text:
(In part 1, I offer my hypothesis: that the philosopher Spinoza, a lifelong confirmed bachelor, did not live single because he lacked opportunity, was unlucky in love or was asexual. He was gay. I review what is known for certain about his life and relationships.)
(In part 2, I discuss his writings about emotions in Book 3 of Ethics, and his declaration that "Desire is the very essence of a man," as well as his assertion that pain, pleasure and desire are the primary emotions. This, along with his analysis of romantic love, rivalry and regret lead me to believe he's done more than analyze these feelings; he's lived them.)
(In part 4, I disprove one myth about Spinoza and offer a theory of my own, however unlikely it may be)
That Baruch Spinoza lived a chaste life appears to be a historical fact — whether it was by choice, lack of opportunity or simple bad luck. No letter, no personal account of his own or his friend, no official document has ever been uncovered to show that Spinoza had anything approaching a love life. At the same time, Spinoza analyzed and cataloged emotions in a way that revealed a thorough understanding of what it meant to fall in love, be in love, feel jealousy and envy and even hatred for a rival — feelings best understood by having lived through them, rather than merely observing them from the outside looking in.
That's all well and good, but I'm well aware it's not enough to prove my hypothesis: that Spinoza was gay. To prove that, I'll have to wander away from the realm of what is known and what can be easily gathered from what Spinoza himself wrote and into the world of what others wrote about him, and what can be gathered by considering the way in which Spinoza moved through life in Dutch society of the middle- to late-1600s.
I'll begin with the most solid pieces of evidence and work my way from there to the parts that take the furthest leaps of faith. Let's begin.
Our bodies are so far apart
That's what makes the letters between Bento and Simon de Vries, a fawning young admirer, stand out so darn much. Simon, who lived in Amsterdam when Spinoza had moved to Rijnsburg, a small town outside Leiden, was a medical student and a scion of an apparently well-to-do family (I'll explain that in a moment). He also seems to have been the president of Spinoza's fan club in Amsterdam. And in the winter of 1663, what Simon seems to have wanted more than anything was some time alone with Bento:
For some time now I have been anxious to visit you, but the weather and the long winter have prevented me. Sometimes I complain about my lot because the distance between us keeps us apart for so long. Your companion Casearius is very lucky to be able to live under the same roof with you, and to talk with you about important matters at breakfast, at dinner, and on your walks. But though our bodies are so far apart, you have often been present in my mind, especially when I meditate on your writings and hold them in my hands. But since not everything is clear enough to the members of our ·Amsterdam Spinoza study· group—which is why we have begun meeting again—and so that you won't think I have forgotten you, I am writing this letter.
He then tells Spinoza — I kid you not — that this study group wasn't sure what a "definition" was, and could Spinoza please explain? Now, I have to confess something here. I recall being a teenager and dreaming up excuses to pick up the phone and call the object of my affection, and coming up with an equally ridiculous excuse. They probably sounded as desperate as this one.
Anyway, moving on. Spinoza wrote back:
I have received your letter, which I had long looked for, and I thank you very much for it and for your feeling toward me. The length of your absence has been no less burdensome to me than to you. … There is no need for you to envy Casearius. No one is more troublesome to me, and there is no-one with whom I have to be more on my guard. So I warn you and all our friends not to communicate my views to him until he has grown up; he is still childish and unstable, more anxious for novelty than for truth. But I hope that in a few years he will correct these youthful faults. Indeed, as far as I can judge from his native ability, I am almost certain that he will. So his talent induces me to like him.
There's a bit to unpack in this exchange beyond the extraordinary familiarity of it. First, the longing Simon expresses is, well, palpable. Like the Jewish v'ahavta prayer, Simon is evidently thinking of Bento when he lies down and when he rises up, meditating on Bento's words and binding them as a sign upon his hand. He even addresses his friend as "master" in his letters. I swear I'm not imagining things.
But there's a problem: a roommate, who Simon fears is a rival. As Spinoza would later write in his Ethics, "If anyone conceives that an object of his love joins itself to another with closer bonds of friendship than he himself has attained to, he will be affected with hatred towards the loved object and with envy towards his rival." It's not crazy to think that this could be the very (or one of the very) situations where Spinoza learned this lesson.
Spinoza writes back that Simon has no need to fear. The warm feelings between Simon and he are real and shared, and Casearius is not a rival. However, he cautions, he is a threat in another sort of way: "I have to be more on my guard. So I warn you and all our friends not to communicate my views to him until he has grown up; he is still childish and unstable, more anxious for novelty than for truth."
What in the world does this mean? It seems odd that he would warn Simon to be cautious in telling Casearius about Spinoza's philosophy, as no other penpal gets a similar warning. If the roommate truly was some sort of tongue-wagging spy ready to run to the predicants and denounce Spinoza as a dangerous atheist, it seems Spinoza would have sent the alarm to all his friends — but that never happened. In fact, there's no mention of his roommate in any other letter.
What's going on?
A man is made of his secrets
Spinoza was a notoriously secretive man. He had to be — he learned the hard way after being kicked out of the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam in 1656 at the age of 23. He said at the time that the banishment didn't do anything that he wouldn't have chosen for himself, but it was a trick he couldn't afford to do again. If he rose the ire of Dutch society writ large, the consequences would be so much worse. Think: prison. Think: death.
I'm not exaggerating here. Yes, Holland was famously open-minded for its time, but that had its limits. The Dutch Republic formally recognized freedom of religion, but even they drew the line at Catholicism. And atheists? That was truly pushing the line. That's why Spinoza took the step of ensuring his Ethics would only be published posthumously.
If being godless was bad, being gay was worse. That was punishable by death. If, as I believe, Spinoza was gay, this was a secret he would have guarded with is life. Literally.
Suppose I'm right, Spinoza was a gay man in the 1600s who needed to hide the very essence of who he was. How would that color his actions? How would that determine the way he behaves? Would it change how he publicly acts toward the man he has or did have a romantic relationship with — someone like Simon de Vries?
The chain of letters between Bento and Simon was short. The first one, with Simon declaring how much he misses Bento, was by far the most passionate. Then Bento warns him off being too open in the next letter. There are two further letters sticking to matters of philosophy, each shorter. That is all we are allowed to see.
But that is not the end.
Four years later, as the unmarried and childless Simon was sick and nearing death, he wanted to name Bento his heir. The designation would come with an annuity of 500 florins (about $30,000), which is a considerable some for someone known to live near poverty. But Bento said no, turned him down. "Give it to your brother," he said. But either Simon or his brother insisted, and Bento finally accepted an annuity of 300 florins, or $18,000.
Even $18,000 is quite a lot for someone who is "just friends." It's quite a bit for someone who is just "a good teacher." Simon wanted his estate to go to the one person in the world who meant the most to him, and that one person was Bento Spinoza. The man he loved. His lover. Q.E.D.


text:
On Thursday 26th March the Supreme Court concluded, to the delight of The Guardian and the dismay of the Prime Minister, that communications between Prince Charles and government Ministers – the so-called 'black spider memos' – should be released. This has been a long saga, involving issues of freedom of information, discussion of constitutional conventions surrounding the behaviour of a Monarch in training, which now also includes the principle of legality and the nature of the relationship between parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law. Such a cornucopia of delights for constitutional lawyers guarantees that the case has earned its place in the 'Constitutional law Case list Hall of Fame', with the promise of further delight as the memos, once released and savoured, cast an insight into the relationship between the Crown and the Government.
The facts of the case are well-known and need only be briefly stated. Evans, a Guardian journalist, issued a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the release of correspondence between Prince Charles and various Ministers. Some of these memos contained environmental issues, and so a request was also made under the Environmental Information Regulations. The request was initially refused. Following a series of appeals, culminating in a full hearing before the Upper Tribunal, the request to release the 'advocacy correspondence' was approved. However, no memos were forthcoming. Section 53 of the Freedom of Information Act empowers a 'person in authority' – in this case the Attorney General – to issue a certificate in response to a notice to fulfil a Freedom of Information Request. A certificate can be issued when the person in authority has 'on reasonable grounds formed the opinion that, in respect of the request or requests concerned there was no failure' to comply with the enforcement notice. A certificate, once issued, means that the enforcement notice 'shall cease to have effect'. However, the decision of the Attorney General was itself subject to judicial review and Evans challenged the issue of the certificate, claiming that it was unlawful as contrary to section 53 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and, with regard to the advocacy correspondence which contained information about environmental issues, that it was contrary to the 'Access to Environmental Information' Directive (Directive 2004/3 EC) and Article 47 of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Divisional Court dismissed the judicial review action. The Court of Appeal allowed the judicial review and, in a split decision, so did the Supreme Court. The Court decided 5:2 that the certificate was unlawful under the 2000 Act and 6:1 that the certificate was contrary to EU law. As this is a blog post on UK constitutional law, I will focus on the lawfulness of the certificate according to section 53 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
As Mark Elliott expertly explains, the way in which their Lordships reached their conclusions is as important as the substance. The issue turned on what is meant by 'reasonable grounds' that there would be no failure to comply with an enforcement notice. Lord Neuberger, with whom Lords Kerr and Reid agreed, concluded that 'reasonable grounds' could not mean that the Attorney General could issue a certificate merely because he would have reached a different conclusion to the Upper Tribunal. In other words – there is no 'substitution of judgment'. He reached his conclusion through his use of the principle of legality, a principle of interpretation which means that only clear and specific words can be used to legislate contrary to fundamental constitutional rights. If 'reasonable grounds' did mean that the Attorney General were able to effectively overturn a decision of the Upper Tribunal, merely because he would have reached a different conclusion to the Upper Tribunal, then this would contravene two important fundamental principles of the constitution. First,
'it is a basic principle that a decision of a court is binding as between the parties, and cannot be ignored or set aside by anyone including (indeed it may fairly be said, least of all) the executive' [para 52].
'it is also fundamental to the rule of law that decisions and actions of the executive are … reviewable by the court at the suit of an interested citizen.' [para 52].
'Reasonable grounds' is not sufficiently clear to empower the Attorney General to override decisions of the Upper Tribunal merely because, if he had decided the issue, he would have reached a different conclusion. In these circumstances, there would only be 'reasonable grounds' to issue the certificate if there was a 'material change of circumstances' since the Tribunal decision was taken, or if the decision was 'demonstrably flawed in fact or in law'.[para 71] This was not the case and, therefore, the Attorney General did not have reasonable grounds to issue the certificate which would have overturned the decision of the Upper Tribunal.
Lord Mance and Lady Hale, whilst agreeing that it was unlawful for the Attorney General to issue the certificate, reached their conclusion in a different manner and provided a different interpretation of 'reasonable grounds'. The starting point for Lord Mance's judgment is not the principle of legality, but the contextual application of the principles found in prior judgments concerning the extent to which governmental departments are bound by decisions of administrative tribunals. Lord Mance distinguished between disagreements with the findings of fact and law, and disagreements over the relative weight to be given to the interests the tribunal needed to balance to determine whether disclosure was in the public interest. Given that the tribunal held a full hearing, but the Attorney General consulted in private and formed his own view without hearing both sides, Lord Mance agreed that it would require the clearest possible justification for the Attorney General to overturn findings of fact or law. However, when the Attorney General was disagreeing about the relative weight to be given to different interests, 'reasonable grounds' required thoughtful engagement with the decision of the Upper Tribunal and an account of the reasons for reaching a different conclusion, as required by other provisions of section 53. The requirement of reasons and the scrutiny of those reasons afterwards would enable the court to ensure that the Attorney General had reasonable grounds for issuing the certificate and was not merely disagreeing with the Upper Tribunal. In the words of Lord Mance:
'I do not consider that it was open to the Attorney General to issue a certificate under section 53 on the basis of opposite or radically differing conclusions about the factual position and the constitutional conventions without, at the lowest, explaining why the tribunal was wrong to make the findings and proceed on the basis it did'. [para 145].
Lord Hughes disagreed, concluding that the issue of the certificate was lawful under section 53 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Section 53 empowers the Attorney General to issue the certificate if he disagrees with the decision of the Upper Tribunal on 'reasonable grounds' and this must include the ability to disagree on the degree of weight to be given the different interests when assessing whether disclosure of the advocacy correspondence was in the public interest. To construe the section otherwise was to strain the words of Parliament too far. However, he did agree that the issuing of the certificate was contrary to EU law and that, therefore, the advocacy correspondence on environmental issues should be released. Lord Wilson agreed with Lord Hughes that the issuing of the certificate was not contrary to the Freedom of Information Act but disagreed on the matter of EU law, concluding that it was lawful under EU law to issue the certificate. To interpret section 53 in the manner proposed by Lord Neuberger was not to interpret but to re-write the section. Moreover, whilst the principle of the separation of powers would have been breached were the executive to be able to override a tribunal decision on a matter of law, this was not the same when it came to the weighing up of competing interests to determine the public interest.
Lord Wilson noted the temptation before the court to
'seek to maintain the supremacy of the astonishingly detailed, and inevitably unappealed, decision of the Upper Tribunal in favour of disclosure of the Prince's correspondence!'. [para 168].
In a similar manner, there is a huge temptation facing any constitutional commentator to see this judgment as a showdown between two constitutional principles. Alas, I do not share Lord Wilson's strength of character. It is impossible not to savour the statements of Lord Neuberger of the 'constitutional importance of the principle that a decision of the executive should be reviewable by the judiciary' [para 54] and his repetition of the principle of legality, where courts acknowledge the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty, whilst applying principles of constitutionality. Nor can one fail to enjoy the rebuttal by Lord Hughes that
'[t]he rule of law is of the first importance. But it is an integral part of the rule of law that courts give effect to Parliamentary intention. The rule of law is not the same as a rule that courts must always prevail, no matter what the statute says' [para 154]
accompanied by the statement of Lord Wilson that the Court of Appeal 'invoked precious constitutional principles but among the most precious is that of parliamentary sovereignty, emblematic of our democracy'. [para 168]. In one corner stands 'the rule of law'; in the other stands 'parliamentary sovereignty'. Each fought a valiant fight, but the narrow victory went to 'the rule of law'.
Just as it would be too simplistic to decide Evans by succumbing to the temptation to side against the establishment and uphold the supremacy of the court, it is too simplistic to see Evans as a simple showdown between parliamentary supremacy and the rule of law or yet another victory for common law constitutionalism. First, although Lord Neuberger cites AXA and Jackson, he makes no specific claim in this case that the rule of law prevails over parliamentary sovereignty. He makes it clear that that principle of legality is a principle of statutory interpretation, and that, given parliamentary sovereignty, statutes can override both the final authority of judicial decisions and the requirement of judicial review. The disagreement between Lord Neuberger, Lord Mance, Lord Hughes and Lord Wilson is more subtle. Neither argues that one constitutional principle always overrides the other. The question is as to the way in which these principles inter-relate. How far does statutory interpretation to uphold the rule of law extend before it undermines parliamentary sovereignty?
Second, although as Mark Elliott rightly points out, Lord Neuberger's judgment reasons in a more top-down as opposed to bottom-up manner than Lord Mance's judgment, both are careful to provide contextualised reasoning, with Lord Neuberger drawing on principles from the same cases relied on by Lord Mance. Both examine the nature of the powers of the Upper Tribunal and the Attorney General and the way in which they were exercised in this case. This judgment is not an example of axiomatic constitutional doctrines, where the rule of law always requires as strained a construction as possible of statutory provisions. It is careful to take account of the specific context.
Third, despite their disagreements it is possible to find a small element of consensus. Lord Mance, Lord Hughes and Lord Wilson are careful to delineate between a disagreement as to the law or the facts on which a conclusion is based and one where there are disagreements as to the weighing of competing interests. There are only reasonable grounds for the Attorney General to override decisions of the Upper Tribunal when disagreeing on the facts or the law where there is a material change of circumstances, or where these legal or factual assessments were demonstrably flawed – at least this is the opinion of Lord Neuberger and probably of Lord Mance and Lady Hale. When dealing with the weighing of competing interests, however, there can be 'reasonable grounds' to overturn the decision, not because the Attorney General would have reached a different conclusion, but where he had provided clear reasons for this, with these reasons clearly engaging with the argument of the Upper Tribunal and providing a reasoned justification for this disagreement, (per Lord Mance and Lady Hale) or where the Attorney General had 'reasonable grounds' to disagree (per the dissent of Lord Hughes and Lord Wilson).
If this is a possible consensus from the judgment of the Supreme Court, then it is one with which it is hard to disagree. To allow for a narrow scope of 'reasonable grounds' when a certificate is used to overturn a decision of the Upper Tribunal on matters of fact or law is to show the appropriate degree of respect for the decisions of the Upper Tribunal, whilst allowing for overrides when needed to correct glaring errors. The Upper Tribunal produced an extensive, clearly reasoned judgment, with access to the memos (the courts judicially reviewing the Attorney General's decision did not see the memos as they were not needed to assess the lawfulness of issuing the certificate) after hearing both sides. It has specific expertise in this area of the law. This does not mean that the Upper Tribunal is impervious to mistakes. But these features, coupled with the importance of the rule of law, require that any statutory authority to effectively overturn a decision of the Upper Tribunal should be narrowly construed. The power to overturn this decision should only be exercised where it is clear that the Upper Tribunal has made an error and where it is clear that the person having this power to overturn is able to correct this error. When dealing with the weighing up of competing interests, the relative expertise and knowledge of the Upper Tribunal does not carry as much weight. It can be reasonable to disagree as to the definition of the public interest. This is exacerbated on the facts of Evans, where a determination of the public interest is determined against the backdrop of competing interpretations of constitutional conventions regarding the relationship between the Monarch and the executive, and a Monarch-in-training and the executive. There is little clarity on this issue. It is also hard to argue that the Upper Tribunal has greater expertise or better constitutional authority to resolve this matter. However, given the rule of law and the fact that any certificate will contradict a resolution of the Upper Tribunal, these reasonable grounds need to be fully justified and subject to scrutiny. It is not enough to merely state disagreement. The Attorney General needs to explain clearly how he has reached a different conclusion. In return, when carrying out judicial review the courts should scrutinise the reasoning of the Attorney General but be wary of overturning the certificate of the Attorney General merely because they would have reached a different outcome from the Attorney General.
This possible consensus also casts some light on how we should interpret the constitutional grand-standing as regards the battle between parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law. It is not the case that either 'parliamentary sovereignty' or the 'rule of law' always does or always should prevail over the other. Nor is it clear that there is a consensus as to precisely what is meant by 'parliamentary sovereignty' or 'the rule of law'. To balance 'parliamentary sovereignty' and the 'rule of law' by focusing on the precise meaning of words, or the distinction between 'interpretation' and 'appeal', or to speculate on what Parliament would have enacted if its attention had been drawn to the specific issue before the court, is to focus on the wrong issues. Nor is it appropriate to cite such grand constitutional principles out of context. Rather, we need to focus on the justifications of parliamentary sovereignty and the rule of law applied to the specific context of each case if we are to better understand the UK constitution.
Evans will lend itself to a range of interpretations – so here is mine. I would argue that the case does not concern parliamentary sovereignty but parliamentary legislative supremacy. By this I mean that Parliament can legislate on any subject matter it wishes save one – it cannot bind its successors – and that courts can interpret, but cannot contradict, clearly expressed statutory provisions. It does not entail that courts can only interpret legislation so as to uphold the intentions of Parliament. This is because I argue that parliamentary legislative supremacy is justified not because it aims to ensure that Parliament is supreme, but because it ensures that supremacy is shared between the legislature and the courts. In particular, it ensures that Parliament alone is not capable of elevating issues to ones of constitutional importance by entrenching them through a requirement of a specific 'manner and form' of legislation, or by requiring an additional component to the law-making process. Any such change commenced by Parliament requires acceptance by the courts for its completion. The principle of legality may require express and clear words to provide evidence of an intention to legislate contrary to an important constitutional principle, but it is still possible for such legislation to be enacted, albeit through Parliament paying the political cost of doing so by ensuring its intentions to legislate in this manner are clearly and specifically expressed.
Applying this understanding of the relationship between parliamentary legislative supremacy and the rule of law to this case requires careful thought as to the relationship between the executive, administrative tribunals, the judiciary and the legislature, focusing on the precise nature of their constitutional roles and their institutional differences. There are clear constitutional reasons for not allowing the executive to override the decision of an administrative tribunal. If the legislature nevertheless provides for such a possibility, this needs to be interpreted against this constitutional backdrop. Constitutional principles would point to the authority of the administrative tribunal to determine issues of law and fact. This is reinforced by institutional considerations. The Upper Tribunal had the relevant information, the requisite expertise and provided a clearly reasoned conclusion. In these circumstances, it is only reasonable to overturn its decision as to the law or facts when there is a change of relevant facts or where there is a blatant error of fact or law that the Attorney General is in a position to correct. The situation is not the same as regards the weighing of competing interests, where it may be reasonable for the Upper Tribunal and the Attorney General to disagree, particularly when this involves the assessment of conventions regulating the relationship between the Monarch and the government. Here, reaching a better outcome may be furthered when the Attorney General has greater ability to overturn the determination of the Upper Tribunal, particularly given that this is also subject to judicial review. However, this will only be the case when the Attorney General provides reasons and engages effectively with the arguments of the Upper Tribunal, explaining why a different conclusion is justified.
The situation is different, however, as regards the removal of judicial review, or the power of the executive to ignore judicial determinations. These aspects of the rule of law are a part of our constitutional bedrock as the principle of parliamentary legislative supremacy. Without the maintenance of these principles, courts and the legislature are unable to work together effectively to provide a better and more legitimate determination of constitutional principles. If courts override legislation, Parliament is no longer able to effective participate in constitutional exchanges. Its voice is overridden. In a similar manner, if the legislature empowers the executive to ignore judicial determinations, courts are unable to perform their constitutional role. Their voice in the constitutional exchange is overridden. Protecting both parliamentary legislative supremacy and effective judicial review enables the UK constitution to develop, with institutions interacting effectively to develop legitimate constitutional principles. If either is undermined, this interaction can no longer take place. It is for this reason that courts do and should protect judicial review. And it requires the courts to maintain their stance to protect judicial review even in the face of its possible removal by legislation, just as Parliament, when enacting section 18 of the European Union Act 2011 maintained its stance against the courts claim that the principle of parliamentary legislative supremacy was one of the common law and hence could be modified by the courts. Constitutional showdowns like Evans are necessary component of the UK's constitution. But their impact and importance are far more subtle than claims of a shift between common law or political constitutionalism would have us believe.
Alison Young is an Associate Professor of Law and a Fellow of Hertford College, University of Oxford.
(Suggested Citation: A. Young, 'R (Evans) v Attorney General [2015] UKSC 21 – the Anisminic of the 21st Century?' U.K. Const. L. Blog (31st Mar 2015) (available at http://ukconstitutionallaw.org))

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Now here is one of the more strangely reasoned arguments I've seen.
There's a vacancy on Georgia's coaching staff and for the short time in his young head coaching career, Kirby Smart has to replace a coordinator. Mel Tucker is moving on to become the next head coach at Colorado with an official announcement yet to come, leaving Smart with a key hire to make as the early signing period approaches.
Seeing as how the Bulldogs have been to the SEC Championship two years in a row and in the thick of the College Football Playoff discussion in both seasons, there won't be a shortage of coaches who really want this job.
Add in the fact that UGA is teeming with young talent on the defensive side, and the third-year head coach should have an impressive list of names to choose from. But let's take a look at things from the financial side. Tucker made $1.5 million this past year, and that money will be freed up. UGA can afford to go out and lure a successful assistant from another school, but there's more flexibility there than you realize.
The federal excise tax, which came into effect before this season, applied to Tucker because his salary was a $1 million or more. Under new tax law, a 21-percent tax is applied for any salary over $1 million and it is taken on the ammount over $1 million. For Tucker, that meant that Georgia's Athletic Association was paying a 21-percent tax on $500,000, the amount the veteran assistant was making in excess of that seven-figure threshold.
Some quick math shows that in addition to Tucker's $1.5 million salary, UGA was paying $105,000 because of the tax…
Does anybody really think if Kirby says pay that man his money, Butts-Mehre is going to flinch over the excise tax consequences? I mean, I dump on the Georgia Way as much as anyone possibly can, but even I don't think McGarity's blind enough to die on a hill like that.


text:
Ashkenazy buys Harlem retail properties for $19M
Investor Ben Ashkenazy of Ashkenazy Associates has paid $19 million for a pair of retail properties in Harlem, Crain's reported.
The deal includes a vacant theater on West 146st Street—the former RKO Hamilton Theater—and an adjacent three-story retail building occupied by an El Mundo department store. Also included is a vacant land parcel next door to the theater on West 147th, which can accommodate up to 20,000-square-feet of development, Crain's said.
A second property site at 4168 Broadway between 176th and 177th streets, along with a six-story parking garage at West 177th Street with retail space at its base, was also part of the deal.
The seller was real estate investment firm Emmes Properties, which was represented in the deal by Robert Knakal, chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services, Crain's reported.
A source told Crain's that Ashkenazy is eyeing a conversion of the second property to include more retail space and possibly other commercial uses, such as offices upstairs. "The garage has level concrete floors so the existing structure could be preserved and converted," the source said. [Crain's]—Hayley Kaplan


text:
This time last year, my (then) 12 year old daughter and I threw this baby together in an afternoon. Seriously, it was that easy. A year later it's still sturdy as it every was and is working out great for another sitting-'round-the-fire season.
The hardest part was the two trips (probably should have been three given how much my poor little SUV was squatting!) to Lowes to get the bricks.
She was squatting good on this trip!
But after we got it all home, it was smooth sailing from there.
Give it a try!
Time: 2 1/2 hours
Difficulty: NOT!
Cost: $160*
* I was trying to get this done while my sweetheart was out of town for a couple days and I couldn't find sheets of expanded metal locally, so $55 of that was for overnight shipping. Since then, I have found a local place that would have charged me half of what I paid for the metal, so with a little searching, and maybe a little repurposing (craigslist, freecycle, local construction cast-offs, etc.) you could probably cut the cost down by A LOT. Even at this price, it's waaaay cheaper than anything I could find in any store, and those were half the size and would probably last a quarter as long.
What to get/acquire/buy:
- 27 standard cinder blocks (the two-hole kind)
- 10- 16 x 8 pavers
- 1- 4′ length of angle iron
- 1- 36″ x 36″ sheet of 9 GA steel expanded metal – flattened
- 1- 36′ x 12″ sheet of 9 GA steel expanded metal – flattened
Start by leveling your area. Eyeballing it is probably ok. For those of you who, like me, aren't "professional levelers," I took a shovel and moved the dirt around until it looked right. As I set each layer, I added a little here, took a little away there to make it straight and sturdy. There is probably a "right" way, but hey, my way worked too.
Arrange your first layer of blocks:
Then your next layer on top, alternating your pattern:
Then add your cooking surface and the angle iron**:
** angle iron is literally a piece of iron that is bent at a right angle. So you want the cooking surface to sit in the angle to 1) keep it in place, and 2) cover the sharp edges.
Then the next layer:
Next comes the warming shelf:
Finishing it up (The decorative pavers are totally optional, but I think they add nice contrast detail and a clean finish on the top):
And the finished product:
I used 2 part epoxy to add the horseshoe, maybe the second most complicated part. And only because I was convinced I was going to glue my hands together, or to the block, or to some other random surface….luckily, I got away un-
scathed stuck. 🙂
In the open spaces on either side of the front there, where the openings in the cinder blocks are exposed, I planted cooking herbs: rosemary and sage. Great for grilling, and they seemed to like the conditions there with very minimal care.
My sweetheart did add some firebricks to the inside to make ash clean-up a little easier, and he does treat the cooking grates with oil from time to time. He said to liken it to caring for a cast iron skillet. Yes, you may get some rust spots between uses, but a good oil and heating it up good and hot makes the whole surface good as new!
The absolute best part (I think) is that it's 100% moveable. Nothing but weight holds the bricks in place (and that is definitely enough), so it can be relocated, reconfigured, or taken down at any time.


text:
Chase Bank
Chase Bank Building is located at the corner of two large and highly trafficked streets in Sarasota. Since both streets are State maintained closing lanes required lane closure permits from the State and those specified that they had to be at night. So cleaning required 1/4 mile long lane closures and markings in two different directions while we cleaned the building throughout one night.


text:
The much speculated about second video now in police possession is different but related to the previously reported video that shows Mayor Rob Ford appearing to smoke crack cocaine, a Superior Court judge said Monday.
In a written ruling Monday that dismissed a bid by an alleged gang member to access the videos, Justice Ian Nordheimer said the second clip is "much shorter" and "separate" from the first video.
"However, from the content of the second video, it might be reasonably concluded that what is revealed in the second video relates back to the first," he wrote.
The first video, Nordheimer confirmed, is indeed about 90 seconds long and "is the one in which the mayor of the City of Toronto is featured."
Nordheimer also backed up statements made by Police Chief Bill Blair last month, saying Blair "fairly characterized the contents of the video as being 'consistent' with previous media reports."
The Star has reported that the video shows a clearly impaired Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine from a glass pipe. At one point Ford calls Justin Trudeau a "fag" and later on, when referring to his football team, he appears to say (though he is mumbling), "they are just f---ing minorities."
Monday's ruling prevents Muhammad Khattak, one of three men who appear in a now notorious photo with Ford taken outside the "drug house" where police believe the video was shot, from viewing the videos at this time.
Last week, Khattak's lawyers argued their client had a right to access the video because the photo had unfairly connected him to its creation and efforts to sell it, and he needed it to clear his name. As well, they maintained Khattak had the right to pursue civil action against those involved, and viewing both videos may help him establish the identity of those people.
Nordheimer, who decided he would review the videos privately before making his decision, ruled Khattak had a legal interest in the video but that it was contingent on him actually commencing a civil action — which he has not yet done.
The judge did note there is "some information" on the videos that could provide a lead for those responsible. He added the media has revealed information "that suggests certain connections between individuals and the video, all of which would also provide leads to Mr. Khattak."
The Star has reported that Mohamed Siad, who was arrested along with Khattak as part of the Project Traveller gang and gun investigation, is the man who made the video and later attempted to sell it with the help of a broker.
"The ruling did confirm that Mr. Khattak had nothing to do with the creation or dissemination of the crack video," said Daniel Brown, one of Khattak's lawyers. (Khattak was not seen or heard on the video and it has nothing to do with his charges, the ruling confirmed.)
"Mr. Khattak will consider bringing forward a civil lawsuit based on the information revealed in this ruling," Brown added.
Nordheimer has also been responsible for ordering the public release of large portions of a search warrant document connected to an Oct. 1 drug arrest of the mayor's "close friend," Alexander "Sandro" Lisi. The nearly 500-page document, which outlines an exhaustive police investigation targeting Ford, has been the source of a torrent of revelations in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, lawyers for the Star and other media outlets will make arguments in court for the release of the final redacted portions of the search warrant document. This includes sections that Lisi's lawyer says could prejudice his fair trial rights as well as information that came from wiretap recordings.
Next week, media lawyers will continue their fight for similar search warrant documents in the Project Traveller probe to be released.


text:
Community, Nonprofits and Businesses sharing Information
Time: November 27, 2018 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Location: Ives Main Library
Street: 133 Elm Street
City/Town: New Haven
Website or Map: https://nhfpl.org/ives-square…
Phone: (203) 946-8130
Event Type: informational, session
Organized By: New Haven Free Public Library
Latest Activity: Nov 26, 2018
Export to Outlook or iCal (.ics)
Join an Instagram expert Linda Kavanagh of the Women's Business Development Council to learn how to build your brand, perfect your message and generate referrals through Instagram. Topics will include tips and tricks for gaining followers, perfecting brand messaging, ideas for using pictures and video, and tips to utilizing the right hashtags. Register at the link provided.


text:
Clarinet Corner Query: Undertones and Airiness
Dear Mr. Friedland,
I apologize in advance for any bother I may cause you. ^_^
I am a seventeen-year-old student and I have been playing the clarinet for nine years (not very long, I know, but I figured it might be useful to know). I'm not sure what type of mouthpiece I use because all it says is "2" on it, and nobody can tell the type. It came with a clarinet that was new to me, though 30 years old. The mouthpiece is plastic, whilst the clarinet is wood. I use a #3 Vandoren reed. I used Rico when I first started, switched to Mitchell Lurie two years ago, and then at the beginning of this year, a clarinet professor at UNC told me to switch to Vandoren.
Here's my problem: regardless of reed change, I sound airy on every single note. Also, when I tongue even moderately fast, I get undertones. I always play with a straight posture and both feet flat on the floor, but that is not helping the aforementioned problems in any way. I have tried tonguing with different parts of my tongue (the tip, farther back, etc.) but I still get the undertones and all the air. The undertones begin when I play the B-flat concert scale, but don't happen when I get up to the C#, D, and F (the really high ones).
If there's any advice that you have for me on fixing these problems, I would greatly appreciate it!! The professor told me to whistle a C# and play with my mouth in that position, but I have noticed no difference (though is most likely because I am doing it incorrectly).
Thank you very much for considering my questions. I will gladly accept any instructions and/or advice you can offer. Thank you again!
Dear Sarah:
Thank you for your note. I understand your problems and would love to hear you play so that I can help to fix them for they are common and are basic as well.
On my site, there is a search bar. It is on the lower right hand side of the front page.
Go there and put the words, embouchure, tonguing, and mouthpiece, each word separately and read all that comes up. I have been writing this site for at least 10 years and I know I have discussed the same problems with many players.
If you are helped by anything you read, please let me know.
In any case, please write to me again should you have further problems. It is not your mouthpiece, nor your clarinet, nor your reed. It is most probably you and the fact that you do not have a private teacher who is a clarinetist to guide you.
Without seeing you play, much less hearing you, I cannot tell if you have a good embouchure, which is critical.
Anyway, I am concerned about your problems. Please take my suggestions and get to me if you have any further questions. Please do not forget that all of these changes will take time.
Good luck, and let me know how you are doing.
best wishes, sherman


text:
- "...the warmth & hospitality surpasses any hotel chain.
- "...I hit the jackpot with St Augustine Beach House!!
- "...super pet-friendly hotel! The stay was amazing! Very Clean, beautiful view, nice staff, delicious breakfast.
- "...surpassed my expectations!
Our Guests Say It Best
Sunshine and Smiles
The warmth & hospitality surpasses any hotel chain. Everyone is so professional in anticipating our every need.- janetheresaalario, TripAdvisor.com, September 2021
Wonderful Location
The view!!!! Spectacular. My puppies had a great time exploring the beach...- Charlene, TripAdvisor.com, September 2021
Exceptional Facility
Great view, literally steps to the beach. Room was very clean and had everything we needed for a short stay.- Ro, Booking.com, August 2021
Fantastic Rooms
The Duneside room view was very secluded and serene. We will definitely stay here again for much longer.- Verified Traveler, Expedia.com, July 2021
Stay on the Beach
What an awesome boutique hotel, right on the ocean. The rooms are impeccably clean and coastal chic. We had a linen package just for our dog to keep her spiffy during our stay.- Libby, BringFido.com, April 2021
More Than A Florida HotelBeach House Charm
The Beach House is no ordinary oceanfront hotel. Wake to unobstructed beach views, salty breezes, sunshine, and the sound of the waves. Savor our home-cooked breakfast, then stroll with your dog on the sand. Walk to a fresh seafood dinner, then gaze out at historic St. Augustine from the Vilano Pier. Take a short drive to explore the oldest city in America. The Beach House is a complete retreat on Florida's First Coast.
Why You'll Never Want To Leave Pet-Friendly
We are truly dog friendly, with no weight limit for your furry friend. They can romp at the dog run, dig in the sand, splash on the shore, and go for a stroll in St. Augustine. The St. Augustine Record said it best!
Why You'll Never Want To Leave Oceanfront Rooms
Step out onto the sand barefoot, or watch the ocean from your balcony. From that first sunrise over the Atlantic, you'll be immersed in coastal living.
Why You'll Never Want To Leave Location
We're right on the beach, yet moments from St. Augustine and its historic sites, so you get the best of both worlds nestled along Florida's First Coast.
Why You'll Never Want To Leave Hospitality
This isn't just a hotel. Our welcoming staff works to make each guest feel at ease. Call the Beach House your home away from home.
Perks of Booking with the Beach House
- On the beach. True Oceanfront.
- Walkable Dining
- The Best Breakfast Anywhere
Please call the Front Desk for details.


text:
Vores nye foredrag: Familie eventyr, 2000 km i kano gennem Alaskas vildmark! Vi holder foredrag i hele Danmark og Europa, læs mere om vores foredrag her "Danmarks… Read more "A family on adventure, 2000 km in a canoe through Alaska."
Category: Canoe
Organizing an adventure with kids, nightmare?
Well it is tiring and not always fun.. So what did the kids do, to help prepare for the adventure? They didn't like shopping all the time, but… Read more "Organizing an adventure with kids, nightmare?"
Yukon River
Yukon River – our new adventure…


text:
Below is an Infographics about new Air Conditioner Technologies to Keep you Cool and comfortable at home. This is an important technology to know about the air conditioners before purchasing.
The 2017 Viral Technologies AC keeps your better at home.
Bring a Best AC Technicians to fit your new Air Conditioner.
For AC Fitting and any ac issues:
Write To Us.
We are here to help you with the best service.
Our Specialist Repairing at Coimbatore, Tirupur and Pollachi


text:
Shoplyfter - Inspiring Star Corra Cox Caught Red Handed Trying To Steal From A Store
Horny grandpa and perverted daddy fuck an innocent teen
Cute teenagers fuck and piss in the woods PART 1
Cute Teen and MILF Share Cock and Cumswap
ExxxtraSmall - Cute Petite Teen Fucked By Two Huge Cocks
Cute teen Ashlynn Brooke Ends Up Cum Covered And Smiling
Grandpa Mireck bangs cute 18yo girl
Babe in pajamas masturbates and rubs pussy on the pillow
Ebba gets fucked hard by her masseur's big dick
18 year old school cutie loves sucking big cocks and fucking
Beautiful young schoolgirl gets her first anal creampie
Cute teen Hannah Hays fucked by her stepbrothers hard dick
My stepfather ties me up and I get very horny #kodabratz
I let you see how I exercise and show you my tits #LenaAddams91
I try to seduce my stepfather #Kodabratz
Cute teen Ava Parker pays the pussy price for stealing
Hot Cutie Teen in Japanese Schoolgirl Uniform Fucks Herself with a Dildo - March Foxie
Huge tits cheerleader masturbates at home until stepdad joins her
You can break my ass #Kodabratz
do Not resist! POV Missionary & huge Cumshot on her Perfect body
Stepsis Is A Whore. Asks To Fuck Her In Perfect Petite Ass
Cute Teen Masturbating while standing
FakeShooting - Super cute teen with Big natural tits fuck
Real Pick-Up! Today's target, nursing students! She can't think clearly with two cocks in front of her! -2
New super hot Desi Youtannu fucks stepbrother, full hot romantic fuck with Hindi Audio
I pleased my gamer bf with a blowjob
Sex with a sleepy teenager in Pokemon pajamas
BrokenTeens - Peach Fucks Her Boyfriend And His Frat Stepbrother
Teen stranger catching me and sucking my cock in a bus
Cute teen gets seduced by her older stepbrother
Gamer Girl Spread Out, Throated, Ass Fucked in Rough Casting
Natural tits girl plays with pussy till orgasm without taking off cute panties
Cute Asian teen with amazing tits rammed by massive dick
Hot stepsister is tied up and fucked with double dildos, double fingering and Cum in Mouth final - Victoria Kai
grandpa loves cute teen
Cute Teen - There is nothing more divine than fucking
cute french teen casting for her first anal sex
OLD4K. Old lover and cute teen embark spontaneous sex at...
Cute teen handjob
She loves to be tied up and used with her fingers
Cute pale teen loves getting manhandled by a hung black stud
Older man with teen girl!
Cute Hairy Asian Teen Group Fucked And Creampied
College Slut Eliza Eves Needs A Place To Stay And I Need Pussy
Petite pussy gentle finger fucked with orgasm. Morning masturbation under panties and pulsing orgasm when no one is watc
Very Cute Girl With Big Tits and a Big Ass Fucked Outdoors
Deepthroater Melanie gets a huge load in her wide open mouth
He Wanted To Have Breakfast So I Fed Him With My Pussy
Horny Couple Share a Cute Blonde Teen
sweet 18YO teen gets huge dick in her ass
Beautiful stepsister gapes her ass then swallows his cum
I Told my Cuckold Husband on the Phone that I am just Running
Redhead cutie likes her pussy fucked
LinaLynn is surprised and fucked by the construction worker!!!
Is the Best Way Into my Hot-Cold Stepsister's Heart to Fuck Her?! 2
Mature yoga teacher seduces cute teen girl


text:
'We don't need a saffron, or an orange or a jasmine revolution. We are a democracy and we know how to protect it'
Face to face: Gowher Rizvi, the academic-turned-Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed
Sadiq Naqvi Dhaka
Elections in Bangladesh are only weeks away, but the incumbent Awami League government already seems to be in majority with the backing out of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Gowher Rizvi, the academic-turned-Adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, tells Hardnews that it's still not too late for the BNP to participate in the interests of a robust democracy in Bangladesh. Rizvi, who has taught at the universities of Oxford and Harvard, suggests that the government may go for a re-election if the people are not satisfied with the January 5 outcome
Of the 300 candidates, 154 have been elected unopposed. The chief opposition party has boycotted the elections, openly accusing the Awami League of not wanting a democratic election…
The tenure of Parliament ends on January 24, 2014, which means we have to have elections and a new Parliament before January 23. In the absence of an election, the parliament will stand dissolved and there will be a complete constitutional and legal vacuum.
Who will prevent the country from slipping into complete chaos and anarchy? The BNP initially demanded a caretaker government but we did not agree to it, partly because the Awami League is committed to strengthening democratic institutions and processes.
We are strengthening our Election Commission the way India and other parliamentary democracies have done. The elections will be conducted by a statutory and autonomous Election Commission with powers to conduct the elections without any control or interference by the government. In the interest of a permanent solution and strengthening of our democratic institutions, we would have no more caretaker governments that are both unconstitutional and undemocratic.
But one of the arguments being put forth is that the Supreme Court allowed for the present system to continue for another 10 years for a smooth transition…
The Supreme Court ruled the caretaker government to be unconstitutional and undemocratic. However, they also said that for the sake of state security, the members of Parliament may consider holding two further elections under this system. The decision to continue the CTG was left to the members of Parliament. Many of the parliamentarians were intrigued as to how the SC, after declaring something unconstitutional and undemocratic, could go on to suggest that it be continued. By a three-quarters majority, the MPs decided to not continue with CTG. Instead, we are trying to adapt our system like the Indian Westminster model. Elections will be conducted by the Election Commission. During election time the executive power rests with the Election Commission, not with the government. But to instil confidence in the minds of the people, we set up an election-time interim government in which all the parties were invited to participate. Though the BNP has refused to be a part of it, it still is a multiparty government represented by ministers and advisers of many parties. The space is still open for the BNP to join.
The BNP is claiming it is being persecuted and that the state security apparatus is being used to target them. One of their top leaders was picked up at 4 am from the party office…
Before answering this question it is important for the sake of transparency to make a full disclosure. One of the BNP leaders under detention is related to me through marriage. Any comment as such might be construed as a conflict of interest. But I believe that, in a democracy, no one would like to see the detention or arrest of a political leader of any party or persuasion for political activities. Nobody should be taken into custody because of his or her political activity. However, this cannot be said for many of the street activists who have inflicted huge losses of life and property on innocent citizens. They will be tried under the laws of the country.
How does one end this crisis?
We are in a dilemma here. Elections are about giving legitimacy to the government. The mandate to govern is either renewed or acquired every five years. When you have an election in which one of the major parties is not participating, obviously it loses some of its lustre but it is not automatically made invalid. Whether or not an election is valid or legitimate is for the people to decide. If, after January 5, people say, 'Well, this election is not as good as we would have liked but in the circumstances, to restore peace, to restore law and order, to enable the country to proceed, let the government continue', we will continue. But if the people say it's not valid, then we will have to rethink.
The economy seems paralyzed…
It has been less bad than what has often been portrayed. We have kept the road open to Chittagong, which means the exports are going on. We depend on exports. Despite the violence, our exports in November went up by nearly 25 percent. There is no serious trouble in any of the major industrial areas. The trouble is in the Jamaat strongholds. The BNP realized that the strikes were very unpopular, for it means hurting the livelihood of the people.
They came up with the idea of blockades. But people have found a way. I am sitting in my office, you have found a way to come and see me. So the blockade is not really working. But it's causing enormous hardship to the people. And to enforce the blockade, the party cadre, especially the Jamaat Shibir cadres, who have an alliance with the BNP, even resort to burning people in buses and cars to intimidate them. This has negated the immense development we saw in Bangladesh in the past four-and-a-half years. We are using our valuable time and resources to fight violence. The Jamaatis are chasing people out of their homes, burning properties. They are attacking minorities, who are usually more susceptible to this intimidation and violence.
What is your prognosis on the state of the economy?
Every time there is an election there is unfortunately some impact on the economy. We have revised our annual growth rate downwards. We were at 6.5 per cent and could have touched 7 per cent growth. Our economy has performed remarkably well despite the slowdown in the global economy. Despite global shrinking, our exports, per capita income, foreign exchange reserves, everything shot up.
But many people say that what is happening is a continuation of 1971 in many ways and people who are de-linking the war crime trials from elections are wrong. For the Jamaat, violence is directly related to the trials.
No, the elections are not linked to the trials. But the Jamaat violence can definitely be linked to it. They are trying to obscure their efforts to stop the trial by indulging in violence. Yes, but this is a continuation of 1971, in a big way. Those who are opposed to our liberation struggle, the national consciousness, the ideals of liberation, are fighting a last-gasp battle. The important thing to notice is that in all opinion poll findings, 75-80 per cent of the people are supporting the war crimes trial. So that means that BNP supporters and the Awami League supporters are for the trial to continue; only a small section of the Jamaat supporters are against it.
How do you look at the allegations that India is backing the Awami League openly?
Is this something new? In every election since the military takeover in 1975, this has been said. Anyone who thinks elections can be rigged or manipulated by an outside power doesn't understand the power of democracy. It's a people's decision. What could India, or any other country, for that matter, do to help change the outcome?
The BNP is also arguing that the government has not been able to extract anything tangible from the Indian side. It has given too much…
Relationships have to be always mutually beneficial. Only when both sides win there is a sustainable relationship. We have a win-win relationship with India. There are just two pending issues: land boundary agreement and water sharing. It's just a question of whether it will be voted on today or tomorrow. On water sharing, we have reached an agreement. There is some difference between New Delhi and Kolkata over minor details, but nobody has said that the agreement we have initiated will be set aside.
It would be nice if India acts on it sooner. By all accounts, one of the greatest achievements of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been to resolve all outstanding issues and we are now embarked on some major cooperative ventures in the field of joint basin management, joint venture in hydro-electric projects, building transport infrastructure to promote greater connectivity with our neighbours in South and Southeast Asia, and we have obtained complete dutyfree access to the Indian market.
How do you perceive the increased interference from international agencies?
If you look around, this sort of thing happens everywhere in the world. But there's a big difference between Bangladesh and other countries. We are a democracy. You are not here to topple a military rule or a monarchy. We have our own safety valve – our own elections. People have their own ways of taking a decision. We don't need a saffron, or an orange or a jasmine revolution to bring democracy to Bangladesh. We are a democracy and we know how to protect it.


text:
A Quick Guideline To Buy Children's Shoes Online
Purchasing shoes for kids is quite confusing, especially if you are buying it online. Going through the following points will enlighten you more on this subject-
Don't look for cheaper optionsDon't go for cheaper options when it comes to buying shoes – whether its sports shoes or kids gumboots. Having a pair of durable shoes is way greater 2-3 pairs of cheap shoes. Keeping a tab on the sites that offer sales and discounts will sail you through this process.
Measure the foot size properlyWhether you are planning to browse through the kids lunch boxes section or Mary Jane ones- you need to measure up the foot size of your child beforehand. Make her stand on a piece of paper. Draw an outline of her foot and then measure it from toes to the tip of the tallest finger. Each online shoe site comes with a size chart for kids. Based on the inches, you will in probability find the following options-
• American and Canadian shoe size• UK size and• European shoe size
If you are purchasing from any of the countries of Asia, then you will have the option to compare it with the standard shoe size of the children of your country.
Pick up soles carefullyA kid has tendered tendon and bones in her feet than that of an adult. If you are picking up shoes for her that has stiff soles, then it will cause the child pain while moving. Also, stiff soles may put a hindrance in the path of the growth of the child when it comes to her feet. On the other hand, though soft soles are ideal for children, for the active brats, they won't provide with any support. If you are a child is active in the outdoors, and then chooses stiff soles for her while she is there. But once she is inside the home, change it into a soft soled pair of shoes.
Choose shoes with good supportA kid is in generally more active and squirmy than an adult. So the shoes you choose kids raincoats for your child must reflect her lifestyle and daily habits. If you buy a pair of sandals for her, she may lose one part or may wriggle out of it unmindfully. So pick up only the shoes that have good backing like Mary Jane, sneakers or loafers. On the other hand, the soles of your chosen shoes must have tractions to prevent the falling of your child. Consider these factors beforehand, and you will find the right option, which will help them to move comfortably. Moreover, this durable footwear is able to handle the wear and tear much more efficiently than the ordinary ones, making it a cheaper option.


text:
…while not having a clue. This is our chosen way of doing things as you know except this time we are free-building – without even the how-to library books for guidance. We are jus' kinda wingin' it.
I blame my father-in-law. He was going to throw out some large double pane windows at a time when I was in a materials-gathering mode. It's a state not unlike shopping at Save-On while hungry. Not always sensible. I came home with a bunch o' windows. Then, we were site-sitting at a mansion under renovation and they were gonna break up a bunch of double pane windows and that just seemed so wrong….so we came home with more windows. So, now we have a pile o' windows – none of which are the same dimensions as the others – and Sal doesn't like mess and well, that means I have to do something with them.
"I'm gonna build a greenhouse!"
"Good. I am not helping."
"What do you mean you are not helping? We are partners. We like greens. You hate mess. I am old and stupid. I need you. Otherwise, we just have a pile o' windows."
"Fine. I'll help. But quilting comes first, OK?"
"No. Actually foundation comes first. Then pony walls and then glass. Even I know that much."
Building a concrete foundation is just not 'done' much on the Westcoast. Cement is heavy to buy, heavier to transport, and even heavier yet to mix and the ground is always uneven and, really, we are already ten years into the thirty year rule (meaning we are now building to the 20 year rule) and so I really didn't want to build using any concrete. So much work. So little energy. But Sal hates mess and I had a few already-hard bags of Reddi-mix that, if I beat the crap out them, would likely serve us in their designed capacity if I added some extra Portland cement. So, I beat the crap outta them with sledges and came up with some mixable material. Not enough. But some.
"I need more Reddi-mix."
"Never gonna happen."
"Only about six more bags."
I understand her being so adamant. She thinks if we get more bags, there will simply be a larger pile hardening under the deck. I have to use up what I have before having that conversation again. I hate to admit that she is right so I just submit quietly to her will.
Any other husband out there ever felt like that?
So, my greenhouse foundation concrete footing wall is only a few inches wide and a few inches deep. Just enough, really, to get the pony-wall frames off the ground. And, the pony walls are to be built from two-by-fours because greenhouses do not need heavy construction.
That's the easy part.
The harder part is going to be welding a steel cage-like frame in which the windows will be placed. I have to make a frame from 1″ angle iron in just the right way to accommodate about thirty large windows only four of which at any one gathering are even close to similar to each other. I am trying to figure out a pattern that allows 3′ by 5′ windows to mix with 2′ by 4′ windows with the frequent inclusion of 30″ by 72″ windows for visual interest. Plus a bunch of small square ones of differing dimensions. Got a couple of rhomboids too. Not the same size, of course. This is literally a greenhouse puzzle.
I mention this because the lower funicular is just waiting on a motor controller and it will be done. Chore number two is the greenhouse and, as you can tell, it is underway. Kinda. Chore number three which is the guest bathroom will have to wait til next year.
I seem to be on a bit of a roll, after all.


text:
It is commonly appreciated that the advent of medical nanorobotics will make it possible to reverse virtually any pathological physical medical condition in the human body. But there has always been at least one major proviso: if brain tissue has been damaged or destroyed by physical trauma, the resulting loss of information may be unrecoverable. Many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's share this characteristic and are commonplace today, afflicting tens of millions of people worldwide.
The Alzheimer's pathology is very complex and difficult to understand. There is no cure for the disease and it is widely regarded as the Mount Everest of medical challenges. Over the last several decades, many thousands of authors have written 100,000+ papers examining important pieces of the puzzle that might lead to possible cures, but so far nothing is working. This paper, which eventually grew to book length as the tremendous scope of the challenge became apparent, reviews the leading theories and proposes a comprehensive set of specific nanorobotic protocols that will almost certainly effect a cure for Alzheimer's and most other neurodegenerative diseases – just as soon as we can design and build medical nanorobots.
The purpose of the 433 page The Alzheimer Protocols: A Nanorobotic Cure for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Neurodegenerative Conditions book is to present the technical opportunities for the development of a new method for preventing the initial onset, and for completely arresting and curing the progression of an existing case, of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and related neurodegenerative conditions in human patients.
Medical nanorobotics will provide a single powerful general-purpose therapeutic platform that can simultaneously address many different kinds of biological malfunctions, using platform variants specifically and efficiently targeted to each of the multifactorial pathologies comprising Alzheimer's disease. For example, one class of medical nanorobots will target genetic risk factors, replacing mutant genes that present a high risk for AD with normal genes that present no elevated risk for AD. Other variants of the same nanorobotic therapeutic platform could bind and remove extracellular amyloid plaques or intracellular tau protein tangles, correct cancer-prone mutant genes, replace dysfunctional mitochondria, eliminate toxic cells, and rejuvenate surviving but damaged neural tissues. Still other variants of the same nanorobotic platform would perform in vivo brain mapping at subcellular resolution, conduct intracranial debridement of diseased neural tissue, manufacture replacement biological neural cells, and incorporate these replacement neural cells into the patient's brain where the ravages of Alzheimer's disease have left large cellfree gaps within the tissues. Medical nanorobots can also be used as research tools to further study the cellular and biochemical details of the disease, and to refine and perfect the therapeutic protocols described in Chapter 5 of this book.
The nanorobotic treatment for AD proposed here, called the Alzheimer Protocols, can be conceptually summarized as a series of three specific protocols aimed at three distinct clinical objectives:
(1) genetic derisking,
(2) tissue rejuvenation, and
(3) neural reconstruction.
The outcome of these simultaneous nanomedical interventions, perhaps performed over a period of about one week using a few trillion nanorobots in an appropriate clinical setting, will be a halt to the continuing damage of AD and a reversal of existing damage caused by AD, resulting in an effective cure for Alzheimer's disease. Even more advanced protocols can later be developed. What has been presented here is a conservative proof-of-concept "first generation" approach that will likely improve as we gain practical experience with nanorobots and their precise behavior inside the human body, and can test and refine the protocols using real robots and real patients
What has been presented here is a conservative proof-of-concept "first generation" approach that will likely improve as we gain practical experience with nanorobots and their precise behavior inside the human body, and can test and refine the protocols using real robots and real patients.
Finally, with a nanorobotic cure for AD in hand, other less-challenging neurodegenerative diseases – such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, ALS, prion diseases, and multiple sclerosis – can likely also be completely reversed and cured using an appropriate subset of the methods developed for defeating Alzheimer's disease.
Our key final conclusion:
Medical nanorobotics will almost certainly provide a complete cure for Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative conditions. All that remains is to execute the technical plan for implementation.
NOTE DNA nanobots exist now. But Freitas would proposal involves more advanced nanobots
Support the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing and the work of Robert Freitas here
SOURCE – Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, Nature
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.


text:
Ally previously worked as FFI's Deputy Director of Communications. Before this she worked in media management and PR for clients including comedians Eddie Izzard and Ed Byrne. She has also worked for Melbourne International Arts Festival, conservation organisation Greening Australia and the production company Roving Enterprises.
Fauna & Flora International's newest recruit Serge Negus is a young man committed to sustainable conservation.
Building on his existing knowledge of wildlife and the environment, Serge's new role will let him witness first-hand the successes and challenges of creating sustainable, science-based conservation programmes, through one of the world's most respected NGOs, Fauna & Flora International (FFI).
"As someone who has grown up surrounded by nature and been instilled with a great passion for conservation, it is an honour to be invited to work with an organisation that has such a great history and track record in the conservation world," Serge remarked.
FFI Chief Executive Mark Rose, who recently met with Serge in Melbourne, commented: "FFI is a hands-on, science-based organisation and our work, by its very nature, can be difficult to communicate to a wider audience.
"Our ambassadors play a vital role in this respect, and I believe that Serge, with his natural charm and enthusiasm, is just the right person to help get the message out to the next generation of conservationists – which is perhaps the most important demographic of all."
By the age of 10 Serge was already well travelled, having visited Venezuela, Jordan and much of Europe and as an 11 year old he spent a month trekking through Madagascar in search of new chameleon species. During school holidays in Australia, Serge worked in wildlife parks and with scientists doing research, getting up close and personal with snakes and crocodiles – an experience that sparked his life-long obsession with all things herpetological.
Currently studying geosciences at the University of Sydney, for the last two years Serge has been resident environment reporter for Australian national television programme The Project, an enviable job that has fuelled his love of wildlife and understanding of issues facing conservationists.
Speaking about his experience as a reporter, Serge said, "Amongst many other amazing, beautiful places, I travelled to East Arnhem Land to report on the devastation of marine life caused by 'ghost nets', to Kosciusko National Park to see the last corroboree frogs left in the wild, and to the Great Barrier Reef to tag sea turtles."
Earlier in 2012 Serge was named as an ambassador for National Youth Week, an Australian government initiative aimed at celebrating the contribution of youth in society.
Mark Rose continued, "As an FFI ambassador, Serge will play a vital role in the success of the organisation, especially within Australia. Despite our long history (we were established in Africa in 1903), we are still relatively new and unknown to Australian audiences. In choosing ambassadors we look for people who share our principles, understand our mission and vision, and are willing to commit to a long-term association with FFI, in much the same way our vice-president Sir David Attenborough continues to do."


text:
I've had a chance to work on a lot of interesting projects over the years, but New York Collapse would be real close to the top of any personal list. It's a scavenger-hunt puzzle book wrapped in an urban survival guide wrapped in the diary of a woman who records her experiences in its margins while she uses it to survive the release of a weaponized smallpox virus in New York City. That's the backstory of the game Tom Clancy's The Division, which came out in April 2016. New York Collapse gives a ground-level view of what it was like to be alive during that time, and also hints at some of the mysteries lying behind the game's story.
To write this book, I first researched and wrote a New York-focused urban survival guide from the ground up. Then the book and puzzle designers got involved to finish the layouts and ensure that the puzzle elements and artifacts were all working together.
The I went back to the laid-out pages. In the margins, using five different colors of ink, I wrote the story of April Kelleher, a woman trapped in New York by the post-plague quarantine. She uses the book to keep herself alive, and gradually begins to find out that the author (the pseudonymous Warren Merchant) left puzzles and clues that might lead to the truth about the origin of the virus…
As mentioned above, the book includes a number of artifacts that are key to solving the puzzles and tracking some of the book-to-game interactive elements:
Creating a book like this is a huge effort. In addition to my contribution, New York Collapse would never have happened without book designer Paul Kepple, the puzzle designers at Puzzability, the editing wizards at Melcher Media, and of course the narrative team at Ubisoft and Massive. They went with this idea when I first pitched it, and then they helped create real interactivity between the book and the game. If you've played The Division, you know that some of the side quests in the book involve pages from New York Collapse, and April Kelleher is in several echo scenes that re-enact moments from the book.
It's pretty rare to see that kind of interchange between a flagship property and its transmedia extensions. I hope it happens more often now that New York Collapse has shown some of the possibilities.
I talked to Newsweek about the book and also had the unexpected pleasure of this review in Outside magazine, in which the reviewer called New York Collapse "the most effective survival book about urban disaster that I've read" while characterizing me as a "survival expert." This made me feel like all the research was worth it. As for actually being a survival expert, I hope I never have to find out whether that's true.
April Kelleher's adventures continue in an upcoming Division novel, due out in spring 2019 to coincide with the release of The Division 2. Stay tuned…


text:
The ring is mobile and thus does not have to be removed for bedikot, so long as you can push it to the side and check thoroughly.
As the rules of the hefsek taharah are more stringent, we would suggest removing it for the hefsek taharah. Some authorities, including our halachic supervisor Rav Yehuda Henkin, also recommend removing the ring in order to perform one bedikah each on days one and seven of the shivah neki'im.
Removing the ring for a short period 2-4 times during the cycle (for hefsek taharah, two bedikot, and mikveh) should not impair its efficacy.


text:
Having a powerful partner on the other side of the bargaining table can make for happier workplaces and better public services.
As argument commenced at the Supreme Court last Monday, most eyes were on Justice Antonin Scalia. While still the Court's conservative paterfamilias, union supporters were looking to Scalia as a potential swing vote in their favor in the case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.
Read more on The Atlantic.


text:
The solution to recurrent nightmares.
Do you suffer from recurrent nightmares?
Many people suffer from nightmares during their sleep at night. Nightmares are vivid realistic thoughts, emotions and images that recur during sleep, in the REM phase, and cause the heart to start beating faster, increasing stress levels and often causing a person to wake up with a state of mental and physical distress.
Nightmares usually occur to adults with no specific cause, but sometimes they can be recurrent and become a symptom of more serious situations. They can affect the quality of sleep and lead to exhaustion and anxiety.
It is necessary to distinguish between nightmares and night terrors. The latter ccur during the deepest stages of sleep, usually in the early hours after going to bed. They cause a strong feeling of dread and usually the person cannot remember the reason of this frightening sensation.
Nightmares can be caused by PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and if that's the case, they should be treated by a doctor and/or a psychologist. If nightmares are a symptom of an underlying condition they should be treated with a specific therapy.
However, you can try to avoid having nightmares by not eating before going to bed, since food speeds up the metabolism and makes the brain more active.
Reducing stress with yoga and meditation could also be a good way to clear your mind and lower your anxiety which could lead to a quieter sleep at night. Specific medications could be a cause of nightmares too and you should always talk about this possibility with your doctor.
Opening up to someone you know, promoting positive thinking a trying an imagery reharsal treatment can also be good ideas to stop having nightmares.


text:
There is no doubt that Voice over IP (VoIP) has gathered a lot of momentum. You can read news stories about it, and find people everywhere talking about it. Recently, I switched my office lines to a VoIP provider (Vonage) and I thought I'd share what I found out about it.
Skip this stuff and just give me a free month of Vonage!
OK, so you want to know more. I don't blame you. Here's the quick summary:
If you expect to just hook the box up and have no troubles, leave now and forget everything you have read. You can expect to have to tinker with your setup. If you have a very simple setup and a good Internet connection, you might be able to just plug and play. But that's the ideal situation. I had some problems that were not related to Vonage, and you may have too.
Here are few things that aren't clear from a quick reading of the Vonage site:
On the other hand, the feature set is great:
OK, that's probably enough features. If you can get Vonage to work, it is great! Of course, no amount of features will make up for a phone you can't use. That's why I suggest that before you sign up you check your Internet connection. Fix it before you sign up for Vonage.
I didn't think I had any problems with my cable service from RoadRunner. On the contrary, I get excellent upload and download speeds, and the service is available nearly all the time. However, when I first connected Vonage, I would "hear" any network access on any computer in my network. So if I loaded the CNN homepage, for example, I would hear choppiness in my audio.
Now lets face it, you only have so much bandwidth. If you have 5 people on your local network downloading high bandwidth streaming video, I'd expect the quality of your call to suffer. However, I do expect to be able to load some Web pages! It turns out, that my connection had a big problem, but it didn't show up under normal usage. Sure it maybe knocked 100kbits/second off my download speed, but when your speeds are usually 2500kbits/second, you don't really notice that they aren't 2600!
The answer was to download pingplotter (www.pingplotter.com). This is a shareware program (they have an older version that is free, too) that traces the route between you and another computer and shows you if there are any problems. You can use it for 30 days before you register. You'll need it for about 2 or 3 hours. Click the screenshot below to see an image of it running.
In the screenshot, my connection is pretty good. There is one router just before the end point that is not responding to pings (100% packet loss). You can tell this is just it ignoring you because the next "hop" (the last one) is not losing packets. There are two things you want to look for here. First, you need to not have a lot of lost packets along the route (unless you are losing them to a router ignoring you, as above). Second you want a low ping time on the "round trip" or the last hop numbers. I didn't run pingplotter long this time because my connection is working, but you should run it for at least a few hours and 24 hours would be even better.
When I first installed Vonage, pingplotter showed about the same numbers except I had a lot of packet loss and my maximum ping time was around 600. The average ping was very low (50 or 60) but every once in a while, the pings would skyrocket for one sample and then go back to the way they were. This is why I never noticed this problem in ordinary surfing.
The hops along my network were clean, so I knew it wasn't my problem (but it could have been if I had shown loss in my network, I could have swapped network cards or checked my local router. The problem, in my case, seemed to be in the RoadRunner part of the network since that's where the loss started (of course, once you have loss, all the points further away from you will show loss also -- think about it). If you see loss further away from your location, you might try a different Web site (remember, not all sites respond to pings). You may just have a bad route to that particular server. It would be nice to test to Vonage's server, but they are all set to not respond to pings as far as I know (which also prevents malicious denial of service attacks on your phone calls).
In my case, it turned out to be my ancient cable modem! I guessed that could be the case and knew it would be a major problem to get RoadRunner to fix anything further away in any event. So I took my modem to a Time Warner retail store and they gave me another one with no questions asked. I had a Toshiba PCX1100 (which I later found out has a known problem with long latency and loss) and they gave me an Ambit modem. Now my ping plotter test is great and the Vonage service is perfect! I wish I had fixed this a long time ago and then my Vonage experience would have been closer to plug and play.
As for bandwidth, most people have more download bandwidth then upload. A high-quality Vonage signal requires 90K of bandwidth. You can turn the bandwidth down to as low as 30K (although it starts sounding more like a cell phone at 30K). So any sort of broadband should let you use Vonage.
Recently a different VoIP company has added a speed test program that is geared directly at VoIP. I don't know if it would have shown this problem or not, but if you want to try it, have a look at http://www.testyourvoip.com/ (it can't hurt to have more information).
When you get your MTA (the phone adapter) you will see that it has two Ethernet ports and two phone ports. Unless you have two lines you'll only use one of the phone jacks. The default way to install the MTA is to connect the MTA's WAN port directly to your broadband modem. Then your PC (or router) connects to the MTA's PC port.
This actually works and is supposed to have some advantages. This assumes that your broadband modem acts like a DHCP server and your PC or router queries a DHCP server for an IP address. In this case, the MTA works like a router -- it gets an IP from your ISP and then give a private IP to computers on the PC port (you'd need a hub or switch to hook up more than one computer directly to the MTA; or hook up a router and then hook up the PCs to the router). If your ISP requires you to use a fixed address or uses PPPoE, you can configure the MTA to do that and Vonage provides instructions.
You can also set the MTA to forward certain ports to certain PCs on the network. This is essential for some game playing, video conferencing with PC software, IM programs, etc. There are two problems. First, you can only forward a few ports one at a time. If you need to open up 20 or 30 ports, you are out of luck. Also, you have to set an IP address to forward to. That means you probably can't use DHCP on that PC -- you'll need to set a permanent IP address. Some routers have a way to force a DHCP address to get around this same problem.
Did all of that make your eyes glaze over? Don't worry about it. Many people will never need to do this. However, I'm going to suggest you not use the MTA like this unless you have a very slow upload connection (remember 90K per phone call at best quality). If you have plenty of upload capacity, I'd recommend you put the MTA behind your existing router (assuming you have one). I use a DLINK DI604 (these are very inexpensive) and it works great! I've also used a Netgear and a DLINK wireless router. The advantage is that a good router is much more sophisticated about forwarding ports, keeping out hackers, etc. It also should be more efficient than the MTA at handling large volumes of non-voice traffic.
The downside? When the MTA is in front of the rest of the network it can throttle the network so that what you are doing on your computers shouldn't effect your voice quality as much. Of course, unless your ISP support QoS (Quality of Service) this can never be perfect (well, it probably won't be perfect anyway), but it can help if you have low bandwidth. So if you have, say, an ISDN line at 128kbps, you might consider the default configuration. If you have a lot of bandwidth (I have about 3000/384) then put the MTA behind a good router. Of course, if you only have one PC connected to the Internet, you probably don't need a router. Just put the MTA between your modem and your PC.
Phone on the Range
Once I had the voice problems licked, I thought I was home free. But I had one more problem. I wanted to put my two Vonage lines on the same phone as my two regular phone company lines (I'll drop one of them soon, but that still left 3 lines). I bought a Sony 4 line phone which was a great phone -- well made, and lots of features. However, I noticed after a day or two that my caller ID wasn't working. So I did some trouble shooting. If I plugged the Vonage lines into the phones, the caller ID worked. So it wasn't the Vonage. But the regular lines also worked by themselves. Putting both lines in at once killed caller ID on all the lines!
Vonage tech support wrote me and told me they don't support mixing lines on one phone and I should get two different phones. Well, instead I got at Phonemate (Casio) PMG-4600 (see the picture above). This is also a great phone -- very solid and handles all 4 lines with no problem. The only thing I would change is that It only shows message waiting on one line (you can pick which one though). If you use a headset, you'll find that it takes several button presses to switch between speakerphone and headset. On the other hand, the Sony phone required you to unplug the headset to use the speaker phone, so the Phonemate is actually a little better in this regard, but I wish it were one push to switch on the headset. Of course, if you never use the headset (or never use the speakerphone) this isn't a problem, anyway.
I have heard that AT&T and VTech phones also have this caller ID problem.
Vonage Tricks and Tips
Vonage voicemail can send you an e-mail notice when you have messages. You can even have it attach the audio to the e-mail, which is great (I've had a similar service from J2 for years). However, one advantage over services like J2 is that you can still check your messages from your phone or any other phone. Vonage provides a large number of voice mail access numbers, so when you are traveling, be sure to check the voice mail access number for the areas you'll be in.
Even a regular phone is never perfect. Vonage calls occasionally will have a slight problem because of network traffic or other problems. If you have an alternate phone (a land line or cell phone) you can actually transfer a bad call to the other line. I have found this works very well when you have a bad connection. Press flash, #90 and your other phone number (you can set this up on a speed dialer). Then your other phone rings and you can pick up the call there.
Another neat feature is the beta test call control at https://secure.click2callu.com/. This allows you to construct Web requests that place a call on your phone. For example, I have several URL shortcuts on my desktop that place calls. First your phone rings. When you pick it up, the phone (well, the MTA) completes the call. You could even put a form on a Web site that people could click to initiate this. That would cause your phone to ring. You'd pick it up and it would call the number they entered! If you had the unlimited plan, it would be almost like a toll free call since the Web visitor wouldn't have to pay for it.
Free Month
So what's the bottom line? Vonage is great, but be prepared to tinker with it. If you are expecting phone service that is 99.9% reliable with very few service issues, you should probably stick with the phone company for now. But Vonage is still pretty reliable and has fairly few service issues if you have it set up correctly. Now that I have all the kinks out of it, I love it. Hopefully, my experience will help you avoid some of the pitfalls I encountered.
If you want to sign up, run that pingplotter test first! Of course, if you don't like Vonage, you can send them the adapter back within 14 days for a full refund (although there is a cap on how many minutes you can use if you do this -- you can't make 1500 minutes of calls in 10 days and then send the thing back; the exact number is on their Web site).
Vonage allows me to offer you a free month of service. You still pay for your adapter and your first month of service. Then the second month is free! Just click on the coupon below if you want to take advantage of this offer:
Good luck!


text:
It's not a surprise that the New York Red Bulls handled their business in New Jersey considering how well they dealt with Atletico Pantoja in the Caribbean.
[ MORE: Chelsea 2-0 Spurs ]
More surprising is what happened in the other Wednesday match of CONCACAF Champions League play, where it took two penalty attempts for a Liga MX side to take care of a
Liga MX side Monterrey was held to a scoreless draw in El Salvador, and needed 86 minutes to find a break through at home to Alianza on Thursday.
The first attempt wasn't enough, thanks to Alianza goalkeeper Victor Garcia.
That's when Nicolas Sanchez converted a penalty to set up a meeting with the winner of Herediano and Atlanta United (United trails 3-1 after one leg).
Back to Red Bull Arena, where Sean Davis, Daniel Royer, and Andreas Ivan all scored for New York, who held a 2-0 lead after the first leg at Los Guerreros and cruised to a 5-0 aggregate victory.
The Red Bulls will meet Santos Laguna in the quarterfinals.


text:
In mid 2007, the release of the iPhone catalysed the long overdue transition from desktop to mobile. Mobile quickly became the holy grail resulting in a mobile platform war with iOS leading the charge. Out of all the platforms that fought it out over the next 3 years, all but iOS and Blackberry OS carried the Open Source badge. MeeGo, WebOS, Qtopia, OpenMoko, Android, Bada, Limo and even Symbian OS all tried to capitalize on the many advantages of pre-existing Open Source assets, methodology or brand. Even though iOS is the anti-thesis of Open Source, it is nonetheless based on the BSD kernel.
By 2010, the tablet form factor was introduced to the mobile world with the release of the iPad and two clear victors began to emerge from the battlefield, iOS and Android. Through its use of an Open Source license, closed governance model and strong service offering, Google was able to take a dominant position in this space as OEMs rushed to integrate Android into their latest mobile and tablet offerings. By Q3 2012, 73% of smartphones sold are running Android whilst 14% are iOS based, the tablet market is split halfway between the two and Samsung dethroned Nokia to emerge as new king of the mobile world (thanks Android). The first battle of the war has ended and the winners are reaping the rewards.
Looking back, it is clear that Android was a success because it was adopted by every single OEM out there. The OEMs jumped all over Android because it was free, competitive and most importantly, wasn't owned or controlled by a competitor. It didn't bother the OEMs that Google controlled Android and they cheerfully ignored the fact that they became a conduit for Google services, as that doesn't constitute their core business anyway. They needed Android to fight Apple and Google gave it to them.
Looking forward, what future do Android OEMs have? By using Android, they have consciously forfeit their right to sell their own services. This obviously doesn't bode well with the operators or for those more ambitious OEMs. On the software and user experience side, as demonstrated by HTC, the closed governance model of Android makes it extremely difficult and expensive to differentiate. So what's left for the OEMs? Hardware. Unfortunately, with the recent release of the Nexus 10, Google now has a full product offering that competes directly with the OEM's brands, sells cheaper, has hardware value-add and runs the latest and greatest Android release (which Google gleefully keeps for itself). Ironically, even Amazon, a service company that competes directly with Google, is using Android. But that has been a difficult and treacherous path for them, how long can they keep it up? I bet not long.
For these reason, a new battle in the war of the mobile world is looming in the horizon. New players are already making an entrance; Microsoft is on the attack with Windows 8, its deal with Nokia and the release of its very confused Surface tablet. RIM are soon unveiling their new QNX based BlackBerry platform with talks of potentially offering to license it out to OEMs. Samsung's first true Tizen product is long overdue. Mozilla are running full steam ahead with FirefoxOS. ChromeOS is starting to mature. Will WebOS make a come back through HP's new strategy? Will Amazon reveal a new platform, fork Android or keep using it as is? Will new Open Source based platforms be revealed?
I believe there is a demand for a new platform; something neutral, customizable and free. I believe there is a good opportunity ahead for GNOME. Can it finally become a relevant platform in the mobile space? I think now is an interesting time to ask and come up with answers to that question…