take pictures of police officers as they move to disperse protesters in Hong Kong on 27 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures An man lies injured after being attacked by protesters who suspected him of being an undercover police officer on 27 October EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A man runs among tear gas during a protest in Hong Kong on 27 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters gather on a field in the Tsim Sha Tsui district of Hong Kong on 27 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Pro-democracy protesters turn away from afire lit outside the Causeway Bay Mass Rapid Transit (MTR) station in Hong Kong on 4 October Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures People rest near rows of riot police officers during a protest in Mong Kok, Hong Kong on 27 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Pro-democracy protesters hold umbrellas as police fire tear gas at them ouside Tai Koo MTR station in Hong Kong on 3 October Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Hong Kong police fire a water cannon from the central government office at protesters during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on October 1


AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters burn a Chinese national flag during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters remove signs celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China during a mass rally in Hong Kong on 1 October AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Cardboard boxes set alight by protesters burn in the streets of Hong Kong during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In picturesAn anti-China banner has been placed in a barricade during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A pro-democracy protester runs away after police fire a tear gas canister in Hong Kong's Wong Tai Sin district on October 4 Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters run after police fire tear gas during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 4 October AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Pro-democracy protester take cover after police fire a tear gas canister in Hong Kong's Wong Tai Sin


district on 4 October Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures The rally comes after months of protests on the streets of Hong Kong which began in oppposition to a proposed extradition bill EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures The extradition bill would have allowed the government to extradite people to China if they were facing certain criminal charges AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Opposition to the bill stems from the fear that the Chinese government would abuse this power for political or commercial reasons EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters soon came to demand greater freedom and universalsuffrage under the One Country, Two Systems principle AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters are wearing black to symbolise opposition to China as they take to the streets in a "day of grief" while the Chinese state celebrates the 70th anniversary of its communist founding AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A protester charges forward holding umbrellas as a mass rally breaks out in violence in Hong Kong on 1 October AFP/Getty Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A protester pours water on a tear gas canister fired by police during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October


Reuters Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures A protester carries a vandalised Chinese flag through Hong Kong during a mass rally on the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October EPA Hong Kong protesters out in force after months of turmoil: In pictures Protesters carry a banner that denounces the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China on 1 October EPA

The clashes came a day after a teenage activist was stabbed and wounded while distributing leaflets near a wall with pro-democracy messages.

Police arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the knife attack.

Hong Kong has been paralysed for months by the protests, which began over concerns that China was tightening control over the city.

“The governmentof several streets and officers responded by firing yet more tear gas.

The crowds have five core demands: universal suffrage, an independent inquiry into police action against protesters, amnesty for those charged, an end to describing protesters as rioters, and the formal withdrawal of a controversial bill allowing the extradition of prisoners to mainland China.

The bill triggered the protests earlier this summer. Ms Lam has declared the legislation abandoned but it is yet to be formally withdrawn.

She has rejected the other demands and on Sunday she said a police complaints inquiry will be completed before the end of the year.

Two people have been shot and wounded by police and thousands have been injured since the protests escalated in June.


Coming back to accomplish the divorce procedure, Ahmad an Iranian man, arrives in Paris after four years to meet his ex-wife and her daughters from her previous marriage. He notices his ex is in a relationship with an Arab named Samir who also has a son and a wife in a coma. The relationship of the older daughter and her mother is in deterioration because the daughter thinks her mother is the cause of Samir's wife comatose state. The affairs get more complicated when the older daughter discloses something heinous she has done. Written by Hossein srWehelie, 66, of Burke, Va., who authorities allege hid that link, is now accused of making false statements to law enforcement officials and obstructing a federal investigation. He was indicted in late 2017, when he was still living in the area. But he was not arrested until Saturday night, after returning to the country from nine months teaching at a university in Somalia, officials said.

Wehelie appeared in court Monday afternoon and was released on bond.

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He is the third person in his immediate family to be publicly ensnared in a terrorism investigation. But defense attorney Nina Ginsberg said the case had no connection to Wehelie’s sons and that her client was not accused of any involvement in terrorist activity.

“There is no allegation than an investigation has been impeded in


any way,” she said, or that there were any “national security consequences” to his conduct.

When Wehelie heard his own voice-mail message on the wiretap, he did not tell his superiors, according to the indictment unsealed Monday. Instead, he labeled himself in his FBI log as an “unidentified male.” He changed his voice-mail message so that he no longer identified himself by name.

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In 2016 interviews with the FBI, Wehelie said he never had a conversation with the caller and received only one voice mail from him. He also claimed — falsely, according to prosecutors — that he had reported his relationship with the suspect to supervisors.

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Eventually, Wehelie admitted that he spoke to the suspect in 2013 and 2014; according to the indictment, they talked about 10 times between November2013 and April 2017. He also spent time at the man’s store and cafe, according to the indictment. Wehelie told the FBI that he and the suspect’s father were very close and that he viewed the suspect as an uncle.

The person the suspect allegedly helped travel to Somalia matches the description of Liban Mohamed, a Virginia cabdriver who fled the United States in 2013. He was detained in Somalia two years later.

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Wehelie’s family, of Somali origin, has been in the crosshairs of counterterrorism investigators before. His son Yusuf Wehelie was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being caught in a sting operation moving guns for cash. During a year of surveillance, he had talked to an undercover FBI agent about attacking military recruits in Northern Virginia. He


and his older brother, Yahya Wehelie, were held and interrogated in Egypt in 2010 on a trip back from Yemen. Yahya Wehelie was told that he was on a “no fly” list. Ginsberg, who also represented Yusuf Wehelie, said at his sentencing in 2017 that he was dealing with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder from having been tortured by Egyptian police.

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In 2010, when his two sons were in Egyptian custody, Abdirizak Wehelie and his wife expressed their patriotism for the United States and opposition to Islamic extremists at a news conference, noting that a third son served in Iraq and that members of their extended family worked for the Department of Homeland Security.BEIJING: Terming India's plans to conduct oil exploration off Vietnam coast in the South China Sea as "illegal", a state-run Chinese daily today said it is an "unwise move" that may "sabotage" positive momentum in ties.

"India's intention to once again explore for oil in the disputed waters of the South China Sea is an unwise move, as it will further complicate the maritime disputes and do a disservice to maintaining the positive momentum that has been achieved in China-India ties ," the China Daily said in an editorial. Titled 'India should rethink its oil exploration plans', the editorial said according to reports India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation plans to restart exploration activities in the waters off Vietnam's coastline which are "also claimed by China".

"The Indian company should


be told: Without the permission from the Chinese government , activities conducted by any foreign company in these disputed waters are illegal," it said.

READ ALSO: China starts naval drills in disputed South China Sea amid heightened tensions

About India's response to such criticism in the past that it is an economic activity which has no bearing on the dispute, the daily said, "New Delhi may deem its oil exploration activities in the South China Sea purely economic in nature. But, considering the already existing tensions in the South China Sea, New Delhi's move will only aggravate the situation."

Significantly, China defends its plans to build an economic corridor with Pakistan through PoK as a commercial activity aimed at improving people's livelihoods.

"What's more, the meddling of outside forces, such as theUnited States, in the maritime disputes in these waters has already disrupted regional efforts to resolve them peacefully," the daily said.

"As a country near the disputed waters, India should respect and support the efforts of the countries involved to resolve their disputes through bilateral channels, as it too has a stake in peace and stability in the waters," it said.

READ ALSO: South China Sea tensions flare at Asia security talks

China has lodged protests in the past when ONGC conducted drilling at the invitation of Vietnam.

"Both Beijing and New Delhi have devoted a lot of efforts, especially at the highest-level, to improve their meaningful interaction and keep their differences at bay. Both countries should be aware that it is in their mutual interests to continue to propel the current


By Harrison, Walker Proquest LLC

The latest revision of the diagnostic manual does away with the complex multiaxial organization in favor of a simpler chapter listing of disorders.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was unveiled at the annual American Psychiatric Association (APA) meeting in San Francisco in May 2013 . After nearly a decade of multilevel scientific, clinical, and public-health review, the new guidelines are ready for immediate use by the APA and in your own clinical practice. The original DSM was published in 1952, with a fourth revision in 1994, and a text revision in 2000. To incorporate new research and advances in knowledge since the last revision, the APA recruited a task force and various study groups consisting of topBrian Jordan checks his iPhone while Kevin and their father watch television.

Marie McGrory for NPR

Weekend Edition Sunday is taking a look at how technology affects personal relationships. Along with romantic and workplace connections, family dynamics are shifting.

The Jordans are a classic example of a family trying to figure out how to use technology without feeling disconnected from one another. Sue and David have five kids: two off at college and three still at home.

On a Friday night, they're just finishing up a couple of delivery pizzas. They have laptops, and everyone has a cellphone, though only mom and dad and the oldest kids are allowed to have smartphones. They also have an iPad that everyone shares. Sue uses it most to connect with her daughter, Kelly, who is


at college in Pennsylvania.

Kelly is a texting fiend. At one point when she was in high school, she was sending around 15,000 texts a month. Her parents had to take her phone away for a while as punishment.

The Jordans don't allow their two youngest kids — 11 and 13 years old — to be on Facebook. But they don't put limits on cellphones. The kids can use them at any time, and while they're talking around the kitchen table, 16-year-old Brian is quietly tapping out messages on his iPhone.

"The biggest limitations that we talk about all the time is just making sure that our kids still interact with each other, and [are] articulate in conversation with adults," Sue says. "And with our oldest son interviewing for jobs andHitting a hole-in-one is nothing new for Special Olympics athlete Jason Wright from Springfield. Wright shot his first hole-in-one in June 2004 at the Wellington Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. His second came in October 2007 at Millwood Golf and Racquet Club in Springfield. This past weekend, Wright added a third to his list of accomplishments after a 210-yard tee shot landed on the green and rolled into the cup on Hole #13 at Swope Memorial Golf Course in Kansas City.

Wright was golfing with former Kansas City Chief Anthony Davis and two fellow Special Olympics athletes at last weekend’s Dare to Dream Golf Scramble to support Athlete Sports Camp, to be held in June. Upon seeing the ball in the hole, Davis picked up Jason in


pure jubilation. According to Davis, “When we got ready to tee off, the volunteer at the hole told us how hard this par 3 was. Jason told her he could do this.”

Wright has participated in Special Olympics Missouri for 18 years. “Golf has changed his life,” according to his dad Dennis Wright. “To be able to get on a golf course with other people where he can feel accepted has built his self-esteem.”

His list of accomplishments may well make him the most decorated Special Olympics athlete in Missouri’s history. Since Special Olympics Missouri added golf to its sports calendar, Wright has won 17 state tournaments. In 2008, Wright was a gold medalist at the Special Olympics National Invitational Golf Tournament, held at the PGA Golf Club in PortSt. Lucie, Florida. Wright competed against 23 of the best Special Olympics golfers in the United States.

Wright has competed in seven Special Olympics National Invitational Tournaments. In addition to his National Championship in 2008, he has had two second place finishes and two third place finishes at the National Invitational Tournament. Wright also finished twelfth in the world at the Special Olympics World Games held in New Haven Connecticut in 1995. He also has won 17 state tournaments in Missouri.

A quiet and humble guy, Wright never brags about his accomplishments. However, as part of the fun banter he has with of his golf buddies at Millwood, he asks them how many hole-in-ones they have. Some of them have as many as four. After Saturday, Wright says, “I’ve got


Oddsmakers were left stunned once again on Saturday night, when Fabricio Werdum, heavyweight's perennial underdog, battered Travis Browne for 25 minutes at UFC on FOX 11, earning the right to challenge UFC kingpin Cain Velasquez in late-2014 once the champ recovers from shoulder surgery.

Although the books weren't alone in their disbelief. Go ahead and count Velasquez's head coach, American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) founder Javier Mendez, among those surprised by the lopsided and multi-faceted nature of Werdum's coming out party.

"I thought he could win, but like everybody else, I thought it would be on the ground," Mendez admitted on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour. "I didn't really give him a big chance in the stand-up, though. Not at all.

"I think it's actually a more exciting match-up. It excitesin his left shoulder in mid-December, three years after undergoing a similar procedure on his right shoulder, and he still has a ways to go in his recovery.

"About two weeks ago the doctor gave him permission to be able to use his right hand," Mendez said.

"I'll tell you what, he was as motivated as the first day I ever had him, so the hunger is still there. The drive for him to excel and still prove himself is still there, so I'm excited about the outcome come November if he's healthy against Fabricio."

The UFC's first foray into Mexico has been a long time coming, and Velasquez has always been the centerpiece of the discussion.

In the champ's only career loss, a 2011 first-round knockout at the hands of Junior


dos Santos, Velasquez entered the cage battling a torn meniscus, however he refused to pull out of the fight because of another significant opportunity -- the chance to headline the first ever UFC event aired on FOX.

This time around though, despite the magnitude of the stakes, Mendez isn't concerned with Velasquez ignoring his body and history repeating itself.

"That is one thing I'm not worried about," Mendez said. "Because in the past when the Junior situation happened, the first fight, Cain said to me that he will never ever do that again, no matter what. No matter who says what, if he's not ready, he's not going. So, if Cain says something, he means it. I believe 100-percent, if he said he's ready in November, nobody pushed him, he'sZaccheus Gould (1589-1668) immigrated during or before 1639 from England to Weymouth, Massachusetts, and shortly moved to Lynn, Massachusetts. He later moved to Ipswich and then Topsfield, Massachusetts. Descendants and relatives lived in New England, New York, Ohio and elsewhere. Includes Gould ancestry and genealogical data in England to 1455 A.D.


was published after ministers met US secretary of state John Kerry in Vilnius.

The US, France, Australia and Turkey say they are ready to strike Syria with or without a UN mandate because Syria's ally, Russia, is vetoing UN action.

Britain and Denmark back their position. But Greece and the Netherlands have said UN authority is needed, while Germany and Italy have flip-flopped on the issue.

The EU statement "underscores" the "to move forward with addressing the Syrian crisis through the UN process."

It also "notes" that UN weapons inspectors in Syria will shortly file a report and it "welcomes" France's pledge not to act before the report is in.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton indicated the US might not be as patient as France, however.

Asked by press in Vilnius if Kerrymove risks harming Arab-Israeli peace talks. "There was strong support for his efforts and an openness to considering his requests," a US official told Reuters.

Some EU countries, such as Ireland, are firmly opposed to a u-turn, however.

Ashton told press the EU will implement the rules "sensitively." An EU diplomat told this website: "There was no conclusion about this at the meeting. It's still an open discussion."

In an insight on how the rules work, the commission on 5 July agreed to invest €6.2 million in an Israeli project, called Superflex, to develop skincare for old people.

The project is run by cosmetics firm Ahava, which is based in Israel proper, but which has a factory and a laboratory in the Mitzpe Shalem settlement.

The project lasts until mid-2017 and might use


Choroid plexus cysts-antenatal course and postnatal outcome in a tertiary hospital in North India.
To assess the gestational course and postnatal outcome of antenatally diagnosed choroid plexus cysts. From January 2015 to October 2017, mothers carrying foetuses with choroid plexus cysts (CPCs) were followed up prospectively till delivery, and subsequent postnatal assessment of all the babies was done. Progress of the lesions was monitored during pregnancy with ultrasound (USG) scans and postnatally analysed with clinical assessment and USG examination of the cranium. A total of 67 mothers of antenatally diagnosed CPCs were referred to the Paediatric Surgery Unit for opinion. Mean gestational age at the time of diagnosis was 19 ± 2.1 weeks (17-28 weeks) while mean age of the mothers at the time of referral was 26 ±School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "The single best way to improve influenza-related outcomes is to vaccinate people."

Research earlier this year found that people were six times more likely to have a heart attack in the week after being diagnosed with the flu. But the impact of the virus on heart failure, a condition in which the heart muscle becomes too weak or stiff to pump blood efficiently through the body, hasn't been as clear, Solomon said.

"The goal of this study was really to look at whether we could relate influenza activity occurring regionally and temporarily, or at a particular time of the year, with heart failure hospitalizations that were occurring around the same time," he said.

Donna Arnett, an epidemiologist and dean of the University of


activity in the U.S. usually begins in October or November, peaks between December and February, and can last as late as May, according to the CDC. Each year in the U.S., the flu is estimated to cause between 12,000 and 56,000 deaths and up to 710,000 hospitalizations.

American Heart Association News covers heart disease, stroke and related health issues. Not all views expressed in American Heart Association News stories reflect the official position of the American Heart Association.

Copyright is owned or held by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved. Permission is granted, at no cost and without need for further request, to link to, quote, excerpt or reprint from these stories in any medium as long as no text is altered and proper attribution isme of:

“Silence”

How can I put this? I think 1 Kings 19: 11–13 gets at the value of spiritual silence:

“The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave…”


In 1987, the rock&roll world was knocked on their
a**es by a new New York based Glam Band performing under the name of
Twisted Sister. With theatrics
rivaling KISS and a shock factor that Alice Cooper would be proud of, the
band released Stay Hungry which yielded the hugely successful singles and
videos "I Wanna Rock" and "We're Not Gonna Take It". The extensive touring
that followed kept them near the top of the charts for many months to come
and made the band out of Long Island a household name in America. Epiphone's
Don Mitchell recently had the chance to talk to founding member and lead
guitarist Jay Jay French.

EPI: Tell me about
your first introduction to guitar playing, how old were you?

JAY JAY: I got a Folk Guitar when I was ten and
my brother taught meImage copyright PA Image caption The BBC argues competition on a Saturday night has been part of the TV landscape for generations and drives up quality

The BBC has argued the case for popular shows like Strictly Come Dancing and Sherlock in its response to the government's green paper on its future.

The broadcaster said the public "wants and expects the BBC to deliver entertainment," amid suggestions it is too focused on ratings.

It also made a case for the popular music stations Radio 1 and 2, saying they play a greater variety of music than their commercial rivals.

The response has been published online.

It comes as the government closes a public consultation into the renewal of the BBC's charter, which raised several key questions:

What is the overall purpose of the BBC?

What


Radio 1's playlist is comprised of artists without a top 10 single, while for Capital FM it is just 12%; and that 27% of BBC One's primetime output is factual, compared with 12% on ITV.

'Internet age'

The corporation has also outlined plans for a radical programme of reform, including greater efficiency and a drive to increase profits from the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.

It makes the case for future-proofing the corporation by "modernising it for the internet age", and asks policymakers to help "ensure public service broadcasting is easy to find on future as well as existing platforms".

And it asks the government to wait 11 years, rather than 10, before debating the BBC's charter again - thus removing discussions from the election cycle.

The issue of funding the BBC is“Russian Winter” by Daphne Kalotay

When Nina Revskaya puts her remarkable jewelry collection up for auction, the former Bolshoi Ballet star finds herself overwhelmed by memories of her homeland, and of the events, both glorious and heartbreaking, that changed her life half a century earlier. It was in Russia that she discovered the magic of dance and fell in love, and where, faced with Stalinist aggression, a terrible discovery incited a deadly act of betrayal—and an ingenious escape to the West.


voyage to the mecca of motorcycling but as the sole proprietor of his own business, there were lots of details to iron out on the work front as well as planning and routing a ride half-way across the United States. Though he’d been riding for more than two decades, he’d never been a long distance rider. He immediately set to researching the practicality of the sojourn and the next thing he knew he was packed up and headed north.

We met up to share a few miles along the scenic route he’d mapped and to snap some photos of Peter’s epic ride as he visited all the iconic places he’d grown up hearing about. At four years old his father had planted the image of Old Faithful, the faithfullyWe collectively held our breath as the 2,000 pound beasts walked within inches of our bikes. Frozen to our seats, we were too stunned, and scared, to even take pictures while hundreds of the beasts milled about and held up traffic for more than half an hour. The sights and scenes in Yellowstone were mesmerizing as we took the twisties, stopping occasionally to snap a few photos before we stopped by the Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming.

The famous hotel and saloon was named after Buffalo Bill Cody’s beloved daughter and is still the site of Wild West shootouts during the summer as actors re-enact the drama that is a part of the history of the tourist destination spot. Beyond that, Beartooth Pass lay in silent invitation to riders


property, all the races and stage shows and activities. There are runs every day that either start or end at the Chip, restaurants, bars, a store, water fun at the Bikini Beach and bike shows of every ilk. The vast property is comprised of several hundred acres of fun stuff and you can spend your entire rally never leaving the campground and never get bored but for Peter, it was all about soaking up all the Black Hills has to offer. From seeing Michael Lichter’s art show, and meeting the world-famous photographer in person, to meeting musician Pat Simmons from the Doobie Brothers, the 92-year-old Motor Maid, Gloria Struck and her family, and locals Dale and Kathy Gott, Peter was a busy guy. He made it by thevintage races at the fairgrounds, out to Mount Rushmore and took in the Legends Ride that raises money for the Special Olympics Foundation. Between concerts like Blackberry Smoke and Ozzy Osborn there were rides out past the spiritual Bear Buttes to the Spur Creek Saloon and over to Deadwood. In between all that, he still managed to swing by the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum to meet the Thunder Press staff during their 25th anniversary party. And, in true biker fashion, there was even a break down on his Dyna, though it was a quick $30 part and the fix managed to get him all the way back home. By the time first-time Sturgis rider arrived back in San Jose, California, he’d logged two miles short of 4,000 miles through


(CNN) -- Going back to Mexico is not an option, said the 43-year-old man, kneeling next to his wife's wheelchair.

Ignacio Godinez Lopez worries about where to get regular access to dialysis after a public clinic closes this week.

His wife, 45, lost her eyesight to diabetes. She also has high blood pressure. And her kidneys are failing.

For years, he has taken her to a dialysis clinic attached to a public hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. The facility that gave her free care plans to close Saturday.

They are illegal immigrants with no health insurance and, they say they have nowhere to go for his wife's vast medical needs. The closing clinic offered to help return them to Mexico.

The Atlanta clinic is the latest known case of a medical institution that's offeringThey have always been asked when it would happen, and now singer Pixie Lott has got engaged to her long-term boyfriend Oliver Cheshire.

M&S model Oliver popped the question at St Paul's Cathedral in London and she immediately shared photos from the romantic moment

Kiss The Stars singer Lott announced her happy news on social media.

She posted a picture on Instagram of herself and Cheshire kissing, with St Paul's as the backdrop, and wrote: "So happy biggest surprise ever @ St. Paul's Cathedral."

The singer, 25, also shared a picture of a huge diamond ring on her left hand.

Another image showed Lott and Cheshire clutching glasses of bubbly as they stood near the River Thames.

Pixie Lott (Image: @pixielott/Intstagram)

Pixie Lott (Image: @pixielott/Instagram)

She captioned the image: "I cried my eyes out."

Cheshire said he


was a "lucky man".

He wrote on Instagram: "What a beautiful day and the most beautiful woman in the world said yes to me on it. Lucky man."

Pixie Lott (Image: @pixielott/Instagram)

He also revealed that a fan had spotted him proposing at St Paul's. He wrote: "Caught in the act. She only bloody said yes." Lott and Cheshire started dating six years ago after meeting at a fashion show.

It's been quite a year for Pixie, who starred in Breakfast At Tiffany's on London's West End.mismatch means that the baroque ending in Plainview's private bowling alley looks less like a cathartic release than a crazed "Got Milkshake" commercial for overacting. Anderson is so absorbed in the familial angst of his characters that he stints on the larger social and political context that brought big oil to Southern California. Nothing in the movie makes as powerful a statement about America's dependence on oil as the sight of a thick forest of looming oil derricks filling the horizon. That image comes from The Story of Petroleum, a late-1920s industry/government documentary included as an extra. Indeed, this short film, full of period details about drilling and pipeline construction that Anderson meticulously re-created, shows that the director was more interested in mechanical accuracy than in political analysis.


Leading aviation reviewer Skytrax just released the results of its annual World Airport Awards, which includes a list of the best airports in North America. The Skytrax awards are based on 39 parameters including ease of access, airport comfort, cleanliness, and wait times at check-in and security screenings. Nearly 13 million travellers from 110 different countries participated in this year’s survey.

10. New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

Yearly passengers: 49 Million

2013 rank: 10

Why it's great: For many, JFK Airport is synonymous with the glory years of aviation. For others, JFK is no more than a crumbling relic of a bygone era.

In reality, the JFK of today is neither. Gone are the dated 1960s era terminal buildings and their dilapidated facilities. In their place are modern terminal facilitiesthat are either newly constructed or recently renovated. JFK customers cite the airport's new terminals and shorter security lines as key points of interest.

9. Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport (DFW)

Yearly passengers: 59 million

2013 rank: 7

Why it's great: DFW is the fourth-busiest airport in North America and the eighth-busiest in the world. The airport serves as the main hub for American Airlines as well as the gateway to Latin and South America for many others. Customer reviewers liked the airport's open circular design and convenient intra-airport transportation.

8. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)

Yearly passengers: 33 million

2013 rank: 9

Why it's great: SeaTac is the busiest airport in the Pacific Northwest. It serves as the main hub for Alaska Airlines, and is one of Delta's gateways to the far east. Skytrax customers noted the


airport for its cleanliness, wide variety of dining options, and efficient baggage system.

7. Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ)

Yearly passengers: 4 million

2013 rank: 8

Why it's great: Stanfield is the smallest airport on this list, but it's not without its own charm. Skytrax named Stanfield the third-best regional airport in the North America in 2013. Customer reviewers raved about the regional cuisine served at the airport, which includes live lobster.

6. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

Yearly passengers: 96 million

2013 rank: 6

Why it's on the list: ATL is the busiest airport in the world. It serves as the main hub for Delta Airlines and its 800-plane fleet. Though ATL has long been plagued by congestion and delays, the addition of a new $US1.4 billion international terminal and fifth runway has helped alleviatethose problems. ATL also boasts a wide variety of southern regional foods and an extensive African art collection.

5. Toronto Pearson International Airport (YVZ)

Yearly passengers: 35 million

2013 rank: 5

Why it's great: Toronto is the busiest airport in Canada and serves as Air Canada's main hub. Located just outside of Toronto in Mississauga, Ontario, Pearson Airport boasts state-of-the art de-icing facilities and revamped check-in areas. Skytrax customers gave the airport high marks for its clear signage and easily navigable layout.

4. San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

Yearly passengers: 44 million

2013 rank: 4

Why it's great: Featuring one of the beautiful approach paths in commercial aviation, SFO serves as United Airlines' gateway to the Pacific Rim. Situated on the San Francisco Bay, SFO features a modern Craig Hartman-designed International Terminal. Though customers have complained


of its cramped dimensions, they have also noted the airport's efficient use of the space it does have, as well as easy movement between terminals.

3. Denver International Airport (DEN)

Yearly passengers: 53 million

2013 rank: 3

Why it's great: Perhaps the most architecturally daring of the airports on this list, Denver International opened for service in 1995 as a replacement for the city's old Stapleton International Airport. Even though its now-infamous automated baggage system never truly lived up to expectations, Denver still receives customer plaudits for its efficiency and customer service. Skytrax customer reviewers also give the airport high marks for its atmosphere and cleanliness.

2. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)

Yearly passengers: 6 million

2013 rank: 2

Why it's great: Even though Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport is one of the smallest on this list, reviewershave consistently rated it as one of the best in North America. In fact, Skytrax named CVG as the best regional airport in North America in 2013. Reviewers have cited short lines, an open design, and an extensive collection of industrial murals as some of the airport's positives.

1. Vancouver International Airport (YVR)

Yearly passengers: 18 million

2013 rank: 1

Why it's great: Vancouver tops this list for the 5th year in a row, and for good reason. Customer reviewers on Skytrax cited YVR's friendly staff, high level of organisation, and easy access to downtown Vancouver as some of the key positives of the airport.

Vancouver International also boasts a float plane terminal as well as a sizable collection of art indigenous to the Pacific Northwest.


A sheriff's deputy was shot dead during a traffic stop in East Texas early Tuesday by a man who authorities say fired a semiautomatic rifle at the officer before fleeing across state lines.

Gregory Newson, 45, was arrested for the killing after he allegedly fled the scene in Panola County and led officers on a high speed chase into Louisiana after the 2 a.m. shooting, authorities said.

Newson was apprehended when he crashed his sports utility vehicle after the hour-long pursuit, continued on foot and was bitten by a police dog that caught up to him in Shreveport, where he lives, reports KSLA.

Gregory Newson, 45, was arrested for the fatal shooting a sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop in East Texas early Tuesday. He is allege to have fired asemiautomatic rifle six times at the officer before fleeing the scene in Panola County across state lines into Louisiana

Newson was apprehended when he crashed his sports utility vehicle (pictured) after an hour-long pursuit, continued on foot and was bitten by a police dog that caught up to him in Shreveport, where he lives

The Panola County sheriff's office identified Deputy Chris Dickerson as the victim of the fatal shooting, several hours after the incident once his family was notified

Charges filed against him include capital murder, which may result in the death penalty if he is convicted.

The Panola County sheriff's office identified Deputy Chris Dickerson as the victim of the fatal shooting.

‘We have heavy hearts,’ said Panola County Sheriff Kevin Lake at a news conference Tuesday. 'We have a big


a hero after he and two other deputies helped save a woman from a burning home in December 2017

Authorities said Newson's SUV was stopped near the town of Gary City, and that he allegedly got out of the vehicle and fired a semiautomatic rifle six times times at Dickerson.

The sheriff's office said Dickerson did return fire.

Nearby residents who heard the gunshots found the injured deputy and used his radio to call for help. Dickerson was taken to a hospital, where he died.

RSHV News reports that the Shreveport Police, Caddo Parris deputies and Louisiana State Police were on scene after Newson crashed his vehicle on Highway 3132 near the West 70th Street exit.

Video footage from from the news outlet of when the chase ended shows some of the morebit concerned with the consequences of doing so.

Funko originally unleashed its POP! Vinyl line at the San Diego Comic Convention [SDCC] in 2010 with only four distinct figures. In a 2015 interview with Hot Topic, Brian Mariotti (CEO Funko) states that they now – as of early 2015 – have between 2000-3000 unique POP! Vinyl sculpts.SDCC is an extremely significant occasion for Funko and their POP! Vinyls.Not only was it the venue of their genesis, but it is also one of the two most crucial annual events for Funko and POP! collectors alike.Every year prior to the convention, Funko has revealed their line of exclusive POP!s that can only be acquired by SDCC attendees. Albeit, in the last two years, the latter has not been the case. During


had advocated for those countries who had previously been left out of distribution of those older, retired POP!s.At that time, it appeared as if Funko was being diplomatic and just throwing Popcultcha a proverbial bone.Since then, however, Funko has continually allowed the re-release of retired POP! Vinyl figures to foreign retailers. They have done this so many times that they have changed their phraseology from “retired” to “discontinued”. At the time of the change in nomenclature, Funko claimed that no longer would any POP! ever be permanently out of production.These continued measures have unintentionally stifled the market.Which in turn, has hindered the hobby as a whole.

Everyone handles fame and fortune in their own way(s).For a retailer, the plan for success first includes gaining popularity.From there, the idea isalso continues to expand his assemblages of comic books, vinyl LPs & Mondo prints. He is a total junkie for horror flicks and Jock art.

About

Established in 2009, hidefninja.com is a fun and friendly international entertainment collectibles community and market place. It is an energetic, dynamic and thriving hub for building friendships, learning about and purchasing entertainment collectibles, and creating exciting community feedback.


Bio

Born with natural aesthetic abilities, Michelle Blackwell has been immersed in the Performing Arts arena since childhood that has spanned many years and encompassed all artistic disciplines.

She's worked with platinum record selling producer Chucky Thompson on multiple music projects, including DC Rapper Non-Chalant’s single “Until the Day” which was featured on the soundtrack for the movie “Bullet Proof” , staring Damon Wayans and Adam Sandler.

For more than a decade she's built a large and consistent following in the Washington DC area and abroad, performing with some of the DC Metropolitan areas most talented artists and musicians and strives to be an ambassador for Gogo music outside of the DC’s Beltway a catalyst for the success of its unique and homegrown sound that she likes to call “Urban GogoSoul”.

Her latest project, her new cd entitled "Body Of Work", is her latest step in her extensive walk in her musical/ performance journey , has a mixture of old fan favorites and hot new original songs. Gogo Music(a Washington DC born music genre, fused with a heavy percussive, bass and Latin, jazz, soul and funk influences) will be prominently featured on "Body of Work", as she is a native Washingtonian and self professed lover of this largely unsung American indigenous music.

And now, adding to her repertoire and to the Gogo Culture, Michelle has penned the cultures very first Fiction Novel "Love -n- Gogo" . Both the CD and Book are on sale now!!


The St. Louis Rams have waived rookie defensive end Michael Sam, temporarily derailing his quest to become the first openly gay player to make an NFL regular-season roster.

Sam, 24, will be subject to waivers, and he could be claimed onto the 53-man roster of another team by the end of the weekend. If he is unclaimed, Sam could wind up on the Rams' 10-man practice squad.

A seventh-round draft pick out of Missouri, Sam had three sacks in the preseason and was credited with a team-high six tackles (five solo) in Thursday's exhibition finale against Miami.

But he was caught in a numbers game along the Rams defensive line, which is one of the deepest and most talented in the NFL.

Sam was likely beaten out by Ethan Westbrooks, an undraftedrookie from West Texas A&M who was ahead of Sam on the depth chart throughout the preseason. Westbrooks' ability to play all four defensive line positions made him a more valuable reserve.

"I made some big plays in the games, and in practice I improved every week. I know I can play in this league," Sam said Thursday night.

But right now, it is unclear when and where he'll get to show it.

Sam, the SEC's defensive player of the year last season at Missouri, was among the most scrutinized rookies since he announced in February that he was gay. With questions about both his on-field abilities as an undersized and not overly athletic pass rusher and uncertainty about how an NFL team would handle the first openly gay player in


a locker room, Sam fell to the No. 248 pick.

In some ways, St. Louis was the perfect spot for Sam to begin his NFL career. He was drafted by one of the NFL's most respected head coaches in Jeff Fisher and joined a team with strong veteran leaders like defensive end Chris Long. Sam also initially remained close to Columbia, Mo., where he had been open about his sexuality to his Missouri teammates and on campus for a year without issue.

But the Rams' strong defensive roster had Sam on the roster bubble for all of August. With Long, Robert Quinn, William Hayes and Eugene Sims firmly set as the team's top four defensive ends, it was difficult to see the Rams keeping more than five defensive ends. Thatput Sam into almost direct competition with fellow rookie Westbrooks, who had two sacks in the preseason and led the Rams in tackles.

"Ethan's made a lot of plays, every time you look," Fisher said late Thursday night after the preseason finale.

Sam did show potential as a pass rusher throughout the preseason, but concerns remained about his overall readiness to play at the NFL level beyond a limited pass-rushing role.

Still, Sam believed he had done enough. He planned to spend the weekend at Mizzou, watching his alma mater play its first game of the season, and he was photographed Saturday afternoon on the sidelines before the game.

"It's not going to be like the draft. I'm very confident," Sam said Thursday night. "I'm going to sleep really well. I'm confident


I'll be on a team, the Rams or another team, in the NFL."

Sam's release will certainly generate more headlines than most late-round draft picks, understandable because of the cultural significance of his quest to become the first openly gay player.

But Wade Davis, a former NFL player and the executive director of the You Can Play Project, said he is confident that the Rams' decision was only based on Sam's football acumen.

Davis, who came out as gay after his brief NFL career was over, played for Fisher with the Tennessee Titans and spent time with Fisher and Rams general manager Les Snead in St. Louis earlier this week.

"From the Rams' perspective, this is 100% a football decision," Davis said.

Though Sam would benefit financially if another team were to claim‘Funeral undertaking is not business as usual’

The business of funeral undertaking in Nigeria will never be complete again with the exit of the larger-than-life Tunji Okusanya, director of MIC Undertakers who died in the line of duty in the plane that was conveying the remains of former Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Agagu to Akure, the Ondo State capital. Sadly, the masterundertaker was said to have perished in the crash along with his eldest son, also named Tunji, to whom he was warming up to hand the flourishing undertaking business. Man in Business pays tribute to the master undertaker by reproducing an interview he recently granted Saturday Mirror in which he spoke eloquently about what he does best. He spoke to FUNMI SALOME JOHNSON

How and when did you start


greatest actors of our time — Orson Welles, Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Ian Holm, and James Earl Jones, to name only a few. The play opens with Lear’s proposal to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, according to how much each can profess her love for him, spiraling forward to dramatize the king’s deception, betrayal, and eventual descent into madness.

Directed by Trevor Nunn, the telecast includes nearly all the original cast members of the sold-out RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) production that premiered in Stratford-Upon-Avon in April 2007 and toured internationally before concluding on London’s West End in January 2008.

“If I wanted to hang the whole performance on one line,” the actor said recently, “it would be when King Lear is crying out, ‘Is thereSouth Tambey gas field in the Yamal Peninsula. The field’s proved probable reserves are estimated at 907 billion cubic metres. The project provides for the development of transport infrastructure, including the construction of a sea port and an airport near the settlement of Sabetta in the northeast of Yamal. The project is being implemented by Yamal LNG Co. Aggregate investments in the project are estimated at 26.9 billion U.S. dollars. The first production line is to be commissioned in 2017.


"The most essential blog in opera!" (New York Times) Where opera is king and you, the readers, are queens.

Cher Public

[This article originally appeared in the print zine precursor to this site, one of a series of surveys of live recordings by critic Leila de Lakmé.]

Leyla Gencer. The very name is exotic. She was an artist of Turkish ancestry who, during the 1950s and 60s, held her own despite the presence of Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Renata Scotto, Montserrat Caballe, and Magda Olivero, all of whom shared roles in her repertoire. Ironically, Gencer has a number of important credits attached to her name that many tend to forget. Wrongly viewed as the poor man’s Callas, the Turkish soprano actually showed more versatility.

Born in 1924, during the early part oftop register. It wasn’t until 1957 that she began to branch out and embrace the bel canto works that had become so favored with Maria Callas.

By the mid 1960s Gencer had established herself as the leading Donizetti specialist. Indeed the documents of her performances in such works as Belisario, Anna Bolena, Caterina Cornaro, Lucrezia Borgia, Roberto Devereux, Maria Stuarda, and Les Martyres are models of their kind. During an extremely fertile period of individual soprano artists, Gencer remained a unique entity offering listeners the (at times confusing) combination of a Greek Fury’s intensity and the fragile, delicate hauntingly-sweet pianissimi of an Amelita Galli-Curci. At her best she represented the glory of humnaity in opera. At her worst she was high camp.

There were problems with the instrument from the


beginning. Not surprising since it had been manipulated into a dramatic d’agilita. Especailly iffy was the passaggio into her top register – that area around f and g at the top of the staff. It was always a bit suspect as to pitch. She also had a tendency, when excited and in the midst of dramatic utterances to sing off hte breath so that her tone not only curdled but also completely dissipated. Like others, however, she used her faults to her benefit – incorporating them into the fabric of her interpretations. She is a perfect example of both the merits and detriments of vocal compromise.

Gencer was an artist that often went over the top I do not mean to infer that she could not be a singerof restraint and finesse. Indeed, a number of her documented performance offer classic examples of bel canto phrasing and articulate musicianship. She was, however, erratic; sometimes during the same performance. And yet, oddly, it is that very inconsistency that draws one back to her performances time and time again. As William Ashbrook wrote of her: “(She is) a singing actress of imagination, one who pushes herself to the limits, one who prowls a stage like a wild thing confined behind bars, and that restless energy permeates what she does.” Indeed the 5′ 4″ soprano hurls imprecations like no one else in the business.

Gencer was the mistress of contrasts. Like Magda Olivero, she was an intellectual singer. By that I mean that although her dramatic effects may seem spontaneous


arias recorded in 1974 – towards the end of a rather long decline have done little to affix her name or reputation in the record books.) As if compensating for that gross error, her work on stage was faithfully captured by fans and “professional” pirates and fortunately provides us with an honest portrait of this proud diva. Because of her popularity with opera pirates and also with fans Gencer has garnered the title of “Queen of the Pirates.” As her reputation rose so did the number of the available Gencer recordings on “pirate labels” or tape. There are over 80 performance preserved of this singer – many of which have never been put onto LP or CD.

Today, as of this writing, there are about 30 Gencer performances thatGui’s magisterial conducting. Gencer performed this role relatively few times but she was famous for her interpretation. It was one of her favorites and one can see that she is having the time of her life. Different from the performance 8 years later, here her voice is more unified and she relies less on awkward shifts into registers (that quickly became her trademark) to supply drama but rather concentrates on singing the role. Another difference (of little consequence) is that in the later, 1968 performance Gencer eschews the high D flat in the Sleepwalking Scene.

Gencer was always a favorite with Venetian audiences and this September, 1963, performance shows why. It is one of the most remarkable performances in the Gencer canon. In good broadcast sound, it presents Gencer


and not at all a Callas copy. Some of the finest moments include the Act I duet with Adalgisa where the runs and high Cs are sung with an ease that belies their difficulty. Cossotto, too, shows the beauty and ease of her high C. Actually, their blend during the duet is excellent. The finale to the Act is also rousing with Gencer sailing off on an excellent penultimate top D. As one would expect, she pulls out all the stops during the last two acts – especially the confrontation with Pollione and the exquistite pleading with Ovoreso in the last minutes of the opera. Indeed “Deh voleri vittime” is a remarkable performance of tremndous glottal strokes and dramatic intensity couched in some beautiful floated pianissimi. If youAlliance (NYOA) proudly presents the 2020 New York Virtual Opera Fest. The festival showcases the breadth and diversity of opera in NYC, and many events are free. All events are produced by participant companies of NYOA in partnership with OPERA America. Read more.

New York Opera Alliance (NYOA) proudly presents the 2020 New York Virtual Opera Fest. The festival showcases the breadth and diversity of opera in NYC, and many events are free. All events are produced by participant companies of NYOA in partnership with OPERA America. Read more.

Comments

Beth Morrison Projects is keeping the work of our artists out in the world by offering an “Opera of the Week” which will stream on our homepage, for one week every Thursday at noon. Ellen West, a new work from Ricky


After Lester died, his daughters brought claims on behalf of

his estate against Butch to recover the account balance together with exemplary

damages. The daughters contended that in signing Lester’s name, Butch was

exercising his power of attorney and had engaged in impermissible self-dealing.

After a court trial, the circuit court dismissed the daughters’ claims. The court

found that Butch signed Lester’s name as an amanuensis rather than exercising the

power of attorney. The daughters appeal. We affirm.

                            Facts and Procedural History

[¶2.]        In 2003, Lester executed a power of attorney appointing Butch as his

attorney-in-fact. At that time, Lester and hiswife were the joint owners of a

checking account. Lester’s wife died in 2004, and in November 2010, he went by

himself to the bank where the account was located to remove her name from the

account. He met with Nancy Byer, a banker who had worked with him for many

years. Lester informed Byer that he also wished to add Butch to the account.

Because Butch’s signature was needed to be an account holder, Byer called Butch

and told him to come to the bank. When he arrived, Byer prepared the form

necessary to add him to the account as a joint owner, and she explained the form to


who knew exactly where he wanted it to go. She

testified that it was Lester who wanted to add Butch to the account, that Lester did

not want anyone else except Butch on the account, and that Lester wanted the

account to go to Butch after Lester died. According to Byer, Butch signed the bank

form when all three of them were in her office. She then left her office to deposit

money for Lester. While outside her office, she observed Butch trying to put a pen

in Lester’s hand. When she returned to her office, Lester appeared to have signed

the form, but she testified that she did not see Lester sign it. Byer also confirmed

that Lester had problems with gout and would occasionally complain about pain in

his hands.

[¶7.]     This survey sample consists of women who gave birth in Canada within three months prior to the 2006 Census. Women who reported during the 2006 Canadian Census that they gave birth in Canada within the previous three months were eligible for inclusion in the (MES). From an estimated 75,863 eligible women, 8,542 were randomly selected to participate in a structured computer-assisted telephone interview administered in three official languages (English, French, Inuktitut) by trained female Statistics Canada interviewers. Interviews were also conducted in 13 additional most-commonly spoken languages by interviewers who were fluent in those languages and had access to the translated glossaries of terms.

Women were stratified by province or territory where they gave birth, rural or urban residence and age (\<20 or \>20) to ensure representation of vulnerable


Health Canada's Science Advisory Board and Research Ethics Board, and the Federal Privacy Commissioner. Approval was received from Statistics Canada's Policy Committee prior to implementation.

The population of interest for this manuscript is limited to those in the MES who gave birth in one of the three Prairie Provinces. Newcomers were defined as women who arrived in Canada after 1996 and those in the comparison group were Canadian born. A total of 140 newcomer and 1137 Canadian-born women met these criteria. Newcomers included landed immigrants, refugees, students, visitors and temporary workers. Variables of interest selected from the MES include indicators of socio-demographic status, maternal perceptions of timely receipt of services, continuity of care, type of provider, opportunities for informed choice and degree of medical interventions. Questions that assessed maternal

Although not reported in the tables, family doctors and nurses were sources of information for both groups, but more so for Canadian-born women. Fifteen percent of Canadian-born women reported a family doctor as their source of information compared to 10% of newcomer women. Similarly, 20% of Canadian-born women reported a nurse as their source of information compared to 13% of newcomer women. Newcomer women were also less likely than Canadian-born to get information from friends and family (10% vs. 20%). They reported that books were a source of information more often than Canadian-born women (27% vs 17%).

On the whole there was no difference in reported levels of satisfaction between the two groups regarding types of information received, provider competency, provider concern for their privacy, provider


Gas prices on the rise in New Hampshire in 2013

DOVER — The price of gasoline has increased in New Hampshire since the beginning of the year, jumping nearly 20 cents during the last two weeks alone.

In New Hampshire, the average price of a gallon of regular gas rose from about $3.40 two weeks ago to about $3.59 today, according to data compiled by the website GasBuddy.com.

GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan said prices have been increasing not only in New Hampshire but across the country.The price of oil is rising, DeHaan said, in part because the refinery maintenance schedule is keeping some refineries offline.

Positive sentiment in the stock market can also translate into higher commodities prices, he said.

Gas prices usually increase in spring, but this year's spike isWhat Makes You Happy? Family, Friends, Money or What?

Are you happy? The United Nations is out with its first ever "World Happiness Report." The study finds Denmark is the happiest place on earth, while the United States ranks 11th on the list.

The Daily Mail reports Demark, Norway and Finland top the list followed by the Netherlands and Canada. Africa, including Sierra Leone and Togo, were at the bottom of the list. The report indicates social factors and health were surprisingly more important than money in determing happiness. For more on the report and a list of the top 20 happiest nations click here.

So, what makes you happy? I think my family tops my list, followed by time spent with friends, chocolate, shopping and sleeping... lol!


WILLIMANTIC - On Tuesday, from noon to 1 p.m. in Webb 358, Eastern Connecticut State University History Professor Stefan Kamola will discuss recent events in Iran and Iraq related to the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, as well as the historical context for what is taking place in that part of the world.

The talk is the first in what will be a series of "Flash History Lectures" presented by History faculty on various topics.Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest man alive, by a healthy margin. He's sat at the top of the annual Forbes billionaires list for the past two years, most recently with an estimated $130 billion net worth, an amount that, were he a country, would give him a higher GDP than, say, all of Morocco.

On Saturday, Bezos announced that Amazon—the second company in history to be worth $1 trillion—would donate to relief efforts in the wake of horrifyingly massive wildfires in Australia:

On Amazon's corporate blog, the company writes, "Our hearts go out to all Australians, the country's communities, bushland, and wildlife affected by the devastating bushfires. Using Amazon’s unique logistics and innovative technologies, along with cash donations to support organizations on the front line of relief efforts,


has said before that he can imagine moving all manufacturing into space and "Earth can be zoned residential." But he appears minimally invested in actually improving conditions on Earth for the moment. He's famously refused to sign fellow multibillionaire Bill Gates's "giving pledge," a symbolic and completely nonbinding agreement among the world's richest people to give away half of their wealth in their lifetimes. (His now ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, joined the pledge shortly after their divorce was finalized.) Bezos, it seems, has loftier plans for his constantly expanding wealth: In a 2018 interview he said, "The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel. That is basically it."

Correction: An earlier version of this article wascrazy on the court today."

For the record: Sam Stosur is not a man. Nor was Amelie Mauresmo, who had to deal with similar nuanced gender critiques throughout her career. Stosur is muscular and athletic, and though she probably doesn't get as many offers to pose for fashion magazines as someone like Cibulkova, she cleans up nicely.

[Also: Rafael Nadal, Tiger Woods looking to join list of single-event dominance]

Cibulkova isn't a native English speaker, so I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on the comments. But then Christopher Clarey of the New York Times explained how Cibulkova backed off her statement when pressed:

Comparing women's players to men has caused controversy in the past. But Cibulkova, when asked later to clarify her comment, said that she did


not mean to imply that Stosur had any unfair advantage, only that the heaviness of her ball and her style of play reminded her of playing a man.

"As a player, she's very fit," Cibulkova said. "I'm not saying anything bad. I'm just saying she's playing like a man."

"I mean nobody has a serve like her," Cibulkova added. "She's kicking the serve so much so she gets me out of the court, and her topspin from the forehand, nobody is playing topspin like her. It's more men's style, so it's what I meant."

Cibulkova's backtrack was about as successful as her backhand. She still comes out of the press conference saying Stosur is like a man! Why didn't she just say, "I didn't mean to say she's a man, butshe's fit, muscular, plays a little mannish, so yeah, she's basically Tom Selleck in a visor and sunglasses."

Related tennis video from Yahoo! Sports:

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Last week, I reminded you Donald Trump stands tall in Downtown Milwaukee on the wall inside the iconic Safe House.

This afternoon, The Donald’s local image grew even larger when Kingshead Salon, 1246 N. Van Buren St., plastered his smiling-ish mug on its high-profile billboard on the south side of the building.

Since 1968, owner Dave Lemke – with the creative help of Eichenbaum & Associates – has promoted his salon using this high-profile outdoor ad space. The Kingshead billboards, which change about every four months, have featured images of Elvis and Queen Elizabeth in the past.

"This time, we went with Trump," says Lemke. "After all, he's the most famous man in the country, and people can't stop talking about his hair. So, as a salon, we thought we'd takeinvestigation of an attempted homicide on 11-15-2016 that took place in the 1700 block of Washington Ave.

The target of the search warrant was a
.40 caliber handgun which was allegedly used by a 17 year old
juvenile in an attempted murder. The 17 year old was a suspect in
several shootings involving a dispute among rival street gangs,
including the Dirty P gang, of which the suspect was alleged by Racine
Police to be a member.

The search warrant yielded two
suspects, both juveniles who were found in the basement. Authorities
apprehended the two suspects and held them for questioning.

Out of approximately 15 officers
involved in the executed search warrant, only one officer in the
documents referenced marijuana and stated the following;

"Immediately
upon entry into the residence I detected an odor of burnt or
freshly-smoked marijuana throughout the entire residence".This


law enforcement should they be a target of a search warrant”.

"The dog had a delivery system for utilization of the
weapon(functioning legs to advance on the entry team,working jaws which
was evident by the dog's K-9 teeth which were displayed, no obstructions
between SWAT operator Sergeant ### and the dog".

"The dog presented an "imminent threat" to SWAT operator Sergeant ### and the entry team as a whole"

"My assignment was the #1 position in the first cell on the entry
team. I was armed with my department issued M4 rifle and dressed in
full SWAT police uniform and body armor"

( Sergeant ### who "dispatched" Sugar)

According to information gleaned from the reports about the dog; When
police forcefully entered the house, the dog jumped off of the living
room couch and ran away thru a hallway intoa bedroom.

A
SWAT officer fully equipped with body armor and an M4 assault rifle
followed the dog thru the hallway and entered the threshold of the
bedroom. The dog was trapped with no other avenues of escape.

The
dog growled, displayed its teeth and moved towards the SWAT officer.
The SWAT officer (Sergeant ###) fearing an imminent threat
"dispatched"(executed) the dog, discharging 5 rounds from his M4 assault
rifle at the dog.

Racine Police conducted an "in house" review of the incident and found the actions of the SWAT team to be appropriate and justified.

(the "in house review" was conducted by the team leader of SWAT, Sergeant %%%)

We hardly consider a dog to be an
imminent threat to a fully attired SWAT officer complete with body
armor. That argument is both ludicrous and just plain laughable.

Understanding the dynamics of


safety of my teammates, I fired one round which had an
immediate effect, stopping the animal and its advance towards me. the
dog was laying on the bed incapacitated but breathing heavily with its
eyes open. I was under the impression that, although the animal was
fatally wounded , it was potentially suffering. As a humane measure, I
approached and fired one last round in the animal's head which stopped
its movement altogether".

A dog friendly(smarter) officer may have
used a less than lethal tactic by using his M4 assault rifle to blunt,
block or lightly batter the dog to thwart and discourage any possible
attack from the dog.

The M4 is a durable weapon and the choice of most of the U.S. armed forces. When the M4 used like a bō, it can be used to block, thrustand strike a dog to deter or thwart its aggressive behavior

So the officer made the choice to
"dispatch" the dog instead of using "less than lethal tactics" when one
clear choice was available.

To compound the issues:

The Racine Police Department "in house" Weapons Discharge Review was conducted by the same SWAT team leader

(Sergeant %%%%) who led the SWAT team during the incident.In his "in house" report to Racine
Police Deputy Chief John Polzin, Sergeant %%% determined that the
actions of SWAT were appropriate and justified.He got to investigate himself

Patti Smith changed plans for her Milwaukee concert when I
reminded her of the date. “March 9—that’s the day I met Fred!” she says
excitedly. “Oh my gosh.” And as a result, at her Thursday, March 9
show—her first in town in 38 years—Smith promised to perform a


“Fred
trilogy,” as she calls it, comprised of the three songs she wrote in the
’70s about her late husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith: “Because the Night,”
“Dancing Barefoot” and a number rarely performed in recent years,
“Frederick.”

Milwaukee was one of the first cities outside Smith’s New
York home base where her music was widely embraced. Much of that
attention resulted from the single-minded efforts of DJ Bob Reitman, who
was already talking Smith up even before her debut album, Horses. On the night of Horses’
release in the winter of 1975, Reitman played the LP on the air in its
entirety. Most of us had never heard anything like it. Raw as an open
wound and yet broad in human sympathy, Horses was a head-on
collision of high-octane rock with modernist poetry. Not unlike William
Carlos Williams and other early20th-century poets, Smith melded
literary and colloquial influences. Arthur Rimbaud inhabited the lyrics
of “Land” alongside ’60s dance crazes such as the Watusi and the Mashed
Potato.

In the years since Horses, Smith accepted the Nobel
Prize for Bob Dylan, sang at the Vatican for Pope Francis, was inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, won the National Book Award for
her memoir, Just Kids, and saw her photography exhibited in museums. But Horses
was what lifted her from the pre-gentrified Bowery into the
international spotlight. Caught up in the scene that gathered in the
tiny bar called CBGB’s, Smith endowed punk rock with a dimension beyond
simple assertions and three chords.

“I didn’t start as a musician and I’m not a musician, really. I started as a poet,” Smith says about the origin of Horses’songs.
“Birdland” and “Horses”


Monday, June 30, 2003

It is a pity that all of us have to pay taxes at all. But that really goes back to original sin; that is the fall of Adam and Eve. Otherwise we would all be living in the Garden of Eden, but we are not.Michael Egan, NSW Treasure (June 2003)

Australia The Office: Discretionary Powers

A special investigation by reporter Chris Masters uncovers how fraud involving millions of dollars was perpetrated by a network of ATO officers in tandem with former officers and crime figures.
Masters' report demonstrates how ATO safeguards had failed. It also strengthens the case for a strong and activist body to monitor the ATO such as IGOT
"The Office" details not only how corruption was committed but also profiles the broader culture in which itThe fate of Ice Nation King Roan (Zach McGowan) on The 100 has been revealed.

The CW's post-apocalyptic series has promoted McGowan to series regular for season four, EP Jason Rothenberg announced Friday during the show's Comic-Con panel.

Roan's fate was left up in the air by the end of season three. In part one of the finale, "Perverse Instantiation," Roan tried to help Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and set up a tentative Ice Nation/Arkadia truce. But their plan was doomed from the start since A.L.I.E. (Erica Cerra) had convinced Jasper (Devon Bostick) to eat a City of Light chip, so she already knew what they were attempting to do when they walked into Polis.

When they realized that their plan wouldn't work, Roan tried to give Clarke a head start in


her escape, and a chipped Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) shot him. He was last seen seriously bleeding, being dragged away by other chipped Grounders. McGowan's promotion to series regular means that Roan will survive his gunshot injury and will play a bigger part moving forward as the King of the Ice Nation.

In addition to The 100, McGowan is best known for his roles on Black Sails and Shameless. He was most recently seen on an episode of UnREAL.

The 100 returns for season four in midseason on The CW.

Bookmark THR.com/ComicCon to keep up with all the SDCC highlights.from new components by original equipment manufactures typically are sealed by ultrasonic welding, that technique has until now been unavailable for use in the remanufacture or reassembly of toner cartridges. A primary impediment to the use of ultrasonic welding in the rejoining of the hopper section and roller section of a toner cartridge during reassembly has been the absence of an energy director element. Briefly, an energy director element is a relatively small feature—typically in the form of a ridge or bump—which extends slightly above the surface of the surrounding area and contacts the surface to be welded. The energy director is of the same material as the remainder of the plastic component and is formed in the mold in which the plastic component is created. During the


ultrasonic welding process it is the energy director element which is first melted primarily as a result of the friction created between the two surfaces to be welded caused by the ultrasonic vibrations. It is the melting together of the surfaces to be bonded at the location of the energy director element which, upon cooling and solidification, welds the two surfaces together. Thus, the energy director element is largely or entirely consumed or destroyed in the sealing together of the hopper section and roller section in the original manufacture of a new toner cartridge. Hence, upon separation of the hopper and roller sections at the location of the original ultrasonic weld during the remanufacturing process, there no longer exists an energy director element from which to initiate ultrasonicMUSLIM LEADERS INVITED TO WHITE HOUSE MEETING RELEASED & CONFIRMED BY OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

ISLAMIC RADICALS INCLUDED IN SIT-DOWN WITH OBAMA, JARRETT, RHODES AND OTHERS

According to a Newsmax and Breitbart News, on Friday the White House released the names of fourteen Muslim “leaders” who met with the President last Wednesday. Said Newsmax, “Among the group — which included a comedian, along with a hijab-wearing basketball player and a handful of left wing activists — were a select few individuals with disturbingly close ties to the global Muslim Brotherhood.... [T]he White House confirmed that Azhar Azeez, President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), was one of the Muslim leaders that met with President Obama. ISNA was founded in 1981 by members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The group was listed


second-class citizens. The Sharia also endorses the hudud punishments in the Koran and Hadiths, which state that apostasy from Islam is punishable by death....”

I found a Galewyn Massey post "from the archives" back when he was blogging during the Kennedy years circa 1962. In it Galewyn writes (I am paraphrasing):

Names of Catholic leaders invited to the White House by Papist President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Gale always uses middle names for our Presidents - out of respect)have been released!Newsmax reports that Catholic clergy dressed in black with white collars - one wearing a long dress - have been seen entering the White House. These were a select group of individuals with disturbing ties to the Roman Curia and are known to have direct links to the Vatican. Newsmax goeshas exclusively been taken charge of by a serviceman and has required the steps of taking the developing unit out of the copier, removing the used developer by manipulating a special member or by bodily tilting the developing unit, and supplying a fresh developer into the empty developing unit. This not only causes the used and fresh developers to scattered but increases the service cost due to the awkward manual labor involved.
A prior art developing unit is known which includes at least two sections, i.e., a developing section and a developer supplying section, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 56-114969/1981 by way of example. The developer supplying section is made up of a mechanism for mounting a toner cartridge, a toner agitating member, a toner supply


the repeal. For the reasons provided below, we disagree.

I. Facts and Procedural Background

2
Hernandez, a native and citizen of the Dominican Republic, entered the United States as a B-2 "visitor for pleasure" on September 9, 1974, and was authorized to stay in this country only until October 10, 1974. Hernandez, however, remained in the United States beyond that date without authorization from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).2

3
On June 27, 1984, Hernandez pled guilty in New York state court to entering a plea of guilty to attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) in the third degree in violation of New York Penal Law § 220.16. As a result, he was sentenced to five years probation.

4
On March 12, 1997, Hernandez married a United States citizen who filed avisa petition on his behalf, which was approved on August 14, 1997. In 1998, Hernandez filed an application for adjustment of status (Form I-485) based on his marriage. In his I-485 application, Hernandez did not disclose his prior New York conviction. Hernandez's adjustment of status application was denied and a Notice to Appear was issued on June 21, 1999, starting his removal proceedings. The Notice to Appear charged Hernandez as being removable from the United States pursuant to § 237(a)(1)(B) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(B), as an alien who after admission as a non-immigrant under INA § 101(a)(15) has remained in the United States longer than permitted by overstaying his temporary visa.

5
Hernandez appeared before an Immigration Judge (IJ) on December 13, 1999. At the hearing, he


is less than the five years necessary to disqualify an alien from § 212(c) relief. Accordingly, Ponnapula reasonably believed that, even if he were convicted of a felony after trial, he would still likely be eligible for hardship relief from deportation pursuant to former § 212(c). In reliance on this advice, Ponnapula decided to turn down the misdemeanor offer and proceeded to trial. He was convicted of both counts in the indictment and sentenced to the minimum term of imprisonment — one to three years.

22
After Ponnapula was allowed out of prison on work release, the INS filed a detainer and warrant for a removal hearing. At the conclusion of a hearing, an immigration judge found Ponnapula removable from the United States. On appeal, the BIA affirmed, holding thatbeen physically present in the United States for a continuous period of not less than ten years following the commission of the deportable act. Such an alien must additionally prove that he or she has been a person of good moral character for the entire ten-year period and that he or she is someone whose deportation would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship personally or to his or her spouse, parent or child who is a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident. 8 U.S.C. § 1254(a).

34
Simply stated, under the pre-1996 statutory scheme, when an alien such as Hernandez pled guilty to a deportable offense, he had to remain in the United States for an additional period of ten years under the above-described terms and conditions before


he would even be eligible for discretionary relief. If that alien was served with an Order to Show Cause or a Notice to Appear prior to the completion of the ten-year period, he necessarily would be deportable and ineligible for application of § 244(a) relief. Therefore, the Government maintains, aliens in the group represented by Hernandez do not have a reasonable reliance on the availability of suspension of deportation when entering a plea of guilty and altering their course in the criminal justice system because, prior to entry of such a plea, the alien would not have been eligible for § 244(a) relief10 and would be ineligible for § 244(a) relief for an additional ten years.

35
Hernandez counters that the group he represents — people who pled guilty priorof status, he had a settled expectation that, if that application was denied, he would be able to request suspension of deportation. Ponnapula notwithstanding, this argument is unpersuasive for several reasons.

46
First, we take issue with Hernandez's claim that he voluntarily revealed his unlawful status because the record makes clear that Hernandez failed to disclose his 1984 New York conviction in his adjustment of status application. Moreover, he was eligible to request suspension of deportation on June 27, 1994 — nearly three years before the effective repeal of § 244(a) — but he did not reveal himself to authorities to make such a request until well after the repeal of that section. By contrast, it was undisputed that the petitioners in Karageorgious and Jimenez-Angeles voluntarily revealed their illegal status


based upon standards for evidence-based care in four public hospitals in Tehran. In 24 women who were admitted in normal labour, practices were observed until the end of the third stage of labour, to determine concordance with Iranian National Guidelines for Normal Childbirth. A further 100 postpartum woman were interviewed about their care during labour and childbirth in the early postpartum period before discharge from the postnatal ward. beneficial and lifesaving practices such as assessing mothers' well-being; removal of the placenta in the third stage of labour, as well as skin-to-skin contact and early initiating of breast feeding were recorded in most cases. However, the use of practices such as routine augmentation and induction of labour, fundal pressure, conducting routine episiotomy were noted. this evaluation study shows goodCristiano Ronaldo revels in Portugal's effort to win Euro 2016 without him

PARIS – At the end, Cristiano Ronaldo was in tears, just as he had been after the Euro 2004 final. But these ones were tears of joy. He had fulfilled the vow he had made after defeat to Greece in Lisbon 12 years ago and helped Portugal to its first international trophy. That he wasn’t actually on the pitch for the final 95 minutes of the 1-0 extra-time triumph over France didn’t seem to lessen his delight or detract from his impact at all. After the final whistle had gone, he was stalking around the pitch, bare-chested, hugging those who had done the job. His role as a leader was clear.

He had spent most of extra time


monthly commitments to a bank; that the May and June rent payments were made after the tenant had received notice of the application for an eviction certificate "just to be able to say he had his rent paid." The landlord accompanied his response with a schedule showing that rent payments had been late for each month since February, 1970. In the statement of agreed facts, the tenant admits making late rent payments "nearly every month from June of 1970 until May of 1971," when the application for a certificate of eviction was filed. It is also agreed that the landlord sent an eviction notice in September, 1970, but withdrew it on receipt of his rent. There was no agreement in the statement of agreed facts that the landlordaction on the landlord's application for a certificate of eviction, a certificate of eviction might appropriately be denied in many instances. General Laws c. 186, § 12, provides that tender or payment of the rent in full by a tenant at will within five days of the receipt of a notice to quit bars recovery of possession, unless a similar notice to quit has been received within the twelve months before the notice to quit on which the action is based. See G.L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 186, § 11, for somewhat similar provisions as to a tenant holding under a written lease. In this case, the tenant received a notice to quit in September, 1970, which was within twelve months of the entry of the landlord's summary process


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

US-Backed Islamic Law Coming to Syria

Obama's overt embrace of Islamism is inexcusable. In fairness to the President, the United States has covertly backed the clerical fascist creed for decades--a perfidious policy that blew back most horrifically when Saudi-financed, Pakistan-aided, Afghanistan-sheltered-and-supported Al Qaeda slaughtered some 3,000 Americans on American soil in the 9/11 mega-attacks.Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Research shows that there are a lot of benefits of cannabinoids. Because of this, weed has been legalized in many states in the country. According to history, the first recorded use of weed was around 500 BC. It was primarily used by the Asian civilization for its various medical benefits. However, through the years, weed has been used for recreational purposes. The excessive use of this herb ultimately led to the criminalization of its use in numerous countries.

What You Can Get from Smoking Cannabis

There are many medical benefits of cannabinoids, a chemical that can be found in various Cannabis plant. More than 80 types of cannabinoids can be found in various strains of Cannabis. The most popularly known cannabinoids are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabichromene (CBC),


reached Pearl Harbor on 24 May and embarked Underwater Demolition Team 6 (UDT 6). She then sailed westward to act as a mother ship for UDT 6 as it prepared beaches immediately before the invasions of Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, Leyte and of Luzon. While entering Lingayen Gulf 5 January 1945, she drove off a Japanese air attack. Clemson escorted convoys to Ulithi, Saipan, and Okinawa before returning to San Pedro, California, 6 July. Re-designated DD-186, 17 July, she was still undergoing reconversion when World War II ended. She was decommissioned 12 October 1945 and sold 21 November 1946. The ship's bell is privately owned in Clemson, South Carolina.

Awards
Clemson received nine battle stars for World War II service.

References

 Richard Worth (2001). Fleets of World War II. Da CapoCounty eyes improvements to historic courthouse

Built in 1938, the Lincoln County Courthouse in Pioche has served longer as the seat of county government than the famed Million Dollar Courthouse (1873-1938).

And from time to time, the building needs painting as well as interior and exterior upgrading.

County Planning and Building Director Cory Lytle told the Record recently that, “the biggest need is to repaint the exterior and repair some of the sloughing on the top parapet on the concrete that has flaked off and make some repairs to the exterior windows. It may be close to 20 years since it was done last.”

Due to the age of the building, Lytle said, “I’ve always got a laundry list of needed upgrades. What we also want to do is some interior painting


A wayward kangaroo found itself in deep trouble today when it jumped over a fence and into the backyard pool of a property in Victoria's northeast.

The Eastern Grey kangaroo was found just in time.

The large male had been fighting for his life for around four hours after jumping a fence and into the deep end of the swimming pool at the Healesville property.

Homeowner Jenny Low was alerted to the emergency by her barking dog.

"He had his head out," Jenny told 7News. "I got pretty upset because there was no way of knowing whether he could have got out on his own."

View photos A stranded kangaroo has been rescued from a backyard pool at Healesville. Photo: 7News More

A neighbour and a wildlife expert were called to help perform thedelicate roo rescue.

A restraint used to catch dogs was positioned over the animal's head before he could be sedated.

Wildlife Victoria's Manfred Zabinskas said: "The main concern when a kangaroo has been in the water for so long is they will obviously struggle with energy.

"Eventually, they will get tired and the risk was he was going to drown."

View photos A kangaroo is pulled from a backyard swimming pool at Healesville. Photo: 7News More

The big buck was taken to the Healesville Sanctuary suffering from hypothermia, and with his nails worn down by the struggle to swim.

A major concern for rescuers was that he could develop pneumonia.

"He was very cold by the time I pulled him out," Mr Zabinskas said. "He's actually suffering from hypothermia and the vets are working really


Thursday, June 30, 2011

Greece's current debt problems were created by government officials who used underhanded financial mechanisms to hide the size of the nation's debt and exposure to risky assets from their foreign creditors. Once these problems were revealed, the Greek economy began an endless downward spiral.

In order to protect its own banks from exposure to debts in Greece and other fiscally struggling nations, the European Central Bank created the European Stability Fund to provide bailouts. But these payments are conditional on recipient nations adopting very stiff austerity policies.

The latest round of Greek austerity measures is meeting with violent resistance on the nation's streets. The next vote could support or sink the entire bailout enterprise, with potentially huge consequences for the ECB's financial sectors and the survival ofthe euro.

Mired in excruciating negotiations over the budget and the debt ceiling, President Barack Obama might reflect that things didn't have to turn out this way. The impasse grows mainly out of one major decision he made early on: pushing through a giant stimulus.

When he took office in January 2009, this was his first priority. The following month, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with a price tag eventually put at $862 billion.

It was, he said at the time, the most sweeping economic recovery package in our history," and would "create or save three and a half million jobs over the next two years."

The president was right about the first claim. As a share of gross domestic output, it was the largest fiscal stimulus program ever


be a new programme for Greece on which the Greek Parliament will have to vote next week," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at an EU summit in Brussels.

If Parliament does not pass the measures, the EU and International Monetary Fund have said they will not release a vital €12-billion funding tranche and Athens will run out of cash within days.

Papandreou, who won a confidence vote this week with 155 votes in the 300-strong Parliament, has ditched his former finance minister and appointed party rival Evangelos Venizelos to sell the five-year plan to his party and a sceptical public.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Stelios, a 28-year-old electrician, has been spending several evenings a week at a tent camp outside the Greek parliament run by Indignant Citizens, a new protest movement.the moral high ground and thereby relieve international pressure against the regime. It would also serve regime propaganda, which against all evidence portrays the unarmed protesters as highly organized groups of armed infiltrators and Salafi terrorists.

The regime is exaggerating the numbers, but soldiers are undoubtedly being killed. Firm evidence is lost in the fog, but there are reliable and consistent reports, backed by YouTube videos, of mutinous soldiers being shot by security forces. Defecting soldiers have reportedmukhabarat lined up behind them as they fire on civilians, watching for any soldier's disobedience. A tank battle and aerial bombardment were reportedafter a small-scale mutiny in the Homs region. Tensions within the military are expanding.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

International Monetary Fund lending to Greece has already blown away any previous borrowing records


case, the threat comes from China.

Monday, June 6, 2011

t was a fitting metaphor as Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was arrested on charges ofassault, attempted rape and sexual abuse. The charges were brought after Strauss-Kahn assaulted an African woman from Guinea, who worked as a housekeeper in a hotel in New York City.

The image of Strauss-Kahn in handcuffs was fitting insofar as this is the image that should be presented of the entire international financial system thatis anchored in the Bretton Woods Institutions. For over 60 years, these institutions (the IMF and the World Bank) raped citizens of the world, especially the citizens of the poor countries, on behalf the United States and the top capitalist nations in Europe.

The IMF has been afront for the lords of finance of Wall Streetin the USA, and the linkages between the IMF/Wall Street and the US Treasury ensured that the poor of the world subsidised the US military. As junior partners in the imperial chain of domination, the Europeans worked with the Wall Street-Treasury alliance to ensure that despite presenting arguments about free market competition, agriculture in Europe andthe USA was subsidised. In pursuit of the alliance of financial rapists and economic terrorists, it was an unwritten rule that the managing director of the IMF should be a European.

The current French finance minister is campaigning hard to becoming the next managing director and has received the support of an institution that is as moribund as the IMF, the Group of 8 (G8). It


is a measure of the disrespect that the capitalists have for Africa that they could propose Christine Lagarde as the candidate to be the next managing director

Sunday, June 5, 2011

The ailing US housing market passed a grim milestone in the first quarter of this year, posting a further deterioration that means the fall in house prices is now greater than that suffered during the Great Depression. The brief recovery in prices in 2009, spurred by government aid to first-time buyers, has now been entirely snuffed out, and the average American home now costs 33 per cent less than it did at the peak of the housing bubble in 2007. The peak-to-trough fall in house prices in the 1930s Depression was 31 per cent – and prices took 19them most often have had local companies operating under less restrictive charters and laws for many decades.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities dropped in March to the lowest level since 2003, showing housing remains mired in a slump almost two years into the economic recovery.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities fell 3.6 percent from March 2010, the biggest year-over-year decline since November 2009, the group said today in New York. At 138.16, the gauge was the weakest since March 2003.

A backlog of foreclosures poised to reach the market means prices may stay depressed, dissuading builders from taking on new-home construction projects. Unemployment at 9 percent and stricter lending conditions are signs that any recovery in housing may take years.

“With the foreclosure pipeline


By Walton

Byron S. "By" Walton was a college football player, track star, and basketball player and coach at the University of Mississippi.

Early years
Walton attended Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ole Miss
He stood 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds.

Football
Walton was a prominent end for the Ole Miss Rebels football team. He was nominated though not selected for an Associated Press All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team.

1911
He was selected All-Southern in 1911. He once stripped Ray Morrison of Vanderbilt 10 yards short of the goal. Heisman describes Walton: "This chap weighs 180 stripped, is fast as a deer, willing as a shepherd dog, strong as an ox, and has the judgment of a football player. Against Mercer and Vanderbilt he was simply invulnerable; nothing could get around his end. AndWelcome to Random Roles, wherein we talk to actors about the characters who defined their careers. The catch: They don’t know beforehand what roles we’ll ask them to talk about.

The actor: Maura Tierney got her first exposure as an on-camera actor through small roles in various sitcoms, dramas, and TV movies, working with the likes of Norman Lear, Dick Van Dyke, and (briefly) David Bowie. But it was the role of Lisa Miller in NewsRadio that made her into a proper prime-time star and put her in a position to pull big-screen appearances alongside Richard Gere (Primal Fear), Jim Carrey (Liar Liar), and John Travolta (Primary Colors). Post-NewsRadio, Tierney scored even bigger small-screen success on ER, and she was on track to follow it up with another hour-long