Social > Hottest, driest year on record led to extreme bushfire season
Hottest, driest year on record led to extreme bushfire season
The Annual Climate Statement released today confirms 2019 was the nation’s warmest and driest year on record. It’s the first time since overlapping records began that Australia experienced both its lowest rainfall and highest temperatures in the same year.
The national rainfall total was 37 mm, or 11.7 per cent, below the 314.5 mm recorded in the previous driest year in 1902. The national average temperature was nearly 0.2 °C above the previous warmest year in 2013.
Globally, 2019 is likely to be the second-warmest year, with global temperatures about 0.8 °C above the 1961–1990 average. It has been the warmest year without the influence of El Niño.
Across the year, Australia experienced many extreme events including flooding in Queensland and large hail in New South Wales. However, due to prolonged heat and drought, the year began and ended with fires burning across the Australian landscape.
The effect of the long dry
Bushfire activity for the 2018–19 season began in late November 2018, when fires burned along a 600 km stretch of the central Queensland coast. Widespread fires later followed across Victoria and Tasmania throughout the summer.
Persistent drought and record temperatures were a major driver of the fire activity, and the context for 2019 lies in the past three years of drought.
The dry conditions steadily worsened over 2019, resulting in Australia’s driest year on record, with area-average rainfall of just 277.6 mm (the 1961–1990 average is 465.2 mm).
Almost the entire continent experienced rainfall in the lowest 10th percentile over the year.
Record low rainfall affected the central and southern inland regions of the continent and the northeastern Murray–Darling Basin straddling the NSW and Queensland border. Many weather stations over central parts of Australia received less than 30 mm of rainfall for the year.
Every capital city recorded below-average annual rainfall. For the first time, national rainfall was below average in every month.
Record heat dominates the nation
2019 was Australia’s warmest year on record, with the annual mean temperature 1.52 °C above the 1961–1990 average, surpassing the previous record of 1.33 °C above average in 2013.
January, February, March, April, July, October, November, and December were all amongst the ten warmest on record for Australian mean temperature for their respective months, with January and December exceeding their previous records by 0.98 °C and 1.08°C respectively.
Maximum temperatures recorded an even larger departure from average of +2.09 °C for the year. This is the first time the nation has seen an anomaly of more than 2 °C, and about half a degree warmer than the previous record in 2013.
The year brought the nation’s six hottest days on record peaking at 41.9°C (18 December), the hottest week 40.5 °C (week ending 24 December), hottest month 38.6 °C (December 2019), and hottest season 36.9 °C (summer 2018–19).
The highest temperature for the year was 49.9 °C at Nullarbor (a new national December record) on 19 December and the coldest temperature was –12.0 °C at Perisher Valley on 20 June.
Keith West in southeast South Australia recorded a maximum 49.2 °C on 20 December, while Dover in far southern Tasmania saw 40.1 °C on 2 March, the furthest south such high temperatures have been observed in Australia.
Accumulating fire danger over 2019
The combination of prolonged record heat and drought led to record fire weather over large areas throughout the year, with destructive bushfires affecting all states, and multiple states at once in the final week of the year.
Many fires were difficult to contain in regions where drought has been severe, such as northern NSW and southeast Queensland, or where below average rainfall has been persistent, such as southeast Australia.
The Forest Fire Danger Index, a measure of fire weather severity, accumulated over the month of December was the highest on record for that month, and the highest for any month when averaged over the whole of Australia.
Record-high daily index values for December were recorded at the very end of December around Adelaide and the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, East Gippsland in Victoria and the Monaro in NSW. These regions which experienced significant fire activity.
Don’t forget the floods
Amidst the dry, 2019 also included significant flooding across Queensland and the eastern Top End.
Heavy rain fell from January into early February, with damaging floods around Townsville and parts of the western Peninsula and Gulf Country.
Tropical cyclone Trevor brought further heavy rainfall in April in the eastern Northern Territory and Queensland. Floodwaters eventually reached Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre which, amidst severe local rainfall deficiencies in South Australia, experienced its most significant filling since 2010–11.
There was a notable absence of rainfall on Australia’s snow fields during winter and spring which meant less snow melt. Snow cover was generous, particularly at higher elevations.
What role did climate change play in 2019?
The climate each year reflects random variations in weather, slowly evolving natural climate drivers such as El Niño, and long-term trends through the influence of climate change.
A strong and long-lived positive Indian Ocean Dipole—another natural climate driver—affected Australia from May until the end of the year, and played a major role in suppressing rainfall and raising temperatures for much of the year.
Spring brought an unusual breakdown of the southern polar vortex which allowed westerly winds to affect mainland Australia. This reduced rainfall, raising temperature and contributing to the increased fire risk.
Climate change continues to cause long-term changes to Australia’s climate. Conditions in 2019 were consistent with trends of declining rainfall in parts of the south, worsening fire seasons and rising temperatures.
Subscribe to receive climate information via email and visit our website to view climate summaries for each State and Territory
Video—Annual Climate Statement 2019
'This crisis has been unfolding for years': 4 photos of Australia from space, before and after the bushfires


Marvellous Car Collection of one of the Most Power Couple Beyonce and Jay-Z
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is a famous American singer and songwriter is married to Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as Jay-Z who is a renowned American rapper. They are amongst the most powerful couples married since April 4th, 2008. They both have often gifted vehicles to each other. Here are some cars which they own:
1) Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud Convertible I
It two-roadster that Jay-Z bought for Beyonce for her 25th birthday. It’s reportedly priced at around one million. It has 6.2liter engine offering a top speed of 114mph and goes from 0-60 in 10.3 seconds.
2) Series 2 Alfa Romeo Spider
It is a two two-seater, four-cylinder, 132-hp, five-speed convertible cars whom this power couple owns.
3) Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport
Beyonce gifted Jay-Z Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport worth around USD1.5 to USD2 million on 41st birthday.
4) Maybach Exelero
Jay-Z is fond of speed and luxury cars so he added up a Maybach Excelero which gives 60 mph within a tamer 4.4 seconds.
5) Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
This car rides at an average of 97 kph in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 306 kph.
6) Pagani Zonda F
It is a mid-engined sports car with a top speed is 344 kph. It is equipped with a Mercedes-Benz AMG 7.3 litre V12 cylinder engine blasting it from 0-60 in an astounding 3.6 seconds and is able to reach a top speed of 214 mph.
7) Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR
It 5.4-litre engine paired with its 5-speed transmission allows for the car to go from 0-60 in only 3.4 seconds, leaving Jay Z’s Zonda F in the dust, and hitting a top speed of 200 mph.
8) Rolls-Royce Phantom
It comes with a 75L V12 engine cranking out 453 hp at 5,350 rpm. It has all the luxury amenities with cool interiors.
9) Ferrari F430 Spider
Jay-Z has added one more gem to his luxury with Ferrari F430 Spider.
10) The Carter Family Van
The Mercedes Benz Sprinter Limousine is a family van for them which has all the luxury amenities in it. It is priced at $ 1 million.


E.M.R K.B. EDIRISINGHE, W.M K. PERERA, S.P JAYASOORTYA and A BAMUNUARACHCHI
Fish lipids are the main sources of a special type of fatty acids, known as omega 3 type polyunsaturated fatty acids, recognized as an important pharmaceutical drug to prevent a number of coronary heart diseases. Some of the fatty acids are essential fatty acids in all diets. The lipid content and fatty acid profile of 20 very common fish species were analyzed by gas chromatography. The lipid content was found to vary over a wide range (0.5 - 15% on wet basis), but most species contained less than 10%. The most abundant fatty acids in the fish examined were palmitic (C 16:0), oleic (C 18:1), eicosapentaenoic (C 20:5 n-3, EPA) and docosahexaenoic (C 22:6 n-3, DHA). Most small pelagics contained high levels (around 30% of total fatty acids) of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega 3 PUFA). Among these species, the highest amounts of omega 3 PUFA were present in Yellowstripe scad (Selaroides leptolepis (Suraparawa)), Dorab-wolf herring (Chirocentrus dorab (Katuwalla)), Spotted sardinella (Amblygaster sirm (Hurulla)), Blacktip sardinella (Sardinella melannura (Salaya)), Toothpony (Gassa minita (Mas karalla)), White sardinella (Sardinella albello (Sudaya)) and these levels were 34.4, 33.9, 32.3, 32, 31.3 and 30.4% respectively. The lowest level of omega 3 PUFA, 7.1%, was reported in Silver sillago (Slilago sihama (Kalanda)). In most species studied, the total amount of omega 3 PUFA contributed for around 90% of the total PUFAs. The two most important omega 3 PUFAs, namely EPA and DHA contributed for nearly 85% of the total omega 3 PUFAs.


Home » Global » Attacks on Yemen intensify after medical volunteers turned away
Attacks on Yemen intensify after medical volunteers turned away
By Caleb T. Maupin posted on June 1, 2015
Caleb Maupin aboard the Iran Shahed Rescue Ship.
This report is one of several eyewitness accounts provided by International Action Center and FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together) youth activist Caleb Maupin, who took part in a humanitarian aid mission to Yemen in May.
Tehran, May 29 — The mission of the Iran Shahed Rescue Ship to Yemen, as previously reported, was unsuccessful. Massive Saudi bombing of the Hodiedah port and 15 hired Sudanese mercenaries with rocket launchers made delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen impossible.
The 2,500 tons of medical supplies, food and water were handed over to the U.N. World Food Programme for distribution when Saudi terrorism made it impossible for us to deliver them to the people of Yemen.
Since our ship docked in Djibouti and my return to Tehran, the Saudi bombing campaign has only increased. The total number of Yemenis now dead is estimated to be well over 4,000. The Saudi bombers, being refueled by the U.S. Air Force and directed by U.S. satellites, are specifically targeting the region of Hodiedah, where we intended to deliver the food and supplies.
According to reports, the port of Hodiedah has been “completely destroyed” after days of relentless bombing. In addition, the Saudi airstrikes have targeted a medical university in Hodiedah. Twelve young Yemenis who were sitting in class, studying to become doctors or nurses, were killed. Scores of others have been wounded.
How can the Saudi military and its U.S. allies, or any rational human being, justify slaughtering noncombatant medical students?
This horrendous act may have been retaliation against the Red Crescent Society of Yemen because it dared collaborate with the Red Crescent Society of Iran in planning the delivery of humanitarian aid from our ship. This speculation fills me with feelings of extreme grief, sadness and anger.
Risking their lives to help
There are many Red Crescent Society volunteers currently in Yemen. As a wealthy U.S.-backed autocratic kingdom unleashes its forces of destruction on one of the poorest countries on earth, those volunteers are stepping up and doing what must be done. The medical volunteers who are aiding the people in Yemen right now are risking their lives each day to bring aid to those in great danger.
While I was on the Rescue Ship, I had the honor of having many in-depth conversations with Red Crescent Society volunteers. Many of them have spent years working in international operations. They have been all over the world, throughout the Middle East and to Latin America, Asia and Europe, and they have sometimes been in very dangerous situations.
One the volunteers told me his life story. He described how his two older brothers died in the Iraq-Iran war during the 1980s. He told of how his mother, after losing her two oldest sons in that horrific war, had psychological trauma for the rest of her life. He told of going to Iraq in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion as a Red Crescent Society volunteer. In Iraq, he was captured and spent months held prisoner by an armed faction. He was eventually able to escape in the chaos of the fighting.
Because I do not speak Farsi, I was unable to communicate with many of the others on board. If I had, I am sure I would heard many more amazing stories.
A great honor
When it was announced that our ship was unable to go to Yemen, these volunteers were filled with bitter disappointment. They wanted to go to Hodiedah and help those who needed them. They felt they had a moral responsibility to get to Yemen. They were so let down, unable to do what they had set out to do.
These volunteers are from a different country, half a world away from where I was born in Ohio. They have a different religion and a different political perspective than I do. Regardless, I still hold them up in the highest admiration. It was one of the greatest honors to be able to accompany them for two weeks. Especially as someone from the United States, a country which has so much blood on its hands, it means so much that I was trusted and welcomed onboard.
The actions of the Red Crescent Society volunteers point toward a side of human nature that the apologists for capitalism and neoliberalism simply do not acknowledge. Within the human spirit, there is a drive to help others or “stand with the oppressed,” as Shia Muslims put it.
Though it is not rewarded in a global economic setup defined by profits, this kind of solidarity has not been, and will never be, driven from the human psyche.
Beyond the bombs and cruise missiles, there is hope for a better world.
Red Crescent Society
Generals over the White House


for the 2010-2018 Terms
In 2010-2018, they participated together in 350 signed decisions
Joined the same opinions 264/350 75.4%
Different opinions, same judgment 5/350 1.4%
Agreed on judgment 284/350 81.1%
Disagreed on judgment 66/350 18.9%
TENET HOSPITALS LIMITED, A TEXAS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP D/B/A PROVIDENCE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, AND MICHAEL D. COMPTON, M.D. v. ELIZABETH RIVERA, AS NEXT FRIEND FOR M.R., No. 13-0096
HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT AND HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS v. EDWARD A. AND NORMA KERR, ET AL., No. 13-0303
EL PASO FIELD SERVICES, L.P. AND GULFTERRA SOUTH TEXAS, L.P. F/K/A EL PASO SOUTH TEXAS, L.P. v. MASTEC NORTH AMERICA, INC. AND MASTEC, INC., No. 10-0648
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY v. WILLIAM NAMI, No. 14-0901
STEVEN PAINTER; TONYA WRIGHT, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF EARL A. WRIGHT, III, DECEASED; VIRGINIA WEAVER, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS NEXT FRIEND OF A.A.C., A MINOR; AND TABITHA R. ROSELLO, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF ALBERT CARILLO, DECEASED v. AMERIMEX DRILLING I, LTD., No. 16-0120
THE FINANCE COMMISSION OF TEXAS, THE CREDIT UNION COMMISSION OF TEXAS, AND TEXAS BANKERS ASSOCIATION v. VALERIE NORWOOD, ELISE SHOWS, MARYANN ROBLES-VALDEZ, BOBBY MARTIN, PAMELA COOPER, AND CARLOS RIVAS, No. 10-0121
On Rehearing
DYNEGY INC. v. TERRY W. YATES, INDIVIDUALLY, AND TERRY W. YATES, P.C., No. 11-0541
PLAINS EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION COMPANY v. TORCH ENERGY ADVISORS INCORPORATED, No. 13-0597
SEABRIGHT INSURANCE COMPANY v. MAXIMINA LOPEZ, BENEFICIARY OF CANDELARIO LOPEZ, DECEASED, No. 14-0272
LEE C. RITCHIE, ET AL. v. ANN CALDWELL RUPE, AS TRUSTEE FOR THE DALLAS GORDON RUPE, III 1995 FAMILY TRUST, No. 11-0447
BROOKSHIRE BROTHERS, LTD. v. JERRY ALDRIDGE, No. 10-0846
LUBBOCK COUNTY WATER CONTROL AND IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT AND TOMMY FISHER, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE LUBBOCK COUNTY WATER CONTROL AND IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT v. CHURCH & AKIN, L.L.C., No. 12-1039
IN RE DEEPWATER HORIZON, No. 13-0670
IN THE INTEREST OF H.S., A MINOR CHILD, No. 16-0715
MICHAEL MCINTYRE AND LAURA MCINTYRE, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF THEIR CHILDREN, K.M., L.M., C.M., M.M., AND L.M. v. EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, DR. LORENZO GARCIA, AND MARK MENDOZA, No. 14-0732
IN RE NATIONWIDE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, ET AL., No. 15-0328
AMERICAN K-9 DETECTION SERVICES, LLC AND HILL COUNTRY DOG CENTER, LLC v. LATASHA FREEMAN, No. 15-0932
NOBLE ENERGY, INC. v. CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY, No. 15-0502
BARBARA BATY v. OLGA FUTRELL, CRNA, AND COMPLETE ANESTHESIA CARE, P.C., No. 16-0164
CHESAPEAKE EXPLORATION, L.L.C. AND CHESAPEAKE OPERATING, INC. v. MARTHA ROWAN HYDER, INDIVIDUALLY, AND AS INDEPENDENT EXECUTRIX AND TRUSTEE UNDER THE WILL OF ELTON M. HYDER, JR., DECEASED, AND AS TRUSTEE UNDER THE ELTON M. HYDER JR. RESIDUARY TRUST, AND AS TRUSTEE OF THE ELTON M. HYDER JR. MARITAL TRUST; BRENT ROWAN HY, No. 14-0302
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON v. SANDRA WILLIAMS AND STEVE WILLIAMS, No. 13-0338
IN RE MICHAEL N. BLAIR, No. 11-0441
ROBERT MASTERSON, MARK BROWN, GEORGE BUTLER, CHARLES WESTBROOK, RICHEY OLIVER, CRAIG PORTER, SHARON WEBER, JUNE SMITH, RITA BAKER, STEPHANIE PEDDY, BILLIE RUTH HODGES, DALLAS CHRISTIAN, AND THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD v. THE DIOCESE OF NORTHWEST TEXAS, THE REV. CELIA ELLERY, DON GRIFFIS, AND MICHAEL RYAN, No. 11-0332
STATE OF TEXAS v. ANGELIQUE NAYLOR AND SABINA DALY, No. 11-0114
HALEY HEBNER AND DARRIN CHARLES SCOTT, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS NEXT FRIENDS OF R.M.S., A MINOR v. NAGAKRISHNA REDDY, M.D., AND NEW BRAUNFELS OB/GYN, P.A., No. 14-0593
BCCA APPEAL GROUP, INC. v. CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, No. 13-0768
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE, DIVISION OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION v. BONNIE JONES AND AMERICAN HOME ASSURANCE COMPANY, No. 15-0025
JOHN SAMPSON v. THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, No. 14-0745
TERESA GAROFOLO v. OCWEN LOAN SERVICING, L.L.C., No. 15-0437
DEBRA C. GUNN, M.D., OBSTETRICAL AND GYNECOLOGICAL ASSOCIATES, P.A., AND OBSTETRICAL AND GYNECOLOGICAL ASSOCIATES P.L.L.C. v. ANDRE MCCOY, AS PERMANENT GUARDIAN OF SHANNON MILES MCCOY, AN INCAPACITATED PERSON, No. 16-0125
CENTERPOINT BUILDERS GP, LLC AND CENTERPOINT BUILDERS, LTD. v. TRUSSWAY, LTD., No. 14-0650
BANKDIRECT CAPITAL FINANCE, LLC, A SUBSIDIARY OF TEXAS CAPITAL BANK, N.A. v. PLASMA FAB, LLC AND RUSSELL MCCANN, No. 15-0635
KEN PAXTON, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS v. CITY OF DALLAS, No. 15-0073
WADE BRADY v. LEAANNE KLENTZMAN AND CARTER PUBLICATIONS, INC. D/B/A THE WEST FORT BEND STAR, INC., No. 15-0056
USAA TEXAS LLOYDS COMPANY v. GAIL MENCHACA, No. 14-0721
RON SOMMERS, AS CHAPTER 7 TRUSTEE FOR ALABAMA AND DUNLAVY, LTD., FLAT STONE II, LTD., AND FLAT STONE, LTD., AND AS SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO JAY COHEN, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS TRUSTEE OF THE JHC TRUSTS I AND II v. SANDCASTLE HOMES, INC., No. 15-0847
WAL-MART STORES, INCORPORATED v. DORIS FORTE, O.D., ON BEHALF OF HERSELF AND ALL OTHER SIMILARLY SITUATED PERSONS; BRIDGET LEESANG, O.D.; DAVID WIGGINS, O.D.; AND JOHN BOLDAN, O.D., No. 15-0146
THE CITY OF ROUND ROCK, TEXAS AND ROUND ROCK FIRE CHIEF LARRY HODGE v. JAIME RODRIGUEZ AND ROUND ROCK FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION, No. 10-0666
THE CITY OF HOUSTON, TEXAS v. ROGER BATES, MICHAEL L. SPRATT AND DOUGLAS SPRINGER, No. 11-0778
THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF FORT WORTH, ET AL. v. THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, ET AL., No. 11-0265
GEOFFREY DUGGER v. MARY ANN ARREDONDO, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF JOEL MARTINEZ, DECEASED, No. 11-0549
CITY OF LORENA, TEXAS v. BMTP HOLDINGS, L.P., No. 11-0554
TEXAS ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE v. MICHELE NGAKOUE, No. 11-0686
LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. RICKY ADCOCK, No. 11-0934
IN RE STEPHANIE LEE, No. 11-0732
KACHINA PIPELINE COMPANY, INC. v. MICHAEL D. LILLIS, No. 13-0596
CITY OF SAN ANTONIO v. ROXANA TENORIO, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF PEDRO TENORIO, DECEASED, No. 16-0356
BENEDICT G. WENSKE AND ELIZABETH WENSKE v. STEVE EALY AND DEBORAH EALY, No. 16-0353
JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS v. JEFFERSON COUNTY CONSTABLES ASSOCIATION, No. 16-0498
FORT WORTH TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, MCDONALD TRANSIT ASSOCIATES, INC., MCDONALD TRANSIT, INC., AND LESHAWN VAUGHN v. MICHELE RODRIGUEZ AND NEW HAMPSHIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, No. 16-0542
UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION v. DAISY E. SYNATZSKE AND GRACE ANNETTE WEBB, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS REPRESENTATIVES AND CO-EXECUTRIXES OF THE ESTATE OF JOSEPH EMMITE, SR., JOSEPH EMMITE, JR., DOROTHY A. DAY, VERA J. GIALMALVA AND JAMES R. EMMITE, No. 12-0617
IN RE FORD MOTOR COMPANY, No. 12-0957
SUSAN ELAINE BOSTIC, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE HEIRS AND ESTATE OF TIMOTHY SHAWN BOSTIC, DECEASED; HELEN DONNAHOE; AND KYLE ANTHONY BOSTIC v. GEORGIA-PACIFIC CORPORATION, No. 10-0775
THE BOEING COMPANY AND THE GREATER KELLY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY N/K/A THE PORT AUTHORITY OF SAN ANTONIO v. KEN PAXTON, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS, No. 12-1007
KING FISHER MARINE SERVICE, L.P. v. JOSE H. TAMEZ, No. 13-0103
IN RE JOHN DOE A/K/A “TROOPER”, No. 13-0073
IN THE INTEREST OF K.M.L., A CHILD, No. 12-0728
GREATER HOUSTON PARTNERSHIP v. KEN PAXTON, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL; AND JIM JENKINS, No. 13-0745
CANTEY HANGER, LLP v. PHILIP GREGORY BYRD, LUCY LEASING CO., L.L.C., AND PGB AIR, INC., No. 13-0861
BARBARA D. COSGROVE, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS THE TRUSTEE OF THE CHARLES AND BARBARA COSGROVE FAMILY REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST v. MICHAEL CADE AND BILLIE CADE, No. 14-0346
MCGINNES INDUSTRIAL MAINTENANCE CORPORATION v. THE PHOENIX INSURANCE COMPANY AND THE TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY, No. 14-0465
GENIE INDUSTRIES, INC. v. RICKY MATAK, BELINDA MATAK AND MISTY SONNIER, AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF WALTER PETE LOGAN MATAK, DECEASED, No. 13-0042
RSUI INDEMNITY COMPANY v. THE LYND COMPANY, No. 13-0080
RICHARD T. ARCHER, DAVID B. ARCHER, CAROL ARCHER BUGG, JOHN V. ARCHER, KAREN ARCHER BALL, AND SHERRI ARCHER v. T. MARK ANDERSON AND CHRISTINE ANDERSON, AS CO-EXECUTORS OF THE ESTATE OF TED ANDERSON, No. 16-0256
PHILADELPHIA INDEMNITY INSURANCE COMPANY, A/S/O MIRSAN, L.P., D/B/A SIENNA RIDGE APARTMENTS v. CARMEN A. WHITE, No. 14-0086
ALICE M. WOOD AND DANIEL L. WOOD v. HSBC BANK USA, N.A. AND OCWEN LOAN SERVICING, L.L.C., No. 14-0714
PRESTON A. OCHSNER v. VICTORIA V. OCHSNER, No. 14-0638
JASON R. SEARCY, AS TRUSTEE OF THE EXEMPT ASSETS TRUST v. PAREX RESOURCES, INC., No. 14-0293
KBMT OPERATING COMPANY, LLC, KBMT LICENSE COMPANY, LLC, BRIAN BURNS, JACKIE SIMIEN AND TRACY KENNICK v. MINDA LAO TOLEDO, No. 14-0456
MIKE MORATH, COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION v. STERLING CITY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, HIGHLAND INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND BLACKWELL CONSOLIDATED INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, No. 14-0986
THE STATE OF TEXAS EX REL. GEORGE DARRELL BEST v. PAUL REED HARPER, No. 16-0647
AMANDA BRADSHAW v. BARNEY SAMUEL BRADSHAW, No. 16-0328
ETC MARKETING, LTD. v. HARRIS COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT, No. 15-0687
U.S. SHALE ENERGY II, LLC, RAYMOND B. ROUSH, RUTHIE ROUSH DODGE, AND DAVID E. ROUSH v. LABORDE PROPERTIES, L.P., AND LABORDE MANAGEMENT, LLC, No. 17-0111
HELIX ENERGY SOLUTIONS GROUP, INC., HELIX WELL OPS, INC., AND HELIX OFFSHORE INTERNATIONAL, INC. v. KELVIN GOLD, No. 16-0075
UNITED SCAFFOLDING, INC. v. JAMES LEVINE, No. 15-0921
PETROLEUM SOLUTIONS, INC. v. BILL HEAD D/B/A BILL HEAD ENTERPRISES AND TITEFLEX, INC., No. 11-0425
AC INTERESTS, L.P., FORMERLY AMERICAN COATINGS, L.P. v. TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, No. 16-0260
ALAMO HEIGHTS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT v. CATHERINE CLARK, No. 16-0244
IN RE NATIONAL LLOYDS INSURANCE COMPANY, WARDLAW CLAIMS SERVICE, INC. AND IDEAL ADJUSTING, INC., No. 15-0591
IN RE NORTH CYPRESS MEDICAL CENTER OPERATING CO., LTD., No. 16-0851
MURPHY EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION COMPANY—USA, A DELAWARE CORPORATION v. SHIRLEY ADAMS, CHARLENE BURGESS, WILLIE MAE HERBST JASIK, WILLIAM ALBERT HERBST, HELEN HERBST, AND R. MAY OIL & GAS COMPANY, LTD., No. 16-0505
WAUSAU UNDERWRITERS INSURANCE COMPANY v. JAMES WEDEL AND MICHELLE WEDEL, No. 17-0462
PLAINSCAPITAL BANK v. WILLIAM MARTIN, No. 13-0337
KEVIN T. MORTON v. HUNG NGUYEN AND CAROL S. NGUYEN, No. 12-0539
HIGHLAND HOMES LTD. v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, No. 12-0604
RAHUL K. NATH, M.D. v. TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL AND BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, No. 12-0620
ASHISH PATEL, ANVERALI SATANI, NAZIRA MOMIN, MINAZ CHAMADIA, AND VIJAY LAKSHMI YOGI v. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATION, ET AL., No. 12-0657
AMERICO LIFE, INC., AMERICO FINANCIAL LIFE AND ANNUITY INSURANCE COMPANY, GREAT SOUTHERN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, THE OHIO STATE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, AND NATIONAL FARMERS UNION LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY v. ROBERT L. MYER AND STRIDER MARKETING GROUP, INC., No. 12-0739
ZACHRY CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION v. PORT OF HOUSTON AUTHORITY OF HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, No. 12-0772
GARY WAYNE JASTER v. COMET II CONSTRUCTION, INC., JOE H. SCHNEIDER, LAURA H. SCHNEIDER, AND AUSTIN DESIGN GROUP, No. 12-0804


Yoko Narahashi’s “Hold My Hand” Pays Tribute to Playwright Masayuki Imai
Event Report2016.04.23Yoko Narahashi’s “Hold My Hand” Pays Tribute to Playwright Masayuki Imai
Back in 1995, Yoko Narahashi directed her first feature “Winds of God” an adaptation of the play by Masayuki Imai. 20 years later, Narahashi announced at the Kyoto International Film Festival, that she was working on a follow-up – just months after Imai died, age 54.
The duo had already begun casting when Imai passed, with actress Nanami playing meeting the famous playwright just once, at her audition. Nanami, who studied acting in Los Angeles, joined Narahashi at the Okinawa International Movie Festival along with fellow cast member Sumire.
The film tells the story of Makoto, played by Jay Kabira, who suffers from a slight learning disability that causes him to be bullied in school. Makoto meets Sakura, who suffers from a similar affliction, and the two wed. Later in life, Makoto recalls his life with Sakura, when he meets Reiko (Sumire), and the two travel to Ise Shrine in Amanohashidate, Kyoto.
“It’s not a vague story, it’s very very clear” says Narahashi. “It’s like a modern classic really, it’s been staged and performed all over Japan as a theatre piece and I’m thinking there is another idea to put in there to make it in to an international film if it’s possible.”
Narahashi expressed her hope that the audience will come away touched by the sentiment of the movie, “being happy with what [they] have, of life itself, of trying to live life fully, as Masayuki did.”
“The day I had an audition it was my first time to meet Imai Masayuki-san and it was the last time,” said Nanami. “As we acted together I could fee how he feels, we were connected.”


(-) 370 - Commerce/Housing Credit (26)
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House Committee on Small Business (9)
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Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (6)
S. 3778, Small Business Reauthorization and Improvements Act of 2006
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on August 2, 2006
H.R. 1956, Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2005
Cost Estimate July 11, 2006
Cost estimate for the bill as reported by the House Committee on Judiciary on June 28, 2006
H.R. 4127, Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA)
Cost Estimate July 6, 2006
Cost estimate for the bill as reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on May 26, 2006
H.R. 5417, Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on May 25, 2006
H.R. 4411, Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006
Cost Estimate May 26, 2006
H.R. 4742, A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to allow the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office to waive statutory provisions governing patents and trademarks in certain emergencies
Cost Estimate March 27, 2006
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on March 15, 2006
H.R. 4709, Law Enforcement and Phone Privacy Protection Act of 2006
Cost Estimate March 9, 2006
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on March 2, 2006
H.R. 3505, Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2005
Cost Estimate February 16, 2006
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on February 15, 2006
H.R. 4473, CFTC Reauthorization Act of 2005
Cost Estimate February 3, 2006
Cost estimate for the bill as passed by the House of Representatives on December 14, 2005
H.R. 4636, Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Conforming Amendments
Estimate of direct spending and revenues effects for the bill as cleared by the Congress on December 22, 2005


LA Art Association
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Art_Association:
The Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA) is a membership-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports Southern California artists. LAAA’s mission is to provide opportunities, resources, services and exhibition venues for artists living in Southern California, with an emphasis on emerging talent. Founded in 1925, LAAA has launched the art careers of many celebrated artists and has played a central role in the formation of Los Angeles’ arts community.
Notable LAAA Artists[edit]
LAAA has approximately 300 artist members. Through LAAA’s exposure to notable curators, gallery directors and collectors, artists have exhibited in prestigious museums, international art fairs and commercial galleries.
Born to Azerbaijani parents in Tehran, Iran in 1984, Marjan Vayghan immigrated to the United States in the Spring of 1995, settling with her family in Los Angeles, California. Marjan continues to live alternately between Teheran and Los Angeles. Her practice is informed by this context of movement and flexible citizenship across both geographical and cultural spaces, and the multiple realities these spaces engender. Vayghan’s solo exhibition at Gallery 825 received wide press and publication, including an interview with the Huffington Post.
Mei Xian Qiu has had two solo museum exhibitions in New York City and in Los Angeles. Her work has been shown in Photo LA, Art Platform and at the Ping Pong exhibition during Art Basel and Art Basel Miami. Qiu has been featured in ZOOM Photographic Art Magazine, Fabrik Magazine and Artweek.LA.
Meeson Pae Yang‘s solo exhibitions and projects have been shown internationally and nationally at Galerie Kashya Hildebrand (Zurich, Switzerland), FuXin Gallery (Shanghai, China), ArtHK (Hong Kong, China), ARCO (Madrid, Spain), Contemporary Istanbul (Istanbul, Turkey), and LAUNCHLA (Los Angeles, CA). Yang is a recipient of the James Irvine Foundation’s California New Visions Award, the Durfee Foundation’s ARC award, the Burkhardt Foundation Award, and the Alpay Award. Yang has been featured in Sculpture Magazine, Art Ltd Magazine, Theme Magazine, the Korea Times, and the Los Angeles Times.
J.T. Burke worked for 20 years as a nationally recognized advertising photographer and commercial director. In 2010, he mounted his first public exhibition of personal work that was shown in Barcelona Spain, Bristol UK and Santa Barbara, CA. His unique photo digital collage works have been exhibited in galleries and art fairs in New York city and throughout California.
YaYa Chou has had solo exhibitions at den contemporary art in West Hollywood, Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana, and Gallery 825. Her work was included in group exhibitions at Museum of Modern Art, NY, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, VA, and several southern California galleries. She is the recipient of the 2011 Fellowship at the Lucas Artists Residency, Montalvo Arts Center, CA, and twice she was awarded the Durfee Foundation Grant (2010 and 2007). Chou has received several honors and awards for her animated films.
Today, LAAA continues to play a central role in the Los Angeles arts community by providing artist members and the public with exceptional exhibitions and programs, as well as a forum for exchange and education through lectures, workshops and networking opportunities. LAAA serves a broad cross section of artists of all mediums, career levels and socio-economic backgrounds, including those from low income communities. By supporting the emerging talent at the onset of their career path, LAAA hopes to influence all the cultural stakeholder groups in Los Angeles and contribute to the cultural identity of the community. LAAA pledges to provide emerging artists with the experience, education and exposure needed to create and sustain a career in the arts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Art_Association


Baton Rouge, LA – August 27, 2014 – Lamar Advertising Company (Nasdaq: LAMR), a leading owner and operator of outdoor advertising and logo sign displays, announces that its board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.83 per share payable on September 30, 2014, to stockholders of record of Lamar’s Class A common stock and Class B common stock on September 22, 2014.
As previously announced, Lamar expects to elect to be treated as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) for federal income tax purposes effective January 1, 2014. To qualify for REIT status commencing with its 2014 taxable year, Lamar must distribute to its stockholders by the end of 2014 all of its pre-REIT accumulated earnings and profits, if any. In addition, as a REIT, Lamar will be required to distribute annually to its stockholders an amount equal to at least 90% of its REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and by excluding net capital gain). Our REIT taxable income generally does not include income earned by our taxable REIT subsidiaries, or TRSs, except to the extent the TRSs pay dividends to the REIT. We expect to have net operating loss carry forwards, or NOLs, as of the effective time of our REIT conversion. To the extent we use these NOLs to offset our REIT taxable income, the required distributions to stockholders would be reduced. However, in this case, we may be subject to the alternative minimum tax.
As a result of its expected REIT election, Lamar previously provided its expectations for the aggregate amount of its pre-REIT accumulated earnings and profits of approximately $40 million. Currently, Lamar’s board of directors does not expect to make a special distribution to its stockholders on account of its pre-REIT accumulated earnings and profits. We expect that the amounts declared and paid in connection with this dividend and the other regular quarterly dividends we have paid and expect to pay in 2014 will be in an amount sufficient to enable us to distribute our non-REIT accumulated earnings and profits no later than December 31, 2014.
The amount, timing and frequency of future distributions will be at the sole discretion of Lamar’s board of directors and will be declared based upon various factors, a number of which may be beyond our control, including our financial condition and operating cash flows, the amount required to maintain REIT status and reduce any income and excise taxes that we otherwise would be required to pay, limitations on distributions in our existing and future debt instruments, our ability to utilize NOLs to offset, in whole or in part, our distribution requirements, limitations on our ability to fund distributions using cash generated through our TRSs and other factors that Lamar’s board of directors may deem relevant. There is no certainty as to the timing or amount of any future distributions.
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Lamar Advertising Company’s goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives, plans, future operating results and underlying assumptions, and other statements that are not necessarily based on historical facts. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the current estimate of pre-REIT accumulated earnings and profits, the expectation to elect REIT status, the expected timing and effect of that election and the expected timing and amount of distributions. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. For additional information regarding factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in our forward-looking statements, we refer you to the risk factors included in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, as supplemented by any risk factors contained in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We caution investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this document. These statements speak only as of the date of this document, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the statements, except as may be required by law.
Lamar Advertising Company is a leading outdoor advertising company currently operating over 150 outdoor advertising companies in 44 states, Canada and Puerto Rico, logo businesses in 23 states and the province of Ontario, Canada and over 60 transit advertising franchises in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Company Contact: Buster Kantrow
Lamar Advertising Renews Transit Contract with City of Kingston
Lamar Advertising Company (Nasdaq: LAMR) renewed its transit contract with the City of Kingston for an additional five year term, giving advertisers the opportunity to display messages on the interiors and exteriors of buses in Kingston, ON.
Wi-Fi Enhanced Bus Ads Hit the Streets of Vancouver
Commuters in Vancouver, BC can now surf the internet while they cruise around the city on public transit buses, thanks to a new campaign from TELUS and Lamar Advertising Company. Lamar launched Vancouver’s first Wi-Fi full wrap advertisement on three public transit buses for the pilot project, which started in August and will run for the next six months.


Written By: Ann Napolitano
Narrated By: Cassandra Campbell
Publisher: Viking UK
Brought to you by Penguin.
'Astonishing' Marian Keyes
A luminous, life-affirming novel about a 12-year-old boy who is the sole survivor of a deadly plane crash
One summer morning, a flight takes off from New York to Los Angeles. There are 192 passengers aboard: among them a young woman taking a pregnancy test in the airplane toilet; a Wall Street millionaire flirting with the air hostess; an injured soldier returning from Afghanistan; and two beleaguered parents moving across the country with their adolescent sons, bickering over who gets the window seat. When the plane suddenly crashes in a field in Colorado, the younger of these boys, 12-year-old Edward Adler, is the sole survivor.
Dear Edward depicts Edward's life in the crash's aftermath as he struggles to make sense of the meaning of his survival, the strangeness of his sudden fame, and find his place in the world without his family. In his new home with his aunt and uncle, the only solace comes from his friendship with the girl next door, Shay. Together Edward and Shay make a startling discovery: hidden in his uncle's garage are sacks of letters from the relatives of the other passengers, addressed to Edward.
As Edward comes of age against the backdrop of sudden tragedy, he must confront some of life's most profound questions: how do we make the most of the time we are given? And what does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?
'A rich, big-hearted tapestry. Fans of Room and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close will be spellbound by Dear Edward' Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists
'A profoundly beautiful, page-turning story of mystery, loss, and wonder' Hannah Tinti, author of The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley and The Good Thief
'Dear Edward is a masterpiece that should be at the top of everyone's reading list.' J. Courtney Sullivan, bestselling author of Saints for All Occasions
'I loved Dear Edward so, so much. It made me laugh and weep. Magnificent!' Lily King, author of Euphoria
© Ann Napolitano 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
by Ann Napolitano
This title is due for release on January 14, 2020.
This title is due for release on January 14, 2020


Posts tagged "Good Time"
61st BFI London Film Festival
Events, Features, Film, Review | by Loose Lips — October 16, 2017
Tags: 120 BPM (Beats Per Minute), 61st BFI London Film Festival, A Fantastic Woman, Abu, Bad Genius, BFI, BFI London Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival 2017, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Breathe, Brigsby Bear, Call Me By Your Name, Downsizing, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, Foxtrot, Gemini, Good Manners, Good Time, Ingrid Goes West, Jailbreak, Last Flag Flying, Lean on Pete, LFF, London Film Festival, Loving Vincent, Memoir of a Murderer, Nico 1988, No Stone Unturned, Person to Person, Pickups, Stronger, The Breadwinner, The Cured, The Florida Project, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lovers, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), The Party, The Shape of Water, Thoroughbreds, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Wonderstruck, Wrath of Silence
61st BFI London Film Festival October 4th-15th, 2017 Various London Venues by Joanna Orland and Richard Hamer The 2017 BFI London Film Festival brought world famous movie stars, European premieres, and cinematic highlights from Cannes, Venice, TIFF and Sundance to the UK capital. Alongside showcasing a handful of the best from other fests, this year’s […]
BFI London Film Festival: Good Time
Events, Features, Film, Review | by Loose Lips — October 4, 2017
Tags: 61st BFI London Film Festival, Barkhad Abdi, Benny Safdie, BFI, BFI London Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival 2017, Buddy Duress, Good Time, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Josh Safdie, LFF, LFF 2017, London Film Festival, Oneohtrix Point Never, Robert Pattinson, Safdie Brothers
Good Time Directed by Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie Starring Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Buddy Duress and Barkhad Abdi Screening at LFF October 5th, 8th, 2017 Watch on iTunes US by Joanna Orland Robert Pattinson comes of age as an actor in Benny and Josh Safdie’s stylishly raw thriller Good Time. Connie […]


Glennda Fisher
Glennda M. Fisher, 60, of Uniondale, IN, and having ties to Huntington County, IN, died Thursday, August 1, 2019, at 3:46 p.m. at Visiting Nurse and Hospice in Fort Wayne.
Mrs. Fisher was a 1977 graduate of Homestead High School. She had worked as an insurance biller for several years for Wells Community Hospital, Bluffton Regional and Lutheran Hospital. She was a member of Zanesville United Methodist Church, where she volunteered and helped with Upwards sports.
She was born Oct. 22, 1958, in Bluffton to Robert R. and Beverly J. Platt Elzey. Her mother survives in Uniondale. She married Gary Fisher on Dec. 6, 1980, in Markle, and he also survives.
Additional survivors include two sons, Stacey (Melissa) Fisher, of Uniondale, and Kyle (Shelby Engle) Fisher, of Bluffton; and five grandchildren, Kaylee Fisher, Madison Fisher, Camden Fisher and Kenley Fisher, all of Uniondale, and Ryker Engle, of Bluffton.
She was preceded in death by a daughter, Nicole Fisher.
Calling is Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Myers Funeral Home Markle Chapel, 415 N. Lee St., Markle. A funeral service will be held Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, at 10 a.m., with one hour of calling prior to the service, at the funeral home. Interment will be at the Uniontown Cemetery in Zanesville.
Memorials are to Visiting Nurse and Hospice in care of Myers Funeral Home, PO Box 403, Markle, IN 46770.
The online guest registry may be signed at www.myersfuneralhomes.com.


How Donald Trump thinks about Iran
Thomas Wright Tuesday, January 7, 2020
On October 6, 1980 Donald Trump was interviewed by Rona Barrett, one of America’s most famous gossip columnists, on NBC. It was several weeks before Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in the presidential election and near the end of the Iran hostage crisis in which the Iranian regime took 52 American diplomats and citizens prisoner after the embassy was stormed and then held them for 444 days.
Director - Center on the United States and Europe
Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Project on International Order and Strategy
Twitter thomaswright08
It was a long and meandering interview about Trump’s story to date (he was then 34). About half way though, Barrett asked Trump if he could make America perfect how would he do it. Trump replied that America “should really be a country that gets the respect of other countries.” The exchange continued:
Donald Trump: ….The Iranian situation is a case in point. That they hold our hostages is just absolutely, and totally ridiculous. That this country sits back and allows a country such as Iran to hold our hostages, to my way of thinking, is a horror, and I don’t think they’d do it with other countries. I honestly don’t think they’d do it with other countries.
Rona Barrett: Obviously you’re advocating that we should have gone in there with troops, et cetera, and brought our boys out like Vietnam.
Donald Trump: I absolutely feel that, yes. I don’t think there’s any question, and there is no question in my mind. I think right now we’d be an oil-rich nation, and I believe that we should have done it, and I’m very disappointed that we didn’t do it, and I don’t think anybody would have held us in abeyance.
As historians Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman have observed, this interview is the first known comment by Trump on U.S. foreign policy.
Fast forward to January 4, 2020, a day after the U.S. drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani. Trump tweeted:
….targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!
One of the puzzles about Trump’s strike on Soleimani is why he did it and what he will do next. His administration has pursued a very hawkish policy on Iran beginning with the travel ban, tough new sanctions, walking away from the Iran nuclear deal, and ratcheting up pressure in the year that followed. But, in recent months Trump tacked in a different direction. He did not fire back after the September attacks on Saudi oil facilities. He has professed not to care about the Middle East beyond the oil and ISIS. He seems to want to avoid war, particularly in an election year. And, he was desperate for talks with the Iranian leadership, going so far as to try to surprise the Iranians by dialing into a meeting between President Rouhani and President Macron on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The historical record offers an answer. The Iranian revolution, which led to the hostage crisis and an energy crisis, was one of Trump’s formative experiences in thinking about America’s role in the world. In the years that followed, he became obsessed with the symbolism of respect (and the acquisition of oil). He was furious that allies did not pay fealty to the United States. He was outraged when foreign leaders did not meet the American president at their plane. The only time he became frustrated with Vladimir Putin in office was when he looked as if he was disrespecting Trump’s military strength — such as when Russian planes buzzed America’s ships or when the Russians produced a map showing Mar-a-Lago within range of their nuclear weapons. Trump does not hate Iran per se — his desire for talks is evidence of that — but he does have an obsession with avoiding a humiliation. For Trump, the embassy protests looked like a mash-up of 1979 with Benghazi — the ultimate challenge to his own perception of himself as a strongman.
Iran Reconsidered
By Suzanne Maloney
All Measures Short of War: The Contest for the 21st Century and the Future of American Power
By Thomas Wright
There are contradictory reports of the decisionmaking process around the Soleimani strike. Some reports say that the Pentagon added the option as a throw-away to make the other option seem more reasonable. A report in the Washington Post says Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper had been trying to get Trump to sign on for some time. The Post report may be an attempt by Pompeo and Esper to claim credit and defuse charges of incompetence, but in any event, a consistent element of all reports is that Trump did not sign on to the strike until after the Iranian backed protests outside the embassy.
Trump often lashes out at people after he thinks they criticized him, even if a fight does not serve his interests — think about his attack on the parents of the fallen U.S. soldier Humayun Khan or his cruel comment about Debbie Dingel. He has the same reaction to actions that undermine his own image of America as a strong and unrivaled nation while he is at the helm. He would almost certainly not have responded the same way if Iran had continued to hit U.S. allies or to make strategic gains in Iraq.
The killing of Soleimani is a strategic error. It provides short-term gratification upon the demise of a man responsible for the deaths of many Americans, but it damages U.S. interests in the region and beyond. However, many of the downsides mean very little to Trump. He does not care that Iraq might kick U.S. troops out as long as they pay him back for the base. Likewise for Iran abrogating elements of the nuclear deal. He does not mind that this undermines the protest movement in Iraq or in Iran. He cannot envisage the return of ISIS. He couldn’t care less that that the Saudis now feel in imminent danger and want a de-escalation. As for international law and creating a precedent for targeted killings of government officials, forget it.
Iran knows how to bide its time. Don’t expect immediate retaliation for Soleimani.
Suzanne Maloney
Iran spent years building a cyber arsenal. Will it unleash that arsenal now?
Chris Meserole
Around the halls: Experts react to the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani
Madiha Afzal, Ranj Alaaldin, Daniel L. Byman, Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Jeffrey Feltman, Tanvi Madan, Suzanne Maloney, Michael E. O’Hanlon, Bruce Riedel, Shibley Telhami, and Tamara Cofman Wittes
And yet, having killed the second most important person in Iran, Trump now finds himself in a bind. If Iran reacts by attacking Americans, Trump will feel compelled to respond, but that runs the risk of the wider war that he wants to avoid. So he is trying to put the genie back in the bottle by threatening fire and fury if Iran retaliates, just as he is bombastic domestically when in a tight spot. It is unlikely to succeed and, paradoxically, makes all-out war with Iran more likely. In the Barrett interview, Trump spoke about “a sparkle of war” in the Middle East. The phrase is an apt one to sum up Trump’s approach to foreign policy — he likes the sparkle and hopes others will be scared into submission. But bluster does not always work.
All-out war between the United States and Iran is unlikely, primarily because it would not serve Iran’s interests. Iran may bide its time, target U.S. allies instead of Americans, or press the United States in other ways (such as by forcing it out of Iraq). If it does directly attack Americans, Trump might try to wriggle off the hook he has hoisted himself upon.
However, it’s easy to imagine how the situation could easily spiral into a war. There is little doubt that Trump is uniquely ill-suited to be a commander-in-chief during war time. He has no attention span, does not process information normally, is particularly prone to bad advice, and is deeply insecure. He has one of the weakest and least experienced national security teams since the United States became a global power. He will be fighting this war without many allies. Even the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was careful to distance himself from Trump’s drone strike. Given his demonstrated proclivity for war crimes, if he were to decisively win the war, he would very likely do so in a way that would leave a permanent stain on the nation’s honor.
Trump’s Iran crisis fits perfectly within his narrative arc. His administration has had three identifiable phases. The first was the age of constraint, as the so-called Axis of Adults shaped and limited Trump’s options. The second was the age of hubris as Trump got rid of anyone who stood up to him so he could act as he wished — this came in two variants, maximum pressure and deal-making. The third is the reckoning as Trump is forced to face the consequences and contradictions of his own actions. There have been inklings of this third phase for some time. It has now well and truly arrived.


Alfred Joseph Casson
Farmhouse near Tripp Lake
9 x 11 in
Alfred Joseph Casson, May 17, 1898 – February 20, 1992 was a member of the Canadian group of painters known as the Group of Seven. He joined the group in 1926 at the invitation of Franklin Carmichael. Casson is best known for his depictions of landscapes, forests and farms of southern Ontario, and for being the youngest member of the Group of Seven.
Alfred was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1898 to an English Quaker father and a Canadian mother. At age 9 he moved to Guelph and to Hamilton at age 14. He left school early at age 15 to work as an apprentice at a Hamilton lithography company. At the same time, he studied art at Central Technical School. Casson left Hamilton at age 17 and moved to Toronto. The first public exhibition of his work was at the Canadian National Exhibition, in 1917. He was hired by the commercial art firm Rous and Mann.
At Rous and Mann, Alfred was influenced and apprenticed by Group of Seven member Franklin Carmichael to sketch and paint on his own. Carmichael introduced Casson to The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, where he met many well-known artists, including other Group of Seven members.
During the 1920s, Casson continued to paint during his spare time alone and with the Group of Seven. Alfred enjoyed watercolour and in 1925 along with Carmichael and F.H. Brigden, founded the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour.
After Frank Johnston, a Group of Seven member, left the group in 1921, Casson seemed like an appropriate replacement. Later in 1926, he was invited by Carmichael to become a Group of Seven member. Casson joined excitedly. He left Rous and Mann in 1927 and joined Sampson Matthews. He became their art director and later their vice-president.
In 1929 Casson married a woman named Margaret. His father died shortly after his marriage, and he had to take care of and support his widowed mother. After the ending of the Group of Seven, he co-founded the Canadian Group of Painters in 1933. Casson developed a painting style with clear colours and background designs. Alfred “retired” in 1957 at age 60 but continued to paint full time. A.J. Casson died in 1992 at age 94 and is buried on the grounds of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, along with six other Group of Seven members.
Biography courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Casson


How to Use One Mouse and Keyboard Across Multiple Computers with Mouse Without Borders
Taylor Gibb @taybgibb
July 17, 2017, 10:59am EDT
If you’ve got multiple computers at your desk, you probably know that it’s a pain to use more than one keyboard and mouse. Here’s how to use a single keyboard and mouse on more than one PC using a tool from Microsoft.
Most geeks will be familiar with Input Director and Synergy, which do the same thing, but now Microsoft has released an application called Mouse Without Borders, which has some great features—like dragging files from one PC to another.
Using Mouse Without Borders
Once you’ve downloaded and installed the application, there’s a quick wizard that helps you setup the application for use on your network. On the first PC, you’ll want to click No to do the initial setup.
This will generate a security code that you can use on the next PC to connect to the first one.
Over on the second PC, you will want to enter the code that you generated on the first PC, and the computer name.
That’s all there is to it – now you can start using the application.
If you’re still puzzled about how it works, here’s a video that explains it in more detail.
Download Mouse Without Borders from Microsoft
Taylor Gibb
Taylor Gibb is a professional software developer with nearly a decade of experience. He served as Microsoft Regional Director in South Africa for two years and has received multiple Microsoft MVP (Most Valued Professional) awards. He currently works in R&D at Derivco International.


The Car Show
> The Car Show on BBC Four at 2009-08-26 01:00:00
Documentary exploring how cars have been presented on television over time, from classic magazine shows of the 1960s like Wheelbase to more aspirational programmes like Top Gear.
> The Car Show on BBC Two at 2009-05-17 19:30:00
Documentary exploring how cars have been presented on television over time, from classic magazine shows of the 1960s like Wheelbase, to more aspirational programmes like Top Gear.
Part of the Joy of Motoring season. Documentary exploring how cars have been presented on British television over the years.


Issue 11	| Criticism | January 13, 2016
by Moira Weigel
I almost killed my mother almost immediately. On the night I was born, in New York Hospital, in the fall of 1984, I tore something inside her that the resident on call did not see. When she complained the next day that the pain was still terrible, the nurses shushed her, saying first time mothers simply had to learn what pain was. When she finally managed to stand up, a wall of blood burst out of her, soaking through her flimsy hospital slippers. They gave her a transfusion right away.
Anyone who was in New York at the time knows that to be saved by seven bags of strangers’ blood in the fall of 1984 was to start a whole new cycle of worries. The hospitals did not start screening their supply for HIV until January. All around the city, people were dying of the disease it caused. My mother refused to get tested. “What would have been the point?” she asks, when I ask her about it now. In the mid-Eighties a positive result was a death sentence. She was fine after all, but I think it may have been the last time she ever failed to worry about something. I almost killed her with worry all through my childhood and adolescence.
The CDC called the communities hit hardest by AIDS the “four Hs”: homosexuals, heroin users, Haitians and hemophiliacs. My parents were white, middle to upper-middle class, observant Catholics and straight as far as I know. We lived in a South Brooklyn neighborhood that was just starting to gentrify. But there, too, people were dying. The gay couple my parents bought our house from. The brother of one of our closest family friends. My mother’s uncle in Flatbush, leaving behind a wife and seven children. The priest at the church we went to every Sunday. Though in his case, we had to pretend we did not recognize the symptoms.
As time passed, the panic ebbed. There were antiretroviral drugs that kept you alive if you could afford them. Mayor Giuliani cleaned up the crack and needles by aggressively arresting the poor; rising real-estate prices took care of the rest. But when someone writes the definitive history of my generation of New Yorkers, they will have to account for what it did to us to grow up hearing constantly that sex meant death. The “health” classes that were introduced into public schools, in the wake of the AIDS crisis, institutionalized this view. The curriculum in mine was unusually progressive: our teachers even alluded occasionally to pleasure. But they still taught us to feel terrified of the desires that we were coming into. Desire would kill us, they told us again and again.
At home my mother seemed to be afflicted by the same vague terror, subjecting me to much stricter rules than those followed by my friends. She was a Catholic and a worrier, sure. But I always sensed that AIDS raised the stakes of what might otherwise seem like petty transgressions. For instance, my mother made me promise that I would not watch Kids.
When Larry Clark’s film came out in the summer of 1995, I was too young to sneak into a theater. It later became a touchstone among my friends, who all watched a VHS copy together on one of the half-day afternoons when my mother made me come right home. At the time, the press hailed Kids as “raw,” “frank,” “honest” and “gritty”—all adjectives that boasted of its fidelity to the realities of kids just a little older than me. I couldn’t judge for myself since I never got around to seeing it. Watching it now, at thirty, those words still seem apt for describing something important about the film. But that something is not its realism.
How kids came to be is a bit of a legend. The director, Larry Clark, had made his reputation in the early 1970s, when he published a book of black-and-white photographs of him and his friends from the suburbs of his hometown, Tulsa, Oklahoma, shooting up amphetamines and lounging around, often half-dressed or undressed. It earned him a notoriety that he rode to New York. In 1993, a younger new arrival, the aspiring screenwriter Harmony Korine, noticed Clark in Washington Square Park, where he was trying to learn how to skateboard and taking photographs of the skaters and punks who spent their days getting high and practicing tricks around the basin. Clark had recently directed his first music video and he had an idea for a screenplay about teens like these getting AIDS. He asked Korine, who was nineteen at the time, if he thought he could write it. Korine said yes.
Korine has sometimes claimed that he wrote the Kids script in a single week. Other times he has said three. He and Clark recruited amateur actors they met downtown: Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Rosario Dawson and Chloë Sevigny, among others like the skating prodigy Harold Hunter. There were some glitches during production. Gus van Sant signed up to produce and then dropped out, though the credits still name him. The lead actress was fired; Sevigny, who had originally been given a bit part, stepped into her larger role after shooting had already started. Miramax bought distribution rights, but parent company Walt Disney balked when the MPAA gave Kids an NC-17 rating; Miramax eventually had to create an independent company to get it shown in theaters.
In the style of a documentary, the film loosely follows a group of friends through one day hanging around Manhattan in the sweltering heat of early summer. The focus is on Telly (Fitzpatrick) and Casper (Pierce), two friends who roam around the city looking for girls and booze and weed and prescription drugs. Each is a sociopath in his own way. Telly is a self-professed “virgin surgeon,” obsessed with deflowering and then immediately abandoning as many twelve- and thirteen-year-olds as he can. “It’s like getting fame … if you die, fifty years from now those virgins will remember you,” his friend Casper goads him on. Casper is less successful, sexually, and (perhaps therefore) more prone to violence. At one point, in response to a trivial insult, he takes his skateboard and beats a stranger in Washington Square Park almost to death.
The secondary main characters are two girlfriends: Ruby, played by Dawson, and Jennie, played by Sevigny. When Ruby, who is far more sexually experienced, goes to get tested for STDs, Jennie agrees to accompany her, even though she has only ever slept with Telly. Ruby comes away with a clean bill of health; Jennie tests positive for HIV. After failing to reach Telly by payphone, she spends the rest of the day trying to track him down. Meanwhile, he has decided that he wants to deflower his friend’s younger sister, Darcy.
Ruby quickly drops out and for the rest of the film the camera cuts between Telly and Casper on their path and Jennie on hers, chasing them all over the Lower East Side streets where they dissipate their days—from a flophouse run by a teenager, to Telly’s mother’s cramped apartment, to a public pool that the boys and a few other friends climb a fence to break into, to a rave called NASA, where colored lights flash over Jennie’s face. There, Korine himself makes a cameo as a friend who gives her a pill reputed to “make Special K look weak.” It is a plot that would have seemed less plausible even a few years later, as pagers spread; today, in an era of ubiquitous cell phones it could never happen. But in 1995 it was still possible to spend 24 hours off the grid.
At a final house party, we see kids hooking up and puking and passing out. Jennie does not get to Telly before he takes Darcy’s virginity; she walks in on him hammering at her while she whimpers, “Telly, stop, that hurts.” Jennie passes out and is raped, horribly, by Casper—pants and panties tugged off; legs hoisted up, askew, like a rag doll’s; ankle socks left on—while other unconscious friends continue sleeping beside them.
The final shot, famously, shows the morning after. Casper wakes up and looks groggily over the wreckage of the party. Then he looks straight into the camera, and asks, in an emblem for the entire film:
“Jesus Christ, what happened?”
What I feel most, watching Kids in 2015, is that it is shallow. I mean this partly as praise. The shallowness is the key to the film’s ability to transport us into the world of its characters, as if participating in their refusal to think of consequences, to look beyond the here and now.
On a visual level, the action takes place almost entirely in close-up and medium shots. More often than not, the bodies of the amateur child actors fill the frame. Even in the traveling shots, where the camera follows them swaggering down city streets, it usually remains closely trained on them, so that we see little of what they are walking past. I spent countless afternoons hanging around St. Mark’s Place in the late 1990s, yet I don’t recognize it until afterwards, when I read a list of shooting locations. There are no “postcard” establishing shots to show that the skateboarding scenes take place in Washington Square Park, for instance. The style presumes that whoever is watching is already in the know. The effect is a sense of intimacy; we see the mole on one of Telly’s scrawny shoulders, and enter Ruby and Jennie’s points of view as they scan the brightly colored posters lining the walls of the STD clinic. At the same time, the cinematography captures the characters’ sense of dislocation. They know the map of their world all too well; they are dead bored, yet have no idea where they are going. With them, we get lost.
Kids nails many of the ethnographic details of teen life in New York in the Nineties. I was not prepared for how nostalgic it would make me feel. The busker singing “Danny Boy” in the 77th Street subway station. The baggy pants and baby tees. The soundtrack flip-flopping between screaming rock and calmer hip-hop.
The way the characters talk often veers off into self-parody. The boys greet each other with “yo, yo, yo”; they are “just chillin’ and shit”; the skate video they watch after a friend “smokes them out” is “the bomb.” They append an “or some shit” or “and shit” to every statement. The white boys call one another “nigga” endlessly. The girls boast of their sexual expertise and enthusiasm to one another in terms as unconvincingly generic as they are crass. “There’s a difference between ‘having sex,’ ‘making love’ and ‘fucking,’” one announces confidently. Is there, now? my grown-up self wants to tease them. But I talked that way, too, once.
The endearments that Telly uses to seduce girls (Girl: “Do you care about me?” Telly: “Of course I do”) and the slurs he uses to disparage them to Casper later (“I fucked that bitch”) are equally clichéd. We see even the littlest kids dropping vulgarities to prove their macho callousness (“How do you like your pussy?” one kid who looks nine or ten asks another). Authentic in their inauthenticity, these exchanges duplicate the sense of immediacy that the cinematography conveys at the level of character. It’s a kind of anti-psychology. The kids don’t know why they do what they do any more than they know where it will take them.
The problem is that Kids reproduces the superficiality that makes it so stylistically compelling in its approach to its subject matter. Watching it today, I was hoping for an account of the ways that the fear of AIDS shaped how young people in that time and place learned about desire. Instead the film recasts the virus into the threat lurking in the background of a kind of nightmare fairy tale. The role that HIV plays is to give a sense of momentum to what is basically an observational essay.
If the signature of the film’s cinematography is its tight composition, the trope that guides its editing is crosscutting. It is by cutting back and forth between the aimless wanderings of Telly and Casper, and the urgent searching of Jennie, that Kids generates suspense. The ticking time bomb scenario provides the simplest kind of narrative engine: How does she stop him before he gives the disease to someone else?
Despite the film’s implicit promise to depict the “real story” of kids in the Nineties, the scenario it depicts was highly improbable. By the mid-Nineties, the largest number of new HIV infections in New York occurred in African Americans, followed by gay men. Even if Telly, the straight white middle-class kid played by Fitzpatrick, had HIV, the chance that Jennie would contract it by having unprotected sex with him once is about 2 percent. The likelihood that Darcy would get it from their encounter is similarly tiny.
In a 1997 interview, the feminist writer and activist bell hooks criticized Kids for its regressive gender and racial politics, pointing out that two white, misogynistic males drive the action, while the filmmakers evince little interest in the experiences of the Latinos and African Americans who orbit them throughout the day. I agree with bell hooks’s criticisms. And I would add that the film reduces HIV, too, to a gesture. Rather than exploring how it shaped, and unmade, lives, it reduces the disease to one more slick bit of style, something to add suspense where the film might otherwise risk aimlessness and to heighten the aura of transgression. While it manages to capture the sense, instilled in us by our health teachers, that disease and death would be the price of desire, it does little more than that. Instead of examining the myths that loomed over the teen minds of that era, it enlarges them.
The sense of exaggeration, of making myths from one’s own daily life, may be the element of Kids that now feels most prescient. I remember the fracas that Kids caused when it came out. In the 1990s, the hysterical atmosphere of the “culture wars” made it easy to take sides, and at the time my knee-jerk reaction was to side with Kids. I was inclined to trust that Clark and Korine, whatever their sins, were fighting on the right side of what Pat Buchanan had called “the war for the soul of America.” I still would defend the filmmakers against Buchanan. But the way those debates were framed strikes me today as almost quaint.
The fight over Kids broke down along familiar lines. The liberal champions of the film assumed, and sometimes directly stated, that there was a value to truth-telling, both in itself and as a catalyst for change. Conservatives, on the other hand, insisted that to show the kinds of degeneracy depicted in Kids would hasten a process of degeneration that had begun (so they said) with feminist, sexual and gay liberation. Liberals heralded transgressive representation as a way of undoing repressive taboos that had kept society from honestly confronting its problems; conservatives cited the same representational practices as evidence of decline. Both camps operated on the presupposition that there was such a thing as the public sphere, constituted by the movie theater where real kids would go to see the film and by the journalistic discourse that surrounded it. Moreover, they seemed to believe that a debate about what kinds of discussions were appropriate to have in that sphere could shape its character.
In retrospect it is possible to see that the debate overlooked the real transformation that was taking place, both in youth culture and in the culture of images. The public sphere that older and younger Americans, and Americans of different ethnicities, socioeconomic classes and political commitments, had once been presumed to share was fragmenting. In 1990 only 200,000 households in the United States had internet connections; by 1993, that number was five million. So the debate over how Kids would affect “mainstream” American culture took place at precisely the moment when the mainstream was disappearing, leaving no one “soul of America” to defend.
Watched twenty years later, Kids looks like a harbinger of something—but not cultural progress or decline per se. Rather, what it anticipates is the rise of a youth culture based on provocative self-documentation. The material transformation of media that was fragmenting “mainstream” movies and journalism would soon make it possible for real kids to capture the look of their own lives, or the lives they want to look like they have, in the same glamorized “gritty” style that runs through Kids. It is easy to imagine the sleek and depthless images that Clark and Korine used to dramatize teenage life turning up on high-school students’ cell phones today—from the smoky party shots to the unbearable rape sequence. The film’s real legacy may be as an example of how to immortalize immaturity.
Image credits: Still from Larry Clark’s Kids; “Hamilton, Harold and Loki on High’s roof” by High (1993); “Raver chicks at NASA” by Mel Stones (1993). All photos courtesy of Mel Stones and High.


Breaking Bad 101: The Complete Critical Companion
By Alan Sepinwall
Publisher: Abrams Press
The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers who Changed TV Drama Forever
Publisher: Touchstone / Simon & Schuster
ONE OF NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CRITIC MICHIKO KAKUTANI’S 10 FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR ONE OF HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’S 12 BEST HOLLYWOOD-RELATED BOOKS OF THE YEAR In The Revolution Was Televised, celebrated TV critic Alan Sepinwall chronicles the remarkable transformation of the small screen over the past fifteen years. Focusing on twelve innovative television dramas that changed the medium and the culture at large forever, including The Sopranos, Oz, The Wire, Deadwood, The Shield, Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 24, Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad, Sepinwall weaves his trademark incisive criticism with highly entertaining reporting about the real-life characters and conflicts behind the scenes. Drawing on interviews with writers David Chase, David Simon, David Milch, Joel Surnow and Howard Gordon, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, and Vince Gilligan, among others, along with the network executives responsible for green-lighting these groundbreaking shows, The Revolution Was Televised is the story of a new golden age in TV, one that’s as rich with drama and thrills as the very shows themselves.
The Sopranos Sessions
Our Price: $15.00 - $26.95
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TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
While working at the Newark Star-Ledger, Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall created a popular column debating the merits of then-current television. Eventually they went on to successful careers as critics elsewhere, but the debate raged on and now comes to an epic conclusion in TV (THE BOOK). Alan and Matt have established The Pantheon of top TV shows using a complex, obsessively all-encompassing ranking system by which to order and stack them up against each other. With a mix of lively entries on critically acclaimed and commercially successful classics such as Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Star Trek, The Simpsons and Twin Peaks and illuminating essays on short-lived favorites such as Taxi,Freaks and Geeks, and My So-Called Life, TV (THE BOOK) is sure to spark conversation and debate among readers.TV (THE BOOK) is a must-have for long-time television and film buffs and for young enthusiasts who, fresh off their latest Netflix binge, are looking to expand their knowledge of the medium and wondering what show to start streaming next.


California drought: Morning rain just the…
NewsEnvironment & Science
California drought: Morning rain just the beginning
Wet pedestrians wait to cross Story Road at Alum Rock Avenue in San Jose, Calif. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014. A strong weather system arrived in the Bay Area early this morning and is expected to bring more rainfall in the next few days. (Gary Reyes/Bay Area News Group)
By Rick Hurd | rhurd@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: February 26, 2014 at 12:35 am | UPDATED: August 12, 2016 at 10:04 am
Outside a Walnut Creek coffee shop, a 4-year-old girl holding an umbrella jumped as high as she could and landed with both her shoes in a small puddle, spraying a few drops on her mother.
Impressed with the result, she did it again.
“Maybe,” a spectator said, “she’s making up for lost time.”
Nature’s attempt to do the same for a parched Bay Area and state resulted in a small amount of rain Wednesday morning, an appetizer for the rain expected later Wednesday night. The main course is expected to arrive Friday, with National Weather Service forecasters saying it will leave at least a couple of inches before departing.
“We’re still on track to get a decent dumping everywhere,” forecaster Matt Mehle said. “We expect some heavy activity by Wednesday night, and with Friday, we’ll be seeing a considerably stronger system.”
Weather-related power outages hit Oakland Wednesday night with about 950 customers in the dark, a PG&E spokeswoman said. Crews were working to restore power in two different areas of the city at 10 p.m. but it wasn’t known when the lights would be back on.
The heaviest rain early Wednesday was in Pleasanton, with some areas in the north part of the city recording 2.02 inches by 12:15 p.m. But the morning rain was mostly light elsewhere, with the .30 inches falling at Concord’s Buchanan Field Airport leading Contra Costa County’s rainfall total, and the .28 inches that fell in Lexington Hills doing the same in Santa Clara County.
A total of .33 inches fell in San Francisco, .41 in San Jose and .19 fell in Oakland, according to the forecast service.
The weather was expected to create considerably more havoc Wednesday night, and especially on Friday, when a second, heavier storm was expected to arrive. The second storm Wednesday was expected to bring lightning and thunder, and forecaster Austin Cross said lightning activity could be seen by forecasters tracking the storm off the Pacific Coast.
Cross said flooding most likely will affect communities in the Peninsula, and East Palo Alto placed city workers on “storm ready” in anticipation of heavy rainfall. The city is working to avoid flooding along San Francisquito Creek and on Wednesday opened a sandbag station at 2277 University Avenue. City workers are on-call around the clock to deal with problems arising from the series of storms, according to a press release.
Lightning is expected to be heaviest in the Santa Cruz Mountains, as well as in parts of Sonoma County, but Cross said it will be visible in most Bay Area communities at some point during the storms.
As much as 2 feet of snow also was expected above 7,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada, Cross said.
Wednesday’s initial storm also forced 100 flights into and out of San Francisco International Airport to be cancelled by noon, airport duty manager Larry Mares said. Those that weren’t cancelled were delayed between 90 minutes and two hours on average, he said.
“It’s kind of par for the course when we get weather here,” Mares said. “The number probably will go up as the other storms get here.”
The airport also instituted a ground delay program that Mares said is typical when storm clouds hang low. The program limits the number of flights that can take off and land at the same time. That program, which took effect at 9 a.m., is expected to last through midnight, Mares said.
Travelers were advised to check with their airlines on their flight status before coming to the airport.
The storms mark the second heavy rain activity in the Bay Area in three weeks, an encouraging sign for the drought-stricken state. From July 1 through Feb. 21, San Francisco has had only 5.85 inches of rain, 35 percent of normal for this time of year. San Jose, with 2.67 inches is at 26 percent of normal, and Oakland (4.58 inches) is at 31 percent.
Staff writers Erin Ivie and Mark Gomez contributed to this story.
Rick Hurd
Rick Hurd has covered breaking news, crime and public safety since 2011 after spending 16 years covering sports, including the A's and Sharks. He has worked with the Bay Area News Group since 1995.
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This year will emphasize the importance of teamwork in making the internet work for everyone.
Democrats want to defeat Trump in 2020, yet they foolishly back yet another weak candidate?


Main Street (Annotated): 100th Anniversary Edition
By: Sinclair Lewis
Narrated by: Kitty Hendrix
Categories: Classics, American Literature
5 out of 5 stars 5.0 (2 ratings)
By: Pearl S. Buck
Narrated by: Anthony Heald
This Pulitzer Prize-winning classic tells the poignant tale of a Chinese farmer and his family in old agrarian China. The humble Wang Lung glories in the soil he works, nurturing the land as it nurtures him and his family. Nearby, the nobles of the House of Hwang consider themselves above the land and its workers; but they will soon meet their own downfall. The working people riot, breaking into the homes of the rich and forcing them to flee. When Wang Lung shows mercy to one noble and is rewarded, he begins to rise in the world, even as the House of Hwang falls.
By Ryan on 05-08-10
By: John Steinbeck
Narrated by: Dylan Baker
At once naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of Wrath is perhaps the most American of American classics. Although it follows the movement of thousands of men and women and the transformation of an entire nation during the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s, The Grapes of Wrath is also the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads, who are forced to travel west to the promised land of California.
Wish I could give it 10 stars!
By P. Minor on 07-18-14
By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Simon Prebble
One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming of age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.
Great Performance of a classic!
Travels with Charley in Search of America
Narrated by: Gary Sinise
In September 1960, John Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, embarked on a journey across America, from small towns to growing cities to glorious wilderness oases. Travels with Charley is animated by Steinbeck’s attention to the specific details of the natural world and his sense of how the lives of people are intimately connected to the rhythms of nature—to weather, geography, the cycles of the seasons. His keen ear for the transactions among people is evident, too, as he records the interests and obsessions that preoccupy the Americans he encounters along the way.
Enjoyed the Journey
By Rebb on 12-15-11
Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
In awarding John Steinbeck the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel committee stated that with The Winter of Our Discontent, he had “[R]esumed his position as an independent expounder of the truth, with an unbiased instinct for what is genuinely American".
Memorable characters, great narration, POOR AUDIO
By Sam D. on 05-18-16
By: Richard Powers
Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
The Overstory unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fable that range from antebellum New York to the late 20th-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. An air force loadmaster in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan. An artist inherits 100 years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut. A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies, and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light. A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another.
By Ellen L. on 06-21-18
By: James Baldwin
Narrated by: Jesse L. Martin
At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.
Brilliant and Sadly Relevant
By Steve M on 03-20-16
By: Joseph Heller
Narrated by: Jay O. Sanders
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy - it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he's assigned, he'll be in violation of Catch-22.
Stop randomly adding music
By Kenneth S. Clark on 08-31-18
After escaping from the dark and dismal workhouse where he was born, Oliver finds himself on the mean streets of Victorian-era London and is unwittingly recruited into a scabrous gang of scheming urchins. In this band of petty thieves, Oliver encounters the extraordinary and vibrant characters who have captured audiences' imaginations for more than 150 years.
Amazing narration!
By Karen on 12-11-08
Narrated by: Richard Armitage
Between his work on the 2014 Audible Audiobook of the Year, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, and his performance of Classic Love Poems, narrator Richard Armitage ( The Hobbit, Hannibal) has quickly become a listener favorite. Now, in this defining performance of Charles Dickens' classic David Copperfield, Armitage lends his unique voice and interpretation, truly inhabiting each character and bringing real energy to the life of one of Dickens' most famous characters.
A PERFECT narration of an English classic!
By Wayne on 09-03-17
By: Herman Melville
Narrated by: Frank Muller
Labeled variously a realistic story of whaling, a romance of unusual adventure and eccentric characters, a symbolic allegory, and a drama of heroic conflict, Moby Dick is first and foremost a great story. It has both the humor and poignancy of a simple sea ballad, as well as the depth and universality of a grand odyssey.
Renewed appreciation
By C.B.E. on 09-03-11
This 100th Anniversary Edition includes:
A new Foreword by biographer Richard Lingeman
A new Afterword to the Audiobook by Dr. Sally Parry.
Published on October 23, 1920, Main Street was the first of Sinclair Lewis's great successes. According to biographer Mark Schorer, it "was the most sensational event in 20th-century American publishing history, from the point of view both of sales and of public response. The printers could not keep up with the orders, and for a while the publishers had to ration out copies to book-sellers."
A biting satire that countered the American myth of wholesome small-town life with a depiction of narrow-minded provincialism, it was to some degree based on Lewis's own experience of growing on Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Set in mid-1910s, it depicts the struggles of Carol Kennicott, a city girl, as she tries to adapt to small town life, having left her librarian job and St. Paul, Minnesota to marry Dr. Will Kennicott of Gopher Prairie. Dismayed by the town’s drabness and the conforming, petty inhabitants, Carol optimistically sets out to improve the town, only to find her ideas met with distrust and derision, and herself becoming a pariah.
Lewis was in the vanguard of a generation of American writers seeking realism to their work (Ernest Hemingway. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Willa Cather, Theodore Dreiser...). Lewis’s intimate knowledge of small-town America and subtle characterizations make Main Street a compelling classic still surprisingly relevant today: the religious bigotry, racism, puritanical righteousness, and duplicitous business practices Lewis exposes are with us still. His portrayal of women, especially Carol, is surprisingly sensitive, and his depiction of marriage and the compromises expected of woman offer both insightful social commentary and convincing realism.
The Pulitzer Committee recommended Lewis for the Pulitzer for Main Street in 1921, but the Trustees of Colombia University overruled the jury. In 1923, Lewis's "Babbitt" was chosen, but again the committee was overruled by the Trustees. He was finally awarded the Pulitzer in 1926 for "Arrowsmith", but he turned it down - becoming the first writer to do so. In 1930, he became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The committee, wrote: Main Street exemplifies Lewis’ “vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters."
©2019 Post Hypnotic Press Inc. (P)2019 Post Hypnotic Press Inc.
Boundaries After a Pathological Relationship
30 Covert Emotional Manipulation Tactics: How Manipulators Take Control in Personal Relationships
10 Principles for Doing Effective Couples Therapy


Greek Mythology / Myths / Mortals / Tithonus
Tithonus at a Glance
Tithonos
Tithonus was a Trojan prince in Greek mythology, son of King Laomedon of Troy and the water nymph Strymo. Eos, the Titan goddess of dawn, kidnapped Tithonus along with Ganymede, in order to make them her lovers. She then asked Zeus to grant Tithonus immortality, but did not think of asking to grant him eternal youth too. As a result, Tithonus aged and did not die, resulting in his strength wilting away to the point that he could no longer move his arms. All he could do was babble continuously; in the end, he turned into a cicada, hoping that death would come for him as well.
Tithonus and Eos had two sons, Memnon and Emathion. Memnon participated in the Trojan War on the side of the Trojans, but was killed by Achilles. Eos asked Zeus to make her son immortal, which the god did. Emathion, on the other hand, became the king of Aethiopia, and was later killed by Heracles.
See Also: Laomedon, Eos, Ganymede, Zeus, Achilles, Heracles
Tithonus: GreekMythology.com - Jan 17, 2020
Link will appear as Tithonus: GreekMythology.com - Jan 17, 2020


Character: jack
Lilbusdriver
A little shakey at some times but mostly good.
1995-06-19 (24 years old)
unknown last time he saw her is the day teh military came and took her
Children went with there mother
Tall skiny
bunch of junk in his backpack
The characters name would be Jack Wattson. His back story is he was a British police officer with a wife and two kids and when the outbreak started he had no idea what he was going to do so he told his family to come with him and just leave and run till they find a better place. But his family refused and told him there's nothing out there and just more of what is going on here. So after trying to convince them his family left him but they said they know a place where it will be safe. But the dad didn't believe that the place would be safe after working with the force he heard rumors about a place called the zone. His family said it would be safe there but he didn't trust it so in the end they left him behind in there house when the military came to pick them up. So he took what ever was left in the house and just ran and walked until he found a place that was better. He stumbled into Chernarus looking for supplies. For the first two years after the outbreak my character he was running and taking everything he could. In the beginning he had a tough time killing the zombies because all he could think about was the people they were before they turned but now after two years he has no problem. He's trying to accomplish a new family and help people build what he think is a new home in this world that is clearly torn to pieces and he trying to put those pieces back together.


Home > Uncategorized	> In Its First Year the Palestinian Government of National Consensus has Worked Hard in Difficult Conditions @UNSCO_MEPP
In Its First Year the Palestinian Government of National Consensus has Worked Hard in Difficult Conditions @UNSCO_MEPP
One year after Palestinian President Abbas announced the formation of the Government of National Consensus (GNC), I wish to pay tribute to Prime Minister Hamdallah and all ministers for their steadfast efforts in governing, including in maintaining law and order. Despite the occupation and challenges to national unity, the GNC has been able to overcome many obstacles. These include the four-month withholding of Palestinian tax revenues and the insufficient disbursement of donor contributions which has resulted in a contraction of the Palestinian economy.
While much remains to be done, the GNC is working to address several key areas of reform. I welcome the determination of the Prime Minister to find a solution to the outstanding issue of public sector employees in Gaza. His commitment that no one will be left behind is an important assurance. I encourage all parties to support this effort. Genuine Palestinian reconciliation and unity are critical for improving the situation in Gaza, advancing reconstruction, and for addressing the wider political question of a two-state solution.
The United Nations encourages the GNC to strengthen its efforts on taking up its rightful responsibility and addressing the serious political, security, humanitarian and economic challenges in Gaza. A comprehensive reconciliation must include the GNC’s resumption of control over the crossings to Israel and Egypt, and the holding of long overdue elections. While first and foremost it is up to the Palestinian authorities to take the lead, the UN stands ready to support the President, the Government and all factions in their efforts to reunite the West Bank and Gaza, in line with the intra-Palestinian unity agreement of 23 April 2014. Palestine is one and the United Nations will work determinedly to advance unity through its legitimate institutions.
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#Children are not #soldiers @UNSCO_MEPP UN to explore “realistic options” for a return to negotiations