China is developing its first full-fledged space station, called Tiangong (Heavenly Palace). Early tests of China’s skills at rendezvous and docking, shown in this artist's illustration, are set to begin in 2011.
U.S. power brokers aren't sure how to handle China's rapidly expanding space capabilities, according to testimony at a congressional hearing yesterday (May 11).
China recently demonstrated the ability to destroy satellites on orbit, and it's ramping up plans for a space station and a possible manned lunar landing in the next decade or so. At a hearing on "The Implications of China's Military and Civil Space Programs," a range of experts discussed what these developments might mean for the United States.
"There's still a lack of clear understanding of what Beijing's goals are, and how we interact with those," Ben Baseley-Walker of the Secure World Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to space sustainability, told SPACE.com. Baseley-Walker attended the hearing, which took place at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
NASA, Russia and their space station partners are not the only countries launching humans off the planet. China has launched two manned spaceflight aboard its Shenzhou spacecraft since 2003, with plans set for a three-person flight, spacewalks, future orbital laboratories and even unmanned and crewed moon mission in the coming decades. Here is an image of China's first spacewalk.
In 2007, China destroyed one of its own satellites on orbit during an anti-satellite test, showcasing an ability that makes the United States and other nations nervous. Since then, the country has conducted other tests advancing its military space capabilities, including a 2010 missile-interception demonstration.
Beijing is also ramping up its human spaceflight program. In 2003, China became the third nation to launch a person into space, and it has flown several manned missions since.
The country also hopes to build a large space station between 2015 and 2022, according to hearing panelist Alanna Krolikowski, a visiting scholar at George Washington University's Space Policy Institute.
Take a look at how China's first space station, called Tiangong ("Heavenly Palace") will be assembled in orbit in this SPACE.com infographic. See the full infographic on the Tiangong space station here.
These developments have some politicians and policy experts worried. They think China may be positioning itself to challenge outright the United States' dominance in space, which currently gives America a huge advantage on the battlefield.
“What concerns me most about the Chinese space program is that, unlike the U.S., it is being led by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)," Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) testified at the hearing. "There is no reason to believe that the PLA’s space program will be any more benign than the PLA’s recent military posture."
The White House has recently stated a willingness to work with China on expensive, difficult space projects, such as a manned mission to Mars. Wolf thinks this is a bad idea, citing the potential threat China poses as well as its abysmal human-rights record.
"The U.S. has no business cooperating with the PLA to help develop its space program," said Wolf, who chairs the commerce, justice and science subcommittee of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
However, other panelists cited the possible benefits to the United States of such cooperation, which range from expanding opportunities for American businesses to increasing space security. If the United States thinks China can become a "normal" spacefaring country, keen to exploit space commercially, collaboration is probably a good idea, according to Krolikowski.
"As China invests in and derives greater benefit from space, it will acquire the same stake in creating a predictable, stable, safe and sustainable space environment that the U.S., Canada, Japan and European and other countries already share," Krolikowski said.
Cooperation and engagement could also help reveal China's goals for space. Does China, for example, hope to dominate military space aggressively in the near future, or is it concerned more about self-defense?
"While China’s capabilities in space are known to U.S. observers, its intentions are not," Krolikowski said.
According to Baseley-Walker, panelists stressed the importance of getting to the bottom of those intentions. It's difficult to draw up and implement effective policy, after all, without a basic understanding of where China is coming from, and where it's going.


The victorious U.S. women’s soccer team may soon score again with a ticker-tape parade down Broadway.
City officials said Monday that they’re considering tossing the celebration for the championship squad — which would be a first for a female sports team.
“The Mayor’s Office congratulates the US Women’s World Cup Championship team on its tremendous achievement, and is currently exploring logistics and talking with the team and other partners about a possible ticker-tape parade,” said City Hall spokeswoman Karen Hinton.
City officials said the idea of holding a parade was lobbed shortly after the soccer team’s decisive 5-2 victory over Japan in Sunday’s World Cup finals.
But the notion got an additional boost from other officials throughout the day Monday, including from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.
“New York City has a strong history of honoring sports achievements in the Canyon of Heroes, but has never held a parade to honor a women’s team,” she wrote to Mayor de Blasio.
The Alliance for Downtown New York has documented 205 ticker-tape parades since 1886, but counted just five since 1999 — all of them for the baseball Yankees or football Giants.
The Women’s World Cup champs are set to join a celebratory public rally near the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.


The article is quite interesting and funny. Thanks for sharing this article.
Temple run is a fascinating endless game. Your task is to run as far as possible and overcome the obstacles.


Mother's Day is this upcoming Sunday, a day where we reflect on the wonderful blessings that our mamas have bestowed on each of our lives. This year, Time Magazine decided to put an interesting twist on the holiday. Instead of having influential people talk about their mothers, the publication gave their moms the chance to show their appreciation for their children. In that vein, Tina Knowles was asked to write a letter to her daughters: Beyonce and Solange. She delivered one of the most heart wrenching and beautiful notes celebrating her children's lives—including Kelly Rowland and Angie Beyince.
Mrs. Knowles praised Beyonce's kindness, generosity, and compassion, stating: "Beyoncé, I wish people could see how you are when you’re not in front of the camera or on the stage." She went on to describe Solange as her "rebel warrior" and applauded her strength. Mrs. Knowles admired Kelly's incredible loyalty and generosity, but also her motivational tendencies. She noted that Angie's protective nature has helped her daughters through so much in their respective careers.
Tina Kowles' full letter is a gorgeous outpouring of love and pride for her four daughters. The emotion can only be felt through a reading of the entire text, which can be found here.


American consumers are awash in debt, drowning in it. This is the fundamental issue with the stimulus proposal. We're trying to borrow our way out of debt. Unfortunately, we need a recession. That is, consumption must decline because for some time we have been consuming more than we produce or have reasonable prospects of producing. Monetary policy has been used to inflate a series of bubbles to avoid the consequences of excess debt, and the more we try to hold it off, the worse it's going to be. Bourbon works as a hangover cure, but only for a while.
The planet might appreciate a small pause in the consumption as well, no?


Poplar Road fifth grade teacher Melissa Ladd has been selected as one of five national finalists for the National Education Association’s (NEA) Horace Mann award.
The award honors dedication to the teaching profession, community engagement, professional development, attention to diversity, and advocacy for fellow educators. She was nominated for the national honor by the Georgia Association of Educators, said Coweta County School System spokesman Dean Jackson.
Ladd is in her 13th year of teaching, and has worked as a kindergarten and first grade teacher at Poplar Road. She has served as the school’s Teacher of the Year, Jackson said.
Ladd was one of 43 public educators, and the only teacher from Georgia, who will receive the California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence at the NEA Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Gala next February, in Washington, D.C. As Georgia’s honoree, she travelled to Washington, D.C., last summer to interview with and teach a sample lesson to a panel of judges for the Horace Mann Award. She will be visited in her classroom by an observational team in October.
Ladd was recognized for her nomination to the national award in August by the Coweta County Board of Education. After her visit before the Horace Mann panel this summer, Ladd told board members that she was overcome with emotion.
The winner of this year’s Horace Mann award will be revealed at the awards Gala on February 10, 2017, and receive an additional $25,000. The awards gala will be livestreamed at neafoundation.org. The NEA Foundation and the National Education Association jointly present the awards.
Because the NEA Foundation values both professional development and diversity, awardees are invited to participate in its Global Learning Fellowship. Fellows learn how to prepare their students for a connected and multicultural world in this comprehensive, year-long professional development program, which includes an international field study next June.


Our habit of feeding human foods, such as grain and soya, to farm animals will cost us $1.32tn (£1tn) a year by 2050 globally, according to environmental campaigners.
“Cheap food is something we pay for three times, once at the checkout, again in tax subsidies and again in the enormous clean up cost to our health and environment,” his colleague Philip Lymbery pointed out.
We are paying for soil erosion, water pollution, biodiversity loss, climate change, and a multitude of other impacts which are passed on to the public by farmers and the sector, the conference heard. For example, our current rate of soil loss costs £400bn a year globally, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has estimated that water pollution in six EU states alone costs €2bn-5bn a year; and according to the European Environment Agency the current rate of biodiversity loss is reducing global GDP by 3% every year.
Feeding grain to farm animals is a particularly egregious practice, argued Stevenson. It is inherently wasteful of calories: for every 100 calories of human edible cereals fed to farm animals, just 17-30 calories enter the human food chain as milk or meat. Using publicly available and peer-reviewed data Stevenson calculated that, in terms of wasted food and calories, this single practice will cost $1.32tn a year by 2050.
The conference, attended by a broad mixture of scientists and campaigners, but also representatives from multinationals such as McDonalds, Tesco, Compass and Sodexo, would, many hoped, be the beginning of a new movement and voice to challenge the status quo.
This article was corrected on 7 October 2017. Due to an editing error, the headline gave the incorrect figure of $1bn instead of $1.32tn, while the intro incorrectly converted $1,323bn into £1bn.


Edward Johnson gets on his bike after working out at the running track in Jackson Park in 2016.
In an abrupt turn, the Chicago Park District and city of Chicago have decided to halt construction on a project that would relocate a track and field in Jackson Park, officials announced Monday.
The action means that instead of moving the track and field farther south in the park to make room for construction of the Obama Presidential Center, the project will be placed on hold, a city spokeswoman said in a statement.
The decision came “out of an abundance of caution,” said Shannon Breymaier, a spokeswoman for the city. The decision came after federal government officials expressed concern about the work, which was paid for with a $3.5 million grant from the Obama Foundation. The move was announced hours before federal officials were to hold a public meeting on the review process.
“The federal agencies have been informed that the Chicago Park District will stop construction until dialogue with the federal agencies confirms that resumption of work is appropriate,” Breymaier said in the statement.
“We do not anticipate that this action will impact or delay the construction schedule of the Obama Presidential Center,” she added.
For nearly a month, the Park District had been working to relocate the track and field. The project is separate from the proposed construction site for the center and is in a different area of the park.
But from the time work began in August, it alarmed some local environmentalists who said that doing the work was premature, coming before final federal approval of the presidential center.
The track and field project was approved by the city Plan Commission and the City Council. But this month, the project was denied a permit by the Chicago Department of Transportation. Later, conversations with the federal officials led to halt of the project.
Construction of the Obama Presidential Center was approved by the City Council in May.
But because Jackson Park is on the National Register of Historic Places, the Obama Foundation has to complete a federal review process before it can begin building.
The Park District, however, can make improvements to its sites without appealing to the federal government.
In February, the foundation announced that it would donate more than $3.5 million to the Park District to build this new artificial turf field. That announcement came after questions arose about where students would practice and host their games while the presidential center was being built. Now that the track project is being held up, it’s not clear where the students will go.
The presidential center is expected to cost more than $500 million and help transform the South Side by creating hundreds of jobs, attracting tourists and possibly sparking more economic development and investment in nearby communities.
But it has spurred opposition from environmentalists who don’t want it situated in a public park and from activists who want a contract guaranteeing a property tax freeze for homeowners, housing set aside for lower income residents and a trust fund to pay for neighborhood initiatives.


Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley used part of his State of the State Address on Tuesday to offer a full-throated defense of his decision to reject Medicaid expansion, one of the key components of President Barack Obama’s health care law.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost of expansion for the first three years and then 90 percent after that.
Speaking to a joint session of the Legislature in Montgomery, Bentley drew one of his loudest applause lines by recounting some of the famous promises of Obamacare. Supporters claimed people would be able to keep their doctors and health policies, and that premiums would not go up.
Bentley has come under fierce criticism from state pension fund chief David Bronner and others who contend that his refusal to accept increased federal funding for Medicaid will cost the state jobs.
Alabama Senate Minority Leader Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, argued in his official response that the state has one of the most efficient Medicaid systems in the country.
“But it is struggling to get by after significant cuts over the past three years,” he said.
Ford suggested raising the cigarette tax by $1 per pack, which he said would bring in $230 million a year and close a hole in the Medicaid budget.
He noted that Medicaid spending has increased nationally by more than 1,500 percent since 1980 and that the program consumes up to 35 percent of Alabama’s General Fund.
“And under Obamacare, Medicaid would grow even larger – bringing millions more people to a state of dependency on government, and saddling our state and our nation – the taxpayers – with the enormous expense,” said the governor, who added that an expansion would siphon millions of dollars from the education budget by 2016.
Bentley recited familiar criticisms of Obamacare, from the 18 taxes included in the law to the well-publicized cancelation of some 87,000 insurance policies in Alabama deemed substandard by the statute.
The governor claimed the Affordable Care Act threatens “one of the most trusted relationships – that of a doctor and their patient.” He drew on his personal experience as dermatologist prior to entering politics.
“As a practicing physician, I would never want anything to come between me and my patient – especially the federal government,” he said.
Bentley explained reforms already under way in the existing Medicaid program. It involves setting up regional care organizations that aim to use “community-based, managed care to improve the health” of recipients and save taxpayers money.


Baltimore is a dangerous place, with a homicide rate just slightly below that of St. Louis, the American city where you face the highest odds of becoming a murder victim. Something to consider if you are thinking about moving to Baltimore because you have been offered a job there. At, for instance, Johns Hopkins.
Or, perhaps, you are a bright high school senior applying for admission to elite universities. Will Hopkins be on your list? Or will you pass, not because the school doesn’t measure up but because you fear you might be shot down crossing the street there, on your way to class?
It is a question worth thinking about, according to an exceedingly successful and generous Hopkins alum.
Michael Bloomberg believes that security at his alma mater is insufficient. There is a university police force but its members are not armed. Bloomberg, according to this report in the Baltimore Sun, wants to change that and says so plainly.
Bloomberg is, of course, famously anti-gun and has backed up his words with his money. Of which there is plenty. He has given lavishly in the cause of gun control and is easily capable of outspending the NRA, which he appears willing to do.
… called Students Against Private Police expressed dissatisfaction with Bloomberg’s remarks. In a statement, the group said Bloomberg’s support for a private, armed police force is at odds with his other work to promote gun control.
Those parts of Baltimore that are outside the jurisdiction of the Hopkins security force will no doubt remain dangerous and hostile to ordinary good citizens going about the business of their lives. They will be reduced to depending on the Baltimore police who have, demonstrably, failed at protecting them.
They can be vulnerable constantly and victims all too often or they can look to their own self-defense. Which means arming themselves against the predators.
It takes a hard and elite heart to say they shouldn’t be permitted this choice.


Tyler, The Creator has shared a new track called ‘Rose Tinted Cheeks’, which contains a reference to the movie 20th Century Women.
The Odd Future rapper recently shared a new song called ‘Okra’, as well as a remix of Drake and Trouble’s ‘Bring It Back’.
Now he has uploaded ‘Rose Tinted Cheeks’ to YouTube. Listen below.
It includes the lines: “They Black Flag we AF / we BF as AF / but they won’t get that / that’s that 20 Century Women reference / you so hard to get like intricate metaphors”, which refer to a scene in 20th Century Women where Annette Bening and Billy Crudup’s characters dance to songs by Black Flag and so-called “art f*gs” Talking Heads.
Taking to Twitter, Tyler described ‘Rose Tinted Cheeks’ as “a song I never finished or went back to” while working on recent album Flower Boy.
Tyler also noted how the vocals for the hook would have been re-recorded by “a girl who could actually sing”, saying that he “wishes” he had finished the track.
back when working on SFFB, it was a song i never finished or went back to. ive had in laying around and figured i just put it out as the demo/ rough draft it is. not really mixed or anything.
Tyler’s recent track ‘Okra’, which saw him give a shout-out to Timothée Chalamet, who later responded.


Jeremy Quaglia (left) and Shane Uriot at Mayflower Brewing Co. “We wanted to do something different that focuses on the real people and the craft that goes into brewing,” Quaglia said.
PLYMOUTH — Atop a metal staircase in a back corner of Mayflower Brewing Co., two men stand at the mouth of a massive silver cylinder of boiling water. One hoists a large canvas sack full of hops into both hands while the other positions himself, and his video camera, to document the pour.
While the small grains descend into the tank, videographer Shane Uriot shouts questions at the brewer, asking how the hops’ flavor factors into the taste of the brewery’s pale ale. Uriot holds his camera steady at the kettle’s opening until the brewer fastens the lid shut. No one yells “cut,” but Uriot looks at the footage and smiles ear to ear.
The film will be part of the documentary-style Web series “American Brewed,” which will air online in seven episodes and feature a different New England-based microbrewery in each 10- to 20-minute segment. With his partner and best friend, Jeremy Quaglia, 25, Uriot, 24, hopes to provide an authentic look into some of the region’s home-grown brews. “There is an honesty in it — in making [a Web series] that showcases the differences in an industry,” says Uriot, a senior film student at Emerson College.
He and Quaglia, who graduated from Emmanuel College in 2012, are no strangers to home brews. Uriot learned to make beer with his grandfather, experimenting with tastes and ingredients at his granddad’s house in Rehoboth. Quaglia co-owns Homestead Hard Cider, a home-brewed cidery based in Attleboro that he started with another friend in his basement.
The craft beer Web docu-series idea came to Uriot in 2010, but the Attleboro native didn’t pay much attention to it for almost four years. In March, over a couple of beers with Quaglia, he decided to show him a notebook full of episode layouts and filming ideas. Quaglia loved the concept and the two got to work. “It wasn’t until recently that I felt I had the means to do the project justice,” Uriot said.
After Quaglia and Uriot hammered out the details of the series, they started pitching to microbreweries across New England.
Quaglia (left) and Uriot film at the Mayflower Brewing Co. in Plymouth for their upcoming “American Brewed’’ Web series.
The duo began production in June, spending two days at every microbrewery, including Foolproof Brewing in Pawtucket, R.I., Newport Storm Brewery in Newport, R.I., and Grey Sail Brewing in Westerly, R.I., along with Blue Hills Brewery in Canton and Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, in addition to Jack’s Abby and Mayflower.
At Mayflower, in a room adjacent to the brewery, Dr. Dre blasts on the sound system while workers fill kegs and manage the bottling. More brewers are working with metal tanks in the main brew room as Uriot documents the process.
One of the brewers brings Quaglia and Uriot two glasses of beer, showing the difference in coloring after fermentation. One of the beers looks topaz while the other has a golden-yellow hue. The brewer explains the difference in taste, noting the distinction between the pale ale’s hoppy notes in each beer.
“This is what it’s all about,” Quaglia says.
“American Brewed” will air in early September without charge at www.americanbrewedtv.com.
Kelly Gifford can be reached at kelly.gifford@globe.com.


Two Irish hotels, both in County Laois, have been rated among the top one percent of hotels in the world by TripAdvisor.
Roundwood House and Ballyfin Demesne, both which have been voted into the top 10 of TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice ‘Top 25 Small Hotels in Ireland,’ have also been given spots among the top one percent of hotels in the world by the travel website.
Located in Mountrath, Co. Laois, near to the Slieve Bloom Mountains, Roundwood Country House B&B was built by Anthony Sharp, scion of a prosperous family of cloth makers, around 1741. It is one of Ireland’s finest mid-size houses of the Georgian period.
The five-star Ballyfin, voted the number one hotel in the 2016 Conde Nast Reader’s Choice Awards, was where Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West chose to stay for their honeymoon in May 2014.
The TripAdvisor awards are based on the millions of reviews shared this year from travelers around the globe, BreakingNews.ie reports.
"The hallmarks of Travellers’ Choice hotel winners are remarkable service, value and quality," says Barbara Messing, TripAdvisor's chief marketing officer.
"Laois is not typically a tourist destination for overseas travellers but such awards place the county firmly on the map and will undoubtedly lead to increased footfall from both national and international visitors," said Hannah Flynn of Roundwood House.
"Furthermore, the personal touch these houses provide, together with their history and quintessential Irishness, makes them the perfect ambassadors for our country.
"Warm hospitality and excellent food are the most prominent themes running through the reviews for both Roundwood House and Ballyfin Demesne.
"Both are open to dinner guests with advance booking so why not treat yourself and find out what the top 1% of properties in the world are all about."


"The Walking Dead" is AMC's top-rated show.
Despite ratings winner "The Walking Dead,"AMC Networks' fourth quarter earnings fell 48 percent from the year prior.
The cable network reported net income earnings of $15.2 million and overall revenue of $367 million.
The number was slightly short of analysts' $370.1 million expectations.
AMC Networks points to Q4 shortcomings due to money lost during its feud with DISH.
From July until November 1, AMC Networks channels (AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel, and WE tv) weren't aired on DISH due to a lengthy carriage dispute.
As a result, the cable company predicts it lost approximately $31 million in affiliate fees.
AMC Networks also saw a 16 percent increase in fourth quarter advertising spending to $157 million to push its original programs including "Mad Men" and "The Walking Dead."


Recent shootings in the neighborhood have drawn residents, businesses, police and officials to the conversation.
Recent shootings in the neighborhood have drawn residents, businesses, police and officials to the conversation. In this episode, we talk with Reporter Mohamed Ibrahim about residents and business owners who have called on the City of Minneapolis to increase police presence in Cedar-Riverside. While other groups feel increased dialogue, specifically by giving younger residents a seat at the table, should be a priority.


As a collectible, the fish decoy has surfaced. It had been a popular item for several years, especially since the publication in 1986 of ''The Fish Decoy'' by Art, Brad and Scott Kimball (Aardvark). Then, on July 9 at the Oliver auction house in Kennebunk, Me., a rare New York piece by an anonymous carver set a world auction record for a fish decoy of $6,600.
The status of the fish decoy will be elevated further by an exhibition, ''Beneath the Ice: The Art of the Fish Decoy,'' scheduled to open at the Museum of American Folk Art next February. At the same time, Dutton will publish a book written in conjunction with the show by Ben Apfelbaum, the guest curator.
The fish decoy is distinct from the fish lure in that it is not attached to a hook but is weighted and dropped into an ice hole to attract fish within range. It has been used for spearing fish in the frozen freshwaters of the far north since prehistoric times. Subsequently, its use spread from Alaska throughout Canada, then into the Midwest and the Northeast and up into New England. The most common decoys that are collected date from the 1920's through the 50's and come from the Great Lakes region of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The heyday for non-Indian carvers was during the Depression, when fishing became as much a necessity as a sport and decoys became a commercial product.
One of the most artistic carvers, according to Mr. Apfelbaum, was Oscar Peterson (1887-1951), a hunter and trapper from Cadillac, Mich., who made thousands of decoys, ranging in length from 6 to 14 inches. His works are characterized by a streamlined shape and a sophisticated style of layered painting that has an enameled look. ''I suspect he actually used egg tempera to achieve that effect,'' Mr. Apfelbaum said.
Janner worked as a blacksmith in Mount Clemens, Mich.; he also worked for a time for a company that manufactured fire-fighting equipment, where he picked up scraps of materials. His finest decoys were made in the 1920's. Because he made his decoys mainly for family and friends, they are rarities on the marketplace today.
According to Mr. Anton, there are two general categories of carvers: those who attempted a realistic re- creation of a particular fish, and those who worked from their imagination rather than copying nature, on the theory that fish have a natural curiosity.
Oscar Peterson is the most highly regarded of the first school, to the extent that some collectors concentrate solely on his decoys. Mr. Anton has a single Peterson perch decoy priced at $1,500.
His selection of works by members of the second school is more extensive. ''They are often flamboyant and funky,'' he said. ''The characteristics of the fish become abstracted, the colors exaggerated.'' His ''personal favorite carver'' is the late LeRoy Howell of Hinkley, Minn., a house painter who started carving fish for his own use in the 1920's and for commercial purposes from 1929 until the early 50's, when it was no longer economical to compete with plastic models. A Howell decoy has a distinctive aerodynamic shape, often with a colorful florallike pattern. Mr. Anton has one Howell decoy, admittedly ''not the best example,'' in a solid burnished gold coloring, for $275.
Many of the more imaginative decoys are by anonymous craftsmen. At the American Primitive Gallery, they range from a fetching 6-inch red decoy, painted like a tropical fish with yellow spots and with glass-bead eyes, priced at $200, to an imposing 17-inch decoy painted a cheery yellow and studded with red thumb tacks, at $750.
The next auction at the Oliver of antique fishing tackle and related items, which will include fish decoys, will take place on Feb. 23 at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlborough, Mass., about 15 miles east of Worcester.


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Idaho's move to allow consumer choice in health insurance is being viewed as an important first step, but one observer says more should be done to help people in The Gem State and beyond.
Following an executive order from the governor and lieutenant governor, Idaho's Department of Insurance has revealed a plan that will allow insurance companies to sell policies that do not comply with Affordable Care Act (aka, ObamaCare) regulations.
"If you go back before ObamaCare, people had the choice to buy the policies that fit them," responds Fred Birnbaum, vice president of Idaho Freedom Foundation. "The whole notion that we can straightjacket 330 million people into this 'ten essential benefits' bucket ... just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
"So I think that one of the first notions that would follow is the fact that people shouldn't be compelled to buy insurance, which has now been put forth in the tax bill. The second notion should be they ought to be able to buy the policy that worked for them and their families."
According to Birnbaum, the Affordable Care Act has done more harm than good.
"The evidence of that is the fact that premiums have gone up many multiples of inflation. That's not just my data, that's fact – and in fact, the [state] director of insurance will tell you that," he continues. "That's one of the reasons for selling non-compliant ACA plans."
Meanwhile, Birnbaum would still like to see a repeal of ObamaCare.
"It is a very convoluted thing," he shares. "I think it's hard to just pick at provisions of it, so I would repeal it and I would look at insurance truly as insurance for most people – and that it is, to guard against catastrophic events."
Birnbaum thinks a high-deductible policy for many people combined with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) would accomplish what most people need.
"Then you have two other groups: you have those who are poor or don't have enough income to actually afford policies; and then you have people with chronic diseases – and the people with chronic diseases and or the poor typically would not be able to buy insurance," he adds.
"In other words, the rates would be very high; and the tragedy of ObamaCare was that it tried to throw everyone in one bucket. I think you have to separate people with chronic conditions from healthy people. In fact, that's sort of happening now in stages – and the non-10 essential benefits plans are an example of that."


Two bomb blasts ripped through a British army barracks early today, tearing off part of the roof and injuring nine soldiers. The Irish Republican Army said it set off the blasts.
Police said the bombs were placed side by side near an outside wall of the soldiers' living quarters and tore a 3-by-6-foot hole in it.
At about the time of the explosions, shots were fired from a passing auto at a police car in the same area, but no one was injured, police said. The passing car had Dutch license plates, they said.
In Dublin, the IRA said in a statement circulated to the media that it carried out "the bomb attack in West Germany against Crown forces." The IRA recently has stepped up attacks on British targets on the European Continent.
A police statement said the bombs went off at about 3 a.m. at the Glamorgan Barracks in Duisburg, about 30 miles north of Cologne. The building houses about 100 soldiers.
"Innocent sleeping soldiers were the targets. This avoids the risk of confronting people who are awake," said a spokesman for the British army in West Germany.
"Nine were hurt, but none were hospitalized and all were treated at the scene."
After the blasts, a hole was found in a security fence protecting the barracks, said Duisburg police spokesman Reinhard Pape.
"We suspect they cut a hole in the fence to get to the barracks," Pape said, adding that police did not know whether there was a connection between the bomb blasts and the shooting.


I owe the single best bite of food I’ve had this year to Nancy Reagan.
Let’s backtrack a bit. In the ’80s, when she was throwing dinners at the White House, Mrs. Reagan thought there was no better way to start a meal than with consommé. Never had consommé? I wouldn’t be surprised. The rich broth, which requires meticulous clarifying and straining, is an art that many chefs these days just aren’t bothering with. Except for Frank Ruta. He made countless consommés for Mrs. Reagan when he was a chef at the White House. Nearly 40 years later, he’s still making them at his new restaurant, Mirabelle, which sits just a few blocks away from the Resolute desk.
Ruta’s oxtail-and-capon broth, fragrant with star anise and coriander, is pretty perfect on its own. Slivers of radish and blossoms of chrysanthemum add a subtle crunch. But he doesn’t stop there. The soup is poured around a centerpiece of custardy poached foie gras.
The dish, like the (reclaimed-wood-free!) dining room, is unabashedly luxe. If you ever went to Ruta’s previous restaurant, Palena, you might remember that it wasn’t much to look at. Here, the walls are shiny with alligator-embossed leather the color of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A brass Mondrian-inspired grid separates the dining room from the bar. There’s a gold-rimmed, handmade dessert cart—and another cart for Armagnac and eau de vie.
There are prices to match. At lunch, the ham-and-butter sandwich will run you $26—Ruta’s kitchen makes the baguette but also the butter, and the shavings of ham are cured in-house from Berkshire pigs raised at a Charlottesville winery. The Belleburger, topped with red-wine sauce and onion-soup broth, is a cool $28. These are the dishes that have become social-media darlings, and they’re fine—but they’re not the ones I’d come back for.
Instead, explore the piscine side of the menu: A lovely appetizer of cured Tasmanian sea trout set off with pickled blood orange, creamy fennel panna cotta, and a scattering of almonds. A filet of turbot rubbed with coffee and cardamom, roasted, and served with threads of pickled rhubarb and a cloud of coffee-scented froth. Or a stunner of a bouillabaisse, with an intensely rich broth made from razor clams and bouchot mussels.
A crepe cake layered with yuzu cream and sprinkled with sesame.
Don’t overlook the pâtés and sausages. There’s no better boudin blanc in the city than the fat, chicken-and-foie-gras sausage here, garnished with poached raisins and crisp lardons. And there’s no close contender to Ruta’s pâté campagne, an unapologetically fatty spread featuring duck that’s been marinating for days in Armagnac, port, and white wine.
Ruta became known for his roast chicken at Palena, which came with a 30-minute wait. At Mirabelle, he went for poussin, a young chicken that has tenderer meat and takes less time to roast. It’s far better than the similarly homey red-wine-braised tri-tip, which tastes like dry, shreddy short rib and is done no favors by a flat vegetable stew and oversalted chickpea-flour croquettes. That and a listless, yet bitter, soup of spring vegetables were rare duds.
Pastry chef Aggie Chin has been with Ruta since his Palena days, and her desserts are just as strong as what precedes them. At lunch, it’s hard not to order one of everything on the dessert cart (which morphs into a cheese trolley at dinner). During the day, the stars are a salty butterscotch custard and a many-layered crepe cake laden with yuzu cream. In the evening, it’s a citrus pavlova—a beret-size meringue filled with Meyer-lemon cream and sided with bracing grapefruit-tarragon sorbet.
Mirabelle is Ruta’s most ambitious restaurant to date, and it’s exciting to see a chef embrace—and thrill with—canonical French cooking. But as every Yelp ranter knows, food is just part of the equation.
There were times when I felt wonderfully taken care of—when everyone’s dishes showed up at the same time with a well-choreographed upsweep of the cloche and servers rode the tricky line between being caring and unobtrusive. Then there was the night when it took a server a good ten minutes to apologize to tables for a shrieking fire alarm and strobe light. (The couple next to us got up and left.) What’s more, a 45-minute lag between courses might be fine if you’re lingering on a date, but it sure isn’t charming during a Monday lunch.
I expect these early hiccups will straighten out as the staff gets more experience with such a formal style of service, a rarity in this town. And really, I could have eaten that consommé out of a Styrofoam cup and been happy.
Open Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturday for dinner.
Dress: Jeans and the like feel wrong in this rarefied a setting.
Noise level: The music is soft and jaunty, and conversation is easy.
Best dishes:Consommé with foie gras; pâté campagne; cured sea trout; boudin blanc; bouillabaisse; roasted poussin; coffee-roasted turbot; crepe cake with yuzu; butterscotch custard; citrus pavlova.
Price range: Starters $17 to $23, entrées $35 to $45.


Latest research says the rich tend to rationalise their advantage, and believe that they deserved it.
We were out shopping when the store assistant began to shower disproportionate attention on a fellow shopper, who was simply dressed and quiet in demeanor. She decided quickly, bought a few very high value items and left the store. Piqued, we asked the assistant how he figured among so many shoppers which one was rich. His answer was simple: She did not care to look at or be interested in anyone else in the shop, but focused only on the goods.
A growing body of research says the rich tend to display distinct behaviour that can be mostly characterised as mean. Since much of this behaviour is implicit and subconscious, calling them out or nudging them to correct it can actually make it better. In a world where income inequalities are only rising, and where amassing money is an avowed objective pursued without a tinge of regret, it might make sense to pause and ask if we are turning out to be rich and somewhat soulless.
Paul Piff at the University of California, Berkeley, ran a series of experiments to observe how those who have more money behave in a given situation, compared to those with less. He found that players in a rigged game of Monopoly that awarded them twice the money as their opponent, and let them roll both dices, began to display behaviours that were dominant, loud and aggressive. They moved their coins around the board with a thud, ate more of the free snack, and spoke loudly.
At the end of the game, they attributed their success to their strategy and skill, completely sidestepping the fact that they entered the game with privilege. Researchers explain that the rich tend to rationalise their advantage, and believe that they deserved it. They pursue their self-interest and moralise greed easily. The misuse of power and privilege and growing unethicality in societies is increasingly seen as arising from such attitudes.
Pia Dietz and Eric Knowles studied how social class differences influence how we process information. They confirm the simple perception of our store assistant. Poorer people are more likely to notice, engage with, pay attention to and empathise with other humans, compared to the rich. How relevant others are to our goals and motivation is what drives our interaction with others. With wealth and privilege comes independence. The poor on the other hand view others as potentially rewarding, threatening or worth paying attention to. Dietze and Knowles call this the motivational difference.
The lack of empathy and compassion in the rich as compared to the poor is also well documented. In an experiment, the rich took twice the amount of candies meant for kids as compared to the poor! Micheal Kraus of Yale University who specialises in the study of hierarchies, points out that the poor are likely to more accurately judge the emotions of other persons; make more accurate inferences about such emotions; and have higher empathic accuracy as compared to the rich. The rich are not very good at reading emotions of the others and lack empathy and compassion. This deficit stems primarily from their lack of dependence on others.
Wealth also clouds moral judgment and triggers the propensity to cheat or break the law. A study of the attitude of car owners showed that more expensive cars were more likely to block and cross other cars, and less likely to yield to pedestrians who had the right of way. The rich paid lower taxes, and were more prone to evade taxes and hide their wealth; the rich were more likely to adopt questionable accounting and business practices and sidestep ethical practices; and the rich were more likely to use their powers to perpetuate illegal and unlawful activities.
Igor Grossman proposes the idea of wise reasoning, a pragmatic approach to problem solving that is influenced by life experiences and social contexts. It considers the perspectives of others, recognises the likelihood of change, understands how a conflict will unfold and sees the need for compromise and seeks conflict resolution. Grossman’s research shows that the rich have a lower tendency for wise reasoning as compared to the poor.
Privilege can create a sense of entitlement The rich worry more about how other view them, and are likely to consistently blame others for things going wrong. One of the reasons for poor quality personal, family and romantic relationships among the rich as compared to the poor is the former’s inability to apply themselves with flexibility, empathy and open mindedness when faced with uncertainties in personal relationships. The poor seem more willing to compromise or change their positions.
Rich does not equal mean, and that is not what research points out. There are implicit biases that develop as one becomes wealthy, and self-awareness, nudges in the right direction, and greater social engagement with eclectic groups are all steps to keep the negative tendencies in check. Not all rich can be grouped in one stereotypical class either—there are various psychological classifications of the inheritors, the first time rich, the altruists and the firmly grounded wealthy folks.
The moral corrosion that wealth seems to encourage stems from a subconscious sense of entitlement and a distinctly different code of conduct and norm that privilege creates in the mind of the rich. The ancient philosophers and thinkers who bemoaned the pursuit of wealth might have had these corrosive effects in mind when they called upon the rich to donate and give away their wealth; or asked societies to focus on need rather than greed.
While we rejected the socialistic model for its romanticised view of a shared society that did not create the incentives for wealth creation, we are now staring at the income inequalities created by the capitalistic model and its consequences on our morality, ethics and societal harmony.
Many suggest charity as a great way to address this issue. But there is evidence that the poor are more generous than the rich. The intergenerational wealth transfer from the baby boomers that is now underway is seen as the single largest inheritance event that will produce too many privileged rich with possibly the behavioural limitations we just listed.
What will we do with all the money we have is a question we all have to answer with an open heart and mind. Indulging the next generation and passing it on need not be the default option.


NEW YORK (AP) — When John Travolta shocked theater fans by mangling the pronunciation of Idina Menzel's name at the Oscars, one person saw a gift in the slip — Damian Bazadona.
Bazadona, the president and founder of the advertising and marketing firm Situation Interactive, had been hired by Menzel's new show "If/Then" to create some buzz and here it came, one horrible syllable after another.
Bazadona and his team, already assembled in a conference room on Oscar night, instantly won the Internet by creating a graphic — "We Know Her Name — it's Idina Menzel" — and posting it on Facebook and Twitter, along with videos and content. People went nuts. "If/Then" got invaluable exposure.
It was a master stroke from Bazadona, whose business stands at the intersection of technology and live events. Situation Interactive has represented some 100 Broadway shows, as well as The Metropolitan Opera, the Guggenheim and Major League Soccer, among others.
Bazadona and his team use technology to do everything from tempt potential ticket-buyers with special offers to giving them behind-the-scene videos to convert them into audiences.
With the new season starting, Bazadona sat down with The Associated Press to talk about the importance of Wi-Fi, Facebook and the future of live entertainment.
AP: You've been part of a push to get theaters Wi-Fi ready. Why?
Bazadona: I'm of the school of thought that for Broadway turning relevant, we need to have modernized venues that match consumer behavior. Here's where Broadway goes off the rails and people get a little bit nervous: Your mobile device can and should be an enhancement to the experience itself. It doesn't have to be a deterrent.
AP: What? Don't turn off your phone?
Bazadona: A few things are happening that there's no way around. If you have your mobile device and you're connected on a Wi-Fi network, we are getting to a place — based on where you are sitting in a theater — where you could have a custom experience.
Bazadona: You could, based on where you're sitting, be able to pre-order a drink if you're in a premium seat. You could get a special video message. There could be a camera backstage where the cast says, 'Hey, thanks for coming!' You could think about seat upgrades. Let's say you're sitting in the back and you're getting free Wi-Fi and it says, 'Hey, there's a better seat 10 rows up from you.' Or 'Hey, you've been in this theater before, and because you're really great, we're going to upgrade you for free.' Technology could enhance the experience. To me, that's really exciting.
AP: Might digital help the chaos that often happens with buying tickets?
AP: There are more and more places to buy tickets. Is that good?
Bazadona: It's definitely going to get more fragmented, which doesn't make it better. There are going to be so many more websites. I think in the next couple of years, you're going to be able to see what the primary market is on a site and then see the secondary market options right next to it. Now that only happens in sports. It's good but it's also confusing.
AP: Has Facebook made marketing cheaper?
Bazadona: It's changed. Let's say I have a musical and I have fan page that has 100,000 likes. In the past, you'd be able to post a video to your 100,000 people. About 10-15 percent of people would actually ever see it because there's so much in everyone's news feeds. That number has gotten progressively worse. Now it's 1-2 percent. So if I have 100,000 likes, all that really means is there are 100,000 people I can now pay to talk to. The model has changed. It used to be free but now it's $5,000, $10,000, $15,000 per shot.
AP: If Broadway is to survive, what needs to happen?
Bazadona: We need technology to be fully focused on how to improve the live experience. Like: Get me to my seat faster, make the actors more excited, give me stuff that makes being in the venue better. I don't think live events are going anywhere. I've doubled down. This is my business and my life, but we're becoming irrelevant because we have to figure out how to remain relevant in peoples' lives. And technology is a part of that.


Member of group calls team of five workers "enemies of Islam" but says they are alive and in good health.
An al-Qaeda-linked group in Mali has kidnapped a team of Red Cross workers who had been reported missing, an official from the group known as the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) said.
The members of the team "are alive and in good health" in the hands of MUJAO, the official told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.
"Thanks to God we seized a 4X4 [vehicle] of the enemies of Islam with their accomplices," Yoro Abdoulsalam said, confirming it was the Red Cross team reported missing in recent days.
MUJAO is one of the al-Qaeda-affiliated groups which occupied the north of Mali in 2012 before it was partly driven from the region by a French-led military intervention in January last year.
Alexis Heeb, a spokesman for the the Red Cross, told AFP on Monday that four of the organisation's employees and a veterinarian from another aid group went missing on Saturday on the road between the towns of Kidal and Gao.
All five are Malian citizens.
Mali descended into chaos when Tuareg rebels and al-Qaeda groups took over the north after a military coup in March 2012 far to the south in the capital Bamako.
The humanitarian crisis sparked by the conflict came on top of years of drought in the Sahel region that has left 800,000 Malians relying on food aid.
The rebels advanced on Bamako, leading to a military intervention by former colonial power France in January 2013.
French troops pushed the al-Qaeda-linked fighters out of northern towns early last year and have kept up operations against residual groups.
France is winding down its force from a peak of about 5,000 soldiers but is to keep 1,000 troops in Mali beyond the spring.
The UN took over security in July last year from a pan-African military mission which had been supporting the French troops.
The UN mission played a key security role in presidential polls last year, in which the former prime minister, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, was elected.


EDMONTON — Finance Minister Joe Ceci dismissed criticism from his federal counterpart and provincial opposition parties over corporate tax hikes Wednesday and said the NDP government plans to forge ahead in short order.
The NDP government will introduce Bill 2, which lays out its tax plan, on Thursday, but Premier Rachel Notley confirmed this week the promised two percentage-point increase to the tax on corporate profits will come into effect on July 1.
Speaking to reporters at the legislature, Ceci said he wasn’t concerned about the comments from Oliver about corporate taxes.
“He did say he knows ideologically we are on different teams, so I take that to mean he’s driving them down and I think that fair taxes are something that’s important to Alberta,” said the Calgary-Fort MLA.
In the truncated sitting of the legislature, the newly elected NDP government is putting forward legislation to meet its campaign commitments on corporate tax and to fund the operations of the government ahead of the release of its actual provincial budget, which Notley confirmed Wednesday would be in October.
Oliver, whose office did not respond to requests for comment, marked his opposition to Alberta’s corporate tax hike as he slammed federal NDP Leader Tom Mulcair for promising to raise the federal 15 per cent corporate tax rate while misstating the actual figure.
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said Oliver’s remarks are more about national politics — and the federal election slated for Oct. 19 — than about the relationship between Edmonton and Ottawa.
The election of Rachel Notley’s NDP in Alberta helped jump-start Mulcair’s political fortunes, so the federal leader will highlight anything positive from the new government while the federal Conservatives will zero in on any stumble, Bratt noted.
The timing of the provincial budget may even play a role in the federal campaign, as it could either help or hinder Mulcair, he said.
In question period Wednesday, Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, a former Conservative MP, pressed the government to release its budget in September rather than October.
“Will the premier confirm and assure that federal politics has nothing to do with when she will release the budget?” said Jean.
She insisted the release of the budget in October is to ensure it has been properly researched and allows time for debate.
The NDP campaigned both on raising the corporate tax rate to 12 per cent and introducing higher tax brackets on those making over $125,000.
Under its tax collection agreement with the federal government, the earliest the income tax changes could be introduced is Jan 1. But Ceci said he has discussed the issue with Oliver and would talk further on it when Bill 2 is introduced.
Bratt said the government has no choice but to move as quickly as possible to implement its corporate tax changes for the two reasons: it was a signature promise by the NDP that helped derail the Tory dynasty in last month’s election and the new administration needs cash.
To meet campaign commitments, the NDP has increased spending in advanced education, education, health and human services.
In the legislature Wednesday, Progressive Conservative finance critic Manmeet Bhullar noted the province takes in a substantial portion of its tax revenues from a small percentage of businesses and individuals.
He suggested the government’s policy changes could drive those taxpayers away.
“If those people move, the burden shifts to the middle class,” said Bhullar.
But in the house, Ceci dismissed the idea of losing people and businesses to other provinces and said 93 per cent of tax filers would not see an increase from the NDP plan.
“I see lots of people who don’t really think that’s a major issue for their corporations,” said Ceci.


Little did I know when I volunteered for the McGovern for President campaign in 1972 as a college freshman and participated in anti-war demonstrations, that I would continue to be involved in such political action decades later.
I didn’t work on political campaigns back then because I thought of running for office. When I joined the reform Democratic club on Kingsbridge Road — the FDR Independent Democratic Club — it was because I wanted to continue to work to elect good people to office who would fight for peace, and who would stand up not only to Republicans, but to the Bronx Democratic machine as well.
I not only volunteered my time for many liberal, reform Democratic candidates, but also for neighborhood issues. I was on the board of the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality in the 1970s, and also worked on housing and rent issues in the neighborhood. Even after I was elected Democratic district leader in 1986, I continued to be outspoken against the party machine, and for reforms of the Bronx Democratic Party.
That year, at the height of the corruption scandals in the city, I was the first Democratic district leader to demand the resignation of the Bronx Democratic County leader, who was accused in that scandal.
I was elected to the Assembly in 1994, running against the Bronx Democratic organization, and I have always remained a strong voice for reform and independence as a member of the Assembly. In 2008, I was a leader of the Rainbow Rebellion in the Bronx, along with Carl Heastie and Ruben Diaz Jr., where we formed a diverse coalition representing every corner of the Bronx that succeeded in overthrowing the Democratic leadership in the Bronx.
The result is a stronger, more unified and more open Democratic Party in the Bronx.
I’ve spent most of my life trying to elect liberal Democrats to office, working hard on the issues facing my neighbors, and always being a voice for openness and reform. I talk about this in the context of my re-election because of a very welcome development that has taken place since the election of Trump. Many people — most of whom were not active politically before Trump’s election — are so furious at the daily outrages, that they have been politically activated.
Donald Trump has been the greatest recruiter for Democrats in memory. While I wholeheartedly welcome these new voices to join our longstanding progressive efforts, we must maintain an historical perspective of Bronx politics in recent decades to be aware of the great changes that have already quietly taken place.
For example, there has been an incredible increase in female elected officials in the Bronx since the Rainbow Rebellion. Of the civil court judges in the Bronx, 10 are women and two are men. A high percentage of state supreme court justices are women.
We elected two young and dynamic women to the Assembly this year alone, and are on the verge of electing a similarly dynamic young woman to the state senate. And the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the Bronx elected officials and judges are now second to none.
As an elected official, I am, ironically, naturally looked at as part of the “establishment,” especially by newcomers to politics. And it’s true that I’m no longer a teenager marching in Washington to impeach Richard Nixon. But even as a long-serving member of the Assembly and chair of the judiciary committee, I continue to work hard for reform, openness and inclusion.
That is why I sponsor and speak out for campaign finance reform, early voting, same-day registration, and much more. That is why I strongly support codification of Roe v. Wade, ethics reform, single-payer, rent reform, strong action on climate change, more funding for the MTA, criminal justice reform, and much more.
All of these issues have real impacts on the lives of New Yorkers. I am proud that the Assembly has led the way on these issues, and I look forward to the state senate finally taking action on them (and in order to help make that more likely, the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club has been running phone banks for Democratic state senate candidates as well as Congressional candidates in New York swing districts).
The bottom line is this: I learned very early that you can make positive change through political action and community activity. I am a lifelong Bronxite. My junior high school, high school and college are well within the Assembly district that I represent.
I love working for my community, and helping the people in it. That’s why I love my job. That’s why I am running for re-election.
Please vote for me on Nov. 6.
The author is the Assemblyman representing the 81st district. He is running for Assembly representing the Democratic, Working Families and Women’s Equality parties, and faces Alan H. Reed, who is running on the Republican and Conservative tickets.


WASHINGTON – Lawyers for a Guantanamo detainee asked the Supreme Court on Monday to consider blocking military tribunals for terror suspects, and overturn what they called an extreme ruling by high-court nominee John Roberts (search).
Roberts was on a three-judge federal appeals court panel that last month ruled against Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni who once was Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden's (search) driver.
The Pentagon maintains it has the authority to hold military commissions, or tribunals, for terror suspects like Hamdan who were captured overseas and are now being held at Guantanamo Bay (search), Cuba.
A lower-court judge ruled against the government, but Roberts and two other judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit disagreed. That opinion was written by Judge A. Raymond Randolph, who was named to the court by the first President Bush.
The ruling was handed down shortly before Roberts was named to the Supreme Court, to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (search).
The appeals court said last month that the 1949 Geneva Conventions governing prisoners of war does not apply to the Al Qaeda network and its members.
Hamdan, who was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001, denies conspiring to engage in acts of terrorism and denies he was a member of Al Qaeda.


It’s Friday, almost the long Labor Day weekend, and therefore, time to gather up your reading list…everything you saw this week but didn’t have time to actually read.
The interactive online edition explains why humans don’t get heart cancer, what are the safest and most dangerous counties in America, and where at baseball stadiums throughout the country are you most likely to catch a foul ball.
For more, see newsstands, or subscribers can read it online.


South Dakota has announced a new policy that will guarantee students automatic admission to state colleges and universities based on their scores on the Smarter Balanced assessment.
Yesterday's announcement marks the first time a state higher-education system has decided to use Smarter Balanced scores to grant students automatic acceptance if they reach a qualifying score.
In South Dakota, 11th grade students who score at Level 3 or 4 in English and math on the four-level test, or earn an ACT composite score of 18, are guaranteed "general acceptance" to the state's six public universities and four technical institutes. The first round of those "proactive admissions" letters will go out this month, to high school seniors who took the Smarter Balanced exam last year, according to an announcement by the South Dakota Department of Education.
"General acceptance" means that students might have to meet additional requirements to pursue specific majors.
The Smarter Balanced exam, and PARCC, the other common-core test designed with federal funds for the common core, were designed as measures of college readiness, and as course-placement tools. The idea was to set score cutoffs that would show colleges whether students are ready for credit-bearing, entry-level courses. But now at least one state system is using those cut scores for admission decisions as well.
No information was immediately available on whether the public colleges and universities in any state that uses the PARCC exam use those scores to offer guaranteed admission to students. Arthur Vanderveen, the president of New Meridian, which manages the testing consortium, said such policies are determined state by state, and the consortium is not currently tracking them.
South Dakota's policy is similar to one in Idaho, where the public colleges and universities use SAT or ACT scores, and students' grade-point averages, to guarantee general admission. Idaho administers Smarter Balanced to its 10th grade students, but the Idaho higher-education system doesn't use those scores for admissions, according to Smarter Balanced spokesman Chris Barron.
A 20-year-old law in Texas guarantees students admission to its public colleges and universities if they graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. But it's gotten sticky, since its flagship campus, the University of Texas-Austin, couldn't absorb all the qualified students. The state revised the rule in 2009 for UT-Austin so that only 7 percent to 8 percent of each graduating class automatically gets in.
Paul Turman, the vice president for academic affairs for the South Dakota Board of Regents, called the state's new proactive admissions policy "good for students and good for South Dakota."
"We are alerting our public high school seniors to the great opportunities available to them, with a goal of encouraging more to attend the exceptional public universities and technical institutes here in our state," he said in a prepared statement. "This is a way to retain our best students and build a vibrant workforce firmly rooted in South Dakota."
Students who receive the letters of guaranteed general acceptance must submit an admission application, pay the fee, and send in their high school transcripts by Dec. 1 of their senior year. Their enrollment is contingent on graduating from high school. They can still apply after Dec. 1, but their acceptance isn't guaranteed.
The four-year public colleges and universities in South Dakota are on a growing list of schools that don't require the SAT or ACT for admission, according to FairTest, an organization that tracks testing policies.
FairTest spokesman Robert A. Schaeffer commended South Dakota's decision, saying that even institutions that think some information from standardized exams is useful in admissions "recognize that an in-state student's high school record includes lots of test results."


Fair Trade – it’s something typically associated with tea and coffee and not so much phones and tablets. Until now. While it may be easier to buy and use iPhones when you’re not thinking about the ethics of labor conditions, buying a Fairphone is just a simple web transaction away.
Fairphone’s first handset will contain conflict-free minerals, tin and tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and be assembled in a factory where a specially established fund will ensure living wages are distributed among workers. It is a high performance Android phone with a rootable operating system. Its design will feature Dual SIM capability and is easy to repair with spare parts of all crucial components available through its sales channels. Fairphone will provide transparency about its bill of materials, its costs breakdown and its first-tier suppliers.


The clean-fuels program would favor lower-carbon fuels like ethanol. Above, corn is delivered in January to the Green Plains ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa.
What is the climate impact of the clean-fuels bill that sits on Gov. Kate Brown's desk?
Not much. And that reveals the vast scale and difficulty of the climate change problem.
For transportation, Oregonians emitted 22.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (and its equivalent) in 2010, the year of record for S.B. 324. That was down slightly from 2007, and it averages out to 36 pounds of carbon dioxide daily for each resident.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality estimates that the clean fuels program will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 7.3 million metric tons over 10 years - just over a pound daily per person.
In recent years, scientists have realized that the amount of global warming from carbon emissions is proportional to the total amount of carbon we emit, regardless of when, where, or how it's emitted. The best estimate for this "carbon-climate response" is 1.5 degrees Celsius per trillion metric tons of emitted carbon.
Since 1750, humans have emitted almost 600 billion tons of carbon -- one-third from changes in how we use land (mostly deforestation), and two-thirds from burning fossil fuels and producing cement.
A reduction of 7.3 million tons in 10 years means, then, the clean fuels program will reduce the ultimate amount of global warming by five millionths of a degree Fahrenheit.
Not noticeable by any means. It matters little to the world's fate whether or not the clean fuels bill becomes law.
But does this number answer a fair question? Oregon is not, of course, going to halt global warming on its own. Should, then, no one bother to reduce their carbon emissions?
What if everyone in the world made the same reduction effort as does this bill, even though for most it would be a much larger sacrifice than for our (globally) wealthy state?
Then the prevented warming comes to 0.01 degrees Fahrenheit - about 0.6 percent of the warming seen so far. Not completely shabby.
If no one reduces their emissions, the globe will, without doubt, keep warming, one one-hundredth of a degree at a time.
This problem requires everyone do their fair share. But what about coal-fired power plants in China and India?
It's the U.S. that has created a disproportionate share of global warming. Combining historical emissions from 1900 to 2004 from the World Resources Institute with data since up to 2012 from the U.S. Energy Information Agency shows the U.S. is responsible for about 28 percent of the extra carbon in today's atmosphere and oceans. China, 11 percent; India 3 percent.
And the average American emits almost three times more carbon dioxide than the average Chinese, and 12 times more than the average Indian. We don't have a special right to pollute the atmosphere and they don't. Naturally they think we should lead in reductions. We'd surely think the same if the situation was reversed.
At 19 cents per gallon, the cost of the clean fuels program works out to $21 per ton of carbon dioxide. That's slightly below British Columbia's carbon tax C$30 per ton of carbon dioxide. But their carbon tax is revenue neutral and has reduced their income and corporate taxes. And it's working.
Climatologist David Archer of the University of Chicago calculates that burning just one gallon of gasoline will ultimately trap 400 billion BTUs of greenhouse heat. That's equivalent to the blast yield of seven Hiroshima bombs. That trapped heat will ultimately be 3 million times more than the energy that gallon produced when burned. An equivalent of about 10 percent of that gallon's carbon emissions will reside in the atmosphere 100,000 years from now. Climate change is effectively forever.
The philosopher Dale Jamieson wrote, in 1992, "Today we face the possibility that the global environment may be destroyed, yet no one will be responsible. This is a new problem."
And solving this problem is going to require new ways of thinking, and adjusted visions of our values and responsibilities.
David Appell (www.davidappell.com) is a freelance science writer living in Salem.


Huddersfield's England international Eorl Crabtree has provided an insight into the Giants' sparkling start to the Stobart Super League season, revealing it is all in the mind.
The big front-row forward is among a host of Huddersfield players who have been receiving tips from sports psychologist Karl Morris and he believes it could help them make the big breakthrough in 2012.
The Giants have been challenging strongly for honours in each of the last three seasons before fading towards the end and, after starting the new campaign with two resounding victories, go into Saturday's big clash with Warrington top of the embryonic table.
If they stay there with a win over last year's free-scoring league leaders, much of the credit will go to Morris, a lifelong Wigan fan who has been working with Huddersfield since pre-season and played a significant part in their shock opening win over the Warriors.
"He's definitely got a say on how to better prepare yourself and it's worked with me," said Crabtree, who will be making his 300th career appearance at the Galpharm Stadium on Saturday.
"It's worked for a few other boys as well. As long as you buy into his ideas, they will benefit you.
"We'll probably meet up with him at different times and keep in touch. He comes to games and hopefully we'll keep it up for the rest of the season."
The 45-year-old Morris' speciality is golfers – Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood are among his famous clients – but he also worked with Hull City when they went into the Premier League and in rugby union with Wasps.
Crabtree, who has played 15 times for England in addition to making 284 appearances for his hometown club, believes rugby league clubs are missing a trick if they do not make use of sports psychology.
"I think it's an area that's neglected too much in the sport," he said. "It's not just all about physical presence, there is a mental side to it which people don't seem to recognise and understand.
"A lot of it is down to mental toughness but there is also composure and reacting under pressure and doing the right things at the right times in games, not having a head rush which forces you to make a decision that is wrong for the team.
"If you can control that, use that within the game, it's going to be beneficial to you."
Meanwhile, after kicking off the season without seven first-team players, Huddersfield will be close to full strength for the visit of Warrington, who are also unbeaten after the first two rounds.
The Giants welcomed back skipper Kevin Brown and back-row forward Dale Ferguson for last Sunday's 66-6 rout of Widnes and will have utility forward David Faiumu and prop Keith Mason available this week, in addition to new signing Tony Tonks who has completed a suspension.
Overseas forwards Luke O'Donnell and David Fa'alogo are now the only major absentees, leaving coaches Nathan Brown and Paul Anderson with a selection dilemma.
"We've got some people back in the squad this week who have had a first full week's worth of training," said Anderson.
"We're relatively happy with how we're travelling, we're not looking for people any more.
"There are some selection issues. It's just about what's best for the team and what's best to beat Warrington this week."


In the early-morning hours on Tuesday, a fifth package bomb exploded. This one was at a FedEx distribution facility near San Antonio, Texas. The package was reportedly bound for Austin. Austin’s KXAN has a map of the area here.
An explosion that rocked the Texas capital on Sunday night was the fourth one this month. While Austin police are not entirely sure if the latest blast is connected to an earlier series of package bombs that left two people dead and inured others, they’re working on the assumption that the events are linked.
Local NBC affiliate KXAN put together an interactive map that lets you see the locations of each incident and follow along for updates or new developments. You can explore the map here.
The latest explosion, per CNN, came from a package that was left on the side of the road, and may have been triggered by a trip wire. The blast injured two men who were either riding bicycles or pushing bicycles when the incident occurred.
Check out the latest details here.


What Really Happens When You Flush on an Airplane?
For long-haul flights, well-working toilets are key. Zodiac Aerospace tests plumbing designs before plane builders install them on commercial jetliners. WSJ's Susan Carey tours the company's test rig in Carson, Calif.


The Aga Khan could face an investigation into allegations he violated Canada’s lobbying act by giving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family free vacations on his private island in the Bahamas at the same time as he was discussing funding for projects.
The Aga Khan could face an investigation into allegations he violated Canada's Lobbying Act by giving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family free vacations on his private island in the Bahamas at the same time as he was discussing funding for projects.
Democracy Watch sent a letter to the Commissioner of Lobbying late Wednesday, urging her to investigate whether Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan IV "violated the Lobbyists Code by giving Prime Minister Trudeau and Liberal MP Seamus O'Regan the gifts of trips to his island home."
In the letter, Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher says the Aga Khan's actions have put Trudeau and O'Regan in a conflict of interest. It is also against the law to give a public office holder a gift that could create a sense of obligation.
"Your position must be that anyone working for or associated with a company that is registered to lobby a public office holder who gives to or does anything for that office holder… that is more than an average voter does… puts that office holder in an apparent conflict of interest," he wrote.
The Aga Khan is the spiritual leader of millions of Ismaili Muslims and is listed as a member of the board of directors of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada. The foundation, which has received millions of dollars in federal government development aid over the years, is registered to lobby several federal government departments including the Prime Minister's Office, although the Aga Khan is not listed among those registered to lobby on its behalf.
A search of the lobbyist registry shows the foundation has filed 132 reports since 2011 outlining its meetings with government decision makers. However, none of those reports list any meetings with Trudeau.
Representatives of the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada contacted by CBC News have yet to comment.
The call for a lobbying investigation comes in the wake of a scathing report by Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson on Wednesday.
Dawson found that Trudeau violated four sections of the Conflict of Interest Act when he accepted a vacation on the island in the Bahamas and a ride in the Aga Khan's personal helicopter.
While Trudeau and his family got a tropical vacation, Canadian taxpayers got a bill for more than $215,000 in transportation and staffing costs — far more than the government initially disclosed to Parliament.
Dawson also revealed that Trudeau's trip during last year's Christmas holidays was one of three that Trudeau or members of his family had made to the island. Dawson disclosed that Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau stayed on the island in March 2016 with a friend and their children.
Neither the Aga Khan, nor any member of his family, was on the island during their stay.
Dawson said the Aga Khan was on the island during the Trudeaus' Christmas-time visit last year as was a "senior American official of a previous administration," who she did not name.
In her report, Dawson describes the relationship between Trudeau and the Aga Khan, the times they met and the questions they discussed.
Among them was a bilateral meeting on May 17, 2016 that was arranged by "representatives" of the Aga Khan. After a 15-minute chat between the two men about "personal matters, the Ismaili community in general and geopolitics," they were joined by three of the Aga Khan's representatives, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, staff members from the Prime Minister's Office and senior officials of the Privy Council Office.


When the free-agent doors swung open in July, the team all over Minnesota Wild centre Kyle Brodziak was the opponent he had just played six angry playoff games against — the St. Louis Blues. As the one-time Edmonton Oilers forward said, probably my “most hated team” after playing the Blues 30 times during the last six years with the Wild.
When the free-agent doors swung open in July, the team all over Minnesota Wild centre Kyle Brodziak was the opponent he had just played six angry playoff games against — the St. Louis Blues.
As the one-time Edmonton Oilers forward said, probably my “most hated team” after playing the Blues 30 times during the last six years with the Wild.
But the Blues wanted a new fourth-line centre after Marcel Goc and Olli Jokinen didn’t get the job done and Brodziak was a 10-year NHL veteran squeezed out of a job by salary-cap problems and Erik Haula in Minnesota.
Brodziak, whose previous deal was for three years and $8.5 million, wasn’t about to get picky. He quickly said yes on the second day of free agency to a one-year, $900,000 contract.
Now with centre Jori Lehtera’s ankle surgery and Patrik Berglund’s shoulder surgery that will keep him out of the lineup until January, Brodziak may have become more valuable to the Blues.
“There was a lot of tire-kicking on with a bunch of teams, but no real solid offers … the usual, ‘We might be interested, but we don’t know our situation yet,’ ” said Brodziak, 31, who has played 621 NHL games.
Brodziak, who was participating in Perry Pearn’s 3 vs. 3 hockey camp at the Knights of Columbus Twin Arenas this week, saw the handwriting on the wall with the Wild. His offence had dropped off the past three years since he scored 22 goals and 44 points in 2011-12. Plus, Haula is younger and faster.
“At the end of the year, I had conversations with the GM (Chuck Fletcher) and he said they were really tight with the cap and they probably weren’t going to offer me anything,” Brodziak said. “But it was a good run there.
What will it be like playing for a bitter Central Division rival that Minnesota knocked off in Round 1 this past April.
“We came into the playoffs really hot,” said Brodziak. “They were in our face in the games, but we didn’t want any part of that. After the whistle, we’d turn away and go. Maybe that got to them a bit.
The Blues, who lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third year in a row after another terrific regular season, had to make changes. They dealt forward T.J. Oshie to the Washington Capitals for six-foot-three, 213-pound forward Troy Brouwer, a goalie prospect and a third-round draft pick next year.
The Blues aren’t expecting Brodziak to do anything he didn’t do in Minnesota.
“He plays big. He played third-line centre there when they had injuries and third-line wing. He can move up and down the lineup,” said St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock.
That sounds fine to the six-foot-two, 210-pound Brodziak.
“They told me that I’d probably play the first two periods on a line with (Ryan) Reaves and (Steve) Ott and be the responsible guy so they can be set free (to disturb and bang),” he said. “I know Hitch uses his fourth line a lot.


PORT ANGELES — Callis Insurance recently acquired the Pacific Place office complex at 802 E. First St.
Andy and Amy Callis, who also own Callis at 806 South Vine, purchased the property in April to create room for their growing agency, according to a news release.
The agency plans to move operations from the corner of Eighth Street and Vine Street to the complex by 2019, after renovating the space once occupied by Olympic Bagel Co.
Renovations are expected to begin in June and finish by end of 2018, according to the release.
The current tenants of the complex include Edward Jones, Advantage Escrow, and Craft3 — all of whom will remain during the transition, the agency said in the release.
Callis is a local independent insurance agency that recently celebrated 70 years of business.
The agency offers auto, home, business, life and employee benefits to individuals, families, businesses and non-profits on the North Olympic Peninsula and throughout the state.
• Monday: Kevin Hoult, Certified Business Adviser with North Peninsula Small Business Development Center, discusses “Startup Wipeout,” simple mistakes that will doom your business idea to failure.
David Sue, from the Kiwanis Club, discusses a fundraiser at C’est Si Bon Restaurant to benefit Camp Beausite, a camp for kids with special needs.
• Thursday: Jenna Ziogas, Education Coordinator for the Dungeness River Audobon Center, discusses the upcoming events at the center, such as the monthly full moon event called “Learn by the Light of the Moon” and the educational bird series.
PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center employee Mindy Stephens, RN, BSN, received the hospital’s Leadership Award.
OMC CEO Eric Lewis recognized Stephens with the award for supporting the success of her unit and staff through consistent leadership and collaboration, according to a news release.
Stephens became manager of Olympic Medical’s Endoscopy and Short Stay Unit in February after overseeing the Short Stay and Post Anesthesia Care Units in 2017.
Stephens began working at Olympic Medical as an RN on the medical-surgical floor at Olympic Memorial Hospital in 2004.
PORT ANGELES — First Federal’s Community Foundation awarded a $100,000 grant to Bellingham-based PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation.
The gift will provide funds for advanced technology and facility improvements to the medical center’s Cardiac Electrophysiology Lab, as well as its capital campaign goal of $677,130.
The grant was received Nov. 1.
The electrophysiology lab upgrades supported by this grant will improve the cardiac imaging that is critical for diagnosing and treating electric activity of the heart, according to a news release.


Dec. 6, 2018, 6:02 a.m.
At the Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau announced that his company would launch the first phone based on the new Snapdragon 855 processor slated for early 2019. This phone could be the OnePlus 7. At the conference, Lau announced a partnership with UK based telco EE for 5G. Previously, Lau had proclaimed that OnePlus was developing a 5G smartphone which it would launch in 2019. Considering that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 is the first widely available system on chip (SoC) with an integrated 5G modem, this could be the very same device. That being said, Samsung’s senior VP for mobile, Justin Denison yesterday announced that Samsung was working with Qualcomm and Verizon to launch the first 5G smartphone in the US. Since the Snapdragon 855 is being made available in two stacks — one with the X50 modem for 5G and X24 modem with 4G — chances are that OnePlus could launch a 4G-based Snapdragon 855 phone for markets like India and for developed markets it could deploy the X50 modem-based model.
The Snapdragon 855 will be the mobile SoC for choice for most flagship smartphones in 2019. Apart from companies like Huawei and Apple which make their own custom SoCs, most smartphone OEMs will be leaning on Qualcomm’s support with the Snapdragon 855. Even for 5G deployments, as this chip is the first mainstream modem packaged inside a SoC — it will be the go-to solution.


Some farmers were able to get the planters rolling last week. The U.S.D.A.’s weekly crop report shows farmers used some warmer weather to get into the fields and 7 percent of the corn crop is now planted.
The report says the planting is 4 days ahead of normal compared to last year — but right at what the state has seen in the 5-year average.
Nearly one-third of the State’s expected oat crop was planted during the week, third highest percentage seeded for the 3rd week of April in 20 years. Seventy-four percent of the oat crop has been planted, over 2 weeks ahead of last year, and one week ahead of the average. Some areas are seeing faster planting of corn than others.
The U.S.D.A. crop report says north-central and west-central Iowa have the highest soil moisture reserves, with ninety-to-one-hundred-percent adequate to surplus moisture.


Nisheeth Tak of Rasam restaurant tells Lucinda O'Sullivan of his time in The Taj and shares some family Christmas recipes.
The thing about great hotels and hoteliers is that they must treat every guest as if they are VIPs - remaining urbane and impervious to the sometimes strange demands of the people they host.
A recent fly-on-the-wall TV series provided great entertainment and insight into what goes on behind the scenes of hotel life at the legendary Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. The opulent hotel - known far and wide simply as 'The Taj' - is high on the list of the international rich and famous, who expect immaculate service at every instance.
Over the years The Taj has hosted Jackie Kennedy, the Prince of Wales, Mick Jagger, Barack Obama and hundreds of other big names.
In the recent TV series it was fascinating to watch an elderly American billionaire who made it her home for much of the year, and the very modern Maharajah, who liked to lead a simpler life than his ancestors. Likewise, the lives of the staff - who worked in ultimate luxury and in the evening returned to their simpler homes - proved fascinating. However, we cannot forget that in 2008 The Taj was targeted by terrorists who murdered 30 staff and guests.
Nisheeth Tak knows more about life in The Taj than most. Having trained in hotel management, he worked in its marble halls before coming to Ireland 25 years ago.
Nisheeth owns the hugely-popular Rasam Restaurant in Glasthule, Co Dublin - known for its amazing food and the impeccable service from Nisheeth and his team. Its list of devotees include Chris de Burgh, Mark Little, Pat Kenny, Miriam O'Callaghan and ex-IMF mission chief for Ireland, Professor Ashoka Mody. Indeed, I sat there recently on a Saturday and watched three dotcom multi-millionaires chomping away on their Nimbu Jhinga jumbo prawns.
Now living in Lucan with his wife Anna and their two beautiful daughters, Sabina and Jaya, Nisheeth saw it all at The Taj -and, indeed, lost some of his former colleagues in the terrorist attack.
"There is literally no comparison to The Taj in terms of grandeur, hospitality standards and the desire of every Indian hotelier to work in that wonderful institution. It was a privilege and each one of us was well aware of it," he says.
"There was a silver polishing room; fresh flowers were changed twice a day, housekeeping supervisors were on duty 24/7. Basically it ran like a well-oiled machine. The who's who of the world were regular guests."
Nisheeth laughs as he recalls how his hand was shaking as he poured wine for President Francois Mitterand of France.
"I was wearing silk gloves and it was almost impossible to keep a grip on the bottle. There was a huge focus on detail. Everything was rehearsed, re-rehearsed, tasks assigned… like Special Forces on some daring mission.
"One day, there was a booking for the Maharajah of Jaipur, Mr Bhawani Singh, in the hotel's Tanjore restaurant - and in he walked with Jackie Kennedy! She had the same famous smile and easy manner. She left the menu decisions to us - and we served them exactly the same thali that we use today in Rasam and they all loved it."
Nisheeth says Mumbai is a melting pot with hundreds of churches - Catholics, East Indians, Anglo Indians Parsees, Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs - and everyone celebrates everyone else's festival.
"Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas buffet lunch at the Taj are booked out months in advance. The French chef would be carving meats; the Chinese chef would be making noodles and it all felt like magic. It still does.
"Each one of us who left The Taj at the same time as me went on to set up good Indian restaurants around the world, including Shirin Alexander of La Porte des Indes, Camellia Panjabi of Amaya and Chutney Mary, Sriram of Quilon - all in London.
"Camellia Panjabi has been the inspiration behind us all. Her focus on regional cooking, food festivals created interest in various regions of India.
"Would you believe that until 1990, the only Indian food in Dublin was Punjabi? Not a single chef, at least as far as I can remember, had even seen the inside of a catering college, let alone a five-star hotel. Now, having come back from my annual visit to my parents in India and a trip to The Taj, I can confidently say that Indian food in Dublin is as good as there."
Nisheeth says that, having been fortunate enough to spend half of his life in India and half in Ireland, he has a good understanding of both Eastern and Western culture.
"I am glad I came to these shores, for here I met my beautiful Anna and we are very proud of our two daughters, who were both raised as Catholics."
Christmas is huge in the Tak family, Anna loves to decorate the house beautifully - but she leaves the Christmas Day cooking to Nisheeth. "Dinner is almost always a Rajasthan lamb curry with side dishes, and this is one meal that we always look forward to having together at home."
Nisheeth shares some of his Christmas recipes with us.
A triple-decker sandwich widely eaten all over India and popular as a street snack, but would be good as a pre-lunch snack with drinks.
green chutney - fresh coriander, mint, and de-seeded green chilies whizzed up together.
Add 3.75 cup of cold water to one cup of Besan. Add salt and chilli powder to taste. Mix well and set aside.
Dip the whole sandwich in the gram flour batter and deep fry in a pan or pot.
Cut the slice into four triangles and serve with tomato ketchup.
Heat oil and add bay leaves, cloves and coriander seeds and temper lightly until they pop slightly or change colour. Don't burn!
Add, onions, garlic and ginger paste. When onions are softened, add the lamb cubes and mix well.
When the lamb begins to seal, add turmeric and chilli powders and mix well.
After five minutes add the cardamom pods and salt.
Mix well, add one cup of cold water, stir through, and cover with lid. Simmer slowly for 25 minutes, adding a half-cup of water as necessary as it thickens.
Add a cup of water; leave it untouched on low heat for another 35 minutes.
This delicious Indian carrot dessert needs watching and stirring.
Wash, peel and grate carrots. Heat the ghee and add grated carrot. Cook on a low heat until the raw smell of carrot disappears.
Add milk and cook on a low heat until thick.
Add sugar and cardamom and stir continuously.
Continue cooking on low heat until the ghee separates from the mixture.
Transfer to dish and garnish with nuts and dried fruits as desired.


Ankara and Washington have long been at odds over Syria policy, where the United States has backed the YPG.
Turkey will start an operation east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria in a "few days" President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday, a move that could further complicate relations with the United States.
"We will start the operation to clear the East of the Euphrates from separatist terrorists in a few days. Our target is never U.S. soldiers," Erdoğan said in a speech.
The YPG is the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.


First US Catholic official convicted of covering up molestations of children by priests has been released from prison.
A Roman Catholic church official in the US, who was convicted of covering up sexual abuses against children by priests, has been released from prison after winning an appeal.
A Pennsylvania prison spokeswoman says Monsignor William Lynn was released on Thursday from prison after serving 18 months.
The 62-year-old Lynn was the first US church official charged for hiding complaints that priests were molesting children. He handled such complaints in Philadelphia from 1992-2004.
Prosecutors charged him with felony child endangerment. But the appeals court says the law at the time did not cover people who do not directly supervise children.
The Philadelphia Sheriff's Office is taking Lynn to a Philadelphia jail to be fitted with an electronic monitoring device, before he is released.
Prosecutors are appealing the Superior Court ruling.


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hollywood’s counteroffensive against dollar DVD rentals has escalated.
Fox effectively has enlisted in Universal’s campaign against Redbox and other discount-rental chains by ordering wholesalers to stop supplying discs to Redbox kiosks during the first 30 days after Fox film and television titles hit the market. The move, which News Corp. president Chase Carey hinted at Wednesday during an earnings conference call, follows the collapse of negotiations between Fox and Redbox over terms of a direct product agreement.
Sony recently struck such a deal with the kiosks king, becoming the first studio to agree to supply Redbox with product directly. In exchange, Sony secured a Redbox pledge to keep the studio’s used DVDs off the resale market.
Redbox disc resales have been a second major aggravation for Hollywood studios along with the chain’s dollar rentals, which studios say are diminishing rental revenue and undermining DVD sales.
Redbox sued Universal in October after that studio ordered wholesalers Ingram and VPD to stop supplying its titles to Redbox within 45 days of release. Universal countersued, and a decision is expected any day from a federal judge in Wilmington, Del.
If the ruling goes against Redbox, other studios are likely to follow Universal in denying Redbox DVDs. But Fox’s decision to strike such a posture before the court rules demonstrates how deep anti-Redbox sentiment runs on some studio lots.
Like Universal, Fox will extend its ban on new-release dollar rentals to No. 2 kiosk chain MovieCube, operated by TNR Entertainment. Redbox — whose 15,000-plus kiosks are located in Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and supermarkets run by Kroger, Albertson’s and others — is owned by publicly traded cash-machine company Coinstar.
A Fox insider noted that execs are braced for a Redbox lawsuit in response to the decision to withhold that studio’s titles from dollar-rental chains.
A Fox spokesman declined to elaborate on a carefully worded statement issued late Wednesday regarding the policy.