, launch online reinforcement, coach senior leaders, educate frontline sellers, facilitate follow-up meetings, survey the team, measure progress, and double down in areas where the change was falling short. The outcome they desired (doubling their deal win rates) was not realized for almost 18 months of persistent reinforcement and personal accountability. During this time, there was no other substantial change foisted onto the sales team — this was the change they were committed to bringing home. No distractions, no excuses and no outs.
The morals of this story are that change is always harder than you think it will be and that sustainable change requires intense commitment. The effort doesn’t end when the work plan is complete. It ends when the change becomes business as usual. And what you think is the finish line is probably just a checkpoint. Keep running hard until there’s nowhere left to go.
As you sit there reading this, there’s a good chance that you’re in the middle of a change effort inside your own organization. Perhaps you’re even leading it. Is it as small in scope as it could possibly be while still accomplishing your primary objective? Is your team fully committed to making it stick, even at the expense of other competing initiatives? If so, then you’ll probably hit a home run. If not, strike three may be coming sooner than you think.


Accra, Jan. 7, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor was on Friday urged to use his next four-year term to further reconcile the nation. Various people who spoke to the Ghana News Agency on the day President Kufuor was inaugurated said he needed to do more to reconcile the nation.
Mr Mike Griffiths, a Director at Sunny FM, an Accra private radio station, noted that the reconciliation process initiated by the President and the Government was a good thing.
However, in recent times, there had been certain actions and inactions by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which impeded reconciliation.
"I was disappointed for instance to see the statue of Dr J. B. Danquah, at Danquah Circle at Osu in Accra, covered with NPP flag although that roundabout and the statue are national monuments and not party monuments," he said.
Mr Griffiths said doing things in such a way went a long way to deepen the already existing politically pent up feelings, which were not good for national reconciliation.
The GNA was sampling opinion for a cross section of Ghanaians to express their views on their expectations from the President. Mr Akunu Dake, Chief Executive of Heritage Development, a Public Relations, Events Management and Hospitality Practitioners and Consultants, urged the President to be more indigenous minded in whatever decisions he took for the nation.
"The President should keep it in mind that no matter how well intentioned foreign support is, it can never solve all our problems unless we consciously develop and tap on the self-confidence of our own people."
Mr Dake said in the next four years he expected the President to approve only policies and programmes, which would fully integrate the contribution of Ghanaians in the national development process. Mrs Vivian Nuhu, a Wildlife Specialist at the Forestry Commission, said she expected the President to use the next four years to revamp the education system to ensure that education was made affordable from the nursery to the tertiary level.
She said education was the key to development and there was the need to widen the coverage as much as possible to ensure that many Ghanaians were educated.
"In recent times we've been talking about wealth creation, but that cannot be achieved effectively if the majority of our people remain illiterate."
Mrs Nuhu also noted that the education campaign on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was deceptive, saying that it created the impression that subscribers of the scheme would have all healthcare service for free.
"We all know that is not true and I expect the President to come out boldly and let his people do the right things," she said.
Mr Franklin Adumuah, a Waiter at La-Palm Beach Hotel, expressed disappointment about what he described as the President's silence about cases of corruption in his Government in the first four years.
"I will be glad to see the President come out to stem corruption in his own Government as he promised in the zero tolerance for corruption policy contained in the Positive Change Chapter One manifesto," he said, adding: "The President cannot continue to pretend as if he does not know about the corruption cases in his Government."
Ms Bilikis Nuhu, Dress Designer at La in Accra, said she wanted to see salaries improve within the second four-year term of President Kufuor.
"I understand they said they want to half poverty by 2015 so by 2008 salaries should be high enough to keep Ghanaians above the poverty line."
Mr Gideon Allotey, Businessman, said: "I want to see the President and his government focus on the fulfilment of the promises in the Positive Change Chapter Two manifesto because that is why we voted for them."
Ms Mavis Sowah, Nurse, shared Mr Allotey's concern, saying that the President should focus on the promises and fulfil them in time and on time.
Mr Kweku Ayub, Musician, said he would want to see the President maintain his fatherly figure, which he did so well during his first four-year term, in spite of all the attacks in sections of the media on his personality.
"He should continue to ignore his detractors and focus on consolidating the image that has made him even more popular within his first four years."
Mr Ayub said: "I think if the NPP is going to win the 2008 election it will depend to a large extent on the way the President carries himself in this second term."
Mr Tetteh Agidi, Driver, said the President should not take the speculations that government officials were likely to loot the national coffers on their way out of power for granted.
"The President must institute preventive measures to protect the national interest against any possible malfeasance on the part of any politician."


IDF troops in collaboration with police set out on a raid in the West Bank Wednesday night, confiscating terror funds that were given to families of terrorists by Palestinian authorities to reward and incite them to participate in more terror activities.
Forces confiscated thousands of shekels as well as vehicles that were given to families of terrorists who planned and carried out terror attacks against Israelis. During the activity, one soldier was lightly injured after a rock was hurled at him. He received medical treatment at the scene and was later evacuated to a hospital.
Shin Bet, Border Police, IDF and police forces collaborated to bring to detention 11 wanted suspects in the West Bank. Eight of them are suspected of involvement in local terror activities and in participating in violent demonstrations that targeted both soldiers and Israeli civilians. All suspects are expected to be interrogated by security forces.


Before playing the Save Mart Center in April, Aguilar was last in Fresno in 2009 on a double bill with Marco Antonio Solis at the Selland Arena.
The performance is just one of several big-draw concerts that will be stopping through Fresno next spring, at the arena and other venues in town. Other acts that have announced Fresno shows include 21 Pilots, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Bonnie Raitt, Bruno Mars, New Kids of the Block, Switchfoot, Dierks Bentley, Blake Shelton and the Rock and Worship Roadshow.


Mourners came together Monday to remember the 265 lives lost when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a Queens neighborhood in 2001.
The New York-to-Dominican Republic flight had barely taken off from JFK Airport when one of its tail fins snapped, sending the Airbus A300 plummeting into the Rockaway Park section of Queens.
All 260 passengers and crew died, along with five people on the ground.
Father Eric Cruz of St. John Chrysostom Catholic Parish gave the invocation during the ceremony at Flight 587 Memorial Park on Beach 116th Street.
A brief moment of silence that followed was interrupted by a plane passing overhead as it took off from JFK.
Victims’ relatives Rafael Frias, Karen Taverez and Freddy Rodriguez read aloud the names of the dead.
“Thank you everyone for being here to remember those we lost, those we love, and those we still love in our hearts,” Mayor de Blasio told the roughly 150 attendees.
The mayor sparked outrage in 2014 for showing up late to the annual memorial.


India has one of the highest rates of acid attacks in the world. Victims often cover their faces out of shame and are unable to get jobs.
A reporter goes to Agra, India, to see the Taj Mahal and finds a story that was both disturbing and inspiring.
Clippers announcer Ralph Lawler has long invoked “Lawler’s Law” — his belief that the first basketball team to score 100 points in a game wins.
To a member of the Times data desk, Lawler's Law was a "rudimentary kind of statistical model." He just had to test it.
She wanted to tell the story of Lauren Cantin and her mother, who lost everything in the Montecito mudslides. How could she win their trust?
A 15-year-old girl who survived the devastating mudslides in Montecito finds solace in music as she and her mother grieve the deaths of her father and brother.
In a dramatic last-ditch effort to save the monarch butterfly, scientists in Mexico want to relocate an entire forest 1,000 feet up a mountain.
In an era where the legions of homeless are at best tolerated, residents in Kingman, Ariz., have embraced an eccentric man they call "Santa James" like a long-lost friend.
The photographer's challenge is to capture revealing moments that define a life. A Times photographer explains how he shot one last portrait of an eccentric character in Kingman, Ariz., known as Santa James.
Belly dancers from all over make the pilgrimage to Cairo for a custom costume made by Eman Zaki, the Coco Chanel of belly dance.
Vintage Volkswagen Buses have become hot collectors' items, fetching record prices. But some California fans fear the cars may lose their free-spirit mystique.
A vintage VW Bus is a headache to own, but its aura makes the trouble worth it. Just ask the author, who gets stares, waves and smiles when he drives his.
Many have stories of Vicks VapoRub from childhood, but among many Latinos the gooey salve is close to legendary. There are poems, essays, video spoofs, rap songs, scenes in Latino-themed TV shows — tributes to what some consider the cure-all remedy.
A Times reporter discovers that her family's devotion to Vicks VapoRub as a cure-all is shared by Latinos all over. There's a fond and funny connection with "Vivaporú" from L.A. to Miami to New York, shared by many Central Americans, Mexicans, Cubans and Dominicans.
Nguoi Viet Daily News enters its 41st year as witness to Little Saigon’s evolution. It faces new challenges than those that confronted its founder, my father.
Visiting Platform Holly meant taking the prerequisite safety class, donning fire-resistant coveralls and practicing on a rope swing used for jumping between a ship and the platform.
What to do with an old oil platform along the California coast? Among the options: reconfiguring it for alternative energy production, turning it into a marine sanctuary, or severing the rig from the seafloor and removing it entirely.
For those who seek the Iraqi desert truffle — and many do, sometimes at the risk of their lives — finding it means nothing less than a quest for treasure, one that mixes equal parts timing, superstition and danger.
Since 2017, animal rights activists have made it their mission Sunday and Wednesday nights to give water, and comfort, to pigs headed to slaughter in Vernon.
I didn't get to meet Eduardo Hernandez, but did meet his family after his death. They revealed a profound story about forgiveness, legacy and what matters most when you’re about to die.


86 of Honolulu, HI passed away on Oct. 6, 2017. She is survived by Son: Ricky Daughters: Lynne (Gary) Fujita- Chung, Linda Murakami, Dianne Fujita. 5 Grandchildren & 2 Great Grandchildren. Sister: Florence (Richard) Furushima. Visitation 10:00 a.m.; Services 11:00 a.m. on Friday November 24, 2017 at Mililani Morturary - Downtown Chapel. Burial at 10:30 a.m. Saturday Nov. 25th at Mililani Memorial Park.


Have any resources to share? Or do you need help preparing for cold weather? Discuss it here.
Have any resources to share? Or do you need help preparing for cold weather? Discuss it here. Comment below using your Facebook account.


The liberal media has swallowed whole the Islamic pose of victimhood, despite years of religion-based terror attacks, honor killings, direct declarations of hostility toward Western values and the frightening effects of decades of Muslim immigration in Europe. The TLC example represents an escalation in America of propaganda efforts.
But even the powerful media machine cannot cover up evil entirely, try though it may. The frequent murders and terror attacks in the name of Allah become hard to disguise after a while.
In the case of the TLC divers-a-thon, viewers responded negatively to what was clearly a biased account of Muslims residing in America that could have come from the Riyadh desk of CAIR.
Helpfully, the Florida Family Association sent members and friends an explanatory article about the show and asked them to contact sponsors with words of disapproval, which appears to have had the desired effect.
Below, TLC has portrayed Muslims residing in America as wholesome, cheerful and very concerned with hijab styles.
“All-American Muslim,” a new program on The Learning Channel that is being touted as a “powerful series” that carries viewers “inside the rarely seen world of American Muslims,” is being dropped by advertisers.
Critics say the program is nothing more than video jihad propaganda, and the Florida Family Association says it is contacting companies whose advertising appears on the show to ask them to quit. So far, 18 of 20 companies contacted have done so, the group said.
The organization said that among the companies that initially supported the program, but later did not have any advertising aired, were Airborne Vitamin, Amway, Diamond Foods, Dyson Vacuum, Estee Lauder, HTC Phones, Home Depot, McDonald’s, Petsmart, Pfizer, Sears, Sonic, T-Mobil and Wal-Mart.
The Florida group said it sent out an email alert to constituents only a week ago, who then contacted the sponsors.
“This scene would appear to be damage control for the Dearborn [Mich.] police who have arrested numerous Christians including several former Muslims for peacefully preaching Christianity,” the association report said.
“Dearborn police falsely arrested Nabeel Qureshi and Paul Rezkalla in 2010 and Sudanese Christian Pastor George Saieg in 2009 for preaching Christianity at the annual Arab International Festival,” the report said.
The association’s suggested message from consumers to sponsors said the show is trying to manipulate Americans into ignoring the threat of jihad and Shariah, which is Islamic religious law.
The report said Dearborn, the site of the biggest mosque in North America, is one of the most densely populated Muslim communities in the United States. In recent years, it has gained national attention for taking a pro-Muslim stance and for the arrest and intimidation of Christian evangelists for engaging in protected speech activity, the report said.
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm, has handled several legal disputes over the arrests of those individuals.
“But Americans aren’t suspicious of Muslims who are trying to get married, open clubs, and play football. Americans are suspicious of Muslims who are trying to blow up American buildings, subvert American freedoms, and assert the primacy of Islamic law over American law. The problem people have with Islam is not with every Muslim person. It is with Islam’s teachings of violence against and the subjugation of unbelievers. It is with the supremacist ideology and the fervent believers in those noxious doctrines of warfare and subjugation,” the report said….


The stunning vistas and colorful creatures in Mulaka are born from the myths and folklore of the Tarahumara people in northwestern Mexico. But it was a challenge for indie developer Lienzo, since it only had an oral tradition to go on. It had to dream up all the designs while still remaining faithful to Tarahumara legend. Mulaka will launch in 2018 for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
The first episode of Lienzo’s behind-the-scenes video series explored who the Tarahumara are and why the studio was inspired to create a game around their culture. This second episode investigates the creative process of crafting a world from nothing more than just verbal stories passed through the community for generations.
“So we had to seek inspiration in who they are as people, in their colors, in their attire, in their ways of living,” said Lienzo’s art director Daniel Gutiérrez.
Above: The Rusíwari, a rock surrounded by a soul, is one of the creatures from Tarahumara myth.
Lienzo built its visual interpretations on a few Tarahumara concepts. For instance, the culture traditionally believes that everything in nature has a soul. Humans have multiple souls — men have three, and women have four. Both of these details found their way into the game. One of the creatures in Mulaka is a floating rock that’s surrounded by a kind of spirit or aura. And when the eponymous hero is injured, one of his three souls is ripped from his body.
The studio couldn’t include all Tarahumara mythology into the game, but Lienzo cofounder and director Edgar Serrano says that it found other ways to include the bits that didn’t necessarily fit with the main story.


At long last, I can take some pride in my provincial government’s stand on climate change. These are very exciting times; congratulations to all who helped play a part.
Finally, we are doing something good on the carbon situation. It’s late, but it’s a start.
Premier Rachel Notley is to be congratulated for this unprecedented effort; having representatives from the oil industry and environmentalists on stage with and backing her plan is a huge achievement.
The opposition can continue with the old, tired line that change is impossible and will doom us forever. There are 4.164 million reasons — one for every Albertan — why the status quo is unacceptable.
I would have preferred the tax begin in 2016, but I accept that waiting until 2017 will give those most directly affected time to plan.
As a now-transplanted, longtime Alberta conservative, I can’t resist an “I told you so” on the Alberta NDP election victory and the party’s climate-change plan. Get out your wallets, Albertans, and taste what your socialist party is really all about: taking your money and destroying your jobs.
Rational thinking, never a strong suit with the left, is the victim. When citizens pay governments more money, citizens have less to spend. When they have less to spend, fewer employees are required for the products and services they may have purchased. When fewer employees are required, unemployment increases, alongside crime statistics.
Now add coal workers to that unemployment line. Remember that China commissions about 100 coal-fired power plants annually. That is taking one for the global team!
Enjoy the outcomes of your psychotic break last election and learn from this for the next 3½ years and counting.
Instead of having everybody and their dog paying for this sheer lunacy, only those who voted for Premier Rachel Notley’s party should be responsible for paying the piper.
One wonders how many would admit that they had indeed cast their vote for people whose economic irresponsibility can only bring Alberta — and the rest of the country — to ruin. Couched in the politically correct clichés of an ideology that has been failing all over the world, these people run roughshod over everything and anything that makes sense, including basic laws of economics.
The climate-change plan speaks of achieving its objective by 2030. Let us hope that by that time, Ms. Notley and her crowd will be a long-forgotten footnote in Alberta’s political history.
How ironic that our premier announces taxes that will hurt a lot of people, then jets off to meet with Justin Trudeau and later a luxury trip to Paris, all at a time when Alberta food bank usage is up the most in Canada.
This commenter is obviously a residential landlord whose nose was out of joint about potential legislation allowing a woman who was in a serious domestic abuse situation to break her rental agreement, without penalty, to flee the situation.
I do agree the landlord should not be held solely responsible for the lost revenue that might result; however, this particular landlord took off on a rant about the NDP government. No mention was made of the fact that for 44 years, we had a government that primarily served landlords and the corporate sector, while totally ignoring the issue of domestic abuse. A far more creditable case could have been made had she commended the NDP for having the intestinal fortitude to address the issue, then proposed an effective and fair way of resolving it.
According to CP Rail CEO and U.S. citizen Hunter Harrison, the headquarters of the proposed Canadian Pacific/Norfolk Southern Railway will probably not be in Canada.
Is this the “last spike” in the U.S. takeover of our country? Sir John A. Macdonald called the building of the CPR our “national dream,” as it opened the West and united our nation from Atlantic to Pacific. Thousands came from across the seas to realize their dream of living in a free and safe land. Entire cities and towns today owe their existence to the CPR.
Why are there still calls to bring in Syrian refugees by Dec. 31 when this does not allow time for proper security and background checks? I am for the refugee influx, but only after thorough checks are completed.
The thought of fast-tracking applications when many refugees have no identification at all rankles at a time when I, as a Canadian-born citizen, am still waiting for my PAL (possession and acquisition licence for firearms) after more than three months.
It takes time to properly screen potential refugees, not to mention all the manpower and millions of dollars needed for ongoing surveillance after their arrival. One of my freedoms is to feel safe in my own country, and fast-tracking threatens to take that freedom away.
Edmonton will soon be one of many cities asked to support and welcome some 1,500 Syrian refugees. They will need a staging place until paperwork and security checks are done, and until homes are found and they get oriented on how things work in our country. We should take advantage of this one-off event to get the old downtown remand centre back up and running specifically for this purpose.
We have a safe, secure facility that is waiting to be used. So rather than spending on temporary accommodations, use that money to get the centre up and running initially for this purpose. Afterward, we can turn the facility over to Homeward Trust Edmonton, and they along with groups such as The Bissell Centre and Hope Mission can use it toward ending homelessness. Then we can change the building’s name to the Welcome Centre.
Irresponsible owners are to blame for vicious dog attacks as any animal can become aggressive without proper training and supervision. These owners have ruined their animals, making them anti-social and letting them think they are in charge. Typical victims, meanwhile, are defenceless.


With his future as the nation's top prosecutor in doubt after a week of blistering public scorn from President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions acknowledged Thursday that the criticism was "kind of hurtful."
In an interview with Fox News aired Thursday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Sessions was asked whether Trump's comments about him were fair.
"Well, umm it's kind of hurtful but the president of the United States is a strong leader," he said, according to transcripts of the remarks. "He is determined to move this country in the direction that he believes it needs to go to make it great again. And he has had a lot of criticism and he's steadfast determined to get his job done, and he wants all of us to do our job. And that's what I intend to do."
Sessions forged ahead Thursday with a tough-on-crime agenda that once endeared him to Trump, opening a mission in El Salvador to step up international cooperation against the violent street gang MS-13.
Sessions arrived in San Salvador for a series of meetings with law enforcement officials about a transnational anti-gang task force aimed against MS-13. He planned to meet his Salvadoran counterpart as well as an ex-gang member, and tour a prison.
Back in Washington, lawmakers sized up the fallout over a week of public scorn heaped on Sessions by his boss, Trump, even as the White House suggested the president prefers that his attorney general stay on the job. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Thursday that there would be "holy hell" to pay if Trump were to fire Sessions, a former Alabama senator and early Trump supporter.
Sessions told The Associated Press Thursday that he'll continue to serve as long as the president wants him to.
Sessions told AP in El Salvador that Trump has every right to find another attorney general. He says: "I serve at the pleasure of the president. I've understood that from the day I took the job."
As the Trump administration tries to build support for its crackdown on illegal immigration, it has increasingly tried to make the gang with Central American ties the face of the problem. Recent killings tied to its members have stoked the U.S. debate on immigration.
Trump praised Sessions when Sessions announced his mission to eradicate the gang in April. But the attorney general has since fallen out of favor with his onetime political ally.
In day after day of publicly humiliating Sessions, Trump said he rued his decision to choose Sessions for his Cabinet. Trump's intensifying criticism has fueled speculation that the attorney general may step down even if the president stops short of firing him. But Sessions is showing no outward signs that he is planning to quit, and on Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that Trump "wants him to lead the department."
"Look, you can be disappointed in someone and still want them to continue to do their job," she said.
MS-13 is an international criminal enterprise with tens of thousands of members in several Central American countries and many U.S. states. The gang originated in immigrant communities in Los Angeles in the 1980s then entrenched itself in Central America when its leaders were deported.
Its members have been accused in a spate of bloodshed that included the massacre of four young men in a Long Island, New York, park and the killing of a suspected gang rival inside a deli. The violence has drawn attention from members of Congress and Trump, who has boasted about efforts to arrest and deport MS-13 members across the United States.
Officials in El Salvador, as well as Guatemala and Honduras, have expressed concern about increased deportations of the gangsters back to their countries. Transnational gangs such as MS-13 already are blamed for staggering violence in those so-called Northern Triangle countries.
Thursday's trip was planned before Trump's broadsides against his attorney general, and it remains to be seen whether his work in El Salvador will help mend their fractured relationship. Their shared view, rare among the American political class, that illegal immigration was the nation's most vexing problem was what united Sessions and Trump.