text:
|$300 to $400
|Up to $750
|Over $750
Steiner recognizes the commitment of those who serve our country and communities.
For those who make sacrifices every day, often putting their lives on the line for our safety and freedom, we offer an exclusive instant savings program through our network of Steiner authorized Law Enforcement dealers in North America. We believe that law enforcement and security officers, military personnel and qualified first responders deserve the best optics available.
The instant savings or discount is taken at the point of sale. There is no need to fill out additional forms or paperwork. To qualify, buyers must meet the qualifications below and produce their agency or military identification and credentials at the time of purchase.
Those who qualify include:
- All sworn Law Enforcement Officers, including stat, county and city
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- Active Military personnel - all branches
- Retired Military/Prior Service personnel - all branches (ID card or DD214 required)


text:
Heat Pump Accessories
These accessories allow a split-system heat pump to work with a gas or LP furnace. The accessories control the operation of both pieces of equipment to accomplish two things: 1) That the furnace and heat pump don't operate at the same time, and 2) That the heat pump stops operating when it gets too cold outside, and the furnace runs instead. Alternatively, instead of purchasing these products you could instead purchase a Honeywell Vision Pro 8000 Thermostat with optional outdoor temperature sensor which will accomplish the same thing.
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text:
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WZZM) - The Community Foundation for Muskegon County reached a new record high for donations in 2012. The foundation nearly doubled its previous record with just over $19 million last year. Half of that was given by an anonymous couple.
The couple wants their gift to be used on a variety of projects to make Muskegon County a better place to live and work. Chris McGuigan, the President of theCommunity Foundation for Muskegon County says"It makes us as a staff sort of be grateful for the foundation that we have and that we are credible enough that a donor believes that they can do big things through us."
The foundation may add a staff position to manage the money. The donor coupleindicates they plan to make additional donations this year.


text:
When one thinks "chemo," mental images of hair loss, nausea or cachexia, also known as wasting away syndrome, are easy to conjure.
But local researchers might have a less severe solution.
Through some pre-clinical trial experiments, fenretinide and safingol showed positive signs of cancerous tumor reduction, said Bill Simpson, chief operating officer of CerRx, the company working with the drugs.
Drs. Patrick Reynolds and Barry Maurer, Texas Tech Health Sciences Center cancer researchers, established CerRx in 2008 as a developmental research company for anticancer therapeutics focused on ceramides — wax-like building blocks in cells that signal cell production operations, according to a news release from the company. The CerRx products work by essentially tricking cancerous cells into self-destruction.
The two products CerRx officials are focused on include fenretinide and safingol, Simpson said.
"For lots of pre-clinical and scientific rationale animal models, they were convinced that fenretinide and safingol were likely to contribute significantly to the treatment of cancer," Simpson said.
The project goal is to combine fenretinide and safingol and administer it by IV to patients to manipulate cancer cells into self-destruction without harming healthy cells, he said.
"Cancer cells are really smart," Simpson said. "That's why a lot of people benefit and then they fail. So the cancer cell figures out, 'This drug is no good for me.' So you put the drug in the body, the cancer cell absorbs it, the tumor cells die and the tumor cells figure out that the substance is no good and says, 'I'm not letting you into my cells.' That's making it really simplistic. It's really complicated."
The fenretinide portion of the therapeutic chemo allows treatment to focus on just cancer cells, Simpson said.
"The study will be used to combine fenretinide, that we believe and we've actually seen has quite a bit of activity in shrinking and making tumors disappear, we intend to combine that with our second compound — safingol," Simpson said.
"… We believe that the combination of these two agents will give us even better results than we have seen."
The safingol portion of the compound works to manipulate the cell into keeping the cancer-fighting drug within the cell, Simpson said.
Earlier this month, CerRx received a $6 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. That money, in addition to grants from angel investors, will advance the trial of the drug compound. It's in phase one of drug development, he said.
With the phase one part of the study, Simpson said the goal is to figure out the right dose.
"You usually start at a low dose and increase the dose in a logical progression until you start getting a lot of toxicity," he said. "From there, you figure out what is the safe dose to give, but is still a high enough dose that it's likely to give you the efficacy or the response of the shrinkage of the tumor that you're looking for."
Simpson said CerRx officials have been surprised by the response in the first phase of the study. Patients don't usually yield much response within this phase, he said.
In a provided statement, Reynolds, chief scientific officer of CerRx, said: "IV fenretinide has demonstrated substantial activity in T-cell lymphoma, and phase one results in solid tumors are also encouraging with signals of activity in adenocarcinomas of the esophagus and colon, and in children with neuroblastoma."
Simpson said side effects of the compound are different than side effects associated with traditional chemotherapy treatments.
"I grew up with traditional chemotherapies," Simpson said. "Drugs like Adriamycin, one that's still used, very active, but very, very potent and causes a lot of toxicity. Fenretinide, because of its unique mechanism, seems to only target cancer cells and leaves the normal cells alone. So unlike the traditional chemotherapies, patients don't lose their hair."
Patients are also less likely to develop infections, he said.
"They don't get hospitalized as often, they don't seem to get nausea and vomiting or diarrhea," Simpson said.
The drug has been tested on few patients so far, he said. The drug is not flawless. Two of the more common and expected side effects include high cholesterol and low night visibility.
Officials are satisfied with what they've seen so far, and they remain optimistic about the fenretinide compound's future, he said. The drug has been studied on leukemia and lymphoma patients so far, he said. In each study, patients showed partial or complete remission after use of the compound.
"We believe we have a winner on two fronts — one from the activities side and one from the side effect profile," he said.
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The Summit Register
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The summit of Putrid Pete's Peak (5220 feet) and you can see the register in the shadows. Web Mountain is in the background. Photographed June 9, 2009.
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- Listen Live
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SOS Radio
I'm struggling. I moved to Las Vegas last summer fresh out of college for a teaching job. It's been an incredibly rough year, I have to have 3 jobs to make ends meet and I'm tired. I feel alone and that I have no one to go to. I'm asking for prayers for peace of mind and heart, some friends who I can get close to, and the ability to defeat satan and get through this rough time.


text:
McKINNEY (AP) Former Dallas Cowboys star Mark Tuinei went to an apartment to obtain heroin the night before he died and apparently used the deadly drug, one of the team's players told police in a court document.
The document, which investigators filed to get a warrant to search Tuinei's house, contains information from Cowboys running back Nicky Sualua, who said he spent Wednesday evening with Tuinei in a Dallas apartment. Sualua said he and Tuinei went to the apartment to get the heroin and ''Mark went into the bedroom, and he said, 'Here it is.'''
''When Mark came back to the living room, he looked as if he was passing out. Nicky advised (that) Mark started having problems and stopped breathing,'' the affidavit continued. Sualua added that he performed CPR at the apartment, and Tuinei was alive when he dragged the 6-foot-5, 320-pound former player to his 1933 classic Ford roadster.
Sualua drove to Tuinei's house in an affluent section of Plano, a Dallas suburb. ''Mark was snoring loudly,'' the affidavit said.
Sualua got two blankets from the house and slept in the car with Tuinei until about 5:30 a.m. Thursday, he told police.
''When Nicky woke up, Mark was not breathing,'' said the document, whose existence was first reported by Dallas-Fort Worth television station KDFW.
In a 911 tape released Friday, a man identified as ''Nicky'' told the dispatcher that his friend had stopped breathing. ''I can't feel a pulse,'' he said.
Tuinei was pronounced dead after arriving at a nearby hospital.
Tuinei played 15 seasons for the Cowboys before retiring in 1998.
Dallas police said Monday that since Thursday, they have arrested three people at the apartment on various charges, ranging from heroin possession to public intoxication.
Sualua said Tuinei had used Ecstasy, a stimulant, at Tuinei's house earlier Wednesday evening, according to the document filed with Collin County Court-at-Law Judge Mark Rusch, who issued a search warrant for Tuinei's house.
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text:
Let me be your albatross, then.
First! Yay!
Well, this is very well written, to say the least. Good job!
I love sex between rainbow dash and pinkie pie
I dont like violence and gore
It's good... Lots of cumcame
She also had a date coming up that night with her marefriend, Rainbow Dash, for which she was very excited.
My Grammar Nazi Cat is purring.
Given how muh species-jargon you put in, this almost felt like it should have been Twilight/Dash. It was interesting, but really interrupted the flow. While its unique and I've not seen anything quite so... bondage, I feel like these two were so ooc they could've been replaced with anypony and it still would've felt the same.
I like the story. Good details and explanations. Hope to see a part 2 soon.
Damn good job! Words fail me right now on how great this story is!
That was interesting. Also that second Q&A in the authors nots made me choke on my own laughter.
Moar sub RD. Who doesn't like a good sub RD?
Well, a better question is who enjoys a well-written sub RD? I love it when writers can go into the psychology behind certain acts. The fact that you were able to make this both a convincing argument using factual information species-wise and still keep it erotic gives me no other stronger inclination than to tell you so and favorite this story.
'a bit like a prismatic .'
A prismatic what? Sandwich?
I enjoyed this.
Oh... Woooooow
Can we have a prequel too? I would love to see how these two got together, and how their relationship slowly developed to this
This was really good. I love the transformation and personality changes. It felt like a very natural progression.
I'm commenting for the sequel
And also, nice.
Hmm 100 comments? I'm going to need to think of a lot of things to say it looks like. Because i want that damn sequel!
Can I comment a hundred times? Because if it means a sequel I will.
sequel? SEQUEL!
your pussy is happy
i probably could have integrated that stuff better
if i tried
me too
go fuck a horse
oh wait...
yeah i always pictured dash as being one of those guys that acts tough to everyone
and then likes to get spanked in the bedroom
like a republican politician
yeah that would be pretty cool
i'll keep that in mind
Loved it
Am i the only one who imagined the whole story with pinkie's mane down, pinkamena style ? It's so much sexier.
And yes, we need a sequel.
This is very good written ^^
Wow that was better than I thought it was going to be. It was a very interesting delve into the psyches of these characters. You really should do one on Pinkie because this was was very interesting. As what I am sure was the intention the Rainbows thoughts and her psychology was the actual story and the sex was just a back drop for it.
I'm honestly having trouble putting how I feel about this story into words. I didn't really find it all that erotic, but I don't feel like I wasted my time reading it.
It's like... It was a character study that just happened to involve sex, and in that regard it was very well done!
It just didn't do much for me in the way of wanting to clop to it.
you guys are right
this was meant less as clop and more as an exploration of how i characterize rainbow dash--she's outwardly confident and egoistic, but she acts that way because she's actually very insecure. she's caught between an inability to trust others and a burning desire for intimacy, which is part of why she's so loyal to those she cares about but tries to hide every negative emotion from everyone, afraid of being too open with them
if i do one for pinkie, it would revolve more around responsibility. but you'll find out more if that comes to pass
also i just wanted to write something that showed people/ponies having sex in a way that wasn't just rauchy lolporn.
actually i can only think of four other stories that actually bother exploring psychological interactions in relationships with power imbalances (spike's really, really, really bad day, risk aware consensual pony, rainbow/Dash, and competent villains).
god damn i sound like a fucking egghead
analyzing the fuck out of this shit
who cares
oh and also stealing harmony is really good but that's technically a rape fic so it doesn't count
but rapetrain-express is good at feels and psychology
I care, and fuck you for thinking I don't.
You're an awesome writer,
and I look forward to seeing that Pinkie study,
and I'm going to look at those other stories you linked,
but fuck you.
Ill help!
all the explanations are good and all but you told the emotions at first then you showed us next time just show also good story
A sequel would be AWESOME!!! :D
I can't seem to express properly how much I enjoyed this story.
Surprisingly good, I liked their interactions *I mean their social interaction, though the physical was pretty good too* and my only real complain as you've probably seen more then enough times is the need of a proof-reader. You had some interesting takes on the Pegasus and Earth Pony Societies when it came to how it affected their sexual nature and details like that always make a story more interesting; at least to me.
Best. Clopfic. EVAAAHH!!!
Srsly I liked the whole aspect with Pinkie's and Dashie's alter-ego's!
Daaaynum, this was well written and,
DAAAYNUM this is sexy!
And then Pancakes made comment contribution because author is good writer
I don't read clopfics unless they're done horribly or when they're just plain funny, but after being told repeatedly that i need to read this, i sat down and immediately had my face melted.
Seriously, this is one of the most emotional and thought provoking things I've ever read. It's taken something usually used purely for sexual uses and made it completely and utterly emotional. Allowing someone to take everything you are and pulling you apart and trusting them to put you back together is the apex of intimacy and affection.
The greatest thing i can say about this fic is that I can't get it out of my head.
Very nice...
It's very good, almost like you wrote a script for an episode.
hey thanks i'm glad you enjoyed it
and i'm pleased that it turned out so well
i wasn't really going for a porn story
well i was in the beginning
but clop honestly doesn't do much for me
so i only like clop stories if they're
1) emotionally engaging
2) extreme enough to provoke an emotional response
and i leave the second one to guys like rapetrain and anongladje
pretty sure an mlpfim episode wouldn't include graphic bondage porn
but thanks i like the way it turned out
Today, on a VERY VERY special episode of My Little Pony...
Wow... okay then I think bondage actually makes sense to me now...
Oh wow......that was....intense so very intense... I have yet to see dash played like this....to so fully give up everything to be so totaly controlled takes an insane amount of trust on both parts
This is so amazing I was pleasantly surprised at how in-depth this got with the details; it looks like you put a lot of thought into the pony psychology. Simply fabulous job! I can't wait for 100 comments cause I would love to see more of this Pinkie!
This is a fantastic look into loyalty, Pegasus psychology, bondage, and trust. This is how BDSM fics should be done, right here. Every moment was sweet in its trust-building way, and I... should probably go to sleep instead of spending half an hour finding ways to express how happy this story of yours made me. Suffice it to say that it was incredibly obvious throughout how much the two of them love each other, and that's beautiful.
"Do you trust me... with your life?"
Holy fuck that is fucking hot as fuck.
I think I remember reading somewhere that the most erotic words anyone can say are: "I trust you".
I happen to agree.
Anyway, this was amazing. I love clop that isn't just mindless fucking but has some kind of relationship and meaning backing it. This had that in spades. Wonderful depiction of Dash's psychology; it's very believable. I'm always impressed when a story can temporarily convince me of a ship that I don't support (PinkieDash in this case), and this one certainly did. I really felt the love between these two ponies. Great job.
There were a few odd typos (missing words mostly) but I couldn't even keep track of them because I was too engrossed in the plot. I might re-read this later.
Comment, you're amazing
This takes S&M to a whole new level. Great story


text:
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text:
Sussex, 1912. In a churchyard, villagers gather on the night when the ghosts of those who will die in the coming year are thought to be seen. Standing alone is Constantia Gifford, the taxidermist's daughter. The bell begins to toll and all eyes are fixed on the church. No one sees the gloved hand pick up a flint. As the last notes fade into the dark, a woman lies dead. While the village braces itself against rising waters and the highest tide of the season, Connie struggles to discover who is responsible, but finds herself under suspicion. Is Constantia who she seems – is she the victim of circumstances or are more sinister forces at work? And what is the secret that lies at the heart of Gifford House, hidden among the bell jars of her father's workshop?
A wonderfully atmospheric collection of short stories, rooted deep in the landscape and inspired by traditional folk tales and country legends from England and France. These tales are richly populated by ghosts and spirits seeking revenge; by grief-stricken women and haunted men coming to terms with their destiny – all rooted deep in the elemental landscapes of Sussex, Brittany and the Languedoc.
In this extraordinary thriller, rich in the atmospheres of medieval and contemporary France, the lives of two women born centuries apart are linked by a common destiny. When Dr Alice Tanner discovers two skeletons during an archaeological dig in southern France, she unearths a link with an extraordinary past. Eight hundred years ago, on the night before a brutal civil war ripped apart Languedoc, a book was entrusted to Alais, a young herbalist and healer. Although she cannot understand the symbols and diagrams the book contains, Alais knows her destiny lies in protecting their secret, at all costs.
Sepulchre is the second novel in Kate's Languedoc Trilogy. A timeslip adventure novel – set in 19th century and contemporary France – it is about Tarot, about ghosts, about the power of music and place, about the relationship between the two great modern republics of the 20th century, France and America.
The third and final novel in Kate's Languedoc Trilogy, it tells the story of an all- female group of Resistance fighters in the south of France, codename 'Citadel'. Led by Sandrine Vidal, they are fighting not only to liberate the Midi from Nazi Occupation – as their forefathers and mothers, the Cathars, had seven hundred years earlier fought to protect their land from the invaders from the North – but also to protect an ancient secret that, if it fell into the wrong hands, could change the course of history. A fast paced adventure story of love and war, courage and sacrifice, about a brave group of women and the loyal men who love them.
This is a haunting story of loss and remembrance set in the aftermath of the First World War. The Great War took much more than lives. It robbed a generation of friends, lovers and futures. In Freddie Watson's case, it took his beloved brother and, at times, his peace of mind. In the winter of 1928, still seeking resolution, Freddie is travelling through the French Pyrenees. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. He stumbles through woods, emerging in a tiny village. There he meets Fabrissa, a beautiful woman also mourning a lost generation. Over the course of one night, Fabrissa and Freddie share their stories. By the time dawn breaks, he will have stumbled across a tragic mystery that goes back through the centuries.
At four minutes to seven on the evening of Tuesday 3rd July 1962, the voice of Laurence Olivier boomed through the foyer of Chichester Festival Theatre asking the first-night audience to take their seats. No one had ever seen a theatre like it – an 'impossible theatre', strikingly modern, concrete and glass, with a vast thrust stage sticking out into the auditorium. And built against all the odds in parkland just outside a small cathedral city in West Sussex.
At seven o'clock, everyone stood for the National Anthem. Then the house lights went down and the opening words of John Fletcher's The Chances were spoken. The CFT story had begun …
Since then, the roll call of those who've played to Chichester reads like a 'Who's Who' of contemporary theatre and film – Ian McKellen, Lauren Bacall, Sam Mendes, Kathleen Turner, Stephen Fry, Derek Jacobi, Joseph Fiennes, John Gielgud, Diana Rigg, just a handful of the world-class actors and actresses who have walked the stage at CFT over the past fifty years. It's where the National Theatre company was formed while waiting for its new home on London's South Bank to be ready; it's where some of the most important contemporary writing has been showcased – from Lucy Prebble's Enron to David Hare's South Downs; it's where careers have been made and confirmed.
Now you, too, can be part of the history of CFT. The international bestselling novelist and playwright, Kate Mosse – a Chichester girl, born and bred – is writing the anniversary book for CFT's first half century. Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty is a decade-by-decade celebration, a love letter in words and pictures, based on interviews by many of those who've played their part in the enduring success of one of Britain's most important and best loved theatres.
By pledging your support today, you can see your name printed in the book alongside the great names of stage and screen. You'll have access to Kate's shed, be able to keep up-to-date with her progress, and get a taste of dramas on and off the stage, scandals and success, the box office triumphs and one or two productions that didn't quite come off!
Beautifully designed, it's the perfect gift book for anyone interested in theatre, film, television. A one-off chance to celebrate the first fifty years of CFT and to look forward to the future.
Commissioned by Sandi Toksvig for Sky Theatre Arts Live, Syrinx is Kate's first play.
A one-act, 30 minute drama, for four actresses. Set in the present day, in a head teacher's office in a country market town on the occasion of a school prize giving, it's a story of haunting and female friendship. The headteacher, Marion, is retiring and has decided to use the opportunity to bring together her two oldest school friends, Susan and Julie – whose children have passed through the school – to repair the breakdown in their friendship following a tragedy some years before.
A story of grief and remembering, about the 'What If' moments in life, Syrinx had its debut at the Sky Television Studios in London in July 2009. Directed by Patrick Sandford, the cast was Gabrielle Lloyd as Julie, Sian Thomas as Susan, Penelope Beaumont as Marian and seventeen-year-old Eleanor Tomlinson as Sarah. The first amateur performance was by the Lapworth Players in May 2011.
To celebrate the reopening of the Bush Theatre in London, after a major refurbishment, Artistic Director Josie Rourke leads a team of directors presenting Sixty Six Books, a sequence of dramatic monologues interpreting each of the books of the King James Bible to celebrate its 400th year. The list of pieces by leading contemporary novelists, poets, songwriters and playwrights – including Jeanette Winterson, Anne Michaels, Stella Duffy, Andrew Motion, Wole Soyinka, Jackie Kay, Neil la Bute, Owen Sheers, Moira Buffini, Kwame Kweih Armah, Carol Anne Duffy, Toby Litt, Billy Bragg, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Brian Chikwava, Kamila Shamsie, David Edgar – will be present in three hour, six hour and two epic 24 hour events. Kate's text is the final book of the New Testament, The Book of Revelation. To be directed by Philip Franks and starring Zoe Waites.
Kate Mosse answers some questions about The Book of Revelation here.
Click here for Kate's journalism.
Eskimo Kissing (Hodder & Stoughton, 1996)
Crucifix Lane (Hodder & Stoughton, 1998)
Labyrinth (Book I Languedoc Trilogy, Orion, 2005)
Sepulchre (Book II Languedoc Trilogy, Orion, 2007)
The Winter Ghosts (Orion, 2009)
Citadel (Book III Languedoc Trilogy, Orion, 2012)
The Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales (short stories, Orion, 2013)
Becoming a Mother (Virago, 1993)
The House: Behind the Scenes at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (BBC Books, 1995)
Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty (Unbound, 2012)
Syrinx (2009; printed version in The Mistletoe Bride, Orion 2013)
Endpapers (Oberon Books, 2011)
Dodger (2012, not published)
Little Black Dress (story – edited by Susie Maguire, Polygon, 2006)
Modern Delight (essay – Waterstones/Faber and Faber, 2009)
Midsummer Nights (story – edited by Jeanette Winterson, Quercus, 2009)
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini (introduction – Vintage Classics,2009)
Introduction to The Writers' & Artists Yearbook 2009, (introduction – A&CBlack, 2009)
The Book Lovers' Appreciation Society (story – edited by Fanny Blake, Orion 2009)
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (introduction – Serpent's Tail, 2010)
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (introduction – Whites Book, 2010)
The Best Little Book Club in Town (story – edited by Fanny Blake, Orion, 2011)
Why Willows Weep (story – edited by Tracy Chevalier, 2011)
Write (essay – Guardian Books, 2012)
Goldfinger by Ian Fleming (introduction – Vintage Classics, 2012)
Night Falls on the City by Sarah Gainham (introduction – Little Brown, 2012)
The Coffee Shop Book Club (story – edited by Fanny Blake, Orion, 2013)
Virago at 40 (story – edited by Lennie Goodings, 2013)
Fifty Shades of Feminism (essay – edited by Lisa Appignanesi, Rachel Holmes & Susie Orbach, Bloomsbury, 2013)
A Chichester Miscellany by Phil Hewitt (foreword – Summersdale Publishing, 2013)
Chichester Harbour: England's Coastal Gem by Liz Sagues (foreword – Robert Hale, 2013)
One Hundred Great Plays by Women by Lucy Kerbel (foreword – Nick Hern Books, 2013)
Writing Historical Fiction (essay – edited by Celia Brayfield and Duncan Sprott, Bloomsbury, 2014)
Anthology of World War I Literature for Children (essay – edited by Michael Morpurgo, Jonathan Cape, 2014)
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain (afterword – Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2014)
Only Remembered (story – edited by Michael Morpurgo, Jonathan Cape, 2014)


text:
What's the policy on strobing avatars in this forum? I ask because I've noticed some users have animated gifs, which have a frame rate enough to appear to flash. Most aren't too bad, more irritant than dangerous, but one drew my eye this morning which would cross into "potentially dangerous".
I am not picking on this user, but pointing out that the choice of avatar they use is an example of something it'd be a good idea to address on health and safety grounds. For most people (myself included) strobes don't present any medical issue, for epileptics it's a whole different story. A mate of mine is epileptic, so I have to think through anything I recommend to him, and censor stuff that could trigger a seizure.
Epileptics, at least some of them (including my mate) are drawn to the source of the strobe. They can't help it. It has the effect of educing a trance, which in turn leads to a seizure.
I've lost count of the number of TV shows or movies I've thought "oh, he'd like tha.....hmm.....no, better not", because of the fast strobe effect of a scene or more than one scene. I'd love him to experience the Matrix for example but I'm not gonna have a seizure on my conscience if I can help it.
I never thought of it applying to avatars until I saw that one. It is easy enough to ask the user to change their avatar. In this users case it does appear to flash REAL quick for a bit, then end on a transparent frame with no loop on.
Strobing Avatars
Write suggestions and new ideas in here
More ideas here http://community.linuxmint.com/idea/welcome
More ideas here http://community.linuxmint.com/idea/welcome
Forum rules
- Only post ideas here that are specifically about the Linux Mint distribution or its websites.
- So that developers and users from any distribution can discuss ideas in one place, post ideas about improving software to the collaboration website for that software instead.
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- ThistleWeb
- Level 5
- Posts: 892
- Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2011 9:59 am
- Location: Scotland
- Contact:
Strobing Avatars
Re: Strobing Avatars
I'll go ahead and bump this forum, as I feel it's pretty important as well.
3 posts • Page 1 of 1


text:
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text:
Only two more shows to go in the current series, TopGear.commers, but don't feel too down. This week's Top Gear features some frankly astonishing cars, which made for a memorable day down at Dunsfold.
From fire-and-oil-spitting, 46 litre, airplane-engined monsters to modern, lithe trackday superstars, the track (and Stig) were in heavy use.
Including, of course, an economic Kia C-Apostophe-D tootling around, this week piloted by Blur bassist and cheese fan Alex James.
See you as usual on Sunday, 8pm, BBC Two and BBC HD. But for now, have a look at what you can expect…
Photos: Mark Yeoman


text:
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Al Wright is pretty sure customers at the Men's Wearhouse in Keizer Station will like the news.
He might even guarantee it.
Next week, the store is moving back into its original location.
An April 14 fire caused $2 million in damage at 6065 Keizer Station Boulevard NE. The store was moved to an empty storefront at 6385 Ulali Drive NE while repairs were made.
"In terms of product, it was a total loss," said Wright, who took over as store manager in August. "With all of the smoke and water, it was all gone. The fire was located in the back of the store, so anything close to it had to be replaced. They took out the ceiling, the wiring, the drywall. It was all gutted."
In other words, once the old Men's Wearhouse has its grand re-opening next Wednesday, Nov. 6, it will in essence be an all-new store on the inside.
"We will be moving things from here to there and getting new product," Wright said. "We will be doing it over a couple of days. We will start moving things on Sunday the third. We will be closed the third and fourth, then have a soft opening on the fifth and a grand opening on the sixth at 10 a.m."
Wright said help is coming from the other nine Men's Wearhouse locations around Oregon.
"Three people from each store are coming to help," he said. "Other managers are coming from afar. All kinds of folks will be rolling up their sleeves."
Permits for the remodeling, valued at $125,000, were issued in late August. Work such as wiring and touching up paint was being finished this week.
To read the complete article and other news from around the Keizer area, pick up a copy of the November 1 print edition of Keizertimes, available at stores all around the area. To subscribe to the print edition for just $25 a year, click on the 'Subscribe Today' link at the top of the page, call 503-390-1051 or visit our office at 142 Chemawa Road North in Keizer.


text:
Movie Ferrari Ki Sawaari opened to a dismal response, but it soon picked up to a remarkable growth at the Box Office in India. Sharman Joshi and Boman Irani starrer has grossed Rs 13.91 crores nett in the first weekend, while old releases Rowdy Rathore and Shanghai collected Rs 9.65 crores and Rs 3 crores, respectively.
Despite getting rave reviews from critics, Ferrari Ki Sawaari received a very dull response with its occupancy 25% to 30% in both single screens and multiplexes in the first two shows on the first day. But the movie picked up well in the evening and night shows. The film collected Rs 3.04 crores nett at the Box Office on Friday.
A positive word of mouth played a big magic for Ferrari Ki Sawaari, thereby taking its business to the upward trend on the second day. The movie collected Rs 4.50 crores at the Box Office on Saturday. The business of the film further improved on Sunday. It added another Rs 6.37 crores nett to its three days total collection Rs 13.91 crores nett. It has done good collection in metros and mini-metros.
Akshay Kumar's Rowdy Rathore, which released on June 1, has continued to do well at the Box Office even in the third weekend. The movie, which crossed the 100 crore mark in just ten days, has added Rs 9.65 crores nett to its 17 days' total collection Rs 124.15 crores nett. The breakup of its third weekend business is Rs 2.25 cr on Fri, Rs 2.90 cr on Sat and 4.50 cr on Sun.
Meanwhile, previous week's release Shanghai, which features Emraan Hashmi, Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin in the leads, has gone down drastically at the Box Office. The movie performance was below the mark even at hi-end multiplexes. It has collected Rs 3 crore nett in the second weekend, taking the 10-day total to Rs 20.50 cr nett.


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|telae tabulae
occasional essays on copyright, patent, and anything else that might catch my fancy
by Timothy R. Phillips
Court to Public: "We lied, suckers!"
In its ruling in Eldred v. Ashcroft, the U.S. Supreme Court has said, in effect: "We lied, suckers. Almost everything we ever said about the public purposes of copyright was just hot air."
I am amazed that the court showed disregard, not only of its own copyright jurisprudence, but of its own institutional self-interest. The court could easily have remanded the case for a trial on the question of whether the Bono Act promotes progress more than it places monopoly burdens on the public (copyright clause balancing) or on the question of whether it promotes a significant government interest more than it burdens speech (first amendment balancing). The lower courts would have gone through the motions of making this evaluation and upheld the Act. Eldred would have appealed again, the Supreme Court would have denied certiorari the second time, and that would have been the end of Eldred's case. But the court would have been more consistent with its existing copyright jurisprudence, and at the same time would more strongly have upheld their prerogatives of constitutional review of Congress's exercise of its limited powers. It will be hard for future courts to strike down any future extensions of the copyright term without repudiating its decision in Eldred's case.
The Eldred opinion's ignorance, or cynical dismissal, of its earlier
jurisprudence is made especially clear in footnote 18:
Justice Stevens' characterization of reward to the author as "a secondary consideration" of copyright law...understates the relationship between such rewards and the "Progresss of Science". As we have explained, [t]he economic philosophy behind the [Copyright [C]lause...is the conviction that encouragement of individual effort by personal gain is the best way to advance public welfare through the talents of authors and inventers." Mazer v. Stein, 347 U.S. 201, 219 (1954). Accordingly, "copyright law celebrates the profit motive, recognizing that the incentive to profit from the exploitation of copyrights will redound to the public benefit by resulting in the proliferation of knowledge...The profit motive is the engine that ensures the progress of science." American Geophysical Union v. Texaco Inc. 802 F. Supp. 1, 27 (SDNY 1992), aff'd, 60 F. 3d 913 (CA2 1994). Rewarding authors for their creative labor and "promot[ing]...Progress" are thus complementary; as James Madison observed, in copyright "[t]he public good fully coincides...with the claims of individuals." The Federalist No. 43...Justice Breyer's assertion that "copyright statutes must serve public, not private ends"...similarly misses the mark. The two ends are not mutually exclusive; copyright law serves public ends by providing individuals with incentive to pursue private ones.
In Madison's day it might have been possible to assert that the public good "fully coincid[ed] with the claims of individuals", because the scope of copyright did not then include derivative works; did not then include public displays and performances; and only lasted for 28 years at most. Everything else Madison wrote about copyrights and patents shows that he is fully aware that copyright places burdens on the public, and that these burdens can, if they become heavy enough, destroy the coincidence between "the public good" and "the claims of individuals." Justice Stevens's and Justice Breyer's statements are entirely consistent with the cases they site. It is the court majority that "misses the mark", disregarding the clear spirit of the court's earlier copyright dicta and cynically citing Madison in a tendentious way. Justice Stevens does not "understate the relationship between [the] rewards [conferred in the copyright monopoly] and the 'Progress of Science'". It is the court majority that understates --indeed, all but ignores -- the relationship between the public domain and the "Progress of Science."
The effect of the Eldred ruling is that the Congress need never rationally weigh the burdens copyright places on the public. The Constitution clearly presupposes that the expiration of copyright--the public domain, as we now call it--is the most important constitutional means of keeping copyright true to its purpose of promoting progress. But though the Constitution gives the public domain pride of place in its text through the words "promote progress", "for authors", and "limited times", the court has stated that the 105th Congress's cynical dismissal of the public domain as worthless is not subject to constitutional review.
The court's rubber-stamp review of the Copyright Term Extension Act is the weakest standard of judical review ever proposed. It is weaker even than the generous standard stated in McCullogh v. Maryland (17 U.S. 316), where Mr. Chief Justice Marshall declared that an act of Congress must be "plainly adapted" to their constitutional ends and "consist with the spirit" of the Constitution. Courts are understandably reluctant to invalidate acts of Congrss for failing to comply with the spirit of the constitution. But if any act of Congress fails to "consist with the spirit" of the article I power under which it is passed, it is the Bono Act.
The court then backpedals with the following bit of Pilatesque hand-washing:
The wisdom of Congress' action...is not within our province to second guess.
But as Mr. Justice Breyer pointed out in different words in his dissent, a want of reason in the legislative judgement is grounds for finding an act of Congress invalid. An act that is unwise is by definition an act of folly; and folly must at some point rise to the level of the constitutionally unreasonable. A fair court would at least have considered seriously the burdens that the CTEA places on the public. One of the reasons I find the Eldred ruling is defective is that it scarcely even to acknowledges the existence of these burdens, much less their great weight.
Watch this space for a more detailed evaluation, in which I will have some positive things to say about the majority opinion.
October 27, 2002
(Gregorian Lunar Almanac 2002.11th Moon.21st Day)
"We hate the public domain".(longish-term link)
So say the "movie barons and the proud high-lords of song" in
Ballad of Dennis Karjala:
It wasn't many years ago, in nineteen and seventy-eight,
they added nineteen years onto the term of copyright;
then said the movie barons and the proud high-lords of song,
"our copyrights will suit us well if they can last this long."
But when the nineteen extra years were nearly past and done,
those same proud barons then returned with cash to Washington.
"We want another twenty years, we hate the public domain.
And here's some cash that you can use to fund your next campaign."
Now Thomas C. Greene, writing in The Register, has added his voice to the chorus of public-domain-bashing:
Greene believes that "Were it not still under copyright, [Good-Bye to All That] might not be available except on the Net." As I read Greene's words between the lines, I conclude that although he writes "might not", Greene inclines strongly to the view that the book would not (not simply "might not") be available if it were in the public domain.As long as you have those rights to sell, your publisher, whoever and wherever he is, gets a little short-term monopoly which ensures there's money to be made for him, too. And this is how excellent, seventy-year-old books like "Good-Bye to All That" manage to stay in print in handy little paperback editions which we can read conveniently on the subway.
It is certainly true that, all other thing being equal, a monopolist can achieve a higher profit margin than a seller in a competitive market for the same goods. Because she can set a price above marginal cost, she can pocket some of what would otherwise remain as part of the consumer's surplus. This is not, however, a reason to encourage monopolies. In a free-market economy we ordinarily try to encourage competition and enhance consumer surpluses.
In 1998, shortly before the Copright Term Extension Act passed Congress, special prosecutor Kenneth Starr delivered his report on the Lewinsky affair. Since the report is a work of the United States Government, it is in the public domain. It was made available on the World Wide Web for free. Furthermore three competing publishers, Pocket Books, Prima, and Public Affairs, offered printed editions of the report. All three seem to have made money on it. (Nora Rawlinson, "Lessons of the Starr Report", Publishers Weekly, vol. 245 #41, p. 11, October 5, 1998. Doreen Carvajal, "Testing of a President: The Report; Starr Report Selling well in Book Form", The New York Times, Saturday, Sept. 19, 1998, Section A, p. 10, col. 6.) Hence publishers who know how to adapt to a competitive market have a chance to make money from a work that is publici juris; copyright is not a necessary condition for a book to be worth marketing.
The presuppositions underlying Eldred's advocates certainly differ from
those put forward by Solicitor General Olsen. Solicitor General Olsen
seems to think that intellectual works are most efficiently traded in monopoly
markets rather than in free markets. This position is a variant of
the copyright philosophy known as neoclacissism, which has been described
and criticized by Neil
Netanel. Eldred's side starts from the assumption that competitive
markets should be presumed to be the most efficient for books just as for
any other goods, and that monopolistic departures from free competition
are exceptions that are to be used only in carefully limited circumstances.
The latter is certainly the view of the Constitution's drafters.
"Monopolies", wrote James Madison, "must be granted with caution
and guarded with strictness against abuse" (Emphasis added.)
The question the Supreme Court needs to decide is whether the drafters
wrote their presuppositions into the Constitution clearly enough to create
a judicially discoverable limit on Congress's ability to extend copyrights.
October 5, 2002
(Gregorian Lunar Almanac 2002.10th Moon.28th Day)
In praise of creative freedom - 1(longish-term link)
In G. F. Handel's Messiah, first performed in 1742, there occurs between the choral section "For unto us a child is born" and the recitative "There were shepherds abiding in the field", a brief instrumental section called "Pifa" or "Pastoral Symphony". The section's first violin part begins as follows:
At least one early 19th-century critic thought that the dance-tune "Parthenia" was the source of the opening motif in the Pastoral Symphony. Other commentators think that Handel learned the motif from Calabrian pipers whose playing he heard during his travels in Italy. Either way, Handel was engaged in creative copying: He took a melody he had not written and used it as the basis from which to create new music.
There are some, though, who seem to think that creativity of this sort should never be allowed. Mary Rodgers, daughter of songwriter Richard Rodgers, speaking to a journalist in 1995 about her support for the Copyright Term Extension Act, told the journalist, "I wish, in a way, the public domain didn't exist at all." (Robert Kolker, "Theatres on alert as Congress looks at copyright law", Back Stage v. 36 no. 9, March 3, 1995, p. 3.) These words state a wish for a world with no Bible, no Shakespeare, and no Handel--except for those who can pay whatever a monopolist (who may have nothing in common with the original author of the work over which she holds monopoly power) chooses to demand. The words "didn't exist at all" are capable of no other interpretation.
More recently, the Nashville Songwriters Association International
(NSAI) has filed a friend-of-the-court
brief in the Eldred v. Ashcroft
support of the Government's position that the CTEA is constitutional.
In footnote 7 of their brief the songwriters reveal a hatred of the public
domain in expression that is even more vehement than Mary Rodgers's:
So for these songwriters, copying from a work in the public domain is "piracy". Before the copyright expires, according to the clear implication of the wording of this statement, acts that infringe the copyright are illegal piracy, while the same acts after the copyright expires are "legal piracy". But since "piracy" is by definition something that should never occur, these songwriters, like Mary Rodgers, imply by their words that they want the duration of copyright to be perpetual; and that they consider it "piracy" for anyone to copy without authorization (presumably from a descendent or assignee of the original author) from any work on which the copyright has expired or never existed, whether the Bible, the works of Shakespeare, or the 1665 edition of The Dancing Master. If this is not what they believe, then why do they label the public's freedom to use the public domain as "piracy" ?[C]opyright never removes any existing knowledge from the public domain. It merely postpones the legal piracy of a particular way of expressing that knowledge. (Brief Amici Curiae of the Nashville Songwriters Assiciation International in support of Respondent, in the case of Eldred v. Ashcroft, August, 2002, p. 10, footnote 7.)
Fortunately the U.S. Constitution's framers did not think that human
intellectual freedom is "piracy". Indeed, James Madison once
characterised intellectual freedom as a form of property: "A man...has
a property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person.
He has an equal property in the free use of his faculties and free choice
of the objects on which to employ them." (James Madison, "Property",
Gazette, March 29th, 1792.) Copyrights and patents, on the other
hand, were "embarassments" (i.e. burdens) to Thomas Jefferson,
and "nuisances" to Madison, though Madison thought that copyrights, patents,
and other limited monopolies might nevertheless be useful provided they
were "granted with caution and guarded with strictness against abuse."
(Detatched memorandum on monopolies, (hereafter "Monopolies") Jack N. Rakove,
ed., James Madison: Writings, Library of America, 1999, p. 765.)
Thomas Jefferson, for his part, stated the purpose of copyrights
and patents in a letter to Oliver Evans:
A man has a right...to use his knife to cut his meat, a fork to hold it; may a patentee take from him the right to combine their use on the same subject? Such a law, instead of enlarging our conveniences, as was intended, would most fearfully abridge them. (Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Oliver Evans, January 16th, 1814.)
This statement presupposes that the underlying intention behind the granting of patents (and, by implication, of copyrights) is to "enlarge our conveniences", that is, our freedom. In modern terms, this means that the purpose of copyrights and patents is to enlarge the public domain so that we will have more things on which we can exercise our intellectual powers: the very intellectual freedom that the Nashville Songwriters Association International calls "piracy" . So while the NSAI might hate to live in a world in which George F. Handel can take a dance-tune or pipe-tune and create from it a beautiful musical interlude for his oratorio, the Constitution, if we can keep it, preserves for us our right to such a world. It does this in at least two places: first, in its promotion-of-progress clause,
The Congress shall have Power...To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
This is not a power to grant copyrights and patents. It is a power to promote the progress of science by means of copyrights, and of arts by means of patents. The "exclusive right" can only be granted to "authors" and "inventors". A grant to anyone else, even to the author's widowed spouse or children, is prima facie unconstitutional, though perhaps such a grant might be saved by some ingenious legal reasoning. The exclusive right can only be granted to the authors and inventors for "their" writings or discoveries, not for anyone else's: the works of Shakespeare are, and remain, publici juris because Shakespeare is dead, and no others can claim that Shakepeare's writings are "their" writings. The exclusive right can only be granted "for limited Times" because, as James Madison noted, "under that limitation a sufficient recompence and encouragement may be given", and because "perpetual monopolies of every sort, are forbidden not only by the genius of free Governments, but by the imperfection human foresight." (Madison, "Monopolies", in Rakove, Madison, p. 756, 757.) The longer the monopoly lasts, any "progress" gained through it is subject to the law of diminishing returns, while the burdens imposed by the monopoly increase in proportion to the monopoly's scope and in proportion to its duration. This principle was noted by Madison in the same essay just quoted:
One objection to a Bank is that it involves a qualified monopoly; and the objection certainly has weight in proportion to the degree & duration of the monopoly. (Id. at 757)
It would be ignorant and faithless to evade the implications of Madison's reasoning by objecting that this statement is about banks, not about copyrights or patents. Madison is here applying the general characteristics of monpolies -- that they are objectionable "in proportion to the degree & duration of the monopoly" -- to the particular case of banks. But the general principles apply by definition to all monopolies, including copyrights and patents.
Another place in which the U.S. Constitution defends our intellectual
freedom is the Ninth Amendment:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
That the intellectual freedom to use literary expression -- the freedom of what is now called the "public domain" -- is one of these "retained by the people" is reasonable on its face, and can be demonstrated by the English and American evolution of the principles of free trade and restriction of monopolies. In the early 17th century an English court declared that "the common law abhors all monopolies, which prohibit any from working in any lawful trade." (The Ipswich Tailors' Case, 77 Eng. Rep. (1614/1615), 1218 at 1219.) In the 1640s the Massachussetts general court established the following law:
It is ordered, decreed and by this court declared; that there shall be no Monopolies graunted or allowed amongst us, but of such new inventions that are profitable for the Countrie, and that for a short time. (The Book of the General Lawes and Libertyes...of the Massachusets...Boston, 1647; in Donald S. Lutz, Ed. Colonial Origins of the American Constitution: A Documentary History, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, 1998, p.128.)
The 1776 North Carolina declaration of rights contains an unqualified statement against monopolies:
That perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free State, and ought not to be allowed. (A Declaration of Rights, North Carolina , 1776, Article XXIII.)
Thomas Jefferson listed freedom from monopolies (including copyrights and patents) among fundamental rights
It seems pretty generally understood that [a bill of rights] should go to Juries, Habeas corpus, standing armies, printing, religion and monopolies....The saying there shall be no monopolies lessens the incitements to ingenuity, which is spurred on by the hope of a monopoly for a limited time, as of 14 years; but the benefit even of limited monopolies is too doubtful to be opposed to that of their general suppression. (Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, July 31st, 1788.)
The anti-federalist writer "Centinel", also listed freedom from monoplies among fundamental rights, though "Centinel", unlike Jefferson, thought that limited patents and copyrights would provide useful benefits that outweighed their costs:
It seems reasonable that if the U.S. Supreme Court can find in the Ninth Amendment a right of marital privacy, (Griswold v. Connecticut) which as far as I know the framing generation never explicitly mentioned, then we can find in the same Amendment a right that prominent members of the framing generation did mention: a right of freedom from unreasonable monopolies; and a right of freedom to make, use, and sell any lawful device in fair competition with any other artisan, and to print and sell any lawful writing in fair competition with any other publisher.There is [in the draft Consititution] no declaration...that the trial by jury in civil cases as well as criminal, and the modes prescribed by the common law for safety of life in criminal prosecutions shall be held sacred; that the requiring of excessive bail, imposing of excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishments be forbidden; that monopolies in trade or arts, other than to authors of books or inventors of useful arts, for a reasonable time, ought not to be suffered. ("Centinel" (pseud.), "To the People of Pennsylvania", Philadelphia Freeman's Journal, October 24th, 1787. Reprinted in John P. Kaminski and Gaspare J. Saladino, eds., The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, 1981, vol 13, p. 466.)
Some might wonder how, if the public domain is a fundamental right secured
by the Ninth Amendment, can the constitution provide at all for the use
of monopolies to promote the progress of science and useful arts.
The answer is that establishing the existence of a right doesn't automatically
establish scope of the right. The legislature has the power in the
public interest to pass laws that have the effect of modifying on the margin
even those rights that are unailienable at the core. Through limited
copyrights and patents the public sacrifices some of its intellectual freedom
on the margin in order at a later time to have a larger field of intellectual
inquiry: that is, a larger public domain. But the broader and
deeper the legislature's regulation runs, the more likely it is to modify
an important freedom not just at its margin, but at its core, and the less
likely the regulation is to be within the scope of the legislature's limited
powers. In the copyright context the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized
this principle in its opinion in the case of Sony v. Universal City
The monopoly privileges that Congress may authorize are neither unlimited nor primarily designed to provide a special private benefit. (Sony v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 417, at 429.)
The contrapositive follows: if a provision of the copyright or patent statute is "primarily designed to provide a special private benefit", then Congress may not authorize it.
September 22, 2002
(Gregorian Lunar Almanac 2002.10th Moon.15th Day)
More ideas on "ideas" (longish-term link)
Copyright, we are often told, "protects" (a loaded word) only "expression", not "facts" or "ideas". This is true in the abstract, as the statute itself states: 17 USC 102(b). In practice, however, the Nimmers have observed that the line between so-called "ideas" and so-called "expression"
is a pragmatic one, drawn not on the basis of some metaphysical property of 'ideas' but by balancing the need to protect the labors of authors with the desire to assure free access to ideas.We may well ask: how useful is this supposed "free access to ideas" that we enjoy ? After all, if the distinction "is a pragmatic one", that means it is difficult to predict in advance where the line will be drawn. The harder the line is to predict, the harder it is to rely on our ability to stay on one side of it.
--Melville Nimmer and David Nimmer, Nimmer on Copyright, 13.03.F.1 (1998)
A simple thought experiment will show that, in the field of imaginative literature, the supposed freedom to copy "ideas" from the copyrighted imaginative works of prior authors is an illusion.
From old Icelandic literature J.R.R. Tolkien copied the following components, which can reasonably be though of as "ideas" even in the narrow sense of the word used in the copyright statute, into his novel The Lord of the Rings:
(A.1) A race of beings called "Dwarves", who
(A.2) live underground, and who
(A.3) excel in metalworking and other crafts, and who
(A.4) have names like Durin, Nain, Dain, Bombur, Thrain, Thorin, Thror, Fili, Kili, and Fundin.
If the Poetic Edda and other old Icelandic works had been under modern U.S. copyright when Tolkien wrote, would he have been able to copy these "ideas" freely ? Imagine a writer copying the following similar "ideas" from Star Trek:
(B.1) A race of beings called "Vulcans", who
(B.2) live on a planet called "Vulcan", and who
(B.3) excel in mathematical physics and other branches of natural philosophy, and who
(B.4) have names like Spock, Sarek, and Sybok.
Our hypothetical writer could very well find himself struck by a suit
for copyright infringement, as the Carol Publishing Group was when it published
a book called The Joy of Trek. The Federal District Court
issued a preliminary injunction against The Joy of Trek, stating
"[The fictitious history of the Star Trek universe] is a story, created
and owned by Paramount. The characters, plots and dramatic episodes
that comprise this story are its original elements. By reproducing
these elements The Joy of Trek infringes on the Star Trek Properties
as a matter of law." Paramount Pictures Corp. v. Carol Publishing
Group et al., 11 F.Supp.2d 329, at 333 (SDNY, 1998). "Characters,
plots, and dramatic episodes" are not self-evidently "expression" rather
than "ideas". But the idea/expression distinction was found to be
worthless to Carol Publishing, and probably would have been worthless to
Tolkien if powerful interests had claimed copyright in the Poetic Edda
and other works from which Tolkien drew. The true reason Tolkien
could, with only minimal fear of lawsuits, copy the "idea" of dwarves from
the old Icelandic literature was because that literature was in the public
domain, "ideas" (narrow sense) and "expression" both, not because he copied
only "ideas".
September 17, 2002
(Gregorian Lunar Almanac 2002.10th Moon.10th Day)
The word "idea" has variable width (longish-term link)
David R. Henderson's "The Free Software Lunch" is a gripe against government use of software released under the terms of the GPL. It is being discussed in a number of places on the web. (To find some of them, follow the links from here.) One pot-shot that I think was slightly unfair, though, occurs in this comment by Ernest Miller:
Miller wrote:
LawMeme looks at Henderson's claims:This "viral" property effectively bars commercial software makers from incorporating ideas from GPL software...Uh. no. You see, under copyright law, ideas are not protected, only expressions of ideas. This is known as tthe idea/expression dichotomy.
This is unfair because the statute, 17 USC 102(b), uses the word "idea" in a narrow, technical sense, while it is clear that Henderson is using the word in its broader sense. This broader sense of the word is not hard to find elsewhere. When musicologist George J. Buelow wrote that
...Handel, more than any other composer, adopted a method of composing that often emphasized the craft of reworking, revising, adapting, and transcribing musical ideas of his own and others",he was referring to musical borrowing of this kind. Buelow used the word "idea" in a broad sense, a sense which includes what the narrow, technical sense of copyright law would exclude. Even in a legal context the word "idea" is not always used in the narrowest of its modern senses. The word appears in Mr. Justice Brandeis's famous dictum in his dissent in INS:
--George J. Buelow, "The Case for Handel's Borrowings", in Stanley Sadie and anthony Hicks, eds., Handel Tercentenary Collection, Macmillan, 1987, pp. 61-92, at 62
The general rule of law is, that the noblest of human productions--knowledge, truths ascertained, conceptions, and ideas--become, after voluntary communication to others, free as the air to common use. Upon these incorporeal pruductions the attribute of property is continued after such communication only in certain classes of cases where public policy has seemed to demand it. These exceptions are confined to productions which, in some degree, involve creation, invention, or discovery.It is clear from the context that by "knowledge, truths ascertained, conceptions, and ideas", Brandeis means all works of the human mind, both "ideas" (narrow sense) and "expression". This is clear because he goes on to say that patents and copyrights are exceptions to his "general rule of law". Hence copyrightable subject matter is a subset of "knowledge, truths ascertained, conceptions, and ideas". If we must shoe-horn copyrightable "expression" into a single one of the four types of "incorporeal production" (rather than letting them function as overlapping categories) then placing it under Mr. Brandeis's "ideas" is one of the better choices. Likewise it seems clear from Mr. Henderson's article that he is using "ideas" in a broad sense, not in the narrow, technical sense.
--International News Service v. Associated Press, 248 U.S. 215 (1918), at 250. (Brandeis, J. dissenting)
A much better objection to Mr. Henderson's article can be based on his understanding of the relationship of copyright to free-market principles. Mr. Henderson wrote that
Commercial developers live in fear that the intellectual property embodied in their software will be stolen...But some programmers...have gone their own way....Adam Smith would never have complained about alternatives to conventional market solutions that withstood the market test.For Adam Smith, though, copyrights and patents were monpolies; they were barely-tolerable exceptions to the free-trade principles he was advocating:
When a company of merchants undertake, at their own risk and expense, to establish a new trade with some remote and barbarous nation, it may not be unreasonable to incorporate them into a joint stock company, and to grant them, in case of their success, a monopoly of the trade for a certain number of years. It is the easiest and most natural way in which the state can recompense them for hazarding a dangerous and expensive experiment, of which the public is afterwards to reap the benefit. A temporary monopoly of this kind may be vindicated upon the same principles upon which a like monopoly of a new machine is granted to its inventor, and that of a new book to its author. But upon the expiration of the term, the monopoly ought certainly to determine...By a perpetual monopoly, all the other subjects of the state are taxed very absurdly in two different ways: first, by the high price of goods, which, in the case of a free trade they could buy much cheaper; and secondly, by their total exclusion from a branch of business which it might be both convenient and profitable for many of them to carry on. It is for the most worthless of all purposes, too, that they are taxed in this manner. It is merely to enable the company to support the negligence, profusion, and malversation of their own servants.Both conventional copyright and the GPL are forms of monopoly. They are both "taxes" on the public, as Adam Smith states in the passage just quoted; or "embarassments" (i.e. burdens), as Thomas Jefferson would say. The GPL does, indeed, prevent perfectly free competition; a second-comer can copy the GPLed code only under the terms of the GPL. But all forms of copyright inhibit free competition, while the GPL can, in some circumstances, be less burdensome than other forms of copyright. The solution to the inconveniences caused by the GPL is the same as the solution to the inconveniences caused by all other forms of copyright. It is Adam Smith's own solution: "The monopoly ought certainly to determine." The copyright should expire after a moderate term, so that the formerly monopolized text can be used in free competition. If Mr. Henderson is serious about allowing competitors to use others' source code in order freely to offer competing commercial products in which the new advances are subjected to conventional copyright, he should, at the very least, propose a repeal of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. Then source code would be under copyright for "only" 75 years!
--Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Book 5, Chapter 1, Part 3, Article 1. Britannica Edition, Chicago, 1952, pp. 329-330. Emphasis added.
September 15, 2002
(Gregorian Lunar Almanac 2002.10th Moon.8th Day)
Doc on me on Doc on Lessig on Freedom(longish-term
Doc Searls is cautious about my sweeping statement that "we have a right to all works of the human mind; they belong by right to all mankind." He is wise; sweeping statements should be treated with caution.
I assumed that it went without saying that the statement, though it says "all works", doesn't refer to "all works utterly without exception", but only all works that are disclosed to a fellow human being without any agreement of confidentiality. I assumed that it went without saying that no one has any right to compel a fellow human being to disclose the truly private thoughts of his heart. (In our legal system, of course, we have compulsory process to summon witnesses to court. I pass over in silence the question of whether use of this process can ever be construed as leading to the compulsory disclosure of "truly private thoughts".) I assumed that it was obvious that the works I was referring to were those works that have non-zero amplitude in the public's intellectual space. Maybe my assumption was rash. "All voluntarily disclosed works of the human mind" would have been better wording.
Once that qualification is made, I see nothing to object to in my statement. It seems pretty basic that "in general, unless an intellectual property right such as a patent or copyright protects an item, it will be subject to copying". (Traffix Devices, Inc. v. Marketing Displays, Inc., 532 U.S. 23 (2001.) Among the supreme court's statements of copyright and patent principles, this one stands out as uncharacteristically weak; yet even this statement repeats the obvious fact that copying a book or machine is not wrong in itself. It is wrong only to the extent that it is forbidden by copyright or patent law. Usually the Court's statements are more robust: "For almost 100 years it has been well established that in the case of an expired patent, the federal patent laws do create a federal right to copy and use. Sears and Compco extended that rule to potentially patentable ideas which are fully exposed to the public." (Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. 489 US 141, at 165.) The Bonito Boats opinion goes on to state "Our decisions since Sears and Compco have made it clear that the Patent and Copyright Clauses do not, by their own force or by negative implication, deprive the States of the power to adopt rules for the promotion of intellectual creation within their own jurisdictions." If this refers to the States' authority to pass trademark and trade-dress laws designed to prevent marketplace confusion; trade-secret laws designed to provide legal strength to commercial agreements of confidentiality where the public is not harmed by the private agreements; fair-competition laws against high-handed business methods; and right-of-publicity laws for protecting privacy and preventing certain kinds of misleading advertising, then I agree. If the Court means that the "federal right to copy" created by the federal patent laws is not a statutory instance of the public's preexisting common-law right to copy, which is presupposed by the constitution's Promotion-of-progress clause, then I must disagree. The principles of free competition mean that any publisher should be free to publish a lawful book in fair competition with any other publisher, and that any craftsman or mechanic should be free to make, sell, or use any lawful device in fair competition with any other artisan. Patents and copyrights are, in theory, self-imposed restrictions on the margin of this fundamental freedom to which the public submits in order at a later time to have more things to copy: a larger public domain. But the core of the public's right to copy is a right of constitutional weight, and can't be alienated or suppressed. If somehow the Constitution's Promotion-of-Progress clause doesn't, by its "own force or by negative implication" establish this doctrine, then I would say that the doctrine is established by the the Promotion-of-Progress Clause operating in combination with the Ninth Amendment.
Lest my words be misread I will repeat the tedious and obvious qualification
that this public right to the public domain is a right in intangibles.
In general this right doesn't, on its own, create or destroy any right
to any thing made of matter, or any right to enter any private physical
September 14, 2002
(Gregorian Lunar Almanac 2002.10th Moon.7th Day)
Lessig on Freedom (Longish-term
(This is a slightly revised version of a note that was first posted to Doc Searls's discussion board on September 4th, 2002.)
I enjoyed reading Doc Searls's brief note recalling Lawrence Lessig's 2002 Oscon keynote speech. Doc call's Lessig's talk "the geek culture equivalent of Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech."
"Use it or lose it" is an apt warning. We have a right to all works of the human mind; they belong by right to all mankind. (Note that the reference is to "works of the human mind". The statement has no direct bearing whatever on anyone's right, or lack of one, to anything made of matter.) Copyrights and patents are, as James Madison noted, "sacrifices of the many to the few" (Letter to Thomas Jefferson, October 17th 1788); they are, as Attorney General Levi Lincoln stated of patents in 1802 in words that apply equally to copyrights, "monopol[ies] in derogation of common right." (Opinions of the Attorney General, 1, 110.) In granting these monpolies, we the public generously refrain for a time from exercising our full rights in newer works in order slightly to reduce the economic risk inherent in marketing them, thereby increasing the chance of profitibility for the author or inventor. This act of self-restraint on the public's part, in which it sacrifices some of its intellectual rights on the margin in order to create rights for authors and inventors for the purpose of encouraging contributions to the public domain, has not been accepted with thanks by the entertainment and music industries. Rather, they seem only greedy for more such sacrifices on our part, and act as if they have a right to expect them.
Human institutions tend to perpetuate themselves at others' expense, and even at the expense of the purposes for which they were originally set up. A possible asymptotic condition resulting from this process can be seen in the grievances of the Senechaussee of Rennes, who in 1789 petitioned the Estates General praying for
Supression de la servitude plus meurtrière du droit de suite de mouline...usage libre des meules à bras; proscription absolue de la capitation seigneuriale à raison de ces tristes machines; et que la postérité ignore, s'il se peut, que la tyrannie féodale bretonne, armée du pouvoir judiciare, n'a pas rougi, dans ces derniers temps, de briser les meules à bras, et de vendre annuellement à des malheureaux la faculté de broyer entre deux pierres une mesure d'orge ou de sarrasin.(Suppression of the mankilling servitude of suit-to-mill, ... free use of querns; [and] absolute abolition of the royalty on these pathetic engines; that posterity may never know (if that is possible) that the tyrannical Breton lords, armed with the judicial power, did not blush in these modern times to smash querns, and to sell to the unfortunate folk annual "license" to grind a measure of barley or buckwheat between two stones.) M.J. Mavidal and M.E. Laurent, eds., Archives Parlementaires de 1787 a 1860, 1st Series, Vol. 5, Paul DuPont, Paris, 1879, p.547 (Article 171).
What might originally have been a reasonable way of funding the construction of large mills had degenerated into a lords' right that reached even to one of the simplest of everyday activities. The peasants had to get a "license" even to crush grain. I little doubt the lords defended their "property right" in the milling monopoly with many fine words. (Click here and search for the string '.P 235.' or the string 'ad molendinum'.)
A similar progression can, if we are careless, operate in the development of the rights we have given to authors and inventors. Our own Supreme Court has warned us that "the natural tendency of legal rights to express themselves in absolute terms to the exclusion of all else is particularly pronounced in the history of the constitutionally sanctioned monopolies of the copyright and the patent."Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984), footnote 13.
Just as the Breton peasants saw with the lords' milling monopoly, so we are seeing copyright reach ever deeper into our lives. Thanks to the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) works that were new when our grandparents were young will not be graduated to the public domain until we ourselves are grandparents: a term nearly four generations long. Thanks to the "device" provisions of the DMCA it is now seen to be legally dangerous even to discuss data encryption in some circumstances. Maybe people with academic degrees and tenure get a pass, but hobbyists have no such protection.
But how do we prevent the further erosion of our rights to the public domain? In 1998 I wrote to my U.S. Senators about the CTEA and recieved an empty-headed response. Michael Eisner was able to convince Senator Lott, who is not even his own Senator, to dislodge the CTEA from committee even though Senator Hatch had pronounced the bill "dead" earlier that year. (Penny Bender, "Hatch declares copyright protection bill dead", Gannett News Service, May 7th, 1998.) The balance of lobbying power is lopsidedly against the public's right to the public domain. Groups like the EFF and the FSF are only a start. The EFF's web site hardly contains the words "public domain" at all, and very little mention of the CTEA. The FSF is focused mainly on software, which those who hate the public domain can explain away as a special case. Those who believe in limited copyright and limited patent have far to go before they find their collective voice.
I don't know how to get the attention of a legislator in 3 seconds
or fewer. Perhaps we should start with the importance of the public domain
in pharmaceuticals. The public domain's enemies might explain this away
as a special case too, but at least it's a start. We might remind the legislators
of the benefits of generic drugs. We might have them imagine a patent term
that was so long that by the time the patent expired on a useful antibiotic,
many microorganisms had already become resistent: the hypothetical antibiotic
would never have been available at generic prices during the time of its
greatest usefulness; the public never got the benefit of its bargain with
the patentee. Now, what is the public getting in return for the copyrights
it gives to authors, if by the time their copyrights expire almost all
books are not only out of fashion, but so long out of print that a first
edition copy is hard to find ? How "public" is such a public domain then
|This picture, from an English medieval illuminated manuscript, was reproduced in Alexander Speltz's Styles of Ornament, Tranlated from the Second German Edition by David O'Conor, E. Weyhe, New York, 1910, Plate 55, #19, whence it is reproduced here. This image is in the public domain in the U.S.A. and should be copied and reproduced with gleeful abandon.


text:
Transcript -- Press Conference - Chairman of the Ministers of the Group of 24
April 28, 2001
Washington D.C.
Saturday, April 28, 2001
Dr. Joseph O. SANUSI, Chairman of the Ministers of the Group of 24, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria
Mr. Alain BIFANI, First Vice-Chairman, Director General, Ministry of Finance, Lebanon
Mr. Gerald YETMING, Second Vice-chairman, Minister of Finance, Trinidad and Tobago
Dr. Ramsey O. MOWOE, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigeria
Ms. Mboto FOUDA, External Relations, IMF
Ms. Mboto FOUDA - Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this press conference of the chairman of the Ministers of the Group of 24. The press conference is on the record, the simultaneous interpretation channels are number 4 for English, number 2 for French, and number 3 for Spanish. Now let me introduce our guests today. In the middle of the table is Dr. Joseph Sanusi from Nigeria, the chairman of the G-24 group. On his right is the First Vice-Chairman, Alain Bifani from Lebanon, on the left side of the chairman is the Second Vice-Chairman, Mr. Gerald Yetming, from Trinidad and Tobago. On the far left side of the table is Dr. Ramsey Mowoe, the chairman of the Deputies who is also from Nigeria. Before we take the questions in the room I would like to ask Mr. Chairman to offer his opening remarks.
Mr. SANUSI - Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I wish to thank you for honoring the invitation to this press conference and to thank you also for your interest in the working of the G-24.
During the deliberations, ministers had extensive discussions on the content of the communiqué and other issues relating to the activities of the group. We were pleased to have the Managing Director of the IMF and the president of the World Bank, as well as representatives of other institutions and observer countries participate in our deliberations.
Let me highlight some of the key issues the ministers addressed in the communiqué.
First, in reviewing the World Economic Outlook, the ministers expressed concern about the downward revision of growth prospects of the world economy, stemming from the slowdown in the U.S. economy, failure of recovery efforts in Japan and slower growth in Europe. These developments present uncertainties and risks for the economic performance of developing countries. The implications of these developments are severe in terms of lower exports and resource flows for the developing countries, against the backdrop of weakening demand from industrial countries and a secular decline in non-fuel commodity prices.
Second, the ministers addressed issues relating to the World Bank/IMF support to enhance growth, reduce poverty in low income countries, particularly the enhanced HIPC initiative and the preparation of poverty reduction strategy papers, PRSPs. While welcoming the progress made under the enhanced HIPC initiative, the ministers note with concern that only one country has reached the completion point. In this regard, they emphasized the urgent need to bring more eligible countries to the completion point and to ensure access of these countries to adequate and additional concessional financing so as to facilitate the attainment of objectives of high growth and long-term debt sustainability.
The ministers also noted the progress made with the PRSP process and emphasized the need to keep conditionality simple, realistic, and focused on a few key issues, and to ensure that the modalities for the preparation and approval of the PRSP are designed to be consistent with the existing institutional framework in the country concerned.
Third, the ministers noted that the developing countries have become major players in the global market, as their share of the world trade has increased substantially in the last three decades. However, many of these countries, particularly the low-income countries, are yet to benefit from this trade expansion, as a result of protectionist mechanisms, such as antidumping and countervailing duties, as well as subsidies in developed countries and the slow implementation of trade liberalization agreements, particularly with respect to agricultural products. These barriers continue to hinder access of exports of developing countries to international markets and inhibit their competitiveness.
Fourth, ministers observed the significant progress made in strengthening the international financial system through the development of international codes, standards, and best practices to be applied by both developed and developing countries. They underscored the need to ensure that the observance of these standards and codes remain voluntary, duly recognizing the country-specific circumstances and stage of development, including administrative and institutional constraints.
Fifth, the ministers welcomed the review initiated by the Managing Director of the IMF on the scope of conditionality in Fund-supported programs and the decision of the Fund Board to implement proposed shift from broad coverage to a more selective application of conditionality. They emphasized that the objective is not to weaken, but to streamline and make it better focused, more effective, and less intrusive.
Sixth, the ministers noted that negotiations for the 13th replenishment on IDA resources are currently underway and urged donors to ensure that IDA-13 is adequately funded to meet the increasing needs of the poorest countries, many of which are reactivating dormant programs as they emerge from conflict and indebtedness.
The ministers also noted that Africa deserves special priority and urge that IDA lending to the region meet the 50 percent target agreed under previous replenishment.
Ministers also urged that the developing countries be given greater voice in the decision making processes of the Bretton Woods institutions. Thank you, ladies gentlemen of the press.
Ms. Mboto FOUDA - Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask reporters to identify themselves as well as their media before asking their questions.
QUESTION - Minister, in relation to trade and agriculture, was there discussion of the launch of a new round of trade negotiations at Fatah in late this year under the WTO? Could you give some indication of discussion that may have taken place in the committee on that.
Mr. SANUSI - We did not discuss details relating to the WTO arrangement. You have with you the communiqué which we have issued which I believe you must have had time to go through.
QUESTION - I'm from the Press of India. You mentioned in the last paragraph of your final communiqué that Africa must have 50 percent of IDA. What is the percentage now as compared to the 50 percent you now want and also what exactly do you have in mind when you say that developing countries must have a greater voice in the affairs of the Bretton Woods institutions? Is it the quota issue you have in mind?
Mr. SANUSI - Well, on the question of IDA-13, what we discussed relates to the need for the donor countries to make greater contribution to IDA. Of course, we observed that the current contribution to IDA by the donor countries represents only 0.24 percent of GNP, whereas the accepted standard is 0.7 percent, and therefore we think there is need to make greater contribution to the IDA, and then of course if that is done then IDA is certainly going to be better replenished. Your second question?
QUESTION - On the first, what is the percentage of IDA which Africa gets now as compared to the 50 percent you want? Secondly, what exactly do you have in mind when you say that developing countries must have greater voice in the affairs of the Bretton Woods institutions? Do you have in mind increased quota?
Mr. SANUSI - Well, increased quota is one of them, but what is more critical is getting the developing countries involved in decisions that are taken by the Bretton Woods institutions, so that the developed countries don't just hand over a decision, so that the developing countries can also have the feeling of ownership in whatever decisions are taken by the Bretton Woods institutions. We believe that the developing countries have capacity to make contribution to decisions, and therefore you would believe that issue would be involved in whatever decisions are being made by the BWIs. Let me emphasize this, we work in the G-24 as a group, so I have both on my left and on my right the First Vice-Chairman and the Second Vice-Chairman, and I also have at my far left the chairman of the Deputies of the Group of 24, so while I will answer some of your questions, I will also ask them if they have contributions to make so that you get full answers to the questions, and to that extent I will now ask them if they have anything to add to what I've said in respect of those two questions that I was asked. Mr. Bifani?
Mr. BIFANI - Not for the time being, Mr. Chairman.
Senator YETMING - Nothing.
Dr. MOWOE - Except on the proportion of IDA points going to Africa, it's roughly about 50. The intention is to retain the proportion going to Africa and not to reduce it.
QUESTION - I'm from Bloomberg News. Two questions for you, Sir. One is that Nigeria has been a frequent country that has called for more and greater debt relief, and yesterday Mr. Wolfensohn said that move could actually bankrupt the World Bank. Are you concerned about that and have you adjusted your call for greater debt relief? In the communiqué you mentioned that bilateral development should contribute to the large bailouts that happen for countries, and in the recent one for Turkey, obviously that didn't happen, apparently at the behest of the U.S. Is that a concern to you also?
Mr. SANUSI - Well, I think when countries call for debt relief, I will refer to my own country, for example, the debt relief in many cases, except for the case of IDA, are not particularly related to the multilateral institutions. I think in our own case it relates more to the Paris Club, and of course when you look at how the Paris Club debt was incurred and the manner the debt has grown over the years, you will discover that we really are justified by asking for debt relief, so that the type of debt relief that Nigeria is asking for is not the type that the president was referring to that could possibly bankrupt the Bretton Woods institutions. I think what he was referring to was the IDA debt, and then of course what he said was if such debts are forgiven, the flow that could have been possible to enhance what we could get on IDA would to that extent be reduced.
QUESTION - Ellen Freeman, Washington. I wonder if we could go back to the question of agricultural commodities and developing countries not benefiting from the trade agreements as expressed in your communiqué. Was there any discussion of the next round of trade negotiations in the WTO, the World Trade Organization?
Mr. SANUSI - Can any of you help me to answer that question?
Dr. MOWOE - Well, as our distinguished chairman has said, we did not go into specifics of trade negotiations. We're talking of the principle that would apply in these discussions, so I think the answer to your question is that there was no discussion of such a detail in the meetings that we have had so far.
QUESTION - Peter Willis, Social Development Review. Did you discuss in any way either in general terms the outcomes of the south summit or more particularly the financial recommendations for new south institutions from the south summit?
Mr. SANUSI - No.
QUESTION - Did you discuss the battle going on now between countries like Brazil and drug manufacturers, when you talk about the HIV/AIDS disease here, there is no mention to patent, and I was wondering if there was a division of the G-24.
Mr. SANUSI - Well, I'm afraid of that too we don't discuss things that are political and particularly affect conflicts between countries, and as such we did not discuss the issue you are mentioning, but of course we did discuss the question of the sort of assistance that has been provided in respect to the problem of AIDS all over the world, and we particularly appreciate the initiative which has been taken by the Bretton Woods institutions in assisting countries, especially in Africa, where this is becoming a very big problem.
QUESTION - Jeannie Zurlow with International Securities Outlook. You say in your communiqué that you hope the newly established international capital markets department within the IMF will help developing countries gain better access to the international capital markets, and I'm wondering if you can say more specifically what you hope the new department will provide.
Mr. SANUSI - Yes, of course we talked about that, and we believe that if you have a healthy financial system and therefore the result that generates confidence, it will be possible to assist the capital market developments, especially in the developing countries.
Ms. Mboto FOUDA - Thank you Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you so very much as well as your team for taking the opportunity to speak to those reporters. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
|Public Affairs
|Media Relations


text:
Aviva Premiership: Six players sign fresh deals with Harlequins including Rob Buchanan
Six Harlequins players have committed their future to the London club.
Last Updated: 24/02/14 6:09pm
England prospects Rob Buchanan, Tom Casson, Joe Gray, Charlie Matthews and Dave Ward have all signed contract extensions until the end of the 2015/16 season, while Ben Botica has extended his contract until the end of the 2016/17 season.
Both Buchanan, 22, and Gray, 25, have toured with England, whilst a third hooker Ward, 28, was recently called up to feature for the England Saxons.
Fellow Saxon Matthews, 22, centre Casson, 23, and fly-half/centre Botica, 24, have also impressed Harlequins director of rugby Conor O'Shea on both the European and domestic fronts in the past two seasons.
O'Shea said: "We are obviously delighted that these players have committed to us and will continue their development at Harlequins.
"They are here to win trophies but they also understand that if the group succeeds then they will be in a position to achieve their personal aims.
"As much as we are able to, we want to keep the core of our group together for as long as possible and their commitment really allows us to push on and plan for the future."


text:
Sequim man, former Alaska lawmaker, dies at 91
Bill Ray
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Ray, 91, died Monday only five months after he published a paperback book on golf called The Hacker's Bible.
The book endorsed in golfing prose a lifetime for what many in Alaska recalled Ray: his positive thinking and good nature.
"To become a good golfer, certain techniques must be studied, learned and performed," Ray wrote in The Hacker's Bible.
"Sit first and relax. Take the time to read what this book says about playing golf.
"Then go out and do it: End up satisfied and playing the real game of golf!"
Although born in Montana, he and his family moved to Alaska when he was a teenager.
Following Navy service during World War II, he returned to the future 49th State to work in the family's downtown Juneau bar as well as fish commercially.
Ray went on to open several liquor stores and a charter boat service in Juneau.
Following Alaska statehood, he was appointed to the state Liquor Control Board for five years.
From there, the Democrat served 22 years in the state Legislature before retiring from public office in 1986.
"He was running unopposed," Ray's daughter, Terry Ray Shattuck, told the Juneau Empire.
"People loved him so much because he did a lot for Juneau and for the state, so there was really no competition."
He was a powerful advocate for Juneau as Alaska's capital, the Empire wrote in an obituary this week, as well as an influential state senator whose projects included securing funding for construction of some of the city's major landmarks.
A University of Alaska building in Juneau is named the Bill Ray Center in his honor.
After retirement, he wrote his first book, collecting his Alaskan memoirs in Liquor, Legislation & Laughter: The story of an S.O.B. (Sweet Old Bill).
Ray is survived by his second wife, Nancy Ray of Sequim; his daughter and son-in-law, Terry Ray Shattuck and Roger Shattuck of Alaska; his son and daughter-in-law, Bill C. Ray and Jutta Eming of Germany; and three grandchildren.
No services are planned.
Last modified: September 13. 2013 9:27AM


text:
Submitted by U.S. Sens. Mark Warner & Tim Kaine, and U.S. Reps. Rob Wittman, Scott Rigell, Bobby Scott and Randy Forbes
Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), made history Saturday, laying the keel for the U.S. Navy's 12th Virginia-class submarine. While this is newsworthy in and of itself, what makes the event historic is that this attack submarine, designated SSN 785, is the first in the class to be named after a person: Virginia's own former U.S. Senator John Warner.