Elwood Paul Bergeron, 74, of Bridge City passed away Tuesday, April 17, at Pinehurst Nursing Home.
Funeral Services will be at 10:00 a.m. Friday, April 20, at Claybar Funeral Home Chapel in Bridge City. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens near Bridge City.
Visitation will be from 5:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Thursday, at the funeral home in Bridge City.
Born in New Iberia, La. on April 30, 1937, Elwood was the son of Woodland Bergeron and Anna Mae (Gary) Bergeron. During 1958 through 1961, Elwood served in U.S. Army. He was an insulator with Local 112 in Lake Charles.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Woodland Bergeron and Anna Mae Bergeron Maturin; wife, Delores Ann Bergeron; and sister, Rona Breaux.
Elwood is survived by his daughters and son-in-law, Lori and Joel Haynes of Bridge City, Claudia Bergeron of Bridge City; son and daughter-in-law, Kevin and Renee Bergeron of Orange; seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
The family wishes to express their appreciation to Dr. Wesley Palmer and Harbor Hospice for the care given to Mr. Bergeron.


Want to cover grey, enhance your natural colour or create a new look? Here’s how to pull off the perfect dye job at home.
Decide on your colour. If it’s the first time you’re dyeing your hair be conservative. Opt for a colour no more than two shades darker or lighter than your natural colour. Keep within the same basic shade.
STEP 1 Read the instructions carefully and perform a skin test by applying a little of the dye mixture on the inside of your arm. Give it a few hours to see if your skin reacts. If it does, don’t continue. If not, you’re good to go.
STEP 2 Get the mixture ready. This will also be explained to you step by step on the product instructions.
STEP 3 Comb your hair well before applying the dye. If you have knots the dye might not be distributed evenly.
STEP 4 Start applying the dye at your roots by dividing the hair into small sections. Make sure to rub the dye into the hair. If this is your first time carry on applying dye to the rest of your hair. If you’ve dyed your hair before apply product only to the roots. Your hair will become brittle if you recolour your whole head frequently. Apply dye to the rest of your hair 10 minutes before the processing time is up. Processing time will be stated in the hair-dye kit instructions.
STEP 5 Use wipes to remove any dye that might have seeped onto your skin. A good rub usually does the trick.
STEP 6 Wash the colour out with cool to lukewarm water until the water runs completely clear.
STEP 7 Condition your hair with the after-dye conditioner that comes with the kit.
STEP 8 Let your hair dry naturally. Heat-styling might damage it.
Don’t wash your hair on the day you plan to colour it. Dye your hair a day or two after you’ve washed it – the dye will be more effective.
Apply a deep-conditioning treatment a week before colouring hair. The nourishment will be good preparation for the chemicals in the hair dye which can have a drying effect.
Don’t recolour your hair for at least two weeks after dyeing it even if you’re not happy with the outcome. It will be damaging and leave your hair brittle.
Invest in a colour-saver shampoo and conditioner. They’re gentle on your hair, which is what you need to make colour last longer.


After a 41-year apprenticeship at Toyota Motor, Katsuaki Watanabe became its president in June. Best known for a cost-cutting initiative that squeezed suppliers and saved nearly $10 billion over five years, Watanabe, 63, takes charge at a time when Toyota (2004 sales: 7.4 million vehicles) is on track to eclipse General Motors as the world's largest carmaker. He spoke to TIME's William Green and Michiko Toyama at his company's headquarters in Toyota City, east of Nagoya.


The Affordable Care Act has been criticized since it was passed in 2010. Its success depended on states supporting their marketplaces and enrolling healthy consumers. Sept. 7, 2016.
If elected president, will Hillary Clinton be able to revive the Affordable Care Act? No.
Having fully embraced the increasingly troubled Affordable Care Act, Hillary Clinton is surely hoping health reform remains a side issue this presidential campaign.
But recent developments have propelled the failures of Obamacare back into the spotlight.
Costs for individual Obamacare policies are expected to be 24 percent higher next year. Voters will see for themselves the huge premium spikes when open enrollment starts just a week before Election Day.
Insurers are pulling out of the exchanges after losing billions of dollars, leaving people with fewer choices. Deductibles are soaring to as high as $12,000 on exchange policies, and many people say they might as well be uninsured.
This Obamacare inflation impacts everyone. August saw the biggest monthly gain in prices for medicine, doctor appointments and health insurance since 1984, according to a recent report by Kaiser and the Health Research & Education Trust. The average employer-sponsored family policy now costs more than $18,000 a year.
That means family coverage costs $4,400 more today than before the health law passed in 2010. So much for President Barack Obama's promise families would save $2,500 a year.
Further, the Government Accountability Office found the Obamacare website is a magnet for fraud. The office created 14 fictitious enrollees who were approved for $60,000 in health insurance subsidies, despite fake identification and citizenship documents.
Clinton owns the failures of Obamacare after telling Iowa voters: "I will defend the Affordable Care Act, but as president I want to go further."
So Clinton actually wants to double down on Obamacare, even after seeing public support for the health law tumble. She wants to create another big government "public option" health insurance plan. The "option" would have unlimited calls on taxpayer dollars and government force and would quickly drive remaining private insurers out of the market, leaving people with only the "choice" of a government-run health plan.
The idea might have more traction were it not for the experience of a similar experiment the nonprofit, citizen-run health insurance cooperatives concocted by Obamacare. The co-op program cost taxpayers $2.4 billion, but 17 of the 23 state co-ops have failed, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to scramble to find new policies.
Nonetheless, supporters of the law proclaim its success to a skeptical public. They boast that the law has reduced the number of uninsured to 29 million still a far cry from the promised universal coverage.
Many of the 10 million receiving insurance through the health insurance exchanges are there because they lost their earlier policies. And Medicaid has been expanded by 16 million since 2010, relegating beneficiaries to one of the worst health care programs in America.
The uninsured rates may be falling, but unhappiness with our health system is rising. Deservedly or not, Obamacare is taking the fall. It has become a symbol of broken promises and distrust in government. It is an albatross for Clinton.
Looking forward, voters are anxious to hear what candidates will do to solve the problems of high costs, soaring deductibles and loss of choice while still making sure that the people who have gained coverage don't lose it.
Obamacare is unraveling, with insurers fleeing the markets because — no news bulletin here — the medical bills are running far higher than the companies or official Washington expected.
Clinton's track record, including her 1993 push for health reform, show she wants even more government control over our health care, but clearly, voters want less.
The House of Representatives, under Speaker Paul Ryan, has spent much of this year developing a "Better Way" plan comprehensive health reform that would provide people with more choices, provide assistance for those who need help in purchasing policies, protect people with pre-existing conditions and return regulatory authority to the states that can be more responsive to the needs of their citizens.
Many of the ideas build on successful programs like Health Savings Accounts, the Medicare prescription drug program and Medicare Advantage.
We can and must do better than Obamacare, and the voters know it.
Grace-Marie Turner is president of the Galen Institute, a nonprofit research organization focusing on patient-centered health reform.


When spinning jennies and power looms were first, introduced into England, nothing would do with the outraged and insulted spinsters and weavers, but pulling down the factories and the breaking the machines. This" was a very fooKsh operation, but the machine-destructives thought it was a very wise one; they, no doubt, imagined they had slain their greatest enemy. Poor short-sighted mortals! how much they resembled Don Quixotte battling with the wind-mill. We do not say but the hand-spinners and hand-loom weavers of old enjoyed more of the comfortsjof life than they do now, and perhaps enjoyed the world with a more hearty relish, but this we do know, that those power machines which have superseded severe human toil, have greatly be-nefitted the very operatives who were ruthlessly opposed to their introduction. Gilbert; Burns, the brother oi the great poet, though not a poet himself, was a shrewd man, possessed of a sound head, and who had labored severely as a farmer, declared that the invention of the Threshing Machine was one of the greatest blessings ever conferred upon mankind. The terrible drudgery of the flail was as the life of a helot to him; he became a free man when the threshing machine was invented. There is the machine for planing wood, too ; its introduction was violently opposed by carpenters,—their occupation, like Othello's, was gone, and nothing would suit many of them but smashing up the planers. But are there any carpenters in our country, now, who do not look upon this machine as a blessing? It was tb,eir emancipation; it relieved them from a toil which, at best, is gross drudgery. The trip hammer, too, although a very simple innovation, was also looked upon with exceedingly jealous eyes, by the performers of heavy tragedy at the anvil; but what would we have done for the heavy shafting of our steamboats, had those tragedians still mo-- nopolized the stage of the stithy 1 We might go on and enumerate a great number of machines, and recount the benefits which they have conferred upon the operative classes; but we have said enough to direct attention to the point' which we wish to elucidate, and the doctrine which we wish to enforce. We are the advocates of all new and useful improvements in machinery, and we are the disseminators of information respecting new inventions and discoveries—this is our business; if we did not believe that machinery conferred blessings and benefits upon mankind, we could not conscientiously follow after such a profession. We believe that machinery has done wonders for the elevation of our race, and we also believe that it has but began to fulfil its mission; our heart and soul, therefore, is with this work of improvements in machinery. Some people have extolled the blessings of machinery, tor allowing more time for mental development; this is one benefit it has conferred upon mSttkind, but far be it from us to speak favorably of machinery on this account merely. Laziness is a vice, and a lazy idle man should not eat; every man and woman should do something for themselves. There are too many men and women who kill themselves with idleness. There are thousands in our cities who are not under the necessity of working to procure daily bread, who nevertheless, for their own health and pleasure, should labor, or take active exercise in the open air every day. On the other hand there are thousands who drudge away at unhealthy occupations, wearing out soul and body to win their daily bread. Improvements in machinery will benefit this latter class, and improve their condition. Improvements^ machinery tor the rapid and cheap construction, manufacture, and execution ol domestic utensils, goods, and labor, are the very things on which the attention of philanthropic inventors should be fixed. " They were good old days," say the old folks at home," when all i things Were made for the tamily on the plan-i tation and farm. Our clothes were not so fine , but nobody wanted; there was less pride and jk more ontento ent." There is much truth i ;his, and we are far from believing that large 'actories, and congregated hundreds laboring ;ogether in pent up workshops, is a higher development of humanity; we believe that, in the majority of cases, it is the very reverse, —men and women have become the servant s of machinery, instead of machinery having become their servants. Can we not look to a future of better things ? We cat at least point to the road which will lead to it; this is our present object. Sewing machines, simple and cheap machines for making boots and shoes, great improvements in small carding and spinningmachines, and weaving looms, together with other machines for doing different kinds ot domestic labor, would conduce to a greater elevation of our race; this is the climax of our remarks—improvements in machinery for the benefit of the toilers.


How hopeful are people of getting a good Brexit deal? Jump to media player Emma Vardy has been to Basingstoke to find our how hopeful people are feeling about the deal.
How hopeful are people of getting a good Brexit deal?
With lots of glowing headlines in the papers and pictures of a beaming Theresa May everywhere, is it time for the Brexit doom-mongers to start feeling a bit more optimistic?
Sunday Politics reporter Emma Vardy has been to Basingstoke to find out how hopeful people are feeling about the deal.


Akvile DeFazio, 32 years old, lives with her husband Zane DeFazio (who is also known in the industry) in Paso Robles, located on the Central Coast of California. I've personally known Akvile from when she worked at Third Door Media, the parent company of Search Engine Land back from 2011 to 2014. Akvile is known to bright up any conversation she was part of, both in real life or in the online world.
She bravely left Third Door Media to go out on her own and start her own agency. Anyone who knows Akvile, knows she is super brave and always out to try new things. Leaving a steady paycheck to start a new company is bold but she is always up for an adventure.
Akvile is well-known in the space to be everyone's friend. She is super helpful and even is able to pick up on the signals when someone is in need, even when they don't ask for it. She has contributed in so many ways to the space, including publishing at sites like SEMrush, AdStage, Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, USA Today. She also has begun speaking at events. But she has helped so many individuals in the industry, it is just humbling.
For anyone who has ever met Akvile, you know she is one of the nicest around. Everyone seems to know her and love her. She's thoughtful, interesting, and always willing to help those in the industry. If you see her on Twitter, she is constantly working to learn new things and sharing that knowledge.
Akvile DeFazio Bio: As someone who lives for connecting people, making the connection between consumers and brands is what Akvile DeFazio, President and Digital Advertising Specialist at AKvertise, Inc., a social media advertising agency, does best. Her areas of expertise are ecommerce, event marketing, mobile apps, and lead generation, by way of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn Ads.
Favorite thing about the SEM community? The people. They’re welcoming, encouraging, and inspiring. Our industry is incredibly fortunate and possibly unique in the ways that we have many talented peers that are so willing to help and candid about sharing their experiences, knowledge, resources, advice, and work with one another.
One piece of advice to the SEOs out there? Test. If you don’t try, you won’t know for certain if something works in or against your favor. While there are best practices, they don’t always apply to every circumstance, client, or campaign.
Favorite things in general? As someone with an adventurous palate, I haven’t met many foods that I didn’t like as I enjoy trying everything at least once, but ultimately, my favorite food is sauce. It’s delicious, versatile, and it’s life flavor enhancer. In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, painting, hiking, snowboarding, listening to music, cooking, and especially, crossing off experiences from my bucket list.
What you want to be known for in the SEO space? For my work and my personality. I strive be an approachable, helpful. reliable, professional, and creative social media advertiser that propels growth for clients and contributes often as a member of our community. I was warmly welcomed in a decade ago and I give back to the people in it, every chance I get as my form of gratitude, as they took a chance on me way back when. Whether it’s by referral, an opportunity, an email, phone call, mentorship, setting time aside to properly catch up in person at a conference, contributing to blogs and podcasts, speaking at events, sharing news, tactics, or tools in forums, groups, and social channels, I will always make time for good people and pass on the knowledge.
To learn more about Akvile, check out her company site, LinkedIn profile, and follow her on Twitter.


METAIRIE — In the midst of a season where it’s been a battle to get above .500 from the get-go, UL took a one large step toward that and did it in dramatic fashion Tuesday.
The Ragin’ Cajuns beat No. 14 LSU 6-5 in the Wally Pontiff Classic at the Shrine on Airline here, doing it behind back-to-back home runs by Orynn Veillon and Handsome Monica in the eighth inning.
Monica went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Veillon 2-for-4 with three RBIs to account for five of UL’s six runs.
Starter Logan Savoy, meanwhile, struck out two in 3.1 innings and Jacob Shultz (1-1) four in 4.0 innings to get to the win.
Usual reliever Todd Peterson started for LSU and put UL down in order in the top of the first.
Peterson went just one inning for the Tigers, who bullpenned the game as planned beforehand.
Veillon’s single up the middle scored Hunter Kasuls from second to put UL up 1-0 in the second, and Daniel Lahare came across on Monica’s sac fly to make it 2-0.
Both Kasuls and Lahare were walked by Chase Costello, who followed Peterson.
Brennan Breaux reached on a walk and later scored from third on a double steal, facilitated by Kasuls drawing a throw to second, as UL went up 3-0 in the third.
Savoy put the side down in order in the third, getting some help from Breaux, who ran down a flyball to centerfield by Josh Smith.
Cade Beloso tied it for UL with a three-run homer just inside the foul pole in right in the fourth off Savoy, who walked Antoine Duplantis to open the inning and allowed a single to Daniel Cabrera.
Savoy exited after giving up the homer and hitting a man, yielding way to freshman Connor Cooke.
LSU got to Cooke in the fifth, when Brandt Broussard’s sac fly followed by Beloso’s RBI single made it 5-3 Tigers.
With Schultz replacing Cooke for the start of the sixth, UL turned a 5-4-3 double play to get out of the half-inning.
After UL went down order in the top of the seventh, Schultz did the same to LSU in the bottom of the inning.
And with one out in the eighth, and Kasuls at first after a single, Veillon dropped his homer well over the wall in left. Monica followed with his, also over the wall in left off Tigers pitcher Trent Vietmeier.
“I was definitely taking daddy hacks, absolutely,” said Veillon, who crushed the ball. “I was trying to get on the board for us.
Schultz retired the side in order again in the bottom of the eighth.
UL stranded two in the top of the ninth and went to the bottom of the inning up one run.
Schultz got it done then, too, getting two quick outs and allowing a single before ending things with a strikeout of Giovanni DiGiacomo.
UL reserve catcher Sebastian Toro recently had a PRP injection to aid with the healing of his ailing elbow, which will keep him out another three weeks, effectively ending his season, Robichaux said. … Breaux, who played two seasons at LSU, and legendary ex-LSU coach/athletic director Skip Bertman shared a moment before Tuesday’s game. … In the house: UL football coach Billy Napier.
UL opens a three-game Sun Belt Conference series Thursday night at Texas-Arlington.


The Senate’s pending immigration bill will trim taxpayer spending on illegal immigrants for a decade, but will explode deficit spending by roughly $1 trillion in each following decade, according to a new analysis by the Heritage Foundation, which opposes the sweeping measure.
The lifetime costs for the 11 million illegals would reach $9.4 trillion, although they would pay roughly $3.1 trillion in taxes. That’s a $6.3 trillion lifetime cost to taxpayers, the report projects.
The cost would rise to $1.6 trillion per decade once the wave of legalized low-skill immigrants starts using federal retirement programs in roughly 35 years, said Heritage’s assessment, released Monday.
Without legalization, the cost of the “unlawful immigrants” would be $1 trillion over five decades, Robert Rector, Heritage’s forecaster, told reporters May 6.
“Unlawful immigrants on average are tax consumers; they never once generate ‘fiscal surplus’ that can be used to pay for government benefits elsewhere in society,” said the Heritage report.
In contrast, “well educated households tend to be next tax contributors [and] the taxes they pay exceed the direct and means-tested benefits, education, and population-based services they receive,” said the report.
The report only looked at the financial impact of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants.
The report does not examine the cost of future chain-migration spurred by the pending Senate bill. It does not look at the tax impact of the bill’s provisions that would bring in another 20 million people, nor on the chain migration spurred by those 20 million immigrants.
The initial drop in expenses is caused by the increased taxes paid by legalized illegal immigrants. The per-household financial drain on American taxpayers would fall to $12,500 per year once the illegals can work legally.
Most of the illegals — and their extended families — are low-skill workers, ensuring they already receive more in federal benefits than they pay in taxes.
Currently, families of illegal immigrants receive roughly $25,000 in benefits and pay roughly $10,000 in various taxes. The cumulative cost of the first decade after amnesty to Americans is roughly $540 billion, although the illegals do provide cheap labor for companies and consumers.
After the first period, lasting form 10 to 13 years, the per-decade cost of the 11 million low-skill immigrants would reach 1 trillion, said the report.


“The problem is using the medicines,” said Dr. Sara Hamilton, a pediatrician at St.Mary’s Hospital and a researcher at University College London and Imperial College, all in London.
At first, it was going to resemble an elephant’s trunk and reward kids with a funny trumpeting sound when they took their asthma medication. But group members eventually nixed that as too annoying and childish.
Then, it was going to resemble a ski ramp - but the downhill metaphor didn’t quite work.
Finally, the group settled on a horn-type shape, sounds chosen like ring tones, and a cartoon chameleon doing acrobatics when the child’s asthma is well controlled.
Such is the process of invention at the MIT Media Lab.
During the past two weeks, six teams of students, doctors, engineers, product designers, computer programmers, and entrepreneurs have been developing prototypes of inventions designed to help patients take control of their health.
One group tackled pain management, others focused on diabetes, cardiac rehabilitation, setting recovery goals for older patients, post-operative care for children, and yes, childhood asthma.
It wasn’t quite “Iron Chef,’’ but there was a friendly competition, and a lot of tension about getting the work done in time to meet Friday afternoon’s deadline. Most teams worked through their one weekend and spent several late nights - or early mornings for those still on UK time - hacking away at their projects.
Ioannis Smanis (center) and his team designed a prototype inhaler-spacer-spirometer, specifically for children with asthma. Teams at the MIT Media Lab made devices to aid patients.
By Friday, the 11th day of the session, the teams had to deliver at least a semi-functional prototype and material for a video.
There was money at stake, too - an unrestricted $10,000 to be divided among the top three projects. At least early in the process, though, the desire for cash and bragging rights seemed to be outweighed by the more altruistic goal of developing technology to empower patients.
“My work is all about engaging patients so they can become experts in their care,’’ said Dr. John Moore, an MIT PhD candidate and the brains behind the Media Lab’s Health and Wellness Innovation 2012.
Patients often ignore their doctors orders, because they do not truly understand them, and doctors often do not understand a patient’s needs or the reasons they are not taking their medications.
“The problem is really the system and the tools, not necessarily the doctors and patients,’’ Moore said.
On Day 2, the teams met and began brainstorming ideas for their product. The asthma group was working on a combined inhaler and spacer - a device, like an empty bottle that kids need to add to their inhaler to make it effective.
A few days later, with Rose on a business trip to California, the idea had evolved away from the trunk, though the team was eager to preserve the fun element. Sucking multiple times daily from an inhaler is boring business, Dr. Sara Hamilton told the group, so they needed to give kids an incentive to keep it up.
“Asthma is a preventable, controllable illness if you’re on top of it,’’ said Hamilton, a pediatrician at St. Mary’s Hospital and a researcher at University College London and Imperial College, all in London. Properly controlled, the disease needn’t lead to hospitalizations, she said.
And yet many children can’t stick to the daily regimen or cope with environmental stresses like allergies, colds, and sports activities - that’s what the device should help them do.
Patients will comply with a doctor’s orders when it is easy for them to do so and when they understand why they should, she said.
That idea was a driving force behind the other groups, as well, including one designing a health goals app for patients.
The team wanted to make a program that would allow patients to pick a goal that mattered to them - say, having the energy to play with their grandchildren or get to church on Sunday - and then map out a health plan that would get them there, including exercise, nutrition, and a medication regimen. Doctors and family members would have access to the goals, so they could help the patient achieve them.
Two team members, who work at the center for innovation and complex care at Toronto General Hospital, said they were eager to try out the program on their patients.
“Maybe if they understood what a beta blocker did, they might be more willing to take it,’’ said Christine Plaza, a designer and project manager for the center. Or maybe patients would do a better job of avoiding cigarettes if someone explained that smoking makes it harder for surgical sites to heal, she said.
Plaza and colleague Dr. Seema Marwaha, working Tuesday morning on their project video, said they love the concept of a computer program that helps caregivers really understand what the patient wants.
“Executing the concept is another thing,’’ Marwaha said, laughing.
Back at the asthma team, after lots of painstaking, late-night work, Ioannis Smanis, a hardware developer and student at the University of Macedonia, had managed to program a skeletal prototype. While a 3-D printer printed out a tube to put it in, he tinkered with electronics that could react to a child’s breath, sense when a breathing problem was beginning, light up if a child missed a medication dose, and reward the youngster for a week of successful medicating with - at that point, still dreadful - noises and the antics of a cartoon chameleon.
On Friday, asthma team members felt triumphant, their success confirmed by a first-place finish in the competition. “I think we have all the pieces to really change childhood asthma, albeit in draft form,’’ Rose said.


JERUSAELM – Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may postpone his threat to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state until after the U.S. elections in November to gain leverage with the United States, an Israeli military report shows.
The report, parts of which were obtained by The Post, concludes that Arafat is guessing that President Clinton will be more sympathetic to the Palestinian demand for full sovereignty over East Jerusalem once the U.S. presidential election – and the need for Jewish votes – has passed.
For the past week, Arafat has been traveling from capital to capital in the Middle East, trying to forge a coalition in support of his plan to declare a Palestinian state next month.


Are you thinking to yourself, “Self, I’d like to use some videos in my class this fall?” And then do you find yourself responding, “Well, Self, how should we go about doing that?” Or is that just me talking to myself?
Video can be a great way to engage students outside of class, and Questrom ITS is happy to help with any part of the video creation and distribution process. Depending on what you’d like to create for the finished product, we can walk you through everything from creating a screencast or narrated PowerPoint to filming your own video out on the street (or wherever!).
Narrating a PowerPoint deck is a quick and easy way to create a short instructional video. Check out our video here on how to do it. I promise it’s easy!
You can use Echo Personal Capture or Kaltura’s Capture Space to quickly create short explanatory videos (for that question you get over and over again, or if you’re thinking of flipping your classroom). Interested? Let us know and we’ll show you how!
Have a video you want to share with your class but not with the whole world? Kaltura My Media is BU’s new(ish) video hosting and streaming platform. It integrates into Questrom Tools, meaning you can control who is able to access it. Want to give it a try? Let us know!


Germany reclaimed the women’s European Wheelchair Basketball Championship title from The Netherlands, beating the defending champions in a closely fought final at the University of Worcester in England, while Britain secured the men's gold for the third consecutive edition.
The two countries had won every edition of the Championships since the inaugural tournament in 1974 with Germany having secured the most titles with nine, but they missed out in 2013 when The Netherlands earned their fifth crown.
With revenge a key motivator, the German team began the final in impressive style and moved into a 22-10 lead by the end of the opening quarter, in front of the watching Countess of Wessex.
By half-time the match became a far tighter affair, however, as the Dutch team rallied back to move to within eight points with the score at 39-31, with the gap being maintained by the close of the third quarter as Germany held a 55-47 lead.
The German team were able to hold the Dutch challenge in the final quarter to ensure a triumphant 10th title after achieving a final score of 72–62.
Hosts Britain were able to join Germany and The Netherlands on the podium after cruising to victory over France in the third place play-off.
The destination of the bronze medal rarely looked in doubt as Britain raced into a 39-13 lead at the halfway mark in the contest and they continued to stretch their advantage with further sharp shooting in the final two quarters.
At the close of play Britain had sealed a comprehensive 69-39 victory, which ensured they earned bronze for the fifth consecutive time at the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships.
Their was further success for the hosts as their men's team secured gold after winning a highly entertaining gold medal match against Turkey, which was played in front of a excitable home crowd.
The tie looked in the balance at the halfway mark with Britain having only a nine point lead at 34-25, but they were able to extend their advantage in the remaining two quarters to secure a 87-66 point win to retain their title.
They would be joined on the podium by Germany after they earned a 74-56 triumph over The Netherlands.


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Another confirmed human case of West Nile virus in Duval County brings the total number of cases this year to 13, the Florida Department of Health said Monday.
The health department said the latest case of the mosquito-borne illness underscores the ongoing concern that the virus could be spread to more people than it already has.
Jacksonville Mosquito Control and the Duval County DOH continue surveillance and prevention efforts. Health officials caution not to focus on the specific location of cases as the mosquitos that can spread West Nile Virus can travel five or more miles and birds infected with West Nile can go even farther.
If the county doesn’t spray where you live, you can always call a private pest control company to come out and spray the outside of your home. Some companies even offer event spraying and will treat your yard before a backyard barbecue or whatever you have planned.
For more information on what repellent is right for you, health officials encouraged residents to consider using the Environmental Protection Agency’s search tool to help choose skin-applied repellent products: http://cfpub.epa.gov/oppref/insect/#searchform.
The Department of Health continues to conduct statewide surveillance for mosquito-borne illnesses, including West Nile virus infections, Eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, malaria, chikungunya and dengue.
Residents of Florida are encouraged to report dead birds via the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s site -- http://legacy.myfwc.com/bird/default.asp. For more information, visit DOH’s website at http://www.floridahealth.gov/%5C/diseases-and-conditions/mosquito-borne-diseases/index.html or call your local county health department.


The California Air National Guard dispatched four rescuers, who parachuted into the water and reached the disabled vessel. The team was able to stabilize the girl and pointed the sailboat, which does not have steering or communication abilities, toward Mexico, the 129th Rescue Wing said in a statement.
The rescuers stayed aboard the Rebel Heart to keep watch on the ill child until daylight when sailors helped them board the Navy frigate.
Before the family left, Lyra had salmonella poisoning, but doctors cleared her to travel after she was healthy again, said Charlotte Kaufman’s sister, Sariah Kay English.
English initially was in daily email contact with the family but realized something was wrong when the communication stopped several days ago.
English said she was told the vessel took on water every time the motor was turned on. It’s now slowly moving using only the sails.
But English said the couple was always careful. Eric Kaufman is a Coast Guard-licensed captain who introduced sailing to Charlotte Kaufman during one of their early dates.
“They were not going into this blind. I knew they were doing this wisely,” English said.
English said the couple made a network of friends who traveled around the globe with children and always stocked the sailboat with more food than they need.


In a sea of recovery memoirs, each one more determined than the next to provide a blueprint for how to recover from the unspeakable, Meera Atkinson's recently released Traumata stands out like a welcome sore thumb.
In tight evocative prose, it lays bare the mutually sustaining relationship between trauma and patriarchy and asks us to look at the ways in which patriarchy creates, sustains and feeds voraciously off the pains of those most impacted by misogyny, racism, and capitalism. Using memoir as a kind of litmus, Atkinson challenges the myth that traumatic events are socially 'out of character' and instead asks us to look at how by its very nature, patriarchy demands the abuse of its most vulnerable citizens.
The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, one of the most comprehensive investigations into the relationship between childhood abuse and adult health and wellbeing, found direct links between childhood trauma and a significantly increased vulnerability to a diverse range of conditions, including foetal death, heart disease, depression and alcoholism.
While this study helped to put child abuse and trauma on the mainstream health map, it also highlighted the role of structural inequality in entrenched ill health and repeated experiences of both institutional and interpersonal violence. It demonstrated unequivocally that abuse and neglect are both common and unequally distributed. It is the seeds of these structural roots of trauma that Atkinson seeks to bring to light.
But despite decades of evidence supporting the link between trauma and oppressive social systems, the medicalisation and personalisation of trauma persists.
It's only been a short time since Peter Miles allegedly shot and killed his wife, daughter and four grandchildren in Western Australia. If you read the major news outlets, you'll find explanations for his catastrophic actions nestled within the many column inches devoted to this story (mental illness? stress? easy access to firearms?), and you'll find helpline numbers listed at the end. Most include Lifeline, some also offer supports for specifically for men, and after recent criticism from feminist writers Celeste Liddle and Amy Gray, a few now provide the numbers of family violence support services. On the ground in Margaret River, trauma counsellors are available to residents.
In the same week, a police car was filmed crossing the road and hitting 18 year old Aboriginal man, William Farmer. No support services are listed at the end of this article. It's almost as if in laying bare state-sanctioned violence, it would be disingenuous to offer the numbers of state-funded support services. This is one of the uneasy links between trauma and white supremacist patriarchy that Atkinson would like us to make.
"This is not a dystopic nightmare, but a beautifully written and strangely hopeful book about terrible things. And the hope comes in part from a sense of inexhaustible struggle."
Through her stories and the stories and scholarship of others, she excavates the intergenerational cycle of sexual assault, child abuse, addiction, family and state violence and challenges the often-passionate protection of the idea that our traumas are personal. This personalisation of trauma is what some public health researchers refer to as the problem of 'lifestyle drift', or the fact that well-established social determinants of health have become individualised and marketed as lifestyle issues rather than clear examples of how inequality is at the root of physical and mental illness.
Traumata is a tender read and a challenging one for those who would like to believe in the transformative magic of individual recovery from adversity, in violence as a social aberration or the myth of the good guy gone bad. The author is telling us her own traumatic stories, but she provides convincing evidence that they are shared by many, and that this means both that trauma survivors are not alone and also that recovery cannot occur in isolation. It is in a sense a creative non-fiction and sociological exploration of what the ACE study sought to offer.
Atkinson is not only concerned here with detailing the traumatic impact of patriarchy, she also catalogues the ways in which, as independent feminist scholar and writer Sara Ahmed describes it, when you name a problem you become the problem. She engagingly threads her trauma narratives into the fabric of the worlds that hold them and carefully describes how so often these worlds amplify, distort and exacerbate trauma, allowing it to spread and to infect generation after generation.
These are the iatrogenic traumata, a word to describe the wounds caused by our hospitals, schools, police, border force, courts and therapists — those people and institutions ostensibly in place to support and to protect. She describes the toxic psychiatric labelling of traumatised women in particular, and the violent punishment of people who are unable to contain their distress in the face of institutional assault — those seeking asylum, safety from violence, community and bodily autonomy.
If this sounds pretty bleak, it is, and it isn't. This is not a dystopic nightmare, but a beautifully written and strangely hopeful book about terrible things. And the hope comes in part from a sense of inexhaustible struggle. Atkinson searches, and finds some things that help. She learns things and she lets go of things. The hope comes not from what she tells us she did, but from her description of the process of striving to live with the effects of trauma and in her understanding that this is a shared struggle.
Traumata is not a recovery memoir, though Atkinson does detail her wrestles to find relief and meaning in her own history. She does the therapy, practises the meditation, works to be as settled as she can. But she doesn't succumb to a wellness purchased through disconnection from the roots of childhood trauma, or to an idea of pitiable brokenness. Instead she tells us 'I continue to show up in all my flawed, neurotic glory.' It is this kind of forensic showing up that she has to offer in the way of illumination: to continue to go on, to see, to name and to call out.
Recent articles by Zoë Krupka.
What a great article, succinct and illuminating. Thank you.


Beijing-based award-winning radio correspondent and filmmaker Jocelyn Ford has been a journalist in Asia for over 30 years. For over a decade, Jocelyn was bureau chief for U.S public radio's premier national business show, Marketplace — first in Tokyo, later in Beijing. Her work has been heard on Radiolab, The World, Studio 360, and other shows.
Jocelyn's groundbreaking debut documentary film "Nowhere to Call Home: A Tibetan in Beijing" has been translated into nine languages, and has screened in over nine countries, including China, where it was the inaugural film at the new Center for Documentary Studies in Beijing.
Unlike Western nations, China doesn't demand democratic reform or human rights standards when engaging with states with weak or failing governments. Syria is a case in point.
"China's ultimate goal is to use democracy to undermine democracy," says one expert on Chinese dissent.
In a poor region of western China, hundreds of thousands of people are being relocated in the face of climate change.
Consumer demand in both the US and China for safe and healthy farmed fish is shaping aquaculture practices in the world’s most populous country. Fish farmers are using traditional Chinese medicine as well as high-tech monitoring systems as they strive to keep their fish healthy and their farming practices transparent.
The struggle to find balance between old and new, modernity and tradition, respect and assimilation, is one that people all over the world have been navigating for centuries. In this case, the tension was encapsulated in a series of beautiful photos that turned half a billion heads.
Earlier this year, the Chinese government announced it would phase out commercial processing and sales of ivory, effectively shutting down the domestic market for ivory. If they hold true to this promise, it could have a massive impact on the poaching and trafficking of elephants.
China: has people power gone mainstream?
In south China, a Communist Party populist takes up with protesters.
It's been a while since Mao. Many scoff at the party's reverence for Kim Jong Il.
Video: A Chinese businessman wants to save the world one air conditioner at a time.
Jocelyn Ford reports on the efforts of a former rebel turned governor to stop deforestation in the Indonesian province of Aceh.


Ke$ha's second single 'Blah Blah Blah', taken from her debut album, 'Animal' featuring hot US duo 3OH!3.
The video features Ke$ha on dates with guys who just won't shut up ..."blah blah blah!" She gets her way in the end though and manages to keep them quiet. 3OH!3's Sean and Nat both feature in the video.


W: Ryan Watson (1-0). L: Jeff Eysaman. S: Matt Engler (1). 2B: W, Matt Cornmire; Ilion, Dan Colburn, Travis Murray, Ryan Gookins. HR: W, Mike Bunal. Records: Whitestown 5-1, 5-2; Ilion 2-5, 4-7.
W: Jared Muraca (1-0). L: Sean Kula. 2B: FS, Anthony Rose. 3B: W, Adam Pexton. HR: W, Mike Bunal. Records: Whitestown 5-1, 6-2; Fort Schuyler 3-4, 4-5.
W: Albright. L: McGrath. 2B: Parkhurst, Moore; FS, Galimo. Records: Fort Schuyler 3-4; Parkhurst 2-3.


You can tweet at the top of Mount Fuji, thanks to new cell coverage that offers 4G LTE. But are we missing something from the experience?
Will Docomo’s New LTE Service Fan The Flames In The Apple vs. Samsung Fire?
You can literally trace the roots of this story back to the beginning.
Verizon Turns Into A Cloud: Will You Back Up Your Content To Your Carrier?
Japanese telecom giant, NTT DoCoMo has acquired 26% of Tata Teleservices for $2.7 billion, which is actually higher than the largest CDMA carrier in India, Reliance Communications.
Japan’s Mobile Tech Too Quirky To Succeed Overseas?
Japan’s Handset Market Drops 20 Percent; Advanced Features Hit Saturation Point?
Apple’s iPhone in Japan: Where’s DoCoMo?
What If The iPhone Weren’t A Slam Dunk In Japan?
So, Why Isn’t I-mode Successful Outside Japan?


Weak unit revenue trends continue to plague United Airlines.
United Continental shares sank last month on weak Q2 guidance.
What: Airline giant United Continental (NASDAQ:UAL) has taken investors on a wild ride in 2016. The stock plummeted in January along with the rest of the stock market, but bounced back in a big way during February.
However, a big decline in unit revenue during Q1 and a disappointing Q2 outlook tripped up the stock again last month. United Continental shares plummeted 23.5% during April, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
United Continental YTD Stock Performance, data by YCharts.
So what: Airlines have been buffeted by a weak unit revenue environment since early 2015, and United Continental has been among the worst hit. United has the most international exposure of any U.S. airline, and international routes have underperformed recently due to the impact of the strong dollar, falling fuel surcharges, and weak economic conditions in key markets like Brazil.
Last month, United Continental reported that passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) fell 10.5% year over year during Q1 for its international routes. Even in the domestic market, United posted a mid-single-digit PRASM decline, driven by rising competition and weak demand in Houston, the energy capital of the United States.
United Continental still produced margin expansion last quarter, thanks to a sharp reduction in its fuel costs. However, it won't benefit from nearly the same level of fuel savings in the second half of 2016. That's worrisome for investors, because United's unit revenue still shows no signs of turning a corner.
Now what: The sharp drop in United Continental stock since the end of March has left it trading for less than six times the company's projected 2016 earnings. This indicates that a substantial earnings decline is already baked into the share price.
United's management has stated that unit revenue trends look a lot better for the summer and fall due to a combination of targeted capacity cuts, easier comparisons, and new revenue-boosting initiatives. By Q4, the company expects unit revenue to be roughly flat on a year-over-year basis except in the Pacific region.
If United can meet that goal, its stock should recover. However, airline executives have repeatedly underestimated the depth of their revenue challenges over the past year. As a result, United Continental shares will likely remain under pressure until the company can show tangible progress in its revenue recovery.


Wooden bedside table with a niche for the decor. Bedside table with lamp and books beside the bed. A bed in a rustic style. 3D render.
Downsizing with regard to living space is a trend that has long been associated with empty-nesters and senior citizens. As children move out and start families of their own, many homeowners decide to downsize to less expensive, more manageable properties. Homeowners who decided to downsize or those who purchased a small property to begin with may need a few pointers to make the most of their limited space.
Reconsider your furniture. Furniture can make rooms feel cozy, cramped or spacious. For homeowners with limited space in their homes, furniture that also can be used as storage can save space without sacrificing comfort. For the bedroom, choose a storage bed if the quarters are cramped and it’s difficult to find space for two dressers. Such beds also can be used to store bed linens if closet space is limited. Purchase storage ottomans and/or end tables with storage beneath to make living areas feel less cramped.
Discard some items. Homeowners who are downsizing from large homes may need to part with some of their furniture to make their transition to smaller homes go more smoothly. For example, homeowners may need to get by with just one bedroom nightstand and may even need to replace their existing nightstands with something more compact. Discarding living room end tables and downsizing to a smaller coffee table also can help homeowners make smaller common areas more welcoming and less cluttered.
Put paint to work. Paint is another way to make the most of a limited space. Painting certain pieces of furniture the same color as the wall can make the furniture blend in and feel less imposing. The result is a room that feels calm and open, even if there is less space to move around than homeowners might have grown accustomed to in their larger homes.
Keep surfaces free of clutter. Surfaces such as dining tables, coffee tables and kitchen counters tend to accumulate clutter. While such clutter might not feel overwhelming in a large home, in small spaces crowded surfaces can make it feel as though the walls are closing in. Make an effort to keep surfaces free of clutter, resolving to discard or put items away each night before going to bed. Many people wish they could live in homes without as much square footage as their existing homes. For those who have downsized, there are many ways to make the most of less living space.


Hard to find! 4 Bedroom 1.5 bath home on Village Street with 1602 Sq Ft. Vinyl sided with newer steel roof; Nice rear deck overlooking large fully fenced yard. 1 car detached garage. Home features thermal windows, newer forced air gas furnace, updated plumbing and electric (200 amp). Galley kitchen, 1st floor bedroom, full bath and laundry. Living Room has rustic open beam ceiling artificial fireplace. 2nd floor has 3 more bedrooms with 1/2 bath. Partial basement. Minutes to shopping and easy access to Route 16. Many recent updates; Move-in condition. Inside is much larger than it appears from the exterior.


Editors returned to the Nick Rayns LCR in Norwich last night for yet another sold out show with support from Talos.
They are survivors from the mid-noughties UK indie explosion which has seen the majority of their lesser compatriots fade away.
Their current UK tour follows the release of their sixth studio album ‘Violence’, which is critically acclaimed and vindicates their continued presence as headliners at big festivals across Europe, and has topped the charts in many countries.
So why does this not happen in the UK, and why do the music press not rave about this jewel in the British musical crown more often? For me Editors have always been the ‘okay-est’ band of the ok bands alongside the likes of The Wombats and The Kooks. A decent British indie band who aren’t bad, but aren’t great either. They’ve done a couple of decent tracks over the years, but never one I’d turn up on the radio.
However tonight was the first time I’d ever seen them live and my rule is never to judge a band before this. A good job too as Editors just wiped the floor with almost every other band I’ve seen play live in Norwich this year. The utterly brilliant Peace at The Waterfront are the only contenders, which shows just how good tonight’s performance was.
Lead singer and guitarist Tom Smith led the band perfectly through an epic twenty two song set, culminating in a four song encore. Alongside him Justin Lockey on lead guitar did not drop a chord all night, with Ed Lay on drums and Russell Leetch on bass guitar also excellent. They seemed a band at the very peak of their powers, absolute masters of their game.
The heaving, sold out crowd were of course well onside and shuffled and nodded (depending on their distance from the stage) enthusiastically most of the time, singing along occasionally, but also content to stand and watch for the slower songs. This was a maturing crowd of course, and a great example of the cross section of your typical Editors fan base with plenty of old tour T-shirts on display. Their loyalty has been hard-won with fifteen years of decent albums and performances under the bands belt.
I’m hoping to see them on the main stage at a UK festival next year or at least in one of the large tents. On the strength of tonight surely they deserve top billing somewhere major in this country.
A nod has to be given to support act Talos who sounded pretty good beforehand. The sound was very chilled and ethereal alt-rock, with nice use of synthesisers and effects alongside the guitars and vocals of Cork lad Eoin French. The debut album Wild Alee is well worth checking out.


On September 12, the Georgian Government presented a report to Parliament reviewing the government’s achievements and plans for the near future.
“The government has been actively working in terms of all priorities, such as strengthening Georgia’s security and sovereignty; de-occupation and restoration of territorial integrity; Euro-Atlantic integration; deepening strategic cooperation with the United States,” – the report says.
According to the document, the non-recognition policy of Georgia has been successful: ‘no countries have [so far] recognized the independence of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region in 2015’. Moreover, the government emphasizes its continued discussion of the situation of occupied regions as well as the violation of the ceasefire agreement by Russia within the framework of the Geneva international negotiations and other partner-states.
European and Euro-Atlantic integration, considered one of the top priorities for Georgia throughout recent years, was particularly emphasized in the report, with a highlighted 24 countries having already ratified the Georgia-EU Association Agreement.
Likewise, the service of Georgian troops in international peace operations carried out under the NATO guidance is also included in the document which concludes that Georgia will continue fighting against international terrorism and organized crime.
Importantly, the development of close political-economic relationships with Azerbaijan, Turkey and Armenia as well as Black and Caspian Sea regional and central Asian countries, are considered among the key priorities for Georgia which underlines the import of strategic partnership with the United States.
At the same time, while normalization of relations with the Russian Federation for de-occupation are considered a priority, recognition of the withdrawal of the occupied territories, facts of installation of barbed wires and permanent relocation of the so-called border demarcation signposts are not forgotten.
It is notable that the Georgian Government, after facing a stern reaction from the citizens of Georgia over the economic shock created in the country, has launched intensive negotiations with China to attract more investments.
The planned Silk Road Forum of Tbilisi in October this year is expected to stimulate new initiatives and deepen cooperation with China in terms of transport, energy, trade and human relations.


PARIS (Reuters) - The suspected Islamist who attempted to blow up a French chemical plant on Friday has admitted killing his manager beforehand, a source close to the investigation said on Sunday, as police linked the suspect to a militant now in Syria.
Yassin Salhi, 35, told detectives he had killed Hervé Cornara in a parking area before arriving at the plant in Saint Quentin-Fallavier, 30 km (20 miles) south of Lyon, where he tried in vain to cause a major explosion.
Police found the 54-year-old victim’s decapitated body and head, framed by Islamic inscriptions, at the plant, which is owned by the U.S. firm Air Products. There were no other casualties.
Examination of one of Salhi’s mobile phones revealed that he had taken a picture of himself with the severed head before his arrest and sent the image to a Canadian phone number. Canadian authorities said on Sunday they were assisting the investigation.
French attack suspect: lone wolf Islamist or "guy who flipped"?
The phone number belongs to a French national, known by his first name Sebastien-Younes, who has been in Syria since last year, the same source said, confirming media reports. His last known location was the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa.
According to other French media reports, Salhi told police he had argued with Cornara and with his own wife before the killing. One of their work colleagues, quoted on the website of the television station i-Tele, also said the two men had clashed days earlier after Salhi dropped a pallet of fragile equipment.
The suspect, whose wife and sister were released on Sunday after two days of questioning, is said by French security services to have associated with hardline Islamists over more than a decade, and had previously been flagged by them as a potential risk.
Flanked by heavily armed police in masks and flak jackets, Salhi was taken on Sunday to the car park where he said he had killed Cornara, before retracing the route he had followed to the chemical plant.
He was then escorted to the apartment he shared with his wife and three children in the quiet Lyon suburb of Saint-Priest, where further searches were carried out.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the government was increasing resources in law enforcement and domestic intelligence to combat Islamic extremism.


“The Invasion” (Episodes 1-4) / "“The Invasion” (Episodes 1-4)" / "“The Invasion” (Episodes 1-4)" / "“The Invasion” (Episodes 1-4)"
Doctor Who in the 1960s often made wild swings in tone from one serial to the next, but there's few transitions quite as drastic as the one between the whimsical, surreal fantasyland of "The Mind Robber" and the stylish, modern action thriller of "The Invasion." And the two shows were opposites in another way too: "The Mind Robber" was a side trip into a cul-de-sac, a fascinating but ultimately abandoned celebration of Doctor Who as pure childrens'-literature fantasy, which its creative staff knew was on the way out even while they were making it. But "The Invasion" was the future, in a very consciously planned way. Teaming the Doctor with the no-nonsense Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and his anti-alien military taskforce UNIT, and taking place in (more-or-less) contemporary London, "The Invasion" was essentially a proof-of-concept trial run for the grittier, more grounded Earthbound stories that dominated Third Doctor Jon Pertwee's era. It's therefore both fitting and ironic that the villains here are the Cybermen, Doctor Who's most potent symbol of modern technology run amok, since they never actually faced off against the Third Doctor when the UNIT era became official.
Clocking in at eight parts, "The Invasion" is one of the longest stories in Who history. (And because of that, I'm splitting my writeup into two columns, with the second part coming next week.) The sheer length is undoubtedly the story's biggest flaw, because there's no real reason why it requires the equivalent running time of two feature films. I can't say I was ever bored watching these first four episodes, which counts in their favor, but there's an awful lot of contrivance, drawn-out scenes, and running back and forth between locations with one group of characters just missing the other group. A more ruthless script could have done the same thing in half the time.
Watching this story in two halves also throws into sharp relief just how long the story drags out the climactic shock of the Cybermen's first appearance. There are plenty of hints and breadcrumbs scattered beforehand—for one thing, the Doctor is especially irritated by technology, becoming more vocally frustrated than usual when the TARDIS breaks down, and yelling "Shut up, you stupid machine!" at an automated answering service with a surprisingly large role in the first episode. In fact, it's not until the last five seconds of Episode Four that the story's nominal major villains actually show up. The Cybermen were at their peak popularity in the late '60s, with this story marking their fifth appearance in three years, so keeping them such a secret here to generate buzz makes sense—it's problematic only because four episodes is an absurdly long time to keep them under wraps. They'll be a considerably larger presence in the second half.
This early section is dominated instead by a human villain, Tobias Vaughn—the ruthless, mysterious head of a corporation called International Electromatics, who's playing a double game of his own, working with his still-unseen allies to prepare an invasion but making little secret of the fact that he plans to betray them. Actor Kevin Stoney had played a similarly traitorous character, Mavic Chen, in the earlier "The Daleks' Master Plan," and here he again picks up the crucial role of the bad guy who gives his team something more charismatic than the expressionless aliens possibly can, and putting a human face on the danger that the Cybermen represent. With a lesser actor in place, the over-stretched plot would have been a lot less interesting, but Stoney creates one of the great villains of the black-and-white era. Vaughn's hissable, overbearing arrogance and unexpectedly intense rages would have made him a decent James Bond foe—and I don't doubt that the producers wanted to make their audience think of Ernst Stavro Blofeld with Vaughn's megalomania and penchant for employing gun-toting goons to defend his secret base, where he keeps a crisply modernist office furnished with the kind of sliding wall panel where Blofeld would have kept his scotch and his poison blowdarts. Vaughn also has some traits that seem weirdly mechanical—he doesn't blink often enough, and he has a penchant for giving orders with ruthlessly precise deadlines. But his office itself provides the biggest hint of what he really is—he's duplicated his London office down to the last detail in his secret HQ, calling it "the very essence of business efficiency." Of course, it's also an excuse for the producers to re-use the same set and save money on production. But it's a slightly unnerving hint at Vaughn's cold, almost robotic eccentricity. Instead of blowdarts, Vaughn keeps a large crystalline computer behind the secret panel—it's the "Cyber-Director," providing Vaughn with a direct line to the Cybermen, but, again, it's actual identity is kept deliberately obscure. All we know so far is that it seems to think it's Vaughn's superior, an idea the human disdainfully rejects by closing the secret panel on it while it's still talking, and later arguing about whether the Doctor should be killed less because he objects to the idea than because arguing about it is an assertion of his own authority.
Given that "The Invasion" sets up the Third Doctor era's alien-advisor-to-UNIT premise, it comes across as a little bit strange today—it's basically a Third Doctor story starring what I can't quite help thinking of as the "wrong" Doctor. In that, it's similar to the Fourth Doctor's debut in "Robot," but there's a major difference in intent. In "Robot," the switch from Pertwee to Tom Baker was deliberately thrown into sharp relief by sticking the new guy into the old guy's formula to see how he defied expectations. That helped ease the transition into the next series of shows, which changed things up much more drastically. But "The Invasion" wasn't consciously playing games like that—although this was the gateway into the UNIT era, I don't think anyone was thinking about this show as a way to set up a contrast between the Second and Third Doctors. That was a job for "Spearhead From Space." Instead, we get Troughton operating in his usual freewheeling, independent style—at least, for these first four episodes. We'll see how things might change in the second half, but so far, the Second Doctor seems to view Lethbridge-Stewart's military organization mainly as a useful source of information and resources, not as an actual partner. He's also far less antagonistic toward the Brigadier, which is a function both of the situation—unlike Pertwee's Doctor, he's not being forced to work with UNIT—and also of the Second Doctor's particularly whimsical form of rebellion. When he's cornered by UNIT soldiers who have orders to bring him in, he doesn't struggle or argue, he just sits on the curb and pulls out a pack of cards, playing solitaire rather than take them seriously. That's the perfect antithesis of a purely logical computer, of course, and I don't think I'm imagining it that the clownish traits of the Troughton Doctor are especially prevalent in "The Invasion." It's something like the way the Joker is Batman's opposite, chaos vs. order, and the gentlemanly, urbane Third Doctor would have been a far less comfortable fit in the role. Two's buffoonery (aided by Troughton's silly but endearing ad-lib request for a pattycake biscuit with his tea) work all the better to differentiate him from both the Cybermen and the orderly military mindset of the Brigadier. Of course, lines like "I hate computers and refuse to be bullied by them" are about as subtle as a Mack truck in stating that theme, but I love the idea that Vaughn finds what might be a secret weapon to use against the Cybermen in the illogically-designed TARDIS computer chips he steals from the Doctor. Even his ship is an agent of chaos.
• It was kind of nice to see the Doctor sabotage an elevator with an ordinary knife instead of the sonic screwdriver, which I don't think the writers had invented yet, let alone allowed it to become the overused pocket-sized plot device it is now.
• The first thing you notice about "The Invasion" is that for a good portion of the story—episodes one and four, to be precise—it's a cartoon. That's because this is one of the stories affected by the old BBC policy of erasing old videotapes that they thought had no further value, which was particularly devastating to the late-'60s era of Who—only about half a dozen of Patrick Troughton's serials survive in complete form. Although some were rediscovered later, like "Tomb of the Cybermen," it's unlikely any others will turn up in some lost archive of tapes. But since scripts, still photos, and audiotapes survive for almost every missing episode, bringing them back to life via computer re-animation is possible—"The Invasion" got the treatment in 2006, and the First Doctor's "The Reign of Terror" is slated for a recreation in 2012. They're fairly simple and bare-bones reconstructions, but it's hard to find fault with them considering the circumstances. I don't doubt that a lot of nuance from the original actors' live-action performances has been lost—Troughton was always great at throwing in little unexpected gestures here and there that brought the story to life. The re-animated episodes aren't able to dazzle like a Hayao Miyazaki production, but they make smart use of their limited resources and do the job of telling the story clearly and efficiently.
• Next time: We finish up "The Invasion" with episodes 5-8.


Dubai: Nepal levelled the Twenty20 series with the UAE on Friday with a four-wicket victory in Dubai.
The UAE cruised to victory in the first T20 in Dubai on Thursday, winning by a comfortable 21 runs thanks to a commanding 59 from Shaiman Anwar.
But Nepal, who won the ODI series 2-1 last week, came out firing after the hosts won the toss and elected to bat first.
Avinash Bohara claimed three wickets for 20 runs, including the key one of opener CP Rizwan, who looked settled on 44 runs.
It was impressive all-round bowling show from the tourists with three other bowlers — Sompal Kami, Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane — taking two wickets apiece to skittle the UAE out for 107.
In response, it was closer than Nepal would have liked as Dipendra Singh Airee scored an unbeaten 47, aided by 20 from Karan and 18 from Pawan Saraf to help them reach their target with just three balls remaining but with four wickets in hand. Sultan Ahmed was the best of the UAE bowlers, taking two wickets for nine runs.
They decisive third T20 takes place in Dubai on Sunday.


The key to Mozilla's survival is to be different from its big competitors, which starts with its nonprofit status.
It's a good thing that Mozilla is profitable, because the open-source foundation would likely struggle to get venture funding.
For any Sand Hill venture capitalist, Mozilla fails to tick any of the correct boxes. While it does have a world-class development organization, Mozilla also relies on an external, unpaid workforce to contribute up to 40 percent of its code. Also, 88 percent of its revenues come from one source, Google, which also happens to be a competitor.
Speaking of competitors, it has three big ones--gargantuan ones. Google, Microsoft, and Apple. Tell a VC that you want to go up against one of these and you're likely to be turned away. Tell them you want to take on all three and, well, they might just make a full-on sprint for the safety of their Aston Martins.
And yet, Mozilla may be superbly positioned to compete with these big competitors precisely because it isn't anything like them: at its core, Mozilla is a nonprofit foundation that wants to save the world more than it wants to make a buck.
The New York Times highlights Mozilla's challenges in a searching review, but it falls just short of highlighting the fact that Mozilla's success derives from its unique mission, which encourages broad development and adoption, and is a direct byproduct of its nonprofit structure.
Because it is a nonprofit, Mozilla can lobby governments differently, and it has. Because it is a nonprofit, Mozilla can focus on delivering an unparalleled user experience, not on figuring out how to monetize the Web, hardware, etc.
Because it is a nonprofit, Mozilla can be truly disruptive in a way that its competitors cannot.
I'm sure there's not a day that goes by that John Lilly, Mitchell Baker, and the other Mozilla executives and employees don't wish that they had the resources their biggest competitors do. I'm equally sure there's not a day that goes by that they don't benefit from the decisions their resource constraints force upon them.
Firefox is as good as it is because of all that Mozilla has...and has not.


Fresh from her triumph in the Met's The Enchanted Island, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, one of the world's most exciting singers, takes on the virtuosic bel canto role of the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots. Having scored a major success with his production of Anna Bolena, director David McVicar now turns to the second opera of Donizetti's Tudor trilogy, which explores regal characters at fateful moments of their lives. Elza van den Heever sings Elizabeth I, and Maurizio Benini conducts.
The Metropolitan Opera: Maria Stuarda LIVE is not showing in any theaters in the area.


Mr. Ronald Spithout is a President - Maritime Business Unit of the Company. Prior thereto, he was President - Enterprise of the company. He was appointed President, Inmarsat Enterprise, in January 2012. He came to Inmarsat from Stratos Global, which was acquired by Inmarsat in April 2009. From July 2006 until December 2011, Mr. Spithout was Senior Vice President, MSS Marketing and Sales, Worldwide, for Stratos Global, with global responsibility for the MSS marketing and sales organisation. Prior to that, he was responsible for Stratos MSS Sales for all countries except North America. He came to Stratos from Xantic B.V., a satellite communications company headquartered in The Netherlands, which was acquired by Stratos in early 2006. At Xantic, Mr. Spithout served as Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales. Mr. Spithout held various sales positions in the late 1980s for KPN (the Royal Dutch Telecom Operator) in the Netherlands. Mr. Spithout holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from HTS-Rotterdam, the Rotterdam Institute for Technology. He also served as a reserve Lieutenant in the Dutch Cavalry.


Alain Robert, otherwise known as the French "Spider-Man" has done it again. He has added yet another building to his record of climbing achievements, this time in China.
On Saturday, he scaled most of a 388-meter (1,280-foot) steel tower in central China.
Robert has climbed more than 100 structures without ropes or other safety equipment, setting a record for "most buildings climbed unassisted" according to Guinness World Records.
On his website, Robert says, "Climbing is my passion, my philosophy of life. Although I suffer from vertigo, although my accidents left me disabled up to 66%, I have become the best solo climber."
He encourages others by saying, "We set ourselves limits, but we are all strong enough to aim higher, to achieve our goals. All we have to do is find such strength within ourselves. Know how to develop it."


Hauer, who is a professor at the Technical University of Munich (Germany), wanted to change this. He embarked on a pan-European collaboration with researchers at the University of Copenhagen, who specialize in single molecule detection, and long-time colleagues at the Italian university Politecnico di Milano, who had already developed a compact spectrometer that perfectly suited Hauer’s research needs.
The key to Hauer’s research lies in the Italian spectrometer’s ability to generate not one, but two laser pulses, with a controlled delay in between. Hauer’s team decided on a laser that has a broad frequency range—one that mimics sunlight—to cover all visible wavelengths.
When using one laser, researchers can only excite at a single wavelength, thus the data outputted is the fluorescence spectrum at that specific wavelength. The information missing is how the molecules behave at other wavelengths. When using two lasers, the critical second pulse modulates the emission spectrum in a specific manner, which in turn provides information about the absorption spectrum. This data is then evaluated using a simple Fourier transformation.
“Two pulses allows us to encode the absorption spectrum into the emission spectrum. Thus, in one measurement, we can record both the fluorescence and absorption spectrum of a single molecule,” Hauer explained to Laboratory Equipment. "Previously, emission spectra could be routinely acquired, but absorption measurements on individual molecules were extremely expensive. We have now attained the ultimate limit of detectability."
In traditional spectroscopy, these kinds of measurements are averaged over thousands, even millions, of molecules, sacrificing important molecule-specific information. For example, the bonds in an organic molecule may arrange differently when in a large structure. While a researcher may classify a specific molecule as mediocre in terms of light-harvesting, that may only be the case since the data is averaged over a plethora of additional, useless molecules. If the molecule can be isolated as a singular entity, the researcher may discover it’s actually spectacular as light-harvesting.
“If you look at these molecules individually, you can identify the structures that do the job very well,” Hauer said. Then, it’s up to the organic chemists, material scientists and others to isolate the specific structure, mimic its functions, and eventually employ it in an applied method.
End-stage collaboration with organic chemists and material scientists is not the only teamwork propelling this research forward, however. In fact, Hauer said, the method he developed wouldn’t have been possible without the device the Italian team had already created, nor without the knowledge of single molecule detection from the Copenhagen team.
“I couldn’t ask my co-workers to just build me a single molecule setup by themselves, starting from an empty room,” Hauer said. “That would be a waste of taxpayers’ money. There is an instrument out there already in Copenhagen. You have to be willing to go out and contact other experts in other fields, and then come up with something creative together.
“You live and die by the quality of your collaborative network,” he said.
Hauer and his group want to use the new method to better understand the transfer of energy in biological systems in which photosynthesis takes place; ultimately accelerating the identification of efficient single molecules for future photovoltaic technologies.
their sights on the natural light-harvesting complex LH2.
of a novel, efficient organic solar cell.
Today’s researchers are interested in DNA for a multitude of reasons—forensic scientists, for example, analyze DNA for justice, while clinical scientists analyze it for disease biomarkers. Alternatively, some early-stage physicists and biologists analyze and manipulate “the blueprint of life” to fuel tiny components for technical applications.
In a process known as DNA origami, scientists can manipulate DNA in such a way that folding it creates 2- and 3-dimensional structures that can be used in a variety of applications. One of the most notable applications is the development of nanomachines, or nanorobots made partially or entirely of DNA that can switch between defined molecular conformations, and thus be used as sensing, computing, actuating or therapeutic devices.
“In all these systems, the mechanical properties of DNA molecules are of paramount importance,” said Remy Pawlak, a postdoc in the physics laboratory at the University of Basel (Switzerland).


Ljubljana, 10 January - People's Party (SLS) head Radovan Žerjav said after a session of the SLS's executive council on Thursday that the SLS wanted to take a few days for reflection before deciding on whether to leave the coalition. The SLS also wishes the two biggest parliamentary parties to reconsider their refusal to accept responsibility for corruption allegations.
The news item consists of 1.833 characters (without spaces) or 380 words words.
Right-Leaning Outfits Say Corruption Report Full of "Glitches"
Dnevnik Condemns Janković for "Joining Coalition with Janša"


“How does it feel? Unattractive. No thinking person wants to be reduced to a caricature," Steve Schwarzman tells James Stewart in the giant New Yorker profile we haven't gotten around to reading yet.


Chiffon Keys-McKoy is trying to keep her family’s holiday traditions alive, even if they’re no longer in their own home.
The single mom and her three sons are celebrating Thanksgiving at a shelter for the first time this year, the Jennie Clarke Residence on E. 100th St.
For Keys-McKoy and her boys, the holiday season means finding something to be thankful for, even when times are tough.
They’re just like the 114,000 other homeless kids enrolled in city schools, searching for light in a dark place.
“We were in our own home last year,” said Keys-McKoy, 49, who shares a three-bedroom apartment at Jennie Clarke with her kids.
The six-story East Harlem shelter occupies three adjacent tenements and is home to 73 families — 156 kids and 95 adults in all.
Though they share a common thread of homelessness, each resident has a unique reason to feel lost or hopeful this Thanksgiving.
On Thursday the shelter’s management WIN threw an early holiday party where smiles of happiness were prevalent along with the cheerful chatter of families enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner.
Keys-McKoy landed in Jennie Clarke in August after her injuries from a bad car crash cost her a job and then her apartment.
But the former minister is thankful to have a place to stay and celebrate the holidays.
Keys-McKoy was a supermarket manager and crossing guard living in Reading, Pa., when, on a church trip to Brooklyn in the summer of 2017, the van she was riding in was struck by another vehicle while stopped at a light.
Neurological injuries affected her balance and brain and Keys-McKoy had to quit her jobs.
She moved to Brooklyn with her husband and children to live with her mother-in-law, but with five people in a single room the situation didn’t last, leading the family to the Jennie Clarke Residence.
“I am raising a 9-year-old boy with autism,” Keys-McKoy said of her middle child, Jeryimah, who attends the Mickey Mantle School on the Upper West Side.
“It’s kinda hard to keep an autistic child to one room,” she added.
But soon, her husband ended up leaving the shelter to stay alone with his mom.
Despite the tough year, Keys-McKoy said her children are just as excited for the holidays as in earlier times — and just as in years past she took them to a dollar store to get decorations.
Jeryimah’s 6-year-old brother Isiah goes to Roberto Clemente School in East Harlem. Their 29-year-old brother Michael is unemployed.
Keys-McKoy said they will all be cooking a meal in their shelter apartment this year, just like they did in their Brooklyn home last year.
WIN CEO Christine Quinn said that the holiday season can be a painful reminder of loss for families experiencing homelessness.
WIN is the largest operator of family shelters in the city, with more than 1,600 families living in WIN shelters around the city, including more than 2,300 children.
A number of WIN shelters offered early Thanksgiving meals to residents to boost their spirits early in the holiday season.
At Jennie Clark WIN staffers served turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, macaroni and cheese, biscuits and pie donated by StreetEasy to dozens of residents.
The mood was lighthearted, even amid the struggles families faced.


MINNEAPOLIS, March 20, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Parqa, a full-service digital marketing agency that partners with staffing and recruiting firms throughout North America, has hired Chanel Schmidt as the company's Sr. Social Media Manager. As Parqa continues to establish itself as a leader in digital marketing for staffing and recruiting firms, the company continues to bring phenomenal leaders into the organization that provide value and strategic direction for its clients.
Parqa was founded three years ago and transitioned in 2018 to focus its efforts on the staffing and recruiting market, subsequently growing by more than 40 percent. Parqa is the sister company to Versique Search & Consulting and will continue to use its intimate experience within the staffing and recruiting industries to be a market leader in partnering with other firms to grow their brand credibility, online visibility and lead-generation efforts.
Prior to assuming this role, Schmidt was the Social Media & Influencer Specialist at Sleep Number Corporation. In this position, Schmidt transformed Sleep Number's previously outsourced Influencer Marketing program to an in-house enterprise, driving 20x lift in engagements and reach. Schmidt also led a team that launched the company's first-ever influencer-led store opening project in Manhattan, driving millions of impressions and engagements, sizable in-store traffic and impactful business results. Schmidt also helped overhaul Sleep Number's social media content strategy, seeing Social become the highest ROI-driving media channel across the entire organization. In all, Schmidt managed an annual budget of multiple millions of dollars for this publicly traded company.
"I am both honored and thrilled to bring my skill set to Parqa to further deliver value to our clients through social media marketing," Schmidt said. "I was so attracted to Parqa's culture of continuous improvement and collaboration, and I believe that social media is an invaluable resource to bring that growth to life and truly drive business results."
Parqa COO Jared Hummel said, "To get where we want to go, we must surround ourselves with people who have been there. Chanel not only has a proven track record of delivering strategic results for large organizations, but she is an exceptional human being who will make everyone on our team a better person in and out of the office. The first time I met her in the interview process, I knew we were going to do whatever it took to have her on our team. She is a proven winner."
Parqa is a digital marketing agency that serves staffing and recruiting firms throughout North America. Parqa was founded to serve the needs of its sister company, Versique Search & Consulting. Due to the success Versique had with their digital marketing efforts, the Parqa team realized they could help other staffing and recruiting firms do the same if they replicated their proven process. First, Parqa focuses on helping companies build their brand credibility through website design/development and social media platform optimization. Second, Parqa helps companies gain online visibility through ongoing SEO implementation, social media management, and content marketing. Lastly, Parqa assists clients with lead generation through paid advertising management, email management, and marketing automation. Parqa's client success is dedicated to the combination of these three critical elements – brand credibility, online visibility, and lead generation – which drives business growth in the digital age. For more information, please visit parqamarketing.com.


JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday picked billionaire businessman Erick Thohir to manage his re-election campaign, citing his successful role in organising the recent Asian Games hosted by the country.
Thohir, who is also chairman of Italian soccer club Inter Milan, was brought in to lead the Asian Games committee in 2015 amid concerns over a ballooning budget and whether some venues would be prepared in time.
“Our national campaign team chief, Erick Thohir, as many of you know, is a successful businessman. He owns media channels, soccer clubs, a basketball club and many others,” Widodo told a televised news briefing.
“It is clear that anything he leads will gain success,” said Widodo, singling out Thohir’s handling of the Asian Games, which ended on Sept 2 and is the biggest multi-sports event after the Olympics.
Thohir is chairman of the Mahaka group, which owns the Republika newspaper and radio stations, and he also has an investment in U.S. soccer team DC United and was part of a consortium that bought the basketball team the Philadelphia 76ers.
Widodo is running against former general Prabowo Subianto, who was once married to the daughter of former authoritarian leader Suharto, in elections set for April.
Subianto, who narrowly lost the election in 2014 to Widodo, is chairman of the nationalist Gerindra Party which forms the main opposition alongside several Islamic parties.
His campaign manager is a former head of Indonesia’s military, Djoko Santoso.
Widodo, a former furniture salesman, is Indonesia’s first president to come from outside the political and military elite.
While in office, Widodo has led a push to build infrastructure though annual growth in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, at about 5 percent, has yet to reach the 7 percent he pledged when campaigning in 2014.
He has been comfortably ahead in recent opinion polls, but a slide in the rupiah currency to levels not seen since the Asian financial crisis two decades ago has been jumped on by the opposition as a sign of economic mishandling.


Eight paintings commissioned under Geoff Hoon, the former Defence Secretary, to adorn the Ministry of Defence headquarters could be sold and the money given to Armed Forces charities.
Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, has openly criticised Hoon's decision to commission £272,000 worth of modern artwork for the walls of Whitehall between 2004 and 2006 describing it as a "frivolous project".
He said it was particularly "out of touch" to spend funds on art while troops were suffering from equipment shortages in war zones and decrepit housing at home.
An MoD source said: "Selling the paintings and donating the money to Help the Heroes is something that we are exploring. We are looking into what we can do. The hope is that the pictures could be auctioned off for good causes."
It is not currently clear whether current government guidelines would allow such a sale of government property to take place with the proceeds of taxpayers money given away.
The source said Dr Fox and his department were "looking into" potential difficulties.
The amount spent on the paintings has led to considerable criticism in the past.
In 2004/05, MoD civil servants bought a set of paintings by Zil Hoque called Nimbus I, II, III, IV at a cost of £160,000 and a set of four paintings by Louise Cattrell - Eyrie, Aerial, Tempest and Keep - that cost pounds £72,000, all excluding VAT.
The following financial year, the department spent almost £53,000 simply on maintaining its art collection.
Gen Sir Mike Jackson, the former head of the Army, wrote in his memoirs that spending on modern art demonstrated the "cultural divide'' at the MoD.
The images were part of a wider £325 million refurbishment of the Ministry of Defence that began in 2004.
Last month Mr Hoon, the former MP for Ashfield, said he could not remember commissioning the paintings. "I doubt that I ordered the art. I certainly was not aware that I ordered it," he said.