AgLocal, a startup that’s using the power of the Internet to disrupt how animal farmers connect with meat buyers and distributors, has just scored $1 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Midwest VC firm OpenAir Equity Partners and other angels including John Fohr (Partner at Lux Capital), Thad Langford (former CEO of Zave Networks), Dan Carroll (founder of Leap2 and AdPredictive), Andy O’Hara (Partner at Tradebot Ventures), and Matt Watson (Founder of Vin Solutions and Stackify).
The additional funding will help the company build out its technology platform, hire additional engineers, and establish relationships with potential partners in advance of its late summer/fall launch planned for later this year.
He thought to himself: “I don’t think I’m getting the best price for the best product, and that’s because of the system that controls it. So, how do I break that and disrupt that by using the web?” Those ideas later became AgLocal.
However, Jones quickly realized that the consumer-focused approach which would allow everyday folks to buy directly from farms wouldn’t work. It just wasn’t scalable. “People really don’t buy that way, even when they say they will,” he says. “They like to buy their meat in trusted places where it’s stored cold – grocery stores and butcher shops.” The other problem was that farms don’t do business that way either – they don’t deliver their meat throughout the city because they simply don’t have time. Getting into the consumer market would mean turning into a supply chain company, Jones realized, and he didn’t want that.
Instead, he looked to who were the biggest buyers of meats, and decided to enable them. Here in the U.S., that’s the distributor businesses which sells to the retailers. There are a number of these businesses which are independent (meaning not under contract from larger distributors like Monsanto or Cargill), but still fairly good-sized companies. Through AgLocal, they’ll be able to connect with and buy directly from the farmers. And in the end, AgLocal could still offer consumers a mobile solution that lets them know where in their city they can find the locally raised, sustainable meats.
“Sustainable,” although not the original inspiration for the business, is a key part of AgLocal’s potential. Explains Jones, most farmers have the ability to scale their farm up and produce 4 times what they do now, but they choose not to. The problem is that if they do, in order to maintain their margins, their only buyer is a Monsanto or Cargill, for example. And then they would only get a small piece of margin for three to four times the work. Their only other options for selling off additional product would be to take it to farmers’ markets or go door-to-door, selling to local restaurants. But farmers don’t have time to sell, says Jones, they’re operators.
Besides the impact to farmers’ margins, mechanized farming contributes to a whole host of problems: pollution, what they do to the meat we consume because of overcrowding issues and the antibiotics pumped into the animals, and, ultimately, what they do to our healthcare costs because of the meat we consume. But this is what scaling a farm looks like today, unfortunately.
Currently a team of seven, AgLocal is hiring engineers who will work out of the Valley, while its base of operations will be in Kansas City. The service will launch sometime later this summer or early fall across the U.S.


A 72-year-old Russian cyclist pedaling across the country to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II has been hit and killed by a truck in the Tver region, a news report said.
The cyclist, Alexander Grechkin, died on the spot after the Wednesday accident, the local TverNews portal reported.
Grechkin was in the middle of a 7,000-kilometer bike ride along the site of major World War II battles in western Russia, according to an interview he gave to Komsomolskaya Pravda published two days before his death.
Half of the route had been covered, and Grechkin planned to complete the trip on May 7, just ahead of Russia's Victory Day celebrations, the report said.
Grechkin said that his father and two older brothers had fought in the war, and he was “dedicating this ride to the victory,” according to the interview.
The driver of the truck that hit Grechkin said that he had lost control of the steering after taking his eyes off the road to tune in to a radio station, TverNews reported.


Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE: SWC) surged 19 percent to $17.45. The volume of Stillwater Mining shares traded was 2154 percent higher than normal. Sibanye Gold Ltd (ADR) (NYSE: SBGL) announced plans to acquire Stillwater for $18.00 per share in cash.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) shares moved up 4 percent to $56.87. The volume of Las Vegas Sands traded was 343 percent higher than normal. Las Vegas Sands shares have climbed 25.10 percent over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 9.70 percent in the same period.
Eros International plc (NYSE: EROS) shares gained 7.2 percent to $16.45. The volume of Eros International shares traded was 280 percent higher than normal. Wells Fargo upgraded Eros from Market Perform to Outperform.
Broadcom Ltd (NASDAQ: AVGO) shares rose 4.2 percent to $177.90. The volume of Broadcom shares traded was 626419 percent higher than normal. Broadcom reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $3.47 per share on revenue of $4.146 billion. The company projects Q1 sales of $4.075 billion, plus or minus $75 million.


"Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better Call Saul" is coming to TV in Feb. and it's probably one of the most-anticipated new series of the year.
We've already seen it, and "Breaking Bad" fans should really enjoy it.
So it shouldn't be a big surprise the series has already been renewed for a second season.
If you can't wait for "Better Call Saul," but need to know a bit more before the show's premiere, here's everything you need to know about the spinoff.
Is this a prequel or a sequel?
The majority of the series is set in 2002, six years before Saul ever met Walter White. However, the show definitely has some elements of a sequel, too, as viewers will see in the premiere's first frew minutes.
So, yes, you'll get to see what became of Saul Goodman after he left Walt and Jesse Pinkman.
When we spoke with Odenkirk a while back while he was doing press for his Oscar-nominated film "Nebraska," the star told us he wanted the show to be both a prequel and sequel. It looks like he got his wish.
Who will star in the spinoff?
Jonathan Banks will reprise his role as Mike Ehrmantraut.
Michael McKean will play Saul's older brother Chuck who is a partner at a law firm in Albuquerque.
Patrick Fabian plays Howard Hamlin while Rhea Seehorn ("Whitney") stars as Kim, two lawyers at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill.
Michael Mando ("Orphan Black") plays a criminal named Nacho Varga.
So, what will this be about?
The show will follow Saul Goodman before he's the cocky, confident lawyer, when he's just known as Jimmy McGill.
McGill's strapped for cash and drives a rundown car. He's trying to make a living as an honest attorney. What should follow in the series is how McGill goes from a scrappy, hungry young lawyer to a well-known name in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Why did Saul get his own spinoff?
The show has been in the works for a while in the "Breaking Bad" writers room. Creator Vince Gilligan told Hitfix it kind of started off as a joke.
It started as a lark, which is another word for joke, in the writer's room. It started and it really came from the fact that I love working with Bob, just as we love working with really every actor on "Breaking Bad." But we also loved the character. We love writing for the character. We love putting words in his mouth. And we had so much fun indeed doing that that it started as a lark; we'd come up with some great term or phrase and we'd laugh about it in the writer's room. And then we'd say, 'You know, when we're doing the Saul Goodman show we'll be able to blah, blah, blah, blah.' And we made that comment so many times that it started to dawn on us that it wasn't a lark; there was truth to it. It was not just a joke, but a potentially good idea.
If I like "Breaking Bad," will I enjoy it?
I think you will. From what I've seen in the first two episodes (I'm waiting out to watch the third at the moment), there are plenty of nods to the original series while not feeling forced.
You'll see a few familiar faces including Jonathan Banks, and the visuals and montages will feel straight out of "Breaking Bad."
However, don't go into this show wanting another "Breaking Bad." You'll be disappointed. This will be its own show, focused on Goodman, er Jimmy McGill's, growth into a sleazy criminal lawyer. At this year's Television Critics Association press tour, co-creator Peter Gould has said they're not going do nods to the previous show and bring back former characters just because they can do it.
"We're trying to make something that stands on its own, that has an entertainment value that's not just seeing a series of old favorites, or 'Remember when?' It's not the series equivalent of a clip show," said Gould. "We try to balance these things out."
When will it air on AMC?
"Better Call Saul" will premiere Sun. Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. after the mid-season return of "The Walking Dead."
After that, it will head to Monday nights at 10 p.m. starting Feb. 9.
SEE ALSO: Our review on "Better Call Saul"


Reba McEntire's waterfront estate in Lebanon, an 83-acre expanse with a gazebo, tennis court, stables, pastures, and a seven-bedroom Southern colonial home, sat on the market for more than a year.
The $7.9 million listing finally sold in July 2017 at the deeply discounted price of $5 million.
In the greater Nashville area, such multi-million-dollar home sales have skyrocketed since 2000 — from dozens to hundreds sold each year.
Since 2013, the number of homes sold for over $1 million in the 9-county greater Nashville area have jumped each year, from 300 in 2013 to 846 in 2018 as of Dec. 20, according to Greater Nashville Realtors.
They present lucrative opportunities for real-estate agents willing to invest time and energy into them. But it can take years to unload luxury properties and, even then, deep discounts may be needed.
McEntire's estate was split in two, and the buyer developed 15 homes on one portion. The house was resold for $3.1 million, and is now an event venue called The Estate at Cherokee Dock.
In Nashville's heated real-estate market, the average home sells within about a month.
But, with just a smaller pool of wealthy buyers to draw from, luxury listings linger.
Kelly Clarkson's $8.75 million gated lakefront Hendersonville mansion has been on the market for two years.
Former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler and reality TV personality Kristin Cavallari put their $7.9 million Forest Hills home on the market in July.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban shaved more than $1 million off the cost of their Franklin home to unload it for $2.3 million after two years on the market.
One of the most expensive recorded sales in the Nashville area — country star Alan Jackson's 135-acre "Sweetbriar" estate in Franklin — was listed for $38 million in 2009. It sold for the discounted price of $28 million in 2010 to tech entrepreneur Willis Johnson.
James Spencer, a real-estate agent with Mossy Oak Properties, is currently marketing the most expensive listing in the Nashville area: a $32.5 million, 1,600-acre ranch that straddles Davidson and Williamson counties, just south of Bellevue.
"Not many people walk around with millions of dollars in their pockets," Spencer said. "These (listings) do not come along every day. It will be a good day at our house when the property does sell. But a lot of work goes into it."
Spencer is using targeted ads designed to attract the well-heeled on Facebook, and in magazines and the mail.
Real-estate agents earn a commission that typically starts at 6 percent — or nearly $2 million for a $32.5 million sale — but they cover marketing costs and often split earnings with listing agents.
Quality photos of the properties are critical, and agents must be present at showings.
"We get it in front of the folks who have relationships with those types of people," Spencer said. "We knew that we would be taking on a large amount of upfront marketing expense. And we know that ultimately the property will sell, it may just be a matter of time."
Traceland Farm, Spencer's high-priced listing, has a world-class equestrian center, several lakes, ATV trails, a 4-bedroom home with two safe rooms and an escape tunnel, and more than 60 deer stands.
"To find a tract this large with this much privacy so close to Nashville is almost unheard of," Spencer said. "That's where a lot of the value is. Somebody's got to be looking for that. (The owners) hunted it, fished it, rode horses. It was a family compound."
A seller can hasten the sale by lowering the price tag, making improvements to it, and reducing any restrictions they may have put on the property. For example, Spencer's listing is open to investors who could split it into parcels and develop the land — although they would first have to get permits to do so.
Bill Henson, an agent with SilverPointe Properties, recently put a $17.9 million home on the market in Franklin's exclusive gated enclave of Hidden River Lane.
The 6-bedroom, 10.5-bathroom brick mansion boasts more than 100 chandeliers, nine fireplaces and three bars.
Agents for luxury listings like this one typically cast a wide net for buyers across the country who may be looking for a place to live in Nashville, he said.
"This one is very opulent and would be a primary residence," Henson said. "As much as you want to think the buyer may drop in from Mars or California, Texas or New York, you've certainly got to market it here as well. The buyer is going to decide they want to live in this area and then look for houses here, not the other way around."
Often, high-priced homes will come with furniture included to help ease the transition for the buyer, since furnishing a luxury home is expensive and time consuming.
"Sometimes a home may sell very quickly in this price range, but not very often," Henson said. "Often, (sales) include furniture because, let's be honest, it might take you three years to decorate a 20,000-square-foot home properly."
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Carly Rae Jepsen will be getting 80,000 people singing her insanely catchy songs on June 6th.
9. Carly Rae Jepsen will be getting 80,000 people singing her insanely catchy songs on June 6th.


According to a survey Monday conducted through AAA Northeast, regular unleaded self-serve was averaging $2.55 per gallon. The price still remains 14 cents lower than the national average of $2.69 per gallon.
“Three months ago motorists across the country could find gas for less than $2.50 at 78 percent of gas stations. Today, you can only find gas for that price at one third of the stations,” said Lloyd Albert, senior vice president of public and government affairs for AAA Northeast. “Supplies have been steadily decreasing since early February, causing spikes at the pump that are likely to continue throughout April and into May.” A year ago at this time, the average price in Rhode Island was five cents higher at $2.60.


A two-part September film event will feature screenings of Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s “The Garden” and Chris Taylor’s “Food Fight,” each followed by a discussion panel. Taylor will attend his film’s showing and the post-film discussion.
The event, called “Celebrating Local Food, Creating Permanent Community Spaces,” will be held at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis. It is presented by Gardening Matters and the Midtown Farmers Market.
“The Garden,” Wednesday, Sept. 9, 7 to 9 p.m.; “Food Fight,” Wednesday, Sept. 16, 7 to 9 p.m.; both at the Riverview Theater, 3800 42 Ave. S., Minneapolis. Tickets are $10 at the door, no advance sales. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.


ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: Timbaland revisits his stompy, loopy, Nelly Furtado-approved template on the latest song to snake out from Ashlee Simpson’s forthcoming album, and… well, he certainly figured out a way to get around the fact that Ashlee’s drunk-sorority-girl voice isn’t really her strongest suit. The song opens with her yelling “Whut,” although thanks to the lousy audio quality it sounds like she’s yelling “War,” a la Edwin Starr. (Now that would be a cover.) From there, you go into what’s essentially “Maneater 2.0,” complete with Ashlee squeezing out half-spoken lyrics and a chorus where she unwisely decides to use her voice as a percussive element, singing “ah-ya-ya-ya-ya” and berating whoever she’s mad at for “talking way too much.” Perhaps she doesn’t realize that the object of her ire may be gabbing in an attempt to drown out her singing?
On a business-of-music note: “Leaking” this track today and not making it available for sale until Dec. 11? Sure, that explains the bad-cell-phone audio quality on the AOL stream, but forcing delayed gratification on consumers is not really the best way to encourage those people who for whatever reason will want to hear this song again to pick it up through legal methods. Oh, record industry. Will you ever learn?


There was Robert Quinn applying a bit of pressure and holding up stoutly in the run game.
There was Minkah Fitzpatrick making a fantastic tackle at the goal line to prevent a Tennessee touchdown.
There were new offensive linemen Daniel Kilgore and Josh Sitton providing generally stellar protection for Ryan Tannehill and creating holes in the running game.
And there was Frank Gore steamrolling through those holes, displaying a burst that belies his age (35).
Gore collected his 61 rushing yards on 6.8 per carry — his highest per carry average since averaging 7.6 yards per attempt as a San Francisco 49er (20 for 153) in a September 2013 game at the Rams.
Gore averaged only 3.7 yards per carry for the Colts last season, but the Dolphins believed that was primarily the result of deficient blocking, privately citing the fact his yards after contact had increased in recent years.
And on Sunday, 32 of his yards came after contact, according to Pro Football Focus, which gave him the highest grade of any Dolphins offensive player for the opener.
Meanwhile, Kilgore and Sitton were part of a line that allowed only one sack and helped Miami average 4.1 per carry.
According to Pro Football Focus, Kilgore graded out eighth among centers for the first week of the season and Sitton was 27th among 56 guards.
Wilson broke tackles on all three of his receptions, including one that allowed Miami to convert a third down.
“Albert did a really good job of making plays that were really nothing into something, making defenders miss,” Gase said.
Wilson (three receptions for 31 yards) and Amendola (4 for 26) combined for 7 receptions for 57 yards – on par with Jarvis Landry’s per game averages for the Dolphins last season (7 for 61).
Wilson and Amendola are combining to earn about $1 million less, per year on average, than the $15 million that Landry is averaging in his five-year contract with Cleveland. But more importantly, the Wilson/Amendola deals are worth a combined $36 million, compared with $75 million for Landry.
Defensively, Quinn didn’t have a sack, but PFF ranked him fifth among all defensive ends in run defense through Sunday’s games and the matchup was very competitive with Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan before Lewan left with a concussion in the second quarter.
Both Quinn and the other newcomer on the defensive line, Akeem Spence, were barreling in on Titans quarterback Blaine Gabbert before Gabbert’s rushed screen pass was intercepted by Kiko Alonso.
As for Fitzpatrick, the rookie first-rounder shifted momentum when he pushed aside Rishard Matthews to stop Corey Davis on a fourth and goal, preventing a touchdown that would have put the Titans up 10-0.
PFF said Fitzpatrick graded out the best of any Dolphins defender Sunday; he allowed just three completions in six attempts for 14 yards and had six tackles.
Meanwhile, rookie linebacker Jerome Baker was decent, ranking the best of Miami’s linebackers by PFF, 44th of 74 qualifiers.
And a couple of other newcomers left positive impressions.
Rookie kicker Jason Sanders made both of his field goal attempts (from 27 and 30 yards) and all three extra point attempts, but a couple of his kickoffs were too short.
Special teams ace Brandon Bolden, who the Dolphins signed after being cut by the Patriots, had a key block on Jakeem Grant’s 102-yard kickoff return and made a key tackle to prevent a potentially very long return.
Meanwhile, Mike Gesicki had an adequate debut, ranking both 33th overall and 33rd in blocking (where there has been some improvement) among 53 qualifying tight ends evaluated by PFF.
As for prominent jettisoned Dolphins, Landry caught seven passes for 106 yards in his Cleveland debut. Ndamukong Suh had four tackles for the Rams and new Chargers center Mike Pouncey graded out sixth among centers in PFF’s evaluations.
But the Dolphins could emerge from Sunday feeling pretty good about the moves they made, even while knowing it’s far too soon to make any definitive conclusions.


Archives|Paid Notice: Deaths EXELBERT, MYRON A.
Paid Notice: Deaths EXELBERT, MYRON A.
EXELBERT-Myron A. Beloved husband of Joanne. Devoted father of Ethan, Jeremy and David. Cherished son of Esther Exelbert Weiss. Loving brother of Stephen and his wife Ellen. Dear son-in-law of Edwin and Rhoda Storch. Services Sunday 1 PM, at ''Riverside-'' Nassau North Chapels, 55 North Station Plaza, Great Neck, NY.


A system that aims to identify stolen passwords before breaches are reported or even detected was launched on Tuesday.
Shape Security's Blackfish credential defence system is designed to detect the use of stolen usernames and passwords by criminals and in real time.
The technology is a mechanism for organisations to identify the abuse of stolen passwords and attempts to hijack accounts long before these same purloined credentials show up for sale on the dark web.
Cybercrooks regularly automate the process of testing stolen or leaked passwords on third-party websites.
For example, customers of online takeaway firm Deliveroo found their accounts hijacked and charged for food they never ordered because of a credential-stuffing attack. In another attack using the same method, passwords and email addresses from previous breaches were abused to gain access to 26,000 online UK National Lottery accounts. Groupon blamed fraudulent purchases from some UK customers' accounts on password leaks from other sites.
Credential stuffing only works because many users still use the same login details on multiple sites. This is a serious security risk that's only getting worse as the volume of data breaches rises.
Shape Security's network data shows that in many industries, such as retail, more than 90 per cent of all login attempts to websites often come from credential-stuffing attacks instead of genuine users.
Shape Security's customer base includes three of the top-four banks, four of the top-five airlines, two of the top-five hotel chains, and two of the top-five US government agencies. Crowdsourcing alerts about brute-force credential-stuffing attacks among its customers makes for an effective early warning system, the firm claims.
CTO and former Google clickfraud czar Shuman Ghosemajumder told El Reg: "Cybercriminal organizations are businesses, and they need an ROI, so it just doesn't make sense for them to go after smaller websites with credential-stuffing campaigns. Over the last five years, Shape has created and deployed technology to protect the login systems of the major banks, airlines, retailers, and other industries where cybercriminals first use stolen credentials to take over accounts.
"So in this case there isn't much of a 'long tail' associated with the attack data, since cybercriminal activity is concentrated in the high end of the market."
Facebook, Twitter and other companies have been researching the dark web for several years, acquiring lists of stolen credentials to protect their users. "This can be helpful but its utility is limited," said Ghosemajumder. "Darknet-sourced lists of stolen credentials tend to have much less value compared to credentials which have been recently stolen, which sophisticated cybercriminals first use against leading consumer sites, such as those that Shape protects."
Shape's credential defence technology ultimately aims to end credential-stuffing attacks by making stolen data worthless to cybercriminals. But initial reaction from security experts has been mixed.
Per Thorsheim, founder of PasswordsCon, commented: "They want to collect passwords used in the wild against sites and services, then provide them to customers who can find and invalidate (change) accounts using those passwords. Interesting idea, but skeptical to both security and user experience. This is an online service. What happens if they are not online?"
Troy Hunt, the security researcher behind the haveibeenpwned breach notification service, said it was hard to comment on the utility of the service from Shape's marketing materials alone.


Cocoa Tea is very upbeat about the progress of his single, A Love Like Yours and Mine, even as the title of the upcoming album from which it is taken expresses his concern about reggae in general.
He is thinking of releasing his next full-length set, Whe De Reggae Deh?, to piggyback on performances in London for next year's Olympics. This is as he says, currently A Love Like Yours and Mine "a gwaan bad! A gwaan terrible!"
"It is strictly for the ladies," Cocoa Tea said, placing the new track in the vein of his songs such as She Loves Me Now and Good Life. "It is to get the ladies back in my corner."
However, the overall project 'Whe De Reggae Deh?' speaks to something that he says people are asking about when he does performances outside Jamaica. "Everywhere I go in the world, people ask me where the reggae gone from in Jamaica. People are saying we are trying to export hip hop, rather than import hip hop and export reggae," Cocoa Tea said.
He said the queries have come across Europe, England, the USA and Canada, as well as Japan. "People used to the type of reggae that we sing. It is music that can inspire a people and a nation," Cocoa Tea said. That is in contrast to a lot of music being produced in Jamaica now, which Cocoa Tea said "is about dancing and the riddim."
When he did the Ragamuffin Festival in California last year, the composition of the line-up struck Cocoa Tea. Along with him were Gregory Isaacs, Mykal Roze, Willie Williams and the Abyssianians. "The youngest artiste on the bill was Tarrus Riley," he said.
"I asked where are we going from here? Where are the youngsters to take over from us? Cocoa Tea and Beres and Sanchez can't go on forever," he said.
There is no denying the enduring appeal of those some would now classify as 'veterans'. Cocoa Tea refers to a dance he did in Manchoniel, Portland, as well as Reewind in New York, recently. "The show block - young people, old people, everyone is there," he said of the latter.
However, despite the grim outlook, Cocoa Tea says "all is not lost as far as I am concerned. Is we have to teach the younger generation. The world we are on now is about trading. We have to trade reggae - import hip hop and export reggae. We a try the opposite, import reggae and export hip hop, because some of the biggest name me know about in reggae is from abroad."
Among the other songs on the 14-track Whe De Reggae Deh? album are Beat the Drum, Crazy, Sufferation, White Squall and Press Freedom, the last about the payola situation and the Broadcasting Commission. For now, though, he is pushing A Love Like Yours and Mine.
"I am slated to perform during the London Olympics 2012. I would like to release the album around that time, to make sure it tap into that," he said.


A number of disused commercial buildings could be demolished to make way for a new block of flats in Southend.
The planning application submitted to Southend Council outlines the construction of two blocks on land behind a number of businesses on Prince Avenue.
The buildings will be comprised of 11 flats and would be built following the demolition of commercial properties which were once owned by a business that has fallen into administration.
Planning documents note that these building are now “far beyond repair” and have been subject to vandalism in recent months. If it was to be used for another commercial building “much larger commercial units must be proposed to make the site viable”.
The size and number of bedrooms in each flat is not detailed in the application but it does highlight that “all proposed residential units would comply with minimum room standards, each unit would have adequate cycle, car parking and bin storage”.
Many of the flats are said to include either a balcony or juliette balcony.
A total of 12 parking spaces will be included, along with a storage area for bicycles and a bin storage area.
The application will be discussed by members of the council's Development Committee at a future meeting.


The history of the Koreas, both north and south, is overshadowed in East Asian politics by China and Japan, according to an Ohio Wesleyan University professor.
Ji Young Choi, associate professor of international studies at Ohio Wesleyan University and a native of South Korea, kicked off this year’s Great Decisions series Friday. Choi said he is personally tied to the issues the countries face.
Choi covered the countries’ politics, nuclear issues and the chance of reunification after seven decades of tension between North and South Korea. Current politics in the Koreas are still being affected by a long history of conflict after World War II when they split.
Park Chung-hee, the first female and current president of South Korea, has worked to further the economy and create more welfare programs, Choi said.
In South Korea, people are politically split on how they feel with regards to U.S. involvement in the country. There are far leftists who believe U.S. help is not beneficial to South Korea, yet 60 percent of the population believes the U.S. is the best security for nation, Choi said.
North Koreans live under a totalitarian government with little communication with the outside world, while the country increase its military. The nation spends 30 percent of its budget on the military. Isolation from other countries, however, leaves North Korea less technologically advanced in comparison with South Korea and other countries, Choi said.
Inter-Korean talks in 2000 led to discussions about engagement policy, but that dissipated when President George W. Bush succeeded Bill Clinton.
Choi said China is the most important country for reining in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
He suggested three ways how the Koreas could unify: through war (similar to what happened in Vietnam); absorption (similar to Germany); or mutual agreement (similar to Yemen).
After his presentation, Choi was quizzed by audience members curious for more details about South and North Korea. One person asked about when the press had an impact in Korean affairs.
Choi said the press didn’t have much impact until the late 19th century, when there was just one Korea. Press activity helped develop the economy and the rise of nationalism, bringing the country to the attention of the world. Prior to that, Korea was an isolated country dominated by the interests of Japan, China and Russia.
Now, Choi said, North and South Korea are two different countries isolated from one another. North Korea has a totalitarian government, industrially and economically behind the rest of the world, while South Korea is democratic and has a booming pop culture.
Choi specializes in international relations history and theories, international and comparative political economy, and East Asian security and political economy.
The Great Decisions series continues Friday, Feb. 5, at William Street United Methodist Church with a lecture by Delaware native Stephen Tull, the United Nations resident program coordinator in the Republic of Chad.
Courtney Dunne writes for The Transcript, Ohio Wesleyan University’s student newspaper.


NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Despite wobbling fuel prices, thickening waistlines and an avalanche of evidence lauding the benefits of active travel, Americans have been slow to embrace walking and cycling.
Dr. John Pucher, a professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, said the increases have been among men, the employed, well-educated and people without a car.
He believes American resistance to active travel has more to do with safety concerns than suburban sprawl.
Pucher, who works at Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, has been studying transportation and ways to make walking and cycling feasible for 15 years.
In a recent study he and his team analyzed government data on active travel from telephone interviews in 2001 and 2009 with tens of thousands of Americans.
He said data from 2009 shows that 25 percent of all trips in American cities are a mile or shorter, and 40 percent are two miles or shorter.
He said other studies have shown that women cyclists tend to make huge detours to get to safer facilities, even if it takes longer, whereas men are more likely to take the most direct route, even if it is a busy street.
Better sidewalks for pedestrians and separate and protected lanes for cyclists would encourage active travel among what he calls risk-averse groups.
In residential neighborhoods, he said, traffic-calming measures such as narrowed streets and lowered speed limits would make roads less threatening to children, seniors and women.
Pucher cited northern Europe, where cyclists and walkers comprise a 50-50 mix of men and women as well as many seniors and children, as a good example.
Danger, both real and perceived, is the main, and very fixable, reason walking and cycling levels are lagging in America, Pucher said.


Another great place to holiday at home is Mungo National Park, which features a great crescent-shaped dune called the Walls of China.
Travel UNDER the shadow of the mysterious Uluru, visitors ponder the most important question of all - to climb or not to climb?
Travel MAKE a stop at Sanctuary Cove, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and you won't be disappointed.
Travel THERE'S more to Kiama than just its landmark blowhole, with the seaside town offering a raft of attractions to keep you entertained for days.
Travel POSING for photos on the edge of a croc-infested billabong is all part of the trip on an outback adventure to Kakadu.
Travel VISITORS to Auckland for the Rugby World Cup 2011 may end up dossing down on someone's couch - but there will be a bed for everyone, according to organisers.


T-Mobile makes a murky issue worse by declining to provide details about what's really going on.
T-Mobiles’ Binge On program has gone too far by throttling all streaming video traffic regardless of data plan or network congestion, according to a group of tech industry heavyweights.
The Internet Association—a group that counts Netflix, Amazon, Google, and Facebook among its members—claims that T-Mobile is reducing video quality for all streaming services without giving adequate choice or notice to consumers. The group has applauded the Federal Communications Commission for looking into T-Mobile’s practices.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, an unnamed YouTube spokesman gave more details: With Binge On, participating services agree to reduce video quality to 480p resolution in exchange for not counting against users’ data caps. YouTube is not yet participating in the program due to technical issues, yet its videos are getting downgraded to 480p anyway.
T-Mobile hasn’t responded directly to the accusations, except to say that users have the option to turn off Binge On whenever they want. This doesn’t address whether Binge On reduces non-participating videos to 480p resolution.
It’s possible that T-Mobile just thought it was doing the right thing. After all, users who are happy with unlimited 480p video might also want the same video quality across the board, so that even non-participating video sources consume less data.
The problem is that T-Mobile hasn’t been up-front about its policies, so users can’t make an informed decision. Even now, the company won’t acknowledge in its press statements how its throttling policy applies to non-Binge On sources, and the company’s statement on network management (as required by net neutrality rules) only points vaguely at “streaming video optimization technology” without any mention of speeds or resolution.
Why this matters: The complaints come a touchy time for wireless carriers. Many are trying to monetize their data caps in creative ways to skate around the FCC’s new net neutrality rules, which prohibit unfair prioritization of certain traffic sources. AT&T and Verizon, for instance, are both pushing the idea of “toll-free data,” in which Internet providers pay to keep their services from counting against customers’ caps, while T-Mobile has jacked up the price of its unlimited data plans as it focuses marketing around Binge On. Although FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has praised Binge On as being “pro-innovation,” the agency is also seeking more information from T-Mobile and others. A perceived lack of transparency and choice may not help the carrier’s case.


MK’s mental health street triage service won Project of the Year at a prestigious awards ceremony in London last night.
The Street Triage Service sees Thames Valley Police officers and mental health professionals from NHS provider CNWL - which held the awards in London - working together to make sure people who are experiencing a mental health crisis get the appropriate care at the earliest possible opportunity.
The scheme has successfully reduced the number of Section 136 detentions by over 50 per cent since it began earlier this year.
By working together police, ambulance crews and mental health professionals have made sure people are given the right treatment increasing their rate of recovery.
It has also just received further funding following a successful pilot.
Inspector Lee Brace,who coordinates the street triage scheme in Milton Keynes for Thames Valley Police, said: “This award is recognition of all the hard work carried out by both Thames Valley Police and CNWL in delivering an improved mental health service to vulnerable people across Milton Keynes.
Superintendent Gez Chiariello, Area Commander for Milton Keynes, said: “We are proud to have been given this award by CNWL.


Great River Hydro LLC. Bought the Dams For $1.06 Billion.
The sale of 13 TransCanada hydroelectric dams along the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers is a done deal.
TransCanada said Thursday that Great River Hydro LLC. bought the dams for $1.06 billion. Great River is a subsidiary of the Boston-based investment firm, ArcLight Capital Partners.
The state of Vermont considered buying the dams, but state officials said the purchase price would have been too steep.
The sales include hydroelectric facilities, stations and associated dams and reservoirs in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, with a total generating capacity of 584 megawatts.
The Caledonian Record reports what the sale will mean for taxpayers is yet to be determined. Officials in some towns are hopeful municipalities and ArcLight can agree on an assessed value of the properties and avoid tax abatement appeals that can increase a town's legal costs.
ArcLight has over $3.1 billion in renewable energy assets in the U.S.


Will Saif al-Islam Gaddafi run in Libyan elections?
The announcement that Saif al-Islam is planning to run for president has prompted mixed reactions within Libya.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi plans to run in Libya's presidential elections expected for later this year, according to a spokesman for the son of ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The announcement by Ayman Boras was made on Monday during a press conference in Tunisia, where the spokesman outlined Saif al-Islam's vision of "restoring the Libyan state, making it for everyone".
Since his release from prison in June 2017, the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam has been unknown. Boras, however, claimed that he is in Libya and is ready to become part of the political process - an announcement that stirred mixed reactions within Libya.
Mohammad al-Darrat, a member of the Tobruk-based Libyan House of Representatives (HoR), told Al Jazeera that Saif al-Islam's intention to run does not deserve any attention, asserting that the Gaddafis' regime is gone for good.
"If Saif al-Islam wants to return to power, what was the point of the revolution?" said al-Darrat.
He added that international and regional powers are not interested in supporting his return since the former regime is gone and the world "believes in interests rather than individuals".
Political analyst Kamel al-Merash thinks otherwise. He believes that not all Libyans can be put in one basket, arguing that while some oppose Saif al-Islam's plan to run, others support it.
Al-Merash said no regional forces back Saif al-Islam directly but added that some would not object to a potential candidacy due to his popularity within Libya.
Saleh Afihima, a member of the HoR and a supporter of "Operation Dignity" led by renegade General Khalifa Haftar, agrees with al-Merash.
He believes that no one can deny Saif al-Islam's constitutional right as a Libyan citizen, so long as there are no judicial restrictions to prevent him from running.
In 2013, a law was passed banning Gaddafi-era officials from holding public office. The law was later revoked in 2015.
Aguila Saleh, president of the HoR, said that as a Libyan citizen, Saif al-Islam has the right to run, since the lifting of the ban three years ago.
He added that unless prevented by judicial restrictions, the choice of his election is in the hands of Libyans.
Afihima told Al Jazeera that Libyans need to recognise supporters of the former regime as part of the Libyan fabric, warning that intolerance towards any Libyan would have catastrophic consequences on the national reconciliation process.
He also said that all parties must adhere to democracy, without excluding opposing views, "if we [Libyans] want to reach a real state".
The Gaddafi regime still enjoys the support and loyalty of some tribes, especially in the south and the Warshefana region in Tripoli, as well as a number of tribes in Sirte, the birthplace of the late president.
Gaddafi was killed in October 2011 after being captured by rebels during Libya's war. He had ruled the North African country for four decades.
Libya has since descended into chaos and is now split between three governments: two in Tripoli and one in Tobruk.
In July 2015, a court in Tripoli sentenced Saif al-Islam to death for war crimes, including the killing of protesters during the February Revolution and other crimes related to financial and administrative corruption.
He was later exempted and released following a general pardoning.
Mohamed Barra, professor of criminal law at the University of Tripoli, told Al Jazeera that Saif al-Islam must appear before the courts and defend himself against the charges put against him.
He said that in order for him to be able to legally run in the elections, the court should decide whether the general pardon also applies to him.
Alternatively, the HoR must issue a special order specifically pardoning him of all charges, added Barra.


LoveBot is the thoughtful husband or wife that you aren’t.
Presenting at the 2016 TechCrunch Disrupt SF Hackathon, Guru Ranganathan was sure to specify once he got onstage that his LoveBot doesn’t do what you probably think it does.
Instead of making robot love, this chatbot speaks the love language by sending messages to designated contacts telling them how much you love and appreciate them or asking them how their day is going.
The app which uses the Telegram App SDK has multiple message setting types, including love, casual and motivational.
Love will send your loved one sweet, sweet Shakespeare quotes or messages that can bring that missing spark back into your relationship. Casual sends a check-in to your friend or lover to see how they’re doing or what they’re up to. Motivational is a bit strange. It sends your contact a quote that will maybe sorta inspire them. You can also set the frequency of these messages within the app’s portal.
Guru Ranganathan and Karthikeyan Santana, both employees at Microsoft, created the app because they thought it was a funny idea, but they suggested that the app had potential beyond expressing love. With access to your contacts or Facebook friend list, Ranganathan suggested that the app could help you check in on old buddies and rekindle friendships.
“Sending the first message in a conversation is always the hardest,” said Ranganathan.


Apparently recognizing that consumers are increasingly turning to their cell phones to get their news, Forbes.com has unveiled a Mobile Reader. Powered by Handmark, the Forbes.com Mobile Reader is initially available for the BlackBerry. It’s set up to automatically deliver headlines and updates from the Forbes.com home page as well as the site’s markets, business, personal, finance, entrepreneurs, technology, life, opinions and leadership channels. Once the full articles are downloaded to the handset, they can be read offline.
Users can customize the free app to include tabs for their stocks to watch, their most-used keywords and their RSS feeds.
The Forbes.com reader can be downloaded for free from reader.forbes.com using any BlackBerry Web browser. Over the next few months, the reader will be available for a variety of Windows Mobile and J2ME-based handsets.


Allison Miller, a 13-year-old at Deer Park Junior/Senior High School logged on to the Happify platform to get what school officials hope will be a revealing picture of her character strengths.
What it showed: a strong capacity for creativity, humor, humility, forgiveness, and gratitude.
Allison was just one of the students at the Cincinnati school using the web platform, which uses a survey and generates five core character strengths from a list of 24 character traits. In a number of cases, students said it confirmed some of their own impressions of themselves.
"[Happify] explains the strengths and you could say, 'Yes, that's me,' " she said.
Austin Moore, an 8th-grader like Allison, also got insights into his core character strengths through Happify. They included creativity, hope, humility, forgiveness and gratitude. "I knew these were my core strengths before the survey," he said. "I definitely thought they were for me."
The 13-year-olds noted that Happify helps them approach their classes with a more positive, hopeful attitude; in particular, it provides positive words students can then use to express themselves. For example, during a game called Uplift, students view positive and negative words written across hot air balloons. The objective of the game is to click only on the positive words, such as "secure," "joy," "radiant," "unity," "serenity," and "boost."
"You get points when you click on the positive words," explained Austin. "Each time you play a game, the bar fills up with more points."
The students say they enjoy using Happify and don't find it difficult to navigate. "I think it's easy to use and it's fun because some of the games are stress relievers," said Allison. "You have to pick out which ones you're stressing about, and it helps you to get rid of the stress."
She compared the Happify game Negative Knockout with the popular app Angry Birds.
The students also agreed that the tool helps them tackle more challenging subjects, such as language arts. "When I go into class, I can use things from Happify, all the different words and positivity," Allison said. "Instead, I might end up liking what we're doing."
Austin said that some of the positive words such as "hopefulness" help him approach tougher school assignments with a better outlook. "It helps me get through it, and I want to try to do my best at it," he said.
Each activity also includes information explaining the science behind the particular activity, Austin pointed out. "It teaches you different things about the website, why this is helping, why it's in there, and what it does," he said.


Steve Aoki was born on November 30, 1977 in Miami, Florida, USA.
Nut Shotted By UFC's Ken Shamrock!
Dance Off During Ultra Festival Weekend!!!
Throws Cake at Steve Aoki's Face!!!
First Rave in Zero Gravity!!!
Steve Aoki's Got His Own Pizza Restaurant!


Al Jazeera English staff have voted to accept a two-year pay deal worth more than 9 per cent after going four years without a raise.
Staff at Al Jazeera’s London bureau received the offer last week just days before planned 24-hour strike action, which would have been followed by an indefinite withdrawal of goodwill if it had gone ahead.
Representatives of the National Union of Journalists and media union BECTU met with management through the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service on 4 May.
Negotiations lasted more than seven hours with the unions saying significant progress had been made. Staff have been trying to push for a pay rise since unionising four years ago.
Al Jazeera offered staff a two-year pay deal with a consolidated pay increase of 6 per cent, backdated to 1 January 2018, and an increase of 3 per cent as of 1 January 2019.
Yesterday NUJ members voted by 84 per cent to accept the offer and 92 per cent of BECTU members also backed it.
The Al Jazeera NUJ chapel said in a statement: “This deal shows what can be done when employees get organised.
“Four years after we won union recognition, NUJ and BECTU members standing together have finally convinced management at Al Jazeera English that we will not continue to allow a pay freeze to erode our standard of living.
Both unions said they hoped the offer was proof that Al Jazeera will now take the collective bargaining process, and its relationship with the unions, seriously.
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, added: “This is an important shift in relations with Al Jazeera and one we hope means that the collective bargaining process will run more smoothly in future.
Gerry Carr, BECTU assistant national secretary, described it as a “historic breakthrough”.
“While the company signed a voluntary recognition agreement with BECTU and the NUJ in April 2014, it refused to engage constructively in collective pay bargaining,” he said.
“That resistance was shattered by the unity of the membership of both unions when they voted strongly in favour of industrial action in April.


T’was the 18th of April in seventy-five: The midnight ride of William Dawes and Samuel Prescott (and Paul Revere).
Dorothy’s Wizard of Oz Ruby Slippers on Sale for a Whopping $6 Million.
On April 18, 1906, an earthquake and fire destroyed 80 percent of San Francisco: Here’s a documentary, Library of Congress footage of the destruction, and side by side film of Market Street four days before the earthquake compared to afterward.
Kansas locked up more than 5,000 women and girls for having STDs.
ICYMI, Monday’s links are here, and include Spring cleaning, 19th-century style, a 1940s booklet to “assist male bosses in supervising their new female employees” entitled “Women are teachable,” and predictions for 2018 from various times in the 20th century.


At peak times, customers have to wait up to two hours to get on the Viking Voyage attraction.
TAYTO PARK WILL introduce animatronic robots to the “queue experience” at one of its attractions to make the sometimes hours-long wait more entertaining for customers.
The company behind the crisps-inspired theme park in Ashbourne, Co Meath has tendered a contract to provide various upgrades at the Viking Voyage water ride.
Visitor feedback surveys identified that the queue for the ride was “the key area which needed to improve to ensure guests remained satisfied”, according to a tender document.
“During our peak months of visitors (June, July and August) the queue can reach up to two hours in length,” it said.
To improve the visitor experience, Tayto Park plans to break up the waiting area into “a sequence of mini destinations”.
It will provide customers with a “mixed media, multi-sensory encounter” telling the story of the Viking invasion of Ireland through live actors; male and female animatronic characters; audio and video installations; and other media.
“We are open to ideas on how we can use the dramatic history of Vikings in Ireland to create an experience that animates the queue area of Viking Voyage and engages and entertains visitors,” the tender document stated.
The project – slated for completion in June of this year – will cost €233,000 and is being funded by State agency Fáilte Ireland under its budget for tourism marketing brand Ireland’s Ancient East.
Tayto Park is one of the country’s top 10 fee-charging attractions, attracting hundreds of thousands of mainly Irish visitors.
The company noted in its tender for the Viking Voyage upgrades that about 8% of annual visitors come from Europe and the UK.
“We hope to increase the amount of people coming to Tayto Park from these markets by 2% a year, every year for the next five years,” it said.
For that reason, the successful bidder will have to translate any materials into French and German, as well as Irish.
“We would like some of the audio to contain Old Norse,” the company added, referring to the north Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia.
The upgrade to the Viking Voyage ride comes months after it was announced that Tayto Park plans to build a steel roller coaster estimated to cost €14 million.
The company behind the park, Ashbourne Visitor Centre Limited, submitted a planning application for the project in December of last year and a decision is due in February.
In a rationale for the project, prepared for Meath County Council by planning consultant Declan Brassil on behalf of the company, it is noted that the last major attraction introduced at Tayto Park was the Cú Chulainn wooden roller coaster.
The letter to the council’s planning department stated that visitor numbers peaked at 700,000 the year Cú Chulainn opened in 2015 and have yet to return to such heights.
“Since the peak visitor numbers of 2015, Tayto Park has experienced a gradual decline in yearly and peak day visitor numbers. Yearly visitor numbers dropped to 600,000 the year after the opening of the roller coaster and have remained slightly below this number for the last two years,” Brassil wrote.
The consultant said that given the relative size of the Irish market and the “underlying trend of declining visitor numbers”, it is necessary for Tayto Park to invest in a new attraction to protect its position as one of the country’s top attractions.
Considering it won’t be until 2021 that the proposed steel roller coaster is up and running, Brassil said the development – consisting of two separate rides with a combined track length of 972 m – is “critical in securing the future of the park and its ongoing contribution to the local and regional economies”.
Tayto Park opened in 2010 and was the brainchild of former farmer Ray Coyle, who started snacks manufacturing giant Largo Foods in 1982 and acquired the iconic Tayto and King crisp brands for €62 million in 2006.
After 35 years at its helm, he retired from Largo but is still CEO of Tayto Park.
Tens of millions of euro has been invested in the attraction, including €10 million of Ray Coyle’s cash for the Cú Chulainn roller coaster.
In addition to that ride and the Viking Voyage experience, Tayto Park operates a zoo and a driving school for children which is run in partnership with motoring brand Nissan.
The business recorded profits of €3.1 million in 2017, up from €2.9 million the previous year, on sales of €17.5 million.


But it still makes some mistakes that a human never would.
Microsoft scientists have released a paper claiming that their visual recognition software is outperforming humans, a long-sought after feat. The benchmark for humans in image classification is a 5.1 percent error rate. Microsoft claims their error rate is 4.94 percent, beating out Google's 6.66 percent.
In the ImageNet Competition, teams are given a dataset of 150,000 images and asked to identify 1,000 objects within those images. The 1,000 objects may appear in different pictures, meaning a computer may need to identify something like a power drill both with a person holding it and sitting on a workbench by itself. The provided images are often of a medium resolution, so it's going on compressed datasets.
This recent success a demonstration of Microsoft's deep learning capabilities—though as the company points out, some of its misses were pretty glaring, making "mistakes in cases that are not difficult for humans, especially for those requiring context understanding or high-level knowledge." The researchers also acknowledge that the demonstration related to the ImageNet dataset its algorithms were given, rather than a sort of "in the wild" approach.
Yet these kinds of advances in image recognition could have far-reaching consequences, perhaps improving Microsoft's Hololens technology by enabling quicker recognition of objects in a room or producing better image results on Bing, Microsoft's scrappy (if underutilized) search engine gunning for Google.


WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama bowed to pressure yesterday and agreed to sign legislation giving Congress the right to reject any nuclear agreement with Iran.
The White House conveyed the president's decision shortly before Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved a compromise version of the measure on a 19-0 vote. It was a sign that Congress would not back down on its insistence that lawmakers must have a say if any final deal with Iran involves the eventual lifting of crippling economic sanctions that Congress levied on Tehran.
The bill is now likely to clear both houses in the Republican-controlled Congress.
Obama had threatened to veto the original bill, but as news of the compromise leaked out on Capitol Hill, the White House abruptly acquiesced. The president, however, still retains the right to use his veto if Congress tries to scuttle an emerging deal with Iran, which is to be finalized by June 30.
"Maybe they saw the handwriting on the wall," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said about the White House decision.
International negotiators are trying to reach a deal that would prevent Iran from being able to develop nuclear weapons. In exchange, Tehran would get relief from economic sanctions that are crippling its economy.
Obama, whose foreign policy legacy would be burnished by a deal with Iran, has been in a standoff for months with lawmakers who say Congress should have a chance to weigh in and remain skeptical that Iran will honor any agreement.
"The administration . . . has been fighting strongly against this," said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
"I know they've relented because of what they believe will be the outcome here," he said. "I believe this is going to be an important role, especially the compliance pieces that come afterward."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, "Despite the things about it that we don't like, enough substantial changes have been made that the president would be willing to sign it."
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who announced his candidacy for president on Monday, had proposed an amendment that would require Iran's leaders to accept Israel's right to exist. Rubio relented, deciding the proposal "could imperil the entire arrangement" and accepted milder language.


It's been an enormous news week. Have you been able to keep up?
Crikey Quiz: Gautam Adani or Mr Burns?
One is an energy tycoon with an appalling human safety, environmental and political track record that has nonetheless successfully capitalised on their status as a job provider. The other is the exact same thing. These two people are very similar, is what we’re saying.


"When it comes to human rights, the United States must practice at home what it preaches abroad."
The United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has recently concluded its 85th Session during which time it considered seven state reports, including one on the United States.
The report praised many progressive steps the U.S. has taken to ensure equality, including the termination of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, the adoption of the Fair Sentencing Act and the adoption of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
In a press conference convened Friday, CERD committee vice chairman Noureddine Amir highlighted the death of Ferguson teenager Michael Brown: "The excessive use of force by law enforcement officials against racial and ethnic minorities is an ongoing issue of concern and particularly in light of the shooting of Michael Brown. This is not an isolated event and illustrates a bigger problem in the United States, such as racial bias among law enforcement officials, the lack of proper implementation of rules and regulations governing the use of force, and the inadequacy of training and law enforcement officials."
In response to the UN's report, Jamil Dakwar of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said, "When it comes to human rights, the United States must practice at home what it preaches abroad."


Ruth Taylor at home in Leeds.
A Leeds family has re-appealed to YEP readers to help with donations for a former St James’s Hospital worker who is suffering with motor neurone disease (MND).
Ruth Taylor, 44, is deteriorating rapidly since her diagnosis this summer and desperately wants to try stem cell treatment - but still needs thousands of pounds.
The treatment she wants is not available on the NHS and a previous appeal brought little in the way of financial help, so her family are now asking people in the run-up to Christmas to donate whatever they can manage.
Moor Allerton woman Ruth, a passionate world traveller and former St James’s Hospital worker of more than 20 years, was diagnosed in the summer after experiencing cramps around her body.
It is not exactly known why MND happens, nor are there currently any cures for the condition, which affects the nerves in a person’s brain and spinal cord that tell muscles what to do.
With MND, messages from these nerves gradually stop reaching the muscles, leading them to weaken, stiffen and waste.
Ruth’s symptoms are becoming worse by the day, but she still has dreams of marrying partner Rob Rippon and living a long life.
Her brother Samuel has set up a crowdfunding page with the hope of raising £30,000 for stem cell treatment, but so far £915 has been given.
She added: “My condition is deteriorating.


The Queen's throne has been stolen, it seems, thanks to the efforts of the world's beer drinkers. The head of the royal family has lost her title as Britain's richest woman to Charlene de Carvalho, heiress to the Heineken brewing empire.
According to a survey of Britain's richest 100 people, Queen Elizabeth no longer weighs in as the state's wealthiest female, after Charlene inherited the legacy left by her father Freddie Heineken, who died last January.
When he passed away, his 48-year-old daughter took control of the entire family fortune along with the well-known Dutch brewing company. As a result, her wealth is now estimated at £2.85 billion, leaving other wealthy British women like Paloma Picasso and JK Rowling in the shade.
Indeed Charlene has taken second place overall in the top 100 rich list, making her the highest ranked woman ever. But despite her enormous wealth, she couldn't keep up with Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, who took the top spot with an estate of £3.3 billion.
If you haven't heard of Charlene before, it's because she likes to keep a very low profile. After a kidnapping attempt in the Eighties, the mother-of-five decided it was best to stay out of the public eye. She lives in London with her merchant banker husband Michel.


A new Samsung Galaxy J series smartphone was spotted on Geekbench bearing indication of Android Go.
Samsung could be launching its first Android Go smartphone soon. An entry-level Galaxy J series smartphone running Android Go was spotted on benchmarking website Geekbench recently.
According to the Geekbench listing, SM-J260G smartphone runs on the latest Android 8.1 Oreo. The smartphone is powered by Exynos 7570 quad-core processor paired with1GB of RAM. The listing further mentions “Universal7570_Go,”indicating the presence of Android Go.
Announced last year, Google’s Android Go platform is based on Android 8.1 Oreo and the OS is optimised for entry-level smartphones. Android Go aims to offer a lightweight Android experience for smartphones with low storage and less than 1GB of RAM. Google also has Android Go apps like YouTube Go, Google Maps Go, Google Assistant Go, and Google Go.
There are two Android Go smartphones available in India - Nokia 1 and Lava Z50. Nokia 1 Android Go smartphone is priced at Rs 5,499, while the Lava Z50 Android Go phone retails at Rs 4,400.


Just 9 km from the historic center of Florence and few steps from the famous "Fonte della Fata" beautiful villa located on a hill overlooking the Tuscan countryside. Featuring a swimming pool, large private garden, private parking, ideal for families or groups of friends. A paradise where you can relax.The Villa is divided into two units not connected internally and with separate entrances. The "Main house" in addition to its interior spaces with a contemporary style design enjoys a unique panorama, the "guest house" is a typical Tuscan residence, that overlooks the garden and the private pool. Accommodation and services included. Both the properties are partially furnished.


Jackson 5 star Tito Jackson returned to Wolverhampton as he continues his hunt for houses in the area.
Clad in a Wolves tracksuit, the 64-year-old Motown star wandered around the city centre before visiting Molineux – where he walked down the tunnel and sat down on the bench.
Tito stayed at the Mount Hotel and dined at the Memsahib restaurant in Compton during his trip this week.
Tito, one of pop legend Michael Jackson’s older brothers, said: “I’ve been wanting to come back to see another game and will hopefully next time I’m in town.
“Wolves have done great this year and I’m looking forward to them getting promoted. Wolves ay we!
“I think the fans have done a tremendous job supporting their local team.
“Being an entertainer is no different to being an athlete. People screaming their name gives you an extra incentive.
“I wish [his album Tito Time] was doing as well as the Wolves – but it is doing well.
“Maybe next time [Wolves] just might let me on the grass – they won’t even let me touch it.
Tito’s unlikely link with Wolverhampton comes through a member of his management team, Lawson Slater, who lives in the city.
The star said he is still searching for a property around the city and is considering whether to rent or buy – telling the Express & Star he is ‘thinking very strongly’ and ‘looking very hard’ about the prospect of a UK home.


No. 6 Franklin won its third state title in dramatic fashion Thursday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Simon Spath kicked a 29-yard field goal as time ran out to give Franklin a stunning 17-14 victory over Linganore in the Class 3A state title game.
Franklin (12-2) won in 2013 and 2014 with the first state title also coming against the Lancers. The Indians also made it to the 2016 state title game but lost. Linganore (12-2) was trying for a seventh state title.
Spath had made two extra points without incident in this game, and he was put on the stage when Franklin moved the ball downfield in the final 4:44 after Linganore tied the score. The Indians drove to the Linganore 13 and were keeping the ball in the middle of the field.
They called time with two seconds remaining. Linganore then tried to ice the junior kicker with another timeout before Spath drilled the kick through to give Franklin the crown.
Franklin coach Anthony Burgos knew that it might come down to Spath trying a field goal in the final moments and wanted the offense to get the ball in his range.
The Indians moved the ball well enough on the ground and in the air on offense, and their defense slowed a Linganore attack that scored 45 points in the first half of the state semifinal against Chesapeake-Anne Arundel last week.
However, both teams had problems with mistakes in a game that was delayed more than a half hour due to traffic delays in the Annapolis area. Franklin quarterback Vernon Brown was picked off three times and nearly had a fourth one intercepted, but none led to points for Linganore.
But the Lancers also kept hurting themselves and they missed on a number of scoring chances. Linganore fumbled at the Franklin 1-yard line, had a field goal attempt bang off the crossbar and made it into Indian territory eight times but scored only twice.
Both teams moved the ball well in the first quarter, but Linganore took a 7-0 lead when quarterback Ryan Leyh floated a pass to Davon Butler on the left side, and he raced for a 34-yard touchdown.
Leyh got the ball just over leaping linebacker Wayne Brooks on the side, and Butler easily scored with 1:52 left in the quarter. Formulak added the extra point – he had missed a 38-yard field goal on the team’s first possession when the ball his the crossbar.
Franklin answered a few minutes later when quarterback Vernon Brown threw a 69-yard scoring strike to Felton Mekai. Spath tied it with his extra point with 9:43 left in the half.
The Indians scored on their next possession and took the lead for the first time. Elijah Solomon broke free up the middle and ran for an 8-yard touchdown with 6:33 remaining. Spath then made it 14-7 with the extra point.
Franklin then got a huge break at the end of the first half. Brown threw his second interception, which gave the Lancers possession at the Franklin 30. Linganore made it to the 1-yard line in the final seconds before a botched handoff caused Jackson Ambush to fumble into the end zone with five seconds remaining. That stopped the Lancers from scoring and let the Indians go into halftime with the 14-7 lead.
The Lancers marched down the field to start the second half. Linebacker Daniel Yarborough saved Franklin by leaping and knocking down Ryan Leyh’s pass at the goal line as Linganore came up empty once more.
“It was just a blessing from God. The momentum change was just tremendous,” Franklin linebacker Elijah Solomon said.
The Lancers finally tied the game with 4:50 left in the fourth quarter. They went for it on fourth-and-8 from the Franklin 17-yard line, and Joseph Felton broke free around the left end and ran it in for a touchdown. Formulak tied it at 14 with his extra point.
That set up the last-second dramatics from Spath.


People who get much of their daily liquids from plain water rather than other beverages may have healthier diets overall, a study suggests.
Using data from a national health survey of more than 12,000 Americans, researchers found that people who drank more "plain water" tended to eat more fiber, less sugar and fewer calorie-dense foods.
The reverse was true of people who got much of their fluids from other beverages, according to a report of the study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The findings do not prove that drinking water makes for healthier eaters, said lead researcher Dr. Ashima K. Kant, a professor at Queens College of the City University of New York.
But, she told Reuters Health, they do suggest a connection — and a reason to encourage people to choose water over beverages.
The findings are based on 12,283 Americans age 20 and older who took part in a government health and nutrition survey between 1999 and 2006. On average, respondents got one-third of their daily fluids from water, 48 percent from other beverages and the rest from food.
In general, the more water people drank, the more fiber and the less sugar they consumed. They also had a lower intake of calorie-dense foods — a general marker of a healthier diet. Calorie density refers to the amount of calories in a food in relation to its weight; fruits and vegetables, for instance, tend to have a low calorie density.
From a "purely physiological" standpoint, Kant noted, people can get their fluid needs from any source. Drinking plain water, therefore, is not necessary, but it may be preferable, she said.
As for how much water a person should drink, there is no straightforward answer — despite the popular belief that people need 8 glasses of water per day.
As a general rule of thumb, Kant said, sedentary healthy adults can let their thirst be their guide on when to drink.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2009.


When I reflect on my childhood baking memories, one that stands out is a tray of warm chocolate chip cookies coming out of the oven. It was so tempting to eat the raw dough while making them — talk about a lesson in delayed gratification — but in 20 or so minutes, delicious buttery, sugary cookies dotted with chocolate chips would be ready to enjoy.
Never mind fancy desserts; chocolate chip cookies have always been one of my favorite treats. And if you are like me and find them irresistible, you probably can’t stop after a few bites.
Then there’s the chocolate, which, in addition to sugar, contains small amounts of a compound known as anandamide. Interestingly, anandamide is also a brain chemical that targets the same cell receptors as THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana that is responsible for its mood-altering effects. That’s not to say chocolate will produce the same “high” as marijuana, but there may be a chemical basis for the pleasure we get from eating chocolate.
“A chocolate chip cookie is a brilliant contrast among the flavors and among the textures,” said Gail Vance Civille, founder and president of Sensory Spectrum, a consulting firm that helps companies learn how sensory cues drive consumer perceptions of products.
The flavor of chocolate chip cookies, according to Civille, is “a beautiful amalgam of caramelized butter and sugar,” the result of the browning of butter and caramelizing of sugar while it bakes. The combination of the toasted grain with the browned butter, caramelized sugar, vanilla and chocolate are “the beautiful rich flavors that blend together in a chocolate chip cookie,” she said. And as the chocolate melts, it becomes more aromatic and punches up the flavor.
The texture of chocolate chip cookies also plays a big role in their appeal. “Just on the texture side, [the chocolate chip cookie] has a lot going for it,” Civille said.
“Every bite will be interesting. … You will hit the cookie, which has crispness due to air pockets in the cookie crumb, and then the chocolate, which is dense and uniform when you bite through it. It’s like a symphony orchestra playing together. … It’s very harmonious,” she said.
One of the simplest ways to test whether the flavor and texture of chocolate chip cookies are “addictive enough” is to observe people eating them.
“When I would create any product, if I put it out as a sample to my staff and if I didn’t watch them unconsciously go back and take some more, then I felt it wasn’t good enough. There’s a lot of good, but I didn’t want good. I wanted that addictive thing,” King said.
The optimal ratio of chocolate chips to cookie is also a personal preference. “I’ll put a bag on the table, and my husband will turn them over and look for the least amount of chips, but I’ll look for the most,” King said.
Whatever one’s individual chocolate chip cookie preference — or “addiction” — it’s fair to say that these beloved cookies can have a place in a balanced diet, as long as you are willing to keep portions in check.
So whether it feels like a true “addiction” or not, indulging in a chocolate chip cookie or two should be a happy experience.


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If you're new to working out, there is no better place to start than a group fitness class.
Joining a community that is also committed to fitness and self-improvement can make a huge difference in your overall progress. It's motivating to find yourself in a class with different people who are all striving towards the same goal.


For the world's major oil companies, the feud over the Falkland Islands is between different petroleum geologists, as well as between Argentina and Great Britain.
One theory holds that the Falklands could be sitting atop a major oil field. This possibility explains the considerable interest shown by such companies as Exxon and Arco now engaged in exporatory work off the Argentine coast. It also is one reason political analysts give for the tenacity of both British and Argentine claims to the Falklands.
A second opinion, supported by recent work done for the US Department of Energy by the US Geological Survey, says that Argentina's oil-rich sedimentary beds both onshore and offshore may end well before reaching the midway point between Argentina and the Falklands.
The oil industry can only resolve the question of the Falklands' oil potential by drilling exploratory wells. Preliminary steps have been taken but the major work remains ahead. According to some experts, the combination of extreme weather conditions in the Falklands area and current low crude oil prices could delay further work for as much as 20 years. Other experts see production possible in the area within five to seven years -- if the British and Argentinians resolve their political differences.
Three years ago, before British-Argentine relations soured, the countries jointly licensed seismic surveys. These revealed complex rock structures that could prove to be oil-bearing. But any final estimate of potential oil reserves, or even whether there is oil, depends on actually drilling into the undersea structures.
Dr. Grossling says that the sugar-like Springhill sandstone formation first discovered in Chile in 1945 has been proved to stretch far into Argentina and its offshore areas. Onshore, this oil-rich formation's average thickness is 30 meters. Offshore, he says, this same layer is up to 180 meters thick and laced with oil and gas.
Other petroleum geologists say it is far too early even to guess at whether oil may be found under the Falkland Islands. Dr. Albert W. Bally, former chief geologist for Shell Oil Company and now chairman of Rice University's geology department, however, sees a clear ''oil incentive'' behind Argentina's attempt to reclaim the Falklands.
According to a petroleum expert at the World Bank, the possibility of oil riches is very attractive to Argentina.
''With internal economic and political problems the government is naturally going to take action to divert public attention away from these problems,'' he says.


The annual television licence fee will increase to £147 from £145.50 on April 1 this year, the Government has said.
You might think you only need a TV licence if you actually have a television, or only if you watch live TV at the same time as it's being broadcast, but it is NOT that simple.
It's the first increase since 2010.
But it won't be the last, with the Government announcing the licence fee will rise in line with inflation for five years.
Here's everything you need to know about the increase including payment plans and when you don't have to pay for one.
What date will it increase?
The cost of a TV licence will increase on Saturday, April 1.
It is the first time since 2010 that the price has changed.
How much is it going up by?
From April 1 a TV licence fee will be £147, the new figure is just £1.50 more than the £145.50 cost we pay now.
The government is responsible for setting price of the fee. Last year it was announced that it would rise, in line with inflation, for five years.
Will my payment plan change?
If you started a payment plan before April 1, 2017, you will continue to pay towards a licence fee of £145.50 until your licence is due to be renewed.
It will be increased when the renewal starts.
What is the fee used for?
Everyone who owns a TV is required to pay the fee. The money goes towards funding the BBC - this includes radio stations and websites as well as programmes and watching things on iPlayer.
ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and other stations run ad breaks in between their shows which is how they earn their money. This means they do not get a share of the licensing fee.
The fee was started in 1946 to fund what was at the time the only television service in the UK.
How can I pay my TV licence?
You can choose to pay your TV licence fee in one go or you can make payments weekly, monthly or quarterly.
Weekly and monthly payments start at £5.60. If you apply for a TV licensing payment card you can pay online, at a PayPoint outlet, by phone or by text message.
Payments via debit card, credit card and cheques are also accepted.
When don't I have to pay for a TV licence?
With the exception of BBC iPlayer you don't need a licence if you are not watching or recording live TV.
On demand – including catch-up TV and on demand previews – on ITV Player , All4 , My5 , BT Vision/BT TV , Virgin Media , Sky Go , Now TV , Apple TV , Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV .
On demand movies from providers like Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video .


As the country gets ready to celebrate 59 years of Independence, NDTV brings you the story of a woman who broke all barriers all those years ago. Sarla Thukral was India's first woman pilot. If it was not for the war she would have even become India's first commercial airline pilot.


The Rotary Club of Royal Leamington Spa’s Trees of Light will be shining again on the Christmas trees outside Leamington Town Hall and St Margaret’s church in Whitnash over the festive period.
Everyone is invited to have the names of their absent or departed loved ones displayed on lists near the trees and around the towns, in exchange for a donation to the Myton Hospices to support their work in Warwick, Coventry and Rugby.
Last year donations to the campaign reached a record total of £5,885, all of which went directly to the charity.
Rotary club president David Leigh-Hunt said: “Thanks to everyone’s generosity the Trees of Light have raised £66,000 since the inception of the scheme in 2001.
The Courier is supporting the campaign, and will carry the donation coupon each week up to Christmas alongside articles about the charity’s work.
Last year the Myton Hospices supported more than 1,400 people and their families needing compassionate end of life care.
The lights on the Whitnash tree will be switched on by Mayor Cllr Terry Shepherd in a celebration with music and carols on Saturday November 17 starting at 5.15 pm.
The Leamington tree lights will be switched on by Warwick District Council chairman Cllr Stephen Cross on Sunday November 18 starting at 3.30pm with carols led by the Baptist Church Choir and the Royal Spa Brass Band.
Donations can be made until January 5.
The donation coupon is available in weekly editions of the Courier and KWN and brochures available at The Royal Priors, the town hall and at tourist information in the Pump Rooms, and in Whitnash at the church and the library.
To make a donation online visit www.mytonhospice.org/TreesOfLight.


Known for its bouts of heavy smog , the city of Los Angeles on Thursday announced plans to have a fleet of fully electric, zero-emissions buses by 2030.
Authorities in the US metropolis said the project, which involves the purchase of 2,200 vehicles, would cost some $1 billion over the next ten years.
"Today's vote represents an enormous investment in the future of a healthy and prosperous Los Angeles," said Hilda Solis, a Metro Board Member.
The current fleet operates on compressed natural gas (CNG), seen as the most environmentally-friendly option when the buses were purchased in the 1990s.
A CNG coalition had previously protested the transition, arguing that, while the goals were worthy, electric buses were not yet a reliable technology.
The state of California has positioned itself at the forefront in the fight against carbon emissions despite President Donald Trump's decision to rollback legislation enacted by his predecessor Barack Obama and to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord in June.


FOR an industry where timing is everything, the alarm clock setting was the first indication Hall of Fame trainer Gai Waterhouse had rediscovered her passion for racing.
Racing's first lady makes every second count in her busy daily schedule and it was her husband who noticed a small change in long-followed routines at home that let him know the spring was back in his wife's step.
"I set Gai's alarm and she used to get up at 2.25am each morning but now I am setting her alarm for 2.12am,'' he said.
The difference is only 13 minutes but that is a lot for the trainer.
"Gai can't wait to start her day, get to the track and be with the horses,'' Waterhouse said.
After a sustained period where the Hall of Fame trainer found herself becoming bogged down in the daily grind of managing a large stable - being pulled in all directions - training racehorses has become fun again.
"What I really love about my job is the horse side of it,'' she said.
"Being able to work with the horses, watching them, nurturing them, seeing them develop is so interesting and fascinating.
This wasn't the case a few years back when Waterhouse was trying to manage the running of her Tulloch Lodge stables and train her large team of horses. The demands on her time, the relentless pressure, was taking a toll.
"For a few years there, Gai was finding the business side of her job irksome,'' Rob Waterhouse said.
Her decision to form a training partnership with Adrian Bott in 2016 surprised many, but it has proven a masterstroke.
"It's wonderful working with Adrian,'' said Waterhouse, who turned 64 last Sunday.
With Bott sharing the load with Waterhouse, they have become a formidable team in the past two years, preparing more than 300 winners - 51 at stakes level, including five Group 1 wins - for stable earnings of more than $21 million.
"I think everything is going well, the results have been there for us,'' Bott said.
"Gai is an extraordinary person who is always there wanting to help and educate people. She has certainly helped my career.
"The most important thing I have learned from Gai is her attention to detail - and that rubs off on you.
The stable has plenty of equine firepower this season, with some older, proven top-liners supported by an exciting group of three-year-olds and their usual array of rising two-year-old talent.
This is demonstrated at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, where Waterhouse and Bott are represented by promising three-year-old Master Ash in the Group 2 $200,000 The Daily Telegraph Stan Fox Stakes (1500m) and the emerging Siege Of Quebec in the Group 2 $200,000 Theo Marks Stakes (1300m).
Former English stayer Joshua Reynolds makes his Australian debut in the Iron Jack Handicap (1800m) and Pandemonium lines up in the Canadian Club Handicap (1500m).
The stable also has a powerful presence at Moonee Valley, with the Japanese-bred, former French stayer Hush Writer having his first start Down Under in the Harrolds Handicap (2040m), comeback galloper Northwest Passage runs in the Craig Opie Cup (1600m) and three-year-old Sydney Blue is in the 1 Print Handicap (1500m).
Master Ash, who has had four starts for two wins and two seconds, is coming off an impressive win in the Up And Coming Stakes. Waterhouse acknowledges her colt needs to improve again when taking on the likes of unbeaten The Autumn Sun.
Siege Of Quebec is a lightly raced four-year-old who has won three of his eight starts. He is yet to win a stakes race but has considerable potential, as evidenced by his competitive effort when second to proven topliner Le Romain in the Group 3 Show County Quality last start.
Pandemonium, who was placed at stakes level last campaign, is a mare Waterhouse also rates highly. She impressed first-up when a close third to Madam Rouge and Tarabai in a strong midweek mares' race at Canterbury last week.
Joshua Reynolds is by former European champion Nathaniel and won three of his eight starts in England. The five-year-old gelding has had two trials for the Waterhouse-Bott stable and is one of the more interesting runners at the Rosehill meeting.
Similarly, Hush Writer's first-up run at Moonee Valley will also be watched closely as Waterhouse is hoping to get the stayer to the Melbourne Cup this spring.
"Hush Writer is a stylish horse, a lovely mover,'' Waterhouse said. "We bought this horse in Japan and then sent him to France to race. When (trainer) Criquette Head retired, we decided to bring the horse to Australia.
Northwest Passage, a Tasmanian Derby winner last year, resumed after an 18-month layoff with a good fourth to Mister Sea Wolf in the Rowley Mile at Hawkesbury. The gelding, winner of five of his previous seven starts, is a winner at Moonee Valley in the Group 3 Torney Cup last year.
Sydney Blue is coming off a Kembla Grange maiden win but Waterhouse is convinced the three-year-old will be competitive tomorrow.
Waterhouse and Bot are also counting the days until the $13 million The Everest (1200m) at Royal Randwick on October 13 as they have secured starts in the world's richest turf race with their brilliant mares English and Invincible Star.
English, a dual Group 1 winner of nearly $3.5 million, has had two barrier trials to prepare for her return to racing in The Shorts at Randwick next week.
Invincible Star resumed after a lengthy spell with a competitive third to reigning Everest champ Redzel in the Concorde Stakes last Saturday.
"We are really happy with how English is coming up, she's just an outstanding mare,'' Waterhouse said. "Invincible Star was huge last week. She hasn't run for a long time and will take a lot of improvement from that run.
Waterhouse has achieved just about everything in racing since she started her training career 26 years ago.
She's prepared the winners of 139 Group 1 races, including six Golden Slippers, seven Doncaster Miles, seven Epsom Handicaps, four Queen Elizabeth Stakes, eight The Metropolitans, eight Flight Stakes, a Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Sydney Cup, plus seven Sydney trainers' premierships.
Rob Waterhouse has predicted the Waterhouse-Bott combination is only going to get stronger and could one day challenge for the Sydney trainers' premiership again.
"Chris Waller does an extraordinary job but things can change in this game and I don't think Gai's days of winning the premiership are over,'' he said.
"She is really enjoying training in partnership with Adrian and being more hands-on with the horses. She loves developing young horses into something special.
"Gai can see things in horses that others don't see, that is one of her great strengths.


This is CNET and here are the stories that matter right now. Google is expanding its worldwide network by adding five new regional data centers this year and three subsea cables in 2019. The data centers will include locations in Montreal, Los Angeles, Finland, and Hong Kong while the subsea cables will connect various continental land masses around the world. A newly discovered piece of Android Spyware is being described as one of the most advanced surveillance tools ever seen on a mobile device. NIcknamed Sky go free by researches at Kaspersky lab but now it may have been active since 2014 with clues pointing its origin to Italy [MUSIC] And finally, reports of servers of Google products causing WiFi outages. The culprit seemed to the the Chromecast, Google Home and certain TPLink routers, but reports of other brand routers being affected have shown up as well. Google has told 9-5 Google that a fix for the mystery issue is underway. [MUSIC] You can stay up to date with the latest by downloading the CNet Tech Today app, in the Apple or Google Play store.


Submitted Photo. Regional Solutions Commission Chairman George Borrello speaks to the review panel about the county’s MCEC grant application.
ALBANY — Chautauqua County officials recently traveled to Albany to provide New York state officials with a presentation on the county’s submitted application for the final phase of the Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition (MCEC).
The MCEC is part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mission to reduce the heavy property tax burden in New York state by cutting costs, sharing services and increasing efficiencies.
In February, Chautauqua County was one of six finalists across the state to be awarded $50,000 to further develop its plan for the final phase of the competition. Its final plan was submitted to the state at the end of June and the winner of this final phase will receive a $20 million grant award for its innovative plan for consolidation, dissolution, service sharing and other cost-saving measures.
Presenting the county’s final plan were Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan, Chautauqua County Regional Solutions Commission Chairman and County Legislator George Borrello, R-Irving, and Executive Assistant Daniel Heitzenrater.
The presentation was to a six-member review panel made up of officials from the Governor’s cabinet and county officials discussed the proposed projects in its submitted application, showed a video on the importance of these projects to the area, and answered questions about the application.
¯ Regional Solutions Commission to further explore, develop and implement additional projects.
The winner of the $20 million grant award is expected to be announced in the fall.