our landscape. In fact, coyotes have expanded their range two to threefold since the 1850s, largely in response to human changes to the environment and the eradication of wolves.

Coyotes have adapted to living close to people and now inhabit even the most densely populated metropolitan cities from Boston to San Francisco, Austin, and Seattle. Estimates are that 2,000 coyotes are on self-appointed “rat patrol” in the Chicago metropolitan area.

At least 19 subspecies of coyote roam North and Central America, from California to Newfoundland and Alaska to Panama, occupying a broad range of habitats. Coyotes play an important ecological role helping to maintain healthy ecosystems and species diversity. As the top carnivore in some ecosystems, coyotes help regulate the number of mesocarnivores (such as skunks, raccoons, and foxes) which2014

Another year has passed and while stories about animals in need of help and protection continue to spread, there have been many victories worthy of celebration in 2013, thanks to the tireless work of animal advocates from around the world who continue to speak up and take action on behalf of our furry, feathered and finned friends.

Pets and Captive Wild Animals

Dutch the service dog was saved from euthanasia and returned home after biting a woman who beat him with a metal pole. Dutch was declared "vicious," but more than 308,000 people signed the petition calling out the label and asking for him to get a second chance after his owner asked for the public's help.

Columbia banned wild animals in circuses.

More than 350 dogs got a second chance after


Bay and Margate, FL and Kingston, ON.

Belgium banned wild animals in circuses.

Michigan passed the toughest dog fighting legislation in the U.S., with convictions carrying penalties of up to 20 years in jail and fines of $100,000.

China’s largest producer of bear bile extract withdrew its application to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and stopped plans to triple its production after outcry from Chinese citizens.

Texas banned gas chamber euthanasia.

Los Angeles banned the use of bullhooks on circus elephants.

West Hollywood banned the use of wild and exotic species in commercial displays and performances.

Oregon banned horse tripping at rodeos.

Arkansas, Arizona and Texas increased maximum dog track suspensions and fines, while a greyhound injury reporting requirement was passed in Arizona and West Virginia agreed to a new cruelty policy that will crack down onabuse.

Lawmakers in NYC voted unanimously to create a registry of animal abusers.

The Nonhuman Rights Project filed the first of many groundbreaking lawsuits seeking to demolish the legal wall that separates humans from nonhuman animals.

Farm Animals

Ag gag laws were pushed in 11 states and defeated in all of them.

California court upheld its foie gras ban.

Amazon.com UK banned foie gras.

A number of major food companies said no to gestation crates. Now more than 60 of the largest food companies are demanding more humane alternatives in their pork supply chains.

Coleman Company, an outdoor gear store, announced it will ban down and use only synthetic alternatives.

India sets the stage to ban battery cages for egg-laying hens.

In an unprecedented adventure, 1,150 rescued battery hens were flown across the country in a private jet


from California to New York where they were taken in by nine rescues and sanctuaries that promised to offer them permanent homes or adopt them out as pets.

Wildlife

California became the first state in the nation to ban lead ammunition, which will help protect endangered California condors and other wild animals from lead poisoning.

The World Trade Organization upheld the European Union's ban on Canadian seal products, which was a major victory for seals and for our right to oppose products that we believe are cruel and unsustainable.

Though they're still in danger, gray wolves garnered more than 1 million comments in favor of keeping them protected under the Endangered Species Act – the largest number of comments ever submitted on a federal decision involving endangered species.

The European Union closed loopholesin its laws that effectively banned all shark finning.

Following a legal battle, Puget Sound's southern resident orca whales will stay protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Blue whale habitat was protected from oil exploration off the coast of Australia.

Manta rays and five species of sharks were listed under Appendix II of CITES, which will protect them from international trade.

India banned dolphinariums.

A lawsuit led to a landmark agreement with the Obama Administration and the oil industry to protect marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico from seismic airguns, which are used in oil and gas exploration.

Polar bears in the U.S. kept their protection as a threatened species.

The second herd of genetically pure bison was reintroduced to the Great Plains in Montana.

Bobcats at Joshua Tree National Park got some protection from


mastery and specialization. Historically a
cast society, people were expected to dedicate their entire lives to the line
of work their biological or adopted family was known for.

The country also went to great pains to isolate themselves so this system
continued for much longer than other parts of the world where sources of
wealth were more diversified. In Japan wealth came from being known as the
best at your craft, which fostered a culture of continuous improvement.

In much of Asia perfection of art was seen as a sign of sophistication for the
wealthy. But the cultural revolution in China really dampened that for much of
China’s sphere of influence.

After WW-II Japan was forced to modernize. Western manufacturing and
improvement processes came in. The manufacturing was new but the culture of
continuous improvement and mastery was already wellPhotography Christian Long

In the emerging musician Yeek's new visual for his single "I'm Not Ready" he and his boys hang around an empty Los Angeles pool. They mostly skate, sit on the rim drinking Hennessy, and hype Yeek. He raps, Have you seen a girl twerk to Fall Out Boy? / She's a lonely girl with all them toys, then coos, stringing his guitar, I'm not ready for love / I'm having too much fun. It's a moment that captures the laid-back breeziness of 20-somethings falling in and out of love. The video, directed by Christian Long, explores love in many forms: there are the platonic vibes of Yeek and the homies kick-pushing through LA, the passion of two partners kissing in a dimly lit room, and the


did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death-march as they lowered you down?
Did the band play The Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
And, though you died back in 1916,
To that faithful heart are you forever 19?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Enshrined then, forever, behind a glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame?

Did they Beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death-march as they lowered you down?
Did the band play The Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

The sun's shining downthat this war would end wars?
Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain
The killing and dying, was all done in vain,
For young Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.

Did they Beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death-march as they lowered you down?
Did the band play The Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Last night I finally finished the first draft of Princesses In Space III: Die Harder. This one was really, really tough, folks. The ending was hard to do, and I imagine I'll have a lot of work to do at editing time. While this book won't hit the world for another year and a


a human side of Arthur and the 'divinely inspired' side of the Once and Future King.

The film's music was a combination of classical works and original score by Trevor Jones. Here is the music from the film's finale, when Bedevere must throw Excalibur back to the Lady of the Lake and then witness as the Three Queens take Arthur to Avalon. It's actually Wagner's Siegfried's Funeral Music.

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Quotables

"Make your country...into a land that understands more than only war and righteous piety. Allow space in your lives for more than battle chants to inspire soldiers. Teach your people to...understand a garden, the reason for a fountain, music."

-Guy Gavriel Kay,The Lions of Al-Rassan

Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any creative art. The water is free. So drink.DrinkIn an effort to cover a trail of messages between him and his mistress, former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus reportedly used a tactic favored by terrorists and teenagers -- communicating via draft e-mail.

Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, the co-author of Petraeus' biography and the woman he was having an affair with, set up private Gmail accounts in order to communicate, the Associated Press reported today. In addition to creating the e-mails under false identities, Petraeus and Broadwell decided to exchange some messages using the draft function, as an added precaution.

Instead of actually e-mailing each other, they would compose and draft messages but not send them. The other person would then log into the same account and read the drafts. This made those messages harder to trace, and the


Washington Post. While most of his counterparts weren't as quick to adapt to e-mail as a form of communication, the Washington, D.C., press knew Petraeus' affinity for technology. He was constantly checking his e-mail and was known to have two terminals open in his armored vehicle: one for classified information and one for an open Internet connection. Petraeus even bragged that he was the first CIA director to install an open Internet connection in his office, according to a reporter.

Just having an e-mail outside of his work e-mail set him a part from other high-ranking officials. Reporters said he e-mailed with the media frequently, but he was always very careful about the message he sent. It sounds like he was just as careful with personal e-mails, but itA university student licked moisture from the walls of a cave to survive after getting trapped for nearly three days.

Lukas Cavar, 19, has told how he feared for his life after becoming separated from the rest of his college caving or spelunking club while on beginner's expedition south of his university's main campus in Bloomington, Indiana.

On reaching the cave's gated entrance he found it locked and his cries for help went unheard. He was also unable to get a signal on his mobile phone.

While he had a head torch and some sunlight reached the cave, he had no food or water.

Mr Cavar said: "I managed to get some water from the cave walls, by basically licking the moisture off the wall."

He added: "My biggest worry was not making


it out alive.

"I was afraid I would never see my friends or family again."

A search was launched after it was noticed he was missing and he was eventually found, nearly 72 hours after his ordeal started, curled in a ball asleep by the cave's entrance.

Mr Cavar said: "The first thing I wanted to do was eat and drink and put on some warm clothes."

He plans to give up spelunking.

According to the Indiana Daily Student university newspaper, leaders of the caving club would not comment on how he became separated from the rest of the group.

The university had also not responded with a comment.Gold Buddha

Wat Traimit and the Golden Buddha

There was a story about how the Golden Buddha was discovered. This Buddha that graces Wat Traimit was accidentally dropped while items on display were being moved around. When the Buddha fell, the plaster covering cracked revealing a hint of the beautiful solid gold Sukhothai Buddha that was within. Some of the original plaster has been put on display as living proof that indeed this story has happened in real life. Wat Traimit is located at the end of Chinatown’s Yaowarat Road, District of Samphanthawong. It houses the massive seated Golden Buddha previously mentioned here. No one can blame artisans from disguising the Golden Buddha to protect it from invaders. The artisans used stucco and plaster but nobody remembered to remove the


cover after the invaders were gone.

The Golden Buddha is known in Thai as Phra Phuttha Maha Suwan Patimakon. This Buddha is the world’s largest solid gold statue. The origin of this statue was believed to be from the 13th or 14th century during the Sukhothai period. This theory was brought on by the observations made regarding the egg shaped head which means it has Indian influences. A typical characteristic of art made during the Sukhothai period. Experts say that metal figures of the Buddha made in India were taken to other countries for installation.

There is a chance that the statue after it was installed was moved from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya in 1403 since it was during this time when the seat of power was relocated to Ayutthaya. Itwas also believed by scholars that after placing thick layers of stucco, the statue was painted and inlaid with bits of colored glass. This is also why when Burmese invaders arrived in 1767 the statue remained unmoved from the ruins of Ayutthaya since no one knew that it is made of gold.

In 1801, Thai King Rama I established Bangkok as the new capital of his kingdom. He began his quest of constructing many temples in Bangkok and ordered for Buddhas found in ruins to be brought into Bangkok. This is the reason that the Golden Buddha was brought from Ayutthaya to Bangkok. Still the gold inside the statue remained hidden. During the reign of King Rama II, the same Buddha statue was installed and made as the principal


image to grace the main temple in Wat Chotanaram in Bangkok.

There was a time when Wat Chotanaram was in disrepair and was closed. During that time Wat Traimit was a minor pagoda of no significance. Since the temple has no storage area for the big statue it was kept under a simple tin roof and for 200 years forgotten. It was only in 1954 when a new Viharn building was built to house the statue. There were different versions of the story but suffice to say that the ropes came loose when it was time to lift the statue from its pedestal. Photos were then taken of the phases of removing the plaster.

After the plaster was successfully removed it was found out that the golden statue consists ofnine parts that fit together. A key was also found inside that was use to disassemble the Buddha when there is a need to transport it. The timing was perfect about the discovery of this Golden Buddha. It coincided with the 2500 years Anniversary of Gautama Buddha’s death. Buddhists consider this a miracle. Thai news was filled about reports of this event.

In 2010, a new building was inaugurated at the Wat Traimit to house this Golden Buddha. The new building is huge enough to include the Bangkok Chinatown Heritage Centre and the exhibition of the Golden Buddha. The Buddha itself seats in the traditional pose of Bhumisparsha Mudra. Bhumisparsha means touching the earth or earth witness mudra. The position symbolizes the Buddha’s enlightenment as he sits under the


Bodhi tree. It was during this time that he was summoning the earth goddess Sthavara to witness this period of his enlightenment.

At this time the statue is about 900 years old. There was a story that was told that before it was discovered as being made of gold a monk had a dream saying that the statue was divinely inspired. The following day he decided to visit the image and saw a tiny crack in the plaster. He saw a glint of yellow which lead to the discovery that the statue was made of gold after all. This is another version of stories retold of how this came to be.

Historically speaking, The 1991 Guinness Book of Records has enlisted the Golden Buddha as the “sacred object with theall arrived information in itself. But on the empty to site in distant end of the square in chanel preston creampie front of my tower itself more brightly, in all paints. One of youths pulled me a hand, silently pulled and could not to resist, circulated me from hand to hand. The member, it is abundant greased with female allocations, surely move, perhaps, I dance, and even with some chanel preston creampie low svetlenky maiden. Nopri it on the person at it hospitality and "understanding", and which are classified the contents, with - provozhdayushchy affect and context. Because the first woman with whom and here it is possible to praise and it is free. Soon after the termination of college I chanel preston creampie was engaged in the


of orange juice. If white America behaved that way, then white America could win the Olympics on its own.

The next day the press learned about the meeting, and I gave one of my rare interviews. Right from the beginning of the interview the baiting started. I was none too popular with the reporters anyway, the idea of a boycott didn't appeal to them, and Harry Edwards was anathema, so they were loaded for bear when they turned on their television cameras and began. They asked me if we were going to boycott the Olympics. I said I didn't know, that we had discussed the idea but had reached no final conclusion—which was certainly the truth. Well, they asked me that question about eight times, as though I wasI should mess up my school year and lose my whole summer for the purpose of going all the way to Mexico City to win a gold medal for the United States in a basketball tournament. I was right on schedule at UCLA, maintaining a B-minus average, and going to the Olympics would have cost me at least a quarter, and maybe two, and I'd have had to postpone my graduation. In the second place, the United States was not going to lose the Olympic basketball gold medal, and we all knew it. There was no way. My going there would only have been redundant. How many times can you win the same games?

As it turned out, while the other cats were getting themselves together to form an


Olympic basketball team, I went back to the playgrounds of New York City and did the same thing I had done the year before, with the same people: Emmette Bryant and Freddie Crawford. Instead of being in Mexico City that summer, I was in Harlem, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, in Brownsville, in the East Bronx, in all the slums of New York City, talking to kids for Operation Sports Rescue, telling them to stay in school and to make men out of themselves. That was my summer job. I thought then, and I think now, that that job was a lot more important than winning a gold medal in the Olympics. A whole lot more. I was talking to little black kids who are going to suffer because they don'tteammates, and out of those relationships came the meaningful events of 1968, at least so far as I was concerned.

One of them began on a bus ride from Columbus, Ohio to South Bend, Ind., where we were going to play our third game of the year, against Notre Dame. It was late at night and a bunch of us started talking religion. At first, most of the talk was between me and Steve Patterson. Steve was a Protestant and a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He thought that everybody should be a Christian, and he didn't know that I had become a Muslim. We went all around the circle of logic. You know how it goes:

"Listen, Christ died for all men. Christ is the only salvation


for men."

"Wait a minute, man, what about all those people around the world that never heard of Christ. Aren't they gonna be saved?"

"Well, I guess not." Etc.

It began to get pretty hot, and soon we were joined by Donny Saffer, a Jew, and by Terry Schofield, a Catholic. Coach Wooden moved closer to listen, but except for adding a few helpful bits of information, he did not take a stand. He just listened, and he seemed fascinated. When I finally told everybody that I was now an Orthodox Muslim, there was a hush, but then the whole discussion resumed and nobody seemed to care that I was a Muslim. They accepted it and we talked about it. The world did not come to an end. Coach Wooden didCoach Wooden took him out. Lace never got back in. We tried several people on Elvin, including me and Mike Lynn, but it took an unknown player named Jim Nielsen to finally slow him down.

On the way back to the hotel after the game, Lace sat next to me in the bus, and he said, "Man, I'm gonna quit." I could see what was eating him. Here we had played the most important game of the year and he had sat out the whole second half. Long before that Lace had had plenty to be annoyed about. Because Coach Wooden had this thing about players being "morally" ready for play, he sometimes harmed good people. The perfect kind of player for a coach like John Wooden was Lynn


Shackleford. Shack was the All-American boy. He studied hard. He belonged to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He took instruction and advice and criticism beautifully. So he started almost every game. On the other hand, Lace was very much his own man. He did his own thing, and he did not alter his personality to suit whatever coach he was playing for. Sometimes he hit the books and sometimes he didn't. He would never become anybody's "boy," in the sense that Shack became Coach Wooden's "boy." So he found himself fighting for a starting position, while Shack got his automatically. And who was Lace fighting? Mike Lynn, somebody else who did not fit Coach Wooden's Midwestern idea of morality. Mike had to alternate at starting forward with Lace.And so help me, if I'm any judge of ballplayers at all, both Lace and Mike were better than Lynn Shackleford, despite the fact that Shack was one of the fine college players.

All of this was eating Lace, and then he was publicly humiliated by being taken out of the Houston game while I was allowed to stagger around for the whole 40 minutes, out of shape and with double vision. All the way back to the hotel on the bus Lace kept muttering to himself about quitting.

When we got back to Los Angeles, I figured that Coach Wooden would smooth matters out. I kept waiting for him to say something, but he didn't. All week long in practice he kept talking in the abstract. He'd say things


like, "We all know that not every player can play every game, but that shouldn't upset them. There's a lot of things involved." Everybody on the team knew that he was talking about Lace, but he wouldn't come out and say so. He wouldn't even say something like, "I took Lacey out of the Houston game because I didn't think he was getting the job done, but I'm sorry I had to do it." A short statement like that would have kept Lace on the team, but Coach Wooden didn't make it. Well, Lace is tremendously sensitive, and this kept eating away at him. He never played again for UCLA. He's now with the Los Angeles Stars in the ABA, and I wouldn't be surprised if he turnedout to be the Los Angeles Star.

Anyway, that's the kind of thing I mean about there being certain types of players Coach Wooden couldn't understand. Now, toward the end of the Drake game in my senior year something happened that I think changed the whole situation. We had a player named Bill Sweek, and while he was certainly not a problem player, he didn't exactly fit into Coach Wooden's "morality" mold either. There was about one minute left to play, and Coach Wooden motioned to Sweek to get up and get ready to go in the game. But a few seconds later, while Sweek was standing there waiting to go on the floor, Coach Wooden told him to sit down. Sweek got mad and just left the floor.


He took a walk. He was going to breeze right out of there and go home, but he felt a little tacky so he went to the showers, and that's where Coach Wooden caught him. They really went at it. The discussion kept right on going when Sweek walked out of the shower and started putting his clothes on, and Coach Wooden completely blew his cool. Assistant Coach Denny Crum grabbed Coach Wooden and led him back to their rooms. But by then Sweek had told Coach Wooden exactly where it was at. He had put it on Coach Wooden real good. He told him that it was not necessary that every player be a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, or that every player be alife goes back to rustic Indiana, 1935, and Sunday school and motherhood and Fourth of July parades. But John Wooden learned something from Bill Sweek. He called us together before practice the next day and he gave us a talk. He didn't make any self-demeaning speech or do any breast-beating; he's not that kind of man. But he made us understand that he had listened and he had found out something. He made it clear that he was going to try to understand better the Bill Sweeks of this world. As for Sweek, he stayed on the team. He shook hands with Coach Wooden and apologized for walking off the floor, and once again we were a closer bunch of human beings. When we finished the year with


our third straight NCAA championship, I somehow wasn't as impressed by the victory as I was by the way a group of very different men had come together intolerance and affection. And once again I related it to life; how all men could be brothers with a small amount of effort and a few honest words.

That was the main thing I learned from UCLA basketball. It was worth learning.

As long as I was eligible to play at UCLA, the pros couldn't talk to me, although there were a few attempts to get around the rules and regulations. One guy set himself up as a self-appointed flesh peddler, and he made contacts with just about everybody in the world who paid money to basketball players, from the NBA andABA to the Globetrotters and the Italian League. He told them all that he represented me, and how much were they going to offer? He went to George Mikan, commissioner of the American Basketball Association, and said he represented me and asked for some money to "get the ball rolling." When I found out about it, I got the ball rolling by telling him to stay out of my sight. That was the end of that. He was just an unscrupulous guy looking for a piece of change under the table.

When it finally came time to negotiate with the leagues, I had the benefit of two very sharp UCLA alumni who stayed with me through the whole thing, and strictly on a volunteer, unpaid basis. One was Sam


Gilbert, a contractor, and the other was Ralph Shapiro, a partner in a Los Angeles brokerage firm. I was very happy to have Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Shapiro with me when the higher mathematics started.

Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images

Nobody knew it at the time, but the ABA had the inside track on me. All my life I'd dreamed of playing for the Knicks, because it's my home town and I love New York, but since the Knicks hadn't won the right to draft me, I'd have been almost as happy to play with the New York Nets in the ABA. And they had won the rights. I also wouldn't have minded San Francisco, which is a swinging town, or Boston, where the winners live. But the Nets were myfirst choice.

Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Gilbert and I flew into New York to begin the negotiations, and on a Monday in March we talked to Mr. Walter Kennedy, commissioner of the NBA, and to the owners of the Milwaukee team that had won the right to draft me. They made a five-year offer, and it was a good one. I'm sorry that I'm sworn to secrecy on the amount, but I can promise you it was bigger than a bread box. We said thanks, and that we were meeting with the ABA the next day, and we would let Milwaukee know after that.

On Tuesday we went up to the fancy Manhattan town house of Mr. Arthur Brown, owner of the Nets, and there we met with Mr. Brown


and ABA Commissioner George Mikan. Mr. Brown made a five-year offer. It was good, but not as good as the NBA's. Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Gilbert told me that they were surprised; they had expected a bonus offer, which had been promised by several owners of teams in the league. Mr. Gilbert then asked Mr. Mikan if that was the total offer and whether or nota bonus would be involved. Mr. Mikan said that was it. He was quite emphatic about it. Well, we had agreed when we came to New York that we were not going to get into any long-term bidding war—one league against the other. Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Gilbert felt it would cause too much animosity and would not be good for my careerobservational study was part of the Place and Metabolic Syndrome (PAMS) Project which investigated links between residential environmental features and cardiometabolic risk. PAMS received ethics approval from the University of South Australia (P029-10 and P030-10), Central Northern Adelaide Health Service (Queen Elizabeth Hospital; Application No. 2010010), and the South Australian Department for Health and Ageing (Protocol No. 354/03/2013 and HREC/13/SAH/53) Human Research Ethics Committees. PAMS used cohort data from the North West Adelaide Health Study (NWAHS). Written informed consent of NWAHS cohort participants was obtained prior to each wave of data collection.

The NWAHS was a population-based biomedical cohort of randomly selected adults (18 years and older) residing in the northern and western regions of metropolitan Adelaide, the capital of South Australia \[[@pone.0233793.ref041]\]. In 2001 (cohort baseline), these regions


With dedication, discipline and help from his coach and teammates, Nunavut's Eekeeluak Avalak has won a silver medal on the national stage.

Avalak came in second for the men's under-17, 55-kilogram, freestyle category at Wrestling Canada Lutte's Canadian championships. Logan Smith who lives near Orillia, Ont., took the national title.

This was Avalak's first time competing with athletes Canada-wide.

"[It feels] great, knowing that not a lot of Inuit go to nationals," said 15-year-old Avalak, who is from Cambridge Bay.

He said his wrestling journey started off a few years ago along with two other friends. They went to the territorials, where Avalak won gold in 2016.

"I stuck with it ever since," he said. "And here I am, silver medalist, at the U-17/U-19 national championships."

Avalak's teammate, Nanogak Goose, also competed in thenationals for the first time.

But the national silver medalist says at first, he didn't think wrestling was his path.

"I was like, 'It's not for me,'" Avalak said. "Because I thought I could take shortcuts ... Thought I could just go to practice whenever I want."

Eekeeluak Avalak, left, was a silver medalist at Wrestling Canada Lutte's national championships. Logan Smith from Orillia, Ont., centre, took the national title. (Wrestling Canada Lutte/James West)

Avalak said he changed his mindset, and decided to commit to the sport. He practices three times a week usually, but before tournaments like this one, he says he's on the mat every single day.

He said he fell in love with it because "it's very physical" and because he can travel and meet new people.

"I want to get


more kids back home into it," Avalak said.

The coach for Cambridge Bay's wrestling team, Chris Crooks, has been teaching wrestling for over 40 years. When he came to Cambridge Bay in August 2015 and found no wrestling club, he created one.

"I wanted to give them an opportunity of higher-level competition and what's out there, and in a way, try to inspire them in the future to aim for that," Crooks said.

Crooks said the team is looking toward the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games in Swift Current, Sask., and the next Arctic Winter Games.

This weekend, Avalak is trying out for the next Pan-American Games for wrestling.Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD or TMD), or temporomandibular joint syndrome, is an umbrella term covering acute or chronic inflammation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which connects the mandibular jaw to the skull. The temporomandibular joint, which is located in front of each ear, is commonly referred to as the TMJ. Various temporomandibular dysfunctions are also commonly referred to as TMJ.
TMJ disorder and resultant dysfunction can result in significant pain and impairment. The temporomandibular joint is susceptible to many of the conditions that affect other joints in the body, including ankylosis, arthritis, trauma, dislocations, developmental anomalies, and neoplasia. Ankylosis, for example, is a stiffness of the TMJ due to abnormal adhesion and rigidity of the bones of the joint, which may be the result of injury or disease. The


The Nanny State AdvancesThe Nanny State Advances Statement on Passage of Anti-Soda Tax in Philadelphia

New York, NY / Washington, D.C. - In the first success of its nature for "nanny state" advocates after many years of trying, Philadelphia Thursday became the first major city to attempt to control the non-alcoholic drink choices of its residents by enacting a 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax on soda, tea, sports and energy drinks. This is expected to embolden nanny state tax advocates across the United States.

The tax, like others on food and food-related items, will fall disproportionately on lower income individuals.

The National Center for Public Policy Research's director of Risk Analysis,Jeff Stier, is available to speak with reporters and has a statement:

The only good thing about Philadelphia's newly-imposed soda tax is that proponents werenew e-cigarette.

In March, Stier told the Daily Caller that "Soda tax proponents are asking us to suspend normal assumptions about human behavior and simply assume that people who reduce soda consumption to avoid the tax, won't just make their own sugary drinks and won't replace the calories with other high-calorie foods or drinks."

In an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle in 2014, Stier explained the real rationale for soda taxes: "Rather simply, it is Sutton's Law. The 'law' is named after the infamous American bank robber Willie Sutton, who was incorrectly credited with answering a reporter who asked him why he robs banks by saying, 'That's where the money is.'"

Mr. Stier has testified before city and state governments and has frequently been quoted in or published in the press


or appeared on cable television to discuss "nanny state" issues, including New York City's ill-fated attempt under then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg to govern the size of cups New York City residents were to be permitted to use for their beverages.

The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than four percent from foundations, and less than two percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions a year from over 96,000 active recent contributors. Sign up for free issue alerts here or follow us on Twitter at @NationalCenter.During a single week in October of 2000, Israeli Police shot dead 13 Palestinians — 12 of them Israeli citizens — who took to the streets to show solidarity with demonstrators in the West Bank and Gaza. The violence profoundly impacted the Palestinian community in Israel. Just as devastating, however, has been the complete absence of accountability.

A series of photos circulated on social media last week showing people holding portraits of 13 young men. The 13 men were Palestinian Arabs – 12 citizens of Israel and one resident of Gaza – who were killed by Israeli Police in what became known as the “October 2000 events.” The photos read in Arabic: “We carry the memory, we continue the struggle.”

This week Palestinian citizens of Israel, who make up 20


but were met by Israeli security forces that used lethal force to suppress the protests, killing several Palestinians and injuring scores more.

Targeting citizens

Palestinian citizens in Israel soon organized their own demonstrations in Arab towns and villages across the country, with thousands taking to the streets in solidarity with Palestinians in the territories and in protest of the government’s policies. While the demonstrations were largely non-violent, rioting also occurred with stone-throwing, burning of tires and clashes with police forces.

The state’s response to the demonstrations inside Israel was unprecedented. Israeli police deployed thousands of officers around Arab communities, and more alarmingly, sent special sniper units to accompany the forces. The police and their snipers used live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas against the crowds. In one week, morethan 1,000 protestors were wounded and 660 Palestinians were arrested.

The worst outcomes, however, were the 13 fatalities, nearly all of whom were shot in the chest, head or eyes by live or rubber bullets. On October 1, four Palestinian citizens were killed: 21-year-old Rami Ghara in Jatt; 26-year-old Eyad Lawabny in Nazareth; 23-year-old Mohammed Jabareen in Umm al-Fahem; and 18-year-old Ahmed Jabareen in Mu’awiya.

The next day on October 2, one Palestinian from Gaza and six Palestinian citizens were killed: 19-year-old Misleh Abu Jarad in Umm al-Fahem; 17-year-old Asel Asleh in Arrabe; 18-year-old Ala Nassar in Arrabe; 21-year-old Walid Abu Saleh in Sakhnin; 25-year-old Emad Ghanayim in Sakhnin; and 19-year-old Mohammad Khamayseh in Kufr Kanna.

The day after that, on October 3, one Palestinian citizen was killed: 24-year-old Ramez Bushnaq


in Kufr Manda. Five days later, on October 8, two more Palestinian citizens were killed: 42-year-old Omar Akkawi in Nazareth; and 25-year-old Wissam Yazbak in Nazareth.

‘Battle conditions’

October 2000 was not the first time that the Israeli police had used violent methods against Palestinian citizens, nor the first time that protestors were killed by those methods. It was, however, the most deadly incident of state-sanctioned violence against the minority since the Kafr Qassem massacre of 1956, when 49 Palestinian citizens were shot dead while returning to their village during a military curfew.

The killings were particularly shocking because it showed how, despite cautious hope of improvement in the 1990s, Israeli authorities still viewed the Palestinian minority not as citizens to be protected, but as an enemy population to be suppressed.and have dealt with a number of industrial control systems, including DCS, PLC, HMI, MES, and SCADA. The staff is equipped with big data experts with experience in machine learning and computer vision.

ICS² was founded in 2013 by CEO Gil Kroyzer and CTO Eyal Rozenman. Omri Green serves as VP of Sales. The team keeps its headquarters in Jerusalem.


Bradley Fletcher

St. Louis Rams 81 wide receiver Kenny Britt scores a touchdown against Philadelphia Eagles 24 cornerback Bradley Fletcher in the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, October 5, 2014. The Eagles won the game 34-28. (Martin Griff | Times of Trenton)

(Martin Griff)

PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles' secondary hasn't played well all season and it turned in arguably its worst effort Sunday when the Eagles nearly threw away a victory but escaped with a 34-28 victory over the St. Louis Rams -- one week ahead of a pivotal showdown against the New York Giants and their suddenly hot receiving corps.

Thanks in large part to shoddy coverage on deep passes by quarterback Austin Davis, the Eagles watched a 27-point second-half lead evaporate into a six-point lead in thewin, and that’s what matters and what counts.”

The obvious question becomes whether Williams and Fletcher are capable of playing any better. Nolan Carroll, whom the Eagles signed as a free-agent this off-season, might provide some consistency and stability. Had it not been for a preseason injury, it's possible Carroll -- a former Dolphins cornerback -- would have beaten out Fletcher for a starting job at the start of the regular season.

The Eagles survived against the Rams, as they did against the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this season and the Washington Redskins two weeks ago.

But against Eli Manning and a receiving corps that boasts Victor Cruz and speedy rookie Odell Beckham Jr., who caught a touchdown in the first game of his career Sunday, it will take a better effort


of the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, which prepares Yale students for global leadership and service through its master’s program in global affairs, master of advanced study in global affairs and undergraduate major in global affairs.

In 2014, Biola Alabi, former managing director of Mnet Africa was named a World Fellow.

The World Fellow program is committed to three main goals:

Leadership: To strengthen the knowledge and skills essential for global leadership
Service: To provide opportunity to serve others through sharing knowledge and experience, and collaborating on initiatives
Network: To grow a global community of people with shared values, connected to each other and to Yale

Chris Fox, CP24.com

Police are investigating an arson and an attempted arson at two vehicle collision reporting centres overnight.

The first incident occurred at the Scarborough collision reporting centre near Birchmount Road and Lawrence Avenue at around 12:50 a.m.

Police say that they believe two suspects forced their way inside the centre after it had closed for the night and started a fire.

The fire was quickly put out. The centre remained closed for much of the day but it has since reopened.

“Apparently around 1 a.m. this morning someone broke the front windows of the collision reporting centre, pored gas on the floor, set it on fire and fled the scene,” Sgt Reg. Eldridge told CP24 at the scene. “At this time 41 Division is looking after the investigation. There are no


suspects at this time.”

The second incident happened at another vehicle collision reporting centre on Toryork Drive in North York overnight.

Police say that a suspect or suspects broke glass to gain access to the building sometime after the first fire and poured gasoline on the carpet. The suspects were unable to ignite the gas to actually start a fire.

Both collision reporting centres are owned by Accident Support Services International Ltd.In May 2019, workers won the right to form labor unions in Mexico. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), seven out of 10 Mexicans live in poverty or vulnerability. Meanwhile, the country’s minimum wage is $5.40 a day. Below are 10 facts about labor unions in Mexico and the promise of their implementation to alleviate Mexican poverty.

10 Facts About Labor Unions in Mexico

Before the start of labor reform, thousands of Mexican workers went on strike for better pay, safer working conditions and union representation. The strikes shut down dozens of factories, resulting in 48 assembly plants agreeing to the workers’ demands. By granting workers the right to form labor unions, they can now engage in collective bargaining. This means that workers in Mexico, organized


workers’ representation and labor unions in Mexico can help reverse the trend. The North American Free Trade Agreement included provisions in order to protect workers’ rights. According to HRW, people often ignored those provisions, especially in Mexico. The recent labor reform comes on the heels of a renegotiated trade deal, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The USMCA seeks to, among other things, reduce the gap between workers’ protections in all three signatories. While labor unions will not completely alleviate Mexican poverty, the country can expect to make some gains. As the share of the value created by corporations becomes more evenly distributed among workers, the Mexican economy will benefit as a whole. Put simply, a larger share of the money will remain in Mexico due to union representation.

Stronger workerFriday, October 31, 2014

OSR Art Friday: Cover of The Dragon #37

The piece is by Darlene Pekul and appeared in the May 1980 issue.

I am fond of it partly because it graced the cover of one of the first issues of The Dragon that I purchased, and thus it helped to define the look of the game for me. Its pastel colors and serenity provided a neat contrast with the usual fare.

Oddly, I never noticed the skulls until now.

Pekul (who legally changed her name to the one-word and capitalized 'DARLENE' in 1984) was one of the most prolific of the early TSR artists. Indeed, that same issue of The Dragon seemed to feature her work on almost every page, from city and wilderness illustrations—'From the City of Brass to


Dead Orc Pass'—to calligraphy and background design—Out on a Limb, Leomund's Tiny Hut—to the comic strip, Jasmine, which would run for twelve issues.She also was responsible for the 'fat unicorn' on the title page of the Dungeon Master's Guide, the cover and interior art for a number of TSR adventure modules and perhaps most famously, the full-color map of the Flanaess for the 1980 World of Greyhawk release.The neat illustration below (also in the DMG), probably contributed to good old-fashioned mutual suspicion among players as much as any other single thing:

Curiously, Image Googling 'Darlene Pekul' or even 'Darlene Pekul The Dragon' or 'Darlene Pekul Dragon Magazine' does not yield this OSR Art Friday's featured piece. Doing a reverse search seems to imply that it has rarely, if ever,

This year, 50 years on from the independence of most former French colonies in Africa, relations between France and its erstwhile possessions south of the Sahara remain murkier and more confused than ever. Never mind. In the summer, Paris plans to host a so-called "renovation summit" to revamp Franco-African relations. But many critics, both in France and in Africa, say the gathering will be more a sign of business-as-usual rather than something that will encourage reform. Paradoxically, protests against Francafrique (the Franco-African shadow state which perpetuated French influence south of the Sahara after 1960) have been far more vocal in the wake of the massive French disengagement from the region after the end of the Cold War than during the three decades - les trente glorieuses - of


French neocolonialism from 1960-1989. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of East-West geopolitical rivalry encouraged public debate about France's role in Africa. France has been reluctant to play the role of the gendarme of Africa

France has been reluctant to play the role of the gendarme of Africa Just how many first- and second-generation immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are living in France today remains an open question, as French law prohibits statistics based on racial criteria. However, it is estimated that up to 5% of the country's 65 million inhabitants originate from the region. Many have acquired French citizenship and form, together with long-standing French nationals from the Antilles, what the national media refers to as "Black France". But since racially tainted riots erupted in majorFrench cities at the end of 2005, many French people of African descent - perhaps alienated from the powers-that-be in Paris - consciously define themselves as "hyphenated" citizens: Franco-Africans with divided national loyalties. Renewed, balanced and transparent On the eve of this year's Bastille Day, the heads of state of former French interests in Africa are due to gather around President Nicolas Sarkozy "to highlight and to bear out the evolution of Franco-African relations which are to remain privileged while being renewed, balanced and transparent". Using less convoluted language than the official communique, the president explained in December that the purpose was "to turn the page of the debate on [French] colonisation and post-colonisation". Exhibitions, round-table discussions, publications and academic conferences have been scheduled throughout this year. The


military show is meant to be a reminder of Franco-African fraternity of arms, notably against Nazi occupation in World War II. The African heads of state will also attend the traditional garden party at the Elysee Palace following the Bastille Day parade. The event's theme is "Diversity - the human reality which links the colonial past to present-day immigrant France," according to the Elysee communique, but this in particular is causing a few ructions. The person appointed by Mr Sarkozy to run this year's events is Jacques Toubon whose previous political career is quite telling. Not only is he a die-hard Gaullist - an ideology named after former President Charles de Gaulle who insisted on maintaining as much control as possible over France's African interests - but heis also a former minister of culture and, since 2005, has been at the helm of a new museum dedicated to the history of immigration in France. The museum occupies a pavilion erected for the Colonial Exhibition in 1931, which marked the acme of French imperialism. As a result, criticism has been voiced against the mixed messages being sent by the government on the subject. Renegotiation On the one hand there seems to be a direct line drawn between la plus grande France - the "Greater France" of colonial times - and immigration. But, on the other hand, since Mr Sarkozy's election in spring 2007, the French government has intensified efforts to conclude bilateral treaties with states south of the Sahara aiming at a "joint management" of migratory


movements. Yet while small and relatively privileged countries like Gabon have signed such agreements, more important reservoirs of sub-Saharan immigration, namely Mali, have so far refused to "co-police" migration. Mr Sarkozy's government has been more successful in renegotiating the defence treaties which were signed with all former colonies in 1960 (except for Sekou Toure's Guinea which cut the umbilical cord with Paris in 1958, achieving independence two years earlier than all the other former French colonies). The revised treaties clarify mutual obligations and, in particular, no longer contain "secret clauses" for French military intervention in case of internal conflict.

Making discretionary use of its right to intervene, France has staged over 40 military operations to save, or sometimes topple, African regimes since 1960, mostly during the Cold War. Butsince the fall of the Berlin Wall, and especially after the debacle in Rwanda in 1994, France has been reluctant to play the role of the gendarme of Africa. There are still about 10,000 French soldiers deployed south of the Sahara, down from 15,000 in 1989. But half of them are serving on temporary missions, often under UN mandates. Also, in the past 20 years, Paris has closed three out of six permanent bases on the continent. France's foreign direct investment in Africa has also plummeted since the Berlin Wall crumbled. While the African share stood at just over 30% in 1989, it has been consistently below 5% since the turn of the century. Furthermore, the bulk of France's overseas capital investment has been shrewdly diversified beyond former


colonial boundaries in favour of non-francophone countries such as Nigeria, Angola, Kenya and South Africa. Shady middlemen Yet, despite France's disengagement from its former colonies, political mores between Paris and the francophone capitals of the continent remained characterised by back-door arrangements and shady middlemen.

But since he took office, President Sarkozy has perpetuated France's time-honoured tradition of parallel diplomacy in Africa. One set of advisers presides in public over the official business with Africa, while high-ranking Elysee staff, in tandem with unofficial middlemen, is in charge of the lucrative and highly personalised politics that Mr Sarkozy denounced during his presidential campaign. The French media regularly expose the broken promises and the new lease on life given to Francafrique. The elite collusion of Francafrique has become an anachronism, at oddswith the stark realities of shrinking French engagement - both government and private - with its former territories south of the Sahara. For example, Mauritania's General Mohammed Ould Abdelaziz continued to visit the Elysee Palace after the coup that brought him to power, despite being denounced in capitals across Europe. Hence, if they care at all, most French belittle the 2010 "renovation summit" as a political gimmick, actually not all that different from the so-called "independence of the flag" granted to the African colonies in 1960. Stephen Smith is a visiting professor at Duke University in the United States. His new book - Le Nouveau Monde Franco-Africain - is released in April. This article appears in the April - June 2010 edition of BBC Focus on Africa Magazine.


Heidegger, the Man and the Thinker(1981).

ABOUT THE INTERVIEWERS

Richard Polt is professor of philosophy at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He is the author of Heidegger: An Introduction and The Emergency of Being: On Heidegger’s “Contributions to Philosophy.”

Gregory Fried is Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Suffolk University in Boston. Together with Richard Polt, he is the series editor of New Heidegger Research, with Rowman and Littlefield international. He is the author of Heidegger’s Polemos: From Being to Politics and has written numerous articles on Heidegger.A team of students working with Earthrise Space Foundation evaluated a rover of their own design in the regolith simulant bin at Swamp Works at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida recently as the team pushes toward a flight-ready version they hope to launch to the moon on a private mission competing for the Google Lunar X Prize. The rover, parts of which are 3D printed, is 18 inches long and uses four wheels for movement. It also features a pair of lenses and a head that lifts and lowers. It is powered by batteries and solar arrays built into it its chassis.

The regolith simulant bin offers a lunar-like environment for evaluating a myriad of machines Kennedy researchers are developing that could be incorporated into future designs or


have been proclaimed emperor solely on the initiative of the Senate? I think you could very nearly call it a democratic election.

I thought there were others, but apparently not. It seems Nerva was the only emperor the Senate itself elected. Every emperor else that I seemed to remember being elevated to his station by the Senate - the Gordians, Pupienus, Balbinus - was, in fact, merely confirmed by the Senate after he had already announced his claim.

Interesting that the Senate could never actually get a hold of any of the military power that the various contestant generals enjoyed. But they were a kind of figurehead pool, by that time, and I guess each emperor would have jealously avoided any initiatives of theirs that could have afforded the senatorsNews

Inquest is told how diver died following an uncontrolled ascent off Portland

AN EXPERIENCED diver died following an uncontrolled ascent off Portland, an inquest was told.

John Charles Ballinger, from Gwent, was among a party of divers from South Wales who visited an unnamed wreck 15 miles south west of Portland on May 16 on the Weymouth-based dive boat Skin-Deeper.

The 72-year-old was accompanied by two ‘dive buddies’ as he entered the water but they both told the hearing at County Hall in Dorchester that they had returned to the surface in the belief that they had seen Mr Ballinger making his way back up.

Dive boat skipper Leonard Hurdiss said all the other divers surfaced within a reasonably short space of time and they were looking around for Mr Ballinger’s surface


helicopter was on the scene within 15 minutes and took Mr Ballinger to hospital but he later died.

Pathologist Dr Ian Calder said Mr Ballinger had died from gas embolism due to pulmonary barotrauma. He explained that the sudden ascent had caused a tearing of the lungs that caused gas to escape into his circulation and into the brain, triggering a stroke-like episode.

John Manners, a dive expert from Devon and Cornwall Police who investigated the death, said there was no fault with Mr Ballinger’s equipment, although his dive computer showed he had been experiencing difficulties with buoyancy throughout the ascent, possibly due to carrying too much weight.

Dorset coroner Sheriff Payne recorded a verdict that Mr Ballinger had died as a result of an accident.

He added: “He was otherwise aPost Profile

They've announced the four finalists for the 2018 Read Russia Prize, "celebrating the best translation of Russian literature into English" -- and they include Thomas J. Kitson's translation of Iliazd's Rapture and Yuri Machkasov's translation of Mariam Petrosyan's The Gray House.
The winning title will be announced 12 April.read more

They've announced the longlist For the 2018 Read Russia Prize, awarded: "for the best new English translations of Russian literature".
Only two of the titles are under review at the complete review :
Rapture, by Iliazd (tr. Thomas J...


John R. Lee, Chicago, Ill.
Timothy A. Barry, Brouse & McDowell, Akron, Ohio, for Nationwide Ins. Companies.
Jeff J. Friedman, Rosenman & Colin, New York City, John J. Guy, Guy Lammert & Towne, Akron, Ohio, for Kandist Associates Ltd. Partnership.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW ON MOTION OF KANDIST ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
HAROLD F. WHITE, Bankruptcy Judge.
The "Motion of Kandist Associates Limited Partnership for Order Authorizing and Ordering Debtor to Pay Administrative Expenses" (Docket No. 771) came before the Court for hearing. Due notice of said hearing was provided in accordance with the Administrative Orders of this Court. Appearing at the hearing were Jeff J. Friedman and John J. Guy on behalf of Kandist Associates Limited Partnership ("Kandist"), Timothy Barry on behalf of Nationwide Insurance and Thomas R. Lucchesi onthe sublessee of a certain warehouse facility located at 1100 Blake Street, Edwardsville, Kansas (the "Premises") *266 under a sublease granted by Kandist on December 15, 1981 (the "Sublease"). Transcript of May 23, 1989 hearing ("Tr."), p. 115.
6. On November 23, 1988 Revco filed a motion with this Court seeking, inter alia, approval of Revco's rejection of the Sublease. (Docket No. 571) On December 13, 1988, at the hearing on the motion, the Court authorized the rejection of the Sublease. Transcript of December 13, 1988 hearing, pp. 132-133. At the hearing this Court reserved its decision as to when the rejection of the Sublease was effective.
7. At the May 23, 1989 hearing on the subject motion Kandist presented the testimony of Sidney Ingber, first vice-president of Integrated Resources


Police chief in charge of security says officers have power to step in if 'harassment, alarm or distress' is caused

Protesters could be arrested for "alarming or distressing" mourners at the funeral of Lady Thatcher, a police chief in charge of security at the event has warned.

Commander Christine Jones, who oversaw the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton, warned that officers had power under the controversial section 5 of the Public Order Act to step in if non-violent action was the cause of "harassment, alarm or distress" as Thatcher's coffin makes its way through London to St Paul's Cathedral.

Nearly 3,000 people have joined the Facebook group "Maggie's Good Riddance Party", which claims it will hold a "right jolly knees up" outside St Paul's on the day of theof funeral protests, whilst others will see them as inevitable at such a public political event. Either way, the authorities have no role in policing manners, and it would be tasteless indeed if the memorial of any democratic leader prompted arrests of peaceful protesters and the strangling of dissent."

Carol Thatcher, the former prime minister's only daughter, broke her silence on her mother's death. Wearing a black shawl, black trousers and clutching a pair of sunglasses, the former journalist posed for photographers with her brother, Sir Mark, after giving a statement outside the family's house in Chester Square. She said: "I would just like to say that I feel like anyone else who has just lost a second parent. It's a deeply sad and rather thought-provoking moment in life.


My mother once said to me, 'Carol, I think my place in history is assured.' The magnificent tributes this week, the wonderful words of President Obama, and others of colleagues who once worked alongside her, have proved her right."

Thatcher thanked those who had sent her "messages of sympathy and support", adding: "These have given me strength. But I know this is going to be a tough and tearful week, even for the daughter of the Iron Lady."

The scale of the involvement of the military in the funeral, which will start at 11am on Wednesday, also became clear. Three military bands will play along the route, followed by the funeral cortege, while serving miliary personnel will greet the coffin on the steps of the cathedral. Two serving survivors ofthe Sir Galahad, sunk during the Falklands conflict in 1982, are in the escort party, brothers Sgt-Major Bill Mott and Welsh Guard Major Nicholas Mott. A 19-gun salute will be fired from the Tower of London during each minute of the procession from St Clement Danes to St Paul's, the route of which will be lined with more than 700 military personnel.

The military's involvement in the funeral has reportedly caused concern in Buckingham Palace. One senior Labour figure told the Observer that he believed the "militarisation" of the event was inappropriate and that the £10m expense was too high at a time of austerity.

Other details in the order of service have been released by Downing Street. The west steps of the cathedral will be lined by 14 Pensioners


of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Thatcher's son, Mark, a controversial figure who was convicted in 2004 of involvement in an attempted miliary coup in Equatorial Guinea, will not play a major role in the event. However, his children, Michael and Amanda, will carry cushions bearing the Insignia of the Order of the Garter and the Order of Merit and lay them on the Dome Altar. Amanda will read from the King James Bible.

• This article was amended on 14 April 2013. The original version stated that a 19-gun salute would be fired during the funeral from London Bridge, instead of the Tower of London.The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Mike Pompeo, met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, Palestinian officials told Ynet, confirming a report from the Palestinian news agency Ma'an.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter

Palestinian security chief Majed Faraj was also present at the meeting which, according to the officials, was positive and serious and touched upon diplomatic matters.

CIA director Mike Pompeo (Photo: MCT)

Pompeo was on a visit to the region last week, arriving at Saudi Arabia and Turkey among others.

While the meeting marks the first of its kind between an American official and Abbas since the Trump administration entered the White House in January, according to one Palestinian security official who spoke to Ynet, this is actually the second time that Pompeo has visited Ramallah


On Alanna's arrival with the Bloody Hawk eight years later he tells his tribe she freed the Bazhir as "the Burning-Brightly One". He tries to help her mend her sword Lightning, but as it isn't a normal sword, it can't be fixed by a normal smith.side. In this manner, each side of the abutment line including each of the corners is laser welded, thereby hermetically sealing the prismatic case. In the method of Haraguchi et al., the entire length of each of the four sides is completely welded, corner-to-corner.
FIG. 1 is an illustration of the method and apparatus for laser welding a battery casing according to Haraguchi et al. In one embodiment, the opposed short sides 2 and 4 of a rectangular battery casing are welded as indicated by arrows 99A and 99B. Then, a first long side 6 of the rectangular casing is welded by laser 5 as indicated by arrow 98A, and then the second long side 8 of the battery casing is welded by laser 7 as indicated by arrow


benefited significantly from his client’s income, taking a 50% commission at times, according to a legal investigation. Fans and observers also suspect Preslet did not tour internationally due to the fact that Parker, an illegal immigrant in the United States from the Netherlands, lacked a passport and never became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

As biographer Alanna Nash writes in her book, The Colonel: “Whether regarded as a meretricious and evil confidence man, or as a brilliant marketer and strategist, as remarkable as the star he managed, no figure in all of entertainment is more controversial, colorful, or larger than life than Tom Parker.”

Mysterious Early Life

Colonel Tom Parker was born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk on June 26, 1909, in Breda, Netherlands. Parker originally claimed to have been born in Huntington,West Virginia, but his true origins were revealed when family members in the Netherlands saw a news photo of him with Presley.

A clever child and a gifted storyteller, he sought out odd jobs including with a local circus, where he assisted in training horses. As a teenager, he told his family he got a job as a sailor on the Holland America Line. Whether true or not, he left from Breda and managed to reach the United States by way of Canada, he once told a friend.

In Hoboken, New Jersey, he connected with a Dutch family, but he soon vanished, just as he would from his biological family. Why he changed his name to Thomas Parker is unclear, but speculation from family and friends suggests he met someone


along the way with the name.

In 1926, Parker found work with a booking agent, then made a brief return to the Netherlands. In 1929, he left again and returned to the United States, where he linked up with carnivals, joined the U.S. Army and later launched a career as a country music promoter.

Was Colonel Tom Parker Really a Colonel?

Parker was given the title of colonel in the Louisiana State Militia by Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis in 1948. The state had no organized militia, and the honorary title was given in return for Parker's efforts on Davis’ campaign.

But Parker did serve two years in the U.S. Army at Hawaii’s Fort Shafter. When his tour ended in 1931 he re-enlisted but then deserted in 1932. Forgoing AWOL, he was punishedwith solitary confinement, during which he suffered a psychotic breakdown. Doctors sent him to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., and he was later discharged from the Army in 1933 at age 24.

Did Colonel Tom Parker Murder Someone?

Parker abruptly left the Netherlands in 1929, and though he let his family know he was safe, he later ceased contact. One theory about why came when a Dutch journalist got a tip linking Parker, by his real name, to an unsolved murder in Breda. In 1929, the 23-year-old wife of a grocer was murdered in what had been apparently intended as a robbery.

Colonel Tom Parker Photo: Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty Images

The police investigation at the time was short on details and did not include evidence linking Parker to the


stay while recording. After Parker’s death in 1997, the home was used as a law office. Then in 2017, when the house was set to be demolished for a car wash, music historian and collector Brian Oxley purchased the rights to the interior. Items such as wall paneling and countertops were removed and placed piece by piece in numbered boxes to be re-assembled in the future.

Death

In January 1997, Parker suffered from a stroke and died the next day in a hospital in Las Vegas at the age of 87.2019
Features, RelationshipsAs Dr Julia Shaw's book Making Evil is published to great acclaim, she tells me, in this piece for Marie Claire, why a new movement is encouraging us to embrace our darkest thoughts, rather than shy away from them

By Charlotte Philby, 25th September 2018
Features, Health, TechnologyIn an article for Marie Claire, I reflect on what drove me away from instagram, Facebook, et al - and how half a year away gave me a revised approach to life online

By Charlotte Philby, 25th September 2018
Features, RegularsFrom imposter syndrome to plotting, in a new series for Marie Claire authors give me chapter and verse on how the writing process works for them - starting with multi award-winning crime writer Val McDermid, who has written 32 books in as many years


Once a rising economic power in the Balkans, a crushing economic crisis has stripped Greece of much of its wealth and pushed to ahead of only neighbors Romania and Bulgaria among the poorest countries in the European Union.

Greece is one of the poorest countries in the EU according to a research published today by a German think-tank. The country is third only to Bulgaria and Romania which are poorer. Some 20 percent of Greeks are living below the poverty level now.

According to these statistics the poorest countries in the 27 countries of the EU are mainly the Easter Europeans with the Scandinavian, Luxembourg and Netherlands being the richest. Greece ranked 14th among the 15 pre-2004 EU members.

According to IW, Institute of German Economy, Greece ranks third in povertynow. And we're eager to help you get a fresh start."

The pledge to bring in the refugees was part of a campaign promise by Canada's new prime minister, Justin Trudeau. That promise helped sweep him to power in October's election. Initially, the government wanted to bring in all 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of this year. That ambitious plan had to be scaled back because of the sheer scale and speed of the operation.

Instead, 10,000 Syrians are now due in Canada by the end of this month. Most of them are being sponsored by private groups and citizens. Canada is the only country that allows the private sponsorship of refugees — it's mandated in the country's immigration law.

Sponsors must commit to being responsible for the refugee for


one year. It requires providing financial help during that time — about $24,000 US — and help finding housing, employment and schools for children. The Canadian government will provide health care, travel expenses and language classes.

Applications to sponsor Syrian refugees have been pouring in since early September, when a photo appeared of a lifeless 3-year-old boy whose body had been swept ashore at a Turkish beach. Alan Kurdi's parents had applied to Canada for asylum, but the request was turned down.

Resettlement workers say most Canadians have embraced the idea of bringing in the Syrians. Churches, universities and whole communities have been pitching in to raise money and find housing and employment for the refugees.

But the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino have led to questions about whetherisland up with its smaller towns. Mao’s centre is built around an imposing cliff above the harbour, which is full of bars, cafes and restaurants. The old town boasts beautiful plazas, striking 18th Century buildings and a charming market. Ciutadella offers an exquisite old town of cobbled streets, churches and a harbour.

Top 3 Must See: Menorca

Mao

Ciutadella

El Toro

Outside of the towns you’ll find picturesque natural scenery and wildlife. Stone monuments scatter the scenery and ancient coastal paths span the length of the island making it perfect for hiking. Bird watching and horse riding is also popular. Family friendly resorts have been built around the white sandy beaches along the coast, where activities including sailing, windsurfing, diving and snorkelling are available.

Drive Around Menorca

When it comes to car hire, Menorca airport


As he campaigns for president, Joe Biden tells a moving but false war story

HANOVER, N.H. - Joe Biden painted a vivid scene for the 400 people packed into a college meeting hall. A four-star general had asked the then-vice president to travel to Kunar province in Afghanistan, a dangerous foray into "godforsaken country" to recognize the remarkable heroism of a Navy captain.

Some told him it was too risky, but Biden said he brushed off their concerns. "We can lose a vice president," he said. "We can't lose many more of these kids. Not a joke."

The Navy captain, Biden recalled Friday night, had rappelled down a 60-foot ravine under fire and retrieved the body of an American comrade, carrying him on his back. Now the general wanted Biden topin a Silver Star on the American hero who, despite his bravery, felt like a failure.

"He said, 'Sir, I don't want the damn thing!' " Biden said, his jaw clenched and his voice rising to a shout. "'Do not pin it on me, Sir! Please, Sir. Do not do that! He died. He died!' "

The room was silent.

"This is the God's truth," Biden had said as he told the story. "My word as a Biden."

Except almost every detail in the story appears to be incorrect. Based on interviews with more than a dozen U.S. troops, their commanders and Biden campaign officials, it appears as though the former vice president has jumbled elements of at least three actual events into one story of bravery, compassion and regret that never


happened.

JOE BIDEN THROUGH THE YEARS

In this photo released by then Sen. Joe Biden's office, Biden is seen at 10 years old. In this photo released by then Sen. Joe Biden's office, Biden is seen at 10 years old. JOE BIDEN THROUGH THE YEARS

In this photo released by then Sen. Joe Biden's office, Biden is seen at 10 years old. In this photo released by then Sen. Joe Biden's office, Biden is seen at 10 years old. Photo: Anonymous, AP Photo: Anonymous, AP Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Joe Biden through the years 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

Biden visited Kunar province in 2008 as a U.S. senator, not as vice president. The service member who performed the celebrated rescue that Biden described was a 20-year-old Armyspecialist, not a much older Navy captain. And that soldier, Kyle White, never had a Silver Star, or any other medal, pinned on him by Biden. At a White House ceremony six years after Biden's visit, White stood at attention as President Barack Obama placed a Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor, around his neck.

The upshot: In the space of three minutes, Biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch and the rank of the recipient wrong, as well as his own role in the ceremony.

One element of Biden's story is rooted in an actual event: In 2011, the vice president did pin a medal on a heartbroken soldier, Army Staff Sgt. Chad Workman, who didn't


believe he deserved the award.

In a statement Thursday, Biden's campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said Workman's valor was "emblematic of the duty and sacrifice of the 9/11 generation of veterans."

The campaign has not disputed any of the facts in the Post report, which was published midday Thursday.

Candidate: Kamala Harris Policy pledge: Executive actions for children applying for green cards

She also said that she will create a “parole in place” program, which would give those children time to apply to live in the country legally.

In addition, Harris said she would instruct her Homeland Security secretary to "retroactively grant work authorization to these immigrants," and that she would immediately reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.

(AP Photo/Meg Kinnard) The Democratic U.S. Senator from California recently said that ,his earlier political troubles and have put a spotlight on his age. In 1987, Biden dropped out of the presidential race amid charges that he had plagiarized the speeches of a British politician and others.

One big question facing candidates and voters more than 30 years later is whether President Donald Trump's routine falsehoods have changed the standards by which other presidential aspirants, including Biden, should be judged. From the beginning of his presidency until the middle of last month, Trump has uttered more than 12,000 false or misleading statements, The Washington Post has found. He has continued to add to that total since then.

Biden has used war stories to celebrate military sacrifice and attack Trump's version of patriotism, built around ferocity and firepower. The former vice president, like


Trump, never served in the military. But Biden's son Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015, deployed to Iraq as an Army lawyer in 2008, and the candidate ends almost all of his speeches with the refrain: "May God protect our troops."

Embedded in Biden's medal story are the touchstones of his long career: foreign policy expertise, patriotism and perseverance through grief.

Biden's first public recounting of his trip to Kunar province, made shortly after his return in early 2008, was largely true, but not nearly as emotionally fraught as the versions he would later tell on the campaign trail. In 2008, then-Sen. Biden, along with Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and John Kerry, D-Mass., flew by helicopter to Forward Operating Base Naray, not far from Afghanistan's border withPakistan. There, they watched as Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez presented a Bronze Star for valor to Spec. Miles Foltz, who braved heavy Taliban fire to rescue a wounded soldier. Spec. Tommy Alford had been manning his machine gun atop a hill when a Taliban bullet sliced through his jaw and neck. Foltz pulled Alford behind a nearby rock, stanched his bleeding and then took over his friend's weapon. Two soldiers were killed during the ambush, but Alford survived and even returned to the unit a few months later to finish his combat tour.

"It was pretty ballsy, what Foltz did that day," said retired Col. Chris Kolenda, who was Foltz's commander in Afghanistan. "It was pretty awesome. . . . He saved a lot of lives."

For Foltz, the memory


of Biden's visit and the Bronze Star remain bittersweet. "I wrote about it for an English class when I was going through college," he said. "I can't remember how I phrased it, but it's like the medal helps hold down all the guilt for all the things I didn't do that day."

Biden returned home from his trip in 2008 worried that the United States was losing the war and moved by the battlefield award ceremony. "I know it sounds a little corny," he said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, "but I don't think there was a dry eye in the house."

Biden seemed to stop telling the story until the summer of 2016, when the presidential campaign was in full swing and Trump was surgingto the top of the polls. In July of that year, he told it at a World War II ceremony in Australia. In this version, Foltz, a young soldier, had been replaced by the apocryphal and much older Navy captain who in Biden's telling "climbed down about 200 feet" into a ravine and retrieved his wounded friend who died. The Bronze Star was upgraded to a Silver Star.

This time, Biden said he was the one who pinned the medal on the officer, not the general. "Sir, with all due respect, I do not want it," Biden recalled the officer saying.

Months later, as the angry and divisive 2016 presidential campaign kicked into high gear, Biden's story of the medal ceremony grew more harrowing and less accurate. He told it


at an October rally for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in response to comments from Trump suggesting that some troops weren't mentally strong enough to handle the rigors of combat. "Where the hell is he from?" Biden asked of Trump that day in Florida.

This time, Biden shifted the setting from Afghanistan to Iraq. Instead of rappelling down a ravine, an Army captain pulled a dead soldier out of a burning Humvee.

"He died. He died, Mr. Vice President," Biden recalled the officer saying. "I don't want the medal."

Biden jabbed at the air with his index finger and yelled, "How many nights does that kid go to sleep seeing that image in his head, dealing with it?"

The Pentagon has no record of an Army captain receiving a Silver Star in Iraqduring the time period Biden describes.

Three weeks later, stumping for Jason Kander, an Afghan War veteran running for the Senate in Missouri, Biden told both the Iraq and Afghanistan versions back to back in a single speech. First it was the Navy captain who rappelled down the ravine in Kunar. "He died. He died. I don't deserve it," Biden quoted the medal recipient as saying. Then he segued to the Army officer, the burning Humvee and Iraq. "This is the God's truth," Biden said. "As I approached him in a full formation . . . 'Sir,' he whispered to me, 'Sir, please don't. Please don't pin that on me. He died, Sir. He died. I didn't do my job. He died.' "

Then, on Friday, came New Hampshire. The


setting was a town hall meeting about health care. Someone asked a question about mental health and Biden started talking about post-traumatic stress disorder and the heavy toll of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He pulled his daily schedule from the pocket of his blue blazer, an American flag pin affixed to its lapel. For the past 13 years, Biden's rundown has included a daily tally of the dead and wounded from the war zones.

"I call every morning to the Defense Department - not a joke - to learn exactly how many women and men have been killed in Afghanistan or Iraq," he told the crowd. "Nothing bothers me more than when someone says approximately 6,000 died. No, it is 6,883 as of this morning."

Then Biden told thelatest, and perhaps most inaccurate, version his Afghanistan story.

"I've been in and out of Afghanistan and Iraq over 30 times," he said. (His campaign later clarified that the correct number is 21.) He talked about Kunar province, the Navy captain - "Navy, Navy" he repeated for emphasis - the deep ravine, the dead friend and the moment of reckoning when Biden pinned the medal on the officer's uniform.

The version of Biden's story that's true - and just as heart-rending - is one he rarely tells. The setting was not Kunar province, but Wardak, just southwest of Kabul. The medal recipient was Workman, 35, who had run into a burning vehicle to save his dying friend. By the time Workman had pried open the door and plunged into the


flames, it was too late.

"I never pulled him out because he was melting," Workman recalled in a phone interview earlier this week from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash.

Workman's company commander told him that the vice president was going to pin a Bronze Star on him for his heroism. "I tried to get out of going," recalled Workman, who has since been promoted to first sergeant. "I didn't want that medal." Nevertheless on Jan. 11, 2011, a cold, gray day, Workman stood at attention as Biden pinned the medal to his chest. The moment is memorialized in a White House photo and in a 2016 interview that Biden did with National Geographic.

Here's how Biden remembered it: "You see the look on his face - he says, 'Sir, IAustralia.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said the lower backpacker tax rate was "some improvement" but the PMC increase showed the tourism industry was being treated as a "cash cow".

"This is a long way from fixing the problem, effectively its a blatant grab for cash by the Government," she said.

The Government has announced a $10 million fund for the tourism sector to market jobs to backpackers.

Government says deal is fair

Mr Morrison said the package protected the integrity of the budget, and addressed concerns from the sector.

Scott Morrison said the backbench committee was like a "pig in the mud". ( ABC News: Matt Roberts )

It is understood legislation will be required to enact the new tax arrangements.

Regional Coalition backbenchers had become increasingly confident Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull


Stanley Pool was built in the 1890s. Reports of widespread murder, torture and other abuses in the rubber plantations led to international and Belgian outrage and the Belgian government transferred control of the region from Leopold II and established the Belgian Congo in 1908.

After an uprising by the Congolese people, Belgium surrendered and this led to the independence of the Congo in 1960. However, the Congo remained unstable because regional leaders had more power than the central government, with Katanga attempting to gain independence with Belgian support. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba tried to restore order with the aid of the Soviet Union as part of the Cold War, causing the United States to support a coup led by Colonel Joseph Mobutu in 1965. Mobutu quickly seized completeWar broke out, resulting in a regional war in which many different African nations took part and in which millions of people were killed or displaced. Kabila was assassinated by his bodyguard in 2001, and his son, Joseph, succeeded him and was later elected president by the Congolese government in 2006. Joseph Kabila quickly sought peace. Foreign soldiers remained in the Congo for a few years and a power-sharing government between Joseph Kabila and the opposition party was set up. Joseph Kabila later resumed complete control over the Congo and was re-elected in a disputed election in 2011. In 2018, Félix Tshisekedi was elected President; in the first peaceful transfer of power since independence.

Early history

The area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated as


indiscriminate "war", starvation, reduction of births and tropical diseases caused the country's depopulation. European and U.S. press agencies exposed the conditions in the Congo Free State to the public in 1900. By 1908 public and diplomatic pressure had led Leopold II to annex the Congo as the Belgian Congo colony.

Belgian Congo (1908–60)

On 15 November 1908 King Leopold II of Belgium formally relinquished personal control of the Congo Free State. The renamed Belgian Congo was put under the direct administration of the Belgian government and its Ministry of Colonies.

Belgian rule in the Congo was based around the "colonial trinity" (trinité coloniale) of state, missionary and private company interests. The privileging of Belgian commercial interests meant that large amounts of  capital flowed into the Congo and that individual regionsstratum emerged in the Congo, known as the évolués. Forming an African middle class in the colony, they held skilled positions (such as clerks and nurses) made available by the economic boom. While there were no universal criteria for determining évolué status, it was generally accepted that one would have "a good knowledge of French, adhere to Christianity, and have some form of post-primary education." Early on in their history, most évolués sought to use their unique status to earn special privileges in the Congo. Since opportunities for upward mobility through the colonial structure were limited, the évolué class institutionally manifested itself in elite clubs through which they could enjoy trivial privileges that made them feel distinct from the Congolese "masses". Additional groups, such as labour unions, alumni


second term as president. After the results were announced on 9 December, there was violent unrest in Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi, where official tallies showed that a strong majority had voted for the opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi. Official observers from the Carter Center reported that returns from almost 2,000 polling stations in areas where support for Tshisekedi was strong had been lost and not included in the official results. They described the election as lacking credibility.  On 20 December, Kabila was sworn in for a second term, promising to invest in infrastructure and public services. However, Tshisekedi maintained that the result of the election was illegitimate and said that he intended also to "swear himself in" as president.

On 19 January 2015 protests led by students at the University2012, M23 took control of Goma, a provincial capital with a population of one million people. The UN authorized the Force Intervention Brigade (FIB), which was the first UN peacekeeping force with a mandate to neutralize opposition rather than a defensive mandate, and the FIB quickly defeated M23. The FIB was then to fight the FDLR but were hampered by the efforts of the Congolese government, who some believe tolerate the FDLR as a counterweight to Rwandan interests. Since 2017, fighters from M23, most of whom had fled into Uganda and Rwanda (both were believed to have supported them), started crossing back into DRC with the rising crisis over Kabila's extension of his term limit. DRC claimed of clashes with M23.

Allied Democratic Forces insurgency

The Allied Democratic Forces has


been waging an insurgency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is blamed for the Beni massacre in 2016. While the Congolese army maintains that the ADF is an Islamist insurgency, most observers feel that they are only a criminal group interested in gold mining and logging.

Ethnic Mai Mai factions
Ethnic conflict in Kivu has often involved the Congolese Tutsis known as Banyamulenge, a cattle herding group of Rwandan origin derided as outsiders, and other ethnic groups who consider themselves indigenous. Additionally, neighboring Burundi and Rwanda, who have a thorny relationship, are accused of being involved, with Rwanda accused of training Burundi rebels who have joined with Mai Mai against the Banyamulenge and the Banyamulenge is accused of harboring the RNC, a Rwandan opposition group supported by Burundi.look of horror transformed into the look of lust and she started telling you that her mom let her know that you are a true beast in the bed and that you simply need to have sex every single day. As she was telling you this, her hand slowly touched your throbbing rod. Seeing that you were reacting in the best possible way, your sexy stepdaughter got found some more courage, which eventually led her to whip out your pecker and stuff it into her mouth. As she was blowing it, her sexy friend woke up as well and, once she realized what was going on, tried to pull her away from your cock. Alas, she was unsuccessful and only managed to get persuaded by your stepdaughter to


Seed Library two years ago, and is working with local college and school garden projects to cultivate traditional seed varieties. He points to an indigenous tradition of growing and sharing food, and a revival of highly nutritious pre-Columbus crops, such as Bear Island Corn. Sharing seeds fits into a larger goal on the reservation of “trying to eat healthier and relieve diabetes.”

But all this seed-sharing love is butting up against some prodigious economic and regulatory challenges. As the libraries spread across the US, they are catching scrutiny from agriculture officials in states such as Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Iowa, who express concerns about unlabeled seed packets, and the spreading of contaminated seeds and noxious or invasive species.

One flashpoint in this battle is a small seed library in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania,believe these cards to be.

The next deck is one that isn't seen much on Magic Online these days, but it is always capable of performing well if variance breaks in its favor.

Oath of Druids

Griselbrand Oath was the first deck I ever took into a Vintage tournament, and I was undefeated until the final round. Looking back, I was quite inexperienced in Vintage and the fact that I did so well really speaks to the raw power behind the namesake enchantment. Oath of Druids as a strategy has its roots in an old extended deck from well over a decade ago. Flash forward several years and Forbidden Orchard is printed, and Oath takes off as a viable strategy. Although there have been successful variations using powerful creatures such as


France are in serious danger of missing out on the World Cup finals for the first time in two decades after losing 2-0 to Ukraine in Kiev in their play-off first leg on Friday.

Roman Zozulia gave the home side a deserved lead in the 61st minute and Andriy Yarmolenko made it 2-0 from the penalty spot with eight minutes left after Laurent Koscielny had brought down Zozulia inside the area.

Arsenal defender Koscielny was then sent off following a clash with Oleksandr Kucher at the death, before the Ukrainian defender was also dismissed as tensions between the two teams spilled over.

Nevertheless, Ukraine were worthy of their win and, having denied France an away goal, can now consider themselves strong favourites to go through to their second World Cup finals.

France,meanwhile, run the very real risk of missing a major tournament finals for the first time since the 1994 World Cup in the United States unless they can turn the tie around at home next Tuesday. It was a hostile environment for France, in front of a boisterous home crowd at the 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium in Kiev and in temperatures as low as two degrees.

Didier Deschamps' side showed just one change to the team that had beaten Finland 3-0 in the final game in their qualifying group last month, with Mathieu Valbuena being replaced by Loic Remy in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Meanwhile, there were no surprises in Ukraine coach Mikhail Fomenko's team, with all eyes on the trickery of Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka on the wings.

France won 2-0 when


the countries last met in Donetsk during euro 2012, but a repeat scoreline always appeared unlikely with Ukraine having improved considerably since Fomenko took over as coach at the end of last year.

That saw them finish just one point behind England in their qualifying group, which they came through conceding only four goals.

Such defensive solidity was evident on Friday, as Ukraine strangled the life out of a France side fresh from scoring 13 goals in their last three outings.

The visitors started well enough, but the closest they came to scoring in the opening period was when a Franck Ribery cutback was turned behind by Kucher before Olivier Giroud could get to it.

Ukraine defended in numbers and sought to hit France on the break, and they needed almost halfan hour to create a chance of note, Brazilian-born midfielder Edmar throwing himself at a cross from the right by captain Ruslan Rotan but heading wide.

Konoplyanka then had an effort deflected behind by Mathieu Debuchy following lovely build-up play between Yarmolenko and Edmar, but the warning signs were there for France and they eventually fell behind just after the hour mark.

Ukraine built the play neatly cutting in from the left flank before Edmar laid the ball off for Zozulia, the Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk forward holding off Debuchy and getting enough on his shot to beat Hugo Lloris.

France might have drawn level when Ribery played in Samir Nasri, but the Manchester City man's shot was saved by Andriy Pyatov, and Ukraine then felt they should have had a penalty when


Zozulia went down under an Eric Abidal challenge inside the area.

That one wasn't given by the Turkish referee, but he did point to the spot when Koscielny clumsily brought down Zozulia nine minutes from time. Yarmolenko stepped up, his penalty just crossing the line after being touched up and onto the bar by Lloris.

But that was not the end of the nightmare for France, with Koscielny seeing red after raising his hands to Kucher, who followed shortly after for a second yellow.those who can afford it should consider going ahead with a celebration because Christmas parties are also about the social glue that holds a team together, he said.

"In some measure it's an acknowledgement for people weathering what's been a really tough time,"said Bucher. "And a workload that's become increasingly challenging because there are fewer people handling the load."

Bucher says it's also a career opportunity.

"This is the kind of thing you want to be seen at. Further, and in the full knowledge this may be uncomfortable, I would make a point of visiting every table to say hello to folks … kind of like at a wedding."

U.S. companies also dialling back

A survey recently done by Society of Human Resource Management in the United States found that 65 per cent


SAN DIEGO — More than 20 years had elapsed since the U.S. government estimated how many people entered the country legally and overstayed their visas. The updated numbers, finally published in January, were sobering.

The Homeland Security Department said 527,127 people who were supposed to leave the country in the 2015 fiscal year overstayed, more than the population of Atlanta. And that was only those who entered by plane or ship, not on land.

To put that in perspective, the Border Patrol made 337,117 arrests of people entering the country illegally during the same period, nearly all on the border with Mexico. More people overstayed visas than were caught crossing the border illegally.

An estimated 40 percent of the 11.4 million people in the U.S. illegally overstayed visas, a crucial butoften overlooked fact in the immigration debate. That percentage may grow as India and China replace Mexico as the largest senders of immigrants to the United States. Mexicans have long entered illegally through deserts of California, Arizona and Texas but the absence of a shared border makes that route unlikely for Asians.

Overstays accounted for about 1 percent of 45 million visitors on business and tourist visas from October 2014 to September 2015, according to the long-awaited Homeland Security report. Canada occupied the top slot for overstays, followed by Mexico, Brazil, Germany and Italy. The United Kingdom, Colombia, China, India and Venezuela rounded out the top 10.

The Pew Research Center said last year that more Mexicans were leaving the United States than coming, ending one of biggest immigration waves


in U.S. history. Lack of jobs for unskilled labor after the Great Recession is widely cited as a reason but border enforcement played a part.

The Border Patrol more than quintupled to 21,444 agents in 2011 from 4,028 in 1993. The U.S. erected fences along about 650 miles of border with Mexico, nearly all of it in the final years of George W. Bush’s administration. Last year, Border Patrol arrests — one gauge of illegal crossings — fell to the lowest level since 1971.

About five years ago, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings began shifting from Arizona to South Texas, where roughly two of every three apprehended are from countries other than Mexico. Large numbers of women and children from Central America turned themselves in to U.S. authorities, triggeringArt instruction, studio, and office spaces previously located in the Presser Hall basement and the York Annex have been combined in a new visual arts building located south of the Mabee Student Center across 9th Avenue. This 27,000-square-foot building houses classrooms, faculty offices, studio space, a student lounge, and an art gallery. Classrooms dedicated to ceramics and sculpture open onto deck areas where students may fire or weld pieces outdoors. A ground-floor suite offers computer work stations and conference areas where visual communications students are able to work together in a setting similar to an ad agency.