- The Canton Symphony Orchestra will present its SymphonyLand trio performances to children ages 3 to 6. The SymphonyLand trios introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra in an interactive format created specifically to engage young listeners. The series begins with the string trio at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. in Foundation Hall of the Zimmermann Symphony Center, 2331 17th Street NW, Canton. The program is free and open to the public and will incorporate an age-appropriate story book along with educational components in music and reading. Reservations are recommended for the public and are required for school groups. They can be made online at www.cantonsymphony.org or by calling the Canton Symphony box office at 330-452-2094. Reservations for smaller groups are recommended in order to ensure adequate seating.
- Between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m., join the Massillon Public Library, 208 Lincoln Way E., for Hot Chocolate Mixology. Warm up your Saturday by designing your own one-of-a-kind hot cocoa creation. All supplies provided. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. The program is free and open to the public, no registration required. For more information, call 330-832-5037 or visit www.massillonlibrary.org.
- At 3 p.m., the Massillon Public Library, 208 Lincoln Way E., is offering a free class, "Accessing Your Library from Home." Learn how to find, reserve and renew library materials from your home, plus borrow free eBooks or digital magazines and stream a wide variety of videos. Discover the Overdrive and Libby apps. Registration is required by calling 330-832-9831, ext. 327.
- At 3 p.m. the Massillon Public Library, 208 Lincoln Way E., is offering Introduction to the Hoopla Streaming App. Attendees will learn how to create an account in Hoopla, allowing users to instantly borrow free digital movies, music, eBooks and more, 24/7 using a library card. Prerequisites are experience using a computer and accessing the Internet. The class is free and registration is required by stopping at the library or calling 330-832-9831, ext. 327.
- The Massillon Public Library, 208 Lincoln Way E., is holding a Pinterest program Fairy Lantern Class at 6 p.m. Using frolicking silhouettes of enchanted creatures, a mason jar, and a battery-operated tea light, attendees will make a glowing lantern. The program is free, all supplies are provided and registration is required. Children under age 12 must be accompanied by an adult. For information or to register, call 330-832-9831, ext. 312, or visit www.massillonlibrary.org.
- The Real Hope Church, 7641 Wales Ave. NW, Jackson Twp., is hosting a Swiss Steak Dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. The menu includes Swiss Steak and onions, mashed potatoes/gravy, green beans, roll, dessert and beverage. The cost is $8 for adults, $4 for children 12 and under and infants are free. Profits go to community outreach projects and ministries. The church is handicapped accessible. Groups of eight or more are welcomed, but a representative is asked to call the church office at 330-499-6971 one week prior to arrange for tickets. In case of bad weather, call the church for information.
At 2 p.m., the Massillon Public Library, 208 Lincoln Way E., will host Tweens for grades 4 through 8. Students will use their science and engineering skills by competing in a Tower Building Challenge. Participants will divide into teams, use some crazy building materials and see which team can build the tallest tower. All supplies will be provided and registration is required for the free program. For more information or to register, call 330-832-5037 or visit at www.massillonlibrary.org.
At 3 p.m., the Massillon Public Library 208 Lincoln Way E., is offering Microsoft Power Point Basics. Attendees will learn how to create a slide presentation from scratch, adding text, photos, and graphics. Attendees will also learn to move, add, and delete slides from their presentations. Prerequisites: Experience using a computer mouse, keyboard, and the Windows operating system. The class is free and registration is required. Stop by or call 330-832-9831, ext. 327, for more information or to register.
- The Ohio Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Kent State University at Stark will present “Leadership Blind Spots," tips on how to take your company from struggling to best-in-class. Presented by North Canton resident Dean Langfitt, a partner of Sandler Training at The Ruby Group, the seminar will delve into common leadership pitfalls and help business leaders identify whether they have fallen victim. Langfitt will discuss “Blind Spots Syndrome," which he says undermines many businesses and affects all leaders. The program will take place from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Kent State University at Stark Conference Center, 6000 Frank Ave. NW. A continental breakfast will be offered at 7:30 a.m. Registration for this event is $25 per person. Registration and payment must be made online at www.cantonsbdc.org. For more information, call 330-244-3290 or email info@cantonsbdc.org.
- The Massillon Public Library, 208 Lincoln Way E., is offering a series of skill-building classes on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Session one begins at 6 p.m. Jan. 23. Attendees will learn the basics of Excel and how to work with formulas to perform simple calculations. Prerequisites for session one are familiarity with using a mouse and a computer. In session two at 6 p.m., Jan. 29, learn how to work with subtotal formulas and what order the formulas must follow. Prerequisite is that attendees must have taken session one. In session three is at 6 p.m., Jan. 30, learn to apply specific formatting based on personal use for the table. Learn to build a pivot table and create a two-axis chart. Prerequisite is attendee must have taken session two. Classes are free and registration is required. For more information or to register, stop by or call 330-832-9831, ext. 327.
- At 6 p.m., the Massillon Public Library's True Crime Book Club will discuss the book "I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer" by Michelle McNamara. For more information or to reserve a copy, call 330-832-9831, ext. 312, or visit www.massillonlibrary.org . The library is at 208 Lincoln Way E.
- At 3 p.m., the Massillon Public Library, 208 Lincoln Way E., is offering Microsoft WORD Basics. Attendees will learn how to create and edit documents using basic formatting tools like font size and style, page set-up and cut/copy/paste within a document. Prerequisites are experience using a mouse, keyboard and the Windows operating system. The class is free and registration is required. For more information or to register, stop by or call 330-832-9831, ext. 327.


Daft Punk songs set to feature in the long awaited Tron sequel have surfaced online.
Six tracks are being streamed by US radio station The End – all are set to appear on the soundtrack to Tron: Legacy, which is expected to be released later this year.
The record will be the band’s first full-length release since 2005’s ‘Human After All’.
Last October it was revealed that the Daft Punk pair, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, will appear in the film as well as having recorded its score.
The follow up to the 1982 film, which will see the return of original star and Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, is scheduled for release in the UK on December 17.


He is your boy next door and he is an actor, a musician. Basically, that’s who I am. Life outside the camera is basic for me and I do nothing serious outside my work. I take enough time to go out, have some rest and relax with family. I sleep as much as I can and, just like everyone else, I live normal.
I would say I had wonderful experiences as a young child which I believe added up to who I am today. I realised very early enough that I was attracted to the arts so I was into mimicking, music, drumming but I had a very interesting childhood experience as I’m from a family that allowed you to express yourself as much as you could. It was like a regular family where you grow up in church, as I actually started acting from church. I remember those days I would sneak out of the house to go and watch performances and live shows which all registered in my head and I knew one day I was going to do this and here we are today.
I was born in Kano and had primary education in this city. Then I did secondary school in Onitsha and went to Nnamdi Azikiwe University where I obtained a degree in Theatre Arts and Film Studies and also had a Master’s Degree in the same field. So, it’s been onward from there and I’m looking at doing a PhD because I just applied for it recently. I have had a very busy academic life, as well as professional life because I love the academics. Most of the things I know today are from people who were my teachers and lecturers and they have influenced me so much. Maybe that’s why I’m still drawn to it and I feel I should impact the next generation to be able to teach others what I have learnt, particularly that hardwork and dedication pays.
I had this audition and I went with my classmate from school. Though I wasn’t chosen but I ended up being a part of the production because of an incident. I went there with my guitar because I love music and then a big actor at that time, Pat Attah, saw me when I was leaving with my guitar and asked who owns it and I said I was, not knowing he could play. He played and I sang then he said I was talented and that I should be in the film and he took me back to the producers. I auditioned again and I got a small role, then I moved on. I went back to the university, finished and left for youth service. I got back and started attending auditions again and with time, I got one or two roles and here we are today. It wasn’t easy or rosy but I kept at it and I made it and this is what everybody needs out there. And by God’s grace he blessed my effort and I’m grateful for that.
There are many people who want the same thing as you, and most want to be actors. But I knew it was possible because whoever was determined got it. So, I kept at it as there were times I went hungry. There was this time I stood in a bus from Anambra to Lagos for an audition because I couldn’t afford to pay for a full seat and when I got to Lagos, luckily for me, I got a role in the movie. I have attended auditions in various places across the country as the fire was in me and I kept on burning and wanted to do it. It wasn’t easy and there was this financial constraint, but at the end, it’s worth it and I advised people to make sure they are good at it. I was putting every effort to make sure it paid off and I’m thankful it did.
It was shot in 2011 and was released in 2012 and I was almost giving up because the frustration was much. I was actually in Lagos and I didn’t have movie roles to do and I needed to survive and there was this friend of mine who called me and said a couple needed someone to be an MC at their wedding ceremony, which I had never done before. But I was hungry and I knew I could do it if I tried so I had to call another friend of mine who was an MC and told him what it was about; we anchored, got back and split the money. So, immediately we got back from the wedding I got a call about a movie role from someone who had seen something I did in a movie and I have never met this person before and I asked him to send the scripts. It was good but the money they offered was small and I almost turned it down but he advised I do it.
So I went to Enugu from Lagos and asked them to give me some time to peruse the scripts and I did the movie with Tonto Dike, Sylvester Amadu, Yul Edoche and it came out big and people took notice of me. Producers took notice of me also and by God’s grace I progressed.
As I have done music all my life. I went to the church and there was a programme and the band was playing, I got there and saw a microphone I took it and hid under the table then sang to what they were playing. I knew I was attracted to music but I didn’t know what pushed me to where the band was as they were much older than me. They later found me and then I sang again. Later on, I became the youngest member of that band from that day onwards. I began to attend functions and, basically, I have sang all my life. With that I consolidated and started learning other musical instruments which I got from my mother which I’m sure she got from hers. So, it’s been a generation of singers. It’s something I love doing as singing is in my DNA and it’s something I can do all day without getting tired. I do basically all kinds of music.
As I said earlier, I was drawn to the band. Music has always been in me, as I grew up to hear my mum always singing in the house. Every time I came back from school she was always singing to a record and she has the most amazing voice I have ever heard in this world. Music is more than entertainment for me, as I like to inspire people with it.
I’m not really keen about it though, but my greatest awards I always say are the ones I get from my fans as they are the people I care about and I’m glad they approve of what I do and that they follow me, as not everyone has that privilege. I have won awards and I have gotten so many nominations but the fans and audience are the greatest awards for me.
And I’m playing Pastor Jakes and it’s an expository. It is mind blowing but I don’t want to reveal so much. When this movie drops it’s going to change things because it was well researched and it’s something to watch out for.
I just finished the post production titled, Sons and Daughters. It’s a movie close to my heart, as it’s a family story and I hold it so dear. I shot it in November and I want my fans to look out for it. I have upcoming projects as well, so it’s been a busy period for me as I’m taking it one at a time.
And I don’t joke with my work and craft and I don’t expect anybody I’m working with to joke with theirs also. For me, acting is a very serious business as it’s beyond the physical but it’s more emotional, spiritual and an intellectual exercise.
So, what stands me out is that I immerse myself in the characters I play and take it seriously and become them. I try to assume that person’s mental situation so as to pour it out because if you don’t have it mentally it would be difficult to express it. I believe in method acting and realism.


His performances in South Africa led to suggestions other clubs might try to hijack the deal but Wigan were always confident of landing the 27-year-old.
Manager Roberto Martinez said: “It’s fantastic news that we can finally confirm the arrival of a defender who I feel was one of the very best at this summer’s World Cup.
Martinez was one of a three-strong Wigan delegation stating the case for signing the player at a Wembley hearing today.
“I am so happy that everything has gone through now,” said the World Cup quarter-finalist.
“I want to thank Roberto and the club for all the hard work to get me to Wigan and now I just want to play football.


Confusion about turns from the new Grand Avenue Bridge has prompted project officials to look at a few fixes to help clarify things. The right turn onto Sixth Street and into the new Sixth-and-Laurel roundabout has raised questions.
A single northbound right-turn lane provides access to the Sixth Street business district and residential neighborhoods in the area, as well as points farther west along U.S. 6 and 24.
Coming off the bridge, a wide lane entering the area allows motorists to make a quick decision whether to continue right onto East Sixth toward the Hotel Colorado or veer left into the roundabout.
However, motorists sometimes incorrectly turn from the right traffic lane on the north end of the bridge, causing a collision hazard.
That lane is intended for through traffic to westbound Interstate 70 only, while the left lane can be used for either eastbound or westbound I-70 access, project officials have clarified.
New striping and signage are in the works to help clarify traffic flow at the often-busy interchange, they said.
Meanwhile, night work is to begin Monday to remove the old traffic signals on Grand Avenue at Eighth and Ninth streets and to activate the new signals. That work is expected to last about two weeks between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., during which there will be a one-night closure of the one-block sections west of Grand Avenue.
Motorists should also anticipate lane closures on the bridge and on Sixth Street daily during off-peak travel times, as crews work on the islands near the roundabout and remove bridge overhangs.
Crews also are wrapping up work to install pavers on the west wing street in the 700 block of Grand, and work is moving to the east side, according to the latest project update.
In addition, construction crews are busy removing the north causeway in the Colorado River over the next few months. Boaters and anglers should be aware of work on the riverbank beneath the bridge during the winter.


Originally Published: October 9, 2017 6:02 a.m.
PHILADELPHIA — Carson Wentz looked like the vintage Carson Palmer.
Wentz threw a career-best four touchdown passes to help the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Arizona Cardinals 34-7 on Sunday.
The quarterbacks and teams seem headed in opposite directions. Wentz has the Eagles off to an impressive 4-1 start in his second season. Meanwhile, the window could be closing for the 37-year-old Palmer and the Cardinals (2-3).
While Philadelphia quickly prepares for a trip to Carolina (4-1) on Thursday night, the Cardinals return home to face Tampa Bay (2-2) looking to avoid a downward spiral.
Wentz tossed three scoring passes on three consecutive attempts in the first quarter, including 59 yards to Torrey Smith, 11 yards to Zach Ertz and 15 yards to Trey Burton. He connected with Nelson Agholor for a 72-yard TD on third-and-19 in the third quarter. Wentz is the first Eagles player to throw for three touchdowns in the first quarter of a game.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said the flat performance was his fault. “I got to point it at me because our team obviously was not ready to play in all three phases,” he said.
Cardinals LS Aaron Brewer (arm) left in the first quarter. Veldheer (knee) and DT Olsen Pierre (ankle) were injured in the third. Eagles RT Lane Johnson left at halftime with a head injury, but Pederson couldn’t confirm if he has a concussion.


GAINESVILLE, Fla. and SAN FRANCISCO, April 20, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq:AGTC) and 4D Molecular Therapeutics (4DMT), leaders in next-generation adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy vector discovery and product development, today announced a collaboration and license agreement to discover and develop optimized AAV vectors to treat specific ophthalmic disease indications with high unmet medical need. As part of the agreement, 4DMT will deploy its proprietary AAV vector discovery platform, Directed Vector Evolution, to identify and optimize novel vectors. Financial details were not disclosed.
Sue Washer, President and CEO of AGTC, noted, "We are excited to partner with 4DMT to accelerate development of novel AAV-based gene therapies to treat rare eye diseases. We expect that our combined expertise and our complementary proprietary technology and discovery platforms, will enable us to advance new treatments to market for patients with serious inherited ocular conditions who have few currently available therapeutic options."
"We are thrilled that AGTC, a global leader in ocular gene therapy, has elected to license our optimized next-generation vectors to target specific cell populations within the human retina," said David Kirn, M.D., co-founder and CEO of 4DMT. "We believe that great synergies will result from combining our AAV-based gene therapy platform discovery with AGTC's expertise in ocular gene therapy development. Together we can develop highly optimized and customized gene therapeutics, and this licensing agreement further underscores our commitment to create a robust product pipeline with our partners."
Gene therapy is a growing field of medicine in which genes are introduced into the body to treat diseases. Genes control heredity and provide the basic biological code for determining a cell's specific functions. The most common form of gene therapy involves using DNA that encodes a functional, therapeutic gene to replace a defective gene. In gene therapy, the healthy copy of a defective gene is packaged within a vector, which is used to transport the genetic information into the diseased cells within the body. Once the gene is delivered into the correct cell, a therapeutic protein is naturally made by the cell from the therapeutic gene.
AAV vectors have emerged as a favored approach for gene therapy since they can deliver the genes for therapeutic proteins to accessible tissues in the body and are generally considered safe. Several AAV gene therapy products are in late-stage clinical development, and one product is approved in the EU.
AGTC is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that uses its proprietary gene therapy platform to develop products designed to transform the lives of patients with severe diseases in ophthalmology. AGTC's lead product candidates focus on X-linked retinoschisis, achromatopsia and X-linked retinitis pigmentosa, which are inherited orphan diseases of the eye, caused by mutations in single genes that significantly affect visual function and currently lack effective medical treatments. AGTC is also pursuing pre-clinical development of treatments for wet AMD using the company's experience in ophthalmology to expand into disease indications with larger markets.
4DMT is a global leader in gene therapy product research & development. 4DMT and our partners are using scientific innovation to unlock the full potential of gene therapy for patients with genetic diseases. Our robust discovery platform, termed Directed Vector Evolution, empowers us to create customized gene delivery vehicles (novel AAV vectors) to deliver genes to any tissue or organ in the body. These customized products allow us to deliver normal genes to tissues with defective genes (as occurs in genetic diseases). This 4DMT discovery technology was originally developed over 15 years by our co-Founder David Schaffer at the University of California, Berkeley. In contrast to first-generation vectors, our customized 4D vectors target specific patient tissues in a highly efficient and targeted fashion, while avoiding other tissues and resisting immune clearance (by pre-existing antibodies). 4D has a robust and growing product pipeline, including partnered programs with our collaborators at ROCHE and uniQure. Our management team, led by co-Founder & CEO Dr. David Kirn, has extensive industry experience in viral vector gene therapy R&D, clinical development, entrepreneurship and business development. 4D Molecular Therapeutics is based in the QB3@953 and JLABS laboratories in the Mission Bay area of San Francisco, a world-class hub for biomedical innovation.


Last time UNDFTD and Converse put their heads together, the result was a well-received Poor Man Weapon — now the Cali giants return to hit us in the head once again with their new take on the Chuck Taylor. Dubbed the Ballistic because of its navy blue ballistic nylon upper, paired beautifully with the tonal leather detailing along the ankles, tongue and toe cap. A white sole with a bright orange outsole as well as embossed branding on the tongue finishes another solid collab from UNDFTD x Converse. And the pulltab at the heel is a welcome touch. No release information yet, but you'll get it when we do.


I walk into a closed LA restaurant mid-morning, to find it a thrumming hive of activity. Dozens of people of all ages and backgrounds are working as teams in a methodical way, starting with assembling sandwiches, writing inspirational notes and decorating bags, and then filling them with food, snacks, and essentials like socks. A DJ on stage keeps the mood upbeat with hits that keep the crowd rocking, while people introduce themselves to each other with a smile and a handshake. It's like a cross between a party and church, with a warm inclusive vibe and a fun atmosphere. In a few minutes, everyone will get into their cars and drive down to Skid Row to hand out sandwiches and positivity to the local homeless. This is Hashtag Lunchbag, an idea born between a group of friends that has now blown up around the world as a simple, lightweight way for someone to get involved in helping their local community–and at the same time help problem of social isolation that is all too common in big cities like LA.
Ajay Relan was one of the original co-founders: an LA-raised entrepreneur and community organizer, he's the owner of the Los Angeles sports bar + restaurant The Parlor Hollywood, as well as The Parlor LAX. A Founding General Partner at Queensbridge Venture Partners (with rapper, Nas), he also recently opened the first of several Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen in South LA to bring healthier options and good vibes to underserved communities. For him the catalyst to help create Hashtag Lunchbag was an unusual one - therapy. "I was going through a personal/professional transition that introduced me to some dark times. Volunteering was an alternative she prescribed after I declined the offer to be sent to a psychiatrist. The intention was to service a personal void I needed to fill. The intention was never to create a global movement."
Global is right - Hashtag Lunchbag has spread to more than 100 cities around the world. The secret to this rapid global expansion? "Social media. We naturally shared our experiences during the first couple of events with our friends and followers. We realized pretty quickly that we had the ability to make an impact locally that others could experience in their community (nationally and globally) from the comfort of their home/phone with relative ease. For the first time in the history of the world, each and every one of us has the potential to make a huge impact with relatively minimal effort...because of the internet. No matter if you have ten friends/followers or ten million, you have to ability to change ONE person's perspective about their role in the world - and that, I'm constantly reminded, is more than enough."
In addition to creating some unique marketing of their own (check out their video with Snoop Dogg on how to throw a party), Hashtag Lunchbag has also partnered with brands like Lyft and the Golden State Warriors to do memorable events. Relan explains, "Whether it's to help with marketing initiatives or employee/customer engagement, we've partnered with organizations, institutions, and companies of all sizes to make good things happen. The Warriors partnered with us during a recent Season Of Giving event. The players, office staff and season ticket holders came together in the Oakland Convention Center to help feed 20,000 hungry people across the Bay Area. When Lyft launched NYC, they had all their drivers come together to feed people around Queens and Brooklyn. They even added pink mustaches on the lunches to compliment our signature 'hashtag+heart." We do a great job of making giving back fun while instilling the intention of why everyone is coming together in the first place."
Relan also feels like Hashtag's central philosophy of ‘Living Through Giving’ is something that brands can utilize. "It's no secret that brands need to find a way to connect with a new, younger audience in order to maintain their relevance. Young people (and people in general) are more socially conscious than ever and want to connect with brands that genuinely make the world a better place - giving them a reason to exist. It's a win-win for all and we believe that in order to succeed, impact needs to be embedded."
As part of this, the brand has plans to expand beyond employee engagement events into doing experiential marketing partnerships." "As #HashtagLunchbag moves ahead, the outreach focus will be centered on our main mission: connecting humanity to create organized acts of love. While Hashtag activations will continue to serve as an incredible, meaningful, and tangible way to demonstrate clear acts of kindness for people in need, Hashtag will look to industry leaders to develop collaborative, creative marketing partnerships by weaving this core concept of making an impact in society with the organization's purpose - our "Why" becomes their Why. Hashtag's entrepreneurial spirit, creative leadership, "outside-of-the-box" problem-solving skills, combined with its prime demographic following, make us a truly unique partner for corporate entities. From content development, launch activations, to changing the narrative, Hashtag stands ready to explore experiential marketing partnerships with all those ready to leave their handprints on history, while having fun doing it. "
As Relan stands there, looking at the wonderful sight of all these Angelenos working together to help their city, I ask him what advice he has for other social entrepreneurs who want to follow their passion."If you're lucky enough to find it, nothing will give you more fulfillment in life than following your passion. My only request would be to make sure you have a clear understanding of what you're solving for, how what you're creating makes for a better world because you decided to pursue your dreams, and effectively communicating your WHY. The fulfillment you'll receive will compound and the stakeholders you build with along the way will help spread your message. This is not a suggestion. In my opinion, it's mandatory in this day and age."


If you're after bold colour for a sheltered, partly shaded area then you can't go past cinerarias and their large flower heads in bright colourful clusters.
Cineraria seed needs light to germinate, so the fine seed should only be pressed into trays of seed raising mix, misted gently with water and kept in a warm place.
For best results, cover the tray with plastic cling film to help keep the mix moist. Seedlings can be transplanted out into the garden or into a pot when they are large enough to handle.
Planted en masse, cinerarias are breathtaking, so it's well worth growing lots of seedlings.
Cinerarias grown in shady conditions display the most intense colours and flowering potted cinerarias can be brought indoors for a few days at a time.
Protect cineraria seedlings from destructive snails and slugs with a light sprinkling of snail and slug pellets. Once seedlings are established, feed each week with liquid plant food. The nutrients encourage both healthy green leaf growth and lots of flowers.


The country’s own drug use rates remain among the highest in the world, according to a new quarterly report by the congressionally mandated Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, or SIGAR.
A 2014 World Drug Report by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime confirmed Afghanistan again leads the world in opium production and for the third consecutive year saw more land being used for poppy farming — a record 520,000 acres — despite U.S. efforts.
But it looks like the U.S. military has had about enough. With 9,800 American troops focused on training Afghan forces and running counterterrorism missions before withdrawing in December 2016, SIGAR reported that the Defense Department will use $2.8 billion earmarked for counternarcotics activities this year to pay for other needs.
For years, American military and policy leaders favored an aggressive approach to poppy eradication. That fostered resentment among local farmers and put money in the pockets of warlords, who then were contracted to do the work. But as part of the war’s more recent counterinsurgency missions, more of an effort was made to introduce alternative crops, which also failed.
Afghanistan remains awash in opium, despite $8.2 billion in American taxpayer dollars spent since 2002 to curb its rampant drug production and trade, a U.S. reconstruction watchdog concluded Thursday.
The smart card: Apple Pay competitor or simple stopgap?


Unique and solid brick house in Morton. 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms, formal dining room and great living area with large fireplace. Large corner lot with great front porch and large, screened in area in the back. Fully fenced backyard. Great curb appeal and beautiful leaded glass front door. Some updates will probably be needed.
Beautifully remodeled 3/1 close to downtown Morton. Excellent location on a dead end street. The home features new cabinets, floors, granite countertops and a remodeled bath.


No more details about 75-year-old Jagger's condition were provided.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Rolling Stones are postponing their latest tour so Mick Jagger can receive medical treatment.
The band announced Saturday that Jagger was told by doctors "he cannot go on tour at this time." The band added that Jagger "is expected to make a complete recovery so that he can get back on stage as soon as possible."
The Stones' No Filter Tour was expected to start April 20 in Miami. Other stops included Jacksonville, Florida; Houston; the New Orleans Jazz Festival; Pasadena and Santa Clara in California; Seattle; Denver; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Foxborough, Massachusetts; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Chicago; and Ontario, Canada.
"I really hate letting you down like this," Jagger tweeted Saturday. "I'm devastated for having to postpone the tour but I will be working very hard to be back on stage as soon as I can."


Members of Castle Douglas Scouts receive the cheque from Hardgate Primary pupils.
Great donation Pupils at Hardgate Primary raised money through a Fair Trade assembly, coffee morning and baking done in school, all with Fair Trade ingredients.
They decided to donate the £150 proceeds to the Castle Douglas Scouts who are raising money for 10 of their members to go on a trip to Kenya to help build latrines in a village.
Paul Hodson and David Stevens are pictured with the Scouts receiving the cheque for £150 from P7 pupils Reuben and Mariena.


Google is now requiring that publishers that carry its ads comply with a European Union directive and ask their site visitors’ for permission before setting cookies on their computers.
Sites that target EU readers should already be asking visitors for permission to store cookies on their machines, under the EU’s ePrivacy directive. Browser cookies can be used to store a user’s web actions or preferences and the data is often used for behavioral ad targeting. Cookies can also provide convenient functions, such as storing users’ login data.
Google won’t tell its users what an app or site consent message should say “because it will largely depend on your own uses of cookies and other information, and the third party services you work with.” It did give some examples on the Cookies Consent site.


An Iron Dome battery. Photo: IDF.
JNS.org – The Israeli and US militaries are in the midst of a large-scale missile-defense exercise, designed to simulate responses to a Middle East war on multiple fronts.
The scenario at the center of the planned, biannual drill involves Israel coming under heavy enemy fire from several directions simultaneously.
The Juniper Cobra 18 exercise, which has been held since 2001, practices the rapid deployment of American air-defense units and equipment to Israel from Europe in the event of armed conflict. It also rehearses the integration of US capabilities into Israel’s air-defense layers.
Brig.-Gen. Zvika Haimovich, who heads the Israeli Air Defense Command of the IDF, said that this was the largest US–IDF exercise to date, adding that it is expected to play out in the course of more than four weeks.
Some 2,500 American personnel are taking part in the endeavor. Most were mobilized to Israel, while some stayed in Europe and the United States. Around 2,000 IDF personnel are taking part as well. The United States European Command, based in Germany, also sent a number of American air-defense systems to Israel.
“Savlos, and more accurate, precise, multidirectional fire — those are our assumptions” of what a war will involve, he said. “It doesn’t matter if these come from the south, north, or east. … Unfortunately, we live in an environment in which we need to keep up our skills every year,” he said.
The exercise costs millions of dollars, and takes two years to plan. The commanders declined to provide specific details on the threat scenarios they were simulating — but the general scenario they described would appear to outline a war involving Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas firing heavy barrages of rockets and missiles on Israeli cities and towns.
The arrival of accurate rockets and missiles in enemy inventories has played a role in the planning of the drill.
The first part of the drill involves computer simulations, in which Israeli and American air-defense systems are linked to one another, and practice shooting down computer-generated threats. In the second stage, live-fire targets will be shot down by US and Israeli Patriot systems, and by an Israeli Iron Dome battery.
Israel is fielding all of its air-defense systems in the exercise. These include Iron Dome; the recently deployed David’s Sling system, designed to intercept medium- and long-range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles; and the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems, which intercept missile threats in the atmosphere and in space, respectively.
Col. David E. Shank, commander of the 10th Air and Missile Defense, US Army–Europe, told JNS that two versions of American Patriot systems are in Israel for the drill. America’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, which is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles as they descend, was also deployed. A powerful transportable radar was also brought by the Americans to Israel.
Clark told JNS that the American Aegis Combat System, which is a ship-based missile-defense system, is also playing a “key and critical part” in the exercise.
Meanwhile, the US Navy’s Mount Whitney, a command and control unit, arrived from its base in Italy and docked at the Haifa port to take part in the drill.
Ultimately, said Clark, the ability of America and Israel to moor their systems will define success. He acknowledged that this would have to be done under fire during wartime.


SHE remembers almost nothing after shutting her laptop at her work desk that day: the impact, the nurses, the operations.
For three weeks, nature and medicine shielded her from the shock that she was skittled by a car hurtling at up to 80kmh.
Her husband, who was by her side at the time, is not blessed with such amnesia and so their story is mostly his to tell.
Mohan Kumar and Nethra Krishnamurthy sit in their Bayswater living room, where balloons huddle after son Hari's first birthday party.
Hari giggles in a final show before bed, a toy truck, complete with siren, in his sights.
Kumar is describing a routine catch-up on January 20.
He and his wife, both 33, work for different IT companies on neighbouring floors at 385 Bourke St. Both had a spare moment, he explains. He would grab a coffee.
Three days back from maternity leave, Krishnamurthy would breastfeed Hari at a daycare centre down the street.
Kumar does not recall much about meeting downstairs. Nothing seemed amiss: work was fine, Hari was happy. They smiled in greeting, he now thinks, but did not speak as they headed through the glass doors and down the building's stairs.
A wall prevents line of sight east along Bourke St. Smokers normally gather near the taxi rank - if they gaped in surprise, the couple did not notice.
The first the pair knew of a dirty red car, and of bodies being flung like dolls, was when they stepped on to the footpath and the roar of twisted metal and shattered glass engulfed them.
Kumar jumped left and fell on to the road. His brain filled with images of Paris.
"Oh, my God, this is happening here," he thought, as he braced for gun shots.
Krishnamurthy turned, or at least her injuries suggest she did.
Lifted 20m or more, she was reduced to another of the terrible thuds that marked the meeting of pedestrian and projectile.
Kumar almost shivers as he recalls each of these collisions not as a sound but a feeling.
Krishnamurthy bounced off the car, in a flight that grabbed the attention of Charlotte Galpin, 24, who works for a travel business across the road.
Krishnamurthy's major organs ripped and punctured.
Six people died because of this 75-second car ride.
The injured could each claim one of the bollards that sprung up in Melbourne last month as a personal legacy.
Stunned police in pursuing cars later speak of people being hurled 20m into concrete - and getting up.
In assuming a death toll that would top 50, one of them speaks of the final figure as a "relief".
Only when Kumar looked up did he wonder about his wife: their separation in these moments - his "choice", not a choice at all - would bloom as guilt in counselling sessions.
His processes were condensed to a series of snapshots that belong in a movie sequence. Their clarity and vividness would curse him with insomnia.
He speaks like a narrator, softly and with sensitivity, of the details that haunt him.
His wife was a broken heap. Her eyes were open and unblinking. Her legs were unnaturally folded, in a pose he took for death.
Nearby, Jess Mudie, a 22-year-old "bright bubble of joy" from Sydney, was dying.
He wondered how a breastfeeding stop had come to this. How he would manage without his wife of nine years.
They had so many plans. They chose Melbourne over Brisbane and London. They had lived in the city and wandered the streets in the late hours, because it was friendly and safe.
A colleague tried to comfort him.
Kumar speaks of his behaviour as though observing another.
"I was screaming so loud I could hear my own voice down Bourke St"
"I can still visualise my screaming and everyone else absolutely silent.
"I have never screamed. It was a different world."
Blood seeped from his wife's head, which Galpin and another worker - both trained in first aid - swabbed with a scarf and cardigan.
They were calm, whereas he wailed and fell about.
Galpin, the former airline cabin staff, finally looked up. Krishnamurthy had squeezed her hand.
"Hang on, she's still breathing," she announced.
Here, Kumar's shrieks quelled. His fears found a new home: death became permanent brain injury.
Paramedics arrived. They attached a drip and prepared a stretcher.
A pilot light sparked an instinctive urge in Krishnamurthy: she tried to rise, as if from the dead.
The ambulance ride was the longest journey. Past Mudie. Past Matthew Si, 33, who also died. Past the upturned pram.
"He seemed to drive slow because I was thinking fast," Kumar says.
"I just wanted to get there."
Kumar sat in the front: by trip's end, the young ambo in the back was close to tears.
She had resisted Krishnamurthy's jerking throughout.
It was too much. And it was only the beginning.
THE Alfred hospital emergency and trauma physician Helen Stergiou cannot recall the paramedics' faces; instead she remembers their singular look.
The "different dimension" was not because the patients were "scoop and run", as opposed to being anaesthetised and stabilised for transport. "They were in fear," Stergiou says of the paramedics.
"Whatever they had seen had shaken them."
Stergiou had had about 15 minutes to prepare, scrub up, call two family members ("Don't go into the city") and ponder gunshot wounds and the blunt trauma of "pedestrian versus car".
She had been writing emails and speaking with the hospital's director of trauma, Mark Fitzgerald.
When he called back, his voice was different: "Something's happened at Bourke St."
Now Krishnamurthy lay in a cubicle, her husband fretting beside her. Her heart was racing and her blood pressure was low.
An ultrasound showed fluid leaks in her abdomen.
She was too unstable for a CT scan, typical for most critical patients.
Krishnamurthy went from "A to Z" and was rushed to theatre for exploratory surgery. Her liver was lacerated, her intestines bruised and torn.
These injuries patched, she was given the CT scan, which revealed vertebrae fractures, a punctured lung and fractured ribs.
The good news was no brain bleeds. Her spinal cord was intact.
The bad news was more operations and a medically induced coma.
The next day, in talking to Krishnamurthy's sister in India about a blood clot filter operation, Kumar broke down for the first time.
He had stayed composed in those first few hours at the hospital. Now he cried. And cried.
He didn't know then that Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, had lain in another Alfred emergency ward cubicle, a blue curtain or two away from his wife.
He had bullet wounds to the shoulder and leg.
Gargasoulas would later be accused of driving the Holden Commodore on Bourke St. He would be charged with murder.
The rest of Melbourne is still unaware of Gargasoulas's presence at the Alfred.
Another observer that night says the sheer number of police officers offered a clear indication that security was tight.
In the days that followed, reports suggested that Gargasoulas had been taken to either the Royal Melbourne Hospital or St Vincent's.
He was brought to the most secure trauma bay at the Alfred, nicknamed the Bill Clinton Bay, after elaborate preparations for a presidential visit to Melbourne.
Fitzgerald did not want disruptions. He assigned senior staff should the management of the patient become vexed.
It is "very difficult", he concedes, to secure controversial figures in the emergency room.
Reports swiftly linked the Bourke St car to kids and a baby.
Yet Fitzgerald waves off comparisons with the Royal Hobart Hospital experiences of Martin Bryant, the Port Arthur killer of 1996, and the observers at the time who still speak of staring contests.
He says his staff were "very careful" in treating Gargasoulas. Fitzgerald did much of the follow up himself. He wanted to avoid "subjective errors".
"The staff were good," he says.
"There was a lot of pressure to get him into a more secure facility and it was just a balance of when the medical staff were happy to shift him. That was the primary issue. It wasn't really a conflict but people were just anxious having him here."
Video shot by Fitzgerald shows 57 staff readied in the moments before the first patient - a woman fading fast - arrived.
Most had their arms crossed, as if in rumination.
Fitzgerald says the job demands acceptance - sometimes, you can't know all the facts.
One doctor had received a panicked call from his wife, who was having coffee in Bourke St. Another doctor was on the second day of her medical career.
At the time, no one knew whether more incidents would follow and how many people were injured.
Like Fitzgerald, Stergiou is dry of humour and methodical of thought.
Along with angles, energy transmission and kinetic forces, she counts "dumb-arse luck" as a major factor in surviving major trauma.
She is a veteran of emergency rooms. Late on the night of Black Saturday, after she had treated a few dozen firefighters for burns, she was told (incorrectly) to expect 1000 patients.
On January 20, she naturally wondered - "How big will this be?"
Yet the waiting is also the "creative time" when doctors set to bringing order to the impending chaos.
Fitzgerald, who was receiving patients for the Kerang train crash in 2007 when he heard that his cousin and her two daughters were among the fatalities, was pleased with arrangements.
"OK, here we go," he thought.
The staff hushed when the first patient was wheeled down the opening corridor.
Throughout the ward, bright lights cast dark shadows, which, typically for loved ones, offer shelters for hives of anxiety.
Visitors were cleared on January 20.
The trolley was wheeled past the control centre and the all-important "Bat Phone" and into one of the eight emergency cubicles.
"It was like a wave because of the geography of the department," Stergiou says. "There was this parade of people and as this patient filtered through there was just a quiet.
"It was a bit unnatural. Whether it was people seeing the ambulance officers' faces I don't know."
The third patient was Stergiou's. Usually, such a list of injuries would demand 15 medical staff - today, Stergiou headed a team of four.
Studies show that problems arise in emergency medicine when - in simple terms - clinicians don't do the right thing.
In resuscitation, a lifesaving decision must be made, on average, every 72 seconds for the first 30 minutes.
Stergiou speaks of loops, of going over and over the patient to detect concerns that may have been missed.
Her patient needed to be anaesthetised - once the woman called a loved one. The recollection chokes up Stergiou six months later.
"You just see how resilient human beings are," she says.
All seven Bourke St patients admitted to the Alfred had medically good outcomes.
Kumar became intrigued by a patient housed in a separate room inside intensive care, near the entrance.
This patient had a dedicated staff, which struck Kumar as preferential treatment.
"Is that him?" he asked a police officer at the hospital's main reception area, referring to Gargasoulas.
"I was very stressed throughout those days," Kumar says.
"That was the most upsetting thing, going in and out of ICU. It was hypothetical, because I wasn't sure if it was him.
"I was confused and I was angry."
STERGIOU calls it a "corridor consult", though her chat with Kumar took place in an equipment room.
She thought he wanted to talk about his wife: it became clear he was consumed with anguish.
Kumar bent rules so that he could sleep in a chair by his wife's bed.
He appointed himself an "assistant nurse" who carried out menial tasks. The joviality was a mask.
ICU nurse Melanie Tew points out that Kumar needed to "debrief", too, about how "every time I close my eyes, I can't get it out of my head".
"He was suffering severe trauma in a situation where his resilience base was not huge," Stergiou says.
"So unless we were able to offer support this could have continued and he could have dug himself into a deeper hole."
Stergiou sent him for counselling. She had other advice, too. Bring in Hari. Now. It was five or so days since Krishnamurthy had seen her child. They needed to rebond.
From that time, Stergiou says, the patient seemed more serene.
Stergiou sees patients wallow and patients fight.
Krishnamurthy's stoicism - expressed as a critically ill patient from her hospital bed as concern for the welfare of her husband - was "quite amazing".
Romantics might call it a measure of love.
Kumar told his wife why she was in hospital. It was difficult: "Someone hit you. Six people died. You're lucky to be a survivor."
Because of her memory loss, Krishnamurthy asked the same question a dozen times or more. Kumar, in turn, repeated the same answer a dozen times or more.
KUMAR is more hands-on than some fathers. For one, he likes shopping for toddler clothes. That's how he and Krishnamurthy spent the Saturday, at Eastland, before the Friday when Krishnamurthy was rushed to hospital for a two-month stay.
That same weekend, Gargasoulas was fighting for his freedom.
Police say on November 19, they attempted to pull him over on St Kilda Rd, but Gargasoulas was aware pursuing police would abort the chase.
"He would drive down the wrong side of St Kilda Rd at warp speed,'' a source alleges.
That Saturday afternoon, January 14, a hearing was heard by a bail justice. Police believed that the outstanding warrants and the charges would keep Gargasoulas remanded.
Gargasoulas, representing himself, offered a short plea for freedom, arguing that he was not a flight risk.
Chief commissioner Graham Ashton has said that police opposed bail, as do sources close to the hearing.
One describes the decision to release Gargasoulas as "unbelievable".
Yet conjecture surrounds the hearing. Official details are yet to be released.
The bail justice, Christos Pantelios, a schoolteacher, is said to have since claimed that he was wary of jailing Gargasoulas because of his police status.
It's also been suggested that Gargasoulas could have been remanded and recommended for assessment under the Mental Health Act.
Pantelios is not speaking publicly, according to a public relations company acting on his behalf. It's unclear who is funding Royce Communications to represent him.
It is believed that Gargasoulas's bail was predicated on a court date for family matters the following Friday, January 20.
The day after the hearing, Gargasoulas allegedly turned up at the police station and announced that a comet would hit the Earth.
His attention-seeking behaviour had earned him a "smart-arse" label. Another time, he foisted Seventh Day Adventist pamphlets on officers.
The Sunday Herald Sun has learned that he allegedly ranted about being the "King of Kings". Gargasoulas obsessed over a conspiracy theorists' forum.
The website's homepage promises "the source of all of the information that every single Living Soul on this Planet needs".
The text is littered with bold, underlined and capped lettering, referenced from myriad religions.
Gargasoulas was considered a "nobody" with a huge ego, who allegedly became obsessed with a particular police officer in the days before Bourke St.
"What he was, you'd see 50 people walking around here with a similar mental state," a well-placed source says.
Krishnamurthy worked at home Monday and Tuesday, in graduated steps for her return to work after more than seven months on maternity leave.
Meanwhile, Gargasoulas turned up at the St Kilda station again on the Monday or Tuesday. He was accused of assaulting his mother's boyfriend on Wednesday and stealing his car, a red Holden Commodore.
Police started searching for Gargasoulas.
On Thursday night, Gargasoulas was accused of stabbing his brother in the face after an argument.
The following morning, after visiting known addresses, Gargasoulas is allegedly spotted driving on Punt Rd.
Police hatched plans to ram him at the corner of Toorak Rd and Chapel St. The car was blocked in. But permission to do so was not given.
"Five years ago, not even that, we would have just rammed him," a police source says.
"But if we had done that and he just smashed into cars or injured a pedestrian because of us we would have been in trouble."
Police trailed the car through Toorak to South Melbourne, where it sped away despite cars and pedestrians.
"He nearly knocked one of the pedestrians over trying to get away," the source says.
Police allegedly got Gargasoulas on the phone. They wanted to bring him in peacefully.
"Give me some time to think, give me some time to think," he's thought to have said.
He allegedly offered to come in the following day.
He again spoke of comets. People must shelter in bunkers: "I'm the only one who knows about it."
Gargasoulas allegedly drove to DFO at South Wharf, where a woman was released from the car.
A witness alleged that he evaded police by shunting other cars.
The civilian driver tells the Sunday Herald Sun that police officers stared at one another before a single car took off in pursuit.
In Yarraville, police moved to block the car - it again eluded the trap. On the phone, he allegedly sounded spooked by a police helicopter and wanted it gone.
Police were trying to phone and text him again as the car drove towards the city. He accelerated whenever the police neared.
No explicit threats had been made to harm others. Police backed off.
When a red Commodore started doing doughnuts at the corners of Flinders and Swanston streets, the driver was thought to be seeking attention.
The crowd mistook the spectacle as part of a nearby homeless protest: some protesters raised a finger to police who positioned themselves between the car and the crowds.
At work, Krishnamurthy had been nutting out an IT problem concerning the Bank of Queensland.
She now had time to pause, and told a child care worker that she was on her way.
This dreadful coincidence of timing - the imminent collision of wholesome intent and wilful carnage - troubles Kumar.
Why couldn't he and his wife have left 385 Bourke St sooner or later? Ten seconds would have been enough.
Police activated their sirens when the car drove up Swanston St.
It's said some police - never expecting what would happen next - welcomed this development, given the car seemed headed away from the city and crowds.
One source speaks of pursuing officers now being troubled by this course of events.
Stergiou, the doctor who tackles random misfortune for a living, wrestles with questions that may never be properly addressed in judicial forums.
Nevertheless, they are questions that Kumar and Krishnamurthy ask, as do so many other Melburnians.
"This is Bourke St Mall on a Friday," Stergiou says.
"One month prior, a queue was waiting to see the Christmas windows. What the hell is going on?"
KUMAR wants to tell a tale in hope and generosity. To this end, his wife's infectious laugh doubles as a cue for optimism.
"We are not denying the bad experiences, but we've had good experiences, too," she says.
"A lot of bad is happening but a lot of good is happening, too."
The couple is humbled by kindnesses they never expected.
Her company, Mexia Consulting, raised $150,000 in three days, mostly in anonymous donations. The couple is especially touched by this: the giving without expectation.
A work manager cooked meals, a neighbour cut the lawns, friends wet-nursed their son.
Good wishes on social media spurred them through dark nights.
They have thanked the two unsung angels who helped Krishnamurthy on the footpath.
Both women have, until now, shimmered offstage, one in a haze of Krishnamurthy's memory of a hospital visit, the other - Charlotte Galpin - in the jags of Kumar's emotions during a phone call of thanks.
They are the women who, as Kumar puts it, "saved my wife".
On Friday, Galpin and Krishnamurthy hugged and held hands and made plans to catch up for lunch.
Kumar has returned to work as a UniSuper web developer. His immediate boss, Matt Shadwick, was at the Alfred in support in the hours after Bourke St.
He says Kumar is telling bad jokes - a good sign.
Quiet and smiling, Kumar is much as he was at work before January 20, despite the adversities. This week presents another milestone: Krishnamurthy returns to work.
Mexia has organised a custom chair and desk, to ease the fatigue and pain of her back injuries. Broken toes meant she could not walk unassisted until April. Holding Hari for long periods is exhausting.
Back at the Alfred in May to remove the blood clot filter, she ran into Stergiou as she was being wheeled from surgery.
Both women describe the encounter as they might a chance meeting of a lost school pal.
The process, from crutches, to walking frame, to protective boots, has been "quite a bit of a journey".
The couple will stay in Melbourne, a place they know better than many born here.
They cannot forgive, they say, but they give little thought to the accused, who is remanded at Port Phillip Prison.
They peer at strangers on the street, wondering if they ought to be locked up, because the "justice system is not doing justice".
"We used to love the city," Kumar says. "But now we are scared of the city."
They expect their love will bloom again for Melbourne.
The city is filled with generous and friendly people, and they still plan to raise children here. The difference now is that they always check the footpath for oncoming cars.


Pro-Russia, anti-migration candidate Rumen Radev won 25.8 percent of the vote in first round of the election.
Socialist-backed opposition candidate Rumen Radev, who has called for an end to European Union sanctions against Russia, won the first round of Bulgaria's presidential election.
Radev's close-fought victory over ruling party candidate Tsetska Tsacheva on Monday makes the former air force commander favourite to win a run-off on Sunday, a result that could bring the Black Sea state politically closer to Russia.
Radev, a jet fighter pilot and novice to politics, has tapped into public anger with political elites and fears about immigration, and vowed not to make the Balkan country a "migrant ghetto".
"The hope for a change is already tangible. People want to see more security and well functioning institutions," he said after his win.
The country of 7.2 million people already has warmer ties with Russia than most of its EU peers. Radev has made it clear he believes NATO member Bulgaria should focus more on its economic and political ties with Moscow, which has been under EU sanctions since it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Results from 86 percent of polling stations showed Radev, 53, winning 25.8 percent of the vote. Centre-right candidate Tsacheva, who had been expected to win narrowly, was on 22 percent, according to the national election commission.
A Radev victory in the run-off could usher in months of political instability, including a possible snap parliamentary ballot, after Prime Minister Boiko Borisov signalled that he may quit if his candidate, Tsacheva, loses.
Tsacheva appealed for support in the run-off, saying victory for her opponent could put Bulgaria at odds with its EU and NATO allies and trigger a spike in corruption.
"It is important to know what kind of Bulgaria we want to see - a country isolated internationally, with EU aid frozen and ... corruption - things that the Socialists trigger when they take power - or a Bulgaria whose voice is heard in Brussels," she said.


WME has signed Oscar-winning director, writer and producer James L. Brooks, who created iconic TV shows such as “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rhoda,” “Taxi” and “The Simpsons,” TheWrap has learned.
Brooks joins WME as the agency’s TV department recently signed writer-producers Ian Goldberg (“Once Upon a Time”) and Patrick Harbinson (“Homeland”), as well as Kathy Griffin.
Brooks will continue to be represented by Sam Fischer at Ziffren Brittenham.
In other TV signings, WME recently signed writer and producer Ian Goldberg, who most recently staffed on “Once Upon a Time” and is currently developing “Mars” at the CW. Additionally, Goldberg has a blind deal at NBCUniversal where he will be developing with David Goyer. Goldberg is managed by Matt Ochacher at New Wave Entertainment.
WME also signed writer and producer Patrick Harbinson, currently a Co-Executive Producer on “Homeland.” Harbinson’s previous writing and producing credits include ‘Person of Interest,” “24,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “ER.” Harbinson will continue to be repped in the UK by Sue Rodgers at Independent Talent Group. He was previously with ICM Partners.


TOKYO – Japan restarted extracting methane, an experimental energy source that the Asian country aims to develop commercially over the next decade, from methane hydrate deposits offshore the country’s central coast.
It is the first production test of its kind since 2013, when Japan became the first country in the world to extract natural gas from offshore deposits.
Japanese researchers had began the test production in early May but were forced to stop as large quantities of sand flowed into the well, according to the Japanese Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry.
Similar production tests, conducted in the 1.3 kilometer (0.8 miles) deep well on the coasts of Aichi and Mie prefectures in central Japan, were also suspended due to the influx of sand.
Since June 5, however, Japanese scientists were able to fix the issue and extract gas from offshore deposits once again.
Currently, their biggest challenge is refining the technology to allow for stable extraction of the gas, according to the ministry.
Drilling a well on the seabed for the extraction is hugely expensive and Japan has budgeted around 20 billion yen ($180 million) for such offshore production tests.
Japan imports almost all of its energy sources and to reduce this dependence has set a target of producing natural gas commercially with the help of this method between 2023-2027.
The Japanese Agency for Natural Resources and Energy has found geological structures suggesting sufficient undersea deposits of natural gas – including Methane hydrate, a natural gas generated in frozen form from water and methane and is trapped in the ice below the seabed or frozen permanently – for Japan to last at least a decade.
Methane is considered a promising source of energy for Japan, as well as for other countries such as India, Canada, the United States or China, who are also looking to explore it as an alternative energy source.


We assume that the fan is not covered in dust?
Pull the card out and examine it. If the bearings are shot then a visit to a computer store might provide a replacement.
You really answered your own question. If the fan is operating as in trying to cool your gpu, then its doing its job. You already noticed the reduction of fan speed doesn't help matters, thus I suspect the fan is again doing exactly its job. Overall, you're whole PC needs to be cooled as the "airflow" isn't getting the heat out fast enough. Either improve the case airflow setup or mount at least a slot card fan to directly exhaust near the gpu. Replacing the gpu fan won't necessarily help as it still needs to exhaust the heat. If your PC case doesn't have a "side fan" maybe you should think of mounting or making one. Your gaming is sooner or later will defeat your current cooling efforts. If once you case cooling is controlled, then the gpu fan may throttle down as it doesn't need to be high RPM all the time. If you case also has an empty fan mounting port, get the required fan. Make sure your case is as dust free as possible, clear vents or filters on frt. panel if need be.
Thanks, for answering my question and next time I will post more about my computer. There is nothing wrong with the GPU fan that I have, the default fan is just really rubish and I am going to replace it and was seeing if you guys knew about any good ones. Next time I will try to word the question better. Thanks, for giving me some ideas and I will try to get all the dust out of my computer more often.
Is that a new card?
If so, it is time to arrange for return since modifying would void the warranty. If your machine's builder is there, talk to them about changing it.
In reply to: Is that a new card?
I built my own PC, so I can't return it.
And go to places like http://www.frozencpu.com/ for replacement cooling things.
Thanks, this is exactly what I need.


While owning a car makes sense in the suburbs, that is not necessarily the case for city residents.
If you plan on moving to the city, then you are in for a treat if you prepare right. Relocating from the suburbs will afford you greater access to a wide range of cultural and entertainment opportunities. In addition to the city itself, the greater metropolitan area of most cities extends your choices even further.
While moving to the city can be exciting, the change is likely going to cause disruption in your daily routine and general comfort levels. Although you might want to run back to the 'burbs to get away from the new sensory stimuli, don't hit the road just yet. Becoming accustomed to a new home city will take at least a year. Until then, cut yourself some slack.
Make a list of the reasons that you want to move to the city. Post it on the refrigerator in your new home and review it when you are feeling down or frustrated. If possible, take advantage of something on the list to boost your spirits. For instance, you might decide to visit the city zoo on your day off.
Before you begin perusing the listings for places in the city or dreaming about the money from selling your place in the suburbs, you need to make sure you have appropriate representation. A professional real estate agent has access to listings that you don't and can streamline the processes of home selling and buying.
You will want to find a place with easy access to your work and the right schools for your kids. In addition to well-reputed public schools, the city is home to several private schools. Your agent can guide you on these and other important considerations when searching for the ideal place to call home.
When relocating to the city, you might find yourself on an upper floor. A professional moving team can make sure that all of your belongings make it to your apartment or condo unscathed. You can even have them pack and unpack for you to further reduce your moving stress.
One of the best ways to make the city your home is to enjoy the cultural offerings that attracted you there in the first place. Perhaps you want to listen to the local orchestra or symphony. On the other hand, your interests might lie in the more modern offerings the city has like visiting rap artists.
Although many city-dwellers find their rent, utilities and other expenses far higher than the rest of the state, the experience might be more affordable than you think. The city of Cleveland, OH, for example, is growing and has a cost of living below the national average. However, you will need to be sure you account for new expenses that can arise when living in the city. For instance, parking your car while at work.
When moving to the city, you will need to determine how you are going to get around each day. While owning a car makes sense in the suburbs, that is not necessarily the case for city residents. Fortunately, most cities have great options for you to travel throughout the year.
The walking habit is strong in many cities across the nation, as city-dwellers recognize the swift efficiency when compared to vehicles. Even in the snowy winter, many city sidewalks are filled by residents. Additionally, the public transportation system in the city provides much better options than suburbia. Buses, rails and subway systems are found in cities across the nation. Of course, if you want to stick with your car, there are plenty of roads and freeways for you to use!
One of the great things about moving to a city is the diverse population that lives there. While the numbers can vary from one city to the next, most boast an exciting array of residents. This contributes to diverse eateries and forms of entertainment when planning an evening out in the city.
While moving to the city after being in the suburbs can be a shock to your system, the city itself provides a wealth of opportunities not available elsewhere. Give yourself time to adjust and remember the reasons you moved in the first place. With proper planning, you will be on the path to happiness in your new home!


Another Confucian scholar who was a model of filial piety was Min Sun.
Min, who is listed in the Analects of Confucius as one of the foremost disciples, hailed from Lu, the home state of the master himself, which is in Shandong province.
The story of Min's renowned respect for all things family began when his mother passed away due to illness, and his father remarried.
They then had two sons.
His new mother, preferring her biological offsprings, made new wadded jackets for her two sons but only a thin coat padded with cattails, instead of cotton, for her stepson.
One day in winter, his father ordered Min to ride the cart.
Due to the bitterly cold weather, Min was shivering so badly that he dropped a rope.
That caused his father to look more closely at the causes of his behavior.
When his father found out the reason why his son was shivering so badly, he wanted to divorce and throw his wife and Min's stepbrothers out of the house.
Min pleaded with his father not to do so, saying: "If you keep my stepmother, it is only me who feels the cold; if you divorce her, it's the three of them who will get cold."
His father saw the wisdom of his thinking and refrained from acting against his wife.
When the stepmother heard of how his stepson had pleaded her case, she repented and changed her ways.
From then on, she treated him like she would her biological sons.
Three children are saved from wind and frost.
In previous columns, we have tried to make the point that constant quarreling among family members prevents them from enjoying good luck cycles.
This week we see a respect that turns resentment into positive energy and a win-win situation, with antisocial behavior changing very much for the better in a way that is conducive with the creation of harmony and luck.
Stop any feelings of resentment from forming if you want your luck and feng shui to change!
We often take resentment to the extreme, and we see cases of monster parenting, deliberate challenges against authority on the streets and so on collectively causing Hong Kong to lag in many sectors as well as a slowdown in the economy.
If only people can act more like Min, then better things will await us.


Americans are expected to spend a record amount on Valentine’s Day this year, despite a years-long decrease in the percentage of people celebrating the holiday, according to the annual survey by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
“Those who are participating are spending more than ever and that could be the result of the strong economy,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.
Those surveyed said they would spend an average of $161.96. That’s up 13 percent from last year’s $143.56 and easily tops the previous record of $146.84, which was set in 2016. Total spending is expected to be $20.7 billion, an increase of 6 percent over last year’s $19.6 billion that breaks the previous record of $19.7 billion, also set in 2016.
The spending increases come even though only 51 percent of Americans plan to celebrate the holiday, down from 55 percent last year and a high of 63 percent in 2007.
According to the survey, 52 percent of participants will be buying candy.
“It is a very important holiday for us. Not only do we make our regular candy but we do a lot of chocolate-covered strawberries — that is our specialty. In two days, we will dip between 150 and 200 pounds of strawberries,” said Jerry Moore, owner of Dutch Hill Chocolates, 1624 First Ave.
Valentine’s Day is also a big holiday for Tyrone-based Gardners Candies.
The survey also indicated about 35 percent of those celebrating will buy flowers.
“I have to say, being on Thursday makes myself and other florists more optimistic. It is the most demanding day of the year, whether inside the shop with prepping or the guys delivering. We have high expectations,” said Debbie Arnsparger, owner of Creative Expressions Florist, 3977 Sixth Ave.
Arnsparger said she will be selling more than roses.
Valentine’s Day is also very important to Peterman’s Flower Shop, 608 N. Fourth Ave.
Other local floral shops also expect to be busy.
“We expect a nice turnout because it is on a weekday rather than the weekend. It is one of our busiest holidays. Most people go out for dinner if on a weekend, but when it is during the week, a lot of people send flowers to her office or workplace,” said manager Chelsea Kerr of Kerr Kreations Floral and Gift Shoppe, 1417 11th Ave.
“It is the busiest day of the year for us. Roses are the big thing. A lot of people think roses are too expensive. They can get hanging plants that will last or a nice flower arrangement is an option. You can spend what you want,” said manager Roy Amrhein of Sunrise Floral & Gifts, 400 Beech Ave., which also sells gifts geared toward the guys.
About 34 percent of those celebrating will enjoy an evening out, according to the survey.
The Allegro Restaurant, 3926 Broad Ave., has been serving Valentine’s Day dinners for more than 40 years.
Only about 18 percent of those celebrating will purchase jewelry, but they will spend the most money — about $3.9 billion.
Local jewelers are excited about the holiday.
Mike Dorman, owner of Dorman’s Jewelry, 712 Pleasant Valley Blvd., said the holiday is pretty big for his store.
Beerbower Jewelers of Hollidaysburg is also ready for Valentine’s Day.
“I have plenty of items in stock to cover sales. It is better to shop early. We have some elastic fresh water pearl bracelets that are nice, diamond earrings, pendants and bracelets. Hearts are always popular and we also have the colored dipped roses that last a lifetime — people like them,” President Don Beerbower said.


Now, the chamber has a "Shop Local" campaign under way to bring business to local merchants over this year's holiday season.
Chamber director Penny Hoffman and chamber member Suzanne Brennan of Shoe La La pleaded their case to the town's selectmen last week, asking the selectmen to support their goal of hanging "Shop Local" banners in locations around town. They also want the temporary business sign fee charged for putting up the banners waived.
"There is a temporary commercial sign fee of $20, plus $5 for every square foot of the sign's size," said Zoning Enforcement Officer Richard Baldelli. "Along with that is a $30 fee for any zoning permit issued in Connecticut that goes to the state."
While the banners could be put up for a two-week period provided they are taken down and a new sign fee is paid for the following two weeks -- and they could be repeatedly put up for two-week periods up to four times in a calendar year -- Hoffman and Brennan want to see the banners go up and stay up for three months during the holiday season.
"It's cumbersome to constantly take them (the banners) down and put them back up," Hoffman said. "We want them to stay up and get people's attention. We're trying to promote business in Ridgefield."
The selectmen were sympathetic to the cause of promoting shopping locally, but were concerned about asking the ZBA to extend the two-week period the banners could hang to three months.
"We're extremely supportive of the banners," Selectman Di Masters said. "It's a wonderful marketing program. But what makes your town government non-corrupt is keeping regulations really clear. If we ask for this, we would be open to the accusation that we are prejudiced to your cause over other organizations' causes, like nonprofits who want to put up signs."
Masters said selectmen could help if there was a way to stay within the regulations that exist while supporting the chamber's plan.
Selectman Joan Plock agreed with Masters.
Economic Development Committee Chairman Bob Cascella had sent a letter to the selectmen supporting the banners staying up for three months.
Finally, the selectmen solved the issue by saying they would write a letter to the zoning board, asking it to waive the commercial sign fee and to do what could be done to let the banners stay up for three months.
Three 2-by-6-foot banners are planned, one at Copps Hill Shell, one at Ancona's Market in Branchville and one at a downtown location.


Madonna has landed back in Malawi for a charity visit in which she'll lay down the first bricks of her new $15 million school, the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls.
Accompanying the 51-year-old on her world mission are her two adorable adopted Malawian children Mercy James and David Banda, who will reportedly meet with their biological families during the visit.
The material girl has left the building.


Indian film star to promote the carrier in key markets such as the US and UK.
Abu Dhabi based carrier Etihad Airways has signed Indian film actress Katrina Kaif, as its new brand ambassador, the airline announced earlier this week.
Etihad Airways and Katrina Kaif will work on a series of initiatives to promote the airline across India and around the world, including addressing Indian communities in Etihad Airways’ key markets such as the UAE, the US and the UK, the carrier said in a statement on Wednesday.
Katrina Kaif is one of India's most successful actresses in recent times, having delivered hits like 'Namastey London', 'Partner', 'Singh is King' and 'Rajneeti'.
Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Our partnership with Katrina Kaif will help build Etihad’s brand name globally and further introduce our world-class products and services across India and to Indian communities around the world.
The carrier recently filmed an internet video with Katrina Kaif dancing in the airline’s First class lounge in Abu Dhabi, under the direction of award winning Indian film director and choreographer, Farah Khan, Etihad said.
The video, which has been distributed online across YouTube and various social networking sites, will be used to promote the partnership between Katrina and Etihad Airways throughout the campaign.
Katrina Kaif follows several other Bollywood icons who endorsed products and services in the UAE. In the past, film stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone have also lent their names to some of the prominent products and projects in the region.
For all the latest UAE news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and Linkedin, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.


After yet another day and another article describing someone in this wonder country being branded as being "politically incorrect," I cannot remain completely silent while Satan continues to make a complete mockery of Almighty God's creation.
"Politically incorrect" is nothing more than a Satanic term born in hell and sired by the Devil himself. There is no such thing as being "politically incorrect" or "correct." It simply does not exist.
Since the beginning of time, Lucifer, the fallen archangel, the once greatest "created" heavenly creature has been at war, bound and determined to destroy mankind. Beginning in the Garden of Eden and down through centuries of time, since Satan and his demonic angels were cast out of the Third Heaven, his main purpose is to destroy God's creation.
Wars and famines and the slaughter of millions have been Lucifer's reward. He is a powerful creature and he laughs when he is able to disrupt the lives of God's creation by simple putting an evil devilish thought in the minds of man and then standing back and watching that thought completely run amuck among human creatures.
Understand this: When someone makes a remark or calls you a name that you find to be insulting and offensive, then you have fallen right into Satan's hands. The problem is not between you and the one making the remark or calling you the name. The problem is between you and God. It is true that the one who made the remark also has a problem with their relationship with God, but if we would just live by the Word of God there would be no more outrage over what we call "insults" and what we consider to be "offensive."
Get out your Bible and turn to Psalm 119 verse 165 and read this" "Great Peace have they which love thy Law, and nothing shall offend them."
If you don't live by God's Word , then you are a pawn in Satan's hand.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is exploring whether it can use an obscure ethics rule to undermine the special counsel investigation into ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russia, two people familiar with White House thinking said on Friday.
Within hours of Mueller’s appointment on Wednesday, the White House began reviewing the Code of Federal Regulations, which restricts newly hired government lawyers from investigating their prior law firm’s clients for one year after their hiring, the sources said.
An executive order signed by Trump in January extended that period to two years.
Mueller’s former law firm, WilmerHale, represents Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who met with a Russian bank executive in December, and the president’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who is a subject of a federal investigation.
Legal experts said the ethics rule can be waived by the Justice Department, which appointed Mueller. He did not represent Kushner or Manafort directly at his former law firm.
If the department did not grant a waiver, Mueller would be barred from investigating Kushner or Manafort, and this could greatly diminish the scope of the probe, experts said.
The Justice Department is already reviewing Mueller’s background as well as any potential conflicts of interest, said department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores.
Even if the Justice Department granted a waiver, the White House would consider using the ethics rule to create doubt about Mueller’s ability to do his job fairly, the sources said. Administration legal advisers have been asked to determine if there is a basis for this.
Under this strategy, the sources said the administration would raise the issue in press conferences and public statements.
Moreover, the White House has not ruled out the possibility of using the rule to challenge Mueller’s findings in court, should the investigation lead to prosecution.
But the administration is now mainly focused on placing a cloud over his reputation for independence, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Kathleen Clark, a professor of legal ethics at Washington University School of Law, said the Justice Department can grant a waiver if concerns about bias are minimal.
She said subjects of the investigation could later argue that its results cannot be trusted, but she believes the argument would not stand up in court.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether it is reviewing the ethics rule in order to undermine Mueller’s credibility.
Mueller’s former colleagues at WilmerHale, James Quarles and Aaron Zebley, are expected to join his investigation, according to a spokeswoman for the law firm. Neither Quarles nor Zebley represented Kushner or Manafort.
Mueller will now lead the ongoing Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into Trump’s associates and senior Russian officials.
Unlike Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel appointed by a three-judge panel to investigate Bill and Hillary Clinton’s real estate holdings in the 1990s, Mueller depends on the Justice Department for funding and he reports to Rosenstein, who was appointed by Trump.


Registration for fall programs in the city’s Leisure Guide begins first thing Tuesday morning.
As in recent years, registration for swimming lessons will be the only program the public can register for on August 27 to alleviate the demand on the reservation system.
Registration will begin at 8 a.m. and continue on Wednesday, August 28 at 8 a.m. for all other programs, including swimming.
The City of Winnipeg accepts registration online with a valid PIN and login ID (call 311 in advance), in-person, by mail or by calling 311.
Find the most convenient way to register by visiting Winnipeg.ca.


An Oct 21 file photo of Thai fortune teller Suriyan Sucharitpholwong (in blue), 54, also known as Mor Yong, arriving at a military court in Bangkok. The fortune teller, who was charged with royal defamation, died in military custody, officials said yesterday. This is the second time in weeks that a person involved in an investigation into palace intrigue has died.


Sunday’s magnitude-6.0 earthquake caused an estimated $300 million in damages to homes and private buildings, according to Napa city leaders’ most recent assessment released Wednesday.
The dollar figure includes only private structures, and not the damage to public buildings or general economic loss, according to the city report.
City leaders also said 113 buildings have been added to the red-tag list of buildings deemed uninhabitable, and 83 water lines still need to be fixed.
In addition, 500 buildings were still on the yellow tag list of buildings that people could go inside, but at their own risk.
The numbers keep moving, and the city created a map to try to reflect the most current figures, showing where all the problems are, and when they're being fixed. As of Wednesday, PG&E reported all customers had their power back on, down from a peak of 70,000 customers who had no electricity.
And most all Napa students headed back to public school for the first time since the earthquake.
In terms of the human toll from the quake that struck at 3:20 a.m. Sunday, 209 patients were treated at Queen of the Valley Hospital, with 18 admitted for some period of time. Most injuries were orthopedic.
Thirteen-year-old Nicholas Dillon was one of those patients was airlifted to UC Davis Children's Hospital, and despite a pelvic fracture, he was feeling lucky that things were not worse.
No one died during the quake, the largest one to hit the Bay Area in 25 years.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED: Napa is updating its numbers and providing phone numbers on who to call on the city website.


Survey finds blacks are about 50% more likely to get hired but get paid about $10,000 less.
Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this report misstated the salary difference between older candidates and younger ones.
SAN FRANCISCO — Being African American in the technology industry can cost you $10,000 a year.
That's one of the findings from a salary survey out Thursday from Hired, an online job marketplace.
The average African-American candidate is nearly 50% more likely to get hired in tech but gets paid about $10,000 less in San Francisco and New York, putting black tech workers at a significant disadvantage, even compared to other minority groups.
The survey found that the average Latino candidate is 26% less likely to get hired than the average white candidate and the average Asian candidate is 45% less likely. But the salaries for both are more in line with white candidates, with Latinos receiving $5,000 less, and Asians receiving $2,000 less on average.
Age is also a major factor. Candidates 45 and over begin to see average salaries decline and also receive fewer job offers. Companies offer an average of $132,000 to candidates between the ages of 50 and 60, which is essentially what they’re offering to candidates who are ten years younger.
Previous studies have found that Hispanics, Asians and blacks do not get equal pay for equal work in the high-tech industry.
This is something of a paradox for an industry that prides itself on being a meritocracy where anyone with smarts, ambition and hard work can make it, regardless of gender, race, nationality or class.
Silicon Valley is struggling to bring more women and underrepresented minorities into the fold. Analyses by USA TODAY and others show the mostly white and Asian male tech sector employs far fewer women and underrepresented minorities than other industries, particularly in Silicon Valley.
Hired found that the average white candidate in software engineering roles in San Francisco and New York requests a salary of $126,000 and ultimately receives an average offer of $125,000. While African-American candidates are much more likely to get hired, in part due to diversity initiatives in the tech industry, they are asking for and receiving a significantly lower salary: $115,000 in San Francisco and $113,000 in New York.
The salary data in the survey reflected more than 280,000 interview requests and job offers from the past year on the Hired platform of more than 5,000 participating companies and 45,000 job seekers.


The great wave of Chinese people quitting the Communist Party indicates that this foreign ideology that has killed tens of millions of people in China is certain to meet its demise, says a global centre dedicated to helping people recognize the destructive character of communism and to withdraw from the Party.
“Since coming to China from the West, the Communist Party has not only caused the death of 80 million people under its tyranny, but has also used violence to destroy the traditional cultural and spiritual foundation that humankind has relied on for its existence since ancient times,” said Shin Qihua in a statement read at an event in Ottawa on May 6 organized by the Tuidang Centre, a U.S.-based non-profit whose English name is the Global Service Centre for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“The three withdrawals indicate that the Chinese Communist Party is collapsing and a new era for the Chinese nation is certain to arrive,” the statement noted.
Shin, a coordinator of the local Ottawa Tuidang Centre, was speaking at a rally on Parliament Hill, one of numerous events across Canada and worldwide marking the milestone of 300 million Chinese people having renounced their ties to the CCP and its affiliated organizations: the Young Pioneers and the Communist Youth League.
The Communist Youth League is a group for high school and university students and the Young Pioneers is a corresponding group for children aged 6 to 14. When they join they have to take a vow to dedicate their lives to the Party and the cause of communism.
At the rally, participants one after another spoke on the CCP’s ongoing history of killing and the importance of cutting ties with such an evil ideology and organization.
“When the Chinese raise their fists to make a vow to dedicate their whole lives to the cause of communism, they are binding themselves with the CCP. Yet Heaven is bound to punish the CCP, because there is no evil it will not commit. As a member, you will be implicated,” said 70-year-old Zhang Hailun.
Zhang has been a volunteer of the local Ottawa Tuidang Centre for nearly 10 years, coming to Parliament Hill rain or shine to talk to Chinese visitors from around the world and to advise them to quit their memberships in the CCP and affiliated organizations.
One speaker read an excerpt from the “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party,” an editorial series published by The Epoch Times in 2004, which is notably the first time such a publication has been made accessible to the public providing a thorough and complete history of the CCP.
Many writings on communism focus on its history of killing and mass murder, such as Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1962, which led to more deaths than those under Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. The “Nine Commentaries” goes further, explaining the sweeping tragedy of destruction of society’s morality under the Party and noting that this is the greatest danger facing humanity.
As the book explains, destroying people’s morality is precisely how the CCP destroys people—by suppressing the good side of human nature so that people no longer believe the traditional Chinese principle that Heaven will ultimately reward good deeds and punish bad deeds.
The publication of the editorial series prompted the Tuidang movement that has since grown rapidly, reaching the 300-million mark on March 23. The movement led to the founding of the Tuidang Centre in New York in 2007.
A statement from the centre explained that Tuidang is not a political movement but rather private acts by individuals who have begun to think for themselves and awaken to their own conscience.
“Withdrawing from the Party is not about participating in politics. Neither is it about seizing power,” the statement said, noting that those who withdraw come from all walks of life, including officials from various levels of the CCP and government agencies.