Q:

Why was the engine of the launch vehicle recently tested in Iran "not a very good missile engine"?

The NPR News item What's Iran Up To With Recent Rocket Launch Attempt? by NPR's Geoff Brumfiel, about a recent launch test in Iran includes the following:

Earlier this week, Iran attempted to launch a rocket carrying a satellite into space. The Trump administration says their goal is really to develop long-range weapons. NPR's Geoff Brumfiel looks into what Iran is up to.
[...]
Markus Schiller is the founder of ST Analytics, an independent consultancy in Germany. He's spent a lot of time looking at Iran's space program, and he says there are links to the military. For example, the engines Iran uses on its space rockets have a military origin.
MARKUS SCHILLER: It's actuallysecond album,Colour by Numbers, has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, and they had several international hits with songs such as “Church of the Poison Mind“, “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me“. Boy George’s androgynous style of dressing caught the attention of the public and the media. Culture Club’s music combines British New Wave and American soul with Jamaican reggae and also other styles such as calypso, salsaor country. From the time of the band’s first album release in 1981 to its dissolution in 1986, Culture Club had amassed hits in several countries around the world, including ten Top 40 hits in the US, most of which went Top 10. In 1984 the band won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and


regardless of a position of the local bias in the D-IC. As a result, the output of the local bias circuit is averaged and applied to the output buffer.
Output buffers of 1284 channels, which receive a common bias voltage level, operate in different respective supply voltage states according to positions thereof in the IC, due to IR drop caused by the wire resistance.
With the above-described mechanism, the |VG−VS| voltage of an output buffer tail bias transistor differs between the respective channels, causing deviation in the amount of tail current. Consequently, this causes deviation in the slew rate of the 1284 outputs during output signal transitions.
The slew rate deviation generated as described above causes a deviation in the pixel voltage charge/discharge times, which may result in deterioration in resolution(JNS)-As the Israel Defense Forces ploughs ahead with an operation to expose and destroy a network of Hezbollah tunnels snaking their way into northern Israel from Lebanon, the military must also be...

(JNS)-U.S. President Donald Trump nominated State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on Friday as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, replacing Nikki Haley, who is stepping down at the end of...

(JNS)—Donna Shalala, 77, is no stranger to politics or the relationship between the United States and Israel. She served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton, where she traveled to Israel and helped researchers...

(JNS)—Mixing food, especially ice-cream, with politics can be problematic. But Ben & Jerry’s—the iconic Vermont creamery founded by two Jewish guys from Long Island, N.Y.—became a huge success doing just that


consulate in Turkey, and may have exited some time later in a number of parcels. The disappearance has riled the media with the persistence of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation. The folks are holding...

(JNS)—My first personal interactions with George Herbert Walker Bush were in 1987, when he was running for president, and I was working for Congressman Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.), who was also seeking the Republican nomination. In the folksy one-on-one...

KRIMPEN AAN DE IJSSEL, Netherlands (JTA)-For two years, the world's only seaworthy life-size replica of Noah's Ark has been wowing passengers traveling along Holland's Maas River. Built according to...

NEW YORK (JTA)—Apple CEO Tim Cook reiterated the company’s commitment to fighting hate and used a Hebrew phrase to do so. Cook invoked a phrase from Leviticus 19:16 in its originallanguage on Monday at the Anti-Defamation League’s Never Is...

(JTA)—On the phone last week, just before the revival of his play “The Waverly Gallery” opened on Broadway, Kenneth Lonergan sounded harried. There had been some set malfunctions earlier in the week, just as critics were getting ready to...

Esther (Ester) Arnon, age 90, of Great Neck, New York, passed away on Nov. 29, 2018, at Hospice of the Comforter in Altamonte Springs. She was born in Iran on Nov. 23, 1928, to the late Baruch Karbassi and Shoshana Salimpoor Karbassi. A homemaker,...


Beirut, Also the Site of Deadly Attacks, Feels Forgotten

Image

The relatives of one of the victims of the twin suicide attacks in Beirut mourned during a funeral procession in the city's Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood.CreditCreditWael Hamzeh/European Pressphoto Agency

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Ali Awad, 14, was chopping vegetables when the first bomb struck. Adel Tormous, who would die tackling the second bomber, was sitting at a nearby coffee stand. Khodr Alaa Deen, a registered nurse, was on his way to work his night shift at the teaching hospital of the American University at Beirut, in Lebanon.

All three lost their lives in a double suicide attack in Beirut on Thursday, along with 40 others, and much like the scores who died a day later in Paris, they were killed at random, in abustling urban area, while going about their normal evening business.

Around the crime scenes in south Beirut and central Paris alike, a sense of shock and sadness lingered into the weekend, with cafes and markets quieter than usual. The consecutive rampages, both claimed by the Islamic State, inspired feelings of shared, even global vulnerability — especially in Lebanon, where many expressed shock that such chaos had reached France, a country they regarded as far safer than their own.

But for some in Beirut, that solidarity was mixed with anguish over the fact that just one of the stricken cities — Paris — received a global outpouring of sympathy akin to the one lavished on the United States after the 9/11 attacks.

Image

The site of Thursday's twin suicide bombings in the Burj


was but an irrelevant fleck along the international news cycle, something that happens in those parts of the world.”

The implication, numerous Lebanese commentators complained, was that Arab lives mattered less. Either that, or that their country — relatively calm despite the war next door — was perceived as a place where carnage is the norm, an undifferentiated corner of a basket-case region.

In fact, while Beirut was once synonymous with violence, when it went through a grinding civil war a generation ago, this was the deadliest suicide bombing to hit the city since that conflict ended in 1990. Lebanon has weathered waves of political assassinations, street skirmishes and wars; Israeli airstrikes leveled whole apartment blocks in 2006. But it had been a year of relative calm.

(A reminder of thethe international powers that, if left unaddressed, the conflict would eventually spill into the West.

To be sure, the attacks meant different things in Paris and Beirut. Paris saw it as a bolt from the blue, the worst attack in the city in decades, while to Beirut the bombing was the fulfillment of a never entirely absent fear that another outbreak of violence may come.

Lebanon seemed to have recovered over the past year and a half from a series of bombings claimed by Sunni militant groups as revenge for the intervention by Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shiite militia, in the Syrian civil war to provide critical support for the Syrian government.

Some blamed news coverage for the perception that Beirut is still an active war zone. They cited headlines — including,


Donald Trump Phoenix Rally Cold Open (Aug. 24, 2016)

Trump gives a goodbye to Steve Bannon and pledges to build the Wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and make the American tax payer pay for it. Watch the sketch here.

NBC

19. Trump's People (April 8, 2017)

Trump checks in with rural white Americans after ordering an airstrike on Syria. Desperate to keep everyone happy, he promises everyone will have coal jobs for the rest of their lives and that he'll slash minimum wage. The final joke about "finger chili" is a standout moment. Watch the sketch right here.

NBC

18. Press Conference With Baltic Leaders (April 7, 2018)

Trump meets with leaders from the Baltics and gets so bored that he finally tells America what he really thinks about the presidency. Watch the sketch here.

NBC

17.American troops to rally them in a battle against super-powerful space aliens. Unfortunately, Trump's old standbys like "we don't win anymore" and "we're going to bring coal back" were not all that helpful. Most of the rhetoric is stuff we've heard before, but Leslie Jones' and Sasheer Zamata's moments near the end elevate the sketch. Watch the sketch here.

NBC

14. White House Tree Trimming Cold Open (Dec. 16, 2017)

Joined by his family, Mike Pence, Jeff Sessions, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kellyanne Conway, Trump decks his Christmas tree by remembering the losers in his first year as president. Watch the video here.

NBC

13. Trump call with Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz (Sept. 30, 2016)

Trump fields a call with Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and reminds her that if


Bicyclists will have to endure another summer of rubble on the Plumb Beach bike path, as the city has again postponed repairs to the 300 feet of asphalt swept away by Hurricane Ida in 2009.

Authorities from the Parks Department confirmed to Sheepshead Bites that work on the Plumb Beach bike path – part of the popular Shore Parkway Greenway – will not begin at least until the Army Corps of Engineers replenishes sand at Plumb Beach. That task is not expected to begin until early fall.

Once that’s done, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will need to assess the area and give the green light for a new bike path, according to Martin Maher, Parks Department chief of staff. Then the Parks Department will work withthe local elected officials and the Department of Transportation to begin repairs.

The bike path was destroyed by Hurricane Ida in 2009, pulling 300 feet of asphalt into the sea, washing away a portion of Plumb Beach, and making the Belt Parkway vulnerable to future storms. In 2010, the city finally prepped the path for reconstruction, clearing away broken asphalt and laying down gravel – but declared the project complete before laying new pavement for bikers.

This makes it the third summer in a row in which bicyclists are forced to either dismount and walk 300 feet across the gravel, or, as many do, take their bikes around the guardrail and ride on the eastbound Belt Parkway’s right lane.

But even with a total of approximately $9 million going to repairs


90% of the watch market. And even up to 1968 they still enveloped most of the world market share. But time was running out for the Swiss. In ten years their corner on the market plummeted to almost nothing and they even had to release most of their workers. This was the original time release formula of downsizing. What happened? What time bomb hit the Swiss? They themselves were enveloped and wrapped up in their old way of thinking. You might say that they were stitched in time.

A new nation soon dominated the watch making industry. In the past this nation was unknown for watches. But now Japan led the watch industry. How could the Swiss, who controlled watch making for the entire 20th century, known for excellenceJohn Shelton Lawrence

John Shelton Lawrence is an emeritus professor of philosophy at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. His initial major publication, The American Monomyth, written with Robert Jewett, was published in 1977.

Career
The major contribution of The American Monomyth is a re-thinking of Joseph Campbell's famous classical monomyth from his 1949 book The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Campbell's monomyth described a universal narrative of the myth of the hero's journey which he claimed had disappeared in contemporary culture. Lawrence and Jewett described an American evolution of this mythological structure that reflected a deep antipathy to democratic institutions through the violent actions of a hero who remains separate from the community. This pattern varies significantly from Campbell's, that emphasizes the hero's return to the community with


647, 96 S.Ct. at 2258-59, the record in this case undermines such a presumption. There was only a five minute recess between Stewart's waiver of his right to a jury trial and his decision to plead guilty. Prior to the recess, the State dropped several charges and amended other charges. One of Stewart's attorneys told the judge that pleading guilty was a "subject which only came up" after the State's actions. Five minutes would hardly seem to be enough time for defense counsel adequately to apprise Stewart of the ramifications of the State's amended information. Moreover, Stewart also spoke over the telephone with his mother and sister during the recess. Most of the guilty plea proceeding occurred after a one-hour lunch break, at the State's suggestion. Stewart expressed9, 2008, Appellant-Defendant Fredrick Eugene Black

(“Black”) was stopped by officers of the Detroit Police Department for traveling with excessively

loud music emanating from his vehicle, in violation of the applicable city noise ordinance. During

the traffic stop, an officer saw Black place a handgun into the center console of the vehicle. Black

was ordered out of the vehicle by the officers and searched. In the search, a nylon gun holster was

recovered from Black’s waist band. Also, a loaded Sturm Ruger 9 millimeter semiautomatic

handgun with an obliterated serial number was found in the center console of the vehicle.

       At trial, Black called one witness. Black, however, did not testify. On January 13, 2010,

following a jury trial, Black was convicted of one count of possession of a


SEATTLE, WA — Washington's count of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped by 269 Saturday to 1,793, including 11 more deaths. At least 94 people have died from the virus in Washington, dozens more than in any other state.

In King County, which remains the American epicenter of the outbreak, state health officials recorded another 141 illnesses and seven deaths linked to COVID-19 Saturday. Washington's most populous county accounts for more than half of the state's total cases, at 934, and a vast majority of its fatalities, with 74 dead. The deaths announced in King County on Saturday were among patients in age groups ranging from their 60s to 100s. All died in the past week. One death previously reported in King County has been removed after they were confirmed toshelter will be temporarily moved to the former King County Records warehouse nearby at 1215 E Fir St., the county said in a news release.

Everett issues stay-home order Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin issued a stay-home order for the city's 110,000 residents, asking them to leave home only for necessary tasks, personal exercise and caring for others.

It is the first city in Washington to issue such an order, which has also been put in place in New York, California, New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois, the Seattle Times reported.


about Zionism’s commitment to relating to its non-Jewish neighbours in the spirit of democracy and equality:

THE STATE OF ISRAEL … will be based on freedom, justice and peace; … it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture…

It goes on:

WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness…

Among the core principles of the Zionist consensus:

Democracy in its proper sense, not just the fiat of the majority, but equality, liberty and the rule of law

Opposition to racism.

Striving for good relations with neighbouring peoples and states.

In 1948, ‘67 and ‘73, Arab states – states which defined themselves onthe basis of Arab ethnicity, tried to eliminate Israel.

It is worth pausing a moment to consider the enormity of that statement. Three years after the defeat of the Nazis, armies were on the move again to displace and to murder the Jews. And then again 19 years later. And yet again 6 years after that.

These armies were defeated. Not by the international community, not by antiracist solidarity, not by the United Nations, not by the global left, but by the Jewish state for and by itself.

In 1967, the Sinai was occupied by Israel and was later given back to Egypt as part of a peace agreement. It is cold, but it is a peace.

Gaza was occupied. Israel later withdrew without a peace agreement; the anti-Semitic Hamas was allowed


to claim the land and the victory.

The West Bank was occupied by Israeli forces. Under the protection of the military occupation, Israeli governments have supported a civilian settlement policy.

The political movement which spearheaded the civilian occupation was a departure from the secular democratic Zionist consensus which had made, and defended, Jewish sovereignty in Israel.

The settler movement insisted that a necessary element of Jewish religious observance was participation in the political and military project of settling the West Bank; it fought to establish the new principle that this political project was mandated by the Torah.

One aim of the settler movement was to create facts. It wanted to create a situation where self-rule for the Arabs living in the West Bank would become impossible. It cannot now rely on thefacts which it attempted to create.

In my view the settlement movement did not act in the enlightened self-interest of Israel.

However, this was always a minority movement, often bitterly resented by ordinary Israelis, who were forced to risk their soldiers and spend their money on a project that did not express their values.

Israel offered to end the occupation in 2001, Arafat refused; in 2008 Abbas refused. The elected leaders of the Palestinians said no to a peaceful end to the occupation.

Many thought that antisemitism had climaxed in the Holocaust and died with the Nazis. But new antisemitisms emerge out of the ashes of old ones. Hatred of Jews has been stoked by the Islamists since the 1920s, fuelled by Hitler and his collaborator the Mufti, given socialist credibility by


the Stalinists, Ba’athists and Arab Nationalists, and re-invigorated by the Iranian Holocaust denial regime.

I think anti-Semitism is as much a cause of the conflict, and of its persistence, as it is a result of the conflict. This plays out in ever more frightening ways here in Britain.

We have a leader of the Labour Party who said that Hamas and Hezbollah are dedicated to peace and justice in the Middle East. He jumped to the defence of the blood libeller and to the defence of the Church of England conspiracist. He supports the boycott movement against Israel and only Israel.

Ken Livingstone says Hitler supported Zionism. Livingstone has been doing it for years. In 1982 He published a cartoon of Begin in an SS uniform, doing a straight armed salute,taught, is the dirtier trick than the antisemitism itself.

Back to the point at issue tonight: I think people under-estimated the strength and the persistence of antisemtism. People thought of Israel as the solution to antisemitism. It was the life-raft and the homecoming: for the undead Jews of Europe, the expelled Jews from the great cities of the Middle East and the Jews who limped away from the Soviet Union.

But in some sections of Israeli society, demonizing and racist attitudes to Arabs and to Muslims are all too normal. One of the arguments against the occupation is that it coarsens Israeli society and culture. Ruling over people who resent your rule – ruling by force rather than by authority – is corrosive.

We all watched the video of 19 year


Alison and Peter Smithson

Wife and husband pair Alison (22 June 1928 – 16 August 1993) and Peter Smithson (18 September 1923 – 3 March 2003) formed a partnership that led British Brutalism through the latter half of the twentieth century. Beginning with a vocabulary of stripped down modernism, the pair were among the first to question and challenge modernist approaches to design and urban planning. Instead, they helped evolve the style into what became Brutalism, becoming proponents of the "streets in the sky" approach to housing.

The three-story section will consist of both the exterior facades and interiors of a maisonette flat, one of the signature typologies of the development and a defining example of the Brutalist movement in architecture.

As leaders of Phase 3 of the plan, C.F. Møllerwork has little to do with the challenges faced by society, which are today not unlike the ones faced by the post-war generation: to build homes, places in which to learn and work, places for those who are old and infirm, and places to gather. We can learn a lot from this bygone generation.

In 2017, British news magazine The Economist will move to a new home, leaving behind its iconic home of 52 years, Economist Plaza.

The project represents the first major commission by British duo Alison and Peter Smithson, who would go on to have esteemed careers as champions of the Brutalist style. Located at 22 Ryder Street, not far from Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace, Economist Plaza marked a significant breakthrough in tall building design, replacing the


traditional streetfront of a podium and tower design with stairs and a ramp leading to an elevated plaza from which 3 buildings would rise.

Watch the video above to learn the story behind the project, and read more about the legacy the Economist will leave behind, here.

Two sculptures—Obelisk by Alison and Peter Smithson and Columns by Álvaro Siza Vieira—have been re-erected in Shatwell, a "semi-derelict agricultural complex" located in rural England. The instatement of the monuments form a part of an evolving programme of installations which Drawing Matter, an organisation founded by Niall Hobhouse "that champions the process of architecture through collecting, archiving and commissioning," will use to explore the relationship between architecture, sculpture and landscape.

British filmmaker Joe Gilbert has created a short tribute film to Alison and PeterSmithson's Robin Hood Gardens estate in Poplar, East London, which—as of August 2015—is set to be demolished. Accompanied by insightful commentary from Timothy Brittain-Catlin, the film charts the buildings' history and recent threats to a backdrop of monochrome shots of the estate, in all of its dilapidated and "pleasantly wild" current state. The 'Streets in the Sky', made famous by the Smithsons and both widely praised and criticised as a response to the collapse of low-density terrace housing, are one of the focuses of the film.

Set within the wider framework of “Living Anatomy: an Exhibition about Housing,” currently on view at Harvard Graduate School of Design, this exhibition focuses on ‘Robin Hood Gardens’ - Alison and Peter Smithson’s housing project in East London, completed in 1972. Threatened with


have been issued for this complex. According to Historic England, "a period of 28 days [beginning on the 4th August 2015] is now allowed for review before the certificate is issued."

When it was announced in 2012 that London's Robin Hood Gardens – Alison and Peter Smithson's world-famous Brutalist housing estate – was to be demolished, there was outrage among the architectural community. Since then, many have called for the profession to act in order to protect "one of Britain’s most important post-war housing projects," which led to a fresh bid to save the scheme in March of this year. Richard Rogers, Simon Smithson (a partner at RSHP and son of Alison and Peter Smithson), and academic Dirk van den Heuvel have now called upon members of the publicdesigned to ensure that the buildings would be swiftly demolished, has now expired. This has led the Twentieth Century Society (C20) to launch a new bid for the estate to be both saved and protected.

Great movements in architecture are usually set in motion by a dull societal ache or as a response to a sudden, unforeseen reorientation of a community at large. The Dutch city of Rotterdam - vast swathes of which were cast into oblivion during the blitz of May 1940 - has been at the forefront of many shifts in approach to the built environment. It is therefore fitting that the latest exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut (formerly the NAi), simply titled Structuralism, is being held in the city that was recently named Europe’s best.

Furthermore, Dutch


Structuralism is a timely subject for Dirk van den Heuvel and the Jaap Bakema Study Centre (JBSC) in Delft to tackle. With major civic buildings like OMA's extension to Rotterdam's City Hall taking shape, it appears that a resurgence of Structuralist formal thought is appearing in the contemporary city. The exhibition seeks to shine a new light on the movement by uncovering drawings, models and texts which profoundly shaped 20th century architectural thinking.

In 1970 the BBC followed architects Alison and Peter Smithson through the construction of their seminal housing project, Robin Hood Gardens (London). The impact of their architecture continues to resonate well into the 21st century, most recently in the British Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale. Robin Hood Gardenswas demolished in 2013, bringing an end tothe Smithson's utopian vision. Listen to Alison Smithson explain the European Housing Condition (as the vision stood in 1970), the state of British infrastructure as it was, and hear Peter Smithson discuss the impetus for their most famous collective housing project.

Peter Smithson (18 September 1923 – 3 March 2003), the acclaimed British architect often associated with New Brutalism, would have turned 91 today. He attended the school of architecture in Newcastle, but left to serve in the war in India and Burma. After returning to complete his degree in 1948, he enrolled in the Royal Academy architecture school. In 1950 he set up his own practice with his wife Alison, and the two went on to become some of the most influential British architects of the mid-20th century.

The


British Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale takes the large scale projects of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s and explores the "mature flowering of British Modernism at the moment it was at its most socially, politically and architecturally ambitious but also the moment that witnessed its collapse." The exhibition tells the story of how British modernity emerged out of an unlikely combination of interests and how "these modern visions continue to create our physical and imaginative landscapes." To those who know the UK's architectural heritage, this cultural and social history is delivered in a way which feels strangely familiar, whilst uncovering fascinating hidden histories of British modernity that continue to resonate in the 21st century.

After many years spent fighting to preserve the famous Robin Hood Gardens social housingcomplex in East London, the architecture community mourns another loss. Tower Hamlets Council and the London Thames Gateway Development Corporations have approved the demolition of the 1960s Brutalist complex in an effort to make way for a new £500 million sustainable development comprised of energy efficient, mixed-tenure homes and an enlarged central park. The historic building was built by modernist architects Alison and Peter Smithson and remains an important piece to Great Britain’s architectural history. Continue reading for more.


The rails of a railroad track are usually secured to cross ties by spikes driven into tie plates, with the tie plates located between the rail and the tie, and the head of the spike overlapping the bottom of the rail. The tie plates block lateral movement of the rails, and anchors attached to the rail on either side of the tie are used to secure the rail against longitudinal movement.
Railroad ties occasionally must be replaced due to wear. When a tie must be replaced, the spikes are first removed. Next, the anchors are spread away from the ties to provide space for removal of the old tie and insertion of the new tie.
Various methods of removing and/or spreading rail anchors are known in the industry. One exampleperformed in the auditionees own accent.

The Young Offenders, which is based on the 2016 IFTA nominated independent film of the same name, has had great success since the first season of the show was broadcast to audiences across Ireland and the UK with a number of the show’s stars going on to further success.

The show’s bad boy Billy Murphy played by Shane Casey just finished a number of nights in the Cork Opera House with a show he wrote and performed in ‘Wet Paint’ while Chris Walley, who plays Connor’s right-hand man Jock, picked up Best Supporting Actor at the prestigious Olivier Awards last week.

For more information on the show and the casting call log onto www.theyoungoffenders.com.


As one of the leading chartered accounting firms in Dubai, UAE and being a certified internal auditor, we have more than 30 years of experience in various fields including audit and assurance, trademark registration in UAE and deregistration of company, while being a certified fraud examiner and auditors for owners association in Dubai and doing developers audit in Dubai as well.

We have served various companies under different sectors regulated by the Dubai Economic Department (DED) from the mainland to the free zones, namely JAFZA, DAFZA, Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO), Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT), Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC), Dubai Internet City, etc. Regardless if it’s a JAFZA offshore company or any other offshore company established in the UAE, we can aid you in ensuring that you are assuredRamos: Xavi and Alonso are replaceable

The midfield veterans were among a handful of players to retire after the World Cup but the Real Madrid defender insists there is more quality emerging

03.09.2014 11:00:52

Sergio Ramos admits Xavi and Xabi Alonso were essential to Spain's modern success but insists they are replaceable.
The experienced midfielders amassed more than 240 senior caps between them and were vital components of the sides which won back-to-back European Champions and the World Cup in 2010.
Both players opted to retire from intenational football following the dismal campaign in Brazil this summer but Ramos is confident there are quality replacements waiting in the wings.
"Both Xavi and Xabi Alonso were important to the team, fundamental in the years of success, but we must not forget there is a new


Prime Minister Stephen Harper has fired one shot at Sri Lanka and another across the bow of Commonwealth friends, confirming he will boycott next month's leaders' summit and threatening to cut off funding to the organization.

Mr. Harper is the only leader in the Commonwealth – the 54-nation organization of countries once part of the British empire – who will skip the November summit to protest against the host's human-rights record, although he has hinted at his plans for two years.

But he made a new threat by asserting he will reconsider Canada's substantial funding for the group – intensifying a dispute fuelled by frustrations with the Commonwealth and its secretary-general, Kamalesh Sharma. Mr. Harper's special envoy to the Commonwealth, Senator Hugh Segal, accused the organization's secretariat of acting asa "shill" for Sri Lanka's government.

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At the Commonwealth summit in Perth, Australia, two years ago, Mr. Harper warned he would boycott this year's meeting in Colombo unless Sri Lanka's government made progress on reconciliation with the Tamil minority and showed accountability for abuses at the end of the country's civil war in 2009.

On Monday, at the APEC summit in Indonesia, he said democratic freedoms have eroded in Sri Lanka under President Mahinda Rajapaksa, including the impeachment of the country's chief justice and the killing and jailing of opponents and journalists.

"In the past two years, we have not only seen no improvement in these areas, in almost all of these areas we've seen a considerable rolling back, a considerable worsening of the situation," Mr. Harper said


at the APEC summit site.

MP Deepak Obhrai, parliamentary secretary for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, will represent Canada at the Commonwealth summit.

In Ottawa, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada Chitranganee Wagiswara said the announcement "did not come as a surprise," and noted that most other leaders will attend. She said Sri Lanka's government rejects the allegations of human-rights abuses, and argues it has made progress.

Others, including the United States, have echoed Mr. Harper's criticisms. However, Mr. Harper has led a high-profile campaign. Sri Lanka's government often says Canada is motivated by domestic concerns because of its 300,000-strong Tamil minority. Mr. Segal said he has not been lobbied by Canadian Tamil groups.

"The one party they never vote for would be us," said Mr. Segal, a Conservative. "Their vote tendsto be somewhere between the NDP and the Liberals. The notion that we're playing for some diaspora political game is a creation of our friends of Sri Lanka."

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Mr. Harper's threat to review Commonwealth funding could be of greater concern. Canada provides $5-million a year for the organization's secretariat, about 20 per cent of its budget, and another $15-million for programs.

In 2011, Canada attempted to push a values charter for the Commonwealth and mechanisms to isolate members who violated it – but the organization delayed some proposals, rejected others, then passed a watered-down version late last year.

The Canadian government viewed Mr. Sharma as unhelpful in that battle, and in the effort to call Sri Lanka to account. Mr. Segal said Ottawa has been waiting for the


"secretariat to engage not as a shill for the Sri Lankan government, but as an agent of the Commonwealth." He accused Mr. Sharma of hiding from Commonwealth ministers the damning legal opinions that he had commissioned on the impeachment of Sri Lanka's chief justice.

He said Canada's concern is not just that Mr. Rajapaksa will be host, but chair of the Commonwealth for two years.

But some think the Prime Minister's boycott of the summit will miss the mark.

Bruce Levy, who was Canada's high commissioner to Sri Lanka until last year, is worried about the erosion of democracy in Sri Lanka, and that rights are "going backwards." But he said that for a long time, the Canadian government appeared to Sri Lankans to focus on abuses of Tamils, rather thanStan Douglas: ‘A re-enactment is an event that becomes processed in memory’

Photographer and film artist Stan Douglas talks about his new works, which extend his interest in historical moments of rupture to the 2011 London riots

by JOE LLOYD

Moments of uprising, rupture and revolution: for the Canadian artist Stan Douglas (b1960), these instances have been a fertile source of creative energies. For the photograph Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971 (2008), he restaged a scene from the 1971 Gastown riot in his native Vancouver, using actors and props on location to create an accurate simulacrum. In his film work The Secret Agent (2015), Douglas adapted Joseph Conrad’s novel to the setting of Portugal’s 1974 Carnation Revolution, while the series Disco Angola (2012) alternated photographic recreations of New York’s emergent


underground disco scene with the contemporary movement for Angolan independence. In each of these pieces, Douglas looked back to the 1970s as a time of international shifts and redirections.

A pair of new works takes a rather more contemporary incident as its subject matter – the London riots of 2011. Mare Street and Pembury Estate (both 2017), currently on display at London’s Victoria Miro Mayfair, are photographic documents of the events of 8 August in Hackney Central in east London, capturing the juncture immediately before the Metropolitan police moved in to disperse the rioting crowd. Gargantuan in scale, both works feature dozens of figures sprawled around the streets. Some run to escape, others engage in confrontation with the police, and a sizeable quotient appear to be simply enjoying thefissures in normal life, such as the rare ability to walk along the roads.

[image2]

Mare Street and Pembury Estate are the result of a painstaking process. Douglas used Sky News footage to research the people, their actions and their locations. He then shot the area by helicopter to create plate shots, into which were edited the figures, vehicles and accoutrements of riot. Such was the historical fidelity required that, using Google Maps for reference, Douglas edited each structure to its appearance in 2011. Each work consists of around 100 photographs. When beheld at the gallery, the level of detail is astonishing, overwhelming and not a little unsettling.

Ahead of the show’s opening, Studio International caught up with Douglas at the gallery.

Joe Lloyd:Several of your recent works have focused on moments


in the UK is that they did not follow the usual pattern. It began in Tottenham, north London, with a traditional race riot [over the killing of Mark Duggan], but then what happened in the following days was untraditional, something new. The MP David Lammy wrote a book about it, Out of the Ashes (2011), in which he says that a major reason was the closure of youth centres. Without places to gather, the youth were on the street. And what you see in my photographs is a lot of people waiting – for something to do, or for something to happen. Suddenly, the norm is upturned: there are no cars on the street, and people are waiting for some event to take place.

Of course, there was looting,China unveiled the Dongfeng 26, an intermediate-range ballistic missile long hidden from the public, in a military parade Wednesday commemorating the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. Several other Dongfeng missiles were also shown publicly for the first time in the parade, but the DF-26, nicknamed the "Guam Killer," has sparked the most interest.

With a range of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers, or 1,800 to 2,500 miles, the DF-26 has the capability to reach U.S. bases on Guam, Popular Mechanic reported. Displayed atop a new Transport Erector Launcher, which itself grabbed attention when it was first spotted in mid-August, the DF-26 could be equipped with an anti-ship ballistic missile warhead.

China's new ballistic missile: Dong Feng 26. Range 4000 km. pic.twitter.com/UEu596wRCV — Tal Inbar


fellow at the U.S. Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, said.

Live: Dongfeng-21D: China’s anti-ship ballistic missile known as “carrier killer” pic.twitter.com/Yqy9VZSwrC — China Xinhua News (@XHNews) September 3, 2015

Also on display at the Victory Day parade were several other Dongfeng missiles of varying ranges, about 12,000 troops and 500 armored vehicles, along with other armaments, drones and missiles, City A.M. reported.

China has been upgrading its military capabilities and modernizing its weapons as part of broader efforts to maintain its status as the dominant country in the Asia-Pacific region, aggravating relations with its neighbors in the process. Not only has it been developing new armaments, but China has also built islands in the South China Sea -- exacerbating tensions with the Philippines -- and launched oil drilling operations1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate mounting stage and a surface treatment method therefor, and in particular to a substrate mounting stage whose surface has a thermally sprayed coating film formed thereon, and a surface treatment method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Substrate processing apparatuses that carry out plasma processing such as etching processing on wafers as substrates have a housing chamber in which a wafer is housed, and a mounting stage that is disposed in the housing chamber and on which the wafer is mounted. In such substrate processing apparatuses, plasma is produced in the housing chamber, and the wafer is subjected to the etching processing by the plasma.
The mounting stage has in an upper portion thereof an electrostatic chuck comprised of


all from marine environments (except two that were from terrestrial), and that only one geographic site in the Baltic Sea was included. The increased availability of metagenomes from the whole Baltic Sea salinity transect now warrants expanded comparative studies.

Other findings from comparing HTS analyses from the Baltic Sea to other marine environments relate to the diversity of the Baltic Sea microbial community. In one of the first HTS/16S rRNA based studies, a lower bacterial diversity was observed in the central eastern Baltic Sea (northern Baltic proper/Gulf of Finland) compared to that of some investigated fully marine oceanic habitats (Koskinen et al. [@CR43]). However, later HTS-based analyses (16S rRNA and metagenomic) of the genetic diversity of bacteria along the whole longitudinal expansion of the Baltic Sea did not showThe tollways unit of San Miguel Corp. said net income rose 5 percent in the first six months of the year due to higher vehicle traffic volume. South Luzon Tollways Corp. booked a net profit of P791.2 million in the January-to-June period from P750.6 million year-on-year. The company’s toll revenues amounted to P1.55 billion, up six percent from last year’s P1.47 billion, driven by higher vehicle traffic volume. SLTC attributed the increase in revenue during the period to the expansion of housing communities and vibrant consumer socio-economic activities and industrial development in the south of Manila. “These developments enhanced the volume for class 1 vehicle. The traffic volume for class 3 vehicles also went up mainly due to the thriving Calabarzon, the second most densely populated region after


with the heading "Terms of Employment." Thereafter, plaintiff resigned from Merrill Lynch, and began working for PaineWebber in September of 1984.
Plaintiff performed training duties for which he received no additional compensation. In December, he and Lovejoy discussed the compensation to be paid for those training duties. Frymire told Lovejoy that at Merrill Lynch he had been paid between ten and twenty thousand dollars for such training activities. Lovejoy then told plaintiff that he would attempt to get a salary of ten to twenty thousand dollars approved in the budget. However, the salary proposal was not approved. In April, plaintiff received $1300 as compensation for his training duties. Lovejoy explained that, instead of a salary, a production credit formula had been devised. Displeased by the amount of compensation, Frymirestopped accepting the training assignments.
In 1985, plaintiff's production as a broker totaled $95,647, which was far below the production expected. In 1986, his production declined further, dropping to $1,041 in June. In that month, Lovejoy asked plaintiff to resign. Plaintiff refused. Lovejoy terminated Frymire's employment at the end of July. Although PaineWebber made several attempts to place him elsewhere in the company, those efforts were unsuccessful.
In the fall of 1986, plaintiff returned to his previous position at Merrill Lynch. He authorized PaineWebber to dispatch an "Employment Verification Form" to Merrill Lynch. In completing the form, Lovejoy stated that Frymire had been discharged by PaineWebber and would not be rehired because of his "poor attitude and less than satisfactory production." Appellant's Brief on Appeal, Exhibit A, at 32.
On July


Semester Phikeia class who demonstrates outstanding leadership and commitment to the Fraternity. It is not necessary to submit an application form for this particular award. After initiation, the new members will vote on and nominate the most deserving new member, from among the new members with the four lowest Bond numbers, to receive this award.

Freeman H. Allen Leadership Award: A $1,000 merit scholarship awarded during the spring semester to a junior who demonstrates excellence in leadership. Candidates must apply for this annual award and participate in an interview with the scholarship committee. Consideration may be given to a student’s GPA, leadership activities within the chapter, involvement with on-campus and off-campus activities, community service, and any other information that the candidate wishes to include on his application.

Sigma Alpha Award:A $1,000 merit scholarship awarded during the spring semester to the senior who, over the course of his years as a member of the chapter, best exemplifies the spirit and pride that is Phi Delta Theta. Candidates must apply for this annual award and participate in an interview with the scholarship committee. Consideration may be given to a student's chapter activities, scholarship, leadership, involvement with on-campus and off-campus activities, community service, and any other information that the candidate wishes to include on his application.

Bruce C. Clayton Whole Man Scholarship Award: A merit scholarship awarded during the spring semester to a sophomore who demonstrates strong leadership potential and is interested in serving as a chapter officer. The recipient of this award will receive an invitation to the Kleberg Emerging


Leaders Institute in Oxford, Ohio during the summer to participate in what is seen as the Honors College of Phi Delta Theta's Leadership and Ethics Academy. Upon the successful completion of this program, the recipient will receive a $1,000 scholarship award. Candidates must apply for this award and participate in an interview with the scholarship committee. Consideration may be given to a student's GPA, leadership activities within the chapter, involvement with on-campus and off-campus activities, community service, and any other information that the candidate wishes to include on his application.

Winnie MacKay Scholarship Awards: Need-based scholarships awarded to eligible brothers at the discretion of the scholarship committee. Both the number of scholarships considered and the dollar allocation to each respective scholarship shall be within the discretion of the committee.Sophomores, junior and seniors are eligible to apply. Candidates must apply for this award, submit a copy of their Colgate financial aid award letter, and participate in an interview with the scholarship committee. A range of criteria may be considered in evaluating a scholarship application including demonstrated financial need, GPA, leadership activities within the fraternity, involvement with on-campus and off-campus activities, community service, and any other information a candidate wishes to include with his application.

Victor A. Krivitski Scholarship Awards: Need-based scholarships awarded to eligible new members of the chapter at the discretion of the scholarship committee. Both the number of scholarships considered and the dollar allocation to each respective scholarship shall be within the discretion of the committee. The awards are intended to assist new members who have


SFC 6 of 11 Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle 7 of 11 Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle 8 of 11 Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle 9 of 11 Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle 10 of 11 Photo: Carolyne Zinko/San Francisco Chr 11 of 11 Photo: Carolyne Zinko/San Francisco Chr

Helpers’ mission statement defines its “most pressing and important goal” as supporting quality residential care for the developmentally disabled. But in the past 13 years, the charity has given nothing to residential programs. And for a six-year period from 2003 to 2008, Helpers gave nothing at all to any charitable cause, according to financial records.

Bianchi, meanwhile, has been paid far above the norm for directors of charities. With base compensation of $193,828 in 2015, Bianchi earned roughly $100,000 more thandonated space at Ghirardelli Square. The shop sold crafts made by Helpers’ residents, and designer apparel donated by clothier Wilkes Bashford and others.

After Helpers closed its homes, Bianchi began soliciting donations of high-end apparel from socialites and philanthropists for resale at private shopping parties. In 2008, she opened an appointment-only resale shop, Helpers House of Couture, in one of the former group homes on Fulton Street. Contributors of clothing have included philanthropists Ann Getty, wife of billionaire oil heir Gordon Getty, and British fashion designer Stella McCartney.

The boutique offers eight rooms full of designer-label apparel and accessories, including Chanel, Oscar de la Renta and Christian Dior. Stacks of handbags and shoes line shelves and floor space alongside glass displays showcasing hundreds of pieces of paste jewelry. Bianchi, an


effervescent hostess, greets visitors to the boutique with tales of Helpers’ history and its vast collection of designer goods, with pieces selling for thousands of dollars.

A longtime San Francisco resident, Bianchi emerged as a fashion icon in the mid-2000s, her celebrity boosted by widely published photographs of her elegant presence at high-society events.

Bianchi already was known for another high-fashion fundraising effort, “Mouse Couture.” For that campaign, begun in 1995, Bianchi enlisted top designers to create outfits for toy mice that were sold in the bazaar.

Bianchi said the idea came to her when a mouse scampered across her path one day in Manhattan. In that moment, she said, she realized people fear the developmentally disabled like they fear mice, and she decided she could help combat that fear bydeaths: individuals shot while attempting to clear the opposition street blockades, automobile accidents caused by the presence of the barricades, and several incidents attributed to the opposition stringing razor wire across streets near the barricades. The most recent reported death was a pregnant woman who was shot while walking towards a barricade (AP, 3/24/14). She was not participating in the protest on either side.

Some analysts have pointed out the most recent protests reveal a fundamental split within the Venezuelan opposition, between those who believe in defeating Maduro and his party by democratic means and those—like Lopez—who favor street confrontations with the goal removing Maduro from office. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that he would want to conceal the fact that the protests have been responsible for many


Healy has raised his season batting average to .293. ... Colin Walsh got a rare start in left field for Midland on Wednesday. .. Despite surrendering 10 hits in the game, Sean Manaea picked up his second win of the year for Midland. ... After Midland’s win Wednesday, the RockHounds hold a three and a half game lead for first place in the second-half TL South standings.Emily Rand ESPN 5 Minute Read

The London Spitfire enter the Overwatch League playoffs as the No. 7 seed and will face the No. 2 New York Excelsior at 7 p.m. ET on Friday. Photo by Robert Paul/Provided by Blizzard Entertainment

BURBANK, California -- On Saturday, the London Spitfire and the Seoul Dynasty passed the first round of playoff tests in the Overwatch League's play-in bracket. London and Seoul advanced to the main playoff stage where they'll take on the New York Excelsior and Vancouver Titans, respectively.

London is the defending Overwatch League champion. Seoul was the team with the highest expectations going into the league's inaugural season and still bears the weight of not meeting those expectations and being South Korea's home team.

It's easy to forget the pedigree of these


squads due to both teams' inconsistent performances throughout the 2019 season. London entered this year riding high on a championship win -- a victory that seemed possible because of the talent on the Spitfire roster but unlikely given their 2018 regular season performances. Seoul entered the year focused on redemption for a disappointing inaugural season finish where the Dynasty failed to make a single stage playoff and were eliminated from season playoff contention as well.

Both now have a chance at fulfilling expectations of themselves and their fanbases.

For London, this means greater consistency.

London's preparation for Shanghai was primarily focused on having different gameplans depending on whether Bae "Diem" Min-seong or Yang "DDing" Jin-hyeok was starting alongside Jin "Youngjin" Young-jin in the DPS role. Despite the prep, DDing's Pharah wasdifficult for London to contain.

Spitfire flex tank Kim "Fury" Jun-ho says he thinks Shanghai is better than some of the teams in the main playoff field based on what he's seen from the Dragons. Even so, the defending champions all but gave their opponent the match but somehow stayed alive on Watchpoint: Gibraltar and King's Row.

The first-to-four series went to an Overwatch League record eight maps and ended on Ilios, where London was able to stave off Shanghai yet again. As the Spitfire began to fold, support Choi "Bdosin" Seung-tae rallied his team.

"I feel like on Ilios Ruins, enemy took it to 99% and we were just thinking, 'Oh, maybe we go to Korea, go home,'" Fury said, "but he said some things about hero changing, strategy and


other good things. We heard his voice, and we changed heroes and position. I don't know how we won."

Members of the London Spitfire celebrate their 4-3 victory against the Shanghai Dragons in the Overwatch League play-in tournament on Saturday at Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California. Photo by Ben Pursell/Provided by Blizzard Entertainment

Fury said that in addition to Bdosin's words, he told his teammates to think of the memory of their previous championship, and it helped them focus.

"After we finished the match I just ..."

Fury held out his left arm and pointed to it with his right hand.

"Goosebumps all on my body. ... I never feel goosebumps or that happy at other matches, normal matches, but season one, vs. NYXL, it was the same feeling."

After a pause, Fury leanedoverall if you look at our Stage 2 and 3 matches; in our big matches, we lost because we didn't have good mental, and that could be our weakness," the veteran support player said. "My role is to take care of other players mentality, and as a big brother helping out other players, naturally my mentality also became better."

The truest test of that improvement will come against the Vancouver Titans in the main playoff stage. Although Seoul did upset the NYXL in Stage 1 playoffs this year, this will be the team's first appearance in the larger end-of-season playoff bracket that could potentially net them an Overwatch League title.

"I haven't really thought about it," Tobi said of his first season playoff victory. "Because we were in play-ins, it's


The company did not specify who the targets were or who was behind the attacks. However, it said its own findings do "not contradict" the U.S. Director of National Intelligence report on Jan. 6.

Facebook says some groups tried to use its platform to sway the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

Facebook says some groups tried to use its platform to sway the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

In a case study of the 2016 presidential election, the company said it found several instances of "information operations," its term for governments and organizations who attempt to sway political opinion by spreading fake news and other nefarious tactics.

The case study was included in Facebook's white paper on "information operations." It also detailed ways it was combating "fake news" and othermisinformation spread by adding new technologies and creating more security features.

The company did not specify who the targets were or who was behind the attacks. However, it said its own findings do "not contradict" the U.S. Director of National Intelligence report on Jan. 6. The report was on Russian efforts to influence the and claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin was behind a campaign to get his "clear preference," Donald Trump into the White House.


regardless
of species.' Had we been talking to a Orion, he would have talked about Orion
Rights. But, no, she just wanted to be angry.

And thirdly, "The Federation is no more than a 'homo sapiens' only club" is
demonstrably false as the Federation was made up of many member races and
earth was only one of several founding races.

~~~
sp332
The leadership of the federation at that time was almost entirely human. And I
don't agree about the term "human rights". What if everyone used the term
"European rights" even when talking about people on every other continent? It
would be very awkward.

~~~
BuildTheRobots
The obvious comparison that jumps to mind would be the word "mankind" in our
(theoretically) post-sexist society.

Understanding termite digestion could help biofuels

A termite's own biology with help from microorganisms called protists, are keys to the insect's digestion of woody material, according to a Purdue University scientist.

Michael Scharf, the O. Wayne Rollins/Orkin Endowed Chair in Urban Entomology, studies termite digestion to improve biofuels production and find better ways to control termites. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the cost of controlling termites and repairing damaged homes is $2 billion each year in the United States.

Much of the study on how termites break down woody materials, which focused on the symbiotic relationship between the insect and the bacteria living in its gut, found that bacteria apparently have little, if anything, to do with termite digestion.

Scharf and collaborators at the University of Florida wanted to see how


Teen Hunter Who Killed Hiker He Thought Was Bear Gets 30 Days in Juvenile Detention

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – A 15-year-old teen hunter who killed a Sauk Mountain hiker he mistook for a bear has been sentenced to 30 days in juvenile detention and 120 hours of community service.

Tyler J. Kales, of Concrete, apologized to the victim's family at Friday's sentencing and said he hoped they could forgive him.

The hiker, 54-year-old Pamela Almli of Oso, was killed Aug. 2 on a popular hiking trail north of Seattle. Kales, then 14, was hunting with his older brother, then 16.

The victim's sister, Gail Blacker, told the teen that "in one second you destroyed everything."

Kales was convicted last month of second-degree manslaughter with a firearm. Skagit County Superior Court Judge Susan Cookto imagine that the MPAA's PR team is not particularly pleased with the NY Times' profile of one of the most prolific DVD bootleggers out there : a 92-year old World War II veteran named Hyman Strachman, who bootlegs a ton of DVDs every month and ships them off to US soldiers abroad:There are some great pictures in the article, which show that he's actually using some sophisticated equipment, including a professional DVD duplicator that lets him make seven copies at once. He estimates that he spends about 60 hours a week bootlegging movies. By his own estimates, he sends about 80,000 DVDs per year, and has probably sent over 300,000 total since he started. And soldiers in the field love him for it.An MPAA spokesperson admits that


Sheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman Harold Frazier, left, and Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II talk to reporters in front of the Morton County-Mandan Combined Law Enforcement and Corrections Center in Mandan on Saturday, 10-29-2016 about the ongoing Dakota Access Pipeline protest happening in southern Morton County.

Sheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman Harold Frazier, left, and Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II talk to reporters in front of the Morton County-Mandan Combined Law Enforcement and Corrections Center in Mandan on Saturday, 10-29-2016 about the ongoing Dakota Access Pipeline protest happening in southern Morton County.

The often violent and often unlawful #NoDAPL protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline made David Archambault, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, something of a national and even international celebrity. HeMegistus is an ancient, powerful alchemist, who had long dominated his fusion between science and magic when he saw first signs of the Final Crisis, as far as WWII. He, in response, started gathering transformative relics and artifacts related to alchemy, searching for a way to "protect" humanity. He decided that the cosmic cloud of red power that had created Red Kryptonite was a perfect means of doing this, and sent agents across time and space to retrieve the artifacts he needed to take the cloud to Earth. First, he sent Doctor Alchemy to retrieve the knowledge of the Library of Alexandria, which he had stolen in ancient times and sealed in a pocket dimension. Though Alchemy's plan to kill Superman was foiled, the wisdom and lore of


the Library ended up within Alchemy's Philosopher's Stone, which ended in the hands of Megistus nonetheless, when Wonder Woman threw the stone into the sun-where Megistus had located his main base.

Megistus had, at one point, sent a powerful robotic agent to steal the H-Dial, the artifact capable of giving people superpowers; its guardian, Robby Reed, could hardly resist the machine's assault and ended up transforming back in New York, but before the Dial was lost to Megistus, he gave it to Tin of the Metal Men to wield against the monster. Tin, as Manbot the Mighty, was able to destroy the dragonic machine and save the Dial. Another of Megistus' efforts involved testing the power of the Orb of Ra during WWII, where his minions used it againstthe Blackhawks and a young team of the era, the Boy Commandos; while both teams escaped, Megistus managed to seize the Orb. A checkup the Doom Patrol had offered to run on the Flash's children was ruined when Megistus abducted Metamorpho, who was helping to stabilize the machinery. In Arthurian times, the Silent Knight teamed up with a timetravelling Superman to vanquish a dragon who held a powerful magical Eye Megistus sought. Some years before the main events, the Teen Titans suffered as an old foe of Aquaman fell under Megistus' control at Aquaman and Mera's wedding, and ultimately died in his quest for Atlantean magic. The Warlock of Ys was convinced to steal several ancient star charts; during the theft, he was sucked into a white star-Nth


metal dimensional anomaly, and was sucked into another realm, from where he emerged by means of the pages of the Book of Destiny. Finally, the Challengers of the Unknown found in the book clues poining to Megistus involved in a final theft: Green Lantern's Power Battery.

Ultraman of Earth 3 was sent to New Earth to thwart Megistus' plans, but ended confronting Superman. However, bot resolved their differences and headed towards Sol to engage Megistus. In the journey there, however, Megistus turned the sun green with the Battery, depriving both Supermen of their powers. The Justice League and the Challengers of the Unknown reached the Sun with the Challengers' shuttle, and Green Lantern drained the green radiation with his ring, simultaneously charging it. Megistus defended his base with hisGolf course gets new owner

The former Port Jervis Golf Course comes with a bit of history. It sits on a spot that once housed Fort Van Auken, which, according to a plaque, was the site of an Indian attack that was successfully resisted in 1779.

The course itself was designed by Albert Warren "Tillie" Tillinghast, a noted architect, who created some of the most famous courses in the country, such as the Sleepy Hollow in Scarborough and Winged Foot in Mamaroneck. It opened as a private, members-only club in 1921.

Now, it’s taking a new turn. The course, located on Neversink Drive, is now open not only to members, but also to the general public. The board of the club decided to sell it in November 2010 because of declining


1332

This home, built in 1895 in John Lewis Cochran’s 4th addition to
Edgewater, looks decidedly more modern, with its clay tile roof
and wide façade. The home is covered in clapboard siding. The
permit date was May 4th and the original address was 1026
Norwood. A front porch has been enclosed and divided, so that
one part is an extension of the living room and one part serves as
the entrance porch. The second floor of the façade is symmetrical,
with a center bay window. The original third floor dormer was
probably like the home at 1309 Norwood, which was on a permit
issued on the same day. It shows a higher roof line, in keeping
with the vertical aesthetic of a home built before the horizontal
influence of the Prairie School. The architect is Julius Huber, who
lived inthe Lakewood Balmoral area.

The front door has a transom above the door, which may have
been operating in the original home to improve air circulation.
The reception hall showcases the beautiful staircase, which is in
the Eastlake design used in the 1880s and 1890s. There is room in
this area for furnishings. In one corner, there must have been a
fireplace which shared a flue with a fireplace in the living room.
Look at the floorboards to see the design. All the flooring on the
first floor is quarter sawn oak.

The entrance to the living room is through an archway that may
have been added when the other alterations were done to the
home. This was once the home of Rudolph and Prudence Starr.
Mr. Starr owned a roofing company. One of the Starr’s daughters
lived across the alley


when the current owners purchased the home. When
the current owners found an old trunk in the attic, they invited her to look
at it. She remembered it from her childhood and the current owners were
happy to return it to her.

The dining room is connected to the living room through an
arched entrance with a thick wall, which suggests that there may
have been a pocket door. The dining room has a bay window with
no center window. This seems to accommodate the closeness of
the next house by letting light into the room. It also has a window
overlooking the backyard. The windows are framed by the
original moldings, which predate the use of crown molding. The
dining room connects to the kitchen through a passageway with a
beautiful built in hutch. The kitchen has its originalpantry and a
small porch off the back which is a two story porch.

In the passageway back to the front hall, you will see a window
near the entrance to the basement. It is one of the original windows
with the glass made before 1900. We can expect that all the
homes windows were in this design.

The staircase leads to the second floor with four bedrooms. At
the top of the staircase is the master bedroom which has the bay
window at the front of the house. Across the hall is a smaller
bedroom with a small porch attached. You will see the master
bedroom and look into another bedroom with the small porch
attached. Also look into the central bathroom which is raised up a
step. The tub is unique with the side faucets. This 100-plus year
old


Midtown Manhattan watering holes, typically home to quiet business lunches, got a jolt this month as the World Cup kicked off, drawing suited professionals and colourfully dressed tourists alike for afternoon matches and beers. Bars strung international flags and lured passers-by with drink specials while crowds inside erupted in sporadic cheers.

Brazil’s inaugural match against Croatia kicked off the time that comes every four years when Americans tune in to global affairs to place their bets on which country will emerge victorious from the soccer – sorry, football – tournament.

The competition is a welcome event for sports fans in the summer as hockey and basketball seasons wind down and before baseball truly heats up. The South American time zone is not a problem for viewers in the States, withgames taking place between lunchtime and the evening commutes.

For now, US interest in football may be more about patriotism than the sport itself; Americans rarely shy away from an opportunity to beat the drum for their country and the World Cup is an added bonus beyond the Olympics.

What’s clear is that there are two types of football fan in the US. There is the big group who support the national team in the World Cup, and a much smaller group who devoutly follow a local team in an eight-month season.

Major League Soccer has existed only since 1996. It’s an American take on The Beautiful Game – while British teams often revel in downbeat names that reek of muddy fields and warm pies, the US teams have names that


represent the relentless upbeat nature of US sport, such as the New York Red Bulls and the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Despite the Americanisation of the game, it’s unlikely soccer will elbow aside traditional US sports such as baseball or the version of football where the players in helmets pick the ball up.

The average New Yorker would struggle to explain the offside rule. “No, there’s not a shot clock in soccer,” one US banker was overheard explaining to his colleague during the Netherlands versus Spain World Cup game, referring to the limited amount of time basketball players have to score.

However, interest in matches played on foreign soil appears to be rising and seems to have a greater upward trajectory in the near term than home-grown games. American network NBC paidBack at the chicken run, a 7-year-old Salmon Faverolles named Carmela Sprinkles is the oldest of the group. Burleigh created the chicken run so they could have more room to roam, but she also wanted the garden to look good. She started with old-fashioned double loop wire fencing — "granny fencing wire," she called it — discovered on Craigslist. She attached metal poles secured in concrete. To keep their dogs out and the chickens in, Burleigh topped the curving track with deer fencing, which is so sheer, it's almost imperceptible. She then lined the ground with mulch and pine shavings and other organic matter.

Back at the chicken run, a 7-year-old Salmon Faverolles named Carmela Sprinkles is the oldest of the group. Burleigh created the chicken run so they


to provide services to some four
million subscribers all over Asia in the final configuration. The
system's coverage area includes Indonesia and the rest of ASEAN,
Australia, India, China, Korea and Japan.

CHANNELS

Porn
Channels I: Arabsat kicks off CFI

Arabsat said on Sunday it had
stopped its transmissions of Canal France Internationale (CFI,)
saying the channel had aired a "pornographic" film and
violated Islamic decency standards despite frequent warnings.

Arabsat, which operates
satellite communications for Arab countries including television,
telephone and data transmission, is jointly owned by 21 Arab states.
The satellite organisation is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The
movie broadcast by Canal France Internationale on Saturday afternoon
"went over the limits, and we will seek to cancel our contract
with them," ArabSat said in a statement carried by the official
Saudi Press Agency.

An Arabsat spokesman told
Reuters that "as of today [Sunday] we considerthe contract
between Arabsat and Canal France International (CFI) finished. [...]
They transmitted a pornographic film, and it was not the first
time." The French channel reportedly said it had intended to
broadcast the movie on another satellite.

CFI is a selection of
programmes from France's public broadcasters which is (was?)
broadcast all over the world.

Porn
Channels II: Canadian satellite kicks off kids show

What's going on in the
geosynchronous orbit? According to news reports, a Canadian
satellite interrupted a kiddie show on WKBD-TV, Detroit, with about
24 seconds from an X-rated movie last Thursday.

The mix-up reportedly
occurred somewhere in space as a satellite beamed the cartoon
"Bobby's World" to stations including WKBD-TV, and the
Canadian company Fifth Dimension transmitted a porn program to its
clients. "We're horrified," said Michelle Hunt,
vice-president of media relations for Paramount, which owns WKBD.
"We obviously deeply regret this occurrence,


said that Queen Elizabeth, who oversaw her own
site's design, scans its public message book with growing
fascination. The monarch reportedly is now thought to use the
Internet to exchange information on current affairs with highly
placed confidantes around Britain and the Commonwealth states.

http://www.royal.gov.uk/

(It was quite an effort to
research the URL, according to Zheng: "Just remember that less
than a year before the site was set up last February, Reuters
reported that gullible Britons woke up on April 1, 1996 to hear that
Queen Elizabeth had set up a web site on the Internet. Ha, ha --
April Fools Day! Back then, the Guardian claimed the queen's
cyberspace debut included an interactive tour of Buckingham Palace
and a quiz about the royal family. So, does reality match that joke?
Find out yourself.")

And then there were the
Microsoft pigs.

The software giantUnion played a large part in defeating Nazi Germany during World War 2 – but the modern-day Russian Federation is trying to justify the past. Russia has now put the original Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and its secret land protocol on public display for the first time. Organisers at Russia's State Archives in Moscow suggest that the Soviet Union only signed the pact because they feared the West would betray them. Soviet officials feared that the likes of Britain and France would redirect German aggression towards Moscow.

Putin has come out in defence of the Pact

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed in 1939

They were backed up by Foreign Intelligence head Sergei Naryshkinm who said the "irresponsible and cowardly policies" of the two countries had opened the Soviet Union up to a Nazi attack.


games, but they're likely going to struggle to produce enough runs to earn wins. Holdovers like Evan Longoria and Steven Souza and newcomers like Corey Dickerson are gamers, but this offense is going to sputter. Still, with that staff, you never know.

AL Central

Kansas City Royals - x

Detroit Tigers

Cleveland Indians

Chicago White Sox

Minnesota Twins

There's a lot of affection out there for the Kansas City Royals. Their championship run from last season was something special. And yet, the Royals still don't get a lot of respect. For whatever reason, the team that Kansas City has assembled largely defies quantification. They just win. Expect them to continue doing just that, led by Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer and a host of other players who do a little bit of everything. It'sa talented team, a fun teamand a team that is likely going to make yet another deep postseason run. Detroit isn't quite the force that it was just a couple of years ago, but the Tigers still have plenty of talent. Some of that talent might be getting older Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Ian Kinsler but the team also has late-blooming star J.D. Martinez and a pitching staff that got an offseason boost from the additions of starter Jordan Zimmerman and closer Francisco Rodriguez. They'll contend all season. So will the Indians, who could easily swap places with the Tigers. They have some elite arms in Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco and one of the game's most talented young players in Francisco Lindor. It just isn't clear


Angeles Angels

Seattle Mariners

Oakland A's

Not so long ago, the baseball world was expressing serious doubts about the Astros' plan to completely bottom out before beginning the climb back into contention. It's safe to say that the naysayers are no more, with Houston now sporting a collection of some of the game's most exciting young players. Rookie of the Year Carlos Correa tops the list, but guys like Jose Altuve and George Springer are incredible talents in their own rights. They also have a strong pitching staff led by Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel. This team will be scary for the rest of the decade. The Rangers might be older, but they have some significant talents of their own. They have Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish on the mound andbest hope is that some of the cheap veterans they picked up in the offseason can elevate the anemic offense. The Athletics, who have once again reached the nadir of their ongoing up-and-down approach to playoff contention, are in an even more dire position than Seattle. There are a couple of exciting players, but for the most part, this team simply doesn't have the horses. That said, those who count out Oakland GM Billy Beane do so at their peril.

National League

NL East

Washington Nationals - x

New York Mets

Miami Marlins

Atlanta Braves

Philadelphia Phillies

The Nationals were a big disappointment last year; many (including me) saw them as World Series contenders, but they failed to even reach the playoffs. They'll bounce back this year, led by MVP Bryce Harper and a one-two-three starting


rotation punch Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez that rivals any other in baseball. If vets like Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman stay healthy, there will be no stopping Washington's march to the postseason. Standing in the way of that march are the New York Mets, the reigning National League champs. They've got their own one-two-three (Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey) a group that might be the only one in MLB better than Washington's and their rotation as a whole is consensus best in baseball. If the Yoenis Cespedes-led lineup can score at even an average rate, the Mets could easily leapfrog the Nats. Miami is third because someone had to be. While they have some elite talent particularly pitcher Jose Fernandez and slugger GiancarloStanton they don't have nearly enough of it to contend. And with a flighty cheapskate running the show, that's unlikely to change. Luckily for the Marlins, there are two teams in their division that are even worse off. The Braves made some quality baseball deals in shipping out pitcher Shelby Miller and defensive whiz Andrelton Simmons, but those deals were clearly for the future at the present's expense. They've got a mediocre pitching staff and exactly one potent offensive performer (Freddie Freeman). And yet, they're still not the division's worst. That honor goes to the dumpster fire that is the Philadelphia Phillies. This is a team that was at the bottom of the league in both offense and pitchingand they haven't improved. The only remaining reminder of the


glory years of the previous decade is the albatross that is Ryan Howard. This team isn't just the worst in the division they're the worst in the majors.

NL Central

Chicago Cubs - x

St. Louis Cardinals - y

Pittsburgh Pirates

Milwaukee Brewers

Cincinnati Reds

This might be the most exciting time to be a Cubs fan in decades. Chicago has seen a massive influx of young talent in the past year or so. Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant leads the way, but guys like Addison Russell, Jorge Soler and Kyle Schwarber are impressive players as well. Plus, they've got Jon Lester and reigning Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta. Oh, and they brought in Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and John Lackey in the offseason. This team is absolutely stacked. Cross your fingers, Cubs fansthat they might wind up on the outside of the postseason looking in for the first time in four years. The Brewers are rebuilding and doing a reasonable job of it but looking to the future has torpedoed their present a bit. Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Braun are still solid, but their stars are fading; it looks to be a long summer in Milwaukee. Not as long as the one coming to Cincinnati, however. The Reds barely avoided 100 losses last year; now they have to go without Todd Frazier and Aroldis Chapman. Sure, hitting savant Joey Votto is still there, but other than that, the cupboard is pretty bare. This is an incredibly competitive division right now and unfortunately, Cincinnati just can't hang.

NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers -


x

San Francisco Giants - y

Arizona Diamondbacks

Colorado Rockies

San Diego Padres

The Dodgers suffered one of the biggest losses of any team this offseason when Zack Greinke signed elsewhere after his historic season. However, current best-pitcher-on-the-planet Clayton Kershaw is still in Los Angeles, heading up a rotation that remains solid behind him. The offense has sputtered, but the presence of young phenoms like Joc Pederson and Corey Seager could go a long way toward alleviating that concern. Of course, that division title will ultimately prove meaningless, because it's an even-numbered year, and the San Francisco Giants win titles in even-numbered years (2010, 2012, 2014). All kidding aside the Giants added Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to their rotation, two of the biggest free agents out there. Throw in the greatness ofJoin Huell Howser for this very special one-hour look at the world famous Hollywood Sign. Accompanied by Chris Baumgart and Linda Barth, Huell gets special permission from The Hollywood Sign Trust to actually climb up to and even sit on the sign. While perched on this landmark Huell learns the full history from 1923 till now from the people who work so hard to preserve this icon. He is then joined by Raiden Peterson who was part of the construction crew that rebuilt the sign in 1978. Raiden not only brings great memories and stories but an incredible collection of artifacts that he found when working on the sign including a lightbulb that still works! Finally Huell talks to a few pranksters, one of whom was part of


Ford Australia has built its last Falcon ute, bringing an iconic chapter of the nation's automotive history to an end.

The final FG X utility reached the end of the production line at the brand's Broadmeadows plant on Friday, more than 55 years after the original Falcon ute was introduced in 1961.

Ford staff held a private ceremony to mark the occasion, which was not open to customers, members of the public or media.

The last ute, a Windsor white XR6 model fitted with a manual transmission, will be kept within the company as part of a small collection of historic vehicles.

Ford introduced the original "Coupe Utility" designed by Lew Bandt in 1934.

But Ford fanatics keen to get their hands on a piece of history will be able to bid forthe second-last model built. The final Ford ute sold to the public will be a grey XR6 Turbo manual model set to be auctioned for charity.

The brand recently donated the first of its final run of V8-powered Falcon XR8 Sprint sedans to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund, which sold the car to Sydney enthusiast David Pearce for $92,500.

Ford's first Australian ute went on sale in 1934 following a customer's request for a practical machine with more refinement than conventional commercial vehicles.

End of an era: Ford has built its last Falcon Ute. Photo: Supplied

Then-Ford Australia chief Hubert French received a letter from the wife of a Gippsland farmer asking for a dual-role vehicle "to go to church on Sunday and a truck to take the pigs to market on


line. Holden will stop production of the Cruze sedan and hatch on the same day, before Holden and Toyota stop final production of Australian Commodore and Camry/Aurion models in 2017.

Ford Australia has built its final Falcon Ute. Photo: Supplied Ford's ongoing Ranger is designed in Australia, built in Thailand and sold in about 200 markets. Photo: Supplied Ford Australia has built its final Falcon Ute. Photo: Supplied

Interested in buying Ford Falcon Ute? Visit our Ford showroom for more information.saw on Friday night in Andorra la Vella. Ireland will feel that, as Robbie Keane said before the game, all they could do in Andorra was "get the points and get out", but again there was a consistency to Ireland's performance that causes concern. They will need to be better on Tuesday.

Armenia face a long journey to Dublin, but, thanks to strange planning, Ireland's return from Andorra was almost as arduous and at a crazier time. Ireland left the Estadi Comunal shortly after midnight, drove for three hours to Barcelona, then sat on the plane for close to an hour as ground staff tried to fill the hold and then the cabin with all the team's kit. In the end, following the intervention of the co-pilot, and as


referred to authorities in Uganda. UNHCR is closely monitoring the outcomes of these investigations and is closely cooperating with the Ugandan authorities and other partners.

UNHCR is also strengthening its monitoring and oversight to prevent a reoccurrence of the events, including the deployment of more senior staff to help put in place additional safeguards.

These new measures are being implemented as the current Representative is reaching the end of his term and a more senior replacement is about to arrive.

“Throughout his time in Uganda, Mr Bornwell Kantande has demonstrated deep commitment, steering the UNHCR operation in a particularly challenging environment characterized by multiple refugee influxes, with Uganda now hosting the largest number of refugees of any country in Africa. After almost three years as Representative, he will shortly move tothat sentiment is clear, showing that ghosts are made to benefit the locals and not only the refugees. The leaders are eating on the misfortune of the fleeing individuals.

That should be sickening. Clearly its not for the OPM and UNHCR. Peace.

The meeting addressed the current political situation in South Sudan and the resultant refugee crisis in the neighboring countries, especially in Uganda.

KAMPALA, Uganda, November 17, 2017 – On November 15, 2017 the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Henry Oryem Okello met with Representatives of the South Sudan peace-guarantor Troika member countries (Norway, United Kingdom and the United States) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kampala. The Troika Representatives were Mr. Paul Sutphin (USA), Mr. Chris Trott (UK) and Mr. Ering Skjonsberg (Norway).

The meeting addressed the


current political situation in South Sudan and the resultant refugee crisis in the neighboring countries, especially in Uganda.

The members of the Troika reiterated their strong support for the combined efforts of the African Union (AU), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and United Nations to end the conflict in South Sudan, and joined their recent calls on all armed parties, including the Government of South Sudan, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition, and other armed groups, to commit to a ceasefire.

They emphasized that the dire humanitarian crisis in South Sudan is the direct result of the conflict and called on all parties to cease violence against humanitarian workers and obstruction of humanitarian assistance.

The Troika endorsed the ongoing efforts by IGAD and praised Uganda’s peace initiative which aimed atbringing the warring parties to the negotiating table, positively noting that this initiative was endorsed by both parties to the conflict. The Troika expressed pleasure that Uganda is in full support of the IGAD process. In addition, they endorsed the work of the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan, and the deployment of its Regional Protection Force.

Hon Okello welcomed the visiting team and stressed the importance of the support being extended towards all the peace initiatives. He reassured them that Uganda will continue playing a mediatory and conciliatory role between the belligerent parties to ensure that an agreement is reached.

In attendance at the meeting were the Heads of Diplomatic Missions of the Troika resident in Kampala and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Over the


past 12 months, an average of 1,800 South Sudanese have been arriving in Uganda every day.

GENEVA, Switzerland, August 18, 2017 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is today reiterating its call to the international community for urgent additional support for the South Sudan refugee situation and Uganda in particular, where the number of refugees from South Sudan has now reached 1 million.

Over the past 12 months, an average of 1,800 South Sudanese have been arriving in Uganda every day. In addition to the million there, a million or even more South Sudanese refugees are being hosted by Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic.

In Uganda, more than 85 per cent of the refugees who have arrived there are women and children (below 18Solidarity Summit, as these words prove the value of the summit for the President himself.

“The hosting districts of Uganda should also be rewarded. Especially in the area of the road infrastructure, the government of Uganda is already doing most of the development required. On account of many demands, however, there are certain roads that over-night become of high demand because of the sudden big numbers in the area on account of the influx of refugees. There are, in particular, two roads that should be bituminized but the government is not yet able to take on. These are: Moyo-Yumbe-Koboko, in the neighbourhood of the famous Bidi Bidi camp in Yumbe district that is hosting 272,168 refugees today; and Kabiingo-Rugaaga-Magabi-Rakai that starts from the famous Nakivaale Refugee Settlement camp that


2,800 daily.

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 23, 2017 – The Government of Uganda and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi today jointly appealed to the international community for urgent and massive support for the thousands of South Sudan refugees who continue to arrive to Uganda every day, fleeing brutal conflict, compounded by the limited availability of food.

Uganda currently hosts more than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees. Among them are some 572,000 new arrivals who have poured into Uganda in desperate need of safety and help since 8 July 2016. With present rates of arrival, that figure will surpass a million before mid- 2017. This year alone, more than 172,000 South Sudanese refugees have fled to Uganda, with new arrivals in March averaging more than 2,800 daily.

“Uganda has continued to maintainTrump has heralded deregulation as a top priority, and his administration has undertaken an ambitious effort to overturn Obama-era rules as swiftly as possible.

But federal regulations cannot always be quickly and easily undone, partly because of laws intended to limit executive authority and make the policymaking process deliberative, rational and democratic.

Congress passed the Administrative Procedure Act in 1946 amid the rise of communism and fascism in Europe, hoping to place checks on the vast bureaucracy created by the New Deal and "avoid dictatorship and central planning," as one legal expert explained. Under the law, federal agencies have to provide a reasoned analysis for making policy changes to avoid "arbitrary and capricious" rule-making.

That was the requirement that the federal courts cited to uphold DACA: The Trump administration had wrongly


the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation advocacy group. "If you chose to make missteps that flagrantly violate the process, instead of being patient and deliberative, it's an unforced error."

The requirement to allow public input played a key role in Trump's latest environmental setback: In late February, a federal judge in California halted the Bureau of Land Management's delay of a rule requiring oil and gas companies to cut back on methane leaks when drilling on federal land. The Obama administration estimated the rule would reduce methane emissions by 180,000 tons per year.

In his ruling, Judge William Orrick wrote that agency had "failed to provide meaningful notice and comment to the public" by illegally limiting the scope of the feedback it would consider.

Orrick, an Obama appointee, also saidGroup, a liberal advocacy organization.

In late December, a federal judge in Washington issued an injunction to stop the Department of Housing and Urban Development, run by Secretary Ben Carson, from delaying an Obama-era rule that would make it easier for low-income families to secure housing in higher-income neighborhoods.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development-designate Ben Carson testifies during his confirmation hearing before Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill on January 12, 2017 in Washington. Alex Wong / Getty Images file

The Trump administration said that housing authorities needed more time to adapt to the rule, and that formal notice and comment wasn't required to suspend it. But U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell, an Obama appointee, said that HUD had failed to account for its decision


out that the most prominent cases emerged toward the end of the Obama administration, after the president had already spent years trying to enact policy through Congress and started leaning more heavily on executive authority.

President Barack Obama addresses the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 46th annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, Sept. 17, 2016. Yuri Gripas / Reuters file

Legal experts said the issue reflects a broader problem with Washington: Congress has been unable or unwilling to act, and presidents have increasingly stepped into the breach, prompting courts to push back to contain executive overreach.

On occasion, the legal challenges have prompted the Trump administration to backtrack entirely.

In late February, HUD said that it would reinstate the fair-housing rule that it unsuccessfully had tried to suspend. In February 2017,TWO more rural lines in eastern England have been officially designated Community Railways by the Department for Transport.

The lines link Ipswich with Lowestoft via Woodbridge and Beccles, and Ipswich with Felixstowe.

Rail minister Baroness Kramer said: "I am delighted to announce the designation of the East Suffolk Lines as a community rail service. It is a very practical way of helping local groups to develop innovative and more cost effective rail services for their communities, through working closely with the East Suffolk Lines CRP.

"It is important that smaller communities benefit from our huge rail investment programme, which will help build a stronger economy and a fairer society."

Abellio Greater Anglia runs services on the routes, and has recently doubled the frequency of services on the East Suffolk Line between Ipswich


              (1) A person who carries or has in his or her possession a firearm when he
       or she commits or attempts to commit a felony, except a violation of section 223,
       227, 227a, or 230, is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for
       2 years. Upon a second conviction under this subsection, the person shall be
       punished by imprisonment for 5 years. Upon a third or subsequent conviction
       under this subsection, the person shall be punished by imprisonment for 10Mark Dayton leads Tom Emmer by 9% in new poll

DFLer Mark Dayton leads Republican Tom Emmer in the race for governor by 9 percentage points in a Star Tribune opinion poll released over the weekend.

With one exception, that result continues Dayton's pattern of beating or tying Emmer for the lead since statewide polling began earlier this year.

Independent Tom Horner remaining in third place with a small but growing share of approval.

That exception came last week in a Rasmussen poll that gave Emmer a single percentage point lead over Dayton. And that narrow lead was well within the poll's margin of error. (See below.)

Not surprisingly, when the Strib released its results, rightbloggers immediately blasted it as biased. And Team Emmer insisted the situation remains a "competitive race."

The Strib and


Fifty divisions from the eastern front provided Germany a huge force for what became known as the Spring Offensive of 1918. While the German offensive gained ground, it came at a ridiculous cost, and with the Americans now arriving in force, late summer 100 years ago, the Allies countered with the 100 Day Offensive, which collapsed the Hindenburg Line and directly led to the Armistice of 11 November 1918, and the end of the German Empire. This game is formed in part to acknowledge the centennial of the events that led to the end of the Great War.

Our players and your power assignments are as follows:

Power, Redscape name,

Italy, Ruffhaus8,

England, georgeatkins,

Russia, Bbauska,

Austria, Frost,

France, der Blaue Reiter,

Germany, Freeman3,

Turkey, Riaz

The game starts now. Spring 1901 orders are due on Tuesday Octoberif there is a film of water present or if the humidity is very high. The optimal temperature for germination of the conidia is between 25-29 °C and for the ascospores, 25-26 °C. The germ tube grows epiphytically over the epidermis for about five days before penetrating the leaf via a stoma. Once inside the leaf the invasive hypha forms a vesicle and fine hyphae grow through the mesophyll layers into an air chamber. More hyphae then grow into the palisade tissue and continue on into other air chambers, eventually emerging through stomata in the streak that has developed. Further epiphytic growth occurs before the re-entry of the hypha into the leaf through another stoma repeats the process.

Both conidia and ascospores are important for dispersal of M. musicola with the


ascospores being involved in the movement of the pathogen over longer distances than the conidia. The deposition of ascospores by wind currents is generally near the tips of the leaves resulting in a distinctive pattern of infection on the leaf extremities. When conidia are the source of the inoculum and these are dislodged by rain, a distinctive line of streaks is produced as water trickles down the leaf blade.

Symptoms

It is not always easy to differentiate between the symptoms of SD and BLSD. The first sign of disease in SD is the appearance of small yellow streaks on the upper side of leaves while in BLSD small, dark brown streaks appear on the lower surface of leaves. These streaks enlarge and coalesce forming necrotic lesions with light gray centresdef060404 - No. 35

Publication of Fifth Report

Publication of Fifth Report

EMBARGOED: NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST UNTIL 00.01 HRS ON THURSDAY 6 APRIL 2006

MPs report on the UK deployment to Afghanistan

The House of Commons Defence Committee today published a report on the UK deployment to Afghanistan (Fifth Report of Session 2005-06, HC 558).

UK Armed Forces are preparing for two separate but related deployments to Afghanistan. From May 2006 until February 2007, the UK-led Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) will take over command of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) while it expands its presence from Kabul and the Northern provinces of Afghanistan to the less stable Southern provinces. From June 2006, the 16 Air Assault Brigade will deploy to Helmand province, an area where the opium trade flourishes and