Page 11, 5 October 1878 — CRAFTSMEN IN FUR.
creations of fancy, and real in so many aspects, as the Pathfinder, as Leatherstockings, as La Longue Carabine ? Who has not Killdeer in an imaginary gun-rack, and, hanging on a peg in the store-house of memory, the blanket which the Delaware chief threw back, that he might display the tortoise on his breast to his ancient tribe ? Who has not seen, in air-drawn pictures, the cavern, with the sassafras screen, behind which the " Palefaces" lurked, while the deadly fight raged between the Mohicans and the Mingoes, who had " dared to set the print of their mocassins in the woods " that once owned the sway of the Delaware tribe ; the grave of Cora, beneath the young pines ; the dead Sagamore, attired in the full-dress of his tribe and rank, with the children of the Lenape listening for the lament from the stern old warrior, whose lips remain silent, as he looks his last on Uncas ? Do we altogether disbelieve in them, because a hundred writers have " belittled " the American Indians, and because modern followers of Fenimore Cooper in the frontier lands and on the path of the setting sun are merely animated by a spirit of butchery, and their records are usually lists of slaughter, whether of Indians, or of the animals that are being "thinned out" like them? No more than we altogether disbelieve in Man Friday, or accept special corre- spondents' accounts of Bagdad, in exchange for our own old notions of the glorified city where the hunchback lived who made that wonderful rally, after prolonged suffocation by a fishbone, which had such surprising results.
" The trees of many acres had been felled, and tho glow of a mild summer evening had fallen on the clearing, in beautiful contrast to the grey light of the forest. A short distance from the place whore Duncan stood, the stream had seemingly expanded into a little lake, covering most of the low land from mountain to mountain. The water foil ont of this wide basin in a cataract so regular and gentle that it appeared rather to be the work of human hands than fashioned by nature. A hundred earthen dwellings stood on the margin of the lake, and oven in its waters, as though the latter had overflowed its usual banks. Their rounded roofs, admirably moulded for defence against the weather, denoted more of industry and free-thought than the natives were wont to bestow on their regular habitations, much less on those they occupied for the temporary purposes of hunting and war The village appeared to be deserted, at least so Duncan thought for many minutes ; but at length ho fancied ho discovered several human forms advancing towards him on all-fours, and apparently dragging in their train some heavy and formidable engine. Just then a few dark-looking heads gleamed out of the dwellings, and the place Boomed suddenly alive with beings, which, however, glided from cover to cover so swiftly as to allow no opportunity of examining their humours or pursuits."
that shut it in, are fed by the everlasting snow, and in their turn feed the main river, broad, tortuous, and troubled, that cuts its way through the eastern boundary range by a deep oaten, and debouches by a cleft in the rocks, called " The Gate of the Plains," into a vast open valley, which leads to the "great American prairie." The banks of these streams are the still comparatively unmolested homes of the wonderful North-American beaver, of tribes of the strange creature who may be seen at his miniature industry in the Zoological Gardens, handling his invalu- able tail with incomparable skill, and presenting an absurd likeness to Cruikshank's Methodist parsons in the aspect of his damp and shiny bullet-head. Perhaps of all the captive creatures there, the beaver finds it hardest to reconcile himself to circum- stances, for his kind has a special and well founded abhorrence of man, so deep-rooted and so intelligent that the trapping of beaver, as a frontierman of great experience tells us, is a game of skill of the nicest description, and the faintest sus- picion of " human taint" upon the "beaver medicine" (its in- gredients are a secret) will disconcert the most careful arrange- ments, so that the trapper may as well move on at once .to a distant clime, for not only will he take no fur in the waters which the taint has touched, but the " office" will be given down stream. Mr. Campion was instructed in the art of beaver- trapping by the famous Captain John Connor, who is, notwith- standing his name, thoroughbred, and head chief of the Delaware Indians—the tribe of Chingachgook and Uncas—and he holds that as a sport it compares with every other field-sport, as chess does with most indoor games, combining the maximum of skill with the minimum of chance, for it is " a con- test between acquired skill, knowledge, unremitting care and attention, and the natural instinct—if we may not call it reason —of the most sagacious, acute, and wary of all the brute creation."
The wariness of the object of their pursuit is a characteristic of the trappers also ; only after cautious observation has con- vinced them that the stranger is really one of the craft will they discuss its mysteries and requirements. Among the latter, am- phibiousness, or at least insensibility to every human ailment likely to be produced by wet and cold, seems to hold an important place. It is pleasanter to think of the wise and industrious creatures in the great solitudes, where no trapper has yet found them, if any such there be (and we believe there are, in the Alaska Territory, where the cold beats even the cupidity of the fur-bunter and the cruelty of the sportsman), where the deep waters and the impenetrable jungle on the river banks are all their own ; where unmolested they dam up their pools and build their houses, with winter bath-rooms, dwelling and store-rooms, and apartments appropriated to interesting events (which are frequent), without any risk of the head of the family coming home minus a hind or forepaw, left in a trap, according to the construction of the horrible instru- ment. Mr. Campion says the beaver is the only animal he is acquainted with who will amputate his own leg in order to escape from a trap ; but other frontiermen tell us that the wolverine exhibits similar sagacity and courage, when he gets into trouble. David Gamut was not annoyed by the sugges- tion of Hawkeye that the sweet singer had meditated teaching the canning beavers to sing to the praise and glory of God, but gravely opined that such intelligent creatures would be glad to thank their Creator, if they did but know how, for His gifts of skill and senses of scent and hearing so far beyond the human, even in a land where those senses are trained to their highest capacity, by constant need and ever present danger. We are reminded of David Gamut's notion, as we read of the beaver of Wet-Mountain Valley, of their spacious houses, with every convenience except air in them—how do the creatures live without it ?—which are entered by a round hole in the river bank a foot under water, with a vestibule varying from four to ten feet, leading to a circular basin four feet deep and of the same width, with a vaulted roof a foot above the level at which the water stands. " This," Mr. Campion tells us, "is the winter bath-room, its depth below the surface of the ground (the bank of the river being any number of feet high) and its distance back ensuring that the water in it will remain unfrozen." Surely the first man who violated the sanctity of a beaver's domicile by demolishing it from the top must have had some compunction, as well as much astonishment, awakened by the spectacle of the radiating passages and the admirably kept rooms in which the little family dwelt ! Surely he must have marvelled exceedingly at the stores of osier twigs, of the inner bark of cotton-wood trees, swamp maples, alders, and willows, cleanly cut, and neatly packed in the moist receptacle, where no frost could get at them, and the family food would remain fresh and tender until spring ! Mr. Campion tells us that the beaver is " a good theoretical and practical engineer, who cuts down trees larger in proportion to his size than the greatest forest mammoths are to us, choosing them with great judgment, felling them to the exact spot required ; building dams capable of resisting mountain torrents, constructing dwellings showing some knowledge of hydrostatics, and not doing all these things invariably and always alike, as if instinctively only, but changing and adapting his ways and modes of proceeding according to the circumstances of each particular case." He is also a keen observer of his most suspected enemy, for an elaborately contrived scare- crow, made to imitate a man, and placed, club in hand, astride a ditch made by a party of diggers for mining purposes, and which took the water from a pool belonging to some beavers, so that it was lowered a few inches, failed to deter them from effectually damming the ditch. They simply pulled the dummy down, took his club from him, cut off his stone feet, floated him down the ditch to a spot where there was a short flume, stuffed him into it, middle first, tucked his head and legs into the corners, and plastered all the crevices up neatly with river-mud. Thus did the beavers " outsmart" the men, the beavers no doubt having a Havelock or a Wolseley for their leader, in that favoured portion of the wilderness. Mr. Campion has watched them making their wonderful dams—getting well out of scent, or they would have disappeared in an instant—and amazing as the whole process is, has been most puzzled to conceive how they can estimate the height of a standing tree, since they cannot climb, and the absence of stumps in the scene of their operations shows that they never cut down one which is too short to reach from bank to bank of the stream they mean to dam. Authority worthy of respect has said that the beaver does not use his tail as a trowel, but Mr. Campion opposes this statement with the testimony of his sight. "Many times," he says, "I have seen the unmistakable print of the beaver's tail on his mud-mortar." The construction of these wonderful dams varies in excellence ; there are beavers who scamp their work. Are there contract houses among them, and is their " lath and plasture " ever, like that of Miss Miggs's garret, warranted "not to bear, but the contrairy ?"
These clever, diligent, provident creatures are among the inno- cent and happy races of the animal world. The fierce beasts in the jungle on the river-banks may prowl over their hidden homes, but cannot harm them, and they harm no living thing. Their intense pleasure in the mysterious perfume which forms an in- gredient of the " beaver medicine " seems to be one of the cunning cruelties of Nature, like the attraction of the winged-insect tribes to the deadly flame. They are merry, too ; their system is not that of all work and no play (which seems to be a defect of the ant tribes, unless, indeed, it be applied exclusively to the servile races), and the human watcher, from a distance which renders the " taint " impossible, may see them, when the moonlight silvers the wastes and the waters, climbing out in groups upon the banks, chasing each other playfully, with funny antics, plunging, dipping, and splashing with their broad, flat tails ; laughing and talking, too, no doubt, after a fashion of their own, and knowing nothing of that which decrees that beaver bonnets shall " come in" again and sealskin jackets be trimmed with sleek, fine, beaver fur.


Smartphones can play a very positive role as a new tool with ophthalmologists, shows a new study conducted by the Emory University.
Smartphones can be extensively used by ophthalmologists for viewing complex inner eye photos for diagnostic purpose. They can also be used for taking, sending and viewing pictures of the damage to the front of the eye or eyelids.
The study was conducted among some 350 patients who reported issues like headaches, eyesight changes and similar vision problems in emergency rooms.
The study also included the inner-eye photos taken by the ER staff using an ocular camera.
Then the study team assessed the response of two ophthalmologists who viewed and rated the pictures on a desktop PC and did the same on an iPhone.
The results of the study, published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, show that the doctors found the iPhone images good or better than desktop images and rated them high.
While one ophthalmologist felt 53 pictures were of the same quality, he found 46 better on iPhone and just one was better on PC.
For the other ophthalmologist who participated in the study, 56 were of equal quality, while 42 were better on iPhone leaving only two better on PC.
The study team thinks that it is possible that smartphones can be used in ophthalmic treatment as a new tool with which hospital staff can send the photos from the ER to the doctor’s smartphone for consultation. And later maybe, somebody can make an app for that.
The team is planning to extend its study about this possibility.


I love how old movies portray New York City at Christmastime. Snow drifts gently to the ground. Carols are sung on street corners. Decorations light up the streets. And the tree at Rockefeller Center seems to spread it's magic throughout the city, creating a scene straight out of the carol Silver Bells.
“Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile.” I love how old movies portray New York City at Christmastime.
But I grew up in New York. And the city is nothing like that at Christmastime. The tree does light up Rockefeller Center and decorations line the streets. If you're lucky you'll get a nice snowfall. But what gives the city in those old films the spirit of Christmas is the people. The “children laughing” and the “smile after smile.” Ralph Kramden described it best in the Christmas episode of The Honeymooners, “everyone's hustling someplace. But they don't hustle around Christmastime like they usually do. You know they're a little more friendlier … they bump into you, they laugh and they say, 'Pardon me. Merry Christmas.'” It's a lovely idea but in reality New York is New York. You can put up the decorations, you can have a pretty snowfall, you can even put carolers on the streets. But everyone's still hustling just like they always hustle. And don't count on getting any Merry Christmases now – we're far too “tolerant” for that.
So I spend my Christmases at home with people who I can count on to be merry. And I look forward to the end of January when I will go to another city that I can count on to be filled with the Christmas spirit.
That city is Washington D.C. It's not the city itself that creates the Christmas feeling. I've been living in the area for a couple months now and I think it's safe to say that for 364 days of the year it's more or less the same as New York. But in the second to last week of January it is slowly imbued with a Christmas-like cheer, which typically reaches a crescendo on January 22.
This date is home to the annual March for Life, a rally comprising hundreds of thousands of people gathered to protest the killing of unborn children. It's a grave cause that brings us to Washington and so one might reasonably expect the gathering to be grave. But we have so many reasons for joy. We see that we are not alone. All year, on our own, we fight for life in the world – a cold, hard world which beats us down. But on this day we see that we are supported by hundreds of thousands of others, that we are never alone in this fight. And with each passing year we know that the institution of abortion is being chipped away until one day it will crumble before our eyes, as every other form of oppression, from Auschwitz to the Berlin Wall, has crumbled before it.
But the real source of our joy is that we are celebrating life! And this is what gives the March for Life that Christmas-in-New York feeling. Because what is Christmas but the celebration of life? It is the celebration of the birth of a child. It is the celebration of a woman in a difficult, unplanned pregnancy choosing life. And it is the celebration of the source of life coming into the world to restore life to fallen humanity.
At the March for Life we celebrate the birth of every child. We celebrate the courage of every woman who has chosen and will choose life. We celebrate the conversion and healing of every woman who stands at the front of the March proclaiming “I regret my abortion.” And at the heart of it all we simply celebrate the mind-boggling gift that is life itself.
Clare Hinshaw is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Catechetics with minors in Theology and Human Life Studies. She served as the president of the student chapter of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights at Kellenberg Memorial High School on Long Island. At Franciscan University she served as the vice president of the College Republicans and was trained as a pro-life sidewalk counselor.


EXCLUSIVE: 100 Questions creator Christopher Moynihan has inked a two-script deal with ABC Studios to write and executive produce two comedy projects for the studio. The projects will be co-produced by Tagline Pictures whose sister management company Thruline Entertainment manages Moynihan. Moynihan, who started off as an actor and is still active in front of the camera, is also attached to co-star in the shows for ABC Studios and, like he often does, is expected to pen supporting roles for himself in his scripts under the deal. In addition to creating 100 Questions, which was originally scheduled for a midseason run on NBC but was bumped to summer, Moynihan executive produced the multi-camera comedy and had a recurring role on it. He is additionally repped by Rothman Brecher as a writer and by Domain for acting.


Whether it's sharing your Christmas wish list with Santa, enjoying the sounds of holiday music, or taking a trip back in time to celebrate the traditions of the past, there will be plenty to do this holiday season. To help you celebrate we've rounded up a list of this year's happenings.
Logan County Courthouse Lighting - The RE-1 Valley Children's Chorale will give a performance starting at 5:15 p.m., followed by the lighting of the courthouse at 5:30 p.m.
Cocoa with Santa - 6 to 8 p.m., Christ United Methodist Church, 104 S. Fourth St. Parents make sure to take your own camera to snap of picture of your children with Santa. Reggie the Reindeer will be there too.
Holiday Marketplace - Located at 313 Poplar St., the shop is open Nov. 24-Dec. 22, 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday/Fridays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays.
Parade of Lights - 6 p.m., downtown Sterling. This year's theme is "A Whoville Christmas."
A Child's Christmas on the Prairie/Blue Santa - Overland Trail Museum. Activities include stories, carols, and Blue Santa activities hosted by Sterling Police Department and Logan County Sheriff's Office.
Holiday Favorites - 2 p.m., Sterling Public Library. Learn to bake great cookies and purchase library staff's favorites.
Merino School Drama's 'A Seussified Christmas Carol' - 2 p.m., in the school auditorium.
Windsong and Centennial State Chorus 'Red, White and Blue Christmas' - 3 p.m., Sterling High School. Cost is an $8 suggested donation, plus two canned goods to benefit Cooperating Ministry of Logan County.
Crafty Characters - 3:30 to 5 p.m., Sterling Public Library. This month's craft is Glowing Christmas Trees.
Sterling High School Madrigal - 6 p.m., in the school cafeteria. Cost is $20. Call 522-2944 for reservations.
Merino School Drama's 'A Seussified Christmas Carol' - 7 p.m., in the school auditorium.
Caliche School Holiday Program - 6:30 p.m., in the high school gym.
First Friday - 12:05 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 130 S. Fourth St. A vocal jazz performance featuring Marijean Smith-Blankenbeckler and Bill Smith.
Christmas Tea - 2 p.m., Sterling Public Library. Dave Lively will give a program on "Who Was the Sculptor in Bucksin?" Tickets are required and will be available at the library starting Nov. 26.
Sterling Middle School's 'Disney's Aladdin Junior' - 6:30 p.m., in the school auditorium.
Gingerbread House Workshop - 2 p.m., Sterling Public Library. It's the library's annual gingerbread house decorating party!
NJC Winter Ensemble - 7 p.m., Dorothy Corsberg Theater, inside E.S. French Hall. Cost is $5.
Master Chorale's 27th Noel - 4 p.m., Dorothy Corsberg Theater, inside E.S. French Hall on the NJC campus. Cost is $10.
Santa City - 4 to 7 p.m., Sterling Public Library. The library and Sterling Recreation Center host this annual event featuring a visit with Santa, crafts and a snack.
Sterling Middle School Choir Concert - 7 p.m., in the school auditorium.
Christmas on the Prairie Open House - 5 to 7 p.m., Overland Trail Museum. Enjoy carolers, roasted chestnuts and stroll around the beautifully decorated museum grounds.
Campbell Elementary Fourth Grade Holiday Program - 7 p.m., Sterling Middle School auditorium.
Peetz School Christmas Concert - 7 p.m., at the school.
Fleming K-4th Grade Christmas Program - 7 p.m., at the school.
Haxtun Preschool-12th Grade Holiday Concert - 6:30 p.m., in the high school gymnasium.
Teen Winter Movie Marathon - 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sterling Public Library. Refreshments and a drink will be provided.
Fleming 5th-12th Grade Christmas Concert - 6:30 p.m., at the school.
Maker Lab - 4:30 p.m., Sterling Public Library. Ages 10-15 are invited to come see some Christmas science.
Sterling Middle/High School Band Concert - 6:30 p.m., in the school auditorium.
Merino School K-6 Christmas Concert - 7 p.m., in the high school gym.
Parade of Trees Open House - 5 to 8 p.m., Sterling Public Library. All the lights will be turned off, to allow patrons to enjoy the beautifully decorated Christmas trees.
Ayres Elementary 2nd Grade Holiday Program - 7 p.m., Sterling Middle School auditorium.
Winter Break Movie - 2 p.m., Sterling Public Library. Enjoy a movie, along with snacks and other activities.
Winter Break Craft - 10 a.m., Sterling Public Library. One last chance to get creative before school starts.


Many people think the secret to great cooking is mastery of technique.
It helps, but it's hardly crucial. The key to cooking that tempts and satisfies, that brings people to the table, then brings them back for more, is understanding flavors and how they work together.
And while a culinary degree certainly helps one understand this, more important is a willingness to try new foods, as well as old foods in new combinations. Now there is a book to help you take that flavorful trip.
Flavor masters Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg have compiled an encyclopedic primer to flavor. Their just-released "The Flavor Bible" not only explains what foods taste like, it also offers exhaustive lists of flavor pairings for each.
They suggest mascarpone, for example, which goes nicely with almonds, ladyfingers and peaches, among many other options. They also suggest pairings to avoid, such as maple syrup and brown sugar (too intense).
The first two sections of the book explain how flavor works and offer advice from chefs and others about how they pair various flavors to create great recipes.
It's one of the rare cookbooks without recipes that everyone should learn to cook from.


The trial of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, on vague charges including espionage, began in Iran on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the trial of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been imprisoned for nearly 10 months in Iran on vaguely defined charges, started in Tehran.
According to Iran’s official news agency IRNA, Rezaian is accused of committing "espionage for the hostile government of the United States" and spreading anti-Iranian propaganda. Those charges had not been made public until last month, after Rezaian had already spent nine months in prison.
The 39-year-old correspondent was detained in late July of last year, along with his wife and two photojournalists. The other three were later released, but Rezaian has remained in Evin Prison, one of the country’s most notoriously inhumane facilities, and reportedly kept in isolation and denied medical treatment.
The Iranian government is presenting two pieces of evidence of espionage, Mr. Rezaian’s brother, Ali Rezaian, said: an American visa application for Yeganeh Salehi, Jason Rezaian’s wife, an Iranian citizen and a journalist, and a form letter sent by Mr. Rezaian to Barack Obama’s 2008 White House transition team offering help to improve relations between Iran and the United States.
Rezaian, who grew up in California and holds dual American-Iranian citizenship, was only allowed to meet with his lawyer once—she reportedly found out the date of the trial through Iranian media. If convicted, Rezaian could face up to 20 years in prison.
But one potentially telling detail about the otherwise mysterious proceedings is the judge assigned to the case. “The presiding judge, Abolghassem Salavati, is known for handing down harsh sentences and is accused by human rights groups of cracking down on journalists and activists,” the BBC reported. “He has been dubbed the ‘judge of death’ for imposing several death sentences after the 2009 post-election opposition protests.” In 2011, Salavati was placed on a European Union blacklist for human-rights abuses, and last year, he was also accused of leading a crackdown on political activists and journalists within the country.
As the United States and Iran continue to pursue a nuclear deal, some have suggested that Iran could be using Rezaian as a bargaining chip to enhance its position in the negotiations.
Throughout the nuclear talks, U.S. officials have frequently brought up Rezaian’s case as well as those of other American citizens currently being held in Iran. A number of Republican lawmakers have issued statements calling for the release of Rezaian as a precondition for a nuclear deal with Iran.


California is lifting its drought emergency for most of the state after a winter of record rain and snowfall that followed a five-year dry spell.
Gov. Jerry Brown's office announced Friday that his executive order will lift the drought emergency in California, except for Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Tuolumne counties. Those counties still face groundwater supply shortages.
"This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner," Gov. Brown said. "Conservation must remain a way of life."
Brown's office also said new legislation will create long-term conservation measures as the state with a history of dry spells anticipates future droughts.
About 8 percent of California is still under some type of drought, according to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor report. At this time last year, more than 90 percent of California fell into at least one of the weekly report's four drought categories.
More than 31 percent of California was in the most severe category -- exceptional drought -- in April 2016. That figure dwindled to 18 percent during the height of winter's storms before falling away later in the season.
The only parts of California that remain in moderate drought are northern Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Orange counties. A sliver of extreme southeastern Imperial County remains under severe drought.
The announcement ends the 2014 emergency declaration during California's driest four-year period on record. It led to the first conservation rules for the nation's most populated and agriculturally productive state, focused on turning off sprinklers and ripping out thirsty lawns.
Monster storms this winter doused the Sierra Nevada Mountains with a record snowpack, a key California water source, and boosted reservoirs to normal levels. Melting water runs off the mountain and into a system of aqueducts and reservoirs, providing water for about 23 million Californians.
Water conservation will become a way of life in the nation's most populated state, Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board, who led conservation planning. Officials already have started charting long-term rules to make California more resilient as climate change makes weather patterns more severe.
"There's a greater appreciation of just how precious water is," she said. "We've got to plan for longer droughts."
Cities and water districts throughout the state will be required to continue reporting their water use each month, said the governor order, which also bans wasteful practices. New rules are expected to permanently ban wasteful practices, such as hosing off sidewalks and watering landscapes in the days after it rains.
Susan Atkins of the charity Self-Help Enterprises said the drought is not over for more than 900 families who have large water tanks in their yards because their wells dried up during the years long drought.
Most of them are in Tulare County, a farming powerhouse in central California's San Joaquin Valley. Atkins said she still receives calls from people whose wells are running dry and need a tank and bottled water.
"In no way is it over," she said of the drought. "We will run out of money before we run out of people that need help."
As for the robust snowpack, it might grow this weekend when an unusually strong spring storm sweeps through California. Electronic monitors last week showed the mountain snowpack was at 164 percent of normal.
It was the most dense springtime snowpack since 2011, a year followed by five years of drought.
Record-breaking rain in recent months has put a major dent in the drought but also led rivers and creeks to break their banks and wreaked havoc on the state's infrastructure. In February, drought busting storms led to an emergency evacuation of thousands of people downstream from Oroville Dam, where the main spillway broke apart and an emergency spillway eroded. In San Jose, thousands of residents were evacuated a flooded streets filled with mud and debris.


Okay, okay, so maybe Delly wouldn’t fall that far down the list. But still, a Matthew Dellavedova biopic? That seems…random. And yet, it’s apparently going to be real thing!
According to Fox Sports Australia, Dellavedova and his Australian manager Bruce Kaider have teamed up with Los Angeles producers Zachary Green and Jason Shuman to create a film about Delly’s life. It will focus on his upbringing in Australia and lead right up into the present day, which has taken Dellavedova to the magical city of...Milwaukee. No, but seriously, Kaider is promising that there will be plenty of intriguing stops along the way.
"Delly’s inspirational story about overcoming the odds is one everyone can relate to," Kaider said in a press release, according to Fox Sports Australia. "In real life, it played out just like a movie."
Dellavedova added that he’s looking forward to getting started on the film. "I am honored that Bruce, Zachary, and Jason think enough about my journey to turn it into a feature film," he said. "I am thrilled to be working with this incredible group to tell my story to inspire kids around the world to dream big and that hard work and perseverance pays off."
The press release about the biopic suggested the filmmakers are going to try and emulate movies like Hoosiers and Rocky when they create the film, which seems like it’ll be an impossible task. But then again, Delly is a guy who most people hadn't even heard of until 2015, and he somehow managed to finesse a four-year, $38 million contract this past offseason and now a movie about his life. So clearly, anything is possible!
Stay tuned for more details about the biopic.


The body of a woman has been found in a river at a boatyard in Woodbridge, Suffolk.
Suffolk Police were contacted at around 10:50am today, by the Coastguard who were responding to reports of a body in the river.
Officers attended the scene and assisted the coastguard in removing the body from the water.
The woman is believed to be in her fifties and police are in the process of informing her next of kin.


CHICAGO -- A three-year-old boy died after a fire swept through his South Side home Sunday, police said.
Firefighters arrived at the three-story building on the 6700 block of South Dorchester Avenue two minutes after receiving calls of a fire, officials said. Three-year-old Maqkwone Jones was pulled from a second floor apartment and rushed to Comer Children's Hospital after suffering from cardiac arrest. He later died in the hospital.
The three-story building was mostly unoccupied at the time of the fire, according to the Chicago Fire Department, with people living in two of the 16 units. Thick, dark smoke could be seen from a distance as firefighters worked to stop the flames from jumping to neighboring buildings. In total, more than 100 firefighters joined in battling the blaze.
“The flames were just everywhere. It looked like it was spreading from the building to the next building over," Ryan Booker, a neighbor, said.
A man who lived in the building was treated for smoke inhalation, while a Chicago firefighter was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital as a precaution after showing signs of heat-related exhaustion.
“We believe it was fatigue, overheating. In this heat it’s not uncommon, we do try to get ahead of it and have our guys rehab and get fluids back inside of them," CFD Assistant Chief Barry Garr said.
Investigators are trying to determine what caused the fire, and the Red Cross is working with families displaced by the fire.


Who are even trying to kid?! Kanye West is - without a shadow of a doubt - THE reason Twitter's where it's at today. And it looks like the Sigma lads agree with us!


History is filled with stories of bold pioneers who changed the world with their visionary ideas. There exists also, in the annals of innovation, a rich tradition of mad scientists with crazy inventions. These two notions are not mutually exclusive. In fact, many celebrated breakthroughs were initially met with scorn and ridicule. We've compiled 11 such world-famous ideas from the history of science and technology. The temptation, of course, is to include those ideas that were scorned and should have stayed scorned. The Star Wars prequels, say. But we're trying to run a classy operation here.
Heliocentrism Galileo Galilei, sometimes called the Father of Modern Science, was among the first and most famous to pay a price for his crazy scientific ideas. Galileo publicly promoted the Copernican concept of heliocentrism -- that the Earth revolves around the Sun -- back when the Church and even most fellow mathematicians held to geocentric model. Unfortunately, in 17th century Rome, such radical ideas were quite literally heresy. Galileo was forced to recant and spend the rest of his life under house arrest.
Telephone The question of who actually invented the telephone has inspired a small library full of academic research. But at least one of the earliest telephone prototypes was met with official scorn. In 1860, a full 16 years before Alexander Graham Bell's patent, German schoolmaster Johann Phillip Reis constructed a prototype "telephon" and sent the details to a prominent scientific journal. The editors scoffed at the idea of telephonic transmission and Reis' paper was rejected out of hand. Evidence of Reis' work was later suppressed during the telephone patent wars of the 1870s.
Alternating current As the Reis incident suggests, sometimes public reaction to a new idea is influenced by the competition. In the 1880s, lawmakers and the general public literally feared the use of alternating current (AC) for electric power distribution. AC power was considered dangerous, largely due to an orchestrated public relations campaign by Thomas Edison, who had financial interests in the competing direct current (DC) model. Edison even went so far as to stage public electrocutions of animals to freak people out about alternating current. These demonstrations later led to the invention of the electric chair.
Radio The Top 40 anthem "We Built This City" -- generally considered the worst song ever -- name-drops Guglielmo Marconi, the Italian engineer often credited as the inventor of modern radio. Marconi didn't invent radio at all, actually. Scientists had been tinkering with the tech for years. But Marconi did champion the idea that long-distance radio transmissions could have profound cultural and commercial applications -- adult contemporary rock, for instance. Nevertheless, Marconi's vision was unappreciated at the time. In 1895, Italian officials routed his request for funding to the local insane asylum.
Velcro In 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mestral was taking his dog for a walk when he began to wonder about those irritating burrs that tend to stick to your clothes (or your dog) on a hike. Being an engineer, de Mestral grabbed a microscope and the rest is history. His idea for a hook-and-loop fastener, now known as Velcro, was initially met with condescending skepticism by the European fabric industry. And as we all know, there are few entities more intractable than the European fabric industry. It took another 14 years to patent the "zipperless zipper" and in 1999, de Mestral was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame.
Personal computer It's hard to even wrap your head around now, but there was a time when the computer was viewed as an unknowable egghead machine with limited practical applicability for the common man -- like the electron microscope or the supercollider. The idea of a personal computer was crazy even to those in the business. "I think there is a worldwide market for maybe five computers," said IBM chairman Thomas J. Watson in 1943. Supposedly. There's some debate over the veracity of this quote, but it does reflect the prevailing attitude of the time.
Compact discs In the late 1970s, heavyweight competitors Sony and Philips worked together to develop the Compact Disc (CD) format, soon to revolutionize sound recording and distribution. Their biggest obstacle? A profoundly skeptical music industry, who insisted digital would never replace analog technologies like vinyl and cassette. Sony chairman Norio Ohga basically staked his career on the CD format. A classical music connoisseur, Ohga trusted his ear and promoted the CD's superior sound quality. Five years after debuting in Japan, the CD overtook the vinyl LP in total record sales.
Quasicrystals Good ideas are sometimes dismissed at the molecular level. When famed Israeli scientist Dan Shechtman discovered quasicrystals in the 1980s, he was mocked and kicked off his own research team. Said one competing researcher: "There is no such thing as quasicrystals, only quasi-scientists." Not a bad line, really, but Shechtman was vindicated rather spectacularly with a Nobel Prize in 2011. The discovery of quasicrystals changed ideas about the very structure of matter and now represents an entire field of study in materials science. Oh, and Schechtman just announced plans to run for the Israeli presidency.
Iphone and iPad Apple's triumphs in recent years have been so dazzling that its easy to forget the skepticism that preceded the company's flagship mobile products. Tech pundits and (especially) mobile phone executives ridiculed the iPhone concept of an all-in-one device in 2007. Even Apple's traditional rival got in on the action: "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in 2007. And remember the incessant jokes about the iPad's name back in 2010? Some joke: The iPad pretty much single-handedly resurrected the tablet as a viable mobile device.
Wearables History tends to repeat itself, so the obvious question is this: Which dubious technology of today will become the breakthrough of tomorrow? You can find plenty of skeptics dismissing the idea of wearables, always-on computing devices such as the smartwatch or Google Glass. Detractors can point to long list of failures in the wearable computing arena. But who knows? Perhaps our future cybernetic overlords will look back 100 years from now and regard wearables with digital fondness -- the breakthrough that sparked the inevitable robot revolution. Only time will tell.


As I alluded to previously, immigration reform seems to me like an issue where radical tactics, if people could be organized to engage in them, would have high prospects for success. Among other things, Jose Antonio Vargas’ story today makes that clear on a number of levels.
One is that people were willing to help him in a civilly disobedient way, starting with the woman at the DMV who whispered to him that his papers were fake rather than reporting him. Another is that whatever ultimately happens to Vargas, INS agents haven’t rushed to his house to deport him ASAP. He’s not currently sitting in a detention cell being questioned about what knowledge editors at the Washington Post and Huffington Post had of his immigration status. When Vargas pitched the story to the Post, they apparently rejected it, but they didn’t turn around and immediately drop a dime on the guy.
Which is all just to say that the treatment of undocumented workers in this country is one of those things where we’re only kinda sorta willing to enforce the law. Faced with a known quantity — a friend, a colleague — nobody really wants to see a good person deported. Nobody really wants to make powerful people pay the price for complying with the law. And everyone knows we wouldn’t really even have the logistical capacity to deport every unauthorized migrant in the United States if they all turned themselves in tomorrow. The undocumented and their friends and family and allies have, in other words, the potential to take the broken immigration and really smash it the point where it doesn’t work at all. What the practical output of a crisis like that would be is difficult to say. But the point is that Washington basically doesn’t want this on the agenda. Politicians want to talk about deficit reduction and posture about jobs. But undocumented people could in principle force their way onto the agenda if there was enough will and organization. And I think the experience of the filibuster-happy 111th Congress makes it pretty clear that if we are going to see dramatic legislative change on this front it’s going to take something like that.


The Democratic Alliance has been in the spotlight after the party's apparent mistaken vote for the Employment Equity Act Amendment Bill, with analysts saying the official opposition is at an ideological crossroads.
We're talking to DA parliamentary leader and head of the opposition in Parliament Lindiwe Mazibuko about the issues facing the party, along with political analyst and PowerFM talk show host Eusebius McKaiser.
Send us your questions here for the DA and join us on Friday.
The Bill, with its race-based elements, flies in the face of the DA's traditional opposition to racialised policy or legislation and angered its liberal members. On Friday, Helen Zille said the DA's vote was a mistake, due to a series of administrative errors, time constraints and misinformation, but the MP responsible for the vote said he stood by his decision.
Read more about the saga here.
Will the DA recover from this incident in time for next year's elections, and what does it reveal about the internal state of the party?
Join us live at 12.30am on Friday October 15, where the Mail & Guardian's Verashni Pillay will put your questions to Mazibuko and discuss other issues facing the party.
Post your questions in the comment section below, or on Twitter using the tag #MGhangout. You can also tell us what you think on Facebook, as well as Google Plus.
Alternatively you can email us.
You can also join us via video to ask your questions using Google hangouts. Get in touch via email if you're interested.


Skiers and snowboarders from all over the country gathered in Jammu and Kashmir's popular skiing destination Gulmarg to participate in National Ski and Snowboarding Championship.
The championship, which includes more than 21 teams, began on Sunday after a gap of four years.
The week-long championship will include, snowboarding, snow skiing and snow cycling.
President of Winter Games Association of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Shah said this event will give fillip to winter sports in the state.
"The main objective of this championship is to promote Gulmarg city as an international skiing destination. It is now coming up as the most affordable skiing destination in the world. Our slope is at par with the European slopes and also about the snow conditions, our snow is considered the best in the world," Shah said.
Participants praised snow and slopes in Gulmarg and said it was perfect for beginners as well as for professionals.
"We have already participated in similar national championship in Shimla and Uttarakhand but if we have to compare the slopes, the slope in Gulmarg city is really good and it has a huge area. From beginners to professionals, this is a good place for training," said Nawaz, a participant from Kerala.
Local players said that such events help Gulmarg to get exposure and prove to be a boon for the tourism industry. Gulmarg this year has received more than six feet of snowfall enthralling winter sports enthusiasts as well as tourists.


IF you like cricket, and like a brainy writer whose intellectualism is friendly and endearing, you’d better read this book. Mike Brearley was a cricketer with modest abilities, but he possesses a beautiful mind. Most creditably, excelling in cricket and studies at Cambridge didn’t make him insufferable. His mind has trumped his batting feats, which are nondescript — 1,952 international runs at an average of 23.23. But he is extraordinarily cerebral, and it’s primarily due to this that he played 64 international matches, of which he captained in 56. His brain kept him in the team; if not captaining, he wouldn’t have been in the team for so long. His leadership qualities were exceptional, his man management top-drawer — post-cricket, he became a psychoanalyst.
Brearley remains acutely aware of his limitations as a player, as is most evident in the chapter on Viv Richards, the original King. Brearley writes with breathlessness and incredulity that Richards treated him as his peer. We all know Richards had and has no peers, and Brearley knows it too. Richards has respect for the intellect of Brearley. As a force for positive change in cricket, Brearley’s intellect is respected and can be useful, which Richards recognises. Brearley is left awed by the encounter. ‘I want him to like me,’ he writes. ‘I am almost surprised he remembers me, that he wants to talk to me. But I don’t feel relaxed. I don’t easily take in what he is saying. I have to listen hard. He is, as my colleague John Stephenson, also present, said afterwards, an alpha male. One can’t imagine a woman not being fascinated. As a man (am I one?), older, in every sense paler, I am charmed, but also a tad intimidated, even by his friendliness.’ Considering Brearley’s high intellect, this extreme modesty seems unreal, artificial. But it’s not fake, for Brearley is a very sincere, earnest man.
Brearley is perhaps less intimidated when it comes to, say, invoking Socrates when discussing the aesthetics of the game.
In short, Brearley resides as easily on the intellectual plane of the sport as on the physical one.
Brearley wears his intellectualism lightly. A few years ago, as we discussed depression among cricketers, he prefaced almost every sentence with ‘I think’, ‘perhaps’ or ‘probably’. When he speaks, he leaves room for a contrary or dissenting view, that’s the generosity of his spirit. Doubt isn’t necessarily a bad attribute.
He writes, too, with self-effacing simplicity, having a wry laugh at himself every now and then. Any traces of immodesty he might have had were summarily crushed by his father when he was a teenager, as he relates: ‘I had been both arrogant and falsely modest, commenting to Mike Griffith and my father that my wicket-keeping was ‘not quite as good as Mike’s on the leg-side.’ His father told him off, ‘quietly’. ‘I felt and can still feel the shame,’ Brearley writes. No wonder Brearley, 60 years on, is touched when the great Viv Richards doesn’t fail to add ‘I think’ after expressing an opinion to him.
This book is valuable for several reasons. One reason is that it’s full of anecdotes and contains affectionate and kind portraits of great players such as Bishan Singh Bedi, Sarfraz Nawaz, Richards, Dennis Lillee and Michael Holding. A more important reason is that it provides terrific food for thought, and can help one get a perspective on something important such as, say, racism.
Above all is Brearley’s ability to put himself in someone else’s shoes — and, more particularly, head. As a philosopher-cricketer, that’s his greatest gift.


September 2,2008: Hamas has an image problem, and it's getting worse. It's gotten so bad that the 30 year old son (Mosab Yousef) of one of the Hamas founders (Hassan Yousef) has not only renounced Hamas, but has become a Christian. Mosab is fed up with the terrorism/"destroy Israel" approach the Arab world has embraced over the last sixty years. Mosad notes, as have many other Arabs, that this has not worked.
The conversion angle is something Moslems are trying to keep quiet. Mosab Yousef's father pleaded with his son to keep quiet about the conversion (which took place 18 months ago). The elder Yousef knows that this is not an isolated incident. Many young Moslems are abandoning Islam. Most do so quietly. In Iran, the clerics that run the country are shocked at secret police reports about a growing number of young Iranians who have, in effect, abandoned Islam. This sort of thing is happening all over the Moslem world, but especially in Arab countries. The people who switch to Islamic radicalism get all the headlines, not the larger numbers who just walk away from Islam are largely ignored. In the Palestinian territories, there is also a growth in the number of Sunni Moslems who are switching to the Shia version (as championed by Iran). But many other Moslems are openly distancing themselves from the conservative forms of Islam (like the well funded Saudi Wahhabism). One reason this trend is kept quiet is because Islamic militants are inclined to kill such traitors, if the switch is done too openly. Thus the elder Yousef's plea that his son keep quiet, lest he attract the murderous attention of Islamic radicals out to impose the death sentence on apostates.
Hamas was founded in 1987, as one of the Palestinian terrorist organizations that believed attacking Israeli civilians was the way to victory. Hamas also noted (based on what happened to most of the first generation Palestinian terrorist organizations of the 1960s) that they needed more than violence to survive. So they sought out Moslem charities for donations, and ran many humanitarian programs. Once they had a steady stream of charity money coming in, they could divert some of it to terrorist activities. None of this worked. Israel defeated Hamas terrorism efforts twice (early 1990s, then once more a decade later). When Hamas won the Palestinian elections in 2006, and refused to drop its demand for the destruction of Israel (as non-Moslem donors, who provided most of the charitable contributions that kept the Palestinian state going, insisted), money dried up and the Palestinian government split into Hamas in Gaza (with 1.4 million people) and Fatah in the West Bank (with 2.4 million people). The Palestinians have managed to compile an impressive string of failures in the last half century, and many Palestinians are beginning to question the leadership and strategy.


Top performances from Tuesday's high school action.
Avery Dyer (Lexington volleyball) – Dyer had 34 assists, four aces, seven digs and three kills as the Lady Tigers beat Hardin County 3-1.
Aly Goodman (South Gibson soccer) – Goodman had three goals and three assists as the Lady Hornets beat Chester County 7-4.
Ashlynne Clifft (South Side volleyball) – Clifft had seven aces, 19 kills and three blocks as the Lady Hawks swept Covington 2-0 and USJ 2-0.
Josi Greene (Peabody soccer) – Greene had four goals and one assists as the Lady Tide beat South Fulton 9-0.
Emily Jones (USJ soccer) – Jones had three goals and two assists as the Lady Bruins beat Dyersburg 9-0.
Misty Conaway (Chester County volleyball) – Conaway had 11 kills and three aces as the Eaglettes beat McNairy Central 3-0.
Audrey Smith (Milan soccer) – Smith had three goals as the Lady Bulldogs beat Liberty 8-0.


U.S. President George Bush waves to reporters Oct. 11, 1992 upon leaving the White House in Washington.
Regardless of politics, most people will acknowledge that the late President George H.W. Bush, had all the most important qualities of a human being, and as an American.
I’m not going to recount here all the accomplishments of his long life of service to our country. You probably have read it all on Facebook and in newspapers, and have seen it in the news the last few days.
What I remember most about President Bush is that he was a decent man.
It’s not an exaggeration to say this holiday season is quite a stretch.
Obviously, he loved his dear wife Barbara from the day they met until his last breath. Even in the height of power as leader of the free world, he would exercise decency and was a true gentleman.
I remember the victory in the first Gulf War, and how he built the large coalition of countries from around the world to push Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. It was possible, in part, because of the relationships he had built over years public service.
One of the small things President Bush was known for was making you feel special when you were in his presence, no matter your place on the social or economic scale.
Another was his note writing. He would spend hours sending handwritten personal notes to those he met. From world leaders to a 6-year-old visitor to the White House, he made a point to connect with you.
Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Sean Bulson has said on several occasions that the safety, security and mental well-being of the 38,000 HCPS students and 5,000 employees is his and the community’s first priority. He said so again during a budget work session Tuesday evening.
On his last day in office as the most powerful man in the world, President Bush left a note to Bill Clinton, the man who after a brutal election had defeated beat him, removing him from office.
The note ends with: “You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country’s success.
I personally don’t believe decency died with President George H.W. Bush. We all should not give up on being a decent person, should not give up on politeness and respect of each other — and also of the people we elect to lead our country, even if we don’t always agree with their policies.
The author runs the Griffith Never Give Up Foundation. In 1992 he attended an appearance and speech by George H.W. Bush when the president came to Riverside/Belcamp.


TAYCHEEDAH - Two men were seriously injured Thursday night in a head-on crash in the town of Taycheedah.
A 35-year-old Fond du Lac man was traveling west about 7:30 p.m. on Fond du Lac County WH east of Konen Road, crossed the center line and struck another vehicle headed east, according to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff 's Office.
The driver of the other vehicle was a 41-year-old man from Mount Calvary.
Both injured men had to be extricated from their vehicles and were flown to Theda Care Regional Medical Center in Neenah.
County WH was closed for approximately five hours as the crash was investigated and the scene was cleaned up.
The Sheriff's Office says alcohol may be a factor in what caused the crash.
City of Fond du Lac Ambulance, Town of Calumet Fire Department, Flight for Life and Theda Star Helicopters, and the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office Crash Investigation Team assisted at the scene.


Content protection features in Windows Vista are preventing customers from playing high-quality video and audio and harming system performance, even as Microsoft neglects security programs that could protect users, computer researcher Peter Gutmann argued at the USENIX Security Symposium in Boston Wednesday.
"If there was any threat modeling at all, it was really badly done," Gutmann, from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, said while giving a talk on Vista content protection. "Once the enemy is the user and not the attacker, standard security thinking falls apart."
Vista requires premium content like high-definition movies to be degraded in quality when sent to high-quality outputs, so users are seeing status codes that say "graphics OPM resolution too high." Gutmann calls this "probably the most bizarre status code ever."
While Microsoft's intent is to protect commercial content, home movies are increasingly being shot in high definition, Gutmann said. Many users are finding they can't play any content if it's considered "premium."
"This is not commercial HD content being blocked, this is the users' own content," Gutmann said. "The more premium content you have, the more output is disabled."
Gutmann, who wore a white T-shirt marked with a Windows Vista logo during his presentation, first issued his criticisms several months ago with a paper titled A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection.
Gutmann's paper called Vista's content protection rules "the longest suicide note in history."
Microsoft acknowledged that quality of premium content would be lowered if requested by copyright holders, the BBC reported. Microsoft defended its copyright protections after Gutmann's paper came out, saying they are common features of many playback devices, the BBC article says.
The protections allow copyright holders to prevent video from being played in high definition unless users have equipment that supports the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) digital rights management system developed by Intel. If PC users have graphics cards with video connections that don't support HDCP, they are out of luck.
High-definition audio is also blocked in many cases, Gutmann said Wednesday.
"It's taking this open architecture that IBM created 25 years ago and making it closed again," he said.
In a 132-slide PowerPoint presentation, Gutmann outlined numerous features of Vista that he says are frustrating customers and programmers. New functionality related to content protection makes it hard to develop new drivers, he said. When ATI was finally able to ship Vista drivers, they crashed Windows, and Dell and Gateway had to delay Vista upgrades because they couldn't get working drivers, he said.
Gutmann said hardware costs will increase because vendors can't provide Vista-approved security functionality unless Hollywood studios like MGM, 20th Century Fox and Disney grant written approval saying the content security meets their standards.
A Vista function known as "tilt bits" -- like the tilt sensor in pinball machines -- requires hardware and software drivers to report every minor glitch, even ones that cause no problems, Gutmann said.
"Every otherwise unnoticeable minor glitch is suddenly surfaced and turned into a showstopper," he said.
Separately, all the extra encryption required to meet Vista's content protection standards means some computer components can never enter power-saving mode, he said. Thus, when you play a movie your CPU keeps running at full steam, he said. The extra power demands make it hard to reduce electricity usage.
"It's a bit of an extreme claim, but you could say Windows Vista causes global warming, because it's burning so much power with all this nonsense," Gutmann said.
The encryption requirements render high-end graphics processing units less effective, he said, because the best of those products emphasize graphics performance over content protection. On Vista, US$100-video cards can thus outperform those that cost $1,000.
Gutmann argued that Microsoft placed content protection above all other priorities when building Vista, perhaps to gain favor and money from Hollywood. Microsoft should have instead focused this effort on security features that protect users, Gutmann said, such as encrypted paging to protect user secrets, protected content domains that keep out malware, and anti-debugging techniques to prevent rootkit hooking.
New Zealand's government, which has argued that digital rights management fails to address the rights of people and government, appears to be the only government worldwide to express public concern about Vista's content protection standards, Gutmann said.
This story, "Vista Prevents Users From Playing High-Def Content" was originally published by Network World.


Assures reporters will not be blocked from covering Asean summit in Vientiane.
Laos yesterday defended its latest regulations imposed on foreign journalists, saying it would not prevent foreign media from covering the 2016 Asean due to be hosted in Vientiane.
“We don’t have restrictions but procedures, the procedures that other countries also have to ensure national security,” said Laos’ Information, Culture and Tourism Vice Minister and Lao Journalists Association (LJA) president Savankhone Razmountry.
The new rules came into effect in January 14 and require foreign media to submit its coverage to the Lao government for screening before publishing, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand.
However, foreign journalists who cover the Asean Summit in November will not have to do so, said Vorasack Pravongviengkham, deputy director general of Lao National Radio (LNR).
“Only those who come to film or cover documentaries are required [to submit their coverage],” said Vorasack. To cover Asean Summits in Lao, foreign journalists are expected to go through government procedures and be escorted by its officers, according to Savankhone.
Visiting journalists have to declare lists of questions and topics for their coverage to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR, he said.
The country has a mechanism to deal with visiting journalists, including state agencies, the Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, embassies and also the LJA, he said, without mentioning how it operates.
“There will not be any problems for the foreign media to cover this news in Lao,” stressed Savankhone.
He was speaking at a seminar entitled “Laos as host of Asean” hosted by the Thai Journalists Association (TJA). LJA has been visiting Thailand to strengthen ties between Thai and Lao journalists and create better understanding among each other to ensure smooth cooperation in Asean.
Meanwhile, Vorasack said that Lao media usually takes time to ensure news accuracy before publishing. It does not attempt to conceal facts, he said, referring to two cases in March when Chinese tourists were ambushed, leaving nine injured and one dead. TJA and LJA have for decades had close ties – but there were certain different points of view, said TAJ president Wanchai Wongmeechai, and it was important to learn from each other.
During the seminar, TJA adviser and senior correspondent Kavi Chongkittavorn pointed out the challenges that Laos would face when holding an Asean summit. He said ‘big brothers’ – the United States and China – also had ambitions to play an important role in the Asean community.
Kavi emphasised Laos success as the host of Asean. It was shown in its courage to help ease international issues such as those of the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea conflict, and its sincerity in following the Asean charter.


Following recent upgrades in other markets, Comcast announced this week that it has boosted the speed of three broadband tiers in Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Denver and Colorado Springs.
With the upgrade (hat tip: DSL Reports), Comcast’s “Performance” tier doubles to 50 Mbps (downstream), “Blast” jumps from 50 Mbps to 105 Mbps, and “Extreme” leaps from 105 Mbps to 150 Mbps.
Comcast said the speed bumps come at no added cost to customers who lease their modems from the MSO, and that it will notify customers who might need to upgrade their CPE in order to get the faster speeds.


The scene of the fatal stabbing of a man in his 60’s at a house on Rutland Grove, Crumlin at about 8pm last night. Photograph: Colin Keegan/ Collins Dublin.
A man in is 60s who died following a stabbing incident at his home in Crumlin in south Dublin has been described as a “lovely man” by those who knew him.
Gerard Fortune (63) received stab wounds at his home in Rutland Grove on Sunday night. It is understood the suspect, who was known to Mr Fortune, then fled the scene in a car.
Mr Fortune, was removed from the scene by ambulance shortly after 8pm and taken to St James’s Hospital, where he also worked, and was pronounced dead a short time later.
A man in his 30s was arrested in connection with the incident is currently being questioned at Crumlin Garda station. Gardai said they are investigating and are appealing to the public for information, in particular regarding the movements a red Toyota Yaris.
Speaking at Sundrive Road station, superintendent Michael Cryan said: “We are appealing to anyone who was in the Rutland Grove/Clogher Road area of Dublin 12 between 8pm and 8.15pm on Sunday the 19th August 2018 to come forward.
“We are also trying to trace the movements of a Red Toyota Yaris, described as a four door hatchback with L plates and partial registration 04-WW, that was driven from the scene at Rutland Grove at about 8pm before it was recovered at approximately 8.20pm at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown.
Another neighbour said Mr Fortune regularly brought her for appointments in the hospital.
“He was just lovely, I’ve been living beside him about 30 years, I can’t believe it,” she said.
Local councillor Anne Feeney (FG) said she was shocked to hear of the tragedy in Rutland Grove.
“My sympathies and heart goes out to the family of the man who died. It must have been very frightening and upsetting for everyone and a terrible scene for the local kids to witness while off on their school holidays,” she said.


CHICAGO–UAL Corp.'s United Airlines yesterday became the latest airline to begin charging $15 (U.S.) to check a single bag on domestic flights, matching the controversial fee launched in May by AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, hoping to offset soaring fuel prices.
The parent of the Number 2 U.S. airline said it also raised the fee it charges to check three or more bags, overweight bags or items that require special handling to $125 from $100, or to $250 from $200, depending on the item.
The changes apply to customers who buy a ticket on or after June 13 for travel within the U.S. and to or from Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on or after Aug. 18. The $15 fee doesn't apply to some United loyalty-plan clients.
Such fees are part of a broad effort by airlines to charge passengers for services once included in the price of a ticket. Some charge for in-flight meals, drinks and snacks.
United said fees for checking the first and second bags would generate about $275 million a year.
Also yesterday, US Airways Group Inc. announced sweeping cuts in service and hikes in fees to cover sky-high fuel costs. The carrier based in Tempe, Ariz., said it will cut domestic flights, shrink its fleet, slash 1,700 jobs, charge passengers $15 to check a first bag for tickets booked or after July 9, and add a $2 fee for non-alcoholic inflight drinks.


Remember: presidents take an oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution, not Supreme Court rulings.
More great news: The Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill stripping public sector unions of the ability to gouge taxpayers through negotiating excessive benefit plans with the people they bankrolled into office. All this after 60 hours of debate. That's how the process is supposed to work. Meanwhile, Democratic senators are still AWOL.
Republicans have offered a Continuing Resolution that will keep government going right through September and will reduce spending. If the Democrats want to grind government to a halt, let 'em.
If the federal government shuts down, surely we can do better than we did in 1995. "Essential" workers are those needed to protect human life, property and national security. But in 1995, according to the GAO, Commerce kept 64% of its staff, and Interior 53%. HHS kept over 40% of staff in place. At HUD and at regulatory agencies, 78% kept right on working. That's ridiculous. Not a single worker in any of these agencies is "essential" for the preservation of either life, property or national defense.
The federal government owns 25% of all the land in U.S. Here's an idea to reduce debt: sell some of it. The U.S. is sitting on $767 billion worth of land and $421 billion in mineral rights.
Planned Parenthood in 2008 took in $349.6 million from taxpayers and performed 324,008 abortions. It's way past time to defund this organization.
Planned Parenthood's genocidal attack on African-Americans continues. According to the CDC, African-American women continue to have the highest abortion rates in the country. Though they comprise just 12% of population, 34% of all abortions are performed on African-American women. Abortion rates among blacks are 3 to 4 times what they are for whites. Planned Parenthood is doing Hitler's job for him in the U.S.
Afghan women's shelters will soon be run by govt committed to Sharia law. What could go wrong with that? Bye-by protection for women from forced marriages and honor killings.


Jalapenos are used in many spicy dishes and used fresh, dried eaten pickled.
Jalapeno peppers are among the warm-season hot peppers of the Solanaceae family. Hot peppers, like jalapenos, need a long, warm growing season and grow best when planted outdoors as seedlings. You can enjoy fresh peppers or grow them to dry and use in your favorite dishes even if you do not have room for an outdoor garden. You can grow jalapenos in containers indoors and outdoors or grow them hydroponically.
You can grow jalapenos outdoors, starting two to three weeks after the last spring frost. Jalapenos require full sun, which is at least six hours of sun daily, and well-drained soil amended with organic matter. The proper pH level for jalapenos is 6.0 to 6.8, so to adjust, add limestone if the pH is low and peat moss if it is higher than 6.8. Sow jalapeno seeds 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep and space seeds or transplants 18 to 24 inches apart with two to three feet between rows. Water regularly to keep peppers evenly moist.
Jalapenos grow well in large containers if you don't have space in your yard. You need a large container, with a capacity of about 2 to 3 gallons. To successfully grow peppers in a container, they still need enough sunlight and proper care. You can use an all-purpose potting mix, but container plants still require more fertilizer and careful watering. Use a liquid fertilizer once a week and water the container to keep the soil moist. Put the container jalapenos where they will get at least six hours of sun a day.
You can grow jalapenos indoors hydroponically using a simple deep-water culture set-up. Peppers grow well with ebb and flow system along with rockwool slabs as a growing medium. Because pepper plants grow tall, they will need support to keep them from falling over. When grown hydroponically, the correct nutrient solution is important, so if you're new to hydroponics, it might be better to use a premixed solution.
Vegetables that grow well together in containers save space while still giving you variety. You can plant vegetables, such as jalapeno peppers, tomatoes and herbs together in one container, making it easy to grow ingredients for your favorite dishes or your favorite herbs for flavoring foods. When growing vegetables all in one container, give each plant plenty of room and leave enough space to accommodate plant growth. Simply fill a container with fresh potting mix, plant the vegetables, water and place in a sunny location. Always use a container with drainage holes.
Allman, Molly. "Ways to Grow Jalapenos." Home Guides | SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/ways-grow-jalapenos-45100.html. Accessed 25 April 2019.


A 35-year-old cop with the Railway Protection Force had to be given four sutures on the head after a Nigerian drug peddler clobbered him with a bamboo, the police said.
MUMBAI: A 35-year-old cop with the Railway Protection Force had to be given four sutures on the head after a Nigerian drug peddler clobbered him with a bamboo, the police said. Constable Salim Shaikh was part of a raiding team that swooped down on drug peddlers at Wadi Bunder railway yard, close to Sandhurst Road, late on Wednesday where nine drug dealers were present.
Officials of Dongri police station said the attacker, Kone Odama (28), was arrested with cocaine worth Rs 30,000 and ecstasy pills worth Rs 16,000, the others managed to flee.
ACP Avinash Dharmadhikari said the men started fleeing on seeing the cops. "The cops gave chase. Shaikh was attacked in the melee." he said. "The accused tried to run, but Shaikh did not loosen his grip on him despite being hurt."
Shaikh said, "The man called out to his pals asking them to kill us, but they escaped."


HELENA – A state panel heard four hours of testimony Wednesday on bills relating to missing and murdered Indigenous women, an issue that proponents said affect all Montanans, but could have a profound impact on the Native American community.
House Bill 21, known as “Hanna’s Act,” authorizes the department of justice to hire a missing persons specialist to work with local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement authorities on missing persons cases.
The specialist will help law enforcement and families in the search for missing persons, oversee entries into the database of the national crime information center of the U.S. Department of Justice and other databases to ensure records of missing persons are accurate, complete, and made in a timely fashion.
However, they also noted it was not just a problem on reservations but statewide as well.
The bill, which would appropriate $100,000 to the general fund for each year of the biennium, would become effective July 1. The House Judiciary Committee heard the bill, along with three others Wednesday, but only took testimony.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rae Peppers, D-Lame Deer, is in remembrance of Hanna Harris, a Lame Deer woman killed in 2013 on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.
Her mother, Malinda Harris Limberhand, was among those who spoke to the committee, not only about HB 21 but on HB 54 as well, which requests all law enforcement agencies to immediately accept a report of a missing person unless there are extenuating circumstances.
She said she reported her daughter missing and was told by the police chief she was probably partying.
“To this date I don‘t think she was ever put into a data base for missing persons,” Limberhand said.
Bryan Lockerby, division administrator for Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, said HB 54 provides help when issues about jurisdiction arise.
“This is about closing loopholes and closing gaps and finding them in the system and getting them shut down,” he said.
A long line of people testified Wednesday on the four bills before the House Judiciary Committee, many of them becoming emotional.
Other bills discussed included HB 40, creating the reentry cultural programming grant program and HB 48 to provide stacking of tribal court convictions for partner or family assault.
The hearing was capped by a rally in the rotunda of the Capitol and a news conference in the governor’s reception room.
Gov. Steve Bullock called missing and murdered indigenous women an "epidemic."
He said that nearly half the missing people cases in Montana are Native women. He said in 2013 there were 30 Native missing or murdered women in Montana.
"These are real lives and real people and for every single person going missing or murdered it has a ripple effect" on the lives of others.
He said lawmakers have a moral obligation to deal with the issues.
"Never doubt the power of your voices,” he said.
Peppers said the lives and safety of Native women cannot be put on the back burner any longer.
“Too many of our sisters, mothers, and daughters have been left behind by our legal system,” she said.
Peppers said the people who testified Wednesday are seeking justice.
“They are asking for answers,” she said, adding that law enforcement does not take their losses seriously.
Rep. Casey Schreiner, D-Great Falls, the House minority leader, said the “epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women could not be more urgent.
“Getting justice for these missing Montanans and their families is one of our top priorities. Democrats in the Legislature will not stop working until we get these bills across the finish line and deliver on our promises to Indian Country,” he said.
Peppers and others throughout the day said it wasn’t just an Indian Country problem, this is a Montana problem.
Rep. Sharon Stewart Peregoy, D-Crow Nation, said hearing the testimony was difficult.
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., recently wrote a letter to the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs criticizing the handling of the case of 14-year-old Henny Scott of Lame Deer, who was found murdered in December. It took 13 days for law enforcement to notify the public that a missing persons report had been filed.
On Jan. 18, the House passed House Bill 20, that allows any law enforcement officer in the state to file a missing child report as soon as a child is reported missing.
It passed the House 97-0 on Jan. 21 and awaits a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
These bills come as a record number of Native lawmakers are serving in Montana’s Legislature this session, with the Montana American Indian Caucus having 11 tribal members, roughly 7 percent of the Legislature.


A Charlotte cancer patient and his Oncologist just finished one of the most iconic marathons in the country.
Wayne Moorehead continues to inspire as he learns to walk without help at TIRR Memorial Hermann, because to him, sitting around waiting for life to happen is not an option.
An Army captain who had been away from his wife and two children for nearly a year surprised them in Maryland.
Joe Magouirk noticed a young woman with Down Syndrome frightened during her visit to the doctor. He thought maybe his Purple Heart would give her a dose of courage. It did.
He defeated cancer as a child, and now a Louisiana man is facing an entirely new battle. Wayne Moorehead had both arms and both legs amputated last fall. But he's not letting that stop him from getting back to life. Through laughter and a light heart, Moorehead is taking his new life in strides -- slow and steady, careful and concise. "We start on just one simple step," Moorehead said.


Mismanagement and secrecy have stalled the war on terrorism—and at home its effects reverberate against civil rights.
If September 11 was this generation's Pearl Harbor, the Bush Administration's war on terrorism is still in early 1942, when the news from the front was bad, and the home front was panicky and confused. Now the instant-gratification warriors of the press are rushing in to turn things around. Columnists William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer grumble that the Administration is operating under too many constraints. Impatience with the air campaign has sparked calls by the Sunday morning punditocracy to send in substantial ground troops beyond the small contingent already there. Senator John McCain calls for B-52 carpet-bombing. Polls show a rising number of Americans doubt the war on terrorism will succeed.
Our concern is less about fine points of military strategy than about the possibility that the human and political costs of the war might outweigh any gains in national security and undermine America's moral credibility in the fight against the perpetrators of September 11. The bombing campaign may or may not be militarily effective–who knows, since our only information comes from the Pentagon and Al Jazeera–but civilian casualties are eroding support among coalition allies. TV pictures of devastated neighborhoods and wounded civilians fuel anger against America throughout the Arab and Muslim world and provide rallying cries for extremists, who could destabilize fragile governments in Pakistan, Indonesia and elsewhere. Sketchy reports from inside Afghanistan suggest that the bombing is turning people's loyalty back to the Taliban–making more difficult any covert operations aimed at capturing the "Evil One." It has sent waves of humanity to huddle on Pakistan's closed borders. As winter sets in, as many as 5 million face dire food shortages.
At home, Congress passes a counterterrorism bill "without deliberation and debate," according to Senator Russ Feingold, the lone senator who cast a historic vote against the ill-named PATRIOT Act. The act grants the Feds sweeping powers that break down the firewall between intelligence-gathering and criminal justice. Nothing in the bill would have prevented the disaster of September 11. And yet Bush and House GOP leaders still balk at passing the one measure that could have: federalizing airport security. Meanwhile, the Justice Department continues to resist legitimate requests for information about the 1,107 people it has detained in connection with the September 11 attacks. Civil liberties organizations and others, including this magazine, have filed a Freedom of Information Act request for information about those detained, warning that the government's "official silence prevents any democratic oversight of [its] response to the attacks." The government should comply.
Ultimately, the antiterrorism campaign could have disastrous consequences if America alienates its allies abroad and its people at home. The United States must reassure–by words and deeds–the majority of Muslims who oppose the terrorist attacks that the purpose of US military action is not to punish Afghans for the actions of Osama bin Laden. To this end, it should work more closely with the United Nations by curtailing military actions that hamper relief activities and by supporting UN efforts to build a coalition government that represents all parties in Afghanistan.
Polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans favor a multilateral effort against terrorists, including working through the UN. Add to this stepped-up international policing efforts that must be the backbone of any global antiterrorism campaign and financial countermeasures that target identifiable terrorist groups. As Jonathan Schell writes on page 8, "In a war on terrorism–as distinct from a war on a state–it is politics, not military force, that will probably decide the outcome."


According to the relevant laws and regulations, search results for “constitutional government” cannot be displayed.
As of January 6, the following search terms are blocked on Sina Weibo (not including the “search for user” function).
Although these characters are unblocked as of posting, “southern” (南方) and “weekend” (周末) remain unsearchable.
– China dream (中国梦): The title of the original Southern Weekly editorial was “China’s Dream, the Dream of Constitutionalism” (中国梦 宪政梦).
See also Sensitive Words updates from January 3 and January 4.


FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) on Thursday reported a 9 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 1,444 crore for the December 2018 quarter on account of strong volume growth and improved margins.
The company's net profit stood at Rs 1,326 crore in the October-December period of the previous fiscal.
Sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 9,357 crore, up 12.42 per cent, as against Rs 8,323 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal, HUL said in a regulatory filing.
"Domestic consumer growth was 13 per cent with underlying volume growth at 10 per cent. Ebitda margin (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was up 170 basis points and profit after tax (before exceptional items) grew by 17 per cent," HUL said in a statement.
"Prudent management of volatility in costs (crude and currency led) along with improved mix and operating leverage has driven margin improvement," the company said.
HUL chairman and managing director Sanjiv Mehta said the company has achieved another strong performance in the last quarter with double digit volume growth and improvement in margins.
"Our focus on strengthening the core and leading market development by tapping into emerging trends has been yielding results across categories," he said.
Its total expenses during the quarter under review were at Rs 7,652 crore as against Rs 7,036 crore, up 8.75 per cent.
HUL's revenue from the home care segment was at Rs 3,148 crore, up 14.84 per cent, during the quarter under review as against Rs 2,741 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.
"Home care continued its impressive performance with both fabric wash and household care delivering double-digit growth," said HUL adding growth momentum in household care continued with increased penetration of bars in rural markets.
While contribution from the beauty and personal care segment was up 10.9 per cent to Rs 4,539 crore during the October-December period this fiscal as against Rs 4,090 crore a year ago.
"Personal wash growth continued to be driven by premiumisation of the portfolio. Skin care witnessed excellent growth enabled by stellar execution of winter portfolio," HUL said, adding that hair care also continued to perform strongly.
Its foods and refreshment segment was also up 9.92 per cent during the period to Rs 1,728 crore as against Rs 1,572 crore of Q3/FY 2017-18.
However, its 'other' segment, which includes, exports, infant and feminine care was down 23.52 per cent to Rs 143 crore as against Rs 187 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Over the outlook, Mehta said: "In the near term, demand is likely to be stable. We will keep a close watch on the macro-economic environment and respond with agility. We remain focused on our strategic agenda of delivering Consistent, Competitive, Profitable and Responsible growth."
The market ended with gains in a highly volatile trading session, with the Nifty settling above the 10,900-mark. The BSE Sensex rose 113.31 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 36,582.74.
For a capital-starved economy, India shows little urgency to extricate good money stuck in failed businesses.
Why should insurance companies conduct a marathon run or a zumba dance event?


RANGERS general manager Doug Melvin, whose team has been in last place since June 11, said he is more interested in signing closer John Wetteland to a contract extension than he is in trading the veteran who has lost something on his fastball but still is effective enough to get 21 saves in last 23 chances.
… Sammy Sosa‘s money people are negotiating a deal with Warner Bros. for a movie on the slugger’s life story. Sosa said he is contemplating playing himself. Don Baylor must be wondering what ballplayer will play the part of Sosa as a young player making outstanding catches and strong throws and stealing bases.


Singer Carrie Underwood, former American Idol champ and Almay makeup spokesperson, posted an Instagram pic on Friday that showed off her flawless skin and adorable dog.
"Cloudy but no rain = perfect day to run outside!" she captioned the pic. She helpfully included her workout routine: "1mi treadmill warm up, tabata arms and abs, finish up with a 3 mile run/lunge up the hills. I'm a sweaty mess, but fortunately I have sweet Penny to help get me cleaned up!" #NoMakeup #NoFilter #BeNice.
The Most Successful American Idol Winners, RankedWhere will this year's winner land?
Watch Carrie Underwood Take James Corden Cowboy Boot ShoppingDuring "Carpool Karaoke," the country star and the late night host make a pit stop.


After the FDA found listeria in a sample of “Original Tahini Sauce,” the company initiated the nationwide recall and suspended its food production.
Consumers with the products should toss them out or return them to the store of purchase for a refund.
The Yorgo products recalled are hommus in the Original flavor; Vegetable; Garlic; Roasted Red Pepper; Lemon Pepper; Chipotle Pepper; Sundried Tomato; Green Olive; and Garlic and Chive. Salads recalled are Taboule; Chickpea; Black Bean; Three Bean; and Vegan Hoppin.
Also recalled are Spinach Hummus with Artichoke; Baba Ghannouj; Grape Leaves; Yogurt Dip Cilantro & Chive; Tahini Sauce; Falafel; and Tzatziki.
The two Trader Joe’s store-brand products recalled are: Cilantro & Chive Yogurt Dip and Tahini Sauce.
Anyone with questions can call Yorgo at 603-624-5830, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, or go to Yorgo's website.
Listeria is a bacteria that can cause food-borne illness, known as listeriosis. It can grow in foods such as uncooked meats, vegetables, soft cheeses and unpasteurized milk.


PARIS (Reuters) - Finding friends and meeting new ones could become even more important uses for global positioning chips than getting from A to B as the technology spreads to cellphones in coming years.
Combined with mobile Internet access, GPS (global positioning system) is seen in the industry as adding a new dimension to social networking that could also have implications for the media business.
“GPS tells me that today I’m sitting somewhere at 48 degrees north, 2 degrees east. Is that really that much value if I know I’m sitting in Paris?” said Miles Flint, head of mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson.
But he saw that changing in future.
“One of the more compelling things that we might use every day is the integration of that information into knowing where my friends are,” he told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in Paris this week.
Once people can physically find those they want to more easily — as long as those others want to be found — it can enhance the establishment of growing Internet social networks such as News Corp.’s MySpace site.
“‘Your communities in your pocket,’ I think that explains where we’re headed quite well,” Nokia Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said earlier this month at a shareholders meeting.
Industry executives still disagree over how quickly satellite navigation will find its way into phones.
The chief executive of chip maker CSR, John Scarisbrick, told the Reuters Summit his company was expecting to see a quick uptake of GPS chips in phones as prices fall.
But Alain De Taeye, chief executive of digital map supplier Tele Atlas, voiced doubts.
“I’m incredibly enthusiastic about the opportunities. However, the last time I was incredibly enthusiastic about the opportunities, it took 20 years to realize them,” De Taeye said.
Nokia is already betting on GPS-enabled phones and most top handset suppliers are expected to come out with models soon, though Flint gave no date for when Sony Ericsson would start building GPS into its phones.
The first selling point for GPS phones is as a tool for users to find their way around, but many believe the social networking similar to that helped by MySpace, Facebook and Flickr Web sites is what will deliver mass appeal.
An Amsterdam company, recently acquired by small Finnish mobile phone maker Benefon, is currently building a social networking application for GPS-enabled phones.
The service, branded GyPSii, will allow users to upload pictures, videos and sound clips recorded with their phones that are automatically encoded with the location where the picture was taken or the recording was made.
Users can see where their friends are and see and search each other’s saved places.
The company’s founders, Dan Harple and Sam Critchley, believe that eventually, these place marks will grow into a database that will deliver more relevant search results because the company also records data on who submits what and when.
A 40-year old man searching on a Wednesday evening for a place to meet friends for drinks might get different results to a 16-year-old girl doing the same search on a Saturday night.
Sitting on board a canal boat in Amsterdam, Harple said the venture was not exactly of a scale that was likely to bring down Google.
“But we will deliver a different type of search results. We’re not just crawling the web, content is being pushed from the ground up,” he said.


Thanks to Meghan Markle, black pants are no surprise on a royal outing — but when Kate Middleton decided to opt for the look, we had to do a double take. On Dec. 5, the Duchess of Cambridge stepped out with Prince William at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, wearing black wide-leg pants and the very appropriately named Smythe Duchess Blazer ($695), which she paired with a white t-shirt and an L.K.Bennett Dora clutch ($285). And this time, the casual look wasn't to play sports.
While Kate often wears pants if she's participating in physical activity or visiting a center where she is expected to interact with the public, she typically goes for jeans and heels and rarely for wide-leg trousers. For this look, we can't help but wonder whether she's taken a styling tip from her sister-in-law, Meghan, who's more than once worn pants and a blazer on an official outing.
Ahead, get a closer look at Kate's outfit — as well as a few of the times Meghan's worn this kind of ensemble — then shop similar pieces to re-create the look for yourself. Honestly, we won't blame you if you've already decided to dig out your pants and favorite blazer for work tomorrow.


A key provision in the 1997 accord between the county and Basketball Properties Ltd., the Heat’s operating arm, stipulates that Miami-Dade is to receive 40 cents of every dollar of profit after the team earns $14 million in profits. Yet, 15 years into the deal — even after a 2006 world championship and nearly two years with league Most Valuable Player LeBron James — the Heat maintains it has never come close to that magic number.
That’s because despite some profitable years, the contract allows the Heat to pay off all of its losses before declaring profitability. The team reported losses totaling $156.6 million through 2010.
Despite James’ presence, a $13 million windfall from increased ticket sales, a giant spike in food and drink concessions last year, and $72.2 million the county poured into operating the arena, the Heat remains well below the threshold of sharing profits with Miami-Dade.
“The county has little idea of the underlying conditions and financial issues that, to date, have resulted in the Arena’s failure to generate sufficient reportable net cash flow that would have allowed the county to share in the distribution of Arena excess cash flow,” the audit stated.
The county administration, in a statement Thursday afternoon, said it is improving managerial oversight of the arena agreement.
Gimenez said his office is consulting with the county attorney and will issue a status report within 90 days as requested by the inspector general.
Mazzella said the county must familiarize itself with the Heat’s complex finances and review the team’s capital budgets, including how much the Heat spends on equipment leases such as those for LED screens and monitors. The county, as the owner of the arena, should also be notified of lawsuits filed against the Heat.
The inspector general suggested the county learn how the team makes money from lucrative concessions and “premium” ticket sales, including suites. Also, the county should know more about non-basketball events at the arena, since those revenues impact potential profits, he wrote.
Mazzella also criticized the Heat, questioning $3.3 million the team spent on capital improvements. He said that money should have gone toward negating losses instead.
And Mazzella questioned certain Heat expenditures, including $12,300 spent on political contributions and $614,000 on lobbyists. The Heat said $10,000 went to a National Conference of Mayors convention in Miami, presided over by former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.
Lopez, the Heat’s lobbyist who earned a large chunk of the $614,000 in question, called all of the team’s expenses “legitimate” and said the Heat will work harder to get its budgets to the county on time.
Eric Woolworth, president of the Heat Group’s business operations, said in a statement that the audit failed to recognize the successes of the partnership between the Heat and the county — especially the revitalization of downtown Miami — and that it gave “short shrift on the risk” the company took in undertaking construction.
Woolworth also said Mazzella misinterpreted provisions of the agreement relating to capital expenditures and business expenses.
The Heat played its first game at the AAA in 2000, after a dozen years at the old Miami Arena in Overtown. Blessed with fan and corporate support, the team pined for the millions in new revenue anticipated from the sales of expensive suites, exclusive seats and high-end retail at the new arena.
Broward County offered a better financial deal for the team to play at the BankAtlantic Center, but Heat owner Micky Arison wanted his team to remain in Miami-Dade, where he has a home.
In the end, Arison put $210 million toward construction, with the county spending $37.6 million to purchase the 17 waterfront acres along Biscayne Boulevard from the city of Miami. The county also paid a $5 million subsidy before the arena opened and agreed to give the team $6.4 million a year for operations.