When it comes to the ratings for Super Bowl XLVI, the numbers were appropriately giant.
According to the Nielsen fast nationals released on Monday afternoon, the New York Giants’ victory over the New England Patriots was seen by 111.3 million total viewers, edging out last year’s match-up (which drew an even 111 million) to become the most-watched television program in U.S. history.
With a 47.0 overnight rating and a 71 share (up 2 percent from Super Bowl XLV), this year’s Big Game stands as the highest-rated Super Bowl since 1986 (when the Bears played the Patriots).
As for the Season 2 premiere The Voice that led out of the Super Bowl: It averaged 37.6 million total viewers and a 16.3 demo rating, making it the highest-rated entertainment program in six years (since Grey’s Anatomy‘s own apres-Super Bowl outing). What’s more, The Voice improved on Glee‘s year-ago post-Super Bowl showcase by 47 percent in the 18-49 demo, and was up 1 percent versus the rating Undercover Boss pulled in the plum spot in 2012.


Trick-or-treating is done for the year, kids have collected their bags of loot, and parents everywhere are plotting to lighten those loads of treats. Halloween treats can put big smiles on the faces of children and give parents nightmares. Parents these days worry less about the random psychotic person putting poison or razors in the candy than they do about the sheer amount of sugar their child will be consuming over the next few weeks.
Epidemics of obesity, attention deficit disorders, and food allergies have made parents much more conscious of what their children are consuming on a day to day basis. Some studies have shown that some food substances, like sugar, can actually be addictive and habit forming. Any parent who has been chased through the house by a child begging, cajoling, or bargaining for just “one more” Halloween treat would probably find that conclusion to be a no-brainer. More and more events are being celebrated with food, mostly sweet treats, but none of them approach the sheer volume of Halloween. The treats collected from Halloween can fill entire pillow cases, and if doled out judiciously, can last until nearly Easter. Unfortunately, judicious distribution of Halloween treats is extremely difficult. Halloween treats constitute a draw that is almost impossible to disregard.
There are many creative options now available for parents who are looking to find ways to part their children from some of the treats they’ve collected on Halloween. The Switch Witch is a popular option. The Switch Witch comes in the days following Halloween and trades treats for a desired toy or other gift. Some dentists offer to trade Halloween treats for dental care accouterments such as toothbrushes and toothpaste. Other dentists are taking donations of the treats to send to military personnel deployed overseas. The whole gist is to lessen the amount of candy children have at their disposal. There’s another movement that is gaining ground that can reduce the amount of treats kids are bringing home on Halloween.
The Teal Pumpkin Project is a new tradition that was started by the Food Allergy Research and Education foundation. With roughly one in 13 kids suffering from life threatening food allergies to what are collectively known as the top eight (milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, shellfish, fish and wheat), this is a way for these children to participate in the fun of Trick-Or-Treating without being at risk for a life threatening allergic reaction.
This movement can benefit so many more than just those that suffer from allergies. Juvenile diabetes is increasing in prevalence, along with children who don’t tolerate food dyes, or have gluten intolerances. The list of children who can’t have candy grows ever longer. Add to that the parents who are just tired of fighting to keep the sugary Halloween treats to a minimum, and you have a great second option. It doesn’t have to be bad options. In days past, the only alternatives to candy were fruit or pencils, and kids weren’t all that interested. Now, an abundance of inexpensive and attractive options exist. Glow stick bracelets, stickers, rainbow bands, trading cards, the options are endless. Food alternatives don’t detract from the fun of Halloween. They can actually enhance the experience for kids who aren’t able to indulge in typical Halloween treats, or for those who will wind up trading half their treats for something else anyway.


AUGUSTA, Ga. – A federal judge ordered a young woman charged with leaking classified U.S. documents to remain jailed until her trial after prosecutors argued Thursday she might possess more stolen government secrets.
Wearing an orange jumpsuit and leg shackles, Winner pleaded not guilty in U.S. district court to charges that she illegally retained and transmitted national defense information. The federal crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if she's convicted.
Authorities haven't described the report or named the news outlet. But the Justice Department announced Winner's arrest Monday as The Intercept reported it had obtained a classified National Security Agency report suggesting Russian hackers attacked a U.S. voting software supplier before last year's presidential election. The NSA report was dated May 5, the same as the document Winner is charged with leaking.
Prosecutors warned U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Epps that Winner might have more stolen secrets. Solari said investigators have learned Winner inserted a portable hard drive in a top-secret Air Force computer before she left the military last year. She said authorities don't know what happened to the drive or what was on it.
Solari said Winner's laptop also contained software that could enable her to access online black-markets and buy items -- such as a fake ID or passport -- without revealing her identity or location.
"We don't know how much more she knows and how much more she remembers," Solari said. "But we do know she's very intelligent. So she's got a lot of valuable information in her head."
Winner's mother and stepfather told the judge she had no criminal history and they would use their 20-acre home in Kingsville, Texas, to finance her bond with confidence she would never run.
"Because my client is a millennial and she knows how to use technology, that's somehow proof of evil intent," said Titus Nichols, Winner's defense attorney. "The government is scraping and clawing to build a mountain out of a molehill."
"Whether that's a jest or not, it still concerns me," Epps said.
An FBI affidavit says Winner confessed to copying and mailing the classified report when agents searched her home Saturday. They seized items including cellphones, computers and Winner's passport.


InterOil (NYSE: IOC) reported earnings on May 13. Here are the numbers you need to know.
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), InterOil beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.
Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded. GAAP earnings per share shrank significantly.
InterOil tallied revenue of $350.3 million. The two analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $309.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.
EPS came in at $0.08. The two earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted -$0.12 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.08 for Q1 were 58% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.19 per share.
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $255.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.07.
Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.69 billion. The average EPS estimate is -$0.38.
The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 276 members out of 613 rating the stock outperform, and 337 members rating it underperform. Among 189 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 52 give InterOil a green thumbs-up, and 137 give it a red thumbs-down.
Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on InterOil is outperform, with an average price target of $100.00.
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The government has directed all universities and higher educational institutions across the country to ensure that no fees payments are made by students in cash mode from the upcoming academic session.
New Delhi: The government has directed all universities and higher educational institutions across the country to ensure that no fees payments are made by students in cash mode from the upcoming academic session. The HRD Ministry has asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to issue necessary advisory to all higher educational institutions that all monetary transactions should be done using digital modes of payment.
"All receipts and payments related to the functioning of the institutions including student fees, exam fees, vendor payments and salary/wage payments shall be made 'only' through online or digital modes," the directive sent to university heads said.
"For all students' service in the hostels, digital mode should be used for all transactions. All canteens and business establishments on the campus may be encouraged to resort to only digital modes for their receipts and payments using the BHIM app by linking their bank accounts with Aadhaar," it added.
The varsities have been asked to identify all transactions being carried out in cash currently and find ways for replacing them with digital modes.
The government has also asked the varsities to appoint a nodal officer for the purpose and send a monthly report to the UGC.


Accra, March 30, GNA - The Management of the Accra Training College on Tuesday appealed to the Government to as a matter of urgency, intervene on the school's behalf and reclaim its land from encroachers. The Management alleged that encroachers, with the support of the chief and people of Mempehuasem in the Madina area in Accra, had now taken over 68.8 hectares of the 91 hectares on the School's land that was acquired by the Government-Executive Instrument (EI 72) in 1972 for the College. The Management said the School was currently occupying a land area of 20 hectares, which it said, was woefully inadequate for urgent expansion works.
Mr Abu Bakar Wallace, Principal of the College, who took the press round the land, said the encroachment situation had become so serious that all expansion works had to be halted until a proper negotiation was arrived at between the Chief and the school authorities. He mentioned that the school needed to expand its boarding facilities introduced three years ago, as well as build a new library complex, an ICT centre, a distant learning centre and a demonstration school for its interns.
The Principal described the situation as very alarming, adding, "the tempo of constructional activities going on as to be found around the Ghana Book Trust and opposite the Institute of Professional Studies was so high that soon, the College would lose all its undeveloped land to private individuals to the disadvantage of the College and, therefore, the nation". Mr Wallace urged the Government to intervene so that a peaceful compromise with the people could be reached by either giving them some percentage of the land "so that the college can continue with its educational activities peacefully".
The Vice-Principal of the College, Mrs Christiana Bampo-Heneku said the School's oil palm plantation from where palm nuts were harvested for the school's kitchen had also been encroached upon and burnt. She, therefore, called on the Government through the Ghana Education Service, to restore the school's land to it. During the rounds, media practitioners observed that different portions of the undeveloped College land had been demarcated with pillars. Journalists also saw that the land had been sold to private developers, who had started putting up structures on the College land.


Ever since it was announced back in February, Baz Luhrmann’s new Netflix show The Get Down has been laying down a steady stream of casting notices in an effort to build up interest in the project, a fictionalized re-telling of the history of punk and hip-hop in ’70s New York. But while some announcements have been met with mild approval—hey, Jimmy Smits—and others less so—hey, Jaden Smith—the show’s cast of mostly young newcomers hasn’t managed to generate much name recognition or passion. That might be about to change, though, as certified A.V. Club hero and Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito has signed on to the project, playing a fiery preacher who’s the brother of Smits’ well-connected political boss.
Besides his star-making turn as chicken impresario and dapper supervillain Gustavo Fring on Vince Gilligan’s critical monster, Esposito has had a long and storied career, including a role in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, which shares its Brooklyn setting with Luhrmann’s show. Esposito will be playing the role of Father Ramon Cruz, whose charismatic sermons and firm leadership bring him into conflict with his disco-star-wannabe daughter, Mylene.
Besides The Get Down, Esposito has a number of projects in the works, including roles in the upcoming Maze Runner sequel and Disney’s live-action Jungle Book. He’s also consented to be part of Hollywood’s long-running James Franco Humoring Project, appearing in the actor-director’s latest filmic exhibit of Southern accents, The Long Home.


"Invasion day" rally organiser Tarneen Onus-Williams does not apologise for saying she hoped Australia would ''burn to the ground" but says her words should not be taken literally.
Ms Onus-Williams stood on the steps of Victoria's Parliament on Australia Day in front of thousands of people and told the crowd: "F--- Australia, hope it burns to the ground."
"All you fellas in your Australian flags should be ashamed of yourselves."
Ms Onus-Williams, 24, has since moved to clarify her comments and said her words were a metaphor for the political system in Australia that continued "to ignore and oppress" Aboriginal people.
"It's been an emotional day and it was a strong statement, but I am not going to apologise for it,” Ms Onus-Williams who identifies as a Yigar Gunditjmara and Bindal woman said.
“I don't have all the answers of what is going to liberate us. I just know the current system isn't working. Since colonisation nothing has worked for blackfellas on this land."
Ms Onus-Williams was an early member of ongoing treaty talks in Victoria.
She was appointed in 2016 to the Victorian Aboriginal Treaty Working Group, as a nomination of the Koorie Youth Council, but is no longer involved in the treaty process, which was set up between Aboriginals and the Andrews government.
Ms Onus-Williams is an executive member of the youth council, which is funded by the state government and promoted Friday’s protest organised by the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance.
She is also a descendant of acclaimed Indigenous artist Lin Onus and renowned Aboriginal activist William Townsend Onus.
Ms Onus-Williams said she understood her comments may have caused offence, but did not want them to draw attention away from the estimated 60,000 people who flooded the streets of Melbourne's CBD in solidarity with Aboriginal people.
"It was the biggest protest for Aboriginal people since the 1970s and I am just so proud of our community and of everybody else who came out with us today," Ms Onus-Williams said.
"I would hate my comments to deflect from that."
Many of the marchers dressed in black to symbolise the mourning felt by the Indigenous community.
Friday marked 230 years since the establishment of a British colony in Australia and the demonstration remembered the 80th anniversary of the first "day of mourning" in 1938, when Aboriginal people walked in silence to protest the "callous treatment of our people by the white man".
A spokesman for Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said while everyone had the right to express their view it should always be done peacefully.
"That’s one of the great things about our democracy and what we celebrate on Australia Day," he said.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy, however, said Ms Onus-Williams’ words were a ''disgrace''.
He also attacked the Greens and Labor for opposing celebrating the day on January 26, although Buninyong MP Geoff Howard is the only member of the Andrews government who has said publicly that the date should change.
“The Greens and Labor left-wing opposition to Australia Day is an example of just how out of touch these people are with mainstream Australians,” Mr Guy said.
The organisers of the 'Invasion Day' rally have been contacted for comment.


Paul M. Weyrich, the conservative thinker and strategist whose iron principles, articulate fervor and organization-building skills were instrumental in propelling the right wing of the Republican Party to power and prominence in the 1980s and ’90s, died Thursday. He was 66 and lived in Fairfax, Va.
Lee Edwards, a friend of Mr. Weyrich’s for four decades and a distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation, the conservative research group that Mr. Weyrich helped found, confirmed the death, at a hospital in Northern Virginia. The family did not release a cause, Mr. Edwards said, but Mr. Weyrich had many health problems, including diabetes. His legs were amputated at the knee in 2005, and he had broken his back in a fall some years earlier.
A writer, a lobbyist and an organizer on behalf of conservative causes and especially social conservatism, Mr. Weyrich (pronounced WY-rick) was one of the far right’s most unbending ideologues. He was widely credited with coining the phrase “moral majority” as a rallying label for social conservatives. It became the name of the religion-based political organization that was led by the Rev. Jerry Falwell.
A deacon in the ultra-conservative Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Mr. Weyrich openly fused his faith and his politics.
For more than a quarter of a century, Mr. Weyrich was one of the Republican Party’s leading antagonists from the right. President Ronald Reagan, he said, had overemphasized economic issues and kept social issues “on the back burner,” as he wrote on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times in 1984.
In 1989, he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the first President Bush’s nominee for secretary of defense, John G. Tower, was unqualified for the post because he was a drinker and a womanizer, issues that eventually doomed the nomination. More recently, he accused the current President Bush of profligate domestic spending, and he was a critic of the Iraq war, asserting that a war conducted to spread democracy rather than to protect vital national interests deviated from conservative principles.
Perhaps more than anything, Mr. Weyrich was a nondeviator in his unswerving faith in small government, free-market economics, the right to life and the sanctity of the family. One possible exception: as a lifelong train enthusiast, he was an ardent advocate of government support for Amtrak.
Mr. Weyrich started the Heritage Foundation, a Washington research organization whose express aim is to influence Congress, in 1973 with Ed Feulner, helped by $250,000 from the Colorado beer magnate Joseph Coors. Both he and Mr. Feulner were Congressional aides at the time.
It was Mr. Weyrich’s conviction in making such sweeping statements — and the prickly, impatient, let’s-get-it-done manner with which he did business — that made him an architect of the conservative movement of the last part of the 20th century.
Richard A. Viguerie, the conservative direct-mail pioneer, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Weyrich was the least known of the four pillars of modern conservatism, the others being Barry Goldwater, William F. Buckley Jr. and Ronald Reagan.
Paul Michael Weyrich was born in Racine, Wis., on Oct. 7, 1942. His father, Ignatius, was a German immigrant who worked for 50 years stoking the furnace in a Catholic hospital and who raised his son to treat religious and political matters alike with deep seriousness.
Mr. Weyrich attended the University of Wisconsin but did not graduate, supporting himself at first as a reporter for television and radio and at The Milwaukee Sentinel. He eventually became the news director for KQXI in Denver, and from there he went to Washington as an aide to Senator Gordon Allott, a conservative from Colorado.
A year or so later, Mr. Weyrich attended a meeting of aides to Congressional liberals that was also attended by lawyers, lobbyists and Brookings Institute fellows. What he witnessed was a revelation, he said. The subject of the meeting was President Richard M. Nixon’s failure to move forward on fair housing legislation.
From that moment on, he said, he devoted himself to creating the same system for the right.
Mr. Weyrich’s survivors include his wife of 45 years, Joyce; two daughters, Dawn and Diana, and three sons, Peter, Stephen and Andrew.
David D. Kirkpatrick contributed reporting.


Knox County Schools is reviewing a "communications breakdown" around a report of school violence, including whether there will be disciplinary action.
Knox County Schools is reviewing a communications breakdown around a reported threat of school violence, including whether the principal will face disciplinary action for failure to report it to authorities, according to the superintendent.
"There is going to be accountability for not following the protocol," Superintendent Bob Thomas told USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee on Tuesday.
In the interview,Thomas said there was a "breakdown in communication" between law enforcement and school officials about the threat that led to delays in police being able to investigate.
Authorities ultimately determined there was no immediate threat to safety, but the incident exposed problems with the school safety system, including law enforcement using a wrong phone number for the schools security chief and the recent breakdown of Text-a-Tip, a text messaging system the public can use to report threats to school safety.
What's protocol for reporting threats?
Thomas said the proper protocol for how to handle threats of school violence was not followed. Specifically, Holston Middle School Principal Kathryn Lutton should have reported the threat to the school resource officer.
When asked if she will face any disciplinary action, Thomas said, "All of this is under review. There is going to be accountability for not following the protocol."
The USA TODAY NETWORK -Tennessee has asked Knox County Schools for copies of relevant policies and protocols but they were not immediately made available Tuesday.
Lutton declined to comment and deferred questions to the district's central office.
"My school has been at the forefront of this but this situation doesn't just encompass our school," she said. "It's a district-wide issue."
The USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee is not identifying the name of the boy who allegedly made the threat, but documents from the Knoxville Police Department show two girls in the school had reported that he was talking about bringing a gun to school on Feb. 15.
The girls reported that to Lutton, who phoned the boy's mother that afternoon and arranged to meet with her in the morning.
Meanwhile, law enforcement who had independently learned of the threat were conducting their own investigation and were unable to reach school security officials.
Normally, a principal would be required to immediately report a threat to law enforcement, the school resource officer and the superintendent's office, but Thomas said Tuesday that didn't happen.
He said he didn't have a date for when the protocol was last reviewed with school principals.
"They have been reminded and there have been trainings, but obviously if someone’s not following it we’re not doing something right," he said. "That's something I'm going to deal with. Have there been other occasions? I'm not going to say there haven't been.
"We try to stress that law enforcement is our partner and as a principal you need to make sure you notify the school resource officer, law enforcement of any situation like this so that it can be handled properly."
Any and every threat received by school staff is to be submitted to either the school resource officer or law enforcement officials, said KCS Chief Operating Officer Russ Oaks.
“The first thing you want to do is take two or three minutes to gather all the information you can from whatever source you’ve got," he said. "And then the requirement (states) you have to immediately turn around and report to your school resource officer or your corrective school security officer or law enforcement and then at that point they’ll make decisions (from there)."
Oaks said the policy governing those decisions are part of the district’s school safety plan which is reviewed annually. It was last reviewed last summer, he said.
School officials are scheduled to meet Wednesday with the Knoxville Police Department and Knoxville Sheriff's Office to review the breakdown and discuss security moving forward.
A handful of parents interviewed outside Holston Middle School Tuesday said they were unaware of the situation, including both the original threat as well as the communications breakdown.
Michael Drew, who said he heard about it from a co-worker Tuesday morning, said the district should act more quickly in notifying parents of threats of violence. He was at school around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, an hour before the dismissal time, because he said he was concerned about his daughter.
"I got a message yesterday about it being an in-service day yesterday, but I didn’t hear nothing about the threat from Thursday and I thought that was kind of weird and strange," Drew said.
"You have to take threats like that real serious, especially with what’s happening all over the country in schools."
Sarah Wilson, whose granddaughter is in the eighth grade, also said she hadn't heard of the threat or the breakdown. In the past she said parents have received an "all call" when a threat is reported.
"It concerns me that they weren’t able to get a hold of anybody," she said upon learning of the situation. "We’ve had several threats at this school in the last three years since we’ve been here. It really frightens the children. It upsets them for the whole day. Parents have to drop their kids off right in the middle of it. It's a bad situation."
The threat was reported last Thursday, the same day a 19-year-old former student shot and killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“Our law enforcement agencies must have immediate and dependable access to Knox County School security and leadership, and any breakdown in that communication is unacceptable; the safety of our students is too important," Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett said in a statement.
Members of the Knox County Schools Board of Education said Monday the district has taken proactive measures in school security and they would await a district review of safety plans before considering any changes or updates in the wake of yet another school shooting.
School board member Terry Hill said Tuesday she could not comment on the communications breakdown other than to say that it raises questions about security in Knox County Schools.
"Of course it does," she said. "I can assure you it is being investigated and will be corrected. No breach is acceptable."
Hill said she was made aware of it "after the fact" but did not recall whether she knew about the breakdown during her discussion with a reporter Monday.
"It raises several questions but beyond that I don't know the answer to any of those at this point," said board member Mike McMillan. "I think right now it would be premature for me to comment too much until I have more information."
USA TODAY NETWORK- Tennessee reporter Tyler Whetstone contributed to this report.


The ballots are in! While fashion has always had its politics, this year’s International Best-Dressed List includes Barack and Michelle Obama, Michael Bloomberg and Diana Taylor, and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, alongside Hollywood stars (Brad Pitt, Penélope Cruz, Daniel Craig), royals (H.R.H. Princess Letizia of Asturias), and businessmen (Arpad Busson, Alejandro Santo Domingo), among others. Now it’s your chance to get in on the vote. Which outfit looks best on today’s honoree? Plus: See photos of everyone who made the best-dressed roster.
Based in London and Hampshire, England, Nicky Haslam is a “professional interior designer, amateur architect, fledgling cabaret singer, and author” (his words) who names Mark Ronson, King Stanislas of Poland, and Lucian Freud as his style icons. He says he likes dressing both up and down, but he prefers buttons to cuff links (“Cuff links are aging and studs always look nouveau.”) His tailor is Anderson & Sheppard (“Natch”), and his shirtmaker is Schostal on the Via Condotti in Rome, which has clad the Italian aristocracy for 150 years. Look for him wearing a variety of shoes (“Swear for formal, Converse for casual, and R-Soles for boots”); two platinum triple Russian rings (“I hate gold on men”); Ray-Ban sunglasses (“White-frame for summer, black for winter”); and a wafter-tin vintage Cartier watch from 1964 (“The only year Piaget made watches for Cartier”). And his favorite clothing purchase of 2009? “A green shot-taffeta suit by Anthony Price that I wear when I sing,” he says.
Nicky Haslam at the Serpentine Gallery’s annual summer party at Kensington Gardens in London, July 2009. FromWWD.
At a private dinner at the Red October Chocolate Factory in Moscow, September 2008. By Billy Farrell/PatrickMcMullan.com.
At a cocktail party for the charity Best Buddies, in London, May 13, 2009. By Dave M. Benett/Getty Images.
At a party at Tini, in London, March 17. By Nick Harvey/wireimage.com.
At the Cartier International Polo day in Windsor, England, July 27, 2008. By Jon Furniss/wireimage.com.


With the strike of a gilded sledge hammer, the $46.5 million renovation of the Alley Theatre ceremoniously began at midday on the Hubbard Stage. Wearing a commemorative hard hat, Roger Plank, co-chair of the Extended Engagement Capital Campaign which includes cost of the renovation, took a swing at one of the stage columns and unexpectedly pulled off an entire side of sheetrock.
Applause sounded throughout the theater as Alley patrons, actors and fans celebrated the launch of the renovation which is set to transform the 52-year-old building into a state-of-the-art theater. With work expected to be completed by late August 2015, the company will perform in the interim at the University of Houston's Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre.
"When this theater was created, it was the state of the art at the time," said Gregory Boyd, Alley artistic director. "All these years later . . . what we're looking to do is to increase the focus between an actor and the audience member and trying to increase the breadth of who we consider the public we want to serve and what the story telling place is."
Joining Plank and Boyd on stage were Alley board chairman Jesse Marion, managing director Dean Gladden and major donors to the $73 million capital campaign including campaign co-chair Meredith Long plus Lynn Wyatt, Patty Hubbard, Mady and Ken Kades and Margaret Alkek Williams. The latter was singled out for her support of the theater with the naming of the renovated fourth floor of the theater the Margaret Alkek Williams Terrace Level.
Following photos, handshaking and congratulations all around, special guests adjourned to the Alley's 14th floor board room for a champagne luncheon where Gladden led the toasts to the Alley's future.
Those raising their glasses at the luncheon, in addition to those already mentioned, included Carroll Ray, C.C. Connor, company actors James Black and Todd Waite, Desrye Morgan, Linda Bertman, Greg Vesey, Richard Lowenstern, Steve Goodman and Kevin Ridgon.


FAIRHAVEN — A community blood drive will be held from 1:30-6:30 p.m. Monday at the Unitarian Memorial Church, 102 Green St.
The blood drive is a cooperative effort among the American Red Cross, George H. Taber Masonic Lodge and Unitarian Memorial Church. In return for donating a pint of blood, donors will receive a coupon for a pound of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.
Individuals who are at least 17 years of age (16 with parental permission), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. To schedule an appointment, call 1-800-RED CROSS or visit www.redcrossblood.org.
For more information, contact Richard C. Brodeur, blood drive chairman for the Taber Lodge, at (774) 263 5019, or brodeur.richard@gmail.com or Matthew R. Brodeur, the lodge's awareness officer, at (774) 263-5018 or matthewbrodeur@gmail.com.


Why Shouldn't We Celebrate Osama's Death?
And there are many martyrs.
All the good should count and not the evil.
But rather their help, so that they may cease their fury.
and that this peace may come also to the others.
. . . we might try to understand exactly what loving your neighbour as yourself means. I have to love him as I love myself. Well, how exactly do I love myself?
Now that I come to think of it, I have not exactly got a feeling of fondness or affection for myself, and I do not even always enjoy my own society. So apparently "Love your neighbour" does not mean "feel fond of him" or "find him attractive". I ought to have seen that before, because, of course, you cannot feel fond of a person by trying. Do I think well of myself, think myself a nice chap? Well I am afraid I sometimes do (and those are, no doubt, my worst moments) but that is not why I love myself. In fact it is the other way round: my self-love makes me think myself nice, but thinking myself nice is not why I love myself. So loving my enemies does not apparently mean thinking them nice either. That is an enormous relief. For a good many people imagine that forgiving your enemies means making out that they are really not such bad fellows after all, when it is quite plain that they are. Go a step further. In my most clear-sighted moments not only do I not think myself a nice man, but I know that I am a very nasty ones. I can look at some of the things I have done with horror and loathing. So apparently I am allowed to loathe and hate some of the things my enemies do. Now that I come to think of it, I remember Christian teachers telling me long ago that I must hate a bad man's actions, but not hate the bad man: or, as they would say, hate the sin but not the sinner.
For a long time I used to think this a silly, straw-splitting distinction: how could you hate what a man did and not hate the man? But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all of my life--namely myself. However much I might dislike my own cowardice or conceit or greed, I went on loving myself. There had never been the slightest difficulty about it. In fact the very reason why I hated the things was that I loved the man. Just because I loved myself, I was sorry to find that I was the sort of man who did those things. Consequently, Christianity does not want us to reduce by one atom the hatred we feel for cruelty and treachery. We ought to hate them. Not one word of what we have said about them needs to be unsaid. But it does want us to hate them in the same way in which we hate things in ourselves: being sorry that the man should have done such things, and hoping, if it is anyway possible, that somehow, sometime, somewhere he can be cured and made human again.
. . . I imagine somebody will say, 'Well, if one is allowed to condemn the enemy's acts, and punish him, and kill him, what difference is left between Christian morality and the ordinary view?' All the difference in the world. Remember, we Christians think man lives for ever. Therefore, what really matters is those little marks or twists on the central, inside part of the soul which are going to turn it, in the long run, into a heavenly or a hellish creature. We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy hating. We may punish if necessary, but we must not enjoy it... Even while we kill and punish we must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves - to wish that he were not so bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact, to wish his good. This is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him nor saying he is nice when he is not.
Up at one end of the hangar about a dozen men were lying in a row on the concrete floor. These, it was explained, were S.S. officers who had been segregated from the other prisoners. Among them was a man in dingy civilian clothes who was lying with his arm across his face and apparently asleep. He had strange and horribly deformed feet. The two of them were quite symmetrical, but they were clubbed out into an extraordinary globular shape which made them more like a horse's hoof than anything human. As we approached the group, the little Jew seemed to be working himself up into a state of excitement.
'That's the real swine!' he said, and suddenly he lashed out with his heavy army boot and caught the prostrate man a fearful kick right on the bulge of one of his deformed feet.
'Get up, you swine!' he shouted as the man started out of sleep, and then repeated something of the kind in German. The prisoner scrambled to his feet and stood clumsily to attention. With the same air of working himself up into a fury -- indeed he was almost dancing up and down as he spoke -- the Jew told us the prisoner's history. He was a 'real' Nazi: his party number indicated that he had been a member since the very early days, and he had held a post corresponding to a General in the political branch of the S.S. It could be taken as quite certain that he had had charge of concentration camps and had presided over tortures and hangings. In short, he represented everything that we had been fighting against during the past five years.
Meanwhile, I was studying his appearance. Quite apart from the scrubby, unfed, unshaven look that a newly captured man generally has, he was a disgusting specimen. But he did not look brutal or in any way frightening: merely neurotic and, in a low way, intellectual. His pale, shifty eyes were deformed by powerful spectacles. He could have been an unfrocked clergyman, an actor ruined by drink, or a spiritualist medium. I have seen very similar people in London common lodging houses, and also in the Reading Room of the British Museum. Quite obviously he was mentally unbalanced -- indeed, only doubtfully sane, though at this moment sufficiently in his right mind to be frightened of getting another kick. And yet everything that the Jew was telling me of his history could have been true, and probably was true! So the Nazi torturer of one's imagination, the monstrous figure against whom one had struggled for so many years, dwindled to this pitiful wretch, whose obvious need was not for punishment, but for some kind of psychological treatment.
Later, there were further humiliations. Another S.S. officer, a large brawny man, was ordered to strip to the waist and show the blood group number tattooed on his under-arm; another was forced to explain to us how he had lied about being a member of the S.S. and attempted to pass himself off as an ordinary soldier of the Wehrmacht. I wondered whether the Jew was getting any real kick out of this new-found power that he was exercising. I concluded that he wasn't really enjoying it, and that he was merely -- like a man in a brothel, or a boy smoking his first cigar, or a tourist traipsing round a picture gallery -- telling himself that he was enjoying it, and behaving as he had planned to behave in the days he was helpless.
It is absurd to blame any German or Austrian Jew for getting his own back on the Nazis. Heaven knows what scores this particular man may have had to wipe out; very likely his whole family had been murdered; and after all, even a wanton kick to a prisoner is a very tiny thing compared with the outrages committed by the Hitler regime. But what this scene, and much else that I saw in Germany, brought home to me was that the whole idea of revenge and punishment is a childish daydream. Properly speaking, there is no such thing as revenge. Revenge is an act which you want to commit when you are powerless and because you are powerless: as soon as the sense of impotence is removed, the desire evaporates also.
Who would not have jumped for joy, in 1940, at the thought of seeing S.S. officers kicked and humiliated? But when the thing becomes possible, it is merely pathetic and disgusting. It is said that when Mussolini's corpse was exhibited in public, an old woman drew a revolver and fired five shots into it, exclaiming, 'Those are for my five sons!' It is the kind of story that the newspapers make up, but it might be true. I wonder how much satisfaction she got out of those five shots, which, doubtless, she had dreamed years earlier of firing. The condition of her being able to get close enough to Mussolini to shoot at him was that he should be a corpse.
I don't really have anything else to add at this point; that's just what I've been thinking about over the last few days.


A man has been left seriously injured following a crash on a Doncaster road.
The 23-year-old was hurt when he was involved in a crash between a silver VW Golf travelling along Doncaster Road towards Barnburgh and a yellow Honda Civic travelling in the opposite direction.
The collision happened on Saturday, April 13, at 8.20pm.
In a statement, South Yorkshire Police said: “Officers are keen to speak to anybody who witnessed the collision or may have dash-cam footage of the vehicles prior to the collision.


MEXICO CITY – The mayor of a city in Durango state was among more than a dozen people murdered in Mexico in the past two days, officials said.
Manuel Estrada Escalante, mayor of the city of El Mezquital, was gunned down at a restaurant on Monday night.
The 34-year-old Estrada Escalante, a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, was buried on Tuesday.
At least six gunmen attacked the mayor and lawmaker Mariano Soto, who is listed in serious condition at a hospital, Mexican media reported.
Ramon Mendivil Sotelo, mayor of the city of Guadalupe y Calvo, was murdered last Thursday, Chihuahua state officials said.
A group of around 20 gunmen, meanwhile, killed 13 people, including five police officers, in a community in the southern state of Oaxaca, a municipal official said.
The gunmen went into two houses in the community of Vicente Camalote and killed eight people, including some children, Acatlan de Perez Figueroa Mayor Nicolas Villalva Arguello said.
The five police officers died when they went to help the victims and were met by gunfire, Villalva said.
The community of Vicente Camalote is in the Papaloapan Basin region, on the border with Veracruz state.
The Maciel and Hernandez families, who own the houses attacked by the gunmen, are well known in the region’s business community.
Initial reports said the gunmen fled in seven Hummers.
The bodies of four men killed execution-style were found Tuesday in Tampico, a port city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, police said.
A message was left on the bodies, but police did not reveal its content.
The bodies were found inside a house in the Infonavit Cañada neighborhood, which was cordoned off by army troops and police, prosecutor Norberto Montes said.
The bodies were taken to the coroner’s office, which will perform the autopsies, Montes said.
Officials in Tamaulipas have called for calm in the wake of rumors about shootouts that prompted parents to keep their children out of school.
The mayor of the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Ramon Garza Barrios, asked citizens Tuesday to stay calm amid rumors of acts of violence and curfews.
“I want to tell the people to be calm, that many rumors like this one have come out about crime in our city. We are in contact with federal authorities, with the army, with the state Attorney General’s Office, with all the police agencies, and we have not confirmed anything,” the mayor said.
Classes were suspended Tuesday for all grades in Nuevo Laredo due to rumors about shootouts.
The rumors also spread to other cities in the northern part of Tamaulipas, which borders Texas.
The Gulf cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations, operates in Tamaulipas.
Mexico’s drug cartels have been battling for control of the smuggling routes into the United States.
Mexico has been plagued in recent years by drug-related violence blamed on powerful cartels.
Last year, according to the El Universal newspaper, was the deadliest in Mexico in the past decade, with 7,724 people killed in violent incidents attributed to organized crime groups.


NIKKI Bardis came up with a clever solution for a common problem babies face — and mums are going crazy for it.
A VICTORIAN entrepreneur raked in $100,000 in 10 weeks after discovering a simple solution to a common problem faced by new mums — bald babies.
That’s right. Because babies spend so much time lying down, the friction caused by rubbing the backs of their heads against the bedding often causes hair loss.
Nikki Bardis came up with the solution — silk cot slips — and mums are going crazy for it. “Ask anybody that has a child, they’ve noticed bald spots,” the 34-year-old from Mount Eliza on the Mornington Peninsula said.
Ms Bardis, originally from Scotland, recalled that her grandmother swore by silk pillowcases — so she bought an adult one and tucked it into the bassinet as an experiment.
Silk pillowcases were growing in popularity — one Australian manufacturer is predicting sales of $50 million in the next few years — but Ms Bardis realised there was a gap in the market for a range just for babies and toddlers.
But the idea kept coming back to her.
After her second baby arrived, she began seriously considering the product. The 34-year-old had already seen success with her business Beach Candy, a line of Turkish beach towels, so had experience with textiles.
She sold Beach Candy last year and used the money to bootstrap her new business, SilkyTots. “It took me a lot of time to get on top of everything, a lot of sample runs to make sure everything was absolutely perfect,” she said.
Ms Bardis started by playing around with samples from her local Spotlight before trialling prototypes with Chinese factories.
SilkyTots finally launched in May this year. By August, 10 weeks later, she had amassed 5000 followers on Instagram and completely sold out of stock, with back orders for the $85 cot slips now piling up.
Ms Bardis has now done more than $120,000 in revenue and is on track to hit just over $500,000 in the first 12 months. That’s without factoring in US and UK expansion.
She credits the “mum market” word-of-mouth.
“Everyone wants what everyone else has and they all trust each other’s opinion,” she said.
SilkyTots also makes silk pillowcases for toddlers and children who get “matted, bird’s nest hair” and is moving into bedding, silk sheets and doona covers.
Ms Bardis said her message to any parents with an idea they think could solve a problem was simply that “you need to be confident, follow through and do something about it”.


We are looking for a Head of Department Geography Teacher to work at a popular mixed school located in West London to start ASAP on a Long term contract with the possibility of going permanent for the right candidate.
Geography is an intriguing and fascinating subject. If you have the knowledge and are keen to share this with young people then this teaching role in a popular secondary school will be of great interest.
You will be required to keep up-to-date with new trends and educational developments in the world of Geography and Humanities which should be used as a basis for your teaching. Your passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of the subject will help you lead the next generation of Geography experts.
The school offers a supportive environment and has a thriving Humanities department. As such Geography is a popular subject at this school Lessons are conducted in a positive environment where students are challenged and teachers strive to improve achievement levels.


Just days after his release from a VA hospital in Palo Alto, California, Army veteran Terry O'Hearn took his own life.
WASHINGTON, DC — Terry O'Hearn came into the world a fighter, his mother, Robin, says.
But after serving in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, she says, he changed.
"He wasn't as happy-go-lucky," she said. "He seemed to pull back from all of us."
O'Hearn battled post-traumatic stress disorder for years. In 2016, he put a homemade shotgun to his chest and fired. He survived, spending the next few weeks in a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Sacramento, California.
As her son recovered, Robin worried what he would do when he left the VA hospital. She says she begged the hospital to keep him. "He's isolated himself," she remembers saying. "Please do not let him go. Do not let him go home alone."
He stayed in the hospital for a total of two weeks. Just days after his release, O'Hearn, 30, took his own life.
Veterans' suicides, like O'Hearn's, are an ongoing crisis. Every day, 20 U.S. veterans die by suicide, according to VA statistics. The VA estimated that veterans are more than twice as likely to die by suicide as other members of the public. Their rate of suicide is increasing, just as it is rising among the general population.
Some veterans die by suicide at the very hospitals designed to help them. This month, three veterans took their own lives at VA facilities in just five days.
One veteran shot himself in a busy waiting room at an Austin, Texas, clinic. Two others took their lives at VA centers in Georgia.
Over the past two years, there have been more than 260 suicide attempts at VA facilities, according to the agency, though a vast majority of those attempts — 240 — were thwarted.
In a statement, VA Press Secretary Curt Cashour said, "Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones affected by these deaths. Due to patient privacy concerns, we will not be discussing the specifics of these cases."
But there are resources for veterans, like the VA's crisis hotline. Eighty veterans a day use the hotline, established in 2007, in search of emergency help. The hotline added a third call center in 2018.
The Trump administration has also tried to address the uptick in veterans' suicides.
In March, President Donald Trump established a new veteran suicide prevention task force through executive order, calling it "a tragedy of staggering proportions."
"They kept us safe, and we're going to keep them safe," he said.
The task force is expected to produce a report on the issue within a year.
A year earlier, Trump had signed an executive order that provided new veterans with mental health care for at least a year after they leave the military.
Meanwhile, O'Hearn's mother says her mission now is to help other military families. A veteran herself, she served eight years in the Air Force, leaving as a staff sergeant. She wants to educate other families about how to navigate the VA process and how to recognize the symptoms of PTSD.
"I want people that are in the position that we were in to understand the process," she said. "So that maybe they could intervene. I wish that we could have intervened at some point."


The Commonwealth promotes cultural and political links between the former colonies but is it increasingly irrelevant in the contemporary world and does it have a future?
For American author Sarah Sentilles it was the image of the hooded prisoner tortured at Abu Ghraib. It changed the direction of her life to study photography and art as a way to change the world.


We loved the design of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, we loved the 4.2-inch 854 x 480 display, we loved the 8.1-megapixel camera and we even found that Sony Ericsson’s user interface wasn’t too bad. But what we were a little suspect of was the processing power, or rather the power moving forward.
The Xperia Arc S finds itself with not only a run of software updates that have rolled out to the Xperia line in recent weeks, but an upgrade to a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 chipset, mirroring the recent upgrade we saw from Samsung to make the Galaxy S Plus.
With a design as stunning as the Xperia Arc, it would have been a shame to rotate it out with the next iteration of device, so we wholeheartedly approve of this small change in hardware.
Externally though, you won’t spot any differences, which is fine - just make sure that you know which phone you’re getting if you decide you want to get yourself an Xperia Arc.
From our brief hands-on with the new device it seemed slick and fast, although obviously we weren’t able to put it through any serious testing, so we’ll have to wait until we get it in for a full review before making any final judgements.
New features we did have a play with, however were those tweaks to the camera, which now opens much faster than before. It’s nice to see the likes of 3D Sweep Panorama making the jump from Sony’s camera line-up into their phones, although naturally you’ll need a 3D TV to enjoy the results.
There isn’t much else to say on the Xperia Arc S - it’s a welcomed upgrade and we’re sure it will be a much better phone for it and better able to handle the growing demands we’re putting on handsets moving forwards.


Plumes of smoke rise from an oil-sands upgrader facility north of Fort McMurray, Alta.
Canada's greenhouse gas emissions will rise sharply after 2020 unless there are dramatic efforts to rein in emissions from the oil and gas sector, the Harper government indicates in a new report to the United Nations.
The document was submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in late December with no announcement or press release. As it was being filed, Prime Minister Stephen Harper signalled his government was delaying for as long as two years the release of long-promised regulations to reduce emissions from the booming oil-sands sector.
The report to the UN gives no indication of how Ottawa plans to meet a commitment Mr. Harper made at the Copenhagen summit in 2009 that Canada would reduce its emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020. Instead, it talks vaguely about new regulations in its "sector-by-sector" approach, while adding that provinces, businesses and consumers also have a responsibility to address climate change.
In contrast, U.S. President Barack Obama laid out a plan last summer – including regulations on new and existing coal-fired power plants – that would largely meet the U.S. 2020 commitment, which is the same as Canada's.
"We don't know yet whether the U.S. will hit its 2020 targets, but we do know they take it seriously and they're designing an approach that gives them a real shot at meeting the goal," P.J. Partington, director of federal policy for the Calgary-based Pembina Institute, said on Wednesday. "Clearly, [Ottawa] is not making an attempt to show how we're going to get on track to meet the same target."
The documents show that, without further policy action, Canada's emissions would be 734 megatonnes by 2020, or 20 per cent higher than the target of 612 megatonnes.
As part of a UN-led effort to reach a global treaty by 2015, the federal government is expected this year to announce an emission-reduction target for 2030 that would be significantly lower than 2020 levels. Without new measures, the government forecasts emissions in 2030 would be 815 megatonnes, or 33 per cent higher than its current 2020 target. All countries that committed to reducing emissions file annual reports on their progress with the UN.
A spokeswoman for Environment Canada said the government has made progress, but offered no commitment to meet 2020 targets. She said Ottawa will introduce regulations for oil and gas producers and other large industrial emitters and natural-gas-fired power plants.
"The government of Canada is committed to addressing GHG emissions while keeping the Canadian economy strong," Environment Canada's Jirina Vlk said in an e-mail. Its approach "allows us to protect both our environment and our economy."
U.S. environmental groups will doubtless seize on the Canadian projections to ratchet up pressure on Mr. Obama to reject TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL pipeline proposal. The President has said the project's impact on GHG emissions would be a key factor in his long-delayed decision.
Backed by a State Department report, the Canadian government argued a decision on the pipeline will have no impact on emissions because the crude would find a way to market with or without it. That conclusion has been widely challenged and the U.S. administration has sent clear signals it wants progress on oil sands' emissions.
Without the climate regulations, the government forecasts that emissions from the oil and gas sector will soar by 23 per cent between 2005 and 2020, and by 48 per cent by 2030, swamping progress in other sectors. Fuelled by oil sands growth, Alberta's emissions are projected to increase by 40 per cent between 2005 and 2030, while Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick would all see declines.
In its report, the federal government noted Canada has made progress, despite having one of the fastest growing populations in the developed world, among the best economic performances and a reliance on the resource sector. Its GHG emissions per capita are at the lowest level since tracking began in 1990, and while the economy has grown by 8.4 per cent since 2005, emissions have fallen by 4.8 per cent.
With a growing economy, meeting the 2020 target is "challenging," Ottawa told the UN body.


— Animal shelter volunteer Ellen Perryess For more information about Cici ID No. 181216, call the volunteer line at the San Luis Obispo County Animal Shelter at 781-4413 or visit http://www.sloanimalservices.com .
To see more shelter animals available for adoption, visit http://www.sloanimalservices.com .
The adoption fee is $75 for cats and $100 for dogs, plus a $23 county license fee for dogs if the adopters are San Luis Obispo County residents. The adoption fee includes spay or neuter, basic vaccinations, microchip, eligibility for a free veterinarian check, new collar and ID tag, and carrier for cats.
If you have a story or photos of your furry, feathered or scaly friend please e-mail to me to pettales@thetri bunenews.com or mail to Pet Tales, c/o The Tribune, P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406.


Published: Dec. 30, 2013 at 06:29 p.m.
Updated: Dec. 31, 2013 at 11:32 a.m.
At this time Sunday, all signs pointed toward Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin landing on season-ending injured reserve with ongoing hip woes.
Coach Pete Carroll revealed Monday that Harvin will return to practice this week, with the goal of playing in the Seahawks' next game.
"He would do anything to play," Carroll said, via Liz Mathews of KIRO-AM Seattle. "He's at a place where he has a chance."
Carroll added that Harvin deserves credit for not giving up on the idea of contributing during the playoffs despite multiple setbacks with his surgically repaired hip.
If Harvin does return, it will be against the 49ers, Packers or Saints in Seattle's playoff opener. Parsing Carroll's words, it sounds like Seahawks fans shouldn't get their hopes up just yet.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" recapped all of the Week 17 action.


"Republicans have begun to concede defeat in the evolving fight to preserve the House majority," The Associated Press reports. "And as they initiate a painful and strategic triage, the early Republican-on-Republican blame game has begun as well."
Republican incumbents being abandoned by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) complain that national House Republicans are not living up to their promise to spend $62 million, as outlined in a September memo declaring that "the cavalry is coming." The NRCC, which is taking out what AP describes as a "sizable loan," says it has to "hone in on what are the races we can actually win," as House Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) fundraising chief Spencer Zwick phrased it. And Ryan's allied super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, grouses it has had to step in to boost weak fundraising by GOP incumbents. The CLF notes it's the only GOP group spending any money in 14 out of the 30 races ranked as toss-ups.
Overall, according to filings submitted Friday, Democratic candidates have outspent their GOP rivals $116 million to $66 million in almost 80 competitive House districts since July, AP reports. The CLF has spent another $93 million in the same period, thanks largely to the deep pockets of GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. "This is going to be a devastating election for Republicans across the ballot," says GOP strategist Terry Sullivan. "Republican donors are smart folks," he added. "They're not going to give money to a losing cause."
The good news for Republicans, says Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight, is that "Democratic prospects in the Senate are increasingly dire, having fallen to about 1 in 5. Indeed, it’s been hard to find any good news for Democrats in Senate polling lately. In the House, by contrast ... Democrats' chance of taking the House has ticked back upward to about 4 in 5."


The government has declared ten days of mourning following the death of a president accused of human rights abuses in recent years.
THE MALAWI GOVERNMENT confirmed the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika today, two days after the leader of the impoverished southern African country died.
A brief statement from the Cabinet confirmed what doctors had reported on condition of anonymity earlier, that Mutharika died Thursday following a heart attack. The Cabinet declared 10 days of mourning.
Vice President Joyce Banda was expected to address the nation later today, an indication that she will be taking over. Under the constitution, the vice president should take over to complete Mutharika’s term, due to end in early 2014.
Banda has clashed with Mutharika and been expelled from his party. The delay in announcing his death had led to speculation politicians were squabbling over succession.
Mutharika had favored his brother, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Arthur Mutharika, over Banda, appointing him acting president when he traveled. Friday, Mutharika’s party had named Peter Arthur Mutharika its acting head, though the party did not then confirm Mutharika’s death.
Mutharika was a former World Bank official once heralded for his stewardship of one of the world’s poorest countries. In recent years, he had been accused of trampling on democratic rights.
Mutharika first came to power in a 2004 election, and was overwhelmingly re-elected five years later.
During his first term, Mutharika persisted with a program to help farmers buy fertiliser even though Western donor nations and agencies said subsidies should be avoided in a free market. His subsidies were credited with boosting Malawi’s economy.
In more recent years, the economy has stumbled, with shortages of fuel and foreign currency and high unemployment.
Anti-government demonstrations across Malawi last year were met with an unprecedented security crackdown that resulted in at least 19 deaths.
Malawi’s relations with foreign donors have been strained by accusations Mutharika is authoritarian and responsible for human rights abuses. Last month, a US aid agency that rewards good governance suspended $350 million worth of assistance to Malawi.
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Shoes4you, a company then sells shoes through a monthly subscription model, has received a round of Series A financing, led by Redpoint Ventures and with Accel Partners Flybridge Capital Partners, Romero Rodrigues (CEO and co-founder of BuscaPé), IG Expansion, and Fabrice Grinda (CEO and founder of OLX) participating. As part of the round, Redpoint partner Jeff Brody will join the Board of Directors. The company declined to disclose the amount of funding raised.
Similar to the U.S.’s Shoedazzle, Shoes4You (which launches this month) offers collections of designer shoes to its Brazilian clientele. Users visit the site, create a customized profile of their tastes and styles and Shoes4You will send them a monthly shipment of shoes that match your customized style profile. Founded by Olivier Grinda, Shoes4You, the company says it plans to launch 12 collections per year and hundreds of sub-collections throughout the year.
Grinda is actually a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded a flash sales site (Brands Club) and a group buying site (ClickOn), both of which are in Brazil.
Not only does the startup add a new e-commerce site for the growing internet market in Brazil but Shoes4You also brings the fast-growing monthly subscription model to the country. The model has seen success in the U.S. with startups like BirchBox (Accel is also an investor), Foodzie, Blissmobox, BeachMint and Babbaco all gaining traction.


DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Dubai's developer Nakheel behind the famed man-made palm-shaped islands says it is repaying 7.9 billion dirhams, or roughly $2.1 billion, four years before the last installment is due.
The indebted state developer was scheduled to repay the credit over three installments between September 2015 and March 2018.
Nakheel said on Wednesday that it made early repayments of 2.35 billion dirhams ($640 million) in February. The remaining 5.54 billion dirhams ($1.51 billion) is being paid this month.
Nakheel says it will pay the $1.51 billion to 31 banks, of which almost $940 million will go to UAE banks and $570 million to overseas banks.
Nakheel's credit-fueled building spree was at the heart of Dubai's 2009 financial crisis. The state developer was part of Dubai World, but separated during financial restructuring.


A nephew of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's finance minister and former prime minister, faces a three-year prison sentence for refusing to serve in the army.
Jonathan Ben-Artzi, 19, has served seven months in a military jail after being given consecutive sentences of up to 31 days at a time. Army officials are now summoning him to appear at a court martial, which has harsher sentencing powers, on Tuesday.
Mr Ben-Artzi, who has been a pacifist since he was 12, will be among the first objectors to appear before a court martial. Last week Matan Kaminer, another refusenik, was also arraigned for court martial along with a third objector, Hagai Matar.
Mr Ben-Artzi's family believes that he is being singled out because of his connections. More than 170 objectors have been jailed since the start of the intifada.
The case has become a cause celebre in Israel because Mr Netanyahu's wife, Sara, is Mr Ben-Artzi's aunt and it may set a legal precedent regarding an individual's right to be exempted from military service in Israel.
Mr Ben-Artzi's lawyers plan to plead for his release on the grounds that he is a conscientious objector and should be exempt from compulsory military duty.
Conscientious objectors have a status that is recognised in international laws signed by Israel. "Because of my beliefs, my own country is going to imprison me, in defiance of international laws, basic moral values and fundamental human rights," Mr Ben-Artzi said in a statement to the Israeli Defence Force.
He said that he would be prepared to carry out alternative community service, such as teaching or helping the poor.
Asked whether his uncle, a former combat soldier in an elite commando unit, approved of his stand, Mr Ben-Artzi said: "He was prime minister and he knows that Israel is a democratic country. In a democracy there is respect for the principles of pacifism."
Mr Ben-Artzi's mother, Ofra, who lives in Jerusalem, demonstrated last week against the incarceration of her son outside the home of the chief military prosecutor, Menachem Finklestein with her husband, Matanya, and the parents of two other imprisoned conscientious objectors.
She said that the issue of her son's pacifism was raised during a family gathering a year ago, shortly before he was jailed for the first time. "His uncle just said: 'Oh maybe you'll change your mind'.
"Jonathan replied that in a democracy everyone has the right to ask another to change his mind. He is determined," she said.
Under Israeli conscription laws men are required to serve three years in the army and women two years. Although women can win exemption on the grounds of conscientious objection, men cannot - a difference that Mr Ben-Artzi's lawyers plan to exploit at the hearing in a military court in Jaffa.
Recent Israeli newspaper reports claim that the daughter of Israel's hardline chief of staff, Moshe Ya'alon, was recently exempted on the grounds of conscientious objection. Michael Sfard, a lawyer for Mr Ben-Artzi, said: "The army in Israel is a prestigious club that is run by secular men.
"While the army can tolerate exempting certain people who do not belong in the elite - women, people with mental problems, drug takers and so on - this case is different.
"This guy is a general example of a secular, middle-class recruit from a good family. When he says he does not belong to this club, this frightens them, so they are getting tough."
The army admitted recently that more than 20 per cent of 18-year-olds win exemption from duty on a number of grounds, which include claiming psychological problems.
About 20,000 ultra-Orthodox teenagers are exempted each year under special laws that cover students who attend yeshivas, or religious schools. Officials have recently expressed concerns that increasing numbers of Israeli men may try to opt out of military duty.
About 520 reservists recently declared that they would refuse to serve in the occupied territories for moral reasons.


The third secret passage where the human bones were found.
A confraternity during the procession.
Grezzju Vella showing the location of the opening. Right: In front of St Gregory's church.
Clergy taking part in St Gregory’s procession.
During a pastoral visit to Żejtun in 1575, Mgr Pietro Dusina was intrigued by their annual custom and asked the elderly inhabitants about its origins.
No one was sure of its inception and people came up with various theories. But they all agreed on one thing: the procession was a sort of thanksgiving to God.
Some believed a promise was made when the village was saved from harm during a violent storm, while others claimed it was when a storm wrecked a large Turkish fleet which was about to attack the area.
The truth was discovered accidentally in recent years when Dominican friar Fr Mikiel Fsadni was doing some research in the Curia archives.
He found out that in 1543 Bishop Cubelles had set up this pilgrimage as a plea to God in order to bring peace among the European nations, in a period of great turmoil and peril.
The parish of St Gregory in Żejtun was chosen as it was the furthest parish church from Mdina.
Originally, the pilgrimage had great significance and thousands of people participated, including all the clergy and the confraternities of the various villages.
Interestingly, this pilgrimage was even included in the wedding rites, as the bridegroom had to promise his bride to take her to this feast.
The pilgrims started their long walk at dawn from the Mdina cathedral and passed through various villages and towns until they arrived at the parish of St Gregory in Żejtun.
The pilgrimage was a magnificent spectacle of colours as the clergy and confraternities of each village or town were distinctly dressed and all of them carried flags.
Prosperous families built their houses along the route of the pilgrimage. Some examples of these are well-known premises in Żejtun: Casa Perellos built by Grand Master Ramon Perellos and Juventutis Domus, which was the property of Bishop Ferdinando Mattei.
In 1969 a huge sensation was created around the church of St Gregory when a number of human bones and three secret passages were uncovered by some workmen.
Curiously, among the locals there had always been rumours that within the walls of this old church were some secret passages. But over the years several attempts to prove this had always proved futile.
After more than 42 years of silence, Grezzju Vella, who was only 16 at the time, narrated the horrible day of this gruesome discovery.
He had been doing some work near the dome of the church, believed to be one of the earliest domes in Malta, together with his uncle, Carmelo Spiteri, and a fellow worker, Ċikku Zammit.
At one point he got fed up and unwittingly began to scrape at a narrow crack between two stone slabs.
When the crack widened, he threw a stone inside, expecting to hear it go down into the church, but instead it fell nearby and he realised that there was something underneath the roof.
Mr Vella called the others and soon they were joined by Fr Palmier, who was responsible for the church, and by ĠanMarì Debono, who was the sacristan.
On the removal of a large stone, a dark void was revealed and since only Mr Vella could pass through the hole in the roof, he was tied to a rope and given a box of matches so that he could inspect the site.
Eventually the boy came upon a number of human skeletons and got a terrible fright which left him deeply traumatised.
In fact Mr Vella never returned to this church again, notwithstanding that he lives only a few kilometres away.
It was only last year that he bravely ventured into the passages and nervously took a look at the human bones, now stacked at the far corner of the third corridor.
No one knows who these bones belonged to and how they ended up in these secret passages. Again, speculation is rife.
Some suggest that they were the unfortunate victims of the frightening Turkish attack which took place in 1614, while others suggest the place might have been used as an ossuary.
Between 1978 and 1980 some studies on the bones indicated that the skeletons had probably been exhumed and moved there from a cemetery. Moreover, it was found that these people had seemingly died within a short time of one another.
Unfortunately today the procession of St Gregory has lost much of its appeal.
In fact, the route has been shortened considerably as it starts from the small chapel of St Clement which is situated in the limits of Żejtun and ends only a short distance away at St Gregory’s church.
According to Żejtun historian Canon Joe Abela, this tradition is yielding to the changes of time, turning from a covenant of faith into a mere celebration for the first swim in the cool waters of Marsaxlokk.


Galia Benartzi cofounded a cryptocurrency conversion company Bancor in 2017.
Bancor last year raised $153 million through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
Bancor has processed a billion and a half of conversions across 120 Ethereum-based currencies to date.
This year Bancor was rocked by a $13.5 million hack which motivated Benartzi to forge the Crypto Defenders Alliance.
Benartzi previously exited two tech startups, selling Mytopia to gaming giant 888 for $48 million dollars and Particle Code to Appcelerator.
Before Bancor Benartzi ran many local cryptocurrency pilots. One saw 40,000 mothers trade $24 million in "hearts" for services and goods.
Benartzi has an MA in International Economics and has also served as an EIR at Trinity Ventures and a venture partner at Founders Fund.


Class 1A and 2A wrestlers try to earn their way to districts.
jared- status on FC and Osage for finals?
182 – Derek Kohlmeyer (Sumner-Fredericksburg) vs. Jason Fisher (Nashua-Plainfield).
Sunkten has been hurt. Hope Pena gets by Gavin.
195 – Tyler Larson (Nashua-Plainfield) vs. Brock Meyer (Sumner-Fredericksburg).
220 – Colton Hansen (Newman Catholic) vs. Bryce Bilharz (Nashua-Plainfield).
285 – Sawyer Hulshizer (St. Ansgar) vs. Dustin Lenz (Sumner-Fredericksburg).
106: Tacchia (IFA) vs. Case (GHV); 113: Doebel (CL) vs. Raisch (IFA); 120: Schmalen (CL) vs. Dornbier (GHV); 126: Leisure (CL) vs. Rubow (IFA); 132: Barkema (HD) vs. Freerksen (FC); 138: Gelhaus (FC) vs. Orr (CL); 145: Faught (CL) vs. Lewis (FC); 152: Bahr (IFA) vs. Lehmann (HD); 160: Strohman (A) vs. Shaw (GHV); 170: Baker (GHV) vs. Sorenson (FC); 182: Teague (A) vs. Fristo (HD); 195: Walton (CL) vs. Smith (GHV); 220: Suntken (HD) vs. Paulson (FC); 285: Pena (HD) vs. Holmes (A).
Third at 120: Brody Bruce (SA) pinned Tyler Merfeld (NB), 1:33.
120 – Tristen Brase (Nashua-Plainfield) pinned Adrian Kaski (Riceville), 2:57. Both advance to the district tournament.
195 - Prestholt loses semi match by fall, 220 - Santee loses semi match by maj. dec. 10-0. Waters, Mueller, Nettleton, Fingalsen in finals.
Seitsinger up 2-1 in the second.
Eick leads 7-6 entering the third.
Third at 126: Andrew Morische (Rice) pinned John Gossling (TV), 2:42.
126 – Carter Seitsinger (S-F) dec. Jacob Eick (N-P), 8-7. Both advance to the district tournament.
132 – Dalton Nelson (North Butler) vs. Tom Reicks (Turkey Valley).
DPate, Holt, Perry, Hackett, Prestholt, Santee still alive in consolation side of bracket.
Nelson leads 2-0 after one with a late TD.
Nelson still up 2-0 with 1:09 left in the second.
Nelson up 2-0 with 16.5 seconds left in the second and gets a stalling call.
Nelson 2-0 into the third.
Third at 132 – Carter Matt (S-F) dec. Jacob Back (Rice), 5-2.
132 – Dalton Nelson (North Butler) dec. Tom Reicks (Turkey Valley), 2-0. Nelson advances to district meet, Reicks has a wrestleback.
138 – Karsen Seehase (Sumner-Fredericksburg) vs. Cale Reicks (Turkey Valley).
Seehase TD, escape, TD, escape for 4-2 lead.
TD 6-2 and Reicks on his back.
3NF to end the period for a 9-2 lead.
Third at 138 – Cutter Bruce (SA) pinned Tyler Brinkman (NB), 1:43.
3NF ends it at 18-2.


When [the student] is "off," our school day is often horrific. She certainly doesn't learn a damn thing on those days or weeks. ... I should not be made to babysit kids who are prescribed medication, and are left without by negligent parents. It would be different if her mother had doubts about medication overall, that kind of thing. No, it's laziness.
Have you tried to discuss this issue with the parents? Have you asked an administrator for help problem-solving.
Maybe the family is under a lot of stress in the mornings and they would agree to have the school nurse administer the meds in the morning at school.


Suburban Station becomes a refuge for homeless people during the cold weather. Many avoid shelters because of the rules.
On a frigid night in January, SEPTA police stepped among the dozens of people camped out in Suburban Station’s long corridors and ordered them to leave the station. Outside it was 26 degrees.
It’s a closing-time routine for officers, clearing out people, many of them homeless, who seek shelter in the transit hub. This time, though, the crowd protested. It was too cold, they argued, and their resistance escalated into a melee that SEPTA officers quelled with pepper spray and swinging batons.
Two Philly homeless students were denied an adequate education. Now, there are statewide ripples.
Transit police didn’t use force until they were under assault, said Thomas Nestel, SEPTA’s police chief, and ultimately needed backup from Philadelphia police to quell what was described as a mini-riot. The incident has fed fear among the homeless and left advocates questioning whether officers should have been moving people out on a frigid night.
SEPTA police clear Suburban Station’s halls to ensure security and make space for cleaning crews, Nestel said. Typically, officers direct people who need shelter to a Department of Behavioral Health facility at 15th and Market Streets. The people in Suburban Station late at night say officers can be brusque, but a physical confrontation is an anomaly.
About 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 15, when officers asked people sleeping on the station floor to leave, some became physical with officers, Nestel said.
One of the people involved said she argued with officers because of the cold.
At Suburban Station, Tracy Amador talks about being pepper-sprayed by transit police there in January.
About 10 SEPTA officers responded, Nestel said, along with a number of Philadelphia police. Two people were charged, both accused of assaulting an officer. One faces charges of inciting a riot and vandalism — glass was broken in one of the station’s doors. Amador and one of the men charged, Tysan Bostic, 38, have sought social services for homeless people, Scullion said.
SEPTA police’s internal affairs reviewed the incident, which included watching video, and concluded officers acted appropriately. Nestel has made no changes to department policy, though he said: “If I can come up with a better way to handle it, I’m going to.” SEPTA declined to share video, saying it was the subject of an ongoing investigation.
Amador, who says she has been homeless since leaving her husband in 2016, described standing in front of the exit to the station near a post office to discourage people from leaving. “Police were cattling us through the door,” she said.
She suffered a black eye and bruises on her body, said staffers from Project HOME who saw her the day after the incident. Amador said her teeth were also damaged. Nestel said his officers knew her because of medical problems she has had, and she was once escorted out, but not arrested, after being found in a construction zone.
No ambulances were called after the conflict, Nestel said. Officers experienced no serious injuries. Nestel stood by his officers’ conduct, saying that “no force is ever pretty” but that his personnel have the right to protect themselves.
“We’re not running a Gestapo force that is beating people and throwing them out because they’re poor, and we’re not going to be,” he said.
Suburban Station has the highest concentration of officers in any of the city’s transit hubs.
That January night was designated a code blue, which means temperatures were so low that additional resources were being made available by the city Office of Homeless Services. Philadelphia has about 5,700 people without permanent housing, but of those, fewer than 1,000 are living on the street. On such nights, Scullion said, the priority for social service agencies is helping people who are exposed to the elements. The organization would prefer police grant sanctuary to people in the station on cold nights, said Carol Thomas, Project HOME’s director of homeless services.
Nestel said that isn’t possible.
Police asked people that night if they wanted help finding shelter as they cleared the hallway, Nestel said, and people declined. Thomas said police have called her organization in the past, and it has sent a van for those people being removed. Police should have done that before the situation escalated, she said. No incidents were reported the next week, when temperatures plunged into single digits, a SEPTA spokesman said.
Police acknowledged many of the people lingering in the station late at night have mental-health conditions, and the department has cooperated with Project HOME to create a list of close to 70 people who are in urgent need of mental-health assistance, Scullion said. Half of SEPTA’s 270 transit officers have received training to interact with people suffering from mental-health conditions. The department is working toward training all officers. They are also working with the city to assign behavioral health experts to the station.
The eruption of tensions came as police and social service agencies navigate the murky, ambiguous subculture that comes to the station long after rush-hour commuters are gone. Philadelphia has 12,000 beds available to assist people who are homeless, and in winter months about 2,900 of those are open to people in immediate need of a place to sleep. There are those who, due to addiction, mental illness, or preference, refuse to seek aid.
Homeless people asleep in Suburban Station between 10 and midnight on a recent night.
Amador said she doesn’t receive welfare or food stamps, and won’t use shelters. “I would rather sleep in the street because I’m free to do whatever I want to do,” she said.
“We’re seeing people who are dealing drugs and probably engaged in some other kinds of activities,” said Eva Gladstein, deputy managing director of Health and Human Services.
Suburban Station’s corridors splay out from its cavernous central concourse like the legs of a spider, and scattered along them late at night are dozens of people.
About 11 p.m. on a recent night, two huddled in the doorway of a closed shop. Across from them, another person sprawled facedown on the floor, the leaves from a self-rolled cigarette scattered beside him. One crew sat in a circle beneath the bright, harsh lights. Another slouched against a maintenance vehicle. A man nearby appeared on the verge of falling asleep on his feet. The air carried, echoing laughter and smoke with a spicy tang, likely K2, a synthetic marijuana that people in the station readily admit to using. People defecate and urinate on the floors.
During much of the last year, the number of indigent people in the station had been declining, Scullion said, but a head count on a cold night in January recorded 200 homeless people there, roughly equivalent to the same time last year.
SEPTA police face the twin pressures of being sensitive to a vulnerable population and keeping one of the city’s busiest transit hubs clean and safe.
SEPTA sought middle ground last year when it worked with Project HOME to create the Hub of Hope, an 11,000-square-foot facility in the station that provides an array of assistance. It’s well used but closes at 7 p.m. And Scullion noted the people lying on Suburban Station’s floors late at night might not be the same people who turn to Hub of Hope for help.


A suspect arrested in a deadly home invasion in Lowell, Massachusetts will face arraignment.
A second man has been arrested in connection to a deadly home invasion in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Police say 24-year-old Jeffrey Puryear of Dracut has been charged with armed assault in connection to an apparent homicide that occurred on Thursday at a home in Lowell.
Prosecutors said Thursday Puryear was arrested on Saturday morning. He will be arraigned in Lowell District Court on Monday.
Forty-year-old Saro Mann was assaulted in his home and later died from his injuries in Lowell General Hospital.
Jeffrey Puryear, 24, of Dracut, was arrested on Saturday morning and charged with armed assault in the incident that took place on July 26 on Walker Street.
The other man connected to the crime is 41-year-old Samundi Cobb, who was arraigned on the same charge and is being held without bail.
It is not clear if the two men have attorneys through searches on electronic court records.


The UK government has announced a plan to require drone owners to register their devices. It says the incoming rules are aimed at ensuring safer use of the technology.
Under the planned regulations, owners of drones weighing more than 250 grams will, in future, be required to register their devices — with the stated aim being to “improve accountability and encourage owners to act responsibly”.
A similar plan in the US to require drone owners register their devices with the Federal Aviation Authority was struck down by an appeals court in May. Though Congress could still legislate on the issue.
In the UK, the government is also planning a new drone safety awareness test that drone owners will have to take to prove they understand relevant safety, security and privacy regulations.
There’s no timeframe for when the new UK drone regulations will come into force. Nor are there concrete details of how the rules will be enforced. The government says drone owners “may” be able to register their drones online or through apps, suggesting it’s still exploring options.
The move follows a consultation, published at the end of last year, that took views from members of the public, and which recommended addressing “safety, security and privacy challenges and concerns that drones present”.
There have been several stories of drone near misses in UK air space in recent years. While drones are also increasingly being used to smuggle contraband into prisons such as drugs and mobile phones.
The government says it intends to bring forward and expand the use of geo-fencing technology in order to effectively create no-fly areas around “sensitive” zones such as prisons and airports.
And while the DfT notes that some drone manufacturers have already programmed their drones not to fly in “sensitive areas” it says the government “would like to reinforce this work”.
Commenting in a statement, aviation minister Lord Callanan said: “Our measures prioritise protecting the public while maximising the full potential of drones. Increasingly, drones are proving vital for inspecting transport infrastructure for repair or aiding police and fire services in search and rescue operations, even helping to save lives.
Drone maker DJI has welcomed the UK’s drone registration announcement, saying it supports “simple schemes for pilots to easily register drones with governments, as well as educational initiatives to ensure pilots understand how to fly drones safely”.
In a statement, Brendan Schulman, DJI’s VP of policy and legal affairs, said the new rules appear to “strike a sensible balance between protecting public safety and bringing [drone] benefits to the UK’s businesses and the public at large”.
“DJI has invested heavily in adding safety features, and we expect the government to work closely with industry leaders to ensure progress and promote technological innovation. We are encouraged by the fair and thoughtful approach the government has taken to date. The key will be maintaining this balance in the next round of deliberation,” he added.
The drone maker said it already implements a geo-fencing system in its drones which uses GPS navigation to — in its words — “help pilots steer clear of airports, prisons, power plants, and other sensitive locations”. But also expressed reservations about what it dubbed “unnecessary restrictions” being placed on drone owners.
“Plans on deterrents and no fly zones should be developed so that they are proportional to the risks and do not impose unnecessary restrictions. The best answer to collision hazards is to take steps to avoid the collision in the first place, and DJI is proud to be a leader in technology initiatives to accomplish that objective,” it said.
Last year the UK government and the Civil Aviation Authority put out a drone code offering steerage to drone owners on how to make safe use of their devices while regulations continued to be developed. Key principles in the drone code include to always keep your drone in sight and to stay below 400 feet (120 meters).