"They kind of just like took over this neighborhood this morning."
BOISE -- A herd of goats caused a stir Friday morning after they escaped their enclosure and went on a snacking tour through a West Boise neighborhood.
Residents say the 118 adult and baby goats first showed up on Summerwind Drive off of Five Mile Road at about 7 a.m.
Ben Dunn said he found out about the goat invasion when his mother rousted him from his bed.
"My mom was shaking me up like crazy, and she was like 'Ben, come outside!' and I was like 'what, what?'" he said. "I looked out, and I was like, 'oh dang.'"
The hungry herd moved from lawn to lawn, chewing down grass, munching on rosebushes and stripping low-hanging branches bare.
"Half the neighborhood's lawn has been cut - I mean, mowing for free!" Dunn said. "It's kind of funny to see them in the road a ton, like not even caring about the cars."
The goats quickly attracted a crowd, as neighbors emerged to snap photos and pet the friendly animals. Animal Control officers responded with a single truck, but quickly realized that would not be enough.
A herd of 118 adult and baby goats got loose in a West Boise neighborhood on Friday, August 3. They wandered from home to home, eating everything in sight on Summerwind Drive off of Five Mile Road at about 7 a.m.
At first, residents told KTVB they weren't sure where the goats had come from.
As it turns out, the goats were the property of local company We Rent Goats, which dispatches the herds to clear weeds and suppress plant growth on public and private land.
Kim Gabica, who owns We Rent Goats along with her husband Matt, said the goats had been grazing on a nearby storm retention pond when they made their escape.
"They managed to break through the fence and go on a little adventure to meet the neighbors," she said.
The Gabicas rolled up with a trailer, and worked with the neighbors to round up the goats and load them into the truck. An escape of Friday's magnitude is rare, Kim Gabica said.
"They're very creative escape artists, sometimes, so just when you think you have all the containment figured out, they find a way that you didn't think of," she said.
The (human) kids in the neighborhood didn't seem to mind.
Grace and Ethan King said their dad was the first person to alert them to the goats outside.
"When we walked around the corner, we didn't realize how many goats there would be," Grace said said. "They kind of just like took over this neighborhood this morning."
Alyssa Dowdy said she got a text from a friend about "a whole bunch of goats."
"I went crazy, and I came outside," she said.
Although some members of the herd are shy, Gabica said, many of the goats are "fairly social, and like a good scratch on the neck."
Luckily, the neighborhood was ready to deliver. Ben Dunn said he had no plans to tear himself away from the unexpected petting zoo "until someone drags me inside, or until they're taken away."
Ultimately, the herd's great escape came to an end, although We Rent Goats says the fence will need repairs before they can return to grazing the retention pond.
Even as the excitement on Summerwind began to die down, Zander Holyoak said he couldn't wait to tell his friends about his unusual morning.
"I'm probably going to tell them that I saw the most wild thing ever," he said.


So, on the 1-yard line, in the biggest game of your career, on the world’s biggest stage, with time running out, will you be like Butler?
Leading up to this season, Malcolm Butler went undrafted by every team. He then remained unsigned after the first wave of undrafted pickups. Had he let this 33-yard reception get the better of his mind, it could have also been his ticket out of the NFL quickly – it would have defined his career, by ending it swiftly.
It’s almost as if Butler took a page from a basketball playbook of legends – that of Coach K at Duke. This esteemed, long-tenured coach has a ritual: he declares “Next Play” after every single play in all of his games. It’s his way of signifying to his team that no matter what happened previously – good or bad – it’s time to focus on the task at hand. When players allow their minds to wander to a previous action, their intensity wanes and performance plummets.
Same holds in business. We have ups. We have downs. We need to have the focus of Bulter - the ability to let go of previous successes or setbacks - such that we can be 100% fully-engaged and be able to perform at our peak. Did you just let up a 33-yarder to a competitor? OK – move on. Get yourself mentally prepared for an interception and the signup of a new client, who changed over from your arch rival. Likewise, did you just score a winning touchdown and win a major award for research in your field?! Great – but move on. The “next play” deserves your full attention, and you can’t provide that if you’re still resting on your laurels and relishing in past wins.
Success happens (or is lost) in those magical moments, and we won't even notice them unless we are fully aware and present. So, on the 1-yard line, in the biggest game of your career, on the world’s biggest stage, with time running out, will you be like Butler? Don't squander your own success – focus on the next play.


Charming ranch style 2011 4b 2b home on 17.5 +- ag exempt acres to be surveyed out of a larger tract in Hico, TX. This 1,792 sqft home has stained concrete floors throughout, open living room area, and nice counter space in the kitchen. The dining room is currently being used as a 5th bedroom. The front porch is covered, and the back porch is open and is a great place to enjoy the country lifestyle and views. There are scattered mature Elm, Cedar, Mesquite, Live Oak, and a small grove of big pretty Paper Shell Pecan trees. The grass is Native and Bermuda on sandy loam and some clay. There is a seasonal pond on the southeast side of the property surrounded by large mature oak trees. Bring the family and animals!


Bahrain has prequalified 13 international and regional firms to build a water desalination and power plant, the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) said.
The Addur plant will have capacity of at least 500 MW of power by 2010, increasing to as much as 2,000 MW the following year, the London-based magazine reported on its Web site on Wednesday.
It did not say where it got the information.
The prequalified firms include the UK's International Power, Japan's Sumitomo Corp, Korea Electric Power Corp, India's Reliance Energy Ltd, France's Suez and Abu Dhabi Energy Company (Taqa).
Demand for water and electricity in Bahrain is rising as a construction boom sweeps the region, fuelled by oil income.


The Tonganoxie Police Department is at Sixth and Church streets.
Greg Lawson is the next Tonganoxie police chief.
City officials announced his hire last week.
According to a pres release Lawson’s hire came after an extensive and competitive search that attracted 33 applicants.
Lawson was the top choice of two finalists after a tiered interview process that included final interviews conducted by two Blue Ribbon Committees, one comprised of public safety personnel and the other of community representatives.
Lawson’s commitment to public safety and the citizens of the community he serves made him a strong candidate for this position, the release said.
After earning his Associate’s degree in liberal arts from Kansas City Kansas Community College, Lawson went to work for the Kansas City Kansas Police Department.
Lawson grew up in Tonganoxie and is excited for the opportunity to use his 28 years of experience with the Kansas City Kansas Police Department here.
“I’m really anxious to serve a community made up of such great people, and to work at another incredible police agency,” he said. “The folks here have always made it feel like home”.
Lawson started Monday. He replaced Jeff Brandau, who retired earlier this year from the department.


Officers called for a fatal overdose in an Easton home found evidence of a crack and marijuana dealing business inside, city police said.
Police said they were called Nov. 12, 2017, to the home at 355 W. Nesquehoning St. for an unresponsive male and found a man dead of a possible overdose.
Malik Williams, 19, died of an accidental overdose of synthetic fentanyl and marijuana, Northampton County Coroner Zach Lysek said.
Do you know any of these priests accused of sexual assault? Tell us where they served.
Three of the five dioceses in New Jersey released information on where the priests "credibly accused" of sexually assaulting children served. The two others did not. Tell us if you know any of these names.
Detectives said there was a strong odor of marijuana in the home, as well as a digital scale, blunt wrappers and marijuana in a locked room that belonged to Taris Choice, who owns the property.
Police applied for a search warrant for the home, and said they later found amounts of crack and marijuana consistent with selling the drugs, as well as a digital scale and glassine baggies.
Charges against the 43-year-old Choice weren’t filed until Jan. 23, and he was arraigned in the case on Tuesday.
Choice is charged with two counts of possession with intent to deliver, and a single count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
He is free after posting 10 percent of $15,000 bail. Choice’s attorney, Steve Mills, was out of the office Wednesday afternoon and could not be reached for comment on the case.


A new report forecasts that online video viewing around the world will rise by one-fifth in 2017.
Zenith’s Online Video Forecasts 2017 report estimates that consumers will spend an average of 47.4 minutes a day viewing online video this year -- up from 39.6 minutes in 2016. The report attributes the lift to the abundance of video content on platforms including Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, and Facebook.
The report also projects that mobile video viewing will increase by 35% to 28.8 minutes per day in 2017, and will rise by 25% in 2018 and 29% in 2019. Viewing on PCs, laptops, and smart TVs is projected to increase by 2% to 20.3 minutes.
In addition, the report estimates that online video advertising will grow 23% to $27.2 billion. However, annual growth peaked at 37% in 2014. And by 2019, online video will account for 31% of total expenditures on digital display advertising, up from 28% in 2017, and 21% in 2012.
2 comments about "Worldwide Online Video Consumption, Advertising To Rise By One-Fifth".
Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, July 18, 2017 at 7:02 p.m.
Tobi, I must assume that the 47 minutes per day on digital video "viewing" that you are reporting refers not to the average person---like in the total population---butonly to those who watch such videos on a typical day----which is not by any means the total consumer population. Can you clarify, please?
Tobi Elkin from MediaPost replied, July 18, 2017 at 10:36 p.m.


Snapchat’s new video specs are going like hotcakes, showing promising signs it won’t be another Google Glass-like disappointment. Yet, amid the Spectacles hype, privacy breach concerns seem to be underestimated.
It has been a full week since Snapchat-maker Snap, Inc. started selling its brand new $129 Spectacles from a vending machine – Snapbots – in Venice, California, right outside the company’s headquarters.
Snapbots are the only way to buy Spectacles, and they keep moving from spot to spot. Snap is doing a great job of keeping people on the edge of their seats with an interactive map on a dedicated webpage.
Snap’s idea of video-recording glasses is not a new one. Google pioneered it with its glasses in 2013, selling for over $1,500, but they did not last long. The company discontinued its “Glass experiment” in January 2015, in part because of safety and privacy concerns.
Snap has taken a more affable approach to pricing and tried to avoid a geeky look and safety worries. However, privacy and surveillance concerns are still here.
Equipped with two internet-enabled cameras, bright fancy-looking Spectacles let its owner record 10-second videos of whatever they see right here, right now, then send it to other Snapchat accounts.
However, no one guarantees private information won’t make it to social media and leak further onto the internet.
Here, Spectacles-users risk turning into those, who in Google Glass times were called "Glassholes,” meaning people behaving inappropriately when wearing them in public. In fact, the term was accepted by Google, and the company even had to issue guidelines on how to use its glasses.
Spectacles? What a terrible idea. Good luck protecting your privacy. Plus you have to keep pressing the button to record longer videos.
Ferrante explained that users just don’t give a second thought when they record videos and don’t think about location, facial and voice recognition data that is being captured as well. Someone is bound to make a spectacle of themselves, or others.


Those crazy kids at Readymade can show us how to make almost everything all right. In this case: Tom Deckert provides an eco-friendly DIY project safe for small children and tipsy in-laws alike.
2. Frost them with gum arabic (nontoxic and available at art supply stores).
3. Dust the fronds with flour.
4. Voila! Make a pretty tree.
5. After all the fun ends, compost or place those pinecones right back where you found 'em.


DARTMOUTH — Judiciously looking ahead to the not-so-far-away fall town meeting, Budget & Finance Director Gregory Barnes gave the Select Board a heads up on likely warrant articles for the annual autumn session of town business.
In the financial arena, the second half of the fiscal year’s capital improvements plan will be the major funding request on the warrant. The numbers are being tweaked, but more than $1 million in town funding will be sought for road work for the first time in town history.
The town has made “significant progress in the past decade on rehabbing main roads and bringing them up to par,” he noted. Now, the problem is rebuilding the miles of aging side roads, Barnes confirmed, echoing points made by the Department of Public Works in a recent Chronicle story.
“A lot of the subdivisions are aging at the same time,” and will need some expensive attention in the near future, said Barnes, who has also been serving as co-interim town administrator since the departure earlier this year of David Cressman.
A hefty transfer of available funds to the stabilization fund will also be sought at town meeting, keeping with the longstanding fiscal policy of maintaining at least 7.5 percent of the annual General Fund budget in reserve.
Administrators will seek an appropriation for the continuing conversion of town-owned streetlights to energy-saving LED fixtures, as part of the annual replacement plan, Barnes also reported.
Likely to provoke some debate is the expected presentation of a recreational “adult-use” marijuana facility licensing bylaw, and accompanying zoning regulations for facilities including retail sales outlets, cultivation and processing operations, or testing labs and edible product manufacturing.
The town has already approval medical marijuana businesses in industrial zones; Dartmouth’s current moratorium on recreational marijuana business licensing expires in December, Barnes noted.
Of course, the question of potential revenue for the town treasury if town meeting members approve zoning and bylaw changes for any or all of the potential recreational facilities mentioned was quickly asked.
Under state law, the town is permitted to assess up to 3 percent local sales tax on any medical marijuana retail transactions, the budget director said. He would recommend the same maximum taxes on recreational pot businesses if the measures pass town meeting.
Most communities issuing licenses are also charging set per-pound fees for wholesale sales by cultivators for both medical and recreational marijuana who don’t have local retail outlets. Some cities and towns are approving just cultivation and research facilities, testing labs and edible product manufacturing, but not retail outlets or cannabis cafes where on-site use is allowed.
The Planning Board will finalize its recommendations on zoning and licensing after a public hearing on the final draft. The decisions on the amended rules for various options will be decided by town meeting members.
While Barnes said the marijuana sales tax money is “a welcome new revenue source for the town,” he doubts it will be a great windfall for the town treasury. Certainly not as much as the solar farm power revenues the town has been growing in recent years, Barnes suggested.
“It wouldn’t be as much (revenue) as many people think it would be” with a small number of recreational business licenses, he added, declining to mention any projected numbers.
“Whatever it is, we’ll take it,” quipped Selectman Frank Gracie, a former Finance Committee chair always looking for possible sources of revenues.
There was some debate among board members as to the request to grant Eversource Energy a permanent easement over town property for the installation of utility lines to the new police station on Tucker Road. Town counsel and some selectmen are wary of giving a permanent easement, suggesting some kind of use license might be a better alternative.
Another expected warrant article will ask to formally transfer town-owned property on Cross Road from selectmen’s custody to the Library Building Committee, finalizing plans for the construction of a new branch library next to Potter Elementary School.
Set for the agenda of the July 23 Select Board meeting is discussion of whether to include an article on the possible demolition or sale of the old police station on Russells Mills Road. Re-zoning the property is another option up for debate.
One or two recommended appropriations of Community Preservation Act funds may also be coming from the Community Preservation Committee, Barnes said.
Selectman Gracie recommended a new look at the recent Municipal Facilities Study, which assessed condition and re-use options for a number of sites, including the closed police station.


VMware's updated virtualisation offering for Mac OS X.
Good as Apple computers are, there are times when even the most ardent Mac user needs to [gulp] run Windows.
It might be due to a legacy app, or to try out a new version of Windows, or to provide support for employees using Microsoft-ware.
Enter the recently released VMware Fusion 6, which has now been released as a ‘Professional’ version on top of the more retail oriented Standard version, following the company’s strategy from the earlier version of the hypervisor.
With out IT admin hat on we set out to ask: Can Fusion deliver, in a virtual machine, a good enough Windows experience on a Mac that you can forego dual-boot?
After trying out Fusion 6, we’re inclined to say that the few cons of running a Windows client operating system in a hypervisor are easily weighed up by the pros of easy management and deployment. VMware has polished its offering considerably, making the user experience near-native.
Beyond a few edge-cases - games and graphics applications and the odd exotic device - VMWare Fusion 6 blurs the lines between Windows and OS X to such a degree that you might consider kissing the dual-booting of a Mac goodbye.
Expiry dates for virtual machines you have deployed and ‘single VM mode’ to limit what can be done with the systems.
Linked clones that allow you you test different configurations for virtual machines without having to duplicate them, saving a great deal in disk space.
Fusion 6 Professional offers fine-grained controls and policies to securely deliver Windows apps to Mac OS X desktops, even those pesky old XP apps that your team hasn’t got around to remediating just yet.
The product also support bring your own device scenarios as it comes bundled with VMware Player 6. That might prove handy should you want to run restricted virtual machines for external contractors, for example.
Fusion 6 Professional supports large-scale deployment with Apple config tools such as System Image Utility and Netinstall and third-party tools like LANRev and Casper. Volume key licensing is also available.
Fusion 6 also supports Ubuntu Linux and can run virtual machines created by VMware Workstation and Player, making it an attractive option for the virtualisation virtuoso needing to test these in non-production environments before deployment.
Installing Fusion 6 was quick and easy on my first test machine, a late 2013 Apple iMac 27” with 8GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 3.2GHz running OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. VMware lists Fusion 6 as compatible with Mountain Lion’s successor (OS X Mavericks), but we did not have a copy of Apple's new operating system to test this claim on.
While our test machine wasn’t the top spec iMac, it should be ample enough to run a host OS and a few guest virtual machines.
If you plan to run multiple virtual machines frequently with demanding operating systems, I’d recommend having at least 16GB RAM to give them some breathing space. The performance limiters for Fusion 6 appears to be the amount of memory and disk speed rather than processing power. The Western Digital WD10EZES 7200 rpm disk in the iMac is pretty quick, but running several virtual machines bogged down the system as they competed for disk I/O. This was made worse as I got close to the 8GB limit of the host system.
To illustrate: I found that an SSD-equipped Macbook Pro from 2012 was far more responsive than the iMac, with several virtual machines running and handling the disk I/O. The trade-off, in my scenario, was that I had far less space to store them.
While Fusion 6 grows the disk files as needed to the specified maximum (40GB by default for OS X, 60GB for Windows 8.1) and doesn’t use space until it is required, you can still find yourself with very large files, several gigabytes in size, to store.
In any case, installing virtual machines in Fusion 6 is very simple: obtain an image file or optical disc, and a few clicks later, the installation is in full swing.
Once they have been set up, Fusion 6 provides an Apple-style preferences panel that allows you to set various features for virtual machines, add (virtual) hardware and choose how many processor cores and memory each can consume.
You can also configure virtual machines at the time you create them via the ‘customise settings’ option, instead of reconfiguring them afterwards.
What’s missing is an easy way to set up a template with your own preferred configuration to reuse later.
Overall, the configuration process works fairly well, but resizing virtual disks on both new and existing virtual machines can be a lengthy process on standard physical hard drives.
VMware has upped the resources available in Fusion 6 considerably from Fusion 5: the number of virtual CPUs has doubled to 16, and each VM can have eight terabytes of disk (up from two in v5.0) and 64 gigabyte of RAM (up from eight gigabytes in v5.0). It’s a big step up.
The product supports USB 2 and 3, and gives users a choice of attaching devices to the virtual machines or the host system.
This works for iPhones as well, which means you can pair different devices to different virtual machines. Clever.
Fusion 6 does provide 3D acceleration which is used by many applications to draw graphics on the screen. This works reasonably well in Windows 8.1, which sees a virtual graphics adapter with DirectX9.0c capabilities, and support for Shader Model 3 support and OpenGL 2.1.
Linux also gets OpenGL 2.1 for 3D acceleration, but not OS X. This caused a surprising number of apps - from third-party media players like VLC to browsers like Chrome and Firefox - to chuck a hissy fit and refuse to display certain content.
Thunderbolt and Firewire are unfortunately not directly supported by Fusion 6. But you can access these ports if the host computer recognises them and sets up the interfaces.


Five outstanding women will be recognized for their work in the community.
The 2019 Women Impacting the Community Awards Banquet presented by the Hendersonville Area Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Pest Protection will take place on Feb. 21 from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at Bluegrass Yacht and Country Club.
This event is dedicated to encouraging and empowering female business professionals to create heartfelt, meaningful relationships with one another that will in turn strengthen their communities. The event will be emceed by News Channel 4 anchor Holly Thompson and consist of a networking luncheon, guest speakers Ginger Jones of Jones Therapy Services and productivity coach Mridu Parikh, awards and a chance to "Kick Off Your Heels."
During the event, five outstanding women will be recognized for their work in the community. The categories are professional, education, nonprofit or civic organization, young professional, and healthcare. The chamber took nominations in each of five categories and these women were nominated by their peers.
Early Bird Tickets are now available and are $30 for members and $35 for non-members. Yes, men are welcome — women are just required. They can be purchased at www.hendersonvillechamber.com. For more information or to sponsor this event, please contact events@hendersonvillechamber.com or call 615-824-2818.


This one crossed my inbox this morning, but my colleague Larry Dignan was quicker on the uptake. He's got an article over at SmartPlanet about a new survey released by Accenture.
This one crossed my inbox this morning, but my colleague Larry Dignan was quicker on the uptake. He's got an article over at SmartPlanet about a new survey released by Accenture. The high-level results, which represent the opinions of about 9,000 consumers from all over the world, indicate that many people are skeptical of technologies that would automatically adjust their energy usage -- unless there was a demonstrable cost-savings associated with letting this happen. For example, about one-quarter of the respondents said they would be willing to give their electricity provider remote control over their consumption (such as in periods of peak demand) ONLY if they were offered a discount of 10 percent on their energy bill.
In perhaps an even sadder statement on just how much people trust their utility companies: Only 29 percent of the respondents said they trust their energy providers' advice related to energy efficiency best practices.
More details in the SmartPlanet story.


Has well on property and old septic system from double wide that used to be on property. Seller does not warranty well or septic system. Show anytime.
Privacy on 5 acres. This 2BR/1BA home has an open floor plan with wood flooring in the living room, dining and kitchen. Kitchen had plenty of white cabinets with a large bar and separate island. Downstairs has a large family room and 2 car garage.


Lawro's opponent for the latest round of Premier League fixtures are Creed stars Michael B Jordan & Tony Bellew.
Everton fan and professional boxer Bellew plays 'Pretty' Ricky Conlan in the film, that sees Sylvester Stallone reprise his role as the former world heavyweight champion Rocky Balboa.
Balboa is trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson - played by Jordan - the son of his former rival Apollo Creed.
"At one point Ricky was going to be a Liverpool fan," Bellew told BBC Sport. "I said I can't play a Liverpool fan because, if I do that, I cannot go home.
"We got Everton involved instead and I am so happy because the club have given me so much - I have been around Europe watching them and I have supported them since I was a baby - so I feel I have given something back by getting their ground and the club's badge global exposure in this film."
California-born Jordan says listening to Bellew has made him a Toffees supporter too, and explained: "I am an honorary Evertonian now. I cannot speak in a Scouse accent but I can understand it."
You can hear more from Jordan and Bellew on Football Focus at 12:10 GMT on Saturday on BBC One and the BBC Sport website.
From the midweek Premier League games, Lawro got four correct results from 10 matches, with no perfect scores.
His score of 40 points saw him beat comedian and actor Elis James, who picked one correct result, and a state-of-the-art sports-forecasting super-computer called SAM (Sports Analytics Machine), that picked three correct results.
SAM was built by Professor Ian McHale, Dr Georgi Boshnakov and Tarak Kharrat from the Centre for Sports Business at the University of Salford.


The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff winner. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise, and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers it to be one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The trophy was commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada who donated it as an award to Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. The entire Stanley family supported the sport, the sons and daughters all playing and promoting the game. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to Montreal Hockey Club, and winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play. Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. In 1915, professional ice hockey organizations National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) reached a gentlemen's agreement in which their respective champions would face each other annually for the Stanley Cup. It was established as the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926 and then the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947.
Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman will return to the Detroit Red Wings as GM. He played for the Wings from 1983-2006, winning three Stanley Cups as captain.
All four of USA TODAY Sports' NHL panelists picked the Lightning to win the Stanley Cup. Instead, they got swept in Round 1. What the heck happened?
Brooks Orpik scored less than two minutes into overtime, Alex Ovechkin had two assists and the Washington Capitals beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 to give the..
The NHL playoffs are now in full force and some trends may have emerged. These are the early winners and losers on the quest for the Stanley Cup.
Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin combined to score three goals on the first eight shots, and the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals survived a..


Money Morning's oversold stock pick of the week is careers website provider Dice Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DHX).
Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald thinks Dice stock is misunderstood by Wall Street. He thinks DHX stock is well-positioned to gain from a particular trend developing in Europe.
Dice Holdings traces its roots to a company called Data Processing Independent Consultants Exchange, which launched in San Francisco in 1990. Originally it was a consulting firm for recruiters and technical contractors. In 1996 the company transitioned to the Internet and acquired the address "dice.com." Earthweb, which provided career development resources to IT professionals, acquired Dice in 1999. The deal moved the headquarters to New York. Two years later the parent company changed its name to Dice, Inc. The company went private in 2003, and started to acquire other job search companies. Dice became public again with an IPO in 2007. And it kept buying companies; it has made 11 acquisitions since 2004. Today Dice Holdings operates job web sites around the world that specialize in industries such as tech, financial services, security clearance, healthcare, hospitality, and energy. It makes money by charging companies to list on these sites, where they can target the exact type of workers they need. Dice also runs targeted job fairs. The company employs about 830 people. Dice has a market cap of $465 million.
Dice stock is down 25% since last November. The first leg of the fall began in response to the drop in oil prices. That sounds crazy, but two of Dice's job websites, Rigzone and OilCareers, focus on the energy sector. When it became clear oil companies would need to scale back in response to the decline in oil prices, DHX stock began to feel sympathy pains. That took 13.4% out of the Dice stock price. Then Dice reported earnings on Jan. 27. The company slightly missed on both income and revenue. But guidance was the real kicker. The company forecast for 2015 earnings was several cents lower than what analysts had projected. On top of that, the company said margins would contract in 2015. That flurry of punches dropped Dice stock 16% over the following three trading sessions. And aside from disappointing Wall Street, investors also are worried that the growth of LinkedIn Corp. (Nasdaq: LNKD) will come at the expense of the sites that Dice runs.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Funding to battle the Zika virus faces a struggle in the U.S. Senate this week, with Democrats scornful of a Republican proposal they say short-changes the challenge posed by the mosquito-borne virus as well as other health priorities.
The U.S. House of Representatives last week approved the Republican plan providing $1.1 billion to fight the Zika virus. But the proposal drew a veto threat from the White House as it falls short of President Barack Obama's $1.9 billion funding request, and makes $750 million in budget cuts elsewhere.
A Senate procedural vote is expected Tuesday on the Republican plan. But with key minority Senate Democrats opposed, the bill may not clear the procedural hurdle, Senate Democratic aides said. This could delay any action to combat Zika until after next week's July 4th national holiday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, warned Democrats Monday against opposing the bill, saying that it "represents the last chance we will have to address Zika for weeks."
Democrats have been urging Republicans for months to agree to more Zika funding, and the Obama administration has already reprogrammed nearly $600 million that had been set aside to fight another virus, Ebola.
But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said Monday that the minority had "no choice" but to oppose the Republican legislation. Among other things, Democrats were unhappy that the proposal would not allow funding to go to private entities such as the women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood.
There have not yet been any cases reported of local transmission of the Zika virus in the continental United States, but there have been more than 1,800 cases of Zika infection reported in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.
Health experts expect local transmission to occur in the continental United States as mosquito season gets underway with warmer weather.
Democrats were upset that $543 million of the $1.1 billion provided by the bill would come from unspent funds set aside for implementing Obamacare in U.S. territories, while $107 million would come from unused funds to fight Ebola.
Another $100 million would come from unused administrative funds at the Department of Health and Human Services.
An earlier bipartisan bill that passed the Senate last month would also have provided $1.1 billion to combat Zika, but without cutting money elsewhere.


Hey! Rick Perlstein’s final (?) volume in his account of the rise of the modern conservative movement, The Invisible Bridge, is coming out on August 5. How did I not know this until now?
In any case, this is good news. I’ll have something good to read in August. And so will you.
Just signed contract to write fourth and final volume taking story through 1980 election.
Hmmm. This is sounding very Game-of-Thrones-ish. It keeps expanding. When volume 4 is released, will we learn that Rick decided the 1980 election really deserved a book 5 all of its own?
In any case, I’ve long felt that that the 70s are one of the most underrated decades. An awful lot of what’s happened since was germinated in the froth of the 70s. It was a decade in which a lot of things—political, cultural, and economic—were in flux; and whether we knew it or not, we were making choices that determined which direction we were going to take over the next few decades. I’m looking forward to Rick’s take on this.


It seems Guitar Hero is going down the path of Singstar, Sims, Survivor...and releasing a new version right around every time Jung takes his bi-monthly shower.
If you've watched Good Game for a while, you'll remember how much we hated the last few spin offs. But this time it's different. This time it's personal. This time...it's Metallica.
Yes, those formerly the enemy of the virtual revolution, are now embracing it, in an attempt to buy back their digital souls. And after an epic intro which sets the tone beautifully...I think it worked.
It's the first time I've actually looked up while playing to see what the graphics were doing, and James Hetfield's face even looks suitably strained when it should! They've achieved this by getting the band in for motion capturing and it really shows.
Certain songs have been kept a bit easier than you'd expect so everyone can enjoy them and this is good, such as Nothing Else Matters, Sad But True, Wherever I May Roam. But if you wanna pump Master of Puppets, or Battery, it's gunna be painful, but painful in that good way that makes you wanna actually get better at the game, just to do that track. It's like the noob-friendly World Tour format mixed with the hardness of Metallica, and it's just about right.
Unlike Aerosmith, a good amount of care has been given to the layout of the notes so it's fun to play. If you hit all the star notes during Star Power, it isn't wasted in this one, it just adds to the meter. If you're not a Metallica fan you'll find most songs repetitive and hard, but for fans this is a must-have experience.
The HD lag problem still exists, where on some TVs, not all, the audio doesn't match up with the visuals exactly. On 1 or 2 tracks we even noticed the calibration change, so if you were going alright, all of a sudden you'd need to hit notes a little earlier than you should, and then it'll change back. They've never been able to fix this problem, and it's just luck of the draw if your TV has this issue. But if your friend has the same TV and doesn't get it, that's a good bet.
As with all Guitar Heros, singing isn't a strength of the game - the Singstar version of The Boys are Back in Town is much more fun. And I dunno about you, but I don't have any friends that sound like Hetfield anyway. But the guitar, drums, and bass are all great on these tracks. 8.5/10 from me.
Yeah, I think light Metallica fans will find themselves really interested in just 8 or so tracks. But those tracks are great to play and the main thing is it's not another Rocks the 80's. 8 from me.


Earlier this week, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced that the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Samsung Epic 4G will receive Sprint ID.
So far Sprint ID (review) has been available on only a trio of Android phones, but CEO Dan Hesse announced at a Sprint developer conference early this week that Sprint ID is spreading to two more high profile devices, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Samsung Epic 4G.
In addition, Notre Dame University is a launch partner for the Galaxy Tab with Sprint ID, and will give the Samsung-made, Android-running tablet to students so they can access the university's Sprint ID Pack, according to Sprint's Hesse.
Sprint ID isn't ready to go on the duo of Samsung devices, and Hesse stressed that Sprint and Samsung are working together to make the Epic 4G smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet Sprint ID-ready. CEO Hesse didn't specify if existing owners of the Galaxy Tab and Epic 4G will also have access to Sprint ID, or if the feature will only come preloaded on new units.
Either way, the spread of Sprint ID to two new devices, along with Hesse's announcement of more Sprint ID partners, is proof that Sprint's betting big on Sprint ID as a bid to differentiate the carrier's Android offerings from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile's Android handsets.
CEO Hesse said it himself in his keynote, "Sprint ID is very important to us."
Of course, Sprint frames the importance of Sprint ID to the customer in terms of discovering essential applications from among the Android Market's 100,000 apps. Sprint's other message is that using an ID Pack--a bundle of apps, shortcuts, wallpaper, and so on, organized around a particular brand or theme--will help smartphone owners streamline the setup process for a new phone by easily loading multiple apps in one package.
We have our reservations about Sprint ID's implementation so far, so it will be interesting to see if the feature catches on once it's available to more smartphone owners.
Watch Sprint CEO Dan Hesse's keynote at the Sprint Open Developers Conference.


(MENAFN) Malaysia's foreign ministry said it "strongly protests" a new travel counseling over security concerns on its eastern Sabah state.
It said: "The Foreign Affairs Ministry strongly protests the decision of the U.S. government to subject Malaysia to the newly-introduced K indicator."
The country's enclosure was declared by the U.S. State Department on April 9, reflecting the U.S. government's concerns about potential kidnapping or hostage-taking situations in certain areas of eastern Sabah, which borders restive southern Philippines.
However, it said the new travel advisory "lacked objectivity" and did not reflect the reality on the ground, particularly the security situation in eastern Sabah, which remained safe and protected for tourists.


Britain is a sick country.
Economists have been saying that for years about the nation`s economic health, but now doctors are saying it too, in a more literal sense.
Scotland in particular is among the world`s leaders in the incidence of heart disease, lung cancer and other ailments. England and Wales are not in great shape either. Medical men say this record is due to the fact Britons follow an unhealthy diet, smoke too much and exercise too little.
A recently published survey by the Geneva-based World Health Organization showed that men in Glasgow, Scotland`s largest city, have the highest incidence of lung cancer in the world.
One Glasgow man in 500 develops the disease each year, and a newborn Glaswegian baby stands a 1 in 6 chance of getting it in later life. Cases of male lung cancer run at 130.6 per 100,000 people and other Scottish cities are not far behind; Edinburgh has 103.2, Dundee 100 and Aberdeen 98.5.
The report said Scottish levels of male lung cancer are exceeded only by blacks in New Orleans, New Zealand Maoris and native Hawaiians. Lung cancer rates among Scottish women also are high.
Another WHO report last January said Scotland has 70 deaths from lung cancer for every 100,000 people. England and Wales has 56 deaths per 100,000, one of the worst records in Europe.
Doctors lay much of the blame for this on heavy smoking. The government estimates there are 15 million smokers in Britain, out of a population of 56 million. Nearly half of British men smoke, compared with 31 percent of Americans, according to survey findings.
Making Glasgow a tobacco-free city by the year 2000 would reduce premature deaths from lung cancer there by 440 each year, the WHO study concluded.
A report this week by the Health Department said the percentage of teenagers under 16 regularly smoking 50 or more cigarettes a week has risen from 11 to 13 percent since 1982.
The report estimated schoolchildren are smoking between $105 million and $135 million worth of cigarettes a year and about 45 percent of girls aged 16 now smoke.
Anti-smoking campaigners said these figures show that sports promotions sponsored by tobacco companies are encouraging teenagers to take up smoking. Most forms of advertising by tobacco companies are banned.
The government said it would spend $1.5 million in a television advertising campaign in the coming year to discourage teenage smoking.
The recent WHO survey showed that, in addition to lung cancer, Scots are unusually prone to other types of cancer, probably because of smoking, drinking to excess and inadequate diet.
Scotland leads Britain in the incidence of bowel cancer and some parts of Scotland, like the Shetland Islands, have one of the world`s highest rates of breast cancer. Cancer of the gullet in Scottish women is the highest recorded in Europe, apparently, doctors say, because of excessive whisky drinking and a diet low in fresh fruit and vegetables.
Scots eat less fruit than people in the south of England, and only half the amount of vegetables, the government said.
The WHO report showed Scotland has the highest death rate in the world from heart disease and Britain has one of the highest death rates in Europe from this cause. In Scotland, there are 300 deaths from heart disease per 100,000 population. Ireland and Finland come next with 280 per 100,000. Nearly 40 percent of all deaths in Britain are due to heart disease, with the top rates in Scotland and Wales.
Dr. Keith Ball, chairman of the group, said the coronary death rate could be halved if Britons improved their diets.
The British diet is rich in sugar, fat and salt and low in fibers, fruits and vegetables. Government health authorities say there are 4.5 ounces of fat in the average daily diet and this should be cut by one-third.
One survey concluded that 40 percent of all British males and 32 percent of females are overweight.
Most medical bills in Britain are paid by the state through the National Health Service.
Authorities said there appears to be a definite correlation between disease and levels of education and economic well-being. Scotland, Wales, the north of England and the Midlands, all economically depressed areas, fare more poorly than the prosperous southeast of England, which includes London.
The government`s Medical Research Council said this is apparently due to the fact that people in the southeast are generally better educated and therefore are more diet conscious, exercise more and smoke less than other Britons.


Daniel Farke savoured a ‘brilliant performance’ from Norwich City to inflict a first Championship defeat of the season on Middlesbrough in a 1-0 success at Carrow Road.
Teemu Pukki’s sixth goal in 10 for club and country sealed a deserved three points against Tony Pulis’ promotion-chasing Teessiders.
City went into the game with Grant Hanley ruled out for six to eight weeks through injury to add to a growing casualty list, but Farke’s troops responded to fresh adversity.
“We knew we were playing a favourite for promotion. They had five clean sheets in a row. It is so difficult to play against a team with long balls and tall players. It was a brilliant performance,” he said. “We controlled the game, we controlled possession, we dominated the ball.
“We didn’t give away more than one chance in 70 minutes. Then we score and it is normal what can happen in the last 20 minutes. (Aden) Flint and (Dani) Ayala are then in your box.
“I wish we could have controlled this period as well. We tried to score the second and if you don’t then it is about playing without mistakes until the end.
“Quite pleased with the result and the performance.
“When you regard how many problems we have. With Grant Hanley, with Kenny McLean, Louis Thompson, Mario Vrancic the first time on the pitch since April and not really prepared.
“We also had several tired players on the pitch with Teemu Pukki and Jamal Lewis on the pitch after one training session. But we were on fire, we stuck to our plan and we get the win and clean sheet.
“For Teemu, it is the life of a striker.
“Sometimes you have these periods when you just have to watch the ball and it goes over the line. Others you will hit the post or it goes wide.


The opposition fears that the government will move the Bills as money Bills, which would only require a vote in the Lok Sabha.
Jairam Ramesh has drafted the petition.
A day after the Congress and other opposition parties asked the government not to classify two Bills — on the creation of Central GST (CGST) and Inter-State GST (IGST) — to roll out the Goods and Services Tax as money Bills, the main opposition party Thursday started a signature campaign to mount pressure on the government.
Sources said many top leaders of the opposition like NCP’s Sharad Pawar and CPM’s Sitaram Yechury had already signed the petition drafted by Jairam Ramesh. The letter, sources said, would be given to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as part of a joint opposition strategy.
Former finance minister P Chidambaram, Yechury and almost every other member of non-NDA parties had demanded an assurance from the Finance Minister during the discussion on the constitutional amendment Bill on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha. They wanted Jaitley to assure the House that the Bills would be introduced as finance Bills, that would need to be debated and voted on in both Houses, and not as money Bills to avoid voting in Rajya Sabha where the government does not have majority.
Jaitley, however, did not give any such assurance, saying the Bills were yet to be drafted and the state governments were yet to make recommendations in this regard. Ramesh said the finance minister “virtually let the cat out of the bag” in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. “Watch for the next few days… what might happen. We are making a serious and sincere effort to ensure that they don’t bring it as a money Bill,” he said.
Yechury told The Indian Express that there was unanimity in the opposition ranks that the Bills should not be classified as money Bills. “If that happens, we will protest as it will be abuse of the Constitution…. we will oppose it tooth and nail,” he said.
“We will be certainly be keeping up the pressure on the government in the next few days and weeks. Ultimately the decision is of the government, we can’t force them to bring it as a finance Bill…we will keep expressing our concern,” Ramesh said.
The Congress and the government had been already on the warpath over classification of a private member’s Bill on Andhra Pradesh introduced in Rajya Sabha by one of its members as a money Bill. Yechury said the parties are also watching the proceedings in the Supreme Court, which is hearing a petition filed by Ramesh challenging the government’s decision to treat Aadhaar Bill as a money Bill.
Ramesh also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence from the Rajya Sabha, when the constitutional amendment Bill was passed on Wednesday. “This is the first time in 66 years that a constitutional amendment Bill has been discussed and voted in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha without the Prime Minister present… It is an insult to Parliament,” he said.


Susanne Aartun Sundfør (born 19 March 1986) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Haugesund, Sundfør embarked on her musical career two years prior to the release of her eponymous debut album (2007), which reached number three on the Norwegian album chart. It was followed by Take One, a live album consisting of songs from her debut. Her second studio album, The Brothel, was released in 2010 to commercial success in Norway, peaking at number one and becoming the best-selling album of that year. The album saw a shift from the piano-driven pop of previous releases towards a more ambitious and electronic direction. In 2011, she released a live instrumental album composed solely of synthesizers, A Night at Salle Pleyel, serving as a commission piece.
Her third studio album, The Silicone Veil (2012) topped the Norwegian album chart and received critical acclaim. She had her international breakthrough in 2015 with her fourth studio album, Ten Love Songs, which saw Sundfør experimenting with an electronic dance pop sound. The album reached number one and garnered universal acclaim. Her fifth studio album Music for People in Trouble (2017) represented a departure from the electronic-driven sound of previous records in favor of a return to her roots as a folk singer-songwriter. The album reached number one as well, making it her fourth consecutive album to achieve this feat.


The Data, Models and Optimization graduate certificate focuses on recognizing and solving problems with information mathematics. You'll address core analytical and algorithmic issues using unifying principles that can be easily visualized and readily understood. With advancements in computing science and systematic optimization, this dynamic program will expose you to an amazing array of applications and tools used in communications, finances, and electrical engineering.
Engineers, investors, mathematicians and researchers who use scientific computing or optimization in their work.


Nearly a dozen former Sea Dogs are among the Boston players honored at Fenway Park as 2018 World Series champions.
BOSTON — The kettle drums were carried in. The Boston Pops set up in right field at Fenway Park, distinctive in their white jackets. The pageantry would soon begin, preceding a baseball game.
How many times do major league baseball player receive a World Series ring?
“It’s going to be a special day. We earned it,” said Cora, before the first home game of the 2019 season.
The 2018 World Series champions were a group worthy of celebration – even if this 2019 collection is off to a stumbling start.
The Red Sox have stumbled before, but the franchise also reminded their faithful of recent journeys to the apex. Tuesday’s celebration began with the titles from long ago, displayed on the Green Monster with modest banners for the championship years of 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916 and 1918.
Then the monster-sized banners for 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018.
When the Pops broke into “We are the Champions,” out walked stars of the past. Pedro Martinez, Mike Lowell and David Ortiz carried World Series trophies; Ortiz gripping the 2013 trophy with one hand – like he was carrying a jug of milk – and holding his phone in the other. Manny Ramirez strolled onto the field, as did Curt Schilling.
“I didn’t expect (them),” Cora said. “The ceremony was beautiful. That’s how we do it here … It was tremendous.
A fourth world championship in 15 seasons. There have been valleys, for sure, but four titles say something – as does Boston’s manner of winning them. This organization has evolved. Fans in Portland have witnessed it.
In 2003, when the Portland Sea Dogs became a Boston minor league affiliate, the farm system was barren.
I remember the 2005 ring ceremony at Fenway. Two players from the Sea Dogs/Red Sox affiliation received rings – Kevin Youkilis, who made the 2004 postseason roster, and pitcher Abe Alvarez, who made one spot start in the regular season. Trot Nixon was the only other homegrown player on the playoff roster.
Then came the 2007 title team with Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester and Manny Delcarmen among the former Portland players – Ellsbury jumping from Double-A to World Series standout in the same year.
In 2013, Xander Bogaerts and Brandon Workman made the Portland-to-World Series leap. Jackie Bradley Jr. also got a ring.
Pedroia, despite an injury-filled 2018, picked up his third ring on Tuesday (matching Ortiz). Other former Sea Dogs got their first rings – Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, Christian Vazquez, Blake Swihart, Matt Barnes, Brian Johnson and Tzu-Wei Lin (all but Lin and Johnson were on the postseason roster). Third-base coach Carlos Febles (Sea Dogs manager, 2016-17) also got his jewelry.
It’s quite a treat to see kids from Hadlock Field enjoy their view from atop the baseball world.
Now … it’s time to be greedy. When can we expect the next ring ceremony?
Is 2020 too optimistic, especially since this team has started 3-9?
Not to put a damper on a lovely ring ceremony, but three wins in 12 games?
“We got our rings,” Cora said. “Now we have to get back to playing good baseball.


The prospect that North Korea could fire missiles at its enemies has shed light on ways potential targets could defend themselves. And when it comes to missiles, some say the best defense is more missiles.
Ballistic missile defense (BMD) seems like a natural antidote, and though these systems have been in use for some time—and some have even intercepted their targets—the security they promise could hardly be considered absolute.
The US began to pour money into ballistic missile defense systems (BMD) as soon as it showed the destructive power of nuclear weapons at the end of World War II.
BMD became a fixture of US defense planning throughout the Cold War, with investment peaking under President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative during the mid-1980s.
Eventually, the amount of money needed to counter advanced arsenals from countries like Russia and China was deemed unsustainable. So after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the focus on missile defense shifted to emerging, more limited threats from so-called rogue states like Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.
Since 2002, the US has spent between $8 billion and $10 billion annually on research, testing, and deployment of BMD systems.
The workhorse of US missile defense is the Patriot system, the only US system to have been used in combat. Despite its limitations, the system would see the heaviest use against short-range North Korean threats launched from just across the border.
Like the Patriot system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, targets incoming missiles during the terminal phase using land-based batteries. In a conflict with North Korea, it would be used in tandem with the Patriots to provide two-tiered point defense against vulnerable civilian and military targets in South Korea and Guam.
The next, most flexible layer of defense is provided by the Aegis BMD system. The system is adaptable to address a broad range of threats, whether from short-, medium- or intermediate-range missiles, in either the endo-atmospheric or the exo-atmospheric stage.
Most Aegis systems are deployed aboard naval cruisers and destroyers, affording the US and Japan (which has six such warship-based systems) further flexibility to adapt to evolving threat environments.
The fourth, newest and perhaps most ambitious BMD layer is the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system, which has been in development only since 2003. More than any of the other systems, the long-term hope for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system is that it will be capable of targeting longer-range missiles, including ICBMs.
Advancements in BMD could have a major effect on the battlefield and could limit the casualties in a war. But the technology is too limited, expensive, and technically and operationally unproven in combat situations to eliminate the threat posed by North Korea.
And so long as there is a reasonable chance of even one nuclear warhead penetrating defenses, the strategic calculations of the US and its allies will be effectively the same as if missile defense didn't exist at all.


The Ilyushin Il-112V tactical airlifter for the Russian air force will make its maiden flight in the summer of 2017, according to Yuri Slyusar, president of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). Russia selected the the Il-112V, being developed from the Il-114 airliner, rather than the Antonov An-140T, because of Russia’s poor relations with Ukraine. The new airlifter will replace Russia’s aging fleet of Antonov An-26s, in a program that was first defined in the late 1990s, as the LVTS (Russian acronym for Lightweight Military-Transport Aircraft).
Slyusar revealed the date during a visit to the Voronezh Aircraft Production Plant (Russian acronym VASO) in late October. VASO will build the Il-112 instead of the An-140T, including the prototypes—a task that traditionally was undertaken by the Ilyushin design bureau’s experimental plant in Moscow city. Ilyushin successfully completed wind-testing of scaled models of the Il-112 at the Central Aero-Hydra Dynamics Institute (Russian acronym TsAGI) in 2008-2009, but further work slowed because the Russian MoD opted for the lower-cost An-140T. The Il-112V will be a completely Russian aircraft, including avionics and Klimov Boratyr turboprop engines, a higher-power version of the TV7-117, already flown on the Il-114 and Mil Mi-38.
VASO is currently still building An-148 regional airliners, against orders from the Ilyushin Finance Corp. and some government entities. But this is likely to end soon. Earlier this year VASO and other Russian companies complained that they could not complete new An-148s because of late delivery of parts from Ukrainian vendors, notably the landing gears being supplied by Dnepropetrovsk-based YuzhMash, whose economic situation worsened during Ukraine’s economy downturn.
Earlier, Slyusar said that VASO will continue producing the Ilyushin Il-96 widebody airliner at rate of two to three per year until 2023. These will go mainly to the Russian defense ministry, as air tankers, flying command posts and special mission aircraft, including the air transport detachment serving President Putin and his ministers. VASO is also a key supplier of airframe parts, subassemblies and components to other UAC programs, including Sukhoi SuperJet 100 regional jet; MC-21 next-generation narrow body airliner; Il-76MD-90A strategic airlifter; and Sukhoi T-50 (PAKFA) next-generation fighter.


In case of IGST refunds for goods exported out of India, the percentage of amount of refund claims disposed by CBIC is lready more than 90 per cent.
The ministry asked the exporters and export organisations to take benefit of this opportunity to get their pending refund claims processed.
NEW DELHI: The CBIC will organise the third tranche of its special fortnight drive from July 16 to 30 to fast track clearance of pending GST refunds of exporters.
In the previous two fortnights, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had cleared Rs 5,401 crore and Rs 7,635 crore refunds stuck with regard to Integrated GST (IGST) paid and input tax credit (ITC) claims.
In case of IGST refunds for goods exported out of India, the percentage of amount of refund claims disposed by CBIC is lready more than 90 per cent, a finance ministry statement said.
"In order to liquidate pendency further, and to handhold/ guide the trade for applying for the refund claims in a proper manner, it has been decided to observe another refund fortnight from July 16 to 30, 2018. Dedicated refund cells and helpdesks will be provided for exporters to get their refund claims processed, in each Commissionerate," it added.
Last month, the government had said that it had till then cleared pending GST refunds to the tune of Rs 38,062 crore.


Malicious hackers are exploiting a privilege escalation vulnerability in a copy protection application to launch malware attacks against Windows users.
Malware authors are actively exploiting a zero-day privilege escalation vulnerability in a copy protection application installed by default in Windows XP and Windows 2003, according to a warning from anti-virus vendor Symantec.
The unpatched vulnerability, confirmed in the Macrovision SafeDisc (secdrv.sys) DRM scheme for online games, can be exploited overwrite arbitrary kernel memory and execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.
This facilitates the complete compromise of affected computers.
Buffer overflow in Macrovision SafeDisc secdrv.sys, as shipped in Microsoft Windows XP and Server 2003, allows local users to overwrite arbitrary memory locations and gain privileges via a crafted argument to a METHOD_NEITHER IOCTL.
Symantec researcher Elia Florio stumbled upon the flaw while reverse engineering an in-the-wild malware sample and successfully tested the exploit against fully patched Windows XP-SP2 and Windows 2003-SP1 machines. Windows Vista does not seem to be affected by the problem, Florio said.
Immediately after Florio went public with his discovery, researchers at Reverse Mode traced the issue to the Macrovision SafeDisc application. Exploit code (.zip file) for this issue is already in circulation.
A functional exploit is commercially available through the CORE IMPACT penetration testing platform.


Reichard won the junior kayak class with a 155 second score.
Henrie won the singles canoe class with a 139 second score and went on to win the open canoe class with a 190 second time. He also grabbed a third place in the kayak cadet U-14 class in 132 seconds.
Nikaelin Pacella won the junior-16 women's kayak class in 170 seconds. She then teamed with Blakeslee to win the mixed doubles canoe class in 289 seconds.
The race turned out to be a competition against two youth teams, the Mach One youths and those from the Potomac Whitewater Team of Bethesda, Md The Potomac Team brought up 9 youth of various age classes and put on a great show of strength and skill. They are coached by Dana Chladek, a bronze medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
The Potomac group won 4 classes. Taylor Pittman won the Cadet U-14 class in 127 seconds with team mate Joshua Joseph taking second in 132 seconds. Mach One's Alden Henrie tied Joseph in their better runs, but Joseph won the place on the basis of his better score on his second run of 133 seconds. Henrie ran the course in 135 seconds.
Henry Bergen won the Junior U-16 class in 121 seconds, topping Chauncey Blakeslee with a 122 second score.
The Potomac Team also brought up 4 girls in the U-12 group which did quite well in the kayak and even singles canoe classes.
These groups will meet again on June 1 and June 8 on the Feeder Canal of the Potomac River in the Washington, D.C., area. Information about local youth taking up and learning the paddling sport can be obtained from the website www.mach1team.org.


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The Volkswagen NILS commuter concept.
With the trend towards smaller cars spreading across the world, eccentric concept house Rinspeed has turned the movement on its head by unveiling the compact car that grows.
The Dock + Go concept, designed by Rinspeed founder Frank M. Rinderknecht, allows drivers to add a high-tech 'trailer' to the back of their vehicles which serves a variety of purposes.
Designed for the rapidly-growing number of tiny city cars on the road, where space is at a premium, the system is described as a 'backpack on wheels' for vehicles and can be adapted to handle whatever 'extension' is needed for the situation.
Demonstrating the dock with a Smart Fortwo model, for instance, Rinderknecht envisions an integrated heated box for pizza delivery drivers or a separate toolbox pack for workmen, to hDetatchable trunk can make your compact car biggerold what wouldn't fit in the vehicle.
In the biggest nod to the changing way we drive, Rinspeed says that the Dock + Go could also be used to hold a battery pack, providing extra range to electric vehicles when used on long trips -- an idea mooted last year by US-based Electric Motors and Vehicles Company with its 'Pru' generator trailer.
It may not offer a lot of storage space – but it certainly adds a ‘cool’ factor to the already cool Smart car.
The model is set to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, which runs March 8-18, 2012 in Switzerland.


It appears Vontaze Burfict's controversial hit on Ben Roethlisberger likely will leave the Cincinnati Bengals linebacker a little lighter in his wallet.
Burfict is facing a collective penalty of close to $70,000 for three fines stemming from three plays during the Bengals' 33-20 loss to the Steelers on Sunday, his agent, Audie Attar, told NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport on Thursday. Burfict is appealing the fines, Attar said.
Burfict is facing a fine of $34,700 for a low first-half hit on Roethlisberger. The Steelers quarterback told KDKA-FM in Pittsburgh on Tuesday he thought Burfict "was definitely diving low for my legs" on the hit.
Burfict's other fines were for unnecessary roughness.
Attar initially told NFL Media on Wednesday that Burfict would not be fined for his hit on Roethlisberger.


Julia Roberts Her 'Holes' Keep Getting Better ... Major Headline Typo!!!
By now, Julia Roberts is totally used to media outlets sucking up to her, but an Upstate NY newspaper took it to the next level -- inadvertently -- with a headline praising her holes.
Seriously ... this is NOT photoshopped.
The Post-Journal in Jamestown, NY topped a Saturday article about Julia and her Amazon show, "Homecoming," with ... "Julia Roberts Finds Life And Her Holes Get Better With Age."
Awesome news for Julia, right?
Well, the paper copped to making a huge spelling error. It published a correction saying it was supposed to say her "Roles" are what's getting better.
Woulda been pretty awesome, though, if Julia actually said that in the interview! Makes ya wonder how they fact-checked that original headline, right?
In any event, doesn't seem like Julia's too bent outta shape about the error. One thing we know for sure is ... what Viv would have to say about all this.


LAHORE Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces have arrested dozens of political activists as the government braces for two major political protests in the next week.
The detentions follow calls from both protest leaders this week for the government to resign.
Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people, has a history of coups and protests. Massive national street demonstrations forced the last military ruler to resign in 2008 and ushered in the current phase of civilian rule.
The current protests are smaller but some in the ruling party have suggested they are secretly backed by elements in the country’s powerful military, which has had an uneasy relationship with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Arrests of activists began on Wednesday. The law minister for Punjab province, Rana Mashhood Ahmad, told Reuters that 32 supporters of activist cleric Tahir ul-Qadri had been arrested.
Qadri has called for a demonstration in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday. He has demanded that the government resign by the end of the month following deadly clashes with his supporters in June.
The arrests follow Qadri’s call on national television for his supporters to attack police in their homes if his supporters are targeted.
Qazi Faiz, a spokesman for Qadri, said 538 activists had been arrested but could not provide names. A security official in the central city of Multan said that at least 56 Qadri supporters were arrested there.
In the eastern district of Pakpattan, about 200 kms (125 miles) south of Lahore, police detained Qadri supporter Ashraf Haidari, his 21-year-old son Abrar Haidari told Reuters.
“They broke the door and stormed in. My father was resting in his room. Police did not allow him to wear his shirt and dragged him out of house and took him to some unknown place,” he said.
A second protest is due to be held on August 14, led by famed former cricketer turned reformist opposition leader Imran Khan. He has also called for the government to resign and plans to lead a motorcade from Lahore into the capital of Islamabad.
Anila Khawaja, an activist with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, said at least two activists were detained on Wednesday.
Last week, the government deployed troops to guard key installations in the capital. Officials said it was to prevent Taliban attacks, but protest leaders say it is an attempt to intimidate them.


Nielsen has just announced a new form of television ratings. The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating will tell us all how socially engaging a given program is, based on Twitter users’ conversations and updates.
It’s one small step for Twitter, one giant leap for the legitimacy of second-screen data for marketing.
With a new agreement between the two entities, Nielsen will have data from Twitter that will allow it to create a “syndicated-standard metric around the reach of the TV conversation on Twitter.” Both parties say the new metric should be ready for the beginning of the new television season in the fall of 2013.
“Ultimately, we have one goal for this new metric: to make watching TV with Twitter even better for you, the TV fan,” Twitter media chief Chloe Sladden wrote today on the company blog.
For its part, Nielsen said in a statement that it considers Twitter the best source of real-time social data on TV shows. Most importantly, the vast majority of tweets are public rather than private, meaning Twitter data is easier to access than data from just about any other social source.
Twitter data won’t replace Nielsen’s current system of TV-tracking boxes; rather, it will act as a supplement in an industry (the ad industry) where more information is always better.


Vulnerable people left with “nowhere else to turn” after experiencing problems with universal credit helped fuel a big increase in food bank use over the past year, according to the Trussell Trust.
The UK’s biggest food bank network, whose annual figures provide a broad index of social hardship, gave out a record 1.3m food parcels to an estimated 666,000 people in 2017-18, up 13% on the previous year.
However, food banks in areas where the full universal credit service had been in place for 12 months or more were four times as busy, recording an average 52% increase in the number of three-day emergency food packages distributed.
The trust said many universal credit claimants had come to food banks after long waits for payment and administrative problems pushed them into debt, ill health and rent arrears.
“This completely unacceptable. We need to move towards a UK where no one needs a food bank’s help, not a country where charity provision is the only defence from utter destitution,” said Emma Revie, the trust’s chief executive.
Research into the experiences of food bank users published by the trust on Tuesday found a “significant scale” of poor benefits administration, coupled with widespread evidence that universal credit provided insufficient income to cover basic living costs.
Claimants reported they found the digital-only universal credit service hard to navigate, with little or no official support or financial assistance to help them cope or tide them over a minimum six-week wait for a first payment.
Several told the trust that lack of money meant they had been forced to give up a home internet connection or smartphone, making it harder to access the benefit.
The report says: “Rather than acting as a service to ensure people do not face destitution, the evidence suggests that for people on the very lowest incomes … the poor functioning of universal credit can actually push people into a tide of bills, debts and, ultimately, lead them to a food bank.
The trust called for an urgent inquiry into the administration of universal credit and an end to the benefits freeze, as well as more practical help for the poorest claimants.
The trust surveyed 284 users of 30 food banks in England, Scotland and Wales during February and March. Disabled people, claimants affected by chronic health conditions and families with dependent children were especially vulnerable to problems arising from the design or operation of universal credit.
The Department for Work and Pensions criticised the survey as a “small self-selecting sample” carried out before a series of changes came into force designed to mitigate the impact of universal credit, such as reducing the minimum wait for a first payment to five weeks and providing two weeks’ extra housing support for claimants moving on to the benefit.
Ministers were forced to introduce the changes last year after sustained criticism from campaigners, landlords, opposition parties and even Conservative backbenchers.
The trust said the fastest-growing group of food bank users over the past year was made up of people reliant on benefits for income, suggesting the government’s freeze on social security benefits for the past two years was making it increasingly hard for the poorest to meet basic living costs.
The trust said more than 484,000 food packages were allocated to families with children in 2017-18, 36% of the food packages provided by the trust in the year to March.
The highest reason for referral was low income (28%), followed by benefit delays (24%) and changes, including sanctions (18%). Debt run up in order to meet housing costs and energy bills accounted for an increasing percentage of food bank referrals.


SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Canadian stocks stumbled Thursday over concerns about global central-bank action to boost flagging economic growth, as well as caution surrounding upcoming jobs data and earnings reports.
Canada’s resource-heavy benchmark equities index ($ISPTX) sank 0.81% to settle at 11,816.91. Leading the index lower, the materials sector (TTMT) — which includes several large gold miners — fell 0.77%.
Faring even worse, the health-care sector (TTHC) lost 1.15%.
A leading decliner in the sector was SXC Health Solutions Corp. (SXC) SXCI whose shares fell 5.6% despite Credit Suisse raising its target price on the parent company to $111 from $109.
The market was pressured as China’s central bank cut interest rates for the second time in about a month. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank slashed rates to their lowest level ever and the Bank of England extended the size of its quantitative-easing program.
“There may have been some disappointment that the ECB didn’t announce further measures beyond a simple rate cute,” said Peter Buchanan, senior economist at CIBC world markets, regarding the declines seen in gold and energy stocks..
Among the poorest performing gold stocks Thursday were Centerra Gold (CG), dropping 6%, and NovaGold Resources (NG), down 4%.
Gold for August delivery fell 0.8% to settle at $1,609.40 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Stock Exchange. Read more about gold.
In U.S. data, the Institute for Supply Management said its gauge of the services sector was the weakest since January 2010, falling to 52.1% from 53.7% in May. Read more about the ISM report.
Baystreet also remained bearish as Canada’s jobs data is scheduled for release Friday, said Buchanan.
Further,”equity markets in general are wary at this point because we do get the first of major earnings reports next week — there is a lot of uncertainty with trouble in Europe,” added Buchanan.
Shares of commodities producers headed in both directions, with Caledonia Mining Corp. (CAL) rallying 13.8%, Sacre-Coeur Minerals (SCM) adding 5.6% and, on the downside, Taseko Mines Ltd. (TKO) losing 3.2%.
Calfrac Well Services Ltd. (CFW) shares fell 3% after GHS Research lowered its earnings estimates for the company. Citing early warnings for second-quarter results by pressure-pumping competitors, GHS trimmed second-quarter earnings estimates to C$0.02 from C$0.21, and cut its price estimate to C$33, from C$35 .
In corporate news, plane and train manufacturer Bombardier announced Thursday a technology licence agreement with CSR Puzhen, a subsidiary of China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Ltd. Class B shares of Bombardier (BBD.B) added 1.9%.
The Canadian dollar fell against its U.S. counterpart USDCAD, -0.1037% with one U.S. dollar buying C$1.0141 vs. C$1.0133 Wednesday. The U.S. dollar has gained 2% on Canada’s loonie over the past three months.


From left, Vice President and General Manager at Keystone Resort Geoff Buchheister, Lauren Gearhart and Shawna Gogolen of Mountain Mentors, and John Buhler, vice president at Breckenridge Ski Resort pose for a photo Tuesday after Mountain Mentors was awarded Vail Resorts’ EpicPromise Kids Grant Award, an honor that comes with $5,000 in extra funding.
Keystone and Breckenridge ski resorts awarded more than $2.3 million worth of cash grants and donations to 52 nonprofits based in Summit and Lake counties for the upcoming season and beyond, according to the resorts.
The EpicPromise grants offered by both resorts parent company, Vail Resorts, were announced Tuesday at Breckenridge Ski Resort. According to a news release, the grants this year will support programs that ensure people in need have access to healthy meals, boost early childhood education and provide access to dental care for children living in Summit and Lake counties.
The release says officials at Breckenridge and Keystone want to make sure their contributions are relevant and that they are “at the table” in helping their nonprofit partners address the community’s most critical issues.
As such, resort leadership asked community partners to identify some of the most pervasive issues facing the Summit County area during a community luncheon last summer.
One of critical needs they identified was college access and affordability, which led the EpicPromise to offer support to Colorado Mountain College and the Summit School District for college scholarships and career training opportunities.
The resorts also lended a hand to Healthy Choices for Youth by partnering with Advocates for Victims of Assault, CASA, BOEC, FIRC, Full Circle of Lake County, the Keystone Science Center, Mountain Mentors and SOS Outreach, in an effort to help local youth reach their fullest potential.
Mental health was another important issue, and a grant for the nonprofit Building Hope will provide money for therapy sessions, as well as monthly opportunities for locals to connect and foster meaningful relationships.
In attrition to the regular grants, the resorts’ employees also got in on the action and decided the winner of this year’s EpicProimse Kids Grant Award by a vote.
The Kids Grant is an annual award that benefits a local nonprofit committed to helping children.
This year, it went to Summit County Mountain Mentors, and the award means more than bragging rights because it also comes with an extra $5,000 for the group.


DUBLIN, April 30 (Reuters) - Facebook has moved to block referral of its Irish privacy case to Europe’s top court, a lawyer for the U.S. tech giant said on Monday, seeking to avoid a potential ban on the legal instrument it uses to transfer users’ data to the United States.
The lawyer, Paul Gallagher, told the Irish High Court that Facebook was seeking a stay on the court’s referral of the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union to give the Irish Supreme Court time to decide if it would hear an appeal.
The Irish High Court Court this month ordered the case to be referred to the EU’s top court for a detailed assessment of whether the methods used for data transfers - including standard contractual clauses and the Privacy Shield agreement - were legal.


Thousands of spectators, bundled up against the brisk winds, lined the banks of the Charles River yesterday to witness one of New England’s most loved sporting traditions.
This weekend marks the 46th year of the Head of the Charles Regatta that every year draws men and women in crew teams from Massachusetts and around the country.
The crowds walked their dogs, had picnics, and browsed among the countless number of tents offering everything from event information and food to high-end clothing and purses. Brooks Brothers donated event jackets to the approximately 1,400 volunteers working the event.
Some sat close to the edge of the river bank, scanning passing boats for a familiar face. Meredith Kleine of Brookline was there to support her boyfriend, who was competing in the Club Men Eights division.
“I’m being his cheerleader, it’s like high school all over again,’’ she said.
Others made a significantly longer journey to attend, such as Skyler Rueb, a University of Kansas student participating in the Collegiate Women’s Fours. Sitting with some of her teammates, Rueb said that it was her first year at the Head of the Charles.
“I’m very excited, but also extremely nervous,’’ she said.
And some people just stumbled upon the event.
Cambridge resident Tom Norden said he had spotted the crowds and decided to see what the commotion was about.
“It’s a nice day, and there’s food and a lot free samples going around,’’ he said.
Ashley Portero can be reached at Aportero@globe.com.


The Joint Base Andrews Installation Voter Assistance Office is here to help members and their families fulfill their civic duty to choose their leaders.
Monday 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Friday 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
To vote in U.S. elections, citizens must have a legal voting residence address in a State or territory. The issue of voting residence can be complex, depending on individual circumstances. Even in States where laws clearly define criteria for determining voting residence, the final determination is generally up to each local election office.
For voting purposes, "legal voting residence" can be the state or territory where the citizen last resided prior to entering military service OR the state or territory that the citizen has since claimed as their legal residence. Even though the citizen may no longer maintain formal ties to that residence, the address determines their proper voting jurisdiction.
To claim a new legal residence, the citizen must have simultaneous physical presence and the intent to return to that location as their primary residence. Military and their family members may change their legal residence every time they change permanent duty stations, or they may retain their legal residence without change.
This may mean that the family's Uniformed Service member has a different legal voting residence than his/her family members. A JAG officer or legal counsel should be consulted before the citizen changes legal residence, because there are usually other factors that should be considered besides voting.
Where have you registered to vote or voted?
What State or territory has issued you a driver's license, any other license or identification card?
Where is your motor vehicle registered?
Where is your home or home of record?
What State or territory are you from?
Where did you live before coming here?
Where does your family live?
Where do your parents live?
Where do you own property?
What State do you claim for tax residency?
The Installation Voter Assistance Office can help you fill in and mail off your voting materials if you need the assistance. For more information, you can also contact your Unit Voting Assistance Counselor in your squadron for assistance.
Your Joint Base Andrews Installation Voter Assistance Office is here to help you exercise the very right you protect—your right to vote! We can help you register to vote, request an absentee ballot and notify your local election officials back home of a change of address. The information below is provided for you as you get ready to transition and are thinking of what you must do before and after you make that change in assignment, deploy or separate/retire.
Federal Post Card Application (FPCA): The FPCA can be used to register to vote while simultaneously requesting an absentee ballot. It can also be used to submit a change of address to your local election officials. You can now go online to https://www.fvap.gov/fpca-privacy-notice and use the FPCA Wizard that will help you register, request your absentee ballot and/or change your address while providing you with all of your state-specific information and requirements to vote!
Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB): The FWAB can be used as a backup in case you have already registered to vote or sent in an FPCA to both register and request your absentee ballot, but you have not yet received your absentee ballot from your State. Like the FPCA, you can go online to fill in the FWAB at https://www.fvap.gov/fwab-privacy-notice and use the FWAB Wizard that will help you to vote in Federal elections, even filling in your candidate choices based on your State of residence!
Both the FPCA and FWAB Wizards will provide you with a filled in form. All you have to do is print, sign and date it, and return it to your election official via the directions provided (some States allow you to fax, and/or e-mail your signed form if you “PDF” and scan it to your computer).
Air Force Total Force Service Center (TFSC): In the event you are unable to contact your IVA Office, 24-hour voting assistance is available from the AF TFSC at: DSN 665-0102, Commercial 210-565-0102 or Toll Free 1-800-525-0102.
Videos can be found here.


'Game of Thrones' fans who've seen all seven seasons of the show and read all five books by George R.R. Martin will get at least one version of an ending.
LOS ANGELES — Devoted “Game of Thrones” fans who’ve watched and re-watched all 73 episodes of the HBO series, and read and reread all 4,000 pages of the books by George R.R. Martin, will at long last get the ending they’ve craved with the series’ eighth and final season that starts Sunday.


Lovie Smith dropped the ball by not dropping the flag.
The Chicago Bears coach, in a rare admission of error when it comes to football strategy, admitted Monday that his failure to challenge a fumble by Jay Cutler on a quarterback sneak Sunday at Soldier Field was a critical element in the team’s 17-14 loss to the Washington Redskins.
It was the third loss in four games for the Bears (4-3), who opened the season 3-0.
Smith had failed with the red flag on the previous play when wide receiver Earl Bennett was tackled on the one-yard line after a 48-yard gain. Smith challenged that Bennett got into the end zone, but a replay review clearly showed Bennett’s left knee was down before he reached the goalline.
Following the timeout, the Bears came out in a jumbo set and Cutler got upright quickly after taking the snap and jumped, extending the ball over the pile. He was hit by Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and then linebacker London Fletcher jarred the ball loose. Washington recovered.
Replays showed the ball crossed the plane of the goalline, but the Bears, who led 14-10 at the time, did not challenge the play. The game was three minutes into the second half, and Smith knew if he failed on the challenge, he would be out of challenges and down to only one timeout for the remainder of the game. It proved to be the difference in the game.
Mike Pereira, the NFL’s former vice president of officiating and now an analyst for Fox Sports, was surprised Smith didn’t challenge the play.
Smith is 1 for 5 on replay challenges this season and 3 for 15 over the last 23 games.
It wound up costing them.


A female-only bus service has been launched during rush hour to protect women from sexual harassment and facilitate trips for pregnant women and breastfeeding moms in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province in central China, the Dahe Daily reported.
Two buses on the 22-km-long Route 906 will start running daily at 7:30 a.m. and 16:30 p.m. from the terminus between April 26 to August 7. A normal bus will follow the female-only one to avoid delaying trips for male passengers.
The service has been welcomed by most female passengers. With summer approaching, many women began to wear thin, short dresses, and female-only service during rush hour would effectively stop sexual harassment, said a female passenger surnamed Zhou.
Another female passenger surnamed Fang said that the service enabled her to breastfeed her three-month-old baby on the bus without feeling awkward and impolite in front of a crowd of male passengers.
However, male passengers have different views on this service. While some think it's understandable, others feel it is discrimination against men.
Offering female-only service is a worthwhile endeavor, because the special needs of women, especially those who are pregnant or nursing babies, must be met, said Ji Deshang, a sociology professor of Zhengzhou University. But he warned that such a service is only a temporary solution and won’t tackle the crux of the problem.
A female-only bus service has been launched during rush hour to protect women from sexual harassment and facilitate trips for pregnant women and breastfeeding moms in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province.


The crew mans the rails to honor the men that lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
10,435 nautical miles to Pearl Harbor. 6 months at sea. “Fox” surely demonstrates Norway’s will to support USA in their areas of interest.
A long way from home: HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen sailed 10,435 nautical miles from Bergen, Norway, to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
It is also home of HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen, a multi-role frigate which has participated in several operations since it was commissioned in 2007. But what does it take to get a warship from the Arctic areas in Europe, to tropical Hawaii?
For our crew, the exercise started when we left our homeport in Norway the 12th of May, but for those working with the logistics it had begun months before. We started planning RIMPAC 14 when we were deployed in OP RECSYR (removal of chemical agents from Syria). When we deployed for an undecided time on with three-days’ notice to Syria, we didn’t know if we were still going to RIMPAC, but luckily we started planning for it.
Our logistics department delivers everything from million dollar missiles to food and band-aids. What’s special for us is all the parts that can only be delivered in Norway, and also the Naval Strike Missiles. Coordinating everything from small parts and spikes to advanced technical equipment to such a broad field of expertise, from medical to tactical operations, surely demands a functional logistics department.
Sailing to the other side of the world means you get to experience new harbors. We’ve visited some pretty exotic places (for us Norwegians at least, they’re very exotic) such as Ponta Delgada, Santo Domingo and Panama before joining the group sail from San Diego to Hawaii.
For us RIMPAC will be a 6-month journey.
Multitasking logistics; conducting both replenishment at-sea and helicopter operations at once requires some planning. Our crew only counts 120 sailors and officers, but all are trained to multitask.
For me, RIMPAC has been very interesting and intense. As a “Baby-Doc” I’m responsible for the medical equipment, the education of our first responders, and ensuring that our medical department is ship shape; and, of course, fixing cuts, wounds and blisters. I must admit; I also have a habit of “injuring” sailors and placing them around the ship for others to find. Preferably the casualties are good actors. We’ve made up some pretty dramatic love stories… When you don’t have Grey’s Anatomy you make your own soaps, right? Best thing about that is that you get to help fix the casualties yourself, though it’s kind of like wrapping your own Christmas gift.
Sgt. Marthe Brendefur is about to set a venous cannula in a patient. This way, the patient can receive medication and fluid. We often practice without tourniquets, since patients with real traumas usually don’t have very visible veins.
Speaking of drama, the real casualties always seem to happen at night for the extra effect. During the group sail we had to do a medevac to the USS Peleliu in the middle of the night. We train as realistically as possible, but it’s still something completely different when it’s a no-play situation. Arriving at Peleliu, the patient went straight into surgery, and luckily he was all right. Thank you USS Peleliu!
We’re happy to be a part of this exercise and enjoy meeting other participants and learning new things every day.


Grow your own fresh carrots at home.
2 How Long Does it Take for Carrots to Mature?
Carrots (Daucus carota) are one of the easiest vegetables to grow for backyard gardeners. Originally from the Mediterranean, carrots can be grown throughout U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 10. When you're ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor, knowing how to tell if the carrots are ripe and mature enough to harvest is key to enjoying this vegetable when it looks and tastes its best. If your carrots show all the signs of ripeness, pull them in the cool of the morning for the best quality.
In general, most carrots are ripe and ready for harvesting after approximately 90 days have passed from the date that the carrot seeds were first sown. When planting your carrots, mark the specific date on your gardening calendar. Once 90 days have passed, you can then check the carrots for other signs of ripeness and maturity. Timeline is crucial not just for knowing when to start checking for signs of ripeness but also to prevent you from forgetting to harvest your carrots. Carrots left in the ground for several months often develop a poor texture and a woodlike flavor.
Carrots are mature and ripe enough to be pulled from the ground once the top of the carrot root measures approximately 1/2 inches wide. Brush the dirt away from the top of the plant and measure the exposed root top with a ruler to quickly check for size. Never allow your carrots to grow and mature past 1 1/2 inches wide at the top, as taste quality often falls when the carrots get that old.
The average ripe, ready-to-harvest carrot measures approximately 7 to 9 inches in length. Pull one or two carrots to check for length. The size of these test carrots can signify whether the rest of your backyard crop is mature. If the carrots are significantly shorter than the average size, wait a week before performing another test harvest.
Ripe carrots should possess a tender texture that is firm and tender, not soft, limp or chewy. Standard varieties should also have an even, bright orange color, although some carrot varieties and hybrids come in additional colors like a pale orange-white. Additionally, color can be influenced by growing conditions and should therefore not be used as the sole barometer of carrot ripeness.
Duvauchelle, Joshua. "When Are Carrots Ripe?" Home Guides | SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/carrots-ripe-70423.html. Accessed 20 April 2019.