was signed by Jill Rein, a "Certifying Officer" for MERS, and was notarized on September 25, 2009. Records from the Will County recorder's office indicate that the assignment of mortgage in favor of plaintiff was not recorded until October 14, 2009, more than a month after the foreclosure action began on September 1, 2009.

¶ 5 On December 31, 2009, Coburn filed his response to the motion for summary judgment. Coburn claimed that he was procuring the necessary funds to cure his default before the next court date but did not challenge plaintiff's standing to bring the foreclosure action.

¶ 6 In July 2010, the trial court granted summary judgment for plaintiff in the foreclosure action. The property was sold at a public sale on December 8, 2010. On Marchresponse opposing summary judgment in the instant case. In his response, defendant made essentially the same allegation against plaintiff regarding lack of standing to file the mortgage foreclosure complaint in the mortgage foreclosure action. More specifically, defendant claimed that plaintiff filed the mortgage foreclosure complaint before the mortgage had been assigned to it and in so doing, obtained the mortgage foreclosure judgment by committing a fraud upon the court. Defendant attached to his response copies of the recorded deed transferring the property from defendant to Coburn in May 2008; the assignment of mortgage from MERS to plaintiff, which was notarized on September 25, 2009, and recorded on October 14, 2009; and the recorded notice of foreclosure.

¶ 9 On November 15, 2011, a hearing was held on Coburn's motion


Paris' pioneering "eco-district" aims to slash emissions while also providing affordable housing

By Zoe Tabary

PARIS, Oct 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Arrayed between elegant stone buildings and run-down railway tracks in the northwest of Paris lie bustling playgrounds, plant-filled ponds and stretches of lush grass.

The Clichy-Batignolles area, a former industrial wasteland, has morphed into the French capital's first "eco-neighbourhood", billed as a model of sustainable development for the rest of the city.

Clarisse Genton, project coordinator for the Clichy-Batignolles district, said it aims to be "environmentally responsible" – with solar panels on homes and clean geothermal energy for heating, for example.

But the eco-effort also has a social aim: to address the city's affordable housing crisis and ensure green benefits reach the poor as well as the rich.

"We wanted to createpublic spaces – so there's a real role for them to help create the living places of the future," said Eliot Whittington, director of the Prince of Wales' Corporate Leaders Group, a coalition of businesses promoting climate action.

"We've got to a state of accepting a certain level of waste and energy (use), but climate change (and) heatwaves affect us all and have a real toll on people's lives," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Global warming is currently set to exceed the more ambitious limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7-degree Fahrenheit) called for in the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb climate change, according to a draft U.N. report due for publication in October.

Following public consultations, Paris adopted its climate action plan in March. It aims to make the city


carbon-neutral and entirely powered by renewable energy by 2050.

From swimming pools heated by sewage to ensuring the city is fully "cyclable" by 2020, it includes more than 500 initiatives to reimagine Paris as a zero-carbon capital.

'GREEN LUNG'

The Clichy-Batignolles area of 54 hectares (130 acres), once chosen as Paris's Olympic village as part of the city's failed 2012 bid, is built around a 10-hectare park containing a skate park, deck chairs and wooden bridges.

Martin Luther King Park acts as a "green lung" and an "island of coolness" for the neighbourhood, said Genton, showing a miniature model of the district to two passersby.

"Rainwater is channelled towards wetlands rather than discharged into sewers, and household waste is collected through an underground pneumatic system – removing the need for garbage trucks," sheClichy-Batignolles for 40 years and is considering renting one of the new homes, said that "this new park, these new buildings … it's really nice, it's a change of lifestyle".

"But some people think the new buildings are too tall or too modern," he added, pointing to a bright yellow crane looming over a half-completed building.

Denis Musanga, who two months ago moved to Clichy-Batignolles from the Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel, said he was "shocked by how clean it is, even at night".

He is less convinced of the "affordable" label, however, saying that he pays 650 euros for one room in a two-bed flat – "much more than what I paid in the suburbs".

CITIZEN-LED

If zero-carbon initiatives are to succeed, citizens need to buy into them, according to the city of


off the beaten path? If you're interested in the unique and the authentic, then be sure your trip includes Digby, Yarmouth and Shelburne counties, including the beaches of Cape Sable Island, where you might be the only one exploring miles of gleaming white sand. The fishing wharves here are real, working ports and not reconstructions aimed at attracting tourist dollars. There are quiet coves where herons wade in the morning stillness, rocky shores and lighthouses that can be seen for miles -- and some wonderful restaurants serving up the very best of Nova Scotia's seafood. There's fascinating cultural history in the Acadian communities, plus early New England connections in the Planter and Loyalist towns that came later. I hope you'll choose to spend a bit more time inas a scanning platform. The hook-shaped element is disposed between the transparent top plate and the transparent bottom plate close to a top corner of the housing. The guiding rail is vertically disposed in the housing opposite to the hook-shaped element. The scanning head is disposed downwardly moveable in the housing. The scanning head comprises a transparent housing, light source, mirror assembly, lens assembly and a photodetector. The transparent housing is provided with an engageable piece and a guiding piece. The engageable piece is disposed on the top end of the transparent housing to be engaged with the hook-shaped element for fastening the scanning head when the scanning head is placed on the top end of the housing. The guiding piece is disposed in the transparent housing opposite


to the engageable piece and in cooperation with the guiding rail to guide the scanning head to move downward for scanning. The light source, mirror assembly, lens assembly and the photodetector are disposed within the transparent housing in a predetermined arrangement so as to capture image data while scanning. When the scanning head is going to scan, the engagement between the engageable piece and the hook-shaped element is released and the starting power is applied by gravity acceleration. Thereby the scanning head is guided to move downward to scan via cooperation between the guiding piece and the guiding rail. By way of rotating the shaft bearing to generate a predetermined angle between the housing and the base plate of the U-shaped housing to change the starting power, therebyThe Hiawatha Police Department has charged 22-year-old Charles Griffin from Hiawatha with three counts of attempted murder and one count of going armed with intent after shots were fired Monday.

Police responded to a report of shots fired at 69 East Clark Street in the parking lot behind the address at 8:47 p.m. Monday.

Police Chief Dennis Marks said more than 20 shots were fired and some of them hit a vehicle three people were in.

Marks said the people in the vehicle weren't hurt from gunshots, but one had some minor cuts and scrapes from what was assumed to be broken glass from a shattered window. The person with minor injuries wasn't treated for them.

An investigation found the three people in the vehicle were intended targets of the gunfire.

On September


Brazil's submarines program navigates turbulent waters

Workers for Brazilian construction company Odebrecht on the site of a new Brazilian naval submarine base in Itaguai, some 70 km south from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 7, 2017

In a vast hangar, Brazilian technicians work on the enormous cylindrical hulls of two submarines, but in a country buffeted by economic crisis and corruption the vessels already face stormy waters.

The hangar at a naval facility in Itaguai, south of Rio de Janeiro, is 125 feet (38 meters) tall, an impressive structure where the future submarines, lying in separate sections, are being equipped before eventual assembly.

In all, five submarines are planned, one of them nuclear-powered, with the first scheduled for launching in July 2018.

The bid to transform Brazil's small submarine fleet was wonby French group DCNS in a 6.7 billion euro ($7.1 billion) contract signed in 2009 to bring in its technological know-how and also to build a new naval base and shipyard at the site.

The plan is to phase out the five submarines built with Germany between 1980 and 1990 and give the navy a boost in its main job of patrolling Brazil's 5,280-mile (8,500-kilometer) coastline.

But for all the ambition and foreign help, Brazil's submarine-building voyage is falling behind schedule.

The first conventional vessel was meant to have been launched this year while the nuclear sub -- being built exclusively with Brazilian technology -- is five years behind schedule. Although the planning stage for that submarine is completed, construction will not start until 2021, with launching in 2028.

The base and


new shipyard are just over 60 percent finished.

- Giant tunnel -

Latin America's biggest country is into its third year of recession and a huge embezzlement and bribery scandal has turned politics upside down, while exacerbating the economic woes.

At the heart of that scandal is Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which has been targeted by prosecutors over its central role in fleecing state oil company Petrobras and making illegal payments to political campaigns. And Odebrecht is DCNS's partner in the submarine project.

Currently some 1,650 workers in Odebrecht overalls are working at the site. Back in 2014 there were more than 6,000, said Admiral Gilberto Max Hirschfeld, who oversees the construction.

Odebrecht's involvement in the submarine project has also been caught up in the corruption scandal, but Hirschfeld said "the investigation doesnot affect the shipyard."

The problems with keeping up to schedule are caused by "having to slow down as a result of budget shortages," he said. "But we're focusing all our efforts on the first launch taking place in 2018."

A big moment will be when the first section of the first hull is transported to the shipyard for final assembly, using a 2,230-foot (710-meter) tunnel that has been cut through the mountainside to link the factory hangar and new base.

The enormous scale of the project and expense is all worth it for Brazil, the admiral said.

"Brazil's riches attract a lot of envy and we don't know what will happen in 50, 100 years," he said.

He also downplayed the problems of delays, pointing out long waits in DCNS's construction of


scrambled from the house like Cinderella after the ball, stammering unclear excuses. Elsa had hurried out after her, but she was easily lost to the hubbub of the streets. The streets, after all, were her world, not Elsa’s.

Therefore, Elsa was surprised and moved, one day, to find Anna skulking at the gate. Her hair was wild as ever, her eyes were earnest and entreating.

She was sorry she had left so suddenly, she said. She hoped Mademoiselle did not think less of her. Her family was in a very bad way, she said, and needed money, needed charity. She was sorry, she said again, to be a bother, but she knew their house and knew that the gentleman there was very rich and philanthropic. (She clumsily mispronounced “philanthropic,” thoughshe seemed pleased with herself for saying it. She must have practiced the word a good deal, Elsa surmised.) She had nowhere else to turn.

Tears in her eyes, Elsa put a hand on her cheek and welcomed her as if she had never been away.

From that day forward, Anna came regularly to the house. She would tell all the problems her family was facing and Papa, in his generosity, would go forth to try and remedy them. In the quiet of the house, Elsa and Anna were alone, save for Gerda, the good-hearted housekeeper. Elsa took this opportunity to take Anna under her wing, showing her the books in her library, casting light on a figure kept long enough in darkness.

They talked together, laughed together until the time


began to stretch her rosy fingers across the sky, a figure approached the gate. He was battered, but Elsa recognized her guardian, the only father she had ever had.

He had been beset by old Weselton and the Patron-Minette, but a neighbor had apparently overheard Weselton’s plotting as Anna had. Not fearing his own capture by them as Anna did, this man had gone to the police. They had lain in wait and routed the band of cutthroats.

Of course, her papa did not mention it, but Elsa assumed that, in the scuffle between the police and the Patron-Minette, he had discreetly slipped away.

***

Now, Anna found herself without a father, without a patch. With the rest of the gang, Weselton had been dragged away to prison.

Yet, Anna did not findA former CIA officer says the agency misled Americans. AFP A former CIA spy has written a commentary for Politico in which she slams the agency for being dysfunctional and lying to the public about the war in Iraq.

Lindsay Moran, who left the CIA in 2003 after five years there and later wrote a book about her experiences, wrote that she wishes she'd "written a braver kind of book" that exposed the wrongdoing she saw at the agency.

One interesting tidbit from her article describes what she learned from Iraqi experts when she was transferred into Iraqi Operations at CIA headquarters.

She writes:

1) We didn’t have any viable recruited human sources in Iraq, or even Iraqi agents elsewhere, as we led up to the invasion.

2) We had no evidence of


entire premise of the US going to war.

The war on terror eventually devolved into what now seems like an unwinnable conflict, hobbled in large part by the agency's lack of human intelligence (HUMINT) on the ground.

CIA agents have reportedly been discouraged from speaking out about apparent wrongdoings at the agency, according to Moran.

She wrote that a certain passage of the US Senate report on the CIA torturing detainees "saddened me as it reminded me of the many dedicated professionals at the Agency, some who no doubt tried to question the efficacy, morality and/or legality of the program, but who were cowed into silence."

"It also brought to mind an occasion when the person who recruited me to join the CIA said: 'If you ever see anything you think isPROVIDENCE – The construction of 10 wind turbines, and possibly dozens more, has been stymied by a dispute between a renewable-energy developer and National Grid.

For more than three years, Wind Energy Development LLC, headed by construction company owner Mark DePasquale, has been feuding with National Grid over the cost of connecting proposed turbines to the electric grid, a process known as interconnection.

So far, Wind Energy Development (WED) has built one commercial-scale turbine in North Kingstown and has received approval to build 10 400-foot-high wind turbines in Coventry. Construction is ongoing for two of those turbines at the site of the former Picillo Farm, a 99-acre Superfund site owned by Coventry. Site work is underway for another six turbines on private property adjacent to the former pig farm. Sites


A 56-year-old man was taken away in an ambulance after he was assaulted by Antifa outside the Night for Freedom gala in New York City, a gathering of the New Right and Trump supporters organized by Mike Cernovich.

The man was reportedly leaving the event when he was set upon by members of “Antifa,” who are classified as a domestic terrorist organization by U.S. security agencies. He is currently in a stable condition at Bellevue hospital.

One Antifa member involved in the assault, David Campbell of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was arrested on charges of assault, strangulation, criminal obstruction of breathing, resisting arrest, criminal possession of a weapon, and loitering.

The aftermath of the incident was captured on film by The Wrap’s Jon Levine.

Two others were also hurt in the fight andThe University of Colorado on Wednesday announced five finalists for the second year of the Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy program.

Steven Hayward is now filling the position for the first year of the three-year pilot program, teaching several classes and hosting speakers, events and discussions throughout the 2013-2014 academic year.

More than 20 donors contributed $1 million to support the program designed to add a conservative perspective to the university community, long perceived as a haven for liberal thought.

The finalists are:

Terry Anderson, president of the Property and Environmental Research Center and senior fellow of the Hoover Institution.

Bradley Birzer, Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and history professor at Hillsdale College.

Arthur Herman, author of "Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry That Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our


Age."

Gary Libecap, professor of corporate environmental management at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management and Department of Economics at the University of California Santa Barbara.

Ron Haskins, who was a finalist for the position last year and has been a senior fellow and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution since 2001.

The scholar, selected this year by a community advisory committee, could serve in 2014-2015 or in subsequent school years.

Ann Carlos, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and chairwoman of the conservative scholar search committee, said the committee wanted to streamline the hiring process for the conservative scholar, and decided this year that it may name two finalists for the next two years.

That plan also worked for the candidates,as CU President Emeritus Hank Brown and former Boulder Mayor Bob Greenlee, among others.

In his first semester as CU's conservative scholar, Hayward taught two classes, hosted four events under the conservative scholar program and appeared on numerous panels and discussions.

Carlos said the campus and Boulder reception of Hayward has been very welcoming.

"The campus is about an exchange of ideas in a scholarly context, and so (Hayward) is sort of the mechanism for opening discussion in the classroom and I think between the campus and the community at large," she said. "It's been very collegial, very cordial, very welcoming."

Hayward, who is a little more than halfway done with his year at CU, said he's enjoyed meeting students and faculty members on the Boulder campus through his courses and events.

If


The First Documentary Devoted to the Tom Feeney Vote-Rigging Scandal and BRAD BLOG'S Four Year Odyssey in Reporting it

SIGNED DVD ALSO AVAILABLE AS NEW PREMIUM TO READERS!

Brad Friedman Byon 9/27/2008, 6:30am PT

"After the Florida Election in 2000, one man found himself on the wrong end of a smoking gun." That's the tagline for Murder, Spies & Voting Lies: The Clint Curtis Story, the brand-new documentary film by Patty Sharaf which has now finally been released!

Kansas City Star is among the first out of the box to review the film, calling it a "Must See!" and declaring that it "plays like a high-tension political thriller."

The terrifying feature-length documentary, shot in high-definition video, details, for the first time, the complete Clint Curtis/Tom Feeney/Yang Enterprises vote-rigging scandal, in all of its,the case from Gore Vidal, reporter Bob Fitrakis, computer security expert Harri Hursti, whistleblower Steve Heller, Curtis co-worker Mavis Georgalis, and many more!

While the Curtis story has been told, often beautifully, in a number of other documentaries, such as Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections and Stealing America: Vote-by-Vote, this is the first to go all the way into all of the frightening details underscoring this case, including the mysterious death of Florida's Inspector General Raymond Lemme while investigating the allegations, and the bizarre case of the convicted Chinese spy, Hai Lin "Henry" Nee, who worked at the firm with Curtis.

A few quotes from some of the early reviews:

"Must see!...Plays like a high-tension political thriller...Amazingly elaborate and detailed...Want to get hoppin' mad? This'll do it...Let's hear it


for paper ballots." - Bob Butler, Kansas City Star "Alfred Hitchcock would have chosen this, if the fact that it's true didn't scare him too much...The crime that dare not speak its name: Election Fraud." - Mimi "Dharma & Greg" Kennedy, National Chair of PDA "Well done, covers so much well, and airs unexplored aspects of our election nightmare. Definitely one of the best of the genre." - John Ennis, filmmaker Free For All

The film is also screening at a number of upcoming film-festivals around the country, including the New Jersey Film Festival this weekend. See the MSVL website for dates & times.

Four years later, I'm happy to still be here to see the release of the film, quite frankly. There were some pretty scary days back there.Diversity in academic medicine no. 4 Northeast Consortium: innovation in minority faculty development.
In fiscal year 2006, the US Government abruptly and drastically reduced its funding for programs to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of academic medicine, including programs to increase the development of minority medical faculty. Anticipating this reduction, 4 such programs-the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School, and University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine-decided to pool their resources, forming the Northeast Consortium of Minority Faculty Development. An innovation in minority faculty development, the Northeast Consortium of Minority Faculty Development has succeeded in exposing faculty trainees to research and teaching that they might not have considered otherwise, expanding the number and diversity


Aston Martin has announced it potentially plans to float on the London Stock Exchange later this year after a set of half-year results that saw sales and profits for the luxury British car maker hit record levels.

Revenues climbed 14 per cent to £449.9 million, while pre-tax profits rose from £20.1 million to £20.8 million, buoyed by the launch of three new sports cars and growing demand in Asia.

Once the cost of preference shares and other measures were stripped out, pre-tax profits rose to £42 million, and the company booked a profit margin of 24 per cent.

At least 25 per cent of its shares will float in the listing, which will happen later this year, in a move that would allow it to enter the FTSE 100 if theand has a technology sharing agreement with the company, will remain a shareholder.

The number of cars sold in the first half slipped to 2,299 from 2,439 in the same six months last year, because of the launch of three new models: The DB11 Volante, the DB11 AMR and the Vantage.

It will also begin production of its highest-end regular model, the DBS, in the next quarter.

It expects to sell 6,200 to 6,400 this year, climbing to 7,100 to 7,300 next year and up to 9,800 in 2020 when its new plant in Wales comes on stream. In the long run, the business expects to make up to 14,000 cars a year, across both its Aston Martin nameplate and its new Lagonda brand, which the company will relaunch as a


Saturday, December 08, 2007

Omaha mall shooting

Robert Hawkins, a 19-year-old boy who on December 5, 2007 killed 8 people on an Omaha Nebraska mall and committed suicide. According to AP,Robert Hawkins entered a mall, an AK47 in hand, killed 8 people and shot himself afterwards after spending four years in a series of treatment centers, group homes and foster care after threatening to kill his stepmother in 2002. He had recently broken up with a girlfriend and lost his job at a McDonald's. He left a suicide note at his suburban house with the following message:

"I know everyone will remember me as some sort of monster, but please understand that I just don't want to be a burden on the ones that I care for my entire life," hewrote. "I just want to take a few pieces (sic) of (expletive) with me."

Surveillance video and still images of the attack show Hawkins initially walking into the mall unarmed, wearing glasses, a black zippered sweat shirt over a black T-shirt with a white logo. He returned to the store six minutes later, according to timestamps on the footage.

Video of the department store's south entrance shows Hawkins entering the festooned store and immediately walking to the elevator to his right. His right hand was tight against his midsection to hide what police said was an AK-47 assault rifle.

Meanwhile, funerals for some of Hawkins' victims were announced. A wake for John McDonald, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was scheduled for Sunday, with a funeral the following day in his hometown. A


vigil for Janet Jorgensen, a 14-year Von Maur employee, was scheduled for Sunday evening in Omaha, with a funeral Mass on Monday.

Jorgensen's family members gathered to pray for the victims and their families — including Hawkins' family.

"They're not vindictive people," family friend Paul Huntimer said Friday to a gathering of reporters at the Jorgensens' Omaha home. "It was important to Ron that prayers go out to the suspect's family."(CNN) World Wrestling Entertainment announced Wednesday that it plans to hold the first women's wrestling match in Saudi Arabia.

WWE stars Lacey Evans and Natalya plan to square off against each other during the Crown Jewel, a pay-per-view event being held Thursday at the King Fahd International Stadium in the capital city, Riyadh.

The arrangement has drawn criticism in part because of Saudi Arabia's human rights record and extreme conservatism -- same-sex sexual activity is illegal there, public spaces are mostly segregated by gender and women's rights remain restricted . It wasn't until 2017 that women could attend sporting events. Last year, a decades-old ban on women driving was lifted.

"Hopefully, this event, this match, this opportunity will have a ripple effect all around the world to show everyone that women


I understand why it doesn't impress a lot of people, but it means the world to me and so many others. https://t.co/4Zy7N2QOBP — Mansoor (منصور الشهيل) (@KSAMANNY) October 30, 2019

The King Fahd stadium is one of three stadiums in Saudi Arabia that have allowed women to attend sporting events since 2017.

This has been a year of firsts in the women's division at WWE. During this year's WrestleMania, WWE's biggest show of the year, the women's division held the main event for the first time in the event's 35-year history. Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch closed out WrestleMania in April with Lynch walking away with two titles, the Raw and Smackdown Women's Championships.

The women featured in the match

Natalie Neidhart-Wilson, who goes by the ring name Natalya, hailsfrom legendary Hart family. Her late father Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, along with her uncle, Bret "Hit Man" Hart, were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. She is a veteran in the women's division and stars in the E! reality series "Total Divas."

"I'm just so excited. I don't think it has really sunk in," she said in a video WWE tweeted. "This is life-changing. I can't believe that I'm going to be part of history."

EXCLUSIVE: @NatbyNature CAN'T WAIT to square off with @LaceyEvansWWE in the first-ever women's match in Saudi Arabia tomorrow at #WWECrownJewel. pic.twitter.com/gaxdPeU2hu — WWE (@WWE) October 30, 2019

Natayla's opponent, Macey Estrella-Kadlec, known by the ring name Lacey Evans, is a US military veteran and signed with the WWE's performance center in 2016.


perspectives on the current landscape of tobacco policy and smoking in Japan. One highlights the historical and comparative contexts of Japanese tobacco policy, and emphasizes the continuity and similarity of Japanese legal, political, and social practices with those of other nations. The second illuminates the political economy of tobacco in Japan - tobacco farmers, government bureaucrats, politicians, and big business. Unified, they control the growth, manufacture, and sale of tobacco and work to maintain a smoke-friendly environment. The third perspective focuses on anti-tobacco activists, who seek both individual compensation and social change.

Taken together, these three perspectives make clear that forms of formal legal ordering have occupied only a minor place in Japanese tobacco policy. Few tobacco control laws have been enacted, and those that exist are rarely enforced.of the switching power-supply circuit of the circuit board 2A and the conductor land pattern 4 connected to an output portion of the switching power-supply circuit of the circuit board 2B are interconnected by the corresponding terminal 5. As a result, the switching power-supply circuit of the circuit board 2A and the switching power-supply circuit of the circuit board 2B are connected in parallel, such that the switching power-supply circuits operate in parallel.
With the switching power-supply module 1 as described above, the circuit boards 2A and 2B on which the switching power-supply circuits are provided are stacked one on the other with spacing therebetween using the terminals 5, such that the switching power-supply circuits on the circuit boards 2A and 2B operate in parallel. This arrangement, for example,


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Simard Realty Group with Keller Williams

Property Description

Fantastic newer home recently built in 2013. Located in a quiet 12 home cul-de-sac this home is available immediately. Convenient open floor plan, eat in kitchen with granite, center island, and pantry. Spacious sun filled living room with gas fireplace. This home also boasts a generous sized master bedroom with full bath, and double walk in closets. The practical set up has a first floor laundry room, mudroom off the garage, and sliders to the open back yard area. Attractive exterior with vinyl siding, stone, and large front porch sitting area. Desirable public utilities. Make it yours!Sunday, August 23, 2015

Hercules is
a copper statue depicting the ancient Greek demigod Heracles. The statue is
located at the top of a Pyramid, which stands on top of the Octagon. Today
"Hercules" refers not only to the statue, but the whole monument,
including the Octagon and Pyramid. The monument is the highest point in the Bergpark
Wilhelmshöhe. On 23 June 2013 the Mountainpark and the Hercules were proclaimed
as world heritage site during the UNESCO meeting in Phnom Penh.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

It's been a few days ago... We were interviewed by a journalist from the a newspaper HNA.We reported about the article on our Facebook page. Now we want to write about the interview here on our blog.The reason why the HNA reported about us was that we always looking for new hosts.We


between the very beautiful street "Unter den Linden" and "Straße des 17. Juni",

both street are very nice and it was lovely doing a walk there.
Jani also showed us her work place, the "Haus der Kulturen der Welt". It was build in the late fiftys as a congress hall and nowadays it is used as cultural centre with concerts, exhibitions, cinema etc.

From there you also have a great view to the workplace of Angela Merkel our chancellor.

We also got a glimpse on the impressing Berliner Dom

and the Rotes Rathaus,

the workplace of the Mayor of Berlin.
At the end of the day we drove to her most-liked place in Berlin the Rummelsburger Bucht and we saw a fantastic sunset.

In summary we really liked the city and Jani promised us when weare back here she will show us more of her favourite city in the world.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

On our last day in St. Petersburg we did a boot tour in the river Newa,
the Griboyedov canal and the Moyka. This was great to get a glimpse of
the city especially all this great buildings on the embankment of the
river.

Not to miss when you visit St. Petersburg: The Church of the Savior on blood. The Church contains over 7500 square meters of Mosaic. The colors are great and it feels like you are in a fairytale movie.

We also visit the oldest market of St.Petersburg where you can get everything you need, from fresh fish to pigheads (ugrr).

Another photo shooting in front of the river Newa with a close up from
us to


a Styrofoam container to me. "Hot wing?"

I grumbled, but took the container of hot wings.

"So much for going Zen, huh?" Vlad called from his place behind his computer screen.

I flipped Vlad off, pulled two bottles of beer from the kitchen, and flopped down next to Will on the couch. I offered him a bottle. He opened both of ours with his keychain bottle opener and cheers-ed me.

I took a long pull on my beer.

I really wanted to remain calm. I really wanted to be nonchalant and believe that the three-headed dog was a figment of my imagination or that I had mistakenly eaten a handful of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Two more monster-sized swigs and I was no calmer.

"So?" I said finally.

Will turned and looked at me as if surprised thatin my psyche that I never wanted to revisit it. Lucas was my father, the one who, four days after my birth, abandoned me and my mother, and who, when I was nearly three, caused my mother to take her own life. He was a horrible, spiteful man, but for some twisted and masochistic reason, I had always wanted him to notice me, to want to come back to be with me, to approve of me, his daughter. I knew, intellectually, that could never happen because I knew who Lucas Szabo really was.

My father is Satan.

It strikes a chill down my spine whenever I think about it—which I try to make as little as possible. He had raised another daughter, my half-sister Ophelia. And even though she was


sorts of models. Do you have a price range in mind?"

Gertrude said other things too—something about cedar and polished brass that I could barely hear above the rushing of blood as it coursed through my skull. I felt each toe touch the carpet through my shoe; I felt each step, each breath of ice-tinged air, and then I was running, my lungs screaming against the sear as I held my breath and pushed through the double doors. The sunlight on my shoulders, on my face, burned me and I hurled myself into the street, my eyes focused on Nina's black car, which looked a thousand miles—a hundred blocks, a lifetime—away. I vaguely heard her calling me, heard the screech of tires and the blaring of horns. Someone yelled,At the start of the month, Brett Kavanaugh came across as a devout Catholic with an unblemished personal record and golly-gosh stories about coaching his daughters' basketball teams. He had a mild way about him, and a near-certain chance of sailing to a confirmation to the highest court in the land.

By the end of Thursday's Senate judiciary committee hearing, the U.S. Supreme Court nominee, who is facing a handful of allegations that include sexual assault, would be shown in cable news clips snivelling, roughly flipping pages from his prepared statement, shouting during his opening testimony as he denied the allegations, and deflecting senators' questions about his alleged abuse of alcohol by challenging them about their own drinking habits.

His testimony came in stark contrast to the composed and considered


testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, the California research psychologist and professor who on Thursday alleged to senators with "100 per cent" certainty that Kavanaugh tried to drunkenly rape her in the 1980s when they were both teens at a house party in Maryland.

"By everyone's account, she has been an outstanding witness … she was not evasive. She seemed forthright," said Stacy Hawkins, a professor at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey. "She was as credible as any witness could be, under the circumstances."

(Watch: Christine Blasey Ford says she's 100 per cent certain Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her.)

Senator Dick Durbin asks Christine Blasey Ford with what degree of certainty she believes it was Brett Kavanaugh who assaulted her in 1982. 0:47

Some in the gallery were reportedly brought to tears bybeer?" he asked a senator at one point.

(Watch: Kavanaugh gets combative when asked about his drinking)

U.S. Supreme Court nominee testifies that he does not have a drinking problem. 0:50

Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., who attended Yale Law School with Kavanaugh and socialized with him, said in a phone interview that after Thursday's hearing, he believes his old peer's promotion is in greater jeopardy.

"He might be withdrawn," he said. "That's where we are right now."

Osler was among dozens of Kavanaugh's former classmates who signed a letter of support for him after his nomination. Osler has since withdrawn his support in the wake of the allegations.

He did stress that although he did "go to parties and drink with" Kavanaugh, he


never saw any behaviour matching the kind of accusations that have been made against him.

Among Kavanaugh's mistakes on Thursday, Osler said, were his sharply partisan attacks in his opening testimony. He accused Democrats of an "orchestrated political hit, fuelled with apparently pent-up anger about President Trump … and revenge on behalf of the Clintons."

Kavanaugh worked on independent counsel Ken Starr's investigation of President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, and was known to have proposed the most sexually graphic questions to be asked of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, with whom Clinton admitted to having an "inappropriate relationship."

Kavanaugh alluding to Clinton "revenge" didn't sound to Osler like the impartial thoughts of a jurist deserving of a spot on the Supreme Court.

"More than anything, what he needs to dois establish himself as someone who's telling the truth," Osler said. "If what he's saying is related to conspiracy theories, it's going to go the other way."

(Watch: Sen. Dick Durbin asks Kavanaugh to insist on an FBI investigation.)

Sen. Dick Durbin asks Kavanaugh repeatedly if he thinks an FBI investigation should be held. 5:30

A stream of Republican senators defended Kavanaugh and ripped Democrats for what they portrayed as 11th-hour tactics to derail the Supreme Court nomination of a respected conservative judge. During Kavanaugh's testimony, Republican Lindsey Graham slammed his Democratic colleagues for carrying out what he called "the most unethical sham" he's ever witnessed in his political career.

Kavanaugh's angry indignation appeared to please U.S. President Donald Trump, who tweeted his support for the nominee and repeated Kavanaugh's "search and


AT Trump and not the Senators in the room. His anger as an appeal to Trump. It is this type of outrage that really reaches Trump. —@KarlFrisch

The hearing began with an unusual format that didn't seem to work very well for the Republicans.

Normally, the two parties would take five-minute turns asking a witness questions. But the Republicans opted to cede their time to Rachel Mitchell, a sex-crimes prosecutor they hired to ask questions on their behalf, apparently aware of the bad optics of an all-male, all-white group of Republicans grilling a female survivor of sexual assault.

The tactic "backfired," said Supreme Court expert Lisa Tucker, an associate law professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

"Their strategy of using Mitchell was terrible. Any lawyer engaged in a line of questioning getsa rhythm going with the witness. Interrupting her and telling her she had to stop every five minutes was very unexpected to her, and you could see it."

Rachel Mitchell, counsel for Senate judiciary committee Republicans, questions Christine Blasey Ford as senators Mike Crapo, Jeff Flake, Ben Sasse, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and John Cornyn listen. (Tom Williams/Reuters)

It was difficult at times to grasp where Mitchell's questions were heading. During the morning session, she quizzed Ford about her fear of flying, apparently attempting to cast doubt on her credibility by pointing out she has flown to holiday destinations despite her claimed aversion to air travel.

By the late afternoon, midway through Kavanaugh's testimony, Republicans abandoned the tactic of ceding their speaking time to Mitchell. Several of them took the opportunity


the adjacent dwellings. Then a woman shrieked.

Why would whoever took Sophie bring her here? It was not safe. If only he could figure out where she was and get to her before her captors brought her here. But that would be impossible. All he had was the parchment her captors had sent.

This was all Alexandra's doing. Somehow she had found out about his business and corrupted one of his employees. He didn't doubt that she could have persuaded one of them to do the deed. The woman was a siren. She could most likely persuade anyone to do anything.

Even as his anger bubbled, his heart still yearned for her.

He still loved her.

How could he have misjudged her? Yes, her childhood had been miserable. Could he excuse her behaviorMarsalforn

The concrete platform after the 2013 Elections

On the day of the 2013 General Election, an individual coated part of the Marsalforn rocky shore, located right in front of the Il Gabbiano restaurant (ex-Panarea Snack Bar) with concrete. This act of vandalism was reported to MEPA, which issued an enforcement order on the Lands Department as the owner of the land and on the owner of Il Gabbiano, who denied any involvement. The concrete was then removed, at public expense, by the Gozo Projects and Development Department, which is part of the Ministry of Gozo.

Subsequently, the enforcement orders were lifted by MEPA, and no further action was taken against the perpetrator despite there being, in our opinion, enough evidence to do so. Moreover, when the concrete was removed, this


community and is definitely worth being heard.

In the video, Mahi talks about the hardships she has had to face because of her identity.

She addresses everyone watching, asking us to understand that people like her are human too. Something that goes without saying but sadly, isn’t. In school, Mahi was severely bullied and nobody came to her rescue. In fact, one of her teachers even joined in on the insults and refused to acknowledge that the bullying was unsolicited. Whenever she was beat up or verbally abused, Mahi had to hear that she asked for it.

Where Mahi’s family decided to keep her, more often than not, families decide to give up their babies when they are born transgender. Shunned from society through no fault of their own, life forKFC Battle Esports as the event is called.

If you want to participate, you will need to sign up online either as a team or a solo player. After several rounds of qualifiers that begin on the 11th of May and continue through to the 7th of June, the Grand Final is taking place in Moscow – players from all over Europe are going to assemble in the Russian capital in order to duke it out among themselves who’s really the best team.

Players who qualify for the Grand Final in Moscow are getting their entire trip paid for, start to finish, and for the winners of that Final, another trip is in the cards – they get to go to Berlin for the CS:GO Major 2019 later this year.

That’s


A delightful day in Corvallis came to a lovely end when my friends and I climbed up to the top and enjoyed the sunset. The clouds rolled around in the valleys below us, and the weather was simpley perfect. I've had a soft spot for this peak ever since.

Bob Bolton and I did the short hike from the parking area as darkness fell on a thursday evening. From there we drove down to do Bolivar Peak of Coos county, Brandy Peak of Curry county and Grayback Peak of Josephine county in the next two days as we were chasing Oregon county highpoints on that particular trip.

We had some nice nightime views but very few pics from the top of Mary's peak that are decent. It'd be nice toSteps

PARKING: 1 Assigned Parking Space in Underground Garage

In addition to the beach, Oceanside does offer a variety of places to visit, such as Mission San Luis Rey, a historic mission that was built back in 1798. Other popular tourist sites include the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Disneyland, and Legoland, all of which are under an hour & five minute drive. For travelers who need to catch a flight, the San Diego Airport is about an hour drive from the Oceanside Pier.

*The San Diego Airport is roughly an hour drive from our Oceanside properties.

All homes in Oceanside, CA sit behind a rock barrier protecting the homes from storm surges. The amount of sand beyond the rock barrier varies quickly with storms and tides and may


2017-04-21

Overall satisfaction

Services from rental manager

Cleanliness

Location

Property condition

Recommend to Others

We arrived to a completely immaculate condo: every surface gleamed, the bathrooms and kitchen were spotless, and every plate, glass and utensil was clean and in place. The bedroom is lovely, with a sitting area I never had a chance to try out - though our dog did give the seal of approval to the couch, ignoring his travel bed in favor of the corner of the couch by the window. The seating area downstairs is minimal, but adequate for two adults and a very large dog.

The patio has glass panels, providing both views and shelter; there's plenty of seating and a fire pit.

Minor caveats: making sense of the light switches is not a trivial exercise; the key for the fireplace                   I.

     Plaintiff-appellee Kenneth Rorie owns and operates a business

called   Kentex   that   builds    machines    including   coil   processing

machines that unroll coiled sheet metal, bend it flat, and cut it

to a desired length and width.             Kentex is housed in a locked

building in a rural area.

     Tracy Edwards joined Kentex in 1985 as a laborer and was soon

promoted to shop manager.         As shop manager, Edwards used many of

the plans


for the coil processing machine and had access to all the

plans.    Rorie gave Edwards some of the responsibility for the

security of the plans and instructed him to release the plans on a

need to know basis. Although there was no written agreement, Rorie

informed Edwards in several conversations that the plans were

confidential and that Edwards should protect that confidentiality.

     In 1998, Edwards left Kentex to start his own business.             In

his new business, Edwards used Rorie’s plans to build a machine

similar to that sold by Kentex.            He sold his first machine to

Standard Structures, a former Kentex customer.

    circuit section synchronously with the first clock signal.
In the inventive digital circuit, the raw clock signal synchronized with the first clock signal is synchronized with the second clock signal and output by the first circuit section. Then, the output signal from the first circuit section is synchronized with the first clock and output as a reproduced clock signal by the second circuit section. Accordingly, even when noise is superposed on the first clock signal, noise components of the reproduced clock signal are greatly reduced.
In the inventive digital circuit, the first clock signal is preferably a signal for outputting a particular signal and the second clock signal is preferably a signal for use in operation processing.
In the inventive digital circuit, the first circuit section preferably includes a flip-flop which


KARNATAKA: In a barbaric incident, the burnt body of a civil engineering student identified as Madhu has been found in Raichur shocking the conscience of the people. Suspicions have now been raised over the nature of the death of the girl.

According to the local reports, a girl named Madhu who was a student of Navoday Engineering College, Raichur went missing on the April 15th. The parents of the girl began to locate her as she did not return to the house even after three days. However, the half-burnt body of Madhu hanging near a tree was found near the outskirts of the city. The sheer brutality heaped upon the body of the deceased shocked the very core of the city.

It was believed that the deceased Madhu had committedsuicide.

However, the parents and friends of the deceased suspected a foul play. The horrific scenes of the madhus half-burnt body hanging from the tree had left her parents and friends in a shock, who are now asserting that her daughter was brutally murdered.

Friends of the deceased and the college have hit the streets in protest against the brutal death of Madhu. Students are demanding for the immediate investigation to find out nature and circumstances surrounding to the death.

The police had registered a case and arrested one person, he said. An investigation is ongoing. Angry social media users are tweeting for justice for tweeting with a hashtag asking for justice for the victim; they shared horrifying photos and alleged she was raped


drink when he met him at the bar. The legal age to drink alcoholic beverages in Massachusetts is 21.

‘DRINK AFTER DRINK’

“Kevin Spacey bought him drink after drink after drink, and when my son was drunk, Spacey made his move and sexually assaulted him,” Unruh said at the 2017 news conference.

The actor allegedly stuck his hands into her son’s pants and grabbed his genitals, she said, adding it was “completely unexpected” and her son tried unsuccessfully to shift his body away from Spacey.

“He did not report the crime at the time, and that was largely because of embarrassment and fear,” she said.

Unruh said her son filed a report with police in Nantucket, a resort island off the southern coast of Massachusetts, shortly before her news conference.

More than 30 menhave said they were victims of unwanted sexual advances by Spacey, who became embroiled in controversy last year when actor Anthony Rapp accused him of trying to seduce him in 1986 when Rapp was 14. In October 2017, Spacey apologised for any inappropriate conduct with Rapp but has not commented since.

The fallout resulted in Spacey, who won a best actor Oscar in 2000 for “American Beauty,” being dropped from the final season of “House of Cards” and erased from the 2017 movie “All the Money in the World.”

Spacey is one of dozens of men in the entertainment industry and politics who have been accused of sexual misconduct, partly as a result of the #MeToo social media movement that began over a year ago.

(The story is refiled to fix


pilot certificate in 1997. He is instrument rated and uses his Cessna P210 both for pleasure and business as a real estate developer. Kiser also trained at OSU, where he was a flight instructor in the late 1970s. He works as a certified public accountant, and remains a lifetime aviation buff.

YAA, a fully self-supporting 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has made its mission introducing young people—by rotating through seven to 10 instructional stations during the course of a day—to the exciting world of aviation, unraveling the wonder and mystery of flight in a high-quality, engaging, educational program.

As word of the program spread and attendance grew (to as many as 480 participants to a single program), Kiser and Wathen invited other pilots, aviation enthusiasts, and service organizations to help lead discussionson various topics including aviation careers, police use of helicopters, airport surface operations, airport firefighting equipment, powerplants, and aircraft instruments. Boys and girls also participate in activities that include the building of a hand-held glider and preflighting a general aviation aircraft. Hundreds donate their time and expertise to further develop YAA and conduct its programs.

Wathen is chairman of the 15-member YAA Board of Directors, and Kiser is the executive director. As YAA grows rapidly, they have made it their responsibility to expand and establish new squadrons in cities across the United States. YAA reaches thousands now, but Wathen said he would like to see the program reach 50,000 to hundreds of thousands.

YAA has a modular, inexpensive, repeatable system that can be transplanted and duplicated anywhere. Because of its


process of approving texts, and the Board of Education's move appears to try to tamp that down.

Conflicts have also seeped into the approval of history textbooks in recent years, where some have sought to change the characterization of religion's role in the development of the early republic.

Among the changes approved by the state on Friday was "a mandate for teachers and professors to be given priority for serving on textbook review panels for subjects in their areas of expertise. They also enable the board to appoint outside experts to check objections that review panels raise," The Associated Press says.

Meanwhile, South Dakota became the fourth state so far this year to take up legislation that would allow public schools to teach intelligent design. Similar bills have been introduced in6 People Killed In A Bomb Blast In Grozny

The bodies of six men were discovered in the Chernorechye, a village in Grozny's Zavodskoi district.
Chechen law-enforcers say the men were presumably local Chechens killed by an identified explosive device /all bodies are mangled as though by a bomb blast/. Police are investigating the incident and identifying the bodies.


A Philippine police van rammed into protesters, leaving several bloodied, as an anti-U.S. rally turned violent Wednesday at the American Embassy in Manila.

At least three student activists had to be taken to a hospital after they were ran over by the van driven by a police officer, protest leader Renato Reyes said.

Associated Press TV footage showed the van repeatedly ramming the protesters as it drove wildly back and forth after activists surrounded and started hitting the vehicle with wooden batons they seized from police.

In front of horrified crowds, including videojournalists and photographers, the van suddenly charged backward then sprinted forward twice over a space of about 60 feet, barreling through the scattered protesters and hurtling some to the side like bowling pins. A few got ran over butwriter whose bestsellers in the forties saved a struggling Knopf. His high school had already produced Earl Derr Biggers, of Charlie Chan detective novel fame, and it later graduated William Gass.

Patchen only dabbled in college, but he studied with Jean Toomer and Alexander Meiklejohn when he did. His schoolmasters described him as having a “possibly dangerous tendency toward solitude.” He started a diary at twelve and never stopped writing. He produced a book a year for most of his life. He was a large man, described as “Dantesquely handsome.” A tendency toward pacifism came early, although he later found that sustaining pacifism through World War II was a one-way ticket to obscurity. Regarded now as a kind of pre-Beat proletarian-dissident-surrealist poet/novelist. Patchen makes some important links—say, from Whitman/


write.”

In 1934, he received his first book contract: Random House gave him one hundred dollars against future royalties on a book of poems. When the money ran out they offered him a job packing books at eighteen dollars per week. It was too much work—he quit so he could write. His wife, Miriam, recalled a day—a month after he signed the contract—when Patchen was reduced to begging. He gathered enough for a “heavenly meal” of peppers, bread, coffee, and apples. When the book was finished, it sold two hundred copies and went out of print.

In desperate times Patchen wrote to other writers for help. He had well-placed friends—Lewis Mumford and E. E. Cummings— but he cold-called others as well: Thomas Wolfe, Wallace Stevens. In 1936, he won aGuggenheim and used the first $108 check to move to Santa Fe. He followed the Joads to California for work and met James Agee, William Faulkner, and William Saroyan in Hollywood. The mid-thirties was a relatively flush time with ghostwriting, script doctoring, and federally funded writing programs, which kept him going while his poems began to attract national attention.

In 1939, he began a correspondence with James Laughlin, then still a student at Harvard but soon the founder of New Directions Press. The Patchens moved to Boston to work for Laughlin while New Directions published Patchen’s poetry. They earned twenty-five cents per hour for the “grubby work” (packing books, proofreading), while Laughlin bragged that he punished slip-ups with “sarcasm which is almost hostility.” A year later they moved to


New York, where Patchen began work on a novel, The Journal of Albion Moonlight, in reply—it is safe to assume—to the nation’s steady march toward war. If Norman Mailer saw World War II as a good opportunity to launch a literary career, then Kenneth Patchen saw it as a viable end-times scenario.

In March 1940, Patchen met Henry Miller at a Greenwich Village meeting on free speech. The two had already corresponded, but now a friendship erupted. Miller later wrote a short book, Patchen: Man of Anger and Light, about their conversations during the writing of The Journal of Albion Moonlight. And Miller did more than blurb the book. He called Patchen “America in person, the best it has to offer,” and compared the novel to Blake, Lautréamont, Picasso,donors and friends who helped to typeset a handwritten manuscript resembling the love child of a flow chart and the confessions of a serial killer.

William Carlos Williams gave the book a positive review in 1942, but it wasn’t until the sixties that Moonlight found a cult following among those who finally came back around to pacifism. That’s why it was there for Tim Gosman to find and pass along to me. Patchen kept writing, eventually dabbling in painting and “poetry jazz” until he died, in Palo Alto, in 1972, though to be honest my interest in him begins and ends with Moonlight.

The cover image of the New Directions paperback of The Journal of Albion Moonlightis one of the manuscript pages—now archived at UC Santa Cruz—and even a quick


SACRAMENTO -- The NBA's Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics have taken up the cause of a young black man killed in a police shooting. Before Sunday night's game, the teams wore t-shirts bearing Stephon Clark's name. Officers fired 20 shots at Clark. They say they thought he had a gun, but they only found a cellphone.

"We must say loud and clear that what happened to Stephon Clark was plain wrong," Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. "It's wrong, because a 22-year-old man should not die in that way."

Clark's grandmother stood with national civil rights leaders on Monday and described the moment he died in a hail of police gunfire.

"All that I heard was boom, boom, boom, boom, boom," said Sequita Thompson.

Those shots were captured on police body cam video.Clark was in his grandmother's backyard when he was killed.

SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 26: Sequita Thompson, (C) grandmother of Stephon Clark who was shot and killed by Sacramento police, cries as she speaks during a news conference with civil rights attorney Ben Crump (R) on March 26, 2018 in Sacramento, California. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

"They didn't have to kill him like that," Thompson said. "They didn't have to shoot him that many times."

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump joined the family's call for justice.

"This is reminiscent of so many police shootings of unarmed black and brown people," Crump said.

Clark had been spotted by a sheriff's helicopter as a suspect breaking car windows. Two patrol officers pursued him and within seconds of reaching him opened fire. They said they


thought he had a gun.

"So here's the common element between the community and the officers is fear, it is fear," said Steinberg, who has seen his city rocked by protests. "It is rather ironic that the city's aggressive video-release policy in some ways has not lowered the temperature. It has raised it, because the video itself raises those questions."

One question raised by the video is why did officers turn off the sound recording on their body cameras minutes after the shooting as they examined Clark's body. Investigators will want to know what they were talking about.
Fidel Castro was presented with a portrait of himself as a young revolutionary just 10 days before he died at the age of 90 on Friday.

In one of the last pictures taken of Castro before his passing, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang is shown presenting Castro with the portrait in Havana last Tuesday.

Another photograph shows the pair shaking hands during the November 15 meeting that they had reportedly agreed would further cement the historical friendship between their people.

Scroll down for video

Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro is presented with a portrait of himself as a young revolutionary by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang on November 15 in one of the last pictures taken of Castro before he died on Friday

Castro is pictured shaking hands with Vietnam's President Tran Dai


Quang in Havana, Cuba last week during their meeting

Castro, who led his native Cuba for nearly half a century and claimed to have survived more than 600 assassination attempts, has died at the age of 90.

With a shaking voice, his younger brother, Raul Castro, announced on state television that the Communist revolutionary died on Friday night.

World leaders have paid tribute to the revolutionary, who came to power in 1959, with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev praising him for 'strengthening' his island nation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described him as a 'symbol of an era', and said he was a 'distinguished statesman', and Pope Francis has said Castro's death is 'sad news'.

Nine days of public mourning for the deceased Cuban leader have been announced, when 'public activities and shows' willcease, and flags will fly at half mast.

The island's Council of State says state radio and television 'will maintain informative, patriotic and historic programming'.

The controversial former president (pictured in 2001) ruled the country as a one-party state from 1959 to 2006

Fidel Castro, who led the country of Cuba for nearly half a century (pictured during his last official appearance in April this year) died Friday at the age of 90.

Castro's ashes will be buried in the historic southeastern city of Santiago on December 4 after a four-day procession through the country.

Raul Castro, who succeeded his brother in 2006, told Cubans in the television announcement: 'Today, November 25, at 10.29pm, the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, passed away.

'In compliance with the expressed will of


Companion Fidel, his remains will be cremated.'

He concluded his statement by saying: 'Onward to victory.'

An image of Fidel Castro hangs outside a government building in Havana, Cuba, after news of the former leader's death was announced

The streets were empty outside Havana's Gran Teatro hours after Fidel Castro's death was announced by his brother Raul

Nightclubs in the Cuban capital were closed after news of Castro's death filtered through to citizens

Castro's death comes just months after the Communist revolutionary predicted that his time on earth was nearly up.

Among the first world figures to pay tribute to Castro was former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who praised him for 'strengthening' his island nation.

Gorbachev said: 'Fidel stood up and strengthened his country during the harshest American blockade, when there was colossal pressure onhim and he still took his country out of this blockade to a path of independent development.'

And current Russian President Vladimir Putin said: 'The name of this distinguished statesman is rightly considered the symbol of an era in modern world history. Fidel Castro was a sincere and reliable friend of Russia.'

Putin added that Castro has managed to build a 'free and independent Cuba' that 'became an influential member of the international community and served as an inspiration for many countries and peoples'.

Pope Francis has said Castro's death was 'sad news', and in a message to Raul, said:'I express to you my sentiments of grief.'

Among the first world figures to pay tribute to Castro was former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (seated, left, alongside Castro signing a treaty of friendship


and co-operation), who praised him for 'strengthening' his island nation

Putin, pictured with Castro in 2014, said the former Cuban leader was an 'inspiration for many countries and peoples'

The Kremlin strongman hailed Castro as a 'strong and wise person who always looked to the future with confidence'.

'He embodied the high ideals of a politician, a citizen and a patriot sincerely convinced of the rightness of the cause to which he dedicated his whole life,' Putin said.

'His memory will forever remain in the hearts of the citizens of Russia.'

Putin also said that Castro had made a 'huge personal contribution' in the establishment and development of the countries' bilateral relations.

Vladimir Putin has paid tribute to 'symbol of an era' Fidel Castro, saying he was an 'inspiration' to leaders around the world

Castromade his last official appearance before the country's Communist Party in April (where he is pictured here with brother Raul in 2011) and predicted he would soon die

Castro (pictured talking to French President Francois Hollande last year) handed power to his brother Raul in 2008 after he required emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding

Tributes already began to pour in for Castro, while residents of Little Havana in Miami - a haven for Cubans who fled Castro's regime - celebrated early Saturday morning

Fidel Castro is shown above in this photograph with civil rights leader Malcolm X in August 1959

Castro made his last official appearance before the country's Communist Party in April, asking party members to help keep his ideas alive long after he died.

'The time will come for all of


us, but the ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain as proof on this planet that if they are worked at with fervor and dignity, they can produce the material and cultural goods that human beings need,' he told them.

Castro spoke as the government announced that his brother Raul will retain the Cuban Communist Party's highest post alongside his hardline second-in-command.

It was a resounding message that communism would retain its hold on Cuba, even as its leaders begin to die and age and icy relations with the US continue to thaw.

Castro officially handed power to his brother Raul in 2008, two years after he required emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding.

Raul Castro had been made acting president in 2006.

Pope Francis, pictured with Castro in September last year, has describedthe former Cuban leader's death as 'sad news'

Fidel Castro, left, is pictured with former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the Lenin mausoleum in Moscow's Red Square on May Day in Moscow, Russia in May 1963

Castro (pictured here at the UN General Assembly in 1970) was famous for his lengthy speeches. His 269-minute speech at the General Assembly in 1960 set a world record

Castro, center, and his soldiers are pictured in January 1959 as they made a roadside appearance while moving toward Havana where a welcome was expected

Castro, center, and Oklahoma Creek Indian missionary W.A. Reiford, right, wear war bonnets as Cuban Capt. Antonio Nunez Jimenez looks on in this July 1959 photo. Reiford went to Havana to open an orphanage

Castro photographed with American journalist Barbara Walters in Havana,


Cuba in 2002

As news of Castro's death broke, world leaders paid tribute to the revolutionary.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as 'one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century', and said: 'India mourns the loss of a great friend. I extend my deepest condolences to the Government and people of Cuba on the sad demise of Fidel Castro. May his soul rest in peace.'

Latin American leaders voiced their sorrow at Castro's death.

In Bolivia, where Castro ally Ernesto 'Che' Guevara died in 1967 in a failed bid to export Cuba's revolution, President Evo Morales said in a statement: 'Fidel Castro left us a legacy of having fought for the integration of the world's peoples ... The departure of Comandante Fidel Castro really hurts.'

In mourning: Venezuelan PresidentNicolas Maduro (left) and Bolivia's Evo Morales (center) have paid tribute to Fidel Castro. They are pictured in Havana celebrating the former Cuban leader's 89th birthday last year

Castro waves Cuba's national flag after giving a speech in front of USA Interest Office in Havana in May 2005

Flowers and candles are laid in front of the Cuban embassy in Berlin, Germany on Friday following Castro's pasing

And Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said: 'A great has left us. Fidel has died. Long live Cuba! Long live Latin America!'

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said: 'Fidel Castro was a friend of Mexico, promoter of a bilateral relationship based on respect, dialogue and solidarity.'

And Salvador Sanchez Ceren, President of El Salvador, tweeted: 'With deep sorrow we received news of the death of my dear


friend and eternal companion, Commander Fidel Castro Ruz.'

In Venezuela, a long-time ally of Cuba and staunch opponent of the political stance of the United States, President Nicolas Maduro said Castro had inspired and would continue to inspire his country.

'We will keep on winning and keep fighting. Fidel Castro is an example of the fight for all the people of the world. We will go forward with his legacy,' Maduro told television station Telesur by telephone.

Castro, pictured with former South African leader Nelson Mandela in 2001, was an important supporter in the fight against apartheid, current president Jacob Zuma said in a statement

South African President Jacob Zuma hailed Castro for his help supporting the battle against apartheid.

'President Castro identified with our struggle against apartheid. He inspired the Cuban peopleto join us in our own struggle against apartheid,' Zuma said in a statement.

French President Francois Hollande mourned the loss of a major figure on the world stage and welcomed the rapprochement between Havana and Washington, but noted concerns over human rights under the Castro regime.

'Fidel Castro was a towering figure of the 20th century. He incarnated the Cuban revolution, in both its hopes and subsequent disillusionments,' Hollande said in a statement.

'France, which condemned human rights abuses in Cuba, had equally challenged the U.S. embargo on Cuba, and France was glad to see the two countries re-establish dialogue and open ties between themselves,' added the Socialist party leader.

Hollande met Fidel Castro in May, 2015 during the first ever visit by a French head of state to Cuba since


will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America. Advertisement

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said: 'Fidel Castro's death marks the end of an era for Cuba and the start of a new one for Cuba's people.'

Irish president Michael D Higgins said Castro guided Cuba 'through a remarkable process of social and political change, advocating a development path that was unique and determinedly independent'.

He added that Castro would be remembered as a 'giant'.

In a statement released after the 90-year-old's death, he said: 'Fidel Castro will be remembered as a giant among global leaders whose view was not only one of freedom for his people but for allof the oppressed and excluded peoples on the planet.'

On Saturday morning, U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump tweeted: 'Fidel Castro is dead!'

He later released a full statement in which he described Castro as a 'brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades' whose legacy is one of 'unimaginable suffering and the denial of fundamental human rights.'

U.S. President Barack Obama weighed in on the passing of the Cuban revolutionary leader, saying that history will record and judge the 'enormous' impact that Castro had on 'the people and the world around him.'

The White House released Obama's statement on Saturday morning in which he noted the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba has been marked by 'discord and profound political disagreements' for nearly six decades.

Obama offered his condolences to Castro's


family and said his thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people.

Castro (right) with revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara in Havana's famous '1830' restaurant four years after they led the revolution that toppled Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista

Castro addresses a National Press Club luncheon in Washington, D.C in 1959

A nightclub closed in the early hours of the morning as news of Fidel's Castro's death filtered through

In the streets of Havana, the announcement was met with surprise.

Mariela Alonso, a 45-year-old doctor, described the retired Cuban leader 'the guide for our people'.

She said: 'There will be no one else like him. We will feel his physical absence.'

Mechanic Celestino Acosta was sitting on a porch in the capital's central neighborhood of Vedado.

He called the news of Castro's death 'a painful blow for everyone'.

Newsof Castro's death was met with joy in the streets of Miami's Little Havana, where exiled Cubans celebrated the revolutionary's demise

But within half an hour of his death being announced, the streets of Miami's Little Havana teemed with Cuban exiles celebrating the 90-year-old's demise.

'Cuba si! Castro no!' they chanted, while others screamed 'Cuba libre!'

Thousands of Cubans fled the island to the United States after Castro took power in 1959.

Some were loyalists of Fulgencio Batista, the president prior to Castro, while others left with the hope they would be able to return soon, after Castro was toppled. He never was.

US Congress representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban-American Republican from Miami, said in a statement: 'A tyrant is dead and a new beginning can dawn on the last remaining communist bastion


of the Western Hemisphere.'

Castro was just 32 when he paid an unheralded visit to the Capitol in 1959

Castro smiles during a visit to the Cuban embassy in Algiers, Algeria in May 1972

Castro survived a number of US-backed assassination plots, as well as numerous media reports throughout the years that falsely claimed he was dead or nearly there.

But Castro, who four years ago bragged he didn't 'even remember what a headache is', remained active in his final months even as his public appearances became increasingly rare.

This summer he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and in August celebrated his 90th birthday.

Castro thanked fellow Cubans for their well wishes and lambasted his old foe the United States in a column carried by state-run media.

Cuba wentinto overdrive to honor the retired 'El Comandante', who built a Communist-run state on the doorstep of the United States.

Even in his old age, Castro remained as critical as ever of President Obama and frequently spoke out against him in his published opinion pieces.

Castro blasted Obama's visit to Hiroshima in May, saying the president 'lacked the words to ask for forgiveness for the killings of hundreds of thousands of people'.

Castro walks with Oliver Stone during the director's making of the HBO documentary 'Looking for Fidel' in Havana

Castro holds hands with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez as he recuperates from surgery in Havana in 2003. Castro's health forced him to relinquish power to his brother in 2008

In his last opinion piece, in March, Castro accused Obama of sweet-talking the Cuban


people during his visit to the island - the first by a US leader in 88 years - and of ignoring the accomplishments of Communist rule.

Castro survived long enough to see Raul negotiate an opening with Obama on December 17, 2014, when Washington and Havana announced they would move to restore diplomatic ties for the first time since they were severed in 1961.

Fidel cautiously blessed the historic deal with his lifelong enemy in a letter published after a month-long silence.

'I don't trust the policy of the United States, nor have I exchanged a word with them, but this does not mean I reject a pacific solution to the conflicts,' he wrote.

Considered more pragmatic, the younger Castro also introduced market-style reforms to the state-dominated economy and increased personal freedoms,such as the right to travel abroad that many Cubans celebrated.

In his last opinion piece, in March, Fidel Castro accused Obama (pictured with Raul Castro) of sweet-talking the Cuban people during his visit to the island - the first by a US leader in 88 years - and of ignoring the accomplishments of Communist rule

Yet others still revered Fidel for freeing the country from US domination and introducing universal, free healthcare and education.

Castro's reign over the island-nation 90 miles from Florida was marked by the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later, which nearly brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

He overcame imprisonment at the hands of dictator Fulgencio Batista, exile in Mexico and a disastrous start to


his rebellion before triumphantly riding into Havana in January 1959 to become, at age 32, the youngest leader in Latin America.

For decades, he served as an inspiration and source of support to revolutionaries from Latin America to Africa.

'Socialism or death' remained Castro's rallying cry even as Western-style democracy swept the globe and other communist regimes in China and Vietnam embraced capitalism.

Castro (center) is pictured with his brother Raul (left) and Camilo Cienfuegos (right) while operating in the Mountains of Eastern Cuba

While his brother Raul was his closest confidant and successor as president, his sister Juana, exiled in south Florida, called Fidel a 'monster' to whom she had not spoken in more than four decades.

His eldest son Fidelito, long Castro's only officially-recognised child, was a nuclear scientist in Cuba.

Hiseldest daughter Alina Fernandez, born from an affair with a married socialite who remained on the island decades later, attacked her father on exile radio from Miami.

Cuba's revolutionary hero Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, Castro and Cuba's President Osvaldo Dorticos, right, attend a reception in 1960

IN HIS OWN WORDS: CASTRO'S MOST MEMORABLE QUOTES Cuba's Fidel Castro, who seized power in Cuba in a 1959 revolution and transformed the country into a communist state while ruling for five decades has died, Cuban television said on Friday. Here are some of his more memorable quotes about himself and communism in Cuba: 'Condemn me. It is of no importance. History will absolve me.' -- Castro in 1953, when the young lawyer was defending himself at trial for his near-suicidal assault on the Moncada


one of his 'reflections,' or newspaper columns in 2008. 'The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore.' -- Castro in 2010 during an interview with US journalist Jeffrey Goldberg. Castro later said his comment was taken out of context. Source: Reuters Advertisement

Before he was El Comandante, Castro - born August 13, 1926 - was the son of a Spanish immigrant father who recruited labor for US sugar companies before building up a prosperous plantation of his own.

Castro attended Jesuit schools, then the University of Havana, where he received law and social science degrees.

His life as a rebel began in 1953 with a reckless attack on the Moncada military barracks in the eastern city of Santiago. Most of his comrades were killed and Fidel and Raul went toprison.

Fidel turned his trial defense into a manifesto that he smuggled out of jail, famously declaring, 'History will absolve me.'

Freed under a pardon, Castro fled to Mexico and organized a rebel band that returned in 1956, sailing across the Gulf of Mexico to Cuba on a yacht named Granma.

After losing most of his group in a bungled landing Castro, with the help of brother Raul and legendary guerrilla fighter Ernesto 'Che' Guevarra, rallied support in Cuba's eastern Sierra Maestra mountains.

Three years later, tens of thousands spilled into the streets of Havana to celebrate Batista's downfall and catch a glimpse of Castro as his rebel caravan arrived in the capital on January 8, 1959.

Castro (pictured in the late 1950s) rallied support in Cuba's eastern Sierra Maestra mountains and three


years later, tens of thousands spilled into the streets of Havana to celebrate Batista's downfall

Castro responds to a question from American NBC reporter Barbara Walters at a news conference granted to members of the US press in 1975

Castro shakes hands with Ernest Hemingway (left) and President Richard Nixon (right)

Castro greets former Pope John Paul II at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana in 1998

Castro welcomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev during the official ceremony for Gorbachev's arrival in Havana, on April 2, 1989

By Cuban count, Castro was the target of more than 630 assassination plots by militant Cuban exiles or the US government

The US was among the first to formally recognize his government, cautiously trusting Castro's early assurances he merelywanted to restore democracy - not install socialism.

But Castro was quick to silence his critics, closing independent newspapers and ordering the deaths of at least 582 members of the old government, who were gunned down by firing squads, over the course of two years.

Homosexuals in the country were herded into camps for 're-education' and HIV-positive citizens were quarantined.

In 1964, Castro acknowledged holding 15,000 political prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled, including Castro's daughter Alina Fernandez Revuelta and his younger sister Juana.

Still, the revolution thrilled millions in Cuba and across Latin America who saw it as an example of how the seemingly arrogant Yankees could be defied.

And many on the island were happy to see the seizure of property of the landed class, the expulsion of American gangsters


and the closure of their casinos.

Castro's speeches, lasting up to six hours, became the soundtrack of Cuban life and his 269-minute speech to the UN General Assembly in 1960 set the world body's record for length that still stands more than five decades later.

As Castro moved into the Soviet bloc, Washington began working to oust him, cutting US purchases of sugar, the island's economic mainstay. Castro, in turn, confiscated $1billion in US assets.

Fidel Castro's cousin, Manuela Argiz, 103, poses at a residence for the elderly in Lancara, home town of Castro's father, a village some 12 miles from Lugo, northwestern Spain, on Saturday

A woman walks past graffiti that reads 'Long live Fidel and Raul' in Havana, Cuba on Saturday

A picture of Cuban late former president Fidel Castro hangson a building in Havana, Cuba on Saturday

The sun rises at dawn over Havana's seafront boulevard 'El Malecon' in Cuba on Saturday

The American government imposed a trade embargo, banning virtually all US exports to the island except for food and medicine, and severed diplomatic ties in 1961.

On April 16 of that year, Castro declared his revolution to be socialist.

The very next day the CIA sent 1,400 Cuban exiles to take down Castro in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, an international embarrassment for then-president John F Kennedy.

The debacle forced the US to give up on the idea of invading Cuba, but that didn't stop Washington and Castro's exiled enemies from trying to get rid of its leader.

By Cuban count, Castro was the target of more than 630 assassination


plots by militant Cuban exiles or the US government.

Tensions between the two countries only increased when Kennedy announced there were Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.

He imposed a naval blockade of the island and, after a tense 13-day standoff, Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev removed them.

Cuban-American wave an American and Cuban flag, in the Little Havana area in Miami following news of his death

Thousands of Cuban exiles cheered and celebrated in Miami, Florida in the wake of Castro's death

The Cuban Missile Crisis, as it became known, put the world at the brink of nuclear war - and hurt relations between Cuba and the US even more.

'Castro is not just another Latin American dictator, a petty tyrant bent merely on personal power and gain,' Kennedy said at the time. 'His ambitionsextend far beyond his own shores.'

President Jimmy Carter would try to improve relations with Cuba after he took office in 1977, even re-establishing diplomatic missions and negotiating the release of thousands of prisoners.

But conflicts over Cuba's military mission in Africa, tension caused by a flood of Cuban refugees in 1980 and the election of Ronald Reagan end the rapprochement.

As the end of the Cold War eased global tensions, many Latin American and European countries re-established relations with Cuba.

The Obama administration officially removed Cuba from a US terrorism blacklist and relations between the two countries were fully restored on July 20, 2015.

John Kerry flew to Havana a month later, becoming the first US Secretary of State to visit the country since 1945.

He attended a ceremonial flag-raising outside the newly


reopened embassy. Cuba's flag now lies in Washington too.

Castro, then the prime minister of Cuba, plays baseball in Havana in this August 1964 photo

Castro calls for time as former US president Jimmy Carter prepares to throw the first pitch in a 2002 baseball game in Havana

Revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara plays golf as Castro stands behind him at Colina Villareal in Havana in this undated file photo

As flamboyant as he was in public, Castro tried to lead a discreet private life. He and his first wife, Mirta Diaz Balart, had one son before divorcing in 1956.

Then, for more than four decades, Castro had a relationship with Dalia Soto del Valle. They had five sons together and were said to have married quietly in 1980.

Castro was rumored to have hundredsof lovers, and once said in a Vanity Fair interview that the number of children he fathered was 'almost a tribe'.

By the time Castro resigned 49 years after his triumphant arrival in Havana, he was the world's longest ruling head of government, aside from monarchs.

In retirement, Castro voiced unwavering support as Raul slowly but deliberately enacted sweeping changes to the Marxist system he had built.

Castro would even recognize some of his government's brutal human rights abuses, saying it's treatment of gays was an 'injustice'.

In 2010 Castro said during an interview that the 'Cuban model [of communism] doesn't even work for us anymore', although he later claimed the comment was taken out of context.

But Castro's longevity allowed the younger brother to consolidate control, perhaps lengthening the revolution well past


both men's lives.

In February 2013, Raul announced that he would retire as president in 2018 and named newly minted Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel as his successor.

As the tributes began to pour in from world leaders early Saturday morning, hundreds of Cuban-Americans took to the streets of Little Havana in Miami to celebrate his death.

The revelers banged pots and pans to express their joy at the demise of the man who had driven them or their relatives to flee their homeland.

Car horns filled the air and the crowd grew as people continued to cheer and sing in Spanish and wave Cuban flags.

Castro's death was also celebrated by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the first Cuban-American elected to Congress, who said it marked a 'new chapter in the history of Cuba'.

'The day thatIndian monsoon has recovered from 50-year dry spell: Scientists

New York, July 25 (IANS) The monsoon season in India has in the last 15 years recovered from a 50-year dry spell, during which the northern and central parts of the country received relatively lesser rain, a study led by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has claimed.

The findings showed that since 2002, the drying trend has given way to a much wetter pattern, with stronger monsoon supplying much-needed rain — along with powerful, damaging floods — to the populous north central region.

A shift in India’s land and sea temperatures may partially explain this increase in monsoon rainfall, the researchers said.

“Climatologically, India went through a sudden, drastic warming, while the Indian Ocean which used to be warm, all


team used six global precipitation datasets, each of which aggregate measurements from the thousands of rain gauges in India, as well as measurements of rainfall and temperature from satellites monitoring land and sea surfaces.

Between 1950 and 2002, the researchers found that north central India experienced a decrease in daily rainfall average, of 0.18 millimetres per decade, during the monsoon season.

However, they discovered that since 2002, the precipitation in the region has revived, increasing daily rainfall average by 1.34 millimetres per decade.

Although during the 2015, a brief drying period in the monsoon season that caused widespread droughts throughout the subcontinent was observed due to a severe El Nino season, “but even counting that dry year, the long-term [wetting] trend is still pretty steady”, Wang said.Monday, March 4, 2013

I've previously noted Steve Walker's Disneyland main street square. This weekend he brought his Main Street Station to Emerald City ComicCon and it looks like he's expanded it - putting it on the hill and adding the train.


Baylor’s national profile could soar with a strong effort tonight

WACO — Baylor has a chance to turn some national attention tonight in its game with Iowa State.

The Bears are currently ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press poll. None of the early projections of the Bowl Championship Series poll set for release tomorrow has them in the top 10.

But with No. 8 Louisville and No. 11 South Carolina losing in front of them, No. 10 Miami looking less than dominating in a narrow escape at North Carolina and No. 9 UCLA involved in a dogfight at Stanford, the Bears could be moving up in the polls with a strong performance.

Baylor hasn’t been in the top 10 of the AP poll since the Bears were ranked No. 8 inWegener's granulomatosis: a rare presentation.
Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is a necrotizing granulomatous vasculitis involving the nose, paranasal sinuses, lungs, and kidneys. There are two types of WG-systemic, which is characterized by focal segmental necrotizing glomerulonephritis and limited in which the kidneys are spared. Without proper immunosuppression, WG can be aggressive and often fatal. There are very few reports on WG presenting as parotitis and lacrimal gland involvement. We report a lady who presented recurrent parotitis, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, and orbital cellulitis, in whom the final diagnosis was revealed after an open lung biopsy.


In the off-year election, the president’s party loses at least a little. And when the president is in the middle of his second term, his party always takes it on the chin.

The fact is that in the century that senators have been directly elected by the people, no Senate candidate from the president’s party has ever won election from Minnesota in the off-year of the second term.

Furthermore, with one notable exception, the last time the president’s party won the governorship of this great state during a president’s second term was in 1875, when the entire adult population was about 200,000, and women weren’t allowed to vote.

In those days, Minnesota held its election in the odd-numbered years. Republican Ulysses S. Grant was in his second term from 1873-77. In1873 Cushman Davis and in 1875, John Pillsbury, both Republicans, were elected.

The one other exception? Only six years ago, Republican Tim Pawlenty won a second term during the middle of George W. Bush’s second term. Pawlenty defeated DFLer Mike Hatch by 21,000 votes.

Some will say the only reason Pawlenty won was because Peter Hutchinson of the Independence Party drew 141,000 votes away from Hatch. However, other years have had strong third party candidacies, and the president’s party has never prevailed. In 137 years, Pawlenty remains the only gubernatorial or Senate candidate from the president’s party to win election in the sixth year of a presidency.

Regardless, in spite of Pawlenty’s re-election, no one looks back on the 2006 vote as a Republican victory. Amy Klobuchar, who won big again


Tuesday, clobbered Mark Kennedy back then, DFLer Tim Walz upset incumbent Rep. Gil Gutknecht in the 1st District, and the DFL made gains in the Legislature.

Central Minnesota can be seen as a conservative outlier. By that I mean, this area is electing Republicans, but they are in the minority. Minnesota was a DFL stronghold for the first 30 years after World War II, then in 1978 the Republicans became competitive and remained so until that 2006 election.

In 2010, the Republicans made an astonishing comeback, taking control of the entire Legislature for the first time since party-designation was re-established in 1972. But they still lost the governorship.

Today, the DFL is crowing that it has total control of state government for the first time since 1990. Meanwhile, the Republicans haveJapan seeks UNESCO status for disputed islands; China riled

Beijing: Publicising pictures of Chinese ships patrolling waters around the disputed islands, China on Monday opposed Japan`s move to seek UNESCO`s World Heritage recognition for the islets, saying it would further escalate tensions between the two countries.

State-run People’s Daily online today prominently carried the pictures of Chinese ships patrolling the disputed waters close to the islands in the East China Sea.

The photos showed the territory, called Diaoyu by China and Senkakus by Japan, with the ships that went within 3 nautical miles of the islands.

The four-hour patrol was completed after the fleet sailed around Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets.

China considers Japan`s plans to seek UNESCO`s World Heritage recognition for the disputed islands as a "clear provocation" and would further


Jarrad Paul

Jarrad Paul Quick Links

A provocative drama wrapped in the skin of an adult sex comedy, this sharply written and performed movie is hugely entertaining even as it grapples with some big issues. The central themes here are notions of celebrity and sexuality, neither of which is nearly as clear-cut as the audience or characters think they are. And the script allows actors like Jack Black and James Marsden to do what they do best while undermining their usual personas with some edgy shadings.

Black plays Dan, the self-proclaimed leader of his high school class' 20-year reunion. He has always felt invisible, and is annoyed that he gets no respect from the reunion committee. Then he spots hot classmate Oliver (Marsden) in a TV advert and hatches a planto increase his popularity by convincing Oliver to attend the reunion. He lies to his boss (Jeffrey Tambor) about needing to go to Los Angeles on business, and he gets carried away as the openly bisexual Oliver shows him the partying lifestyle, taking things far beyond where he thought his limits were. Back home, he can't admit any of this to his sharp wife (Kathryn Hahn) and begins to lose touch with his smart teen son (Russell Posner). Then when Oliver turns up, things get even more precarious.

Filmmakers Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul get everyone into this mess in the usual ways, with snappy dialogue, goofy antics and rather a lot of humiliating embarrassment for poor Dan. Then they do something interesting: they refuse to play it safe,


Kentucky Working to Save Unwanted Horses

Kentucky is trying to do as much as it can to feed its hungry horses. The John Henry Memorial Equine Adoption Fair, named for the Kentucky Horse Park’s beloved racehorse who passed away last fall, takes place on June 28 and will help find homes for some of the state’s unwanted horses. The fair will take place at the Kentucky Horse Park and bring together a number of equine adoption organizations to showcase their rescued, adoptable horses.

John Henry spent the first several years of his life being unwanted, until he came into the hands of a trainer who recognized the value of a horse that the rest of the world saw as small, plain, ill-tempered and poorly conformed. John Henry rewarded those whoThis article, originally given as the 2017 Addison C. Harris Lecture at Indiana University, analyzes recent events in terms of three great cycles of change in American constitutional history. The first is the cycle of the rise and fall of political regimes. The second is the cycle of polarization and depolarization. The third is the cycle of the decay and renewal of republican government--the cycle of constitutional rot. Each of these cycles operates on a different time scale. Their interaction generates "constitutional time."

Many commentators worry that the United States is in a period of constitutional crisis, or that American democracy is doomed. These fears, although understandable, are overstated. America is not in a constitutional crisis, although it is suffering from a fairly severe case of constitutional rot, connected