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The next kilometer is a son of a bitch. It is always in my head when it ought not be. It’s that embarrassing thing that happened when I was a teen. It’s that thing my friend said before he died. It’s the persistent worry that I will run out of money before I run out of time. It runs over and over and over, a pedal stroke, a free wheel, an absurdity.
The next kilometer is at least two kilometers long. It’s twice as steep as it was last time I was there, and I will surely blow up as soon as I get to it. There are monsters around every bend. There are potholes. The next kilometer is impossible, theoretical physics, antimatter, a unicorn.
This kilometer is hard enough. It deserves more of my attention. Honestly. I’m pedaling squares here. I’m slumped over like a drunk at closing time. How am I supposed to breathe like this? I’m going to crush these goddamned handlebars too. Loosen up, jackass. You’re burning watts with that death grip. Yes. Yes. This kilometer deserves much more attention.
The next kilometer is the cart, and I am the horse. It is the chicken, and I am the egg.
This kilometer is harder than it ought to be. Why am I so off today? Did I not eat enough? Did I not sleep well? Am I just off form? What the hell does that really mean? What is my form? Am I getting tendonitis in my knee? If this kilometer doesn’t give it to me, the next one probably will. Bernard Hinault had tendonitis in his knee. I am not Bernard Hinault.
The next kilometer. Is there a more pure expression of the future? In this present, everything is going worse in the future. It is going like it is going now, but more so. I don’t even dare think about the kilometer after the next kilometer. That would be pure hubris. That would be murder. Cain and Abel. Or worse, plucking that ancient apple and taking a bite. The stupid snake. Never trust a lizard with no arms.
The great mercy of cycling is that, at some point, the next kilometer becomes this kilometer enough that you run out of things to worry about, and you can slink off to the shower, pull on a fresh, clean shirt and some dry underpants, and begin the necessary process of revising the past, all those killer kilometers, into one nice smooth ride. Done. Dusted. And easy.
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The US Secretary of Defense has said there is no doubt that the Syrian government was responsible for a poison gas attack last week on a rebel-held town, adding that it had used chemical weapons several times in the past.
During a press conference in Washington on Tuesday, James Mattis told reporters that independent authorities had documented and concluded the use of chemical weapons in an air strike on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province.
"There is no doubt the Syrian regime is responsible for the decision to attack and for the attack itself," Mattis said.
The US launched a barrage of cruise missiles against a government-controlled Syrian airfield as a response.
"We determined that a measured military response could best deter the regime from doing this again," Mattis said.
Mattis also said that the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group is still the main focus of the US in Syria.
The Syrian government and its ally Russia have denied that Syrian aircraft had carried out the April 4 attack, which killed dozens of people, including many children.
President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had information that the US was planning to launch new missile strikes on Syria, and that there were plans to fake chemicals weapons attacks there.
Putin was speaking hours before US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was due to arrive in Moscow for talks with Russia's foreign minister and days after denouncing last week's US missile strike on the Syrian air base as illegal.
READ MORE: Syria's war explained from the beginning
Putin, when asked by a reporter if he expected more US missile strikes on Syria, said:
"We have information that a similar provocation is being prepared... in other parts of Syria including in the southern Damascus suburbs where they are planning to again plant some substance and accuse the Syrian authorities of using [chemical weapons]."
He did not offer any proof for that assertion.
Russia has been bombing rebel-held areas in Syria since September 2015.
Tillerson is the first senior US official to visit Moscow since Trump took office promising to seek closer cooperation with Russia, but as he arrived relations were already tense.
Earlier on Tuesday, Tillerson said he hoped Russia would abandon its support for Assad because actions such as the Khan Sheikhoun attack have stripped him of all legitimacy.
Tillerson made the remarks at the conclusion on Tuesday in Italy of a meeting of foreign ministers of the G7 and "like-minded" countries.
"It is clear to us the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end," he said shortly before leaving the Tuscan city of Lucca for Moscow.
"We hope that the Russian government concludes that they have aligned themselves with an unreliable partner in Bashar al-Assad."
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UCLA freshman wingis ineligible for the team’s upcoming trip to China while the NCAA investigates the improper benefits he received during his recruitment.“Since the investigation won’t be totally clear, they wanted to hold him out for China,” a source with direct knowledge who requested anonymity because he is not permitted to comment on the ongoing NCAA investigation told SNY.tv. As a result, Muhammad won’t make the trip to China running Aug. 22-Aug.29. “He has class,” the source said. “He’s not going to miss that for China.”The news was first reported by Tracy Pierson of Scout.com. UCLA head coachdid not immediately return a phonecall or text message. The NCAA is looking into how two people — family friends and financial advisersand— helped pay for Muhammad’s recruiting visits and fund his AAU team, Dream Vision. Their involvement was reported by CBSSports.com in February But the source said Muhammad’s family is working with the UCLA compliance department and hopes to have the situation worked out before the regular season starts. “It’s an ongoing investigation, [the family] is still working with the compliance department,” the source said. “Because they’re not going to be finished with the investigation, they’re going to hold him out.” UCLA will play one game in Beijing Aug. 25 against Tsinghua University The Bruins will fly to Shanghai the following day and play against Shanghai Jiao Tong University on Aug. 27. UCLA will take on the Shanghai Sharks, a professional Chinese team owned by, the evening of Aug. 28 at Yuan Shen Sports Center, before flying back to Los Angeles on Aug. 29. Muhammad had been battling a high ankle sprain, but Howland told SNY.tv last month he was optimistic about his level of play. “I think he can be a really outstanding player,” Howland said then. “The one thing I noticed our first practice is he’s a great offensive rebounder. I mean, he’s going to be a load and we’ve got to utilize him in a lot of different ways because he can post, he can shoot it, he can put it on the floor, he goes and gets it.” A McDonald’s All-American with prodigious scoring skills, Muhammad in April picked UCLA over Kentucky and Duke. He is part of a loaded freshmen class at UCLA that also includesUNLV will also be without Canadian freshmen forwardsandt when they depart Thursday for Canada, as reported by the Las Vegas Sun. Bennett was not cleared in time and Birch isn’t eligible until after the first semester.
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“Iran’s hostilities substantially increased after the foolish Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2013, and they were given $150 billion, not to mention $1.8 billion in cash,” Trump said at the White House. “Instead of saying thank you to the United States, they chanted ‘Death to America.’ … Then Iran went on a terror spree funded by the money from the deal and created hell in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq.”
AD
AD
Then Trump turned to Obama again: “The missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration.”
It wasn’t an altogether new claim from Trump — Trump said last week on Facebook that “Iran will be shooting at our soldiers with bullets, etc., purchased with the $150 billion Obama gave them” — but it was a striking inclusion in this venue. Here was Trump on a day that is difficult to say was anything but encouraging for the United States. Much remains unsettled, but Iran responded to the killing of its most significant military commander with missile attacks on Iraqi bases that haven’t resulted in deaths of either Americans or Iraqis, according to the respective governments. Trump’s allies claimed victory, saying he had cowed the antagonistic Middle Eastern country.
Trump, though, opted to use the opportunity to settle old scores and accuse his predecessor of funding what the U.S. government has labeled as terrorism. Some Democrats immediately criticized him for it.
There are nuances with the money Iran got. The $150 billion is a false claim Trump has repeatedly made; it refers to funds already belonging to Iran that were unfrozen as part of the nuclear deal signed in 2013, and it’s on the very high end of estimates. Others suggest it’s closer to $25 or $50 billion.
AD
AD
As for the claim about $1.8 billion, despite Trump’s repeated suggestions that it was some kind of gift to Iran, the money was owed to Iran, thanks to a years-old settlement in an international court. Iran had purchased military equipment from the United States, but that equipment was never delivered because of tensions between the two countries in the late 1970s. (The amount was also estimated to be closer to $1.7 billion.)
Part of that money was delivered to Iran in controversial circumstances, with the Obama administration using it as leverage for freed hostages. It was likened to ransom, but it was money that Iran was owed.
As for whether either of those sums were used specifically on the missiles Iran used Tuesday night, there’s no way to know specifically.
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The Leonardo 2019 Committee is Formed
The wheels that led to Cinquecento started spinning three years ago, when Mingarelli had a conversation with Anna Galluccio, the Italian embassy’s scientific attaché in Ottawa.
Although their discussions remained on the back burner for a while, ultimately the Leonardo 2019 committee was formed, and planning snowballed as Mingarelli invited internationally renowned da Vinci scholars to come to Carleton — and, much to his surprise, they accepted.
Those scholars include Martin Kemp, an emeritus research professor in art history at Oxford University and one of the world’s leading experts on da Vinci and the Renaissance and links between art and science, who will deliver the Faculty of Science’s annual Herzberg Lecture on Nov. 21, 2019.
Two months before that, on Sept. 10, best-selling author and historian, Ross King, whose most recent book, Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies, won the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize, will also do a lecture at Carleton.
But people interested in or curious about da Vinci won’t have to wait until next fall.
On May 8, Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon, a neuroscience researcher, will give a talk in the Health Sciences Building called Da Vinci’s Vision: The Beauty (and Limitations) of Painting a 3D World.
And on Monday, April 15 — da Vinci’s birthday — Mingarelli will officially launch Cinquecento with a lecture at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre focusing on Leonardo’s life and some of his lesser-known contributions, such as anatomy, astronomy and culinary arts, among others.
The free event begins at 7 p.m. and will include refreshments and highlights from Diluvio, an exhibition of wire-mesh sculptures that draw inspiration from da Vinci’s Diluvio drawings.
Diluvio, which opened last month and will remain on display in the lobby of the MacOdrum Library until April 30, means “deluge,” and the Diluvio drawings sketch out the dynamic properties of air and water in motion, channelled through the power of cataclysmic storms.
“There are sections in Leonardo’s notebooks where he absolutely praises nature’s creativity,” says Prof. Manuel Báez of Carleton’s Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, whose students created the sculptures.
“He was moved by that to declare a clear, profound distinction between mathematics as conceived by mankind and the mathematics of nature.”
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across the county. At noon, nearly 40 Brazoria County residents - many of them from nearby towns - were digging into a pile of sand, filling hundreds of bags.
"A lot of my students and friends live here," said Tonja Davis, computer teacher at nearby Columbia High School.
She and her family turned out to fill sandbags in the afternoon sun.
"Unless it starts downpouring, I think we're OK," she said. "But nobody wants to say that."
She and the rest of the volunteers poured sand into burlap bags, which volunteers carried to areas of the subdivision where rising waters might need to be checked.
The levees had lengthened, small white lines snawking along the top of the grassy berm.
Then another challenge - an open valve beneath the levee was letting water leak into fields in the northwest part of the subdivision. The Municipal Utility District that services the subdivision hired a diver to try to close it.
"Normally we would do this before the storm, but it came up so quick," said Morris Ryder, the Varner Creek Utility District's grizzled water operator. "It happened too fast."
Despite the dire predictions from county officials, they were skeptical that the Brazos would swamp Columbia Lakes. Earlier predictions had warned that it would crest at 40 feet, but more recent estimates suggested a crest at just 32 feet, levels Ryder thought the levee could handle.
"The more it drops, the better we are," Ryder said, moments before Justin Hendrickson, a diver from Salt Water Salvage, pulled on a blue-and-black wetsuit and scuba helmet and trudged into the brown waters.
'Just go 24/7'
He disappeared beneath the surface, 25 yards from shore, until he found the valve and began to screw it closed.
At 3:44 p.m., his voice echoed out of his colleague's radio.
"I think it's closed!"
The news meant water could no longer flood into Columbia Lakes underneath the levees and allow Ryder to pump out the football-field-size pond of water that had accumulated nearby in recent days.
An hour later, Irwin and his neighbors were set to reassemble, to fill more sandbags.
The creek had dropped another 21/2 inches - 4 inches below when it had started pouring over the levee Tuesday.
With luck, the water levels would continue to drop.
"If not, we'll bring a crew out, and just go, 24/7, man," Irwin said.
Just after 5 p.m., they headed back to the sandpit to fill more bags.
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Britain has launched a new "super priority" same-day visa service for urgent travellers from India, the first-of-its-kind service to be launched by the UK anywhere in the world.The super priority visa service was announced by British Prime Minister David Cameron during his visit to the country in February this year.The service is open for appointment bookings in India from today."I am delighted to see the super priority visa service being launched in India before any other country," said Sir James Bevan, the British High Commissioner to India."For the first time, Indian visitors will now have the option of a same-day visa to the UK. This underlines our strong commitment to make an already excellent visa service even better. We expect this new service to be particularly useful for business," he said, adding that it will cater to those who need to travel on very short notice."Opportunities arise at short notice. We want Indian entrepreneurs and businessmen to be able to seize these. The UK and India are already on course to double bilateral trade by 2015. The new super priority visa will help make sure that we hit this target," he added.The service is optional and incurs an additional fee of 600 pounds besides the standard fee for the type of visa being applied for.Applicants are required to complete an online form and submit their applications, by appointment, before 9.30 am.If an application is successful, the visa will be ready for collection by 5.30 pm the same day in New Delhi or by 6.30 pm the same day in Mumbai.It complements the UK's existing Fast Track Service and the recently announced online payment option.The new service is available to customers applying for a six-month or two-year multiple entry visit visa (excluding student visitors) who have previously travelled to the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or a Schengen country within the last five years.It is also available to visa applicants sponsored by companies who are members of the UK's Business Express Programme."We are committed to making the UK an attractive place to visit and a destination for the brightest and best to work and do business. That's why we've launched this new service, to provide our valued customers from India with the choices to fit their particular circumstances and needs," immigration minister Mark Harper said."The UK and India have always had close commercial ties and I am determined to ensure that we continue to build stronger links in the future," Harper said.
India is the UK's biggest visa operation in the world, processing around 400,000 applications each year and the government claims that the vast majority of applications - over 97 per cent of UK business visit visas and 86 per cent of visit visas - are approved.The latest service does not replace the process for expediting visas on compassionate grounds.
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Northern Ireland's only gender identity clinic (GIC) has been unable to take on any new patients since 2018.
Brackenburn Clinic has 403 people on its waiting list but has temporarily stopped its drop-in service due to limited resources and soaring demand.
A spokesperson for the Belfast Trust said: "The GIC, in line with services across the UK, has seen a significant rise in demand from individuals seeking assessment and treatment. This is upwards of 75% from 2014.
"This service, similar to others across the health service in Northern Ireland, currently does not have adequate capacity to meet demand and this is resulting in new patients referred having to wait longer than desired for assessment."
The target for an initial appointment is 13 weeks. One patient has been waiting 166.
Aaron O'Donnell (18), who was referred to the clinic earlier this year, said: "The wait makes you feel kind of hopeless. I can't stand living in this weird purgatory for the next two years.
"I have been lucky enough to have a private consultation with Ireland's specialist endocrinologist. It's not a luxury everyone can afford. The 15-minute appointment cost over £170.
"It adds extra stress to the situation due to financial pressure as surgery costs around £7,000 if private."
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the Health and Social Care Board was carrying out a review with the aim of "identifying a service model that will meet the increasing demand for gender identity services and help reduce the unacceptably long waits currently being experienced".
Transgender NI director Alexa Moore said: "The utter failure of the gender identity services stems from the treatment of trans identity as a mental disorder.
"This outdated approach has led to increased waiting times and negative and stigmatising experiences within the services, as well as worsening mental health within the community.
"While we are optimistic about the review currently under way, no alternative arrangements have been provided to trans people on the waiting list, many of whom have been there for three or four years. This demonstrates a distinct and worrying lack of urgency regarding dealing with this public health crisis. Too many trans people are suffering and not enough is being done."
Ms Moore said she had requested a meeting with Health Minister Robin Swann, but it had been rejected.
"This very clearly shows the lack of urgency with which this is being tackled and a relative lack of willingness to engage with trans communities on the minister's behalf," she added.
The Department of Health said: "The minister is due to receive the findings and recommendations of the review group by the end of June and would welcome a meeting thereafter with representatives from the transgender community."
Belfast Telegraph
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t read too much into Taylor’s endorsement of the possibilities of integration. In my short conversation with her after the launch, she was emphatic that her words implied no embrace of Australia’s integration agenda.
In her Griffith lecture in Brisbane last month, Taylor offered three examples of the ‘political strength of the collective’, to show what regional resolve and solidarity look like:
the Rarotonga Treaty, which establishes a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Pacific and was adopted by Pacific leaders in August 1985
the Biketawa Declaration, adopted by leaders in 2000, which provided the framework for the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, or RAMSI
the Pacific’s ‘instrumental role in concluding what was perhaps the toughest global negotiation ever—the Paris Agreement’.
Australia was central to the nuclear-free zone and RAMSI; the Paris climate negotiations are a different story.
As an example of how Oz strategic instincts can be embraced and used by the islands, Taylor points to Australia’s establishment this year of the Pacific Fusion Centre, bringing together information from across the region on security threats such as illegal fishing, people smuggling and narcotics trafficking.
Taylor says the centre is ‘region-led and owned’, aligning a regional priority with ‘the aim of Australia’s national foreign policy for stronger security integration across the region’.
Australia’s effort to assert its interests, influence and values in the South Pacific must embrace that ‘region-led and owned’ mantra. The region, too, must adapt and accommodate as it seeks to come together again as a ‘sea of islands’—large ocean states that are connected, not isolated and alone.
The islands coming together is about identity, but also the forms and forces of cooperation that can reach towards regional integration. How best can the islands serve the human security needs of their people? Sovereignty and security are based on strength, not weakness; Australia and New Zealand should be natural sources of help in building that strength.
Australia is often criticised as swinging between being in and out of the South Pacific. Accepting a region-led version of the Pacific future will minimise the attention swings, bolstering Australia’s fundamental interests in the stability and economic progress of the arc that runs from Timor-Leste through Papua New Guinea into the islands.
Fry argues that Pacific regionalism is more than an arena for governance, but constitutes a ‘regional political community—a term that connotes a deep level of commitment, affiliation and identity beyond the nation-state’.
The instincts of Australia’s history can embrace that idea of region.
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Two weeks into the 2019 season, the competitive League of Legends meta is quickly taking form. Champions from the entire roster are making appearances across every league in the world, as 100 of the 143 characters in the game have already been picked or banned at least once. However, of the 100 champions to be played on the competitive stage in 2019, none have dominated the global scene quite as hard as Aatrox, who holds a competitive pick/ban rate of 100% through 155 games.
This really shouldn’t come as a surprise, either. Aatrox has been on top of the entire champion roster ever since his rework at the midpoint of 2018. Throughout last year’s summer split, he held the champion presence title with 427 picks and a total of 1,563 bans across the global competitive scene. In total, Aatrox was featured in 82% of champion selects throughout the regular split last summer. The next highest champion on the presence leaderboard was Taliyah, whose mark of 71% paled in comparison in the shadow of Aatrox’s dominance.
Additionally, at the World Championship, Aatrox took home the presence crown, posting a pick/ban rate of 99% over 118 games, missing only one game across the entire tournament (including the Play-in Stage). Only Alistar and Urgot came close to that number at the tournament with marks of 97% and 95%, respectively.
However, what’s most impressive is the fact that between the 2018 summer split, Worlds, and now the 2019 season, Aatrox has posted a competitive pick/ban rate of roughly 93% since the rework.
And now, Aatrox’s reign of dominance has run on heavily, as he’s continued to establish himself as a priority pick for any team in any situation in these early stages of the season. Just behind him, Cassiopeia holds a pick/ban rate of 99% with only 8 picks but 145 bans. Additionally, Urgot, who is also quietly blazing a trail of dominance, has been picked 113 times alongside 39 bans.
However, with the Patch 9.2 notes released just hours ago, Aatrox may finally get knocked down a peg in the coming weeks. After receiving nerfs to the AD ratios on his Q, the Darkin Blade, as well as his the recharge rate on his E, Umbral Dash, Aatrox could be significantly weaker in the damage department moving forward.
Needless to say, Aatrox is still a powerful force in the competitive scene as things stand right now. However, his lofty 100% pick/ban rate looks like it could slip away very quickly.
Photo Credit: League of Legends, Riot Games
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IN JANUARY a maintenance worker at Vienna Airport found a loaded 7.65 calibre pistol in the pipe of a public toilet. He told the Austrian police, who put the toilet under surveillance. A month later they arrested a man who appeared to be searching for the gun. He turned out to be a lieutenant in the Bundeswehr, the German army, who claimed he had drunkenly found the weapon in some bushes and had hidden it in a panic. But investigations suggested something much darker.
“Franco A”, as he is known, had allegedly been living a double life. He served in the 291 Light Infantry Battalion at a base in eastern France. In his time off, he lived at a refugee centre in Bavaria, masquerading as David Benjamin, a Syrian asylum seeker driven from his home by Islamic State. According to press reports he was an extremist planning false-flag terror attacks, including the assassinations of Germany’s ex-president and its justice minister. The saga has exposed failings at all levels of the German state. The instructors at Franco A’s French military academy had rejected his thesis for its far-right content and advised his German superiors to dismiss him. A search of his barracks revealed posters glorifying Hitler’s Wehrmacht, a swastika etched onto a gun case and handbooks on bomb-making and guerrilla warfare, as well as a stash of guns, rocket launchers and half a million rounds of ammunition. His Bavarian interviewers had not checked whether “David Benjamin” spoke more than a few phrases of Arabic.
These were not isolated oversights. “The far-right element in the Bundeswehr has strong roots among neo-Nazi radicals and their ideology,” says Hajo Funke, an expert on extremism in Germany. Icons and songs from the Hitler years live on in pockets of the army. A study in 2007 put the proportion of far-right soldiers at 13%. On May 17th, Ursula von der Leyen, the defence minister, told MPs that further barrack searches had uncovered 41 items of Nazi memorabilia. Asylum authorities have revisited hundreds of applications like that of “David Benjamin” and have reportedly found serious mistakes in 10-15% of them.
Ms von der Leyen has paid the price. Long considered a likely successor to Angela Merkel, she has been attacked from both political sides. This is unfair to a defence minister who has fought to modernise the Bundeswehr and has moved fast to erase the last reminders of the 1940s (for example, by removing the names of Wehrmacht officers from over 20 barracks). It seems strange to respond to problems in the army by castigating a minister who is taking them on.
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Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center released its fourth consumer guide to toxic chemicals in cars. Over 200 of the most popular models last year were tested for chemicals present in the dashboard, armrests, seats etc.
These chemicals are responsible to the "new car smell" and are linked to many health concerns. Toxic chemicals inside vehicles are an often neglected, but major source of indoor air pollution.
The major chemicals of concern include bromine, chlorine and lead. These have all been linked to birth defects, liver toxicity, and hormone disruption in laboratory animals.
The plastic in the dashboard, steering wheel, and other places can release volatile organic compounds as temperatures inside the car can reach 192 - 248°F especially when vehicles are parked in the hot sun. Car users are exposed to these chemicals by breathing the air in the car as well as contact with dust.
According to Jeff Gearhart, Research Director at the Ecology Center: “Research shows that vehicle interiors contain a unique cocktail of hundreds of toxic chemicals that off-gas in small, confined spaces. Since these chemicals are not regulated, consumers have no way of knowing the dangers they face. Our testing is intended to expose those dangers and encourage manufacturers to use safer alternatives.”
HealthyStuff.org has information on cars, models, and fuel efficiency standards that car buyers can cross reference before purchase. According to the research, the best models include Honda Civic Toyota Prius, and Honda CR-V. The worst picks include Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, Chrysler 200, and Kia Soul. Honda was listed as the top manufacturer across the board and their efforts towards PVC reduction was hailed. The Mitsubishi Outlander, on the other hand, contained bromine and antimony-based flame retardants in the seating and center console; chromium treated leather on several components; and over 400 ppm lead in seating materials.
The Ecology Center deems that the best vehicles have eliminated hazardous flame retardants and PVC. According to them, 17 percent of new vehicles have PVC -free interiors and 60 percent are produced without brominated flame retardants. According to statistics, the average American spends more than 1.5 hours in a car every day, inhaling toxic chemicals. Therefore, visitors to the website are encouraged to contact car manufacturers and ask them to subscribe to voluntary third party eco labels, such as the TUV Toxproof and Öko-Tex Standard 100, and reduce their use of toxic chemicals in vehicles. A number of leading automakers, including Ford (TUV) and Volvo (Oko Tex), have already adopted these standards for some of their vehicles.
Image Credit: HealthyStuff.org ©
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Shayna Samuels, Ripple Strategies.
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dismay, these are all VD-dev games. This seemed to indicate that the compression technique was an in-house tool. I couldn’t find any archived documentation regarding VD-dev Game Boy development that would help me match the compression.
At this point, I decided to revisit the 18 unused bytes that preceded every chunk of compressed data. It’s wasteful to include those 18 bytes when they are never used. However, we can guess that these 18 bytes are some sort of header attached to the compressed data payload. After inspecting multiple 18-byte headers for different compressed data chunks, I noticed the following properties of the header.
First four bytes are always 0x52, 0x4E, 0x43, 0x02. (“RNC” 2 in ASCII.) Second four bytes are the length of the decompressed data. Third four bytes are the length of the compressed data. Remaining bytes are seemingly random. Maybe a checksum.
I figured the first four bytes were a signature, since that’s a common way to indicate file types. I Googled "52 4E 43 02" to see if this was a known signature, and to my surprise, it was listed in Wikipedia’s list of file signatures page–Jackpot!
This compression technique is well-known and used for many games in the SNES and Game Boy era, and it’s called Rob Northen compression, or “RNC”. To my absolute delight, the RNC algorithm is fully documented and my personal notes from earlier matched perfectly.
A general-purpose data compression tool called RNC ProPack was created back in the 1990’s by Rob Northen Computing. It was made freely available in 1999 and was used by many Game Boy developers. I scanned the Game Boy library for the “RNC” signature to see which games were using this compression technique. Exactly 111 games use RNC compression–not too shabby!
The final test was to run the RNC ProPack tool on the Carrot Crazy graphics to see if we could achieve identical compression. Sure enough, everything matched perfectly. This confirms that VD-dev used RNC ProPack to generate all of the compressed data in their Game Boy games.
Conclusion
That concludes part 2 of the series. When reverse engineering and disassembling games, I like to dump graphics data early on in the process. This sets us up nicely to edit custom levels and character sprites in the future. At this point, I’ve integrated a decompiled version of the RNC ProPack tool into the build process for the Carrot Crazy disassembly. This means inserting compressed graphics into the game is trivial.
Thanks for reading.
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Liverpool FC are pleased to announce that defender Jon Flanagan has today penned a fresh contract extension with the club.
The injured Englishman has endured a full season on the sidelines but commits his future to the Reds ahead of a potential return to action in 2015-16.
A knee problem has prevented Flanagan from making a single first-team appearance in this campaign and building on his rapid progress the previous year.
But as he reported that the full-back would be out for'six to nine months' earlier in May, Brendan Rodgers reiterated the Scouser's importance to the team.
And the manager told Liverpoolfc.com today: "It has just been unfortunate for him because he was about to sign a new deal just before the injury.
"Obviously his representatives and the club have been in talks, his deal was running out in the summer. He's a very important player for us.
"Medically, we have to look after him now as well because he's had quite a bad injury there that we've had to look at.
"But all the medics are saying that he's going to come back stronger and healthier. That's the most important thing.
"He has got a long road ahead of him over the next four to six months but I'm sure he'll get his rewards at the end of that.
"We're hoping that he can get back fit within the next year; it has been a long journey for him this last 18 months and in particular the last year of injury. Hopefully he can get back fit and get back into the team."
Watch the video here »
Rodgers continued: "He has been a huge miss for us this season.
"Jon is a young player and it was probably difficult for him when I first came in, he didn't have a lot of opportunities and there weren't many opportunities to go on loan.
"But he's a wonderful example for all young players about perseverance. He kept working tirelessly in training to the point where I then felt he was ready to be put in.
"He played away at Arsenal in a game when Glen Johnson got injured late on, and did very well. Then after that the turning point for him was the derby game at Goodison where he was Man of the Match.
"From that, he never looked back. He was very impressive in his composure and calmness. I remember a performance at Old Trafford where he was exceptional.
"People talk about the goalscorers this year and absolutely the goalscorers that we miss, but we definitely missed Jon Flanagan in equal proportion. Because of his aggression, he's very tenacious and he's a very good footballer."
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has questioned the effectiveness of the mission of the so-called anti-Daesh US-led coalition in Syria, saying the results of the coalition’s measures are “insignificant.”
“We have very few specifics which could explain what the US is exactly doing in Syria and why the results of so many combat sorties are so insignificant,” Lavrov told Russian channel NTV.
“With, as far as I know, 25,000 sorties they (the US-led air campaign) could have smashed entire Syria to smithereens,” the Russian foreign minister noted.
Since September 2014, the US and some of its allies have been conducting airstrikes against the purported positions of Takfiri Daesh terrorists inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.
Lavrov also cast doubt on the objectives of the US-led coalition in Syria, saying the US should make it clear whether it wants to eradicate terrorism in the Arab country or to use terrorists there to achieve its political goals.
“Maybe their stated goal is not entirely sincere? Maybe it is regime change?” Lavrov said.
The Russian official also expressed concern over weapons and munitions being airdropped by US forces to foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in Syria, warning that the weapons will end up in the hands of terrorists.
“I want to be honest; we barely have any doubt that at least a considerable part of these weapons will fall into the terrorists’ hands,” Lavrov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured below) on Tuesday censured as mindless the United States policies vis-à-vis Syria and Washington's refusal to cooperate with Moscow on ending the crisis in the Arab country.
“We proposed a meeting at the high military-political level in Moscow. I said that we can send a major delegation to Washington to primarily discuss the issues of Syrian settlement, but there is no response so far. We believe that it would be a serious authoritative delegation headed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev,” Putin said.
Russia launched its first airstrikes against Takfiri terrorists in Syria on September 30, hours after the upper house of the Russian parliament gave President Vladimir Putin the mandate to use the air force in the Arab country.
According to the Russian military, all targets of the air raids are chosen based on intelligence gathered by the four participants in the information center.
Daesh, with members from several Western countries, has been active in Iraq and Syria for over a year, committing heinous acts of terror and atrocities against people of different religious and ethnic communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.
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CSU Assignment Help
Charles Sturt University is one of the public universities located in Australia having multiple branches across Australia with major campuses located at NSW (New South Wales), Canberra,Victoria, Dubbo, and five more locations. It was established in the year 1989 by combining several universities and their courses together. A no. of educational courses helps students to become future leaders are being provided at CSU which includes undergraduate courses such as Bachelor of accounting, Bachelor of business, Bachelor of agriculture business management, and others. Similarly, a number of postgraduate courses is being offered by CSU including master of business administration, master of accounting practice and master of information technology etc.
Charles Sturt Courses and subjects
Charles Sturt University is known for its course named a master of business administration which comes with a no. of students can pursue this course as per the optional are chosen by them. Master of business administration coursework comes with the core subjects such as MKT501 Marketing management, MGT501 Contemporary management, and MBA504 Accounting & financial management. Moreover, there are further added subjects offered such as MGT537 Entrepreneurship project and MGT510 strategic management. With these compulsory and core units for the MBA in CSU students can pursue their elective subjects and accordingly they can do their courses.
For doing accounting or finance course students has to opt from ACC585 Financial statement analysis & valuation, ACC512 management accounting for cost & control, FIN530 Financial markets and instruments, FIN531 Investment Analysis, FIN518 International financial management, FIN522 Financial modeling, FIN560 Financial planning etc. Similarly, in order to make information technology and IT as the specialization students have to choose from ITC596 IT Risk management, ITC595 Information security, ITC561 Cloud computing, ITC568 Cloud security, and privacy ITC563, ITC560 Internet of Things,IT management issues, ITC505 ITC Project management, ITC 540 Telecommunication management PG etc. In order to make marketing specialization students can opt from MKT520 managing product and service innovation,MKT510 consumer behavior, MKT525 Digital and social media Mktg, MKT550 Global marketing, MKT540 Marketing strategy, MKT570 Integrated marketing comes, MKT561 Service marketing, ECO511 Economics for Business and MKT563 Big data and marketing analytics, MKT513 Social marketing etc.
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by Josh Ginsberg (@world0fdarkness)
“Fronts” is the first track of Hypoluxo’s debut LP If Language. After a drifting ambient amuse-bouche, your palette is ready for the loose-limbed, sun-blanched rock of Hypoluxo, who hitch the disaffected baritone of Julian Casablancas to the narrow chords of Lotus Plaza. Propelled by a polite rhythm section, Hypoluxo is bob-your-head-music. The edges of Hypoluxo’s guitars sound like they got wet taking a spaced-out walk on the shore, on a grey afternoon, after getting too close to the waves that ooze slowly landward. They wobble slightly with surprise, like the colorless flesh—if it can even be called flesh—of a beached jellyfish. Elsewhere on the album, synths and effects-laden guitars evoke Slowdive’s Souvlaki and the sunshine of Hypoluxo, FL, the little town after which the band is named.
“Fronts” is a song about the importance of not confusing the façade we develop to impress others with our actual selves. This is actually a sort of pressing concern in Hypoluxo’s adopted home of Brooklyn—where it sometimes feels that the cultural milieu has been so thoroughly coopted by the fashion and entertainment industries that its necessary to check yourself over in the mirror in the morning to make sure you’re still you, and not a branded simulacrum of yourself. Perhaps now more than ever, in the age of dating apps, people spend a lot of time constructing an inauthentic image of themselves as a way of capturing the attention of others. Singer and guitarist Samuel Cogen sounds like he’s sporting a stylized smirk when he sings “It’s funny when you dress to impress / when he doesn’t even look at you.” Cogen’s utterance of these words feels a little cruel and adds an unexpected tonal component of the song. A straightforward lyric like “you’ve got nothing to lose” gets complicated by Cogen’s cold-blooded deadpan—you’re not sure if the lyric is meant to reassure the person he’s singing to or suggest that they’re bereft of any value whatsoever.
Hypoluxo’s hooks are subtler than many of their Brooklyn dream-pop contemporaries, but their surprising cynicism, which harkens back to the sneers of the oft-mythologized 70s New York, sets them apart from the other bands at the beach.
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Quote TUXs Quote: Originally Posted by I don't get it either. Housing isn't what keeps me playing, it's where I log in/out only. are heavy into Strongholds, Outfit Designers, and random other RP stuff. GSF doesn't keep me playing, but it doesn't bother me when Bioware gives them some love.
The more players we have that are satisfied with at least some elements of the game, the bigger the pool we have for the MMO elements. Some of those derided as being here primarily for "Space Barbie" may queue for Warzones or Flashpoints while decorating their Strongholds. Warzones aren't the reason they play the game, but if you take away their Strongholds (or, say, force them to re-buy/decorate them in a transfer/merge), they may leave the game, and that'll be one less person that does occasionally queue for Warzones. Scale that up to the number of players of a similar mindset, and it could be a noticeable detriment to the overall quantity of group activity pops in the game.
TL;DR: people play for different reasons, and shouldn't have their play style affected because a few people have to wait 7 minutes for a warzone pop instead of 5. Well, your play style ain't the only one. There are people in this game (not me) whoheavy into Strongholds, Outfit Designers, and random other RP stuff. GSF doesn't keep me playing, but it doesn't bother me when Bioware gives them some love.The more players we have that are satisfied with at least some elements of the game, the bigger the pool we have for the MMO elements. Some of those derided as being here primarily for "Space Barbie" may queue for Warzones or Flashpoints while decorating their Strongholds. Warzones aren't the reason they play the game, but if you take away their Strongholds (or, say, force them to re-buy/decorate them in a transfer/merge), they may leave the game, and that'll be one less person that does occasionally queue for Warzones. Scale that up to the number of players of a similar mindset, and it could be a noticeable detriment to the overall quantity of group activity pops in the game.TL;DR: people play for different reasons, and shouldn't have their play style affected because a few people have to wait 7 minutes for a warzone pop instead of 5. Appreciate the help/snark in the above post? Click here to help me out!
Celestial Argonauts Celestial Dreadnauts
Star Forged from the Ebon Hawk cacd.enjin.com
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A retired French detective believes the unsolved murder of a British family could be related to another killing 30 years ago.
Three members of the British-Iraqi al-Hilli family were gunned down in the village of Chevaline, near Annecy, in the French Alps in September 2012.
Retired detective Pascal Huche believes the slaying is linked to the 1986 murder of two teachers, Lorraine Glasby, 28, and Paul Bellion, 29, from Norfolk in 1986.
Mr Huche believes there are similarities between the two murder and has given the al-Hilli murder squad the name of a suspect in the Brittany case.
The suspect was never convicted but who did later go to prison for a triple attempted murder in Belgium.
Read more:
He first passed on the tip in 2014.
“The gendarmes never got back to me and I believe that they did not seek to interrogate the suspect,” he told The Telegraph.
The bodies of Surrey-based Mr al-Hilli, 50, his dentist wife Iqbal, 47, mother-in-law Suhaila 74, and a French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45, were all discovered on a remote mountain forest road.
(Image: Daily Mirror)
Earlier this week it was revealed hunt for the killers took a new twist - after the discovery of mystery DNA on their car.
Detectives now hope the mystery traces will lead to a break through in the search for the murderers.
Two DNA traces have been found on the front bumper and under the driver’s floor mat of the family’s British registered BMW estate car.
Neither match any of the victims and or anybody else on the European criminal data base.
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Among the main theories into the murders that have been probed in the past three years is a possible connection to the former regime of Saddam Hussein, after claims that the deposed Iraqi tyrant deposited £840,000 into a bank account in the name of Saad al-Hilli’s father.
They believe murdered Saad could have been feuding over the money with other members of his family before the multiple killings.
Saad’s brother Zaid al-Hilli was arrested by British police in June 2013 and questioned in connection with conspiracy to murder, but was later released without charge and denies any connection to the crime.
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00:00
SANDERS let me bring you into this car. Okay question. May question this way Senator Sanders you describe your campaign including your plans for Medicare for all as a political revolution. Yes President Obama explicitly said the country is quote less revolutionary than it is interested in improvement. The average American doesn't think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it. End quote. Is President Obama wrong. Well we start. We don't have to tear down the system but we do have to do what the American people want. And the American people understand today that the current health care system is not only cruel it is dysfunctional. Now you tell me how we have a system in which we spend twice as much as do the people of any other country. And yet we've got eighty seven million uninsured underinsured. In some cases we pay 10 times more for prescription drugs as do the people of Canada or other countries. Five hundred thousand people go bankrupt because of medically related issues. They come down with cancer. And that's a reason to go bankrupt. Now some of the people up here think that we should not take on the insurance industry. We should not take on the pharmaceutical industry. But you know what. If you think back to FDR and if you think back to JFK and Harry Truman and Barack Obama as a matter of fact people have been talking about health care for all. Well you know what. I think now is the time. And in the first week of my administration we will introduce Medicare for all Medicare for all. That means no deductibles no copayments no out-of-pocket expenses. So that's where we gotta go. Thank you Senator Sanders. Vice President Biden. You know we can do this without charging people raising 30 40 trillion dollars. The fact is that right now the vast majority of Democrats do not support Medicare for all. It couldn't pass the United States Senate right now with Democrats. It couldn't pass the House. Nancy Pelosi is one of those people who then thinks makes sense. We should build on Obamacare provide the plan I put forward before anybody in here adding a Medicare option in that plan and not make people choose. Allow people to choose. I should say if you go the route of my two friends and my right and my left you have to give up your private insurance. 160 million people like their private insurance. And if they don't like it they can buy into a Medicare like proposal in my plan. Drug prices go down. Premiums go down across the board. But here's the deal. They get to choose. I trust the American people to make a judgment what they believe is in their interests and not demand of them. What the insurance companies they want. No no competition. And my friends say you have to only go. Medicare for all.
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President Trump blinked ahead of a scheduled ICE mass raid slated to begin Monday, tweeting that he’d delayed the operation for two weeks in hopes of finding a bipartisan solution.
“At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start!” Trump tweeted Saturday.
At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks to see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border. If not, Deportations start! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2019
Why Trump believes the Democrats would be suddenly willing to work with Republicans on border security – and in two weeks – remains unclear.
Trump told reporters Saturday before departing for Camp David that the millions of illegal aliens will be “removed from the country.”
“These are people that came into the country illegally – they’ve been served and gone through a process of the courts. They have to be removed from the country, and they will be removed from the country,” Trump said.
“Everybody that came into the country illegally will be brought out of the country, very legally.”
“Some cities are going to fight it, but if you notice they’re generally high crime cities. If you look at Chicago… many of those cities are sanctuary cities and they’re high-crime cities,” Trump added.
The security of the upcoming ICE deportation operation had been somewhat compromised after details of the plan were leaked to the press, reportedly by acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan.
“This leak, which I know where the leak came from, I think we all know where the leak came from,” former ICE Director Thomas Homan said Saturday. “That story only benefits one person. Put these officers at greater risk of harm. I know the president said we’re going to do an operation, one million people in a week. He didn’t give the location. He didn’t give the number of targets.”
The Deep State is exploiting the fact that President Trump has never been a politician to further their war agenda. Joel Skousen joins Alex to deliver a warning to the President about those that are trying to derail Trump’s America first agenda.
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New results from LHCb suggest that B+mesons decay to muons about 25% less often than they decay to electrons
Just as a picture can be worth a thousand words, so the rarest processes at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can sometimes have the most to tell us. By isolating and counting decays of B+ mesons to a kaon and two leptons, the LHCb experiment has tested a key assumption of the Standard Model – lepton universality, the idea that electrons, muons and tau leptons should behave in the same way, and be produced equally often in weak decays. In a presentation given at this week’s Large Hadron Collider Physics conference, LHCb results reveal the first hints of a difference.
According to the Standard Model, a B+ meson should decay to a kaon, electron and positron as often as it decays to a kaon, muon and antimuon. If a measurement of both rates shows a difference between them, it could be the first sign of something new. Rare B meson decays provide a particularly good laboratory for testing universality, as the decays proceed in a way that allows new, otherwise unseen, particles to influence the rate seen experimentally. Additional Higgs bosons, or a new, heavy version of the Z boson, could alter the relative rate of electron and muon production and be detected in this way.
If the ratio of the number of decays containing muons, to those containing electrons, is measured instead of the individual rates, many theoretical uncertainties cancel to allow a precise probe of universality. The Belle and Babar experiments have previously measured this ratio, with limited precision, and found it consistent with the Standard Model. With its precise silicon tracker and particle identification systems, and access to large datasets, LHCb is well placed to explore the B+ meson system further.
LHCb has now analysed their entire dataset of proton-proton collisions from the LHC and finds that B+ mesons decay to muons about 25% less often than they decay to electrons. As these decays only occur a couple of times in every 10 million B+ decays the measurement is still dominated by statistical error, even if it is the world’s most precise determination. The observed difference has a significance of 2.6 standard deviations, corresponding to a chance of one in a hundred that it is due to a statistical fluctuation. More data from the forthcoming high energy LHC run is needed to confirm if this tantalising result is indeed the first sign of something new in the universe.
Read more: "An interesting result presented at the LHCP conference" – LHCb
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try and minimize risks of getting into a war with major powers unless pushed to the wall. Even sclerotic Soviet leaders wanted their creaking system to survive in the dying days of the 1980s.
A recent statement from Defense Priorities categorically states the same: “The failure of ‘maximum pressure’ should not be used to justify an unauthorized, preventive war. There is no ‘limited strike’ option for Iran, and another prolonged Middle East war would further harm U.S. security and prosperity.”
In short, whatever Stephens or David Brooks gins up in feverish fantasies, any strike against Iran wouldn’t just stay quiet with “sinking of the Iranian Navy,” whatever in God’s name that means. It would spiral out and result in another open-ended conflict, and an inevitable push for nation building. At a time the military priority should be China, nation building and human rights promotions in the Gulf are a luxury only newspaper pundits sitting in cushy DC offices care about.
Interestingly, it appears Trump understands that and has read the briefings. While one cannot attribute any coherent political idea to him, he is instinctively a restrainer on foreign policy. Trump understands that China is the biggest threat, and that promoting human rights in feudal lands with U.S. lives and dollars don’t serve U.S. interests in any discernible way, and that the United States doesn’t need Arab and Persian energy resources.
Speaking to TIME, Trump argued that the Gulf of Oman is less strategically important for the United States now than it used to be, citing China and Japan as nations that still rely on the region for significant proportions of their oil. ‘Other places get such vast amounts of oil there,’ Trump said. ‘We get very little. We have made tremendous progress in the last two and a half years in energy. And when the pipelines get built, we’re now an exporter of energy. So we’re not in the position that we used to be in in the Middle East where … some people would say we were there for the oil.’
As Tom Rogan and my colleague Curt Mills discussed a few days back, Trump seems to be a personal check on some of his administration’s hawkish proponents. After all, he won an election protesting against stupid Middle Eastern wars. The last thing he needs is another one.
That’s a change from the last two decades, and for the good. Trump needs a team more aligned with his Nixonian instincts. This is the time for conservative foreign policy realists to flock in, get out of the Middle East, and put the gun-sight firmly on China.
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and White House policy director Stephen Miller both sought to insulate the White House on Sunday from revelations that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russian ambassador late last year.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Christie said Flynn owes President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence a “candid conversation” to “make sure that everybody gets the accurate story on this matter and that it’s cleared up.”
“I think that’s the obligation of Gen. Flynn as National Security Adviser to have a candid conversation with the president and vice president, and they will act as they see fit given all the circumstances,” Christie said.
Christie, a longtime friend and confidant of the president, is the first Trump surrogate to publicly suggest that Flynn still hasn’t given the White House a satisfactory explanation for why multiple news outlets reported that Flynn discussed the sanctions.
“Gen. Flynn has said up to this point that he had not said anything like that to the Russian ambassador,” Christie told host Jake Tapper. “I think now he’s saying that he doesn’t remember whether he did or not.”
“So that’s a conversation he’ll need to have with the president and vice president, so the White House can make sure they are completely accurate about what’s going on,” he added. “I’ve always been a person that believes you have one president at a time and that’s the way things should be done.”
Miller was also asked about Flynn on Sunday, but referred all questions to Pence or to White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
“I understand it’s an important matter; I understand it’s a sensitive matter, and I’m sure you’ll have an opportunity in the near future to interview someone from the vice president’s office or interview the chief of staff, who can elucidate further on this very sensitive issue,” Miller said.
Miller appeared on four different news shows Sunday. The fact that he did not have a prepared answer from the White House for the inevitable questions about Flynn only underscored the precariousness of Flynn’s position within the Trump administration.
The FBI is currently investigating the conversations between Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, which coincided with the Obama administration’s announcement of new sanctions in retaliation for Russia’s cyber campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election in Trump’s favor. Flynn has long claimed that the sanctions did not come up.
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B.A.R.K: Building Leadership through K9s
We’re seeking to extend a successful on-campus dog therapy program to the Boys and Girls Club to help students in need of academic, social, and emotional support. Funds will help assess and equip new therapy dogs, buy materials for programs, and support an evaluation of a pilot project aimed at supporting well-being in children aged 7-12.
Story Description
“B.A.R.K.” (Building Academic Retention through K9’s), UBC Okanagan’s dog therapy program that supports students experiencing stress, homesickness, and who are feeling disconnected from campus life, is seeking funding to work with the Kelowna Boys and Girls Club. Now in its 4th year at UBC, B.A.R.K. is looking to support vulnerable children through a new program called “B.A.R.K. Downtown: Building Leadership through K9s”. B.A.R.K. is in need of funding to allow a weekly program to be offered at the Okanagan Boys and Girls Club, Martin Avenue location that would see therapy dogs work with children needing academic and social and emotional support.
Challenges & the Impact of Your Support
Recent funding cuts have led to a reduction in our operating budget and though B.A.R.K. is almost entirely volunteer-run, funds are needed to assess new therapy dogs, purchase therapy vests and program materials, and to assess the impact therapy dogs have on the well-being of children attending community after-school programs. By giving your support, you will help enhance children’s academic and social confidence – key skills that build resiliency throughout the middle and high school years.
About B.A.R.K
Established in 2012 by Dr. John-Tyler Binfet of the Faculty of Education, B.A.R.K. regularly sees over 25% of the student body on campus make use of B.A.R.K. programs including a weekly ‘Drop-In’ session (where students can spend time with therapy dogs to reduce their stress and homesickness) and the popular BARK2GO! program that places dogs in various locations across campus to increase access to the therapy dogs. B.A.R.K. has a strong rescue philosophy and 60% of the dogs in the B.A.R.K. program are rescues, many from the local group “Paws it Forward“. Findings from B.A.R.K. studies will soon appear in the top animal therapy journal Anthrozoos.
Project Ended
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Representational image Representational image
By Binson Thomas
CYCLE KATTA, a non-commercial platform that has been representing cyclists since 2015, organised a session on Saturday to plan the construction of the longest cycling track in India. The project, launched by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), aims to convert a 39-km-long stretch along the Tansa water pipelines in the city into a corridor, exclusively meant for cyclists. The Rs 300-crore project stretches from Mulund to Antop Hill, Kurla Bandra and Mahim, covering four major link roads, and will also connect 19 railway, seven metro and four mono rail stations.
Nitin Shukla, in charge of the project for BMC, said, “The idea is to reduce the city’s carbon footprint and also secure the water pipelines by allowing people… or cyclists to move along it.” Shukla was speaking at an event organised by Cycle Katta, in association with D G Ruparel College, Matunga.
The BMC is planning to build the track, hoping that a phase of it can be completed by 2019. Pallavi Doke, managing director of EnviroDesigners, who are designing the track, said, “The onus is on us and the residents to make the project a success.”
The slums and encroachments lined along the 40-km stretch of the water pipelines may pose a challenge to the project, said sources. The Bombay High Court had ordered clearance of the encroachments, speedy execution of which will decide the success of the project.
While most welcomed the project, some of the attendees also criticised the manner in which the city’s first cycle track in Bandra Kurla Complex was planned and maintained.
Pointing at the “faulty design and improper construction” of the BKC cycle track, Manu Trivedi, an infrastructure expert and cycling enthusiast, said, “BKC cycle track is a joke.” Faisal Thakur, a cycle shop owner and cycling enthusiast, demanded that cyclists should be involved in the designing and planning of the project.
Both Shukla and Doke assured that the tendering process is transparent and open to all. They added that suggestions to make the track cyclist-friendly are welcome. Pallavi Doke pointed out that the BMC intends to complete the 1,300-metre pilot project in Mulund before Diwali.
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We review the key developments in Syria, including the suspension of Eastern Ghouta evacuations, reports that the U.S. may pull out of Syria by next fall and the SOHR saying that Russia is looking to strike an evacuation deal with rebels south of Damascus.
Douma Evacuations Put on Hold as Rebels Refuse to Surrender
The evacuation of Jaish al-Islam fighters and their families from the last rebel pocket in Eastern Ghouta was suspended on Thursday following disagreements within the group, Agence France-Presse reported.
The suspension comes after three consecutive days of evacuations from the town of Douma as part of an alleged agreement between Jaish al-Islam and the Damascus government. Syrian state media had said that buses entered Douma on Thursday for the fourth round of transfers but returned without passengers.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based monitor, has said that Jaish al-Islam is divided between those who want to leave and hardliners who want to stay and fight.
More than 4,000 fighters out of a total of 10,000 have reportedly refused to evacuate Eastern Ghouta, SOHR head Rami Abdulrahman told AFP, adding that rebels were trying to negotiate a new agreement with Russian forces.
U.S. May Leave Syria by Fall
President Donald Trump has informed his aides that he wants to pull United States troops out of Syria within five to six months, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
Five unidentified administration officials who were briefed on a White House meeting on Tuesday between Trump and his top aides told the AP that the president was insistent on completing the withdrawal quickly.
Trump “indicated that he did not want to hear in October that the military had been unable to fully defeat the Islamic State and had to remain in Syria for longer,” the AP reported.
The president was also reported to have said he wants to end all U.S. civilian stabilization programs designed to help reconstruct damaged areas in Syria.
Government Eyes Control of Southern Damascus Region
The Syrian government and its allies have called on rebel forces to leave a besieged pocket in southern Damascus or accept state rule, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday.
Damascus and Russia are currently trying to broker an evacuation agreement that would have rebels surrender Yalda, Beit Saham and Babbila in return for a safe exit to opposition-held territory in Syria’s north and an offer of reconciliation for those who want to stay.
The SOHR claims that Syrian government forces are simultaneously preparing to launch a military offensive against Islamic State militants who command a small patchwork of territory in southern parts of the capital.
Recommended Reads
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A whole new generation is about to fall in love with The Office thanks to a delightful new children's book.
The Office: A Day at Dunder Mifflin Elementary, written by Robb Pearlman and gorgeously illustrated by Melanie Demmer, follows a young, suit-clad Michael Scott on his journey to become the "World's Best Line Leader."
He and his fellow students in Ms. Levinson's class (yes, as in Jan) spend the day brainstorming in a meeting, planning and attending a party, and working together to make the perfect line. Amidst adorable depictions of the Dunder Mifflin characters fans know and love, the story sets out to teach kids the importance of teamwork and that it's always OK to ask for help.
A first look at "The Office: A Day at Dunder Mifflin Elementary." Image: MELANIE DEMMER
The Office has been off the air since 2013, but since it started streaming on Netflix and reruns began airing regularly on television, a whole new, younger group of fans has come to love the workplace comedy. In the spirit of sharing The Office with as many age groups as possible, Little, Brown Young Readers and NBC Universal partnered to bring fans a story that they can proudly introduce to kids in their lives who may still be too young to watch the show.
The age-appropriate book is written for children four to eight, but I can confirm that it's a must-read for any adult fan of the show, too. It's packed with an overwhelming amount of references and Easter eggs that only true fans will pick up on — from illustrated Dundie Awards and Kelly's birthday mugs, to Dwight's bobblehead and Creed's sprouted mung beans.
Detailed nods to some of the show's most memorable moments can be found on every page, and there's even a scavenger hunt to take part in while you're flipping through.
The precious illustrations of pint-sized Michael, Dwight (who snags himself an Assistant to the Line Leader position,) Jim, Pam, Angela, Kelly, Ryan, Stanley, Meredith, Phyllis, Kevin, Oscar, Creed, Toby, and more are charming as hell. And with the show's 15th anniversary coming up in March, the book is a another lovely reminder of how The Office has not only endured over the years, but remarkably thrived.
The Office: A Day at Dunder Mifflin Elementary is set to publish on Oct. 6, 2020, but you can pre-order your copy today for $17.99.
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Borg Cube in the TNG episodes "The Neutral Zone" and "Q Who," respectively. Much was revealed about the Borg over the next two decades, but information about their exact origins continues to be elusive. In Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg Queen stated that her species began without synthetic components, while Dr. Crusher noted the assumption that the Borg originated in the Delta Quadrant. Nevertheless, precise information about the Collective's creation and the species that initiated its creation never materialized. In this circumstance, a lack of knowledge may be preferable, as the nature of the unknown adds an element of intrigue to the Borg and evokes a primal fear, much like a cave shrouded in darkness.
TNG re-introduced the popular characters of Leonard "Bones" McCoy and Montgomery "Scotty" Scott from Star Trek: The Original Series in the episodes "Encounter at Farpoint" and "Relics." McCoy, a 137-year-old admiral at the time, saw the Enterprise-D off on her maiden voyage, whereas Captain Picard's crew rescued Captain Scott from a crash site on a Dyson sphere. McCoy soon left to board the U.S.S. Hood, and Scotty procured a shuttlecraft to travel to places unknown. What happened to these two legendary figures? Admiral McCoy's temperament indicated he had no plans of retiring, yet his lack of a uniform made it appear as if he either held a unique position in Starfleet or no longer served in a full-time capacity. Scotty's newfound rejuvenation clearly implied that he hoped to find an active role for himself, and the revelation in Star Trek (2009) that he discovered the equation for transwarp beaming proved his title as a miracle worker held true even in the 24th-century. Yet, while clues do exist, the precise career paths of Admiral McCoy and Captain Scott remain unknown.
The perception of these storylines as unresolved should not be viewed as a criticism, as Star Trek's very nature instills in its writers’ inspiration to go boldly into the unknown, rather than revisit prior story arcs. The fact that so many interesting mysteries perpetuate this fictional universe is a testament to the creative talents behind the episodes. As the popularity of Star Trek continues to increase, the opportunity to discover the answers to some of these questions may arise in the future.
Red Alert! Beam in the latest Star Trek updates! Email Sign Up By subscribing to the Star Trek newsletter, which may include personalized offers from our advertising partners, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data collection and usage practices outlined in our Privacy Policy.
Jay Stobie is a science fiction writer who admits he has a perfectly normal obsession with Star Trek. He can be found on Twitter at @CaptStobie.
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White House counselor Kellyanne Conway says that recent threats have forced her to receive an extra layer of security, and she apparently blames the news media.
"Because of what the press is doing now to me, I have Secret Service protection," Conway told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Monday. "We have packages delivered to my house with white substances."
Joe Casey, a spokesman for the Secret Service, confirmed that Conway is receiving protection from the agency. Conway did not respond to a request for comment.
Related: 'Alternative facts': Why the Trump team is 'planting a flag' in war on media
The interview with Hannity, a reliable booster of President Donald Trump, provided Conway another opportunity to re-litigate a White House pool report on Friday that falsely said a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office.
Time magazine's Zeke Miller, who was responsible for the report, quickly sent a correction to the press corps and apologized to his colleagues.
"I don't say his name publicly because I don't want him to get attacked like I do," Conway told Hannity, referring to Miller.
"That is a shame," she added, "and yes, I hold him to account for it."
Related: Trump says he has 'running war' with media, gets facts wrong, in CIA speech
Conway called it a "crime" that the flap over the MLK bust received "zero coverage," but the White House has strained to keep the matter in the public consciousness. Fox News has obliged, discussing the topic repeatedly since Saturday.
Trump called out Miller by name during a speech at the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters on Saturday, declaring "a running war with the media." And after saying he "accepted" Miller's apology over the weekend, White House press secretary Sean Spicer scolded the reporter again on Monday.
"Where was the apology to the president of the United States?" Spicer said at his first press briefing. "Where was the apology to millions of people who read that and thought how racially insensitive that was?"
Related: Spicer's marathon first White House briefing: Lots of questions, few fireworks
In her interview with Hannity on Monday, Conway's complaints about Miller were paired with calls for a more harmonious relationship between the White House and the press.
"I consider myself someone who has good relations with the press, at least I think so," she said. "I think we have to have a free and open press. What I say about it is that this White House and the media are going to share joint custody of this nation for eight years, and we ought to be able to figure out how to co-parent."
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Police in Dallas say a transgender woman was seriously wounded after being shot several times and they are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
Investigators say a man driving a pickup truck pulled alongside the woman late Friday, yelled slurs about her gender identity and fired several times, striking her in the chest and arm.
Authorities say the woman's injuries prevented her from speaking with them until Sunday when she relayed details of the shooting.
Police are searching for a red four-door pickup with large wheel rims, and released images and details of the crime on their website. The Dallas Police Department is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest and indictment.
Friday's shooting follows three fatal attacks on transgender women in Texas this year — two in Dallas. Weeks after her beating was caught on tape, Muhlaysia Booker, 23, was found shot dead in Dallas on May 18, and a 33-year-old man was arrested in connection with her death and the deaths of two other women. Chynal Lindsey, 26, was found dead in a Dallas lake on June 1, and a 22-year-old man was arrested as a suspect in her killing. Tracy Single, 22, was killed in Houston on July 30, and a 25-year-old man was arrested in connection with her death.
At least 18 transgender women of color, including the three in Texas, have been murdered so far in 2019, according to a count maintained by the Human Rights Campaign.
The issue of violence against transgender women of color has become an issue in the 2020 presidential campaign. At an LGBTQ Presidential Forum in Iowa on Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., drew attention to the violence faced by transgender women of color by reading their names as part of her opening statement.
We do not talk enough about trans Americans, especially trans African Americans and the especially high rates of murder right now. It’s not enough just to be on the Equality Act, we need to have a president who will fight to protect LGBTQ Americans every day. #DemDebate — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) June 27, 2019
Two other Senate Democrats running for president, Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, have used their social media platforms to speak out on the issue, and Booker brought up the issue in the Democratic debate in Miami in June.
"We do not talk enough about trans Americans, especially trans African Americans and the especially high rates of murder right now," Booker tweeted soon after that debate. "It’s not enough just to be on the Equality Act, we need to have a president who will fight to protect LGBTQ Americans every day."
Follow NBC Out on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram
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Fort Rucker in Alabama may have unintentionally hosted the largest gathering of human beings in America during the coronavirus pandemic, while the rest of the country attempts to follow social distancing guidelines.
On April 21, the entirety of Army flight school consisting of about 1,300 soldiers was ordered to Fortenberry Physical Fitness Center to take a urinalysis drug test. A soldier speaking to Connecting Vets on the condition of anonymity said the drug test was ordered because of an unverified but commonly accepted rumor that a warrant officer had posted pictures of himself smoking marijuana on social media.
The drug test and gathering of flight school students lasted late into the night, from 4 p.m. to about 2 a.m. As the flight students became bored, social distancing guidelines were increasingly ignored as they began to socialize, order pizzas and spent time with one another after being quarantined on post for several weeks. Pictures of the event were posted online by U.S. Army W.T.F. Moments.
"At this point, it seemed that all fucks about social distancing were gone. They were already there sharing the same space so they might as well share some pizza. A few of the wittier soldiers brought in couches, hammocks, seats and other Gucci field gear typical from aviators," the source said. Pictures posted on social media show soldiers sleeping on the street beside the curb, bringing out couches to sit on and sharing pizza.
A spokesperson for Fort Rucker told Connecting Vets that the urinalysis was a regularly scheduled event, adding that, "the soldiers were required to wear masks and maintain six-foot social distancing procedures during this event as unit cadre were present assist with that."
A source present at the event described the situation, saying that the unit's command sergeant major. and several officers, "attempted to enforce'social distancing' but it fell on deaf ears. The mass urinalysis lacked planning, and to those being tested, it seemed illogical to expect 1,300 people to perform social distancing outside of a gym. By 2000 (8 p.m.) the warrant officers began doing what warrant officers do in illogical situations, disobey them."
The source added, "This rodeo went into wee (pun intended) hours of the morning, ending around 0200-0300 this morning. And that is how Fort Rucker had the largest gathering in the U.S."
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Reach Jack Murphy: [email protected] or @JackMurphyRGR.
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, tied in part to the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict.
But 2017 and 2018 have been in some ways even worse for Western Jews. After a Syrian migrant in Berlin used his belt to whip a young man wearing a kippah in early 2018, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany implored Jews to stop wearing kippahs for their safety. In response, Aviv Zonabend, a city councillor in Toulouse, France, said, “The future of the Jewish people in Europe is hopeless.” Zonabend’s pessimistic prediction came against the backdrop of the brutal murder of a Parisian Holocaust survivor in late March and the release of French police statistics showing that 2017 saw a 26 percent increase in antisemitic incidents from 2016.
After Trump’s 2017 decision to move America’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a synagogue in Gothenburg, Sweden, was firebombed and there was a protest in Malmö where people chanted, “We want our freedom back, and we’re going to shoot the Jews!” In Canada, B’nai Brith registered 2017 as the second year in a row where incidents of antisemitism have broken records, and in the United States, the FBI reported a 37 percent jump in incidents of antisemitic hate crimes between 2016 and 2017. Then, in October 2018, eleven Jews were murdered at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in what was likely the deadliest antisemitic massacre in US history.
The resurgence of antisemitism and populist nationalism over the last several years led Glied to tell the CBC, right before his speech at the Saskatoon cathedral, “I never expected at this age that I would see the world turning again.”
After Glied had finished his speech, a child asked, “If you could go back in time, what would you do to change the course of history?”
Glied’s eyebrows rose with surprise, his mouth pursed into a smile, and he closed his eyes for a moment and bowed his head. Then he said, “I’m not that smart or that intelligent to be able to change these terrible things that are happening in the world. But, but,” he continued, a look of earnest sincerity replacing the humour in his eyes, “I would try to urge everybody to think, and after they thought out—as I feel they must think the right thing—to do what they are urged to do, to do the right thing.”
Max Binks-Collier Max Binks-Collier is a writer in Toronto. His work has appeared in Maisonneuve magazine, among other publications.
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Only the best deals on Verge-approved gadgets get the Verge Deals stamp of approval, so if you're looking for a deal on your next gadget or gift from major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and more, this is the place to be.
Need a new computer for back to school or any other reason? Samsung has launched a sale that lasts until July 28th, and it might have what you’re looking for. We’re seeing some decent savings on a few of Samsung’s recent laptops. But that’s not all. Its Windows Mixed Reality headset is cheaper now, as are a bunch of TVs and other products.
Starting with a laptop that’s best for those who most often spend time on social media, YouTube, or working on documents, the Samsung Chromebook Plus, pictured up top, is now $399 (usually $499).
Loaded with Google’s Chrome OS with support for Android apps (and a built-in pen to take notes on the screen), Samsung’s well-built 2-in-1 Chromebook offers the best of a laptop and tablet without stranding you too far on either end. Laptops running Chrome OS remain a safer bet than tablets for now, too.
Similarly versatile is the Samsung Notebook 9 Spin 13.3-inch laptop, which is now discounted $300 to bring the price down to a more palatable $1,099. This isn’t the most affordable 2-in-1 Windows 10 machine out there, and it has some of the Notebook 9 Pro’s same design annoyances, like a power button that’s too close to the microSD slot. Despite this, it’s a solid value based on its specs and a bright LED display that outputs at 3200 x 1800 resolution. Keep in mind that this computer’s integrated graphics can’t play games at its native display resolution. Movies, on the other hand, should look glorious.
If gaming is something you see yourself doing a lot of, you might want to consider Samsung’s Notebook Odyssey over the Spin. It’s going to be more proficient at the task. Equipped with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1060 and a high-end Intel Core i7 processor (albeit from the last generation of chips), this machine can play through most of today’s popular PC games without too much in the way of compromises.
The Odyssey goes toe-to-toe with other gaming laptops in terms of design, but it claims to speed ahead with its 10.5-hour battery life. This model is now $1,199, which is $400 off of its usual price.
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BLACKPINK looked back on 2017 and opened up about their goals for this year in an interview at the 27th Seoul Music Awards.
While talking about how 2017 was for them, Jisoo said, “I don’t think we were able to showcase a variety of activities as a team. But it was a year where each member took on new challenges like radio shows, variety programs, and being MCs.” Jennie added, “We were only able to have one round of musical promotions, and we had a lot of time to practice and prepare a better version of ourselves as musicians.” Lisa stated, “We made our debut in Japan last year. It was nice to be able to meet our international fans as well,” while Rosé stated, “It was a year for us to think about what we can do to show a new side of ourselves as singers in our next album.”
The members were also asked about the album they are preparing to release this year and Jennie said, “In ‘As If It’s Your Last,’ we showcased a brighter and more bubbly side of ourselves than before. I think we’ll be coming back with a more powerful concept this time,” and Jisoo stated, “We always want to try out new concepts. A lot of people told us that ‘As If It’s Your Last’ was different from our previous songs, and I hope we hear that for our upcoming album too.” Rosé chimed in with, “I hope we hear that we’ve grown and matured as singers. We’ve been thinking about our musical path a lot. And I hope people are able to see that in our songs.”
Finally, BLACKPINK shared their goals for 2018. Jisoo stated that she hopes 2018 is a year where they can do a lot of the things that fans have been hoping for as she added, “Repaying our fans for waiting for us and supporting us is always on our minds. I hope we’re able to do a lot of different activities for our fans.”
Jennie concluded the interview with, “We hope to become a group that excels in a variety of fields. We appeared on our first variety show last year, and I hope we continue to grow into a group that is good at everything. We’ve begun showing a funnier side to ourselves through ‘BLACKPINK House,’ which began airing on January 6 on JTBC2, and we hope people will be excited for what we’ve got planned.”
Source (1)
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A premiere: Until this point, every notebook was equipped with an LC (liquid crystal) display. Only plasma was an alternative for many years, but it was not a real alternative to LCDs for mobile applications due to its characteristics, mainly the high power consumption. We can now see a trend towards another technology, which might be able to replace the LCD technology. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) were initially used for very small displays, and a lot of modern smartphones use them. For about the last year, OLED TVs have been available, but they are still expensive. And now we have the first OLED notebook.
The 14-inch panel has the native resolution of 2560x1440 pixels (WQHD) with a 16:9 aspect ratio – the result is a pixel density of 210 PPI, so the presentation is vivid and sharp. There is an additional glass layer on top of the screen, so it is a glossy display. You can also get the ThinkPad X1 Yoga with a "regular" IPS-LCD, either with the same QHD or Full HD (1920x1080 pixels) resolution. These displays are, contrary to the OLED model, equipped with an anti-glare coating, so they are semi-glossy / semi-matte.
We continue with the measurement results of the OLED display: Lenovo advertises a luminance of 300 cd/m² for the OLED panel. The display does manage this value, but only if there is almost no white content at all, where we can measure up to 305 cd/m². The situation is complicated because the X1 Yoga has an automatic brightness control: The more white you see on the panel, the darker it gets, and the other way around. The dimming process is so fast that the user does not notice it, so worries about an effect similar to the Dell XPS 13 with its aggressive brightness control are unfounded. The brightness distribution of the panel is very good at 91%. The pixels of the OLED display are illuminated, so there is obviously no additional background illumination. This also means there is absolutely no backlight bleeding. There are no annoying bright spots even when you slightly twist the panel.
We compare the OLED panel with the IPS sibling as well as the best LCDs you can see as references for good notebook IPS displays – like the Surface Book or the MacBook Pro 13, or the EliteBook 1040 G3 with a 14-inch QHD-IPS display as a business rival. The luminance of the OLED falls behind very good LCDs, but we have to mention that the other two announced OLED notebooks are advertised with a maximum luminance of 300 cd/m² as well – so there is currently no brighter OLED panel for a notebook.
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Do you make a New Year’s resolution year after year, yet never succeed to fulfill that goal? You are not alone, in fact only 8% of Americans that set a resolution, actually stick to it. But there are many ways to make sure you work towards your goal week after week. Start by putting your best foot forward from the beginning, and then follow the next 8 steps throughout the year.
Chose a resolution that matches your personality. Are you an adventurer? Think of a goal you have that can be in the outdoors or in a new place. By sticking to your own comfort zone, you are more likely to achieve your resolution. If you need help finding your lifestyle personality, try the Traitify Core assessment. Look out for obstacles. It’s a good idea to physically write down any obstacles that may stand in your way. You will have something to look back on and remember why you are working towards this goal. Don’t have a plan B. Make a resolution that you either stick to completely, or you can’t succeed at all. If you have something to fall back on, you are more likely to forget your original goal. Be specific in what you want to do, and leave it at that. Break it up. Relating to #3, take that single resolution, and break it up into manageable parts. Is your goal to go to the gym 3 times a week? Start off with one time a week, and make your way towards 3 times a week a month or so into the new year. Start right away. Chose a resolution that you can begin working towards on January 1st. Is your goal to save more in the New Year? Open a savings account and deposit your first amount of money- even if it’s only $25. Buddy up. Ask around to find someone willing to stick to a similar resolution. Having another person to push you towards your goal will keep it in the front of your mind, and it also helps that most of us have somewhat of a competitive side. Put money on it. You can use things like DietBet or even trust someone in your real life with a “prize” of sorts if you keep your resolution. Monetary value will keep you going towards your goals — doesn’t everyone want to buy themselves something nice as a reward? Change your thinking. Don’t give up when your entire life doesn’t change from your New Year’s resolution. Whatever your goal is, it doesn’t need to be a life-changing experience. In fact, keeping it smaller is important and manageable.
Now that the steps are clear and simple, get to making that resolution. Will you be a part of the 8% in 2016?
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Based on Esposito's life, the single-camera entry will follow the lives of two very different sisters in their 30s.
You're the Worst creator Stephen Falk is ready to explore gender and sexuality for FX.
Falk is teaming with Cameron Esposito for an untitled comedy that is based on the life of the stand-up comedian, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The single-camera entry follows the relationship between Cameron (played by Esposito) and Eve, two very different sisters in their early 30s — one straight and one gay. The potential series, which is in development at FX, is poised to explore the spectrum of gender, sexuality, options and mistakes that exist in 2016. It's described as an update on the "can she have it all" premise to "What if she had it all and it sucked so bad she had to start again." Esposito is set to star in the comedy about adulthood without a finish line.
Falk and Esposito are set to pen the script and exec produce alongside Brillstein Entertainment Partners. FX declined comment.
The Esposito vehicle marks the third sale for Falk under his rich overall deal with FX Productions and FX Networks. The Orange Is the New Black and Weeds alum, whose critical darling FXX comedy returns this year for a third season, is also reteaming with three You're the Worst writers for two different comedies for FX. The first, from Alison Bennett, is a female take on the "you can't go home again" story. Falk and Bennett will co-write the script. The second, Join Me, is from YTW scribes Franklin Hardy and Shane Kosakowski, who will pen the adaptation of the book of the same name by Danny Wallace. Falk exec produces.
Out comic Esposito, meanwhile, has seen her career take off over the past few years. The L.A.-based stand-up comic, actress and writer has had recurring roles on IFC's Maron and recently wrapped a supporting role in the feature Mother's Day, starring Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson. Her indie features Sleight and First Girl I Loved were both Sundance 2016 selections, with a third, Operator, set to bow at South by Southwest. Her third album and debut stand-up special, Marriage Material, is due March 24 on NBC's Digital platform Seeso, where Esposito and her wife, Rhea Butcher, are also prepping stand-up series Take My Wife. Her debut book will be released this year by Grand Central Publishing.
Falk is repped by UTA and Jackoway Tyerman; Esposito is with Gersh, Brillstein and Hansen Jacobson.
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by boosting your testosterone.
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When testosterone levels go down, your life comes to a standstill. You feel lazy, grumpy and not a lovable person. Your muscle mass seems to be a lost interest for you. In order to kick the frustration out of your life, you need TestoFuel, a supplement.
Testimonials
Prior to purchase of any product or before availing any service, we always check with its reviews, whether any of our friends or relatives have tried it, or what the people are saying about it. Yes, it is a human thing to do. Why not follow the same trend with respect to TestoFuel? So, here are some of the client testimonials.
Mr. Olympia Master Robby Robinson: He recommends TestoFuel for anyone who wants to build intense muscle mass without opting for other dangerous substances. He further asserts that TestoFuel will give your body the essential nutrients so that your hormones are well secreted. - Mr. Olympia Master Robby Robinson Georgia, U.S.
This client felt a boost of energy sweeping over his body. He experienced considerable increase of muscle mass, his arms increased by 2 inches while his chest increased by 3 inches. He feels that TestoFuel is the best thing as compared to other harmful steroids. He admires the amazing services of the company right from packaging to delivery time. - Starc T Perth, Australia
This client experienced a gradual change in the body after consuming TestoFuel. You feel a vibrant coordination link between his mind and his body. He feels that TestoFuel works not matter what your age is, and he has a higher level of self-confidence and self-esteem. - Bryant S London, UK
Thus, you can check the images of clients how they are experiencing massive changes in their bodies as well as in their mindsets due to TestoFuel.
So, TestoFuel fuels your body with the requisite amount of energy and builds your lean muscle mass in the best possible manner. If you are searching for a specific bodybuilding supplement that will boost up your testosterone levels and will help you in the path of becoming the most powerful bodybuilder, then TestoFuel could be a wise choice. Simply incorporate it as your daily ritual by consuming 4 capsules in a day. You could see the amazing effects of this supplement within a few weeks but for better results, be patient for at least 2 months.
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BANGALORE: In a shocking incident that again brought to light the poor medical facilities provided for local football tournaments, a 27-year-old player died on Wednesday after he collapsed at the Bangalore Football Stadium during a league match.Venkatesh, a midfielder for A-division side Bangalore Mars, came in as substitute in the 73rd minute before collapsing in the dying minutes of the match. The Bangalore District Football Association, which annually organises the Super, 'A', 'B' and 'C' divisions, allegedly did not have a doctor present on the field. A physio and players rushed in and tried standard medical procedures on Venkatesh, who by now was having fits, teammate Janardhan said.Then came the crunch - no ambulance. Though some BDFA members denied the allegation, team manager Shiva, who is also a BDFA member, said there was a tempo on standby at the eastern wing of the stadium. "The only reason we couldn't get it out in time was that there were many two wheelers parked around it," he said.Players and officials carried Venkatesh in their arms off the field, hired an auto rickshaw and rushed him to Hosmat Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. "There was no pulse or respiration. We gave him CPR and defibrillator shocks, but it was too late," Hosmat vice-president Dr Ajith Benedict Royan said.Preliminary post-mortem reports agreed with Dr Royan's suggestion that Venkatesh died of cardiac arrest. "There were no external injuries. This is also known as Sudden Death Syndrome, which is common among footballers. Maybe if he had been given oxygen or proper medical care at the time of the incident, he could have stood a chance," Dr Royan added.Venkatesh has represented Karnataka at the junior and sub-junior levels and has been with Mars for the last five years. His father Dhanraj works as a fitter at 515 Army Base Workshop and his mother Sushila is a housewife. He has a younger sister doing her SSLC.Meanwhile, violence erupted at the stadium after friends and kin of Venkatesh disrupted the Super Division match between ASC and ADE, throwing chairs onto the field demanding action. They are also planning to file a case against the BDFA.BDFA chairman MP Swamy, on being contacted, said, "I don't know what exactly happened but we'll look into it." The Karnataka State Football Association has announced Rs 1 lakh as compensation.Shantinagar MLA NA Haris also announced the same amount as compensation, but warned the KSFA that if proper medical facilities are not provided in future, he will ensure that such tournaments are banned.
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Australia is grappling with a seemingly endless summer, as every state and territory swelters through an unseasonally hot start to autumn.
The country is experiencing warm weather as the mercury climbs above average in most areas, during a month usually reserved for a cool change, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has said.
Only small areas along the southern coast of Western Australia and along the central Queensland coast have recorded below average maximum temperatures so far this month.
BoM senior climatologist David Martin said the hot start to autumn showed a "clear trend" toward warmer weather across the country.
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"Some of the more significant heatwaves during spring and autumn have occurred when conditions have been dry, and it has been a very dry second half to the monsoon season," he said.
Melbourne sweltered through its hottest March night on record on Tuesday night, when temperatures hovered at 30 degrees Celsius, only dipping slightly after midnight.
A severe heatwave has been sweeping Victoria for almost a week, and the temperature on Tuesday night smashed the previous record of 26.9C set in 2008.
Hot conditions continued in the north of the state on Wednesday, with temperatures reaching as high as 39C, before an afternoon cool change into the mid 20s.
In ACT, Canberra Wednesday marked more than eight consecutive March days of above 30C.
Sydney has recorded 33 consecutive days above 26C and the forecast shows the warm weather is set to continue for at least another week.
Unusual weather has also impacted typically-dry South Australia, which is sweating under a blanket of humidity and heavy rain.
Mr Martin put the warm weather down to a slow-moving high pressure ridge south of Australia, particularly over the south Tasman Sea.
He said the ridge had persistently directed warm air over south-east Australia.
"Those high pressure systems have also prevented cold air coming up from the Southern Ocean, so we've had these runs of consecutive warm days," Mr Martin said.
"Ocean temperatures around the country have also been persistently warmer than usual."
Hot days expected to continue
Mr Martin said the hot weather matched the Climate Outlook released late last month, which forecast warmer than average daytime temperatures during autumn.
"Above-average temperatures are likely to continue for much of the country for the week ahead, at least until next Tuesday, March 15," he said.
After that, the country's south-west will heat up, with Perth forecast to have temperatures above 35C on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of next week.
"Forecast rainfall in central and northern parts of the country may cool those areas in the week ahead," Mr Martin said.
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. McCullough (1887-1946), who was deemed "Oregon's Master Bridge Builder." Among those he designed are the Old Youngs Bay Bridge in Astoria; the Wilson River Bridge near Tillamook; the Depoe Bay Bridge; the Rock Creek Bridge; the Yaquina Bay Bridge; the Cummins Creek Bridge; the Cape Creek Bridge, the Siuslaw River Bridge; the Coos Bay Bridge; and the Rogue River Bridge.
Highest bridge:
Thomas Creek Bridge just north of Brookings is 345 feet high.
Parks:
There are 77 developed state parks along the coast.
Largest cities
(recent estimates): Coos Bay (16,000), Newport (10,000), Astoria (9,500); Florence (8,400); Lincoln City, 8,000; Brookings (6,400); Seaside (6,550); Tillamook (5,000)
Walkoski isn't the only one who thinks West was a visionary. Lucy Gibson, spokeswoman for the
, goes one step further, suggesting he must have been some sort of time traveler.
"Where did he come up with the foresight to even start talking about this way back when it was customary to homestead and a lay a stake to a piece of land?" Gibson ponders. "I would have loved to have been sitting in the drawing room with the whiskey and cigars. How did that conversation even begin? He was a complete and total visionary."
West was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada on May 20, 1873, and came to Oregon when he was 4 years old, according to the Oregon Encyclopedia. He grew up to be the 14th governor of the state.
In 1911, he was visited by President Theodore Roosevelt, who, according to "The Crusade to Save Oregon's Scenery," wrote of his meeting with West, "I found a man more intelligently alive to the beauty of nature... and more keenly appreciative of how much this natural beauty should mean to civilized mankind, than any other man I have ever met holding high political position..."
And so it is today, Oregonians continue to thank the man who 100 years ago saved their beaches.
"There's only one other place that has what we have and that would be Hawaii," says Gibson. "This morning I had a lady call me from California and she was so excited to be able to come here because she knew she would be able to get anywhere on the beach.
"She said, 'We don't have that here.' She was so stunned, so impressed by that. Living here, we don't realize people don't have that in other places."
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With Selma expanding into wide-release this week, director Ava DuVernay spoke to Rolling Stone about the criticism her film is receiving from certain circles when it comes to the portrayal of former President Lyndon B. Johnson in relation to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.
The controversy began in earnest when former Johnson Administration domestic affairs chief Joseph A. Califano, Jr. penned an op-ed for the Washington Post in which he claimed the film “falsely portrays President Lyndon B. Johnson as being at odds with Martin Luther King Jr. and even using the FBI to discredit him, as only reluctantly behind the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and as opposed to the Selma march itself.”
“In fact, Selma was LBJ’s idea,” Califano, Jr. continued. “He considered the Voting Rights Act his greatest legislative achievement, [and] he viewed King as an essential partner in getting it enacted.”
Responding to that and similar criticism to Rolling Stone, DuVernay said:
“Every filmmaker imbues a movie with their own point of view. The script was the LBJ/King thing, but originally, it was much more slanted to Johnson. I wasn’t interested in making a white-savior movie; I was interested in making a movie centered on the people of Selma. You have to bring in some context for what it was like to live in the racial terrorism that was going on in the deep south at that time. The four little girls have to be there, and then you have to bring in the women. So I started adding women. This is a dramatization of the events. But what’s important for me as a student of this time in history is to not deify what the president did. Johnson has been hailed as a hero of that time, and he was, but we’re talking about a reluctant hero. He was cajoled and pushed, he was protective of a legacy — he was not doing things out of the goodness of his heart. Does it make it any worse or any better? I don’t think so. History is history and he did do it eventually. But there was some process to it that was important to show.”
She did go on to admit that many other presidents could not have passed the Civil Right Act, “or wouldn’t have even if they could.”
Read the full interview at rollingstone.com.
[Photo via Paramount]
— —
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Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
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Market mechanisms alone will not solve the problems that stem from Russia’s distorted economic geography. To reconcentrate its population in the west and correct the misallocations in its economy, Russia will need active, even bold, state policies. Even so, those policies will have to be modest in their expectations. The Stalinist process that put people in Siberia in the first place cannot be reversed wholesale. People will not move en masse, and the goal is not, in any case, to “empty out” this resource-rich region, but to help it move closer to the kinds of economic activity, and thus the population, that might have been expected under market conditions.
One big obstacle to effecting change will be the governors, oligarchs, and others based in Siberia who have vested interests in continued regional subsidies and redevelopment programs. President Putin and other national leaders will have to place themselves above such regional interests. They should send out clear signals that the future of Russia (and, consequently, also of Siberia) depends on a strong, integrated, and connected Russia, which will not be achieved if the government continually pumps resources—not least, human resources—out of more productive areas and into Siberia.
Russia needs to achieve, as best it can, a match between its most productive (or potentially most productive) regions and its most productive capital, including people. That involves putting Siberia in its proper context—which means, in at least one respect, reviving the ancient myth of Siberia’s promise. The wealth of Siberia is not Siberia’s. It is Russia’s. It so happens that much of Russia’s wealth—and the bulk of its natural resources—are located in Siberia. But Siberia cannot claim these as its own, as much as the oligarchs and local government officials there may want to.
Russian leaders do not face a choice of developing Siberia or rejecting it and casting it off. As they make it possible for most of Siberia’s people to move elsewhere, they can develop the region’s resources realistically—reducing its dependency on huge fixed pools of labor and shifting to more technologically intensive methods of extraction and temporary work schemes.
Today, Siberia’s resources are being developed at far too high a price. Enterprises outside the energy sector cannot generate sufficient revenues to pay high wages to attract new labor or to keep the existing labor force. Instead, administrative, nonmarket mechanisms keep people in place—heavily subsidized to the detriment of Russia as a whole. Siberia’s resources can contribute to Russia’s future prosperity, and the regional economy can one day be viable, but not if the Russian government persists in trying to maintain the cities and industries that communist planners left for it out in the cold.
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If you’ve ever flown out of National Airport, you might try to pick out the geographic landmarks you recognize: the Washington Monument, Rock Creek Park, or the Potomac River. Next time you’re heading west, keep an eye on the river as it passes through Maryland and Virginia, and you’ll notice one big difference between each state.
Virginia sprawl on the left, Maryland farms on the right. Photos by the author.
This is a photo I took Sunday morning when I flew to San Francisco. On the Virginia side, in Fairfax and Loudoun counties, there are all the typical signs of suburban sprawl: subdivisions, freeways, and shopping centers. On the Maryland side, in Montgomery County, there’s…not very much.
That’s because for over fifty years, Montgomery County has aggressively tried to protect its open space. In 1964, the county’s General Plan said that growth should cluster along major highway and rail corridors leading from the District, and that the spaces in between should be preserved.
In 1980, the county made it official with the 93,000-acre Agricultural Reserve, which covers one-third of the county will remain farmland and nature forever. (Combine that with the county’s 34,000-acre park system, and nearly half of the county is open space.)
That decision has lasting effects today. Montgomery County residents benefit from an abundance of open space for recreation, enjoying nature, and of course, keeping our air and water clean.
In order to preserve this open space, we have to accommodate growth elsewhere in the county, particularly in our town centers like Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Rockville. People who try to stop development in their close-in communities may not feel they benefit from open space 30 miles away. But the urban and suburban parts of our region benefit from the Ag Reserve too.
Allowing inside-the-Beltway communities like Bethesda and Silver Spring to grow lets us preserve open space.
Maryland has an abundance of green space thanks to dense urban development
By focusing growth and investment in existing communities, we get thriving downtowns that support local businesses and local culture, and less traffic as people who live closer in can drive less or not at all. We also spend less money building public infrastructure, like roads and utility lines, to far-flung areas, while generating tax revenue to support the infrastructure we do need. (And obviously, those places can and will have open space.)
This is the path Maryland, and Montgomery County, chose over 50 years ago. So far, it’s working pretty well. And you don’t have to get in a plane to see it.
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Missing: Buzzy the Audio Animatronic. Last seen wearing a bomber jacket, green cap, and glasses. If you see him, please report to #FindBuzzy.
Social media is buzzing right now about Buzzy, the audio-animatronic that was stolen right from Epcot recently. Cranium Command is an old attraction that was part of the Wonders of Life Pavilion. The attraction starred Buzzy, an audio-animatronic member of the Cranium Command, as he helps navigate the daily struggles of a young boy from inside his head. It’s hard to believe, but Buzzy was stolen from the attraction and removed from Epcot without anyone noticing. And he’s still missing.
This is Buzzy. He used to be a part of Cranium Command at EPCOT before the attraction closed. He was to be saved as a part of Disney parks history. He has been stolen. If you recognize him or know of his whereabouts or see listings on merchant sites contact OCPD! pic.twitter.com/0VLKarhbtH — Miss Moth (@MissMothTweets) December 22, 2018
Cranium Command has sat dormant in the Wonders of Life Pavilion at Epcot since January 2007. The space between attractions in the pavilion has been used several times as a Festival Center since then. While Body Wars has been mostly destroyed, Cranium Command was pretty much left to rot. The theater is actually set to be condemned soon for some structural issues according to WDWNT sources, and Disney chose this route over demolition. Chances are that the perpetrator knew this. So how could our beloved audio-animatronic Buzzy go missing? And why?
https://twitter.com/BDDWillNeverDie/status/1076465108174491648
Stealing an audio animatronic requires two things: technical knowledge of how to disconnect it and a team of people to carry it, as they are quite heavy. How a company as large as the Walt Disney Company could be unaware of a team of people trespassing into a building and doing this is mind-boggling. Someone would need to have some experience to cut a pressurized hydraulic line. According to sources, there was hydraulic oil spilled everywhere when he was removed by the culprits.
After disconnecting Buzzy, it would also take more than one person to carry him out. How does something like this happen without Disney security noticing? This also raises safety concerns for guests, as if someone without authorization drove a truck into a backstage area in a park to do something like this, what would stop someone with more serious intentions?
WDWNT will keep you up to date on the situation as we find out more.
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Dogfish Head has been part of the RateBeer.com network for quite some time. In fact, we’re fans of almost all websites, magazines, newsletters and blogs that help educate the public and inspire the consumption of great beer; publications that are passionate about sharing the love for our vibrant craft brewing renaissance that is now gaining traction around the globe. For many years, RateBeer, along with entities like BeerAdvocate, All About Beer, Draft, Celebrator, Ale Street, Brewing News and many more have championed this burgeoning and blossoming craft beer community in ways that are consistent with journalistic integrity.
We were troubled by the announcement last week that ZX Ventures, which is fully owned by the global conglomerate Anheuser-Busch InBev, has purchased a portion of RateBeer. We believe this is a direct violation of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics and a blatant conflict of interest. The SPJ’s Code of Ethics includes a section called “Act Independently” and includes the following guidelines:
It is our strong opinion that ABI’s ownership of RateBeer, and other properties positioned to cover the craft brewing community like October and thebeernecessities.com is in direct conflict with multiple guidelines listed above.
In the past, as executive editor of Pallet, a print magazine project that celebrated global craft beer culture, neither I nor Dogfish Head held any stake in the publication. As a company, Dogfish Head continually shows support for various craft beer publications through paid advertising campaigns.
To that end, we have respectfully asked Anheuser-Busch InBev and RateBeer to remove all Dogfish Head beer reviews and mentions on the RateBeer website immediately. It just doesn’t seem right for a brewer of any kind to be in a position to potentially manipulate what consumers are hearing and saying about beers, how they are rated and which ones are receiving extra publicity on what might appear to be a legitimate, 100 percent user-generated platform. It is our opinion that this initiative and others are ethically dubious and that the lack of transparency is troubling.
To our fellow independently-owned brewers, we encourage you to join us in this effort to ensure consumers continue to get the best and most accurate information about their beers. For everyone else, we encourage you to shift the sharing of your beer opinions and reviews to another platform that remains loyal to the principles of journalistic integrity. America’s Independence Day is just around the corner. Support the indie craft brewing movement!
Cheers,
Sam
For more information on the Society of Professional Journalism, please log on to their website:
https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp.
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Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 9(4):479–497
49. Haydicky J et al (2015) Evaluation of MBCT for adolescents with ADHD and their parents: impact on individual and family functioning. J Child Family Stud 24(1):76–94
50. van de Weijer-Bergsma E et al (2012) The effectiveness of mindfulness training on behavioral problems and attentional functioning in adolescents with ADHD. J Child Fam Stud 21(5):775–787
51. van der Oord S, Bögels SM, Peijnenburg D (2012) The effectiveness of mindfulness training for children with ADHD and mindful parenting for their parents. J Child Fam Stud 21(1):139–147
52. Zhang D, et al (2016) Mindfulness-based intervention for Chinese children with ADHD and their parents: a pilot mixed-method study. Mindfulness. doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0660-3
53. Abadi MS, Madgaonkar J, Venkatesan S (2008) Effect of yoga on children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Psychological Studies 53(2):154–159
54. Jensen PS, Kenny DT (2004) The effects of yoga on the attention and behavior of boys with Attention-Deficit/hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). J Atten Disord 7(4):205–216
55. Mehta S, et al (2011) Multimodal behavior program for ADHD incorporating yoga and implemented by high school volunteers: a pilot study. ISRN Pediatrics. p 5p–5p
56. Mehta S, et al (2012) Peer-mediated multimodal intervention program for the treatment of children with ADHD in India: one-year followup. ISRN Pediatrics. p 1–7
57. Murrell AR et al (2015) Acting out to ACTing on: a preliminary investigation in youth with ADHD and co-morbid disorders. J Child Fam Stud 24(7):2174–2181
58. Singh NN et al (2016) Effects of Samatha meditation on active academic engagement and math performance of students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Mindfulness 7(1):68–75
59. Haydicky J et al (2012) Evaluation of a mindfulness-based intervention for adolescents with learning disabilities and co-occurring ADHD and anxiety. Mindfulness 3(2):151–164
60. Carboni JA, Roach AT, Fredrick LD (2013) Impact of mindfulness training on the behavior of elementary students with attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder. Res Human Dev 10(3):234–251
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On April 13, 2017, the U.S. military dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb in its arsenal on eastern Afghanistan in an area known to be populated with ISIS militants. The 22,000-pound GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, also referred to as the “Mother Of All Bombs (MOAB),” was dropped on an ISIS-K cave and tunnel system in the Achin district of the Nangarhar Province at 7:32 p.m. local time.
ISIS-K is also known as the Khorasan group and is based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. According to U.S. and Afghan officials, 94 ISIS-K fighters, including four commanders were killed in the strike and no civilians were injured.
According to officials, the strike was designed to maximize the destruction of ISIS-K fighters and facilities while minimizing the risk of Afghan and U.S. forces conducting clearing operations in the area.
- ADVERTISEMENT -
“Following efforts to defeat ISIS-K in #Nangarhar, U.S. Forces -#AFG conducted strike on ISIS-K tunnel complex in Achin district,” the office of the President of Afghanistan tweeted.
“The air strike was designed to support efforts of the ANSF and U.S. Forces as well as minimize the risk to ANSF and the U.S. Forces…conducting clearing operations in the region.”
“Precautions were taken to avoid civilian casualties with this airstrike,” the President of Afghanistan’s office continued.
“Assessment of the casualties to ISIS-K is in the process,” they concluded.
Commander of the U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) General John Nicholson spoke to reporters from Afghanistan’s Government Media Information Center.
“This was the right weapon against the right target,” Gen. Nicholson said, before emphasizing the brutality of the ISIS-K fighters.
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast was dropped from the cargo door of a United States Air Force Lockheed MC-130 and struck an ISIS-K cave and tunnel system, which had been created by Mujahideen fighters in the 1980s.
The bomb was dropped just days after U.S. Army Special Forces soldier, Army Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar was killed by small arms fire in Nangarhar Province.
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast was first tested in March 2003, just a few short days before the Iraq War began.
Watch aerial footage of the MOAB bomb striking ISIS below:
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so you might as well draw the line at 1920s Providence, Rhode Island, and call everywhere else from Boston all the way to the unspeakable abyss-city of Y’ha-nthlei just different degrees of horribleness.)
Overall I am not 100% convinced either way. Maybe some traditional cultures are worse than universal culture and others are better? Mostly the confusion makes me want to err on the side of allowing people to go either direction as they see fit, barring atrocities. Which are of course hard to define.
I like the Jewish idea of the Noahide Laws, where the Jews say “We are not going to impose our values on anyone else…except these seven values which we think are incredibly important and breaking them is totally beyond the pale.” Sometimes I wish universal culture would just establish a couple of clear Noahide Laws – two of them could be “no slavery” and “no eye-gouging” – and then agree to bomb/sanction/drone any culture that breaks them while leaving other cultures alone. On the other hand, I also understand universal culture well enough to know that two minutes after the first set of Noahide Laws were established, somebody would propose amending them to include something about how every culture must protect transgender bathroom rights or else be cleansed from the face of the Earth by fire and sword. I’m not sure how to prevent this, or if preventing it is even desirable. This seems like the same question as the original question, only one meta-level up and without any clear intuition to help me solve it. I guess this is another reason I continue to be attracted to the idea of Archipelago.
But I think that none of this makes sense unless we abandon the idea that “universal culture” and “western culture” are one and the same. I think when Caplan’s debate opponent talked about “protecting Western culture”, he was referring to something genuinely fragile and threatened.
I also think he probably cheated by saying we needed to protect it because it was responsible for so many great advances, like Coca-Cola and egalitarian gender norms. I don’t think that’s fair. I think it’s a culture much like Tibetan or Indian culture, pretty neat in its own way, possibly extra interesting as the first culture to learn the art of summoning entities from beyond the void. Mostly I’m just happy that it exists in the same way I’m happy that pandas and gorillas exist, a basic delight in the diversity of the world. I think it can be defended in those terms without having to resolve the debate on how many of its achievements are truly its own.
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TURKISH troops rained shells down upon northern Syria today in a bid to deter Damascus government forces from joining their erstwhile Kurdish enemies to fight off Turkey’s invasion.
Pro-Ankara and pro-Damascus sources reported heavy shelling in and around the towns of Harbul, Maryamin, Sheikh Issa, Tal Riffat and Tarandah as well as numerous villages along the main road that leads from Syrian army-held territory into Afrin.
State news agency Sana reported hours earlier that Syrian government forces would enter the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin “within hours” following an agreement with the YPG fighters that control the area.
Syrian troops and pro-government militia were mustering in northern Aleppo this afternoon, reportedly waiting for a green light to continue into Afrin.
Senior Kurdish official Badran Jia Kurd told Reuters today that government troops would be allowed along the border to ward off further Turkish military activity and would enter Afrin within two days.
And a Syrian Kurdish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press: “The army will set up military positions in the border area and the agreement is that the Syrian army and the YPG will defend Syria together.”
But Brusk Hasake, YPG spokesman in Afrin, denied that any agreement had been reached with Damascus.
“The information is not true,” he told Russia’s Sputnik news agency. “We have repeatedly stated that the Syrian government army has not and will not enter Afrin. We will make an official announcement if an agreement is reached or the situation changes in any way.”
Nonetheless, the Syrian army allowed two busloads of YPG volunteers through its lines today. The volunteers moved from Aleppo to bolster the defence of Afrin.
Ankara made it clear that any alliance would not stop its Operation Olive Branch invasion aimed at wiping out the YPG, which Turkey considers an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.
Turkish Foreign Minster Mevlut Cavusoglu vowed to press on. “We have started an operation in Afrin in order to get rid of the threat to our national security,” he said from Jordan. “We still insist on this.”
He said, if President Bashar al-Assad’s forces were there to “clear [the area] from YPG, there are no problems,” but he warned: “If they support terrorists, no-one will stop us.”
Turkey has now arrested 786 people for opposing its invasion of Afrin, the Interior Minister announced today. Ankara considers any criticism of its bloody invasion to be “terror propaganda.”
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Apple CEO Tim Cook said Monday that users of the company’s new mobile payments system, Apple Pay, registered 1 million cards on the service in its first three days. That’s bad news for two of the nation’s top drug stores, CVS and RiteAid, which are disabling the already-installed register technology upon Apple Pay relies.
Why wreck a tech that’s already installed in your stores? Because CVS and RiteAid are part of a group of companies that also includes heavy-hitters like Walmart working on a mobile payment system of their own called CurrentC.
From a retailer’s perspective, CurrentC has several advantages over Apple Pay. Most importantly, it’s designed to sidestep the fees that retailers have to pay credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard every time a customer makes a credit card purchase, marking their latest move to duck those charges. Apple Pay, meanwhile, has the support of credit card companies because it keeps those fees intact. CurrentC also keeps customers’ data in the hands of retailers, while Apple Pay encrypts customers’ purchases, making it impossible for the retailers to track shoppers and advertise to their interests. If CurrentC has an advantage over Apple Pay from a customer’s perspective, it’s that it works with older phones that lack Near-Field Communication (NFC), a necessary ingredient for Apple Pay that’s only found in the newest iPhones and higher-end Android devices.
By disabling NFC (which also affects Android owners using Google Wallet), CVS and RiteAid are essentially trying to stamp out Apple Pay before it gains millions of users, further institutionalizing Visa and MasterCard’s fees. The problem? They’re too late. To disable a service that’s already showing such staggering popularity is a profoundly consumer-unfriendly move. If Apple Pay users love the service as much as Cook’s early figure suggests, they could be willing to change their shopping habits to match — goodbye CVS, hello Duane Reade.
It’s also a bold gambit that retailers have a better shot than one of the world’s most successful technology companies of succeeding where so many have failed before: convincing shoppers it’s easier to pay with the flash of a phone rather than the swipe of a card. Given its very early success here, the smart money’s on Apple. Still, whether Apple Pay will crush the competition or simply open a door for rivals — by getting customers used to paying with a phone — remains to be seen. As consumers, though, we’re in for a long platform battle.
Write to Alex Fitzpatrick at [email protected].
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nez and Harel have cashed in on the Syrian refugee bonanza cutting out Syrian kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs and corneas to make their mass killing in Turkey. Just as Turkey and Israel have bought up the bulk of stolen black market oil from the terrorists they love, so do they profit from stealing human organs from hospitalized Syrian civilians brought to Turkey for treatment. After the surgery, young Syrian victims minus their vital organs are cruelly left bleeding to death. Turkish doctors confirmed that out of the 62,000 wounded Syrian civilians and soldiers treated in Turkish hospitals, over 15,600 of them had internal organs removed and were returned dead on arrival to Syria for burial. The mass murderers Somnez and Harel left their infamous mark in the multibillion dollar organ trafficking industry in Kosovo, Turkey and Tel Aviv.
Every major war in the last two decades from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya to Ukraine has been visited by bloodthirsty body snatching ghouls out to make a grotesque profit. Tony Cartalucci writing for New Eastern Outlook drives home the hypocrisy that the US-led axis-of-evil screams foul play with “human rights abuses” whenever any force (like Russia) attempts to stop the menacing Western sponsored terrorists yet when the Nazis of Kiev are literally ripping the hearts, lungs and kidneys out of residents in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, not a peep is heard from that axis-of-evil. Firsthand accounts from eyewitnesses reporting the rampant killing of civilians in the breakaway provinces by organ snatching mass murderers are totally blacked out or quickly dismissed by Western mainstream media. The international airport personnel in Boryspil observed many small aircraft chartered with refrigerators for organ transplant storage. A kidney bought for ten grand quickly gets turned over for 150 grand. The overlapping crime ring fingerprints of the same greedy body snatchers from Israel, Turkey and Kosovo keep surfacing whenever and wherever investigators begin poking around on every warfront.
The barbaric crimes of a multibillion dollar gangster business sanctioned and protected by the likes of Israel, Turkey and the United States is yet one more crime against humanity committed daily by the mass murdering cabal. Rather than accept the evils of global slavery and organ trafficking perpetrated by power and profit driven psychopaths with total impunity, the corrupt, criminal victimization of preying on and murdering poor humans to keep a few rich humans alive is morally reprehensible. The perps need to be held accountable while their victims need justice.
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http://www.sott.net/article/318286-Israel-is-the-organ-harvesting-and-human-trafficking-global-ringleader-with-complicit-help-from-US-and-Turkey#
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Autism, which usually isn't diagnosed until children are toddlers, may be predicted by creases and folds in a newborn's placenta, according to a new study.
The placenta, which provides fetuses with nutrients from the mother during pregnancy, is usually discarded after birth — but the study, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, found that it could be a roadmap to determining autism risk in children.
"At birth we have a tool now that can tell us who's at risk and who isn't at risk for autism," said the study's main author, Yale researcher Dr. Harvey Kliman. "This gives us the opportunity to intervene at a time when the brain is most plastic and able to transform."
Dr. Kliman and his team, including an initially-skeptical obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Cheryl K. Walker, analyzed "Milky Way bar-size sections" of placentas from 217 newborns, and found that those with abnormal creases, called trophoblast inclusions, may be more prone to autism.
While "two-thirds of the low-risk placentas had no inclusions...77 high-risk placentas had inclusions, 48 of them had two or more, including 16 with between 5 and 15 inclusions," the New York Times reported.
Though the scientists behind the study still need to wait at least one more year to see if their predictions ring true — the children analyzed were between 2 and 5 years old, and may not be diagnosed until later on — the idea that a biomarker, or early indicator, for autism exists is promising.
“I think it’s a great way for parents to say, ‘O.K., we have some risk factors; we’re not going to ignore it,'" said Dr. Chris Mann Sullivan, who had her placenta analysed by Dr. Kliman after her daughter was born and began early intensive treatment after 5 inclusions were found.
However, Dr. Kliman noted that more research is needed in order to solidify the link, calling the placenta a “check-engine light, a marker of: something’s wrong, but I don’t know what it is,” according to the Times.
However, the study may pave the way for the placenta to become a more legitimate focus of study for early prediction of other diseases.
Autism has spiked in the United States, with one in 50 schoolchildren in the US being diagnosed every year, far more than the original government estimate of one in 88.
More from GlobalPost: Autism: 1 in 50 US schoolchildren have it, says CDC
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Ultra-small pixel size combined with ISOCELL Plus and Tetracell technologies enhance sharpness and detail in smartphone photos
Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today introduced two new 0.8-micrometer (μm) pixel image sensors – the 48-megapixel (Mp) Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 and the 32Mp ISOCELL Bright GD1.
“Demand for ultra-small, high-resolution image sensors are growing as smartphones evolve to deliver new and more exciting camera experiences for users,” said Ben K. Hur, vice president of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics. “With the introduction of our cutting-edge 0.8μm-pixel Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 and GD1 image sensors, we are committed to continue driving innovation in image sensor technologies.”
As cameras are becoming a key distinguishing feature in today’s mobile devices, smartphone makers are faced with the challenge to fit multiple cameras into the sleek designs of their latest flagships. At a reduced pixel size, the new sensors provide greater design flexibility, enabling camera module manufacturers to build smaller modules or pack more pixels into existing designs, and consequently allowing smartphone makers to maximize space utilization in slim, bezel-less smartphones.
The GM1 and the GD1 sensors are based on the company’s latest pixel isolation technology – the ISOCELL Plus* – which optimizes performance especially for smaller-dimension pixels, making them the ideal solution for today’s super-resolution cameras. In addition, thanks to Tetracell technology, where four pixels are merged to work as one to increase light sensitivity, the GM1 and GD1 can deliver light sensitivity equivalent to that of a 1.6μm-pixel image sensor at 12Mp and 8Mp resolution, respectively. The sensors also support Gyro-based electronic image stabilization (EIS) for fast and accurate image capture.
A real-time high dynamic range (HDR) feature is added to the GD1 to deliver more balanced exposure, richer color and detail when filming selfie-videos or streaming live video content even in low-light, high-contrast environments.
The Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM1 and GD1 are expected to be in mass production in the fourth quarter of this year.
*Samsung first announced its ISOCELL technology in 2013, which reduces color-cross talk between pixels by placing a physical barrier, allowing small-sized pixels to achieve higher color fidelity. Based on this technology, Samsung introduced the industry’s first 1.0um-pixel image sensor in 2015 and 0.9-pixel sensor in 2017. In June 2018, Samsung introduced an upgraded pixel isolation technology, the ISOCELL Plus.
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Good things often come in pairs. Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) faced his return Stateside with no top ten finishes to his name in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, but one weekend later, he leaves the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with two.
In Race 1, the 2010 Red Bull Rookies Cup Champion found his way up to tenth at the flag from sixteenth on the grid. Heading that row six again in Race 2, the 25-year-old American went one better, fighting his way up to ninth in the opening third and keeping that personal-best position with ease. There was a small scare for Gagne in lap 22 when he went wide through the gravel at Turn 2, even then the gap he had built with Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) in tenth was too large to concern the Red Bull rider.
Gagne was expected to step up at his home race, and he leapt to the challenge: “Our goal was to be in that top-10 and we made it happen! I had a couple of good races, a couple of lonely races actually. Being that far back on the grid was tough for those first couple of laps, I didn’t get off my best start today, but I’m happy. We made a lot of progress throughout the weekend, the Fireblade is feeling really good. To put in a good result here for everybody was awesome.”.
Gagne’s first full year in WorldSBK has been one full of trials and tribulations, a steep learning curve with challenges and setbacks. Not every step along the way has been as enjoyable as at Laguna Seca, but Gagne is relishing each race weekend: “A couple of rough weekends early on in the year kind of set us back, and I’ve made some mistakes along the way, but I’ve learned a lot through the whole thing. I’m just having fun, trying to take it step by step”.
“My riding style has adapted since I was here last year”, he adds, at the anniversary of his WorldSBK debut. “With these World Superbikes, there’s a lot of things we can change, everything from electronics, chassis, suspension… There’s so many different things, so I’m learning how to set up the bike, how to go about these weekends, and figuring out what our priorities are to go faster”.
Relive the American’s best weekend in the WorldSBK paddock, with highlights and both full races available thanks to the WorldSBK VideoPass.
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Documents obtained by CBC News are shedding light on the strategy the federal government is using to justify the sale of light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.
The newly revealed documents from Global Affairs Canada confirm that Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion has signed off on export permits to ship $11 billion worth of the $15-billion vehicle sale to the desert kingdom.
These documents also say that it's rare for a foreign affairs minister to personally sign off on export permits, but that this is an exception because the deal is so high profile — and worth so much money.
The deal with Saudi Arabia was struck by Stephen Harper's government, and when it was announced the Conservatives used the opportunity to tout the thousands of jobs it would create and sustain in southern Ontario.
But since the sale of vehicles by General Dynamics Land Systems was announced, questions have emerged over Saudi Arabia's human rights record.
Saudi rights violations noted
The documents acknowledge these concerns noting; "the reported high number of executions, suppression of political opposition, the application of corporal punishment, suppression of freedom of expression, arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment of detainees, limitations of freedom of religion, discrimination against women and the mistreatment of migrant workers."
Law professor Daniel Turp discusses the deal to sell light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. 10:06
The document goes on to say that Canadian officials "engage regularly with Saudi officials" when required to raise human rights issues of concern while at the same time describing Canada's military alliance with the kingdom as having been "cemented" during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
"Saudi Arabia is a key military ally supporting international efforts to counter ISIS in Iraq and Syria as well as countering instability in Yemen," the documents says.
"The acquisition of state-of-the-art armoured vehicles will assist Saudi Arabia in these goals, which are consistent with Canada's defence interests in the Middle East."
LAV sales not linked to abuses
The deal has been widely criticized by groups such as Amnesty International, which has raised concerns about how those weapons will be used by the Saudi regime.
The documents, however, insist that Global Affairs Canada is not aware of any reports linking violations of civil or political rights in the kingdom with proposed military exports.
"Canada has sold thousands of LAVs to Saudi Arabia since the 1990s, and, to the best of the department's knowledge, there have been no incidents where they have been used in the perpetration of human rights violations," the documents say.
The documents also draw attention to a story first reported by the CBC detailing how Canadian sniper rifles, sold to Saudi Arabia, were likely stolen "from Saudi forces by Houthi fighters during military operation along the Saudi-Yemeni border."
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up too much! Make sure that you’ve waited a few seconds for GG to fully dry. Very lightly pat on some Sovereign to where your orbital rim/crease should be. This helps to define your eye some more and also blend the edges of your second layer of GG + eyeshadow. You can also use the loose, fluffy brush to blend out the very outer edges, just to make sure everything looks smooth and “natural”. Like you were just born with gorgeous purple eyelids.
You’re done with your eyeshadow!! Finally!! That only took you, two, five, fifty hours???
Give yourself a huge pat on the back and lots of praise for having read all of that stuff above. And also for trying it out! :D If it didn’t work out for you the first time, don’t fret! Just keep practicing, it takes a bit to get used to using sticky bases like Glitter Glue. Additionally, I applied my eyeshadow according to what best suits my eye shape. You might have a different eye shape and get different results! Don’t forget that makeup is a fun activity, don’t be afraid to experiment a little and change up the steps to best suit your eye shape or makeup routine (:
You could also take the chance now to take fifty selfies and then marvel at how duochrome eyeshadows look from different angles!
Now smack the rest of your warpaint on! I’ve completed this look with Darling Girl’s Inner Glow blush in Fantasia and NYX matte lipstick in Bloody Mary. Purple tones go wonderfully with orange, coral shades, and also reds that are just slightly pinkish! And I’m in love with this blush, I can’t wait for my birthday haul from DGC comes in so I can try out more of their gorgeous blushes!!
Put on your glasses (or don’t) and think about how wonderful and amazing and diverse makeup is!!
Feel blessed to be alive in this colorful world. And there you go, that’s the whole tutorial and the look I made with it.
Thanks a ton for reading it! I hope this was helpful for someone at least and that you’ll enjoy trying it out! Please send/link me to your pictures if you do try it out, I’d love to see other people’s pretty makeup looks too! My askbox is always open if anyone has questions and I love discussing makeup so yeah! Suggestions for how to improve my tutorials/looks or just ideas for future tutorials are totally welcome too :D Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this!
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Rep. Justin Amash Justin AmashRon Paul hospitalized in Texas Internal Democratic poll shows tight race in contest to replace Amash Centrist Democrats'strongly considering' discharge petition on GOP PPP bill MORE (I-Mich.), who left the Republican Party in July, said former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford Mark SanfordOn The Money: Business world braces for blue sweep | Federal Reserve chief to outline plans for inflation, economy | Meadows 'not optimistic' about stalemate on coronavirus deal Trump critic Sanford forms anti-debt advocacy group Republicans officially renominate Trump for president MORE’s (R) decision to launch a primary bid against President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE will not impact whether he ultimately decides to run as an independent in 2020.
“It has no bearing,” Amash told The Hill on Monday. “I don't have any plans to get involved in the Republican primary.”
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The Michigan independent has expressed an interest in challenging the president but has not yet made a decision.
Amash has repeatedly praised Sanford, a fellow Trump critic and former conservative colleague in the House, for standing by his policy positions and pushing back on the administration.
"I know Mark. He's thoughtful, he's humble, he's learned from his mistakes and grown, and I think we really need a person like that in the White House," he told CNN earlier this year.
Sanford announced his primary bid on "Fox News Sunday," telling host Chris Wallace Christopher (Chris) WallaceHouse to vote on resolution affirming peaceful transition of power Gayle King calls out Pelosi for calling Trump supporters 'henchmen': 'Egregious language' GOP lawmakers distance themselves from Trump comments on transfer of power MORE he believes “we need to have a conversation on what it means to be a Republican.”
Trump previously backed Sanford’s primary opponent, causing him to ultimately lose his House seat during the midterm election cycle. Sanford said he believes there is room in the presidential race for both him and Amash, should he decide to run.
“If I was taking one bite at the apple and he was taking another, I don’t think it hurts me,” Sanford told The Daily Beast. “It enhances the collective ability to get a message out relative to a sitting president.”
In addition to Sanford, former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld (R) have also launched long-shot bids against the president.
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By: |
Large cruise ships like Carnival Freedom, pictured above, may soon be dwarfed by much larger ships.
The largest ship ever built, during its lifetime, had four names: Seawise Giant, Happy Giant, Jahre Viking and Knock Nevis. It was an Ultra Large Crude Carrier (ULCC) and had a displacement of 657,019 tons, a draft of 81 feet (24.6 m) and was considered the largest self-propelled man-made object ever built. She was sunk during the Iran-Iraq war but was salvaged and restored into service and was sold to India for scrap metal in 2009.
Now a company called “Freedom Ship International” is planning to build a ship that dwarfs anything and everything that has come before it.
Seawise Giant, built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, took five years to build but the Greek owner who ordered the ship refused to take delivery. After a lengthy legal battle the vessel was sold to a Hong Kong company that added container carrying capacity to the vessel.
Plans for the World’s Largest Ship Freedom
Entrepreneurs at Freedom Ship International are designing a 4,320 foot 25 story vessel that will be home to 50,000 people. Freedom will displace 2.7 million tons, about four times more than Seawise Giant (aka Jahre Viking). The ship will be built of 520 airtight steel cells.
Each cell will measure 80 feet tall and depending on its location on the hull from 50 to 100 feet wide and 50 to 120 feet long. These steel cells, each about 300 x 400′ long, will be floated out to sea and joined to form the complete ship.
The ship will travel the world circumnavigating the globe once every two years. Freedom will be big enough to accommodate residents, plus 15,000 employees and 20,000 daily guests and have four times as much roaming space in square feet per person than most modern cruise lines. Freedom is also expected to have 17,000 homes and 4,000 businesses.
According to designers traditional shipbuilding methods would have been too expensive for such a large ship so they devised a way to build Freedom by assembling it at sea. The wealthiest residents will live in 15 x 80′ ocean view apartments and be able to board private Jets on the roof top airport or yachts tethered to the ship for local excursions.
Voyage Route
The vessel will be designed so people will feel like it’s a busy city rather than a cruise line. Luxury condos on the ship are expected to sell starting at $1 million.
The following video shows the Freedom Ship:
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The flaws and a tranche of others were resolved by three bundles of updates for Windows 10 that were pushed out yesterday.
How to set up a Windows 10 computer Watch Now
Microsoft has fixed a bug that left some Windows 10 users unable to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots.
The flaw and a tranche of others were resolved by three bundles of updates for Windows 10 that were pushed out yesterday.
The updates for versions 1803 and 1709 of Windows 10 resolve the issue of third-party applications having difficulty authenticating hotspots, introduced by an earlier update on 8th January.
However, there's no fix yet available for the problem if you updated to the latest version of Windows -- version 1809, otherwise known as the October 2018 Update -- though Microsoft says to expect one late January.
SEE: Windows 10 power tips: Secret shortcuts to your favorite settings (Tech Pro Research)
A wide range of other fixes were made via the bundle of updates -- namely KB4480976 for Windows 10 version 1809, KB4480967 for version 1709, and KB4480959 for version 1703.
In version 1803, Microsoft has closed a loophole that allowed Microsoft Store apps retrieve any of your files from your Windows 10 PC without your consent.
Windows developer Sebastien Lachance discovered that by default Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps can access any user-accessible file on a PC's drive.
This was despite UWP apps supposedly having to check with users before accessing the file system, outside of their own local storage.
In this latest update, Microsoft resolved the problem by addressing the bug in the windows.storage API's 'broadFileSystemAccess' setting.
Other issues patched in versions 1803 and 1709 include the resolution of a focus issue when typing text in web pages viewed via the Microsoft Edge web browser, the possibility of a blue screen error when a Thunderbolt storage device is attached, and users being prevented from overwriting a file in a shared folder when a filter driver was loaded.
In addition, version 1803 users get a fix that addresses an issue in which Windows Driver Frameworks caused high CPU utilization, causing the user-mode driver to stop working when the device resumed from hibernate.
You can see the full list of fixes by clicking the links above.
In recent months, Microsoft has also endured several months of negative headlines about bugs in the latest Windows 10 October 2018 Update and activation and network share errors in Windows 7 caused by errant updates.
Microsoft Weekly Newsletter Be your company's Microsoft insider by reading these Windows and Office tips, tricks, and cheat sheets. Delivered Mondays and Wednesdays Sign up today
Read more about the Windows 10
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Exterior Doors, Front Entry and Entrance Doors Replacement Toronto
In the Greater Toronto area, consumers always seek innovative materials to renovate or enhance their homes. In their search exterior doors play a prominent role in enhancing the exterior of their homes and therefore, they have been liked by owners for both – new and existing homes. The entry door is probably the first thing that comes into the notice while looking at your home. It is the aspect which welcomes your guests while keeping safe from harsh weather conditions and unwanted intruders. We are at GTA Windows and Doors strive to provide you elegance, efficiency, comfort through our exterior doors and services.
As it is known, most of criminals enter into the homes through the doors it becomes imperative to safeguard our home with solid and secure doors. Amazingly, entrance doors with steel edge surpass those of wood by a 7:1 margin, and even 10:1, when they are protected by replacement frame. No doubt, It needs professional state of the art facilities and expert level skills to produce solid entrance doors.
Entry Doors Replacement and Installation
At GTA Windows and Doors we assure to help you get the best design and style of the doors out of the extensive range available all over the Greater Toronto area, featuring Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Markham, Aurora, Newmarket, Thornhill, Stouffville, Woodbridge, Richmond Hill, Ajax and Pickering. We offer an immense range of entrance door types, designs and styles combinations to be chosen from. What is more, each and every piece is manufactured to meet the standards of quality, energy efficiency, security and low maintenance standards of GTA Windows and Doors. It needs skilled techniques to manufacture an exterior front entrance door that provides a luxurious look to your home. At GTA, each steel or fiberglass entrance door is manufactured to meet the most precise engineering and artistic standards and Canadian needs.
Your visitors will get the first impression of your home through the entrance door. Since, first impression is the last impression, give your home a grand entrance to amaze your guests. Indeed, it is the way through which you can have the greatest impact on your home appeal and thus, can increase its value more than five times of its original value.
Whether it is Oakville, Pickering and Markham, Brampton, Richmond Hill and Mississauga, we are proud to make our thousands of customers satisfied with our extraordinary front entry doors and services.
It is the entry door to your home, which showcases a feeling of style, elegance and warmth. Moreover, it gives an impression of the taste of the homeowner. As per your preferences and requirements, we will provide you astonishing designs and style that will not only enhance the appearance of your home, but will also give you a feeling of safety.
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During a private fundraiser last week, Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) openly expressed concern that Donald Trump’s candidacy could depress voter turnout and hurt candidates down-ballot, according to audio obtained by CNN.
“We never thought that the House was in jeopardy, that we could lose 30 seats in the House,” Heck said. “If the current trajectory continues that becomes a possibility.”
Heck, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), earlier this month called on Trump to drop out of the race following a 2005 tape in which Trump makes vulgar comments about women. He said at the fundraiser that Trump has put him in a tough spot.
“I want to support him, I really do,” Heck said, according to CNN. “But he has got to change his tone and he’s got to be — I don’t want to make him into a politician or make him into the same thing he is running against — but he has got to realize he is not going to win this race by appealing to the 20 percent or 30 percent of the Republican base.”
Heck said that Trump had one more chance to turn the race around at the debate this week.
“At the very least, if I have to go with my own conscience to make this right, I am going to vote for Michael Pence as vice president,” he told the audience at the fundraiser.
Heck said that the 2005 tape alone did not prompt him to change his mind on Trump, lamenting that the Republican presidential nominee can’t stay on message.
“Look, it wasn’t this video that made the final decision, alright? He’s had this pattern of behavior that’s persisted… even while he was on the campaign,” Heck said. “It’s one thing if it happened 11 years ago and now he’s concentrating on the issues and talking the way we need to talk to him about it.”
He said that Trump was not reaching out to a broad enough voter base with his combative campaign style.
“Alright, if he’s attacked he wants to punch back. He wants to punch back hard. Look what he’s doing is shoring up the Republican base and that’s great, but you know cannot win a federal race nationwide with just the Republican base, you’ve got to have a big tent and he doesn’t. And that’s why he’s floundering in the polls,” Heck said at the fundraiser, according to CNN.
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Every bride dreams of making her wedding a truly unique one, a day that would be remembered and cherished not only by the young couple but by millions the world over. A much talked about celeb wedding is any girl’s dream. Kat and Jerry Chu were the lucky couple who had such a unique wedding.
The wedding of Jerry Chu and Kat had a huge surprise for the guests that literally took their breaths away- the huge super dimensional wedding cake from Macross. This massive wedding cake was modeled and baked based on Robotech SDF-1.
Here is some background information on the Robotech SDF-1. This is in reality a reconstructed spacecraft of Zor, who was the creator of robotechnology. It is assumed that in the wretched hulk of this alien vessel, humans were able to assimilate enough information to achieve great advancements in technology. The greatest achievement was of course, the complete reconstruction of the spaceship, SDF-1.
Even though several changes were made to the original one, it managed to retain its rudimentary design. Two battleships were added, as well as the arm like appendages. Also, they included the civilian populace of Macross Island. This was the idea the couple had in mind when they envisaged their unique wedding cake. This has been made into a sweet treat in the form of a massive wedding cake in the design of the super dimensional SDF-1, to celebrate the happiness of their happy union.
Jerry Chu is the licensing manager of Sega and was formerly entertainment marketing manager of Bandai. His recently concluded wedding at Southern California featured this massive cake in the form of SDF-1 Macross ship from the super dimension Fortress Macross Science fiction anime. This massive cake had several figures in front of it, including a couple of transformable VF-1. Valkyrie fighters also struck a military recessional pose. There was yet another Valkyrie which contained the characters of Max and Milia Jenius in wedding attire.
In the Robotech series, Max and Milia are supposed to have held their wedding on board the Macross as the first human and alien Zentrad to marry. Similar to Jerry Chu’s wedding, the anime wedding too had featured a huge Macross cake.
Topless Robot SDF-1 super dimensional wedding cake really made big news at Jerry and Kat’s wedding. True to their dream, it would remain a much talked about and cherished wedding not only for the lovely couple, but truly an awesome and yet to be replicated one, thanks to the super dimensional wedding cake.
Star Trek Cake is another design on the similar theme, but if you are looking for something different check out Packun Flower Cake and Comic Book Action Hero Figures Cake.
Via: Toplessrobot
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”
In the face of intense media scrutiny, Bayh’s attempts to reintroduce himself to Indiana are sometimes garnering less attention than his campaign flubs. Bayh has asserted he is still an Indiana resident, but reporters have found neighbors who attest he’s rarely at his Indianapolis condo, and his voter status is inactive. Bayh even botched his own home address in a recent interview.
There are signs Bayh is feeling the heat. His campaign on Monday posted information on his website that appears to signal that Bayh wants help from outside groups, targeting seniors and other adults with negative ads on Young and Social Security.
“Hoosier seniors and their grown children need to learn that Washington Congressman Todd Young has voted 5 times to allow Social Security funds to be gambled on risky Wall Street markets,” Bayh’s site currently reads.
Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC announced on Tuesday that it will begin airing ads in Indiana later this week, as first reported by Roll Call, but did not specify how much it planned to spend or how long the ads would run for.
“We’re taking nothing for granted as we work to win back the Senate this November,” said Senate Majority PAC spokesman Shripal Shah. “Republicans have spent millions — including nearly $5 million in just the last month — on misleading attacks to prop up Todd Young’s struggling campaign. We’re not going to let those attacks go unanswered.”
With more than $9 million in the bank when he jumped in the race in July, Bayh started with more money than most candidates heading into the homestretch of the election. It has been enough to advertise heavily in Indiana, where media markets are relatively inexpensive. The DSCC also has $1.3 million reserved in television spending.
But right now, Republicans have $7 million reserved in television airtime, less than Bayh and Democrats have reserved. And more pro-Young funds are likely to come from groups like the Chamber of Commerce, which hasn’t reserved television airtime in advance.
Bayh’s vote in favor of Obamacare hasn’t drawn as much attention as Bayh’s post-Senate career in Washington, but it’s poised to be a central issue in the race, Republicans say. That was the focus of Senate Leadership Fund’s first attack ad on Tuesday.
“One man could have stopped this mess by standing with Indiana, but he didn’t. Instead Evan Bayh cast the deciding vote for Obamacare,” a narrator says in the ad. “When it counted, Evan Bayh voted with them — not with Indiana.”
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Authorities this afternoon resumed efforts to recover the body of a man missing in Lake Michigan since Saturday night.
The man, identified by his relatives as James Garcia, 51, of west suburban Berkeley, was reported missing near Oak Street Beach, and after a rescue attempt by fire and police, the incident has turned into a recovery mission, officials said.
The search was suspended at about 1 a.m. and resumed at about 7 a.m. in the lake between Walton Street on the north and Ontario Street to the south, police said. It was suspended again in the early afternoon due to low visibility in the water; divers and search boats were back in the water at about 4 p.m. but the search was called off again just after 6:30 p.m., police said.
Garcia's daughter Jillian Alvarez, 31, said she was in Las Vegas on vacation when she got the call at about 2 a.m. of her father's disappearance. She flew back to Chicago immediately, she said.
On Saturday her father had been in Melrose Park for a celebration of his niece's husband's birthday, but Alvarez didn't know why he was in Chicago and she and her brother were still trying to piece together what happened Saturday night.
Police said the initial call of people in the water came at about 9:37 p.m. Saturday and that family members with Garcia attempted to save him after he went into the water, but weren't able to hold on. A police marine unit boat was also located him about a half-hour after he had been under water for about half an hour, but couldn't recover the body because the waves were too high, police said.
The fire department took the woman to Northwestern hospital in good-to-fair condition, Chicago Fire Department Spokesman Will Knight.
During the rescue attempt a group of five men and women who appeared to be connected to the Garcia declined comment but were visibly upset. As the rescue attempt turned to a recovery search, those people were escorted away in police vehicles.
Alvarez said Garcia was a machine operator for a local company for more than 30 years, was divorced and had two adult childen and a 4-year-old granddaughter.
He enjoyed spending time at Montrose Harbor "to clear his mind," Garcia's daughter said. Garcia also was an avid bike-rider and played the lottery nearly every day.
"He thought he was going to win one day," Alvarez said.
Tribune reporters Peter Nickeas and Andrew L. Wang contributed to this report.
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The Indiana University Board of Trustees approved a proposal Friday to temporarily close and renovate two dorms on its Bloomington campus in response to ongoing mold problems.
IU Spokesperson Chuck Carney says both Foster and McNutt residence halls will close in May to undergo a full-scale renovation process. He says although the university has conducted over 1,700 mold remediations, IU feels this is the best long-term solution.
“We’ll have all of the things that were going to be done in a couple years done much more quickly and that will ensure that any future response to any mold issue is going to be mitigated,” he says.
The renovations will include installing new HVAC systems, new air ducts and piping and redesigning rooms and common spaces. The projects are projected to cost $56 million, which will come from the Residential Programs and Services budget. Both dorms are expected to reopen in 2020.
This fall IU reimbursed students living in Foster and McNutt with a $3,000 Bursar credit. The university also provided alternate housing to students living in spaces where reports indicate high levels of mold spores.
Carney says now only 3 percent of the rooms in both dorms fall in an unsafe mold spore range, but some reports show mold returning to rooms even after remediation.
Students currently living in Foster and McNutt who have no chronic health conditions or symptoms will remain in their dorms for the remainder of the academic year.
The renovations are part of a larger $300 million initiative to enhance campus housing over the next six years. The plan includes upgrades in Teter residence hall as well as the completion of a new North Hall in 2020.
Carney says the housing selection process for the upcoming year is under development and more information will be available to students on their options in early 2019.
Despite the planned closure of the two dorms, Carney says the university remains committed to providing adequate housing at a variety of price points for incoming freshman and returning students next year.
“We’re just really wanting to make sure that our student’s safety and welfare is paramount and that they’re not impeded in their studies by a situation such as they had this fall,” he says.
The university faces a class action lawsuit that alleges it didn't do enough to address the mold infestation in Foster and McNutt. The complaint, filed in October, represents seven freshman students.
It alleges the university has been misleading in its communications about the mold.
Attorneys representing the students also requested a temporary restraining order against the university.
University officials declined to comment on the pending litigation.
This post has been updated.
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NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump wants New York’s highest court to delay a defamation suit filed by a former “Apprentice” contestant who accused him of unwanted groping and kissing.
Trump’s lawyers filed notice late Monday that they’re asking the state Court of Appeals to freeze Summer Zervos’ suit while a lower appellate court considers Trump’s request to dismiss it or postpone it until after his presidency.
The president has denied Zervos’ claims.
Zervos’ lawyer, Mariann Wang, noted Tuesday that Trump has lost bids so far to delay the case — “and for good reason,” she said.
“No one is above the law,” Wang said in a statement. She said that she believed the “sound reasoning” behind the denials so far would prevail.
Zervos, a California restaurateur, appeared in 2006 on Trump’s former reality show, “The Apprentice.” She says he made unwelcome advances when she sought career advice in 2007.
Zervos was among more than a dozen women who came forward late in the 2016 presidential race to say Trump had sexually harassed or assaulted them.
Trump denied all the claims, saying they were “100 percent fabricated” and “totally false” and his accusers were “liars.” He specifically contested Zervos’ allegations in a statement and re-tweeted a message that included her photo and described her claims as a “hoax.”
Zervos’ suit argues Trump defamed her by calling her a liar. She says his words hurt her reputation, harmed her business and led to threats against her.
She’s seeking a retraction, an apology and compensatory and punitive damages.
Trump’s attorneys have said his remarks were “non-defamatory opinions.”
A Manhattan judge ruled in March that the case could go forward. Last week, a mid-level appeals court turned down Trump’s bid to halt information-gathering in the case while appeals judges weigh his argument that a private citizen can’t sue a sitting president in a state court.
Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz said last week there was “no valid reason” to reject the request.
Zervos’ lawyers have issued subpoenas seeking a range of information about Trump’s behavior toward women, including any Trump campaign documents concerning any woman who accused him of inappropriate touching and any unaired “Apprentice” footage that might feature Trump discussing female contestants in a sexual or inappropriate way.
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Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
A Taco Bell executive has lost his job with the fast food company after being caught on video in a violent incident with an Uber driver in California, Taco Bell told CNBC.com.
Benjamin Golden, who led Taco Bell's mobile commerce and innovation initiatives, according to an online bio, lost his position at the company after a video posted by the Uber driver went viral.
"Given the behavior of the individual, it is clear he can no longer work for us," Taco Bell said in a statement emailed to CNBC. "We have also offered and encouraged him to seek professional help."
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CNBC reached out via email and phone to the 32-year-old Golden, but received no response. His LinkedIn account was no longer available, and his Twitter link was blocked from public sight.
According to his bio, Golden was a "seven-year veteran of Yum Brands," the parent company of Taco Bell. Golden was also described in the bio as "a southerner who enjoys mint juleps and horse racing."
In the video, a man police identified as Golden is taking an Uber ride from driver Edward Caban in Coast Mesa, California, on Friday.
A passenger attacks Uber driver Edward Caban. Edward Caban
The dashcam video posted by Caban on YouTube shows the driver repeatedly asking for directions from Golden, who appears intoxicated and seems unable to provide clear instructions on where they should be going.Caban, 23, eventually flips the dashcam recorder around to face the back seat. As he takes a turn with his car, Golden can be seen toppling onto his side.
RELATED: Farming by the sub-inch: What the future of food looks like
"You're too drunk to give me directions," Caban can be heard on the video saying after pulling the car over. "'I'm, kicking you out, man."
After arguing with Caban, Golden opens the door of the car but then abruptly leans forward saying, "Let me tell you something, you little [expletive]."
The confrontation then becomes violent until Caban puts an end to it by turning, pepper spray in hand, and appearing to blast it into Golden's face.
Golden then gets out of the car, with Caban in close pursuit, yelling "Call the police!"
Costa Mesa Police told NBC4 in Los Angeles that Golden was vomiting from the pepper spray when they arrived at the scene. He was arrested and charged with assault and public intoxication, NBC4 reported.
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Kupec has said Kavanaugh “had never heard any allegations of sexual misconduct or sexual harassment by Judge Kozinski” prior to media reports.
Privacy rights
Kavanaugh has often supported giving the U.S. government wide berth in the name of national security – including when it comes to the secret collection of personal data from Americans. This support is expected to be a topic of consternation among Democrats ready to grill the judge.
Sens. Dick Durbin and Pat Leahy are among Democrats who want to see more records from Kavanaugh's White House days. Durbin, in particular, has said Kavanaugh “acknowledged that he was involved in conversations involving enemy combatants” during a private meeting with the senator.
But Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio maintained that Kavanaugh is “incredibly well-qualified.”
JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY ON THE SUPREME COURT: HIS LEGACY AND THE FUTURE OF HIS SEAT
“I think he’s in the mainstream with regard to these issues, and frankly, I don’t think it’s a difference with any meaning between where he is and where the court is currently,” Portman said.
And Kavanaugh has already earned the support of libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul. The Kentucky Republican said, after meeting with Kavanaugh, he will “carefully adhere to the Constitution and will take his job to protect individual liberty seriously.”
Gun control
Kavanaugh’s position on gun control is expected to come under scrutiny during his confirmation hearings – particularly as a Parkland school shooting survivor is slated to testify on behalf of Senate Democrats.
Among one of Kavanaugh’s decisions in the spotlight is a 2001 dissenting opinion he authored on a pivotal gun ban.
In Heller v. District of Columbia, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld the District’s ordinance banning most semi-automatic rifles. But in that case, Kavanaugh wrote the dissenting opinion, arguing the Supreme Court had already decided handguns – “the vast majority of which today are semi-automatic” – are constitutionally protected under the Second Amendment.
He said despite gun violence in the area, “our task is to apply the Constitution and the precedents of the Supreme Court, regardless of whether the result is one we agree with as a matter of first principles or policy.”
The Supreme Court eventually took the case and struck down the ordinance; it held that the Second Amendment protects the possession of semi-automatic weapons for purposes unrelated to militia use.
The National Rifle Association has applauded Kavanaugh’s nomination to the bench.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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'Missing' Republican Gov of SC, one time GOP 2012 Prez hopeful, was in Argentina being 'unfaithful to my wife'...
UPDATE: Fox 'News' does it again! Labels Sanford as a DEMOCRAT!
Brad Friedman Byon 6/24/2009, 12:49pm PT
We've been covering this on the Malloy Show, but I haven't been able to keep up with it on the blog, unfortunately. So, this just in:
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admits to extramarital affair
Sanford admits to a love affair with an Argentine woman. 'The bottom line is this: I've been unfaithful to my wife.' He apologizes to his family and the people of South Carolina.
The very quick back-details:
Monday: Gov'missing' for six days, didn't tell wife where he was, missed Father's Day with four sons. Wife says he was going off to write, staff says he was hiking Appalachian Trail.
Tuesday: Staff says Gov contacted them, was surprised at the hubbub, would return to office on Wed.
Today: Sanford caught by reporter returning from Argentina, not Appalachian Trail. Presser announced. Sanford admits affair.
All of that follows, of course, on the recent admission by the GOP's other (once) 2012 Presidential hopeful, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, that he, too, was having an affair. If I have time to fill in more back details here later, with links, I will.
UPDATE: Fox "News" does it again! Labels Sanford as a "(D)" Democrat as he was admitting to affair! Screenshot follows below...
(hat-tip Kos)
This is not the first time for such an "accident" by Fox. They did the same with Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) after the revelations about his obscene text messages to under age Congressional pages, as The BRAD BLOG broke back in 2006...
FURTHER UPDATE: Media Matters reminds us of this similar gem as well...
And RAW STORY has links to still more such "accidents" by our friends at Fox.
UPDATE 6/25/09: Fox issues a rare apology for identifying Sanford as a Democrat. Video at Media Matters. For the record, they never apologized for Foley, despite having misidentified him as a "D" at least three times during O'Reilly's primetime, the most watched on cable news. As we reported at the time, Fox producers said "everyone knows" Foley is a Republican, so they "didn't feel it was necessary to run a specific on-air correction".
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Police arrested a Sylmar man after he allegedly made false threats about a possible active shooter event at the Los Angeles County Fair, authorities said.
At approximately 2:49pm on Friday, September 13th the Pomona Police Department became aware of a threat sent via email about the Los Angeles County Fair.
The fair alerted the authorities shortly before 3 p.m. about the email that said there was going to be a mass shooting at the fair on Sunday.
Pomona police and the FBI launched an investigation and narrowed the list of suspects down to three possible suspects within hours, then tracked the email to Erik Villasenor, the department said.
Tactical teams and Pomona police officers descended on the man’s house by Friday night.
When police responded to his home, Villasenor admitted to the hoax, police said.
Villasenor, who is in his 20s, was arrested late Friday on suspicion of emailing the threat to the fair association, according to Police Lt. Marcus Perez. Pomona police learned about the threat earlier that day, he said.
“Through interviews, they were able to determine that he did send that statement to the fair, and ultimately determined it was a hoax,” Pomona Chief of Police Michael Olivieri Jr. said in a video posted online.
“He felt that it was appropriate to send this threat, and we believe that it was with the intent that it would spark some chaos and commotion, and be captured on the media, and then he could use that as an excuse to his parents to not go to the fair,” the chief said. “Kind of a crazy thing.”
Police said the email sent to the fair read, “hello, I was told that someone was planning on doing a mass shooting on Sunday at the fairground. I just wanted to inform you guys already.”
“In light of the environment, we’ve made significant investment to make sure our guests and employees are safe,” said Miguel Santana, chief executive of Fairplex, a private nonprofit that operates the fair, this year from Aug. 30-Sept. 22, at its 487-acre facility in Pomona. “We always take security seriously, but we’ve made a deliberate effort to strengthen our security system.”
Fairplex has spent $200,000 to build a command center in the fairgrounds where police, fire officials and other emergency staff can coordinate a response to an emergency, Santana said. Extra video cameras have been added to monitor the perimeter, as well as metal detectors and a badge-scanning system to screen fair employees and contractors before they enter the grounds.
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Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, launched a “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” project last month in an effort to plant a minimum of 10 billion trees within a five-year period as a means of rehabilitating the country’s forests to counter the effects of global warming due to human-induced climate change.
In addition to releasing more oxygen into the environment, the trees will safeguard the Pakistani landscape by decreasing the risk of floods from melting glaciers in the nation's famous mountain ranges.
Following his party's July victory in the National Assembly, Khan, who founded the centrist PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf] party in 1996, pledged that he would tackle unemployment, poverty and corruption in the country, as well as introduce police reforms and focus on health and educational issues, Sputnik previously reported.
Although the environment was not a significant election topic, Pakistan is the seventh-most vulnerable country to climate change, the Sustainable Development Policy institute, a Pakistani think tank, has reported.
According to Khan's PTI party, rising temperatures, flooding, droughts and unpredictable rainfall has cost Pakistan between $6 billion and $14 billion in relief aid and economic recovery, NBC said, citing a report published by the party.
"It is now imperative to tackle climate change and reverse environmental degradation as Pakistan's situation will only worsen as the economy grows," the party wrote.
Khan's party has taken steps previously to restore trees in the country. Between 2014-2017, Khan led a ‘Billion Tree' restoration project which planted some 865,000 acres in the Kyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
"The project is naturally restoring a previously deforested landscape, which will assist in meeting present and future needs and offers multiple benefits for climate adaptation and mitigation in a very climate-vulnerable province," Muhammad Tehmasip, the project director for the Billion Tree Tsunami, said in 2017.
In June 2013, an estimated 300 volunteers planted about 847,275 trees in the city of Thatta during the course of a single day, setting a Guinness World Record for the most trees planted in a 24-hour period.
"We have been consumed for so long by so many other challenges such as the war on terror that has engulfed our cities, suicide bombings, public health, that kind of thing," Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, the founder and CEO of LEAD Pakistan, an environmental think tank, recently told NBC News.
"But it is extremely important also that we ensure we have enough fresh water and that our development does not destroy our own coastline. We have one of the largest deltas in the world, but it is dying because of climate change."
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RumBLe GrUmBle…
That’s the sound of your stomach growling. When it happens at an inopportune time it can be quite embarrassing. It’s your body’s way of reminding you that you need to get some food in your belly. Is there some evolutionary reason for the grumbling? What’s the point? It lead one reader to ask, “Why does your stomach rumble or growl when you are hungry?”
Blame Your Hormones
Hunger and appetite are controlled by a complex system of hormone-like substances that are primarily made by your digestive system. These substances are like little messengers who rely essential information to other parts of your body.
When you haven’t eaten for a while, these hormone-like substances are given the green light to be released. One of their primary functions is to cause the part of your brain, called the hypothalamus, to “switch on” your desire to eat. The brain gets the all clear to pass on the message to your stomach and intestines.
The message is a simple one. It tells the stomach that it’s time to contract its muscles are release a torrent of acids and other digestive fluids. All of these mechanisms and processes going on in your gut are the cause of the rumbling and grumbling sounds you hear coming from your stomach.
Your body is prepping itself and getting ready for your to begin consuming food. The thought, sight or smell of food also can often trigger this response as well.
How Do I Stop My Stomach From Rumbling?
The absolute best way to keep your stomach noises under control is to pay attention to your meal sizes. The goal is to eat smaller, more frequent meals. The more food you have in your stomach on a consistent basis, the less likely it will be to growl hungrily and embarrass you.
By eating smaller portions, you consume the same amount of food, just spaced out over a longer time frame. It ensures that your body never reaches the point where it must remind you to eat. Eating smaller, more frequent meals is also more healthy for you in the long run.
Another way to prevent stomach growling? If you know you’re going to be in a quiet place like church or say, at a funeral — try to avoid certain gassy goods and drinks beforehand. This means no seltzer, beans, or broccoli.
Sometimes excessive stomach noise can be a symptom of an underlying gastrointestinal disorder, such as irritable bowel syndrome. But in such cases, stomach noise usually is accompanied by other signs and symptoms such as bloating, cramping, diarrhea or excess gas.
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in Thailand where this is our only other anchor date in this 2019 calendar. We had Pan Am Championships where he totaled 399. Then we had this Tokyo test event and the Pan Am games. We’ve been training through these events.
Cal Strength Article: Wes Kitts Wins Gold At The 2019 Pan American Games
There’s been no taper, no peaking. Those are train through events, which to his testament mentally just amazing that he overcame all of those individuals [ 31:31] in Lima because those guys were peaked and ready for war.
We have the World Championships coming up and it’s now to put that 400 kilo plus total together on stage and show people what we’ve actually been working on, and then set that up for if we have to do one more event, an IWF event in the third trimester to lock in his Olympic birth and then it’s head down, eyes forward all the way into the Tokyo 2020.
David Tao
Awesome. Dave, if folks want to follow along with that journey, where can they follow you? Where can they follow Cal Strength and where can they follow along with Wes’s training and progression?
David Tao
Awesome. Dave, if folks want to follow along with that journey, where can they follow you? Where can they follow Cal Strength and where can they follow along with Wes’s training and progression?
Dave Spitz
Shit, just about anywhere on the Internet these days. It’s his own Instagram is @weskitts22 I believe. Our Instagram is Cal_Strength. The website’s californiastrength.com. The YouTube channel’s California Strength. We try and make ourselves very visible and easy to find. You guys always help amplify our message. Very appreciative for what you guys do for the sport.
I feel like I have to do a lot less heavy lifting on the media side thanks to people like you actually getting our message out there for us.
David Tao
Well, I really appreciate that, Dave. Our hope is that the listeners use this opportunity to learn a little bit more about what you’ve been doing and the culmination of over 10 years of effort at Cal Strength. It’s really fantastic to see what that’s producing.
Just want to say thanks so much again for joining us and best of luck heading into the World Championships.
Dave Spitz
Appreciate it. You have a great rest of day and I will hopefully be talking to you soon bringing home a medal from this World event.
David Tao
Let’s hope so.
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For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.
UPDATE: Since I first wrote this piece, numbers 2, 4, and 5 on the list have been excised from the Interior Appropriations bill, along with riders that would have prohibited the EPA from regulating water pollution on logging roads and circumvented review of grazing permit. However, a few important riders remain, including one that would block new lightbulb efficiency standards and another that would fast-track oil drilling in Alaska.
On the other hand, Republicans have dug in their heels with regards to Keystone XL (#1), with House Speaker John Boehner insisting that it will remain in the final version of the payroll tax bill. (In fact, Republicans now seem to be trying to make Keystone into a campaign issue.) The rider that would undermine boiler regulations (#3) is still in the House version of the bill, but not the Senate’s, which was passed Saturday—this one probably won’t make it into law.
ORIGINAL POST: It’s no secret that many Republicans aren’t big fans of the EPA. But that hasn’t stopped the GOP from being secretive about what exactly they’re planning to do to scrap environmental regulations. Instead of putting anti-environment policies up for debate as stand-alone bills, they’re trying to bypass scrutiny by sticking them into other pieces of legislation—like appropriations bills—that have to pass to keep key services or pet programs running. These provisions, called riders, are usually hard to find and often even harder to understand; that’s basically the point. Fortunately, the Natural Resources Defense Council has been keeping track of the long list of policies that have been introduced into 2012 appropriations legislation thus far. We’ve put together an abbreviated guide to the most egregious attacks on environmental regulation that Republicans are trying to sneak through Congress by the end of the fiscal year.
These are just a few of dozens of the anti-environmental provisions Republicans are looking to push through quickly and quietly. Sure, most of them won’t get through the Democrat-controlled Senate, and President Obama has clearly stated that he will reject any attempts to attach “extraneous issues” to legislation. Still, it’s not impossible to imagine that even staunch environmental defenders would let the occasional provision slide to make a deal—like when Nancy Pelosi caved on the anti-choice Stupak amendment to the health care reform bill in order to get it through the House. But the real reason to pay attention to these riders is that they provide clues as to what Republicans might try to do if they had enough power. Turns out it’s some scary stuff.
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River Oaks, Brentwood, TN Neighborhood Information and Market Report
River Oaks is a beautiful luxury subdivision in Brentwood, TN, United States. The neighborhood is one of the oldest luxury communities in Brentwood, with some properties still having the ranch-style homes built during the 1970's. Like many other neighborhoods in the area, River Oaks has several luxury custom-built homes perfect for families looking to move into Brentwood. The community has an elected Home Owners Association that ensure the neighborhood is well-maintained and safe.
Click here to search for properties in River Oaks, Brentwood, TN.
River Oaks, Brentwood, TN Amenities
River Oaks residents will appreciate the convenient access the subdivision has to several amenities in the area. The neighborhood is close to several shopping malls including Merchants Walk Shopping Center. The region is also a short drive from Franklin Road where many stores and restaurants are based. For golf enthusiasts, the neighborhood is a short drive away from Richland Country Club and Brentwood Country Club. The clubs offer championship golf courses and other amenities for its members. Radnor Lake State Park is just north of River Oaks, a 1,200-acre park that has six hiking trails that showcase various native wildlife and plants.
What Schools are Available for River Oaks Residents?
There are a good number of schools close to the River Oaks neighborhood. If you are moving into the area with your family, there are several school options you can choose from. Schools close to River Oaks are Brentwood Academy, Primrose School of Brentwood, and Brentwood Middle School. Schools in the region generally perform better than other schools in the State. The Williamson County Public School District manages public Schools in Brentwood.
Brentwood, TN Neighborhood Report Total Population: 40,982 (2014)
Estimated Median Household Income: $157,101 (2016)
Estimated Median Home Value: $645,942 (2016) Brentwood, TN Market Report Properties currently active on the market: 12
Median Listing Price: $689,000
Price per square foot: $185
Median Closing Price: $N/A There are currently 12 homes for sale in River Oaks, Brentwood, TN. If you would like to receive a FREE Competitive Market Analysis, contact me today. Let Me Help You Find Your Downtown Rochester Home! Click the link to find a complete list of River Oaks, Brentwood homes for sale in TN. If you are a buyer, it is important to have the assistance of a Buyer's Agent to represent you during the transaction. If you need additional assistance or would like to schedule a showing, contact our office at (615) 371-1544. ************************************************************************************
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© Provided by FMT MEDIA SDN BHD Parti Bumi Kenyalang president Voon Lee Shan says Sarawak could produce 2,000 millionaires if it is not deprived of its oil rights by the Federation of Malaya.
KUCHING: A Sarawak opposition party leader today claimed Malaysia is an “illegal union” established by the United Kingdom.
Parti Bumi Kenyalang president Voon Lee Shan said the UK illegally transferred sovereignty over Sabah and Sarawak to the federation.
He said when the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) was made, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak were still British colonies.
Therefore, he said Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak did not have the legal capacity to enter into any agreement with the United Kingdom and the Federation of Malaya.
“The Cobbold Commission Report, which was used to legitimise the formation of Malaysia, is considered by many legal experts as having no credibility as a proper assessment of the people’s wishes.
“Out of a population of about 1.2 million, only 4,000 people were interviewed in Sabah and Sarawak by members of the Cobbold Commission to determine their wishes at the time,” he said at a press conference here today.
Voon said the findings of the Cobbold Commission were also never independently verified.
Sarawakians called for independence because they felt they had never been treated as an equal partner by the Federation of Malaya.
According to Voon, the ongoing negotiations behind closed doors between the federal and Sarawak governments, to rectify breaches in the MA63, were unacceptable as there was no transparency and no consultation with Sarawakians who were the most affected.
“Sarawakians are extremely aggrieved to see that their natural resources, inclusive of oil and gas, have been illegally plundered to benefit and develop the other states in Malaya after Parliament unconstitutionally enacted the Continental Shelf Act 1966, Petroleum Development Act 1974 and the Territorial Sea Act 2012.
“This illegal plundering of 850,000 barrels of crude oil every day easily produces more than RM200 million as revenue for federal coffers,” he said.
He said Sarawak, from oil alone, could produce about 2,000 millionaires if the state was not deprived of its rights by the Federation of Malaya.
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Our eyes are on Yazid, says IGP after 9/11 suspect is released
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The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is suddenly gorging on interstellar snacks, according to researchers, who can’t explain why it’s suddenly so hungry.
“We have never seen anything like this in the 24 years we have studied the supermassive black hole,” said UCLA professor Andrea Ghez, co-senior author of the study, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters. “It’s usually a pretty quiet, wimpy black hole on a diet. We don’t know what is driving this big feast.”
Black holes enjoy meals of cosmic dust and gas, sometimes stolen from stars. Their seemingly limitless consumption of space matter causes an immense amount of energy (radiation) to be emitted from the vortex, which gives the black hole its signature ring of light.
On May 13, the team of researchers discovered that the glowing area around the black hole’s event horizon — the “point of no return” — was suddenly shining twice as bright. Ghez calls the finding “unprecedented,” and scientists question whether the phenomenon marks a singular event or the beginning of a new phase for the galactic behemoth.
“The big question is whether the black hole is entering a new phase — for example, if the spigot has been turned up and the rate of gas falling down the black hole ‘drain’ has increased for an extended period — or whether we have just seen the fireworks from a few unusual blobs of gas falling in,” said UCLA professor and co-senior author Mark Morris.
Our nearest black hole, called Sagittarius A* or Sgr A*, was so unusually bright that lead author Tuan Do initially mistook it for nearby star S0-2. They now hypothesize that the sudden burst of brightness may have been caused by S0-2’s recent brush with the celestial vacuum in 2018. A similar theory involving an interstellar object known as G2, thought to be two stars stuck together, may have similarly been stripped of star matter during a run-in with Sgr A* in 2014.
Morris adds that the rare pyrotechnics may also have been just a few tasty asteroid morsels that crossed paths with Sgr A*.
Researchers assure that our nearest black hole is still not hungry enough to threaten humanity. At some 26,000 light years away, Do says the light they observed would have to be 10 billion times brighter to impact life on Earth.
Earlier this summer, the same UCLA team showed how the recent interactions between S0-2 and the black hole support Albert Einstein’s 1915 theory of general relativity.
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Hungary's Minister of External Economy and Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó | Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images UK trade deals could put EU in ‘very unfavorable position,’ Hungary warns Budapest’s foreign minister concerned about Britain’s ability to strike deals outside of the EU.
Britain’s promise to strike bilateral trade deals could put Europe in a “very unfavorable position,” the Hungarian foreign minister said Monday.
“We are interested in a fair Brexit, we are interested in a solution which will ensure a strong and tight mutually beneficial economic cooperation,” Péter Szijjártó told reporters during a break in a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
However, he warned that without cooperation with Britain the rest of the Continent could find itself “in a very, very unfavorable position" particularly given the likelihood of the U.S. and the U.K. agreeing some kind of economic cooperation.
In interviews with the Times and Bild, President-elect Donald Trump said his administration would "work very hard to get [a trade deal] done quickly and done properly," reversing the position of Barack Obama's administration which made it clear that such a deal was not a priority.
Szijjártó’s concern does not only involve a potential bilateral deal with the U.S.
“I have seen the announcement, after the last visit of [British Foreign Secretary] Boris Johnson to Turkey, that their intention is to sign a jumbo-type free trade agreement with Turkey," Szijjártó said. "So if the U.K. will be able to sign economic and trade agreements with many serious actors of the world economy, and [at the same time] if the EU is not able to build this kind of cooperation with the U.K., then is going to be a very unfavorable position for us."
However, any bilateral deal can only be signed once the U.K. leaves the bloc, Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, stressed Monday.
“It is absolutely clear on the European Union side that as long as a country is a member state of the European Union, which is something the U.K. is at the moment... there are no bilateral negotiations on any trade agreement with third parties,” she said during a press conference at end of the foreign ministers' meeting, saying this applies to all member countries "until the very last day.”
This is something “that we all share, including the United Kingdom,” she said, adding that she had discussed the issue with Johnson “and he was agreeing with me."
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By Carey Gillam
(Reuters) - U.S. environmental regulators on Thursday proposed a rule that would create temporary pesticide-free zones to protect commercial honeybees, which are critical to food production and have been dying off at alarming rates.
The restrictions are aimed at protecting bees from "pesticides that are acutely toxic" to them, and would cover foliar applications when certain plants are in bloom and when commercial honeybees are being used to pollinate crops, the Environmental Protection Agency said in an 18-page outline of the rule. In foliar applications, the pesticide is put on the plant.
Honeybees pollinate plants that produce roughly a quarter of the food consumed by Americans, and beekeepers travel around the country with managed hives to help the process.
The rule, due to be published in the Federal Register on Friday, would apply to pesticide applications to blooming crops where bees have been contracted to pollinate and would cover 76 active ingredients used in pesticides, including a popular class of insecticide known as neonicotinoids.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that honeybees had disappeared at a staggering rate over the last year. Losses of managed honeybee colonies hit 42.1 percent from April 2014 through April 2015, up from 34.2 percent for 2013-2014, and the second-highest annual loss to date, according to the USDA.
Commercial beekeepers reported adverse effects from pesticide applications to roughly 20,000 bee colonies pollinating almonds and roughly 2,000 colonies contracted to pollinate blueberries in 2014, and there are claims of tens of thousands more colonies similarly affected, the EPA said.
Beekeepers, environmental groups and some scientists say neonicotinoids, or neonics - used on crops such as corn as well as on plants used in lawns and gardens - are harming the bees.
But Bayer, Syngenta and other agrichemical companies that sell neonic products say mite infestations and other factors are the cause.
Story continues
The White House has formed a task force to study the issue, and the EPA said Thursday it continues to conduct "chemical-specific risk assessments for bees" and will consider additional product-specific mitigation efforts.
Critics said the plan falls short because it does nothing about neonics used in seed treatments, applied before the seed is planted. The seed treatments have long-term damaging effects on bees as the neonics persist in the environment, critics say.
"EPA needs to take the next step and ban these poisoned seeds,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director for the Center for Biological Diversity.
(Reporting by Carey Gillam; editing by Peter Galloway and Jonathan Oatis)
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The goal with the new point-of-sale stations is simple: allow fans to spend more time doing anything else, other than standing in line while waiting for a delicious offering.
With the idea of constant improvement to the guest experience at Bridgestone Arena in mind, Smashville Self Serve kiosks will be making their debut on Thursday night when the Preds host the Vancouver Canucks.
It's a question with a rather obvious answer: Would you rather spend more time watching the Predators and eating your hot chicken or standing in line?
"This is an innovative idea where you take the longest process and the most boring part of the food and beverage experience, and you completely revamp it," Nashville Predators and Bridgestone Arena President and CEO Sean Henry said. "Now, the physical concession stand can be dedicated to higher quality, better displays, faster turnarounds and more unique items."
The stations are being unveiled on a trial run and will be available at three different areas around the arena to start. The Hot Chicken Stand outside of Section 109 on the main concourse and the Ole Mole Nacho Stand near the SoBro Entrance of the building will feature tablet-style ordering stations. On the Upper Level, the Hunt Brothers Pizza stand outside of Section 310 will feature six full-size, touch-screen kiosks available.
In each location, fans will be able to order every menu item available at the respective station by simply selecting their items from the touch-screen devices. Once the order is complete, fans will swipe their credit card to complete the transaction before receiving a printed ticket to confirm their order for pickup at the counter.
"We want our fans to be able to experience everything Bridgestone Arena has to offer, while spending minimal time standing in a concession line," Delaware North General Manager John DonVito said. "For example, during an intermission, fans may have to make a choice of do I go to the bathroom, do I go to the concessions or do I enjoy another experience? We don't want fans to have to choose, we want them to be able to do all three in the allotted amount of time."
Henry and his staff realize that, as with all new technology, there may be glitches to start. But the eventual goal is to begin adding these kiosks throughout the arena, offering fans greater quantities of ordering points, which will in turn will produce a better experience on a nightly basis.
"It's not perfect, but because of the type of fans we have with their input, it will be in pretty short order," Henry said.
Fans are welcome and encouraged to test out the kiosks and provide feedback by tweeting @SMASHVILLE_FnB or reaching out to their ticket representatives via phone or email.
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Please sign and share this petition now to tell USCIS that a father needs medical treatment urgently and grant humanitarian parole.
EVERY HUMAN HAS A RIGHT. NOONE SHOULD BE DEPRIVE FROM MEDICAL SERVICES.
Humanitarian parole is a temporarily grant to anyone to the United states bases on urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit. Humanitarian is define as a action created by concerns with saving lives and alleviation of suffering. It is designed to give aid and promote human welfare.
On June 15, 2012, my husband Choeup became a victim of a crime and was robbed and brutally attack to near death by local civilians and left hoping he would died on the side of the road. He suffered a brain hemorrhage injury, laceration inside his mouth, and severe angina with complications breathing from being kicked several times in the chest and back as he was collapsed on the ground. He had lost so much blood and keeps having black outs, dizziness, and dehydration.
On July 1, 2012, my husband Choeup began to become confused and started to have memory problems that would go on and off. I was horrified to hear he didn't know where he was and why things where happening.
By July 5, 2012, my husband Choeup's worst fear begun to happen his brain was not responding well and his condition came shocking. I was horrified and upset to hear my husband try to talk and he was unable to speak, the injury to the brain started to affect his senses and hinder his eye sight and hearing on the left side of his ear. His head shakes left to right and he tries to use his whole muscle to move. In addition to his problems his heart is going slow and fast constantly throughout the day.
As of today neighbors are trying to help bring him water bottles and food to fight the illness and dehydration. Choeup is fighting everyday trying to hold on to survive, while waiting to get medical services in the U.S. The village has no running water, no electricity, and the farm animals are so malnourished. He depends on rain water and there has been a couple days of no rain and everything is manually processed.
The country refuse to give my husband a I.D. Card, so if he was caught by the police he could be arrested going around with no I.D. Please help advocate for our family, humanitarian rights, and save a life.
Joining this petition helps support our family in bringing back Choeup to the U.S. and getting him the medical care that he needs urgently. This situation can not wait because of the seriousness and the chances he might not make it, I'm asking that you would advocate and sign this petition.
Thanks so much
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A Tea Party lawmaker erred last week when he filed a handwritten complaint against the judge who permitted Texas' first same-sex marriage. State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, a veteran groom with five marriages under his belt, called out the wrong judge and made a flawed assertion of Texas law.
That's according to Bud Kennedy of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, who reported the blunder in a Saturday column, three days after Tinderholt submitted the complaint to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
On his Facebook page, Tinderholt announced the filing and wrote, "Judge David Wahlberg issued a ruling that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and ordered a circuit court clerk to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. This judge deliberately violated statutory law that requires judges to notify the Office of Attorney General before ruling on constitutionality."
The first problem: Wahlberg didn't rule the marriage ban unconstitutional. That was Probate Judge Guy Herman, who issued the decision as part of an estate claim by a woman who wanted her deceased female partner legally recognized as her spouse. Wahlberg used Herman's ruling to marry a lesbian couple in Austin last month, saying a terminal illness made the couple unable to wait for a final ruling on the constitutional challenge.
But even if Tinderholt meant to direct his qualms to judge Herman, there's another glitch. In his complaint, Tinderholt wrote "constitutional challenge by a judge requires notice and must wait until 45 days after to enter final judgment."
Kennedy reported that on Jan. 23, Herman had notified the state attorney general's office, which opted not to get involved in the case.
Tinderholt's office did not immediately say why the lawmaker opposes same-sex marriages, and the issue is not included amongst several on Tinderholt's "Issues" web page. Other conservatives often cite the sanctity of traditional marriage and the importance of a strong family for child-raising as reasons they oppose efforts to legalize gay marriage.
However 44-year-old Tinderholt has been married five times. According to records accessed through TexasDivorceRecords.org and verified at CourthouseDirect.com, Tinderholt married Kimberly Greaves in 1990, divorced her in 1994, married her again in 1995 and divorced her again in 1996. A subsequent marriage lasted from 1996 to 1997, and another from 2002 to 2007.
One of his marriages ended with the issuance of a restraining order against him by his former wife. In a court-ordered psychological evaluation, Tinderholt said once he married for "insurance reasons."
He is currently married to former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Bethany Tyler-Tinderholt.
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No, this is not a science fiction story, nor is it a new philosophy. It is the, unfortunately sad, story of the end of Causality Ltd., the company I helped launch around the innovative actor-based language Pony.
For those that are not familiar with the language, it originated in the work of Sylvan Clebsch, a Ph.D. student of my wife Sophia Drossopoulou at Imperial. Pony promises a highly scaleable architecture, (hundreds of thousands actors) with jitter-free garbage collection and a soundness proof. Benchmarks show its superiority to previous-generation languages such as Scala (Akka) or Erlang.
Together with Sebastian Blessing, we put together some friends-and-family funding, which was used to support a very tight technical group (Sylvan, Sebastian and Andy McNeil); this team developed a compiler for the language, which was duly launched in May 2015.
The interactions with the commercial (and security, as there are some demanding high-performance computing requirements in this field) domains proved very disappointing. We imagined that, with a much better mouse trap, a modicum of publicity would cause the world to come knocking at our door. After all, this is demonstrably superior technology, with a suitable academic pedigree and benchmarks to match. What happened instead is that door upon door was slammed shut. I freely admit that there were many failures on our side – yet all of these were on the exploitation side, not on the technical. Perhaps the most memorable rejection came from one of the big US investment banks, which was (and is) using Pony for a critical piece of their compliance system (monitoring thousands of transactions per second from a risk perspective). The 25-year-old in charge calmly explained that the support contract we were offering was of no interest because our company was too small; in the world of high finance obviously 0 > 3.
I had to pull the plug at the end of January, after burning up all of our friends’ and Greycon’s investment in Causality. Administratively closing down the company has been a lesson in humility.
Two aspects emerge, in my view, with credit from the story. One venture capitalist we talked to, Ed Stacey from IQ Capital, was amazingly knowledgeable and serious. The second is the incredibly generous tax regime in the UK for such startups: amongst our investors, our UK residents were able to obtain an initial 50% relief under the SEIS scheme and then can claim even further relief when the company closes down.
As to the lessons I draw, I do hope that there will be another opportunity that is as good as Pony technically where I will get the chance to apply them. But I am not too optimistic.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power Bernie Sanders: 'This is an election between Donald Trump and democracy' The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump stokes fears over November election outcome MORE (I-Vt.) unveiled a plan Wednesday seeking to boost the number of black employees in the health care industry as the White House hopeful works to shore up support in Democratic presidential primary.
Sanders's campaign unveiled the plan shortly after he appeared at a presidential forum in Detroit for the NAACP National Convention. The plan would work to train and hire more black health care providers and supplement his “Medicare for All” plan.
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“We must not only guarantee health care to all as a right, but also end the long-standing racial disparities that exist within the health care system,” Sanders said in a statement.
“When we are in the White House, we will address the need for more black doctors, more black dentists, more black nurses and more black mental health providers who can provide culturally competent care in their communities.”
The plan would expand the National Health Service Corps, Community Health Centers and Teaching Health Centers to hire more doctors and nurses of color to underserved areas and boost the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program to help train more African American primary care physicians.
Sanders also intends to grow the Nurse Practitioner Residency Training Program and the Nurse Faculty Loan Program to boost the number of nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, his campaign said.
The Vermont Independent argued that his proposal to cancel student debt would also help “free up doctors and nurses to work in communities that need care the most.”
Sanders's campaign did not detail how much it expects his plan to hire more doctors and nurses would cost. The Hill has reached out to his campaign for additional information.
Sanders has sought to highlight both his Medicare for All plan and his intention to tackle racial inequities should he be elected president, both priorities of the party’s progressive base.
He is currently facing a stiff challenge from Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Democratic senators ask inspector general to investigate IRS use of location tracking service MORE (D-Mass.) for the progressive mantle in the Democratic presidential primary, as a handful of national and statewide polls show the Massachusetts Democrat leapfrogging him.
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We’ve got several pieces of news today!
Carol
Carol Nichols (aka @carols10cents) is joining the core team. Carol has a long history with Rust, spanning a wide array of interests. She’s been involved from the early days in community building, both as an organizer (including putting together the Rust Belt Rust conference) and more recently as a member of the community team. She has contributed to Rust’s tooling story, especially around crates.io, and recently became a member of the tools team in recognition of that work. She’s a talented RFC writer and shepherd, and brings a keen, practical eye to technical questions. She’s a coauthor of the new edition of the Rust book, where she’s been indispensable in getting the book done in a timely fashion, as well as doing extensive editing, review, and organization. And she’s the co-founder of the first Rust consultancy, Integer 32, which amongst other things offers Rust training.
Carol is going to supplement the core team with much-needed additional perspective from the production user standpoint, which her company uniquely positions her to do.
Nick
Nick Cameron (aka @nrc) is also joining the core team. Like Carol, Nick has been involved in Rust for quite a while and across diverse areas. He landed dynamically sized types, built rustfmt (and is leading the strike team to standardize it), laid out the design for the new plugins and macro system, and spearheaded the Rust Language Service project to support IDEs through rustc. Along the way he’s landed many important RFCs and changes to compiler internals.
Nick will join the core team in anticipation of some forthcoming changes to the tools subteam. Right now, that team covers too wide a set of interests, and as we work to scale up Rust’s leadership, we plan to break the team into smaller chunks, including one for infrastructure (CI), for Cargo/crates.io, and one focused purely on developer tools. Nick is currently on paternity leave, but when he returns, he will be heading up the new devtools team. More on that soon!
Patrick
Finally, @pcwalton has been part of Rust forever, and his impact on the project cannot be overstated. However, for the last couple of years his focus has shifted purely to the Servo project, and at this point he’s moving into alumni status for the core team. That means that decisions will not block on him, but as with all alumni, he will remain welcome to join meetings and discussions, and he will continue to be an important point of contact between the Rust and Servo projects.
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missed tackle I had on Marshawn Lynch in the backfield — not scared, right place at the right time, shooting for the far leg — you just have to bring him down."
No, Clinton-Dix never knocked out players in back-to-back-to-back games like Pryor last fall. He is, unlike the starter in 2013, decisive. He feels no limitations mentally. Clinton-Dix said he knows the playbook. The defensive backs notice, too.
"He's a playmaker," Burnett said. "He can make plays."
Added Casey Hayward, "They got him in the first round for a reason. He can cover. He can hit. He's learning every day."
Ryan gets defensive when Pryor's coverage skills are questioned, saying Pryor "can do it all." Run. Cover. And, yes, make you think twice about that crossing route. To him, Pryor is no box safety.
"He's an overall safety that's going to be a force for years and years," Ryan said. "He is a hitter and that will be recognized early."
Who knows if the Packers would have even taken Pryor. General manager Ted Thompson said after the first round that he's "not a big fan anymore of those blowup guys" at safety.
Green Bay did need to liven up a rather bland, Collins-less position.
Clinton-Dix made it clear Wednesday he was not pleased with his performance. The missed tackles must be eliminated. On the 33-yard touchdown pass to Ricardo Lockette, Clinton-Dix says he should have collected himself with "a few more steps" before diving at the receiver's legs.
Against the Jets' new ground-and-pound duo of Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson, tackling across the defense must improve. One is a Lynch Lite; the other once pulled a 4.24 in the 40.
On Sunday, Clinton-Dix gets the chance to prove Ryan wrong (or right).
Clinton-Dix and Pryor have been linked together since they were highly recruited Florida preps, 300 miles apart. At the NFL scouting combine, Clinton-Dix raved about Pryor's lights-out hitting ability and did again Wednesday, saying "he's not afraid to stick his nose in there."
He just doesn't like the assumption in Ryan's comments that he wouldn't knock a face in himself.
Clinton-Dix sets the record straight. He does characterize himself as a hard hitter.
"No doubt," he said. "And you're going to see it week in and week out. As I get my chance to come up and make those big hits, it will happen. My time will come."
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A hot-headed old-timer turned his Long Island “Super Senior” softball league into a field of screams by threatening to beat his teammate/manager’s “brains out” with a bat — and even to stalk him at his neighborhood pharmacy, a new lawsuit charges.
The diamond dust-up broke out after Ronald Tagliaferri, 74, of Shoreham, and Robert Willis, 72, of Ridge, got into a squabble over the color and cut of uniforms for their team, the Kingsmen, in March 2013, according to the Suffolk County filing.
Tagliaferri, an outfielder who had previously been manager, stormed Willis, a third baseman who replaced him running the squad, with his fists clenched, forcing teammates to jump in, according to the lawsuit.
Things got so heated, the suit states, that Tagliaferri, “in a menacing and threatening tone,” later left a message on Willis’ voicemail telling him he knows where he “gets his prescriptions filled” and that Willis “should be on the lookout.”
Spooked, Willis switched to a different team, the Eagles.
But Tagliaferri — who is so obsessed with softball that his license plate reads “0 Errors” — maintained a grudge, according to the suit.
Three months later, he called Willis, threatening to “beat [his] brains out with a baseball bat” if he showed up for a game, the suit says.
It came to a head when the Eagles faced the Kingsmen in August.
The umpire called Willis out at second base, but the hard-of-hearing baserunner asked him to repeat the call — and Tagliaferri exploded, the lawsuit states.
“Hey, you’re out! Get off the goddamn base!” he shouted, the suit says. Tagliaferri charged at Willis and again had to be restrained, the suit states.
Tagliaferri called the allegations “outright lies.”
“I never threatened him with a bat... He has osteoporosis. He doesn’t walk too great. I wouldn’t do anything to [hurt] this guy,” said Tagliaferri, who said he retired from the NYPD after 25 years patrolling in Brooklyn. “I never heard of anyone taking someone to court over an argument on the baseball field.”
“Mr. Willis has loved and played this game his entire life,” said his attorney, Vesselin Mitev of the firm Ray, Mitev and Associates.
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Blockchain-based consumer lender Figure Technologies has added Morgan Creek Digital’s Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano, one of the sector’s most exuberant supporters, to its board. It’s also announced a $103 million funding round.
Figure plans to use the funds to expand its lending products that run on a blockchain, but the Series C funding round was primarily opportunistic, said chief executive Mike Cagney.
“The company has plenty of cash from an execution standpoint,” said Cagney, who previously led online consumer finance company SoFi.
Morgan Creek pushed the idea of the round, and Figure agreed to it to add Pompliano on its board and secure other strategic partners, including Japan’s MUFG (the bank’s VC arm participated in the round), Cagney said.
The raise brings Figure’s total funding to more than $225 million and values it at $1.2 billion, according to a company press release. Aside from Morgan Creek, which led the round, and MUFG, participants included DCM, Digital Currency Group, HCM Capital, Ribbit Capital, RPM Ventures and The Partners at DST Global. While the size of the round was disclosed in a securities filing last month, the other details were not revealed until now.
Best known for its home equity line of credit (HELOC) product, Figure began offering student loan and mortgage refinance products earlier this year. Figure has originated around $1 billion in loans, with $700 million of that being blockchain-based HELOCs.
“Figure has grown from an idea approximately two years ago to become the fourth largest HELOC originator in the United States,” Pompliano said.
Provenance, a distributed blockchain with 12 node operators, is the foundation of Figure’s lending products. It removes the document workload involved in loan origination, financing and sales, according to the company. Cagney claims that the blockchain saves Figure more than 130 basis points on originating HELOCs. That would add up to $1,560 on an average-size loan of $120,000.
Figure’s business model aligns with the Morgan Creek fund’s investment thesis that every stock, bond, currency, and commodity will eventually be digitized, Pompliano said.
“Currently, the DTCC settles approximately $2 quadrillion of transactions annually, but their technology is not equipped to settle these digital asset transactions,” he said, referring to the central securities depository for the U.S. “Figure has shown that the combination of numerous frontier technologies can significantly disrupt these markets.”
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In another example of how much viewing of a scripted series takes place after its regularly scheduled episode, last week’s episode of FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” more than doubled its same-day delivery of young adults in just three days to vault to a No. 1 ranking among all programs for the night.
According to Nielsen’s “live plus-3” estimates, the season’s second episode of “The People v. O.J. Simpson” averaged a 3.07 rating in adults 18-49 and 7.42 million total viewers — surging 103% in the demo and 48% in overall audience from its same-day ratings (1.51 and 3.89 million). As a result, a same-day decline of 23% was trimmed to just 6% (3.07 vs. 3.27) in L+3. And of course, this decline could disappear — or even flip to the plus column — when all viewing is registered in approximately 60 days.
The FX anthology series ranked No. 1 among all Tuesday series in L+3 demo rating, moving ahead of five shows that had beaten it in same-day: “NCIS” (3.04 in L+3), “Chicago Fire” (2.55), “NCIS: New Orleans” (2.38), “Chicago Med” (2.24) and “The Flash” (2.23).
Week-to-week in L+3, “The People v. O.J. Simpson” held steady in adults 18-34 rating (1.87) while growing in all three men demos: men 25-54 (up 4%), men 18-49 (up 3%) and men 18-34 (up 13%). Of these categories, it stood as Tuesday’s No. 1 program on television in adults 18-34, men 18-34 and men 18-49, and was a close second to CBS vet “NCIS” in men 25-54.
According to FX, the L+3 delivery for the first two episodes of the series “illustrates the increasing irrelevance and incomplete picture of Live+Same Day rating compared to the ultimate viewership of an FX original series and most scripted entertainment programs.”
“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” continues its 10-episode season tonight. The series has garnered universal acclaim from critics and currently ranks No. 1 of all series in 2016 on Metacritic with an average score of 90, and is 97% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
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save lives. Corneal transplants can help to restore sight to people with certain eye conditions. Miscellaneous other tissues can help improve lives: skin can help patients with burns, tendons can help to repair an athlete’s injured knee, bone can help to repair injured limbs and prevent amputation. So...a lot of people.
Who can donate? In most cases, the rule is pretty strict: you have to be dead. Almost anyone can potentially be a donor, but the specifics will depend on your medical situation at the time of death, and whether you or your family gives permission.
How to donate: All you need to do while you’re alive is join your state’s organ donor registry or indicate on your driver’s license that you want to be an organ donor. If hospital staff don’t know your wishes, they will ask your next of kin whether they would like to donate your organs. Make sure to let your family know your intentions.
There is an exception to the rule about being dead, however. You can choose to donate a kidney or part of your liver while you are still alive. People typically do this to help out a relative or close friend, but it’s also possible to make a “non-directed” donation, where you offer up your organ for whoever needs it. If you think you’d like to do this, the American Transplant Foundation has a mentoring program where they match you up with another living donor to help you make your decision. If you still want to go ahead, the first step is to contact a local transplant center.
If you’d like to go whole hog and donate your entire body, that’s possible too. Medical schools use bodies to teach anatomy, and scientists can use donated body parts for medical research. You can even donate your organs, like we described above, and then give the rest of your body to science. ScienceCare can help you donate your body in any state except Minnesota and New Jersey, or you can contact a medical school or hospital directly. For example, the Mayo Clinic’s donation information is here. The school or company that handles your donation will return the cremated remains to your family a few weeks after death, and typically there is no cost to the family.
Deciding to donate your body, or any part of it, is a big decision. Since donations can benefit people in need—or medical research, which can benefit others in the future—it’s worth considering.
Illustration by Angelica Alzona. Photos by the Minnesota National Guard, Ed Uthman, Rochelle Hartman, the Hudson family, the Internet Archive, and Hikmet Gümüş.
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About
This is a non-partisan website created to allow the American people to easily track the progress of President Donald Trump’s 100-day action plan.
Six measures to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, DC:
FIRST, propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.
SECOND, a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health).
THIRD, a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated.
FOURTH, a five-year ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.
FIFTH, a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.
SIXTH, a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.
Seven actions to protect American workers:
FIRST, I will announce my intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205.
SECOND, I will announce our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
THIRD, I will direct the Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator.
FOURTH, I will direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately.
FIFTH, I will lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars’ worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.
SIXTH, lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward.
SEVENTH, cancel billions in payments to U.N. climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure.
Five actions to restore security and the constitutional rule of law:
FIRST, cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama.
SECOND, begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia from one of the 20 judges on my list, who will uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution.
THIRD, cancel all federal funding to sanctuary cities.
FOURTH, begin removing the more than two million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back.
FIFTH, suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. All vetting of people coming into our country will be considered “extreme vetting.”
Email | Twitter
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Yesterday, the FBI shocked the US and the world with news of a massive, year long investigation into the Clinton Foundation and its pay to play practices. Even more shocking is that this investigation is ongoing under the complete resistance of a corrupt Loretta Lynch and Justice Department. A Constitutional crisis is at hand and the corrupt White House, State Department and Department of Justice has been revealed to be what many suspected – a thinly veiled criminal organization, breaking US laws with impunity since Barack Obama took office.
Five hostile nations hacked Hillary & Bill Clinton’s home-brew server and we don’t know how many people have died because of this server. Reports are only now coming in about the programs and individuals that were compromised. One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that this is “Watergate x 1000” and that they are linking the Iran Deal to blackmail made possible by secrets stolen from Hillary’s server – and other foreign policy failures as well.
The nation has watched as this administration has had failure after failure in foreign policy and whispers of “treason” have been overheard more than anytime in the nation’s history. Collusion at the highest level has been proven without a doubt and the people are angry and alongside “treason,” the word “revolution” has also been heard in and outside the beltway.
This is unprecedented. We are witnessing a corrupt group of people try to wield their power to subvert the Constitution. Loretta Lynch and Peter Kadzik need to step down immediately. Not tomorrow or the next day – now.
This source said that Obama himself is facing indictment for his intentional deception and high crimes committed which have grossly compromised national security. To avoid the Constitutional crisis, Obama may be offered a deal in which he promises not to pardon Hillary Clinton or anyone involved in this selling of the US government and its resources and secrets to foreign powers, to avoid being indicted and prosecuted himself.
The last time we faced such a scenario, was during the Watergate crisis almost half a century ago. This time it’s dealing with much more severe crimes and a more severe response from the people – many who say that lawlessness can’t be permitted in the White House and Executive branch. A recent poll showed 50% of Republicans and 43% of Independents ready to revolt if this election appears improper or lawless. A hundred million people marching on Washington is like 50 Chinas attacking all at once with the full Red Army – the largest in the world at 2,400,000 people. It would all be over quickly and a new government would emerge overnight.
We live in interesting times and if this administration is not careful, “interesting” will be the understatement of the century.
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Baja California state police stand guard outside the offices of Tijuana’s Zeta newspaper, a weekly investigative publication. Zeta has received recent threats from Mexican drug trafficking cartels for their reporting on crime. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Each week, Zeta publishes a full-page editorial featuring a photo of Hector “El Gato” Felix, a Zeta editor known for his biting criticism of members of Mexico’s elites, including Jorge Hank Rhon, the owner of a Tijuana racetrack.
In 1988, a man pulled up next to Felix while he was driving and opened fire, killing him. Two of Rhon’s bodyguards were convicted of the attack, but Rhon was never prosecuted.
The editorial addresses Rhon, as well as the current and former governors of Baja California: “Will your government capture the one who ordered this crime?” it asks.
In 1997, Zeta’s legendary founder, Jesus Blancornelas, was badly wounded and his bodyguard killed in a botched assassination attempt. Afterward, Blancornelas had a brick wall built in front of his home, and employed 14 bodyguards.
Eight years later, Francisco Ortiz Franco, who frequently wrote about drug trafficking for Zeta, was shot and killed while driving his children. In both cases, the culprits were never brought to justice.
“This means that one can silence, kill or extort a journalist and never see justice,” said Navarro, who won the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award in 2007, like Blancornelas before her.
Navarro is sometimes frustrated that Zeta’s stories don’t have a bigger impact. Corrupt public officials hold on to power. Drug cartels continue their bloody wars.
But she knows her work is doing something. When Zeta publishes the names and faces of cartel members, many flee Tijuana.
Navarro says she runs her newsroom with a mantra coined by Blancornelas, who died in 2006 of complications from stomach cancer.
“Be far from the government,” he used to say, “and close to the people.”
To read this article in Spanish, click here.
[email protected]
Twitter: @katelinthicum
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Royal Assent was given to 20 Government bills on a range of policies during a formal ceremony in the Senate with Governor General Julie Payette on Friday afternoon.
The ceremony in the Red Chamber set into law the following bills:
Bill C-48, to formalize a longstanding crude oil tanker moratorium on Canada’s north Pacific coast.
Bill C-58, to enhance openness and transparency with major updates to Canada’s access-to-information laws.
Bill C-59, a national security overhaul which helps children mistakenly flagged as terrorists at airports.
Bill C-68, to restore protections to Canada’s freshwater and marine fisheries.
Bill C-69, to improve the rules for the assessment of major projects.
Bill C-71, to further regulate firearms in Canada, including enhanced background checks for license applicants.
Bill C-75, to reduce delays in criminal proceedings and eliminate peremptory jury charges.
Bill C-77, to modernize the military justice system and give new rights to victims of service offences.
Bill C-78, to strengthen and modernize the family justice system.
Bill C-81, to remove and prevent barriers in Canada for those with disabilities.
Bill C-82, to implement a multilateral treaty in respect of conventions for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
Bill C-83, to reform Canada’s current system of segregation in prisons.
Bill C-84, to provide greater protection to animals by strengthening laws related to bestiality and animal fighting.
Bill C-88, in response to Indigenous concerns in relation to resource management in the Mackenzie Valley.
Bill C-91, to ensure the preservation, protection and revitalization of First Nations, Inuit and Métis languages.
Bill C-92, to affirm the rights and jurisdiction of Indigenous peoples in relation to child and family services.
Bill C-93, to allow those who have been convicted of simple cannabis possession to apply for an expedited, no fee record suspension.
Bill C-97, to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 19, 2019.
Bill C-101, to protect the Canadian steel industry and its workers by temporarily repealing the two-year prohibition on the imposition of safeguard measures on products that have already been subject to safeguards.
Bill C-102, to grant money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.
Bill S-203, a Senate public bill to phase out the captivity of whales, dolphins and porpoises in Canada, also received Royal Assent.
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the modern western lifestyle, and that it is not a fear of hard work or sacrifice holding them back, but the financial barriers to entry. And for those who can leap the first hurdle of land ownership, there is then the cost of everything one cannot provide for themselves, because let’s face it, no one can be self sufficient. Eventually you will need something from the outside world, whether a box of nails or a broken bone set, and then you will be at the mercy of costs set by a world powered by oil. Even the barest, most primitive lifestyle is only possible with access to a vast territory, a few friends, and a state apparatus that doesn’t limit your existence or steal your children when it finds them wearing furs and eating dandelions.
—
My friend placed the tip of his screwdriver into the release valve on the fuel bar. Gasoline trickled out. At midday the sun had gently raised the temperature. With the turn of the key, the starter whirred and the engine turned over. I had to laugh. Of course it would start with no problem when a friend had trekked out to help me diagnose the malfunction. He laughed too. Inside the cabin with a steady warmth emanating from the wood stove I prepared a breakfast. My friend declined the homemade sauerkraut, but gladly accepted sausage, eggs, and hot coffee. I had a few steaks in the freezer and I gave them to him.
“Make dinner,” I said as I gave him what I could for his time.
“Thanks, I will.”
We will only get poorer. The low paying jobs will be fewer and fewer as the years pass, and the pittance they pay will buy less and less. Our survival in the rural places will be predicated on either preying on our neighbors by keeping apace with the terms dictated by capitalists, charging each other fees that drain an entire two week paycheck for necessary services, or by working together, giving our time and our skill with no expectation of payment, only the hope that down the line, our own needs will be met with the kindness of others.
I for one will be opening up my land to others. Rent is a backbreaker, and if I can support like minded friends by giving them a place to exist without expectation of payment, I will happily do so. Civilization is a complexity of moving parts, and theoretically, this machine is supposed to serve us. But we become the tools of our tools, and now that this too is breaking down the complexity is a burden, and more and more of us are finding that we exist in a realm of negative returns, so we dream of making something new. While we dream, we struggle.
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We all know, or are recently informed that, branded weathering powder can be quite expensive and if you don’t have access to a modelling shop in your area it can also be quite the hassle to acquire said items. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here is my take on a budget version of your very own weathering powder!
Since pastells are more or less pigments on a stick, it’s what we are going to use to make our powder, they also tend to be a lot cheaper by the bunch. Now! What you will need is the following:
Soft pastels of any quality, most arts &/or craft stores have them.
Mortar & pestle, or coffee grinder(an older or not the one you grind your daily coffee with)
folded paper
leftover empty paint bottles (as seen above)
With your shopping list done you’ll want to start of with choosing a color from the pastells and placing it into your mortar/coffee grinder, then grind them to bits with the pestle (or press a button).
It may help you if you are using the mortar to break the sticks into smaller pieces and working your way through. Another tip is to take the lighter colors first, such as white for ash or dust to prevent them from getting contaminated with darker pigments. Don’t forget to clean out you mortar & pestle before switching colors, unless you want an interesting mix of pigments later.
When you have completed your grinding, it should in general look a bit like the following. Now get your folded piece of everyday paper and empty bottles, it’s time to fill up!
The paper is used to ease your filling of containers so pour the powder onto the paper then carefully fill your pots with it, and you are mostly done!
You can also mix some pigments to create a different tone to your powder, for example: More variations of rust or dirt.
Once you’ve had your fill you can apply it directly to any model of your choosing with an old brush or cotton bud, as seen with my Red Knight”. Or you can mix some up with water to create a muddy paste that is later applied onto a desired area, left to dry and then carefully removed with a damped cotton bud, leaving some in the recess, as seen with my steampunk Mobile Golem.
For those that want a metallic powder, I would direct towards grinding down a lead pencil or some graphite otherwise are those all my tips for making your own weathering powder and I hope you’ve liked what you’ve read. Thank you for reading 🙂
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LibreOffice 6.0 launches on Jan 31
Considered as one of the best alternatives to the widely used yet proprietary Microsoft Office, LibreOffice is back with their latest edition. LibreOffice 6.0 will be released at the end of the month with new libraries helping users to export and import files between various platforms.
But first, let’s look at why this is considered as one of the best softwares to use:
A brief history of:
LibreOffice is a forked version of Apache OpenOffice. What it means is that, while the original base code is the same as that of OpenOffice, the software development of the former has gone in a different direction.
LibreOffice was formed in 2010 by developers of OpenOffice as they were vary of the takeover of Oracle who had acquired Sun Microsystems, who in turn had developed OpenOffice.org. They were suspicious of Oracle’s intentions with respect to what they would do with the codebase.
LibreOffice boasts the same six applications as Apache OpenOffice — Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Base and Math — but the two suites differ in terms of applications features, usability and community support. LibreOffice is considered to be more actively developed than OpenOffice: the standard package, for example, offers PDF import, a presentation minimizer and a Wiki publisher.
Now over 25 million LibreOffice users, this open software which can be downloaded for free and comes bundled with many popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu.
So what’s up with the new update?
Improved libraries which can aid the export of EPUB 3 files as well as importing the various standard document formats.
These libraries will give LibreOffice 6.0 compatibility with the EPUB3 (export only), AbiWord, Microsoft Publisher, PageMaker, and QuarkXPress documents (import only). However, they can also be used as standalone libraries for any other open source software project that needs them.
Additionally, there’s libabw for importing AbiWord documents, libmspub for importing Microsoft Publisher documents, libpagemaker for importing PageMaker 6 and 7 documents, and libqxp for importing documents and templates created with the QuarkXPress 3.1 or QuarkXPress 4.1 apps in LibreOffice 6.0.
So to conclude, this is a development that is aimed at the improvement of portability between different formats as even with the rise of the FOSS movement, many people still are used to using licensed software like MS Office. As the FOSS movement is about being open towards all, it is important that this ability of files to be transferred between different softwares remain.
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