especially when it's likely that the late artist in question would not have wanted their unfinished work to be released?

Similar questions have been raised about Avicii's posthumous album, which has skyrocketed to the top of the charts since its April 10 release. Named SOS—a somewhat unfortunate title for an album by a man who, before his death, outright told interviewers that he was experiencing a mental health crisis due to excessive touring—the album was conceived by the Swedish producer's A&R team merely three days after his passing. Its release came after repeated revelations that suggest Avicii's mental health issues were exacerbated by relentless pressure from his management to capitalize on his money-making potential. On the other hand, the album is a collection of songs that Avicii allegedly "nearly finished ," according to The New York Times, and it was released with his father's blessing. SOS will be followed by another album, Tim, to be released in June.

Avicii - Wake Me Up (Official Video) www.youtube.com

No matter how many people supported it, this rapid-fire dissemination and hardcore marketing of music that the original creator didn't have the final say over raises questions first provoked by the 2017 documentary, Avicii: True Stories, which features grim clips of the late star lamenting his brutally packed tour schedule. It's disturbing to watch, and disconcertingly intimate—this generates its own ethical grey area—but ultimately, it's more disturbing to consider that the management company that pressured Avicii towards his death is still profiting from their own refurbishments of his unfinished music .

Of course,


rest. In terms of Avicii's output, fans should definitely be more discerning before supporting a management company whose obsession with profit effectively caused his death, and who continue to profit off his legacy even after his tragic passing.

Perhaps a better use of someone's posthumous influence is an organization like the Tim Bergling Foundation , started by Avicii's family soon after their 28-year-old son's death. The foundation will "initially focus on supporting people and organizations in the field of mental illness and suicide prevention," and "also will be active in climate change, nature conservation, and endangered species."

In a press release, his family wrote, "Starting a foundation in his name is our way to honour his memory and continue to act in his spirit." Of course, no one knows howBirdman was the toast of the 87th Oscars on Sunday (22Feb15), earning Best Picture as Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore also celebrated big wins at Hollywood's big night.
Birdman filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was named Best Director, while he also claimed Best Original Screenplay and Emmanuel Lubezki received the Best Cinematography award. Redmayne couldn't contain his excitement as he collected the Best Actor prize for his Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, and Julianne Moore scored Best Actress for Still Alice, while fellow awards season favourites and first-time nominees J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) and Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) walked away with the best supporting acting prizes.
Wes Anderson also had reason to celebrate as The Grand Budapest Hotel, which tied with Birdman for the most nominations with nine nods apiece, scored


four titles, including Best Original Score for Alexandre Desplat. Each of the nominations for Best Original Song were performed, but it was John Legend and Common's powerful rendition of Selma track "Glory" which left actors David Oyelowo and Chris Pine in tears at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre as the audience gave the musicians a standing ovation. "Glory" went on to win the category. Meanwhile, Jennifer Hudson honoured the stars lost in the past year by singing "I Can't Let Go" as part of the In Memoriam segment, and Lady Gaga helped to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Oscar-winning movie The Sound of Music with an impressive medley of hits from the Dame Julie Andrews musical, including Edelweiss, Climb Ev'ry Mountain and the title song.
Ceremony host Neil Patrick Harrisalso showed off his vocals by opening the 2015 prizegiving with a comedic song and dance number with Anna Kendrick and actor/rocker Jack Black.
The full list of winners at the 2015 Oscars is:
Best Motion Picture of the Year: Birdman
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Achievement in Directing: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Best Writing, Original Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo, Birdman
Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay: Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Ida (Poland)
Best Animated Feature Film:


Big Hero 6 Best Documentary, Feature: Citizenfour
Best Documentary, Short Subject: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Best Short Film, Animated: Feast Best Short Film, Live Action: The Phone Call
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: "Glory" from Selma, by John Legend and Common
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Achievement in Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Best Achievement in Film Editing: Tom Cross, Whiplash
Best Achievement in Costume Design: Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Achievement in Production Design: Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling: Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Interstellar Best Achievement in Sound Editing: American Sniper
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Whiplash
Academy Honorary Awards:Jean-Claude Carriere Hayao Miyazaki Maureen O'Hara Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Harry Belafonte.

Singer/actor Harry Belafonte received an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday (08Nov14). The Carmen Jones star was presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by Susan Sarandon in recognition of his lifelong commitment to campaigning for civil rights.
During his speech, Belafonte implored the Hollywood stars at the ceremony to use their fame to make the world "see a better side of what we are as a species".
He added, "To be rewarded by my peers for my work, human rights, civil rights, peace, let me put it this way: It powerfully mutes the enemy's thunder."
He also brought actor Sidney Poitier on stage to share the moment with him, calling the movie legend "a


man who gave so much of his own life to redirect the ship of racial hatred in American culture."
Irish actress Maureen O'Hara received a standing ovation as she headed to the podium in her wheelchair. The 94 year old was handed her honorary Oscar by Clint Eastwood and Liam Neeson, while Nicole Kidman paid tribute via video message.
Honours were also handed out to Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki and French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere.
Other guests at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland included Keira Knightley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Logan Lerman, Emily Blunt and her husband John Krasinski and director Ron Howard.

Studio Ghibli
Dreams are easy things to keep; having the gall to actually reach for them is the hard part. There has never been a film about reaching forincluding Oscar winner Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, said farewell to its lead director Hayao Miyazaki in September (13) and Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki now insists the company will temporarily stop production to consider how to move forward.
Speaking with Japanese TV programme TBS, Suzuki says, "It is by no means impossible to keep producing (movies) forever. However, we will take a brief pause to consider where to go from here."
He added that a period of "housecleaning" was required to allow new animators and directors to join the company following the departure of Miyazaki, who was behind many of the company's biggest successes.
It was originally reported that the company would completely abandon film-making and focus on the rights relating to its existing products, but Suzuki's TV comments have


leading man completely without hue — and don't think children's movie heroes are exempt from the expectation of nuance; Woody, Wall-E, Remy, were all leagues more recognizable than the anonymous Dusty — busts one of his principal cogs and learns that he can't exceed a certain speed or else he'll crash. In other words he'll never race again. So with an existential crisis on the horizon, and a town in jeopardy, Dusty switches gears and decides to learn how to become a firefighter.
In large part, Planes: Fire & Rescue is a love letter to public servants, opening with a title card that dedicates the film to the brave men and women who work to keep our towns and cities safe. In this element alone is the film passable,has been staying incredibly busy, with new projects being announced and promoted all over the place. Next up for the talented young star is the Japanese animated film The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Studio Ghibli (co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki) is behind this one, and people are expecting great things. Here's a look at the 2013 production:
The movie is based on the oldest recorded Japanese story The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, and tellsof a tiny girl found inside a stalk of bamboo. According to Entertainment Weekly "she grows into a beautiful woman who attracts many suitors, though she hides a secret."
Moretz will voice the lead role of Kaguya, and she stars alongside James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Darren Criss, Lucy Liu, James Marsden, and John Cho.
Follow @Hollywood_com Follow @shannonmhouston
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Touchstone


world, from Tucci's lively Caproni, to Jiro's excitable sister who has dreams of her own, to even his love interest Naoko, the one flaw in the film seems to be Jiro himself. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who voices Jiro in the English translation of the film, sounds utterly lifeless, and even in the film's emotional peaks and valleys, it sounds like he's reading a telephone book. And while the rest of the English voice cast mostly soars to the occasion, including Martin Short who voices Jiro's hot-tempered boss, and Werner Herzog who helps give the enigmatic Castorp an air of mystery, Jiro is a black hole of personality, and Levitt doesn't manage to give much of anything to Jiro.
The Wind Rises is also a crash course in early 20th centuryJapan, as we see a country yearning to show the world it's mettle, and we get a peak at the countries' growing pains. We see various events play out on screen including a beautifully animated depiction of the 1923 earthquake that levels Tokyo, and rips through japan like a cresting tidal wave (Studio Ghibli is in top form in the animation department as usual). We also see glimpses of the tuberculosis crisis, the depression, and the early foundations of Japan's relationship with Nazi Germany. These events don't take away from what is firmly Jiro's story, but serve as context to his journey
The Wind Rises is an ode to the dreamers. It's for the creatives who craft their goals in their heads, and unleash their creations for the world


to see. It's a uniquely inspiring film that stands with the best of Miyazaki's filmography, and provides a graceful end note to a marvelous career.
4/5
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Hollywood couple Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are set to work together for the first time in Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's final movie. The married stars, who are expecting their first child together next year (14), will team up for animated movie The Wind Rises.
The historical fantasy film was a hit when it was released in Japan earlier this year (13), and now director/writer Miyazaki is bringing the movie to English-speaking audiences.
Krasinski will voice lead character Jiro Horikoshi, who designed Japan's World War II fighter planes, with Blunt as his love interest.
Other celebrities adding their voices to the film are Elijah Woodand Stanley Tucci, who is married to Blunt's sister, Felicity.
Miyazaki announced The Wind Rises would be his last movie shortly after its original release over the summer (13).

Touchstone Pictures/Getty
The English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises is finally taking flight, and there's a load of A-list talent on board for the ride, including the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, and John Krasinski.
Said to be his final film, Miyazaki ended his decades long career with a graceful swan song that tells the true story of Jiro Horikoshi, a young man with dreams of flight. Jiro would eventually becomes the aeronautical engineer that designs the fighter planes that Japan would go on to use during the second World War. The cast features a wide range of talented performers,


and it seems like many of the actors simply couldn't pass up the chance to be a part of Miyazaki's last directoral project. While speaking about the film, Gordon-Levitt said that The Wind Rises was "clearly the work of someone who's a master at their craft." Hopefully, Gordon-Levitt and the rest of the English-speaking cast can do justice to Miyazaki's final project. The full cast list is below:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt — main character Jiro Horikoshi
Emily Blunt — love interest Nahoko Satomi
John Krasinski — Honjo, Jiro's college pal and fellow aviation engineer
Martin Short — Kurokawa, Jiro's grumpy boss
Stanley Tucci — Caproni, Italian airplane creator
Mandy Patinkin — Hattori, senior designer at Mitsubishi
William H. Macy — Satomi, Nahoko's father
Werner Herzog — the mysterious Castorp
Mae Whitman — Kayo, Jiro's younger sister, as wellin the magazine "Animage"; completed in 1984

Left Toei Douga to join Takahata at A-Pro

Produced and scripted "Mimi wo sumaseba/Whisper of the Heart", directed by Yohifumi Kondo

Served as producer on Takahata's "Omohide poro poro/Only Yesterday"

Wrote, directed and storyboarded the anime feature version of "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind"; after being edited, released in USA as "Warriors of the Wind" in 1986

Raised in Tokyo, Japan

Produced, wrote and directed the anime "Majo no takkyubin/Kiki's Delivery Service"; dubbed English version released direct-to-video in the USA in 1998

Traveled to Italy and Argentina for inspiration for "Three Thousand Miles in Search of Mother"

Executive produced "Kari-gurashi no Arietti/The Secret World of Arrietty"; also co-wrote the screenplay with Keiko Niwa

Crafted the WWII-era romance "Porco Rosso/The Crimson Pig", about a fighter pilot who is turned


into a pig

Founded Studio Ghibli

Wrote, designed and directed "Tenku no shiro Laputa/Laputa: Castle in the Sky"

Spent three years working on the animated feature "Prince of the Son", directed by Isao Takahata

Wrote and directed the anime "Mononoke Hime/Princess Mononoke"; Disney and Miramax purchased U.S. distribution rights and spent two-years preparing English dubbed version featuring an all-star cast led by Billy Crudup, Claire Danes and Minnie Driver and r

Visited Switzerland as research for "Heidi: Girl of the Alps"

Directed and provided story for the rock duo Chage & Ake's music video "On Your Mark"

Helmed the animated adventure "Howl's Moving Castle"; received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature

Enjoyed a box-office hit in Japan with the anime feature "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi/Spirited Away"

Announced his retirement around the release of his purportedfinal film, "The Wind Rises"

Summary

Long acknowledged as Japan's preeminent animator and director, Hayao Miyazaki remained a cult figure to American devotees of "manga" (Japanese comic books) and "anime" (Japanese animated features) until the 1999 US release one of his undisputed masterworks, "Princess Mononoke" (1997). Acquired by Miramax and redubbed into English using a script by Neil Gaiman and the vocal talents of actors such as Claire Danes and Billy Crudup, "Princess Mononoke" introduced the richly crafted animation and superb storytelling to mainstream audiences. The film was deemed too violent for young children used to Disney cartoons filled with cheery anthropomorphic sidekicks and sing-along musical scores but their older siblings and parents could marvel at the detailed set pieces and enjoy the three-dimensional characters, who were neither true-blue heroes


for their heads, not deciding for them what will be too much for them to handle. What we found was that children actually understood the movie and what we were trying to say more than the adults." – Miyazaki quoted in The New York Times, Oct. 21, 1999

"From a pure filmmaking standpoint, his staging, his cutting, his action scenes are some of the best ever put on film, whether animated or not." – American animator John Lasseter quoted in The New York Times Oct. 21, 1999

"I'm completely baffled by the popularity of my work in America. I think it must prove that for all our superficial differences, we humans have a great deal in common." – Miyazaki through a translator to The Los Angeles Times, Oct. 24, 1999

"Myown work has been influenced by so many different factors and films: All artists take their place in the continuing cycle of influencing and being influenced.

"In some ways, the history of art represents a great relay race, with each runner transforming the baton as he carries it. At some point, I'll be ready to hand the baton on to the next generation – if they wish to receive it." – Miyazaki quoted in The Los Angeles Times, Oct. 25, 1999


Belly dance is an expressive dance which emphasizes complex movements of the torso.[1] Originally a Middle Eastern folk dance, it has evolved to take many different forms depending on the country and region, both in costume and dance style. New styles have evolved in the West as its popularity has spread globally.

Names and terminology

The term "belly dance" is a translation of the French term "danse du ventre", which was applied to the dance in the Victorian era, and probably originally referred to dancers from the Ouled Nail tribes of Algeria. It is something of a misnomer, as their dance used more abdominal movements than the dances described today as "belly dance".

In Arabic, the dance is known as Raqs Sharqi ("Eastern Dance") or Raqs Beledi("Country Dance" or "Folk Dance").

Dalilahof the hips, for dramatic gestures, and to create beautiful lines and shapes with the body, particularly in the more balletic, Westernised styles. Other movements may be used as occasional accents, such as low kicks and arabesques, backbends, and head tosses.

Belly dance in the Middle East

Origins and history of belly dance in the Middle East

Belly dancing is believed to have had a long history in the Middle East, but reliable evidence about its origins is scarce, and accounts of its history are often highly speculative.[4] Several Greek and Roman sources including Juvenal and Martial describe dancers from Asia Minor and Spain using undulating movements, playing castanets, and sinking to the floor with 'quivering thighs', descriptions that are certainly suggestive of the movements that we today associate with belly


dance.[5] Later, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, European travellers in the Middle East such as Edward Lane and Flaubert wrote extensively of the dancers they saw there, including the Awalim and Ghawazee of Egypt.[6] In the Ottoman Empire belly dance was performed by both boys and women in the Sultan's palace.[7]

Tahmasp, Humayun Meeting

Social context of belly dance in the Middle East

Belly dance in the Middle East has two distinct social contexts: as a folk or social dance, and as a performance art.

As a social dance, belly dance (also called Raqs Baladi or Raqs Shaabi in this context) is performed at celebrations and social gatherings by ordinary people (male and female, young and old), in their ordinary clothes.[8] In more conservative or traditional societies, these events maybe gender segregated, with separate parties where men and women dance separately.[9]

Historically, professional dance performers were the Awalim (primarily musicians and poets), Ghawazi and Köçekler. The Maazin sisters may have been the last authentic performers of Ghawazi dance in Egypt, with Khayreyya Maazin still teaching and performing as of 2009.[10]

In the modern era, professional performers (including dancers, singers and actors) are not considered to be respectable in the Middle East, and there is a strong social stigma attached to female performers in particular, since they display their bodies in public, which is considered haram in Islam.[11]

Belly dance in Egypt

Working in Cairo are some of the most famous bellydancers, costume designers, and talented musicians.

The modern Egyptian belly dance style (and the modern costume) are often said to have originated


at the cabaret of Badia Masabni but this is disputed. Certainly, many of her dancers went on to appear in Egyptian films and had a great influence on the development of the Egyptian style.[12]

Egyptian belly dance is noted for its controlled, precise movements. Floor work and forward thrusts of the hips are not permitted in Egypt. Terms that are often used to describe the Egyptian style of dance is solo, elegant, smooth, internalized movement, controlled, flows, graceful, full of emotion.[13]

Belly dance in Turkey

Turkish belly dance is referred to in Turkey as Oryantal Dans, or simply 'Oryantal'. The Turkish style of bellydance is lively and playful, with a greater outward projection of energy than the more contained Egyptian style. Turkish dancers are known for their energetic, athletic (even gymnastic)style, and their adept use of finger cymbals, also known as zils. Connoisseurs of Turkish dance often say a dancer who cannot play the zils is not an accomplished dancer. Floorwork, which has been banned in Egypt since the mid-20th century, is still an important part of Turkish bellydance.

Another distinguishing element of Turkish style is the use of a 9/8 rhythm, counted as 12-34-56-789, often referred to as Karsilama rhythm. Karşilama, in Turkish dance, is not a rhythm but a folkdance performed in a line, where as a 9/8 (dokuz sekiz) rhythm defines the count of the rhythm and is used both karşilama and Roman havasi.

Many professional dancers and musicians in Turkey continue to be of Romani heritage, and the Roma people of Turkey have had a strong


shimmies and subtle internal movements. Lebanese dancers sometimes include kicks, splits, deep back bends, and Turkish drops.[16]

Belly dance outside the Middle East

Belly dance was popularized in the West during the Romantic movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, when Orientalist artists depicted romanticized images of harem life in the Ottoman Empire.

Belly dance in North America

Little Egypt

American tribal fusion dancer Rachel Brice

Although there were dancers of this type at the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia, it was not until the 1893 Chicago World's Fair that it gained national attention. The term "belly dancing" is generally credited to Sol Bloom, the entertainment director of that event, although he consistently referred to the dance as danse du ventre, (of which "belly dance" is a literal translation). In his memoirs, Bloom states, "whenthe public learned...danse du ventre...I had a gold mine."

Authentic dancers from several Middle Eastern and North African countries performed at the Fair, including Syria, Turkey and Algeria—but it was the dancers in the Egyptian Theater of The Street in the Cairo exhibit who gained the most notoriety. The fact that the dancers were uncorseted and gyrated their hips was shocking to Victorian sensibilities. There were no soloists, but it is claimed that a dancer nicknamed Little Egypt stole the show. Some claim the dancer was Farida Mazar Spyropoulos, but this fact is disputed.[17]

The popularity of these dancers subsequently spawned dozens of imitators, many of whom claimed to be from the original troupe. Victorian society continued to be affronted by the dance, and dancers were sometimes arrested and fined.[18]


The dance was nicknamed the "Hoochie coochie", or the shimmy and shake. A short film, "Fatima's Dance", was widely distributed in the Nickelodeon theaters. It drew criticism for its "immodest" dancing, and was eventually censored. Belly dance drew men in droves to burlesque theaters, and to carnival and circus lots.

Thomas Edison made several films of dancers in the 1890s. These included a Turkish dance, and Crissie Sheridan in 1897,[19] and Princess Rajah from 1904,[20] which features a dancer playing zills, doing "floor work", and balancing a chair in her teeth.

Ruth St. Denis also used Middle Eastern-inspired dance in D. W. Griffith's silent film Intolerance, her goal being to lift dance to a respectable art form at a time when dancers were considered to be women of loose morals.Hollywood began producing films such as The Sheik, Cleopatra, and Salomé, to capitalize on Western fantasies of the orient.

When immigrants from Arab States began to arrive in New York in the 1930s, dancers started to perform in nightclubs and restaurants. In the late 1960s and early '70s many dancers began teaching. Middle Eastern or Eastern bands took dancers with them on tour, which helped spark interest in the dance.

Although using traditional Turkish and Egyptian movements, American Cabaret or American Restaurant belly dancing has developed its own distinctive style, using props and encouraging audience interaction. Many modern American dancers also make use of the music of Egyptian Sha'abi singers in their routines.

Belly dance in Spain

Belly Dance was in Spain much earlier than the majority of people think, the first


Belly Dancers came from Lebanon in the times of the Phoenicians from the 11th Century B.C. until 5th Century B.C. . When the Arab family of the Umayyad came to Spain, they saw that it was a beautiful country, and called it Al Andalus. The meaning of the name is highly contested. The Arabs brought back their new knowledge, their new religion, and their art. They discovered that the spanish women from the north of Spain, in the area known as Basque country, were very successful singers and dancers. From then they started to get students from the Basque, and brought them to Damascus and Egypt to train them to be great dancers in Al Andalus. Those dancers came to be known as Al Andalus dancers. The Arabsknown more by the spaniards in a despective way, as The Moorish, stayed in Spain from the year 711 until their expulsion in 1609. Just before their expulsion, the Al Andalus dance started to fuse with the Gypsies. This led to the creation of, after few centuries of fusing both dances, a new form of dance known as Flamenco.

Belly Dance didn't come back to Spain until the 1980's, with the end of the Catholic regime of Franco. The first Belly Dancers to be named performing in Spain in the 1980's are: Sahar Samara (Alia Shams), the sisters Samah and Laila Rangel, Gloria Alba, Teresa Rambha, then afterwards in the late 80's the first Belly Dance schools in Spain were Las Pirámides by the egyptian male teacher Shokry Mohamed


in the year 1990 in Madrid, Academia de Danzas Árabes by Alia Shams in the year 1994 in Seville, the first one in AndalusiaEl Karnak was founded in 1995 in Madrid. From the early 90's the first students from these first Belly Dance teachers and Schools started to appear. Dancers and teachers like the Amora Shams daughter and student of Alia Shams and Helena Rull the student of Teresa Niembro. Both of whom are still currently teaching, and entered the new century helping to start the boom of Belly Dance in Spain. All the new schools and dancers developed from these original dance teachers and schools.

Belly dance in Australia

Tribal belly dancing in Australia

The first wave of interest for belly dancing in Australia was during the late 1970s to1980s with the influx of migrants and refugees escaping troubles in the Middle East, including drummer Jamal Zraika. These immigrants created a lively social scene including numerous Lebanese and Turkish restaurants, providing employment for belly dancers. Rozeta Ahalyea is widely regarded as the "mother" of Australian belly dance, training early dance pioneers such as Amera Eid and Terezka Drnzik. Belly dance has now spread across the country, with vibrant belly dance communities in every capital city and many regional centres.

Belly dance in the United Kingdom

Belly dance has been in evidence in the UK since the early 1960s. During the 1970s and 1980s, there was a thriving Arabic club scene in London, with live Arabic music and bellydancing a regular feature,[22] but the last of these closed in the


early 1990s.[23] Several prominent members of the British bellydance community began their dance careers working in these clubs.

Today, there are fewer traditional venues for Arabic dance in the UK, however there is a large amateur bellydance community. JWAAD, The Raqs Sharqi Society and other groups and individuals have developed "teacher training" for belly dancers.[24][25] Networks for the British belly dance community include the Mosaic Arabic Dance Network (MADN)[26] and the Northern Arabic Dance Association (NADA),[27] both of which publish their own community magazines.Several international bellydance festivals are now held in Britain. In addition, there are a growing number of competitions, which have increased in popularity in recent years.

The costume most commonly associated with belly dance is the 'bedlah' (Arabic: بدلة; literally "suit") style, which typically includes a fittedbuild strength in the upper body, arm and shoulders. Playing the zills trains fingers to work independently and builds strength. The legs and long muscles of the back are strengthened by hip movements.[33]

Belly dancing in popular culture

Belly dancing became part of pop culture in the early 2000s due to Latin American superstar Shakira. Her Colombian and Lebanese heritage has influenced her dance style, and her dance routines often combine some belly dance movements with other dance styles.

The titular character of the Shantae series of video games developed by Wayforward Technologies is a belly dancing "half-genie", who uses magical belly dances to transform into various animals.


Amid heavy casualties on both sides, Islamic State [IS] militants have been forced to pull back from their assault on the Syrian town of Kobani, according to an international watchdog group.

IS militants, after briefly gaining control of Kobani's central Freedom Square following a sneak attack on Kurdish forces, were forced to retreat after sustaining losses, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based Syrian opposition group.

READ MORE: UK urges Turkey to join military alliance against ISIS

“Violent clashes took place at the outskirts of the square leading to the death of some IS militants, while others retreated to the eastern neighborhoods in the city of Kobani,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

More than 550 people have been killed since the military assault of Kobani bythe militants of Islamic State (also known as ISIS, or ISIL) began on September 16, the Observatory reported.

The victims include some 20 civilians, 226 fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), and up to 10 from groups that are lending support to the YPG, including other casualties.

The monitoring organization warned that, given the difficulties in establishing definite figures amid the violence, not to mention intense secrecy from both sides, the actual number of those killed could be twice the figure listed.

There had been fears that the last escape route for the besieged Kurds into bordering Turkey was blocked following the short-lived IS gains.

Turkey has been reluctant, given its own restive Kurdish population that has in the past sought self-rule, to allow Turkish Kurds to join their fellow


officials, of IS gaining full control of the Syrian city in coming days, which would provide the Islamic militants with a huge public relations victory in their ongoing efforts to attract fresh recruits.

Following the spread of IS forces throughout northern Iraq and Syria, the United States on September 22 opened airstrikes against IS targets inside Syria for the first time.

However, like a serpent that grows three heads every time one is cut off, a new, mysterious group, called the Khorasan Group, suddenly appeared on the scene in Syria, seemingly distracting the US military from its stated priority against IS militants (According to an AP report, the Pentagon launched 46 cruise missiles at eight locations where the group is believed to be operational).

READ MORE: Tens of thousands of Kurdsprotest over ISIS inaction in Europe (VIDEO)

"The strikes were certainly effective in setting back the Khorasan Group, but no one thinks they were a permanent solution or a death blow to the threats that come from this cell," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, AP reported.

Meanwhile, IS still holds over one-third of the Syrian town near the Turkish border.


When James Joseph Bulger Jr was born on September 3 1929, it would have been hard to predict that he would grow up to become a dangerous organised crime boss.

Bulger, now more commonly known as “Whitey” Bulger, was born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts by his father and mother, an Irish immigrant.

During an early life rife with poverty, the eldest Bulger child of six was drawn to a life on the wrong side of the tracks in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was arrested for the first time at the age of 14 for larceny, at which point he’d already joined a local gang.

It was during his early days of petty crime that Bulger was given his nickname, by the local police for the colour of his hair.

Despite a brief stintin the US Air Force in 1948, Bulger was committed to a life of criminal activity - evidenced by his continued issues within the military and his multiple stints in military prison.

By 1952, Bulger had received an honourable discharge but found himself in federal prison four years later for charges related to armed robbery and hijacking.

While serving what was meant to be a 25-year sentence, Bulger spent time in Atlanta, Alcatraz and Leavenworth.

He was released after nine years and, by the late 1970s, had become a prominent figure in Boston’s organised crime scene.

Renowned Boston mobster, Whitey Bulger (AP)

Following his time in prison, Bulger had returned to Massachusetts where he began a relationship with Lindsey Cyr and began to work as an enforcer for crime boss Donald Killleen.

Bulger fathered


a child with Cyr, Douglas Glenn Cyr, in 1967. Their son later died in 1973 from Reye’s Syndrome and the couple eventually split up after a 12-year common-law marriage.

After Killleen was killed in his line of work, Bulger joined his second gang - the Winter Hill Gang. In just a few short years, he rose through the ranks and assumed the position of boss of the gang by 1979.

During his infamous years leading the Winter Hill Gang, Bulger assumed all gang-related responsibilities - including calling for multiple murders and controlling a significant portion of Boston’s drug deals, illegal gambling and arms dealing.

However, at the same time, Bulger also became a key FBI informant, in part responsible for taking down the Patriarcas, a rival New England crime family -which ultimately allowed him to grow his own gang further.

To tip off the FBI, Bulger used his family ties - as his brother William was a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, and the corrupt police forces in South Boston at the time.

After successfully evading police capture in 1995 for charges related to illegal gambling, Bugler was added to the list of the FBI’s 10 most-wanted fugitives in 1999 and a $2m reward was offered for any information that led to his arrest.

At the time, he was considered a mark of national embarrassment for the FBI as it was reported the agency had accepted bribes and offered protection to the gangster.

However, Bulger’s life story also made for a highly entertaining film narrative, first appearing in 2006 Martin Scorsese


movie, The Departed, and later, in a 2015 movie Black Mass starring Johnny Depp.

Bulger managed to stay on the run for 16 years before being captured in June 2011 in Santa Monica, California.

Mexican military disarm entire police force in resort city of Acapulco 'corrupted by drug gangs'

At the time, he was 81 years old and living in a rent-controlled apartment with his long-term girlfriend, Catherine Greig.

For her involvement in harbouring a fugitive, Greig was sentenced to eight years in prison.

As for Bulger, his own life on the run ended with a trial beginning in June 2013.

After a two-month trial, the notorious criminal was found guilty on 31 counts including federal racketeering, extortion, conspiracy, and participating in 11 murders.

The court sentenced James "Whitey" Bulger to two life sentences plusfive years in November 2013, which he served until October 30 2018 - when the former mob boss was found dead in jail at the age of 89.

He had just been moved to a prison in West Virginia.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events


Introduction {#S1}
============

In the Australian Football League (AFL) grand final of 2010, both St Kilda and Collingwood had scored 68 points when the siren sounded for full time; a draw. The rules of the competition stated that the final had to be replayed the following week. In the week preceding the rematch, Collingwood coach, Michael Malthouse, penned a newspaper article titled "Mental toughness will decide premiership" ([@B18]). Collingwood went on to win the grand final replay by 56 points. They were able to perform to a higher level than their opposition, despite the challenge of having already played in a grand final seven days earlier in front of 90,000 spectators, and the adversity of having fatigued and injured players. According to their coach, the success of Collingwood in theaddition to contributing to Vanity Fair, W, GQ, Detour, The New York Times Magazine, and The New Yorker, he’s also published eight monographs of his work.

Though he never finished college, Fink has exerted quite an influence on many generations of photographers through his work as a teacher. After picking up his first teaching job in 1963 in Harlem, he later became a professor at institutions like Parsons, Cooper Union, Yale, and Bard, the last of which he claims he’s “been at for 100 years.” The Cut spoke with Fink over the phone about his younger years growing up in a Marxist home, his perspective on teaching, and shooting the fashion and celebrity scenes. He spewed out a bounty of choice phrases (e.g., “I like the constellation of the


which distracted her ... Oscar Party, Kate Winslet, 2009 "This was a fleeting moment where I captured [Kate Winslet] in the light of the flash, which distracted her to a certain degree. The way the picture is functioning is within a frame, so she becomes a picture in a frame. If you take the picture and hold it upside down, you see the area in her neck, and her face, chin, jaw, and shoulder are very reminiscent of some African constructions and cubist abstractions. Once you hold that picture upside down and look at it as a form, it's just unbelievable. And that's the power of the picture. It's not about Kate, it's about shape and form, and the way that she's placed in the frame."
Photo: Larry Fink

OscarParty, Brad Pitt, 2000 "Brad Pitt's just a guy. It was a moment in time, and whoever the woman was was looking for his ear, and she ha... Oscar Party, Brad Pitt, 2000 "Brad Pitt's just a guy. It was a moment in time, and whoever the woman was was looking for his ear, and she had it."
Photo: Larry Fink

Oscar Party, Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman, L.A., 2009 "This is Natalie Portman and Meryl Streep. That's an uncharacteristic picture of a... Oscar Party, Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman, L.A., 2009 "This is Natalie Portman and Meryl Streep. That's an uncharacteristic picture of anybody. They're looking like they're sharing something very, very secret and deep. The thing about most of these pictures is that these are representations of people


the way the geometry of the picture is almost as equally important as the human concentration within it."
Photo: Larry Fink

Thierry Mugler, 1998 "That's just some gal. She's pretty nonplussed, pretty bored, being unready for life and ready for the runway. The phot... Thierry Mugler, 1998 "That's just some gal. She's pretty nonplussed, pretty bored, being unready for life and ready for the runway. The photographers are swirling around her, and who knows what's going on with her brain. It doesn't look like much. I don't know if she's anybody that's taking drugs, but there are a lot of drugs in the industry. I wouldn't necessarily say that she was on drugs, but some of the kids and others want to black themselves out."
Photo: Larry Fink

Oscar Party, Elton John,Larry Fink

Costume Ball, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995 "I was working for New York Magazine. It was the Costume Ball Institute. That's just the ... Costume Ball, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1995 "I was working for New York Magazine. It was the Costume Ball Institute. That's just the folks with the [name] cards. I used to work for New York Magazine when Clay Felker was the editor, when he first started after being at the Herald Tribune. Clay was a piece of work, but he was a very good editor."
Photo: Larry Fink

Oscar Party, 2007 "That's Justin Portman and Natalia Vodianova. That's why you stay until 2 in the morning [at an Oscar party]. It's a pream... Oscar Party, 2007 "That's Justin Portman and Natalia Vodianova. That's


she was to me, and she said, 'The shoot's over?' So then I went about my business and I went back to work, and got myself a picture. The rest of the stuff that I did all afternoon was crap. It was useful crap, but it was crap. I was working for my living, but in this picture, I was living for my working."
Photo: Larry Fink

Oscar Party, 2000 "I call that picture 'The Amenities.' It's Hugh Hefner and his twins that he was piling around with at that time. So, I ca... Oscar Party, 2000 "I call that picture 'The Amenities.' It's Hugh Hefner and his twins that he was piling around with at that time. So, I call it 'The Amenities.'"
Photo: Larry Fink455 F.2d 323
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee,v.Paul L. CAFARO and Richard Schulman, Defendants-Appellants.
Nos. 393, 402, Dockets 71-1922, 71-1950.
United States Court of Appeals,Second Circuit.
Argued Jan. 5, 1972.Decided Feb. 2, 1972.Certiorari Denied May 15, 1972.See 92 S.Ct. 1769.

Charles A. Stillman, New York City (Botein, Hays, Sklar & Herzberg, New York City on the brief), for appellant Cafaro.
Alan Scribner, New York City (Albert Krieger, New York City on the brief, Ivan S. Fisher, New York City, of counsel), for appellant Schulman.
Maurice M. McDermott, Asst. U. S. Atty., New York City (Whitney North Seymour, Jr., U. S. Atty., for the S. D. of N. Y., New York City, and Rudolph W. Giuliani, Asst. U. S. Atty., New York City, of counsel), for appellee.
Before FRIENDLY, Chief Judge, and MOORE and OAKES, Circuit Judges.
MOORE,


and Cafaro.

2
On this appeal, appellants contend that they were denied a fair trial because certain allegedly prejudicial hearsay declarations were improperly admitted.  Cafaro also contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction.  As answers to both contentions rest on an evaluation of the evidence independent of the hearsay declarations, a somewhat detailed description of this evidence is required.

The Facts

3
The victim of the extortionate scheme was Lawrence Fitzgerald, part owner of the Fitzgerald Tile Company in Poughkeepsie, New York, and a heavy gambler.  During the spring of 1970, he and the defendant Mainetti, also a heavy gambler, would pool their bets and place them with bookmakers in New York City and upstate New York.  As a result of this arrangement, Mainetti came toowe Fitzgerald approximately $5,500.  Subsequently, Mainetti introduced Fitzgerald to bookmakers in New York City who agreed to accept up to $5,000 in bets directly from Fitzgerald on the understanding that Mainetti would guarantee Fitzgerald's losses.  Shortly after this agreement was reached, Fitzgerald sustained over $5,000 in gambling losses.  When he approached Mainetti asking him to cover the losses, Mainetti informed him that he was indebted to various bookmakers for approximately $20,000 and that he was then unable to pay any of the money he owed.  Some time after this conversation, Mainetti was able to settle some of his debts.  However, neither he nor Fitzgerald did anything to satisfy Fitzgerald's debt to the New York City bookmakers.

4
For five months, until November, 1970, no one


a good possibility the request could be granted.

6
Two days later, Fitzgerald spoke with Mainetti to determine what arrangements could be made to settle the debt.  No answer was forthcoming.  During this conversation Fitzgerald was informed that the "New York people" were thinking of adding an interest charge onto his debt.  Had this charge proved necessary, the debt would have risen to $8,600.

7
On December 1, Cafaro arrived at Fitzgerald's place of business driving a Lincoln Continental Mark III.  The Government established that this car had been borrowed by Richard Schulman from a friend for his personal use.  The appellant Schulman, however, was not then in Cafaro's company.

8
After the car was parked, Cafaro approached Fitzgerald and asked him to enter the car in order todiscuss the debt.  Fitzgerald complied with the request.  On Cafaro's instructions, Fitzgerald sat on the rear seat of the car while Cafaro seated himself in the driver's seat.  The defendant Virga was sitting next to Cafaro.  Then, while Cafaro drove, Virga threatened Fitzgerald stating "This is the mob.  We have to get paid."  (Tr. p. 41)1 Fitzgerald was ultimately reduced to tears.  After Cafaro promised to help eliminate any interest charge, Fitzgerald agreed to stop stalling and to pay the debt.  Part of the debt was then paid.  Later, as Virga was leaving, Virga told Cafaro that he was responsible for collecting the remaining part of the debt which was to be paid in five or six days.

9
A week


later, on the 7th of December, Mainetti telephoned Fitzgerald and asked him to pay the balance of the debt to him.  Fitzgerald responded that he would only pay a representative from New York City.  Then Cafaro telephoned and also asked Fitzgerald to hand the money over to Mainetti.  Again Fitzgerald refused.  Later in the day, Fitzgerald met Mainetti and was informed that "They said to tell you it's the bottom of the ninth."  (Tr. p. 55).2

10
The following day Fitzgerald received a telephone call from someone who identified himself as "the boss."  Fitzgerald and "the boss" arranged for someone to meet Fitzgerald the following day to discuss payment of the debt.  Telephone company documents established that this call was placed from Schulman'sall three of the three contested declarations were properly admitted.  The first of these was made on November 24 during the conversation in which Mainetti advised Fitzgerald that his debt had not been forgotten.  According to Fitzgerald Mainetti stated that "the Kingston bookmaker had made a statement that I won eight to ten thousand dollars through him and that . . . the people in New Paltz knew about it"-the people in New Paltz being-"Sonny and Richie."  (Tr. pp. 32-33).5  As the appellants contend, there is no doubt that the jury properly inferred that "Richie" was the defendant Richard Schulman and "Sonny" the defendant Paul Cafaro.  However, it is similarly indisputable that the statement was in furtherance of the conspiracy; Fitzgerald was on


notice that protestations of poverty would be of little avail when he was asked to pay the debt.  The second statement which was properly admitted was made on December 7, at which time Mainetti was attempting to convince Fitzgerald to settle the debt by merely handing him the money.  During this conversation, Mainetti explained his own fear of the conspirators; it was because "Richie had him in three businesses."  (Tr. p. 52).6  As this statement made the power of the conspirators evident, it was also made in furtherance of the conspiracy.

17
The sole statement which may have been improperly admitted appeared in Fitzgerald's testimony on the first day of the trial.  Mainetti apparently told Fitzgerald in June that "a Jewish shylock fellow" named "Richie"had helped him settle some of his debts with various bookmakers.  (Tr. p. 28).  As there was little evidence indicating that this statement was made in furtherance of the conspiracy, or, indeed, that Mainetti had yet become a party to it, we must determine whether its admission was prejudicial.

18
After a careful evaluation of the evidence we find that the admission of the statement, which was not referred to in any later testimony and was not mentioned in the prosecutor's summation, was harmless error.  At most, the jury might have considered the statement as a slight addition to their information about the "Richie" who had Mainetti in three businesses and the "Richie" who was sufficiently well situated to be informed by the bookmakers of Fitzgerald's winnings.


 The significance of the statement is further diminished when considered in light of the other evidence and all the reasonable inferences therefrom.  Thus, shortly after Cafaro spoke with Fitzgerald by telephone and announced that he was with "the man" and stated that "we'll be over in a few minutes", Schulman was present as the sole passenger in a car from which Cafaro directed Fitzgerald to pay Mainetti.  Next there was the telephone call from Schulman's residence in which "the boss" discussed arrangements for the payment of the debt.  Finally, there is the use of Schulman's Lincoln Continental by Virga and Cafaro to aid in the attempt to intimidate Fitzgerald.  As the possible error was harmless, Schulman's judgment of conviction is affirmed.

Cafaro's Contentions

19
Cafaro alsoclaims that he was prejudiced by the admission of certain hearsay declarations.  As he has failed to point to any such declarations and as we have discovered none, the contention can be dismissed as being without merit.  Similarly without merit is his claim that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction as to all three counts.  He was present at every stage of the conspiracy and was one of its more active participants.  His judgment of conviction and the order denying his motion for acquittal or a new trial are affirmed.

20
Judgments of convictions and order affirmed.

1
 "Tr." refers to the trial transcript

2
 Among baseball fans, such as Fitzgerald, this phrase would be understood as an implied threat; the conspirators were tiring of the


The 1997 protocol came into effect in 2005

In a token measure to put pressure on developed countries to deliver on climate change commitments, India will soon ratify an amended version of the Kyoto Protocol. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval to ratify the deal that is set to expire in 2020 and was shunned by several developed countries, most prominently the United States.

U.S. reluctance

Until now, 75 countries have ratified the so-called Doha Amendment of the Kyoto Protocol, which spans from 2012 to 2020, and falls far short of the 144 needed to bring it into force .

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol came into effect in 2005 and obligated the rich and industrialised countries to reduce emissions by 5.2% of 1990 levels during the[Histomorphometric and histological investigations of the morphometric effects of furazolidone on spermatogenesis in mature rats].
The antispermatongenic effects of furazolidone on the testes of mature Wistar rats were investigated using histological and morphometric methods. The sections showed a varying degree of depopulation of the germinal epithelium, a shrinking and a deformation of the Tubuli contorti, and an enlargement of the intertubular lymphatic sinuses. The strain led to a standstill in the spermatogenesis at the primary-spermatocyte stage. After administering furazolidone, the following results could be seen: a weight loss of up to 42.1% and a decrease in testes volume by up to 30.2%; a decrease in the volume of the nuclei of the Leydig-cells by up to 51.6%; a reduction in the diameter, perimeter and area covered by Tubuli seminiferi


this week that's the Lone Star State. Fans can search online, ask a friend, or scour all of Texas, but only Gators can show you Chompville.Want to see downtown Chompville?Come to AT&T Stadium, site of the big game, on Saturday for a pep rally, tailgate party and flag-planting, with guest appearances by the greatest Gator of them all, Ambassador Head Ball Coach, as well as Gator Great and NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith.After averaging 126.7 yards per game during his UF career (1987-89) — second only in Southeastern Conference history to Herschel Walker — Smith was a first-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1990 and over his 15 seasons (13 in Dallas, the last two in Arizona) rushed for 18,355 yards, 164 touchdowns, won three SuperBowls and was voted to eight Pro Bowls. Smith was named Most Valuable Player following his 1993 season and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2010.In the days leading up to the game, Mayor Smith and city officials Albert and Alberta will promote various events and contests in around Chompville through their social accounts. Use the hashtag #Chompville and through Snapchat filters, Twitter, Instagram, online and grass roots efforts, Gator Nation will turn "Big D" into "Big C," as in in Chompville Texas.Remember: It's not enough to yell, "Go Gators," this weekend. Fans must #WeCHOMP, share it on social media and chomp some more.The Chomp Crew will activate a social scavenger hunt in Sun Dance Square in Downtown Fort Worth.


Fans will have to rush to find the City Officials and the Chomp Crew to win prizes.The Chomp Crew will activate a social scavenger hunt in various locations in Downtown Dallas. Fans will have to rush to find the City Officials and the Chomp Crew to win prizes.From 6-7 p.m. in the Omni Hotel, all Gators fans are invited to attend the Chomp Rally. Join Emmitt Smith,, the Marching Band, Spirit Squads & more for a night of chomping.Fans in the Metroplex are encouraged to stop by Tailgate Tavern from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on game day as it has been dubbed Gator Nation's Headquarters on Saturday.Communications directorcontributed to this report.EFL on Quest

EFL on Quest is a football highlight programme on the Quest channel in the United Kingdom. The programme covers the English Football League, taking over from Channel 5's Football League Tonight.

History
Starting from the 2018–19 season, the four-year deal saw Quest provide 90 minutes of extensive match highlights of the English Championship, League One and League Two, hosted by Colin Murray, in primetime at 9pm every Saturday night. As a result, the channel announced a HD version would launch in July 2018. It launched on 21 July 2018 on Virgin Media channel 217 but was removed on 24 July 2018. It officially launched on 2 August 2018 on Virgin Media, on 3 August on Freesat and Sky, and on 14 August on Freeview. A duplicate version was


ISTANBUL — The spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide recognized the independence of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in a four-hour ceremony in Istanbul on Sunday, formalizing a split with the Russian church to which it had been tied for more than four centuries.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader, handed a Tomos of Autocephaly containing a decree of independence to the newly appointed Metropolitan Epiphanius of Ukraine, cleaving millions of Ukrainians from the Russian Orthodox Church.

The independence effort outraged political and religious leaders in Russia. But for President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine, who stood before an elevated throne throughout the ceremony in Istanbul, the occasion was an affirmation of independence from Russian influence in his embattled country and a boost ahead of elections in March.

“TomosTrent Reznor at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Sept. 27, 2014 in New York City.

Kobalt Music Group says a Redditor "falsified" images purporting to be from the company's database, while Trent Reznor tweets "Not true." after rumor surfaces.

In December, Trent Reznor previewed the new year by promising we’d hear from Nine Inch Nails in 2016. Reddit users took that promise and ran with it Wednesday, suggesting a new single called "Dive and Slam" will come out Sept. 16.

A Reddit user posted an image purportedly backing up the news, citing insider access to Kobalt Music Group’s internal database, and also said NIN's next album would be called Not True.

Kobalt Music Group, however, refuted the Redditor's claim on Thursday (Aug. 4), telling Billboard in a statement that the image posted


to Reddit was fabricated and did not originate from the rights management and publishing company's database. "Kobalt Music dismisses any claims related to a recent hoax where falsified information and images of a fictitious Nine Inch Nails release were posted on the web," the statement reads. "As an established leader in both music and technology, Kobalt maintains the highest standards of security, integrity, and transparency in the industry."

Trent Reznor: New Nine Inch Nails Is Coming in 2016

Hours after the Reddit discourse began Wednesday, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor tweeted out this brief message:

Not true. — Trent Reznor (@trent_reznor) August 3, 2016

When contacted by Billboard, a Nine Inch Nails rep pointed us in the direction of Reznor's tweet.

Nine Inch Nails’ last album was 2013’s Hesitation Marks, released throughtexts to music.

Category:1825 births
Category:1879 deaths
Category:Austrian male composers
Category:People from Austrian Silesia
Category:People from Bruntál District
Category:Palacký University Olomouc alumni
Category:19th-century composers
Category:19th-century male musicians


1. Balcony

Mr Pistorius said in his statement at the start of the trial that he woke in the early hours and walked on his stumps to the balcony, pulled in two fans, closed the sliding door and drew curtains. He said that shortly before he had spoken to Reeva, who was in bed beside him.

He said he rejected prosecution claims that a witness heard arguing coming from the house before the shooting.

4. Bedroom

Mr Pistorius said he went back to the bedroom after shooting at the toilet door, still shouting for Reeva. Lifting himself up onto the bed, he felt over to the right hand side of it and noticed Ms Steenkamp was not there.

Mr Pistorius said this was when he realised she could have been in the toilet.

5.Toilet door

Mr Pistorius said he went back to the bathroom but the toilet was locked, so he returned to the bedroom, pulled on his prosthetic legs, turned on the lights before bashing in the toilet door with a cricket bat.

Forensics expert Johannes Vermeulen told the court that the height of the marks on the door caused by the cricket bat suggest Mr Pistorius was on his stumps at the time.

6. Emergency calls

Mr Pistorius's defence team say he then called security at the gated housing complex and a private paramedic service before carrying Ms Steenkamp downstairs.

A security guard claimed it was the other way round, and he had called Mr Pistorius first after reports of gunfire. However, phone records shown to the court revealed Mr Pistorius called the estate


manager at 3:19am, a minute later he called the ambulance service and at 3:21am he called estate security.

A minute later he received an incoming call - estate security calling him back.

According to police phone expert Francois Moller, Mr Pistorius called his friend Justin Divaris a short time later and just after 4:00am he called his brother Carl.With Liverpool's hectic December fixture schedule now completed, it's time to choose your Standard Chartered Player of the Month.

And, after a run of eight successive victories, picking the Reds' star man will be no easy task.

Jürgen Klopp's side were in outstanding form throughout December after kick-starting the month with a dramatic, 96th-minute winner in the Merseyside derby.

Triumphs over Burnley, Bournemouth, Napoli, Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle United and Arsenal followed to make for a flawless run.

But who was the top individual performer?

As ever, the choice is yours. Cast a vote below and stay logged on to Liverpoolfc.com to discover the winner very soon.


to his candidacy.

Many expected Trump to be more effusive in his efforts to court party elders. Instead, he has indicated he considers it their obligation to come to him. Neither side is yet willing to give ground.

Still, Trump has consistently predicted that his presidency would unite both the Republican party and the nation.

“This country, which is divided in so many ways, is going to become one beautiful, loving country,” he said after winning in Indiana this week, his long string of controversial remarks about Muslims, Hispanic people and women notwithstanding.

Trump did concede in interviews broadcast on Sunday that he was surprised last week when Ryan declined to offer support. Trump told NBC that after his win in the New York primary two weeks earlier, the speaker called toAuthor: renenatanblog

This is a beautifully crafted crime, detective, romance novel. It’s beginning gave no clue of the excellent plot of a story ahead. It’s the story that in a unique way replays how one wrong move yields ghastly consequences both for ourselves and the people around us. A teenage girl’s love escapades as well as her fascination with a rich boy and his possession lured her into a dilemma. Amelia McLeod was on the run for her life for weeks not knowing who to trust and escaping death quite a number of times. Being the sole witness to an arms sale deal she was wanted by the criminal in question, her boy friend, Oscar Calander. She had to overcome the shock of finding out her love’s criminal occupation


and take to her heels. Then waltzed in the one I term the main character Patrick the hero who saved Samantha, Amelia’s younger sister from drowning. The push Into the fast flowing river was an attempt by the criminals to cover their tracks supposing the younger to be the older sister. The story unravels itself beautifully introducing detective Andre Des Pres the director of task force 101, Lucien Borodin his very competent secretary and many other characters that made up the book. The man hunt for the perpetrators of the attempted drowning of Samantha McLeod opened the doorway to a horde of activities both from the police as well as the criminals generating a hard-to-drop thriller.

I kept on wondering about the title of the book and it’s appropriatenessfollowed by a splash in the river that runs beside his path. Without thinking twice, he jumps in the river and rescues the girl who was thrown in. With that action, his life changes dramatically.

Lemoncella Cocktail is a suspenseful work of fiction that takes place in a town on the outskirts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In rescuing the young girl, Samantha, and restoring her to her family, Patrick becomes embroiled in a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigation. Conducted by a Special Task Force led by Andres Des Pres and his secretary Lucien Borodin, the investigation is focused on arms-trafficking and bringing the arms buyers and sellers to justice.

The book, though well-written and well-edited, sometimes left itself open to disbelief. For example, Amelia, Samantha’s sister, is portrayed as


Justin and Samantha are summering here with their grandma, as they do every year, in the tiny, quaint village of Aurora.
Gary takes Patrick and the family to the local station – which is teeming with police officers and other agents. Canadian Security Intelligence Service Agent ANDRE DES PRES (30s, with dark hair and tortoiseshell Glasses) holds a meeting, establishing what they know so far: Sam received a note she thought was from her boyfriend, asking her to meet by the river. Two men came out of hiding and threw her in the rapids. Patrick Carter was in the right place at the right time to save her. Des Pres says the crime raises deep concern for not just Sam and her family, but also the country itself. However,he can’t disclose details.
Des Pres interviews Jessica and Justin. Jessica reveals that her son – Sam and Justin’s father – moved out west with his wife for an oil industry job. Jessica takes care of the kids more than their actual parents do. Des Pres asks Justin about Sam and her boyfriend, and conversation leads to Justin’s eldest sister – Amelia – and her boyfriend. Amelia recently left for university in Toronto, where she dates a man with a corvette. Wheels appear to be turning in Des Pres’ head.
After the interview, Des Pres’ secretary LUCIEN advises him that the press has arrived. Des Pres tells him to spread a cover story – they’re here scouting potential locations for an action movie, incognito due to the high profiles of


high school diploma. Patrick agrees since he needs a job anyway. Lucien says one of their undercover agents will introduce herself to Patrick at the bar by placing a certain order. For now, however, Patrick should move to his new apartment.
Patrick explores his new place – it looks like a married couple lives here. He sees a framed photo of him and his “wife”… and FLASHES BACK to when he’s 13. Young Patrick passes a similar photo of his parents as he enters the home. He finds his father severely beating his mother. When Patrick calls 911, his father attacks. Patrick stabs him in the chest with a kitchen knife in self-defense.
Back in the present, Patrick works in the Shining Star nightclub. A beautiful blonde waitress, EMY WALKER(32), orders from him, identifying herself as the undercover CSIS agent. Later in the evening, Patrick sees Emy hurrying out, with another man seeming to pursue her. Patrick is about to follow, but runs into his boss in the club and gets delayed.
Amelia, the eldest McLeod daughter, tries to buy a ticket at a Toronto railway station – but her credit card gets declined. In desperation, she seeks out help from her roommate ROSE, who rebuffs her – she doesn’t want to be mixed up in Amelia’s trouble. Amelia asks if she can at least place a phone call to her grandma.
Patrick cooks in his new kitchen. He FLASHES BACK again, remembering his mother comatose in the hospital when he was a teen. After her death, Patrick attends


They’re too late to catch the masked men. Des Pres decides to station an agent on the property from now on. He also questions about who knew Amelia was back. The list is short: Patrick and family friend/local cop Gary Huston.
Patrick deals with CSIS paperwork when someone knocks on his door: Emy Walker. She’s laying low because she walked in on a meeting in the Shining Star basement. She didn’t hear anything actionable, but someone followed her out. Emy is stressed and paranoid and plans on moving apartments; she asks if she can temporarily stash belongings at Patrick’s. He agrees, and invites her in for brunch.
As they dine together, Patrick introduces Emy to a cocktail he’s created – it’s a passion of his. Emy reveals that she’s anone as Nat.
Meanwhile, Patrick babysits Justin at the cottage. Emy arrives and updates him on the developments. She also admits that she looked at his file, and knows about what happened between him and his parents. Patrick is shocked, since the records are supposed to be sealed. However, he starts to open up, revealing how much damage the counseling did, and how he hasn’t trusted himself to have a close relationship or consider starting a family ever since. Emy’s heart breaks for him, and she does her best to comfort him.
To give Jessica some time to recover from her ordeal, Patrick and Emy take Justin on a zoo trip and enjoy their time with the boy. Emy lets Patrick in on what she’s heard: one of the dead


she’s dating a nobody – a high-school dropout bartender. Des Pres sees Mr. Walker out as efficiently as he can without ruffling too many feathers.
Des Pres returns to work, learning from Lucien that the second body in the barn has been identified: Charlie Amaldi. They’re interrupted, however, by the younger Walker. Emy tenders her resignation. Des Pres talks her into giving it a few more weeks.
In the remote wilderness, Martha pulls an unresponsive, feverish Amelia out of her vehicle. Martha’s upset, telling Amelia that she has to disappear because of the girl. The girl has to disappear too. But Martha can’t bring herself to dump Amelia into the frigid waters of Lake Huron. Instead, she leaves Amelia where she lays and drives off.
Patrick, working on his online courses,Lucien runs in with news: the McLeod parents out west, and their daughter Sam, have been killed in a chartered plane accident. Local authorities are not ruling out foul play. With a heavy heart, Des Pres calls Patrick and Emy and asks them to meet him at Jessica’s cottage.
Oscar, meanwhile, drives with Luke as his passenger. Oscar is exultant over the plane crash – he’s finally tying up loose ends. He agrees to Luke’s terms: $20k per head to kill Amelia, Martha and Patrick. The two of them visit Ron Amaldi, recovering in his mum’s house from a gunshot wound. Ron reveals what happened: he and his older brother Charlie, sent by Oscar, tracked Martha and Nat to the barn. Nat opened fire unexpectedly, and Ron was barely


able to flee with his life.
Patrick enters the McLeod home to find Emy cooking with Jessica. He makes cocktails for everyone – another original recipe. A somber Des Pres and Lucien arrive shortly thereafter, asking Patrick to take Justin somewhere. Patrick takes Justin driving on an empty road, letting him steer the wheel. Des Pres reveals the grim news to Jessica, who faints. When she recovers, Des Pres says they have a lead – a plane mechanic with ties to criminal elements in Toronto.
Amelia wakes up in a hospital, disoriented. A nurse tells her that a farmer brought her in. Ontario Police will come by to question her, now that she’s up. When the nurse leaves, the frightened Amelia steals out of the hospital.
At a bus station, AmeliaThe speedboats ferry the weapons to the buyer, who waits on a larger ship off the coast. Suddenly, CSIS and Ontario Provincial Police vehicles and boats converge on the scene. Some of the criminals start firing, and all hell breaks loose. Des Pres and Lucien help the other agents subdue and arrest the smugglers. However, they discover that Oscar and Ron are nowhere to be found.
Oscar pushes Ron through the woods with his handgun, suspicious about the well-informed raid, and the cell phone he confiscated from Oscar. Oscar leads Ron to a small cabin and binds his wrists. Oscar then calls his father, who is upset at his son’s continued bad decisions, but agrees to send help. Ron, meanwhile, slips out. Unfortunately, his gunshot wound has opened up,


hospital. He jabs a gun into the side of a NURSE and demands she remain calm and lead him to Ron Amaldi. The nurse complies – but a guard stationed outside Ron’s door pulls his piece. Oscar shoots him, runs into the room, and unhooks Ron’s life support. However, more guards come running. Swearing, Oscar shoots at them and flees.
A trucker drops Amelia off by the village. She sneaks into a vacant cottage across the way from her grandma’s. However, she finds signs that someone else has been hiding out here – including a bunch of menthol cigarette butts. Amelia hears a car pull up – she panics and hides. Oscar enters with a gun, wired and muttering to himself about the damn police interfering. He gathers hisbarges into the bathroom, gun raised – and finds only a laptop, playing the video of Amelia that Des Pres showed Patrick in the beginning. Oscar turns to flee – and finds himself surrounded by Des Pres, Lucien and other agents.
As a cuffed Oscar is shoved into the back of a car, Des Pres compliments Patrick on his idea to release a doctored photo to the press and lure Oscar in. Patrick has a bright future as an agent if he wants it.
A MONTAGE shows Arnold and Chloe arrested for aiding and abetting Oscar. Martha – with a new hairdo in a small northern town – is stopped by a police officer demanding that she properly register her car. When he runs her license, he identifies her and


arrests her. Des Pres and Lucien visit a recovering Ron in the hospital, thanking him and saying he won’t be charged.
Patrick and Emy take Justin and the family dog for a walk in a nearby park. The dog runs off, barking. They follow it… and find Amelia in a shed, delirious. Patrick hoists her up and they go rushing to the hospital.
The Shining Star club is filled to capacity. Patrick, now head bartender, introduces everyone to his newest invention, the Lemoncella Cocktail. Jessica, Amelia, Justin, Des Pres, Lucien, Mr. Walker and Emy are all there. Patrick and Emy announce their engagement, and Mr. Walker is very proud since Patrick is hailed as a hero. Patrick in turn salutes Des Pres, the other agents, the policemen and the Mountiesconcerned other forms of approximations of complex mathematical functions; another was to research constructive methods for the determination of polynomial zeros, as the lab was offering a symposium on the subject.

The next advancement in my scientific career was to accept a position with The University of Western Ontario, where I was able to conduct research amidst heavy teaching. The course overload was due to the fact that the university was offering the first undergraduate program in computer science (first in the country), which attracted a far more number of students than the department could handle. It was at that time that I investigated the iterative methods used to calculate polynomial roots. Was there a way to improve the convergence, i.e. making the evaluation faster? Computer time was still


War I (1914) probably being one of the reasons Enrichetta stayed in Canada and long enough to marry Filippo.

A girl, Mary, brought cheers to their family; unfortunately the infant suffered a bad fall and succumbed to an ensuing infection. The Pensa family then adopted Florence, a 7-year girl from the Mount St. Joseph orphanage in London. She stayed with the family even when two boys and a girl came along.

Filippo, who had adapted well to the new country, started a successful cigar factory, while Enrichetta worked for a seamstress specializing in fur coats. Filippo was a sport man, playing curling in the winter. Of very sociable nature, he became president of the Marconi Club and ran for London City Council.

Their own three children went to college; the oldestbecame an economist, the young woman a teacher and the youngest, Claude, a lawyer.

When the father, Filippo, retired, he had a hotel in Port Stanley; he hadn’t miss a thing of the Italian culture; on the contrary, the mother, Enrichetta, spoke with nostalgia of her country of origin. On the total, she took three trips to Italy and upon her return she would tell everybody how lovely things over there were.

It was in this formative two-culture environment that Claude Mario Victor grew up.

In 1958 he married Elaine Wettlaufer and the couple was blessed with four children: Christine Anne, Victoria Marie, Marc Anthony, and Jonathan Pierre.

Claude’s career and accomplishments are countless. Below I’ll mention a few.

In 1962 he formed the law firm Giffen Pensa; in 1999 the Harrison Pensa


(which as per today comprises 55 lawyers); from 1991 to 1993 he was Chair of Western’s Board of Governors; in 2003, together with his wife Elaine, he founded the London Lawyers Feed the Hungry, which as per today has raised over half a million dollars.

In 1991, Western conferred him the degree of Doctor of Law (Honoris Causa) and an honorary diploma from Fanshawe College is in the making at the time of this interview. Claude is in the process of writing a book about his parents and the extraordinary adventure they lived when, very young, they crossed the Atlantic. From what I gather, it wasn’t smooth sailing, but it was surely a great landing.

What impressed me most of Claude, together with his positive attitude in general, was whathe said about growing up in a two-culture environment: it was a gift.

Rene Natan narrates thrilling story bleeding with reality

STRATHROY-CARADOC, Ontario – Published author Rene Natan returns to the literary scene with another thrilling story she titled, “Lemoncella Cocktail” (published by Archway Publishing). Natan invites readers to visit Northern America and learn of the unfortunate reality that involves terrorism and weapon trafficking.

Involved in a murder at younger age, Patrick Carter, now 25, plans to stay out of troubles and live a life without confrontations. Being a lifeguard during the day and a bartender at night is his ideal way to spend a summer on the shores of Lake Huron.

Unfortunately, one day, as he walks along the Ausable River on his way home, an unmistakable cry for help makes


and entertains but also informs and inspires.

“Lemoncella Cocktail” By Rene Natan

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Rene Natan (aka Irene Gargantini Strybosch) is the author of several short stories and 10 novels, in genres varying from thriller to romantic suspense. Some of these have gained international recognition. “The Blackpox Threat” won first place in the 2012 Dragonfly Book Awards and was a finalist in the 2011 National Indie Excellence Awards; “The Loves and Tribulations of Detective Stephen Carlton” got Silver in the 2015 Global Ebook Awards; “The Woman in Black” won Second Place in the 2015 Five Star Dragonfly Awards. Her books are available on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com. A former professor of computer science with Western University, she lives in Strathroy, Ontario. Readers can visit herWednesday, January 6, 2010

High Price New York City Decor, Feng Shui and All That

"FOR many people, 2009 has been stressful, and the home a natural place of refuge. The furniture and interior designer Clodagh, known for her earthy, soothing aesthetic, has some advice for those looking to create comforting surroundings to see them through 2010, whatever that may bring.

" 'Your home environment should be your nanny,' said the Irish-born Clodagh, who is based in New York and goes by one name. It should make you feel 'welcomed and warm,' she said, as soon as you walk in the door.

" 'I really try to design irritations out of people's lives and to bring in elements that will make them feel better,' said Clodagh, who has followed the tenets of


Current Projects

The Ornate Box Turtle was listed as an endangered species in October, 1972. Since its listing, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and The Nature Conservancy began to acquire lands that were suitable for this species, or that had the potential to be restored.

The Wood Turtle was listed as a threatened species in 1975. Wood Turtles are semi-terrestrial animals (live on land and in water) that are primarily associated with moderate to fast flowing rivers and streams that have either a sand, gravel or coble substrate. Their range encompasses all the northern counties in Wisconsin and the southern edge of their range roughly follows a wavering line from Green Bay to Prairie du Chien.

Blanding’s Turtles are semi-terrestrial and are associated with a number of water bodies,Linguistics PhD Candidate

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Bio

I am a third year doctoral student in the linguistics program at The Graduate Center, CUNY. I wrote my master’s thesis on the interaction of word-initial obstruent voicing and tone in a dialect of Gurung, a threatened Sino-Tibetan language of Nepal. I am currently a research assistant for an experiment that examines the prosody of center-embedded sentences at The Graduate Center’s Psycholinguistics Laboratory. I also volunteer at the Endangered Language Alliance and teach at Brooklyn College, CUNY.


He couldn't afford a forced pay cut. So now he wants to go back to war.

Courtesy of Steve Featherstone

WASHINGTON — Until the sequester hit last month, Jeff Maryak, a 39-year-old Army reservist and combat veteran, was just one of the millions of middle-class Americans getting by, but barely. On the plus side of the personal ledger, Maryak has a new desk job at Fort Meade. It pays him well (around $80,000 annually, before taxes), offers the possibility of promotion, and puts him squarely in the middle class, even in an area like Washington, which has one of the highest cost of living rates in the nation. But the negative side of Maryak's ledger also added up: He pays $1,900 monthly rent for a small apartment in suburban Maryland;deployments so far, has run into another problem: With the United States out of Iraq, withdrawing from Afghanistan, and wary of putting boots on the ground in Africa and the Middle East, "deployments are ridiculously hard to find nowadays." The sequester, a mandated cut in spending on most federal programs, has been greeted with a shrug by most of official Washington. That's part because the White House, eager to keep a political advantage over Republicans, vastly oversold its immediate effects on most Americans and warned of hundreds of shuttered airports, and of everything from deep cuts to homeless shelters to canceled White House tours. The economy has not collapsed. There have been no massive disruptions in services. And the sequester, intended as a sort of Sword of Damocles


car." "It's a kick in the teeth," said Maryak. "I'm 40 years old and after working, what, 14 hours, I'm mopping the bathroom in the back of a fucking Papa John's and my car smells like failure." Maryak's choice to put his life at risk is extreme. But his path to date has been fairly normal. He grew up in Syracuse, graduating from Christian Brothers Academy in 1991, and went to the University of Miami, Florida, partied too hard and flunked out, he says, and returned to Syracuse and began working menial jobs. Maryak then followed the great migration to the Southwest, heading with his pregnant girlfriend to Las Vegas, where Maryak's brother had told him about lucrative casino jobs. But breaking into the casino game proved tobe more difficult than Maryak had thought. Money got tight, and with his wife four months pregnant, he started to look for work, any work. "I decided, you know what, she's now four months pregnant and she needs to see a doctor. We have no health insurance, no nothing. So I'm going to join the Army because she's at least going to go to a doctor and they're going to give her health insurance. And she can go and have the baby," he recalled. Joining the Army was a pivotal moment in Maryak's life. "I'd just been living day-to-day," he says. But now he was part of something larger. He learned responsibility, honor, duty, and patriotism, all traits that have long since become central parts of who he


is. Maryak credits his ex-wife for supporting him during the early years of his military career. "To her credit, she suddenly became an Army wife. That was not necessarily what she signed up for. And even worse so, I went through basic training, I get assigned to Germany." Maryak served in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Egypt. He began to see the Army as a calling. "I'm savvy enough to recognize the difference between political and reality. And while it can seem political to say that I'm exporting American values… I'm not exporting democracy, I'm not exporting American values. What I am exporting is freedom and fairness," he said. By spring 2001, Maryak had been in the Army for seven years and had two kids and a wife. He wasdischarged in June of that year and found himself back in the civilian world. "I had gotten my [Microsoft Certified System Engineer certificate]. Microsoft MT 4.0 because that was going to be the future, but yeah, I'm still paying on that debt," Maryak jokes. Still, at the time it helped, and he took a job with Advanced Internet Technologies in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Founded by a couple of former special forces members, the company had contracts with the military, which Maryak liked, and there was a stable future to it. The pay wasn't great — Maryak was working shifts at the local Bennigans — but still, things were good. He'd arrived. And then, Sept. 11 happened. "They asked people to raise their hand of who was willing to


come on board full-time to help, so I of course raised my hand to help," Maryak said, and by November he was back on orders, working part-time for CAPAC, which was in charge of civil and psychological affairs for the Army. For a year and half, he worked as a civilian at Ft. Bragg before he finally took up again full-time with the military. In 2005, Maryak and his wife divorced, and he spent some time working in North Carolina before eventually heading to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. During one tour in Iraq, he won a bronze star for his part in the siege on Sadr City, an infamous neighborhood in Baghdad. Maryak doesn't much like to talk about that time, insisting he did very little in theend. "A bronze star is not anything awesome," he said. "A bronze star with valor is significantly awesome. But the bronze star I got is, you did a good job, arguably an excessively good job, but you happened to be in a combat zone." During that time Maryak had settled into a comfortable life in North Carolina. He'd remarried, his two kids were in school, and he was happy. In 2010 he left the military, taking a civilian position with the Department of Defense. "I [had] a civilian job that [was] permanent, that I [was] invested in in North Carolina, that I [was] good with," he said. Like many Americans, Maryak was still living paycheck to paycheck. Partly as a result of his various responsibilities — like child


support, a mortgage on his house, his daughter's car insurance — and partly as a function of his own spending habits, he was getting by, but he wasn't putting much away. In short, Maryak was living a model, modern American life. "I was fine there. I was a big fish in a small pond. I was on top of all of my bills. It was touch and go, it was paycheck to paycheck for sure, but I had no reason to doubt my paycheck, so I was fine," he said. "It wasn't great, I didn't have a whole lot of extra money."

Jeff Maryak

But by January of this year, things had changed. Maryak's kids were getting older, he was in the midst of his second divorce, and the jobknew that taking this new job was a risk, but it was a risk for the positive. I was now opening up my ceiling that I didn't have before. So I said, alright, I'm going to accept this job." Things were tight — between the mortgage on his house in North Carolina (which still hasn't sold), child support, his new rent, and all the other bills he had, Maryak continued to just get by, but the prospect of moving up through the ranks made it worthwhile. But at the same time Maryak was going through his upheaval, Washington was going through its own transformation. After years of partisan bickering and punting on difficult decisions, President Obama and Congress were facing down the hard reality of the sequester. The


rhetorical battles over the mandatory spending cuts during last year's election meant politicians couldn't simply push off the pain, as they had for years. Either Obama, Speaker John Boehner, and Majority Leader Harry Reid were going to actually address the government's fiscal problems this time, or the sequester was going to go into effect. Obama and congressional Democrats made a last-minute, halfhearted effort to gin up public outrage, warning of crippling security lines at airports and other dire predictions of pain. But nobody, least of all congressional Republicans, was buying it. In the end, the decision wasn't ever hard. Politicians on both sides knew that the cuts wouldn't result in serious national disruptions of services. The national parks would stay open, transportation funds would still go to theHemet High School earned its first championship title in the 32nd annual Riverside County Mock Trial Competition on Saturday, March 7.

By defeating Riverside’s Martin Luther King High School, Hemet is advancing to the state competition, which will take place March 20 to 22 in Riverside.

The final round for the county title took place at 1 p.m. at the Riverside County Historic Courthouse, where students argued over the fictional case of “People v. Shem.” The case dealt with an artist and his talented pupil who was facing theft by larceny charges for stealing one of his mentor’s works. Hemet served on the side of prosecution and King acted as the defense for “Shem.”

At about 3:15 p.m., the verdict was dealt and the winners were announced.

Sydney Yerger, 18, and a


social collapse: nature and natural resources, the accumulation of wealth, the elite and the commoners. The team calls their model Human And Nature Dynamics, or HANDY.

A HANDY tool

The researchers used the HANDY model to analyze three different social scenarios: an egalitarian society with no elite class; an equitable society with workers and non-workers (students, retirees, disabled persons); and an unequal society with a robust class of elites.

The egalitarian and equitable societies could produce a sustainable civilization and avoid collapse, even with a high ratio of non-workers. Social collapse was more likely after people overreached and depleted natural resources. Importantly, even without any social stratification, collapse could occur if a society exhausted its natural resources.

In the unequal society, however, collapse was almost unavoidable — and these were the HANDYHallo, eco-friendly viewers. Today’s Planet Earth: Our Loving Home features an interview with Dr. Gordon McBean, a distinguished scientist from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

Professor McBean received his PhD in Oceanography from the University of British Columbia, Canada.

He has been honored with many distinguished awards, including MSC Patterson Medal, CMOS President’s Prize, EC Jim Bruce Award.

As a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society and the American Meteorological Society, he has also chaired and attended numerous international and national science committees.

We now present Dr. McBean’s discussion the natural hazards caused by climate change.

SUPREME MASTER TV: Could you give us an overview on climate change?

Prof. McBean: Well climate first of all is fundamental to our global ecosystems.

The climate is what really


this.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom, who was a conservative, but she was also a chemist.

I never personally ever met her, but my colleagues who do the same kind of thing I was doing then in the United Kingdom, spent hours with her discussing this, going over with her so she could understand, and one result is the United Kingdom has been from the beginning a leader both in support of the science to better understand things, but also in actions on emission reductions and those kind of strategies.

You get in some other countries similar kinds of leaders. And it has been rather interesting in the Canadian scene. We’ve had, up until, well early 2007, if you did an opinion poll of the Canadian population, environmentthe awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize is interesting in that context.

All of these things coming together in ways that citizens are saying, and so that in democracies there is now more of an interest in action in Canada, in the United States, certainly at the state level in the United States, in California, in the New England states and some others.

In Europe, it's been there for awhile. Within the European Union as a collectivity, they have been willing to take statements, make judgments, put in place policies to take action on climate change.

SUPREME MASTER TV: Some scientists are predicting within two years, if we don’t fix, the ice melting in the Arctic.

Prof. McBean:The question on the ice is one of concern.

What we talk about in the scientific


the open session in the U.S. Senate buildings so we had a session and the fourth speaker in a series of several was Dr. James Hansen, who was then, and I believe still is the director of one of the U.S. major government research labs, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

And Professor Hansen, who is a very outstanding climate scientist modeler stood up and said, first of all he wanted to emphasize he was speaking as a private citizen, not as director of the U.S. government laboratory, which he was, and he then talked about the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and in his view, we could be only a degree away from the irreversible starting of this process, and he said, “I don't know how longnational security apparatus cannot keep track of how its money is spent or on what.

The Iraq War is over and the United States is on track to end major combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. At the same time the federal deficit is increasing, as is the need for investment at home. The United States is adapting a less expansive military strategy and does not face an existential threat abroad. Yet we continue to spend more on defense each year than we did at the peak of the Cold War. Congress’ choice is clear: will it cut $100 billion in unnecessary spending from the Pentagon or $100 billion from programs that protect the poor and vulnerable and support the middle class?

The cuts we outline below


billion over 10 years

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program was meant to save U.S. taxpayers money by avoiding separate research, design, and testing processes to field fifth-generation aircraft for the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. The program has failed in that regard, as costs have soared due to unforeseen design challenges.

Nevertheless, the Joint Strike Fighter should be built, especially since production of the F/A 22 Raptor—the Air Force’s fifth-generation stealth fighter—was stopped after the production of 187 aircraft. Additionally, many of our allies are waiting to purchase the Joint Strike Fighter, which will improve the ability of the United States to use military power in conjunction with allied forces and lower the unit costs of the jets for the United States.

While the overall F-35 program is strategicallyopportunity for savings. Further, with the election over, President Obama, in his second term, has an opportunity to make significant progress on what has become one of his signature policy initiatives: working toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

According to Air War College and School of Advanced Air and Space Studies faculty members Gary Schaub and James Forsyth Jr., the United States can maintain an effective nuclear deterrent with an arsenal of 292 operational warheads and 19 reserve warheads—311 in total. Schaub and Forsyth contend that this number is more than capable of deterring known threats to the United States and hedging against unforeseen contingencies.

In the near term, however, given the partisan opposition to the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), 311 nuclear weapons may not be a


very conservative estimate of $12 billion per year in nuclear costs, phasing in a gradual reduction to 1,100 weapons by 2022 would save $28 billion over 10 years.

Conclusion

In recent history, the United States has cut its military expenditures by about 30 percent at the end of major conflicts. President Dwight Eisenhower cut defense spending by 27 percent after the end of the Korean War; President Richard Nixon reduced the budget by 29 percent as we withdrew from Vietnam, and Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton combined to cut military spending by more than 35 percent as the Cold War came to a close.

In analyzing the factors that have and should determine how much the United States can spend on defense, it is clear that theColorectal sources (30--50% of cases), urogenital sources (20--40% of cases), cutaneous infections and local trauma (20% of cases) are frequently identified as the cause of FG. The infectious process is due, in the majority of cases, to multiorganism infection (spreptococcall and staphilococcal species, enterobacteriaceae, anaerobic organism, and fungi). FG involves firstly superficial and deep fascial planes of genitalia; subsequently it spreads along the anatomical facial planes and to overlying skin, while muscles are often spared. However, the early event of FG is a localized infection near to the portal entry followed by an obliterative endoarteritis with cutaneous and subcutaneous vascular necrosis, leading to local ischemia and further bacterial proliferation. Via Buck and Dartos fascia, the infection of superficial perineal fascia may then spread to penis and scrotum, and,


(CNN) The world of Westeros is back in the spotlight as filming for the "Game of Thrones" prequel is underway -- and in a location fans know very well.

Film production for the untitled show has begun in Northern Ireland, according to the Belfast Telegraph . The local media outlet reports that shooting sites across the province of Belfast were being set up last week.

CNN reached out to HBO, which did not comment on the matter. (CNN and HBO are owned by the same parent company, WarnerMedia.)

The HBO drama has filmed in parts of Northern Ireland for scenes before, including the Red Wedding and the Battle of the Bastardsmiles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.

Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

View from the Wing is a project of Miles and Points Consulting, LLC. This site is for entertainment purpose only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

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