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Your Voice - Their Vote. Weigh in Now to Restore IRA Rollover - (March 2, 2010)
"One donor increased his annual gift by 10 times the usual amount, due to the IRA Rollover Provision. Others are just getting used to the possibilities the IRA Rollover provides."
"I have personally seen the Rollover encourage larger gifts on the part of many generous individuals."
"We depend on charitable gifts for approximately two-thirds of our annual revenue …The IRA Rollover has been instrumental in contributing to this needed support every year since it began, and this year resulted in the largest single gift ever to our orchestra."
This week, Congress will vote on whether to reinstate the IRA Charitable Rollover provision. Add your voice to the hundreds of other messages orchestras have sent to Congress demonstrating how the IRA Charitable Rollover provision spurred new and increased giving to orchestras and thousands of other nonprofit organizations.
On December 31, 2009, the IRA Charitable Rollover expired along with a number of other tax provisions, removing an important charitable giving incentive when it is needed most. In this tough economy, every incentive for charitable giving is essential. The IRA Rollover allowed donors to make charitable contributions directly from their retirement accounts, without paying taxes on the withdrawal.
Please CONTACT CONGRESS TODAY to ask for immediate restoration of this important charitable giving incentive. The Senate is scheduled to vote this week on reinstating and extending a number of expired tax provisions, including the IRA Charitable Rollover. Even if you have spoken up before, PLEASE WEIGH IN AGAIN as Congress makes key decisions about the next wave of legislation aimed to boost economic activity.
The League has prepared an easy-to-use advocacy tool for your use, linked below. Please be sure to personalize the sample message with information about your orchestra. Thank you!
Contact Your Members of Congress Today!
The League is a member of the Performing Arts Alliance, a coalition of national performing arts service organizations dedicated to advocating for national policies that recognize, enhance, and foster the contributions the performing arts make to America


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Difference between revisions of "Black hole"
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[[Image:Iu8969hu.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Artist's conception of a binary system consisting of a black hole and a main sequence star. The black hole is drawing matter from the main sequence star via an [[accretion disk]] around it, and some of this matter forms a gas jet.]]
[[Image:Iu8969hu.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Artist's conception of a binary system consisting of a black hole and a main sequence star. The black hole is drawing matter from the main sequence star via an [[accretion disk]] around it, and some of this matter forms a gas jet.]]
'''Black holes''' are theoretical entities which cannot be directly observed and may not even exist. Suggested by the debatable [[theory of relativity]] (see [[Counterexamples to Relativity]]), black holes are postulated to be collapsed objects, usually [[stars]], which have supposedly become so [[dense]] that within a certain radius their [[escape velocity]] exceeds the [[speed of light]]. Thus, they absorb all matter and energy within that radius. Light and matter can enter, but nothing can ever escape.
'''Black holes''' are theoretical entities which cannot be directly observed and may not even exist. Suggested by the debatable [[theory of relativity]] (see [[Counterexamples to Relativity]]), black holes are postulated to be collapsed objects, usually [[stars]], which have supposedly become so [[dense]] that within a certain radius their [[escape velocity]] exceeds the [[speed of light]]. Thus, they absorb all matter and energy within that radius. Light and matter can enter, but nothing can ever escape.
Black holes are increasingly promoted by [[liberal]] publications, such as the science page of the ''[[New York Times]]'', glossy magazines, and the movies the ''Event Horizon'' (1997), ''The Black Hole'' (TV, 2006), and ''Interstellar'' (2014). As with the related theoretical concept of a "[[wormhole]]",<ref>The prediction of the existence of wormholes, and its naming in 1957, predates the prediction and naming (1967) of a black hole.[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/science/14wheeler.html?pagewanted=print]</ref> it is impossible to prove that no black hole exists anywhere, and thus they fail the [[falsifiability]] requirement of science.
Black holes are increasingly promoted by [[liberal]] publications, such as the science page of the ''[[New York Times]]'', glossy magazines, and the movies the ''Event Horizon'' (1997), ''The Black Hole'' (TV, 2006), and ''Interstellar'' (2014). As with the related theoretical concept of a "[[wormhole]]",<ref>The prediction of the existence of wormholes, and its naming in 1957, predates the prediction and naming (1967) of a black hole.[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/science/14wheeler.html?pagewanted=print]</ref> it is impossible to prove that no black hole exists anywhere, and thus they fail the [[falsifiability]] requirement of science.
Revision as of 02:47, 18 February 2016
Black holes are theoretical entities which cannot be directly observed and may not even exist. Suggested by the debatable theory of relativity (see Counterexamples to Relativity), black holes are postulated to be collapsed objects, usually stars, which have supposedly become so dense that within a certain radius their escape velocity exceeds the speed of light. Thus, they absorb all matter and energy within that radius. Light and matter can enter, but nothing can ever escape. Black holes are a sacred cow of atheistic science.
Black holes are increasingly promoted by liberal publications, such as the science page of the New York Times, glossy magazines, and the movies the Event Horizon (1997), The Black Hole (TV, 2006), and Interstellar (2014). As with the related theoretical concept of a "wormhole",[1] it is impossible to prove that no black hole exists anywhere, and thus they fail the falsifiability requirement of science.
Because of quantum-mechanical phenomena involving Hawking Radiation, discussed later in the article, black holes must emit radiation and thus are a logical contradiction at the microscopic level.
Like electrons, protons, and neutrons, black holes have never been directly observed, but, as in the case of subatomic particles, evidence for their existence is scant at best. Even believers in black holes should admit that there are far fewer than predicted by theory. They will cite evidence of observations of radiation from accretion disks, motion of stars near the center of the galaxy, and "gravitational lensing", having all the properties that relativity predicts, around places where there are no visible objects. Like positrons, their existence was predicted (in both cases based on relativity) before there was any actual evidence of their existence.
Black holes are assumed to come into existence from extremely large stars that collapse into a state of high density when they run out of fusion fuel. An object becomes a black hole when it lies entirely inside the Schwarzschild radius (see below) determined by its mass. For most objects, the Schwarzschild radius is very tiny compared with its size (for Earth it is about 1 centimeter), so the object does not lie inside that radius.
In some very advanced and esoteric theories of physics, black holes are sometimes associated with "wormholes",[2], another very catchy name and very catchy subject for science fiction stories.
History of the idea
The theoretical model of what we now call a black hole has evolved considerably over the centuries. The corpuscular theory of light held that light was made up of invisibly small particles, and that these particles moved along ballistic trajectories, like tiny bullets. In this framework, it was believed possible that a distant star could be so massive that light emitted from its surface would be dragged back down again. This theory was first advanced by John Michell, who wrote in 1783, "If the semi-diameter of a sphere of the same density as the Sun in the proportion of five hundred to one, and by supposing light to be attracted by the same force in proportion to its [mass] with other bodies, all light emitted from such a body would be made to return towards it, by its own proper gravity."[3]
Suggesting the same possibility independently, Pierre-Simon Laplace wrote in 1796, "It is therefore possible that the greatest luminous bodies in the universe are on this account invisible."[3]
As the corpuscular theory gave way to the wave theory of light in the early 1800s, the idea of "dark" or "invisible" stars fell from favor. At that time, it was believed that light was a wave which had no mass and therefore was unaffected by gravity.
Research into the photoelectric effect, however, reignited interest in the light-as-particles view, ultimately resulting in the modern notion of wave-particle duality. Under this theory, light could be affected by gravity, so the question of whether light could be emitted from extraordinarily massive bodies was once again open.
General Relativity
As it happened, the question became unavoidable shortly after the publication in 1915 of Einstein's general theory of relativity. Schwarzschild solved the Einstein field equations in a way that describes the geometry of spacetime outside a spherically symmetric, uncharged, non-rotating distribution of mass. Well away from the center of this distribution of mass, the Schwarzschild solution closely matches the Newtonian model of a gravitational field; only close to the mass, where the curvature of spacetime is large, do significant differences between the two models appear. But if the diameter of the mass distribution is taken to be arbitrarily small, then the region of spacetime immediately surrounding the mass appears to take on extremely curious properties, properties so curious that many questioned whether they had any physical interpretation at all. Therefore, Schwarzschild showed that black holes were possible under the theory of general relativity.
However, neither Schwarzschild himself nor Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity, believed that black holes actually existed[4]. Einstein even tried to re-work general relativity to render these singularities impossible. However, Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking proved the first of many Singularity Theorems, which states that singularities must form if certain conditions are present. This demonstrated that, rather than mathematical oddities, singularities are a fairly generic consequence of realistic solutions to relativity: any mass with radius less than its Schwarzschild radius is a black hole. Since then, support for black holes among the scientific community has grown.
Nature of a Black Hole
There are several solutions of the Einstein field equations that are used to model black holes. The simplest of these is the Schwarzchild metric. From this metric, one can calculate the Schwarzschild radius, which defines the boundary (event horizon) of the black hole, to be
- ,
- rs is the Schwarzschild radius;
- G is the gravitational constant;
- M is the mass of the gravitating object;
- c is the speed of light in vacuum.
If the black hole has a nonzero electric charge, it is modeled by the Reissner-Nordström metric. Astronomical objects are generally electrically neutral, since otherwise they would attracted charged particles of opposite sign and quickly become neutral. Therefore the Reissner-Nordström metric is largely of theoretical interest.
A far more realistic situation occurs when the black hole is spinning (i.e. has nonzero angular momentum). Then the Schwarzschild solution is insufficient (as it was for the charged case), and instead one turns to the Kerr metric. Since astrophysical black holes are generically believed to have angular momentum, this is the solution that best describes them. Among the more interesting consequences of the Kerr metric is the phenomenon of frame dragging, in which the rotating black hole literally pulls nearby spacetime along with it.
If one wishes to consider a black hole that is both charged and spinning, one employs the Kerr-Newman metric, which combines the Reissner-Nordström and Kerr metrics. Since the no-hair theorem states that (non-quantum) black holes are unique up to mass, charge, and angular momentum, the Kerr-Newman metric is sufficient to describe any classical black hole.
Time and Distance
Within a certain distance from an arbitrarily small distribution of mass — a distance now known as the Schwarzschild radius — the curvature of spacetime becomes so great that no paths leading away from the mass exist. That is to say, a test particle released inside the Schwarzschild radius will inevitably move in toward the mass, not because the force of gravity is great as in the Newtonian approximation, but because spacetime is curved to such an extent that no other directions exist. A particle within the Schwarzschild radius can no more move further from the central mass than it can go backwards in time. In fact, from the frame of reference of an infalling observer beyond the Schwarzschild radius, all directions that once pointed away from the central mass now point backwards in time. Once inside the Schwarzschild radius, further motion toward the central mass is as inevitable as further motion through time is for any other observer.
For some time after the publication of the Schwarzschild solution, the validity of these results was hotly debated. In the solution's original coordinate frame, some terms in the equations diverged, or became infinite, at the Schwarzschild radius, leading physicists to wonder whether the results of the equations in that region had any valid physical interpretation. One proposed interpretation was that at the Schwarzschild radius, all time for the infalling observer would stop. This led to the use of the term "frozen stars;" it wasn't believed frozen stars were cold, but rather that they were literally frozen in time.
Later refinement of the Schwarzschild solution demonstrated that the apparent infinities were merely an artifact of the coordinate frame chosen, and that an infalling observer in fact can pass beyond the Schwarzchild radius. In fact, the equations predicted he would notice no effects when doing so. But any attempt on the part of that infalling observer to communicate with the outside universe, say by sending a radio message, would be doomed to failure, as the radio waves would traverse geodesics through the severely curved spacetime and end up bent toward the central mass. From this, we can say that nothing that occurs within the Schwarzschild radius can ever affect events outside the Schwarzschild radius. This gives the Schwarzschild radius of a non-rotating black hole its other name: the event horizon.
Inside the Event Horizon
What actually exists inside the event horizon of a black hole is a question physics is unable to answer. Some postulate that within the event horizon exists a point of zero (or nearly zero) volume but infinite energy density, a point sometimes referred to as a gravitational singularity, after the notion of a mathematical singularity (a term referring to a point in an equation at which one would have to solve by dividing by zero, a feat presently impossible in mathematics) in a field equation. Others suspect that infinite energy density is a physical impossibility, and that a black hole contains actual finitely-dense matter compressed into a degenerate form, such as quark-degenerate matter. Since all black holes are surrounded by an event horizon which prevents any information or messages from leaving, all these theories are non-falsifiable; we can never be sure what the interior structure of a black hole is like.
Properties of Black Holes
Black holes described with classical mechanics only have three intrinsic properties by which one differs from another: mass, electric charge, and angular momentum. Mass describes the amount of matter inside the event horizon. Angular momentum refers to whether the black hole is stationary or rotating around an axis. While the singularity of a non-rotating black hole may be an infinitely small point, the singularity of a rotating black hole would be in the shape of an infinitely thin ring. Quantum mechanics, which postulates that information loss cannot occur in a black hole, suggests properties beyond the three suggested by classical physics. Using this description, information must also be emitted by black holes. This radiation, referred to as Hawking Radiation, is thermal radiation that has currently only been described mathematically.
Although radiation from inside the event horizon has not yet been observed, there is much phenomenon that occurs outside the horizon due to the black hole. Matter entering a spinning black hole is first swirled around by the black hole's gravity, causing it to heat up and emit x-rays, which can be used to detect the black hole. In the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies, some of the matter does not fall into the black hole. Instead it is blasted into space in twin jets of hot gas perpendicular to the accretion disc, in a phenomenon known as an Active Galactic Nucleus.
Origins of Black Holes
Stellar-mass black holes are said to form when stars more than ten times the mass of the Sun run out of fuel and die. The process of death occurs when stars that have fused the products of their own fusion into larger and larger elements, up to iron. The star then tries to fuse the iron core that forms as a result, but this does not produce enough energy to hold the outer layers of the star apart against the pull of gravity. When this happens, the iron core at the center of the star implodes in a supernova, and the outer layers of the star are blasted into space in one of the most energetic events in the universe—one star going out in a supernova can give off as much light as an entire galaxy. Not all supernovae result in black holes, but if the mass of the core is large enough, about 1.5-3.0 times the mass of the Sun (this value is termed the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit, and its value is not yet known to great precision), the leftover gravity of the shrinking core stalls the outward rush of the initial blast, and crushes the core into a point of infinite density: a black hole.
Extremely small black holes, with masses of around 1015 grams, have been theorized to have formed in the early universe. Any sufficiently small primordial black hole would be expected to evaporate within the lifetime of the universe, but the rate of evaporation is not currently known with any certainty.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, objects with the characteristics of supermassive black holes, millions or billions of times more massive than the sun, have been detected at the centers of many galaxies, including our own Milky Way. In our galaxy, the hypothesized supermassive black hole is in the constellation Sagittarius, and is known as Sagittarius A* (pronounced "A star"). Based on the extraordinary angular velocity of stars near the galactic center, Sagittarius A* is believed to be on the order of two to three million solar masses. It is unknown how supermassive black holes form, though several models have been proposed. One hypothesis simply begins with a black hole of stellar mass which grows over the lifetime of the galaxy that surrounds it. Another proposal describes supermassive black holes as a natural, in fact nearly unavoidable, consequence of galactic formation. To date, no one theory of supermassive black hole formation is favored over all others.
Physicists trying to understand the theory of black hole formation have once again hit a dead end.[5]
Methods of Observation
Since black holes are literally invisible by traditional means of observation and so cannot be directly observed, their nature is determined from phenomena outside of the Schwarzschild radius. Scientists have located and observed objects theorized to be black holes through indirect means, such as the effect of their gravitational pull on nearby stars. Stars that are near black holes, e.g. by being part of a binary star system that contains one, show wobbles in their orbits similar to the tidal effects of the moon on Earth's oceans. Wobble effects, however, cannot be used to conclusively prove the existence of a black hole. [6][7] Scientists have also observed stellar objects which have density consistent with black holes[8].
While matter and energy, even light, may not escape a black hole, Stephen Hawking has shown that when described by quantum mechanics, they should emit Hawking radiation, which absent of an influx of mass-energy would lead to the evaporation of the black hole in a burst of gamma rays. Scientists are currently working to pick up one of these bursts, or the radiation itself, with any of several land- and space-based telescopes. However, the matter falling into black holes as well as the cosmic microwave background obscures the radiation and makes detection extremely difficult.
Speculative Future Exploration
Scientists have speculated that if a rotating black hole is large enough, a person could pass through the center of the ring-shaped singularity and possibly enter a wormhole. However, it would have to be a very large hole, for if it were not, the hypothetical astronaut would never survive to reach the event horizon due to tidal forces.
Matter coming close to the event horizon of a small black hole undergoes a process called spaghettification, a term coined by Stephen Hawking in his book A Brief History of Time to describe extraordinarily strong tidal forces. Because the mass at the center of the black hole is so dense, the gravitational pull on the near end of an object is much greater than the pull on the object's far end. This causes the object to be stretched out in a way resembling a piece of spaghetti, and generally torn in two.
White Holes
Because the general relativity equations are symmetric with respect to time, one can take a negative square root instead of positive to yield an equation describing a hypothetical object which expels, rather than attracts, matter and energy.[9] As this is the exact opposite of a black hole, it is called a white hole.
However, there is no evidence white holes actually exist. If they generate new matter and energy, this would violate the Law of the conservation of mass. Therefore, some scientists have proposed that matter falling into black holes goes through a wormhole to emerge at a white hole. While such wormholes are allowed by general relativity, they would be extremely unstable[10], and there is no evidence that they exist.
Scientists, who have been extremely eager to promote the idea of black hole existence, have shown a strong aversion to the white hole theory, even though, like a white hole, a black hole has never been observed directly. This may reflect an anti-creation bias on the part of scientists who are uncomfortable with the idea that matter and energy can be created outside of what scientific theories dictate should happen.
Dr. Russell Humphreys used a white hole in his model of the universe during Creation week to allow millions of years to pass in outer space while only three days passed on Earth.
In Popular Culture
Black holes have been a device in science fiction ever since their discovery. Many sci-fi books, movies, and television shows use black holes as a method of travel (see the Potential Future Exploration section above) or as a threat to a space-going vessel. In at least one season of the show Star Trek: the Next Generation by Gene Roddenberry, artificially created miniature black holes are used as power sources for spaceships and natural ones as incubators for the young of an alien race. Neither of these uses has much of a basis in reality, of course.
Contrary to popular myth, a black hole is not a cosmic vacuum cleaner. In other words, a one-solar-mass black hole is no better than any other one-solar-mass object (such as, for example, the Sun) at "sucking in" distant objects. However, a one-solar-mass black hole has the same amount of matter as any other one-solar-mass object but compressed into a much smaller space, making it impossible to move fast enough to leave a black hole once there. If a spaceship could land on a black hole, it would never be able to take off again.
The term "black hole" is also used as a metaphor for a place that it is hard to get out of, generally containing a high concentration of something unpleasant. Ex: "The inner city is a black hole of crime and drug use." The "Black Hole of Calcutta" long predates the celestial use of the term; it was a horrible underground prison in Calcutta, India.
- ↑ The prediction of the existence of wormholes, and its naming in 1957, predates the prediction and naming (1967) of a black hole.[1]
- ↑ The prediction of the existence of wormholes, and its naming in 1957, predates the prediction and naming (1967) of a black hole.[2]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200911/physicshistory.cfm
- ↑ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/blackholes/lesson/whatisit/history.html
- ↑ http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/new-research-mathematically-proves-quantum-effects-stop-formation-black-holes/
- ↑ http://library.thinkquest.org/C007571/english/advance/english.htm
- ↑ Black Holes by Heather Cooper and Nigel Henbest (book)
- ↑ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/blackholes/lesson/whatisit/history.html
- ↑ http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html#q10
- ↑ http://casa.colorado.edu/~ajsh/schww.html

subset: commoncrawl


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Street N203Jebel Ali Free Zone (North)PO Box 17485
Street N203
Jebel Ali Free Zone (North)
PO Box 17485
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Kaeser Full Service ensures maximum reliability, availability, efficiency and value retention throughout a compressed air system's entire service life.
Learn about our development from a machine shop to one of the world's most successful manufacturers of compressed air systems.
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How to make Colombian Empanadas – directions
December 29, 2005 in Colombian Food, cooking, deep fry, Food Porn, How-2, latino, pork, recipe, vegetable
Colombian empanadas, filled with a divine pork stuffing, deep fried, and served immediately with pique (onions, cilantro, garlic, vinegar) and limes.
In this previous post you will see a Flickr Flash slideshow on how Colombian empanadas are made!
The directions you see in this post can also be sourced by clicking on these images, the images in the flash show, and also by going to the flickr page for that step.
(Please remember that these directions and all photos used are copyrighted and only for use with expressed permission by myself.)
Empanada Step 1 – Stock: Step 1
The meat we use here is a pork butt. Cut it up and put in stock pot. Remove the skin and fat to be used for chicharrones.
Empanada Step 2 – Stock: Step 2
Garlic and onions are diced and added to the stock pot.
Empanada Step 3 – Stock: Step 3
Add onions, cominos (cumin), potatoes, an egg, and garlic to the pork in the stock pot.
Empanada Step 4 – Stock: Step 4
Simmer, add cilantro towards the middle of the simmer. Continue until a nice stock is made.
Empanada Step 5 – Stock: Step 5
Remove pork from boiling stock and cool.
Empanada Step 6 – Filling: Step 1
Boiled pork is minced. Set aside.
Empanada Step 7 – Filling: Step 2
Boiled potatoes and egg are removed and allowed to cool until you can work with them.
Empanada Step 8 – Filling: Step 3
Chop potatoes and egg into small dice. Set Aside.
Empanada Step 9 – Filling: Step 4 – Hogao: Step 1
This delicious spread and starter for many Colombian foods is made from tomatoes, onions, garlic, and lots of cilantro. This will be part of the filling.
Empanada Step 10 – Filling: Step 5 – Hogao: Step 2
Chop the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and cilantro.
Empanada Step 11 – Filling: Step 6 – Hogao: Step 3
Saute these ingredients in a small amount of olive oil until they are soft and melding together. Set aside.
Empanada Step 12 – Filling: Step 8
Mix together: diced egg, diced potatoes, minced pork, and hogao. Set aside. (Can be frozen)
Empanada Step 13 – Masa Harina: Step 1
Masa Harina (very finely milled corn meal, do not try to use the usual meal in the store, go to a latino market and tell them what you are making), salt, agua de panela (colombian brown sugar chunks – shown in the bottom middle – is dissolved in water), and some of the well degreased stock from the earlier stock pot are combined while the stock is very hot (just cool enough to handle – that would depend on how tough your hands are).
Empanada Step 14 – Masa Harina: Step 2
The dough comes together in a tidy ball, not too sticky and not too dry.
Empanada Step 15 – Formation overview
A quick overview of the size and shape of the wrapping of the filling.
Empanada Step 16 – Formation: Step 1: Wrap process
Using some plastic wrap (or slightly wet hands for the expert), begin to gently bring the masa over the filling.
Empanada Step 17 – Formation: Step 2: Wrap process
Continuing with the plastic wrap, bring edges towards each other. Do not do this in such a way that the masa is made thinner or has holes. You want the masa to be the same thickness all over.
Empanada Step 18 – Formation: Step 3: Wrap process
Very gently pinch the edges together, without thinning the edges much.
Empanada Step 19 – Formation: Step 4: Wrap process
Continuing with a gentle hand, gently seal the edges so that there are no openings or creases. If this is not done well, the filling will come out and a bad empanada results.These are ready to be deep fried in medium high heat. Fry until golden brown. See picture at end of this post. The following are directions to make the "salsa" that we Colombians put on/in our empanadas.
Empanada Step 20 – Pique: Step 1
Chop green onions and garlic.
Empanada Step 21 – Pique: Step 2
Add chopped cilantro, cumin, and salt to the onion, garlic mix, add vinegar, set aside till serving empanadas.
Empanada Step 22 – Pique: Step 3
Serve on your empanadas!
Empanada Step 23 – The Hard Part – Not eating all of them before your guests!
Serve these hot and right away. These are meant to be made, fried, and eaten the same day. Usually, a helper/partner is very useful.
Related Posts:
- How-2 guide on how to make Platanos (fried plantains or tostones)
- Yucas Fritas (Fried Yucas or Cassava Root) Recipe and How 2 photos
- Empanadas – The Recipe
- Flash Flickr Movie of How to make Colombian Empanadas
- Chicharron – Deep fried pork belly – How To
- How to make Colombian Empanadas – directions
- Latest full recipe for Colombian Bunuelos (2006 post)
- Last year's Christmas Bunuelo Decadence
- A Colombian breakfast How-2 guide
- Colombian Frescos
- Lechona preparation


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Central Maine Power Co. is asking state regulators to approve steps that would protect CMP from the financial problems facing its parent company in Spain, Iberdrola SA, whose credit rating has been reduced to near- junk bond status by a key agency.
It is unclear how ratepayers might be affected by the situation, but a decline in creditworthiness has the potential to increase business costs for CMP, which is involved in a $1 billion project to improve its transmission line system.
CMP, the state's largest utility, is asking the Maine Public Utilities Commission for permission to increase the ratio it maintains between equity, the money it takes in from investors, and debt, the money that the company borrows for major projects and the like.
The two-part goal is to make it harder for Iberdrola to take cash out of CMP to pay dividends, and to not get whacked by credit rating agencies that recently downgraded the creditworthiness of Iberdrola.
The request was made to the PUC in late October, and the case is ongoing. But it took on greater significance late last month, when Standard & Poor's Rating Services dropped its rating of Iberdrola to a couple notches above "junk" status. The agency noted that Iberdrola gets half its revenue from Spain, which is in a deep recession. It said those conditions threaten the corporation's profitability.
At the same time, Standard & Poor's noted that CMP, and two other Iberdrola subsidiaries in New York, were taking steps to better protect their assets from being transferred to the parent company, a defensive practice called ring fencing. Based on these efforts, Standard & Poor's removed CMP from its "CreditWatch with negative implications."
The agency warned, however, that it could lower CMP's credit rating, "if the company is unable to strengthen the current ring-fencing provision."
It's not clear right now how all this could affect customers. The state's Office of Public Advocate and an organization that represents factories and large electricity users in Maine, the Industrial Energy Consumer Group, have intervened in the case seeking answers.
"Our concern is whatever they need to do doesn't result in higher rates," said Drew Landry, a lawyer representing the trade group.
Through Iberdrola's acquisition of New York-based Energy East Corp., CMP became part of Iberdrola in 2008. Documents and data requests filed in the case by Landry's group and the Public Advocate show that, so far, Iberdrola has contributed roughly $100 million to CMP and nearly $9 million to another local subsidary, Maine Natural Gas. Neither local company has paid a dividend to the parent corporation, according to responses in the case from Iberdrola, but without the enhanced ring-fencing measure, it could withdraw as much as $125 million in equity from CMP.
CMP had operating revenue last year of more than $602 million, according to an annual report to the PUC.
As part of the initial approval four years ago of the CMP-Iberdrola merger in Maine, state regulators signed off on a minimun equity ratio of 40 percent. In its filing on to the PUC on October 30, CMP is asking to boost the equity level to 47 percent.
In asking the PUC for approval, CMP and Maine Natural Gas wrote in the filing that this change would not only enhance the the ratings separation between the regulated utilities and Iberdrola, "but it will also benefit ratepayers by strenghtening a financial protection initially put into place to protect ratepayers."
CMP currently is bound by an alternative rate plan approved by the PUC that links rates to service quality and other standards. But Richard Davies, the state's Public Advocate, said that if CMP's credit rating is cut, it could raise borrowing costs.
That point is being stressed by CMP. Anything that makes it harder for the utility to borrow money could have an impact on customers and capital improvements over time, the company says. In the past two years, it has invested $1 billion in equipment and transmission upgrades, including the ongoing Maine Power Reliability Project.
"The effect would be that would we can't make the investments we're making in the system," said John Carroll, a CMP spokesman.
The PUC has yet to schedule deliberations in the case.
In Europe, Iberdrola has been taking steps to cut debt and strengthen its balance sheet, including cutting jobs and selling non-core assets. Monday, it announced that it was selling seven onshore wind farms in Germany.
The corporation's stock price has fallen sharply in the past year, hovering recently at $3.80 a share.
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Photos: Jill Biden called on Bangor voters to support Sara Gideon, support Democrats in election
Varsity Maine
Boys soccer: Miles Lambke contributes to Skowhegan boys soccer growth
Election 2020
Incumbent Farrin faces challenger Swain in Skowhegan-area Senate District 3
Trump trade policy: 4 years of high drama with limited results
Nation & World
NXIVM guru gets 120 years in prison in sex-slaves case


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It's really hot today. It is one of those days of May in which summer seems to have pushed spring away. We are waiting for a key. After a few minutes, a keeper arrives and opens a little gate: we walk down a few steps and, slowly, we pass through thousands of years of history. You will never be able to say that you know everything about Rome: it will always surprise you, there will be everytime something to discover, that you didn't know before. While over our heads the traffic is flowing, we attend to a little miracle of urban archaeology: the early medieval houses in the Forum of Nerva are waiting for us, even if they are neglected every day by the rest of the world. But we must be very quick, because this area is not open to the public, we are not allowed much time, and it is very hot… Only twenty minutes, maybe less, then we must leave the archaeological site. Prof. Hodges and Prof. Mitchell are trying to use every single moment, in order to understand the importance of those buildings, but the keeper is waiting for them at the top of the stairs. He gently tells them off with his eyes: they should be a little bit faster. Some hours before, at S. Maria Antiqua, the charm of the place was also ruined by the same problem: we had to complete our visit in only fifteen minutes.
This is just a brief summary of what happened during the second day of a Masterclass organised by The American University of Rome, in partnership with the "Istituto Italiano di Studi Germanici" and "Zètema", and with the financial support of "Fondazione Roma": "Turning Charlemagne into an Asset for Rome". The purpose of this course was to show to a group of professionals and students how to define, conceptualize and market a "cultural" asset. The Masterclass program had been well designed: during the first and the second day there were lectures, led by some important professors and introduced by Prof. Richard Hodges, in order to discuss which relationship there was between Charlemagne and Rome and which were the most important events and places of the Carolingian Rome (we were able to see some of them: S. Maria Antiqua, SS. Quattro Coronati, the Forum of Nerva, Crypta Balbi Museum); the main subject of the remaining days was "marketing", with lectures, introduced by Prof. Peter Gould, useful to understand what a "cultural asset" is, and how to define and conceptualize it. Then, we were ready to achieve the real aim of the Masterclass: making a touristic project to value the Carolingian Rome. We suggested creating some urban itineraries, in order to help tourists to discover and visit the most important carolingian monuments and places around the city. What is really fascinating about this project it's the fact that we already have these itineraries, made in the VIII and IX Century: the Einsiedeln Itinerary. We could suggest to the modern tourists to follow the itineraries of the medieval pilgrims. Through modern technologies (the internet, web sites, an App, etc.) we could easily reach a wide number of people, and they could discover some beautiful places to visit, in addition to St. Peter's or the Colosseum. But are tourists really interested in Medieval Rome? On the last day of the course, we interviewed around a hundred tourists in the centre of Rome, and the result was astonishing: 85% of them wanted to know more about Medieval Rome and the Charlemagne's Renaissance. The outcome of our work was presented to the audience during the conference "Lost renaissance? The legacy of Charlemagne in Rome and its future", held at the "Istituto di Studi Germanici" on the last day of the Masterclass.
I graduated in Italy, and this international Masterclass showed to me how we can think at Archaeology in a more modern and engaging way, compared to that I am used to. But for all of us, the participants, there was another important aspect, which didn't leave us indifferent. We were witnesses of a clash between two different worlds: on one side Prof. Richard Hodges, who can't understand the reason why, in Italy, we aren't able to value our incredible cultural heritage; on the other, the bureaucracy of the "Soprintendenze", unable to open up to the contemporary world. Why can't Italy value his cultural heritage? All the answers are in the anecdote I recounted at the beginning of the post: it isn't understood yet that it's a useless effort "protecting" monuments or archaeological sites without "sharing" them. If I can't discover a monument, if I can't visit and "touch" it, I will struggle to consider it something of mine, something I should preserve and defend. "Communicating" and "sharing". These are characteristics which give value to every story, and should be important for disciplines like Archaeology and History: otherwise, monuments will remain just a cultural and moral ruin.
Turning Charlemagne into an Asset for Rome Masterclass (Conference Video)


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Call (704) 342-4423 or email [email protected]
Why buy tickets?"Checkers tickets are a great family outing. My husband bought our first tickets and now we are hooked."
- Stephany Kinane
"The best in-game experience I have had going to a sporting event, and I have been to many, many games as my wife is a former NBA cheerleader for The Chicago Bulls. My two boys aged 5 and 13 were engaged from start to finish and were asking when we can go to another game as we were leaving the arena."
- Paul Andrews
"Being a season ticket holder has given me and my family the opportunity to be a part of giving something back and making a difference in someone's life as well as enjoying much needed time with my wife, family, fellow hockey fans, players and staff. Where else can you find such a meaningful experience, as affordable?"
- Paul Dufford


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Selena Gomez Aviator Sunglasses
Selena Gomez arrived in LA in style in these oversized aviators.
Selena Gomez Duffle Bag
Selena Gomez lugged around her things in this stylish navy blue Louis Vuitton duffle.
Brand: Louis Vuitton
Brand: Louis Vuitton
Selena Gomez Solid Scarf
Selena Gomez's travel style was laid back, low-key, and cozy with this tan frayed scarf.
Browse: Selena Gomez | Aviator Sunglasses | Duffle Bag | Solid Scarf
Show Selena Gomez Looks With:
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Welded 'D' rings manufactured in 5mm diameter stainless steel wire to AISI304 with an inside diameter of 50mm.
Supplied untested. Designed primarily for equine or marine environments.
OPAS have a ring or shape for every application on land, at sea or... well anywhere! The range is extensive, both in size, strength, finish and design. If you have a specific ring or requirement and would appreciate some impartial professional advice, then please contact us; our technical department is ready to help.


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Expatriate Tax Compliance - Client Portfolio Lead - Manchester
- Recruiter
- Location
- Greater Manchester
- Salary
- Competitive
- Posted
- 24 Jul 2019
- Closing date
- 24 Aug 2019
- Industry
- Finance & accounting
- Job function
- Finance
- Job level
- Management
- Hours
- Full time
- Contract
- Permanent
- Listing type
- Job vacancy
We help organisations and the people who run them answer the big business questions. How should we raise finance? Where should we be based? How should we reward our people? With some 3,300 experts whose expertise covers every conceivable area of taxation, we're one of the UK's leading tax practices.
Not the role for you?
Did you know PwC offer flexible contract arrangements as well as contingent work ( ie temporary or day rate contracting)?
The skills we look for in future employees
All our people need to demonstrate the skills and behaviours that support us in delivering our business strategy. This is important to the work we do for our business, and our clients. These skills and behaviours make up our global leadership framework, 'The PwC Professional' and are made up of five core attributes; whole leadership, technical capabilities, business acumen, global acumen and relationships.
Learn more here www.pwc.com/uk/careers/experienced/apply
We work in a changing world which offers great opportunities for people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We seek to attract and employ the best people from the widest talent pool, as well as those who reflect the diverse nature of our society. And we aim to encourage a culture where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths. Creating value through diversity is what makes us strong as a business and as an organisation with an increasingly agile workforce, we're open to flexible working arrangements where appropriate.
Learn more here www.pwc.com/uk/diversity
Similar jobs


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Mayor's Office
Mayor Chris Beutler said new technologies now being tested on City streets could reduce energy use, expand the use of renewable energy and save the City money. The City of Lincoln and the Lincoln Electric System (LES) are partnering to test streetlights using light-emitting diode (LED) technology. The City also is partnering with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to install wind and solar hybrid power systems on several traffic intersections.
"Each year, the City of Lincoln spends almost a million dollars on its street lights and $72,000 on its traffic signals and signs, just on energy costs," Beutler said. "Those costs are funded entirely out of the City's general fund, so any savings that can be realized through lowering the energy needs is a direct benefit to the taxpayer."
The City's rehabilitation work on Holdrege Street required that street lighting be relocated, so LES took the opportunity to test the LED lighting from 33rd to 46th streets. Steve Young, LES street light and customer service design supervisor, said crews installed 22 LED lights with a life expectancy of about 50,000 hours or more than 12 years. They replaced 29 high pressure sodium vapor lights with a life expectancy of about six years.
"LED lighting provides more uniform lighting with better color rendition," Young said. "This test will give us important performance data to help us with our future decisions regarding street lighting."
Young said LED lights meet City standards for arterial streets, but LED technology has not been developed to provide illumination levels required for major streets. He said existing high pressure sodium vapor lights at Dairy Store Drive off Holdrege will remain since the poles were not in conflict with the street project, and the lights provide a higher illumination level for the street and intersection.
The City's partnership with UNL is exploring whether the traffic infrastructure could be used to produce energy. A wind generator was installed on traffic signals at 84th Street and Highway 2 in December, and solar panels will be added this spring.
The project is funded with a three-year grant of nearly $1 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Eventually, the team hopes to install wind generators and solar panels at four locations and collect data on energy use and production. Researchers say the goal is for the installations to produce more energy than the traffic infrastructure consumes.
Beutler said both the projects show great promise and are the first steps toward identifying where the City can save the most money through technology. "These are great examples of putting proven energy saving technology to work for Lincoln's taxpayers," he said. "They also help to further Lincoln's growing reputation as the 'green capital city of the Great Plains.'"


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Hello Louellemariepb851, greetings and welcome to the Narutopedia! Thanks for your edit to the File:Rt.png page.
We do hope that you will stay for a long time. Enjoy your stay as we work to become the best Naruto info site out there. BELIEVE IT!
If you're looking for something to do why not look over the Forums or more specifically Narutopedia Collaboration for a list of projects we're working on. And the Community portal has a lot of recent discussions and places to go listed on it.
Please leave a message on my talk page if I can help with anything! -- Omnibender (Talk) 05:53, 27 December 2012
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Louellemariepb851, the image Hinata Naruto.png which you uploaded has been tagged for deletion. Please see the image page for deletion notes. We suggest you look over our image policy and ask that you make an attempt to fix the issues you are causing. ~ UltimateSupreme 05:59, December 27, 2012 (UTC)


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COVID19 - Deliveries are guaranteed - Art can be discovered and bought online too
Online only
The artist Labarussias settled in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) after a long stay in Italy. She taught the language of Dante and carried on with the art she had developed after training at the local Art-en-Ciel studio. To fulfil her artistic quest, Labarussias followed only one rule: that of putting aside the work from the day before and beginning again, always moving forward. Create and recreate, this is her credence. The artist from La Rochelle rejects any certainty. Her tireless exploration of the medium is similar to a sensory adventure.…
All artworks presented by Carré d'artistes are unique, signed by the artist and come with a certificate of authenticity.


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Like to the rowling of an eye,
Or like a starre shott from the skye,
Or like a hand upon a clock,
Or like a wave upon a rock,
Or like a winde, or like a flame,
Or like false newes which people frame,
Even such is man, of equall stay,
Whose very growth leades to decay.
The eye is turn'd, the starre down bendeth
The hand doth steale, the wave descendeth,
The winde is spent, the flame unfir'd,
The newes disprov'd, man's life expir'd.
Like to an eye which sleepe doth chayne,
Or like a starre whose fall we fayne,
Or like the shade on Ahaz watch,
Or like a wave which gulfes doe snatch
Or like a winde or flame that's past,
Or smother'd newes confirm'd at last;
Even so man's life, pawn'd in the grave,
Wayts for a riseing it must have.
The eye still sees, the starre still blazeth,
The shade goes back, the wave escapeth,
The winde is turn'd, the flame reviv'd,
The newes renew'd, and man new liv'd.
Poems are below...
Provide your analysis, explanation, meaning, interpretation, and comments on the poem Of Death and Resurrection here.
Commenting turned off, sorry.


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Resuters/James Lawler Duggan
A Truth Journal: Hillary Clinton: Favorite Chew Toy of Press, Political Enemies? Deleted Emails: Asked, Answered, FBI Investigated: From Denny: The FBI Director said that only three out of 30,000 deleted emails were classified, devoid of the appropriate markings labeling them as classified. Later that was revised to 100 emails not properly labeled as classified. After she was out of office those emails were later classified. Well, if she did not know they were going to be classified in the future how was she responsible for them before their classification?
As Clinton stated: If you have worked in the federal government and an email is classified it usually has a huge warning heading at the top of the email to let the recipient know the obvious. None of these emails mentioned by the FBI Director contained such a warning heading about classification.
The FBI Director, a staunch Republican, who you know received tremendous pressure from his party to put Hillary in jail, had to admit she did nothing criminally wrong. Well, at least he had the good character to put the Truth where it belonged. Did he think her unwise? Sure. She took responsibility for using two servers in order to preserve her family's privacy both from the press and political enemies hell bent on crucifying her. She gets it now.
Of course, the irony here is that her server was never hacked or compromised by a foreign state like Russia or China. Guess who was? ...
Get Involved: if you don't have a seat at the table you are probably on the menu - Senator Elizabeth Warren
Visit Denny Lyon Gifts @ CafePress.com - see what's new! And a special thanks to those of you supporting this effort! You rock! Currently, proceeds go to Greater BR Food Bank, feeding many military families and veterans, and St. Jude's Children's Hospital too for the great work they have done for children and their families on the Gulf Coast.
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The problem for Ozark County during the Civil War was Bushwhackers. This problem precipitated from Northern Arkansas which harbored these guerillas in the area of today's Baxter, Fulton, and Marion counties. In the heated moment, age, sex, and loyalties quickly held one's ultimate providence of living or departing for fairer shores across death's chilly waters. May we all find solace in the knowledge that our days are weighed in our Father's hand, and we have stood for what is noble, just, and righteous.
FEBRUARY 6-8, 1865. - Operations in Ozark County, Mo.
Report of Capt. Moses L. Alsup, Forty-sixth Missouri Infantry.
Douglas County, Mo., February 12, 1865.GENERAL: I have the honor to state to you, general, that on the morning of the 6th I started a detachment consisting of twenty-three men under command of Lieutenant Alsup. On the night of the 7th he camped at the residence of James Martin, in Ozark County, Mo. On the 7th he fell in with two of Tracy's and one of Elliott's guerrillas, who were immediately placed hors de combat. We found in their possession one Savage revolver, one single-barrel shotgun. They all had bountiful supplies of subsistence, which we effectually destroyed. Our pickets were fired on the same night, but with no effect. On our return on the 8th we were fired on from the brush by one man. Owing to that region being infested by straggling bands of guerrillas I shall start another scout immediately. Lieutenant Alsup reports finding the remains of three citizens of Ozark County, captured in November by guerrillas and supposed to have been murdered by them. Their names were James Martin, sr., John Allcorn, and John Coil, all good loyal men and too old for the service.
I have the honor to subscribe myself, very respectfully, yours,
MOSES L. ALSUP,Capt., Comdg. Company H, Forty-sixth Regt. Missouri Infty. Vols.
Brig. Gen. J. B. SANBORN,
Commanding District of Southwest Missouri.
Works Cited:
Burch, Milton. "Operations in Ozark County, Mo." The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies 48.60 (12 Feb 1865): 100. Making of America. Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY. 30 Nov. 2010 http://digital.library.cornell.edu/m/moa.


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Being able to retire rich, or at least comfortable, is the goal of almost any investor. However, that's much easier said than done. In a recent Wells Fargo survey, respondents between the ages of 50 and 59 said that they had, on average, about $29,000 saved up. With pensions pretty much gone, and Social Security targeted for cuts in the future, it's hard to count on anyone but yourself. But $29,000 isn't going to cut it for most people, so you have to get involved in the stock market to grow that nest egg. Getting in the game is the easy part; choosing the right stocks is the hard part.
Making prudent decisions
Generally speaking, I look for four traits in a retirement stock:
- Valuation: Investors of all ages want to make sure they're not overpaying for a stock, but this matters even more in retirement. Retirees don't have the long time horizon that younger investors have, so it's essential to make sure you don't overpay in the short term.
- Dividends: Most retirees need a combination of both growth and income, as they'll be depending more and more on their portfolios to help with everyday expenses. Companies that pay dividends not only offer immediate income, but they've also proved to outperform non-paying dividend companies over long periods of time.
- Growth: Investors love dividends, but we all want to see our stocks rise over time. Growth can be as big a part of your portfolio as a steady dividend. It's important to note that you don't need a high-flying stock that's going to shoot to the moon; a company that can grow and outperform the market is hard enough to find, so steady growth is highly covetable.
- Low volatility: Retirees want to invest in great growth stocks just as much as anyone else does, but they also want to be able to rest well knowing that their portfolio won't be taking them on a roller-coaster ride. Most retirees would rather own a sturdy company that lets them sleep at night than a company that whips up and down with the gyrations of the market.
Although some companies are definitely more geared toward retirees, which companies you choose to invest in will be dictated largely by what you already have in your portfolio. Small, mid-, and large caps can all play a role in your investing strategy, so I've chosen to evaluate all varieties of stocks in this regular series.
So how does Southern Copper stack up?
To check out the valuation of Southern Copper
Southern Copper's dividend is 6.48%. That's tremendous; not only does Southern Copper pay a dividend, but it pays more than the average company in the S&P 500.
Next, we want to ensure that Southern Copper's stock has the ability to climb over the next five, 10, or 20 years. A company that's growing its net income has the best possible chance to see its share price rise over time. Of course, we can't predict the future, but we can look back to get an idea of how the company has performed in the past to try to ensure future earnings growth. Over the past five years, Southern Copper has grown its net income by 1.6% annually. Fortunately, it's has been able to grow its earnings over the past five years, and that's pretty significant considering all of the recent market turmoil. Of course, that doesn't mean growth will continue, but it's a great sign that the company can prosper in the face of difficulty.
One of the best gauges of volatility is beta, which measures the impact that the movement of the stock market will have on a particular stock. For instance, a beta of 1.0 signifies that Southern Copper will move in tandem with the market, a beta of 2.0 means it will move up twice as much as the market, and so on. In this case, Southern Copper has a beta of 1.79, which is pretty high. Generally speaking, I like to see a beta below 1.2 for retirees.
Let's look at the competition
We've taken a look at Southern Copper, and maybe you think it's passed all the tests, or maybe you just don't feel comfortable with the results. Whatever the case, it's beneficial to see how a company stacks up in its industry, because it's just as important to understand a company's competitors as it is to understand that particular company. Here are Southern Copper's stats when compared with three of its closest competitors.
Current P/E
Dividend Yield
5-Year Net Income CAGR
1-Year Beta
|Southern Copper
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
Taseko Mines
Teck Resources
Source: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.
Each company has traits to like and traits that leave something to be desired. Either way, it's beneficial to look at the industry picture and not just Southern Copper in isolation.
Of course, I can't decide for you whether this is the best stock for retirement, but it has passed three of the four tests, which is pretty impressive. That doesn't necessarily mean this stock is a slam-dunk, but it has shown its ability to reward shareholders, and that means it could be a candidate for your portfolio.
Interested in adding any of the companies above to your watchlist? Get the latest commentary and analysis:
- Add SCCO to My Watchlist.
- Add FCX to My Watchlist.
- Add TGB to My Watchlist.
- Add TCK to My Watchlist.
Worried about which stocks you should chuck from your portfolio and which ones should stay? Read " Toss These 3 Stocks Out With the Trash ."


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The purchase of LACE's securities is subject to risks, which are described in our Offering Circular. This is not an offer to sell you our securities and we are not soliciting you to buy our securities. We will offer and sell our securities only in states where authorized. The offering is made solely by the Offering Circular.
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Lucky you – living on the coast in one of America's most beautiful cities. And when it comes to styling your backyard oasis, it is… Continue Reading.


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WANdisco, the makers of Enterprise Subversion is investing in the Subversion open source project by being the first company to make certified Subversion 1.6.15 binaries available for free download. WANdisco's certified Subversion binaries provide what is billed as a "fully tested" version of Subversion software versioning and revision control system based on the most recent stable release, including the latest fixes.
For those new to the company, WANdisco describes itself as a provider of infrastructure software for replication, scalability, and high availability. Hyrum Wright, WANdisco's director of open source and release manager for the Subversion project has urged users to upgrade by downloading the latest release of these certified Subversion binaries — as the 1.6.15 release continues the efforts to enhance the functionality and improve the stability of the 1.6 release series.
The latest release of WANdisco's certified Subversion binaries reportedly includes several key enhancements as well as bug fixes. One major benefit for users downloading 1.6.15 binaries is a fix for server-side crashes when using SVNParentPath and a memory leak invoked by running svn blame –g. The former affects only http-based SVN server installations, while the latter affects all SVN server installations.
WANdisco asserts that in keeping with all its certified Subversion binaries releases, these 1.6.15 binaries aren't polluted with any other software that users don't really need or want.
"WANdisco's pure Subversion binaries are a mere 6Mb versus the massive 80Mb packages of some vendors. Users aren't forced down the path of using proprietary defect trackers or any other software that they're not currently using with Subversion. WANdisco's certified Subversion binaries can be used with any other open source or closed source software that works with Subversion. Customers that combine a WANdisco Subversion support contract with WANdisco's certified Subversion binaries have the added benefit of automated access to the latest fixes and updates," says the company.
Profits from WANdisco's Subversion support contracts are being used to hire additional Subversion "committers" and support the activities of the Subversion community. WANdisco's goal is to ensure that Subversion continues to provide the features that its users want and need and that the Subversion community has the resources to support these efforts.


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(written from a Production point of view)
Svengali Visual Effects, or Svengali FX, is a Los Angeles-based visual effects production company which worked on additional visual effects shots for 2009's Star Trek. Founded in April 2002, Svengali FX specializes in environment creation for feature film production, including matte painting, compositing, animation, and 2D and 3D environments. Svengali is co-owned by Rocco Gioffre and Jamie Venable, both of whom worked on Star Trek.
In addition to Star Trek, Svengali has provided visual effects for such films as Garden State (2004), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Apocalypto (2006), Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), I Am Legend (2007), The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008), and Watchmen (2009). They have also done matte paintings for films such as Van Helsing (2004), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), and Garfield (2004).
Star Trek (2009) crew
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Visual Effects Executive Producer:
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Matte Artists:
- Digital Compositors:
- Lead CG Artist:
- CG Modelor:
- Roto Artists:
- Unconfirmed
- Maciek Sokalski – Digital Compositor
External links
- Svengali-FX.com – official site
- Svengali Visual Effects at the Internet Movie Database


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Xbox One Will Boast Extensive Entertainment Options
As the looming console war between Sony and Microsoft begins to heat up, the Xbox One teams stressed the added value of their product being an "all-in-one entertainment solution." David Rabinowitz reports from the E3 conference.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
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The Obama administration declared the ultra-violent street gang MS-13 to be an international criminal group on Thursday, an unprecedented crackdown targeting the finances of the sprawling U.S. and Central American gang infamous for hacking and stabbing victims with machetes.
The Treasury Department formally designated MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal organization. The aim is to freeze it out of the U.S. financial system and seize what are estimated to be millions of dollars in criminal profits from drug and human smuggling and other crimes committed in this country.
The gang was founded by immigrants fleeing El Salvador�s civil war more than two decades ago. Its founders took lessons learned from that brutal conflict to the streets of Los Angeles and built a reputation as one of the most ruthless and sophisticated street gangs, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jason Shatarsky.
With as many as 10,000 members in 46 states, the gang has expanded far beyond its initial roots. Members are accused of major crimes including murder, kidnapping, prostitution, drug smuggling and human trafficking.
The group established itself in Los Angeles before spreading across the U.S., said Shatarsky, an MS-13 expert assigned to ICE�s national gang unit. The group�s violence � using a machete to hack a victim to death or shooting someone in the head in broad daylight, for instance � surprised authorities and even rival gangs.
�They saw a level of violence that hadn�t been seen before,� Shatarsky said, adding that as the gang has expanded it has also become more sophisticated than many rivals.
The gang, which is allied with several of Mexico�s warring drug cartels, has a strong presence in Southern California, Washington and Northern Virginia, all areas with substantial Salvadoran populations. Shatarsky said its members target residents and business owners for extortion, among other crimes. The gang is also active throughout Central America and in parts of Mexico. Authorities in Europe have reported evidence of MS-13 expanding operations there.
Among the most high-profile killings attributed to MS-13 in Virginia was the 2003 slaying of a pregnant teenager who had become an informant. Brenda Paz, 17, was stabbed to death and her body was left along the banks of the Shenandoah River.


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MediaMonkey 3.2.3
MediaMonkey is the music manager for serious music collectors.
It catalogs CDs, AAC, OGG, WMA, FLAC, MP3 and other audio files, including contemporary and classical music, audiobooks, podcasts, etc. It offers multiple tools for looking up and editing tags, and an automated library organizer to organize files on the hard drive. It includes a CD ripper, CD/DVD Burner, and audio converter for saving music, and advanced playlisting for creating music mixes. Its player automatically adjusts volume levels and supports a Party mode that locks the UI for use at public events. It syncs tracks, playlists, and podcasts to portable audio devices such as iPhones, iPods, MP3 Phones, and other devices, and supports hundreds of addons to extend its functionality further.


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OpenSkies to fly as oneworld affiliate23 November 2012
OpenSkies, the British Airways subsidiary that offers premium airline services between the USA and continental Europe, is to become an affiliate member of oneworld®, the leading quality global airline alliance, with effect from 1 December 2012.
OpenSkies currently links Paris with the New York metro area with two daily round trips between Paris Orly and Newark. From March, frequencies will rise to three daily round trips with the addition of one daily round trip between Paris Orly and New York JFK. It is the only airline offering flights to and from the USA at Paris Orly's West Terminal - the closest to the city centre and with the widest choice of connections within France.
All OpenSkies services are operated by Boeing 757s in a special three-class configuration, with services being brought more into line with those offered on British Airways' own mainline flights:
- Biz Bed cabin features 20 seats that convert to fully-flat beds, similar to British Airways' Club World (business class).
- Prem Plus is an upmarket premium economy, with 28 leather seats in a roomy 2:2 configuration, reclining 130o.
- Eco is an economy class offering comfort and personalised service, with 66 seats in a 3:3 configuration.
For in-flight entertainment, all passengers are offered a personal iPad with more than 70 hours of movies, TV shows and games.
Its flight attendants wear the usual British Airways uniform, and its aircraft are painted in a livery similar to the regular British Airways design, but the OpenSkies logo along their fuselages.
Its flights now all operate using the BA flight code and its frequent flyer programme is British Airways Executive Club.
At New York JFK and Newark, Biz Bed and Prem Plus passengers are able to use British Airways' lounges. At Paris Orly, they are offered access to Iberia's VIP lounge.
As a oneworld affiliate member, from 1 December it will offer the alliance's full range of services and benefits - including, for members of any oneworld member airlines' frequent flyer programme, the ability to earn mileage rewards and tier status points and redeem mileage rewards on all OpenSkies flights, and, for top tier cardholders, lounge access when flying OpenSkies.
At the same time, its flights will be featured in all oneworld fares and passengers holding oneworld Emerald and Sapphire status in any oneworld airline's loyalty programme will also be able to use these facilities when flying on OpenSkies from 1 December, no matter in which cabin they are flying.
OpenSkies Managing Director Patrick Malval said: "With OpenSkies being brought closer to mainstream British Airways, we are delighted now to be able to offer our customers the full range of oneworld services and benefits and to bring our flights into the network of the world's leading quality airline alliance."
OpenSkies was launched by oneworld founder member British Airways in 2008 and has carried half a million customers since then. It operates a fleet of three Boeing 757-200s.
Besides its 11 full member airlines, oneworld also includes some 30 affiliate members. These are generally regional airlines with strong links with oneworld full member airlines.
British Airways has three established oneworld affiliate members - BA CityFlyer, which operates out of London City airport, and two airlines which operate as British Airways franchisees, in Denmark's SUN-AIR and South Africa's Comair.
Other oneworld affiliate members include:
- airberlin's Austria-based affiliate NIKI.
- American Airlines' regional affiliates American Eagle (including flights operated as American Eagle by Executive Airlines, ExpressJet and SkyWest) and American-Connection (operated by Chautauqua Airlines).
- Cathay Pacific's Dragonair
- Finnair's Flybe Finland (on routes it operates on behalf of Finnair).
- Iberia Regional Air Nostrum and Iberia Express.
- JAL Express, J-AIR and Japan Transocean Air.
- LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru.
- QantasLink and its operators Airlink (National Jet Systems), Eastern Australian Airlines, Sunstate Airlines and Jetconnect.
- S7's Globus.
For more information on OpenSkies
- For more customer or public information, please see OpenSkies' website - http://www.flyopenskies.com
- For media questions only, contact its media relations representative Hugo Trac, at firstname.lastname@example.com, on +33 1 49 70 43 08.
About oneworld
oneworld aims to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international travellers. It brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Qantas, Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines, and around 30 affiliates. Malaysia Airlines will join on 1 February 2013, followed by SriLankan Airlines later in 2013 and then Qatar Airways.
Between them, oneworld's member airlines and members elect:
- Serve some 860 airports in almost 160 countries, with more than 9 300 daily departures.
- Offer some 550 airport lounges for premium customers.
- Carry almost a million passengers a day on a combined fleet of more than 2 500 aircraft.
- Generate nearly US$ 120 billion annual revenues in total.
oneworld enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges. oneworld also offers more alliance fares than any of its competitors.
oneworld is current holder of three leading international awards for airline alliances - named the Best Airline Alliance by Global Traveler in its GT Tested Reader Survey 2011 Awards for the second year running, the World's Leading Airline Alliance in the 2011 World Travel Awards, for the ninth consecutive year, and the Best Airline Alliance 2011 in Australian Business Traveller's debut awards.


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First view of Earth as Rosetta approaches home
This spectacular image of our home planet was captured by the OSIRIS instrument on ESA's Rosetta comet chaser earlier today as the spacecraft approached Earth for the third and final swingby. Closest approach is due at 08:45 CET, 13 November 2009. Follow Rosetta's progress at ESA's dedicated Rosetta site and via the Rosetta Blog.
The image was acquired with the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera from a distance of 633 000 km on 12 November 2009 at 13:28 CET. The resolution is 12 km/pixel.
Three images with an orange, green, and blue filter were combined to create this one. The illuminated crescent is centered roughly around the South Pole (South at the bottom of the image). The outline of Antarctica is visible under the clouds that form the striking south-polar vortex. Pack ice in front of the coastline with its strong spectacular reflection is the cause for the very bright spots on the image.
The OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System) is a wide-angle camera and a narrow-angle camera to obtain high-resolution images of the comet's nucleus and the asteroids that Rosetta passes on its voyage to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will help in identifying the best landing sites.
Credits: ESA ©2009 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA
Principal Investigator: H.U. Keller, MPAe, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
Rosetta is also investigating a cosmic mystery: a gravitational anomaly that has baffled scientists for two decades.


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Five Proxy Season Hot Topics and Other Governance Issues
In this year's proxy season there has been a slight increase in the number of shareholder proposals received compared to previous years (1.27 proposals introduced per company for the Fortune 250 in 2013 compared with 1.22 in 2012 and 1.18 in 2011).¹ Yet, the success rate of these proposals remained very low, with only 7% of shareholder proposals receiving majority support.² Following is a discussion of five topics from this year's proxy season—say on pay, proxy access, board declassification, social and environmental policies, and independent chairmen and leadership structure—that were the focus of a Deloitte Dbriefs webcast 2013 Proxy Season Highlights and Other Corporate Governance Developments.
1. Say on Pay—This is the third year for say-on-pay proposals and the first year small-cap companies were required to include say on pay; it appears that say-on-pay proposals have normalized somewhat. Companies are improving the disclosures provided in the proxy statements and through shareholder engagement activities. Many analysts note a positive trend in the quality of compensation disclosures compared to previous years.
So far, results have been largely in favor of management, with 91% average support at S&P 500 companies for compensation packages.³ The webcast presenters noted that Institutional Shareholder Services, a prominent proxy advisory firm, has recommended a vote in favor of nearly 90% of say-on-pay proposals.⁴
2. Proxy Access—Continuing the trend from last year, proxy access has been a concern among shareholders. Proxy access allows shareholders to place their own director nominees on the company's proxy card, along with the board candidates nominated by the company. Shareholder proposals on this topic either request that the board implement proxy access processes or request amendment of the company's bylaws to implement proxy access.⁵ Some proposals to implement proxy access are expected to gain momentum this year; however, most of the shareholder proxy proposals that did come through this year did not pass.
The private ordering process permits shareholder proposals that either request the board to grant proxy access or that bypass the board and directly amend the company's bylaws to implement proxy access⁶. Three proxy access proposals passed this year, each with a 3%/three-year holding requirement. This means that if shareholders, in aggregate, hold 3% of shares and have held these shares for at least three years, they can nominate a director on the ballot. Proxy access may continue to affect many companies in the years ahead.
3. Board Declassification—Board declassification shareholder proposals, which support the annual election of all directors, have been primarily focused on small and mid-cap companies, which are more likely to have classified structures. The vast majority of large-cap companies have annual election of all directors. Last year, there was an increase in both the number of board declassification proposals submitted for a vote (21 in 2011 versus 38 in 2012) and the number of proposals passed (20 in 2011 versus 35 in 2012).⁷
4. Social and Environmental Policies—Social and environmental proposals have gained ground this proxy season, with almost a third of the proposals related to this topic.⁸ Many of the proposals address sustainability, political contributions and lobbying, hydro fracturing and water usage. Companies that have been proactive in providing disclosures on these issues are likely to receive fewer proposals than those that have not followed these practices.
5. Independent Chairs and Leadership Structure—Independent chair proposals remain strong; however, the average supportive votes remain in the low 30th percentile.⁹ There appears to be a disparity between how U.S. and non-U.S. investors view these proposals. Non-U.S. investors are more likely to support an independent chair for all companies, whereas U.S. investors are typically open to different structures, including a lead or presiding director who may have robust and substantive duties that demonstrate independence and objectivity. When this issue was introduced in the 2013 proxy statements, support was relatively low; this was consistent with last year (31.5% in 2013 versus 35.6% in 2012). The SEC has mandated leadership structure disclosures that explain why a company operates with its particular structure, which has helped companies explain their positions on leadership structure to investors.
Other Topics Affecting Governance
New Rules and Changes to Old Rules
Other recent events, trends, upcoming regulations and changes to regulations that may affect the governance agenda include Regulation Fair Disclosure, the Conflict Minerals Rule, compensation committee independence and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).
In April, the SEC announced that public companies may be able to use social media outlets to share material corporate information under certain circumstances without violating Regulation FD. Regulation FD is intended to promote full and fair disclosure of information by issuers, and to clarify and enhance existing prohibitions against insider trading (e.g., selective disclosure of material nonpublic information).
The April announcement came after a CEO posted company information on his personal social media page, causing controversy about whether this should be considered selective disclosure under Regulation FD. The SEC provided some guidance for such situations, but also noted that an employee's personal social media site is not typically considered to be a channel of communication to investors. This is an area where companies should consider developing policies for disclosures on social media sites.
The Conflict Minerals Rule was adopted by the SEC in August 2012, as a part of the Dodd-Frank Act. It requires companies to disclose the use of conflict minerals, which include tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold that is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Affected companies will have to file their first reports by May 31, 2014, for the 2013 calendar year. The SEC has released frequently asked questions to assist companies in meeting this deadline.
New listing standards on compensation committees' independence as well as on compensation committee adviser/consultant independence went into effect on July 1, 2013, at both the NYSE and the NASDAQ, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. Compensation committee independence requirements go into effect for the first annual meeting after January 15, 2014, or by October 31, 2014, whichever is earlier. The listing standards differ slightly and webcast attendees are encouraged to stay abreast of these requirements when selecting and evaluating members, advisers and consultants for the compensation committee.
Four governance topics are pending implementation as part of the Dodd-Frank Act:
- Pay for performance—demonstrate the relationship between compensation paid and the financial performance of the issuer.
- Pay ratio—disclosure related to CEO pay.
- Hedging disclosures—directors or employees are permitted to hedge company securities.
- Claw-back policies—incentive-based compensation based on financial information or in the event of a financial restatement.
None of the Dodd-Frank Act governance topics listed above has undergone rulemaking by the SEC; however, the SEC is expected to roll out rules in the coming year.
Audit Committees
Other issues related to the audit committee that have received attention in this year's proxy season include multiple PCAOB and SEC initiatives:
- PCAOB exploration of ways to enhance auditor independence, objectivity and professional skepticism; much of the focus of the discussion has been on the role of the audit committee in supporting these qualities in the outside auditor.
- New Auditing Standard 16: Communications with Audit Committees—The objective of this standard is to reinforce the relationship through enhanced required communications between audit committees and independent auditors.
- PCAOB Release: Information for Audit Committees about the PCAOB Inspection Process—The PCAOB objective is to provide information and recommendations to audit committees to help them better understand the PCAOB inspection process and its effect on the outside audit.
In addition to the PCAOB and SEC initiatives, investor groups have shown increased interest in transparency within audit committee reports regarding oversight of the external auditor. The Council of Institutional Investors amended its policies in April 2013 with regard to factors for audit committee consideration when retaining independent auditors, reporting responsibilities, the inclusion of meaningful information in reports, compensation of independent auditors and how to make retention decisions for auditors who have been present for more than 10 consecutive years.
Webcast presenters noted that they have seen more pressure for audit committee oversight and reporting related to the external auditor and it will likely to continue.
—Excerpted from 2013 Proxy Season Highlights from the Deloitte LLP Center for Corporate Governance at www.corpgov.deloitte.com
1. Proxy Monitor, 2013 Proxy Season Wrapping Up, http://www.proxymonitor.org/Forms/2013Finding4.aspx.
2. Ibid.
3. Morrow & Co., LLC – 2013 Proxy Season Updates Year-to-Date, June 2013.
4. Ibid.
5. Sullivan & Cromwell on Proxy Access & Private Ordering, 2011.
6. Ibid.
7. Alliance Advisors – The Advisor, "2012 Proxy Season Review: Shareholder Resolution," September 2012.
8. Morrow & Co., LLC – 2013 Proxy Season Updates Year-to-Date, June 2013.
9. Morrow & Co., LLC – 2013 Proxy Season Updates Year-to-Date, June 2013.
Related Resources
- 2013 Proxy Season Highlights
- Deloitte Dbriefs webcast 2013 Proxy Season Highlights and Other Corporate Governance Developments
- Three Leading Practices to Help Address Shareholder Activism
- Board Leadership: The Split CEO/Chairman Structure Debate
- Conflict Minerals Rule: Issues for the C-suite to Consider
- Mitigating Risk, Improving Performance with Sustainability Programs
About Deloitte Insights
Deloitte's Insights for C-suite executives and board members provide information and resources to help address the challenges of managing risk for both value creation and protection, as well as increasing compliance requirements.
For relevant content at your fingertips, download the Dow Jones and Deloitte Insights app.


text: Martin Picandet, better known under his stage name Martin Solveig (born September 22, 1976) is a French electronic music DJ and producer from Paris. He also hosts a weekly radio show called "C'est La Vie" on stations worldwide including FG DJ Radio in his homeland. His label is called Mixture Stereophonic. Leer Más


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The Writer's Key
Introducing Creative Solutions for Life
Gillie BoltonThe Writer's Key introduces creative writing as a tool for self-reflection and personal and professional development. It provides strategies and inspiration for getting started, continuing despite hesitations and for getting the most out of writing, and includes success stories from personal and professional writers. Learn More2013, Paperback / softback, 9.61in x 6.69in / 244mm x 170mm, 168pp, $24.95ISBN: 978-1-84905-475-12013, Ebook, ePUB, 168pp, $24.95ISBN: 978-0-85700-854-1
Writing Routes
A Resource Handbook of Therapeutic Writing
Gillie Bolton, Victoria Field and Kate ThompsonWriting Routes is an essential roadmap for anybody setting out on the journey of self-discovery through words. Seventy contributors from a variety of different backgrounds and circumstances explain how they came to write a particular piece and why, how they found ways of transforming their experience into writing, and how it was beneficial to them. Learn More2010, Paperback / softback, 8.94in x 6.06in / 227mm x 154mm, 240pp, $29.95ISBN: 978-1-84905-107-12011, Ebook, ePUB, 240pp, $29.95ISBN: 978-0-85700-303-4


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Latest News
As many as 33,500 badgers could be killed in England this autumn following the government's decision to extend the culls to 11 more areas.
The 11 new areas will be added to the 10 already licensed, where about 10,000 badgers were killed in 2016.
Devon now has six badger culls under way, with Somerset and Wiltshire having three each, with others set to be added in Cheshire, Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, according to an article the the Guardian. The arrival of culling in Cheshire, of course, brings it closer than ever to Shropshire.
Professor Rosie Woodroffe, who took part in the landmark 10-year trial on badger culling, said: "It's depressing that the government is pursuing badger culling over such huge areas when the benefits remain so uncertain. Data published today suggest that, after three years of culling, cattle TB in the first cull zones was still no lower than that in unculled areas."
Steve Trotter, at the Wildlife Trusts, said: "We work closely with many farmers, day in, day out, and we recognise the pain and hardship of those whose cattle herds have been devastated by bTB, but killing badgers will not solve the problem. The primary route of infection is cattle-to-cattle contact. The government's badger cull is flying in the face of science." He said vaccination costs £82 per badger, compared to £6,800 per culled animal.
Ministers also announced the resumption of a badger vaccination scheme in "edge" areas between high and low TB regions. The scheme, suspended for the last two years due to a shortage of vaccine, will fund 50% of the costs of successful applicants. Restrictions on the movement of some high-risk cattle are also being put in place, which some scientists say is the key to ending the epidemic, according to the article by Damian Carrington.
It goes on to say that the total number of badgers to be killed across all the areas this autumn has been set at a maximum of 33,347 and a minimum of 21,797. The largest cull is one in Dorset that could see more than 7,000 badgers killed.
In a government paper titled Government Badger Control Costs 2016, the figures reveal that licensing costs had risen from £859,000 in 2013 to £1.28m in 2016, while the money spent on 'humaneness monitoring, including postmortems', had plunged from £2.6m in 2013 to £392,000 in 2016, and 'efficacy monitoring' from £2.3m in 2013 to£17,000 the following year - and zero in 2016.
You can read the full Guardian article here.
And if after all that you need cheering up, watch our lovely video here.
The Badger Trust is taking its legal challenge to the operation of the latest culls to the Court of Appeal tomorrow (9th Oct 2014).
Everyone had expected the independent monitoring of the culls that was in place last year, to check their efficiency and humaneness, to continue this year, but the government refused to put this in place this time.
The appeal follows a hearing on 11th September where the vice-president of the civil division of the Court of Appeal agreed that the trust had a real prospect of success in its appeal.
A press release by the Badger Trust says the Court of Appeal will be asked by the Badger Trust to find that the environment secretary, Liz Truss, has unlawfully failed to put in place an independent Expert Panel to monitor and analyse the results of the continued culling of badgers in Gloucestershire and Somerset in 2014.
The trust says that the use of such a panel to oversee the culls was promised by the secretary of state while she is still considering whether to roll out culls to other areas. Without such a panel, there can be no proper assessment of the safety, effectiveness and humaneness of the culling operation, the trust says, which is necessary before any lawful decision can be made on whether to continue with the culls in other areas.
Professor Tim Coulson, member of the 2013 Independent Expert Panel, and Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Badger Trust, welcomed the hearing's decision to grant an appeal.
Two men have been arrested as part of a police investigation into badger baiting in Whitchurch, the Shropshire Star online reported on 10th February.
Officers from Market Drayton Safer Neighbourhood Team assisted the RSPCA with two warrants under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
Items relating to badger baiting were seized.
Constable Mick Sturland, of West Mercia Police, said: "Two addresses in Whitchurch were searched and two men were arrested and articles relating to baiting offences were seized.
"These warrants were executed after intelligence received by the RSPCA, who will interview the arrested men."
RSPCA press officer Lucy Cooper said: "The RSPCA joined police on two warrants which were executed in the Whitchurch area as part of an investigation into wildlife crime.
"Police have arrested two men. The investigation is currently ongoing."
Undercover RSPCA inspectors have helped to bring a number of successful badger digging cases before the courts. Some of these have involved the use of advanced forensic techniques including DNA evidence.
You can read the Star's full report here.
In an attempt to involve more people in the debate about bovine TB and badgers, Environment Minister Liz Truss has said that bTB will affect ordinary households by threatening the supply of milk and beef.
On the Western Morning News website in an article headlined "Environment minister: badger cull will protect milk and beef", Truss is quoted as saying that bovine TB ravaging dairy and beef herds in the West Country is a "threat to our future food security".
The article says: "In a sign the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is seeking wider public approval for the controversial policy, Ms Truss shifted the emphasis towards the impact even on families living in the city with no farming connections."
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New Member
New Member
Ever since I put up my groups of words about scents nobody else has put up a word at all!
There once was a man from Nantucket
who wore a pretty smelling toilet water that he kept in a bucket.......
I am a simpleton
my fragrances are won through low bids on ebay, but hey!..
maybe one fine day my low priced scents will help me find a gal like Kate Middleton........
Adidas, Byblos, Kanon and Bel Ami...........liquid smells w/various notes like vetiver from the isle of Haiti..........some I have come to love and others I will just sell,
now I'm happy to report that the Leather aftershave has kept its potency and I've started to use it as a second "layer" when going out.
I've gotten some great feedback when applying Varvatos Vintage and then adding Avon Leather to it, sort of a "manning-up" of this already popular scent (VV).
I got me a great old scent in this purchase of an Avon Abraham Lincoln commemorative "red, white & blue" boxed bottle.
Smells like what a more mature man would wear and I think I'll wear it out to the post office to mail some items.
Have a good day Bnoters!
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