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Nixiesearch 5

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[ "sub rosa", "Sub-Mariner", "sub-", "Sub grub", "Sub Pop", "sub-prime", "Lucky Harms", "Lowe's", "sound pollution (or noise pollution)", "shock absorbers", "low", "the radiator", "6 (3 + 3)", "Owl (low)", "-3", "$3", "a low profile", "Sweet'N Low", "atmospheric pressure", "Suite & Lowe", "grievous bodily harm", "Rob Lowe", "Derek Lowe", "3", "Juliette Lowe", "learner & low", "the Low Countries", "PlayStation 3", "high & low", "Terminator 3", "3 times", "a 3-pointer" ]

[ "Gamepro sits down with Ken Levine to discuss the Empire State Building, interoperaility, and BioShock." ]

[ "Take-Two regains momentum with another controversial story in BioShock.", "SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters Life!) - \"BioShock\", which captivated video game fans with its tale of an underwater utopia gone wrong, took the top honor from the Game Critics Awards on Thursday, with judges praising it for pushing the boundaries of the medium.", "Controversial game publisher Take-Two defies gravity to win over the skeptics.", "Tycho: With a couple days placed between this post and the release of the Bioshock demo, I feel far more comfortable discussing it. You know what I do, now: for example, you know that the Playable Intro as a storytelling mechanism has been refined to a ridiculous degree. You've felt the jolt of voyeurism, peering into human lives via found audio. And, perhaps most importantly, you know the dangers that plasmids pose to the young.", "SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters Life!) - Last year's bumper crop of shooter video games, such as \"BioShock\", \"Halo 3\" and \"Call of Duty 4\", were notable for coupling bone-jarring realism with finely crafted epic stories.", "Even if the pontiff sidesteps volatile Christianity-Islam controversies, Turks were angered by his skepticism over their place in the European Union", "The winners of the Swiss Teams at the Edgar Kaplan Winter Regional in Manhattan on Sunday were Jill Levin, Shane Blanchard, Peter Bonfanti, Robert Levin and Glenn Milgrim of New York and Stephen Shane of White Plains.", "A report of a rare and potentially more aggressive form of H.I.V. brought fear and skepticism, but little surprise.", "The value of Heath Evans's place on the Patriots' roster had just come to life on national television.", "Most Japanese bloggers place faith in companies when they write about products, in contrast to the English-speaking world's wide skepticism of public relations agents, a study said.", "EMI said Warner Music’s cash offer was not in the best interests of shareholders and placed too low a value on the company.", "Videogame fans get a taste of the latest games, including Rock Band and BioShock, and immerse themselves in gamer-geek culture at the Seattle show.", "Within hours of the announcement that antivirus maker Symantec (SYMC:Nasdaq - news - research) and software storage vendor Veritas (VRTS:Nasdaq - news - research) would merge, skeptical investors shaved about a billion dollars off the value of the all", "Class, race and preposterous narrative contrivance mix it up in the Cayman Islands in this non-linear nonsense from the producer of “Crash.”", "Do not look for the Viennese soul in the waltzes of Johann Strauss. Try instead the dark places of Anton Webern’s Six Pieces for Orchestra or Alban Berg’s Three Orchestra Pieces, both played by James Levine and his Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on Sunday.", "James Levine's installation as the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra resembled a coronation.", "Conductor James Levine canceled his weekend appearances at the Verbier Festival, citing health.", "Tycho: Keek directed me to a radical (and potentially even \"badical\") article on BioShock over at Gamers Wif Jobs. I've been wondering about the recent PR shift the game has gone through, because I don't just keep hearing that it is a \"shooter first,\" but I keep hearing specifically that it is a \"kick-ass shooter,\" even though it's a game where you learn about Objectivism underwater while helping jealous composers get revenge. I've never doubted that the game will be great, by whatever road it reaches that greatness. The recent WWE slant just had me curious about whether I'll be able to perform a suplex in-game. You may not think that is important, but it is totally important.(CW)TB", "There are many ways to estimate a person's age -- gray hair, wrinkles, acne. Israeli inventor Shmuel Levin thinks he's found a better way, by measuring a person's middle finger. It may sound odd, but Levin's idea has caught the attention of RSA Security Inc. of Bedford, a leading maker of computer security products. RSA and Levin's company, I-Secure of ...", "Detractors are horrified, but the developer of a video game that lets players simulate the assassination of President Kennedy says the point is to bolster the lone-gunman theory and debunk the conspiracy theorists.", "It started in Hawaii with too much hype and an equal dose of skepticism.", "It can pay to stay in place, if a real estate owner is able to think creatively to extract as much value as possible from a property.", "In Michael Crichton's sorry excuse for a thriller, shameless environmentalists use bad science to raise money and draw attention to their cause.", "PageSix - THE aptly named \"Doubt,\" the latest ef fort from the prolific John Patrick Shanley, displays a trait all too rare in today's didactic theater: ambiguity.", "It's not about character. There's no moral lesson. It's not even about solving a mystery, though the question of what is happening is at first haunting.", "James Levine led the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a rousing performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony.", "1. \"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows\" by J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)", "A new kind of extended-stay hotel, Value Place, is aimed at the business traveler who is usually on a strict per diem limit.", "Science & environment: Experts welcome drop in unfounded claims, but gaffes still cause concern", "To: ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS Contact: Lynn Levine of IFAW, Mobile: +1-508-648-3557, Temp.", "A lawyer for AT&T argued before a skeptical Supreme Court yesterday that Microsoft Corp. is violating one of its patents when it sends its Windows software overseas to be copied and placed on personal computers.", "They didn't think we would want to know? Of course they knew better, and that is exactly why Boston University and the city, state, and federal officials who want to build a $128 million ''biodefense lab\" that would bring the most deadly known pathogens and viruses to the South End kept their mouths shut about a breach in another BU ..." ]

[ "A baby who was diagnosed with cancer before she was even born has survived a dangerous operation and a gruelling round of chemotherapy, and has beaten the disease. Doctors spotted a tennis ball sized tumour on Jenna Smith's neck when her mother was 32 weeks pregnant and operated to remove it days after she was born. Now enjoying her first Christmas, the baby's cancer is finally in remission following weeks of chemotherapy. Brave: Baby Jenna Smith, now nine months old, was born with an enormous tumour on her neck . Her mother Lisa, 38, who lives in Penrith with husband Anthony, 38, said: 'It was such a massive shock to us both when we were told that Jenna had this neck cancer. 'She was still inside me and hadn’t even been born yet, yet I was being told that my baby had cancer. It was terrifying. 'When I saw the massive tumour on her neck when she was delivered, I couldn’t believe just how big it was. 'She was such a tiny baby and yet she had this massive tumour on her neck. I just had to pray that she would be able to survive.' Mrs Smith, 38, suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage two years before becoming pregnant with Jenna but her joy soon turned to terror. Cancer: The tumour was spotted when her mother was 32 weeks pregnant and cancer diagnosed after birth . Harrowing: Her parents Mark and Lisa Smith from Penrith feared their daughter might not survive . 'I was overjoyed that I was pregnant again,' remembers Mrs Smith. I went for my scan at 12 weeks and doctors said there was a good strong heartbeat that that was a relief. 'Then on the 20 week scan everything looked fine too so I was just looking forward to becoming a mum at last.' After developing diabetes during the pregnancy, Mrs Smith had another scan at 32 weeks to make sure her daughter was developing normally - but was horrified when doctors spotted the tumour. ‘We were devastated when we were told what was the matter with our baby,' she says. 'We didn’t know whether she was even going to survive.’ Mrs Smith was referred to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and when her waters broke at 34 weeks in March, she was rushed straight into the operating theatre. The birth proved equally traumatic, with doctors forced to cut a hole in Jenna's throat to insert a breathing tube midway through the delivery. Beating the odds: The little girl had her first operation during birth and another a few days later . All gone: The tumour was successfully removed but baby Jenna had to begin a round of chemotherapy . ‘It was so scary,' remembers her mother. 'They were operating on Jenna literally as she was half way through being born.’ After her birth, the tiny baby was taken straight to the intensive care unit. She had an operation to remove the tumour and initially tests came back showing that it was benign. ‘We were so relieved at first because we were told it wasn’t cancer,' says Mrs Smith. 'We thought we could just take her home and get on with our lives and put all this behind us.’ But a few weeks later, the couple got a call from the hospital to say that further tests had shown that the tumour was cancerous. Jenna, who is now nine months old, had to be taken back into hospital to begin months of gruelling chemotherapy treatment to stop the cancer spreading. Survivor: The nine-month-old girl has beaten off the disease and celebrated her first Christmas last week . Happy: Despite the chemotherapy, Jenna's mother says she remains a happy and smiling baby . She has scans once a month at the hospital to check her progress. ‘She has been tired and exhausted with the chemotherapy treatment,' says her mother. 'But in-between her chemotherapy she is still a happy and smiling baby.’ With just two more weeks of chemotherapy treatment to go, the future looks brighter and there is no sign of the tumour returning. ’We are very proud of her,' added Mrs Smith. 'Luckily when she grows up, she will be too young to remember everything that she has been through. ‘We will tell her when she’s old enough about how lucky she has been - to survive being born with cancer.’" ]

[ "Derya Sert from Anamur in Southern Turke was the first person to have a womb transplant. She is looking forward to having IVF . Britain’s first womb transplant could be carried out in just two years. Surgeons in London are on the verge of perfecting the procedure that will allow childless women to carry their own babies. Richard Smith, who plans to carry out the pioneering op, says it could provide a ‘ray of light’ for the 15,000 young British women of childbearing age who were born without a womb or had it removed due to illness. However, critics question whether giving a woman the chance to experience the joy of pregnancy is worth ‘experimenting’ on an unborn child. Mr Smith, a consultant gynaecological surgeon at the Lister Hospital in west London, has spent almost 15 years researching the subject and today launches the charity Uterine Transplant UK to raise the £500,000 needed for the first five ops. A womb has only been transplanted successfully once before, in Turkey last August. But the recipient has not yet become pregnant. Derya Sert, who is due to start IVF in September in the hope of conceiving a much longed-for child, recently told the Daily Mail: ‘If I had a magic wand, I would want to be pregnant now. I just want to hold my baby in my arms, to be a mother.’ Mr Smith, of charity Uterine Transplant UK, is using a similar technique to the Turkish surgeons but says his work has been delayed by lack of funding. He has already ploughed significant amounts of his own money into the quest and hopes the appeal will attract donations from medical charities and members of the public. He has already done successful womb transplants in rabbits and one became pregnant, although it later miscarried. More work on rabbits and then on sheep is planned. If successful, the operation could be carried out on a British woman in as little as two years. Danger: Fertility expert Lord Winston says the risks are not worth taking. Surrogacy is an alternative option . Mr Smith has already been approached by more than 50 women. The candidate for surgery would be between 20 and 40 and born without a womb or had it removed due to illness. The woman would have ovaries and so be able to produce eggs, will be given a womb from a dead donor in a four-hour operation. Powerful immunosuppressant drugs will prevent the new womb from being rejected and six months to a year later, the woman will be given IVF to become pregnant. Any baby will have to delivered by caesarean section because the new tissue will not stand up to a natural birth. The woman is likely to be at extra risk of a host of complications of pregnancy, as well as miscarrying or having a premature birth. The process does not end there. Long-term risks of disease and side effects from the anti-rejection drugs mean the new womb will need to be taken out again after one or two pregnancies. Currently, such women have their options limited to remaining childless, adoption or surrogacy. Eleanor Findlater, who had a hysterectomy due to cancer said she would have had a womb transplant 'in a second' if it had been available . Eleanor Findlater had a hysterectomy within months of being . married - and would have had a womb transplant in a second. Mrs Findlater was just 32 when she was diagnosed with a rare . form of cancer of the womb and had the lifesaving hysterectomy. She said: ‘I had just been married for six months, I’d . always wanted children and I was absolutely devastated.’ After deciding against adoption because of the length of . time it would take, the Findlaters settled on surrogacy. They now have two boys, aged four and five, who are . genetically their own and were carried by the same surrogate mother. Mrs Findlater, who is now 40 and lives in London where she . is setting up a business, says that she has no regrets about the route she . chose – but would have opted for a womb transplant had it . been available. She said: ‘Surrogacy was the most fantastic experience but I . would have had a womb transplant in a second. ‘I would have done what it took to carry a baby, if the . option had been there.’ Although surrogacy would allow them to have a child that is genetically their own, it is banned in some countries and legally and ethically fraught in others. Mr Smith said: ‘In many women, there is a deep yearning to carry children and this is not fulfilled by surrogacy. ‘I’ve had my own crisis with this project over the years, are we doing the right thing? ‘But when you meet women in this position, I know in my heart of hearts that if we do it safely, it is the right thing.’ He added that by 2020, the procedure could be routine enough and inexpensive enough for use on the NHS. Not everyone agrees. Fertility expert Lord Winston says the risks are not worth taking and some women have to accept they won’t become mothers. And the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has reservations about the welfare of the mother and of the child. Professor Charles Kingsland, a consultant gynaecologist and RCOG spokesman, said: ‘Significant concerns need to be addressed to everybody’s satisfaction before we go ahead and offer this as a viable option.’", "He has already created history after the first baby was born following a womb transplant. Now Mats Brännström hopes to go one step further – by growing wombs from scratch. The Swedish doctor is working on growing a womb in the lab. While it may sound fantastical, teams elsewhere in the world are ‘making’ livers, kidneys and even hearts. Given to young women who are born without one or have theirs removed due to cancer, the new wombs could allow them to achieve their dream of motherhood. Scroll down for video . Surgeon Mats Brännström (pictured third from the right) and his team have already created history by carrying out the world's first successful womb transplant. Now he is working on growing wombs from scratch a lab within a decade . The world's first successful womb transplant saw the birth of baby Vincent in Gothenberg, Sweden, last month after years of tireless research. He was born weighing 4lbs . The project is still in its infancy, however Professor Brännström envisages taking wombs from dead donors and stripping them of their cells, to leave little more than a living framework. This would then be coated with stem cells – ‘master cells’ – taken from the young woman’s body. It would then be grown in the lab, before being given to her as a new womb. Using the woman’s own cells would mean it would be an exact match for her own body – removing the need for powerful and potentially dangerous immunosuppressant drugs. The Gothenburg University professor has successfully made a rat’s womb, however, it will be decade before he has a womb ready to put into woman. News of the project has emerged just days after Professor Brännström announced that a baby had been born after a womb transplant for the first time anywhere in the world. He has been called Vincent - a name derived from the Latin for 'to conquer' - to mark the extraordinary lengths his mother undertook to have him. The breakthrough offers hope to childless women around the world, including some 15,000 in the UK alone who were born without a womb or had it removed due to cancer or other illness. Baby Vincent’s mother carried him in a womb donated to her by a close family friend. He is now a month old and a ‘perfect baby boy’. His mother, who is 36, was devastated to be told at 15 that she didn’t have a womb. She said: ‘I have always had this large sorrow because I never thought I would be a mother - and now the impossible has become real.' Vincent’s mother, who has not been named, was one of nine to be given a new womb as part of the pioneering project at Gothenburg University. Seven of the transplants were successful – and two of the women are just weeks away from giving birth. In another world first, the mothers-to-be have been given wombs by their own mothers. In other words, each baby is being nurtured in its grandmother’s womb. The extraordinary procedure, which doctors have likened in importance to the first successful heart transplant, means each womb will have carried two generations of the same family. Professor Mats Brännström, who has spent 15 years perfecting the complex surgical techniques needed for a transplant, says these two pregnancies prove that Vincent’s birth wasn’t just ‘pure luck’. Mats Brannstrom and his team performing a womb transplant on a woman earlier this year. Another six women given new wombs are also said to be pregnant . He predicts that six of the seven women will become mothers. He said: ‘If that happens, then it’s a very effective treatment. It’s a costly treatment but it’s very effective.’ News of his success provides a boost for a similar project in the UK in which 60 women are waiting for a new womb. However, close to £500,000 is needed if the first British woman is to be operated on next spring or summer. Richard Smith, a consultant gynaecological surgeon and head of charity Womb Transplant UK, described the Swedish women – including Vincent’s mother, as incredibly courageous. Mr Smith said: ‘It is a big step, setting yourself up for something that is a big step into the unknown.’ Professor Brännström said he was more focussed and disciplined than the UK team. However, he believes Mr Smith’s project will be successful and predicts the first British womb transplant baby will be born just three years from now.", "By . Sophie Borland Health Reporter . Being obese or overweight heightens the risk of at least seven types of cancer, researchers say . More than 22,000 Britons suffer cancer every year because they are too fat, claim researchers. Being obese or overweight heightens the risk of at least seven types of the disease, including breast, bowel, pancreatic, womb, kidney, oesophagus and gall bladder. Academics from the World Cancer Research Fund say that excess fat is the second biggest cause of cancer after smoking. They have calculated that being overweight or obese is directly responsible for 22,138 cases every year. This toll includes 7,752 cases of breast cancer, 5,753 of the bowel and 2,978 affecting the womb. The figure is far higher than previous estimates, which have linked being obese or overweight to 17,000 cases annually. Last year just over 320,400 people were diagnosed with cancer, according to figures from Cancer Research UK. The latest calculations mean that 1 in 14 cases are caused by being overweight. Professor . Alan Jackson, chairman of the WCRF panel which calculated the figures, . said: ‘A significant number of cancer cases could be prevented by people . maintaining a healthy body weight. ‘Through . keeping levels of body fat low, a lot of people will avoid getting . cancer in the first place – forestalling the pain and anguish associated . with the disease.’ The . WCRF is carrying out an ongoing study looking at existing research to . try to estimate how many cancers are caused by people’s lifestyles. Risk: Almost two thirds of Britons are classified as being either overweight or obese . Academics . are particularly concerned at the number of cases of pancreatic cancer . caused by being overweight because it is so difficult to treat. Just under 8,400 Britons are diagnosed with this type of tumour every year and only 4 per cent are likely to survive. The . researchers estimate that 1,257 cases of pancreatic cancer a year are . caused by being overweight and are therefore preventable. Nearly two . thirds of Britons are classified as being either overweight or obese. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index above 30, while someone is classified as overweight if it is over 25. This figure is essentially an estimate of body fat and takes into account a person’s weight compared with their height. Last year, a study found that 134,000 cases of cancer could be prevented every year through simple lifestyle changes. Smoking was found to be the biggest cause and was responsible for 61,000 cases last year, according to academics from Oxford University. But they calculated that obesity was linked to only 17,000 cases of cancer. They admitted their calculations were probably ‘conservative’ however and it is likely that excess fat triggers many different types of cancer. People who are overweight or obese are increasing their risk of being diagnosed with cancer, scientists have warned . At the time, Dr Rachel Thompson, of the WCRF, said: ‘We hope this helps to raise awareness that cancer is not simply a question of fate and that people can make changes today that can reduce their risk. ‘Thousands of cases of cancer in the UK could be prevented by maintaining a healthy weight, being regularly physically active and eating a plant-based diet without too much salt, alcohol or red and processed meat.’ The WCRF has previously warned that the number of Britons diagnosed with cancer will double by 2050 unless urgent action is taken to stem the rising tide of obesity. It is thought that high levels of fat can ‘feed’ cancer by disrupting the body’s delicate balance of hormones. For example, the female sex hormone oestrogen is known to fuel breast cancer. Fat stored around the waist is particularly dangerous and is strongly linked to bowel cancer. It is predicted that, if nothing is done to tackle obesity, around half of men in England will be obese by 2040 with women not far behind.", "A doctor has made history by having a smear test on live TV in a bid to urge other women not to miss their vital screening appointments. Dr Dawn Harper appeared on ITV's This Morning as part of the programme #NoFearGoSmear campaign. While smear tests save the lives of more than 4,500 women each year, one in three women under 35 refuses to have one, figures show. Scroll down for video . Dr Dawn Harper had a smear test live on ITV's This Morning as presenter Holly Willoughby looked on, to raise awareness of the importance of women having regular tests to help prevent cervical cancer . Lying on a plinth with her legs in stirrups, Dr Harper, who also appears on Channel 4's Embarrassing Bodies, became a patient for the day. She said: 'When I was first called for a smear I was already at medical school so I knew how important it is. 'Today is about raising awareness.' While presenter Holly Willoughby asked about the instruments used to perform a smear test, an oncologist performed the examination on Dr Harper. Dr Harper, said: 'If you're between 25 and 49 you should have a smear test every three years. 'After that women should have them every five years until they are 65, unless they have any abnormalities. 'It is preferable to go for a test mid-cycle, because bleeding can obscure the cells and can lead to an inadequate result, which means you might have to go back. 'Everybody's uterus tips either forwards or backwards. If yours tips backwards it can be harder to perform a smear test, so I always advise patients to pop their hands under their bottom to tip the pelvis. 'Usually you can expect your results within two to three weeks.' Viewers were told Dr Harper (pictured) was making 'TV history' by having the smear test live on air . Reporting back on her test, she added: 'It feels a bit cold but that's it, I didn't feel a thing.' The campaign comes as the charity The Eve Appeal urged women to learn more about gynaecological cancers as part of the national awareness month. A survey carried out by the charity found less than a quarter of 16 to 25-year-olds said they felt confident they were well informed about gynaecological health issues, compared to more than 42 per cent of women aged 66 to 75. The charity is campaigning to raise awareness and help young women face up to embarrassment around the issues, in order to prevent cancer. Currently in the UK, 55 women are diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer every day. The study found more than one in 10 of 16 to 35-year-olds said they found it very hard to talk to their GP about gynaecological health. Nearly a third admitted they had avoided going to the doctors altogether about related issues because they were too embarrassed. These figures were found to dramatically decrease among women in older age groups. Helena Morrissey, chairman of The Eve Appeal said she wanted women to talk openly about gynaecological cancers. She said: ‘At the Eve Appeal we know how important it is to promote straight talking about the signs and symptoms of gynaecological cancers to women of all ages, and this survey has highlighted just how far we still have to go to make this happen. ‘These cancers have some of the worst outcomes for women, with a 40 per cent mortality rate. 'Understanding the symptoms will save lives, which is why we are urging women this Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month to talk more openly about these life-saving issues.’ The NHS offers a free cervical screening test to all women aged 25-64 every three to five years. It is not a test for cervical cancer, but it identifies early abnormalities which, if left untreated, could develop into cancer of the cervix (neck of the womb). A sample of cells is taken from the cervix for analysis and sent to a laboratory for analysis. Those whose cells show abnormalities are called back for further investigation and, if necessary, treatment. The NHS offers a free cervical screening test to all women aged between 25 and 64 every three to five years. It involves a doctor inserting a speculum, pictured, into the vagina before using a fine brush to collect cells at the neck of the cervix . Currently the test is not offered routinely to women aged younger than 25 because cervical cancer is so rare in women that young. According to Cancer Research UK statistics, not a single woman under the age of 20 died from cervical cancer between 2009-2011. The lower age of 25 was raised from 20 after the Advisory Committee on Cervical Cancer Screening (ACCS) advised the NHS in 2003 that cervical screening in younger women did more harm than good. The committee advised that cell abnormalities in younger women normally went away of their own accord, and said that sending young women for further tests and treatment increased the likelihood of the woman having pre-term delivery if she went on to have children, and could cause significant anxiety. Many other countries offer cervical screening from the age of 25, including Italy, France, Belgium and Ireland. In Scotland, women are invited to be checked from the age of 20, though it is due to go up to 25 next year. In Australia women are invited from 18, Greece from 20, and in the US two years after women become sexually active. Meanwhile, other countries start cervical screening later. Both the Netherlands and Finland offer screening to women only once they are 30, and these two countries boast some of the lowest mortality rates for cervical cancer in Europe, and in Bulgaria it is for women over 31.", "Derya Sert, 22, who was born without a womb, had been receiving IVF treatment after the transplant in August 2011 . A woman who was the first to have a successful womb transplant from a dead donor has had her pregnancy terminated after the embryo showed no heartbeat, doctors in Turkey have said. Derya Sert, 22, who was born without a womb, had been receiving in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment after the transplant in August 2011. Her pregnancy was announced in April. But in a statement released today by Akdeniz University Hospital in Turkey's Mediterranean city of Antalya, it read: 'Derya Sert's pregnancy was terminated after her end of eight weeks examination showed no embryo heartbeat. 'The general health status of the patient is fine. 'IVF will be continued when she is ready, in appropriate conditions.' Thousands of British women born without a womb were given hope if the breakthrough treatment succeeded. But some British experts, including Lord Winston, claim that a pregnancy could cause potentially fatal complications. The baby would have to be born by caesarean, which carries the risks of surgery. Prof Ozkan performed the pioneering transplant on 22-year-old Derya Sert in August 2011. Prof Ozkan, from Akdeniz University in Antalya, Turkey, also revealed three more women were to undergo transplants at his clinic, providing Mrs Sert has a healthy baby. Mrs Sert, who is married to husband Mustafa, said at the time of the transplant: ‘If I had a magic wand, I would want to be pregnant now. I just want to hold my baby in my arms, to be a mother.’ One in every 5,000 women globally is born without a womb, while thousands more have the organ removed due to cancer or other diseases, leaving them unable to get pregnant. TV presenter Yvette Fielding revealed in 2009 that she had undergone a hysterectomy to stop her agonising periods. Fielding already has two children. However, many women are childless when they have the drastic surgery. Those in favour of womb transplants argue it is the only way to meet the desperate desire of many of these women to ‘carry’ their own baby. This need cannot be met if they use another woman as a surrogate, a controversial process that is strictly regulated in the UK and illegal in some countries, including France and Germany. Artificial selection: Mrs Sert had eight embryos frozen before her treatment in 2011 . Many British couples end up travelling to India, where clinics hire out women as surrogates. However, . this is fraught with legal issues. For example, couples whose surrogate . children are born abroad have to go to court in the UK to ‘prove’ they . are the legal parents. Adoption . does not give a woman the chance to have a child who is genetically her . own and, again, there is a strict vetting procedure. Surgeon Richard Smith, a consultant at Imperial College London, has spent more than 15 years researching the possibility of pregnancy among women who have had womb transplants. Last year he revealed his team had achieved the first successful pregnancy in a rabbit with a transplanted uterus, although the animal went on to miscarry. He planned to carry out the procedure on five more rabbits before it is trialled in sheep. Danger: Fertility expert Lord Winston says the risks are not worth taking. Surrogacy is an alternative option . Only then will Mr Smith approach UK ethics committees for approval to try it on humans. Women who have lost their wombs to cancer need to have been free of the disease for at least five years before they can be considered for a transplant. But womb transplants have been criticised by experts because they are not carried out to ‘save a life’. Risks include rejection of the new womb and potential side effects during pregnancy from the powerful anti-rejection drugs. After the first womb transplant, carried out in Saudi Arabia in 2000, the donated organ ‘failed’ after three months because the blood vessels used to connect it were too narrow and became blocked by clots. However, Prof Ozkan does not doubt womb transplants are worth the risks for thousands of women otherwise unable to have a ‘normal’ pregnancy. He has previously said: ‘Many people think that womb transplants aren’t necessary because they’re not lifesaving operations and that women have the option of adoption or surrogacy. ‘But we’ve had applications from women all over the world wanting womb transplants. This is absolutely necessary for these women: you just have to ask them to realise this.’ A total of 100 women were screened last year by Prof Ozkan in addition to Mrs Sert, who received her healthy organ from a car-crash victim. Ten of these have been selected as possible recipients. Prof Ozkan could have a race on his hands to become the first doctor to achieve a successful pregnancy from a womb transplant. Swedish experts carried out two procedures last year, both involving the world’s first mother-to-daughter uterus transplants. Prof Ozkan’s Turkish team used wombs from dead donors. The scientists and doctors at the University of Gothenburg had received approval to complete ten procedures in total. Doctors are divided over whether to use living or dead donors. Some experts are uncomfortable with  taking the womb from a living woman when it is not for life-saving reasons. With live transplants, there are risks to two living patients. However, an organ from a living donor can be a better match.", "By . Emma Glanfield . The mother of a 19-year-old model who died of cervical cancer after doctors failed to allow her a smear test has questioned why her daughter was refused the simple examination. The NHS scrapped routine smears for under-25s in 2003 over concerns they could do more harm than good. But Sophie Jones' mother, Peri Cawley, 47, has launched a campaign – called Sophie’s Choice – to get the minimum age for automatic smear tests cut to 16. Sophie Jones, pictured, died from cervical cancer at the age of 19 after being refused a smear test by doctors on the grounds she was too young . Sophie's family released this image of the 19-year-old in hospital, taken shortly before her death from cervical cancer on March 15 . Sophie Jones, of Eastham, . Merseyside, had suffered crippling stomach pains for over a year before . she was initially diagnosed with Crohn's disease, it was claimed . Speaking to The Sun, Mrs Cawley, of Eastham, Wirral, said: ‘It took her nearly a year and ten GP appointments to get diagnosed, which just isn’t good enough. ‘Who knows what could have been had she been given a smear test. Girls are getting boob jobs on the NHS to make themselves feel better. What’s the cost of a smear test compared to that?’ Aspiring model Sophie, who had just walked in her first catwalk show, was told she was too young to have a smear test when she complained of crippling stomach pains last February. She was only diagnosed correctly with cervical cancer in November, by which time the disease had spread all over her body. She died on March 15. Miss Jones was described by her sister, Stephanie, as 'a very calming influence on everyone around her' Mrs Cawley was at her daughter's bedside when she passed away but said it was too difficult to watch as her daughter took her last breath. She said: ‘I held her hand. I could never say goodbye to Sophie because she will always be with me. ‘If we can do something to make sure this doesn’t happen to someone else, then Sophie’s death won’t have been in vain.’ The petition launched by Sophie’s family, including her mother Peri, father Jason, 41, twin sister Ashleigh, 19, sisters Chelsea 24, Stephanie, 28, and Natasha, 23, and brothers Kris, 26, and Andy, 26, has now received more than 300,000 signatures. Mrs Cawley said they put the word ‘choice’ in the name of the campaign on purpose. She . said: ‘The word “choice” in the campaign means that people should have . just that – a choice. If a girl presents at a doctor’s with symptoms she . should be given the pros and cons of being tested.’ Last Facebook picture: Miss Jones posted this photo two weeks before her death on March 15 . Killer disease: Miss Jones, from Eastham, was admitted to hospital in November after her condition worsened . Labour health spokesman Luciana Berger said: ‘Women can have a cervical smear test at any age if their doctor thinks it’s necessary to help in diagnosis, so we must understand what went wrong in this case to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again.’ The programme was introduced for girls in school in 2008 with the aim of eventually cutting the incidence of cervical cancer by up to 70 per cent. A spokesman for the Department of Health said: ‘This is a tragic case. The issue was last debated in Parliament in 2009, but the best independent evidence still shows that routine screening of women under 25 does more harm than good. ‘Cervical cancer in women under 25s is extremely rare. In 2011, there were 47 cases of cervical cancer in women under 25 and no deaths.’ Miss Jones, pictured with her boyfriend Jake Molyneux, was 'in high spirits' the day she died, her sister said . Miss Jones' family and friends are now calling for younger women to be offered cervical cancer screening . Screening: The test is currently offered to women aged 25 or over . The NHS offers a free cervical screening test to all women aged 25-64 every three to five years. It is not a test for cervical cancer, but it identifies early abnormalities which, if left untreated, could develop into cancer of the cervix (neck of the womb). A sample of cells is taken from the cervix for analysis and sent to a laboratory for analysis.  Those whose cells show abnormalities are called back for further investigation and, if necessary, treatment. Currently the test is not offered routinely to women aged younger than 25 because cervical cancer is so rare in women that young.  According to Cancer Research UK statistics, not a single woman under the age of 20 died from cervical cancer between 2009-2011. The lower age of 25 was raised from 20 after the Advisory Committee on Cervical Cancer Screening (ACCS) advised the NHS in 2003 that cervical screening in younger women did more harm than good. The committee advised that cell abnormalities in younger women normally went away of their own accord, and said that sending young women for further tests and treatment increased the likelihood of the woman having pre-term delivery if she went on to have children, and could cause significant anxiety. Many other countries offer cervical screening from the age of 25, including Italy, France, Belgium and Ireland.  In Scotland, women are invited to be checked from the age of 20, though it is due to go up to 25 next year.  In Australia women are invited from 18, Greece from 20, and in the US two years after women become sexually active. Meanwhile, other countries start cervical screening later. Both the Netherlands and Finland offer screening to women only once they are 30, and these two countries boast some of the lowest mortality rates for cervical cancer in Europe, and in Bulgaria it is for women over 31.", "Pam Pope, 65, from Surrey had nine organs removed by surgeons trying to save her life when they diagnosed a very rare form of cancer . A cancer patient underwent a 13-hour operation to remove all the organs she could live without as surgeons battled to remove an aggressive and rare form of cancer from invading her body. The morning after the procedure, dubbed the 'mother of all surgeries', Pam Pope's surgeon stood by her bedside and listed all the organs his surgical team removed in order to save her life. By the time he reached the ninth, the 65-year-old had burst into tears. The gruelling operation carried out at The Hampshire Clinic in Basingstoke, aimed to remove all cancerous tissue in the body. In Ms Pope's case her appendix, large bowel, most of her small bowel, gall bladder, spleen, womb, ovaries, fallopian tubes and cervix were removed, as well as most of her stomach lining and navel. 'I just wasn't expecting to be told so much of my body had gone,' she said. 'The list of organs that had been removed was so long that I actually lost count. 'I just could not fathom how I could still be alive when so much of me was missing.' The operation, carried out by a team of six leading UK surgeons, is known in medical circles as the 'mother of all surgeries', with good reason. It was followed by a ‘chemo bath’, where the abdominal cavity is filled with warm chemotherapy liquid - normally for 90 minutes, while the patient is still under anaesthetic. It is one of the most invasive operations performed and the only way to treat a rare cancer thought to originate in the appendix - pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). The disease quickly spreads around the abdominal cavity meaning diagnosis usually comes with a death sentence. Now the mammoth operation to remove as many organs as possible while keeping patients alive means sufferers like Ms Pope, who would previously have been considered too sick to treat, are being offered a lifeline. 'I was already stage four when they operated because the cancer had gone undetected for so long,' she said. 'I would not be here now had it been left for a few more months.' Though Ms Pope suspects her cancer may have developed earlier, she had been complaining of symptoms for 15 months before her final diagnosis. 'I just did not feel right,' she said. 'I had stomach pain and nausea.' After several visits to her GP, the insurance executive from Camberwell, Surrey, was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). 'I felt that was not accurate,' she said. 'I had always been very fit and very healthy with a good diet but my GP did not want to consider anything else.' Ms Pope returned to see her GP several more times over the course of the next year, each time requesting a referral to hospital which was denied. It was only after she reported a change in bowel habits to a different doctor that alarm bells finally rang. Doctors initially diagnosed Ms Pope with IBS, but not convinced, she sought a second opinion. Further tests revealed the 65-year-old was suffering pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) - a cancer which is thought to spread from cancer of the appendix, causing tumours to grow on other abdominal organs . 'The new GP agreed my symptoms warranted further investigation, which was a huge relief because by then I was in no doubt that it was not IBS,' she said. In December 2012 a laparoscopy - where a fibre optic instrument is inserted through the abdominal wall to look at organs - quickly identified that abnormal cells were present. She said she felt 'strangely relieved' to hear this news having spent so long insisting she did not have IBS. Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a rare cancer, affecting around one in 500,000 people a year. It is characterised by the presence of mucin-producing tumours in the abdominal cavity. There are a number of possible origins of PMP, but the most common source is appendix cancer. There is no known underlying cause of PMP but there are a number of theories around its origin. Cells from a tumour in the appendix are thought to leak into the abdominal cavity and implant on other abdominal organs. The tumours then replicate and produce a mucinous byproduct that then spreads throughout the abdomen. Many patients lack clearly defined symptoms, making the disease difficult to spot until the later stages. The most common symptoms are: . Source: PMP Research Foundation . It was like 'being proved right', she added. But when her consultant told her she was the one in a million patient suffering with rare PMP, like many people, she had never heard of the cancer. He explained the disease had started in her appendix but may have spread around the abdominal cavity in mucus leaked from the organ. The microscopic cells can then attach themselves to other organs and tissue the mucus comes into contact with. An operation to 'debulk' the body of cancerous cells, she was told, was her only hope of survival. The surgeons had no idea how far spread the cancer was and how many organs they needed to remove until they operated. Ms Pope was hopeful when she was wheeled into theatre in May last year that surgery would be minimal because she had not suffered the weight loss or thickening of the waist common with advanced PMP. Just 24 hours later she was told surgeons had removed her appendix, large bowel, most of the small bowel, gall bladder, spleen, womb, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix as well as most of her stomach lining and navel. 'I cried because I could not believe I was still alive,' she said. 'I had thought I might lose one or two organs but not all that. I realised then why it was called the \"mother of all surgeries\" - everything that I could live without had gone to give me the best chance of survival. 'It was a shock but the surgeon was very supportive in offering to arrange counselling,' she said. The radical operation had been followed by a radical procedure called a chemotherapy bath. This is where the cavity was filled with hot chemotherapy liquid in an attempt to wash away any remaining cancer cells. Ms Pope said: 'Despite everything that they had taken I was told five per cent still remained on my small bowel. Six surgeons removed Ms Pope's appendix, large bowel, most of her small bowel, gall bladder, spleen, womb, ovaries, fallopian tubes, cervix as well as most of her stomach lining and navel . 'It was too dangerous to remove it all so they left as little as they could which needed conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment.' Ms Pope spent the best part of the following year in hospital recovering and undergoing more chemotherapy. Chemotherapy baths, officially called Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy, involve filling the abdominal cavity with warm chemo liquid, normally for 90 minutes. The patient remains under anaesthetic. Bathing the inside of the stomach with heated chemotherapy increases the chances of the cancer cells being killed. Heat at 42°C kills cancer cells without affecting normal, healthy cells. If the drug was given in general circulation, as with normal chemotherapy, the temperature would heat the body up and the heart would stop. But the abdominal organs act as a barrier, absorbing the drug. It can therefore reach a high concentration in the area where the tumours are, without reaching the blood stream and damaging tissues in the rest of the body. The treatment was approved by the government's health watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), in February 2010. The biggest hurdle was adjusting to the loss of so many organs. At one stage she looked unlikely to pull through and was advised 'enjoy the time you have left'. Determined not to give up, the 65-year-old contacted cancer professor Justin Stebbing at the London Clinic of Oncology. She said: 'I had read about his work and my surgeon agreed to refer me. 'He was a leading voice on cancers like mine and probably about the only person who wouldn't turn me away.' Professor Stebbing found a regime Ms Pope's body could cope with. A scan earlier this year revealed no signs of any cancer, but hydration is still an issue and Ms Pope relies on a drip every night, which she uses at home. She struggles with tiredness and remains frail, though her health has improved enough for her to return to work part time. 'I love my job so that was a major achievement for me,' she said. Fortnightly chemotherapy will, she hopes, keep the cancer at bay. 'This has been a fight but I need to tell my story to make people aware of this very sneaky cancer,' she added. 'I was told this disease would likely kill me but I'm still here thanks to the 'mother of all surgeries, which has lifted a death sentence.'", "The 32-year-old best friend of Katherine Jenkins whose eight-year battle with cancer inspired thousands of others coping with serious illness has died. Polly Noble was first diagnosed with cancer at 24 and said she wanted her plight to 'inspire others to have a happier and healthier life'. Her family told today how 'beautiful and vivacious' Polly lost her brave fight with the disease on Sunday after her latest scan revealed her condition had worsened. Scroll down for video . Rest in peace: Heartbroken Katherine Jenkins paid tribute to her best friend Polly Noble(L) after she passed away following a eight year battle with cervical cancer . Brave: Polly was first diagnosed with cancer at 24, then again at 28, fighting it for eight years until her tragic death . From the day she was diagnosed, Miss Noble had worked to 'cure herself' through positive thinking and healthy living. Her mother Georgie Noble, 63, said today: 'She . was a beautiful, vivacious person who worked hard to put her message . across. I don't . think she realised just how many people's lives she touched.' Speaking of her last days, Mr Noble added: 'It got to the stage a couple of weeks ago where they said the chemo isn't working. - Polly Noble's 'mission statement' written after she was diagnosed with cancer . 'A . scan showed she had six tumours in her liver, one being 7cm wide and . she didn't have those in December. It was such a shock, we didn't . realise she had it that badly.' She . died on Sunday surrounded by her family, who said she was pleased to . have met her nine-week-old nephew, Freddie, before she passed away. 'In her last few days she was unable to . catch up on the sleep she desperately needed. The illness had taken its . toll and sadly she passed away later that afternoon at home,' her mother added. One of Miss Noble's final messages on Twitter included the Winston . Churchill quote: ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage . to continue that counts.' Polly was treated for cervical cancer in 2005 and revealed the diagnosis to her best friend Katherine Jenkins over the phone while she was on tour. The . pair had become close after meeting as struggling singers in 2001 and . Katherine always maintained Polly was . the ‘true star’, not her. After initial treatment of her cancer in 2005, she discovered a lump on her neck in 2010 and, despite undergoing radiotherapy to treat that, she then discovered she had cancerous cells in her lungs. Friends: Miss Noble and Katherine together last year. Katherine said of her friend: 'Polly has never had a \"poor me\" mentality. She's fought her cancer head-on, completely overhauling her diet and lifestyle' Close: Speaking of their friendship, Miss Noble said: 'We are both ambitious and driven, but at the same time we're chilled. That is why we understand what makes each other tick' Final messages: Polly wrote on Facebook and Twitter last week that showing 'courage to continue' in adversity was more important than success or failure . Message: Friend Gethin Jones, the former boyfriend of Katherine Jenkins, paid tribute to 'beautiful' and 'inspirational' Polly . Much loved: Sports presenter Jake Humphrey spoke of how Polly had continued to inspire others, even in her final days . Katherine went online to pay . tribute to Miss Noble yesterday, posting a picture of herself and Polly . with the caption: ‘Heartbroken. Rest in Peace my darling friend’. Speaking to You Magazine last year, Katherine said: ‘She didn’t look or sound ill – it was just unbelievable. 'And of course the word cancer frightens the life out of me because I had watched my father die of lung cancer when I was 15'. She added: ‘But he had been nearly 70, and Polly was just 24. She was too young; she had too much to live for.’ Jenkins' former boyfriend Gethin Jones tweeted: 'Reading beautiful messages . about the inspirational @Pollynoble. She touched so many. Grateful to . have spent some wonderful times with her'. But . the cancer diagnosis meant her 'life turned upside down' and after . surviving several long stays in hospital, where three litres of water . were drained from her chest, and she suffered a major blood clot, she . wanted to 'cure herself' of cancer. She . wrote on her blog: 'Throughout all of it, I have been able to maintain a . positive outlook, belief and faith that I will overcome cancer, once . and for all. In fact, I do it everyday as an active participant in my . healing journey. Girls day out: Polly and Katherine, who met before the singer became famous, at a polo match in 2010 . Family fun: Katherine (top) and Polly (right) with friends and family during a trip to the park . 'This . means that I live consciously in all areas of my life, creating a . balanced and healthy existence, which allows me to move forward and live . my dream life, despite living with cancer. 'When . I got ill, I wished I had taken better care of myself. I wished I had . known more about the things in everyday life that were harming me'. Katherine Jenkins was there to support her friend as she went through surgery before having chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Initally, the treatment worked and Polly was able to move back to London where she lived cancer free for three years. However, in 2010, she found a lump in her neck that turned out to be a secondary tumour. Katherine . recalled the moment she found out as she said: ‘This time her . oncologist told her that although she could have more treatment, the . cancer was ultimately incurable. ‘She called me from the hospital with the news. Neither of us cried. We were too stunned.’ Miss Noble . co-authored a book, The Cancer Journey, which was published in 2011, . giving advice for others on how to cope with the disease. Determined . to live life to the full, she also posted a touching video on . YouTube in 2012 of all the things she had done that year. Speaking last year, Miss Noble said: 'I lost my long dark hair as a result of my treatment, and normally, when I go out or have my picture taken, I reach for one of my wigs. But Katherine has been telling me that I am gorgeous just as I am' Best friends: The singer posted a picture of herself and her friend on Twitter on Monday with the caption, 'Heartbroken. Rest in Peace my darling friend' Party girls: Katherine and Polly together in 2012, after Katherine wrote the foreword to a book co-authored by her friend . The . video told of her holiday in Dubai with Katherine, a trip to Brazil and . her joy at being an Olympic torch-bearer in Bexley, south east London. But . the short film also documented her continued treatment for cancer, . describing how she needed three litres of fluid drained from her chest . and how she bought a pink wig after undergoing chemotherapy. Below the video, she posted the message: 'No matter what challenges you face, you can overcome them, I promise.' Katherine was inspired by her best friend’s strength as she said: ‘Polly has turned her own experiences into an incredibly positive force. 'The book she has co-written on coping with cancer is just what I wish I had been able to turn to when my father became ill. 'She has also trained as a holistic health coach, become a nutrition guru and developed her own website on healthy living.’ Katherine shared another picture of the pair on Instagram with the caption: 'Heartbroken - Sleep now with the angels'. *Polly backed the YES TO LIFE charity, which supports people with the disease by combining both alternative medicine and standard treatments. Inspirational: After being diagnosed with the disease, Miss Noble dedicated her life to helping others in a similar situation . For you dad: Katherine Jenkins ran the 2013 Virgin London Marathon in honour of her father, who also passed away following his battle with cancer . Cervical cancer is a rare form of cancer that develops at the entrance to the womb. It is most common in sexually active women aged between 25 and 45 but because of routine screening in the UK it is usually picked up in the pre-cancerous stage. It often has no symptoms in the early stages but the most common symptom is unusual bleeding, especially after sex or between periods. It is recommended that all women between the ages of 25 and 49 are screened for cervical cancer every three years. The NHS scrapped routine smears for under-25s in 2003 over concerns they could do more harm than good. But the family of aspiring model Sophie Jones (right), who died of the disease after after being refused a smear test - say they should be given to all young women who have symptoms, regardless of age. Sophie, 19, was told she was too young to have a smear test when she  complained of crippling stomach pains last February. Her family's campaign – Sophie’s Choice – is backed by MPs and 225,000 signatures and calls for the minimum age for automatic tests to be cut to 16. A spokesman for the Department of Health said: 'The issue was last debated in Parliament in 2009, but the best independent evidence still shows that routine screening of women under 25 does more harm than good. ‘Cervical cancer in women under 25s is extremely rare. In 2011, there were 47 cases of cervical cancer in women under 25 and no deaths.' Of all of the women with cervical cancer, about 83 per cent live for at least a year after diagnosis, 67 per cent live for at least five years and 63 per cent live for at least 10 years.", "By . Lizzie Parry for MailOnline . A mother convinced her sore throat was tonsillitis was horrified to discover the pain was actually due to 35 cancerous tumours. Tracey Stear was diagnosed with throat cancer while in hospital for an unrelated procedure. Telling doctors about the lumps, they ordered a biopsy, which confirmed the devastating diagnosis. Surgeons operated on the 52-year-old, opening her throat from her ear to collar bone to remove the growths - two of which were the size of goose eggs. Mother-of-three Tracey Stear was diagnosed with throat cancer after tests revealed 35 lumps in her throat were cancerous tumours . She was fed through a tube for four months and faced repeated rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, losing more than two stone as a result of her treatment. Ms Stear has now beaten the disease and is fronting a national campaign to raise awareness of the early symptoms of cancer. The grandmother-of-two from Plympton, Devon, said she owes her life to Tass Malik, consultant head and neck surgeon at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital, who spotted the problem. She said: 'I had noticed a few lumps and thought it was tonsillitis. I went to hospital for a totally different operation and mentioned I had a problem with my throat, just in case it affected the breathing tube. 'The anaesthetist noticed I had a lump in my neck and took me to a specialist who diagnosed me straight away. Everything just escalated from there. 'I had a biopsy and remember Mr Malik saying: \"I can tell you it's cancer\". It was at a stage where if I had left it a few weeks longer, I wouldn't be here. 'But he said he could cure me - I owe my life to Derriford Hospital and Mr Malik.' Ms Stear had an operation to remove the tumours, followed by three bouts of chemotherapy, then radiotherapy. She said: 'It took the doctors longer to operate because the biggest tumour had attached to the blood vessels - I was picked apart and put back together again. 'I finished treatment on June 4, 2008 and I will always remember that date. I was fed through my stomach for around four months. I lost about two stone - it's the first time I have ever fit in size eight jeans. The 52-year-old credits her life to consultant head and neck surgeon Tass Malik . 'Losing my hair didn't really bother me and I didn't have a wig. I forced myself to eat yoghurts to start eating again and did the Race for Life in a wheelchair. 'I never worry about anything serious any more. I'm quite happy to stand in the rain. 'Life is precious - you don't realise until you nearly lose it. It changes you totally.' Ms Stear, a support worker for people with learning difficulties, is fronting a new campaign with Cancer research UK and Channel 4 to raise money, awareness and accelerate new cancer treatments to save more lives. She is also drumming up support for the March On Cancer event, a series of fundraising marches taking place across the country on October 11. She said: 'I am through it all now and know I was so fortunate that my cancer was caught early. I want to give something back. 'Even so, my treatment was really harsh. I am standing up to cancer so that we can find kinder treatment for people like me. Research is the key.' Alison Birkett, of Cancer Research UK, said: 'One in three people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. 'Thanks to the incredible progress that's been made in the last 40 years, more people are surviving than ever before. 'But we can't afford to stand still. We have the technology and the knowledge to conquer cancer, we just need the funds to turn it into real-life treatments.' Mr Malik and his team operated on Ms Stear at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital, removing the tumours before she was given rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She has now beaten the disease .", "By . Jane Gregory . PUBLISHED: . 16:04 EST, 3 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:05 EST, 5 August 2013 . Operation: Jasmine Smith is one patient to have benefited from the pioneering surgical technology . Pioneering surgical technology similar to car satnav systems is revolutionising the treatment of difficult-to-reach brain tumours. The technique uses MRI scanning to show the soft tissues inside the brain, in real time. So unlike an  X-ray, which is effectively a photograph, this is like a live video feed from inside the head. The images are used to create a three-dimensional map of the brain, which is shown on a screen, allowing surgeons to pre-plan the operation instead of going in blind. Brain tumours are among the hardest to remove completely. Some surgeons describe the process as like ‘trying to extract a spider from jelly’. While parts of the head are easily cut away, the nature of such cancers means it spreads through the brain – so ‘legs’ may be left, which will continue to grow. Taking away too much healthy brain tissue can result in long- term damage and complications such as loss of speech, vision and motor functions. During the new ‘satnav’ operation, images can be updated during surgery, making it far easier to target the tumour precisely and helping to avoid harm to the surrounding brain. Mr Andrew McEvoy, neurosurgeon at the National Hospital  for Neurology & Neurosurgery in London, has performed more than 100 of these operations since the technology became available two years ago. He says: ‘We can stop the operation and scan the brain while the head  is still open to double-check that all the tumour has gone. ‘Patients have their wound closed up only once the scan gives the  all-clear. It lessens the need for a second operation a few days later to remove any tumour left behind. Afterwards, it leaves more vital functions intact because the surgery is so controllable.’ One patient to have benefited is Jasmine Smith, 22, a trainee nurse. Jasmine lives with her parents, Ruth, 41, and Ambrose, 42, who run a roofing business, and her sister Amber, 19, in Denham, Buckinghamshire. Jasmine’s problems began in 2008, when she suffered the first of a series of seizures. ‘I was talking to my mum when I had a strong sense of déjà vu,’ she says. ‘Apparently, then I babbled something about my brother – but I don’t have a brother. Then I felt really tired and slept for two hours.’ Guided in: Surgeons remove Jasmine's tumour during a 13-hour operation in June 2011 . A week later Jasmine fainted. Initially she put the incidents down to exhaustion. She was studying performing arts and dancing seven days a week. But when she started to feel a numbness in her face, she went to her GP, fearing she had had a stroke. He immediately referred her for  a brain scan, which revealed a tangerine-sized tumour. Every day at least 20 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour,  and Jasmine’s type, an epidermoid tumour (also called an epidermoid cyst), makes up about one per cent of those. It is benign (non-cancerous) and is formed by skin cells deposited in the wrong place during brain development in the womb. This causes a cyst to form, which makes up the tumour. It is likely Jasmine was born with it, and due to its slow growth she developed symptoms only when it got big enough to put pressure on her brain and trigger seizures. Her neurologist told her that because of its position, the tumour was inoperable. Her only option was to try  anti-epileptic drugs to see if they would control the seizures, which continued to worsen – and often led to her blacking out completely. Hard to reach: It is likely Jasmine was born with the tumour (pictured) Then, two years ago her neurologist referred her to Mr McEvoy as she was considered an ideal candidate for the new ‘satnav’ procedure. Jasmine underwent the 13-hour operation under general anaesthetic in June 2011. After nine days, she was sent home. Eighteen months later she suffered another major seizure – and has been put back  on anti-epileptic medication, which has now controlled the problem. She has since returned to work. Despite not having a perfect result, she is happy. She says: ‘The reality of my ordeal sank in only about a year after the op – I was looking at photos of my brain after surgery and burst into tears. It felt like a release. I decided to give up dancing for nursing. I started my training in September. I felt so inspired by the wonderful medical team that saved my life, I want to give something back.’", "The birth of a baby boy from a womb transplant could bring an end to the woes of women unable to have children naturally, doctors have said. The world's first successful womb transplant saw the birth of the child in Gothenberg, Sweden, last month after years of tireless research. His birth was only revealed by doctors yesterday as both he and his 36-year-old mother are in good health. And with British experts planning to carry out the procedure as early as next summer, a leading gynecologist has said the revolutionary surgery could become as popular as surrogacy among infertile women. The mother and the baby boy pictured just after his birth. He was born weighing 4lbs after his mother received a womb transplant . Mr Richard Smith, of the UK Womb Transplantation Team, celebrated the birth of a little boy in Gothenberg last night, congratulating the doctors who performed the pioneering operation nine months ago. And the gynaecologist, who works at the West London Gynaecological Cancer Centre, Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital, said the surgery could become a possibility for British women as soon as next summer. 'We're almost ready to go, we are applying for ethics committee approval in the next few weeks at a national level,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Mr Smith said the medical breakthrough in Sweden could bring about a new era of childbearing for women with fertility problems. 'The great big unknown always was could a transplanted uterus carry a baby and have a successful live birth and that's why what's happened here is so exciting. 'The great unknown is now answered which is that it is possible - it's the proof of purpose.' The doctor added the procedure could become as popular as surrogacy, which 'carries as many risks if not more'. 'It would reduce the demand for surrogacy however there are still plenty of women who will prefer to go down that route and avoid major surgery. 'But there are many, many women who would prefer to carry a baby themselves. There's also a bit of a legal minefield around surrogacy, and to avoid all of that and to have their own baby is incredible important (for some women).' Unlike the Swedes' project, his team would harvest the wombs of cadaveric donors - patients whose hearts are still beating but they are brain dead. Doctors in Gothenberg used the wombs of six women for the transplants. 'Some of our research shows you can retrieve the uterus at the back end of the queue after all the vital organs, so that would be the source of those organs for women in the UK. 'We hope, subject to funding, to get going next year - next summer.' Speaking of the 'breathtaking' birth of the baby in Sweden, one doctor said that it was so emotional, it was like having her own child. The boy, who is in perfect health, was born to a 36-year-old woman who had been born without a womb. She carried her baby in the womb of a 61-year-old woman. Last night, the Lancet medical journal released details about the remarkable birth. The little boy, whose arrival has remained secret until now, was born by Caesarean section a month ago. Project leader Professor Mats Brannstrom, of Gothenburg University, said: ‘The baby screamed right away and has not required any other care than normal clinical observation at the neonatal unit. ‘The mother and child are both doing well and have returned home. The new parents are of course very happy and thankful.’ Liza Johannesson, a surgeon at Gothenburg University, who was present at the boy’s birth, said: ‘It was breathtaking. It was like having your own child. Mats Brannstrom and his team performing a womb transplant on a woman earlier this year. Another six women given new wombs are also said to be pregnant . The team behind the womb transplants who are, from left - surgeons Andreas G Tzakis, Pernilla Dahm-Kähler, Mats Brannstrom, Michael Olausson and Liza Johannesson . 'It was the same feeling – no one could really believe it.’ Professor Brannstrom said: ‘There was fantastic happiness among me and the whole team. 'But at the same time, the sensation was also a little unreal because we really couldn’t believe we had reached this moment.’ The baby is breastfeeding and growing well. His mother may decide to keep the new womb until she has a second child. Unlike other transplant organs, donor wombs are unlikely to remain in their recipients indefinitely. The baby was born two months early after his mother developed pre-eclampsia – a life-threatening condition. He weighed just under 4lb and although this may seem small, it is normal for a baby so premature. It isn’t known why the woman’s pregnancy became complicated. It may have been due to the strong drugs she was given to stop her rejecting the new womb. Or due to her underlying health problems; she only has one kidney. Another six women who took part in the groundbreaking project at Gothenburg University are pregnant – and their doctor says their chances of giving birth are good. The boy’s mother, who has not been named, was one of nine women to be given a new uterus. In five cases, the donor was the woman's mother – meaning the same womb could carry two generations of the same family. In this instance, the new womb came from an unrelated woman, a mother of two, who was long past the menopause. Professor Brannstrom, who has spent more than a decade perfecting the complex gynaecological techniques needed, said: ‘It gives us scientific evidence that the concept of uterus transplantation can be used to treat uterine factor infertility, which has remained the last untreatable form of female infertility.’ A woman’s own eggs are used in the procedure meaning the baby will be genetically her own. Critics of the procedure include fertility expert Lord Winston, who says the risks are too great and some women should accept they can’t bear children. The world’s first womb transplant was in Saudi Arabia in 2000 but the woman’s body rejected the organ after four months. Additional reporting: Harriet Sime .", "By . Lizzie Parry . A new mother today faces an anxious wait to discover if the cancer which ravaged her body during pregnancy has passed to her son in the womb. On Thursday Dani Maloney's six-month-old son Jayden will have tests at Birmingham Children's Hospital to discover if he has the disease. His 26-year-old mother has been given just weeks to live, after being diagnosed with skin cancer after giving birth to her son. In extremely rare cases it is possible for leukaemia and melanoma cancer cells to pass from mother to her unborn child . Mother-of-two Dani Maloney, 26, today faces an anxious wait to discover if the skin cancer which ravaged her body while pregnant was passed to her son Jayden . In 2009 British scientists identified the first case in Japan, where a mother was diagnosed with leukaemia after giving birth. Eleven months later her daughter was diagnosed with the same disease and subsequent genetic tests revealed the baby girl had cancer cells at birth, and that they were passed from her mother. Miss Maloney urged people who suspect they might have skin cancer to seek medical help. She said: 'I want people to know how important it is to have any mole or skin blemish they’re concerned about checked-out. 'And don’t be afraid to challenge doctors, don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion, and a third.' The mother-of-two has started to compile memory boxes for Jayden and his older sister Amina, three. Miss Maloney insists she raised her concerns with doctors last year, having spotted an mole growing in size on her leg. She claims doctors told her it was due to skin pigmentation changes that are common during pregnancy. While pregnant, Miss Maloney claims she raised her concerns over a mole growing abnormally on her leg, pictured. But she claims doctors told her it was skin pigmentation, which is common during pregnancy. Hospital bosses said Miss Maloney was sent letters referring her to a skin specialist in November but failed to attend appointments in December and January . Although extremely rare it is possible for cancer cells to pass from mother to unborn child, studies have shown. On Thursday, Jayden now six months old, right and left with his sister Amina, three, will undergo tests at Birmingham Children's Hospital to establish if he has the disease which is killing his mother . Birmingham's City Hospital said they sent out letters referring Miss Maloney to a skin specialist in November. But the 26-year-old claims she was living temporarily at an address in Aston, and never received the letters. 'It upsets me because I won't see my kids grow up. I won't be there on that first day of school. I won't be playing games with them at birthday parties' - Dani Maloney . After giving birth to Jayden on January 14, a nurse at City Hospital cleaned and dressed a wound on Miss Maloney's leg. But by that time the cancer was already spreading through her body. She was referred to Sutton Coldfield's Good Hope Hospital six weeks ago gasping for breath, with suspected pneumonia. Doctors admitted Miss Maloney to intensive care as her condition worsened. A week ago she returned home after doctors dealt the devastating blow that she has less than two months to live. 'I didn’t take it well, I didn’t take it well at all,' she said. '\"Why me?\" I ask that all the time.' Miss Maloney is now confined to her home, having been told her skin cannot be exposed to sunlight. Miss Maloney, pictured with Jayden, her daughter Amina and her sister Tara, has been given just two months to live after she was rushed to hospital six weeks ago with suspected pneumonia. There doctors diagnosed her with skin cancer . Pregnant women can transmit cancer to their unborn babies, though it is extremely rare. In 2009 British scientists discovered a mother with leukaemia passed the blood disease to her daughter in the womb. Normally a child's immune system would recognise and destroy any invasive cancer cells. There are known to be only a handful of cases of mothers and babies sharing the same cancer. Of the 30 past cases in 2009, most were leukaemia or melanoma - the most aggressive form of skin cancer. Professor Mel Greaves, who led the study at the Institute of Cancer Resarch said the risks to an unborn baby is extremely low. They investigated a case in Japan in which a 28-year-old was diagnosed with leukaemia shortly after she gave birth. Eleven months later her daughter was also diagnosed with the disease. The child was in remission in 2009, having had treatment for a year-and-a-half. Genetic tests revealed the child had cancer cells at birth, and that they came from her mother. Closer investigation revealed the child's leukaemia cells were missing a vital piece of DNA, which would have flagged them up as 'intruders' to her immune system. Without this her system was unable to target and destroy the cancer cells, allowing the disease to develop. The researchers said the same mutation could allow melanoma cancer cells to pass from mother to baby. But they believe it is unlikely other cancers can be passed on this way. She said her days are spent crafting items for her children's memory boxes and planning her own funeral as well as her children's christenings. She said: 'I'll wear a pink tracksuit, pink trainers and a Birmingham City top and I want the club crest on my coffin. 'I want colour - I don't want black. 'It upsets me because I won’t see my kids grow up. I won’t be there on that first day at school. 'I won’t be playing games with them at birthday parties. 'I want them to remember me, to be happy, to do well, to go to university. 'I want them to make me proud.' Macmillan nurses are helping the mother-of-two place pictures, letters, videos and arm bands in her children's memory boxes. 'The notes say I love them and I will always be there for them. 'I’ve told them never to forget me,' she said. Miss Maloney's aunt Tina Adams, 48, said: 'My neice went into hospital with a chest infection. Then we were told it was terminal skin cancer. Every single day brings worse news. 'She was a typical dizzy 26-year-old, but yesterday Dani told me she looked in the mirror and the person looking back wasn’t her. 'That broke my heart. Dani should not be dying.' Dr Roger Stedman, Medical Director at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, said: 'We are extremely sorry to hear about Dani’s situation and wholeheartedly back her call for anyone who has concerns about a suspicious mole or skin blemish to seek advice at the earliest opportunity. 'As part of her antenatal care a rapid access referral was made in November for Dani to see a specialist at our skin centre in December and January, but unfortunately she failed to attend on both occasions and her GP was informed.'", "A father who endured a savage grizzly bear attack in Montana in 2005 and lived to tell the tale is speaking out about his horrific experience 10 years later. 'We are both extremely lucky,' Johan Otter told 10News.com. 'There's no bigger jackpot, basically.' Now fully healed, Otter and his daughter Jenna are the subjects of an episode of ABC's In an Instant, which dramatizes the events as they unfolded on a trail at Glacier National Park. The bear seemed to come out of nowhere, Otter recalled, along with her two cubs. Scroll down for video . Lucky: Johan Otter was savagely mauled by a bear in Montana ten years ago and is now speaking out about the harrowing tale . 'She could have touched it -- basically that close,' Otter says of his daughter. 'So she stepped back real fast and just naturally, as a parent, you step in front of your kid.' 'The worst fear of a parent is to hear your child scream,' a tearful Otter told In an Instant. That's when the mama bear attacked, tearing off nearly 80 percent of Otter's scalp, breaking his neck and gouging his right eye. 'All I see is claws and teeth,' Otter said. 'The bear kind of goes like this on it, basically digging for a bone, which is your skull and biting on it like this.' Despite the massive wounds, Otter says he remained standing and in a in instant decided the only way to survive was to leap off the mountain. His daughter, who also sustained life threatening injuries, eventually did the same and the two ended up on the same mountain ledge. But not before the bear turned its attention to Jenna. Horrific: Otter's neck was broken and one of his eyes gouged by the angry mother bears claw . The bear kind of goes like this on it, basically digging for a bone, which is your skull and biting on it like this,' recalled Otter, who lost most of his scalp in the attack . 'The bear stood over me and it put one paw on either side of my head,' Jenna recalled. 'The bear took my head in its mouth. Its lower jaw was kind of around my jaw. It's upper jaw was around the back of my head. 'When it bit me, I didn't feel pain, just pressure,' she said. Thinking fast, Jenna played dead and the bear wandered off. The immediate danger was gone, but the looming threat of their massive injuries remained. Jenna began to scream for help and soon some passing hikers were able to call for help. Unfortunately, the mother and father could not be pulled from the mountain for another three hours. An arduous recovery followed for Otter, but the Escondido, California man prevailed. According to UTSanDiego.com, he's even managed to run the Boston Marathon six times since the ordeal. The attack occurred on a remote trail, which made the subsequent rescue painfully difficult . After Otter was mauled to the brink of death, the bear went after Jenna. She was left with broken vertebrae and a lacerated skull (grab from ABC's In an Instant) Otter's daughter Jenna has also fully recovered and is now in her fourth year of medical school at prestigious Columbia University. She recalled to ABC what she was thinking during the terrifying ordeal. 'I just thought that we would die, it's too bad that I'm not going to live past 18,' she recalls thinking. Thankfully, and miraculously, Jenna was wrong. She's now working towards becoming an emergency room physician. And while her father still has residual PTSD from the attack, the family continues to hike the same area where he was nearly killed. 'We're already planning what kind of trail we're going to do when we're 80, so we'll see,' Otter told 10 News. 'The worst fear of a parent is to hear your child scream,' a tearful Otter recalled . Miracle: Jenna believed she was going to die but is now studying to become a doctor at Columbia University . Otter and his daughter Jenna sustained life-threatening injuries but made it out alive. Jenna is now in medical school at Columbia University medical school and plans to specialize in emergency medicine .", "(TIME.com) -- HPV-caused throat cancer made headlines this summer when the Guardian reported that actor Michael Douglas contracted throat cancer not through tobacco and alcohol, but from human papillomavirus. Douglas later said the statement was a misunderstanding, but doctors say HPV could actually contribute to malignant growths in the throat, most likely via oral sex. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control reports that about 60% of oropharyngeal cancers — cancers of the throat, tonsils and the base of tongue — are related to HPV. Now, a study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research reports that poor oral health, which includes dental problems and gum disease, is an independent risk factor for oral HPV infection, and by extension, could also contribute to oral cancers. The research team from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston studied more 3,400 participants between the ages 30 to 69 who were part of the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The volunteers provided data on their oral health as well as on their HPV-infection status. TIME.com: Yes, you can get throat cancer from oral sex . Those who reported poor oral health had a 56% higher rate of HPV infection than those whose mouths were healthy, and people who had gum disease and dental problems had a 51% higher risk of being infected with HPV than those who didn't have these issues. The connection between the virus, which is most often associated with sexually transmitted diseases, and oral cancers only emerged about five years ago, Dr. Maura Gillison, a professor at Ohio State University who studies HPV infections in the head, throat and neck, told TIME in June. Every year in the United States, more than 2,370 new cases of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers are diagnosed in women and about 9,356 are diagnosed in men. White men have the highest rates of HPV-related throat cancer, fueling a recent rise in HPV-related oral cancers overall while tumors associated with tobacco have been declining. \"In the U.S., there is an active shift going on,\" Gillison told TIME. \"Fortunately thanks to tobacco policy and public-health awareness, the incidence rate for the classical head and neck cancer caused by smoking is declining. But unfortunately, the rate of oropharynx cancer is still going up and it's because of the HPV component.\" Some of that rise can be attributed to barriers that public health campaigns faced in addressing a sexually transmitted virus. When two vaccines that protect against the most common forms of HPV became available after 2006, for example, political and social resistance to vaccinating young girls as part of the childhood vaccination schedule led to slow uptake of the inoculation. Parents and politicians worried that the shot would promote promiscuity among pre-adolescents, and were also concerned about reports that the immunizations caused serious side effects such as fainting. There were even claims that they also contributed to mental disorders. Both proved unfounded, as studies verified the safety of the vaccines and the lack of heightened sexual activity among vaccinated girls. If left untreated, HPV can cause cancers in the cervix, anus, penis, vulva, vagina, as well as in the head and neck. Some forms of the virus also contribute to genital warts, but the latest studies suggest that the HPV vaccines can lower infection rates and therefore may be important weapons in fighting not just cervical cancer but oral cancers as well. That's important since there is currently no scientifically proven way of testing for oral HPV, which makes monitoring for these virus-related cancers in the mouth more challenging and preventing them more critical. TIME.com: New cancer screening guidelines include HPV tests . Even without a shot, however, the researchers say their results hint that it may be relatively easy to control HPV in the oropharynx — by brushing regularly and keeping the mouth environment clean. \"The good news is, the risk factor is modifiable -- by maintaining good oral hygiene and good oral health, one can prevent HPV infection and subsequent HPV-related cancers,\" said study author Thanh Cong Bui, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in a statement. And there are other benefits to brushing as well. Good oral health may also prevent other conditions such as the gum disease gingivitis, which has been linked to heart disease. A healthy mouth, it seems can also be a sign of a healthy body. This story was originally published on TIME.com .", "An aspiring model who was turned down for a smear test because doctors said she was too young to get cervical cancer has died from the disease. Sophie Jones, 19, from Eastham, near Liverpool, was initially told she had Crohn's Disease when she went to the doctor complaining of stomach pains last February. But she was diagnosed with cervical cancer last November after being admitted to hospital when her condition worsened, and died early on Saturday morning. Now her family and friends have launched an online petition calling for smear tests to be offered to women from the age of 16, rather than 25.  Entitled 'Sophie's Choice', the petition has been signed by more than 45,000 people since its publication on Saturday,and 10,000 of them in a three-hour period this morning. 'The life and soul of everything': Sophie Jones, 19, has died of cervical cancer after being refused a smear test . Last Facebook picture: Miss Jones, who posted this photo two weeks ago, died early on Saturday morning . Miss Jones was described by her sister, Stephanie, as 'a very calming influence on everyone around her' While the disease is the most common cancer in women under 35, it is so rare in those under 25 that screening for it is not offered to women until they are 25. Today Miss Jones' mother, Peri Jones, 47, said it was 'just ridiculous' that smear tests were only offered routinely to those over 25. She said: 'At the very least people should be given a choice.  The cost of what Sophie has been through on the NHS is far more than a smear test - however many months ago would have been. 'Sophie knew something was wrong, she knew her body was telling her something but because of her age it wasn't even considered.' She added: 'She was the person that kept us all together as a family, stopped us falling out and was there for everyone.' She said her daughter, who did PR for nightclubs, had been trying to launch her modelling career when she was finally diagnosed with cancer, by which time it was too late. Mrs Jones said: 'Sophie was amazing - she was more concerned about all of us than she was about herself.  Her positive attitude was incredible.' Sophie' sister, Stephanie Jones, said she had vowed to fight the disease 'to the end'. She . said: 'She was still in high spirits even on the morning she died; she . was the life and soul of everything, and just lit the place up. Killer disease: Miss Jones, from Eastham, was admitted to hospital in November after her condition worsened . Model: The teenager had suffered from stomach pains and was initially told she probably had Crohn's Disease . Miss Jones, pictured with her boyfriend Jake Molyneux, was 'in high spirits' the day she died, her sister said . 'She was always a very calming influence on everyone around her, and she loved being with her friends.' She added: 'This should never, ever have happened to her.  Sophie said she would fight it all the way to the end. 'It’s . totally wrong that people are getting refused even when they know . something isn’t right. Everybody knows their own body, and Sophie knew . she wasn’t well.' The family had been fundraising to take Miss Jones on a final holiday, but she died before she had the chance to go. Should routine cervical smear testing start younger than 25? Should routine cervical smear testing start younger than 25? Now share your opinion . Now her family and friends have launched an online petition demanding that the . minimum age for having a smear test be lowered . to 16. The lower age limit for routine testing in England is 25 because the condition is so rare. No girls under the age of 20 died from the disease between 2009 and 2011, according to Cancer Research UK’s most recent statistics. Dr Claire Knight, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, told MailOnline young women should be reassured that cervical cancer is so rare in women under 25. She said:  'It is very rare for women who are still in their teens to be diagnosed with cervical cancer; there have been around 25 in the last decade. 'But it’s important to go to your GP if you notice anything unusual, like pain or discomfort during sex, bleeding in between periods, after sex or after the menopause, or unpleasant vaginal discharge. 'It may well be caused by something much less serious than cancer, but it’s a good idea to get it checked.' The Sophie’s Choice online petition has already collected more than 39,000 signatures since it was started on Saturday. Miss Jones' family say her death should never have happened and want younger girls to have cervical screening . Miss Jones' family and friends are now calling for younger women to be offered cervical cancer screening . Family friend Pamela Keelan, who set up the petition on the day Sophie died, said she hoped to prevent other girls suffering the same fate. The petition reads: 'A friend and amazing young girl, our Sophie has had her life cut short after experiencing symptoms for over a year and being in horrendous pain and even asking for a smear. 'But because of her age - 19 -  she was refused time and time again and now she has terminal cervical cancer. 'Out of loads of doctors, it took that one to say \"We will check you properly\", but then it was too late. 'Our Sophie has been failed in the worst way, and I need 500,000 signatures to be heard, one million to get this changed hopefully.' To view the petition and add your support for the campaign, go to: submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62385 . Screening: The test is currently offered to women aged 25 or over . The NHS offers a free cervical screening test to all women aged 25-64 every three to five years. It is not a test for cervical cancer, but it identifies early abnormalities which, if left untreated, could develop into cancer of the cervix (neck of the womb). A sample of cells is taken from the cervix for analysis and sent to a laboratory for analysis.  Those whose cells show abnormalities are called back for further investigation and, if necessary, treatment. Currently the test is not offered routinely to women aged younger than 25 because cervical cancer is so rare in women that young.  According to Cancer Research UK statistics, not a single woman under the age of 20 died from cervical cancer between 2009-2011. The lower age of 25 was raised from 20 after the Advisory Committee on Cervical Cancer Screening (ACCS) advised the NHS in 2003 that cervical screening in younger women did more harm than good. The committee advised that cell abnormalities in younger women normally went away of their own accord, and said that sending young women for further tests and treatment increased the likelihood of the woman having pre-term delivery if she went on to have children, and could cause significant anxiety. Many other countries offer cervical screening from the age of 25, including Italy, France, Belgium and Ireland.  In Scotland, women are invited to be checked from the age of 20, though it is due to go up to 25 next year.  In Australia women are invited from 18, Greece from 20, and in the US two years after women become sexually active. Meanwhile, other countries start cervical screening later.  Both the Netherlands and Finland offer screening to women only once they are 30, and these two countries boast some of the lowest mortality rates for cervical cancer in Europe, and in Bulgaria it is for women over 31.", "By . Anna Hodgekiss . PUBLISHED: . 12:45 EST, 5 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:45 EST, 5 October 2012 . A teenager has beaten an aggressive form of cancer after doctors gave her radioactive medication. Paris Tompkins, from Leicester, was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer after finding a lump in her neck. The thyroid gland is found in the neck and sets the rate at which the body produces energy. Radioactive: Paris Tompkins was diagnosed with thyroid cancer after finding two lumps in her neck. She took radioactive tablets to cure any remaining cancer cells remaining after surgery . Paris, who has a twin sister Paige, first realised something was wrong in February 2010. She said: ‘When I first felt it, it was about the size of a ping-pong ball but it didn’t hurt. ‘I went to my GP and was told to come back in six months if it hadn’t changed. ‘All the blood tests I had came back normal.’ But within six weeks the lump had become little bigger and Paris knew something wasn’t right. She also developed a sore throat. She saw a different GP at her practice and was referred to Leicester Royal Infirmary, where she was eventually diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. This is the most common type of thyroid cancer; women and young people are most often affected. Paris said: ‘It was a complete shock. I had expected the test to be normal and that I would be given some tablets. ‘No-one had brought up the word cancer and then, all of a sudden, I needed to meet an oncologist.’ In August 2010, she had surgery to remove her thyroid and doctors discovered there were actually two tumours. To kill off any cancer cells that might have been left, she was given two courses of radioactive iodine tablets. Early diagnosis: Paris has spoken of her experience to raise awareness of teenage cancer. Her twin sister Paige, right, now also has yearly scans to check for the condition . ‘It effectively made me radioactive,’ said the 17-year-old, who has shared her story as part of Teenage Cancer Week, which aims to help young people know more about the signs and symptoms of cancer. ‘I had to be in a room by myself for a week in hospital and then a further three weeks in isolation at home. ‘I had to use a different bathroom to everyone else and people couldn’t sit next to me because of the radioactivity, but I was just glad I was able to have the treatment.’ While she is slowly getting better, Paris’s twin sister has to have annual scans to make sure she is not developing the same cancer. Paris added: ‘I really didn’t know anything about cancer before this all happened and I want to help get more people aware of it. ‘Early detection is important to survival, which is another reason that awareness is so important.’ Radioactive iodine is a targeted treatment to help find and kill any cancer cells that have spread. The treatment takes place in hospital and is usually given as a drink or . capsule. The radioactive iodine circulates throughout the body in your . bloodstream. Thyroid cancer cells pick up the iodine wherever they are . in your body. The radiation in the iodine then kills the cancer cells. Other body cells aren’t affected because only thyroid cells take up the iodine. Patients must be kept in isolation as they will be slightly radioactive . for a few days; even sweat and urine will be radioactive during this . time.", "By . Lizzie Parry . Vivien Reynolds has less than two years to live after being diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer three years after being told her smear test was clear . A 45-year-old woman is today dying of terminal cervical cancer three years after doctors reassured her a routine smear test was clear. Vivien Reynolds says she has been handed a death sentence as the hospital responsible admitted they had made a fatal mistake in reading the test results. Ms Reynolds, from Widnes in Cheshire, has been told by doctors she could have as little as two years left to live. Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust has admitted full liability for the error, but say no incompetence on the part of staff was involved. They are expected to make a financial settlement with Ms Reynolds, but she said no amount will ever be enough. 'I've been sentenced to death,' she said. Her smear test was carried out at her local GP surgery but reviewed by staff at Warrington Hospital in 2008. Ms Reynolds, an administrator at a haulage company, said: 'This has left me totally devastated. It's changed my life. 'You think you’re going to live forever and it’s taken away from you and It’s really hard to accept and come to terms with. 'When I was told I had cervical cancer it felt like I was on a bungee string and it wasn’t reality. It makes it harder to accept because there was an error. 'You put your trust in the system to do a smear to have it correctly read and to be told it wasn’t, it’s hard, and I want them to change how little time they spend looking at slides. 'It wasn’t just one person that looked at my slide it was two people, and if both of them misread it, there’s obviously some kind of error in how it has been dealt with and it needs to be reviewed and changes made.' Ms Reynolds, who has a long-term partner but no children, feels her future has been snatched away. She said: 'Money will never be enough because this is my life. 'Had I been murdered by somebody they would be doing time with a possibility of a life sentence and I’m not going to get that and I haven’t done anything wrong.' The trust says its systems are robust and that the staff involved are fully trained, adding that smear tests are not diagnostic tests and are not 100 per cent effective. A report of the internal investigation states: 'Guidelines were followed. False negative results are inevitable in screening even in the best laboratories.' It says human error was a factor in the case, saying the 'abnormal cells were in clumps and difficult to interpret'. The trust admitted liability but say no incompetence was involved. Vivien Reynolds, pictured before her cancer diagnosis, was told by doctors in 2008 that the results of her smear test were clear. Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust have admitted liability for an error in reading the results, but said no incompetence was involved . The NHS offers a free cervical screening test to all women aged 25-64 every three to five years. It is not a test for cervical cancer, but it identifies early abnormalities which, if left untreated, could develop into cancer of the cervix (neck of the womb). A sample of cells is taken from the cervix for analysis and sent to a laboratory for analysis.  Those whose cells show abnormalities are called back for further investigation and, if necessary, treatment. Currently the test is not offered routinely to women aged younger than 25 because cervical cancer is so rare in women that young.  According to Cancer Research UK statistics, not a single woman under the age of 20 died from cervical cancer between 2009-2011. The lower age of 25 was raised from 20 after the Advisory Committee on Cervical Cancer Screening (ACCS) advised the NHS in 2003 that cervical screening in younger women did more harm than good. The committee advised that cell abnormalities in younger women normally went away of their own accord, and said that sending young women for further tests and treatment increased the likelihood of the woman having pre-term delivery if she went on to have children, and could cause significant anxiety. Many other countries offer cervical screening from the age of 25, including Italy, France, Belgium and Ireland. In Scotland, women are invited to be checked from the age of 20, though it is due to go up to 25 next year. In Australia women are invited from 18, Greece from 20, and in the US two years after women become sexually active. Meanwhile, other countries start cervical screening later. Both the Netherlands and Finland offer screening to women only once they are 30, and these two countries boast some of the lowest mortality rates for cervical cancer in Europe, and in Bulgaria it is for women over 31. Ms Reynolds’s lawyers at JMW . Solicitors in Manchester said abnormalities that signalled she was at . severe risk of developing the deadly disease were missed on a cervical . smear test carried out in 2008. Beth . Reay, Ms Reynolds’s medical negligence solicitor at JMW, said: 'Once . someone is diagnosed with cervical cancer the NHS does a review of their . case to see if anything could have been picked up earlier. 'Three separate screeners then looked at Vivien’s test and all three of them spotted the pre-cancerous cells. 'We have had our own independent expert review on Vivien’s case which revealed that if she had been diagnosed in 2008 she wouldn’t have needed chemotherapy, could have been treated with a routine procedure and would have made a complete recovery.' The solicitor explained that a smear test slide is checked twice. The first check takes about eight minutes and any abnormalities should be picked up then. Any that are reported as clear are sent for a rapid review – a safeguard that is supposed to ensure any signs of cancer that were missed first time around are detected. But she said as the second check only takes a minute there is greater room for error. 'As a safeguard to pick up on signs that were missed first time it’s inadequate,' she said. Mel Pickup, chief executive at Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'We are desperately sorry to hear about Mrs Reynolds’s illness. 'We fully investigated the circumstances of Mrs Reynolds smear test report from 2008, and found that her screening test did not identify a problem that might have then been treated earlier. 'We have accepted full liability for this and apologised. 'When we investigated the smear report, we also checked all the training, practice and standards of our screeners, and found it to be all correct. 'The screeners who provide the programme are trained to the highest standard. Their work is continually quality assessed on a routine basis, and external quality assurance visits are in place to check those standards. 'Screening reduces the chance of cervical cancer by about 75 per cent, but no screening programme can be 100 per cent effective. 'National and regional quality experts advise that false negative tests do occur, and cannot be completely avoided. 'It is really important that women go for their cervical smear test when invited – more than half of all cervical cancers occur in women who are eligible for screening, but don’t attend.'", "author] . PUBLISHED: . 16:12 EST, 29 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:12 EST, 29 March 2013 . Jenna-Louise Coleman plays Clara Oswin Oswald . When it comes to wooing women, the Doctor might do well to take a leaf out of Matt Smith's book. While the lovestruck Time Lord struggles to develop a deeper relationship with his new travelling companion Clara Oswin Oswald in the new series that starts this week after locking lips with her in the Christmas Special, Matt won over the actress who plays her with a simple blend of kindness and enthusiasm. Or, as the actress who plays Clara, Jenna-Louise Coleman, puts it, 'He totally blew me away. I'd worked on all these carefully prepared ideas and accents for my audition, but everything just went out of the window when Matt started to talk and move around in the rehearsal room. He was like a hurricane, full of fantastic ideas and spontaneity. He started playing different characters I could bounce off and made me feel as if he were auditioning himself, he got so into it. 'I remember thinking how fantastic it would be if I actually got the part, how great it would be working with Matt. And that's exactly what's happened. Matt's the perfect leading man and sets such a lovely tone on set, making the atmosphere wonderful. There's really not much more you could ask for in your co-star.' In typical Doctor Who fashion, Jenna's introduction to the series has been anything but straightforward. She made her debut in an episode last September, playing a character called Oswin Oswald who was trapped inside a Dalek. Then she reappeared in last year's Christmas special as Clara Oswald, a Victorian barmaid who met an unfortunate end. Her 'third entrance', as she calls it, sees her playing Clara in the present day, now a governess in a London suburb to two children who've lost their mother. 'She meets the Doctor when he turns up on her doorstep dressed as a monk, so that's her first impression and I had to treat it as a completely clean slate. But this is the Clara, or at least  the essence of her, that you'll see from now on,' says Jenna, 'for the rest of the current series and into the next one too. And after that? Who knows...' Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Colema look set to hike up the on-screen chemistry in the new series of Dr Who . The big question, of course, is how far their fledgling romance that began with that Christmas kiss will go. Jenna's not about to spoil it for the fans (although she does refer to the Tardis as 'a kissing booth' in this week's episode), but reveals Matt Smith was keen to stoke up some chemistry between them. Once she'd landed the part, he suggested she watch some classic Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy movies such as Woman Of The Year and Without Love that made much of the sexual frisson between the two actors. 'He thought they'd be useful in understanding the rhythm and pace of a relationship between a male and female lead, and they were. He also suggested I watch some Indiana Jones films - which I'd never seen before - because the main character's always accompanied by various women on his adventures.' Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy famously had an off-screen affair, but that won't be happening with Jenna and Matt. The lantern-jawed actor may have recently revealed he's single again after his on/off romance with model Daisy Lowe ended and he hasn't been slow in paying Jenna compliments, describing her as 'hot' and 'stunning-looking on screen'. Doctor Who with Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara and Matt Smith as The Doctor in the Christmas special . But Jenna's been in a relationship with Game Of Thrones star Richard Madden for the past couple of years, and when the cameras aren't rolling she and Matt seem more like conspiratorial friends than anything else, a couple of mates enjoying being involved in one of TV's most popular shows. They take particular delight in welcoming guest stars to Roath Lock, the studios in Cardiff where the show is filmed. Matt's introduced Jenna to a game called The Uncomfortable Touch, where he greets a guest on their first day on set with what might be deemed an over-familiar display of affection - a hand on the arm, shoulder, perhaps even bottom, just to gauge their reaction. This kept Matt and Karen Gillan, the Doctor's former assistant Amy Pond, amused for hours. Some people though, reveals Jenna, are exempt. 'There were no liberties taken with Dame Diana Rigg when she turned up for an episode later in the series, Matt and I just watched her from afar, fascinated by the dynamic between her and her daughter Rachael Stirling, who also plays her daughter on the show.' Jenna-Louise says filming Dr Who is always enjoyable, 'even when it's soggy' Rubbing shoulders with dames was the last thing on her mind when Blackpool-born Jenna, now 26, began her career as Emmerdale's Jasmine Thomas, a part she landed at the age of 19 and continued in for almost five years. After a stint on BBC1 drama Waterloo Road, the role of cheeky Cockney maid Annie Desmond in Julian Fellowes' Titanic brought her to a wider audience. But it's Doctor Who, with  its loyal fans ('Although I can honestly say I haven't received a single love letter or marriage proposal since I joined,' says Jenna) and the almost iconic status his assistants assume, that will cement her in the nation's consciousness. After a pretty gruelling schedule she's now putting the finishing touches to the current series before taking a well-earned rest this summer while Matt Smith travels to Detroit to film his role in the Ryan Gosling movie How To Catch A Monster. Then it'll be back to work for the star-studded 50th anniversary special, which is rumoured to have lots of old doctors on board and due to be shown in November. 'It's been tough at times,' admits Jenna. 'The third episode in this current run, called Cold War, is set on board a Russian submarine and marks the return of the classic Doctor Who monsters the Ice Warriors. Before every take in that episode they'd come and spray us with water, so we were soaking wet for two weeks. 'But Doctor Who is always hugely enjoyable, even when it's soggy. There's a scene in tonight's first episode where the doctor comes revving out of the Tardis on a motorcycle and he and Clara travel across London. I'm sitting there with my hands around Matt's middle, riding across Westminster Bridge on a motorbike with the Houses Of Parliament in the background and thinking, \"This is fun, this is really good fun.\"' Jenna-Louise Coleman with Jeff Hordley in Emmerdale in 2006 . The most difficult thing about the job, she says, is trying to keep the vow of secrecy that's a prerequisite for anyone involved with the show - something Jenna got an early taste of when she first went for the part and was forced to throw friends and family off the scent by telling them she was auditioning for a TV comedy in Cardiff. 'I've had to learn to say a lot - because there's so much interest in Doctor Who - without giving anything away. It's the nature of the programme. It's based on surprises and reveals, so the last thing you want to do is give away anything that might spoil it for the viewers. 'All I can say is that the Doctor sees Clara as a work in progress and a subject of both endless fascination - and frustration too,' she says. 'There's nothing the Doctor hates more than an unsolved mystery and Clara Oswald is exactly that. He won't stop until he finds out the truth about her. And that could take a while.' Doctor Who, tonight, 6.15pm, BBC1.", "By . Anna Hodgekiss for MailOnline . Emma White, 36, was dancing along to the Wii programme when she lost control of her bladder . A mother has credited her Wii console with saving her life after it alerted her to symptoms of cervical cancer. Emma White, from Faversham, Kent, was dancing along to the Wii programme when she lost control of her bladder. The 36-year-old was celebrating her daughter’s birthday on Boxing Day last year when the embarrassing incident happened. Concerned because she had never experienced incontinence before, Ms White went to see her GP, who found she was bleeding from her cervix . Within a week, tests revealed the mother-of-six had cervical cancer. A scan revealed she had a tumour the size of an egg sitting on the cervical . wall - and this was pushing against her bladder. Ms White said: 'I was devastated - I have six children to care for. 'I knew something was wrong when I wet myself, I’d never experienced incontinence in the past. 'I’d also suffered from irregular periods, so after months of putting it off, I decided to go to my GP. 'Thankfully it took just six weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy before a scan showed my tumour had completely gone.' Ms White first blamed her tell-tale signs of cervical cancer - such as irregular periods - on recently having given birth to daughter Everlyn-Ray in March 2013. The former nursery practitioner said: 'My partner Gary and I were over the moon when we found out I was pregnant with Everlyn. 'But my labour was different this time and my cervix didn’t dilate properly. 'I look back now and think there’s a strong possibility I already had the cancer when I gave birth which terrifies me. 'It took until November for me to realise that it had been over six months and my body still wasn’t back to normal. 'I just kept thinking I was going to get better so delayed going to the doctors. 'On my daughter’s birthday on Boxing Day it’s a tradition for our family to have a dance off on the Wii. 'I’d never had any accidents before so it was a complete shock. Ms White said she knew something was wrong when she exprienced loss of bladder control, as she had never suffered from it before. She also had symptoms such as irregular periods and back pain. After the cancer diagnosis, she underwent six weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy . 'We all laughed and I joked that I couldn’t get married wearing a tena lady.' In hindsight, she says there were other symptoms, too. ‘I was also suffering with lower back ache - which is also a sign of cervical cancer - even before I had Everlyn.' Despite that, I was up to date with all my smear tests and never dreamt this could happen to me. 'I want to encourage other women to not delay going to the doctors like I did.' She said: 'I thought doctors would suggest a hysterectomy which I was happy with. I just wanted to live to see my children grow up. 'But they decided the best course of action for me was to undergo six weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Ms White (with partner Gary) said her children were instrumental in keeping her spirits up during treatment. She will find out next month if it has been successful. Her children, clockwise from top left, are: Jake, 14, Trevor, 17, Ella-Rose, 13,Ruby, 8, Everylyn-Ray, 17 months, and Bettsie, 11 . About 2,900 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK. The symptoms aren't always obvious and may not appear until the disease has reached an advanced stage. In . most cases, abnormal bleeding is the first sign. It usually occurs . after sex although any unusual bleeding should be investigated. Other symptoms include pain in and around the vagina during sex, an unpleasant smelling discharge and pain when passing urine. If . the cancer has spread there may be other symptoms including . constipation, blood in the urine, loss of bladder control, bone pain and . swelling in the legs and kidneys. The NHS offers a free cervical screening test to all women aged 25-64 every three to five years. It . is not a test for cervical cancer, but it identifies early . abnormalities which, if left untreated, could develop into cancer of the . cervix (neck of the womb). 'My treatment included internal radiotherapy called brachytherapy. Ms White will find out next month whether the treatment has been successful and if she has the all-clear. She said: The treatment was really tiring and at times, I felt like giving up. 'But as soon as I got home and saw my children again, I knew I had to fight. 'I really don’t think I could’ve done any of this without them.' Her children, Trevor, 17, Ella-Rose, 13, Bettsie, 11, Ruby, 8, Everylyn-Ray, 17 months and stepson Jake, 14, were all affected by the devastating news. Ms White said: 'I want to thank my amazing family, children and friends from the bottom of my heart. 'Even in my darkest moments they all managed to brighten my day. 'One of my friends is taking part in a Shine Walk for cervical cancer in my name soon; I’m so honoured and proud of her. “I also want to thank the incredible support I received from both the Macmillan nurses and Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust.' Robert Music, Chief Executive of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust said: 'Every year 3,000 UK women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 300,000 women will be told they have abnormal cells on the cervix that may require treatment. 'Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust offers information and support to women, their friends and family affected by cervical cancer and abnormalities. 'We urge all women who are eligible for cervical screening to attend when invited. It could, quite simply, save their life.' For more information and support visit http://www.jostrust.org.uk .", "By . Lizzie Parry . Teenager Beckii Handy refused to have a hysterectomy despite being diagnosed with ovarian cancer . A 15-year-old turned down a hysterectomy despite becoming one of the youngest women in the UK to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Beckii Handy visited her GP, complaining of what she thought was indigestion. But she and her parents Jan and Chrys Handy, were shocked when doctors revealed the teenager was suffering a type of cancer, more often diagnosed in women over the age of 50. As part of the treatment doctors suggested was a hysterectomy - the removal of the womb, which would have left Beckii unable to carry her own children. But the teenager bravely refused, determined to maintain her fertility and ability to bear children. 'The doctor started to examine me and it became very painful,' she said. 'I was sent for tests but I never dreamed I would be told I had cancer.' Beckii, from Solihull in the West Midlands, bravely refused a hysterectomy to maintain her hopes of having children in the future. 'There was no way I was having it and they couldn’t do it without my permission,' she said. 'Due to my stubbornness, I can hopefully now go on and have children.' Beckii was diagnosed in August 2011 and underwent two types of chemotherapy treatment. The now 18-year-old was given the all-clear in January 2012. She has forged links with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, which gives young people in recovery from cancer the chance to rebuild their confidence through sailing. And earlier this month she teamed up with British Olympic sailing star Sir Ben Ainslie to take part in the J.P Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race around the Isle of Wight. 'When you get the all clear, people expect you to have this big celebration but it is something I really struggled to deal with,' Beckii said. 'You’re left thinking: \"Well, what now?\" The Trust has been amazing and I have made some great friends through it. 'If I had not gone to the doctor that day, I probably would not be here now.' Diagnosed at 15, Beckii is thought to be among the youngest women in the UK to be diagnosed with the disease, which is usually seen in older women. Beckii is pictured with her mother Jan Handy . Beckii was diagnosed in August 2011 and underwent two types of chemotherapy treatment. The now 18-year-old was given the all-clear in January 2012 . She also urged teenagers to have any health problems checked out promptly. 'I get annoyed when friends tell me they have aches and pains but they haven’t been to the see the doctor,' she said. 'I think young people can get embarrassed about going to the doctor but what is a bit of embarrassment if it saves your life?' The J.P Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race is one of the largest participation sporting events in the UK and the largest yacht race of its kind in the world. Organised by the Island Sailing Club in Cowes, it has been dubbed ‘Britain’s favourite yacht race’, regularly attracting around 1,500 boats and 16,000 competitors.", "By . Emma Innes . In an incredible act of generosity, a mother offered to act as a surrogate for her ex-husband’s new wife. Julie Brackenbury, 34, offered to carry Rebecca Hankins’ baby after the 33-year-old was left infertile by cervical cancer treatment. Julie, who had previously been married to Rebecca's husband, Scott, even went through gruelling IVF treatment to have the couple’s embryos implanted into her womb. Julie Brackenbury (left) offered to carry Rebecca Hankins' baby after the 33-year-old (right) was left infertile by treatment for cervical cancer. Julie was the ex-wife of Rebecca's husband, Scott . Rebecca told MailOnline: ‘Julie is a very motherly sort of person and we had grown quite close. ‘She understood my need to be a mum. But, despite this, I was mind-blown when she offered to be our surrogate.’ Rebecca, from Stamford in Lincolnshire, and her husband, Scott, had been trying for a baby for a year when she started to suffer bleeding after sex. The veterinary nurse, who was desperate for a child, visited her doctor who told her that she had a polyp which was probably responsible for the bleeding. She had the polyp removed but, devastatingly, tests revealed it was cancerous. At the age of just 27, Rebecca was diagnosed with cervical cancer. At the age of 27 Rebecca was told she had cervical cancer and that the treatment would leave her unable to carry children. Before starting treatment she had some of her eggs harvested and had some embryos frozen . When Julie (pictured with her son Louis) heard about Rebecca's situation, she offered to act as a surrogate. She went through two rounds of IVF to have the frozen embryos implanted into her womb . She said: ‘I was devastated, but it was more the fact it would leave me childless, than the cancer itself, that worried me.’ Rebeccca had to have chemotherapy and radiotherapy as well as surgery to remove some of her lymph nodes. As a result of the radiotherapy she was told she would not be able to carry a child and would go into early menopause. She was desperate to have a baby so she delayed her treatment to allow her to harvest some of her eggs and freeze some embryos. Tragically, both cycles of the treatment failed and Julie (pictured with her new partner, Luke) did not become pregnant with Rebecca's baby . She says . that no one wanted her to do this as everyone, including her doctors, . felt it would be better for her to start treatment immediately. Despite this, she delayed her treatment for a month to enable her to have the procedure carried out. She said: ‘For me there was so point having cancer treatment if I couldn’t have a baby so there was no question about it.’ Once Rebecca had recovered from her cancer treatment, she started to look into her fertility options. Incredibly, at this point Julie, who has five of her own children, offered to be a surrogate. She said: ‘Watching them go through cancer was hard and I got close to Rebecca. ‘The thought of them not being able to have a baby was awful and it was the thought of what I could give them at the end that made me want to do it.’ Julie, who lives in Peterborough, added that she wasn’t worried about the thought of having to hand the baby over once it was born as it wouldn’t be hers genetically and she had worked it out in her mind. Eventually, in 2010, Julie went through two round of IVF during each of which she had two of Rebecca’s embryos implanted into her womb. Tragically, neither of the IVF cycles worked and Julie didn't become pregnant. Rebecca said: ‘It was devastating when the pregnancy test was negative. ‘I collapsed in a heap the second time as I knew I had no more frozen eggs to try. Rebecca said: 'It was devastating when the pregnancy test was negative. I collapsed in a heap the second time as I knew I had no more frozen embryos to try' ‘I was grateful for everything she had done.’ Julie added: ‘It was dreadful, it was awful – it really was heart-breaking. ‘She took it hard but she was strong with it. ‘I felt really responsible and I felt I was letting her down.’ She added: ‘It didn’t really matter that the father would have been my ex-husband – it did raise a few eyebrows though.’ Rebecca and Julie are still friends and Rebecca has now been given the five year all clear from her cervical cancer. However, sadly, her marriage to Scott broke down as she wanted to look into adoption and he didn’t. She now has a new partner, Mark, and the pair are considering adoption. Since the failed IVF treatment, Rebecca has broken up with Scott (pictured with his son, Louis) and she had her new partner, Mark, are now looking into adoption . Rebecca said: ‘A baby would be the ideal situation as I would like the experience of having a baby but we would consider a child of any age. ‘I would love to have two eventually.’ Rebecca is holding a Night In fundraising event to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support as the charity supported her when she was ill. The charity’s Night In idea sees people have friends round for an evening and they each donate what they would have spent on a night out. Rebecca said: ‘I want to give something back to the charity that helped me. ‘A lot of women don’t talk about female cancer and Macmillan gave me useful advice and emotional support.’ Rebecca will be hosting a Night In for Macmillan on Friday 16th May. The event is simply about having friends round for a catch up, a laugh and something to eat and drink. A Macmillan spokesperson said: 'The beauty of it is that you don’t have to train, get sweaty or even have to hassle people to sponsor you. 'Everyone just gives what they’d have spent on a night out and the money goes to help people keep on living life during and after cancer.' For more information visit nightin.macmillan.org.uk .", "By . Sam Webb . Stoic: Teenager Jessica Bradford who was told she had a sexually transmitted disease after doctors said she was too young to have cervical cancer . A teenager was told by doctors she had a sexually-transmitted infection - only to later find out she had cervical cancer. Hairdresser Jessica Bradford, 18, feared she had cervical cancer after looking up her symptoms online - but her doctors said she was too young. But tests showed she had the disease - and she has been told she will never have children due to the radiotherapy treatment she is receiving. Her mother Julie, 42, said: 'Jessica had some bleeding and other symptoms so she went to see the doctor straight away. 'At first they thought it was thrush and gave antibiotics, then they said it was a bacterial infection. 'After that they thought it was a sexually transmitted disease. 'She went back to the doctors about five times. They thought it couldn't be cervical cancer because of her age.' But after a series of tests, scans and biopsies doctors confirmed the teenager's worst fears. Jessica is one of the youngest women in Britain to be diagnosed with cervical cancer - women are not normally scanned for it until they are at least 20. But Jessica and her mum, also a hairdresser, are now campaigning for the age to be lowered in the hope that other teenagers could be diagnosed early. Brave Jessica is juggling a college hairdressing course with her cancer treatment at a specialist hospital. She is doing well but was left heartbroken when doctors said the treatment had left her infertile. Mum-of-three Julie said: 'She has been so upset about that because she loves children. 'But having radiotherapy destroys the womb so it has completely ended her chances of having children.' The 18-year-old hairdresser from Rhymney, South Wales, pictured with mother Julie, is now fighting the disease . Jessica is continuing to go to hairdressing college during her five-week course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff. Julie said: 'Jessica is strong minded and she is positive. I am really proud of her.' Jessica said: 'I am determined to get through this, finish my studies and open up my own hair salon. \"But my other goal is to raise awareness about the importance of spotting symptoms and going to see a doctor early. I also think they should reduce the age for smear tests to 18.' 'My advice is just go to see a doctor soon as you get the symptoms and don't stop until they give you a definite answer.' For more information on cervical cancer please click here.", "Sarah Donaghey’s dreams of motherhood were shattered when she was told the only cure for her cervical cancer was a hysterectomy. However, the 27-year-old now has a chance of having a baby because her mother, 49-year-old Linda Donaghey, has offered to be a surrogate. Ms Donaghey, a sales administrator from Leeds, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of the cancer when she was just 25 . Linda Donaghey, 49, (left) has offered to be a surrogate for her daughter, Sarah Donaghey, 27 (right) She was devastated when she was told that the only way to save her life would be to remove her womb. However, she was given a glimmer of hope as surgeons were able to save her ovaries which tests last February revealed were still producing eggs. Within months of her hysterectomy, Ms Donaghey and her partner, Stuart Simpson, 26, started to research surrogacy. Ms Donaghey told the Sunday Mirror: ‘Our biggest worry was that even if the surrogate is pregnant with a baby that is biologically ours, legally she is the mum. We worried she wouldn’t be able to give up our baby.’ She explained how she was discussing the problem with her mother, when the grandmother-of-three said that she would act as a surrogate. She . told the Sunday Mirror: ‘I didn’t have to think twice about it. I found . it heart breaking that she’d had to go through such a terrible ordeal . at such a young age. The family's local authority will not pay for their IVF treatment because Ms Donaghey's partner, Stuart Simpson, already has a daughter, Lola (pictured). Ms Donaghey has always dreamed of having a large family of her own . A six-year-old Ms Donaghey is pictured playing mother to her doll. She later thought her cancer had shattered her dreams of parenthood . She added: ‘Some friends think I am mad but I didn’t have to think twice about offering to have a baby for Sarah. I just see it as some early babysitting.’ However, the family has now hit another setback as their local authority has informed them that they will not pay for the IVF treatment required to allow Linda to carry Sarah and Stuart’s child, because Mr Simpson already has a daughter, Lola, from a previous relationship. As a result, they now face a race against time to raise the £7,000 needed before Mrs Donaghey reaches her 50th birthday, after which doctors will be reluctant to allow her to be a surrogate. To help raise money visit www.gofundme.com/ivf-funding-sarahstuart .", "With melons carefully disguising bosoms and a studio light blocking a bare bottom, a new nude calendar sees Minnesota residents strip off all in the name of charity. Funds raised from the Au Naturel, Encore 2015 planner will be put towards treatment for 55-year-old Toni Poletes - a community stalwart from the small town of Marine on St. Croix who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer four years ago. Doran O'Brien, who appears as Mr November, braced freezing temperatures to be photographed naked in his front yard modeling a pair skies. Good job he had his man bag: A new nude calendar sees Minnesota residents strip off all in the name of charity . Hold that pose: Funds raised from the Au Naturel, Encore planner will be put towards treatment for 55-year-old Toni Poletes, a community stalwart from the small town of Marine on St. Croix who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer four years ago . Uncorked: Olde Towne Liquors owner Adrian Frannsen stuck to warmer climates and stripped off in his store - He is seen popping open a bottle of champagne, while his wife Mary sits alongside him holding a sign reading: 'A toast to Toni . . . to life' 'I was honored to be asked. It's all about love,' he told KARE News.Olde Towne Liquors owner Adrian Frannsen stuck to warmer climates and de-robed in his store. He is seen popping open a bottle of champagne, while his wife Mary sits alongside him holding a sign reading: 'A toast to Toni . . . to life.' The couple use balloons to maintain their modesty. This marks the fourth year that the people of Marine on St. Croix have posed for the naked calendar. Poletes also makes an appearance, standing in the auto repair shop she runs with her fiance, John Ostlund. She appears behind a car door, sporting a cheeky grin in her undressed state. Meanwhile, Ostlund tinkers under the bonnet of the vehicle fully-clothed. Despite her illness, Poletes wears a smile every day as she welcomes customers into her business. 'People think this is the hub of the city,' she said with a laugh. Still smiling: Poletes also makes an appearance, standing in the auto repair shop she runs with her fiance, John Ostlund - over the years she has endured 16 rounds of chemotherapy . For a good cause: In previous years the calendar has helped raise more than $20,000 for Poletes . Nice pair of melons: Lots of residents get involved, posing with well-positioned props . Artistic: The black and white images were shot by Minnesota photographer Verna Pitts . Over the years she has endured 16 rounds chemotherapy and countless hours of radiation. Today she is tethered constantly to an oxygen tank. Due to the cost of treatment she has maxed out her medical insurance. That's where the idea for the calendar came into play. In previous years it has helped raise more than $20,000 for Poletes. The idea has roots back to 2006 when, inspired by the movie Calendar Girls' photographer Verna Pitts and graphic artist Jeni O’Brien partnered to produce a calendar to raise money for Jenna Lynn, a teenager battling a rare form of bone cancer. Following her death in 2008 at the age of 18, Pitt and O'Brien teamed up to help Poletes. The black and white 2015 calendar is currently for sale at $25. 'This is an amazing testament, to people, how people truly are,' Poletes said of the charity initiative. Perfect stocking filler: The yearly planner is currently for sale at $25 . Widespread: It has been estimated that more than one in three people will develop cancer at some point in their lifetime . Snuggle buddies: Here a resident poses naked on the couch, with her dogs keeping her covered . Group shot: Couples and singletons both young and old got involved in the initiative, originally inspired by the 2003 film Calendar girls .", "A teenager has spoken of her 'total shock' at being told at the age of 17 she had no vagina. Jacqui Beck, 19, has MRKH, an rare syndrome which affects the reproductive system - meaning she has no womb, cervix or vaginal opening. She was only diagnosed after she went to her GP about back pain - and mentioned in passing that she hadn't started her periods. Shock: Jacqui Beck was told at the age of 17 she had no vagina. She was diagnosed with MRKH, an unusual syndrome which affects the reproductive system - meaning she has no womb, cervix or vaginal opening . Tests revealed her condition and that where her vagina should be, there is simply an ident, or 'dimple' - meaning she is unable to have sex or carry her own child. Women with the condition appear completely normal externally - which means it is usually not discovered until a woman tries to have sex, or has not had her first period. Miss Beck, from the Isle of Wight, admits when she was first diagnosed, she felt 'like a freak'. 'I'd never considered myself different from other women and the news was so shocking, I couldn't believe what I was . hearing. ‘I . was sure the doctor had got it wrong, but when she explained that . was why I wasn’t having periods, it all started to make sense. ‘She then explained that I would never be able . to carry a child and might have to have surgery before I could have sex. ‘I left the doctors in tears - I . would never know what it was like to give birth, be pregnant, have a . period. All the things I had imagined doing suddenly got erased from my . future. 'I was really angry and felt like I wasn’t a real woman any more.' Unaware: Miss Beck explained she has a 'dimple' where her vagina should be so from the outside it looks normal - hence why the condition wasn't detected in her younger years . Unexpected: Miss Beck was only diagnosed after she went to her GP about back pain - and mentioned in passing that she hadn't started her periods. Tests revealed her condition, which means she is unable to have sex or carry her own child . Because she had never attempted to have a physical relationship, Miss Beck had never noticed the problem herself.  Had she tried, she would have discovered it was . impossible for her to have sex. MRKH (Mayer Rokitansky Küster Hauser) is a congenital abnormality which affects one in 5,000 women in . the UK. It is characterised by the absence of the vagina, womb  and . cervix. Women suffering from the condition will have normally functioning ovaries and so will experience the normal signs of puberty but will not have periods or be able to conceive. The external genatalia are completely normal which is why MRKH isn’t usually discovered until women are in their teenage years. It’s usually discovered when the woman tries to has sex or fails to get her period. Many women are able to create a vaginal canal using dilation treatment, which uses cylinder shaped dilators of different sizes to stretch the muscles. However, if this is unsuccessful then surgery will be used to stretch the vaginal canal. Following treatment women are able to have intercourse and can have their eggs removed and fertilised to be used in surrogacy. She said: 'It . wasn’t really a conscious decision not to have a boyfriend, I just . didn’t really fancy any of the boys in my area, which is lucky, . considering what I know now’. MRKH affects one in 5,000 women in the UK. Most discover they have the condition because they haven't started their periods, but some find out when they struggle to have intercourse. Miss Beck explained she has a 'dimple' where her vagina should be so from the outside it looks normal - which explains why the condition wasn't detected earlier. Despite the shocking news, she is trying to see her condition in a positive light - and even as a way of making sure she meets the right man. She said: 'If he has a problem with it, then he’s not the kind of . guy I want to go out with. 'I’m . a hopeless romantic and I see it as a great test of someone’s . character. Instead of focusing on it putting off men,  I actually think it . will help me find, “the one”. 'I want to be upfront with . any men I meet and tell them straight away about my condition. I don’t . want them to feel tricked into being with me. ‘I . will feel more comfortable if they know the truth and besides, if they . run at the mention of MRKH then I don’t want to be intimate with them.' She says that as a teenager, she was blissfully unaware of her condition - with no idea that the development she was waiting for would never happen. 'When I was 14, my friends . started talking to me about their periods. They started carrying tampons . around, complaining about cramps and sharing notes on what it was like. ‘For a year I waited to go through the same, until at 15, everyone I knew had started their period apart from me. Despite the shocking news, she is trying to see . her condition in a positive light - and even as a way of making sure she . meets the right man. She said: 'If he has a problem with it, then he’s . not the kind of guy I want to see' ‘I didn’t panic though, I’m tall and skinny and thought that might be something to do with me being a late developer.’ Instead, she focused on her future . and when she was 17, applied to attend a music college in . Guildford. But after suffering from pain in her neck in summer 2012, she went to see her GP. 'While I was there, I mentioned I hadn’t started my period yet. I still wasn’t overly worried . but I thought it was worth saying something . ‘My . doctor was very surprised but didn’t seem to think it was serious. He . just suggested that he would do some scans to see what the problem was.' Hindsight: Miss Beck says that as a teenager, she was blissfully unaware of her condition - with no idea that the development she was waiting for would never happen . Women with MRKH appear completely normal externally - which means it is often not discovered in childhood, but in the teenage years . When scans showed nothing, she was referred to a gynaecologist, who immediately spotted something was wrong. Miss Beck said: ‘My other scan results had been sent to her and just from looking at them, she knew I had MRKH. ‘She . sat me down and basically explained that I didn’t have a womb, or a . vagina, that I was born without them and instead just had a small dimple . in it’s place.' So mortified by what she had heard, she was too embarrassed to admit to family and friends she had the condition - let alone the prospect of telling . any future boyfriends. She said: ‘I . was too embarrassed to call my mum and talk it through with her, so . instead, I sent her an email. YouTube Jacqui Beck . Help: Miss Beck is now undergoing treatment to help her try and have intercourse in the future . 'She called straight back and came over to . Guildford the next day from the Isle of Wight. ‘Although . mum was upset for me, she tried to focus on finding out as much about . the condition as possible, so we could understand it. ‘She . also encouraged me to focus on the bright side. We laughed as we listed . all the things I wouldn’t have to go through, period cramps, . childbirth, smear tests - to try and look on the bright side.’ Focusing on her treatment, Miss Beck was . admitted to the Queen Charlotte and Chelsea Hospital in London, which . specialises in the condition. There, she was given dilation treatment, which . involved using different sized dilators to try and stretch her vaginal . canal - but was told if it didn’t work, she would have to be operated on. Honest: Miss Beck says she now wants to speak out about her condition to raise awareness of it . She said: ‘I spent two days there, getting taught how to use the dilator and learning more about MRKH. ‘The first time the nurse showed me how to use a dilator I nearly died of embarrassment. But now I've got used to it, I see it as any other form of treatment. ‘At the hospital, they referred me to a network of other women who have the same condition. It was great to speak to other girls who felt like me. ‘I stopped feeling so lonely and it also gave me hope as I spoke to women who had gone on to have a full sex life.’ Thankfully, her treatment has worked and if she continues she will not need surgery and when she chooses to, will be able to have intercourse. Further down the line there are more difficult conversations she will have to have to have when she wants to have children. She said: ‘I’m not at an age when I’m thinking about kids, but I think that will hit me later on. I will use a surrogate, or adopt, but I will have to make sure any guy I meet is ok with that too. ‘Again, I try and take it as a blessing that, unlike woman who discover they can’t conceive when they are already trying for a baby, I have time to get used to the idea.’ For Miss Beck, her one hope is that the condition becomes more well known, so that other women realise they have it earlier than she did. ‘I had only told five of my best friends, but then I realised it’s not something I should be ashamed of. ‘If I had cancer, or, any other medical issue, people would be supportive. So, I recently came out to everyone on Facebook, telling them about my condition. ‘I was surprised at how positive everyone was, they said I was brave and beautiful, now I wish I had been open about it from the beginning.’", "He had just been dematerialised in the Tardis – and so, by the look of it, had his suit. For as Prince Charles toured the Doctor Who set yesterday, his jacket showed the clear signs of a running repair just below the left pocket. His spokesman was keen to scotch rumours that the Anderson and Sheppard suit had been caught in the crossfire from a Dalek, insisting the patch was a ‘temporary repair’ that would be ‘repaired less visibly in due course’. Scroll down for video . Fibre attack: The patch (bottom right) was clearly visible on the jacket of the Prince's suit . Royal tour: Matt Smith and co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman gave the future king and his wife Camilla a tour of the Doctor Who set in Cardiff where they met the famous Daleks . The Prince, known for having his . expensive clothes patched and darned rather than throw them away, has . been a Doctor Who fan since his teens. And Doctor Who has a new adversary of royal proportions after the Prince of Wales lent his voice to one of the Daleks. Charles tried his hand at being a sci-fi baddie during a visit to the BBC’s studios in Cardiff today. Using . a microphone plugged into a voice modulator, he uttered the Daleks’ famous 'exterminate' catchphrase - leaving the show’s writer Stephen . Moffat thoroughly impressed. He said: 'I haven’t thought about how I could weave a meeting between the Doctor and the royal family. But Prince Charles’s attempt at being a Dalek was great. 'There would be a part in the show for him if he wanted it.' According to actor Matt Smith, who is due to stand down as the current Doctor, the Prince has been a secret fan of the show since he was 15. Smith and co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman gave the future king and his wife Camilla a tour of the show’s set in Cardiff. Voice-over: Using a microphone plugged into a voice modulator, Prince Charles uttered the Daleks' famous 'exterminate' catchphrase . The Prince of Wales with a Snow Gun as he visited Roath Lock Studios . As well as getting to grips with a sonic screwdriver, the Prince stepped inside the famous Tardis. The qualified helicopter pilot got to grips with its controls, while the Duchess of Cornwall pulled a lever to activate it. Smith said: 'The Prince was lovely and a charming bloke. 'He took quite an interest in the Tardis’s controls and asked a lot of questions about it. 'He told me and Jenna that he’d been a big fan of the show since he was 15 - which we didn’t know. Royal tour: Matt Smith and co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman gave the future king and his wife Camilla a tour of the show's set in Cardiff, while Charles looked thrilled to handle a sonic screwdriver . Impressed: Prince Charles was given the thumbs up by actor and sound technician Nicholas Briggs, who voices the Daleks . 'The other thing which stood out for me is he had fantastic shoes. Smith joked: 'He’s got the makings of a future Doctor!' Also giving the Prince the thumbs up was actor and sound technician Nicholas Briggs, who voices the Daleks. The Lyndhurst-born performer, who began practising Dalek voices at the age of five, said: 'The Prince has got a history of performing and has done stuff with The Goon Show previously, so he really stepped up to the plate. 'Apart from a couple of giggles at the end, he did really good.' The . royal couple were also shown around the props department, chatting with . set decorator Adrian Anscombe, who handed the Prince a sonic . screwdriver. 'He got it to work first time, which doesn’t usually happen,' he said. 'As it’s a custom-built prop it can take a bit of getting used to but the Prince has the knack.' Making friends: The Duchess of Cornwall and the Prince of Wales with a Cyberman and member of The Silence and an Ood as they visited Roath Lock Studios . Charles also came face-to-face with some of the show's other famous monsters - such as a Cyberman and a weeping angel. Following . the visit - which had BBC staff and journalists chuckling throughout - . the Prince then toured the new headquarters of his charity Prince's . Trust Cymru and met with volunteers and youngsters. A Clarence House spokeswoman said Charles was very passionate about the organisation. 'The . new Prince's Trust Cymru headquarters will support 3,500 vulnerable . young people across Wales this year, giving them the skills and . confidence to turn their lives around and move into jobs. 'It's . significant because in Cardiff alone, more than one in four young people . (30 per cent) are struggling to find a job (Office for National Statistics). 'The . Prince's Trust Enterprise programme is celebrating its 30th birthday . this year. 'It has helped 80,000 young people become their own boss since . 1983. 'It's worth noting that three in four young people on Prince's Trust programmes move into work, education or training.' The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall with Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman in the TARDIS . Special guests: The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were shown around by starts of the show Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman . The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall with Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman by the TARDIS . During the official opening, Charles addressed young people, staff, volunteers and supporters of The Prince's Trust. He said: 'I hope some of you here . today are beginning to benefit in a small way and I am also incredibly . proud of the difference the Trust can make to so many lives.' One of the young people who met the Prince was 27-year-old Sarah Hillier, from Pontypool. She is about to launch a custom-made teddy bear business with support from the Trust. She presented Charles with a bear created for his soon-to-be-born grandchild. Mrs Hillier decided she wanted to run her own business after running a successful cafeteria at her partner's workplace. She had to leave when her husband was made redundant and she found herself unemployed. But her entrepreneurial spirit meant . she was determined to find an idea that would work, and then her . nine-year-old daughter gave her just that - custom made teddy bears. Describing the bear she created for . the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby, she said: 'The bear is one of . my favourite designs and I have chosen a soldier's outfit for it. I just . hope this little bear is fit for a prince - or a princess!' The charitable theme also continued . for Camilla - who earlier in the week threw a tea party for seriously . ill children - as she visited the Emmaus Charity shop in Porthcawl, . Bridgend. It supports homeless people by giving them accommodation and work experience in a bid to turn their lives around. And after freely chatting with service users, Camilla then paid a visit to Cowbridge Physic Garden Trust. Eagerly anticipating: Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman pose by the tardis as they wait to meet The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall . Popular prince: The Prince of Wales greets local residents during a visit to the Cig Mynydd Cymru Farmers' Co-operative Shop, Treharris . Lunchtime: The Prince of Wales samples a beef burger made with locally farmed Welsh Black beef during a visit to the Cig Mynydd Cymru Farmers' Co-operative Shop, Treharris . A Royal spokeswoman added: 'The . tradition of physic gardens stretches back a number of centuries. Known . originally as \"apothecaries gardens\", many monasteries and large estate . mansions had physic gardens where plants were grown for cooking, healing . and dyeing wool and fabric. 'They were also known as kitchen gardens or . potagers.' Later in the afternoon rural champion . Charles met staff and local farmers during a visit to the Farmers' Co-operative Shop in Treharris, Merthyr Tydfil. The collective, known as . Cig Mynydd Cymru (Welsh Mountain Meat), specialises in the Welsh Black . beef from cattle raised on the members' farms & South Wales Mountain . lambs. Taking control: The qualified helicopter pilot got to grips with its controls, while the Duchess of Cornwall pulled a lever to activate it . And completing an action packed day, the Prince headed to Ebbw Vale - where the Queen was met with a rapturous welcome during her Jubilee tour last year. He paid a visit to the offices of education charity Teach First, of whom he is a patron. Teach First, which launches in Wales in in September, aims to increase the number of teachers from less well off backgrounds. It has been given a three year contract by the Welsh Government and officials hope it will see 150 trainee teachers recruited on to the programme. The Royals' tour of Wales continues tomorrow - with Camilla taking the lead with the day's engagements in Swansea. Meeting the locals: Charles and Camilla visit Wales every year for a week. They have done since 2008 and stay at their holiday home Llwynywermod in Myddfai, near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire . The couple spend one week in July every year in he principality since 2008, which sees them stay at their holiday home Llwynywermod in Myddfai, near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire. Town council member Nigel Burgess said locals now viewed the Prince as of one of their own. 'It's not only put us and local good causes on the map, but it's given us a tremendous sense of pride,' he added. 'It means all the more because this is supposed to be the Prince's holiday - but he's never put his feet up and locked himself in his holiday home. 'He's always got involved.'", "A football press conference is not the usual place to witness a moment of heartfelt compassion. Yet Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho stunned onlookers when he halted one of his pre-match briefings to welcome back ITV journalist Rags Martel. Rags had recently recovered from thyroid cancer, and the press conference in January was his first  day back at work. Fighting on: ITV sports journalist Rags Martel, 37, from London, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in August 2013, after a friend spotted a lump on his neck . Mourinho was delighted to see him again, and quickly made his way  out from behind his desk to shake hands with the sports reporter while asking him: ‘All good?’ ‘All good,’ replied Rags, 37, before adding: ‘It’s good to see you back,’  in reference to the Portuguese manager’s return to the Premier League club during the summer. Speaking today for the first time about his illness and his subsequent return to health, Rags explains how the pair had become acquainted months earlier when he asked Mourinho a series of difficult questions at a previous press conference. During Rags’s recuperation, Mourinho sent him a get-well card saying: ‘I miss a difficult question.’ The journalist reveals: ‘Being welcomed back by Mourinho was  a sweet moment, and as I’m a Chelsea supporter, when I got the card  I said, “This is almost worth getting cancer for.” I was being ironic, of course.’ He also found comfort in the  words of fellow sports reporter Clare Balding, who underwent surgery for the same kind of cancer in 2009. Letting them know: Rags Martell told his colleagues, and the world, that he was suffering from thyroid cancer via social media . ‘I heard her on Desert Island Discs discussing her own thyroid cancer,’ he explains. ‘I welled up and cried. She was talking about her treatment – which was very similar to mine – and the worry  of who you tell. ‘It happened so fast with me I didn’t have time to think. You’re told you have cancer, you get a date for the operation, and then the radiotherapy. Hearing Clare Balding on the radio was the first  time I had heard someone talking about surviving it and it struck a nerve with me. ‘I’ve never met her but I’ve met other people who have suddenly showed me their own surgery scars. That’s the thing with cancer – one in three of us will get it. I was perhaps slightly younger than most but it’s on the cards for a lot of us.’ Rags was diagnosed in August 2013. He says: ‘I was at a railway station early one morning when a friend of mine spotted the lump by the right side of my Adam’s apple and asked, “What’s that?” ‘I had never noticed it before but I saw a doctor straight away and he said it had been growing for many months. It baffles me that I didn’t spot it earlier because the lump  was the size of a small plum, but I suppose you don’t look at that part of your neck much. ‘The GP seemed concerned. He said it could be a cyst and sent me  to hospital for tests.’ However, a week later Rags was told his lump was cancerous and that he needed surgery to remove his thyroid. The butterfly-shaped gland is located in the neck, sitting around the trachea and just below the voice box. It is responsible for producing the hormone thyroxine, which regulates the body’s metabolism – including how fast the heart beats and how much sleep we need. Once the gland is removed, patients have to take a synthetic form of the hormone in a daily drug dose. ‘I was in disbelief,’ says Rags of his initial diagnosis. ‘The bad thing is you turn to Google for answers and you end up assuming the worst will happen. ‘I had a type of thyroid cancer which has a 90 per cent survival rate – but that still means one in ten people will die.’ Rags, who lives with his partner, fellow TV reporter Ria Chatterjee, says his first concern was how to tell his 11-year-old daughter Roxie, his child from a previous relationship. ‘I was very open with her,’ he says. ‘I showed her the lump and told her it was something called cancer. There was a lot of not knowing what was going to happen –  I didn’t want to worry her but I wanted to be honest with her too.  I had that worry of, “Will I leave my daughter without a father?” ’ Rags had surgery to remove the cancerous lump in his neck on October 14 last year. ‘Basically they slit my throat at the base of my neck,’ he says cheerfully. ‘I now have a 3in scar. ‘They removed my entire thyroid in an operation lasting about 90 minutes. I felt pretty rotten when I came around – very nauseous, and doped up on morphine – but then  felt better hour by hour.’ After three days in hospital, he went home and he says he felt completely recovered about three weeks later. Show of support: When Rags returned to his job as a sports reporter for ITV, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho stunned onlookers when he halted one of his pre-match briefings to welcome him back . However, one of his big concerns was . how to tell friends and colleagues he had cancer. ‘You get those emails . at work saying, “Hi, I’ve had a baby,” but it didn’t seem right to do it . about cancer,’ he says. Instead, . while he was in his hospital bed recovering from surgery, Rags took a . picture of himself and uploaded it to social media  site Instagram. ‘It . got the job done but I was probably a bit out of it on painkilling . medication at the time and didn’t consider what I was doing. I was . fortunate enough to receive a lot  of supportive comments.’ As a follow-up to the surgery, Rags then received iodine radiotherapy treatment. Professor Christopher Nutting, consultant clinical oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital, who treated him, explains: ‘The thyroid gland absorbs iodine which you get from eating seafood and then converts it into thyroxin, which regulates body function. ‘By giving the patient a radioactive type of iodine in the form of a tablet, if there are any thyroid cancer cells left after surgery, they will absorb the radiation and die. ‘No other organ in the body is interested in iodine so it’s an effective targeted treatment.’ Rags needed only one dose of iodine treatment, although sometimes patients need more. An MRI scan is also given to see if the  cancer has spread to other parts  of the body. He took the tablet in an isolated room in a London clinic and remained there for 24 hours as patients are left radioactive afterwards. ‘Then staff said I could go home but not to be in contact with children or pregnant women, because I was technically radioactive,’ he adds. Rags returned to work in January, when he had that encounter with Mourinho, and is upbeat about the future. The prognosis for those who have been effectively treated for differentiated thyroid cancer is good – but they will need to be tested for the rest of their lives as there is a possibility the cancer will recur. ‘I have seen a patient where it has returned after 20 years but that’s rare,’ says Prof Nutting. ‘It’s a cancer that can be cured but may still show up further down the line, and for that reason patients need lifelong follow-up.’ Rags is still getting used to his new medication. At first his dosage needed to be adjusted as he was getting by on just three hours’ sleep a night. ‘I still think it’s all going  to be over but then I realise I’ll be  on those pills until the day I die. I forgot to take them one morning recently and was I falling asleep  by midday.’ Thyroid cancer has changed his outlook on life. ‘I’m more spontaneous now,’ he admits. ‘I’d always wanted to go sky-diving so I’ll do that soon. I don’t want to delay things because I’ve realised I’m not going to be here for ever. ‘Cancer is a way of telling you you’re not immortal and your body can give up on you and you will die. It’s given me a new appreciation of life. You just want to live life and tell your family and friends how much you love them. I have a more positive outlook now.’", "A father-of-three died months after being given the all-clear from the cancer a doctor misdiagnosed when he first fell ill. Mark Browne from Lincoln was told by his GP that he was 'too young' to be suffering from bowel cancer, and was diagnosed with piles. Mr Browne's widow and three children this week agreed an undisclosed settlement at the High Court in Nottingham, two years after his death, following an admission of liability by Mr Browne's GP. Father-of-three, Mark Browne (pictured) died months after being given the all-clear from the cancer doctors misdiagnosed when he first fell ill. He was told by a doctor that he was 'too young' to be suffering from bowel cancer and his symptoms were misdiagnosed as piles . The Lincolnshire Echo reported Dr Smith admitted care failures after he wrongly diagnosed Mr Browne as suffering from piles rather than cancer. When Dr Nicholas Smith of Birchwood Medical Practice in Lincoln carried out an internal examination on Mr Browne, he failed to detect the then 3cm tumour. Mr Browne, who was over the age of 40, had been complaining of stomach pains and passing blood, but was not referred to the hospital. A year later, doctors discovered a 6cm cancerous tumour, starting Mr Browne on a . course of treatment. The Browne family 's lawyer said if Mark’s cancer had not been missed the first time he may still be alive today. Neil Clayton, from law firm Lime, who . represented Mark Browne, said: 'Had Dr Smith correctly referred Mark in . December of 2008 he would have been operated on in February 2009 and . thus likely avoided the return of the tumour which was at the root of . his painful and distressing symptoms and the immediate cause of his . death. 'He also would not have developed cancer in his lungs and he would have likely survived.' His wife Teresa, 38, said: 'As far as Mark was concerned there was nothing to worry about. A year after misdiagnosing Mr Browne's condition, doctors discovered a 6cm cancerous tumour, starting him on a course of treatment. He was later given the all-clear after a course of chemotherapy and an operation - but afterwards was told that the cancer had spread to his lungs. He is pictured here with his children . Bowel cancer is the third most common type of cancer in England. It is a general term for caner that begins in the large bowel. Symptoms include passing blood and unexplained changes in bowel habits, such as prolonged diarrhoea or constipation, as well as weight loss. Approximately 72 per cent of bowel cancer cases develop in people aged 65 or older. Bowel cancer can be treated using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy. If bowel cancer is diagnosed in its earliest stages, the chance of surviving a further five years is 90 per cent, and a complete cure is usually possible. However, bowel cancer diagnosed in its most advanced stage only has a five-year survival rate of 6 per cent and a complete cure is unlikely. 'He was very black and white and if the doctors told him he was fine, then he was fine - he took it as gospel. 'Mark was given some suppositories to treat the piles and that was it. 'Mark was a man’s man and very proud. I really had to push him to go to the doctors in the first place. 'It wasn’t really a normal thing we would talk about.' But 12 months later Mr Browne was still passing blood, prompting his wife to insist he returned to the doctors. In September 2009 he visited a different doctor, who performed a rectal examination immediately making an urgent two-week referral. MRI scans revealed Mr Browne had a 6cm cancerous tumour. Mrs Browne said: 'We were angry it hadn’t been spotted before but Mark took everything in his stride and was very matter-of-fact about it.' Her husband underwent a colostomy, before starting a long course of radiation chemotherapy - the aim to shrink Mr Browne’s tumour before performing keyhole surgery to remove it. Mr Browne's wife, Teresa, who is pictured here with their children, said: 'In hindsight he and I wished he'd got a second opinion or questioned the doctor again when things didn't clear up. My advice to anyone is to insist on a second opinion or second examination' Mrs Browne said: 'Mark was very strong and brave. He continued to provide for his family throughout his illness. 'In hindsight he and I wished he’d got a second opinion or questioned the doctor again when things didn’t clear up. 'My advice to anyone is to insist on a second opinion or second examination - even if you think you are being a nuisance - rather than risk what happened to Mark. 'Doctors are only human - they’re not 100 per cent infallible - and sometimes get things wrong. 'I still grieve for my husband and it’s very painful for me to talk about what happened. 'However, I made a promise to Mark before he died that I would speak out because awareness of his case might help save the life of just one person by getting them to have a check up or ask for a second opinion.' After treatment and further surgery to remove the tumour and part of Mr Browne’s rectum in February 2010, the father-of-three endured more chemotherapy. The Browne’s then attended an appointment at Lincoln County Hospital in October 2010, where they were told by a nurse that Mr Browne's results were back and were all clear. Mrs Browne said: 'The nurse told us Mark’s results were all clear and we were overjoyed. 'We thought Mark had beaten the disease and we began to piece our lives back together. 'We thought he’d been cured.' The family enjoyed Christmas together as Mr Browne concentrated on building his strength. After five happy months, he attended another follow up appointment with his oncologist in March 2011. Mrs Browne said: 'Our illusion was shattered when Mark’s oncologist told us in that the cancer wasn’t gone had spread to his lungs. We were told it was not treatable. 'It was a tragic blow, which we hoped we would never have to experience. Mr Browne's tragic situation is reminiscent of the recent death of Midlands teen Stephen Sutton (pictured), who recently passed away after a four-year battle against the disease . 'It was devastating to find out the . cancer wasn’t gone and had spread, after spending the previous months . getting our lives back and looking to the future.' Mr Browne continued to work as a road planner but as his condition deteriorated his wife gave up her job as a sales assistant, to care for her husband of 18 years. In August, Mr Browne's condition worsened and after five weeks in hospital he was allowed home for his final days. He slipped into a coma on August 7, 2012 and died in his sleep in Mrs Browne's arms two days later, aged 46. Mr . Browne's tragic situation is reminiscent of the recent death of . Midland’s teen Stephen Sutton, who recently passed away after a . four-year battle against the disease. Manjit Darby, Director of Nursing and Quality at NHS England, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire said:  'NHS England, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire is committed to ensuring that patients receive the best possible primary care services. 'We take extremely seriously incidents where a patient suffers distress or harm whilst in the receipt of NHS care and we will be reviewing the details of this case further to determine any appropriate action that needs to be taken. Birchwood Medical Practice declined to comment. The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland, who represented Dr Smith, were unavailable for comment.", "A newborn girl in China was born seemingly ‘pregnant’ with twins, due to an extremely rare condition. Doctors said the girl may have condition known as ‘fetus in fetu’ – which is so rare it affects less than 1 in 500,000 births, and there are only 200 reports of it ever happening. It is a developmental abnormality where two identical twins develop in the womb, but one dies, and its undeveloped fetus is absorbed into the remaining twin’s body. A newborn girl in China was born with two growths in her stomach. Scans showed the masses had all the characteristics of 10-week old fetuses. Pictured is a scan with arrows showing the spine of each fetus . Doctors operated to remove the growths from the baby girl's stomach when she was three weeks old. Pictured is a a fairly well developed fetus lying on its back, with rudimentary digits (file photo) However, the doctors reporting the case said this was a controversial diagnosis and it could be the baby girl was suffering from a type of cancer in which the tumour is well-developed and appears like a fetus. The case, reported in the Hong Kong Medical Journal, describes a baby girl was born with two masses in her abdominal area who was being treated in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, in November 2010. This baffled doctors, as the baby had no evidence of a blockage in her intestine and fed normally after birth. They believed they might be tumours, and carried out an ultrasound which revealed there were two masses with a total diameter of 47mm between the baby girl’s spleen and the left kidney. They discovered the ‘tumours’ were, in fact, two 8 to 10 week-old fetuses. Each had umbilical cords, limbs, skin, rib cages, brain tissue, spines, intestines, genitalia of ambiguous gender and other parts common in 10-week-old fetuses. They removed the fetuses in an operation when she was three weeks old, and found they were 37mm and 35mm in length. The larger fetus weighed 14.2g while the smaller weighed 9.3g. Fetus in fetu is an incredibly rare condition that affects only one in five million live births. It is a condition where the malformed fetus is found in the body of its twin. The fetus is found in the abdomen in 80 per cent of cases, although there have been reports of it occurring in the skull. There are only 200 reports of it ever happening. While the diagnosis is gaining popularity, the World Health Organisation has classified ‘fetus in fetu’ as a variant of mature teratoma, a type of cancer where the tumour is well-developed. The World Health Organisation has classified ‘fetus in fetu’ as a variant of mature teratoma, a type of cancer where the tumour is well-developed. There is another theory, known as the theory of ‘monozygotic diamniotic twins’. This proposes that identical twins formed from the same egg started developing in the womb. The theory says one of the developing twins died, and its undeveloped remains is absorbed into the other twin’s body. Writing in the case report, the doctors said: ‘The theory of demised multiple pregnancy has gained much support recently. ‘Despite the gaining popularity, there is, as yet no concrete evidence to confirm this relationship. ‘Our case report does not support the popular monozygotic multiple pregnancy theory, and favours, by default, the traditional classification into a teratoma.’ Most of the cases of fetus in fetu are discovered in infancy, although in one case, farmer from India only discovered he was suffering from the condition when he was 36 years old and it looked like he was pregnant, Starcasm reports. In 2012, MailOnline reported on the case of an 11-year-old schoolgirl was admitted to a hospital in China with a third arm sprouting out of her back. In 2012, MailOnline reported on the case of an 11-year-old schoolgirl was admitted to a hospital in China with a third arm and a breast sprouting out of her back (pictured). She was diagnosed with fetus in fetu, and the growth was revealed to be part of an identical twin that failed to develop and was absorbed into her body . She was diagnosed with fetus in fetu, and the large mass was revealed to be part of an identical twin that had failed to develop and had been enveloped into the body of its sister. Further investigation found it consisted of a breast and an arm which included a shoulder blade and two fingers. In 2009, MailOnline also reported on the case of a one-year-old girls who survived surgery to remove her unborn twin’s fetus from her swollen stomach. Kang Mengru's adoptive parents were shocked when within months after her birth, her stomach began to swell and superstitious neighbours began calling the little girl a 'monster' and gossiping that she was pregnant. Medical scans revealed Kang was actually carrying the parasitic fetus of her unborn twin in her belly.", "By . Lizzie Parry . Prostate cancer could be a sexually transmitted disease caused by an infection passed on during intercourse, scientists have said. Researchers at the University of California discovered a sexually transmitted infection called trichomoniasis helps the growth of cancer cells in human prostate cells, when grown in a laboratory. But the team behind the discovery say more research is now needed to confirm the link. Researchers at the University of California have discovered that men infected with the sexually transmitted infection trichomoniasis are more susceptible to developing prostate cancer. The study found the infection encourages the growth of cancer cells in prostate cells (pictured under the microscope) And experts at Cancer Research UK told . the BBC that more clinical studies are needed before the disease can be . added to the list of cancers caused by STIs. Trichomoniasis is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection, affecting around 275 million people across the world. Many people suffering the effects of the infection will have no symptoms. For those that do, they develop after around a month and for women cause soreness and itching around the vagina as well as a change in vaginal discharge. Infected men may feel itching or irritation in the penis, pain during urination as well as a white discharge from the penis. In the new study, Professor Patricia Johnson found the . parasite that causes trichomoniasis - Trichomonas vaginalis - secretes a . protein that causes inflammation and increased growth and invasion of . benign and cancerous prostate cells. A study carried out in 2006 at Washington University discovered men infected with trichomoniasis have a 40 per cent greater chance of developing prostate cancer. A study carried out in 2006 at Washington University discovered men infected with trichomoniasis have a 40 per cent greater chance of developing prostate cancer. The STI is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection, affecting around 275million people across the world each year . Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in men in the UK. More than 41,700 men are diagnosed across the country each year. The disease tends to be rare in men under the age of 50, and more than half of cases are diagnosed in men over the age of 70. Age is the greatest risk factor, the older a man the more likely it is that he will develop the disease. In old age around eight in 10 men have prostate cancer cells in their prostate. In the UK, about one in nine men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives. If . a man has a father or brother diagnosed with the disease they are two . to three times more likely of developing prostate cancer, compared to . the average man. The age at . which a relative is diagnosed, affects a man's risk - if a relative is . diagnosed at a young age, it may be a sign of a faulty gene causing the . cancer. Men who have . relatives with breast cancer may also be at greater risk of developing . the disease, particularly if their relative is diagnosed younger than . 60. Scientists have . been working to identify genes that may increase the risk of prostate . cancer. In 2008, Cancer Research UK scientists discovered seven gene . changes that increase a man's risk of developing the disease. Some studies have found a link between an increased risk of prostate cancer in men who have had colon cancer. Source: Cancer Research UK . Siobhan Sutcliffe, who led the research, . urged caution at the time, adding the link she found was 'not . conclusive' comparing the science to the early connections drawn between . smoking and lung cancer. Speaking at the time, she said: 'It's still in a really exploratory phase.' A subsequent study found no connection . between the STI and prostate cancer, while another at Havard University . found an even greater likelihood of cancer in infected men than the 2006 . study. Research in 2009 discovered a quarter of men with prostate cancer showed signs of having been infected with the STI, and were also found to have more advanced tumours. The new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, now suggests the infection might make men more vulnerable to developing prostate cancer, though does not provide proof of the link. The team have called for more research to build on their work, to work towards proving the link. Nicola Smith, health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: 'This study suggests a possible way the parasite Trichomonas vaginalis could encourage prostate cancer cells to grow and develop more quickly. 'But the research was only done in the lab, and previous evidence in patients failed to show a clear link between prostate cancer and this common sexually transmitted infection. 'There's been a lot of research into prostate cancer risk and we're working hard to piece together the puzzle. 'But . there are still no known lifestyle factors that seem to affect the risk . of developing the disease - and no convincing evidence for a link with . infection.'", "By . Sarah Griffiths . A terminally ill woman claims NHS doctors failed to diagnose her pancreatic cancer, despite 19 appointments. Julia Rogers, 58, from Newton Abbot in Devon, said she only found out she had an inoperable pancreatic tumour after she went to a private hospital and paid £600 for a scan. NHS England has launched an inquiry to determined what happened. In September 2013, Ms Rogers went to her . GP complaining of severe back pain, which she said felt like it was . spreading to her abdomen. Julia Rogers, 58, (pictured) from Newton Abbot in Devon, said she only found out she had inoperable pancreatic cancer after she paid £600 for a scan at a private hospital . She had blood tests and was later sent for an ultrasound at Totnes Community Hospital, but nothing unusual was seen on the scan. The test was not repeated, despite Ms Rogers’ pancreas being obscured at the time because of ‘excessive bowel gas’. For the past nine months, she has experienced severe pain and visited doctors 17 times. Between . October and June Ms Rogers made two trips to Torbay Hospital’s accident . and emergency department and on one occasion was sent home with . painkillers. On June 11 Ms Rogers was told she had 'inoperable' advanced pancreatic cancer (illustrated). 'You either throw the towel in and give up or you fight and for me there is only one option,' she said . Around 8,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year, of whom fewer than four per cent are likely to live five years. It is the ninth most common cancer in the UK and tends to affect people over the age of 60. Pancreatic cancer is when a tumour starts to develop in the pancreas. It rarely causes any symptoms when it first develops, which can make it hard to diagnose. The first symptoms include: pain, unexpected weight loss and jaundice. Cancer of the pancreas is a very serious form of cancer which is both difficult to detect and treat. Surgery to remove the tumour is usually the only way to completely cure pancreatic cancer. But this is a suitable treatment for only around 15 to 20 per cent of patients. A study by Cancer Research UK recently revealed that 37 per cent of people with the disease could have saved themselves by maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking. Source: NHS Choices . She told the BBC’s Sally Mountjoy: ‘I still knew something was very wrong. ‘I could not get any of the doctors to take me seriously. 'Urgency was totally lacking. I’ve been let down and I’m devastated.’ Ms Rogers was referred to an appointment with a gastroenterologist but decided she could not wait several weeks and paid £600 to have a scan at a private hospital in Bristol. On June 11 she was told she had ‘inoperable advanced pancreatic cancer’. ‘You either throw the towel in and give up or you fight and for me there is only one option,’ she said. Ms Rogers said that since she was diagnosed, it has been a-day-by-day battle to find out when she would start chemotherapy. She was admitted to hospital over the weekend and expects to undergo treatment this week. In a statement, NHS England, on behalf of South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Torbay Hospital, Totnes Community Hospital and South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group, said: ‘We are very sorry to hear about Ms Rogers’ diagnosis and the difficulties she seems to have encountered over an extended period. ‘This clearly calls for thorough investigation on behalf of all NHS organisations involved. ‘We will be seeking an early meeting with Mrs Rogers to understand her concerns more fully.’ Dr Graham Lockerbie, the medical director for NHS England in the South West will be leading the investigation. In September 2013, Ms Rogers went to her GP complaining of severe back pain. But an ultrasound did not reveal a problem, leaving her in pain and visiting the doctors 17 times between October and June. It was not until she paid £600 for a scan at a private hospital in Bristol that she found she has inoperable pancreatic cancer. Magnified pancreatic cancer cells are pictured . Leigh Naylor (pictured) was distraught when medics revealed they had found cervical tumour, giving her nine months to live in March . A woman who claims doctors failed to diagnose her terminal cancer 16 times, raised £35,000 to fund treatment in Germany as she prepares to take legal action against the NHS. Leigh Naylor was distraught when medics revealed they had found cervical tumour, giving her nine months to live in March. The 32-year-old raised £35,000 to fund treatment in Germany, after doctors in the UK said all they could offer was a course of life-prolonging chemotherapy. After three weeks of treatment, Mrs Naylor said her tumour has shrunk and she is starting to show signs of recovery. But she has been forced to return to the UK after her money ran out, and is trying to raise a further £12,000 for each course of treatment, which she may need for the rest of her life. Mrs Naylor visited her GP with irregular bleeding in April 2009 and saw her doctor 16 times in the space of 18 months. She claims she was only given tablets to stop the bleeding. Mrs Naylor said an ultrasound scan revealed she had fibroids - non-cancerous tumours around the womb. Just three weeks after a routine operation to remove the fibroids, doctors at Leeds' St James Hospital admitted they had failed to spot a cancerous tumour, Mrs Naylor claimed. Following treatment, the 32-year-old was given the all-clear in April 2010, but in September 2012, she went back to doctors complaining of further pain. She said doctors sent her away with antibiotics. Once more, she asked for a scan and seven months of tests revealed that the cancer had returned and was inoperable. She was a given just nine months to live in March this year. Refusing to accept the outcome, Mrs Naylor raised £35,000 to travel to Marinus Clinic in Brannenburg, Germany, where she had three weeks of treatment, involving heating the body to kill cancer cells while undergoing vitamin C injections to boost her immune system. German doctors told Mrs Naylor that she is responding well to treatment and hope that the tumour will continue to shrink.", "By . Lizzie Parry for MailOnline . The barrister who came second to George Clooney's fiancé  in a poll of London's hottest lawyers today revealed her battle with breast cancer. Marianne Butler, a commercial lawyer, was dealt the devastating blow on September 26 last year, just a month after she was named runner-up to Amal Alamuddin. The 35-year-old told the Evening Standard she has since endured rounds of chemotherapy and pioneering drug therapy at the Royal Marsden hospital. She joked: 'Number one got George Clooney, number two got breast cancer. Scroll down for video . A month after being voted London's second hottest barrister, Marianne Butler, was diagnosed with grade III breast cancer . Ms Butler, left before treatment, came second in the Your Barrister Boyfriend poll of hottest female briefs in the capital last summer. She was second only to George Clooney's fiance Amal Alamuddin, right . 'I was laughing about it at the time. Generally speaking you either do laugh at dark things or you don't, and I tend to.' While pictures of Miss Alamuddin out with Clooney appeared on websites, in papers and magazines last Autumn, Ms Butler was in the midst of treatment. After doctors discovered a 6cm tumour, detecting the disease in Ms Butler's lymph nodes, she was referred on to a groundbreaking trial at the Marsden. Despite having no family history of the disease, Ms Butler was told her cancer was grade III, with doctors warning she must start chemotherapy just four days later. She was given the drugs pertuzumab and Herceptin, a combination previously only trialled in the U.S. The drugs worked to stop the cancer cells from communicating with other cells in the body, preventing it from spreading while treatment worked. And the treatment, performed by Professor . Ian Smith, was a success, destroying the disease, allowing Mrs Butler . to return to work at the Fountain Court Chambers. Ms Butler joked: 'Number one got George Clooney, number two got breast cancer' Mrs Butler's husband Tony told MailOnline: 'The key innovation in Marianne’s treatment was the use of pertuzumab straight away. 'Prior . to her diagnosis it was only given for second occurrences or to people . with Stage 4 cancer.  Concurrently with Marianne's diagnosis - just a . few days afterwards - the FDA in the U.S. approved pertuzumab for use as . a first step to shrink a tumour before the main treatment. 'This was following exceptional results during a trial. 'Professor . Smith was not only able to get permission to give pertuzumab to . Marianne for a first occurrence of breast cancer, but persuaded our . insurance company of the benefits such that they agreed to pay for it.' He added that Marianne was the first . person at the Royal Marsden -'and so probably in the country)' - to . receive herceptin and pertuzumab as a joint attack on a primary breast . cancer. She is still taking both drugs to try and prevent any recurrence, so continues to be monitored for side effects. Two of the other drugs which Marianne took during the course of her treatment were developed by Professor Smith and his team. Mrs Butler underwent a new drug regime, which her family believe was key to her recovery . They are currently trialling a new . monoclonal antibody drug, which is intended to direct the chemotherapy . drugs to only attack the offending cancer cells, thereby sparing the . patient the gruelling side effects of chemotherapy. 'It is truly groundbreaking stuff,' added Mr Butler. To raise money for the Marsden, her husband Tony and brother Julian Post joined by Professor Smith and 30 friends, are preparing to take on a charity cycle ride taking in four of the Tour de France's toughest mountains. The event, known as Le Cure De France, will take place from September 10 to 14. Their aim is to collect £100,000 to help other patients benefit from Professor Smith's work. Ms Butler, who lives in Barnes, said: 'I have been very lucky. This is now about the Marsden and other women. That is what these guys are cycling for. To donate, visit @LeCureDeFrance on Twitter." ]

[ "Elizabeth Blackwell. Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 1821 – 31 May 1910) was a British-born physician, notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, as well as the first woman on the UK Medical Register." ]

[ "Early life and childhood. Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821, in Bristol, England to Samuel and Hannah Blackwell. Because Samuel Blackwell was a dissenter (one who refuses to accept the authority of an established church), the Blackwell children were denied public schooling.", "Elizabeth Blackwell on This Site. 1 Miss Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D. An 1868 biography of Blackwell by Rev. H. B. Elliott. 2 Elizabeth Blackwell Quotes. 3 Woman Suffrage and the Professions. An anti-suffragist discusses Elizabeth Blackwell's relationship to Lucy Stone and to the woman suffrage movement.", "Elizabeth Blackwell on This Site. 1 Miss Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D. 2 Elizabeth Blackwell Quotes. 3 Woman Suffrage and the Professions. 4 The Blackwell Women - resources about the incredible Blackwell women: Elizabeth Blackwell, Emily Blackwell, Lucy Stone, Antoinette Brown Blackwell and more.", "Since 1949, the American Medical Women's Association has awarded the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal annually to a woman physician. Hobart and William Smith Colleges awards an annual Elizabeth Blackwell Award to women who have demonstrated outstanding service to humankind. The artwork The Dinner Party features a place setting for Elizabeth Blackwell. Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 1821 – 31 May 1910) was a British-born physician, notable as the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, as well as the first woman on the UK Medical Register.", "PBS: How Elizabeth Blackwell became the first female doctor in the U.S. Elizabeth Blackwell's Struggle to become a Doctor; Books: Blackwell, Elizabeth. Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women: Autobiographical Sketches by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1895. Kline, Nancy. Elizabeth Blackwell: A Doctor's Triumph. Berkeley: Conari Press, 1997.", "Elizabeth Blackwell, American Woman of Achievement (1989) by Jordan Brown is a very informative text that captures, in lengthy detail, the journey of Elizabeth Blackwell. This book is a reference which is a very weighty and in-depth biography that explores Blackwell from birth to death and therefore its main audience is people interested in research relating to Blackwell.", "Elizabeth Blackwell 774 people named Elizabeth Blackwell found in North Carolina, Texas and 47 other states. Click a state below to find Elizabeth more easily.", "Told women couldn’t attend medical school, Elizabeth Blackwell started her own. As it’s now college graduation season, it’s a good time for us to remember those who came before us — like Elizabeth Blackwell. . . . Elizabeth Blackwell was determined to go to medical school. She consulted with some family friends who were physicians. They advised her to give up – women couldn’t become doctors back then. Elizabeth Blackwell didn’t give up. She got a job, worked hard and saved enough money for school.", "Elizabeth Blackwell by Jan Nader is a children's book consisting of short passages and portraits outlining Blackwell's life. The book is written for an audience of early readers, aged 9 to 12. The book portrays Blackwell as a driven woman-- the last lines of the book are notable: Elizabeth died in 1910.", "774 records for Elizabeth Blackwell. Find Elizabeth Blackwell's phone, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory (Page 3)", "Elizabeth Blackwell M.D. Keychain Upcycled from the Woman Who Dare Library of Congress Cards", "Elizabeth Blackwell, c. 1737 (from a print in the British Museum) The future. Although history has overlooked Elizabeth Blackwell and she never became as famous as her later namesake, she made a great contribution to the area of botanical illustration and medicine.", "Elizabeth Blackwell Known worldwide as the first woman to receive her degree as a Doctor of Medicine, Elizabeth Blackwell represents a historic moment in modern medicine and women's liberation. Several years after her family immigrated to the United States, Dr. Blackwell studied privately with independent physicians, an education which culminated at Geneva Medical College in Upstate New York.", "This class includes Miss Elizabeth Blackwell. These two letters give us the sense that Blackwell did not cause a huge uproar – at least in terms of the male students on campus. These are the same male students who agreed to allow Blackwell to study on the Geneva campus.", "The statue of Elizabeth Blackwell was constructed in a way that reflects her strength and will forever symbolize her importance in opening up the medical profession to women. After Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from the Geneva Medical College, she returned to Europe to continue her medical advancements. A Return to England by Jeanne M. Nagle explores the events of Blackwell's life upon the return to her native country after her pioneer work as a female doctor in America was complete.", "Told women couldn’t attend medical school, Elizabeth Blackwell started her own By Brad Aronson | Posted in: Inspirational, Inspirational People As it’s now college graduation season, it’s a good time for us to remember those who came before us — like Elizabeth Blackwell. . . .", "Elizabeth Blackwell Elementary School is a public elementary school in Sammamish. The principal of Elizabeth Blackwell Elementary School is Michael Anderson. 439 students attend Elizabeth Blackwell Elementary School, and the ratio of students to teachers is 17:1. Margaret Mead Elementary School is one of the nearest elementary schools.", "Elizabeth Blackwell said she turned to medicine after a close friend who was dying suggested she would have been spared her worst suffering if her physician had been a woman. When she graduated from New York's Geneva Medical College, in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to earn the M.D. degree.She supported medical education for women and helped many other women's careers.hen she graduated from New York's Geneva Medical College, in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in America to earn the M.D. degree.", "Isabel Whittier's book Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell: The First Woman Doctor, published in 1961, acted as a short biography of Elizabeth Blackwell, including her major events and accomplishments, as well as Whittier's personal opinions on the subject of Blackwell's character and of her impact on the world.", "WEBSITES. 1 Elizabeth Blackwell: America's First Female Doctor. This site, from Social Studies for Kids, includes a biography of Blackwell and information on her family's work to end slavery and to support women's suffrage. 2 Elizabeth Blackwell, America's First Woman M.D.", "Medical education in the United States. 1 Portrait of Elizabeth Blackwell by Joseph Stanley Kozlowski, 1905. 2 The Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary. 3 Blackwell was commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp in 1974, designed by Joseph Stanley Kozlowski. 4 Elizabeth Blackwell, 1905.", "Elizabeth was born on 3 February 1821 in a house on Dicksons Street in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, to Samuel Blackwell, a sugar refiner, and his wife Hannah (Lane) Blackwell.", "Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Bristol, England on February 3rd, 1821. Her parents were Samuel and Hannah Blackwell. Elizabeth and her siblings were denied public schooling because their father refused to accept the authority of the Church. As a result, private tutors were hired to educate the children.", "Elizabeth Blackwell: First Woman M.D. (Barnard Biography Series, Vol. 2) Mar 1, 1997", "Soon after establishing the college, Elizabeth Blackwell returned to England. She set up private practice and served as a lecturer at the London School of Medicine for Women. She eventually moved to Hastings, England. Elizabeth Blackwell died at her home there on May 31, 1910.", "Elizabeth Blackwell’s Struggle to Become a Doctor. The stamp issued in 1974 by the United States Postal Service in honor of Elizabeth Blackwell.", "In 1973, Elizabeth Blackwell was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.", "Blackwell family members include Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in America to receive a medical degree; her sister Emily, also a physician; their brother Henry, a noted abolitionist and women’s suffrage activist; his wife, Lucy Stone, the famous women’s suffrage leader; their daughter, Alice Stone Blackwell, active in both suffrage and temperance; and Antoinette Brown Blackwell (sister-in-law to Elizabeth, Emily, and Henry), a reformer and the first woman in the United States to ...", "Which accomplishment is Elizabeth Blackwell best known for? A. She was the author of the Seneca Falls Declaration. ...", "Elizabeth Blackwell was born on February 3, 1821 in Bristol, England, United Kingdom. Her father, Samuel Blackwell, was a prosperous sugar refiner in the city. Her mother, Hannah Lane, came from a family of prosperous merchants.", "Yet again, she was rejected from several more physician positions because she was a woman. Elizabeth did not let that stand in her way, though. She rented out a small room and started her own private practice. Her sister, Dr. Emily Blackwell, and a woman by the name of Dr. Marie Zakrzewska soon joined her (Pillai).lizabeth Blackwell was born in Bristol, England on February 3rd, 1821. Her parents were Samuel and Hannah Blackwell. Elizabeth and her siblings were denied public schooling because their father refused to accept the authority of the Church.", "What kind of accomplishments did Elizabeth blackwell get? She was the first female doctor who graduated from Geneva Medical School on 1849. She only got in as a joke." ]

[ "size" ]

[ "to study with determination", "Not of This Earth", "unlimited amounts", "What a Friend", "What's Happening!!", "What's in It for Me", "things are what they are", "What If Nothing", "What A Night", "What If It's You", "What Are Words", "What Car?", "For What It's Worth", "Be What You Are", "What Is Love" ]

[ "Djehuty" ]

[ "Take a Daytrip", "Take a Picture", "Take It Slow" ]

[ "Increases size of veins and arteries allowing more blood flow. Blood has healing stuff in it. Ice reduces size and prevents swelling." ]

[ "From what I can gather, it's because there are two sets of sphincter muscles: internal and external sphincter muscle of urethra. During ejaculation, the internal sphincter muscle closes to prevent semen from entering the bladder. Post ejaculation, it needs time to relax. Unfortunately, it's controlled by involuntary muscles, so \"willing\" it to relax won't do much, but relaxing in general will help.", "There is a big difference between those 2 things: One requires more muscle mass. More muscle mass can generate more force. When you lift a weight you can slowly activate more muscles fibres contraction generating more and more force until it is enough to start lifting the object. Running on the other hand is a very complex movement. You constantly change multiple different muscles between contraction and relaxation. And there is an upper limit how fast you can do this, as this requires actual chemical processes (besides the bio-electrical processes from neurons firing signals) within the muscles to achieve the contraction and relaxation processes in constant exchange. There are different muscles that can do those processes faster, and you can also train them to a certain degree on a bio-electrical and chemical level to do those actions faster, but at some point you reach the chemical limit for the muscles to do that action.", "Sleep requires a relaxed body and mind. When you access a memory, you are mentally reliving that memory, and if the event made you anxious, angry, or uncomfortable enough then you are no longer relaxed. Think of your brain as a muscle; if you were relaxing all your muscles to go to sleep, then suddenly just your arm flexes, that traitorous arm has now delayed the sleep process for the rest of the body.", "Asthma: You can't breathe, because your airways are blocked. Inhaler has medication that helps muscles to relax and they stop being swollen", "A few reasons. Firstly because massage relaxes the muscles, reduces discomfort/ pain (by pain gating mechanism through the spine), promotes blood flow and helps to strengthen the muscles and joints. It's beneficial effects also include endorphin release in the brain, which is similar to morphine (= relaxation, well being, bliss) Secondly, massage has evolutionary roots. Grooming is part of our ape + developmental past and it clearly *still* helps with personal/ group bonding and the additional psychological benefits.", "Because when you are erect there is a muscle that closes off the tube to your bladder precisely because we don't want pee in our spunk. When your little buddy finally relaxes, so too does the muscle.", "It has to do with your muscles relaxing. When all of your muscles relax at one time, you feel like you're falling", "The iris is a muscle that relaxes, and when it does the pupil is allowed to expand, letting in more light. It constricts to make them smaller. So the “color” goes the same place the muscle in your arm does when you tighten it: right next to the rest of the muscle, just denser / thicker. Edit: I am wrong, people below me are correct.", "Electric heaters convert electricity into heat with 100% efficiency, but they don't always put the heat where you want it. If the heater unit gets really hot inside but does not heat up your room, that does not help you. As usual, it depends how one defines efficiency.", "It's not unusual, and it's related to how the body handles a chemical called dopamine (this is an important chemical in the brain). The process of getting tired and going to sleep causes changes in the level of this chemical, and the body is also preparing to paralyse itself later (if you've ever had the can't-run-away nightmare - this is it! Your body literally freezes itself, and its common to become aware of this during a dream). The process of relaxing the muscles can sometimes cause them to misfire, and randomly shoot out. Another popular theory is that this sudden relaxation of muscles causes the brain to initiate an ancient reflex. The brain accidentally recognises this as falling, and reflexively orders the limbs to panic-contract in order to stop this. Regardless of the reason, it's quite common, and caffeine can make it a lot more common (as can not exercising enough or similar things).", "Botox is poisonous, because it relaxes your muscles. When it relaxes the muscles you need for breathing, you die. When botox gets injected into somebody's face, it relaxes the tiny muscles just under your skin that are mostly used for facial expressions, and that kinda reduces wrinkles.", "T If I remember correctly,the anterior tibialis (shin) muscle fibers have been pulled away from the tibia bone. It's a common for muscle fibers to be ripped apart after workouts. That's why if you go to the gym and lift weights you have never done before, you hurt the next day. During that time as your muscles hurt, they are also repairing themselves. Which is how muscle grow and get bigger. What's the cause of shin splints, it usually could be to the surface you are running on(treadmill, sidewalk, street, etc) if you run on softer surfaces, like grass or running track it helps. In the mean time, if you can get a code of ice and rub it along the muscle for 10- 15 min, it'll help. If you know someone who can tape you up for shin splints, that too will help.", "It's called a hypnic jerk. The best explanation found so far is that it is a holdover from our primitive ancestors, before our more monkey like ancestors left the trees. As you fall asleep, your muscles relax and higher order thinking processes slow. Your more primitive processes feel your relaxation and make you jerk to alertness, before you would have fallen from a branch", "Both. You have sphincter muscles that pinch the urethra (pee tube) shut, containing urine in the bladder. When you pee, bladder muscles contract, forcing urine out. The combination of relaxing sphincter muscles and contracting bladder muscles is how you pee.", "It’s your body trying to warm itself up. The shivering / jaw chattering are your body / face muscles rapidly tensing and relaxing, by shivering, your body can produce heat - therefore warming itself up. Capiche? :)", "This is caused by lack muscle control, which could mean complete relaxation or over-use of muscles. A neutral/relaxed hand position has the fingers slightly curled (you can test this yourself). So if your muscles can’t get signals from the brain, curling would be the result of them being relaxed. Also, if the muscles that curl and un-curl the fingers were both trying to work at once, this might happen. Fine control of the hands requires coordination of one set of muscles tensing and the opposing muscles relaxing in order to open the hands, and especially to open them in a precise way.", "Whatever you feel comfortable with. the idea is to relax and sweat a bit, let the heat work into your muscles. There's no \"right\" way to use a sauna as such. Just don't stay in there if you start feeling light-headed, nauseous or disoriented, because that means you're overheating. Provided that doesn't happen, then stay in there for as long as you can stand... or not. It's your choice, really. The whole idea is to relax.", "He does what \"the_donut_guy\" said as well as maintains contact with the repair team, knows what will need to be repaired or replaced at the next pit stop, monitors fuel. Monitors timing and other drivers on the course. Most importantly helps flip the car back over when that happens.", "It's because when you're muscles are relaxed, sometimes the brain messes up and thinks that relaxed muscles mean you're falling instead of resting", "What makes your eyes adjust to different light conditions is called the pupillary reflex. The iris changes how much light is allowed in by flexing tiny muscles. In very high light levels, the muscles contract greatly. While transitioning to the low levels of light, the muscles have to relax which is what takes some time.", "The transitional epithelium of your urinary bladder does a remarkable job of stretching. Eventually it signals it has stretched too far. Your brain signals to sphincters, which are muscles keeping the holes closed, to relax for a while. More muscles squeeze the bladder. Generally a complete empty is achieved. This is good because any residual liquid is a total waste. You just carry it around till the next time. So the urine is pushed out. You are not totally aware of the process so it seems to happen on its own. As you age you may experience dysfunctional processes of various degrees. In 'All quiet on the western front,' one young soldier points out to another that the stream is no longer as high or forceful as it was when the war started. As time goes on things do not work as well. Old people begin to rely on products such as 'Depends' to help them function. The chief reason for moving to a nursing home is incontinence. Welcome to life. Someday you will die. You will not like parts of the journey.", "This is called a \"globus sensation\". > The exact cause of globus sensation is uncertain. Some specialists believe that it is due to a problem with the co-ordination of the muscles involved in swallowing. Many muscles are involved in swallowing and they need to tense and relax in the correct sequence for swallowing to occur normally. In someone with globus sensation, when they try to swallow saliva, some of the swallowing muscles may not relax fully and so the sensation of a lump in the throat occurs. However, when food is swallowed, the food stimulates the muscles in a different way and normal muscle relaxation occurs. _URL_0_", "They are called hypnagogic jerks, or hypnic jerks. They don't really know what [causes them.](_URL_0_) > One hypothesis says that hypnic jerks are a natural part of the body's transition from alertness to sleep, and occur when nerves \"misfire\" during the process. > Another popular idea takes a more evolutionary approach to hypnic jerks, explaining that the spasms are an ancient primate reflex to the relaxation of muscles during the onset of sleep — the brain essentially misinterprets the relaxation as a sign that the sleeping primate is falling out of a tree, and causes the muscles to quickly react Edit: formatting", "What makes you think the body is shut down? Your body does all kinds of stuff while you sleep. Repair, cleanup, mental processing, basically biological maintenance.", "Okay so protein does all kinds of things in the body. The word \"protein\" is like this overarching term for enzymes, hormones, etc. Your body doesn't store protein either like we store sugar and fat. Protein doesn't make you stronger if you don't workout. You have to workout and make tiny tears in your muscles by doing a hard workout and protein helps repair those muscles. They naturally grow back larger and you have to keep designing harder workouts to keep growing your muscle. In this case, protein mainly helps heal. So some people complain after they workout that if they don't eat, they'll \"lose their gains.\" That's because it's been proven that if you eat a high protein meal immediately after working out, your muscles heal faster.", "When you want a body builders physique, you train to build up muscle, then diet to lose fat (I think they call it \"cutting\") When you diet, you always lose muscle (can't help it, its what your body does.), so after the bodybuilder lost fat, he starts growing his muscle again, and in the process also gains some fat, so he does a cut again. Repeat until satisfied. A strongman has no interest in the body builders physique, so never does the diet part of bodybuilding, and just continuously builds muscle", "The orbicularis oculi muscles contract to close the lids. The palpebral portion acts on its own when you are closing your eyes to sleep. The muscles that contract to open the eyes are the levator and meuller's muscle along with relaxation of the orbicularis. So opening and closing of the eyes require both relaxation of some muscles and contraction of others. TLDR: Both.", "Urination involves the relaxation of muscle, while defecation involves the tensing of muscles.", "If I'm not wrong, it's a response by the hypothalamus to create more heat in the body. It does this by moving the muscles of the jaw furiously creating heat, thus the teeth chatter.", "An orgasm is, partly, an uncontrolled muscular spasm. By tensing up your legs, you're tensing up other things, and by other things, I mean your ass, since it's hard not to when you're tensing your thighs. When you tense up your ass, you also tense up everything in the general pelvic area, including the muscles involved in the orgasm. In this way, you're helping those muscles reach the point of necessary release faster than they would on their own, leading to a quicker pay-off. It also seems more intense because you're involving more of your muscles in the process, combined with the relaxation of everything once you finish.", "Hiccups are caused by spasms of the [diaphragm](_URL_0_). When you hold your breath, you exert conscious control over the muscle and help it to stop the spasms. It's even better if you try to exhale as much as possible and then hold, because that relaxes and stretches the diaphragm.", "Breathing deeply and steadily will reduce your heart rate and help relax constricted muscles in the chest and neck, reducing physical stress and helping to calm you down through lowering blood pressure. Additionally, breathing in such a way usually requires conscious effort and when a person focuses on their breathing, it also helps take the mind off of what is causing the feeling of anxiousness." ]

[ "Lexie Grey The character's focal storyline involved a romantic relationship with plastic surgeon Mark Sloan (Eric Dane). She sustained life-threatening injuries after an aviation accident, in the eighth-season finale, which ultimately ended in her death. The character's death resulted in mixed critical feedback and the reason given for the departure was Leigh's desire to spend more time with her family. Rhimes has characterized Lexie as being a dork, as well as having issues with saying how she feels. Leigh has been moderately well received by critics, and was among the cast to receive a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2007." ]

[ "Lexie Grey Alexandra Caroline \"Lexie\" Grey,[1] M.D. is a fictional character from ABC's medical drama series Grey's Anatomy. Created by series producer Shonda Rhimes, the character was portrayed by actress Chyler Leigh from the third through eighth seasons. She was introduced as a surgical intern in season three. Serving as Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo)'s half-sister, Lexie transferred to the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital after her mother's sudden death, and was eventually named a surgical resident. Leigh was originally contracted to appear for a multi-episode story arc, but received star billing in the fourth season.", "Lexie Grey Leigh first appeared on the show during the last two episodes of the third season as Meredith's half-sister, Lexie Grey. Following Isaiah Washington's departure who portrayed Preston Burke, it was reported that show's executives were planning on adding new cast members, such as Lexie.[6] She was officially upgraded to a series' regular on July 11, 2007, for the fourth season.[7] On casting Chyler Leigh as Lexie, Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes said: \"We met with a lot of young actresses, but Chyler stood out—she had a quality that felt right and real to me. It felt like she could be Meredith's sister, but she had a depth that was very interesting.\"[8]", "Mark Sloan (Grey's Anatomy) Mark Everett Sloan,[1] M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional surgeon from the ABC medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, portrayed by Eric Dane. Dr. Sloan is an attending specializing in plastic surgery. Dr. Sloan earned the nickname “McSteamy” for his good looks by the female interns of Seattle Grace later Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. He was good friends with Dr. Derek Shepherd, a fellow physician at Seattle Grace, but was the catalyst for the end of Shepherd's marriage when Shepherd caught Sloan sleeping with his wife, Addison. Later, he pursues a 'forbidden' relationship with Dr. Lexie Grey, straining his relationship with Derek yet again. He reveals that he loves Lexie in episodes \"Migration,\" \"Flight,\" \"Going, Going, Gone,\" and \"Remember The Time\"[2] In the show's ninth season, he dies of injuries sustained in a jet plane crash that also injured or killed several of his colleagues from the hospital. The hospital is later renamed Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital in his memory.", "Death and All His Friends (Grey's Anatomy) Mr. Clark tells Hunt that he'd shoot him first and then Cristina but he really only wanted to kill Derek. He believes this is retribution for his wife's death, which he believes is on Derek's hands. Meredith then comes into the room and tells Mr. Clark to shoot her. She explains that she is Lexie's sister, she is the closest thing Webber has to a daughter, and she is Derek's wife. He turns the gun toward Meredith, but Cristina says Meredith is pregnant. Hunt makes a move toward Mr. Clark and is shot, knocking him unconscious. Cristina and Avery then raise their hands and Avery tells Mr. Clark that Derek will die and he can watch it happen on the monitor. Derek flatlines and Meredith cries almost hysterically. Mr. Clark walks out.", "George O'Malley O'Malley moves in with new intern Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), Meredith's half-sister. Lexie and O'Malley discover that he only failed his exam by a single point, leading him to confront Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.), the chief of surgery, to ask for a chance to retake the exam. He passes the second attempt, and begins to distance himself from Lexie, who has fallen in love with him. O'Malley supports Stevens when she discovers she has melanoma, and walks her down the aisle as she marries Karev. O'Malley begins to display a talent for trauma surgery, and is told by the chief of trauma surgery Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) that it is definitely his specialty. He then abruptly and inexplicably decides to join the U.S. Army. While his friends at the hospital prepare an intervention to convince O'Malley to stay, they all work on a severely disfigured John Doe, brought in after a horrible bus accident, in which he pushed a woman out of the way and saved her life. When Meredith goes to check on John Doe, he seems to recognize her and will not let go of her hand. After several attempts at trying, he succeeds in tracing \"007\" on Meredith's hand. Shocked, she realizes \"John Doe\" is in fact O'Malley. She informs the other surgeons and they rush him to surgery. However, he flatlines and is ultimately declared braindead. His organs are donated after Stevens confirms that is what O'Malley would have wanted, and he is buried a week later.", "Flight (Grey's Anatomy) \"Flight\" is the twenty-fourth and final episode of the eighth season of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and the show's 172nd episode overall. It was written by series creator Shonda Rhimes, and directed by Rob Corn. The episode was originally broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States on May 17, 2012. In the episode, six doctors from Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital who are victims of an aviation accident fight to stay alive, but Dr. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) ultimately dies. Other storylines occur in Seattle where Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.) plans his annual dinner for the departing residents, Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) fires Dr. Teddy Altman (Kim Raver), and Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) gets engaged.", "Lexie Grey Lexie continues to harbor romantic feelings for George, oblivious to the fact that he doesn't see her in the same way. Their relationship is a mirror foil of George's previous infatuation with the oblivious Meredith. She prioritizes helping George study over taking part in a surgery with Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), but feels betrayed when George doesn't request that she become one of his interns after passing his exam. Finally realizing that he doesn't feel the same way, Lexie gives up on her feelings for George and the pair's friendship begins to fizzle out. She later begins a flirtation with Mark, and the pair begin an unlikely romantic relationship, though they are forced to keep it a secret when Meredith and Derek warn Mark away from Lexie. Lexie discovers that some of her fellow interns have secretly been performing simple procedures on each other and begins taking part to prove she's hardcore. Sadie Harris (Melissa George) joins the society, and seeking a more daring procedure, suggests removing her appendix. Though Lexie agrees, she quickly finds herself out of her depth, resulting in Meredith and Cristina having to intervene to save Sadie's life. Lexie and the other interns are put on probation. Derek finds Lexie distraught at the day's events, and allows her to move into the attic at his and Meredith's house. Mark comes clean to Derek about his relationship with Lexie, resulting in the two men getting into a fist fight. The pair continue to feud, resulting in Lexie beginning to stress eat until they eventually reconcile. Lexie is delighted when Meredith asks her to be a bridesmaid at her and Derek's wedding, though they eventually give the ceremony to Alex and cancer-stricken Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl). Mark decides to purchase a house and invites Lexie to move in with him, however she declines, concerned about how fast their relationship is progressing.", "Mark Sloan (Grey's Anatomy) Mark Everett Sloan,[1] M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from ABC's medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, portrayed by Eric Dane. Created by series producer Shonda Rhimes, the character was introduced in season two as Dr. Derek Shepherd's best friend who acted as the catalyst for the end of Shepherd's marriage when Shepherd caught Sloan sleeping with his wife, Dr. Addison Montgomery. Soon after moving to Seattle Grace Hospital as an attending specializing in plastic surgery to reconcile with Derek, Mark earned the nickname “McSteamy” for his good looks by the female interns. Mark's focal storyline in the series involved his romantic relationship with Dr. Lexie Grey.[2] Both he and Lexie sustained life-threatening injuries after an aviation accident in the eighth season finale, which resulted in their deaths. Seattle Grace is later renamed Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital in their memory.", "Flight (Grey's Anatomy) After their plane crashes in the woods, Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Dr. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw), Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), and Dr. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) desperately fight to stay alive. Meredith is relatively unscathed, while the rest have serious injuries: the pilot, Jerry (James LeGros), has a major spine injury, and Yang dislocates her arm. Robbins' femur is broken and sticking through the skin, Sloan has serious internal injuries; though initially adrenaline keeps him on his feet. Shepherd is sucked out the side of the plane and awakens alone in the wood; his mangled hand having been pushed through the door of the plane. However, none are in as bad shape as Lexie, who is crushed under a piece of the plane. While Meredith searches for Shepherd, Yang and Sloan try to move the debris off Lexie. Eventually, the two realize that they cannot save her, so Sloan holds her hand while she dies, telling her that he loves her. As Sloan tells her of the life the two were meant to have together, Lexie dies with a smile on her face just as Meredith and Yang are approaching.", "Grey's Anatomy (season 14) It was released on April 4, 2018 that a familiar character would be returning to the set later on in the season as Sarah Utterback's Nurse Olivia Harper would be revisiting Grey Sloan, not as a nurse but as mom of a patient. Details of her storyline or duration of arc have yet to be released.[15]", "Grey's Anatomy (season 7) Another central story-line in the series is Lexie and Mark. She had decided to give him another chance, but when he tells her Callie is pregnant with her baby, she has had enough. She starts seeing Jackson.", "Sadie Harris Sadie Harris was a recurring fictional character from the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series producer Shonda Rhimes and portrayed by actress Melissa George. Introduced as a surgical intern who has an old companionship with the series' protagonist Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), she eventually forms a friendship with Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), and departs after it is revealed she cheated her way into the surgical program.", "Losing My Religion (Grey's Anatomy) \"Losing My Religion\" is the twenty-seventh and final episode of the second season of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and the show's 36th episode overall. Written by Shonda Rhimes and directed by Mark Tinker, the episode was originally broadcast with \"Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response\", in a two-hour season finale event on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States on May 15, 2006. Grey's Anatomy centers around a group of young doctors in training. In this episode, Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) and her fellow interns have to plan a prom for Dr. Richard Webber's (James Pickens, Jr.) niece Camille Travis (Tessa Thompson). Further storylines include Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) recovering from his gunshot wound and Denny Duquette's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) death following his seemingly successful heart transplant surgery.", "Good Mourning (Grey's Anatomy) \"Good Mourning\" is the first episode of the sixth season of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and the show's 103rd episode overall. It was written by Krista Vernoff and directed by Ed Ornelas. The episode was originally broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States on September 24, 2009. In \"Good Mourning\", the physicians are seen dealing with the revelation that a dead John Doe is their beloved co-worker Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), and dealing with the aftermath of Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl)'s near-death experience. Further storylines include Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Stevens trying to decide whether or not to donate O'Malley's organs and Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) being offered Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.)'s chief of surgery job.", "Grey's Anatomy New young doctors in the residency program include Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), Meredith's half-sister, who is killed with her love interest Mark Sloan in the season eight finale. Other additions include Leah Murphy (Tessa Ferrer), who departs near the end of the tenth season but returns during the thirteenth; Shane Ross (Gaius Charles), who departs with Yang in the tenth-season finale; Stephanie Edwards (Jerrika Hinton), who resigns during season thirteen; Jo Wilson (later Jo Karev) (Camilla Luddington), a doctor who begins a romantic relationship with Karev; Andrew Deluca (Giacomo Gianniotti), the love-interest of Meredith's half-sister Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary), who also serves as head of cardio; and Benjamin Warren (Jason George), an anesthesiologist-turned-resident,[6] who has to balance his own desire to succeed with his wife Miranda Bailey's new role as Chief of Surgery. Season eleven sees the departure of Derek Shepherd, and in season twelve, attending cardio surgeon Nathan Riggs (Martin Henderson) joins the show. In the early episodes of season fourteen, Riggs leaves the series to start a life with Owen's long-lost sister; by the season finale, Kepner and Robbins also depart the show.", "Lexie Carver In 2012, Lexie's mother Celeste returned to town with her brother, Cameron Davis. Before her arrival, Lexie began feeling weak and faint. After initial tests run by Daniel Jonas, it's discovered she has brain tumors - as a result of being held captive in the toxic fume-filled tunnels under the DiMera mansion when Andre had kidnapped her a few years prior. Following further tests, it's discovered that the tumors have grown and are fatal, giving her a matter of weeks to live. Her family gathers around her, helping her with her bucket list, which included going to Paris. Unable to fly, Abe, with the help of EJ and Cameron, turn the Horton Town Square into a Paris-like setting. In late June, a fragile Lexie went on a picnic in the backyard with Abe, where she peacefully passed on in his arms. A ghostly Lexie visits her loved ones, and assures Theo that while she may not always be there in her physical presence, she will always be there for him.", "Temperance \"Bones\" Brennan In episode 22 of season 6, \"The Hole in the Heart\", which saw the death of Vincent Nigel-Murray (Brennan's favorite intern) at the hands of renegade sniper Jacob Broadsky, Booth has Brennan stay at his apartment for her safety. Later that night, Brennan, still overcome with shock and grief over Vincent's death, goes into Booth's bedroom and they talk about the events of that day, and then allows Booth to hold her in bed. It is implied in the following day that they had sex. In the last scene of the season 6 finale, \"The Change in the Game\", after the birth of Angela and Hodgins' son, Brennan tells Booth that she is pregnant and that he is the father.", "Invasion (Grey's Anatomy) The hospital receives several surgical residents from Mercy West as they enter Seattle Grace, a repercussion of the recent merger. Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) is recovering from her liver transplantation surgery, after donating a portion of it to her father. In the residents' lounge, Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) tries to explain to Mercy West resident Dr. Reed Adamson (Nora Zehetner) that she should not use a certain locker, due to it formerly belonging to the deceased Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight). Adamson ignores her wishes, and uses the locker, leading Stevens to threatening to fight her. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Dr. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) are working in the emergency room, when Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) embarrasses Yang by taking Mercy West resident Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams)' side in a disagreement. Despite her mindset that all Mercy West residents would act in the manner of Adamson, Stevens develops a friendship with Dr. Charles Percy (Robert Baker). After months of the two not speaking, Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez)'s father, Carlos (Héctor Elizondo), shows up to the hospital with a priest, trying to condemn Torres for her concurrence in homosexuality.", "Chyler Leigh Chyler Leigh West (pronounced /ˈkaɪlər/ KY-lər; born Potts; April 10, 1982), known professionally as Chyler Leigh, is an American actress, singer and model. She is known for portraying Janey Briggs in the comedy film Not Another Teen Movie (2001), Lexie Grey in the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy (2007–2012), and Alex Danvers in the DC Comics superhero series Supergirl (2015–present).", "Grey's Anatomy (season 8) This season follows the story-line of Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) as they try to save their marriage and adopt Zola after Meredith tampered with the Alzheimer's trial in the previous season. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) also struggles to forgive Meredith because Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.) takes the blame for Meredith and stepping down, and Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) takes his place as Chief of Surgery. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) decides to have an abortion, putting her relationship with Hunt at odds. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) co-parent their baby with Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) who continues to have an on/off relationship with Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh). Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) deals with the fallout of his decision to tell Owen about Meredith altering the Alzheimer's trial, and becomes an outcast by the other residents. Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) marries Henry Burton (Scott Foley), who later dies of a heart condition, leaving her devastated.", "Meredith Grey Meredith is widowed when Derek is killed in a car accident and was taken to an understaffed hospital. The doctors failed to recognize his head injury in time and allowed personal conflicts to interfere. Derek is declared brain dead, and Meredith must go to the medical center to consent to remove him from life support, shortly before she's hit with the first waves of morning sickness. She tells Penny, the intern who was assigned to Derek that every doctor has \"that one\" patient who dies on their watch and haunts them forever and \"that one will make you work harder, and they make you better.\"", "April Kepner April Kepner was born in Columbus, Ohio on April 23, 1982.[8] Her mother Karen is a teacher and her father Joe is a farmer. She is the second of four daughters; her sisters are Libby, Kimmie, and Alice. Kepner is initially a surgical resident at Mercy West Hospital. She joins the staff at Seattle Grace Mercy West after the merger of the two hospitals, alongside Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams), Reed Adamson (Nora Zehetner), and Charles Percy (Robert Baker). Kepner is first shown to possess a red diary, in which she writes all her feelings and thoughts which is stolen by Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh). Grey uses the personal information written in the notebook to unnerve and blackmail Kepner but later apologizes. After she made a mistake that led to a patient's death, she is fired. However, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) rehires her when he becomes the new Chief of Surgery. As she is not confident anymore, she spends her time doing errands for Shepherd and develops a crush on him, earning her the nickname \"Shepherd's flunky\". In the season six finale, she discovers the body of her best friend Reed Adamson, who has been shot. She later runs into the shooter, Gary Clark, who lets her go after she tells him about her life after remembering a technique she says she learned from Oprah. Following the shooting, Kepner and Avery move into Meredith Grey's (Ellen Pompeo) house.", "Grey's Anatomy (season 7) The season follows the aftermath of season six shooting, in which Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) and Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) are shot, and a total of 11 people died. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) was the most affected by the shooting, quitting her job. Cristina and Owen later marry with \"her person\", the show's protagonist Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), as her maid of honor. Meredith and Derek start an Alzheimer trial, with Meredith suspecting that Richard Webber's (James Pickens, Jr.) wife Adele (Loretta Devine) may have Alzheimer's. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) leaves for Africa after getting a grant leaving Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) despondent. She sleeps with Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) and becomes pregnant by chance. Arizona returns, confessing her love for Callie. Meredith messes up the trial for the sake of Adele only to have Alex find out and tell Hunt, leading to Meredith kicking him out of her house. Derek leaves Meredith with Zola. Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) decides to give Mark a second chance but later starts a relationship with Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams). Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) starts a relationship with Andrew Perkins (James Tupper), a trauma counselor, but later falls for her patient, Henry Burton.", "Grey's Anatomy (season 9) The season follows the characters dealing with the aftermath of the season eight plane crash that claimed the life of Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) and upon rescue Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), who dies after sustaining injuries from the crash. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) finds his surgical career in doubt after badly damaging his hand but Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) ultimately manages to save his hand. The show's protagonist Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) deals with the loss of her half-sister Lexie and later discovers that she is pregnant. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) who is severely traumatized upon rescue and later decides to take up her fellowship in Minnesota. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) another survivor of the plane crash upon return realizes that her leg has to be amputated to save her life, reacts badly to this, becoming bitter and blaming her wife Callie and her former friend Alex Karev (Justin Chambers). To prevent the doctors' court case from being thrown out, Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) decides to divorce Yang, but the two agree to start again. The hospital itself becomes liable for the crash, putting its future in extreme doubt prompting the four crash survivors and Torres to purchase the hospital. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) marries her partner Ben Warren (Jason George), April Kepner (Sarah Drew) returns home to Ohio, but is brought back by Hunt to rejoin the hospital and she restarts her relationship with Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams).", "Grey's Anatomy Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series that premiered on American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as a mid-season replacement on March 27, 2005. The series focuses on the fictional lives of surgical interns, residents, and attending physicians, as they evolve into seasoned doctors while trying to maintain personal lives and relationships. The title is a play on Gray's Anatomy, a human anatomy textbook by Henry Gray.", "Jackson Avery Jackson Avery, M.D. is a fictional character from ABC prime time medical drama, Grey's Anatomy, portrayed by actor Jesse Williams.[1] The character was created by series creator and executive producer, Shonda Rhimes. He was introduced in season six, episode 5, \"Invasion\" as a former surgical resident from Mercy West Medical Center when it merges with Seattle Grace Hospital. Williams initially appeared as a recurring cast member,[2] and was later promoted to a series regular in season seven.[3] The character's focal storyline involved his attempt to fit in at his new work environment, and trying to finding his own successes, instead of riding on the coattails of his famous family name. The character has also had significant romances with Lexie Grey and Stephanie Edwards. He was married but is now divorced to April Kepner. The couple had a child, Samuel Avery, who died soon after birth. However, the pair have a daughter, Harriett, who was not named after Catherine much to her dismay. She was conceived prior to the divorce. Dr. Avery later becomes a member of the board of directors at the newly established, Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, and is the current chairman.", "One Flight Down (Grey's Anatomy) Alex sticks close to Arizona to make sure that she’s okay, but she finds him more annoying than helpful. Alex tells Arizona that it was he who cut off her leg, not Callie. When asked, Callie tells Arizona that she was the one to make the call anyway, and she wanted her to have Alex and just be mad at her alone.", "Callie Torres Callie and Arizona have a five-year relationship, ultimately marrying in the seventh season and divorcing in the eleventh season. Callie starts a new relationship with Penny Blake and leaves to go to New York with her in the twelfth-season finale. Shonda Rhimes spoke on Ramirez's abrupt departure, saying, \"This one was different because it wasn’t a big planned thing. I had a different plan going and when Sara came in and said, ‘I really need to take this break,’ I was lucky that we’d shot the end of the season with her going to New York.”[20]", "Grey's Anatomy (season 14) On April 20, 2018, ABC officially renewed Grey's Anatomy for a network primetime drama record-setting fifteenth season.[7]", "Peyton Sawyer In season 3, Peyton learns that she was adopted, and that Ellie really is her biological mother. Lucas witnesses Ellie purchasing drugs, but he learns that she was buying them for medical reasons; she has breast cancer. Meanwhile, Peyton is angry with Haley because she left Tree Hill to go on tour, but soon they make amends, and Peyton reveals that her hostility toward Haley was because she was the only one that came back out of all the people who have left her. Peyton soon grows close to Ellie, and they collaborate on a CD called Friends with Benefit, which benefits breast cancer research; there will also be a concert for it at TRIC and Haley is one of the performers. Unfortunately, Ellie dies before she sees the CD or the concert, leaving Peyton devastated. A school shooting breaks out later in the season (\"With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept\"), where Peyton is left fighting for her life after being the one shot.Lucas and Nathan run inside the building to save Peyton and Haley; Lucas finds Peyton bleeding out of her leg inside the school's library. She cannot walk due to the injury, so escaping is out of the question. Lucas and Peyton stay in hiding, and Lucas wraps her leg, hoping to help the bleeding and pain subside. As Peyton is falling in and out of consciousness, he forces her to talk about a fun day she once had. Minutes later, after earning a promise from Lucas about everything being okay, Peyton loses hope of surviving, despite Lucas promising to get her out of there alive; she kisses him, wanting to let him know that she loves him before she dies. Lucas returns the kiss, and Peyton soon falls unconscious. Lucas, not wanting her to die, carries her out of the building, even at the risk of being killed by the shooter.", "Death and All His Friends (Grey's Anatomy) \"Death and All His Friends\" is the season finale of the sixth season of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and the show's 126th episode overall. It was written by Shonda Rhimes and directed by Rob Corn. The episode was originally broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States on May 20, 2010. The episode was the second part of the two-hour season six finale, the first being Sanctuary, and took place at the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. The original episode broadcast in the United States had an audience of 16.13 million viewers and opened up to universal acclaim. The episode centers a shooting spree at the hospital by a former patient's husband Gary Clark (Michael O'Neill). The episode marked the last appearances for Nora Zehetner and Robert Baker as Dr. Reed Adamson and Dr. Charles Percy respectively as both the characters were killed in the shooting.", "Cassie Newman In 2005, the producers decided to kill off Cassie by having her die from injuries sustained in a car accident. The character's death was felt in storyline for years to follow, leading to the dissolution of her parents' marriage and numerous events thereafter. Grimes continued to recur in the role throughout the years following her character's death, usually in dreams or as a hallucination to the mentally ill.[1][2] Grimes' final return as Cassie's ghost was over the course of 2013 to 2014, during which the actress would return to The Young and the Restless as a main cast member, as Cassie's previously unknown twin sister, Mariah Copeland.[3] Grimes was the subject of universal acclaim for her portrayal of Cassie, becoming the youngest recipient of the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series in 2000, at age 10." ]

[ "This is always better off at the bottom of the page, this way you are sure it does not affect your page loading time." ]

[ "Ada Lovelace didn't write any code as such.\n\nThis is largely because the Analytical Engine, being created by Charles Babbage was never finished and so no code could be run. Babbage designed the Analytical Engine to be a much more capable machine than the Difference Engine and to be capable of operating a program from punched cards - which he called Operation Cards. \n\nLovelace worked with Babbage to create a method of describing and encoding algorithms on these cards. Essentially she invented computer language and programming. \n\nShe foresaw the uses to which these calculating devices could be put. However, none of her cards, if any were produced, have survived.", "Basically what you're asking is, if there's any way you can run code on an ARM processor without actually owning one? There definitely are options, including for instance hosted development servers or emulation.\nOne could google "raspberry pi vps" for instance, and find some results there. If your requirements are more loose (and you can use pretty much any ARM processor of a certain version), there's also ARM based development boxes you can rent online.\nHowever, none of these are going to be free. If you're going to spend money on this, and you are studying (low level) code related to the raspberry pi board, I do highly recommend you to just get a raspberry pi.\nNow for something else: I cannot extract from you question, to what degree of low-level your code is, and what your limits/requirements are, but you could consider using QEMU to emulate an ARM processor. QEMU docs\nThere's plenty of tutorials, one google query away that show how to do this. e.g. "QEMU raspberry pi"\n-hth", "If your site is relatively low traffic, you could possibly use the statistics module, or as @clive pointed out, the radioactivity module. \n\nFor higher traffic sites, I'd be wary of writing to the db for every visit, however. Moreover, if you're using varnish or some other reverse proxy caching system (which you probably should), Apache and PHP normally aren't invoked for anon visitors, so you'd need to do something different.\n\nI've landed on using google analytics for this. To do it, the site obviously needs a google analytics account, and you need to install the google analytics and google analytics reports modules. Once you've configured them, you can fetch an array of the most visited nodes from the google analytics api. You can then simply serialise it, and save it to the variable table. This uses hook_cron, and needs to be done in a custom module:\n\nfunction YOUR_MODULE_cron() {\n $last_time = variable_get('YOUR_MODULE_last_time', 0);\n // DO EVERY 24H\n if ((REQUEST_TIME - $last_time) > (60 * 60 * 24)) {\n $data = array();\n $dates = array();\n $params = array(\n 'metrics' => array('ga:uniquePageviews'),\n 'dimensions' => array('ga:pagePath'),\n 'segment' => 'gaid::-11',\n 'filters' => 'ga:pagePath=@/PATH/TO/NODES',\n 'sort_metric' => array('-ga:uniquePageviews'),\n 'start_date' => strtotime('-7 days'),\n 'end_date' => strtotime('-1 day'),\n );\n $feed = google_analytics_api_report_data($params);\n if (!$feed->error) {\n $k = 0;\n $nids = array();\n foreach ($feed->results as $f) {\n // SAVE 6 MOST VIEWED\n if ($k < 6) {\n $nids[] = (int) array_pop(explode('/', drupal_lookup_path('source', ltrim($f['pagePath'], '/'))));\n $k++;\n }\n }\n $nids = serialize($nids);\n variable_set('YOUR_MODULE_ga_items', $nids);\n variable_set('YOUR_MODULE_last_time', REQUEST_TIME);\n }\n }\n}\n\n\nEvery 24 hours, this would save a serialised array of the most popular nodes that appear under the path http://yoursite.com/PATH/TO/NODES/REST_OF_PATH. To use the nids, you'd simply unserialise the variable after retrieving it:\n\n$nids = unserialize(variable_get('YOUR_MODUE_ga_items', '');\nforeach($nids as $nid) {\n $node = node_load($nid);\n ...\n}", "This is probably Blowfish.\n\nGoogling the constants \"0x448 0xC48 crypto\" lead to this post:\n\nTrying to identify block of code which generates 256 bit key\n\nwhere someone in the comments wrote\n\ngoogling the constants 0xc48, 0x848 and 0x448 is a good idea.\nrohitab.com/discuss/topic/36066-blowfish relates this to blowfish somehow\n\n\nand that link has code that looks very similar:\n\nhttp://www.rohitab.com/discuss/topic/36066-blowfish/\n\n(search for C48 there).\n\nThe only oddity is that the author of that other post says he is sure it is AES and he said he could decrypt some data using AES. I don't know how to consolidate both ideas, but it's probably either and given the similar disassemblies I'd say Blowfish.\n\nDoesn't look like AES to me either but I had some AES-related crypto before that looked a bit like this - Blowfish is way more convincing." ]

[ "The current price is very very good, not sure how long that will last of course.<br /><br />I was pleased by this cocoa. All 3 varieties were good and compare favorably to other cocoas I have tried. They use coconut oil to add some extra body and flavor.<br /><br />If you do not like artificial sweeteners then yes, you may not like this. If you look at a swiss miss or cocoa packet you will see they are quite large, primarily because of the amount of sugar needed to sweeten it. There is no way to condense this into a K Cup.<br />Therefore they ALL have to use a mix of artificial sweeteners (which are much stronger than sugar volume wise), in order to get it to fit.<br />ALL K-CUP sweetened beverages will have this! NO EXCEPTIONS. This is just the way KCups work and while some mixes may be more palatable than others, they all use concentrated sweeteners. Stevia is natural but still not allowed as an additive to food as far as I know. So no kcups will use it." ]

[ "I love my Keurig and I was ecstatic about the hot cocoa option. My Keurig came with this flavor as part of the variety pack, and I have to say, it was probably the worst hot cocoa I have ever had. Hardly any taste. Pretty much tasted like very watered-down hot chocolate.<br /><br />The only question I have now is whether there are other brands that make a good Keurig hot cocoa, or if the concept of hot cocoa in a k-cup is one that just doesn't work.", "We love these liquorice Altoids! While they are a very good breath mint, we use them mainly for flavoring our coffee and sometimes, tea. One, in the bottom of the cup, or a few in the coffee/tea pot makes life more interesting! Also, good with just a touch of hot cocoa, added along with Altoids, in coffee. And yes, they are good in hot cocoa, too. Very inexpensive, easy way to flavor coffee or tea, much cheaper than alternative. Almost no calories, but big on flavor! We've used these for decades!", "We love these Spearmint Altoids! While they are a very good breath mint, we use them mainly for flavoring our coffee and sometimes, tea. One, in the bottom of the cup, or a few in the coffee/tea pot makes life more interesting! Also, good with just a touch of hot cocoa, added along with Altoids, in coffee. And yes, they are good in hot cocoa, too. Very inexpensive, easy way to flavor coffee or tea, much cheaper than alternative. Almost no calories, but big on flavor! We've used these for decades!", "Well, I am very dissapointed in this package as I got ALOT of the \"same\" coffees that were of different Brands(and they were mostly regular coffees). I got ALOT of the \"Bold\" coffees which I cannot stand. Some of the coffees were outdated. The oldest was outdated September of 2011 (so far). NOT ONE cocoa, NOT ONE Apple Cider, NOT ONE Iced Coffee, NOT ONE Iced Tea. I got very few of the flavored coffees which is what I was hoping for and I really wanted the Cocoa and Apple cider. I have a 7yr old daughter who would have LOVED the cocoa! And I couldn't wait for my husband to try the Apple Cider that he loves. The only thing good about this package is that it came fast (of course, that was thanks to Amazon Prime shipping). I will not order from these people again unless they make it RIGHT with me!!! Had it been a good shipment I would have ordered over and over again, as I entertain alot.", "These Emerald \"Cocoa Roast Almonds\" are a low carb snack that bring a bit of dark chocolate flavor to good tasting almonds. These do have artificial sweeteners, but for those of us that have to watch our sugar intake, this is a very viable treat.<br /><br />Highly Recommended!<br /><br />CFH", "This product is wonderful! For a low-fat, low calorie alternative to peanut butter, this is the one. I use the chocolate version - cocoa added. It is still 90% peanut butter taste, with just a hint of cocoa and a little better color. If you mix it with a little extra water, you have a good peanut dip or sauce for cooking.", "\"New Recipe\" turns out to be an imitation of a bad dark chocolate. When I opened the package, I was not struck with the aroma of good bittersweet chocolate. When a piece hit my tongue, it conjured up memories of awful aftertastes of many bad milk and some dark chocolate. The nasty aftertaste never actually materialized. Still, Lindt should be worried.<br /><br />So I looked at the ingredients. First on the list is chocolate, some unknown, pre-made chocolate. Shouldn't the first ingredient be cocoa powder or cocoa something? Lindt started making chocolate in China some time ago. Are they churning out this \"New Recipe\" with \"Made-In-China\" chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter and so on? By the way, the 85% cocoa bar's ingredient list also starts with chocolate, followed by cocoa powder, sugar... At least it contains enough cocoa powder to fool me for a while. I suppose it could be worse: Lindt could have substituted partially hydrogenated junk for cocoa butter.<br /><br />I just bought Trader Joe's Swiss 72% cocoa Dark Chocolate for $1.99. It smells and tastes right for me. Its color is just a shade lighter than Lindt 70%. Ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, Madagascar vanilla. I can see myself sticking with this one until something better shows up or returns.", "This Cocoa butter works wonders!! I was advised to use raw cocoa butter to prevent stretch marks during my pregnancy. I love this stuff!! I rub it over my stomach once in the morning and once in the evening and so far so good! I have not seen one stretch mark yet! I have also noticed that my skin looks fabulous, much more clear and toned!! Raw cocoa butter is simply the best!! Much better than the watered down forms of cocoa butter that you can buy at the local drug stores. I will be making another purchase once I run out!!", "So disappointed to throw a whole batch of white chocolate out when the whole thing tasted flowery/soapy....gross!<br /><br />If you are new to cocoa butter like I was was, and founds several dairy free/sugar free recipes for white chocolate with cocoa butter as the start ingredient, you'll be disappointed! Cocoa Butter has a very rich, dark chocolate flavor, and is heavenly in CHOCOLATE! You live and you learn. I also made a lovely skin cream with this too!" ]

[ "Mexico" ]

[ "that which burns", "that which purifies", "country to country", "the tea capital of the country", "capitalization", "capitation", "that which is heard", "capitalism", "The Country", "Country", "capital", "the program in which they are enrolled", "Capital surplus", "fashion capital", "For Your Country and My Country", "capitalized", "Barclays Capital", "countries", "the Capital Hilton", "Capital Bikeshare", "capital punishment", "the co-capital", "speed at which they expand", "capital accumulation", "overthrowing capitalism", "that which is done by an agent", "Thrive Capital", "capital costs", "centralization of capital", "Process capital", "Capital expenditure", "the Washington Capitals" ]

[ "I agree with @ElendilTheTall. Coconut milk and such based products do not have a long fresh shelf life. Personally, I would discard and not take the risk. \n\nThat said, I don't know where you are located and what standard practices apply. In a lot of cases common sense can apply as to how to handle." ]

[ "Using roux - flavoured with curry powder and aromatics - is a well known, often used technique for japanese and chinese style curries. Your mileage may vary with beurre manie (known to be finicky), if results are not satisfactory try cooking the powder/aromatics in oil/butter and only then adding flour and whisking (classic roux technique).\n\nMind that indian and thai style curries use combinations of nut and seed pastes, coconut milk, yoghurt, cream, or just plain rich onion sauces/tomato stews to achieve thickness, sometimes helping things along with small amounts of cornstarch slurry - but rarely ever with roux and related techniques.", "I'd make it into ice cubes.\nThey'd add decorative interest too.\nFridge, maybe a week, freezer, more like 6 months.\nThere's a full list of storage times in How long can I store a food in the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer?", "Well, that depends on the individual Thai dish or Indian dish and how it was cooked, of course. But I understand what you're talking about. However, the difference in heat sensations is not due to the kind of pepper employed. It's all about fat, really.\n\nFrequently Thai dishes are made with fresh peppers, and have a lot of acid and salt in them (from citrus, tamarind, and other flavors) but very little fat (comparatively). Because of this, many Thai dishes have an instant burst of intense hotness which goes away realtively quickly. The paragon of this is probably Thai salads, like larb or green mango salad, which are highly acidic and very very spicy.\n\nOn the other hand, most Anglo-Indian food (familiar to Americans and British) is in the form of \"curries\" which use a slow-cooked dairy base (butter, milk, and/or cheese), and are spiced with dried ground or whole chile peppers. As a result, when you first taste them the fat conceals the capsicum from your tongue, gradually revealing it as your saliva breaks it down. Hence the \"slow burn\". (I've tried to find a medical reference for this to link, but have not been able to yet).\n\nSimilarly, Thai coconut milk curries can build up heat slowly and that heat sticks with you -- because of the hot peppers cooked in the fat of the coconut milk. \n\nIncidentally, there isn't one kind of chile pepper used by either culture. The Thai have dozens of varieties of hot pepper and Indians have hundreds (as well as a dozen different regional cuisines, a few of which are not spicy at all). In the USA, these tend to get narrowed down to a handful of different pepper varieties (and substitutions like jalapenos) because of limited availability. The spice you call \"red pepper\" could be any of a half-dozen different ground dried peppers of varying hotness.", "Try coconut cream.\n\nI have moved away from coconut milk except for soups. Coconut cream is also in cans and is lovely, with much less wateriness and great flavor. It is often semisolid right out of the can but melts in the pan. The mammal miracle is that milk holds fat in suspension. I suspect this is trickier for coconuts. The cream is fattier and so whatever they use for an emulsifier is present in greater amounts.\n\nTry your veggy caramel with coconut cream and report back!", "Just as Miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum), the curry plant starts growing with a tall/deep tap root. If the pot is small, it starts circling at the bottom of the pot. \n\nThe pot size really depends on how old/large the plant is. If the plant is less than 6-8” tall, star with 1 gallon plant. As it grows bigger, you may need to repot in the larger size pot almost every other year. The deeper the pot, the better. Do not star small plant in a large pot as it’s hard to control the water feeding and the plant is prone to getting root rot easily. The spider mites could be a huge problem for the indoor potted curry planted me experience.\n\nI had my plants in pots first 3 to 7 years. I later transferred them in the ground here in the Bay Area, CA. At the age of about 13 years now, my curry tree is 12’ tall and healthy. All 3 trees are three different varieties of the Curry plant.", "Coconut is not really a nut, though the FDA now classifies it as a \"tree nut\". It is not cross-reactive with nut allergies in general; see for example this page discussing nut allergies.\n\n\n Coconut is not a botanical nut; it is classified as a fruit, even though the Food and Drug Administration recognizes coconut as a tree nut. While allergic reactions to coconut have been documented, most people who are allergic to tree nuts can safely eat coconut. If you are allergic to tree nuts, talk to your allergist before adding coconut to your diet.\n\n\nAs such, allergy concern should be similar to that of other foods; serve it on a three to five day period where no other new foods are served in order to identify if an allergy exists (well, in order to know what the allergy is from if it's served).\n\nFresh coconuts are not highly dangerous from a food safety perspective, but like almost all raw foods can have some risk of contamination with E.Coli or Salmonella. This Cooking.SE question discusses this to some extent.\n\nAs such, at minimum wash your coconut carefully before handling or opening it (even though you're not eating the outside - washing is to remove any pathogens that might get on the knife blade or hammer or whatnot while opening, and then pass to the inside). Safer would be to boil the water before serving, though I don't know what changes that might induce on the coconut milk itself. Ten months old is old enough to be somewhat safer from foodborne illness (than a 3 month old), but is certainly young enough that you should be very careful.\n\nCooked coconut products, subject to the normal care you take in cooking, storing, and serving food, should be perfectly fine for your baby, as long as you take the normal steps documented above to verify he's not allergic.\n\nThis page of baby food recipes goes into some more detail than I do above about these topics, plus discusses the different ways you should prepare the different parts of the coconut.\n\nFinally - you should pay attention to choking hazards as well when giving your baby coconut meat or shredded coconut. Either give him a small enough piece that it is not a choking hazard (i.e., shredded finely), or take other precautions. Also be cognizant of how dry the coconut is, if it is shredded; make sure he's periodically drinking, or it may be too dry for him and could cause a choking hazard even if it is finely shredded.", "Yes, it certainly is safe to eat them, it happens all the time. They won't last quite as long in the fridge as ones which don't crack, but as long as you eat them in a couple of days you are fine. They may look like nuclear mutants but they will taste the same.", "What determines interest rates?\nLet's try to understand the emergence of interest rates from first principles. We'll imagine an island inhabited only by Robinson Crusoe and Friday. For sustenance, they pick coconuts - the only food source available to them. Each coconut can either be consumed immediately or saved up for future use.\nOne day, Crusoe does not manage to pick any coconuts and having none saved up asks frugal Friday to loan him one from his stockpile. In return, Crusoe promises to give Friday more than one coconut at some later time. Let's consider what factors would affect how many future coconuts Crusoe must promise Friday in order to persuade him to issue the loan.\n\nIf Crusoe is hungry right now, he will have a high time preference (=low patience). Therefore he will be willing to promise a large number of future coconuts for one present coconut.\nIf Friday has a large number of coconuts saved up, say 100, he will be more willing to part with one of them for a modest fee. If he only has 10 saved up, he will demand more future coconuts if he is to loan out 10% of his savings. How many coconuts Friday has saved up determines the marginal utility of 1 coconut and thus how willing he is to loan it out.\nIf Friday thinks there is a high risk that Crusoe will struggle to pick enough coconuts in the future to pay back his loan, he will be less willing to issue a loan without being compensated for it.\n\nIf more inhabitants are added to the island, we can imagine a market for &quot;coconut loans&quot;. Lenders will compete to offer customers an interest rate that correctly balances time preference, risks, etc. Those who offer too high an interest rate will get few customers, while those who offer one that is too low risk going bust.\nNote that there is no such thing as &quot;the interest rate&quot;. There are only particular interest rates on particular loans made between particular people. Like many other things, talking about the &quot;natural&quot; interest rate and how lenders converge to it can sometimes be a helpful abstraction, but the true, underlying mechanisms should always be kept in mind.\nIn reality, the picture is more complicated since it is possible for central banks to artificially affect it in a way that is not constricted by supply and demand. I can recommend this article for a discussion of the subject.", "Pumpkin plants normally put out female flowers when the plant is large enough to support the pumpkin.\n\nPollen can be frozen, and it's best done when dried first. How long it lasts though depends on the variety of plant unless you have the resources of the seed vaults available to you. It won't hurt to try saving the pollen. Collect the pollen first thing in the morning as viability drops off during the day.\n\nThe pollen doesn't last more then a day in the fridge so that's not worth attempting. \n\nAnd for information on hand pollination, http://pumpkinnook.com/howto/pollen.htm", "To best preserve it's texture, especially that slightly moist part a good ham is supposed to have, I've found wrapping cured meats in plastic foil and keeping them in the fridge at a temperature where there is little condensation (not extremely cold, but you have to know your fridge) works for a decently long time (couple of weeks at least, if not months).\n\nHowever things wrapped in plastic in the fridge tend to get moldy over time, there is no escaping that. And dried salted meats are after all a product of ancient preservation techniques. So if you really need it to last storing it in a dark and a bit chilly area, wrapped in a clean dry cloth or paper it should also stay good for long, although it will dry up some after it is cut and not vacuum sealed.\n\nLast option is to wrap it in some paper and leave it on the bench. The paper should protect against dust and moisture, but at that point I would suggest that just eating it is a better way of storing it if it is a really good piece you spent some effort in acquiring.", "Are you resting in the fridge? 24 hours is a long time to leave a yeast dough at room temp. Try letting rise for a shorter time or in the fridge a max of 12 hours.", "It looks more like a young Helichrysum italicum than Rosemary, but since that's the curry plant, meaning it smells of curry when you bruise the leaves, it shouldn't be hard to tell. It's not toxic to eat, but does not impart a curry flavour to food - the flowers are yellow, and the oil from those is used as a herbal remedy for various things.", "How long you can store whipped cream for depends on how whipped it is. Lightly whipped cream will start to soften after a couple of hours, stiff whipped cream may last a day or so (in both cases, in the fridge).\n\nWhen you whip cream, air bubbles are trapped amongst the droplets of fat, giving the cream its light texture. These naturally pop and 'leak' out of the cream over time.\n\nAs you guessed, this is one reason (the others being speed and reliability) that commercial kitchens use cream siphons. They force nitrous oxide through liquid cream as it is dispensed, so it's 'whipped' on demand. Cream whipped in this way tastes pretty much like regular whipped cream - nitrous oxide is used precisely because it is flavourless. Using, say, carbon dioxide as in soda would result in sour tasting cream.", "If you're okay with the added acidity in a sauce, that would be fine, but for baking I would recommend looking for a recipe that calls for yogurt or buttermilk.\nAs far as I know, coconut milk does not curdle like dairy or other nutmilks might in the presence of acid or heat. It might separate, but should re-emulsify well enough.\nHowever, baking usually involves some form of leavening, which means chemistry. If a recipe calls for sweet cream and you use an acidified substitute, you could change how it rises and end up with a dense final product (I've discovered this by adding too much lemon juice to cake recipes in the past...) But that's probably the worst that would happen. If the fat content is significantly higher, it will come out rich and moist, which may or may not be a good thing.\nIt might be interesting to give kefir cheese a shot with this coconut version. You could then mix it with butter or cream cheese and citrus friendly seasonings and sugar to make a nice spread.", "The article linked from the question mentions several benefits of coconut water, such as high mineral content, antioxidant activity, preventative effect against diabetes, kidney stones and high cholesterol levels. It is clearly said in the article that the evidence comes from animal studies and that they haven't found any human studies that would confirm those results.\n\nThey mention a small and short human study (28 participants, 4 weeks) in which coconut water was associated with a decrease of blood pressure.\n\nThey link to two small studies (8 and 10 participants) in which the hydration status was not significantly different after drinking coconut water, a carbohydrate drink or plain water.\n\nThe search site:gov \"coconut water\" \"systematic review\" gives almost no relevant results, which suggests that very little research has been done about the effects of coconut water on human health.\n\nOne cup of coconut water can contain 400-600 mg of potassium (USDA: here and here), but a single serving of beans, potatoes, banana or other foods can provide more. Coconut water contains only a relatively small amount of other minerals and vitamins.\n\nIn conclusion, there seems to be no convincing evidence to say that drinking coconut water results in any specific health benefits or that it contains nutrients that couldn't be obtained from a variety of other foods.", "Black tea can last almost forever.\nHealth related detriments are potentially present already in fresh leaves.\nRisks added by storing tea for too long are first and foremost: taste deterioration. This is especially true if it was stored improperly, that is with spices and other material that emits odours that are then captured by the tea. That is of course all moot if it was stored somewhere moist. Molds growing on it should be of some concern. Since it is black tea that will be prepared with boiling water :this will kill most of the microorganisms present on the leaves, since they never had a chance to thrive on dry material. \n\nTrust your eyes, your nose and your taste buds. \nIf you think it looks gross now, or tastes way off, don't drink it. Otherwise don't worry.\n\nHow long does tea last?:\n\n\n How long does packaged tea last? Unopened, packaged tea can last a year beyond any \"best by\" date stamped on the package. Does tea expire? Tea will eventually lose flavor, but dry leaves will last a very long time. The shelf life of tea depends on a variety of factors, such as the best before date, the preparation method and how it was stored.\n\n\nThe Shelf Life of Black Tea:\n\n\n Black tea is fully fermented, and it has a longer shelf life than green tea. Generally, the shelf life of black tea in bulk is about 18 months, while bagged tea is 24 months. Tins or aluminum foil bags for black tea can be stored for about 3 years, and paper bag is for 2 years.\n\n\nFood Storage - How Long Can You Keep...\nTea Bags, Commercially Packaged — Unopened Or Opened\n\n\n \n How long do tea bags last? The precise answer depends to a large extent on storage conditions — to maximize the shelf life of tea bags (including black, green, herbal and oolong), store in a cool, dark cupboard, away from direct heat or sunlight.\n How long do tea bags last at room temperature? Properly stored, tea bags will generally stay at best quality for about 18 to 24 months.\n To maximize the shelf life of tea bags, and to better retain flavor and potency, store in airtight containers.\n Are tea bags safe to use after the \"expiration\" date on the package? Yes, provided they are properly stored and the package is undamaged — commercially packaged tea bags will typically carry a \"Best By,\" \"Best if Used By,\" \"Best Before,\" or \"Best When Used By\" date but this is not a safety date, it is the manufacturer's estimate of how long the tea bags will remain at peak quality.\n Do tea bags ever spoil? No, commercially packaged tea bags do not spoil, but will start to lose potency and flavor over time — the storage time shown is for best quality only.\n Should you store tea bags in the refrigerator or freezer? Storing tea bags in the fridge or freezer is not recommended, since condensation can result, which will harm the taste and flavor of the tea.\n How can you tell if tea bags are still good? To test whether tea bags are still good, brew a cup of tea for at least 3 to 5 minutes - if the aroma is weak and the flavor is not obvious, the tea bags should be replaced.\n \n\n\nDoes tea lose its health benefits if it’s been stored a long time? And is it better to use loose tea or tea bags?\n\n\n While fresh may be best for enjoying many types of teas, that’s not always the case. Some pu’er teas from China are considered to improve in taste with storage, much like a fine wine. In fact, the degradation and oxidation of catechins during storage of pu’er teas result in the formation of new phytochemicals, which have come to be highly valued by tea drinkers for their rich, earthy taste and probiotic health properties.\n\n\nRelated on Cooking.SE (Seasoned Advice):\nMy tea bags are expired, can I still use them?", "If you can get a good tight wrap of plastic wrap around it and store in the bottom of your fridge, where the temp should be approaching 32F it should last out the 5 days just fine. If you have a rub in mind for it you might apply that first then wrap and store. \n\nRemember that beef is usually hung anywhere from 5 to 30 days at 33F in quarters before being butchered. If you don't have a thermometer for your fridge, get one (or two even, one high and one low) so you have a good idea of what your temp range is. If the coldest region of your fridge is over 35F you should turn it down some. See @HoboDave's answer for a better commentary on fridge temps.", "How long would it take to enter?\n\n\nThat's like asking how long would it take for you to start tasting the curries that are already on your plate. Or like asking how long will it take for you to taste almonds and cashews when you are eating a mix of nuts. It's just a matter of you deciding to practice awareness on them.\n\nCittanupassana\n\nWhen your mind wanders thinking about past/present/future or when your mind becomes concentrated/scattered, you can be mindful of it to practice the 3rd Satipattana\n\nDhammanupassana\n\nIf you decide to practice mindfulness on seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting etc. or the five hindrances, that's the 4th Satipattana.", "I think unplugging the refrigerators will both save electricity and reduce wear on the compressors, although I agree with others that if possible you should measure the usage, in part to decide whether any (possibly small) savings is worth the effort.\n\nEnergy Savings\n\nEmpty refrigerators are less efficient, since the compressor needs to cycle on and off more frequently due to relatively low thermal mass. If you unplugged the fridge when you weren't using it, I suspect when you plugged it back in it would only take a few hours to cool down. Under normal usage a fridge will have its compressor running about 1/3 of the time, so this will be a meaningful savings. (The fridge uses the vast majority of its electricity running the compressor, so how long it's running for is a good proxy for electricity consumption.)\n\nWear on Refrigerator\n\nCycling of the fridge compressor on and off is a primary cause of wear, so unplugging the fridge should be a benefit in that respect. Plus there will be total fewer runtime hours. I don't see how unplugging the fridge for days at a time could possibly damage it. (If you were unplugging it twice a day and forcing it to warm up to room temperature and the cool down, that would be another story.)\n\nOther Considerations\n\n\nWhen the fridges are off you will need to make sure they don't get moldy or develop smells. The easiest thing would be to leave the doors open so any moisture can evaporate. Leaving a dry hand towel over the door can help ensure the door doesn't close accidentally.\nIf you have the means to measure the electricity savings, I would do so. You may find that the savings are small and not worth the effort.\nWater jugs will not help you if you are unplugging the fridge, in fact they will make it worse. The purpose of the water is to retain cold and stabilize the temperature. If you let the water warm up to room temperature with the rest of the fridge you will just be creating more work for the compressor when you plug it back in. On the other hand, if you decide to keep the keep the fridge plugged in all the time, leaving jugs might help a bit (but only if you leave them in all the time... do not remove them).\nDo you really need two fridges at all? Maybe a cooler and some cold packs could supplement any overflow those 2 days/week?\nOld fridges can be big power hogs. I'm sure you could save a lot of electricity with a new model (maybe a single bigger one). Whether a new fridge could pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time depends on a number of factors, but it might be something to consider.", "Surely you figured something out by now, but here is what I would do. First, look closely and carefully for surface mold. Look around the rim of the container. If that is clear, smell the oil for rancidity. If it stinks, throw it out. At this point, it looks good and it smells good. I can't imagine a dish where the roux is not thoroughly heated, so unless you are pioneering some kind of cold ingredient, cold roux dish, I think you are good to go. The sealed roux in the fridge should behave like a confit and retard spoilage for a while. If you did a dark roux (like a cajun style) it should last a really long time. They sell it in jars in New Orleans supermarkets, and if memory serves, the jar said something like 90 days in the fridge after opening.", "Coconut oil is a saturated fat, which makes it solid at room temperature. Above room temperature, it behaves exactly like any other oil and has a very high smoke point. You don't need to treat it in any special way.\n\nI personally just use a knife or spoon to dig a little bit out of the container.\n\nCoconut oil is considered to have a neutral flavour (with the exception of some \"virgin\" coconut oils). It's much weaker than, say, olive oil. You'll most likely not be able to detect any coconut flavour from oil alone - you have to use something like creamed coconut (a common ingredient in satays) for that.\n\nP.S. Although it might appear to be similar to butter or margarine, keep in mind that it is actually a cooking oil, unlike butter which has milk solids that burn, or margarine which is hydrogenated to make it solid. Coconut oil is just barely solid and won't always work as a substitute for those other things.", "There is a lot of information and research on how the production of palm oil has severe negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (for example this paper, this paper and wikipedia). However, I have found that reliable information on how coconut oil is produced is rather scarce. There are several claims about why oil from coconut trees (cocos nucifera) is more sustainable than oil from oil palms (elaeis guineensis), but if have not been able to find any scientific evidence for those claims.\n\nThe main reasoning seems to be that many coconut palms are not grown in large plantations, so no rain forests have been removed for them. Although coconut plantations exists, I haven't been able to find any reports that rainforests have been cleared to create those coconut plantations.\n\nSome people also report other benefits of coco trees over palm trees, but most of these claims are difficult to prove. For example on this page (archived version) it is claimed that coconut trees: \n\n\nare considerably easy to replace\ngrow in almost any kind of soil, even sandy beaches\nlive and bear fruit for up to more than sixty years (other sources say 60-80 years)\n\n\nHowever, the author doesn't really compare coco oil with palm oil and according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board oil palm has a much higher oil yield per hectare per year than coconut palms, so that would actually be in favor of palm oil from a sustainability viewpoint. \n\nConclusion: there are indications that coconut oil is more sustainable than palm oil, mainly because no rainforests have been cleared for the production of coconut oil, but it is difficult to find any hard evidence.", "As everyone else is saying, if you assume Newton's law of cooling:\n\n$$ \\dot Q = m c_p \\dot T = h A \\Delta T $$\n\nThe equation for how you heat or cool is an exponential\n\n$$ T(t) = T_\\infty + \\Delta T e^{ -\\frac{hA}{mc_p} t } $$\n\nThe rate constant for growth (or dying) of temperature is the same (assuming other details of the material don't change much), so the half-life is the same regardless of the differences in temperatures or goal temperatures, but this does not mean you have to wait the same amount of time. As is the nature of half lives.\n\nI think the best explanation would be a visual one:\n\n\n\nHere I'm showing how the temperature would evolve with some made up, yet practical chosen values. If you like, ignore the actual numbers on the scales as they are not that important. What's important is you'll notice that for the red curve I \"took it out of the fridge\" for 1 hour, and then put it back and it isn't until another 6 hours later that is 41 degrees again. But, for the purple curve, which was out of the fridge long enough to nearly come to room temperature (8 hrs), it takes just as much time to cool down as it took to heat up.", "It will be absolutely fine. Drink and enjoy.\n\nBy dropping into the fridge so early you just caused the yeast to stop their work. By removing it and allowing it to warm you have restarted the fermentation. You could happily leave it out of the fridge for a few months and so long as the bottles can handle the pressure that could build you would have no issues. It won't go bad from sitting out of the fridge.", "It's hard to say exactly how long it will take to overprove because there are many variables involved - the amount of yeast, salt and enrichment in your dough, and the room temperature for example. However, it should be fine to ferment overnight, if you cover it well and put it in the fridge.", "Not to be a pessimist, but if they're not fermenting, then the yeast are continually dying. How fast they die is dependent upon how they are stored. \n\nIf you want to just reuse yeast from one batch to the next, then save a quart of yeast slurry from the previous batch and store in the fridge in a sanitized container - a loose fitting lid is ideal, such as foil held down with an elastic band - this lets out any gasses if fermentation hasn't quite finished. \n\nIf you use within a couple of weeks then you can pitch directly into the next batch. Longer than that - up to 4 months - and there won't be adequate viable cells remaining, so a starter is needed. Beyond 4 months, the yeast will have mostly died - You can see it visually as it turns from a pale cream to a darker brown peanut-butter color.\n\nLong term storage - around 2 years - is possible by freezing the yeast in a 30% glycerine solution. The amount frozen is usually just a few milliliters, so a starter is always necessary to step up the quantity to proper pitching rates.\n\nTo sum up\n\n\nshort term storage - up to 2 weeks, in the fridge, for direct pitching into the next batch\nmedium term storage - up to 4 months, in the fridge, requires a starter before pitching\nlong term storage - up to 2 years, in the freezer, requires several step-up starters before pitching", "Material capital is any durable good that is used as a factor of production and, by virtue of being durable, it is gradually consumed in production over a maximum possible duration of a length that is determined by (i) how much a unit of capital is used and (ii) the depreciation rate of a unit of capital. Capital forms by labor and savings (which is in accordance with the labor theory of value) and/or capital forms by chance (which is in accordance with the marginal theory of value). \n\nImagine, for example, a solitary person that is stranded on a tropical island. To stay alive, that person must eat and, on the particular island, imagine that virtually every bit of edible biomass is a coconut. In order to be able to consume any coconuts, coconuts must be produced. Without any tools, this person must climb a palm tree to obtain a coconut and, once back on the ground, then must find a way to crack it open. If the person has obtained enough coconuts to last long enough for the person to take a day off from climbing trees then the person, by virtue of their coconut savings, can afford to leisure. Yet, perhaps the person decides not to leisure and, rather, decides to produce tools (i.e. to labor) to make coconut production easier. Perhaps the person fashions a pole out of bamboo to knock coconuts from the tree so that the person doesn't have to keep climbing trees, which reduces the amount of work required to produce coconuts and, therein, makes coconut production that much more productive by virtue of the bamboo tool, which is a form of material capital (as it can be used repeatedly to produce coconuts, which cannot be used repeatedly). As Abraham Lincoln (1861) once said, \"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed.\" Yet, capital also forms by chance. To break open the coconuts, the person might use a rock and, perhaps, if there were no rocks on the island that could be used to crack open coconuts then, thanks to misfortune, the person might starve.\n\nCapital cannot be discussed without also discussing tools and technology; they are inseparable. A tool is when capital and a technology coalesce. For example, a makeshift wooden spear is a hunting tool. It is a coalescence of wooden material (capital) and a hunting technology. The wooden object of which the spear is made is material capital, which depreciates at a rate at which the wooden material’s maximum strength decreases. Knowledge about how a wooden object can be used as a spear is a hunting technology. Such technical knowhow is cognitively embodied (in some form or another) in the living body of the tool user, and it is expressed in the body’s behavior, which is behavior that determines how the material object is used (and effectively renders it a tool). This theory has support in the life sciences. (Alfred Marshall [1922] once wrote, “Economics [is] biology broadly interpreted.”)\n\nThe phenotype of an organism extends beyond the individual organism, as expressions of an individuated organism’s genes are not contained within that individual organism. Gene expression can be manifest in the behavior of its kith and even in the behavior of another species entirely. “Genes in orchids express themselves phenotypically [as] changes in bee behavior, which result in [a] transference of pollen grains containing those same genes” (Dawkins 1984). The extended phenotype of any individuated organism is the gene expression that extends beyond the embodied physiology of that individual, and it is “less purely biochemical than . . . the conventional local phenotype” (Dawkins 1984). Among the many kinds of phenomena that can be considered to be of an extended phenotype are artifacts like fabricated shelters and tools. “Caddis larvae live in houses which they themselves build out of stones [or] other material. The form of the house is determined by the behavior of the builder, which is presumably influenced by the builder’s genes” (Dawkins 1984). The genome of a builder is the energetic scaffolding of the behavior of the builder (Hoffmeyer 2014), and such behavior, which is gene expression, determines the form of what the builder builds. \n\nThe coalescence of capital and a technology as a tool is a process of semiosis. A tool is a sign of capital signifying a technology, which is a notion that comes to be more clear in reference to Ferdinand de Saussure’s semiological conception of the (dyadic) sign. The makeshift wooden spear is a sign of capital signifying a technology. The wooden spear is a hunting tool, and a tool is a sign. The wood of which the spear is made is material capital, and capital is a signifier. The knowledge about how the wooden object can be used as a spear is a hunting technology, and a technology is a signified. The wooden spear, which is a hunting tool, is a sign of wooden material capital signifying a hunting technology, and the arbitrariness of the signifier speaks to the old adage that anything can be used as a weapon. Tools are to technology are to capital as signs are to signifieds are to signifiers.\n\nReturning to the topic of capital, material capital extends from human capital (e.g. knowledge, skills, &amp; innovation) and financial capital extends from material capital. Financial capital is part of financial infrastructure, which is a tool by which other tools (and material capital commodities) can be obtained by supplying one's saved income (or positive profit in production) rather than one's labor. Human capital is phenotypic, which means there is a genetic component. As Ronald A. Fisher once wrote, \"In organisms of all kinds the young are launched upon their careers endowed with a certain amount of biological capital derived from their parents.\" (Fisher 1930). Fisher considered the inheriting of household wealth by offspring from their parents to be an extension of a more generalized inheritance process stemming from the inheriting of genes by the offspring from the parents, which is a notion that foreshadowed the Dawkinsian theory of the extended phenotype. Fisher was a protégé of the political economist Leonard Darwin, a son of Charles Robert Darwin. Charles Robert Darwin notably employed the Malthusian population principle from classical political economics (see Malthus 1798) as the architecture for designing his theory of natural selection (see C. Darwin 1860) and, as Karl Marx (1867) once remarked, \"Darwin has interested us in the history of nature's technology, i.e., in the formation of the organs [that] serve as instruments of production for sustaining life.\" Indeed, Charles Robert Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, had written of an \"Economy of Vegetation\" (1791) and, prior to that, Carolus Linnaeus described all life as an \"Economy of Nature\" (1749). Indeed, \"The ultimate subject matter of biology and economics is\none, viz., the life process\" (Daly 1968).\n\nNOTE: In answering this question, I've borrowed heavily from two draft works of mine that are on my Academia.edu page (i.e. I have not plagiarized whatsoever): https://independent.academia.edu/AaronHRubin\nThe following two links are to the two works of mine from which I'd borrowed:\n\nhttps://www.academia.edu/28416634/A_Brief_Historical_Survey_of_Economic_Thought_and_the_Life_Sciences\n\nhttps://www.academia.edu/29823064/LifeEconomyEnergyandSemiosis_-_working_paper.pdf", "黄金 (huáng jīn) = golden (refers to the color)\n\n鸡柳 (jī liǔ) = chicken fillet (柳 could mean finger size pieces or a steak of chicken, \n\n牛柳 ='beef fillet' \n\n咖喱 (gālí) = curry\n\n饭 (fàn) = rice\n\n\n 黄金 鸡柳 咖喱饭 \n\n\n\n\"golden chicken fillet on curry rice\" (if the golden color refer to the fried or baked chicken) \n\"golden curry with chicken fillet on rice\" (if the golden color refer to the curry)\n\n\nI have to see the picture of the dish to decide which it is.\n\nSince there are different color of curry , e.g. yellow curry and green curry, 'golden curry' is just another word for \"黄咖喱\" (yellow curry)\n\nTo make golden brown colored chicken, the chicken has to be fried/ baked with skin on or breaded)", "TLDR; Go by the bacteria spoiling times, not the milk.\n\nAccording to this website,\n\n\n You can refrigerate breast milk for three to five days and freeze it to keep it fresh even longer. Thawed breast milk will keep in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours (but don't refreeze it). If you're traveling, you can store breast milk in an insulated cooler with ice packs for up to 24 hours.\n\n\nIt seems to expire quicker than other milk, due to the bacteria that can last for six to eight hours outside of refrigeration, 24 hours in normal refrigeration, and up to 2 weeks if in a colder area of the fridge. Keep in mind, the longer the milk stays in the fridge, the less time it will be viable at room temperature. See the below chart and website for more detail.\n\n\n\nThe largest thing to note is the good bacteria is what you're looking for, so going by the spoilage of the milk itself may not be a great determiner of whether it's good or not.\n\nThanks to @gregmac for the chart from the CDC.", "The following is paraphrased from Andrew Whitley's excellent book Bread Matters\n\nWheat leaven\n\n\nIf you intend to use within 2 days, store the it at ambient temperature\nFor 2-14 days, store it in the fridge. Optionally refresh it before use.\nFor longer, refresh then freeze. Refresh again after thawing.\n\n\nRye sourdough\n\n\n0-3 days -- ambient temperature\n3-30 days -- fridge, no need to refresh\nLonger -- refresh then freeze. Refresh again after thawing.\n\n\nWhitley describes \"constructive neglect\". He keeps a rye sourdough in his fridge that's several months old, so that he can demonstrate to students how easily he can take 50g of it and produce a lovely sourdough from it within 16 hours.\n\nIt's a great book.", "Ultimately, it last until you decide you no longer like the taste. What's happening is that the wine is oxidizing, and the flavor and aroma compounds are being destroyed once they're exposed to a significant amount of air. While temperature does make a different, the larger factor here is the amount of surface area to volume, which is quite high in the glass compared to in the bottle. While a bottle in the fridge will keep it's flavor components intact a bit longer than if it were on the counter (and longer yet if you put it in the freezer) a bottle on the counter will still retain its character longer than a glass in the fridge, or certainly on the table. \n\nAnother factor to consider is how well aged and tannic the wine is. All red wine is not made alike, and a young tannic wine will hold up better for longer (and indeed even improve for awhile before it starts to degrade) compared to a wine that's well aged and already at or past its peak. \n\nIn any case, you're probably looking at a matter of hours. While I've never paid close attention, I would guess that depending on the wine, an average of somewhere between 6 and 12 hours is going to be the limit before you start to see noticeable degradation. It could be more or could be less, but not by an order of magnitude.", "Ah, why wasn't this question already asked here!\n\n\nAs Food and Hydration: If you are trapped on an Island (Refer: Castaway) probably Coconut Water can be only major source of potable water for you. As a bonus though, it contains a lot of nutrients, a great source of glucose and Potassium. Coconut meat, the white substance is totally edible, it contains Vitamin A and E.\nAmazing Tinder: Coconut tree petioles and leaves are fibrous, so they burn very well and produce a lot of charcoal which you can use as a fire-started. Also, the dry coconut shell will burn well.\nSkin Care: Coconut meat and Coconut Oil can also be used as a Sunscreen and/or as a Moisturizer. \nMedical Usage: One can squish coconut meat to get Coconut oil from it which has anti-fugal, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-viral contents. \nHard shell: A coconut shell cut into half can be used as a bowl, and the fresh green coconut can be used to carry nearly 500 ml water, depending upon size of the coconut.\nFloats for emergency rafts: Coconuts float very well,so if you at all you want to make a raft, you can pad coconuts below the logs. \nString and rope: The fiber threads extracted from a petiole of coconut tree can help you tie and lash many things, right from a hunting trap (wait, if needed) to as a shoelace. \nMats, clothes, and shelter: The petioles of a coconut tree are perfect to make a shelter out of them. Weaving and braiding a mat, a wall, a hat, a plate, a bowl, or a carrying bag can be learned in a matter of minutes." ]

[ "By . Rachel Quigley . Last updated at 3:09 PM on 31st January 2012 . Would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley Jnr has engaged in 'risky' relationships with married and psychotic women and may still pose a risk to society, according to a psychiatrist who is an expert in risk assessment for assassins. Hearings to determine whether Hinckley should be allowed more free time outside of St Elizabeth's Hospital to visit his elderly mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, is entering its tenth day today. The 56-year-old tried to kill President Ronald Reagan in March 1981 outside a Washington hotel to try and impress actress Jodie Foster. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has been in mental hospital ever since. Risk: John Hinckley Jr, shown here in 1987, wants to extend his supervised day trips away from the mental hospital where he has been confined since he tried to assassinate former President Reagan . Chaos: John Hinckley tried to assassinate former U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 outside the Washington Hilton hotel . Yesterday, Dr Robert Phillips testified that he is . opposed to Hinckley being given more free time from the hospital he has been treated in the last three decades, citing concerns about the risks his . relationships with women may cause. Dr Robert Phillips said that in the 'real relationships' he has formed with women, he has not always shown good judgement. On the mend: Reagan with his wife Nancy at a hospital in Washington as he recovered from the assassination attempt by Hinckley . As well as getting involved with a 'psychotic' patient from the mental hospital - whom he allegedly became physically affectionate with - he tried to begin a relationship with an employee at Eastern State Hospital, a mental facility Hinckley works a few hours a . week when he's in Williamsburg. The woman was married with children. Dr Phillips said his efforts to attract the married woman were 'either fantasy or abject narcissism'. Hinckley has been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. He was also diagnosed as suffering from major depressive and psychotic disorders, but doctors say these are now in remission. Dr Phillips, who is also a medical doctor, is an expert in risk assessment for assassins. The presidential assailant is currently allowed to leave St Elizabeth's Hospital for ten days each month to visit his visiting his mother in a gated community in Williamsburg, Virginia. The hearing is to determine whether the visits can be increased. The latest proposal would allow for two 17-day releases followed by six 24-day releases. Federal prosecutors oppose expanding Hinckley's visits, saying he remains a danger to society. Hinckley shot President Reagan, press . secretary James Brady, Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy and police . officer Thomas Delahanty in 1981. All of the men survived the assassination attempt but Brady was left permanently disabled. Better: Hinckley, pictured here in 2003 when he told a federal court that his his mental condition has improved enough that he should be allowed to visit his parents without psychiatric hospital staff supervision . Shooting: Hinckley shot President Reagan, press secretary James Brady, Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy and police officer Thomas Delahanty . Reports from the U.S. Secret Service surveillance of Hinckley said he would often visit bookstores when he went to Williamsburg and focused on books about Reagan and assassinations. Though he did not buy the books or even open then, Dr Phillips said this activity indicated a risk factor. He said: 'His target is on this shelf.' Hinckley's defense lawyer argued the shelves at the store he was found to be staring at also contained other books and that he never actually picked any up or bought them but instead bought music books. However the court also heard that he looked at a classical music CD entitled The Dead Kennedys. Dr Phillips, who spent five hours interviewing the would-be assassin last year, will continue testifying today." ]

[ "(CNN) -- The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation threatened legal action over the online sale of a vial purportedly containing dried blood from the former president following a 1981 assassination attempt. \"If indeed this story is true, it's a craven act and we will use every legal means to stop its sale or purchase,\" said a statement from John Heubusch, the foundation's executive director. Bidding for the vial topped 9,181 pounds (nearly $14,500) as of Tuesday, with two days left in the sale. The item is being offered by PFC Auctions, based on the island of Guernsey, a British dependency. \"Dried blood residue from President Reagan ... can be seen clearly in the vial with a quarter-inch ring of blood residue at the end of the inserted rubber stopper,\" the listing says. On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley fired six shots at Reagan as the president left the Washington Hilton after delivering a speech. Reagan was rushed to George Washington University Hospital for emergency surgery. The vial's seller, in a letter of provenance included in the sale, said it has been in his family's possession since the day of the assassination attempt. \"Back in the '70s and '80s, my mother worked for Bio Science Laboratories in Columbia, Maryland,\" the letter says. The lab was contracted with George Washington University Hospital to handle blood testing, and did Reagan's blood work and testing. \"The test tube and the lab slip that I have are for his blood work to be tested for lead on 03/30/1981,\" according to the letter. \"The testing was completed and the test tube was sitting on my mother's desk.\" The seller says in the listing his mother asked the lab director if she could keep the paperwork and test tube, and was allowed to do so. The seller said his mother and father have both since died. \"We've spoken to GW Hospital and are assured an investigation as to how something like this could possibly happen is underway,\" Heubusch's statement said. \"Any individual, including a president of the United States, should feel confident that once they enter into the care of a medical system, their privacy and rights are held inviolable.\" The hospital declined comment to CNN on Tuesday. The seller said he had contacted the Reagan National Library and spoke to its director, asking if the library would like to purchase the vial. The director said the library would accept the vial as a donation, the seller said, but the director also wanted to check with legal counsel, the National Archives and the FBI, among others. \"He called back in 25 minutes and said that everything was OK,\" the seller wrote. \"The National Archives was not interested in what I had, nor was the Secret Service, the FBI and other agencies. Since 30 years had passed by, he thought that it was simply something that was of no importance at this time and that I was free to do ... whatever I wanted with it.\" The seller said he did not want to return the vial to Reagan's family, \"since I had served under Pres. Reagan when he was my Commander in Chief when I was in the Army from '87-'91 and that I was a real fan of Reaganomics and felt that Pres. Reagan himself would rather see me sell it rather than donating it.\" A form also being sold with the vial contains Reagan's patient ID number at George Washington Hospital, the seller said. The form and a label on the vial contain the names of doctors at the hospital as well, according to the seller. Reagan served two terms as president. He died in June 2004 at age 93. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting, which also wounded then-press secretary James Brady, Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy and police officer Thomas Delahanty. Hinckley has been a patient at St. Elizabeths mental hospital in Washington for three decades. A hearing was held earlier this year on his request that he be allowed longer visits to his elderly mother's home in Virginia. A judge in February said he would rule on the matter later. CNN's Devon Sayers contributed to this report.", "By . Kieran Corcoran . A paranoid schizophrenic who axed his housemate to death after walking out of hospital left a note on the body saying: ‘I told doctors I am not safe’. Ahmed Ali, 39, told medics at the scandal-hit Oxleas Hospital Trust he had stopped taking his medication just days before killing Abdullah Barre Jama, 45, in a frenzied axe attack. He confessed to feeling tired and ‘persecuted’ and was due to be transferred to a psychiatric unit for further treatment. Discharged: Ali was allowed to walk out of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in South East London - and killed just three days later . Ali had a 15-year history of mental health problems, including violent urges towards himself and others, and Mr Jama himself told doctors his flatmate was ‘crazy’. But Ali walked out of hospital on April 30, 2009, and repeatedly stabbed Mr Jama in the head, neck and arms at their flat in Blackheath, South East London, on May 3, 2009. Concerned friends discovered the bloodied body on a mattress in the living room the next day, with Ali’s handwritten note on the back of a film poster on top of his chest. Prosecutor Simon Denison said the note was unreadable in parts, but included the phrase: ‘I’m innocent, I do nothing wrong'. (sic) It also said: ‘Somalia illegal assassination is everywhere... I toll doctors and Nurstes I am not safe’. (sic) The Oxleas Hospital Trust was slammed in 2011 after schizophrenia sufferer Nicola Edgington killed Sally Hodkin with a meat cleaver in Bexleyheath after walking out of hospital. Mr Denison said Ali had repeatedly told doctors he believed he was the victim of a conspiracy within the Somali community. ‘He subjected Mr Jama to a frenzied attack with a hand axe, which he used to inflict severe injuries to his head, neck and arms’, he said. ‘There’s consistent evidence he has suffered from chronic paranoid psychosis, a condition which has progressively worsened from the start of his treatment until the time of the killing in May 2009.’ Previously: The hospital which let Ali walk free . was previously attacked for discharging Nicola Edgington, left, who . murdered Sally Hodkin, right, in 2011 . He said Ali had been in mental health treatment since December 1995, shortly after arriving in the UK as a refugee from war-torn Somalia. He had previously stabbed his own brother, and became estranged from his wife and two children believing they were also involved in a conspiracy against him. ‘He believed his wife was using witchcraft against him, part of a wider conspiracy against him including his wife and the Somali community’, said Mr Denison. His brother admitted him to hospital in May 2008 under the Mental Health Act, after Ali suffered paranoid beliefs that people were trying to kill him. After finishing treatment at Michael Castle Centre, in Sheffield, he was released on March 31, 2009, and went back to live with Mr Jama in a flat in Blackheath. Mr Denison said: ‘It was clear he was still unwell. Even Mr Jama said the defendant was upset with him for keeping him in hospital. ‘In April 2009, Mr Jama said the defendant was crazy and that all he talked about is killing someone or killing himself. ‘However, Mr Jama said he did not feel unsafe with the defendant.’ On April 29, 2009, Ali was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, after complaining of feeling persecuted and tired. ‘He said he was not taking his medication’, said Mr Denison. ‘He was kept in overnight and intended for transfer back to Sheffield, but left of his own accord the following day.’ He said Mr Jama was last seen alive at a Somalia social club on May 2, and friends became concerned when he failed to return the following day. They found his bloodied body on a mattress in the flat on May 4, along with the blood stained axe lying on the floor nearby. Ali was soon arrested, but when his case came to court, in September 2010, he was unfit to enter a plea and a murder trial went ahead without him. After his conviction for murder, he was detained at Wathwood Hospital in Rotherham for treatment and has now been deemed fit enough to enter a plea. Ali denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Dr Darren Bloye, his psychiatrist, said Ali was suffering ‘florid paranoid delusions’ at the time of the killing, and still believes the Somali community are against him. Judge Richard Hone QC ordered Ali’s continued detention at the hospital under section 37 of the Mental Health Act. He told him: ‘Because of the possibility of relapse being observed from time to time and your history, it is essential not only to make a hospital order but also a restriction order without limit of time because of the obvious and perceived risks not only to your own health and safety but to others, especially the Somali community. ‘Delusional beliefs sometimes take over and you become a serious and lethal danger to their community.’ Ali, of Blackheath, South East London denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.", "By . Ian Drury . Ruling: A pregnant schoolgirl was yesterday given the right to choose whether to have an abortion by a High Court judge (picture posed by model) A pregnant schoolgirl was yesterday given the right to choose whether to have an abortion by a High Court judge. Even though the mother-to-be is just 13, Mr Justice Mostyn ruled that she was capable of making up her own mind as to whether or not to keep the child. The teenager, who lives with her parents, only realised she was pregnant when her grandmother spotted her growing bump and took her for medical tests. The schoolgirl – who can be identified only as ‘A’ – is believed to have thought she had been gaining a little weight for other reasons. A scan at a local hospital confirmed she was pregnant but the devastated girl said she was not ready to start a family at such a young age and wanted to have a termination. The girl was 21 weeks pregnant when the case went before the High Court as an emergency hearing in mid-March. The local authority, which is in the North of England, was forced to seek a declaration that the child had the capacity to make the abortion decision herself. This was required to ensure that doctors and hospital trusts could not be sued if they carried out the medical procedure. If the girl was not capable of fully understanding the situation, the local authority would be allowed to terminate the pregnancy if doctors believed it was in her best interests. Making public his ruling yesterday, the judge said the law allowed a child aged under 16 to be given contraception if they had ‘sufficient understanding and intelligence’. Case: Mr Justice Mostyn ruled the teenager was capable of making up her own mind as to whether or not to keep the child. The girl was 21 weeks pregnant when the case went before the High Court (pictured) in March . He said this was the case even if it might lead her to take steps ‘wholly contrary to her best interests’. He said girl A was interviewed by a consultant psychiatrist who concluded very clearly that she had ‘a very clear understanding of her position and of the options that were available to her. 'Those options namely continuance of the pregnancy, or its termination, were discussed.’ Judge: Mr Justice Mostyn said the law allowed a child aged under 16 to be given contraception if they had 'sufficient understanding and intelligence' The psychiatrist said that although A was ‘softly spoken’ she was able to explain to him that her wish was to terminate the pregnancy as ‘she felt that she could not cope with its continuance and it would stress her to a considerable degree.’ He said the decision to have an abortion was not the result of pressure from her parents and grandmother. The psychiatrist said the choice was ‘hers alone and not the product of influence by adults in her family’. The judge said he was ‘completely satisfied’ that A had the mental capacity to decide whether or not to have an abortion. He said her present intention was to have a termination and that her family would be by her side ‘to assist her and support her after what is inevitably going to be an unpleasant and traumatic experience’. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 5,432 under-16s fell pregnant in 2012, down 9 per cent on the year before. But the toll is still far higher than the average for developed countries including France, Germany and Japan. The health advisory body, NICE, has called for free condoms to be readily handed out at schools, sixth form colleges and youth clubs to cut teen pregnancy rates. Girls as young as 13 have been given contraceptive implants at school without their parents’ knowledge. Nurses insert devices into their arms which temporarily prevent pregnancy by releasing hormones into the blood. Teenage pregnancy: Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 5,432 under-16s fell pregnant in 2012, down 9 per cent on the year before. But the toll is still far higher than the average for developed countries . Some 1,700 girls of 13 and 14 were fitted with implants in 2010/11, while 800 had injections which have the same effect. The 2010/11 NHS figures also show 3,200 15-year-old girls were fitted with implants, and 1,700 had injections. But under strict ‘patient confidentiality’ rules, staff are banned from seeking the permission of parents beforehand – or even informing them afterwards.", "The judge in the Oscar Pistorius trial has formally ordered the Paralympian to undergo psychiatric evaluation to establish whether he was criminally responsible on the night he killed his girlfriend. Judge Thokozile Masipa told Pistorius he must report to Pretoria's Weskoppies hospital, one of South Africa's top mental institutions, as an outpatient for up to 30 days, starting on May 26. The Judge named three of the experts - one for the defence and two appointed by the court - who will test whether Pistorius was 'capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his action'. The results could offer a way for the double amputee to beat both the murder charge and a lesser one of culpable homicide (similar to manslaughter) if the court is convinced he was not of sound mind when he shot Reeva Steenkamp. Scroll down for video . Could he be acquitted of murder? Oscar Pistorius arrives at the high court in Pretoria accompanied by his uncle, Arnold, to hear a ruling by the judge in his murder trial to send him for up to 30 days of psychiatric tests . Conversely, if they find that his apparent Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) played no part in her death, the . state’s case that he murdered her could be strengthened. Pistorius must attend the hospital at 9am every weekday and will be evaluated by a panel of four mental health experts. He can leave every day at 4pm or when allowed by hospital authorities. Judge Masipa ruled that Pistorius's period of observation will not be more than 30 days. The ruling after an expert told the trial that he suffered from an anxiety disorder that made him 'hyper-vigilant'. Festival atmosphere: Local artists sing a tune called Whose Oscar Pistorius? outside the high court in Pretoria . Psychiatrist . Dr Merryll Vorster, for the defence, said that Pistorius's condition is . linked to his disability and meant that he was prone to fight, rather . than take flight, in the presence of perceived danger. It means that the trial - already on its 33rd day - will now be delayed until June 30. The decision by Judge Masipa followed a request for a psychiatric evaluation by the chief prosecutor, Gerrie Nel. Mr Nel questioned why the defense decided to ask Dr Vorster to testify on behalf of the Olympic runner. He has suggested that the trial is not going well for Pistorius and that his lawyers are floating the idea that a disorder contributed to Steenkamp's shooting and that therefore Pistorius bears less responsibility for her death. Pistorius says he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he shot her through the closed door of a toilet cubicle. Prosecutors say he killed her in anger after an argument. In asking for another professional evaluation of Pistorius's mental state, Nel appeared to be trying to ward off any attempt by the defense to say Pistorius should be treated favorably by the court because of a mental condition linked to his disability. Professor . Craig Jackson, Head of Psychology at Birmingham City University, . explained to MailOnline more about the condition that it's claimed Oscar . Pistorius has. 'Hyper-vigilance . is more of a behavioural symptom of wider psychological problems than . an actual psychiatric condition in itself,' he said. 'Hyper-vigilance . is when an individual is in a chronic state of high anxiety and arousal . and is constantly scanning their surroundings - the environment they . are in, as well as friends and the people they encounter - for threats. 'This . is often as the result of suffering a traumatic or frightening . experience. After a while this state becomes second nature to the . fearful individual and begins to shape their routine behaviours - for . example always checking behind closed doors when entering a room, or . assessing new places for the nearest emergency exit. 'Those . who are hyper-vigilant are often easily startled, suffer from poor . sleeping patterns, may have difficulty concentrating, and can be quite . quarrelsome, spontaneous and irritable. 'Hyper-vigilance . is one of the symptoms required in order for psychiatrists to make a . diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) alongside other . symptoms of intense fear such as avoidance, re-experience, flashbacks . and intense arousal. 'Not . everyone who suffers traumatic events will go on to develop PTSD or . hyper-vigilance, and there may be other underlying personality factors . or past experiences that make it more likely to manifest in some rather . than others, such as narcissism or high intelligence.'", "Executed: Jose Villegas was put to death Wednesday for killing his ex-girlfriend, her son and her mother, 13 years ago . A man convicted of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend, her young son and her mother 13 years ago at a home in Corpus Christi was executed by Texas prison officials Wednesday. The lethal injection of Jose Villegas, 39, was carried out after his attorneys unsuccessfully argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that he was mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty.p . 'I would like to remind my children once again I love them,' Villegas said when asked if he had a statement before being put to death. 'Everything is OK. I love you all, and I love my children. I am at peace.' Just as the pentobarbital began taking effect, he said, 'It does kind of burn. Goodbye.' He gasped several times, then started to breathe quietly. Within less than a minute, all movement had stopped. Villegas was pronounced dead at 7:04pm CDT, 11 minutes after the lethal dose of the sedative began. He became the seventh prisoner executed this year in the nation's most active death penalty state. Six relatives of his victims witnessed the execution but declined to comment afterward. 'I was struck by the calm and peacefulness inside that room as opposed to the utter terror the victims must have been in as Jose Luis Villegas stabbed them,' Mark Skurka, the Nueces County district attorney who prosecuted Villegas, said after watching the execution. 'He made no attempt to make peace with the family, apologize to the family or show any remorse for taking the lives of three people,' Skurka said. 'The family expressed to me that they are glad that this is finally over and that justice has finally been done, even though it took a very long time in their minds for this to happen.' Villegas' lawyers filed a last-day appeal asking the Supreme Court to stop his punishment, saying testing in February showed he had an IQ of 59. The high court denied it several hours later, slightly delaying the punishment. Four of the nine justices indicated in the brief court order that they would have given him a reprieve. The Supreme Court has prohibited execution of mentally impaired people, although states have been allowed to devise procedures to make their own determinations. Courts also have embraced scientific studies that consider a 70 IQ a threshold for impairment, and the high court justices are reviewing a Florida law stipulating that number for death penalty eligibility. The Texas Attorney General's office disputed the IQ finding, saying previous examinations of Villegas showed no mental impairment and the number cited in his appeal was based on testing after he received an execution date and had no incentive to do well on the test. State attorneys also argued his lawyers had 10 years to raise impairment claims but didn't do so until days before his scheduled punishment. Villegas was convicted of fatally stabbing Erida Salazar, 23, her 3-year-old son, Jacob, and Salazar's mother, Alma Perez, 51, in January 2001. Their bodies were discovered by Salazar's father when he returned home after being excused from jury duty. Each had been stabbed at least 19 times. Villegas, a former cook, dishwasher and laborer, was free on bond for a sexual assault charge and was supposed to go on trial the day of the killings for an incident in which a woman said he punched her in the face. Police spotted Villegas driving Salazar's stolen car and he led them on a chase that ended with him on foot and urging officers to shoot him. When arresting him, police found three bags of cocaine in his baseball cap. Following his conviction for capital murder, Villegas was convicted of two counts of indecency with a child related to the daughter of the woman he was accused of punching in the face prior to the slayings. Relatives have said Salazar's mother had urged her daughter to break up with Villegas when she learned of the sex charges against him. Villegas also had convictions for making terroristic threats to kill women, burglary and possessing inhalants. Attorneys argued the slayings were not intentional and Villegas was mentally ill. A defense psychiatrist testified Villegas experienced 'intermittent explosive disorder,' a condition that led to uncontrollable rages. Villegas became the third Texas inmate executed with a new stock of pentobarbital from a provider corrections officials have refused to identify, citing the possibility of threats of violence against the supplier. The Supreme Court has upheld that stance. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.", "Ross Buggins, 30, who suffered from encephalitis, with his partner Emma Baston, 27 . Looking back on last autumn, Ross Buggins can scarcely believe what happened. Four weeks after developing insomnia, he was suffering from panic attacks and suicidal thoughts. He was then sectioned and sent to a mental health ward for two months. But he wasn't mentally ill. Ross, 30, had a form of encephalitis - brain inflammation - caused when his own immune system started attacking a protein in the brain, affecting its function. It's thought that a simple virus might have kicked his immune system into overdrive. Yet his condition was only correctly diagnosed last November, three months after he'd been sectioned - despite him showing classic signs of encephalitis, such as memory loss. Worryingly, many experts believe encephalitis, as well as other common neurological disorders such as dementia and even migraines, are often misdiagnosed as mental health problems because their symptoms include depression and anxiety. 'Dozens of neurological conditions can be missed as purely mental health illnesses,' says Duncan Banks, a lecturer in biomedical science at the Open University and director of the British Neuroscience Association. 'These include mini strokes [transient ischaemic attacks], which can change behaviour, for example by making people more impulsive or emotional, depending on the affected part of the brain.' Last week a study published in the journal Neurology reported that depression, anxiety and irritability can be early signs of Alzheimer's before the more typical memory loss and confusion appear. Meanwhile, Parkinson's can result in depression, anxiety and psychosis. And many patients suffering headaches are diagnosed with anxiety, panic attacks, depression or fatigue, yet it's actually migraine that's likely to be causing these symptoms, says Dr Nick Silver, of the NHS Walton Centre for Neuroscience and Neurosurgery in Liverpool. 'Migraine can cause a huge variety of symptoms, including low mood, poor sleep and fatigue. Those patients can be given antidepressants, which may not be the appropriate treatment,' says Dr Silver. If patients have no mental health symptoms when they are 'crystal-clear and headache-free', it may suggest migraine is to blame - whereas depression would cause these symptoms consistently. Around 40 per cent of migraine sufferers find eliminating all painkillers and caffeine and eating and drinking regularly will banish all or most of those associated symptoms. After trying to hang himself Ross was sectioned and taken to a mental health hospital in Nottingham . Meanwhile, antidepressants can actually reduce the quality of sleep, and may worsen migraine. Certain types of epilepsy can lead to confusion and odd behaviour because seizures can damage different parts of the brain, while brain tumours and parasitic diseases such as Lyme disease - a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks - can also cause mental health symptoms, such as low mood and erratic behaviour. And problems with the parathyroid glands (which control calcium levels) can cause irrational behaviour, because excessively high calcium levels affect the function of the brain and central nervous system. 'GPs aren't always aware of different symptoms associated with these conditions, and the easy option is to give patients antidepressants. So they aren't getting the right treatments,' says Dr Banks. This means patients may not be referred to a neurologist, who could make the correct diagnosis, and are instead under the care of a mental health team. Ross's problems started last April, when he caught a virus that caused mouth ulcers, sickness, diarrhoea and led to poor sleep. A month later he developed insomnia, rashes on his arms, legs and waist, and his hands and feet started to blister. He saw a GP in June. 'I thought my body was just struggling to fight off an infection,' says Ross, an IT consultant who lives with his partner, Emma, 27, in Norwich. His GP took blood, stool and urine samples but the results came back clear. The GP handed him a leaflet on anxiety management. Ross, who'd otherwise been a fit and healthy young man, then started having panicked thoughts. 'I'd convince myself I'd die from a heart attack after a run, or a plane would fall out of the sky on to me. I'd never been a worrier before, but I was fixated on irrational fears.' Ross was finally diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis . After having a panic attack and experiencing suicidal thoughts, he was prescribed antidepressants and a sedative, diazepam - his GP also recommended a private therapist as there was a long waiting list on the NHS. Initially, the therapist helped, but shortly after this Ross had a massive panic attack. 'My head felt as if it was burning and my muscles locked up. I couldn't breathe properly but was screaming,' he says. His parents, who he was visiting at the time, called an ambulance. He had blood tests, a chest X-ray and CT scan in hospital before doctors declared the problem was 'truly psychological' and discharged him. 'I thought I was having a mental breakdown, which felt awful as it was so unlike me,' says Ross. He then started having memory problems, forgetting who his relatives were, for example. After another panic attack, he was taken back to hospital. This time mental health services were called and he was given stronger antidepressants. But they had no effect - and weeks later Ross tried to hang himself. 'I felt life was not worth living. I'm so lucky the belt snapped.' He was then sectioned and taken to a mental health hospital in Nottingham, roughly 120 miles from his home, because there were no closer beds available. 'I can't remember much after this point,' says Ross. 'Apparently, I tried escaping, and told people I didn't need to be there.' A week later he was transferred to the mental health ward at Hellesdon Hospital in Norwich, where he stayed for seven weeks. 'In my notes, which months later I asked for, doctors kept noting my lack of memory, but never considered a neurological explanation.' He was referred to a sleep clinic at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for his poor sleep, but then he started falling asleep all the time - even while eating. The sleep expert recognised something else was wrong with him, and urged his doctors at Hellesdon to revisit his case. A week later his sodium levels plummeted - because the brain regulates sodium, anything affecting the brain can alter levels - and he went into a coma-like state. The number of prescriptions written for antidepressants in the UK every year . He was taken to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where he was seen by a neurologist for the first time. Three-and-a-half weeks later in November, after a series of tests, Ross was finally diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. This is a rare form of the disease, caused by antibodies produced by the immune system targeting the NMDA protein in the brain. Symptoms include seizures, confusion and problems with cognitive function. Dr Sarosh Irani, a consultant neurologist and senior research fellow at Oxford University Hospitals, says: 'Typical forms of psychosis and depression occur over months, while in these auto-immune forms of encephalitis the symptoms can appear over days or weeks.' Ross was given steroids and intravenous immune globulin (infusions of antibodies from donors). Two days later he became fully conscious for the first time since August. 'I couldn't believe it was November. Doctors said inflammation in my brain had affected parts of it controlling memory and emotions, causing my symptoms. It was incredible how normal I felt.' Five days later he was discharged. The big issue is the split between psychiatry and other areas of medicine, says Paul Goldsmith, a consultant neurologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. 'It would help if psychiatrists and neurologists had closer working practices, but largely that doesn't happen.' Increasingly, patients are being seen not by psychiatrists, but by mental health nurses, psychologists and cognitive behavioural therapists, who may not always be able to recognise these disorders, adds Dr Silver. Ross has a one in ten chance of relapse, but now knows the signs so he can get treatment quickly. 'It's scary that there are probably other people in the mental health system who are not really psychotic and have a physical cause for their symptoms that they aren't being treated for,' he says. 'I'm amazed Emma stood by me through all this - she's my rock.' February 22 is World Encephalitis Day . For more information on the condition, visit encephalitis.info .", "The body of a high school teacher who disappeared during a cyclone more than three years ago has been found in scrubland in Western Australia. Tracy Margaret Marshall, 35, vanished in the town of Karratha, in the Pilbara region 1500km north of Perth during severe tropical cyclone Carlos on February 21, 2011. Ms Marshall's car, which had overheated and broken down east of Karratha was found unoccupied on the same day as the local community was bracing for the cyclone to hit. At the time Ms Marshall had been treated for depression and hallucinations, and her husband had been desperate to fly her to Perth because there was no psychiatrist in the remote Pilbara town. Body in bushland: the discovery of remains in the Western Australian scrub being identified as those of high school teacher Tracy Margaret Marshall (pictured) brings to a close a sad ordeal for her family. Ms Marshall's husband had been desperate to get her help after she began hallucinating but no psychiatrist was available in the remote Pilbara town of Karratha . Immediate search efforts were hampered at the time by the arrival of Carlos, which brought gale force winds of up to 140km/h and caused significant damage. Last month in the same area as Ms Marshall's car had been found, a member of the public discovered human remains. Police say forensic test have now proven they are those of Ms Marshall, but it was unclear how she died. The discovery brings to a close a sad ordeal for the family of Ms Marshall, who disappeared after she walked out of the mental health unit of the local Nickol Bay Hospital. Sad saga for family: After high school teacher Tracy Marshall (pictured) descended into depression and hallucinations her husband had decided 'things were just spinning out of control' and had planned to fly her 1500km south to Perth to receive proper psychiatric care, but she walked out of a mental health unit and drove her car 50km before it broke down during severe tropical cyclone Carlos . Ms Marshall had been undergoing treatment after she became stressed and depressed working as a high school teacher. She had quit her job and started exhibiting odd behaviour, including having hallucinations in the week leading up to her disappearance. On the day she disappeared, her car was found abandoned on a road 50km out of Karratha. Her father issued an appeal, acknowledging his daughter had personal problems but saying she had never previously given them cause for concern. 'It's been a very worrying and stressful time for us as you can well imagine, we'd just like to try and get Tracey back', Quinton Bricknell said at the time. A coronial inquest held last year heard Ms Marshall had attended the Pilbara Health and Drug Service four times in the week before she vanished, but was told there was no a psychiatrist available in Karratha for two weeks. Her husband Iain Marshall claimed she had woken him up wanting him to perform an exorcism, claiming she had a cleft foot and saw the devil. When they went camping, Ms Marshall had displayed more bizarre behaviour and the next day she told her husband about several suicide attempts. Ms Marshall had also been tap dancing and waving a tube around calling it 'Excalibur' before reciting the Lord's Prayer. Mr Marshall  had planned to fly his wife to Perth for psychiatric treatment on the day she disappeared as 'things were just spinning out of control' and he did not want her to have to wait to see a psychiatrist.Ms Marshall was taken back to hospital, where she was put under overnight observation but disappeared the next morning.", "By . Associated Press . Psychiatric patient Richard Plotts (pictured) opened fire at the hospital . A psychiatric patient had dozens of bullets on hand when he killed his caseworker and intended to kill more people at a suburban Philadelphia hospital complex on Thursday afternoon, authorities say . Richard Plotts, 49, had a problem with the hospital's ban on guns, although it's not clear if that was the direct motive for the shooting, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said. Psychiatrist Lee Silverman told police he fired back at Plotts with his own weapon after Plotts opened fire at an office adjacent to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby. Whelan says Silverman routinely carried a gun and had no specific fear of the suspect. Authorities . say Plotts is sedated but in stable condition after surgery from his . gunshot wounds. They expect to charge him with murder at his bedside . once he awakes. Police say . Plotts has a lengthy history of gun arrests, violence and mental health . problems. They say he had 39 bullets on him after the shooting. The . psychiatrist, Dr. Lee Silverman, was grazed in the temple during the . gunfight in his office Thursday afternoon with patient Plotts. 'There were some issues between the doctor and the patient, but whether or not he actually feared him is unclear,' Whelan said. The slain caseworker, 53-year-old . Theresa Hunt of Philadelphia, had accompanied Plotts to the psychiatric . crisis center at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, just southwest of . the city, authorities said. An officer walks near the scene of the shooting on Thursday, July 24, 2014, at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, Philadelphia . 'When the caseworker was shot, (Silverman) crouched down behind the desk to avoid him being shot,' Whelan said. 'He . was able to reach for his weapon, and realizing it was a life or death . situation, was able to engage the defendant in the exchange of gunfire.' The . struggle spilled out into the hallway, where another doctor and . caseworker jumped in to help Silverman and secure Plotts' weapon, Whelan . said. Police in Upper Darby . were aware of at least three mental health commitments involving Plotts . — once after he cut his wrists and once when he threatened suicide — . but said such stays can last just one to three days. Plotts also had at least four gun arrests, along with assault and drug charges, according to police and court records. A hospital worker views police activity near the scene of a shooting at a wellness center attached to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital . Lock down: Police arrive at the hospital after reports of a shooting . And he has been barred from at least . one residential shelter because of his violent history, Upper Darby . police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said Friday. 'The . case workers and the doctors and the catchment centers — they know who . violent individuals are, because they're frequent fliers. And the system . is not geared toward keeping these people housed somewhere until they . start to be better. So you put whole communities at risk,' Chitwood . said. Plotts may have been . angry with Silverman over his treatment plan, Whelan said. Colleagues . heard arguing during the appointment and saw Plotts aiming a gun at . Silverman when they peaked inside the door. They quietly backed out and . called 911. The shooting soon began, just before 2:30 p.m. However, Whelan did not know if Silverman was carrying a gun because of a specific fear of Plotts. The . psychiatrist was recuperating at home Friday. His wife said he did not . want to discuss the shooting, and she also declined to comment. An officer stands guard near the scene of the shooting on Thursday . Evidence: Crime scene workers arrive at the hospital on Thursday afternoon . Plotts does not have a listed home number, and it was unclear if he has relatives in the area. Hospital . policy bars anyone except on-duty law enforcement officers from . carrying weapons on campus, a Mercy Health System spokeswoman said. She . otherwise declined to discuss the reports that Silverman was armed at . work. 'We remain focused on . working with the Delaware County Police Departments to understand fully . the details of the event,' said the spokeswoman, Bernice Ho. Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said that 'without a doubt, I believe the doctor saved lives.' 'Without . that firearm, this guy (the patient) could have went out in the hallway . and just walked down the offices until he ran out of ammunition,' the . chief said. Both guns were . recovered from the scene. The exchange of gunfire occurred on the third . floor of the Wellness Center at Mercy Fitzgerald, a 204-bed community . teaching hospital. There . are no surveillance cameras in the doctor's office or the waiting area . outside, and no metal detectors at the entrance, authorities said. Cathy . Nickel, a neighbor at Plotts' last known address, an apartment complex . in Upper Darby, saw a caseworker move him out of the building about a . year ago. As he was taken away in a van, she said, he yelled, 'You . haven't heard the end of me!' Concern: Hospital workers leave the scene of the shooting on Thursday .", "By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 16:13 EST, 5 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 16:30 EST, 5 November 2012 . Threats: Neil Andersen has been handed an indefinite prison term after he admitted setting fire to a sex shop. He previously stalked a BBC actress . A disgruntled customer who admitted setting fire to a sex shop and had previously stalked a BBC actress has been handed an indefinite prison sentence. A judge at Bristol Crown Court told Neil Andersen, 43, he considered him 'dangerous' and that he was imprisoning him for public protection. Andersen, who has a psychotic illness and has previously threatened to fire bomb a pub, said he had set fire to the sex shop on the Lower Bristol Road, in Bath, because he was 'frustrated' with the owners. He told the startled shop worker 'I’ve got a surprise for you' before pouring petrol around the shop - above which lived a family - and then setting it alight on October 21 last year. Andersen, of Wedmore Park, Bath, Somerset, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered after a judge ordered a jury to acquit him of the more serious charge of arson with intent to endanger life. The court heard the defendant had 11 convictions for 18 previous offences which included affray and stalking women. Andersen had previously harassed a BBC actress - who was not named in court - and had turned up at studios in Cardiff armed with a knife, threatening to harm her boyfriend. He had also made threats against mental health staff and in 1993 he had threatened to fire bomb a pub after being thrown out of the premises. Andersen has a mixed personality disorder and following assessments by two psychiatrists was found to be dangerous and delusional. But the court heard that Andersen could not be detained in a psychiatric hospital . because the two psychiatrists who had assessed him did not agree this . was necessary. The court heard he has a number of conspiracy theories and had told police that he was being persecuted because people were mistaking him for Martin Stenning - a freelance photographer who had been barred in the mid-1990s from taking photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales. Recorder Ben Compton QC told Andersen he was satisfied he posed a dangerous risk to the public based on the psychiatric reports. 'Dangerous': A judge at Bristol Crown Court (above) told Andersen that he was imprisoning him for public protection . Passing an indefinite prison sentence, the judge said Andersen would have to serve at least four years in prison before being considered for parole. Prosecutor Richard Posner told the court Andersen had bought a green petrol container from DIY store Homebase before going to a Sainsbury’s petrol station to fill it up. He then walked the short distance to the sex shop, which sells sex toys and pornographic material, at about 7pm. Mr Posner said shop worker Mark Morris remembered telling Andersen that a family lived upstairs, before fleeing the shop. The flames destroyed the premises, owned by Darker Enterprises Ltd, but the court heard there had been no intent to endanger life. Prosecutor . 'He (Andersen) was frustrated with the products in the adult shop,' Mr Posner said. 'CCTV footage of what this defendant did shows liquid thrown around the adult shop and then lit. It went up in flames.' The court previously heard Andersen told police after his arrest: 'My gripe is with the company that runs the shop, not the worker. 'I have a gripe about some of the DVDs they sell and produce and I have been receiving hassle from someone. 'My gripe is that the company used to use a courier in the capital and he got dropped into the s*** when he lost some property.' Andersen went on to tell police that he was being persecuted because people were mistaking him for Martin Stenning, a freelance photographer who had been barred in the mid-1990s from taking photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales. 'I am getting hassle left, right and centre,' he told detectives. Dr Sabarigirivasan Muthukrishnan, a locum consultant psychiatrist, told the judge that because of Andersen’s personality disorder he posed a 'varied' risk to the public. He said Andersen was able to premeditate, meticulously plan and carry out certain actions. The psychiatrist told the judge Andersen had threatened doctors and mental health staff and agreed that he had phoned the workplace of the BBC actress, posing as a psychiatrist himself, in order to contact her. James Bennett, for Andersen, said his client took exception with 'some force' to the fact he was referred to as 'delusional' and that Andersen claimed he could prove his 'conspiracies' were factually correct. He added his client felt aggrieved by the court system and believed that his sentencing had been rushed. Balding and bespectacled Andersen showed no emotion as the judge passed sentence.", "The two children suffocated by their mother in Spain were not fathered by her paedophile partner, a court heard yesterday. Lianne Smith looked furious when the shock DNA results were read out to the jury and denounced them as 'mistaken'. She has admitted killing Rebecca, five, and 11-month-old Daniel in their hotel beds on the Costa Brava in May 2010 after her partner was arrested on child sex charges. The jury of seven men and two women retired to consider their verdicts at 11.30am local time. Scroll down to see the interview where Lianne admits to killing her children... Smith admits suffocating Rebecca and Daniel but claims to have been in an unsound mental state at the time of the killings . Lianne Smith is led into court in Girona, Spain, this morning on the third day of her murder trial, where the court heard DNA tests prove her partner did not father her victims . Judge Adolfo Garcia Morales told them that if they find Smith not guilty of murder on the grounds of insanity, she will be sent to a secure psychiatric hospital until she is cured. He said: 'If a person is completely insane they must be acquitted and there is no sentence. But they are not released into the street. 'They are sent to a secure psychiatric unit until they are cured. That might be two years or it might be 25 years. They are not released until they are cured.' The prosecution accepts Smith suffers from an unspecified psychosis but claim it is not too severe that she cannot be held accountable for her crimes. Defence lawyer Jenifer Lahoz Abos argues Smith suffers from such a severe mental illness she cannot be heard criminally responsible for their deaths. She is seeking an acquittal, claiming Smith was in a state of ‘psychiatric disturbance’ and suffering insurmountable fear when the tragedy happened. Martin Smith, who was found dead in his cell in January . Yesterday a psychiatrist claimed Smith smothered her children with a plastic bag 'out of love' because she did not want them taken into care. Her partner, TV hypnostist Martin Smith, hanged himself in prison earlier this year – believing his partner had killed his son and daughter. But they were not his children, the jury at Girona provincial court in north-east Spain, was told. A police witness, identified only by her badge number 12602, revealed: 'DNA tests on the children showed that Martin Smith was not their biological father.' Smith, 45, of Lichfield, Staffordshire, reacted with fury and insisted the tests were wrong. She gave birth to Daniel in 2009 while on the run in Spain with Mr Smith. Her daughter Rebecca had been born in the UK in 2005 while she and Mr Smith – who shared a surname but were not married – were living together. Their relationship was violent and Smith's two older children from a previous relationship, witnessed ugly rows. Her eldest daughter, Sarah Richardson, now 24, was repeatedly raped by her stepfather over nearly a decade. When she finally told police – and later waived her right to anonymity – Mr Smith was arrested but ran away to Spain before his trial. Smith fled with him, and while living a fugitive lifestyle in Barcelona, she found a job in a nursery, and then became pregnant with Daniel. The couple fled their first flat in Barcelona within hours of Daniel being born. An American neighbour told the Mail: 'It was very strange. She came back from hospital after giving birth to her little boy and left the same day. We never saw them again.' Police eventually tracked down Martin Smith in May 2010 and deported him to the UK where he was found guilty of sexually abusing his stepdaughter Sarah and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He committed suicide in January this . year, aged 46. Two weeks after his arrest, Lianne Smith, a former . manager of children's services at Cumbria county council, suffocated her . children in the Hotel Miramar in Lloret de Mar after giving them a . 'perfect holiday'. She spent the night with their  lifeless bodies before asking the hotel receptionist to call police. Martin Smith was previously thought to be the father of Daniel and Rebecca, whom his partner has admitted killing in a Spanish hotel room . Yesterday her trial heard she had . 'killed them out of love' – because she feared social services were . about to take them away.  Forensic psychiatrist Itziar Idiaquez Alberdi . said: 'She believed the children would be taken away from her and . institutionalised. For her, this was worse than death. 'She had spoken about this with her . partner (Martin Smith) and they had talked about taking their own lives . if they were ever separated.' Asked if Smith could distinguish between . good and evil when she killed the children, the psychiatrist replied: . 'She was convinced that it was the best thing she could do. She killed . them out of love. She loved the children.' Lianne Smith in court in Girona today, where she insisted the DNA test results must have been incorrect . Dragged: Smith being led from a police car into court during her trial . Prison psychiatrist Harry Barker said . Smith viewed the deaths of her two children as 'an unavoidable . catastrophe'. She suffered from a psychosis that made her lose contact . with reality, he told the court. Smith had asked her young daughter if . she would prefer to live 'a few very happy days with her mother or a . long time without her mother', he said. Rebecca had apparently answered she . wanted to stay with her mother. After killing the children, Smith cut . her wrists and attempted to hang herself. But forensic doctor Elisabet . Vazquez Martinez said Smith's injuries were only 'superficial'. The jury must decide if Smith is criminally responsible or mentally ill. The trial continues. Horror: Smith, with son Daniel, was placed on suicide watch after learning of her partner's hanging in prison . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.", "Faleh Ghazi Albasman, 59, confessed to stabbing his 24-year-old daughter to death, saying he was 'boiling with anger' after she 'disrespected' him . A Kuwaiti father who brought his daughter to the UK to learn English murdered her in an 'honour killing' when he found her using a mobile phone. Faleh Ghazi Albasman, 59, stabbed 24-year-old Mashael in the neck 13 times in the flat that they shared in Bournemouth, before picking up another blade and wounding himself in the stomach. After being taken to hospital, Albasman spoke Arabic to a surgeon, asking him what the penalty for honour killings were in Britain, before telling him: 'it's all about the honour'. Albasman confessed that he was 'boiling with anger' when he attacked his daughter, saying she had been 'disrespectful' to him and told him 'to go home', Winchester Crown Court heard. The final straw came when he found her talking on a mobile phone, saying that her behaviour had become ‘inappropriate in my culture’. The court heard Albasman had come over to Bournemouth, Dorset, with Mashael in November 2013 to be her 'chaperone'. She had started an English language course in the seaside town, just before she was found dead by paramedics on March 30 this year. Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, said: 'Mashael Albasman was killed due to multiple stab wounds, 13 in all, mainly concentrated on the neck. 'The stab wounds were likely to have been inflicted by Mr Albasman standing behind her. 'He was arrested on suspicion of murder and taken to Southampton General Hospital due to his own injuries. He was seen by medical staff including Mr Ahmed, a consultant surgeon who spoke Arabic. 'Mr Ahmed told Mr Albasman that he would translate what he was told to the police and Mr Albasman said he understood and at one point told the surgeon \"I have finished her\". 'When asked who the \"her\" was, he said his daughter, Mashael. He asked Mr Ahmed a number of times \"what’s the law here in context to murder for honour?\" 'He repeated on a number of occasions \"tell them it’s honour, it’s about honour\". 'He maintained in his final interview that Mashael had been very disrespectful, she had been talking on her phone and he maintained that was inappropriate in his culture. 'He said \"I was so angry. Boiling with anger. She said to me go back. A girl should not treat good men like me, decent men in this way\". 'I hated Mashael, how dare she talk to me in that way. I was so angry, upset and mentally low. Mashael broke my heart. He agreed by killing her had preserved his honour.' Mashael was found dead inside this block of flats in Bournemouth. Albasman was rushed to hospital after stabbing himself with a knife, where he told a surgeon 'tell them it's honour, it's about honour' Dr El-Khayad, a forensic psychiatrist, gave evidence today and said Albasman was involved road traffic accident which happened when he was in his 20s, leaving him in a coma with a ‘significant impairment of his IQ’. Glenn Harris, defending, said: 'The defendant understands that he has committed a serious offence and he understands by pleading guilty he accepts causing his daughter’s death. 'This was a tragic incident.' Judge Nigel Teare did not give Albasman a custodial sentence, but instead sentenced him to an indefinite hospital order. He said: 'You have pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of your daughter, Mashael Albasman. 'Police were called to the property, you opened the door and your daughter was found with 13 stab wounds in her neck. 'She was declared deceased by a paramedic. Your guilty plea of manslaughter has been accepted by the prosecution. 'Psychiatrists who have examined you have concluded that you were suffering from a medical condition called paranoid psychosis. 'This was possibly caused by a Road Traffic Accident when you were in your 20s which left you in a coma. You felt she was disrespectful to you and was acting inappropriately. 'It is appropriate for you to be detained in a medical hospital for treatment. 'The effect of that order is that you will only be discharged from hospital with the consent of the Secretary of State. 'There will therefore be a hospital order with a restriction order, unlimited in time.' Albasman, who was emotionless in the dock, was then marched out flanked by hospital staff and security guards. He will return to a medium security hospital called Ravenswood House. Albasman was sent to a secure mental hospital indefinitely for the attack, after the court heard a car crash while he was in his 20s had left him with brain damage .", "A 36-year-old who was desperate for a baby after seven years of trying to conceive has finally had a baby girl - after she was hypnotised into believing she was pregnant. Louise Cheshire, 36, who also suffered two miscarriages, decided to try hypnotherapy before embarking on IVF treatment with her partner Ian Forrest, 33. But the shop worker from Coventry fell pregnant just four weeks after attending a one-hour session with practitioner David Kilmurry last January. Longed-for baby: Louise Cheshire tried for seven years before she had daughter Aafia, who is now eight weeks old . She gave birth to daughter Aafia Rose, who weighed 6lbs 11oz, on December 3 last year at University Hospital Coventry. Louise, from Hinckley, Leicestershire, said: 'Seven years ago I had two miscarriages and then I was trying for a baby for five years after that. 'We were trying for a baby the whole time but I thought I couldn't have a baby. I was under one of the country's top gynaecologists. 'I had lots of tests and they couldn't find anything wrong. They said there was no problem with me. We were going to try IVF but I thought hypnosis was worth one last try. 'It helped me quit smoking years ago and I just thought it was worth a shot. I never expected it to work but after just one session I felt much more positive and calm.' Hypnotherapy induces a trance like state, during which the conscious mind is thought to be suppressed while the subconscious mind is opened. Practitioners stress that a patient is not put to sleep and can't be made to do something they don't wish to. During a session a therapist suggests ideas and lifestyle changes to the patient to reduce anxiety and promote wellbeing. Ms Cheshire said: 'David basically hypnotised me into believing I was pregnant and would have a baby. 'Four . weeks later Ian and I went away for the weekend and a few days later I . took a pregnancy test and it came back positive. I was thrilled. Ms Cheshire is convinced hypnotherapy helped by calming her down both before and during her pregnancy . Louise's 30-week scan while pregnant with Aafia. She had suffered two previous miscarriages . 'I'm convinced the hypnotherapy helped relax and calm me down because I was so worried about not having a baby. 'He also taught me techniques to deal with anxiety when I was feeling worried and helped me relax about being pregnant. It was the best hour of my life and I was pregnant four weeks later. 'I know it sounds unreal but I'm convinced that it really helped me because I stopped thinking about it so much and stopped worrying.' Her hypnotherapist David Kilmurry said: 'Cognitive Behavioural . Hypnotherapy (CBH) is a very powerful treatment that if administered . correctly will make you more capable of conception. 'Be . aware that when couples have exhausted all of the available options, . paid all of their hard earned money on the treatments and eventually . stop trying they will often let go of the stress around there personal . moments and will then naturally fall pregnant. 'The truth is that it is much more likely that we are predominantly \"accidents\" as opposed to \"planned\".'" ]

[ "Personally i am surprised you had the strength to type this question." ]

[ "The issue is still very much controversially discussed among biologists. But it is true, the strongest venoms are found in Australian snakes. Even seasnakes with their hgihly effective and potential venom are of Australian origin. \\n\\nVenoms are highly diverse in their biochemical composition throughout the recent snake taxa (or taxonomic groups, like \"family\", \"genus\" etc.), which makes developing anitoxins so challenging, but which also offers great possibilities in drug development in biomedical sciences. what it tells us in regard to your question is that possibly the composition of the toxins can hint at their evolutionary origin. it is, what in phylogenetic research (the study of the evolutionary relationships of organisms) is referred to as a characteristic. \\n\\nOne thing you have to keep in mind is that Australia is geographically separated from other continents. Unless living in the water or the air and being able to migrate long distances across long stretches of ocean, species will neither get nor out of Australia very easily (the seasnake being a case in point; it made its way all over the south sea). In other words, what is there, will evolve further there. \\n\\nVenoms usually evolve in a complex process also known as co-evolution. What determines change in the venom's composition and strength is the evolutionary adaptations of those organisms that get exposed to the poison. In other words, if a snake evolves a strong poison, but its main prey evolves an immunity to the toxin in response, a new and stronger poison would be necessary. And so, in co-evolution, certain traits can become extremely \"heightened\". \\n\\nNow, given that Australia is such an isolated part of the world (a giant island), co-evolution is likely to occur more often and easily. Elsewhere, a snake could simply try to migrate on and find other food. But more importantly, the diversification of snakes has pretty much one point of origin. It is one \"monophyletic\" group. The family of Australian snakes is the Elapidae. And these critters now evolve with already strong venom. You can see how the isolated geographic situation will intensify the process and produce strong venoms. This is also supported by the fact tha not only snakes but all other venmous critters have evolved more poisonous in Australia than elsewhere in the world. \\n\\nAnd ultimately, that means that one of the former comments has a valid point: Australians are tough to kill! Only that I am not thinking of human beings...\\n\\nHope that helps.", "a study was conducted on rats and what the researchers did was get the rats fat then starve them for a month, they lost weight, then the rats could eat as much as they wanted they got even fatter again, now the researchers starved them and the rats lost weight but not as much as the first time, then again the rats could eat as much as they wanted and then they were starved again, this time the rats didnt lose as much weight and they were heavier. What is going\\non?? im not too sure however the fat cells have a memeory and each time they r starved they remember to store more next time, it has to do with leptin and other responses from the fat cell, but basically u have yo yo dietied and your body is gonna make it harder for you to lose weight and keep it off it does not sound good but im sure if you seek good advice and are patient and change what you previously did good results can be achieved", "unclean animals include any animal that is in some way presented as dirty for example shell fish are considered unclean because they eat dead and decaying matter off the floors of the ocean. also any scavenging bird or animal such as ravens crows weasels, vultures, owls, lizards, ferrets, many different types of bugs, rats, squid, snakes.\\n\\nLeviticus 11:1-47 has characteristics of unclean animals", "Snakes lost their legs on land, not in the sea as previous scientists thought, according to new research by professor of biology S. Blair Hedges and postdoctoral fellow Nicolas Vidal.\\n\\n\"Everyone agrees that snakes evolved from lizards and are close relatives to lizards,\" Hedges said. \"What is controversial is the specific group, whether on the land or in the sea.\"\\n\\nScientists estimate that snakes evolved 150 million years ago, Vidal said. For many years, they believed in the terrestrial or land theory, which says that snakes evolved from lizards that burrowed underground.\\n\\nThen, seven years ago, the discovery of a fossilized marine snake with tiny hind legs fueled the marine hypothesis that snakes lost their legs in the sea. The marine snakes called mosasaurs are now extinct, but their closest cousins, the monitor lizards such as the Komodo Dragon, are still alive today.\\n\\nHedges and Vidal chose two genes and compared them in lizards and snakes to see how closely they are related. From statistical analysis of these gene sequences, they created a family tree.\\n\\n\"These two genes have accumulated different mutations in the different species,\" Vidal said. \"These differences between the species are used to build the evolutionary trees. Snakes are not closely related to the monitor lizards, which means that they cannot have marine origins.\"\\n\\nHedges and Vidal's research is significant because of the comprehensive scope of the snakes and lizards studied. They collected DNA from 64 species representing all 19 families of living lizards and 17 of the 25 families of living snakes, Vidal said.\\n\\n\"We mostly acquired DNA from the soft tissues, blood, shed skin, scales and tips of the tails of the animals,\" he said. \"A very small amount is needed, so we can get the sample without killing the animal.\"\\n\\nHedges and Vidal acquired samples from other colleagues, their own collections, fieldwork in South America and pet stores that trade exotic animals, Hedges said.\\n\\nSome of the samples were difficult to acquire because some snakes and lizards are limited to certain parts of the world, such as remote islands, but it was crucial to their study.\\n\\n\"We felt it was important to analyze genes from all the lizard groups, because almost every lizard family has been suggested as being the one most closely related to snakes,\" Hedges said. \"If we had failed to include genes from even one of the lizard families, we could have missed getting the right answer.\"\\n\\nA possible theory to explain why snakes dropped their legs on land is that limbs are not conducive to their burrowing habits, Vidal said.\\n\\n\"The idea is that if you have limbs sticking out, it's difficult to get into small openings,\" Hedges said. \"It's more advantageous, because it enables snakes to get more food and offers safety from predators.\"\\n\\nHedges and Vidal did not find the closest lizard relative to snakes, but they did succeed in eliminating the monitor and marine lizards as possibilities.\\n\\n\"This study doesn't answer all the questions,\" Hedges said. \"In most fields, questions aren't answered all at once. They're answered in increments, and in this study, we've ruled out the marine theory, but that still leaves a lot of possibilities.\"\\n\\nHedges and Vidal said they hope to find the closest relative to snakes in the next year.\\n\\n\"The work by Dr. Hedges and Dr. Vidal is a tremendous contribution to the body of knowledge,\" said Bryan Fry, deputy director of the Australian Venom Research Unit at the University of Melbourne in Australia. \"Their data provides strong evidence for the terrestrial loss of limbs.\"", "venom is way craftier than the bture rhino. the suit would cover rhino and drain his energy. of course venom has had enough experience with spiderman and carnage to know how to defeat someone as dumb as rhino.", "I believe it is all about jealousy. I mean, look how much the west has as compared to the Arab States. If it were not for their oil, those countries would not have much more to offer. However, like the guy above said, trap a rat in the corner and it will defend itself. However,the rat is going up against the king of the jungle, a den of lions. It does not take much to see that they too strive to have power. But they wouldnt know how to control their power so thats the reason they cannot have nuclear arms. As far as Russia, they are in it for the money...what else. For the same reason they did not authorize the US invading Iraq, they were purchasing lot of oil from Iraq and selling it to the US. Its all politics but for Iran, they are out of their league.", "I'm Japanese and have lived in Japan. My Advise to you is just be yourself. If you try and emulate Japanese culture in your mannerism then it will come off as awkward and forced. They are interviewing you because of your qualifications not because you are an expert on Japanese culture.", "It does not matter if the debt is 90 Trillion of dollars.\\n\\nWhat are the Japanese, Germans and Chinese going to do if the United States of America Goverment does not pay them?\\n\\nInvade the United States of America?", "It all started with the problem with 12dailypro and stormpay. now the SEC is suing 12dailypro.com for fruad and scam. and studio traffic and 12daily.com are almost the same method of earning money.\\nif it look like a snake and sound like a snake then it must be a snake in the grass.", "Easy. Comparative Advantage. It's all about technology and manufacturing. America is not the manufacturing powerhouse it was before the World War II. It just does not have the capabilities to match the Japanese anymore. We have molded ourselves into a more services-based economy, which is good for America in general, but bad for automobile companies like GE." ]

[ "News Headlines: Oct. 2, 2007SI.com: Jury Decides Against Isiah, Knicks -- \"A jury decided Tuesday that New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas sexually harassed a former top team executive, subjecting her to unwanted advances and a barrage of verbal insults, but also said he does not have to pay punitive damages.\" On today's show, Sports Illustrated writer Chris Mannix offered an update on the case. More Headlines:AP: Crack Sentence Gets High Court Review AP: Carter, Tutu Urge End to Darfur Violence The Washington Post (Blog): Clinton Tops Obama in Money Chase The New York Times: Blackwater Chief Faces House Panel The Dallas Morning News: Texas Gang Feud Turning Deadly The AJC: At 80, MLK's Big Sister a Living Legend The New York Times: Nameless Memorialized at African Burial Site Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles Homeboy Bakery Rises Again" ]

[ "This morning, we learned a jury found New York Knicks' coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden -- the team's owners -- guilty of sexually harassing a former female executive. Now we know the dollar figure: 11.6 million big ones. But the Garden -- not Thomas -- has to pay the punitive damages. Here's how it works out, according to The Associated Press: \"The jury found Madison Square Garden owes $6 million for allowing a hostile work environment to exist and $2.6 million for retaliation; MSG chairman James Dolan owes $3 million.\" So what do you think? -- Should Isiah Thomas be fired as coach of the Knicks?-- Should he have to pay part of the $11.6 million?-- What will this mean for the Knicks' future? And on the other side of the Thomas family tree ... Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes Sunday night, in part, to promote his new book [Highlights here]. In it, he offers his recollections on the Anita Hill controversy, which surrounded his confirmation hearings. Today, Hill reemerged to defend herself against Thomas' characterizations. \"I understand that he is very angry and wants to vindicate himself, but my testimony was truthful,\" she told ABC's Good Morning America. -- Who is telling the truth in this case of he said / she said?-- Thomas says he is vilified, in part, because he is black and people think he is \"supposed to think a certain way.\" Agree?-- Will you be buying Thomas' book?", "Former New York Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders recently won a multimillion-dollar sexual harrassment suit against Knicks coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden, the basketball team's owner. Browne Sanders talks about Thomas, her case and why she sued.", "For NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, basketball isn't just a game. And it's not merely a business, either; it's a way of life. During his playing days in Detroit, Thomas was known both for his leadership and for having a desire to win that brought him from childhood poverty to superstardom. He was also famous for keeping an angelic smile on his face, even as his Pistons -- often merely called the Bad Boys -- scrambled and scrapped their way to two NBA titles. Along the way, Thomas learned lessons from his family, his coaches and his rivals. From siblings who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction to coaches who pushed him to excel, Thomas brought a world of experience onto the court. His duels with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan are legendary -- and Thomas can still reel off his tally of where they all stand. Now the president of operations for the New York Knicks, Thomas has earned both criticism and success for his efforts to revamp a team that has strayed far from its once-elite standing. For his part, Thomas says basketball reflects the personality -- the spirit -- of anyone who plays the sport. In an interview with NPR's John Ydstie, Thomas discusses his concept of the game and how he reconciles that with some of today's less spiritually inclined NBA players.", "News & Notes Web producer Geoffrey Bennett talks with host Farai Chideya about the stories that are making the rounds on the show's blog, \"News & Views,\" including the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment case and reaction to the protests in Jena, La.", "In this week's <em>Barbershop</em>, Jimi Izrael, Ruben Navarrette, Terrance Harris and Arsalan Iftikhar talk about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' new book, New York Knicks coach Isaiah Thomas' sexual harassment lawsuit and how some people are using symbols of hate to teach lessons.", "The coach of the New York Knicks, basketball legend Isiah Thomas, was found guilty Tuesday of sexually harrassing a top team executive. A New York jury convicted Thomas of making unwanted advances and verbally insulting Anucha Browne Sanders. The jury also said Madison Square Garden, which employed Sanders, is liable for the harassment. However, the jury did not support Sanders' claim for $10 million in damages. In a statement, MSG supported Thomas and said the jury reached the wrong conclusion. It does not appear the decision will affect Thomas' job with the NBA team. After the verdict, Thomas said he was innocent and planned to appeal the ruling. ALEX COHEN, host: This is DAY TO DAY. I'm Alex Cohen. MADELEINE BRAND, host: And I'm Madeleine Brand. The coach of the New York Knicks, basketball legend Isiah Thomas, is guilty of sexually harassing a top team executive. A New York jury today convicted Thomas of making unwanted advances and verbally insulting Anucha Browne Sanders. Thomas appeared outside the courthouse minutes after the ruling. Mr. ISIAH THOMAS (Coach, New York Knicks): I'm innocent and I did not do the things that she accused me in this courtroom of doing. I will appeal this and I remain confident in the man that I am and what I stand for and the family that I have. Thank you. BRAND: Anucha Browne Sanders had sued for $10 million, but the jury also ruled that Isiah Thomas doesn't have to pay her. Madison Square Garden, where they both worked, will have to pay. We're joined now by NPR's Mike Pesca from New York. And Mike, you've been following this case. What happened? MIKE PESCA: Well, what happened today was that the jury came back and there were nine things that they had to decide. They were able to make a decision on eight of them. And what they decided was that MSG, which was Anucha Browne Sanders' corporate employer, was guilty of sexual harassment. They've said that - well, we shouldn't say guilty, liable for sexual harassment. They said that Isiah Thomas, the Knicks coach, also sexually harassed Anucha Browne Sanders. What they could not decide is should Isiah Thomas, because of the harassment, pay? They did decide that the MSG retaliated against Anucha Browne Sanders and as a result they should pay, and punitive damages are still to be decided - they'll be decided by this jury. Sanders is asking for up to $10 million. BRAND: Now, Mike, this was a juicy tabloid story, especially in New York. What were some of the allegations that came out in court? PESCA: Yeah, juicy, tawdry, dispiriting - take your pick of adjectives. In court there was language that could not be used even in semi-respectable tabloids, so I don't even know if the people of New York got that accurate of depiction of some of the things that Anucha Browne Sanders said was said to her. But she was called all manner of words and there was unwanted sexual come-ons. At one point Isiah Thomas said to Anucha Browne Sanders, you know why we don't get along, because it's just like that movie \"Love and Basketball,\" meaning - I guess implying that they, there was some sexual tension between them that Anucha Browne Sanders did not appreciate, that Isiah Thomas denied, but today that the jury said was enough to constitute sexual harassment. BRAND: So was this verdict expected, given all this testimony? PESCA: It - well, the expected part was - going into today, it was very much expected because the items that the jury was deadlocked on - you'd only deadlock if you agree that there was sexual harassment. They were deadlocked on should we be telling him to pay for sexual harassment, so they wouldn't deadlock on that unless they thought there was harassment. But during the course of the trial, some courtroom observers (unintelligible) they thought that there were a lot of kind of headlines to be made but they weren't sure that Sanders' attorney was laying out the case in an easy to follow way away, but in - what often happens is that the jury does that job themselves and there was enough there, there was enough kind of disgusting or dispiriting stuff about Knicks players having sex with interns, about things that were said to Anucha Browne Sanders. It was enough there for the jury to think that it constituted harassment. BRAND: Okay, quickly, Mike: Isiah Thomas, he's been idolized for his play in college and in the NBA, but as coach the Knicks haven't done very well. So will he keep his job? PESCA: In a statement they said that, you know, MSG said that we believe in Isiah Thomas; we thought the jury acted wrong; in normal operations, Madison Square Garden and the Knicks will continue unabated. He is still in his job as Knicks coach and the president of basketball operations. To fire him from - well, up this point, if they had fired from his job it would look really bad in the eyes of the jury. But no one is actually suggesting that because of this verdict, James Dolan, who's the president of the Knicks, is going to t", "The conversation continues with Angela Wright, a woman who alleges that she, too, was sexually harassed by Clarence Thomas before his appointment to the United States Supreme Court.", "Steve Inskeep talks to Jill Abramson, who writes in <em>New York Magazine</em> about the long-standing sexual harassment allegations against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.", "Nineteen years ago this month, the nation was riveted as law professor Anita Hill, accused her one-time boss, Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, of sexually harassing her. Now Thomas' wife has left a voice-mail message on Hill's office phone asking her to apologize. For more, Melissa Block talks to NPR's Nina Totenberg.", "-- NPR's Chitra Ragavan reports on the latest developments in both the Paula Jones harassment suit and grand jury testimony in the Monica Lewinsky case.", "A New York jury has found coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden liable in a sexual harassment case involving a former high-ranking, female executive. For the latest in the case, host Farai Chideya talks with Chris Mannix, a writer for Sports Illustrated. FARAI CHIDEYA, host: From NPR News, this is NEWS & NOTES. I'm Farai Chideya. Coming up: The Supreme Court considers a major drug sentencing case. But first, a jury in New York has delivered a strong verdict against one of the National Basketball Association's biggest names. The panels found that New York Knicks' coach Isiah Thomas sexually harassed a top team executive. Chris Mannix is a writer for Sports Illustrated and SI.com. He's been following the story. He joins me now. Chris, welcome. Mr. CHRIS MANNIX (Writer, Sports Illustrated, SI.com): How are you doing? CHIDEYA: So give me the specifics, briefly, of what happened. Mr. MANNIX: Well, the jury found Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden liable for sexual harassment, which basically, you know, in layman terms, mean they were guilty of the actions - of the allegations of Anucha Browne Sanders brought against them. So the judge found earlier that Isiah Thomas will not have to pay any money to Anucha Browne Sanders, but he will decide later on today exactly how much money Madison Square Garden will have to pay her. CHIDEYA: So she's a mother of three, said that she was verbally abused, verbally harassed. Let's talk about what this means for Isiah. He came to town, jumped into the fire of New York expectations - those haven't necessarily been met. What do you expect will happen to him, not just in the courts, but in terms of his relationship to his team? Mr. MANNIX: Well, he jumped into the fire and probably burned. I mean, that's basically the only way you can put it. I really think that no matter what the result of this trial - and, obviously, he was found liable for the sexual harassment, I don't think anything is going to happen to him. James Dolan, the owner of the Knicks, has long had a fascination with this guy ever since he hired him in 2003. He's really behind him all the way as far as his - you know, what he does both on and off the court. So Isiah Thomas will not lose his job. From talking to some league sources this morning, the understanding is that because this is a civil trial and not a criminal complaint, they are not going to suspend Isiah Thomas. They are unlikely to impose any kind of sanctions whatsoever. So it seems that once this trial ends, Isiah Thomas will not have to deal with this anymore. The important thing to note, though, is that the Knicks are going to appeal this verdict. And I'm told that could take anywhere from nine months to two years. So we are far from - at the end of this trial. CHIDEYA: Do you think this is going to have any impact on the bottom line at Garden? Mr. MANNIX: Not exactly. I mean, not really. I mean, Cablevision, you know, which owns the Garden, is part of that whole entity is too big and too powerful. And the idea that James Dolan could have settled this lawsuit out of court for three or $4 million just goes to show he's not afraid to lose 10 million. He's not afraid to just use his team as a pawn, I guess, in this sort of - in a situation like this. So I don't think this will have too much of an impact. In a matter of, you know, six months to a year, it probably will go away. CHIDEYA: How does this case impact the career paths of women who want to work in sports? There were classic battles over whether female reporters could go into locker rooms, for example. We're talking here about a different context also in the sports industry. Does this say anything about whether or not women can make it, or are given opportunities to make it? Mr. MANNIX: Well, I think this is almost a landmark case in the fact that, you know, a judge and jury decided that the way that men talk to women in the workplace will not be tolerated if it's inappropriate. I think that it can only be a positive. I think in the long term that, you know, other employees of sports and otherwise, but particularly in the National Basketball Association where there aren't too many female executives, and Anucha Browne Sanders was one of the most high-ranking female African-American executives in all of pro-sports. And the fact that, you know, she was mistreated. She brought this matter to the - in front of a jury, and they decided in favor of her. I think that could only be a positive for female executives in the future. CHIDEYA: Well, Chris, thank you so much. Mr. MANNIX: My pleasure. CHIDEYA: Chris Mannix is a writer for Sports Illustrated and SI.com.", "A federal jury has found that a former executive of the New York Knicks was sexually harassed by her bosses, including coach Isiah Thomas. Anucha Browne Sanders will receive $11.6 million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages from Madison Square Garden, her former employer. Browne Sanders was once the Knicks' vice president of marketing and business operations. She testified that she was repeatedly cursed at and hit on. Thomas denied cursing at Browne Sanders but said he cursed around her. In a deposition, Thomas said that a white man calling a black woman a \"bitch\" was worse than a black man doing the same. A season ticket holder testified that he saw Thomas put his arm around Browne Sanders and compliment her appearance, causing Sanders to grow uncomfortable. Thomas was not found liable for punitive damages after the trial, but the jury decided that he had harassed Browne Sanders, herself a former college basketball star. \"I'm innocent, I'm very innocent, and I did not do the things she has accused me in this courtroom of doing,\" Thomas said after the decision. \"I'm extremely disappointed that the jury did not see the facts in this case.\" Browne Sanders said hers was a victory for all working women. The case has reflected rather disastrously on James Dolan, the billionaire CEO of Cablevision, which owns the Knicks. In a videotaped deposition that was played at the trial, Dolan sat slumped in a chair wearing a black crewneck shirt with the sleeves pushed up. His demeanor and answers may have seemed flippant to the jurors. Laughing off this case may have been Madison Square Garden's undoing. Cablevision is valued by the stock market to be worth more than $10 billion. When Browne Sanders left the Garden, she offered to drop her suit for $6 million. She was rebuffed. The Knicks haven't had a winning record in seven years, but the loss they suffered Tuesday can't be undone with draft picks or clever trades, though the Garden does vow to appeal. MICHELE NORRIS, host: A big ruling in federal court today against Madison Square Garden. The jury found that a former executive of the New York Knicks was sexually harassed by her bosses, including coach Isiah Thomas. And the jury awarded Anucha Browne Sanders $11.6 million in compensatory and punitive damages. From New York, here is NPR's Mike Pesca. MIKE PESCA: More than the basketball team was rotten within Madison Square Garden. That, in a nutshell, was the finding of a Manhattan jury this afternoon. Anucha Browne Sanders, the Knicks' former vice president of marketing and business operations, prevailed in a trial that sully the reputations of Knicks' coach Isiah Thomas and Knicks' owner James Dolan. Thomas was not found liable for punitive damages, but the jury did say he harassed Browne Sanders, herself a former college basketball star. After the trial, Thomas spoke to reporters. Mr. ISIAH THOMAS (Coach, New York Knicks): Everybody can get a little closer so you can hear me because I want to say it as loud as I possibly can. I'm innocent. I'm very innocent. And I did not do the things that she accused me in this courtroom of doing. PESCA: But later, Browne Sanders proclaimed victory for herself, for other workingwomen and for this group. Ms. ANUCHA BROWNE SANDERS (Former Vice President for Marketing and Business Operations, New York Knicks): It's for every man in the corporate environment who does act like a professional and everyone who sends a sister to work every day, a mother to work every day, a daughter to work every day. And it's for also the women who don't have the means and couldn't possibly have done what I was able to do. PESCA: Browne Sanders testified that she was repeatedly cursed at and hit on. Thomas denied cursing at Browne Sanders but said, he cursed while she was around. In a deposition, he said that a white man calling a black woman a bitch was worse than a black man doing the same. A season ticket holder testified that he saw Thomas put his arm around Browne Sanders and complement her appearance, causing her to grow uncomfortable. All these reflected rather disastrously on James Dolan, the billionaire CEO of Cablevision, which owns the Knicks. In a videotaped deposition played at the trial, Dolan sat slumped in a chair wearing a black crewneck shirt with the sleeves pushed up. He smiled and chuckled as the plaintiff's lawyer questioned him. (Soundbite of videotaped deposition) Ms. ANNE VLADECK (Anucha Browne Sanders' Counsel): Is it appropriate for someone to refer to another employee as a black bitch or a bitch? Mr. JAMES DOLAN (CEO, Cablevision; Owner, New York Knicks): No, it's not appropriate. It's also not appropriate to murder anyone. I don't know if that's happened either. PESCA: Laughing off this case may have been MSG's undoing. Cablevision is valued by the stock market to be worth more than $10 billion. When Browne Sanders left the Garden, she offered to drop her suit for $6 million. She was rebuffed. But the", "Yesterday on our very own News & Notes newsletter, we sent out a headline that said: Thomas Found Guilty of Sexual Harassment. For a second, I was confused. Even though I'd done the show earlier, my mind was on the rock 'em sock 'em between Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (who has a new memoir) and Anita Hill. (See video on both of them below.) But in this case, we're talkin' about the NBA, not the guys who battled it out over the Supreme Court. We spoke to Sports Illustrated writer Chris Mannix about Isiah Thomas' liability in this case ... and the millions of dollars paid to the former female executive. What's the state of sexual harassment? I mean, take the movie \"Take this Job and Shove It.\" It was classic bad hair and pink lip gloss feminism. Dabney Coleman plays a fabulous sexist and sexually-harassing heel. It is all very over the top. But now that we've fast-forwarded another (ulp!) 27 years, what do we make of sexual harassment? What do we consider it? A couple of flashes from my life ... I remember once that I was at a company lunch with multiple tables. At the table next to me, one foreign correspondent was telling an incredibly dirty (I cannot even hint at it here) story about how to incite a certain sexual response in a woman. The guy next to him, who supervised me, turned to me (I was at the next table, but staring bug-eyed, I'm sure) and said, \"Sorry!\" My boss was genuinely ashamed about the reporter's language. There have been some cases that cover a \"hostile work environment\"... i.e., porn taped to lockers in a workspace. I don't think this was at all a case of hostile work environment, but it was certainly inappropriate, and someone else may have taken it to management. What do you think: If you overhear sexual language in a work setting, even if it isn't directed at you, is that a form of harassment or hostile work environment? What do you do? Wait, there's more... Just from my experiences ... A company exec who asked me if I'd been a teen mother... Male co-workers who critiqued my physique to my face.... Men at work who started telling me tales of their sexual exploits.... Luckily I've had no hands on the rear, or else there might have been some Kung Fu. I think of all of the women who I know who, past or present, have not only had to deal with sexual harassment, but have had to decide what the line is. When do you decide what's crossed the line? And do you go to management, or (out of fear or personal preference) tough it out? Meanwhile, more on the OTHER Thomas issue ...Clarence Thomas on 60 Minutes: Anita Hill on CNN:", "Oct. 8, 1991: With it looking likely that the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee would proceed with a vote on the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas without considering the sexual harassment charge leveled against him by Anita Hill, seven female Democratic members of the House march over to the Senate in a dramatic display of protest to \"demand justice.\" For the most part, senators from both parties seem to be dismissive of Hill's charges.  But with feminist groups up in arms, the seven congresswomen -- Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Pat Schroeder (Colo.), Barbara Kennelly (Conn.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), Jolene Unsoeld (Wash.), Patsy Mink (Haw.) and Nita Lowey (N.Y.), as well as Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) -- head over to the Senate to demand that the confirmation vote be delayed until the charges can be investigated. Later this day, the Senate agrees to the delay.  But on Oct. 15, by a vote of 52-48, the Senate confirms Thomas as the court's 106th justice.  He succeeds the retired Thurgood Marshall, becoming the court's second African-American member, following Marshall. Flashback Friday is a weekly feature on Political Junkie. Sign up for our weekly mailing list at [email protected].", "A jury orders the owners of the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks to pay $11.6 million to a former team executive who endured crude insults and unwanted advances from coach Isaiah Thomas. The jury of four women and three men found Thomas and Madison Square Garden sexually harassed Anucha Browne Sanders. Employment Lawyer Aliza Herzberg speaks with Steve Inskeep. STEVE INSKEEP, host: On Wednesdays we talked about the workplace, and today a high-profile case about sexual harassment at work. In this place the workplace is pro basketball. A New York jury yesterday ruled that Knicks coach Isiah Thomas made unwanted sexual advances towards his colleague. She was a marketing executive, Anucha Browne Sanders. The ruling found that her employer, Madison Square Garden, fired her in retaliation when she complained. Now it has to pay $11.6 million in damages. We're joined now by employment lawyer Aliza Herzberg, who's been following this case, and some others. Good morning. Ms. ALIZA HERZBERG (Attorney): Good morning. INSKEEP: $11.6 million - what happened that was worth that much money? Ms. HERZBERG: Well, the allegations are obviously that Ms. Brown Sanders was terminated as a result of complaining, and so she's contending that she lost her $260,000-a-year job and probably won't work in the industry again. And the jury did award punitive damages, so that essentially beefed up the amount to this 11.6 million. Dolan himself, the chairman of Cablevision and the chairman of Madison Square Garden, has been ordered to pay three million. INSKEEP: James Dolan, you're referring to. Ms. HERZBERG: Exactly. INSKEEP: Do you think Madison Square Garden could have handled these accusations any better? Ms. HERZBERG: Well, hindsight is always 20-20, but - and it is very, very unusual for an employer to settle in the millions before they go to some serious litigation. But there certainly are some questions in my mind about whether or not they handled the complaint head on or tried to dismiss it and dismiss Ms. Brown Sanders. INSKEEP: Meaning that if instead of firing her they had seriously looked into this, they might have saved a few million dollars? Ms. HERZBERG: Yes. Again, hindsight is 20-20. I know they are well advised by competent lawyers, but at the outset, it seems to me that there should have been and hopefully there was a complete and thorough investigation, and it seems to me that there was some sort of degree of ego involved and some sort of - kind of an understanding by Madison Square Garden that they might be able to avoid liability. Because they were - in my opinion they were comparing themselves to the rap industry or other industries, where it would be acceptable in the workplace to use racially charged language. But Isiah Thomas is a corporate executive, and for him to try to avoid liability in a lawsuit by defending himself and saying I could call her bad names, I could make sexual advances because it was the norm in the workplace, was probably a poor idea. INSKEEP: How common is this kind of behavior in the workplace? Ms. HERZBERG: Well, it's hard to tell. I think that it's unclear in the United States because a lot of - there is a lot of - there are a lot of sexual advances in the workplace, but many of them are consensual, so they never come to light. There are also things going on in the workplace where the employee just picks up and leaves, instead of suing. But there certainly are issues in the workplace. That's not to say that employers don't try to stop them and coach employees to stop these activities. INSKEEP: And I want to ask one other questions, if I might. Following up on Isiah Thomas's defense here, saying that, well, it's okay in my workplace. Obviously the jury didn't agree. But is there in fact a difference in standards from workplace to workplace? Is there some behavior that might be acceptable in one office and not acceptable in another? Ms. HERZBERG: A hundred percent. The best example I can give is if you work at HBO, you cannot really be sensitive to sexually charged language because many of their shows contain sexual innuendo and sexually charged language. But if you work in a corporate environment that is not - again, this is largely in the entertainment field that I see that there is this distinction. And I would say that the executives in the entertainment world have to say we are not artists, we have to comport ourselves with the role of executive. INSKEEP: Okay. Ms. HERZBERG: But I think that you are on the mark by saying that there are workplaces where certain behavior is more acceptable and there are workplaces where that same behavior will be less acceptable. INSKEEP: Aliza Herzberg is an employment lawyer with the firm Olshan Grundman in New York. Thanks very much. Ms. HERZBERG: Thank you.", "magazine about the strength of evidence against the President in the Paula Jones sexual harassment suit. Taylor believes the evidence in the Jones case is more persuasive than Anita Hill's accusation of Clarence Thomas.", "Ray talks with Newsweek's Washington correspondent Michael Isikoff about the history of the Paula Jones sexual harassment case, and how it progressed from initial reports to its hearing before the Supreme Court. The court ruled today in a unanimous decision that the lawsuit can proceed while President Clinton is still in office.", "NPR's Melissa Block reports that a New York State jury found the Reverend Al Sharpton, Alton Maddox Jr., and C. Vernon Mason liable for defamation yesterday. The three men were sued by Steven Pagones after they had accused him of raping Tawana Brawley in 1988.", "-- NPR's Elizabeth Arnold reports on the political implications of the dismissal of the Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit.", "A bench-clearing brawl during a basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets has league officials doing serious damage control. A tangled web of rivalries, bad feelings, and other internal dramas led to Saturday's fight at Madison Square Garden. Madeleine Brand speaks with Luke Burbank about the fight. Madeleine Brand This is DAY TO DAY from NPR News. I'm Madeleine Brand. The NBA has announced it is suspending its top scorer - that's Denver's Carmelo Anthony - for 15 games as punishment for a brawl he took part in over the weekend at Madison Square Garden. In all, seven players were penalized for the melee. Joining me now to talk about it is NPR's Luke Burbank. Hi, Luke. LUKE BURBANK: Hi, Madeleine. BRAND: Well, 15 games, that sounds like a lot. BURBANK: Yeah, it is. But, you know, if you saw over the weekend, the tape of what happened, you kind of understand why the commissioner, David Stern, was not happy about this. You had, you know, Madison Square Garden, which is kind of this, you know, sacred place with the NBA. And, you know, guys pushing and pulling and throwing punches. I mean it was on like every channel all weekend long - the clips of it. BRAND: I know, even I - not an avid sports fan - even I saw it. BURBANK: Oh, if you saw it that means it's totally permeating the public consciousness. So, anyway, David Stern cannot be happy about that and so this 15 game suspension is definitely trying to send the message. BRAND: OK. And I think we have a clip from the brawl. Let's hear it. (Soundbite of whistle blowing) Unidentified Man #1: Smith - aw, there's a flagrant two foul. He's going to get thrown out of the game. (Soundbite of crowd) Unidentified Man #2: And now hopefully cooler heads will prevail. (Soundbite of crowd) Unidentified Man #3: Nate Robinson throwing a punch, Smith throwing one back at him. This has turned ugly. BURBANK: Yeah, it definitely - it turned ugly Madeleine. It was, you know, it started when the Denver Nuggets players were thought to be sort of showing up the Knicks players and then that whole thing ensued. BRAND: Well, OK, did this just happen out of the blue or was there some underlying tension? BURBANK: Well, there was this almost soap operatic back-story to this. In fact, I don't know. Do we - can we play a little mood music. (Soundbite of \"Nadia's Theme\" theme song) BURBANK: Oh, that's beautiful. George Karl, who's the coach of the Nuggets does not like Isiah Thomas, who's the coach of the Knicks, because Isiah Thomas - George Carl thinks - kind of insulted his friend Larry Brown, the former coach of the Knicks. So George Karl goes into the Garden - Madison Square Garden - and when his team is up at the end of the game, leaves his best players in. And this makes Isiah Thomas furious. Who then reportedly tells his players to, you know, foul the Denver Nuggets really hard. And so, you know, there's probably a long-lost brother or some kind of, you know, amnesia, but that hasn't been verified yet. But it's definitely - you've got all the twists and turns of \"All My Children.\" BRAND: Or \"The Young and the Restless.\" BURBANK: Oh, yeah, obviously. BRAND: I know my soap operas. OK. So speaking of soap operas, there was no punishment for Isiah Thomas. BURBANK: Yeah. And that was a kind of a surprise to some people, because he, you know, previously in the season got really mad at a guy named Bruce Bowen who plays for the San Antonia Spurs and told his players then to break Bruce Bowen's foot. So he has a history of inciting things. Well, there apparently wasn't enough proof to suspend him. So he's not being suspended, but just about everybody else involved is. BRAND: OK. And so, meanwhile, there's this effort by the NBA to make the NBA more, what, respectable. BURBANK: Yeah. And this is not a step in that direction for David Stern, the commissioner. He's kind of brought out all these little civility rules, like your shorts have to be a certain length. You can't, you know, chew gum during the National Anthem. He's done all this stuff to try to fix up the NBA's image after - remember that big brawl that happened like two years ago? They call it the Malice at the Palace. BRAND: In Detroit. BURBANK: Right, it was in Detroit. So he's been trying to sort of make amends for that for two years and just when it looks like he's doing it, you have this happen. So he is not a happy camper today. BRAND: OK. NPR's Luke Burbank. Thank you. BURBANK: Sure, Madeleine. (Soundbite of \"The Young and the Restless\" theme song) BRAND: Just like Nadia, NPR's DAY TO DAY will return in a moment.", "HBO's new movie Confirmation chronicles the intense confirmation battle for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after Anita Hill, a former employee, claimed he sexually harassed her. NPR's Nina Totenberg broke the story to the world in 1991, and she joins the NPR Politics podcast team to reflect on what happened, how it happened and why it still matters. \"I'd been hearing all summer long that there were women who said they were harassed by Clarence Thomas when he was at the EEOC and when he was at the Education Department,\" Totenberg said. \"But I could never really prove it. And then I heard about this woman, Anita Hill.\" That's when everything changed. Listen to the podcast at the audio link above, download it via iTunes or read highlights from the conversation below: On what made Totenberg look for the story I'm sitting at the Judiciary Committee hearing where they are voting on Thomas and I see that they all have the same envelope. And [then-Chairman Joe] Biden starts talking about how the confirmation process should not be about rank gossip. And I go, what? What are you talking about? I go out and I start kicking tires. And eventually, I find out what it's about. I call up Anita Hill. She says she won't talk to me unless I have a copy of her affidavit. So I got it. And then I got her. I actually held the story for a day and a half, trying to get Biden to talk to me about what was going on. On the scope of the story Even I didn't really understand how big a deal this was going to be. I remember walking into the Capitol thinking that once again, this would be a joint PBS-NPR live coverage of the hearing and we would be the only people there, and it was an insane asylum in there. Every network on the face of the earth was carrying this live. They carried it live even when the World Series was on! They pre-empted the World Series. It was unbelievable. On the climate of sexual harassment at the time You don't recognize this now, but sexual harassment was a dirty little secret that most women had but they didn't talk about. They were embarrassed by it; it was a hindrance and not a help in any way. Now suddenly, it gets popped into the open. ... But all of those silent, female experiences materialized in the ... phones exploding on Capitol Hill. On why there was so much public support for Thomas He was so furious and so indignant and so hurt by these accusations that it was hard to believe you could be so convincing and not be telling the truth. They were both very convincing witnesses. On the cost of breaking the story I was pilloried during this. I had one of the great stories of any reporter's life. I had worked very hard to get it. And the cost was enormous in terms of negative publicity and people trashing me a lot and senators yelling at me. At one point I had a driver at Nightline who went around the corner [and] stopped and he said to me ... \"Lady, you better get a gun.\" On how the story led to an increase in sexual harassment claims The number of cases almost doubled in just two years that were filed at the EEOC. Workplaces began to actually have rules about this. There were rules; there were grievance procedures that people could go to to discuss it. And the other thing is the Judiciary Committee was all male and had always been all male. They made very sure that there were women on the committee right away. On being asked to do a cameo in the movie [HBO] wanted me to re-enact my memory of the questions I asked her, so they could have me asking her questions on the phone the first time we talked and things like that. And I said, \"We don't do that at NPR. That's called pretend news.\" On why she'll never reveal her source I didn't even tell my lawyer when they subpoenaed me. I've never told my husband. I'm taking this one to my grave.", "On April 22, WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson were arrested and charged with assault and disorderly conduct after the couple reportedly had a fight in their Phoenix home. A week later, Griner pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and agreed to participate in a 26-week domestic-violence diversion program. On May 8, the couple got married in an outdoor wedding that was written up in The New York Times, and then, on May 15, each woman received an unprecedented seven-game suspension from the WNBA. Though severe, the punishments mirror recent efforts within the NBA to take a zero-tolerance approach to domestic violence. In many cases, the WNBA's decision is being lauded. Deborah Larkin, CEO of the Women's Sports Foundation, an advocacy group for women in sports, has been a WNBA season-ticket holder for the past 15 years and agrees with the league's response. \"When you say there's zero tolerance and you have a strict punishment, it sends the message to the league, to other sports, to boys and girls and to league owners: We're serious.\" And ESPN's Mechelle Voepel wrote last week that the suspension was the \"right thing to do. And the WNBA went about it in the right way.\" But even if this response is warranted, will losing a star player like Griner cripple an already overshadowed league? WNBA Commissioner Laurel Richie has previously stated that only 6 of the 12 teams were expected to be profitable in 2014. Viewership for games aired on ESPN is growing, but ratings still hover around a measly 0.3. (To compare: Regular-season NBA games score around 2.2). In a recent essay, Minnesota Lynx forward Maya Moore lamented the lack of enthusiasm and fan support, writing, \"If we want to grow the women's game, we've got to grow the visibility.\" People are certainly paying attention to Griner and Johnson's troubles, though this is hardly the exposure that Moore was hoping for. But Larkin thinks that, rather than losing interest or drifting away from the WNBA because of the incident, fans will rally around the league and \"respect the WNBA for doing the right thing,\" she said over the phone on Tuesday. \"That's the kind of people we are and that's what's important to us. I'll back them for that.\" Still, the WNBA doesn't appear to apply these tough standards equally. While Larkin supports the strict response to Griner and Johnson's fight, she has openly criticized the WNBA for allowing Isiah Thomas to become president of the New York Liberty. In 2007, a jury found in favor of a woman who claimed that Thomas sexually harassed her when he was head coach of the New York Knicks. That Thomas is now team president and could become a part owner of the Liberty feels unfair. \"I would like to see the same standard applied when there's sexual harassment, and racism,\" Larkin says. \"Don't just stop when there's domestic violence.\" Though Griner and Johnson are making moves to take responsibility for what happened, Thomas continues to dispute the claims of sexual harassment. For this reason, many continue to object to Thomas' new role in the league, at the same time they support a second chance for the players. Lack of awareness and understanding about domestic violence within same-sex couples is another reason institutions should dole out punishments and suspensions with caution. Until recently, domestic abuse within same-sex couples was largely invisible. \"It takes some pretty detailed assessing to figure out the power dynamics of a relationship,\" says Chai Jindasurat, director of national programming at the New York City Anti-Violence Project. Counselors and domestic violence advocates look at relationship history, how financial decisions are made, and the circumstances of the violent episode to determine whether a fight like the one between Griner and Johnson is an abusive situation or the result of an \"unhealthy\" relationship. \"Without a detailed understanding of relationship history and dynamics, in a same-sex relationship it can be hard to tell who's the survivor and who's the abuser,\" Jindasurat says. People arrested for domestic violence or abuse often have to go through intervention programs, like the one Griner agreed to take part in. \"It is detrimental to a survivor to have to go through a program and be told everything's your fault need to take accountability for it,\" Jindasurat says. \"If the abusive partner is not going through these programs they're really validated in what they've been doing.\" Griner has said that the diversion program \"is definitely making me a better person and I'm taking full advantage of it.\" Johnson has yet to respond to the charges against her, but the WNBA is requiring counseling for both women. If the couple can heal and return to the basketball court, will fans stick around to cheer them on? \"We're there for basketball and we're there for the players — for them to be role models,\" Larkin says. \"I won't always look at those two and say, 'Oh my god they did this.' I would say, 'They're human.' ", "Journalists Jane Mayer and Rebecca Traister look back on Clarence Thomas' 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, in which Hill's testimony brought sexual harassment into the popular consciousness. \"She served as kind of a canary in the coal mine for women about what happens when you do speak up against a powerful man, even though she hadn't even asked to speak up,\" Mayer says.", "News Headlines: Sept. 19, 2007 CBS News: Protest Set For Racial Beating Case -- \"'We have told everyone over and over, if you don't support nonviolence, don't come,' said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who helped organize the march that is expected to draw as many as 60,000 people. Sharpton will also be joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King III.\" Plus: Timeline of Jena 6 Case More Headlines:The Associated Press: David Bowie Donates to Jena 6 Defense Fund ABC News: Isiah Thomas' Lawyers to Present His Case &#124; Op-Ed: Memo to Black Leaders: Condemn Isiah Thomas Press Release: Over 500 People Demonstrate at Home of BET CEO &#124; Video The New York Times: Eritreans Deny American Accusations of Terrorist Ties The Associated Press: Alan Keyes Makes 3rd Bid for Presidency &#124; More from BlackProf.com CNN: Bail Set for O.J. Simpson &#124; Skeptical Brotha: \"Ain't No Jury Black Enough\" The New York Times: Health Plan Overhauled at Wal-Mart The Washington Post: D.C. Police Trying to Explain Lack of Gun With Slain Teen", "On Wednesday, a group of New York Knicks fans did something unusual outside Madison Square Garden: they protested. The group wants the team's president and head coach Isiah Thomas fired over poor management and a harassment scandal. Meantime, the Knicks played their best game of the season against the Cleveland Cavaliers that night, despite having star point guard Stephon Marbury on the bench because of flu-like symptoms. The morning after the win, Marbury took his third leave of absence from the team since the death of his father earlier this month. Wall Street Journal sportswriter and regular contributor Stefan Fatsis says professional franchises want to be thought of as public trusts and that the Knicks might be the worst example of a team violating that trust then refusing to accept the consequences. Fatsis talks with Michele Norris. MELISSA BLOCK, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. MICHELE NORRIS, host: And I'm Michele Norris. Fans rallied around Madison Square Garden this week, but not in the usual sports-fan way. This was a protest march. The fans of the New York Knicks raised a giant pink slip for the team's president and head coach, Isiah Thomas. They want him fired. Sportswriter Stefan Fatsis of The Wall Street Journal joins us now as he does most Fridays. Stefan, so what prompted these Knicks fans to take to the streets? Mr. STEFAN FATSIS (Sportswriter, The Wall Street Journal): Well, the short answer is that the Knicks had been a bad basketball team for several years. On Wednesday, which was the day of the protest, they had a record of seven wins against 17 losses so far this season. But the fan frustration has been as much about the management of the team, the way executives, including Thomas, have turned the Knicks, once the pride of the NBA, into a laughingstock among professional sports franchises. NORRIS: And I guess one sticking point for all those fans is also the sexual harassment lawsuit by a former Knicks executive against Thomas and the team's owner, Madison Square Garden. She won that case at trial in the fall, and last week, settled for $11.5 million, a lot of money. Mr. FATSIS: Yeah, it is a lot of money. And it was totally embarrassing for the Knicks and for the NBA. Thomas was accused of making unwanted advances on the executive, of directing crude remarks at her. Testimony revealed that a player, Stephon Marbury, had sex with a Knicks intern in a parked truck. It was day after day of New York tabloid fodder just before the start of the season. But instead of acting contritely, James Dolan, the chairman of the Madison Square Garden, denied the charges, defended Thomas. He had to be pressured by the NBA's commissioner, David Stern, to settle the case. NORRIS: And has the commissioner taken any further action against the team? Mr. FATSIS: Well, Stern said that the trial demonstrated that the Knicks are not a model of intelligent management. That's about as far as he would go. He decided not to do anything else, though. The league has been frustrated by what's happened to the Knicks, a marquee team mired in front office turmoil for a few years, a stream of terrible player acquisitions. It would not have shocked me to learn that NBA's lawyers had examined the league's ownership agreements to see whether it could step in somehow for the good of the league. But that sort of interference, I think, would set a dangerous precedent in sports. And definitely, it would've wound up in court. NORRIS: Now, let's get back to those Knicks fans. Before the protest on Monday, a Knicks security guard removed a fan from his seat near the team bench for holding up a sign that read, fire Isiah. Mr. FATSIS: Yeah, it was written on the back of a food tray. So it was not like it was on, you know, on a king's size sheet or anything. Last week, another fan was given a printed warning on a card for heckling Thomas, and he wasn't using any profanity at all. And he was moved to another seat. NORRIS: Can teams actually do that? Mr. FATSIS: Well, pro sports teams, yes, they can. Places like the Garden have the ability to regulate speech because they are privately owned and operated. It's not a First Amendment issue. I talked to a St. Louis University law professor named Howard Wasserman who's written a lot about this subject on the excellent Sports Law Blog. He says the issue isn't so clear if a facility is publicly or partly publicly owned, as is the case with a lot of stadiums and arenas. Teams or colleges, in those situations, might be less able to limit speech there. But someone would, of course, have to bring a legal challenge. NORRIS: And these recent cases involving the Knicks, though, why would the team take it out on the fans? Because you know, kicking a fan out is going to get huge play in the New York media. Mr. FATSIS: And it did, and they painted the team as pretty petty and thin-skinned. It's really just about common sense, I think. Teams wan", "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday that a convicted felon with a record of reckless aggravated assault was sentenced too harshly in a later conviction. Justice Clarence Thomas was the swing vote in favor of the opinion, which could have implications for criminal sentencing. Here & Now&#8216;s Peter O&#8217;Dowd speaks with Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine and a fellow at the Yale Law School. This article was originally published on WBUR.org.", "The jury has reached a verdict on one charge in the John Edwards corruption case. Melissa Block talks to Russell Lewis.", "Lee, here... Michel has come in contact with a rare form of laryngitis ... and, unfortunately, it's left her with limited speaking (and typing) abilities. Yesterday, we made the mistake of encouraging her to blog \"openly\" about not feeling so hot. Soon after, we received an exclusive Tell Me More pharmaceutical \"cocktail.\" See for yourself. Message: This program will not be bought by those with \"special interests.\" I guess there is such a thing as being too transparent. Now to other news... Since earlier this summer, we've been following the immigration story out of Prince William County, Va., a suburb about 30 minutes outside Washington. In July, county officials there voted to deny certain services to illegal immigrant residents of the county. According to a report, we're talking anything from services to the homeless to tax relief for the disabled. Well, yesterday, the bill was shelved due to what county officials are referring to as budget constraints in actually implementing the nationally-scrutinized resolutions. This brings us back to our summer conversation about this whole ordeal. Some say it's racist. Others say it's unfair for those not born in the U.S. to have equal access to what some might call \"special\" services. But what do you think?Should the county rethink its budget priorities by implementing the resolution ASAP?Or, was the resolution even fair to begin with? I'm sure, after learning of the funding barrier, someone out there is saying, \"See, God don't like ugly ...\" I just know there is. Either that, or, \"Those darn budget constraints!\" Where do you come out on this?Anything similar, or quite the contrary, happening where you live? In New York, immigrants were fighting for the right to drive ... legally, that is. Switching up a bit, if you listened to today's Wisdom Watch, you've got to love Rita Moreno. I'm quite a few generations behind her, but still couldn't help but think, \"Why haven't I heard more about this woman's full career?\" An Oscar, a Tony, a Grammy. Two Emmys? The woman is major. ...And am I the only guy in the room who's confident enough in his masculinity to say he loved West Side Story. I can't always get with musicals, but that one I remember enjoying. I've seen it a few times, actually. So, there! Tomorrow... More on the jury's decision in the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment case. We have the plaintiff, so listen up... And get better, Michel.(Oh, and the above story about receiving a \"cocktail\" is fictional)", "The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the First Amendment protects public employees from job retaliation when they testify in court about official corruption. In a unanimous decision, the court decided in favor of Edward Lane, a former Alabama community college official who says he was fired after testifying at the criminal fraud trial of a state lawmaker. Lower courts had ruled against Lane, finding that he was testifying as a college employee, not as a citizen. Writing for the court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Lane&#8217;s testimony was constitutionally protected because he was speaking as a citizen on a matter of public concern &#8211; even if it covered facts learned at work. Emily Bazelon, legal affairs editor at Slate, joins Here & Now&#8217;s Robin Young to discuss that opinion. She also weighs in on the court&#8217;s ruling tossing out an Australian company&#8217;s patents for business software in a closely watched case that offers new guidance on the standards for awarding patents. The Associated Press contributed reporting to this article. Guest\n\nEmily Bazelon, senior editor for Slate magazine and senior research fellow at Yale Law School. She tweets @emilybazelon.", "A jury in Idaho has found Aryan Nations leader, Richard Butler, liable for an assault against a mother and son. NPR's Andy Bowers reports.", "Stefan Fatsis tells Robert Siegel about the purchase of the Continental Basketball League by former NBA star Isiah Thomas. Thomas hopes to build ties with the NBA and make the CBA a true minor league operation, regularly preparing players for the bigger league. Stefan also notes some management changes in Major League Soccer.", "Fresno State is reeling from three high profile gender discrimination cases involving women's athletics. Late last week, a jury awarded a former women's basketball coach 19 million dollars, the largest sexual harassment payout in CSU history. Some administrators and students are protesting the verdict, but others say it's a clear sign the CSU system needs to clean up its act." ]

[ "Triceratops - Wikipedia Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago (mya) in what is now North America. It is one of the last known non-avian dinosaur genera, and became extinct in ... Bearing a large bony frill and three horns on its large four-legged body, and...", "DinoDictionary.com :: A Dinosaurs Page 4 Period: Late Cretaceous. Notes: Archaeornithoides is the among the smallest of dinosaurs. Many of its bones resemble those of modern birds, hence its name, but the ... vertebra of Argentinosaurus measures over five and one half feet in height. ... had a very short nose horn with two long, slightly forward-curving brow horns.", "Ankylosaurus - Wikipedia Ankylosaurus is a genus of armored dinosaur. Fossils of Ankylosaurus have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period, between about 6866 million years ... It had a wide, low skull, with two horns pointing backwards from the back of the head, and two horns below ...... PLoS ONE.", "Styracosaurus - Wikipedia Styracosaurus (/strksrs/ st-RAK--SOR-s; meaning \"spiked lizard\" from the Ancient Greek styrax/ \"spike at the butt-end of a spear-shaft\" and sauros/ \"lizard\") was a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period (Campanian ... It had four to six long horns extending from its neck frill, a smaller horn on...", "The Dilemma of the Horned Dinosaurs | NCSE In fact, the fossil evidence for the evolution of the camel, beginning with its small, four-toed ancestor, ... Dr. Gish includes one slide of a Triceratops dinosaur. ... This animal lived some 118 million years ago in the Lower Cretaceous period. ... six meters and had a large horn on its nose and incipient brow horns over the eyes." ]

[ "Dinosaur pictures--Triceratops--Tyrannosaurus rex Triceratops was a herbivore and its largest predator was Tyrannosaurus rex. ... short horn above its beak and two long, double-recurved brow horns (up to 3 ft/90 cm long). ... Its head with large eyes was almost one-third as long as its body (up to 10 ft/3 ... Triceratopses were continually harassed by the attacks of the vicious...", "Triceratops | Land Before Time Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia The term Triceratops, which literally means \"three-horned face\", is derived from the .... fossils in the Lancian faunal stage of the late Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous, 68 to ... In 2005, a BBC documentary, The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs, tested how .... books, is a climactic showdown or battle between Triceratops and T. rex.", "Free Flashcards about NATURAL HISTORY - StudyStack AT THE LAS VEGAS NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, A 35' LONG REPLICA OF ONE OF ... NAMED FOR ITS CATTLE-LIKE HORNS, THIS DINOSAUR WHOSE NAME MEANS \"BULL .... THIS 52'-TALL HERBIVORE WHOSE NAME MEANS \"ARM LIZARD\" HAD LONGER FORELEGS THAN HINDLEGS, BRACHIOSAURUS.", "Dinosaur - Wikipedia Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade Dinosauria that first appeared during the Triassic period ... As such, birds were the only dinosaur lineage to survive the mass extinction ..... ago at the end of the Cretaceous period, caused the extinction of all dinosaur ...... The creature was named Hadrosaurus foulkii.", "Free Flashcards about NATURAL HISTORY - StudyStack NAMED FOR ITS CATTLE-LIKE HORNS, THIS DINOSAUR WHOSE NAME MEANS ... ALSO A TYPE OF MODERN BIRD, THIS WORD FOLLOWS \"OVI\" AND...", "jeopardy/330_Qs.txt at master jedoublen/jeopardy GitHub DINOSAURS | Although its name suggests that it had 5 of these, the Pentaceratops had just 3; 2 were merely enlarged cheekbones | horns. right: Brad. Wrong:.", "DinoDictionary.com :: T Dinosaurs Page 1 Bands of thick bony plates guarded its hips, back, and tail, and it had a bony ... Notes: Tanius was a large, flat-headed duck-billed dinosaur that lived in ... Length: Weight: Period: Late Cretaceous. Notes: Tarascosaurus is known ... that reinforced the tail vertebrae providing balance for its bipedal stance. ... Features/Specs", "Stegosaurus - Wikipedia Stegosaurus is a genus of armored dinosaur. Their fossil bones have been found in rocks ... One species, Stegosaurus ungulatus, is the largest known of all the .... This is probably the most common arrangement in illustrations, especially earlier ..... late into the Cretaceous Period, long after Stegosaurus had become extinct.", "jeopardy/1312_Qs.txt at master jedoublen/jeopardy GitHub HORNS | All species of this large land creature, whose name is from the Greek for \"nose-horned\", are nearly extinct | Rhinoceros. right: Jeff. Wrong: Value: $300.", "Dinosaurs | Britannica.com The biggest dinosaurs may have been more than 130 feet (40 meters) long. ... ceratopsian dinosaur that had a frill of bone at the back of its skull and three ... date to the final 3 million years of the Cretaceous Period (145.5 million to 65.5 ... ago during the Late Jurassic Period; they are best known from fossils found in the...", "Free Flashcards about NATURAL HISTORY - StudyStack ALTHOUGH ITS NAME SUGGESTS THAT IT HAD 5 OF THESE, THE PENTACERATOPS HAD JUST 3; TWO WERE MERELY ENLARGED CHEEKBONES, HORNS. HIGH LEVELS OF THIS METAL, ATOMIC ... ITS 2 LONGER HORNS COULD EXTEND MORE THAN 3 FEET, TRICERATOPS. ROBERT BAKER \"HEATED UP\"...", "When Did the Dinosaurs Live? - Fact Monster Dinosaurs lived throughout the Mesozoic Era, which began 245 million years ... Eoraptor (dawn thief; found in Argentina): the earliest-known dinosaur; ... Mammals flourished; Dinosaurs became extinct by the end of the period. ... dinosaur walked on its four stumpy legs and used the three horns on its head for protection.", "J! Archive - Show #3632, aired 2000-05-23 (Alex: Name the product or company) ... land creature, whose name is from the Greek for \"nose-horned\", are nearly extinct ... BIG MERGERS...", "Free Flashcards about ZOOLOGY - StudyStack THE FACT THAT THIS LIZARD'S NAME IS FROM THE GREEK FOR ... IS THE SMALLEST SPECIES OF THIS LARGE, HORNED LAND MAMMAL, RHINOCEROS ... THE INDIAN IS THE LARGEST ASIAN SPECIES OF THIS \"NOSE-HORNED\" ... THIS FLOATING SEA CREATURE WHICH RESEMBLES A JELLYFISH WAS...", "Lesson Ideas: Dinosaurs: Worksheet 5 Worksheet 2: Favourite Dinosaur - A-Z of different dinosaurs types ... Like lizards and crocodiles they had scaly skin and laid eggs. ... These names, like most dinosaur names are derived from Latin and Greek words that .... Means: Bird robber .... It had no teeth only a horny beak, and like its modern day cousins was an...", "EMELA-NTOUKA: THE ELEPHANT KILLER, PART 2 - The ... Jun 19, 2012 ... Its prehensile upper lip is adapted for grasping and holding leaves and ... Horn: Black rhinos have two horns. ... one-horned (Indian) rhino, is the largest species of land mammal after the elephant. .... At one time, the Woolly Rhino may have had the largest range of any known rhinoceros, living or extinct.", "Information - Stage One Online! Carnotaurus lived in Patagonia, Argentina for the period of the Maastrichtian ... D = Dilophosaurus wetherilli is an near the beginning Jurassic theropod dinosaur. ... is a genus of ornithomimid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period and it was a ... It wasn't until 1870 that paleontologist T. H. Huxley was able to issue a full...", "Extinct Pinocchio Lizard Found in Ecuador National Geographic ... Oct 8, 2013 ... It's no liescientists have spotted a lizard with a nose like Pinocchio in an ... What's more, the long-nosed reptile was thought extinct, having been seen only a ... or the horned anoleis the male's long protrusion on the end of its nose. ..... the nose is either used for courtship rituals or for intimidation (be it of...", "Triceratops Printout - ZoomDinosaurs.com - Enchanted Learning Triceratops was a large, quadrupedal, plant-eating dinosaur with three horns. ... face along with a large bony plate projecting from the back of its skull (called a frill). ... This dinosaur was up to 25 feet (8 m) long and was about 15 to 20 feet (4.6...", "Types of Dinosaurs | American Museum of Natural History For example, many more kinds of Late Cretaceous dinosaurs are known than ... Some weighed as much as 80 tons and were more than 120 feet long. ... This selection of dinosaurs has been arranged by the geologic time period in ... An intimidating carnivore, Allosaurus reigned as one of the Late Jurassic's top predators.", "Questions and Answers-Zoom Dinosaurs - Enchanted Learning Birds, dinosaurs' descendants, have relatively small eyes and acute vision. ... that existed, only about 600-700 have been named, but some of these are ... It was about 10 feet (3 m) tall, 20 feet (6 m) long, and weighed about 440 pounds (200 kg). ..... Compsognathus, meaning \"pretty jaw,\" was a late Jurassic Theropod the...", "Dinosaur - Wikipedia Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade Dinosauria that first appeared during the ... Their dominance continued through the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and ended .... A variety of other skeletal features are shared by dinosaurs. .... In the southern continents that had made up the now-splitting Gondwana,...", "Tyrannosaurus Rex: Facts about T. Rex, King of the Dinosaurs Mar 14, 2016 ... One of the largest known carnivorous dinosaurs, T. rex reigned during the late Cretaceous Period, 65 million years ago.", "Psittacosaurus - Wikipedia Psittacosaurus is a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is ... Psittacosaurus probably had complex behaviours, based on the proportions and ... As the generic name suggests, the short skull and beak superficially .... and bird-like sleeping, some of which have been shown to be present in...", "this dino reminds me of a cassowary bird. | Ahhhhhh! | Pinterest ... A new type of Tyrannosaur with a very long nose has been nicknamed ... New Species of Psittacosaurus Dinosaur Named and Described ..... of Vertebrate Paleontology, though not the same species, also sported four fins and a ...... Living in the mangroves with fresh healthy water along with the relatives of modern animals.", "Deinonychus - Wikipedia Deinonychus is a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid coelurosaurian dinosaurs, with one ... A specimen of Velociraptor has been found with quill knobs on the ulna. ..... If Deinonychus had feathered fingers and wings, the feathers would have ... He interpreted all these features the short second toe with enlarged claw,...", "Albertosaurus - Wikipedia Albertosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 70 million years ago...", "The word dinosaur comes from two greek words. What do they mean Terrible Lizard ... What does two halves of the word dinosaur mean and what ancient language do they ... What are the two greek words were geometry comes from? ... This animal's name come from two greek words meaning 'nose-horned?", "Rhinoceros - Wikipedia A rhinoceros often abbreviated to rhino, is one of any five extant species of odd-toed ungulates ... The horns are made of keratin, the same type of protein that makes up hair and ... the Ancient Greek: , which is composed of - (rhino-, \"nose\") and .... Its thick, silver-brown skin forms huge folds all over its body.", "The Geology P.A.G.E.: June 2010 Jun 1, 2010 ... This plant-eater named for the 3 horns on its face was at least 25 feet long ... The 75-foot-long Apatosaurus has also been known by this name,...", "evodisku inhoud | Tsjok's blog | Pagina 2 - WordPress.com Oct 5, 2012 ... They had bizarrely long snouts that seemed to resemble a gharial as much ... the most complete specimen, having photographs at least made it possible to ... and reputable scientific endeavors as Jurassic Park 3, the Carnegie ...... and the curved killing claw, 9cm long, on the second toe of each foot, show...", "Pterodactyl, Pteranodon & Other Flying 'Dinosaurs' - Live Science Mar 18, 2016 ... Flying reptiles ruled the skies for millions of years. ... Pterosaurs first appeared in the late Triassic Period and roamed the skies until the end of the Cretaceous Period (228 to ... Pterosaurs lived among the dinosaurs and became extinct around the ... It had a wingspan that ranged from 9 to 20 feet (2.7 to 6 m),..." ]

[ "I just use a bar of soap and lather up." ]

[ "They don´t love me the way I love them", "'Don' t blink' then commission a statue of a weeping angel close by", "Chill the fuck out, don''t do things when you're angry", "Was on my bike and drivers don t really care for us and one cut in front of me and almost hit it", "Isn't true, you just don like it, there's no reason to hate", "Mine would be nothing because I don\\`t have one yet", "Don´t tell her that you love her.... Just straight up ask for a date", "Wash the clothes.\nDo some market research about your item.\nTake good photos.", "Take a shower, go for a LONG walk till you sweat through your clothes. Then take another shower and see where you are.", "You wash them off after using them then put them in a diaper bin made for cloth diapers.", "Candles or wax melters make your home smell great. Even those wall plugin sprayers are pretty good. Also, the obvious stuff: wash your dishes, dirty clothes, take out your trash regularly and take a shower.", "Don Johnson or Joe Don Baker? Joe Don Baker all day long.", "i m from germany and yes we have too - this is why our second wave hits us so strong... i don t think people are fighting for freedom. They are just undereducated and selfish. \nIt s sad . Just sad....", "Big Don", "What? \n\nWHAT?!\n\n W HA T ? ? ?", "I wear shorts and plain t shirts 90% of the time outside of work. There's no stigma guiding my decision on what clothes to wear. I like comfortable clothes with pockets and I've found all I need to find to achieve those goals in shorts and t shirts.", "Don Cherry", "Whats your reasoning for voting for him?", "Haircut, shower, nice clothes and good personality goes a long way for everybody :).", "Don Cheadle", "Bye Don", "Ridiculously high extra charges for teleporting you AND your clothes at the same time, for some specious technical reason.", "Who USED the cages, Don? On toddlers and children, torn screaming from their parents' arms?", "Anything Don Bluth", "Brush your teeth (don’t forget to use mouth wash) and then drink a glass of orange juice", " Coalition Of Really Really Useful People Together\n\n[https://youtu.be/bWQC00U83w8?t=88](https://youtu.be/bWQC00U83w8?t=88)\n\nreally underrated show", "washing your hands", "I support Don Quixote", "Don Jr &amp; Eric", "Just getting out of bed and taking a shower and putting on clean clothes. It can be amazing how doing things to your outside self can help your inside self.", "Laundry. Everyone being able to just put clothes in the washing machine and then into the drier in the comfort of their own home instead of having to hand wash everything.", "drosophila eggs are everywhere...wash your fruit...people used to use drosophila as proof for spontaneous generation... as taking banana peels and putting them in a sealed container will give rise to fruit flies." ]

[ "NPR's Jennifer Ludden speak with author Mimi Swartz about her new book, <em>Ticker.</em> It tells the story of the quest to build an artificial heart." ]

[ "Researchers report that they've been able to build an artificial beating rat heart. The new heart is weaker than an ordinary heart, but the researchers hope that the technique could one day be used to help grow replacement organs for patients needing heart transplants.", "Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration weigh the future of the artificial heart Thursday. They'll examine an experiment in which 14 men had their failing hearts replaced by a two-pound piece of titanium and plastic. Despite mixed results, the maker of the artificial heart is asking the FDA for an exemption to sell the device to a wider group of patients.", "A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel votes to back the use of an artificial heart as a temporary device in patients near death who are awaiting a heart transplant. The FDA usually follows the advice of the panel. If approved by the agency, it will be the first artificial heart on the market. NPR's Joe Shapiro reports.", "Installing a pump or an artificial heart is not likely to become mainstream treatment for heart disease. Scientists are more enthusiastic about an approach involving stem cells — cells that can, in theory, be coaxed into replacing heart cells damaged or destroyed by disease. Regenerating functioning heart cells has been a goal of medicine for more than a century. To achieve that goal, \"the heart has been stabbed, snipped, contused, cauterized, coagulated, frozen, injected with toxins, infected and infarcted, in species ranging from marine invertebrates to horses,\" write University of Washington scientists Michael Laflamme and Charles Murry in the May 19 issue of Nature. Now those efforts are beginning to pay off. In mice it's possible to find stem cells that will turn into functioning, beating heart cells, and those cells do go where they are needed, replacing cells that have been damaged. But the repairs are mostly modest, and, of course, mice aren't human. Their hearts are much smaller, and beat much faster. What works in mice might be a total flop in humans. There are creatures that can regenerate heart tissue without any help from human scientists. The zebra fish is one example: You can cut out about 20 percent of a zebra fish's heart, and the heart will grow back to normal. Obviously human hearts can't do that. But scientists now believe there are stem cells in all of us that regenerate human hearts; they just do it a glacial pace, not nearly fast enough to make repairs in the event of injury. Scientists are trying to identify these cardiac stem cells, and then figure out how to juice them up so they can repair damage caused by a heart attack. Scientists are also trying to use a cocktail of chemicals to trick other kinds of stem cells that don't normally make heart cells to take on that role. But like mechanical pumps and artificial hearts, stem cell therapy is a high-tech, high-expense solution for dealing with heart diseases. The painful truth is that heart health is largely in your hands: Rather than wait for the day when medicine can replace or repair your damaged ticker, you can eat sensibly, quit smoking, get some exercise — all that boring stuff — now. That's not nearly as newsworthy as the latest medical breakthrough, but it's probably more relevant to your health.", "Guests: <br /><br /> <STRONG>Fred Zarinetchi</STRONG><BR> * Principal Scientist, Abiomed<BR> Danvers, Massachusetts <br /><br /> <STRONG>Michael Dickinson</STRONG><BR> * Williams Professor, Integrative Biology<BR> * University of California at Berkeley<BR> Berkeley, California <br /><br /> <STRONG>Fred Delcomyn</STRONG><BR> * Professor, Department of Entomology<BR> * Director, School of Integrative Biology<BR> * University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign<BR> Urbana, Illinois <br /><br /> A normal human heart beats about two and a half billion times during its lifetime. But what happens when that heart isn't normal? In this hour of Science Friday, guest host David Kestenbaum takes a look at the challenges of engineering an artificial heart. Then we'll turn our attention to insects. Insects can do many things better than any machine, but scientists are trying to find out their secrets. Coming up in this hour, we'll talk with two researchers studying how insects sense the world and move around in it, and who are trying to apply what they learn to build robots that use some of the same tricks.", "TODAY MARKS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST IMPLANTATION IN A HUMAN OF AN ARTIFICIAL HEART. DR. BARNEY CLARK LIVED FOR 112 DAYS AFTER THE OPERATION. SCOTT SPEAKS WITH DR. JOHN WATSON OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH ABOUT THE ADVANCES IN THIS TECHNOLOGY OVER THE LAST 13 YEARS.", "NPR's Richard Knox reports that the first man to receive a totally implanted artificial heart has had a stroke. Robert Tools, who is 59, received the heart on July 2 and had been doing well. But officials at Jewish Hospital in Louisville say that changed on Sunday when a blood clot apparently lodged in his brain.", "A study in the <EM>Journal of the American Medical Association</EM> details how scientists create an artificial form of \"good\" cholesterol that expands arteries and reduces the advancement of heart disease in a small trial. The reduction takes only a few weeks. NPR's Richard Knox reports.", "If you've read <em>The New York Times</em> lately, you might have noticed a full-color, full-page ad that's been in the paper every day this week. It's for Lipitor, the cholesterol-lowering drug. The color picture is of Dr. Robert Jarvik, inventor of the artificial heart. Commentator Katie Watson is a medical ethicist. She says that the timing of the ad -- and Dr. Jarvik's endorsement -- are both significant. As far as she can figure, it's the first time that a doctor has been paid to endorse a prescription drug in an ad.", "NPR's Tavis Smiley talks with financial commentator Brooke Stephens. She explains how to read the stock ticker tape that crawls across TV screens.", "With Eric Westervelt (@Ericnpr) The inside story behind the long quest to build an artificial human heart. Guests Mimi Swartz, journalist and executive editor at Texas Monthly. Author of &#8220;Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart&#8221; and co-author of &#8220;Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron.&#8221; (@mimiswartz) Dr. O.H. &#8220;Bud&#8221; Frazier, heart surgeon and pioneering developer of the artificial heart. Co-director of Cardiovascular Surgery Research at the Texas Heart Institute. From The Reading List Excerpt from &#8220;Ticker&#8221; by Mimi Swartz The door to the lab had a window covered with a venetian blind, a nod to security along with the key card Bud swiped to let himself in. The place wasn’t much to look at, which made it camera ready for PETA membership drives. The floor was linoleum, and the tile walls were that sorry shade of prison green. The animals in metal stanchions—like modern-day stocks—raised their heads to look at Bud: one goat, one cow. At his arrival they blinked and chewed the hay at their feet, paying him little mind. He had told his mother, a schoolteacher, that he’d decided to become a doctor one night while she was cooking him dinner. He was in from Austin and the University of Texas, back home in the small town of Stephenville. She kept stirring a pot on the stove while he explained his choice; she didn’t stop to look at him. “Well,” she said, when he finished, “I think you should do what you want, but I never knew you to much like to kill things.” Well, “killing things” wasn’t his goal as a doctor, but being an attentive son, Bud intuited her meaning: with a mother’s impeccable memory, she was referencing that time he was eight years old and his friend Butch Henry had shot a rabbit in the brush. Bud raced to the site and found a mother rabbit dying, her unborn babies tumbling out of her belly where the shotgun pellets had torn her open. Bud gathered up the tiny bundle of kits, raced home and tried to save them, but he was too late. His life’s through line became saving the unsavable. This made Bud not just famous and respected, but beloved, and not just in Houston but anywhere he had taken care of sick people around the world. But he still had one goal to accomplish before he hung it up: Bud wanted to see a working artificial heart become a reality, a total replacement that could be implanted and then forgotten, as his friendly rival, another famous heart surgeon, Robert Jarvik liked to say. And, finally, Bud felt that he was close. In the next room, Bud found the calf. He was a Corriente, a smallish breed descended from the Spanish. His coat was a reddish brown, soft and thick; in a different life he would have spent his youth avoiding cowboys in a roping competition at a rodeo. Instead, he was standing up in his small stall, wires and tubes running in and out of his chest every which way, hooked up to enough monitors bet- ter suited to send him to the moon. Bud scratched the calf’s forehead and thought, as he often did, that they were such sweet animals. Nearby, on a pile of old hospital blankets, was Daniel Timms, PhD, who had been sleeping there all night. A youthful-looking thirty-five-year-old biomedical engineer from Brisbane, Australia, Timms was a slight, tightly wound man with piercing blue eyes and a snaggletooth that, depending on which nurse you asked, made him more or less movie-star handsome. His short brown hair was often tousled, and he always seemed in need of a shave. Daniel wasn’t known around the THI for his sense of humor, but the rumors of his genius gave him a pass. The calf shifted its weight and Daniel’s eyes followed, watching the animal’s chest move in and out. Then, reflexively, Daniel’s eyes moved to the monitor. It registered the calf’s vital signs as completely normal. Or rather, completely normal considering that yesterday, in an eight-hour operation, Drs. Frazier and Cohn had sliced out the calf’s heart and replaced it with Daniel Timms’ invention, a device smaller than a tennis ball, that, once stitched in place, took over all the functions of a normal heart. Except, that is, for one thing: the calf had no detectable pulse. One small titanium disc spinning in its housing—at four thousand times a minute—was the only thing keeping this calf alive. Reprinted from TICKER: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart © 2018 by Mimi Swartz. To be published by Crown Publishers, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, on August 7. \n To poets, novelists and most people, the heart is seen as the gateway to the soul, the symbol of love and empathy. To pioneering heart surgeons, it&#8217;s just a pump. If pumps can be fixed or replaced, why not hearts? Heart disease kills more people around the world than all cancers combined. More than 26 million Americans currently have heart disease. But fixes take innovation, creativity and risk. This hour, On Point: the medical trailblazers who changed how we view and treat the h", "Family heirlooms take all shapes: a pocket watch, a painting. For Robin MacArthur and her husband Tyler Gibbons, who form the folk duo Red Heart the Ticker, the family inheritance consists of an old house and lots of songs — both gifts from MacArthur's late grandmother, Margaret. In the 1960s, Margaret MacArthur took on the task of collecting folk songs native to the backwoods of Vermont. She visited nursing homes and hospitals, all the while recording her collections on a Wollensak reel-to-reel. Her home during that time was a farmhouse built in 1803 in the woods of southern Vermont. \"My grandparents bought this house in the late 1940s,\" Robin MacArthur says. \"And it was completely abandoned: The floors were all eaten by porcupines and the doors and windows were all broken, and they moved in here anyway, with their four children.\" The home remains more or less the way Margaret left it at the time of her death: folk art on the walls, creaky wooden chairs in place and, of course, her instruments still adorning the rooms. Margaret MacArthur was also a musician; she released nine albums before she died. The first, released by Folkways in 1962, was recorded on that same reel-to-reel at her own kitchen table. Nearly 50 years later, Red Heart the Ticker has continued that musical tradition. Not only does the band's latest album, Your Name in Secret I Would Write, feature some of the folk songs Margaret collected in the 1960s, but the album was also recorded in her old house, using her instruments. \"We ended up using her Martin guitar, a number of her dulcimers. ... What else? A few harps and zithers,\" Gibbons says. \"Oh, of course, Margaret's fretless banjo.\" The home is also where Margaret died. Lying on her deathbed, she couldn't remember anything but her songs. \"I was in the room with her when she died, as were many of her family members,\" MacArthur says, \"and we were all holding her hands or her arms or part of her shoulders.\" After her grandmother's death, MacArthur brought Margaret's recordings into this room and played them. \"And suddenly, here I was, sitting in this room,\" MacArthur says. \"And her singing voice was loud and reverberant in the room around me, and it was this incredible spiritual moment where I realized she wasn't really gone.\" Margaret's recordings are housed today in the Vermont Folklife Center. Archivist Andy Kolovos worked with MacArthur and Gibbons as they breathed new life into Margaret's songs through their new album. \"We love seeing our collections used, and we love seeing them used in ways that inject life into them, as opposed to having them just sit on a shelf,\" Kolovos says. \"Robin and Tyler take traditional material and, with a deep respect for it, infuse it with the atmosphere of the period in time they're living in.\" Gibbons says it's delicate work to make old songs new again. \"You know, the field recordings are largely just a cappella,\" Gibbons says. \"And then Margaret's recordings are often just her voice and her dulcimer, or her guitar, so very sparse. We tried to bring in textures and sounds that could open up the song emotionally a little bit — and again, that's a tricky line to walk.\" MacArthur says recording the album became a different kind of session than they were used to. \"Instead of finding dialogue with other contemporary artists, it's finding dialogue with the past,\" she says. \"Which is an incredible way of kind of erasing time, at least momentarily — to bring the ghosts into the room with us.\" Call it singing with ghosts or bringing back the dead. However you think about it, it's a rare thing to find company with those who have gone before. That experience is immortalized within Your Name in Secret I Would Write. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Family heirlooms can take all shapes: a pocket watch, a painting. For Robin MacArthur and her husband, Tyler Gibbons, who form the indie-folk duo Red Heart the Ticker, the family inheritance consists of an old farmhouse in the woods - and lots and lots of songs. Angela Evancie has this story from Vermont. ANGELA EVANCIE, BYLINE: If it weren't for Robin MacArthur's grandmother, Margaret, many of the songs on Red Heart the Ticker's new album would have been lost or forgotten. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, \"LOCKS AND BOLTS\") EVANCIE: This is a man named Lester Fairbanks, singing for Margaret MacArthur in 1961. She drove her old Jeep around the back roads of Vermont, collecting folk songs. She visited nursing homes and hospitals, and made her recordings on a Wollensak reel-to-reel. She was also a musician herself. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, \"LOCKS AND BOLTS\") EVANCIE: Margaret MacArthur released nine albums. Her first came out on Folkways in 1962, recorded at her kitchen table with that same Wollensak. Red Heart the Ticker recorded its new album just a few feet away, in her study. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, \"LOCKS AND BOLTS\") (SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS) ROBIN MACARTHUR: So, my grandparents bought this house in the late '40s, and it was completely abandoned. The fl", "Scientists have created a synthetic stingray that's propelled by living muscle cells and controlled by light, a team reports Thursday in the journal Science. And it should be possible to build an artificial heart using some of the same techniques, the researchers say. \"I want to build an artificial heart, but you're not going to go from zero to a whole heart overnight,\" says Kit Parker, a bioengineer and physicist at Harvard University's Wyss Institute. \"This is a training exercise.\" Previous artificial hearts have been versions of mechanical pumps. An artificial heart made from living muscle cells would behave more like a natural heart, Parker says, and would be able to grow and change over time. \"The heart's built the way it is for a reason,\" he says. \"And we're trying to replicate as much of that function as we possibly can.\" A heart and a stingray may seem pretty different. But both need to overcome problems that involve fluid and motion, Parker explains. A stingray has to propel itself through the water. A heart has to propel blood through the circulatory system. And all of that was on Parker's mind a couple of years ago when he visited an aquarium with his daughter. At an exhibit where visitors can touch rays as they swim by, his daughter put her hand in the water. \"The stingray was coming at it,\" he says, \"and with a quick flick of its pectoral fin it just smoothly evaded her hand.\" Parker realized that this sort of split-second adjustment is something the heart does all the time as it senses changes in blood flow or pressure. \"The idea just hit me like a thunderbolt,\" he says. By building an artificial stingray, Parker figured, he could learn how to replicate the animal's ability to respond instantly to changing conditions. So he came up with a strategy and presented it to Sung-Jin Park, a researcher in his lab. \"I sat down with him,\" Parker says, \"and I said, 'Sung-Jin, we're going to take a rat apart; we're going to rebuild it as a stingray; and then we're going to use a light to guide it.' And the look on his face was both sorrow and horror.\" Parker's lab had previously built an artificial jellyfish. But a ray was much more complicated. And the team was facing tough questions like, how do you to take cells from a rat and make them swim like a fish? Park and the rest of the team started working, though. And, eventually, they succeeded. Their synthetic ray, which is about the size of a nickel, has a transparent body made of silicone and a rudimentary skeleton made of gold. The ray is propelled by 200,000 heart muscle cells taken from a rat. The cells have been genetically altered to allow the hybrid creature to follow a pair of blue lights. \"We can guide this thing around,\" Parker says. \"It swims through obstacle courses.\" And the creature displays the rhythmic, undulating motion of a real stingray. Replicating that motion is one of the project's key accomplishments, says John Dabiri, a professor of engineering at Stanford who worked with Parker on the artificial jellyfish. To get the ray's tail to undulate, the team had to come up with a way to trigger muscle cells in sequence. The effect is similar to when the crowd at a ballgame does the wave, Dabiri says. \"You have one group standing up and then the next and then the next. Well, in the case of the muscle here, they're doing the same thing,\" he says. \"They're able to get a certain section of muscle to contract and then the next and then the next.\" That coordinated movement is necessary for many biological functions, like swallowing. It's also the way the heart beats, with areas contracting in a precise sequence. Another advance is the ability to activate muscle cells with light rather than electricity, Dabiri says. That allows scientists to control precisely which part of a muscle contracts. So light could act as a sort of pacemaker in an artificial heart that's made this way. The artificial stingray is likely to make some people uncomfortable, Dabiri says, because it raises questions about when a machine becomes a living organism. In this case, the artificial ray pretty clearly isn't an organism, he says. It can't grow, adapt or reproduce. But scientists should be considering the possibilities as they pursue other projects like this, he says. \"We want to make sure we think about the ethical issues hand in hand with just asking what we can do,\" Dabiri says.", "Medical researchers have made a lot of progress developing artificial versions of organs like the heart, lungs and kidneys. But they&#8217;ve been stumped by blood. Some Missouri researchers may have taken a big step forward in creating artificial blood, but will science ever be able to replace the real thing? Alex Smith (@AlexSmithKCUR) of Here & Now contributor KCUR reports.", "Each year, tens of thousands of Americans have defibrillators implanted in their chests to regulate heart rhythm. Earlier this year, the death of a 21-year-old from a malfunctioning device focused new attention on the companies that make them.", "The stock-ticker machine was first unveiled on Nov. 15, 1867. The ticker made up-to-the-minute stock prices available over telegraph wires. The machine was invented by Edward Callahan.", "NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on efforts to treat heart attacks that occur in public places. In recent years, airports, casinos and other crowded facilities have installed automatic heart-shocking devices and trained workers to use them. They're trying to improve the survival rate after a heart attack by restarting the normal rhythm of the heart as quickly as possible.", "Ah, the ticker-tape parade. A celebration of heroes. A welcome home for champions. An outpouring of joy. And since the late '60s, a ticker-tapeless affair. As the NFL champion New York Giants parade Broadway's Canyon of Heroes today in the 200th-or-so \"ticker-tape parade,\" let's take a moment to consider just what is floating down from buildings above. Started In 1866; Read More: The tradition of showering such parades with confetti began in 1866, The Star-Ledger reports, at the celebration of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. It was \"imps of office boys\" who apparently got the idea, says The New York Times, that it would be wonderful to \"unreel the spools of tape that record the fateful messages of the 'ticker.' In a moment the air was white with curling streamers.\" Of course, by the end of the '60s the ticker was going the way of the buggy whip. So since then, it's been other kinds of paper that have been flittering down from above. According to our friends at WNYC, much of it today was \"recycled unprinted newspaper\" donated by Atlas Materials and Packaging in Red Hook, N.J., \"which often uses the paper for pet bedding.\" The New Yorker adds that the city's Downtown Alliance, \"makes deliveries of paper shreddings to lower Broadway, in lieu of ticker tape, which has been obsolete since the sixties.\" By the time the Giants' parade is over, there could be about 50 tons of paper on the streets, says a Times Q&A from 2008 (the last time the Giants were so honored). And it's going to take \"about 300 sanitation workers and Alliance workers in total\" to clean up after, says WNYC. This being the New York of green-minded Mayor Michael Bloomberg, of course, the plan is to again recycle. But as we say above, it's still a \"ticker-tape parade.\" And that's a title everyone seems to like.", "The world-famous cardiovascular surgeon pioneered the artificial heart and bypass surgery and developed a host of devices to help heart patients. DeBakey died on Friday of natural causes.", "In 2006, the Bush administration set up an electronic billboard on the fifth floor of its diplomatic hub in Cuba. The ticker featured news and pro-democracy messages, including quotations from the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Abraham Lincoln. The Obama administration recently pulled the plug on the ticker, which infuriated Cuba officials who once attempted to block its view.", "We've gotten it wrong in the past, so with Venezuela and Colombia in the news here's a reminder. Colombia – the country, that is – is not spelled with a \"u.\" Save the \"u\" for when you're writing about the District of Columbia or the company that makes sportswear. Make sure the country is spelled correctly in scripts, tweets, Facebook posts, Web stories and headlines. And don't forget DACS. Remember, your words might end up on car dashboards and the ticker that runs around this building.", "A new study concludes that millions of Americans would benefit from an implanted device that delivers an electric shock to a heart that has stopped beating effectively. The study looked at people who had survived a heart attack but had heart damage. It found that the devices, known as implanted defibrillators, cut the chance of dying by nearly one-third over 20 months. NPR's Richard Knox reports.", "Artificial intelligence is becoming a key factor in the future of economic and military competition around the world. China has been a leader in the field, with heavy investments in AI research and development, and President Trump wants to help the U.S. play catch-up to China with a new AI strategy. Trump signed an executive order this month that gets “the ball rolling on increasing investment in artificial intelligence,&#8221; says Gregory Allen (@Gregory_C_Allen) with the Center for a New American Security. “The actual budget totals of what the federal government is going to spend on AI, we don&#8217;t really know yet,” he tells Here & Now&#8216;s Eric Westervelt (@Ericnpr). “I do think it is safe to say though that historically over the past years, China has demonstrated significantly greater levels of strategic focus and funding when it comes to artificial intelligence.&#8221; For example, Allen says, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is spending the most on research and development at $2 billion over five years. In China, the province of Shanghai, which is a city government, is planning to spend $15 billion over 10 years. “So literally we have the U.S. federal government at present at risk of being outspent by a provincial government of China,” Allen says. “They are really spending jaw-dropping sums on this area.” While the U.S. government is doing important work in AI research, Allen says it has been so far “heavily outspent” by private companies in Silicon Valley. Whereas in China, AI research and development is a priority for the government. “[Chinese officials] say rather openly their goal for artificial intelligence is to transform their military and make it into the strongest military in the world,” Allen says. “Their hope is that they will have an advantage in adopting AI technology, and they will use that to build a military that is stronger than that of the United States.” Interview Highlights On the meaning of artificial intelligence “The term artificial intelligence, what it means, has changed over time. What we currently use today as tax preparation software such as TurboTax was very successfully marketed as artificial intelligence in the 1980s, but nobody would call that AI today. The most recent innovations around artificial intelligence relate to machine learning, which is a sort of new domain of computer programming whereby rather than a human typing in every line of code by hand, the machine &#8212; based on applying an algorithm to a data set &#8212; in a sense programs itself. And that&#8217;s a bit of oversimplification, but it really does get at the heart of what machine learning is and also what kind of capabilities that it enables. “So many things that in the past we would have said are impossible for computers to automate are suddenly on the horizon. There was actually a major book in 2005, the essential gist of the book was what computers can&#8217;t do, and making a left turn into ongoing traffic was a canonical example of something that is impossible to automate. And that was true before machine learning really hit its stride in the past five or seven years. Nobody would say that driverless cars are impossible, and in fact, they appear to be right on the horizon.” On how machine learning can be applied to various types of technology “I mean, machine learning is why language translation has become so high quality of late, why voice recognition software, which used to be awful, is suddenly quite good. It&#8217;s at the heart of the Amazon Echo &#8212; the ability to hear your voice, translate that into actual text that can be used for a computer interface. The same is also true with image recognition. It used to be quite difficult for a computer when given an image to say what is in the image. Now that&#8217;s a really high performance capability, and in fact in some areas, you can actually beat human experts using AI systems.” On China’s strategy in aggressively investing in AI “I went to China four times in the second half of 2018 and had an exciting opportunity to engage with Chinese diplomatic officials, military officials, an executive in China&#8217;s technology sector. I&#8217;ll say the first thing that struck me was the level of strategic prioritization of AI. It really does go all the way up to President Xi Jinping in China who really has said AI is a priority for this government all the way down. “And the other thing that really struck me was the strength of Chinese companies in this area. Just one example, using machine learning for voice recognition &#8212; the achievement of a system that could beat average human performance using an AI system &#8212; that occurred in China actually before it occurred in the United States. So they really are making real progress in advancing the state of the art in AI research and development. They&#8217;re also having tremendous success at commercializing their AI research into companies and venture capital ecosystems", "Marking the first time any women's team has been celebrated in New York's famed Canyon of Heroes, thousands of fans turned out Friday for a parade honoring the U.S. women's soccer team's record third World Cup title. The ticker-tape parade comes on the heels of another U.S. achievement: a return to the No. 1 spot in FIFA's rankings that were released this morning. In claiming the top spot, the U.S. women dethroned Germany, whom they beat in the World Cup semifinals. The team is also continuing a remarkable streak: Since FIFA created its world rankings for women in 2003, the Americans' average position is No. 1, according to soccer's global governing body. Today's parade lasted a bit more than an hour, with Carli Lloyd, Abby Wambach and the rest of the 23-member team waving to screaming fans as they made their way from lower Manhattan's Battery Park to City Hall. The last time a female athlete was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York was back in 1960, when figure skater Carol Heiss Jenkins won Olympic gold at age 20. This week, Jenkins wrote an open letter congratulating the women's soccer team, saying she had watched their games on TV — and adding that one of her granddaughters has earned a college scholarship for soccer. \"If you believe in something, write it down, because if you believe it, then it becomes a goal,\" she wrote. \"Young girls have to have dreams and believe in those dreams in order to make them happen.\" Jenkins concluded her note: \"Enjoy the moment. Look up at the buildings and the people above. The cheering fans should make you realize your accomplishment transcends just a score in a soccer game. Take it all in, as it goes by fast. This moment in time is very well-deserved, and I hope your day is as magical as the one I enjoyed back in 1960.\"", "The ticker symbol is FUN. The company is billion-dollar amusement-park operator Cedar Fair. The company's stock is up around 20 percent over the last 12 months and has beaten the S&P 500 several times over the last five years. Tom and David talk with Dick Kinzel, the president, chairman and CEO of Cedar Fair.", "Alex Chadwick talks to John Dimsdale of <EM>Marketplace</EM> about a <EM>New York Times</EM> report suggesting that medical device maker Guidant knowingly sold faulty heart defibrillators.", "The Food and Drug Administration today said it&#8217;s requiring food companies to stop the use of artificial trans fats. Artificial trans fats will no longer be on the list of safe food additives, and any companies that want to use artificial trans fats will have to petition the FDA to do so. The FDA is giving food companies three years to phase out artificial trans fats, which are used in processed foods and in restaurants, and have been found to raise the risk of heart disease. Many companies have already phased them out, and this move by the FDA is expected to almost completely phase out artificial trans fats. Guest Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.", "When the doctor says it's time to put some gee-whiz device inside your body to fix your heart or clear an artery, you want to know that gizmo has been tested well. But an analysis of the evidence supporting the Food and Drug Administration's approval of 78 high-risk cardiovascular devices, such as pacemakers and implantable defibrillators, found most were given the green light on the basis of just one clinical study. What's more, only about half the studies compared an experimental device with a placebo or alternative treatment. And among those studies that did have a comparison group, about a third of the time it was plucked from historical data, a less-than-ideal approach. Read More >> The researchers argue that these devices, many of which are implanted, should be held to a higher standard of medical benefit--higher even than the bar for drugs. Why? They say a medicine can be discontinued fairly easily in case of trouble--just stop taking it--while an ineffective or dangerous device may have to be surgically removed. Yet the roundup of studies for this analysis, published in the current issue of JAMA, shows devices, despite their risks, are generally subject to much less scrutiny than medicines. As an example of trouble, the authors cite a Medtronic recall of wires used to connect implanted defibrillator to the heart only after about 268,000 had been implanted. It's hard to argue against higher standards in clinical research, but devices are different from drugs. The authors criticize the exclusion of results for some patients treated when doctors are learning to use a new device, for instance. While there is a statistical price for dropping the information, it's also the case that the first few times even skilled doctors use a new device the results may not be representative of those later on. Progress in the design of medical devices also tends to be incremental, with model changes every few years, like computers or cars. The basic formulation of a drug usually stays the same once it's been approved. The difference in the life cycle of the products is another factor in the differences in study designs.", "In his new book <em>Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life</em>, Craig Venter writes of the brave new world synthetic biology may some day deliver: from consumer devices that print out the latest flu vaccine to instruments on Mars landers that analyze Martian DNA and teleport it back to Earth to be studied�\"or recreated.", "Here's your \"Awwww\" and \"Whoa!!\" moment for today: a demonstration of a teeny-tiny, working pipe organ. It's an instrument made out of nothing but paper and cardboard (with one side covered by translucent plastic so that you can see its inner workings), and it's powered by nothing but an inflated balloon. The inventor, Aliaksei Zholner, whose YouTube profile lists him as living in Belarus, has also posted video demonstrations of some of his other amazing paper creations, including a working (toy-sized) tank, drills, gears and a firecracker launcher. But the most charming one has to be this organ, for which he's also posted some sketches and models on a Russian forum dedicated to paper-based engineering. He wrote on that site that it was his wife who suggested that he work on something like a music box, which led him to creating this paper instrument.", "I used to think I was pretty good at Operation, the goofy game where you remove a funny bone, spare rib, or broken heart from a hapless guy whose light bulb of a nose buzzes and turns red with every flub. But I would never make the mistake of challenging Carol Reiley, who's working on a doctorate in computer science at Johns Hopkins, to a game. As you can see from the video, which has been making the rounds on the Internet lately, she has a fancy Da Vinci robot on her side. These expensive surgical robots are all the rage at hospitals these days, though some have questioned whether they're really such an improvement over an experienced surgeon with a sharp scalpel. No question that Reiley makes quick work of the patient's wish bone. But an eagle-eyed commenter on YouTube noticed the robot wasn't using the game probe, so there would be no buzzer action if Reiley had made a mistake. I emailed Reiley about that niggling point. She graciously replied: Yes, we could've grounded the robot and completed the circuit to make the nose buzz. But since it was a 2 million dollar machine, we decided against it. And it was a late night in lab. Alternatively, she wrote, the team could have tried using the robot to pick up the game tweezers. But, she said, the main thing they wanted to do was \"focus on the robot's dexterity and hand-tremor reduction.\" She says there's another cool video in the works and hints that it will have something to do with \"autonomous surgery,\" a subject of her research.", "Implantable devices that shock hearts out of potentially fatal rhythms, like the one former Vice President Dick Cheney has had, have gotten very popular – too popular, according to a new analysis. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at 112,000 implants of cardioverter defibrillators done over the past four years. Turns out 23 percent of them – more than 25,000 patients – didn't meet the criteria for getting the $30,000 devices. Read More According to guidelines, doctors shouldn't implant them in patients recovering from a heart attack or heart bypass surgery. Patients with a recent diagnosis of heart failure or those with severe symptoms of heart failure are also ineligible. But lots of those patients are having defib implants anyway. And some of them are apparently dying as a result, says the report. The mortality risk is small – less than one percent – but it was three times higher among patients who didn't meet the guidelines. Those patients also had higher complication rates. \"No risk is acceptable if a procedure has no demonstrated benefit,\" say the study authors, who include researchers from Duke, Yale, Stanford and the Mayo Clinic. When the researchers combed through data from 2006 to 2009 in a national registry that keeps track of defibrillator implants in most hospitals, they found a lot of difference among hospitals in their compliance with the guidelines. In many hospitals, more than 40 percent of implants were inappropriate. That spells a big problem in doctors' and hospitals' compliance with \"evidence-based\" medicine – the new buzzword in medical quality- and cost-control. The new study offers an important clue as to why so many implants are being done outside the guidelines: A third of them are done by doctors without special training in heart-rhythm problems. These non-specialists had much higher percentages of inappropriate implants. An editorial in JAMA says some implants outside the guidelines are OK – maybe around six percent – because of patients' special circumstances. But not anywhere near one-in-four. Wall Street analysts who monitor the makers of these implantable defibrillators – companies such as Boston Scientific , Medtronic and St. Jude Medical – paid heed to the new study. In fact, one analyst jumped the gun on JAMA's release time for the study, causing the journal to lift the embargo early. The companies' stocks took a modest hit on the news." ]

[ "NPR's Phillip Martin reports on the continuing controversy over the shortage of minorities on new fall television programs. With black and Hispanic civil rights groups demanding change, network executives are on the defensive this week as they unveil their fall line-ups to tv critics. CBS denied it was part of the problem because of the range of feature minority characters on it's programs. ABC announced it would add five minority characters to some new shows, but said the action was planned even before the protests. NBC issued a statement that called the inclusion of minorities \"a top priority\". Meanwhile, black and Hispanic civil rights groups are calling for boycotts to force networks to reflect the diversity of their audiences." ]

[ "For decades, Olympics fans have loathed two words: \"tape\" and \"delay.\" But this summer, things will be different: For the first time, NBC will stream live video of the London Games, online and via mobile. If you think that decision is overdue, you're not alone. Sports Business Daily media reporter John Ourand says he is shocked it has taken this long for the network to put live video of all Olympic events online. \"I'm surprised it didn't happen four years ago, or even eight years ago,\" Ourand tells Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep. \"People are watching video online,\" he says. \"And people also are rejecting tape-delayed broadcasts — which is what NBC had done\" in previous years. For the 2012 London Games, NBC plans to stream video of all 302 Olympic events, allowing online viewers to choose what they want to watch. Fans will have options for watching broad highlights, or following one discipline's events. The network will also release apps to allow live video and other features on tablets and smartphones. It's a far cry from the years the network spent cloistering the most popular events into a prime-time package that aired hours later. But that doesn't mean NBC will be giving open access to just anyone who wants to watch the Olympics online. To get full access, you must be a cable or satellite subscriber. And you'll need a user ID and password from your TV provider to log in, according to a guide posted last week on NBC's video site. That could be bad news for anyone who's gone \"off the grid\" by rejecting cable and satellite subscriber plans, who may be forced to find other options to watch favorite events live. And the network still plans to save most of its interviews and features for prime time. Ourand says that for NBC, the lure of advertising revenue is only one reason to try to control access to its online Olympic content. He points to the network's widely available cable channels — USA, CNBC and MSNBC. \"One of the reasons that they're widely distributed is because they carry that Olympic programming,\" he says. \"And cable operators didn't want to do without that programming.\" As Ourand tells Inskeep, \"TV is still driving the bus here. There's a cliche in the media business: 'Digital dimes for TV dollars.' And that's still in effect here.\" Even so, Ourand says that NBC's online coverage, which will be hosted at the network's newly relaunched Olympics site, signals a new approach at the network — and in the sports media. \"What ESPN and other networks have found is that, when you broadcast things live online, it doesn't erode the broadcast at all,\" he says. \"In fact, it draws a lot of people to want to see it on their hi-def TVs in their living rooms.\" Ourand says that NBC received a vivid demonstration of how hard it is to keep sports fans from watching an event live online during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when sprinter Usain Bolt turned in an electrifying world-record performance in the 100-meter dash. \"People watched it online, via foreign websites, via pirated websites — and NBC didn't get any of that,\" says Ourand, who recalls watching the race on the BBC's website. Despite that burst of online interest during the event, the network's programming didn't suffer. Ourand says that \"the rating for Usain Bolt for NBC on prime time was still very good\" — something he attributes to buzz about Bolt's record, as well as fans' desire to watch the race on large high-definition televisions, even if they'd seen it earlier on a computer. The Bolt race seems to have been a big moment for NBC, which had previously been unwilling to put many high-profile events online as they happened. \"They were so worried,\" Ourand says. \"They wanted to protect their TV rights, and they wanted to protect advertisers who were advertising on TV, and they didn't want to dilute the viewers.\" Another thing that'll be different about this year's Olympics is the timing of the men's 100-meter sprint final. If Bolt repeats his gold-medal performance of four years ago, he would do so on Aug. 5, a Sunday. That means that here in the U.S., the race would start around 4:50 p.m. EDT.", "More than an hour before taking the stage to formally announce his re-election, @Barack Obama tweeted his victory. He wrote, \"This happened because of you.\" Obama was one of millions of people who tweeted on Election Day. Traffic on the social networking site peaked at 11:19 p.m. Tuesday when the TV networks called the race.", "John Nichols writes about politics for The Nation magazine as its Washington correspondent. \"Tonight, Current TV host Keith Olbermann with the latest on the 2012 presidential race from commentator Al Gore…\" That's a cable-TV promo that might well appeal to progressives. And it might well be heard, now that Olbermann, the top-rated MSNBC host who became a hero to liberals with his blistering commentaries on the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush-Cheney administration, has cut a deal with Current TV, the cable network co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore. Olbermann, whose decision last month to give up his top-rated MSNBC program shocked his fans, will host a nightly primetime program on Current TV and become the network's \"Chief News Officer.\" The Olbermann/Current TV agreement comes at a time when cable and digital media outlets are scrambling to position themselves before the 2012 presidential campaign — an essential branding moment for old and new media — begins in earnest. At the most basic level, Olbermann move is a classic old-media leap from one network to another. But it also has political consequences, as Olbermann and Gore form a potentially potent combination with the base of liberal viewers that built MSNBC into a serious media presence and that could give Current TV a leg up. This is vital for Current TV if it wants to be a player in the burgeoning arena of politically focused talk TV. Started five years ago as a youth-oriented network, Current TV has struggled to develop an identity since then. The ratings have, in industry parlance, been \"disappointing.\" Of late, however, Current TV has repositioned itself as a more traditional network, with popular entertainment programming — including This American Life and a delightfully twisted set of foodie programs such as Kill It. Cook It. Eat It and Cooking in the Danger Zone: Burma — and a goal of developing a significant public affairs programming. But the network has needed a \"star.\" That's where Olbermann comes in. He is known entity with a following. His Countdown program on MSNBC attracted a million viewers each night. If just one-third of them were to follow Olbermann to Current TV — no easy task, as the network is fewer cable systems (it reaches about 60 million homes versus MSNBC's 80 million) and is often on the digital tier of those networks (requiring new equipment) — it would give the upstart network a huge boost. Is that possible? Consider this: Current TV has roughly 23,000 viewers in a given night. When Olbermann was briefly suspended by MSNBC last fall for making campaign donations to several Democratic candidates, more than 300,000 Americans signed a petition, circulated by which read: \"Keith Olbermann made your network a success. If you want your viewers to keep tuning in to MSNBC, put Keith back on TV now!\" MSNBC put Olbermann back on TV immediately, only to have the host announce two months later than he and the network were parting company. Even after leaving MSNBC, Olbermann had 225,000 Twitter followers. Now, Olbermann will be back on TV. If he can simply bring those 300,000 petition signers, or his Twitter followers to the new network, he would multiply its viewership by ten times. Plus, he gives Current TV a new opportunity to exploit the connection with Gore — another hero of liberals, thanks to his own rebukes of Bush-Cheney administration abuses. If Current TV goes after the Olbermann fans and Gore enthusiasts, they can make a serious play for cable viewers at a time of great churn in political coverage and commentary. So it is that an analysis of the Olbermann/Current TV arrangement by the industry-savvy folks at the TV Squad website, suggest that: \"Current now has the opportunity— particularly if they piggyback more talent onto their Olbermann hiring — to compete with MSNBC for the loyalty of left-leaning cable news viewers.\" Gore and Olbermann aren't the only ones with a stake in that prospect. Comcast, the media giant that recently took change of NBC (and by extension MSNBC), owns a 10 percent stake in Current TV. That should make it easier for Olbermann to get around any contractual barriers to his making a move to another network before the conclusion of his MSNBC agreement. So the pieces are falling in place. Now, the question becomes: Is Olbermann a big enough personality to redefine not just one network, as he did during his eight years with MSNBC, but two?", "My first hint that a recent column on diversity in late-night TV had made an impact came when I saw a tweet from an old acquaintance. He runs a website and blog devoted to covering television and had decided to write a post based on my audio story on late-night TV. He then sent out a Twitter message with the headline: \"Critic argues there are too many white guys in late night TV.\" It was a fair enough interpretation. I started my audio piece by playing snippets of the theme songs from three well-known late-night shows, noting that they're all hosted by white males. But it also felt curiously confrontational. The point of my piece was that there could be as many as two new jobs opening up in late-night TV, and it might help the genre broaden its horizons if those next gigs went to someone who is not a while male and has a history of talking about issues like race and gender a little differently. (The author of the post about my post, TV critic Sean Daly, says he was probably just trying to write a headline that grabbed people.) Often when discussions about diversity come up, they are perceived in confrontational ways. We are so used to talking about race in combative terms that it is easy to take a message about spreading opportunity and see it as criticism of those who are overrepresented. My friend changed the headline. But his tweet and my response sparked even more conversations online, and I realized there are patterns to our public conversations about race that reveal our own assumptions about each other and how ill-equipped we are sometimes to talk about them. Here's my take on some of the reactions I got and the patterns they exposed. Reaction 1: People of color have a special interest in talking about race, sometimes to win special advantage. One thing Sean also did in his story about my story was identify my race (I'm African-American). I asked him why, and he said it was full disclosure. But disclosure of what? If it's about indicating that I have an expertise or special interest in the subject of race, it would be better to note that I've been writing about the intersection of race, pop culture and media for nearly 20 years. Or point out that I wrote a book published in 2012 about these issues. Or note that I've won awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Florida Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists for my work covering racial issues. But I'm not sure what can be inferred from my race alone. And I doubt a white critic would have had his race mentioned in a similar story. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor faced accusations of choosing ethnic identity over the rule of law when she read a blistering dissent from the court's recent decision upholding a ban on affirmative action programs in university admissions in Michigan. An unsigned editorial in the National Review accused her of \"elevating ethnic identity politics above the law\" for stating, among other things, that \"race matters ... because of persistent racial inequality in society — inequality that cannot be ignored.\" For those who believe things are working just fine when it comes to race and society in America, words like Sotomayor's are dismissed as coming from someone who is biased to favor her own racial experience. But it seems obvious that everyone involved in the case has a racial background that informs his or her view, even white people. When I do stories on race, I often get reactions across social media that boil down to a simple sentence: You're only rocking the boat to cause trouble. (I even had one person tweet that talking about gender disparities made sense, but talking race was just about starting a controversy.) But that sounds to me like blaming a traffic reporter for pointing out a pothole. And when you have just one woman and two nonwhite men working as hosts among 20 different late-night shows on broadcast and cable TV, that's an awfully big pothole. Reaction 2: Arguments for diversity demand that people ignore facts for emotion. In terms of the late-night TV host discussion, I saw an insistence that there's diversity lacking in late-night for some objective, fact-based reason that often was not specifically articulated. There must be some ratings figures or research which proves the available audience prefers the kinds of hosts now filling the jobs, the reasoning went. The possibility that these hiring decisions might be affected by emotional reactions to what kind of person \"feels right for the job\" were rejected outright. That was the subject of a long back-and-forth with one of my Twitter followers, who insisted advertisers and network programmers make programming choices based on facts, not emotion. But there's also a tactic in the TV industry called counterprogramming, where rival networks put on shows appealing to different audiences at the same time. So if ABC has lots of female viewers for Scandal at 10 p.m. Thursdays, NBC puts on the male-skewing serial killer dram", "On NBC's Parenthood, Crosby Braverman and his fiancee, Jasmine Trussell, are so mismatched they can't even load a dishwasher without getting in a fight. He's flighty; she's focused. He's noncommittal; she makes long-range plans. Oh, and she's black, while he's a white guy. They're one of several mixed-race couples on network TV right now; others include Mike and Lisa on Fox's Traffic Light and Alice and Alonzo on ABC's Mr. Sunshine. But like so many interracial couples on network TV these days, Crosby and Jasmine don't discuss their racial and cultural differences. They go to an awkward premarital counseling session at Jasmine's mom's church that leads to a blowout fight when they get home. We never learn if the church is a black church, or whether Crosby feels uncomfortable there. On its face, this seems like tremendous progress. It's a world where interracial couples face no disappointed parents, no odd questions from neighbors, no total strangers asking why their kids are different colors. But as a black man who has been married to a white woman for nearly 20 years, I have to say that a world where interracial couples almost never discuss race doesn't feel real. What it feels like is avoidance. That's why I loved a scene from an episode of Mr. Sunshine, the new sitcom featuring Friends star Matthew Perry. Alison Janney (from The West Wing) plays his clueless boss, who has an odd proposition for an interracial couple working in her office: a double date with her new boyfriend. She drops his name, Darius Washington. \"Does that ring a bell?\" she asks with a knowing look at Alonzo, played by African-American actor James Lesure. She follows up, \"I just assumed all you brothers know each other.\" He laughs awkwardly. What really sold this scene for me was what the couple said after the boss walked away. They make a couple of jokes about it, but they also seriously discuss whether their boss is being offensive or if she might genuinely be trying to reach out. I've had that talk too many times — the can-you-believe-it debriefing after someone has said something clueless or condescending. That's what I see missing with too many of these couples on television. Race difference is an elephant in the room, instead of a window into a new experience. It's time for network TV to fully tap the real dramatic potential of these couples, and let them talk about the issues we're already tackling in the real world. Eric Deggans is the TV and media critic for the St. Petersburg Times. RENEE MONTAGNE, Host: Still, TV critic Eric Deggans finds those shows rarely reflect the real drama of mixed marriage. ERIC DEGGANS: On \"Parenthood,\" Crosby Braverman and his fiancée Jasmine are so mismatched, they can't even load a dishwasher without getting in a fight. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, \"PARENTHOOD\") MONTAGNE: (as Crosby Braverman) I can't marry someone who will not let me make any decisions. Okay, I'm starting to realize that you are very controlling. I mean, how we load the dishwasher. DEGGANS: He's flighty. She's focused. He's non-committal. She's makes long- range plans. Oh, and she's African-American, while he's a white guy. But like so many interracial couples on network TV these days, their racial and cultural differences almost never come up, even in this awkward moment, which came during a pre-marriage counseling session in Jasmine's mom's church. U: Who takes the lead when it comes to decisions about your child's education? MONTAGNE: (as Jasmine) I do. U: Have both considered what religious instruction you'll give your child? MONTAGNE: (as Crosby Braverman) Well, I think we're going to probably encourage him to decide. MONTAGNE: (as Jasmine) Yeah. But he's a child. So in the meantime, he'll go to church here and go to Sunday school and, yeah. DEGGANS: (Soundbite of TV show, \"Mr. Sunshine\") (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) MONTAGNE: (as Crystal) There you two are. DEGGANS: (Soundbite of TV show, \"Mr. Sunshine\") MONTAGNE: (as Crystal) That's my fella's name, Darius Washington. Ring a bell, Alonzo? MONTAGNE: (as Alonzo) Mm, no. Should it? MONTAGNE: (as Crystal) Well, I just assumed all you brothers knew each other. (SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER) DEGGANS: But what really sold this scene for me, was what the couple said after the boss walked away. MONTAGNE: (Alice) Did you just pick up on what was going on there? MONTAGNE: (as Alonzo) Yeah. As subtle as it was, I got it. MONTAGNE: (Alice) She obviously just asked us out because she's dating a black man, and then assumed that you would know him because he's a brother. MONTAGNE: (as Alonzo) Look, it's no surprise Crystal is insensitive. This is the woman who handed Yo-Yo Ma her dry cleaning. But the point is, she wants to have dinner with us. She's trying. I think we should have said yes. MONTAGNE: (Alice) Really? MONTAGNE: (as Alonzo) Yeah. And who knows, she spends time with us, the next time, she won't ask the guys from Los Lobos to park her car. DEGGANS: It's time for network TV to fully tap the po", "Pity the poor TV analysts: Tonight, in real time, they'll have to figure out who's anointed and who's disappointed in contests involving both major political parties and spanning two dozen states. But the rules vary from state to state and party to party. With so many different ways to keep score, how can the networks possibly figure out a clear-cut winner? I paid a visit to two big TV news shops to figure that out for myself. Kathy Frankovic is a former college professor who has worked for CBS News for more than 30 years. She's the director of surveys, and she had thought she had seen it all — until now. \"We have never had this many states, this many races, in both parties, on a primary night ever before, I think, in history,\" Frankovic says. A few long blocks away, at Fox News Channel's Midtown Manhattan headquarters, executive David Rhodes shows me around the decision desk. That's where Michael Barone, who's overseeing the network's team of academics, political researchers and journalists, will stand and explain to viewers exactly how they're making predictions. Rhodes says there's a lingering memory that accounts for the caution: Election Night 2000, when networks predicted who had won Florida. Twice. And had to withdraw it. Both times. \"This is tougher than a general election,\" Rhodes says of tonight's Super Tuesday primaries. Tougher? Sure. Usually a general election comes down to a dozen key states — the others are pretty clear cut. That's not the case tonight. \"Tuesday is a triage operation. It is for us, and it is for everybody else that's going to be making projections,\" Rhodes says. \"You're not really looking at one race or even two dozen races, but just under two dozen races, in two parties, among multiple candidates. And then to add another layer of complexity, many of these races are not winner-take-all — they're proportionate to the congressional districts.\" So the \"decision desk\" — boy does TV loooove alliteration — will wade through exit polls, raw-vote updates and reporters' tips from the field to determine why people voted as they did. The big question: how to determine who wins. After all, you can tally up victories by state, or by vote, or by delegate count. Back at CBS, Frankovic says all three are important. \"The end-of-the-night story is of course the delegates,\" she says — and that's fair enough. A candidate wins the nomination by acquiring delegates. But hold on. \"In the course of getting to there, we are looking at what is happening, state by state,\" Frankovic says. \"There is a big burst of poll closings at 8 p.m. Eastern time.\" It's nine states in all. Later in the evening, she continues, it becomes about the behavior of voters. \"Are there regional differences? Are there different subgroups within the Democratic and Republican parties who are important? What does this mean for the future? Where are we headed?\" Even the delegates themselves are tough to allocate. On the Democratic side, \"superdelegates\" who hold big offices often announce their allegiance, but they're not required to keep their promises. And votes cast in states holding caucuses don't always translate immediately into delegates either. That, of course, creates the opportunity for confusion. Frankovic will be wearing a microphone — and makeup — just to be ready for her closeup, in case there's a problem. \"My goal,\" says Frankovic, \"is never to go on television on election night.\" MELISSA BLOCK, host: Pity the poor TV analysts. In real time tonight, they'll have to figure out who is anointed and who's disappointed in both Democratic and Republican contests spanning two dozen states. NPR's David Folkenflik wondered how the networks can possibly figure out a clear-cut winner with so many different ways to keep score. DAVID FOLKENFLIK: So I paid a visit to two big TV news shops over the past few days to figure that out for myself. Kathy Frankovic is a former college professor who has worked for CBS News for more than 30 years. She's the director of surveys there, and she thought she had seen it all — until now. Ms. KATHY FRANKOVIC (Director of Surveys, CBS News): We have never had this many states, this many races, in both parties, on a primary night ever before in - I think in history. FOLKENFLIK: A few long blocks away in midtown Manhattan, at Fox News Channel's headquarters, David Rhodes shows me around the decision desk. Mr. David Rhodes (Vice President for News, Fox News Channel): What you can see here, Michael stands on election nights at that masking tape mark on the floor. The camera takes in the whole scope of the decision process. FOLKENFLIK: Rhodes is vice president for news at Fox, and he's talking about Michael Barone, who's overseeing the network's team of academics, political researchers and journalists. Barone will explain to viewers exactly how they're making predictions. And Rhodes says there's a lingering memory that accounts for the caution. Mr. BARONE: If these states break a certai", "When it broadcasts the Winter Olympics from South Korea next year, NBC will do so with live programming across the U.S., bringing an end to the network's decades-old strategy of delaying coverage according to U.S. time zones. \"That means social media won't be ahead of the action in any time zone, and as a result, none of our viewers will have to wait for anything,\" said Jim Bell, president of NBC Olympics Production & Programming. \"This is exciting news for the audience, the advertisers, and our affiliates alike.\" NBC's move effectively shifts the core of a strategy it adopted for online audiences — to provide immediate access to Olympic events — to its main platform. Live coverage from Pyeongchang will air during the day, in prime time and late at night, the network says. The time-delay approach has long been criticized by those who complained that it exposed viewers to spoilers, reduced the scope of NBC's coverage and diminished the excitement of a live global event. Those complaints grew louder during last summer's Rio Olympics, when American viewers were routinely forced into a bifurcated existence, with events playing out in one timeline on social media and in another on NBC's TV networks. For the 2018 Winter Games, NBC's prime-time broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT, 6 p.m. MT and 5 p.m. PT — an approach that will likely mean people can watch without avoiding Facebook and Twitter feeds that might inadvertently ruin the suspense of a race or competition. NBC's plan for South Korea does include replays — the network's prime-time coverage will be rebroadcast late at night. For last year's Olympics, NBC put out more than 6,755 hours of programming; in addition to its TV networks, online viewers could get wide and immediate access to events through its NBC Sports apps and streaming video. But with Olympic events in Rio only one hour ahead of U.S. Eastern Time, NBC's insistence on a time delay meant most American TV audiences didn't see them until at least two hours later. When the Olympic cauldron is lit in South Korea next February, Pyeongchang will be 14 hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast. The time difference is currently 13 hours, but South Korea operates on Korean Standard Time year-round, after a dalliance with Daylight Savings Time back in 1988, when it hosted the Summer Olympics in Seoul.", "On broadcast television, the February ratings sweeps ended Wednesday. Sweeps periods are when the networks compete aggressively to attract the largest audiences because those are the numbers used to set advertising rates for the next three months. Now that the February sweeps are over, almost all of the network shows are reruns — and it's also why we're about to face a new onslaught of reality TV shows. Reality shows are a low-cost, low-risk way of rolling the dice and hoping for a sudden hit. And if it doesn't catch on? No big deal: You finish out the cycle and replace it with something else, or replace it immediately if the ratings are that low. But if it hits big, it's a major moneymaker. But a decade into the current cycle of broadcast TV reality shows, much of the novelty has worn off. Even the durable programs have to rely on tricks to keep audiences coming back. Donald Trump's The Apprentice series, on NBC, has upped the ante with celebrity editions for a while now — even though its definition of \"celebrity\" is way too generous. This Sunday, the newest cycle of Celebrity Apprentice premieres, and the loosest cannon in its arsenal is Gary Busey, whose level of quirkiness has fueled other reality shows in the past. So here he is, misbehaving again, with predictable unpredictability. And that's the problem with reality TV this year: Even when the programs aren't familiar reruns, the contestants are. On CBS, we have former Survivor contestants Russell and Boston Rob fighting it out on new teams. On the same network's The Amazing Race, we have 16 losing teams from former editions, lining up to try, try again. Another problem is that even a new show can seem old, because its parts are so familiar. This weekend ABC launches Secret Millionaire, which is an unwatchable rip-off of the nearly as manipulative Undercover Boss on CBS. Is there any broadcast TV reality show with a spark of originality these days? Yes, there is — and, like Secret Millionaire and Celebrity Apprentice and The Amazing Race, it shows up this Sunday. It's NBC's America's Next Great Restaurant, and it comes from the producers of Bravo's Top Chef. There are two variations that make this new show stand out. One is that instead of having cooks compete for prizes, or a dream job in a top restaurant — as they do on Top Chef and Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen — this time they compete for investors and the chance to launch a dream business. That's a familiar idea, too, from such shows as ABC's Shark Tank — but in America's Next Great Restaurant, all the contestants are competing in the same category for the backing to open a chain of three restaurants. They're trying to impress the likes of chefs Bobby Flay and Curtis Stone, and this time, the panel isn't just judging, it's mentoring. In Sunday's premiere, the narrator points out that the \"stakes couldn't be any higher.\" The stakes, in that context, don't refer to juicy grilled pieces of meat — but those come later, along with casual restaurants built around grilled cheese sandwiches, Indian fusion and meatballs. In the first episode, the judges hear the pitches, taste the food and select the finalists. In Week 2, the contestants are taken to an open-air mall to set up booths and serve one sample item to a crowd of 1,000 people, each of whom has a vote. And judges Flay and Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle, offer opinions, too — passing judgment on everything from the food to the logo to even the would-be restaurant's name. It's the mentoring that makes America's Next Great Restaurant distinctive, and intriguing. The experts here aren't just passing judgment. Every step of the way, they're offering cold, valuable advice — and each step of the way, as one contestant gets eliminated, the visions of the others get more focused, and more impressive. I suspect that with this show, as with American Idol, a finalist need not win to succeed. After a few weeks of exposure on a show like this, they might find other investors eager to help them make their dreams come true. But for that to happen, America's Next Great Restaurant has to last a few weeks. And most new TV shows, like most new restaurants, fail quickly. But America's Next Great Restaurant — with a tone that is more positive than negative — is one show I expect will beat the odds. The judges are sincere and likable, the show taps into a common dream and it makes me smile — and at times, it even makes me hungry. David Bianculli is founder and editor of TVWorthWatching.com. He teaches TV and film history at Rowan University in New Jersey. (Soundbite of music) DAVID BIANCULLI, host: This is FRESH AIR. I'm TV critic David Bianculli. On broadcast television, the February ratings sweeps ended Wednesday. Sweeps periods are when the networks compete aggressively to attract the largest audiences because those are the numbers used to set advertising rates for the next three months. That's why now that the February sweeps are over, almost all network", "Hardcore users of Twitter are still taking in the news that the social networking site is devoting some of its energy to getting into the TV business (instead of, say, adding nested replies or making it easier to organize friends on the service). The TV show is being created by Amy Ephron, sister of Nora and Delia Ephron. It will be, apparently, a competitive show involving celebrities on Twitter. But what to call such a show? We've got some ideas and you should add your own suggestions in the comments. And, Amy Ephron? No need to thank us. We're here to help. \"The Twitteriffic Race\"\"Desperate Housetweeps\"\"FailWhale's Anatomy\"\"The R.T.\" (more after the jump) Read More >> \"Win, Lose or Twitpic\"\"Ugly bit.ly\"\"So You Think You Can #tweedeck?\"\"Friday Night Follows\"\"When @harry Met @sally\"\"Twitterverse Idol\"\"The Tweetingest Loser\"\"America's Next Top @reply\"\"How I DM'd Your Mother\"\"The Real Followers of #orangecounty\"\"Law & Order: Special API Request Unit\"", "The moment comes a minute or so into the trailer for Dr. Ken, Ken Jeong's new fall comedy for ABC. He's playing a Korean-American doctor with no bedside manners and a wacky family; not a bad setup for a sitcom that will straddle the work/family setting. Dave Foley, the ex-Newsradio star who plays Jeong's boss, chides his employee for insulting a patient, demanding he apologize. \"And if I don't?\" Jeong replies. \"Then I'll finally have grounds to fire your tiny Asian ass,\" he crows. Then he turns in embarrassment to an African-American nurse played by former Martin co-star Tisha Campbell, and says \"I will give you two extra vacation days if you don't report that.\" Jeong himself is actually a licensed physician who completed his residency at a New Orleans hospital before devoting himself to comedy, landing on NBC's Community and the Hangover movie franchise. Still, that joke made me pause. I haven't seen the full pilot for the show. As a fan of Jeong, I'm hopeful it will be much better than that moment. But clumsy, race-based jokes like that one –- which turn on nothing beyond a clueless character's clueless bigotry -– were exactly the kind of material I feared would flood television last year, when a burst of non-white centered shows debuted on network television. Instead, we got inspired stuff like Black-ish, Jane the Virgin, Fresh Off the Boat, How to Get Away with Murder, American Crime and Empire. These weren't just shows featuring non-white casts; they also challenged how television handles race, culture and characters of color, while being flat-out entertaining. (ABC's Cristela, the only network series starring, created and executive produced by a Latina, was the only show from this season's freshman class of diversity-centered programs that was cancelled.) The good news from the big broadcast networks' upfront presentations earlier this month, where they revealed their new shows for the next season, is that television's turn toward inclusion seems like more than a passing fad. Of 42 new shows planned for next TV season on the Big Four broadcast networks, 13 series (or 30 percent), either star non-white actors, feature a mostly non-white cast or feature non-white actors as co-leads. Given that we're 15 years past a TV season when no new show on the top four networks had any non-white actors in the cast at all, those numbers look like progress. These numbers also suggest that talk about white actors losing parts en masse to great crowds of performers of color — sparked by a Deadline.com story filled with anonymous sources that read like the dying gasp of Hollywood's white, male privilege — was overblown. But there may be bad news: A look at early information and trailers for many of these shows — most pilots aren't available to critics yet — hint that the new crop of programs may not be nearly as groundbreaking or innovative as the stuff we saw this past TV season. ABC, for instance, has developed a TV version of the 1989 John Candy film Uncle Buck starring an all black cast and featuring Mike Epps. But Uncle Buck isn't even considered one of Candy's classic movies; is this really a prime property for reinvention with a black cast? NBC has three different series starring Latinas: Jennifer Lopez as a New York detective in Shades of Blue, America Ferrera as a retail employee in Superstore, and Eva Longoria as a telenovela star in Hot & Bothered. But the working title of Longoria's program was Telenovela; the fact that the culturally specific title was changed to something more generic leaves me worried for the actual content of the show. Similarly, Fox has a crime drama with Morris Chestnut starring as a hotshot Miami doctor who helps solve crimes in Rosewood. In the show's trailer, it looks like a formulaic copy of Bones set on South Beach with nothing new or interesting to offer. CBS has a TV version of Rush Hour, featuring two fresh-faced actors as a black Los Angeles police detective forced to work with a straitlaced Hong Kong detective, like the films starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. But the last Rush Hour movie was released in 2007; will a TV version of a film franchise that was running out of steam eight years ago really excite today's television audiences? Some critics accused the films of perpetuating stereotypes about black and Asian people. Will that also be a problem for the TV show? Still, if this latest crop of shows starring non-white actors seems derivative and generic at first glance, that may not be all bad. One could argue progress on diversity means seeing people of color in shows where their race or culture isn't the primary or most important topic. And media analyst David Bank, a managing director at RBC Capital Markets in New York, suggests that the turn toward more generic subjects might actually make shows featuring non-white actors more successful. Bank says the most successful TV series often center on procedural franchises. That's industry-speak for shows focused on law en", "A new analysis projects that by Election Day, non-party, non-candidate groups will likely spend more than a half billion dollars to influence the congressional campaigns. It's just the latest report documenting a surge in undisclosed political money this year. With two weeks to go till election day interest groups have already spent more than they did in the 2008 congressional races. Read More The analysis comes from the non-partisan Campaign Finance Institute -- which now projects that the so-called independent groups will end up spending around $564 million this year. That's up 40 percent from two years ago. Most of the additional money appears on the conservative side. The  institute projects that ultimately about $334 million will be spent to help Republican candidates. That's about $100 million more than pro-Democratic groups are likely to spend -- a reversal from 2006 and 2008... when liberal groups dominated the money race. Institute Director Michael Malbin said it's impossible to judge the impact of Citizens United -- the Supreme Court decision that made it easier for corporations and unions to spend money in politics. Much of the money is being raised by three pro-Republican groups - Crossroads GPS, American Action Network and the Commission on Hope Growth & Opportunity. The American Action Network said today it's launching TV and Internet ads in 21 Democratic congressional districts. The group didn't put a price tag on the media blitz. Nor did it disclose the donors behind it.", "Sports network giant ESPN has invited the candidates for president of FIFA, soccer's world governing body, to debate on live TV. A spokesman for the network confirmed the invitation to Reuters yesterday: \"ESPN has invited all five candidates vying for the FIFA presidency to participate in a debate.\" According to Sportingintelligence, ESPN proposed that the debate take place on Jan. 29 in London. FIFA is scheduled to hold its presidential election on Feb. 26. The five candidates are Gianni Infantino of Switzerland, Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan, Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, Jerome Champagne of France, and Tokyo Sexwale of South Africa. The five are vying to replace disgraced longtime former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter of Switzerland, who presided over the organization from 1998 until his suspension in October. Then earlier this month, he was slapped with an eight-year ban for bribery. With Blatter's former right-hand man and supposed successor, Michele Platini, also banned for eight years, the race appears wide open. Champagne and Hussein confirmed to Sportingintelligence that they are considering the invitation. It could be a busy week for them. The site says they are among three of the five candidates appearing Jan. 27 at a debate organized by New FIFA Now, a reform group, and a fourth is expected to attend. The site adds that the idea for a live TV debate has some history. Efforts to organize one before last year's election in May attracted interest from three candidates but failed \"when Blatter refused to take part.\"", "Though the Iraq War is in its fifth year, media analysts have tracked a staggering decline in war coverage by American media outlets. The bloody conflict has all but disappeared from newspaper front pages and network nightly news. During the first two-and-a-half months of 2008, war coverage accounted for only three percent of airtime on network news, says the Project for Excellence in Journalism. During that same time last year, the networks devoted nearly one fourth of their time to Iraq. With the heated horse race for the White House and a badly sagging economy, Iraq has been pushed to the back burner. But at what cost? Farai Chideya gets answers from Andrew Tyndall, of the TyndallReport.com, and Laura Flanders, host of GRIT TV with Laura Flanders on Dish Network. FARAI CHIDEYA, host: From NPR News, this is News and Notes. I'm Farai Chideya. We're well into our fifth year of the Iraq War, but there's been a staggering decline in war coverage lately. It's all but disappeared from the newspaper front pages and the network nightly news. The Project for Excellence in Journalism tracked news coverage of the war. During the first two and a half months of this year, coverage made up only three percent of airtime on network news. For that same time last year, the networks devoted nearly one-fourth of their time to Iraq. With the race for the White House under way and a sagging economy, Iraq has been pushed to the back burner. But at what cost? Here to help us sort it out are Andrew Tyndall, author of the tyndallreport.com which tracks the coverage of the nightly network news, and Laura Flanders, host of \"Grit-TV with Laura Flanders\" on DISH Network and grittv.org, and author of \"Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics From the Politicians.\" Hi folks, how are you? Mr. ANDREW TYNDALL (Author, tyndallreport.com): Hey. Ms. LAURA FLANDERS (Host, \"Grit TV with Laura Flanders\"): Glad to be with you. CHIDEYA: So Andrew... Mr. TYNDALL: Yes. CHIDEYA: You've actually crunched the latest numbers on the Iraq War coverage. How much airtime have the networks devoted to the conflict in the last six months of this year? Mr. TYNDALL: Yes. The real good time frame to look at this is there was - it was as if a light was switched off last September when David Petraeus came to Congress and testified that the surge was working and the military situation in Iraq was virtually under control. If you look at the entire coverage of the Iraq War on the network nightly newscasts, up until that point, up until that week, you had each week, each and every week from 2003, you had 26, 27 minutes per week of coverage of the war. Since that time, it's down to six, six minutes of coverage per week. So we've gone down from 27 to six and it was like a light was switched off. And Petraeus said everything's under control and journalists stopped covering the war. CHIDEYA: Laura, the LA Times announced last week that the Tribune Company would be eliminating yet another 150 editorial positions in the newsroom, cutting down the weekly printed pages by 15 percent. So do you think that the decline in coverage is based largely on economics? Ms. FLANDERS: Well, you know, I'd like to believe so, and the LA Times foreign editor would certainly have us believe that economics is at the heart and there's no question newspapers are in trouble. But when you look at the decline in coverage of Iraq, it's not just remote coverage, foreign coverage, that's failing to get the airtime or the print space. It's also the domestic stories. I mean if you look at the local papers around our country, you've got good reporting actually happening about combat-related stress disorder, suicides among vets. I'm looking at McClatchy's massive study on detainees in the so-called War on Terror. Major reports, eight part series, simply no pickup in the national press. You've got the Washington Times doing a report about the VA using Iraq vets as guinea pigs in drug tests. No pickup in the national press. And again, when you think about the economics, it's hard to credit this argument that it's money, when you've got in the run-up in the Beijing Olympics - AP, for example, sending 319 people to Beijing. USA Today sending 19 reporters. The networks are all sending at least a dozen reporters. These are the same networks that between them have fewer than half a dozen in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. So, you know, I want to be sympathetic that money's the problem, but I don't buy it. CHIDEYA: But isn't the magnitude of the financial issue so much higher? I mean, there are estimates that one bodyguard to protect one reporter costs 1,200 dollars a day. These are contractors, that news organizations can spend, you know, anywhere from three million to tens of millions of dollars a year. It's not just the cost of sending the reporters, it's also the cost of doing business in a war zone. And in fact in some articles, journalists have said, Well, I don't know, is it worth c", "When you talk about \"outside\" money in politics, there's a good chance you'll talk about billionaire activists David and Charles Koch. Especially if you're Harry Reid. The Senate majority leader regularly takes to the Senate floor to slam the Kochs for financing a network of conservative groups. Back in March, he said he was criticizing \"two very wealthy brothers who intend to buy their own Congress, a Congress beholden to their money and bound to enact their radical philosophy.\" Not that Reid, or anyone else, knows how much the Kochs themselves put into their political network. Their network operates mainly in the world of undisclosed money — multimillion-dollar contributions from Americans who can afford that, going to tax-exempt entities that typically pour the cash into thousands of TV ads. While candidates and party committees still buy most of the advertising, among other political players — the outside groups — more than half of the ads are financed by secret donors. David and Charles Koch have made just one publicly disclosed contribution apiece to their network: $2 million from each brother to Freedom Partners Action Fund. It's a superPAC, thus the sole entity in the network that's legally required to reveal its donors. All the other components are tax-exempt groups: 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, like Americans for Prosperity, plus a single 501(c)(6) business association, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce. This midterm election cycle has more ads than ever in Senate races, and more of them come from outside groups. The Wesleyan Media Project, a consortium based at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, tracks the advertising. \"We're seeing lots more outside group spending this cycle than in previous cycles,\" said Erika Franklin Fowler, a director of the project. \"Outside groups account for more than 40 percent of total airings cycle-to-date.\" That's up from 32 percent in the 2012 elections. The most aggressive outside-group advertiser in House and Senate races is Senate Majority PAC, which is run by consultants with ties to Reid. It's a superPAC that discloses its donors. But overall, secret money has paid for more than half of all the outside-group ads. Americans for Prosperity, the cornerstone of the Koch network, ranks second after Senate Majority PAC. AFP has run more than 34,000 ads; it started a year before Election Day, with hits like one that urged North Carolinians, \"Tell Sen. Hagan to stop thinking about politics, and start thinking about people.\" Democrat Kay Hagan is in a tight race for a second term. Now AFP has stopped its TV campaign and turned to voter mobilization. It has ground operations in 35 states. This summer, AFP president Tim Phillips told NPR, \"We operate in every region of the country and in every kind of state. We go where we think we can make a difference for our policy agenda.\" The Wesleyan Project estimates that AFP's monthslong ad campaign cost $17 million for airtime alone. There are no estimates for the field operations. As what the IRS classifies as a social welfare organization, AFP discloses little of its spending and none of its donors. This lack of transparency traces back to decisions by federal courts and the Federal Election Commission. It infuriates those who say disclosing political money is a good thing. \"Voters are not idiots,\" said Heather Gerken, a professor at Yale Law School. \"They realize that if someone is funding something secretly, there may be a self-interested reason they're funding it.\" Still, there are hints of change in the way the outside money moves. Craig Engle, a Washington-based campaign finance lawyer, said, \"I think the future of undisclosed political money is not bright.\" Engle's clients include some of the secretive outside groups. \"More and more people are more and more comfortable with disclosure, especially if there are no contribution limits,\" he said, basically describing the rules for superPACs. He says that's how some political operatives would prefer to operate. But it also seems unlikely that donors — at least those wealthy donors who like to influence politics with secret cash — will be rushing to follow along. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Let's talk about the drama of this fall's elections in the U.S. Maybe you don't think they're so dramatic. People aren't paying that much attention, but well-funded interest groups are. They flooded TV and the internet with ads. Millions of ad dollars come from donors never named in campaign finance disclosures. And more than half of the ads from so-called outside groups are being financed by secret donors. NPR's Peter Overby reports. PETER OVERBY, BYLINE: When you talk about outside money, there's a good chance you'll talk about billionaire activists David and Charles Koch, especially if you're Harry Reid. The Senate majority leader regularly takes to the Senate floor to slam the Kochs for financing a network of conservative groups. Here he is back in March. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED R", "Four years after Charles and David Koch's political network opened its bank accounts to promote Republican nominee Mitt Romney, it's now spending millions to save the Republicans' Senate majority from their presidential candidate. This year's Senate ads will focus on issues involving the candidates, not national issues, said James Davis, spokesman for Freedom Partners Action Fund, a superPAC that is doing most of the network's TV ads. Most of the ads deal with \"cronyism and corporate welfare, and/or spending and government over-regulation,\" Davis told NPR in an interview. \"What we see is that there's not a national issue per se that is mobilizing voters or that voters are encouraged or discouraged about.\" This strategy marks a reversal from 2012, when Koch ads hammered at Obamacare and other Washington controversies. The network spent $78 million on general-election presidential advertising, according to the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising. The Koch network accounted for 92 percent of the spending by all conservative outside groups in the Obama-Romney fall campaign. This time around, the network isn't doing anything to help Trump. In Pennsylvania, where first-term Sen. Pat Toomey is now trailing Democrat Katie McGinty, Koch groups have spent at least $3.5 million, or half of the total conservative spending, according to federal records analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics. The latest ad alleges cronyism, one of the elements listed by Davis. McGinty this week asked if Toomey would trust Trump with the nation's nuclear codes, a popular Democratic theme. That's how the Democrats are playing it — making sure to keep Trump in the debate. Sadie Weiner, spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the Kochs' Trump-free strategy won't work. \"The Republican senators who they're advertising for and spending tens of millions of dollars for, are pretty much unanimously standing with Donald Trump,\" she said. Most of those endorsements have been pretty tepid, but still warmer than the relationship between Trump and the Koch brothers. Trump tweeted a year ago that his primary rivals might be Koch \"puppets.\" Charles Koch, interviewed by ABC News in April, could hardly have sounded more appalled by Trump's idea to make Muslims register with the government. \"That's reminiscent of Nazi Germany. I mean, that's monstrous,\" he said. But the Koch network wouldn't go with Hillary Clinton \"We do not like Ms. Clinton's record,\" said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity. \"Clearly, on the issues that matter to us, she's just a disaster.\" Americans for Prosperity is the network's main organization for ground operations. Phillips said it has about 700 paid staff in 35 states, plus volunteers. Two other groups are also working in Senate races: The Libre Initiative, focusing on Latino voters, and Concerned Veterans for America. \"We think we can make the biggest difference by focusing very specifically on the issue differences between these Senate candidates,\" Phillips said. \"The presidential race will absolutely buffet and have an impact on these Senate races. We're just not going to get involved in it.\"", "On ABC-TV's Good Morning America today, \"embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said he won't resign despite calls for him to step down amid reports of the group's excessive spending, adding that he and other African-American leaders such as President Obama have a slimmer margin of error because of their race,\" the network reports. \"Barack Obama has a slimmer margin,\" Steele said. \"A lot of folks do. It's a different role for me to play and others to play and that's just the reality of it. But you just take that as a part of the nature of it.\" As the Associated Press adds: Asked ... if he would step down in the face of criticism of the party's financial management, Steele replied, \"No.\" He said some had been second-guessing him \"since the day that I got the job.\" Steele, however, acknowledged controversy over the $2,000 the party spent recently for a party at a sex-themed Hollywood nightclub, but said that \"when I first heard about this behavior, I was very angry.\" Let's put it to the group: We'll keep the question open for two days. And here is the video of Steele's appearance on GMA: Update at 11:15 a.m. ET: NPR's Don Gonyea tells us that at the White House this morning, spokesman Robert Gibbs said of Steele's suggestion about race playing a factor that it was \"a fairly silly comment to make.\" \"Michael Steele's problem isn't the race card; it's the credit card,\" Gibbs added.", "The President of the United States is arguably the most powerful man in the world. So how does a humble screenwriter go about putting words in his -- <a href=&quothttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429455&quot target=&quotnew&quot>or her</a> -- mouth on the screen? Also, it's <a href=&quothttp://www.pilotproject.tv/beginners_guide.html&quot target=&quotnew&quot>staffing season time</a> again: Find out just how far TV writers are willing to go to score that network gig. And the race for Oscar is on... for the handful of tickets to the <a href=&quothttp://www.oscar.com&quot target=&quotnew&quot>Kodak Theatre</a> come March 5. Will the Hollywood elite have to <a href=&quothttp://espn.go.com/media/pg2/2001/0821/photo/s_tickets8_i.jpg&quot target=&quotnew&quot>scalp</a> for seats?<br />", "Want to feel old? Consider the fact that babies who were crying in cribs while their parents agonized over Florida's protracted presidential recount in 2000 are now of voting age. Eighteen years is a long time. Even so, when we think of that time, many of us conjure up memories as sharp as barbed wire, roll our eyes or sigh out loud when anyone mentions \"Florida 2000.\" That phrase is being invoked a lot in light of this year's ultra-tight Florida statewide elections. While the stakes might not be quite as high this time, they are nonetheless substantial: the governorship of Florida, a seat in the U.S. Senate, and the office of state agricultural commission. (Three other tallies that are not statewide votes are also in the balance as the recount begins.) That's a load of high-profile, high-value races. But in 2000, the prize was the presidency of the United States. As the Electoral College vote took shape on election night, with the results piling up from around the country, it was clear the vote in Florida was going to determine not only the winner of that state's 25 electoral votes but the next occupant of the Oval Office. Although Gore had won the popular vote by roughly a half-million ballots, the all-important Electoral College count from the other 49 states (and District of Columbia) was so close that whoever won Florida would be the overall winner. The margin in the Sunshine State was so close that it took one's breath away. While the races in Florida last week appeared to be decided by thousands or tens of thousands, the presidential count there in 2000 was being measured in hundreds. Ultimately, it came down to just 537 votes out of six million cast. Network calls and angry calls When we revisit the gut-wrenching night of Nov. 7, 2000, we recall that the TV networks looked at exit polls and sample swing precincts from Florida and declared it a win for Al Gore, who was the incumbent vice president and the Democratic nominee for president. Among those making that call were ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and The Associated Press. Their predictions came not long after the official closing time for voting in the state, when relatively few votes had actually been counted. By 8 p.m. ET on their election night specials, the national networks were calling populous swing states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan for Gore. Taken together with Florida, those states triggered the network's computer programs to conclude Gore would win the Electoral College. Viewers around the country would soon see Gore's face on screen as the projected winner of the presidency. Celebrations began in Democratic headquarters everywhere. Not so fast. After calling the race, the networks began getting phone calls from Republicans. One of them came from the campaign of the Republican nominee, George W. Bush, then governor of Texas. Bush's chief strategist, Karl Rove, phoned Fox News to insist that Florida was still in play. He shared his displeasure with someone who was likely to offer a sympathetic ear – John Ellis, a Fox analyst and member of the extended Bush family. Soon, the on-air personalities on Fox were telling viewers to reserve judgment on Florida. Before long, other networks were hearing the objections and reaching the same conclusion. At NPR, the advice from election-night guest Andrew Kohut, the director of the Pew Research Center, was to hold off on calling Florida. Kohut thought the first waves of exit polls leaned too much on what appeared to be an over-sampling of demographic groups inclined to vote Democratic. That could skew toward an unusual number of young voters, women voters and people of color. More than a few news organizations reached the same conclusion. However, Kohut noted it might also mean that a disproportionate number of these Democratic-leaning groups were voting early, or that a disproportionate number were being represented in the exit polls. Since then, we have seen several elections in which exit polling over-sampled voters with college and post-college educations – possibly because these voters are more willing to complete an exit poll \"ballot\" as they leave their polling place. Kohut was among those who saw this flaw even in 2000. At the time, he urged caution, but in the heat of the moment, NPR – like other media organizations – called the state for Gore. By the time the networks switched Florida to Bush, the Texan had enough Electoral College support to be the projected winner. That call was made in the early morning hours of November 8 by all the TV networks cited above, but not by the AP. Nation in limbo Wednesday, November 8 dawned with some uncertainty as to who would be the next president. In the hours that followed, the nation came to know the name Katherine Harris. She was the Florida secretary of state, in charge of legally certifying winners in any statewide vote. She was also an ally of Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, the nominee's brother, and she had been co-chair of the nominee's statew", "The TV industry is scrambling to understand the runaway success of Fox's Empire, the story of a family-run hip-hop music company that has set ratings records in its four weeks on air. The questions, as always, are simple: Why are people drawn to this show? And how can a TV network pull it off again? Defying the usual rules of television, Empire's ratings have risen each week it has aired, starting at 9.9 million viewers on Jan. 7 and most recently attracting 11.3 million last Wednesday. That's a feat in an industry where shows usually decline a bit from their debut ratings. And it's a particular achievement for a show with an almost entirely black cast, led by Oscar nominees Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson and co-created by The Butler director Lee Daniels. Though lots of different people are watching, Empire is a decided hit with black households; Fox says 62 percent of the show's audience aged 18 to 49 — the group network TV advertisers target most heavily — are African-American. Even a mini-scandal involving multiple past allegations against star Terrence Howard of domestic violence and altercations with women hasn't slowed the show's momentum. The show's success has led to headlines such as Vulture/New York magazine proclaiming \"Empire Is a Massive Hit,\" and The Hollywood Reporter noting \"Empire's Black (Ratings) Power,\" and Vanity Fair's story \"Empire Strikes Back: Why Black TV Is Beating the Box Office.\" It also means there are a few dos and don'ts for the TV industry to learn from the show's triumph. Here's my quick list: Do reject the odd logic that says network TV shouldn't target people who watch a lot of television. Statistics have long shown that black people watch more hours of TV than their white counterparts, but TV and advertising executives often defended programming lineups lacking in diversity by saying advertisers were more interested in paying top dollar for audiences that are hard to get, like young white males. (Coincidentally, these types of viewers often resembled the advertising and TV executives themselves.) Empire's success proves that targeting people who already watch lots of TV can still pay off, if enough of them show up. Do respect the power of word-of-mouth. Empire seems to be gaining audience in the same way shows such as Scandal have in the modern age: Viewers are talking up the show on social media and converting new fans each week. Don't use the same strategy to target other ethnic groups. Network TV has often responded to success in targeting black viewers by using the same tactics to create shows featuring Latinos and Asian-Americans, assuming they might find the same success. But different cultures and nationalities often get lumped under the catch-all categories of Hispanic or Asian viewers, so creating a show which stars a Mexican family might not necessarily appeal to viewers from Puerto Rico. A show centered on Japanese-American characters might not draw viewers of Korean descent. Empire seems to be working because it is telling stories that resonate with black viewers. It's talking about black families' struggles to accept gay people, sibling rivalries, couples separated when one person lands in jail and the struggles black women face for equality with black men. Crafting a world that feels real to black viewers is an achievement which reaches beyond the race of its characters to the heart of its storytelling. Do reject the notion that white audiences won't watch a show featuring a mostly nonwhite cast. Despite the '90s-era success of NBC's The Cosby Show, TV networks in more recent years have seemed skittish about presenting shows with predominantly nonwhite casts, fearing white viewers might feel excluded. Empire proves that isn't necessarily the case, as long as you root the stories in elements that appeal to a wide audience; the show's soap-opera element and the way it features quality, original hip-hop music are two examples. Do learn from reality TV and cable. So-called \"reality TV\" shows like Love & Hip Hop and The Real Housewives of Atlanta have told the same stories Empire now explores, in lower-profile venues. In fact, a number of cable channels have found success attracting black female viewers by imitating the example. Oprah Winfrey's OWN channel saved itself by featuring shows like Welcome to Sweetie Pie's and Iyanla: Fix My Life. Two scripted series, The Haves and The Have Nots and Love Thy Neighbor, were developed by another Hollywood power who really understands black viewers, Tyler Perry. Don't forget that TV's fragmentation makes this success possible. One reason Empire's numbers look so impressive is because network TV has such a tough time drawing a crowd. New shows that hit 9 million or more in their first airing are considered hits these days, but back in the mid-'90s, shows were often canceled for earning ratings higher than that benchmark. Average sitcoms once drew millions more viewers, like Kirstie Alley's Veronica's Closet, which h", "As the pilot episode for ABC's counter terrorism drama Quantico begins, one of the biggest stars in Bollywood is lying in the ruins of a bomb blast. It's Priyanka Chopra, and she's playing Alex Parrish, an FBI trainee falsely accused of setting off the explosion. She's also making history as the first South Asian woman to play the lead in a network TV drama. \"The bomber knew exactly what they were doing,\" Chopra says as Parrish in a later episode. \"They framed the brown girl.\" But the story of how Chopra was able to make network television history starts with Anjula Acharia-Bath. She's a venture capitalist who built a business on the side melding South Asian and U.S. pop culture. And by bringing one of east Indian cinema's biggest stars to American TV, Acharia-Bath had one goal. \"I wanted to change the world with this,\" she says. \"I wanted people to see my people in a way that represented me.\" Acharia-Bath's drive to shatter stereotypes began in childhood. Raised the daughter of east Indian immigrants in a London suburb, she discovered an awful thing happened every time British TV showed stereotypical east Indian characters. \"I grew up in a very racist neighborhood in England, there was zero diversity ... we were the only South Asian family for miles,\" she said. \"Kids would poke fun at me and they would, like, pick on me and they'd be like, 'I saw your people on TV. This is what you do. This is how you are.' It was just a really horrible experience. So literally I would be like – if there was something on TV, the next day I wouldn't want to go to school. And I would pretend to be sick.\" That experience stuck with her. So many years later, Acharia-Bath developed a sideline company mashing up South Asian and U.S. pop culture, called DesiHits. Working with Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine, she signed Priyanka Chopra to a record deal. They put the Bollywood star together with Miami rapper Pitbull for the single Exotic, which had lyrics in Hindi. \"That was big risk,\" Acharia-Bath says. \"The whole hook was in Hindi ... We knew it would probably get rejected at radio ... but we did it because we thought it was cool and we loved the song.\" Then came some good luck. Acharia-Bath met ABC executive Keli Lee at a dinner party. Lee had already pushed ABC to feature more diversity in its casts, so she worked up a plan with Acharia-Bath to bring Chopra to American TV. But Chopra and Acharia-Bath insisted any TV role avoid stereotypes. \"When they would ask her to come back for a reading or say, 'Can you play up your accent?' We'd go, 'No,' \" Acharia-Bath says. \" 'We can't. We don't want to sound like Apu from The Simpsons.' \" Joshua Safran is creator of Quantico. He says when Chopra auditioned, he had no idea she had made nearly 50 movies — Bollywood's equivalent to Angelina Jolie. \"When she walked in, it really was about her performance and not about her ethnicity or the fact that she would be the first [South Asian network TV drama star],\" he says. \"In fact, it didn't even occur to me that she would be the first.\" Chopra told the program Showbiz India that the role wasn't originally written for an Indian woman. They tweaked the character to make Parrish half Indian after Chopra was cast. \"When I got the part, we had a whole debate about whether we should change her name, make her more Indian,\" Chopra said. \"I didn't want to change the character. I wanted to be able to act like Alex.\" Some people may say such moves may \"whitewash\" the character and keep Alex Parrish from being culturally authentic (the show also notes Parrish spent 10 years living in Mumbai). But Acharia-Bath says the character is as authentically Indian as she is. \"There are some great shows that are very culturally specific ... but we really wanted a role anyone could play,\" she adds. \"It wasn't about her race or color. Any woman could relate to her.\" Quantico has been picked up for a full season by ABC and earns solid ratings, leading up to its winter finale Sunday. Acharia-Bath says the show's success proves network TV has only begun to tap the potential of non-white stars. \"South Asians make up one-fifth of the world's population,\" she adds. \"These shows play in the U.K., Canada, India, the Middle East. Diversity pays. That's the bottom line.\" No one knows that better than Acharia-Bath, a venture capitalist who says doing the right thing can also be the profitable thing. KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: ABC's counterterrorism drama \"Quantico\" airs its winter finale Sunday. \"Quantico\" made history as the first network TV drama to feature a South Asian woman as the lead. That actor is Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra. NPR TV Eric Deggans introduces us to the person who helped her land the role. ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: As ABC's \"Quantico\" begins, Priyanka Chopra is lying in the ruins of a bomb blast. She's playing Alex Parrish, an FBI trainee falsely accused of setting off the explosion. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, \"QUANTICO\") PRIYANKA CHOPRA: (As Alex Parrish) W", "This story contains language that may be offensive. When they built a sitcom around a hip-hop-loving child of Taiwanese immigrants in Orlando, the producers of Fresh Off the Boat probably knew they would face some uncomfortable questions about culture and race. But they may not have expected what they heard in the very first — very awkward — question at a press conference with TV critics in Los Angeles a few weeks ago. \"I wanted to ask the question: I love Asian culture,\" said one journalist. \"I was just talking about the chopsticks and I just love all that. Will I get to see that or will it be more Americanized?\" As other journalists and TV critics in the room groaned, the cast and producers tried a different response: They laughed it off. \"It's more about the chopsticks,\" said celebrity chef Eddie Huang, whose memoir inspired the show and provided its title. \"The original title was Chopsticks, \" said Randall Park, who plays Huang's father on the show. But the question, however clumsy, gets at an important point. When you're building the first sitcom to star an Asian family in 20 years, how culturally real can the stories be? ABC will break an important boundary in television Wednesday night with Fresh Off the Boat, the first network sitcom in two decades to star an Asian-American family. But thriving in the world of broadcast TV will require navigating a host of challenges, including the ambivalence of the guy whose life inspired the show. Huang's book Fresh Off the Boat is, in part, his story of moving to Florida from Washington, D.C., with his family — including two immigrant parents. In the book, his love for hip-hop was a way of coping with the cruelty of his new classmates and the toughness of his parents. \"Suburbia's weird for a kid, because you're trapped,\" he said during the press conference. \"You don't have modes of transportation. You go to school and you come home. And if the kids in the neighborhood are just ... you have no reference to communicate with them ... [then] you're very alone and isolated. The book is very much about figuring out who I am regardless of where I am and creating my place wherever I go.\" Huang even narrates the pilot episode, which takes place in the mid-'90s, Wonder Years-style. \"Moms was always hard on me ... way before all that 'Tiger Mom' stuff,\" he says in the show's pilot. \"She thought I was trying to cause trouble wearing that Nas shirt, but she didn't understand. If you're an outsider, hip-hop was your anthem. And I was definitely the black sheep in my family.\" The book talks about how tough Huang's parents were when they tried to curb his teenage rebellion. But the pilot mostly shows Eddie's mother criticizing his taste in T-shirts. \"Why do all your shirts have black men on them?\" she says in one scene. Young Eddie replies: \"It's Notorious B.I.G.! Me and him are both dudes with mad dreams just trying to get a little respect in the game.\" In the show, Eddie looks like an adorable rap nerd trying hard to look tough. But in real life, Huang says, rap was an integral part of his survival, something that doesn't yet come through in the TV show. Huang told journalists he understands why the show tones down his parents for a sitcom audience. \"You come out with a strong Asian character on network television, people may not understand,\" he said. \"And I think the show is strategic and smart in how it's easing the viewer into that.\" But in an essay for New York magazine published one day before the press conference, Huang complained that the actor who plays his father was \"neutered\" and the actress who plays his mother was \"exoticized.\" By the end of the essay, Huang had grudgingly come to terms with the network's decisions. \"This show isn't about me, nor is it about Asian America,\" he wrote. \"The network won't take that gamble right now. ... The only way they could even mention some of the stories in the book was by building a Trojan horse and feeding the pathogenic stereotypes that still define us to a lot of American cyclope. ... People watching these channels have never seen us, and the network's approach to pacifying them is to say we're all the same.\" At the press conference, Huang shrugged off the comments. \"I really genuinely feel, when you do something that's historic that has to do with race relations, there has to be conflict; there has to be debate,\" he said. Conflicted as he seems, Huang also put his finger on a problem for people of color on TV. Archie Bunker can be racist because there's lots of other white people on television. But when you're the only network TV show with a cast that's mostly Asian, every character becomes a symbol, whether you like it or not. That's what helped kill the last sitcom to star an Asian-American family, Margaret Cho's 1994 ABC comedy All American Girl. It featured Cho, an edgy Korean-American standup comic, as a rebellious daughter who often clashed with her traditional mother. Cho said in a PBS documentary she was pressured ", "She has won a Tony Award, been nominated for an Oscar and joined Time magazine's list of the most influential people in the world. But until she was cast as sexy, hard-nosed attorney and law professor Annalise Keating on ABC's new drama How to Get Away with Murder, Viola Davis had never seen a dark-skinned black woman her age playing the kind of role she will inhabit this fall. \"There is no way in the history of film or TV that you've seen a character like this played by a black woman who looks like me,\" said Davis, 48, facing a handful of journalists after a press conference on the show at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour in Los Angeles on Tuesday. \"This is progressive. This is a first.\" For ABC, Tuesday was also a first: The network faced a ballroom filled with critics for the first time since unveiling a schedule of new shows for 2014-15 that was the most ethnically and culturally diverse in recent TV history. Three different new comedies center on nonwhite families — Fresh Off the Boat features an Asian family, Cristela shows a Latino family, and Black-ish stars a wealthy African-American family. There's also a midseason show created by 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley called American Crime, and Davis' Murder, which depicts Keating as a sharp, tough attorney given to wearing tight leather outfits, cheating on her husband and using her law students to win cases. It's the kind of sexy, powerful role Davis has wanted for herself for years, but was convinced Hollywood might never present to her — because she was so different-looking from even other black actresses who have become stars in film and TV. \"Not even Kerry Washington or Halle Berry [looks like me]. I'm talking about a black woman who looks like me — a dark-skinned black woman with the nose, the age, in every way like me,\" added the actress, best known for playing maid Aibileen Clark in the 2011 film The Help. \"No one has taken my look in that way and put it on the screen. Shonda's been the first.\" \"Shonda\" is, of course, Shonda Rhimes, the superstar TV producer who created the ABC hits Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, serving as executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder. The new show was actually created by Peter Nowalk, a writer who cut his teeth as a producer on Grey's and Scandal, learning how to make TV on the network of Rhimes-created shows known collectively as \"Shondaland.\" But it's Rhimes' name that looms largest in the show's credits, as ABC has turned its entire Thursday night this fall over to her shows — counterprogramming NFL games on rival CBS with Grey's, Scandal and Murder. And Rhimes, who is arguably the most successful black TV producer/creator/writer in history, said she never had a doubt that Davis could play the kind of femme fatale that they needed. \"I caught Viola [on a talk show] saying, 'Nobody's going to put me in a love scene with Bradley Cooper,' and everybody laughed,\" Rhimes said. \"And I remember going, 'Why not?' That was the first time I thought, 'Why is she saying that?' ... I don't know why someone else wouldn't think she was sexy and beautiful and gorgeous; that's their problem. But I always thought she was.\" Rhimes can sometimes seem dismissive when talk turns to race and TV, sidestepping questions about the importance of her shows in demonstrating to Hollywood that it can make money by creating television that looks as diverse as America. But Scandal star Kerry Washington is the first black woman to star in a TV drama in nearly 40 years (Teresa Graves' mid-'70s show Get Christie Love! was the previous program). And this fall, ABC will have two dramas starring black women airing on the same night, executive-produced by a black woman — a feat with little precedent in an often diversity-challenged industry. \"A lot of the questions I get about race are really annoying,\" Rhimes said. \"I get a lot of 'Why is it so hard to cast people of color?' questions. My answer is always 'Why are you asking me that question? Why don't you ask someone who is not casting people of color? ... I would rather you just look at the work. Because the world of television should look like the world outside.\" The fact is, Hollywood has found it extremely difficult to cast people of color as stars in TV shows. Forget about Seinfeld or HBO's Girls presenting a New York that seems mostly devoid of nonwhite people; even ABC's fall comedy Manhattan Love Story has few nonwhite supporting characters, despite its setting in one of the most diverse cities in the nation. Looming in the background is a question you would think TV had settled years ago: Will mostly white network television audiences watch shows with mostly nonwhite casts and subject matter? ABC entertainment chief Paul Lee doesn't offer many specifics on why this is the year the network decided to go big on diversity — for example, suggesting that producers of their social media-influenced update of Pygmalion, a comedy called Selfie, cast Korean-Ameri", "ABC News has announced major shakeups in its anchor lineup, as Diane Sawyer steps down from her perch as anchor of the network's evening news. What does her replacement say about the state of the evening anchor job in the world of TV news? AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: ABC is the latest network doing the anchor shuffle. I know, it sounds a something you do at a wedding reception. But this time, it's Diane Sawyer stepping away from the evening anchor desk at ABC's \"World News,\" a position she's held for five years. For more on the changes and who will be taking the lead later this summer, we are joined by NPR TV critic Eric Deggans. Hey there. ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Hey. CORNISH: So Diane Sawyer, what's next for her? DEGGANS: Well, she's going to step back from daily work on \"World News.\" And she's going to lead a team of producers to do investigative work and special interviews, kind of like what we saw her do with Hillary Clinton. And what's interesting is that Barbara Walters also retired from ABC earlier this year. And she's supposed to step back from daily work on \"The View\" to do special projects and celebrity interviews. So at some point we might actually see Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters kind of compete against each other for these big-get interviews. CORNISH: Meanwhile, talk about how ABC is approaching replacing Sawyer. DEGGANS: So David Muir who is the co-anchor for \"20/20\" and occasionally fills in for Sawyer. Now he's going to step up and become anchor and managing editor of \"World News.\" But George Stephanopoulos who co-anchors \"Good Morning America\" and also anchors the Sunday show, \"This Week.\" He gets a new role as chief anchor. And he does all that stuff that the anchor normally does as the face of the news for the network. So he'll do breaking news. He'll do special event coverage. And he'll do all the elections coverage. And so what's interesting - and this is really important - we're seeing the face of the news division become the guy who leads the morning newscast not the guy who leads the evening's newscast, like on the other networks. CORNISH: Meanwhile, Diane Sawyer obviously was one of a handful of women to make it in the evening news anchor job. What's her legacy? DEGGANS: Well her legacy is that she was the first solo, female anchor at the network news level to actually make the job work. Katie Couric did it before her for CBS. But there was also a sense that she was not quite successful in that job. Whereas, Diane Sawyer came in, stabilized \"World News,\" made it very much a contender in the evening news race. And she also did the same thing before that at \"Good Morning America\" with Charlie Gibson. She came to ABC from CBS, where she was the first female correspondent for \"60 minutes.\" So she has a history of innovating and also being a bit of a turnaround specialist for some of these shows that she's worked on. CORNISH: So Eric, obviously, she had an important role as a female anchor on a national commercial broadcast. We still have when Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff on the \"NewsHour\" on PBS, of course. But is this noteworthy? Or since the glass ceiling's essentially been broken, it's not seen as so much of an issue? DEGGANS: Well, my question is who follows Diane? As we mentioned before, Barbara Walters retire, Diane has stepped back from daily work - two big female icons are stepping back. Who can lead these evening newscasts and become the face of women in TV news for the future? That's still an open question and one that I hope the TV news industry responds to. CORNISH: That in NPR TV critic Eric Deggans on the anchor changes at ABC. Eric, thanks so much. DEGGANS: Always a pleasure. MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: Stay tuned. We will have more coming up right after this.", "Ten years ago this month, there was almost no reality television, and the networks still had a near-stranglehold on quality scripted content. People generally watched TV using that quaint device, a television set — and for most people, watching a show anytime other than in its regular time slot meant hauling out a VHS tape. It's an understatement to say that, as we edge our way toward the second decade of the century, a lot has changed. Here are 10 of the things that have changed the most. 1. The growth of unscripted shows. There's really no such thing as \"reality TV\" — or at least no single concept that can encompass franchises as diverse as Survivor, American Idol, Trading Spaces and Breaking Bonaduce. What we call \"reality TV\" is instead a series of mini-trends that have added up to a giant earthquake. When Survivor kicked off in the summer of 2000, MTV's The Real World was what people meant when they said \"reality TV.\" There was no significant presence for unscripted prime-time network shows, other than a few programs with law-enforcement themes (think Cops and America's Most Wanted) and newsmagazines like Dateline and 48 Hours. And then Survivor came along, and two summers after that, American Idol. Then a whole variety of branches sprang from the same roots of low cost and high (or respectable) ratings: the competition shows like The Amazing Race and The Apprentice; the home-ec line including Trading Spaces and, increasingly, food shows; the celebrity-voyeur shows like Being Bobby Brown; the job shows like Deadliest Catch; the sappy \"transformation\" shows like the unsuccessful Extreme Makeover and the wildly successful Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The list goes on, and most cable channels and networks have found their own niches. The ascendancy of unscripted shows has also, it should be mentioned, helped unimaginative network dramas avoid being tagged as the uncreative sludge that they are — because most of the highbrow vitriol is saved for reality shows. You can make violent, dumb crime procedurals all day, and the plain fact is that people will still complain more about Dancing With the Stars. 2. Cable gets serious. In 2000, there were dramas on HBO, and there had been scattered stuff on Showtime like It's Garry Shandling's Show. But for the most part, original programming came from the broadcast networks. Now, the cable outlets that offer significant original scripted programming include TNT, USA, FX, Lifetime, SyFy, TBS — and that's in addition to HBO and the other premium channels. These days there are a whole pile of cable networks that take their offerings very seriously and consider themselves to be players come awards season. 3. The single-camera comedy boom. You'll hear \"single-camera\" thrown around as a synonym for \"shows similar in feel to Arrested Development,\" but it's trickier than that. Older comedies were often single-camera shows too, M*A*S*H and The Brady Bunch being signal examples; it's not like \"single-camera\" means \"fancy and ironic.\" What most people are really talking about when they refer to the \"single-camera\" shows of the 2000s are the single-camera shows without laugh tracks. That's the big difference (in production style, not in quality) between The Brady Bunch and 21st-century comedies like Malcolm In The Middle, Arrested Development, The Office and 30 Rock. And it separates these newer shows, too, from even the better sitcoms of the '80s and '90s, like Cheers, Roseanne, Friends and Frasier. This change didn't entirely occur after 2000 — you could look at Sports Night in 1998 as a precursor. (That much-mourned comedy phased out the laugh track over its two seasons.) And there were exceptions all along, like The Wonder Years. But it was in this decade that a particular kind of show — with no laugh track, shot on film and lacking some of the broad setup-punch line rhythms of traditional sitcoms — really took over. There are still traditional laugh-tracked multi-camera shows, including Two And A Half Men and the far superior The Big Bang Theory, but single-camera rules not only NBC's Thursday comedy block, but ABC's successful Wednesday block, too. The combination of evolving shooting styles and the vanishing of piped-in laughter has made network comedy look and feel completely different. 4. Dumb guy, pretty wife. What's funny about this major development in late-'90s and particularly 2000s TV is that it's already over — when at one time, it seemed like a generic sitcom titled Dumb Guy, Pretty Wife would be with us forever. Still Standing and Yes Dear and According to Jim were bad, while The King Of Queens and Everybody Loves Raymond were significantly better. But at one point, this formula — probably inspired by the '90s hit Home Improvement — seemed to be taking over family comedy, and now it's essentially gone. It may not be important going forward, but this was the face of (supposedly) inoffensive comedy in the middle of this decade. 5. Scheduling matters less an", "Jennifer E. Mabry is a cultural anthropologist of race, gender and popular culture. Disappointed. That pretty much sums up my feelings for the pending Oprah Winfrey Network slated to launch on Jan. 1, 2011, on cable. Winfrey is one of the brightest -- and most popular -- personalities to have graced television, wielding power as a cultural tastemaker. Ever since her syndicated show made its national debut in 1986, she has reinvigorated the talk format revolutionized by Phil Donohue, her one-time competitor. One would therefore hope that Ms. O would use her second act to improve the television landscape -- by being ambitious, adventurous and creative -- and not be part of its further degeneration by adding to an already glutted market of voyeuristic dreck. Instead she seems content to follow the new television model of programming that exploded in the wake of the 2008 Hollywood writers' strike: Find anyone with a heartbeat and a willingness to have cameras follow them during their ordinary day-to-day life, and voila -- we've got ourselves a TV show! So what can viewers expect to see on OWN? The Rosie O'Donnell Show and Finding Sarah, the latter starring Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who last year was caught on tape allegedly trying to sell access to the monarchy. And then there are the ongoing family reality dramas. The Judds will follow Naomi and Wynona as they continue to rehash their overly dramatized mother-daughter relationship, about which Oprah has already interviewed them 99 times too many. Meanwhile, Ryan and Tatum will follow the reunion of the O'Neals, the father-daughter team whose acting careers once shone brightly in Hollywood -- Tatum was the youngest actor ever to win an Oscar, at age 10 -- but were quickly consumed by drug abuse, jealousy and family acrimony. Viewers can also expect Oprah's BFF, Gayle King, to helm a talk show (yawn) on the network. King long ago carved out a successful 20-year career as a TV news anchor in Connecticut before transitioning into her on-call gig for Oprah. In the years following her semiretirement, she hosted two national talk shows, both of which were canceled. Suffice it to say that no one is interested in what Robin has to say unless it pertains to Batman. Much of the reported programming that is scheduled or in development revolves around cooking, makeovers, parenting, medicine and self-improvement -- topics that are already playing out on TLC, HGTV, the Food Network, et al. (Winfrey is partnering with the Discovery Channel; her network will replace the Discovery Health Channel in 85 million homes.) A much better bet: instead of routine reality TV, original scripted programming aimed primarily at upwardly mobile, upper-middle-class black folk. Under the auspices of Harpo Films, Winfrey has used her power and resources to produce such high-quality, black-themed fare as The Great Debaters, Beloved, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Women of Brewster Place and Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire. Why not do the same for her own network, which is helmed by Christina Norman, a black woman who was once president of MTV? Of course, Winfrey isn't the first African American to launch a cable network. That distinction belongs to Bob Johnson, who in the early '80s was one of a handful of entrepreneurs who saw the early potential of cable television. He borrowed $15,000 to launch Black Entertainment Television, at a time when TV was going through a significant transition. Cable television, which was initially created to enhance poor broadcast reception in rural areas, was deregulated, and the integration of satellite development and broadcasting began to take hold. Out of that marriage grew a new matrix that became the basis of the subscription-based television model that exists today. BET was a significant cable brand that courted black viewership and big advertising dollars. However, Johnson succumbed to the bottom line. He canceled the network's three news and public affairs programs -- Lead Story, BET Tonight With Ed Gordon and Teen Summit -- all of which provided an intelligent, more balanced view of black Americans. Johnson famously opted, instead, to increase the number of hours devoted to more cheaply produced, bosom-baring music videos. The continuous fragmentation of television viewership based on individual tastes and multi-cable platforms is indicative of why a network with original programming aimed at upwardly mobile, black professionals makes sense. It's a demographic that has long been ignored. (TV One and BET's Centric, with their steady diet of reruns, don't count.) As a result, buppies are forced to satisfy their entertainment appetites with a variety of mainstream TV and movie fare and, occasionally, the less-than-stellar Tyler Perry production. Of course, Winfrey is free to choose how she spends her millions. But it's disconcerting, to say the least, that of the breakout syndicated personalities she has helped to launch during h", "One of the Winter Olympics' signature events has been postponed because the course outside Vancouver is slushy. The men's downhill ski race, which was supposed to get underway this afternoon, will be rescheduled. The International Ski Federation hasn't yet set a date, according to the Associated Press. As the AP also notes: The first women's event, the super-combined, was supposed to be Sunday, and the decision to postpone that was made Friday. Bad weather can't stop the indoor events, of course. Today's include short track speedskating. The Games' opening ceremonies were held last night. \"The Great One\" -- hockey's Wayne Gretzky -- had the honor of lighting the flame: TV coverage of the Games is on NBC and its sister networks. NPR's coverage, begins here. There's also the nprolympics Twitter feed. You can see the updates as they come in right on our main page.", "Some of America's broadcast networks -- ABC and CBS in particular -- are blocking their shows from appearing on Google TV, the service that aims to integrate Web videos with TV programming. And Google's plan is for all of that content to be available on both televisions and computers. But that vision doesn't match with the networks' financial model, which relies upon both advertising dollars and payments from cable providers. There are also reports that the networks are looking to gain leverage against Google, to pressure the search and advertising giant into making it harder for people to find pirated content. As of now, it appears that both FOX and MTV are allowing their content to show up on Google TV. There have been conflicting reports that NBC is blocking all or part of its lineup, including primetime shows like The Office. But PC magazine says the show is coming through without incident. Of course, Google's not happy with the situation. They're in talks to incorporate network shows -- and to bring a version of Hulu to Google TV, as well. One model that might help shape a future solution is the one adopted by Time Warner. The company says it will allow HBO subscribers to get its shows on Google TV. Of course, the premium-cable HBO has an advantage over the networks -- it's already gotten money from the viewers. The snag seems to arise when programming that had been underwritten by advertising is stripped away from the platform the advertising was based on. And there's another reason for HBO to enter this partnership -- Google's talent for organizing and ranking. According to The L.A. Times: Time Warner executives say cable operators have historically done a poor job helping viewers navigate hundreds of channels of shows and movies. Google TV could provide a service by expeditiously producing a list of sites where viewers could see their favorite shows. Services like that one might be a real lure for anyone who's not into the idea of having 400 Internet TV channels to go along with the 400 they're already not watching on their cable or satellite plan. As an analyst says in The L.A. Times, the consumer is not really getting a great experience while the behemoths of television and advertising fight it out: Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey said that blocking access to network shows on Google TV wouldn't stop people from watching shows online because simple workarounds -- such as hooking up a laptop to the TV set -- can accomplish the same thing. \"This doesn’t stop people from watching online content on their televisions,\" McQuivey said. \"It just frustrates them.\" If you'd like to see a hands-on look at Google TV, The Washington Post has one up. So far, the service's biggest booster on the manufacturing side is Sony.", "Italy holds its parliamentary elections the day after tomorrow and the political campaigns have some surprising parallels to the contest in the U.S. For example, one of the two major candidates for prime minister is a relative newcomer to the national stage. His slogan? \"Yes, we can.\" ANDREA SEABROOK, host: There are some intriguing parallels between the Obama/Clinton race and another contest: the Veltroni/Berlusconi race in Italy. Really. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli is in Rome. She joins me now. Hi. SYLVIA POGGIOLI: Hi there. SEABROOK: So I understand that one of the two major candidates for prime minister is a relative newcomer to the national stage in Italy. His message is all about hope, change and the slogan - just like Barack Obama - is yes, we can. Sounds very familiar. POGGIOLI: Yes. Walter Veltroni has openly styled himself as the Italian Barack Obama. He's a movie buff and he loves everything American. He even has his friend George Clooney's endorsement. He's 52 years old and he's not really a newcomer. He just stepped down as the popular mayor of Rome but he cast himself as the new, the young and the politician of change. And in fact what was new is his language. It was very direct, very simple and very uplifting. SEABROOK: Now, on the other hand, Walter Veltroni's opponent is Silvio Berlusconi. There's a name we've heard before. He's been out of power for several years now so how did he climb back from the political dead? POGGIOLI: Well, he was out of power for two years but he was always very present on TV. Berlusconi campaigned, as he always did in the past, almost exclusively on TV where he can control his surroundings and he has a very loyal audience, which is his fan base. He's a master of television. He's the creator of commercial TV in Italy. He owns 50 percent of the country's TV networks but his campaign was lackluster. After all, he's 71 years old and he looks it, despite his hair transplants, permanent suntans and facelifts. SEABROOK: Sylvia, you reported last week that Italians are not exactly happy with the choice between these two men. So, the voting is today and tomorrow. How's it going so far? POGGIOLI: Well, at noon our time here, there was a slight drop in turnout over the same time during the last election. And, you know, on the eve of the vote about one third of the electoral was said to be undecided. There's a lot of disaffection with all politicians and many Italians may simply stay at home. Recently Italians set records as the most pessimistic and unhappiest people in Europe. They have the highest debt, the highest tax evasion, the lowest salaries and they have the best paid politicians. Today in Naples a voter publicly ate his ballot in a sign of protest. (Soundbite of laughter) POGGIOLI: So, you know, the outcome appears uncertain and even Berlusconi seems nervous. On Friday night following his last appearance on his most important TV network, he was already off the set when he rushed back in front of the cameras to show voters how to mark their ballot, ignoring the protests of the anchor, his employee. Actually, he behaved something like a modern-day Roman emperor. SEABROOK: So, truly old school politics in Italy. POGGIOLI: Absolutely. SEABROOK: That's NPR's Sylvia Poggioli from Rome.", "The extreme sports calendar includes epic yacht races, such as the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race, underway now, and the America&#8217;s Cup. There are also non-motorized races through wilderness such as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Now comes another endurance contest with ample drama, but without the need for big sponsorships. Everything from a souped-up paddleboard, to custom rowing craft, to high-performance carbon fiber sailboats have been entered in the inaugural Race to Alaska. An unexpectedly large group of adventure seekers will launch on Thursday from Port Townsend, Washington, and race up the Inside Passage to Southeast Alaska. From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Tom Banse of Northwest News Network has a preview. \nRead more on this story via Northwest News Network\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \nReporter\n\nTom Banse, reporter for Northwest NPR stations. He tweets @TomBanse.", "The race to bring 3-D technology to screens large and small isn't just about viewing secular images. At least one religious television network is exploring how to make the sacred come alive through 3-D imagery. After donning glasses that create 3-D images, audiences at a Washington, D.C., exhibition devoted to 3-D TV recently watched perspiring men shoot hoops, climbers descend into the Grand Canyon, and fish swim about. \"It makes you feel as if you're truly in the ocean,\" said viewer Darren O'Dedray from Tysons Corner, Va. So, if 3-D technology can take us underwater, could it let us see someone special walk on the water? Well, the answer is \"yes.\" And it's happening now. Boston-based CatholicTV has gone 3-D. Upon opening the 3-D section of the website, viewers are greeted by the Rev. Robert Reed, director of the CatholicTV Network. A Catholic Travelogue In 3-D But -- and here's the trouble -- there's no storytelling. CatholicTV's website is mostly travelogue showing off architectural marvels such as St. Peter's Square and the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Professor Angela Zito, the co-director of the Center for Religion and Media at New York University, wishes the Catholic video outlet was generating more vivid content. But she's not at all surprised the church has embraced 3-D. What excites Zito about the potential of 3-D for religions is that the technology allows us to see the unseeable. \"Our imaginations don't work in a vacuum,\" Zito says. \"They actually require a kind of vehicle or something to inspire them; and I don't think this is going to limit our imaginations. I think it's going to concretize more seductively the things that we can imagine.\" Once CatholicTV lets us exercise our imaginations more, it will have greater impact on viewers. First, they'll have to switch from the old-fashioned red-and-blue glasses they require now. CatholicTV's Reed says that at this point 3-D is still just a gimmick. \"Considering the fact that our faith has so many dimensions, [it] made sense to look at 3-D right now and see how we can use it in the future.\" Other Organized Religions Still In 2-D For now, CatholicTV has the future to itself: No other religious video outlet has 3-D plans. Not the Mormons, Baptists, Muslims, Hindus or Jews. Rabbi Mark Golub is president and executive producer of Shalom TV. \"In the past 3-D came and went,\" he says. \"I am very skeptical.\" Golub says Shalom TV will only choose 3-D TV if it proves viable over time: \"The Jewish community has focused all of its attention in the past on print and print media. We are the people of the book.\" So, for now, CatholicTV has the field all to itself. The network hopes that if it can get the eyeballs of viewers, the hearts will follow.", "It's a question the broadcast TV industry asks itself around this time every year: How long can we keep this going? The occasion is TV's upfront season, when all the big programmers announce their plans for the next season in glitzy presentations for big advertisers in New York, selling commercial space in the new schedules early. These days, the moneymaking heart of the TV business — broadcast television — is fighting harder than ever to stay competitive with the innovation at streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. Broadcasters have to please two masters: the advertisers who buy commercials and the viewers who watch shows with ads in them. And as viewership dips each year for network TV shows, upfronts are when the broadcast establishment argues that it still reaches important audiences and isn't just sitting around waiting for online streaming companies to put them out of business. At CBS' upfront event Wednesday in Carnegie Hall, for instance, executives touted their broadcast network as the strongest arm of a media company that includes three streaming platforms and reaches a bigger audience in total than the company did in the year 2000. It's a point many networks would make during the upfronts. For the second year in a row, all the new fall shows on CBS broadcast network star male characters. In fact, following the recent cancellation of the show 2 Broke Girls, CBS has just two series with female characters as primary stars: Tea Leoni in Madam Secretary and Anna Faris and Allison Janney in Mom. (Other CBS series, such as Elementary and Code Black, do feature women as co-leads or members of an ensemble. And the two original scripted series on its streaming service All Access, The Good Fight and Star Trek: Discovery, both star women.) During a press breakfast Wednesday, I asked CBS CEO Les Moonves if this seemed a little old fashioned and backwards-looking, given that TV outlets like FX have tried hard to build gender parity behind the camera in directors' jobs. And some of this year's most innovative shows — Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, HBO's Big Little Lies and FX's Feud — star female characters. \"More women watch CBS percentage-wise than any other network,\" Moonves replied. \"Our shows have a lot of female appeal ... When I look at the totality of who CBS is, I look at news, I look at daytime, I look at sports, I look at Showtime, I look at the CW. They're all part of our family. When you look at the totality of that, I think we're fine.\" Perhaps. But given the prestige and visibility of primetime network television, this exclusion seems odd and a bit contradictory. And CBS isn't alone. Here's a look at a few other oddly contradictory trends to emerge from the upfronts. At a time when media is often about the next new thing, nostalgia emerges big. Everything old is new again at the broadcast networks. ABC is reviving American Idol and Roseanne, CBS has a new version of S.W.A.T., Fox will air 10 new episodes of The X-Files and NBC is bringing back sitcom Will & Grace and the Must-See TV marketing slogan that was used to promote it, along with shows like Seinfeld and Friends in the 1990's. Simple as it is to believe that Hollywood has run out of ideas, what's really happening is more complex. Advertisers want to put their money into what they see as sure bets. And, in the case of shows like S.W.A.T. and The X-Files, networks want to wring a little more profit out of programs they own—programs produced by their studios. But it's an odd strategy, given what often produces big hits in TV. It's summed up in an old saying I think is often true in TV: \"stars don't make TV, TV makes stars.\" People like Ted Danson and Jerry Seinfeld didn't become household names until America got to know them through their hit TV shows. One of this TV season's most successful new shows, NBC's This Is Us, featured actors who weren't big celebrities before the show took off. So I'm skeptical of these reboots or revivals, beyond their appeal to advertisers and headline writers now. Surprise cancellations reveal where the money in network TV really is. When ABC cancelled the Tim Allen comedy Last Man Standing, some conservatives tried to organize a boycott of the network. They wondered if the conservative politics of the show's star or his character Mike Baxter might have inspired ABC to dump the series, which was drawing a solid viewership of about 8 million viewers each week. Allen himself said he was \"stunned and blindsided\" by the cancellation on Twitter. But the likely truth is that Allen's show was a victim of how the TV business works these days. Again, some network TV shows aren't owned by the broadcaster which airs them. For example, This Is Us airs on NBC, but' it's owned by Fox's TV production studio. Networks make money by selling ads, but outside of that, large portions of a TV show's profits go to the show's owner. The same with revenue from syndicated reruns in America and overseas. CBS' Moonves told report", "Univision has named Ilia Calderon as co-anchor of Noticiero Univision — Spanish-language media's most important evening news broadcast. Calderon is the first Afro-Latina to anchor a national news program, which is a big deal for a network often criticized for racially insensitive content and its lack of darker-skinned on-air talent. KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: Univision says it is making history and naming a new host for its evening news program. The Spanish-language network says she is the first Afro-Latina to anchor a national news broadcast. NPR's Adrian Florido reports the move elevates a black journalist at a company often criticized for lacking racial diversity on air. ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Noticiero Univision reaches close to 2 million viewers each night, making it the most watched Spanish evening news program in the U.S. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, \"NOTICIERO UNIVISION\") UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: (Speaking Spanish). FLORIDO: Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas have hosted the program together for three decades. Salinas announced in August that she was leaving the show. Now the network has chosen Ilia Calderon to replace her. Ramos and Selinas welcomed her during last night's broadcast. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, \"NOTICIERO UNIVISION\") JORGE RAMOS: (Speaking Spanish). FLORIDO: \"Maria Elena, you made history here,\" Ramos said, \"and Ilia, you're leading us into a new era of news. We'll all remember this day.\" (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, \"NOTICIERO UNIVISION\") ILIA CALDERON: (Speaking Spanish). FLORIDO: This was a big deal. The anchors of Noticiero Univison are among the nation's most influential and recognizable Latino journalists. Calderon is leaving her position as the network's late-night news host. She rose through the broadcast ranks in her native Colombia before moving to Miami to host for Telemundo, Univision's main U.S. competitor. She jumped to Univision in 2007. In its announcement, the network highlighted the fact that Calderon is the first Afro-Latina to anchor a daily evening news show in the U.S.. LAURA CASTANEDA: I think this latest appointment is a great move. I also think it could be a very smart business move. FLORIDO: Laura Castaneda is a journalism professor at the University of Southern California. CASTANEDA: For a long time, Univision and many other Spanish-language newscasts were criticized for the types of anchors that they would have on their evening newscasts or really any newscast. I mean, a lot of them were fair-skinned, light-eyed, light-haired. And as we know, Latinos come in many, many colors. FLORIDO: Univision has also faced criticism for racially insensitive content. In 2015, it fired a host for comparing Michelle Obama to a character from \"Planet Of The Apes.\" Calderon leans into conversations about race. She earned wide praise earlier this year for standing her ground during an interview with KKK leader Christopher Barker. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) CHRISTOPHER BARKER: You're sitting on my property now. CALDERON: And I do understand that I'm probably the first black person immigrant here in your property. BARKER: To me, you're a [expletive]. That's it. CALDERON: Watch your mouth. BARKER: That's it to me. And I ain't watching my mouth. CALDERON: I find that offensive. FLORIDO: Calderon will assume the anchor's chair at Univision next month. Adrian Florido, NPR News. [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: The host introduction to this piece implies that Ilia Calderon's appointment to Univision made her the first Afro-Latina to host a national news broadcast. In fact, that appointment makes her the first Afro-Latina to host a national daily evening news program. She anchored a weekend show at Telemundo earlier in her career.]" ]

[ "A California Energy Commission committee is urging the state to reject a proposal to build a new natural gas plant in Ventura County.\nCalled the Puente Energy project, the 262-megawatt power plant would be owned and operated by NRG, a Houston-based electricity company. NRG contracted with Southern California Edison to supply power to the utility.\nIn what the regulators themselves called an “unusual” statement, the two-member committee said that the proposed plant, set for construction on Mandalay Bay in Oxnard, conflicted with state laws and goals for communities and the environment.\n“We hereby notify the parties and interested members of the public that we intend to issue a [decision] that recommends denial of the project on the grounds that it creates inconsistencies with LORS [laws, ordinances, regulations or standards] and significant environmental impacts that cannot be mitigated,” Commissioners Janea Scott and Karen Douglas said in their two-page statement.\nSouthern California Edison said in a statement that the Puente project was competitively chosen and is needed to help meet demand when older power plants close by 2021.\n“It is important to remember that the approval for new resources is a very lengthy and costly process, and it is not practical to continually revisit development decisions, as this can make it more difficult to address reliability needs on the system,” Edison stated.\n“While there are potential solutions to the needs addressed by the Puente project, it is speculative to assume that preferred resources can be developed on the scale and at the cost needed to competitively replace the Puente project by 2021.”\nThe recommendation sends the final decision about the project to the full energy commission, but the rare statement all but signals that the power plant plan is dead.\nThe recommendation follows Los Angeles Times investigations that showed the state has overbuilt the electricity system, primarily with natural gas plants, and has so much clean energy that it has to shut down some plants while paying other states to take the power California can't use. The overbuilding has added billions of dollars to ratepayers' bills in recent years.\nOfficials in Oxnard, along with state lawmakers who represent the area, have called for clean energy alternatives to the plant. And residents flooded the energy commission with hundreds of emails for days throughout the summer, pressing regulators to reject the project.\nCalifornia has a mandate that 50% of the state’s electricity come from clean energy sources by 2030. Some lawmakers want to increase the mandate to 100%.\nIn August, the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s electric grid, released a 46-page report detailing that clean energy sources could serve as alternatives to building the natural gas plant. But in its study at the time, Cal-ISO said that the alternatives would cost more than the gas facility.\nThe report by Cal-ISO, which has argued that additional energy resources are needed in the Oxnard area to ensure reliability in the local area, pegged the new plant's cost at $299 million while the three clean-energy alternatives would cost $309 million to $1.1 billion.\nSome critics said that a request for proposals could yield more competitive prices than the Cal-ISO study.\nBillionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, who had joined the opposition to the plant, said rejection of the natural gas facility is crucial for the Oxnard community, which has a substantial low-income population that has been saddled with polluting production plants.\n“For decades, corporations have targeted Oxnard as a dumping site, profited from the city’s environmental destruction and left behind hazardous waste and pollution that continues to threaten the health and safety of its residents,” Steyer said.\nSteyer and others said Californians must continue to support clean energy in the face of the energy industry’s push for more fossil fuels.\n“California is at a critical and exciting threshold of a clean energy future that will expand clean energy jobs and build healthier communities,\" said Gladys Limon, executive director of the California Environmental Justice Alliance.\nCAPTION The Las Vegas gunman researched outdoor performance areas in other large cities in recent months. Harvey Weinstein will take a leave of absence from his film studio after reports of sexual harassment.Gov. Jerry Brown signed a landmark bill declaring California a \"sanctuary state.\" USC announced Thursday that the head of its medical school was out. Credits: Getty / KTLA The Las Vegas gunman researched outdoor performance areas in other large cities in recent months. Harvey Weinstein will take a leave of absence from his film studio after reports of sexual harassment.Gov. Jerry Brown signed a landmark bill declaring California a \"sanctuary state.\" USC announced Thursday that the head of its medical school was out. Credits: Getty / KTLA CAPTION The Las Vegas gunman researched outdoor performance areas in other large cities in recent months. Harvey Weinstein will take a leave of absence from his film studio after reports of sexual harassment.Gov. Jerry Brown signed a landmark bill declaring California a \"sanctuary state.\" USC announced Thursday that the head of its medical school was out. Credits: Getty / KTLA The Las Vegas gunman researched outdoor performance areas in other large cities in recent months. Harvey Weinstein will take a leave of absence from his film studio after reports of sexual harassment.Gov. Jerry Brown signed a landmark bill declaring California a \"sanctuary state.\" USC announced Thursday that the head of its medical school was out. Credits: Getty / KTLA CAPTION The girlfriend of the gunman who killed 58 people in Las Vegas has broken her silence. Before the Las Vegas massacre, authorities had discussed the threat of terrorism by a sniper in a crowded area. The L.A. City Council voted in February to decriminalize sidewalk vending. Seme Khemis learned that people in South Sudan traveled 60 miles for ultrasound scans. Credits: Getty / Sara Hylton / KTLA The girlfriend of the gunman who killed 58 people in Las Vegas has broken her silence. Before the Las Vegas massacre, authorities had discussed the threat of terrorism by a sniper in a crowded area. The L.A. City Council voted in February to decriminalize sidewalk vending. Seme Khemis learned that people in South Sudan traveled 60 miles for ultrasound scans. Credits: Getty / Sara Hylton / KTLA CAPTION Body camera footage from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department taken during the shooting on Oct. 1. Body camera footage from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department taken during the shooting on Oct. 1. CAPTION The gunman who attacked the Las Vegas music festival had cameras set up outside his room. Trump visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday, after Hurricane Maria swept through the island two weeks ago. Three billion Yahoo accounts were affected by a massive data breach — three times as many as initially reported. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three researchers for their work on electron microscopy. Credits: EPA, Getty, Hillary Guzik, KTLA, Sarya Stukes The gunman who attacked the Las Vegas music festival had cameras set up outside his room. Trump visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday, after Hurricane Maria swept through the island two weeks ago. Three billion Yahoo accounts were affected by a massive data breach — three times as many as initially reported. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three researchers for their work on electron microscopy. Credits: EPA, Getty, Hillary Guzik, KTLA, Sarya Stukes CAPTION At least 50 are dead and 200 injured after a shooting on the Las Vegas strip. Heartbreakers frontman Tom Petty died Monday at 66. Portraits are emerging of those killed in Las Vegas. L.A. decriminalized sidewalk vending to protect immigrants from deportation. Credits: Getty / KTLA At least 50 are dead and 200 injured after a shooting on the Las Vegas strip. Heartbreakers frontman Tom Petty died Monday at 66. Portraits are emerging of those killed in Las Vegas. L.A. decriminalized sidewalk vending to protect immigrants from deportation. Credits: Getty / KTLA\[email protected]\nFor more energy news, follow Ivan Penn on Twitter: @ivanlpenn" ]

[ "One year since Exelon Corp. announced it would close its reactor on Three Mile Island, state legislators and industry leaders are still torn on whether to step in and keep the dying nuclear plant afloat.\nBut the clock is ticking as the plant is set to shut down in September 2019.\nThe impending closure of Three Mile Island is a reflection of the state's energy market: although more than 30 percent of the state's electricity comes from nuclear power, the low cost of natural gas energy overpowers the rest of the options.\nThe plant, which was built in the 1970s, employs about 675 people.\nLegislators from the Nuclear Energy Caucus - a bipartisan effort made up of 80 elected officials from both chambers - are advocating for federal or regional officials to step in and save the nuclear industry in Pennsylvania, said Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster County.\n\"It's clear to me and most members of the caucus that there are flaws in the wholesale energy market,\" he added. \"That's why, to date, we haven't pursued a state solution. Because like I and many of my colleagues are considered with putting PA rate payers on the hook for what really requires a national, federal fix.\"\nIf the federal government or the PJM Interconnection - which regulates power in Pennsylvania and 12 other states - don't step in, that's when state legislators will for a \"temporary fix,\" Aument added.\nSince its creation last year, no legislation has come from the Nuclear Energy Caucus. If there will be any legislation, it wouldn't be expected until early 2019, Aument said.\nBut, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hasn't budged. In early January, FERC rejected the Trump administration's plan to pay nuclear and coal plants for having at least 90 days of fuel stored on site.\n\"Other people will call it a bailout,\" said Rep. Tom Mehaffie (R-Dauphin) after a press conference on City Island on Wednesday with the Clean Jobs for Pennsylvania coalition. \"That's not what this is. It's just the right thing to do.\"\nMehaffie was joined by several county commissioners including Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries and York County Commissioner Chris Reilly.\nThe Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts - a lobbying group that includes the Marcellus Shale Coalition, AARP, the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association and the Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council - said that Three Mile Island's impending closure is a \"sign that competition is working.\"\nThe coalition doesn't oppose all solutions that could come from legislators, but it does oppose all proposals that would result in \"adverse change in competitive markets,\" Kratz added.\n\"It would depend on what the federal and regional solutions are,\" said Steven Kratz, spokesman for the coalition. \"Generally, we're against any action that would upend consumer electricity prices.\"\nGov. Tom Wolf is \"concerned about potential layoffs\" but recognizes the state's major role as an energy supplier, wrote Wolf's spokesman J.J. Abott in a statement.\n\"Governor Wolf believes we need a robust conversation about our energy economy and looks forward to engaging with the General Assembly about what direction Pennsylvania will go in regards to its energy sector, including the future of nuclear power.\nWolf and his staff are \"actively monitoring\" the issue and are ready to all review legislative proposals, Abbott added.", "“The path toward sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries, we must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure — our forests and waterways, our croplands and snow-capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”\n— President Barack Obama, Second Inaugural Address, January 2013\nPresident Barack Obama followed up on the promise of his inaugural address by announcing in June the President’s Climate Action Plan. Obama’s June address received well-deserved attention, particularly since it was the first-ever major presidential speech devoted entirely to the issue of climate change. Obama is to be applauded for finally using his bully pulpit to bring attention to this crucial issue in a major way.\nThat said, it’s important to consider what Obama has proposed and assess whether these measures will be effective and up to the magnitude of the problems we face.\nI’ve noticed over my years following the energy space that there is an unholy congruence of regulated industries and politicians when it comes to setting goals. Goals, such as mandates for renewable energy or a specified reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, turn out on close inspection to often be set at a level at or below where the market is headed even without such goals. In such cases, the goals become not only ineffective but in some cases are actually counter-productive due to the costs incurred in creating and enforcing them.\nA couple of examples will help explain what I’m getting at. Obama set the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for 2014-2017 vehicle models at 35 miles per gallon fleet-wide for each manufacturer. However, the Environmental Protection Agency’s own economic analysis of this goal concluded that the market was already set to achieve it without any government intervention.\nSimilarly, Obama’s EPA has previously proposed requiring that all new thermal power plants built in the United States be at least as efficient as an advanced natural gas power plant. (Obama’s Climate Action Plan states: “To build on this progress, the Obama administration is putting in place tough new rules to cut carbon pollution.”)\nHowever, the EPA’s own economic analysis for regulating new power plants found that this goal will have no effect on the market because the market is already expected to avoid new coal power plants, primarily due to the low price of natural gas and other air pollution regulations already in place. The EPA’s analysis found that “energy market data and projections support the conclusion that, even in the absence of this rule, existing and anticipated economic conditions in the marketplace will lead electricity generators to choose technologies that meet the proposed standards.” [emphasis added]\nNow, we can still support this proposed goal for new thermal power plants, as I do, because it will at least act as a backstop in case economics or other factors change in a way that again favors coal, as has been the case in the past.\nThere is an unholy congruence of interests between the regulated industries at issue in these situations and the politicians seeking the regulations. The industries generally work hard against regulation, or at least work to dilute regulations. It is in fact ideal for regulated industries to appear to be subject to onerous regulations when in fact the regulations aren’t onerous at all. That way, they can play the victim but not actually have to do anything, or not very much, to comply with the “onerous” regulations.\nSimilarly, the politicians at issue, and the agencies themselves, can claim to be “doing something” about the issue at hand, even if the regulations aren’t actually going to do anything.\nTurning to Obama’s recent package of climate change solutions, let’s look at which goals are likely to be “real” goals, rather than just “doing something” goals. Obama’s June 24 speech and Climate Action Plan covered the following goals and programs:\n» In 2009, Obama announced a goal of reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions “around” 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, but only if all other major economies agreed to reduce their emissions as well.\n» Create standards for greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants\n» Doubling renewable energy production by 2020\n» Increasing investment in clean energy research by $7.9 billion for 2014, which includes money for renewables, but also nuclear, clean coal and advanced natural gas\nI discussed above the fact that EPA’s own economic analysis of the proposed regulations for new power plants found that the regulations wouldn’t actually have any impact on the market. The new Climate Action Plan doesn’t actually suggest a goal for reducing emissions on existing power plants, so we can’t make any judgment about the degree to which this announced goal will become a “just doing something” goal.\nWhen it comes to Obama’s “ambitious” new goal of doubling renewable energy production by 2020, the conclusion is pretty clear: this is definitely just a “doing something” goal because the market is on track to far more than double renewable energy production by 2020, based on existing market forces and government policies. When it comes to wholesale renewable energy, as opposed to behind-the-meter facilities, the federal government and Obama himself certainly deserve major credit for the recent expansion in renewables. Obama’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act directed about $80 billion toward energy efficiency and renewable energy, and this money has had a large impact through tax credits and other programs.\nHowever, announcing a goal of doubling renewable energy production by 2020 ignores the fact that wind and solar, by far the fastest-growing renewables, have been doubling in the United States every two to three years over the last decade. So if this rate of growth merely continues, we’d see about three doublings by 2020 — not just one doubling, as Obama’s new goal suggests.\nObama is to be applauded for relying on executive actions alone because Republicans in Congress have made it clear that they won’t act on any climate change legislation at this time.\nAdapting to Climate Change\nThe Climate Action Plan states that “the Obama administration will help state and local governments strengthen our roads, bridges and shorelines so we can better protect people’s homes, businesses and way of life from severe weather.”\nLeading International Efforts\nUnfortunately, for those who have followed international efforts to mitigate climate change, this last category feels like a bad joke. The fact is that Obama has largely continued the climate change policies and leadership on the international level that his predecessor pursued. The United States has largely been an obstructor — very actively — when it comes to setting international climate goals.\nThe Climate Action Plan states:\n“Just as no country is immune from the impacts of climate change, no country can meet this challenge alone. That is why it is imperative for the United States to couple action at home with leadership internationally. America must help forge a truly global solution to this global challenge by galvanizing international action to significantly reduce emissions (particularly among the major emitting countries), prepare for climate impacts, and drive progress through the international negotiations.”\nThe Climate Action Plan states that “the Department of Defense — the single largest consumer of energy in the United States — is committed to deploying 3 gigawatts of renewable energy on military installations, including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal, by 2025.” This is a laudable goal. I don’t feel that it’s particularly ambitious but it is certainly the case that markets wouldn’t do this absent political direction.\nWhat should we do instead?\nHow should we mitigate this unholy congruence in favor of just “doing something”?\nA relatively easy fix would be to require goals to be set only after the regulatory agency at issue completes a detailed analysis of the relevant market forces and determines where the market is likely to go absent any new government goals or support.\n— Tam Hunt is a Santa Barbara lawyer and writer, and blogs at Thought, Spirit, Politik. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.", "Enbridge Inc. has signed a deal to sell its Canadian natural gas gathering and processing business in the Montney, Peace River Arch, Horn River and Liard basins in B.C. and Alberta to Brookfield Infrastructure and its partners for $4.31 billion.\n\"This investment represents an exciting opportunity to invest in scale in one of North America's leading gas gathering and processing businesses based in Western Canada,\" Brookfield Infrastructure CEO Sam Pollock said in a statement Wednesday.\n\"The business is strategically positioned for the continued development of the prolific Montney Basin.\"\nThe midstream assets include 19 natural gas processing plants and liquids handling facilities, with a total operating capacity of 3.3 billion cubic feet per day and 3,550 kilometres of natural gas gathering pipelines.\nCompany selling non-core assets to reduce debt\nThe Calgary-based Enbridge has been selling non-core assets in an effort to reduce debt.\nChief executive Al Monaco said that, with $7.5 billion in deals announced this year, the company has more than doubled its initial target of $3 billion.\nIn May, Enbridge signed:\nA $1.75-billion agreement with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to sell a 49 per cent stake in most of its wind and solar power assets.\nA $1.44-billion deal to sell Midcoast Operating LP to an affiliate of private equity firm ArcLight Capital Partners LLC.\nEnbridge has said it will continue to hold its long-haul regulated natural gas transmission assets, which include the Westcoast transmission system in British Columbia and the Alliance pipeline that carries natural gas from Western Canada to the Chicago market.\nThe deal announced Wednesday is expected to close in two phases, with the facilities subject to provincial regulation expected to close this year and those under federal rules anticipated to close in mid-2019.\nSale a 'vote of confidence' in LNG\nHal Kvisle, the former CEO of TransCanada, said the sale was a way to help Enbridge accomplish two major goals: lower debt and focus on long-distance pipelines.\nAnd, he said, it was a savvy acquisition for Brookfield.\n\"I think they just saw the size and scope of this gas gathering and processing business and they bid aggressively and won it,\" Kvisle said. \"The Montney is an extraordinary development.\"\nHe said the sale is a significant one for Canada's liquified natural gas market, which he argued has both economic and environmental benefits.\n\"I think Enbridge selling this asset to Brookfield ... is a real vote of confidence not just to the Montney but to the LNG business.\"", "Search for suspect unsuccessful; incident occurs not far from where abandoned drug smuggling boat was discovered hours earlier\nA Ventura County sheriff’s vehicle reportedly was fired on while on patrol near Mussel Shoals east of Carpinteria on Saturday evening, but a search of the area turned up no clues in the incident.\nAccording to a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department official, at least two shots were fired in the direction of the patrol car about 5:30 p.m. Saturday, not far from the Cliff House Inn, 6602 Old Pacific Coast Highway, about a quarter-mile east of La Conchita. The deputy was not hurt and no injuries were reported.\nAuthorities mobilized a ground and air search of the area, with dozens of officers and a sheriff’s helicopter deployed. After searching for several hours, the operation was called off around 9 p.m. Saturday, officials said.\nEric Greenspan, CEO of Make It Work, was returning to his Montecito home from a son’s basketball tournament in Oxnard, when he came upon the scene around 6 p.m. Saturday.\n“Patrol cars were lining both sides of Highway 101 at La Conchita,” Greenspan told Noozhawk. “I drove past what appeared to be a SWAT truck and, overhead, a helicopter seemed to be searching in the brush of the hillside.”\nEarlier Saturday, surfers at Mussel Shoals discovered an abandoned panga boat that had washed ashore. The vessels are often used by smugglers transporting drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States from Mexico.\nLate Saturday, there was no indication that the shooting and the boat were linked.\nVentura County sheriff’s deputies on Saturday morning removed the 25-foot boat, which was empty but for life vests and gas cans, officials said.\nGenerally 20 to 30 feet in length and powered by one or more outboard motors, panga boats are commonly used by fishermen in developing countries but have become popular with smugglers moving contraband to the United States from Mexico.\nIn late August, an abandoned 30-foot vessel was discovered bobbing off the Gaviota coast. The boat was empty but authorities said it contained evidence of drug smuggling.\nThe Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has asked for the public to report suspicious boats off the coast by calling the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s toll-free 24-hour tip line at 1.866.347.2423.\n— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) . Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.", "Advisers to President Donald Trump will meet on Tuesday (April 18) to discuss whether to recommend that he withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a White House official said on Monday.\n[WASHINGTON] Advisers to President Donald Trump will meet on Tuesday to discuss whether to recommend that he withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a White House official said on Monday.\nThe accord, agreed on by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015, aims to limit planetary warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.\nUnder the pact, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2025.\nMr Trump has said the United States should \"cancel\" the deal, but he has been mostly quiet on the issue since he was elected last November.\nsentifi.com Market voices on:\nEnvironmental groups want Washington to remain in the Paris agreement, even if the new administration weakens US pledges.\nA White House official said Mr Trump's aides would \"discuss the options, with the goal of providing a recommendation to the president about the path forward.\"\nThe meeting comes before a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in late May, the deadline for the White House to take a position.\nWhite House officials, led by the National Economic Council, have recently been asking publicly traded energy companies for advice on whether to stay in the agreement.\nPeabody Energy has consulted with White House officials, and Cloud Peak Energy Inc confirmed to Reuters it had told White House advisers it was in its interests for the United States to remain in the agreement to ensure there was a global role for high-efficiency coal plants.\nOn Monday, liquified natural gas exporter Cheniere Energy sent a letter to George David Banks, who handles international energy issues at the NEC, to recommend remaining in the Paris agreement so \"the United States can leverage competitive advantages in natural gas and energy technology.\"\nThe advisers expected to attend Tuesday's meeting include Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt.\nMr Perry, a former Texas governor, at his confirmation hearings in January softened a previous position that the science behind climate change was \"phony.\"\nLast week, Mr Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general, said the United States should exit the agreement because it was a\"bad deal\" for the country.\nJustin Guay, climate programme officer for the Packard Foundation, said countries like China and India would continue to shift toward clean energy even if the United States retreated, adding: \"It is most important that the US stays at the table.\"\nREUTERS", "President Trump Loves Coal So Much It's Starting to Annoy the Oil and Gas Industry\nDonald Trump's love for coal is hardly secret. As a candidate, he promised to make coal great again and end a supposed \"war on coal\" from Obama-era regulations that favored natural gas and renewables.\nAt first, electric utilities and the oil and gas industry were supportive, seeing the deregulation as an opportunity for them too.\nBut in recent weeks concern has grown that the Trump Administration may be going too far with two proposals: a rule propping up coal suggested by the Department of Energy last week and the proposal to repeal the Clean Power Plan without a replacement which leaked to press this week.\nAt the heart of the dispute is the reality that the Trump Administration can't simply bring back the coal industry by undoing regulations.\n\"The coal industry has been sick for awhile,\" says Brendan Collins, an environmental lawyer at the firm Ballard Spahr. \"The thermal coal industry is much closer to needing Dr. Frankenstein's services than a general practitioner's services.\"\nBut tipping the scale in favor of coal means hurting the oil and gas industry, which competes with coal as a source of electricity. That in part explains why a proposal introduced last week by Energy Secretary Rick Perry received swift condemnation across the board.\nIn a letter, Perry called for new regulation to ensure companies operating power plants that can store 90 days of fuel onsite (essentially, coal-fired and nuclear power plants) receive payment for the electricity they produce — even if it is too expensive to compete in the open market. Perry framed the issue as a national security issue that will keep the electric grid up and running in the event of severe weather events or national emergencies.\nBut many outside experts believe that argument falls flat and amounts to direct government intervention in the market. Jon Wellinghoff, who chaired the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), said the move would \"blow the market up,” according to a Utility Dive report . Ultimately, FERC, an independent federal agency with oversight authority over U.S. electric , will decide and observers already see skepticism in the agency's initial response.\nThe groups that have criticized it include many of the most prominent energy trade groups outside of the coal sector including the American Council On Renewable Energy, which represents renewable energy providers; the American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil and gas industry; and the American Public Power Association, which represents utilities.\n\"The battle lines are being drawn,\" says Mark Dyson, a researcher who studies the electricity grid at the Rocky Mountain Institute. \"It’s pretty clear who this would advantage.\"\nThe effort builds on another attempt by Perry to aid the coal industry with a study evaluating whether the rapid deployment of renewables and natural gas pose a threat to the grid. By most analyses of the final document, the study shows that they do not, but Perry has since suggested otherwise.\nMeanwhile, on the other side of the National Mall, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce a repeal of the Clean Power Plan — an Obama-era measure that would have fought climate change by pushing coal out of the power sector — as soon as this week without introducing a replacement.\nTrump's order to reevaluate the rule earlier this year was met with widespread approval by utilities and energy companies (with the obvious exception of renewables like wind and solar), but some utility companies remain concerned that the Administration has no specific plan to replace it.\nThe Supreme Court has previously found that the EPA must regulate carbon dioxide to address climate change and repealing the Clean Power Plan without a replacement significant uncertainty in an industry where investments made today need to last decades.\n“As EPA moves to repeal the current Clean Power Plan we have been supportive of the need to also move forward with a replacement rule,” said Jeff Ostermayer, spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, according to a report in the Hill .\nUltimately, however, skepticism remains about whether any of Trump's moves can actually move the market. Data from the Energy Information Administration shows the Clean Power Plan repeal stopping a massive decline in electricity from coal-fired power plants, but not reversing the last decades losses for the industry.\nIndeed, on the other side, coal industry leaders have praised the administration's moves on their behalf but demand more. In particular, many have called on EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to take on the endangerment finding — the scientific document that underpins the agency's carbon dioxide regulation.\n\"In the environment space and the energy space the administration has found that its promises are hard to keep,\" says Collins. They \"require much more investment and homework than the administration has invested thus far.\" That investment may be yet to come.", "President Trump is to take his first step towards scrapping President Obama’s “stupid” and “job killing” Clean Power Plan, an aghast New York Times reports.\nThe Trump administration will repeal the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s effort to fight climate change, and will ask the public to recommend ways it could be replaced, according to an internal Environmental Protection Agency document. The draft proposal represents the administration’s first substantive step toward rolling back the plan, which was designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, after months of presidential tweets and condemnations of Mr. Obama’s efforts to reduce climate-warming pollution. But it also lays the groundwork for new, presumably weaker, regulations by asking for the public and industry to offer ideas for a replacement.\nIn 2016, when it launched the plan at Obama’s behest, the EPA declared that the Clean Power Plan was a vital, cost-effective way of combating climate change which would ultimately benefit the U.S. consumer.\nadvertisement\nHowever, an independent study by the Manhattan Institute showed this to be nonsense.\nThe EPA’s cost benefit analysis was fallacious; it had drastically underestimated the costs – which it claimed would be $9 billion a year, but which the Manhattan Institute showed would be closer to $40 billion; and it would make no measurable difference to climate change.\nHence Trump’s election trail promise and executive order in March this year requesting EPA chief Scott Pruitt to rescind the CPP. This was part of a wider war on the Green Blob which has also involved withdrawing from the UN’s Paris climate accord.\nHad it been implemented the CPP would have required U.S. power plants to lower their carbon emissions by 2030 to 32 percent below 2005 levels. Since carbon dioxide is a natural by product of almost every industrial process, the knock on damage to the U.S economy in the form of lost jobs and higher energy prices would have been huge.\nNote, though, that the CPP is not being scrapped altogether but rather being delayed indefinitely through judicial fudge.\nAccording to the New York Times:\nJanet McCabe, who headed the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation under Obama, said an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking could take years – meaning the replacement for CPP could be a long way off. “It certainly will draw the process out,” she said. Some conservative groups have urged the EPA to scrap the CPP without replacing it, effectively ending U.S. regulation of carbon emissions. But some industry groups want a replacement to give utilities regulatory certainty and avoid possible lawsuits by environmental groups.\nSo while it’s good news that the CPP will probably never be implemented, the bad news is how difficult it is even for a determinedly skeptical president like Trump to unravel environmental regulation. Even within his own cabinet, there are numerous siren voices – Javanka; Secretary of State Tillerson; Economics advisor Gary Cohn – urging Trump to maintain his predecessor’s disastrous green policies.\nThis fudge isn’t perfect – and it still doesn’t solve the problem of the EPA’s Obama-era Endangerment Finding on carbon dioxide which ludicrously treats a harmless, life-enhancing trace gas as an existential threat. But at least it’s a step in the right direction: the green blob just lost another of its tentacles.", "ISLAMABAD, Dec 11 (APP):The country has imported around 61,753 metric ton (mt) Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) during first nine months of the year 2017, official sources said.\n“The LPG import stood at around 5,13,788 mt in 2016, while 2,45,578 mt in 2015 and 62,117 mt in 2014,” they told APP.\nDuring the last four years, the number of LPG marketing had reached 144 and the government had decided to set up LPG-air mix plants in far-flung areas of the country where facility of natural gas was not available.\nCurrently, the two state companies, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) are working to set up 59 LPG-air mix plants at designated sites in their respected operational areas.\n“The project is aimed at providing gas facility to the population in the areas where facility of natural gas is not available and to discourage deforestation. At the plants, LPG will be mixed with air to produce synthetic gas for onward supply to the consumers through distribution networks like natural gas,” the sources said.\nThe SNGPL will install Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)-air mix plants in Beor, Ban, Kurbagla-Dewal, Company Bagh, Tret, Phagwari, Rawat, Ghora Gali, Ariari, Karor, Kotli Sattian, Santhan Wali, Kahuti, Lehtrar and Pangar in Punjab and Darosh, Balakot and Ayun localities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the facility would be provided in Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Kotli, Palandri, Bagh, Dhirkot and Bhimber, whereas a plant would be installed in Gilgit, the sources said.\nThe SSGCL, they said, would set up LPG plants at Umerkot and Mithi areas of Thar in Sindh, and Zhob, Qilla Saifullah, Loralai, Kharan, Musakhail, Qilla Abdullah, Keecha at Turbat, Khuzadar, Uthal, Winder, Muslim Bagh, Killi Khanzai, Chaman, Sherani, Sanjawi, Chaghi, Panjgor, Hamal, Washuk, Wadh in Khuzdar, Barkhan, Mitri (Bolan Katchi), Injeera (Khuzdar), Gandva (Jhal Magsi, Kohlu, Awaran and Bela in Balochistan.\nAnswering a question, the sources said the LPG air mix project on SNGPL system was at different stages of implementation like planning, survey, import of plants and acquisition of land, while the SSGCL had started the process of site selection and land acquisition under the project. The company had worked out Rs 14 billion cost for the mentioned plants and the tenders would be floated once the feasibility study was completed.\n“The SSGCL is exploring the possibility to arrange financing for the same from its own resources which is primarily the savings from other projects,” the sources added.\nThey said the SSGCL would set up 10 LPG-air mix plants during the current fiscal year." ]

[ "The Dubai World Cup" ]

[ "horse racing", "Thoroughbred horse racing", "Dubai", "Dubai Holding", "Dubai World", "Dubai Autodrome", "Dubai, UAE", "Golf in Dubai", "Dubai City", "The Dubai Metro", "The Race", "Red Horse Racing", "A Horse with No Name", "NASDAQ Dubai", "Bur Dubai", "What's Your Mama's Name", "handicapping and betting on horse races", "the Government of Dubai", "Arabian horses", "What Yo Name Iz?", "The Dubai Fountain", "Horses", "names", "The Omega Dubai Desert Classic", "The Naming of Names", "Abby Held", "Dubai Marina", "Dubai Creek", "name ''", "Dubai Museum", "Meydan Racecourse", "their names" ]

[ "This week we reported on the history of the school backpack, and it got a lot of you talking. If you missed the post, check it out here. It turns out that most backpacks come with a story, and we wanted to hear some of those stories. We asked for pictures of your first, current or favorite backpack using the hashtag #nprbackpack. Here are some of our favorites: Some backpacks double as travelogues: Other backpacks represent personal timelines: All backpacks seem to represent their owner. Almost like an extension of their personality: Also, the classic \"off to school\" shot: And we even got a short lesson on the history of school backpacks in Sweden: On Facebook some of you tried to one-up my editor Steve Drummond with your own \"in my day\" experiences: \"No one used backpacks in later years (I'm 68), but in elementary school, when I rode a bike to school, I used an olive drab WWII surplus backpack, from my father, I think. He later told me it was actually the pack a paratrooper wore strapped to his front.\" - Marion Moïse, on Facebook \"Was recently telling my kids that if a boy liked you, he'd carry your books (I graduated from high school in 1986)!\" - Kim Hallemann Crank, on Facebook \"We didn't use backpacks when I went to school. We carried our books on the backs of dinosaurs.\" - Eileen Noel, on Facebook And a certain debate emerged in our comment section about whether you were a \"one-strapper\" or \"two-strapper\": \"Do you wear it over both shoulders or just swing it over one?\" - Thorfinn Skullsplitter, NPR.org \"I graduated HS in 1979, and used a backpack from middle school on. We would NEVER have put it on our backs - the cool way to wear it was slung over one shoulder. The only exception was while you were riding your bike, as long as said bike was a fancy 10-speed with the 'ram's horns' handlebars.\" - mayya, NPR.org \"I think the two-strap thing came about because more weight was being carried in backpacks, too much to be comfortably carried on one shoulder.\" - Joseph, NPR.org \"Oh, the contemptible double-loopers.\" - Denise Powers, NPR.org It turns out that Slate even wrote an article about the one-strap/two-strap phenomenon. Check it out here. What inspired the article? A scene from the movie 21 Jump Street, which is definitely worth a look: So, which one are you? One-strap or two?" ]

[ "Sunny Pettinati walked into the L.L. Bean store in Yonkers, N.Y., clutching a plastic bag and looking a little embarrassed. \"I'm returning a sweater that I purchased, I think, about 10 years ago,\" she said. The sweater had sat in a drawer, unworn, for years, and she was trying her luck with the store's famously lenient return policy. It turned out to be painless. A few taps on the keyboard, and the saleswoman handed her a gift card worth the full value of the sweater. L.L. Bean has an astonishingly lenient return policy. The company has taken back a live Christmas wreath that had turned brown and a shirt ripped by a rescue crew after a car accident. My own Planet Money colleague, Lisa Chow, has been returning her L.L. Bean backpacks for two decades whenever a zipper breaks. She's gone through three or four backpacks this way. Every time, they send her a new one free. I asked Steve Fuller, L.L. Bean's chief marketing officer, if Lisa was gaming the company's system. He was a model of nonjudgment. \"If she believes her zippers should last a longer time, we'll respect that and we'll refund her money or give her a new product until she's happy,\" he said. L.L. Bean customers seem more worried than Fuller about the return habits of their fellow shoppers. \"A customer will come to the desk after watching a return, and she or he will say: 'I can't believe you're taking this back. I hope these people aren't ruining it for the rest of us,' \" Fuller said. L.L. Bean competitor REI used to have a return policy like L.L. Bean's. \"I've seen some 15-year-old shoes that went directly into the trash in a toxic waste bag,\" Tim Spangler, REI's senior vice president for stores, told me. But REI began to worry it was getting a reputation as a sucker. Customers started giving it nicknames like \"Rental Equipment Inc.\" \"Rent Every Item\" was another. Some called it \"Return Every Item.\" Two years ago, REI noticed that the number of people returning really old stuff was increasing. Some customers talked about their returns on social media, which led to even more people bringing in their old junk to get refunds. It was hurting profits. After intense debate and customer surveys, Spangler and his team unveiled a new policy: From now on, you get only a year to return your stuff. \"I don't want to be in the business of looking somebody in the eye behind the counter and questioning the morality of their return,\" Spangler said. \"I want to be able to say, 'Look, it's outside the confines of what we agreed upon when you bought it, or it's within it, and we're going to take care of you,' and leave it at that.\" For his part, Fuller of L.L. Bean says his company is sticking to its policy. He says he's never been in a meeting where someone questioned the value of the guarantee. The only question he gets is whether the company talks about it enough. If anything, L.L. Bean seems to be welcoming the customers REI might be willing to let go. Behind its store counters, the guarantee is written in giant text. And there are a few reasons why this may be better business for L.L. Bean. Many of its sales are mail order, so it's less convenient for customers to return stuff. And, Fuller says, the crazy return stories are great marketing for the company. \"How many times has your colleague talked about the fact that she's returned that backpack, and L.L. Bean gave her a new one without question?\" Fuller said. \"That's really the value of the guarantee.\" As a business practice, it's expensive. As advertising, it's cheap. DAVID GREENE, HOST: And now a tale of two retail companies that for decades made a bold promise to their customers: You can return anything, at any time, for any reason, no questions asked. But this summer one of those companies reined in that guarantee. NPR's Dan Bobkoff from our Planet Money team reports on how two similar companies - REI and L.L. Bean - arrived at two very different places. DAN BOBKOFF, BYLINE: When I first spotted Sunny Pettinati walking into the L.L. Bean store in Yonkers, New York, she seemed a little embarrassed. SUNNY PETTINATI: I'm returning a sweater that I purchased, I think, about 10 years ago. BOBKOFF: It sat in a drawer, unworn. (SOUNDBITE OF TAPPING ON KEYBOARD) BOBKOFF: And a few moments later, Pettinati leaves with a smile and a gift card. (SOUNDBITE OF TAPPING ON KEYBOARD) UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: And like I said, these guys don't expire and you can use them online in the store catalog... BOBKOFF: L.L. Bean has taken back a live Christmas wreath because it had turned brown, a shirt ripped after a car accident by the rescue crew. My own Planet Money colleague, Lisa Chow, has been returning her L.L. Bean backpacks for two decades. LISA CHOW, BYLINE: The zipper was broken and I just, yeah, I couldn't zip up the bag. And so I thought OK, why not? BOBKOFF: Over and over, zipper breaks, she sends it back. A whole new one comes in the mail for free. She's not even sure how many backpacks she's had now. CHOW: At least three. ", "Dr. James Weinstein, chair of orthopedics at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, tackles your questions, from back pain in children to whether it's safe to jog with a \"bad back:\" Q: What did you do about your back problem? I had a similar situation where I just bent over and had that terrible pain where you can't get upright. -- Mike Stanton, Rochester, N.Y. I followed my own advice and research. I had recently published with a colleague, Richard Deyo, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.We suggested the best thing to do for lower-back pain is to get back to your normal activities as soon as possible. You should not spend more than three to five days resting. Study: Deyo RA, Weinstein JN. Low Back Pain. NEJM, 344(5):363-370, 2001 Q: At my son's school, there are no lockers, so the students have to carry everything that they will need for the day in their backpacks. Sometimes his backpack is at least 35 to 40 pounds. Does carrying this amount of weight on a daily basis affect his spine as he grows? -- Kimberly Rose, Mesa, Ariz. Research suggests there is a relationship between backpacks and back pain. One study looked at backpack use in different types of schools and at different ages. Some of these backpacks weighed quite a bit -- up to 46 pounds for an 8-year-old. That's half his weight! And the researchers found that students with back pain carried significantly heavier backpacks, and that students who used backpacks reported back pain more often. An acceptable load is about 10 to 15 pounds, if that's possible. Don't carry a big bottle of fluids --they're very heavy -- and the school should have a locker to store what a child's not using. I think the backpack is a nice tool, but investigate which type of pack seems to be most comfortable for your child. And don't put everything, including the kitchen sink, in it. It can't be their home away from home. Study: Sheir-Ness GI, Kruse RW, Rahman T, et al. The association of backpack use and back pain in adolescents. Spine Journal. Spring, May 1, 2003:28(9), pp922-30. Q: I am a 75-year-old woman and I have had an almost constant backache (which is bearable) for many years. About 15 years ago while working in a school, the school nurse said I have slight scoliosis. Will this condition worsen as I age? Or should I just forget about it? I do exercises every morning, walk two miles every day and take a tai chi class once a week. -- Anne Santino, Merrick, N.Y. Your back pain could be from a curvature of the spine -- or from tired muscles. For adults, curvature of the spine is often due to arthritis and other changes in the spine associated with aging. When the curvature puts pressure on a specific nerve root or a specific nerve and leads to leg pain, you might want to consider a surgical procedure. Depending on how progressive the curvature is -- beyond the usual one degree per year -- these operations can be significant and often require two procedures or more to straighten the spine and free up the nerves. Your general health status is incredibly important here. If you feel that your general health is good, i.e., you have no major health problems, then you may be a candidate for surgery. If your pain is coming from muscle fatigue, however, the exercises you do every morning are excellent and help maintain good muscle tone and spinal health. Q: Many people wrote to NPR detailing numerous surgeries and rounds of physical therapy, painkillers, steroid injections and nerve blocks. The common thread was that after years of this, they're still in pain, despondent and feel abandoned by their doctors, who say there's nothing left to be done. What advice do you have for people in this situation? Chronic pain is an incredibly difficult problem for many patients with back problems. I often use the analogy of the amputee and phantom-limb pain. If you talk to amputees who have lost a leg or an arm, some will tell you their missing leg or arm still hurts. This example demonstrates how your brain still can interpret something as painful even when you don't have a limb. With chronic back pain, a patient can experience the same type of response. Painful information can be encoded in your brain and a memory pattern of the pain can be difficult to get rid of. Multidisciplinary functional restoration programs, like we have here at Dartmouth, have been one of the better success stories for chronic back pain. These are programs that take a team approach; a pain doctor, social worker, nurse, physical therapist and a surgeon may all work on your case. One of the main goals is to get patients off chronic pain medication. This can be a very frustrating experience and that's why the support that comes with these multidisciplinary programs helps. Q: How do we prevent back pain? How do we strengthen our backs? -- Karen Barnard, Lexington, Ky. The best thing is to keep your back healthy. Staying in good aerobic condition with good cardiovascular fun", "Federal agents are investigating race as a possible motive behind an abandoned backpack containing a functional bomb after it was left along the downtown route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane, Wash. Investigators would not disclose what kind of explosive it was, except to say that it was \"potentially deadly\" and could have caused \"multiple casualties\" had the device detonated. While the FBI hasn't provided direct evidence that the explosive device was connected to the march, an agency spokesman said the backpack's proximity to the route was \"not coincidental.\" \"The confluence of the holiday, the march and the device is inescapable, but we are not at the point where we can draw any particular motive,\" said Frank Harrill, special agent in charge of the Spokane FBI office. The suspicious backpack was spotted by three city employees at an intersection in downtown Spokane about an hour before the parade was to start Monday, Harrill said. They saw wires and immediately alerted law enforcement, who disabled it without incident, he said. The FBI released a photo of the Swiss Army backpack as it sought information from the public. Also released were pictures of two T-shirts found in the pack. There was a gray T-shirt with writing for the Stevens County Relay for Life race last June. Stevens County is just north of Spokane County. The other dark T-shirt said Treasure Island Spring 2009. The FBI and local officials have praised as heroes the city workers who spotted the backpack and quickly called police. Police were also hailed for immediately deciding to reroute the parade. The several hundred marchers, including many children, were not told why the route was changed. Harrill said the FBI has received some leads since offering a $20,000 reward for information on Tuesday. But the agency can't discuss the leads publicly, he said. There were no notes in the backpack, which has been shipped to an FBI lab in Quantico, Va., Harrill said. Investigators are also seeking anyone who took photographs or video in the area between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Monday. The discovery before the parade for the slain civil rights leader raised the possibility of a racial motive in a region that has been home to the white supremacist Aryan Nations. Spokane Mayor Mary Verner said the attempted bombing was unacceptable. \"I was struck that on a day when we celebrate Dr. King, a champion of nonviolence, we were faced with a significant violent threat,\" Verner said. \"This is unacceptable in our community or any community.\" Another explosive device was found March 23 beside the Thomas S. Foley U.S. Courthouse in downtown Spokane. No arrests have been made in that investigation, Harrill said, and agents didn't know if the two incidents were related. The Spokane region and adjacent northern Idaho have had numerous incidents of anti-government and white supremacist activity during the past three decades. The most visible was by the Aryan Nations, whose leader, Richard Butler, gathered racists and anti-Semites at his compound for two decades. Butler was bankrupted and lost the compound in a civil lawsuit in 2000 and died in 2004. In December, a man in Hayden, Idaho, built a snowman on his front lawn shaped like a member of the Ku Klux Klan holding a noose. The man knocked the pointy-headed snowman down after getting a visit from sheriff's deputies. Harrill decried the planting of the bomb as an act of domestic terrorism that was clearly designed to advance a political or social agenda. \"The potential for injury and death were clearly present,\" he said of the bomb. The FBI received no warnings in advance and did not have a suspect, Harrill said. No one has claimed responsibility for planting the bomb. NPR's Martin Kaste reported from Seattle for this story, which contains material from The Associated Press", "A gun in a student's backpack accidentally discharged when he dropped the bag, wounding two students at a high school Tuesday, Los Angeles police and school authorities said. A 15-year-old girl was in critical condition with a head wound and a 15-year-old boy suffered a neck wound, said Deputy Chief Patrick Gannon. Both were hit with the same bullet. The student who brought the gun apologized before running to a classroom, Gannon said. \"He said, 'I'm sorry,' when the gun went off. It made it appear to the teacher that it was an accident,\" Gannon said. The shooting occurred in a classroom at Gardena High School, Officer Gus Villanueva said. Principal Rudy Mendoza said students were on a break at the time. Officers took the youth into custody and transported him to a police station while the school 15 miles south of downtown remained locked down. Nelda Robledo, one of the worried parents who gathered near the school, said her 16-year-old daughter texted her that after the shooting students were ordered to get down on the ground or hide in a corner. Police initially reported that three people were shot and the shooter was at large. As at many district schools, Gardena High School checks incoming students with security wands at the entrance. It's unclear how the student got in with the gun in his backpack, said district spokeswoman Gayle Pollard-Terry. \"We're trying to find out if the wanding is random or if every student is wanded,\" she said. Pollard-Terry said each school decides whether it needs to check students with a wand. No district school is equipped with walkthrough metal detectors, she said. Several parents interviewed at the scene said their children described a lot of racial tension at the school. \"There's usually fights every day, you're going to see blacks against whites and whites against blacks every single day,\" said Christy Westbrooks, whose 16-year-old daughter attends the school. \"Spanish, whites, Samoans -- they don't care what race. Every day there's a fight.'' Discipline has long been a problem at Gardena, which ranks one of the district's lowest-performing high schools. Roughly 35 percent of students drop out. Five years ago, more than 2,000 suspensions were given out, and 15 students expelled. Those figures remained high until last year when the number of suspensions dropped to 300 and expulsions to two. Forming a discipline committee was one of the principal's goals for this year, according to the school's website. Frantic parents rushed to the school after hearing about the shooting on the news. They paced nervously as they waited behind police tapes for word from their children.", "Even before the economy tanked, interest was growing in the do-it-yourself movement. The DIY ethic embraces the notion of recycling and repurposing objects, snatching things from the jaws of the landfill and making them useful again. Here, a look at how to make something that anyone with an iPod could use: a solar-powered charging backpack. Inspiration From An Dead Battery Walking to the subway stop near my loft in Manhattan the other day, I was listening to my favorite podcast when all of a sudden the battery in my iPod conked out. This was annoying, so I detoured to an electronics store in Brooklyn called Dijitalfix, which sells a knapsack equipped with a solar-charging system that would have kept my iPod playing. When I got there, owner David Auerbach showed me the backpack, which has three solar panels and can charge iPods or cell phones. It's nice, but a bit pricey. \"This one is $200 and it doesn't sell well,\" he said. He said he's sold fewer than 10, even though he's had it in the store for two years. I asked Auerbach if I could make one of these myself. \"You definitely could,\" he said. \"You can make anything, you know.\" He got that right. I've done quite a bit of do-it-yourself furniture making, much to the consternation of my wife. But when it comes to electricity and electronic circuits, I'm in over my head. Tackling A Solar Backpack So, to make a DIY version of the solar backpack, I went to see a couple of old friends who know how to wire and solder. I headed over to Tekserve, a store in Manhattan that repairs Apple computers. Mike Edl and Dick Demenus, who work there, are the Click and Clack of DIY. \"We're very methodical,\" said Demenus. \"We're going to engineer this, not just throw it together.\" Demenus and Edl decided that for the sake of simplicity — and to keep costs down — a single solar panel would go on our backpack. It would be attached to a USB cable, which is how you connect iPods and many cell phones to computers. \"The first thing I did was to measure what an iPod typically requires to get charged,\" Demenus said. \"So I measured the current. That gave me one parameter. And I know the voltage is 5 volts. So, now I'm looking for a solar cell that will meet those requirements.\" Ordering The Parts You can order this type of solar cell from Jameco, an electronics supplier popular with do-it-yourselfers. One of my key objectives was to make sure that I didn't spend more than the $200 the solar backpack cost at the store. I called Jameco and told the saleswoman which solar cell I needed. It's about the size of a 4-by-6 photo print. I was in luck: It was in stock, priced at just over $26. This was the most expensive part of the project. For 35 cents, I also ordered a voltage regulator, which looks like a peppercorn with three short wires coming out of it. I already had an old backpack so the only other part I needed was a capacitor, which cost less than a dollar. Running The Wire At this point Demenus and Edl needed to find a way to run the wire from the solar panel inside the backpack, where my iPod, or cell phone would be carried while charging. They poked a tiny hole in the backpack with an Exacto knife. It's a serious business, revealing the creative tension that has made these two do-it-yourselfers professional tinkerers. Wire As Thin As Pasta \"The good thing about using this very thin wire is that you can poke a very small hole through your backpack and get this wire through,\" Demenus said. \"The wire's like angel hair pasta.\" Edl said: \"It's more like linguini.\" But Demenus defended his choice of words: \"Definitely not! The wires together are more like linguini but each one is like angel hair.\" \"No, no,\" Edl countered. \"Either spaghettini or spaghetti.\" Demenus stood firm and said it looked just like the angel hair pasta he had bought yesterday. Once the wire was inside the backpack, it was soldered onto a capacitor and a cable with a female USB plug on the end that will be connected to my iPod. Demenus encased the solar cell in plastic laminate and surrounded the perimeter with duct tape. He was going to sew through the tape to attach it to the backpack, but that proved to be an arduous task. Edl suggested gluing it to the backpack. My ears perked up when he made this suggestion because I seize every opportunity to use Gorilla Glue. I asked Demenus if some form of super glue would be right for the job. No way, he said. It turns out that super glue hardens to the consistency of glass and would be inappropriate for the soft backpack. Demenus considered using rivets or bolts, but eventually decided to simply staple the solar panel to the backpack. A Huge Savings The total cost of the solar backpack was about $40. So, in this case we saved money. But Demenus pointed out that do-it-yourself projects also provide something that money can't buy. \"When you do something yourself, there's a joy of accomplishment,\" he said. \"And the little things you learn along the way — the little c", "Some birds have more influence than others when it comes to controlling a flock's soaring flight, according to a new study of homing pigeons that wore little backpacks equipped with GPS devices. Each custom-made backpack had straps fitted around the bird's wings. The GPS device tucked inside weighed only about half an ounce, but could record shifts in the bird's position five times per second. That kind of precise tracking allowed researchers to analyze subtle interactions between birds in flocks of about 10 homing pigeons. The flocks either flew freely around their loft or were taken about nine miles away and released, so that the birds could find their way home. GPS Allowed Greater Precision Without the GPS tracking, it would have been impossible to figure out who was leading the flock just by watching the birds as they veered through the air, says Dora Biro of the University of Oxford in the U.K. \"If you tried to work out who it is within the flock who's making the decisions about, you know, what the flock should do from one moment to the next, it's very difficult to actually see this,\" says Biro, \"because the decisions that are made and that spread through the group are made at such short time scales that it's really not visible easily to the naked eye.\" And don't assume that birds in the front are the leaders, she says, because \"birds have a very wide angle of vision, so for them, it is possible that they would be responding to birds who are flying behind them.\" Flock Contained Clear Leaders, Followers The GPS data, however, allowed Biro and her colleagues at Eotvos University in Hungary to detect clear leader-follower relationships within the flock. For any given pair of birds, Biro says, \"you can accurately work out which of them is the leader and which one of them is the follower.\" Some birds had more followers than others. This demonstrates a hierarchy of influence within the flock. \"You can actually rank birds in terms of the influence that they have on others within the group,\" Biro says. \"Basically every individual gets a kind of a vote in what the flock does, but the weight of your vote depends on your rank, your position in the hierarchy.\" And it did turn out that highly influential birds tended to fly out in front, according to a report on the study in the journal Nature. Biro isn't sure what qualities make a bird a leader in the air — maybe some birds just fly faster or have a better sense of direction — and she says that's something she'd like to investigate further. Paving New Ground For decades, researchers have tried to understand the dynamics of flocks of birds, schools of fish and other groups of animals, in order to understand how these creatures are able to rapidly make collective decisions. Some computer models of flocks assume that all the birds are essentially equal, and are all following the same set of simple rules. But as this study shows, \"individual differences really matter. And that's what people are beginning to realize,\" says Iain Couzin of Princeton University. Couzin studies collective decision-making in animals. \"And so I think this work sort of paves new ground.\" He says that until recently, the technology hasn't existed that would allow researchers to track the behavior of individuals within a large group of animals, although some researchers have been able to do things like tag fish and then videotape their movements within a school. \"Birds have famously been known for their hierarchies of dominance,\" says Couzin, who notes that bird groups often have obvious \"pecking orders\" on the ground that control which birds get to eat first or roost in favored spots. He says this new study shows for the first time that \"another type of hierarchical organization actually emerges through the very complex and intricate dynamics of flocking.\" MELISSA BLOCK, host: It can be mesmerizing to watch a flock of birds soaring through the air, then suddenly the entire flock veers off in a new direction, as if the birds had magically made a group decision. Scientists have long wondered how that happens. So, recently, researchers decided to track individual pigeons in a flock. As NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports, they outfitted each bird with a GPS device in a little backpack. NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE: The birds in this study were about a dozen homing pigeons kept by a fancier who lives in Hungary. They looked very cute in their tiny custom made backpacks. Dr. DORA BIRO (University of Oxford): You have to imagine sort of a backpack where the straps fit around the wings and the kind of compartment fits on the back. GREENFIELDBOYCE: Dora Biro is a scientist at the University of Oxford, who did this study with colleagues in Hungary. She says, at first, the pigeons would peck at the backpacks. Dr. BIRO: So, you know, this isn't something that they experience naturally. So they do sort of investigate the backpacks initially. But very quickly they get use to them. GREENFIELDBOYCE: It", "Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Framing The Story. About Andrew Stanton's TEDTalk Filmmaker Andrew Stanton explains how the strongest storytelling is joke telling. Later this episode, Stanton shares his best strategies for putting together a compelling story, like the ones from his hit movies Toy Story and WALL-E. Listen to the full interview here. About Andrew Stanton Andrew Stanton is a filmmaker at Pixar. He's the writer behind the three Toy Story movies, and the writer and director of WALL-E. Stanton wrote the first film produced entirely on a computer, Toy Story. But what made that film a classic wasn't the history-making graphic technology — it was the story, the heart, the characters that children around the world instantly accepted into their own lives. He has two Oscars, for Finding Nemo and WALL-E. GUY RAZ, HOST: It's the TED Radio Hour from NPR. I'm Guy Raz. Here's a story told by a master storyteller named Andrew Stanton on the TED stage. (SOUNDBITE OF TED TALK) ANDREW STANTON: A tourist is backpacking through the Highlands of Scotland. And he stops at a pub to get a drink. And the only people in there is a bartender and an old man nursing a beer. And he orders a pint. They sit in silence for a while. And suddenly, the old man turns to him and goes, ya see this bar? (Speaking in Scottish accent) Ya see this bar? I built this bar with my bare hands. Found the finest wood in the county, gave it more love and care than my own child, but do they call me McGregor the bar builder? No. No. Points out the window. (Speaking in Scottish accent) You see that stone wall out there? I built that stone wall with my bare hands, found every stone, placed it just so through the rain and the cold, but do they call me McGregor the stone wall builder? No. No. Points out the other window. (Speaking in Scottish accent) You see that pier on the lake out there? I built that pier with my bare hands, drove the pilings against the tide in the sand, plank by plank, but do they call me McGregor the pier builder? No. No. But you [Bleep] one goat... (LAUGHTER) STANTON: Storytelling is joke telling. It's knowing your punchline, your ending - knowing that everything you're saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular goal, and ideally confirming some truth that deepens our understandings of who we are as human beings. We all love stories. We're born for them. Stories affirm who we are. We all want affirmations that our lives have meaning and nothing does a greater affirmation than when we connect through stories. It can cross the barriers of time - past, present, and future - and allow us to experience the similarities between ourselves and through others, real and imagined. RAZ: And there's a good chance Andrew Stanton has taken you to that place as well. \"Finding Nemo,\" \"Monsters, Inc.,\" \"WALL-E,\" \"A Bug's Life,\" all the \"Toy Story\" movies. Andrew Stanton either wrote or co-wrote all of them. You do a pretty good Scottish accent. STANTON: Except for anybody that's Scottish will tell you I don't. RAZ: Our show today is about people like Andrew Stanton, about what they do and why stories, the ideas and the conflicts and the truths we find in them, why they shape almost everything we believe.", "Updated at 10 p.m. ET The Broward, Fla., sheriff said 17 people are dead in the Wednesday shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the city of Parkland, northwest of Fort Lauderdale. He said a suspect is in custody. In news conferences after the incident, Sheriff Scott Israel said 12 of the people who died were found inside the school building and two were found just outside. Another victim was on the street, and two people died at the hospital. Israel said authorities have identified 12 of those killed in the shooting and are working to identify the rest. He said none of the names and ages of the victims would be disclosed pending notification of their families. However, he did say that one of the deceased was a school football coach and one of the wounded, the son of a deputy sheriff, sustained a non-life-threatening injury. Explaining why identifying the victims has taken some time, the sheriff said they didn't have backpacks or cellphones with them that might have helped. Israel identified the suspect as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student who had been expelled for disciplinary reasons. The sheriff said the shooter used an AR-15 rifle and had \"multiple magazines.\" The suspect was found off campus and was taken into custody without incident. Israel said investigators already have examined the suspect's statements on social media, calling them \"very, very disturbing.\" County school Superintendent Robert Runcie said that the shooter was enrolled in a school elsewhere in the district. Runcie said all classes and activities at Marjory Stoneman Douglas have been canceled for the rest of the week. The district will provide grief counselors for students and their families, as well as for staff members, starting Thursday morning. Counselors will also be available at an adjacent middle school, which will be open. In a conference, Florida Gov. Rick Scott called the shooting \"just absolutely pure evil.\" Attorney General Pam Bondi said the state will cover the funeral and counseling expenses for all victims and their families. She also announced that in coordination with the website GoFundMe, the state will monitor people claiming to represent the victims' families. The state will keep an eye on potential price-gouging by funeral home operators. Earlier, Runcie told reporters that he had just given a teacher-of-the-year-award winner a new car and was leaving the event when he heard about the shootings. \"We are pretty sure the suspect pulled the fire alarm to get the kids out into the hallways,\" Alison Carew, the mother of 15-year-old freshman twins, told All Things Considered. \"And they heard noises and then the teacher shuttled them into safe places.\" The school was locked down as some students were escorted outside, while others were advised to remain barricaded inside. Carew said her children believe the shots were fired in the freshman building, \"a three-story building separate from every other building at the school.\" \"They had to put their backpacks in the middle of the street and [continue] with their hands up,\" Carew added, speaking of her kids. \"Their backpacks were searched, and they were subsequently escorted off the campus.\" Authorities have not determined a motive for the shooting. Israel said that his triplets had graduated from the same school. \"It's a horrific, horrific day,\" he said. In a tweet, President Trump said, \"My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.\" This is a developing story. Some things that get reported by the media will later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.", "As students prepare to go back to school, more and more parents are thinking about school safety. A recent poll found 34 percent of parents fear for their child's physical safety at school. That's almost triple the number of parents from 2013. And yet schools are among the safest places for kids. According to one study, shootings involving students have actually gone down since the 1990s. But that hasn't stopped parents, schools and lawmakers from acting on their concerns. They're beefing up security and looking at ways to identify potential threats. Some parents are even investing in bulletproof school supplies. What schools and governments are doing Across the country, at least 330 school safety bills were introduced to state legislatures in 2018, according to data from the Education Commission of the States. Of those bills, at least 53 were signed into law. The majority of the bills that passed focused on general safety measures, such as what to report to law enforcement and how to inform students and faculty of potential threats. Other bills touched on bullying, guns in schools and emergency preparedness. Following the shooting in Parkland, Fla., students at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School were required to use clear backpacks as a temporary safety solution. The policy was unpopular among students: Several said see-through bags were an invasion of privacy and openly mocked them on social media. School administrators also planned to install metal detectors as a more permanent solution, but logistical complications have put that plan on hold. Santa Fe High School, the site of a shooting in May, is putting a $1 million grant from the Education Department toward panic buttons, locks inside classrooms and a remodeled school entrance, according to Courthouse News Service. The new entrance would allow staff to vet and approve visitors from behind bulletproof glass. In Washington, the Department of Homeland Security is making $1.8 million available to teach high school students how to help victims with traumatic injuries. According to the announcement, \"The training is intended to provide the knowledge necessary to stabilize the injured and control severe bleeding until first responders arrive on the scene.\" Safety in backpacks? Anxiety around school safety has also given birth to a new line of products: bulletproof school supplies. Bullet Blocker makes backpacks, binder inserts and tablet cases, among other things. Founder Joe Curran says, \"The goal that I had when I started the company was to be able to give the common person a piece of protection that they can use themselves.\" Curran started making bulletproof backpacks in 2007, after the Virginia Tech shootings. At the time, he had two kids in middle school and he remembers asking about the school's plan for an active shooter situation. The answer: Hide and wait for the police. He didn't think that would be enough to keep his kids safe, so the former deputy sheriff and firearms instructor took matters into his own hands. He started making backpack inserts out of bulletproof vests, and soon he had enough requests from other parents to turn it into a business. Today, his products can be purchased from firearms retailers and office supply stores. Curran says he sees a spike in sales whenever there are media reports of public violence, even if the incidents don't involve guns.", "Derek Lucas Reyes, 20, went from being undocumented in the U.S. to undocumented in his native Mexico. He sits at a table after breakfast in a shelter filled with people recently deported from the U.S. to Nogales, Sonora. At his feet is a paper shopping bag the Department of Homeland Security gave him for his belongings. Inside the bag: his deportation paperwork, a toothbrush, toothpaste and some other necessities he got from Mexican aid workers. Lucas Reyes just finished serving a 30-day federal sentence for illegal crossing. When he was caught by the Border Patrol in the Arizona desert, he says, he had a backpack of essentials. \"I had an ID, money and a cellphone that I didn't get back. In that phone were phone numbers for my family who could've given me shelter. Now I have nothing — no money and no way to contact people I know,\" he says. A report released Wednesday by the humanitarian group No More Deaths says it's not an unusual situation. The U.S. government is deporting thousands of people back to Mexico without their belongings, and according to the report, they're being sent back without money or identification cards. \"It's every day,\" says David Hill, co-author of the report. It's based on more than 14,000 cases out of Arizona and echoes similar findings by University of Arizona researchers borderwide. Roughly one-third of people deported to Mexico were missing something. Here's how it seems to happen: When people are arrested, they go from Border Patrol custody to U.S. Marshals to local jails or to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Their property stays behind. \"It doesn't get transferred to where it needs to be for the person to receive it upon deportation and it gets destroyed after 30 days — declared abandoned and destroyed,\" Hill says. Under the U.S. Constitution, property should be held only if it's evidence in a crime or was actually used to commit a crime — neither of which seems to be the case here. The Department of Homeland Security oversees both ICE and Customs and Border Protection. In an email, DHS spokeswoman Marsha Catron writes the agency has standards to ensure detainees' property is safeguarded and returned when they are released or deported. \"Any allegation of missing property will be thoroughly investigated,\" the email says. Among the most problematic charges are missing IDs and missing money. Hill says when people do get their money back, it's often in a form utterly useless in Mexico. \"We're talking about checks that are drawn on U.S. banks and cannot be deposited in Mexican banks, whether you have an account or not, whether you have an ID or not,\" Hill says. Lucas Reyes has no money or ID, so he's worried about traveling 2,000 miles to his home in the southern Mexican state of Quintana Roo, next to Central America. \"Mexican authorities could think I'm illegally in the country. I could be kidnapped because people might assume I'm not from Mexico,\" he says. Among other recommendations, the No More Deaths report calls for DHS to work harder to keep people and their property together — and to return money in cash. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: The U.S. government is deporting thousands of people back to Mexico without their belongings. According to a report released today, that includes money and even identification cards, and it's creating even more hardship for Mexican migrants when they return home. Reporter Ted Robbins has the story. TED ROBBINS, BYLINE: 20-year-old Derek Lucas Reyes went from being undocumented in the U.S. to undocumented in his native Mexico. He sits at a table after breakfast in a shelter filled with people recently deported to Nogales, Sonora. At his feet, a paper shopping bag the Department of Homeland Security gave him for his belongings. Inside the bag... DEREK LUCAS REYES: (Speaking Spanish). ROBBINS: Your deportation paperwork. REYES: (Speaking Spanish). ROBBINS: What they gave me there. A toothbrush, toothpaste and some other necessities he got from Mexican aid workers. That's it. Lucas Reyes just finished serving a 30-day federal sentence for illegal crossing. When he was caught by the Border Patrol in the Arizona desert, he says, he had a backpack of essentials. REYES: (Speaking Spanish). ROBBINS: I had an ID, money and a cell phone that I didn't get back, he says. In that phone were phone numbers from my family who could've given me shelter. Now I have nothing - no money and no way to contact people I know. A report released today by the humanitarian group No More Deaths says it's not an unusual situation. DAVID HILL: It's every day. It's every day. ROBBINS: David Hill co-authored the report, which is based on more than 1,400 cases out of Arizona. It echoes similar findings by University of Arizona researchers border-wide. Roughly one-third of people deported to Mexico were missing something. Here's how it seems to happen - when someone is arrested, they go from Border Patrol custody to U.S. Marshals to local jails or to ICE - Immigration and Customs E", "Greg Holden isn't a name everyone knows — at least not yet — but his work has reached a massive audience. His song \"Home\" was a massive hit for American Idol winner Phillip Phillips a few years ago. A U.K. singer-songwriter, Holden put out his own crowd-financed album in 2012, and is now making his major-label debut with Chase The Sun. On this episode of World Cafe, he performs a few songs and tells the story of how he took the money he made from \"Home\" to finance a backpacking trip to India.", "A Syrian man whose asylum request had been denied by German officials used an explosives-laden backpack to kill himself and wound 12 other people near a concert in southern Germany. Police have found a video on the 27-year-old man's cellphone in which he refers to ISIS, Bavaria's interior minister Joachim Herrmann said Monday, according to Deutsche Welle. Herrmann said that the man, who had lived in Germany since July of 2014, declared his allegiance to ISIS in the video. From Berlin, NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports: \"The Syrian bomber lived in the Bavarian town of Ansbach, where he carried out the attack. He had been rejected for asylum and had only temporary permission to stay in Germany. Police say he was under psychiatric care and had tried to kill himself twice before. \"Late on Sunday night, he tried entering a music festival in Ansbach that was attended by 2,500 people, but he was turned away because he didn't have a ticket. He detonated his backpack a short distance away in front of a wine bar.\" The Syrian man was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria, reports Deutsche Welle, citing a spokesman for Germany's interior ministry. The German newspaper adds that the ministry spokesman noted that refugees from Syria can't be returned directly to their home country because of the widespread violence there. The bombing comes days after a teenager who lived in Munich (roughly 120 miles south of Ansbach) went on a shooting rampage that killed at least 10 people and left dozens injured. In that attack, the 18-year-old high school student was found to have collected stories and details about mass shootings.", "While the rest of us spent 2020 indoors watching TV, Emily Pennington set out to visit every single one of the country&#8217;s 63 national parks. The parks and travel columnist for Outside Online made it to all but two parks: New River Gorge in West Virginia, the latest addition to the list, and American Samoa in the South Pacific. The idea to visit every park started where many big adventures do — a breakup. Pennington previously dated an Eagle Scout who took her on her first backpacking trip. \"I noticed that when that relationship had ended, I found myself returning to those same natural spaces and particularly the national parks,\" she says. \"So it was kind of interesting that the thing that hurt me ended up being the thing that provided the path to healing.\" Unaware of the challenges 2020 would bring, Pennington decided to spend the year visiting every national park. One of her favorite parts of the journey was flying in a small plane above Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. She feels fortunate that she saw the glaciers from above, rather than from a boat like most people. She says she saw near 400-feet tall \"electric turquoise blue crevasses poking up out of the Earth\" and \"the tidewater glaciers melting down from the mountains into the ocean.\" \"Our pilot was telling us that just in the 20 or so years that he&#8217;s been flying, he&#8217;s actually personally seen three or four of the most famous glaciers recede from the water,\" she says. \"And so the effects of climate change were really evident.\" Pennington decided to splurge on a guided trip through Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska because the parks don't have roads for medical services to reach backpackers in case of an emergency. And it's a good thing she invested in a guide: Pennington developed a fever and a sore throat that kept her up all night for two days in the middle of the trip. She had to hike for eight miles with her huge backpack to get out of the park. When she reached a doctor in the city of Fairbanks, she found out that she was developing scarlet fever but caught the infection just in time. \"I thought [scarlet fever] had gone, you know, wayward in the 1700s,\" she says. \"But no, it is a real disease that you can get and I have no idea how I caught it because no one else on that entire trip got sick.\" Pennington recently penned a piece on the not-so-uncommon occurrence of tourists dying in national parks. At the Grand Canyon, 134 people have died since 2010. Falling isn't the reason so many people die at the Grand Canyon. People hike down in the morning before the heat kicks in but the temperature rises between 3 to 5 degrees every thousand feet down, she says, meaning the bottom of the canyon can reach up to 120 degrees. By the time people reach the bottom and turn to climb all the way back up, the sun starts baking them. \"I think that people get themselves into trouble because they think they can do the whole thing in a day and they can&#8217;t,\" she says. \"So a lot of people, unfortunately, die of heat stroke or heart attacks or dehydration and other things that are considered, quote unquote, natural causes.\" In August, Congress passed the $9.5 billion Great Americans Outdoors Act into law. The funding will go toward the maintenance backlogs national parks have accrued in recent decades, which Pennington feels excited about. The backpacker predicts conversations will start around how to protect natural ecosystems from wildfires as the effects of climate change intensify. She felt the impact of the severe wildfire season in the Western U.S. on her trip. \"I personally got stuck in Seattle for four extra days, just waiting out the smoke in a cheap motel room,\" she says. \"And the sun was this apocalyptic orange and the sky was like this brown, foggy haze and you couldn&#8217;t go outside.\" The National Parks System is an important part of the cultural fabric of the U.S. for many people. Traveling through the parks for a year taught Pennington how to lean into \"discomfort and chaos\" — something she says she rarely gets the opportunity to do living in a city. \"If you can let go a bit and kind of sink into that scary void that nature can often present,\" she says, \"it teaches us a lot about resilience and personal strength that we can then take into our city lives.\" Julia Corcoran produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Allison Hagan adapted it for the web. This article was originally published on WBUR.org.", "Book publishers love stories about first-year teachers. The narrative arc is familiar: Exuberant idealism fades as the teacher battles entrenched bureaucracy, stale curriculum and disengaged colleagues or kids. The young educator then tries to overcome despair with creative grit and determination and struggles to make a difference. The books often teeter between self-promotion and slams against the public education system. Some, however, actually shed light on the yawning gap between reformist rhetoric and classroom reality. This month there's a new one out: The Battle for Room 314: My Year of Hope and Despair in a New York City High School by Ed Boland, from Grand Central Publishing. To get a take on how it lands in this genre, I asked a veteran New York City teacher to read it and write up her thoughts. Nicole Dixon teaches at East Side Community High School, which serves grades 6-12 in Manhattan's East Village. Here's her review: When I first became an English teacher in New York City, I would often find my conversations about my job traveling an increasingly well-worn path: \"You teach at an ... inner city public school? Those kids must be tough!\" Whether these comments were made with an air of, \"Good for you!\" or \"You must be crazy!\" they felt somehow cut from the same voyeuristic cloth, especially when followed up by, \"You must really have some stories!\" I did, in fact, have many stories, but the one I found myself telling most often was a humorous one centered around my inadvertently stealing a student's backpack. I knew, of course, as I told it, that this was not the kind of story anyone had in mind. I knew from the way their voices dropped at \"inner-city\" (read: Black, Latino, poor) that what they wanted was a tale replete with fistfights and broken homes and gang signs and teen moms. A heartwarming teacher-as-savior ending was preferred, but optional. I could never fully articulate why I didn't feel comfortable telling those stories until years later, watching a TED talk given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In it, Adichie speaks about her own experiences growing up as a child of middle-class academics in Nigeria, and then arriving in the U.S. for college, only to discover that her roommate expected her to be impoverished, unable to speak English, and listen to tribal music. She says, \"My roommate had a single story of Africa: a single story of catastrophe. In this single story, there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her in any way, no possibility of feelings more complex than pity, no possibility of a connection as human equals.\" I found myself thinking of Adichie's talk while reading Ed Boland's The Battle for Room 314. Boland, who left a position as development director for an educational nonprofit to try his hand at teaching, finds himself deeply disillusioned by his experience. Boland's memoir of his first and only year in a New York City public high school classroom certainly does not shy away from telling the kind of story about inner-city teens that dominates the media and our cultural imagination. He opens the book with three epigraphs — a lofty one about the meaning of education from Horace Mann and one about the value of struggle from Alfred the Great. And one from a student's \"Getting to Know You\" questionnaire: \"I like to fight, I like to f***, and I like pie.\" From that moment on, Boland's year is all downhill. Students throw spitballs, homophobic slurs, curses and calculators. He is disrespected and ignored, gets injured splitting up fistfights, becomes an inadvertent pawn in a student's drug ring and the target of another's accusations of sexual harassment. Boland is the first to admit that his failings as a teacher were perhaps even greater than those of his students, unflinchingly detailing every disastrous moment. Including: a formal classroom observation that his assistant principal declares \"the worst one I have ever conducted,\" and confessing that he responded to one student's \"F*** YOU!\" with a \"No, Solomon, F*** YOU!\" Boland is candid about his own shortcomings, and gestures at the larger systemic and societal issues behind the problems in his school. But he lingers longest on the outrageous behavior of his students: Chantay climbs on desks and hollers for Boland to perform an obscene act, and Kameron flashes his \"dark shark eyes\" as he threatens violence against students and teachers alike. But underneath the grand displays of insubordination, the innocuous race and class-marked details of his students' lives seem to wear on Boland almost as heavily. \"I began to loathe my students,\" he writes, \"resenting everything about them that was their lot — their poverty, their ignorance, their arrogance,\" as if it is all behind him. But his anger and disdain still pulse insistently through his writing. It's not that I don't sympathize with him. Being a teacher is one of the hardest jobs imaginable. I remember during my first year the unique mixture of exhaustion and grat", "Want to be more creative? Drop that iPad and head to the great outdoors. That's the word from David Strayer, a cognitive neuroscientist who studies multitasking at the University of Utah. He knew that every time he went into the southern Utah desert, far from cellular service, he started to think more clearly. But he wanted to know if others had the same experience. To find out, he first sent students out into nature with computers, to test their attention spans. \"It was an abysmal failure,\" Strayer says. \"The students didn't want to be anywhere near the computers.\" Worse still, he says, \"the light of the computer screen attracts moths and ants and things. People were having to fight insects.\" So much for that experiment. Next he discussed the problem with a group of other cognitive neuroscientists, including Ruth Ann Atchley who studies creativity at the University of Kansas. Before embarking on a backpacking trip in a Utah canyon, the group took a simple pencil-and-paper creativity quiz, the so-called Remote Associates Test, which asks people to identify word associations that aren't immediately obvious. Four days into the trip, they took the test again. \"I had no real expectations,\" Strayer told Shots. \"But we got a 45 percent improvement. That's a striking effect.\" Striking, but hardly scientific. The scores could have improved because the researchers had already taken the test once. So Strayer connected with Outward Bound, and outdoor leadership program, and asked if he could use their students as test subjects. Outward Bound is notoriously strict about bringing artifacts of modern life into the wilderness. Not only are students not allowed to bring iPods or laptops, they can't even bring a book. Half of the 56 hikers took the test before going backpacking in the wilderness, and the other half took the RAT test on the fourth day of their trip. The groups went into the wild in Alaska, Colorado, Maine and Washington. The people who took the test four days into the wilderness did 50 percent better than those who were still immersed in modern life. The study is published in the online journal PLOS One. What's behind the difference? Strayer thinks there are probably a few things involved. One is exposure to nature over a number of days, which has been shown in other studies to improve thinking. Strenuous exercise probably helped, too, though all the Outward Bound participants were young and fit. Another factor may well be abandoning electronic devices. He studies multitasking and driver distraction, and says constant texting and checking in on Facebook are not making us think more clearly. Strayer now wants to find out what happens in the brains of those people whose creativity seems inspired by nature. He's going to bring portable EEG equipment into the wild, to measure brain activity, and other gear to measure changes in their blood. All important work, of course. But this may be one case where there's no need to wait for definitive proof. Strayer says he finds some of his clearest thinking happens on his daily walk to work.", "I don't know that there's anything particularly interesting about news that Charlie Kaufman did some work on the sequel to Kung Fu Panda, except that everyone seems to agree that it seems very strange that Charlie Kaufman did some work on the sequel to Kung Fu Panda. We're right around the time of year when there's a lot of news about television as far as what's going to be on next year and what isn't. One of the big stories yesterday -- still not entirely resolved -- was a round of reports that Law & Order, the original, the mothership, the one and only, would not be back next year. It's too early to say for sure, but if you like your original-recipe \"chung-chung\" sound, you might want to enjoy it in the time you have left. On the entirely other hand, it looks like Chuck, which has had a rough season but some fine episodes recently, is returning next year, at least for a 13-episode season. (Remember, that's the same pickup they got for this year, before it was expanded to 19.) After the jump: the backpack you need, and talk from NBC about next season and this season. Not enough NBC news for you? Jeff Gaspin, who's the chairman of NBC Universal television, talked to Variety about, among other things, his efforts to get the network back in the prime-time scripted-television game after NBC's ill-fated experiment with ... not being in that game, so much. Meanwhile, James Poniewozik, who writes about television for Time, has posted his big series-finale Lost package, which took him to Hawaii. Some people have all the luck, right? And finally, just to cheer up your Friday, please enjoy this C3PO backpack.", "Marjory Stoneman Douglas High students returned to school from spring break this week facing a number of new safety precautions. District officials in Parkland, Fla., say that the school is a prototype for potential countywide security changes, following a shooting on Feb. 14 that left 17 people dead. Among the precautions are fewer entrances, with law enforcement posted at each point; identification badges that students and teachers are required to wear at all times; and clear, plastic backpacks the only bookbags allowed on campus. School Principal Ty Thompson sent a memo to parents about the precautions over the weekend, according to The Associated Press, comparing the process with entering a sporting event, or Disney World. \"As a first step, we are looking to see if we can get the kids through these entrances in a timely manner. ... It is very difficult to balance both convenience/privacy with safety/security; if there is more of one, the other often suffers, but I will do my best to balance the two.\" Many Stoneman Douglas students took issue with the clear backpacks they're required to carry. The bags were donated to the school by Walmart and the Broward Education Foundation, the Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported. Carly Novell, the school's newspaper editor, wrote on Twitter: \"Do you want me to take my shoes off when I walk into school as well?\" Some students also complained about the smell of the plastic backpacks. Student Kyrah Simon tweeted that the backpacks were a waste of community resources: Another student posted a photo of his pack full of tampons: Sophomore Lauren Hogg asked on Twitter, \"Is this what my high school experience is going to be like? 3 more years of this...\" An Instagram account was also created dedicated to students angry over the backpacks. Many students from Stoneman Douglas have deftly harnessed social media to criticize and call for change in U.S. gun policy since the massacre, using it to organize the \"March for Our Lives,\" where hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in support of legislation restricting access to guns. In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation raising the minimum age of all gun purchasers to 21 and banning rapid-fire devices known as bump stocks. The reforms also included fresh funding for school security, including at least one school resource officer in all schools. Sheri Kuperman, who has three children attending Stoneman Douglas High, tells the Sun-Sentinel she doesn't mind the new measures. \"We go through metal detectors when we go the airport. ... I don't know if it's going to stop anything or not.\" Metal detectors and metal detecting wands are not currently in place on campus, but their use is being considered. Another parent, Julie Shinn, is less convinced and criticized the move as falling short. \"If we're not going to do anything about our lax gun laws,\" she writes on Twitter, \"then my son needs a bullet proof backpack, not a clear one.\"", "There are probably fewer American fans in Sochi than at previous Winter Games, partly because of concerns about security, and partly because of the time and expense it takes to get to the Russian resort town on the Black Sea. But Americans are represented there, with gusto, by a group of evangelical Christians who call themselves the International Sports Chaplains. Members of the group have been going to the Olympic Games since 1988. On a recent sunny day at the Olympic Park, with bands playing and fans strolling around the venues, the chaplains move through the crowd in teams of three or four. Myrna Gregory hails from Brandon, Miss., near Jackson, and this is her seventh Olympics as a chaplain. She spends the better part of every day engaging with fans and volunteers. Her fellow chaplain, James Gardner, explains it this way: \"We love God, we love sports, so what better place to come than one of the greatest sporting events, every two years, to come and tell people about our belief in God?\" Gardner is a minister from West Monroe, La., and this is his fifth Olympics. Most of the people here are decked out in Russian team colors, so the American chaplains stand out in their black cowboy hats, bristling with pins. When people see the pins, they want to trade, Gardner says. He says trading pins is a good opportunity, because he'll say, \"Hey, I've got a pin I'll give to you, it's got a story. Can I share with you that story?\" Through the pins, they share the Gospel. Gregory tells the story to a young volunteer near the entrance to the park. \"See this dark area on the pin?\" she asks. \"That represents those choices that we make that are probably not the best choice. I want to tell you that red represents that God loves us and that he sent his son Jesus to die for us. And when we accept his love and his forgiveness in our life, he makes us clean and white, just like snow.\" The volunteer, a lanky Russian teenager, nods. She's interested, but wary. \"And one day,\" Gregory continues, \"when this physical body dies, which it will die one day, we'll spend eternity with him, and the Bible says heaven is paved with streets of gold. And so, that is the story behind this pin. Have you ever heard that story before?\" \"Uh, no,\" the young woman says. \"Isn't that a beautiful story?\" Gregory asks. \"Yes, it's a very beautiful story, but I'm so far from this aspect of our life, it's hard for me to feel deep in it,\" the woman says. \"In spiritual things?\" the chaplain asks. \"Yes,\" she nods. \"OK,\" says Gregory, \"that's OK.\" And so it goes — Southern accents meeting Slavic ones in the Olympic village. Gregory says this event has been harder than the other six Olympic Games she has attended, in part because there are fewer people who speak English. She thinks concerns about security kept a lot of people away. Her own daughter didn't want her to go. \"We had family and friends that said, 'We don't want you to go.' And I really felt like God was telling me I needed to go,\" she says. Before these Olympics are over, 20 International Sports Chaplains will have answered that call to engage with people at the Winter Games. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: There are probably fewer Americans fans in Sochi than at previous Winter Games, partly because of security concerns, and partly because it's expensive and time-consuming to get there. But Americans are represented with gusto by a group of evangelical Christians who call themselves International Sports Chaplains. NPR's Corey Flintoff ran into some of them in Sochi, and he sends this postcard. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) COREY FLINTOFF, BYLINE: It's a sunny day at the Olympic Park with bands playing and fans strolling around the various skating venues, stages and team pavilions. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) FLINTOFF: The chaplains move through the crowd in teams of three or four, engaging with people wherever they can. MYRNA GREGORY: My name is Myrna Gregory. I'm from Brandon, Mississippi, which is near Jackson. And I am serving at the Olympics. This is my seventh Olympics, to serve as an international sports chaplain. JAMES GARDNER: We love God, we love sports, so what better place to come than one of the greatest sporting events, every two years, to come and tell people about our belief in God? FLINTOFF: That's fellow chaplain James Gardner, a minister from West Monroe, Louisiana. This is his fifth Olympics. Most of the people here are decked out in Russian team colors, so the American chaplains stand out. GARDNER: Well, I've got a black cowboy hat with pins all over it, and then I've got a backpack that's got pins literally all over the back of it. People see that and they want to trade pins. And then trading pins is a good opportunity because I trade a pin but they I'll usually share with them, hey, I've got a pin I'll give to you, it's got a story. Can I share with you that story? And then therefore we can go about sharing the gospel. FLINTOFF: Myrna Gregory tells the story to a young volunteer near the entrance to th", "A 39-year old Jacksonville man is under arrest for making a false report about planting a bomb at the Jacksonville, Florida airport yesterday. Zeljko Causevic told security screeners he had a bomb in his backpack, but they found only a luggage scale with a microchip inside, as well as a remote control device he called a detonator. The incident, which began around 5:30 p.m., resulted in a full airport evacuation, as well as the cancellation of flights in and out of the airport. Passengers were displaced for about five hours. A second man was arrested after officials said he began acting suspiciously. Authorities, however, later said the second man was not connected to Causevic. Guest\n\nDan Scanlan, reporter, Florida Times Union and Jacksonville.com.\n &nbsp; ROBIN YOUNG, HOST: A Jacksonville, Florida, man was arrested today for making a false report about planting a bomb at the Jacksonville Airport. Thirty-nine-year-old Zeljko Causevic allegedly approached a TSA agent to say he had a bomb in his bag. A full airport evacuation and the cancellation of all flights followed. A second man was also arrested after authorities say he began acting suspiciously. Dan Scanlan is covering the story for the Florida Times Union and Jacksonville.com, and he joins us from Jacksonville. Dan, the arrest report is out. Tell us more about what the suspect is alleged to have said to these screeners. DAN SCANLAN: Well, it's very odd. Airport officials did speak this morning at a press conference and also handed out that report, which indicates that he was somewhere in the security screening process with TSA about 5:40 PM Tuesday when he apparently stated quite bluntly that I've got a bomb in here, referring to his camouflage backpack. He further explained he had a device inside the camo backpack, which was, quote, \"supposed to be a bomb, but it's not.\" The device ended up being a digital luggage scale with batteries and a microchip inside, according to the report. Also found in the backpack was a cellular phone, and then on his person was something he called a detonator, which is being called a remote control device. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office bomb squad apparently did destroy those, standard procedure, and that's what we're waiting to find out exactly what those items might have been, were they any different than what's in the police report. YOUNG: Well then why they were there in the screening process where they'd obviously been seen. What more do we know about Zeljko Causevic and what this might have been all about? SCANLAN: He lives in a very nice little neighborhood on the south side of Jacksonville. His neighbors say he was quiet. He had a wife - has a wife and two children. One of our TV stations here is reporting that one neighbor says that he was having some problems with his wife, some domestic issues, maybe, but the neighbor that I spoke with said he'd been a little quiet the past few months. He apparently lists himself as working for a trucking company and apparently owned it and operated it out of his house, but the neighbor says he never saw any trucks there. That's it. We don't know anything more about this gentleman. He is a 15-year resident of Jacksonville. He is a U.S. citizen, and that's all we know. It's a very nice little neighborhood. YOUNG: Well, what about the second suspect, arrested separately? SCANLAN: That appears to be an unrelated incident. For whatever reason, Manuel Rivera, 35 years old of Rockford, Illinois, was acting suspiciously about 6 PM. This is about 30 minutes after - or 20 minutes after Mr. Causevic was stopped and was apparently trying to leave the airport and, quote, blending in with passengers when a police officer from the airport found him in the parking garage, told him to stop. He resisted, and he was arrested, and he's only been charged with resisting arrest without violence, unconnected according to airport officials to the whole issue that caused the airport to get shut down and evacuated for five hours. YOUNG: And how is the airport doing today? SCANLAN: The airport is back to normal. They had to cancel seven flights that should have come in last night, but according to their Twitter page right now, everything's back on schedule. They have no cost estimate as to what this could have done to them and the hundreds of passengers and flights that got grounded. Our airport is a regional and international airport. It does handle about 200 flights a day. So I'm estimating probably 10 or 20 got affected. YOUNG: Reporter Dan Scanlan, covering the Jacksonville Airport story for the Florida Times Union and Jacksonville.com. Dan, thanks. SCANLAN: No problem. YOUNG: Can't help but think it's something you might read about in a Tom Clancy novel. He has died, and we'll take a look back at his legacy, coming up, HERE AND NOW.", "Updated at 4:50 p.m. ET Thai officials are downplaying the possibility that a foreign terrorist group is behind the bombing in central Bangkok this week that killed at least 20 people, including foreign tourists, and wounded dozens of others. Police also appear to have ruled out a man in a yellow T-shirt seen on a CCTV video leaving behind a backpack moments before the blast at the Erawan shrine as well as another man suspected of being an accomplice. The Associated Press reports that the two have been cleared \"after one of them turned himself in and said he was a tour guide and the other was a Chinese tourist.\" National police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri said the two men \"definitely\" are no longer suspects, according to AP. Earlier, a government spokesman said it was \"highly unlikely\" that a foreign network was behind Monday's attack, nor did he believe that Chinese tourists were the targets. The Erawan shrine is popular with visiting Chinese. Three Chinese nationals were killed in the blast and 15 others were wounded. Predominantly Buddhist Thailand has experienced a long-running Islamist insurgency in the country's south, where there is a Muslim majority. Several bombings have occurred there over the years. But army chief Udomdej Sitabutr said on television Wednesday that the attack \"does not match with incidents in southern Thailand [and] the type of bomb used is also not in keeping with the south.\" Although authorities appear to have ruled out foreign terrorism, an arrest warrant for a man seen in a CCTV video leaving a backpack at the blast site moments before the explosion described him as an \"unnamed foreigner\" and accused him of a conspiracy to commit \"premeditated murder\" and weapons offenses. \"He didn't do it alone for sure,\" national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung was quoted by The Associated Press as saying. \"It's a network,\" he added, saying he was certain that Thai citizens were involved in the bombing. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha appears to be pointing the finger of blame in the direction of the political opposition, which supports former Prime Ministers Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck. Both leaders were ousted in military coups, the second of the two led by Prayuth, a former army chief. Speaking on television Tuesday evening, Prayuth said the attack shows that Thailand \"still has a person or a group of people with hostility to the nation operating actively,\" according to a translation published in the English-language Bangkok Post. \"They may be doing it for a political motive or to undermine the economy or tourism or for other reasons,\" he said. Prayuth told reporters that the man must have been hired to plant the bomb. In the past, the government has accused Thaksin, a former telecom tycoon now living in exile, of paying political activists to stir up opposition to the country's military government. However, as Michael Sullivan reported for NPR earlier this week, independent analysts cast doubt on the notion that the bombing was carried out by so-called Red Shirt partisans. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that reporters found shrapnel near the scene of the blast today, calling into question the thoroughness of the investigation. Correspondent Jonathan Head reports that when he tried to bring the pieces to Bangkok police headquarters, he was turned away at the gate by officers who said the facility was closed. Prayuth, who overthrew an elected government last year, was quoted today in The Bangkok Post suggesting that police working the case ought to watch the American police television drama Blue Bloods to get a better handle on investigative techniques. \"They will get tips, ideas and insights for their case,\" he said, adding, \"Though our officers may not be as capable as those in the series, we are good in our own league.\"", "Every year, approximately 2 million people hike some portion of the Appalachian Trail. Then there are the hikers who walk the entire way — more than 2,000 miles from Maine to Georgia — and take an average of six months to do it. But in July 2011, Asheville, N.C., native Jennifer Pharr Davis set a new unofficial record when she hiked the entire length of the trail in just 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes. Davis says many people assume she was moving too quickly to enjoy the natural world around her. But in fact, she tells NPR's Neal Conan, her days on the trail started before sunrise and finished around sunset, giving her plenty of time to soak up the scenery. \"This summer I was only out there 46 days, and I saw 36 bears,\" Davis says, more than she ever has on previous hikes. In the national hiking community, Davis is now recognized as a record holder, but there's no organization that keeps official tabs on travel times. And, Davis says, it shouldn't be anyone's job to monitor the walkers. \"This is still based on the honor system,\" she says, \"and it is an amateur sport.\" NEAL CONAN, host: Every year, millions of people hike on the Appalachian Trail, only the hardiest set out on what's known as a thru-hike. That's the whole way, more than 2,000 miles from Maine to Georgia. Some takes six months to do it. One walked the distance in 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes. That's the new unofficial record established this summer by Jennifer Pharr Davis. And Jennifer Pharr Davis joins us now from the studios of member station WCQS in Asheville, North Carolina. Welcome and congratulations. JENNIFER PHARR DAVIS: Thanks so much. I'm glad to be here. CONAN: And unofficial record? DAVIS: Unofficial, that's right. There's no, quote, unquote, \"official organization\" that recognizes these trail records. But there is a very, very large body of hikers and also trail runners who keep tabs on who's going out and trying to set these records and who's accomplishing their goals each year. CONAN: Obviously, nobody can monitor the whole walk. It's a long way to go, and there's no cameras. DAVIS: That's right. It's a long way. And it shouldn't be anyone's job to monitor the walk. This is still based on the honor system, and it is an amateur sport. So one of the things I love about it is that no one's behind your back, making sure that you walked every step. It has to be very important to you that you pass every single white blaze on the Appalachian Trail. CONAN: Now, back in 2008, you set the women's unofficial record. Why did you want to do it again? DAVIS: Well, you know, it actually all goes back to 2005 when I first did a traditional thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail as a 21-year-old. And I was out there on my own, and it was this amazing coming-of-age journey for me. And I really fell in love with the trail and with long-distance backpacking. So from there, I did lots of other trails, several thousand more miles. And eventually, I wanted to come back to the AT, but wanted to hike it a little differently. And around that time in my life, I also got married. And that threw a wrench into everything because until then, I had had lots of freedom and lots of time to go and hike. But now, I didn't want to be away from my husband, so we agreed together that I would try to set the women's record on the trail and that he would help me. And we went after it and had a really great experience. But when we finished, I realized I hadn't given 100 percent. And that ate at me and ate at me. And we learned so much from that first record attempt in 2008 that we both felt like going back we could do it better and we could do it more efficiently. And I really wanted to finish the trail knowing that I had given it my all. And so, that's why we went back this summer. CONAN: And when you say he helped you, well, the traditional backpacking trip, you're carrying a big pack with lots of food and equipment. When you're trying to set a record, you're being met at various waypoints along the way with supplies carried by your husband. DAVIS: I'm telling you, coming from a thru-hiker background, having a supported hike feels so luxurious because I get to see my husband at roadsides, and I get to grab more snacks, grab water, grab a raincoat, whatever I might need from the car and even a clean pair of socks. (SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER) DAVIS: That, to me, was always the highlight of the day. I was like, oh, I get to change socks now. So, yes, it is very different. But while, you know, you have the luxuries of meeting a support crew at a roadside, the daily physical task was far more intensive than a traditional thru-hike. And a traditional thru-hike is very, very difficult. Don't get me wrong. But for a record attempt, you are getting up with the sun if not before and hiking all day at your limit until the sun goes down. And for me, this summer, the average, the average for 46 and a half days was 46.93 miles a day, which is mind-boggling especially con", "The U.S. high school graduation rate is at an all-time high. But why? NPR Ed partnered with 14 member stations around the country to bring you the stories behind that number. Check out the whole story here. And find out what's happening in your state. Delonna Jones is a 10-year-old with twisty braids and a toothy grin. She struggles with reading and is repeating the third grade at Ketcham Elementary School in D.C. this year. She says she gets distracted when other children tease her. \"Kids like to pick on me,\" she says. \"I get into fights sometimes.\" Delonna is one of about 100 children, a third of this school, who are homeless. Nearly the entire school qualifies for free and reduced-price lunch. School is one of the few constants in Delonna's life, as with many other children here. She loves her third-grade teacher best. \"She called me her favorite,\" Delonna says shyly. Schools in D.C. — traditional and charter — have the nation's lowest graduation rates when compared with state averages. Just 62 percent of students complete high school in four years. Experts believe you can tell by third grade whether children will graduate from high school based on clear early warning signs, or what they call the ABCs: attendance, behavior and course performance. Delonna struggles with all three. Educators say students face numerous challenges related to poverty that spill into the classroom. Immediate needs, like food and shelter, can make school a lower priority. Many students at Ketcham come late. Sometimes not at all. Delonna missed three weeks of school last year. Behavior is another early warning sign for dropping out — even in the lower grades. Research has long confirmed that children who witness violence in their everyday lives can become emotional and aggressive, and outbursts can disrupt learning. So at Ketcham, Principal Maisha Riddlesprigger has structured the school day around stability and consistency. \"There's a lot of ugly realities outside of the school communities that kids deal with, and we can't shy away from attacking those issues head-on,\" she says. The school provides mental health services, free bus tokens for parents and even an after-school food pantry. At that food pantry, Delonna carefully selects items including canned vegetables, cabbage and cornbread mix. She sorts out the lighter items like macaroni and granola bars and puts them in her 6-year-old sister's backpack, while she and her 9-year-old sister, Delaya, carry the heavier items like shampoo and juice. \"My principal sometimes takes us home in the car. Otherwise we put it in our backpacks so it won't fall,\" Delonna says. Julia Zahn, the homelessness liaison at Ketcham, says the school has partnerships with 20 different nonprofits. She has closets full of winter coats, shoes and mittens in a variety of sizes. \"When families move and don't have access to their belongings, being able to pick out a stuffed animal is really helpful,\" says Zahn. In this urban school district, 76 percent of students are low-income. And schools spend a lot of time meeting their basic needs. One school packs food for about 70 children to take home for the weekend so they have something to eat. Another has a relationship with a bakery to give families fresh bread. Some even provide turkeys at Thanksgiving, but the need is much greater than the resources. Delonna wants to be a teacher when she grows up, to \"help children learn to write their name.\" Despite the challenges so many children here face, Riddlesprigger and teachers here say they believe students like Delonna can beat the odds. \"If we just look at the statistics there would be no reason for us to be here, right?\" she says. \"But we're in the business of changing lives.\" Click here for more on Washington, D.C.'s dropout crisis from WAMU.", "A risk assessment by Penn State University found that the Outing Club's activities — hiking and backpacking — are too dangerous. The 98-year-old club will be barred from organizing trips.", "In Nashville, a local television news station is experimenting with the very idea of who can be a reporter. In fact, at WKRN, there's no such thing as a reporter -- only VJs, or video journalists. Just about anyone on staff, from cameraman to editor, has been trained to grab a small digital camera and file reports. While critics call it nothing but cost-cutting, people at the station say it has fundamentally changed the way they approach the news. When the bosses at WKRN-Channel 2 News announced they'd be converting every single person in the newsroom into a video journalist, to film, edit, and write their own news stories, the staff more or less responded with dread. \"There was a genuine sense of fear in this building,\" says Andy Cordan. \"People that have been doing this for 20 years, and suddenly, like, it's no longer doing that. You used to make pizzas. Now you are going to polish rocks! Enjoy yourself.\" Cordan has worked in television news for nearly 20 years -- a self-described \"blood and guts\" crime reporter. His partner in crime reporting has always been Al Devine, his photographer. But last year, WKRN split up the team for good in the process of changing the entire station over to the VJ-format. It was a plan aimed at shedding the station's last-place ratings. That meant that Devine, a round-faced cameraman with a wide smile and penchant for brightly patterned shirts, had to learn to write and voice stories for air. \"It was a nightmare, you know,\" Devine says. \"You couldn't sleep because you were thinking, 'How do I get this story?' All of a sudden, you had to use a whole different side of your brain. I wasn't a writer. I could edit. I could do most everything else. But I wasn't a writer. I still type like a pumpkin.\" But since being trained as VJs, Cordan and Devine head out on their own, on separate assignments, with a handheld video camera and a laptop. They each set up their own interviews, film the event, edit the images and sound on their laptops, record their voices for the story and get it to the station control room for air. And it's every man for himself when pitching ideas at the morning news meeting. In the old days, says News Director Steve Sabato, he would arrive in the morning to assign give to six stories, culled from newspapers, press releases and items gleaned from the police scanner. Those stories would be assigned to a few two-man crews. And the reporters in those crews would repeat the same handful of stories for the newscasts at 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., et cetera. That changed when everyone had the power to produce stories. \"We rarely chase car wrecks anymore,\" Sabato says. \"We don't show up for news conferences about overnight busts at convenience stores and, you know, shootings over drug crimes. There's much less of what I would call institutional and official crime stories.\" Instead, more stories are airing on topics such as a local immigration forum, an arts commission report and an investigative story on corrupt lobbyists, all ideas mulled over at a recent news meeting. These days, the newsroom can pursue upwards of 15 stories at a time -- a selling point WKRN advertises to its audience. Brad Ingram, a board member of the National Press Photographers Association, says, \"If you go to any message board in the photography world, the two words 'VJ' is like a cussword.\" Ingram points out that there are great backpack reporters, or VJs, that have been working around the country for years. But converting an entire station staff to the model is rare and does not sit well with experienced cameramen like him. \"It comes down to adding more responsibilities to everybody's everyday duties,\" Ingram says. \"That is where it gets to be a problem. When you are trying to multitask everything, you lose that quality.\" MICHELE NORRIS, Host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris. MELISSA BLOCK, Host: And I'm Melissa Block. In Nashville, a local television station is experimenting with the very idea of who can be a reporter. In fact, at WKRN, there's no such thing as a reporter, only VJs, or video journalists. Just about everyone on the news staff, from cameraman to editor, has been trained to grab a small digital camera and file stories. While some see nothing but cost cutting, people at the station say it's fundamentally changed the way they approach the news. NPR's Audie Cornish has the story. AUDIE CORNISH: When the bosses at WKRN Channel 2 News announced they'd be converting every single person in the newsroom into a video journalist - to film, edit and write their own news stories - the staff more or less responded with dread. ANDY CORDAN: There was a genuine sense of fear in this building. People that had been doing this for 20 years, and suddenly it's like, no longer are you doing that. You used to make pizzas, now you're going to polish rocks. Enjoy yourself. CORNISH: Andy Cordan has worked in television news for nearly 20 years, a self described blood an", "Investigators from the FBI and the New York Police Department are trying to determine who was at the wheel of a crude car bomb parked in Times Square on Saturday. The 1993 Nissan Pathfinder was parked on 45th Street near Broadway around dinnertime, filled with gasoline canisters, propane tanks, fireworks and a gun locker that appears to have been filled with fertilizer. The car was supposed to blow up, injuring anyone who might have been passing by at the time. For the past 24 hours, television networks have been playing a particular video almost on a continuous loop. In it, a man stops in front of a storefront not far from where the car bomb was parked near Times Square. He stops, rests his backpack against a pole, takes off a blue sweatshirt to reveal a red shirt beneath. He looks over his shoulder several times in the direction of the SUV and then puts his sweatshirt into his backpack and continues along his way. Men In Videos Is he a suspect? For the past 24 hours, it seemed like he was. Then on Monday New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly tamped down such speculation. \"He could be totally innocent,\" Kelly told CNN. \"This is one of the first videos we obtained. We thought it warranted an interview. He is taking his shirt off, it was a very warm day, but this happened around the time that the pops started in the car.\" Law enforcement sources say they are starting to think that the man caught in that videotape doesn't have anything to do with the bomb. Although they would not elaborate on a continuing investigation, it could be that the man caught in that first tape was exonerated by a second video taken by a tourist from Pennsylvania who was videotaping mounted policemen in Times Square around the time the Pathfinder was parked and started emitting smoke and the smell of gunpowder. His film apparently caught someone running north on Broadway. Kelly said that man isn't considered a suspect either. He said investigators would just like to speak to the men captured in both videos. Investigators have already spoken to the registered owner of the 13-year-old Pathfinder. That person lives in Connecticut, and hadn't reported the car as stolen. That's because he sold the car to someone else three weeks ago. Possible Links So the next step is to figure out who was driving the car on Saturday night. The NYPD is trolling through hundreds of hours of surveillance video and talking to possible witnesses. Law enforcement officials close to the case told NPR that they believe the evidence is starting to point to some sort of international link to the attack. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the car bomb over the weekend, but law enforcement officials say they don't think the plot has any Taliban links. What it may have is some sort of Internet connection to suspected terrorist groups overseas. Officials declined to be more specific. Officials quickly cautioned that all theories are still being tested this early in the investigation. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told NBC's Today show that as eager as people are to find who was behind the attempted bombing, the investigation needs to play out. \"Right now, every lead has to be pursued,\" she said. \"I caution against premature decisions one way or another.\" ROBERT SIEGEL, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel. MICHELE NORRIS, host: And I'm Michele Norris. And now the latest in the failed attempt to detonate a car bomb in Times Square over the weekend. Here's what we know. Someone parked an SUV on 45th Street near Broadway around dinner time on Saturday, and that SUV was filled with gasoline, propane tanks, fireworks and fertilizer. It was meant to blow up, injuring or killing anyone who might have been passing by, but that's all we know. And as the investigation continues, more questions remain than answers. NPR's counterterrorism correspondent Dina Temple-Raston reports. DINA TEMPLE-RASTON: Television networks have been playing a particular video almost on a continuous loop. A man stops in front of a storefront not far from where the car bomb was parked near Times Square. He takes off a blue sweatshirt to reveal a red shirt beneath. He looks over his shoulder several times in the direction of the SUV and puts his sweatshirt into his backpack and continues along his way. Is he a suspect? For the past 24 hours, it seemed like he was. Then today, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly tamped down such speculation. Ms. KIRAN CHETRY (Anchor, CNN): Is this person a suspect, a person of interest? Commissioner RAY KELLY (Police Department, New York City): No, no. Not in any way. TEMPLE-RASTON: That's Commissioner Kelly speaking on CNN this morning. Commissioner KELLY: He could be totally innocent. This is one of the first videos that we obtained. We thought it warranted an interview. He is taking his shirt off. That was a very warm day. But this happened just around the time that the pops start to go off i", "Murat Kurnaz says he spent five years being tortured and interrogated by U.S. military personnel at the detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — even after intelligence determined that he had no terrorist ties. He discusses his memoir, Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo. Chapter Two Peshawar, Pakistan I'll never forget the date: December 1, 2001. That was when I was supposed to fly from Peshawar back to Germany. My friend Mohammad had helped me pack my gifts, and I had said good-bye to other tablighis, or Muslim pilgrims, at the mosque. Then we boarded the bus to Peshawar airport. \"Are you looking forward to getting home?\" Mohammad asked me. \"Tomorrow you'll be seeing your mother.\" I had a second piece of luggage with me, a backpack with my personal belongings, as well as a belt in which I kept my money and papers. Mohammad was carrying my bag. I was originally supposed to fly back to Germany from Karachi, and Mohammad was accompanying me to the airport to help change my flight so I could depart from Peshawar. I couldn't wait to get back to Bremen. My wife was scheduled to arrive there before the end of the year from Turkey. For the first time since I had arrived in Pakistan, I was wearing my shiny black Hugo Boss overcoat. It had remained in my backpack for the entire trip because it was much too warm. I'd thought the fall weather in Pakistan would be the same as it is in Germany and had brought heavy pants and sweaters with me from Bremen. I wanted to look stylish in Koran school and on the street. When I arrived in Karachi on October 3 in my wool sweater and overcoat, I'd discovered that autumn in Pakistan was as warm as summer in Bremen. So most of the time I just wore T-shirts and my KangaROOSbrand hiking boots. A year later in Guantanamo, a representative of the German government would accuse me of walking around Pakistan in combat boots. I had bought some sweets for my parents. The packages were lovely, like little works of art—it would have been a shame to eat them. For my baby brother, Alper, I had bought a handmade wooden toy, a game, with rings on a tree with braches. For myself, I had bought a pair of motorcycle gloves made of quality leather that would have cost a couple hundred marks in Bremen. I also had a handmade necklace for my mother, made of wood, leather, and blue lapis lazuli. The bus we took to the airport was painted in bright colors and decorated with ornamental figurines. There were little bells and strings of red and yellow blinking party lights—it looked like a disco. All the buses in Pakistan look like this. The one I was traveling in was a small vehicle with a sliding door with maybe ten people in it—there was no room for anyone else. Two men had sat next to Mohammad so I had to take a seat in the row behind him. We came to a checkpoint. I had already been through four or five such checkpoints while traveling from mosque to mosque with Mohammad and the other tablighis—there are checkpoints all over Pakistan. They're part of normal everyday life. Checkpoints are usually located at police stations and are manned by one or two officers. The police attach a cord or rope to a house or a pole on the other side of the street and an officer sits in a chair sipping tea. Whenever he wants someone to stop, he'll pull the rope taut, and the approaching cars have to brake. If he doesn't feel like checking anyone, he just leaves the rope lying slack on street and everyone drives over it. Sometimes he'll pull up the rope and take a quick glance through the windows of a vehicle before waving it on. I had never been checked personally. On the day I was set to leave Pakistan, the policeman at the checkpoint pulled the rope. The little bells in the bus jingled as the bus came to a halt. Traffic piled up behind us. The policeman got up from his chair and peered through the window, noticing me. I looked different than the other passengers—I have fairer skin, and that's probably what attracted his attention. He knocked on the window and said something to me in Urdu. Mohammad opened the window and answered for me. I have no idea what he said to the policeman. Then the policeman addressed me again. I told him in German that I couldn't understand because I didn't speak his language. Of course, he didn't know what I was saying either. He asked me for my papers—at least I think he did. I got them out of my belt and handed them over. Then he said something else and motioned for me to get out of the bus. I took my backpack, squeezed my way through the other passengers, and got off. Behind us, in the line of cars, people were honking their horns. Mohammad tried to get out with me, but it took him a while to get to the door because the bus was packed with passengers holding luggage on their laps. The policeman motioned for the bus driver to move to the side of the road. The bus driver closed the door. Mohammad was still inside. I never saw him again. I had met Mohammad a couple of we", "Berta Romero, is a counselor at Mary Harris Mother Jones elementary school in Prince George's County, a suburb of Washington, D.C. It's a position that was created before the pandemic, to help undocumented children adjust to school. She hears awful stories from children about their journey to the U.S.: A second-grader's story about how her mother covered her eyes so the girl wouldn't see people drowning in the river. A little boy's description of how the truck that brought him to the U.S. was so crowded he couldn't breathe. His father had to push people aside and hold him up to get some air. Some children tell Romero about seeing women raped or stories about people who couldn't keep up with other migrants on the journey and were left behind. Children who are undocumented are among the most vulnerable in the country. Many have experienced considerable trauma, in their home countries and in the U.S. Romero likens these experiences to \"carrying a big backpack with boulders in it.\" A big part of her job is helping teachers identify and understand the root of behaviors like anger and frustration, and how to handle them. But the pandemic has made that much harder to do. Kerri Bogart, who teaches at the same school, says upheaval brought by the coronavirus marked a \"gigantic shift\" and and made helping children far more challenging. \"Everyone feels like a first-year teacher in this environment because we're all learning new techniques, new technologies, new platforms.\" Bogart says when she saw children in person, she could tell immediately when a child was upset. \"They will just sit and cry because they're missing their mom or they miss their family back in El Salvador. Sometimes it can just be random outbursts of tears: 'Is mommy going to be at the bus stop? I'm worried that she's not going to be there.' \" One of her kindergartners would get upset and crawl under the table, and Bogart she could kneel down and comfort him. Now, she says, many students don't even turn their cameras on. \"If all we see is the black screen, we really have no way to see how they're doing and to judge how they're feeling.\" With remote learning, these educators say, when children get upset they mayjust walk away from the computer. That's why Bogart always volunteers to distribute supplies and technology to their homes. \"Because you can at least see the child and say, 'OK, he looks good, he's happy to see me,' \" she explains. \"So I know I'm doing something positive for this child.\" Prince George's County has been supporting its educators by helping them recognize the signs of trauma in the classroom. Before the pandemic closed schools, they brought in Margarita Alegria, chief of the Disparities Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard. She talked with educators about the \"compounded loss\" undocumented children face. \"They lost their cultural milieu,\" Alegria says. \"They lost their familiar language, their customs, their habits. They lost their social networks. And many of them have lost their social status,\" she says. She adds that says trauma can also manifest as headaches, stomach aches, insomnia, concentration and learning problems: \"So the teachers have to be very aware that concentration could be not that the kids are ADHD, but actually that the kids are really trying to deal with the trauma in this way.\" School was typically a respite from the hardships these children faced. Alegria says, not anymore. \"They have high levels of stress and anxiety,\" she says. \"Children that are fairly young, taking care of younger children because their parents have to work as essential workers. We also hear that children are more isolated and feel disconnected.\" These children also feel pressure to help support their families. Beth Hood, a social worker at High Point High School, says she worries about the students who are no longer engaged in their classes: \"The silence, the absence, the lack of connection.\" Hood worries if that continues, these children may not continue with their education. \"And I just worry that we're going to lose them, that they won't come back.\" Hood says because of the pandemic, she can no longer take a student aside in class or share a laugh with them in a hallway. Her time now is spent tracking down students, doing technical support or connecting kids with food pantries. It feels like everyone has boulders in their backpacks.", "In the far corner of my office, on the bottom shelf of a bookcase, hides a rather embarrassing collection of paperbacks. Their covers bear images of a ghost in an alleyway, a sonar reading of the Loch Ness monster, a grainy photograph of Sasquatch. Their titles -- Ghostly Tales and Sinister Stories of Old Edinburgh. Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America -- appear slashed by claws. My favorite among them is Haunted Wisconsin by Michael Norman and Beth Scott, less for its literary excellence and more for the places described in its dog-eared pages. I have visited nearly every location listed in the book: a collection of stories I have transformed into a cobwebbed travel guide. Its tales are drawn from archives, newspaper articles and personal interviews. They range from historical tales of terror to modern-day hauntings. There are bothersome poltergeists, Ojibwe ghosts, a lady in brown, a horse of death, a psychic set of sisters. There is a strange touristic impulse to the way I consult these books -- I read them the way others might highlight a Fodor's or Lonely Planet guide. I'll be hiking the same crowded trail as the rest of the backpackers -- and I'll be snapping photos of the waterfall along with the crush of tourists -- but I'll also be alone in the abandoned cabin or collapsed mine shaft, my eyes wide, my ears pricked. I go places others do not, and it is as though I own a map that no one knows about, its roads and legends written in invisible ink. I keep the books in my backpack or the glove box of my car, like a flask, something I can sneak out and draw from when no one is looking. \"Hold up,\" I'll tell my wife. \"I want to take a little detour.\" Which once translated to a six-hour trek to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where I sought out the \"Mystery Light\" of Paulding. As the sun set and the owls called all around us and the world grew inky around the edges, we stood in the woods, waiting. Sadly, the Mystery Light turned out to be nothing more mysterious than headlights glowing through the trees from a far-off highway. This was a familiar disappointment. I can't tell you how many times I have stood in dark places waiting for something to happen. I'm still waiting. And after reading so many of these collections over so many years, I cannot help but wonder, when I'm exploring the underground tunnels of Edinburgh or a haunted attic in a Vermont B&B, when a board creaks or a shadow shifts or an owl screeches, if I might find my way into a future chapter. My Guilty Pleasure is edited and produced by Ellen Silva. Ezra Zeitler first heard about the North Woods legend of the Paulding Light when he was a student at Lakeland Union High School, Minocqua, in the late 1990s. “On Monday Mornings students would come back and say they had seen the Paulding Light over the weekend and it was real scary and mysterious,” Zeitler said. Despite the captivating stories, he didn’t make the 120-mile round trip to the Paulding area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, until 2000. His younger brother, Micah Zeitler, heard similar stories after his family moved to Mercer from Minocqua. “There’s not much to do in Mercer, so we’d all go see the light. I was guaranteed to see it so that’s the only reason I went,” Micah said. He was impressed with what he saw and heard, including the legend that the light was produced by the spirit of a dead trainman. “ I told everyone I’d seen a ghost.” Micah and Ezra, however, eventually went one step further and, with their university geography professor, set off to uncover the truth about the light. Their result may once and for all explain the origins of this particular mystery light, at least for those willing to accept something less than a paranormal explanation. The Zeitler brothers certainly are not alone with their interest in what has alternately been called the Paulding Light, the Wastermeet Light, the Dog Meadow Light, or simply, the Mystery Light. For decades, thousands of visitors have made the nightly trek north out of Eagle River, Wisconsin, on U.S. 45, through Watersmeet, Michigan, to a point about a dozen miles north of the Wisconsin state line. The visitor turns off on an old gravel road about four miles north of Watersmeet, drives up the hill and parks. If it’s a “good” night, a dim, glowing orb of white light will appear in the far distance. The light may vanish for a period of time, only to reappear moments later. Sometimes other lights appear with it. During winter and early spring, the light may appear only infrequently. Theories abound as to what causes the light. Some believe it must be supernatural. To these folks, the light glows from the lantern of a long-dead trainman, or a slain dogsled musher. Some have even attributed it to UFOs draining energy from nearby power lines. More earth-bound observers claim the light might be produced by methane gas escaping from a fissure in the earth. Others say the phenomenon is nothing more than the reflection of lights fro", "Part Three &#160; The Thing on the Doorstep 1 &#8220;Take it off, Noah.&#8221; &#8220;Let him have his fun. What&#8217;s the big deal?&#8221; &#8220;He looks ridiculous.&#8221; &#8220;No one will care.&#8221; &#8220;Where did he go? Noah, get out here. We don&#8217;t have time for this.&#8221; August 1989 and I was six years old, hiding behind the yellowed living room curtains in our crappy, run-down apartment while Mom, Eunice, and Mom&#8217;s business partner, Sally White, argued about my clothing choice for the evening. We were already running late for Vandergriff High School&#8217;s production of The Sound of Music, but I wanted to wear a costume: a cheap, flimsy mask and cape knockoff produced to cash in on that summer&#8217;s Batman film. I&#8217;d been wearing it nonstop in the week since Sally bought it for me. I was paying only vague attention to the conversation. The living room curtains hung before the sliding glass door to our apartment&#8217;s little atrium, and I&#8217;d turned to look out at it. Every unit in our complex had a ten-by-twelve space, open to the elements up top and closed in on three sides by walls of the unit (in our case, it was my bedroom window on one side, the blank wall bordering my mother&#8217;s bathroom opposite, and catercorner to both, the sliding glass door to the living room), with a fourth wall separating your atrium from your next-door neighbor&#8217;s. Think of it like the poor person&#8217;s version of the back porch or balcony, a patch of sky to call your own but no view of your neigh&#173;borhood, or even a parking lot. A more generous soul might try to talk up the privacy such an atrium provided, but in my own experience, it was hard to ever feel anything but incarcerated on that little spread of cracked concrete. &#8220;Noah, I can see your sneakers,&#8221; Mom said. &#8220;Come out now or you&#8217;ll have to stay home and miss the play.&#8221; I shuffled back into full view. Mom, Eunice, and Sally stood in the middle of the stained beige carpet, Mom with her arms crossed, Eunice wearing a backpack, Sally hiding a smile behind one hand. &#8220;Take it off,&#8221; Mom said again. &#8220;Eunice gets to bring her backpack,&#8221; I said. &#8220;Eunice is bringing homework.&#8221; &#8220;Everyone in the play is wearing costumes,&#8221; I said. &#8220;Off, now.&#8221; I untied the knotted string around my neck and pulled the mask off my head. The whole thing slumped to the floor behind me. &#8220;Your hair is a fright,&#8221; Mom said. &#8220;Margaret,&#8221; Sally said. &#8220;No one is going to care if he looks a little tousled.&#8221; Mom pinched the bridge of her nose. &#8220;Fine. Let&#8217;s go.&#8221; 2 The high school parking lot was a study in chaos by the time we arrived, and Mom had to park far from the entrance, carefully guiding her wheezing old Ford Torino among clumps of slow-moving people. She glowered and huffed as she dragged me across the parking lot, and I had to run to keep my footing. The high school looked gargantuan and sophisticated compared to my elementary building, and I mar&#173;veled at the endless trophy cases and lockers as we hurried toward the auditorium, with its plush folding seats and midnight blue stage curtain. We found four seats together near the stage. &#8220;Don&#8217;t take your mom&#8217;s mood personally, kiddo,&#8221; Sally said, leaning close as we settled in. &#8220;We had a rough day at the store.&#8221; She was referring to Bump in the Night, the comic book/memorabilia shop they&#8217;d opened in 1984, using the proceeds from the sale of my late father&#8217;s extensive horror collection. If Mom&#8217;s moods were any indica&#173;tion, every day was a rough day at the store. On my other side, Eunice had already unpacked her bag. She scowled at the open textbook on her lap and scratched numbers into a spiral notebook. &#8220;What are you working on?&#8221; I said. &#8220;Algebra,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Is it hard?&#8221; &#8220;Only when people interrupt me.&#8221; She winked to show there were no hard feelings. An excited hush fell over the crowd as the auditorium dimmed. Bells began to ring in the orchestra pit, and a chorus of female voices rose from my left and right. Two lines of nuns floated down the aisles, candles in hand, singing a solemn, beautiful song whose words I couldn&#8217;t make out. Their voices drifted over us, lovely and haunt&#173;ing. As they reached the bottom of the auditorium, they mounted the stage, faced the audience, and broke into a joyful chant of &#8220;Hallelujah.&#8221; They filed off into the wings as their voices faded, leaving the stage empty and dark. A moment later, a spotlight crept up, revealing a single figure before a painted backdrop. She wore a simple postulant&#8217;s dress and held a wooden bucket with both hands. Sydney, age seventeen, as Maria. Unlike Julie Andrews&#8217;s chaste, motherly Maria, Sydney had left her hair long and brow", "Every weekend the Paul Linke Ufer in Kreuzberg feels a bit like the South of France. Old and young Berliners spend hours playing the French game of Boules, also known as Petanque. As part of the <em> Berlin Sounds</em> series, NPR Berlin's Monika Mueller-Kroll spoke to two Boules players to find the story behind the noise.", "The latest stories about how the nation is reacting to last Friday's school shooting in Newtown, Conn., which left 20 first-graders and six adults dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School, include: -- Sales Of Armored Backpacks Reportedly Soar: News outlets are picking up on a Mother Jones report that a manufacturer of lightweight body armor for children and backpacks lined with material designed to protect against bullets says sales \"have gone through the roof\" since the Newtown shootings. -- Marine Veteran \"Stands Guard At California School\": Marine Corps Reserve Sgt. Craig Pusley \"was on duty Wednesday,\" the Modesto Bee writes. \"Desert camo fatigues, knees slightly bent, the young father stood a self-imposed watch at Hughson Elementary School. One man. No rifle. No pay. No breaks.\" \"I swore to defend this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic,\" Pusley said. As for not having a weapon, Pusley said: \"I don't need to be armed to do this.\" -- Staffer Put On Leave After Gun Is Found In Her Locker: In Minneapolis, a staff member at a public school was \"put on administrative leave after bringing a loaded gun to school Wednesday morning,\" Minnesota Public Radio writes. The Star Tribune says the unidentified woman \"has a permit to carry a weapon.\" She was not arrested. It's not necessarily against the law for staffers to have guns in Minnesota schools, as the Star Tribune also reports. There's an exception in the state law that bans guns from schools and school grounds — if a staffer has the proper permits and \"written permission of the principal or other person having general control and supervision of the school or the director of a child care center.\" Greg Lund, a principal at a high school in northwestern Minnesota, tells the newspaper he carried a loaded gun \"for years.\" He had the district's permission. Lund's school was in a rural area and he wanted the weapon in case his students were put in danger. \"It would be 20 minutes or more before we would have police in the building,\" he says. Related post: \"Let Teachers Carry Guns? Some State Lawmakers Say Yes.\" -- Gun Sales Take Off: After previous mass shootings, sales of guns, ammunition and related products surged because some enthusiasts concluded that new laws might soon make them illegal. That's happening again. \"Prices for handgun magazines are surging on EBay and semi-automatic rifles are sold out at many Wal-Mart stores,\" Bloomberg News says.", "On Monday, President Obama announced changes to the federal prison system that include banning solitary confinement for juvenile offenders and for prisoners who have committed low-level infractions, calling the practice overused and potentially devastating. In an op-ed in The Washington Post, Obama invoked the case of Kalief Browder, a young man who spent nearly two years in solitary confinement after he was thrown in jail in 2010 for allegedly stealing a backpack when he was 16. \"In 2013, Kalief was released, having never stood trial,\" Obama wrote. \"He completed a successful semester at Bronx Community College. But life was a constant struggle to recover from the trauma of being locked up alone for 23 hours a day. One Saturday, he committed suicide at home. He was just 22 years old.\" Though the ban applies only to federal prisons where, NPR's Carrie Johnson reports, few juveniles are held, the series of executive actions Obama laid out also includes more time for prisoners outside of their cells and better treatment for mentally ill prisoners. He said the changes will affect 10,000 prisoners. Obama wrote that as many as 100,000 people are held in solitary confinement in federal, state and local jurisdictions, and said the practice — especially for juveniles and people with mental illness — has the \"potential to lead to devastating, lasting psychological consequences.\" The announcement regarding solitary confinement comes six months after Obama ordered the Justice Department to study how the practice was being used by the federal Bureau of Prisons. The DOJ's recommendations are here. The Justice Department says it's reduced the number of U.S. prisoners in solitary confinement by 25 percent since 2012. The changes to solitary confinement protocol are only one of several bipartisan criminal justice reforms currently under consideration. Obama wrote: \"Every year, we spend $80 billion to keep 2.2 million people incarcerated. Many criminals belong behind bars. But too many others, especially nonviolent drug offenders, are serving unnecessarily long sentences. That's why members of Congress in both parties are pushing for change, from reforming sentencing laws to expanding reentry programs to give those who have paid their debt to society the tools they need to become productive members of their communities.\"" ]

[ "Star-Crossed (TV series) Star-Crossed is an American science fiction romantic teen drama television series created by Meredith Averill.[1][2][3] Star-Crossed premiered on The CW on February 17, 2014.[4] On May 8, 2014, The CW cancelled Star-Crossed after one season." ]

[ "Flag of New Zealand The New Zealand flag was the first national flag to incorporate the stars of the Southern Cross constellation, and remains distinctive as the only national flag that includes only those stars from the constellation that actually form the cross itself. The Australian flag adopted in 1901 also has the Union Flag in the canton and the Southern Cross on the fly. The cross on the New Zealand flag is composed of the four prime stars of the Southern Cross constellation, each being a red five pointed star with a white outline. The Australian flag has six white stars, five of which have seven points (the Commonwealth Star) and a five pointed star, Epsilon Crucis, the smaller star of the Southern Cross constellation which does not form part of the actual cross itself is also included. Australia's flag features a large Commonwealth Star below the Union Flag as it is a symbol of Australia.", "Matt Saracen During the season, Matt slowly begins reconnecting with his mother, whom he sets out to find to become an emancipated minor and take care of his grandmother's medical issues. After learning about Matt's problems, his mother comes to Dillon hoping that Matt will allow her to help out at home even if he does not forgive her for leaving when he was a child. Matt also begins dating Julie again after a day spent together at the lake. Coach Taylor once again is not too pleased, especially after catching Julie in bed with Matt.", "Dancing with the Stars (U.S. TV series) Dancing with the Stars is an American dance competition television series that premiered on June 1, 2005, on ABC. It is the US version of the UK series Strictly Come Dancing. The show is hosted by Tom Bergeron, alongside Erin Andrews, who became co-host in season eighteen.[2][3] Lisa Canning was co-host in the first season, Samantha Harris co-hosted seasons two through nine[4] and Brooke Burke-Charvet in seasons ten through seventeen.[5] The twenty-seventh season premiered on September 24, 2018, and its spinoff Dancing with the Stars: Juniors premiered on October 7, 2018.[6]", "California mule deer Rutting season occurs in autumn when the does come into estrus for a period lasting only several days. Males exhibit aggressive behavior in competing for mates. Does begin estrus again if they do not become pregnant. The gestation period is about 200 days, with fawns arriving in the spring; the young remain with mothers throughout the summer and are weaned in the autumn. The buck's antlers fall off in the winter, and commence growing once more in spring in anticipation of next autumn's rut.", "Founder's Day (The Vampire Diaries) Elena comes home and finds Damon on his way out. The two of them have a talk with Damon opening up and thanking her for saving him today. They end up kissing when Jenna (Sara Canning) opens the door and sees them. Jenna orders Elena to come inside and she closes the door behind her asking Elena what is she doing but Elena does not want to talk about it.", "Ghost Whisperer (season 4) In the fourth season, Melinda meets Eli James (Jamie Kennedy) after a fire at Rockland University who, after his own near-death experience, develops the ability to hear ghosts. Melinda says goodbye to her close friend Rick Payne, who leaves Grandview on a research trip for the university. In this season, Jim is shot and killed. He does not \"cross over\" because he does not want to leave Melinda, and his spirit later enters the body of a man named Sam Lucas, who died in an unrelated accident in Grandview and crossed over. When Jim/Sam regains consciousness, he has no memory of being Jim. Melinda works to get him to remember his past life and her, and succeeds after much difficulty and skepticism on the part of her friends. They soon discover that Melinda is pregnant and that the date of conception was right before Jim died.", "Monohybrid cross This cross is based on the first law of genetics i.e Law of Segregation A monohybrid cross is a mating between two individuals with different variations at one genetic chromosome of interest.[1][2] The character(s) being studied in a monohybrid cross are governed by two or multiple variations for a single locus. A cross between two parents possessing a pair of contrasting characters is known as monohybrid cross. To carry out such a cross, each parent is chosen to be homozygous or true breeding for a given trait (locus). When a cross satisfies the conditions for a monohybrid cross, it is usually detected by a characteristic distribution of second-generation (F2) offspring that is sometimes called the monohybrid ratio.", "Elijah Wood In 2006, Wood was also in Season 2 Episode 6 of American Dad!. He was the voice of Ethan, a college student and Haley's crush, who listens to Professor Baxter's (Roger) advice about following your heart and doing something new. Ethan takes this the wrong way and stabs his father 38 times (not shown) and becomes very crazy. Roger admits to being a fake, and he and Hayley leave, saying that the police are coming. This suggests that Ethan gets arrested, and is out of the show. Wood does not appear again.", "Cross and flame Adopted shortly after the merger of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. It relates The United Methodist church to God through Christ (cross) and the Holy Spirit (flame). The flame is a reminder of Pentecost when witnesses were unified by the power of the Holy Spirit and saw \"tongues, as of fire\" (Acts 2:3).The two tongues of a single flame may also be understood to represent the union of two denominations. The two separate flames represent the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church coming together to form the United Methodist Church.[1]", "List of To Kill a Mockingbird characters When Boo finally does come out, he has a good reason: Bob Ewell is trying to murder the Finch children. No one sees what happens in the scuffle, but at the end of it, Ewell is dead and Boo carries an unconscious Jem to the Finch house. Finally faced with Boo, Scout doesn’t recognize him at first, but suddenly realizes who he is. Boo Radley is played by Robert Duvall in the film.", "The One Where Rachel Smokes \"The One Where Rachel Smokes\" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of Friends and 115th overall. It first aired on NBC in the United States on April 8, 1999. In the episode, Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) starts her new job at Ralph Lauren and soon feels left out because all the decision making takes place on smoking breaks and she does not smoke. Rachel attempts to solve the problem by taking up the habit, which proves difficult. Meanwhile, Ben auditions for a soup commercial and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) decides to come along to try for a part as well. When both are paired with different actors, the auditions become competitive. Elsewhere, Monica (Courteney Cox) and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) plan a surprise party for Rachel.", "Run out The batsman can be judged run out when he is closest to the end where the wicket has been put down by the opposition. The runs completed before a Run out are still scored by the batsman and his team. The bowler does not get credit for the wicket.", "Project Mc2 The first season of the series, consisting of three episodes, was released on August 7, 2015.[7] On April 6, 2016, Netflix announced that the series has been renewed for its second and third seasons. The second season was released on August 12, 2016,[8] and the third season was released on October 14, 2016.[9] Both consisted of six episodes. An extended 34-minute Valentine's Day special was released as the first and only episode of the fourth season on February 14, 2017.[10] A fifth season consisting of five episodes was released on September 15, 2017. The sixth season is scheduled to be released on November 7, 2017.[11]", "Star of Life Originally, many ambulances used a safety orange cross on a square background of reflectorized white to designate them as emergency medical units. This logo was used before national standards for Emergency Medical Personnel or ambulances were established. Designed by Leo R. Schwartz, Chief of the EMS Branch, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),[2] the Star of Life was created after the American Red Cross complained in 1973 that the orange cross too closely resembled their logo, the red cross on a white background; such usage was restricted by the Geneva Conventions.[3]", "The Gifted (season 2) The season is set to begin airing on September 25, 2018, and will run for 16 episodes.", "Luke Cage (season 2) The season is set to premiere June 22, 2018.", "George O'Malley Knight auditioned for the show, expecting a one-season run. In 2007, Knight's co-star Isaiah Washington (Preston Burke) insulted him with a homophobic slur, which resulted in the termination of Washington's Grey's Anatomy contract. In 2009, after the conclusion of the fifth season, it was confirmed that Knight would not be returning for the show's sixth season. The actor stated the reason for his departure was due to a \"breakdown in communication\" with Rhimes, his character's lack of screen time, as well as his decision to come out as openly gay. Knight received generally positive reviews for his performance as O'Malley, and garnered a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards. Despite this, his death received mixed feedback.", "Star Trek: The Original Series On July 26, 2007, CBS Home Entertainment (with distribution by Paramount Home Entertainment) announced that the remastered episodes of TOS would be released on an HD DVD/DVD hybrid format. Season 1 was released on November 20, 2007. Season 2 had been scheduled for release in the summer of 2008, but it was cancelled when Toshiba (which had been helping finance the remastering of the show) pulled out of the HD DVD business.[80] On August 5, 2008, the remastered Season 2 was released on DVD only.[81] For this release, CBS and Paramount used discs without any disc art, making them look like the \"Season 1 Remastered\" HD DVD/DVD combo discs, despite having content only on one side.[citation needed] Season 3 was released on DVD only on November 18, 2008.[82] On February 17, 2009 – Paramount announced the Season 1 of TOS on Blu-ray Disc for a May release to coincide with the new feature film coming from Paramount.[83] The second season was released in a seven disc set on Blu-ray in the U.S. on September 22, 2009.[84] The third season was released on Blu-ray in the U.S. on December 15.[85] With the release of the \"Alternate Realities\" box set, remastered Original Series episodes were included in a multi-series compilation for the first time. It is unknown if future compilation releases will exclusively use the remastered episodes or not.[86]", "List of Saved by the Bell characters Nerdstrom (portrayed by Jeffrey Asch) is a rich nerd (appearing in 2 episodes in seasons 2 & 4) who is Violet Bickerstaff’s boyfriend and treats her rather poorly, although he does buy her a gold-plated pocket protector. His poor treatment of her is one of the factors in her becoming Screech’s girlfriend. While most of the nerds comport themselves with a bumbling dignity at most, Nerdstrom goes above and beyond, behaving as a pompous, stuck-up geek. He defeats Zack in a game of poker, but gets his comeuppance in the end. Perhaps Maxwell's most noted accomplishment at Bayside is mistakenly kissing Screech’s dog, \"Hound Dog\" believing him to be Jessie, to everybody’s delight. He is later humiliated when Screech pointed out that Maxwell kissed his dog and tells Maxwell to stay out of Violet's life.", "The Handmaid's Tale (TV series) The first three episodes of the series premiered on April 26, 2017; the subsequent seven episodes aired on a weekly basis every Wednesday. In May 2017, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on April 25, 2018.[1] At the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, The Handmaid's Tale won eight awards from thirteen nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, becoming the first series on a streaming service to win an Emmy for Outstanding Series.[2] It also won Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Drama and Best Actress for Elisabeth Moss.", "Milo Murphy's Law The first season was announced to contain 21 half-hour episodes.[8] The show was renewed for a second season on February 28, 2017.[9] The show will premiere on Disney Channel in August 2018 for its second season.[10]", "Regal Academy The second season of Regal Academy is currently under production and is planned to release on November 5, 2017.[35] It is confirmed to have 26 episodes.[36] In the new season, Rose and her friends return from summer holidays and ready to take on new and exciting adventures in Fairy Tale Land. With the help of new magical items and funny pumpkin creatures called the PomPoms, the heroes will undertake new missions and face a mysterious student named Kira, and the evil Snow Queen who wants to trap them all in her snow globes.[37] Regal Academy now airs on Nick Jr..", "Wrigley Field In April and May the wind often comes off Lake Michigan (less than a mile to the east), which means a northeast wind \"blowing in\" to knock down potential home runs and turn them into outs. In the summer, however, or on any warm and breezy day, the wind often comes from the south and the southwest, which means the wind is \"blowing out\" and has the potential to turn normally harmless fly balls into home runs. A third variety is the cross-wind, which typically runs from the left field corner to the right field corner and causes all sorts of havoc. Depending on the direction of the wind, Wrigley can either be one of the friendliest parks in the major leagues for pitchers or among the worst. This makes Wrigley one of the most unpredictable parks in the Major Leagues.", "Jessica Jones (season 2) The season is scheduled to be released on March 8, 2018.", "Jennifer Jareau In the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), JJ acted as the team's liaison with the media and local police agencies.[4] Though talented and helpful, she was not actually a profiler, having once declined Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner's suggestion to take the necessary classes in behavioral analysis.[5] She works mostly out of the confines of the police stations and field offices the team visits. However, she does accompany the team on raids, and is proficient with firearms. This is made particularly clear when JJ resolves a hostage situation inside the BAU by killing the hostage-taker, Jason Clark Battle, with a single shot (Battle is a serial perpetrator of hero homicide, who lured Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia onto a date, and then shot her, in an attempt to keep his crimes from being discovered). During season six, JJ is given a promotion to the Pentagon; however, she returns in season seven as a full-time profiler, having received the necessary training. In season 9 (\"200\"), she is then kidnapped, and it is revealed that her year as the DOD Liaison at the Pentagon was a cover story. It turns out she was on a task force in Afghanistan, in search for Bin Laden. The team saves her, and in season 10, it is revealed she has PTSD, and hasn't been dealing with her ordeal being tortured when she was kidnapped, as well as 2 main events that happened when she was in Afghanistan, one of which includes her having a miscarriage, after a convoy was attacked. She tries to work through it with the help of Reid, who calls her on it when she disappears into the morgue one day, for almost a half-hour, after seeing herself on the table, in place of the victim.", "Sober (Tool song) Tool guitarist Adam Jones has stated in an interview that the song is about a friend of the band whose artistic expression only comes out when he is under the influence. \"A lot of people give him shit for that,\" Jones explains. \"If you become addicted and a junkie, well, that's your fault.\"[2]", "List of My Babysitter's a Vampire characters Ethan Morgan (portrayed by Matthew Knight) is a geeky sci-fi-loving 15-year-old who discovers that his little sister's babysitter Sarah, is a vampire. Awkward, sweet and well-meaning, Ethan just wants to have a normal high school experience. But the constant paranormal chaos of Whitechapel make that nearly impossible. Ethan is a Seer. Seers are able to see visions through touch. His visions help him learn more about supernatural forces. Ethan lacks social skills because of which he usually finds himself lost when it comes to navigating social waters. Ethan is understood most by Benny, whom he has been best friends with since childhood. He loves playing video games and is book-smart. He is more sarcastic than Benny and thinks things through carefully. He cares for his loved ones and will go to any height to protect them. He is in the chess club along with Benny. Although Benny often gets the two of them into sticky situations, Ethan is usually able to find a way out. His biggest fear is being alone. Later on Ethan begins to develop a romantic relationship with best friend and supernatural partner Sarah in the two part Season 2 finale, \"The Date to End All Dates.\" In Season 2 (The Date To End all Dates Part 2) Benny's grandmother try's to help out Ethan get over his fear in seeing dead people, but then that does not work so when he holds Benny's and Sarah's hand he sees them normal again. But then he has to bring back our loyal friend Jesse, so then they have to go to this old building and defeat the bad guy by Jesse joining their side and not the vampire's side. Then Ethan touches the schoolmaster's soldier and goes into his mind and tells him, You're not strong it's the thing\" and then they all run out of the building.", "Gilmore Girls (season 7) The season picks up with Lorelai having slept with Christopher immediately after ending her engagement to Luke, while Rory is attempting a long-distance relationship with Logan. Lorelai and Christopher attempt a relationship and, after going to Paris together, come back married. The marriage lasts until midway through the season but Christopher struggles to fit into Lorelai's life in Stars Hollow. Luke learns Anna is moving to New Mexico with April and applies for joint custody, winning after Lorelai gives him a glowing character reference. Christopher finds out and he and Lorelai argue, with Christopher feeling like second choice. Richard, who has just started working at Yale as a lecturer, has a heart attack during a class and Christopher stays away from the hospital while everyone worries about him. He and Lorelai eventually admit their marriage isn't right and split. Emily struggles with the finances while Richard is convalescing and Lorelai helps her out.", "Wynonna Earp (TV series) Season 2 premiered simultaneously on Syfy and Space on June 9, 2017, at 10 p.m.[18][19][20] On July 22, 2017, David Ozer, president of IDW Entertainment, announced at the show's San Diego Comic-Con panel that the series had been renewed for a third season with the premiere scheduled for 2018.[21][22] Space announced on the same day that it had ordered 12 episodes for a third season, together with Syfy.[23][24] Andras credited Wynonna Earp's passionate fan base (nicknamed \"Earpers\") with gaining the renewal.[25][26]", "Haters Back Off The first season was released on October 14, 2016. It follows Miranda from the time she uploads her first video until one of her videos goes viral. The second season was released on October 20, 2017. It concerns Miranda's schemes to raise money from fans, leading to her family's financial ruin and her 15 minutes of fame on a New York stage. Ballinger told Entertainment Weekly that the writers of Season 2 continued to craft the scenarios and plot points \"from things that actually happened to me in my career\".[9]", "List of Star vs. the Forces of Evil episodes A two-hour television film called The Battle for Mewni,[8] which comprises the first four episodes of the third season, premiered on July 15, 2017.[9] The season concluded on April 7, 2018, with a two-part one hour finale. The fourth season is scheduled to premiere in early 2019.", "Dream of the Rood The poem is set up with the narrator having a dream. In this dream or vision he is speaking to the Cross on which Jesus was crucified. The poem itself is divided up into three separate sections: the first part (ll. 1–27), the second part (ll. 28–121) and the third part (ll. 122–156).[9] In section one, the narrator has a vision of the Cross. Initially when the dreamer sees the Cross, he notes how it is covered with gems. He is aware of how wretched he is compared to how glorious the tree is. However, he comes to see that amidst the beautiful stones it is stained with blood.[10] In section two, the Cross shares its account of Jesus' death. The Crucifixion story is told from the perspective of the Cross. It begins with the enemy coming to cut the tree down and carrying it away. The tree learns that it is not to be the bearer of a criminal, but instead Christ crucified. The Lord and the Cross become one, and they stand together as victors, refusing to fall, taking on insurmountable pain for the sake of mankind. It is not just Christ, but the Cross as well that is pierced with nails. Adelhied L. J. Thieme remarks, \"The cross itself is portrayed as his lord's retainer whose most outstanding characteristic is that of unwavering loyalty\".[11] The Rood and Christ are one in the portrayal of the Passion—they are both pierced with nails, mocked and tortured. Then, just as with Christ, the Cross is resurrected, and adorned with gold and silver.[12] It is honoured above all trees just as Jesus is honoured above all men. The Cross then charges the visionary to share all that he has seen with others. In section three, the author gives his reflections about this vision. The vision ends, and the man is left with his thoughts. He gives praise to God for what he has seen and is filled with hope for eternal life and his desire to once again be near the glorious Cross.[13]" ]

[ "Awesome product. Comes with everything you need to restore aluminum wheels. I bought a 1972 240Z which had some majorly oxidized slotted mag wheels on it, which included quite a bit of road rash. With this kit I was able to easily restore 3 wheels, and ran out of sanding discs on the fourth. Had I been a little more conservative on the earlier wheels, I'm sure I could have done all 4. However, for the price, I just bought a second kit. The wheels looked totally different when I was done. This kit immediately eliminated all the oxidation and brought the wheels back to a shiny, polished finish. On top of that, I was able to get out some fairly significant road rash. It won't take out major scrapes, but I was surprised as to how much I was able to completely eliminate. You can definitely get the same effect just by buying and using various grit sandpapers and polishing compound, but I think it would probably wind up being more expensive, and certainly less convenient than this kit. I was ready to buy all new wheels but decided to try restoring them myself using this kit and was totally blown away at how well it worked. The difference is night and day." ]

[ "I purchased a MIG welder in order to be able to weld aluminum -- I bought the Hobart 210 MVP. I like the welder very much, but the spoolgun (SpoolRunner 100) is poor. It feeds inconsistently. With almost every rotation of the drive wheel in the spoolgun, the drive wheel's gear teeth come out of mesh with the push wheel. (These two wheels together push the wire through the gun, and their edges are toothed, acting as gears to rotate together to feed the wire. Only one of the them, the drive wheel, which is the lower one of the two, is driven by the motor, while the upper one, the so-called push wheel, turns passively due to its gear-like edge in contact with the gear-like edge of the drive wheel.) Because of the poor meshing of these wheels, the push wheel elevates away from the drive wheel, and a brief grinding noise can be heard until the gears mesh again. As the push wheel elevates, the wire feed stops for a moment -- for a noticeable fraction of a second at low feed rates, but for a subliminally brief moment at high feed rates. This shows up as a discontinuity in the weld bead. I am feeding 5356 aluminum wire of 0.030\" diameter. The wheels are rated for 0.024\" and 0.030\" wire.\n I found that the push wheel is free to move on its rotational axis by about 0.04 inch (that's 0.02\" in either direction away from its optimal position). The teeth on its edge are not straight across but have a high area that is supposed to engage the high area on the drive wheel's teeth. The play in the line-up of the push wheel causes the high points of the two gears to miss each other. I took the push wheel off and placed very thin washers (24 gauge aluminum) on each side of the push wheel, which limits its movement along its axis, keeping the high points of the gear edges together. I find after this repair that the slippage of the wire is less, but it still occurs. Judging by the anatomy of the bearing that holds the push wheel, this is a problem for all these spoolguns, not just mine.\n (There is, of course, and adjustment screw that governs the slippage of the wire, and the adjustment of this screw is covered in the manual. I keep mine as tight as it will go, and the above description applies to the spoolgun with that screw fully tightened.)\n With this spoolgun, I'll not be able to weld aluminum so well as I'd like to. But I can weld it. Many of the welds look bad due to their discontinuous nature. Unfortunately, I don't think that I'll be able to find another spool gun for this welder, as spoolguns tend to be made to fit particular welding machines. I'm still looking.", "Awesome bag!! Has wheels too!! Highly recommend!!", "Pros:\nStronger FFB than any other existing wheel\nMade with rich quality and no cheap looking parts\nFirmware is upgradable (meaning bugs can be fixed if any, or features can be added)\nPedals work great (Clubsport Pedals are much better though)\nGreat for the drifters due to the fast counter-steering of the wheel\nmuch better and accurate feeling for ALL ground surfaces (tarmac, dirt, grass, apex, etc....)\nOfficial wheel for GT5 meaning that buttons are matched to a PS3 controller\nWorks awesome with PC with great software configurations\nweight transfering of vehicles feel more realistic\n\nCons:\nexpensive considering there's no gearbox (TH8 RS shifter compatable with additional $149.00)\npaddle shifters are static(not really a con, but most racers like the paddles to move with the motion of the wheel)\nno shifter though there is a clutch on the pedals\nThe wheel circumference is quite large comparing to other wheels such as the G27\nButtons seem to be far apart from the outer wheel (no buttons within close reach upon holding the wheel unless you have gorilla hands)\nit's REALLY heavy compared to the average wheel. Hard mounting is highly recommended\n\nEnding thoughts:\nIt's an awesome wheel and well worth your money if you can afford it. I recommend upgrading to this wheel if you just use a controller or a cheap wheel such as the DFGT. But if you have a nice Fanatec wheel or Logitech G27, be happy with what you have. They are all still GREAT wheels and no need to feel like your wheel is worthless becuase the FFB is not as strong as the T500rs. Again...it's a great wheel, I would recommend it to anyone who's into sim racing or also new to the sport.", "The wheel is awesome - super quiet!! But the plastic is slightly delicate. The side bathroom attachment is awesome - but my hamsters didn't really is. They took to peeing in the wheel unfortunately. But the wheel has a great little catch tray on the bottom so it's not that big of a deal. I just rinse it out every other day. The bathroom attachment plastic design was really quite fragile and it snapped the first day we got it. I was able to still use but had to very careful with. Overall I was still happy with the purchase.", "Awesome! It's the cast iron part that really makes this a great product, as the aluminum counterparts simply cannot press tortillas correctly. Great for arepas and pupusas also.", "This is cheap Chinese manufacturing at its best. No they couldn't machine a piece of aluminum. Prop65 warning.\n\nDue to the fact that this is a health safety, and not even aluminum but painted to be like aluminum. Mine had shavings coming off.\n\nIt may work but due to company being cheap they get 1 star. If they start making this out of aluminum and anodize it black along with removing the prop65 warning I will raise my review.\n\nStay AWAY! Find something else that works.", "For the price, this is one of the best cooking gadgets I've ever owned. Bought it many months ago and still use it to this day! Readings are accurate and \"instant\" (about 5 seconds). I usually like to buy Costco chicken breast, wrap it up in aluminum, throw it in the oven, and then use the thermostat to quickly poke through the aluminum foil to check if it's ready! Awesome product and ridiculously cheap. No $40 digital thermostat needed. Fits right in your shirt pocket.", "Awesome steering wheel cover. Fits like a glove. Not to hard to apply. However it seems like they forgot about the posts in the steering wheel the instructions don't say how to stich around the. Luckily my wife was able to figure it out and it turned out nicely.", "Other reviewers have touched on the major issues. However I do have some info on the front brake. The first time I installed the front wheel and performed the disk brake adjustment procedure, the disk rubbed against the brake. After further adjustments failed to remedy the brake rubbing against the disk, I removed the wheel then remounted it, taking care that the wheel was tight against the forks, then re tightened the wheel nut assembly. Once again I performed the brake adjustment procedure. This time it worked. The wheel rotated freely, except for one spot. I marked the spot using a piece of tape on the wheel. Then I bent the brake disk very slightly in the appropriate direction. I had to repeat this twice but finally, the front wheel disk no longer rubs against the pad.\n\nOther modifications: Replaced plastic pedals with aluminum pedals. Installed a stem riser, 75mm. Installed Cheng Shin street tires, 26 by 2.125, installed softer grips.\n\nI have only ridden the bike a few times, but it is simply an amazing dual suspension mountain bike for the price. It goes over curbs with little effort and no jarring. You hardly feel potholes and rough road surfaces. some people complained about the seat. I thought the seat was fine, but I ride 20 miles a day, so my rear end is conditioned to hard bike seats.", "This stuff is awesome, I spray it on the engine compartment, wheels and tires. Just spray and do not wipe and it will leave a smile on your face.", "love it, it works bought a pawtec dvd/cd player and it didn't work and this one did just wish this one was aluminum. if you do make an aluminum cased one please send me a link i would totally buy it. from you guys totally buying LG for all my cd player needs from now on.\n\nonly downsides:\n- 400mb file took about 12min to read\n- external cd drive pops open and doesn't slide. other one i got slides half way makes it feel more sturdy when it slides versus pops.\n- not aluminum\n\nbut i gave it 5 stars cause it works over this other one that i love but doesn't work. so really i would give this 4 stars but it beats my other one in working on custom PC so i gave it a extra star. the other one doesn't work on my custom.\n\nbut yea send me a link to a LG one that is aluminum!", "I love how sturdy and comfortable the wheel is. The wheel does slide on my floor or carpet and it doesn't take up too much space. I would like it to be a little smaller, but overall it's awesome for opening up my chest and lumbar area.", "The wheels work well. I'm not a fan on the 90 degree edge on the outside of the wheel. If you try to make a curve to the left or right and there's a small bump the wheel likes to get caught. Other than that it rolls and does wheel like things.", "Needed a new axial for my wheelbarrow! Bought a new tire and wheel but the old wheel used a axial and the new wheel used a 5/8 axial. Cut this bar to size and it works grate.", "Pros:\nAwesome product for the price. Runs around 10% faster than my Plugable USB 3.0 NIC. Aluminum shell feels nice.\n\nCons:\n(Subjective) I think the cable is a bit long for my needs, at least.", "This stuff is foul smelling and probably causes 16 weird cancers for breathing it in, but it works awesome. If you're willing to peel layers of flesh off your nose and throat to clean your tires, this is the product for you. Don't take this as a bad review- it's not. I think it's awesome how you don't really have to scrub it, just spray it off after it turns red. If it eats up brake dust, I'm sure the tender lining of your esophagus will also be eaten- but hey, your wheels will looks sweet!", "This even had a cool little base on wheels so my son can build cars and airplanes on it. Super awesome birthday gift!", "the bike and good, but came with defect is kneaded, had to spend more than $ 100 dollars to fix, tire more than 7 times sticking due to a sharp point of aluminum inside the wheel, the fender came crumpled cutting the tire, the same is taking too long to respond when pedalo to trigger the force and start walking, and just have to pedal much when a high track\nBut I recommended, but I no hove good luck for my bike cyclamatc, have defet no work, bad very bad, bad bike", "This was expensive and already worn out. It no longer works. Get a different brand or just use aluminum foil.", "Repaired a flat on my wheel barrow with this tube. It worked, and is still working perfectly.", "When you think Back to the Future, you think of the Delorean. But Hot Wheels is awesome and they thought to bring Marty's 4X4 back to life in miniature. Perfect for fans of the movie!", "The item I received was supposed to be carbon fiber but is actually made out of aluminum. Other that that it works as advertised.", "The carrying case worked great, but the wheels were terrible. We have only used the carrier once and the wheels were coming apart. We had to pull the carrier without one wheel through the airport.\n\nJ Harless", "Sturdy awesome. All my shoes and boots stay on this rack and don't slip off even when I roll it. Wheels lock. Perfect for small closet owners with big shoe appetites:)", "do not buy this. it is copper clad aluminum and not safe for houses. it can cause fires when used with POE devices. it is also very brittle and can break easily when pulling out of the box. aluminum also has a much higher resistance per foot than solid copper making network performance poor. it will probably not work with gigabit.", "This scope is AWESOME. Have it on my .223 and once I got it sighted in it hasn't budged and remains spot on. Compared to what the top dollar scopes cost this was a steal. Don't forget the add on wheel to make adjusting distance a breeze.", "This was a great paella pan! Works great for grling too. Just have to wrap the handles with aluminum foil. Love it tho!", "awesome! I have 2 special needs kids and these were for my daughter she loves to ride her bike now!\nall other training wheels would bend these are a great heavy duty set.", "Mounted this to a Montague X70 folding bike and it works awesome. Had to ditch the plastic frame supports,but it didn't affect the operation. I highly recommend this type of stand for mountain bikes or any folding bike, because it props the forks up when you take off the front wheel. It's also nice that you don't have to worry about your bike falling over ever.", "These might be ok for the small wheels but they don't work on a cub cadet 54 inch deck large wheel. These were what came up with the wheels when we ordered so we ordered them thinking that they would work but they weren't long enough. We ended up having to buy bolts at the hardware store.", "Have not used these yet (just got them yesterday) but they look like they should work fine. Good price and the wheels appear to be of good quality. I use these wheels primarily for light duty jobs so they will work fine for my needs.", "Major product performance issue. With wheel removed from bike, installed tube on tire, installed on wheel and inflated tire to just below recommended minimum pressure. While I was working on something else the tire exploded. Upon investigation, found the tube exploded.\n\nPhoto's of tube and wheel failure and damage." ]

[ "AFL & NFL" ]

[ "2/4", "Super Bowl XXXIII", "Champion", "a 2-by-4", "Matches", "a match", "super", "2 X 4", "4", "bowling", "2 (8 divided by 4)", "Breakfast of Champions", "4 & 4", "-4", "Gower Champion", "soccer match", "bowls", "match play", "match point", "a bowl", "1 (4/4)", "The Match Game", "the first", "up", "safety matches", "matching funds", "2 & 2", "super tankers", "the \"Super Scooper\"", "\"Super\" Mario", "Super Balls", "UPS" ]

[ "Abstract The translocase of the outer mitochondrial membrane (TOM complex) is a multi-subunit complex that serves as the general entry site for newly synthesized proteins into the organelle. The assembly of this complex is a multi-step process that requires the coordinated action of several proteins. A central, but rather undefined role in this process is played by Mim1, a mitochondrial outer membrane protein. The deletion of MIM1 leads to severe defects in the biogenesis of TOM complex subunits and to altered mitochondrial morphology. The protein is built from an N-terminal cytosolic domain, a central transmembrane segment, and a C-terminal domain facing the intermembrane space. In this review we summarize our current knowledge on the structure–function relationship of Mim1 and discuss some possibilities for its molecular function." ]

[ "AbstractRegular exercise enhances mitochondrial function by promoting healthy mitochondrial remodeling, but the underlying mechanisms are not thoroughly understood. An emerging hypothesis suggests that, in addition to anabolic events such as mitochondria biogenesis, the selective degradation of dysf", "Mitochondrial biogenesis, a mitochondrial growth and division process, is crucial for adaptation to metabolic stress. The present study demonstrated that treatment with a specific inhibitor of GSK3, SB216763, attenuated induction of mitochondrial biogenesis by a glycolysis inhibitor, 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG), without affecting this biogenesis at basal condition. Additionally, overexpression of WT-GSK3β promoted whereas GSK3β-KD attenuated 2-DG-induced mitochondrial protein expression. The mitochondrial biogenesis attenuation by GSK3 inhibitor was not due to inhibition of protein degradation. Furthermore, GSK3 inhibition further reduced transcription of mitochondrial (COXII), but not nuclear (VDAC) gene by 2-DG suggesting its participation in 2-DG-induced mitochondrial transcription. Together, our results show that GSK3 regulates mitochondrial biogenesis induced by glycolysis inhibition.", "Mitochondrial medicine is a unique disciple in the nascent stage and is growing with the support of the technological advances and our knowledge of the role in the mitochondrial role in the ischemic reperfusion injury as well. Cardioprotection operates with activation of various signaling pathways. The MPTP is considered as the major mechanism of the cardiac myocyte death. The pharmacological strategy inhibiting mitochondrial outer membrane permeability and thus apoptosis, by manipulation of the Bcl-2 family proteins and Mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore to protect the myocardium against ischemia-reperfusion is very recent. It has already provided interesting results, which support the idea that a clinical benefit might be obtained in the near future. However, with the current paucity of knowledge about the identity of the MPTP, preparing a candidate for its inhibition needs more research and thus the major area of research in future would be identifying the MPTP comprehensively.", "Mounting evidence indicates that mitochondria contain multiple phosphorylation substrates and that protein kinases translocate into mitochondria, suggesting that protein phosphorylation in this organelle could be fundamental for the regulation of its own function. Here we examine the mechanistic role of cellular kinases in the fine regulation of key mitochondrial activities, including mitochondrial quality control, fission/fusion processes, metabolism, and mitophagy.", "Mitochondria are dynamic organelles capable of changing their shape by undergoing either fission or fusion. In recent years,the research of machinery for mitochondrial dynamics has made a great progress. However,the functional role of mitochondrial dynamics in the cardiovascular diseases remains unclear. This article summarized the developments of mitochondrial dynamics in cardiovascular diseases.", "Introduction: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has been reported to regulate mitochondrial biogenesis, function, and turnover. However, the molecular mechanisms by which AMPK regulates mitochondrial dynamics remain poorly characterized. We hypothesized that AMPK deficiency regulates mitochondrial fission that will result in endothelial dysfunction. Methods/Results: Deletion of AMPKα2 resulted in defective autophagy, dynamin-related protein (Drp1) accumulation, and aberrant mitochondrial fragmentation in the aortic endothelium of mice. Furthermore, autophagy inhibition by chloroquine treatment or Atg7 small interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection upregulated Drp1 expression and triggered Drp1-mediated mitochondrial fragmentation. In contrast, autophagy activation by overexpression of Atg7 or chronic administration of rapamycin, the mammalian target of rapamycin kinase inhibitor, promoted Drp1 degradation and attenuated mitochondrial fission in AMPKα2-/- mice, suggesting that defective autophagy contributes...", "Tim8 and Tim13 of yeast belong to a family of evolutionary conserved zinc finger proteins that are organized in hetero-oligomeric complexes in the mitochondrial intermembrane space. Mutations in DDP1 (deafness dystonia peptide 1), the human homolog of Tim8, are associated with the Mohr-Tranebjaerg syndrome, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. We show that DDP1 acts with human Tim13 in a complex in the intermembrane space. The DDP1.hTim13 complex is in direct contact with translocation intermediates of human Tim23 in mammalian mitochondria. The human DDP1.hTim13 complex complements the function of the TIM8.13 complex in yeast and facilitates import of yeast and human Tim23. Thus, the pathomechanism underlying the Mohr-Tranebjaerg syndrome may involve an impaired biogenesis of the human TIM23 complex causing severe pleiotropic mitochondrial dysfunction.", "Mitochondria govern many metabolic processes. In addition, mitochondria sense the status of metabolism and change their functions to regulate energy production, cell death, and thermogenesis. Recent studies have revealed that mitochondrial structural remodeling through division and fusion is critical to the organelle's function. It has also become clear that abnormalities in mitochondrial division and fusion are linked to the pathophysiology of metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Here, we discuss the current understanding of the mechanisms of mitochondrial dynamics and their role in cellular and organismal metabolism.", "Aging is a degenerative process associated with several phenotypes among which are increases in accumulation of misfolded and damaged proteins. Several studies have shown associations of altered mitochondrial DNA and structure, oxidative phosphorylation function, and ROS production with aging. In this study, Zhou et al explore the role of mitochondria in regulating protein aggregate distribution during cell division. This is in fact the first account of a framework mechanism for proteome quality control and its role in aging and cell rejuvenation.", "The mitochondrion is an organelle that plays a vital role in the regulation of hepatic cellular redox, lipid metabolism, and cell death. Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with both acute and chronic liver diseases with emerging evidence indicating that mitophagy, a selective form of autophagy for damaged/excessive mitochondria, plays a key role in the liver's physiology and pathophysiology. This review will focus on mitochondrial dynamics, mitophagy regulation, and their roles in various liver diseases (alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, drug-induced liver injury, hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury, viral hepatitis, and cancer) with the hope that a better understanding of the molecular events and signaling pathways in mitophagy regulation will help identify promising targets for the future treatment of liver diseases.", "Mitochondria play crucial roles in regulating metabolism and longevity. A body of recent evidences reveals that the gut microbiome can also exert significant effects on these activities in the host. Here, by summarizing the currently known mechanisms underlying these regulations, and by comparing mitochondrial fission-fusion dynamics with bacterial interactions such as quorum sensing, we hypothesize that the microbiome impacts the host by communicating with their intracellular relatives, mitochondria. We highlight recent discoveries supporting this model, and these new findings reveal that metabolite molecules derived from bacteria can fine-tune mitochondrial dynamics in intestinal cells and hence influence host metabolic fitness and longevity. This perspective mode of chemical communication between bacteria and mitochondria may help us understand complex and dynamic environment-microbiome-host interactions regarding their vital impacts on health and diseases.", "The endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria are engaged in an intimate relationship: they establish extensive contacts, exchange lipids and calcium, and coordinate their activities in cell life and death. Recent research has revealed a new role for the endoplasmic reticulum in promoting mitochondrial division.", "Mitochondria supply cells with ATP, heme, and iron sulfur clusters (ISC), and mitochondrial energy metabolism involves both heme- and ISC-dependent enzymes. Here, we show that mitochondrial iron supply and function require iron regulatory proteins (IRP), cytosolic RNA-binding proteins that control mRNA translation and stability. Mice lacking both IRP1 and IRP2 in their hepatocytes suffer from mitochondrial iron deficiency and dysfunction associated with alterations of the ISC and heme biosynthetic pathways, leading to liver failure and death. These results uncover a major role of the IRPs in cell biology: to ensure adequate iron supply to the mitochondrion for proper function of this critical organelle.", "The last two decades turned a corollarium of the chemiosmotic theory (positively charged Ca 2 + ions are rapidly accumulated by energized mitochondria) into a biological process of utmost physiological and pathological relevance. Indeed, mitochondrial Ca 2 + uptake, by buffering cytosolic Ca 2 + and regulating intraorganellar effectors, controls aerobic metabolism, cell-specific functions, and the initiation of cell death by apoptosis and necrosis. Accordingly, alterations in this crucial component of cellular calcium homeostasis play a key role in the pathogenesis of human diseases. The recent identification of the molecules involved in Ca 2 + transport across the ion-impermeable inner mitochondrial membrane now opens the way to detailed mechanistic investigation and translational applications.", "Mitochondrial inner membrane fusion depends on the dynamin-related GTPase OPA1 and the function of OPA1 is regulated by proteolytic cleavage. The mitochondrial proteases Yme1L and OMA1 cleave OPA1 at S2 and S1 sites, respectively. Here, we show that OMA1 is cleaved to a short form (S-OMA1) by itself upon mitochondrial membrane depolarization; S-OMA1 is degraded quickly but could be stabilized by CCCP treatment or Prohibitin knockdown in cells. In addition, OMA1 processing is positively correlated with OPA1 cleavage at the S1 site and the regulation of mitochondrial morphology. Thus, our results reveal the molecular mechanism for OMA1 activation toward OPA1 processing.", "The impressive performance of the research in mitochondrial genetics and human aging in the last decade outlines a new scenery in which the inherited variation of the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) may play a role in rate and quality of aging. This variation in humans was initially looked at as nearly neutral, and useful just for the reconstruction of human population history. However, recent data suggest that different mtDNA molecules are qualitatively different from each other. The aim of this paper is to discuss current ideas on the relationships among mitochondrial function, mtDNA inherited variation, and aging. The main processes where the mitochondrion is involved and the importance these processes have on aging and death of individuals will be described. A possible connection between programmed death phenomena (mitoptosis, apoptosis, phenoptosis) and rate and quality of aging will be discussed. Finally, the possible role played in these processes by the mtDNA germline variation will be explored.", "Abstract Mitochondrial dynamics shape the mitochondrial network and contribute to mitochondrial function and quality control. Mitochondrial fusion and division are integrated into diverse cellular functions and respond to changes in cell physiology. Imbalanced mitochondrial dynamics are associated with a range of diseases that are broadly characterized by impaired mitochondrial function and increased cell death. In various disease models, modulating mitochondrial fusion and division with either small molecules or genetic approaches has improved function. Although additional mechanistic understanding of mitochondrial fusion and division will be critical to inform further therapeutic approaches, mitochondrial dynamics represent a powerful therapeutic target in a wide range of human diseases.", "ABSTRACTMitochondrial dysfunction is a central defect in cells creating the Warburg and reverse Warburg effect cancers. However, the link between mitochondrial dysfunction and cancer has not yet been clearly explained. Decrease of mitochondrial oxidative energy production to about 50 % in comparison with healthy cells may be caused by inhibition of pyruvate transfer into mitochondrial matrix and/or disturbed H+ ion transfer across inner mitochondrial membrane into cytosol. Lowering of the inner membrane potential and shifting of the working point of mitochondria to high values of pH above an intermediate point causes reorganization of the ordered water layer at the mitochondrial membrane. The reorganized ordered water layers at high pH values release electrons which are transferred to the cytosol rim of the layer. The electrons damp electromagnetic activity of Warburg effect cancer cells or fibroblasts associated with reverse Warburg effect cancer cells leading to lowered electromagnetic activity, disturb...", "Rosmarinic acid (RA), a polyphenol, is known to improve hepatic insulin sensitivity in experimental type 2 diabetes. However, its effect on skeletal muscle insulin resistance is meagerly understood. The present study was aimed to investigate the up- and downstream mediators of the molecular targets of RA in attenuating insulin resistance in the skeletal muscle both in vivo and in vitro. We found that supplementation of RA increased the expression of key genes involved in the mitochondrial biogenesis like PGC-1α, SIRT-1, and TFAM via activation of AMPK in the skeletal muscle of insulin resistant rats as well as in L6 myotubes. Further, RA treatment increased the glucose uptake and decreased the phosphorylation of serine IRS-1 while increasing the translocation of GLUT 4. Together, our findings evidenced that RA treatment significantly inhibit insulin resistance in skeletal muscle cells by enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1839-1848, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.", "The discovery of GTP-binding proteins in mitochondria is a recent event. These regulatory proteins may be participating in membrane fusion and thereby playing important roles in the physiology of the mitochondrion. So far, it has been proposed that GTP-binding protein mediated membrane fusion may be involved in protein import, steroid hormone production and mitochondrial amalgamation during spermatogenesis.", "The traditional role of cytochemical techniques in the investigation of mitochondrial myopathies is that of providing a preliminary diagnosis, and the presence of a respiratory chain disorder is often detected initially by means of mitochondrial ‘marker’ techniques used on tissue sections. Subsequent identification of the precise site of the defect within the respiratory chain is usually, and more appropriately, the province of biochemical investigation.", "Mitochondria are membrane enclosed organelles regarded as ‘cell power plants’. This chapter particularly focuses on mitochondrial function impairment that contributes to disease pathology and apoptosis or necrosis cell death. The chapter also focuses on cell death induced by endogenous toxins generated by genetic inborn errors of metabolism or acquired by human diseases or animal disease models. Also reviewed is the impairment of mitochondrial function that contributes to side effects of various drugs/xenobiotics or the anticancer action induced by various drugs used in chemotherapy. The chapter also focuses on the effects at the molecular level of respiratory poisons or drugs that impair mitochondrial complexes I-V. The chapter also focuses on the significance of mitochondrial toxicity testing during drug development and the role of mitochondria in indiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury.", "Considerable progress has recently been made in understanding the role of cardiolipin in mitochondria. In this brief review, we discuss new data that show how cardiolipin specifically contributes to the lateral organization of mitochondrial membranes. We argue that the function of cardiolipin has to be understood in the context of dynamic membrane assembly rather than static membrane structure, and we propose that remodeling of cardiolipin, i.e. the formation of uniformly substituted molecular species, may reduce the energy barrier of the assembly process.", "Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder, with ageing being a major risk factor. Accordingly, estimates predict an increasing number of PD patients due to our expanding life span. Consequently, developing a true disease-modifying therapy is necessary. In this regard, monogenic PD offers a suitable means for determining pathogenesis. Among monogenic forms of PD, mitochondrial dysfunction may be a major cause and is also likely to be involved in sporadic PD. Thus, mitochondrial impairment may be a common pathway. Recently, mitochondria-associated membranes (MAM) were identified as dynamic sites between mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. Indeed, the gene product of α-synuclein is a major component of MAM, with other gene products also involved. This review focuses on the possibility of using MAM as novel therapeutic targets.", "Biogenesis of functional cytochrome c oxidase in yeast requires the product of the nuclear gene SCO1. Strains deleted for this gene fail to accumulate the mitochondrially-synthesized cytochrome c oxidase subunits I and II, despite the presence of the respective mRNAs. Here we present data which demonstrate that the observed phenotype does not result from a failure to translate the mRNAs, but from a preferential degradation of the newly synthesized subunits. The SCO1 protein is therefore involved in a post-translational step in the accumulation of cytochrome c oxidase subunits I and II. We propose that the SCO1 protein is required for the correct assembly of both subunits into the cytochrome c oxidase complex.", "Abstract 1. 1. Chromatographic and chemical analyses show that up to four major sterols may be present in blood and culture forms of trypanosomes. 2. 2. Blood and culture forms of Trypanosoma lewisi and culture forms of T. rhodesiense biosynthesize C (24) -alkyl sterols de novo . In these trypanosomes, and in blood forms of T. rhodesiense , exogenous cholesterol is incorporated and esterified, but not further metabolized. 3. 3. Changes in sterol composition and metabolism occur in T. lewisi during “maturation” in vivo , and during in vitro culture. 4. 4. The role of sterol biosynthesis in cyclical mitochondrial biogenesis in trypanosomes is discussed, and also the evolutionary significance of the phytosterols identified in this study.", "Since the pioneer work of Caspersson (1950) and Brachet (1957) we have known that the activity of the nucleolus is directly related to RNA and protein synthesis. A correlation between ribosome biogenesis and normal and malignant cell growth has since been supported by numerous studies (see Busch and Smetana 1970). Here I shall try to outline presently available evidence on the role of ribosome biogenesis in the life cycle of eukaryotic cells and the changes observed under different physiological and pathological conditions. Emphasis will be placed on the correlation between the biochemical studies on ribosome biogenesis and the cytological observations on nucleolar structure in higher eukaryotes. Hopefully, elucidation of the molecular texture of cellular structures will help to understand better the comportment of the cell in health and disease.", "Abstract Aim: In the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, retinal mitochondria are damaged, superoxide levels are elevated, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) biogenesis is impaired. mtDNA has a noncoding region, displacement loop (D-loop), which has essential transcription and replication elements, and this region is highly vulnerable to oxidative damage. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of diabetes on the D-loop damage and the mtDNA replication machinery. Results: Using retina from wild-type (WT) and mitochondrial superoxide dismutase transgenic (Tg) mice, we have investigated the effect of diabetes on retinal D-loop damage and on the replication system. The results were confirmed in the isolated retinal endothelial cells in which the DNA polymerase gamma 1 (POLG1) function was genetically manipulated. Diabetes damaged retinal mtDNA, and the damage was more at the D-loop region compared with the cytochrome B region. Gene transcripts and mitochondrial accumulation of POLG1, POLG2, and mtDNA...", "Mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake is central to cell metabolism, signaling and survival. Recent studies identified MCU as the pore of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter and MICU1 as its critical regulator. MICU1 and its paralogs, MICU2 and MICU3 are EF-hand proteins and are the primary candidates to confer Ca2+ sensitivity to the Ca2+ uniporter. We will present studies of the molecular mechanisms of the MICU-dependent closure of the uniporter at low [Ca2+] levels and its cooperative activation when [Ca2+] increases. Furthermore, we will present clues to the MICU-dependence of the tissue specific mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake profiles.", "Abstract Aims: Mitochondria are known to play a central role in adrenocortical steroidogenesis. Recently, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a gaseous transmitter endogenously produced by cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) and cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE), has been found to improve mitochondrial function. The present study aimed at examining whether CBS and CSE are expressed in adrenal glands, and investigated the role of these enzymes in the maintenance of mitochondrial function and the production of glucocorticoids in adrenocortical cells. Results: Both CBS and CSE are present in murine adrenocortical cells and account for H2S generation in adrenal glands. Using a combination of both in vivo and in vitro approaches, we demonstrated that either CBS/CSE inhibitors or small interfering RNAs led to mitochondrial oxidative stress and dysfunction, which meanwhile resulted in blunted corticosterone responses to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). These effects were significantly attenuated by the treatment of H2S donor GYY413...", "The results of the recent studies on the biogenesis of the macrobicyclic spermine alkaloid aphelandrine are reviewed. The possible role of aphelandrine and its precursors prelandrine and dihydroxyverbacine in the cell metal ion homeostasis (uptake, turnover and transport of metal ions) is discussed.", "Abstract Rat liver mitochondria contain an apparently substrate-specific 1-aminopropan-2-ol kinase activity. Indirect evidence also indicates the presence of a phosphoryl-1-aminopropan-2-ol cytidylyl transferase activity. A possible role for these two enzymes in the incorporation of 1-aminopropan-2-ol as a phospholipid base is considered in the light of this and other data." ]

[ "Yes, treaties refers to the Treaties of Rome (i.e. the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community).\n\nIt appears that the extant (and limited) documents referred to were originally treated by the inner six founding nations as any other piece of moderately sensitive information at the time, i.e. to be archived, with limited access on a need to know basis. As open government movements and inter member standardisation took hold, Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 (in 1983, surprisingly enough) mandated that EU-related documents were to be made available to the general public after 30 years. Subsequent Council regulations formed the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence to centralise these archives. Such delayed releases of politically sensitive material are not at all unusual, given the privacy concerns and the difficulties of performing complicated negotiations in public.\n\nI can't find any specific information on article 267, so it's possible that it's simply the case that no supporting documents exist any more.\n\nNote that views on the relationship between the Court of Justice, the Treaty text and supporting material differ. These authors appear to argue the Court intended an \"originalist\" interpretation, dependent on the original authors intent, which was stymied by the lack of material. Others have suggested the \"textualist\" interpretation was deliberate." ]

[ "I believe we can spit this up into three parts:\n\nRoman Jewish Community:\n\"Jews have lived in Rome for over 2,000 years [...] They may even have established a community there as early as the second pre-Christian century, for in the year 139 B.C. the pretor Hispanus issued a decree expelling all Jews who were not Italian citizens\" Jewish Encyclopaedia\nSo we can pretty much discount there role there.\n\nJews in the Levant\nAt the time part of the Seleucid Empire. The Battle of Magnesia between them and Rome as well as the Treaty of Apamea are in scope. Jewish nationalism against the Seleucids is also in scope. It seems Jews here were largely antagonistic to the Seleucids who were at war with Rome, who were at war with Carthage. But no direct link to Roman wars in the western Mediterranean here, I think.\n\nCarthaginian Jewish Community\nAlgerian Jews: \"There is evidence of a Jewish presence in Algeria since at least the late Roman period\". Out of scope, probably.\nTunisian Jews : \"The ruins of an ancient synagogue dating back to the 3rd-5th century CE was discovered by the French captain Ernest De Prudhomme\". Excellent. There were also jews in Carthage according to the Jewish Encyclopaedia, based on evidence from the Talmud. So Jews would have been around in numbers during the Punic Wars.\n\nDid they do much fighting? There is evidence for Jewish mercenaries in Egypt here and in the Seleucid shpere of influence (Crete etc) here, search for jewish. There are stories of a Jew (I think) called Zepho running away to Carthage and becoming a general (in that first \"here\" link) but I think it's too early in history and I don't stand by it's validity.\n\nI would say there was a community there were involved in so far as they lived, worked, traded there. But I don't think there's much to write as far as \"Jewish involvement goes\".", "The blog post you found cites a very fun journal article, but doesn't discuss it very well, denying the fun to all of us. The origin of this legend was figured out in 2005 and the results are available for all to read.\n\nThe most prominent figure we see in these anecdotes was a conscious hoax by peace activist Norman Cousins in 1953; Cousins claimed to newspaper readers that the \"Norwegian Academy of Science\" discovered only 292 years of peace since 3600 BC, and 14,513 wars since then. These were meant to be absurdly overspecific figures, and the headline in the newspaper in which his article appeared calls his work an \"Imaginary Experiment\".\n\nBut the idea seems to have existed before Cousins's hoax. In particular, a magazine called the Moskovskie Vedomosti claimed that there had been 227 years of peace, and 268 wars (not years of war; this was possibly misremembered by later authors). But the Vedomosti could not be located by the authors of this study, and in any case there seemed to be several figures floating around. The authors ran across a similar claim by a writer named Bloch, and are pleased at their good fortune when they find him:\n\n\n For it so happens that Bloch, in a tiny note, refers to his source: a\n Russian military encyclopedia Encyclopädie der Kriegs- und\n Marinewissenschaften (St. Petersburg, 1885). We were lucky enough to\n obtain a copy of the article in the encyclopedia Bloch refers to -\n after many months of writing to libraries all over the world, to no\n avail.\n \n In the lemma on war Lieut. General G.A. Leer refers, in his turn, to\n his source of the war figures: the work of the French philosopher\n Odysse Barot Lettres sur la Philosophie de l'Histoire (Paris, 1864).\n We were afraid that this work, too, would refer to another, yet more\n ancient, source, and that that source would, in its turn, refer to a\n still more ancient one, in a kind of infinite regression. But again we\n were lucky enough (after many a month of writing to libraries in\n France, to no avail), to obtain a copy, and this time we hit the\n jackpot: Barot's book is indubitably the one and only primordial\n original Source of sources; totally obscure itself, but immortalized\n by the myth it helped to create.\n\n\nThe original text is quoted; it presents the author's count of peace treaties that have been signed, and his tabulation of 227 years of peace, which seems (implicitly) to presume that times before peace treaties are signed are times of war. \n\n\n But what exactly do these figures mean, presuming of course that Barot\n did not dream them up but actually catalogued and counted all these\n treaties (which is uncertain as he nowhere presents such a list: we\n have to believe him on his word)? As may be gathered from the\n quotation above, what Barot actually counted were peace treaties along\n with alliance and amity treaties, and NOT WARS. Cousins, as well as\n all of his predecessors, have drawn the totally unsubstantiated\n conclusion that the number of peace treaties equals the number of\n wars, under the assumption that all wars are ended by means of peace\n treaties. But apart from the volatility of such an assumption, it is\n not only peace treaties Barot counted, but also treaties of alliance\n and amity, and these do not necessarily, or not at all, justify the\n assumption of warlike activities.\n\n\nThe paywalled article that referenced this essay could find no scientific source for claims of two hundred and XX years of peace, and even the French source cited in this essay does not explain his methodology.", "In the Late Republic, Marcus Licinius Crassus organized the only Fire Brigade in Rome - but only fought fires that threatened buildings that Crassus owned. According to this translation of Plutarch:\n\n\n Moreover, observing how extremely subject the city was to fire and falling down of houses, by reason of their height and their standing so near together, he bought slaves that were builders and architects, and when he had collected these to the number of more than five hundred, he made it his practice to buy houses that were on fire, and those in the neighbourhood, which, in the immediate danger and uncertainty the proprietors were willing to part with for little or nothing, so that the greatest part of Rome, at one time or other, came into his hands. Yet for all he had so many workmen, he never built anything but his own house, and used to say that those that were addicted to building would undo themselves soon enough without the help of other enemies.\n\n\nand\n\n\n Crassus, however, was very eager to be hospitable to strangers; he kept open house, and to his friends he would lend money without interest, but called it in precisely at the time; so that his kindness was often thought worse than the paying the interest would have been.\n\n\nNote that there was not yet such a thing as the share-capital corporation, which still lay a sesquimillenium in the future, and the development of double-entry bookkeeping was still 500 years in the future. Thus the only available business structures were proprietorships and partnerships, and their size was limited by the absence of the accounting controls that are enabled by the use of double-entry bookkeeping.", "The documents you list are all multilateral treaties between the EU member states (the Inner 6 for Rome, the EU15 for Amsterdam &amp; Nice, the EU27 for Lisbon). As such they form a major portion of international law between the signatories and it is definitely fair to call the content \"law\". Calling it \"laws\" is open to misinterpretation as applying directly to individuals rather than between countries (you wouldn't be sent to prison for contravening the Lisbon Treaty).\n\nThe European parliament voted in favour of a non-binding resolution endorsing the Lisbon Treaty by 525 votes to 115. However, this had absolutely no power, and the treaty would have still gone into force without the parliament provided all of the EU27 ratified it. In general, every member state has veto power over the amendment of EU Treaties, except in a very small number of areas.", "The gladitorial games were largely thought to be adopted by the Campanians and found their way to Rome through the Etruscans. From this site:\n\n\n Adopted from the earlier Etruscans, perhaps by way of Campania,\n gladiatorial games (munera) originated in the rites of sacrifice due\n the spirits of the dead and the need to propitiate them with offerings\n of blood. They were introduced to Rome in 264 BC, when the sons of\n Junius Brutus honored their father by matching three pairs of\n gladiators.\n\n\nAlso supported by the Wikipedia page on Gladitorial games. \n\nHowever, various sites also espouse that the first Gladitorial games, which took place approximately 310 BC; almost fifty years before their appearance in Rome, did not originate in (what we now call) Italy at all. Rather they were of Greek origin.\n\n\n In The Iliad, Homer relates how blood-games were held after Patroklos\n [] was slayed by Hector. While nobody got killed, the event was an\n offering of blood to facilitate the transition of Patroklos['s] spirit\n to the world of the dead. Researchers believe Home was describing a\n common ceremony in the funeral of important individuals. The\n participants in these events, though, were free men who volunteered to\n honor the dead. (see here)\n\n\nIn short, the origin of the Gladitorial games depends on your definition of what it meant to be a gladiator. In terms of funeral rites it seems the games were Greek in origin and based on the publication date of the epic poems by Homer were at least 1000 years old by the time they reached the Campania region in 264 BC. \n\nHowever if your definition of the games is the bloody affairs conducted in the Colosseum where hundreds of men died in droves, that has a distinctly Roman history and probably began around 65 BC when Caesar sent around 320 pairs of gladiators to their deaths.", "The chronology of Acts only provides occasional points of reference for determining his timeline, and it's probable some of his narration is out of chronological order. Your question is specifically asking about the amount of time that has passed between Acts 2 and Acts 12.\n\nActs 2\nThe events of Acts 1-2 are presented as taking place in the few months following Jesus' crucifixion. Details for when Jesus was crucified are scant, and the issue is still being debated. What levels of certainty we have are based around historical figures mentioned in the Luke-Acts narrative. A significant starting point is Luke 3.1-2:\n\nIn the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas ...\n\nThe easiest to define of these are:\n\nTiberius Caesar, emperor of Rome 14-37 AD.\nPontius Pilate, prefect of Rome's Judaea province 26-36 AD.\nCaiaphas, high priest in Jerusalem 18-36 AD.\n\nLuke 3.1-2 defines the beginning of John the baptizer's mission as taking place in the 'fifteenth year' of Tiberius' rule, about 28-29 AD. Jesus' mission could potentially have begun within a year or two of John's; we do know there was some overlap between the two.\nHowever, Luke's narration does not provide a specific duration of Jesus' mission, only that he was 'about thirty years old' at the time of his baptism (Luke 3.23), and that Pilate and Caiaphas were still alive at Jesus' crucifixion. This could potentially put Jesus' death all the way near the end of Pilate's and Caiaphas' respective rules.\n\nActs 12\nThe ending of Acts 12 mentions the death of Herod Agrippa. The account in Acts 12 is more or less corroborated by Josephus, in his Jewish Antiquities 19.8.2, so following Josephus' chronology, Herod Agrippa's death occurred in 44 AD.\n\nConclusion\nIf Jesus' crucifixion took place at the earliest possible date (c. 30 AD), Acts 2-12 covers c. 30-44 AD, a period of about fourteen years.\nIf Jesus' crucifixion took place at the latest possible date (c. 36 AD), Acts 2-12 covers c. 36-44 AD, a period of about eight years.", "Let $A$ and $O$ be the events apple and orange (fruit). Let $R$ and $S$ be the events red and sphere.\n\nBy Bayes' law,\n$$\\Pr[A | R \\wedge S] = \\frac{ \\Pr[R \\wedge S | A] \\Pr[A] }{ \\Pr[R \\wedge S] };$$\n$$\\Pr[O | R \\wedge S] = \\frac{ \\Pr[R \\wedge S | O] \\Pr[O] }{ \\Pr[R \\wedge S] }.$$\nBy total probability adding to 1, we also have\n$$\\Pr[A | R \\wedge S] + \\Pr[O | R \\wedge S] = 1$$\nand therefore\n$$\\Pr[R \\wedge S | A] \\Pr[A] + \\Pr[R \\wedge S | O] \\Pr[O] = \\Pr[R \\wedge S]$$\nso\n$$\\Pr[A | R \\wedge S] = \\frac{\\Pr[R \\wedge S | A] \\Pr[A] }{ \\Pr[R \\wedge S | A] \\Pr[A] + \\Pr[R \\wedge S | O] \\Pr[O]}.$$\nBy the Naive Bayes assumption of independence of features conditioned on class,\n$$\\Pr[R \\wedge S | A] = \\Pr[R | A] \\Pr[S | A];$$\n$$\\Pr[R \\wedge S | O] = \\Pr[R | O] \\Pr[S | O].$$\nPutting it together, we get\n$$\\Pr[A | R \\wedge S] = \\frac{\\Pr[R | A] \\Pr[S | A] \\Pr[A] }{ \\Pr[R | A] \\Pr[S | A] \\Pr[A] + \\Pr[R | O] \\Pr[S | O] \\Pr[O]}.$$\n\nNow plug and chug. From the data $\\Pr[R | A] = \\frac{ \\Pr[R \\wedge A] }{ \\Pr[A] } = \\frac{2}{5}$, etc. Note: I am assuming the empirical distribution is the true distribution, an assumption your teacher probably expects you to make but not made in practice.", "C, 160 bytes\n\n\n\ng(char*s){char i=1,r=0,*p=\"k^[#&gt;Pcx.yI&lt;7CZpVgmH:o]sYK$2\";for(;*s^'-'&amp;&amp;*s;r+=*s++|9);r=r%45+77;for(;*p!=r;p++,i++);return((*s^'-')?0:g(s+1))+(i&lt;21?i:10*(i-18));}\n\n\nTest it\n\nint main ()\n{\n char* w[] = {\"\", \"one\", \"two\", \"three\", \"four\", \"five\", \"six\", \"seven\", \"eight\", \"nine\", \"ten\", \"eleven\", \"twelve\", \"thirteen\", \"fourteen\", \"fifteen\", \"sixteen\", \"seventeen\", \"eighteen\", \"nineteen\", \"twenty\", \"twenty-one\", \"twenty-two\", \"twenty-three\", \"twenty-four\", \"twenty-five\", \"twenty-six\", \"twenty-seven\", \"twenty-eight\", \"twenty-nine\", \"thirty\", \"thirty-one\", \"thirty-two\", \"thirty-three\", \"thirty-four\", \"thirty-five\", \"thirty-six\", \"thirty-seven\", \"thirty-eight\", \"thirty-nine\", \"forty\", \"forty-one\", \"forty-two\", \"forty-three\", \"forty-four\", \"forty-five\", \"forty-six\", \"forty-seven\", \"forty-eight\", \"forty-nine\", \"fifty\", \"fifty-one\", \"fifty-two\", \"fifty-three\", \"fifty-four\", \"fifty-five\", \"fifty-six\", \"fifty-seven\", \"fifty-eight\", \"fifty-nine\", \"sixty\", \"sixty-one\", \"sixty-two\", \"sixty-three\", \"sixty-four\", \"sixty-five\", \"sixty-six\", \"sixty-seven\", \"sixty-eight\", \"sixty-nine\", \"seventy\", \"seventy-one\", \"seventy-two\", \"seventy-three\", \"seventy-four\", \"seventy-five\", \"seventy-six\", \"seventy-seven\", \"seventy-eight\", \"seventy-nine\", \"eighty\", \"eighty-one\", \"eighty-two\", \"eighty-three\", \"eighty-four\", \"eighty-five\", \"eighty-six\", \"eighty-seven\", \"eighty-eight\", \"eighty-nine\", \"ninety\", \"ninety-one\", \"ninety-two\", \"ninety-three\", \"ninety-four\", \"ninety-five\", \"ninety-six\", \"ninety-seven\", \"ninety-eight\", \"ninety-nine\", \"one hundred\"};\n\n int n;\n for (n = 1; n &lt;= 100; n++)\n {\n printf (\"%s -&gt; %d\\n\", w[n], g(w[n]));\n if (n != g(w[n]))\n {\n printf (\"Error at n = %d\", n);\n return 1;\n }\n }\n return 0;\n}\n\n\nHow it works\n\nAfter some attempts, I found a function that maps the \"exceptional\" numbers one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred, to the printable ASCII characters k, ., [, &lt;, *, , c, K, w, y, e, (, S, _, -, C, ), 7, =, 4, &amp;, o, ], s, Y, g, m, N, respectively.\n\nThis function is:\n\nchar hash (char* s)\n{\n char r = 0;\n\n while (*s)\n {\n r += *s|9;\n s++;\n }\n\n return r%45+77;\n}\n\n\nThe golfed program computes the hash function of the input until it reaches the end of the string or the character -. Then it searches the hash in the string k.[&lt;* cKwye(S_-C)7=4&amp;o]sYgmN and determines the corresponding number. If the end of the input string was reached the number is returned, if instead a - was reached, then it is returned the number plus the result of the golfed program applied to the rest of the input string.", "Thirty years later - absolutely none. Given the lifetime of a patent is ~20 years, it would have expired by now, in any case.", "I only have an indirect argument:\n\n\nThe US is part of far more treaties than any other country (7,181 bilateral treaties; the next most active nation is France with 3,707 bilateral treaties). Somewhat predictably, the US has far more bilateral as percentage of its total treaties (87% of treaties entered by US being bilateral) than an \"average\" country (for which this fraction is 45%). Ref for these facts Miles &amp; Posner (2008) \"Which States Enter into Treaties, and Why?\"\nBilateral treaties get unilaterally exited more often than multilateral treaties do cf. Helfer (2005) \"Exiting Treaties\":\n\n\n Not surprisingly, there have been far more ratifications of treaties (32,021) than denunciations and withdrawals (1547) since 1945. [...] of the 5416 multilateral agreements concluded after 1945, 191, or 3.5%, have been denounced at least once. In light of the 1547 denunciations filed during this same sixty year period, this small percentage suggests that a few multilateral agreements have been denounced by multiple states. \n\n\n\nAs a consequence, it is likely (but not certain) that the US unilaterally exited more treaties than an \"average\" country, not just in absolute number but also as a proportion of treaties entered.\n\nIf someone else can find a direct analysis... by all means, that would be a better answer. Clearly a database exist (with per country data) and was used by Helfer, but it doesn't seem to be public. Barely quantitatively, Helfer's paper only says about the US aggregate behavior:\n\n\n The unilateralist behavior of the United States provides a salient\n example. The United States has recently refrained from ratifying—\n or has withdrawn from—numerous multilateral agreements that\n are widely ratified by other nations and that it at one time championed.\n These treaties include the Kyoto Protocol, the Rome Statute\n establishing the International Criminal Court, the Landmines Convention, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Convention\n on Biological Diversity, International Covenant on Economic,\n Social and Cultural Rights, the United Nations Convention on the\n Law of the Sea, and, most recently, the Framework Convention for\n Tobacco Control and the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention\n on Consular Relations. By remaining outside these treaties\n through non-entry or exit, the United States has, according to\n many observers, cast doubt on its commitment to multilateral cooperation.\n\n\n\n\nAnd an important comment on another answer, which might get missed (because there are so many comments under it): regarding the US Constitution Treaty Clause: \n\n\n The body of law governing U.S. foreign policy recognizes three mechanisms by which the United States enters into binding international obligations. The term \"treaty\" is used in a more restricted legal sense [in the US] than in international law. U.S. law distinguishes what it calls treaties from congressional-executive agreements and executive agreements. All three classes are considered treaties under international law; they are distinct only from the perspective of internal United States law. Distinctions among the three concern their method of ratification: by two-thirds of the Senate, by normal legislative process, or by the President alone, respectively. The Treaty Clause empowers the President to make or enter into treaties with the \"advice and consent\" of two-thirds of the Senate. In contrast, normal legislation becomes law after approval by simple majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives and the signature of the President.\n\n\nAnd from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_agreement \n\n\n In the United States, executive agreements are binding internationally if they are negotiated and entered into under the president's authority in foreign policy, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, or from a prior act of Congress. For instance, as commander-in-chief the President negotiates and enters into status of forces agreements (SOFAs), which govern the treatment and disposition of U.S. forces stationed in other nations. The president cannot, however, enter unilaterally into executive agreements on matters that are beyond his constitutional authority. In such instances, an agreement would need to be in the form of a congressional-executive agreement, or a treaty with Senate advice and consent.\n \n The U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. Pink (1942), held that international executive agreements validly made have the same legal status as treaties and did not require Senate approval. \n\n\nAnd Pink has been reaffirmed more recently in Dames &amp; Moore v. Regan:\n\n\n More recently, in Dames &amp; Moore v. Regan, the Court\n relied upon, inter alia, the Pink case to sustain President Carter’s\n suspension of claims pending in American courts against Iran as\n required by the Hostage Release Agreement of 1981, supra, and,\n more directly, by Executive order. In light of Pink, the Court indicated\n that ‘‘prior cases * * * have recognized that the President\n does have some measure of power to enter into executive agreements\n without obtaining the advice and consent of the Senate.’’\n\n\nSo simply relying on the US Constitution notion of \"treaty\" is misleading when there are two more categories under US law that are also treaties under international law.\n\nAnd the Congressional source on which that Wikipedia page is mostly based also says\n\n\n The Constitution is silent on procedures for modifying or terminating\n treaties, and agreement has not been reached between the branches on a single proper mode. [...]\n \n Twice in recent years the method of terminating a treaty [in the narrow sense, i.e. one approved by 2/3 of the Senate] has\n raised serious controversy within the United States. In 1978, President\n Carter terminated the defense treaty with the Republic of\n China [Taiwan] without the concurrence of either the Senate or Congress\n when he established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic\n of China.\n In 1977, the new Panama Canal Treaty terminated\n the 1903, 1936, and 1955 treaties with Panama. Although a new\n treaty was approved by the Senate, some contended that the termination\n of the earlier treaties required an act of Congress, thus including\n approval by the House of Representatives as well as the\n Senate.\n\n\nIt also talks of controversies of treaty (again in the narrow sense) modification and reinterpretation by the Executive, which are more numerous (a bit too long to quote here).\n\nAlso some treaties (in the narrow sense, i.e. 2/3 Senate approved) have an explicit clause that allows the President to terminate them; e.g. KORUS:\n\n\n If the President does invoke Article 24.5, and no further action is taken, KORUS will terminate 180 days after such notice is given.\n\n\nAnd enough scholars think that the President can exit a treaty by himself, regardless of clauses in the treaty:\n\n\n Whereas it was generally understood throughout\n the nineteenth century that the termination of treaties required congressional\n involvement, the consensus on this issue disappeared in the early parts of the\n twentieth century, and today it is widely (although not uniformly) accepted that presidents have a unilateral power of treaty termination. \n\n\nThis after Goldwater v. Carter (on Taiwan defense exit), Kucinich v. Bush (on ABM exit) etc.\n\nFinally, there's the issue of (extended) provisional application of treaties (in the narrow sense) that have been signed but not ratified, e.g. (quoting from Congressional service again):\n\n\n An example of a treaty pending in the Senate that has been provisionally\n applied by executive agreement is the maritime boundary\n agreement between the United States and Cuba, signed December\n 16, 1977. Originally, an executive agreement, by exchange of\n notes on April 27, 1977, had established a modus vivendi on a provisional\n maritime boundary to serve during that year while negotiations\n were underway. The treaty signed on December 16, 1977,\n contained a provision that the parties agree to apply the terms of\n the agreement ‘‘provisionally’’ for a period of 2 years from January\n 1, 1978. According to the Department of State, ‘‘this agreement\n constituted an executive agreement contained within the text of the\n treaty.’’ The treaty was transmitted to the Senate on January 23,\n 1979, and debated in the Senate, but final action was not taken.\n The treaty is still pending in the committee. [as of 2001] The provisional application was subsequently extended for additional periods, most recently\n by an exchange of notes of December 30, 1997 and March\n 30, 1998.\n\n\nSo such a \"treaty\" is applied for 20+ years and then denounced (say by a new president) does it really look like nothing happened, no exit from the \"treaty\" from the viewpoint of the international community (or other party to the treaty)?!\n\nAnd the middle category of congressional-executive agreements is also exteremely important in practice:\n\n\n In part because the enumerated powers of Congress and the president have been interpreted broadly, most agreements that are proposed as treaties could also have been proposed as congressional-executive agreements. For that reason, the U.S. government has frequently chosen to use congressional-executive agreements rather than treaties for controversial agreements that are unlikely to gain the required supermajority in the Senate. Examples of contentious proposals addressed in the form of congressional-executive agreements include the 1992 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the agreement whereby the United States became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995.\n\n\nAnd yes, these congressional-executive agreements are constitutional too because of Field v. Clark. NAFTA was challeged in Made in the USA Foundation v. United States, but this challenge was stopped in the Eleventh Circuit, which cited Field v. Clark (among other things) in their decision.\n\nThe congressional-executive agreements are actually how most of the US international-relations sausage is made nowadays (quoting the Congressional service again)\n\n\n In the period since 1939 executive agreements [this refers to both congressional-executive and just executive] have comprised more than 90 percent of the international agreements concluded. [...] Most executive agreements are concluded under the authority of a statute [and are called congressional-executive in other places; ...] 88.3 percent of international agreements reached between 1946 and 1972 were based at least partly on statutory authority [meaning they were congressional-executive rather than purely executive].\n\n\nSo you can't just pretend these don't matter just because they're not called treaties in the US law.\n\nSo arguing from \"first principles\" by just quoting the Constitution is a pretty poor way to come to any conclusion on this question because: (i) what is actually a treaty in US vs international law and (ii) termination/exit procedures are unclear in US law (for some categories) and varied in practice.", "Yes, in September 2009, at an occasion to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of WWII, then-President Lech Kaczyński gave the following speech:\n\n\n Two generations have passed but the Second World War still requires\n reflection; Poland’s participation in the reduction of territory of\n Czechoslovakia was not only a mistake – it was a sin, and Poland can\n admit as much. I am as certain of this statement as I am of the fact\n that the order established by the Treaty of Versailles was the first\n attempt at maintaining peace both in Europe and in the world, even if\n it did not last.\n \n The Treaty of Versailles, signed after the First World War confirmed\n the independence of Poland and countries such as Finland, Estonia,\n Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, also acknowledging the\n independence of nations and the rights of minorities.\n \n The order established by the Treaty proved to be impermanent for\n numerous complex reasons. The first reason was the emergence of\n totalitarian political systems and, most importantly, the rise of the\n Third Reich which propagated an aggressive and vengeful ideology,\n opposing the achievements of European civilisation with its Nazism.\n \n Poland proposed, as early as in autumn 1933, that a preventive war be\n started but this was to no avail. The situation being as it was, we\n concluded a non-aggression pact with Germany and then also with the\n USSR.\n \n A policy of concession eventually led to the Anschluss and then to\n the Munich Agreement.\n \n Winston Churchill was right in saying that a choice was made in Munich\n between war and dishonour; dishonour was chosen but there was war\n anyway. A question of the role of our country appears here. We were\n not present in Munich but the Agreement resulted in the violation of\n the territorial integrity of Czechoslovakia – and such a thing is\n always evil.\n \n Totalitarianism is not the problem here – the problem lies in all\n imperialistic and neo-imperialistic tendencies. We have learnt that\n last year.\n \n Taking part in the partition of Czechoslovakia, in reducing its\n territory, was not only a mistake – it was a sin. We, Poles, can admit\n that and we seek no excuses to justify it, even if there were any such\n excuses to be found. We must not yield to imperialism.\n\n\nAs well as this, however, Kaczyński also drew attention to events such as the Katyń massacre, a series of mass executions of Poles carried out by the Soviet Union:\n\n\n The war which started in 1939, in his opinion, was disastrous for our\n country. “Five and a half million Polish and Jewish people, even up to\n 5 million 800 thousand, perished in the war,” Lech Kaczyński reminded,\n drawing the attention of the audience to the Holocaust. He remarked\n that the citizens of Poland who perished were only a part of the 50\n million victims of the war worldwide.\n \n “But,” he emphasised, “there were also ‘other crimes’ committed before\n the war between Russia and Germany began. We must devote a moment’s\n reflection to Katyń – not only because of the facts, with which we are\n familiar today, but also because of the causes. Why did several\n thousands of Polish policemen, soldiers and border guards suffer such\n fate?” the President asked.\n \n In his opinion, it was because of revenge. “This was a revenge for the\n year 1920, for the fact that Poland managed to repulse the aggression\n then,” he said. In his opinion, it was “not communism but chauvinism,”\n which, at that time, “was a characteristic feature of this political\n system.”", "The Swiss airforce monitors its airspace permanently, 24 hours a day 365 days a year. However, means to intervene in the form of airborne aircraft are usually available only during office hours. Exceptions to this rule include special security situations, such as during the annual World Economic Forum in Davos.\n\nThe last publicized case of a lack of intervention occurred on February 17th, 2014. Around 4:30am a hijacker forced an Ethiopian Airlines passenger flight from Addis Abbeba bound for Rome to land in Geneva. Italian and later French fighters escorted the plane, but Swiss fighters were not available and did not intervene.\n\nSources:\nFactsheet \"Performance Spectrum of the Airforce\" at the official government site (in German; French and Italian versions available).\nNews report citing a spokesman of the Swiss airforce (in German).", "There isn't really a conflict here although that may not be obvioius. Citizenship is not a visa and is handled by a different government department. Hence their considerations are decididly neutral. The basic requirements for presence in the UK during the qualifying period(s) apply to everybody equally regardless of how they may have gotten to the stage where they might qualify for citizenship. So while your residency is safely established, you may not qualify for citizenship. \n\nIn your particular case, that is a pretty large absence. However, if you can demonstrate regular residence over the previous 7 years overall (look at section 5), I think discretion will likely be in your favor. From your description, especially as you were able to qualify for PR, it looks good. \n\nKeep in mind though, that this is discretionary. You mention several trips in and out of the UK in this previous year. UK Citizenship is not in any way tied to EU anything, and where you've gone is irrelevant. The total number of days absent/present in the UK during the various qualifying periods will be considered on their face value alone. If you were hoping for otherwise, that simply will not be the case.\n\nAdditional comments (response):\n\n\nThere are many departments in the Home Office agency. One department handles all visas. Another separate department handles citizenship applications. They are independent of each other by design.\nWhile it may be true that there are similar residency requirements, that doesn't mean that UK applies the same leniency with how to deal with excessive absences. The ILR/PR department will forgive some things, according to its own guidelines, that the citizenship department won't according to its guidelines. And vice versa. One notable difference is that you can lose ILR/PR after excessive absence (normally 2 years). You will never lose citizenship due to absence of any kind once it's acquired.\nPermanent residence is one specific requirement to qualify for citizenship. Separately, there are also requirements for actual presence in the country. Separately, there are also requirements for good character, a clean immigration history, etc... It is entirely possible to be a permanent resident for the entirety of your life and never qualify for citizenship because of any one of these conditions never being met. Heck there are many citizens who would probably never qualify for ILR/PR! They are separate things.\nAgain ILR/PR is merely one qualifier. There are others. Each qualifying point is considered, they are all taken together, and that's it. Where there is discretion possible, it is taken into consideration. You either qualify or you don't. What the ILR/PR folks might forgive, the citizenship folk will not even consider. They are very different relationships to the UK government. Citizenship is priviledge that the UK may bestow by any means it sees fit, or not at all. I know that some would like for this not to be true or perhaps be different (more subject to their own particular circumstances), but it is what it is.", "In classical Latin, town names wanted the original case-only form.\nSo we usually find passages like Caesar, BC, 1, 24, 1:\n\n\n Pompeius Luceria proficiscitur Canusium\n\n\nPrepositions could also be used, though, usually to increase precision, that is to clearly distinguish between movement towards place, movement from place, or stasis. Confusion happened, for example, because the locative for 3rd decl. and 1/2nd plural decl. was identical to the ablative: so stasis, which wanted the simple locative, was often identical to movement from place, which wanted the simple ablative. \n\nBy using the preposition instead they could not only clearly distinguish between the three main categories of place, they could also give different nuances depending of the particular preposition they used (yes, I am in this city with my army: but just ante or circum with my army? or I'm already intra?), just like they already did with generic names of place (oppidum).\n\nThis shift to prepositions already happened in Old Latin, such as in Plautus, Ep. 53:\n\n\n apud Thebas\n\n\nBut it became increasingly mainstream following on the same path that lead Latin to lose its case system: the main cause of which was most probably this same need for clarity (disambiguation: is it locative or ablative? locative or accusative? accusative of what? and so on) and precision.\n\nAt the times of Suetonius and Tacitus the use of the simple case-only form was already reduced to \"a literary elegantia that everyday language sacrificed to clarity\" (Ernout-Thomas, Syntaxe Latine, par. 131 – this is the best book on historical syntax of Latin, by the way) by using prepositions.\n\nBy the way, in Old and Classical Latin you could also frequently find a preposition with names of Greek towns (Plautus uses both in Epheso and Ephesi): this was a direct influx from the Greek expression, which used the preposition.", "I believe the specific coin the article is referring to is the Egyptian Gold Double Eagle.\n\nI believe the treaty your article refers to might possibly be one we had with Egypt during the 1940's (although I couldn't say which one). It's poorly written as it is on Wikipedia however, which is probably why there is a [citation needed] tag next to it.\n\nWhen FDR issued Executive Order 6102 banning private ownership of gold in 1933, the gold Double Eagle coins of that year had already been minted, but not circulated yet. All but two of the uncirculated coins were ordered destroyed (the two exemptions were to be sent to the Smithsonian Institute where they remain today), but at least 20 of those coins are now known to have been stolen from the Mint. Because they were never circulated, they remain the property of the U.S. government and being in possession of stolen property is illegal pretty much everywhere.\n\nIn 1944, one of the stolen coins wound up in the hands of King Farouk of Egypt, who had purchased it at an auction. Neither he nor the Treasury Department knew at the time that the coins had been stolen. King Farouk applied in good faith for an export license as per U.S. law. This might be where a treaty provision would apply if there were a treaty covering this. In either case, the Treasury granted the license before they fully understood what he had. The license was granted in error.\n\nThe government tried to get the coin back, but WWII was being fought in northern Africa at the time and things were a bit chaotic. Then in 1952, King Farouk was deposed by a coup d'etat and much of his rare antiquities collection was lost, including the coin.\n\nIn 1996, a 1933 gold Double Eagle surfaced at a New York auction by a British coin dealer. He was arrested by the Secret Service and the coin was seized. The dealer claimed that it was the Egyptian coin he had, and that it was legally exported to King Farouk. The Treasury Department could not prove his story one way or the other (since every coin is identical), so the charges against him were dropped. But the Secret Service kept the coin and the dealer sued the U.S. government to get it back.\n\nA settlement was reached in 2001 where the two parties agreed that the coin was U.S. property but would be monetized (making it officially legal tender) so it could be sold at auction. The proceeds were to be split between the Treasury and the coin dealer. Within minutes, the coin was sold for $7.5 million USD to an anonymous buyer -- the highest price ever paid for a rare coin.\n\nSo the lesson here is that there was no \"interference\" by any foreign government regarding the legality of the coin, and no treaty arrangement that makes it legal today. The fact that this one and only specimen is legal tender results from a settlement reached by a U.S. court. It (and only it) is therefore legal to own, and should it surface in some other country (hopefully with authentication documents intact), that country is under no obligation to seize it or arrest the person who has it.", "We all come in contact with a special case of this distribution when going Bernoulli $\\rightarrow$ Geometric distribution. \n\nThe Bernoulli distribution is the realization of an event $X_k=1$ with $\\Pr(X_k=1)=\\theta$. The Geometric distribution $Y$ is the realization of $y-1$ non-events and $1$ event, all iid trials i.e \n\n$$\\Pr(Y= y)=\\Pr(X_1=\\ldots X_{y-1}=0\\cap X_y=1)$$\n\nThis should be enough of a hint. \n\nedit2: after @Glen_b's comment\n\nIn general, any positive random variable $Y$ and in particular the discrete ones (Poisson, Geometric, Rayleigh, Weibull) can be seen as a sequence of independent (but not identically) distributed Bernoulli trials, a sequence of non-events followed by an event. Set $\\Pr(X_t=1)=\\theta_t$ and see that\n\n$$\\Pr(Y=y)=\\theta_y\\prod_{t=1}^{y-1}(1-\\theta_t)$$\n\nSidenote\n\nTo factor any positive distribution $T\\in[0,\\infty)$ we can write its survival function as $S(t)=1-F(t)=e^{-\\Lambda(t)}$ where \n\\begin{align}\n\\Lambda(0)&amp;=0\\\\\n\\Lambda(\\infty)&amp;=\\infty\\\\\n\\frac{d}{dt}\\Lambda(t)&amp;=\\lambda(t)\\geq 0\\\\\n\\end{align}\n\nAnd note that the probability of event within $s$ steps from $t$ is\n\n\\begin{align}\nF(t,s)&amp;=Pr(T\\leq t+s|T&gt;t) \\\\\n&amp;=\\frac{\\Pr(T\\in[t,t+s))}{Pr(T&gt;t)}\\\\ \n&amp;=\\frac{S(t)-S(t+s)}{S(t)} \\\\\n&amp;= 1-e^{-(\\Lambda(t+s)-\\Lambda(t))}=1-e^{-R(t,s)}\n\\end{align}\n\nThis is called the Conditional Excess Cumulative Distribution Function. In particular, using a steplength of $1$ we have $R(t,1)=d(t)$ and we may write \n\\begin{align}\n\\theta_t&amp;=1-e^{-d(t)}\\\\\n\\Pr(T\\in[y,y+1))&amp;=\\theta_y\\prod_{t=1}^{y-1}(1-\\theta_t)= e^{-d(y)}-e^{-d(y+1)}\n\\end{align}", "It is unclear from your question what do you mean by &quot;separated from the state&quot;.\nIn fact European history knows only one theocratic state - the area under direct papal control centered in Rome, known at different periods as Papal states or Vatican.\nThe rulers of all other European states were secular persons.\nStill the laws of many European states empathized Christianity as the state religion or Christian god as the source of power.\nIn all European states the church performed some duties that now viewed as the duty of state. For example, the registration of births and marriages. But among population of different confessions these duties were performed by different religious bodies. For example, births and marriages among Jews were registered by Jewish religious organizations.\nI will list some events that may be relevant to your question.\n\nIn the years 1103 to 1075 there was a dispute between the Pope and some of European monarchs, notably, the Holy Roman Emperor over who has the right to appoint church officials such as bishops. Traditionally they were appointed by the emperors but the dispute led to the outcome that this power was limited.\nThis event can be seen as making local church hierarchy somewhat independent from the monarch.\nThe political struggle between sovereign monarchs and the church lasted for many centuries with monarchs either trying to limit the Church power, or to take control over church themselves as it happened in Britain and Russia.\n\nIn 1144 the population of Rome revolted in an attempt to establish a secular government, known as Roman Commune. The revolutionaries expelled Pope and declared allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.\n\nAs a result of Protestant reformation and the Thirty Years War it became impossible for many states to maintain allegiance to a single confession. In many countries the laws were modified so to reflect the multiconfessional character of the population. This mostly touched the Holy Roman Empire.\n\nThe Great French Revolution of 1789–1799 was marked with boldly anti-Catholic character. Started with removing the church privileges and trying to subordinate the church to the state (as opposed to separate) by making all clergy the state employees it proceeded to an attempt to replace Christianity with some secular cults. This somehow followed the way of reforms by Peter the Great in Russia who abolished the patriarchal chair and made the Church essentially a state ministry by putting a secular ober-procurator in the head of the church.\n\nThomas Jefferson of the United States in a private letter for the first time declared that the church should be separated from the state in 1802 but this declaration had no legal force. Still some US courts later cited this letter in the rulings.\n\nFrance in 1905 declared the state separated from the church by law.\n\nThe Russian revolution of 1917 followed the case by declaring the church separated from the state, essentially rolling back the reforms by Peter I. The patriarchal chair was restored, and the state launched massive atheist propaganda.\n\nIt seems the first state declared officially atheist was Albania, where in 1977 production, distribution and storage of religious literature was made a criminal offense.", "It was definitely ballast as @pluckedkiwi suggested. Many ships provisioning Rome had to carry ballast on their return trips for want of a more profitable cargo. It was usually sand - Rome had a guild of subuarii (lit. \"sandmen\") for this purpose. I have also read volcanic ash being used for reselling at construction sites on the route to make concrete.\n\n\n When emptied of their cargo of grain, the freighters on the major return route to Alexandria from Rome required ballast, and it would have made more sense to fill the hold with pozzolanic ash ballast that could be sold upon arrival, rather than with more-or-less useless sand or river stones.\n \n Brandon, Christopher J., et al. Building for Eternity: the history and technology of Roman concrete engineering in the sea. Oxbow Books, 2014.\n\n\nBuilding rubble were certainly heavy enough to function as ballast, though it seems unlikely to be regularly available in the quantities needed for Rome. That said, in the wake of a disaster it certainly would've been a sensible way to clear the city of debris.", "Others pointed out the dictionary definition of iuvenis, but it would help to have a solid example. In Livy book 21.50, Ti. Sempronius met with Hiero at Syracuse.\n\nstatum deinde insulae et Carthaginiensium conata exposuit pollicitusque est, quo animo priore bello populum Romanum iuvenis adiuvisset, eo senem adiuturum; frumentum vestimentaque sese legionibus consulis sociisque navalibus gratis praeliturum; grande periculum Lilybaeo maritimisque civitatibus esse, et quibusdam volentibus novas res fore.\nHe then described conditions in the island and the attempts made by the Carthaginians, and promised that with the same spirit with which, in his youth, he had helped the Roman People in the former war he would help them now, as an old man, and would furnish corn and clothing gratis to the legions of the consul and the naval allies.\n\nWe don't know exactly when Hiero was born, but it was at least 307. The war in which he was talking about was in 264, when, according to Dio Cassius (fr. Vat. 57) and Zonarius (8.6), he helped the Romans to the chagrin of the Carthaginians during the First Punic War. This would have made him a forty-three year old iuvenis.\nLivy (24.4) also knew how old he was, as he said he was 90 when he died in 215. Even if he was off a few years, that still puts him in or near the 40s as a iuvenis.", "If randomness is in bounds, one rough idea would be to generate a bunch of \"random monotonic signature\" functions and use them to approximate the subset relation (a la Bloom filters). Unfortunately, I don't know how to make this into a practical algorithm, but here are some estimates that don't immediately prove the idea impossible. This is very far from a useful solution, but I'll write it out in case it helps.\n\nAssume for simplicity that the sets are all nearly the same size, say $|S| = s \\pm O(1)$, and that $s = o(u)$. We can assume $1 \\ll s$, otherwise we're done. Define\n$$\\begin{aligned}\nq &amp;= [s/2] \\\\\np &amp;= \\left[\\frac{u \\choose q}{s \\choose q}\\right]\n\\end{aligned}$$\nNote that $p \\gg 1$.\n\nHere is the wildly impractical part. Randomly choose $p$ subsets $A_1, \\ldots, A_p \\subset U$ with replacement, each of size $q$, and define a function $f : 2^U \\to \\{0,1\\}$ by $f(S) = 1$ iff $A_i \\subset S$ for some $i$. With $S$ fixed and $A_i,f$ varying randomly, we have\n$$\\begin{aligned}\n\\Pr(f(S) = 0) &amp;= \\Pr(\\forall i. A_i \\not\\subset S) \\\\\n &amp;= \\Pr(A_1 \\not\\subset S)^p \\\\\n &amp;= \\left(1 - {s \\choose q}/{u \\choose q}\\right)^p \\\\\n &amp;= e^{-\\Theta(1)}\n\\end{aligned} $$\nSince $f(S)$ is monotonic, $S \\subset T$ implies $f(S) \\le f(T)$. If $T \\not\\subset S$, fix some $t \\in T-S$. The probability that $f$ detects $T \\not\\subset S$ is\n$$\\begin{aligned}\n\\Pr(f(S) = 0 &lt; 1 = f(T)) &amp;= \\Pr(f(S) = 0) \\Pr(f(T) = 1 | f(S) = 0) \\\\\n&amp;= e^{-\\Theta(1)} \\Pr(\\exists i. A_i \\subset T, A_i \\cap T-S \\ne 0 | f(S) = 0) \\\\\n&amp;= e^{-\\Theta(1)} \\Pr(\\exists i. t \\in A_i \\subset T | f(S) = 0) \\\\\n&amp;\\le e^{-\\Theta(1)} \\Pr(\\exists i. t \\in A_i \\subset T) \\\\\n&amp;\\approx e^{-\\Theta(1)} p \\Pr(t \\in A_1 \\subset T) \\\\\n&amp;\\le e^{-\\Theta(1)} p {s \\choose q-1} / {u \\choose q} \\\\\n&amp;\\approx e^{-\\Theta(1)} p \\frac{q}{s-q} {s \\choose q} / {u \\choose q} \\\\\n&amp;= e^{-\\Theta(1)}\n\\end{aligned}$$\nSome of those steps are pretty tenuous, but I don't have time to improve them tonight. In any case, if they all hold, then at least it's not clearly impossible to randomly generate signature functions that have reasonable likelihood of distinguishing subsets from nonsubsets. A logarithmic number of such functions would then distinguish all pairs correctly. If generating a signature function $f$ and computing $f(S)$ could be reduced to $\\tilde{O}(n+u)$ time, the result would be an overall $\\tilde{O}(n^2+u^2)$ algorithm.\n\nEven if the above calculations are correct, I have no idea how to generate monotonic signature functions with the desired features quickly. It's also likely that this technique doesn't extend to significantly different set sizes.", "In Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach, Michael Lipka offers the following explanation:\n\n\n Under the Empire, the focal force of the traditional foci of the traditional Republican cults disappeared. One indication of this disappearance is the well-known scarcity of references to the traditional flamines in imperial sources. Even if we grant that these flamines, especially the flamines minores, may have been indifferent towards mentioning their priesthood in the inscriptions, or may rather have been interested in mentioning it in a different guise (because the flaminates themselves had no longer 'communicable prestigious potential'), this would only serve to prove that they had ceased to be significant personal foci of the deity. This may have happened because the cult itself was in decline, or because the traditional focalization of the cult through the flamines had been abandoned or shifted elsewhere. Those flamines who were attested, may well owe their attestation to a certain popularity of the feriae of the god they represented, but statistics are too limited for further conclusions, although it is a fair guess to say that some flaminates existed until at least the beginning of the second century A.D.\n\n\nThis indicates that the flamines had fallen by an even greater extent during the time of the Roman Empire, after the Republic. Some of the reasoning expressed here could be applied during the Republican period.\n\nWikipedia has another explanation (uncited):\n\n\n The flamines minores seem mostly connected to agriculture or local cults. The change to an urban way of life may explain why these deities lost their importance or fell into oblivion.\n\n\nOne more explanation is given in A commentary on Cicero's oration De haruspicum responso, by John O. Lenaghan:\n\n\n It is also quite probable that all or many of the posts of the flamines minores were vacant at the end of the Republic, simply because they involved too many ritual observances and sanctions to be worthwhile.\n\n\nThis last theory seems to be one of the more sound.", "Would he have been aware of the role as defined today by Catholicism?\n\n\nI'm not an expert in Church history. But as far as I know, one of the problems that lead to the great schism in 1054 was that the bishop of Rome saw himself as leading bishop of the Church while the eastern bishops were claiming that the bishop of Rome never had more power than the other bishops.\n\nIf I understand the information in the article about that schism in the German Wikipedia correctly, this difference was caused by changes in the former western part of the Roman empire.\n\nIf my understanding is correct, this would mean that the western bishops (which includes the one of Rome) had the same opinion than the eastern ones before those changes took place.\n\nIn other words: Before those changes (beginning with the split of the empire in the year 395) the bishop of Rome would have shared the opinion of the eastern bishops: He would have claimed that he does not have any special role.\n\n\n ... the \"vicar\" of Christ ...\n\n\nAccording to the sermon held by a priest in the parish I was living some years ago, it was some pope in the renaissance (this is only about 500 years ago) who claimed that he had this title.\n\nThe priest also said that the Church denies that any pope ever legitimately had this title - at least in the way it was understood by that renaissance pope. All of this predates Linus.", "Taken from here\n\nTo qualify for naturalisation as a British national you need to have at least one year with permanent residence, i.e. 5 years to get PR plus 1 >with PR = 6 to qualify.\n\nPlease see this link:\n\nhttps://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen/check-if-you-can-apply\n\nOne of the requirements is that you:\n\n\n · “had indefinite leave to stay in the UK for the last 12 months (or permanent residence if you’re an EEA national)”\n\n\nIf you want to be more precise go can see the Schedule 1 (2) (c ) of the BNA1981 which says:\n\n\n (c)that he was not at any time in the period of twelve months so ending subject under the immigration laws to any restriction on the period for >which he might remain in the United Kingdom;\n\n\nhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61\n\nSometimes the info is very confusing but you need 12 months with PR to qualify.\nYou need to apply for Permanent Residentship (5 years required) first and then after a year for Citizenship.\n\nIn regards to proving your 5 years:\n\nOne form that is accepted is letters from employers, educational establishments or other Government Departments indicating your presence in the United Kingdom during the last five years. \n\nIf you were employed, letters from your employer. If not, letters from Department of Work and Pensions stating you were receiving benefits. \n\nYou also should have registered (1k fine if you didn't) on the electoral roll in your council.\n(This one I am not 100% sure about, but I have heard people talk that it's also acceptable, which makes it easier than finding all P45s and going through all employers that might gone bust in those 5 years...) \n\nMore info in this guide", "It will be a challenge because $\\rho(\\mathbf{s})$ is the mass density of Earth at each point $\\mathbf{s}$ and that's only available theoretically, by watching certain satellite orbits and deducing the geopotential coefficients and from those modeling $\\rho(\\mathbf{s})$, the backwards procedure of what you are talking about.\nSo unless you have $\\rho(\\mathbf{s})$ handy I don't think it's possible to roll your own.\n\nTo summarize, are $J_2$, $J_3$, etc. empirical or not?\n\nYes, GM, $J_2$, $J_3$, etc. are all empirically derived from satellite orbits.\nEven careful monitoring of the precession (like this) of the very earliest artificial satellites like Sputnik and Vanguard were used as the first measurements of Earth's $J_2$. Those were really exciting times for geophysicists!\nBefore artificial satellites, $J_2$ could be estimated from Earth's measured oblateness from large scale geographic surveys and from models based on the equilibrium shape of a ball of fluid like this.\n Source\n\nInternational Geophysical Year\n\n\nSome of the early papers seem to be calculating values from satellite orbits\n\nI would guess that all of them are doing that, and sixty years later this is still how people are doing it, to Earth, and to other solar system bodies.\nFurther reading:\n\nWhat is the Fischer 1960 Mercury Ellipsoid, and why is it called that?\nGRACE\nGOCE", "I found another hint in 'Histoire du dimanche: de 1700 à nos jours' by Robert Beck (page 154):\n\nLe surplus en travail que provoque le rythme décadaire, pourrait également constituer une raison du rejet dont le nouveau temps est la victime. [...] Les instigateur des lois sur l'observation des décadis de l'an VI prennent d'ailleurs en considération cette dimension de la question en accordant un repos supplémentaire l'après midi du quintidi.\n\nEnglish translation (originally Google Translate; now copied from comments):\n\nThe excess work imposed by the ten-day rhythm could also be a reason for rejection, to which the 'new time' fell victim. [...] The legislators on the observance of the decadi of Year VI took this dimension of the question into consideration by granting extra rest on the afternoon of the quintidi.\n\nThe overall message is that the people didn't like the new calendar, because it had less free time for them. This was noted by the officials, and they added an additional half free day on quintidis.", "Erma Bombeck began writing for a local paper in 1964. Her editor sent some samples of her column, \"At Wit´s End\", to the Newsday newspaper syndicate and..\n\n\n Three weeks after her first column appeared in the Dayton Journal-Herald, Erma signed a short-term contract with Newsday.\n\n\nHer popularity grew quite rapidly and by the end of 1965,\n\n\n Thirty-eight papers were buying her 400-500 word columns by the end of the first year. Five years later \"At Wit's End\" was a staple in 500.\n\n\nIn 1967 she published a compilation of her columns, called by the same name, \"At Wit´s End\". \n\n\n In 1969, she was asked to provide a monthly column -- \"Up the Wall\" -- for Good Housekeeping magazine, a service she continued for six years. Periodically she wrote for other magazines, including Reader's Digest, Family Circle, Redbook, McCall's and even Teen.\n\n\nI still remember some of her household hints such as:\n\n\n \"to see if the spaghetti is cooked, throw some at the wall over the stove; if it sticks, it is done. If it isn´t, it will fall down behind where no one will ever see it anyway.\"\n\n\nBy the beginning of the 1970s, she was widely quoted and admired, and remains an inspiration to many aspiring writers.\n\nSource", "Perhaps it is to convey that the laws of forbidden unions are essential to man from his very beginning and that the exception was for pragmatic reasons only. The concept of the prohibition, however, still existed. (Had the prohibition started later, that might have suggested that the law was not as fundamental as the other laws and was limited to a specific period of time.)", "Forty years ago, a 7MB file would be unheard of, at least in contexts where floppies would be the only available means of transferring it. (Tapes were commonly used for large transfers on minis and mainframes.)\n\nIn slightly more recent times (even thirty-odd years ago, and then as long as floppies were still useful), we used archiving tools with support for splitting archives over multiple floppies (on the PC, ARJ was particularly good at this, PKZIP not so much; tar and cpio deal with this too), or one of the numerous splitting utilities. In the latter case restoring the file at the other end was as easy as COPY PART1+PART2+PART3 FILE /B under DOS...\n\nI remember in extreme cases splitting a large file, and using a single floppy shuttled back and forth to get all the parts across to another computer!\n\nAs others have mentioned, micro computer users could also have transferred files over null-modem serial or parallel cables, using tools such as LapLink or uucp, and some could have used their network (which was probably more common in schools and universities than in offices until the 90s).", "In my experience, many FamilySearch baptism records for England and Wales are based on Bishops Transcripts rather than the original Parish Registers (although Parish registers of St. Mary Cray, 1579-1916 suggests they used the PRs in this instance), so there are three possible sources of transcription errors: \n\n\nby the incumbent of the parish, when he prepared his Transcripts for the Bishop\nby the OPC, when transcribing either the original PRs or the BTs\nby FamilySearch, when transcribing the source which they used (be it PRs or BTS)\n\n\nYou should contact both FamilySearch and the OPC to understand which source they have transcribed and if possible get an image of it or ask for the transcription to be checked. If both BTs and PRs are available, the PR should be the most accurate (but is not guaranteed to be correct -- after all, it may have been filled on some time after the event when the incumbent's memory had faded and he couldn't read the scrappy note he found in his pocket with the details).\n\nThis does illustrate the importance of consulting original sources wherever possible, rather than relying on derivatives such as indexes/transcriptions (whenever they were produced).", "I am not sure that I interpret correctly the data from Wikipedia, but Di Rupo's government included members from six parties:\n\n\nFlemish side: CD&amp;V, Open Vld, sp.a\nFrench side: PS, MR, cdH\n\n\nAs a side note, negotiations were so complicated that they took about one and half years, most probably due to very fragmented political landscape that resulted from the elections.", "Nobody knows.\nHistorians debate this, as what surviving Latin documents we have are either ambiguous; or presuppose knowledge which has been lost over time; or both.\nBeyond the broad layout as (depending on period) cohorts, maniples, and centuries, in lines of hastati, principes and triarii in the earlier period, we know little beyond Caesar choosing to &quot;thin&quot; his line at Pharsalus to avoid being overlapped.\n\nAt the same time, having noticed the arrangements mentioned above, fearing lest his right wing should be surrounded by the multitude of cavalry, [Caesar] hastily withdrew individual cohorts from the third line and out of these constructed a fourth line, stationing it opposite the cavalry, explaining what his object was and reminding them that the day's victory depended on the valour of these cohorts.\n\nReading this, it's even unclear to me how &quot;from the third line&quot; should be interpreted. The preceding but one sentence has just described three wings in left, right, and centre, and he now describes the ad hoc formation of what is clearly a fourth wing, refused on his right to counter Pompeius' cavalry opposite. The next sentence muddies further, rather than clarifying:\n\nAt the same time he commanded the third line and the whole army not to join battle without orders from himself, saying that when he wished this to be done he would give the signal with a flag.\n\nWhy is the third line being emphasized here? Perhaps the original Latin helps - but more likely, to me, is that the translator has attempted to interpret as best possible. The constant, apparent at least, conflation of wings with lines clearly presupposes basic understanding of terminology and practice lost to time.", "You're right that it's a gerundive of obligation, and thus requires a form of esse. However, it doesn't have to be expressed. Tacitus Annals 1.29 contains two without esse, though they're in indirect statements:\n\n\n certatum inde sententiis, cum alii opperiendos legatos atque interim comitate permulcendum militem censerent, alii fortioribus remediis agendum: nihil in vulgo modicum; terrere ni paveant, ubi pertimuerint inpune contemni: dum superstitio urgeat, adiciendos ex duce metus sublatis seditionis auctoribus. promptum ad asperiora ingenium Druso erat: vocatos Vibulenum et Percennium interfici iubet. tradunt plerique intra tabernaculum ducis obrutos, alii corpora extra vallum abiecta ostentui.\n\n\nThis commentary agrees with this position." ]

[ "Is there a readily available 3D CAD of a tuned whistle/pitch pipe (note A = 442 Hz) which I could use to tune my violin?" ]

[ "Can you tune a tenor ukelele like a baritone ukelele?", "Why is 432 Hz better than 440 Hz?", "How am I supposed to tune a acoustic guitar?", "How difficult is it to learn the violin?", "What should I look for when buying a violin?", "How can I learn to whistle loudly?", "Could you list the pros and cons of electric, acoustic and electric acoustic violins.?", "How do I draw a 3D sketch?", "Can I learn to play the violin on my own?", "What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle?", "What are the specifications one should check on buying a violin?", "Which guitar tuning is the best?", "What are the coolest guitar tunings?", "It is hard to learn to play the violin?", "What is the Algorithm used for 3D Printing?", "How do I sing high note easily?", "Which clarinet mouthpiece should I buy?", "Why is antenna tuning important?", "Is the song \"Can't Help Falling In Love\" the same tune as \"Eres Tu\"?", "How do I construct a parallellogram 3rd model?", "What part of a song is written first, the tune or the lyrics?", "How do I visualize a complex exponential function?", "Did life originate thanks to optimally fine tuned conditions, or was it shaped by whatever conditions existed?", "How do I pitch my book as a movie?", "What are the best online resources to learn violin?", "How do I determine the front and back pitch of a wave winding of a DC machine?", "How can I sell or pitch my idea?", "How do I code downsampling of signals using Octave or MATLAB?", "What are the best online tutorials for beginner violin players?", "Which app can I use to lock gallery and messages in My Samsung Note 6?", "Resonance or FIITJEE: Which is better? Why?", "Venture and Investor Pitches: How do I sell my product idea?" ]

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[ "Excalibur Hotel and Casino is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, in the United States. ... A free tram connects Excalibur to its sister MGM Resorts International properties to the south, Luxor and Mandalay Bay.", "['Nov. Las Vegas, NV, US. Donny & Marie Showroom at Flamingo Las Vegas.', 'Nov. Las Vegas, NV, US. Donny & Marie Showroom at Flamingo Las Vegas.', 'Nov. Las Vegas, NV, US. Donny & Marie Showroom at Flamingo Las Vegas.']", "Wynn keeps a pool open all year, as does MGM and I believe Bellagio and Mandalay Bay. But check for sure, things change often in Las Vegas. ... MGM, Mandalay, Luxor, NYNY, MonteCarlo, Paris, Mirage, TI, CAesars all have a pool open, unless snow or rain or storms.", "Bally's Las Vegas. ... Bally's Las Vegas (formerly MGM Grand Hotel and Casino) is a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation.", "['SSI Las Vegas.', 'Apply for Disability in Nevada.', 'Provide an SSI Lawyer or Social Security Attorney Las Vegas.']", "Las Vegas Aviators. The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.", "Cloud of Goods Las Vegas offers many types of Wheelchair rentals ranging from Standard wheelchairs to Ultralight wheelchairs. All Las Vegas Wheelchair Rentals are delivered to your Las Vegas casino, vacation rental, hotel, resort, vegas shows, or LAS Airport.", "Conference: October 11-14, 2020. Expo: October 12-14, 2020. Las Vegas Convention Center| Las Vegas.", "Donny and Marie Osmond to retire Las Vegas show. LAS VEGAS, March 21, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — Internationally known singing siblings Donny and Marie Osmond announced Thursday that they will end their Las Vegas show.", "XS is located at 3131 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109 inside the Wynn/Encore.", "SLS Las Vegas Hotel details: The SLS Hotel and Casino Las Vegas (once in the past Sahara Hotel and Casino) is an inn and gambling club situated on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. ... This stylish hotel on the Strip is 1 mile from the Las Vegas Convention Center and 3 miles from the Fremont Street Experience.", "The Las Vegas area is home to approximately two-thirds of all of the state's opportunity zones. The southernmost part of the Las Vegas Strip, the McCarran International Airport, and the site of the new Las Vegas Raiders football stadium are all located in opportunity zones.", "Depending on what you want to do in Las Vegas, you should plan on a per person daily budget between $100 – $500, with $243 being the average daily cost per person. The amount of spending money you take to Las Vegas will depend on what you plan to do.", "Encore Las Vegas (also called Encore at Wynn Las Vegas; often just called Encore) is a luxury resort, casino and hotel located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The resort is connected to its sister resort, Wynn Las Vegas; both are owned by Wynn Resorts and located on the site of the old Desert Inn Resort.", "Hainan's Beijing flights will give Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport its first-ever regularly scheduled nonstop route to mainland China, a destination that accounts for one of the fastest-growing segment of visitors to Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.", "Where Las Vegas Resort Fees Started. Las Vegas resort fees started with Station Casinos in 2004. The company specializes in the Las Vegas locals' market and owns some large resorts frequented by tourists, mostly from California.", "How much does car shipping cost in Las Vegas? Car shipping in Las Vegas costs between $500 and $1,200.", "'Live with Kelly and Ryan' is coming to Las Vegas Strip “Live With Kelly and Ryan” is headed to Las Vegas for four days' worth of shows. The episodes, hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, will only be live, though, for fans inside Paris Las Vegas.", "Flights from Las Vegas (LAS) to Orange County/Santa Ana (SNA) Book cheap flights from Las Vegas to Orange County/Santa Ana with Southwest Airlines®.", "The Silver and Black's affiliation has formally changed: They are now the Las Vegas Raiders. We all knew that was going to happen. The team applied for relocation to Las Vegas and the league approved it with a 31-1 vote back in March 2017. ... 22, 2020, we are now the Las Vegas Raiders.", "Residential short-term rentals are illegal in unincorporated Clark County and North Las Vegas, while Henderson and Las Vegas allow them with restrictions. ...", "Bally's Las Vegas (formerly MGM Grand Hotel and Casino) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment.", "Reservation. The Las Vegas Paiute Tribe has a reservation, the Las Vegas Indian Colony, at 36°21′02″N 115°20′27″W in Clark County adjacent to the northwest corner of Las Vegas. The reservation was first established in 1911 and today is 3,850 acres (1,560 ha) large.", "Human Characteristics Las Vegas is a very rich city with alot of louis vutton, Gucci and much more. The food is all the expensive steaks and french food . The population in Las Vegas is 603,448 and growing. In Las Vegas English is spoken for the most part but the second language is Spanish.", "On Jan. 22, 2020, we are now the Las Vegas Raiders. And today, Las Vegas becomes our nation's capital.\" The Raiders formally will move to Las Vegas after training camp in Napa, when their new training facility in nearby Henderson, Nev. will be complete.", "Market temperature The median list price per square foot in Las Vegas is $171, which is lower than the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise Metro average of $172. The median price of homes currently listed in Las Vegas is $300,000 while the median price of homes that sold is $284,700.", "There is no Las Vegas in California. The one in Nevada is the one known throughout the world as a destination for entertainment, cuisine, and, of course, gambling. ... No city named Las Vegas in California.", "How far are you from the Vegas Strip? The resort is located approximately 25 minutes from the middle of the Strip and 20 minutes from Downtown Vegas. Is it always windy at the Las Vegas Paiute? No, the wind is not exclusive to that Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort.", "Day N Vegas - Nov 1-3, 2019 - Las Vegas Festival Grounds.", "Without much support from their families, Zack and Kelly had planned to get married in Las Vegas in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. ... They told Zack and Kelly that they would give them the wedding of their dreams. A few days later, Zack and Kelly had an elaborate outdoor wedding in the Las Vegas area.", "The average residential electricity rate in Las Vegas is 12.15¢/kWh. This average (residential) electricity rate in Las Vegas is 2.7% greater than the Nevada average rate of 11.83¢/kWh. The average (residential) electricity rate in Las Vegas is 2.27% greater than the national average rate of 11.88¢/kWh.", "SEE THE SEASON 14 WINNER IN LAS VEGAS! Unbeatable, singing group the Detroit Youth Choir, comedian Ryan Niemiller and violinist Tyler Butler-Figueroa in Las Vegas from November 7 through November 10 at Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. Get your tickets now at AGTVegas.com!" ]

[ "Although this is borderline \"off-topic\" for the site, there is perhaps a simple answer:\n\nWhy not use a webgl approach such as this one?\nhttp://learningwebgl.com/lessons/lesson11/index.html\n(parent page here: http://learningwebgl.com/blog/?p=1253)\n\nJust rotate the image of the moon around until you have one of the poles visible and you'll see the typical artefacts you get with mapping a rectangle to a sphere.\nThough I've not tried, you could probably modify the code (use, say, \"view page source\" to read it, or save a local copy and edit) to load whatever texture your heart desired." ]

[ "I'm not entirely sure if I understood the question, but it seems like you want to implement environment map illumination in your ray tracer (you seem to be thinking in real-time, though). I will approach the general solution for offline renderers without assuming anything about the scene except the environment sphere.\n\nThis is generally done by considering your environment as a light source. Let's say that you use a sphere with a radius big enough to contain your scene. Then, you sample it as you would sample an area light source. You can think of this sphere as a textured light source.\n\nThe contribution of the direct lighting on the radiance leaving a point $x$ on the direction $\\Theta$ would be:\n$$\nL_{\\text{direct}}(x \\rightarrow \\Theta) = L_{\\text{lights}}(x \\rightarrow \\Theta) + L_{\\text{env}}(x \\rightarrow \\Theta)\n$$\n\nWhere the environment map contribution is:\n\n$$\nL_{\\text{env}}(x \\rightarrow \\Theta) = {\\int_{\\Omega_x} L_{\\text{tex}}}(x \\leftarrow \\Psi)f_r(x, \\Theta \\leftrightarrow \\Psi)V(x, \\Psi) \\cos(\\Psi, N_x)\\, d\\omega_{\\Psi} \\qquad (1)\n$$\n\nNote that, here, $\\Psi$ are directions to the sphere, $V(x, \\Psi) = 1$ if and only if the sphere is visible from that direction and $V(x, \\Psi) = 0$ otherwise, $f_r$ is the BRDF and $L_{\\text{tex}}$ is the color on the texture. \n\nDirections $\\Psi$ can be generated with a parameterization of the sphere. If you want something simple, then this is enough, just treat it as a textured area light and emit whatever color is on the texture on the sampled point. If you want something more elaborate, consider the rest of the text.\n\nWith this said, environment mapping can be inefficient if not implemented with care. \n\nAlso, I am assuming you only implemented area lights that emit uniformly, so it was okay to sample its area uniformly. However, it is clear that the sphere is a light source where some parts contribute more than others since the colors vary on the texture. This, combined with the fact that the sphere occupies the entire solid angle around a point (instead of the hemisphere that you usually sample), skyrockets the variance of the estimator of $(1)$. The visibility term $V(x, \\Psi)$ further complicates things regarding variance, depending on your scene (if it very exposed or not).\n\nIn order to sample and estimate $(1)$, you have to consider:\n\nParameterization of the sphere: You need to decide how to parameterize your sphere. You need to have a space where you can generate random points and map to a point on the sphere to get a direction $\\Psi$ and the color from the texture. You can just use typical the latitude-longitude parameterization. \n\nFor more elaborate, better distributed parameterizations: paraboloid parameterization [page 4]; concentric-map parameterization.\n\nPDF $p(\\Psi)$ used for sampling the sphere: It is possible to reduce the variance that I mentioned earlier. You can importance sample only using the term $\\cos(\\Psi, N_x)$ (i.e. cosine lobe sampling), but even so it is possible to do better than that. If the BRDF $f_r$ is simple, you can sample the product of the BRDF with $\\cos(\\Psi, N_x)$.\n\nThere are other methods. In [Kollig, Keller; 03] a PDF is built from the 2D array of the texture itself. This way, it is possible to get more samples from directions from where the map contributes more. A PDF from the product of this with the BRDF would yield the best results considering a compromise between the sampling cost and actual variance reduction.\n\nFor a more elaborate and adaptive solution, check [Agarwal et. al, 03].", "This problem may be related to mipmapping. The pixels along the edge are being mapped to a much more copressed LOD than the rest of the sphere, so the entire map is actually being compressed into that line.\n\nYou may try putting in a tex2Dlod call in the shader and forcing the LOD to 0:\n\nreturn tex2Dlod(TextureSampler, float4(u, v, 0, 0));\n\n\nExplanation and possible solution for this over was found on stackoverflow:\nhttps://stackoverflow.com/questions/19723698/sphere-texture-mapping-error", "The answer seems to be &quot;no&quot; for all three. From what I can find, Cirq and PyQuil default to QuTiP for Bloch sphere visualization, and ProjectQ does not have any examples to go off of, nor can I find the functionality in their GitHub.\n\nTensorFlow Quantum, which primarily uses Cirq (since they are both owned by Google), used qutip.Bloch in this binary classification tutorial instead of any Cirq function, implying that Cirq does not have an equivalent.\nRigetti, which owns PyQuil, used qutip.Bloch in this training material instead of any PyQuil function, and in this intro tutorial, implying that PyQuil does not have an equivalent.\nProjectQ does not have any publicly visible Bloch sphere visualization tools in their Github, either. But their software already uses the IBM quantum experience, so I believe they would default to qiskit.plot_bloch_vector.\n\nThese are my findings based on briefly poking around in each of these softwares’ open-source. If there are any Cirq/ProjectQ/PyQuil contributors out there, please correct me if I am wrong.", "Presumably you model the planet as a sphere. You can model the rings as a large quad that intersects the planet sphere (as you described) or as an actual ringed geometry object (with a similar kind of texture).\n\nIn both cases, if the planet is considered an occluding object in any kind of shadow mapping (or other shadow-handling technique that takes into account actual occluder geometry and light source position, that is, not simple \"blob shadows\"), the ring geometry can receive the results of the shadow mapping algorithm and appear in shadow behind the planet.\n\nShadow mapping is quite common, and while beyond the specific scope of your question, you can fairly easily find tutorials online for OpenGL, D3D, XNA and so on to get you started. The topic also comes up quite a bit on this site itself.", "For computer software, the easiest way to take a sphere (and/or hemisphere) and flatten it into a flat shape (usually a rectangle) is the equi-rectangular projection (also known as the plate carrée), because it has the simplest formula relating pixels and coordinates:\n\n$$x = w \\times \\frac\\lambda{360} + \\frac w2$$\n\n$$y = -h \\times \\frac\\phi{180} + \\frac h2$$\n\nwhere $x$ and $y$ is the pixel point, $w$ and $h$ are the width and height (in pixels) of your map's rectangle, $\\lambda$ is the longitude in degrees and $\\phi$ is the latitude in degrees\n\nThis all assumes that your map puts the 0 longitude, 0 latitude point in the center. In other words, the prime meridian runs down the map's middle vertically and the equator runs down the map's middle horizontally. It also assumes that north and east are positive, while west and south are negative.\n\nNotice that you don't even have to take the sine or cosine of anything. That's why the equi-rectangular projection is so simple. It basically just takes longitude and latitude and makes them $x$/$y$ coordinate with only an offset. The offset comes because, usually in computer programming, the origin is at the top left instead of the center of the screen.\n\nNotice also that I negated the latitude in the $y$ formula, because most computer systems in 2D coordinates have the positive $\\bf y$ direction pointing down. This is opposite of a standard graph in math, where positive $y$ goes up.\n\nIn your case, longitude and latitude will actually be right ascension and declination respectively. They are basically stellar coordinates for the celestial sphere as opposed to ground coordinates for the geode.\n\nThere are many, many other map projections possible, but equi-rectangular is the simplest.\n\nHowever, your question is a little vague because you mentioned a \"virtual 3D world\", yet also asked how much you need to flatten it. If you already have a 3D model of a sphere in your computer graphics, you don't have to flatten it at all. You just draw the 3D model (sphere) with a texture on it. If you want to represent it as a map, then of course you have to flatten it, and equi-rectangular projection is the simplest way.", "Tiling 4D Noise in 2D\nSince Blender has given us 4D procedural noise textures, it's been possible to tile them without distortion in 2D.\nWe can map the given 2D X and Y onto two orthogonal circles in 4-space. As we loop around them, we return to where we started. (It's possible to map the plane onto a 3D torus in the texture's 3 space, but distortions result: the major and minor radii of the torus are either different, giving uneven scaling, or the same, resulting in poles, like mapping onto a sphere. This way, though, leaves the circles entirely independent - it's mapping onto the surface of a Clifford torus, although .. er .. I'm not sure it helps to know that.)\nTiling in Space\nX and Y map to XYZW as shown below.. (the XYZW order doesn't actually matter, any old circles will do). The little division into 2*pi is just to get the tiling period to be logical in Blender units\n\nLooping in Time\nYou can get the noise to loop in time by getting the centers of the circles we created before to go around another circle themselves, taking care not just to do it in X and Y, otherwise the texture would just go round and round in the tile:\n\nTime Period is the repeat interval, Time Amplitude is the amount of shift per frame, and Time is the input that would be driven by some function of the frame number. The result is added to the previously generated XYZW.\nWith another node to scale the texture in the tiles, this is the tree:\n\nAn example of the result, tiled in space and time:\n\nA node group with the described interface is included in the .blend:", "You may be confusing the name of the modifiers, there is no &quot;UV Unwrap&quot; Modifier, there's only a UV Warp and a UV Project modifier.\nUnwrapping, as you already know, is used to provide texture coordinates to an object so Blender knows how to apply a certain texture to the mesh geometry.\nIt is a manual process and sort of &quot;destructive&quot;, in the sense that if you change the object's geometry after unwrapping (through modeling, sculpting or creating new geometry) you may need to adjust your UVMap afterwards or totally unwrap any newly created geometry.\nIt is however the only way to obtain correct texture coordinates for complex shapes. It is also the only type of texture coordinates that can be exported from Blender. If you plan on using the model elsewhere (like a game engine, third party application, or external software) it is required to unwrap your model so image textures can be applied reliably in the destination application.\nApart from that you have &quot;generated&quot; type of texture coordinates like Object or generated, which can't be exported and are generated by the render engine (Cycles or EEVEE) at render time. For many common cases and workflows where manually unwrapping is undesirable or unpractival these will suffice, if you don't require exporting your models.\nFor certain corner cases or specific applications you can use the mentioned modifiers for certain tasks in parallel with unwrapping or in its place, but they are not universal replacements for unwrapping.\nUV Warp Modifier\nThe UV Warp Modifier, added to an already unwrapped object, uses two other objects to modify or manipulate an already existing set of UV coordinates. It may be used when you want an animated texture, want the UVs to somehow react to other objects, or edit UV Maps directly from the 3D view with interactive visual feedback.\n\nUV Project Modifier\nThe UV Project Modifier is used as a replacement for UV unwrapping to generate a UV map as if a certain image was being projected over the mesh from a certain point in 3D space, like a true slide projector. It is often used for video mapping and inserting 3D objects into a real filmed scene.", "Because these are not textures. Textures should really be displayed as simple images, exactly as you suggest.\n\nThese are called materials, which are the texture, a shader, and a whole mess of other inputs such as a normal map.\n\nThese materials react differently based on the direction and intensity of light, so you need different angles and a directional light to get an impression of what the material looks like. Spheres do this better than other trivial shapes. \n\nAn example where this is useful (notice the massive difference in the specular highlight):\n\n\n\nA possible reason to display simple textures as materials is if you want to show what the textures look like, without actually providing the textures. This is useful if you want people to pay for the textures.", "This is by no means specific to aviation charts. Most likely it's simply general property of local maps.\n\nMaps are flat, but earth surface is (approximately) spherical. So to represent ground features on the flat map a projection is needed and this projection can't preserve all relations—angles, distances and areas—precisely. So there are many different projections that distort different properties.\n\nSmall area maps are usually drawn in azimuthal projection with the central point in the centre (or significant point near the centre) of the mapped area. While such projection does not preserve exactly any properties out of the centre, the distortion grows with distance from the centre, so for small areas it's appropriate.\n\nThis however means, that each section uses different projection and that near the edges the maps will be distorted each in a slightly different way. That's why the maps can't be easily laid out to form a bigger map. You would have to lay them out on a sphere.\n\nYou could try using some software for stitching panoramatic photos (here is one such you can use for free). That should be able to apply suitable transformation to make the maps match. At the cost of increasing the distortion.", "The answer is surprisingly simple: You move the vertices of the face-geometry.\n\nTo elaborate, the white wireframe mesh on the left of your image is placed so the geometry aligns with the photo. It is then texture-mapped with the photo, meaning that for each vertex in the mesh, a texture-coordinate is assigned (the point on the photo that should map to the vertex).\n\nWith every vertex assigned a texture-coordinate you can deform the mesh, doing ordinary texture-sampling at the interpolated texture-coordinates to have the image stretch - as if it was painted onto the head.\n\nIf you need to do this in realtime, you can use your graphics-card to do this; texture mapping is one of the things GPUs are really good at.\n\nNow, if you want to do this on a video, you need to track the facial features to continuously align the geometry to the video. This is not an easy task, but you can probably find a wealth of libraries to help you out.\n\nI am a bit uncertain which of the above would be difficult, so please feel free to ask any questions.", "If all you need is a quick and free tool to visualize orbits around earth, websites such as the following might be enough:\nFirst, the very simple orbitalmechanics.info, where you can just ignore the &quot;add launch&quot; option:\n\nAnd then, the more artsy Harmony-of-the-Spheres, which can also visualize some other systems.\n\nMaybe that already helps.", "Have a look at the UV map.\nThe leaf takes a lot of texture UV space but it's fairly small in 3D space. That way it has a lot of details (=compression).\nBut the eyes get very little texture space and are big in 3D space. So they have only little texture details (=stretching).\nA checkerboard texture can visualize this for you. Ideally, the chess patterns should all be the same size.\nYou can try to unwrap again with Smart UV Project (What is the difference between Unwrap and Smart uv project?).\nOr edit the UV map\n\nscale down the leaf in the UV editor (hover mouse over an UV island and press L to select it).\n\nand try menu: UV → Minimize Stretch. The editor will then try to give the eyes more space (hopefully).", "If I blur the whole image and apply the result on the sphere, the white background will bleed onto the sphere shape and I want to avoid that. I also don't want that the blue (3) and yellow (4) sphere merges with the red (1) and green (2) ones. But I would like that the green and red ones merges. Again This could be done using the depth but if you have more precision about how to do it it would be interesting.\n\n\nYou will need to blurr in multiple passes to achieve this:\nonce for the blue and once for the yellow, as well as once for the red and green (together). That is: you need to render to texture, you need three textures in this instance to render to, you need to blur the individual textures and then combine them in another render pass.\nIf you know beforehand that the green and red spheres may blur together, you can just hardcode it, otherwise you need to come up with a way of determining, which spheres may blur together, and group your spheres to render into the same texture.\n\nIf you do this, keep in mind that for combining the three individual blurred textures, you need z-values for correct visibility determination.\n\n\n I would like to blur the content of those 4 spheres using the same offset no mater their position. If I apply the same blur on all objects, far object's content will appear more blurry than ones on the foreground and I want to avoid that. I think that the depth make could help but any precision would help me.\n\n\nYes, you can scale your blur filter with a depth value (where you should \"invert\" the value to make the blurriness scale to larger effects on closer proximities, i.e. smaller depths). For a box filter, you take ratios of the pixels neighbourhoods, but you need to make sure that those ratios add up to one. For this, you'd ideally increase the ratio for the center pixel based on the proximity and reduce the ratio for the neighbouring pixels accordingly.\n\n\n performances and quality : Kawase blur, Box blur and two pass Gaussian blur.\n\n\nAs to performance, I can't say anything about the three. As to quality, the Box Filter is rather simple, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suffice for your specific need. Just test them against each other.", "This is called mipmaping, It looks like you are missing out on mipmaping for your textures. this causes a huge impact on visuals. And when it comes to mipmaping Normals, Specular and other \"information\" textures, it gets quite tricky. \n\nthe reason for this is that when objects gets further away, the gpu has to take this into account and calculate the corresponding texel. So, in practice, it will start skipping bigger pieces of your huge texture because it cant map it to the relative size.\nThe mipmap is the solution to this since the gpu then knows how to handle those faraway pixels since it got a down scaled version of your texture. And now the problem of having textures with information ( Like normals ) is that, when you are scaling down, you are effectively averaging the values of four neighboring pixels. which can cause incorrect values for normals for example. For plain color it´s okay, but not with information.\n\nMy best experiance with this has been to use the DDS plugin for Photoshop that nvidia have made. it´s fully free and REALLY efficient. \n\nThis is the link to DDS plugin\n\nOther than that, you could create some sort of distance function to your shader that knows when you are further away to take a bigger sample area of your water plane.\n\nhere is an link that you can read about mipmaps on wiki, it´s really good explaining on whats going on. MIPMAPING wiki link", "problem #1 is that there are not enough seams. If you can't make the UV islands out of real paper and still be able to wrap it around a real model; then you are going to have problems trying to do this with computer art.\n\nThe texture will be stretched to the point where some parts of it will have a high resolution and some parts may be low enough that all you will see in that area are pixelated artifacts.\n\n\n\nAfter adding a texture, you can change the type for visualization purposes. The texture for the next few steps is a checker texture that allows you to see if the UV's are mapping to the model well.\n\n\n\nIt's a good idea to repeatedly toggle the SubDivide UV's option for the generative modifier to make sure nothing weird is going on here. OpenSubD is supposed to correct this issue but it has not been implemented yet. ;)\n\nAlso, you can toggle the modifiers visibility on and off to look for potential problems that should be corrected.\n\nIn the following .gif animation, there is some minor distortion when the modifier's settings are toggled. \n\n\n\nIf you see any obvious stretching when toggling a Sub-Division modifier, you can sometimes correct this by adding a control loop near the area that is being affected.\nThe following animation shows the difference before and after a control loop is added to the wrist area.\n\n\n\nThe ears have no seams along the sharp edges which flow along a curve. This area will be distorted.\n\n\n\nUv islands should have at least a few pixels between them and if you zoom the UV Image Editor in and out, you should be able to see a clear distinction between the UV Islands for all distances that the model may be viewed at.\nIf the edges appear to be in the same place visually, then texture Mip-Mapping will shows artifacts along the seams when the model is zoomed in and out of the 3D Viewport. \nThe various UV Islands will bleed color into one another at the seams. Normal maps will exaggerate these errors.\n\nA Margin of 0.01 is a good place to start. This factor depends on how many Islands there are and how big the texture is and the models position relative to the view position, scale, etc... \n\n\n\nThere are settings for both Blender Internal and Cycles that must be set when using normal maps. In BI, the Image Sampling Normal Field must be set. In Cycles, the texture node should be changed to Non-Color. The normal map will look broken if you forget this step.\n\n\n\nHere's the final result.(Right-click the image and choose 'View Image' to see the larger version.)\n\n\n\nThe following link shows a turntable animation hosted on Vimeo. (I get an invalid certificate warning from this link. Vimeo should be safe I think?, could be a mistake)\n\nhttps://vimeo.com/123225350 \n\nHere is the .blend file. http://www.pasteall.org/blend/35226\n\nAnd some further reading on the topic. How can I bake textures on uneven goemetry without tearing and stretching", "This question is a bit broad and there really isn't a clear cut path in making textures as there are many different uses for textures (UI textures, UV model textures, seamless textures, etc) all depending on what you're making it for. There are a few common denominators though so I'll go over those.\nDetermine Texture Attributes\nBased on how your texture is being used you'll need decide a few attributes at the start including:\n\nSize - Pick a size based on how closely it will be inspected by the player and the style of the game it's in. Usually has width and height as a power of two, also square (this is a requirement that depends on your engine and implementation of OpenGL)\nSeamlessness - Determine if you need your texture to be seamless for tiling over large faces if it'll be used in things like level design.\nSupporting Files - Determine if it needs a normal map, specular map, other metadata defined to be displayed properly.\n\nMake the albedo\nMost textures start with an albedo. This is just a fancy word for the image that defines your texture. There's three ways you can get an albedo and it depends on your use case.\n\nFind it on the internet - There's specific websites that have textures that you can freely use and download but be weary as images do carry copyright. You can also take an albedo that close to what you want and make it what you want using some image processing.\nMake it yourself - You can draw a texture based on your needs\nTake it yourself - You can take your favorite camera and go outside and take some photos of walls, floors, whatever else you'd like to use. If you plan on doing this there's lots of advice on the internet for taking good pictures for easy conversion later (like taking pictures when it's overcast as there isn't such harsh sun shadows).\n\nSeamlessness\nSome uses require your texture be seamless. This will ensure that when you apply the texture to a face and it tiles, it does so without any visual disconnect between where one part of the texture ends and the other begins to repeat.\nYou can get plugins for this, external applications, and do it yourself with things like the clone brush. There are also ways to preview your texture to see if it's tiling correctly before you actually use it.\nIncluding the supporting files\nThis really depends on the application of the texture.\n\nWould it provide benefit with a normal map? You can generate one with a plugin or external application.\nIs it going to be reflective and only part of it should be reflecting? Make a specular map.\nDoes the game need to determine what shader will be used to render your texture or other data? Write the metadata file.\n\nThere's a lot more that I could put here but I just put down some of the more common things.\nDetermine your output format\nThis is very application dependent (some engines a specific format you must useh when you export) but it's best to go with something lossless so if you go back to edit your texture it doesn't have artifacts. If you do need to use a lossy format, make sure to save a lossless copy.", "$E_n$ is illuminance (or irradiance), $L_i$ is luminance (or radiance) in direction $\\omega_i$ and $d\\omega$ is differential solid angle.\n\nTL;DR: $d\\omega_i$ is the area of a pixel in the cubemap projected onto the unit sphere.\n\nAnd then a longer explanation (:\n\nSolid angle is essentially the projected area of an object on a unit sphere and has unit of steradians (sr). Entire unit sphere has surface area of $4\\pi$ and hemisphere has the area of $2\\pi$, which comes up a lot in lighting calculations due to integrals over spheres and hemispheres respectively.\n\nIf you would want to calculate solid angle for an object and point $p$, you would project the object on the unit sphere at $p$ and calculate the area of the projection. Further the object is from $p$ smaller the solid angle gets. As an example, we can calculate solid angle for Sun as seen from the Earth. We know that Sun has about 0.52 degrees subtended angle from Earth, so we can calculate that the solid angle is:\n$$2\\pi*(1-Cos(0.52/2))\\simeq0.00006469sr$$\n\nSo the differential solid angle is just an infinitesimally small solid angle. If you would numerically integrate over a sphere ($4\\pi$ steradians) by taking $N$ uniform samples on the sphere, your $d\\omega$ would be $4\\pi/N$. With integrals $N$ goes to infinity, while with numerical approximation of the integral $N$ is some \"sufficiently large\" number.\n\nHowever, in this paper you refer to they perform integration by rendering to a cubemap at $p$ and then iterating through all the rendered pixels. But because these pixels are rendered onto planes (cubemap faces), their projection on the unit sphere isn't constant, so $d\\omega$ needs to be weighted by the position in the rendered image, which they explain in your second quote:\n\n\n Computing the solid angle dωi subtended by a particular texel is a\n little more involved. Texels near the center of the texture subtend a\n somewhat larger angle, while texels near the corner take up a smaller\n solid angle when we map the cube texture onto a sphere.", "Here's a strategy for making arbitrarily bent UI: we'll render our UI into a texture (in realtime, not as a baking step), and then map that texture onto whatever mesh we want.\n\nHere's how I made this spherical example:\n\n\n\n\nCreate a RenderTexture to store the UI. This needs to be quite high-res to get text looking crisp. I used 4096x2048 because I intend to map the texture along lines of latitude &amp; longitude, and there's twice as much longitude to cover. ;)\n\nIf you're only rendering part of the UI at a time, as in the case of a wraparound sphere, we could use an adaptive window that renders only the visible parts to maximize use of the available texture space, but I'll elide that complexity for now.\nCreate a second camera to capture your UI\n\n\nset to Orthographic\nculling mask set to UI only\ntarget texture set to your RenderTexture\nset its Depth to -1 so it renders before your MainCamera\n\nCreate your UI canvas\n\n\nset to Screenspace - Camera, using your UI camera\nremove the Canvas Scaler - it's not needed if we're rendering to a fixed resolution\n\nSet your Main Camera's culling mask to exclude the UI layer (so we don't see it twice)\nSet up your mesh. For my example I used a sphere centered on my Main Camera, with a shader that renders the inside faces instead of the outside, and maps the assigned RenderTexture around its surface using latitude &amp; longitude (equirectangular mapping).\nTo get the UI to respond to input events, you need to customize your input module so it knows how to translate clicks/taps on the screen into corresponding coordinates in your UI rendering space. Here's one I wrote to handle the sphere, based off of the example OpticalOverride provides here.\n\n\n\n\n using UnityEngine;\n using UnityEngine.EventSystems;\n\n public class SphericalInputModule : StandaloneInputModule {\n\n new public Camera camera;\n public RenderTexture uiTexture;\n\n Vector2 m_cursorPos;\n private readonly MouseState m_MouseState = new MouseState();\n protected override MouseState GetMousePointerEventData(int id = 0)\n {\n MouseState m = new MouseState();\n\n // Populate the left button...\n PointerEventData leftData;\n var created = GetPointerData(kMouseLeftId, out leftData, true);\n\n leftData.Reset();\n\n if (created)\n leftData.position = m_cursorPos;\n\n // Ordinarily we'd just pass the screen coordinates of the cursor through.\n //Vector2 pos = Input.mousePosition;\n\n // Instead, I'm going to translate that position into the latitude longitude\n // texture space used by my UI canvas:\n Vector2 trueMousePosition = Input.mousePosition;\n Vector3 ray = camera.ScreenPointToRay(trueMousePosition).direction;\n\n Vector2 pos;\n pos.x = uiTexture.width * (0.5f - Mathf.Atan2(ray.z, ray.x) / (2f * Mathf.PI));\n pos.y = uiTexture.height * (Mathf.Asin(ray.y) / Mathf.PI + 0.5f);\n m_cursorPos = pos;\n\n // For UV-mapped meshes, you could fire a ray against its MeshCollider \n // and determine the UV coordinates of the struck point.\n\n leftData.delta = pos - leftData.position;\n leftData.position = pos;\n leftData.scrollDelta = Input.mouseScrollDelta;\n leftData.button = PointerEventData.InputButton.Left;\n eventSystem.RaycastAll(leftData, m_RaycastResultCache);\n var raycast = FindFirstRaycast(m_RaycastResultCache);\n leftData.pointerCurrentRaycast = raycast;\n m_RaycastResultCache.Clear();\n\n // copy the apropriate data into right and middle slots\n PointerEventData rightData;\n GetPointerData(kMouseRightId, out rightData, true);\n CopyFromTo(leftData, rightData);\n rightData.button = PointerEventData.InputButton.Right;\n\n PointerEventData middleData;\n GetPointerData(kMouseMiddleId, out middleData, true);\n CopyFromTo(leftData, middleData);\n middleData.button = PointerEventData.InputButton.Middle;\n\n m_MouseState.SetButtonState(PointerEventData.InputButton.Left, StateForMouseButton(0), leftData);\n m_MouseState.SetButtonState(PointerEventData.InputButton.Right, StateForMouseButton(1), rightData);\n m_MouseState.SetButtonState(PointerEventData.InputButton.Middle, StateForMouseButton(2), middleData);\n\n return m_MouseState;\n }\n}", "You can stretch any texture using the Mapping Node.\n\n\nAdd Mapping node right after Texture Coordinate node\nChange type from Point to Texture (but it will work either way)\nCrank up the scale disproportionally", "By using the term 'Concept Mapping Software' I found an awesome list on Wikipedia.\n\nA few in particular that stand out to me on first viewing are:\n\n\nCoggle - Appears to be a web app that allows collaboration on mindmaps across the internet\nMindMup - Another web app that appears to be very easy to use\nVisual Understanding Environment - A desktop app that looks very graphical\nXMind - Another interesting looking desktop app\n\n\nThese are all free! I'm going to try out a few and improve my descriptions if I can.", "You shouldn't really worry about cutting of the other half of the sphere since Unity doesn't render faces that are looking away anyway. That doesn't solve your problem however. Try to save your sphere as a .blend file. Or if you did that, export it as an .fbx.\n\nIf you really want to save resources you should bake(bake texture) your full sphere unto a halfsphere that has had \"project from view\" unwrap applied. Then you also save texture memory where the biggest performance hit comes from. Forget about saving polygons. Generally they don't matter.\n\nEDIT: I think I figured it out. You used the default Unity Spheres first. But exported the halfspheres from Blender. If that is the case. Then add a fresh \"UV Sphere\" in blender. Press U and click Sphere projection. Then cut half the faces off. Or better yet, follow my baking advice.", "After some researches and some answers from professionals here is my conclusion.\n\nPros\n\n\nDon’t require tangents or binormals. Less interpolators.\nOnly need two channels. less texture memory.\nDon’t suffer from tangent seams.\nCan be blended using alpha blending, without renormalization.\nLess mesh memory: We don’t need to store a tangent vector.\nFast implementation.\n\n\nCons\n\n\nMore ALU\nLess flexible. A normal map can represent any derivative map, but the reverse is not true. As an example, sharp edges can be difficult to represent.\n\n\nSo, that's a lot of pros compared to cons. But the major problem is that it's not an industry standard.\nThere are almost no content authoring tools nor artist know-how.\n\nHere's is a quote from Bart Wronski that illustrates well the current status of derivative maps :\n\n\n Sadly in life / technology not always best solution wins / not even\n gets deserved attention... It's more about standards and inertia.\n\n\nIf you are interested in knowing more about derivative maps here are some interesting articles.\n\n\nMikkelsen and 3D Graphics: Derivative Maps | Morten Mikkelsen Blog\nDerivative Maps | CodeItNow\nDerivative Maps vs Normal Maps | CodeItNow\nTriplanar Texturing with Derivative Maps | The Robot Seven\nDerivative Normal Maps - What are they? | polycount.com\nDerivative Maps | Knald Technologies Documentation\n\n\nIf I forgot something or if your don't agree feel free to tell in the comments, I would be glad to improve this answer.", "To get the RGB values of your scene influenced by the minimum of several alpha values from your fog, the most straightforward way to use a render texture. This requires Unity Pro.\n\n[Edit: Unity 5 now allows the use of render textures in the free version as well. Yay! :D ]\n\n(Some alternatives are provided below if this isn't an option)\n\nSet up a second camera, with Culling Mask set so that it sees only your fog hole quads. Set its Background to the colour you want your fog to be, and set its Depth so that it renders before the rest of your scene.\n\nThen place a quad with this texture in front of your scene, so that it's visible to your main camera, and it should render on top as expected.\n\nSet your fog hole shader to use:\n\nBlendOp Min\nBlend One One\n\n\nand output all-white for the colour channel. (Either by using a .tga for your fog hole texture that's all white on the colour planes, or via the shader). This ensures the holes will never modify the fog colour, only its alpha.\n\nAlternatively, you can make the RenderTexture in code with only a single channel, and apply any colour adjustment you want when you blend the finished fog into your scene. The advantage of rendering it as a full-colour map is mainly Editor convenience, and the ability to render arbitrary content into it like roiling clouds for the holes to later punch-out.\n\nThe reason compositing directly to your frame buffer without an intermediate texture won't work is that, as soon as that first quad is drawn, the RGB values of your scene in the dark region have already been modified. A quad drawn over it later with a lighter patch can't undo that change (at least not without dividing by DstAlpha, which is not one of the available operations).\n\nIf you're not able to use RenderTextures, your next best bets are:\n\n\nchanging your visual style so the fog isn't one even shade. That way\nyou can just stamp down dark fog quads everywhere outside the main\nview, rather than punching holes inside it.\nusing the Mesh class to construct a one-layer piece of geometry that\ncan be rendered for your fog without the same texel being blended over multiple times. One straightforward\nway to do this is a grid with vertex colours indicating\nvisible/obscured cells, and a fragment shader that uses a noise\ntexture to bias this value to keep the edge rough &amp; feathery.\n\n\nEdit: here's an example of suggestion #2, quickly mocked-up with an 8x8 vertex grid blended over a happy face reference texture.", "This can be done analytically at least for polygonal meshes. You can convert points into polar coordinates and project on a sphere. Edges form planes that pass through projection circles center forming circles on the sphere. These lines are all great circles, because they must pass sphere center. Great circles form linear interpolations in polar coordinates.\n\n\n\nImage 1: Projecting a geometry on a sphere.\n\nConverting these great circles into either Cartesian coordinates is quite well known math. Projecting them onto 2d representation by Mercator projection is well known math on account fo this being central to map making. Since overlap is not a problem you can just slap these triangles on top of each other and merge the vector results. Or use the polar coordinates for pixel graphics and even use z buffered overlap just like a normal camera.\n\nThe only problematic point is the one where your sphere is generated (if its on a open face edge). You can simply project the point on center into its inverse normal direction on the projection sphere. Or if for example Mercator projection is desired, you can align the sphere with surface normal. then just project them to a point on the south pole.\n\nYou can even interpolate the results of individual polygons positions to get any point on the triangle. And a analytic surface coverage for the triangle.\n\nI haven't implemented this, but Ive done it manually a few times* so i know its possible. Should be pretty easy to do as the maths involved aren't all that complicated only problem is solving which side of the problem to keep.\n\n\n\nImage 2: Horizon map of a simple all local geometry.\n\nComparison with raytracing\n\nBoth sampling triangles analytically is O(N) algorithm, if vector data is sufficient. Conditioning this data may push you over to O(N^2). Raytracing is O(N log(N)). Raytracing algorithms are easier to find of the shelf so implementing analytic polygon to sphere rendering is harder. In terms of speed analytical rendering is faster as long as theres a limited number of triangles, much like how scanline rendering is still sometimes faster than tracing despite being algorithmically more complex. This similarity is not just a coincidence it can be shown that this method can be turned into a scanline renderer.\n\nResources for drawing great circles in Mercator projection:\n\n\nWolfram demonstration on subject.\nThe Projection of Circles on a Mercator Map\n\n\n* About 20-25 times. I also did it for this image (yes in 3d), its as accurate as a single span Bezier curve can represent a circle. Ive also done this in map making software a few times.", "To follow up on hizqial's answer, these two spheres represent two different things.\n\nThe Bloch sphere is a way to visualize the state of a single qubit in every way possible. On the image below you see that the North Pole of the sphere represents the $|0\\rangle$ state, whereas the South Pole represents the $|1\\rangle$ state. Every point between the two represents a superposition with relative phase $\\phi$ and amplitude angle $\\theta$. So every state can be represented as $|\\psi\\rangle = cos(\\frac{\\theta}{2})|0\\rangle + e^{I\\phi}sin(\\frac{\\theta}{2})|1\\rangle$, as seen on the image below :\n\n\n\nThe Q-sphere is different. It is there to represent transformations between different multi-qubits states, until 5 qubits. The North Pole of the Q-sphere represents the $|0\\cdots 0\\rangle$ state and the South Pole represents the $|1\\cdots 1\\rangle$ state. Then the other states are put between them with the ones with more 1s are put closer to the South Pole. The latitudes is defined as the Hamming Distance. The vector on the sphere represents the state vector of the system, the same way as the Bloch sphere. The phase is not represented physically as with the Bloch sphere, but with a color code. You can see that on the image below, which is an example for a 4-qubit system :\n\n\nHere, I hope this can help, these are both visualization tools, to gain intuition about quantum systems, but the Q-sphere is about visualizing transformation to up to 5 qubits, and the Bloch sphere is about visualizing a single qubit. The Q-sphere can be seen as a generalization of the Bloch sphere, but there is a less good visualization, the Bloch sphere on the other hand, only represents one qubit, but with better intuition.", "For natural and smooth indentation you could use Displace modifier with a texture. Here we have a rotated UV sphere that has UV coordinates projected from view. The white parts of the texture are moved along the surface normal by the specified amount, negative numbers making an indentation.\n\nSteps to recreate this:\n\n\nAdd an UV sphere, enable smooth shading and rotate it 90 degrees around y-axis\nEnter edit mode and select all\nEnter orthogonal top down view and press U > Project from view\nExit edit mode and add subsurface modifier, set it to 4 view and render\nAdd a displace modifier, set the strength to -0.05 and click to create new texture\nGo to Texture tab, select you newly created texture from the drop-down and set its type to image or movie\nCreate and paint new image, open one from file or browser the drop-down for existing image to be used with the texture. Note the image should have soft gradient from white areas to black areas, this will affect the displace strength accordingly.\nIf you need to edit the placement of the displace texture, go into edit mode and find the UV layout in an image editor window. In the image editor window you can select all your UVs and move, rotate or scale them to align the texture.\n\n\n\n\nThis approach often requires a high number of vertices for non-jagged results but it's faster than trying to make the appropriate geometry especially if the shape of the indentation is a bit uncertain.\n\nAlternative approach might be to model the shape on a flat surface geometry and curve the flat surface on a sphere using shrinkwrap or lattice.", "TL;DR:\nThis is impossible in general, because the space of two-qubit mixed states is significantly more complicated than the Bloch sphere.\nDimension\nThe space $D_N$ of all mixed states of an $N$-level quantum system has $N^2-1$ real dimensions. For a qubit $D_2$ has only three dimensions and can be readily visualized as a subset of $\\mathbb{R}^3$. However, for two qubits $N=2^2 = 4$ and $D_4$ is $15$-dimensional. Consequently, there is no visualization aid analogous to the Bloch sphere that allows us to imagine the full space all at once.\nAlgebraic representation\nNevertheless, we can use other techniques to study $D_4$. Algebraically, the Bloch sphere can be thought of as a map that takes a state $\\rho_1 \\in D_2$ to $x_{\\rho_1} \\in \\mathbb{R}^3$ such that\n$$\n\\rho_1 = \\frac{I + x_{\\rho_1} \\cdot \\sigma_1}{2}\\tag1\n$$\nwhere $\\sigma_1 = (\\sigma_x, \\sigma_y, \\sigma_z)^T$ is a $3$-vector of Pauli operators. This representation is unique because $\\{I, \\sigma_x, \\sigma_y, \\sigma_z\\}$ is a basis of the real vector space of Hermitian operators in two dimensions. Similarly, we can map every two-qubit state $\\rho_2\\in D_4$ to a $x_{\\rho_2} \\in \\mathbb{R}^{15}$ such that\n$$\n\\rho_2 = \\frac{I + \\sqrt{3}\\,x_{\\rho_2} \\cdot \\sigma_2}{2}\\tag2\n$$\nwhere\n$$\n\\sigma_2 = \\begin{pmatrix}\nI \\otimes \\sigma_x\\\\\nI \\otimes \\sigma_y\\\\\nI \\otimes \\sigma_z\\\\\n\\sigma_x \\otimes I\\\\\n\\sigma_x \\otimes \\sigma_x\\\\\n\\sigma_x \\otimes \\sigma_y\\\\\n\\sigma_x \\otimes \\sigma_z\\\\\n\\sigma_y \\otimes I\\\\\n\\sigma_y \\otimes \\sigma_x\\\\\n\\sigma_y \\otimes \\sigma_y\\\\\n\\sigma_y \\otimes \\sigma_z\\\\\n\\sigma_z \\otimes I\\\\\n\\sigma_z \\otimes \\sigma_x\\\\\n\\sigma_z \\otimes \\sigma_y\\\\\n\\sigma_z \\otimes \\sigma_z\\\\\n\\end{pmatrix}\n$$\nis a $15$-vector of non-identity two-qubit Pauli operators and the scaling factor $\\sqrt{3}$ ensures that $\\|x\\|_2 \\le 1$ for convenience. As before, $x_{\\rho_2}$ is unique for a given state $\\rho_2$.\nBack to geometry\nAn immediate consequence of $(2)$ that distinguishes the shape of $D_4$ from $D_2$ is that $D_4$ is not symmetric with respect to the maximally mixed state. This is a first sign that the shape of $D_4$ is more complicated than a sphere.\nEven though $D_4$ cannot be visualized all at once, we can visualize various cross-sections through $D_4$. Some $3$-dimensional cross sections turn out to be balls, some are tetrahedrons and others have more complicated shapes.\nSee the paper &quot;An elementary introduction to the geometry of quantum states with pictures&quot; or the book &quot;Geometry of Quantum States: An Introduction to Quantum Entanglement&quot; by Ingemar Bengtsson and Karol Życzkowski for more details.", "This sounds like a case for using GRASS GIS with QGIS as a front end with possibly a plugin or two. (Note that you can probably get more help over at https://gis.stackexchange.com/).\n\nGRASS GIS:\n\n\n GRASS GIS, commonly referred to as GRASS (Geographic Resources\n Analysis Support System), is a free and open source Geographic\n Information System (GIS) software suite used for geospatial data\n management and analysis, image processing, graphics and maps\n production, spatial modeling, and visualization.\n\n\nQGIS:\n\n\n QGIS is a professional GIS application that is built on top of and\n proud to be itself Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).\n\n\nBoth:\n\n\nFree, Gratis &amp; Open Source\nCross Platform including Mac\nCan use data from multiple sources such as Open Streetmaps\nCan import from multiple file types including GPX\nYou can factor in information on altitude changes, (much more significant when cycling than driving). \n\n\nYou should be able to use the travelling salesman algorithm with selected layers. An example of such usage can be seen at https://openrouteservice.org", "Lighting provided by the World environment is always considered to be infinitely far away from the scene. In other words, when you use HDRI lighting via an Environment Texture node connected to a Background node, you are essentially projecting the HDRI onto an infinitely large sphere wrapped around your scene. Correspondingly, the actual information recorded in a HDRI is generally a spherical capture of an environment mapped onto two flat dimensions using an equirectangular projection.\nSince the World is an infinitely large sphere, the notion of “proportionally scaling” it doesn’t make very much sense. If you start with an infinitely large sphere and halve its size, it’s still infinitely large. Since this does not in any way affect how the HDRI is projected onto the sphere, such an operation has no effect whatsoever.\n\nRather than thinking about scaling or otherwise transforming the World sphere itself, it’s more useful to think about altering the way the HDRI is projected onto the sphere. For example, suppose we use this HDRI for our world lighting, which looks like this using the standard projection:\n\nWe can smoothly distort the projection along the Z axis using a Vector Curves node, effectively adjusting the position of the equator:\n\nThis produces an image like this:\n\nNote that any smooth reprojection fundamentally distorts different parts of the image differently. In the above example, our remapping of the Z axis stretches the sky and pinches the ground, leading to a curved horizon line. This probably isn’t what you want.\n\nIn practice, it is likely to be difficult to get exactly the transformation you want. This might seem frustrating, since all you want to do shrink the ground plane without distorting other parts of the image. Unfortunately, an HDRI just doesn’t contain enough information to do that.\nIf you wanted to perform such a transformation without any distortion, you’d need to know the depth of the various points in the HDRI so you could perform perspective correction as part of your reprojection. Of course, HDRIs have no such information: they’re just a spherical capture of the light that reaches a given point in space, which effectively bakes the projection of that point into the image data.\nIn other words, you can no more adjust the size of individual objects in an HDRI than you can rescale or reorient individual objects in an ordinary photograph. The information just isn’t there.", "That looks like a UV mapping issue, perhaps with lighting baked into the texture. Try temporarily removing the textures and see if it looks any better.", "You seem to do things more complicatedly than you need to, as adressed in the comments. What you actually want to do is simple the opposite of the normal render flow. Rather than drawing your mesh in world space and mapping the texture into it, you draw it in texture space and map its vertices onto it and let your graphics hardware worry about interpolation. I'll give the general outline here, as I honestly don't know the actual DirectX terms for the stuff here, but it should be easy to map onto real HLSL if you know your way around DirectX (which I'm sure you do when messing with Compute Shaders).\n\nYou basically render into your output texture using an offscreen render target. You then render your mesh using its texture coordinates as positions rather than its model space vertices, which you just pass through to the pixel shader, where you finally transform them into screen space and write out as the pixel's colour:\n\n[Vertex Shader]\n\nPER VERTEX float2 uv;\nPER VERTEX float4 v_point;\n\nTO PS float4 modelPos;\n\nvoid VSMain() {\n CLIP_POSITION = uv;\n modelPos = v_point;\n}\n\n[Pixel Shader]\n\nCONSTANT float4x4 MVP;\nCONSTANT float2 viewportSize;\n\nFROM VS float4 modelPos;\n\nvoid PSMain() {\n float4 clipPos = MVP * modelPos;\n float3 ndcPos = clipPos.xyz / clipPos.w;\n float3 screenPos = float3(viewportSize * (screePos.xy * 0.5 + float2(0.5)), ndcPos.z);\n OUT_COLOR = screenPos;\n}\n\n\nFeel free to adjust this to the realities of proper DirectX screen-space transformations and matrix multiplication orders, but the general idea should be clear.", "External Editing\n\nIf you have Visual Studio up and running while you edit the project files in a separate window under Vim, every time you switch back to Visual Studio, it looks at the on-disk timestamps for every file you have open in Visual Studio, including the project file. For each file that changed since you switched away from Visual Studio, it asks if you want to reload it from disk. \n\nIt even asks if you want to just reload everything that's changed, so you can edit multiple files without Alt-Tabbing back to Visual Studio after each edit.\n\nBuilding from Vim\n\nIf you're using Visual Studio 2010 or newer, they've switched to MSBuild for Visual C++ projects. (Prior to that, MSBuild was only for projects in .NET languages.) That means you can integrate MSBuild into Vim as a build system:\n\n:set errorformat=\\ %#%f(%l\\\\\\,%c):\\ %m\n:set makeprg=msbuild\\ /nologo\\ /v:q\\ /property:GenerateFullPaths=true\n\n\n(Swiped from here.)\n\nVisual-Studio-Like Command Key Mappings\n\nThese command mappings are inspired by old versions of Visual Studio:\n\nmap &lt;S-F4&gt; :cp&lt;cr&gt;\nmap &lt;F4&gt; :cn&lt;cr&gt;\nmap &lt;F5&gt; :make run&lt;cr&gt;\nmap &lt;F7&gt; :make&lt;cr&gt;\n\n\nMicrosoft keeps changing these command keys, and I keep switching them back when installing new versions, so I can't remember what they're using these days. Adjust to taste.\n\nEmulating Vim Inside Visual Studio\n\nNow, there's another way to go entirely here: emulate Vim inside Visual Studio!\n\nThis was once the province of only those who bought Visual Studio Professional or higher, but with the release of Visual Studio 2015, the free version finally has the ability to load third-party extensions. There are a couple of them that do this:\n\n\nVsVim, a free extension available through the Visual Studio Gallery\nViEmu, a commercial extension. Presumably it's better in some way, else they wouldn't still be in business.\n\n\nOr, you can go join the cool kids and start using Visual Studio Code, which has at least three Vim emulator extensions. I haven't test-driven them extensively, but here they are ordered by how well they matched my expectations of how a Vim emulation should behave:\n\n\nVsCodeVim (a.k.a. just \"Vim\")\namVim\nvimStyle\n\n\nTo install any of them, just hit Ctrl-Shift-P (Windows) inside Visual Studio code, type inst, select Extensions: Install Extension, then type vim. All three will come up, along with a few other things which are not Vim emulators for VSCode.\n\nNone of those extensions are flawless.\n\n(I say this as one who uses Vim daily, and installs such extensions only to ease the transition when I do occasionally have to use Visual Studio and VSCode.)" ]

[ "When an inmate needs to see a medical specialist, getting that care can be complicated. Prisons are often located in rural areas far from medical centers that have experts in cancer, heart and other disease treatments. Even if the visit just involves a trip to a hospital across town, the inmate must be transported under guard, often in shackles. The whole process is expensive for the correctional facility and time-consuming for the patient. Given the challenges, it's no wonder many correctional facilities have embraced telemedicine. They use video conferencing to allow inmates to see medical specialists and psychiatrists without ever leaving the facility. A survey by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of prison health care in 2011 found that 30 states out of 45 that responded said they used telemedicine for at least one type of specialty or diagnostic service. The participating states reported that telemedicine was most commonly used for psychiatry (62.2 percent) and cardiology (26.6 percent), according to the research, which was published in 2016. Among the corrections facilities offering these services is Rikers Island, which houses nine jails on an island near LaGuardia Airport in New York City. It recently began to provide telehealth services for female inmates who need oncology, rheumatology and hematology services. Other specialties are expected to be added in the future. Male inmates on Rikers have been receiving telehealth services since 2016. Roughly 40 inmates have virtual visits each month with specialists in those same areas as well as infectious disease, urology, dermatology, pulmonology and gastroenterology. \"Initially we implemented [telehealth] for the efficiency part, to avoid hours of transport,\" says Dr. Ross MacDonald, chief medical officer for NYC Health + Hospitals/Correctional Health Services, which runs the health care services at Rikers. \"But what we've learned over time is that it really improves clinical care.\" Telehealth allows the referring physician at the jail to consult with the specialist at the hospital as a team, and together clarify information for the patient, MacDonald says. When the jail's primary care provider identifies a medical concern that requires a specialist's attention, the provider will accompany the patient to the jail's medical clinic and together they'll consult with a specialist at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst in Queens who is visible on the monitor. If the patient's vital signs need to be checked or if she needs other tests, the primary care provider can handle that and communicate results with the specialist. If after that meeting, a face-to-face exam with the specialist is necessary, that would be scheduled, MacDonald says. \"This is not meant to replace in-person visits, it's meant to complement them,\" he says. Still, some prisoner advocates worry about the increasing use of telemedicine. Khalil Cumberbatch says he's concerned that the video visits may heighten inmates' feelings of isolation. Cumberbatch spent nearly a year on Rikers Island, first as he awaited trial on first-degree robbery charges in the early 2000s and later when he appealed his conviction. He now works as the associate vice president of policy at the Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization that supports efforts to help prisoners re-enter society after incarceration. \"You're removing contact with the outside world,\" he says. \"There's a level of engagement that can be lost when you're doing it on the screen.\" But for sick prisoners, that may not be a priority, others say. \"Lots of them don't want to go to the outside facility,\" says Dr. Edward Levine, the medical director for prison care for Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, which has been doing telemedicine with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction since 1995. \"These people are sick. They have to get on a bus, it's bumpy, and there are delays, and if [they're] not feeling well, they don't like it.\" Levine estimates he sees up to 150 gastroenterology patients a year at Ohio's 29 prisons through telemedicine visits. \"You develop a relationship with them the same as you would if you saw them in a clinic,\" he says. Although inmates may owe copayments if they see a doctor or nurse for run-of-the-mill aches and pains, they won't generally have to pay for specialty care, whether provided on-site or through telemedicine, says Dr. Anne Spaulding, an epidemiologist and associate professor at Emory University's public health school in Atlanta who has worked as a medical director in corrections. That's because a medical provider typically initiates specialty care. Inmates are more commonly charged for medical visits that they initiate, she says. Telemedicine can improve continuity of care and help patients keep chronic conditions under control. In one study of HIV-infected adults incarcerated at Illinois Department of Corrections facilities, 91 percent of telemedicine patients achieved complete" ]

[ "What's in a name? When it comes to health plans sold on the individual market, these days it's often less than people think. The lines that distinguish HMOs, PPOs, EPOs and POS plans from one another have blurred, making it hard to know what you're buying by name alone, assuming you're one of the few people who know what an EPO is in the first place. Ideally, the plan name provides a shorthand way to determine the sort of access members have to hospitals and doctors, including cost-sharing for such treatment. But since there are no industry-wide definitions of plan types and state standards vary, individual insurers often have leeway to market similar plans under different names. \"Now, there's a lot of gray out there,\" says Sabrina Corlette, project director at Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms. In general: Health maintenance organizations cover only care provided by doctors and hospitals inside the HMO's network. HMOs often require people to get a referral from their primary care physician in order to see a specialist. Preferred provider organizations, or PPOs, cover care provided both inside and outside the plan's network. Patients typically pay a higher percentage of the cost for out-of-network care. Exclusive provider organizations are a lot like HMOs: They generally don't cover care outside the plan's provider network. People in EPOs, however, may not need a referral to see a specialist. Point of Service, or POS, plans vary, but they're often a sort of hybrid HMO/PPO. Patients may need a referral to see a specialist, but they may also have coverage for out-of-network care, though with higher cost sharing. Although insurers identify plans by type in the coverage summaries they're required to provide under the health law, one PPO may offer very different out-of-network coverage than another. \"You have PPOs with really high cost sharing for out-of-network services, which from a consumer perspective seem a lot like HMOs,\" says Corlette. Some plans labeled as PPOs don't offer out-of-network services at all. On the other hand, some HMOs have an out-of-network option that makes them seem similar to PPOs. Higher premiums didn't necessarily correlate with better out-of-network coverage, says Caroline Pearson, vice president at Avalere Health, a research and consulting firm. Since you can't rely on plan type to provide clear guidance on out-of-network coverage, there are three basic questions to investigate when evaluating a plan, says Pearson: Is there out-of-network coverage? Does that out-of-network spending accrue toward your out-of-pocket maximum? Legally it doesn't have to, but some plans include it. Do you need a primary care physician gatekeeper? That's only the beginning. Once you figure out whether a plan covers out-of-network care, it can be difficult to find out whether your doctor is even in that plan. You can check with you doctor's office, but sometimes they don't know. You can also look at provider directories to see who is and isn't in a plan's network, however, that information frequently proved inadequate or inaccurate during the last open enrollment period. But understanding the alphabet soup of plan types is an important first step.", "The health care overhaul bills on Capitol Hill do not upend traditional \"fee for service\" payment for doctors, but they do include financial incentives for doctors to cut medical costs and improve patient care. Both the House and Senate bills include provisions to encourage the creation of accountable care organizations, or ACOs, as a way to test their viability. The ACO project would be limited to Medicare. The idea is a pretty simple one: If all the doctors who take care of you — your primary care physician, any specialists and your hospital — worked together and their financial fates were somehow connected, almost like business partners, you'd get better care and it wouldn't cost as much. These affiliated provider groups could earn bonuses if they met or exceeded certain quality and cost targets for their Medicare patients. An ACO is a bit like a building contractor. The contractor gets together with some other contractors — plumbers, electricians, roofers — and they agree to repair your house for a set amount of money. If you've had a home repair that went sideways, this whole approach to managing health care may not inspire a lot of confidence. But there's good evidence to suggest that physicians who have a financial stake in your medical costs are more efficient and more effective. Redlands Family Practice Dr. Alexander Terrazas is a reluctant poster child for ACOs. When I first called to request a visit to his small family practice in Redlands, Calif., he told me flatly, \"This is not a silver bullet.\" And yet his three-doctor clinic — which sits in a strip mall between a pet grooming shop and a fabric store — has achieved cost savings and quality scores usually seen only at much larger, elite health care systems. Terrazas and his colleagues at Redlands Family Practice began their experiment in 1984. That's when a San Bernardino, Calif., health plan proposed paying them a fixed monthly fee per patient. Today, the clinic won't disclose how much it gets per patient. But records show Medicare pays about $11,000 a year per patient to private insurers and Redlands gets the vast majority of that amount. The clinic has to stretch the so-called global payment to cover all of the patient's visits, any specialist referrals, lab tests, even surgeries and hospital stays. If there's a surplus left over, the partners divvy it up. If they're over budget, they take a hit. \"The main transition was: To what extent can I coordinate and treat the medical problems the patient has and at what level do I really need assistance? The patients had to understand they didn't need an endocrinologist to take care of their diabetes. They didn't need a cardiovascular specialist to take care of their blood pressure,\" Terrazas says. Today, about half of Terrazas' patients are covered under global payments. Terrazas says he has managed to make it work by reassuring his patients that their doctors aren't shortchanging them on quality to make a bonus. \"We had to get the patients comfortable that they were going to receive whatever care they needed,\" he says. \"If they needed orthopedic surgery, we're going to get you to the orthopedist.\" In fact, the doctors at Redlands decided there were some patients they wanted to see much more often. Those with multiple chronic illnesses come in almost monthly, even when they're doing well. Hospitals also had to get onboard. The clinic offered the local hospital financial incentives for getting patients out quickly and safely and avoiding unnecessary and costly re-admissions. Sandee Derryberry, the practice's executive director, says the clinic focuses — almost obsessively — on helping patients make a smooth transition out of the hospital. \"We all quickly realized that we needed to know where the patient was in all the processes — if they'd gone to the hospital, what were the next steps? What specialists were seeing them? What were they gonna need when they arrived home?\" Derryberry says. The clinic closely monitors its performance. At monthly meetings, physicians compare the medical services they've charged and the number of specialist referrals, ER visits and preventive screenings. \"You want the doctors to see how they're comparing against their peers because a lot of times that encourages a discussion of, 'Well, I keep having this problem with Patient X,' \" Derryberry says. For all these efforts, Redlands Family Practice spends 15 percent less than the regional average. The clinic has faced tough times. Derryberry says one month, five patients went into the hospital for costly open heart surgery. But those are balanced out by relatively quiet periods and the clinic's aggressive management of chronically ill patients. Despite the clinic's lower costs, however, private insurers continue to raise premiums. And Terrazas says that threatens to unravel the tacit agreement he and his colleagues have made with their patients. \"The people coming into the office say, 'Hey, they just raised my premium 10", "Administration officials moved Thursday to improve low Medicaid enrollment for emerging prisoners, urging states to start signups before release and expanding eligibility to thousands of former inmates in halfway houses near the end of their sentences. Health coverage for ex-inmates \"is critical to our goal of reducing recidivism and promoting the public health,\" said Richard Frank, assistant secretary for planning for the Department of Health and Human Services. Advocates praised the changes but cautioned that HHS and states are still far from ensuring that most people leaving prisons and jails are put on Medicaid and get access to treatment. \"It's highly variable. Some states and jurisdictions are having a lot of success\" enrolling ex-prisoners, said Kamala Mallik-Kane, a researcher at the Urban Institute who has studied the process. \"Others of them have initiatives in place that aren't reaching the kinds of numbers that are making a dent.\" The 2010 health law made nearly all ex-prisoners eligible for Medicaid in states that chose to expand the state and federal insurance program for the poor. Many welcomed the chance to cover a group with high rates of chronic disease, mental illness and substance abuse problems. But prisons and jails, burdened with ineffective computers, understaffing and complicated Medicaid enrollment procedures, have been slow to sign up released inmates. Federal and state prisons let out more than 600,000 people a year. Millions more cycle through jails. But a study published in Health Affairs found prisons and jails nationwide enrolled only 112,520 emerging inmates between late 2013 up to January 2015. In Maryland, often cited for progressive social policy, the prison system is enrolling fewer than one in 10 released inmates, Kaiser Health News reported this week. Much of HHS' guidance repeats existing policy, reminding states that those on probation or parole are eligible for Medicaid and urging states to keep prisoners' names in the Medicaid computers while they're locked up. (That eases re-enrollment.) Inmates are generally ineligible for Medicaid while incarcerated. Prison and jail medical systems care for them. HHS is \"providing encouragement and a nudge\" to states to improve sign-ups as well as money to upgrade enrollment computers, said Colleen Barry, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who has studied ex-inmate enrollment. \"They understand that this is a technology issue.\" Making up to 96,000 halfway-house inmates eligible for Medicaid is new policy, designed to connect people with care before they're fully released. Prisoners often move to halfway houses or home detention near the end of their terms, closely supervised but frequently allowed to shop, apply for jobs and see a doctor. Under the new policy, \"if you have a fair amount of freedom of movement\" in a halfway house, \"you're not considered an inmate\" for Medicaid purposes, said Sarah Somers, an attorney for the National Health Law Program, an advocacy group. \"That will be very helpful for a lot of people who are trying to transition out of incarceration.\" Nathan Sharpe recently spent two months in a home detention program in West Baltimore between leaving prison and being fully released. He wanted to get a checkup to make sure there was no lasting damage from a stabbing he received last summer in Maryland's Jessup Correctional Institution. But he had to wait until home detention ended last week to be covered by Medicaid, he said. \"That helps a lot\" if people like him could get on Medicaid after they first leave prison, he said. \"People can get the health care they need sooner. I've been out a week now and I still haven't been able to see a doctor because I don't have my card.\" Ex-inmates have extremely high rates of HIV and hepatitis C infection, diabetes, mental illness and substance abuse problems. They are especially vulnerable after they leave the prison medical system and before they connect with community doctors. One study in Washington state showed that ex-inmates were a dozen times more likely to die than the general population in the first two weeks after their release. Immediate Medicaid coverage \"can mean the difference between life in the community and recidivism and even life and death,\" Michael Botticelli, the White House's director of national drug control policy, told reporters. HHS has been urging states to enroll ex-inmates in Medicaid for years. But the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion made many more of them eligible for coverage, giving policymakers a new reason to promote sign-ups, advocates said. So far 31 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid under the law. Kaiser Health News is a national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Jay Hancock is on Twitter: @jayhancock1.", "Telehealth turned Jill Hill's life around. The 63-year-old lives on the edge of rural Grass Valley, an old mining town in the Sierra Nevada foothills of northern California. She was devastated after her husband Dennis passed away in the fall of 2014 after a long series of medical and financial setbacks. \"I was grief-stricken and my self-esteem was down,\" Hill remembers. \"I didn't care about myself. I didn't brush my hair. I was isolated. I just kind of locked myself in the bedroom.\" Hill says knew she needed therapy to deal with her deepening depression. But the main health center in her rural town had just two therapists. Hill was told she'd only be able to see a therapist once a month. Then, Brandy Hartsgrove called to say Hill was eligible via MediCal (California's version of Medicaid) for a program that could offer her 30-minute video counseling sessions twice a week. The sessions would be via a computer screen with a therapist who was hundreds of miles south, in San Diego. Hartsgrove co-ordinates telehealth for the Chapa-de Indian Health Clinic, which is a 10-minute drive from Hills's home. Hill would sit in a comfy chair facing a screen in a small private room, Hartsgrove explained, to see and talk with her counselor in an otherwise traditional therapy session. Hill thought it sounded \"a bit impersonal;\" but was desperate for the counseling. She agreed to give it a try. Hill is one of a growing number of Americans turning to telehealth appointments with medical providers in the wake of widespread hospital closings in remote communities, and a shortage of local primary care doctors, specialists and other providers. Long-distance doctor-to-doctor consultations via video also fall under the \"telehealth\" or \"telemedicine\" rubric. A recent NPR poll of rural Americans found that nearly a quarter have used some kind of telehealth service within the past few years; 14% say they received a diagnosis or treatment from a doctor or other health care professional using email, text messaging, live text chat, a mobile app, or a live video like FaceTime or Skype. And 15% say they have received a diagnosis or treatment from a doctor or other health professional over the phone. Don't see the graphic above? Click here. Those survey findings are part of the second of two recent polls on rural life and health conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The Chapa-de clinic offers telehealth services not only for consultations in behavioral health and psychiatry, but also in cardiology, nephrology, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology and more. Hill feels fortunate; she knows most rural health facilities don't include telehealth services, which means most patients living in remote areas would need their own broadband internet access at home to get therapy online. And that's out of reach for many, says Robert J. Blendon, co-director of NPR's poll and professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard Chan School. The poll found that one in five rural Americans say getting access to high-speed internet is a problem for their families. Blendon says advances in online technology have brought a \"revolution\" in healthcare that has left many rural patients behind. \"They lose the ability to contact their physicians, fill prescriptions and get follow-up information without having to go see a health professional,\" he says. Critical care pediatrician James Marcin at UC Davis Children's Hospital, directs the University of California, Davis, Center for Health and Technology and regularly consults via a telehealth monitor with primary care doctors in remote hospitals in rural areas. \"We're able to put the telemedicine cart [virtually] at the patient's bedside,\" Marcin says, \"and within minutes our physicians are able to see the child and talk with the family members and help assist in the care that way.\" If not for telehealth, Marcin says, the costs of getting what should be routine care \"are significant barriers for those living in rural communities.\" \"We have patients that drive to our Sacramento offices and they have to drive the night before,\" he says, \"and spend the night in a hotel because it's a five-hour trip each way.\" And there are additional costs for many patients, he says, such as childcare services, and missed days of work. With telehealth, \"a video is truly worth a thousand words,\" he says; it can mean patients don't have to make costly time-consuming trips to see a specialist. Though Hill initially had reservations about meeting with a therapist online, she says she's been amazed by how helpful the sessions have been. \"She gives me assignments and works me really hard,\" Hill says, \"and I have grown so much — especially just in the last few months.\" Her latest assignment in therapy: writing down positive characteristics of herself. Initially, she could only come up with three: loyalty, compassion and resilience. But the therapist questioned t", "As a young doctor working at a teaching hospital, Sandeep Jauhar was having trouble making ends meet. So, like other academic physicians, he took a job moonlighting at a private practice, the offices of a cardiologist. He noticed that the offices were quick to order expensive tests for their patients — even when they seemed unnecessary. It was \"made very clear from the beginning\" that seeing patients alone was not financially rewarding for the business, he says. \"Spending 20-30 minutes with a patient might be reimbursed $80, $90, but sending the patient for a nuclear stress test was much more profitable,\" Jauhar tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. \"A nuclear stress test, at the time when I started working, was reimbursed roughly $800 to $900.\" Jauhar was supervising the tests that had been ordered by a physician — and some physician assistants. \"So even though I wasn't ordering the tests, I was in the office while these tests were being performed — and I felt really dirty about it,\" Jauhar says. Jauhar's new memoir, Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician, is about how doctors are growing increasingly discontent with their profession. And they're facing more pressures: As the number of patients they're expected to see increases, so does the amount of paperwork. While some doctors who perform a lot of procedures may be paid too much, he writes, many doctors, such as primary care physicians, aren't paid enough. And, he adds, \"the growing discontent has serious consequences for patients.\" Jauhar, creator and director of the Heart Failure Program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, talks about not only unnecessary testing but also uncoordinated care by multiple specialists. \"American medicine is the best in the world when it comes to providing high-tech care,\" he says. \"If you have an esoteric disease, you want to be in the United States. God forbid you have Ebola, our academic medical centers are second to none. But if you have run-of-the-mill chronic diseases like congestive heart failure or diabetes, the system is not designed to find you the best possible care. And that's what has to change.\" Interview Highlights On common complaints doctors have One of the issues with medicine today is that it's just become so complicated. More and more people are surviving with chronic illnesses, so you have folks in every patient panel who have multiple chronic diseases. And they come to the doctor and they have a whole host of issues that have to be dealt with. And [that doesn't even] mention preventative care, which has become a huge time problem for a lot of primary care physicians. There's no denying that reimbursement[s] for office visits and for procedures have been drastically cut in the last two or three decades. And that was really an attempt to control health costs. And it seemed to make sense, but it resulted in doctors basically running on a treadmill seeing patients every eight to 10 minutes. So the lack of time to spend with any one patient is a big factor. On \"defensive medicine\" There's no question that there's a lot of unnecessary testing in American medicine today and the reasons for it are manyfold. Part of it is ... a lack of time. You have a patient come into your office and you have eight minutes with them and they have lower back pain and you don't want to miss something because one of the major causes of dissatisfaction among doctors today is malpractice liability; there's that fear. A lot of doctors are practicing defensive medicine. There have been various estimates that defensive medicine costs up to $100 billion a year out of the roughly $3 trillion we spend on health care, so it's a huge, huge waste. ... It takes time to evaluate the patient, get a good history, examine the patient, and it's just so much easier to order a test-- especially when the financial incentives of the system are to reward for more and more testing. On uncoordinated care by multiple specialists Today if you go to a hospital, it's rare that you won't have multiple specialists on your case. And I'm a specialist [in cardiology], and when I'm called to see someone with a nonspecific symptom like shortness of breath, which could be a whole host of diagnoses, I'm apt to view the problem through my own expertise. And that's true of rheumatologists and hematologists and so on. One patient who came in with shortness of breath — his primary care physician called 15 specialists onto the case. ... He underwent 12 procedures in the hospital, and when he was sent home he had follow-up visits with seven different specialists. ... We actually never figured it out. This is so common. ... When you have a symptom like shortness of breath that has multiple inputs from different organ systems, probably the best doctor to diagnose that and treat that is a good general family physician. But when you call in these various specialists, they are apt to view the problem through their own organ expertise. And they make recommendati", "One of the main things lost to Iraq over the years of conflict has been its human assets — doctors, engineers and skilled administrators. The drain on the country's health system has been especially severe, as thousands of doctors left the country in the face of kidnappings, extortion and murder. Iraq's Health Ministry is now trying to lure those doctors back with promises of high pay and protection, but for many who have now settled in safer places, there's little incentive to return. There was a time when Baghdad's main hospital was reputed to be the biggest and best in the Arab world. After the American invasion, this hospital was looted of vital equipment. Its more than 1,000 beds were filled exclusively with casualties of bombings and gunfire in the city streets. Now the hospital is struggling to return to its original mission, but its hallways are packed with patients, waiting for an overworked staff of doctors to attend to them. Few people who remained here during the worst period, in 2006 and 2007, blame their colleagues who left. \"The situation was hellish,\" says Haider Sahib, a 21-year-old physician's assistant in the hospital's emergency room. Conditions were so bad that health care workers were sometimes returned to the emergency room as patients or corpses. \"My two colleagues — God bless their souls — had just finished their overnight duty, and on the way home they were both shot dead,\" Sahib says. \"So very shortly after they left, their bodies were returned to the same emergency room where they'd been taking care of people.\" Sahib is now tending to an elderly man with a cut finger — a patient who never even would have been admitted to the hospital in the bad days. Need For Specialists Dr. Hamza Abdullah Salah, the chief of the hospital, was here through the violent times. \"I've been born in this country,\" he says. \"I've been graduated from this university, this medical school. I've spent my life. I have a long, deep root in the country.\" That, he says, kept him from leaving. Salah is a trim, white-haired man of 63 who is followed by an entourage of medical students because this is a teaching hospital, connected to the Baghdad Medical College. He says despite the new crop of doctors, the need for seasoned specialists is great, since more than 15,000 Iraqi doctors are believed to have left after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The Health Ministry says some doctors have started to return — as many as 800 over the past two months. Salah says the government is making it as easy as possible for doctors to return, putting them back on the payroll in as little as a week. \"And you can work,\" he adds, \"because I have two [thousand] or 3,000 patients coming to this hospital every day.\" Many of the thousands of doctors who left Iraq found work in surrounding countries, like Jordan, Syria or the wealthy states of the Persian Gulf. But hundreds simply moved to a safer part of Iraq — the Kurdish region in the north. Dr. A.O. Yones, the minister of health for the Kurdistan region, says his government welcomed doctors from Baghdad, partly for humanitarian reasons and partly to serve a need. \"We had some extra doctors to serve the community,\" Yones says, \"and also we had some specialists, which we didn't have here before.\" One specialist who accepted the Kurds' invitation is Dr. Nabil Hassou, an interventional cardiologist who graduated from the Baghdad Medical College and later became one of its best-regarded professors. He says he and his family were living in Syria when the Kurdish government made him a tempting offer — to help build a cardiac care hospital in the city of Erbil. He says the hospital is now up and running after two years of development, and he finds it satisfying to work there. Hassou says he faced additional harassment in Baghdad because he is a Christian. Now, in his early 60s, he sees no possibility of returning. \"I don't feel that I am going to Baghdad, not in the near future, not in the next 10 years,\" he says, \"I have nothing left there in Baghdad.\" For now at least, the main hope for restoring Baghdad's medical community seems to lie with the student doctors who make rounds with Salah at the city's major hospital — many of whom say that when they go abroad, it will be to study their specialties, not to stay.", "Yoselyn Gaitan, an 8-year-old with a shy smile, sits quietly in an exam room at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., wearing a tiny hospital gown. She looks a little uneasy as she waits to be brought back to the operating room for the final surgery on her cleft palate. Kelly Schraf spots her through the curtain and tiptoes into her room. Schraf is a child life specialist, a type of health care provider whose job is to help sick children and their families navigate difficult medical situations emotionally and psychologically while in the hospital. They do it largely through play — the basis of how a child learns and grows. Schraf introduces herself to Yoselyn and her mother, and explains to them why she's there: \"It's my job at the hospital to make it easier for you to be here and make it more fun.\" At the word \"fun,\" Yoselyn begins to look a little more relaxed. Continue Reading Schraf is straight out of college, which she followed with a mandatory 480-hour child life internship. Her favorite part of her job, she says, is \"knowing that I can work with the hospital team and make [a child's] stay better.\" Pediatric ear, nose and throat surgeon Rahul Shah says the doctors in the outpatient surgery unit are as grateful for child life specialists like Schraf as the patients are. \"It's really profound when you hear some of the most old school physicians or surgeons asking for something you would consider warm and fuzzy,\" he says. But those doctors insist that they need child life specialists largely because they make the unit more productive. When the child life specialists aren't available, Shah says, \"It's hard. You're pulling [children] sometimes away from the parents. The parents are upset. The child is upset. It heightens their anxiety. You bring them back to the operating room, and it's a lot harder to put them back to sleep and ... give them an IV.\" Even if each visit saves only four minutes of the surgical team's time, he says, it can allow that team to accomplish an extra surgery each day. There are about 4,000 child life specialists in the country. Most of them work in the acute units with the very sickest children. Liz Anderson, who, like Schraf, is 24, works in the oncology unit, where children often spend months at a time. \"I get to know them very, very well,\" Anderson says. She's been working with 9-year-old Owen O'Hara for several weeks. He sits in his pajamas in an isolation room, a feeding tube in his nose. It's been less than a week since his bone marrow transplant, which his doctors hope will cure his leukemia; his immune system is still too vulnerable for him to be in the unit's playroom with the other kids. So yesterday, Anderson brought him a brand new set of Legos to play with. \"We're building an alien spaceship,\" Owen says. Owen's mom, Jackie O'Hara, says child life specialists have made a huge difference in helping Owen understand what's happening to him, often explaining difficult medical concepts in child-friendly words. But like all things in health care, child life programs come at a price. The 16 child life specialists at Children's National Medical Center cost about $800,000 a year, which gets passed on to patients and insurers. Mark Wietecha, president and CEO of the Children's Hospital Association, says the cost is \"greatly worth it.\" Child life specialists can minimize the trauma caused by a hospital stay — and that can pay dividends far into the future for a sick child, he says. \"It's really almost an insignificant amount of money on our national expenditure to let the sickest kids have some opportunity to a life and be re-assimilated,\" Wietecha says. O'Hara couldn't agree more. The child life program, she says, is \"like having a little bit of a normal life in the middle of something that's not normal.\"", "The loss of a spouse can result in unexpected behavior. Sometimes the behavior — such as constant visits to the doctor and hospital — can be a sign of a search for direction in life. Excerpts from an essay that appeared originally in the Narrative Matters section of the journal Health Affairs. STEVE INSKEEP, host: Now the symptoms of a cold are pretty easy to diagnose, but recognizing the symptoms of grief can be trickier. Dr. Steven Wartman initially missed those signs in his mom. Dr. STEVEN WARTMAN (President, Association of Academic Health Centers): Shortly after my dad passed away 14 years ago, my mom began visiting the doctor more often. She's turning 89 soon and lives alone in an apartment in Philadelphia. I'm a doctor and her oldest son, but live in Washington. She began to call more often too, with requests to find a doctor, call a doctor, get her an appointment, and even cancel an appointment. Mom is a very dynamic and active person and is in reasonably good health. Yet she was suddenly seeing an endless progression of specialists, including cardiologists, neurologists, ophthalmologists, gynecologists, urologists, otolaryngologists, and gastroenterologists. The truth is mom does have an assortment of medical problems - some serious, some not. But she often rejected much of the advice these physicians gave her. Basically if she didn't hear what she wanted to hear, then off she went in frustration to another doctor. I was frustrated too. Then last year mom fell and broke her nose while running to catch a bus. I took her to see a well-known ear, nose and throat specialist. After he pronounced her to be doing well, my mother suddenly announced that she wanted a nose job to fix the almost imperceptible bump the fall had caused. They physician was taken aback, as was I. Mom, I said, do you realize what a nose job involves? I don't like this looks, she replied. Finally after much back and forth, I told her I couldn't recommend she have that kind of surgery for so minor a problem given the risks of general anesthesia. Suddenly I realized that my mother had become a kind of professional patient. In part, she was using doctors to fill in the hole of her life created by the deaths of her dad, her dear older brother, and other relatives and friends. Then it occurred to me in one of those rare moments of insight and revelation, she could do this professionally. I knew that medical schools hired people to play patients in order to teach students basic examination and communication skills. They are called standardized patients and are given a character and a script to follow. Since my mom has always been a bit of a thespian, I called a colleague at Thomas Jefferson Medical College, which is not far from where my mother lives, and found out they were interviewing prospective candidates. With a bit of trepidation, my mother took the bus to the school for the interview. Eventually she was hired and became excited about getting back to work. Soon mom was tackling the various roles she would play - a patient with heart failure, a patient with joint pain, a patient with lung cancer. She's amazed at the amount of material medical students need to learn. She notices how nervous they are and she often tells them - smile and lighten up. At nearly 89, my mother has started a late-life mini-career and calls herself an actress-patient. Now, instead of dwelling on death and disability, she feels she has a purpose and mission to fulfill. Besides, she says, the pay is good. INSKEEP: That's Dr. Steven Wartman, president of the Association of Academic Health Centers in Washington, D.C. (Soundbite of music) INSKEEP: It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News.", "Do I have to pay the health law's so-called \"Cadillac tax\" because I have good health insurance? When can I get Trumpcare plans for my kids? And what can I do if my insurance plan choices don't include a specialist who is the only doctor in the area that can treat my cancer? Here are the answers to some recent questions about health insurance from readers. Q: My company has asked employees to pay the Cadillac tax rather than putting the burden on the company. They are also telling us not to worry because it will never happen, but want us to agree that if it does, we will take on the cost. Can they do that? Let's step back for a minute. The Cadillac tax is a 40 percent surcharge on the annual cost of health plans above $10,200 for single coverage and $27,500 for family plans. While these plans are sometimes considered the health plans for well-to-do professionals, some union plans and other group plans with a pool of older, sicker enrollees may also fall into this category. A few months ago when it looked as if the Affordable Care Act was going to be replaced, many employers believed, as yours apparently still does, that the Cadillac tax would never become effective: Both the House and Senate bills would have delayed the tax until 2026. But with the collapse of those efforts to repeal the ACA, the tax is on the front burner once again, says J.D. Piro, who leads the health and law group at benefits consultant firm Aon Hewitt. Unless Congress addresses it, the tax will take effect in 2020. By law, insurers or employers would be responsible for paying the tax, but analysts say the costs would likely be passed through to enrollees, whether or not employees like you explicitly agree to absorb them. So it may not matter how you respond to your employer in this case. Also, employers who don't want to pay the surcharge might sidestep the issue altogether by reducing the value of the plans they offer, says Piro. For example, they could increase employee deductibles and other cost-sharing, make coverage less generous, or they could shrink the provider network. \"That's simplest way to avoid the tax,\" he says. Q: I have a rare disease, and there is literally only one specialist in my area with the expertise needed to treat me. I am self-employed and have to buy my own insurance. What do I do next year if there are zero insurance plans available that allow me to see my specialist? I cannot \"break up\" with my sub-specialty oncologist. I must be able to see the doctor that is literally saving my life and keeping me alive. If the plan you pick covers out-of-network providers, you can continue to see your cancer specialist, although you'll have to pay a higher percentage of the cost than if you were seeing someone in your plan's network. But many plans these days don't provide any out-of-network coverage. This is certainly true of plans sold on the health insurance exchanges. The situation you're concerned about — that a specialist you consider crucial to your care isn't in a plan's provider network — isn't uncommon, says Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms. And, unfortunately, you probably can't get any coverage assurance before you sign up. If this happens, you can contact your plan and make the case that this particular provider is the only one who has the expertise to meet your needs. Then ask your plan to make an exception and treat the out-of-network specialist as if she were in-network for cost-sharing purposes. So, if in your plan, an in-network specialist visit requires a $250 copayment, for example, the plan could agree that's what you'd be charged to see your out-of-network specialist. Or not. It's up to officials who administer the health plan, and they may argue that someone in-network has the expertise you need. If you disagree, you can appeal that decision. But it may not come to that, says Corlette. \"Plans are prepared for this — the good ones are, anyway,\" she says. \"My understanding is that it's pretty routine to grant exceptions for narrow subspecialties.\" Q: I need to purchase affordable health insurance for my two daughters who are 19 and 17. Is Trump insurance available yet? I need something I can afford and everything is so expensive. President Donald Trump never put forward a proposal to replace the ACA. Instead, he backed the House and Senate replacement versions, which ultimately failed. But those versions might not have addressed your concerns, anyway, and you may have several options through the ACA. \"Coverage wouldn't necessarily have been cheaper,\" says Judith Solomon, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Under the Senate bill, for example, the average 2018 premiums for single coverage would have been 20 percent higher than this year's, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. In 2020, under the Senate bill, premiums would have been 30 percent lower than und", "As wildfire season rages in California, firefighting help is coming from an unexpected place: prison. Thousands of low-level offenders have become a crucial component of how the state battles wildfires. If there's a wildfire here, there are inmates battling it. Emir Dunn is one of the inmates working a wildfire in the mountainous area of northern California near Oregon. The fire has already scorched nearly 13,000 acres and the temperatures here are unrelenting. \"First day we was out here, it was like, 111 or 115 [degrees] — and that's not including the fire,\" Dunn says. His orange fire suit swamps his slender body, but don't be fooled: Just like the 900 or so inmate firefighters out here, he lugs more than 100 pounds of gear with him — an ax, food, water, fuel for a chainsaw. Dunn and his crew are on mop up duty, looking for embers that could reignite. He's zipping a flattened hose through his gloved hands, scraping it along the dirt and burnt brush. Other states like Wyoming and Nevada have similar inmate programs, but the California Department of Corrections program, with about 4,000 inmates, is the largest. Corrections officials say the program saves the state more than $100 million a year. These offenders have been convicted of things like drug crimes, minor battery or robbery. They're trained by a professional and often work in crews of 16 — always with a professional firefighter in charge, like Capt. Josh Kitchens. Kitchens, who runs Dunn's crew, looks straight out of central casting: tall, with a chiseled jaw and the stare of someone who doesn't play around. \"These guys are some workhorses. When it's time to do a lot of grunt labor, that's what we're good at. Get a lot of stuff done with 16 bodies,\" Kitchens says. Corrections guards dropped off the inmates miles away; the team then hiked in. So basically, Kitchens is alone with inmates who have axes and chainsaws — in the middle of the forest that happens to be on fire, often working 24-hour shifts. But he's not worried. \"It's just like working with any other group of guys,\" he says. \"You kind of get to know their personalities and what they're capable of, and you put them in positions most suited for them.\" The inmates earn $2 an hour fighting fires, and get two days off of their sentences for every day they are out here. When they're not battling the flames, they build flood barriers or clean up parks. In those cases, they get a one-day reduction for a day of work. The inmates will spend nearly all of their sentences in a fire camp, where they stay in barracks-style sleeping quarters. When on a fire, they'll move to a base camp, where on-site warehouses and large white tents house the prisoners. There are many guards here, but you won't see guns, truncheons or barbed wire. Inmate firefighter Cory Sills says that creates a completely different vibe from prison. \"There's an assembly where we have a formation in the mornings,\" he says. \"And it was like, my second or third day, and the lieutenant comes out and he's giving a speech about his day and he goes, 'Look, we'll treat you like men first, firefighters second and prisoners if we have to.' \" But it's not just the atmosphere that the inmates say helps them thrive. For inmate firefighter Michael Dignan, the program's taught him about himself. \"You learn that there is stuff you can put yourself through that you never thought you'd been able to do,\" Dignan says. \"You think you're done. You're just not. Or when you see that last hill you have to climb and you tell yourself you can't make it, you end up at the top of it.\" Dignan will need that perseverance. He's scheduled to be released soon. He says he'll go back home to Ohio then, and back to tree trimming — what he did before being locked up. A few others on the crew say they might try firefighting when they're released — but most say, \"No way.\"", "Nearly 150 women were sterilized in California's prisons without the state's approval, a practice that critics say targeted inmates who were seen as being at risk of serving a future jail term. Those numbers represent data from 2006 to 2010, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting, which first reported the news. Doctors performed tubal ligation surgeries on at least 148 female inmates at two facilities, reports CIR's Corey G. Johnson, with another 100 cases possibly taking place between 1997 and 2010. In that span, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation paid surgeons a total of nearly $150,000 for conducting the procedure. A former inmate who worked in the infirmary at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, Calif., tells Johnson she often heard other female inmates being asked to agree to be sterilized, especially if they had already served other prison terms. \"I was like, 'Oh my God, that's not right,' \" Crystal Nguyen, 28, tells Johnson. \"Do they think they're animals, and they don't want them to breed anymore?\" Defenders of the program, which may have existed without any state official's formal approval, say that it gave women in prison the same options as women elsewhere in America. And they claim that in some cases, pregnant women committed crimes with the ultimate goal of receiving medical care in prison. Valley State Prison's former OB-GYN, Dr. James Heinrich, says he offered the procedure as a service to women who had previously undergone cesarean sections. And he says the state's paying $147,460 for the procedures was reasonable. \"Over a 10-year period, that isn't a huge amount of money,\" Heinrich says, \"compared to what you save in welfare paying for these unwanted children — as they procreated more.\" Like more than half of all U.S. states, California once sterilized people against their will, in eugenics programs \"that sought to prevent social ills by seeing that those who caused them were never born,\" as NPR reported in 2011. The legacy of decades of forced sterilizations is still playing out — in 2012, North Carolina was poised to become the first state to offer compensation for such programs, before legislators refused to add funding for the measure to the budget. \"Federal and state laws ban inmate sterilizations if federal funds are used, reflecting concerns that prisoners might feel pressured to comply,\" CIR reports. \"California used state funds instead, but since 1994, the procedure has required approval from top medical officials in Sacramento on a case-by-case basis.\" For his story, Johnson spoke to inmates who had undergone the surgery, as well as others who say they were pressured to do so. While at least one woman told him she was happy with her decision to have the surgery, others didn't. Former inmate Kimberly Jeffrey, 43, tells Johnson she resisted the pressure to get a tubal ligation done — pressure that she says came while she was under sedation and strapped to an operating table. \"Being treated like I was less than human produced in me a despair,\" Jeffrey says, adding later that she sees the state prison officials as \"the real repeat offenders.\"", "With 2,500 inmates, the penitentiary institution of Fresnes, about 20 miles south of Paris, is one of the largest prisons in Europe. Like most French prisons, Fresnes is overcrowded. Built in the late 19th century, its tiny cells, each meant for one prisoner, most often house three. Inmates scream curses and catcalls from their barred windows as I visit a small, empty sports yard ensconced between cell blocks. Plastic bags and punctured soccer balls are caught in the surrounding concertina wire. The prisoners here yelled out in just this way back in November 2015, refusing to honor a minute of silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks on Paris cafes and the Bataclan concert hall. Fresnes prison director Philippe Obligis says he began to see a radicalization problem here well before those attacks took place. \"There were some radical Muslims who were putting huge pressure on regular Muslims to adopt a certain kind of behavior,\" he says. \"Like taking a shower with their clothes on and not listening to music or watching TV.\" Many of the homegrown terrorists who've launched attacks in recent years in places like Paris and Brussels were radicalized in prison — often while serving jail terms that had nothing to do with terrorism. In France, where a disproportionate number of prison inmates are of Muslim background, authorities are struggling to deal with the phenomenon. In 2014, Fresnes became the first French prison to separate radicalized inmates from the general prison population — they were put in an entirely separate wing, one person to each cell, and had different guards from the other prisoners. After 2015, which began with the January attacks at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Kosher supermarket, and ended with the Bataclan attack in November, some other French prisons began separating inmates too. Several of the terrorists who killed nearly 150 people that year were common criminals who had become radicalized in prison. In 2016, the French government put money into a rehabilitation program for radicals deemed not too far gone. The prisoners in these new anti-radicalization units received visits from psychologists and historians; they had the chance to attend some workshops or receive some training. The radical units were controversial, especially after two guards at one prison were attacked in September of last year. In November, the French interior minister announced an end to the program. Instead, the French government boosted security around the most dangerous prisoners — both radicals and not. And intelligence collecting in prisons was beefed up. A bureau of central intelligence for prisons was created earlier this year. Around 350 French prisoners are serving jail terms for terrorist-related offenses. And a further 1,340 inmates convicted of regular crimes are identified as radicalized. \"They'll contaminate the others\" Businessman Pierre Botton went to jail for white collar crime in the 1990s and founded Together Against Recidivism, an organization devoted to improving the lives of prisoners. He says it's nearly impossible to think about reforming in jail because prisoners are mainly just struggling to survive. He believes radicals should be separated in different prisons entirely, because otherwise, they'll inevitably interact with the rest of the prison population. He notes what happened when the only surviving terrorist from the Paris Bataclan attacks landed in a French jail last year. \"When Salah Abdeslam arrived, they clapped,\" says Botton. \"Do you understand what I'm saying? When he arrived in the jail, they clapped. They applauded.\" Botton says criminals like Abdeslam are icons in jails in the Paris region, where up to 70 percent of inmates identify as Muslim. Keeping records on the religion and ethnicity of French citizens is illegal, so there are no official statistics. But Botton says about 70 percent of prisoners in the Paris region observe the Muslim festival of Ramadan. \"So when you put guys like this who represent a certain ideology in the heart of a prison, surrounded by 4,000 inmates, there's a huge risk they'll contaminate the others,\" he says. Yannis Warrach, a Muslim cleric who works in his spare time at a top-security prison in Normandy, says prison is so brutal, inmates can only survive if they're part of a gang. He has seen how the radicals recruit newcomers. \"The ones who preach and proselytize will at first be nice to a detainee. They see his desperation,\" he says. \"They'll befriend him, give him what he needs. Then they'll say it's destiny. They'll say that God has a mission for him. And little by little, they brainwash him, telling him French society has rejected him, he can't get a job because of his Arab last name, and he was always put in the worst classes at school. \"The problem is,\" says Warrach, \"it's often true.\" Warrach says these young men must have hope for a different future to break out of the spiral of failure. He says French leaders have faile", "In recent years, a small but growing number of medical practices embraced a buffet approach to primary care, offering patients unlimited services for a modest flat fee — say, $50 to $150 per month — instead of billing them a la carte for every office visit and test. But a pioneer in the field — Seattle-based Qliance — shut its public clinics as of June 15, and some health care analysts are questioning whether the approach to medical care is valid and viable. This style of medical practice is called \"direct primary care,\" and many doctors and patients say they like the arrangement. Typically, these physicians don't accept insurance — which frees the doctors from having to get preapprovals from insurers on treatment and lets them skip the paperwork involved in insurance claims. Doctors say that allows them more time and energy for their patients. Meanwhile, patients say they like being able to consult with their doctor or a nurse practitioner as often as they need to, at a relatively low cost. (Some employers buy the service for their workers.) Patients who are signed up for the plan still need to carry a regular insurance plan (typically a high-deductible policy) to cover hospitalizations, consultations with specialists and other services. In theory, the result should be better health for patients and lower health care costs overall. But some who analyze the use of health care are concerned that the approach encourages the \"worried well\" to get more care than they need. They describe unlimited primary care as a blunt instrument that doesn't necessarily improve the odds that patients will get evidence-based services that improve their health. Others argue it's important to find a way to provide cost-effective primary care within the health insurance context, not outside it. Although only a sliver of medical practices operate this way, the number is on the rise, says Shawn Martin, a senior vice president at the American Academy of Family Physicians. He puts the figure at about 3 percent. Qliance, founded in 2007, was an early leader in this type of care. With startup funding from high-profile investors Jeff Bezos and Michael Dell, the company was serving 35,000 patients at several clinics in the Seattle area by 2015. Those patients included individuals, workers at large companies like Expedia and Comcast, and Medicaid patients through a contract with the state's Medicaid insurer. In a 2015 press release, Qliance said medical claims for its patients were 20 percent lower than those of other patients because, among other things, Qliance members went to the emergency room less often, were hospitalized less frequently and saw fewer specialists. By early 2017, though, Qliance was faltering. The company had lost some of the big employers, and its patient base had shrunk to 13,000. Last week, it closed the last of its private clinics, though its CEO, Dr. Erika Bliss, will continue to operate one site that provides occupational health services for Seattle firefighters. In general, Bliss says, the market is reluctant to pay what is required for primary care to flourish. In some cases, she says, payers were resistant to rewarding Qliance even when it exceeded its targets for quality and savings. \"The bottom line is it's not for free,\" Bliss says. The closure took January Gens, a 45-year-old Seattle resident, by surprise. A Qliance patient for a couple of years, Gens had worked with her primary care doctor to manage crippling pain from endometriosis. The $79 monthly fee was worth every penny, she thought. She had been able to reduce the dosage of some of her medications and was awaiting a referral to start physical therapy when she learned that Qliance was shutting down. Now she's not sure what she'll do. \"I had felt very lucky to have found Qliance, to know I had a doctor and could always be seen when needed without causing more damage to the family budget,\" Gens says. \"Now it's just gone.\" Patients who have chronic conditions that need ongoing management may benefit from this sort of flat-fee program, says Dr. A. Mark Fendrick, an internist who directs the University of Michigan's Center for Value-Based Insurance Design. But for people who are generally healthy and without symptoms that need to be diagnosed, \"unlimited primary care is no guarantee that the services that are provided will improve the health of those people,\" he says. As an example, Fendrick notes that the annual checkup — one of the most popular primary care services — isn't clinically helpful for most people, according to the Choosing Wisely initiative, a program of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation that identifies overused and unnecessary medical services. An examination of research related to direct primary care practices, published in the November-December 2015 issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, found that they charged patients an average $77.38 per month. In contrast, \"concierge\" or \"boutique\" medical ", "Just a day after being sworn into his new job as Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, recess appointee Dr. Donald Berwick has his official coming out this morning in the grand hall of the Department of Health and Human Services. The occasion was the unveiling of new rules that will determine which electronic medical records systems will be eligible for a slice of the $27 billion in federal money provided by the 2009 stimulus bill. Doctor and hospital groups were pleased that the final version of the rules makes it easier for them to qualify for the funding without hitting targets they found unrealistic in the real world. Those included things like reducing the percentage of doctor orders and prescriptions that need to be entered electronically in the early years of the transition from paper record-keeping. Read More But for some of the bureacrats, the love of electronic records is personal. Berwick, formerly a practicing pediatrician at the Harvard Community Health Plan, practically waxed rhapsodic when talking about how his former HMO was an early pioneer in the transition from paper to computer. \"I never had to go hunting for a missing piece of paper with a lab test written on it that I needed,\" he said. \"All the results were there, right there, as soon as the lab that produced the result.\" And if he sent a child to see a specialist, ther was \"no phone tag after that, wondering what happened. The specialist notes were there for me, and the family, just as soon as the specialist prepared those notes.\" With electronic medical records, Berwick said, \"It's smoother care. It's better, it's more reliable.\" Berwick got a huge ovation from the crowd of mostly health industry and consumer reps who packed HHS -- glad to see him finally installed at CMS despite a furious campaign against his nomination by Senate Republicans. But it was actually U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin who stole the show. Benjamin told a story -- a version of which is published online by the New England Journal of Medicine -- about how she finally came to begin using electronic medical records, but only after her primary care clinic in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, was destroyed three times in seven years. After Hurricane George destroyed the clinic in 1998, Benjamin said, she had to choose between paying the light bill and putting in electronic medical records. \"The light bill won,\" she said. After Hurricane Katrina washed the clinic away again in 2005, her staff, once again, found itself drying patient files in the hot Alabama sun. Then, the day before the clinic was set to re-open around New Year's 2006, it burned to the ground, this time taking all the files with it. \"I'd previously decided against installing an electronic health record because I couldn't afford one,\" she said, \"I realized now I couldn't afford not to have one.\" And one thing Benjamin, unlike many doctors, didn't have to worry about was getting her staff to buy in for the the training to use a new electronic system. That was no problem, she said. \"My staff told me they didn't want to have to bake charts in the sun again.\"", "The Hope Clinic in southwest Houston is in the very heart of Asia Town, a part of the city where bland strip malls hide culinary treasures — Vietnamese pho, Malaysian noodles, Sichuan rabbit and bubble tea. Inside the clinic, internist Charu Sawhney sees patients from many countries and circumstances. She's a big believer in the Affordable Care Act since most of her patients have been uninsured. She actively pushed many of them to sign up for the new plans. But now she's seeing something she didn't expect. When patients need treatment unavailable at the clinic, it's been hard to find specialists and hospitals that accept the insurance. \"I was so consumed with just getting people to sign up,\" she says, \"I didn't take the next step to say 'Oh, by the way, when you sign up, make sure you sign up for the right plan.' \" Understandably, a lot of her patients picked lower-cost plans, she says, \"and we're running into problems with coverage in the same way we were when they were uninsured.\" One of her patients is a Chinese immigrant to Houston who purchased a Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO silver plan. Soon after, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Sawhney found an oncologist to coordinate his treatment, but she and the oncologist ran into trouble trying to schedule chemotherapy and radiation. \"The process just isn't as easy as we thought it would be,\" she says. That's because the two largest hospital chains in Houston, Houston Methodist and Memorial Hermann, are not in that plan's network. Neither is Houston's premier cancer hospital, MD Anderson Cancer Center. Those are the hospitals that the patient's oncologist, Paul Zhang, calls on the most. He says coordinating surgery or radiation usually isn't a problem, because most of his patients have insurance plans with wide networks. \"I could not find a surgeon,\" says Zhang. Eventually Zhang found one who took the insurance, though they'd never worked together. After the surgery, Zhang tried to set up the patient's chemotherapy and radiation at Houston Methodist. But that hospital wasn't taking the plan. Zhang says he cannot refer patients with these narrow plans to the specialists he thinks are best, and that's a problem if the cancer is particularly complicated. \"You have limited options. So you're like a second-class citizen, you know. That's my feeling, you have this insurance and you cannot see certain doctors,\" he says. Sawhney was less surprised by the barriers. Medicaid patients have similar problems finding doctors, and her uninsured patients have always struggled to find care. But she thought the Affordable Care Act would be an improvement. Her patient with stomach cancer thought so too. He asked not to be identified because he has not shared his diagnosis with close family members. \"The (insurance) agent said that a lot of doctors will accept that insurance -- but when I got sick I found out nobody wants that kind of insurance.\" The biggest irony, she added, is that even Harris Health, the county-wide public hospital system in Houston, doesn't take all the new marketplace plans. Yet Sawhney can still send uninsured patients there for cancer treatment. As people learn that some doors are closed, she worries people will decide insurance isn't worth the money. \"I don't want patients to get discouraged,\" she says. \"I don't want patients when they have a choice again to say, 'You know what? I'm just not going to sign up because it doesn't matter if I have insurance or I don't have insurance, I still have problems getting health care.' \" Narrow networks of doctors and hospitals aren't new, but they've attracted attention with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Analysts point out that narrow networks are a powerful tool for insurance companies seeking to control costs – especially since they can no longer control costs by excluding sick people or adjusting premiums by gender or age. By restricting the choices in a plan, the insurer can promise more customers for the doctors and hospitals that are included. In exchange, the insurers can get a break on what they pay those doctors and hospitals. The industry's position is that patients have choices. Plans with access to more hospitals and specialists are available, but usually at a higher price. Louis Adams is a spokesperson for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. \"Our goal was to offer an array of plan choices,\" he says. \"We created more focused networks as a way to offer a broad range of plans with lower premium prices.\" Sawhney and Zhang eventually found a place for the patient to get chemotherapy and radiation. Despite the delays and difficulties, Sawhney still believes it's better to have insurance, and she still believes in the law. But, she says, from now on she'll tell her patients to shop more carefully, taking into account price and whether they have a chronic illness. It won't be about the cheapest plan anymore, but rather the plan that best meets their medical needs. This story is part of a reporting par", "One July evening a few years ago, Carol Harnett was in a crosswalk in downtown Portland, Ore., when a driver made an illegal turn and hit her. Transported by ambulance to a hospital, Harnett, who is president of the nonprofit Council for Disability Awareness, was diagnosed with a severely sprained right ankle and left wrist, as well as a concussion. At the emergency room, doctors gave her steel-reinforced braces for her wrist and ankle and told her she was free to go. \"But I can't walk,\" Harnett recalls saying. With a third-degree sprain, the ligaments in her right ankle were completely torn and she couldn't bear weight on it. \"They said, 'If you broke a bone, we could give you a wheelchair, but you didn't — so, we don't think your insurance will cover it,' \" she recalls. Instead, after she signed a waiver agreeing to pay whatever her insurance didn't cover, they gave her a pair of crutches to use while in Portland to give a speech. Her hotel was more accommodating, loaning her a wheelchair at no charge. Unless you've already had need of such equipment, chances are you have no idea how your insurance policy would cover the wheelchair, walker or knee brace you might require if you had a car accident or got hurt on the ballfield or tripped on the stairs. The cost for \"durable medical equipment,\" as these devices are called, may be small compared with the bills for emergency or specialist medical care. But if you're paying for such equipment out-of-pocket, the costs can add up — it's worth your time to look into your coverage and figure out how to get the best deal. Harnett's 2015 accident was later determined to be work-related, and the workers' compensation program paid for her care. If that hadn't been the case, she would have been on the hook for the crutches, because her own insurance plan didn't cover any durable medical equipment that could be purchased over the counter. It would have covered the reinforced braces for her wrist and ankle, but only after she met her deductible. \"Historically, [durable medical equipment] has always been a weak point in coverage,\" says Harnett, who is familiar with these insurance issues because of her disability work. A typical employer-based health plan covers 80 percent of the cost after the deductible is met, according to Harnett. But some consumers may not get that benefit. \"We're seeing more skinny plans with no durable medical equipment coverage at all,\" says Thomas Ryan, president and CEO of the American Association for Homecare, an advocacy organization for home care equipment manufacturers and providers. Insurers often have preferred providers Under the Affordable Care Act, many insurance plans are required to cover a range of essential services, such as hospitalization and prescription drugs. But durable medical equipment isn't among them — except for breast pumps, which most plans must cover. These days, insurers often contract with certain medical supply companies to provide equipment, just as they negotiate rates for other services. But patients often don't realize that, says Alice Bell, a physical therapist and senior payment specialist at the American Physical Therapy Association, a professional group. Patients who don't use an insurer's preferred provider may be charged a higher rate or have to pay the entire amount out-of-pocket, she says. \"It's important to make sure the supplier is in-network, even if the doctor prescribes it, because it varies,\" Bell says. When Bruce Lee, 48, sprained a ligament in his left leg, his doctor prescribed a walking boot and gave him a list of medical suppliers. The doctor warned Lee to make sure he chose one in his insurance network. Lee selected a supplier near his Fairfield, Conn., home that he described as a \"medical Disneyland\" of assistive devices. Although it was convenient, the supplier didn't accept his insurance. He paid about $320 for the boot and used his flexible spending account to cover the cost. To make matters more confusing, hospitals, urgent care centers and physicians may themselves negotiate with insurers or Medicare to become an approved supplier of medical equipment for their patients, or they may contract with a medical supply company to provide those items. Wanda Wickizer didn't know what to think when her 23-year-old daughter got a $40 bill from a medical supply company for a wrist brace she received at an urgent care center after falling down some stairs at a friend's house in Norfolk, Va. The company was in her daughter's insurance network, as it turned out. Still, \"it boggled my mind that they were allowed to bill her, because she never saw anyone from there,\" Wickizer says. Whatever the arrangement, the key for the patient is to find out whether whoever is supplying the equipment is in their insurance network and how much they'll owe out-of-pocket. You have to ask. Insurers might approve coverage of medical equipment only if a provider certifies it's medically necessary. Even with a doctor's OK,", "America's attitude toward pain has shifted radically over the past century. Psychiatrist Anna Lembke says that 100 years ago, the medical community thought that pain made patients stronger. \"Doctors believed that pain was salutary,\" she tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross, \"meaning that it had some physiologic benefit to the individual, and certainly some spiritual benefit.\" But as prescription painkillers became more available, patients became less willing to endure pain. Suddenly, Lembke says, \"doctors began to feel that pain was something they had to eliminate at all cost.\" Prescriptions for opioid painkillers increased, and so, too, did cases of opioid addiction. In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared a prescription drug epidemic as a result of doctors overprescribing painkillers to patients. Lembke's new book, Drug Dealer, MD, explores the origins of the prescription drug epidemic from a doctor's perspective. \"Starting in the 1980s, doctors started to be told that opioids were effective treatment for chronic pain, and that treating patients long-term with opioids was evidence-based medicine,\" she says. \"That was patently false and that was propagated by what I call 'big medicine,' in cahoots with Big Pharma.\" Interview Highlights On how Lembke realized there was a problem in her own practice It was very insidious and subtle. One of the ways I realized was that my patients weren't getting better. They were asking for more and more medications at higher and higher doses. They were wanting early refills, and then it really wasn't until the prescription drug monitoring program was made available in the state of California where I could go online and see the other prescriptions that my patients were getting from other doctors when I suddenly realized what a huge problem it was — not just for patients taking opioid painkillers — but also for my own patients. For example, I had a patient I was seeing for many years, he was a lawyer and I prescribed him Ambien, 10 milligrams every bedtime. Ambien is a sleep aid. And that went on for years, and, incidentally, I decided to check the prescription drug monitoring program and what I found out was that he was seeing at least 10 other doctors who were also prescribing Ambien, 10 milligrams daily. He had an Ambien addiction, and I never knew until I checked that database. On treating patients with perplexing pain I see a lot of patients with mysterious chronic pain syndromes, and many of them are young people who otherwise have no evidence of disease, but are completely debilitated and nonfunctional by their mysterious chronic pain syndromes. ... What ends up happening to these patients often is they get \"medicalized,\" and by that I mean they end up seeing four or five or 10 different specialists. Everybody has a different diagnosis. They get poked and prodded and \"surgerized,\" and by the end of it they come out five or 10 years later with real bona fide physical problems because they've had so many surgeries and so many interventions. And by then they're also on very high-dose opiates. On how what doctors were told about opioids changed over the years Doctors were taught that no dose was too high. So if you had a patient who responded to opioids, but then developed tolerance where that dose wasn't working, when they came back in you should just give them more opioids. And that's how we got to this place where we have patients who are on unbelievable doses, astronomical amounts. ... Doctors were told that opioids are not addictive as long as you're prescribing them for a patient in pain, as if there was some sort of magic halo effect with the prescription. That also is obviously not true. Now we're seeing studies showing that upwards of 50 percent of patients taking opioids long-term for a medical condition begin to show signs and symptoms of addiction to those opioids. On what Lembke means when she says that big medicine and Big Pharma \"were in cahoots\" The pharmaceutical industry realized that they can no longer directly go to doctors to get them to prescribe their pills. Various regulations were put in place to prevent them giving gifts and pens and hats and things that we do know can influence doctor prescribing. So instead they took a kind of Trojan horse approach and infiltrated regulatory agencies and academic medicine in order to convince doctors that prescribing more opioids was evidence-based medicine, and evidence-based medicine means medicine based on science, and that's something that all doctors are supposed to practice. ... So for example, what they did was Purdue Pharma joined forces with the Joint Commission, and the Joint Commission is an organization that accredits hospitals, and Purdue Pharma gave all kinds of teaching material to the Joint Commission and said, \"You really need to make doctors treat pain more aggressively and that needs to be a quality measure.\" So the Joint Commission said, \"You know what? You're absolutely", "Once upon a time, cigarettes were the currency of choice when those behind bars needed to barter. But these days, America's prisoners are trading with ramen. So says Michael Gibson-Light, a doctoral candidate in the University of Arizona School of Sociology. He spent a year interviewing nearly 60 inmates and prison staffers at one men's state prison (which he kept anonymous to protect his sources) housing thousands of inmates. He presented the findings this week at the meeting of the American Sociological Association. \"There was an entire informal economy based on ramen (which the men often referred to as 'soups'),\" Gibson-Light told me via email. Prisoners use it to hire other inmates for services, like cleaning out their bunk or doing their laundry, or purchase goods on the black market, like fresh fruits or vegetables, which aren't sold in the commissary but are sometimes smuggled from the kitchens, he says. \"As one inmate told me: 'You can tell how good a man's doing [financially] by how many soups he's got in his locker. 'Twenty soups? Oh, that guy's doing good!' \" So what's behind ramen's rise as a de facto prison currency? It's supercheap, supertasty, rich in calories and readily available in prison commissaries — at a time when cost-cutting at detention facilities has many inmates complaining they're not getting enough to eat. \"Inmates shared countless grievances about serving sizes as well as the quality, taste or healthiness of the food,\" Gibson-Light says. \"It was common for some to compare their meals to those that they received during previous prison stays, sometimes years or decades prior, which they claimed contained more and better food.\" Gibson-Light's findings echo the experience of former inmate Gustavo \"Goose\" Alvarez. He spent more than a decade locked up on a weapons charge, among others, and co-authored a book published last year called Prison Ramen: Recipes And Stories From Behind Bars. Gibson-Light says Alvarez's book helped inspire his research. Ramen is \"everybody's staple in prison: No matter who you are, you're cooking with ramen,\" Alvarez told NPR last year. \"You can use it to barter,\" he told us, adding, \"Some people don't like them, some people will never eat them, but they use them — that's their funny money.\" And ramen is also the backbone of some creative prison cooking, from \"dirty ramen\" (made with Vienna sausages, green beans and carrots, among other things) to ramen pot roast. As Alvarez told us last year: \"In most cases, if you're lucky enough to know somebody that works in the kitchen, they can bring you back some raw onions, maybe some chives, some jalapenos, fresh vegetables. And then there's times when you don't have much but tap water, a bag of Cheetos — Flamin' Hot Cheetos at that — and a couple of soups. And you know what? You make a little tamale.\" Jails and prisons in a number of U.S. states have been the target of accusations and lawsuits that they are underfeeding inmates, according to a report last year from The Marshall Project, a nonprofit journalism outlet focused on criminal justice. For instance, inmates at the Gordon County Jail in Georgia are fed twice daily. As The Marshall Project reported: \"While the jail maintains they are providing sufficient calories (the recommended daily intake is 2,400-2,800 a day for men, and 1,800-2,000 for women), prisoners said they combated their hunger by licking syrup packets and drinking excessive amounts of water.\" Gibson-Light says the state prison he studied had also cut its meal services: Inmates used to get three hot meals a day but now get only two, with an additional cold lunch served during weekdays (but not weekends). Says Gibson-Light: \"One inmate, who had worked in a prison kitchen, told me: 'There's so many people in prison now that [the prison] can't afford to feed all these people. They're following the [calorie] guidelines, but they're right on the line of that.' \"", "Most children with autism get diagnosed around age 5, when they start school. But signs of the developmental disorder may be seen as early as 1 year old. Yet even if a parent notices problems making eye contact or other early signs of autism, some doctors still dismiss those concerns, a study finds, saying the child will \"grow out of it.\" That can delay diagnosis and a child's access to therapy. \"Autism should be something that primary care pediatricians are really comfortable with, like asthma or ADHD, but it's not,\" says lead researcher Katharine Zuckerman, a pediatrician at Oregon Health & Science University, whose study was published Tuesday in The Journal of Pediatrics. \"If you see a general pediatrician like me, I can't actually diagnose your child with autism.\" Diagnosing autism often starts when parents notice subtle differences in their baby's development. The child might not make eye contact as much as other babies do, or he might not be grasping objects at 6 months. Other early signs include not smiling when smiled at, or not responding to a familiar voice. To get a better sense of how children with autism get delayed on the road to diagnosis, Zuckerman looked at the Centers for Disease Control's Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services, which includes detailed data about 1,420 children between ages 6 and 17 with autism. She documented three significant dates each child: the date parents first worried; the date they first mentioned their concerns to a physician; and the date the child was diagnosed. She also noted what the parents recalled about the physician's response to their concerns. Some doctors called for further tests or referred parents to a specialist, while others took no action other than reassuring the parents that their child was normal or it was too early to tell if anything was wrong. Zuckerman compared the information for children who were eventually diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder to children with an intellectual disability or developmental delay, two other intellectual problems that first show up in early childhood. About 14 percent more of the children with an autism spectrum disorder received a passive response from the health care practitioner, and were diagnosed about three years later than the children with other intellectual problems. So what's delaying the pediatricians? Rebecca Landa, the director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, says there are a number of reasons why health care practitioners don't always jump at the first mention of autism. First, many parents with young children tend to worry over minor problems. Health care practitioners are listening for certain words, and if the parents don't seem particularly alarmed, it's easy to dismiss their concerns. And even if parents are persistent, autism is hard to diagnose. The symptoms are subtle, particularly in young children. \"People expect that autism [in infancy] is going to look like autism in infancy, and that's not what happens.\" explains Landa. A baby who sits unsteadily at 6 months may have autism, or he might just be a slow sitter. \"Babies do weird things,\" says Landa. But perhaps the biggest problem isn't that it's hard to spot a young child with autism, but that most doctors and other health care practitioners aren't trained to identify those early signs. Researchers knew far less about autism when most doctors practicing today studied medicine. Unless a pediatrician spent her or his residency in a field like neurodevelopmental pediatrics, they wouldn't have been trained to diagnose autism. The children in the study were diagnosed around age 5, the average age of autism spectrum diagnosis in the U.S. But Zuckerman says that children could be diagnosed much earlier. And an earlier diagnosis means that children and parents can get help learning techniques to make life with autism a little more manageable a little sooner. If anything, the study points to the need to get resources to physicians so that they can recognize signs of trouble. \"We need to give them the skills they need so they can identify kids,\" says Zuckerman. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that pediatricians screen children at their 18-month checkup and again when the child is between 24 and 30 months old. But it will take a few years for this practice to truly take root. Meanwhile, Zuckerman says parents can find online tests and videos, so that they have a better idea of that to look for. \"We screen for blood pressure in kids and for vision,\" says Zuckerman. \"There's no reason we can't screen for autism.\"", "Nine national medical groups are launching a campaign called Choosing Wisely to get U.S. doctors to back off on 45 diagnostic tests, procedures and treatments that often may do patients no good. Many involve imaging tests such as CT scans, MRIs and X-rays. Stop doing them, the groups say, for most cases of back pain, or on patients who come into the emergency room with a headache or after a fainting spell, or just because somebody's about to undergo surgery. A child with low belly pain and suspected appendicitis? Don't rush her to the CT scanner. Do an ultrasound first. That will give the answer 94 percent of the time, is cheaper and doesn't expose the child to radiation. Continue Reading Don't put heartburn patients on high doses of acid-suppressing drugs when lower doses and shorter courses will do, they say. You might just be making their symptoms worse when they try to stop the medicine. An apparently healthy middle-aged guy with few cardiac risk factors comes in for a yearly exam and wants to know how his ticker is. Don't give him a full cardiac workup, with a treadmill test and fancy imaging. This kind of patient accounts for almost half of unnecessary cardiac screening. Postpone repeat colonoscopies for 10 years if the first one is negative, or if it found and removed one or two early-stage colon polyps, the guidelines state. And stop prescribing antibiotics for mild-to-moderate sinus infections. And here's one that raises some tricky questions: Most patients who are debilitated with advanced cancer shouldn't get more chemotherapy. \"When somebody is literally bed-bound and unable to walk or take care of himself, it's almost futile to use cancer-directed treatment and will probably have negative consequences,\" says Dr. Lowell Schnipper, a Boston cancer specialist who helped develop the new guidelines. Schnipper tells Shots many cancer patients are getting chemotherapy in the last weeks of their lives. He says that does no good, makes patients miserable and may shorten their life. The Choosing Wisely project was launched last year by the foundation of the American Board of Internal Medicine. It recruited nine medical specialty societies representing more than 376,000 physicians to come up with five common tests or procedures \"whose necessity ... should be questioned and discussed.\" The groups represent family physicians, cardiologists, radiologists, gastroenterologists, oncologists, kidney specialists and specialists in allergy, asthma and immunology and nuclear cardiology. Eight more specialty groups will join the campaign this fall, representing hospice doctors, head and neck specialists, arthritis doctors, geriatricians, pathologists, hospital practitioners, nuclear medicine specialist and those who perform a heart test called echocardiography. Consumer groups are involved, too. Led by Consumer Reports, they include the AARP, National Business Coalition on Health, the Wikipedia community and eight others. The effort represents a growing sense that there's a lot of waste in U.S. health care, and that many tests and treatments are not only unnecessary but harmful. Harvard economist David Cutler estimates that a third of what this country spends on health care could safely be dispensed with. \"That's certainly the number we use,\" Dr. Steven Weinberger, CEO of the American College of Physicians, tells Shots. \"Most of us feel something like $750 billion or so could be eliminated from the system out of the $2.5 trillion or so that we spend on health care.\" Weinberger says unneeded diagnostic tests probably account for $250 billion. \"I talk about this a fair amount around the country, and invariably physicians come up to me and recount their own anecdotes about overuse and misuse of care,\" he says. Proponents of the campaign are aware they're wading into dangerous waters. \"There will be some ... that may demonize this campaign and infer the R-word — rationing,\" Daniel Wolfson of the ABIM Foundation wrote in December when the campaign was launched. But rationing is the denial of care that patients need, Wolfson points out. The Choosing Wisely campaign aims to reduce care that has no value. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Groups representing hundreds of thousands of doctors are launching a new campaign that is bound to stir controversy. Their goal is to stop tests and treatments that don't do patients any good. The effort is also the support of some leading consumer groups. As NPR's Richard Knox reports, the campaign is the first step toward limiting procedures that account for a giant chunk of the nation's medical bill. RICHARD KNOX, BYLINE: They're calling it choosing wisely. Doctors leading the campaign say about a third of what the nation spends on health care could be done away with without harming anybody, but at this point, the campaign has more modest goals. They could add up to maybe 10 percent of current spending, or around $250 billion a year. To do that, doctors would have to cut way back on 45 common tests", "Matthew Kime, a freelance photographer and Web designer in Brooklyn, bought health insurance coverage through a freelancers collective. Kime writes from WNYC land: I consider myself someone young and healthy so I didn't see a point in buying the expensive plans that most people are used to. I did a lot math. To come out ahead, I'd have to go to the doctor about once a month. In a given year, I'm unlikely to go to the doctor at all. The plan itself is very simple. Under $10k, nothing is covered. I consider to be bankruptcy protection rather than healthcare. However, I do get the negotiated rate for services and that's where things get weird. Eventually I did make use of the plan. About a year ago I was hit by a car while riding my bike. Thankfully I walked away from the accident. Read More >> One concerned and very generous bystander called an ambulance which I refused to get into despite everyone's advice. I knew it would be a really expensive ride to the hospital and while I was very shaken, I felt fine. I literally couldn't find anything wrong with myself and if not for a bent wheel, I would have continued my ride home. Strangely, the EMTs can't do anything but haul you back to the hospital if you're conscious. If there was anything to check for at that point they were either unable or restricted from checking. More generally, this is a decision I don't think anyone with \"real\" insurance would have made. A few days later I did go and see a doctor as my ankle had become swollen and bruised. The doctor thought it was likely broken and recommended me to a specialist to get xrays to confirm. The xrays proved I was fine and my ugly ankle was nothing to worry about. Services rendered -- Two doctor visits and one xray. A few months later I got a statement from the insurance company regarding my first doctor's visit. It itemized the expenses, listed the amount the office charges and the negotiated rate. I have no idea what to do with this thing. It doesn't even provide an address to send payment. Then I get a statement from the doctor's office saying I owe the full amount. I don't remember how I figured out how to reconcile the bills but this is how it goes -- you send payment to the doctor for the amount itemized by your insurance company. Doctor says, You owe $300. I say, Here is $120, my insurance company says that's how much I owe. Do we do business in that manner anywhere else in the country? If so, I'm unfamiliar with it. And that's if things go properly. But they almost never do. About nine months later I get a statement from the specialist saying that I owe x amount and that I'm 9 months late. I call my insurance company to see if they have my statement. As it turns out, the specialists didn't fill out the paperwork properly and the insurance company had been waiting for them to correct it. In particular, they needed a statement saying this wasn't a pre-existing condition. I don't know what can be less pre-existing than getting hit by a car but something must have gotten distorted in the game of telephone. A couple months later I get the complete paperwork. It's taken the doctor nearly a year to get paid. And how much money did the negotiated rate save me? About 20 percent. That's not bad, but I saved more than 50 percent for the first doctor's visit and a visit to an allergist brought it closer to 70 percent.", "Actress Farah Fawcett's battle with cancer goes public when \"Farrah's Story,\" a personal glimpse at her struggle with the disease, airs on NBC tonight. But plenty of information (and misinformation) about her medical history has been out there for a long time, courtesy of the celebrity tabloids. In an interview published in the Los Angeles Times this week, Fawcett described how she eventually uncovered the source of the leaks which turned her painful health journey into tabloid fodder. And, as Washington begins the process of overhauling the nation's health system, it's a story that brings concerns about privacy into focus amid the push towards electronic medical records. Fed up with information about her health turning up in the National Enquirer, Fawcett told the paper she suspected it was coming from inside the UCLA health system. When she discovered that her cancer had come back after initial treatment in the spring of 2007, Fawcett said she deliberately withheld the information from almost all her friends and family. \"I set it up with the doctor,\" said Fawcett. \"I said, 'OK, you know and I know' ... I knew that if it came out, it was coming from UCLA.\" She didn't have to wait long for the Enquirer to report that her cancer had returned. \"I couldn't believe how fast it came out,\" she said. \"Maybe four days.\" Read More >> An investigation by UCLA \"quickly found that one employee had accessed her records more often than her own doctors\" but would not provide Fawcett with the name of the employee. From the L.A. Times: \"After months of requests, UCLA ultimately provided Fawcett's lawyers with the name of the administrative specialist who had gone through her records. In July 2007, as the hospital moved to fire the worker, Lawanda Jackson, she quit. Federal prosecutors tracked the leaks to Jackson as well.\" \"Jackson pleaded guilty in December to a felony charge of violating federal medical privacy laws for commercial purposes but died in March of cancer before she could be sentenced. Prosecutors alleged that beginning in 2006, the Enquirer gave her checks totaling at least $4,600 in her husband's name.\" The interview with the Times was conducted in August of 2008 on the condition that the paper would not publish it until permission from Fawcett was granted. You can read the entire story and see video excerpts of the interview here. For her part, Fawcett told the paper: \"I'm a private person. ... I'm shy about people knowing things. And I'm really shy about my medical [care]. It would be good if I could just go and heal and then when I decided to go out, it would be OK. It seems that there are some areas that should be off-limits.\"", "Chemotherapy given to patients at the end of life often does more harm than good, according to a study that calls into question this common practice. We're not talking here about standard chemotherapy, which can be used to greatly prolong life and sometimes cure cancer. Instead, the study published online Thursday, in the medical journal JAMA Oncology, focuses on chemotherapy given to people with solid tumors who have been diagnosed with terminal disease and aren't expected to live more than six months. \"Chemotherapy is not meant to cure people like that,\" says Holly Prigerson, director of the Cornell Center for Research on End-of-Life Care. Even so, people with advanced cancer are sometimes given chemotherapy with the hope that it might slightly prolong their lives or make them more comfortable. Prigerson and her colleagues decided to see whether chemotherapy in this circumstance actually does improve a patient's quality of life. So they talked to the patients' caregivers and asked them how the patient fared during the final week of life. \"They assessed things like their mood, how anxious they were, their physical symptoms and their overall quality of life,\" Prigerson says. Her study found that chemotherapy often harmed these patients at the end, reducing their quality of life. And it didn't extend their lives, either. This was even the case for patients who had been able to keep active and felt relatively OK when this new round of chemotherapy began. \"The conventional wisdom,\" Prigerson says, \"is that patients and oncologists think, 'Why not? I have nothing to lose.' And I think the wake-up call from these data, really, is to say, 'There are harms being done, and there is a cost to getting chemo so late.' \" She acknowledges that some people may still opt for chemotherapy in these circumstances. But she thinks patients and doctors need to better understand the pluses and minuses of treatment at the end of life. \"I think some patients would say, 'I don't care, I want to be on chemotherapy; it gives me something to do and it makes me feel that I'm fighting my cancer,' \" she says. \"That's fine, if patients know that the likelihood of them benefiting from that chemotherapy is still remote, and it will probably make them feel sicker because of toxicities and side effects of the treatment.\" But doctors should not encourage that approach to cancer care, says Dr. Charles Blanke, an oncologist at Oregon Health and Science University's Knight Cancer Institute. \"I think this paper strongly argues that giving chemotherapy near the end of life — that is, in patients with terminal cancer — should not be the default, and oncologists should have a darn good reason if they want to do so,\" Blanke says. In an editorial accompanying the research paper, Blanke and Dr. Erik Fromme, an internist and palliative care specialist at OHSU, argue that it's time to change this accepted medical practice. They write that \"equating treatment with hope is inappropriate.\" \"If the doctor really doesn't expect you to be around in six months, it's probably better to focus your time on something that's not chemotherapy,\" Blanke tells NPR. He focuses instead on pain relief, mood issues, sleep disturbances and other problems that can affect a patient's quality of life. Dr. Lowell Schnipper, who heads oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, helped draft treatment guidelines at the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He says he's not ready to abandon them just yet. \"I think this is a wake-up call to talk to our patients,\" Schnipper says. Patients do need to hear a doctor say that a situation is truly dire when it is, he agrees. But each patient is different, he says, and novel approaches may sometimes be worth trying even in patients like this. Still, Schnipper says doctors haven't spent enough time considering quality-of-life issues in these circumstances. \"That is actually an important gap in our research knowledge, and this paper might actually be a step toward filling that gap,\" Schnipper says. New Medicare rules also pay doctors to take the time to discuss end-of-life issues, and oncologists say that step could help get more of these conversations started as well. ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Doctors offer chemotherapy to patients even when the end of life is near, hoping the treatment will make them feel better and possibly prolong their survival. NPR's Richard Harris reports on a new study that finds that this end-of-life treatment often harms a patient's quality of life. RICHARD HARRIS, BYLINE: Chemotherapy often helps cancer patients live for many more years, and it can even be considered a cure. But there comes a time for some cancer patients when doctors know the treatment has failed and patients with advanced cancer likely have less than six months left to live. HOLLY PRIGERSON: Chemotherapy is not meant to cure people like that. HARRIS: Holly Prigerson at the Weill-Cornell Medical College says those patients are still sometimes g", "Of all types of skin cancer, melanoma causes the majority of deaths. When on the scalp it can be especially difficult to catch in a self-examination — when was the last time you examined the top of your head? One person who might be able to help: your hairdresser. While cutting your hair, they've got a great view for a scalp inspection. And they can learn how to spot scary changes, researchers say. In a report published Wednesday in JAMA Dermatology, researchers from the University of Southern California and University of Colorado Denver detailed their efforts to educate hairdressers with a training video. Hairdressers had told some of the same researchers that they wanted to learn more about melanoma detection in an earlier survey, so they seemed like willing participants. The researchers showed the short video to 100 hairdressers in the Los Angeles area and measured their knowledge of melanoma screening before and after. After watching, the number of hairdressers reporting they were \"very confident\" in their ability to point out possible melanoma lesions increased more than two-fold and their measured knowledge of melanoma and its risks increased. Dr. Neda Black, a dermatologist in Pasadena, Calif., and first author of the research, says that scalp and neck melanoma is often hidden by hair. Just last year though, she saw three patients with melanoma who had come after their hairdresser found evidence of the disease. \"Hairdressers make daily observations of the scalp and neck, and can act as educators,\" she said in an email, \"I saw this as an excellent educational opportunity to promote public health.\" The idea of using hairdressers as another way to catch melanoma is not new. A 2011 survey found that more than half of Houston-area salon workers had seen a mole on a client and suggested that the client see a doctor. Bonnie Sedlmayr-Emerson, a 63-year-old resident of Tucson, understands the importance. In December 2004, her hairdresser found a salmon-colored spot on the top of her head and suggested she see a dermatologist. She was eventually diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to the lymph nodes. Although it was not an easy path and she will always have stage four cancer, she says she's doing well now with no evidence of disease. She calls her hairdresser, who she still sees, her lifesaver. Moving forward, the study's authors note that it's necessary to do further research to see if these gains in knowledge last over time. Dr. Doris Day, a dermatologist in New York City who was not involved in the study, adds that doctors need to keep talking with hairdressers to increase awareness. \"It's not going to be a one and done type of thing,\" Day says. \"We have to keep reminding them and continue education to help them recognize and have an eye out both for seeing a spot and telling the client so they can tell their dermatologist.\" David Black, the letter's co-author and assistant professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California, said in an email, \"Next steps include further disseminating the video and related scalp and neck melanoma detection videos among hairdressers. Future research should see if the educational video approach can be applied to other professions such as massage therapy.\" Greta Jochem is an intern on NPR's Science Desk.", "In the months after she first got sick with COVID-19 in March 2020, Jennifer Minhas developed a cluster of mysterious symptoms. \"I had profound fatigue,\" she says, along with brain fog, headaches and a rapid heartbeat, especially when she changed positions from lying down to standing up. \"Just standing up to make a sandwich, my heart rate would be 120,\" recalls Minhas, a 54-year-old nurse who lives in San Diego. A normal heartbeat for an adult ranges between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Doctors ordered tests to rule out heart disease. They all came back normal. The doctors couldn't find anything, Minhas says. About the same time she developed another strange symptom that offered a clue to her condition. \"I would wake up in the middle of the night with burning hands and feet, and I would look down and my feet would be bright red,\" Minhas says. In addition, she continued to feel a tightness in her chest, and the brain fog was so intense at times, she says, she couldn't remember a four-digit code for her phone. Her symptoms became so severe that she stopped working. \"Normally I'm very active. I used to play tennis and go to the gym,\" she says. But all this activity came to a halt. Yet doctors could not explain what was wrong. At first, her primary care doctor thought it was anxiety. \"It was disconcerting,\" Minhas says, and \"lingering way too long without a proper answer.\" But she persevered, determined to \"dig in and look for answers.\" And months later, in late 2020, a breakthrough: A group of cardiologists at the University of California, San Diego helped lead her to a diagnosis of a mercurial and little-known condition: postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, a blood circulation disorder. A growing number of people are facing mountains of frustration over health problems that linger after COVID-19 with no clear path to improvement. But for a subset of people with what's known as \"long COVID\" — mostly women such as Minhas — a POTS diagnosis offers a road map to treatment options and relief from their often-debilitating symptoms. COVID-19 brings new cases, new awareness The doctors told Minhas that they had begun to see other patients after COVID-19 who had developed similar symptoms. They explained to her that an issue with her nervous system was causing her heart to race, usually upon standing — a signature feature of the syndrome — and the circulatory problems. POTS is a type of dysautonomia, which stems from dysfunction in the autonomic nervous system. That's the part of the nervous system that works automatically to regulate body functions such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and digestion. Don't be surprised if you've never heard of POTS. \"There's been a lack of awareness\" of the condition, even within the medical community, says Dr. Tae Chung, a POTS specialist at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. The syndrome is estimated to affect about 1 million to 3 million people in the U.S. — most commonly women, young adults and adolescents. But the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new attention and many new diagnosed cases. Absolute numbers of long-haulers aren't known, but a recent survey in the U.K. found about 13% of people who had COVID-19 continued to have symptoms three months after their initial infection. Experts say a small slice of people with long-haul COVID-19 have symptoms of dysautonomia, though its prevalence is unknown. What is known, though, is that there is a backlog of patients waiting to be seen, Chung says. As part of the Johns Hopkins Post-Acute COVID-19 clinic team, he sees many patients who have POTS-like symptoms that need to be evaluated, though not all will be diagnosed with the condition. POTS experts at other academic medical centers — including UC San Diego, where Minhas is being treated — also are reporting an uptick in cases. Long road to diagnosis POTS predates the pandemic. It was first named in the 1990s, though it existed – unrecognized – long before, experts say. POTS often comes on suddenly following viral infection, though there are also other triggers, such as a concussion, for instance. The encouraging news is there are a host of medications and physical therapy that can help. \"Many patients do get better, significantly better,\" says Dr. Pam Taub, a cardiologist who treats Minhas at UC San Diego. But in many cases, POTS is a chronic condition, says Dr. Mitch Miglis, an autonomic disorder specialist at Stanford University, and patients require ongoing care. Symptoms can wax and wane over time, but he agrees that \"most people get better with treatment.\" POTS has overlapping features with chronic fatigue syndrome, including fatigue and brain fog, and experts who treat it say POTS has had some of the same challenges as CFS in gaining recognition. But this has begun to change as researchers \"have shown that there is real biology behind POTS,\" Taub says. Still, even before COVID-19, there were often long delays between the onset of symptoms and ", "Sophisticated fake media hasn't emerged as a factor in the disinformation wars in the ways once feared — and two specialists say it may have missed its moment. Deceptive video and audio recordings, often nicknamed \"deepfakes,\" have been the subject of sustained attention by legislators and technologists, but so far have not been employed to decisive effect, said two panelists at a video conference convened on Wednesday by NATO. One speaker borrowed Sherlock Holmes' reasoning about the significance of something that didn't happen. \"We've already passed the stage at which they would have been most effective,\" said Keir Giles, a Russia specialist with the Conflict Studies Research Centre in the United Kingdom. \"They're the dog that never barked.\" The perils of deepfakes in political interference have been discussed too often and many people have become too familiar with them, Giles said during the online discussion, hosted by NATO's Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence. Following all the reports and revelations about election interference in the West since 2016, citizens know too much to be hoodwinked in the way a fake video might once have fooled large numbers of people, he argued: \"They no longer have the power to shock.\" Tim Hwang, director of the Harvard-MIT Ethics and Governance of AI Initiative, agreed that deepfakes haven't proven as dangerous as once feared, although for different reasons. Hwang argued that users of \"active measures\" (efforts to sow misinformation and influence public opinion) can be much more effective with cheaper, simpler and just as devious types of fakes — mis-captioning a photo or turning it into a meme, for example. Influence specialists working for Russia and other governments also imitate Americans on Facebook, for another example, worming their way into real Americans' political activities to amplify disagreements or, in some cases, try to persuade people not to vote. Other researchers have suggested this work continues on social networks and has become more difficult to detect. Defense is stronger than attack Hwang also observed that the more deepfakes are made, the better machine learning becomes at detecting them. A very sophisticated, real-looking fake video might still be effective in a political context, he acknowledged — and at a cost to create of around $10,000, it would be easily within the means of a government's active measures specialists. But the risks of attempting a major disruption with such a video may outweigh an adversary's desire to use one. People may be too media literate, as Giles argued, and the technology to detect a fake may mean it can be deflated too swiftly to have an effect, as Hwang said. \"I tend to be skeptical these will have a large-scale impact over time,\" he said. One technology boss told NPR in an interview last year that years' worth of work on corporate fraud protection systems has given an edge to detecting fake media. \"This is not a static field. Obviously, on our end we've performed all sorts of great advances over this year in advancing our technology, but these synthetic voices are advancing at a rapid pace,\" said Brett Beranek, head of security business for the technology firm Nuance. \"So we need to keep up.\" Beranek described how systems developed to detect telephone fraudsters could be applied to verify the speech in a fake clip of video or audio. Corporate clients that rely on telephone voice systems must be wary about people attempting to pose as others with artificial or disguised voices. Beranek's company sells a product that helps to detect them, and that countermeasure also works well in detecting fake audio or video. Machines using neural networks can detect known types of synthetic voices. Nuance also says it can analyze a recording of a real, known voice — say, that of a politician — and then contrast its characteristics against a suspicious recording. Although the world of cybersecurity is often described as one in which attackers generally have an edge over defenders, Beranek said he thought the inverse was true in terms of this kind of fraud detection. \"For the technology today, the defense side is significantly ahead of the attack side,\" he said. Shaping the battlefield Hwang and Giles acknowledged in the NATO video conference that deepfakes likely will proliferate and become lower in cost to create, perhaps becoming simple enough to make with a smartphone app. One prospective response is the creation of more of what Hwang called \"radioactive data\" — material earmarked in advance so that it might make a fake easier to detect. If images of a political figure were so tagged beforehand, they could be spotted quickly if they were incorporated by computers into a deceptive video. Also, the sheer popularity of new fakes, if that is what happens, might make them less valuable as a disinformation weapon. More people could become more familiar with them, as well as being detectable by automated systems — plus they ma", "Going to a doctor who puts you at ease can actually improve your health. We have six tips for finding a primary care doctor you click with — and how you can make the most out of that relationship. 1. Figure out what type of patient you are, and let that guide your choice of doctor. Ask yourself exactly what you need from your doctor. Young, healthy patients, for example, may prioritize convenience. If you have a few medical problems and need to see specialists, find a primary care physician who can easily share electronic medical records with a hospital and specialty offices. 2. Seek out a doctor who makes you feel comfortable — and trust your gut on this one. You should immediately feel at ease with your doctor. Good signs to look out for include a doctor who makes eye contact and who listens without interrupting, and for patients of color, having a doctor from a shared background can be good for your health. If the connection isn't there, you are entitled to shop around for a different one. 3. When you go to the doctor, go prepared. Avoid that deer-in-the-headlights feeling when your doctor asks what brings you in. Perfect your \"opening statement,\" a concise description of what's going on and how it affects your quality of life. \"Think of it in terms of almost like a little elevator pitch,\" says Sana Goldberg, a nurse and author How To Be A Patient. Also, bring in your medications and paperwork from any other doctors or hospitals — that information can be critical to your health. 4. Be clear about your agenda from the beginning, because your doctor's agenda may be different from yours. If you make an appointment for knee pain, but your blood pressure's up when you walk in, your doctor's priority will shift to the more critical issue of blood pressure. To make sure the visit blow past your knees — or whatever else concerned you to start — come with a list or two or three of your priorities. \"I don't know what it is about walking into the doctor's office,\" says Jennifer Brown, a patient actor who helps train medical students at Georgetown University, \"but it's incredibly easy to forget half of what you wanted to tell the doctor,\" Brown says. 5. Don't be afraid to be yourself at the doctor's office. Your doctor wants to get to know you — and that familiarity can help you stay healthy. Visits are more fun for both you and your doctor when you share photos of your kids or stories about your crazy hobbies. But it can also help your doctor take better care of you. If you have back pain and you're on your feet at work, your doctor's plan might be different than a plan for somebody who sits at a desk all day. Going through a stressful time at home might affect your blood pressure or cause headaches. Tell your doctor about your life so your doctor has all the information she needs to help. \"More is more with your primary doctor,\" says Dr. Kimberly Manning, an internist and associate professor at Emory University School of Medicine. 6. You have a right to give your doctor feedback. But if things aren't working, don't be afraid to break up. We promise — your doctor really does want to hear from you about what he could be doing better. Start with personal language about how your doctor makes you feel, and try to keep your feedback specific. If you've tried your best but you still feel like the doctor-patient relationship isn't right, you are entitled to break up with your doctor. It can be frustrating to start the search process again, but it's worth it to find a doctor who makes you feel comfortable.", "In separate recording studios and separate songs, two groups of international stars have harnessed the power of their voices to help raise awareness of Ebola. One song, titled \"Africa Stop Ebola,\" captures the rhythms and atmosphere of Africa. It's a beautiful song — and it also delivers a lifesaving message. \"Ebola, Ebola, invisible enemy,\" sings an ensemble of some of Africa's most renowned musicians. It then continues: \"There is hope to stop Ebola; have confidence in the doctors.\" Sung in French, English and several West African languages, the ballad gives advice on the importance of trusting doctors, not touching sick or dead people and keeping proper hygiene. The song was recorded in Paris; since its release in October, it's been aired all over West Africa. The song can also be downloaded through online music retailers like iTunes and Amazon to help raise funds for humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, which has taken the lead in fighting the epidemic. The lyrics are meant to reach everybody. \"Music and radio are critical because music is education [and] entertainment,\" says Carlos Chirinos, a specialist in music and media at New York University, who helped produce the song. \"You don't have to know how to read or write in order to understand what a song says.\" Then there's the more famous Ebola song that's at the top of the charts in Britain: \"Do They Know It's Christmas?\" by Bob Geldof and a group of mostly British artists, recording under the name Band Aid. But the production has become controversial. The song's video opens with two men in Hazmat suits lifting an emaciated dead woman from a soiled mattress. Then it cuts to well-heeled pop stars under the camera lights, heading into a London studio to perform. Chirinos says the song is well-intentioned but perpetuates a negative image. \"It's using certain language that still denigrates Africa,\" he says. He points to one line in the song as an example: \"There is a world outside your window and it's a world of dread and fear.\" The Ebola version of \"Do They Know It's Christmas?\" is a rewrite of the 1984 original, which raised funds for a famine in Ethiopia. It can't always be Europeans coming to the aid of Africans, says Congolese vocalist Barbara Kanam, who sings her part in \"Africa Stop Ebola\" in Lingala. \"I agreed to sing this song because I think that today we need Africans to take our responsibility and to be involved in the battle against Ebola,\" she says. There's a lot more to Africa than the misery conveyed by some charity songs, adds Malian rapper Mokobe, who also participated in \"Africa Stop Ebola.\" He says he couldn't bring himself to watch the Band Aid video. \"It stigmatizes us and gives a horrible image of the entire continent,\" he says. \"What we want is for people to share our song in solidarity and mobilize together with us.\" In addition to raising money, Ivoirian reggae star Tiken Jah Fakoly says the group hopes to use its star power to dispel deadly myths. \"People listen to us more than to their politicians,\" he says in French. \"We encourage them to see a doctor and be confident.\" Fakoly says that's the strongest message because many in West Africa have believed that going to the hospital meant death: \"We say, 'No, you can beat this if you get to the doctor early on.'\" And with music, he says, the advice comes with a dose of hope, not despair.", "Even as Congress moves to expand health insurance coverage to millions of Americans, it's doing little to ensure there will be enough primary care doctors to meet the expected surge in demand for treatment, experts say. The American Academy of Family Physicians predicts that the shortage of family doctors will reach 40,000 in the next 10 years, as medical schools send about half the needed number of graduates into primary care medicine. The overall shortage of doctors is expected to grow to nearly 160,000 by 2025, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. \"I don't see anything in the legislation that will greatly increase the primary care pipeline,\" said Dr. Russell Robertson, chairman of the Council on Graduate Medical Education, which advises Congress. In addition to making sure patients have access to care, increasing the number and proportion of primary care doctors is crucial to lowering health costs, he said. Primary care doctors make up about a third of all physicians, though in most industrialized nations they make up half. \"We can't bend the cost curve without increasing primary care providers,\" said Robertson, who is also chair of family and community medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Resistance To Adding More Primary Care Residents Almost everyone agrees on how to build up the supply of primary care physicians: create more residency positions at teaching hospitals for family doctors and internists to complete their training and significantly increase how much primary care doctors get paid by Medicare and other insurers. But there's resistance to these steps because of their costs. A proposal backed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the teaching hospital lobby to add 15,000 Medicare-funded medical residency positions — a 15 percent increase that would favor more primary care training — was considered dead on arrival because of its $10 billion price tag over a decade. Proponents said it was a small price to pay, in legislation that could run as high as $1 trillion, to ensure that patients have access to doctors. Instead, the House and Senate overhaul bills would redistribute about 1,000 unfilled residency positions to teaching hospitals that commit to creating more primary care residencies. The Senate Finance Committee bill would give 15 mostly southern and western states preference for those positions because they have a high proportion of doctor shortages or a low percentage of medical residents. Ten of these states have representatives on the Finance Committee. Proposals to significantly increase Medicare payments for primary care doctors have gone nowhere in part because the money would come from payments to higher-paid specialists — who, not surprisingly, oppose a pay cut. As they now stand, the House and Senate overhaul bills call for a 10 percent bonus for primary care doctors for five years, an increase in Medicare payment rates that most experts say would have only a slight impact on encouraging new doctors to go into primary care careers. Family doctors on average make about $173,000, less than half of what specialists such as cardiologists earn, according to physician recruiters Merritt Hawkins & Associates. Dr. Darrell Kirch, CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, said the extra training slots emanating from the redistribution of unfilled residency position would amount to a \"drop in the bucket.\" Kirch noted that after Massachusetts in 2006 required residents to have health insurance, the demand for care quickly overwhelmed the state's doctors. \"It's a huge issue that concerns us greatly,\" said Kirch, whose association represents all 130 medical schools and nearly 400 major teaching hospitals. Money Goes To Specialist Training Dr. Ted Epperly, a Boise, Idaho, family doctor who is president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said family doctors would need about a 30 percent increase in pay to encourage more young physicians to enter primary care. \"The bills are anemic,\" he said, \"but at least a step in the right direction.\" Some medical workforce experts applaud Congress for trying to target how it spends billions in medical education funds to help states with the biggest needs and to promote primary care over specialty care. \"It's good to see Congress for the first time step to the plate to work on rebalancing the physician supply,\" said Dr. Mark Kelley, executive vice president of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and member of the Council on Graduate Medical Education. But like Kirch, Kelley said the redistribution of 1,000 residency slots will only make a small dent in the shortage problem. The number of residency training positions for all doctors has been flat for years. That's because in a budget-cutting move in 1997, Congress froze the number of Medicare-funded medical residency positions. Since then, the U.S. population has increased by more than 30 million — ", "Researchers are developing a smartphone app that, with the help of a simple paper funnel, might help parents detect fluid buildup in a child's ear — one symptom of an ear infection. The app is still experimental and would require clearance by the Food and Drug Administration before it could hit the market. But early data, published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, suggest that the smartphone can perform as well as an expensive test in a doctor's office. While there are many thousands of health-related apps, this one stands out because it uses the phone's microphone and speaker to make its diagnosis. \"All you really need to do to detect ear fluid is use sound,\" says Justin Chan, a graduate student at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. To focus this sound, physicians and parents crafted a small funnel out of paper. The tip of the funnel fits into the ear canal. The app then sends short, soft pulses of sound \"kind of like a bird chirping\" into the ear, Chan says. The funnel picks up the echo of that sound and the app then analyzes it. If there is fluid behind the eardrum, the echoes will sound different from those in a healthy ear. An algorithm on the phone figures it out nearly instantly. Chan uses a wineglass as an analogy. \"If a wineglass is empty or half full, tapping on it is going to produce a different sound,\" he says. \"And that's exactly what we do with our tool.\" Chan is lead author of a study that included other researchers, including his close collaborator Dr. Sharat Raju, from the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital and Research Institute. About 50 children had their ears checked with the app. Some of those children then underwent previously planned surgery on their eardrums, and that allowed doctors to verify the results of the app. The scientists report it was right about 85 percent of the time, comparable to the technology currently used in otolaryngology clinics. Chan and his colleagues started a company to develop the app as a commercial product. He says they are in the process of seeking the FDA's approval to market it. The agency would require more studies to gauge the app's performance and reliability, but he is hopeful the group can gather those data by the end of the year. \"It's very promising, but it's too early to tell how accurate it is,\" based on the newly published data, says Dr. Kenny Chan, chief of pediatric otolaryngology at Children's Hospital Colorado. \"We will have to wait and see.\" One big question is, just how useful will this be for parents and doctors? Fluid behind the eardrum is a symptom of ear infection, but \"not all fluid is an infection,\" says Pamela Mudd, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Children's National Health System in Washington, D.C. \"It would be more of a test to [see if] there is something going on behind the eardrum that may be affecting my child,\" rather than diagnosing an ear infection. Doctors really need to examine a child to make that diagnosis, which is based on looking into the ear, temperature and other clinical signs, she says. Mucus and other light fluid can accumulate behind the eardrum and not lead to infection, she says. When she examines a child's ear and can't tell by looking, she refers the child to a clinic where doctors use an instrument called a tympanometer, which measures fluid behind the eardrum using sound waves. At the same time, the audiology clinic often checks for hearing loss, which helps guide treatment decisions, such as whether a child would benefit from tubes to drain built-up fluid. Assuming the app is shown to be effective, Mudd says, she would want to talk to parents about how to interpret the results before recommending they purchase it. \"They may not have the knowledge that they need to understand what the device is telling them,\" she says. The developers suggest that the app can help parents avoid a trip to the doctor's office, but Mudd says the opposite may be the case. \"That may increase our use of the health care system\" if parents take their kids to the doctor for what may be a temporary bit of fluid behind the eardrum. There may be instances where that's appropriate, she says. Kenny Chan, the otolaryngologist in Colorado, is also concerned about that. \"To speculate that this may replace the need for a physician's visit, I think that's a little far-fetched,\" he says. Doctors encountered this issue after Apple marketed a watch that can identify irregular heartbeats, notes Oliver Aalami, a vascular surgeon at Stanford University who also studies mobile health applications. \"There was a lot of hype around it initially, but if you talk to the cardiologists, they were very concerned,\" he says, because suddenly doctors were confronted with large numbers of worried patients, and it wasn't clear whether all those new doctor's appointments and interventions with drugs and tests were actually helpful. As a result of", "In Latin America — home to the vast majority of the world's most violent cities — it's said the only part of a prison a guard controls is the gate, leaving convicts to fend for themselves inside, even running criminal networks from behind bars. I wanted to understand how a prison like that worked, and I was in luck: A colleague knew a man serving time a Venezuelan prison. The prisoner got in touch with the leader of the inmates, who sent word that he'd be willing to see us. So on the appointed day we drove to the prison in the far western city of Barinas. At first, a guard at the gate was reluctant to let me, a foreigner, in. But after we said which inmate we were meeting, he let us pass. Inside, guards come twice a day to count the inmates. Most of the rest of the time, the prisoners deal with a different authority, the man whose name opened the door for us: Wilmer Lopez. A prison leader is commonly called the pran, or crime boss. Lopez prefers a gentler title: lider positivo, or positive leader. Creating Order He took us on a tour around the prison buildings, in which the inmates have slowly built their own world. Lopez says he governs these men with the aid of a handful of others. Some of his aides, with bulges under their shirts, followed Lopez around. We spotted an inmate high on a wall, standing guard with what appeared to be a long gun. The inmates have their own security perimeter. On the day we visited, the guards at the front gate did not have a metal detector. The inmates' security checkpoint did — and the machine went off when Lopez stepped through. Maybe that's a sign of a high-crime country when even convicts need so much security. Last year a rival group of inmates took over one of the buildings here. The National Guard moved in eventually and removed them after a three-day battle. When we asked what relations are like between guards and inmates these days, Lopez spoke of mutual respect. \"The guards live in the same reality we do,\" he says. \"They want to go home to their families, and be alive tomorrow.\" How did Lopez become the leader? \"It's a question I often ask myself,\" he says. According to court records, Lopez went to prison in 2002. He was in his early 30s then, a former army sergeant who'd turned to crime. One of four men who stole a car and murdered the driver with a 9 mm gun, Lopez was sentenced to 20 years. By about 2008, Lopez says he'd fought himself into a leadership position. He says he was a violent inmate in his early years but insists he wants to rule through reason now, applying what he calls \"our internal law\" — that inmates must take responsibility for their actions in this crowded prison. The prison was built for about 400 inmates but has around 1,450 prisoners. Such overcrowding is normal in Venezuela. The government could do more to help us, Lopez says. And yet many prisoners help themselves. A Reflection Of The World Outside There's construction going on, inmates building rooms on the roofs of old buildings. Some of the wealthier inmates have private rooms with air conditioners, and gray satellite dishes propped overhead. There are a pool hall and a cockfighting ring and shrines to Catholic saints and figures in the Santeria religion. It's not clear how the prisoners pay for these things. Authorities have described other Venezuelan prisons as centers of drug trading or extortion schemes conducted by phone. And if the situation inside the prison seems insane, Lopez says, it just reflects the world outside. The barometer of a society is how it treats prisoners, he says. Justice applies only to those who have no money. In the afternoon, a squad of guardsmen arrived. They instruct the men to move one by one, from one side of the courtyard to the other. Lopez says in some ways his society is more orderly than what's outside. Outside the prison walls, Venezuela is politically divided, convulsed by a disputed election. His prison is quiet. At least today. LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer. RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: And I'm Renee Montagne. When you look at a map of the world's most violent cities, you will see almost all of them are in Latin America. We've been hearing about the causes and consequences of Latin America's crime on MORNING EDITION. Steve Inskeep has been in Venezuela and to better understand the crime on the street, he paid a visit to one of the regions' notorious prisons. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Those prisons are legendary in many countries. It's said the guards control only the gates, leaving convicts to fend for themselves - even running criminal networks from inside. In Venezuela, efforts to inspect prisons have led to battles between guards and well-armed inmates, leaving dozens dead. I wanted to understand how a prison like that worked, and I was in luck. A colleague knew a man serving time in a Venezuelan prison. The prisoner got in touch with the leader of the inmates; he was said to be a onetime soldier, c", "Tom O. writes: My wife, Marion, and I traveled to Turkey this May, just to be tourists. Amazing country and the people could not be much greater. Marion did all the planning and the only thing I knew of health care in Turkey when we arrived there was that we did not need evacuationinsurance. Part of our Regence Blue Shield coverage includes reimbursement for out of pocket medical expenses abroad, I think the limit is $10,000, and this was considered sufficient. We were staying for a few days in a the Kelebeck Hotel in Goreme, in Cappodicia. Marion became ill and had to stay in bed for a day, and was sick the next day as well. The manager was a man named Hasan who became my favorite Turk. I spoke to him about whether there wass a clinic in town. He did what little convincing was needed to get me to insist to Marion that she see a doc right away. Read More >> Hasan took us to the doctor's office. It was the lunch hour and Hasan went to the doctor's house next door while we waited in the car. Soon the doctor arrived, unlocked and went in. We followed him in. After a short conversation between Hasan and the nurse, Marion was seen by the doctor. He spoke little English. According to Marion his comment to her was, \"Not so bad, but not so good.\" He gave her a prescription for antibiotics, politely shook hands, showed her out of his office and closed his door. Marion and I looked around for someone to do paperwork and pay. Hasan gave us a \"What!?\" look and let us know: no paperwork, no charges. The antibiotics were about $12.00 USD. Marion was better the next day. About 10 days later we were in Konya. In what is considered to be a very religious area, the home of Melvana, aka Rumi, and of the whirling dervishes, a university town. Marion was on her way to the bathroom in the lobby when she slipped on the marble steps, injuring her shoulder and experiencing a small, but not insignificant, and extremely painful fracture on her foot. An ambulance was called. Luckily a fellow we had met spoke excellent English and even more fortunately insisted on accompanying us. Did I mention how great the Turks are? The EMT in the back with Marion asked her several times which hospital we wanted, and Marion finally had the presence of mind to say, \"The best one.\" This turned out to be Bashkent University Hospital, where the EMT takes her child. I'll say here that we later learned that the question was a meaningful one. There are \"public\" hospitals and there are hospitals that charge in a way that I think is essentially a buy up from what I will call the state rate. Bashkent is a private hospital. During our 6 or 7 hours at the hospital, Marion had an X-ray and CAT scan of both her shoulder and her foot. She was seen by a shoulder doc. The first foot doc turned out to be an intern who brought in his supervisor who made him give his opinion first, and it was plainly a tough question. The foot doc put Marion's foot in a cast. The X-Ray machines and CAT scanner did not look a great deal less gleaming than what I have seen here in Seattle. I think we had to sign one or two things. The only intake question we were asked was, \"What is her father's name?\" Marion's last name is different from mine. I collected all the credit cards, debit card and cash we had between us to go pay for the care. Attached is the invoice we paid which comes out to about $300 USD, which I had in cash. That was for everything: ambulance, two x-rays, two specialists, a neck brace, two CAT scans, set foot. We did not meet the deductible for travel insurance. The foot specialist who saw Marion a few days later in Seattle said he would have treated her in the exact manner as the doc in Turkey; and that this is an injury that often leads to complications. Marion is recovered. I only want to make one kind of editorial comment. From the Turks point of view, we were immigrants." ]

[ "The reason why I have a mechanical keyboard is because of clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack" ]

[ "What kind of keyboard are you talking about? Just like QWERTY keyboard, there are keyboard for plenty of non-Latin alphabets, as shown here: _URL_0_ Every keyboard software supports installing various keyboard layouts. East Asian languages also have special keyboard, [as explained in each of the answers here](_URL_1_).", "What I've been told: Because the original keyboard was actually a typewriter. When you press the keys, mechanical arms swing up at varying angles towards the paper in the roll. Based on common usage, letters were dispersed so that the mechanical arms on these keys wouldn't hit one another and lock up while typing rapidly. TL;DR: [here](_URL_0_)", "They don't. A lot of languages use their own keyboards. German keyboards for example are layed out qwertz instead of qwerty and include the letter ö, ü, and ä. France uses an azerty layout with their special characters (various accents). However, because most languages use the Latin alphabet, it's possible to write on the same keyboards because the basic set of 26 letters is the same, a standard qwerty layout includes options for adding some basic accents to letters, and other than that you can use Unicode shortcuts to use special characters", "Back when giant lizards roam the earth, keyboard were attached to typewriters, no computers, and the earliest typewrites were completely mechanical. Thet consisted of a [row of 40 some odd levers](_URL_0_), and when you hit a key (hard!), the lever would fly up and mash a ink soaked ribbon into the paper. Since two levers near each other would travel in similar trajectories, they could meet each other coming and going and jam. The Qwerty keyboard was designed so letters the commonly appear next to each other are separated on the keyboard.", "It will be different on different systems, but a quick overview: * you pressing the key will close a circuit in the keyboard * the [keyboard controller chip](_URL_0_) will translate that into a \"make code\" (there is a corresponding \"break code\" when you release the key) * the keyboard controller then signals an interrupt to your main cpu * the cpu saves what it's currently doing, and switches to an interrupt service routine (ISR) * the keyboard ISR reads information from the keyboard controller chip, telling it the make code * this information is then processed, and forwarded to any relevant applications that are running (usually by sticking a message in a queue)", "It goes back to the ol' manual typewriters. The layout of the keyboard was designed so that the mechanical arms wouldn't jam stuck together when you typed fast. This was done by placing common letters far from each other on the keyboard. _URL_0_", "From what I understand it had to do with typewriters and the letters jamming up. They tried to put common letter combinations on different areas of keyboard to prevent the typewriter from jamming...that is at least what I've always heard.", "Because they don't need the same keys. Most European languages have extra characters that are used frequently and don't exist in English language (i.e. German äüö). These keys have prominent places on the keyboard where the American keyboard has special chars like curly braces.", "Depends on where the language settings are used. It could influence any of the following: * Language selection (English vs US English) * Keyboard layout (UK QWERTY vs US QWERTY, different placement of special symbols mostly) * Date formatting (the UK uses sensible dates, the US uses garbage) * Default currency selection and formatting * Paper sizes for printers (really! A4 vs US Letter)", "If Windows can find a manufacturer driver(say for a printer, usb key, keyboard, mouse, etc) it will download and install it because that device will function better with the drivers from the original manufacturer. Apple decided that it would just program good generic drivers for devices, for the most part there is no problem with this. But if a device has a special functionality (like extra buttons on a mouse or keyboard) the apple device won't be able to access this functionality because it doesn't know what to do with this input.", "It was first used by mechanical type writers, and the reason they were layed out this way has to do with the mechanics. If you put too many of the most used keys together the machines would more easily jam. The layout was purely a practical way of ensuring type writers would last longer by spreading the strain on the mechanics across the entire keyboard.", "There is nothing special about they key. The lock is the special part...the lock works with two different keys. One is common to all the locks, that one is the master key. Physically, the tumblers inside the lock have an extra set point so that they will work at two different heights of key.", "Your professor's statement depends entirely on whether he/she was referring to *special* or *general* relativity. Currently there is no complete model of how *general* relativity works at very small distance scales. But *special* relativity is perfectly consistent with quantum mechanics. The unification of special relativity with quantum mechanics is what gave birth to the extraordinarily successful *quantum field theory*.", "The reason dates back to the time of manual typewriters. When first invented , they had keys arranged in an alphabetical order, but people typed so fast that the mechanical character arms got tangled up. So the keys were randomly positioned to actually slow down typing and prevent key jams. The QWERTY keyboards were made so one could type using keys from the top row of the keyboard. This random arrangement became standard. Source: _URL_0_", "Keyboards were originally for typewriters which were ingenious devices made to print letters on paper. Each key was connected to several levers. Pushing a key with the force of a finger pushed a letter against a ribbon with ink in it. This embossed the letter's shape on the paper with ink. The ribbon was advanced a tiny amount. To keep keys from jamming, which could always happen if you pushed two keys at once, keys were arranged so that two adjacent keys were seldom pressed near the same time. This reduced the jamming of keys.", "Commonly used letter combos had to be placed far apart to avoid jams on mechanical typewriters. The QWERTY layout became popular because it rarely jammed.", "In 1875, Christopher Sholes with assistance from Amos Densmore  rearranged the typewriter keyboard so that the commonest letters were not so close together and the type bars would come from opposite directions. Thus they would not clash together and jam the machine. The new arrangement was the \"QWERTY\" arrangement that typists use today.", "The push causes the keys to go down closing circuits in the keyboard. The keyboard has a controller that registers the depression of the keys and sends that data on. The OS has software that detects this data being sent along, picks it up, compares the keys pressed to the current keymap and determines it's shift and a thus making 'A'. That software sends it back to the OS, the OS realizes the user is currently focused on an instance of chrome.exe or whatever and sends that process the information about key presses. The browser software determines that currently a text-area is highlighted and, since 'A' is not a special command or anything, populates the cursor's location with an 'A' and pushes the cursor forward to the next position.", "According to David Paich (keyboards and vocals) the song is about \"a white boy trying to write a song on Africa, but since he's never been there, he can only tell what he's seen on TV or remembers in the past\".", "Before the iPhone got popular, the Blackberry was the only phone with excellent text capabilities (email integration). Even today some professionals prefer it because of its great mechanical keyboard and its strong security.", "clackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclack I can't wake up the baby with my *awesomeness* on a regular keyboard.", "It's from the USB spec on Human Interface Devices (HID) support, although there are some workarounds, at _URL_0_ Relevant part of spec: HID spec v1.11 ( _URL_1_ ) Appendix C: Keyboard Implementation (HID1_11.pdf p62) The keyboard must report a phantom state indexing Usage(ErrorRollOver) in all array fields whenever the number of keys pressed exceeds the Report Count. The limit is six non-modifier keys when using the keyboard descriptor in Appendix B.", "Have you ever played a recorder or an irish tin whistle? They're types of flute that have a duct built into the pipe that means you don't need any particularly special technique to make it sound, you just blow through it. All a church organ does is take that technology, scale it wayyy up, giving different lengths of pipe to generate different notes, then use a system of mechanics (or in more modern organs, electro-mechanics) to allow a player to control compressed air to the pipes via a keyboard (or 'manual'). In a modern organ, the air is compressed using an electric compressor, in the old days you'd have some assistant working a huge lever that pumped a pair of bellows to keep the organ pumped with air as you played.", "1) Pressing the key completes an electrical circuit inside your keyboard. 2) A device inside your keyboard receives the electrical signal and turns it into a series of tiny electrical signals. 3) The keyboard sends this series of signals to your computer. 4) The computer receives the series of signals and interprets them as a set of 1s and 0s. 5) The computer interprets the set of 1s and 0s based on whatever program it is focusing on at the time the key is pressed. 6) Based on the instructions in the program that's running, the computer will generate an output. If your cursor is in a text field in a web browser or a word processor, it may put an \"a\" in the field. If you're playing a game, the program may interpret it as a signal to take a small step to the left, or execute a particular action.", "Has to do with type writers. They are arranged strategically to avoid as often as possible having to press two keys that are next to each other to avoid jamming. Also for efficiency of motion, though some people prefer another layout called dvorak which is actually much more efficient.", "* Newtonian physics could also be called classical mechanics, it's the branch of physics that deals with everyday objects being affected by forces * Classical physics are the branches of physics that were developed before quantum mechanics. * Quantum mechanics is the physics of things at very small scales * Relativistic physics is physics that incorporates the effects of special relativity * Special relativity essentially links space and time together. Its effects usually only become noticeable at very high velocities. * General relativity is special relativity extended to cover gravity.", "[Information about powdering metals](_URL_0_) Plastic powders can be mechanically created using special machines, but finer particles are synthesized as fine particles in a variety of chemical processes.", "Word's autocorrect is rule based, which means that to do something, you have to set a rule, and to stop doing something, you have to delete the rule, whereas a phone's autocorrect is predictive/heuristically model, and attempts to predict what you are trying to type based on what you typed before. Why doesn't Word use this better autocorrect model then? Well, three reasons. It's harder to implement, won't be appreciated as much (it's easier to type on a big, physical keyboard after all) and it won't be as easy to use (unless you convince keyboard manufacturers to include a bar on top of the keyboard). You do have a predictive autocorrect included in the on screen keyboard, bu hey, that's harder to use.", "I'm not sure about Chinese keyboards; but Japanese keyboards have the hiragana characters on each key, as well as our Roman letters. When you type the word out, you hit space bar and it cycles through the kanji symbols for that word. An example: _URL_0_", "All that fish do is put a container of fluid with lots of oxygen (water) and a container of fluid with less oxygen (blood) next to each other, separated by a permeable membrane. (This is the same way that lots of other things work, like lungs and kidneys.) I don't know what would count as \"mechanical\" separation in your mind, but there is nothing special about blood that makes this possible.", "It allows your hand to be near the tab, shift, ctrl, and the 1, 2, and 3 keys. These are used in games as well, and they are larger than other letter keys, making them easier to hit when you need to crouch or sprint or open a menu. Just give you more access to other keys which might be relevant.", "In most cases, you will know a bit of every type of engineering if you get an engineering degree. The name of the degree is what you will specialize in. * **Chemical:** You will learn more chemistry than other majors. * **Biomedical:** You will be a mechanical engineer who knows a ton about biology. * **Mechanical:** You will know a ton about materials, physical systems, heat transfer, and fluid dynamics, along with a lot of other stuff from other basic classes. ME (Mechanical Engineers) are very versatile and can work as many other types of engineers as well. * **Electrical:** You will know a bunch about circuits and properties of electricity. From your description, I'd say that you want to be a biomedical engineer as you will get the materials knowledge from the ME side and how materials will affect tissue from the biology side. **Source:** Degree in mechanical engineering. **Edit:** Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I'll try to get back to you in a timely manner." ]

[ "In the movie Rio all the characters speak Spanish and the signs are in spanish but really Brazil has portuguese as the main language." ]

[ "What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever seen?", "On reddit you use `/s`", "video games, music, movies, food, reddit", "Well, one is a member of one of the biggest rock bands ever, and the other I've only ever seen mentioned on Reddit.", "Internet Historian", "80's horror movies", "I just use google and type Reddit at the end. \n\n“What is the best movie of 2020 Reddit”", "best. historian. ever", "You are! You are the nicest person I’ve seen on reddit yet! :)", "I’m on reddit, don’t have a s/o", "i mean have you *seen* a house?\n\nthey're fucking *terrifying*\n\n^(/s just in case)", "Seen both, very fucked up movies but very on point with what can happen.", "What do you mean you people? S/", "&gt; mostly low quality with dumb movies \n\nWhich Indian movies have you seen that led you to draw this conclusion?", "What is the biggest question in life?", "what if you are the reddit kid", "This is reddit. What did you expect?", "This is the most Reddit shit I’ve seen in a while", "Music, video games, &amp; movies", "Historian, They know a lot about the past.", "I have 2 dad's yet you're the biggest homo I've ever seen", "Therapy, not Reddit, is probably what you need.", "“Reddit, what did you read?”", "Well I won't be posting the s*** on Reddit if I did", "That is the weirdest assumption I\\`ve ever heard.", "Haven’t seen them at all lol the movie was awesome tho", "Don’t make movies and games anymore.", "What question would you ask reddit?", "Reddit, Gaming, Youtube, Netflix, Porn.", "Most emotional movie I’ve ever seen. Up there with Marly and Me.", "Getting dressed to go to the store to buy games and movies.", "what's the seen zone?" ]

[ "The first live show of The X Factor: Celebrity kicked off at 8.20pm this weekend. It ended at 10.10pm and won't return until next Saturday night. Taking the results show's place on Sunday night will be Stephen Mulhern's quiz show Catchphrase." ]

[ "X Factor: Celebrity line-up revealed in full. It's the X Factor - but not as you know it. A celebrity version of the long-running ITV talent show is hitting screens next month. ... The series is replacing the traditional X Factor series, which has aired annually since 2004.", "X Factor 2019 odds Megan McKenna is the hot favourite to win The X Factor: Celebrity 2019 ahead of the final. The X Factor: Celebrity has its four finalists after five rounds of live shows on ITV. And tonight one of them will be crowned the winner in the grand final.", "The X Factor 2020 has been axed by Simon Cowell after both X Factor: Celebrity and X Factor: The Band failed to make an impact in 2019. A production source told Daily Star Online: \"Simon is planning to rest The X Factor this year.", "The X Factor will not be airing in 2020, according to reports. Although the show has been contracted for another series, Simon Cowell and ITV producers have agreed to give the talent show a break. The original X Factor also didn't air in 2019, instead being replaced by X Factor: Celebrity and X Factor: The Band.", "The X Factor: Celebrity airs tonight from 8:20PM this evening for the first live show with an audience in the studio and millions watching at home. This year The X Factor's live show rounds are filmed live from LH2 Studios in London, W3.", "['Who are The X Factor Celebrity judges? Simon Cowell. ... ', 'Nicole Scherzinger. Former Pussycat Doll singer Nicole Scherzinger, 41, is back alongside Simon to offer her expertise. ... ', 'Louis Walsh. Another X Factor stalwart is back on the judging panel in the form of Louis Walsh.']", "X Factor Celebrity tickets X Factor tickets are FREE and you can apply for them on the Applause Store website.", "X Factor Celebrity is all set to go live, with the judges having picked which acts they want to take to the next stage of the competition.", "The main show was rested in 2019, with Cowell and ITV opting to broadcast The X Factor: Celebrity and The X Factor: The Band as mini-series instead. On 7 February 2020, it was announced that the show would be rested during 2020 and would return in 2021.", "Who left X Factor: Celebrity tonight? The three acts who received the lowest amount of public votes found themselves vulnerable to elimination from the competition for good. Tonight, Jonny Labey, Martin Bashir and Victoria Ekanoye were in the bottom three of The X Factor: Celebrity.", "X Factor fans in the US can watch The X Factor: Celebrity on AXS TV. If you have a subscription with a participating cable TV provider, you'll be able to watch at no extra charge.", "When does X Factor: All Stars start? A date is yet to be confirmed for this new spin-off show. However, it is likely to air AFTER X Factor: Celebrity. With this in mind it is likely to be sometime in November 2019.", "X Factor Celebrity tickets This year The X Factor's live show rounds are filmed live from LH2 Studios in London, W3.", "It's been revealed there will be TWO series of The X Factor this year but they will be different to the original format. There will be one featuring celebrities and the other will be an all-star line-up of past contestants.", "The X Factor Celebrity release charity single. Shooting Star Children's Hospices has The X Factor, as the charity is joint beneficiary of a special charity single, along with children's hospice umbrella organisation, Together for Short Lives.", "Dalton Harris wins The X Factor 2018. Dalton Harris has been declared the winner of The X Factor 2018. Host Dermot O'Leary announced the singer was champion of the show's 15th series, beating fellow finalists Scarlett Lee (who came second in the contest) and Anthony Russell (third) in Sunday night's show.", "Dalton Harris has been crowned this year's X Factor winner! It's been a long journey for the final three contestants who gave it their all in the final shows on Saturday and Sunday night.", "Try Star are more used to the rugby field than the X Factor arena, but the group have already made a splash on X Factor: Celebrity, getting through to the live shows. The trio, all seasoned rugby union players, are Levi Davis, Thom Evans and Ben Foden.", "A show insider told the Daily Star: \"The decision has been made to drop X Factor in its current form. \"It has been 100% axed. The show is done. \"It's being replaced by a show that'll only be for celebrities.", "The X Factor: Celebrity winner gets a record deal with Syco, Simon Cowell's record company, and thus the opportunity to pursue a career in music.", "Melody Thornton was the eighth celebrity to leave Dancing on Ice. She lost out to singer Saara Aalto in Sunday night's show. The two finished bottom of the public vote, and judges Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Ashley Banjo and Jason Gardiner decided to keep the former X Factor contestant.", "For us the autumn (fall) harvest celebration was Harvest Festival. We celebrated on the Sunday nearest to the Harvest Moon. ... In Canada, Thanksgiving celebrations are celebrated on the second Monday in October. It is a celebration of the harvest and blessings of the past year.", "Father's Day is always celebrated on the third Sunday in June. In 2020, it's Sunday, June 21st.", "The start date and judges for brand new series X Factor: The Band have been confirmed. The new spin-off will see acts audition to form part of a girl group and boy band. Unlike the traditional show, which airs on Saturday nights, The X Factor: The Band will begin on Monday, December 9 at 8:30PM on ITV.", "Max and Harvey. Max and Harvey are an English singing duo, who rose to prominence after posting singing videos on social media. In 2019, they competed in The X Factor: Celebrity and finished in second place.", "The X Factor (British TV series) The X Factor is a British reality television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, the show began broadcasting on 4 September 2004 with 445 episodes broadcast over fifteen series as of 2 December 2018.", "In 2020, Father's Day will be celebrated on Sunday, June 21. ... Father's Day is celebrated annually on the third Sunday in June in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, and a number of other countries around the world.", "Easter falls on the first Sunday after the Full Moon date, based on mathematical calculations, that falls on or after March 21. If the Full Moon is on a Sunday, Easter is celebrated on the following Sunday.", "As Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, there will be no celebrations on Christmas Day in Tuvalu. Sunday here is church day, regardless of any other celebrations it might coincide with, religious or otherwise, and so people will be spending Christmas Day quietly praying with their families, the same as every Sunday.", "Celebrities taking the plunge include BBC religion editor Martin Bashir, The Chase star Jenny Ryan - aka The Vixen - and US chat show host Ricki Lake. A group of Love Islanders will compete in the groups category. The series is replacing the traditional X Factor series, which has aired annually since 2004.", "The show will see 15 star acts compete to impress judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Nicole Scherzinger. Celebrities taking the plunge include BBC religion editor Martin Bashir, The Chase star Jenny Ryan - aka The Vixen - and US chat show host Ricki Lake. A group of Love Islanders will compete in the groups category.", "List all the factors for x6,x4 x 6 , x 4 to find the common factors. The common factors for the variables x6,x4 x 6 , x 4 are x⋅x⋅x⋅x x ⋅ x ⋅ x ⋅ x . The GCF for the variable part is x4 ." ]

[ "CBBC" ]

[ "programmer", "This Is the Story", "story", "To Our Children's Children's Children", "Stories", "Bailout programme", "channeling", "Vostok programme", "computer programmers", "programmable computers", "that which burns", "The Luna programme", "that which purifies", "children", "modernisation programme", "A lead programmer", "The Children", "s", "Master Programmer", "application programmer", "programmer analyst", "Cities Programme", "that which is heard", "their children", "S&S Power", "S&S Worldwide", "Traci Lords", "Tracie Spencer", "Traci Harding", "Tracy Byrd", "Amazing Stories", "Yoshi's Story" ]

[ "Community leaders will issue a call to action today to fill the city's food pantries, the city announced Thursday." ]

[ "Shelves at food pantries everywhere experience a lull in the fall as they await the holiday food drive season.", "With the colder temperatures and the impending arrival of snow, many area food pantries are preparing for the long winter months and the expected demand for assistance, which has been on the rise since 2008.", "Scouts in the East Carolina Council-White Oak River District will collect non-perishable food items for local food pantries in Onslow County Saturday.", "May 13, 2009 Five Lee County schools will host mobile food pantries this summer to feed hungry children and their families.", "Harvest Hope food bank is opening up a news emergency food pantry to help feed the hungry.", "Meijer Inc. is bringing back its double match for $10 Simply Give donations this weekend, Nov. 9-10, to help boost support for local food pantries before the holidays.", "Sen. Thomas W. Libous, R-Binghamton, will help distribute food for the Food Bank of the Southern Tier's Mobile Food Pantry Oct. 15 at the Waverly Presbyterian Church, 459 Park Ave., Waverly.", "The third annual Empty Bowls community dinner to benefit Dorchester County food pantries will be held from 5 to 7 pm Tuesday, May 21 at Waugh United Methodist in Cambridge.", "A head of the next week's World Summit on Food Security, the FAO has called for a day-long worldwide hunger strike against chronic hunger.", "A food drive falls short, leaving a food pantry's shelves nearly empty.", "Just like ``Old Mother Hubbard'', the cupboards at the Mitchell County Food Pantry are bare.", "The Food Bank for Monterey County is launching its spring awareness and fundraising campaign to help bolster public support and meet the growing community need.", "With world leaders meeting in Rome to discuss ways to tackle global hunger, a new report by the US Department of Agriculture finds more Americans than ever before are experiencing food insecurity.", "more residents have been relying on the local food pantry.", "Like an obsessive compulsive who is always alphabetizing the food in his pantry, Facebook is messing with the items that appear in your News Feed again.", "Small business leaders will ask the government for tax relief and easier access to credit at a special summit with senior ministers on Friday.", "Volunteers came together in shifts on Friday night to help Tabitha's Way, a Spanish Fork thrift store and food pantry, provide a Christmas dinner for veterans, elderly and those in need in the community.", "A new food pantry, Helping Hands of the East End, has opened in Riverhead.", "On Saturday, May 9, letter carriers with the US Postal Service will collect food for the hungry along their delivery routes as part of the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive.", "People who need help dealing with hunger can call United Way of Dane County at 2-1-1.", "Pakistan faces a huge hunger crisis, Save the Children warns, as the United Nations launches a $2 billion appeal for international aid.", "SAN LEANDRO, Calif. Food banks across the Bay Area are experiencing record need this holiday season.", "Senior UN and international agency officials urged on Monday actions against food crisis when almost one billion people in the world are going hungry.", "The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued three separate food warnings Saturday involving smoked salmon;", "Volunteers are needed to deliver meals to the Coudersport community as part of an expansion of a local ministry.", "The Salvation Army in Escondido is asking for donations of canned food, toys or cash so that it can provide 850 needy families with Christmas baskets of food and gifts.", "Some food banks in Wisconsin are forming a state association to help coordinate efforts to aid the hungry.", "The United Nations is set to declare famine in parts of southern Somalia, aid officials said on Tuesday, signalling to donors the need for more aid and to insurgents that the population's suffering is taken seriously.", "The issue of food security remains a challenge in the province, with more than 30% of the population being food insecure.", "The Rotary clubs of Juneau will hold a ``Pre-Spring Cleaning'' food drive Saturday to help replenish stocks at the Southeast Alaska Food Bank.", "Union leaders have called for new rules to allow post offices to issue repeat prescriptions as part of a radical plan to expand services.", "GARDENERS looking for a patch of land to grow food in Burnham and Highbridge are being asked to attend a meeting next week." ]

[ "JORDAN PICKFORD has put the debate about his England credentials to bed once and for all.\nPickford found himself at the centre of criticism following England's Group G defeat to Belgium in Kaliningrad last week. The Everton ace was singled out for special attention for letting in Adnan Januzaj's second half winner. Belgium rival Thibaut Courtois broke free from the 'keepers union' to question if Pickford was tall enough, while pundit Gary Neville also questioned his performnace. The stinging attack resulted in England boss Gareth Southgate launching a staunch defence of his keeper. Southgate made it clear Pickford remained his No.1 choice and that he would line-up against Colombia in Tuesday night's crunch last 16 showdown in Moscow.\nEPA Jordan Pickford: England World Cup hero proved his worth last night\nGETTY Jordan Pickford was slammed for his effort to save Adnan Januzaj's shot\n“I have got power and agility. I don't care if I'm not the biggest keeper” Jordan Pickford Pickford repaid his manager's faith in spades with the performance of his career to help the Three Lions win a penalty shoot out and reach the quarter finals. Pickford produced a stunning save in extra time to tip wide Mateus Uribe's effort with what might go down as the stop of the tournament so far. He then proved the difference in the shoot-out, somehow raising a strong hand to block Carlos Bacca's spot kick to enable Eric Dier to fire home the winning strike.\nEPA Jordan Pickford did the business in the penalty shootout against Colombia\nPickford hit back at his critics afterwards and said: \"I have got power and agility. I don't care if I'm not the biggest keeper - because it's about being there in the moment and making the save - and I was. \"I've been criticised for going with my top hand, but as long as you save it, that's all that counts. I might be young, but I've got good mental strength and experience.\" The likes of Courtois and Neville have been around the game long enough to know that their opinions were both foolish and knee-jerk. Neville might get paid a fortune to express such opinions on TV, but his knowledge of goalkeeping remains doubtful at best.\nEngland Player Ratings: Jordan Pickford the hero in penalty shootout win over Colombia ENGLAND won on penalties against Colombia to advance to the World Cup quarter-final tonight - here are our player ratings for the Three Lions. 1 / 15 GETTY England: Team average - 6.53" ]

[ "news\nMocked by Belgium's Thibaut Courtois for being too small for a top-class goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford stood tall when England needed a penalty shootout hero to end years of pain from the spot.\nOn just his seventh international appearance, Pickford became the first England stopper in 20 years to save a penalty at a major tournament.\nWith the sides tied at 3-3 in the shootout, the Everton 'keeper leapt to his right and got a strong left hand to Carlos Bacca's strike, putting the Three Lions on course to win a knockout game for the first time since 2006.\nIt was a sweet moment for Pickford, and for his manager Gareth Southgate, whose decision to back the 24-year-old despite his inexperience and leave 75-time capped Joe Hart out of his squad was vindicated.\n\"I don't care if I'm not the biggest keeper,\" said the 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 metre) tall Pickford. \"I've got that power and agility to get around the goal. I'm very good at it.\"\nPickford deserved to have won the game a lot earlier on a tense night in Moscow.\nAs the game entered stoppage time he flew high to his left to turn Mateus Uribe's blistering long-range effort behind.\nPickford had barely got to his feet, though, when Yerry Mina's towering header from the resulting corner brought Colombia level with a crushing blow that more mentally fragile England sides of the past may not have recovered from.\n\"It was a top-class save. I'm surprised he could reach it given his height,\" Southgate said with a wry smile.\n\"He's really athletic around the goal, he is excellent and he executed the plan in the penalty shootout.\"\n'Strange' technique\nPickford was one of just two first-team regulars not rotated by Southgate against Belgium for England's final group game last week and was criticised for his technique in failing to stop Adnan Januzaj's effort that sealed top spot in Group G for the Red Devils.\n\"The goalkeeper is 10 centimetres smaller than me,\" Chelsea's giant goalkeeper Courtois told Belgian website Voetbal24. \"I would have caught it. He was too busy throwing his legs in the air.\"\nCourtois was not alone. Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville, who also formed part of the England coaching team at Euro 2016, described Pickford's attempt to stop Januzaj's strike as \"a bit strange\".\n\"I've been criticised for going with my top hand, but as long as you save it, that's all that counts,\" said Pickford after silencing his critics. \"I might be young but I've got good mental strength and experience and I used that.\"\nSouthgate has suffered more than most from England's penalty torture in the past. Even after Tuesday's success, he admitted his miss in the Euro 1996 semi-final on home soil against Germany will live with him forever.\nBut in refusing to dismiss penalties as a lottery like many of his predecessors, his attention to detail paid off.\nOn top of psychometric tests for his players and incessant practice on the training ground, he even made sure Pickford handed the ball to each of his teammates to ensure opposite number David Ospina could not play any mind games by delaying their lonely walk from the centre circle even by a few seconds.\nEngland had already waited too long to win on penalties. Thanks to Pickford that curse is now broken and their best chance in a generation to end 52 years of hurt at the World Cup remains intact.", "England are into the World Cup quarter finals (Picture: Getty)\nEngland are through to the quarter finals of the World Cup after beating Colombia in a penalty shootout\nThe Three Lions had gone 12 long years without winning a knockout game at a major tournament but will now face Sweden in Samara on Saturday for a place in the semi finals.\nEngland largely controlled a tetchy first half which grew increasingly bad tempered, with Colombia doing their best to provoke their opponents.\nHarry Kane squandered England’s best chance of the opening period as he narrowly missed the target having been located, unmarked, at the far post by Tottenham teammate Kieran Trippier.\nColombia were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men shortly before the break when Wilmar Barrios appeared to aim a head butt at Jordan Henderson, while one of their coaches even got in on the act after the half time whistle, attempting to barge Raheem Sterling out of the way.\nEngland hadn’t won a knockout game at a major tournament since 2006 (Picture: Getty)\nHarry Kane became the first England player to score six goals at a single World Cup since Gary Lineker in 1986 (Picture: Getty)\nJose Peckerman’s side were finally penalised for their indiscipline 12 minutes after the restart when Carlos Sanchez hauled down Kane, instead of attempting to defend a set piece.\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\nColombia did their best to put Kane off his stride, delaying the spot kick and even attempting to scuff up the penalty spot, but the England captain kept his nerve and slammed the ball down the middle of the goal with David Ospina having committed to diving to his right.\nJuan Cuadrado missed a great opening for Colombia with 10 minutes remaining when he blazed over following an error by Kyle Walker but Colombia scored an equaliser in the third minute of injury time.\nJordan Pickford produced a miraculous save to deny Mateus Uribe’s long range effort but from the resulting corner Yerry Mina powered his header beyond Trippier on the goalline.\nYerry Mina scored Colombia’s injury time equaliser (Picture: Getty)\nDavid Ospina was powerless to save Eric Dier’s decisive penalty (Picture: Getty)\nJordan Pickford made the key save from Carlos Bacca in the shootout (Picture: Getty)\nEngland survived in extra time but were unable to carve out any clear cut opportunities of their own as the contest entered the dreaded shootout.\nSouthgate’s men were on the brink when David Ospina saved Jordan Henderson’s effort but successive misses from Uribe and Carlos Bacca, whose effort was brilliantly kept out by Pickford, allowed Eric Dier the chance to put England into the last eight.", "Former Darlington boss Craig Liddle believes Jordan Pickford was destined for the top – even when he was failing to win a game in the National League.\nEverton goalkeeper Pickford was one of England’s penalty heroes in their first World Cup shoot-out victory over Colombia on Tuesday.\nThe 24-year-old saved Carlos Bacca’s spot-kick as the Three Lions booked a quarter-final showdown with Sweden, winning 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw.\nEngland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford celebrates after beating Colombia on penalties (Adam Davy/PA)\nLiddle, now Middlesbrough’s academy manager, gave Pickford his senior debut as a 17-year-old as Darlington battled relegation from the National League.\nHe conceded 39 times and failed to win a match during his 17-game loan spell from Sunderland in 2011-12.\n“We gave him the platform and the opportunity but he was always destined to get to where he is now,” Liddle told Press Association Sport.\n“The thing with all young players is when you have an opportunity you have to take it.\nEngland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saves Carlos Bacca’s penalty (Aaron Chown/PA)\n“He took it with both hands and went back to Sunderland, kicked on again and each loan spells tested him that bit more.\n“It was evident he had talent and you always hope he’ll fulfil his potential and he has certainly done that.\n“Darlington can’t take much credit for where he is now but we handed him the opportunity and he passed it with flying colours.”\nPickford has already been England’s penalty king at the Under-17 World Cup in 2011.\nHe saved Gaspar Iniguez and Agustin Allione’s efforts in a shoot-out win against Argentina.\nPickford also stopped Sweden’s Linus Wahlqvist from 12 yards in a group-stage game and Yannick Gerhardt in the 4-3 semi-final shoot-out defeat to Germany for England Under-21s at Euro 2017 last summer.\nEngland’s Jordan Pickford mops up after saving Linus Wahlqvist’s penalty (Nick Potts/PA)\nBut he endured a rough start to his senior career with the cash-strapped Quakers, who were wound up that summer before reforming in Division One of the Northern League.\nHe joined Darlington as they were under a transfer embargo and could only sign under-19 players but Liddle was immediately impressed.\nFormer Darlington’s manager Craig Liddle gave Jordan Pickford his senior debut (PA Wire)\n“We were in a lot of trouble on and off the pitch and he was doing very well at Sunderland and Jordan was the next best thing,” he said.\n“He was very mature for his age, determined and fitted in really well. It was a good learning curve for him.\n“There was still an awful long way for him to develop to get to where he is now which is a credit to him.”\n- Press Association", "Stormzy stops mid gig for England’s penalty shootout (Picture: PA / Getty Images)\nStormzy stopped mid-gig in Ibiza to watch England’s World Cup penalty shootout – then celebrated by contin his set with Big For Your Boots.\nA video has emerged on Twitter of the rapper’s reaction to England smashing their penalties win, and it is epic.\nThe crowd can be seen watching the tense moment, as Stormzy crouches down on stage with his hand up to his mouth trying to contain those stress levels – that pretty much everyone was feeling during the game last night.\nWhen England made history and won the shootouts, scoring them a place in the World Cup’s quarter finals, Stormzy launches himself into the air as he celebrated the country’s success.\nOnly Stormzy could stop his #MerkyFestival headline set at @ibizarocks to watch England win the penalty shoot out and then go straight into ‘Big For Your Boots’ 🔥💥🔥💥 pic.twitter.com/MwqBadFzMQ — Ben Anderson (@IAmBenAnderson) July 3, 2018\nThe crowd can be seen erupting into applause before the 24-year-old breaks into Big For Your Boots to a backdrop of smoke and confetti.\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\nHis fans chant the words back to him as they pound their fists into the air, with the whole set turning into a party.\nEngland managed to survive the match’s extra time, and the game was sent to shootout – but as England haven’t won one in 12 years it was a nail biter.\nSouthgate’s men were on the brink when David Ospina saved Jordan Henderson’s effort, but successive misses from Uribe and Carlos Bacca, whose effort was brilliantly kept out by Pickford, allowed Eric Dier the chance to put England into the last eight.\nAfter England won the rapper broke into Big For Your Boots to a backdrop of smoke and confetti. (Picture: PA)\nAs soon as the final goal was scored, Twitter was inundated with emotional celebratory tweets, and even Reese Witherspoon proved she was a secret England fan.\nShe wrote: ‘Woohoo!! England for the win! #worldcup fever.’\nEven Ross Kemp’s emotions were running wild as he shouted into his camera: ‘That meant everything… Every thing! Boys we love you.’\nGary Lineker confessed that he was crying and Sue Perkins joked that she was in need of a defibrillator.\nFuck me, I’m crying. Yes yes yes. — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 3, 2018\nAnother relaxing night as an England fan. YYYYYEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Now for a lie down with a defibrillator — Sue Perkins (@sueperkins) July 3, 2018\nGot a story? If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you.\nMORE: Maya Jama supported by other half Stormzy as fashion line is next step in her world domination\nMORE: Reese Witherspoon and Ross Kemp lead celebs celebrating England’s win against Colombia in World Cup", "England players react to Eric Dier’s winning penalty (Picture: Getty)\nEngland finally banished their World Cup penalty shoot-out demons on Tuesday night as the Three Lions knocked out Colombia to reach the quarter-finals in Russia.\nIt is the first time since 2006 England managed to win a knockout game, and the first time in history the Three Lions have won a penalty shoot-out in the World Cup.\nWhen Jordan Henderson missed from the spot it seemed England’s penalty woes were on track to break hearts again, before Jordan Pickford rescued his side.\nMateus Uribe hit the bar before Pickford saved Carlos Bacca’s effort to hand Eric Dier the chance to send England through.\nThe midfielder just fired his spot-kick by David Ospina’s finger tips to spark wild celebrations among the players, and at home in England.\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\n‘It’s coming home’ has become England fans’ mantra in the last two weeks as supporters dream of their side ending a 52-year wait for a World Cup.\nNo mum, I’m not coming home. It’s… pic.twitter.com/VdFHVoEfTI — Jesse Lingard (@JesseLingard) July 3, 2018\nHarry Kane’s penalty had put England in front before a late equaliser (Picture: Getty)\nJordan Henderson’s blushes were saved thanks to Jordan Pickford and Dier (Picture: Getty)\nOne man who is clearly in touch with the excitement among the fans is Jesse Lingard, who had a hilarious reaction to England’s victory.\nAlthough the forward stopped himself from actually saying the words, Lingard gave a nod to new war cry after the Colombia game.\nHe said: ‘No mum, I’m not coming home. It’s…’\nTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video\nWith Sweden England’s reward for sneaking by Colombia, fans will be more confident than ever their side can make it to a semi-final.\nGareth Southgate, who missed a penalty against Germany in Euro 1996, praised his players after the game, hailing their ability to shake off a painful history.\n‘Today was a special night for every Englishman,’ Southgate told BBC Sport.\nEngland play Sweden in the quarter-final (Picture: Getty)\n‘The fans that were here were outnumbered but I’m delighted for them and everyone at home.\n‘We’re trying to write our own history, and I’ve talked to the players about that. They write their own stories. We don’t have to be bowed by the pressure of the past.\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\n‘This was special but I want us to go on. I don’t want to go home yet.’\nMORE: How the world reacted to England’s dramatic penalty shootout win over Colombia\nMORE: Jordan Pickford hits back at Thibaut Courtois after England’s penalty shootout win against Colombia", "The England goalkeeper’s display against Colombia did not shock those who worked with him at Darlington and Alfreton\nJordan Pickford is not a man for false modesty and most certainly does not do self-deprecation. If his apparently supreme confidence seems slightly at odds with assorted accounts of the England and Everton goalkeeper as a quiet, almost shy, teenager it perhaps stems partly from loan stints in the tough-as-teak non-league habitats of Darlington and Alfreton.\nIt did not take Pickford long to work out that self-assurance would constitute an essential element in his armoury as he ventured out from Sunderland’s academy and strove to survive in a new, rough-around-the-edges “men’s world”. As the 24-year-old puts it: “I learnt quite a lot from getting battered by fully grown blokes.”\nSouthgate heaps praise on England hero Pickford after World Cup penalties win Read more\nWayne Bradley, Alfreton’s chairman, retains happy memories of Pickford’s five clean sheets in 12 appearances during a loan spent covering for the injured Phil Barnes back in 2013. Bradley was quickly struck by the contrast between the well-behaved teenager he met off the pitch and the formidable penalty area controller performing on it . “Jordan was a good lad,” he says. “He kept himself to himself and was a little shy. But when he crossed that white line it was all so different. He was so focused and so commanding. He was a class act.”\nAlfreton, then in the Conference, represented the second stage of a loan tour which began at Darlington and would steadily transport Pickford up the League pyramid as he variously stopped off at Burton, Carlisle, Bradford and Preston.\nAfter entering Sunderland’s youth system aged eight, the budding £30m keeper progressed smoothly through the Wearside ranks until, in January 2012, he was judged ready for a taste of life at “Darlo”, where he started 17 games for the then seriously struggling Conference side.\nCraig Liddle, Darlington’s manager at the time, was operating under an acute threat of liquidation and a transfer ban but succeeded in obtaining special dispensation to recruit an emergency goalkeeper.\nFacebook Twitter Pinterest Jordan Pickford saves from Carlos Bacca to help England towards victory over Colombia on Tuesday. Photograph: Peter Powell/EPA\nOptions were limited but Liddle, now in charge of Middlesbrough’s academy, had a hunch he was making an inspired signing. “Darlington were under a transfer embargo, so we were only able to sign under-19s,” he recalls. “Without the embargo, I’d probably have gone for a more experienced keeper but I’d coached Jordan when I’d helped with Sunderland’s under-12s and, even at such a young age, it was clear he was a really special talent.\n“Jordan was 17 when he came to Darlington and you worry about throwing a young kid in like that in. But he fitted in well straight away. He made his debut in front of about 7,000 people against Fleetwood. We lost 1-0 but, after about 10 minutes, Jordan piled through a crowd of players to catch a corner. I thought: ‘You’ll do for me.’”\nA lot of youngsters are mentally frail, think it’s all about wearing the right boots, but Jordan had a great attitude\nNot that it was an easy posting. With Darlington in administration and seemingly super-glued to the relegation zone, Pickford conceded 11 goals in his first five games. “Jordan made mistakes, but you expect that,” says Liddle. “The most impressive thing was the way in which he didn’t let the odd mistake bother him. He also wasn’t afraid to give lads almost twice his age an earful if he thought they were doing something wrong. He’d be yelling at the defenders playing in front of him, he certainly wasn’t frightened of them.”\nWhich is not to say his undeniable touch of arrogance was, or is, unhealthy. Pickford’s old friends at Sunderland speak of a character who, as if at the flick of a switch, morphs from ferociously competitive, sometimes downright moody goalkeeper to immensely likable, feet-on-the-ground north-easterner complete with a well-honed sense of humour.\n“Jordan was always really, impressively, confident but, above all else, he was also a lovely, down-to-earth lad and he’s still the same character today,” says Liddle. “He hasn’t changed a bit.”\nThe three-month sojourn with Alfreton proved every bit as formative as those Darlington days. Indeed the no-nonsense reputation of the Midlands club’s then manager, Nicky Law, represented part of the reason Martin O’Neill, Sunderland’s manager at the time, proved amenable to their request to borrow Pickford.\n“Sunderland sent me Jordan because they knew he’d be tested,” said Law, Burnley’s head of youth recruitment. “They knew, that with me, young players didn’t have their bellies tickled, that they’d be told the truth.\n“Jordan was different though. He was raw but you could tell he ‘had it’. Not only special ability but the right mental attitude. A lot of youngsters are mentally frail, they think it’s all about wearing the right boots, but Jordan had a great attitude. Nothing fazed him.”\nAlfreton were so impressed they attempted to buy him from Sunderland. “We tried to sign him when his loan ended but we didn’t quite make it happen,” says Bradley. “You can only wonder what might have been if we’d managed to get a deal done.\n“To think he’s gone from Alfreton to playing in the World Cup as England’s No 1 inside five years is incredible. It’s a credit to him but also to our club. We’re proud to have played a part in his progress.\n“We never thought we’d see the day when a former Alfreton player would walk out as England’s first choice. We’re delighted for Jordan. We wish him all the luck in the world.”", "Former Darlington boss Craig Liddle believes Jordan Pickford was destined for the top - even when he was failing to win a game in the National League.\nEverton goalkeeper Pickford was one of England's penalty heroes in their first World Cup shoot-out victory over Colombia on Tuesday.\nThe 24-year-old saved Carlos Bacca's spot-kick as the Three Lions booked a quarter-final showdown with Sweden, winning 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw.\nJordan Pickford saved Carlos Bacca's penalty in England's shootout win against Colombia\nLiddle, now Middlesbrough's academy manager, gave Pickford his senior debut as a 17-year-old as Darlington battled relegation from the National League.\nHe conceded 39 times and failed to win a match during his 17-game loan spell from Sunderland in 2011/12.\n'We gave him the platform and the opportunity but he was always destined to get to where he is now,' Liddle told Press Association Sport.\n'The thing with all young players is when you have an opportunity you have to take it.\n'He took it with both hands and went back to Sunderland, kicked on again and each loan spells tested him that bit more.\nPickford failed to win a game while on loan at Darlington from Sunderland in 2011/12\n'It was evident he had talent and you always hope he'll fulfil his potential and he has certainly done that.\n'Darlington can't take much credit for where he is now but we handed him the opportunity and he passed it with flying colours.'\nPickford has already been England's penalty king at the Under-17 World Cup in 2011.\nHe saved Gaspar Iniguez and Agustin Allione's efforts in a shoot-out win against Argentina.\nJORDAN PICKFORD'S SENIOR CAREER 2011-2017: Sunderland - 35 games, 12 clean sheets 2011-2012: Darlington (loan) - 17 games, two clean sheets 2012-2013: Alfreton Town (loan) - 12 games, four clean sheets 2013: Burton Albion (loan) - 13 games, four clean sheets 2014: Carlisle United (loan) - 18 games, seven clean sheets 2014-2015: Bradford City (loan) - 34 games, ten clean sheets 2015-2016: Preston North End (loan) - 27 games, 14 clean sheets 2017-present: Everton - 46 games, 12 clean sheets Total: 227 games, 68 clean sheets\nPickford also stopped Sweden's Linus Wahlqvist from 12 yards in a group-stage game and Yannick Gerhardt in the 4-3 semi-final shoot-out defeat to Germany for England Under-21s at Euro 2017 last summer.\nBut he endured a rough start to his senior career with the cash-strapped Quakers, who were wound up that summer before reforming in Division One of the Northern League.\nHe joined Darlington as they were under a transfer embargo and could only sign under-19 players but Liddle was immediately impressed.\n'We were in a lot of trouble on and off the pitch and he was doing very well at Sunderland and Jordan was the next best thing,' he said.\n'He was very mature for his age, determined and fitted in really well. It was a good learning curve for him.\n'There was still an awful long way for him to develop to get to where he is now which is a credit to him.'", "The video will start in 8 Cancel\nGet Daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe See our privacy notice Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nJordan Pickford was one of England's penalty shootout heroes as they triumphed over Colombia to reach the World Cup quarter-finals - five years after appearing in goal for Burton Albion in League Two.\nHalf a decade previously, when the Three Lions were still in the process of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, Pickford was gearing up for his first appearance in League football - with Burton Albion. His first game for the Brewers was a 2-2 draw away to Cheltenham Town in the opening fixture of the 2013-14 season.\nThe 24-year-old - who now plays for Premier League side Everton - was only 19 when he joined the Brewers on loan in August 2013 under then manager Gary Rowett.\nHe would go on to make 13 outings in a Burton shirt, always showing the professionalism that Albion chairman Ben Robinson remembers as one of the England goalkeeper's key characteristics even then.\n(Image: Burton Mail)\n\"He was a model professional,\" said Robinson.\n\"He was always totally focused and disciplined, a young player with discipline, commitment and determination to get to the top of his game.\"\nPickford has certainly moved closer to the \"top of his game\" in the intervening half-a-decade since his days at the Pirelli.\nSubsequent loan spells at Carlisle United, Bradford City and Preston North End followed his time at Burton, before his breakthrough season with parent club Sunderland.\nA £30 million move to Everton followed, and he is now establishing himself as England's number one goalkeeper during an exciting World Cup campaign, saving Carlos Bacca's penalty in a tense shootout on Tuesday night to set up Eric Dier for the winning spot-kick.\nEngland and Pickford are now preparing for the quarter-final against Sweden on Saturday - the furthest the Three Lions have gone in the competition since 2006.\nAnd Robinson believes Pickford's success with the national team shows the value of young players spending time in the lower leagues early in their careers.\n\"It shows that there's a lot to be said for young players with potential gaining a grounding and experience in lower leagues,\" added the Burton chairman.\n\"That certainly helps give them a complete set of experiences.\"\nEngland manager Gareth Southgate is now hoping to guide them to a first semi-final spot in 28 years.\nHe helped officially open the all-weather 3G pitch at the Pirelli Stadium in February 2017, with Robinson in attendance.\n\"I have got a lot of time and respect for Gareth Southgate,\" said Robinson.\n\"He came to open the 3G pitch at the Pirelli, and he had time for everybody.\n\"He has a lot of experience as a player and a manager - and he cares a lot about communities.\n\"That was evident when he opened the pitch.\n\"It is one of the youngest squads England have assembled, there's a lot of potential there.\n\"They've done great to get to the quarter-finals, and who knows where they can go now.\"", "The video will start in 8 Cancel\nGet rugby updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe See our privacy notice Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nEngland's World Cup hero Jordan Pickford name-checked a former Wales and Cardiff City goalkeeping coach in the wake of his penalty shoot-out heroics against Colombia.\nThe former Sunderland goalkeeper is the toast of England this morning after a wonderful penalty save to deny Carlos Bacca — that followed an earlier acrobatic stop from Mateus Uribe.\nAnd it seems he — and England — have a Welshman to thank for it all.\nMartyn Margetson will be a familiar name to those who have followed Welsh football in recent years, having played for the Bluebirds and also won one Wales cap during the 2000s.\n(Image: Getty Images Europe)\nMargetson has been working closely with Pickford in both Everton and England training in the past 12 months to the point where he helped the 24-year-old study Colombia's penalty takers.\n“We did our homework on the penalty takers with Marge (Margetson) and it was only Falcao who changed the way he normally goes,” said Pickford after the dramatic game in Moscow.\n“It’s all about being there in the moment making the save and I did.”\nMargetson first worked with Pickford when he joined the England set-up under Sam Allardyce in August 2016, leaving his role with Wales who he helped during the sensational Euro 2016 run.\nAnd although Allardyce was dismissed from the Three Lions, Gareth Southgate kept Margetson in his backroom staff and the Welshman now combines duties with Everton and the national team.\nHe previously had two spells as Cardiff's goalkeeping coach, as well as a stint at West Ham with Allardyce.\nBut the Welsh connection with Pickford doesn't stop there.\nBefore joining Everton last summer, the England goalkeeper was mentored by Adrian Tucker at Sunderland.\nTucker, born in Merthyr Tydfil, is a former Wales women's manager and helped Pickford break through at the Stadium of Light.\nThe 41-year-old was previously Swansea goalkeeping coach from 2009-14 and has since returned to the Liberty Stadium to work under new boss Graham Potter.\n\"Jordan has exceptional wrist and forearm strength,” said Tucker on Pickford. “He’s got excellent hands.” Not to mention exceptional feet and an exemplary mindset.\"\nAnd it seems both Tucker and Margetson have worked their magic. Southgate's side are now reaping the rewards after claiming England's first ever World Cup penalty shoot-out victory and prepare to face Sweden in Saturday's quarter final.", "Jordan Henderson has admitted he will be forever in Jordan Pickford’s debt after his teammate’s eye-catching save from Carlos Bacca set up a historic penalty shootout win over Colombia and secured England’s progress into the World Cup quarter-finals.\nThe Liverpool midfielder had seen his spot-kick brilliantly pushed away by a diving David Ospina in the shootout, only for Mateus Uribe to strike the crossbar and Pickford, with a strong left hand, to deny Bacca and allow Eric Dier to book a meeting with Sweden. Henderson, who has now not tasted defeat in a record 28 England games in succession, will volunteer to take a penalty in any future shootouts and paid tribute to his fellow Tyne and Wear native.\nWho will win the World Cup quarter-finals? Eight fans have their say Read more\n“You obviously fear the worst when you miss a penalty but Pickers did brilliantly with the save and they’ve hit the bar, so I’m just relieved we got over the line,” said Henderson, who had been consoled by Kieran Trippier after missing his attempt. “We’re a really close group. It’s difficult when you miss and nothing can be said that’s going to make it all right, but it’s not about me. We won in the end, that’s the main thing: a massive win, especially on penalties. I just thanked [Pickford]. I can’t thank him enough. I’m forever in his debt. He said the Mackems have to stick together.\n“He deserves all the praise. He got a bit of criticism last week, undeservedly, so I am so happy for him to achieve that. He made some fantastic saves in the game. As for my own penalty, I just went through the process that I normally do, that I’ve been working on. Maybe it was a good height for the keeper – if anything, it needed to be higher or lower – but in penalties you can miss or there can be a good save. Thankfully the lads dug me out. It wouldn’t put me off taking another but it might put Gareth off. I’d take another one but obviously it’s down to the manager. I would understand if he chose someone else.”\nPickford, who missed the post-match celebrations in the dressing room as he carried out a routine Fifa drugs test, had studied Colombia’s penalty takers, with heavy input from the goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson, the psychologist Pippa Grange and the England set-up’s team of performance analysts, led by Steve O’Brien and Mike Baker.\n“I just got down to business, really,” said the goalkeeper. “I did a bit of research: we knew Bacca was maybe a bit of a weak link on the penalties from watching his previous ones. His penalties, on the penalty grid, were all over the shop really. One’s top left, one’s top right. I just thought if the fourth is a pressure penalty, then what about the fifth? You’ve got to score maybe to stay in it. I just made up my mind to go right, trusted my instincts and bang … strong hands. I’m happy.”\nJordan Pickford, England’s flying superhero, deserves his moment | Barney Ronay Read more\nWorld Cup Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.\nThe 24-year-old’s display against Belgium in the final group game had drawn criticism from some pundits as well as his opposite number, Thibaut Courtois, who had suggested Pickford might be hampered by being too short. That was born of a failure to reach Adnan Januzaj’s winning goal, though in Moscow on Tuesday he had been agile enough to deny Uribe spectacularly in the last minute of normal time with a fingertip save.\n“The criticism doesn’t annoy me,” Pickford said. “I know straight away if I can do better. It doesn’t take people to criticise me for me to realise it. I’ve had a right go at the Belgium save. If I save it, people would have said: ‘What a save.’ If any other keeper in the tournament had a go like that and it goes in, nothing would have been said. Likewise if it goes in the other end. But we’ve moved on from Belgium and beaten Colombia tonight, a hard and tough game, and now it’s Sweden to look forward to.”", "In a World Cup of surprises, England provided the latest by finally winning a penalty shootout.\nA long run of penalty misery on soccer's biggest stage ended with a 4-3 shootout victory over Colombia on Tuesday, sending England to the quarterfinals for the first time in 12 years.\nEric Dier scored the decisive kick after a scrappy game ended in a 1-1 draw, denying Colombia a second consecutive trip to the quarterfinals.\n\"It was a nervous one,\" Dier said. \"I've never really been in a situation like that before.\"\nEngland will next play Sweden in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Samara. It is the furthest England has progressed in any tournament since the David Beckham era, when a golden generation of players exited the 2002 and 2006 World Cups in the last eight.\nEngland is advancing in Russia after defending champion Germany was eliminated early and Argentina, Portugal and Spain went home in the round of 16.\nHarry Kane gave England the lead with a penalty kick in the 57th minute. But as the game entered the third minute of stoppage time, Yerry Mina headed in an equalizer.\n\"To get knocked down at the end like we did at the end, it's difficult to come back from that,\" Dier said. \"But we were ready for that. We were calm. We stuck to our plan.\"\nEngland trailed 3-2 in the penalty shootout after Jordan Henderson's shot was saved, but Mateus Uribe hit the bar and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford then saved Carlos Bacca's kick.\n\"I did a whole bunch of research,\" Pickford said. \"Falcao is the only one who didn't go his way. I don't care if I'm not the biggest keeper in the world. I have the power and agility.\"\nPickford succeeded where Peter Shilton, David Seaman and Paul Robinson failed as the 1990, 1998 and 2006 World Cup campaigns ended in shootout losses. On top of that, England was knocked out of the 1996 European Championship semifinals and the quarterfinals in 2004 and 2012 on penalties. The country's only shootout success came earlier at Euro '96.\nWith a fresh generation of players not burdened by past misery, England coach Gareth Southgate has helped to banish painful memories of his own: Missing the final kick at Euro '96 against Germany.\nAfter exiting the 2014 World Cup without winning a game in the group stage, the squad has been remodeled with a youthful, more street-wise mentality by Southgate at his first major tournament as coach.", "Preston North End boss Simon Grayson believes Jordan Pickford will thrive at Everton – when his transfer from Sunderland goes ahead.\nThe Black Cats have agreed a fee rising to £30million for the 23-year-old, who is reported to have undergone his Everton medical in Poland last night, ahead of England’s European Under-21 Championship opener against Sweden tomorrow.\nGrayson had Pickford on loan for the first half of the 2015-16 campaign, with Sunderland ending the season-long deal six months early.\n“The move will inspire him,” said Deepdale manager Grayson, who has been linked with Sunderland’s managerial vacancy.\n“The lad loves the attention – he will thrive on that without being big-time. He is vocal and he is a winner.\n“He loves the pressure of being the best he can.\n“He will be looking at the England situation at the moment and thinking the next port of call is to be England’s number one.\n“He has got all the ingredients but he would admit he still has to work on certain things.\n“He is still young and there is room to develop.\n“He is a willing learner and listener, he wants to stay out and be involved in training sessions.\n“When the top clubs are looking for players and good keepers, they are looking for shot stoppers but also keepers with exceptional feet – and we said that he could have played outfield with the quality of his feet.”\nGrayson added to the Lancashire Post: “We saw what a good goalkeeper Jordan was during his time with us and it is not a surprise to see him close to making a big move.\n“The £30million fee is a bit of a surprise but I suppose that is the going rate for a keeper of his standard – Manchester City have just paid nearly £35m for Ederson.\n“Jordan is a really down to earth lad and is great to have around a club.\n“I texted him the other day about my charity bike ride and straight away he donated to my just giving page.\n“(Coach) Alan Kelly speaks to him quite often – he worked closely with Jordan.\n“The lad was exceptional for us during his loan spell.\n“He kept us in a few games with some great displays and won us a lot of points.\n“We wanted to keep him for the full season but Sunderland called him back.\n“Jordan has worked hard to get to where he has.\n“Before coming to us, he had been on loan on Alfreton, Burton, Carlisle and Bradford.\n“He had got out there and been prepared to play at non-league level and in the lower divisions.”\nEverton goalkeeping legend Neville Southall is also a fan, and he tweeted: “I think if we sign Pickford we have a bargain. What price saving 12 points a season? Potential to go all the way to world level.”", "England narrowly beat Colombia on penalties last night with a 4-3 win. Harry Kane took the England squad ahead as he scored a penalty in the second half but Colombia equalised in the 93rd minute following Yerry Mina’s header. With both sides failing to score in extra time, the game went to penalties - leaving England fans across the country on the edge of their seats. The last time England won a penalty shootout was against Spain at the Euro 1996.\nThey then lost to Germany in the semi-finals after Gareth Southgate, who is now the England manager, missed the vital spot-kick. Hopefully England’s luck now looks like it may have changed as they will progress to play Sweden in the quarter-final match on Saturday, July 7 at 3pm. Which England players scored the penalty shootouts against Colombia? Captain Harry Kane kicked off the penalty shootout with an effortless first goal for England.\nGETTY World Cup 2018: England players and fans were elated as the team won against Colombia\nRadamel Falcao then followed suit with a goal for Colombia. Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford got a second goal for his home team - followed by Luis Muriel for Colombia to keep the playing field even. However, things took a turn when Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson’s goal was saved and Colombia’s Mateus Uribe hit the crossbar during his turn. Kieran Trippier calmed England fans’ nerves with another goal.\nREUTERS World Cup 2018: Eric Dier scores a penalty during the shootout\nCarlos Bacca’s shoot was saved by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. And Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier became the hero of the night, after he scored the winning spot-kick for England in the penalty shootout. Dier sealed the 4-3 shootout win which saw England through to the mouth-watering quarter-final against Sweden in Samara this Saturday. Elated manager Gareth Southgate said: \"We've talked a lot to this team about making their own history, and I feel they've really bought into everything we've tried to do with them.\nREUTERS World Cup 2018: Jordan Pickford saves a penalty during the shootout from Colombia's Carlos Bacca\n\"The composure they showed in their play for the first 85 to 88 minutes in a big match, under pressure, I thought was really impressive. \"I think for them, definitely a big moment. We want to capitalise on it now. \"I'm already thinking about the next game. \"I'd have liked a week to enjoy this one but haven't got that because Sweden are a team I respect hugely.\nEngland players react to beating Colombia in the World Cup Round of 16 Wed, July 4, 2018 England players reacted to beating Colombia in the World Cup Round of 16 Play slideshow Twitter 1 of 14", "No country had lost more penalty shootouts at a World Cup, but even though history was against them England’s inexperienced team held its nerve to see off Colombia in a tense finale and progressed to the quarterfinals.\nEngland were within minutes of reaching the last eight in normal time thanks to a Harry Kane penalty until it conceded an injury-time goal — Yerry Mina powered in a header in the 93rd minute — which allowed the South Americans to live on to extra-time and, ultimately, penalties.\nA miss from Mateus Uribe and a one-handed Jordan Pickford save from Carlos Bacca in the shootout proved to be Colombia’s downfall and ensured England, having failed on three previous occasions, won a penalty shootout at a World Cup for the first time in its history.\nREAD: Sweden beat Switzerland to reach quarterfinals\nREAD: Japan leaves spotless locker room and a ‘thank you’ note\nPractice makes perfect\nPreviously England had lost six of its seven penalty shootouts at major tournaments, the only win coming against Spain in the European Championships in 1996.\nBut coach Gareth Southgate — a man who famously missed from the spot in the Euro 1996 semifinal against Germany — had made sure his players took spot-kicks in training and, on this occasion at least, practice made perfect.\n“We talked long and hard about owning the process,” Southgate told ITV when asked about the squad’s approach to penalty shootouts.\n“Great credit to all the staff and our players who have taken everything on board.\n“We looked at individual technique, looked at how we needed to be as a team, and the goalkeeper has been important in that.”\nIt was left to Eric Dier to convert the winning spot-kick and send fans into fever pitch, changing hope to expectation with Sweden the next opponent on July 7.\nREAD: Nigeria captain got ransom demand for father before game\nIs football ‘coming home?’\nLittle was expected of this young England team when it left for Russia. There were others with more experience, better teams packed with superstars and pedigree.\nBut with this being the World Cup which has had little respect for reputation, sending Spain, Germany, Argentina and Portugal tumbling, English hopes have increased with every heavyweight exit.\nREAD: The World Cup’s most stylish football kits\nSocial media had been awash, perhaps initially with tongue firmly in cheek, with England fans claiming football was “coming home,” the chorus of the country’s favorite football song “Three Lions,” written when England hosted the European Championships in 1996 and reached the semifinals.\nThe English are now the only previous winners in their half of the draw and though they have some way to go before replicating the feats of 1966, the only time the country has won football’s biggest prize, even the gloomiest of fan will now perhaps be captivated.\nSweden — eight places below the English in FIFA’s world rankings — will be a dangerous opponent, but it is a tie England will be expected to successfully negotiate.\nThe tenacious Swedes — who reached their first World Cup quarterfinal in 24 years thanks to a 1-0 win over Switzerland — will not be obliging opponents.\nSweden, after all, topped a group which featured Germany and, though it is a team without superstars, its unity and discipline has already seen off South Korea, Mexico and the Swiss.\nSouthgate himself tempered expectations.\n“This is special but I want us to go on now,” the Englishman added on ITV.\n“Sweden, it’s another team we have a poor record against. We’ve underestimated them for years. They’re brilliant at what they do. It’s going to be a real tough test.”\nREAD: Belgium completes stunning comeback\nREAD: Low stays on as Germany coach\nFrom injury-time heartbreak to penalty joy for England\nEngland controlled the beat of a high-tempo opening, pressing with urgency and keeping the opposition largely in its own half.\nWithout the injured James Rodriquez, captain Radamel Falcao was an isolated figure in Colombia’s attack and, starved of possession and opportunity, the former Manchester United and Chelsea striker posed little threat.\nBut for all its dominance in the middle of the park there were few chances for England in the first half, the best falling to Kane in the 15th minute from a Kieran Trippier cross. But, from an acute angle, the striker headed over the crossbar.\nThe major talking point of the half came off the ball just before the break when replays showed Wilmar Barrios pushing his head first against Jordan Henderson’s chest and then his chin.\nThe England midfielder, who was the only English player to miss a penalty in the shootout, fell to the ground, but the offense was deemed worthy of a yellow card only.\nWith comfortable victories over the lower-ranked Tunisia and Panama in the group stages, followed by defeat to an understrength Belgium after having already qualified, this was supposed to be the biggest test of the tournament for England but, in truth, for the majority of the match Colombia only tested the English temperament.\nWithin minutes after the break, the Colombians were punished for their ill-discipline — the referee caught Carlos Sanchez rugby tackling Kane to the ground at a corner and had no hesitation in awarding the spot-kick.\nSome Colombians argued with the referee while others scuffed the penalty spot with their studs, but it made little difference to Kane who calmly scored his sixth goal of this tournament, putting him in prime position for the Golden Boot award.\nAs Colombia searched for an equalizer, England threatened on the counter-attack, though Colombia did have an opportunity in the 80th minute.\nKyle Walker lost the ball in Colombia’s half, the South Americans rapidly attacked but Juan Cuadrado shot into the stands when he should have at least tested Pickford.\nVisit CNN.com/sport for more news and features\nPickford, going into this match questions over whether he was worthy of a starting spot, produced a sensational save to deny Uribe from distance in injury time but, deep in injury time, the England goalkeeper could do little to prevent the equalizer.\nFrom a corner, Mina headed beyond the diving Pickford and Trippier, who was standing on the line, to set up a grandstand finish.\nIn the first-half of injury time England faced wave after wave of yellow-shirted attacks — Falaco and Mina tested with headers — but England held firm and regained its composure in the final 15 minutes before the match concluded with a dramatic climax.", "England is through to the World Cup quarter-finals after beating Columbia on penalties, preventing them from becoming the next big name unceremoniously dumped out of this year’s tournament.\nA Harry Kane spot-kick put a dominant England ahead early in the second half of a scrappy game, before Columbia equalised in stoppage-time to send the game into a goalless extra-time period. Jordan Pickford was the hero in the shootout that went all the way to five kicks apiece, becoming the first England goalkeeper since David Seaman to save a World Cup penalty when he batted away Carlos Bacca’s effort, allowing Eric Dier to seal the win.\nEngland reverted back to the starting XI that began the tournament, following wholesale team changes in the defeat to Belgium. Dele Alli was declared fit and replaced the impressive Ruben Loftus-Cheek who could count himself unlucky to be benched after two good performances in midfield. Columbia were not so lucky in the physio’s room, being left without their star striker James Rodriguez.\nThe first half was hardly a blockbuster in terms of entertainment. Neither team came particularly close to scoring. England’s best chance came from a flicked Harry Kane header from a Kieran Trippier cross which the England captain could only glance onto the roof of the net, Colombia’s with a weak effort dribbled towards Jordan Pickford and a wayward shot from range.\nI wrote a thing about VAR ages ago- I was right https://t.co/3TKsp11Vca — Jack (@Jack_Ashton_) July 3, 2018\nEngland started on top, gradually easing on the pressure, but a workmanlike Colombian defence managed to repel their threat and launch some averagely executed counter-attacks.\nAs the half wore on, Colombia looked more jaded without their attacking lynchpin Rodriguez, and with it came a drop in quality. The game was starting to slip away from the control of American referee Mark Geiger as it became niggly and disjointed, after several instances of holding and pushing at set pieces from the Colombian defence and a vicious barge on Harry Maguire. With England awarded a late free-kick, there was some handbags in the area, and Jordan Henderson appeared to be headbutted in the melee. Despite calls for a VAR decision, Geiger only booked the offender.\nAfter the long wait, which included more jostling, Trippier could only hammer his free-kick wide.\nIn stoppage time, Dele Alli ended up on the ground injured with many England fans fearing the worst, although he emerged for the second period seemingly moving freely.\nColombia, then, had succeeded in making the first period a scrappy affair with little quality.\nNot even ten minutes into a second half which started in the same way, and England had been awarded a penalty after Carlos Sánchez had a go at riding Harry Kane. England’s skipper might be used to carrying Spurs, but couldn’t manage a rowdy Colombian on his back, so Geiger had no hesitation pointing to the spot. After a long break for Colombia protests, Kane calmly slotted his spot-kick down the middle, evading his Arsenal rival David Ospina in goal and bringing the striker another step towards the tournament golden boot.\nDon’t understand why referees put up with the in-your-face abuse. Give them yellow cards and stop the nonsense. — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 3, 2018\nDespite their superior quality, Colombia were in fact no more disciplined than the Panamanians who dirtily hassled England in the group stage. Captain Radamel Falcao was the next name in the book for dissent after a Trippier cross was glanced just over by Alli’s head. The South Americans surrounded the referee with furious protests, alleging a dive by Maguire in the process, when the target of their ire should have been their own lax man marking.\nDespite the lack of security a one-goal lead offers in a knockout game, England were looking unperturbed, calm and confident in defence, and measured in attack. Maguire rose majestically from a corner to head over, Kane tried an audacious volley from an awful Ashley Young free-kick and Jesse Lingard was denied a questionable penalty shout, with Colombia forced to cut out a number of other promising looking England attacks.\nEric Dier’s introduction for the battered and bruised Alli should have shored up the midfield as England looked to see the game out, but he couldn’t prevent Colombia coming into the game more in the closing stages. The England defence had to thank their lucky stars that Juan Cuadrado fired over after being gifted a chance on goal by a moment of sloppiness from Kyle Walker. A stoppage-time thunderbolt from Mateus Uribe then forced a sublime save from Pickford, who had to throw himself towards the top corner to protect his clean sheet.\nEngland couldn’t, however, keep out the resulting corner.\nA header from defender Yerry Mina from some distance evaded Pickford and Trippier on the far post to force extra time and spark delirious Colombia celebrations.\nEngland retained their composure during the extra thirty minutes despite some good Colombia pressure in the first period. In the second, England re-asserted their dominance, substitute Jamie Vardy had a handful of half-chances as both teams tired, and another replacement Danny Rose flashed wide from a tight angle.\nAnd so it went to penalties.\nColombia went first, and scored their first three. After England buried their first two, including another for an unruffled Kane, Jordan Henderson was the first to miss, seeing his shot saved by the outstretched Ospina low to his left to leave England 3-2 down. This was atoned for straightaway when Colombia’s Mateus Uribe smashed his spot-kick against the crossbar.\nAfter Trippier scored to make it 3-3 from four kicks each, Pickford had a strong trailing hand to palm away Bacca’s penalty and leave England within touching distance. Substitute Dier was on the spot to smash home his penalty and secure England’s passage into the next round.\nGeiger didn’t ask Kane for his shirt at half-time, as it was alleged he did from Cristiano Ronaldo during Portugal’s group game with Morocco. You wouldn’t have blamed him, though, with England’s classy plain red ensemble hardly denying its throwback to ’66.\nBut the kit is not the only thing making England fans, steadily streaming out to Russia in greater numbers now, believe. Although it took 120 minutes and penalties, we’ve shown real mental strength to overcome Mina’s heartbreaking equaliser and see off the potential Colombian banana skin, frustrated them with composed quality and kept our heads against a side losing theirs. If England can conquer a tough but beatable Sweden side on Saturday in the quarter-finals, maybe it really is coming home?\nEngland pens: Kane (scored), Rashford (scored), Henderson (saved), Trippier (scored), Dier (scored).", "Jordan Pickford made a miracle save from Mateus Uribe (Picture: Getty)\nIt was a moment which has been almost forgotten amid the celebrations which followed England’s first ever World Cup shootout victory, but Gareth Southgate jokingly admitted he was ‘surprised’ Jordan Pickford made the miracle save which was just seconds away from ensuring there was no need for extra time, let alone penalties.\nDeep in injury time, Mateus Uribe launched an audacious volley from 35 yards which appeared destined for the top corner, but Pickford produced a quite stunning fingertip save, diving full-length to his left to divert the ball around the post.\nUnfortunately for the Everton goalkeeper, he was beaten by Yerry Mina’s header from Juan Cuadrado’s subsequent corner, but Southgate heaped praise on the 24-year-old who came in for criticism following his performance in England’s previous match against Belgium with some, including Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois, mocking his height.\nWE HAVE A REPLAY I REPEAT WE HAVE A REPLAY pic.twitter.com/PSVvpMMXde — Michael (@greenallefc) July 3, 2018\n‘It was a top-class save, and I was surprised he could reach it given his height,’ said the manager with a smile. ‘His athleticism around the goal is excellent and he executed the plan in the penalty shootout.’\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\nPickford, who became the first England No.1 to save a penalty in a World Cup shootout since David Seaman denied Argentina’s Hernan Crespo back in 1998, produced another stunning stop from Carlos Bacca, providing Eric Dier with the opportunity to secure the Three Lions’ place in the last eight.\n‘We’d studied all their takers, and great credit should go to the collective of staff, and to Jordan, for taking on board that information and preparing in the right way,’ Southgate added. ‘You don’t always get what you deserve in life but I think we did against Colombia.\nJordan Pickford made a stunning save from Carlos Bacca in the shootout (Picture: Getty)\nSAVE! Pickford denies Bacca brilliantly! pic.twitter.com/ZEUqJBZPx8 — ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 3, 2018\n‘Even when [Jordan Henderson’s] penalty was saved, I’ve seen enough shootouts to know the first miss isn’t the key one. I believed our goalkeeper would save one, and the technique of our players in taking them was superb throughout. There, too, I have to credit a big support team who have done a lot of work in that area over the last few months.’\nPickford’s only previous experience of an international penalty shootout came in last summer’s European Under-21 Championship defeat to Germany and he was relieved to have ended up on the winning side this time around.\n‘We did our research on them for starters, with Marg [the goalkeeping coach, Martyn Margetson] and the analysis staff,’ he said.\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\n‘I had a fair feeling. Radamel Falcao was really the only one who didn’t go ‘his’ way. But it’s set, react and go power. I don’t care if I’m not the biggest keeper. I’ve got that power and agility to get around the goal. I’ve very good at it.’", "Share:\nMOSCOW - England will face Sweden in the World Cup quarter-finals, after Gareth Southgate’s England finally knocked Colombia out in a last?16 penalty shootout in Moscow.\nEngland had all but secured their quarter-final place with Harry Kane’s 57th?minute penalty – his sixth goal of the 2018 tournament. But they were denied by a last-gasp Colombia attack as Yerry Mina scored from a corner in added time during a fiery match at the Spartak Stadium.\nWith the teams unable to break the deadlock they were forced into a penalty shootout, which England won 4-3 and will now face Sweden in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon at the Samara Arena.\nSouthgate reverted to the same England XI who started the World Cup with none of the eight players drafted in to face Belgium last week holding their spot. The game was almost five minutes old when Raheem Sterling won a free-kick for handball just outside the penalty area on the left. Ashley Young swung in the cross and David Ospina punched it clear.\nEngland had two corners in the first eight minutes. From the second, Colombia cleared and raced through on the counter-attack – Juan Quintero feeding Santiago Aras. England recovered to snuff out the danger. A third corner came soon after.\nIn the 16th minute Kieran Trippier exchanged passes with Jesse Lingard to squirm clear on the right. He pulled a cross in from the byline but Kane’s header bounced on the roof of the net. A period of Colombian pressure culminated in Juan Cuadrado taking aim but Harry Maguire blocked. Johan Mojica followed up as the ball moved out to the left but his long-range effort failed.\nAnother England corner offered one more chance for the rival players to squabble over contact in the area and there was a further flashpoint when Trippier and Radamel Falcao clashed. Cuadrado and Maguire then exchanged shoves as they chased a long ball, though the American official Mark Geiger appeared happy to let tempers fray.\nKane dropped deep to help England build an attack and had several important touches in midfield. When he surge towards the box he was tripped, giving England a free-kick 25 yards out. As Trippier stood over the ball Wilmar Barrios appeared to butt Jordan Henderson. But after apparently consulting the VAR officials, Geiger brandished a yellow card. Trippier then clipped the ball wide of the post.\nBoth teams had chances just before half-time. First Quintero whipped a shot in low at Jordan Pickford, who saved. Next, Sterling’s accidental connection sent a cross tumbling away from goal and Lingard lashed over. The teams went into half-time goalless, and the game continued in the same fractious vein after the break. Arias was booked for elbowing Kane in an aerial duel in the 52nd minute, giving England another chance to try their luck from set-pieces.\nYoung’s free-kick was flicked clear by Davinson Sánchez. Trippier floated in the corner and Carlos Sánchez was penalised for wrestling Kane to the floor. After a row involving players from both sides Henderson was booked for flicking his head back at Mina. Kane stepped up to take the penalty and struck it down the middle as Ospina went to his right, making it 1-0 and matching Gary Lineker’s haul in 1986.\nJohn Stones then became embroiled in a scuffle with Falcao. The striker tried to suggest Stones had raked his head as he ran past but Geiger was unimpressed, although Falcao and the substitute Carlos Bacca were both cautioned within moments of each other. With 77 minutes gone Young fed Sterling who released the ball to the overlapping Lingard, who tumbled under attention from Davinson Sánchez before shooting. The Manchester United player was sure he had a penalty but Geiger waved play on.\nEngland swapped Dele Alli for the more defensive Eric Dier and then gave Jamie Vardy a couple of minutes to use his pace against tiring legs, with Sterling making way. The game had ticked past 90 minutes when Pickford made a superb fingertip save from Mateus Uribe’s long-range strike. It looked a decisive contribution but from the corner Mina climbed higher than Maguire and nodded down and in at the far post, Pickford and Trippier unable to keep it out.\nThe ball was back in play for a minute or two until Geiger ushered in extra-time. England looked the wearier of the two sides in the first five minutes of extra-time as Colombia appeared in control. The South Americans won another corner in the 100th minute but this time Davinson Sánchez was the first head to it and he powered wide. Danny Rose then came on for Young.\nWith 112 minutes gone Vardy helped England gain territory on the left and when Rose latched on to Henderson’s pass he snuck a shot across goal. It took a slight deflection and crept wide but it was a sign of life. England’s fourth substitute was Marcus Rashford, who came on for Walker as Dier slipped back into defence.\nWith little more than five minutes before penalties another dangerous delivery from the corner was met cleanly by Dier but his header flew well over. After an incredibly nervy finale there was still no winner and the sides headed to penalties.", "Get Daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe See our privacy notice Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nSome ecstatic football fans took their celebrations of England’s World Cup penalty shoot-out win to extreme measures by streaking down the street.\nA video of a male streaker from Gainsborough has been shared on social media after it went out on Snap Chat last night after the 4-3 win.\nIt shows the man leave his house and run along the street.\nVideo Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now\nElsewhere, Bailey Lucas, 17, from Boston pledged to run down the street naked if England won the World Cup.\nHe said: “I was stood outside my house having a cigarette as I was nervous when it went to penalties. I called through the window to my dad and said I would streak if England won. After the game I had totally forgotten what I had pledged. My parents’ friends was around out house and they reminded me. I got up and went outside, took off my clothes and ran down the street. Some people were looking out of the window. My mum thought it was hilarious and you can hear her laughing in the video.”\nBailey, who turns 18 on Tuesday, has offered to streak with the Gainsborough man if England win again. He also plans on getting a tattoo on his bottom which represents England.\nEngland made it through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup after the penalty shootout victory over Colombia.\nEric Dier scored the decisive spot kick after Jordan Pickford's stunning save from Carlos Bacca.\nHarry Kane's first-half penalty looked to have England on course for the last eight until Yerry Mina's last-gasp header.\nBut after a nervy extra time period, England kept their cool to win their first ever World Cup penalty shootout.\nKane, Marcus Rashford and Kieran Trippier all found the net in the shootout but Jordan Henderson saw his saved by David Ospina.\nColombia's Mateus Irube hit the bar from the spot and after Pickford had denied Bacca, Dier kept his cool to spark wild scenes in Moscow.\nEngland had been in control for most of the 90 minutes in Moscow and took a deserved lead through Kane.\nThe Three Lions skipper was pulled down in the area and he kept his cool to score his sixth goal of the World Cup.\nColombia rarely troubled the England defence until Pickford made a flying save to keep out Uribe's effort.\nBut from the resulting corner, Mina rose highest to head in with Kieran Trippier failing to keep it out on the line.\nThe dramatic leveller rocked England and the Colombians had the lionshare of the extra period before the shootout.\nEngland will now take on Sweden in the quarter-finals on Saturday.", "England manager Gareth Southgate said his team got the reward they deserved after edging Colombia 4-3 in a gut-wrenching World Cup penalty shootout to set up a quarter-final clash against Sweden. England looked to be heading into the last eight courtesy of Harry's 57th-minute penalty in Moscow, but the towering Yerry Mina headed in a stoppage-time equaliser before a match littered with fouls went to a shootout. Colombian keeper David Ospina saved Jordan Henderson's effort, but Jordan Pickford turned away Carlos Bacca's attempt after Manuel Uribe hit the bar. It was left to Eric Dier to convert the decisive kick.\nIt was just the second time in eight occasions England have won a shootout at a major tournament, and the first time ever in the World Cup.\n\"We had a cruel blow on 90 minutes which we had to show incredible resilience to come back from,\" said a relieved Southgate, whose own penalty miss cost England in the semi-finals against Germany at Euro '96.\n\"It was a night when I knew we were going to get over the line. We had the belief and the resilience to get over the line.\"\nSouthgate has challenged his players to write their own history after England's poor recent results at finals.\nEngland had lost five successive shootouts before luck finally smiled on them at the compact Spartak Stadium.\n\"Tonight was a classic example. They don't have to conform to what's gone before,\" Southgate said.\n\"Today is a special moment for this team. Hopefully it will give belief to the generations of players that follow. In life you always have to believe what is possible and not be hindered by history or expectations.\"\nHe reserved special praise for Pickford, who made a magnificent save to keep out a spectacular strike from Uribe before a vital stop in the shootout.\nPickford was criticised after conceding Adnan Januzaj's winner in the group-stage loss to Belgium, including by his Belgian counterpart Thibaut Courtois, who said he was too small.\n'Like a scene from MASH'\n\"It was a top-class save, I'm surprised he could reach it given his height,\" Southgate said with a wry smile.\n\"He's really athletic around the goal, he is excellent and he executed the plan in the penalty shootout.\n\"We'd studied all of their penalty takers and great credit to our collective of staff and to him for taking on board that information and preparing in the right way.\n\"You don't always get what you deserve in life but tonight I think we did.\"\nEngland will have just three days to recover before facing Sweden in Samara on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals.\n\"We've not got a good record against them. I think we've always underestimated them,\" Southgate said.\nSouthgate admitted the gruelling nature of the match had taken its toll on his players, with Colombia shown six yellow cards.\n\"It's like a scene from MASH in the dressing room. For some I think it's just cramp and some need more assessment. We'll know more over the next 36 hours,\" he said.\nAfter his side were shown six yellow cards, Colombia coach Jose Pekerman made clear his unhappiness with the performance by US referee Mark Geiger.\n\"The match was very rough, everybody knew the match would be like this,\" Pekerman said.\n\"I think we need to try to defend football and I think we should do a little more to try and prevent certain situations knowing they might arise.\n\"It's been uncomfortable to play this match knowing that feeling in the air about the refereeing decisions.\n\"Something is happening in football, there's a lot of confusion.\"", "MOSCOW (AP) After three haunting failures, England finally won a penalty shootout at the World Cup.\nAnd it happened under a coach who for 22 years has taken the blame for a previous shootout loss at a major tournament.\nEngland advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals by beating Colombia 4-3 in a shootout following a 1-1 draw Tuesday, sending Gareth Southgate running onto the field to celebrate the end of the national team’s years of misfortune.\n”It will never be off my back, sadly. That’s something that will live with me forever,” Southgate said of his 1996 shootout failure. ”But today is a special moment for this team. I hope it will give belief to generations of players that follow, because they can see what is possible in life.”\nEngland will next play Sweden on Saturday in Samara. The 1966 champions have reached the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since the David Beckham era, when a golden generation exited in the last eight in 2002 and 2006.\n”We have to see what is possible and not be hindered by history or the expectations,” Southgate said. ”I think these young players are showing that.”\nEric Dier scored the decisive kick after a scrappy game went through 30 minutes of extra time, denying Colombia a second consecutive trip to the quarterfinals.\n”It was a nervous one,” Dier said. ”I’ve never really been in a situation like that before.”\nHarry Kane scored his tournament-leading sixth goal to give England the lead with a penalty kick in the 57th minute. Colombia scrambled for an equalizer and finally got it when Yerry Mina headed in a corner in the third minute of stoppage time.\n”To get knocked down at the end like we did at the end, it’s difficult to come back from that,” Dier said. ”But we were ready for that. We were calm. We stuck to our plan.”\nEngland trailed 3-2 in the penalty shootout after Jordan Henderson’s shot was saved by David Ospina, but Mateus Uribe hit the bar and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford then stopped Carlos Bacca’s kick.\n”I did a whole bunch of research,” Pickford said. ”Falcao is the only one who didn’t go his way. I don’t care if I’m not the biggest keeper in the world. I have the power and agility.”\nPickford succeeded where Peter Shilton, David Seaman and Paul Robinson failed as the 1990, 1998 and 2006 World Cups ended in shootout losses. On top of that, England was knocked out of the 1996 European Championship semifinals and the quarterfinals in 2004 and 2012 on penalties. The country’s only shootout success came earlier at Euro ’96.\nSouthgate’s penalty in the 1996 shootout at Wembley against Germany was stopped, a failure he has lived with for 22 years.\n”Penalty shootouts are lot about mentality and obviously we know England in the past haven’t done great,” Kane said. ”So, it’s nice to get that one off our back and we’ll have huge belief moving forward.”\nSCRAPPY\nThere was edginess from the start, with Colombia forward Juan Cuadrado and England defender Harry Maguire involved in a spat before Radamel Falcao barged into Kieran Trippier, sparking the England defender to retaliate.\nColombia nearly lost Wilmar Barrios to a red card late in the first half. But after a video review, Barrios was given a yellow for knocking his head into the chest of Jordan Henderson.\nENGLAND’S LEAD\nEngland was awarded its penalty when Kane was knocked to the ground by Carlos Sanchez.\nOf his six goals, three have come from the penalty spot. He also netted England’s first in the shootout.\nKane is the first England player to score in six straight appearances since Tommy Lawton in 1939.\n”It’s a big night for England,” Kane said.\nCOLOMBIA COMPLAINTS\nColombia had 23 fouls and six yellow cards while England had 13 fouls and two yellows.\nStill, Colombia coach Jose Pekerman wasn’t happy with the English approach.\n”When there are so, so many fouls and interruptions, I think that’s not good,” Pekerman said. ”We shouldn’t only look at Colombian players. People should also look at England’s players.”\n—\nMore AP World Cup coverage: www.apnews.com/tag/WorldCup", "Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nIan Doyle - 'You don't envy Gareth Southgate with that choice'\nRemember the days when England would reach the quarter-finals of major competitions and everybody would moan that it wasn't good enough?\nThey haven't won a knockout game in almost 12 years, and have won only nine knockout games at a major tournament EVER - and four of those were at Wembley!\nNowadays, expectations have been lowered so much (thanks, Roy Hodgson) that people are even moaning at a straightforward qualification for the World Cup.\nMind you, once you see which English players are available, you begin to think that may be the limit of their ambitions.\nThe goalkeeper may be Joe Hart at the moment but I'd expect that to change by the time the finals come around next summer. Maybe Everton's Jordan Pickford could be the man, but it's more likely Jack Butland.\nThere are some decent defenders but that's all they are. Decent. I'm not taking Everton's Michael Keane - although he'd be on standby - but getting the right combination is tricky.\nBut as for that midfield... well, you don't envy Gareth Southgate with that choice. So I'm sticking in Danny Drinkwater as backup for Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson, Fabian Delph because he can now cover at left-back (sorry, no Danny Rose), Demarai Gray and Ashley Young for some pace and Jack Wilshere in the vain hope he might actually finally do something.\nUp front, Andy Carroll is the wildcard. But if he's not fit then Daniel Sturridge. And if they're not fit then... oh dear.\nMy squad : Hart, Butland, Pickford; Clyne, Walker, Cahill, Stones, Jones, Rose; Henderson, Dier, Drinkwater, Wilshere, Alli, Lallana, Sterling, Gray, Delph, Young; Kane, Rashford, Vardy, Carroll.\n(Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.)\nNeil Jones - 'A stark reminder that England have very few truly excellent players'\nWell this was a rather ugly task, providing a stark reminder that England have very few truly excellent players.\nThere are some certs, of course; Harry Kane and Dele Alli are the attacking duo who have to start, Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier will form the midfield, and Kyle Walker, John Stones and Danny Rose will, fitness permitting, form three of the back four.\nBeyond that? Issues. Joe Hart is past his best, which was never particularly good, and his competitors are all hugely flawed.\nWho partners Stones? Who plays wide? Where is the depth? And generally, where is the quality?\nLiverpool wise, both Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Daniel Sturridge have to convince and may not get the minutes necessary to do so. Nathaniel Clyne is battling back from injury but should be in the right back mix, while Adam Lallana is a starter for me. Joe Gomez? He'll need to play centre back if he's to have a chance.\nEverton? Well Leighton Baines seems a goner at international level, and Ross Barkley needs fitness and to sort his future out before he can think about a place. Tom Davies? It'd be a big call, but Harry Winks got the nod (or the wink) this week so why not?\nMy team (4-3-1-2): Hart, Walker, Stones, Jones, Rose, Dier, Henderson, Lallana, Rashford, Alli, Kane. Rest of squad: Butland, Heaton, Clyne, Cahill, Smalling, Bertrand, Wilshere, Ward-Prowse, Chalobah, Vardy, Sterling, Sturridge.\nChris Beesley - 'There's no place for Ross Barkley'\nI've gone with six Merseyside-based players in my squad - four Liverpool and two Everton.\nReds captain Jordan Henderson remains an influential figure for both club and country and the same can be said for Adam Lallana - once he's fit again.\nQuestion marks remain over Alex Oxalde-Chamberlain and Daniel Sturridge but I've picked them too.\nOxlade-Chamberlain came in for some stick last night, but he's been an effective performer for the Three Lions in recent years and is still getting to grips with his new surroundings at Anfield.\n(Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)\nSturridge remains one of this country's most natural finishers which could prove a valuable weapon in tournament football so long as he's healthy.\nNathaniel Clyne could also force his way into the reckoning but for me it's too early to consider him just yet.\nAcross Stanley Park, Everton are represented by Jordan Pickford and Michael Keane.\nPickford should be a shoo-in for one of the goalkeeping slots if he's available and depending on how this season pans out he could even challenge to be England's number one for Russia next season given that he's on his way up while Joe Hart, who endured a nightmare at the last Euros, appears to be on his way down.\nMichael Keane has been tipped to be a future England captain by Steve Walsh. He's not at that level yet but he should provide a valuable centre-back option within the squad.\nThere's no place for Ross Barkley given his long-term injury and there is too much uncertainty over his future just now to merit an inclusion.\nIf they continue to progress then the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Tom Davies just might enter into Gareth Southgate's thinking.\nMy squad: Butland, Hart, Pickford, Bertrand, Walker, Cahill, Stones, Keane, Jones, Smalling, Rose, Dier, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alli, Lallana, Sterling, Walcott, Drinkwater, Kane, Rashford, Vardy, Sturridge.\nPaul Gorst - 'Big dilemma was picking a final striker'\nA fairly uninspiring selection in truth, but perhaps that's in-keeping with this current England side?\nNo real surprises for my three goalkeepers. Tom Heaton is unfortunate to miss out, but Joe Hart is firmly established as England's first choice and Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford as the two most likely to usurp him long term I feel.\nAgain, no shocks in my defence. I've plumped for Phil Jones over Leicester's Harry Maguire and Liverpool's Nathaniel Clyne ahead of Spurs' Kieran Trippier.\nIt would require an incredible turnaround in the second half of the campaign for Ross Barkley to be included, so I've omitted the Everton man in my midfield, with the defensive qualities of Eric Dier preferred. The Spurs man can also operate as a centre-back if needed.\nOn current form, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's position would appear the most perilous, but the versatile Liverpool midfielder has time on his side to play himself back into form, so he gets the nod alongside the likes of Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling and England's current Player of the Year, Adam Lallana.\nMy big dilemma was picking a final striker and after a bit of wrestling, I landed on Andy Carroll ahead of Danny Welbeck. The aerial prowess of the West Ham striker would give Gareth Southgate an alternative that the Arsenal star wouldn't necessarily offer with the likes of Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford already picked.\nMy squad: Hart, Pickford, Butland; Walker, Clyne, Cahill, Stones, Jones, Keane, Smalling, Rose, Bertrand; Henderson, Dier, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Alli, Sterling; Kane, Vardy, Sturridge, Rashford, Carroll.", "Harry Kane scored England’s opener (Picture: Getty)\nEngland ended their penalty shootout hoodoo against Colombia to set up a quarter-final showdown with Sweden.\nHarry Kane gave the Three Lions the lead with a penalty in the second half but the Three Lions conceded an injury-time equaliser when Yerry Mina headed home from a corner.\nColombia dominated in extra-time but failed to find a goal and the game went to penalties.\nJordan Henderson missed England’s third penalty but two saves from Jordan Pickford completed a turnaround to send England into the last eight.\nJordan Pickford – 9\nHad very little to do for 89 minutes as England dominated against Colombia but produced an absolutely stunning save just before the equaliser to deny Mateus Uribe’s effort from 35 yards. By some way the save of the tournament so far.\nKieran Trippier – 6\nStarted well and whipped in a fantastic cross that Kane was unlucky not to convert. Wasn’t needed in attack as much after the opener but should have cleared Mina’s header on the goal line. Scored a crucial penalty in the shootout.\nTrippier scored a crucial penalty (Picture: Getty)\nKyle Walker – 5\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\nUsed his pace effectively on the odd occasion that Colombia broke on the counter-attack but nearly gifted them a route back into the match when he sloppily gave the ball away in the dying minutes. Can count himself lucky that Cuadrado squandered the chance.\nJohn Stones – 5\nNeeds to provide more guidance to a rather makeshift back three. Wasn’t called into action very often\nHarry Maguire – 7\nBrought the ball out well from the back and was a constant threat from set pieces. Unlucky not to score with 15 minutes left when he met Young’s corner but his header sailed just over. Won plenty of offensive headers but lost out to Mina for the equaliser.\nMaguire was good on the ball and a threat from set pieces (Picture: Getty)\nJordan Henderson – 6\nThe Liverpool star was furious that the referee failed to send off Wilmar Barrios for a headbutt surely before half-time. Spent most of the game trying to calm his team-mates down as tensions frayed. Now one of the older members of the squad and England looked to him in extra-time. Unlucky to see his penalty saved from Opsina depsite finding the bottom right hand corner.\nAshley Young – 5\nLike Trippier he didn’t get forward as much as he would have liked but put two or three good set pieces into the box.\nJesse Lingard – 6\nProvided runs from midfield beyond the forward line but should have done better when chances came his way. Wanted a penalty for a challenge from Sanchez but replays showed he tumbled.\nAlli disappointed (Picture: Getty)\nDele Alli – 4\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\nLooked short on match fitness following his injury. Went down in the first half suggesting that he hadn’t fully recovered and struggled to get into the game. Replaced by Dier with ten minutes left of normal time.\nRaheem Sterling – 5\nAnother disappointing night for Sterling. Looks lost playing in a more central role ahead of Kane and was hooked in the 89th minute for Vardy.\nHarry Kane – 9\nEngland’s best player from the opening whistle. Held up play brilliantly all night and brought others into the game. Was brave enough to hit his penalty down the middle and was an example to his team throughout the night. Two fantastic penalties, first in normal time and then in the shootout.\nMORE: England through to World Cup quarter finals after FINALLY winning a penalty shootout" ]

[ "Photo: Greg Williams\nBy Jon Wiederhorn\nHeading into the 2018 GRAMMY nomination season, many expected Ed Sheeran to sweep numerous categories. While he was nominated for two GRAMMYs – Best Pop Solo Performance (“Shape Of You”) and Best Pop Vocal Album (Divide) — Sheeran isn’t on the ballot for the biggest awards, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year.”\nRelated: Ed Sheeran Trades Beer-Stained Shirt For Niall Horan Hockey Jersey\nIn a recent interview, Sheeran said he wasn’t upset when he found out about the snub; in fact, he believes it was ‘meant to be.’\n“There’s a very clear reason why that happened and it’s bigger than me, like much bigger than me. And like it’s just something that, again, it was just meant to be,” he told Billboard. “That is the way that this year was meant to roll out.”\nSheeran added that he has everything going for him, and he has received numerous recent honors and accolades, so why complain?\n“You know, I’m not dying. It’s not like I’m never gonna be nominated for a Grammy again,” he said. “And I was nominated for two GRAMMYs. This is why everything’s meant to be. The week after that, I get an MBE from the palace, I go Number One on Spotify, I go Number One on Billboard. I’m about to have my second ever Billboard Number One. Like, there’s so many other things in the mix that counterbalance it.”\n“That’s just the way I live my life,” he concluded. “When one door closes, another door opens. You’ll really, really send yourself mental if you think into things too much, and I’m just so easy-going when it comes to that.”" ]

[ "If you’re someone pretty big like Ed Sheeran and have quite a few hits like he does, you figure you’d have immediate entry into your own label’s Grammy after party right? Well for Ed Sheeran, this isn’t the case.\nEveryone’s favorite romantic musician was turned away from his own label’s post-Grammy celebration at Milk Studios.\nThe party was being held Warner Music Block Party and filled up to its max capacity within an hour!\n“That’s actually happened four years in a row, and that’s not just my label’s after-party!” he laughed. “That’s just after-parties in general.”\nSheeran continued, “You know what I don’t get?” he quipped. “When you walk into those parties…there’s probably like four musicians there and everyone else is just people from L.A. who didn’t go to the Grammys and probably just want a party to go to.”\nOh well, those crowded parties aren’t Ed’s kind of scene anyways.", "By Robyn Collins\nEd Sheeran never made it to his label’s Grammys party. It’s not like he didn’t want to go, he wasn’t allowed in.\nRelated: Ed Sheeran Surprised by Comeback Success\nAfter the British singer/songwriter performed his new single, “The Shape of You,” at the GRAMMYs, he tried to get into his party, but he was turned away along with a crowd of others, so he went to another afterparty to celebrate.\n“That’s actually happened four years in a row, and that’s not just my label’s after-party, that’s just afterparties in general,” he told NME. “It’s just—do you know what I don’t get… it’s like you walk into those parties and there’s four musicians there and everyone else there are people from L.A. who didn’t even go to the GRAMMYs and just want a party to go to.”\n“So I went to Benny Blanco and Diplo’s party and arrived there super-early,” he continued, “and suddenly 2,000 people turned up.”", "NEW YORK (AP) — Ed Sheeran, and his cat, would like to thank the Grammy voters.\nAfter skipping Sunday's ceremony, the singer posted a note of gratitude on his Instagram account and said his cat was celebrating, too. Sheeran won Grammys for best pop solo performance for \"Shape of You\" and best pop vocal album.\n\"Woke up to the news I won two grammys last night. Thank you!\" wrote Sheeran, who included a photo of his orange-and-white cat. \"This little fluff-ball is doing a bit of a celebratory dance, lots of love to everyone xx.\"\nHis victory for best solo performance wasn't welcomed by everyone. Sheeran was the only male on the list, defeating stars such as Lady Gaga, Kesha and Pink. Numerous tweeters expressed their disappointment.", "Share\nEd Sheeran decided to head to Diplo's Hollywood Hills house party after being turned away from a bash at Milk Studios.\nEd Sheeran has been turned away from his own record label's Grammy Awards afterparty four years in a row.\nThe 25-year-old singer attended the star-studded awards ceremony at Los Angeles' Staples Center, and had hoped to continue the celebrations at his label's bash at Milk Studios.\nHowever, Ed, who has two Grammy Awards to his name, found himself at a loose end after being refused entry - for the fourth consecutive year.\n\"That's actually happened four years in a row,\" Ed laughed during an interview at On Air With Ryan Seacrest on Tuesday (14Feb17). \"And that's not just my label's after party! That's just after parties in general.\"\nAccording to reports, it wasn't just Ed who was turned away from the celebration, as the venue was at maximum capacity just one hour after the party kicked off.\nBut the majority of people inside the club would have just been L.A. locals, Ed added.\n\"You know what I don't get?\" he mused. \"When you walk into those parties, there's probably four musicians there and everyone else is just people from L.A., who didn't go to the Grammys and probably just want a party to go to.\"\nFollowing the rejection, Ed decided to head over to a house party hosted by Diplo and Benny Blanco in the Hollywood Hills. While he was pleased with the lack of guests when he first arrived, things soon got busier.\n\"I arrived there super early and I was like, 'This is really cool! No one's here!'\" the Shape of You singer recalled. \"And then suddenly 2,000 people turned up and I was like, 'I'm going.'\"\nSocializing with his peers isn't something Ed feels particularly comfortable with, but give him a microphone and he's in his \"element\".\n\"Performing is what I love doing. I'm more nervous to talk to people, because I'm not very good,\" he admitted.\nEd was attending the Grammy Awards ahead of the release of his new album ÷ (Divide), which drops on 3 March (17).\n© Cover Media", "Getty Image\nThe first and biggest beneficiary of the Grammys decision to honor streaming music on their platform was of course, Chance The Rapper, who claimed three Grammys at this year’s ceremony. But Chance wasn’t the only winner in the landmark switch, Lil Uzi Vert, one of Soundcloud’s foremost stars has also received plenty of rub from the legitimization of the platform, this year earning two Grammy nominations himself, including one for the coveted Best New Artist award.\nUzi’s Soundcloud dominance surely played a part in his recognition from the recording academy, and thanks to his new album Luv Is Rage 2, Uzi reigned supreme again this year on Soundcloud, as the streaming site announced today that the album was their most streamed album of 2017. The news came with the release of Soundcloud’s annual top charts release, which this year was expanded to 17 categories, meant to “touch every corner of the SoundCloud ecosystem, from hip-hop, pop, dance and rock, to what’s new, now and next in music culture.”\nUzi won’t the site’s foremost distinction, but others like Ed Sheeran, SZA, Kehlani, Logic, Post Malone and Travis Scott earned nods in other categories as well. “From Grammy wins and Grammy nominations, to topping the charts, 2017 has been a big year for artists on SoundCloud,” they said in the release. Uzi also took the win for Top Rap/Hip-hop Track with “XO Tour Llif3,” capping off another banner year on the platform for himself and giving a whole new definition to the phrase “Soundcloud rapper.”", "By Sarah Carroll\nThe weekend is typically a time for everyone to kick back and relax…except if you’re Ed Sheeran.\nRelated: Ed Sheeran on Bruce Springsteen’s Influence on ‘Castle on the Hill’\nThe singer-songwriter just wrapped up a whirlwind couple of days, performing on both Saturday Night Live and the GRAMMY Awards.\nBut the hustle is definitely paying off. Sheeran became the first act ever to debut in the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 with two songs simultaneously.\nIt was a risk to release “Shape of You” and “Castle On The Hill” at the same time and even Sheeran is impressed at how well they’re continuing to perform on the charts.\n“Surprised week one? Not really,” he told Carson Daly on 97.1 AMP Radio. “But surprised now? Yes. I think when you come back with a song, the kind of initial impact is always going to be good…But now we’re in our sixth or seventh week now and it’s back to number one. It’s growing week on week and I think that’s what was the surprising thing is for me that people continue to like it.”\nHear Ed’s full interview now at 97.1 AMP Radio.", "Sheeran may not have attended the ceremony but he shared an early-morning cat photo with a caption thanking the Recording Academy for the honors. \"Woke up to the news I won two grammys last night,\" he wrote. \"Thank you! This little fluff-ball is doing a bit of a celebratory dance, lots of love to everyone xx\"\nIn the picture, his cat is splayed out on the ground, appearing to be perfectly content with life. The newly engaged singer has a lot to celebrate these days. Check out Ed's digital acceptance - here.", "Crowded after-parties aren't Ed Sheeran's scene anyway.\nFor the fourth year in a row, everyone's favorite romantic was turned away from his own label's post-Grammy celebration at Milk Studios. The party, which was held at Warner Music Block Party in Los Angeles, filled up to max capacity in just one hour.\nSheeran dished about the parties for On Air With Ryan Seacrest this morning when the musician was invited in studio to celebrate Valentine's Day.\n\"That's actually happened four years in a row, and that's not just my label's after-party!\" he laughed. \"That's just after-parties in general.\"", "share tweet pin email\nIt can be easy for fame and fortune to go straight to the head of a celebrity, but Grammy-winning singer Ed Sheeran is known as being a normal guy. He tells Sunday TODAY’s Willie Geist that a lot of it has to do with the British press.", "Ed Sheeran is to release a new song on Friday (06.01.17).\nThe 'Thinking Out Loud' hitmaker took to his social media sites on Sunday (01.01.17) to share the announcement with his six million followers.\nIn the short clip, he held up a piece of paper with the writing: ''New Music Coming Friday!! (sic)'', and he also captioned the video: ''Hello 2017... (sic)''\nIt comes after the 25-year-old singer/songwriter changed his profile pictures to a shade of blue on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook on December 13, exactly a year after he went on hiatus, leaving fans guessing he is about to announce a new record.\nMeanwhile, the flame-haired hunk will reportedly make one of his musical dreams come true when he tops the bill at the world-famous Glastonbury festival in Worthy Farm, Somerset, South West England in June.\nAnd Ed's signing has delighted the event's organisers, Michael and Emily Eavis.\nA source previously told The Sun newspaper: ''Michael is delighted to get Ed signed up.\n''It's going to be a huge moment for the festival having him up there marking his comeback in front of a giant crowd.\n''Ed's always said headlining Glastonbury has been a big ambition of his.\n''Topping his three sold-out Wembley Stadium shows last year will be tough, but this is as big as it gets.''\nEd will join previously-confirmed headliners Radiohead at the event, while Foo Fighters - who were forced to pull out of the 2015 festival after frontman Dave Grohl broke his leg - are expected to be the final headliners.\nAnd he is also rumoured to be performing at the Grammys held in Los Angeles in February.\nA source added to the publication: ''Ed became one of the world's most in-demand musicians with his last album and the Grammys is the perfect place to make his return.\n''Millions will be tuning in for his performance and he is planning to pull out all of the stops to really wow everyone.''\nThe 'I See Fire' singer's last studio album was 2014's 'X'.", "Ed Sheeran has two songs up for the same prize while Stormzy is up for best album and best contemporary song.\nStormzy will be hoping to follow-up his Brits success with wins at a prestigious songwriting award ceremony on Thursday.\nThe grime star, 24, is up for best album for Gang Signs And Prayer and is also in the running for contemporary song for Don’t Cry For Me, featuring Raleigh Ritchie.\nRapper Dave is also nominated for contemporary song for his politically charged track Question Time, which pays tribute to victims of the Grenfell Tower fire and takes on Theresa May and David Cameron.\nEd Sheeran (Ben Birchall/PA)\nEd Sheeran has two songs, which he co-wrote, in the running for most performed work, Castle On The Hill and Shape Of You.\nHe competes against Rag ‘n’ Bone Man’s Human in the category.\nNominees for best song musically and lyrically are Sampha’s (No One Knows Me) Like The Piano, Elbow’s Magnificent (She Says) and Everything Everything’s Can’t Do.\nEverything Everything are also up for best album for A Fever Dream.\nThe Ivors celebrate excellence in British and Irish songwriting and composing.\n© Press Association 2018", "The debate continued online after Ed Sheeran's Best Pop Solo Performance win for the song \"Shape of You.\" The pop star beat out an all-female cast of competitors in Kesha, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson and P!nk--all female singers known for lyrics based on being strong, powerful and independent.\nSome on social media expressed dismay over a man winning the award singing a song about a woman's body. \"Love when four women are nominated in a category and the only man takes it home esp when that man is Ed Sheeran #Grammys,\" tweeted one viewer.\nSheeran fans defended the British singer and the win. \"Ed Sheeran is really talented, he's played multiple tours alone with no band or backup singers and he writes all of his music,\" stated one such fan on Twitter. \"He's never done anything offensive. Y'all always go for the wrong people to hate. Go to the root of the problem for god's sake. All he did was sing a song.\" Read more - here.", "The grime star, 24, is up for best album for Gang Signs And Prayer and is also in the running for contemporary song for Don’t Cry For Me, featuring Raleigh Ritchie.\nRapper Dave is also nominated for contemporary song for his politically charged track Question Time, which pays tribute to victims of the Grenfell Tower fire and takes on Theresa May and David Cameron.\nEd Sheeran (Ben Birchall/PA)\nEd Sheeran has two songs, which he co-wrote, in the running for most performed work, Castle On The Hill and Shape Of You.", "James Devaney/GC Images\nEd Sheeran's sheer joy may be partially inspired by the fact that \"Shape of You\" has made him the planet's streaming Spotify champion, but even if the single's popularity has nothing to do with it, one thing's clear: He loves to play every single damn note of his hit single, and he's definitely not afraid to show it.\nFor his taping of Austin City Limits, Sheeran busted out his biggest smash to date and sang through it as if he was playing the song for the very first time.\nYou'd think that he'd be tired of performing \"Shape of You\" given the zillions of hours he's spent rehearsing it and playing it both on the road and the major broadcasts of both the 2017 Grammys and the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards — but nah. At ACL, was dancing just as hard as the crowd at Austin's Moody Theater, breaking a sweat and hopping up on one of his monitors to get the room to sing along.\nJust try to watch that all the way through without cracking a smile. You think you've heard \"Shape of You\" a gajillion and a half times by now, but this one's enough to sway even the most steadfast of Sheeran critics for a few minutes.\n(I am also selfishly glad that I get to make my mom's day by replacing her very favorite video mash-up, because we've both now watched this clip of the Teletubbies dancing to \"Shape of You\" approximately 912 times, but that's another story.)", "Ed Sheeran will kick off the brand new series of Desert Island Discs with his selection of favourite tracks.\nThe chart-topping British pop star will be the first ‘castaway’ of the new series of the BBC Radio 4 show when it returns next month.\nSheeran, 26, has already recorded his interview with Kirsty Young, in which he chooses the eight songs that he’d most like to have with him on a desert island.\nThe show has recently celebrated its 75-year anniversary, marked with an appearance by David Beckham, who chose tracks by The Rolling Stones and Elton John.\ned sheeran confirms doppleganger is not his baby\nSheeran celebrated his musical comeback this year with an epic 13-week reign at the top of the singles charts with Shape of You.\nHe was finally kicked off the top spot by friend Harry Styles last Friday with the release of his debut solo single, Sign of the Times.\nEd Sheeran - In pictures\n36 show all Ed Sheeran - In pictures\n1/36 Ed Sheeran performs onstage in 2014 Ian West/PA\n2/36 Sheeran unveils his never-before-seen Madame Tussauds wax figure at Madame Tussauds New York on 28 May 2015 in New York City Cindy Ord/Getty Images\n3/36 Ed Sheeran with his British Breakthrough Act award and Best Male Solo Artist award in the press room at the 2012 Brit Awards at The O2 Arena, London Ian West/PA\n4/36 Ed Sheeran kisses Kermit the Frog @Teddysphoto/Instagram/s\n5/36 Ed Sheeran accepts the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance, for \"Thinking Out Loud,\" onstage during the GRAMMY Pre-Telecast at The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Microsoft Theater on 15 February 2016 in Los Angeles, California Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images\n6/36 British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran poses with his British album of the year award for 'X' and his British male solo artist award at the BRIT Awards 2015 in London on 25 February 2015 Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images\n7/36 Ed Sheeran watches the Philadelphia Phillies v New York Mets match at Citi Field on 2 September 2015 in New York New York Mets /Getty Images\n8/36 Chilling with Mace Windu AKA Samuel L Jackson @Teddysphotos/Instagram\n9/36 Ed Sheeran attends \"The Elvis Duran Z100 Morning Show\" at Z100 Studio on 28 September 2015 in New York Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images\n10/36 Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran attend the World Premiere of \"Ed Sheeran: Jumpers For Goalposts\" at Odeon Leicester Square on 22 October 2015 Dave Benett\n11/36 Host Ed Sheeran performs with DJ Locksmith of Rudimental during the MTV EMA's 2015 at the Mediolanum Forum on 25 October 2015 in Milan, Italy Brian Rasic/Getty Images\n12/36 Recording artists Pharrell Williams (L) and Ed Sheeran attend A+E Networks 'Shining A Light' concert at The Shrine Auditorium on 18 November 2015 in Los Angeles, California Mike Windle/Getty Images\n13/36 Kylie Minogue and Ed Sheeran dance on the red carpet ahead of the 29th Annual ARIA Awards 2015 at The Star on 26 November 2015 in Sydney, Australia Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images\n14/36 James Blunt and Ed Sheeran arrive for the 29th Annual ARIA Awards 2015 at The Star on 26 November 2015 in Sydney, Australia Graham Denholm/Getty Images\n15/36 Ed Sheeran performs at Mt Smart Stadium on 12 December 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand Phil Walter/Getty Images\n16/36 Ed Sheeran bags a selfie with Mick Huckenell Instagram/@teddysphotos\n17/36 Ed Sheeran performs onstage during \"The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles\" at the Los Angeles Convention Center on 27 January 2014 in Los Angeles, California Kevin Winter/Getty Images\n18/36 Jeff lynne's ELO and Ed Sheeran perform on stage at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles 8 February 2015 Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images\n19/36 Taylor Swift joined on stage by Ed Sheeran as she kicked off the European leg of her blockbuster The RED Tour with the first of five sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena, playing to a capacity crowd of more than 15500 fans on 1 February 2014 in London Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images\n20/36 Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran attend the 22nd Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party at The City of West Hollywood Park on 2 March 2014 Michael Kovac/Getty Images\n21/36 Ed Sheeran performs on NBC's \"Today\" at the NBC's TODAY Show on 4 July 2014 in New York Jemal Countess/Getty Images\n22/36 Ed Sheeran (top), winner of Best Male Video for 'Sing,' and director Emil Nava pose in the press room during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on 24 August 2014 in Inglewood, California Getty Images\n23/36 Ed Sheeran iin his Cameo in Bridget Jones Diary\n24/36 Ed Sheeran and Macklemore perform ontage during the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on 20 September Getty Images for Clear Channel\n25/36 Ed Sheeran kicks a football after a press conference ahead of the AFL Grand Final at Melbourne Cricket Ground on 25 September 2014 in Melbourne, Australia Robert Prezioso/Getty Images\n26/36 Ed Sheeran and Tom Jones perform during the 2014 AFL Grand Final match between the Sydney Swans and the Hawthorn Hawks at Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 2014 in Melbourne, Australia Quinn Rooney/Getty Images\n27/36 Ed Sheeran attends the MTV EMA's 2014 at The Hydro on 9 November 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland Tristan Fewings/Getty Images\n28/36 Ed Sheeran performs on stage as models Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio walk the runway during the 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre on 2 December 2014 in London Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images\n29/36 Ed Sheeran shows off his tattoo's @teddysphotos/Instagram\n30/36 Ed Sheeran performs onstage during the 2013 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Ethan Miller/Getty Images\n31/36 Ed Sheeran poses with Taylor Swift backstage before his sold-out show at Madison Square Garden Arena on 1 November 2013 in New York Anna Webber/Getty Images\n32/36 Queen Elizabeth II greets British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and Australian singer Kylie Minogue backstage during the Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2012 Dave Thompson/AFP/GettyImages\n33/36 Ed Sheeran performs on The Arena Stage on day 1 of the V Festival at Hylands Park on 18 August 2012 in Chelmsford Samir Hussein/Getty Images\n34/36 Ed Sheeran, winner of Breakthrough Artist at the Q awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel on 24 October 2011 in London Chris Jackson/Getty Images\n35/36 Ed Sheeran in 2011\n36/36 Ed Sheeran musician, photographed at his record label in Kensington in 2011 Graham Jepson\nSheeran was just two weeks away from equalling Drake’s impressive 15-week run, which was just one week away from breaking the all-time record set by Bryan Adams.\nThe Castle on the Hill singer has just kicked off the UK and Ireland leg of his Divide tour, performing in Dublin, Newcastle and Manchester.\nHe is set to play two dates at the O2 in London at the beginning of May, before heading to South America at the end of the month.\nAnnounced by the BBC on Tuesday morning, the interview is set to air on May 7.", "Ed Sheeran says he plans to work on a “lo-fi” record inspired by rock star Bruce Springsteen, which he believes would be his “lowest-selling, but most loved” one. The 26-year-old artiste said he heard Springsteen only recently when he listened to the EP of ‘Nebraska’.\n“I’m weak-minded at times, and feel very vulnerable and insecure… My plan is a lo-fi album that will be my lowest- selling, but most loved… I only heard Springsteen recently. I was with Kit (Harington) from ‘Game of Thrones’. We had a night out in New York, got back to his hotel to drink more, and he played Atlantic City. Then, when I heard ‘Nebraska’,” Sheeran said.\nThe “Shape of You” hitmaker earlier said he would collaborate with rapper Drake on one of his songs.", "People are still talking about the Grammys and many are saying that they believe Jay-Z was snubbed. The men of “BET’s Mancave” discussed the big show and shared their opinions of what happened. Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar were big winners at the Grammys and took home the most awards, but did they deserve them?\nFollow @TheRSMS\nSome of the men of the show believe that Jay-Z’s time has passed and now it’s time for Kendrick Lamar to be awarded. The other gentleman believed it was a marketing ploy to have Jay-Z in the front with Beyoncè and Blue Ivy when they knew he wasn’t going to win anything.\nThe men also discussed that Kendrick Lamar right now is doing music that liberates and that is what people want. Jeff Johnson spoke on the fact that it’s not about Jay-Z not receiving Grammy’s it’s about manhood losing. His album was about growth, success, apologies, but people didn’t care to award him for that. What do you think about Jay-Z not winning any Grammys?\nRELATED: Was Quavo Involved In A Fight After The Grammys?\nRELATED: Was Tina Knowles’ Comment About The Grammys Tacky? [EXCLUSIVE]\nRELATED: Why The Grammys Weren’t Necessarily Biased Against Women [EXCLUSIVE]\nThe Latest:", "The poor flame-headed singer hasn't had much luck at the Grammys recently.\nThe 25-year-old Shape of You singer brought the house down at the Grammys this week when he performed the song live at the awards ceremony.\nBut apparently that's just not good enough if you're looking to get into one of the exclusive Grammy after parties.\nHe was recently interviewed on On Air With Ryan Seacrest and revealed that he has been turned away from after parties \"four years in a row. And that's not just my label's after-party! That's after parties in general.\"\nIt's not that the bouncers don't recognise the star, it's simply because the parties get full up so quickly after the awards end.\nAnd it's not just Ed that was given the cold shoulder, actor Adrien Brody and DJ Pete Tong also didn't make the cut.\nHow annoying would that be!\nHe moaned \"You know what I don't get? When you walk into those parties, there's probably four musicians there and everyone else is just people from LA who didn't go to the Grammys and probably just want a party to go to\".\nDon't worry Ed you can come to any of our parties!", "By Annie Reuter\nEd Sheeran’s reign atop the charts may be momentarily dethroned by Harry Styles, but he can find solace in knowing that his new single is Jimmy Fallon’s current jam. The singer/songwriter stopped by The Tonight Show on Monday evening (April 17) where he performed his new single “Castle On the Hill” with a full band.\nRelated: Ed Sheeran’s Voice is Last Thing Dying Teen Hears\n“His new album Divide entered the charts at No. 1 with the biggest debut of the year,” Fallon eagerly said while introducing Sheeran. “Back to perform his new single ‘Castle on the Hill,’ which is my jam, give it up for Ed Sheeran!”\nBacked by a full band for a nearly five-minute performance, Sheeran showcased just why his album shot straight to the top of the charts.\nSheeran last visited Fallon in February where he performed previous single “Shape of You” with classroom instruments.\nWatch his performance of the nostalgic power ballad below:", "Singer Miley Cyrus has apologised to fans after failing to show up at the Teen Choice Awards due to her \"unrealistic\" schedule.\nThe Wrecking Ball star thanked the organisation for honouring her with its most prestigious accolade, the Ultimate Choice award, and said she was \"beyond bummed\" that she could not pick it up in person.\nCyrus already has 18 Teen Choice awards under her belt after more than 10 years working with the glamorous annual Los Angeles ceremony.\nAddressing her legions of fans, she wrote: \"To my dearest fans & all of those watching @teenchoicefox!\n\"I want to say thank you from the very bottom of my heart for presenting me with #TheUltimateChoiceAward! I am beyond bummed I couldn't make it to the show as I had every intention of being there to accept and celebrate this honor!\n\"I created an unrealistic schedule for myself which leads me to this announcement! I've been tryin to keep the secret but I can't hide it any longer!\"\nThe 24-year-old also shared a childhood photo of herself to promote upcoming single Younger Now and added: \"I look forward to making music for the rest of my life and I'm thankful everyday for those who listen!\n\"I am sending so much love and peace into the world right now because THATS what we need most! Love Love & more LOVE!\"\nThe no-show did not get in the way of a successful evening as stars enjoyed performances from Britons including Louis Tomlinson and Rita Ora.\nGrammy award-winner Ed Sheeran picked up the Choice pop song prize for hit single Shape Of You while other winners included Ariana Grande, Fifth Harmony, Chris Pratt and Zendaya.\nBruno Mars was also honoured with the Visionary award and Maroon 5 picked up the Decade award.", "Ed Sheeran is back, ladies and gentleman. After a year-long break from the spotlight, the talented singer-songwriter is once again ready to grace the world with his artistry. Sheeran announced the good news today with a short video posted to his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, simply captioned “Hello 2017.”\nInstead of audibly announcing his plans, the 23-year-old took a more creative approach. Sitting on a sofa, donning glasses and a small smirk, Sheeran announced his plans with a handwritten sign that read “New music coming Friday!”\n2016 was essentially Sheeran-less, music and otherwise. Aside from a couple of cryptic Instagram posts near the end of the year, and making headlines after Princess Beatrice injured him with a sword (yes, really), Ed Sheeran managed to fly completely under the radar, which was his goal from the start.\nIn December 2015, much to the dismay of his loyal fans, Sheeran announced that he would be taking a year-long break from social media to see the world.\nHello all. I’m taking a break from my phone, emails and all social media for a while, I’ve had such an amazing ride over the last 5 years but I find myself seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes so I’m taking this opportunity of me not having to be anywhere or do anything to travel the world and see everything I’ve missed. To my family and friends, if you love me you will understand me buggering off for a bit, to my fans, the 3rd album is on its way and is the best thing I’ve done thus far. See you all next autumn, and thank you for being amazing.\nEd Sheeran’s latest album, X, was released way back in 2014, which spawned the fan-favorite, “Thinking Out Loud.” It is Sheeran’s most successful song to date, and won Song of The Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards. X was also the most streamed album on Spotify the year that it was released.\nThat said, in our fickle society, a singer is only as good as their latest material. After taking such a substantial break from the business, Sheeran’s new music will have to meet or, better yet, exceed the high expectations that his fans have placed on him. Which might be easier than one would imagine.\nIn December, it was revealed that Sheeran had loaned his creative talents to X Factor winner, Matt Terry’s single, “When Christmas Comes Around.” Of course, this revelation had Ed’s loyal fan base yearning for new material from the Grammy-Award Winning Artist.\nAccording to songwriter, Amy Wadge who co-wrote “Thinking Out Loud” and “When Christmas Comes Around,” with Ed, his new album will not only be great, but it will “break the internet.” Amy Wadge spoke to BBC Newsbeat and announced that Ed’s album was done and that it would be out “soon,” though she failed to reveal the official date. Wade’s ambiguity certainly gives Ed’s upcoming release an added layer of mystery, which might be exactly what Sheeran wants.\nAfter an entire year free of social media, Sheeran, posted a captionless photo of a bright blue square to Instagram account, alerting fans that something was definitely coming.\nA photo posted by @teddysphotos on Dec 12, 2016 at 10:29pm PST\nNow? We wait to see just what Sheeran has been working on for “all,” 2015, according to Wadge. If his past success is any indication, it will definitely be worth it.\nTell us, are you excited about to hear Ed Sheeran’s new music? Let us know in the comments below.\n[Image by Ryan Pierse/ Getty Images]", "By Amanda Wicks\nIf Ed Sheeran ever wants to release a remix of “Shape of You” featuring a slick verse and a popular name in hip-hop, he should look no further than Wale.\nRelated: Ed Sheeran Says He Couldn’t Get into His Own GRAMMY Afterparty\nWale remixed Sheeran’s song and shared it on SoundCloud late last night (February 14th). He keeps everything close to the original, but adds a steamy new verse at the beginning.\n“You the type of lady Imma hold down/ But for now I’m gonna need you to hold out/ What’s your name? Imma call you tonight/ Just know I’m calling you never if I ain’t calling you mine,” he raps. That’s about as tame as it gets on Wale’s extended verse. Elsewhere, he raps about all the ways he’s looking forward to pleasing the woman he can’t get off his mind. It definitely takes Sheeran’s lyric, “I’m in love with your body,” up a level.\nListen below.", "By Music News Group\nMark SurridgeAfter Ed Sheeran surprised everyone by dropping a version of his hit “Perfect” that featured Beyonce, he surprised everyone again by dropping yet another duet version of the track…with opera superstar Andrea Bocelli. Boccelli says he agreed to do it because his kids are Ed fans…and also because Ed himself is such a great guy.\nSpeaking to Yahoo!, Bocelli said working with Ed was “a nice experience,” adding, “Ed Sheeran is young, gifted, serious, prepared, as well as temperamentally lovable.”\n- Advertisement -\nHe adds, “As for the duet, he asked me with such enthusiasm, so sincerely, that I could not refuse. And his euphoria, together with that of my elder children — both his fans — made me accept.”\nThe opera star says that Ed believes a duet is “an artistic genre that can give great surprises and great satisfactions.”\nOf course, Ed isn’t the first pop star Bocelli has worked with. He’s also sung at various times with Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole, Ariana Grande, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Lopez, Nelly Furtado, Josh Groban and more.\nCopyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.\nComments", "The video will start in 8 Cancel\nGet daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nSinging superstar Ed Sheeran swapped his Lego House for a curry house when he headed out on the town in Manchester.\nThe hungry Thinking Out Loud singer chose swanky Asha’s in Peter Street for a late night meal with his entourage of six after performing four dates at the Etihad Stadium.\nEd, the world’s best-selling recording artist of 2017, was seated in the private dining room at Asha’s, inspired and co-owned by Indian singing sensation Asha Bhosle the most recorded artist in music history as well as the muse for Cornershop’s 90s hit Brimful of Asha.\nEd ordered a paneer vindaloo from executive chef Ashwani Rangta, which he made to order especially for the four times Grammy Award-winning hitmaker.\nThe rest of his group sampled the new Indian summer menu featuring scallops with lamb vindaloos at Asha’s, which was chosen by Elbow singer Guy Garvey as the venue for his wedding reception when he married actress Rachael Stirling in 2016 and Salford comic Jason Manford when he married long term partner Lucy Dyke in December.\n(Image: Zakary Walters)\nAnd the restaurant received the thumbs-up from Ed, who has cooked up five Brit Awards, had the album Divide go seven-times platinum, and had five UK number one singles, saying he “loved the place, food and service.”\nSome 200,000 fans headed to the Etihad to watch Ed on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.\nStepping out on stage in an ‘I heart MCR’ T-shirt he played hits including Castle on the Hill and Galway Girl, the eight billion-streamed megahit Shape Of You and fan favourite Sing.", "More bad news for Ed Sheeran, who’s being sued (again) for allegedly ripping off Marvin Gaye and whose application to build a private, faux-historic chapel on his property in Suffolk, England has been rejected by a local district council, as the Telegraph reported over the weekend. So much for Sheeran’s willingness to commission a study on the potential impact on protected newts—the council seem to think his design is simply in bad taste and (by the standards of rural English council planners) weren’t shy about saying so.\n“By opting for a clearly Christian style place of worship this application, rather than being sympathetic to landscape character, creates a jarring anomaly in the landscape, in that it would create a second place of worship in the same view as the existing village church,” the Suffolk Coastal District Council’s report reads. Sheeran’s proposed chapel design took inspiration from an antique Saxon-style chapel, with space for about two dozen congregants and a 48-foot round stone tower—a feature the council believes would compete with the existing church tower in a manner that “would never be seen in the Suffolk landscape.”\nSheeran’s original proposal also called for a distressed exterior intended to look like “ruins,” as if the chapel had been there for “more than a thousand years.” Council conservation officer Robert Scrimgeour wasn’t a fan, reportedly saying the faux ruins would “appear as a conceit and detract from the authenticity” of a building that “cannot quite decide if it is a whimsical folly or a serious facsimile.” (Rob, have you ever listened to an Ed Sheeran album?)\nMany have assumed Sheeran intended to use the planned chapel for his upcoming wedding to fiancée Cherry Seaborn, a rumor that’s apparently rubbed some residents the wrong way. “The proposal is of no benefit to the village or its residents,” one citizen reportedly wrote. “It has no historical value and quite frankly is not being constructed as a private place of worship, it is a wedding venue for the rich and famous and we all know it.”\nNo word on on the newts, which now appear to be a complete red herring.", "We all know Solange Knowles isn’t afraid to speak her mind, even if it’s about the biggest night in music.\nThe singer, who took home the Grammy for Best R&B Performance for “Cranes in the Sky” on Sunday, was not too pleased that her big sister Beyoncé didn’t snag the big award for Album of the Year. Legend has it that Bey loses the award every year to a White artist like Beck or Adele, even though she’s clearly the people’s choice.\nAlthough Adele broke her Grammy in half to share with the Queen, Solo took to Twitter to share her disappointment. After feeling some type of way that her own award wasn’t televised, she wrote:\nhttps://twitter.com/solangeknowles/status/830997619841208322\nAs for hinting at a Grammys boycott, Solange posted the link to Frank Ocean‘s Tumblr post, in which he eloquently described why he opted out of the award show, saying that it suffers “cultural bias and general nerve damage”:\nhttps://twitter.com/solangeknowles/status/831000797232001025\nLooks like Solo will no longer be accepting her seat at the Grammys table.", "It was a risk to release 'Shape of You\" and 'Castle On The Hill\" at the same time and even Sheeran is impressed at how well they're continuing to perform on the charts.\n\"Surprised week one? Not really,\" he told Carson Daly on 97.1 AMP Radio. 'But surprised now? Yes. I think when you come back with a song, the kind of initial impact is always going to be good' But now we're in our sixth or seventh week now and it's back to number one. It's growing week on week and I think that's what was the surprising thing is for me that people continue to like it.\" Read more here.", "You're going to heart this award show announcement.\nWith less than three weeks until the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards, event organizers dropped a huge announcement to fans Wednesday morning.\nOn the heels of their individual 2017 Grammys performances, Ed Sheeran and Katy Perry will take to the stage for music's upcoming award show.\nBut wait, there's more!\nThe Chainsmokers, Shawn Mendes, Thomas Rhett, Noah Cyrus and Big Sean will join previously confirmed performer Bruno Mars at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., for a show fueled by the fans.", "Taylor Swift scored six MTV E.M.A. nominations, including one for best-video for “Look What You Made Me Do.” Swift narrowly beat out Shawn Mendes, who has five nods, and Ed Sheeran and Kendrick Lamar, who both have four apiece. Swift’s nominations are for Best Video, Best U.S. Act, Best Pop, Best Look, Biggest Fans, and Best Artist. In order to score some award wins however, she will have to best the likes of Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, and Harry Styles in those categories. The E.M.A.s, which will be hosted by Rita Ora, will air on November 12. Swift will release her highly anticipated new album on November 10. The album features lead single “Look what You Made Me Do,” and is her first release since 2014’s 1989. Copyright(c) 2017 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedLess «", "Welcome to the future, Grammys! Great to have you.\nFor the first time in the show's history, it's doing away with traditional ballots and switching over to online voting.\nVery hip, Grammys. Nice move.\nAccording to the Los Angeles Times, the Recording Academy hopes the transition to online voting will bring new life to the voting process, while simultaneously increasing voter turnout among the younger demographic. After all, if you want today's youth to pay attention to something, you've gotta incorporate technology, right?\nSeems like a pretty chill plan.\nThis only affects voting members of the Recording Academy, who must have at least six credits on commercially released tracks.\nIn recent years, the awards have come under fire for making boring, traditional choices, and a perceived lack of diversity. These views intensified when artists like Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé failed to win the prestigious \"Album of the Year\" award, losing to Mackelmore, Taylor Swift, and Adele.\nIn fact, Frank Ocean decided not to submit his highly anticipated album, Blonde, for Grammy consideration in 2017 due to the awards' outdated system.\nOcean told The New York Times, \"I think the infrastructure of the awarding system and the nomination system and screening system is dated. I’d rather this be my Colin Kaepernick moment for the Grammys than sit there in the audience.\"\nThough Bill Freimuth, the Academy's senior VP of awards, told the LA Times there have been talks about making the switch from paper to online ballots for many years, there were a few concerns and technical issues to consider.\n\"We wanted to be sure our auditors at Deloitte were happy with their ability to still tabulate the ballots correctly,\" Freimuth said. \"Security was always a major issue, because it could become a target for hackers.\"\nBut now that the proper security precautions have been taken, the Academy is ready to roll out the modern voting technique, which will hopefully provide more accurate polling with wider representation. All voting members will be allowed to cast votes online for the top four award categories: record, album, song, and new artist.\nThe 2018 Grammy Awards will mark the show's 60th anniversary, so it seems like the perfect time to switch things up.", "By Brian Ives\nEd Sheeran is starting 2017 off with new music.\nIn a video that he tweeted late on New Year’s Eve, he held up a hand written sign saying, “New Music Coming Friday!”\nEarlier in the month, he changed his Twitter profile picture and his twitter page’s stage image to solid light blue, a signal that other changes were on the way.\nTwitter reacted to the news quickly, with Late Late Show host James Corden among those expressing excitement (some were also excited because One Direction’s Harry Styles tweeted “It’s 2017. Be Nice. Be Good.”\nWell, @edsheeran has already made 2017 epic as far as I'm concerned. #friday —\nJames Corden (@JKCorden) January 01, 2017\nEd Sheeran releasing new music Friday, Harry tweeted 'It's 2017' https://t.co/qDQqHALkpu —\nℓαяяу αf. (@LarentsParadise) January 01, 2017\nEVERYONE CALM DOWN. ED SHEERAN IS RELEASING NEW MUSIC ON FRIDAY AND WE ARE ALL SAVED. THANK YOU, 2017. THANK YOU. —\nAlex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) January 01, 2017\nEd Sheeran is back, Harry tweeted \"its 2017\" and 4 more words. 2017 is already saved. twitter.com/harry_styles/s… —\nnat (@daggertattooH) January 01, 2017", "The worldwide screen rights of Songwriter, a documentary on Ed Sheeran, has been purchased by tech giant Apple.\nThe going price is yet to be revealed but sources tell Billboard, the deal has been closed at low- to mid-seven figures.\nThe movie, that made its North American debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, will be released in theatres as well as on Apple's platforms.\nThe film has been directed by Murray Cummings, who is Sheeran's cousin.\nIt traces the Grammy winner's rise in the music world and, his creative process in penning songs and performing his hits. Talking about the film, Cummings said he wanted to concentrate on Sheeran's avatar of a songwriter rather than the \"superstar\".\n\"I wanted to focus on him being a songwriter rather than 'Ed Sheeran the superstar'-type thing. It's like, this is a guy that's really good at his job, and writes songs all the time - if his brain's on, he wants to write.\n\"It takes a lot to write a song; you go down a lot of different channels and not all of them are great. To have a camera on that while that's happening, I'd imagine it's quite difficult. I was really lucky to have that happen, and I felt very privileged to be in that situation where (Sheeran) doesn't mind that I'm filming while he's being that vulnerable. So I felt, I've got to make something out of this, because who else can?\" he said.\nSongwriter has been produced by Kimmie Kim and executive produced by Stuart Camp and Stefan Demetriou.\nIt premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February." ]

[ "['<html xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml\">', '<head id=\"Head1\" runat=\"server\">', '</head>', '<body>', '</body>', '</html>', 'using System;', 'using System.Collections.Generic;']" ]

[ "How to get the selected value and currently selected text of a dropdown box using jQuery? JavaScript Code: $(document). ready(function(){ $('#button1').", "Yes you can learn ASP. NET MVC in 2019. Because Today, ASP. NET is one of the most leading web application development frameworks and which are specially used to create dynamic websites.", "How to pass a variable into a jQuery attribute-contains selector? Yes, it is possible to pass a variable into a jQuery attribute-contains selector. The [attribute*=value] selector is used to select each element with a specific attribute and a value containing a string.", "How to know which radio button is selected using jQuery? To check which radio button is selected in a form, we first get the desired input group with the type of input as an option and then the value of this selection can then be accessed by the val() method.", "What are DataGrid and GridView? We can use DataGrid controls only for data selection. GridView control can use sorting, paging, deletes and updates . GridView introduces new column types.", "Answer: Use the jQuery css() method You can use the jQuery css() method to add new CSS properties to an element or modify the existing properties values dynamically using jQuery.", "16. Without using parentheses, enter a formula in cell F4 that determines the Annual Net Cash Flow for the grant by taking the value in cell B4, subtracting the product of cell B4 multiplied by cell D4, and then subtracting the value in cell E4.", "How to Calculate Net Rental Yield. Take the 'Annual rental income' and subtract the 'Annual expenses'. Then divide this number by the 'Property value' and then multiply by 100 to get a percentage value.", "The Repeater and GridView controls are used differently. A GridView control is used when you want to display a set of data in a table format. A Repeater is when you want to display data repeatedly, but not necessarily in a tabular format. If you want a table, use a GridView, otherwise use a Repeater.", "jQuery attr() Method The attr() method sets or returns attributes and values of the selected elements. When this method is used to return the attribute value, it returns the value of the FIRST matched element.", "I created the stored procedure using job object of SQL server agent. You can run the sql command asynchronously directly from SQL, from another stored procedure, task or another sql server command or from external ASP/ASP Net application.", "jQuery val() example The val() method is primarily used to get the values of form elements. This method doesn't accept any arguments. This method returns a NULL when no option is selected and it returns an array containing the value of each selected options in the case of one or more selection.", "Using jQuery in Angular application To start using jQuery with Angular, head over to app components. I am going to present a simple demo of how Angular and jQuery can work in unison with a simple HTML button. You need to delete every line of code in app. ... You can import OnInit from Angular Core.", "Very simply, SUM calculates a total for a number of cells or values, so it's answering the question: HOW MUCH? Or, WHAT IS THE TOTAL? COUNT tells you HOW MANY cells meet a certain condition. Cell A6 uses a SUM function to add up the values in cells A1 to A6.", "['The jquery. ui is used before jquery.', 'The $ is used by another library.', 'The jquery lib that is referenced locally(wordpress) has different version from that using jquery. ui.', 'When the right library and version is referenced the browser cache must be cleared.']", "To use jQuery, you can refer to a hosted jQuery library at Google. ... With the jQuery AJAX methods, you can request text, HTML, XML, or JSON from a remote server using both HTTP Get and HTTP Post - And you can load the external data directly into the selected HTML elements of your web page.", "jQuery Mobile is a UI framework geared to mobile applications that is built on jQuery. It has theming and UI components. In all, they are complimentary. You don't have to use jQuery Mobile to use jQuery.", "A waterfall chart shows a running total as values are added or subtracted. It's useful for understanding how an initial value (for example, net income) is affected by a series of positive and negative values. ... Because of this \"look\", waterfall charts are also called bridge charts.", "8 Answers. if your wanting to use jQuery for this, try the following code. $('select option[value=\"1\"]'). attr(\"selected\",true);", "Hi I am setting a value in a drop down using jquery in the following ways. $(\"#dropDownItems option[value='--Select--']\"). attr('selected', 'true'); $(\"#dropDownItems option[value='--Select--']\"). attr('selected', 'selected');", "How to Calculate Net Present Value. To calculate the NPV, the first thing to do is determine the current value for each year's return and then use the expected cash flow and divide by the discounted rate.", "For this you could use Jquery, or just use plain javascript + CSS. Yes, we can use jQuery in ReactJs.", "Because jQuery's implementation of :nth- selectors is strictly derived from the CSS specification, the value of n is \"1-indexed\", meaning that the counting starts at 1. jQuery methods like . first() or . eq() jQuery follows JavaScript's \"0-indexed\" counting.", "This is to minimize dependencies. Yet, if you load jQuery before angular, then angular will use jQuery. Most of the time, you do not need to use jQuery. Even so much that, for beginners, it is advised to leave out jQuery completely as there would be a tendency to use jQuery when there is an easy / angular way.", "Bootstrap's JavaScript file requires jQuery. After including jQuery, stop running your Angular CLI application. Then, re-run it using Ng serve. Now, to use jQuery, all you have to do is to import it in whatever component you want to use jQuery.", "The error which you are facing is because you have not given a proper path of jQuery library,that's why your page is not getting jQuery and hence it is showing error jQuery is not defined and $ is not defined . As i can see jQuery. js is just below the carrousal.", "2) The second most common reason of getting \"ReferenceError: $ is not defined\" in jQuery is due to the incorrect path, either it's a typo or jQuery file is moved to some other location, the browser is not able to load the jQuery file. One solution of this problem is simply to fix the path to jQuery library.", "['<title>jQuery Get Multiple Selected Option Value</title>', '<script>', 'ready(function() {', '$(\"button\"). click(function(){', 'var countries = [];', '$. each($(\".country option:selected\"), function(){', 'countries. push($(this). val());', '});']", "Since jQuery plugin uses $, it throw \"ReferenceError: $ is not defined\" if it doesn't find, which is logical because jQuery was not loaded until then. Solution: Include the jquery. js file before any jQuery plugin files. ... One solution of this problem is simply to fix the path to jQuery library.", "['<title>jQuery Get Selected Option Value</title>', '<script>', '$(\"select.country\"). change(function(){', 'var selectedCountry = $(this). children(\"option:selected\"). val();', 'alert(\"You have selected the country - \" + selectedCountry);', '});', '});', '</script>']", "<form method=\"post\" action=\"\"> <span>Select languages</span><br/> <input type=\"checkbox\" name='lang[]' value=\"PHP\"> PHP <br/> <input type=\"checkbox\" name='lang[]' value=\"JavaScript\"> JavaScript <br/> <input type=\"checkbox\" name='lang[]' value=\"jQuery\"> jQuery <br/> <input type=\"checkbox\" name='lang[]' value=\"Angular JS ...", "Global. asax is an optional file which is used to handling higher level application events such as Application_Start, Application_End, Session_Start, Session_End etc. It is also popularly known as ASP.NET Application File. This file resides in the root directory of an ASP. NET-based application." ]

[ "WILLIAMSON, West Virginia — The deadly math in this struggling but proud West Virginia town breaks down like this: For over a decade, two pharmacies just four blocks apart dispensed some 20.8 million prescription painkillers in a town of just 3,191 residents.\nThat’s more than 6,500 prescription painkillers per person in this coal-mining town that sits just across the Tug Fork River from Kentucky.\nThose jarring figures were released this week by the congressional committee investigating the epidemic that has ravaged the Rust Belt — and the two regional drug wholesalers, Miami-Luken and H.D. Smith, that are accused of swamping Williamson with millions of highly addictive opioid pills.\nPlay Facebook\nTwitter\nEmbed How the over-prescription of opioids fueled the epidemic in West Virginia 2:06 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog\nThe doctors and drug wholesalers are “making a fortune off of our downfall, you know,” recovering addict Wes Thomasson told NBC News on Thursday at a Williamson treatment center.\n“If you’re trying to figure out how to get rid of the epidemic, trying to figure out how to resolve the problem, start with the prescription,” he said.\nThat’s exactly what the House Energy and Commerce Committee is doing.\n“These numbers are outrageous, and we will get to the bottom of how this destruction was able to be unleashed across West Virginia,” the committee chairman, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and ranking member, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., vowed in a joint statement.\nA Hatfield-McCoy Trail sign along a railroad track in Williamson, West Virginia on Nov. 11, 2016. Steve Helber / AP file\nLast year there were 13 fatal drug overdoses in Mingo County, of which Williamson is the county seat, and 711 deaths from drugs in the 54 other counties that make up the state, according to the West Virginia Health Statistics Center.\nOther recovering addicts, like Deiara Warrix and Mindy Leffe, said that Williamson feels awash with opioids.\n“If you want it you can get it,” Warrix said. “You go to the pharmacy and you get five prescriptions of it.\"\nShe added, \"It’s just not right, really.”\nAttorney Mike Troy, who represents Williamson and Mingo County in its legal battle with drug wholesalers, said even he was taken aback by the sheer number of painkillers in the town.\n\"You can't live and breathe and not be shocked by the numbers,\" Troy said. \"But you also can't live in these communities and really be all that amazed when you see how it touches every family, you know? I mean, there's none of us that don't have a family member who's addicted, in treatment, and homeless. It's just all-consuming in these communities.\"\nLawmakers have sent letters to Miami-Luken and H.D. Smith demanding to know why millions of hydrocodone and oxycodone pills were sent from 2006 to 2016 to “five pharmacies in particular” in four tiny West Virginia towns that have a total population of about 22,000.\nTwo of those pharmacies are in Williamson — Tug Valley Pharmacy and the Hurley Drug Company.\nDuring the decade in question, each was shipped more than 10 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills, the letters to the drug wholesalers revealed.\nAmong other things, the lawmakers are seeking to find out whether the drug wholesalers used “any analytic tools” to determine whether the amount of pills they were shipping to the drug stores “was appropriate for a town of 3,191 in a rural region of West Virginia.”\nIn the letter to Miami-Luken, they asked whether the company made any attempt “to understand why the number of pills that it sent to Tug Valley Pharmacy increased by over 350 percent over a single year period from 2008 to 2009.”\nIn the letter to H.D. Smith president J. Christopher Smith, the lawmakers asked why the company supplied the two Williamson pharmacies with “39,000 hydrocodone pills over a two-day period in October 2007.”\n“If so, were any red flags raised about potentially suspicious orders, and were any suspicious order reports submitted to the DEA?” they wrote.\nBoth companies were given until Feb. 9 to answer their questions.\nRichard Blake, a lawyer for Miami-Luken, said they are in the process of crafting a response.\n“We’re cooperating with the committee, we continue to cooperate with the committee,” Blake said.\nThere was no immediate response from H.D. Smith to a request for comment.\nTug Valley Pharmacy declined to comment for this story but the Hurley Drug Company called the congressional letters “misleading.” The owner said the family-run business served not just Williamson but also the large surrounding area and insisted that its employees only filled legal prescriptions.\nIn 2016, West Virginia had the nation’s highest fatal drug overdose rate with 52 per 100,000 people, far out pacing Ohio, which had 39.1 fatalities per 100,000 people, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\nWest Virginia was also one of the states with the highest rates of opioid prescriptions, according to the CDC.\nGutierrez and Reiss reported from Williamson, West Virginia. Siemaszko reported from New York City." ]

[ "MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The search warrants released Monday in connection to Prince’s death say that when investigators searched Paisley Park last year they found opioids hidden in over-the-counter medication bottles.\nThe initial search turned up more than 100 opioid pills stashed in various locations around Paisley Park. The search warrants do not reveal any findings of fentanyl, the powerful opioid that medical officials say killed Prince last April.\nThe newly-released search warrants list a Bayer Aspirin bottle with 64 and-a-half pills with the label Watson 853. There was also an Aleve bottle with 20 and-a-half pills with the same imprint.\nWatson 853 is the label for the opioid hydrocodone-acetaminophen, the brand name is Vicodin.\nDr. Anne Pylkas, a medical addiction expert who is not connected to Prince’s case, says hiding opioids in over-the-counter bottles is something she often sees.\n“I would say it’s pretty common,” she said, “especially if they did not come in their own prescription bottles.”\nAlso found at Paisley Park were 10 white round pills in a CVS bottle with an imprint of A-349. Pylkas says those pills are likely Percocet.\nThe prescription is in the name of Prince’s bodyguard, Kirk Johnson.\nOne search warrant says Dr. Michael Schulenberg admitted to putting a prescription in Johnson’s name to protect Prince’s privacy.\nOther medications were found in the backpack of Andrew Kornfeld, the son of a California addiction doctor who made the 911 call the day Prince died.\nKornfeld, who is not a doctor, had two forms of the opioid Suboxone, a highly-regulated withdrawal medication that only specially trained physicians can prescribe.\n“The physician has to have had this extra training…the patient has to be evaluated by the physician before treatment begins,” Pylkas said.\nKornfeld’s attorney said last year he is protected by a Minnesota law that shields anyone who is trying to help someone overdosing.\nIt is against the law for a doctor to prescribe a medication in another person’s name.\nIn a statement Monday, Schulenberg’s attorney denied he had ever directly prescribed opioids to Prince. She also denied he ever prescribed opioids to any other person with the intent they be given to Prince.\nThe investigation into Prince’s death remains on-going.", "Claiming opioid abuse has “overwhelmed” Minneapolis, City Attorney Susan Segal on June 29 filed a federal lawsuit against 17 pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors.\nAmong the defendants named in the 163-page complaint is Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, one of the most widely used prescription opioid medications. Along with the other defendants, the drug maker is alleged to have been negligent by failing to crack down on obvious signs of misuse while using deceptive marketing practices to drive up opioid prescriptions and corporate profits.\n“Unlike the crack cocaine epidemic, this drug crisis began with a corporate business plan,” Segal wrote in the complaint.\nShe wrote that drug manufacturers used “marketing that was pervasive as it was deceptive” to convince doctors that the risks of opioid abuse were exaggerated and outweighed by the pain-relieving benefits of the narcotics. Purdue allegedly pioneered the approach with OxyContin beginning in the 1990s.\nThe city is seeking punitive damages.\nThe complaint states that as many as one in four patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain will become addicted. The number of overdose deaths from prescription opioids was five times higher in 2017 than 1999, the complaint adds, also noting the links between prescription opioid abuse and rising use of powerful narcotics like heroin and fentanyl.\n“Governmental entities, and the services they provide their citizens, have been strained to the breaking point by this public health crisis,” the complaint states.\nOne sign of that strain, according to the city, is a spike in emergency calls for opioid overdoses. In just the last two years, the Minneapolis Fire Department has administered about 500 doses of nolaxone, a medication used to quickly reverse the effects of an overdose.\nThe city lawsuit is just one of a number of lawsuits filed against pharmaceutical companies by state and local governments.\nMinnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson on July 2 filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma in Hennepin County District Court. That lawsuit makes a similar complaint against the manufacturer, alleging deceptive marketing practices helped to fuel an epidemic of abuse. In late May, Swanson and the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy sued fentanyl maker Insys Therapeutics Inc., alleging the company’s business practices encouraged misuse of the powerful opioid.\nLate last year, Hennepin County joined other Minnesota counties in a lawsuit against drug manufacturers and distributors.\nState Legislators have also taken up the cause, but bipartisan effort to pass so-called “penny-a-pill” legislation fell short during this year’s session. It would have raised money to address the opioid epidemic by charging a 1 cent-per-pill fee to drug companies.", "MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Court documents unsealed in the investigation into Prince's death paint a picture of a man struggling with an addiction to prescription opioids and withdrawal, with various pills stashed in bottles around the pop superstar's suburban Minneapolis studio and estate.\nBut the search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday shed no new light on how Prince got the fentanyl that killed him.\nThe documents were unsealed in Carver County District Court as the yearlong investigation into Prince's death continues. They show authorities searched Paisley Park, cellphone records of Prince's associates, and Prince's email accounts to try to determine how he got the fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug 50 times more powerful than heroin.\nFILE - In this Feb. 4, 2007, file photo, Prince performs during the halftime show at the Super Bowl XLI football game in Miami. Nearly a year after Prince died from an accidental drug overdose in his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate, investigators still haven't interviewed a key associate nor asked a grand jury to investigate potential criminal charges, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)\nThe documents don't reveal answers to that question, but do provide the most details yet seen on Prince's struggle with addiction to prescription opioids in the days before he died.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate on April 21. Just six days earlier, he passed out on a plane and had to be revived with two doses of a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.\nAssociates at Paisley Park also told investigators that Prince was recently \"going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication,\" an affidavit said.\nThe documents unsealed Monday allege Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg, a family physician who saw the musician twice last April, told authorities he prescribed the opioid painkiller oxycodone to Prince but put it under the name of Prince's bodyguard and close friend, Kirk Johnson, \"for Prince's privacy.,\"\nSchulenberg's attorney, Amy Conners, disputed that. She said in a statement that Schulenberg \"never directly prescribed opioids to Prince, nor did he ever prescribe opioids to any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince.\"\nF. Clayton Tyler, Johnson's attorney, released a statement saying that after reviewing the documents, \"we believe that it is clear that Kirk Johnson did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince's death.\"\nSchulenberg is practicing family medicine in Minnesota and Conners said there are no restrictions on his license.\nIt is illegal for a doctor to write a prescription for someone under another person's name.\nJoe Tamburino, a Minnesota defense attorney who is not associated with the Prince case, said while Schulenberg and Johnson could face charges if the allegations are true, it's unlikely state or federal prosecutors would pursue them. He called them low-level offenses that wouldn't draw prison time.\nHe said for prosecutors, the source of the fentanyl is the big target.\n\"The oxycodone in this case is only tangential to the whole case,\" Tamburino said, later adding. \"The real meat and potatoes is going to be that fentanyl thing.\"\nThe documents said Prince did not have any prescriptions, including for fentanyl.\nJames L. Jones, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's field office in Chicago, said anyone convicted of writing a prescription for someone under another person's name could lose their DEA registration - meaning they could no longer prescribe medications - and could face discipline from their state medical board.\nIn practice, laws against prescribing drugs for someone under a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity's privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo. She represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.\n\"They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,\" Garofalo said Monday.\nOxycodone, the generic name for the active ingredient in OxyContin, was not listed as a cause of Prince's death. But it is part of a family of painkillers driving the nation's overdose and addiction epidemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 2 million Americans abused or were addicted to prescription opioids, including oxycodone, in 2014.\nPatients who take prescription opioids eventually build up a tolerance and need to take stronger doses to get the same effect. In some patients, the cycle leads to addiction.\nA search of Prince's home yielded numerous pills in various containers. Some were in prescription bottles for Johnson. Some pills in other bottles were marked \"Watson 853,\" a label used for a drug that is a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, another opioid painkiller. Last August, an official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that at least one of those pills tested positive for fentanyl, meaning the pill was counterfeit and obtained illegally. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.\nIn addition to the dozens of pills recovered, authorities also found a pamphlet for an addiction recovery center in California, the documents unsealed Monday show. The day before Prince died, Paisley Park staffers contacted the California addiction specialist as they were trying to get Prince help.\nPrince did not have a cellphone and authorities searched multiple email accounts that they believed he was using, as they tried to determine how he got the drug that killed him, according to the search warrants. The search warrants don't reveal the outcome of the email searches.\nThe documents also say some of the drugs in Prince's bedroom were in a suitcase with the name \"Peter Bravestrong\" on it. Police believe Bravestrong was an alias that Prince used when he traveled.\nInvestigators have said little publicly about the case over the last year, other than it is active.\nFILE - In this June 1, 2006, file photo, drummer Kirk Johnson speaks at a news conference during the first rehearsal by members of the new band The Truth in Minneapolis. Johnson, a longtime drummer for Prince and estate manager at Paisley Park who was among those who discovered the musician's body April 21, 2016, is one of the key figures investigators want to interview in relation to his death. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP, File)/Star Tribune via AP)\nThis April 6, 2017, photo, shows cars parked outside Paisley Park Museum, former home and recording studio of the late megastar Prince in Chanhassen, Minn. Affidavits and search warrants were unsealed in Carver County District Court Monday, April 17, 2017, as the yearlong investigation into Prince's death continues. (AP Photo/Jeff Baenen)\nIn this April 6, 2017, photo, fan artwork of Prince hangs on a new memorial fence in the parking lot of Paisley Park Museum, the former home and recording complex of the late superstar in Chanhassen, Minn. Affidavits and search warrants were unsealed in Carver County District Court Monday, April 17, 2017, as the yearlong investigation into Prince's death continues. (AP Photo/Jeff Baenen)\nFILE - In this April 21, 2016, file photo, a rainbow appears over Prince's Paisley Park estate near a memorial for the rock superstar in Chanhassen, Minn. Nearly a year after Prince died from an accidental drug overdose in his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate, investigators still haven't interviewed a key associate nor asked a grand jury to investigate potential criminal charges, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation. (Carlos Gonzalez/Star Tribune via AP, File)", "At the time of Prince’s death, his Paisley Park home and recording compound in Minnesota were strewn with “a sizeable amount” of narcotic painkillers for which he did not have prescriptions, including some hidden in over-the-counter vitamin and aspirin bottles and others issued in the name of a close aide, according to newly released court documents related to the investigation into the accidental opioid overdose that killed the musician last year.\nSearch warrants and affidavits from the Carver County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the continuing homicide investigation in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration, were unsealed Monday.\nThe documents do not solve the mystery of where Prince got the powerful opioid fentanyl that killed him. But they sketch a picture of how this musician, a strict proponent of clean living who suffered from chronic hip pain, concealed his opioid addiction using a variety of methods, including mixing various prescription pills in bottles for everyday products like Bayer and Aleve.\nIn at least one instance, Prince procured an opiate prescription in the name of Kirk Johnson, a personal friend and employee since the 1980s, according to investigators.\nPrince was found dead in the elevator of his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on April 21st, 2016, by Mr Johnson and others after he ingested the fatal amount of fentanyl, which is often used to manufacture counterfeit pills that are sold on the black market as oxycodone and other pain relievers.\nInvestigators have said they are most concerned with who obtained the fentanyl, and have yet to charge anyone in Prince’s death. They noted in court records that those who were present at the home that morning “provided inconsistent and, at times, contradictory statements.”\nThe warrants, dating from April to September of last year, show investigators tracking to what extent Johnson had helped Prince conceal his drug habit, at one point applying for a search warrant for Johnson’s cellphone records.\nDr Michael T. Schulenberg, who treated Prince for the hip pain in the weeks before his death and arrived at Paisley Park with test results that morning, told investigators that he had prescribed the singer oxycodone on April 14th, a week before the fatal overdose, “but put the prescription in Kirk Johnson’s name for Prince’s privacy,” according to a search warrant.\nThat prescription was filled on the same day that Prince’s private jet was forced to make an emergency landing in Illinois after the singer overdosed during a flight home after a concert in Atlanta. Mr Johnson told hospital staff at the time that Prince “may have taken Percocet,” an opioid, containing oxycodone on the plane, according to one application for a search warrant.\nIn a statement, Schulenberg’s lawyer, Amy S. Conners, took issue with the assertion that her client had acknowledged prescribing oxycodone for Mr Johnson that was actually intended for Prince. “Dr Schulenberg never directly prescribed opioids to Prince, nor did he ever prescribe opioids to any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince,” the statement said.\nMs Conners has said that the physician has not been interviewed by investigators since the day Prince died. Dr Schulenberg has not been the subject of any disciplinary action, according to the records of the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice. Ruth Martinez, the board’s executive director, said Minnesota state law “says you have to write a prescription for the person for whom it is intended. That’s reinforced by federal statutes.” She said the board does not comment on whether a doctor’s conduct is being reviewed.\nIn several instances, Mr Johnson, who had unrestricted access to Paisley Park, told the investigators that he had limited knowledge of Prince’s dependence on painkillers. On the day before the singer’s death, Mr Johnson said he went to a local Walgreens to pick up three prescriptions issued by Schulenberg for drugs often used to treat anxiety; according to the court papers, he said it “was the first time he had ever done something like that for Prince.”\nAmong the additional evidence found at Paisley Park was a suitcase with a name tag for “Peter Bravestrong, ” an alias used by Prince, containing several prescription bottles in Mr Johnson’s name. (The suitcase also contained lyrics for the song ‘U Got the Look,’ apparently in Prince’s handwriting, according to investigators.) In addition to Prince’s bedroom, pills were found throughout the residence, including in the laundry room, the police said.\nA lawyer for Mr Johnson, F. Clayton Tyler, said in a statement: “After reviewing the search warrants and affidavits released today, we believe that it is clear that Kirk Johnson did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince’s death. There will be no further comment.”\nThe Associated Press has reported that Mr Johnson has not been interviewed since hours after Prince’s death. In a recent interview with CBS, including a tour of the Paisley Park compound, Mr Johnson was asked about Prince’s final days. “Kirk has a vault,” he said. “Right here. It’s never gonna be unlocked.”\nAmong the drugs seized were 20 1/2 white pills labelled “Watson 853,” a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, that were found in an Aleve bottle. Investigators later found that the pills contained fentanyl, according to published reports, but they have not given any indication as to whether those pills are tied to Prince’s death. Notes from investigators say that 64 1/4 matching Watson 853 pills were also found in a Bayer bottle, and another 15 were discovered in a second-floor dressing room.\nSome overdoses, officials say, are attributable to the fact that people take what they believe is a pain pill of a strength they are familiar with and die because they are unaware it has been produced with a much stronger drug, like fentanyl.\nOthers who spoke to investigators included Andrew Kornfeld, the son of Dr Howard Kornfeld, an opioid-addiction specialist who had been called on to treat Prince. Andrew Kornfeld arrived at Paisley Park after Prince had died with a small dose of the drug Suboxone, an anti-addiction agent and controlled substance. He is the person who called 911.\nAndrew Kornfeld, who is not a doctor, told investigators that he had not planned on administering the drug until he had consulted with a physician authorized to prescribe it. His lawyer, William Mauzy, said he believes Andrew is exempt from criminal liability as a result of Minnesota’s Good Samaritan law, which protects a 911 caller and the overdose victim from prosecution for drug possession.\n“The investigation remains active at this point,” said Jason Kamerud, chief deputy for the Carver County Sheriff’s Office. “We’ve gained a lot of progress over the last year, but there still is some more work to be done,” he said.\nNew York Times", "VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – According to a recent report by the National Golf Foundation, women make up only 24 percent of traditional golfers and approximately 32 percent of all Topgolf players. Topgolf wants to change that.\nThe golfing entertainment venue will celebrate Women’s Golf Day at its 37 U.S. venues – including the one in Virginia Beach – on Tuesday, June 5 by hosting a free golf instruction and networking event for women.\nThe one hour of instruction will include:\n10 minutes of warm-up and reviewing the basics (grip, stance, posture, wedges, irons and woods)\n40 minutes of drill stations (individuals to work as two-person teams)\n10 minutes of introduction to competition, where instructors will direct participants in how to use their newly-learned skills to play Topgolf games\nThe event will take place from 6:30-7:30 p.m. All skill levels are welcome. There is a maximum of 12 women per class.\nTopgolf is located at 5444 Greenwich Road in Virginia Beach.\nClick here to register.", "MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Court documents unsealed in the investigation into Prince’s death paint a picture of a man struggling with an addiction to prescription opioids and withdrawal, with various pills stashed in bottles around the pop superstar’s suburban Minneapolis studio and estate.\nBut the search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday shed no new light on how Prince got the fentanyl that killed him.\nThe documents were unsealed in Carver County District Court as the yearlong investigation into Prince’s death continues. They show authorities searched Paisley Park, cellphone records of Prince’s associates, and Prince’s email accounts to try to determine how he got the fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug 50 times more powerful than heroin.\nThe documents don’t reveal answers to that question, but do provide the most details yet seen on Prince’s struggle with addiction to prescription opioids in the days before he died.\nAdvertisement\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate on April 21. Just six days earlier, he passed out on a plane and had to be revived with two doses of a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.\nAssociates at Paisley Park also told investigators that Prince was recently “going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication,” an affidavit said.\nThe documents unsealed Monday allege Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg, a family physician who saw the musician twice last April, told authorities he prescribed the opioid painkiller oxycodone to Prince but put it under the name of Prince’s bodyguard and close friend, Kirk Johnson, “for Prince’s privacy.,”\nSchulenberg’s attorney, Amy Conners, disputed that. She said in a statement that Schulenberg “never directly prescribed opioids to Prince, nor did he ever prescribe opioids to any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince.”\nF. Clayton Tyler, Johnson’s attorney, released a statement saying that after reviewing the documents, “we believe that it is clear that Kirk Johnson did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince’s death.”\nSchulenberg is practicing family medicine in Minnesota and Conners said there are no restrictions on his license.\nIt is illegal for a doctor to write a prescription for someone under another person’s name.\nJoe Tamburino, a Minnesota defense attorney who is not associated with the Prince case, said while Schulenberg and Johnson could face charges if the allegations are true, it’s unlikely state or federal prosecutors would pursue them. He called them low-level offenses that wouldn’t draw prison time.\nHe said for prosecutors, the source of the fentanyl is the big target.\n“The oxycodone in this case is only tangential to the whole case,” Tamburino said, later adding. “The real meat and potatoes is going to be that fentanyl thing.”\nThe documents said Prince did not have any prescriptions, including for fentanyl.\nJames L. Jones, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s field office in Chicago, said anyone convicted of writing a prescription for someone under another person’s name could lose their DEA registration — meaning they could no longer prescribe medications — and could face discipline from their state medical board.\nIn practice, laws against prescribing drugs for someone under a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity’s privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo. She represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.\n“They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,” Garofalo said Monday.\nOxycodone, the generic name for the active ingredient in OxyContin, was not listed as a cause of Prince’s death. But it is part of a family of painkillers driving the nation’s overdose and addiction epidemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 2 million Americans abused or were addicted to prescription opioids, including oxycodone, in 2014.\nPatients who take prescription opioids eventually build up a tolerance and need to take stronger doses to get the same effect. In some patients, the cycle leads to addiction.\nA search of Prince’s home yielded numerous pills in various containers. Some were in prescription bottles for Johnson. Some pills in other bottles were marked “Watson 853,” a label used for a drug that is a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, another opioid painkiller. Last August, an official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that at least one of those pills tested positive for fentanyl, meaning the pill was counterfeit and obtained illegally. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.\nIn addition to the dozens of pills recovered, authorities also found a pamphlet for an addiction recovery center in California, the documents unsealed Monday show. The day before Prince died, Paisley Park staffers contacted the California addiction specialist as they were trying to get Prince help.\nPrince did not have a cellphone and authorities searched multiple email accounts that they believed he was using, as they tried to determine how he got the drug that killed him, according to the search warrants. The search warrants don’t reveal the outcome of the email searches.\nThe documents also say some of the drugs in Prince’s bedroom were in a suitcase with the name “Peter Bravestrong” on it. Police believe Bravestrong was an alias that Prince used when he traveled.\nInvestigators have said little publicly about the case over the last year, other than it is active.", "A doctor who saw Prince in the days before he died had prescribed the opioid painkiller oxycodone under the name of Prince's friend to protect the musician's privacy, according to court documents unsealed Monday that revealed nothing about how the pop superstar got the fentanyl that actually killed him.\nThe affidavits and search warrants were unsealed in Carver County District Court as the yearlong investigation into Prince's death continues. The documents show authorities searched Paisley Park, cellphone records of Prince's associates, and Prince's email accounts to try to determine how he got the fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug 50 times more powerful than heroin.\nThey don't reveal answers, but do shed light on Prince's struggle with addiction to prescription opioids in the days before he died. Oxycodone, the generic name for the active ingredient in OxyContin, was not listed as a cause of Prince's death. But it is part of a family of painkillers driving the nation's overdose and addiction epidemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 2 million Americans abused or were addicted to prescription opioids, including oxycodone, in 2014.\nPatients who take prescription opioids eventually build up a tolerance and need to take stronger doses to get the same effect. In some patients, the cycle leads to dependence and addiction.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park home on April 21.\nJust six days earlier, Prince fell ill on a plane and made an emergency stop in Illinois as he was returning home from a concert in Atlanta. First responders revived him with two doses of a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.\nMOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR\nA search of Prince's home yielded numerous pills in various containers. Some were in prescription bottles for Kirk Johnson, Prince's longtime friend and associate. Some pills in other bottles were marked \"Watson 853,\" a label used for a drug that is a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, another opioid painkiller. Last August, an official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that at least one of those pills tested positive for fentanyl, meaning the pill was counterfeit and obtained illegally. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.\nIn addition to the dozens of pills recovered, authorities also found a pamphlet for an addiction recovery center in California, the documents unsealed Monday show. The day before Prince died, Paisley Park staffers contacted the California addiction specialist as they were trying to get Prince help.\nOne affidavit says Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg, a family doctor who saw Prince April 7, 2016, and again on April 20, acknowledged to authorities that he prescribed oxycodone for Prince the same day as the emergency plane landing \"but put the prescription in Kirk Johnson's name for Prince's privacy.\"\nAuthorities also searched Johnson's cellphone records, to see who he was communicating with in the month before Prince died.\nMessages left with attorneys for Schulenberg and Johnson weren't immediately returned Monday. Schulenberg has an active medical license and is currently practicing family medicine in Minnesota. His attorney, Amy Conners, told the AP last week that there are no restrictions on his license.\nInvestigators haven't interviewed either Johnson or Schulenberg since the hours after Prince died, an official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.\nWhile authorities have the power to ask a grand jury to investigate and issue subpoenas for testimony, that step hasn't been taken, the official said.\nPrince did not have a cellphone, and authorities searched multiple email accounts that belonged to him, as they tried to determine who he was communicating with and where he got the drugs that killed him, according to the search warrants. The search warrants don't reveal the outcome of the email searches.\nThe documents say some of the drugs in Prince's bedroom were in a suitcase with the name \"Peter Bravestrong\" on it. Police believe Bravestrong was an alias that Prince used when he traveled. The suitcase also contained lyrics for the song \"U Got the Look\" that appeared to be in Prince's handwriting.\nThe day before Prince died, Paisley Park staffers contacted California addiction specialist Dr. Howard Kornfeld for help. Kornfeld sent his son, Andrew, to Minnesota that night, and the younger Kornfeld was among those who found Prince's body.\nAndrew Kornfeld was carrying buprenorphine, a medication that can be used to help treat opioid addiction. The Kornfelds' attorney, William Mauzy, has said Andrew had intended to give the medication to a doctor who planned to see Prince on April 21.\nInvestigators have said little about the case over the last year, other than it is active. The official who spoke to the AP said the case has taken investigators to Illinois and California, as authorities have interviewed friends, family and any potential witnesses, including the flight crew and hospital staff that were present when Prince overdosed on the plane.\nRELATED STORIES:\nPaisley Park a lonesome kingdom without Prince\nPrince probe focuses on doctors, black market drugs\nIn Prince estate case, blood relation may be unnecessary\nStill no will, but work to settle Prince estate forges ahead\nPrince's Paisley Park opens for public tours Oct. 6\nCounterfeit pain pills likely came to Prince illegally\nMislabeled pills found at Prince's estate contained fentanyl, official says\nPurple reign: A Prince tribute tour in Minneapolis", "Court documents unsealed Monday in the investigation into Prince's death suggest a doctor and a close friend helped him improperly obtain prescription opioid painkillers, but they shed no new light on how the superstar got the fentanyl that killed him.\nThe affidavits and search warrants were unsealed in Carver County District Court as the yearlong investigation into Prince's death continues. The documents show authorities searched Paisley Park, cellphone records of Prince's associates, and Prince's email accounts to try to determine how he got the fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug 50 times more powerful than heroin.\nThe documents don't reveal answers to that question, but do provide the most details yet seen on Prince's struggle with addiction to prescription opioids in the days before he died.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate on April 21. Just six days earlier, he fell ill on a plane and had to be revived with two doses of a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.\nAssociates at Paisley Park also told investigators that Prince was recently \"going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication.\"\nThe documents unsealed Monday allege Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg, a family physician who saw the musician twice last April, told authorities he prescribed the opioid painkiller oxycodone to Prince but put it under the name of Prince's bodyguard and close friend, Kirk Johnson, \"for Prince's privacy,\" one affidavit said.\nSchulenberg's attorney, Amy Conners, disputed that. She said in a statement that Schulenberg \"never directly prescribed opioids to Prince, nor did he ever prescribe opioids to any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince.\"\nF. Clayton Tyler, Johnson's attorney, released a statement saying that after reviewing the documents, \"we believe that it is clear that Kirk Johnson did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince's death.\"\nSchulenberg is practicing family medicine in Minnesota and Conners said there are no restrictions on his license.\nIt is illegal for a doctor to write a prescription for someone under another person's name.\nJoe Tamburino, a Minnesota defense attorney who is not associated with the Prince case, said while Schulenberg and Johnson could face charges if the allegations are true, it's unlikely state or federal prosecutors would pursue them. He called them low-level offenses that wouldn't draw prison time.\nHe said for prosecutors, the source of the fentanyl is the big target.\n\"The oxycodone in this case is only tangential to the whole case,\" Tamburino said. \"If this was a fentanyl script, oh boy, it would be a totally different situation. ... The real meat and potatoes is going to be that fentanyl thing.\"\nThe documents said Prince did not have any prescriptions, including for fentanyl.\nJames L. Jones, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's field office in Chicago, said anyone convicted of writing a prescription for someone under another person's name could lose their DEA registration — meaning they could no longer prescribe medications — and could face discipline from their state medical board.\nIn practice, laws against prescribing drugs for someone under a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity's privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo. She represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.\n\"They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,\" Garofalo said Monday.\nOxycodone, the generic name for the active ingredient in OxyContin, was not listed as a cause of Prince's death. But it is part of a family of painkillers driving the nation's overdose and addiction epidemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 2 million Americans abused or were addicted to prescription opioids, including oxycodone, in 2014.\nPatients who take prescription opioids eventually build up a tolerance and need to take stronger doses to get the same effect. In some patients, the cycle leads to dependence and addiction.\nA search of Prince's home yielded numerous pills in various containers. Some were in prescription bottles for Johnson. Some pills in other bottles were marked \"Watson 853,\" a label used for a drug that is a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, another opioid painkiller. Last August, an official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that at least one of those pills tested positive for fentanyl, meaning the pill was counterfeit and obtained illegally. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.\nIn addition to the dozens of pills recovered, authorities also found a pamphlet for an addiction recovery center in California, the documents unsealed Monday show. The day before Prince died, Paisley Park staffers contacted the California addiction specialist as they were trying to get Prince help.\nDr. Howard Kornfeld sent his son, Andrew, to Minnesota that night, and the younger Kornfeld was among those who found Prince's body. Andrew Kornfeld was carrying buprenorphine, a medication that can be used to help treat opioid addiction. The Kornfelds' attorney, William Mauzy, has said Andrew had intended to give the medication to a doctor.\nPrince did not have a cellphone and authorities searched multiple email accounts that they believed he was using, as they tried to determine how he got the drug that killed him, according to the search warrants. The search warrants don't reveal the outcome of the email searches.\nThe documents also say some of the drugs in Prince's bedroom were in a suitcase with the name \"Peter Bravestrong\" on it. Police believe Bravestrong was an alias that Prince used when he traveled.\nInvestigators have said little publicly about the case over the last year, other than it is active.\n___\nFollow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti . More of her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/amy-forliti .", "Opioid painkillers — some in prescription bottles with the name Kirk Johnson on them — were found in several places in Paisley Park following Prince’s death last year, court documents unsealed Monday showed.\nDr. Michael Todd Schulenberg said he wrote an Oxycodone prescription for Prince under the name of Johnson, the singer’s estate manager and longtime friend, for privacy purposes, according to a search warrant that was among the documents unsealed.\nNo one has been charged in connection with the superstar’s death, but the details from the search warrants are beginning to show a clearer picture of the likely focus of the investigation — which authorities say is still open and active.\nThe circumstances that led up to his death remain a mystery. Among the unanswered questions haunting those who loved and admired him: Who supplied Prince with the painkiller that killed him? Did he know what he was taking? And how long was he taking opioid pain medication?\nAccording to a search warrant issued April 21, 2016, the same day Prince was found dead in his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, investigators found several pills labeled “Watson 853” — hydrocodone-acetaminophen, sometimes called Vicodin — and capsules marked “A-349,” which is Percocet, in different bottles in the residence. Also according to the search warrant, investigators were told by witnesses that Prince “recently had a history of going through withdrawals which are believed to be the result of abuse of prescription medication.”\nSchulenberg was among those who arrived at Paisley Park after the singer’s body was found in an elevator inside the complex, according to the documents.\nThe medical examiner’s office said Prince’s death was the result of an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl. Last August, the Minneapolis Star Tribune quoted a source with knowledge of the investigation as saying that pills seized inside the compound by investigators were labeled as hydrocodone but actually contained fentanyl.\nAuthorities have said the investigation into Prince’s death is criminal in nature. Federal prosecutors and the Drug Enforcement Administration are investigating how Prince obtained prescription medications and from whom.\nPills found in suitcase\nInformation in the warrants also revealed that investigators found a suitcase containing several prescription bottles in the name of Johnson, who told investigators last year that the singer had been struggling with opiate use.\nThe suitcase also contained the lyrics for “You got the Look,” which appeared to be in Prince’s handwriting. The suitcase had a tag on it bearing the name “Peter Bravestrong,” which investigators say could be an alias for Prince.\nCNN’s attempts to reach Johnson on Monday were not immediately successful.\nAbout a week before his death, Prince’s private jet made an emergency landing early April 15 in Moline, Illinois, on the way back from a performance in Atlanta. His publicist reassured fans that the 57-year-old star was fine, but a May 6 search warrant said investigators spoke to a witness who said Prince was rushed to a hospital because he was unconscious, and that the singer had admitted to taking one or two pain pills. Schulenberg, his doctor, was among those on the plane, according to a search warrant.\nThe day before Prince died, his team called an eminent opioid addiction specialist in California seeking urgent help for the singer, an attorney working for the specialist and his son said.\nThe specialist, Dr. Howard Kornfeld, couldn’t get there immediately so he sent his son, Andrew Kornfeld, on an overnight flight to Minnesota. The goal was for the younger Kornfeld to help evaluate Prince’s health and encourage him to enter treatment for pain management and potential addiction issues, attorney William Mauzy told reporters.\nBut by the time Andrew Kornfeld arrived at the singer’s Paisley Park complex on the morning of April 21, it was too late. He and two Prince representatives found the 57-year-old entertainer unresponsive in an elevator. Andrew Kornfeld was the person who called 911, Mauzy said.", "PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Facing a federal lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Friday that it had reached an agreement to extend in-home health care through April for a Springfield veteran with Lou Gehrig’s disease who needs around-the-clock care.\nMichael Williamson sued the federal agency on Jan. 23 in U.S. District Court in Eugene after a VA contract company notified him that his home health care of nearly 17 years would halt on Feb. 13 because it couldn’t find caregivers, according to the suit. The company, New Horizons, contracts with the VA’s medical facility in Roseburg.\nSeven days later, the Department of Veteran Affairs reached an agreement with New Horizons to extend care for another 60 days, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian Brown wrote in a court document.\nVeterans Affairs also will continue to work toward a long-term solution to keep Williamson in his home, U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said in a prepared statement.\nOfficials at Roseburg VA Health Care System told Williamson that they had no other approved caregiving agencies in the area and that he would have to move to a nursing home in San Francisco, Boise or Washington’s Puget Sound, according to the lawsuit filed on Williamson’s behalf by Disability Rights Oregon, an advocacy agency.\nEmily Cooper, legal director of Disability Rights Oregon, said the VA’s action violated its own regulations, which directs the department to offer a choice of providers and provide continuity of care.\nCooper said of the temporary agreement, “It’s a promising first step, but the fight’s not over.”\nWilliamson, 51, served 14 years in the U.S. Air Force. He served in Iraq in 1988 and was in Saudi Arabia before, during and after Desert Storm in the early 1990s. Eleven years after serving in Iraq he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal column, taking away the ability to move, speak, eat and breathe.\nHe is on a ventilator and has a feeding tube for sustenance and medications. But his mind is fully intact, Cooper said.\nIn 2001, the VA recognized a connection between ALS and Gulf War veterans, giving them full disability and survivor benefits. After his diagnosis, Williamson received 100 percent permanent and total service-connected disability benefits, the suit says.\nNew Horizons has provided Williamson with nurse-directed care that includes caregivers who stay around-the-clock in his home. The suit doesn’t detail how much that care costs.\nAccording to the agreement that Disability Rights Oregon reached with the federal agency, Veterans Affairs “will continue to make best efforts to explore other possible arrangements with in-home care providers to permit Mr. Williamson to remain in his home for the long term. Such efforts may include working with state administrators and other licensed home health agencies.”\nHaving the VA reach out to state-licensed home care providers will help not only Williamson but other veterans in Oregon, Cooper said.\n“By filing in court, we not only jump-started these talks,” but now the court may monitor the issue to make sure the VA upholds its agreement, she said.\n___\nInformation from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com", "FILE - In this June 1, 2006, file photo, drummer Kirk Johnson speaks at a news conference during the first rehearsal by members of the new band The Truth in Minneapolis. Johnson, a longtime drummer for Prince and estate manager at Paisley Park who was among those who discovered the musician’s body April 21, 2016, is one of the key figures investigators want to interview in relation to his death. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP, File)/Star Tribune via AP)\nMINNEAPOLIS >> Court documents unsealed Monday in the investigation into Prince’s death suggest a doctor and a close friend helped him improperly obtain prescription opioid painkillers, but they shed no new light on how the superstar got the fentanyl that killed him.\nThe affidavits and search warrants were unsealed in Carver County District Court as the yearlong investigation into Prince’s death continues. The documents show authorities searched Paisley Park, cellphone records of Prince’s associates, and Prince’s email accounts to try to determine how he got the fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug 50 times more powerful than heroin.\nThe documents don’t reveal answers to that question, but do provide the most details yet seen on Prince’s struggle with addiction to prescription opioids in the days before he died.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate on April 21. Just six days earlier, he fell ill on a plane and had to be revived with two doses of a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.\nAssociates at Paisley Park also told investigators that Prince was recently “going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication.”\nThe documents unsealed Monday allege Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg, a family physician who saw the musician twice last April, told authorities he prescribed the opioid painkiller oxycodone to Prince but put it under the name of Prince’s bodyguard and close friend, Kirk Johnson, “for Prince’s privacy,” one affidavit said.\nSchulenberg’s attorney, Amy Conners, disputed that. She said in a statement that Schulenberg “never directly prescribed opioids to Prince, nor did he ever prescribe opioids to any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince.”\nF. Clayton Tyler, Johnson’s attorney, released a statement saying that after reviewing the documents, “we believe that it is clear that Kirk Johnson did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince’s death.”\nSchulenberg is practicing family medicine in Minnesota and Conners said there are no restrictions on his license.\nIt is illegal for a doctor to write a prescription for someone under another person’s name.\nJoe Tamburino, a Minnesota defense attorney who is not associated with the Prince case, said while Schulenberg and Johnson could face charges if the allegations are true, it’s unlikely state or federal prosecutors would pursue them. He called them low-level offenses that wouldn’t draw prison time.\nAdvertisement\nHe said for prosecutors, the source of the fentanyl is the big target.\n“The oxycodone in this case is only tangential to the whole case,” Tamburino said. “If this was a fentanyl script, oh boy, it would be a totally different situation. ... The real meat and potatoes is going to be that fentanyl thing.”\nThe documents said Prince did not have any prescriptions, including for fentanyl.\nJames L. Jones, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s field office in Chicago, said anyone convicted of writing a prescription for someone under another person’s name could lose their DEA registration — meaning they could no longer prescribe medications — and could face discipline from their state medical board.\nIn practice, laws against prescribing drugs for someone under a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity’s privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo. She represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.\n“They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,” Garofalo said Monday.\nOxycodone, the generic name for the active ingredient in OxyContin, was not listed as a cause of Prince’s death. But it is part of a family of painkillers driving the nation’s overdose and addiction epidemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 2 million Americans abused or were addicted to prescription opioids, including oxycodone, in 2014.\nPatients who take prescription opioids eventually build up a tolerance and need to take stronger doses to get the same effect. In some patients, the cycle leads to dependence and addiction.\nA search of Prince’s home yielded numerous pills in various containers. Some were in prescription bottles for Johnson. Some pills in other bottles were marked “Watson 853,” a label used for a drug that is a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, another opioid painkiller. Last August, an official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that at least one of those pills tested positive for fentanyl, meaning the pill was counterfeit and obtained illegally. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.\nIn addition to the dozens of pills recovered, authorities also found a pamphlet for an addiction recovery center in California, the documents unsealed Monday show. The day before Prince died, Paisley Park staffers contacted the California addiction specialist as they were trying to get Prince help.\nDr. Howard Kornfeld sent his son, Andrew, to Minnesota that night, and the younger Kornfeld was among those who found Prince’s body. Andrew Kornfeld was carrying buprenorphine, a medication that can be used to help treat opioid addiction. The Kornfelds’ attorney, William Mauzy, has said Andrew had intended to give the medication to a doctor.\nPrince did not have a cellphone and authorities searched multiple email accounts that they believed he was using, as they tried to determine how he got the drug that killed him, according to the search warrants. The search warrants don’t reveal the outcome of the email searches.\nThe documents also say some of the drugs in Prince’s bedroom were in a suitcase with the name “Peter Bravestrong” on it. Police believe Bravestrong was an alias that Prince used when he traveled.\nInvestigators have said little publicly about the case over the last year, other than it is active.\nAP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson contributed to this story from Chicago. Doug Glass contributed from Minneapolis.", "None of the medications found in Prince’s home following his death last year were prescribed to him, according to court documents unsealed Monday.\nBottles of opioid painkillers — some prescribed to Prince’s former drummer and longtime friend Kirk Johnson — were found in several places in Paisley Park, and many medications were found in vitamin pill bottles and in envelopes, search warrants showed.\nDr. Michael Todd Schulenberg said he wrote an Oxycodone prescription for Prince under Johnson’s name for privacy purposes, according to a search warrant that was among the documents unsealed. A search of the Minnesota Prescription Monitoring Program showed that Prince had no prescriptions issued under his name, and that Johnson only had that one, the warrant said.\nIn a statement Monday, Schulenberg’s attorney said the doctor was cooperating with the investigation and denied prescribing opioids to Prince or “any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince.”\nThe details from those documents show the possible direction of the criminal investigation into Prince’s accidental overdose death almost exactly a year ago, a death that left fans around the world heartbroken and bewildered.\nBut the circumstances that led up to his death remain a mystery. Among the unanswered questions haunting those who loved and admired him: Who supplied Prince with the painkiller that killed him? Did he know what he was taking? And how long was he taking opioid pain medication?\nNo one has been charged in connection with his death, but authorities say the investigation is still open and active.\nThe medical examiner’s office said Prince died of an accidental overdose of the opioid fentanyl. The Minneapolis Star Tribune last August quoted a source with knowledge of the investigation as saying that pills seized by investigators at Prince’s home were labeled as hydrocodone but actually contained fentanyl.\nFentanyl is the strongest painkiller on the market, estimated to be at least 50 times more potent than morphine and at least 30 times more potent than heroin.\nAccording to one of the unsealed search warrants, investigators did not find fentanyl among the cache of pills, many of which were hidden in bottles labeled “Bayer” and “Alleve.”\nAccording to another search warrant issued April 21, 2016, the same day Prince was found dead at his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota, investigators found several pills labeled “Watson 853” — hydrocodone-acetaminophen, sometimes called Vicodin — and capsules marked “A-349,” which is Percocet, in different bottles in various locations in the residence.\nAlso according to the search warrant, investigators were told by witnesses that Prince “recently had a history of going through withdrawals which are believed to be the result of abuse of prescription medication.”\nFederal prosecutors and the Drug Enforcement Administration are investigating how Prince obtained prescription medications and from whom. Because Prince had no prescriptions issued in his name, investigators sought access to email servers to see if he purchased them via email, according to the documents.\nPills found in suitcase\nSearch warrants and other documents related to criminal cases are normally public record, but authorities had requested all documents related to the Prince death investigation be sealed as the probe proceeded. Authorities asked that the search warrants be sealed “until April 17, 2017 or when a criminal case may be instituted, whichever occurs first.”\nInformation in the warrants also revealed that investigators found a suitcase containing several prescription bottles in the name of Johnson, who told investigators last year that the singer had been struggling with opiate use.\nThe suitcase also contained the lyrics for “U got the Look,” which appeared to be in Prince’s handwriting. The suitcase had a tag on it bearing the name “Peter Bravestrong,” which investigators determined is an alias for Prince.\nCNN’s attempts to reach Johnson on Monday were not immediately successful.\nSchulenburg is a local doctor who arrived at Paisley Park after the singer’s body was found in an elevator inside the complex, according to the documents.\nThe doctor left his job at North Memorial Medical Center nearly three weeks after Prince’s death.\nAccording to a search warrant, Schulenberg told investigators he saw Prince on April 7 and April 20, and prescribed medications for Prince to be picked up at a Walgreens pharmacy. He went to Paisley Park on April 21 — the day Prince was found — to drop off test results, he said.\nOn Monday, however, Schulenberg denied prescribing Prince any medication.\n“Dr. Schulenberg has been and remains committed to providing full transparency regarding his practice as it relates to the Prince investigation,” his lawyer, Amy Conners, said in a statement. “Dr. Schulenberg has previously disclosed all information regarding his care and treatment of Prince to his former employer, law enforcement authorities and regulatory authorities in the course of his complete cooperation with the investigation of Prince’s death.”\n“There are no restrictions on Dr. Schulenberg’s medical license, and contrary to headlines and media reports published in the wake of today’s unsealing of search warrants relating to the investigation, Dr. Schulenberg never directly prescribed opioids to Prince, nor did he ever prescribe opioids to any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince,” Conners said.\nLast show and an emergency landing\nAbout a week before his death, Prince’s private jet made an emergency landing early April 15 in Moline, Illinois, on the way back from a performance in Atlanta. His publicist reassured fans that the 57-year-old star was fine, but a May 6 search warrant said investigators spoke to a witness who said Prince was rushed to a hospital because he was unconscious, and that the singer had admitted to taking one or two pain pills.\nThe day before Prince died, his team called an eminent opioid addiction specialist in California seeking urgent help for the singer, an attorney working for the specialist and his son said.\nThe specialist, Dr. Howard Kornfeld, couldn’t get there immediately so he sent his son, Andrew Kornfeld, on an overnight flight to Minnesota. The goal was for the younger Kornfeld to help evaluate Prince’s health and encourage him to enter treatment for pain management and potential addiction issues, attorney William Mauzy told reporters.\nBut by the time Andrew Kornfeld arrived at the singer’s Paisley Park complex on the morning of April 21, it was too late. He and five others were searching for Prince when Kornfeld said he heard a scream. He ran down the hall and found the 57-year-old entertainer unresponsive in an elevator. Andrew Kornfeld was the person who called 911, Mauzy said.\nPrince’s body was later cremated. Although the medical examiner’s office released the cause of death, the full toxicology report was not — and will not be — released.\nSigns of trouble?\nNearly everyone who was close to Prince — and who has been willing to speak to the media — said they never saw him taking any drugs. “He was the healthiest man I knew,” a bodyguard known as “Romeo” told CNN.\nThat narrative is slowly beginning to change. In a new memoir called “The Most Beautiful,” Prince’s first wife, Mayte Garcia, said she never saw him take drugs, but she did say the singer once asked her to go up to his hotel room and “flush some pills.” She said she didn’t question what they were.\nOn another occasion, within weeks of their 1996 wedding, Garcia said she was informed that Prince was in the hospital and had to have his stomach pumped. Her husband explained that he had mixed wine with aspirin, she said.\nShe also writes of the couple’s devastation after their first child died soon after birth and recounts noticing that her “Vicodin kept disappearing.” They divorced in 2000.\nAnd the former attorney for two of Prince’s dead siblings says they had revealed Prince had an addiction to Percocet decades ago.\nPrince’s half-brother, Duane Nelson, said he used to get the drug for Prince to help him come down after shows, attorney Michael B. Padden said. Nelson died in 2013.\nAnother half-sibling, Lorna Nelson, also alleged drug use by Prince but was not involved in getting drugs for him, Padden said. She died in 2006.", "White nationalist and \"alt-right\" activist Richard Spencer may be speaking at the University of Florida on September 12, according to a press release signed by President W. Kent Fuchs.\nThe National Policy Institute, an organization that Spencer is president of, reached out to the school to reserve a space.\nThe school said according to their rules, \"non-university groups, organizations, and persons may rent space on campus, provided they cover rental expenses and security costs like all other third-party renters.\"\nFuchs said that after the incident in Charlottesville, Virginia, that the speaker's presence would be \"deeply disturbing,\" separating himself and the university from anything that Spencer has said and any symbols of hate.\n\"While this speaker’s views do not align with our values as an institution, we must follow the law, upholding the First Amendment not to discriminate based on content and provide access to a public space.\"\nThis is the full statement from the university and President Fuchs:\nMessage from President W. Kent Fuchs Regarding Potential Speaker Richard Spencer For more information call 1-866-UF-Facts Aug. 12, 2017 Dear Campus Community, The National Policy Institute has reached out to the university to reserve space for a speaking event featuring white nationalist and “alt-right” activist Richard Spencer on September 12. This organization is unaffiliated with the university, and no student groups or other groups affiliated with the university are sponsoring this speech. This event is not finalized and it is still under discussion. Per university regulation 2.004, non-university groups, organizations and persons may rent space on campus, provided they cover rental expenses and security costs like all other third-party renters. UF administration, staff and campus police are developing a security plan for the potential event and are working with colleagues across the country who have had similar events on their campus. For many in our community, including myself, this speaker’s presence would be deeply disturbing. What we’ve watched happen in Charlottesville, VA. in the last 24 hours, is deplorable. I again denounce all statements and symbols of hate. The University of Florida is a community of learners, educators and scholars. We encourage open and honest dialogue, and we strive to build an inclusive environment where hate is not welcome. While this speaker’s views do not align with our values as an institution, we must follow the law, upholding the First Amendment not to discriminate based on content and provide access to a public space. Though we have a responsibility as a public university, we also have a vital duty to our students, faculty and staff to uphold our educational mission. Instead of allowing hateful speech to tear us down, I urge our campus community to join together, respect one another and promote positive speech, while allowing for differing opinions. These types of groups want media attention. I encourage our campus community to send a message of unity by not engaging with this group and giving them more media attention for their message of intolerance and hate. It is up to every student, faculty member, staff member, and myself to demonstrate our university values of respect and inclusion in all that we do. We have an opportunity to lead the way. We will continue to keep you updated as more information develops through email and our information line: 1-866-UF-Facts. Warm Regards,\nW. Kent Fuchs\nPresident\nUniversity of Florida\nCopyright 2017 WBBH/WZVN (Waterman Broadcasting). All rights reserved.", "VF Corporation and workwear company Williamson-Dickie Mfg. have jointly announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement. A statement from VF said that the transaction is expected to be complete, early in the fourth quarter of this year and VF will pay Williamson-Dickie shareholders approximately 820 million dollars in cash. Meanwhile, to show positive impact of the deal, VF has also raised revenue and earnings outlook for 2017 and through 2021.\n“When we introduced our 2021 global business strategy earlier this year, reshaping our portfolio to accelerate growth was our highest priority,” said Steve Rendle, President and Chief Executive Officer of VF in the statement, adding, “This acquisition combines two great companies and a group of iconic brands to create a global leader in workwear with approximately 1.7 billion dollars in annual revenue. We look forward to welcoming Williamson-Dickie and its 7,000 dedicated employees to the VF family.”\nVF raises FY17 and 2021 outlook on Williamson-Dickie merger\nFor 2017, revenue is now expected to reach 11.85 billion dollars, up 3.5 percent on a reported and 4.5 percent currency neutral, and includes about a 200 million dollar contribution from Williamson-Dickie. This compares to the previous expectation of 11.65 billion dollars, a 2 percent increase on a reported and 3 percent currency neutral.\nGross margin is now expected to reach 49.5 percent, versus the previous expectation of 49.8 percent, and includes the impact of Williamson-Dickie. Excluding the impact of Williamson-Dickie, gross margin is still expected to be 49.8 percent and includes about a 70 basis point negative impact from changes in foreign currency.\nEarnings per share is now expected to be 2.96 dollars, versus the previous expectation of 2.94 dollars, and includes about a 0.02 dollar contribution from Williamson-Dickie. Accordingly, EPS is expected to decline approximately 1 percent on a reported basis, up at a mid-single-digit percentage rate currency neutral compared to 2016 adjusted EPS of 2.98 dollars.\nRevenue through 2021 is now expected to grow at a five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) between 5 percent and 7 percent to more than 15 billion dollars, versus the previous expectation of a 4 percent to 6 percent five-year CAGR. Williamson-Dickie is expected to contribute more than 1 billion dollars of revenue by 2021.\nEarnings per share is now expected to grow at a five-year CAGR between 11 percent and 13 percent to more than 5 dollars, versus the previous expectation of a five-year CAGR between 10 percent and 12 percent. Williamson-Dickie is expected to contribute more than 0.25 dollar by 2021.\nOn a trailing 12-month basis, Williamson-Dickie generated approximately 875 million dollars of revenue, it added. Brands under Williamson-Dickie umbrella include Dickies, Workrite, Kodiak, Terra, and Walls. These brands will join VF’s current workwear offerings of Wrangler RIGGS Workwear, Timberland PRO, Red Kap, Bulwark, and Horace Small. Upon closing the deal, the company said, Williamson-Dickie will become part of VF’s imagewear coalition and Philip Williamson, Chief Executive Officer of Williamson-Dickie will remain with the company, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.\nPicture:Dickies press room", "Prescription opioid painkillers were so common on the streets of Sydney's Darlinghurst and Kings Cross that recovering addict John*, 49, found them easier to buy than heroin, his \"stone\" of choice.\nEven when John ended up in jail for three stints, prescription opioids were \"rampant\"; they were easy enough to buy or trade that his drug habit continued uninterrupted for the nearly 10 years he spent inside.\nWhile deaths from prescription opioid overdoses aren't increasing as rapidly as in the US, Alex Wodak, the president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, said Australia's problem with opioids was \"going down the same route, and we have been going down that route for 15 years\".\n\"We doctors and pain specialists made a terrible error in the '70s, '80s and '90s,\" said Dr Wodak. \"We prescribed opiates too readily and at too high a dose to too many people.\"\nIn the US, about 142 people die every day from accidental overdoses of prescription opioids. About 60,000 people died last year, more than the number who died in the Vietnam War.\nOnly last week, US President Donald Trump was urged by the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis to declare \"a state of emergency\".\nAdvertisement\nAbout 50,000 doses of prescription opioids are prescribed for every 1 million people every day in the United States, according to an opinion piece by Stanford University's Keith Humphreys published in the medical journal Lancet last week. In Australia, about 20,000 doses are prescribed for every 1 million people, and Australia ranks eighth among the world's top 30 users of prescription opiates.\n\"Australia is one of a group of countries that is rapidly moving towards the same dangerous territory,\" Professor Humphreys, the Esther Ting Memorial Professor at Stanford University's school of medicine, told Fairfax Media.\nSHARE\nShare on Facebook SHARE\nShare on Twitter TWEET\nLink John at the Odyssey House residential rehabilitation facility in Sydney. Photo: Christopher Pearce\nA former adviser to the White House, Professor Humphreys said the two countries with true prescription opioid epidemics were the United States and Canada.\n\"I wrote the article in the hopes that Australia and nations like it would avoid my country's mistakes and take action before the epidemic takes hold,\" he said.\nSHARE\nShare on Facebook SHARE\nShare on Twitter TWEET\nLink Australia is eighth out of the top 30 opioid producing countries in the world., 2012-2014. Photo: Lancet, July 29, 2017\nHe urged countries to immediately assess and strengthen all available safeguards against the globalisation of the prescription opioid addiction and overdose epidemic.\nLegally produced pharmaceutical opioids were the origin of the American epidemic and still fuel the problem, he wrote, often by addicting people who later transition to heroin. He added that heroin and gangs dealing with fentanyl – a prescription opioid commonly prescribed for cancer pain and which is 50 to 100 times more concentrated than morphine – had added to the death toll by strategically establishing markets in areas with high prescription opioid use.\nThe idea that there are good patients with pain, and then some other group of patients is not understanding the complexity of the problem with opioids. Dr Suzanne Nielsen\nIn 2014, figures released by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme found that just fewer than 3 million people had been prescribed at least one opioid analgesic in the previous 12 months, and warned of increasing rates of oxycodone usage.\nAustralia had a relatively high opioid use per capita, but was nowhere near the same stratosphere as the US, said Suzanne Nielsen, a pharmacist and National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre's senior research fellow specialising in prescription drug problems.\nIncreasingly users of illegal opioids and those who got drugs legally were overlapping. To view them as two separate groups was unhelpful and stigmatising, said Dr Nielsen. People with chronic pain did develop opioid use disorders, and some loss of control occurred. And about 40 per cent of those with substance abuse disorders have had chronic pain, she said.\n\"The idea that there are good patients with pain, and then some other group of patients is not understanding the complexity of the problem with opioids,\" Dr Nielsen said.\nLike most people in rehabilitation at Sydney's Odyssey House, John was a poly-drug user. When he was on methadone, adding prescription opioids gave him the closest thing to the high he got from heroin. He would buy pills and prescriptions written for others who had gone to the doctor for pain-relieving medication.\nExperts say the chronic use of heroin, oxycodone, and other morphine-derived drugs are underlying causes of opioid dependence (the need to keep taking drugs to avoid a withdrawal syndrome) and addiction (intense drug craving and compulsive use).\nJohn also found it easy to get a doctor to prescribe painkillers if he mentioned his \"back pain\" and went doctor shopping until he found someone sympathetic.\nLast year John overdosed twice when he shot up heroin that he believed had been laced with fentanyl.\nAlthough he said he lost everything, including his three children, friends and the jobs that he held down despite his addiction, he didn't lose his life.\nHe was luckier than musician Prince who died from a fentanyl overdose in 2016, and many others who accidentally overdosed on prescription opioids alone or mixed with other drugs.\nNew research released this month found accidental overdoses from prescription opioids far exceeded those from heroin. Researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre found 68 per cent of the 668 overdose deaths in 2013 were related to pharmaceutical opioids, a contrast from the heroin epidemic of the 1990s when the majority of opioid deaths were caused by illicit drugs. The figures do not include as many as 200 other deaths where opioids contributed to a person's death.\nNDARC also found opioid-related hospitalisations among Australians aged 30 to 59 years old had steadily increased over the past five years. And many deaths were caused by multiple drug toxicity, which increases the risk of a fatal overdose.\nBrain abnormalities resulting from the chronic use of heroin, oxycodone, and other morphine-derived drugs were underlying causes of opioid dependenceand addiction, said experts at the US National Institutes of Health.\nLike John's use of prescription opioids, if heroin was made harder to get, people would turn to opioids, said Dr Wodak.\n\"When Grandpa Bill gets some oxycodone for his back pain because he has cancer of prostrate ...and needs money to buy for a Christmas gift... he will sell the odd tablet,\" he said.\n\"If someone else in the family needs money, they may steal grandpa's pills to sell.\"\nDr Wodak said the adverse effects of the painkillers were significant and underestimated.\nAs for John, he is terrified of heroin. Now about to graduate from Odyssey House's program, he described himself as a careful addict; someone who took care to test small amounts first.\nBut his last two overdoses were nothing like anything he had had in the past. Now he is clean and determined to survive for his mother's sake and to reconnect with his children.\n\"My poor old mum is 86 ... I don't want her to die while I am in rehab or in prison,\" he said.\nHis mother had outlived two husbands, including a bad alcoholic, and John's 22-year-old brother, who died from suicide many years ago.\n\"She will say 'I am not going to visit you', and two days later she will be there,\" John said. \"Always dropped off packets of socks and underwear; she's been the only person who has stuck with me.\n\"She's never deserted me.\"\nRecommendations\nMuch of American policy was designed to stop the flow of illicit drugs, which Dr Wodak said was close to useless in countries such as the United States and Australia, which have large borders.\nTo address the growing problem, Dr Wodak made six recommendations, including increasing the availability of medical cannabis in Australia.\nA study published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association (JAMA) found states with medical marijuana laws had a 24.8 percent lower average annual opioid overdose death rate compared to states without such laws.\nIn 2010, that translated to about 1,729 fewer deaths than expected.\nDr Wodak also recommended:\n1. Sensibly restrain the prescription of opioids;\n2. vastly expand treatment for heroin users and people dependent on other opioids such as methadone and buprenorphine. (To address this need, Odyssey House is opening a range of community services across Sydney.)\n3. provide heroin prescription treatment for selected super consumers;\n4. open supervised injecting centres in areas with large numbers of fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses.\n5. expand naloxone distribution; and\n*A pseudonym to protect his three children", "SINGAPORE: Ingestible tracking technology could be used to ensure patients do not become addicted to painkillers such as opioids, according to an online article published in MIT Technology Review on Dec 11.\nThe ingestible trackers from EtectRx, which contain a sensor and medication to track drug-use patterns, were tested by 15 patients from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in London with acute fractures. They were instructed to take one or two 5mg oxycodone (a type of opioid) digital pills every six to eight hours as needed for pain, and return the unused pills after seven days.\nEach pill has a unique radiofrequency emitter and a gelatin capsule containing an oxycodone tablet. When the capsule dissolves, the medication is released and the emitter, activated. The patients also wear a patch on their abdomen that is attached to an iPod-sized reader which stores data on pill ingestion.\nThe results of the study, which were published in the December issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, found that the patients self-administered opioids to manage pain for only a brief period and only took a fraction of the number of pills they were given.\n\"It is fascinating to see this technology literally live and in action, especially in light of recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the risk of long-term opioid addiction in patients who have even short courses of oxycodone,” said corresponding author Dr Peter Chai of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Division of Medical Toxicology.\n\"The findings of our pilot study indicate that most patients stopped taking their prescription opioid after only a brief period, even among patients with fractures that required surgical management,” he said.\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\n“We would hope that one day, the reader would become integrated into wearables that people use every day - think the watch band of the Apple Watch, or the case of your smartphone,” Dr Chai said on MIT Tech Review.\n“That would really allow the reader to start to meld into the everyday life of patients.”\nAssociate Professor Larissa Mooney, director of the UCLA Addiction Medicine Clinic, is not convinced yet that digital pills could be used to prevent or treat addiction.\n“This will only work if people agree to and consent to being monitored. Somebody who doesn’t want to have their every dose recorded could refuse this medicine, so there are always going to be limitations,” she said.", "Score after 4.4 overs, SRH 44-3, Shakib Al Hasan 0*, Kane Williamson 17*; Hardik Pandya (1/6), McClenaghan (2/20)\nSRH 46-4 from 5.3 overs\nWICKET! What was Shakib doing there? He has just wasted a wicket with a risky run, as a result he is run-out by Suryakumar Yadav. SRH have already started collapsing here.\nSRH 44-3 from 4.4 overs\nWICKET! Manish Pandey departs, SRH in real trouble\nSRH 20-2 from 2 overs\nWICKET! What a way to finish the over, as McClenaghan dismisses Wriddhiman Saha for a duck. SRH will not be happy with this performance.\nSRH 20-1 from 1.4 overs\nWICKET! Shikhar Dhawan was clearly struggling, and Mitchell McClenaghan's heroics has dismissed the Indian cricketer for five runs.\nToss update\nRohit Sharma won the toss on Tuesday, and opted to bowl in their all-important clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad.\nOne big news from SRH is that Billy Stanlake has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament due to a fractured finger.\nMeanwhile, the good news for the visitors is that Shikhar Dhawan is back after he suffered an elbow injury during their match against Kings XI Punjab.\nMI, meanwhile, are unchanged.\nHere is how the teams lineup:\nMI XI: S Yadav, E Lewis, I Kishan, RG Sharma, K Pollard, K Pandya, H Pandya, M McClenaghan, M Markande, J Bumrah, M Rahman — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 24, 2018\nSRH XI: K Williamson, S Dhawan, M Pandey, M Nabi, Y Pathan, S Al Hasan, W Saha, R Khan, B Thampi, Sandeep Sharma, S Kaul — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 24, 2018\nPreview\nRohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians (MI) will host Kane Williamson’s Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 23rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a hope of turning things around in the tournament.\nBoth teams suffered a similar fate in their previous IPL encounters. While MI suffered a heartbreaking three-wicket loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR), SRH fell short of the target by four runs, losing to MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK).\nMI will have a lot to worry about after having narrowly lost the first three matches, games which they should have won.\nDespite the knock of 94 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Rohit Sharma has not had a successful tournament for him personally, having failed to post a big total otherwise.\nDespite Suryakumar Yadav (72) and Ishan Kishan (58) producing good performance vs RR, the defending champions went down as they gave away a lot of runs in the final overs.\nMeanwhile, Kane Williamson’s knock of 84 suffered a similar fate as the hosts fell short by four runs.\nWhen is the match?\nThe match is scheduled to start at 8 P.M. IST on Tuesday (April 24).\nWhere is the match?\nThe match will take place at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.\nLive telecast and timings:\nWith Star India now acquiring the media rights from Sony Pictures Network India for the upcoming season, the matches will be telecast on various Star Sports channels.\nLive streaming:\nThe matches can be viewed live on Hotstar.com or on the Hotstar app.", "Before his death, Prince abused opioid pain pills, suffered withdrawal symptoms and received at least one opioid prescription under his bodyguard's name, according to search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park on April 21. Nearly a year after his accidental overdose death at his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate, investigators still don't know how he got the fentanyl that killed him. The newly unsealed documents give the clearest picture yet of Prince's struggle with opioid painkillers.\n___\nThis April 6, 2017, photo, shows cars parked outside Paisley Park Museum, former home and recording studio of the late megastar Prince in Chanhassen, Minn. Affidavits and search warrants were unsealed in Carver County District Court Monday, April 17, 2017, as the yearlong investigation into Prince's death continues. (AP Photo/Jeff Baenen)\nWHAT DO AUTHORITIES SAY HAPPENED?\nInvestigators heard plenty from the people at Paisley Park when Prince's body was discovered. They told investigators that Prince was recently \"going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication.\"\nWhen authorities later checked a database set up to monitor who's getting prescriptions for controlled substances, they found nothing for Prince. But there was a prescription for the opioid painkiller oxycodone written for Kirk Johnson, Prince's bodyguard.\nThe prescription was dated April 14, 2016, the same day Prince was revived with an anti-overdose drug after falling ill on a plane. Dr. Michael Schulenberg, who wrote the prescription, told authorities he put the prescription in Johnson's name to protect Prince's privacy, according to a detective's affidavit. Schulenberg's attorney, Amy Conners, said in a statement that Schulenberg never prescribed opioids to Prince directly nor to another person with the intent of giving them to the singer.\nJohnson's attorney, Clayton Tyler, said Johnson \"did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince's death.\" An autopsy showed Prince died of an overdose of fentanyl, another drug in the opioid family.\n___\nWHAT ARE POTENTIAL CHARGES?\nWriting a prescription under another person's name violates state and federal law, said Ruth Martinez, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.\nMartinez said she could not comment on whether the board is investigating Schulenberg's treatment of Prince. The agency's website on Monday listed no disciplinary or corrective actions taken against the doctor.\nThe board doesn't launch investigations unless someone makes a complaint. Complaints typically take 90 to 120 days to resolve, she said.\nA person convicted under the law could be stripped of the ability to prescribe controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and face other discipline from the state medical board.\n___\nWHY NO CHARGES YET?\nA year might seem like a long time without charges, but criminal justice experts say the fact that no one's been charged doesn't mean no one ever will. They say it's a complex thing to track illegally obtained pills, and investigators and prosecutors want to build strong cases before interviewing witnesses who might provide useful information.\nAlthough they can resort to subpoenas, the targets can exercise their right against self-incrimination - and the only way to get them to talk after that is by offering immunity. And, experts say, prosecutors and investigators don't want to lose a high-profile case such as Prince's - likely increasing their caution.\n___\nHOW OFTEN DO PRESCRIBERS USE FALSE NAMES?\nMartinez of the Minnesota medical board said it's \"quite infrequent\" for a doctor to write out a prescription for someone in another person's name.\nTwo Los Angeles attorneys say it happens all the time in Hollywood. Celebrities frequently use aliases in hospitals and doctor's offices.\nLaws against prescribing with a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity's privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo.\nShe represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.\n\"They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,\" Garofalo said Monday.\nLos Angeles criminal defense attorney Harland Braun said there are good reasons for doctors to want to protect privacy with the insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip.\n\"Say you have a major male actor who has a prescription for Viagra, do you want that out on TMZ?\" Braun said.\n___\nAmy Forliti and Doug Glass contributed from Minneapolis.", "The allegations against Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson — President Trump’s pick to run the Department of Veterans Affairs — stem from 20 active duty and former military members, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee told NPR Tuesday. CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe and Nancy Cordes first reported Democrats were reviewing allegations against Mr. Trump’s nominee that included creating a hostile work environment, improperly handing out drugs and drinking excessively on the job.\n- Advertisement -\nSen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, said these allegations began to arise as people who knew Jackson came forward, not because he and his staff sought them out. Jackson has been serving as the physician to the president, and captured Mr. Trump’s attention when he offered a glowing review of the president’s health before the media earlier this year.\n“All I can tell you is we didn’t initiate this discussion, this discussion came when we were notified by folks that work with Admiral Jackson,” Tester said. “Folks in the military about behaviors that happened and we just followed up with as many leads as we could get and the leads took us to this spot.”\nTester said the pills Jackson allegedly gave out were for sleeping and making people wake up, handed out while on travel. They were not opioids, Tester clarified.\n“Well most of them are the ones that make you want to sleep and wake up,” Tester said. “And these are basically doled out and by the way we had 20 military folks and retired military folks tell us these stories. These were doled out on overseas trips where there’s a lot of time zone changes. And were pretty much doled out, as, somebody ones to go to sleep, here’s a pill.”\nTester also said, based on allegations that were made, that Jackson was “repeatedly drunk while on duty.”\n“Once again, it was on travel and he is the physician for the president,” Tester said. “And in the previous administration we were told stories where he was repeatedly drunk while on duty where his main job was to take care of the most powerful man in the world. That’s not acceptable.”\nJackson’s alleged abuse was verbal in nature, including screaming and belittling those who worked for him, Tester claimed.\n“Well I think I mean some of the exact words that were used by the folks who we talked to were, abusive towards staff, very explosive personality. Belittles the folks underneath him, the staff he oversaw, screamed toward staff, basically creating an environment where the staff felt that they needed to walk around egg shells around him.”\nIn a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Trump praised Jackson — but gave him room to withdraw his nomination.\n“Oh, I would definitely stand behind him,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday. “He’s a fine man. I’ll always stand behind him. I’d let it be his choice.”\n“But he is a man who has just been an extraordinary person,” the president continued. “His family, extraordinary success. Great doctor. Great everything. And he has to listen to the abuse that he has to — I wouldn’t if I were him. Actually, in many ways, I’d love to be him. But the fact is, I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do it. What does he need it for? To be abused by a bunch of politicians that aren’t thinking nicely about our country? I really don’t think, personally, he should do it. But it’s totally his — I would stand behind him — totally his decision.”\nThe White House continued to defend Jackson Tuesday evening, although not on the record.\n“Dr. Jackson’s record as a White House physician is impeccable,” a senior White House official said in a statement. “He has improved unit morale, received glowing reviews and promotions under Republican and Democrat presidents, and has been given a clean vet from the FBI. He has never even been the subject of an Inspector General review and he will certainly not be railroaded by a bitter ex-colleague who was removed from his job.”\nJackson was nominated to replace former VA Secretary David Shulkin, whose departure was announced by Mr. Trump on Twitter last month.\n— CBS News’ Alan He and Jacqueline Alemany contributed to this report.", "That prescription was filled on the same day that Prince’s private jet was forced to make an emergency landing in Illinois after the singer overdosed during a flight home after a concert in Atlanta. Mr. Johnson told hospital staff at the time that Prince “may have taken Percocet,” an opioid containing oxycodone, on the plane, according to one application for a search warrant.\nIn a statement, Dr. Schulenberg’s lawyer, Amy S. Conners, took issue with the assertion that her client had acknowledged prescribing oxycodone for Mr. Johnson that was actually intended for Prince. “Dr. Schulenberg never directly prescribed opioids to Prince, nor did he ever prescribe opioids to any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince,” the statement said.\nMs. Conners has said that the physician has not been interviewed by investigators since the day Prince died. Dr. Schulenberg has not been the subject of any disciplinary action, according to the records of the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.\nRuth Martinez, the board’s executive director, said that Minnesota state law “says you have to write a prescription for the person for whom it is intended. That’s reinforced by federal statutes.” She said that the board does not comment on whether a doctor’s conduct is being reviewed.\nIn several instances, Mr. Johnson, who had unrestricted access to Paisley Park, told the investigators that he had limited knowledge of Prince’s dependence on painkillers. On the day before the singer’s death, Mr. Johnson said he went to a local Walgreens to pick up three prescriptions issued by Dr. Schulenberg for drugs often used to treat anxiety; according to the court papers, he said it “was the first time he had ever done something like that for Prince.”\nAmong the evidence found at Paisley Park was a suitcase with a name tag for “Peter Bravestrong,” an alias used by Prince, containing several prescription bottles in Mr. Johnson’s name. (The suitcase also contained lyrics for the song “U Got the Look,” apparently in Prince’s handwriting, according to investigators.) In addition to Prince’s bedroom, pills were found throughout the residence, including in the laundry room, the police said.\nA lawyer for Mr. Johnson, F. Clayton Tyler, said in a statement: “After reviewing the search warrants and affidavits released today, we believe that it is clear that Kirk Johnson did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince’s death. There will be no further comment.”\nThe Associated Press has reported that Mr. Johnson has not been interviewed since hours after Prince’s death. In a recent interview with CBS, including a tour of the Paisley Park compound, Mr. Johnson was asked about Prince’s final days. “Kirk has a vault,” he said. “Right here. It’s never gonna be unlocked.”\nAmong the drugs seized were 20 and a half white pills labeled “Watson 853,” a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, that were found in an Aleve bottle. Investigators later found that the pills contained fentanyl, according to published reports, but they have not given any indication as to whether those pills are tied to Prince’s death. Notes from investigators say that 64 and one-quarter matching Watson 853 pills were also found in a Bayer bottle, and another 15 were discovered in a second-floor dressing room.\nSome overdoses, officials say, are attributable to the fact that people take what they believe is a pain pill of a strength they are familiar with and die because they are unaware it has been produced with a much stronger drug, like fentanyl.\nOthers who spoke to investigators included Andrew Kornfeld, the son of Dr. Howard Kornfeld, an opioid-addiction specialist who had been called on to treat Prince. Andrew Kornfeld arrived at Paisley Park after Prince had died with a small dose of the drug Suboxone, an anti-addiction agent and controlled substance. He is the person who called 911.\nAndrew, who is not a doctor, told investigators that he had not planned on administering the drug until he had consulted with a physician authorized to prescribe it. His lawyer, William Mauzy, said that he believes Andrew is exempt from criminal liability as a result of Minnesota’s Good Samaritan law, which protects a 911 caller and the overdose victim from prosecution for drug possession.\nAlso interviewed was the singer Judith Hill, who was in a romantic relationship with Prince and was on board during the diverted flight.\nIn addition to an Apple laptop belonging to Prince, who stopped using a cellphone after his was hacked, friends said, investigators received warrants for numerous email addresses — including [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected] — that Prince used to communicate with his tight inner circle.\n“The investigation remains active at this point,” said Jason Kamerud, chief deputy for the Carver County Sheriff’s Office.\n“We’ve gained a lot of progress over the last year, but there still is some more work to be done,” he said.", "Before his death, Prince abused opioid pain pills, suffered withdrawal symptoms and received at least one opioid prescription under his bodyguard’s name, according to search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park on April 21. Nearly a year after his accidental overdose death at his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate, investigators still don’t know how he got the fentanyl that killed him. The newly unsealed documents give the clearest picture yet of Prince’s struggle with opioid painkillers.\n___\nWHAT DO AUTHORITIES SAY HAPPENED?\nInvestigators heard plenty from the people at Paisley Park when Prince’s body was discovered. They told investigators that Prince was recently “going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication.”\nWhen authorities later checked a database set up to monitor who’s getting prescriptions for controlled substances, they found nothing for Prince. But there was a prescription for the opioid painkiller oxycodone written for Kirk Johnson, Prince’s bodyguard.\nThe prescription was dated April 14, 2016, the same day Prince was revived with an anti-overdose drug after falling ill on a plane. Dr. Michael Schulenberg, who wrote the prescription, told authorities he put the prescription in Johnson’s name to protect Prince’s privacy, according to a detective’s affidavit. Schulenberg’s attorney, Amy Conners, said in a statement that Schulenberg never prescribed opioids to Prince directly nor to another person with the intent of giving them to the singer.\nJohnson’s attorney, Clayton Tyler, said Johnson “did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince’s death.” An autopsy showed Prince died of an overdose of fentanyl, another drug in the opioid family.\n___\nWHAT ARE POTENTIAL CHARGES?\nWriting a prescription under another person’s name violates state and federal law, said Ruth Martinez, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.\nMartinez said she could not comment on whether the board is investigating Schulenberg’s treatment of Prince. The agency’s website on Monday listed no disciplinary or corrective actions taken against the doctor.\nThe board doesn’t launch investigations unless someone makes a complaint. Complaints typically take 90 to 120 days to resolve, she said.\nA person convicted under the law could be stripped of the ability to prescribe controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and face other discipline from the state medical board.\n___\nWHY NO CHARGES YET?\nA year might seem like a long time without charges, but criminal justice experts say the fact that no one’s been charged doesn’t mean no one ever will. They say it’s a complex thing to track illegally obtained pills, and investigators and prosecutors want to build strong cases before interviewing witnesses who might provide useful information.\nAlthough they can resort to subpoenas, the targets can exercise their right against self-incrimination — and the only way to get them to talk after that is by offering immunity. And, experts say, prosecutors and investigators don’t want to lose a high-profile case such as Prince’s — likely increasing their caution.\n___\nHOW OFTEN DO PRESCRIBERS USE FALSE NAMES?\nMartinez of the Minnesota medical board said it’s “quite infrequent” for a doctor to write out a prescription for someone in another person’s name.\nTwo Los Angeles attorneys say it happens all the time in Hollywood. Celebrities frequently use aliases in hospitals and doctor’s offices.\nLaws against prescribing with a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity’s privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo.\nShe represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.\n“They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,” Garofalo said Monday.\nLos Angeles criminal defense attorney Harland Braun said there are good reasons for doctors to want to protect privacy with the insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip.\n“Say you have a major male actor who has a prescription for Viagra, do you want that out on TMZ?” Braun said.\n___\nAmy Forliti and Doug Glass contributed from Minneapolis.", "In an attempt to reduce opioid use amid a nationwide abuse epidemic, insurance giant Cigna will no longer cover most OxyContin prescriptions in its group plans beginning January 1.\n“Our focus is on helping customers get the most value from their medications — this means obtaining effective pain relief while also guarding against opioid misuse,” Cigna Chief Pharmacy Officer Jon Maesner said in a statement Wednesday.\nOxyContin is a brand name for an extended-release version of oxycodone, a commonly prescribed opioid painkiller.\nLast year, Cigna set a goal of reducing its customers’ opioid use by 25% within the next three years. In lieu of OxyContin, Cigna said Wednesday, it is “asking opioid manufacturers to align with efforts to reduce opioid use and has signed a value-based contract with Collegium Pharmaceutical for the drug Xtampza ER, an oxycodone equivalent with abuse-deterrent properties.”\nLong-acting or extended-release medications like OxyContin contain a higher dosage of the active ingredients in the pill itself, which is chemically released over a long period of time. The advantage for patients is that they don’t have to take pills as frequently. However, the higher dosage of long-acting pills can make them more attractive for abuse. Crushing or melting some versions of extended-release pills, a user can get a day’s dosage in just one pill.\nAccording to Cigna, “Xtampza ER’s abuse-deterrent platform allows the product to maintain its extended release profile even when cut, crushed, chewed or otherwise manipulated.” OxyContin likewise has some abuse-deterrent properties, such as being more difficult to crush. And although one study appeared to find that Xtampza was harder to abuse than OxyContin, it was conducted by the medication’s manufacturer, Collegium.\nThe difficulty of abuse shouldn’t be confused with how addictive a drug may be, said Dr. Caleb Alexander, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness. “People don’t recognize that just because they are harder to tamper with doesn’t make them any less addictive or any more effective in chronic non-cancer pain,” he said.\nDespite any advantages Xtampza may have, “people still get addicted to oral pills. They can still take too much. They can still overdose,” said Dr. Walid Gellad, co-director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing.\nPurdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, said in a statement Thursday that “Cigna’s decision limits the tools prescribers can use to help address the opioid crisis as both products are formulated with properties designed to deter abuse. Unfortunately, this decision appears to be more about pharmaceutical rebates.”\nGellad and Alexander also believe that there was more to Cigna’s decision than a desire to combat the opioid crisis. “I think it’s important to recognize that insurers are trying to find the sweet spot between finding the right spot clinically and the right thing to do for their business,” Alexander said.\nIn its statement, the insurance company said that “Collegium is financially accountable if the average daily dosage strengths of Xtampza ER prescribed for Cigna customers exceed a specific threshold. If the threshold is exceeded, Collegium will reduce the cost of the medication for many of Cigna’s benefit plans.”\nWhen asked for further details of the financial agreement, including what the threshold was and the how cost reduction would be distributed, Cigna said that “specific terms of the contract are proprietary.”\nDr. Charles E. Argoff, president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine Foundation, said “we are going down a very bad slippery slope if we allow payers to only make decisions solely on financial grounds and don’t have any checks and balances on the insurance world’s ability to basically dictate what happens to them medically.”\nCigna said OxyContin will still be considered for patients if a doctor believes it medically necessary.\nAccording to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 90 Americans die every day from opioid overdoses, including legally prescribed drugs like oxycodone as well as illicit drugs like heroin. Since 1999, the number of opioid overdose deaths has quadrupled, as has the number of opioid prescriptions. However, there hasn’t been a change in the amount of pain reported by Americans.\nDrug overdoses overall are killing more Americans than guns or car accidents.\nBut Gellad said that targeting prescriptions alone will not be enough to help turn the tide on the opioid overdose epidemic. “If you really want to address the opioid epidemic, it’s about about increasing access to non-opioid treament for chronic pain patients.”", "Prince's heirs have filed a wrongful death suit against the drug-store chain Walgreens and an Illinois hospital where the singer was treated, then released, the week before his fatal overdose in 2016.\nMinnesota Public Radio's Matt Sepic reports that attorneys representing Prince's estate allege that Trinity Medical Center, in Moline, Illinois, where Prince's plane made an emergency landing on April 15, 2016, failed to appropriately diagnose and treat his overdose.\nThe singer was given two doses of Naloxone, a drug designed to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.\nPrince died on April 21 at age 57. He was found unresponsive at his home in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen. The suit alleges his death was a direct result of the inadequate care he received in Illinois the previous week.\nOn Thursday, Carver County Attorney Mark Metz said that the two-year investigation into Prince's death concluded that he died after taking a counterfeit Vicodin pill laced with the powerful and dangerous opioid Fentanyl. However, Metz said, investigators were unable to find out how Prince obtained the pills, so there was no evidence to charge anyone.\nThe lawsuit, filed in Chicago's Cook County, also names Walgreens Co., alleging that pharmacists at two of its Minnesota branches dispensed \"prescription medications not valid for a legitimate medical purpose.\"\nBoth Walgreens and the hospital parent company declined comment.\nAs The New York Times reports, \"Based on documents related to the criminal investigation released on Friday, prosecutors believe that Prince had likely overdosed [on April 15] on what he believed to be prescription opioids like Vicodin, but were actually black market versions containing the much more powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. Authorities determined that, without knowing, Prince most likely took a counterfeit drug containing fentanyl,\" that resulted in his fatal overdose six days later.\nAt the hospital, The Associated Press says, \"Prince refused medical tests but was asked what drugs he took. Documents show a pill that he had with him, which was marked as Vicodin, was sent to the pharmacy for testing. A hospital pharmacist said it appeared to be Vicodin and returned it to Prince.\"\n\"We will have much to say when the time is right,\" attorney John Goetz, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Prince's family, said in a statement, according to Rolling Stone. \"We have client interests to protect at the moment, including our theory of the case. What happened to Prince is happening to families across America. Prince's family wishes, through its investigation, to shed additional light on what happened to Prince. At the same time, further light on the opiate epidemic will hopefully help the fight to save lives. If Prince's death helps save lives, then all was not lost.\"", "Hyderabad (SRH) moved one rung up to third after registering their fourth win in six IPL 2018 matches on Tuesday.\nMumbai (MI), meanwhile, tasted their fifth defeat in six matches and remained 7th seventh in the table, just above Delhi (DD).\nHere is how all eight teams are placed in the standings after Matchday 18.\nTEAM M W L T P NRR\nKXIP 6 5 1 0 10 0.394\nCSK 5 4 1 0 8 0.742\nSRH 6 4 2 0 8 0.492\nKKR 6 3 3 0 6 0.572\nRR 6 3 3 0 6 -0.801\nRCB 5 2 3 0 4 -0.486\nMI 6 1 5 0 2 0.008\nDD 6 1 5 0 2 -1.097\nTalking about the only match of the day, Hyderabad came up with a brilliant bowling performance to successfully defend 118 against Mumbai.\nSiddarth Kaul (3/23) and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan (2/11) were the architects of the SRH win as the Williamson-led team bowled out the hosts for 87 in 18.5 overs, the lowest total this season. Mumbai's 22/3 was also the lowest Powerplay score this season.\nSuryakumar Yadav (34) and Krunal Pandya (24) were the only Mumbai batsmen who could stand up to Hyderabad's brilliant bowlers.\nEarlier in the match after being put into bat, SRH were themselves bowled out for 118 in 18.4 overs. Mitchell McClenaghan (2/22) triggered the collapse with two wickets in the second over of the SRH innings.\nWilliamson (29 off 21 balls) and Yusuf Pathan (29 off 33 balls) were SRH's top contributors.", "Prince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate on April 21.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate on April 21.\n(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File). FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2007, file photo, Prince performs during the halftime show at the Super Bowl XLI football game in Miami. Nearly a year after Prince died from an accidental drug overdose in his suburban Minneapolis...\n(AP Photo/Jeff Baenen). This April 6, 2017, photo, shows cars parked outside Paisley Park Museum, former home and recording studio of the late megastar Prince in Chanhassen, Minn. Affidavits and search warrants were unsealed in Carver County District C...\nBy CARLA K. JOHNSONAP Medical Writer\nBefore his death, Prince abused opioid pain pills, suffered withdrawal symptoms and received at least one opioid prescription under his bodyguard's name, according to search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park on April 21. Nearly a year after his accidental overdose death at his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate, investigators still don't know how he got the fentanyl that killed him. The newly unsealed documents give the clearest picture yet of Prince's struggle with opioid painkillers.\n___\nWHAT DO AUTHORITIES SAY HAPPENED?\nInvestigators heard plenty from the people at Paisley Park when Prince's body was discovered. They told investigators that Prince was recently \"going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication.\"\nWhen authorities later checked a database set up to monitor who's getting prescriptions for controlled substances, they found nothing for Prince. But there was a prescription for the opioid painkiller oxycodone written for Kirk Johnson, Prince's bodyguard.\nThe prescription was dated April 14, 2016, the same day Prince was revived with an anti-overdose drug after falling ill on a plane. Dr. Michael Schulenberg, who wrote the prescription, told authorities he put the prescription in Johnson's name to protect Prince's privacy, according to a detective's affidavit. Schulenberg's attorney, Amy Conners, said in a statement that Schulenberg never prescribed opioids to Prince directly nor to another person with the intent of giving them to the singer.\nJohnson's attorney, Clayton Tyler, said Johnson \"did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince's death.\" An autopsy showed Prince died of an overdose of fentanyl, another drug in the opioid family.\n___\nWHAT ARE POTENTIAL CHARGES?\nWriting a prescription under another person's name violates state and federal law, said Ruth Martinez, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.\nMartinez said she could not comment on whether the board is investigating Schulenberg's treatment of Prince. The agency's website on Monday listed no disciplinary or corrective actions taken against the doctor.\nThe board doesn't launch investigations unless someone makes a complaint. Complaints typically take 90 to 120 days to resolve, she said.\nA person convicted under the law could be stripped of the ability to prescribe controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and face other discipline from the state medical board.\n___\nWHY NO CHARGES YET?\nA year might seem like a long time without charges, but criminal justice experts say the fact that no one's been charged doesn't mean no one ever will. They say it's a complex thing to track illegally obtained pills, and investigators and prosecutors want to build strong cases before interviewing witnesses who might provide useful information.\nAlthough they can resort to subpoenas, the targets can exercise their right against self-incrimination - and the only way to get them to talk after that is by offering immunity. And, experts say, prosecutors and investigators don't want to lose a high-profile case such as Prince's - likely increasing their caution.\n___\nHOW OFTEN DO PRESCRIBERS USE FALSE NAMES?\nMartinez of the Minnesota medical board said it's \"quite infrequent\" for a doctor to write out a prescription for someone in another person's name.\nTwo Los Angeles attorneys say it happens all the time in Hollywood. Celebrities frequently use aliases in hospitals and doctor's offices.\nLaws against prescribing with a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity's privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo.\nShe represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.\n\"They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,\" Garofalo said Monday.\nLos Angeles criminal defense attorney Harland Braun said there are good reasons for doctors to want to protect privacy with the insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip.\n\"Say you have a major male actor who has a prescription for Viagra, do you want that out on TMZ?\" Braun said.\n___\nAmy Forliti and Doug Glass contributed from Minneapolis.\nCopyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.", "Saklakova/ShutterstockWhen you picture drug addicts, you probably don’t conjure images of middle-aged women. But that’s exactly who is most likely to be prescribed opioids, and that initial Rx sets them up for addiction, according to a recent study sponsored by Pacira Pharaceuticals Inc. (Here’s what your doctor might not tell you about pain medication.) These facts are alarming, especially considering the nation’s current opioid addiction epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die every day due to an opioid overdose. As you might recall, the White House has declared the opioid crisis a national emergency.\n“We now know that overdoses from prescription opioids are a driving factor in the 15-year increase in opioid overdose deaths,” the CDC said in a statement. The amount of prescription opioids sold to pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors’ offices nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2010, the agency notes, yet there had not been an overall change in the amount of pain that Americans reported. Deaths from prescription opioids—drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone—have more than quadrupled since 1999.\nThe study, which looked at data from 600 private hospitals and over 78,000 patients, focused on those most affected by the opioid epidemic—women ages 40 to 59. This demographic has the highest death rate from opioid drugs, according to the report.\nPart of the problem is that this group is likely to undergo surgeries—including for hernia, total knee replacement, colectomy, hysterectomy, total hip replacement, sleeve gastrectomy, and rotator cuff surgery—and surgery has been shown to be a “gateway to persistent opioid use and potential misuse,” according to the study authors. In fact, women prescribed painkillers after surgery were 40 percent more likely than men to become persistent opioid users, according to the findings. Surgery-related overprescribing results in 3.3 billion unused pills, which become available for misuse, per the study. In fact, nearly three million patients in 2016 who underwent surgery continued taking opioids beyond their post-surgical recovery period.\nIt’s not surprising that women are prescribed painkillers more often than men, because women and men experience pain differently. (Here are more medical conditions that strike the sexes differently.) According to sciencedaily.com, women are more sensitive to pain due to the fact that they have more nerve receptors to register the sensation. If you are going to take painkillers, especially opioids, here are 13 questions to ask your doctor before taking pain medication.\nAnd before heading off the pharmacy to fill the prescription, consider trying these two mind-body techniques proven to treat pain.", "Prince performs on stage at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, on June 30, 2011.\nUpdated: 7:13 p.m. | Posted: 6:46 p.m.\nPrince's heirs have sued Walgreens and the Illinois hospital that treated the music superstar after he suffered from an opioid overdose, alleging that a doctor and various pharmacists failed to provide Prince with reasonable care, contributing to his death.\nThe wrongful-death lawsuit filed in Cook County, Illinois, alleges a doctor and pharmacist at Trinity Medical Center in Moline, Illinois, failed to appropriately treat and investigate Prince's April 15, 2016, overdose, and that he died \"as a direct and proximate cause of one or more ... deviations from the standards of care.\"\nIt accuses Walgreen Co. and pharmacists at two of its Minnesota branches of \"dispensing prescription medications not valid for a legitimate medical purpose.\"\nWalgreens and the hospital's parent company both declined to comment Monday, citing pending litigation.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park studio compound in suburban Minneapolis on April 21, 2016. An autopsy found he died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin.\nAuthorities said it was likely Prince didn't know he was taking the dangerous drug, which was laced in counterfeit pills made to look like a generic version of the painkiller Vicodin. The source of those pills is unknown and no one has been charged in Prince's death.\nA week before he died, Prince passed out on a flight home from an Atlanta concert and the private plane made an emergency stop in Moline. The musician had to be revived with two doses of a drug that reverses effects of an opioid overdose.\nAt Trinity Medical Center, Prince refused medical tests but was asked what drugs he took. Documents show a pill that he had with him, which was marked as Vicodin, was sent to the pharmacy for testing. A hospital pharmacist said it appeared to be Vicodin and returned it to Prince.\nProsecutors said last week that no chemical testing was done on the pill, but evidence suggests it was counterfeit and laced with fentanyl.\nThe lawsuit alleges the pharmacist and emergency room physician, Dr. Nicole Mancha, failed to timely diagnose and treat the overdose and failed to provide appropriate counseling.\nThe allegations against Walgreens stem from prescriptions that were dispensed to Prince, but written under the name of his bodyguard, Kirk Johnson. Authorities said Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg admitted that he prescribed oxycodone to Prince under Johnson's name to protect Prince's privacy. Schulenberg disputes that, but paid $30,000 to settle allegations the drug was prescribed illegally.\nAttorneys for Prince's family, George Loucas and John Goetz, said in a statement that they will have more to say when the time is right.\n\"Prince's family wishes, through its investigation, to shed additional light on what happened to Prince. At the same time further light on the opiate epidemic will hopefully help the fight to save lives,\" the attorneys said. \"If Prince's death helps save lives, then all was not lost.\"", "MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A doctor who saw Prince in the days before he died had prescribed the opioid painkiller oxycodone under the name of Prince’s friend to protect the musician’s privacy, according to court documents unsealed Monday that revealed nothing about how the pop superstar got the fentanyl that actually killed him.\nThe affidavits and search warrants were unsealed in Carver County District Court as the yearlong investigation into Prince’s death continues. The documents show authorities searched Paisley Park, cellphone records of Prince’s associates, and Prince’s email accounts to try to determine how he got the fentanyl, a synthetic opioid drug 50 times more powerful than heroin.\nThey don’t reveal answers, but do shed light on Prince’s struggle with addiction to prescription opioids in the days before he died. Oxycodone, the generic name for the active ingredient in OxyContin, was not listed as a cause of Prince’s death. But it is part of a family of painkillers driving the nation’s overdose and addiction epidemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 2 million Americans abused or were addicted to prescription opioids, including oxycodone, in 2014.\nA Year On, Few Answers From Probe Into Prince’s Death\nPatients who take prescription opioids eventually build up a tolerance and need to take stronger doses to get the same effect. In some patients, the cycle leads to dependence and addiction.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park home on April 21.\nJust six days earlier, Prince fell ill on a plane and made an emergency stop in Illinois as he was returning home from a concert in Atlanta. First responders revived him with two doses of a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.\nA search of Prince’s home yielded numerous pills in various containers. Some were in prescription bottles for Kirk Johnson, Prince’s longtime friend and associate. Some pills in other bottles were marked “Watson 853,” a label used for a drug that is a mix of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, another opioid painkiller. Last August, an official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that at least one of those pills tested positive for fentanyl, meaning the pill was counterfeit and obtained illegally.\nThe official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.\nIn addition to the dozens of pills recovered, authorities also found a pamphlet for an addiction recovery center in California, the documents unsealed Monday show. The day before Prince died, Paisley Park staffers contacted the California addiction specialist as they were trying to get Prince help.\nOne affidavit says Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg, a family doctor who saw Prince April 7, 2016, and again on April 20, acknowledged to authorities that he prescribed oxycodone for Prince the same day as the emergency plane landing “but put the prescription in Kirk Johnson’s name for Prince’s privacy.”\nAuthorities also searched Johnson’s cellphone records, to see who he was communicating with in the month before Prince died.\nMessages left with attorneys for Schulenberg and Johnson weren’t immediately returned Monday. Schulenberg has an active medical license and is currently practicing family medicine in Minnesota. His attorney, Amy Conners, told the AP last week that there are no restrictions on his license.\nInvestigators haven’t interviewed either Johnson or Schulenberg since the hours after Prince died, an official with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.\nWhile authorities have the power to ask a grand jury to investigate and issue subpoenas for testimony, that step hasn’t been taken, the official said.\nPrince did not have a cellphone, and authorities searched multiple email accounts that belonged to him, as they tried to determine who he was communicating with and where he got the drugs that killed him, according to the search warrants. The search warrants don’t reveal the outcome of the email searches.\nThe documents say some of the drugs in Prince’s bedroom were in a suitcase with the name “Peter Bravestrong” on it. Police believe Bravestrong was an alias that Prince used when he traveled. The suitcase also contained lyrics for the song “U Got the Look” that appeared to be in Prince’s handwriting.\nThe day before Prince died, Paisley Park staffers contacted California addiction specialist Dr. Howard Kornfeld for help. Kornfeld sent his son, Andrew, to Minnesota that night, and the younger Kornfeld was among those who found Prince’s body.\nAndrew Kornfeld was carrying buprenorphine, a medication that can be used to help treat opioid addiction. The Kornfelds’ attorney, William Mauzy, has said Andrew had intended to give the medication to a doctor who planned to see Prince on April 21.\nInvestigators have said little about the case over the last year, other than it is active. The official who spoke to the AP said the case has taken investigators to Illinois and California, as authorities have interviewed friends, family and any potential witnesses, including the flight crew and hospital staff that were present when Prince overdosed on the plane.\n(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)", "Nearly a year after Prince's accidental overdose death, newly unsealed documents give the clearest picture yet of the entertainer's struggle with opioid painkillers.\nBefore his death, Prince abused opioid pain pills, suffered withdrawal symptoms and received at least one opioid prescription under his bodyguard’s name, according to search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park on April 21. Nearly a year after his accidental overdose death at his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate, investigators still don’t know how he got the fentanyl that killed him. The newly unsealed documents give the clearest picture yet of Prince’s struggle with opioid painkillers.\n___\nWHAT DO AUTHORITIES SAY HAPPENED?\nInvestigators heard plenty from the people at Paisley Park when Prince’s body was discovered. They told investigators that Prince was recently “going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication.”\nWhen authorities later checked a database set up to monitor who’s getting prescriptions for controlled substances, they found nothing for Prince. But there was a prescription for the opioid painkiller oxycodone written for Kirk Johnson, Prince’s bodyguard.\nThe prescription was dated April 14, 2016, the same day Prince was revived with an anti-overdose drug after falling ill on a plane. Dr. Michael Schulenberg, who wrote the prescription, told authorities he put the prescription in Johnson’s name to protect Prince’s privacy, according to a detective’s affidavit. Schulenberg’s attorney, Amy Conners, said in a statement that Schulenberg never prescribed opioids to Prince directly nor to another person with the intent of giving them to the singer.\nJohnson’s attorney, Clayton Tyler, said Johnson “did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince’s death.” An autopsy showed Prince died of an overdose of fentanyl, another drug in the opioid family.\n___\nWHAT ARE POTENTIAL CHARGES?\nWriting a prescription under another person’s name violates state and federal law, said Ruth Martinez, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.\nMartinez said she could not comment on whether the board is investigating Schulenberg’s treatment of Prince. The agency’s website on Monday listed no disciplinary or corrective actions taken against the doctor.\nThe board doesn’t launch investigations unless someone makes a complaint. Complaints typically take 90 to 120 days to resolve, she said.\nA person convicted under the law could be stripped of the ability to prescribe controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and face other discipline from the state medical board.\n___\nWHY NO CHARGES YET?\nA year might seem like a long time without charges, but criminal justice experts say the fact that no one’s been charged doesn’t mean no one ever will. They say it’s a complex thing to track illegally obtained pills, and investigators and prosecutors want to build strong cases before interviewing witnesses who might provide useful information.\nAlthough they can resort to subpoenas, the targets can exercise their right against self-incrimination — and the only way to get them to talk after that is by offering immunity. And, experts say, prosecutors and investigators don’t want to lose a high-profile case such as Prince’s — likely increasing their caution.\n___\nHOW OFTEN DO PRESCRIBERS USE FALSE NAMES?\nMartinez of the Minnesota medical board said it’s “quite infrequent” for a doctor to write out a prescription for someone in another person’s name.\nTwo Los Angeles attorneys say it happens all the time in Hollywood. Celebrities frequently use aliases in hospitals and doctor’s offices.\nLaws against prescribing with a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity’s privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo.\nShe represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.\n“They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,” Garofalo said Monday.\nLos Angeles criminal defense attorney Harland Braun said there are good reasons for doctors to want to protect privacy with the insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip.\n“Say you have a major male actor who has a prescription for Viagra, do you want that out on TMZ?” Braun said.\n___\nAmy Forliti and Doug Glass contributed from Minneapolis.", "By Radio.com Staff\nAFI has announced a co-headlining summer tour with Philadelphia’s Circa Survive kicking off July 18 at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA with Citizen supporting. The dates extend the second leg of “The Blood Tour,” which kicks off June 2nd at The National in Richmond, VA. Prior to these North American shows, AFI will head overseas for a trio of UK shows with Deftones. See full schedule below.\nThe tour will help the Bay Area band promote the new self-titled tenth album referred to as “The Blood Album,” which hit stores in January. Tickets for the band’s summer tour go on sale this Friday, April 21 at 10:00 am local time.\nRelated: DREAMCAR Releases New Track ‘All the Dead Girls’\nMeanwhile, AFI frontman Davey Havok as been hard at work at the DREAMCAR frontman with various appearances including Coachella.\nAFI with Circa Survive Tour Dates:\n5/5 – London, UK @ Alexandra Palace w/ Deftones\n5/6 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo w/Deftones\n5/7 – Glasgow, UK @ SECC w/Deftones\n6/2 – Richmond, VA @ The National\n6/3 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Stage AE\n6/4 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bunbury Music Festival\n6/6 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva\n6/7 – Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater\n6/10 – Derby, UK @ Download Festival\n6/16 – Dover, NE @ Firefly Music Festival\n6/17 – Providence, RI @ Lupos Heartbreak Hotel\n6/18 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom\n6/20 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues\n6/21 – Portland, ME @ Aura\n6/23 – Montebello, Canada @ Amnesia Rockfest\n7/18 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle++\n7/19 – Nashville, TN @ War Memorial Auditorium++\n7/21 – St. Louis, MO @ Pageant++\n7/22 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre @ The Midland\n7/24 – Oklahoma, OK @ Diamond Ballroom++\n7/25 – Papillion, NE @ Sumtur Amphitheater++\n7/27 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre++\n7/29 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl++\n8/1 – San Diego, CA @ Car Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre++\n8/2 – Paso Robles, CA @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre++\n8/4 – Troutdale, OR @ Edgefield++\n8/5 – Seattle, WA @ The Paramount Theatre++\n++ co-headline with Circa Survive", "Prince performs during the halftime show at the Super Bowl XLI football game at Dolphin Stadium in Miami.\nBefore his death, Prince abused opioid pain pills, suffered withdrawal symptoms and received at least one opioid prescription under his bodyguard's name, according to search warrants and affidavits unsealed Monday.\nPrince was 57 when he was found alone and unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park on April 21. Nearly a year after his accidental overdose death at his suburban Minneapolis studio and estate, investigators still don't know how he got the fentanyl that killed him. The newly unsealed documents give the clearest picture yet of Prince's struggle with opioid painkillers.\nWhat do authorities say happened?\nInvestigators heard plenty from the people at Paisley Park when Prince's body was discovered. They told investigators that Prince was recently \"going through withdrawals, which are believed to be the result of the abuse of prescription medication.\"\nWhen authorities later checked a database set up to monitor who's getting prescriptions for controlled substances, they found nothing for Prince. But there was a prescription for the opioid painkiller oxycodone written for Kirk Johnson, Prince's bodyguard.\nThe prescription was dated April 14, 2016, the same day Prince was revived with an anti-overdose drug after falling ill on a plane. Dr. Michael Schulenberg, who wrote the prescription, told authorities he put the prescription in Johnson's name to protect Prince's privacy, according to a detective's affidavit.\nSchulenberg's attorney, Amy Conners, said in a statement that Schulenberg never prescribed opioids to Prince directly nor to another person with the intent of giving them to the singer.\nJohnson's attorney, Clayton Tyler, said Johnson \"did not secure nor supply the drugs which caused Prince's death.\" An autopsy showed Prince died of an overdose of fentanyl, another drug in the opioid family.\nWhat are potential charges?\nWriting a prescription under another person's name violates state and federal law, said Ruth Martinez, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.\nMartinez said she could not comment on whether the board is investigating Schulenberg's treatment of Prince. The agency's website on Monday listed no disciplinary or corrective actions taken against the doctor.\nThe board doesn't launch investigations unless someone makes a complaint. Complaints typically take 90 to 120 days to resolve, she said.\nA person convicted under the law could be stripped of the ability to prescribe controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and face other discipline from the state medical board.\nPolice stand guard at Paisley Park on April 22, 2016, in Chanhassen. Scott Olson | Getty Images 2016\nWhy no charges yet?\nA year might seem like a long time without charges, but criminal justice experts say the fact that no one's been charged doesn't mean no one ever will. They say it's a complex thing to track illegally obtained pills, and investigators and prosecutors want to build strong cases before interviewing witnesses who might provide useful information.\nAlthough they can resort to subpoenas, the targets can exercise their right against self-incrimination — and the only way to get them to talk after that is by offering immunity. And, experts say, prosecutors and investigators don't want to lose a high-profile case such as Prince's — likely increasing their caution.\nHow often do prescribers use false names?\nMartinez of the Minnesota medical board said it's \"quite infrequent\" for a doctor to write out a prescription for someone in another person's name.\nTwo Los Angeles attorneys say it happens all the time in Hollywood. Celebrities frequently use aliases in hospitals and doctor's offices.\nLaws against prescribing with a false name are not usually enforced when a doctor intends to protect a celebrity's privacy, said Los Angeles attorney Ellyn Garofalo.\nShe represented a doctor who was acquitted of all charges, including false name allegations, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the Playboy model and reality TV star who died of an accidental overdose in 2007.\n\"They would be indicting every pharmacist in Beverly Hills if this were strictly enforced,\" Garofalo said Monday.\nLos Angeles criminal defense attorney Harland Braun said there are good reasons for doctors to want to protect privacy with the insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip.\n\"Say you have a major male actor who has a prescription for Viagra, do you want that out on TMZ?\" Braun said.", "Search warrants from the investigation into Prince's overdose death were released on Monday, revealing that prescription medications were found all over his house — including some in the name of a confidant who claimed he didn't know the singer was addicted to pain pills.\nThe court documents detail investigators' efforts to obtain cellphone and Internet records after Prince was found dead April 21 at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota.\nPrince performs during day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival held at the Empire Polo Field on April 26, 2008 in Indio, Calif. Kevin Winter / Getty Images, file\nAn autopsy determined he died of a fentanyl overdose, but the documents do not indicate if authorities have pinpointed the source of the killer dose of the synthetic opioid. No one has been charged with a crime in connection with Prince's death.\nThe warrants say that controlled substances were found in different parts of the Paisley Park complex, often in vitamin bottles. Some were in a suitcase labeled with a Prince alias, Peter Bravestrong, along with a page of handwritten lyrics to the 1987 hit \"U Got the Look.\"\nSeveral medications were prescribed to Prince under the name of Kirk Johnson, his longtime bodyguard, assistant and personal friend, the warrants show.\nPlay Facebook\nTwitter\nEmbed Prince Died of Painkiller Overdose, Medical Examiner Says 2:00 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog\nPrince's physician, Dr. Michael Schulenberg, issued a prescription for the pain killer oxycodone on April 16, 2016 — the same day that the singer's plane had to make a post-concert emergency landing when he \"passed out\" while aboard after taking pain pills.\nSchulenberg told investigators he put it in Johnson's name \"for Prince's privacy,\" one warrant says. An attorney for the doctor, however, said in a statement that he \"never directly prescribed opioids to Prince, nor did he ever prescribe opioids to any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince.\"\nIn the suitcase next to Prince's bed, detectives found at least two bottles with pills prescribed by Schulenberg under Johnson's name on April 7: the anti-nausea drug ondansetron hydrochloride in a Vitamin D bottle, and the painkiller Percocet in a bottle labeled ondansetron.\nThe day before Prince's death, Schulenberg prescribed three drugs for him: clonidine, which is used to treat high blood pressure and attention deficit disorder, and the anti-anxiety agents Valium and hydroxyzine pamoate. Johnson picked them up from the pharmacy and claimed it was the \"first time he had ever done something like that for Prince.\"\nJohnson told investigators he was \"unaware Prince was addicted to pain medication.\" But a representative of the rehab Recovery Without Walls told detectives that Johnson had contacted them because the star was struggling with opiate use.\nPlay Facebook\nTwitter\nEmbed Prince's Paisley Park: Al Roker gets first look inside 'untouched' museum 4:30 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog\nAndrew Kornfeld, the son of the rehab's owner, was at Paisley Park when Prince's body was found. He admitted to detectives that he was carrying pills for which he did not have a prescription — chiefly buprenorphine, which is used to treat addiction — but said he would not have given them to Prince without a doctor's authorization.\nThe warrants sought access to Prince's computer as well as to cellphone records for any devices in use around Paisley Park immediately before and after the singer's death.\nThe detective noted that \"interviews with those who were at Paisley Park the morning Prince was found deceased have provided inconsistent and, at times, contradictory statements.\"\nAn attorney for Johnson did not respond to requests for comment. Schulenberg's lawyer said he had fully cooperated with the investigation and is a \"caring and responsible physician.\"\nAmong the other revelations in the warrants:\nPrince stopped using a cellphone after being hacked, depending on email and a landline.\nHe was in a romantic relationship with singer-songwriter Judith Glory Hill from 2014 until his death." ]

[ "Version B runs the risk of overheating the pan and damaging the coatings on it. I've always been told to put oil in the pan before heating for that reason - nothing to do with taste. I'd seriously doubt you could detect any difference in taste." ]

[ "I really like ordering fajitas at a restaurant, partly because of how the ingredients are still sizzling on the skillet when the dish is served:\n\n\n\nWhen food is served hot off the skillet, it tastes hot and fresh; it doesn't have time to cool down and become lukewarm. \n\nIn the same way, the musician talking in your quote was saying there was a recording studio downstairs from an office, and they could start recording something \"the minute we’d finished it.\" That is, there was was no time for the idea to \"cool off,\" and they could record it with the same zeal and excitement they had when their creative juices were flowing. \n\nAs someone who has dabbled in songwriting, I can understand why this would be nice to have. Sometimes I have a melody in my head that I will want to use, but, a few hours later, when I can finally start trying to capture what I was humming, I've already forgotten the tune! I've since learned to get out my phone and record enough of the melody that I'll be able to remember it later; that is, I'm recording the tune while it's still fresh in my memory. (Or, I could say, I'm recording it hot off the skillet, that is, very soon after it had entered into my mind.)\n\nThis usage of the idiom is a bit of an analogy. One might say the skillet is your brain, and the food is the idea your brain \"cooked up.\"", "Oven spring is caused by the air pockets in the dough expanding from the heat. (Dough rises from gasses released from the yeast.)\n\nAfter the shaping and final rise, often times there is a light, dry \"skin\" over the dough. By slashing a dough before it goes into the oven, you break this skin, and the bread is able to expand. If the loaf is a \"fancy loaf\" and you can't slash it without ruining the appearance (like a braided loaf), try to keep the loaf from drying out with a light mist of cooking spray after shaping and before the final rise.\n\nPerhaps the bread is cooking too quickly when it hits the heat of the oven, essentially cooking a crust before the air pockets get heated enough to expand? Baking in a moist environment should help with that. Place an empty, sturdy pan (I use a cast iron skillet) on the bottom rack of the oven (or directly on the floor of the oven) before preheating. When you place the bread in the oven, pour about 1 cup of very hot water into the empty pan. This will create a bunch of steam, and help prevent the bread from crusting before it gets its \"spring.\"\n\nIf you have a pizza/baking stone, use it. Having a hot surface to set your pans on helps with the rise. Think about it... you open the oven door, and out goes a lot of the heat... even though the walls of the oven are retaining the heat, it will take a little while before that heat reaches the bread. Setting the pan on the stone will give you that instant heat on the bottom, causing dough to rise from the bottom up, rather than just getting a small rise from the top area.\n\nIf you don't have a stone, invert a heavy baking sheet, cast iron griddle, or something similar, and heat that up in the oven the same as you would for a baking stone. Invert the sheet pan so it's easier to slide your bread pans on and off the hot pan without having to deal with a small edge.\n\nIf you haven't got equipment to do the other options listed above, you can try the \"cold oven method.\" Just put the loaf into a cold oven, and set the temperature. Don't preheat. The gradual heat from the bottom of the oven as it preheats will give you some of that \"oven spring.\"\n\nI use a baking stone and steam, but I have had great success with using an inverted aluminum sheet pan with steam before I got the stone... and before I learned that trick, I used the simple cold oven method (no steam as the oven is cold!).", "Changing the protein content affects the dough and the eventual crumb (when cooked). So the question shouldn't exactly be how does protein more protein/gluten affect browning, apart from the increased gluten will give you are more flexible dough which you work with more (ie thinner).\n\nThe two ways you can increase the crisping/browning of your pizza is: \n\n\nRoll/stretch out your dough thinner \nPlacing your pizza on a pre-heated skillet before either placing into a hot oven, or better still using a broiler to apply a high heat from above. This will increase temperature on the base and topping.", "If you drain the oil, hot or cold, and wait 2 days for all the oil to drain out you still won’t get all of it out. Just take the engine apart and all the surfaces will still have a thin layer of oil on them.\nSo most of us just get the largest part out and then the ratio of new to old is high.\nIf you really want to make an effort then drain the old oil, fill with a cheap temporary oil and run the engine for a few minutes, then drain that and fill with the quality oil. Why don’t most of us do that? Because we know it’s not worth the time, or cost, for such a small difference.", "You're basically thinking of a tank near/above the boiler that pre-warms the cold feed from waste heat (the warmth of the boiler room) - If installation cost was no object, hand-wavingly it will help. So if you can do it at a fairly low cost, it should save a bit. \n\nGetting to hard numbers is fairly difficult, or very easy if you knew some unknowable things.\n\nA gallon of #2 fuel oil is roughly 138,000 BTUs - if we give your boiler the benefit of the doubt and say it's 85% efficient (a few might be more, a fair number will be 80 ) that means you'll get 117,000 BTUs from each gallon burned.\n\n1 BTU heats one pound of water one degree Farenheit. 117,000 will heat 1800 lb of water from a \"cold but not frozen\" 34F to \"might be a warm shower\" 99F - that's roughly 225 gallons. If you prefer a \"very hot\" 120F shower, 170 gallons.\n\nThat's the easy part. The hard part (or mass of made-up fudge-factors) is \"and what will the tempering tank do for the input water temperature\" - to the extent that it directly sucks heat, it will make no difference (you're still burning fuel to heat your house and water, you're just shifting it around a bit) but to the extent that it \"scavenges\" heat that would otherwise be wasted, there is a savings. If the input water temperature was raised 21 degrees to 55, you'd get 225 gallons of very hot shower from your gallon of oil. If we make the ballpark assumption that you use 17 gallons per shower, you'd get 3 \"free\" showers (13 for the price of 10) Which is 25% savings looked at one direction, 30 the other. But \"garbage in, garbage out\" rules here - while I'm trying to speculate reasonably, it's just speculating. what the actual effect on your water heating will be is essentially unknown until you try it, though you can possibly make more educated guesses by considering things like the average temperature in the place you'd be putting the tank, your actual shower times and shower flow-rate, actual water temperatures in and as you shower, etc...\n\nIf you can fit the appropriate drain pipe below your shower, there is a neat widget that plumbs the cold-water to the shower around a copper drain pipe from the shower, pre-warming the cold water to the shower as you shower, so you can use less hot for the same shower temperature.", "Don't do that every day and you'll be fine.\nThere are two kinds of damage over-revving could cause:\nFirstly, the mechanical damage caused by too fast rotation speed. The rev limiter protects against that. So it doesn't matter whether or not you hit the rev limiter as long as the rev limiter is working fine.\nSecondly, the accelerated wear. If you do that every day after cold start, it's bad. The clearances of a cold engine will be different than a hot engine and the cold oil doesn't lubricate well. But, do it once and the wear doesn't accumulate too much.", "There are two main things about tranny fluid:\n\n\nTransmission fluid is checked when it's hot (up to running temperature). As the fluid gets up to temperature it expands. If the fluid is cold, it won't give the proper level reading, thus overfilling will ensue.\nOne of the main fluid compartments of the transmission is the torque converter. When full, the fluid level of the torque converter is much higher than is the level of the pan (almost entirely above the pan in most cases). Due to this, when the engine is stopped, a significant amount of the fluid will drain down into the pan, showing the wrong amount of fluid on the dipstick. With the engine running, not only is the transmission paths filled with fluid, but the torque converter is as well. Then a check of the fluid will give you a proper level. \n\n\nChecking engine oil is a lot different. It needs to be checked when it's in the oil pan. In order for it to be in the oil pan, it needs to drain after it's been up in the engine. This takes a little bit of time. Engine oil doesn't expand as much as transmission fluid, so can be checked hot or cold. While engine oil is important to how an engine operates, the level isn't as imperative as transmission fluid. Transmissions are very sensitive to line pressure. As you get more transmission fluid into the transmission, the pressures rise. If left unchecked, the fluid will find an escape hatch somewhere and that somewhere is usually a seal. Blowing out the front main seal (or where the torque converter rides) requires a transmission pull to fix. This isn't something you want to do every day. \n\nEngines don't have the pressure effect which transmissions do. The pressure is regulated at the pump and mainly needs to have oil flow in order to operate efficiently. Most engine manufacturers are good down to even 5psi of oil pressure. There is also a lot of space in an engine for oil to hide. As oil gets pumped around, it sticks to walls and is all over the place. It needs to drain back into the sump, thus the 5 minutes of drain time. Not everything will drain down, but the vast majority of it will. This isn't how every manufacturer likes to have it read, but leaves things in a pretty good state as far as the level goes.\n\nI don't read this as a discrepancy in either case. I look at it as how they are designed/engineered to be checked.", "This is pure conjecture:\nIt's possible that the issue is in how the vegetables are cooked -- commercial restaurants have crazy hot burners so the vegetables are cooked on the outside while still firm in the middle. It's very difficult to achieve this with a stove at home.\nThe closest that I've managed to get to it is by cooking in batches ... an ingredient or two at a time (or half of a given ingredient when I'm cooking for a crowd) in an oiled skilled that's heated to smoking ... and then move it to a bowl once it's cooked, and cook the next batch once the skillet is back to smoking hot again. (I deglaze in between batches, with mirin or similar, if needed)\nAnother possible issue is the ingredients. There are a few foods out there that will break down gels due to enzymes in them. So if you're making sweet and sour dishes with fresh pineapple, you're actually better off using canned as they've been cooked thoroughly enough to deactivate the enzymes. You should also only taste your sauce with a clean spoon (or using the two spoon method), so that enzymes from your saliva don't contaminate the sauce, as that can also break down gels given sufficient time.", "Assuming this is pure raw tung oil* this could be nothing at all to be concerned with, occasional clouding is just something natural to raw oils. But as I say in my Comment above you do generally see it only when the oil gets cold so I don't know why you're seeing it now.\n\nI think ideally you should try to return this bottle to the shop and get a replacement that isn't cloudy. While you're there look at their stock of this oil and see if some bottles are clear and some are cloudy, which would be perfectly normal variation for a natural product.\n\nIf getting a replacement is not possible I would try warming the bottle in a bowl of warm water (about the temperature of hot bath water) and seeing if the cloudiness goes away. If the oil does clear I think you should have nothing to worry about using the oil but I have no experience with this in finishing oils, only in cooking oils where cloudiness is irrelevant.\n\n\n\n*Processed oils don't exhibit this problem if it's what I think it is.", "There are many ways to cool down your body temperature. \nSome of them technical and some others just basic life hacks like wearing proper clothes.\n\nBut first keep in mind the golden rule : Cold air always prefer to flow downward while hot air flow upward.So if you try to cool a place do not try to flow cold air from the top , hot air will heat the cold air and you will not succeed cold the room. Also opening a small hatch in room's ceiling will help hot air to flow away. So having \"wasistas windows\" will help a lot.\n\nA Technical Cool Tip :\nTechnically you can use Ventilators to cool down the room; all you need is a ventilator and ices cubes hanged behind it so cold air can flow in room.\n\nA Basic Life Hack Tip :\nAlways wear 100% COTTON clothes it will help you to balance your body temperature. And joints, armpits, elbows,nape and back of the knees are the most open places for your vessels .If you use and cold things like frozen bottles on them will help you to feel cold fast then any part of your body.\nBut aware of cold burn!\n\nFor your health always be sure the temperature difference between outside and inside should not be more than 6-8 degrees.\n\nI hope these little informations helps.", "Convection is a mechanism that enhances conductive heat transport, rather than being a separate physical phenomenon. It operates by bringing hotter parcels of fluid and colder parcels of fluid into closer physical proximity with one another so that conduction can take place more easily and rapidly. One way this is accomplished is by shearing the fluid near a heated wall in such a way that the colder faster-moving layers further from the wall flow over the hotter slower-moving layers closer to the wall to physically cause the temperature gradient normal to the wall to increase. This enhances the rate of conductive heat transfer. Another situation is where the fluid is being mixed by a stirrer to create thin striations of hotter fluid and colder fluid throughout the fluid. Conduction between these hotter and colder striations increases, again because of the much larger temperature gradients that have been created. This is typical of how convection works.\n\nWhat I'm saying is that the deformations experienced by the fluid while flowing are such that they cause the temperature gradients in the fluid to get higher, and this increases the rate of heat transfer.\n\nImagine a deck of cards split in half, with all the red cards (hot) in one half and all the black cards (cold) in the other half. If you bring these two slabs of hot and cold material together and wait, heat transfer will occur very slowly between the hot and cold regions. However, if you shuffle the deck so that there is a hot (red) card sandwiched in between every pair of cold (black) cards, and a cold (black) card sandwiched in between every pair of hot (red) cards, the heat transfer between the hot and cold layers will be much more rapid. This shuffling effect is what convection does.", "Temperature affects extraction rate, but also varies between compounds in the coffee beans.\n\nCoffee grounds contain a hodgepodge of volatile and non-volatile components, such as various oils, acids, and other aromatic molecules [2]. Collectively, these compounds that are found in coffee grounds are referred to as “coffee solubles” and significantly contribute to coffee flavor [2]. Brewing is the process of extracting these components from the grounds, so coffee beverages are technically a solution of coffee solubles and water. Given that coffee grounds are used in both of our brewing methods, the principle variables are temperature and time.\nTemperature affects the solubility and volatility of the coffee solubles. Relative to brewing, solubility describes the ability of the solubles to dissolve out of the grounds and into the water; volatility refers to their ability to evaporate into the air. Coffee solubles dissolve best at an optimal temperature of 195-205°F [3]. With more coffee solubles extracted, hot brew coffees are described as more full-bodied and flavorful when compared to cold brew. Moreover, due to increased volatility with higher temperatures, the aromatics are more readily released from coffee, giving rise to that beloved scent of freshly-brewed coffee.\nOn the downside, oxidation and degradation also occur more rapidly at higher temperatures. The oils in coffee solubles can oxidize more quickly at elevated temperatures, causing coffee to taste sour. Acids also degrade, the most notable of which is chlorogenic acid into quinic and caffeic acid, causing coffee to taste bitter [2].\nWhere cold brew lacks in temperature, it makes up for in time. Coffee solubles have markedly decreased solubility in room temperature water. Increasing the brew time from a few minutes to many hours aims to maximize extraction of the solubles from the grounds. Even over twenty-four hours, not all the coffee solubles will have dissolved; this is why the amount of coffee grounds is doubled, in an effort to make up for the lower extraction rate. In comparison with hot brew, cold brew is sometimes described as tasting “dead” or “flat” due to the lower yield of coffee solubles [3]. Further, decreased volatility prevents aromatics from escaping from coffee as easily, so cold brew is much less perfumed than its hot brew counterpart.\nOxidation and degradation will still occur in cold brew methods, but this happens much more slowly; bitterness and acidity are just about absent in cold brew coffee, especially if it is kept cold. Though, cold brew doesn’t merely taste like hot brew without the bitterness. Fans of the cold brew method have emphasized that cold brews contain a completely different flavor profile that can’t be found with hot brews. Going back to the idea of solubility, not all flavor compounds of coffee solubles are equally soluble. A good majority of the coffee solubles are still able to leach out of the grounds, even in colder water. The compounds that don’t dissolve are the ones often attributed to unfavorable flavors [4]: these stay in the grounds that are subsequently tossed away. Consequently, cold brews take on a much sweeter, floral profile.\nTo note, brew time does not determine caffeine content, nor does bitterness indicate coffee strength. Caffeine is extracted early in the brewing process, so extending brew time, by either method, would only result in over-extracted coffee [1]. Coffee “strength” is defined as the amount of dissolved coffee solubles per unit of coffee volume [1]. On that train of thought, cold brew certainly produces stronger coffee, given that the brewing process purposely concentrates the coffee solubles. Though, keep in mind that rarely anyone drinks cold brew coffee straight up; many enjoy this smooth drink diluted with milk or water. - Coffee Brewing Chemistry: Hot Brew vs. Cold Brew.", "Due to thermodynamics, the temperature must increase.\nHeat flows from hot to cold, and can not go the other direction.\nIf there is a cold pocket between the (hot) core and the (hot) atmosphere of Venus, heat will flow into it. For it to remain cold, this heat would have to be dumped elsewhere, but since there's no colder place nearby for it to leak heat, it will heat up until it reaches an equilibrium with the core and the atmosphere.\nTherefore, you can not dig down on Venus to find a layer with habitable temperatures.\nWhile there is still much research to be done on the geology of Venus, one estimate I could find models the geothermal gradient of Venus as 25 K/km, that is, increasing as you go down.\nTo find 100ºC temperatures on Venus, you would instead have to go up in the atmosphere, where heat can leak into space.", "You should be fine. Take the cold water off of the line coming into your hot water heater, and the hot off of the line coming out. Do this by placing T joints in the line. I do suggest that you put turnoff valves in the lines from your heater. This will let your house have water again while you're still connecting your utility sink.", "The purpose of these thermostatic (static: constant, thermo: temperature) mixing values is to give you a controlled-temperature output even when the hot and cold input temperatures can vary.\n\nWhen you take a shower, the temperature can fluctuate because of the cold water (water from pipes in the walls vs water that just came in from underground) and because the water heater is \"running out\" of water and getting cooler. The value works by mixing cold water in with the hot to give a constant output.\n\nSo, let's say you set the valve for 120, and have hot water at 140 and cold water at 60 degrees. I'm going to make up some math on the fly and say that the valve will mix about 80% hot water with 20% cold to cool it off down to 120. As the incoming temperature drops, it uses less cold. So when the water heater gets down to 125, it's going to be more like 95% hot and 5% cold. Finally when the heater is down to 110 degrees, you're going to get full hot water and then you're left on your own to adjust the shower handle.\n\nThe speed at which the adjustments happen will be device dependent an \"adding hot water to the cold\" or \"adding cold to the hot\" is really just two ways of saying the same thing. Also I believe that some models only have one \"valve\" to change the amount of hot or cold and others have two separate valves (maybe for greater temperature swings or faster action?).", "There is ill effect if the water contains germs. Boiling water kill the germs, and mixing them with cold water will result in a temperature low enough for the germs from the cold water to survive. That's why in some part of the world, there is some believe not to mix hot and cold water for drinking. It can really cause sickness if the water is not clean.\n\nReference : \nhttps://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-ill-effects-if-you-drink-a-hot-and-cold-water-mixture\n\nThus, its better you to take hot water and keep it for sometime and then drink it.", "Please refer to the Manual of Practice for the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). The following is an extract from that manual:\n\n\n Full-Depth Reclamation (In-Place Pulverization of Conventional\n Flexible Pavements) - Cold in-place recycling of the HMA and existing\n aggregate base layers, and hot in-place recycling of HMA. Cold\n in-place recycling as a rehabilitation strategy is considered\n reconstruction under the MEPDG design/analysis process and would be\n defined as a new flexible pavement. Hot in place recycling as a\n rehabilitation strategy is considered mill and fill with an HMA\n overlay of the existing flexible pavement. The thickness of the hot\n in-place recycled material is considered part of the HMA overlay, as\n well as the thickness of the milled material. Full-depth reclamation,\n however, was not included in the global calibration of AASHTOWare\n Pavement ME Design.\n \n Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide - A Manual of Practice 2015 (AASHTO)\n\n\nHow you treat or simulate the FDR layer is an engineering decision. It depends on how the FDR layer is stabilized and designed. \n\nIf you are adding an emulsion to the reclaimed layer, it can be simulated as a conventional asphalt layer and the pavement can then be simulated as new construction. If an emulsion is used and the layer is simulated as an asphalt layer for new construction, you need to determine whether the default or local calibration coefficients for fatigue cracking apply to this FDR layer. \n\nThis decision will depend on how that FDR layer with emulsion added is designed and constructed. Some State agencies model the FDR layer as a high strength granular layer with a representative resilient modulus when a low amount of asphalt binder (4 percent or less) is used as the stabilizing material (Virginia for example).", "Blown head gaskets are not inevitable, it's not uncommon for example to see PSA diesel engines with nearly 1,000,000 (yes a million) miles on the original gasket.\n\nSigns of a head gasket are:\n\n\nOverheating\nWater pressurising and blowing water out of the header tank\nOil in the Water\nCold heater\nLoss of water\nPressurised water pipes (usually with other symptoms though)\nWhite smoke (actually steam) from the exhaust\n\n\nThings that can cause a head gasket failure:\n\n\nBad design (some engines just suffer from head gasket problems such as the Rover 1.4 petrol engine or the PSA 1.1/1.4 petrol aluminium block engines.\nWarped cylinder head\nWarped block\nIncorrect fitment\nWeak or faulty water pump causing the engine to run too hot\nFaulty thermostat causing the engine to run too hot", "Hotter water leads to more caffeine release and a more bitter flavor as it cooks the leaves. If you're serious about the taste of tea, set up four cups and pour water into them: The first boiling, the next after 30 seconds, and on down. Use a cracker between each sip; the later teas should taste slightly lighter and sweeter, and the middle two especially should have a distinct delicate green tea taste. For loose-leaf you normally use a slightly lower temp, while typical teabags need more coaxing to get the flavor out. There are websites that actually list perfect temperatures and steep times for each individual variety, but it's also a matter of taste.\n\nGreen tea snobbery can be a little like wine snobbery, the sky's the limit for how sublime you want to go, but at the same time anyone can drink and enjoy it.\n\nBlack tea on the other hand doesn't have such delicate taste because it's already pre-cooked. (Oolong retains a little of each nature.) How hot you should make it depends only on how much you like the taste of Bergamot (for Earl Grey) or whatever additives are in your tea, how bitter you can stand it, and how much caffeine you want out of it. The hotter and more bitter it is, the more the tea will cover up the flavor of any additives. Steeping time affects bitterness as well, of course. I'm not entirely certain, but I believe that bergamot oil will also start to evaporate if it's boiled, but I assume you don't boil your tea.\n\nI have no idea how it would change the taste of chai, as I've never made a really good one myself. I typically make them from the powders, and I've seen no difference at all in taste between hot, warm, or even cold water, though the texture changes slightly - it doesn't mix perfectly in cold water. Those powders probably have most of the variability processed out of them. I assume this goes double for hot chocolate, since most of the mixes don't even have real cocoa anymore.\n\nAside from the possibility of boiling off oils or partially burning green leaves into black, I don't believe the water can get hot enough to change the chemistry of the drinks.", "The white emulsion on the inside of the oil filler cap is caused by 'under bonnet thermals'. If the PCV is under performing then the fumes and humidity from the engine crank case are cooled and solidified by cold air entering the engine compartment. The cold air cools the cam cover/rocker cover and causes the emulsion on its inside. \n\nSignificant amounts of oil in the cooling system is symptomatic of a leak between the oil galleries and the cooling system galleries. The head gasket is one of the usual suspects but the list extends to the oil cooler, engine block cracks, head assembly cracks. \n\nIf you feel up to it drain the engine sump of oil into a suitable container and check the oil for water contamination. If there is no contamination you can always put the OK oil back into the engine.", "I copy / pasted this, as it is the guide I have used, and it is wonderful:\n\nFirst: Lose the big pot of water. Instead, retrieve a medium-sized skillet (10-inch diameter) that has a lid. If your skillet doesn't have a matching lid, try on some of your other lids -- one of them is bound to do the job. If not, you can cover the skillet with a baking sheet or large dinner plate. All right, go to the sink and fill the skillet with about 3 inches of water -- that's all. Put the skillet on high heat. Cover it to speed up the heating time. Meanwhile, for 4 eggs, crack one each into four small cups or bowls. You can use coffee cups, little Asian tea cups, custard cups or the little poaching cups that from the poaching set you will no longer be using.\n\nSecond: Put all cups of eggs on a plate, and have them convenient to the stove. When the water in the skillet boils, remove the cover. Add one tablespoon of plain vinegar to the water, and some salt. Vinegar helps the egg to hold its shape. Without it, the eggs will become skeins of protein tangling up in the water. When the salt goes in, it will actually raise the temperature of the water. Watch the bubbles. I happen to like the vinegar taste on the finished egg. If you don't, put the finished poached eggs in a bowl of water. This stops the cooking and washes away the vinegar. If you like the vinegar, try a splash of herbal, apple cider, or sherry vinegar.\n\nThird: Lower the lip of each egg-cup 1/2-inch below the surface of the water. Let the eggs flow out. Immediately return the lid to the pan and turn off the heat. Set a timer for exactly three minutes for medium-firm yolks. Adjust the time up or down for runnier or firmer yolks. While the eggs cook, you have the time to make four pieces of toast, set the table, wash the empty cups, and put the buttered toast on plates. When the timer goes off, remove the cover. Ah! Lift each perfectly poached egg from the water with a slotted spoon, but hold it over the skillet briefly to let any water clinging to the egg drain off. Gently lay an egg on each piece of toast. And there you have it. Perfect poached eggs actually cooked in residual heat and not in the literal sense of the term, poached at all.", "Probably a failed/stuck/jammed check valve, if this was the typical (maketh me shudder) retrofit installation where the hot water recirculation line is the cold water line. That makes the proper operation utterly dependent on the check valve, or the cold water line can happily backfeed into the hot water.\n\nThe less-shudder-inducing system I prefer is a dedicated recirculation return line, but that can be hard to retrofit (and can have the same problem, if a bit less, since it normally returns to the cold side of the hot water heater.)", "Everybody is free to use any model they want of course, the question is - will that model be useful or not. \nIf backward elimination process excluded dummy variable for temp=cold then all it means is just that your model 'needs' only two levels of temp to operate:\n\n\nmoderate or cold, when dummy variable for hot=0 \nhot, when dummy variable for hot=1\n\n\nSo your model does not distinguishes between temp being moderate or cold, the only thing that matters is whether temp is hot.\n\nI suppose that if categorial variable in question was made from quantitative by domain splitting then you might look into choosing another splitting policy, for example made it to temp be one of {very hot, moderate hot, ModerateOrCold}", "It's normal for some separation to occur, especially based on the makeup/composition of the sauce is. \n\n\nIf it's a regular long-cooked vinegar and water hot sauce, then there would be very little separation that would occur. \nIf it's a vinegar and oil based hot sauce, then there would be quite a lot of separation. \nIf it's a vinegar based hot sauce, but made with peppers that are very oily (habanero, hungarians, etc) and it was not made in a long-cook format, then there would be a slight separation if left unshaken for a few days. \n\n\nRemember that most hot sauces are vinegar based, with either water, juice or oil as an accompaniment, so some separation is expected, and is typically not indicative of a hot sauce gone bad.\n\nAs an example, back when I was still producing hot sauces, I had two long-cooked hot sauces (each about 4 hour simmer). One was an apple-juice and vinegar based sauce with jalapenos and lots of spices (more of a flavorful sauce than an extremely spicy sauce). The other was a vinegar and olive oil based sauce with bhut jolokia and habanero peppers. The juice and vinegar sauce suffered from nearly no separation whatsoever, as the peppers and spices were extremely well incorporated into the liquids by the long simmer time AND all the solids being ground and liquified as much as possible. The vinegar+water and oil based sauce suffered from quite a lot of separation, as the ingredients were not only not liquified, but the base by their nature tended to separate.", "That 1500W is the maximum motor power of a front-loading washing machine, relative to the maximum of a top-loading washing machine. Front-loading washing machines only use that much power when doing high-speed spinning, and that's only a small part of the cycle; generally they're just gently turning the wash over. More significantly, front-loaders use much less water, and specifically much less hot water, saving heating energy as well as clean water. \n\nAnother reason for a high peak load may be that it's a cold-fill-only unit. These are designed to only draw cold water, using their own heating unit for when a warm or hot wash is desired. Of course, this uses energy, but in return saves the energy that would be used by your hot water heater. This may seem like a wash [sorry about that] but the hookup is simpler, which can be important in large buildings. More importantly, if the washer is a long way from the hot water supply then there may be more water in the pipe than the washer uses to fill itself. In that case, a hot-and-cold unit would try to fill itself with hot water, but just get the cold water from the pipe, leaving the new hot water slowly cooling in the pipe, ready to be cold for the next load. A cold-fill-only unit would just heat the water it needed, leaving you with the desired temperature wash and no wasted heat.\n\nFinally, with that powerful motor the final spin is much faster, and so they extract much more water from the clothes before they go into the dryer, so the dryer will use far less energy (electricity or gas) to dry them.", "You can try switching to cold brew coffee which is reportedly 67% less acidic than regular brewed coffee. \n\nRegarding the caffeine amount, Wikipedia notes:\n\n\n Although less caffeine is extracted with the cold brew method, a higher coffee-to-water ratio is often used, between 2 and 2 1/2 times. This may compensate for this difference in solubility, resulting in a brew with equal, if not more, caffeine (although this is unlikely)\n\n\nAdditionally, despite the name, cold brew coffee can be enjoyed hot as well. Cold brew is essentially a coffee concentrate if steeped long enough. You can cut your cold brew with boiling water and serve it hot (Source), so you don't need to necessarily change the way you enjoy your coffee (if you enjoy it hot). \n\nHope this is helpful!", "Would tung oil normally stand up to that kind of thing? \n\n\nNo. Oil finishes just don't offer the protection that other finishes can (not will, can; it depends on how they're applied) despite any claims to the contrary from manufacturers/marketers and enthusiastic users.\n\nThis is because oil finishes are inherently thin. Very, very thin. Most of the buildup (what little there is) occurs in the wood fibres, literally at a microscopic level, with almost no surface film being developed. It is a surface film that imparts resistance to water and stain intrusion, and simultaneously scratch-resistance.\n\nIn addition, any plate like this should be washed, just as all wooden items used for direct food contact should be, with the possible exception of bread boards. And this washing will naturally wear the surface down so over time protection will diminish. You've seen this already in a compressed timeframe trying to scrub the stain out, and something like the same rough surface you ended up with will eventually be the lot of the entire plate1. \n\nSo as not to sugar-coat this at all, you can see some degradation of the surface of oiled items with a single washing. Add in a realistic reminder that use of eating utensils including just spoons, even wooden ones, will at some point dent or actually scratch the surface and these dents or scratches undermine the finish. So, with an oiled item expect that water will make it through to the surface eventually.\n\n\n Will it keep resisting stains if the food put on it is warm/hot (up to 140 degrees)? \n\n\nHeat softens cured oil so you can expect that a pure-tung-oil finish won't respond as well when warm or hot as at room temperature or cold (the softening comes with an expansion, which 'opens up' the cured oil and make it more permeable).\n\n\n Or did I just not 'cure' the plate long enough?\n\n\nYou may be able to expect slightly better performance after a month or more. But the above comments about the relative weakness of oil finishes will still apply. You need something less permeable, and more of it, to actually impart any real resistance to water and stains.\n\n\n If tung oil really isn't going to protect the plate from anything warm/hot, is there anything out there that will and is a \"natural\" product? Don't laugh here\n\n\nI don't consider it a laughing matter as there are masses of ill-informed peeps out there giving people well-meaning but misguided (and in some cases potentially dangerous2) advice on this issue. On what is or isn't a food-safe issue, the real answer will I'm sure surprise you as it does most people. \n\nSee the brief summary in this previous Answer. Flexner has continued to emphasise this point in subsequent pieces.\n\n\n and the only one that I've found so far that all the \"internet experts\" seem to agree on is tung oil\n\n\nYou should also find similar widespread, but not universal, agreement on the safety of mineral oil (UK: liquid paraffin), one or other waxes and blends of the two3 such as \"spoon butter\".\n\n\n\nSo in case it's not clear you are basically out of luck here, you're seeking a unicorn finish. There is nothing that most people would find acceptable that will give a close-to-the wood appearance (no surface film, which looks and feels most natural) while providing good or excellent resistance to water and stains.... if there were I suggest it would already be in widespread or nearly universal use!\n\nJust to mention in closing, wooden trenchers and other food-service items would often (perhaps nearly always) have been used bare. In many cases this would have been done for no other reason than economy, but it was likely found through experience that it wasn't necessary anyway. They wouldn't have cared much about staining.\n\n\n\n1 Pre-raising the grain during the final stages of surface prep can diminish or remove the potential for the grain to rise when the wood does eventually get wet again.\n\n2 For example, mineral oil is a suitable finish for food-prep and food-service items and it protects the wood and, often as a following point, keeps it clean. It's the last bit that is potentially dangerous as some people are going to take that ball and run too far with it by assuming that coating a piece with mineral oil means they don't have to wash it. \n\n3 My opinion only: you should experiment with waxes, especially applied hot or the entire item dipped in hot wax where feasible. Ignore wax/oil blends as a dead end, blending wax with oil just weakens the protection provided by the wax.", "Your JSON data claims the wrong view secret key for the hot wallet.\nWhen you restore the cold wallet using your data, the viewkey command outputs:\n\n\nsecret: a0b8891884d22bd6e5ac514e79e87011964838c98c8ac468e51194ed2c7c560c\npublic: 3dba4b6f70744a631aba965544ab3a8e04b952775dfb4149003937b7155eceb6\n\n\nHowever, your hot wallet JSON uses f10b92787b01648bd5cab14500f36d5db1fb2391f4a5127a94e99dbdacc91c02 as view secret key.\n\nNote how this causes the hot and cold wallets to display different addresses on load.", "I do not think keeping the heat off until the engine got warmer would help. I would suggest a plug in engine warmer, they are cheap and easy to install. They cut the warm up time for your engine by half or better and also help preserve your engine in really cold climates. Parking in the sun if you can also helps.\n\nA very late addendum:\n\nStart driving! It will get your car warmer quicker then anything. Modern fuel injected gas vehicles do not need long warm up times to run properly and safely with the proper oil and anti-freeze. Anything longer then getting oil pressure is wasting fuel. Warming up your engine at an idle is simply a waste of fuel and causes a lot more wear on your engine then driving away.\n\nIn extreme cold like sub zero temps one should be using engine heaters to avoid frozen radiators and oil turning to a grease like gunk. If you have the engine heater you do not need to warm a modern fuel injected engine beyond a very short time in extreme cold. Also extreme cold is very dangerous to drive in and unless you really need to, don't.\n\nDiesel engines are a little different. Diesel combusts poorly when the engine is cold. In a cold diesel the performance can be so bad that driving could be unsafe, and fuel is wasted.", "Some airlines (I know one at least) do serve ice cold towels for flights departing from hot countries where there is no jetway and people are transported to the plane by bus.\n\nUsually the passengers will arrive on the plane sweaty and feeling hot and the last thing they need is a hot towel! So instead they get served an ice cold towel.", "Cold Brew Coffee - A Brief look at Flavor Profiles\n\nMy company builds flavor profiling and quality control tools for the craft beverage industry, using machine learning, data science, and analytical chemistry - let's use some of our 20,000+ coffee reviews to answer this question with data.\n\nIt has been claimed for some time that cold brew as a method of extracting coffee only exists to minimize the amount of acidity in the flavor profile. This is only a third of the story, and may not be true for the coffee you brew or consume! \n\nSo what is the full story? Read on! \n\n\n\nAcidity in Cold Brewed vs Hot Brewed Coffee\n\n\n\nThese two beautiful graphs show the difference in sour &amp; acidity in cold Vs hot brewed coffee. The graphs show that hot brewed coffee has a much larger range in the perception of acidity - and is on average more acidic than its cold brewed counter part. \n\n\n\nDifferences in Average Flavor Profile\n\nBut what about the rest of the flavor profile? Are people really planning to cold brew for hours in advance just for marginally less sour acids in the brew? \n\nNo. Higher-end cafes and roasters are producing cold brew coffee to target consumers who want a different flavor profile- optimized for consumption at a different temperature. \n\nFor this section of the analysis, I will be using the Gastrograph to communicate complex flavor profiles consistently and simply. On the Gastrograph, the intensity is shown ranging from 0, the center of the graph, to 5 (the outer most point). \n\nLet's look at the difference in flavor profiles below: \n\nFull Immersion Cold Brew Coffee\n\nThis is the Gastrograph of the average Cold Brew Full Immersion Coffee. \n\nFull Immersion Hot Brew Coffee\n\nThis is the Gastrograph of the average Hot Brew Full Immersion Coffee. \n\nAs you can see, these coffees differ on a much greater number of axis than simply sour and \nacidity - the goal is to make a different product with its own unique flavor profile, not to simply reduce acidity.\n\n\n\nDifferences in Flavor Profile by Brewing Method\n\nFinally, Cold Brew is actually an entire class of production methods that involve infusing coffee into cold water. There are 2 primary types: \n\n(Reminder: Coffee brewed with hot water, and then iced is not Cold Brew coffee.) \n\n\nFull Immersion Cold Brew\n\n\nFresh \nCO2 Draft\nNitrogen Draft \nBottled \n\nIce Drip \n\n\nLet's look at the 2 most interesting types of cold brews from the list above:\n\nStumptown Draft Cold Brew \n\n\n This coffee is served from a beer keg and pressurized with CO2. \n\nStumptown Nitro Cold Brew \n\nThis coffee is served from a beer keg and pressurized with nitrogen; the effect is a much smoother and fuller coffee, with a very thick and present mouth feel. \n\n\nThe cold brew coffee you make at home will be much closer to the average cold brew shown in the previous section, as I suspect few of the readers here will be making batches large enough to keg! \n\n\n\nUpdate: Very Short Chemical Analysis\n\nHow do the concentration of compounds salicylic acid, phenolic acids, and amino acids differ between cold brew and hot brewed coffee?\n\nIt is not so much concentration that matters - it's perception. For example, phenolic acids are mostly volatile; in hot coffee more are evaporating, thus you can more easily perceive them. The same is true for salicylic acid (a precursor to aspirin, which is acetylsalicylic acid). \n\nAlso, These acids are more readily soluble and easier to extract in hotter environments. In cold brew not only do you extract fewer molecules of the acid, but the ones that you do extract will trigger a less potent olfactory response.\n\nAmino acids are a trickier issue. The chemical nature of amino acids greatly varies (like in polarity and size, functional groups, etc). Most free amino groups will be consumed during roasting via Maillard non-enzymatic browning. On average, the cold brew would extract more, simply because it would have more time to come out of the coffee (during the average 6-hour steep time). \n\nThis article is helpful: Coffee Brewing Chemistry: Hot Brew vs. Cold Brew.", "Not enough rep to comment, so check this bulletin https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM507379/SB-10057265-3557.pdf and get back to us with more information about the engine, trim, and equipment for a more accurate response. \n\nWhile it is correct that coolant is not usually \"consumed\" in operation, it definitely can leak out from a number of places. Especially in very hot or cold environments. Cold can weaken and damage seals that keep coolant in. \n\nCheck that bulletin to see if your vehicle is covered, otherwise we can investigate with more information about the problem. You will also want to refill the coolant to the recommended level in the meantime." ]

[ "A few men together having a fun time." ]

[ "Two men are eating hot dogs while watching TV.", "Taking pictures of water", "Six children laugh.", "Six men drink beer at a bar.", "Six men standing in the kitchen.", "Three caucasian men are drinking beer in an outdoors cafe.", "A woman standing on scaffolding.", "A man is taking a picture by the water.", "A man standing on scaffolding.", "Six men eat a huge meal with no drinks.", "There is a group of children drinking water.", "Two men are taking pictures", "Two men are taking a picture.", "Six children are laughing at school", "A group of Caucasian men and women running outside of a building.", "men working on scaffold", "The men are taking pictures of the woman.", "The men are standing in the water.", "A group of men are drinking their coffee.", "A Caucasian woman is standing on a table surrounding by African men.", "Two women are laughing at the dog trying to drink water.", "People take a group picture outside.", "The racers are taking a break to drink water.", "People are outside taking pictures of the water.", "A group of people sitting drinking water.", "Men are selling pictures at a stand.", "A group of men and some camels are standing in front of water.", "The woman taking the picture is standing up", "The two men are drinking water at the bar.", "A group takes pictures of cars exteriors.", "It takes six men to push the trailer of supplies.", "A woman standing under a scaffolding." ]

[ "The dot.\n\n\\-Pong" ]

[ "Japanese video games are boring", "Play video games and sleep with stuffed animals.", "We can't pause online games\n\nAnd video games aren't all our problems" ]

[ "I am not a fan of any of the decaf k cups I have tried but this one is probably the best.I like strong coffee and his comes pretty close to what I would expect although it says medium roast." ]

[ "I purchased this because it sounded so good. We love the Donut House decaf (and my husband would not drink and decaf before we found this brand). I was hoping this would be as yummy as it sounds, even tho I had read many negative reviews. I am really not that picky. I love most coffee, especially flavored unless it is very \"fake\" tasting flavor. Save your money on this one. Unfortunately, this is pretty awful tasting, even after I tried to \"doctor\" it up with syrup and cream. The nicest thing I can say about it is it smells good while brewing.", "I buy a lot of coffee on Amazon. I was drinking Millstone ground hazelnut decaf. This time I decided to go with something different, as I like to grind the beans fresh. This coffee is quite good. I brew a half of a pot at a time, as I like to keep the standing time on the burner to a minimum. The longer coffee sits on the burner, it gathers a bitter taste. Now, I've read comments on how decaf coffee tastes bitter... Well my first pot of the day is 'Kick Ass' dark roast, caffenated. The rest of the day, it's decaf. Quite honestly, I wouldn't know if decaf is naturally more bitter or not. I just know what tastes good and what is worth buying. I will def. be ordering this again, I love it! I hope this helped.", "If you look forward to kicking back and the end of the day with a soothing cup of hot coffee, but dread the jolt of another dose of caffeine to set your nerves on edge, Nescafe Taster's Choice Instant Decaf is for you!<br /><br />You've probably already tried other decaf coffees and gave them up in disgust because of the weak flavor and strange bitter aftertaste. Taster's Choice Decaffeinated Coffee is so good that you'll never even know that you're drinking decaf -- it's just that good!<br /><br />Once you try Taster's Choice, you'll never want to be without it!", "Maxwell House \"Lite\" coffee is quite similar to Folgers \"Half- Caf.\" I've tried a few designer coffee brands, and I keep coming back to Maxwell House and Folgers. After drinking \"lite\" coffee for a few years now, regular strength hits me pretty hard. Decaf is totally boring, but I can live with Half-Caf or Lite.", "EXTREMELY disappointed! I received 15 decaf coffees! 9 were Hazelnut decaf and 6 were French vanilla decaf. I didn't order a decaf selection. The selection is horrible. I will never order this again.", "This product seemed like an excellent value for decaf English Breakfast tea. Unfortunately it bears no relationship to any English Breakfast tea I have had in the past 40 years. I will be returning to paying much more for Twinings. This Stash product is considerably more like standard black tea than like English Breakfast tea, and if you want decaf black tea that is stronger than Lipton decaf, this is a good choice. But if you were looking for a smooth, premium-quality English Breakfast tea, this is not it.", "This is my daily morning cup of coffee. I like strong coffee and this has become my favorite. I do not like the coffee at, say, Dunkin' Donuts. In the afternoons, I like Coffee People decaf or Timothy's decaf Hazelnut. But for a good, regular cup, Green Mountain Dark Magic Extra Bold is it.", "I'm writing this review on behalf of my husband who is the actual Starbucks VIA decaf Italian Roast coffee drinker. Because of some health concerns he has been drinking only decaf coffee for well over a year. He recently had problems after having a couple cups of what was supposed to be decaf at a restaurant. We believe regular coffee was brewed in what was supposed to be the decaf pot. At a recent visit to our \"local\" Starbucks, which is 90 miles away, I discovered the VIA decaf Italian Roast and bought a three pack for him to try. He likes strong, good coffee and was impressed after his first cup. He took two packages to a meeting last night so he could have coffee, too, when the rest of the group was having real coffee and drank both of them and came home wishing he had more of the VIA. I've placed a pre-order for the 50 pack available through Amazon and from now on when we travel, he will be carrying a supply of decaf Italian Roast VIA with him so he will know for sure the coffee he is drinking is decaf. It seems expensive until you look at what you would pay for a cup of mediocre coffee at any restaurant.", "This is the best Decaf Coffee on the market. I have always enjoyed coffee but because of health issues I have been restricted to decaf. I tried many many other decaf brands and have determined that Donut House is the best.", "We discovered Lavazza coffee while staying in an upscale club in Chicago. The coffee maker in the room had Lavazza Gran Filtro as the choice. I was impressed by the coffee coming out of this little machine, but figured it was just the opulence of the place overwhelming my taste buds. Then I discovered a small Lavazza coffee shop nearby and the coffee was even better. My love for Lavazza coffee was born.<br /><br />But alas, too much caffeine makes me nuts. Could the decaf be any good? It is! The same smooth, slightly sweet, never bitter taste of Gran Filtro comes through in the decaf. We keep both the regular and decaf on hand and regularly get good reviews on the coffee we serve. I've stopped buying anything else.", "TLDR version: While a pretty decent bean (-1 star), this IS NOT A FRENCH ROAST (-1 star). This is why it only gets 3 stars.<br /><br />Original version:<br /><br />I recently picked up these and the Larry's Decaf Espresso beans at 57% off. See my review of the decaf for an idea of the value of that purchase. The price comes out to somewhere south of $5/lb.<br /><br />These beans were worth the price, being significantly better than any comparable beans you can buy at the store for anywhere close to the same price. However, they're not the quality you'll find at your favorite coffee shop. These are 2nd shelf beans, and at the price I paid, that's ok!<br /><br />Pros:<br />Good freshness - fragrant and oily.<br />Grind well - smell engages the nose.<br />Good crema depth of color.<br />Good flavor - reminiscent of ripe blackberries and cream with roasted chile undertones.<br />Expected mouth feel - viscosity is thick, but not Turkish coffee.<br />Low acid.<br />Consistent Roast.<br />Excellent packaging - won't get damaged in shipping.<br /><br />Cons:<br />Not French Roast!<br />Not \"boutique\" as the price would suggest.", "Excellent green decaf tea at a great price. We love this tea. It has a strong delightful green tea taste and its decaf too. By comparison, many other green teas are too dry tasting for me. And I like the convenience of the 40 tea bag size boxes as we drink a lot of this tea. Its great hot and good iced too.", "If you are used to an organic water processed french roast decaf, don't try this coffee!! I tried the Eight OClock Decaf beans based on good reviews here (and elsewhere admittedly) and was completely disappointed. I felt that it lacked taste, body, aroma and that it had what I can only describe as a slightly bitter, metallic taste. I drink my coffee black with no milk or sugar. I guess coffee really is an individual thing!", "We needed to find a replacement for the decaf French Vanilla because we weren't able to locate it in our area. After some research, we found the decaf Vanilla Bean Latte and decided to give it a try. We like the foamy consistency as well as the overall taste, especially the vanilla flavoring. We eventually were able to find the decaf French Vanilla but in comparison, we prefer the decaf Vanilla Bean Latte over the decaf French Vanilla and will continue to buy it.", "I was disappointed by the taste of this coffee. The first hint came when I opened the package and didn't get the usual great aroma that I would expect from good coffee. Then I brewed my first batch, and it was a big let-down. This is the kind of coffee that people, unfortunately, think of when they think of decaf: weak and lacking in flavor. I know it's hard to find good quality water-process decaf coffees, but Caribou, for example, is a much better choice.", "I have been favorably impressed with all of the Barry's Tea line. For a decaffeinated tea, this one is indeed very good. I have to qualify it ('for a decaf tea') because I have yet to find any decaf tea that begins to approach the robustness of a regular black tea or black tea blend. But if you need to avoid the caffeine, as I do, this a very good one to start with.<br /><br />Bear in mind that I like my black tea served in the English style--sweet, with milk--so for me, the tea has to be really rich, dark, and malty (primarily Assam, with hints of Ceylon and Darjeeling is my favorite). But if you drink your tea straight, then you might think this is perfect just as it is!<br /><br />By the way, if you like this one, you might also try <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002M3QZKM\">PG Tips Decaf 80 Ct Tea Bags - 2 Pack</a>. It's also quite good, as is <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EPUCSQ\">Typhoo Tea Decaf 80ct Tea Bags</a>. But Barry's is my favorite.", "Good green tea has a subtle, fresh, \"green\" flavor that's hard to describe. It's fresh and light, and some describe it as \"grassy.\" This tea is OK, but it has an undertone that is a little off for me. Maybe because it's decaf. I've tried several brands of green decaf, and none are good. Maybe green tea just doesn't lend itself to decaffeinating. I rated this one two stars because I didn't hate it, as one star denotes, but didn't like it much either. I'm partial to regular (caffeinated) Japanese green teas, and the genuine ones are the best.", "This decaf iced-tea mix reminds me of Kool-Aid. In order to make it taste like something, it tastes like a drink mix--too sweet and not very much like tea. It's one of those products that people buy because of clever marketing -- green tea, decaf, low calorie, honey and Acai-- what could be better? Actually none of it is good. Lots of artificial sweeteners, no real honey to speak of, and an overly sweet taste. Not healthy. Not that great.", "Timothy's coffee make several different types that we have tried. All have been of good quality and great taste. This columbian decaf is balanced and flavorful." ]

[ "Dentist Salary USA: Average dental salaries vary within US depending on the state with states like New York, Washington DC, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Hawaii. The average salary for dentists in US is $73,968. Dentist Salary Britain: In Britain, a general dentist earns a median salary being of $57,588.78 per year." ]

[ "Average Dentist salaries for job postings in United States are the same as average Dentist salaries for job postings nationwide.verage Dentist salaries for job postings in United States are the same as average Dentist salaries for job postings nationwide.", "Average Dentist salaries for job postings in California are 7% higher than average Dentist salaries for job postings nationwide.verage Dentist salaries for job postings in California are 7% higher than average Dentist salaries for job postings nationwide.", "Average Dentist salaries for job postings in Boston, MA are 26% higher than average Dentist salaries for job postings nationwide.", "Dentist Salary India: The average income of a dentist in India is Rs.245,355 or $3904.66 which is not inclusive of cash and non-cash benefits. Dentist Salary Japan: The average salary of a dentist in Japan is ¥8,695,788 or $71,732 which makes it one of the most lucrative professions in Japan.", "From millions of real job salary data. 10 Dentist salary data in Tucson, AZ. Average Dentist Tucson salary is $138,779 Detailed Dentist Tucson starting salary, median salary, pay scale, bonus data report", "Dentist Salary Germany: The median dentist salary in Germany, a part of Euro Zone, is around €39,538 or $45,675 with highest salaries being offered in Berlin. Dentist Salary Canada: As per Payscale, a dentist in Canada takes home an average salary of CA$104,516 or $81,758.2.", "How much does a Dentist make in Milwaukee, WI? The average salary for a Dentist is $152,264 in Milwaukee, WI. Salaries estimates are based on 9 salaries submitted anonymously to Glassdoor by Dentist employees in Milwaukee, WI. Salaries for Related Job Titles Associate General Dentist $123K", "From millions of real job salary data. 12 Dentist salary data in Milwaukee, WI. Average Dentist Milwaukee salary is $142,015 Detailed Dentist Milwaukee starting salary, median salary, pay scale, bonus data report", "Annual Average Salaries of Dentists. Dentists in Mumbai make better salaries as compared to the higher cost of living and when compared to other cities like Bengaluru or Hyderabad. On an average, the dentist earns Rs. 2,00,000 – Rs. 3,00,000.", "1) Doctors and surgeons, with an average salary ranging from $168,650 to $234,950. 2) Orthodontists and dentists, with an average salary ranging from $161,750 to $204,670. 3) Chief executive officers, with an average salary of $176,550.4) Petroleum engineers, with an average salary of $138,980. 5) Lawyers, with an average salary of $130,490. Listed at No. 15 is pharmacist, with an average salary of $112,160.) Orthodontists and dentists, with an average salary ranging from $161,750 to $204,670. 3) Chief executive officers, with an average salary of $176,550. 4) Petroleum engineers, with an average salary of $138,980.", "The majority of dentists work full time. Some dentists work beyond normal business hours or on weekends. Frequently Asked Questions. Q: How much do dentists make in California? A: The mean salary for a dentist in California is $170,490. Q: What is a dentist’s hourly salary? A: The mean hourly salary for a dentist is $82.86. Average Dentist Pay vs. Other Best Jobs. With an average salary of $172,350 in 2015, dentists earn far more than most other health care workers. Dentists earn much more than dental assistants ($36,920) and dental hygienists ($72,720). Registered nurses ($71,000) and pharmacists ($119,270) also make less than dentists. However, there are a few health care occupations that have higher salaries than dentists, including physicians ($196,520).", "For dentists with private practices this number is higher and the ADA reports that in 2005 the average salary for private practitioners was over $198,000.Dentist with their own practice can make more in several ways and the main reason is because they make money from the services they provide.his article is for the salary of general dentist. Go to the appropriate page for other dental salaries: prosthodontists salary, orthodontists salary, oral and maxillofacial surgeon salary, and other specialty dentist salary. Dentists make great money with their flexible schedule.", "In Georgia pediatric dentists earn about $207,940 a year or almost $100 daily. Pediatric dentists in Missouri earn a yearly salary of $187,210 or an hourly salary of $90. Virginia salary for pediatric dentists is about $179,890, which is also $86.49 an hour.Wisconsin is the fifth highest paying state at an average yearly salary of $170,700 or $82.07 an hour.irginia salary for pediatric dentists is about $179,890, which is also $86.49 an hour. Wisconsin is the fifth highest paying state at an average yearly salary of $170,700 or $82.07 an hour.", "The lowest paid pediatric dentist earns a mean salary of around $46,600 and an hourly average of $22.40. On the other hand, the highest paid pediatric dentists get an hourly wage of around $80 that translates to a yearly salary of around $167,000.ediatric dentist salary in other countries (UK Australia and Canada). In Canada, the average pediatric dentist salary ranges between 120, 000 CAD to 280,000 CAD per year. In the UK the pediatric dentists earn about £150, 000 – £300, 000.", "Dentists usually work 10 hours a day for 4 to 6 days a week. A four-year dental school program is essential if you want to enter into this type of job. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average dentist salary is $146,920 or an hourly equivalent of $70.64. Job outlook from 2010 to 2020 is faster than average with the rate of 21%. Keep reading for more useful information about dentist salary and how to become a dentist.", "Registered nurses ($68,910) and pharmacists ($116,500) also make less than the average dentist. However, there are a few health care occupations that make salaries higher than dentists, including physicians.verage Dentist Pay vs. Other Best Jobs. With an average salary of $164,570 in 2013, dentists earn far more than most other health care workers.", "according to payscale a dentist in mexico earns a median salary of mxn178 800 per year their average pay is shown to be around mxn149 400 however pediatric dentists are specialist dentists with additional expertise to work with children so they are likely earning more than general dentistsn addition pediatric dentists with an additional field of specialization received an average salary of about $ 200000 annually while those working in colleges and universities received about $ 138350 per annum check also dentist salary in usa uk or canada", "How much does a Pediatric Dentist make in Seattle?The average Pediatric Dentist salary is $215,953. In Seattle, a Pediatric Dentist can make $134,662, which is 37.6% lower than the national median. Filter by location to see Pediatric Dentist salaries in your area.", "In the UK the average yearly salary for a dentist is £29,348—99,423 but there are also bonuses that can be as much as £8,170 along with a part of profit sharing around £6,500. In Canada the average yearly dentist salary ranges from CA$47,266—CA207,661 along with yearly bonuses that average $19,392.", "According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for general dentists in 2012 was $145,240. This means that half of dentists made less than or equal to $145,240 and half of dentists made more than or equal to $145,240. Working in a specialized field of dentistry offers the opportunity for a higher salary. For example, orthodontists and oral surgeons earned $187,200 or more in 2012 and prosthodontists made a median salary of $169,130. The place a dentist is employed further influences pay. Those employed in private dental offices earned the highest salaries with an average of $167,130, while dentists working in physicians' offices made less, averaging $149,300.", "With an average salary of $172,350 in 2015, dentists earn far more than most other health-care workers. Dentists earn much more than dental assistants ($36,920) and dental hygienists ($72,720). Registered nurses ($71,000) and pharmacists ($119,270) also make less than the average dentist. However, there are a few health-care occupations that have higher salaries than dentists, including physicians ($196,520).", "job dentist salary the average salary is about $ 140000 a year depending on the location and size of the practice says peter doig president of the canadian dental associationhe said the median income across canada is about $ 120000ob dentist salary the average salary is about $ 140000 a year depending on the location and size of the practice says peter doig president of the canadian dental association", "Most doctors are paid well. In fact, a physician's average salary was $196,520 in 2015. Dentists, who made an average salary of $172,350, also had a high average salary. And pharmacists, by comparison, made approximately $119,270 in 2015.", "Range. A portion of California's 12,150 dentists (as of May 2009) earned higher-than-average salaries. The BLS cites salaries for both the 75th and 90th percentile of earners to be above $166,400 per year.ange. A portion of California's 12,150 dentists (as of May 2009) earned higher-than-average salaries. The BLS cites salaries for both the 75th and 90th percentile of earners to be above $166,400 per year.", "in fact a physician s average salary was $ 188440 in 2013 which was higher than any other salary in our best health care jobs list dentists who made an average salary of $ 164570 had the next highest salary", "Canada[3]. A typical full-time annual salary for Dentist in Canada is of $120,000 – $180,000. According to the latest figures, the highest hourly average wages are earned in Stratford / Bruce Peninsula, Ontario at $188.62 per hour and the lowest average wages are earned in Montreal, Quebec at $23.72 per hour.ccording to the ADA there are over 157,000 dentists in private practice earning an average net salary just over $180,000 per year as of 2011. Over half of all the dentists are self-employed or in a private practice setting. The US Bureau of Labor tracks 93,500 dentists as employed.", "With owner dentists' salaries included as a cost, practice expenses average around 90 percent of gross billings, dropping the profit margin down to 10 percent.ith owner dentists' salaries included as a cost, practice expenses average around 90 percent of gross billings, dropping the profit margin down to 10 percent.", "This rise is below the level of inflation. However, the average net salary in Spain is much higher although this depends upon the sector that you are working in. For example, the average monthly salary for a dentist in Spain is around €13,500.his rise is below the level of inflation. However, the average net salary in Spain is much higher although this depends upon the sector that you are working in. For example, the average monthly salary for a dentist in Spain is around €13,500.", "Spain-Salaries. It is considered that salaries in Spain are much lower than those in the UK and the US.owever, the average net salary in Spain is much higher although this depends upon the sector that you are working in. For example, the average monthly salary for a dentist in Spain is around €13,500.", "CRNA Average Salary. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the projected median national salary for a CRNA in 2014-15 is $148,160. The mean annual nurse anesthetist salary as reported in May of 2013 was $157,690.CRNA starting salaries can vary widely, but tend to be closer to $100,000-$120,000.hese salary ranges are all for full-time certified registered nurse anesthetists. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that the top paying locations for CRNAs were specialty hospitals with an average salary of $174,850, and offices of dentists, with an average salary of $179,570.", "Specialist Salaries. As you might expect, specialists such as pediatric dentists earn higher salaries than generalists. In 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the average salary of a specialist at $168,000 a year.The median wage is a little less than this, coming in at $162,260 a year.pecialist Salaries. As you might expect, specialists such as pediatric dentists earn higher salaries than generalists. In 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the average salary of a specialist at $168,000 a year.", "comments. The average salary for an NHS dentist has topped £100,000. The average salary for an NHS dentist has topped £100,000 for the first time. Their pay soared by around 13 per cent last year-nearly three times the rate of inflation-following the new contract introduced by the Government to improve efficiency." ]

[ "A Primitive Baptist hymn singer once said to me that she thought all of the old tunes sung in that tradition came from the Outer Hebrides and other Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland. Based on what I knew about Baptist origins in southern Britain, it seemed unlikely. She told me I should just listen to some of the singers from the region. So, I bought this CD.\n\n Well, I don't know if there is much to that sort of speculation, but the similarity between the two traditions is more than a little uncanny. The homophonic chant of a congregation following the leader as he lines out each line sounds at once familiar and other-worldly. To anyone who is familiar with Scottish psalmody, this record will be a shock. Tunes which bear identical names to those found in the Scottish Psalter bear almost no sonic resemblance to them. It may be that the \"bones\" of the tune have been lost through the weaving melismas that have passed through the oral tradition, but I cannot hear even a hint of the tunes I know by the names \"Coleshill\" or \"Martyrdom.\"\n\n Listening to this wonderful disc, I could not help wondering if this was the sound that Burns had in mind when he wrote:\n\n \"They chant their artless notes in simple guise,\n\n They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim;\n\n Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise;\n\n Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name;\n\n Or noble Elgin beets the heaven-ward flame;\n\n The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays:\n\n Compar'd with these, Italian trills are tame\"\n\n Compared with Gaelic psalmody, the Lowland tunes are tame!\n\n I love this disc and would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the fringes Christian hymnody, or to anyone who has been enchanted by the singing of the Old Regular and Primitive Baptists of Appalachia. The melodies are full of pathos and depth - a far cry from \"Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam.\"" ]

[ "We bought this to replace our ancient Black & Decker toaster oven/broiler when we moved. It does not even come close to being as good as the B & D. It has a dial that supposedly helps you determine how dark the toast should be - well, half the time, the dial does not work. You stop hearing the ticking sound and if you're not paying very close attention, your stuff gets burned! It's a waste of money. Don't bother, no matter how cheap.", "An ancient (2009) netbook came with 1GB RAM. Replaced that with this instead. Works fine, no complaints.", "Worked just as expected! These replaced some ANCIENT generic speakers in Philips cabinets. They sound much better and provide a little more bass.", "Love this travel wet towel. I used it on a cruise and it dried so quickly when haunting on hook. I used it as a hair towel and it works wonders for sucking the water out of hair.", "Jumps stations frequently. Skips stations my ancient radios get. Even when it stays on a station it jerks volume, like 50%.", "Philosophy sounds like dry, ancient wisdom to modern youth - but it takes a different, more contemporary approach when led by hip-hop fans who have studied the pursuit of wisdom and come up with contemporary associations. HIP HOP & PHILOSOPHY: RHYME 2 REASON pairs great philosophers and their works to rap classics by Lauryn Hill, OutKast and others to show rap can help uncover the meaning of such philosophers as Plato. A delightful, fun presentation invites young college students to understand underlying meanings in both ancient and modern texts." ]

[ "You can also treat the nausea and vomiting of morning sickness with food and other items from your kitchen. For more on these home remedies, read on. Crackers. Crackers are a pregnant woman's prize possession (food-wise). They are portable, easy to digest, and inexpensive, and in many cases, they nip nausea in the bud.", "The following herbs have been rated Likely Safe or Possibly Safe for use during pregnancy:4. 1 Red Raspberry Leaf – Rich in iron, this herb has helped tone the uterus, increase milk production, decrease nausea, and ease labor pains. 2 Peppermint Leaf – Helpful in relieving nausea/morning sickness and flatulence." ]

[ "Although herbs are natural, not all herbs are safe to take during pregnancy. The FDA urges pregnant women not to take any herbal products without talking to their health care provider first. Women are also urged to consult a trained and experienced herbalist (or other professional who is trained to work with herbs) if they want to take herbs during their pregnancy.", "There are some prescription nausea medications that are safe for use during pregnancy. Phenergan, the brand name for promethazine, is an antihistamine that's commonly prescribed for pregnancy-related nausea. Other medications your doctor might prescribe are Compazine, Tigan or Reglan.", "Herbs of Caution while Pregnant. Depending on the source, some information will list a herb as safe to consume during pregnancy, whereas another source may list the same herb as unsafe. Therefore, it is best to consult with your health care provider or someone trained in using herbs before taking any natural medicine or herb during pregnancy.", "The following herbs should not be used during pregnancy. If you have questions about an herb or what is a safe amount, avoid the herb or ask an herbal practitioner or homeopathic doctor.", "Some believe that since most herbs are not proven safe during pregnancy, they should be entirely avoided, while others see certain herbs more as foods that can provide an additional source of nutrition during pregnancy, or as tonics which can encourage and support optimal pregnancy health and uterine function.", "There are some herbs that should not be taken during pregnancy. Natural herbs and pregnancy make for a good complement in most cases. There are some herbs that should not be taken during pregnancy.", "Pregnant women may wonder, Is Phenergan safe during pregnancy?. Severe morning sickness is a serious health concern for pregnant woman and taking anti-nausea medication is often a necessity. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 60 to 70 percent of pregnant woman experience nausea and vomiting during their first three months of pregnancy.", "A variety of drugs – in both pill and suppository form – are considered safe to take for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, although not all of them will work for everyone.lthough not officially approved for morning sickness, Emetrol is a nonprescription nausea medication that's considered safe during pregnancy.", "Contraindicated Herbs. Parsley, of course, is not the only herb that a pregnant woman should avoid during pregnancy. While this is not meant to be a complete list of contraindicated herbs to be avoided during pregnancy, here is a list of herbs which bring on contractions and bleeding:", "What causes nausea and vomiting during pregnancy? No one knows for sure what causes nausea during pregnancy, but it's probably some combination of the many physical changes taking place in your body. Some possible causes include: Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This hormone rises rapidly during early pregnancy.", "Lecithin is LIKELY SAFE for most people. It can cause some side effects including diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, or fullness. Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Not enough is known about the use of lecithin during pregnancy and breast-feeding.Stay on the safe side and avoid use.ecithin is LIKELY SAFE for most people. It can cause some side effects including diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, or fullness. Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Not enough is known about the use of lecithin during pregnancy and breast-feeding.", "Vitamin B6 and doxylamine have often been used in combination to treat morning sickness. In fact, the FDA has approved this combination for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy under the brand-name Diclegis.lthough not officially approved for morning sickness, Emetrol is a nonprescription nausea medication that's considered safe during pregnancy.", "Learn more about dealing with a cold during pregnancy. If you have a sinus infection during pregnancy, you may be tempted to take some medication for a quick fix. However, while certain medications are safe to use during pregnancy, other commonly used medications may not be safe to take while pregnant.earn more about dealing with a cold during pregnancy. If you have a sinus infection during pregnancy, you may be tempted to take some medication for a quick fix. However, while certain medications are safe to use during pregnancy, other commonly used medications may not be safe to take while pregnant.", "TONICS DURING PREGNANCY. Wise women have recommended herbal tonics for childbearing for thousands of years. These herbs are empirically safe and notably effective. Tonic herbs improve general health by balancing and sustaining energy flow and focus in the body.", "However, during pregnancy it can be dangerous to consume some herbs and herbal remedies. The information below deals with herbs and vitamins that can be dangerous during pregnancy while a different page on this website, Herbs and vitamins during pregnancy, deals with healthy vitamins and herbs. Herbs, Pregnancy, and Safety.", "Is it safe to drink chamomile tea during pregnancy? You may find a lot of conflicting information about the safety of drinking herbal teas such as chamomile during pregnancy. The controversy in whether or not to you can safely consume herbal teas, seems to lie in the use of herbs as medicinal.", "Wild Yam Brings Relief for Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy. Wild Yam has also been used traditionally for hundreds of years, even by Native Americans, for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) and hyperemesis gravidarum. Hyperemesis gravidarum is extreme nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.", "The following herbs are considered Likely Unsafe or Unsafe during pregnancy: 3. 1 Saw Palmetto – when used orally, has hormonal activity. 2 Goldenseal – when used orally, may cross the placenta. 3 Dong Quai – when used orally, due to uterine stimulant and relaxant effects.", "There is only a very small amount of listeria bacteria in hard cheeses, so they are not considered a risk during pregnancy. Here's a guide to which cheeses are safe and which are unsafe during pregnancy: Safe cheeses in pregnancy. Unsafe cheeses in pregnancy. Find out what's safe and not safe to eat in pregnancy.here is only a very small amount of listeria bacteria in hard cheeses, so they are not considered a risk during pregnancy. Here's a guide to which cheeses are safe and which are unsafe during pregnancy: Safe cheeses in pregnancy. Unsafe cheeses in pregnancy. Find out what's safe and not safe to eat in pregnancy.", "List of POSSIBLY SAFE medications during pregnancy. 1 Common Pregnancy Complaints. 2 Pregnancy-Safe Medications. 3 FDA Category. Common Side 1 Effects. Cold, cough, flu and sore throat medicines during pregnancy. Pain 1 medication. Fever, headache and migraine medicines. Morning sickness, vomiting, nausea medicines for pregnancy.", "ELDERBERRY Side Effects & Safety. Taking an elderberry juice extract is POSSIBLY SAFE when taken by mouth for up to 12 weeks. It’s not known if taking elderberry juice extract is safe when used for long periods of time.Elderberry is POSSIBLY UNSAFE when the leaves, stems, unripened fruit, or uncooked fruit is consumed.The cooked elderberry fruit seems to be safe, but raw and unripe fruit might cause nausea, vomiting, or severe diarrhea.Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Not enough is known about the safety of using elderberry during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.he cooked elderberry fruit seems to be safe, but raw and unripe fruit might cause nausea, vomiting, or severe diarrhea. Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Not enough is known about the safety of using elderberry during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.", "1 Herbs to increase breast milk supply. 2 Herbs for weaning and oversupply. 3 Herbs safety during pregnancy. 4 Herbs that help decrease depression during breastfeeding. 5 Natural herbal antibiotics during breastfeeding. 6 Herbal teas that are safe to drink during breastfeeding. 7 A healthy herbal tonic for all breastfeeding mothers.", "Evening primrose oil is LIKELY SAFE for most people when used for up to a year. It can sometimes cause mild side effects including upset stomach, nausea, diarrhea, and headache. Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Taking evening primrose oil is POSSIBLY UNSAFE during pregnancy.", "Key References. 1 Ding M, Leach M, Bradley H. The effectiveness and safety of ginger for pregnancy-induced nausea and vomiting: a systematic review. 2 Ginger. 3 Ginger root. 4 Heitmann K, Nordeng H, Holst L. Safety of ginger use in pregnancy: results from a large population-based cohort study. 5 Low Dog T. Ginger. 6 Matthews A, Haas DM, O’Mathúna DP, et al.", "Some, designed for athletes or bodybuilders, contain performance-enhancing herbs or drugs. Potentially harmful herbs during pregnancy include anise and ginger -- which could affect fetal hormones, according to the BabyCenter website -- as well as chamomile, licorice root, rosemary and sage.miling pregnant woman. Photo Credit Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images. Pregnant women need more protein than non-pregnant women. If you aren't a big meat-eater, you might turn to protein shakes as a way to get the 71 grams of protein the American College of Nurse-Midwives recommends as your daily intake.", "Prenatal vitamins, now available without a prescription, are safe to take during pregnancy. Ask your doctor about the safety of taking other vitamins, herbal remedies, and supplements during pregnancy. Most herbal preparations and supplements have not been proven to be safe during pregnancy.", "2. Vitamin B 6 can help treat pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting, 1,2 and is recommended by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) as a safe and effective first-line treatment for pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting. 2.", "While a number of herbs are known to be safe in pregnancy, there are numerous herbs that should be avoided. Somewhere between these categories are herbs whose use is not appropriate for daily, routine intake, but which can be used if necessary for brief or more extended periods of time for specific conditions.", "However, when you're pregnant, you need to be extra careful about what supplements you take and what herbal drinks you consume. Herbal supplements that were perfectly safe for you before pregnancy might cause pregnancy complications or harm your baby. The chart below refers to medicinal and not culinary uses of herbs. Several herbs in the chart are also used to add flavor to food.", "While the use of marijuana appears to relieve reported symptoms of nausea during pregnancy (though it didn't impact the rate of vomiting)4, women should be aware of the fact it has unproven fetal safety and other treatments for morning sickness may be safer.", "CLICK HERE to learn more about from eMedTV.com. Levothyroxine sodium is a prescription thyroid medication. When used appropriately, this medication is very safe for use during pregnancy. In fact, not taking levothyroxine during pregnancy (if you need to take it) can be quite dangerous.hen used appropriately, this medication is very safe for use during pregnancy. In fact, not taking levothyroxine during pregnancy (if you need to take it) can be quite dangerous.", "Can marijuana use during and after pregnancy harm the baby? Some women report using marijuana to treat severe nausea associated with their pregnancy;96,97 however, there is no research confirming that this is a safe practice, and it is generally not recommended." ]

[ "La Calabria resta la regione piu' colpita dalle fiamme" ]

[ "At 81, Dilip Kumar remains an institution beyond all institutions.", "The Queen of England seems to be still going strong at the age of 81 2/3." ]

[ "After the commencement speeches are over, the new grads face the job hunt and maybe a gap in health coverage. Starting in September, the new health law will let adult children ride on their folks' coverage until they turn 26. But a bunch of insurers, prodded by the feds, have agreed to start sooner, so there's no lapse for this year's graduates. If a health plan offers dependent coverage, then it will have to offer the extension of coverage, too, under interim regulatons just put out by the Department of Health and Human Services. But, as the Washington Post notes, there's nothing stopping insurers for charging a whole lot more for families who buy coverage on the individual market and whose children have preexisting conditions. Read More In 2014, the new health law won't let insurers levy higher premiums for people with preexisting conditions. Right now, HHS figures 2.4 million young adults might qualify for the extension on their parents plans. How many will sign up? The department isn't sure, but its middle-of-the-road estimate would be 1.24 million in 2011. Oh, and how much will the average premium run? About $3,380 per person for group plans and about $2,360 for families buying plans on the individual market in 2011, HHS estimates. For more information, check out the FAQ from HHS." ]

[ "As the season of college commencements approaches, planning for the ceremonies isn't the only topic grads-in-waiting need to discuss with Mom and Dad. If students have been covered by the college health plan and want to get onto their parents' insurance plan, they have 30 days from the date their student coverage ends to do so. Miss that window, and they may be left out until the plan's next annual enrollment period, usually at the beginning of the new year. \"The [college] coverage will probably end in August, but students should check the date,\" says Aaron Smith, co-founder and executive director of Young Invincibles, a health care advocacy group for young adults. \"It's an important piece of information. They could have a gap in coverage.\" The group has created a toolkit for new grads to help them understand their health insurance options. Continue Reading Under the health overhaul law, young adults can stay on their parents' health plan until age 26. They're allowed to even if they're in school or financially independent, and even if they're married. The only real exception is if they have an offer of health coverage through their own employer. In that case, even if it's a bad policy, they can't remain on their parents' plan. Young adults have one of the highest rates of uninsurance, estimated at up to 30 percent. The health care overhaul has helped make a dent in that figure: At least 600,000 young adults have signed on or stayed with their parents' plans since the provision became effective last fall. One of them is Alexander Lataille, 23, of Laurel, Maryland, who graduated from college last spring and was worried about being kicked off his parents' plan. But Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Rhode Island, where his parents live, adopted the under-26 provision early — and that kept him insured, even as he took jobs that didn't offer health coverage. \"It was a big relief,\" said Lataille, who has asthma. But while federal officials and consumer advocates are pleased that demand for dependent coverage appears greater than projected, some employers are worried about the cost of the additional coverage. Helen Darling, CEO of the National Business Group on Health, which represents more than 300 large employers, said employers generally don't like the idea of anything that will add to their health costs. \"I don't think anyone is eager to spend more money,\" Darling said. \"This is not something employers would have done on their own.\" Adding young adult coverage is likely to increase average family premiums by about 1 percent, according to the federal estimates. Unfortunately, graduating students who are currently uninsured don't get a special enrollment opportunity under the law, says Smith. Those students likely have to wait until the next annual enrollment period to sign on with their parents' plan.", "New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo schooled 300 institutions of higher learning on their own student health insurance plans in a letter this week. They didn't get good marks. His office has been investigating firms that make money on students and has found school-sponsored health insurance plans are bringing in $1 billion a year. And the students covered by some of the plans aren't getting as much for their money as Cuomo thinks they should. His letter warns colleges and universities about the problem, and also lets them know he's got his eye on them. The New York Times reports that Cuomo's office has asserted that it has authority over any school a New York student attends -- not just those within the Empire State. Read More >> Among the potentially unscrupulous practices Cuomo highlighted: Coverage limits can be so low the benefits -- sometimes only $1,000 -- and wouldn't cover a serious illness or injury. Treatment for common college ailments, such as drunken accidents, is often excluded. And, the universities, which sometimes require students to enroll in such plans, may be receiving contributions from the firms. The college-affiliated plans also pay out far less than they take in, in part because the benefits are so restrictive. The federal health legislation requires insurers to spend 80 percent of their revenues on medical expenses, but some insurers Cuomo subpoenaed were apparently only paying out 30 percent. Cuomo's alma mater, Fordham University in New York, offers a \"Student Accident and Sickness Insurance Plan,\" starting at $1,620 a year. The benefits are brokered by Collegiate Insurance Resources. Students are automatically enrolled in accident coverage, and can choose whether to buy \"sickness\" coverage from the same insurer. But, that policy doesn't include important things like \"basic hospital\" care, and maxes out at $2,500 in payments. A more comprehensive -- and costly -- add-on boosts that threshold to $100,000. The policy doesn't cover treatment for injuries related to \"intercollegiate sports\" or attempted suicides, among other restrictions. In many cases, students already have health coverage when they matriculate, either independently or through their parents. The new federal health law could mean even more will be covered by their families: Starting next year young adults up to age 26 will be allowed to remain on their family's insurance plans. Weaver is a reporter at Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit news service.", "This week on Car Talk, can Jim use an old car transmission as a potter’s wheel? Reverse could come in handy next time he mis-throws a pot. Elsewhere, Cindy’s friends say her Mercedes is scaring off prospective dates with guys whose cars aren’t as nice as hers; grad student Christine’s parents offered her a free Buick station wagon, but Christine can’t decide if the embarrassment of driving it is too costly; and we meet Tom and Ray’s new BFF—Sal, the quintessential New Yorker. Sal is a retired mailman, but he may still have to get up at the crack of dawn this winter if he wants his car to move. All this and more, this week on The Best of Car Talk.", "The Affordable Care Act opened the door for millions of young adults to stay on their parents' health insurance until they turn 26. But there's a downside to remaining on the family plan. Chances are that Mom or Dad, as policyholder, will get a notice from the insurer every time the grown-up kid gets medical care, a breach of privacy that many young people may find unwelcome. With this in mind, in recent years a handful of states have adopted laws or regulations that make it easier for dependents to keep medical communications confidential. The privacy issue has long been recognized as important, particularly in the case of a woman who might fear reprisal if, for example, her husband learned she was using birth control against his wishes. But now the needs of adult children are also getting attention. \"There's a longstanding awareness that disclosures by insurers could create dangers for individuals,\" said Abigail English, director of the advocacy group Center for Adolescent Health and the Law, who has examined these laws. \"But there was an added impetus to concerns about the confidentiality of insurance information with the dramatic increase in the number of young adults staying on their parents' plan until age 26\" under the health law. Federal law does offer some protections, but they are incomplete, privacy advocates say. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is a key federal privacy law that established rules for when insurers, doctors, hospitals and others may disclose individuals' personal health information. HIPAA contains a privacy rule that allows people to request that their providers or health plan restrict the disclosure of information about their health or treatment. People can ask that their insurer not send to their parents the ubiquitous \"explanation of benefits\" form describing care received or denied, for example. But an insurer isn't obligated to honor that request. In addition, HIPAA's privacy rule says that people can ask that their health plan communicate with them at an alternate location or by using a method other than the one it usually employs. Someone might ask that EOBs be sent by email rather than by mail, for example, or to a different address than that of the policyholder. The insurer has to accommodate those requests if the person says that disclosing the information would endanger them. A number of states, including California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Maryland, have taken steps to clarify and strengthen the health insurance confidentiality protections in HIPAA or ensure their implementation. In California, for example, all insurers have to honor a request by members that their information not be shared with a policyholder if they are receiving sensitive services such as reproductive health or drug treatment or if the patient believes that sharing the health information could lead to harm or harassment. \"There was concern that the lack of detail in HIPAA inhibited its use,\" said Rebecca Gudeman, senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, a California nonprofit group that helps provide resources to attorneys and groups representing the legal interests of poor children. She noted that HIPAA doesn't define endangerment, for example, and doesn't include details about how to implement confidentiality requests. Concerns by young people that their parents may find out about their medical care leads some to forgo the care altogether, while others go to free or low-cost clinics for reproductive and sexual health services, for example, and skip using their insurance. In 2014, 14 percent of people who received family planning services funded under the federal government's Title X program for low-income individuals had private health insurance coverage, according to the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. Even though most states don't require it, some insurers may accommodate confidentiality requests, said Dania Palanker, senior counsel for health and reproductive rights at the National Women's Law Center, a research and advocacy group. \"Inquire whether there will be information sent and whether there's a way to have it sent elsewhere,\" Palanker said. \"It may be possible that the insurer has a process even if the state doesn't have a law.\" Insurers' perspective on these types of rules vary. In California, after some initial concerns about how the law would be administered, insurers in the state worked with advocates on the bill, Gudeman said. \"I give them a lot of credit,\" she said. Restricting access to EOBs can be challenging to administer, said Clare Krusing, a spokesperson for America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group. A health plan may mask or filter out a diagnosis or service code on the EOB, but provider credentials or pharmacy information may still hint at the services provided. There's also good reason in many instances for insurers and policyholders to know the details about when a policy is used, exp", "Colleges, state legislators and even federal officials are taking a closer look at how student health insurance and medical care is provided in colleges and universities across the nation. In some cases, parents of college students are paying double the cost of health insurance for their children. And some children — who have insurance through their parents' health plans — are finding they aren't covered for services at their colleges at all. Today, students at most four-year schools must show proof of health insurance as a requirement for admission. But, typically, when students show up at the school clinic for health care, they're told they can't use their private health insurance. When his son went to a private college on the East Coast, Bill Beyer, a health benefits consultant for the federal government, forked over the tens of thousands of dollars it cost to cover tuition, housing and meal plans. Then one day, a friend asked Beyer whether his son had health insurance through him or through the college. Beyer got out the school's bill and took a hard look, but found that wasn't much help. \"I couldn't tell by the bill whether I was paying for the health services and health coverage for my son at school or not,\" he says. So Beyer called the school and officials told him that, yes, in fact he was paying for health insurance for his son. The cost: about $1,100 per semester. Since his son was already covered through Beyer's insurance policy, he asked if he had to pay the school's health services cost. The school told him no. He could certainly get a waiver. But it wasn't all that easy. \"I would have to prove to them that I had health insurance on him,\" Beyer recalls. Once he did so, the college waived their health fee for that semester. But Beyer is irked that he wasn't reimbursed for the thousands of dollars he had already paid. He's also bothered that the health insurance fee was buried in the overall tuition cost. \"They make the assumption that you're going to accept their health coverage and they just include it in the overall tuition cost. I think it's backward,\" Beyer says. \"They should assume everybody has health coverage and then if you want to opt into health services, you should be allowed to do that.\" But that's not the way it is at most colleges today. Health centers range from one-room, one-nurse operations at small rural colleges to full-service facilities at the country's largest universities. But one thing they have in common: They charge a health care fee for insurance or the health clinic itself. And, as in Beyer's case, that cost may not be clearly stated on the bill. At the same time, most colleges and universities don't take private health insurance. Beyer says that meant his son's United Health card was essentially worthless even though Beyer was paying about $5,000 per year for family coverage, which included his son. While his son was allowed to opt out of the school's insurance, the campus clinic didn't take private insurance. So his son must pay any fees up front and hope he gets reimbursed by United Health, which is not often the case. Dr. Bryan Liang, who directs the Institute of Health Law Studies at California Western School of Law, says a recent federal survey reported that 80 percent of college students are insured under their parents' health plans. \"If you have the elite calling card of private insurance, you'd think you could go anywhere,\" says Liang. \"But, in fact, at these islands of university campuses, your calling card is not worth anything at all. It's no better than if you were an uninsured student there.\" So most students have to pay up front and then go back to their parents' insurance company and hope the company will reimburse them. Liang says most don't get reimbursed. \"If you have ever had any personal experience with an insurance company and tried to get reimbursed, you know it's a very difficult, Byzantine effort with all the forms,\" he says. \"Most people don't have the time or sophistication to try to get those things reimbursed.\" Liang points to a recent survey that found that less than one-quarter of those college health clinic fees get reimbursed. And costs can really add up if students need prescription drugs, X-rays or lab tests. \"You have to change with the times,\" says Liang. Some schools, he says, are trying to hold tightly to the time when colleges could charge a health fee and parents just paid it without question. That approach won't work anymore. The attorney general in New York state agrees. State officials there are investigating college disclosure policies to students and parents about health fees and insurance coverage. For their part, colleges say it's just too costly and complicated to accept private insurance. Chad Henderson is director of health services for the University of Rhode Island and president of the American College Health Association, which represents college health facilities. He says that for most colleges,", "Planned Parenthood failed to stop House Republicans from voting to end the organization's federal funding in what many critics of the GOP contended was more an attack on abortion rights than an effective way of cutting federal deficits. But the organization isn't giving up on the House. It plans to run radio ads that will initially target several Republican lawmakers who voted for an anti-Planned Parenthood amendment to a stopgap spending bill that passed Friday in a 245-180 vote. Planned Parenthood identified the Republican House members as freshmen Allen West (FL), Frank Guinta (NH), Ann Marie Buerkle (NY) and Pat Meehan (PA) as well as Mike Fitzpatrick, (PA) who served in the House previously. Read More House Democrats and other defenders of abortion rights have criticized the Republican efforts against Planned Parenthood as being at odds with GOP campaign promises in the lead-up to the midterm-elections to focus on job creation. During the campaign, Republicans faulted Democrats for spending too much time on passing the controversial health care law instead of job growth. The Planned Parenthood ads touch on that argument. They also emphasize that the non-profit group's centers provide millions of women annually with low-cost preventive health care services, including breast and cervical cancer screenings. The women's health organization provided the text of the ads. Here's the text of one called \"Flushed.\" Hear that? It's the sound of (Congressman/woman First name Last name) wasting your money. S/he just voted against one of the best investments ever: making sure that women and families can get affordable birth control and preventive health care. X's vote doesn't create a single job, doesn't reduce the deficit, and doesn't save you a penny. What his/her vote WOULD do is bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding to do its vital work - by denying millions of women preventive care, including birth control, annual exams, and lifesaving cancer screenings. And (name) vote is sure to increase the number of unintended pregnancies and undetected cancers. In the long run, that's going to cost all of us plenty. Representative X promised to focus on jobs, but instead s/he's joined a costly war on women's health care. We need your help to fight back. Find out more at www.plannedparenthood.org. Kaiser Health News has a very helpful guide laying out the issues behind the Republican effort in the House to defund Planned Parenthood as well as what the underlying law does and doesn't allow when it comes to the provision of abortion services at the organization's health centers.", "When Democrats pushed through a two-year expansion of the Affordable Care Act in the COVID-19 relief bill this month, many people celebrated the part that will make health insurance more affordable for more Americans. But some health care researchers consider this move a short-term fix for a long-term crisis, one that avoids confronting an uncomfortable truth: The only clear path to expanding health insurance remains yet more government subsidies for commercial health plans, which are the most costly form of coverage. The ACA's reliance on private plans — a hard-fought compromise in the 2010 health law that was designed to win over industry — already costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars each year, as the federal government picks up a share of the insurance premiums for about 9 million Americans. The price tag will now rise higher because of the recently enacted $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. The legislation will direct some $20 billion more to insurance companies by making larger premium subsidies available to consumers who buy qualified plans. And if Democrats want to continue the aid beyond 2022, when the relief bill's added assistance runs out, the tab is sure to balloon further. \"The expansion of coverage is the path of least resistance,\" said Paul Starr, a Princeton University sociologist and leading authority on the history of U.S. health care who has termed this dynamic a \"health policy trap.\" \"Insurers don't have much to lose. Hospitals don't have much to lose. Pharmaceutical companies don't have much to lose,\" Starr observed. \"But the result is you end up adding on to an incredibly expensive system.\" By next year, taxpayers will shell out more than $8,500 for every American who gets a subsidized health plan through insurance marketplaces created by the ACA, often called Obamacare. That's up an estimated 40% from the cost of the marketplace subsidies in 2020, due to the augmented aid, data from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office indicates. Supporters of the aid package, known as the American Rescue Plan, argue the federal government had to move quickly to help people struggling during the pandemic. \"This is exactly why we pay taxes. We want the federal government to be there when we need it most,\" said Mila Kofman, who runs the District of Columbia's insurance marketplace. Kofman said the middle of a pandemic was not a time to \"wait for the perfect solution.\" But the large new government commitment underscores the disparity between the high price of private health insurance and lower-cost government plans such as Medicare and Medicaid. Acutely aware of this disparity, the crafters of the ACA laid out a second path to provide health insurance for uninsured Americans beside the marketplaces: Medicaid. The half-century-old government safety net insures about 13 million low-income, working-age adults who gained eligibility for the program through the health law and make too little to qualify for subsidized commercial insurance. Medicaid coverage is still costly: about $7,000 per person every year, federal data indicates. But that's about 18% less than what the government will pay to cover people through commercial health plans. \"We knew it would be less expensive than subsidizing people to go to private plans,\" said former Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat who as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee helped write the Affordable Care Act and has long championed Medicaid. For patients, Medicaid offered another advantage. Unlike most commercial health insurance, which requires enrollees to pay large deductibles before their coverage kicks in, Medicaid sharply limits how much people must pay for a doctor's visit or a trip to the hospital. That can have a huge impact on a patient's finances. Take, for example, a 50-year-old woman living outside Phoenix with a part-time job paying $1,000 a month. With an income that low, the woman could enroll in Arizona's Medicaid program. If, one day, she slipped on her steps and broke an arm, her medical bills would likely be fully covered, leaving her with no out-of-pocket expenses. If the same woman were to find a full-time job that pays $4,000 a month but doesn't offer health benefits, she would still be able to get coverage, this time through a commercial health plan on Arizona's insurance marketplace. Taxpayers would still pick up a portion of the cost of her health plan, in this case about $300 a month, or half the $606 monthly premium for a basic silver-level plan from health insurer Oscar, according to a subsidy calculator from KFF, a health policy nonprofit. The woman would have to pay the rest of the monthly premium. Unlike Medicaid, however, her Oscar \"Silver Saver\" plan comes with a $6,200 deductible. That means that the same broken arm from her fall would likely leave her with medical bills topping $4,700, according to cost estimates from the federal healthcare.gov marketplace. The main reason commercial health plans cost", "When it comes to health insurance for young adults, the Affordable Care Act made it possible for kids to stay on their parents' health plans until they turn 26. It was one of the first provisions of the law to take effect and has proved popular. But what happens when the parents are divorced? Here's a look at that question and a couple of others about coverage issues. My ex-husband has been responsible for providing health insurance for our kids until the age of majority. My sons are now 21 and almost 18. My ex has family coverage for himself and his new wife, but he wants me to put the kids on my insurance now that they have reached the age of majority. Covering the kids doesn't cost him anything extra, but for me to switch from a single plan to a family plan is an extra $175 a month and I can't afford it. Since the age of majority for health insurance is now 26, is it possible he still is required to keep them on his insurance? No, he's not obligated to keep them on his health plan. Under the health law, insurers must offer to cover young adults up to age 26, but parents aren't obligated to provide it, says Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University and an expert on the health law. Further, the requirement to offer coverage isn't related to the age of majority, which is defined by individual states and is generally between 18 and 21, says Randy Kessler, an Atlanta divorce lawyer and past chair of the American Bar Association's family law section. The health insurance coverage arrangement that you describe is pretty typical, says Kessler. You could go back to court and try to get your child-support payments increased to cover the cost of providing health insurance for the kids, but \"it would be unusual for the courts to be helpful,\" says Kessler. Absent some significant change in your or your ex-husband's finances, or unforeseen and costly medical expenses for your children, in general \"you can't have another bite at the apple.\" With no legal requirement to compel either of you to cover your kids, it's something the two of you will just have to work out, says Kessler. In addition to covering your children on your own plan or your ex's plan, it's also worth exploring whether they might qualify for subsidized coverage on the state marketplaces or for Medicaid, if your state has expanded coverage to childless adults. If they're in college, student health coverage is worth investigating as well. My husband was recently in the hospital for a pacemaker implant. He was set to come home but developed a staph infection and a blood clot. He now has to receive an antibiotic infusion for six to eight weeks. Medicare would not pay for home infusion, so he has to travel 30 minutes to the infusion center every day. Is there anything we can do? Probably not. Infusion therapy means administering drugs intravenously, and although it can be done in settings such as outpatient centers, hospitals or nursing homes, many patients would prefer to receive their drugs at home. But even though most private health plans and some Medicare Advantage managed care plans pay for home infusion, the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program generally doesn't. There's an exception for roughly 30 drugs that must be administered using an IV infusion pump. These are covered under Medicare Part B's durable medical equipment benefit. But Medicare generally won't pick up the tab to intravenously administer other drugs such as antibiotics at home, even though the drugs themselves may be covered under Part D, Medicare's prescription drug benefit. \"It's a basic flaw,\" says Russ Bodoff, president and CEO of the National Home Infusion Association, a trade group for home infusion providers. \"Every site of care is covered except the home.\" Bodoff's organization is working on legislation that would expand Medicare's coverage of home infusion therapy. For now, though, if you want your husband to receive his antibiotic IV therapy at home, you may have to pay for the cost of the equipment, supplies and any nursing services on your own. My wife will be exploring insurance options on the federal exchange in November. In regard to subsidies, we file jointly and most of our income comes from dividends derived from jointly owned assets. I am assuming that her share of that income would be precisely half of the annual total income (in addition to her earned income from part-time work.) Is this a fair assumption? No, it's not. Premium tax credits are available on the health insurance marketplace to people with incomes between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level (in November that will be $15,730 to $62,920 for a couple). Eligibility is based on household income, not her income alone. If the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for the two of you falls within those limits, she could be eligible for a subsidy. Under the health law, MAGI would include your wife's wages and your dividend income, as well as tax-exempt Social Security ", "When it comes to health care, even the seemingly easy things become hard. Take coverage for young adults under the Affordable Care Act. It's one of the most successful — and popular — provisions of the law that have taken effect so far. Earlier this week the Obama administration announced that between September 2010 and the end of 2011, more than 3 million young adults under age 26 who would otherwise have gone without insurance gained coverage by remaining on their parents' health plans. Last week, major health insurance companies, including United Healthcare, Aetna and Humana, announced they would continue to offer the benefit even if the Supreme Court strikes down the law when it issues its ruling, which is expected next week. Even some Republicans say they support the idea of letting young people remain on their parents' health plans. But it turns out that might not be so easy. Continue Reading \"This could have adverse tax consequences, both to the employee whose child is on the plan and to the employer, for purposes of payroll taxes,\" said James Klein, president of the American Benefits Council, which represents large-employer health plans and companies that provide services to those plans. How's that? Well, says Klein, the problem is that lots of those young adults are no longer dependents of their parents for tax purposes. So if the employer continues to provide coverage to that adult child, the value of that insurance could be considered taxable income to the parent. Under the health law, such coverage is not treated as taxable income. As an example, he says, \"if the value of adding a child onto your policy is $500 a month, that's $6,000 a year. So that's $6,000 of extra income on which you would be taxed, plus the payroll taxes that you the employee and the employer would be paying on behalf of that $6,000.\" And while that could be a lot of money for some people, he says, the money is only part of the problem. \"It's the utter confusion that this would cause for employers. Because after all, there would be some 24-year-old kids who are legal dependents, for whom there would be no income tax owed,\" Klein said. \"And then there would be others for whom they're not legal dependents and so there would be tax that would be owed. It would be extraordinarily confusing.\" Then there's the question of whether workers and employers might owe back taxes for coverage that's been provided already. Klein says the Obama administration could theoretically take care of the problem by having the IRS issue some sort of clarification. But he worries that like everything else to do with the health law, even that could get caught up in partisan politics. \"I'm just afraid that rather than a quick resolution that provides clarity, both sides could arguably use this for their political benefit,\" he said. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: And I'm Renee Montagne. Here's one part of the Affordable Care Act that's been a success: Allowing young adults to continue to be covered by their parents' health insurance. It's a benefit just about everyone says they want to keep if the Supreme Court strikes down the law, that includes both Democrats and Republicans. But as NPR's Julie Rovner reports, keeping in place benefits for adult children may turn out to be difficult. JULIE ROVNER, BYLINE: The Obama administration this week reported that because of the Affordable Care Act more than three million young adults who would otherwise have been uninsured have gained health insurance coverage. Richard Kronick is a deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services. But he's also been a health policy researcher for 25 years. RICHARD KRONICK: In that 25 years I have not seen anything like the response that we've seen to this provision. You know, the fraction of 19 to 25-year-olds with insurance has increased by 10 percentage points in a very short period of time. ROVNER: Specifically, that population has gone from an insured rate of about 64 percent to a rate of nearly 75 percent in just over a year. Abby Schanfield is one of those three million young adults. She's a 20-year-old college student from Minnesota who was born with a serious neurological condition that's required lots of expensive care. She says knowing she'll be covered by her parents' insurance until she's 26 has been a small source of security in what for her is an otherwise uncertain world. ABBY SCHANFIELD: Being able to stay on their plan until I am 26 and I have more time to figure out, to access a job and to determine where I am going in the future is incredibly important. ROVNER: But Schanfield is the exception. Most young adults are healthy and not very expensive. That's why the insurance industry has mostly welcomed the chance to add them back to their parents' plans. Last week, three of the nation's largest health insurance companies - United, Aetna, and Humana - said t", "For many young people, college graduation marks the entry into what grown-ups call \"the real world.\" But if you're a new graduate with a mental health condition, the transition can be especially challenging. Many young people start managing their own health care for the first time when they graduate. And while finding and paying for a psychologist or psychiatrist can be difficult at any age, for young people who don't have steady jobs or stable paychecks, the task can be especially daunting. Perseverance and planning ahead help. One of my classmates from college, Sarbani Das, says she had to call over 30 mental health providers in New York before she found one with an opening. \"And, of course, you think, if no one else has an opening, why does she?\" Das, 23, who suffers from anxiety, says she eventually found a doctor. He doesn't accept insurance, so she has to pay out of her own pocket. Das says she can because she has a job and savings. \"If necessary, I probably would have asked my parents,\" she says. But she didn't even tell her parents that she was seeking help until very recently. It should be easier, Das says. \"It's a bit ridiculous. If you can't find a good doctor, it's basically your life that's going by.\" On NPR's Facebook page, we asked young adults and recent grads to share their stories. Many who responded shared Das' sentiments. Some didn't have health insurance and some couldn't find providers covered by their insurance plans. Others were able to find therapists who took insurance, but had to stop going because of high deductibles, or because they couldn't afford the $25 to $80 copays. Some felt they couldn't take time off from new jobs and internships to regularly see a therapist or psychiatrist, and several said they had trouble finding someone who had experience working with young patients. To minimize these hassles, \"the trick is planning ahead\" long before graduation, says Luis Ramirez, the associate director of clinical services at New York University. Counselors at the school often work with students to help them find providers in the community. The school also helps graduating students who plan on moving away from New York find therapists in their new location. \"We've helped students find providers in China,\" he says. \"Sometimes it takes seeing one or two or three different therapists before you find one that fits,\" he adds. He advises students to screen providers by chatting on the phone. \"I really encourage students to not throw in the towel.\" But the process takes time and isn't easy, says Darcy Gruttadaro, who directs the Child and Adolescent Action Center at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocacy group. \"With any transition in life, that transition provides a certain set of challenges. When you combine that with mental health issues, that can be really challenging.\" The Affordable Care Act has made it slightly easier for young people to get mental health care. Young people can stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26, or get low-cost coverage through state or federal exchanges. And federal health law requires insurance companies to provide the same amount of coverage for mental health as they do for medical and surgical treatment. Still, some people on their parents' insurance may not be ready to talk to their family about their mental health issues. Others may have insurance plans with limited coverage for both physical and mental health issues. Many therapists are willing to lower their prices, Gruttadaro tells Shots. And patients shouldn't hesitate to ask a therapist if they have a sliding scale for fees. Still, weekly therapy sessions can be unaffordable. That's what Rebecca Greenlee, 26, discovered four years ago when she left school in Illinois and moved to Austin, Texas. As a college student, Greenlee was able to see a mental health provider through an on-campus service. Finding care off campus was much harder. She got a temporary job working for the local government, but the position didn't come with any benefits. Taking time off for weekly visits was difficult, too. Eventually, she went to a public clinic where she had to wait over eight hours for a preliminary appointment. \"It was very challenging to get doctors at the public health clinic to even treat me,\" she says. \"Most of the cases that they were seeing there were so severe.\" Greenlee says she was often overlooked because her condition wasn't as serious. \"While I have an acute case of bipolar disorder ... I'm able to function for the most part.\" Now Greenlee has a job with health benefits. And she says she's able to take time off for appointments, no questions asked. Even so, there are issues. \"The only person I could see was a licensed nurse practitioner,\" she says. The psychiatrists covered by her insurance had months-long waiting lists. \"It's enough to make people just give up,\" Greenlee says. Without support from friends, she says she wouldn't have gotten through the transition. Support fr", "Few issues are as important to U.S. businesses right now as the skyrocketing cost of health care, which has been rising on average 10 to 12 percent a year for the past decade. \"The business community has been calling for health care reform for many years in a row now,\" says Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. \"We are desperate to get health care reform; we think it is absolutely essential and necessary.\" Josten's organization has a long wish list of things it wants to see the government do to control health care costs, including wellness programs for employees and requiring all workers to participate in insurance programs. But the Chamber of Commerce has also come down squarely against some key provisions in the bills being championed by Democrats. It doesn't want the government to require employers to insure their workers. It also opposes a public insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. \"We are objecting to the concept of a government-run public plan because it will operate on an uneven playing field,\" Josten says. \"It will have an unfair advantage over private plans.\" Criticism Of Public Plan Business groups complain that a public plan would have a cost advantage. It could set rates so it could require doctors and hospitals to accept less for treatment, the way it does with Medicare. Many private insurers would leave the market, making the government plan dominant. With Washington making health care decisions, businesses fear they would have even less leverage over costs. Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, says the plan puts another 46 million people into a program that will shift costs to employers. \"That's not an even remotely satisfactory solution,\" she says. In the past, opposition from business groups helped thwart the health care ambitions of Democrats. Business lobbies have already begun funneling money into ads opposing the public health care option. They will run in five states with moderate senators whose votes are pivotal to getting health care legislation passed. Some Support From Individual Companies Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefit Research Institute says opposition isn't uniform among individual businesses. Many companies are still studying the issues. \"They generally take a wait-and-see attitude, and they don't rush into decisions when it comes to their workers and the benefits they provide,\" he says. Wal-Mart, for instance, says it supports the idea of an employer mandate. John Oliver, a spokesman for the retailer L.L. Bean, says his company hasn't made up its mind but is open to the idea. L.L. Bean provides health care to all its employees, which is costly, he says. \"To the extent that the coverage reaches more Americans, it would have a positive effect on the cost burdens we are carrying,\" he says. Oliver says the state of Maine, where his company is located, has tried to address health care costs without success. Many businesses know keenly that federal help is needed. \"While they care about the details of how federal reform is structured, they are looking to Washington to address a problem that the state alone cannot resolve,\" he says. Oliver says his company is also open to a public health care plan depending on how it is designed. That view is limited right now and much of the business lobby remains opposed. But proponents are hoping that enough high-level defections could at least change the tone of the debate. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: This week, some of the biggest business lobbies weighed in on the health care debate. Business groups tend to oppose the kind of plan being championed by most Democrats, but as NPR's Jim Zarroli reports the opposition this time around is by no means monolithic. JIM ZARROLI: Few issues are as important to U.S. businesses right now as the skyrocketing cost of health care. The cost of insuring employees has been rising on average 10 to 12 percent a year for a decade, says Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. BRUCE JOSTEN (U.S. Chamber of Commerce): The business community has been calling for health care reform for many years in a row now. We are desperate to get health care reform. We think it is absolutely essential and necessary. ZARROLI: Josten's organization has a long wish list of things it wants to see the government do to control health care costs, like wellness programs for employees and requiring all workers to participate in insurance programs. But the chamber has also come down squarely against some key provisions in the bills being championed by Democrats. The chamber doesn't want the government to require employers to insure their workers. It also opposes a public insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. Mr. JOSTEN: We object to the concept of a government run public plan, because it will operate on an uneven playing field. It will have an unfair advantage over private plans. ZARROLI: Business groups complain that a public plan would have a ", "On Thursday, President Obama spoke about health care to 15,000 people packed into the University of Maryland's Comcast Center. It was just the kind of young, liberal crowd that formed the core of his base during the campaign last year. He told the largely student crowd that overhauling health insurance was one of the defining struggles of their generation. \"When you're young, I know this isn't always an issue that you have at the top of your mind,\" Obama said. \"You think you're invulnerable. That's how I thought.\" Young people make up one of the biggest chunks of the uninsured: One in three adults under 30 does not have health insurance. And, Obama said, most of them are just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. \"Nearly half of these young people have trouble paying their medical bills,\" he told the crowd. \"Nearly 40 percent are in debt because of it. I mean, think about adding the debt you already have for college, on top of that, another $10,000 or $20,000 or $30,000 or $50,000 worth of debt because you get sick.\" Depending On Youth The solution the president is backing depends on bringing these young, healthy people into the insurance pool. They, like everyone else, would be required to have insurance, but because they use less health care, their premiums would help subsidize coverage for older, less healthy people. Those under age 26 who are currently on their parents' health insurance would be allowed to stay on, but other young people, not covered by their parents' insurance, would have to purchase their own health insurance or pay a fine. Brian Burell, a college junior, is still covered under his parents' plan; he said he doubts many of the students who came to the Comcast Center to hear the president understand the options they would face under his proposed plan. \"It's going to be a shock for, I think, a lot of people,\" Burell said. But, he added, \"I think it's better in the long run, because it could be a lot more costly for someone to go out and not have health insurance and have to pay for surgery or whatever comes up.\" Chris Ramig, a graduate student at the University of Maryland, was philosophical about the prospect of mandatory insurance. \"It's kind of the same as going without car insurance,\" he said. \"It seems like a good idea until your car gets wrecked, but then, you know, what do you do? So I mean, if you care about your long-term interests, it seems like you would go out and do that instead of just being a free rider off of the system.\" Mobilizing The 'Yes We Can' Generation Like he did during the election season, Obama appealed directly to the youth crowd with his message. \"A lot of you here today and a lot of young people across the country gave your time and your effort to this campaign because you believed that America can still do great things,\" Obama told the university audience. \"You believed that in this country, we don't fear the future; we shape the future.\" Now he said he wants them to help him pass a health care bill through Congress. \"We need the voice of the young people to transform this nation,\" the president said. \"So I want to know — are you fired up?\" His call to the audience was met with cheers and applause. It was the kind of enthusiastic response that none of the actual health care bills proposed so far have received from either party in Washington. The White House hopes to harness this momentum when it comes time to push a final bill over the finish line. MELISSA BLOCK, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. ROBERT SIEGEL, host: And I'm Robert Siegel. First this hour, the president rallies college kids to support his health care plan. And two economists debate the public option and whether it could actually be the magic charm for lowering costs. BLOCK: Now to the University of Maryland. Today, President Obama worked to raise the volume from his young supporters, one day after a key senator unveiled the bill that's likely to be the basis for negotiations. NPR's national political correspondent Mara Liasson was at the rally. MARA LIASSON: The Comcast Center was packed to the rafters with 15,000 screaming supporters, just the kind of young, liberal crowd that formed the core of the president's base during the campaign last year. (Soundbite of cheering) LIASSON: Today he told them, health insurance reform was one of the defining struggles of their generation. (Soundbite of cheering) President BARACK OBAMA: Well, let me say, you know, when you're young, I know this isn't always an issue that you have at the top of your mind. You think you're invulnerable. That's how I thought. LIASSON: Young people make up one of the biggest segments of the uninsured. One in three adults under 30 doesn't have insurance. And Mr. Obama said most of them are just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. Pres. OBAMA: Nearly half of these young people have trouble paying their medical bills. Nearly 40 percent are in debt because", "If the volume of reader email is any indication, people are finally thinking hard about how the health care overhaul will affect them. Online health insurance marketplaces will open in less than a month. Some people who get insurance through employers want to know if it's OK to buy a plan on an exchange instead. The answer is yes, but the purchasers may not qualify for subsidies. Those with individual coverage want to know how the plans will compare with what they already have. The answer: Generally better coverage and potentially higher premiums, offset by subsidies for some people. And those who have been unable to afford a plan or were turned down because they have medical problems want to know if the marketplaces will provide better options than they currently have. The answer to that one is that they should. As I read through the emails, what's striking is the complexity of some of the health insurance problems people are trying to sort out. Getting answers will be no simple task. The navigators, certified application counselors, brokers and others whose job it is to help people figure out the new insurance landscape are going to have their work cut out for them. Expect families, with their sometimes complicated legal and financial connections, to present especially messy insurance snarls to untangle. Consider the self-employed divorced couple whose annual income ranges between $30,000 and $200,000 and who share custody of their children. They want to know whether they'll qualify for subsidized coverage on the exchanges. \"The forms don't address these things,\" they write. Or what about coverage options for an infant whose young adult parents are each covered under their respective parents' health plans? (One of the law's popular provisions allows adult children to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26, even if they're married and financially independent.) This particular couple's child has been covered since birth under the state's insurance plan for low-income kids, but one of the young adult parents recently received a raise. Now the couple's income exceeds the eligibility threshold. Neither of the young adult parents has access to health insurance through their jobs. \"This will be a steep learning curve,\" says Sabrina Corlette, project director for Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms. She likened it to the launch of Medicare prescription drug coverage in 2006. At first, beneficiaries trying to enroll encountered snags in getting accurate information. Here's a case in point. A woman writes in asking about coverage options for her family, including their two kids with special medical needs. \"My husband and I carry dual coverage through his employer and my employer group plans because neither plan covers our children's needs adequately individually,\" she writes. \"Because of our children's special needs, it is a hardship for both of us to work. We would like to drop one or both plans and purchase insurance on the exchange in October when open enrollment begins. Is this possible?\" Yes, it's possible. But that may not be the best answer for this family. Most people can shop for coverage on the health insurance marketplaces, also called exchanges. But if people have access to employer coverage that's considered adequate and affordable under the law, they won't be eligible for subsidies to reduce the cost of an exchange plan. A premium tax credit is available to people with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or $94,200 for a family of four. And cost-sharing subsidies to reduce deductibles and copays will be available to those earning up to 250 percent of poverty, or $58,875 for a family of four. Since employers typically subsidize a good portion of their employees' health insurance costs, buying an unsubsidized plan on the exchange might not make financial sense. If both parents dropped down to part-time status, they might no longer be eligible for their companies' health insurance plans and could buy subsidized coverage on the exchange. But if one of the parents kept working full time and had access to good family coverage on the job, no family member would be eligible for subsidized exchange coverage. It's also unclear whether the plans offered on the exchange would better meet their children's needs than the employer coverage they currently have, say experts. The couple would have to compare coverage specifics and costs carefully. There's another coverage wrinkle that could affect this family. Depending on their income and the state in which they live and their children's health care needs, some or all family members could be eligible for any one of a number of Medicaid-related health insurance programs, says Edwin Park, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. How one of the enrollment assisters will handle a family like this one is uncertain. Under federal guidelines, assisters will generally be required to under", "Following on the report earlier this week from NPR's Peter Overby about how hard it can be to figure out who's really paying for some of the political ads now on TV, Morning Edition has talked with our friend Bill Adair of PolitiFact.com about more of the unfair claims being made these days in those TV spots. As Bill tells ME co-host Steve Inskeep, \"independent\" groups that favor Democrats and groups that favor Republicans are both guilty of taking \"liberties\" with the truth and of not telling the whole story about where they're getting their money: Bill and Steve also talked about one ad from an offshoot of the Karl Rove-founded conservative group American Crossroads. It takes aim at Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, for allegedly voting to cut Medicare benefits by $500 billion. PolitiFact has given the ad a \"barely true\" rating because it \"leaves out important facts that undermine most of its claims.\" Steve notes that the ad uses some rather scary sounding music, which sounds much like the theme from the movie Halloween. As Bill points out, the music fits because Crossroads is using a \"scare tactic\" in its pitch: Here's the ad itself: NPR and PolitiFact have teamed up this campaign season on The Message Machine -- a project to fact-check what candidates and interest groups are saying in their ads and other methods of communication. More from Steve and Bill's conversation is on Thursday's Morning Edition. You can find an NPR station that broadcasts and/or streams the show by clicking here. Contributing: Lindsay Totty and Jordana Hochman of Morning Edition. STEVE INSKEEP, Host: Unidentified Woman: California's seniors are worried. Barbara Boxer voted to cut spending on Medicare benefits by $500 billion - cuts so costly to hospitals and nursing homes that they could stop taking Medicare altogether. Boxer's cuts would sharply reduce benefits for some and could jeopardize access to care for millions of others. (SOUNDBITE OF ADVERTISEMENT) INSKEEP: Bill, good morning. BILL ADAIR: Thanks for having me, Steve. INSKEEP: Okay, first, I said an independent group. Who is it that's putting this ad on the air? ADAIR: It's Crossroads GPS, which is a group affiliated with Karl Rove and some other very prominent Republicans who are using independent money to try to push their issues, and in some cases, attack candidates, like in this ad. INSKEEP: And in this case, also, they put a lot of ominous music out there. ADAIR: It's a good day for ominous music. INSKEEP: Do you mind? Before we even get to checking the facts, let's just check the music on this, because some of the folks in our staff thought that the background music on this ad sounds a lot like the theme from the movie \"Halloween.\" Can we listen to that, since it is October? (SOUNDBITE OF THEME SONG, \"HALLOWEEN\") INSKEEP: Okay. California seniors are worried. That's the first line. Then it goes on to say Barbara Boxer, Senator Boxer, voted to cut spending on Medicare benefits by 500 billion. Okay, is that true? Did she really vote to cut Medicare benefits that much? ADAIR: Well, she did vote in favor of the health care law, which indeed does make some reductions in the growth of Medicare in the future that would total about 500 billion. But... INSKEEP: This is part of the health care law - it's part of the way it was finance. But... ADAIR: And this is the key way that it was financed. But the issue here is it's very much a scare tactic here, appropriate with the music, to try to suggest to seniors that if you vote for Barbara Boxer, that Medicare benefits are going to be jeopardized. The reality here is that is a reduction in the growth of Medicare, but is not, under the law, going to result in cuts to regular Medicare benefits. The only seniors that would see cuts would be those enrolled in Medicare Advantage programs, which are the sort of higher-end, HMO- like providers that gives seniors some extra services. INSKEEP: And so the claim here is cuts so costly to hospitals and nursing homes that they could stop taking Medicare altogether. ADAIR: And that's something that some people were concerned about when the health care law was being debated. But in the past, Congress has done what was necessary to make sure that there were still plenty of providers of Medicare when there were concerns about that. So that was part of the reason we rated this barely true. That seemed like a stretch to us. INSKEEP: This must be one of many, many ads by independent groups that are flying over the airwaves this fall. ADAIR: It is. And what they tend to do with these ads, take a tiny germ of truth and then exaggerate it. INSKEEP: And is it generally true that these independent groups feel more free to distort the truth or just lie? ADAIR: Well, they're more free in the sense that there is so little accountability of them. There are few restrictions on their spending. There are few requirements in terms of providing their donors. In the case of this group, because it operates as a 501(c)(4)", "There may be worse problems to have, but overlapping health coverage can be a problem for young people nonetheless. Many young adults have more health insurance options now that they can stay on their parents' plans until they turn 26 under the administration's health law. If an adult child who lives away from his parents' hometown goes that route, using in-network providers (whose services are generally covered at a higher rate than out-of-network providers) can be tough because many health plans' networks are regional rather than national. Things can really get thorny, though, when someone is covered by both a college plan and mom and dad's insurance. For those covered by more than one plan, getting in-network care may hinge on which plan is considered to be the primary one. Young Invincibles, an advocacy group for young people, is beginning to work with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to update a model regulation that addresses the coordination of benefits problem for young people with more than one insurance plan, says Jen Mishory, the organization's deputy director. Without clear rules that spell out which plan takes the lead regarding provider networks, a young person who lives out of state and is covered by his parents' plan and a college health plan, say, or by health insurance through his job, might run into trouble trying to get in-network care when far from his parents' regional network. That can mean he would be on the hook for a bigger share of the costs. Using out-of-network providers can also expose people to higher maximum out-of-pocket limits and balance billing by providers, among other things. Likewise, a student covered by her parents and a college plan who is home visiting mom and dad over the holidays could get tripped up if she got sick far from her college coverage area. On the plus side, a young person who is covered by two plans may be able to get more benefits covered, if the secondary plan \"wraps around\" the primary plan and fills in where the primary plan's coverage ends. Working with the NAIC, Young Invincibles is trying to figure out \"how we can coordinate those benefits so that everyone knows what their rights are, and help consumers access their benefits most affordably,\" says Mishory.", "A new study published by the Journal of Health Affairs reports the obesity-related health spending has doubled in the last decade. Some economists worry that health care reform could become more costly if Americans don't start shedding those extra pounds. Dr. David Kessler, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, and author of the book \"The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetiten\" explains the seriousness of America's obesity problem, and who should foot the bill.", "For the past year, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have led a charge to roll back the Affordable Care Act, signaling an openness to changes at the state level. Now, Idaho has jumped in, with the insurance department saying Wednesday it will allow insurers to ignore some ACA rules on plans not sold on the marketplace. The department aims to make these state-based plans less costly. Several of the changes are viewed by the health law's supporters as hits to its core consumer protections. Critics say Idaho can't unilaterally skip provisions of federal law, including some of the ACA's protections for pre-existing conditions and its limits on how much more insurers can charge older or sick people. Idaho's approach has national implications because of a key underlying question: Will the administration compel Idaho to follow the ACA or offer a green light that could prompt other states to take even more sweeping action? Idaho argues its aim is to bring people back into the market, particularly the young, the healthy and those who can't afford an ACA plan. \"Our goal is not to take away from the ACA, but to add to it or complement it,\" said Dean Cameron, director of the state's Department of Insurance. For instance, insurers could veer from the ACA rules in creating the new plans, so long as they offer other ACA-compliant policies. Premiums for marketplace policies have risen sharply amid continuing GOP efforts to undermine the ACA. Middle-income Americans who don't get subsidies are struggling to afford coverage. \"States are trying to figure out what they can do,\" said Ed Haislmaier, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. \"How do you provide them with cheaper insurance?\" Idaho says the answer is to skip some of the ACA rules. Here is a quick look at some of the questions that approach raises: 1. Can Idaho do this? Many experts say no. Nicholas Bagley, a law professor at the University of Michigan and former attorney with the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice, tweeted early Thursday that the move was \"crazypants illegal.\" In a follow-up call, he explained that the ACA created rules that — among other things — prevent insurers from discriminating against people based on their health or excluding coverage for those conditions. \"I'm completely flummoxed,\" he said. \"Idaho appears to be claiming they do not have to adhere to federal law.\" But Idaho officials believe there's precedent for what they are doing, pointing to actions taken by President Obama when he promised people that if they liked their health plans, they could keep them. Obama issued an executive order directing his agencies to allow the continuance of some plans purchased before the marketplaces opened— even though they fell short of ACA rules, Cameron noted. Additionally, Cameron pointed to state laws that allow insurers to sell short-term policies that don't meet all the ACA rules. \"We have tried to do everything we can to adhere to and follow the requirements,\" said Cameron, who added that the state consulted with administration officials as it developed its plan. \"I recognize we are pushing the envelope a bit,\" he said. \"We think this is what is needed.\" 2. What might happen? A lawsuit challenging Idaho's move seems likely, perhaps on behalf of someone with a pre-existing condition alleging harm because the state-based plans will cost the sick more or limit coverage in other ways. Secondly, some experts say the argument might include concerns that the state-based plans could pull healthy people out of the ACA market and drive up premiums there. Cameron expects the effect will be the opposite, helping stabilize those premiums by bringing more healthy people into insurers' risk pools through the state-based plans. Insurers would have to pool their claims from both ACA and state-based plans. 3. How different are these plans from ACA coverage? Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University's Center on Health Insurance Reforms, said they are \"in the middle in terms of the consumer protections they provide, but they're not as good as the ACA.\" They're better than some non-ACA compliant alternatives already on the market, such as limited-benefit plans, which can be really skimpy — paying paltry amounts or nothing at all toward hospital care or drugs, for example. By contrast, Idaho's directive says the new plans must cover outpatient services, emergency care, hospitalization, mental health and substance abuse treatment, drugs, rehabilitation, lab services and preventive care. Insurers must include maternity coverage in at least one state-based plan. \"Setting aside the question of whether a state can do this, it would not be a radical change,\" said Haislmaier at Heritage. But, unlike ACA plans, the state plans could cap coverage at $1 million annually. They could charge older people up to five times more than younger ones (the ACA limits the ratio to 3-to-1) and sick people could ", "President Obama urged Congress again today to pass health care legislation by the end of the year. Critics have called the plan too costly and the chairman of the Republican Party called the president's plan \"socialism.\"", "Lisa Jackson, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is re-energizing the agency with a sweeping agenda. Jackson made waves recently with a ruling that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health. That opens the way for new — and some say costly — regulations. Under one possible plan called cap-and-trade, companies would get allotments for carbon dioxide emissions, and they could buy and sell those rights. In a conversation with NPR's Michele Norris, Jackson dismissed critics who say the cost of reducing greenhouse gases is too high. \"You can indeed build an economy around a move toward clean energy,\" Jackson says. Jackson says that the country is \"overdue\" for climate and energy legislation. And she is optimistic Congress will help pass new environmental laws.", "Backers of controversial abortion language added to the House health overhaul bill last week say it merely continues longstanding policy that bans federal funding of the procedure. But opponents say it could have much more far-reaching consequences on access to abortion, particularly in the private insurance market. The ultimate impact of the House abortion amendment could be to change abortion from being a procedure routinely covered by most private insurance plans to a procedure routinely excluded — even in cases of medical emergency. The abortion amendment added to the House health bill has two parts. There's little debate about the impact of the first part: It would write into permanent law the so-called Hyde Amendment, which for three decades has been renewed annually to forbid direct federal funding for abortions except in certain specific cases — currently rape, incest and to save the life of the pregnant woman. Codification of the Hyde language means if there is a government-run public option available in the new health program, it won't be able to provide abortion as a covered benefit. The dispute is over the second part of the amendment, authored by Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat from Michigan. It would bar health insurance plans in the new health insurance marketplaces the bill would create — known as exchanges — from offering abortion as a benefit to people who are receiving federal subsidies to pay for their coverage. Stupak says people buying coverage in the exchange who are not getting subsidies — technically known as affordability credits — will be able to buy policies with abortion coverage. \"I can go to the exchange as a private individual and purchase a plan in the exchange that has abortion coverage in it because I did not receive any affordability credits,\" he said in an interview. Indeed, Stupak's amendment does say that health insurers can offer plans with abortion coverage to people who are paying the full premiums themselves, as long as they offer identical plans without abortion coverage to people who are getting subsidies. But most insurance experts say that's not likely to happen. \"I really think it would be impractical,\" says Robert Laszewski, a health insurance industry consultant. Several health insurance companies contacted for this story declined to comment, citing the sensitivity of the subject matter. Laszewski says the problem is that by all estimates, the vast majority of people who will be shopping in the new exchanges will be getting subsidies, so they won't be allowed to get abortion coverage. Thus, if a health insurer did offer a separate plan with abortion coverage, it would only be available to a small universe of buyers, and it simply wouldn't make much business sense. \"It's not an ideological issue, it's not about abortion or not abortion,\" Laszewski says. \"It's about what is administratively simpler, easier to administer. It just adds a level of complexity they will likely avoid.\" Sara Rosenbaum, a health lawyer and professor at George Washington University, agrees that it's impractical to expect health insurance plans to cover abortion in the exchanges, even for people paying the full premiums without federal help. \"If you speak to insurers in the industry, they will tell you that they simply can't operate under these circumstances,\" Rosenbaum says. \"They need to be able to offer standard products that get administered in a standard way for everybody.\" There is another option for getting coverage under the House language: Women could use their own money to buy a separate policy that just covers abortion. But that's not likely to happen, either, says Laurie Rubiner, vice president of public policy and advocacy for Planned Parenthood of America. Rubiner bases her conclusion on real-world experience. Five states — Missouri, Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma and North Dakota — already ban private insurance from covering abortion. Yet, she says, \"we haven't been able to find any kind of separate abortion rider, and it doesn't surprise us because there's no market for it. Why is that? Because no woman plans to have a catastrophic pregnancy, or an unintended or unplanned pregnancy. Therefore, she doesn't think about buying coverage separately for abortion. And since there's no market for it, the product doesn't exist.\" So, even if lawmakers don't intend for it to happen, both insurance consultant Laszewski and health lawyer Rosenbaum say the House abortion amendment could dramatically reduce the availability of insurance coverage. Says Rosenbaum: \"The consequence of that is to exclude from the insurance system a procedure, depending on the circumstances under which it's needed, an incredibly costly procedure — and even when it's not life threatening, leave a woman and her family with thousands of dollars in unpaid bills.\" Of course the debate over the health bill, and abortion's role in it, is far from over. The Senate version could come to the floor next week.", "Citing flexibility, many consumers choose health plans that provide some coverage outside the insurer's network. Traditionally, the plans not only paid a portion of the bill for doctors and hospitals not in the core plan, but also set an annual cap on how much policyholders paid toward out-of-network care. Not anymore. An increasing number of the preferred provider plans, or PPOs, offered under the federal health law have no ceiling at all for out-of-network costs. Consumers who choose them face unlimited financial exposure, similar to what more restrictive and often less expensive types of coverage, such as health maintenance organizations, impose on people who use services outside their networks. Forty-five percent of the silver-level PPO plans coming to market for the first time in 2016 provide no annual cap for policyholders' out-of-network costs, an analysis by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds. Uncapped plans could lead to tens of thousands of dollars in bills for patients who are hospitalized or treated by providers who aren't part of the plan's network. This year, 14 percent of existing silver-level PPO plans have no annual ceiling on out-of-network care. When new plans coming to market and the existing plans that are continuing are factored together, that percentage will double, to 30 percent of silver-level PPOs with no out-of-network financial cap in 2016, the analysis finds. Silver plans, which are the second-lowest cost plans, are the most commonly purchased in the marketplaces. Not having any maximum cap on those costs \"is what you expect ... in a plan that doesn't offer out-of-network benefits,\" said RWJF researcher Katherine Hempstead. \"You're paying a deductible and then some kind of co-insurance ad infinitum. The average PPO for sale in 2016 is less comprehensive than what was called a PPO in 2015.\" The trend stretches the definition of a PPO and could catch consumers unaware, especially because many people mainly check premium and deductible costs when shopping. Additionally, information about out-of-network costs is often harder to find on insurance websites, generally requiring consumers to click through to an 8-page summary of benefits. But consumers should take that step before they sign up, say advocates, to know what their potential exposure might be. They should take special care with PPOs, which many people choose specifically because they cover some out-of-network costs, generally paying a portion of the bill after a patient meets an annual deductible. The move of many plans to go without an annual cap puts a bigger burden on policyholders. \"This trend creates even greater risk for consumers going out of network,\" said Betsy Imholtz with Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of the organization that produces Consumer Reports. All of UnitedHealth's plans in Arizona, for example, have no annual cap on out-of-network costs. This year, for the first time, neither do any of the PPOs offered by the Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Plans offered through a partnership between insurer Aetna and the Northern Virginia hospital system Inova also have no maximum cap for out of network. Insured consumers have long faced costly consequences for going out of network. But those concerns have grown in recent years, especially among people who buy their own insurance because they don't get it through their jobs. That's partly because the federal health law changed the way insurers do business, including barring them from rejecting people with health problems. While that has helped consumers with preexisting conditions, insurers have sought other ways to cut their costs in order to slow premium growth. To do that, many now offer plans with smaller networks of doctors and hospitals, which can make it more likely that a policyholder will see non-network providers, either on purpose or inadvertently. For example, a patient might go to an in-network hospital, but be treated by a physician or lab service not covered by the insurer's contract. The resulting bills can run into thousands of dollars. And the providers can bill patients for the difference between what the insurer pays toward their care and their actual charges, which are generally far higher. The amount billed doesn't count toward a plan's annual deductible or annual out-of-network maximum, if it has one. Vince Hess of Grandview, Mo., racked up about $800 in costs related to surgery for a broken hand in 2013. Hess, an actuary, first checked that his surgeon was in network. He had the operation at an in-network surgical center, but only learned later when he was billed that the two anesthesiologists who assisted in the surgery were not. \"Everything added up pretty fast,\" said Hess, 57, who said he should have been told that he might be treated by out-of-network physicians. \"I ... have read a thousand health insurance contracts. That's the irony, that I got burned. I don't know how the average person does it", "What advice does Princeton health economist Uwe Reinhardt have for President Obama to resuscitate his health care plan? Talk to the people, not the academics. Reinhardt tells NPR All Things Considered host Robert Siegel, in an interview to air tomorrow, that the president has not been very good at explaining what is actually in the health care bill -- all they are hearing is sweetheart deals and death panel rhetoric. He says the president has but two modes of speaking: oratory and grad school seminar. \"That's good for eggheads like me, but not for people driving along in their cars,\" he says. Read More >> The comprehensive health bill teetering on the precipice right now contains \"many things the American people have yearned for,\" like an end to discrimination against pre-existing conditions, help with insurance costs for small businesses, help for seniors with drug costs, and so on. But, Reinhardt adds, the people are \"not very informed.\" He points to a recent Kaiser poll showing that when people were told about measures in the bill, their support for it generally increased. In the interview, Reinhardt criticizes the Democrats for not doing enough in the early stages of negotiations this year to fold in items that may have brought in more Republican support, such as significant medical malpractice reforms. Not including this in the bill? \"Inexcusable,\" he says. \"Democrats, particularly House Democrats, were probably a little more arrogant than they should have been,\" Reinhardt says. He suggests the best-case scenario for reviving the bill remains for the House to take up the Senate bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week the House did not have the votes to do so, but left the window open just a crack. Reinhardt also has some criticism for Republicans, too, suggesting they have put little forward in the way of suggestions and passed their own mega health bill a few years ago, adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare, without even attempting to balance the budget around it. But Sen.Tom Coburn, a.k.a. the senator who suggested that seniors would die sooner under the Democrats' bill, has his own bill with some suggestions on insurance regulation similar to Democrats.' Both bills create an insurance exchange where people can go to buy insurance, and impose federal standards on what kinds of plans can be offered. Maybe that's a start, Reinhart says Tune in tomorrow for the full interview.", "Senior citizens are switching from privately run insurance plans to traditional Medicare when they face serious, long-term health conditions, a study shows. Researchers at Brown University found that 17 percent of Medicare Advantage patients who entered nursing homes for long-term care chose to switch to traditional Medicare the following year. Only 3 percent of similar patients in Medicare made the decision to go to a private Medicare Advantage plan. The story is the same for patients who required short-term nursing care or home health care. A larger number switched out of Medicare Advantage plans than chose to move into them from traditional Medicare. The results suggest that the private Medicare Advantage health plans are managing to get rid of patients once their care becomes too costly, says economist Momotazur Rahman, the study's lead author. \"When the plan finds out this patient is very costly, there are incentives for the plan to get rid of the patient,\" he says. The findings were published in the October issue of Health Affairs. The shift of patients who were insured by private companies back to traditional Medicare rolls can cost taxpayers more. The government pays a set monthly fee for each patient in Medicare Advantage plans. The amount varies according to a risk score for each person. But since the ultimate cost for patient care is borne by the private plans, insurers' profits can suffer if patients are more expensive to care for than expected. The private plans don't kick people out. But they can provide reasons to leave, Rahman said. Those measures include imposing steep cost-sharing as patients need more expensive care, which is common for nursing or home care patients. They can also limit care for expensive treatments, such as cutting benefits for rehab after a hip replacement. And they can restrict their networks in some areas so physicians who care for particularly ill patients are hard to find or get to. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been looking to minimize this so-called adverse selection — when sicker patients move back onto the government's health care rolls. The steps include paying more to private plans for sicker patients, and giving them incentives to manage costs. These incentives aren't enough, according to Rahman. The agency should consider imposing penalties on the plans, he says, when patients \"disenroll.\" Medicare Advantage plans \"definitely should not be telling people to leave in any kind of way,\" says Jack Hoadley, an analyst at Georgetown University's Health Policy Research Institute. \"There's no evidence in this study that they are.\" But limits on care in Medicare Advantage plans that are designed to cut costs can make those plans less appealing to sicker patients, Hoadley says. The Brown study, he says, suggests the incentives in the program aren't working properly.", "For those who have aged out of their parents' health plan — and don't get benefits through an employer — the best option is to shop around for an individual health plan, experts say. Lacey Schweitzer, 29, a part-time massage therapist and waitress in Denver, went almost seven years with no insurance. \"I thought I couldn't afford it,\" says Schweitzer. But then she found an HMO through Kaiser Permanente in Colorado. The plan costs about $100 per month. Schweitzer says she couldn't afford a premium plan — and she didn't anticipate needing to see specialists — so the preventive care plan from Kaiser Permanente is a good fit. \"I can go to the doctor and do a co-pay. And I can get a prescription if I'm sick,\" she says. Schweitzer says the policy gives her peace of mind. One place to start shopping for individual health plans is eHealthInsurance.com. \"There are lots of plans being offered out there,\" says Jennifer Libster, a lawyer and analyst at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute. \"But I think it can be very confusing.\" A general rule of thumb is that the higher the monthly premium and the lower the deductible, the more coverage a policy offers. But plans vary. And the devil is in the details. \"It's important to sit down and read your plan,\" says Libster. There can be lots of surprises when you sift through the details. Buyer Beware: Four Key Caveats\t Individual health plans are generally less comprehensive than job-based group coverage, says Mila Kofman, superintendent of insurance for the state of Maine. \"They are skimpier and typically less secure than group coverage,\" she says. 1. Annual Caps Kofman says it's important to look at the annual cap on the policy. Typically, individual plans have lower annual caps and lower lifetime benefits than group coverage offered to employees through a workplace. If the policy has a $50,000 annual cap and you end up needing a major surgery, \"there could be a lot of out-of-pocket costs,\" she says. 2. Per-Incident Deductible Sometimes individual plans include a \"per-incident\" deductible. So, if your \"incident deductible\" is $3,000 and you end up in the hospital three times in one year, you'd end up paying $9,000. Kofman says per-incident deductibles are not as common under group policies. 3. Office Visits Not Counting Toward The Deductible Look at how the deductible is calculated. Some plans exclude office visits. Under this scenario, the fees you pay to see a doctor don't count toward the deductible. This means the tally on the deductible doesn't kick in until you need in-patient care. 4. Workplace Exclusions It is not uncommon for individual plans to exclude coverage for workplace-related injuries and illnesses. Sometimes they are broadly worded to exclude coverage related to injuries and illnesses arising out of employment or any activity done for compensation, profit or gain. Maliha Nowrouz, 28, purchased an individual health plan from Humana. Her premium is $90 per month. She says she was surprised to read the workplace exclusion in her policy. \"I'm paying my bill,\" says Nowrouz referring to her premium. So she expects the insurance company to act in good faith. In an e-mail, Humana spokesman Jim Turner explained that the workplace exclusion is \"simply an effort to distinguish between what workers' comp covers and what the health plan covers.\" In Virginia, where Nowrouz is insured, state law requires employers with three or more employees to purchase and maintain workers' compensation insurance for their employees. RENEE MONTAGNE, host: This is Morning Edition from NPR News. Good morning, I'm Renee Montagne. STEVE INSKEEP, host: And I'm Steve Inskeep. In \"Your Health\" today, the benefits of flu shots for college students. First, how to buy health insurance if you're a young adult, especially if you've grown too old for your parents plan and do not have benefits through an employer. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports. ALLISON AUBREY: If buying your own health insurance sounds like an expense you can't afford, Lacey Schweitzer can relate. She's a college grad living in Denver. She says after seven years with no insurance at all and no chance of getting it through her jobs, she started looking into individual health plans. We caught up with her on her cell phone as she made her way from one part-time job as a massage therapist to her next job as a waitress. Ms. LACEY SCHWEITZER (Massage Therapist; Waitress): You know what? I'm almost 30 and I need it. Got to bite the bullet. AUBREY: Schweitzer says she didn't anticipate needing to see specialists, and she couldn't afford a premium plan. Mostly she wanted preventive care. So she ended up choosing an HMO through Kaiser Permanente. So far she's satisfied. Ms. SCHWEITZER: I can go to the doctor and do a co-pay and get a prescription. AUBREY: A novelty after going so long without insurance. For $100 a month Lacey says the policy gives her some peace of mind. She explains her friend did a lot ", "After years of steady progress, the percentage of 2-year-olds in private health plans getting immunized dropped last year. The findings come in a report released Wednesday by the National Committee on Quality Assurance, which keeps track of how well health insurers are doing at getting the right care for the people they cover. Read More Some details on the drop in vaccinations: Measles, mumps and rubella rates fell to 90.6 percent in 2009 from 93.5 percent in 2008. Diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough fell to 85.4 percent last year from 87.2 percent in 2008. Chickenpox slipped to 90.6 percent in 2009 from 92 percent in 2008. Insurers attribute the decline to parents' fears that vaccinations could be linked to autism. Though public health experts and government studies have found no evidence that vaccinations cause autism, the subject has been subject of fierce debate on the Internet and outspoken celebrities have fueled the controversy. \"Vaccination paranoia is out there,\" said George Halvorson, CEO of Kaiser Permanente, of the nation’s largest health plans. But he also said it is unclear if the one-year drop signals a trend. \"It's a disturbing drop … parents are putting children in danger due to misinformation,\" said Margaret O'Kane, NCQA president. Dr. Roberta Herman, chief medical officer for Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, a health plan based in Wellesley, Mass., said her company has seen the falloff in vaccination. \"Parents feel overwhelmed at the current schedule of immunizations,\" she said.  As a result, some parents may be delaying some shots. The study, which examined quality data from more than 1,000 health plans that cover a total of 118 million Americans, found that vaccination rates increased in children who were in Medicaid. Despite the increase, vaccination rates last year were still mostly higher among children in private health plans than Medicaid (for diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, the vaccination rate was about 80 percent for Medicaid and 85 percent for private plans). Editor's note: Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health-policy organization that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.", "This is one of several explainers to help consumers navigate their health insurance choices under the Affordable Care Act, or as some call it, Obamacare. Click here for answers to other common questions. Have a question we missed? Send it to [email protected]. We may use it in a future on-air or online segment. So I have to carry health insurance? Yes, just about everyone is required to have insurance as of Jan. 1, 2014, or else they'll be liable for a tax penalty. That coverage can be supplied through your job (including COBRA or a retirement plan), Medicaid or the VA, or an individual policy that you purchase. The penalty for not having health insurance, at least for 2014, is up to $95 per adult and $47.50 per child or 1 percent of your taxable income — whichever is greater. It does go up substantially in a couple of years, eventually to a maximum of 2.5 percent of taxable income. For more on the health insurance mandate and penalties, see this FAQ. How long can I stay covered by my parents' insurance? Nearly all young people can stay on their parents' plan until age 26, even if they're married, financially independent and no longer live with their parents. Young adults who are offered coverage through their own jobs can choose that plan or stick with their parents' plan if they prefer. What if my parents don't have insurance or are buying subsidized coverage at an exchange is cheaper than staying on my parents' insurance? Almost anyone can shop for coverage on the health insurance marketplace. But you will only be eligible for subsidies to reduce the cost of coverage under certain circumstances. If your parents don't claim you as a dependent on your tax return and your own income is between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($11,490 and $45,960 in 2013), you could be eligible for premium tax credits on the exchange. But if your parents do claim you as a dependent, your eligibility for subsidies will be based on your family's income, not just your own. Is there any reason not to sign on with my parents' plan? Apart from general cost and coverage considerations, there are a few specifics to keep in mind when weighing a parent's plan. If you are studying or working in areas away from your parents' home, there may be no local providers who are in their insurance network, and going to out-of-network doctors or hospitals can be expensive. If you're healthy, delaying a doctor visit until you return home may not be a problem, but if you have chronic conditions that may not be feasible. In addition, if you plan to become pregnant while on your parents' plan, you should check to make sure maternity benefits are covered. Although by law most group plans must provide maternity coverage for employees and their spouses, children aren't protected by the law, and employers don't always provide coverage. What if my parents are on Medicare? Can I join them? No. Medicare is primarily a program for individuals who are 65 and older. There's no family coverage available. I'm a college student. How does the Affordable Care Act affect me? The first thing students need to know is that if they DO have student insurance through their college or university, that's been deemed to satisfy the requirement that individuals have health insurance starting in 2014. Then there's the question of what happens if you can't afford the insurance your school offers or what to do if your school doesn't offer coverage. First, if you're a full-time student and you're not working, or if you're working just part-time, you probably don't earn enough to trigger the requirement to have health insurance. It applies only to people who earn enough to have to file income taxes; that's just under $10,000 this year for a single person under age 65. What if you DO want health insurance? One popular part of the law lets young adults stay on their parents' health insurance plans until they turn 26. And in states that opt to expand Medicaid, that's an option for college and graduate students that hasn't been available before. It's for people who earn up to 133 percent of poverty, or about $15,000 a year for an individual. But only about half the states are planning to expand Medicaid. Even the Bronze plan is too expensive for me. Are there other options? People up to age 30 will have the option of buying a catastrophic plan that will cover only minimal services until they meet a deductible of roughly $6,400. The premium is usually much lower than the other plans. After the deductible is met, the plan covers the 10 essential health benefits — a kind of \"safety net\" coverage in case you have an accident or serious illness, according to the Healthcare.gov website. Catastrophic plans usually do not provide coverage for services like prescription drugs or shots. And there are other limits. According to Healthcare.gov: In the Marketplace, catastrophic plans are available only to people under 30 and to some low-income people who are exempt from payin", "Imposing a tax on the most costly health insurance plans is important — many say essential — to bringing health care costs down. The problem for President Obama is that the unions for years have been negotiating bigger and better health insurance packages in lieu of wage increases. On Monday, Obama met with labor leaders to discuss the matter.", "Listeners and bloggers to <em>Tell Me More</em> have their say related to recent stories on youngsters who find themselves serving as primary caregivers for ailing parents, and parents who disagree that a child's college education is worth incurring family debt.", "Coming soon to a TV near you: a wave of ads bankrolled by drug companies in support of health overhaul. The drug industry, already a big spender on commercials for its medicines, is a seemingly unlikely patron for the planned ad blitz, which could cost $150 million or more, the Associated Press reported over the weekend. The ads would bolster the administration's plans to remake health care and expand insurance coverage to nearly 50 million people. To put the size of the ad campaign in perspective, the New York Times points out that Sen. John McCain spent $126 million on ads in his bid for the presidency. In the end, the drug industry ad spending could wind up within spitting distance of the $236 million shelled out for campaign ads by Team Obama. Read More >> The drug industry's support for President Obama's plan may seem a \"somewhat surprising political alliance,\" as the AP put it, until you stop to think about all the new customers an expansion of coverage might bring to pharmacies. Some of the TV ads expected this fall will carry the name of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the main trade group for brand-name drugmakers, which has pushed hard for an $80 billion limit on price concessions under an overhaul.", "A new ad by the major activist group Health Care for America Now blames the health care system's ills on greedy insurance companies and promotes a government-backed insurer as the cure. But the diagnosis is flawed. Background: The \"what if\" ads by Health Care for America Now, an advocacy group funded by unions and other organizations favoring major health care changes, push one of the most controversial elements of the Democratic-backed legislation: a new government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers. Produced by Fenton Ad Network, the ads are running in the home states of lawmakers of both parties who are on committees considering health bills. Some versions of the ads urge viewers to prod specific lawmakers, while others make a generic plea on behalf of the public plan. The cost, according to HCAN, is $1.1 million for a 10-day campaign. Script (Iowa Version): \"What if we stripped away the $13 billion insurance company profits? The $119 million CEO bonuses? The endless denials? The soaring co-pays and premiums? You'd have health care between you and your doctor — that's the president's plan. Keep the coverage you have now. President Obama's plan: Keep your doctor and current insurance. Or choose from a range of plans, including a public health insurance option to lower costs and keep insurance companies honest. Lower costs. Keep insurance companies honest. Why is Sen. Grassley opposed to giving you a choice? Tell Sen. Grassley it's your health. It should be your choice.\" Visuals And Sound: As menacing music plays, the ad talks about insurers' profits and shows a printing press churning out money. A silhouetted figure, presumably a well-heeled insurance executive, boards a private jet. A red \"denied\" stamp, representing denial of coverage, is imposed over a picture of office cubicles. A monthly health care bill grows larger, then rips in half to show a series of scenes of doctors caring for female patients of different ages and races. Accompanying those snippets is upbeat music and a voiceover extolling the purported benefits of a public plan. Politics: Democrats and President Obama say a government-run insurance plan would force private insurers, especially ones that now dominate local markets, to be more aggressive in holding down costs. Republicans in Congress, including Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, say that a public plan would have an unfair advantage over insurers and could wreck the private market, ultimately resulting in all health care being run by the government. The ad seeks to exploit the public's well-documented distrust of insurers while capitalizing on support for a public plan, which does well in polls. It directs its harshest criticism at insurance companies in an effort to pressure GOP lawmakers without antagonizing them so much that bipartisan congressional negotiations are threatened. The ads are running in Iowa, New Mexico, Florida, Delaware, Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Maine, Oregon and Washington — states where key lawmakers either oppose a public plan or are wavering in their support of it. Accuracy: With the nation's health care spending estimated at $2.5 trillion this year, even the elimination of insurers' profits and executive compensation would lower health care spending by just 0.5 percent. Private insurers spend more on administrative costs, including profits and executive salaries, than the government does, but the major causes of health care's escalating costs are the rising prices and the increased use of medical services, including hospital stays, prescription drugs, new technologies and doctor visits. WellPoint Inc., one of the nations' largest insurers, has a net profit margin of less than 5 percent. \"Insurance is a low-margin business,\" says Alwyn Cassil, a spokeswoman for the Center for Studying Health System Change, a Washington-based research group. Some health care experts believe that public-plan premiums could be substantially lower — perhaps 20 percent less — than those charged by private plans. The projected lower premiums reflect the use of Medicare payment rates to pay providers, as well as lower overhead. However, Congress and the Obama administration haven't agreed on how a public plan would work, and some lawmakers in both parties say that Medicare payment rates shouldn't be used in a government-run plan. So savings estimates for a public plan are hypothetical at this point.", "Businesses are embracing a new trend in health insurance, offering so-called health savings accounts to replace traditional insurance and HMO plans. Generally, premiums are lower and savings higher, but it's costly for those who need healthcare the most. NPR's Julie Rovner reports.", "As law makers debate health care overhaul, they are also considering ways to increase the number of primary care doctors across the country. If the plan passes, it will cover 30 million additional Americans and some fear there aren't enough doctors to meet the anticipated need. Host Liane Hansen talks to Dr. Atul Grover, the chief advocacy officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges." ]

[ "Herbicides applied directly to the soil surface are carried down into the root system with rainfall or watering. The chemicals kill the roots when they come into direct contact with them. Chemicals that work in this way include bromacil, hexazinone and tebuthiuron.", "if you want too kill the tree before you cut it down,make sure there are no other tree's in the area that you do not want to kill.purchase an auger type bit used for bulb's,drill around tree 10-12 feet from trunk 10-12 inches deep, pour half full with rock salt,fill with water and that will do the trick." ]

[ "Start your tree ID with my Tree Finder and Tree Leaf and Needle Key if you are not sure what kind of tree you have and can find a tree's leaf or a needle. 1 Deciduous trees will grow identifiable leaves beginning in late spring and are available for identification through late autumn or the first killing frost.", "Jungling is when you go into the jungle (or woods, forests, tree infested area, fog of war, ect.) and kill the neutral monsters and get the buffs and what not. Junglers go in to lanes to gank (kill very fast) very often and that is what defines if someone is good at Jungling or not (that and if they get left behind on leveling and gold or not).", "1.1 What is malathion? Malathion is a pesticide that is used to kill insects on agricultural crops, on stored products, on golf courses, in home gardens, and in outdoor sites where trees and shrubs are grown at home; it is also used to kill mosquitoes and Mediterranean fruit flies (medflies) in large outdoor areas.", "1) Does my Ash tree(s) have Emerald Ash Borer? At what point should I have it. treated? 2) If my Ash tree(s) is already infested, can treatment save it? 3) When is the best time of year to treat my Ash tree? 4) What is the difference between the 1 year and the 2 year treatment types? 5) How does Emerald Ash Borer actually kill the Ash trees? 6) Am I in an “infested” area? 7) What is the realistic long term effect that Emerald Ash Borer will have on.", "Black locust uses The best uses of black locust, then and now. January 4, 2001 Question Due to a borer insect killing off the black locust trees here in Oregon, we are able to acquire a large amount of locust logs.I would like any information on the marketability of this wood and what it might be used for.ue to a borer insect killing off the black locust trees here in Oregon, we are able to acquire a large amount of locust logs. I would like any information on the marketability of this wood and what it might be used for.", "What it is: Tea tree oil is the essential oil taken from the leaves of the Australian tree Melaleuca alternifolia. Found in many natural acne remedies, it helps kill bacteria in the pores and hair follicles that lead to blemishes, and, luckily for those who can't find relief fast enough, it penetrates the skin quickly.", "In other words, this tree was very difficult to kill. The sycamine tree and the mulberry tree were very similar in appearance; the two trees even produced a fruit that looked identical. However, the fruit of the sycamine tree was extremely bitter. Its fruit looked just as delicious as a mulberry fig.he sycamine tree was known to have one of the deepest root structures of all trees in the Middle East. It was a vigorous and robust tree that grew to a height of thirty feet or more. Because its roots went down so deep into the earth, it was very difficult to kill.", "CONFIRMED: Ragnarok will be the storyline. The Tree of Yggdrasil will be the start of Ragnarok. Loki may cause Ragnarok by disturbing Surtur the fire demon, and frame Thor by lying to Asgardians to think that Thor had killed Odin because of what happened to Frigga.", "By the way, your 10 times more likely to be killed by a coconut falling from a tree and hitting you in the head than killed by a shark. Your 1000+ times more likely to be killed by a snake or bee colony.", "Origin: The cherimoya is believed to be native to the inter-andean valleys of Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. Seeds from Mexico were planted in California (Carpinteria) in 1871. Adaptation: The cherimoya is subtropical or mild-temperate and will tolerate light frosts.Young growing tips are killed at 29° F and and mature trees are killed or severely injured at 25° F. If cherimoyas do not receive enough chilling, the trees will go dormant slowly and then experience delayed foliation.daptation: The cherimoya is subtropical or mild-temperate and will tolerate light frosts. Young growing tips are killed at 29° F and and mature trees are killed or severely injured at 25° F. If cherimoyas do not receive enough chilling, the trees will go dormant slowly and then experience delayed foliation.", "In an orchard, plant the trees at least 60 feet (18.3 m) apart. Allow for approximately 65 to 80 feet (19.81 to 24.38 m) spacing between each pecan tree that you plant. If trees are crowded, the faster growing tree will over-shadow the slower tree, stunt it, and kill it eventually, hampering both trees' crops.", "Your neighbour's Silver Birch tree Karen must be at least 30 feet tall and will grow to a height of 60 to 100 feet in time and I do feel that you need to take this into account when a decision is made in what to do with the tree.ill replies... If you do need to remove your Silver Birch Tree Tony you would be far better employing a Tree Surgeon to cut down the tree and after the tree has been cut down you can then apply a product such as Root Out to kill the root stump.", "What Are the Consequences of Invasive Species? Invasive species can have a number of negative impacts on the areas that they invade. Perhaps the most significant of these is the widespread loss of habitat. The hemlock woolly adelgid is an invasive insect from Asia that rapidly kills infested hemlock trees.", "An Opa-locka city commissioner who was ordered to surrender to state prosecutors Wednesday on corruption charges was killed after driving as fast as 100 mph into a tree. An Opa-locka city commissioner who was ordered to surrender to state prosecutors Wednesday on corruption charges was killed after driving as fast as 100 mph into a tree.", "Best Answer: You tie twine from the wisteria to the first branches, for the vines to climb. The vines won't cover the trunk unless you managed it. The vine won't kill the tree, and I doubt the tree is dieing...Best of Luck I have one growing in a Hackberry tree.est Answer: You tie twine from the wisteria to the first branches, for the vines to climb. The vines won't cover the trunk unless you managed it. The vine won't kill the tree, and I doubt the tree is dieing...Best of Luck I have one growing in a Hackberry tree.", "How to keep snakes out of bird houses. We just had a snake kill at least one and attempt to kill the second hatchling. I have barb wire wrapped around the pole but I allowed a nearby tree to grow too close to the birdhouse.ow to keep snakes out of bird houses. We just had a snake kill at least one and attempt to kill the second hatchling. I have barb wire wrapped around the pole but I allowed a nearby tree to grow too close to the birdhouse.", "Submit. A big challenge to fruit tree growers is the presence of fruit tree bugs. One benefit of growing your own fruit trees is the pesticide-free fruit. Infestation of bugs and insects, such as aphids and mites, can completely destroy fruit yield and kill trees.", "The arctic tree line is the northernmost latitude in the Northern Hemisphere where trees can grow; farther north, it is too cold all year round to sustain trees. Extremely cold temperatures, especially when prolonged, can result in freezing of the internal sap of trees, killing them.t the tree line, tree growth is often very sparse, with the last trees forming densely matted bushes.", "How many years will a normal avocado tree produce fruit? As far as I know, an avocado tree will continue to grow and produce fruit until something kills the tree. The origional Hass tree (1926) is still alive and producing fruit. There are some wild trees in Mexico that are over 400 years old that are still producing.", "Tree of Life. About the memorial: The Tree of Life sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn serves as a memorial to the 2,241 civilians killed during the Birmingham Blitz between 1940 and 1943. It was unveiled in 2005.", "Cold Damage. Cold-weather damage appears on tropical fruit trees in the forms of wilted, brown and/or hanging leaves, brown and shriveled fruit, and discolored wood. Cold damage can affect the trees in a variety of ways, including ruining their crop or killing the trees.", "Somewhat effective home remedies for killing nail fungus. Tea tree oil is a natural fungicide. The tea tree has evolved a chemical defense against fungus, which is present in tea tree oil. Tea tree oil is made from the leaves of the tea tree, which is grown mostly in Australia and New Zealand.", "To kill a mockingbird - what is maycomb's usual disease? To Kill a Mockingbird: What is Maycombs usual disease? To kill a mockingbird, what is maycomb's usual disease?", "Types of bonsai trees on this site means the different plant species used to create bonsai trees.Where you live, what kind of space you have and how much time you plan to spend will determine which are the best bonsai for you.chefflera arboricola-is a favorite tropical for indoor bonsai tree types. It is especially favored by beginners, because It is difficult to kill. Sea Grape Bonsai-are large leaf plants. A t first glance, they may be considered unusual types of bonsai trees.", "On killing it prey the Jaguar will drag it to a secluded spot to eat it. It has such strength that it is capable of carrying a large kill while swimming and hauling a large kill into a tree. After a gestation period of 91 - 111 days 1 - 4 cubs , commonly 2, are born in a den.", "That part cost $15. To fix the frame, I tied a thick rope in a big loop around the kink in the frame (it was bent inward about 8 inches) and a huge tree in the front yard, making sure I padded the rope on the tree side so that I didn't kill the tree by destroying its bark.hat part cost $15. To fix the frame, I tied a thick rope in a big loop around the kink in the frame (it was bent inward about 8 inches) and a huge tree in the front yard, making sure I padded the rope on the tree side so that I didn't kill the tree by destroying its bark.", "Although intended for construction, copper nails are also used in Tree Removal. ( Sometimes, trees need to be killed. Smooth Plain Shank Copper Nails. Shank Diameter: . 134. not copper plated! Applica...", "Tea tree oil has a number of advantages over other spot treatments. Tea tree oil gets rid of redness while it kills acne bacteria. Benzoyl peroxide kills acne faster slightly faster, in about 48 hours instead of tea tree oil’s 72, but can actually make pimples redder while they heal. Acne spot treatments are good for cosmetic emergencies. 2 Tea tree oil “gets the red out,” but most products don’t contain enough tea tree oil to do any good. 3 Tea tree oil has to be at least 10% strength to work.", "Timing. While some fruit trees can withstand planting at any time of year, most should be moved in early spring before their active growth phase, or during the cold season when the tree is dormant. You risk killing the tree if you move it when it has already begun to show signs of bud swelling.iming. While some fruit trees can withstand planting at any time of year, most should be moved in early spring before their active growth phase, or during the cold season when the tree is dormant. You risk killing the tree if you move it when it has already begun to show signs of bud swelling.", "Other than that, Sharon is low [...] Lawn Moths, Sod Webworms, and How to Control or Eliminate Them | Life and Lawns Says: [...] is Talstar. The great thing about Talstar is you can also use it on your trees and shrubs to kill Japanese Beetles and Bag Worms. It is a very versatile product that will kill any insect in your lawn and trees and [...]", "It can take up to two weeks for Roundup to kill weeds. The Roundup brand of glyphosate herbicide is a nonselective, broad-spectrum liquid herbicide that kills more than 100 species of weeds, woody brush and trees.", "WHAT PREEN DOES. Preen prevents most weeds from germinating In flower and vegetable gardens, in ground covers and around trees and shrubs. Although Preen will not kill. eXisting weeds, it will prevent new weeds from sprouting -eliminating the need for difficult and time-consuming hand weeding." ]

[ "This week, Marine Sgt. Jason Grabill got the ride of a lifetime, in a vintage P-51 Mustang fighter. When the snub-nosed, jaunty plane rumbled to a stop on the tarmac of the Frederick Municipal Airport, about 50 miles north of Washington, D.C., Grabill got out whooping. Grabill's ride was part of the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that helps veterans who have suffered wounds in service recover their lives with workforce programs, education services, and -- like today -- some simple fun and entertainment. Grabill was stationed at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. He still struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, bouts of alcoholism, depression and other afflictions. \"Hasn't been easy, but you do what you have to do,\" Grabill says. \"This was a good day.\" And that’s why pilot Chris Baranaskas is with the Wounded Warrior Project -- to \"give these guys a day they can take their mind off of things, do something different, get out and enjoy it.\" ’Liberating’ The small air corps on the airfield is composed of both modern and vintage aircraft, including a World War II-era B-25 bomber that's been named \"Panchito\" and that P-51 Mustang. It’s got \"Glamorous Gal\" airbrushed just behind the prop. Army Maj. Lisa Marie Maddox, who has had multiple knee surgeries, got a ride in a '60s-era vintage Paris jet. \"It’s kind of a dream,\" she says. \"I've kind of always wanted to fly in a jet like this, so that's an amazing thing to be able to do. Just being up in the air is kind of liberating.\" Sgt. David Hatmaker served in both Afghanistan and Iraq before the vehicle in which he was riding ran over an improvised explosive device. \"My vehicle rolled over and I got my ankle halfway taken off.\" \"I was one of the lucky ones that made it out of the vehicle,\" he says. \"The other guys didn't, and I've been dealing with that ever since.\" But being airborne for just a while feels good, he says. \"Put a big old smile on my face from ear to ear. The best part about it was when he was pulling about 6 G's. Face felt like Play-Doh.\" Brothers That Just Met The IED that blew up Neil Duncan's vehicle in Afghanistan in December of 2005 broke his jaw, shattered many of his teeth, and sheared off both of his legs. As he sits at the edge of the tarmac looking at the sleek planes, his khaki shorts reveal artificial limbs that end in sneakers. \"Being independent's important,\" Duncan says. \"That independence is gained by a lot of work, and a lot of rehab, and a lot of opportunity. I'd be nowhere without opportunity, and the Wounded Warrior Project has provided that for me.\" The project helped Duncan learn to ski again, go hiking, and even climb Mount Kilimanjaro. But while it helps give wounded vets the strength to stand on their own feet, the project offers a community for men and women who have shared life in the service -- a community of people who share their struggles. Whether Army, Navy or Air Force, veterans become close across all lines of service. Duncan and Hatmaker just met, but they’ve already bonded. \"It's that brotherhood,\" Hatmaker says. \"You can walk up, make a friend in the civilian world, forget his name and he'll forget your name. You go in the military and serve time with these guys -- especially out in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and you create a brotherhood and a friendship and a bond that stays with you for life.\" An Unforgettable Flight Dale Snodgrass is lithe and athletic, a silvery retired Navy pilot who could look like Tom Cruise's taller older brother. He’s a legend among airmen, and today he’s flying for the Wounded Warrior flight team. The project means a lot to him. \"I'm a veteran,\" he says. \"The project is ... a way to give something back. To put a sparkle in their eye; to say, 'Wow, that was cool.' \" He’s taking Duncan up in an MS-760 jet. The two leave the cockpit canopy open as the jet springs to life. Ahead of them lumber an LS-39 Albatross jet and Panchito -- that B-25 bomber -- in line for takeoff. They fly in formation, old and modern aircraft, retired and active service people. The planes are close enough for a frog to leap across their wings -- if they weren't flying so high and fast. Panchito is a moving sight in the air. It's hard to believe that, not so long ago, 19- and 20-year-olds would crawl into a craft with such thick plating and glassy gun turrets that look like they could be shattered by a baseball bat. Duncan looks above and below, snaps photos and shares stories with Snodgrass. The G-forces slam into them when he pops the plane skyward, leaving green fields far below. When Snodgrass brings the heavy jet in for a landing, his touch is so light and exacting, it has all the force of a feather-filled duvet plopping on a bed. Carrying Comrades Back The day in the sky, of course, is just a way of opening a window of hope for vets in the Wounded Warrior Project. Spokesman John Sullivan hopes that the programs they have to assist veterans will drive down an alarming statistic. More than 300 ser" ]

[ "After media reports charged massive overspending and waste by the Wounded Warrior Project, the organization's board of directors fired its CEO and chief operation officer Thursday. The charity has received hundreds of millions of dollars in yearly donations. \"CEO Steve Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano are no longer with the organization,\" the charity announced in a news release that also reported the results of an independent review of its finances — a review that was prompted by a series of CBS News reports that said the Wounded Warrior Project uses some 40 percent of its funds on overhead expenses and pays millions of dollars for staff conferences and meetings in luxurious settings. This week, the group has been using its Facebook page to defend its fundraising costs and to say that it \"has always been an open and transparent organization,\" citing its most recent IRS filing as proof. That filing, IRS form 990, shows that in the financial year from Oct. 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2014, the WWP reported spending $26 million on \"conferences, conventions, and meetings.\" The group's 990 form also reported the salaries of the now-departed executives, with Nardizzi being paid more than $496,000 and Giordano more than $397,000. \"Former employees say spending has skyrocketed since Steven Nardizzi took over as CEO in 2009,\" CBS News reported. \"Many point to the 2014 annual meeting at a luxury resort in Colorado Springs as typical of his style.\" The report quoted a former employee saying Nardizzi \"rappelled down the side of a building at one of the all hands events. He's come in on a Segway, he's come in on a horse.\" CBS also stated that some 500 staff members attended the Colorado conference, with a total cost of around $3 million. After those reports aired in late January, the Wounded Warriors Project's board of directors said it would retain independent advisers \"to conduct a thorough financial and policy review of the concerns.\" Summarizing the review's findings Friday, the WWP's board also sought to refute or calibrate some of CBS' claims — saying, for instance, that the gathering at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado didn't cost $3 million but $970,000, and adding, \"such events will be curtailed in the future.\" The group also said that it \"spends 80.6 percent of donations on programming.\" As for the $26 million spent on conferences, the WWP says that its review found \"approximately 94 percent (or approximately $24,392,000) was associated with program services delivered to Wounded Warriors and their families.\" It did not provide details to substantiate that finding. While spending rose at the Wounded Warrior Project in recent years, so did the nonprofit's revenue. Data collected by Pro Publica shows that total revenue to the WWP grew from $18.6 million in the financial year ending in 2007 to $342 million in the one ending in 2014. On the ratings service Charity Navigator, the Wounded Warriors Project earns an overall score of 84.5 out of 100, good for three stars. Breaking down the group's finances, Charity Navigator says that nearly 60 percent is spent on programs and services, with 6 percent going to administrative expenses and 34 percent spent on fundraising. Revelations about the WWP's spending practices seem to have surprised supporters of the group whose mission is to support severely wounded veterans who served in America's conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. \"It's really unfortunate that wounded veterans will really be hurt by the drop-off in donations to come,\" one man wrote, in what is now the most-liked comment on the group's most recent Facebook posting. \"My checkbook is now closed to this organization.\" Another commenter in that same thread noted the WWP social media representative's responses and stated: \"Stop defending. You've got a lot of housekeeping to do. My suggestion is stop commenting on Facebook and get to work!\"", "Special uniforms that Northwestern University's football team will wear on Nov. 16 have sparked controversy because of red streaks across the flag-themed patterns that look like blood to many observers. The school and the uniform's manufacturer, Under Armour, say the design was inspired by \"the appearance of a flag that has flown proudly over a long period of time.\" The uniforms worn by players are to be auctioned after the team's game against Michigan, with proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project that assists wounded veterans and their families. Many commenters on Under Armour's Facebook page aren't accepting that explanation. \"As a father of a U.S. Marine who has shed blood in combat in Afghanistan, I find this absolutely disgusting, insensitive, and disrespectful,\" writes one, Scott Cooney. \"As a military spouse ... I find your uniforms insensitive, offensive and shameful. There is nothing glamorous about wearing the blood splattered by your injured or fallen comrades,\" writes another, Stephanie Lavezza Ferguson. There are those who like the design. Bleacher Report columnist Jesse Reed thinks the uniforms are a \"classy way to honor wounded warriors.\" At Inside Northwestern, an independent website that covers the school's athletic programs, columnist Chris Johnson says that beyond the matter of whether the design is distasteful, there's also the issue of how much money will be going to the Wounded Warrior Project. The university says 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of the game-work jerseys will go to the project. There are estimates that could come to about $100,000. But Johnson writes, \"only 10 percent of proceeds from [replica] jerseys sold online will go to the foundation. That number seems a bit small to some people.\" Daily Northwestern guest columnist Sean Lavery thinks Northwestern should \"put its money where its mouth is and match — or double, or triple — the paltry 10 percent Under Armour is willing to part with on each jersey sale.\" CNN reports that Northwestern spokesman Paul Kennedy says the school apologizes \"for any misinterpretation\" of the intent behind the uniforms. CNN adds that: \"Under Armour's chief spokesman, Matt Mirchin, [said] on Tuesday that the company designed the special uniforms, and both Northwestern and the Wounded Warriors Project were able to see the design and request changes. Neither did.\" Under Armour has posted 18 different images of the uniforms on Facebook. (Note at 1:45 p.m. ET: It has also said \"the suggestion that these uniforms are depicting streaks of blood is completely false and uninformed.\") Northwestern has put some photos on Twitter. We've got a question (not a scientific survey of public opinion): Update at 2 p.m. ET. Not The First Time: It's worth noting that Under Armour has been creating special NCAA football uniforms to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project since 2009 and that red splotches have been one of the design features before — on last year's uniforms worn by Boston College and the University of Hawaii, for example. We aren't finding stories from previous years about controversies similar to this year's, though. Point us to them in the comments thread if you do.", "Flying snakes are mysterious. How do they soar? Without wings or other helpful appendages, how do they glide from tree to tree? A team of American scientists, including Lorena Barba of George Washington University and Jake Socha of Virginia Tech, has been studying the small flying snake – about a yard long with the girth of a human thumb — in the lowland tropical forests of Asia and Southeast Asia. They hope to be able to apply their knowledge to a new generation of airborne robotics. This week they published a report, Lifts and wakes of flying snakes, in the journal Physics of Fluids. Flying Snake: The Movie By observing snake flight in a wind tunnel, the researchers discovered that the reptile's shape actually helps generate a force of lift, and when the snake turns at a particular angle, it gets an added boost of lift. The scientists then shifted to computer simulations. \"Rather than fixed wings, animal fliers have flapping wings,\" Lorena explained in a statement. \"In the case of gliders, their small scale means they're always in a flurry of whirling winds. By understanding how they can be graceful and efficient under these conditions, we can in turn use that knowledge to create small flying machines that are equally graceful.\" Snakes On A Plane Like all snakes, the report points out, the flying snake in question has a tubular body with circular cross-sections. When it goes into glide mode – to move from one tree to the next – it shapeshifts its body to create a flatter profile. \"During the glide, the snake undulates laterally,\" according to the report, \"and the parts of the body that are perpendicular to the direction of motion act as lift-generating 'wings'\" Those little whirls of wind, or vortices, created by the air going around the special cross sectional shape of the snake's body, can give a flying snake an extra lift, Lorena said. \"The shape of the snakes in flight — which is a flattened version of its shape at rest — gets help from little vortices around it.\" There is these days scientific interest – especially in the fields of biomimetics and bioinspired design — in what natural movement can teach us about building robotic devices. As the report states: \"Nature has evolved diverse solutions to animal locomotion in the forms of flapping flight, swimming, walking, slithering, jumping, and gliding.\" Of the 30 or so independent animal lineages that have developed gliding flight through the ages, the study notes, the flying snake is the only animal known to glide without the help of any apparent flight apparatus. Three species of snakes — in the genus Chrysopelea – are gliders. One, the paradise flying snake, is even able to swivel in mid-air. Flying Lessons So what lessons can we learn from this research? \"Studying animal flyers is an exciting new frontier for engineering research, because they do many unexpected things to generate flight forces, be agile and navigate in the air,\" Lorena tells NPR. \"We hope to learn the solutions that nature has found for flight at small scales—insects, birds and animal gliders are all quite small compared to airplanes.\" The aerodynamics of airplanes, she says, \"is well understood, and of course large aeronautical companies design very advanced flying machines. But you know the old urban myth about the bumblebee, and how aerodynamics knowledge would predict that it shouldn't be able to fly. It all boils down to the scale: because it is so small, it actually flies in the midst of many little gusts and whirls that it uses to defy gravity. The physics is very different from that of classical aerodynamics.\" She adds, \"we hope to be able to use that knowledge to guide the design of engineered devices that mimic nature in its solutions.\" What is The Protojournalist? New-school storytelling, old-school reporting. @NPRtpj", "A presidential panel examining medical care for wounded U.S. service members on Wednesday called for changes that would boost benefits for care givers, establish a Web site for medical records and overhaul the way disability pay is awarded. The nine-member panel — led by former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala — also recommended stronger partnerships between the Pentagon and the private sector to boost treatment for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. A 29-page draft report was presented to President Bush, after the Senate on Wednesday addressed some of the issues by passing sweeping legislation to expand brain screenings, reduce red tape and boost military pay. The commission formally approved the recommendations later in the day. \"Gone will be the days of injured soldiers telling the same information to doctors over and over again,\" said Shalala, who said the proposals seek to provide more customized, personalized care to injured Iraq war veterans. She called the report a set of recommendations that could be implemented right away. About six of the 35 proposals require legislation, while the rest call for action primarily by the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs. Among the recommendations was an indirect rebuke of the VA — a call for Congress to \"enable all veterans who have been deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq who need post-traumatic stress disorder care to receive it from the VA.\" Only recently, the VA has taken steps to add mental health counselors and 24-hour suicide prevention services at all facilities, following high-profile incidents of suicides involving veterans. In the past, the VA had failed to use all the money for mental health that was allotted to it. \"The experiences of these young men and women have highlighted the need for fundamental changes in care management and the disability system,\" the report read. \"Making the significant improvements we recommend requires a sense of urgency and strong leadership,\" it said. Bush said his hand-picked investigative panel had interesting suggestions on improving health care for those wounded in battle. But the White House said not to expect action right away. The report does not seek to directly criticize or lay blame for shoddy outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which resulted in a public outcry for change and creation of the commission. It cited a need to move forward, explaining there was no need to \"reiterate\" the findings of news reports that uncovered substandard care from the Defense Department and VA. Among the proposals: -- Boost staff and money for Walter Reed until it closes in the coming years. Also, urges Pentagon to work with the VA to create \"integrated care teams\" of doctors and nurses to see injured troops through their recovery. -- Restructure the disability pay systems to give the VA more responsibility for awarding benefits. -- Require comprehensive training programs in post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries for military leaders, VA and Pentagon personnel. -- Create a \"My eBenefits\" Web site — developed jointly by the VA and Pentagon — that would allow service members and doctors to access private medical information as the injured move from facility to facility to receive treatment. -- Provide better family support, because one-third of injured Iraq war veterans reported that a family member or close friend had to relocate to care for them. It calls for training and counseling for families of service members who require long-term care and improved family leave and insurance benefits for family members. President Bush created the panel in March to investigate problems in the treatment of wounded veterans following disclosures of roach-infested conditions and shoddy outpatient care at Walter Reed. The White House event followed the Senate's vote by unanimous consent on legislation that seeks to end inconsistencies in disability pay by providing for a special review of cases in which service members received low ratings of their level of disability. The aim is to determine if they were shortchanged. The bill also would boost severance pay and provide $50 million for improved diagnosis of veterans with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder. The House was considering similar measures. \"It has been hurry up and wait for the results of this commission report and now the White House is telling our vets to wait even longer,\" said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). \"That's why the Senate has moved ahead with our Wounded Warriors Act. The public is waiting, our veterans are waiting.\" Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, agreed. \"It is important for the American public to understand that the Walter Reed fiasco is not over,\" he said. \"Everything is not fixed. The follow-throug", "One of the most lethal areas in Afghanistan for U.S. troops is the Arghandab Valley, a Taliban stronghold just outside the southern city of Kandahar. The Army's 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Lewis, Wash., patrols the area, facing the risk of huge roadside bombs. One platoon already has lost 11 soldiers, and several more were seriously wounded — about one-third of the force. One day last week, more bad news crackled over the radio: a Taliban attack and casualties in 2nd Platoon. Responding to the call, 1st Sgt. Charles Burrow of Charlie Company orders soldiers to mount their eight-wheeled armored vehicles, called Strykers. They race toward a plume of smoke, rising above the trees just a half-mile away. \"When we get there, I need you to bring medic and link up with me. Bring whatever first aid stuff you got, and a smoke grenade,\" Burrow says into the radio. The Strykers cross a bridge. A cluster of Afghan men and children look nervously at the passing convoy. The Army vehicles bounce through a wide and barren field, alongside a dirt road. In the middle of that road, they see every soldier's nightmare: a Stryker flipped over, flames and thick black smoke pouring out — the work of a roadside bomb. An Explosion, Then Gunfire Bursts of automatic rifle fire rattle. Other soldiers are crouched in a drainage ditch, firing their weapons toward a tree line about 300 yards away. The Taliban have mounted what is called a \"complex attack,\" a roadside bomb followed by a wave of fire from AK-47s. Gunfire crackles from both sides as the Strykers open up with their machine guns and grenade launchers. Burrow and others move up the road, under fire, toward the wounded. Two Kiowa helicopters come over the mountains and buzz angrily just above the tree line, keeping watch for the soldiers on the ground and looking for enemies to strike. Some of the soldiers have already jumped into the bomb crater and dug out two survivors from the roadside blast. This platoon was supposed to be on light duty back at their base. They had lost seven men just the week before in another roadside bomb attack. On this day, they were out on a routine resupply mission down a road they often use, and got hit again. The soldiers are still taking enemy fire, but Burrow tries to bring some order, telling some of his men to shoot toward the tree line, while directing others to take care of two wounded soldiers. \"You doin' OK?\" Burrow asks one of his wounded comrades. \"I'm good, yeah,\" the injured man replies. Tending The Wounded Lt. Brian Giroux was riding in the back of the Stryker when it flipped over, leaving him partially trapped in a crater 7 feet deep and some 28 feet across. Giroux has two broken bones in his leg. Burrow still doesn't know how many people were in the Stryker that was hit. So he asks the other wounded soldier, Sgt. Marquel Mendiola, who is face down on a stretcher, a trace of blood crusted on his lips. \"How many total were in the truck?\" Burrow asks. \"There were four of us,\" the wounded sergeant responds, identifying the two others: Spc. Gary Gooch and Spc. Aaron Aamot. Gooch, 22 of Ocala, Fla., and Aamot, 22, of Custer, Wash., were in the front of the Stryker when the bomb exploded. The body of one is trapped under the burning vehicle. The other body is nowhere to be seen. \"Gooch, Aamot, you and LT — that's it, right?\" Burrow says, confirming that four were in the vehicle. While some soldiers look for their missing comrades, others attend to the wounded. Mendiola is lucky; he only has a broken ankle. A medical evacuation helicopter lands in the field, and soldiers carry the sergeant and the lieutenant to the chopper. Mourning The Dead Back at the Stryker vehicle, soldiers work desperately to put out the flames around the body of Gooch. They pry a piece of metal away and pull him out into the open. The other soldiers find the body of Aamot out in a field. As one of the bodies is put into a body bag, another soldier leans over and touches the bag and says: \"God bless you, brother.\" Meanwhile, some soldiers are in a ditch and pointing their weapons toward a mud hut in the distance, about 500 yards away. Rounds of ammunition inside the burning Stryker are basically cooking — popping off every few minutes. Other soldiers are collecting pieces of the Stryker. A transmission sitting in the dirt road was blown about 50 yards away from the blast site. More than an hour passes. The firefight is over. The soldiers move quietly through the fields, carefully gathering remnants: another piece of the engine, a helmet, a single combat boot. It will be dark soon, and they will have to return tomorrow to finish the job. Sunset, A Flight And A Prayer As the sun begins to set, Burrow says it is time for the \"angel flight\" for the two men killed in action. \"Angel flight\" is the term for the helicopter that carries away the dead — the first step that will bring these men back to their families. The helicopter lifts off ", "At least six bullets hit Michael Brown, 18, when he was shot to death by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer, according to a preliminary private autopsy report. Only one of those wounds — to the top of the teenager's head — was deemed not survivable by former New York City chief medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden. Baden and another pathologist hired by Brown's family say they believe that the two bullets that struck Brown in the head \"were most likely the last two\" to hit him during a confrontation on a street last Saturday. His preliminary report also found no gunshot residue on Brown's skin, Baden said — but he cautioned that he didn't have access to clothing the teenager had been wearing. Discussing the reasons for conducting a private autopsy, Baden said it came out of the family's concerns over a lack of transparency from local authorities. A diagram released along with an overview of the report indicates wounds along the right side of Brown's body, arms and neck, along with the two head wounds. Baden was aided in his examination by Shawn Parcells, a forensic pathologist assistant who said they had determined at least two of Brown's wounds were likely re-entry wounds. And he said that while some of the wounds could be from the man taking a defensive position, such as raising his hands, others, such as one to the top of his head, show that Brown had likely leaned over forward. The details were discussed at a news conference Monday morning held by the Brown family's legal team, including Benjamin Crump, who also represented the family of Florida shooting victim Trayvon Martin. Crump said the preliminary report \"verifies that the witness accounts were true: he was shot multiple times\" in broad daylight. Saying that some wounds show that bullets went \"from a back to a front position,\" another attorney, Daryl Parks, said the findings prove that the teenager had been trying to run away from the scene. Parks said that as a result, \"we believe the officer should have been arrested.\" The police on Friday identified that officer as Darren Wilson, a six-year veteran of the force. At Monday's news conference, the family's attorneys stressed that the most recent unrest in Ferguson — new violence Sunday prompted Missouri's Gov. Jay Nixon to deploy the National Guard — had erupted hours before the autopsy's initial findings were reported. In addition to the private examination and an autopsy by a Missouri medical examiner, the Justice Department will carry out its own autopsy as part of its separate civil rights investigation, according to instructions issued by Attorney General Eric Holder on Sunday." ]

[ "These are one of my favourite styles. They fit true to size, fitted at the thigh then straight from the knee. I love the softness of the material and the shade range. These are not traditional jeans,, they are more modern and look very stylish. They are softer and more flexible but still high quality. They fit a little bigger than the Riders by Lee equivalent but are still body hugging rather than baggy like more traditional styles. They feel so nice on and move with my body, perfect for day or night." ]

[ "Why oh why can't they offer a soft cover?! The pillow itself is comfortable, but the cover is like sandpaper! They would make a bundle if they offered a super soft cover as an upgrade option. Come on Comfort U!", "The puppia soft harness is just the greatest buy and fit for my pug. This our fourth one and not only does she look great in it, it fits her so well and appears very comfortable.", "I have a Jasmine in Champagne/Pink, size 30D. I will definitely be buying more Jasmine bras, but I will buy 30DD next time, as the cups run a bit small. The cup size winds up not being a problem though, because the cups are so soft and stretchy they mold to my form. Even with their softness they give outstanding support and shaping. This is a beautiful bra, but it's perfect for everyday wear. I am so lucky I found it because it's the only bra that's supportive yet lightweight enough for summer in the desert. This bra is so comfortable I've slept in it and forgotten I had it on! It's durable and high quality.", "My nephews are 1 and 3 and they both fit on it comfortably.\nMy nephews love their Planes couch. It is very soft and easy to move around.", "The shoes fit well, soft insole, good arch support not great due to soft insole and great arch support calls for a firmer footing. Shoes are very comfortable on treadmill, concrete, grass or inside housing. I would not recommend on stony pathways as soft footing would allowing rocky surfaces to be felt. Very convenient slip on shoe rather than lace up. I have not worn these shoes a long time so I can't speak to how well they would hold up to frequent wear.", "These weren't anything like my last REEF sandals that were the exact same color. The material and cushioning wasn't as soft and comfortable. My last pair felt like I was walking on memory foam. These not so much.\nThey also fit much tighter as well.", "<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/All-Over-American-Flag-Patriotic-Tunic-Dress-Medium/dp/B00WFBWYJM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8\">All Over American Flag Patriotic Tunic Dress, Medium</a>\n\nFits perfectly, material is cool and matched my Flip Flops to the T! Highly Recommend this dress for your summer get togethers! High Quality and oh so soft! #TeamPeggy", "I walked down the street in these shirts, with their white ones giving a fencing aesthetic and got eyes turned regal looking, covering enough beneath the waist in a form-fitted look to go, \"oh, boy! daring, and refined!\" kinda sense people got, my friends told me.\n\nWell, then it shrinks to like, an absurd extent, and you find out the thing's made of such thin, crappy material, one wash is enough to basically make it look like it's been washed 50 times (I use cold, gentle cycle, with wool-lite detergent!!)\n\n********************If you are Asian, and 5'1'', go for it.\nOTHERWISE: it barely touches your belt. And it looks like CRAP when it loses its elongated form that it's deceptively shown to have in the photos these ARE NOT PRESHRUNK, and they'd look like crap if they showed the PRESHRUNK version if they had one (they don't) so it loses the whole form.", "I enjoy watches and have 5 or 6 of them but they all end up in a drawer because they're not comfortable to me, too heavy or bulky and rotate on my wrist, etc. This watch is extremely light (25g) and comfortable. The band is soft and flexible. It does show some wear in the form of light/dark coloration on the band but in a good way. The fit and finish is good but not excellent (remember the price of this watch). I have had more comments on it than any other watches I wear because it is unique. I wear it on days that I wear brown belt/shoes and plan on getting the ebony/black band watch for the days that I wear black because my current black watch is just too bulky and heavy that I dread wearing it.", "Merino products are my favorite because the wool doesn't smell (at least if you compare it to another cotton shirt after days of wearing) and it also has properties where it will keep you warm when it's wet. I don't use this as a base layer, I just use as a shirt by itself and have been extremely happy.\n\nIt has an offset shoulder seam which is great, doesn't rub on the backpack plus it's extremely comfortable. The material is soft. I usually wash by hand in the sink or shower and hang to dry when we are traveling. Pretty long too which is a plus for me. I ordered two sizes, L and XL and the L was more form fitting so I returned the XL. I am 5'7\" and 150 lbs for reference.", "These comes with three different sized (large, medium, small) soft plastic ear buds to custom fit for the comfort of your ears. These are very tight fitting on the earphones and difficult to change from one size to another. Clarity of sound for these earphones is very good.", "Very soft sheets...but oh boy the fuzzy lint is horrendous when you dry them! I had to run them through the dryer four times to get the all the lint balls off the sheets. I've never had an experience like that before, with sheets. If it weren't for that, I probably would have ordered more colors, since I do like the softness of the material. They are also a tad bit smaller fitting than I thought they'd be.", "I wanted a lighter bed cover for the summer as my winter down comforter was too hot and my summer quilt was so heavy. This blanket is perfect! It is light weight and comfortable. This size ( I got king) is very generous and hangs over both sides of the bed. The color and pattern are soft and fits perfectly in my bedroom decor. Before I found this one I looked in so many stores and websites and couldn't find anything close to what I wanted and the price was very reasonable. Thank you!", "Comfortable, easy to use. Lets me focus on form instead of counting laps. Helps me gauge my fitness from workout to workout. Am I getting better? Faster? Stronger? Feel less fatigued between laps? Definitely recommend this product.", "Not very comfortable. The insole is not soft and has ridges to it. The fit is pretty good, perhaps just a smidge too big. I've liked other Rocket Dog shoes in the past but this pair is disappointing. I would definitely not recommend" ]

[ "Lazy as shit, not only today though." ]

[ "How fucking lazy I am.", "Depends on the day. Today it was lazy take out pizza Netflix day.", "how are you doing today?\n\nfollowed by \"What would you do for a Klondike Bar?'", "Doing alright. Thanks for asking. How are you today?", "Be lazy", "Lazy.", "laziness", "I was a lazy, know-it-all student who procrastinated and hated herself, and today I am a lazy, know-it-all student who procrastinates and hates herself.", "Today?\n\nYou for asking the question.", "But it's not lazy if you get stuff done right?", "Lazy", "My laziness", "crippling laziness", "Seriously not enough people check in on each other. How are you doing today?", "How much evil we allow to exist, not out of deliberate cruelty but indifference and laziness", "Laziness (looking at myself here)", "Lazy people.", "Being lazy af.", "Laziness and procrastination.", "The lazy Navy Officer- http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1rgpdf/what_is_the_laziest_thing_youve_ever_done/cdnafqe", "You know how you sometimes have to pretend to be sleeping in order to fall asleep? I started pretending I wasn’t lazy, and then I wasn’t lazy anymore.", "This is my time to shine!\nBeing lazy af is my boss level skill.", "No matter how hard today has been, just remember that tomorrow is a new day and no matter how you feel today tomorrow is your chance to change the way you see the problem.", "To be honest I haven’t felt many emotions today. How are you?", "Lazy fuckers\n\nps: I'm lazy fuckers. Sorry mom.", "Top of the morning! How the weather today?", "Hey :) how was your evening? Haven't heard from you much today...\n\nLOL", "Laziness, depression", "Workig hard or hardly working?", "It’s cool that they know how. Personally i like being lazy, but to each their own", "Stop being a lazy son of a bitch", "These innocently worded \"how would you like to attack someone today\" posts are so subtle." ]

[ "You might need to use MySQL to manually repair the table.\n\nIf you can run arbitrary MySQL on your server, run the mysql CLI and use:\n\nREPAIR TABLE jos_users;\n\n\nAlternatively, phpMyAdmin (supplied by many hosts to manage MySQL databases) allows you to repair tables through a GUI. To do so:\n\n\nAccess phpMyAdmin and select the Joomla database from the left-hand panel\nSelect the jos_users table (or whatever table needs repaired)\nSelect Operations from the horizontal top menu\nSelect Repair table from the links under Table maintenance" ]

[ "I ran into this problem myself recently. As it turns out, the previous developer of the site had created all of the database tables as MyISAM instead of InnoDB. When I upgraded from 1.8.1.0 to 1.9.2.2, I encountered this error because Magento failed to create the indices that it needed to function correctly. The only way to solve this issue was to run the Magento Database Repair Tool, which can be downloaded from the Magento Download Page. Perhaps it will help you as well.\n\nTLDR:\n\nYour database is likely corrupt. Use the Magento Database Repair Tool to fix it.", "There are some rare occasions when mysqld processes ALTER TABLE ... ENABLE KEYS; and you get Repair by keycache. The real question to ask is Under what circumstances does mysqld perform Repair by keycache ?\n\nAccording to MySQL Documentation on General Thread States\n\n\n Repair with keycache\n \n The repair code is using creating keys one by one through the key cache. This is much slower than Repair by sorting.\n\n\nThere are one or more server variables in the session that could potentially affect this behavior\n\n\nsort_buffer_size\n\n\nIndependent of Storage Engine\nThe default is 256K\nIf this is set to 2M and mysqld needs more that 2M to process a sort operation, the session dumps the 2M it has in the sort buffer to a temporary MyISAM table, then continue processing from there.\n\ninnodb_sort_buffer_size\n\n\nDefault: 1M, MinValue: 64K, MaxValue: 64M\nDocumentation says three buffers of this size are allocated for an ALTER TABLE or CREATE TABLE statement that creates an index.\n\nmyisam_sort_buffer_size\n\n\nDefault value is 8M.\nDefinition : The size of the buffer that is allocated when sorting MyISAM indexes during a REPAIR TABLE or when creating indexes with CREATE INDEX or ALTER TABLE.\nIf the sort operation needs more than 8M, there is where mysqld will make the session stop doing Repair by sorting and switch to Repair by keycache.\n\n\n\nSUGGESTION\n\nBased on the MySQL Documentation on sort_buffer_size\n\n\n As of MySQL 5.6.4, the optimizer tries to work out how much space is needed but can allocate more, up to the limit. Before MySQL 5.6.4, the optimizer allocates the entire buffer even if it is not all needed. In either case, setting it larger than required globally will slow down most queries that sort. It is best to increase it as a session setting, and only for the sessions that need a larger size. On Linux, there are thresholds of 256KB and 2MB where larger values may significantly slow down memory allocation, so you should consider staying below one of those values. Experiment to find the best value for your workload. See Section B.5.4.4, “Where MySQL Stores Temporary Files”.\n\n\nOnly sort_buffer_size and myisam_sort_buffer_size can be changed for the session.\n\nIf you don't have a lot of memory, change myisam_sort_buffer_size so that a larger temp table can be formed. To set it to 1G in your session, do one of the following before executing a large reindexing:\n\nSET myisam_sort_buffer_size = 1024 * 1024 * 1024;\n\n\nor\n\nSET SESSION myisam_sort_buffer_size = 1024 * 1024 * 1024;\n\n\nThat way, the temp table on disk will be allowed to grow to 1G. Make sure the folder mapped to tmpdir can hold large temp tables.\n\nIf you want 1G as the permanent setting for myisam_sort_buffer_size going forward, do this\n\nSTEP #1 : Add this to /etc/my.cnf\n\n[mysqld]\nmyisam_sort_buffer_size=1G\n\n\nThis will allow connections to have this setting after mysqld is restarted.\n\nSTEP #2 : Login to mysql as root@localhost and run\n\nSET GLOBAL myisam_sort_buffer_size = 1024 * 1024 * 1024;\n\n\nThis will enabled new connections to have this setting. Current connections would have to be closed and reopened (perhaps restarting apache/tomcat/Hibernate or whatever web server you are using).\n\nMY OTHER POSTS ON Repair by keycache\n\n\nMay 09, 2012 : ENABLE KEYS on a large table is crashing mysql\nMay 17, 2013 : MySQL Hanging Completely when `ALTER TABLE... ENABLE KEYS`\nAug 12, 2013 : MySQL MyISAM index causes query to match no rows; indexes disabled, rows match", "It is not ideal but you can bury it in concrete. If you have enough room you can use what is called a repair coupling. It is a coupling with no stop in the center. Slide the repair coupling on the longest accessible side. You would glue a 2\" stub in the end of the Tee facing the repair coupling, mark the pipe in the floor with your Tee set up, and cut it on your mark. Glue the Tee on the opposite side of the stub and slide and glue the repair coupling over where you cut the existing pipe up to the Tee.", "The screen dim controls on the side of the device won't dim the display that much. It might be a backlight failure and the device could need a repair.\n\nYou can take the device into a room with a table lamp and usually shine the light on the side to see enough to operate a screen even with the backlight totally failed.\n\nYou can unlock the device by connecting it to the computer that it normally syncs to in some cases as well.", "In high speed collisions essentially the human body fails under high g negative acceleration even if the structure of the car or cabin or test vehicle is strong enough to survive the collision.\n\nstrange things can happen that may not immediately be visible such as brain injury due to boiling of Cerebrospinal fluid because of the vacuum created by rapid deceleration of the skull during the crash when the race car helmet contacts the dashboard, (contracoup brain injury). This boiling will create craters in the brain. That is why there is helmet restraints to the back and sides of the seat.\n\nIn design of structure of the cars for crash survivability the general strategy is to protect the occupants by placing sacrifice high energy absorbing structure around the cabin. these sacrifice collapsible structures are commonly the wheel and suspension structure, ribbed and perforated framing bars and studs, engine and other substantial components. they will bend and deform while absorbing the crash energy and providing precious time (in milliseconds) and room for the occupants to break the impact.\n\nGood restraints and padded potential contact surfaces, relocating objects which could be dangerous in a crash from the cabin, are other parts of the strategy. \n\nAn absolutely rigid structure is not part of the optimal strategy.\n\nHere is some tables on human crash tolerance.", "Everything is allowed to be left unbound / invalid / uninitialized as long as the shader doesn't try to look at it. However, if the shader does try to look at it, it could trigger a GPU crash / TDR.\nIn practice, it may be a good idea to explicitly clear out descriptors that you know aren't going to be valid: either setting them to a null descriptor, or pointing to a dummy resource. Loading/sampling from a null SRV/UAV descriptor in a descriptor table is defined to just return 0 and not crash. Likewise, stores to a null UAV descriptor are dropped on the floor without crashing.\nHowever, this guarantee doesn't apply to descriptors directly in the root signature; trying to load/sample from a null root descriptor can crash the GPU. Likewise trying to read from a null descriptor table can crash. See the D3D12 functional spec for more.", "The big problem with learning to fly is that some of characteristics you need for a good trainer are the opposite of other requirements.\n\nLarge models are less affected by wind, because their flying speed is proportionally higher relative to the wind speed. However small models are a lot more robust in a crash. and cheaper, so less discouraging when you crash.\n\nHighly stable models return the model to straight and level flight but neutrally stable models (like a flying wing) are less affected by gusts.\n\n\nTraditionally this leave you with the option of a small, stable model and waiting patiently for calm weather, or a faster, less stable model and an instructor (or lots of crashes and repairs!)\nThese days it's possible to use electronic stabilisation to tame a neutrally stable aircraft, and to reduce the effect of gusts on a small model (although it won't stop it disappearing down wind!)\nIME it takes an hour or two (on a simulator, or accumulated flight time) before a beginner can keep a model under control and steer the right way when it's flying towards them. Most people can only concentrate for 5-10 minutes at a time, so that's 10-20 flights (on a reasonably stable trainer, suitable weather and an instructor avoiding crashes). It then takes few months to a year before progressing on to an aileron model that isn't stable in roll - maybe 10 hours of flight time, say 100 flights of 5-10 minutes each.\nObviously if you don't have an instructor and are just doing short glides, those first couple of hours will translate to a lot of flights. If you're starting with an aileron plane (like a flying wing) you'll need to reach that 10 hour mark before you're really flying.\nOlder people take longer to learn, and missing a few weeks due to bad weather or other commitments puts them back a few steps. It's common for people to struggle through weeks of poor conditions then suddenly 'get it' when we have a nice calm day because they're not fighting the gusts.\nI've taught a couple of people who practiced extensively on a simulator and flew a trainer competently on their first flight and an aerobatic model 5 minutes later.", "\"It looks like something is updating the same row at both servers with different content and made merge agent crash?\" This is handled by merge conflict tables, and would not cause the issues you are describing. These conflict tables are located on the publisher database, and are named like: MSMerge_conflict__. \n\nTo answer your question about what reinitialization does, by default, reinitialization will take a snapshot of your published articles, drop the articles on the subscriber side, recreate the articles on the subscriber side, and then bulk load data from the snapshot into the subscriber articles. Since this is a production environment, and those articles need to be available on the subscriber side, this should only be used as a last resort.\n\nWhat you can do is query the MSrepl_errors table on the Distribution database. This will provide you with a command_id and an xact_seqno. You can use these values as inputs into the sys.sp_browsereplcmds stored procedure. This will provide you with command text that is actually failing. Using this information, you can better understand the nature of the failure. If a particular row cannot be inserted or deleted at the subscriber, you may have to either delete the existing row (to allow the insert) or insert a dummy row (to allow the delete), respectively.\n\nI hope this information helps,\n\nMatt", "If your 50 connections all want to do SELECTs that need tmp tables, even small ones, they could overflow tmpfs and fail right and left.\n\nI prefer to let tmp tables be in the same filesystem where everything else is. That way, it is not arbitrarily causing trouble when there is a spike in traffic.\n\nMeanwhile, I keep track of the slowlog and aggressively tackle any slow queries. Note that queries using big tmp table tend to be slow, so the slowlog generally catches them.\n\nGenerally, optimizing a query will provide much more than a 50% improvement.\n\nOptimizing queries decreases the \"load\".\n\n50 concurrent connections actually active simultaneously running (not just \"Sleep\" in SHOW PROCESSLIST) is unacceptable in my book.\n\nWhen a query dies, it should remove the tmp table. If the server crashes, there is a chance that the tmp table will remain. This often happens with ALTER.\n\nWhen a write operation dies in the middle, and the table is Engine=MyISAM, the write will be partially finished, and there is no way to know how much was done or not done. Examples: INSERT ... SELECT ... and DELETE ... WHERE ... SELECT ...", "According to MySQL Certification Guide : \n\n\n The OPTIMIZE TABLE statement cleans up a MyISAM table by defragmenting\n it. This involves reclaiming unused space resulting from deletes and\n updates, and coalescing records that have become split and stored\n non-contiguously. OPTIMIZE TABLE also sorts the index pages if they\n are out of order and updates the index statistics\n \n Also works for InnoDB tables, but maps to ALTER TABLE, which rebuilds\n the table. This updates index statistics and frees space in the\n clustered index.\n\n\nSo In Case of InnoDB : \n\nInnodb is ACID compliant, the optimize table simply copies all records into a new table \n\n\nIf the index pages are not sorted, sort them, \nIf the table's statistics are not up to date (and the repair could not be accomplished by sorting the index), update them. \nIf the table has deleted or split rows, repair the table. \n\n\nAnd if you try to kill it when it's running you will not loose any records.\n\nAdditionally, case of InnoDB with innodb_defragment=1, there will be no ROLLBACK required, as in this case OPTIMIZE TABLE is incremental.", "I'd be asking if the car was put on a chassis rig when it was repaired. If it's even had just one day on a rig, it was clearly enough of an impact that made the assessor/repairer think it might be a write-off.\n\nIf it wasn't put on a chassis rig, the next thing to look at are signs of welding along the forward chassis, particularly radiator support and crash beams. Some modern cars have the radiator support made from plastic though.\n\nCheck the alignment of the headlamps if you can, and check that there's no rust around the bolts that hold the fenders to the side of the engine bay. Also open and close the hood, to make sure it's not catching anywhere and operates smoothly. Same goes for the doors, check the gaps between the door jams are even, and that they dont make noises or rub when opening (this can be a sign of a warped shell, or poorly fitted panels).\n\nWithout an inspection report from the repairer/assessor, it'll be hard to know exactly to what extent it was repaired. Here in Australia, we have the RAC that can perform safety inspections on pre-purchased cars. You might have a similar service there? AAA or something? \n\nA third party inspection before buying might cost you a hundred dollars, but might save you thousands.", "The hose clamp is right out. All you'll do is crack something -- if you're lucky, right away.\n\nLikewise trying to inject PVC cement (705) is not a good idea. Even if you manage to plug the leaks, the majority of the joint is compromised. It will eventually fail, and the law practically says it will fail 2 hours after you've left for a 2 week vacation, etc. (^_^)\n\nPVC is super easy to repair or replace, and hacksaws are cheap too. If it's a particularly difficult section of pipe, consider installing one or two unions, to make the repair easier.\n\nGo ahead and rebuild that section properly.", "After lots of experimenting I think I've cracked it.\n\nIn summary:\n\n\nwith the failed installed partitions still on the HDD boot back\ninto windows and reinstate the RAID configuration originally\nsupplied by Dell (need to turn SATA OPERATION to RAID On in the BIOS\nfirst)\nturn SecureBoot off in the BIOS\nboot back into the Ubuntu live disk and run boot-repair following the instructions in http://www.howtogeek.com/114884/how-to-repair-grub2-when-ubuntu-wont-boot. This should successfully install grub2 software without errors.\nRemembering to remove the live USB drive, reboot the computer. Grub2 then takes over and takes you to the Ubuntu log in screen.\n\n\nTo confirm Ubuntu is running with SATA set to RAID On and the disks still accelerated. I have disabled SecureBoot but will try turning this back on and see what happens (boot-repair requested it disabled to run).\n\nI had tried running boot-repair with the RAID disks disassociated and the BIOS set to AHCI but this failed with the warning that the EFI partition was locked. This was resolved as described in points 1-3.\n\nI haven't tested it but I'm assuming you should be able to install Ubuntu from the live disk without disassociating the RAID disks in Windows. The steps using boot-repair will still probably be required.", "Sounds like it could be a potentially failing drive. Check your hard drive's smart results. I usually recommend using crystalDiskInfo. If that doesn't work you can also open up a command prompt as an Admin and run the command \"sfc /scannow\" this will verify (and attempt) to repair any system files that may be damaged.\n\nJust make sure that you check the harddrive health first. If you repair damaged files on a failing hard drive you're just fixing something that will quickly break again.\n\n\n\nUPDATE 1\nwhat were the SMART results? The error from the sfc scans is minor and is not the cause of your problem.\n\nI'd like to attempt to repair that issue found in the sfc scan you need to run \"Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth\" in the command prompt as admin.", "There is no regulatory definition of the phrase \"Aircraft On Ground\" as used in work orders or repair orders in the FARs (14CFR), it is used by convention to indicate that the order is urgent as the parts or repairs specified must be completed in order to fly the aircraft.\n\nWhat causes the aircraft to be grounded can be a functional issue that (such as a damaged control surface: The aircraft is grounded until it's repaired or replaced) or a regulatory one (for example, an airspeed indicator is part of the Day VFR required equipment, if it fails even though the plane can physically fly it's not legal to do so - your new airspeed indicator would be an AOG parts order).", "\"Corruption of in-memory data detected\" doesn't necessarily mean that the hardware RAM is bad. It could also indicate a block was read or written incorrectly, the storage flipped a bit or is otherwise failing, possibly filesystem bugs, and a few other causes.\n\nReverting to a snapshot probably won't resolve the problem if there is some latent filesystem corruption; it'll just show up again later.\n\nInstead, you should xfs_repair the filesystem, but since it's the root filesystem you'll need to boot from installation media or a rescue environment provided by your VPS provider.\n\nIf xfs_repair fails to repair the filesystem, you may run xfs_repair -L which will clear the XFS log (which may itself be corrupt) and then try to repair the filesystem again.", "If your daemon was interrupted by a power failure or OS crash, and it was still trying to catch up to the network (as opposed to already being synchronized), there's a chance the DB got corrupted. If you get a DB error after starting after a crash, you should try using this flag. You should only use this flag after you've already seen a DB error that causes monerod to fail. You don't have to exit and rerun or do anything else unusual in combination with this flag.\n\nLMDB always maintains two snapshots of the database. This flag attempts to use the older snapshot instead of the newer one when it first opens the database, on the assumption that the newer one is the only one that got corrupted by a crash. It may not always be successful. Once the database has been opened and operated on successfully, the flag has no further effect.\n\nUsing this flag when there hasn't been any crash will erase the last transaction committed to the database, and make the daemon need to catch up to the network again.", "The typical cause of this issue is the headgasket.\n\nThe headgasket has oil and coolant that pass through it from the engine block to the cylinder head. If the head gasket fails between an oil galley and a coolant galley you can get the mixture of oil and coolant in your radiator. As well, the issue can manifest itself in your engine block where you can have oil and coolant mix in that area of the engine.\n\nThe cause of the failed head gasket could be a situation where the engine was overheated. This can warp a cylinder head. If that is the case, a shop with appropriate equipment could take a few thousands of an inch of the head and make it flat in order for it to have a good seal against the engine block.\n\nIn order to repair your vehicle, you will need to replace the head gasket by removing your cylinder head, replacing the gasket and putting the head back on.\n\nThis is not a trivial repair. It requires quite a bit of work and knowledge.\n\nBest of luck.", "There is no point in trying the vague 'catch all' solutions like wiping NVRAM and system controllers. The problem you are having is a SIGSEGV, or, a segmentation fault in WindowServer. It is likely due to corrupt identifiers. Those identifiers are stored in multiple places, and if enough get corrupt, you get crashes. While some identifiers are stored in the NVRAM (or PRAM), wiping this usually only postpones the next crash since the identifier eventually ends up in there again.\n\nIf WindowServer crashes, all GUI applications stop and it restarts via launchd. When WindowServer starts, it first gives you the login window. So in fact, you are not getting logged out, but your whole graphical session simply crashes.\n\nHaving a peek at your crash report, it seems this thread is crashing:\n\nThread 0 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread\n\n\nThe last few calls were to color space functions (or methods), leading me to believe you might simply be dealing with a corrupt ICC profile.\n\nThe cash is within com.apple.CoreGraphics, and the most recent calls are to:\n\ncolor_space_get_md5_digest + 57\ncolor_space_get_identifier + 9\nCGXColorSpaceRegistryCopyRegisteredColorSpace + 42\n_CGXCopyColorSpace + 27\n_XCopyColorSpace + 57\n\n\nNow, if I'm right, it's trying to calculate the MD5 hash of a color space. It's doing that because it wants to find the identifier for a color space, and it needs that identifier because CGXColorSpaceRegistryCopyRegisteredColorSpace needs the color space data for the preset color profile for your monitor. Now, to be 100% this is the source of your crashes, I would need as many of your crash reports as possible, because if they all crash because of different reasons, it has nothing to do with the software on your system but it's more likely to be a hardware issue where bogus data is fed in to the software which then tries to do something with that data which it cannot do and therefore cashes.\n\nA simple test might be to start Apple's built in ColorSync Utility and pressing the Repair button. This could print something like:\n\nHeader message digest (MD5) is not correct. Fixed.\n\n\nWhich would make sense since a broken MD5 might be the source of your crash. So try that first. On my system, that ColorSync Utility is in /Applications/Utilities and I think it has been there since every version of OS X. Please let me know if that found broken ICC files and if it could fix them. If not (either nothing found or unable to fix) please do post any crash logs on WindowServer you have :)", "They make bash guards for derailleurs which mount to the frame which protect a derailleur in a crash like \n\n\n\nbut these are dangerous in that they transmit a hit to the derailleur to the frame (and frame damage is typically less repairable/ more expensive than a derailleur damage).\n\nUsually, what gets damaged in a crash is the derailleur hanger, which can be bent back into shape with a special tool at your bike shop (Park Tool DAG-2 for example). You should never pull the derailleur into shape by the cage (this is the weakest part of the derailleur and can damage it more). On non-steel bikes, this is often a little replaceable part which is designed to deform in a crash so hopefully your derailleur makes it out alright as does your frame (so if you can't bend it back into shape, you can replace it). \n\nTypically the Shimano Deore level is what gives you the best hit taking ability for the price, though it depends on how you fall and how the derailleur gets hit and stuff. The best thing to do is \"don't fall\". But obviously, compatibility within brands and budget dictate what to buy. \n\nI'm curious as to how the derailleur is \"bent\", and how you're straightening it though. It would be good if you updated your question with a diagram or picture of your \"bent derailleur\", along with the type of bike you're riding.", "It depends on the risk you are willing to take, but for such a small drone being flown indoors I'd give it a go1 and accept it may crash - after all, it has already done so once so it can't be made worse! The repair will, however, be a weak point in future crashes.\nHow well it flies will depend on how accurately you reposition the part, but you're likely to get 'close enough' (again, probably 'worth a try'.) I would also, once the glue has fully set, try to hold the drone only by the broken bit and give it a shake - if it can hold the whole weight, it should be OK when the weight is divided between the propellers.\nFor larger drones you should replace the part to manufacturer specs or get a professional to take a look.\n1 Subject to the normal indoor flying considerations - avoid pets, other people and anything expensive or valuable, etc.", "It sounds like either the solenoid that activates the lock has failed, or the linkage connecting them has come adrift, or there is a problem with the wiring going to the solenoid - the solenoid failing is usually the most common of these.\n\nYou'll probably have to remove the door trim (either get a manual or look on youtube for a guide), in order to get access to the solenoid. Unfortunately they're often still awkward to get to, as the crash structure of the door gets in the way... \n\nIf it's a dislodged linkage that should be obvious straight away - a failed solenoid will probably look fine from the outside, but simply not work.", "As a best practice, you should gracefully deregister the node gracefully. In this case, consul will know the the node has left and will be removed from the cluster. Otherwise, the consul cannot distinguish between a temporary failure, agent crash, network partition, etc.\n\nThere is a github issue as well related to this. \n\nQuoting few important points from the issue.\n\n\n The nodes should automatically reap out after 72hours (not yet configurable, but soon). Otherwise, the best route is to issue a graceful leave before destroying the nodes (consul leave), so that they can be reaped immediately. They are kept around for that long since without a graceful leave, Consul cannot distinguish between a temporary failure, agent crash, network partition, etc.\n\n\n.\n\n\n force-leave should push them into the \"left\" state. Nodes are not reaped until they are in failed for 72h or in the left state. \"force-leave\" just moves a node from the \"failed\" -> \"left\" state. They are not removed from the members list for 24 or 72h.", "By a process of elimination if the lenses still work on other bodies, they are OK. \n\nSince no lenses now work on the D70 and they all did previously then that has probably failed. \n\nSince you've cleaned the contacts the only thing is that the mechanical aperture control may be stuck and failing that it would need specialist attention and would probably be cheaper to replace than to repair.", "I could've sworn I read something similar to this before in the past. And I could have sworn it was \"spam\".\n\nI ran this site in Tor Browser, in Permissive (to a point) mode. It did not fail to load and I have 14.04.\n\nI'm not 100% certain, but it 'reads' as spam to me, as they fail to explain exactly what they DO see before a crash, and no responses to inquiries. If there's no other comments on it from OP i'd flag it as suspicious.", "My guess is that GRUB is looking for your / partition in the wrong place, or failed to install at all. In order to diagnose your problem, you will want to use boot-repair. Since you have an Ubuntu LiveCD/LiveUSB, it is most convenient to run the utility from there. Instructions on doing so can be found at the Ubuntu Community Wiki, but a brief synopsis can be found below.\n\n\nBoot into your LiveCD/LiveUSB\nChoose \"Try Ubuntu\"\nEstablish an Internet connection. Note that this is different from a network connection in that you need to be able to connect to a website as well.\nOpen the Terminal application from your Dash. If you are having trouble finding your Dash, try typing just Ctrl + Alt + T.\nEnter the command, sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair &amp;&amp; sudo apt-get update. Be sure to follow this with a carriage return (Enter) so it can execute.\nEnter the command, sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair &amp;&amp; (boot-repair &amp;) after it finishes executing, and be sure to execute this one as well.\nSelect \"Recommended Repair\".\nWhen the repair is finished, copy down the URL you are provided with. If your repair does not work, this will be necessary for further troubleshooting.\nReboot your computer normally (i.e. not to your installation media).\nNow, you should be able to boot to Ubuntu. If that is not the case, please update your question with the URL you copied down earlier.", "You will indeed have difficulties with scaling a model to the point that individual components become smaller than the tolerances of your printer.\n\nIt is more likely a problem with your model, having been created in SketchUp. If you use an online model repair service, it will almost certainly return an indication that the model was flawed. Unfortunately, those repair services are not a good choice for repairing a SketchUp model, as the fail points are usually beyond the capability of the software.\n\nAnother option would be to load the model into MeshMixer and use Analysis/Inspector to reveal the flaws, but again, the automatic repair feature would likely destroy the model.\n\nEven a program as simplistic as TinkerCAD will do a better job of creating a 3D printable model.\n\nConsider to begin learning a different, perhaps more challenging program such as OpenSCAD or Solvespace, or even more challenging than those, Fusion 360. All of the above are free, while Fusion 360 has the requirement of non-commercial/hobbyist use to remain free.", "First, regarding why “the same switch can be rated for different amperages”, the current-rating of a switch depends on switched voltage and current because switching a high voltage or current typically produces a more energetic arc than does switching a low voltage or current.\n\nThe switch you referred to, with its “Legion EPS21 10A 250VAC TV-5 8A/128A 250V μT85” markings, is rated at switching a maximum of 10A in a 250VAC circuit, and is rated at 8A normal current, 128A surge, and is rated for use at temperatures no higher than 85° C. \n\nSee eg alps.com for a table of UL, CSA, and IEC Safety Standards markings. The 8A/128A mark is a VDE, SEMKO, or BS (ie, German, Swedish, or British) Load Life Test rating, comparable to the UL or CSA (ie, American or Canadian) TV8 Load Life Test rating for DPST switches.\n\nIf you used that switch in a 12VDC circuit carrying 25A, you'd have no guarantees about how it would work. It might fail open or closed, after working for 1 or 1000 operations; it might catch fire; it might work ok.\n\nIf you operated it during a motor-stall event to switch a hundred or so amps, I'd expect it to fail after one or two such uses, with contacts either welded together or melted off.\n\nThe 18 AWG wires attached to it are rated at 7 to 10A. They wouldn't burn out carrying 25A, but would run warm. If you consult a wire-size table (eg at powerstream.com or stayonline.com) you will see that 12 AWG is a workable size of wire for 25A, while 10 AWG would provide a bigger safety margin.\n\nUsing a 12V contactor or automotive relay (controlled by a small switch like the example) is an alternative to using a big switch. (Eg, see contactor and relay pictures at Google Images.)\n\nEdit: If a surge or stall is brief (eg a few hundredths of a second; I don't know the actual UL specs on surge duration) and the switch is not operated during it, the switch should survive. But if the switch is opened during a motor stall, arcing will occur. Typically, most of the energy inductively stored in the motor windings will dump into the arc, and the switch contacts will vaporize.", "Properly functioning query that produces only one row for each collision within 100 feet of a potential corridor route:\n\nWITH collisions AS(\n SELECT \n crashes.case_id, \n roads.geom, \n ST_Distance(crashes.geom, roads.geom) d\n FROM \n crashes, roads\n WHERE \n ST_Dwithin(crashes.geom, roads.geom, 100)\n GROUP BY \n crashes.case_id, d, roads.geom\n)\nSELECT case_id, MAX(d)\nFROM crashes\nGROUP BY case_id\n\n\nDescription: \nThe first part of the query is a CTE, common table expression. This creates a temporary table that can be referenced and selected from in a secondary query. So the first table, created by the CTE, returns all collisions within 100ft of a potential route, but as some collisions are within 100 ft of more than one potential route feature, duplicate rows are created for these collisions. \n\nThe second Query filters these out using an aggregate expression using MAX, to only select the largest distance for each case_id (1 value, and hence 1 row for each case id). \nThis effectively filters out the duplicate rows. \n\n** FIRST() instead of MAX() also works.", "This is unlikely to fail because:\n\ngetSystemResource() and therefore getSystemResourceAsStream() are using the System class loader.\n\nIt reads from local disk.\n\nIf it fails, we failed to read a file a jar or dir tree from the classpath.\n\nIO Failures are unlikely, as we already started running from these jars, which have been verified ( and already read).\n\nFailure to find the file is generally having the wrong filename , or a bad build of your code that doesn't include the resource.\nIn these cases a null pointer will make your code crash fast in testing and your production code won't need to handle an IOException that only occurs if your build is screwed up.", "After pairing to the TNC, use the &quot;cu.***&quot; port as the address in Xastir.\nFor me it was: &quot;/dev/cu.MobilinkdTNC2-DevB&quot;. Set the baud to 9600 and click done.\nMy connection failed after about 15 minutes. I unpaired, repaired, and then the connection stayed up.", "What do you think this is assuming it is not a personal practice?\n\n\nMarking mating pieces with numerals is standard practice in timber framing, at least in a historic context. These were often called \"marriage marks,\" for obvious reasons.\n\n\n(source)\n\nThese were an easy way to identify mating components with a standard chisel, which can only make straight lines. Chiseling out the marks would provide an easy-to-see shadow line, unlike pencil or chalk, which would be erased much easier.\n\n\n Up until this point I had never looked at the underside of the table and was perplexed by the presence of Roman numerals on the table.\n\n\nWhy these are on the bottom of your table is not entirely clear, since it appears that there is no mating piece next to the marks. It could just be that the woodworker used the marks to identify the piece number to keep things straight in his head. Without further context, it's really impossible to know.\n\nI would guess that the woodworker had a curved gouge handy when he made the marks, hence why they're not straight, as they would be if done with a regular chisel." ]

[ "Drinking high amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages — such as soda — can have various adverse impacts on your health. These range from increased chances of tooth decay to a higher risk of heart disease and metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes." ]

[ "Yes indeed, distilled water does keep you hydrated, but what happens to your body when you drink distilled water? Due to the demineralization done during the evaporation process, when consumed, distilled water increases urine output.", "The condition is called the bends because the joint and bone pains can be so severe they double you over. What happens inside your body during decompression sickness is similar to what happens when you open a carbonated drink.", "It's OK for your baby or toddler to drink from a bottle or sippy cup. It's what you put in it and when they drink that matters. Baby bottle tooth decay is what happens when a child who drinks from a bottle or sippy cup gets cavities on their baby teeth.", "Drinking hot water helps your intestines to contract. When that happens, old waste trapped in your intestines is able to pass out of your body. Drinking hot water regularly helps keep you, well, regular. But drinking it occasionally when you're constipated isn't a bad idea, either.", "Sodium, calcium, potassium, chloride, phosphate, and magnesium are all electrolytes. You get them from the foods you eat and the fluids you drink. The levels of electrolytes in your body can become too low or too high. This can happen when the amount of water in your body changes.", "What causes water intoxication? When you drink too much water, it can cause hyponatremia, which happens when your blood sodium concentration becomes very low. If you drink more water than your kidneys can flush out, it'll dilute the sodium in your bloodstream, causing cells to swell.", "One of the things that happen when you sleep is that you get a better fever response. What this means is that, even if the temperature rises, your body is more actively focused on fighting infection.", "Bovril is good for you. It helps to build healthy bodies. Bovril is what explorers drink to keep their spirits up when times are tough. It's what your British granny gives you to sip when you're recovering from a bug.", "Here's what happens to our eyes when we drink: Dilated pupils. Because alcohol relaxes muscles all over the body, it causes the pupils to dilate as the muscles in the iris expand. Poor focus.", "You can leave hospital when you're well enough to eat and drink and tests show a safe level of ketones in your body. It's common to stay in hospital for around 2 days. Before leaving hospital, ask to speak to a diabetes nurse about why you got DKA and what you can do to stop it happening again.", "The slimmer you Your appetite can be suppressed from drinking water, so you don't eat as much. ... When you don't drink enough water, your body also tends to store more fat as well. But when you drink plenty of water, your liver can metabolise your bodies stored fat more efficiently.", "Drinking water may stimulate your metabolism. The body has to expend energy to warm the fluid to body temperature, and the more energy expended by your body, the faster your metabolism (the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy) runs.", "Drinking hot water temporarily begins to raise your internal body temperature. When you drink hot water, or when you take a warm bath, your body's endocrine system activates and you start to sweat.", "If you're using the eat-stop-eat approach to lose weight, you'll take 24-hour breaks from food. Here's what happens to your body if you don't eat for… Drinking enough water can help you burn fat and increase your energy levels. This page explains exactly how much water you should drink in a day.", "When someone touches you properly, you hardly notice it at all, but what happens inside your body is a massive change. Physical contact releases dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin in your brain[5]—the happy chemicals.", "Yup, stress can actually cause your period to be late or delayed when your body is so freaked out by keeping you calm and what's happening around you, that makes you anxious, that your body's hormones hold off on critical parts of your menstrual cycle, like ovulation.", "It helps to build healthy bodies. Bovril is what explorers drink to keep their spirits up when times are tough. It's what your British granny gives you to sip when you're recovering from a bug. Bovril makes your Sunday roast gravy dark and strong.", "You relax some of your requirements is what typically happens when you compromise during a negotiation. You relax some of your requirements is what typically happens when you compromise during a negotiation. This answer has been confirmed as correct and helpful.", "What's happening? Daily weight fluctuation is normal. The average adult's weight fluctuates up to 5 or 6 pounds per day. It all comes down to what and when you eat, drink, exercise, and even sleep.", "You may eat, drink and take your usual medication as normal before your appointment. What Happens After The Procedure? There will be no need to rest after the flexible cystoscopy and you will be able to drive home.", "What happens to your body when you start exercising regularly? During that first workout, you might feel more alert and energized because ramping up your heart rate means a boost in overall blood flow and oxygen to the brain.", "Coke was still outselling Pepsi, but its market share was declining as Pepsi's was rising. ... In 1982, it released its first drink to share Coke's name: Diet Coke.", "Inertia describes the tendency of bodies to continue at constant velocity in the absence of external forces. Acceleration is what happens to bodies when there is a net external force..", "Your body is very clever; in fact you are making breast milk in the form of colostrum before your baby is even born. When your baby arrives they can drink this while waiting for your full breast milk to 'come in', this happens anywhere from three-to-seven days after you've given birth.", "After a night out drinking, you may also notice bloating in your face, which is often accompanied by redness. This happens because alcohol dehydrates the body. When the body is dehydrated, skin and vital organs try to hold onto as much water as possible, leading to puffiness in the face and elsewhere.", "When you drink too much water, it can cause hyponatremia, which happens when your blood sodium concentration becomes very low. If you drink more water than your kidneys can flush out, it'll dilute the sodium in your bloodstream, causing cells to swell.", "When it comes to drinking, that's simple – water! Just water, and lots of it. Swans mainly drink freshwater because that's what their bodies are designed for and most of the places you find Mute Swans have freshwater, rather than saltwater. But swans can drink seawater.", "Vaccination is when a vaccine is administered to you (usually by injection). Immunisation is what happens in your body after you have the vaccination. The vaccine stimulates your immune system so that it can recognise the disease and protect you from future infection (ie, you become immune to the infection).", "When drinking alcohol beverages, adding water or other drinks without alcohol will dilute the alcohol in your stomach and will slow absorption. Eating food will also slow alcohol absorption. ... The concentration of alcohol in your body depends not only on how much you drink, but also on your body.", "Sneezing is a mechanism your body uses to clear the nose. When foreign matter such as dirt, pollen, smoke, or dust enters the nostrils, the nose may become irritated or tickled. When this happens, your body does what it needs to do to clear the nose — it causes a sneeze.", "What happens to thralls when you die? Any thrall or pet set to follow will stop following when you die. If you get back to your body quick enough they will still be there and you can click on them again to follow. If it takes to long the thrall or pet starts scouting and may wander off.", "What happens to your body after a miscarriage? After a miscarriage, the body takes weeks to return to normal. Besides your emotional reactions, you will also have hormonal responses. Your body will go through the same changes as you would with a full-term delivery." ]

[ "70 A.D." ]

[ "DID", "Did Not Finish", "Did It for the Party", "s", "reluctant to destroy things", "JP Did This 1", "Roman Coppola", "The Front Porch Country Band", "S&S Power", "Simpsons Already Did It", "S&S Worldwide", "Roman Grant", "Roman Rybakiewicz", "Phil Roman", "Roman Polanski", "to locate and destroy microbes", "I Did It for Love", "Adriana Roman", "Roman Davydov", "Roman Catholics", "Roman Pearce" ]

[ "The song references Anglo-Irish conflict over Northern Ireland In particular Zombie appears to have been written in memory of the deaths of 2 children in Warrington (England) as a result of Irish Republican Army ([IRA](_URL_1_)) bombings (see [Warrington Bomb Attack](_URL_2_)). The line referencing \"the same old theme since 1916\" is a reference to the [Easter Rising](_URL_0_)." ]

[ "In what context was this song lyric about Saxon candy?", "It depends on the song and context. It could mean everything from actual work, to sex, to dancing. Rap and R & B rely on context clues a lot because they tend to use heavy amounts of slang in order to keep up a rhyme scheme. If you have trouble understanding a song in particular, look up the lyrics and try to make sense of them or look online for an explanation of the song, a lot of websites will usually have some kind of explanation for what the song is about.", "_URL_0_ The wikipedia article is excellent and better than any of the answers in here so far. If you have specific parts you don't understand, ask away and I can help explain them to you.", "Yes there is a very easy way to tell if a song will be happy or sad. Happy songs are made with [major chords](_URL_0_), which have a pleasant light sound. Sad songs are made with [minor chords](_URL_1_), which have a deep, dark sound. Through experience we begin to associate these two major categorization of chords with these two feelings. Sad songs are made with these chords, but these chords aren't inherently sad. We give them meaning by *personifing* them as \"sad\". Remember, sound is just sound before we give it meaning. The reason why you think minor chords sound sad is because those chords are used more often then not in sad songs, with sad lyrics and are played usually in the context of a sad situation. If you hear a minor chord out of context you associate back to those sad songs you once heard, or a sad event etc. Vice-versa for happy songs.", "In most Chinese music the tones are just omitted. The lyrics of the song can be understood without tones through context. The singer just follows the melody and does not change it based on tones. Although tones are an important part of Chinese language, it can still be understood most of the time without the use of tones.", "There is really no explanation beyond \"it was the 80's\". And vampires. Seriously, the original title was Vampires in Love and was supposed to be about vampires. That makes a woman discovering a bunch of creepy young guys running around a boys' school at night make slightly more sense. But mostly it is about the 1980's. Music videos where a new medium and people were still trying to figure them out. Often cryptic nonsense having nothing to do with a song was passed off creativity with hidden meaning. If you want the song and video to match better, take a look at [this](_URL_0_)", "It's how your brain memorizes the lyrics. It associates the lyrics with the melody of the song, and without the melody, it can't draw the association, so it can't remember,", "Sung words have meaning identified by neighboring words and sentence structure. The words are sung without tone. This can be specifically used for lyrics with double meanings, just like lyrics in English songs can be with select word phrase same pronouciations. You've seen these on YouTube labeled misheard lyrics.", "It has a few different meanings in different contexts. What setting are we talking about?", "I've never heard 'gun' censored from a song before. The only context in which I could imagine this happening is if a song's lyrics were going to be sanitized for a Kidz Bop-type audience. While not an obscenity, some parents would not consider a song with the word 'gun' in it to be appropriate for their children. This reduces the potential customer base. Wider customer base = greater potential sales. Unless you're just listening to a radio station with really strict censorship guidelines or live somewhere with a lot of censorship. Some context would help a bit here. Exit: Or maybe the artist themselves did it to make a statement.", "It's shorthand for \"lately deceased\". It's traditionally used to describe someone who has died recently, but as the abbreviated phrase eclipsed the full one in popular speech, it's come to describe anyone who is dead regardless of how recently they croaked.", "One word: Repetition. You know all those song lyrics because you listened to the songs thousands of times. Names are easily forgotten because in our own minds, names are not nearly as important as the idea behind them. You often forget names quickly because you instead incorporate the **idea** of the person (who they are, what their importance to you is) into your mind instead of their name and then are more likely to repeat THAT to yourself instead of their name. tl;dr If you reinforced their name as many times as you reinforced song lyrics you love, you would remember it.", "Apps like Shazam and SoundHound don't actually listen to the lyrics of the song to find what song is it. They look for patterns in the song and search in their database.", "It's extremely complex gibberish involving a made-up language, so detached from reality it really cannot be simplified in any meaningful manner. Best just read him explaining it h[imself in his infamous Rolling Stone interview.](_URL_0_?)", "Generally speaking, other countries (particularly non English speaking) have a wider breadth of contemporary popular music in circulation than the US. This is because, aside from the US and UK music, these countries listen to local music, regional music, foreign music in their language and foreign music in other languages. This means that the distribution of listeners is far more sparce, so the peak song will usually have only marginally more plays than the second ranked, top 5 and so on. Another reason: lyric is a very important part of most music. Many countries (populations really) will put more emphasis on the lyrics from their native language than English lyrics, but they may all converge on a catchy, rhythmic song and cause it to peak. US and UK can think the lyric of that song is lackluster, or not as relatable, and listen to other songs instead.", "It's been [asked before](_URL_0_), if none of those answers explain it to you then come back and ask a more specific question.", "A really good (though long) explanation is here: [_URL_0_](_URL_0_)", "It's expectation. Before you read the lyrics, you heard them without any reference, meaning your past experiences dictated what you hear, based on the expectations related to the context of the song. After your read the lyrics, they overwrite your previous guess. It's like the meme \"What has been seen cannot be unseen,\" but here for hearing. There's a similar phenomenon when you look at someone's lips when they talk. The associations you made with the movements of their mouths sometimes warps the actual sound they made, even if they said a different syllable than the one the mouth movement usually produces.", "Lots of native English speakers also have *some* trouble with song lyrics. So much of the experience of a song has to do with the melodies that perfectly understandable lyrics aren't really a priority for singers.", "Upvoting in hopes that somebody can actually decipher what you're asking.", "He's referring to his guitar. The whole song he's drawing parallels between his life as a rockstar and being an old West outlaw/cowboy, so he added \"loaded\" to invoke imagery of a six shooter.", "No one is quite sure. Some say it was inspired by a Samuel Coleridge poem, others a Cole Porter song, where racial slurs where hastily replaced with animals. Others say it is simply an allusion to springtime and fertility, or refers to how birds and especially bees spread pollen. What is clear that in the early 20th Century, it became a running joke about parents trying to use vague euphemisms to awkwardly and unsuccessfully explain sex to their children. That, more than sex itself, it was the birds and the bees have come to mean.", "Imagine your life is a house and your memories are the bricks. You've spent months building this house by hand, brick-by-brick, only to find that it isn't structurally sound in the end. You only have one plot of land and you need shelter to survive. Your only two choices are to dismantle the house brick-by-brick (a long and emotionally draining process, especially for an unexperienced builder) or wait until it collapses (i.e. holding on to your pain until you eventually go off the deep end).", "Think of it like Genesis (the book of the Bible, not the band) but for a much, much older civilisation. Check out these stories but also the rest of the site. _URL_0_", "Where are you getting that from? Some context would be helpful.", "First, not every song does. Second, those that do, do so because the listener no longer identifies with the emotions of the song. Third, 'Satisfaction' by the Rolling Stones is just an OK song with controversial (for the 60s) lyrics and an annoying guitar riff. They played it on AM radio every five minutes because listeners were trying to figure out the lyrics. Once they did, they stopped listening. To this day, I change the channel whenever Satisfaction is played.", "It goes back a very long time; probably at least a thousand years. If it ever had a specific meaning, it's long been forgotten. At this point it's only a matter of tradition.", "_URL_0_ I am sure you were looking for a summary, but this could explain much better.", "It's different for every artist, but I believe writing the lyrics first is most commonplace. Songwriters are always working on lyrics, and making them fit in a song are easier when they come first, and you build the song around it. As for the formula, most popular music goes something like; intro/refrain/verse, verse, refrain, verse, verse/bridge, refrain, coda/fade out.", "Their songs are repetitive and formulaic, in terms of lyrics and instruments. So basically, they're the Justin Bieber of rock. Also, their songs usually have country vocals, which is unpopular in today's society.", "Our brains have adapted to be pattern recognition seekers and are rewarded in doing so. Most lyrics in songs are poetic with rhyme schemes, metaphors and catchy lyrics that synchronize with a beat. If you are really “feeling” a song you will be able to realize these patterns inside and out. It takes more effort to memorize a passage in a book or speech because they are not wrapped in easily digestible bundles and without the help of a beat or scale.", "Rolling Stone has a pretty good summary here: _URL_0_" ]

[ "One of the most important maxims in writing is “write what you know.” If you don’t know anything about handyman work, then don’t write about handyman work. You’re right, it will be hard to write anything original about handyman work if all of your knowledge about it is direct from a book with no practical experience or knowledge of the basics to draw on.\n\nThat is not to say that research is not important. It certainly is. But research is not going to enable you to write articles that compare favorably with articles written by someone who has years of schooling and years of practical experience on a subject, and who has also done research on that subject. And today, there will be millions of such people writing about any particular subject that you might choose.\n\nGenerally speaking, when people blog about something, it is the thing they either know best or are most passionate about, or both. So you might start by making a list of the 5 things you know best and the 5 things you are most passionate about. There may be some overlap. And then ask yourself if you have something to say on those subjects." ]

[ "What exactly is plagiarism?\nIn the context of Stack Exchange sites, any copying and pasting of any amount of text or code that wasn't written by you is plagiarism if you try, explicitly or implicitly, to pass it off as your own work. For a more detailed definition, see the Wikipedia article.\nWhy is plagiarism wrong?\nYou may not be aware of this, but plagiarism is considered a grave infraction in academic and professional circles around the globe, and it can lead to dire consequences if discovered. By plagiarizing, you steal someone else's work and pass it as your own, earning you credit and respect where it's not deserved. Copying someone else's work without permission can also constitute copyright infringement, which is illegal in most countries.\nSpecific to Stack Exchange, plagiarizing other people's work can earn you reputation points and the community's trust with zero effort. This angers users who give their valuable time, and often put hours, sometimes days of work into their answers.\nBut I only wanted to help!\nRemember, Stack Exchange is not a support forum or a chat room. The goal of &quot;helping&quot; the asker does not justify copying content from elsewhere without attribution.\nYour motives may have been perfectly good, but to the site's users it looks like you were trying to gain reputation points without putting any work in it, or adding any valuable content to the site.\nI've been caught. How can I fix the situation?\nIf you've been caught plagiarizing, it's possible you'll get downvotes or angry comments from users. Stay calm and polite; showing an honest effort to fix what you did wrong is the most reliable way to pacify the community. Stack Exchange is a very forgiving place if you put in some effort.\nIf you know you have a lot of plagiarized contributions, you can help fix the situation by going through every one of them and adding attribution where appropriate (see below on how to do that). If you want multiple contributions deleted altogether, do not delete them yourself (as this may trigger internal alarms) but flag for moderator attention and ask for deletion.\nIt is possible that moderators suspend you, or delete some of your content if plagiarism has been discovered. You will most likely receive a moderator message detailing which, if any, measures have been taken.\nHow do I properly add attribution in the future?\nIf you want to reference an existing answer on a Stack Exchange site as part of your own answer, link to the answer and possibly even the author's profile. The attribution goes before the copied content so it's obvious to everyone who it's from. Copied content should be quoted in blockquotes.\nExample:\n\nAs Peter Parker said in this answer,\n\nGotham City's sewage system was built in the 1910s. It consists mostly of concrete tubes, although some of them are ceramic. They're designed to withstand seismic shocks of up to 8.5 on the Richter scale.\n\n\nThe same rules apply if you want to reference an external source somewhere on the web. Paste the URL and point out who the author is. Note that external sources may be protected by copyright even if you add attribution. Instead of copying and pasting everything, use only chunks of text, and paraphrase what the source says. In copyright law, this is called fair use.\nRemember, you still have to write an actual answer, in your own words. A post that consists only of copied text, even when attributed, is not your work either. Use quotes sparingly, to support your own words.\nDuplicates\nIf you see a question that has been asked on a Stack Exchange before, do not copy &amp; paste answers from the original question. Instead, vote to close as a duplicate, flag as a duplicate, or leave a comment stating that there is a good answer available already. Every time you do this, you actively contribute to the quality of the site, and help the asker, without having to resort to plagiarism.", "Plagiarism should always be handled by a moderator1, as it is fundamentally a behavioral issue more than simply a content issue, much like targeted voting, sock puppet use, and rudeness. For some users, this is a one-off issue, but for others, this can be a pattern, making it a much more serious problem. Moderators have the tools to enforce this and reach out to users to address it in ways that regular users do not. Furthermore, we decline enough false plagiarism accusations on a regular basis that we simply cannot trust regular users to moderate these issues on our behalf.\n\nYou can still get involved by\n\n\nleaving a comment for the benefit of others to indicate that the answer you found contains plagiarism, with a link to the original source, and\nvoting to close the question as a duplicate in the case of content copied from answers to duplicate questions\n\n\nbut I'd urge you to leave the corrective action to us, as again, plagiarism can often be a sign of deeper behavioral issues (sometimes not limited to plagiarism) that only a moderator has the tools and the judgement to investigate and deal with on a case-by-case basis. Some flaggers will help us find out if a user has a pattern of plagiarism and inform us within the flag, but if going through someone's profile makes you uncomfortable (for all the good reasons), leave it to us, we'll do it anyway.\n\n(Yes, 99% of the time an answer that consists of stolen content is deleted without hesitation; I've personally had limited success with editing attribution into other people's answers — not even complete as I've had at least one incident of a user rolling back my edits, effectively sending the message that they were acting in bad faith — and I've always maintained that the responsibility falls on the user to ensure that anything they copy is attributed and meets Fair Use.)\n\nPlus, only moderators have a direct channel with the community team to ask for stolen content to be disassociated, effectively removing all their ill-gotten rep from an account, in the case of answers that will survive rep changes getting reversed on deletion such as the one you link to.\n\nAs always, if you disagree with a moderator's decision, you are free to either reflag or bring it up on meta. But in the case of plagiarism, I don't recommend trying to overrule a moderator's decision unless they've acknowledged that they were in the wrong (in which case they probably would have reversed their actions already).\n\n\n\n1 At least, on Stack Overflow; different advice seems to exist for other sites.", "Plagiarism was a concern already in antiquity. In the preface to On Spirals Archimedes mentions that he was sending Alexandrians statements of his latest theorems, but some had claimed them as their own. Then on occasion he included two false ones \"so that those who claim to discover everything, but produce no proofs of the same, may be confuted as having pretended to discover the impossible\". \n\nThe most famous case of ancient plagiarism however showcases the differences between then and now. The earliest documented concern about the data in Ptolemy's Almagest came from Kepler and Severin in 17th century, over a millennium after Ptolemy's death. Later Delambre in History of Astronomy (1817) pointed out that observations of solstices and equinoxes that Ptolemy reports as his own appear to be back-engineered from Hipparchus's data. In the 20th century thorough inspection of Almagest showed that there are the same problems with elongations of Venus and various other data that Ptolemy reports. The biggest problem is Ptolemy's star catalogue, analysis of which suggests that \"his\" observations were made 5° to the north of Alexandria, likely at Rhodes where Hipparchus worked. \n\nIn modern times this sustained a debate between \"scientists\" van der Waerden, Thurston, Rawlins and Richard Newton, and \"historians\" Neugebauer, Swerdlow and Gingerich on Ptolemy's conduct. Newton especially did not mince words in the tellingly named book The Crime of Claudius Ptolemy, concluding that he \"is not the greatest astronomer of antiquity, but he is something still more unusual: he is the most successful fraud in the history of science\". And Rawlins writes that \"defenders invariably excuse Ptolemy's star thefts by noting that modern cataloguers commonly use other astronomers' stellar data. But such apologia just as invariably fail to mention that none of these borrowers claim such gleanings as their own outdoor labor\". However, the defenders do have a point that some of this indignation comes from projecting modern standards onto antiquity, and that Ptolemy had to make something of sporadic and conflicting data without modern statistical methods. For more see debate in ISIS sparked by Thurston's Greek Mathematical Astronomy reconsidered.\n\nAccusations of plagiarism continued into middle ages, Cardano for instance published solution to cubics given to him by Tartaglia after promising not to do so (he did give him credit though), and especially into 17th century, when Hooke alone made multiple plagiarism accusations, e.g. against Newton over the inverse square law, and even lobbied the Royal Society to stop sending its publications to non-members to prevent theft. The atrocious Newton-Leibniz priority dispute also had its share of plagiarism accusations from both sides. So already the first professional organizations, like the Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society, were very mindful of the plagiarism issue, and tried to address it from the start through institutional mechanisms. The main problem was distinguishing between true plagiarism, on which there was trivially a consensus, from \"fair use\" and uncertain timeline cases. For instance, the priority by publication date convention emerged after the Newton-Leibniz dispute to remedy the latter.", "Bounty is there to get more attention to the post. If eligible answer added after bounty is placed than bounty will be given to such answer.\n\nIn this case the question got attention from people, but not a kind you would like\n\n\ncouple 100% plagiarized answers were added \nlikely moderators look at those questions too to weed out such \"late completely plagiarized answers\" (or just got notified by 100% plagiarized answer from SO)\n\n\nAs result plagiarized answers got deleted and no answers left for bounty to be assigned. So bounty is gone now (but it served its purpose also in a way that is not useful to you).\n\nCourse of actions: \n\n\nlikely question is duplicate of one that was presented as an \"answer\" - Difference between extending and intersecting interfaces in TypeScript?, so may vote to close as such\nif that question does not answer your one - edit the post to clarify (\"this link_to_answer explains ... but I'm asking for ...\"). You may not need second bounty for some time while post is active on meta, but likely you'd need to add bigger (100) bounty if meta attention is not enough.\nreview the second plagiarized source https://pawelgrzybek.com/typescript-interface-vs-type/ and provide self-answer based on information from both sources", "There are at least two questions lurking in your post, so let me try and sort them out.\n\n\nCould the size of the thing you installed be different from the size\ndescribed on the torproject.org site?\nHow do you know whether the Tor program you have is really the one\nthat was made by the Tor project? (Note that I have plagiarized this\nquestion from the Tor project!)\n\n\nIf you want to be sure that you installed a genuine version of TBB then you must follow the advice given by the Tor project developers, and check signatures and so forth. Answering your question about size will not confirm whether you have a genuine copy of TBB. At best, it might tell you that you do not have a genuine copy.\n\nNow to the first question. The installation executable that you downloaded from the torproject should have been of the size they described (give or take differences in the way you calculate megabytes). The installation bundle, however, is a compressed package; when you run the installation executable, it will be decompressed and, on my machine at least, the Tor Browser folder contains about 157 Mb of files; in other words, the decompressed bundle is much larger than the installation executable that one downloads.\n\nNow, having read this, and before you do anything else, you should learn how to verify your installation bundle!", "As Gareth Rees pointed out, the Copyright Act of 1911 was the copyright law that was in force when T. S. Eliot published \"The Waste Land\". Below is how this act defines \"copyright\" (emphasis mine):\n\n\n For the purposes of this Act, \"copyright\" means the sole right to produce or reproduce the work or any substantial part thereof in any material form whatsoever, to perform, or in the case of a lecture to deliver, the work or any substantial part thereof in public; if the work is unpublished, to publish the work or any substantial part thereof ; and shall include the sole right,— \n (a) to produce, reproduce, perform, or publish any translation of the work;\n (b) in the case of a dramatic work, to convert it into a novel or other non-dramatic work ;\n (c) in the case of a novel or other non-dramatic work, or of an artistic work, to convert it into a dramatic work, by way of performance in public or otherwise;\n (d) in the case of a literary, dramatic, or musical work, to make any record, perforated roll, cinematograph film, or other contrivance by means of which the work may be mechanically performed or delivered, and to authorise any such acts as aforesaid.\n\n\nSection 3 also states (emphasis mine),\n\n\n The term for which copyright shall subsist shall, except as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, be the life of the author and a period Of fifty years after his death: (...) \n\n\nEliot's quotes in \"The Waste Land\" reproduce at most a few lines from other works, i.e. no \"substantial parts\". In addition, copyright had already expired for many of the works he quotes, e.g. Bible books, Elizabethan and Jacobean authors such as Shakespeare, Kyd and Webster, and the works of Dante.\n\nSo it was not copyright legislation that required such notes, but the perception of plagiarism by readers may have played a role. Peter Ackroyd's biography of T. S. Eliot notes (on pages 177-178 of the German translation, published by Suhrkamp in 1988):\n\n\n Die Ausgaben in Buchform unterschieden sich von den Zeitschriftenfassungen durch die Beifügung von Eliots Anmerkungen. Diese waren ursprünglich dazu gedacht, Pagiatsvorwürfe, wie sei seinen früheren Gedichten gemacht wurden, zu unterlaufen. Da aber das Gedicht noch immer nicht lang genug schien, um ein Buch zu ergeben, weitete er sei aus. Was daraus hervorging, nannte er dann eine \"beachtliche Zurschaustellung gelehrter Hochstapelei\".\n\n\nMy translation:\n\n\n The book editions [of \"The Waste Land\"] differed from the magazine editions by the addition of Eliot's notes. These were originally intended to avoid the accusations of plagiarism that had been levelled at his earlier poems. Since the poem still seemed too short to fill a book, Eliot expanded the notes. He later called the result a \"remarkable exposition of bogus scholarship\".\n\n\nThe comment about \"bogus scholarship\" comes from his lecture \"The Frontiers in Criticism\", which was later published in On Poetry and Poets. Below is a longer quote from that lecture:\n\n\n I had at first intended only to put down all the references for my quotations, with a view to spiking the guns of critics of my earlier poems who had accused me of plagiarism. Then, when it came time to print The Waste Land as a little book—for the poem on its first appearance in The Dial and in The Criterion had no notes whatever—it was discovered that the poem was inconveniently short, so I set to work to expand the notes, in order to provide a few more pages of printed matter, with the result that they became the remarkable exposition of bogus scholarship that is still on view to-day. I have sometimes thought of getting rid of these notes; but now they can never be unstuck. They have had almost greater popularity than the poem itself—anyone who bought my book of poems, and found that the notes to The Waste Land were not in it, would demand his money back.\n\n\nSo avoiding accusations of plagiarism played a role, but not in a legal sense.", "From Tafsir Ibn Kathir:\n\n\n وَمِنْهُمْ مَّن يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ وَجَعَلْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِى ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْراً وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كُلَّ ءَايَةٍ لاَّ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهَا \n \n (And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they see every one of the Ayat they will not believe therein;) \n \n means, they come to you, (O Muhammad ), so that they hear you recite the Qur'an, but its recitation does not benefit them, because Allah has set veils on their hearts, and so they do not understand the Qur'an,\n \n وَفِى ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا\n \n (and (set) deafness in their ears;) \n \n that prevents them from hearing what benefits them. In another Ayah, Allah said;\n \n يَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ إِنْ هَـذَآ إِلاَّ أَسَـطِيرُ الاٌّوَّلِينَ\n \n (Those who disbelieve say: \"These are nothing but tales of the men of old.'') \n \n The disbelievers say, what you (O Muhammad ) brought us was taken from the books of those who were before us, meaning plagiarized.\n\n\n\n\n\n وَهُمْ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ وَيَنْأَوْنَ عَنْهُ Quran 6:26\n \n (And they prevent others from him and they themselves keep away from him,) \n \n They discourage people from following the truth, believing in Muhammad and obeying the Qur'an.\n\n\nBased on the above, the verse is saying that the mushrikeen have been blinded and deafened so that they will never accept the truth and will tell people that the Muhammad just took verses from the Torah and Gospel and put it in the Qu'ran.\n\nIt is not talking about keeping away from Islam so therefore no, it doesn't imply that somone who kept away from Islam is blameless as what it implies is stated above.\n\nAlso, from EnglishTafsir a translation of this verse into modern English:\n\n\n They forbid other people to believe in this Truth, and themselves turn away from it. (They imagine that in this way they are doing you some harm), whereas they are preparing their own perdition, though they do riot perceive it.\n \n (This may help understand the verse more)\n\n\nAnd Allah knows best.", "‘Bedtime Stories’ by Lilian Moore has appeared in many collections, but I think it was originally published in See My Lovely Poison Ivy: And Other Verses About Witches, Ghosts and Things (1975) with an illustration by Diane Dawson.\n\n\n\nIf you’ve seen this poem attributed to a child, that’s because it was plagiarized:\n\n\n Language Arts, a journal of the National Council of Teachers of English, published in its February, 1983 issue a work by a seventh grader:\n \n \n Witch’s Child\n \n Tell me a story\n Said the witch’s child\n […]\n So crawly and creepy,\n Something nice to make me sleepy.\n \n \n This is clearly with several word, article, and punctuation changes the work of Lilian Moore, a noted children’s poet.\n \n Myra Cohn Livingston (1983), The child as poet: myth or reality?, Boston: The Horn Book, Inc., p.147\n\n\n(This is from a long list of examples of published poetry attributed to schoolchildren, that were in fact plagiarized.)", "TL;DR:\nThere have been several major accusations that Poe plagiarized The Raven from a number of different works, many in other languages. However, those claims have little to no evidence to back them up, and they have been dismissed by most as being attempts at attention. We have no reliable evidence of any sort that Poe committed plagiarism here.\n\nIn the late 19th century, one major but unsubstantiated claim was made against Poe, saying that The Raven was either taken from (or inspired by) two an older work: The Parrot. In 1878, Colonel John A Joyce included a short section in his book, Edgar Allan Poe, that claimed that he had spoken with an Italian named Leo Penzoni. Penzoni told him that his grandfather (often also called Leo Penzoni) wrote a poem entitled The Parrot seven decades before, and published it in The Milan Art Journal in 1809. Here is the first verse, in the English translation:\n\nI sit and pine so weary\nin midnight sad and dreary.\nOver long forgotten volumes\nof historic love-lit lore;\nAnd while winking, lonely blinking\nI thought I heard while thinking\nA rush of wings revolving above\nmy oaken door,\n&quot;What's that,&quot; said I, disturbing my\nmelancholy sore—\n'Tis my lost one, sweet &quot;Belmore&quot;\n\nCompare this to the first verse of The Raven:\n\nOnce upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,\nOver many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—\n    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,\nAs of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.\n“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—\n            Only this and nothing more.”\n\nSimilar connections can be found throughout the rest of both poems. It would seem, then, that Poe indeed plagiarized from Penzoni. There are, however, three major problems with Joyce's claim:\n\nNo records of The Milan Art Journal were ever found.\nThe poem was written in Italian, according to the younger Penzoni, meaning that certain liberties could have been taken in the translation of The Parrot. It seems more likely that Joyce wrote the &quot;translation&quot; in English, and possibly translated it &quot;back&quot; to Italian.\nThere is no evidence that Poe was in Milan at the time—he was busy being born—or in future years, or that he was even aware of the journal's supposed existence.\n\nIn short, there's no evidence to back up Penzoni's story.\nI've found bits and pieces pointing towards another—more damning if it's true—possible target of plagiarism. I originally found them made in this blog and this blog. They state that a poet named Jefferson Tiberius Faulkmore wrote a poem entitled The Magpie in 1829, publishing it in The Hartford Cabinet of Literature &amp; Science (supposedly later the Hartford Literary Journal), a year after his death. According to the stories, the story was brought to Poe's attention in 1842 by a man named Rufus Wilmot Griswald, and Poe wrote him a letter in return. It included this passage:\n\nOf particular interest in the Cabinet was Faulkmore’s “Magpie”, which is as fine a poem, in both the style of its versification &amp; expression and its originality, as I have recently encountered. I wonder at its omission from your “Poets of America”.  That it has been published just once, years ago, and forgotten is as unfortunate for the public as it must have seemed for the poet.  Are you certain that it has not seen publication elsewhere?  Do you know what became of Faulkmore?\n\nIf you want my opinion, these claims are absolute rubbish. I can find no independent verification that The Hartford Cabinet of Literature &amp; Science or even Faulkmore or Griswold themselves ever existed. I include it here only as a curiosity; I'd be interested to see if anyone can find something truthful on them. I suspect not.\nA more academic study of certain claims is included in Outsourcing The Raven: Retroactive Origins, by Eliza Richards (the same paper is the source of the next few anecdotes and quotes about plagiarism). It seems to be acknowledge that Poe took the rhythm of The Raven from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Geraldine's Courtship, published in 1845. Even Poe stated this outright:\n\nAccording to Ingram, Thomas Buchanan Read informed Robert Browning that Poe had said that his entire poem was suggested by Barrett's single line &quot;With a murmurous stir uncertain, in the air, the purple curtain.&quot; Poe advertised rather than hid Barrett's influence by discussing her poem in a Broadway Journal review just weeks before &quot;The Raven&quot; was published.\n\nLooking at the text, the similarities between the two works does appear, in rhythm if not wording. There were certain other—though less substantial—cases where Poe may have been inspired by another work. Thomas Holley Chivers, in 1850, claimed that Poe stole the meter from To Allegra Florence in Heaven, written for his young (dead) daughter. Here is an excerpt from To Allegra:\n\nHoly angels now are bending\nTo receive thy soul ascending\nUp to Heaven to joys unending,\nAnd to bliss which is divine.\n\nAnother poet, Henry Hirst, claimed that Poe stole inspiration for The Raven from his To a Ruined Fountain in a Grecian Picture. I'm a bit more skeptical that there is any significant similarity between the two, save the inclusion of a raven:\n\nForms of chiefs and maidens bright\nWhom the never-dying raven\nHath forgotten, nameless even\nIn the poet's lay of might.\n\nFinally, there were two independent and somewhat ridiculous claims: That Poe actually translated, word for word, an ancient Chinese poem by Kia Yi (see Chinese Legends and Other Poems), and that he translated an unknown Persian poem (whose very existence I have yet to confirm). In both cases, he supposedly copied them verbatim and published the poem under his own name, as The Raven. The interesting part about the claim about Kia Yi's poem, Fu-Niao (Bird of Fate), is that it mentions that month of November - a month that, as far as I know, was not used by the Chinese in 200 B.C.! It could be a translation change, but it could also indicate that liberties have been taken.\nIn short, there have been a wide variety of people saying that they—or someone else—wrote The Raven before Poe did. However, all of them suffer from some or all of the following problems:\n\nThere are no records of the originals.\nThere are no explanations as to how Poe came across them.\nThere are often only passing similarities between the poems and The Raven.\n\nI think, then that the available evidence indicates that Poe did not plagiarize The Raven.", "Is there some rule/regulation from the content providers that say when broadcasting on TV they have to add a station logo?\n\n\nOnly because they've bought / recorded / invested their own money for the broadcasting program. It's a copyright. What will they do, if you record their program and broadcast on your own, or just sell it somewhere? (similar to plagiarizing). Other than their logo, the stations also use some kind of watermark in their channels that can be easily noted if you closely look into it. It is much visible if you record the event. This wiki article is good.", "As with many questions here, there are two issues: plagiarism and copyright infringement. \n\nBy citing the work of another you avoid plagiarism, which is claiming the work of another as your own. So you have no issues with that. \n\nCopyright infringement, however, is governed by laws that vary by jurisdiction. Normally (i.e. most jurisdictions) you can copy (with quotes) some words from the publication of another as long as you cite it. But there are (weakly defined) limits to that. Copyright law is usually civil law (I know of no exceptions) so infringement is subject to lawsuit and in a lawsuit a judge or jury gets to decide what is reasonable and what is not. \n\nBut in copying diagrams and images there is a special consideration. Even when produced inside another work, an image might be interpreted as a \"work\" in itself. So, copying it might be interpreted as copying an entire work, likely a violation. Another thing to think about is that \"A picture is worth a thousand words.\". That is more than just a cute saying as it has some truth. So, if it would be improper to copy a thousand words from another work, an image might just might be considered as \"too much\" to copy, even if cited and \"quoted\".\n\nBut let me give an example that might help you see the issue clearly. Take, for example, the book The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. If I were to produce some work in which I quoted a complete chapter, it would very likely be considered infringement. But, as you can see, Wikipedia has provided a synopsis of the entire work without infringing copyright. The linked article explains the entire plot in some detail and lots of the reasoning and structure behind Atwood's work. \n\nMore deeply, however, suppose that I copy a complete chapter, but change a few words. Change names, perhaps, or locations, or phrasing of some parts. This is still almost certainly infringing. \n\nSo, in your case, if you take a figure and \"change\" it in insignificant ways, moving a few elements then you are on shaky ground. But if you take the ideas underlying the figure and produce your own, from the ideas, not just modifying the figure, then you are, in some sense at least, paraphrasing. But all that means is that you have a defense against a charge of infringement. Possibly a solid defense. So, if you do that and also, as you suggest, say that it was adapted from ... (avoiding plagiarism) then you are probably fine. But in the last analysis, neither you nor I get to make the final judgement if you are challenged. But do more than just mention the name of the author. Cite the actual work. \n\n\n\nAnd you can avoid the issue entirely by asking for permission as GrotesqueSI suggests here.", "Personally, I think the \"reject because it's too minor\" reason is invalid. I have often found I second guess myself when reviewing minor edits like removing \"Thanks\", programming language names from the title, etc, or very minor spelling mistakes. They do fall into the description of an edit being too minor:\n\n\n This edit is too minor; suggested edits should be substantive improvements addressing multiple issues in the post.\n\n\n...but I myself would often absently edit posts and change small things like this in the interest of improving the overall quality of the site for everyone involved (Google searchers and SO users).\n\nI suppose that once a user has gained enough reputation not to need to have their edits reviewed, it then makes it OK to make edits without moderation that would, in this case, be a reason for rejection for newer users. I'm obviously not talking about the other reasons (invalid edit, vandalism, plagiarism, etc).", "Each smart contract has it's very own account so if you simply wanna transfer a token to it just transfer to it's account.\n\nHowever, should you want to keep a record of who's sent the token and how many then you need to set up a listener on the contract which calls a function to add a record to a multi-index container or do whatever else it should do upon receiving a token. \n\nListening to this action is something I've struggled with as I believe it's not supported by the EOSIO_ABI macro in the contract and can only be done by tinkering with it, an update should resolve this and create a better developer experience. \n\nCheck out these other answers...\n\n\nrequire_auth differs from the auth check of INLINE_ACTION_SENDER but how?\nHow to do an action in a contract to transfer tokens to other user accounts without adding permission in dawn4.0?\n\n\nLet me know how you go.", "I've seen a great picture of an oak table leg sticking out the top of a carboy. Wish I could find it.\n\nBYO covered this question in depth. So I won't plagiarize everything here.\n\n\nOak Essence and Powder\nOak Chips\nOak Cubes\nStaves and Spirals", "You're right; the post appears to be addressing the comment from Xero, but it's only evident looking at the first revision which was the version you had flagged, but not the one visible to the moderator handling the flag.\n\n\n\nOn first sight it really looks like it's a separate answer that could use some user's help to be improved (not necessarily a mod though, hence the declined flag).\n\nBut anyway, the formatting is horrible. It is plagiarized, the OP admitted they didn't really care about it, and it's unlikely to be salvaged. So I deleted it after all.", "First, copyright laws are complex and depend heavily on the specific details. IMO, your question is really too broad to answer.\n\nAn interesting example of how details and interpretation affect whether something is a violation or not is Kienitz v Sconnie Nation. In this case a copyrighted photo was clearly copied, modified, and used to make a t-shirt that was sold; but, it was not deemed a copyright violation. On the surface it seems like a violation; but, the court ruled it was not a copyright violation because of the specific details of the case. Using something as a starting point for a unique creative work that is clearly your own creation is not copying. I am sure you can tell the difference.\n\nSecond, in your description you mention \"Free Use\". If the owner has granted \"Free Use\" of their product; but, they are still wanting to declare the item copyrighted, I would hope that they have granted that \"Free Use\" under a defined agreement. In that case, it would seem likely that the creator may just be trying to protect his design from being plagiarized and/or sold/used in a way that is against his intent.\n\nIf you have a way to contact the owner, why not just contact them and ask their permission for what you want to do. If they have put it out for public use, they would probably be excited to have other people see their creation. Just make sure they gets the credit for the design. If it is a creation they are intending to protect (like Disney does with Mickey Mouse); then, the answer will be an unequivocal no. Note that one weird exception is that Disney has granted use rights for Donald Duck to the University of Oregon \"Ducks\".\n\nFinally, you state that that your intent is \"for no purpose of using, distributing, creating, mixing, ...\" and you list almost every way of making it public. If your intent is for what you make/copy to never make it into the public domain; then, how will your question ever be anything other than hypothetical? I know that there is presently no \"private use\" exclusion for copyrighted material. It isn't legal to copy someone's DVD for you to watch privately; but, in reality, no one gets prosecuted for a single private instance. It is abuse that gets prosecuted.\n\nIn what you intend, it would seem that you be best suited to seek out first what would be the \"right\" thing to do rather than just focusing on what would be \"legal\". If you are concerned what you want to do may be wrong and/or illegal, it is probably best to not do it.", "I agree that the help could be clearer, and that even links to a Stack Overflow page are still not useful as an answer.\n\nBut as noted in some of the comments above, when the question has an actual answer on a different Stack Overflow page, then the correct way for a user to handle that is to vote to close the new question as a duplicate of the previous one. The help text should not only include Stack Overflow pages as a possible link target for these types of bad answers, but should clarify how users should handle such responses to questions, by explaining that need for an \"as duplicate\" close vote.\n\nFor that matter, I think that help page could stand to have elaboration for all of the several reasons listed. For example, for the \"link to an external site\" scenario, it would be helpful to guide users by explaining that answers that include such a link are not inherently bad, just that they need to include more than just that. Such as a quote or other summary of the linked-to content that does answer the question. That way, the answer can stand alone even if something happens to the external resource.\n\nLooking at the whole list&hellip;\n\n\n •commentary on the question or other answers\n\n\nExplain to users that commentary should be posted as a comment, not an answer. Also explain that we understand low-rep users can't comment, and that skirting that rule by posting a comment as an answer is simply not acceptable. Explain alternatives available to such low-rep users, such as moderation flags.\n\n\n •asking another, different question\n\n\nSuggest to the user that different questions should be posted as new questions.\n\n\n •“thanks!” or “me too!” responses\n\n\nExplain that such \"chatty\" responses are unnecessary, and generally considered \"noise\" rather than useful content.\n\n\n •exact duplicates of other answers\n\n\nI'm not sure it should really be necessary to explain to users that plagiarism is not allowed, but I suppose a comprehensive help page would still restate that. :)\n\n\n •barely more than a link to an external site\n\n\nSee above.\n\n\n •not even a partial answer to the actual question\n\n\nLike plagiarism, I'm not sure we should have to explain to users that answers should in fact be answers to the question that was asked. But again, being comprehensive could be helpful.\n\nNote that when a question is closed for similar reasons, Stack Overflow does present the user with a short blurb explaining in a similar way to the above why their question was closed and what they should do about it. But I think that when an answer is closed, the feedback to the author of the answer is not necessarily as clear. A better help page could improve that situation.", "The words \"all Gods of the Gentiles are demons\" is a quote from Scripture; \n\n\n For all the gods of the heathens are devils, but the Lord made the heavens (Ps. 96:5 LXX/Vul).\n\n\nIt's most likely meaning in Scripture and here is that whereas the heathens think they worship gods, they serve demons in actual fact, either literal individual demons corresponding to the respective false idols/gods, or simply in the fact that they offer sacrifice to not-God (their fictional gods), and take perverted pleasure in such, or can even gain spiritual authority over such who dabble in such. \n\nI think it would first have to be demonstrated (no pun intended) that a change in the perennial view of false gods had taken place in the 1500s (which from this quote alone is not evident), rather than setting about to produce an explicit interpretation of \"the gods of Gentiles are devils\" by someone in the 1500s wherein they differed therefrom. \n\nTraditionally, the activity of witches etc. qua (as being, or if) actually supernatural, is obviously to be attributed to devils, since it is not God's doing. Does this mean all false gods correspond to an individual fallen angel (devil)? I don't think so. However, the early Church Fathers certainly believed that demons were at least the inspiration for the false religions of pagans, especially those in which there are things which seem to plagiarize the Old Testament, or even imitate something specifically Christian (St. Justin Martyr, a mid-second century Christian, would say that the mysteries of Mithras were plagiarized from the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist): \n\n\n [The sacrament of the Eucharist] which the wicked devils have\n imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to\n be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain\n incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you\n either know or can learn.\n\n\nMuch to the gratification of liberals and anti-Christians who consider Christianity 'just another pagan religion.'", "I don't think there's any such thing as a single optimal backup strategy. A lot of it is dependent on what you're backing up and how much of it there is. I'll second the point that it should be driven by your restore requirements, specifically how quickly you can get things back and how much you can afford to lose in the event of a failure. Finally you'll need to remember that there at at least 2 layers of restore you need to cover: restoration of individual data items and full server restores.\n\nI always prefer tape to NAS, but for some reason tape has a bad rep in certain quarters. One major advantage however is that it's physically decoupled from any OS (or other logical) environment, so you greatly reduce concerns such as how do you backup the backup server and how do you implement a clean and easy offsite strategy.\n\nMy standard advice with backups is to keep them as simple and primitive as possible, so that your restores can also be simple, and so that there's fewer layers of sexiness to potentially go wrong. Backups should be predictable and boring.\n\nOnline backup is something that people can find tempting, but you should always remember that some time you may need to do a full server restore. Unless you have bandwidth to your provider that's comparable to your local bandwidth I would keep away.", "Consider the Elephantidae Testudinata Theory of creation:\n\n\n About 15 billion years ago, after eternally climbing an infinitely deep stack of turtles, an elephant eventually reached the top. The enormity of that accomplishment caused our universe to spring into being.\n\n\nThis is a non-scientific cosmology theory, because there is no physical means by which mankind can prove or disprove it.\n\nThis is a non-religious cosmology theory, because there was no supernatural revelation of it to mankind.\n\nExcept for a bit of plagiarism, it is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no claim that it is true or divinely inspired.\n\nOther than similar instances of fantasy/fiction, I don't think there can be \"any non-scientific non-religious cosmology theories proposed in recent times\".", "Reiterating on @Mauro ALLEGRANZA's linked response above, note that this historical research was later expanded upon and published in the 2012 article From Euler, Ritz, and Galerkin to Modern Computing (SIAM Review, Vol. 54, No. 4). Courant's reference to \"tragic circumstances\" may simply have been referring to Ritz's early death from tuberculosis, but it could also have much to do with the lack of appreciation that Ritz received during his lifetime for his work as well as Lord Rayleigh's unjustified accusations of plagiarism against Ritz (on both points, see pages 654-655 and 658-659 of SIAM Review, Vol. 54, No. 4).", "I don't think there's much room for optimism. Offers of graduate admission are generally preconditioned on actually completing the previous degree. Moreover, having your previous degree candidacy terminated on account of academic dishonesty will make you \"radioactive\"; very few graduate schools are going to want to bring in someone who got suspended for plagiarism or cheating. (Given that the entire research enterprise hinges on being able to trust reported results, why would a school want to take a chance on someone who has already clearly violated those principles?)\n\n[More generally, however: I do know of an economics professor whose PhD is in fact his only degree; however, the circumstances behind that are so unusual that they're unlikely to be replicated any time soon. (Basically, he followed a professor from Germany to the US while he was still an undergraduate in the days when the Diplom system was in full force.)]", "This song is &quot;Evolution&quot; by Benjamin Tissot (a.k.a. Bensound). This is a royalty-free music that you can reuse as long as you mention either &quot;Music: www.bensound.com&quot; or &quot;Royalty Free Music from Bensound&quot;.\nNote: Shazam credits it to Legion Vernac but it's probably a mistake (... or plagiarism)", "No, we live in a wet area, and we also plant chrysanthemums. They will not keep the mosquitoes away, or even help. Not just any plants from the genus Chrysanthemum will do. People derive the insecticide 'pyrethrin' from Chrysanthemum Cinerariifolium, which isn't the common garden chrysanthemum, and Chrysanthemum Coccineum, or painted daisy. Even planting one of these won't keep away the mosquitoes, much less planting one of the more common button chrysanthemums for fall decoration.\n\nFor more information on mosquito control, see:\n\n\nWhat plants will deter mosquitoes? \nWhat is this (allegedly) mosquito-repellent trailing plant with dark green heart-shaped leaves?\nHow do I keep mosquitos out of my fountain?\nHow can I keep mosquitoes out of my yard?", "Do you know of a prophet in the Old Testament between Moses and Samuel?\n\nJoshua is the only one from whom we have much of a prophetic record, and in that record he seems to pretty much limit himself to what Moses taught. So Jesus, having explained that Moses testified about His coming and His teaching, moves on to Samuel, I would guess.\n\nElsewhere, such as in Jacob 7: 11, we are told that everyone from Adam down prophesied about Jesus. You can read some of those prophecies in the Pearl of Great Price.\n\nIf you are wondering, a significant part of the early Book of Mormon narrative concerns Lehi obtaining an early copy of what would be close to the Hebrew scriptures extant ca. 600 BC. So we see a bit of discussion of Moses and Isaiah and others of the Old Testament prophets in the Book of Mormon.\n\nIt is interesting that Jesus chose to teach a principle that Peter taught (See Acts 3: 22 - 26.), and that Joseph Smith's translation of Jesus' words here seems to follow Peter's words really closely. \n\nSome people worry about this, thinking it must be evidence of plagiarism or something. If we assume that Joseph Smith was a charlatan, we might think so.\n\nOn the other hand, God doesn't seem to worry about His prophets plagiarizing each other. Prophets quote each other quite liberally. \n\nSo it can really only confirm the assumptions you start with, for Joseph Smith to have Jesus apparently quoting Peter. He was teaching the same principle Peter was teaching in Jerusalem about the same time.\n\nFor the reasons it so closely parallels the King James version of the Bible, Joseph Smith's formal education was limited to three years of what we now call elementary school. Beyond that, the Bible formed the basis of the bulk of his education in English and philosophy, at minimum.\n\nHaving done some translation myself, between English and Japanese, I know that, when I go out of my way to use vocabulary and phrasing I'm not familiar with, not only is it hard, but I tend to produce things that don't match existing idiom -- they sound strange, and they tend not to make much sense.\n\nSo I find myself both consciously and subconsciously resorting to idioms I have heard, and that means I often quote scriptures near verbatim when what I am translating is material that is scriptural and it happens to be scriptures that I remember.\n\nFor these reasons, among others, it does not surprise me that the Book of Mormon quotations from the Bible so closely parallel the KJT.\n\n(afterthought)\n\nPyRulez brings it to my attention that I let the overall focus of my response shift too much.\n\nHere is a discussion on the Church website of the concept that all the prophets from the beginning have testified about Jesus Christ's coming and the work He would do:\n\nhttps://www.lds.org/ensign/1994/01/all-the-prophets-prophesied-of-christ?lang=eng\n\nFrom that article, I would particularly note 1st Nephi chs. 8, 11-14, the prophetic dreams which Lehi and Nephi saw. \n\nAlso, Samuel the Lamanite, mentioned by PyRulez and others, is recorded in Helaman 8, ca. verses 16 and 18, to have talked about a number of prophets from Abraham down who prophesied of Jesus and of the redemption. If this is the Samuel that the Savior was mentioning, per your question and JBH's and PyRulz's comments, I would say that it is not just because Samuel taught the concept that all the prophets testified of Him, but because Samuel testified in great detail about the Savior's coming. Very definitely worth reading.\n\nAnd, as I mentioned, many verses in the Pearl of Great Price, esp. the Book of Moses, two of which may be of particular interest:\n\nMoses being told his ministry would symbolize the ministry of Jesus in Moses 1: 6.\n\nAnd Enoch prophesying of Jesus Christ before the flood in (among other places) Moses 6: 51, 52. In this particular scripture, Enoch is explaining that Adam himself was taught, not only of the coming of a Savior who would redeem men from their sins, but of the name of the Savior.\n\n(end afterthought)" ]

[ "Panasonic brand products maker Matsushita Electric Industrial unveiled five new DVD recorders on Wednesday and said it was aiming to boost its share of the domestic market to over 40 percent from around 35 percent." ]

[ "Sharp Corp said it would launch a Blu-ray high-definition DVD recorder with a 1-terabyte hard disk drive (HDD), the world's largest storage capacity on any Blu-ray recorder, as it competes with the HD DVD camp. Sharp, along with Sony Corp and Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co , promotes Blu-ray optical disc technology, while Toshiba Corp and Microsoft Corp back the rival HD DVD format.", "Online DVD rental service Netflix Inc. and TiVo Inc., maker of a digital video recorder, on Thursday said they have agreed to develop a joint entertainment offering, driving shares of both companies higher.", "Sony, Matsushita and other firms are planning to launch camcorders using next-generation, smaller DVDs in the Blu-ray format as early as 2005 to win a lead over a rival offering, a report said Thursday.", "Toshiba Corp. will launch this month two digital video recorders (DVRs) that combine HD DVD with high-definition hard-disk drive recording.", "LAS VEGAS - Hewlett-Packard Co. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic) have agreed to support each other's favored rewritable DVD technologies in some of their respective products, they said Wednesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).", "Panasonic will sell the first Blu-ray DVD player-recorder in Japan in November, a company official said, months after rival Toshiba released a comparable product in a feud for the next standard of DVDs.", "As part of digital shift, electronics maker is planning device that will record HD DVDs, DVDs and CDs.", "Royal Dutch/Shell Group unveiled another, bigger-than-expected, cut in oil reserves on Thursday but tempered the news by announcing record profits and plans for higher dividends and share buybacks.", "Sony Corp. 6758.T said on Wednesday it will launch a DVD recorder using Blu-ray technology by the end of the year in Japan, fortifying its lineup of high-definition optical disc products.", "Sony Corp (6758.T) said on Wednesday it will launch four models of new Blu-ray high-definition optical disc recorders in November in Japan, as its format battle with the HD DVD camp heats up.", "Japan's Toshiba Corp said on Sunday it sold 1 million HD DVD digital video recorders in North America last year, driven by demand for Internet-delivered content.", "U.S. shares look set to open higher on Wednesday with technology shares in focus after better-than-expected results from Cisco on Tuesday, while investors also eye U.S. labor cost data.", "Google Inc. put up another quarter of eye-popping growth in revenues, profits and market share gains, but the stock traded sideways on Friday as the results contained few surprises to drive shares higher.", "CHIBA, Japan - Sony Corp. said on Tuesday it will launch its Blu-ray high-definition optical disc recorders in Japan in December, in time for the peak of the year-end shopping season but about a month behind rival Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.", "The computer maker unveils four new laptops, with an eye on the upcoming holiday season.", "Sharp Corp (6753.T) said it would launch a Blu-ray high-definition DVD recorder with a 1-terabyte hard disk drive (HDD), the world&#39;s largest storage capacity on any Blu-ray recorder, as it competes with the HD DVD camp.", "Today, Panasonic revealed the new models of DIGA DVD recorders. These recorders have HDD capacities of 160GB to 400GB. This is massive storage space for DVD Recorder; it also has high-speed dubbing, and superb home and mobile networking capabilities.", "Toshiba will unveil slim SD-L912A HD DVD on Tuesday.", "Panasonic maker Matsushita reported a 22 percent gain in quarterly operating profit on brisk demand for its digital cameras and flat televisions, and it stood by its annual outlook that falls short of market expectations.", "London shares opened sharply higher on Friday with only a handful of stocks trading in the red after the Dow closed at a record high overnight.", "Less than a month after the troubled launch of its PlayStation 3, Sony has rolled out its new high definition DVD recorder in Japan as it struggles to restore its tarnished reputation.", "Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. said on Monday it aims to mass-produce spark-resistant batteries, eyeing a potential sales opportunity following incidents involving rivals' battery packs.", "Sony Corp. (6758.T) said on Tuesday it would launch its Blu-ray high-definition optical disc recorder in Japan in December with an expected price tag of around 300,000 yen ($2,550) for a model with a 500-gigabyte hard disk drive.", "Asian shares ticked higher on Tuesday as oil paused in its near-daily record climb, providing investors a chance to buy banks and some semiconductor shares such as NEC Electronics Corp.", "Life & style: Lucy Mangan runs her eye over the latest celebrity fitness DVDs", "Dell Inc.'s recall of 4.1 million laptop computer batteries came as embarrassing news to Sony, which supplied the problem batteries, but proved to be good news for rival Japanese electronics companies Sanyo and Matsushita, pushing the struggling company's shares higher Wednesday.", "Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said on Thursday it would launch the next-generation, high-definition optical disk recorder based on the HD DVD format on July 14 in Japan.", "Asian equities were higher as the dollar clawed above last week&#39;s record low against the euro and firmed against the yen, sending shipping and steel shares higher.", "DVD recorders are getting cheaper and easier to use, but that may not be enough to spark demand for the sluggish selling devices.", "Digital video recorders RD-A600 and RD-A300 combine HD DVD with high-definition hard-disk drive recording.", "In time for holiday shopping, Sharp will launch in Japan next month its first new Blu-ray Disc recorders in three years.", "Sony is planning to hit the HD DVD camp square between the eyes with a midsummer Blu-ray player price cut that Sony hopes will earn it the next-gen DVD championship belt." ]

[ "CBS" ]

[ "What I Did For Love", "Did Not Finish", "DID", "Did It for the Party", "JP Did This 1", "channeling", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "Simpsons Already Did It", "I Did It for Love", "What's Up?", "What a Friend", "What's Happening!!", "What's in It for Me", "things are what they are", "What If Nothing", "HCN channel or pacemaker channel", "What a Life!", "What A Night", "What If It's You", "What Are Words", "What Not to Wear", "Air", "What Car?", "Ion channels", "what is visible", "Channel Ports", "microscopic channels", "What Part of No", "the water channel", "What So Not", "channel catfish", "What If We" ]

[ "The event starred comedian Stewart Lee and Turner Prize-winning artist Martin Creed.\nIt was hosted by BBC Arts Editor, Will Gompertz, who explained on the Today programme how influential Duchamp's art has been on today's contemporary artists:\n\"Duchamp's idea that anything can be art still dominates artistic practice today, 45 years after he died\".\nFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday 18 March 2013." ]

[ "14 July 2016 Last updated at 10:05 BST\nNearly 300 works by artists including Damien Hirst, Henry Moore and Marcel Duchamp will go on display at Sotheby's in London, before being sold at auction in November.\nThe artist and writer Matthew Collings reviews the collection.", "The Royal Academy said the work will be part of an exhibition on Depression era art.\nIt shows an Iowa farmer holding a pitchfork with his daughter by his side and a house in the background.\nAmerica After the Fall: Painting in the 1930s opens on 25 February 2017 and will run until 4 June.\nAmerican Gothic was part of the American Regionalism movement which saw artists attempt to reflect the regions affected by the Great Depression, triggered by the Wall Street Crash of 1929.\nTim Marlow, director of artistic programmes at the Royal Academy, said it had \"never left American soil\" before and is \"metaphorically embedded in the American soil in the Midwest\".\n\"From the beginning, it has been seen as an icon because it's emblematic of American regionalism, a kind of quiet, understated power,\" he said.\nMarlow said American Gothic was \"slightly sidelined as a mere populist painting\" but was now seen as \"something that is both popular but also deeply profound\".\nThe painting has a newfound \"resonance\" as the US gears up for the forthcoming presidential election, he said.\n\"I think it will be wonderful to see it decontextualised out of America and recontextualised in London,\" Marlow added.\nThe painting is one of 45 from the period that will be displayed.\nWorks by Thomas Hart Benton, Jackson Pollock, Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keefe will also be included.\nOther highlights among the Royal Academy's 2017 programme include an exhibition of the work of Jasper Johns.\nThe RA said the exhibition from 23 September to 10 December, which will include his paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, would \"give focus to different chapters of Johns' career\".\nJohns, who is 86 years old, is widely seen as one of the greatest living painters.\nAnother exhibition, Matisse in the Studio, will run between 5 August and 12 November and show how Henri Matisse's personal collection of treasured objects influenced his work.\nOther exhibitions to be announced for next year include Revolution: Russian Art 1917 - 1932 and Dali/Duchamp, which will focus on the friendship and works of Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali.\nFollow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email [email protected].", "Italian artist and sculptor Maurizio Cattelan created the fully functional 18-carat gold lavatory, which he has titled America.\nThe, ahem, interactive exhibit has been installed in one of the Guggenheim's public bathrooms, reports the New Yorker.\nThe Fifth Avenue museum describes the piece as \"a bold, irreverent work\".\nThe lavatory replaced one of the Guggenheim's porcelain toilets in a one-person, unisex restroom.\nVisitors who pay museum admission will be able to use it as they wish.\nThe Guggenheim said the piece is \"ultimately reminding us of the inescapable physical realities of our shared humanity\".\nThe exhibit is aimed at \"making available to the public an extravagant luxury product seemingly intended for the 1 percent\", according to the museum.\n\"Its participatory nature, in which viewers are invited to make use of the fixture individually and privately, allows for an experience of unprecedented intimacy with a work of art,\" said the Guggenheim.\nCattelan, a Milan-based artist and a truck driver's son, hinted earlier this year that his creation had been inspired by economic inequality.\nThe exhibit has also drawn comparisons with Marcel Duchamp's avant-garde \"Fountain\", the porcelain urinal he exhibited in New York in 1917, causing a sensation in the art world.\nCattelan, 55, is known for his provocative sculptures, including La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour), which depicted Pope John Paul II floored by a meteorite.", "The painting, which hangs in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery, is to be moved to London's Royal Academy of Arts in September.\nIt is to be one of the main attractions of a Dali/Duchamp exhibition.\nThe piece will return to the Kelvingrove in summer 2018, before going to Auckland Castle, County Durham, in autumn 2019.\nThe painting, which was bought by the City of Glasgow for £8,200 in 1952, will then return to Kelvingrove in spring 2020.\nThe Dali/Duchamp aims to throw light on the relationship between the father of conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp, and Surrealist Salvador Dali.\nThe exhibition, which will bring together more than 60 works, is to travel to The Dali Museum in St Petersburg, Florida from February to May 2018.\nHead of Glasgow Museums Duncan Dornan said it would provide a new perspective on an \"inventive and intelligent man\".\nHe said: \"Glasgow's art collection is considered one of the finest in Europe and loaning key pieces increases access to the works so that people across the country and indeed the world can enjoy them, bolstering our reputation.\"\nTim Marlow, artistic director at the Royal Academy of Arts, said: \"Showing Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross together with seminal works by Duchamp will be one of the undoubted highlights of the Royal Academy's forthcoming Dali/Duchamp exhibition.\"\nIt is the first time Christ of St John of the Cross has been on loan since 2010.\nIt featured in Salvador Dali: The Late Work, an important exhibition focusing on Dali's later career at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, USA.\nIn a reciprocal loan agreement with the Royal Academy, Kelvingrove is to exhibit Henry Raeburn's Boy and Rabbit to from September 2017 until May 2018.", "Boulez was a truly great artist who ranks - in my book - alongside the likes of Marcel Duchamp, Jean Prouve and Albert Camus as an epoch-defining 20th-Century French intellectual. He was not easy. He could be enormously charming and utterly horrible - sometimes to the same person in the same conversation.\nMusic was his art form, agitation his style. He had no time for the status quo, and even less for the days of yore. He was a modernist - a man who sought to make some sense of the absurdities of the world in which he lived through the medium of music. It was a new age with new problems that he believed demanded a new sound.\nThe flowery, romantic classical cannon didn't resonate in his mechanised Parisian infrastructure full of hard edges and cold steel. Something sharper, less melodic and altogether more complex was required.\nHe championed the original modernist avant-garde of Stravinsky, Bartok, Berg and Messiaen (his tutor), while also supporting pioneering peers such as Ligeti, Birtwistle and Stockhausen.\nHis own compositions, which were relatively few in number, have come to be highly regarded. If I were to choose one work it would be Notations, his 12 pieces for piano. It is spiky, difficult, unpredictable, poetic, and unsurpassable. Just like the man himself.", "Alexandra Ridout, from Aylesbury, competed against her brother Tom, 21, and three other finalists for the prestigious prize.\nFollowing her victory, Ridout, who started playing trumpet when she was eight, said: \"I can't believe I even got this far.\n\"I wasn't expecting to win, but now that I have, it's incredible.\"\nThe teenager, who is a member of the Junior Jazz Department at The Royal Academy of Music and a player with the National Youth Jazz Collective, currently studies both jazz and classical trumpet at The Purcell School of Music.\nHer victory came at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, on Saturday 12 March, where her performance included a version of Stevie Wonder's Golden Lady, played on flugelhorn.\nBBC Young Jazz Musicians - finalists\nAll five finalists performed alongside the Gwilym Simcock Trio, for judges Tim Garland, Gwyneth Herbert, Zoe Rahman, Byron Wallen and Julian Joseph.\nJoseph said: \"We were enchanted by Alexandra's presence as a musician, her sound, but I think most importantly there was a relationship with the blues and swinging that sounds important in her playing.\n\"We all heard that, and we all felt that, and it really tipped the decision in her favour.\"\nThe BBC Young Jazz Musician prize - which is awarded biennially - was established in 2014, as an adjunct to the long-running Young Musician competition.\nThe first winner was saxophonist Alexander Bone, who performed on Saturday night as the judges deliberated.\nHe called the competition \"an incredibly inspiring night\".\n\"All the finalists, BBC staff, presenters, musicians etc. are such an amazing, genuine group of people,\" he wrote on Facebook. \"It was an absolute honour to be involved.\"\nThe competition will be broadcast on BBC Four on 13 May, two days before the BBC Young Musician classical final takes place at the Barbican in London.", "He became famous for his sweaters and the rocking chair in which he invariably sat to sing the final number of his show.\nAt a time when the 60s pop explosion was stalling the careers of so many crooners, Doonican bucked the trend with eight Top-20 hits.\nAnd songs like Delaney's Donkey and Paddy McGinty's Goat allowed record-buyers to indulge themselves in a touch of Irish-flavoured whimsy.\nMichael Valentine Doonican was born in the Irish city of Waterford on 3 February 1927, the youngest of eight children.\nHis father died of cancer when he was 14 and he was forced to leave school and work in a packaging factory to supplement the family income.\nHe wrote music from a very young age, and formed a singing group with his friends when he was just 10.\nWith his guitar, he later took part in the town's first ever television broadcast and, after his first paid engagement at the Waterford fete, left his factory job to tour the country in a caravan.\nIn 1951, Doonican was invited to join a group called the Four Ramblers.\nThe band toured England where Doonican was introduced to the joys of golf, and also to his future wife, the cabaret star Lynnette Rae.\nDoonican later moved to London, where he continued his entertainment apprenticeship in radio, television, cabaret and music hall.\nHe recalled that \"it took 17 years to become an overnight success\", when his appearance on Sunday Night at the Palladium prompted the BBC to offer him his own series in 1964.\nHe was given an initial series of six half-hour programmes which were broadcast live from a BBC studio in an old chapel in Manchester.\nThe Val Doonican Music show saw him become a mainstay of Saturday night television.\nBut he was always grateful that his career gave him the opportunity to meet his idols such as Bing Crosby and Howard Keel.\n\"You can't imagine,\" he later recalled, \"that you're going along in your young life, buying records of people that you think are fantastic and, in my case, I ended up singing duets with them on my show.\"\nThe comedian Dave Allen also got his big break by appearing on the show.\nIn the 1970s, his fame spread when the programme was transmitted overseas.\nTwo of Doonican's most enduring props were his collection of multi-coloured sweaters - which became known as \"Val Doonican jumpers\" - and his ever-present rocking chair.\nIn fact, the star swapped his sweaters for jackets back in 1970, so remained bemused when people everywhere continued to ask him where his jumper was.\nDoonican went on to record more than 50 albums, and he appeared several times on Top of the Pops.\nAt a time when the charts were dominated by pop groups he had a string of hits including Special Years, Walk Tall and What Would I Be?\nThe television shows came to an end after 24 years, but Doonican continued to tour, choosing mostly intimate regional theatres, in the UK and abroad.\nHe eschewed television appearances, preferring to share his time between Buckinghamshire and Spain, and to spend his semi-retirement playing golf.\n\"Golf is like an 18-year-old girl with big boobs,\" he once said. \"You know it's wrong but you can't keep away from her.\"\nHis other great hobby was painting, and his work was exhibited around the country.\nA lot of his art was inspired by his Irish homeland, where he remained revered for his modest charm and embrace of original Gaelic values.\nIn 2001, Doonican and his wife returned to Waterford to receive the gift of a rocking chair.\nThe ever humble entertainer exclaimed that it \"celebrated all the special things to come my way since leaving the city 47 years ago\".", "The £127m, four-year arts programme began in 2008 and climaxed with the London 2012 Festival last summer.\nThe festival included a nationwide bell-ringing event, a bouncy Stonehenge and a string quartet in helicopters.\nBy September 2012, the report said, 29% of the UK population was aware of the Olympiad and the festival.\nThis figure rose to over 40% in London, it continued, adding the four years were believed to have seen 37.4 million attendances.\nThe Liverpool University study, published on Thursday, also said the Olympiad helped enhance the perception of Britain abroad.\nBut one arts expert has questioned how effectively the message about the London 2012 Festival came across.\n\"The numbers do not lie,\" said Marc Sands, the Tate's director of audiences and media.\n\"Vast swathes of the UK population and tourists visiting the UK for that incredible summer in some way experienced the London 2012 Festival.\n\"However, much as they may have enjoyed the event they were attending, my lasting impression is that they were unaware they were participating in a festival.\n\"Six months on from the end of London 2012, many people look at you blankly when you ask them about the London 2012 Festival,\" he went on.\n\"They remember the Olympics clearly, but are a little fuzzier about the cultural festival.\n\"When you ask about the cultural events that comprised the festival, they remember them well and with much affection.\n\"Therein lay the marketing dilemma, a gap for the festival's communications and a challenge that marketing should have solved.\"\nSands was commissioned by the London 2012 Festival organisers to give his personal reflection on the 12-week event.\nHis essay was published on Thursday alongside the official evaluation of the Cultural Olympiad, by the University of Liverpool's Institute of Cultural Capital.\nThe report said the size of the Olympiad audience - including participants and volunteers - was estimated at 43.4 million, with an additional 204.4 million reached through broadcasts and online viewings.\nIt said the millions of free tickets - the festival claimed 15.4 million \"free audiences or participants\" - enabled new audiences, especially young people, to attend festival events.\nResearch showed that 19% of the population and 84% of London 2012 Festival attendees believed the festival made a \"positive contribution\" to the games.\nIn his introduction to the report, Tony Hall, chair of the Cultural Olympiad Board, said festival organisers had hoped the cultural programme would be \"a game changer\".\nThe intention, he wrote in his introduction to the report, had been \"putting art at the heart of the Games themselves, showcasing UK world-class excellence with high economic stakes to play for cultural tourism and creative industries\".\n\"Communities all over the UK participated with enthusiasm, and the majority have been inspired to carry on enjoying culture and creativity,\" he continued.\nFormerly chief executive of the Royal Opera House and now director general of the BBC, Lord Hall took over the running of the Cultural Olympiad in 2009.\nHighlights of the London 2012 Festival programme included the World Shakespeare Festival, Mark Rylance's sonnets on the London Underground, and Deborah Warner's Peace Camp project, which featured encampments of glowing tents in remote coastal locations.\nThe Cultural Olympiad also included Unlimited - the largest ever commission of art by disabled and deaf artists - during the Paralympic Games.\nCulture Secretary Maria Miller described the events of the previous year as an \"enormous success\".\nSpeaking at the launch of the report at London's Barbican, she said: \"The Cultural Olympiad inspired an entire generation to really think again about how they participate in cultural events and activities.\"\nCultural Olympiad director Ruth Mackenzie said she had been to Rio - where the next Olympics will take place in 2016 - to discuss with arts organisations \"how to put culture at the heart of the games\".", "There are countless instances of artists destroying their own work. If Louise Bourgeois disliked a small sculpture she'd been working on, she would simply shove it off the end of her kitchen table and watch it smash to smithereens.\nFrancis Bacon famously destroyed all his early work, and an impecunious Picasso would paint over pictures he thought unsuccessful because he didn't have the money to buy a fresh canvas.\nWhen I visited the Belgian painter Luc Tuymans in his Antwerp studio earlier this year he told me that his $1m-plus paintings only ever took a day to paint. That is his way.\nWhen he returns in the morning he either decides to send the finished painting to his dealer or destroy it. Fair enough. But that's tantamount to trashing a million bucks!\nMy favourite story in the long history of art destruction concerns American pop/conceptual artist Robert Rauschenberg.\nEarly in his career, inspired by the work of Marcel Duchamp, he decided he wanted to test the boundaries of what could be deemed a work of art.\nCould a work of art be created, he wondered, through the act of erasure? He started out by rubbing out one of his own drawings. It didn't work. He felt that the destruction of a not very important work by a then not very important artist didn't really test his idea to a degree where an artwork could conceivably be made.\nRauschenberg decided the only thing to do was to destroy a significant work of art by a significant artist. So, he spent the next few days plucking up the courage to visit studio of one the world's most famous artists in the 1950s, an artist whom Rauschenberg held in very high esteem.\nHe knocked on Willem de Kooning's studio door and was welcomed by the stern face of the Dutch-American master who wanted to know why this young buck was bothering him.\nHe wasn't very impressed when Rauschenberg nervously explained that he had come to ask for an original De Kooning artwork to be given to him free of charge and on the understanding it was going to be destroyed.\nDe Kooning growled, said he didn't approve, and then acquiesced on the grounds that young artists should be allowed to experiment. He pointed to a few artworks scattered around the studio and told Rauschenberg to pick one.\nWhich he did. Initially he went for a pencil drawing, but decided against it. Too easy, he thought. Instead he chose drawing that had traces of ink and maybe even paint. Much better. Much harder to erase.\nRauschenberg then took it away and laboriously worked on the act of destruction, eventually erasing all visible traces of De Kooning's image. He then took the now blank paper to Jasper Johns, his great friend and fellow artist and asked him to create a frame for the work. Johns did as he was asked and produced a label for the obliterated artwork which read:\nERASED de KOONING\nROBERT RAUSCHENBERG\n1953\nAnd lo and behold Rauschenberg had successfully made an artwork by destroying an artwork.\nThe framed piece of paper/artwork is now in the collection of America's prestigious San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.", "The figure is a smaller version of the statue which appeared one night in London's Kensington Gardens in 1912.\nScottish author J M Barrie himself commissioned the statue by sculptor Sir George Frampton.\nValued at between £20,000 to £30,000, the bronze replica - which was cast in 1920 - will be sold at Lyon and Turnbull in Edinburgh on Wednesday.\nThe anonymous seller said: \"We are sorry to part with this beautiful statue - it has been in my family for nearly 100 years.\n\"We hope that it will be as loved by its new owners as much as it was by us.\"\nBarrie, who was born in Kirriemuir, Angus, first used Peter Pan as a character in The Little White Bird (1902) and returned to him in a later stage play before expanding the story to produce the 1911 novel Peter and Wendy.\nThe original statue appeared in public with an announcement in The Times newspaper which read: \"There is a surprise in store for the children who go to Kensington Gardens to feed the ducks in the Serpentine this morning...\n\"A May-day gift by Mr J M Barrie, a figure of Peter Pan blowing his pipe on the stump of a tree, with fairies and mice and squirrels all around.\n\"It is the work of Sir George Frampton and the bronze figure of the boy who would never grow up is delightfully conceived.\"\nJohn Mackie, head of decorative arts at Lyon and Turnbull, said: \"This famous statue is held in great affection all over the world - it is the iconic image of the boy who never grew up and a very beautiful work of art.\"\nA house in Dumfries which helped inspire the Peter Pan story is to be converted into a national centre for children's literature.\nBarrie moved to Dumfries in 1873 at the age of 13 and credited the \"enchanted land\" at Moat Brae, where he played, as being the basis for the story.\nAt one point the house was facing demolition but finance has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway Council.\nThe conversion is due to be completed in 2018.", "The musician says Wynton Marsalis' Violin Concerto in D presents multiple challenges in the final movement, which was inspired by a Scottish reel.\n\"I can't play it yet, to be quite honest,\" she told BBC Radio 3's In Tune programme. \"It's very difficult.\"\nMarsalis wrote the concerto - his first - specifically for Benedetti.\nThe world premiere takes place at the Barbican on Friday night, where the Scottish violinist will be supported by the London Symphony Orchestra.\nHer fears over the performance will have been soothed by a period of intense rehearsals, which took place after Benedetti recorded the Radio 3 interview, broadcast on Wednesday night.\n\"My feeling now is that it will be a piece that violinists will love,\" she said, saying it exemplified \"the range of colour and the melodic expressive potential of the violin\".\n\"There's no shortage of chances for me to really, really sing through the deepest tones and the highest ones.\"\nBenedetti, who won BBC Young Musician of the Year at the age 16 in 2004, first met Marsalis 10 years ago at New York's Lincoln Centre.\nHe is a New Orleans-born trumpeter, composer and teacher, who has become one of the most influential voices in jazz since his oratorio Blood on the Fields won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1997.\nThe duo have worked closely on the violin concerto, which draws inspiration from jazz, blues and Scottish folk music, and the painstaking process of its creation will be revealed in a BBC Four documentary next year.\nAsked about the difficulties of combining the three disparate musical traditions, Marsalis simply replied: \"They're not different at all\".\n\"The root of all Afro-American music is Anglo-Celtic music. In the slavery time, the slaves played reels and Irish jigs and Scottish music. Our music is joined at the roots - so it's no strain at all to find commonality.\"\nThe 53-year-old added that he would not be suffering from nerves ahead of the concerto's world premiere.\n\"I don't have any professional stress. No type of review bothers me. That happens after a time,\" he said.\nBenedetti said she was still \"learning\" to be relaxed about criticisms of her work.\n\"Reviews can upset me sometimes,\" she admitted, \"but your senses become dulled the more variety of criticism and accolades you get. You start to see that the pattern is they can all be quite random. \"", "The musician's life as a collector was something he kept almost entirely hidden from public view.\nBut now, nearly 300 works by artists including Damien Hirst, Henry Moore and Marcel Duchamp will go on display at Sotheby's in London, before being sold at auction in November.\nThe paintings are collectively expected to fetch more than £10m.\n\"David Bowie's collection offers a unique insight into the personal world of one of the 20th Century's greatest creative spirits,\" said Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe.\nMost of the works are by 20th Century British artists, with pictures by Stanley Spencer, Patrick Caulfield and Peter Lanyon.\nBorn and raised in South London, David Bowie was also drawn to chroniclers of the capital's streets such as Leon Kossoff and Frank Auerbach.\nIn 1998 Bowie told the New York Times, \"My God, yeah - I want to sound like that looks,\" in response to the work of Auerbach.\nHe was also fascinated by British landscapes and collected works by artists including John Virtue. Seven of his monochrome works are included in the sale.\nBut the broad ranging collection is not limited to British art. Among the more maverick works is a piece by Duchamp - A Bruit Secret - in which he placed a ball of string between two brass plates, with an unknown object hidden in the middle. It is expected to fetch up to £250,000.\nThe American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat's graffiti-style painting Air Power is the most valuable lot in the auction, with an estimated value of between £2.5m - £3.5m.\nBowie bought the painting a year after he played the role of the artist's mentor, Andy Warhol, in the 1996 film Basquiat.\nThe artist and writer Matthew Collings says the collection reflected Bowie's personality.\n\"I would characterise it as bohemian, romantic, expressive, emotional art. Art that's filled with feelings,\" he said, adding it was \"vivid and exciting\" and was \"art that calls for a gut reaction, that's visceral, that's immediate, that you feel excited by straight away\".\nAlthough Bowie told the BBC in 1999 \"The only thing I buy obsessively and addictively is art,\" little had been known about his life as an art collector.\nHe did not buy on the basis of reputation or for investment, but because of his own personal response to each artist and their work.\nCollings thinks he kept his collection private because \"he wasn't pretentious about it\".\n\"I think he was an absolutely genuinely enthusiastic collector who didn't collect to be swanky or to big himself up,\" he said.\n\"He really collected because he had a use for that work and it was a personal use. He looked at those things and they changed his state of being.\"\nBowie loved the art world. In 1994, in an unusual move for a rock superstar, he joined the editorial board of a quarterly arts magazine Modern Painters where he was introduced to the novelist William Boyd.\nThe pair became friends and Boyd said it was clear Bowie was not just \"a celebrity on the board - he genuinely had something to contribute\".\n\"He did go to art school. He wanted to talk very seriously about artists, painters, themes and movements. So it was not a hobby or a whim, it was a very serious passionate interest.\"\nBoyd also thinks the art world appealed to Bowie because it was so different from his music career.\n\"He could be himself, David Jones rather than David Bowie. He found a forum and a world that he could move about in that had nothing to do with his fame. I think for a lot of famous people, if you can find that world, it's actually tremendously gratifying and fulfilling.\"\nBowie went on to launch an art book publishing company called 21. His time there is probably best remembered for one of the most famous art hoaxes in history.\nHe hosted a glamorous launch party at Jeff Koons's studio in Manhattan for a book celebrating the life and work of an American artist called Nat Tate. The catch? He did not exist. He was invented by Boyd.\n\"Without his participation it would never have been as big a hoax as it turned out to be,\" Boyd said, adding he thinks Bowie enjoyed the challenge of trying to pull it off.\n\"Everybody loves a hoax and I think to fool a bunch of self-important intellectuals is no bad thing from time to time.\"\nAs well as 267 paintings, more than 120 items of 20th Century furniture and sculpture will also be auctioned. Among them, a striking 1960s stereo cabinet created by the Italian designers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni.\nPerhaps it should come as no surprise that Bowie listened to music on such an unconventional record player.\nProceeds from the sale will go to Bowie's family. Although lack of space, not money, is the reason they have decided to sell.\nFollow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or email [email protected].", "The Cabaret and Arthur star was due to play in Wilmington, North Carolina, last Saturday but her flight turned back after encountering rough weather.\n\"Her connecting flight from Charlotte suffered extreme turbulence on its way to Wilmington,\" said a representative. \"The pilot flew back to Charlotte.\"\nUndeterred, Minnelli ordered a taxi on Uber, paying $200 (£130) for the trip.\nAccording to the star's representative, Scott Gorenstein, the driver turned out to be former Egyptian Olympic handball player Ahmed El-Awady, who competed at the 1992 and 1996 summer Olympics.\nHe drove Minnelli and two assistants over 200 miles through the night, delivering them to a hotel early on Saturday morning.\nLater that night, Minnelli played to a sold-out crowd of 1,500 with the North Carolina Symphony.\nThe concert was a black tie gala to mark the opening of the Humanities and Fine Arts Center at Wilmington's Cape Fear Community College.\nMinelli, the daughter of Judy Garland, is one of only 16 performers ever to earn an EGOT - winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award.\nLast month, she cancelled two concerts in London and Sheffield, apparently after a dispute with the promoter.", "Highlights of the festival will include an all-British line-up of composers for the opening concert, featuring a new work by rising star Helen Grime.\nThere will also be a London-Paris link-up to celebrate Stravinsky.\nAs part of a new scheme to attract more young people, all tickets for under-18s at LSO Barbican concerts will cost £5.\nAnd a new three-year programme, supported by Youth Music, will increase substantially the provision of musical opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities in east London.\nThe LSO is also staging one-hour early evening concerts conducted by Sir Simon, Gianandrea Noseda, and Francois-Xavier Roth.\nThe 10-day celebration will also give the public the chance to go behind the scenes as Sir Simon prepares the orchestra for a performance of Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust.\nThe BBC will broadcast live during the festival, including three symphonic concerts in the Barbican Hall and four chamber concerts from LSO St Luke's.\nSir Simon said: \"The London Symphony Orchestra, over a century, has an extraordinary heritage and history.\n\"At its core, is an orchestra that is always looking forwards, accepting no limitations on what it can achieve.\n\"The programme we are announcing gives a glimmer of things to come.\n\"Together, we intend to explore the great masterpieces, build our community and inspire a new generation to join us in the belief that music is for everybody.\"\nThe LSO will also stage a celebration of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein in November, before the centenary of his birth the following year.\nIn 2018, also the centenary of Claude Debussy's death, there will be concerts to honour the composer, a performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and the European premiere of The Public Domain performed by 1,000 singers.\nSir Simon also plans to direct a performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen, in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern.\nYou can hear the full interview on Front Row on Tuesday at 19:15 GMT or on iPlayer afterwards.\nFollow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].", "Turning Points explores the moment when six people's lives change forever, and is produced and directed by Chris Tally Evans, from Rhayader, Powys.\nSir Roger talks about how a dialogue coach helped boost his confidence, which helped him forge his career.\nTurning Points has been made for London 2012 Festival, a nationwide arts event.\nThe festival is running until 9 September and bringing together leading artists from across the world.\nTurning Points was premiered at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff on Wednesday night.\nTally Evans said his film celebrated life changing moments when a meeting, an event, or something unexpected led to a new and better direction.\nIt started as a nationwide story-telling project aimed at inspiring and changing the lives of others by collecting stories from people of all ages, abilities and walks of life.\nTally Evans, who has written and presented programmes for BBC TV and radio, said: \"It's fantastic to get the chance to have my work included in such a momentous festival and I'm looking forward to the film transferring to the Southbank Centre in London (from 31 August to 9 September).\"\n\"I think it was meeting a man in Hollywood, a dialogue director called Joe Graham.\n\"Warner Brothers thought that I sounded too English. They said: 'We'd like you to work with this dialogue coach.'\n\"He said: 'You think we're all born the same?' I said: 'Of course we are.' He said: 'Some people are lucky, they're born 6ft 4ins and some people are born 3ft 2ins. Some people have got straight even features and some are not so pleasant on the eye.'\n\"I said: 'That's the luck of the draw, isn't it?'. He said: 'Yes, but the big sin is if you don't use what you've got'. He said: 'You're 6ft 1ins and you only stand 5ft 9ins, so if you believe we're all born the same way then why don't you stand your full height?\"\n\"He said did you go to university? I said: 'No'. He said: 'Do you regret that?' I said: 'Yes, I do a great deal'.\n\"He said: Do you feel that sometimes when you're talking with people that you might mispronounce a word or you don't have the right word for the explanation?' I said: 'Yes'.\n\"He said: 'Well, there you are. That's you're problem'.\nAnd it made such a difference to my life. Joe was on the set everyday. He made a lot of difference to me, gave me a great deal of confidence, otherwise I wouldn't be able to talk to you.\"\nThere will also be a showing at the Elan Valley Visitor Centre, near Rhayader, on 6 July.\n\"It's great that so many people have become involved in this project and I can't wait to see the effect their brilliant stories have on an audience,\" added Tally Evans.\n\"There's a huge range of stories, about 100 in total, ranging from a printing press falling down a lift shaft to a eulogy for a dead friend.\"\nSir Roger, who is not shown on screen but has a speaking part in Turning Points, is joined by Welsh athlete Jamie Baulch, an Olympic silver medallist in 1996.\nOthers taking part are artist Ellen Jackman, who lives in Birmingham, visually impaired dancer Lyn Street, from Newport, Daniel Chapman, an 11-year-old from near Rhayader who has autism, and the filmmaker himself, who is partially sighted.\nTally Evans said the stories were woven together to speak with one voice, while 11-year-old Morgan Evans, from Rhayader, runs through a Welsh landscape.\nVibrant images, sometimes lyrical, sometimes satirical, add depth and colour to the stories as they reach an inspiring conclusion.\nThere are other stories on the Turning Points website from Paralympic gold medallists Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson and David Roberts, world champion hurdler Dai Greene, former Commonwealth and European welterweight boxing champion Colin Jones and Olympic cycling gold medallist Geraint Thomas.\nIn the film Tally Evans explains how he came to terms with an hereditary eye problem, which left him partially sighted.\nA social worker told him his life was going to be different, and if he did not come to terms with it he would be a \"very unhappy man\".\n\"I refused rehab, where I was supposed to go off to another city to be taught how to be a proper, grateful disabled person, threw the Braille card in the bin and have lived exactly the sort of life I always wanted,\" Tally Evans said.\n\"I never saw my social worker again.\"\nThe film also has contributions from the former First Minister Rhodri Morgan and ex-Formula 1 world champion Jackie Stewart.\nNick Capaldi, Arts Council of Wales chief executive, said: \"Chris Tally Evans brings his own unique insight to a series of personal tales, set against the inspiring Welsh landscape.\"", "Stephen Port, 40, is accused of killing the men, who he allegedly contacted online via gay websites, between June 2014 and September this year.\nProsecutors told Barkingside magistrates he gave the men large amounts of the drug GHB.\nMr Port, of Cooke Street, Barking, east London, was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.\nThe charges relate to the deaths of:\nJack Taylor was a night-duty fork-lift truck driver at a warehouse and was last seen by friends on a night out in Barking on 13 September.\nAnthony Walgate is believed to have been a second-year art student at the University of Middlesex.\nDaniel Whitworth was an aspiring chef who worked in London Docklands.", "He told TV station London Live his connection with his fans was \"spiritual\" and \"beautiful\" and \"pulled me through having PTSD, definitely\".\nThe star was speaking before he quit BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing, citing unspecified \"personal reasons\".\nHe said he developed PTSD after he began performing in Cabaret in 2012.\nHe did not reveal if he had suffered a specific trauma, but has previously spoken about how it was a culmination of years of hiding his homosexuality, being bullied at primary school and being separated from his twin brother at birth.\nYoung spoke about his PTSD during the interview, which was recorded on 9 August but only broadcast for the first time on Wednesday.\n\"PTSD is a thing I learned about because I got it, I had a breakdown, after my fifth album, called Echoes,\" he told London Live's London Real programme.\n\"It was kind of the album I always wanted to do, and then I moved into this perfect house, and my life was perfect, and I was like, 'This could be pictured in Wallpaper magazine.'\n\"I was just at a loss, I had a number one album, top five single, and I thought 'Oh, this is not good, this is not going to be easy', and then just slowly began to unravel.\n\"Then I went into theatre, did Cabaret for the first time, and then I got PTSD and got depersonalisation and derealisation, which is when your body can't cope with the flooding of emotions from the past, so it shuts down.\n\"I couldn't see my face in the mirror, I couldn't recognise places or family or friends.\"\nNot long afterwards, Young said, he went into Khiron House, a trauma centre in London.\n\"At that stage, actually I diagnosed myself with the depersonalisation, but I was taking medication and so I thought it was the medication and then so many people get misdiagnosed for bipolar particularly when actually it is trauma,\" Young said.\n\"And then I'd gone to Khiron House, and luckily had incredible therapists. It was my therapist that said 'I think you've got trauma.' If it wasn't for her I think I'd probably be on a cocktail of medication and probably would've killed myself.\"\nYoung spoke about how being on stage had helped his recovery.\nLondon Real presenter Brian Rose asked the singer what the essence of being a performer was and how it felt being on stage.\nYoung replied: \"I can only talk for myself but I think there's a huge need for affirmation that must be in there. A drive.\n\"There's a bit of a monster that, as soon as I walk on the stage, I'm like, 'Ahh, the applause is there,'\" he added.\n\"I think you need that, it must be about wanting to voice something that couldn't be voiced.\n\"And then it becomes about communication, and because the communication is very pure, it can't help but tap in to something with other people, and then it comes this moulding mass of energy, and it can't be described.\n\"It's completely spiritual, and that is something that is beautiful, and I'd go as far as to say that probably saved my life. Knowing that authenticity. That has pulled me through having PTSD, definitely.\"\nWill Young: Who I Am is on London Live's programme London Real on Friday at 20:00 BST.\nFollow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email [email protected].", "Analysis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found the sector had a turnover of £12.4bn in 2011 with £856m coming from tourism alone.\nIt follows the culture secretary's call for the arts world to focus on its economic case for public funding.\nThe report comes ahead of next month's government spending review.\nIn a speech at London's British Museum last month, Culture Secretary Maria Miller said that, rather than focusing on the artistic value of public funding, \"when times are tough and money is tight, our focus must be on culture's economic impact\".\nShe told arts executives in a speech they must \"hammer home the value of culture to our economy\".\nThe financial pressure faced by arts and cultural organisations as a result of austerity measures is likely to intensify next month when the spending review will give details of which departments will need to cut their spending and by how much.\nIn March, the Treasury wrote to departments warning most ministers they will have to cut up to 10% of their budgets for 2015-16.\nTuesday's report, described by Arts Council England as the first comprehensive analysis \"to determine the value\" of the contribution of arts and culture to the national economy, also found:\nArts Council England hailed the 0.4% contribution of arts and culture to gross domestic product as \"a significant return on the less than 0.1% per cent of government spending invested in the sector\".\nChief executive Alan Davey said the organisation funded arts and culture because \"they have a unique ability to fire our imaginations, to inspire and entertain us\".\n\"The contribution culture makes to our quality of life, as a society and as individuals, will always be our primary concern,\" he added.\n\"But at a time when public finances are under such pressure, it is also right to examine all the benefits that investment in arts and culture can bring - and to consider how we can make the most effective use of that contribution.\"\nHe said arts centres and activities \"transform our towns and cities and drive regeneration, making the choice to maintain investment in culture a forward thinking one for local authorities\".\nIn December, it was announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that Arts Council England would have its funding cut by a further £11.6m before 2015.\nIt followed reductions already announced in the government's 2010 spending review, which saw the council's budget slashed by almost 30%.\nBut the report said public funding still played a \"vital role in encouraging creative innovation and overcoming private sector reluctance to invest in risky projects\".\nIt provided the opportunity \"to explore the potential of new ideas... removing the pressure for new products to always be commercially successful\", the report added.\nIt said \"such challenging, innovative work\" could go on to huge commercial success, citing the case of the National Theatre's acclaimed production of Michael Morpurgo's War Horse.\n\"Inspired by puppetry on show at Battersea Arts Centre, this National Theatre production went on to win numerous awards at home and abroad, have sell‐out runs on Broadway and in Toronto, inspire a hit film and is currently touring Australia and Germany,\" the report added.", "Diana: Her Fashion Story will display iconic outfits from throughout her life - from before she was married to after her divorce in the 1990s.\nCurator Eleri Lynn said the exhibition showed how the princess was \"growing in confidence throughout her life\".\nA \"White Garden\" celebrating Diana's life will also be planted in the palace grounds this summer.\nPrincess Diana commissioned this tartan coat and skirt from designer Emanuel for an official royal visit to Italy in 1985.\nThe boxy style may have been fashionable in the 1980s but many commentators thought little of the coat.\nThis silk chiffon evening gown was worn by Diana at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, and for a performance of Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal, London in 1989.\nIt was created by Catherine Walker who took inspiration for the dress from the gown worn by Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 film, To Catch A Thief.\nPrincess Diana hit the headlines when she danced with actor John Travolta at a state dinner in the White House in 1985.\nThe velvet silk evening dress which she wore that night was designed by Victor Edelstein and was said to be one of her favourites.\nThis cocktail dress, which Diana wore for a concert at the Barbican in 1989, was considered an unusual choice for a princess given it was based on a masculine tuxedo.\nDesigner David Sassoon said it was an example of how Diana started to \"break the rules\" as she experimented with styles and learned what clothes worked for different occasions.\nThis sequined evening dress created by Catherine Walker in 1986 was said to be typical of Diana's \"Dynasty\" phase when the media noted her taste for \"large shoulder pads, lavish fabrics and metallic accessories\".\nThe princess wore it for an official visit to Austria in 1986 as well as two charity balls in 1989 and 1990.\nDiana increasingly worked with Catherine Walker during her life to develop what the designer called her \"royal uniform\".\nShe wore this red day suit created by Walker for her famous visit to the London Lighthouse, a centre for people affected by HIV and AIDS, in October 1996.\nDiana: Her Fashion Story will open on 24 February", "The competition will see the capital's 32 boroughs bid for more than £1m of funding to stage a programme of cultural events and initiatives.\nIt will be supported by a grant of £300,000 from City Bridge Trust, part of the City of London Corporation.\nThe London Borough of Culture award is part of the mayor's plans to support the arts in London.\nTwo boroughs will be crowned winners in February, taking the title of London Borough of Culture for 2019 and 2020 respectively.\nCity Hall said the winning boroughs would be \"chosen based on their artistic vision and ambition to deliver outstanding cultural initiatives in their local area, putting communities at the centre of the programme's design and delivery\".\nSeveral cultural institutions will provide help to the boroughs, including the Barbican, the Museum of London, the Roundhouse, Film London and the National Trust.\nThe Heritage Lottery Fund and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation will also work with the winning boroughs to help them secure extra funding for bespoke cultural projects.\nA further £600,000 will be made available for up to six boroughs which don't win the title, but \"put forward exemplary projects\".\nMr Khan said: \"Culture is the DNA of our city. It has the power to transform communities and to bring people closer together.\n\"Now, more than ever, there is a pressing need to reach out to our neighbours and celebrate London's unique and diverse culture.\n\"London Borough of Culture is a great way to do just that whilst showing the world that our cultural gems extend way beyond the centre of the capital to all corners of the city.\"\nThe closing date for boroughs to submit their bids is 1 December.", "Between Worlds, an English National Opera (ENO) production at the Barbican in London, \"tears at the heart\", wrote the Daily Telegraph's Ivan Hewett.\nThe opera, wrote Michael Church in The Independent, \"reflects crazy courage\" and \"comes across with awesome power\".\nThe Guardian, though, said it was not \"as affecting as it ought to be\".\nNor is there any \"real sense\", wrote Andrew Clements, of the \"sheer chaotic terror\" of the events of 11 September 2001 dramatised by composer Tansy Davies and librettist Nick Drake.\nThe Arts Desk also found fault with Deborah Warner's production, saying it is \"peppered with problems\" that include a \"lack of clarity\" and \"monochrome pace\".\n\"As a meditative lament on this human tragedy, Between Worlds succeeds,\" wrote Jessica Duchen.\n\"But as a metaphysical drama of the day itself, there is more to question, and much to clarify.\"\nBetween Worlds, the second ENO production to be co-commissioned by the Barbican after 2013's Sunken Garden, runs until 25 April.\nIt is the first opera to be written by Davies, a previous winner of the BBC's Young Composers' Competition who has written works for the LSO, the City of London Sinfonia and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.", "The venue beat the Chichester Festival Theatre and Northampton's Royal and Derngate to the honour.\nActress Maxine Peake, who won rave reviews for her role in The Skriker at the theatre last year, collected the award at the London ceremony along with artistic director Sarah Frankcom.\nThe Almeida Theatre was also named London theatre of the year.\nIt beat Shakespeare's Globe and the Barbican for its hit Greeks season, which achieved both critical and box office success as well as a West End transfer of the Oresteia.\nThe Stage's editor, Alistair Smith, said the quality of work over the past year had made it \"really tricky\" for the judges.\n'Meteoric arrival'\nThe Other Room - Cardiff's first pub theatre - won fringe theatre of the year - the first venue outside London to win the prize.\nOpened in February 2015, the judges described the 44-person capacity venue's first year as a \"meteoric arrival\" on the theatre scene.\nSonia Friedman was named producer of the year for the second year. In 2015 she was behind nine UK shows, including the new West End musical Bend It Like Beckham and Benedict Cumberbatch's Hamlet at the Barbican.\nThe National Theatre won two awards - the international award for its collaboration with the National Theatre of China on a Chinese production of War Horse; and the theatre building of the year prize for its NT Future regeneration project.\nArts Educational Schools London collected the school of the year award and stage manager Roger Miller was named unsung hero for his work in saving the Felixstowe Spa Pavilion Theatre.\nHere are this year's winners in full:\nLondon theatre of the year - Almeida Theatre\nFringe theatre of the year - The Other Room, Cardiff\nRegional theatre of the year - Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester\nProducer of the year - Sonia Friedman\nInternational award - War Horse China\nSchool of the year - Arts Educational Schools London\nTheatre building of the year - NT Future\nUnsung Hero - Roger Miller", "Cyber Iconic Man by the Chapman brothers, two of Britain's more hard-hitting contemporary artists, is in the cathedral's Chapel of the Holy Spirit.\nWorks by Maurizio Cattelan and Turner Prize winners Douglas Gordon and Susan Philipsz are also in the cathedral.\nIt is one of five venues showing works loaned by leading European collectors.\nThe Church of England cathedral has joined museums and galleries in staging Going Public, a collaboration between the city's venues and private art collectors from the UK, Italy, Germany and France.\nThe works in the cathedral have been loaned by the Turin-based Sandretto Re Rebaudengo collection.\nThey include a large tapestry showing drowning African migrants, the Twin Towers and the G20 leaders, by former Turner Prize nominee Goshka Macuga, which is hanging in the nave.\nThe Chapman brothers' work dates from 1996 and shows a figure turned upside down, with blood-like liquid running from his scars.\nThe Very Reverend Peter Bradley, dean of Sheffield Cathedral, said: \"A lot of classic religious art shows images of really rather frightening violence, [such as] the crucifixion. But we don't notice that because we don't actually see it as violence. We see it purely as an illustration of a story.\n\"Some of these artworks invite us to reflect on violence, and violence in a religious context, in a new way, and that's strong, certainly.\"\nThe cathedral is showing 10 artworks in total. Dean Bradley said he had asked for pieces that \"have quite a punch\", so they were not \"overwhelmed by the building\".\nHe said he had already had some \"very interesting discussions\" about the artworks with members of the congregation.\nHe said: \"Some people think they're fabulous. Some people don't like them. Some people have an open mind.\n\"There are people who complain about our Christmas tree every year, so there will be people who don't like it. Some of that will be a reasoned dislike, which is well worth investigating and we take very seriously.\n\"Some of it will be [saying], 'The cathedral shouldn't engage with this.' What we won't take seriously is not engaging with contemporary culture, because that's what we're there for.\n\"We're not here as a historic artefact. We're here as a contemporary Christian community engaging with the reality of contemporary British society.\"\nGoing Public is also taking place at the Graves Gallery, which is showing a collection of Marcel Duchamp works and archives, as well as Site Gallery, the Millennium Gallery and Sheffield Hallam's University's Institute of the Arts.\nThe aim of the project is to forge relationships with private collectors and philanthropists at a time when public arts funding is under threat, according to Museums Sheffield chief executive Kim Streets.\n\"I hope we can develop a longer term relationship from this particular group [of collectors] and that will enable us to bring other work to the city in the future,\" she said.\n\"And putting philanthropy in the spotlight will, we hope, make other introductions and begin a slightly wider conversation.\n\"We need to look closer to home to begin a conversation about philanthropy in the UK and in the North.\"", "The Premier League game against Blackburn Rovers will take place as scheduled, kicking off at 1500 GMT.\nBolton will replay their FA Cup quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur next Tuesday (27 March, 1930 BST).\nIt comes as Bolton's club doctor revealed that critically-ill Muamba is continuing to show signs of recovery.\nMedia playback is not supported on this device\nThe 23-year-old remains in intensive care at the London Chest Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest during Wanderers' original FA Cup tie against Tottenham last Saturday.\nThe game was abandoned after 41 minutes and there were even suggestions that Bolton may look to pull out of this year's competition.\nTuesday's game against Aston Villa was then postponed.\nBut manager Owen Coyle said on Wednesday: \"We spoke together with the players as a group this morning and I talked with Fabrice's family last night.\n\"Fabrice's father Marcel and his fiancee Shauna were keen that we fulfil our fixtures.\n\"Once the players knew this, there was no doubt in our minds that we would play the matches.\"", "The 10-day event drew to a close in Dumfries on Sunday after a string of music, comedy and theatre performances.\nAmong the biggest successes was the Le Haggis cabaret which accounted for more than half of total audience figures.\nThis year saw a venue switch to the Easterbrook Hall from the Spiegeltent in the town centre and a survey is to examine feedback on that change.\nExecutive producer Graham Main: \"This is a festival of the people, and they will help us decide what future direction we take.\n\"We are incredibly fortunate to have an audience that are as passionate as ours.\n\"They make it very clear what they like and what they don't like, and we will spend the next month listening to as much of their feedback as we can before planning for 2018 commences.\"\nPlans for next year's event are expected to be announced in March.\nMr Main said the festival had continued to make a significant financial contribution to the area.\n\"Local businesses have been quick to tell us that they have also maintained the economic impact that the festival gives them and that means that the impact of our work is far and wide,\" he said.\n\"That's great for both the future of the arts and our incredible town.\"\nHe also paid tribute to the festival's volunteers who he described as \"shining stars\".\n\"You just never know when one of them is going to jump onto the stage or burst into song, and that gives Big Burns Supper its unique atmosphere,\" he said.", "The 10-day event runs from 20 to 29 January next year.\nOther acts added to the programme for the south of Scotland event are Peatbog Faeries, Skerryvore and Dervish.\nProceedings will also see a carnival on 22 January on the theme of Tam O' Shanter with more than 2,000 people involved.\nThe Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Charlie Landsborough, Seth Lakeman and Hackney Colliery Band have already been announced.\nOrganisers have promised \"something for everybody\" including the return of the Le Haggis cabaret show which is now in its fourth edition.\nA special Burns Night Live event on 25 January will be hosted by acclaimed local folk artist Emily Smith.\nA new element this year is the community development project Transform Dumfries, which will see eight neighbourhood \"hubs\" presenting 35 different events.\nThey will take place in Lochside, Lincluden, Troqueer, Locharbriggs, Georgetown, Calside and will include a town centre hub at The Stove, and a children's hub at the Theatre Royal.\nThe aim is to encourage more local participation.\nExecutive Producer Graham Main said: \"Transform Dumfries is about audiences being at the centre of the celebration in their own distinctive way.\n\"It's all about getting people involved and inviting more people to come and celebrate.\n\"The idea that there are parties and events happening in every nook and cranny of Dumfries helps to re-energise Dumfries as a cultural winter destination.\"", "Rob Curtis told Buzzfeed news he felt like a \"second-class citizen\" when the session at renowned studio Sang Bleu, in Dalston, was cancelled.\nMalvina Wisniewska denied prejudice and told the BBC she had previously tattooed clients with HIV.\nIt is illegal to discriminate against anyone based on their HIV status.\nMr Curtis, from Shoreditch, in east London, told the BBC he met with Ms Wisniewska twice before his appointment to discuss a complex geometrical tattoo on his thigh.\nWhen he arrived at the studio to be inked on 28 January, the 36-year-old project manager indicated his HIV status on a disclosure form.\nShortly after, he was informed by a receptionist at the studio the work had been cancelled.\nMs Wisniewska said the disclosure had brought on a panic attack that left her feeling \"vulnerable\" and unable to complete the intricate work.\nShe had to undergo an emergency course of aggressive treatment after she came into contact with a sharp object while tattooing a different customer with HIV, she said.\nDuring the \"traumatic\" six-month wait to be given the all clear, she said she became depressed.\nShe said: \"On this occasion I felt very panicky, especially that Mr Curtis was the first customer since that time, who identified their positive status.\"\nMr Curtis said he felt \"hurt\" by her refusal.\nWhile he empathised in part with her distressed mental state, he said the law was clear and he felt he had been discriminated against.\n\"At that point she was acting on stigma,\" he said.\n\"It's scary facing the prospect of HIV, let alone having it. I have some empathy with her but, if anything, because of that experience, she should have some compassion.\"\nSang Bleu studio said there should be no risk of HIV transmission to any artist if health and safety rules were followed. It has since dismissed Ms Wisniewska.\nIts owner, Maxime Plescia-Buchi, said he was against discrimination and expected any artist working for him to share his ethics.\nThe Equality Act 2010 is designed to legally protect people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.", "Sir Simon said it was \"a very obvious step - and the idea of coming home and having a position in this fantastic city is also a thrill for me\".\nHe is currently director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, where he has been since 2002 and has three years left on his contract.\nHe will take up the position at the LSO from September 2017.\nThe announcement, made on Tuesday at the LSO's Barbican home, follows months of speculation Sir Simon would take up the post.\nHis first appearance with the orchestra was in October 1977, at the age of 22.\nSir Simon, now 60, made headlines last month when he told the BBC London's concert halls were not up to international standards.\nSpeaking ahead of a sold-out London residency with the Berlin Philharmonic at the Barbican, the revered conductor said he would consider a London move if there was a \"proper\" venue.\n\"You have no idea how great the London Symphony Orchestra can sound in a great concert hall,\" he told BBC arts editor Will Gompertz.\nThe following week, UK Chancellor George Osborne ordered an official feasibility study into the building of a new concert hall in the capital.\nHowever Sir Simon said on Tuesday his move to London was not contingent on the city getting a new hall.\nHe told reporters he had met the orchestra a few minutes ahead of Tuesday's announcement: \"I said to the orchestra this is my last job.\n\"At the moment this is a normal five year term with a rolling possibility. We will look on each other as a family and will see where it goes.\n\"It is on all our minds that it is a long term thing.\"\nHe later tweeted via the LSO: \"I can't imagine a more inspiring way to spend my next years, and feel immensely fortunate to have the LSO as my musical family.\"\nThe orchestra added: \"We are thrilled that Sir Simon has accepted our invitation to lead the LSO into the future and welcome him as our music director.\"\nThis appointment is a coup for the LSO. Sir Simon Rattle is one of the top three conductors in the world. The orchestra has a powerful personality and it needs a big beast at its helm.\nSir Simon has a long, if not always harmonious, association with the LSO. As a young conductor in the 1970s he was so incensed by the orchestra's haughty attitude towards him that he said he would never work with them again.\nBut in the words of Dickens, \"never say never\". Since then, the relationship has flourished.\nBut as well as being good news for the LSO, Sir Simon's appointment is a boost for the British music scene. His call for an outstanding concert hall in London has shown the power he has to galvanise public opinion.\nAnd he will be a champion for putting music back in schools. He is passionate about education and has said it will be a \"huge priority\" for him.\nThe conductor also outlined his vision for his role, calling for \"universal access to music, with children and young people at its heart\".\nThe LSO is regarded as one of the UK's flagship orchestras and its principal conductor is one of the most high-profile roles in classical music. Others to have held the title previously include Andre Previn, Michael Tilson Thomas and Sir Colin Davis.\nIts current principal conductor, Valery Gergiev, is to stand down at the end of 2015.\nLiving in Berlin\nSir Simon announced in January 2013 he would leave the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra after his contract expires in 2018. At the time he admitted it had not been an \"easy decision\".\nThe conductor said once he takes up his role at the LSO, his family would probably not relocate to London.\n\"We imagine still living in Berlin. I will be with orchestra for four months in the year and I will have a home in London,\" he said.\nHe has a number of concerts with the LSO - which he first directed in 1977 - lined up for July 2015 and 2016.\nSir Simon was born in Liverpool and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He made his Proms debut in 1976 and his opera debut in 1977 at the Glyndebourne Festival.\nBetween 1980 and 1998, he made his name at the helm of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He was knighted in 1994.\nSir Simon appeared at the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, when he and the LSO were upstaged by Mr Bean while playing the theme to Chariots of Fire.\nAlan Davey, controller of BBC Radio 3 commented: \"We welcome the return to these shores of Simon Rattle and are looking forward to working with him in championing classical music.\"\n1904 - LSO founded and plays its first concert on 9 June conducted by Hans Richter at the Queen's Hall\n1906 - First British orchestra to tour abroad - to Paris\n1912 - First British orchestra to visit the US\n1913/14 - LSO makes its first recordings for HMV\n1924 - First radio broadcast on the BBC from Southwark Cathedral, with Vaughan Williams conducting his Pastoral Symphony\n1935 - Records film score for Things to Come, based on the book by H G Wells - the first symphonic score composed for a film recording\n1940 - Sir Henry Wood conducts the LSO in its first Prom season at the Queen's Hall followed by a UK tour during the war years\n1964 - LSO undertakes its first world tour, which includes a concert at the United Nations HQ in New York\n1968 - Andre Previn conducts his first concert as principal conductor (he held the role from 1968-79)\n1978 - LSO shares three Grammy awards for the score to Star Wars\n1982 - Takes up residency at the newly opened Barbican Centre\n2000 - Launch of LSO Live, the orchestra's own record label\n2004/05 - Centenary Gala Concert on 9 June is attended by the LSO's patron, Her Majesty The Queen\n2007 - Valery Gergiev announced as principal conductor\n2012 - LSO records the soundtracks to the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and performs with Rowan Atkinson (as Mr Bean) in a segment of the opening ceremony on 27 July in front of a TV audience of four billion\n2014 - LSO launches its first iPad app", "The F-Rating was introduced by Bath Film Festival director Holly Tarquini in 2014 and has been taken up by more than 40 UK cinemas and festivals.\nIMDb boss Col Needham said: \"The F-Rating is a great way to highlight women on screen and behind the camera.\"\nMs Tarquini said 21,800 films had been tagged with the F-Rating on IMDb.\nFilm information site IMDb gets more than 250 million visitors per month.\nMs Tarquini said: \"The F-Rating is intended to make people talk about the representation of women on and off screen.\n\"It's exciting when new organisations decide to join us in shining a light both on the brilliant work women are doing in film and on how far the film industry lags behind most other industries, when it comes to providing equal opportunities to women.\n\"But our real goal is to reach the stage when the F-Rating is redundant because 50% of the stories we see on screen are told by and about film's unfairly under-represented half of the population - women.\"\nThe F-Rating is a classification for any film which:\nNewest adopter to the campaign is the Barbican Cinema in London.\nCurator Gali Gold said the rating was \"a simple and effective way to signpost films where the stories are told by and about women and to highlight the issue of gender imbalance within the film industry\".\nAnna Navas, from Plymouth Arts Centre, said she added the F-Rating \"as soon as I heard about it\".\n\"The F-Rating is such a clear, fun, accessible way of highlighting women on screen it felt like a no-brainer,\" she said.\nThe F-Rating was inspired by US cartoonist Alison Bechdel, whose 1985 comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For featured two women discussing \"movies\".\nThe cartoon became known as the \"Bechdel Test\" with the characters deciding a film should include at least two women who talk to each other about something besides a man.\nSome films meet all three criteria with significant women on screen in their own right and are written and directed by women. Those with the triple rating include:\nOther films with the rating include those directed or written by women", "Howard Skempton's Five Rings Triples will premiere at the All Saints Church in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, as part of the New Music 20x12 project.\nTwenty new works - each 12 minutes in length - have been created which aim to capture the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.\nThe works feature a mixture of genres including opera, jazz and beatbox.\nA number of composers from the world of of contemporary classical music including Skempton, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Sally Beamish were commissioned as part of New Music 20x12.\nPremieres will take place across the UK at concert halls, arts centres, festivals and public spaces.\nTrafalgar Square will host XX/XY, an \"East meets West fusion of new music\", composed by Liz Liew and Andy Leung as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, on 29 January.\nLondon 2012: Latest Olympic news, sport, features and programmes from the BBC\nComposer David Bruce's commission, Fire, which will be performed in the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral on 25 May, will feature a fire artist, an ensemble of horns and \"a massed community chorus\".\nThe Warwick Arts Centre will premiere Ping! - a collaboration between composer Joe Cutler, the Coull String Quartet and the Fusion table tennis club which explores the sounds and rhythms created by the sports men and women - on 3 March.\nThe project will culminate with the performance of all 20 pieces over the weekend of 13-15 July at London's Southbank Centre.\nAll the works, which will be performed at least three times each in 2012, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and released digitally.", "Media playback is unsupported on your device\n19 September 2015 Last updated at 00:00 BST\nMore than 250 arts and entertainment events took place, including art installations, dance, drama and music performances and family activities.\nOther towns and cities across Northern Ireland also put on Culture Night events.\nBBC News NI's arts correspondent Robbie Meredith reports.", "His family said the world-renowned musician died on Tuesday at his home in Baden-Baden, Germany.\n\"For all those who met him and were able to appreciate his creative energy, his artistic vigour... will remain alive and strong,\" they said.\nAs well as being a world-famous composer and conductor he was a prolific writer and spearheaded the music venue The Paris Philharmonic.\nBoulez was also the founder and former director of the Paris based Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique and was famed for his work alongside leading experimental composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Olivier Messiaen.\nFrench Prime Minister Manuel Valls paid tribute to Boulez on Twitter: \"Courage, innovation, creativity, this is what Pierre Boulez meant to the world of French music, of which he made a beacon of light throughout the world.\"\nFrench President Francois Hollande said in a statement: \"Pierre Boulez made French music shine throughout the world. As a composer and conductor, he always wanted to reflect on the ages.\"\nBoulez had been considered one of the most influential voices in the contemporary music since the 1950s and, as a conductor, he was in demand on both sides of the Atlantic.\nOne of his particular trademarks as a conductor was that he shunned the baton, always choosing to conduct with his hands.\nAs a composer, Boulez's work was noted for its difficulty, with one of his most celebrated works, Le Marteau Sans Maitre, being inspired by the complexity and lack of formal artistic structure of surrealist poetry.\nBorn in the Loire region of France in 1925, Boulez began his musical career at the Conservatoire in Paris, one of the world's most celebrated music schools.\nHe graduated in 1945 and, still only 21, became musical director of the theatre company of Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renaud.\nDuring this period he composed violent early pieces such as his first two piano sonatas and Livre Pour Quatuor for string quartet.\nPierre Boulez was a truly great artist who ranks - in my book - alongside the likes of Marcel Duchamp, Jean Prouve and Albert Camus as an epoch-defining 20th Century French intellectual. He was not easy. He could be enormously charming and utterly horrible - sometimes to the same person in the same conversation.\nMusic was his art form, agitation his style. He had no time for the status quo, and even less for the days of yore. He was a modernist - a man who sought to make some sense of the absurdities of the world in which he lived through the medium of music. It was a new age with new problems that he believed demanded a new sound.\nThe flowery, romantic classical cannon didn't resonate in his mechanised Parisian infrastructure full of hard edges and cold steel. Something sharper, less melodic and altogether more complex was required.\nHe championed the original modernist avant-garde of Stravinsky, Bartok, Berg and Messiaen (his tutor), while also supporting pioneering peers such as Ligeti, Birtwistle and Stockhausen.\nHis own compositions, which were relatively few in number, have come to be highly regarded. If I were to choose one work it would be Notations, his 12 pieces for piano. It is spiky, difficult, unpredictable, poetic, and unsurpassable. Just like the man himself.\nBoulez's career as a conductor took off in the 1950s, during which time he performed with the Sudwestfunk (South-West German Radio).\nHe also began acting as guest conductor for some of Europe's leading orchestras and festivals.\nBoulez's talent led him to be more and more in demand and he was appearing widely as a conductor by the 1960s.\nHe led the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1971-75 and from 1971-77 was also music director of the New York Philharmonic, where he championed contemporary works - a contrast from his acclaimed predecessor Leonard Bernstein.\nIncreasingly, Boulez became exasperated with what he considered to be the suffocating conservatism of the French musical world, prompting him to make his home in Baden-Baden.\nHis rebellious nature also led to him once being briefly detained by Swiss police on suspicion of being linked to terrorist activities in the period of heightened security soon after the 11 September US terror attacks.\nSwiss authorities confiscated his passport in the town of Basle, where he had been conducting at a music festival, after discovering he had said in the 1960s opera houses should be blown up and therefore considered him a potential security threat.\nAlongside his conducting, Boulez's creative output flourished as the director of the experimental music studio, the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM), where he had access to the latest computer technology.\nBut he stepped down from this position in 1991 to devote more time to conducting.\nIn 2009, he joined with fellow conductor Daniel Barenboim to conduct the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler at Carnegie Hall, New York.\nOverall Boulez won 26 Grammys and multiple other honours, including Sweden's Polar Music Prize, Japan's Praemium Imperiale and France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.\nHe was also inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame in 2012.\nBBC Radio 3 Music Matters and Proms presenter Tom Service said Boulez leaves \"one of the most resonant legacies of any composer of the post-war period\".\n\"The scale of Boulez's achievements across the whole of musical culture means that he will never truly disappear into the past tense. As listeners, performers, and composers, we will all be living out his legacy for generations to come.\"" ]

[ "SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Asian markets were mixed on Thursday with Tokyo stocks higher as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar. Chinese markets declined after the U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged.\nKEEPING SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 1.7 percent to 23,486.11 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.1 percent to 2,568.54. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.4 percent to 32,750.18 and China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 1 percent to 3,445.73. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9 percent to 6,090/10. Stocks in Southeast Asia were higher.\nANALYST'S TAKE: \"Fed Chair Janet Yellen's last meeting prior to stepping down saw the Fed reinforcing their positive outlook over both the economy and inflation while unanimously voting to keep rates unchanged,\" Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG in Singapore, said in a daily commentary.\nFED RATE: The Fed kept its key rate in a still-low range of 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent and said in a statement that it expects inflation to finally pick up this year, stabilizing around the Fed's target level of 2 percent. The Fed also indicated that it thinks the job market and the overall economy are continuing to improve.\nWALL STREET: On Wednesday, U.S. stocks finished with marginal gains, ending a two-day losing streak. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.1 percent to 2,823.81. The Dow Jones industrial average added 0.3 percent to 26,149.39. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.1 percent to 7,411.48. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 0.5 percent, to 1,574.98.\nOIL: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1 cent to $64.74 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 23 cents to settle at $64.73 per barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 6 cents to $68.95 per barrel in London.\nCURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 109.58 yen from 109.20 yen. The euro fell to $1.239 from $1.2411." ]

[ "08:30: The Footsie pushed higher after Fed chair Janet Yellen caught investors by surprise last night when she reiterated that waiting too long to raise rates would be unwise.\nMarkets often respond negatively to such suggestions as it means heavier borrowing costs for the companies.\nBut overnight US stock indexes established new record highs, while in Asia stocks markets also rose in Hong Kong and Shanghai.\nEarly on in London shares were up 32 points at 7,301.2, having finished down 10.36 points at 7268.56 yesterday in a choppy session.\nExplaining: Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen said she expects further rate rises this year\nInvestors instead focused on Yellen's comments about global growth, which she said was doing well, adding that there was a huge amount of borrowing going on in China and better economic data from Europe too.\nMichael van Dulken, at Accendo Markets, said: 'US bourses recorded solid gains which Asian counterparts have built on, even outperforming overnight.\n'Bullishness stems from hawkish testimony by Janet Yellen, Chair of the US central bank (Federal Reserve) giving a fillip to a key financial sector whose profitability benefits from higher interest rates.'\nThe Fed raised rates to a range of 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent in December – its first increase since December the previous year.\nUntil then, the Fed had left its key rate unchanged at a record low - near zero - for seven years to energise an economy pummelled by the most severe recession in decades.\nYellen also warned of 'considerable uncertainties' around the outlook for the economy following the election of Trump, who has pledged to cut taxes and increase spending on infrastructure to boost economic growth.\nIn the UK the major focus will be wage growth data, which is set to remain unchanged at 2.8 per cent.\nEconomists said that with UK inflation set to hit 3 per cent at some point in the second half of 2017 growth needs to pick up to avoid severely pinched pockets.\nCOMPANY NEWS:\nEURONEXT - Its full-year core earnings stood stable, as the pan-European exchange group's reduced costs offset a drop in listing and trading volumes that it blamed on uncertainty following Britain's vote to leave the European Union.\nIAG - British Airways cabin crew members working for the carrier's mixed fleet are to strike for a further four days.\nNEX GROUP - The UK broker said Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election had boosted trading activity, but it was too early to know whether this marked the end of a prolonged period of subdued market conditions.\nDATA:\nUK Average Earnings at 09.30am\nUK Claimant Count Change at 09.30am\nUK Claimant Count at 09.30am", "Asian shares were mixed Tuesday as some indexes recouped earlier losses set off by an overnight decline on Wall Street. Investors are awaiting the first Federal Reserve meeting under the new chairman, Jerome Powell, and anticipating the first rate increase of the year.\nKEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.5 percent to finish at 21,380.97. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4 percent to 5,936.40, while South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.2 percent to 2,479.81. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was virtually unchanged at 31,524.83, while the Shanghai Composite edged 0.3 percent higher to 3,289.80.\nFACEBOOK DROP: The technology rout on Wall Street on Monday was set off by Facebook's worst loss in four years. The social media giant's plunge followed reports that Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm working for President Donald Trump's campaign, improperly obtained data on 50 million Facebook users without their permission. Legislators in the U.S. and Europe criticized Facebook, and investors are wondering if companies like Facebook and Alphabet will face tighter regulation.\nWALL STREET: The S&P 500 index sank 1.4 percent to 2,712.92. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.3 percent to 24,610.91. The Nasdaq composite gave up 1.8 percent to 7,344.24 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks declined 1 percent to 1,570.56.\nFEDERAL RESERVE: The U.S. Federal Reserve's first meeting under Jerome Powell's leadership ends later this week, likely with an announcement that the Fed will resume modest interest rate hikes. A healthy U.S. job market and a relatively steady economy have given the Fed the confidence to think the economy can withstand further increases. And the financial markets have been edgy for weeks.\nENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 55 cents to $62.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 28 cents on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, also gained 55 cents to $62.60 per barrel in London.\nCURRENCIES: The dollar recovered to 106.27 yen from 105.92 late Monday. The euro rose to $1.2341 from $1.2267.\n———\nAP Markets Writer Marley Jay, who contributed to this report, can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP\nHis work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay\nFollow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama\nHer work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama", "WASHINGTON (AP) \" The Latest on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting (all times local):\n4:35 a.m.\nWorld stock markets and the dollar are firm ahead of an expected interest rate increase by the U.S. Federal Reserve.\nGermany's DAX index is up 0.4 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 0.1 percent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 ended the day marginally lower. Some gains are expected on Wall Street later, with the futures for both the Dow and S&P 500 up 0.1 percent.\nAdvertisement\nIn currency markets, the dollar is up to 110.22 yen from Tuesday's 110.04 yen. It is roughly flat against the pound, at $1.2758.\nThe U.S. central bank is widely predicted to nudge up its benchmark rate by a quarter point on Wednesday, to a range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent.", "TOKYO (AP) - Asian shares were mixed Tuesday as some indexes recouped earlier losses set off by an overnight decline on Wall Street. Investors are awaiting the first Federal Reserve meeting under the new chairman, Jerome Powell, and anticipating the first rate increase of the year.\nKEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.5 percent to finish at 21,380.97. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4 percent to 5,936.40, while South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.2 percent to 2,479.81. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was virtually unchanged at 31,524.83, while the Shanghai Composite edged 0.3 percent higher to 3,289.80.\nFACEBOOK DROP: The technology rout on Wall Street on Monday was set off by Facebook's worst loss in four years. The social media giant's plunge followed reports that Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm working for President Donald Trump's campaign, improperly obtained data on 50 million Facebook users without their permission. Legislators in the U.S. and Europe criticized Facebook, and investors are wondering if companies like Facebook and Alphabet will face tighter regulation.\nPeople walk past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Asian shares slumped Tuesday as pessimism followed an overnight drop in New York amid a rout in technology companies. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)\nWALL STREET: The S&P 500 index sank 1.4 percent to 2,712.92. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.3 percent to 24,610.91. The Nasdaq composite gave up 1.8 percent to 7,344.24 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks declined 1 percent to 1,570.56.\nFEDERAL RESERVE: The U.S. Federal Reserve's first meeting under Jerome Powell's leadership ends later this week, likely with an announcement that the Fed will resume modest interest rate hikes. A healthy U.S. job market and a relatively steady economy have given the Fed the confidence to think the economy can withstand further increases. And the financial markets have been edgy for weeks.\nENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 55 cents to $62.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 28 cents on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, also gained 55 cents to $62.60 per barrel in London.\nCURRENCIES: The dollar recovered to 106.27 yen from 105.92 late Monday. The euro rose to $1.2341 from $1.2267.\n___\nAP Markets Writer Marley Jay, who contributed to this report, can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP\nHis work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay\nFollow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama\nHer work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama\nA man looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Asian shares slumped Tuesday, as pessimism followed an overnight drop in New York amid a rout in technology companies. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)\nA man walks by while looking at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Asian shares slumped Tuesday, as pessimism followed an overnight drop in New York amid a rout in technology companies. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)", "A woman walks past an electronic board showing Hong Kong share index outside a local bank in Hong Kong, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday as geopolitical tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula softened somewhat following U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's departure from South Korea for Japan.\nStart the conversation, or Read more at Norwalk Citizen News.", "EM ASIA FX- Asian currencies steady ahead of Fed decision, inflation report\n(Adds details, updates prices) By Susan Mathew June 14 Asian currencies were steady on Wednesday as investors awaited results of the Federal Reserve meeting and clues on the pace of further U.S. rate hikes as well as signals on the country's inflation outlook. \"The FOMC is clouding the dollar sentiment so investors are content sitting on the sidelines and not really doing much today\" said Stephen Innes, senior trader at OANDA. The dollar index, which tracks the gree", "The Fed hiked interest rates for the second time this year, in a widely expected move that reflects the central bank's confidence in the U.S. economy.\nAt the conclusion of their two-day meeting on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee raised their benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 1% to 1.25%.\nThe move was essentially a foregone conclusion and the market was pricing in a 99% chance of a rate hike, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. The decision was supported by everyone on the Fed's committee except Neel Kashkari who wanted to leave rates unchanged.\nIn explaining their decision, the Fed said in a statement that \"job gains have moderated but have been solid, on average, since the beginning of the year, and the unemployment rate has declined.\"\nStocks were largely unchanged on Wednesday afternoon, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.11%.\nInvestors were more curious about the central bank's plans for the rest of the year. It stuck to its forecast of three rate hikes in 2017, which would mean just one more before the year is over.\nOne of the main things the Fed keeps an eye on is inflation, which has softened a bit and continues to lag behind their stated goal of 2%. That could hold the Fed back. \"Boosting U.S. inflation isn’t easy,\" wrote JPMorgan Funds chief global strategist David Kelly in a note to clients. \"The question for investors is whether the Fed will also hold monetary policy hostage to low inflation.\"\nThe Fed admitted that inflation is likely to remain \"somewhat below\" its target in the near term and that it will continue to monitor it closely.\n\"The Fed has been pointing to inflation as a catalyst for future rate hikes and yet it continues to underwhelm,\" said Scott Kimball, portfolio manager of the BMO TCH Core Plus Bond Fund, in an interview.\nThe central bank is also looking to scale back its balance sheet, which is loaded with government bonds, mortgage-backed securities and other assets it picked up in the wake of the financial crisis.\nIn its statement, the Fed said that it \"currently expects to begin implementing a balance sheet normalization program this year, provided that the economy evolves broadly as anticipated.\"\nFed watchers don't think the central bank is likely to make any sudden movements. \"We expect the Fed to move cautiously in its unwinding process -- akin go crossing a river by feeling the stones,\" wrote BlackRock's chief fixed income strategist Jeffrey Rosenberg. \"Any lack of clarity over the pace and final destination of the Fed's balance sheet unwinding has the potential to unnerve markets.\"\nAs rates continue to trend upwards, savers will start to earn a little more for keeping their money in the bank. Meanwhile, carrying a balance on credit cards and taking out loans will get more expensive. The rate on a 30-year mortgage has floated higher but at 3.9% is still at a historical low.\nWatch Janet Yellen's press conference at 2:30 pm ET by clicking here.", "WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve has raised its key interest rate for the third time in six months, providing its latest vote of confidence in a slow-growing but durable economy. The Fed also announced plans to start gradually paring its bond holdings later this year, which could cause long-term rates to rise.\nThe increase in the short-term rate by a quarter-point to a still-low range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent could lead to higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses and slightly better returns for savers. The Fed foresees one additional rate hike this year, unchanged from its previous forecast. It gave no hint of when that might occur.\nThe Fed chose to raise rates again despite economic weakness at the start of 2017 and a further slowdown recently in inflation, which remains persistently below the Fed’s 2 percent target rate. Fed officials reiterated their belief that that both inflation and economic growth will pick up.\nThe Fed’s decision was approved on an 8-1 vote with Neel Kashkari, head of the Fed’s Minneapolis regional bank, dissenting in favor of holding rates unchanged.\nThe latest rate increase, announced in a statement after a Fed policy meeting, comes as the U.S. economy is growing only sluggishly. Even so, many of the barometers the Fed monitors most closely have given it the confidence to keep gradually lifting still-low borrowing rates toward their historic norms.\nIn particular, hiring in the United States remains solid if slowing, with employment at a 16-year-low of 4.3 percent — even below the level that the Fed associates with full employment.\nThe Fed’s announcement that it would begin paring its balance sheet later this year — “provided that the economy evolves broadly as anticipated” — involves its enormous portfolio of Treasury and mortgage bonds. The Fed began buying the bonds after the Great Recession to try to depress long-term loan rates. That effort resulted in a five-fold increase in its portfolio to $4.5 trillion.\nOn Wednesday, the Fed said it would eventually allow a small amount of bonds to mature without being replaced — an amount that would gradually rise as markets adjusted to the process. This process could put upward pressure on long-term borrowing rates.\nUnder the plan it unveiled, the Fed would start with monthly reductions in Treasury holdings of no more than $6 billion and $4 billion in mortgage bonds. Those figures would rise in increments over a year until they reached $30 billion a month in Treasurys and $20 billion in mortgage bonds.\nBy using a gradual pace for reducing its bond holdings, the Fed hopes to avoid upsetting financial markets.", "By John Ruwitch and Winni Zhou\nSHANGHAI, June 15 (Reuters) - China's central bank left interest rates for open market operations unchanged on Thursday, despite its U.S. counterpart increasing its key policy rate overnight.\nThe People's Bank of China (PBOC) did not explain its rationale for keeping rates unchanged, but the yuan currency is on steadier footing and domestic liquidity conditions are much tighter than they were in mid-March, when it followed a Fed hike within hours.\nMarkets had been divided over whether the PBOC would raise short-term rates again in lockstep with the Fed, with those in the \"hold\" camp noting that China's short-term money rates and bond yields had already been trending higher.\nEarlier on Thursday, the PBOC injected a net 90 billion yuan ($13.25 billion) into the financial system via open market operations, saying it was doing so to counter \"liquidity stress\" from seasonal tax payments and maturing reverse repurchase agreements.\nThe rate for seven-day reverse repos remained at 2.45 percent, the 14-day tenor at 2.60 percent and the 28-day tenor at 2.75 percent, the PBOC said in a statement on its website.\nChina's benchmark one-year lending and deposit rates have remained unchanged since October 2015.\nEncouraged by improving economic growth, China had already nudged up short-term rates several times earlier this year as part of a broader push to reduce risks and leverage in the financial system after years of debt-fuelled stimulus.\nThose rate moves, while modest, were accompanied by regulatory crackdowns on riskier forms of financing and shadow banking, tightening credit conditions and resulting in China's bond curve inverting in recent months.\nOne key game changer in recent weeks may have been a sharp reversal in market expectations for further depreciation in the yuan and capital outflows, after China moved aggressively in May to flush out speculative bets against the currency and allowed it to jump sharply against the dollar.\n\"There've been a lot of pre-emptive moves by the PBOC and regulators to kind of more balance exchange rate expectations in recent months, and so I think really China had done a lot of preparation ahead of the FOMC rate hike that was widely anticipated anyway,\" said Nomura economist Rob Subbaraman.\nThe yuan is now up 2.3 percent so far in 2017 -- with nearly half of that seen in recent weeks -- after tumbling 6.5 percent last year.\nChina's efforts to clamp down on capital outflows - a pressing concern earlier in the year - also appear to be holding up. Last week, the government reported that foreign exchange reserves rose more than expected in May.\nA more sluggish outlook for the dollar has also helped take pressure off the yuan this year, after a sharp rally in the greenback in 2016.\nOne foreign exchange trader believed that China also refrained from raising rates on Thursday because it did not want to establish a pattern of following the Fed.\nThe PBOC is also keeping a close eye on seasonal liquidity tightness, and has moved to inject large amounts of funds to ease worries about another cash crunch like that in June 2013, when sent money market rates skyrocketing.\nThe one-year Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (SHIBOR) has climbed to two-year highs and is currently at 4.42 percent, above the PBOC's official lending rate of 4.35 percent.\nThe weighted average for the 7-day reverse repo was at 2.7921 percent at 0230 GMT on Thursday - more than 30 basis points above the rate as fixed by the central bank. ($1 = 6.7933 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Editing by Kim Coghill)", "Stock markets around the world downshifted into neutral on Tuesday, and U.S. indexes remained close to their record highs. Bond yields rose after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank is still on track to raise interest rates gradually.\nStart the conversation, or Read more at Kansas City Nursing News.", "TOKYO — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Friday after the Standard & Poor's 500 index logged an eighth straight day of gains. Encouraging reports on the U.S. economy helped the index match its longest winning streak since July 2013. Regional trading was subdued with markets in Shanghai and South Korea still closed for holidays.\nKEEPING SCORE: Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.3 per cent to 20,679.18 and the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong advanced 0.5 per cent to 28,506.48. Australia's S&P ASX/200 surged 0.8 per cent to 5,694.70. Shares in Southeast Asia and Taiwan also were higher.\nWALL STREET: The S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent to 2,552.07 and the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5 per cent to 22,775.39. The Nasdaq composite added 0.8 per cent to 6,585.36. All three indexes set fresh record highs. The continued gains have some professional investors a bit nervous, because even the healthiest markets tend to have some sharp sell-offs from time to time.\nANALYST VIEWPOINT: \"What's really troubling most people more than anything is that we just go straight up,\" said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. \"There hasn't been a pullback. That's what most on Wall Street are trying to come to grips with.\"\nUPBEAT DATA: In the latest good news for the economy Thursday brought a report of a stronger-than-expected rebound in U.S. factory orders during August and a drop in the number of workers applying for unemployment benefits last week.\nCURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 112.86 Japanese yen from 112.83 yen late Thursday. The euro was flat at $1.1711 and the British pound slipped to $1.3102 from $1.3119.\nENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 7 cents to $50.72 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It added 81 cents to $50.79 on Thursday. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, slipped 12 cents to $56.88 per barrel.", "The current EUR/USD levels look like good opportunity for buying dollars while the US long-term yields still have at least 30 basis points growth potential by the year end.\nUS consumer prices increased by 0.1% mom in July for a 1.7% yoy growth which was a tenth below the market expectations. However, the 'core' inflation (excludes movements of volatile components such as food and energy) came largely in line with market expectations and increased by 0.1% mom for a 1.7% yoy growth as well. In line with that, the dollar weakened modestly versus the euro while long end yields edged down slightly additionally pressured with the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the US and the North Korea.\nChart1: US inflation movements\nSource: Federal reserve bank St. Louis\nThe Bloomberg consensus expectations show that only one fourth of the market participants currently expect to see another rate hike this year. The Fed funds futures pricing implies that the Fed fund rate will be at the upper bound of the current target range by the end of this year. The market skepticism about another rate hike is not surprising. After all, it was only recently that the Fed chair Yellen said that core inflation movements will be the main driver of further hikes.\nMeanwhile, the Fed kept its future monetary policy guidance largely unchanged through the course of this year. That said, the Fed still expects to see one more rate increase of 25bp this year, followed by three more rate hikes of 25bp in 2018 and 2019.\nStrengthening labor market, unemployment below its estimated natural level and recent growth acceleration should be enough to convince the Fed to hike rates one more time this year. Also, the equity indices have reached their record highs recently and the last thing that the Fed wants is to overheat the economy once again. However, the Fed will certainly want to see some proof of strengthening inflation in order to hike rates. Fortunately, there are still four more CPI releases before the Fed's December meeting. This should be enough for inflation to pick-up modestly supported with the recent dollar depreciation.\nThere is plenty of US hard data scheduled to be released this week (retail sales on Tuesday and industrial production on Thursday) while the minutes of the latest FOMC meeting in July are scheduled to be released on Wednesday. However, none of this should have stronger impact on the EUR/USD while the long end yields should stay at currently low levels as far as the geopolitical tensions keep investors risk aversion elevated. However, the recent dollar depreciation trajectory will be reversed as Fed will keep their view of one more rate hike this year unchanged at their meeting in September. All in all, the current EUR/USD levels look like good opportunity for buying dollars while the US long-term yields still have at least 30 basis points growth potential by the year end, in my view.\nDisclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.\nI wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.", "SE Asia Stocks-Singapore rebounds, led by Thai Beverage\nBy Geo Tharappel Feb 15 Singapore shares bounced back on Wednesday, mainly driven by gains in Thai Beverage Pcl on strong quarterly earnings, while most other Southeast Asian markets were flat after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signalled a faster pace of rate hikes. Yellen said on Tuesday delaying rate increases could leave the Fed policymaking committee behind the curve and also flagged considerable uncertainty over economic policy under President Donald Trum", "WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest rate for the third time in six months, providing its latest vote of confidence in a slow-growing but durable economy. The Fed also announced plans to start gradually paring its bond holdings later this year, which could cause long-term rates to rise.The increase in the short-term rate by a quarter-point to a still-low range of 1 per cent to 1.25 per cent could lead to higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses and slightly better returns for savers.The central bank chose to raise rates again despite an economic slowdown at the start of 2017, which it predicts will prove temporary. It foresees one additional rate hike this year, unchanged from its previous forecast. It gave no hint of when that might occur.Read more:U.S. Federal Reserve hikes interest rate for second time in 3 monthsArticle Continued BelowToronto, New York markets see modest losses as U.S. Fed releases meeting minutesNorth American markets rally as U.S. Federal Reserve hikes interest ratesThe latest Fed rate hike, announced in a statement after a policy meeting, comes as the U.S. economy is growing only sluggishly. Even so, many of the barometers the Fed monitors most closely have given it the confidence to keep gradually lifting still-low borrowing rates toward their historic norms.", "World stock markets and the dollar are firm ahead of an expected interest rate increase by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Germany's DAX index is up 0.4 percent and Britain's FTSE 100 0.1 percent.\nStart the conversation, or Read more at The Daily News-Record.", "(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko). A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Asian shares slumped Tuesday, as pessimism followed an overnight drop in New York amid a rout ...\n(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko). A man walks by while looking at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Asian shares slumped Tuesday, as pessimism followed an overnight drop in New Yo...\n(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko). A man looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Asian shares slumped Tuesday, as pessimism followed an overnight drop in New York amid a rout in...\n(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko). People walk past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Asian shares slumped Tuesday as pessimism followed an overnight drop in New York amid a rout i...\nBy YURI KAGEYAMA\nAP Business Writer\nTOKYO (AP) - Asian shares were mixed Tuesday as some indexes recouped earlier losses set off by an overnight decline on Wall Street. Investors are awaiting the first Federal Reserve meeting under the new chairman, Jerome Powell, and anticipating the first rate increase of the year.\nKEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.5 percent to finish at 21,380.97. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.4 percent to 5,936.40, while South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.2 percent to 2,479.81. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was virtually unchanged at 31,524.83, while the Shanghai Composite edged 0.3 percent higher to 3,289.80.\nFACEBOOK DROP: The technology rout on Wall Street on Monday was set off by Facebook's worst loss in four years. The social media giant's plunge followed reports that Cambridge Analytica, a data mining firm working for President Donald Trump's campaign, improperly obtained data on 50 million Facebook users without their permission. Legislators in the U.S. and Europe criticized Facebook, and investors are wondering if companies like Facebook and Alphabet will face tighter regulation.\nWALL STREET: The S&P 500 index sank 1.4 percent to 2,712.92. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.3 percent to 24,610.91. The Nasdaq composite gave up 1.8 percent to 7,344.24 and the Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks declined 1 percent to 1,570.56.\nFEDERAL RESERVE: The U.S. Federal Reserve's first meeting under Jerome Powell's leadership ends later this week, likely with an announcement that the Fed will resume modest interest rate hikes. A healthy U.S. job market and a relatively steady economy have given the Fed the confidence to think the economy can withstand further increases. And the financial markets have been edgy for weeks.\nENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 55 cents to $62.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 28 cents on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, also gained 55 cents to $62.60 per barrel in London.\nCURRENCIES: The dollar recovered to 106.27 yen from 105.92 late Monday. The euro rose to $1.2341 from $1.2267.\n___\nAP Markets Writer Marley Jay, who contributed to this report, can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP\nHis work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay\nFollow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama\nHer work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama\nCopyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.", "In this Jan. 12, 2017, photo, traders work on the Mizuho Americas trading floor in New York. Shares in Asia were mixed on Monday, April 17, 2017, after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, on a visit to South Korea, warned that U.S. patience with Pyongyang has run out.\nStart the conversation, or Read more at Seattle Post-Intelligencer.", "Asia-Pacific stocks were lower as investors took profits, after a muted reaction in U.S. markets to the Federal Reserve’s rate rise and plan to start shrinking its balance sheet.\nRead Full Story", "Dollar, Euro and Pound banknotes are seen in this picture illustration taken April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration\nSINGAPORE The dollar traded below a six-week high against the yen on Wednesday, as the market awaited the Federal Reserve's policy statement for hints on the U.S. interest rate outlook, while the kiwi rose on the back of higher dairy prices.\nThe Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, but investors will look to see whether the central bank downplays the recent soft patch in the economy to leave the door open for a rate increase in June.\nThe dollar last traded at 112.04 yen JPY=, not very far from Tuesday's peak of 112.33 yen, the greenback's strongest level since March 21.\nWith Japanese markets closed for a public holiday on Wednesday and the rest of the week, market liquidity is likely to be thinner than usual.\nThe greenback pulled away from its six-week high after weak U.S. April auto sales data released on Tuesday added to worries that the Fed may eventually take a more dovish-than-expected view on interest rate increases over the remainder of the year.\nThe weak U.S. auto sales figures could make market participants wary of actively buying the dollar against the yen for now, said Satoshi Okagawa, senior global markets analyst for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in Singapore.\n\"Concerns about geopolitical risks such as North Korea had weighed on the dollar against the yen recently... But the focus is shifting to whether the (strength) of U.S. economic fundamentals is for real,\" he said.\n\"There is more data coming up including the jobs data, so those need to be watched closely,\" Okagawa said, referring to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday. ECONUS\nThe euro inched up 0.1 percent to $1.0934 EUR=EBS, trading within sight of a 5-1/2 month high of $1.0951 scaled last week.\nThe euro saw a relief rally last week, after Emmanuel Macron's victory against anti-euro nationalist Marine Le Pen in the first round of France's presidential elections. The runoff vote is on May 7.\nThe New Zealand dollar rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday, after global dairy prices rose for the fourth international auction in a row, a strong indicator that last year's recovery is back on track.\nThe New Zealand dollar touched a one-week high at $0.6969 and was last trading at $0.6951 NZD=D3, up 0.2 percent from late U.S. trading on Tuesday.\n(Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Sam Holmes)", "A man walks past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index and other country's market prices at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Tuesday as investors stepped back after several days of advances, erasing early gains. Markets are awaiting the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday and the outcome of a major Chinese planning conference. Eugene Hoshiko AP Photo", "SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) - Asian equities gained on Tuesday (April 18) after US stocks rose the most in six weeks, while the yen weakened as geopolitical threats eased and American economic data damped the odds for a Federal Reserve rate hike in June.\nBloomberg's dollar index strengthened after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Financial Times the greenback's strength is \"a good thing.\" The yield on 10-year Treasuries continued to edge higher from a November low. Gold declined for a third day.\nInvestors turned less cautious in the absence of any major international incidents that damped the prospects for global growth. The US has gotten encouraging signs that China will act to pressure Kim Jong Un's regime to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, a State Department official said, but the Trump administration is holding on to military action - alone or with allies - as an option.\nReadings on American housing and New York manufacturing lowered the odds for higher interest rates, while faster growth in China boosted optimism about the strength of the global economy. Exchanges open after the Easter break in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.\nThe yen declined 0.3 per cent to 109.21 per dollar as of 9:16am in Tokyo. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index added less than 0.1 per cent after falling 0.2 per cent on Monday to the lowest closing level since March 27.\nJapan's Topix advanced 1 per cent, after a 0.5 per cent increase on Monday. South Korea's Kospi also gained for a second day, adding 0.1 per cent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 per cent and New Zealand's benchmark climbed 0.2 per cent.\nFutures on the S&P 500 were steady. The index rose 0.9 per cent on Monday, rebounding from a 1.1 per cent loss last week. Trading in S&P 500 shares was 16 per cent below the 30-day average.\nThe yield on 10-year Treasuries increased less than one basis point to 2.26 per cent, after rising one basis point from the lowest in about five months on Monday.\nGold slipped 0.2 per cent to US$1,282.31 an ounce after declining for two days.\nWest Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at US$52.66 a barrel, after dropping 1 per cent on Monday.", "The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday for the second time in three months, citing continued U.S. economic growth and job market strength, and announced it would begin cutting its holdings of bonds and other securities this year.\nThe decision lifted the U.S. central bank’s benchmark lending rate by a quarter percentage point to a target range of 1.00 per cent to 1.25 per cent as it proceeds with its first tightening cycle in more than a decade.\nIn its statement following a two-day meeting, the Fed’s policy-setting committee indicated the economy had been expanding moderately, the labor market continued to strengthen and a recent softening in inflation was seen as transitory.\nRelated: Weak U.S. retail sales, consumer prices put spotlight on Federal Reserve\nRead more: Asian shares lag record Wall Street, cautious of Fed plans\nThe Fed also gave a first clear outline on its plan to reduce its $4.2-trillion portfolio of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, most of which were purchased in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis and recession.\n“The committee currently expects to begin implementing a balance sheet normalization program this year, provided that the economy evolves broadly as anticipated,” the Fed said in its statement.\nThe central bank said it would gradually ramp up the pace of its balance sheet reduction and anticipates the plan would feature halting reinvestments of ever-larger amounts of maturing securities.\nThe Fed said the initial cap for Treasuries would be set at $6-billion per month initially and increase by $6-billion increments every three months over a 12-month period until it reached $30-billion per month in reductions to its holdings.\nFor agency debt and mortgage-backed securities, the cap will be $4-billion per month initially, increasing by $4-billion at quarterly intervals over a year until it reached $20-billion per month.\nU.S. stocks rose after the Fed announcement, while the dollar reversed some of its earlier losses.\n“The Fed announcing an update to their reinvestment principles leaves September open. The start of balance sheet runoff and the fact that they haven’t slowed their projected path of rate hikes suggest they can do both balance sheet and rate hikes at the same time,” said Gennady Goldberg, interest rate strategist at TD Securities.\nFed Chair Janet Yellen was holding a press conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT.\nEYES ON INFLATION\nThe Fed has now raised rates four times as part of a normalization of monetary policy that began in December 2015. The central bank had pushed rates to near zero in response to the financial crisis.\nPolicymakers also released their latest set of quarterly economic forecasts which showed temporary concern about inflation and continued confidence about economic growth in the coming years.\nThey forecast U.S. economic growth of 2.2 per cent in 2017, an increase from the previous projection in March. Inflation was expected to be at 1.7 per cent by the end of this year, down from the 1.9 per cent previously forecast.\nA retreat in inflation over the past two months has caused jitters among some Fed officials who fear that the shortfall, if sustained, could alter the pace of future rate hikes. Earlier on Wednesday, the Labor Department reported consumer prices unexpectedly fell in May, the second drop in three months.\nThe Fed’s preferred measure of underlying inflation has retreated to 1.5 per cent, from 1.8 per cent earlier this year, and has run below the central bank’s 2 per cent target for more than five years.\nExpectations of any fiscal stimulus in the near term from the Trump administration have also waned with campaign promises on tax cuts, regulation rollbacks and infrastructure spending either still on the drawing board or facing hurdles in Congress.\nInterest rates are seen rising one more time by the end of this year, according to the median projection of the forecasts released with the Fed’s policy statement, in keeping with the previous forecast.\nEstimates for the unemployment rate by the end of this year moved down to 4.3 per cent, the current level, and to 4.2 per cent in 2018, indicating the Fed believes the labor market will continue to tighten.\nThe median estimate of the long-run neutral rate, which is seen as the level of monetary policy that neither boosts nor slows the economy, was unchanged at 3.0 per cent.\nMinneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari dissented in Wednesday’s decision.\nReport Typo/Error", "New York: Treasury yields fell with the dollar while US stocks fluctuated after the Federal Reserve raised rates as expected and stuck to its forecast for an additional hike this year.\nThe 10-year Treasury note yield held at the lowest since November, and the greenback weakened versus major peers—both had declined earlier after inflation data came in below forecasts. Fed officials saw near-term risks as “roughly balanced.” US stocks remained mixed near record levels. Oil tumbled below $45 a barrel in New York.\nPolicy makers agreed to raise their benchmark lending rate for the third time in six months, maintained their outlook for one more hike in 2017 and set out some details for how they intend to shrink their $4.5 trillion balance sheet this year. Chair Janet Yellen will hold a press conference at 2:30 pm.\nCentral banks in Japan, Switzerland and Britain are also scheduled to weigh in with policy decisions this week. Investors have reined in expectations for a Bank of England interest-rate increase after the election shock.\nMarkets largely ignored a shooting that wounded the third-highest ranked US House Republican and at least four others at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia. The gunman later died from injuries in a shootout with police. Bloomberg", "U.S. stock futures and Asian shares slid on Thursday, hit by soft U.S. economic data, a relatively hawkish Fed and a media report that U.S. President Donald Trump is being investigated by a special counsel for possible obstruction of justice.\nContinue Reading Below\nS&P mini futures dipped 0.3 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.7 percent while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4 percent.\nThe Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected on Wednesday and gave a first clear outline on its plan to reduce its $4.2-trillion portfolio of bonds.\nFed Chair Janet Yellen said the process could start \"relatively soon\", while projections of Federal Reserve Board members also showed they expect one more rate hike by the end of year.\nA majority of Wall Street’s top banks now expect the Fed to start reducing re-investment in bonds in September, compared to their previous median forecast of such a move in December.\nYet the Fed's decision and confidence in continued U.S. economic growth was over-shadowed by surprisingly weak data released earlier in the day.\nContinue Reading Below ADVERTISEMENT\n\"The tone of the statement came across as relatively hawkish, despite the disappointing readings on core inflation, which the Fed contributed partly to transitory factors,\" Anna Stupnytska, global economist at Fidelity International, said in a note.\nConsumer prices unexpectedly fell on month in May and the annual increase in core CPI slipped to 1.7 percent, the smallest rise since May 2015, after advancing 1.9 percent in April.\nInvestors' inflation expectations gauged by the spread between the 10-year inflation-linked bonds and conventional bonds fell to 1.726 percent, completely wiping out its rise since the U.S. presidential election.\nRetail sales fell 0.3 percent last month -- the largest fall since January 2016 and way below economists' expectations for a 0.1 percent gain -- amid declining purchases of motor vehicles and discretionary spending.\nRisk sentiment was also hit by fear of more U.S. political turmoil after Washington Post reported that Trump is being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller for possible obstruction of justice.\nMueller is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Trump's legal team denounced the report.\nThe news came just after the No. 3 Republican in the House of Representatives, Steve Scalise, was shot by a gunman angry with Trump and other Republicans. Scalise was listed in critical condition.\nThe weak U.S. data had knocked the dollar and U.S. bond yields to its lowest level in seven months against a basket of currencies.\nThe dollar index was little changed on Thursday after having slid to as low as 96.323 on Wednesday, having shed nearly 6 percent on the year, before bouncing back a tad on the Fed's policy tightening.\nThe euro traded at $1.1220, after having hit a seven-month high of $1.1296. The dollar fetched 109.54 yen, not far from Wednesday's eight-week low of 108.81 yen.\nThe 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield had slipped to as low as 2.103 percent and last stood at 2.134 percent.\n\"You cannot help the impression that there is a gap between the Fed's bullish inflation forecast and the weakness in actual data,\" said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank.\n\"The Fed seems to think the weakness is temporary. But that view will be tested in coming months,\" he added.\nMoney market instruments such as Fed fund futures show market players see the likelihood of one more rate hike this year as less than 50 percent.\nFollowing the Fed's rate hike, China's central bank left interest rates for open market operations unchanged on Thursday, unlike in March when it lifted short-term interest rates in what economists said was a bid to stave off capital outflows and further depreciation pressure on the yuan.\nAnalysts had been split on whether China would follow the Fed again, noting the yuan is in much better shape than a few months ago after authorities' recent moves to flush out depreciation bets against the currency.\nThe yuan held stable in early trade, trading at 6.7854 per dollar in the offshore trade.\nCrude oil prices were listless after having slumped nearly 4 percent to their lowest close in seven months on Wednesday, on an unexpected large build in gasoline inventories.\nBrent crude futures slipped another 0.4 percent in early Asian trade to $46.83 per barrel, near a five-month low of $46.64 touched in early May.\nMany other commodity prices are also under pressure. Thomson Reuters CRB index tumbled to 14-month lows, having fallen almost 12 percent from this year's high hit in January.\n(Editing by Kim Coghill)", "Yellen will be pressed to clarify the Fed's outlook for i... . People walk past an electronic stock indicator of a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017.\nStart the conversation, or Read more at CBS 3 Springfield.", "China's central bank left interest rates for open market operations unchanged on Thursday, despite its U.S. counterpart increasing its key policy rate overnight.\nThe People's Bank of China (PBOC) did not explain its rationale for keeping rates unchanged, but the yuan currency is on steadier footing and domestic liquidity conditions are much tighter than they were in mid-March, when it followed a Fed hike within hours.\nMarkets had been divided over whether the PBOC would raise short-term rates again in lockstep with the Fed, with those in the \"hold\" camp noting that China's short-term money rates and bond yields had already been trending higher.\nEarlier on Thursday, the PBOC injected a net 90 billion yuan ($13.25 billion) into the financial system via open market operations, saying it was doing so to counter \"liquidity stress\" from seasonal tax payments and maturing reverse repurchase agreements.\nThe rate for seven-day reverse repos remained at 2.45 percent, the 14-day tenor at 2.60 percent and the 28-day tenor at 2.75 percent, the PBOC said in a statement on its website.\nChina's benchmark one-year lending and deposit rates have remained unchanged since October 2015.\nEncouraged by improving economic growth, China had already nudged up short-term rates several times earlier this year as part of a broader push to reduce risks and leverage in the financial system after years of debt-fuelled stimulus.\nThose rate moves, while modest, were accompanied by regulatory crackdowns on riskier forms of financing and shadow banking, tightening credit conditions and resulting in China's bond curve inverting in recent months.\nOne key game changer in recent weeks may have been a sharp reversal in market expectations for further depreciation in the yuan and capital outflows, after China moved aggressively in May to flush out speculative bets against the currency and allowed it to jump sharply against the dollar.\n\"There've been a lot of pre-emptive moves by the PBOC and regulators to kind of more balance exchange rate expectations in recent months, and so I think really China had done a lot of preparation ahead of the FOMC rate hike that was widely anticipated anyway,\" said Nomura economist Rob Subbaraman.\nThe yuan is now up 2.3 percent so far in 2017 -- with nearly half of that seen in recent weeks -- after tumbling 6.5 percent last year.\nChina's efforts to clamp down on capital outflows - a pressing concern earlier in the year - also appear to be holding up. Last week, the government reported that foreign exchange reserves rose more than expected in May.\nA more sluggish outlook for the dollar has also helped take pressure off the yuan this year, after a sharp rally in the greenback in 2016.\nOne foreign exchange trader believed that China also refrained from raising rates on Thursday because it did not want to establish a pattern of following the Fed.\nThe PBOC is also keeping a close eye on seasonal liquidity tightness, and has moved to inject large amounts of funds to ease worries about another cash crunch like that in June 2013, when sent money market rates skyrocketing.\nThe one-year Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (SHIBOR) has climbed to two-year highs and is currently at 4.42 percent, above the PBOC's official lending rate of 4.35 percent.\nThe weighted average for the 7-day reverse repo was at 2.7921 percent at 0230 GMT on Thursday - more than 30 basis points above the rate as fixed by the central bank.", "SHANGHAI, June 15 (Reuters) - China's central bank left interest rates for open market operations unchanged on Thursday, despite its U.S. counterpart increasing its key policy rate overnight.\nThe rate for seven-day reverse repurchase agreements remained at 2.45 percent, the 14-day tenor at 2.60 percent and the 28-day tenor at 2.75 percent, the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website.\nHours after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates in March, the PBOC lifted short-term interest rates in what economists said was a bid to stave off capital outflows and keep the yuan stable.\nChina's benchmark one-year lending and deposit rates have remained unchanged since October 2015. (Reporting by John Ruwitch and Winni Zhou; Editing by Kim Coghill)", "SINGAPORE, April 6 (IFR) - Asian credits were broadly unchanged in stable markets despite dampened sentiment from overnight losses on Wall Street.\nThe iTraxx Asia IG index was indicated at 95bp/96bp, flat to yesterday.\n\"The markets seem strangely quiet even though other traders are around,\" said one high-yield trader. \"I don't know if it is a hangover from the Hong Kong holiday on Tuesday, or if everyone is preparing for the Rugby Sevens this weekend.\"\nThe main event was a widening of Sinopec's jumbo four-tranche issue. The new 2020s, 2022s, 2027s and 2047s were out by around 5bp in the afternoon, although the notes had recouped some losses after trading 7bp-10bp wider this morning.\n\"That seems to be a combination of the overnight soft markets and the tight pricing that the Sinopec bonds arrived at,\" said one high-grade trader.\n\"But they seem to be settling and there is active two-way flow in the notes.\"\nTwo-way flows were also seen in the high-yield area where credits were unchanged to slightly firmer.\nJSW Steel's 5.25% 2022s were quoted at a touch below reoffer price at par, while Jingrui's 2020s were seen around the reoffer price of 99.345.\nIndika's 2022s, priced at 99.688, were still under water but holding steady at 99.338/99.592.\n(Reporting by Kit Yin Boey; Editing by Vincent Baby)", "Asian shares drifted lower on Tuesday following Wall Street losses overnight after a sell-off in technology stocks hampered risk sentiment before a key Federal Reserve policy meeting.\nStocks retreated on the back of declines in tech companies amidst reports of a Facebook Inc data breach and Apple Inc efforts to develop its own screens.\nThis comes ahead of the Federal Reserve Market Committee's first meeting with new head Jerome Powell later in the day.\nStrengthening labor market and a steady increase in price pressures could pave the way for the central bank to raise interest rates in the upcoming meeting.\nThe CME FedWatch tool currently places the likelihood of a 25 basis point hike at 91.6 percent, one fully worked in for the markets.\nMSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.2 percent. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.0 percent in the morning trading.\nOn Wall Street the S&P 500 lost 1.42 percent and the Nasdaq Composite 1.84 percent.\nBack home, SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50's trend in India, signals a weak start for the domestic markets after the benchmark Sensex plunged 252 points or 0.76 percent to close at 32,923 on Monday.\nThe partially convertible rupee ended at 65.18 on Monday, down 0.36 percent from its previous close of 64.94.\nSo far this year, the rupee weakened 1.8 percent, while foreign investors have bought $1.4 billion in equity and $317 million in debt market.\nPolicy meetings: The Reserve Bank of Australia releases minutes of the March meeting on Tuesday while the Bank of England will meet on Thursday, where it's expected to keep interest rates and its asset-purchase program unchanged.\nCrude check: Brent crude, the benchmark for more than half the world's oil, rose 0.29 percent at $66.24 per barrel while the West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.40 percent at $62.31 a barrel, on Tuesday morning.", "WASHINGTON — U.S. employment fell in September for the first time in seven years as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma left displaced workers temporarily unemployed and delayed hiring, the latest indication that the storms undercut economic activity in the third quarter.\nThe Labor Department said on Friday nonfarm payrolls decreased by 33,000 jobs last month amid a record drop in employment in the leisure and hospitality sector.\nThe decline in payrolls was the first since September 2010. The Department said its analysis suggested that the net effect of Harvey and Irma, which wreaked havoc in Texas and Florida in late August and early September, was to \"reduce the estimate of total nonfarm payroll employment for September.\"\n\"While nonfarm payrolls declined last month, investors will find solace in a whole host of other labour market indicators that reveal an underlying labour market that continues to show evidence of resilience and continued tightening,\" said Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at Bank of the West in San Francisco.\nEconomists had forecast payrolls increasing by 90,000 jobs last month. Payrolls are calculated from a survey of employers, which treats any worker who was not paid for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th of the month as unemployed.\nMany of the dislocated people will probably return to work. That, together with rebuilding and clean-up is expected to boost job growth in the coming months. Leisure and hospitality payrolls dived 111,000, the most since records started in 1939, after being unchanged in August.\nThere were also decreases in retail and manufacturing employment last month. Stripping out the effects of the hurricanes, the labour market remains strong. The government revised data for August to show 169,000 jobs created that month instead of the previously reported 156,000.\nHarvey and Irma did not have an impact on the unemployment rate, which fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.2 per cent, the lowest since February 2001. The smaller survey of households from which the jobless rate is derived treats a person as employed regardless of whether they missed work during the reference week and were unpaid as result.\nThe decrease in the unemployment rate reflected a 906,000 surge in household employment, which offset a 575,000 increase in the labour force.\nThe dollar was trading higher against a basket of currencies after the data, while prices for U.S. Treasuries fell. Stocks on Wall Street fell marginally.\nDISRUPTIONS BOOST WAGES\nUnderscoring the disruptive impact of the hurricanes, the household survey showed 1.5 million people stayed at home in September because of the bad weather, the most since January 1996. About 2.9 million people worked part-time, the largest number since February 2014.\nThe length of the average workweek was unchanged at 34.4 hours. With the hurricane-driven temporary unemployment concentrated in low-paying industries like retail and leisure and hospitality, average hourly earnings increased 12 cents US or 0.5 per cent in September after rising 0.2 per cent in August.\nThat pushed the annual increase in wages to 2.9 per cent, the largest gain since December 2016, from 2.7 per cent in August.\nThe mixed employment report should not change views the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December. Fed Chair Janet Yellen cautioned last month that the hurricanes could \"substantially\" weigh on September job growth, but expected the effects would \"unwind relatively quickly.\"\n\"The Fed has been hyper-focused on wage growth, so the above-average increase will be a welcome relief, even if there is some storm impact embedded in the number,\" said Marvin Loh, senior global markets strategist at BNY Mellon in Boston. \"We think that the report strengthens the Fed's December hike hand.\"\nThe U.S. central bank said last month it expected \"labour market conditions will strengthen somewhat further.\" The Fed left interest rates unchanged in September, but signaled it expected one more hike by the end of the year. It has increased borrowing costs twice this year.\nAnnual wage growth of at least 3.0 per cent is need to raise inflation to the Fed's two-per-cent target, analysts say.\nThe employment report added to August consumer spending, industrial production, homebuilding and home sales data in suggesting that the hurricanes will dent economic growth in the third quarter.\nEconomists estimate that the back-to-back storms, including Hurricane Maria which destroyed infrastructure in Puerto Rico last month, could shave at least six-tenths of a percentage point from third-quarter gross domestic product.\nGrowth estimates for the July-September period are as low as a 1.8-per-cent annualized rate. The economy grew at a 3.1-per-cent rate in the second quarter.\nPrivate payrolls fell by 40,000 jobs, the biggest drop since February 2010. Manufacturing employment slipped by 1,000 jobs pulled down by declines at motor vehicle assembly and chemical plants as well as textile mills.\nRetail employment fell by 2,900 jobs as food stores payrolls tumbled 6,900. There were also declines in employment at department stores. Construction payrolls rose 8,000 in September as a 3,900 drop in jobs at homebuilding sites was offset by increases elsewhere.", "Asian stock markets mostly finished with losses Wednesday, as the region’s technology stocks tracked weakness in U.S. markets that was triggered by ongoing trade tensions.\nThe Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -1.00% closed down 1%, while the tech-heavy China Shenzhen ChiNext Composite 399106, -1.96% tumbled 2.6%. Those move came after tech stocks helped drive a selloff for Wall Street on Tuesday, led by Micron Technology Inc. MU, -5.51% tumbling 5.5% on news it was temporarily blocked from selling some of its memory chips in China. U.S. markets will be closed in observance of the Independence Day holiday on Wednesday.\nThe Micron block by China came a day after the U.S. cited national security concerns in moving to prevent China Mobile CHL, -0.70% 0941, +0.51% —the world’s biggest mobile operator in terms of subscribers—from entering its telecom market.\nTrade tensions show no signs of easing this week, with the Trump administration’s plan to impose tariffs on up to $50 billion worth of Chinese products due to kick in Friday. China has said its own tariffs on $34 billion of U.S. goods will take effect on Friday as well, though several hours earlier due to time-zone differences, according to a Reuters report Wednesday.\nIn other market action on Wednesday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -1.06% fell 1.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -0.31% and Korea’s Kospi SEU, -0.32% each eased 0.3%. Taiwan stocks Y9999, +0.06% finished roughly flat.\nThe Chinese yuan CNYUSD, +0.1508% was trading higher against the dollar on Wednesday, continuing a recovery that began the previous afternoon after China’s central bank chief pledged to keep the exchange rate “basically stable.” The buck USDCNY, -0.1506% was recently buying 6.6321 yuan, down from 6.6420 late Tuesday in New York.\nNew Zealand’s NZX 50 NZ50GR, -0.31% closed down 0.3%, while Australia’s XJO, -0.43% main index shed 0.4%.\n— Lucy Craymer and Joanne Chiu contributed to this article.", "A token of the virtual currency Bitcoin is seen placed on a monitor that displays binary digits in this illustration picture, on Friday (Reuters file photo)\nLONDON — Most Asian and European stock markets rose on Monday, tracking fresh records on Wall Street after forecast-busting US jobs data, as investors eyed this week's upcoming Federal Reserve [Fed] meeting.\nBitcoin continued its stratospheric rise after the virtual money began trading on its first major global exchange over the weekend.\nEuropean bourses enjoyed slender gains after a broadly positive Asian session, with London up 0.7 per cent, while Frankfurt added 0.2 per cent and Paris advanced 0.1 per cent in midday deals.\nEyes are now on the Fed's last monetary policy meeting of the year, which winds down on Wednesday.\nMost analysts expect the central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to lift interest rates again, but they will be more interested in what boss Janet Yellen has to say about the timetable for future increases.\n\"The Fed will no doubt provide markets with a central focus this week, where the FOMC are expected to come good on their promise of three rate hikes for 2017,\" said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.\n\"With market expectations for 2018 somewhat up in the air, there is a feeling that investors are hungry for clues as to where things will stand in 12-months' time.\"\nUS data on Friday showed 228,000 jobs were created last month and unemployment held at a 17-year low, reinforcing the view that the world's number one economy is in a healthy state.\nThe reading — mixed with news of a breakthrough in Brexit talks, strong Chinese indicators and aprogress in US tax reform — helped fire a rally in US equities before the weekend, driving the Dow and S&P 500 to all-time highs.\nAdding to the upbeat sentiment was an agreement by US lawmakers to keep funding the government to avert a painful shutdown.\nThe advance helped staunch a sell-off that has hit global markets for most of this month as traders wound down and took profits before the end of the year.\nIn Asia on Monday, Tokyo ended 0.6-per cent higher as the Nikkei rose for a third straight day, while Hong Kong surged more than 1 per cent and Shanghai added 1 per cent as Chinese traders brushed off lower than expected inflation figures.\nBitcoin surges\nBitcoin catapulted past $18,000 on a wave of fresh optimism, despite persistent bubble fears.\nThe unit remains in focus after ticking off multiple records since the start of December.\nTrading of the controversial digital currency on a futures contract began on Sunday on the Chicago board options exchange (Cboe) at a price of $15,000.\nThe move is a milestone for bitcoin, which has previously only been tradable on unregulated exchanges.\nBitcoin was trading at $17,600 per unit for the futures contract expiring on January 17, exceeding the highest value it had reached on alternative non-regulated internet platforms, and even climbed past $18,000.\n\"The level of volatility the introduction will have is uncertain,\" said Shane Chanel, equities and derivatives adviser at ASR Wealth Advisers." ]

[ "No. Play has not been stopped - that is the entire purpose of advantage.\nNeither has a restart occurred. Law 8, Introduction lists all restarts of play. For completeness, they are\n\nKick-off\nFree kick (direct or indirect)\nPenalty kick\nThrow-in\nGoal kick\nCorner kick\nDropped ball" ]

[ "Neither of the two suggested restarts are correct. The correct restart is a kick-off.\n\nThe Laws would explicitly state that a goal was to be disallowed for either of these offences, just as it does for Laws 3.7 and 3.9, if that was what was intended. Just to clarify, if a substitute enters the field of play and does not interfere with play, they are cautioned when the ball next goes out of play (according to Law 3.7) - the referee is not permitted to stop play. However, if a goal is scored, Law 3.9 states that the goal is disallowed, and a direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team from their position.\n\nFor both a goalkeeper changing places without permission, and a player making unauthorised marks on the field of play, there is no similar provision in the Laws of the Game. The goal is allowed, and the player(s) concerned are cautioned before the kick-off - just as stated in Laws 1.2 and 3.5.", "Law 12.4 Fouls and misconduct / Restart of play after fouls and misconduct covers this explicitly:\n\n\n If, when the ball is in play [...] a player commits an offence against a match official or an opposing player [...] outside the field of play, play is restarted with a free kick on the boundary line nearest to where the offence/interference occurred; a penalty kick is awarded if this is a direct free kick offence within the offender’s penalty area.\n\n\nTherefore it would be a penalty in the specific case you highlighted.", "No. Crowding the referee to effect a decision or retraction of a decision, is pointless (see below). Moreover, they could be cautioned for any of delaying the restart of play, dissent by word or action, or unsporting behaviour.\nLaw 5 of the IFAB Laws states\n\n\n\n The referee may only change a decision on realising that it is incorrect or on the advice of another match official, provided play has not restarted or the referee has signalled the end of the first or second half (including extra time) and left the field of play or terminated the match.\n\n\nThe referee may retract a caution or sending-off if they or their assistants or other officials realise this is not correct, and the referee chooses to do so, provided neither play has restarted nor the period of play declared to be over.\n\n\nPlayers do this to instil doubts in the referee about whether decisions against that team are correct, or to encourage decisions in their favour, or even on rare occasion, because the decision is incorrect and they would like the referee to seek advice from the other officials.", "Yes, in college and professional football, the clock does not stop a play. If the clock runs down to 0 while a play is going on, the quarter is over when the play is done.\n\nIn addition, if certain circumstances occur on the last play (such as specific penalties), the quarter will be extended by one more play.\n\nFrom the NCAA Football 2013 and 2014 Rules and Interpretations, Rule 3 (Periods, Time Factors and Substitutions), Section 2, Article 1 (Length of Periods and Intermissions):\n\n\n a. No period shall end until the ball is dead and the referee\n declares the period ended.\n\n\nFrom the 2013 Official Playing Rules of the NFL, Rule 4, Section 8 (Extension of a Period or a Half):\n\n\n Section 8 Extension of a Period or a Half\n BALL IN PLAY\n Article 1 If\n time expires at the end of any period while the ball is in play, the\n period continues until the down ends.", "This is completely legal, provided it is done in a manner in which it is still possible to safely challenge for the ball or there are no opponents nearby.\n\nFIFA Laws of the Game, 2013/14, p. 121:\n\n\n Playing in a dangerous manner is defined as any action that, while\n trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player\n himself). It is committed with an opponent nearby and prevents the opponent\n from playing the ball for fear of injury.\n\n\nIf the referee decides that the action by the player makes it dangerous for opponents to challenge for the ball, an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team.\n\nIf this goes further, and playing the ball moves from being unsafe to an impossibility (for an unreasonable amount of time), a player is cautioned for unsporting behaviour. Note that there is no requirement here for opponents to be nearby.\n\nThis is no longer contained in the present text of the Laws, but was last seen in the 2006 FIFA Q&amp;A to the Laws of The Game, p.30:\n\n\n A player intentionally lies on the ball for an unreasonable length of\n time. What action does the referee take?\n \n He stops play, cautions the player for unsporting behaviour and restarts\n play with an indirect free kick.\n\n\nIn the current (2013/14) laws, this roughly corresponds to the following on p. 123:\n\n\n There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for\n unsporting behaviour, e.g. if a player:\n \n ...\n \n \n acts in a manner which shows a lack of respect for the game\n \n \n ...\n\n\nThe restart is once again an indirect free kick.\n\nThanks to posdef, here is a clip of Cuauhtémoc Blanco using this technique.", "According to the FIFA Laws of the Game 2013/2014, a player that has been sent off the field is considered an outside agent:\n\n\n Outside agents\n Anyone not indicated on the team list as a player, substitute or team official is \n deemed to be an outside agent, as is a player who has been sent off.\n \n If an outside agent enters the field of play:\n • the referee must stop play (although not immediately if the outside agent \n does not interfere with play)\n • the referee must have him removed from the field of play and its immediate \n surroundings\n • if the referee stops the match, he must restart play with a dropped ball \n from the position of the ball when the match was stopped, unless play was \n stopped inside the goal area, in which case the referee drops the ball on \n the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the \n ball was located when play was stopped\n\n\nIn November 2009, amateur footballer Paul Cooper was given a red card and refused to leave, yelling and arguing with the referee. The referee showed him a second red card, and he still refused to leave. Cooper ended up getting shown the red card 6 times over a period of 5 minutes before he left the game, and play continued. The Scottish Amateur Football Association banned him from football for two years and fined his team £150. (Source).", "The restart should be from where the offside player is:\n\n\n The restart for an offside sanction is an indirect free kick for the opponent at the place where the off-sided player was at the time the teammate passed or touched the ball. This is defined as where the infringement took place.\n\n\nSource:\n Wikipedia", "There have been two men in recent history who have managed to play both professional baseball and professional football at the same time. Deon Sanders and Bo Jackson. \n\nAt the most basic, the baseball and football seasons don't overlap very much. Football's preseason and early season does overlap somewhat with baseball's late and post season, and players will have to make a choice between which sport they play during that time (as it would be difficult to be in two places at once to be able to practice with your football team and keep a nightly baseball schedule). However, if you don't practice with the football team (and the team is OK with that), you can in theory play baseball during the week and play football on Sunday, only missing the Sunday (and maybe Saturday or Monday) baseball games. \n\nThis requires a great deal of good will from both your NFL and MLB teams (and obviously sufficient star power in both sports for them to be willing to let you have this much flexibility). \n\nThis is something that both Sanders and Jackson shared, both were very good at both sports to the extent that teams were willing to let them do both even though they had to sacrifice a roster spot to a player who would not be there 100% of the time. \n\nHowever, this kind of schedule takes a toll. Sanders eventually chose football, Jackson eventually chose baseball.", "Yes.\n\nA Free Kick may be awarded when the football is or is not in play. For the avoidance of doubt, a Free Kick may be awarded:\n(a) if an infringement occurs on the Playing Surface before the commencement of a quarter, in which case the Free Kick shall be taken at the Centre Circle or where the infringement occurred, whichever is the greater penalty against the offending Team\n\nThis has happened a few times in the AFL, and play continues as it would for any other free kick, as a centre bounce isn't strictly required to start a quarter. This isn't very explicit in the rules, but there is one fairly convenient &quot;out&quot; clause.\nFirst off, the start of the match is defined as being when the siren goes to start the quarter, not when the ball is bounced. So if a player gives away a free kick in that time period, it doesn't matter that the ball hasn't yet been bounced, as the match is already underway and the free will be given.\nAs for the clock starting, although the rule of thumb is generally that time starts when the ball is bounced as per 10.5.2(b), there's two alternatives that can apply here:\n\n10.5.2 Recommencing Time\nThe Timekeepers shall recommence the clock used for the timing of a Match when:\n(a) directed to do so by the field Umpire in accordance with Law 10.5.3;\n[...]\n(e) the football is obviously in play;\n\nI expect that the umpire would signal &quot;time on&quot; on giving a free kick before the centre bounce, but even if they didn't, the timekeeper is able to do it of their own accord because the football is clearly in play at that point.\nAt this stage the match is in the same state it would have been even if there was a centre bounce - the match has started, the ball is in play, and the timekeeper has started the clock.", "No. these two rules do not overlap at all, however they are related. \n\n\n Rule 5, Section 1, Article 1:\n\n\nDiscusses the maximum number of players that can be on the field at one time (11), and how there is no penalty (during a snap, free kick, or fair-catch kick) if there are fewer. \n\nWhereas \n\n\n Section 5 Position of Players at the Snap, Article 1: Offensive Team\n\n\nDeals with how many players are allowed on the offensive line at one time, and where the rest of the players not on the line must be positioned (i.e. \"not out of bounds\", \"at least one yard behind it\"). \n\nSo although both rules deal with the amount of players on the field at once, the first rule discusses the maximum, and the repercussions of breaching that. The other rule discusses where the 11 players that are allowed by the first rule, should be placed on the field.", "According to this blogpost, it depends on whether the game is postseason or not. For the postseason, the game would continue for a second period of overtime with Team B in possession, but for the regular season the game would end 23-20 for Team A. \n\nOf course a blog isn't always the most reliable source, but we can check this also in the rulebook: checking the link you sent regarding Rule 16, there are different articles for preseason/regular searon and for postseason.\n\n\n ARTICLE 4. OVERTIME IN PRESEASON AND REGULATION SEASON\n \n The following shall apply to overtime games in the preseason and regular season.\n There shall be a maximum of one 15-minute period, even if the second team has not had an opportunity to possess the ball or if its\n initial possession has not ended. If the score is tied at the end of\n the period, the game shall result in a tie.\n\n\nThe only sensible interpretation of this is that in regular season Team A would win for your scenario. Team B cannot get the ball because there can only be one 15-minute period, and the game cannot be a tie because the score is not tied. \n\nAnd as Dr.DrfbagIII pointed out in a comment, this would be the place to point out explicitly any extraordinary rules why 23-20 would magically turn into 23-23, and in the absence of such a rule we can assume that Team A wins 23-20.\n\n\n ARTICLE 5. OVERTIME IN POSTSEASON \n \n The following shall apply to\n overtime games in the postseason:\n \n If the score is tied at the end of a 15-minute overtime period, or if\n the second team’s initial possession has not ended, another overtime\n period will begin, and play will continue, regardless of how many\n 15-minute periods are necessary.\n\n\nNote the phrase \"if the second team’s initial possession has not ended\". This means that in postseason Team B would be given a chance to score too.\n\nAs to the question of whether this has happened, I am not sure but would guess not. According to the same blog, there has only been one drive over 13 minutes in modern NFL history (13:27 by Tennessee Oilers vs Dallas in 1997). Given the relative rarity of overtime drives, and that the new overtime rules have only been used in the last couple of years, I guess that it hasn't yet occurred.", "You are considered on a power play when you have the advantage of one player for any time during a game. Whether it is 1 second, 10 seconds, or 2-full minutes, it does not matter. So to get back to your example, where Denmark is 10 out of 29 on the power play. This means they scored 10 goals while the other team had less players than they did on the ice. 6 on 5 does not count as a power play though. \n\nAlso, you can earn a penalty but not be considered on a power play. For example, you can get a major penalty where you fight against an opponent. Both players will get a penalty in this case and no man-advantage will occur. Still counts as a penalty. Two players from each opposition could get minors and the play would go 4-on-4 for two minutes. In this case, there would not be a power play opportunity. \n\nAnd no you would not get two power plays because of the split time on power play. A five minute would typically be because of \"Boarding\" or \"Illegal check\". This would only be counted as one power play. \n\nSo the wrap it up, a power play is when you have a man-advantage for any given amount of time during a game. The NCAA statistics rules define \"Teams are on a power play when they have at least a one-player advantage on the ice for any amount of time.\" (section 8).", "I think it has to do with the traditions. I believe originally rugby was played by the higher class, with a certain upbringing. I have a colleague who works as a part time rugby ref and he's puzzled as to why the ref doesn't send off half of the players in a football game. I, on the other hand, am often puzzled as to how the refs command so much respect in rugby. \n\nAnother point of view could be that football's expansion to take over the world is based on the fact that one really doesn't need much to play football. Compared to some other sports (e.g. ice-hockey), it's cheaper and easier to play football, all you need is a ball (or something that you can use as a ball) and a good imagination (to define the field and goals). \"What does that have to do with anything?\", you might ask.. Well, if anyone and everyone can play football, however they like, you might argue that people take their local manners and traditions and incorporate it into the game. I play football on amateur level, and the \"quality\" of the game especially with regards to manners and temperament has been very closely related to which nationalities were present on the field. \n\nFinally, and perhaps most importantly, football has become such a huge money-maker so that football associations do not dare/want to impose serious penalties for inappropriate behavior. I mean there isn't a single person in the football world that could imagine giving a 10 match ban to Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, for diving. Or a seasonal ban to whatever player for shouting at the ref's face. I believe the situation has gotten this bad because bad behavior has been tolerated for just way too long.", "Frankly, they're pretty much completely different games. Football is a light contact sport where your primary skill is playing the ball with the feet, or stopping the opposition playing the ball with their feet; rubgy is a full contact sport where your primary skill is carrying the ball, or stopping the opposition carrying the ball.\n\nBoth sports obviously involve some of the same physical fitness attributes, particularly sprinting ability and general cardiovascular fitness, and you say that you're physically strong which is always going to be an advantage... but don't expect any of your actual football skills to carry over: even the kicking in rugby is almost completely different due to the spherical ball, and even something like being aware of which teammates are available to pass to is different due to the offside rules in rugby.\n\nThe transition isn't going to be easy, particularly if you're talking about union rather than league (union is a much more technical sport due to scrums, rucks and mauls), but that's not to say you can't make a success of it in the long run.", "The attempt counts as a down. However, the kicking team will not have further attempts on making it as possession changes, given that the field-goal attempt is missed as outlined in Rule 11, Section 4, Article 2. \n\nIf the field goal is blocked on third down, the 2012 NFL Case Book (page 62) suggests the following scenarios:\n\n\n A.R. 11.43 MISSED FIELD GOAL—BEHIND THE LINE\n \n Third-and-2 on B10. Team A field-goal attempt from the B17 is blocked and: \n \n \n a) goes out of bounds at the B18; Ruling: B’s ball, first-and-10 on B18.\n b) is recovered by A2 at the B15 who runs for a touchdown; Ruling: Touchdown Team A. Kickoff A35.\n c) is recovered simultaneously by A3 and B3 at the B21; Ruling: B’s ball, first-and-10 on B21.\n d) is recovered by A4 at the B19; Ruling: A’s ball fourth-and-11 on B19.\n e) is recovered and downed by B2 at the B15; Ruling: B’s ball, first-and-10 on B15.\n f) goes beyond the line and then returns behind the line, untouched by Team B beyond the line in the field of play, and goes out of\n bounds at the B16 or is recovered by A2 at the B16. Ruling: B’s\n ball, first-and-10 on B20.\n \n\n\n\n\nRule 11, Section 4, Article 2 (page 58) in the 2012 NFL Rule Book states:\n\n\n Missed Field Goals. \n \n If there is a missed field-goal attempt, and the ball has not been\n touched by the receivers beyond the line in the field of play, the\n following shall apply: \n \n \n (a) If the spot of the kick was inside the receivers’ 20-yard line,\n it is the receivers’ ball at the 20-yard line or \n (b) If the spot of the kick was from the receivers’ 20-yard line or\n beyond the receivers’ 20-yard line, it is the receivers’ ball at the\n spot of the kick.\n \n \n Note: These options apply only if the ball has been beyond the line.", "So that only really applies to an interception or a fumble into the endzone, because the play is automatically over if an offensive player has possession of the ball in the endzone.\n\nSo, if you are a defensive player and intercept the ball or pick up a loose fumble and instead of kneeling down, you try to return the ball, but fumble in the endzone, the only results of the recovery can be are a touchdown, if recovered by the offense, or a touchback, if recovered by the defense or goes out of bounds through the endzone.", "Knowledge of American football strategy is not helpful in Blood Bowl because Blood Bowl lacks the rule that shapes all of American football play, namely, down and distance. In American football you have four plays (\"downs\") to advance the ball 10 yards. If you manage to do so, then you get another four plays to go another 10 yards (a \"first down\"), and so on until you either fail to make a first down in the allotted plays, or you score. Almost everything about American football strategy revolves around managing down and distance.\n\nSuppose, for example, that you make four yards on your first play, and five yards on the second. With only one yard to go you would choose a short-yardage play that highly likely to gain the one remaining yard, even though it has virtually no chance of making a large gain. Getting tackled after two yards in that situation is a huge win.\n\nBlood Bowl really has no equivalent. Once a team fields the ball, they pretty much have to keep advancing it until they score. If the ball carrier gets knocked down, you won't get an opportunity to reset for another play; you'll just recover the ball with another player and continue advancing, or you'll lose possession to the other team. (I.e., every tackle effectively results in a fumble.)\n\nTherefore, in a Blood Bowl game you'll never get much of a chance to apply anything you happen to know about American football strategy because you essentially never run a play from scrimmage, and that is what football strategy is all about.", "Niels Bohr's brother, Harald Bohr, was a notable mathematician and football (soccer) player. \n\n\n Harald August Bohr (22 April 1887 – 22 January 1951) was a Danish mathematician and football player. After receiving his doctorate in 1910, Bohr became an eminent mathematician, founding the field of almost periodic functions. His brother was the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Niels Bohr. He was a member of the Danish national football team for the 1908 Summer Olympics, where he won a silver medal.\n \n Bohr was also an excellent football player. He had a long playing career with Akademisk Boldklub, making his debut as a 16-year-old in 1903. During the 1905 season he played alongside his brother Niels, who was a goalkeeper. Harald was selected to play for the Danish national football team in the 1908 Summer Olympics, where football was an official event for the first time. Though a Danish side had played at the 1906 Intercalated Games, the opening match of the 1908 Olympic tournament was Denmark's first official international football match. Bohr scored two goals as Denmark beat the French \"B\" team 9–0. In the next match, the semi-final, Bohr played in a 17–1 win against France, which remains an Olympic record to this day. Denmark faced hosts Great Britain in the final, but lost 2–0, and Bohr won a silver medal. After the Olympics he made one further appearance for the national team, in a 2–1 victory against an England amateur team in 1910. \n \n His popularity as a footballer was such that when he defended his doctoral thesis the audience was reported as having more football fans than mathematicians.", "I found this answer while researching the basketball version of this question.\nJ.T. White won a football championship at Ohio State in 1942 and then at Michigan in 1947.\nThis page says the following:\n\nQ: What college football player won national championships with two different teams?\nA: According to Kent Stephens, curator at the College Football Hall of Fame:\n&quot;If you regard Michigan as claiming a piece of the 1947 title then JT White played there and at Ohio State in 1942.&quot;\n\nWikipedia confirms that Ohio State shared the football national championship in 1942 and Michigan shared the football national championship in 1947. Wikipedia also confirms that JT White played football for Ohio State in 1942 and Michigan in 1947.", "From this Quora thread:\n\n\n I remember this particular phase in a Premier League game involving\n Manchester United and Blackburn which ended 1–1. Manchester United\n played around 10 minutes(!) of uninterrupted football - aimlessly\n passing the ball at the back as a draw was enough for them.\n\n\nYoutube link", "Yes, if it is a defensive player.\n\nThe rules require three things.\n\n\n SECTION 4 - FIELD GOAL\n ARTICLE 1. SUCCESSFUL FIELD GOAL\n A field goal is scored when all of the following conditions are met:\n \n (a) The kick must be a placekick or dropkick made by the offense from on or behind the line of scrimmage or from the spot of a fair catch (fair-catch kick). If a fair catch is made or awarded outside the inbound line, the spot of the kick is the nearest inbound line.\n \n (b) After the ball is kicked, it must not touch the ground or any player of the offensive team before it passes through the goal.\n \n (c) The entire ball must pass through the vertical plane of the goal, which is the area above the crossbar and between the uprights or, if above the uprights, between their outside edges. If the ball passes through the goal, and returns through the goal without striking the ground or some object or person beyond the goal, the attempt is unsuccessful.\n\n\nIt may be assumed that condition (a) is true for the purposes of this question.\n\nCondition (b) is not otherwise false.\n\nThe first half of condition (c) may be assumed to be true, and the second half to be false, for the purposes of the question.\n\nCondition (b) is the only problematic point, however as a defensive player is neither the ground nor an offensive player, they do not prevent the goal being stored just by touching the ball.\n\nThis should be obvious by comparison, as field goals may be scored if they are deflected by a defensive player near the line of scrimmage or the spot of the kick. The rules are designed to allow the irregular but expected case of a defensive deflection; they evidently don't consider the improbable case posed in the question.", "The North American examples certainly aren't unique.\n\n\nMonaco has teams in the French systems for various sports, including both football (Ligue 1) and volleyball.\nA number of examples in the UK football systems:\n\n\nThe Welsh Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham play in the English system.\nThe English Berwick Rangers play in the Scottish system.\nThe New Saints, who represent both Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain in Wales and the much larger Oswestry in England, play in the Welsh system.\nThe Northern Irish Derry City FC play in the Republic of Ireland system.\n\nKontinental Hockey League has teams mostly from Russia (19 in the last season) but also from Belarus, China, Finland, Kazakhstan and Latvia (1 from each in the last season).\nErste Liga (formerly MOL liga) is an ice-hockey liga with teams from Hungary, Romania, Austria. (And in the past there was also one team from Slovakia and one team from Serbia.)\nSince the 2018-19 season, some Hungarian teams play in Tipsport liga - Slovak ice hockey league.\nSan Marino Calcio plays in Italian football system.\nNew Zealand has teams in a range of Australian sports leagues: Warriors in the NRL, Breakers in the NBL, Phoenix in the A-League, and various previous conjoint rugby, cricket and netball competitions.\nAndorran teams play in Spanish leagues, mostly lower level leagues. However, in basketball, BC Andorra plays in the Liga ACB.\nLiechtenstein does not have a Football League on its own. All Liechtenstein clubs participate in Swiss Leagues.\nTeams from both Estonia and Latvia play in Baltic Men Volleyball League.", "Sure. If the flop comes AKQJT with no flush possibility, then everyone involved will tie", "I would think not since there is no realistic way for the organizers to find out if you are preparing if you are in your hotel room for example, and even if they do you will probably not forfeit your game as long as you are not in the playing hall.\n\nMaybe this was why the zero tolerance rule was put into effect.\n\nIn a logical sense though, whilst your opponent could hope to get an advantage out of the opening against you, you are getting a definite time advantage, so you could see it that way.", "From the 2015/2016 FIFA Laws of the Game (PDF), Law 5 (The Referee), Powers and Duties:\n\n\n The Referee:\n \n \n enforces the Laws of the Game\n controls the match in cooperation with the assistant referees and, where\n applicable, with the fourth official\n ensures that any ball used meets the requirements of Law 2\n ensures that the players’ equipment meets the requirements of Law 4\n acts as timekeeper and keeps a record of the match\n stops, suspends or abandons the match, at his discretion, for any\n infringements of the Laws\n stops, suspends or abandons the match because of outside\n interference of any kind\n stops the match if, in his opinion, a player is seriously injured and ensures\n that he is removed from the field of play. An injured player may only return\n to the field of play after the match has restarted\n allows play to continue until the ball is out of play if a player is, in his\n opinion, only slightly injured\n ensures that any player bleeding from a wound leaves the field of play. The\n player may only return on receiving a signal from the referee, who must be\n satisfied that the bleeding has stopped\n allows play to continue when the team against which an offence has been\n committed will benefit from such an advantage and penalises the original\n offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time\n punishes the more serious offence when a player commits more than one\n offence at the same time\n takes disciplinary action against players guilty of cautionable\n and sending-off offences. He is not obliged to take this action immediately\n but must do so when the ball next goes out of play\n takes action against team officials who fail to conduct themselves in a\n responsible manner and may, at his discretion, expel them from the field of\n play and its immediate surrounds\n acts on the advice of the assistant referees regarding incidents that he has\n not seen\n ensures that no unauthorised persons enter the field of play\n indicates the restart of the match after it has been stopped\n provides the appropriate authorities with a match report, which includes\n information on any disciplinary action taken against players and/or team\n officials and any other incidents that occurred before, during or after the\n match", "This isn't covered in the Laws of the Game. Law 17 - The Corner Kick says\n\n\n The ball must be placed inside the corner arc nearest to the point where\n the ball crossed the goal line\n\n\nPractically, what happens is that the ball goes out, the referee points to one corner or another and the game goes on, and players don't argue about it. I'm sure that if an exact analysis were performed of where the ball crossed the goal line and which corner the referee decided the game should restart from, you'd find a non-trivial number of discrepancies. But frankly, who cares?", "Fouls are called only for offences which are committed by a player on the field of play while the ball is in play. (See Interpretations of the Laws of the Game and Guidelines for Referees, page 117.)\n\nIf the ball is out of play because the play was stopped by the referee because of a previous offence, no free kick is given, only the persons involved in the misconduct may be cautioned or sent off. So, in your example, the Team B player will be sent off, however, the play will be restarted with the original free kick for Team B.\n\n(Similarly, free kicks are not awarded for misconduct by e.g. a manager, nor for a misconduct of a player outside the field of play. If the referee needs to stop the play because of such misconduct, no team will be given a free kick, and the play will be restarted with a dropped ball at the position of the ball at the time the play was stopped.)", "Yes, that sentence is ambiguous. It could mean the speaker likes to play football often or really enjoys playing it. As a native speaker, when I read the sentence, I think the speaker is saying that he really likes to play rather than likes to play often. To avoid confusion, you could use one these alternate sentences:\n\n\n I like to play football often.\n \n I really like playing football.\n\n\nIf not one of these, I highly suggest you use some other sentence to avoid the ambiguity. Without the clarification, it is very possible for natives to misunderstand you. I suppose context could help, though.", "Here are some examples of players that came from a \"non-traditional\" background to play in the NFL.\n\nThere are examples of players that didn't play college football, but played another sports such as Antonio Gates who played basketball in college. Julius Thomas played only one year of college football after finishing his college basketball career.\n\nThere are also examples of players that played other sports such as rugby. Daniel Adongo played rugby before coming to the NFL. Jordan Hayne is a top level rugby player that is trying to make it in the NFL.\n\nLawrence Okoye was a track and field athlete for Great Britain before entering the NFL.\n\nAs far as kickers, some of them played soccer before turning to football in their college careers or late in high school such as Steven Hauschka.", "For college, this statistic is explained in the NCAA Football Statisticians' Manual. Kick return statistics are defined in Section 8. From the 2016 edition:\n\n\n Article 2. Returns are measured from the point where the returning player first gained or lost possession of the ball (using the back\n foot as a starting point) to the point where the ball is declared dead\n or is lost by a fumble. Note: A muff is an unsuccessful attempt to\n catch or recover a ball that is touched in the attempt. Exception:\n On kickoffs that go over the goal line, the return is measured from\n the goal line to the point where the ball is declared dead.\n\n\nNormally, the back foot at the point of the catch is the starting location for the return measurement. If the ball is caught in the end zone, the goal line is the starting point for the measurement. As a result, 100 yards is the maximum length of a kick return in college.\n\nThe NFL treats this statistic slightly differently, described in the NFL Guide for Statisticians (PDF). First, they specify that the return does not start until the \"impetus of the kickoff ends and he is able to initiate forward progress.\" Second, they do not have the exception for balls caught in the endzone, so it is possible to have kick returns longer than 100 yards. (Thanks, New-To-IT, for reminding me of this in the comments.)\n\nFrom the 2016 NFL book:\n\n\n Kickoff Returns\n \n If a kickoff is caught by a receiving team player, the spot of his possession is the point at which the\n impetus of the kickoff ends and he is able to initiate forward progress. This includes the end zone area.\n For example, if a player catches the kickoff at the 1, runs back to the -2, then advances, the spot of\n possession is the 1. If a player catches the kickoff at the 1, but retreats to the -2 because the impetus of\n the kickoff requires him to do so, the spot of possession is the -2. (NOTE, “spot of possession” is\n defined differently here than in the playing rules.)\n \n A kickoff return begins at the spot where a receiving team player first gains possession of the ball, and\n then attempts to advance the ball.", "some teams play better in away environments without home fan pressure.\nWouldn't this new system give an advantage to these teams?\n\nNot necessarily. I don't believe football has ever been played behind closed doors on such a massive scale before. Whether the empty stadiums will help teams who play better away from home, or hurt teams who play better at home, remains to be seen. (My naive understanding, though, is that teams who play better away from home are very rare.)\n\nrumors say that we may have more than 2 games every week, which will be a big disadvantage to teams which have fewer options for their starting 11.\n\nIf that is just a rumour, then it might not actually happen, in which case it's a moot point. However, FIFA have accounted for potential fixture congestion: teams will be able to make five substitutions instead of the usual three.", "It's unlikely offensive rebound rate would increase by two points all else equal; however, given that, a two point increase in the rate is roughly a standard deviation (probably a bit under). One standard deviation is worth about 2.56 additional wins according to one measure, so your two point increase in ORR is probably worth two to two and a half wins." ]

[ "ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A week ago, the Tampa Bay Rays closed a season-opening homestand with a 5-2 record for the best start in franchise history.\nThe Rays return to Tropicana Field to face the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, having lost six of seven games on the road to fall to 6-8, with much of that early momentum already long gone.\n“We talk about for us to have our best chance, we have to play clean baseball,” manager Kevin Cash said after Monday’s 4-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox. “We could probably go back to a couple plays on this road trip that it just didn’t go our way. Very tough for us to overcome.”\nMonday’s loss at Boston included 11 more strikeouts by the Rays, giving them a major-league-high 150 this season.\nTampa Bay hitters had 15 at-bats with runners in scoring position, and managed only three hits for a .200 average, losing despite outhitting the Red Sox by an 11-9 margin.\n“We had some opportunities late, got guys on base, had some big at-bats,” said Cash, whose team had the bases loaded with two out in the seventh, only to have Logan Morrison pop out to shallow right field.\n“Just wasn’t able to get that big hit, the big blow there. … We’ve got to play fundamentally sound baseball. Everybody in this clubhouse knows that, and we haven’t been on this road trip.”\nThey will have to get back on track against two of the best teams in the American League, Detroit and Houston, both off to 8-4 starts. The Tigers have won three straight series, and open the three-game set with the Rays against a pitcher who has excelled against them in right-hander Michael Fulmer.\nFulmer (1-0, 2.25 ERA) is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA for his career against the Rays, with two gems last season.\nIn May, he struck out 11 Rays while holding Tampa Bay to one run on four hits in seven innings, and in July at Tropicana Field, he was even sharper, throwing seven shutout innings of two-hit ball and striking out 10.\nThe Rays have struggled with strikeouts in their recent skid, including 40 in the last three losses to Boston. They will try to turn that around in support of No. 5 starter Matt Andriese (0-0, 4.50), who carries a career 5.73 ERA against Detroit.\nAndriese pitched well in his last outing against the Tigers, pitching three innings of one-hit, scoreless relief in a June 30 game last year.\nTampa Bay’s bullpen has struggled in the last week, which presents a target for a Detroit offense that’s prided itself on coming through with late runs to help them to an 8-1 record in games decided by three runs or fewer.\n“Add-on runs are enormous,” Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said after Sunday’s win over Cleveland. “The later in the game, the more you can add on, the more secure the lead. I can’t really put a value on them. Add-on runs are huge.”\nFOX Fantasy Baseball Join or Create a Free League\nPlay Now!" ]

[ "The video will start in 8 Cancel\nGet Daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe See our privacy notice Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nGloucester City will begin their 2018-19 National League South campaign with a long trip to Concord Rangers.\nThe fixtures for the new season have now been released and the Tigers will start against a side who finished three places below them in 17th last season.\nThe first home game for Marc Richards' side is against Oxford City at Evesham’s Jubilee Stadium on Tuesday, August 7 and they face Slough at the same ground on Saturday, August 11 before a trip to Bath City on Tuesday, August 14.\nOne of the most eye-catching figures is the home game against Torquay United, managed by former Forest Green player and manager Gary Owers, on Monday, August 27 after the Gulls were relegated from the non-league's top tier last season.\nThe Tigers will play Weston-Super-Mare away and at home on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day respectively.\nGloucester will finish the campaign away to Woking.\nGloucester City's 2018-19 fixtures\nSat Aug 4 Concord Rangers A\nTue Aug 7 Oxford City H\nSat Aug 11 Slough Town H\nTue Aug 14 Bath City A\nSat Aug 18 East Thurrock United H\nSat Aug 25 Dulwich Hamlet A\nMon Aug 27 Torquay United H\nSat Sep 1 Hungerford Town A\nSat Sep 8 Truro City H\nSat Sep 15 Chippenham Town A\nSat Sep 22 Emirates FA Cup 2Q\nSatSep 29 Eastbourne Borough H\nSat Oct 6 Emirates FA Cup 3Q\nSat Oct 13 Billericay Town A\nSatOct 20 Woking H\nSat Oct 27 Welling United A\nMon Oct 29 Wealdstone A\nSat Nov 3 Dartford H\nSatNov 10 Hemel Hempstead Town A\nSat Nov 17 St. Albans City H\nSat Nov 24 Buildbase FA Trophy 3Q\nSat Dec 1 Chelmsford City A\nSatDec 8 Hampton & Richmond Borough H\nSat Dec 15 Buildbase FA Trophy 1\nSat Dec 22 Dulwich HamletH\nWed Dec 26 Weston-super-Mare A\nSat Dec 29 Torquay United A\nTue Jan 1 Weston-super-Mare H\nSat Jan 5 East Thurrock United A\nSat Jan 12 Hungerford Town H\nSat Jan 19 Oxford City A\nSat Jan 26 Bath City H\nSat Feb 2 Slough Town A\nSat Feb 9 Concord Rangers H\nSat Feb 16 Hampton & Richmond Borough A\nSat Feb 23 Chelmsford City H\nSat Mar 2 Wealdstone H\nSat Mar 9 Dartford A\nSat Mar 16 Hemel Hempstead Town H\nSat Mar 23 St. Albans City A\nSat Mar 30 Welling United H\nSat Apr 6 Eastbourne Borough A\nSat Apr 13 Billericay Town H\nSat Apr 20 Truro City A\nMon Apr 22 Chippenham Town H\nSat Apr 27 Woking A", "NAGPUR: In what could be a first anywhere in the world, a top orthopaedic surgeon and leading veterinary doctors of the Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Science University (MAFSU) have come together to implant a prosthetic limb on a male tiger whose paw was amputated in 2012 after it got caught in a steel trap laid by poachers outside Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve \"The procedure has been done for dogs and elephants around the world but not for tigers,\" said orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sushrut Babhulkar , who \"adopted\" the eight-year-old tiger, Sahebrao , currently living at the Gorewada Rescue Centre in the city.Pained to see the limping big cat, which weighs 200kg and is perhaps the largest tiger in the country, Dr Babhulkar said he would procure an artificial limb from AO Foundation in Germany, which has expertise in fixing fractures of humans and animals.\"I'll talk to AO and ensure Sahebrao starts walking gracefully. He is the pride of the region,\" said the doctor said.Sahebrao, then two years old, and his male sibling were caught in the poachers' trap. While the sibling died, Sahebrao was rescued and treated for an injured front left paw.The tiger was later shifted to city's Maharajbagh zoo on December 12, 2012 and on June 1, 2016 to Gorewada. Sahebrao was adopted by Dr Babhulkar under a scheme for animals launched by the FDCM last year.Dr Babhulkar also discussed the issue of prosthesis with ex-associate dean of Nagpur Veterinary College Dr N P Dakshinkar, senior wildlife vets Dr Vinod Dhoot, Dr Gautam Bhojne, and Dr Shirish Upadhye, who had played key roles in saving Sahebrao from jaws of death.So, how does Dr Babhulkar plan to go about it. \"First we will evaluate the painful neuroma of Sahebrao by conducting clinical tests. Treating this neuroma will free the tiger of pain after which we will go for silicon prosthesis, which is designed to give a natural look and animal cannot remove it.It will also be free from infections post fitting. It will build confidence in animal about natural walking.\" \"My observation is that Sahebrao is not irritated to see people but his poor ability is more due to painful neuroma, treatment of which will be our priority first. I will also arrange for a portable x-ray at the spot and treat the animal and ensure it undergoes minimum stress,\" said Dr Babhulkar.", "Katie Holmes and her growing daughter Suri are winning the vacation game.\nMatt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock\nThe actress has been sharing photos over the past few days during a beachside getaway with family members. The photos she's posting of Suri, who turns 11 on April 18, are arguably the cutest of the bunch.\nOn April 17, Katie went all Beyonce, sharing an image of her mini-me in an adorable dress adorned with lemons.\n#lemonade 🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋 A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 17, 2017 at 1:03pm PDT\n\"#lemonade 🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋,\" Katie wrote, stealing a page from Queen Bey's playbook.\nEarlier in the day, the \"Dawson's Creek\" alum shared an image of a few family members parasailing. Katie appears to be sitting in the middle of trio.\n...come fly with me 💕💕💕 #family #love #cousins #memories #dreams thank u @tfretti for the photo A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 17, 2017 at 11:18am PDT\n\"...come fly with me 💕💕💕,\" she wrote.\n#familyvacation #love #gratitude 💕💕💕💕 A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 15, 2017 at 7:43pm PDT\nShe also made hearts melt by posting a mother-daughter image from the beach.\nMy sweetie 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕 #love #beach #gratitude A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 17, 2017 at 10:34am PDT\n\"My sweetie 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕 #love #beach #gratitude,\" Katie captioned the snap.\n💪💪💪💪💪💕💕💕💕🎀🎀🎀🎀 A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 16, 2017 at 3:49pm PDT\nOn April 16, Katie shared a video of Suri tossing a football with a man. She also caught some rays, as well.\n#beach #family #love A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 16, 2017 at 11:37am PDT\nShe captioned several photos with the words \"family,\" \"love\" and \"gratitude.\"\n#family #love #gratitude ❤️ A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 16, 2017 at 11:35am PDT\nHappy Easter 💕💕💕💕💕 A post shared by Katie Holmes (@katieholmes212) on Apr 16, 2017 at 9:46am PDT\nOne person not seen in the images is Katie's rumored boyfriend Jamie Foxx. It's been rumored that the two have been quietly dating since 2013. Last week, a source told Us Weekly the actress is \"tired of playing the hiding game\" and intends to \"go public.\"\nThe pair were recently photographed together at dinner.\nKatie is reportedly already planning to be less secretive about the romance.\n\"They're going to go out to dinner more and are talking about a trip to Europe,\" Us' source said.\nJamie is a lucky man, because judging by these pics, Katie clearly knows how to vacation.", "The Dodgers are going to be without their red-headed slugger on opening day, and possibly for a while after.\nJustin Turner has a broken left wrist after being hit by a pitch during Los Angeles’ 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.\nTurner was struck by a pitch from right-hander Kendall Graveman in the first inning. Turner grunted and winced as he jogged away from the plate toward the dugout, his hand hanging limp at his side. He was quickly visited by a trainer and replaced by Donovan Solano.\n“I was hoping obviously the X-rays would be negative, but there’s a small non-displaced fracture,” Turner said. “We’ll just play it by ear, see how it goes.”\nGeneral manager Farhan Zaidi said the team didn’t know yet how long Turner would be out, but it should be a matter of at least a few weeks. Turner says he’ll visit the doctor again Tuesday to hopefully learn more.\nLos Angeles seems likely to slide Logan Forsythe to third base in Turner’s absence, with Chase Utley or someone else assuming regular duty at second base.\n“We’re not as good of a team without J.T.,” Zaidi said, adding “We do feel good about our internal options. There are guys who can move around.”\nThe 33-year-old Turner hit .322 with 21 homers and 71 RBIs last season. He also led the team and finished third in the majors by getting plunked 19 times.\nGraveman and Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood went on to duel for five scoreless innings. Both struck out seven, with Graveman pitching two-hit ball without a walk over 5 1/3 innings and Wood allowing four hits and two walks in five frames.\nELSEWHERE AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUES\nDiamondbacks ace Zack Greinke will start this season in the dugout.\nArizona manager Torey Lovullo said Monday that Greinke won’t pitch on opening day because of what’s perceived to be a minor health issue.\nGreinke exited his latest start after one inning because of tightness in his groin. He’s scheduled to pitch again in spring training Wednesday.\nThe Diamondbacks don’t want to push him to be ready for their first game March 29 at home against Colorado. Without this wrinkle, Lovullo said Greinke would’ve started the opener for the third straight year.\n“Every staff has a No. 1 and he fit the bill perfectly,” Lovullo said. “He won 17 games last year. He was our staff ace.”\nLovullo said he wasn’t ready to say who would start against the Rockies. The likely candidate is Robbie Ray, who went 15-5 with a 2.89 ERA last year.\nRED SOX 6, PHILLIES 5\nBoston ace Chris Sale gave up four runs on five hits and three walks in five innings. He also struck out six. Mookie Betts hit two doubles and Xavier Bogaerts homered for the Red Sox. Aaron Altherr homered for Philadelphia.\nMARLINS 9, NATIONALS 1\nWashington ace Max Scherzer was tagged for three homers and six runs in six innings. Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon each had two hits for the Nationals. Miami starter Trevor Richards worked four innings and allowed one run.\nASTROS 2, METS 0\nJustin Verlander pitched seven shutout innings and Carlos Correa homered for Houston. Steven Matz struck out nine in six innings for New York.\nORIOLES 4, TIGERS 2\nBaltimore starter Chris Tillman allowed one run in five innings. Detroit starter Michael Fulmer struck out five in five innings and gave up two runs. Dixon Machado doubled twice for the Tigers.\nPIRATES 11, TWINS 8\nMiguel Sano, who had three hits, and Brian Dozier homered for Minnesota. Josh Bell, Jose Osuna and Christopher Bostick connected for Pittsburgh.\nBRAVES 6, BLUE JAYS 0\nJulio Teheran pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings, striking out five and allowing four hits. The Atlanta ace has an 0.87 ERA this spring. Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez allowed two hits over 6 1/3 innings.\nINDIANS 5, GIANTS 4\nYonder Alonso hit two home runs off San Francisco starter Johnny Cueto. Alonso had three hits and drove in four runs. Cueto allowed four runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin gave up three runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. University of Virginia alum Jarrett Parker, dogged by retriever jokes from his teammates after his Cavaliers were ousted from the NCAA tournament by the University of Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers, hit his third spring training home run in his bid to make the 25-man roster.\nThe Indians released outfielder Melvin Upton Jr., who hit .189 in 18 spring games. The 33-year-old spent last year in the minors, seeing limited action for the Giants’ Triple-A team while slowed by injuries.\nWHITE SOX 15, DIAMONDBACKS 2\nMatt Davidson, who homered, and Adam Engel each had three hits for Chicago and leadoff man Yoan Moncada got two hits and drove in three runs. Carson Fulmer pitched four hitless innings for the White Sox. Arizona relievers Neftali Feliz and Kris Medlen both got roughed up.\nRAYS 4, YANKEES 2\nTampa Bay starter Blake Snell struck out nine and only allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings. The Rays scored all their runs on a pair of ninth-inning homers. David Hale pitched three innings of one-hit ball for the Yankees and Aaron Judge had a double in four plate appearances.\nROCKIES 5, RANGERS 1\nColorado ace Jon Gray threw 85 pitches, striking out nine in 6 1/3 scoreless innings. David Dahl hit a two-run double for his club-leading 16th RBI, scoring on Ryan McMahon’s home run. Adrian Sampson took the loss, allowing five runs in three innings, and Elvis Andrus went 1 for 3.\nANGELS 8, MARINERS 4\nJustin Upton opened the scoring with his 11th RBI and Albert Pujols was one of five Angles with a run-scoring single during a seven-run fifth inning. Mike Trout went 2 for 3 and Pujols was perfect in three place appearances. Seattle first baseman Daniel Vogelbach hit his fifth home run of the spring.\nCUBS 5, REDS 4\nJon Lester exited after 6 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and a second-inning RBI single for the Cubs. Addison Russell added a two-RBI single and Albert Almora Jr. drove home a run. Cincinnati designated hitter Scooter Gennett was 3 for 3 with a double and run scored.", "Another day, another new Stormi Webster appearance on Kylie Jenner's social media: this time, the three-month-old laughed in her sleep while her mom was recording her for Instagram. Jenner shared multiple photos and videos of her and Stormi on her Instagram story, and they're all pretty cute:\nShe’s so cute!! 4/23/18 A post shared by Kylie Jenner (@kyliesnapchat) on Apr 23, 2018 at 3:51pm PDT\nAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below\nMommy and Stormi👶🏽 4/23/18 A post shared by Kylie Jenner (@kyliesnapchat) on Apr 23, 2018 at 1:37pm PDT\nCuties! 4/23/18 A post shared by Kylie Jenner (@kyliesnapchat) on Apr 23, 2018 at 1:40pm PDT\nAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below\nThere was another little hand shot too:\nYes she does! 4/23/18 A post shared by Kylie Jenner (@kyliesnapchat) on Apr 23, 2018 at 1:50pm PDT\nFans pointed out that Stormi continues to be the spitting image of her mom as an infant:\nThree generations A post shared by Kylie Jenner (@kyliesnapchat) on Apr 23, 2018 at 8:15pm PDT\nJenner has been sharing photos of her daughter on-off since Stormi's birth in February. There's been mommy-daughter selfies, Stormi with various Snapchat filters over her face, Stormi-daddy Travis Scott Easter party shots, and more posted.", "Clemson’s Jordan Leggett is headed to the Big Apple. The former Tigers tight end was selected sixth in the fifth round (150th overall) by the New York Jets. Leggett ended his career at Clemson with his name in the record books. Leggett is the program’s top tight end when it comes to catches (112), receiving yards (1,598), and receiving touchdowns (18) by a tight end. His efforts have also earned him a spot as an All-ACC selection in the last two seasons. This past seaso...\nClemson’s Jordan Leggett is headed to the Big Apple. The former Tigers tight end was selected sixth in the fifth round (150th overall) by the New York Jets. Leggett ended his career at Clemson with his name in the record books. Leggett is the program’s top tight end when it comes to catches (112), receiving yards (1,598), and receiving touchdowns (18) by a tight end. His efforts have also earned him a spot as an All-ACC selection in the last two seasons. This past seaso...\nLeggett taken in 5th round of NFL Draft by NY Jets\nLeggett taken in 5th round of NFL Draft by NY Jets\nDeshaun Watson will have a familiar face in the locker room in Houston. Clemson defensive lineman Carlos Watkins has been selected in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. A first-team All-ACC selection, Watkins finished his final year with the Tigers with 82 tackles and 10.5 sacks. In his career, Watkins tallied 191 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, and 14 sacks. Watkins is the second Clemson player to be taken in the fourth round. Wayne Gallman was taken by t...\nDeshaun Watson will have a familiar face in the locker room in Houston. Clemson defensive lineman Carlos Watkins has been selected in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. A first-team All-ACC selection, Watkins finished his final year with the Tigers with 82 tackles and 10.5 sacks. In his career, Watkins tallied 191 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, and 14 sacks. Watkins is the second Clemson player to be taken in the fourth round. Wayne Gallman was taken by t...\nWatkins becomes 4th round pick for the Houston Texans in NFL Draft\nWatkins becomes 4th round pick for the Houston Texans in NFL Draft\nThe final day of the 2017 NFL Draft was a busy one for the Clemson Tigers.\nSo far, three members of this year’s national championship team have been selected by NFL teams in the draft.\nWayne Gallman and Carlos Watkins have each been selected in the fourth round. Gallman was picked up by the New York Giants while Watkins will join teammate Deshaun Watson in Houston with the Texans.\nIn the fifth round, Jordan Leggett was taken by the New York Jets.\nIn total, Clemson has had six players taken in this year’s draft. With Watson and Mike Williams going in the first round, the Tigers have now produced at least one first-round draft pick in the last five years.\nGallman will join former Tiger B.J.Goodson in New York as part of the Giants' roster.\nCopyright 2017 WIS. All rights reserved.", "Terry Koshan, Postmedia Network Jun 14, 2017\nTORONTO — Russell Martin’s batterymate was denied a milestone achievement on Wednesday night at the Rogers Centre.\nAgainst the Tampa Bay Rays, Martin ensured the Blue Jays gained a split in the two-game series after starter Francisco Liriano should have been celebrating his 100th career win in the majors.\nMartin led off the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer off Rays reliever Jose Alvarado, giving Toronto a 7-6 victory before a crowd of 37,734. The home run to centre field was Martin’s sixth of the season.\nLiriano was sharp, but remained stuck on 99 wins. Still, the Jays have recorded a victory in six consecutive Liriano starts.\nLiriano went seven innings, his longest outing of 2017, and struck out nine Rays. When the 33-year-old was finished through seven, he had thrown exactly 100 pitches and the Jays had a 6-3 lead.\nThe margin was gone nearly in an instant in the eighth.\nReliever Joe Smith (3-0), otherwise solid this season, gave up a single to Evan Longoria, the first Rays batter he faced.\nNext up was Logan Morrison, who went to the opposite field for his 19th home run of the season, cutting the Jays lead to one run.\nAnd the lead disappeared completely when a Derek Norris sacrifice fly scored Steven Souza Jr., who had walked after the Morrison homer and eventually made it to third. That run tied the game 6-6.\nAfter Martin’s homer, Roberto Osuna faced the minimum three batters in the ninth and recorded his 17th save.\nToronto had scored four runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead.\nKendrys Morales’ three-run home run to the second deck in right ended the night for Rays starter Jake Odorizzi. Morales’ 13th homer of the year, coming on a 3-1 pitch, scored Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista.\nOdorizzi has allowed at least one homer in nine consecutive appearances, the longest such streak of his major-league career. And he has given up a homer in 17 of his past 18 starts.\nEarlier in the inning, a Bautista single brought home Ryan Goins, who had led off with a single.\nChase Whitley relieved Odorizzi and retired Justin Smoak and Troy Tulowitzki to end the Jays rally.\nLiriano responded to the run support in terrific fashion, striking out the side in the top of the sixth.\nMartin scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth for the Jays’ sixth run.\nThe Rays led 3-1 after four innings, though the Jays would have been in a deeper hole had Liriano not been able to work himself out of some trouble in the top of the fourth.\nTampa loaded the bases with none out, but managed to score just a single run.\nToronto recorded the first out when Norris grounded into a force out, with Josh Donaldson throwing Souza out at home.\nNext up was Taylor Featherston, who hit a deep sacrifice fly to centre field, scoring Mallex Smith. With two out, Liriano struck out Peter Bourjos to end the half of the inning.\nThe Jays weren’t able to keep the good feelings going in the bottom of the inning, as Odorizzi retired all three Toronto batters who came to the plate.\nLiriano was sharp through the first two innings, throwing just 21 pitches (after entering the game with an average of 19.2 pitches an inning, tied for the highest in the majors) and facing seven batters. A one-out double by Souza in the second was the lone blip.\nTampa got to Liriano in the third, however, to take a 2-0 lead. Let’s re-phrase that: The Rays scored their first two runs following a Goins error.\nWith one out, Goins fielded a grounder by Featherston but then bobbled the baseball, allowing Featherston to reach base.\nBourjos then singled on what amounted to a dribbler down the third base line, advancing Featherston to second.\nThe next batter, Corey Dickerson, tripled to right, scoring Featherston and Bourjos.\nDickerson was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice by Donaldson, and Logan Morrison went down swinging for the third out.\nThe Jays scored their first run in the bottom of the third, as Pillar came in from third when Morales hustled to first to beat out what would have been an inning-ending double play.\[email protected]", "(AP Photo/Matt York). Chicago White Sox's Adam Engel follows through on a two-RBI base hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the second inning of a spring training baseball game Monday, March 19, 2018, in Scottsdale, Ariz.\n(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara). Philadelphia Phillies' Andrew Knapp, right, celebrates with Rhys Hoskins after scoring on an RBI double by Nick Williams off Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale during the third inning of a spring training baseball game...\n(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara). Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale, right, delivers to the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of a spring training baseball game Monday, March 19, 2018, in Fort Myers, Fla.\nBy The Associated Press\nThe Dodgers are going to be without their red-headed slugger on opening day, and possibly for a while after.\nJustin Turner has a broken left wrist after being hit by a pitch during Los Angeles' 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.\nTurner was struck by a pitch from right-hander Kendall Graveman in the first inning. Turner grunted and winced as he jogged away from the plate toward the dugout, his hand hanging limp at his side. He was quickly visited by a trainer and replaced by Donovan Solano.\n\"I was hoping obviously the X-rays would be negative, but there's a small non-displaced fracture,\" Turner said. \"We'll just play it by ear, see how it goes.\"\nGeneral manager Farhan Zaidi said the team didn't know yet how long Turner would be out, but it should be a matter of at least a few weeks. Turner says he'll visit the doctor again Tuesday to hopefully learn more.\nLos Angeles seems likely to slide Logan Forsythe to third base in Turner's absence, with Chase Utley or someone else assuming regular duty at second base.\n\"We're not as good of a team without J.T.,\" Zaidi said, adding \"We do feel good about our internal options. There are guys who can move around.\"\nThe 33-year-old Turner hit .322 with 21 homers and 71 RBIs last season. He also led the team and finished third in the majors by getting plunked 19 times.\nGraveman and Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood went on to duel for five scoreless innings. Both struck out seven, with Graveman pitching two-hit ball without a walk over 5 1/3 innings and Wood allowing four hits and two walks in five frames.\nELSEWHERE AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUES\nDiamondbacks ace Zack Greinke will start this season in the dugout.\nArizona manager Torey Lovullo said Monday that Greinke won't pitch on opening day because of what's perceived to be a minor health issue.\nGreinke exited his latest start after one inning because of tightness in his groin. He's scheduled to pitch again in spring training Wednesday.\nThe Diamondbacks don't want to push him to be ready for their first game March 29 at home against Colorado. Without this wrinkle, Lovullo said Greinke would've started the opener for the third straight year.\n\"Every staff has a No. 1 and he fit the bill perfectly,\" Lovullo said. \"He won 17 games last year. He was our staff ace.\"\nLovullo said he wasn't ready to say who would start against the Rockies. The likely candidate is Robbie Ray, who went 15-5 with a 2.89 ERA last year.\nRED SOX 6, PHILLIES 5\nBoston ace Chris Sale gave up four runs on five hits and three walks in five innings. He also struck out six. Mookie Betts hit two doubles and Xavier Bogaerts homered for the Red Sox. Aaron Altherr homered for Philadelphia.\nMARLINS 9, NATIONALS 1\nWashington ace Max Scherzer was tagged for three homers and six runs in six innings. Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon each had two hits for the Nationals. Miami starter Trevor Richards worked four innings and allowed one run.\nASTROS 2, METS 0\nJustin Verlander pitched seven shutout innings and Carlos Correa homered for Houston. Steven Matz struck out nine in six innings for New York.\nORIOLES 4, TIGERS 2\nBaltimore starter Chris Tillman allowed one run in five innings. Detroit starter Michael Fulmer struck out five in five innings and gave up two runs. Dixon Machado doubled twice for the Tigers.\nPIRATES 11, TWINS 8\nMiguel Sano, who had three hits, and Brian Dozier homered for Minnesota. Josh Bell, Jose Osuna and Christopher Bostick connected for Pittsburgh.\nBRAVES 6, BLUE JAYS 0\nJulio Teheran pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings, striking out five and allowing four hits. The Atlanta ace has an 0.87 ERA this spring. Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez allowed two hits over 6 1/3 innings.\nINDIANS 5, GIANTS 4\nYonder Alonso hit two home runs off San Francisco starter Johnny Cueto. Alonso had three hits and drove in four runs. Cueto allowed four runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin gave up three runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. University of Virginia alum Jarrett Parker, dogged by retriever jokes from his teammates after his Cavaliers were ousted from the NCAA tournament by the University of Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers, hit his third spring training home run in his bid to make the 25-man roster.\nThe Indians released outfielder Melvin Upton Jr., who hit .189 in 18 spring games. The 33-year-old spent last year in the minors, seeing limited action for the Giants' Triple-A team while slowed by injuries.\nWHITE SOX 15, DIAMONDBACKS 2\nMatt Davidson, who homered, and Adam Engel each had three hits for Chicago and leadoff man Yoan Moncada got two hits and drove in three runs. Carson Fulmer pitched four hitless innings for the White Sox. Arizona relievers Neftali Feliz and Kris Medlen both got roughed up.\nRAYS 4, YANKEES 2\nTampa Bay starter Blake Snell struck out nine and only allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings. The Rays scored all their runs on a pair of ninth-inning homers. David Hale pitched three innings of one-hit ball for the Yankees and Aaron Judge had a double in four plate appearances.\nROCKIES 5, RANGERS 1\nColorado ace Jon Gray threw 85 pitches, striking out nine in 6 1/3 scoreless innings. David Dahl hit a two-run double for his club-leading 16th RBI, scoring on Ryan McMahon's home run. Adrian Sampson took the loss, allowing five runs in three innings, and Elvis Andrus went 1 for 3.\nANGELS 8, MARINERS 4\nJustin Upton opened the scoring with his 11th RBI and Albert Pujols was one of five Angles with a run-scoring single during a seven-run fifth inning. Mike Trout went 2 for 3 and Pujols was perfect in three place appearances. Seattle first baseman Daniel Vogelbach hit his fifth home run of the spring.\nCUBS 5, REDS 4\nJon Lester exited after 6 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and a second-inning RBI single for the Cubs. Addison Russell added a two-RBI single and Albert Almora Jr. drove home a run. Cincinnati designated hitter Scooter Gennett was 3 for 3 with a double and run scored.\nCopyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.", "Watson, who led the Bucks to the National League North crown in the 2013/14 campaign, took over the Sandgrounders earlier this summer.\nThey will pose a stern test to Gavin Cowan's charges on Saturday, August 4, having recently signed striker Mike Phenix – a vital part of Telford's triumph under Watson.\nThe National League North fixtures were released today and the Bucks have a busy first month.\nJust three days after hosting Southport, they make the relatively short trip to Kidderminster Harriers.\nJourneys to Guiseley, Spennymoor Town and Leamington, and home clashes with Brackley Town and Chester, are also set to take place in August.\nThe Boxing Day and New Year's Day double-header is against Nuneaton Borough – at home for the former, away for the latter.\nPerhaps the toughest month for Telford will be February, when they are scheduled to face Guiseley (home, February 2), Brackley (away, February 9), Stockport County (away, February 16) and Darlington (home, February 23).\nAnd having started last season at York City, winning 1-0, they will end the upcoming campaign at Bootham Crescent – and that will be the last-ever game at the ground.\nAdvertising\nFixtures\nAug 4 Southport (H)\nAug 7 Kidderminster (A)\nAug 11 Guiseley (A)\nAdvertising\nAug 14 Brackley Town (H)\nAug 18 Spennymoor Town (A)\nAug 25 Chester (H)\nAug 27 Leamington (A)\nSep 1 Ashton United (H)\nSep 8 Darlington (A)\nSep 15 Stockport County (H)\nSep 29 Blyth Spartans (A)\nOct 13 Chorley (H)\nOct 20 Curzon Ashton (A)\nOct 27 York City (H)\nOct 30 Hereford (H)\nNov 3 Alfreton Town (A)\nNov 10 Boston United (H)\nNov 17 FC United Of Manchester (A)\nDec 1 Bradford Park Avenue (H)\nDec 8 Altrincham (A)\nDec 22 Chester (A)\nDec 26 Nuneaton Borough (H)\nDec 29 Leamington (H)\nJan 1 Nuneaton Borough (A)\nJan 5 Spennymoor Town (H)\nJan 12 Ashton United (A)\nJan 19 Kidderminster Harriers (H)\nJan 26 Southport (A)\nFeb 2 Guiseley (H)\nFeb 9 Brackley Town (A)\nFeb 16 Stockport County (A)\nFeb 23 Darlington (H)\nMar 2 Boston United (A)\nMar 9 FC United Of Manchester (H)\nMar 16 Bradford Park Avenue (A)\nMar 23 Altrincham (H)\nMar 30 Blyth Spartans (H)\nApr 6 Chorley (A)\nApr 13 Curzon Ashton (H)\nApr 20 Hereford (A)\nApr 22 Alfreton Town (H)\nApr 27 York City (A)", "Have your say\nThe Hawks make a long-distance start to their first-ever National League season with a 600-mile plus round trip to Barrow on August 4.\nLee Bradbury's side open their home campaign against Boreham Wood, last season’s losing play-off finalists, on the following Tuesday – August 7.\nAFC Fylde make their first-ever visit to Westleigh Park for the first Saturday home fixture (August 11).\nHawks fans are also eagerly looking forward to seeing their side take on some big ex-Football League clubs with Hartlepool United the first of these to travel to the south coast on September 1.\nThis is followed three days later by a mouth-watering home 'Hampshire' derby' against Aldershot at Westleigh Park.\nThe return game at the Recreation Ground is on Easter Monday.\nMost of the other big-name visitors visit Westleigh Park in the second half of the season.\nWrexham (February 11), Leyton Orient (March 2) and Chesterfield (March 16) will all provide big occasions before the Hawks also finish the season at home against Barnet.\nOne of the most eagerly awaited games on the Hawks fixture list are those against rivals Eastleigh.\nAs expected, these will take place over the Christmas period.\nThe Hawks will host the first encounter on Boxing Day before going to Eastleigh for the return on New Year’s Day.\nBefore that, the Hawks face a demanding long haul to Hartlepool United just three days before Christmas.\nFebruary however will provide the Hawks with their toughest test of endurance with three long trips in the space of four weeks.\nThey travel to AFC Fylde (February 2), and Gateshead (February 9) on successive weekends.\nAfter entertaining Wrexham at home they are then back on the road to face FC Halifax Town (February 23).\nThe Hawks fans are also relishing the opportunity to watch their team play on established ex-Football League grounds.\nThey will look forward with great anticipation to visits to Barnet (September 25), Wrexham (October 6), Leyton Orient (October 27) and Chesterfield (November 16).\nHawks' National League fixtures\nAug 4 Barrow (A)\nAug 7 Boreham Wood (H)\nAug 11 AFC Fylde (H)\nAug 14 Dover (A)\nAug 18 Braintree (A)\nAug 25 Salford City (H)\nAug 27 Bromley (A)\nSep 1 Hartlepool (H)\nSep 4 Aldershot (H)\nSep 8 Harrogate (A)\nSep 15 Sutton United (H)\nSep 22 Ebbsfleet (A)\nSep 25 Barnet (A)\nSep 29 Solihull Moors (H)\nOct 6 Wrexham (A)\nOct 13 Gateshead (H)\nOct 27 Leyton Orient (A)\nOct 30 Maidenhead (H)\nNov 3 FC Halifax Town (H)\nNov 17 Chesterfield (A)\nNov 24 Maidstone (H)\nNov 27 Dag & Red (A)\nDec 1 Salford City (A)\nDec 8 Braintree (H)\nDec 22 Hartlepool (A)\nDec 26 Eastleigh (H)\nDec 29 Bromley (H)\nJan 1 Eastleigh (A)\nJan 5 Barrow (H)\nJan 19 Boreham Wood (A)\nJan 26 Dover (H)\nFeb 2 AFC Fylde (A)\nFeb 9 Gateshead (A)\nFeb 16 Wrexham (H)\nFeb 23 FC Halifax Town (A)\nMar 2 Leyton Orient (H)\nMar 9 Maidstone (A)\nMar 12 Dag & Red (H)\nMar 16 Chesterfield (H)\nMar 23 Maidenhead (A)\nMar 30 Sutton United (A)\nApr 6 Harrogate (H)\nApr 13 Solihull Moors (A)\nApr 19 Ebbsfleet (H)\nApr 22 Aldershot (A)\nApr 27 Barnet (H)", "When you’re heading to a three-day music festival in the middle of the California desert, one would think to pack sensible separates and comfortable, well-ventilated shoes for all concert-going activities. But instead stars choose fashion over function, wearing some of the most over-the-top pieces imaginable (like sequin bras, snakeskin mini skirts and furry coats). And the price tags are even harder to believe.\nWe spotted some ridiculously expensive sunglasses (#practical), custom bedazzled jackets (it was 90° in Indio, California, over the weekend) and more remarkably pricey pieces that we’re bringing to your attention below.\n\" I can't go home yet, cuz enough people ain't seen my outfit \" A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Apr 16, 2017 at 1:01am PDT\nRihanna attended Coachella wearing head-to-toe Gucci totaling $8,480, because she’s Rihanna and she can. She chose an all-over crystal embroidered mesh top ($3,200), matching all-over crystal embroidered mesh leggings ($3,980), a white Gucci Print & Common Sense by Coco Capitan jersey tank top ($450) and stone bleach washed denim hot pants ($850) all from the fall 2017 collection — and they’re not even available until later this year.\nAnd because she didn’t think enough people got a glimpse of her high-glam, high-priced ensemble, she Instagrammed a photo writing, “can’t go home yet, cuz enough people ain’t seen my outfit.”\nphresh out. A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Apr 16, 2017 at 11:48am PDT\nThen shared one more photo for good measure showing off the matching face mask.\nRock star vibes ✌️❤️ A post shared by Alessandra Ambrosio (@alessandraambrosio) on Apr 15, 2017 at 6:34pm PDT\nAlessandra Ambrosio thought the best place to show off her $1,500 customized biker jacket from The Mighty Company was in the desert in oven-temperature heat. And we don’t disagree.\nRELATED PHOTOS: Every Can’t-Miss Celebrity Outfit at Coachella (From Crazy-Cool to Hotter Than the Desert)\nKeep Palm & Carry On. @mcmworldwide @thezoereport #zoeasis #mcmstyle A post shared by Kate Bosworth (@katebosworth) on Apr 15, 2017 at 3:47pm PDT\nKate Bosworth got a little more practical, opting for comfortable Birkenstock-style sandals… that just happen to be made by Roger Vivier and cost $1,250.\nWe appreciate that Katy Perry tried to beat the heat, but it’s up to you to decide if her Thai Nguyen Atelier spring 2017 sequin dress worn over a matching bandeau and hot pants (which altogether totals $1,800) was really the way to go.\nWe should have known Hailey Baldwin wouldn’t be caught at Coachella without her favorite Ippolita hoop earrings. She’s been wearing them for weeks, and they clock in at a very festival-appropriate $1,295 (let’s just hope she doesn’t lose one in the desert).\nCoachella day 2 💋@joansmalls 💋 A post shared by Chanel Iman (@chaneliman) on Apr 16, 2017 at 1:10pm PDT\nMost people don’t invest in accessories that have a tendency to get left behind in taxicabs, but Chanel Iman is not most people. She opted for sunglasses from Linda Farrow that go for a cool $1,215.\n🚀🚀 A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Apr 13, 2017 at 3:24pm PDT\nAnd finally, Kylie Jenner tried her hand at festival glam, traveling to the desert in a pair of printed Vetements x Reebok sneakers which retail for $760.\nWhat do you think about these pricey pieces?", "There is a full schedule of fixtures for clubs in the league this weekend in Donegal.\nBelow are the full list of fixtures\nAllSportStore.com Division 1\nSun, 23 Apr,\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Glenties, Naomh Conáil V Kilcar 15:00, Ref: Enda Mc Feely\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Gaoth Dobhair, Gaoth Dobhair V Four Masters 15:00, Ref: Robert O Donnell\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Dungloe, Dungloe V Glenswilly 15:00, Ref: Mark Dorrian\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: St Eunan's, St Eunan's V Bundoran 15:00, Ref: Sean Paul Doherty\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: St Michael's, St Michael's V Milford 15:00, Ref: Jimmy White\nAllSportStore.com Division 2\nSun, 23 Apr,\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Sean Mac Cumhaill, Sean Mac Cumhaill V Ardara 15:00, Ref: Michael Mc Shane\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: TBC, Buncrana V Glenfin 15:00, Ref: Seamus Mc Gonagle\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Pairc na nGael, Naomh Columba V Malin 15:00, Ref: Val Murray\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Father Tierney Park, Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon V Cloughaneely 15:00, Ref: Mark Brown\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Eamonn Byrne Memorial Park, Killybegs V Termon 15:00, Ref: Connie Doherty\nAllSportStore.com Division 3\nSat, 22 Apr,\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Pairc Uí Shiail, Fanad Gaels V Red Hughs 18:00, Ref: Mark Dorrian\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Moville, Moville V Naomh Ultan 19:00, Ref: John Farren\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Naomh Brd, Naomh Bríd V Naomh Muire Lower Rosses 19:00, Ref: Niall Mc Cready\nSun, 23 Apr,\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Hibernian Park, Burt V Downings 15:00, Ref: Aidan Mc Aleer\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Páirc Gearóid O'Gallachóir, St Naul's V Letterkenny Gaels 15:00, Ref: Tony Gallagher\nAllSportStore.com Division 4\nSat, 22 Apr,\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Crampsey Park, Urris V Robert Emmets 18:00, Ref: TBC\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Na Rossa, Na Rossa V Naomh Colmcille 18:00, Ref: Pat Walsh\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Naomh Padraig Uisce Chaoin, Naomh Pádraig Muff V Convoy 18:00, Ref: Paddy Mc Gonagle\nSun, 23 Apr,\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: TBC, Naomh Pádraig Lifford V Carndonagh 13:30, Ref: Greg Mc Groary\nAllSportStore.com Division 5\nSat, 22 Apr,\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Ardara, Ardara V Naomh Conáil 18:00, Ref: Eugene Mc Hale\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Sean Mac Cumhaill, Sean Mac Cumhaill V Glenswilly 18:00, Ref: TBC\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Glenfin, Glenfin V Pettigo 18:00, Ref: Joe O?donnell\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: St Eunan's, St Eunan's V Naomh Columba 18:00, Ref: Eddie Crawford\nAllSportStore.com Division 1 Reserve\nSun, 23 Apr,\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Glenties, Naomh Conáil V Kilcar 13:30, Ref: Mark Dorrian\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Gaoth Dobhair, Gaoth Dobhair V Four Masters 13:30, Ref: Don Langan\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Dungloe, Dungloe V Glenswilly 13:30, Ref: James Mc Ginley\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: St Eunan's, St Eunan's V Bundoran 13:30, Ref: Leo Devenney\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: St Michael's, St Michael's V Milford 13:30, Ref: Michael Mulhern\nAllSportStore.com Division 2 Reserve\nSun, 23 Apr,\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Pairc na nGael, Naomh Columba V Malin 13:30, Ref: Lee Jordan\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: C.L.G. Bun Cranncha, Buncrana V Glenfin 13:30, Ref: TBC\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Eamonn Byrne Memorial Park, Killybegs V Termon 13:30, Ref: Owen Doherty\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Sean Mac Cumhaill, Sean Mac Cumhaill V Ardara 13:30, Ref: Paul Clifford\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Father Tierney Park, Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon V Cloughaneely 13:30, Ref: Pat Walsh\nAllSportStore.com Division 3 Reserve\nSat, 22 Apr,\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Moville, Moville V Naomh Ultan 17:30, Ref: TBC\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Pairc Uí Shiail, Fanad Gaels V Red Hughs 17:30, Ref: James Mc Ginley\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Naomh Brd, Naomh Bríd V Naomh Muire Lower Rosses 17:30, Ref: TBC\nSun, 23 Apr,\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Hibernian Park, Burt V Downings 13:30, Ref: Joe O Donnell\nSun, 23 Apr, Venue: Páirc Gearóid O'Gallachóir, St Naul's V Letterkenny Gaels 13:30, Ref: Gabrielle O?donnell\nAllSportStore.com Division 4 Reserve\nSat, 22 Apr,\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Naomh Padraig Uisce Chaoin, Naomh Pádraig Muff V Convoy 19:15, Ref: TBC\nAllSportStore.com Hurling League\nFri, 21 Apr,\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Sean Mac Cumhaill, Sean Mac Cumhaill V St Eunan's 19:00, Ref: Aidan Mc Aleer\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Hibernian Park, Burt V Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: TBC, Buncrana V Setanta 19:00, Ref: J.J. Lafferty\nMINOR SECTION 1\nFri, 21 Apr,\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Eamonn Byrne Memorial Park, Killybegs V Naomh Muire Lower Rosses 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Four Masters, Four Masters V Naomh Ultan 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Kilcar, Kilcar V Bundoran 19:00, Ref: TBC\nMINOR SECTION 2\nWed, 19 Apr,\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Father Tierney Park, Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon V Naomh Conáil 19:00, Ref: Eugene Mc Cale\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Pairc na nGael, Naomh Columba V Dungloe 19:00, Ref: Michael Mc Shane\nDIVISION1\nSat, 22 Apr,\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Eamonn Byrne Memorial Park, Killybegs V Naomh Conáil 12:00, Ref: TBC\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Four Masters, Four Masters V Dungloe 12:00, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr,\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: Dungloe, Dungloe V Killybegs 19:00, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: Glenties, Naomh Conáil V Ardara 19:00, Ref: TBC\nUNDER 16S DIV 2\nSat, 22 Apr,\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Gaelic Park, Bundoran V Naomh Muire Lower Rosses 12:00, Ref: TBC\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Father Tierney Park, Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon V Naomh Ultan 12:00, Ref: TBC\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Páirc Gearóid O'Gallachóir, St Naul's V Naomh Columba 12:00, Ref: TBC\nSat, 22 Apr, Venue: Kilcar, Kilcar V Naomh Brid/ Pettigo 12:00, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr,\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: Naomh Ultan, Naomh Ultan V Bundoran 19:00, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: Kilcar, Kilcar V St Naul's 19:00, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: Pairc na nGael, Naomh Columba V Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon 19:00, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: TBC, Naomh Brid/ Pettigo V Naomh Muire Lower Rosses 19:00, Ref: TBC\nMinor Hurling League Division 1\nTue, 18 Apr,\nTue, 18 Apr, Venue: Setanta, Setanta V Burt 19:00, Ref: TBC\nTue, 18 Apr, Venue: C.L.G. Bun Cranncha, Buncrana V Letterkenny Gaels 19:00, Ref: TBC\nTue, 18 Apr, Venue: Sean Mac Cumhaill, Sean Mac Cumhaill V St Eunan's 19:00, Ref: TBC\nTue, 18 Apr, Venue: Dungloe, Dungloe V Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon 19:00, Ref: TBC\nThu, 20 Apr,\nThu, 20 Apr, Venue: Carndonagh, Carndonagh V Letterkenny Gaels 19:00, Ref: TBC\nThu, 20 Apr, Venue: Setanta, Setanta V Sean Mac Cumhaill 19:00, Ref: TBC\nThu, 20 Apr, Venue: Father Tierney Park, Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon V Buncrana 19:00, Ref: TBC\nThu, 20 Apr, Venue: St Eunan's, St Eunan's V Burt 19:00, Ref: TBC\nHurling U14s Division 1\nThu, 20 Apr,\nThu, 20 Apr, Venue: C.L.G. Bun Cranncha, Buncrana V Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon 00:00, Ref: TBC\nThu, 20 Apr, Venue: Hibernian Park, Burt V Four Masters 19:00, Ref: TBC\nThu, 20 Apr, Venue: Carndonagh, Carndonagh V Setanta 19:00, Ref: TBC\nThu, 20 Apr, Venue: Dungloe, Dungloe V St Eunan's 19:00, Ref: TBC\nUnder 12s Division 1 League\nFri, 21 Apr,\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Four Masters, Four Masters V Naomh Conáil 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Father Tierney Park, Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon V Dungloe 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Páirc Gearóid O'Gallachóir, St Naul's V Ardara 19:00, Ref: TBC\nUnder 12s Division 2 League\nFri, 21 Apr,\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Four Masters, Four Masters V Kilcar 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: The Banks, Naomh Muire Lower Rosses V Pettigo 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Pairc na nGael, Naomh Columba V Naomh Ultan 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Gaelic Park, Bundoran V Aodh Ruadh Ballyshannon 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Naomh Brd, Naomh Bríd V Na Rossa 19:00, Ref: TBC\nInishowen Minor League\nWed, 19 Apr,\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Carndonagh, Carndonagh V Moville 18:30, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Naomh Colmcille, Naomh Colmcille V Naomh Pádraig Muff 18:30, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Crampsey Park, Urris V Malin 18:30, Ref: TBC\nInishowen U12s Go Games\nTue, 18 Apr,\nTue, 18 Apr, Venue: Moville, Moville V Burt 18:30, Ref: TBC\nTue, 18 Apr, Venue: Pairc Brid, Steelstown V Malin 18:30, Ref: TBC\nTue, 18 Apr, Venue: Naomh Colmcille, Naomh Colmcille V Carndonagh 18:30, Ref: TBC\nTue, 18 Apr, Venue: Crampsey Park, Urris V Naomh Pádraig Muff 18:30, Ref: TBC\nTue, 25 Apr,\nTue, 25 Apr, Venue: Pairc Brid, Steelstown V Moville 18:30, Ref: TBC\nTue, 25 Apr, Venue: Crampsey Park, Urris V Buncrana 18:30, Ref: TBC\nTue, 25 Apr, Venue: Hibernian Park, Burt V Naomh Colmcille 18:30, Ref: TBC\nTue, 25 Apr, Venue: Connolly Park, Malin V Naomh Pádraig Muff 18:30, Ref: TBC\nInishwowen Under 16s League\nFri, 21 Apr,\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Moville, Moville V Buncrana 18:30, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Naomh Padraig Uisce Chaoin, Naomh Pádraig Muff V Naomh Colmcille 18:30, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Pairc Brid, Steelstown V Carndonagh 18:30, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Connolly Park, Malin V Urris 18:30, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr,\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: Hibernian Park, Burt V Urris 18:30, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: Moville, Moville V Naomh Colmcille 18:30, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: Pairc Brid, Steelstown V Buncrana 18:30, Ref: TBC\nMon, 24 Apr, Venue: Connolly Park, Malin V Carndonagh 18:30, Ref: TBC\nNRB Minor League Division 1\nWed, 19 Apr,\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Convoy, Convoy V St Eunan's 19:00, Ref: Patrick Mc Keever\nMinor League Div 2 Group 1\nWed, 19 Apr,\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Pairc Aodh Rua, Red Hughs V St Eunan's 19:00, Ref: TBC\nUnder 16s Division 1 League\nFri, 21 Apr,\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Convoy, Convoy V St Eunan's 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Sean Mac Cumhaill, Sean Mac Cumhaill V Gaoth Dobhair 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Termon, Termon V Fanad Gaels 19:00, Ref: TBC\nUnder 16s Div 2 Group 2\nFri, 21 Apr,\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Glenswilly, Glenswilly V Letterkenny Gaels 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Naomh Padraig Leifear, Naomh Pádraig Lifford V Red Hughs 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Robert Emmets, Robert Emmets V Glenfin 19:00, Ref: TBC\nUnder 16s Div 2 Group 2\nFri, 21 Apr,\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: St Eunan's, St Eunan's V Cloughaneely 19:00, Ref: TBC\nFri, 21 Apr, Venue: Moyle Park, Milford V Downings 19:00, Ref: TBC\nNRB U12s League Group 1\nWed, 19 Apr,\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Pairc Na nDunaibh, Downings V St Michael's 19:00, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Letterkenny Gaels, Letterkenny Gaels V St Eunan's 19:00, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Glenswilly, Glenswilly V Milford 19:00, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Pairc Uí Shiail, Fanad Gaels V Termon 19:00, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Gaoth Dobhair, Gaoth Dobhair V Cloughaneely 19:00, Ref: TBC\nUnder 12s League Group 2\nWed, 19 Apr,\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Glenfin, Glenfin V Letterkenny Gaels 19:00, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: TBC, Naomh Pádraig Lifford V Glenswilly 19:00, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: St Eunan's, St Eunan's V Convoy 19:00, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Pairc Aodh Rua, Red Hughs V St Eunan's 19:00, Ref: TBC\nWed, 19 Apr, Venue: Sean Mac Cumhaill, Sean Mac Cumhaill V Robert Emmets 19:00, Ref: TBC", "WJTV – The first guy with Mississippi ties to be picked on the final day of the MLB Draft was Mississippi State shortstop Ryan Gridley.\nGridley, an All-SEC first team player, was picked by the Oakland Athletics in the 11th round with the 321st overall pick. He was second on the Bulldogs in batting average this season, hitting .327.\nMeanwhile, Jake Mangum got picked too, but he won’t be going pro. After being selected by the New York Yankees in the 30th round, the Jackson Prep alumnus announced he would be returning to Starkville.\nExcited for another year as a Bulldog pic.twitter.com/lzkoYUESQx — Jake Mangum (@jakemangum15) June 15, 2017\nThat’s a big deal for the Bulldogs. He was second on the team in hits this season with 90. Mangum was named an All-SEC second team player as well.\nJACKSON STATE\nThe next biggest news of the day came when a Jackson State Tiger heard his name called.\nThe Tampa Bay Rays selected JSU outfielder Bryce Brown in the 15th round with the 439th overall pick. He is the highest Jackson State draft pick since 2002.\nBrown ranked third in the country in on base percentage (.514) and 11th in steals (26).\nOLE MISS\nThe Rebels finally heard their first player get drafted in the 12th round. The Philadelphia Phillies took pitcher David Parkinson.\nParkinson was the only Rebel to start in the team’s rotation in all 14 weekends this season. He led the team in innings pitched (77.0) and strikeouts (76) while posting a 3.39 ERA.\nFour other Ole Miss players got drafted too. The next one was second baseman Tate Blackman in the 13th round, as the Chicago White Sox took him with the 387th overall pick.\nIn 2017, Blackman led his team in runs (46), triples (4), walks (34), slugging percentage (.525), and on base percentage (.420). He also ranked second in hits with 61 and home runs with nine.\nColby Bortles would be the next Rebel off of the board. The Detroit Tigers snagged the slugger in the 22nd round with the 665th overall pick.\nBortles led Ole Miss with 10 home runs and 42 RBI this season. He ranks 10th all-time in program history with 153 career RBI.\nBrady Feigl heard his name called in the 35th round. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim took him with the 1,045th overall pick.\nHe pitched 53.0 innings this season, mixing time as a starter and reliever. He did not give up an earned run in seven of his 11 relief appearances.\nFinally, Kyle Watson rounded out the Rebel draft class. The Pittsburgh Pirates took him in the 37th round with the 1,108th pick.\nWatson was mainly a bench player in 2017, scoring 11 runs while hitting four doubles and a home run.\nSOUTHERN MISS\nThe 2017 Conference USA Player of the Year heard his name called on the final day. Southern Miss’s Dylan Burdeaux went to the Detroit Tigers in the 20th round.\nICYMI: the Conference USA Player of the Year, Dylan Burdeaux, taken in 20th round by the Detroit Tigers (605th pick). pic.twitter.com/qGr6AW1xM8 — SouthernMissBaseball (@SouthernMissBSB) June 14, 2017\nThe 605th overall pick finished his USM career with 298 hits, ranking third in program history. He batted .337 while leading the team in runs (67) and RBI (69).\nFinally, the Colorado Rockies took Hayden Roberts in the 34th round with the 1,016th overall pick. The USM pitcher had a 5-2 record with a 4.30 ERA in 20 games, including 10 starts. He finished with 86 strikeouts.", "George Ford will give his all for Bath until the end of the season despite his move to Leicester Tigers, insists Todd Blackadder, director of rugby at his current club.\nThe England fly-half’s return to the Tigers was confirmed yesterday and he will take on his new employers in one of his last games for Bath in The Clash at Twickenham in April once the Six Nations is over.\nAhead of the game on April 8 — also one of Freddie Burns’ last for Leicester having agreed in effect a swap with Ford — Blackadder said: “I don’t think anything changes for George after yesterday’s news and I don’t think this being a Leicester game will add as an extra motivation.\n“Both players will be fully committed to their own sides and I know George will be keen to make an impression in the game and for the rest of the season. I’m sure he wants to be the best he can be for the remainder of the season, with that same mentality of winning at all costs.”\nFollowing the decision by Bath to axe Ford’s father, Mike, last season and bring in Blackadder to replace him, the rumours have circulated that the club’s playmaker would be moving elsewhere, with a return to the Tigers proving his destination for the 2017-18 season and beyond.\nBath, meanwhile, will head to London for the one-off Premiership game at the home of English rugby in seven weeks’ time, with more than 30,000 tickets already sold for the game.\nLonger term, the plan is for an annual game in the capital for Bath, a move welcomed by Blackadder and his players. “It’s added spice for us and something for the players to get excited by,” he said. “You have guys like George, Anthony Watson and JJ [Jonathan Joseph], who are used to playing at Twickenham but, for some of the guys, this will be the first time there. That’s huge. For me, taking the club to a different place and a different market is a great initiative. It’s all about this club endeavouring to be bigger and better.\n“The support so far for it has been amazing from within the club and in London, with over 30,000 tickets sold and we want it to become a fixture in the capital. We’ve got an old rivalry in Bath-Leicester but at a new venue. It’s a game that really excites us.”\nICYMI: Tigers have completed the signing of @George_Fordy Ford for the start of next season ➡️ https://t.co/TI3Mz977tK pic.twitter.com/YssQ5U2Bii — Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) February 14, 2017\nBlackadder has been without many of his star turns in his back line in recent weeks due to the Six Nations.\nIn the past, he admits as a team boss he would worry about his players on international weekends but now jokes, “You can only worry about the living, not the dead!” and argues their international forays can only help Bath for The Clash and as they battle for an end-of-season play-off place.\n“If anything, international duty is good for the guys,” he added. “I’ve had a couple of meetings with [England boss] Eddie Jones and I’ve been impressed with the communication on the players coming back and forth.\n“The team have a lot of faith and trust in him and that’s rubbing off on the players’ confidence from our perspective. So far, all the messages are very positive. A few of the guys are pretty used to Twickenham now and that can only be a help for us.”\nSee Bath Rugby face their fiercest rivals Leicester Tigers in The Clash at Twickenham on April 8 2017. For tickets and further information visitbathrugby.com/theclash", "Business Strategist and Disruptive Technologies Expert, Ray Wang, to Address Innovation, New Business Models and Transformation at Marquee EPM Event\nREDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 18, 2017) - Host Analytics, a leading provider of scalable, cloud-based enterprise performance management (EPM) systems, today announced that Ray Wang is the latest addition to the heavy-hitting cast of keynote presenters at Host Analytics World 2017 in Nashville on May 16-19, 2017. Founder of Constellation Research, Inc. and best-selling author, Wang joins the lineup alongside the CEO of FUBU and New York Times best-selling author, Daymond John. Wang will address business strategy and disruption at the industry's premier cloud enterprise performance management (EPM) event.\n\"Ray Wang is a Silicon Valley insider with a first-hand view into the changing nature of technology,\" said Dave Kellogg, CEO of Host Analytics. \"A savvy business strategist, Ray understands real disruption doesn't rely solely on technology. I can't think of a better speaker for our attendees to get insight on how disruptive technologies and new business models, such as digital transformation, are impacting the modern finance realm.\"\nAs the Principal Analyst, Founder, and Chairman of Silicon Valley based Constellation Research, Inc., Wang works with Global 2000 companies on business strategy and disruptive technology adoption. He is the voice of the popular business strategy and technology blog, \"A Software Insider's Point of View,\" and is the author of the best-selling book, Disrupting Digital Business, published by Harvard Business Review Press.\nWang has held executive roles in product, marketing, strategy, and consulting at companies such as Forrester Research, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Personify, and Johns Hopkins Hospital.\nHost Analytics World is the premier industry event for professionals in the finance function. This year's lineup of keynote speakers also includes entrepreneur, \"Shark\" and CEO of FUBU, Daymond John; Dave Kellogg, CEO of Host Analytics; and as outlined on the Host Analytics World site -- customers including Swissport, Capitol Petroleum, Pinterest, LT Apparel, Colonial Pipeline, Grand Canyon University, and more. Event sponsors include Accenture, Bakerfield Solutions, Bright Point, Canopach, CFO Solutions, Cogenics, Deloitte, FP&A, Formos Consulting, RSM, and WG Consulting.\nHost Analytics World 2017 brings together Host Analytics' customers and partners, as well as subject matter experts to share new ideas and strategies for leveraging technology in finance departments to help organizations drive peak performance. Customers and partners will share how they are leveraging cloud-based EPM solutions to automate the financial processes, accelerate execution, and align their organization. For more information, or to register, please visit the conference website.\nAbout Host Analytics\nHost Analytics is the industry's leading provider of scalable, cloud-based enterprise performance management (EPM) systems. Companies of all sizes, from $10 million startups to $15 billion multi-nationals, rely on Host Analytics to provide financial planning, budgeting, modeling, consolidations, and reporting. More than 600 customers use Host Analytics including Bose, Boston Red Sox, FitBit, La-Z-Boy, Mayo Clinic, NPR, OpenTable, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Pinterest, Swissport, TOMS Shoes, True Value, and Vitamin Shoppe. Host Analytics is a private company backed by leading venture capitalists and is headquartered in Silicon Valley with customers in over 90 countries.\nFor more information about Host Analytics, please visit www.hostanalytics.com\nRead the Host Analytics blog at www.hostanalytics.com/blog\nFollow Host Analytics on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/host-analytics-inc.\nBecome a fan of Host Analytics on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HostAnalyticsInc", "The video will start in 8 Cancel\nClick to play Tap to play\nGet daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nThirty Seconds to Mars have today announced they will be embarking on a huge European tour throughout 2018.\nThe multi-platinum selling band are set to hit the road in March, April and May 2018.\nTickets will be on sale at October 13 at 9am.\nThe band have been hailed as one of the most exciting live acts in the world, which was reflected by the single’s live debut earlier this year.\n30STM performed a groundbreaking set at the MTV VMA awards where the performance was shown via innovative infrared technology, with special guest Travis Scott.\nThe band performed Walk on Water, which is the first single from the band's forthcoming fifth studio album.\nThe band have also recently been nominated in the Best Alternative category for the MTV European Music Awards, airing 12 November 2017.\nThey will perform at the Birmingham Arena on 29 March 2018.\nThe band will be releasing more information about the production and support in due time.\nFull European tour dates:\n11 Mar Lanxess Arena, Cologne - DE\n12 Mar St. Jakobshalle, Basel - CH\n14 Mar AccorHotels Arena, Paris - FR\n16 Mar PalaLottomatica, Rome - IT\n17 Mar Unipol Arena, Bologna - IT\n18 Mar Olympiahalle, Munich - DE\n20 Mar Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam - NL\n21 Mar Lotto Arena, Antwerp - BE\n23 Mar Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff - UK\n24 Mar Manchester Arena, Manchester - UK\n25 Mar The SSE Hydro, Glasgow - UK\n27 Mar The O2, London - UK\n29 Mar Arena Birmingham, Birmingham - UK\n10 Apr TBC, Lisbon - PT\n12 Apr WiZink Center, Madrid - ES\n13 Apr Sant Jordi Club, Barcelona - ES\n14 Apr Sala Cubec, Bilbao - ES\n17 Apr Stadhalle, Vienna - AT\n18 Apr Atlas Arena, Łódź - PL\n19 Apr Tipsport Arena, Prague - CZ\n21 Apr Tap 1, Copenhagen - DK\n22 Apr Annexet, Stockholm - SE\n23 Apr Spektrum, Oslo - NO\n25 Apr Ice Hall, Helsinki - FI\n27 Apr SKK Arena, St Petersburg - RU\n28 Apr Olimpiyskiy, Moscow - RU\n30 Apr Sports Palace, Kiev - UA\n02 May Barclaycard Arena, Hamburg - DE\n03 May Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin - DE\nTickets for the UK dates go onsale 9am Friday 13 October via www.gigsandtours.com and Ticketmaster .", "Harry Kane is all-but certain to be fit for Saturday's quarter-final against Sweden despite a fitness scare in the aftermath of Tuesday's euphoric win over Colombia.\nThe England captain was assessed by medical staff at the team hotel in Repino on Wednesday after feeling calf discomfort during the final stages of extra time in Moscow.\nBut England are very confident the issue was cramp following an energy-sapping evening and believe Kane will be available in Samara.\nHarry Kane is all-but certain to be fit for Saturday's World Cup quarter-final against Sweden\nGareth Southgate said: 'You never know with cramp whether it's just cramp or something a little bit more. We will judge that.'\nHowever, there are bigger concerns over the fitness of Jamie Vardy, who suffered a groin injury against Colombia.\nThe Leicester striker required an injection immediately after the win to help clear up the problem but may not be fit for Saturday.\nAshley Young was another player who was assessed and required treatment on Wednesday. The Manchester United wing-back, who had a noticeable limp as he walked away from the stadium, was substituted in extra time after taking a heavy blow to his ankle.\nYoung also took a hefty kick to his thigh and he will be examined again before training on Thursday. England hope he will be available, but have Danny Rose in reserve as a ready-made replacement if needed.\nJamie Vardy suffered a groin injury against Colombia and had an injection immediately after\nAshley Young was another player who was assessed and required treatment on Wednesday\nKyle Walker limped off with cramp on Tuesday night but will be fit, as will Dele Alli, who felt no ill-effects from the thigh injury that ruled him out of the games against Panama and Belgium.\nHaving arrived back in Repino at 6.30am on Wednesday, the players reported for breakfast at around midday before Southgate led a 1pm squad meeting.\nFabian Delph will join them in training on Thursday after he flew back to Russia following the birth of his third child, a daughter. He will be available to face Sweden.\nHe had travelled home to be with his expectant wife Natalie last week.\nDelph, 28, who accompanied his Instagram post with a picture of himself on an aeroplane, wrote: 'I've just experienced the most amazing 24 hours. Watching my brothers come through a tough game both mentally and physically, I kicked every ball and felt every bit of emotion with the players, staff and fans.\n'At 07:52, me, my wife and two beautiful daughters welcomed their baby sister into the world.\n'I can't put into words the happiness and gratitude I'm feeling... Back to Russia now #TunnelVision.'\nFabian Delph pictured on a flight back to Russia following the birth of his third child\nSweden have injury concerns over midfielder Albin Ekdal, who missed training and had X-rays\nHis club Manchester City tweeted: 'Congrats Fab! Now go get 'em in the quarter -finals.'\nEngland team-mate Jordan Henderson responded: 'See you soon, bro.'\nMeanwhile, Sweden have injury concerns over midfielder Albin Ekdal, who missed training and had X-rays on a foot problem.\n'They'll check him today (Wednesday) but he feels positive,' captain Andreas Granqvist said. 'We hope there is nothing serious.'\nEkdal fears he aggravated an old injury in the last-16 win over Switzerland. 'It hurts a bit and it's swollen. It's too early to say,' he said after the match. 'I thought I had broken my old foot injury.'\nTeam-mate Jimmy Durmaz also missed training with a hip injury.", "Johnny Cueto delivered a stellar start as the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Angels in MLB on Sunday.\nCueto took a no-hitter through the fifth inning, but ran into some trouble in the next frame. Ian Kinsler singled up the middle for the Angels' first hit and Los Angeles had the bases loaded until Cueto got Luis Valbuena to hit into a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning.\nHe finished with zero runs on two hits with seven strikeouts over six innings as the Giants won 4-2.\nCueto now owns a 0.35 ERA, which is the lowest by a Giants pitcher in their first four starts of the season since 1968 when Ray Sadecki had a 0.25 ERA.\nAnother highlight of the game came when San Francisco's first baseman Brandon Belt set a new MLB record by battling out a 21-pitch at-bat against right-hander Jaime Barria.\nIt marks the most pitches in a single plate appearance in the last 20 years and took 12 minutes and 45 seconds before Belt flew out to right field. He went on to hit a home run in the fifth.\nYOUTHFUL YANKEES LEAD THE WAY\nA young group led the Yankees to a 5-1 win over the Blue Jays with strong games from Luis Severino (24) and Miguel Andujar (23). Severino allowed one run and three hits over seven innings, lowering his ERA to 2.32, while Andujar enjoyed the first four-hit game of his career. Two of Andujar's hits were doubles, giving him six straight games with an extra-base hit.\nREDS LOSE AGAIN\nThe Reds fell to 3-13 this season after a 9-2 thumping by the Cardinals. Cincinnati batters recorded just five hits and earned zero walks. Still the Reds are just two wins behind the Marlins for not having the worst MLB record. Miami (5-16) lost to the Brewers after leaving 18 on base and striking out a combined 11 times.\nMARVELLOUS MACHADO\nManny Machado hit his eighth home run of the season despite facing Indians ace Corey Kluber.\nHe is tied with Bryce Harper and Charlie Blackmon for the most homers in MLB behind Mike Trout.\nSUNDAY'S RESULTS\nCleveland Indians 7-3 Baltimore Orioles\nNew York Yankees 5-1 Toronto Blue Jays\nKansas City Royals 8-5 Detroit Tigers\nTampa Bay Rays 8-6 Minnesota Twins\nPhiladelphia Phillies 3-2 Pittsburgh Pirates\nHouston Astros 7-1 Chicago White Sox\nMilwaukee Brewers 4-2 Miami Marlins\nSt Louis Cardinals 9-2 Cincinnati Reds\nTexas Rangers 7-4 Seattle Mariners\nChicago Cubs 9-7 Colorado Rockies\nOakland Athletics 4-1 Boston Red Sox\nSan Francisco Giants 4-2 Los Angeles Angels\nArizona Diamondbacks 4-2 San Diego Padres\nLos Angeles Dodgers 4-3 Washington Nationals\nANGELS AT ASTROS\nThe Angels and Astros will begin the three-game series in Houston. LHP Tyler Skaggs (2-1, 3.98 ERA) is expected to start for the Angels while Gerrit Cole (2-0, 0.96 ERA) will start for the Astros.", "Get Daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nHull City travel to Preston North End on Saturday as the Tigers look to put an end to their rotten run of form away from home in the Championship.\nSo far under the stewardship Nigel Adkins, City have lost all four away games 1-0, the latest coming at Sunderland which has extended the Tigers run to seven games on the road without a victory.\nHowever, the head coach will have high hopes that City can finally earn three points this weekend, in what would be their first league win since Adkins arrived at the club in December.\nHe is able to welcome deadline day additions Harry Wilson and Angus MacDonald to the squad, who join from Liverpool and Barnsley respectively, and both will by vying for a first start just days after joining the club.\nBut, while the two new signings comes into the squad unfortunately, two leave it through injury. Markus Henriksen will drop out after rolling ankle in the first half against Leeds United, while Ondrej Mazuch limped off in the second half with another hamstring injury. Both are expected to miss at least three weeks, with Henriksen looking at a potential six-week layoff.\nAhead of the game, the Mail’s football writers select their starting XI for the Preston fixture.\nWill Jackson’s team\nIt’s been an eventful couple of days for Nigel Adkins. He’s been able to welcome two players into his squad but all of a sudden it seems he now has an unhappy captain and I would expect all three to play a part at Deepdale.\nUnhappy or not, Dawson should be professional enough to put his head down and continue to work hard for the cause and as such I expect him to keep his spot in the side, alongside Michael Hector who comes in for the injured Michael Hector. Angus MacDonald must settle for a spot amongst the substitutes.\nI’d like to see David Meyler come into the midfield to replace Markus Henriksen as a battling midfielder, while Kamil Grosicki has to come in on the left. The Polish international has been struggling with injury since Christmas but I would bring him back in to start and provide that pace down the flank.\nFraizer Campbell keeps his place up front for me but 4-4-2 may be too ambitious away from home, as such I would bring Evandro back into the fold.\nPhilip Buckingham’s team\nThe biggest call facing Nigel Adkins is over his captain Michael Dawson. It’s been a turbulent week and only Hull City’s head coach will know if Dawson is in the right frame of mind to start after coming so close to joining Nottingham Forest this week.\nProviding Dawson is ready I’d expect him to start alongside Michael Hector. The absence of Ondrej Mazuch is a blow and Angus MacDonald has not played since the end of November.\nDavid Meyler would be my choice to partner Seb Larsson, in behind an attacking trio of Jarrod Bowen, Jackson Irvine and Kamil Grosicki in a 4-2-3-1 system.\nYou could make a case for either Nouha Dicko or Fraizer Campbell leading the line at Deepdale but the latter’s experience and hold-up play earns him the nod. New signing Harry Wilson will be an interesting proposition off the bench.\nDisagree? Pick your side below.", "Given that Jordan Spieth didn't win the 99th PGA Championship to complete his career Grand Slam, he still came out of the tournament as a huge winner. When Justin Thomas raised the Wanamaker Trophy at Quail Hollow Club on Monday (AEST), Spieth was a pro's pro — by being a bro's bro.\nMORE: Winners and losers from thrilling week at Quail Hollow\nSpieth was beaming seeing Thomas, his longtime pal, bring home his first major like he himself was celebrating his historic fourth. Right there, post-final round, at the 18th hole to greet Thomas with Spieth was Rickie Fowler, hours after he was the brief leader in the clubhouse.\nIt was like their spring break trip to the Bahamas all over again. They were missing only the fourth player and \"MVP\" of their #SB2K17 crew, Smylie Kaufman, who was busy during the weekend becoming the first of the crew to get engaged.\n\"It's awesome and I think they knew I would do the same for them,\" Thomas said. \"It's a cool friendship we have. I know Rickie was a couple groups in front and Jordan was probably through nine or something when I (started).\n\"That kind of shows where the game is right now, where all of us are. We obviously all want to win. We want to beat the other person. But if we can't win, we at least want to enjoy it with our friends. We'll all be able to enjoy this together, and I know it's going to make them more hungry, just like it did for me for Jordan at the British.\"\nThere are plenty of twinkling twentysomethings in golf, such as 2017 U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka and already risen Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, who fell just short at Quail Hollow. But the core of what the PGA is now lies in Thomas, Spieth and Fowler.\nI guess I'm the only one on the tan line maintenance crew #SB2K17 @jordanspieth @smyliekaufman10 @justinthomas34 A post shared by R I C K I E (@rickiefowler) on Apr 14, 2017 at 9:54am PDT\nKevin Kisner, the leader through three rounds, and Chris Stroud were in Monday's final pairing, and Thomas had to go tee to tee with Matsuyama in the penultimate one. But there's no doubt when Spieth was clearly out of it (plus-2, tied for 28th) and Fowler's great fourth round wasn't going be enough (minus-5, tied for fifth), that Thomas feed a little off being the new fan favourite.\nIt was well timed, just when Thomas was about to make his surge to the top. He birdied the ninth and got the dramatic drop from the lip on the 10th to make it back to back, dropping him to minus-7 and putting him well on his way to his two-shot victory.\nWith Thomas joining Spieth as the past two Grand Slam winners of '17, the 24-year-olds have the most majors momentum going into '18. For Fowler, who frustratingly went top five in every major in '14, has more motivation on which to build with his finish at the PGA.\nPro golf is in a transition stage as it tries to carve out a new place in the pro sports landscape. The best way for it to fight the millennials ennui and market better to them — especially on TV — is to, well, go all in to showcase its most marketable millennials.\n#SB2K17 is on #BakersBay follow on @Snapchat 👉 RickieFowler15 JLThomas34 Smylie_Kaufman A post shared by R I C K I E (@rickiefowler) on Apr 11, 2017 at 11:25am PDT\nFor now, golf's viewership diversity that came with Tiger Woods is gone, and the sentimentally that came with Phil Mickelson and others is fading.\nGolf can have the best of both worlds: the global appeal of the best pro team sports while not losing the class and tradition of that other individual club one, tennis. Move over \"Big Four\" — the \"Bro Three\" can also deliver a full swing.\nFowler following Thomas and Spieth with a win at next year's Masters would be bro-tastic development for the PGA. For now, the tour should be very happy to see its bro-mance continue to bloom, whoever's lifting that trophy.", "The video will start in 8 Cancel\nGet daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe See our privacy notice Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nWrexham will face their longest away trip of the season first as they kick off the National League campaign after the fixtures were released on Wednesday.\nThe Dragons, who are facing an 11th season in exile from the Football League, begin their season at the Crabble Athletic Ground, home of Dover Athletic.\nThe trek to Dover is 12.1 miles shy of the 300 mark - a round trip of 575.8 miles.\nHere Post sport writer Rob Griffiths looks a little closer at the fixtures.\nWho do Wrexham play first?\nThe season kicks off on Saturday, August 4 with a long trip for Wrexham to take on Dover Athletic.\nThe Dragons have an awful record at the Crabble Athletic Ground and have yet to seal a win in four attempts. Their best result was a 1-1 draw secured in February 2017 as Jordan White scrambled home an equaliser late on, while they have lost the previous three matches on the south coast.\nLast season saw Wrexham go down to a 1-0 loss at Dover in early August.\nIndeed Wrexham have still to beat Dover at the Racecourse either, drawing 0-0 twice, 1-1 once and losing 1-0.\nWhen and against who is Wrexham’s first home game?\nThe Dragons first home game of the season comes only three days later as they take on AFC Fylde at the Racecourse on Tuesday, August 7.\nThe Coasters sealed the final play-off place last season following a 0-0 draw at Wrexham on the final day of the season.\nWrexham’s first home game on a Saturday comes the following weekend as they entertain Boreham Wood.\nWhat’s the festive fixture list looking like?\n(Image: Daily Post Wales)\nWrexham will play four matches over the festive period, starting with an away trip to Aldershot on Saturday, December 22.\nBoxing Day sees the Dragons at home against Salford City, with the visit of Solihull Moors coming on Saturday, December 29.\nNew Year’s Day sees a return match with Salford at Moor Lane.\nWho do Wrexham play over Easter?\nEaster is always a crucial part of the campaign.\nNext year Easter is particularly late in April with the Dragons entertaining Sutton United, who finished in the play-offs last season, on Good Friday (April 19), before travelling to FC Halifax on Easter Monday (April 22).\nWhen and against who do Wrexham finish the National League season?\nThe final game of the season comes only a week after Easter as Wrexham finish at home against newly promoted Harrogate Town on Saturday, April 27.\nHarrogate claimed a 2-0 win last season at the Racecourse over a weakened Dragons side in the first round of the FA Trophy.\nWhen are the cross-border derbies?\nSorry, Wrexham don’t have any this year, indeed they don’t have many derby matches this season.\nChester suffered relegation to the National League North, while the two other nearest rivals; Tranmere Rovers and Macclesfield Town both claimed promotion and regained a place in the Football League.\nWrexham’s nearest rivals this season are Salford City who are 58.4 miles away while Fylde are the second at 80.8 miles.\nWrexham’s Vanarama National League fixtures 2018-19\nSat Aug 4 Dover Athletic A\nTue Aug 7 AFC Fylde H\nSat Aug 11 Boreham Wood H\nTue Aug 14 Maidenhead United A\nSat Aug 18 Eastleigh A\nSat Aug 25 Bromley H\nMon Aug 27 Solihull Moors A\nSat Sep 1 Aldershot Town H\nTue Sep 4 FC Halifax Town H\nSat Sep 8 Braintree Town A\nSat Sep 15 Ebbsfleet United H\nSat Sep 22 Sutton United A\nTue Sep 25 Harrogate Town A\nSat Sep 29 Barnet H\nSat Oct 6 Havant & Waterlooville H\nSat Oct 13 Dagenham & Redbridge A\nSat Oct 20 FA Cup fourth qualifying round\nSat Oct 27 Chesterfield A\nTue Oct 30 Hartlepool United H\nSat Nov 3 Gateshead H\nSat Nov 10 FA Cup first round\nSat Nov 17 Maidstone United A\nSat Nov 24 Leyton Orient H\nTue Nov 27 Barrow A\nSat Dec 1 Bromley A (FA Cup second round)\nSat Dec 8 Eastleigh H\nSat Dec 15 FA Trophy first round\nSat Dec 22 Aldershot Town A\nWed Dec 26 Salford City H\nSat Dec 29 Solihull Moors H\nTue Jan 1 Salford City A\nSat Jan 5 Dover Athletic H (FA Cup third round)\nSat Jan 12 FA Trophy second round\nSat Jan 19 AFC Fylde A\nSat Jan 26 Maidenhead United H (FA Cup fourth round)\nSat Feb 2 Boreham Wood A (FA Trophy third round)\nSat Feb 9 Dagenham & Redbridge H\nSat Feb 16 Havant & Waterlooville A (FA Cup fifth round)\nSat Feb 23 Gateshead A (FA Trophy fourth round)\nSat Mar 2 Chesterfield H\nSat Mar 9 Leyton Orient A\nTue Mar 12 Barrow H\nSat Mar 16 Maidstone United H (FA Cup quarter-final/FA Trophy semi-final first leg)\nSat Mar 23 Hartlepool United A (FA Trophy semi-final second leg)\nSat Mar 30 Ebbsfleet United A\nSat Apr 6 Braintree Town H (FA Cup semi-final)\nSat Apr 13 Barnet A\nFri Apr 19 Sutton United H\nMon Apr 22 FC Halifax Town A\nSat Apr 27 Harrogate Town H", "The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) Act court will pronounce the final judgement on June 17 against gangster Abu Salem and six others for their involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Salem is currently in Taloja jail for being sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1995 murder of builder Pradeep Jain. The other six accused are namely Abdul Qayyum, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, Karimullah Sheikh, Mustafa Dossa and Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Taklya. The 1993 serial blasts rocked Mumbai and is one of the worst in the history of India. It left 257 people dead and around 700 injured. The attacks were carried out with the involvement of Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon, both still at large. The bombings were a series of 13 bomb explosions that took place in Mumbai on March 12, 1993. The attacks are considered to be the most destructive and coordinated ones in Indian history.\nHere’s the timeline:\nMarch 12, 1993: At around 1:30 pm, a car bomb exploded in the basement of the 28-storey Mumbai Stock Exchange building, severly damaging nearby office buildings and killing 50 people. The second blast took place nearly after 30 minutes in front of the Mandvi Branch Corporation Bank near Masjid Bunder Railway station. Within an hour, a total of 13 bombs exploded throughout Mumbai. The 13 locations are Mumbai Stock Exchange building, Masjid-Mandvi Corporation Bank Branch, Zaveri Bazaar, Fisherman’s Colony in Mahim Causeway, Plaza Cinema, Katha Bazaar, Century Bazaar, Hotel Sea Rock, Air India building, Terminal at Sahar Airport (current CSIA), Hotel Juhu Centaur, Worli and Passport Office. Most of the bombs were planted in cars and scooters.\nApr 19, 1993: The Crime Branch arrests Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt at Mumbai airport on charges of possession of an AK-56 rifle, a 9 mm pistol and ammunition.\nApr 28, 1993: Dutt confesses about possession of arms and later destroying it.\nMay 5, 1993: The Bombay High Court grants Dutt an interim bail.\nNov 4, 1993: Over 10,000 page-long primary charge-sheet filed against 189 accused, including Dutt (accused number 117).\nNov 19, 1993: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) takes over the case.\nApr 1, 1994: The TADA court shifted from city’s sessions and civil court to a separate building inside the premises of the Central Jail at Arthur Road.\nApr 10, 1994: The TADA court discharges 26 accused, while charges against the remaining 163 framed.\nApr 19, 1994: Trial begins.\nJun 30, 1994: Mohammed Jameel and Usman Jhankanan, both accused, turns approver.\nJul 4, 1994: Trial court cancels Dutt’s bail, arrests him.\nOct 14, 1994: The Supreme Court grants bail to Dutt.\nNov 20, 1994: Dutt takes back his confession.\nMar 29, 1996: Pramod Dattaram Kode popularly known as PD Kode appointed as a special TADA judge for the case.\nOct 2000: Examination of 684 prosecution witnesses end.\nMar 9, 2001: Accused record their statements.\nAug 9, 2001: Prosecution begins arguments.\nOct 18, 2001: Prosecution completes arguments.\nNov 9, 2001: Defence begins arguments.\nAug 22, 2002: Defence completes arguments.\nFeb 20, 2003: Ejaz Pathan, Dawood’s gang-member, produced in the court.\nMar 20, 2003: Mustafa Dossa’s remand proceedings and trial separated.\nJun 13, 2006: Gangster Abu Salem’s trial separated.\nAug 10, 2006: Judge PD Kode announced ‘September 12’ as the judgement day.\nSep 12, 2006: The court pronounced four members of the Memon family guilty and acquits three. The court further announces death penalty to 12 convicts and 20 are given life imprisonment.\nNov 2006: Dutt gets convictd under Arms Act and acquitted uner TADA.\nJul 31, 2007: The TADA court sentences Dutt six years rigorous imprisonment.\nAug 20, 2007: Dutt appeals against the sentence, moves to Supreme Court.\nNov 1, 2011: Supreme Court begins hearing on appeals filed by Dutt and 100 other convicts as well as the state.\nAug 29, 2012: SC reserves its order on the appeals.\nMar 21, 2013: SC upholds death sentence of Yakub Memon, transfers death sentence of 10 convicts to life imprisonment and also uphelds life imprisonment of 16 out of 18 convicts. The court declares five year jail term to Dutt and asks him to surrender within four weeks.\nOct 2013: Dutt gets 14 day parole which is further extended to another 14 days due to leg pain.\nDec 2013: Dutt’s parole is extended to another 28 days due to his wife Manyata’s illness.\nJuly 21, 2015: SC rejects Yakub Memon’s petition.\nJuly 29, 2015: SC refuses to stay Yakub’s execution. President Pranab Mukheree and Maharashtra governor rejects Yakub’s second mercy plea.\nJuly 30, 2015: Hours before Yakub’s hanging top lawyers approach SC to seek a 14-day stay on his execution. SC rejects the last-minute plea. Memon hanged at Nagpur Central jail.\nAug 2015: Owing to daughter’s nose surgery Dutt gets 30 day parole.\nFeb 25, 2016: Dutt walks free from Pune’s Yerwada jail.\nMay 29, 2017: The TADA court announces June 16 as the date for pronouncement of judgement on trial against Abu Salem and other six accused.", "Exciting prospect Tom Baldwin is a bolter to play for WA in their opening match of the National Under-18s Championships against South Australia on Sunday after impressing in two recent trial games.\nBaldwin is one of four Great Southern footballers in the WA State 18s academy but the 17-year-old has rocketed into calculations for their trip to South Australia, being brought into the program after the first intake of players.\nThe State 18s have played two trial games in the past fortnight and Baldwin has played a strong role across half-back to help boost his prospects of selection for the first match, with the travelling squad expected to be announced by today.\nBaldwin, who hails from Jerramungup and played senior football for Royals last year, will be in line to play alongside fellow Great Southern product Jordan Clark.\nClark has played multiple roles in the two trial games and is also a strong chance to line-up for WA in the match at Alberton Oval on Sunday afternoon.\nClaremont talent development officer Warren Parker said Baldwin was firming to be on the plane to South Australia.\n“I’m really pleased with Tom’s performances so far,” Parker said.\n“Especially after missing the first intake and coming into the program a week later, he took that well and played a really good game to get the call-up.\n“He’s forced their hand a bit with his performances, we certainly rate him highly but I’d say he’ll be right up there (to be selected).”\nClark played colts football with Railways before moving to Guildford Grammar.\n“I’m really confident that Clarky will get the call-up,” Parker said.\n“He’s been playing all over the place in the trial games.\n“I’m not sure in terms of position where they are thinking with him but he’s right in the mix to play.”\nThe news comes after top Claremont midfielder and Great Southern product Tyron Smallwood suffered a broken jaw in the first trial match, ruling him out of at least the first two championship matches.\nSmallwood and underage tall Anthony Davies from Borden are the other two local footballers in the State 18s squad.\nWA face South Australia at 2pm on Sunday before returning home where they will play Vic Metro on June 19 at Optus Stadium.\nMeanwhile, in the Great Southern Football League this weekend, North Albany and the Tigers will do battle in a top of the table clash on Sunday.\nThe Tigers are chasing six successive wins to start the season and appear set to face a near full-strength Kangas outfit at Collingwood Park.\nIn Saturday’s fixtures, the Lions and Mt Barker do battle at Centennial Stadium while Denmark-Walpole host Albany at McLean Park.", "Coachella is one of the biggest music festivals of the year. Not only that, but it’s become a celebrity hot spot as well fashion statement.\nFor the most part, anything goes. You will see everything from 70s inspired attire to nearly naked. So we’ve found some of our favorite outfits from this year’s festival…and by favorite we mean some of the weirdest outfits we’ve ever seen!\nLet’s start with Rihanna, who was head to toe sparkles!\nphresh out. A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Apr 16, 2017 at 11:48am PDT\n\" I can't go home yet, cuz enough people ain't seen my outfit \" A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Apr 16, 2017 at 1:01am PDT\nThen there’s Katy Perry, who went with a sports bra theme.\nThank Goddess ✨💫🌙 📸@janellshirtcliff A post shared by KATY PERRY (@katyperry) on Apr 14, 2017 at 7:05pm PDT\nbeen doing this since before you were a bloop in the womb A post shared by KATY PERRY (@katyperry) on Apr 16, 2017 at 3:04am PDT\nVanessa Hudgens went with more of a hippie look.\n🍾🌵🌴🌞 @lemeridienhotels #marriotXcoachella A post shared by Vanessa Hudgens (@vanessahudgens) on Apr 15, 2017 at 4:05pm PDT\nDay2 #Coachella A post shared by Vanessa Hudgens (@vanessahudgens) on Apr 16, 2017 at 12:37pm PDT\nAnd then there’s Kylie Jenner, who went with a desert theme…snake print.\nHow cool is this party we are hosting with @bumble? It's snowing in the desert! Having the best time here at the #WinterBumbleland party! #ad ❄🌴🐝 A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Apr 15, 2017 at 4:43pm PDT\nMeanwhile Kendall Jenner was wearing some sort of sequin sleeve.\nhaving so much fun at the @bumble #WinterBumbleland party, hosting with my sister #ad ❄🌴🐝 A post shared by Kendall (@kendalljenner) on Apr 15, 2017 at 3:37pm PDT\nAnd finally we have Sophie Turner, who went full bandana jacket on us.\nsophie turner attending nylon's midnight garden party at coachella pic.twitter.com/s9RfN0H0iO — sophie turner news (@badpostsophie) April 15, 2017\nLet us know if we missed anything!", "Without Thomas Szajko’s testimony, alleged shooter Afshin Ighani could get off on that charge\nAfshin Maleki Ighani, 45, was arrested in April in Princeton and is facing several charges including attempted murder in connection to a shooting that took place in Oliver. Ighani could get off on the charges, after the alleged shooting victim died last week. (Western News file photo)\nA man accused of an April crime spree in the South Okanagan and Similkameen areas may get off on allegedly shooting an Oliver man, after the key witness died last week.\nAfshin Maleki Ighani is accused of shooting Thomas Szajko in Oliver on Apr. 19 this year, and has been going through the court system, leading up to a trial on the matters. But Szajko was the Crown’s key witness on that matter, and he died in his home on Dec. 1 of unspecified causes.\nRelated: Oliver shooting victim reportedly dies months later\nAsked how the trial could go forward without testimony of Szajko, Crown lawyer John Swanson only said “That’s a problem.”\nThough Szajko may have made a statement to the police, no testimony would mean the defence has no opportunity to cross-examine Szajko.\nSwanson said he is working with police to review evidence and attempt to build up the case without testimony from Szajko.\n“We’re working on it,” he said in a brief interview with the Western News.\nRelated: Alleged Oliver shooter elects trial by judge\nThough Ighani may get off without a trial on that matter, he will still need to stand trial over the alleged kidnapping of a woman later that week, as police entered a regional manhunt for him.\nPolice had surrounded an RV they believed Ighani to be living in at Szajko’s property on the evening of Apr. 19, but after entering the vehicle did not find Ighani.\nLater that week, police received reports of a man having kicked another man out of a vehicle and taking a woman with him, leading the police to the Similkameen Valley.\nRelated: RCMP hunt for alleged shooter\nIghani was later found in a mobile home park in Princeton, where he was arrested and charged on all alleged incidents.\nIghani’s next court appearance is set for Dec. 18 for a preliminary inquiry.\n@dustinrgodfrey\[email protected]\nLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.", "Get Daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email\nCallum Robinson v Michael Hector\nMichael Hector’s calamitous error decided the game the last time these two sides met, gifting the ball to Daryl Horgan, who in turn put the ball on a plate for Callum Robinson to Score Preston’s second at the KCOM Stadium.\nHector will be keen to ensure a repeat doesn’t happen this weekend against a player who is eager to cement a spot in the side.\nThe forward will step into the sizeable shoes of Jordan Hugill, who scored ten goals for Preston this season before leaving to join West Ham United on transfer deadline day and Robinson will be the man expected to replace his goals.\n(Image: Focus)\nRobinson has been in and out of the side this season but might fancy his chances against a defender who is lacking in confidence.\nBilly Bodin v Fikayo Tomori\nA January addition from Bristol Rovers, Billy Bodin has hit the ground running at Deepdale, bagging his first Championship goal for the Lilywhites in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.\nThe winger will be keen to continue his progress by taking advantage of Fikayo Tomori who has proven to be vulnerable away from home of late.\nIn Hull City's last two Championship away days, Tomori has looked behind the pace, struggling to deal with the threat of the home side.\nAt Bolton Wanderers on New Year’s Day Tomori was at fault for giving away the free kick that decided the game, while at the Stadium of Light a fortnight ago he appeared to succumb to the pressure of a relegation six-pointer.\nThe youngster is going through a pivotal period as a player at the moment, one that his talent will ensure he comes out stronger for.\nDarnell Fisher v Kamil Grosicki\nAfter limping out of the Boxing Day draw with Derby County with an ankle injury, Kamil Grosicki is expected to return to the starting lineup this weekend.\n(Image: Focus)\nThe winger picked up 45 minutes of action against Leeds United and injected a bit of pace into the Tigers’ attack. He can probably count himself unlucky not to have picked up an assist as well in midweek, as Felix Wiedwald managed to get the slightest touch on his cross to ensure Nouha Dicko didn’t score the opener.\nIn Darnell Fisher he faces a player who has been recognised as one of the best fullbacks in the division this season as a result of his impressive performances for Alex Neil’s side.\nFisher might be one of the few fullbacks who has the pace to keep with Grosicki in the Championship, while his incessant work rate is sure to cause City problems of their own.", "The Easter bunny was generous this year!\nTons of celebrity families turned out on social media over the weekend to share their best Easter Sunday photos, posing as a group and snapping adorable moments of their little ones on the hunt for eggs.\n“Happy Easter! Love, The Lacheys 💗🐰#LacheyPartyOf5,” Vanessa Lachey captioned a photo of herself, Nick Lachey and their kids Phoenix Robert, 3 months, Brooklyn Elisabeth, 2, and Camden John, 4½.\nCash Warren took a bit of a different approach, sharing a photo of his 5½-year-old daughter Haven Garner with wife Jessica Alba looking for eggs, “Here’s visual proof that I’m a parent who cheats to get their kid ahead. Whatever.” (A shadow of Warren’s hand can be seen pointing in the direction Haven is wandering!)\nFrom the cute and traditional to the downright hilarious, scroll down to see some of our favorite celebrity-family social media moments from Easter 2017.\nWant all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter.\nRELATED VIDEO: Tina Lawson Shares Sweet Easter Post With Daughter Beyoncé & Kelly Rowland\nHappy Easter! Love, The Lacheys 💗🐰#LacheyPartyOf5 A post shared by Vanessa Lachey (@vanessalachey) on Apr 16, 2017 at 7:29pm PDT\nHappy Easter from Batel Lu! Her bunny best friend is from @petittresor A post shared by Jenna Jameson (@jennacantlose) on Apr 16, 2017 at 10:48am PDT\nHappy Easter! 🐣 A post shared by Holly Madison (@hollymadison) on Apr 16, 2017 at 11:56am PDT\nHappy Easter to all of you and your loved ones. #easter @giadavegas and @cromwellvegas A post shared by Nick Carter (@nickcarter) on Apr 16, 2017 at 12:40pm PDT\nHere's visual proof that I'm a parent who cheats to get their kid ahead. Whatever. A post shared by Cash Warren (@cash_warren) on Apr 16, 2017 at 4:53pm PDT\nEaster family pic and Asher's giving us 'blue steel' 😙💙 A post shared by Desiree (Hartsock) Siegfried (@desireesiegfried) on Apr 16, 2017 at 3:51pm PDT\nHappy Easter from our home to yours. #HeIsRisen 🙌🏻⛪️🌞🐣🐰🌷💞 A post shared by Hillary Scott (@hillaryscottla) on Apr 16, 2017 at 11:52am PDT\nPretty pumped on the #easterbunny 🐰🌸💕 #happyeaster #cousins A post shared by haylieduff (@haylieduff) on Apr 16, 2017 at 9:52am PDT\nHappy Easter 🐰🐣 A post shared by Alyssa Milano (@milano_alyssa) on Apr 16, 2017 at 2:00pm PDT\nHappy Easter! 🐰🐰This was the best we could get out of them. Bubby on his way to nakedness as always and all Viv can focus on is getting her eggs all open she got from church 😂🐰 A post shared by Jessie James Decker (@jessiejamesdecker) on Apr 16, 2017 at 10:07am PDT\nHappy Easter from me and my sugar crazed little bunny. 😂 A post shared by Busy Philipps (@busyphilipps) on Apr 16, 2017 at 2:14pm PDT\nHappy Easter 🐰🐰🐰#grateful #tribeof5 😇 A post shared by Molly Sims (@mollybsims) on Apr 16, 2017 at 2:17pm PDT\nHappy Easter!! ❤ A post shared by D A P H N E O Z (@daphneoz) on Apr 16, 2017 at 8:05pm PDT\nHappy Easter from the Chatham family! I hope all of you had a special day with family and friends. We had a blast! Check out my insta-story for all of our fun! 🐰 🐣 XO Wes, Jenn, Nash & Rhett A post shared by Jenn Brown | TV Host (@jennbrowntv) on Apr 16, 2017 at 7:43pm PDT\nEaster Bunny came! A post shared by Jenn Brown | TV Host (@jennbrowntv) on Apr 16, 2017 at 8:42am PDT\nBunnies everywhere! A post shared by Jenn Brown | TV Host (@jennbrowntv) on Apr 16, 2017 at 9:02am PDT\nEaster with #demkids #moments #rocandroe #easter #family 🐣🐥🌈🦋🐰💖 @nickcannon A post shared by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on Apr 15, 2017 at 3:48pm PDT\n🐰 H A P P Y E A S T E R 🐰 A post shared by @odetteannable on Apr 16, 2017 at 7:17pm PDT\n@adoravillegas on Easter with mom @rachelereillyvillegas and dad at 👵 & 👴 's. Don't eat the 🍳. 😂 A post shared by Brendon Villegas (@brendonvbb12) on Apr 17, 2017 at 8:59am PDT\n#HappyEaster #joy #gratitude #love 🐰🙏🏼💗 A post shared by Courtney Hansen (@courtney_hansen) on Apr 16, 2017 at 6:18pm PDT\nI think the egg hunt was a hit. 🐣 Happy Easter from Georgia James! A post shared by Christine Lakin (@yolakin) on Apr 16, 2017 at 6:03pm PDT\nHappy Easter. A post shared by Halle Berry (@halleberry) on Apr 16, 2017 at 10:05am PDT\nHappy Easter 🐣🐇🐰 A post shared by Denise Richards (@deniserichards) on Apr 16, 2017 at 4:42pm PDT\nFamily Easter pic photo bombed by my horse Bellaco! Hope all those celebrating are having as gorgeous and joyful an Easter as the Kelley clan! #thoseheavenlydays #badlandsranch #happyeaster 🐰🌷❤️ A post shared by Katherine Heigl (@katherineheigl) on Apr 16, 2017 at 4:10pm PDT\nA post shared by Kelly Rowland (@kellyrowland) on Apr 16, 2017 at 3:35pm PDT\nA beautiful Sunday mass to celebrate our Lords resurrection! A post shared by Ali landry (@alilandry) on Apr 16, 2017 at 3:28pm PDT\nHappy Easter from our family to yours! #happyeaster A post shared by Beverley Mitchell (@beverleymitchell) on Apr 16, 2017 at 3:05pm PDT\nHappy Easter from the Lowes! A post shared by Sean Lowe (@seanloweksu) on Apr 16, 2017 at 10:45am PDT\nHappy Easter!!! 🐇 hope you find the golden egg! 💛🐣🌷#Easter A post shared by Ali Sweeney (@alisweeney) on Apr 16, 2017 at 1:25pm PDT\nHappy Easter Sunday everyone! #babyChmerkovskiy ⚓️ #tfutfutfu A post shared by @maksimc on Apr 16, 2017 at 1:29pm PDT\nHappy Easter from my family to yours A post shared by Justin Moore (@justincolemoore) on Apr 16, 2017 at 12:41pm PDT\nHappy Easter, from my family! #heisrisen A post shared by tameramowrytwo (@tameramowrytwo) on Apr 16, 2017 at 3:25pm PDT\nThat's a Happy Easter A post shared by P!NK (@pink) on Apr 16, 2017 at 7:38am PDT\nWant some candy? A post shared by Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) on Apr 16, 2017 at 6:14pm PDT\nEaster 2018 will pose quite the challenge for these families to top this year’s moments. Maybe there will be some newborn babies dressed like chicks inside “eggs”? You never know.", "A look at what's happening around the majors Wednesday:\n___\nREMEMBER HIM?\nFns watch the Cleveland Indians against the Chicago Cubs game from Cleveland,on the scoreboard at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, during a rain delay before a scheduled baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, April, 24, 2018. The game was postponed due to a steady rain, and was re-scheduled as part of a doubleheader Wednesday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)\nThe Tampa Bay Rays face former teammate Alex Cobb when they play at Camden Yards. They had been set to meet up Tuesday night, but the game in Baltimore was rained out. The 30-year-old Cobb spent his entire career with the Rays before joining the Orioles in late March. Over six years with Tampa Bay, the right-hander was 48-35 and one of the leaders of the staff.\nCobb signed a $57 million, four-year deal with Baltimore. He got off to a late start because he missed most of spring training, and since his return has gone 0-2 with a 15.43 ERA.\nLOOKS ODD\nDodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has a 2.45 ERA after five starts, not far off his career mark of 2.36. But his won-loss record this season looks unusual - he's 1-3. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner was a combined 67-18 over the previous four years. He'll try to get back in the victory column when he starts against Miami at Dodger Stadium.\nNEED A DOME!\nThere have been 28 postponements this season in the majors, the most related to weather through April since the commissioner's office started keeping those records in 1986.\nThe Detroit-Pittsburgh game was rained out Tuesday night, forcing a doubleheader at PNC Park. It will be the second time they've played a twinbill this year against each other after wintry weather pushed back opening day at Comerica Park on March 29 and caused another matchup to be called off.\nThe Cubs and Indians played through steady rain Tuesday night in Cleveland. The wet weather intensified throughout the game, leaving puddles in the infield and causing Chicago reliever Steve Cishek to slip on the mound several times.\nSTRONG STARTS\nJustin Verlander (3-0, 1.10 ERA) makes his sixth start of the season when Houston hosts the Angels. ... Max Scherzer (4-1, 1.36 ERA), winner of the last two NL Cy Young Awards, pitches at San Francisco. ... Phillies newcomer Jake Arrieta (2-0, 2.04 ERA) faces Arizona star Zack Greinke at Citizens Bank Park.\nGRAY AREA\nYankees right-hander Sonny Gray (1-1, 8.27 ERA) has totaled just 16 1/3 innings in four starts this season. He'll aim to add a little length when he pitches against Minnesota at Yankee Stadium.", "Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment bring together two of pop culture's all-time heroes, TV's original Batman and Captain Kirk, Adam West and William Shatner, respectively, to voice the title characters in the full-length, animated feature film, Batman vs. Two-Face. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will make the all-new movie available October 10, 2017 on Digital and October 17, 2017 on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 SRP) and DVD ($19.98 SRP). The first Batman vs. Two-Face trailer was released last week, which you can check out again below along with the Blu-ray and DVD artwork.\nAs the sequel to the 2016 hit animated film Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, the all-new Batman vs. Two-Face finds Batman and Robin back in classic 1960s action, protecting Gotham City from some of the most nefarious villains in comics history. But when the mutilated master of multiplicity, Two-Face, begins staging a daring crime wave across Gotham, the Caped Crusaders must work double-time to discover his mysterious secret identity before they can halt his evil-doing - all the while combating the likes of Catwoman, Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Bookworm, Hugo Strange and King Tut! The new trailer surfaced on Warner Bros. Home Entertainment YouTube earlier today.\nThe late Adam West leads the star-studded cast in his final performance as Batman. The beloved actor delivers an inspired turn opposite fellow pop culture icon William Shatner (Star Trek) as the criminally conflicted Harvey Dent/Two-Face. This is only the second production of any kind to feature the two titans of the fanboy realm together. West and Shatner first teamed in the 1963 \"Alexander The Great\" television series that never made it past the pilot.\nThe cast also boasts two more pop culture icons of the 1960s. Burt Ward is back for more \"holy\" fun as the Boy Wonder himself, Robin, and Tony Award winner Julie Newmar reprises her role as the fiendish feline, Catwoman. The voice cast includes Jeff Bergman (Joker, Bookworm, Desmond Dumas), Sirena Irwin (Dr. Quinzel), Thomas Lennon (Chief O'Hara), Lee Meriwether (Lucilee Diamond), William Salyers (Penguin), Lynne Marie Stewart (Aunt Harriet), Jim Ward (Hugo Strange, Commissioner Gordon), Steven Weber (Alfred, Two-Face henchmen) and Wally Wingert (Riddler, King Tut).\nThe core Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders filmmaking team reprises their roles for Batman vs. Two-Face. Rick Morales (LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes - Justice League: Cosmic Clash) directs from a script by Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!) and James Tucker (Teen Titans: The Judas Contract). Tucker and Jelenic and also Supervising Producer and Producer, respectively. Sam Register is Executive Producer. Benjamin Melniker and Michael Uslan are Executive Producers. Here's what Mary Ellen Thomas, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Vice President, Family & Animation Marketing, had to say about the movie in her statement.\n\"Batman vs. Two-Face is a must-have for all Batman fans featuring a cavalcade of his foes, and an amazing cast including two giants of pop culture, Adam West and William Shatner. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is excited to bring these beloved characters to animated life, and proud to have been associated with an actor as impressive, gracious and entertaining as Adam West. We salute his extensive contributions to the legacy of the character, and we are greatly appreciative of his cooperation and support in bringing this animated film to fruition. He will be greatly missed.\"\nSpecial Features for Batman vs. Two-Face include \"The Wonderful World of Burt Ward\" featurette, spotlighting Burt Ward's life away from acting, particularly his many benevolent activities, and his lifelong devotion to the health and welfare of dogs. Adam West Tribute Panel/2017 Comic-Con International 2017 showcases how, at the 2017 Comic-Con International in San Diego, a panel celebrated the life and times of the late Adam West, the legendary \"Bright Knight.\" Fans laughed, cried and cheered as actress Lee Meriwether (Catwoman from the 1966 Batman movie), director/writer/actor Kevin Smith, actor/radio personality Ralph Garman, producer James Tucker and moderator Gary Miereanu captivated the audience with anecdotes and tales about Adam West. The final special feature includes actors Burt Ward and Julie Newmar discussing various aspects of their lives, ambitions and inspirations.\nBatman Vs. Two-Face will be available to viewers for streaming and download to watch anywhere in high definition and standard definition on their favorite devices from select digital retailers including Amazon, CinemaNow, Flixster, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others. Starting October 17, 2017, Batman vs. Two-Face will also be available digitally on Video On Demand services from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles. Digital movies or TV episodes allow fans to watch a digital version of their movie or TV show anywhere, on their favorite devices. Digital movies or TV episodes are included with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs. With digital, consumers are able to instantly stream and download movies and TV shows to TVs, computers, tablets and smartphones through UltraViolet retail services like CinemaNow, Flixster Video, Vudu and more. Take a look at the trailer and the Blu-ray and DVD artwork for Batman vs. Two-Face below.", "Though President Donald Trump for the most part has stayed out of public view since arriving Thursday evening in Palm Beach, photos and videos shared on social media from his Mar-a-Lago Club provide a look at how the president is spending his weekend.\nTrump, who is expected to leave Palm Beach on Sunday afternoon, went to his Trump International Golf Club in suburban West Palm Beach on Friday and Saturday, spending several hours there each time. The White House has not confirmed if the president was golfing.\n>> Read more trending news\nThe president is joined this weekend by first lady Melania Trump, who visited a local home for victims of domestic abuse on Friday.\nAlso spending the weekend at Mar-a-Lago: all of President Trump’s children except Ivanka Trump and her family, who are in Canada for Passover. Trump’s children, Mar-a-Lago Club members and guests posted images as they celebrated the holiday.\nDonald Trump Jr. shared this photo on Instagram of his daughter, Kai, with her grandfather Thursday evening.\nMore photos posted at Mar-a-Lago this weekend:\nInflation at work. Kai lost a tooth last night and the tooth fairy showed up. Back in the day I was psyched if I got a dollar but it was usually change when I was a kid. #tooth #toothfairy #inflation #familytime #family #weekend A post shared by Donald Trump Jr. (@donaldjtrumpjr) on Apr 14, 2017 at 5:49am PDT\nChloe beating up her daddy this morning. #familytime #family #weekend #daddysgirl A post shared by Donald Trump Jr. (@donaldjtrumpjr) on Apr 15, 2017 at 6:03am PDT\nAnnual Easter Bunny cake making session. I think Chloe, Spencer and Tristan ate most of the icing and candy decorations way before they even got on the cake but they had fun. #familytime #family #weekend #easter #bunny #easterbunny #cake A post shared by Donald Trump Jr. (@donaldjtrumpjr) on Apr 15, 2017 at 9:44am PDT\nI think I'm going to have to buy a few thousand of these to pass around to our buddies in the Main Stream Media. In the meantime I'll model it for them. #yourewelcome #fakenews #veryfakenews #mainstream #media #msm A post shared by Donald Trump Jr. (@donaldjtrumpjr) on Apr 15, 2017 at 1:15pm PDT\nA post shared by Lara Trump (@laraleatrump) on Apr 13, 2017 at 5:16pm PDT\n#MAGA in baby blue 🇺🇸 A post shared by Lara Trump (@laraleatrump) on Apr 15, 2017 at 12:51pm PDT\nHappy (early) Easter! (: @lapetiterobemi) A post shared by Lara Trump (@laraleatrump) on Apr 15, 2017 at 4:30pm PDT\nMaking bunnycakes.. Happy Easter. A post shared by Leah Maria Klein (@leahmariak) on Apr 15, 2017 at 8:58am PDT\nSunny spring break days! Thanks Matt and Mary! A post shared by Kathy Fetter (@kfetter3) on Apr 14, 2017 at 2:38pm PDT\nGood times at the White House Good Friday Dinner 👍🏻🇺🇸 A post shared by COREY SCHOTTENSTEIN (@corey_schottenstein) on Apr 14, 2017 at 7:09pm PDT\n#grandchildrenarethebest Easter egg hunt and Bunny cake decorating fun! #flaglermuseumeasteregghunt A post shared by Gay Henriksen (@gayhenriksen) on Apr 15, 2017 at 2:16pm PDT\nSaturday A post shared by Sydney Sadick (@sydneysadick) on Apr 15, 2017 at 9:46am PDT\nLouie making new friends. 🇺🇸 #potus #potus45 @realdonaldtrump #louielaurence A post shared by Blair Brandt (@blairbrandt) on Apr 15, 2017 at 7:04am PDT\nIt´s time for Easter Bunny cake! #funtime #familytime #loveeastertime A post shared by Nelly Hrbaty (@nellyhrbaty) on Apr 15, 2017 at 12:07pm PDT\n>> Visit MyPalmBeachPost.com for more coverage of Trump's weekend in Palm Beach.", "share tweet pin email\nVictoria Beckham’s 5-year-old daughter can sing!\nHarper has rhythm, too. Watch her sing “Happy Birthday” for her mom, who turned 43 Monday, as she snaps her fingers. This is music to Beckham’s ears.\n🙏🏻 I love u @davidbeckham @brooklynbeckham @romeobeckham @cruzbeckham 💕💕💕💕 A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Apr 17, 2017 at 9:43am PDT\nThe kiss at the end is the perfect touch. Well done, Harper!\n“I love u,” the birthday mom wrote to her husband, David Beckham, and their sons Brooklyn, 18, Romeo, 14, and Cruz, 12.\nDavid Beckham didn’t sing for his wife on Instagram, but he did give us an amazing flashback to her Posh Spice days.\nHappy birthday to An amazing mummy , wife and friend .. We Love you Have a beautiful day x @victoriabeckham @brooklynbeckham @cruzbeckham @romeobeckham #@HarperSeven A post shared by David Beckham (@davidbeckham) on Apr 17, 2017 at 9:43am PDT\n“Happy birthday to An amazing mummy, wife and friend .. We Love you Have a beautiful day,” he captioned the pic.\nRELATED: David Beckham 'so so proud' of daughter riding bike on her own — watch the video\nRomeo and Cruz posted birthday wishes, too.\nMum, I love u so much and hope you have the best day ever!! You are the most amazing mum and you are perfect I'm every way. I love how you make me laugh every day and whatever happens you always seem to be happy. I love you to the moon and back xx have the best day ever !! ❤ A post shared by Romeobeckham (@romeobeckham) on Apr 17, 2017 at 10:29am PDT\nDear Mum happy birthday you are the best mum ever @victoriabeckham #bestmumever ❤️❤️😜 A post shared by Cruz Beckham (@cruzbeckham) on Apr 17, 2017 at 9:31am PDT\nVictoria Beckham's kids have spoiled her on social media lately. For U.K. Mother’s Day last month, they saluted their wonderful mum with sweet messages. She wrote at the time that she was “feeling very loved.” That feeling was just as strong today.\nHappy birthday, Victoria!\nFollow Shane Lou on Twitter.", "Species listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) face the threat of illegal harvesting and trafficking in 45% of the more than 200 natural world heritage sites on the planet, WWF says\nGENEVA, Switzerland – Illegal poaching, logging and fishing of sometimes critically endangered species is taking place in nearly half of the world's most protected natural sites, environmental campaigners WWF warned Tuesday, April 18.\nNatural world heritage sites such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Galapagos Islands support large populations of rare plant and animal species.\nBut in a report WWF said species listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) faced the threat of illegal harvesting and trafficking in 45% of the more than 200 natural world heritage sites on the planet.\n\"Natural world heritage sites are among the most recognized natural sites for their universal value,\" said Marco Lambertini, head of WWF International.\n\"Yet many are threatened by destructive industrial activities and... their often unique animals and plants are also affected by overexploitation and trafficking,\" he added, stressing that \"unless they are protected effectively, we will lose them forever.\"\nAlmost a third of the world's remaining 3,890 wild tigers and 40% of all African elephants are found in UNESCO-listed sites, which are often a last refuge for critically endangered species such as the Javan rhino in Indonesia, the report said.\n'Brink of extinction'\nIllegal poaching, logging and fishing inside such sites is therefore \"driving endangered species to the brink of extinction\", WWF warned.\nThe species most at risk because of illegal activity within natural world heritage sites is probably the vaquita, the world's smallest porpoise, which is indigenous to Mexico's Gulf of California, Colman O'Criodain, WWF's wildlife policy manager, told Agence France-Presse.\nWhile the vaquita itself is not being fished illegally, it is being caught in nets used to poach the totoaba – a giant Mexican fish coveted in China for its swim bladder, which itself is considered a threatened species.\n\"When I started working on the issue of vaquita two years ago, there were 96 left. Now it is less than 30,\" O'Criodain said, adding that at the current rate the tiny porpoise could be extinct within a year.\nAccording to Tuesday's report, poaching of vulnerable and endangered animal species such as elephants, rhinos and tigers occurs in 42 of the UNESCO-listed natural sites, while illegal logging of rosewood, ebony and other valuable plant species happens in 26 of them.\nIllegal fishing, including of sharks and rays occurs in 18 of 39 listed marine coastal world heritage sites, it said.\n'Double outrage'\nSuch illegal activities inside what should be the best-protected sites on the planet are \"a double outrage,\" O'Criodain said.\n\"We're talking about very iconic species, and we are also talking about iconic sites,\" he said, demanding more efforts at the national and international level to beat the trend.\nBut it is difficult to fight the illegal wildlife trade, which rakes in between $15-20 billion (14.1- 18.8 billion euros) annually, making it the fourth largest illegal global trade, after drugs, counterfeiting and human trafficking, according to UN numbers.\nAt the same time, the illegal timber trade, which is responsible for up to 90% of all deforestation in major tropical countries, is valued at between $30-100 billion annually.\nThere are large economic interests in bringing an end to such illegal activities, especially inside world heritage sites, WWF said.\nThis is because poaching and trafficking inside these sites threatens not only species, but also livelihoods and entire tourist industries.\nAfrica is estimated to lose up to $25 million per year in lost tourism due to elephant poaching, while the illegal rosewood trade has, over a two-year period, cost the people of Madagascar up to $200 million in lost income, the report found. – Rappler.com" ]

[ "Estates of the realm The best known system is the French Ancien Régime (Old Regime), a three-estate system used until the French Revolution (1789–1799). Monarchy was for the king and the queen and this system was made up of clergy (the First Estate), nobles (the Second Estate), and peasants and bourgeoisie (the Third Estate). In some regions, notably Scandinavia and Russia, burghers (the urban merchant class) and rural commoners were split into separate estates, creating a four-estate system with rural commoners ranking the lowest as the Fourth Estate. Furthermore, the non-landowning poor could be left outside the estates, leaving them without political rights. In England, a two-estate system evolved that combined nobility and bishops into one lordly estate with \"commons\" as the second estate. This system produced the two houses of parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In southern Germany, a three-estate system of nobility (princes and high clergy), ritters (knights), and burghers was used." ]

[ "Third World French demographer, anthropologist and historian Alfred Sauvy, in an article published in the French magazine L'Observateur, August 14, 1952, coined the term Third World (French: Tiers Monde), referring to countries that were unaligned with either the Communist Soviet bloc or the Capitalist NATO bloc during the Cold War.[2] His usage was a reference to the Third Estate, the commoners of France who, before and during the French Revolution, opposed the clergy and nobles, who composed the First Estate and Second Estate, respectively. Sauvy wrote, \"This third world ignored, exploited, despised like the third estate also wants to be something.\"[3] He conveyed the concept of political non-alignment with either the capitalist or communist bloc.[4]", "Estates General of 1789 On 13 June 1789, the Third Estate had arrived at a resolution to examine and settle the powers of the three orders. They invited the clergy and nobles to work with them on this endeavor. On 17 June, with the failure of efforts to reconcile the three estates, the Communes completed their own process of verification and almost immediately voted a measure far more radical: they declared themselves redefined as the National Assembly, an assembly not of the estates, but of the people. They invited the other orders to join them but made it clear that they intended to conduct the nation's affairs with or without them. As their numbers exceeded the combined numbers of the other estates, they could dominate any combined assembly.", "Estates General (France) It was only the representation of the Third Estate which was furnished by election. Originally, the latter was not called upon as a whole to seek representation in the estates. It was only the bonnes villes, the privileged towns, which were called upon. They were represented by elected procureurs, who were frequently the municipal officials of the town, but deputies were often elected for the purpose. The country districts, the plat pays, were not represented. Even within the bonnes villes, the franchise was quite narrow.", "Estates General of 1789 On 5 May 1789,[19] amidst general festivities, the Estates-General convened in an elaborate but temporary Île des États set up in one of the courtyards of the official Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs in the town of Versailles near the royal château. With the étiquette of 1614 strictly enforced, the clergy and nobility ranged in tiered seating in their full regalia, while the physical locations of the deputies from the Third Estate were at the far end, as dictated by the protocol. When Louis XVI and Charles Louis François de Paule de Barentin, the Keeper of the Seals of France, addressed the deputies on 6 May, the Third Estate discovered that the royal decree granting double representation also upheld the traditional voting \"by orders\", i.e. that the collective vote of each estate would be weighed equally.", "National Assembly (French Revolution) The Estates-General had been called on May 4, 1789 to deal with France's financial crisis, but promptly fell to squabbling over its own structure. Its members had been elected to represent the estates of the realm: the 1st Estate (the clergy), the 2nd Estate (the nobility) and the 3rd Estate (which, in theory, represented all of the commoners and, in practice, represented the bourgeoisie). The Third Estate had been granted \"double representation\"—that is, twice as many delegates as each of the other estates—but at the opening session on May 5, 1789 they were informed that all voting would be \"by power\" not \"by head\", so their double representation was to be meaningless in terms of power. They refused this and proceeded to meet separately.[1][2]", "National Assembly (French Revolution) During the French Revolution, the National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale), which existed from June 13, 1789 to July 9, 1789, was a revolutionary assembly formed by the representatives of the Third Estate (the common people) of the Estates-General; thereafter (until replaced by the Legislative Assembly on Sept. 30, 1791) it was known as the National Constituent Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale constituante), though popularly the shorter form persisted.", "Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it the \"Sovereign's public estate\", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's private estate.[1][2][3][4] As a result of this arrangement, the sovereign is not involved with the management or administration of the estate, exercising only very limited control of its affairs.[5] Instead, the estate's extensive portfolio is overseen by a semi-independent, incorporated public body headed by the Crown Estate Commissioners, who exercise \"the powers of ownership\" of the estate, although they are not \"owners in their own right\".[1] The revenues from these hereditary possessions have been placed by the monarch at the disposition of Her Majesty's Government in exchange for relief from the responsibility to fund the Civil Government[6] and thus proceed directly to Her Majesty's Treasury, for the benefit of the British nation.[1][7][8] The Crown Estate is formally accountable to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, where it is legally mandated to make an annual report to the sovereign, a copy of which is forwarded to the House of Commons.[5][9]", "Estates General (France) In France under the Old Regime, the Estates General (French: États généraux) or States-General was a legislative and consultative assembly (see The Estates) of the different classes (or estates) of French subjects. It had a separate assembly for each of the three estates (clergy, nobility and commoners), which were called and dismissed by the king. It had no true power in its own right—unlike the English parliament it was not required to approve royal taxation or legislation[1]—instead it functioned as an advisory body to the king, primarily by presenting petitions from the various estates and consulting on fiscal policy.[2] The Estates General met intermittently until 1614 and only once afterwards, but was not definitively dissolved until after the French Revolution.[2]", "Tennis Court Oath On 17 June, the Third Estate, led by the comte de Mirabeau, began to call themselves the National Assembly.[1] On the morning of 20 June, the deputies were shocked to discover that the chamber door was locked and guarded by soldiers. Immediately fearing the worst and anxious that a royal attack by King Louis XVI was imminent, the deputies congregated in a nearby indoor Jeu de paume court in the Saint-Louis district of the city of Versailles, near the Palace of Versailles.", "National Legislative Assembly (France) The Legislative Assembly was driven by two opposing groups. The members of the first group were conservative members of the bourgeoisie (wealthy middle class in the Third Estate) that favored a constitutional monarchy, represented by the Feuillants, who felt that the revolution had already achieved its goal.[23] The other group was the democratic faction, for whom the king could no longer be trusted, represented by the new members of the Jacobin Club[24] that claimed that more revolutionary measures were necessary.[25][note 1]", "French Revolution The causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution,[5] the French government was deeply in debt. It attempted to restore its financial status through unpopular taxation schemes, which were heavily regressive. Leading up to the Revolution, years of bad harvests worsened by deregulation of the grain industry also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the aristocracy and the Catholic clergy of the established church. Some historians hold something similar to what Thomas Jefferson proclaimed: that France had \"been awakened by our [American] Revolution.\"[6] Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates General in May 1789. During the first year of the Revolution, members of the Third Estate (commoners) took control, the Bastille was attacked in July, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was passed in August, and a women's march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. A central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime.", "Pacte de Famille The third Family Compact was made on 15 August 1761 by King Charles III of Spain and Louis XV in the Treaty of Paris.", "Estate (land) Historically, an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks a manor's now-abolished jurisdictional authority. It is an \"estate\" because the profits from its produce and rents are sufficient to support the household in the house at its center, formerly known as the manor house. Thus, \"the estate\" may refer to all other cottages and villages in the same ownership as the mansion itself, covering more than one former manor. Examples of such great estates are Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, England, and Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England, built to replace the former manor house of Woodstock.", "List of large council estates in the UK Becontree in Dagenham is generally considered to be the largest council estate (in terms of population), with Wythenshawe in Manchester the second largest. Gipton in Leeds is a contender for third largest.", "Steward (office) In medieval times, the steward was initially a servant who supervised both the lord's estate and his household. However over the course of the next century, other household posts arose and involved more responsibilities. This meant that in the 13th century, there were commonly two stewards in each house—one who managed the gang estate and the other, the majordomo, to manage domestic routine. Stewards commonly earned up to 3 to 4 pounds per year. Stewards took care of their lord's castles when they were away. Also, stewards checked on the taxes of the serfs on his lord's manor.", "Stepped-up basis One possible explanation for the stepped-up basis rule under IRC ยง 1014 is to avoid the difficulty of ascertaining a decedent's adjusted basis in property that could have been held for decades.[4] A second theory is that a decedent is not likely trying to evade taxes by passing property at death, so mandating carryover basis, which would preserve the gain in the beneficiary, is unnecessary.[5] Third, the federal government imposes estate taxes on transfers of wealth at death based on those assets values as of that date.[6] Were no step up in basis allowed, the federal government could potentially receive a windfall from estates subject to estate tax by recovering federal estate tax based on capital assets' values as of a decedent's date of death, while also receiving capital gains tax when such assets are sold by an estate or a beneficiary based on the difference between the value of the asset when sold and the price at which such asset was purchased by a decedent.", "Deed of trust (real estate) Deeds of trust are the most common instrument used in the financing of real estate purchases in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia, whereas most other states use mortgages. Besides purchases, deeds of trust can also be used for loans made for other kinds of purposes where real estate is merely offered as collateral, and are also used to secure performance of contracts other than loans.", "Biltmore Estate The estate today covers approximately 8,000 acres (13 sq mi; 32 km2) and is split in half by the French Broad River, overseen by The Biltmore Company, a trust set up by the family. The company is a large enterprise that is one of the largest employers in the Asheville area. Restaurants were opened in 1979 and 1987 as well as four gifts shops in 1993. The former dairy barn was converted into the popular Biltmore Winery in 1985. The AAA four-diamond 210-room Inn on Biltmore Estate opened in 2001, and in 2010, the estate debuted Antler Hill Village, as well as a remodeled winery, and connected farmyard.", "On the Up Tony Carpenter is a self-made millionaire who turned his South London minicab firm into a successful chauffeur-driven car service. He lives in a large detached mansion in Esher, surrounded by Rolls Royces and BMWs, with a domestic staff who respect him, and who he adores; Witty and insolent butler/driver Sam (who is also a childhood friend of Tony), acerbic secretary Maggie and cook Mrs Wembley (responsible for the series' catch-phrase of \"Just the one\", used to respond to the offer of a sherry even if it was her third or fourth).", "Feudalism A broader definition of feudalism, as described by Marc Bloch (1939), includes not only the obligations of the warrior nobility but also those of all three estates of the realm: the nobility, the clergy, and the peasantry bound by manorialism; this is sometimes referred to as a \"feudal society\". Since the publication of Elizabeth A. R. Brown's \"The Tyranny of a Construct\" (1974) and Susan Reynolds's Fiefs and Vassals (1994), there has been ongoing inconclusive discussion among medieval historians as to whether feudalism is a useful construct for understanding medieval society.[4][5][6][7][8][9]", "National Assembly (French Revolution) Shuttle diplomacy among the estates continued without success until 27 May on 28 May the representatives of the 3rd Estate began to meet on their own,[2] calling themselves the Communes (\"Commons\") and proceeding with their \"verification of powers\" independently of the other bodies; from 13 June to 17 June they were gradually joined by some of the nobles and the majority of the clergy and other people such as the peasants. On 13 June this group began to call itself the National Assembly.[citation needed]", "Article Three of the United States Constitution Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the federal government. The judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court of the United States and lower courts as created by Congress.", "Multiple listing service A multiple listing service (MLS, also multiple listing system or multiple listings service) is a suite of services that real estate brokers use to establish contractual offers of compensation (among brokers) and accumulate and disseminate information to enable appraisals. A multiple listing service's database and software is used by real estate brokers in real estate (or aircraft broker[citation needed] in other industries for example), representing sellers under a listing contract to widely share information about properties with other brokers who may represent potential buyers or wish to work with a seller's broker in finding a buyer for the property or asset. The listing data stored in a multiple listing service's database is the proprietary information of the broker who has obtained a listing agreement with a property's seller.", "Article Three of the United States Constitution The Supreme Court is the only federal court that is explicitly mandated by the Constitution. During the Constitutional Convention, a proposal was made for the Supreme Court to be the only federal court, having both original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction. This proposal was rejected in favor of the provision that exists today. Under this provision, the Congress may create inferior (i.e., lower) courts under both Article III, Section 1, and Article I, Section 8. The Article III courts, which are also known as \"constitutional courts\", were first created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. Article I courts, which are also known as \"legislative courts\", consist of regulatory agencies, such as the United States Tax Court. Article III courts are the only ones with judicial power, and so decisions of regulatory agencies remain subject to review by Article III courts. However, cases not requiring \"judicial determination\" may come before Article I courts. In the case of [[Murray's Lessee v. Hoboken Land & Improvement Co.[2]]] 59 U.S. 272 (1855), the Supreme Court ruled that cases involving \"a suit at the common law, or in equity, or admiralty\" inherently involve judicial determination and must come before Article III courts. Other cases, such as bankruptcy cases, have been held not to involve judicial determination, and may therefore go before Article I courts. Similarly, several courts in the District of Columbia, which is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress, are Article I courts rather than Article III courts. This article was expressly extended to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico by the U.S. Congress through Federal Law 89-571, 80 Stat. 764, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966. This transformed the article IV United States territorial court in Puerto Rico, created in 1900, to an Article III federal judicial district court.", "Athenian democracy There were three political bodies where citizens gathered in numbers running into the hundreds or thousands. These are the assembly (in some cases with a quorum of 6000), the council of 500 (boule) and the courts (a minimum of 200 people, on some occasions up to 6000). Of these three bodies, the assembly and the courts were the true sites of power – although courts, unlike the assembly, were never simply called the demos (the People) as they were manned by a subset of the citizen body, those over thirty. But crucially citizens voting in both were not subject to review and prosecution as were council members and all other officeholders.", "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen While the French Revolution provided rights to a larger portion of the population, there remained a distinction between those who obtained the political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and those who did not. Those who were deemed to hold these political rights were called active citizens. Active citizenship was granted to men who were French, at least 25 years old, paid taxes equal to three days work, and could not be defined as servants (Thouret).[17] This meant that at the time of the Declaration only male property owners held these rights.[18] The deputies in the National Assembly believed that only those who held tangible interests in the nation could make informed political decisions.[19] This distinction directly affects articles 6, 12, 14, and 15 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen as each of these rights is related to the right to vote and to participate actively in the government. With the decree of 29 October 1789, the term active citizen became embedded in French politics.[20]", "2018 FIFA World Cup Notable countries that failed to qualify include four-time champions Italy (for the first time since 1958), three-time runners-up and third placed in 2014 the Netherlands (for the first time since 2002), and four reigning continental champions: 2017 Africa Cup of Nations winners Cameroon, two-time Copa América champions and 2017 Confederations Cup runners-up Chile, 2016 OFC Nations Cup winners New Zealand, and 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup champions United States (for the first time since 1986). The other notable qualifying streaks broken were for Ghana and Ivory Coast, who had both made the previous three tournaments.[30]", "Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed was founded in 1993 by Lord March in order to bring motor racing back to the Goodwood estate — a location steeped in British motor racing history. Shortly after taking over the estate in the early 1990s, Lord March (as he is formally known) wanted to bring back motor racing to Goodwood Circuit, but did not have the necessary permit to host a race there. Therefore, he instead hosted it on his own grounds. With a small selection of entrants made up of invited historic vehicles, the first event that took place on Sunday 13 June proved to be a success, taking in a crowd of 25,000 despite a date clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year. After the first event's date clash, Lord March would ensure that the event would never be allowed to clash with either Le Mans or Formula One races. In 1994, Saturday was added, making it a weekend event. In 1996, Friday was added, making it a three-day event. In 2010, the Moving Motor Show was added on the Thursday.", "Third Amendment to the United States Constitution The Third Amendment (Amendment III) to the United States Constitution places restrictions on the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner's consent, forbidding the practice in peacetime. The amendment is a response to Quartering Acts passed by the British parliament during the buildup to the American Revolutionary War, which had allowed the British Army to lodge soldiers in private residences.", "Life estate In common law and statutory law, a life estate is the ownership of land for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death when ownership of the property may revert to the original owner, or it may pass to another person. The owner of a life estate is called a \"life tenant\".", "Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act If the servicer fails to comply with the \"qualified written request\", the borrower is entitled to actual damages, up to $2,000 of additional damages if there is a pattern of noncompliance, costs and attorneys fees.[3]", "Colony of Virginia In actual practice, colonial Virginia never had a bishop to represent God nor a hereditary aristocracy with titles like 'duke' or 'baron'. However it did have a royal governor appointed by the king, as well as a powerful landed gentry. The status quo was strongly reinforced by what Jefferson called \"feudal and unnatural distinctions\" that were vital to the maintenance of aristocracy in Virginia. He targeted laws such as entail and primogeniture by which the oldest son inherited all the land. As a result increasingly large plantations, worked by white tenant farmers and by black slaves, gained in size and wealth and political power in the eastern (\"Tidewater\") tobacco areas. Maryland and South Carolina had similar hierarchical systems, as did New York and Pennsylvania.[24] During the Revolutionary era, all such laws were repealed by the new states.[25] The most fervent Loyalists left for Canada or Britain or other parts of the Empire. They introduced primogeniture in Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1792, and it lasted until 1851. Such laws lasted in England until 1926.[26]" ]

[ "Christina Hendricks" ]

[ "The Girl Who Used to Be Me", "Who", "the Who", "Who Made Who", "Who?", "HDNet Movies", "movie theaters", "Stitch! The Movie", "The Peanuts Movie", "The Rugrats Movie", "silent movies", "The Muppet Movie", "The Movie Songbook", "Blue Movie", "the Fighting Scots", "clenched fist salute", "snowball fight", "The Puppetoon Movie", "a fighting bull", "A movie projector", "The Lego Movie", "The Movie Channel", "Making Movies", "Home Movies", "bull fighting", "fighting bulls", "fighting games", "The Who by Numbers", "who is singing", "Who Dat", "Dr. Who", "Who You Are" ]

[ "Reigning champions AC Milan have extended striker Jon Dahl Tomasson&#39;s contract until the end of June 2009, the Italian Serie A club said on Wednesday." ]

[ "Milan, Italy (Sports Network) - AC Milan extended the contract of midfielder Gennaro Gattuso until June of 2009. The 26-year-old Italian international has been a mainstay in the midfield for the Rossoneri for the past five seasons.", "Con i gol delle riserve Tomasson, Kaladze e Serginho, i rossoneri battono 3-0 l&#39;Atalanta. Ora tifano Roma, sono a -2. Palo di Kakà. MILANO, 27 ottobre 2004 - Riserve d&#39;oro: Tomasson e Kaladze. Il Milan batte", "The Philadelphia Flyers and coach Ken Hitchcock agreed to a three-year contract extension on Monday.", "The former Rovers striker has signed a two-year contract at Ewood Park, with the option to extend the deal by twelve months should both parties agree.", "Air Force football coach Fisher DeBerry agreed to a five-year contract extension Thursday.", "The 23-year-old, whose original contract was due to expire in June 2007, said he was delighted to have ensured he would remain at the Mestalla.", "Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros agreed to a $73 million, five-year contract extension on the ace's 29th birthday Tuesday, the biggest multiyear deal the team has ever given to a pitcher.", "Scottish champions Celtic have clinched the transfer of Massimo Donati from AC Milan on a four-year deal worth around three million pounds (4.5 million dollars), the club website announced on Saturday.", "National championship coaches Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma agree to contract extensions at Connecticut on Friday.", "Center Matthew Lombardi and left wing Marcus Nilson have signed contract extensions with the Calgary Flames, the NHL team said on Friday.", "The NFL agreed to contract extensions with Fox and CBS to televise games for six more years.", "BOSTON -- The Red Sox agreed to a contract with a Japanese pitcher _ no, not that one. In the midst of negotiations with potential ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox agreed Thursday to a two-year contract with left-handed reliever Hideki Okajima.", "Padres general manager Kevin Towers agreed to a two-year contract extension that runs through 2010, The Associated Press learned Tuesday night.", "Chad Pennington agreed to a &#36;64 million, seven-year contract extension with the New York Jets on Wednesday that includes &#36;23 million in guaranteed money.", "AC Milan winger Massimo Donati will move to Celtic in a £3m deal should he pass a medical.", "The Chicago Bears agreed to a five-year contract extension with punter Brad Maynard on Friday.", "José Guillén signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract and has a chance to earn another $2.75 million in incentives.", "The Toronto Blue Jays and manager John Gibbons agreed Tuesday to a one-year, $650,000 contract extension.", "I rossoneri confermano di avere difficoltà contro le squadre piccole a S. Siro. Decidono Tomasson, Kaladze e Serginho. Il gioco ancora non è quello dei tempi migliori, ma al Milan basta un tempo giocato quasi", "The New York Jets and quarterback Chad Pennington finally agreed on a long-term contract extension Wednesday.", "The Detroit Red Wings have signed defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom to two-year contract extension worth a reported $14.9 million, keeping the five-time Norris Trophy winner in the Motor City through 2010.", "The poll conducted by European football journalists from 52 countries organised by France Football magazine, voted for the 28-year-old Ukrainian for his outstanding scoring record for Milan since he joined the Italian side in 1999.", "Cornerback Shawntae Spencer agreed Wednesday night to a six-year contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers.", "High-scoring Sabres forward Thomas Vanek signed a seven-year, $50 million offer sheet from the Edmonton Oilers, his agent told The Associated Press on Friday.", "Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Sports Network) - Ajax defender Hatem Trabelsi finally ended his holdout by signing a new two-year contract on Friday.", "US talk show host David Letterman agrees to a four-year extension to his Late Show contract with CBS.", "Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov agreed a three-year contract extension with playoff hopefuls the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday.", "CHICAGO -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and the team agreed Tuesday to a contract extension through the 2012 season.", "Il centrocampista del Milan non dimentica il gol di tacco dello svedese agli Europei: &quot;Stavamo giocando bene, poi... La Juve? La conosciamo, non molla mai&quot;. MILANO, 16 dicembre 2004 - &quot;Sì, a Ibrahimovic voglio fargliela pagare&quot;.", "The 24-year-old edged out Arsenal&#39;s Thierry Henry and AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko to the prize. &quot;Just to be here brings me great joy.", "D.C. United signed Troy Perkins to a four-year contract extension Thursday, rewarding him for a breakout season in which he was selected as MLS' goalkeeper of the year.", "The Flyers and John Stevens agree to a contract extension Friday that will take the second-year coach through the 2008-09 season." ]

[ "the people are not running" ]

[ "the people are running", "A girl sits on a swing on a cloudy day.", "There's a man standing out in the woods on a cloudy day.", "A man sits in front of a deli on a rainy day.", "A young man in a bikini walking in the water on a cloudy day.", "The woman stands in front of the buildings.", "A man is treading mud across the stone stairs on a cloudy day.", "A dog is outside on a rainy and cloudy day.", "The man playing guitar is sitting outside in front of a building.", "A musician play with his guitar on a cloudy day.", "A woman is standing in front of a green building.", "A woman is raking the lawn in the front of the building.", "There is a man walking in front of the buildings.", "A woman is sitting in front of a volcano.", "A woman walked pasted the front of a building.", "The person is is fishing on a blue ugly cloudy day.", "A man asleep in front of a building.", "A man smoking a cigarette in front of a building.", "A man with a beard stands in front of a building.", "A woman lays down in front of a building.", "Man crossing bridge in front of a building.", "The woman is running in front of a yellow building.", "A woman sitting in front of a painting.", "An old woman walks in front of a building", "A man attending to plants in front of a building.", "A woman is sitting on a summer day.", "man in front of building riding a bike", "A man is standing on a sidewalk in front of a building.", "A woman is sitting on the front porch", "The woman sits in front of a harbor.", "A young family, avoiding the cloudy day, sits inside at the dinner table alone.", "A woman is sitting in front of flowers." ]

[ "It helps to prevent contamination of your cultures. That's also why you flame the tools that you use to innoculate cultures." ]

[ "Check out this very straighforward website:\\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Redi\\n\\n\"Pasteur boiled meat broth in a flask, heated the neck of the flask in a flame until it became pliable, and bent it into the shape of an S. Air could enter the flask, but airborne microorganisms could not - they would settle by gravity in the neck. As Pasteur had expected, no microorganisms grew. When Pasteur tilted the flask so that the broth reached the lowest point in the neck, where any airborne particles would have settled, the broth rapidly became cloudy with life.\" \\nHere's a picture of this setup:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ballon.gif\\nBoth experiments disproved spontaneous generation (abiogenesis); Redi disproved it in larger organisms, and Pasteur disproved it in microorganisms.", "I am a microbiologist. I strongly recommend you go into this field and I'll tell you why. There are many applications/jobs that a person with a Bachelors in microbiology is qualified for. I think the field is still growing and there is much room for new microbiologists. Here are some examples of where you could end up working:\\n-a hosital's pathology lab\\n-a university research lab\\n-a food manufacturer\\n-a pharmaceutical company\\n-a consumer products company\\n-a contract research organization\\n\\nThe stress of the job is very dependent on where you work. It can be stressful if you are working for a company that makes something that you are responsible for testing and making decisions in a short timeframe (such as food company, pharmaceutical company). It also depends on how much responsibility you have. In most organizations, there are bench microbiologist who do the lab work and then there are microbiology lab managers who have more responsibility. I think the typical working week would be 40-50 hours again dependent on who you work for. The average income again is dependent on what field you are in (e.g., research vs pharmaceutical). You could start out in the mid 30K and be in the 40K range for the first 5 years or so as you gain experience. I don't know what microbiology managers make -maybe 60-70K a year?\\nI definitely feel microbiology is a much more marketable major then say, biology. There are many pharmaceutical companies, food companies, and consumer product companies that are required to have their products tested by microbiological procedures...keep that in mind.", "I'm in New York, at work in the microbiology lab, bored to tears (all my work is done).", "What class was this in? What grade level? What text were you using? I may be able to help you if I know the context in which the question was raised. I have a feeling that I am not getting all the information you had. Please tell me and maybe I can help. I am an old chemist and microbiologist.", "The electrolysis of water with the o2 and h collected in seperate test tubes a lit match will ignite the hydrogen...POP! and a matchstick that has been blown out but still has a hot ember will burst into flame in the oxygen.", "Keeps things from falling in the sample but allows the sample to vent to the air in the lab.", "No...One time I had to piss in the science lab. So, I did it in one of the test tubes. Come to find out penguins can't really fly!", "Do what you think you'll enjoy. FYI, my sister majored in Microbiology, she works at a hospital as a Lab Tech. She's the person who tests your blood sample and generates the results for the doctors. Pretty decent salary.", "U meant for denaturing the DNA strands Mainly verymuch important role playing in the polymerization chain reaction for amplifiaction of the DNA synthesis . When DNA get separated while in the melting temp .Forward and reverse primers complimentary sequences will bind to the DNA strands while in the annealing temp, it leads to the DNA synthesis.", "because they help you to do your thing without contaminig destroying what ur working on and equipment and not to endanger urself and others in a lab", "There are hospitals that would have clinical Microbiology positions and there are a few environmental labs in the area. For Clinical Lab positions you would have to be licensed in Florida which needs to be met by having national certification such as ASCP. I am not sure about environmental lab licensing requirements. Currently, there are no advertised positions in Orlando, except a PRN, there are several positions in Tampa and 2 in Lakeland, including a supervisor's position. Hope it answered your question", "Interferes with the peptidogylcan layer of the cell wall. Causes cell to be prone to lysis. (Bursting)\\n\\nWhat I usually do is use google to search for relevant sites. Wikipedia is another great resource with easy to understand information. http://wikipedia.com \\n\\nHere are some more regarding your question\\nhttp://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/microbes/penicill.htm\\nhttp://www.cat.cc.md.us/courses/bio141/lecguide/unit1/prostruct/penres.html\\nhttp://mic.sgmjournals.org/\\nhttp://www.microbes.info/\\nhttp://www.bact.wisc.edu/Microtextbook/\\nhttp://www.microbiol.org/\\nhttp://www.asm.org/", "It is used to contain the chemicals in the lab !!!", "They are endothermic reactions and need energy for the forward reaction to take place.", "The problem with most alcohols is that they burn without a flame, or a flame that hardly visible. If an alcohol lamp is hot, it may not be easy to determine whether or not it is still burning. Refilling a lamp while it is still burning presents a serious fire hazard, let alone an opportunity to get seriously hurt.\\n\\nI'm not certain as to where it's \"not allowed\" (perhaps your school chemistry lab?), but it's certainly a good idea not to do it.", "This page from the American Head and Neck Society has home care instructions for changing the tube and cleaning the inner cannula:\\nhttp://www.headandneckcancer.org/patienteducation/docs/tracheostomy.php", "Do not go there.\\nLeave the microorganisms in peace.\\n\\nIf you have not got the entire DNA structure mapped and well understood, you are asking for nothing but trouble. You might end up with a pathogen which targets human nerve cells or muscle nerve discharges. Write a sci-fi book about your idea and leave the experiments until you finish a college degree and have a much better idea of just how complicated the Big Picture really is.", "The stones are likely insoluable salts of calcium, magnesium. A chemical analysis to show presence of these could be easily performed by dissolving in acid and using flame photometry. That will only give you a 'yes or no' answer. A definitive chemical analysis is likely beyond the scope of a school lab.", "If you already work in a lab.. especially a path lab, you already know.\\n\\n#1 Reduce risk of contaminants escaping their confines\\n\\n#2 Reduce risk of injury WHEN contaminants do escape their confines (use of vent systems, etc)\\n\\n#3 A clear system of expected protocols reduces risk of injury & death to humans and damage to equipment\\n\\n#4 Having documentation allows information to be followed up if/when injury occurs so that data can be accumulated (if it is blood (etc), did the patient have infectious disease, etc)\\n\\nThere are so many things to be named, I am sure you can come up with other ideas.", "it is the same as a flashback arrester used on oxy-acetylene welding bottles - it is essentially a one way valve that closes if there is any rapid change of pressure on the outlet side i.e. a flame.", "The new eternal flame device was fed by an underground line designed and created by the Institute of Gas Technology of Chicago. However, the flame had been temporarily diverted and continued to burn during this period.\\n\\nJackie O came up with the idea and officially \"lit\" the flame after JFKs burial service. There is a similar flame for the Unknown Solider and the Arch de Triumph", "He has a brass neck implies that he's full of cheek; really sure of himself. \\nThere is a story about a highwayman who was 'strung up' - hoisted by the neck, rather than being dropped through a scaffold, the difference being that one would choke rather than die by broken neck. Anyway, this particular highwayman, before being strung up, managed to swallow a brass tube with a bit of wire on top. This lodged in his windpipe, and when he was strung up, his windpipe didn't get crushed and he was still able to breathe. All he had to do was wait for the crowd to disperse, and his accomplice cut him down and removed the tube. This would certainly fit in with the idea of someone having a 'brass neck' and being very sure of themselves\"", "1) Moist heat, especially autoclaving\\n2) Dry heat, say, a bunsen burner\\n3) Chemical sterilization, for example, using Ethylene Oxide\\n4) Ionizing radiation (usually UV)\\n\\nNot all of these methods are effective against all microorganisms. In general, the most universally effective is autoclaving, but it cannot be used in the case of some heat or moisture sensitive items.", "'coz most of the microorganisms have MORE cytosine-guanine bond IN THEIR DNA OR RNA which is bounded by three hydrogen bonds as compared to adenine-thymine or adenine-uracil bonds,hence more temp. and energy is required to break the triple hydrogen bonds,hence they can tolerate EXTREMITIES OF TEMP.", "http://www.science.siu.edu/microbiology/micr201/chapter8N.html\\n\\nPotential Energy! Check it out yourself at the link above.", "Some bacteria/bacterial spores can survive boiling temperatures; in order to provide enough latent heat to ensure sterilization, it is necessary to raise the temperature to 121 degrees C (and 15 psi).\\n\\nAs for the length of time, consider how the measurement of antiseptic effectiveness is often measured; decimal reduction time. This is the amount of time it takes to reduce a bacterial population by 90%. Even if the decimal reduction time is quite short (as it is in an autoclave), you must still leave things in there for several decimal reduction times in order to ensure sterility.", "Pyrophosphates are PCR inhibitors and will impede the reaction.", "Put the lighted end of a glowing splinter into a test tube containing the subject gas. If it burns or bursts into flames, you have oxygen in there. But if the splinter makes a pop, you have hydrogen instead. If it is extinguished, you got carbon dioxide", "You can of course try anything you wish. However, I would suggest that you perform (or have performed) a flame test on any sample product. I recall that the UL (Underwriters Lab) was involved in a law suit re' testing of new styrofoam panels for insulation. The panels were used to insulate a garage and were not covered. When a fire broke out the panels became a holocaust (causing a death). The panels evidently passed a flame test when horizontal igniting slowly and were not tested vertically which would have shown that they were a hazard and needed to be covered to resist flame and burn rate. You could check your panels against fibreboard (horizontally and vertically) to check for gross problems. Also have a Lab perform formal tests before going commercial. I would think the binder and surface texture would be very important. good luck.", "It's not that Klebsiella is a slow grower but that E. coli is a very fast grower. I don't think EMB agar is the key, although E. coli does really like that medium. \\n\\nI assume that you're trying to identify unknowns for a microbiology lab class. Are you trying to use slow growth as a differential test for the bacteria in your mixed culture? Or are you trying to get \"equal\" growth so you can do biochemical tests? Maybe you could do a streak plate to get isolated colonies of both and then do biochemical tests on each of them (like lactose fermentation, indole, or motility). I'm not sure if slow growth is a good indicator for Klebislla. \\n\\nIf you need an \"equal\" amount of the organisms on a plate, you could always set up broth cultures from your mixed streak plate but then dilute the E. coli tube before streaking onto different media.", "Depends on your subculture. Personally, I cannot condemn any act of love between consenting adults. Insecurity is why people flip.\\n\\nI've seen women get seriously turned on by guys kissing.", "History of the Olympic Flame\\nThe tradition of the Olympic flame began during the ancient Olympic Games, over 2700 years ago in Greece. A flame was lit for each Olympics, every four years, and it burned throughout the games. The flame symbolized the death and rebirth of Greek heroes. There was no torch relay in the ancient Olympics. The first torch relay took place at the 1936 games in Berlin, Germany.\\n\\nThe Torches of the Olympics:\\nFor each Olympics, a new flame is started in the ancient Olympic stadium in Olympia, Elis, Greece, using a parabolic mirror to focus the rays of the Sun. This flame begins its Olympic Torch Relay by touring Greece. The flame is normally taken to the country where the games will be held (usually by airplane). The flame is then carried around the country where the games are to be held, using a series of torches carried by people running, walking, riding horses and camels, scuba diving, and using other means of human conveyance. The last runner uses a torch to light the large Olympic torch which burns throughout the games. The flame is extinguished during the closing ceremony. A new Olympic torch is designed for each of the games." ]

[ "Daniel, in his vision in Daniel chapter 7, saw four beasts:\n\n\nLion: 1 head, 0 horns\nBear: 1 head, 0 horns\nLeopard: 4 heads, 0 horns\nFourth: 1 head, 10 horns\n\n\nThese beasts, in total, have 7 heads and 10 horns.\n\nSo, the dragon with the seven heads and the ten horns is the culmination of the four beasts that Daniel saw.\n\nWhen John saw a dragon, he saw the \"real\" nature of this/those beast(s)." ]

[ "There is a passage in Revelation, chapter 12, verses 3 and 4, which may be the only passage to tell us the proportion of the angelic host to have fallen from their exalted state in heaven:\n\n\n \"Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the starts of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give, birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.\"\n\n\nThere are other verses which speak of angels and a war in heaven, the result of which was their being cast out of heaven along with their leader, Satan (cf. vv. 8-9; 9:1; Dan. 8:10; Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2:4). Moreover, other passages link metaphorically the \"stars of heaven\" (or simply \"stars\") with angelic beings (see Job 38:6,7; and Isa.14:12,13).\n\nTo attempt to come up with an even approximate number of angels who kept their abode in heaven is an exercise in futility. True, Revelation 5:11 says there are 10,000 times 10,000 angels--besides living creatures and elders--around God's throne, though some versions (e.g., the NIV) describe the number of angels as \"myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.\" Then thousand times ten thousand is a hundred million, but then thousands of thousands on top of the hundred million will still not give us an accurate count. \n\nAbout all we can say about the number of angels is that there are a lot of them. Who knows, there could (I repeat, could) be as many angels as there are stars, and the number of stars . . ., well, lets put it this way: only God Himself knows not only how many there are, but He also has a name for each one (see Psalm 147:4; cf. Gen.1:16, where it says simply, \"He also made the stars,\" as if it was no big deal!).", "Out of several commentaries, the only one I can find directly addressing the possibile symbolism of the horns of the second beast is in Warren W Wiersbe's commentary on Revelation:\n\n\n \"The image of the horns (13:11) suggests that the false prophet [the second beast] has authority but the absense of a crown indicates that his authority is not political.\" \n\n\nWhile numerology plays a significant role in Revelation, I cannot find any substantive, consistent use of the number 2 that would directly link the horns to the witnesses.\n\nThere certainly is symbolism in the uses of the lamb and dragon images (perhaps suggesting that he may try to come off as the Lamb of God but in actuality is the dragon, \"the ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan\") and to add the detail of two horns is certainly specific enough that it may have meaning as well. However, since the beast from the land is described in detail two chapters after the foretelling of the death of the witnesses at the hand of the beast, I am not sure there is a correlation between the horns and the witnesses.", "Well, Marco Polo (scan down to Chapter XLIX) describes \"vast serpents\" that are found in the province of \"Carajan\" (probably Yunnan). He didn't say he actually saw them and didn't call them \"dragons\".\n\nBut all dragon myths probably have a common origin deep in humanity's past: A deep instinctual fear of snakes. It appears that primates are hardwired to detect snakes as one of their defense mechanisms against predators. Dragon myths were one of the ways the ancients expressed this fear, probably reinforced by spotting dinosaur bones and the like. (this last being vaguely remembered from old college lectures).", "The riddle is as follows\n\n\n AZERTY'S RIDDLE \n\n\nI think this part \n\n\n HEAR ME SHOUT ALOUD,\nFOR I AM QUITE PROUD.\nA LEADER OF MANY,\nWHERE FOLKS GET QUITE SWEATY. \n\n\nreferences:\n\n\n A Lion based on common Gym logos?\n\n\nAnd this part \n\n\n WHILE I PRODUCE MILK,\nI'M NOT OF THAT ILK.\nSOME OF US ARE FROM CRAGS,\nDON'T MISTAKE US FOR STAGS. \n\n\nis:\n\n\n a goat, producing milk, horned, and sometimes craggy\n\n\nThis part \n\n\n MUSCLE AND FANGS,\nI'M IN NO GANGS.\nFEW OF US HAVE TOXINS,\nTO PUT YOU IN COFFINS. \n\n\nis:\n\n\n a serpent, sometimes poisonous, always fanged, primarily muscle.\n\n\nWhich makes this part\n\n\n COMBINE MY THREE,\nAND YOU'LL GET ME.\nSTRAIGHT OUT OF ANCIENT LORE,\nI'LL BURN YOU TO YOUR CORE. \n\n\na\n\n\n Chimera, which had a Dragon, Goat, and Lion head, and Serpent tail.", "The Bible says the devil = Satan in Revelation 12:9\n\n\n So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the\n Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the\n earth, and his angels were cast out with him.\n\n\nRegarding Lucifer the Bible says in Isaiah 14:12...\n\n\n How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you\n are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!\n\n\nSo this Lucifer fell from heaven, and Jesus said in Luke 10:18\n\n\n “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.\"\n\n\nThus Lucifer = Satan. Name changes often denote changes in character in the Bible, thus Lucifer the light bearer (once a good angel) had become Satan (the adversary). \n\nLearn more Bible truth at - http://www.amazingfacts.org/", "According to the text, the seventh angel most certainly blew his trumpet before the angels began to pour out the seven bowls of wrath.\n\nI don't see how one could interpret the text to refer to things out of sequence:\n\n\nThen the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and ... (11:15-18)\nThen God's temple in heaven was opened, and ... (11:19-12:6)\nNow war arose in heaven ... And the great dragon was thrown down ... (12:7-12)\nAnd when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth ... (12:13-16)\nThen the dragon was angry with the woman, and ... (12:17-13:10)\nThen I saw another beast ... and ... (13:11-18)\nThen I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and ... (14:1-5)\nThen I saw another angel flying in midheaven ... and ... (14:6-13)\nThen I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and ... (14:14-20)\nThen I saw another portent in heaven ... and ... (15:1-4)\nAfter this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and ... (15:5-8)\nThen I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” (16:1)\nSo the first angel went and poured ... The second angel poured ... The third angel poured ... The fourth angel poured ... The fifth angel poured ... The sixth angel poured ... (16:2-12)\n\n\nThere is nothing in the text that seems to imply that I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels (16:1) is a recollection of something that happened before the seventh angel blew his trumpet (11:15). There is also nothing in the text that seems to imply that the angels did not go and immediately pour their bowls (16:2ff) upon hearing the loud voice from the temple (16:1).", "From the Doctrine and Covenants, section 77, which lays out revealed interpretations of some of the symbolism in the Book of Revelation:\n\n\n 6 Q. What are we to understand by the book which John saw, which was sealed on the back with seven seals?\n \n A. We are to understand that it contains the revealed will, mysteries, and the works of God; the hidden things of his economy concerning this earth during the seven thousand years of its continuance, or its temporal existence.\n \n 7 Q. What are we to understand by the seven seals with which it was sealed?\n \n A. We are to understand that the first seal contains the things of the first thousand years, and the second also of the second thousand years, and so on until the seventh.\n\n\nTherefore, the four horsemen represent the past, from the perspective of John and his contemporaries: the workings of the world throughout the 4000 years from Adam until Christ. Among other things, this interpretation explains why the events of the first four seals (and the fifth, to a lesser extent) are glossed over so quickly in John's writing: they're history, they're stuff that's already happened, much of which his audience is already familiar with, so he just provides a quick recap before getting on to the real focus of things which are to come and going into greater detail there.\n\nThe Church's New Testament Student Manual, in its chapter on Revelation 4-11, goes into further depth about a third of the way down, speaking of possible interpretations and correlations with scripture and history.", "Those words are a Christian formula closely associated with St. Benedict and the Benedictine order. It is meant to fend off the devil and his temptations, and the translation is as follows:\n\nMay the holy cross be my light\nMay not the serpent be my guide\nMove back, Satan,\nNever promote your vanities to me\nWhat you pour out is evil,\nDrink your poison yourself.\n\nNotes:\n\nIt seems that draco is usually translated ad “dragon.” I preferred “serpent” in this context. Both words are used in conjunction with the devil in Christian literature.\nThe central line and arguably the title of the blessing is: Vade retro Satana. This is certainly an allusion to Jesus' words in the Gospel of Mark 8:33, where he says: Vade retro me Satana: Get thee behind me, Satan.\n\nThe initials of all the words of this blessing are arranged on the reverse side of the St. Benedict Medal in a pattern nicely described here. The oldest evidence of this text appears to be a manuscript from 1414 found at the Benedictine abbey at Metten. The Germans call it Benediktussegen, or Benedict's blessing.", "@Allen Fuller's answer is a good summary of what people think is contained in the Seven Seals. The key is in the wording: they are called seals. The meaning is sealed up, hidden.\n\nConsider what the angel told Daniel:\n\n\n “The vision of the evenings and mornings that has been given you is\n true, but seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”\n (Daniel 8:26)\n\n\nOne commentator (Ellis Skolfield) believes that Daniel rearranged the chapters of his book to make the pattern more complicated, to deter others from gaining full understanding until God so wills.\n\nConsider what another angel told John:\n\n\n And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a\n voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and\n do not write it down.” (Revelation 10:4)\n\n\nIn this case, John was told to not even write it down.\n\nI believe that the Seven Seals are just that - messages that are not for our eyes. Until it is all over, we won't be told what is in them. At best, their contents will be revealed very close to the end, to guide believers when times are darkest.", "Translator-poet John Ciardi (Dante, The Inferno, Signet Classics, 2001, p. 139) offers the following annotation:\n\n\n GERYON. A mythical king of Spain represented as a giant with three heads and three bodies. He was killed by Hercules, who coveted the king’s cattle. A later tradition represents him as killing and robbing strangers whom he lured into his realm. It is probably on this account that Dante chose him as the prototype of fraud, though in a radically altered bodily form. Some of the details of Dante’s Geryon may be drawn from Revelations, ix, 9–20, but most of them are almost certainly his own invention: a monster with the general shape of a dragon but with the tail of a scorpion, hairy arms, a gaudily-marked reptilian body, and the face of a just and honest man. The careful reader will note that the gaudily-spotted body suggests the Leopard; the hairy paws, the Lion; and that the human face represents the essentially human nature of Fraud, which thus embodies corruption of the Appetite, of the Will, and of the Intellect.", "This is a fascinating question that becomes more interesting when placed in a larger context. The book of Revelation has numerous contrasts or \"counterpoints\". Here are a few:\n\n\nMt Zion (ch 14) vs Armageddon (actually \"Harmageddon = Mount of Meggido)\nMarriage of Lamb to Bride vs Prostitute and Kings of earth adultery\nSeal of God vs Mark of the Beast\nHarvest of Grain (righteous) Gathering of Grapes (wicked)\nNew Jerusalem vs Babylon the Great City\n\n\nThere are many more.\n\nThe righteous woman of Ch 12 vs the harlot of ch 17 is yet another of these counterpoints or literary contrasts. Here are more connections:\n\n\nThe righteous woman gives birth the a male child; vs, the harlot gives birth the harlot daughters\nThe righteous woman is clothed in the sun; vs, the harlot who is clothed in scarlet and purple\nThe righteous woman is pursued by the great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns; vs, the harlot who rides a great red beast with seven heads and ten horns\nBoth are (in different ways) associated with the blood of persecuted saints\nThe righteous woman is attacked by a river/flood from the dragon; vs, the harlot who sits on many waters\n\n\netc. The overall message here is one of extreme contrast between these two women and what they represent.", "διάδημα versus στέφανος\nδιάδημα, as defined by the Perseus Digital Library's entries from LSJ and Middle Liddel, is a rather straightforward 'band' around the head. The LSJ entry provides examples that quickly associate a διάδημα with royal authority, a type of crown worn by kings.\nστέφανος has a much longer set of definitions, but the one that Revelation is most concerned with would be that a στέφανος was a 'crown of victory' or 'crown of honor'.\n\nRevelation\nδιάδημα is used just three times in Revelation: worn by the dragon in 12.3, the beast in 13.1, and the rider of the white horse in 19.12.\nAll three instances are associated with royal authority in some way: the dragon is said to have 'power', a 'throne', and 'authority' (13.2); the beast receives the dragon's throne and authority, and is further said to have 'kings' (17.10); and the rider of the white horse is called 'King of kings and Lord of lords', and is described with language taken from Psalm 2, a song about Israel's king (19.15-16).\nστέφανος is used eight times in Revelation: a reward for martyrs in 2.10, a reward for perseverance in 3.11, worn by heaven's elders in 4.4,10, the rider of the white horse in 6.2,1 the woman in 12.1, and the son of man in 14.14; the final instance is 9.7, where it appears in simile ('on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold').\nThree of these seven instances appear in the immediate proximity of the verb νικάω, 'to conquer' (2.10-11; 3.11-12; 6.2). Such 'conquest' is implied for a fourth instance (the στέφανος in 14.14 is worn by the son of man, who is identified as Jesus in 1.7,12-18, who is said to have 'conquered' in 3.21 and 5.5).\n\nConclusion\nWithin Revelation, John reserves the διάδημα to depict royal authority (good or bad), while he tends to use the στέφανος to indicate the victory of conquest (good or bad).\n\nFootnote\n1 Just as an aside, because it came up in the course of the original question: While the NIV renders Revelation 6.2 as 'he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest', this is not an accurate reflection of the Greek, and shows a significant bias on the part of the translators in designing the verse to come across as immensely negative, and therefore lead readers to view the horseman as 'the antichrist'. The more neutral 'he came out conquering and to conquer', found in many other translations, is a more literal translation of the Greek. See, e.g., this answer elsewhere on Hermeneutics, for why the 'conquest' of this horseman may have been meant by John as a good thing, not an evil thing.", "Your friend is perhaps referring to Daniel 7:7:\n\n\n After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.\n\n\nNote that this was \"a vision\", not reality.\nAnd a few verses later, Daniel 7:24 explains what the symbolic horns meant:\n\n\n And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings ...\n\n\nSimilarly, Revelation 13:11 says:\n\n\n And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.\n\n\nBut Revelation is a symbolic vision, not to be taken literally.\nHorns are used to represent power, as in Revelation 17:12, which explains:\n\n\n And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings ...\n\n\n(Don't accept individual verses out of context. Let scripture interpret itself.)\n\n\n\nAs for depictions of Satan (and his demons), 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 says:\n\n\n And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness ...\n\n\nAs an angel, Satan can appear as whatever he wants.\nIt's obviously to his advantage for him and his ministers to appear as attractive, charismatic, trustworthy, righteous people.\n\nHis portrayal with horns etc. is symbolic, and intended to scare us away from him.\n\nOn the other hand, some suggest that this false depiction might actually be a tool of the devil himself.\nIn \"The Screwtape Letters\", C. S. Lewis's demonic character offers a suggestion to another demon:\n\n\n The fact that ‘devils’ are predominately comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.\n\n\nEarlier, in 1864, Charles Baudelaire, in \"The Generous Gambler\" stated:\n\n\n The loveliest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that he does not exist!", "Dragons show up thematically in many mythologies:\n\nNorse: Jörmungandr is the \"world serpent\" \nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6rmungandr\n\n\n According to the Prose Edda, Odin took Loki's three children by Angrboða — the wolf Fenrir, Hel, and Jörmungandr — and tossed Jörmungandr into the great ocean that encircles Midgard.[2] The serpent grew so large that it was able to surround the earth and grasp its own tail.[2] As a result, it received the name of the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent. When it releases its tail, Ragnarök will begin. \n\n\nChristianity: Satan is depicted as the serpent\nGenesis 3:1 NIV \n\n\n Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.\n\n\nAnd again in Revelation \nhttps://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+12&amp;version=NIV\n\n\n Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.\n 7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.\n\n\nChinese: Dragons are quite prevalent in Chinese mythology:\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_dragon\n\n\n Chinese dragons or East Asian dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and East Asian culture at large. East Asian dragons have many animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most commonly depicted as snake-like with four legs. They traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. \n\n\nThere are many additional listings found on the Wikipedia page below including the Hydra (Greek), Tiamat (Babylonian), and the Tarasque (French):\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dragons_in_mythology_and_folklore", "The answer to this question depends on one's eschatology.\n\nPreterists (many not all) believe that Babylon of Revelation 17 is the same Babylon of 1 Peter 5:13\nHistoricists suggest that both refer to Rome - 1 Peter 5:13 is literal Rome and Revelation's Babylon is the end-time coalition called spiritual Rome composed of the Beast Trinity of the Dragon, the sea beast and the land beast\nDispensationalists and futurists vary widely on this point but still subscribe to a number of variation of the Historicist position.\n\nIn any case, 1 Peter 5:13, most agree, is literal Rome but Rev 17 is discussing a religious power, either Rome in 1st century (preterists) or an end-time religious power that persecutes the saints.", "Gary Gygax answered this question in an EN World interview, and at more length in Slayer's Guide to Dragons.\n\nOriginally there were the five chromatic and evil dragons, each with a color that suited their breath weapon, and a sixth good dragon patterned on the Oriental model of that imaginary creature. As it was both or different origination and alignment I decided to empower the gold dragon so as to more closely resemble the potent Oriental sort. So it got more of everything, including two breath weapons.\nThere came a time thereafter when more metallic dragons were desirable so as to expand the roster of good, Oriental-type ones. Thus all of them were modeled on the gold dragon template, had two breath weapons.\nLogically, with metal value being used as the basis for potency, platunum (Bahamut) being the highest, then gold and silver, the sequence should have been platinum-gold-electrum-silver-copper-bronze. However, I thought bronze looked more potent than copper, and skipped then to brass—that metal conveying some not-so-benign connotations.\n\nSee http://rpg.crg4.com/originsD.html#dragon for the longer quote.", "There are far more parallels between the beast from the sea (Rev 13:1-8) and Dan 7's four beasts, specifically:\n\n\nThe beast from the sea in Rev 13:1-8 appears as a composite beast of the four in Dan 7 - lion, bear, leopard with (in reverse order!) 10 horns (same as sea beast) and 7 heads (same number as in Dan 7)\nBoth come from, arise out of, the sea\nRev 13 describes a period of operation of 42 months, Dan 7:25 lists 3½ years\nBoth sets of beast oppose God and persecute the saints (Dan 7:21, 25, Rev 13:6, 7, etc)\nBoth are blasphemous sets of powers (Dan 7:8, 11, 20, 25, Rev 13:6)\n\n\nThus, there is a case for see a parallel between the beasts of Dan 7 (especially the fourth beast) and sea beast of Rev 13.\n\nHowever, the parallels quoted Rev 13:11, vs Dan 7:8, 11) are a consequence of the primary function of the land beast - it is to give glory to the sea beast by speaking like a dragon and deceiving the inhabitants of the earth. Thus, the character of the little horn of Dan 7 and the land beast of Rev 13 are quite different.\n\nThe word used to describe the land beast is ἀρνίον (arnion) which occurs 30 times in the NT as follows:\n\n\nJohn 21:15 describing the Christian community\n28 times in Revelation to describe Jesus as a lamb\nRev 13:11 to describe the land beast\n\n\nThus, there is little evidence to link the land beast of Rev 13:11-17 with the beasts of Dan 7, but there is much more to link the sea beast with Dan 7. The little horn of Dan 7 arises from among the 10 horns and become exceedingly great - quite unlike the two horns of the land beast with two (possible diminutive?) horns.\n\nThe links that do exist are because the land beast wants to support the sea beast.", "Brian Blount (Revelation: A Commentary, 225) summarizes the array of interpretations:\n\nSome connect her with figures in Israel's or the church's past or future: Eve, the mother whose seed would bruise the head of the dragon/serpent (Gen 3:1-16); Mary, the mother of Jesus; or the heavenly Jerusalem as bride of the Lamb (19:7-8; 29:9-10). Others suppose a pagan or astrological connection: a queen of heaven like the Egyptian Isis, or the constellation Virgo. Still others hypothesize a corporate representation of God's people: Israel, who escapes the dragon/Pharaoh into the wilderness on wings of eagles (Exod 19:4; cf. Ps 74:12-15); or Zion, the mother of the persecuted people of God (Isa 66:7-9; 4 Ezra 13.32-28).\n\nIn my answers to a few other questions, I've pointed to the way the author of the Revelation borrows and adapts symbols, scenes, and idioms primarily from the Hebrew bible to form his book.\n\nThe symbols surrounding the woman come from a swath of texts in the Hebrew bible, but the connection between all of them is they are all concerned with Israel, Judah, or Jerusalem/Zion. Breaking down the individual symbols in Revelation 12:\n\nA great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.\n\nThe specification of the stars as twelve in number brings us to Genesis 37.1-11. The final third of Genesis tells the story of Jacob (a.k.a. Israel) and his twelve sons, forefathers of the twelve tribes of Israel.\n\nGenesis 37.1-11 specifically has one of the younger sons, Joseph, describe a dream he had: he saw a sun, a moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him. His family immediately recognized that the sun was his father (Jacob/Israel), the moon his mother, and the eleven stars his brothers. The implication that Joseph is a twelfth star was taken for granted by the first century; cf. Philo, On Dreams 2.113: he who saw this heaven-sent vision, thought that he was being worshiped by eleven stars, ranking himself among them as the twelfth.\n\nThe woman in Revelation 12 is wrapped in the symbols from Joseph's dream which were intended to represent Israel and all its people.\n\nShe was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.\n\nProphetic texts sometimes symbolize Israel, Judah, or Jerusalem/Zion as a woman suffering birth pains during periods of crisis or social upheaval. Examples include Isaiah 26.1,17-18 and 66.7-11, or Jeremiah 4.31. The revelator adapts this motif and specifically identifies her offspring as the messiah (combining imagery from Psalm 2 and Psalm 110).\n\nThen another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.\n\nThe revelator borrows this from Daniel 8, another symbolic vision and combines it with the earlier use of Gen 37.1-11. In Daniel 8, the titular sage has a vision of a goat's horn throwing down stars and trampling them (Dan 8.9-10). An angel explains to Daniel that this vision symbolizes persecution befalling 'the people of the holy ones' (8.24), i.e. Torah-faithful Israelites.\n\nand the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. [...] the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.\n\nHere the revelator borrows very directly from Exodus 19.3-4: 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.'\n\n'One thousand two hundred sixty days' is three and a half years according to the Hebrew calendar, rendered a second time idiomatically as 'time and times and half a time' (i.e. one and two and one-half). This comes from Daniel 7, though John reverses its meaning; originally it signified the period of persecution Torah-faithful Israelites would suffer (the same one mentioned in Dan 8), but John here uses it to signify a period in which Israel will remain protected.\n\nSomewhat complicating the whole matter is John's adaptation of the Combat Myth that permeated Indo-European mythologies (see this answer). In particular, the revelator appears to have borrowed from a version of the Combat Myth well-known in the Asia region: the story of Apollo and Python.\n\nThe New Oxford Annotated New Testament comments:\n\nThe vision of the woman, the child, and the dragon is rich in symbolism drawn from the mythological traditions found in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as in the Hebrew Bible. One well-known version of the story tells of the goddess Leto, pregnant with Apollo, who is menaced by the dragon Python, who pursues her because he knows that Apollo is destined to kill him (Hyginus, Fabulae 140).\n\nThe Jewish Annotated New Testament:\n\nThe motif of the pregnant woman chased by the dragon, here and in vv.13-17, recalls the story of Leto (and her child, Apollo), pursued by Python. It is not surprising that a Jewish author from Asia Minor might draw out a vision rooted in prophetic oracles by means of regional mythology.\n\nAnd GK Beale's commentary, The Book of Revelation, 624:\n\nThe version of this story best known in Asia Minor was that of the goddess Leto who was pregnant with Apollo, the son of Zeus. She was attacked by the dragon, Python, because he knew that her offspring had been appointed to kill him. But she was carried to a safe island by winds sent by Zeus. The god Poseidon hid the island under the water so that Python could not find the woman and her child. Four days after Apollo was born, he found the dragon and slew it.\n\nIn other words, John borrowed the specific shape of the Combat Myth as seen in the Apollo vs. Python story and replaced its 'pagan' elements with symbols assembled from throughout the Hebrew bible.\n\n\n\nConclusion\n\nThe broad consensus of critical scholarship is the woman represents Israel.", "Know that this is an incredibly complex question in that sense: when we are speaking of \"dragon\", \"wyrm\", \"drake\", \"wyvern\", we are referring to modern terms, and not necessary at all to medieval terms and what they meant for medieval people.\n\nBrief overview\n\nIn early Middle Age dragons are personification of evil, and especially Satan. They are generally fought by saints who used them to show the all mighty power of the true God (according to the said saints!). Those saints are Saint Georges, Saint Michel, Saint Marcel, or even female saints Saint Marguerite, Saint Marthe.\nIn later period, they are fought by knights in Middle Age novels as a kind of rite of passage. They are much more the mandatory tough enemy much more than a final epic fight.\n\nDragon representation in Middle Age\n\nNow let's take a look at dragon as seen by artists during Middle Age (once again let's forget here modern thinking, let's look at what artists painted during the Middle Age).\n\nHere is a representation of the Archangels fighting the Beast of the Apocalypse (picture from the Apocalypse glosée). Notice, the dragon has 6 heads on the front and one head on the tail (The Beast with the seven heads and ten horns), it's bipedal, and has feathered short wings echoing the large wings of the archangels. \n\n\n\nHere is Saint Liphar and the dragon from \"Les grandes heures d'Anne de Bretagne\". Bidepdal small dragon much more looking as a fancy dog than anything else (the former arch-enemies are now the pets of saints, that's the power of God (!)).\n\n\n\nAnd here from Queste Del Graal Percival and his lion fighting the dreaded serpent. Once again a bipedal creature with small wings.\n\n\n\nAnd to finish, here is a depiction from Germany of Sigurd killing the dragon Fafnir. This is from the Ramsund carving. Notice that Fafnir the most renown dragon is depicted as a giant snake.\n\n\nI could go on and on to demonstrate that: Dragon in Middle Age are not specifically four legged creatures with wings. That doesn't mean they are not. that means that when they are it is only one of the way there are shown.\n\nRegarding the term \"dragon\" and \"wyrm\"\n\nWyrm is known in English to depict the creature fought by the hero Beowulf. That creature is either referred as \"wyrm\" or \"draca\". For any decent Tolkien reader (which I am not) this is totally important just because Tolkien was a huge fan of Beowulf and his depiction of Smaug is rooted in that fight. And thus part of our modern tradition is.\n\nWyrm is an old English world which altered later into worm. \nThomas Eliot's dictionary (1542) only know draco, onis, a dragon.\nSamuel Johnson's dictionary (1755) give us this sense for worm: 1- A small harmless serpent that lives in the earth, 2- A poisonous serpent. \n\nIf you take a look now at English literature: \n\n\nIn Sir Thomas Malory's La Morte d'Arthur (1485), dragons are common references, wyrm or worm are never mentioned, they are not existent.\nIn Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene (1596) dragons are relatively common (it is the mandatory rite of passage of the Redcross Knight), when worm never occurred as fantastic creatures (they \"appeared\" as our modern worms)\n\n\nSo what it seems that in early English, wyrm and dragon were equivalent, as English progressed, worm recessed at first as a small 'serpent' before simply vanishing from the language, letting only the term dragon survive.\n\nThe winged serpent\n\nI would like to notice something, most of the depiction of the dragon is roughly a winged serpent, and winged serpents are incredibly common in mythologies and ridiculously old. Example: Egypt is the reunion of lower and upper Egypt and each of those lands were associated with a patron goddess. The patron goddess of lower Egypt was Wadjet a winged serpent. This is so remnant in Egypt that when Herodotus visited Egypt he mentioned he saw such winged snakes in Bouto. \"The snake has a form of a water snake and bears wing-like membrane that lack feathers, quite similar to the wing of a bat\".\n\nRegarding the term Wyvern\n\nAt the origin, wyverns, aka Guivre, Vouivre or Vipera, are creatures with ears like horns described by Pliny whose reproductive behaviors is that the female is eating the head of its male when mating. During the middle age that creature will gain most of the features of the dragon as shown here:\n \n\nIf you take a look at Pliny's description of the wyvern and take a look at the Ramsund carving, you will see that the most renown dragon is a... wyvern!\n\nNotice that in French la guivre or la vouivre is a kind of snake. As in Italy. The symbol of the Visconty of Milan is la guivra a snake eating a baby. \n\nRegarding the term \"Drake\"\n\nDrake is coming from the old English term Draca (one of the term defining the last enemy of Beowulf); coming from the latin draco, dragon. Drake is the common name of the youngster of dragons. No such reference exists whatsoever in Middle Age, it is purely a modern term.\n\nThe dragon in heraldry\n\nHeraldry is one of the most codified thing in the world, in the traditional heraldic world, and in English countries ONLY (what follows is so entirely false for France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Nederlands, etc.):\n- Dragons are four legged, 2 bats winged creatures\n- Wyverns are 2 legged, 2 winged creatures\n- Wyrms are not represented\n\nA final warning: Even that is quite false in the history of English heraldry (which by eon I am not an expert) and you will find dragons with 2 legs and wyverns with four!\n\nConclusion\n\nDuring Middle Age what are the differences between Wyrms, Dragons, Wyverns and Drakes. Simply: Drakes are nonexistent. Dragons, wyrms and wyverns are mostly interchangeable terms, when wyrms will disappear progressively from the English vocabulary.\nHow many legs have they? As much as the artists painting it want (0, 2, 4)\nHow many heads? As much as the artists painting it want (0, 2, 4, 7)\nHow many wings? As much as the artists painting it want (0, 2, 4)\nFeathers? Scales? As the artists want.\n\nRegarding Tolkien\n\nIt is my knowledge that dragons in Tolkien are following this pattern. Smaug is described as a \"wyvern\" still referenced as a dragon, and Glaurung is named the Black Worm. I am by eons not even remotely any sort of expert in Tolkien.", "It's a hermaphrodite because it symbolically combines both particles of material principes that need to be re-united in spirit through mutual alchemy between the male and female. \n\nThe dark wings symbolize the fall into matter, and disconnection from the \"eternal monad\", creation in diversity in separation from the whole. \n\nThe torch of illumination is akin to wisdom (Head of Wisdom, al-Fihamat) as if \"guiding the herd towards illumination or freedom\" by a master or mistress. Baphomet here plays a role of a mediator, negotiator, that stays to release, guides to show the lamp, and liberate. A token. \n\nGoat is a sacrificial animal, and thus the \"Head of Wisdom\" is sacrificed for the common good, sublation, as in alchemical Pelican's blood is a feast for it's children. \n\nThe pentagram is a symbol of the Spirit and of liberation, a star as in Egypt is a symbol of spirit and ascent. \n\nIt also has a lot to do with the \"government over Earth\" or the sub-lunary spheres, as in an apotheosis of a perfect judge, between solve (mercy) and coagula (judgment). \n\nAs to the Left Hand Path. Females are more ambivalent with the chtonic-lunar side, birth-giving factor, lunation, menstruation cycles, yet that is not a definite. That is mere theory, as within order, conqueress move above the Seven Spheres.", "While the Old Testament introduces Satan and portrays him as:\n\nInciting David to sin by taking an unauthorized census (1 Chronicles 21:1)\nAccusing Job of only walking uprightly because of the many blessings he had received from God (Job 1) and tormenting him when given the opportunity (Job 2)\nAccusing Joshua the High Priest (Zechariah 3:1-2)\n\nIt doesn't go into anywhere near the level of detail that the New Testament provides regarding this particular being. One of the things we can see in Matthew's account of the Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness is that Satan is alternatively identified as &quot;the devil&quot; and described as &quot;the tempter&quot;. This identification is also made explicit in the following verses in Revelation:\n\nThe great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. - Revelation 12:9 NIV\nHe seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. - Revelation 20:2 NIV\n\n&quot;That ancient serpent&quot; is an allusion to the serpent in the Garden of Eden - the original tempter.\nElsewhere, we see references to &quot;the evil one&quot;,&quot;the god of this age&quot; and &quot;...the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.&quot; (Ephesians 2:2) which from context all refer to the same being. Given that basis, an additional key passage that is relevant to answering your question is John 8:44 -\n\nYou belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.\n\nSo in summary, the Bible - and more specifically the New Testament - asserts that Satan is &quot;the father of lies&quot;, &quot;is now at work in those who are disobedient&quot; and &quot;leads the whole world astray&quot; and by nature &quot;was a murderer from the beginning&quot;; Given this basis, a designation of &quot;author of evil&quot; does seem appropriate for Satan.\nUnfortunately your additional questions regarding where and why evil exists go beyond the scope of what can adequately be addressed on this site without resorting to primarily-opinion-based answers.", "The Four Living Creatures in Revelation are also described in Ezekiel 10, when he has a vision of the Cherubim - which are either heavenly beings and/or angels depending on who you ask:\n\n\n And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.\n\n\nAlso, to my understanding (at least in Revelation) these creatures are supposed to represent the Four Evangelists - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.\n\nDepending on your denomination and what you do or do not consider scriptural, in Mishneh Torah or Yad ha-Chazakh we have the following:\n\nChayot ha-Kodesh - Ezekiel Chs 1-10 (creatures)\nOphanim - also in Ezekiel Chs 1-10 (\"wheels\")\nErelim - Isaiah 33:7\nHashmallim - Ezekiel 1:4\nSeraphim - Isaiah 6\nMalakim - regular angels/messengers; seen throughout\nElohim - \"godly beings\" (this is why the Lord is typically called Adonai Elohim)\nBene Elohim - the sons of God/godly beings\nCherubim - we see them throughout the Bible.\nIshim - manlike beings in Genesis 18:32 and Daniel 10:5\nNephilim - sons of the fallen angels (sometimes called \"Watchers\"). They were giants created after the angels exchanged in relations with human women.\n\n*note I used Judaism as the reference for the names", "Because of their close ties with dragons, and because the founder of the dynasty, Aegon Targaryen, achieved the historic conquest of the Seven Kingdoms which involved using three dragons being ridden by himself and his two sisters.\n\nFrom A Clash of Kings, book 2 in George R. R. Martins novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire, that the show is based on:\n\n\n So many threes. Three fires, three mounts to ride, three treasons. “The dragon has three\n heads,” she sighed. “Do you know what that means, Jorah?”\n “Your Grace? The sigil of House Targaryen is a three-headed dragon, red on black.”\n “I know that. But there are no three-headed dragons.”\n “The three heads were Aegon and his sisters.”\n “Visenya and Rhaenys,” she recalled. “I am descended from Aegon and Rhaenys through their son Aenys and their grandson\n Jaehaerys.”\n —A Clash of Kings, Chapter 63, Daenerys\n\n\nIn case you doubt Jorah's word, considering Martin's use of \"unrealiable narrator\", Martin makes this explicitly clear in the Appendix of the same book (A Clash of Kings):\n\n\n The banner of the Targaryens is the banner of Aegon the Conqueror, who conquered six of Seven Kingdoms, founded the\n dynasty, and made the Iron Throne from the swords of his conquered enemies: a three-headed dragon, red on black.\n —A Clash of Kings, Appendix, The Kings and their Courts: The Queen Across the Water\n\n\nFrom the \"House Targaryen\" article on A Wiki of Ice and Fire:\n\n\n As one of the forty dragonlord families of Valyria, the Targaryens were closer to dragons than other men. Aenar Targaryen brought five dragons with him when he moved from Valyria to Dragonstone, and Aegon I Targaryen and his sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya rode them to battle during the Conquest of the Seven Kingdoms in 2 BC - 1 BC.\n —\"House Targaryen\", A Wiki of Ice and Fire\n\n\nalso\n\n\n The three-headed dragon represents the Conqueror and his two sisters, Rhaenys and Visenya\n —\"House Targaryen\", A Wiki of Ice and Fire", "The issue of interpreting the Revelation is very difficult. A book like Proverbs is relatively straight forward; most readers agree on the genre, how it was intended to be read, and how it was intended to be applied. The same can't be said for the Revelation, because interpretations and applications have varied so radically over the centuries, let alone just within the last hundred years.\n\nBecause this is a necessarily subjective topic, the answer I provide below is intended only to represent my own thoughts, although plenty of other commentators may agree.\n\n\n\nQuick recap on the Revelation's genre and intent\n\nIn previous answers, I have described the genre of the Revelation, so I'll refer to those1 while summarizing here:\n\n\nThe Revelation is a Jewish apocalypse.\nJewish apocalypses often used symbolism.\n\n\nThese symbols were frequently adapted from pictures and metaphors of established Hebrew scriptures.\n\nJewish apocalypses were written in response to a crisis in the time of the author.\n\n\nJohn's crisis is the oppression of Christians by the Roman Empire, especially in Asia.\nConsequently, that is the primary focus of his book: the downfall of pagan Rome, as represented by several symbols (i.e. the beast, Babylon, the dragon).\n\n\n\nFrom these points, it is expecting too much out of the Revelation to come up with a specific scientific analysis of the things described therein. It's simply not what was intended by the genre.\n\nInstead, because the Revelation, as a Jewish apocalypse, is brimming with symbolism that is drawn so heavily on the Hebrew scriptures, that is the author's intended backdrop to the 'scorching heat' and 'darkness' of Revelation 16. John had no concept of 'gamma radiation', and his intended audience (seven of his contemporary churches in Asia) certainly didn't.\n\n\n\nSome probable sources to Revelation 16.8-11\n\nThe seven trumpets of chapters 8-11 and the seven bowls of chapter 16 have frequently been connected to the plagues of Egypt, found in the book of Exodus. The exodus plagues are, in order:\n\n\nWater into blood: Revelation 8.8, 11.6, 16.3-6\nFrogs: Revelation 16.12-14\nLice\nFlies\nDiseased livestock\nBoils: Revelation 16.2\nHail and fire: Revelation 8.7, 16.17-21\nLocusts: Revelation 9.1-11\nDarkness: Revelation 8.12, 16.10\nDeath of the firstborn\n\n\nThe 'darkness' John describes is predicated on his reuse of exodus plagues, and several of those other plagues, as they appear in the Revelation, are certainly metaphoric (the locusts) or analogical (the frogs), not 'literal'.\n\nThe 'scorching heat' concept is found elsewhere in the Revelation, in verse 7.16, where the author was borrowing language from Isaiah 49.10. In both Revelation and Isaiah, the picture being described (no thirst, no hunger, no scorching heat, springs of water) is primarily a metaphor that summarizes God's blessings on the people who trust in him; it's figurative language that assumes those people are familiar with the difficulties of a dry, hot, desert climate. The bowl of 'scorching heat' in Revelation 16 has the opposite effect. Instead of taking away the heat as a blessing, it is sent as a curse.\n\n\n\nConclusion\n\nBecause the Revelation recapitulates the same events over and over, but with different symbolism each time, I find it doubtful that John expected the fulfillment of his visions to be 'literal' in the way modern readers typically assume. He expected something significant to happen, and this is represented in visions of cosmic signs and exodus plagues. On the basis of genre, it appears to me that the 'scorching heat' and 'darkness' in Revelation 16 are no more literal than the drunken prostitute in Revelation 17. They are purely symbolic for the imminent, catastrophic collapse of the idolatrous empire of Rome.\n\n\n\nFootnotes\n\n1 One, two, three, four, five.", "The Seven Sages are the Apkallu.\n\nThe Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible states that they were servants of Ea, responsible for teaching mankind how to govern and start civilization. They interacted with the ancient kings1, and Gilgamesh is referred to in one \"cylinder\" as \"master of the Apkallu\". Additionally,\n\n\n the seven Apkallu became associated with laying the foundations of the seven ancient cities: Eridu, Ur, Nippur, Kullab, Kesh, Lagash, and Shuruppak.\n\n\nThe entry then confirms that the Apkallu are the Seven Sages mentioned in The Epic of Gilgamesh.\n\nThe Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History of Interpretations states that certain depictions of the Apkallu show them having the heads of birds, as well as having wings.\n\nIt is possible that the reason the city of Uruk is not included in that entry is that the author of The Epic of Gilgamesh simple borrowed the idea of the Apkallu from other, perhaps earlier, works, and thus it is not consistent with the classical accounts of them.\n\n\n\n1 Another book explicitly says that only one Apkallu advised each of seven ancient kings; each one advised in a different \"generation\", although this does not imply that the Apkallu are related to one another as parents to children. This entire claim differs slightly from other interpretations.", "Behemoth and Leviathan are both of Babylonian origin, where they are creatures of the primal Chaos, Behemoth of the Earth and male, Leviathan of the Ocean Deep and female. \n\nSome historians claim Behemoth, derived from Hebrew b'hemoth, usually taken as plural of intensity of b'hemah \"beast.\", is perhaps a folk etymology of Egyptian pehemau, literally \"water-ox,\" the name for the hippopotamus. Bahamut is the Arabic form of Behemoth. However, the original biblical Behemoth never appeared as a fish.A reshaping of its nature must have occurred in Arab storytelling, some time in the pre-islamic period.One proposed scenario is that a pair of beasts from the bible were confused with each other; the behemoth mis-assigned to the fish, and the aquatic leviathan to the bull.\n\nLeviathan's source is in prebiblical Mesopotamian myth, especially that of the sea monster in the Ugaritic myth of Baal. It's another name for Yam, ancient West Semitic deity who ruled the oceans, rivers, lakes, and underground springs. He also played an important role in the Baal myths recorded on tablets uncovered at Ugarit, which say that at the beginning of time Yamm was awarded the divine kingship by El, the chief god of the pantheon. One day, Yamm’s messengers requested that the gods surrender Baal to be a bond servant to Yamm. El finally agreed, but Baal refused to go and instead engaged Yamm in battle. After a furious fight, in which the craftsman Kothar supplied Baal with two special weapons, Yamm was finally slain and the kingship given to Baal. According to some scholars, Yamm was the same deity as Lotan (Hebrew: Leviathan), who was represented as a hydralike dragon or serpent.", "WHO IS THE “ANGEL OF THE ABYSS” the SAME Angel has the \"key of the Abyss\".\n\nWhat do the scriptures say?\n\n1st What can the angel do?\n\n\n Rev. 9:11\n “They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon*, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon**.”\n *Means “Destruction.” **Means “Destroyer.”\n\n\nThis angel has the power to Destroy! What or who?\n\n2nd What other kind of power does the angel have?\n\n\n Rev. 20:1-3\n And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 He seized* the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil* and Satan*, and bound him for 1,000 years. 3 And he hurled him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not mislead the nations anymore until the 1,000 years were ended. After this he must be released for a little while.”\n\n\nThe Angel has controling power over Satan The Devil to put him into the abbys and the release him from the abyss at will.\n\n3rd Who has been given power over Satan The Devil to destroy him?\n\n\n Gen. 3:15-16 KJV\n “And the LORD God said unto the serpent (Devil), Because thou (Devil) hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee (Devil) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”\n\n\n4th Who is The “Seed”?\n\n\n Gen. 3:15 “…this purpose of God that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin; this, and this alone, is what is implied in the promise of the seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent. Jesus Christ died to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and to destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”-‘CLARKE’S COMMENTARY OT, VOLUME 1, GENESIS – DEUTERONOMY’ by Adam Clarke\n\n\nThe first Biblical prophecy identifies Jesus as the one commissioned by God to destroy Satan the Devil!\n\nThis is supported by:-\n\n\n Heb. 2:14\n “Therefore, since the “young children” are sharers of blood and flesh, he (Jesus) also similarly shared in the same things, so that through his (Jesus) death he (Jesus) might bring to nothing the one having the means to cause death, that is, the Devil, ..”\n \n 1 John 3:8\n “For this purpose the Son of God (Jesus) was made manifest, to break up the works of the Devil.”\n\n\nRight from the onset of God’s revelation to mankind, starting in Genesis, about his purpose, he states a prime idea; that Jesus (the seed) is the one who God foretold will be the ‘destroyer’ of Satan The Devil. The Scripture do not identify anyone one else for this role! So it is reasonable to conclude that the “angel of the abyss” etc. is non other the Jesus Christ acting as God’s champion bring his arch enemy to nothing!\n\nAS THEY BOTH HAVE POWER OVER SATAN AND ONLY ONE PERSON HAS THAT POWER, JESUS, THEN THEY ARE BOTH JESUS AT WORK UNDER OTHER TITLES!!", "There are four instances of ἐν πνεύματι in the book of Revelation:\n\n\nRevelation 1\n\n\n 9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.10 I was in the Spirit ἐν πνεύματι on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;\n -- Revelation 1:9-12 (KJV) \n\n\nSo, John was on the isle of Patmos (v. 9), then is \"in the Spirit\" (v. 10), and then he is transported to a place amid seven golden candlesticks, where he is spoken to by a voice like a trumpet -- the voice of Jesus (vv. 11-12).\n\nThe next two chapters, Revelation 2 and 3, are the messages Jesus gives to John for the seven churches, while he is standing amid the seven candlesticks.\nRevelation 4\n\n\n 1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the Spirit ἐν πνεύματι: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.\n -- Revelation 4:1-2 \n\n\nAfter hearing the messages to the seven churches, John sees a door open in heaven (v. 1). He hears a voice say, \"Come up here.\" (v. 1), then he is \"in the Spirit\", and transported \"up\" to where he had just been invited, into the presence of the throne of God (v. 2). \nRevelation 17\n\n\n 1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the Spirit ἐν πνεύματι into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.\n -- Revelation 17:1-3 (KJV)\n\n\nAll that John has recorded up to this point, Revelation 4:3-17:2, was shown to him while he was in the presence of the throne of God. In 17:3, he is once more \"in the Spirit\", then transported into the wilderness (back to earth) to see the woman on the scarlet beast.\nRevelation 21\n\n\n 9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit ἐν πνεύματι to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,\n -- Revelation 21:9-10 (KJV) \n\n\nThe things John records from Revelation 17:4-21:8, are shown to him while he is in the wilderness, then in 21:10 he is \"in the Spirit\", and transported to a great and high mountain, where he looks down upon the New Jerusalem.\n\n\nThe common idea being expressed in these four instances, by the phrase \"in the Spirit\", is that of transportation:\n\nOn Earth --&gt; Amid Candlesticks --&gt; In Heaven --&gt; On Earth --&gt; On Earth\n(Patmos) (Wilderness) (High Mountain)\n\n\nThere is no break in the sequence of the Revelation, only changes in location while the sequence is being revealed.", "Introduction\n\nWikipedia gives a pretty good summary of Revelation beasts.\n\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_(Revelation)\n\nIt names the beast from the sea (ch 13), the scarlet beast (ch 17), the beast from the earth (13:11-18). \n\nThere is also the dragon identified as Satan (Ch 12, 16:13, 20:2). The beasts found in the seals and throne sections (ch 4,5,6, 7:11, 14:3, 15:7, 19:4) are a different Greek word, zoon as opposed to Therion. These beasts are like cherubims and Seraphim found in various books of the Bible (Eze Ch 1, ch 10, Isa ch 6). They bear resemblances to other middle-eastern composite beasts such as sphinxes, lamassu, and genii. The middle-eastern creatures are related to seasons and zodiacal signs. In Revelation, they are associated with the throne of God and the four horsemen (ch 6).\n\nInterpretations\n\nWikipedia lists four modern interpretations of the later beasts (ch 13-19).\n\nPreterism - Most often the first beast is Nero and the second is the imperial cult.\n\nHistoricism - Favored by the Reformers. The beast and false prophet were most commonly identified with the papacy in its political and religious aspects.\n\nIdealism - The beast from the sea is interpreted as the state or any human kingdom that is in opposition to God. This would include the Roman Empire but would broadly apply to all empires. Scholars take their cue from the parallels between Revelation 13 and Daniel 7, noting that in Daniel 7:17 that the beasts are revealed as kingdoms.\n\nFuturism - Futurism often interprets the beast from the sea to represent a revived Roman empire that will oppose Christians in the last days. \n\nRelation to Daniel\n\nAs noted, these beasts are similar to the beasts found in Daniel where they are usually interpreted as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greek Empire, and the Roman Empire. However, the church historian Eusebius gives us an alternate interpretation of Daniel.\n\n\n For it was quite consistent in the king, whose view of the spectacle of life was so false, and who admired the beauty of the mere sensible colours, so to speak, in the picture set up to view, to liken the life of all men to a great image; but (it became) the prophet to compare the great and mighty tumult of life to a mighty sea. And it was fitting that the king, who prized the substances deemed precious among men, gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, should liken to these substances the kingdoms that held the sovereignty at different times in the life of men; but that the prophet should describe these same kingdoms under the likeness of beasts, in accordance with the manner of their rule. And again, the king—who was puffed up, as it seems, in his own conceit, and plumed himself on the power of his ancestors—is shown the vicissitude to which affairs are subject, and the end destined for all the kingdoms of earth, with the view of teaching him to lay aside his pride in himself, and understand that there is nothing stable among men, but only that which is the appointed end of all things—the kingdom of God.\" \n Scholia on Daniel\n\n\nIn comparing the vision of chapter 2 to the vision in 7, Eusebius sees the differences as different views of how the king and prophet consider the lives of all men. This is perhaps similar to the way the Greek poet Hesiod describes his ages of man. Hesiod describes the five Ages of Man. \n\nGolden Age - Men had a youthful appearance and eventually died peacefully.\n\nSilver Age - They lived only a short time as grown adults, and spent that time in strife with one another.\n\nBronze Age – Men of the Bronze Age were hardened and tough, as war was their purpose and passion.\n\nHeroic Age – The Heroic Age is the one age that does not correspond with any metal. It is also the only age that improves upon the age it follows.\n\nIron Age – During this age humans live an existence of toil and misery. \n\nThere seems to be a correspondence to the ages of man and the physical aging of a natural person, with the Heroic age representing intellectual wisdom while the body weakens, and eventually, dies.\n\nChurch Fathers\n\nAnother early Christian apocalypse is the Shepherd of Hermas, which seems to bring together the parables of Jesus with the symbolism of the Apocalypse. Hermas sees a tribulation beast with four colors that are reminiscent of the beasts in Revelation. Instead of multiple heads and horns, Hermas is told of commandments and similitudes.\n\nAlthough Hermas doesn't mention 7 and 10, other church fathers associated these numbers with the spirit and the law.\n\n\n \n For if we determine on the number that should indicate the law, what else can it be but ten? For we have absolute certainty that the Decalogue of the law, that is, those ten well-known precepts, were first written by the finger of God on two tables of stone. (Deut. ix. 10.) But the law, when it is not aided by grace, maketh transgressors, and is only in the letter, on account of which the apostle specially declared, “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (2 Cor. iii. 6.) Let the spirit then be added to the letter, lest the letter kill him whom the spirit maketh not alive, and let us work out the precepts of the law, not in our own strength, but by the grace of the Saviour. But when grace is added to the law, that is, the spirit to the letter, there is, in a kind of way, added to ten the number of seven. For this number, namely seven, is testified by the documents of holy writ given us for perusal, to signify the Holy Spirit. For example, sanctity or sanctification properly pertains to the Holy Spirit, whence, as the Father is a spirit, and the Son a spirit, because God is a spirit, so the Father is holy and the Son holy, yet the Spirit of both is called peculiarly by the name of the Holy Spirit. Where, then, was there the first distinct mention of sanctification in the law but on the seventh day? \" \n NPNF1-07. St. Augustine: Lectures or Tracates on the Gospel according to St. John; Tractate CXXII, Chapter XX. 30-31, and XXI. 1-11.\n \n\n\nJerome:\n\n\n ...The number ten signifies the Decalogue, and one hundred shows the crown of virginity.\n For he who has preserved entire his resolution for virginity, and faithfully fulfilled the precepts of the Decalogue, and has overcome impure actions and impure thoughts among the chambers of the heart so that they do not rule him, this is truly a priest of Christ and entirely completes the millenary number, believed to rule with Christ, and rightly with Him the devil is bound...\n Jerome (ending to his version of Victorinus' commentary, which replaces Victorinus' material on chapters 20 and 21 of the Apocalypse)\n\n\nMethodius:\n\n\n Therefore, taking to you a masculine and sober mind, oppose your armour to the swelling beast, and do not at all give way, nor be troubled because of his fury. For you will have immense glory if you overcome him, and take away the seven crowns which are upon him, on account of which we have to struggle and wrestle, according to our teacher Paul. For she who having first overcome the devil, and destroyed his seven heads, becomes possessed of the seven crowns of virtue, having gone through the seven great struggles of chastity. For incontinence and luxury is a head of the dragon; and whoever bruises this is wreathed with the crown of temperance. Cowardice and weakness is also a head; and he who treads upon this carries off the crown of martyrdom. Unbelief and folly, and other similar fruits of wickedness, is another head; and he who has overcome these and destroyed them carries off the honours connected with them, the power of the dragon being in many ways rooted up. Moreover, the ten horns and stings which he was said to have upon his heads are the ten opposites, O virgins, to the Decalogue, by which he was accustomed to gore and cast down the souls of many imagining and contriving things in opposition to the law, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,” (Deut. vi. 5.) and to the other precepts which follow. \n Methodius, Symposium, Thekla, Chapter XIII.—The Seven Crowns of the Beast to Be Taken Away by Victorious Chastity; The Ten Crowns of the Dragon, the Vices Opposed to the Decalogue; The Opinion of Fate the Greatest Evil.\n\n\nI call this the \"Wisdom\" interpretation of Revelation. The Greeks loved wisdom (1Co 1:22). After all, Revelation calls for wisdom to understand the beast (13:18, 17:9).\n\n\n 2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;", "The Enuma Elish begins with the creation of the universe, originally an undifferentiated mass of water swirling in chaos. The waters divided into fresh and salt. The freshwater formed the god Apsu and saltwater the goddess Tiamat; from their union were born the younger gods.\nSo she simply represents the sea, whether she is a specific sea is not mentioned. My own take om this is that Enuma Elish is thought to have been written before or during the time of Hammurabi, at which time the Babylonian empire reached the Persian Gulf, so a possibility is that she represented that sea in particular but I cannot be certain of it. She simply is the sea, that big mass of salty undrinkable water. The main rivers of the Babylonian empire also empty in that same sea so Apsu and Tiamat meet near the sea.\nAs for her description, Enûma Elish includes a thigh, tail, &quot;lower parts&quot;, a belly, lips, ribs, neck, skull, head, eyes, nostrils, mouth, and udder. She has blood, insides, arteries, and a heart. Below I have included a snippet from my source where multiple parts of her are described.\n\nAnd the evil wind that was behind (him) he let\nloose in her face.\n\nAs Tiamat opened her mouth to its full extent,\nHe drove in the evil wind, while as yet she had\nnot shut her lips.\nThe terrible winds filled her belly,\nloo. And her courage was taken from her, and her\nmouth she opened wide.\nIOI. He seized the spear and burst her belly,\nHe severed her inward parts, he pierced (her)\nheart.\nHe overcame her and cut off her life ;\n Luzacs Semitic Text and Translation Series (PDF) (Vol XII ed.). p. 150-line 122. (goes directly to pdf which can be downloaded at your leisure)\n\n\nNow this is probably not the description you're looking for so I will look further into her &quot;Dragon appearance&quot; for which I will use some snippets from Wikipedia (I am getting stressed for time so might finish it on another date).\nThe pdf I linked above talks more about the nuances of her portrayal as a dragon.\nSome scholars clearly see her as a dragon while some disagree as also noted on wikipedia and their sources.\n\nTiamat is usually described as a sea serpent or dragon, although Assyriologist Alexander Heidel disagreed with this identification and argued that &quot;dragon form can not be imputed to Tiamat with certainty.&quot; Other scholars have disregarded Heidel's argument: Joseph Fontenrose in particular found it &quot;not convincing&quot; and concluded that &quot;there is reason to believe that Tiamat was sometimes, not necessarily always, conceived as a dragoness.&quot;Fontenrose, Joseph (1980). Python: a study of Delphic myth and its origins.\n\n\nThe Enûma Elish states that Tiamat gave birth to dragons and serpents among a more general list of monsters including scorpion men and merpeople, but does not identify her form as that of a dragon; however, other sources containing the same myth do refer to her as such. King, Leonard William (1902). The Seven Tablets of Creation (Vol. II: Supplementary Texts). p. 117.", "The seven churches are described in Revelation 2 and 3. My opinion is that the seven churches not only refer to churches that existed then, but are representative of churches that have existed in different places since then.\nHere's what Revelation Commentary says about the seven churches:\n\nWith two thousand years separating the seven churches of Asia and the modern churches of the world, the question of relevance is critical. What is the relationship between the seven churches mentioned in Revelation and modern churches? Some commentators have tried to make the case that the seven churches of Revelation depict seven periods of church history. This view is woefully inadequate. First, there is no explicit scriptural support for this view. Second, the seven periods of church history must be subjectively determined, which undermines credibility and fosters date setting. Third, such an approach deprives the first century churches of any application for their time.\nHowever, the messages, themselves, yield the necessary clues to answer the question of relevancy. For believers of all ages the issue is the same in connection with the Son of Man: forgiveness or judgment. The Lord instructs six of the seven churches that there are both immediate and long-term consequences to their deeds. The threat of immediate discipline for a lack of repentance is given to the churches of Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, and Laodicea. Equally, each church is also warned about the possible rewards and punishments to be experienced at the Lord’s coming (parousia). This indicates that the messages to the seven churches have both a &quot;near&quot; application and a &quot;far&quot; application--both a temporal and an eternal application. The fact that each message ends with the same trademark: &quot;He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,&quot; is compelling. That the term church is plural extends the message and application to the church universal. Believers in two thousand AD can claim the same promises and fear the same warnings.\n\nHere's a link to the contributors of Revelation Commentary.", "I suspect you're referring to Benzaiten, a Buddhist and Shinto Goddess. \n\nThe linked Encyclopedia Britannica article mentions to her marriage to the dragon, and Britannica is generally considered a reputable source, however they don't provide citations, at least for this online article, so you may want to seek out the source material on your own to verify.\n\nThis site says: \"A dragon once ravaged a village in Kanagawa. Benzaiten swooped down from heaven and engaged the dragon. She agreed to marry him, and by her influence, the dragon ceased his wicked ways, and peace returned to the region. The island of Enoshima rose up in the place in which the dragon's lair once rested.\" \n\nThis comes with a big caveat that the references on that website are not reliable. \n\nHowever, my inclination is to trust this source: \n\n\"The Legend of the Goddess and the 5-Headed Dragon\"\n\nLong ago there lived a 5-headed dragon. The dragon demanded sacrifices be made to him, caused floods, and rained down fire, committing one wicked act after another. In the year 552, the Heavens and the Earth suddenly began to shake and a goddess appeared above the clouds. Gradually, the clouds gave way to sunlight, and Enoshima was born. The Dragon immediately fell in love, and asked for the goddess' hand in marriage, but knowing of the wicked acts the Dragon had committed, the Goddess refused. Not prepared to give up, the Dragon vowed to mend his ways, and so the goddess (known as Benzaiten) agreed to marry him. On the shore opposite Enoshima lies \"Dragon's Mouth Mountain\". The Dragon turned into the mountain so as to watch over the goddess, even after death, and it is said that the Dragon still keeps watch over Enoshima today. Due to \"The Legend of the Goddess and the 5-Headed Dragon\", Enoshima is today famous as a spiritual site for marriage.\"\n\n\n\nNote: If I get a chance to get my hands on some vetted source material for Japanese mythology, I'll return and make citations. In the meantime, I hope this answer is helpful." ]

[ "Bolton, England" ]

[ "City of Cape Town", "cities and large towns", "City of Training Bases", "Brooks City - Base", "Wanting Without Wanting", "Cape Town City Council", "Blues City Band", "The Royal City Band", "Want", "the City of Cape Town municipality", "Town", "New Orleans based brass band", "bases", "that which burns", "that which purifies", "the base", "banding", "base", "Band", "towns", "Wanted on Voyage", "Want One", "City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality", "English", "that which is heard", "Wanting Out", "The Band", "Itanagar town", "Home Town", "Old Town", "the program in which they are enrolled", "Wonderful Town" ]

[ "Among the several plays by Zheng Tingyu,A Narrow Escape of Zhaowang the King of Chu on a River is the one provoking arguments on its different versions.Since the 20th century,many scholars devoted to the research of this work either avoid evaluating its different versions or appreciate its Yuan versions while depreciating its Ming versions,which has inevitably hindered an objective review of this play and even of all the Yuan operas.Through a detailed comparison and research,it can be found that the different versions of this play in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties show the evident inherent relationship in the plot,the logic,the conception,the music and the lines.The revised versions in the Ming Dynasty reflect the artistic rationality and historical necessity." ]

[ "The mould of traditional opera \"Chaste Women Zhao\" during the dynasties of Song and Yuan underwent a changing process from formulating to being mature,from which we can detect some concepts about marriage,life and value,and some infulences by these changes brought to traditional dramatic literature in both subject and form.", "The narrations of Story of WANG Zhao_jun in history records, folklore and poet's works are dissimilar, and they constituted a new narrative history of Story of WANG Zhao_jun together. MA Zhi_yuan recomposed some scenarios of the traditional narrative text as well as inheriting some contents from it when he wrote his Zaju opera, Autumn in the Han Palace. Furthermore, he made a bold transcendency, which is not at will but based on contemporary needs. According to the demand of times and realism, grabbing the bond between the past and the present properly, he made his drama not only adhere to the rules of art, but also satirize the darkness of Yuan Dynasty by using the old story. In this sense, the drama is a successful tragic opera on history full of realistic meanings. The success of his adaptation gives a good inspiration to the writers who want to write or adapt the works about history and the academicians who want to comment this kind of works.", "Shanxi possesses rich opera cultural heritage with profound containing.It must complement each other if we bring the cultural relic sites and the stories of local operas into tourist cultural landscapes.Shanxi has four famous landscape areas of opera cultural relic sites.They are:the mural area of Yuan Dynasty operas in Guangsheng Temple of Hongtong County;the drama stage area in the Ancient God Temple of Linfen City;the area of the Jin tomb drama brick figurines and the disobedience tombs in Houma City;the area of Pujiu Temple in Yongji City.", "This paper is the first part studies on the structure of miscellaneous drama of Yuan Dynasty.In his famous works The Theatrical History of Song and Yuan Dynasties,on the one hand,Wang guo-wei highly praised the lyrics of miscellaneous drama of Yuan Dynasty;on the other hand,he criticized that its plot is inferior,its motif is superficial and its characters are incompatible.This paper attempts to investigate the substance of the view and show the differences between miscellaneous drama of Yuan Dynasty and Western traditional drama.", "The controversy over whether The Songs of the South·Da Zhao is word s of a sorcerer's song or it is a poetic form created by men of letters,has bee n going on from the Han Dynasty till up to now.As to the time when it was produc ed,opinions differ greatly.In this article,however,the attention is centred on Da Zhao itself,and a categoried discussion is made of it systematically and concr etely in terms of four aspects of food;dances with accompaniment and woman's be auty;architectures as well as animal parks;and at the same time what is being di scussed has been verified by comparing with unearthed materials from the tombs o f Chu and with readings of QU Yuan's Calling Back the Spirit of the Dead. Th e co nclusion reached is that Da Zhao was produced in the earlier period of the c lose combination of the Southern Chu regime and the sorcerer's theocracy,and it is in essence practical words of a song expressing religious feelings that the sorc erer's theocracy was supreme.", "With a careful analysis of the important historical materials about the originator and the origin of Haiyan Tone under the background when south opera made its appearance and developed,the paper points out that two statements of the greatest importance on the origin of the Haiyan Tone found in the historical materials available,one in Yao Tongshou's Le Jiao si Yu in Yuan dynasty and the other in Li Rihua's Zi Tao Xuan Za Zhui in Ming Dynasty,reveal that Haiyan Tone is merely the way how literati in Song and Yuan Dynasty sang Ci and Yuanfu,usually with great elegance;however,the south opera developed from folk songs which enjoyed great popularity among the people.Haiyan Tone originated as these two styles of singing came together in Ming dynasty when literati were devoted to the reform of south opera with the folk opera in its robust growth.", "The Zhuo River,with the length of 51.4km,is a second tributary of the Mi River in the boundaries of You County.There are five versions of its source:Jiangtouchong,Shuangshimen,Qingcao'ao,and Yanxianling.The result of on-the-spot investigation proves that the source is Goupanchong of Jiashan Township in You County.", "There are two unearthed writings of praying of Qin State during Warring State time,Curse on Chu Kingdom and Ode to Huashan.Curse on Chu Kingdom was written in B.C.312,which recored that Qin cursed Chu and wished they can win over Chu.Ode to Huashan was written from B.C.255 to B.C.246,Qinyin prayed to Huashan that he could cure folly.The two all belonged to writing of praying,one prayed war and the other prayed ill.They all inherited some factors from former articles and had great development", "At the beginning of Qing Dynasty,Changshu playwrights represented by QIU YUAN and JI Yongren expressed their strong national consciousness in their works themes of which were politics and historic events.In the middle period of Qing Dynasty,their national consciousness was weakened and their works sang the praises of sb and advocated the feudal ethics;and with the decline of Kunqu opera,palace operas were popular,the representative authors of which were ZHOU Xiangyu and WANG Tingzhang in this period.The great contributions made by Changshu in Qing Dynasty to the history of traditional opera are Poetic Drama at All Times and Sixty Melodies.", "The Opinion that \"Tianwen is writings on the walls of Chu's temples\" advanced by Wang Yi of the Han Dynasty gives an integrate interpretation about its content and style.However it is hard to believe because of the lack of any other proof and the peculiarity of his imagination.By comparing the content and style of Tianwen with other traditional primary course books,and by taking into consideration our studies on Qu Yuan's teaching experience,The present paper conludes that Tianwen is a history course book written by Qu Yuan during his term as master of Sanlu(the aristocracy school in Chu).This paper also suggests that \"天\" in \"Tianwen\" refers to Qu Yuan,the teacher,and the emperor.", "Originated from the surname of Chu\\|shi, the Chus clan in Yangzhai was a post starting from the Spring and Autumn Period. The Chus clan in the Han Period was famous for its studies of Confucian classics and literature. During the two Jin Dynasties, they moved from Yangzhai to Danyang. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty,Chupou became flourishing. He took part in the center of the authority as a relative of the imperial family. As a result, the clan obtained a higher position in society. During the times of the Southern Dynasties, Chuyuan played an important role in the change of the dynasties from Song to Qi. The Chus clan still kept a higher position, and furthermore, it created the ritual system on which the filial piety centered.", "The viewpoint of the compilation of The Songs of Chu by Liu Xiang is believed to be put forward by Wang Yi of Eastern Han Dynasty.However,some people held different opinions in Song Dynasty.And some scholars are doubtful on this issue in recent years because Han Chi has no records of this book at all.Therefore,whether Liu Xiang is the compiler of The Songs of Chu has always been a mystery in academy.In fact,Liu Xiang had a very favorable condition to do this,and Classics and famous scholars have been documented and reviewed on this matter from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.Han Chi has no records of this book because it roots from Qi Lue.Whether it is in terms of the system or the content,there is no reason for Qi Lue to take The songs of Chu into its samples.So,though Liu Xiang may not be the first lexicographer of The Songs of Chu,the fact that he edited sixteen volumes of The Songs of Chu is beyond doubt,and it was also he that named the collection all of Qu Yuan’s works into The Songs of Chu.", "This paper is a comparative study and analysis of the three versions of Qu Yuan's Tales of Woe in terms of meter(rhyme scheme、rhythm)、image、artistic conception、linguistic style in a way of qualitative analysis combined with semi quantitative analysis so as to explore the principle and the ways of stylistic reconstruction in translating Chinese classical poems into English.", "Festival lantern opera aud Nuo opera are the most important forms in local opera in Xiang Xi.The music in festival lantern opera and Nuo opera has an unique form of art and technique of expression.The festival lantern opera,Nuo opera and their music forms have contributed significantly to the developent of Chinese opera in their origin and developments.", "As a sequel to Shui Hu Zhuan (Tale of the Water Margin), Dang Kou Zhi (Extermination of Bandits) is more often than not commented in terms of politics, morality and so forth, which leads inevitably to simplification in judgment. This article, from the perspective of culturalvalue orientations, makes a comparative study of the two novels, arguing that the former reflects the original Confucianism whereas the latter shows the feudal government's understanding of the ideology. It finally probes, in three aspects, into the origins that cause the different cultural orientations of the two books.", "Wang Zhaojun′s spirit is above all praised,with her being righteous,minding the overall situation of the country,brushing aside individual weal or woe and requesting a marriage to the Huns;her achievements have far-reaching impact and historical significance,winning the steady situation on the border and keeping a long-term peace and friendliness between Han-Hun nationalities.The route-crossing Yellow River,then proceeding north and walking from Tiku Ridge to Shahu along Sushui River,Fen River and Sanhe Valley,part of routes of Zhaojun and Huhan xie out of frontier from Chang′an to the door of Chanyu Court,is treasure of valuable and historical cultural resources and investable recourses that can be developed in Tiku Ridge and Hongsha Rock pass.", "The Zixu compose,which is now missing, is the first works of Sima Xiang-ru. On the basis of a careful investigation of documents and files , the paper holds that Zixu compose was composed to admonish King Liangxiao for his extravagancy and merry-making. The Zixu compose has drawn its material from scenery in Liang, describing the king's extravagancy and merry-making, has unfolded with the questions and answers between Zixu and Wuyou . The style of writing of it is similar to that of compose on the Emperor's Hunting but the content is totally different.", "WANG Bi-shan is an important writer of Ci-poetry in the epoch of transfer of Song and Yuan dynasty,and who is canonized in Qing dynasty,but now is ignored.There is a style of gloominess,graceful and restrained in his works,which incarnated in the image,the structure and the literary quotation.", "The ruling class of Yuan Dynasty carries out the policies of class oppress and nationality oppress.Corrupt officials make profits in privacy and ignore the law.There are innumerable cases of unjustice.The ruling class used his strength to bully the weak and did whatever they wanted.The straight victim is the common people at that time.In the society of total absence of justice,people looked forward to an honest and upright official to express justice and to punish evil and to express kindness.To fit this need,Bao Gong drama arised in Yuan Dynasty.These drama reflected the love and hatred of people.So they had the spirit of reality and character of the common people and had deep influences.", "Local characteristic culture is a kind of civilized expression of ecology, folk custom, tradition and custom in a given area. For the Han culture extremely rich Qin Chu two province, the characteristic literature resources of local literature as a national characteristic, play a significant role in the promotion of cultural soft power along the Han River Basin in Qin ba. With the \"The Belt and Road\" national strategy step by step, go out of the Han culture meaning is more prominent. This article from the status quo of literature information resource distribution of Hanjiang River carried out from the aspects of construction, the security system of Hanjiang River culture advantage, development strategy and enhance the Han Han culture of cultural soft power, and how to construct the cultural information resources guarantee system and puts forward some concrete suggestions on Hanjiang river.", "For 700 years,it has always been recorded that \"Hu Tian Shu\"by Wang Anshi pleaded to \"change lake into fields\",by the lake means Xuan wu Lake in Nanjing City.In fact,this \"Hu Tian Shu\"were a pseudograph,and the lake-changing case were an injustice case forced upon Wang Anshi.", "Based on a method of evaluating non-market goods and services evaluation-contingent evaluation method(CVM),designed and surveyed willingness to pay(WTP) of tourists to protect tourism resources of Lanzhou Huanghe River Customs Line.It was estimated that non-use value of Huanghe River Customs Line tourist resources was 1.52×108 yuan,of which the value of existence,heritage was and option 0.73×108 yuan,0.50×108 yuan and 0.29×108 yuan.This result provided a theory basis for protection and sustainable use of Huanghe River Customs Line tourist resources.", "This essay traces the emergence of new categories of “spiritual writing” in Chinese literature, before offering an interpretation of Bei Cun’s 1992 novel The Baptizing River (Shixi de he 施洗的河) as an exemplar. Bei Cun’s first novel as a “Christian author” attracted much critical attention, given the contrast with the author’s prior works and its message of spiritual salvation at a time of political change and metaphysical searching. A psychosocial biography of its anti-hero Liu Lang, set in wartime China, the novel charts the protagonist’s criminal livelihood, descent into moral depravity, and gradual questioning of life and purpose. This essay foregrounds the structure of the novel and explores how narrative form and theological meaning interact. To do this, it traces the course of the river journeys that mark the different stages of Liu Lang’s life and which culminate in his unorthodox baptismal rebirth.", "The development a nd production of Hunan literature cannot depart from the raising and cultivating of Xiang-Chu culture.In the inheritance of an essential spirit of Xiang-Chu cul ture,Hunan literature was deeply influen ced by strong patriotism of Qu Yuan's Chu Ci and the pragmatism initiated by t he philosophy of Song Ming Dynasties. Therefore,it resulted in many literature writers in Hunan having conscious bosom in saving common people and watch the so ciety with statesman's point of view and gaving advice to the country.The signif icant achievement of the Hunan contempor ary iterature lies in the deep concern t o the future of the motherland and the f ortune of the nation,the deep studying o f the social life and the traditional cu lture as well as the active of the literature style and writing techn ique.", "The transit from T'ang to Japan is reflected in poems written by Chinese gentlemen at farewell parties held in honor of departing Japanese monks. These dwell on the wonders and dangers of the high seas, and speculate about the location of the fabulous land of Fu-sang, at the birthplace of the sun. After some discussion of the inhuman creatures one might expect to encounter on the passage, this essay focuses on their strange floating palaces, and closes with an intimate view of these in the rich language of a poetic rhapsody by Wang Ch'i.", "Lu Ding Ji is entitled as an unusual fiction, not only because it built a 'jianghu' world reflecting the reality, based on the history, but also it figured a legendary character 'Wei Xiaobao', using visualized language. The process of Wei Xiaobao making a success and withdrawing from it, reflected cruelty of the politics and the darkness of political circles and humanity. Analyzing the successes of Lu Ding Ji from langrage aspect, has became the substance of Jin yong's wit -Lu Ding Ji volume'.", "Meanings: Empire and music Sullivan's empire Elgar's empire Music for official occasions Imperial days - Armistice Day and Empire Day Teaching the lessons of Empire - Exhibitions and festivals \"All the King's horses and all the King's men\" - The Aldershot Tattoo \"Bring on the girls\" - Opera, operetta and ballet \"The sun never sets\" - The music for imperial films Sing a song of empire \"From Greenland's icy mountains, from India's coral strand\" - the imperial hymn imperial march \"Hearts across the sea\" - the Dominions musical tour of 1922 the empire's queens of song - Dame Emma Albani, Dame Nellie Melba, Dame Clara Butt the troubadour of empire.", "The research and comments on \"model operas\"in the past 40 years,to some extent,has been a reflection of the ups and downs of the fate of \"model operas\"in nearly half a century.Through its research and review,you can describe the trend graph of \"Model Operas\" in different historical cultural context,and study the internal controlling mechanism,the research and review can also benefit to grasp the overall pattern of interpretation and open up space.", "Gu Tai-qing whose real name was Xi Lin-chun experienced four empires of Jia-qing,Dao-guang,Xian-feng,Tong-zhi,lived till the second year of Guang-xu's ruling.She was psychologically wounded seriously by the implication of her forefather in the Literary Inquisition.The poetry collection Fishing Songs of the East Sea was not introduced to China from Japan and published until the end of 20 th century.Plenty of her works were journalists,singing of the art and craft,from which the dreariness could be sensed.In addition,her writing style was refined deserving to be compared with Nalan-xingde's.", "A view of a timber trestle railway bridge crossing the King River, Tasmania. A small locomotive and several men are on the bridge. Part of the operations of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Co. Ltd. ::: Inscription: Inscribed on the front of the photograph \"King River Bridge Mt Lyell Ry 1088A Beattie: Hobart\". ::: One of a collection of 24 photographs in a leather bound presentation album. ::: Inscribed on the album cover \"Souvenir of Mount Lyell\". ::: Previous Control Number: PA/241.5 ::: Previous Control Number: PA/241", "Gan Opera is the main local opera of Jiangxi Province.In the phonetic system of Gan Opera stage,there are 20 initials,49 finals,and 5 tones.Rhymes of Gan Opera can be concluded as the \"Eighteen Rhymes\".And the phonology of Gan Opera belongs to the local mandarin which is based on modern Chinese common language because of the Mandarin localization.In the future development of Gan Opera,we need to do the unifying and standardizing work well and when it closes up to the Mandarin,we need to maintain the fundamental phonological features which can embody the opera features that formed after hundreds of years of development.", "Chu during the Chunqiu and Zhanguo periods was a large Southern state.whose military force was big and powerful with many military officials.Interposing deeply the Chu central officials of interposition and development is very important for researching bureaucratic establishment of the Chu and central countries during the Chunqiu and Zhanguo periods." ]

[ "Newsday plans to upgrade its printing presses in Melville, adding more color pages to the newspaper." ]

[ "Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday said it would reorganize its printing division, the company's crown jewel, to try to accelerate the growth of its corporate and consumer printing services businesses.", "Newsday > News Print Aa 22 states join campaign finance fight Published:", "Ricoh UK has launched three light production, colour digital printing presses, scanner models Ricoh Pro C651EX and Pro C751EX and printer-only model, the Ricoh Pro C751.", "Celebrities Newsday > Entertainment Print Aa Alex O'Loughlin, Malia Jones expecting baby Published:", "Newsday > Sports > Football > Giants Print Aa Osi Umenyiora wants his son to avoid football Originally published:", "The News Leader in Staunton is shutting down its press and outsourcing printing operations to another newspaper.", "Alcoa has approved funding to conduct a complete repair and refurbishment of its 50,000-ton forging press at its Cleveland Works.", "Newsday > News Print Aa Romney, Sen. Brown play down their ties Published:", "Gannett Co.'s USA Today announced Friday a major organizational restructuring that hastens the newspaper's continuing moves into digital and mobile content.", "Sydney printer Ligare has overhauled its offset fleet, replacing three ageing pieces of machinery with an eight-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster 102.", "TV Newsday > Entertainment Print Aa Kristin Chenoweth to co-host Anderson Cooper talk show in September Originally published:", "News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch has dropped his $580-million bid to purchase Newsday, his spokeswoman said Saturday.", "The Washington Daily News says it is shutting down its own printing press operations and will be printing their daily newspaper at the nearby Greenville Reflector.", "Newsday > Long Island > Suffolk Print Aa Two men accused of selling alcohol to minors Published:", "RR Donnelley and Muller Martini will work together to develop an integrated digital book printing system.", "Newsday > Sports Print Aa Baseball player Doris Sams dies at 85 Published:", "Margaret Buchanan, Enquirer Media's president and publisher, said on Friday that the Enquirer will launch its new print edition in the first quarter of 2013.", "Newsday > Opinion Three big jobs for Cuomo to fill Originally published:", "BUSINESS news publisher BDFM has announced a series of new, senior editorial appointments in its integrated newsroom in Johannesburg that will help support its multiplatform operation that includes Business Day and the Financial Mail.", "Newsday > News Print Aa 7th grader finds Met map error Published:", "The Boston Herald is raising the newsstand price of its daily newspaper by 25 cents to $1, citing economic pressures affecting the newspaper industry.", "Quad/Graphics Inc. of Sussex said Thursday that it will expand its West Allis printing plant to serve its growing direct mail operations, the firm's second major Wisconsin expansion project announced in recent weeks.", "The Arlington post office in Poughkeepsie will expand its retail hours to make it more accessible for customers to buy stamps and ship packages.", "The Plain Dealer announced Thursday morning it will reduce home delivery of its print edition to three days a week this summer as it transitions to an online focus.", "The RSS feed for the William Douglas section on McClatchyDC.com has moved here as part of an upgrade to improve service.", "Readex, a division of NewsBank, announced today the launch of American Newspaper Archives, an expanding online collection that will offer access to major US newspapers.", "Newsday > Opinion OK to shut off social media?", "The RSS feed for the Les Blumenthal section on McClatchyDC.com has moved here as part of an upgrade to improve service.", "Xerox Corporation has added two new digital print systems to its industry-leading color portfolio -- bringing sophisticated color management technology to more than just high-speed devices.", "Suffolk Newsday > Long Island Print Aa 3 face BWI charges, 2 from Suffolk sobriety check Published:", "The RSS feed for the Maria Recio section on McClatchyDC.com has moved here as part of an upgrade to improve service.", "FUJIFILM Corporation will launch a digital inkjet web press at drupa 2012 as a technology showcase." ]

[ "Umm you really shouldn't do that. Try making a friend instead." ]

[ "The Nap-Time Killer. I fall asleep mid-robbery and then wake up all grouchy and kill the person.", "One leaves another person with a responsibility and financial burden, the other does not.", "Depressed and lonely and a decent average person overall", "No job? Anyways, IQ does not really define how smart a person is", "Lexx. I liked it. I never met another person who does, though.", "Another person hand", "I don't do this personally but my grandfather does and it's because he has house in a different state and time zone so that's how he keeps track of what time it is there.", "Spit on another person", "That you're not asexual, its just that you haven't found the right person yet to fall in love with.", "One person’s freedoms end where another person’s freedoms begin. \n\nYou have the right to say what you like, so long as it does not impact upon my freedoms, rights or health.", "They don´t love me the way I love them", "You can't get back all the love and kindness you give, no matter how good person you are.", "How does it feel that the London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down?", "To preserve the safety of yourself or another person.", "Seeing another person's smile", "A person’s a person no matter how small", "It’s a spectrum of colours that are recognised in the eye, so although a person may be colour blind to certain colours it doesn’t mean that they\nCan’t see them at all - due to the eye, but they might see them just\nNot how a regular non colour blind person does - [Try this ](https://www.allaboutvision.com/eye-exam/color-blind-tests.htm)", "Saved another persons life", "... then the life story of the random person on the street and how this person accidentally created this recipe with no intention of doing so...", "What there is another person like me", "I love the smell, personally", "Well, you start with a t, then an h, then an a, then another t... that's that", "Every damn person that does TikTok", "Its the same numbers game as any other sacrifice situation. How many is this person killing/hurting vs how many is this person protecting. If the person is protecting even or less, kill him. If this person is protecting more, let them be.", "Our muslim friends are wonderful people. We love them.\n\nThe existence of a religion is no way to judge a person.\n\nIt is all about *behavior*.", "Why you love that person.", "Apparently, fixing a computer issue versus explaining to another person how to fix a computer issue.", "Well im not smart, not a bad person, not brave i guess, and im a lonely ass loser so yes hufflepuf", "I was lonely before and during. So not at all.", "Introversion and extroversion only relate to how you recharge, they are not personality traits. There are social shut in extroverts and party all night introverts, and yes your personality varies over context, mood, and time.", "Horny incest loving person", "Probably the same but with another person discovering america" ]

[ "Since Fleetwood Mac released its debut album nearly 50 years ago, there have been many incarnations, comings and goings, couplings and uncouplings. But here's a new combination — Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie have released a record together! Lindsey and Christine are my guests today. They started working on their self-titled duets record shortly after Christine rejoined Fleetwood Mac in 2014 — she had left the band 16 years before. We talk about what she was up to in the meantime, and how Mick Fleetwood helped Christine overcome her severe fear of flying. Although this is not a Fleetwood Mac album we're talking about, Lindsey and Christine did recruit original bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood to do some recording. And they made the album at Studio D in Los Angeles, the same place where Fleetwood Mac recorded the 1979 album Tusk. We'll talk a bit about the Tusk years, and some of the soap opera around the band's iconic 1977 album Rumours, when everyone was breaking up and breaking down. (In case you need a refresher, Christine's marriage to bassist John McVie was ending; Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham had split after a long time as romantic and musical partners.) Through it all, there was never drama or ill will between Lindsey and Christine — which is maybe why their songwriting and musical chemistry is still intact after all these years. We'll find out. But we start with a live performance of the song \"Red Sun,\" recorded at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem, Penn. Listen in the player above." ]

[ "Lindsey Buckingham is best known for his work as a guitarist and songwriter with Fleetwood Mac, but his solo output has also earned him a place in the rock canon. His work has influenced a generation of would-be folk-rockers and endeared him to millions of fans. Buckingham got his start playing with Stevie Nicks in the folksy and matter-of-factly named duo Buckingham Nicks, releasing one self-titled album in 1973. That project was enough for them to be invited by Mick Fleetwood to join his band — and the rest, it would seem, is history. In 1981, Buckingham released his first solo album, Law and Order. Mixing his innovative guitar work with the pop smarts and studio know-how that helped propel Fleetwood Mac to the top the charts, the album was well-received by fans and critics, charting a Top 10 single with \"Trouble.\" Go Insane was similarly well-received in 1984, as was 1992's Out of the Cradle, which had the distinction of being his first solo record since leaving Fleetwood Mac in 1987. Under the Skin, Buckingham's first solo release in 14 years, was mostly written while on tour with a reunited Fleetwood Mac in 2003. Despite the simple, mostly acoustic arrangements, the songs possess a depth that reveals itself after several listens. In addition to his fine original compositions, the record also features covers of The Rolling Stones' \"I Am Waiting\" and Donovan's \"To Try for the Sun.\" This segment originally aired Oct. 26, 2006.", "Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews <EM>Say You Will</EM>, the new CD by Fleetwood Mac, their first collection of new material in eight years. It's also without Christine McVie.", "Throughout the month of October, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of World Cafe by revisiting some of the best and most memorable interviews of the past 20 years. Today's episode of World Cafe is a celebration of Robert Plant. He's been a major figure in rock for more than 40 years, from leading Led Zeppelin to maintaining both a successful solo career and many award-winning collaborations. Most importantly, his deep understanding of blues-rock and willingness to push his own boundaries has left a lasting impression on artists all over the world. Plant has been on World Cafe several times. In a 2007 interview (one of our best), he talks about discovering the music of Alison Krauss, an accomplished vocalist and fiddler who's been instrumental in bringing folk and bluegrass to a wider audience. Their Grammy-winning collaboration, Raising Sand, was recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles with legendary producer T-Bone Burnett, and finds the duo interpreting blues, R&B, folk and country by classic songwriters. With his backing band Strange Sensation, Plant came by in 2005 after the release of The Mighty Rearranger, a blend of world and Western music that features World Cafe favorite \"Shine It All Around.\" His co-writer Justin Adams joined Plant, and the two discuss their inspiring trip to Mali and the Festival of the Desert. Finally, we'll revisit a 2002 interview, in which Plant tells one of his funniest stories — it involves pledging to a Portland public radio station so it would never again play \"Stairway to Heaven.\" This segment originally aired on October 14, 2011.", "Since October 1991, David Dye has hosted interviews and performances with roughly 4,000 artists on World Cafe. Yes, that's four thousand acts, and they've included the likes of Joan Baez, Belle & Sebastian, David Byrne, The National, Aimee Mann, Beck and Richard Thompson. This month, we've celebrated the show's 20th anniversary by highlighting our 20 favorite interviews and 20 World Cafe: Next artists to keep an eye on. Now, we've put together a comprehensive mix featuring some of the best live performances the show has documented through the years. The songs on this mix are culled from the Live At The World Cafe CD series, which started in 1995 as a way to bring the music of the World Cafe studios into listeners' homes. There are names you'll recognize and many you won't; some artists have gone on to fame and fortune, while others have slipped under (and possibly fallen off) the radar. You'll hear intimate, in-studio acoustic renditions of well-known hits, as well as spellbinding deep cuts performed before a packed house at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Once you've listened to these, tell us in the comments who you'd like to hear on World Cafe in the years to come.", "The true rock legends change the game. Stevie Nicks, as a member of Fleetwood Mac, and later in her solo career, changed the game not only for women, but for what you could do in rock as a songwriter and a singer. While living in the male-dominated world of the very peak of the music industry in the 1970s, she wrote indelible songs that tell real, true stories, often about the bond between women, and about the life of an adventurer. Nicks has stayed busy. In April, she'll join Fleetwood Mac for a world tour. In 2011, she released an album, In Your Dreams, produced by Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics, which was the basis for a new documentary that Nicks co-directed with Stewart. And at this year's South by Southwest, Nicks joined Dave Grohl on stage to perform as part of his Sound City players, a group of musicians who have all recorded at Los Angeles' famous Sound City Studios and later came together to make a soundtrack to Grohl's documentary about the history of the studio. Earlier that day, NPR Music's Ann Powers spoke with Nicks in front of an audience at the Austin Convention Center. Over the course of a nearly hourlong conversation, Nicks talked about what it takes to sing harmonies, a recent movie that sparked both memories of her own complicated romantic history as well as creative inspiration, the three musicians who provided templates for her style on stage, which Fleetwood Mac rarity the band will perform on its upcoming tour and why, when she and Lindsey Buckingham were being courted by Fleetwood Mac, the band placed the ultimate decision in the hands of Christine McVie. Ann Powers: I want to start by talking about In Your Dreams, the new record. I feel that it's a culmination of the best aspects of your solo work. I know you have said that it's your favorite solo album, in many years at any rate, and it includes at least one song written in the '70s and some that you wrote it right there during the sessions. So for me it really is an apex. And it also shows, I think, the two sides of your songwriting process merged so beautifully. Many people talk about, \"Oh Stevie Nicks, she writes about, you know, fairies and witches and all that.\" But to me you are one of the most realistic songwriters about male/female relationships, especially. And about what it's like to be a woman in \"man's world,\" especially of rock 'n' roll. And I wonder how in your writing process you bring those two sides of you together. The wild dreamy Stevie and the Stevie with so much wisdom? Stevie Nicks: What a question. You know, I think that the best way to start the answer to that question is to say that, when I first joined Fleetwood Mac and met Christine I was later to find out that it was all up to her whether or not they would accept me into the band or not. They needed a guitar player. Bob Welch had just quit. They did not need another girl. They already had a girl. And what a girl. So we all had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on like the second day of 1975. Mick [Fleetwood] had called us on New Year's Eve night and said, 'Would you like to have dinner with us? We really want to talk to you about joining our band.' And you know, Lindsey wasn't really — and he doesn't get mad at me for telling this, 'cause it's really the truth. He wasn't really all that excited about it. Because we had already started our second Buckingham Nicks record. And we were making it on spec, which means that the studio, Sound City, was giving us free time. So if somebody didn't come in, you know, our producer Keith would call us and say, come down right now. There's five hours of empty time that you can have for free. So he was really excited about this record that we were making. And also, the [first] Buckingham Nicks album was, in its own weird way, starting to simmer back in the South, you know. Powers: You played Birmingham, Ala. Nicks: We played Birmingham for 5,000 people. So anyway, Lindsey wasn't all that excited. And I went to Tower Records and spent our last dime on all the Fleetwood Mac records, of which there were many. Powers: Yeah. Nicks: And I sat by myself, because he knew he wasn't going to sit with me and listen to this music. I sat by myself and I listened to — back to front — all six or seven albums. And I came away that night with an idea that there was something that we could add to this really great blues band. And yes, in fact, Lindsey in many ways was able very much to play like in the genre of Peter Green, if he so chose. Which he didn't so choose that often. He was much more, he wanted to pick, you know. Powers: Right. Nicks: He really wanted to be, I don't know, something like an Appalachian ... Powers: Bluegrassy kind of thing. Nicks: You know, bluegrass crazy man. But he could do Peter Green very well. And also all the other guitar players in Fleetwood Mac that had come after Peter. So I went and I said to him, you know, \"We need to go and meet these people. Because it's a great band, Lindsey. They have a great rhyth", "Summer's here and the time is right for looking back on some of our favorite World Cafe sessions of the year! Let's just say, it's been an inspiring one so far. We caught Maggie Rogers and Lizzo in the eye of their respective superstar storms, and were totally knocked out by J.S. Ondara's performance of songs from his debut album. Willie Nelson let us hop on his tour bus to talk about everything from hanging in Amsterdam with Snoop Dogg to making his new album. The members of Cage The Elephant wore their sunglasses indoors to share lessons learned from twisting heartache into rock and roll. Jenny Lewis showed off some of the best songwriting of her career and the members of The Cranberries reflected on finishing the band's final album after losing their beloved lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan. We hope you enjoy listening back to some standout sessions (in no particular order) and we can't wait to see what the rest of 2019 has to offer.", "Lindsey Buckingham helped make Fleetwood Mac one of the biggest rock bands of all time. He works mostly solo today, and his sixth solo album, Seeds We Sow, just came out. Buckingham takes the \"solo\" designation seriously: He wrote, produced and engineered the album himself, as well as playing most of the instruments. He tells Weekend Edition Saturday's Scott Simon that the effects of that approach come through in the music. \"You work in a band, and it tends to be more like moviemaking, I think. It tends to be more of a conscious, verbalized and, to some degree, political process,\" he says. \"I think when you work alone — the way I do it, anyway — you could sort of liken it to painting, where there's sort of a one-on-one with the canvas. And you get different results.\" For Buckingham, those results are a little esoteric. He says Seeds We Sow does have a central theme of karmic choices and consequences, but there's no concise message you could slap on a bumper sticker. \"And of course, you do tend to narrow your audience by doing that,\" Buckingham says. \"But that's what keeps you growing as an artist. That's what keeps you taking risks. If you want to look for the slogan or the brand, you can go to Fleetwood Mac. And it's nice, because I've got both of those.\" Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham says, remains a going concern, despite long periods of inactivity. He says that, while the band will likely reconvene next year to tour or record, it wouldn't be right to call it a reunion. \"We don't think of ourselves as ever having broken up,\" he says. \"We think of ourselves as a working band, but also a band that survives by taking significant periods of time apart — and this is one of those times.\" But even while working under the radar, Buckingham's image has been kept alive in an unlikely forum: He's a recurring character in a Saturday Night Live sketch — called \"What Up With That?\" — in which cast member Bill Hader plays him to a T. \"Before I'd seen it, my initial reaction was, 'My, that's a bit obscure,' \" Buckingham says. \"And then, of course, I saw it a few times and was floored by how he seemed to have me down. He had my outfit on from the last Fleetwood Mac tour, and it was really very funny. SCOTT SIMON, Host: Lindsey Buckingham helped make Fleetwood Mac one of the biggest rock bands of all time. He works mostly solo today. His sixth solo album, just released, is \"Seeds We Sow.\" (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, \"END OF TIME\") LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM: (Singing) It's the end of time, the end of time. Can you feel it? Can you feel it? SIMON: Lindsey Buckingham joins us from the studios of NPR West. Thanks so much for being with us. BUCKINGHAM: Oh, my pleasure. SIMON: And when I say solo, boy, I mean really solo. You - let me get this - you sang, produced, engineered almost every song. You played many of the instruments, all from your home studio? BUCKINGHAM: Yes. You know, it's funny. You work in a band, and it tends to be more like moviemaking, I think, where it's a bit more of a conscious, verbalized and to some degree, political process. I think when you work alone - the way I do it, anyway - you could sort of liken it to painting, where you're going down by yourself and there's kind of a one-on-one with the canvas. And you get different results, you know, from different processes. SIMON: Let me ask you about your distinctive style of guitar playing. (SOUNDBITE OF GUITAR RIFF) SIMON: You don't use a pick. BUCKINGHAM: That is true. SIMON: Let's listen to a riff we have here. (SOUNDBITE OF GUITAR RIFF) SIMON: So forgive me, doesn't that hurt? (SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER) BUCKINGHAM: Well, you know, there's a little bit of a callous built up on the fingers. No, it doesn't hurt. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, \"SEEDS WE SOW\") BUCKINGHAM: (Singing) ... you on my mind... BUCKINGHAM: I taught myself to play at a very young age, and that's just the - kind of the way I came up. I was listening to Scotty Moore, who was Elvis' guitar player? SIMON: Yeah. BUCKINGHAM: ?who used a pick, but also used his fingers. And then I was listening to some classical people and it just - you know, Fleetwood Mac, when I joined, they tried to get me to use a pick. But it was too late. (SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER) (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, \"SEEDS WE SOW\") SIMON: Is there a theme that ties the songs of \"Seeds We Sow\" together? BUCKINGHAM: I wasn't really looking for any subject matter in particular. It was only when I was done that I kind of looked at the group of songs and saw that there was, in fact, a thread. And I think that thread probably has to do with the choices we make, the fact that actions have consequences. And it's a - kind of a karmic element that runs through the album, and that's the idea behind the title track as well. SIMON: Your very lucid explanation is kind of hard to put on a bumper sticker. BUCKINGHAM: Well, let's hope so. (SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER) BUCKINGHAM: You know, I mean, we try to go for the left side of the palate with the solo work. SIMON: Yeah. BUCKINGHA", "Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Spotify or Apple Music playlist at the bottom of the page. People often think of Fleetwood Mac as a band propelled to artistic eminence by interpersonal turmoil. Who could forget that Rumours, the band's defining album, was the product of a period of libertine excess and relational meltdowns? Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were on the rocks, Christine McVie and John McVie were divorcing and Mick Fleetwood's civilian marriage was disintegrating, too. Long before bloggers began parsing insinuating lyrics from Taylor Swift and others who've passed through her orbit, there was perverse sport in scrutinizing the wistful, wounded or prickly lines in Fleetwood Mac songs, not to mention group members' on-the-record comments and on-stage interactions, for evidence of unresolved conflict. No such history hangs over the pairing of Buckingham and Christine McVie, he a famously exacting guitarist and producer, she a blues-schooled keyboardist, and each of them singers and songwriters responsible for significant chunks of their band's discography. Over the decades they've ventured into a handful of direct collaborations, but they haven't truly explored the potential of their partnership until now. Their album features most of the band's classic lineup (notably, minus Nicks), but gets its identity from ideas generated within the closed circuit of the duo; all of the songs are credited to Buckingham, McVie or both. When McVie rejoined Fleetwood Mac in 2014, no longer content with the tranquility of retirement in the English countryside she'd chosen a decade and a half earlier, she and Buckingham struck up a tentative creative conversation, she sending him snippets of lyric, melody and chord progression, he fleshing them out and passing along his own incomplete song ideas to her. \"This was just for me to get familiarized with playing and performing again,\" McVie told Stephen Deusner in a recent cover story for Uncut. \"One thing led to another, and by the time we knew what was happening, we had six basic tracks in the bag....\" Their casual exchange reactivated musical muscles she hadn't used in a while and reaffirmed her faith in the relevance of her contributions. In the mythology built up around the music of Fleetwood Mac, McVie represents an irrepressibly sanguine voice and Buckingham a more barbed one, but to reduce them to polar opposites — the optimist vs. the pessimist — is to miss out on the nuanced outlooks that come into focus when they're working side by side. He remains quite skilled at enhancing shifts in tone with his production. The pensive resolve of his \"On With the Show\" gives way to breezy resignation with the introduction of sun-kissed harmonies and a crystalline guitar figure. In the propulsive pop-rock number \"Lay Down For Free,\" he dwells on a lover's elusiveness, then pivots to buoyant defiance, lifted by the entrance of shimmery vocals and guitar. During \"Carnival Begin,\" McVie broods in the shadows, until the warm haze of harmonies and Buckingham's delicate, single-stringed counterpoint illuminate her expression of desire. McVie and Buckingham make room for unfurling multi-faceted emotions in their songcraft itself. In \"Sleeping Around the Corner,\" he offers reluctant reassurance, intoning, \"If you want me to stay, you've got to let me go\" over spasmodic digital beats. \"In My World\" is his melancholy expression of idealism. In \"Love Is Here To Stay,\" he savors the sweetness of romance in spite of his seasoned wariness. There's a willfulness to her giddy affection in \"How I Feel,\" a self-conscious insistence that celebrating the pleasure she takes in another person is, in itself, a worthwhile gesture. In \"Red Sun,\" she tries to separate out the bitterness from the solace in a lover's memory. \"My mind is filled with journeys, echoed with your smile,\" she sings. \"No, you won't take that away from me, even if you try.\" The marvel is that these two longtime band mates can simultaneously stand on their own and exert a gentle pull on each other, expanding our appreciation of them as living, breathing artists, rather than subjects of tabloid-heightened legend.", "World Cafe's guests this week included Violent Femmes and Liz Phair, both of whose careers were defined by their critically acclaimed debut albums. These records have held up as fan favorites over the years, and many would say they ended up being the high-water mark of each artist's career. Many great artists take a while to reach their zenith — Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles and Bob Dylan among them — but how many artists' careers were defined by their first albums? Here are just a few examples.", "The Hölljes family has churned out some impressive musicians: Siblings Brittany, Ian and Eric Hölljes are at the heart of the North Carolina band Delta Rae. Brittany Hölljes and Elizabeth Hopkins share lead vocals in the group, while Ian and Eric Hölljes write the songs. Delta Rae's first album, which included a cameo from Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham, came out in 2012, and the band just released a new one called After It All. Here, Delta Rae performs some of its new songs onstage at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.", "World Cafe: Next has been super-sized during the month of October, offering a daily prediction of which new artists we think are going to make a big splash in the years to come. If the past has been any indication of our success rate, then many of the 20 artists on this list will go on to headline festivals, put out critically acclaimed albums and collaborate with some of the most talented artists around. That's what happened with Jose Gonzalez, Beach House and The Head and the Heart, three groups that have been featured on World Cafe: Next as artists to watch. Today, we revisit excerpts from these bands' World Cafe studio sessions, as a way to wrap up the month of glancing back at the show's past and gazing ahead.", "This session of World Cafe is a celebration of all things Jack White. With many successful bands, an impressive list of production achievements and an endless string of awards, White is a force to be reckoned with. Born and raised in Detroit, he'd originally planned to join the clergy, but soon was enticed by classical music, blues, punk and '60s rock. He formed The White Stripes with Meg White in 1997, but the duo disbanded in 2011 after six studio albums. Since then, White has turned his attention to producing under his Third Man label, including a Grammy-winning record by Loretta Lynn and rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson's career-reviving The Party Ain't Over. On today's show, host David Dye showcases the prolific musician's work by revisiting three extraordinary World Cafe sessions. The first is The White Stripes' 2003 visit around the release of Elephant. Next, hear Loretta Lynn discuss her experience with White, who produced her 2004 album Van Lear Rose. Finally, White's band The Raconteurs visited World Cafe in 2006 to share its razor-sharp guitar work and manic power-pop melodies. This segment originally aired on October 3, 2011.", "Hipgnosis Songs Fund announced it has acquired a 50% interest in Neil Young's catalogue of 1,180 songs. Hipgnosis also has made deals with producer Jimmy Iovine and musician Lindsey Buckingham.", "On today's jam-packed session, host David Dye takes us on a journey through the singer-songwriter movement of the 1990s, with artists who were at the forefront of the World Cafe program in its infancy. We hear from Suzanne Vega, seen by many as the standard-bearer for this moment in music with her impeccable knack for storytelling in a neo-folk style. She stopped by the studio in 1993, in the wake of \"Tom's Diner,\" one of her most popular hits. Next, we revisit our first interview with Aimee Mann, also from 1993, when she put out her solo debut. In this excerpt, Mann discusses her struggle to leave her record company after the break-up of her former band, 'Til Tuesday. We've paired this conversation with another from 2000, after Mann penned the Academy Award-nominated song \"Save Me\" for the film Magnolia. From Mann we turn to Sheryl Crow, who, since her breakout success in the mid-'90s, has won nine Grammy Awards over the years. In an interview from 2003, Crow spans a range of topics, from illegal music downloading to songs that have surprised her by becoming hits. The first interview we ever aired on World Cafe, in October 1991, featured Bruce Cockburn, the Canadian singer-songwriter and political activist. Cockburn tells a story about nomadic musicians he encountered in Nepal and discusses how his love of traveling influences his music. We close today's show with a 1999 conversation between Sting and World Cafe's Michaela Majoun around the release of his album Brand New Day. Sting shares the childhood experience that shaped his current singing style and the job he wishes he could have if he weren't a musician. This segment originally aired on October 6, 2011.", "World Cafe features daily interviews and live in-studio performances from seasoned music veterans and new sensations, in genres ranging from rock to blues to folk to alternative country and beyond. From NPR station WXPN, host David Dye chooses his favorite albums of 2006.", "In this installment of World Cafe, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (the stage name of Will Oldham) and Dawn McCarthy perform their own versions of classic Everly Brothers songs — as heard on their latest album together, What the Brothers Sang. The two Kentuckians find new ways to harmonize on an array of famous and obscure Everly Brothers songs. In a discussion with World Cafe host David Dye, Oldham describes his obsessive love for the songs, while McCarthy tells of finding an emotional connection to the Everly Brothers' music after her kids started singing along to the originals in the car.", "Fleetwood Mac's classic work has gotten a chart push from a piece of Internet virality centered around a clip of the Alcorn State University dance line, the Golden Girls. The band's seminal album, Rumours, has risen to the thirteenth spot on the Top Rock Albums chart, up from the 21st position, while the single \"Dreams\" is now sitting at No. 14 on the Top Rock Songs chart, as Billboard reports. (Rumours still holds the record for dominating the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for 31 weeks, the longest period for an album made by a group.) This isn't the first time Fleetwood Mac has been associated with a collegiate line dance. The video for the title track of 1979's Tusk was performed with the help of the USC Trojan Marching Band, and Lindsey Buckingham reunited with the school in 2015 for an encore performance. Better late than never, right?", "Compared to the casualness with which Lindsey Buckingham attended to the first 25 years of his solo career, the past six years have seen a flurry of activity. That goes not just for the speed with which he's churned out his last three albums, but also for the bulk of material they contain. Armed with both a frenzied fingerpicking style and the technological flexibility afforded to him by ultra-modern recording capabilities, many of Buckingham's newer songs sound as if there are so many ideas pouring out of his head that he's frantically trying to capture them before they're lost forever. One of the grand exceptions on the recent Seeds We Sow is \"End of Time,\" an oasis of calm acceptance that stands in bold relief to the speed-crazy playing and track-maximizing overdubbing found elsewhere. It's lush, true, but it's also simple, recalling Buckingham's 1981 single \"Trouble.\" In fact, the two start out much the same, with a steady, unfussy drumbeat establishing the bones of the song before Buckingham himself enters, his voice chiming softly like the guitars that flesh it out. While Buckingham, true to the title, opens with an inquisition into the infinite, he turns to an expression of more personal matters by the end. Distance, death, eschatology; none of it matters in his reckoning. The lights may fade, he seems to be saying in \"End of Time,\" but some spark of love and gratitude will shine through. Buckingham intends to shine along with it.", "World Cafe kicks off its \"Sense Of Place\" trip to North Carolina with a visit to Mount Moriah's practice space, which is also lead singer and songwriter Heather McEntire's home outside of Raleigh, N.C. Out past the power lines by the lake, we set up to record music from the band's third and newest album, How To Dance, which has been three years in the making. The album rocks a little harder than Mount Moriah's earlier work; it better reflects the band's stage show and allows for exquisite guitar lines by Jenks Miller. Hear the full session above and watch a video of \"Calvander\" below. Read a note about World Cafe's visit to North Carolina and the controversy surrounding HB2.", "Wrapping up a year of some incredible sessions, this week, World Cafe is digging into the archives for some of its best performances and interviews of 2017. You'll hear sessions from hosts Talia Schlanger, David Dye and Ann Powers, with artists including the outspoken Father John Misty, graceful vocalist Alison Krauss, veteran rocker Robert Plant, the Chuck Berry, Jr. and more.", "Singer-songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche makes her second appearance on Mountain Stage. The daughter of folk-music royalty — Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche — Roche didn't jump right in to the family business. She studied creative writing at Oberlin College in Ohio before earning a masters degree in education from Bank Street College in Manhattan. While she was teaching elementary school in New York City, she finally \"got the hankering to give music a go.\" Roche did some backup singing for her brother Rufus Wainwright, and the seed was planted. She released two EPs before recording her first full-length album in 2010, Lucy, which features collaborations with Amy Ray and This American Life's Ira Glass. Roche's set draws almost entirely from the original material on her new album, and closes with a brilliant cover of the Christine McVie-penned Fleetwood Mac tune \"Everywhere.\" This segment originally aired on December 22, 2011.", "Iconoclastic singer-songwriter Paul Thorn makes his seventh appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live in Huntington, W.V. Charismatic, insightful and funny, Thorn sometimes describes himself as \"the second most famous singer from Tupelo, Mississippi.\" Thorn, who can't help but wear his rural upbringing on his sleeve, was once a successful prizefighter who knocked down Robert Duran in the ring. As a musician and showman, Thorn came to rely upon the oratory skills he learned from his father, an evangelical preacher — as well as his uncle, a pimp. The result is a sound once described as \"taking a six-pack to church.\" Thorn's latest album, a collection of lesser-known cover tunes by some of his favorite artists, is called What the Hell Is Going On and includes songs written by Buddy Miller, Lindsey Buckingham and Ray Wylie Hubbard. This segment includes \"She's Got a Crush on Me,\" written by Donnie Fritts, which wasn't heard in the radio broadcast. This Mountain Stage performance was originally published on Sept. 12, 2012.", "When you work at World Cafe, you quickly realize you are not making an episode entirely on your own schedule. The biggest moving pieces are, of course, the guests. We hope to catch them for a few hours as they criss-cross the country in search of sharing their craft and art with an audience, and hopefully some merch sales. It's part of our job to be ready then, for the tiniest of windows. When we realized we'd have 45 minutes to record a session with Graham Coxon, Blur guitarist and prolific solo artist, we figured that's the tiniest window we could work with. As it turns out, tiny was sort of the theme of our session with Coxon. For The End of the F***ing World on Netflix, Coxon wrote what he calls \"fun-sized\" songs. You know, like those tiny versions of the tasty candy bars that you know and love. The fact the songs are fun-sized made it possible for us to get this session recorded and send Graham on his way to the next gig. To say it was a mad dash was a bit of an understatement. Thanks to the team of Chris Williams and John Myers for getting this ready so quickly. But here's the thing — as I was sitting across from Coxon, once he started playing, everything calmed down. These are beautiful songs, fun-sized songs, and special to be in an audience of one for them. Now, it's an audience of everyone. Enjoy this session from Coxon as we get started with \"Saturday Night.\" Hear it all in the player.", "The fun, aggressive pop band BRONCHO is reminiscent of both The Ramones and Weezer. Straddling the line between pop and punk, the band's 2011 debut Can't Get Past The Lips has 10 songs but clocks in at just 20 minutes. Even though the songs are on the shorter side, they're still full of gritty '70s influences. Based in Norman, Okla., lead singer and guitarist Ryan Lindsey was also a member of the indie-pop band The Starlight Mints, but he began touring with BRONCHO as a side project in 2010. On this installment of World Cafe, the men of BRONCHO explain the meaning behind their name, describing it as more of a feeling than an actual thing.", "Blame Sally's Pam Delgado, Renee Harcourt, Jeri Jones and Monica Pasqual are some of the San Francisco Bay Area's most celebrated solo artists. After coming together in 2000 following a series of informal jam sessions, they quickly earned a local following based on their collaborative approach to folk, Americana, rock and country, prompting the four put their solo careers on hold to make a live album. In 2009, Blame Sally signed with a Berkeley-based indie label. This is Blame Sally's first appearance on Mountain Stage. The quartet plays songs from its 2011 release, Speeding Ticket and a Valentine, and works in a delicate, crowd-pleasing cover of the Lindsey Buckingham-penned Fleetwood Mac guitar opus \"Never Going Back.\"", "While you're driving to your nearest polling station or waiting in line to vote, World Cafe's Talia Schlanger and WXPN's Bruce Warren weigh in with some of the greatest albums that have turned 18 this year.", "When Fleetwood Mac released Rumours in 1977, the band's lush instrumentals and melancholic harmonies reignited an obsession with bright, shining California pop. Decades later, modern folk bands like Mumford and Sons, Best Coast and Haim are still channeling the same bittersweet chords and joyful choruses. Empire of the Sun is the latest group to pay tribute to Fleetwood Mac's lush legacy, but the Australian synth duo is far from folksy. It's better known for playing dance-music festivals in exotic Space Age costumes that feel, from a distance, almost like Cirque du Soleil. And yet, its forthcoming album, Two Vines, features a glistening collaboration with longtime Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham called \"To Her Door.\" \"When you've got the undeniable, magical aura of Doctor Buckingham, things blossom,\" Luke Steele — one half of Empire of the Sun — tells NPR. Both he and bandmate Nick Littlemore consider Buckingham one of their heroes. \"We jammed like we were in high school and it came together almost instantly.\" The song captures a couple's dialogue the day after a big argument. One partner wakes up surprised and anxious, Steele says, eager for reconnection. \"He says, 'Hey, good morning, what happened, can I come around and talk?'\" The lyrics convey that desire: \"I feel better when we're together / I know it's simple but I don't care / I try to say the things to make up for the mess I've caused.\" Sonically, \"To Her Door\" reflects Fleetwood Mac's warmest records — such as \"Hold Me\" or \"Gypsy,\" which overflow with richness. Steele says that when he and Littlemore conceptualized a direction for this album, they were drawn to an image of vines that grew out of the ground and into cities, wrapping around buildings and cars until they overtook the urban world. He couldn't get the image out of his head. When they traveled to Hawaii to record at Honolulu's Island Sound Studios, where Kanye West recorded My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, the tropical, breezy setting cemented the return-to-nature concept. \"In Hawaii, our hotel on the beach had a giant banyan tree that stretched from the lawn into the living room. It felt like being a part of nature again,\" Steele says. In an effort to carry that vibe into the studio, he opted to use more analog equipment to return to the way music used to be recorded. It helped, of course, to have Buckingham in the room, an old-school guy who, arguably more than any living artist, is responsible for that lush, breezy sound. \"That's why working with him was beyond words, really,\" Steele says. \"You're not just working with a great guitarist or producer, you're working with classic heritage. He's not just a genius, but a genius of feeling. It's his gift. And I'm so grateful we got to share in it.\" Two Vines comes out Oct. 28 on Astralwerks.", "The New Jersey rock band recently released its third album and collaborated with Scarlett Johansson. The five-piece takes the World Cafe Live stage in Philadelphia at noon ET as part of WXPN's Live Fridays concert series.", "We get a lot of mail at NPR Music, and amid the detergent sampler that broke and spewed suds all over our mortgage bill is a slew of smart questions about how music fits into our lives — and, this week, what makes a successful solo album. Rick Simineo writes via Facebook: \"Can you talk us through the right and wrong way of doing a solo album after time in a band, along with some examples of each?\" There's no one unifying principle behind solo success — it's been done both right and wrong in a hundred different ways, for a thousand different reasons — but I've tried to puzzle out a few guidelines based on the examples that spring to mind. For the sake of something approximating brevity, I'm going to stick to singers, because they're the ones most likely to launch high-profile solo careers. So many of the successful singer-goes-solo stories that jump to my mind are cases in which the newly minted solo artist has a persona that needn't be confined or constrained; in which the mystique and allure of the singer has always dwarfed that of the performers around him or her. In The Smiths, Morrissey benefited immeasurably from Johnny Marr's guitars, but if you cared about The Smiths, you knew exactly what Morrissey was all about long before he became a solo artist. Bjork made a bunch of big records with The Sugarcubes, as did Natalie Merchant with 10,000 Maniacs, as did Gwen Stefani with No Doubt, but no one boggled at the cognitive dissonance between their solo and band work. In short, it helps to be the iconic face of a band if you're trying to become an iconic solo singer — but even that's no sure thing, if the uneven solo careers of Mick Jagger and Debbie Harry are any indication. The next rule is to evolve gradually. George Michael wasn't exactly a brooding artiste in Wham!, and his hugely successful early solo records meet at the midpoint between his bubblegum persona and the more \"adult\" side (in several senses of the word) he'd explore later. Sting's post-Police album The Dream of the Blue Turtles finds a similar comfort zone between fizziness and mopery; it took a few years for the singer's adult-contemporary side to dominate completely. Justin Timberlake found a path from boy-band stardom in 'N Sync to solo stardom by locating the midpoint between his old group and sexy soul. Though there are cases in which hairpin turns have worked for people — Mike Patton leaving Faith No More and forming the inscrutably spastic oddity Mr. Bungle, for example — some performers have been viewed as unbearably self-indulgent once liberated from the bands that once contained them. (David Lee Roth was a huge solo star for a few years after leaving Van Halen, but the schtickiness of it all produced rapidly diminishing returns.) To me, the most intriguing solo breakouts occur in bands with multiple competing — and often contradictory — visions. Bands often contain several highly individual songwriters, and so it's intriguing to watch a family tree emerge from the roots of an Uncle Tupelo (Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Son Volt's Jay Farrar), a Velvet Underground (Lou Reed, John Cale, et al), a Fleetwood Mac (Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie), a Beatles (all four of 'em), a Fugees (Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, Pras), a Hüsker Dü (Bob Mould, Grant Hart), and even an Eagles (Glenn Frey, Don Henley, et al). That individual work can often be informed by the exhilaration of liberation, but it also comes with fascinating amounts of pressure: When a band breaks up and everyone goes solo, history will often judge its legacy by which solo act fares best. The roles of Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams in Destiny's Child, for example, will always be viewed through the lens of Beyonce's subsequent success. In most cases, that battle is won by who's got the strongest songs out of the gate. Finally, it really helps to go solo at the right time — to not wait until a band has started to decline before striking out on your own. Several new solo albums have crossed my desk recently that might have experienced a huge profile had they been released 10 or 15 or 20 years ago: Live's Ed Kowalczyk, Collective Soul's Ed Roland, Creed's Scott Stapp. But for those guys, going solo now means rebranding themselves and bearing the weight of their bands' respective legacies. Of course, it holds true for solo acts — just as it holds true for bands — that most musicians come with commercial expiration dates, no matter how many smart moves they've made along the way. [Incidentally, yes, about 14 zillion examples aren't included in this thumbnail sketch: Iggy Pop, assorted Jacksons, Diana Ross, Kenny Loggins, Robert Plant, Gloria Estefan, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, Glen Hansard, Billy Idol, Rob Thomas, a couple Black Eyed Peas, and on and on. Please feel free to bring 'em up and have at it in the comments.] Got a music-related question you want answered? Leave it in the comments, drop us an email at [email protected] or tweet @allsongs.", "In this session of World Cafe, we've got four superstar musicians for the price of one: Carlos Santana, one of the greatest guitarists of all time; Cindy Blackman Santana, a virtuoso jazz and rock drummer who spent decades as the backbone on world tours for artists like Lenny Kravitz, and her now-husband Carlos; and Ron and Ernie Isley, the two main surviving members of the legendary Isley Brothers. Carlos, Cindy, Ron and Ernie have teamed up for a new album, Power of Peace, consisting of a dozen covers and one original song focused around music's ability to heal and unify. The idea originated at Carlos and Cindy's wedding, in 2010, when the pair chose Ron Isley's cover of \"The Look of Love\" for their first dance. Hear songs from the record as I chat with all four of the musicians, in the player above.", "The month-long celebration of World Cafe's 20th anniversary wrapped up with this weekend with a special live concert, direct from WXPN and the stage at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Mumford & Sons joined Dawes on stage for a rollicking collaborative set, which included the Dawes favorite \"When My Time Comes.\" Feist performed songs off her new album, Metals, and brought out special guests Mountain Man during the encore. Select performances will be archived for on-demand listening next week on NPR Music.", "Scottish dance-rock band Franz Ferdinand are back with its fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. A year-and-a-half in the making, the record includes collaborations with members of Hot Chip and Peter Bjorn and John. In this episode of World Cafe, we speak with lead singer Alex Kapranos and drummer Paul Thomson, and the band treats us to a live set." ]

[ "Biographies - Premiers and Prime Ministers | NZHistory, New Zealand history online Premiers and Prime Ministers Page 3 – Biographies Leaders of the nation Find out more about the 39 premiers and prime ministers who have held office in New Zealand since 1856. Each biography links to a page with further information. The entries are in chronological order of term served. Henry Sewell Premier: 7–20 May 1856 Henry Sewell, our first premier, was more of a sojourner than a settler. Although he spent 17 years in New Zealand in three periods between 1853 and 1876, he never put down deep roots. More... William Fox Premier: 20 May–2 Jun 1856; 12 Jul 1861–6 Aug 1862; 28 Jun 1869–10 Sept 1872; 3 Mar–8 Apr 1873 William Fox headed New Zealand governments four times. A rug-puller rather than a bridge-builder, he was better at defeating governments than he was at leading them. More... Edward Stafford Premier: 2 Jun 1856–12 Jul 1861; 16 Oct 1865–28 Jun 1869; 10 Sept–11 Oct 1872 Edward Stafford was New Zealand's youngest leader and a stable influence on the early colonial government. He held the post of premier on three different occasions between 1856 and 1872. More... Alfred Domett Premier: 6 Aug 1862–30 Oct 1863 Alfred Domett is best remembered for establishing the Parliamentary Library and for his much-derided epic verse Ranolf and Amohia: A South-Sea Daydream. More... Frederick Whitaker Premier: 30 Oct 1863–24 Nov 1864; 21 Apr 1882–25 Sept 1883 Despite Frederick Whitaker’s advanced views on electoral reform, this two-time premier tarnished his reputation by land speculation and confiscation. More... Frederick Weld Premier: 24 Nov 1864–16 Oct 1865 Frederick Weld was only briefly premier, but the fact that he was a Roman Catholic showed how different New Zealand was to Britain (which has still never had a Catholic PM). More... George Waterhouse Premier: 11 Oct 1872–3 Mar 1873 George Waterhouse, who never stood for elected office here, was a premier on both sides of the Tasman, leading South Australia (1861-3) and New Zealand (1872-3). More... Julius Vogel Premier: 8 Apr 1873–6 Jul 1875; 15 Feb–1 Sept 1876 Although he spent just 18 years in New Zealand, journalist, businessman and politician Julius (Sir Julius from 1874) Vogel dominated this country's political scene. More... Daniel Pollen Premier: 6 Jul 1875–15 Feb 1876 Largely forgotten today, Daniel Pollen was considered a ‘safe man’ and a good administrator. In July 1875 he took over the premiership from the absent Sir Julius Vogel, although Harry Atkinson really ran things. More... Harry Atkinson Premier: 1 Sept 1876–13 Oct 1877; 25 Sept 1883–16 Aug 1884; 28 Aug–3 Sept 1884; 8 Oct 1887–21 Jan 1891 Harry Atkinson was premier four times – five if you count the ‘reconstitution’ of his first ministry a fortnight into its life. Like Edward Stafford, he was a stabilising force who transcended regionalism for national interests. More... Sir George Grey Premier: 13 Oct 1877–8 Oct 1879 Sir George Grey was our only politician for whom the premiership was an anticlimax. He had governed autocratically from 1845 to 1853 (greatly shaping our constitutional arrangements) and returned as governor in 1861. More... John Hall Premier: 8 Oct 1879–21 Apr 1882 John (later Sir John) Hall was a force in our politics for several decades. In the late 1880s and early 1890s he led the parliamentary campaign for votes for women. More... Sir Robert Stout Premier: 16–28 Aug 1884; 3 Sept 1884–8 Oct 1887 The careers of Sir Robert Stout and Sir Julius Vogel were so closely intertwined that Stout’s governments are usually referred to as Stout-Vogel ministries. Both men started their public lives in Otago and followed similar policies. More... John Ballance Premier: 24 Jan 1891–27 Apr 1893 John Ballance, who led the Liberals to power in 1891, was called ‘the rainmaker’ by voters relieved to see the return of prosperity. More... Richard Seddon Premier: 1 May 1893–10 Jun 1906 Richard Seddon’s nickname, ‘King Dick’, says it all. Our longest-serving and most famous leader didn't just lead the government – many argued he w" ]

[ "Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero | prime minister of Spain | Britannica.com prime minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero , (born August 4, 1960, Valladolid , Spain ), Spanish politician, who served as prime minister of Spain from 2004 to 2011. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, 2011. Liao Pan/Color China Photo/AP Zapatero was the son of a lawyer and the grandson of a Republican army officer executed by Gen. Francisco Franco ’s forces during the Spanish Civil War . He attended the University of León and became a member of the university’s law faculty after graduating in 1982. In 1986 Zapatero, who had joined the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español; PSOE) in 1979, was elected to the national parliament, becoming its youngest member. Two years later he was made general secretary of the PSOE’s León provincial federation. Zapatero established a reputation as a capable, hardworking deputy, but he held no public office in the socialist administrations that governed Spain between 1982 and 1996. In July 2000, however, he defeated three other candidates to become the party’s general secretary. He promised to modernize both the PSOE and its policies, offering an agenda that revolved around economic efficiency , women’s rights, democratic participation, laicism, and “constructive” opposition to the conservative Popular Party (PP) government. As the 2004 general elections neared, opinion polls suggested an easy win for the PP. On March 11, 2004, however, Madrid suffered a series of terrorist attacks, and Prime Minister José María Aznar and his PP government drew criticism for their attempts to blame the Basque separatist group ETA even after members of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda were arrested. Aided by the voter backlash, the PSOE won a surprise victory at the elections on March 14. Zapatero was sworn in as prime minister on April 17, 2004, and he subsequently appointed a cabinet that combined established and emerging figures, half of whom were women. Within weeks of taking office, he also followed through on a campaign pledge to withdraw troops serving in Iraq . (See Iraq War .) Zapatero’s government supported a number of social reforms, including the legalization of same-sex marriage and the criminalization of domestic violence. In response to two long-standing issues, the status of Catalonia and of the Basque Country , Zapatero supported the declaration of nationhood for Catalonia in 2006 and pledged not to yield to ETA terrorism, respectively. The PSOE triumphed again in the 2008 general elections after a fiercely battled campaign, though it failed to gain an absolute majority. Zapatero pledged to boost Spain’s economy—which was slumping as a result of the economic downturn then afflicting much of the world—and to continue his agenda of social and political reform, but the country’s financial situation grew worse through 2009–10. Unemployment topped 20 percent, and plummeting poll numbers and PSOE losses in regional elections forced a series of cabinet reshuffles. Zapatero announced in April 2011 that he would not seek another term as prime minister, but that news failed to buoy the PSOE, which fared poorly in another round of regional elections held the following month. In July 2011, as Spain’s economy continued to flounder, Zapatero announced that he would advance the date of the next general election from March 2012 to November 2011. In the general election on November 20, 2011, the PP routed the PSOE, which turned in its worst performance since the post-Franco restoration of democracy . Zapatero remained prime minister of a caretaker administration until the formation of a government by PP leader Mariano Rajoy in December 2011. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, 2010. Monika Flueckiger/World Economic Forum", "Helen Clark, former New Zealand PM, enters race for UN secretary general | World news | The Guardian United Nations Helen Clark, former New Zealand PM, enters race for UN secretary general Clark announces candidacy in New York in push to succeed Ban Ki-moon and become first woman to hold the position Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand and the current head of the UN development programme. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters Monday 4 April 2016 18.51 EDT First published on Monday 4 April 2016 18.06 EDT Close This article is 10 months old Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand, has entered the race to succeed Ban Ki-moon as secretary general of the United Nations in a bid to become the first woman in the role of world’s top diplomat. Clark, who was New Zealand’s prime minister from 1999 to 2008, threw her hat formally into the ring on Monday. Her high-profile entry into the competition is certain to increase pressure among the power brokers of the UN to appoint a woman as the leading face of diplomacy on the global stage. UN must be made fit for purpose, says UNDP head Helen Clark | Clár Ní Chonghaile Read more Announcing her candidacy in New York shortly after she was nominated for the top post by New Zealand’s current prime minister, John Key , in Wellington, Clark said she believed she had the skills to lead the UN as it faced “very serious challenges”. “The position of secretary general is about giving a voice to 7 billion people who look to the UN for hope and support,” she said. Clark’s announcement immediately places her as a serious contender to become the eighth secretary general in the UN’s 70-year history. Her reputation as a fighter who survived nine years as premier amid the rough-and-tumble of New Zealand politics is being seen within senior levels of the UN as evidence that she would be able to withstand the pressures of the famously thankless task of leading the world body. As the head of the UN development programme (UNDP), which she has led for the past seven years, she has proven herself to be a tough administrator who has cut budgets in her area. That may earn her valuable support from the US, which begrudgingly pays the lion’s share of the UN’s running costs. When asked at the press conference announcing her candidacy whether she would seek to reduce the power of the five permanent members of the UN security council, Clark gave a diplomatic answer. “I acknowledge the importance of the P5, as I acknowledge the importance of every member state,” she said. Much of the debate around the replacement of Ban is focused on the question: will it break the glass ceiling and see the appointment of the UN’s first female leader ? Four out of the eight candidates who have thrown their hat into the ring so far are female, including the Bulgarian Irina Bokova, who heads Unesco and is seen as Moscow’s favorite for the job. Membership Event: The next UN secretary general: meet the candidates In December, both the president of the UN general assembly and the president of the security council – the US ambassador, Samantha Power – wrote an unprecedented joint letter to all member states urging them to nominate female candidates. An Equality Now online campaign calling for a woman to be appointed secretary general has also attracted more than 30,000 supporters. Announcing her candidacy, Clark stressed that she saw herself as the gender-neutral best person to lead the world body. “I’ve never sought election as a woman,” she said, though she added: “In the normal course of events I would like to see women have a fair chance, an equal chance at every leadership position.” This may be the first time that the secretary general is chosen with a modicum of transparency . The first seven holders of the post, including Ban, have all been selected through a byzantine system of horse-trading behind closed doors by the five permanent members of the security council – Britain, France, the US, Russia and China. Ban’s successor will still be decided in effect by the security council that will eventually h", "Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Islamabad, Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs PRIME MINISTER OF PAKISTAN MR. MUHAMMAD NAWAZ SHARIF The eldest of three siblings of Late Mian Muhammad Sharif, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was born on December 25, 1949 in Lahore. Mr Muhammad Nawaz Sharif got his early education from prestigious schools and earned his graduation from the famous Government College, Lahore. After completion of his academics, he joined the family business and also participated actively in social and charitable activities. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif started active politics when he joined the Punjab Cabinet as Finance Minister in 1981.He also held the portfolio of Minister for Sports. In the 1985 general elections, he was elected to both the National and Punjab Provincial Assemblies. On April 9, 1985, he was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Punjab. He also served as caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab. After winning majority in the 1988 Provincial Assembly Elections, he was re-elected as Chief Minister of Punjab. He was elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan and held the office from November 1, 1990 to July 18, 1993 when President Ghulam Ishaq Khan (late) arbitrarily dissolved the National Assembly. The Supreme Court annulled the former President’s unconstitutional act and reinstated the National Assembly and Nawaz Sharif’s government on May 26, 1993. However, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif resigned from his office on July 18, 1993 to facilitate fresh elections in the country. He remained leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly from October19, 1993 to 5th November 1996. He was again elected the Prime Minister of Pakistan on February 17, 1997 after his party won an overwhelming majority in the general elections. General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf staged a coup and overthrew his democratically elected popular government on Oct12, 1999.He was sentenced for life and underwent 14 months of imprisonment before being forced into exile by General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf. During previous tenures of his government, a number of mega development projects were completed including South West Asia’s first 367km motorway, linking Lahore with Islamabad. Efforts were made to strengthen the economy with the help of private sector and projects like Ghazi Barotha, Gwadar Mini port, JF-17 Fighter Jet, international airports in Karachi and Lahore, Optic Fibre Project and opening up of Telecom sector are some of the hallmarks of his economic policies. Land was distributed among landless peasants in Sindh. Relations with the Central Asian Muslim Republics were strengthened and ECO was given a boost. His most important contribution was success in re-invigorating the economy of the country by pursuing a policy of liberalization, privatization and deregulation despite economic sanctions. He succeeded in repealing the controversial Eighth Amendment unanimously and the adoption of anti-defection Fourteenth Amendment Bill. In an attempt to end the Afghan civil war after the withdrawal of Soviet Forces, he succeeded in convincing Afghan factions to unite and sign “Islamabad Accord “for establishing peace in Afghanistan and the region. Mr. Nawaz Sharif gained in stature when his government conducted nuclear tests on May 28, 1998 in response to India’s nuclear blasts. This raised Pakistan’s prestige globally and its security was made impregnable. In May, 2007, he signed the Charter of Democracy (CoD) with leader of PPP Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and other prominent political leaders in London for strengthening and sustaining democracy in the country. Since 2008, he has played the role of a statesman by committing to uphold democratic values and traditions and work for the welfare of the people of Pakistan. His strict adherence to these ideals paved the way for completion of the constitutional term by the elected Assemblies. Pakistan Muslim League-N President Muhammad Nawaz Sharif created history when he was elected as the 27th Prime Minister for the third time by securing 244 votes in the National Assembly. Mr. Nawaz Sharif is a family man, dev", "List of Prime Ministers of India From 1947 Till Date You are here: Home 2008 November List of Prime Ministers of India From 1947 Till Date List of Prime Ministers of India From 1947 Till Date Posted on 28th November 2008 | 67 Comments India became an ‘Independent’ country on 15th August 1947. The Following is a List of the Prime Ministers of India From 1947 Till Date:- The 1st / First Prime Minsiter of Independent India: PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (Born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh on 14th November 1889 and Died in New Delhi on 27th May 1964, at the age of 74 years) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress /INC had been the 1st/first Prime Minister of India from 15th August 1947 To 27th May 1964 continuously for 17 years for more than 4full terms. Jawaharlal Nehru is one of the ‘Founder-Members’ of the “Indian National Congress”./INC. Jawaharlal Nehru died during his 4th term of his tenure as the Prime Minister of India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was conferred on with India’s highest civilian award-the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in the year 1955. After the death of the 1st / Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded him as the 2nd /second Prime Minister of India. The 1st/First Interim Prime Minister of India: Mr. GULZARILAL NANDA, (Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) on 4th July 1898 and died on 15th January 1998 at the age of 99 years), Gulzarilal Nanda had been the 1st / first Interim Prime Minister of India from 27th May 1964 To 9th June1964 for 14 days, after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, until Lal Bahadur Shastri was selected as the 2nd/second Prime Minister of India. Mr. Gulzarilal Nanda had also been the 2nd/second “Interim Prime Minister” of India, after Lal Bahadur Shastri died on 11th January 1966, for 14 days from 11th January 1966 To 24th January 1966, until Mrs.Indira Gandhi was selected as the Third Prime Minister of India. Mr.Gulzarilal Nanda was conferred on with India’s highest civilian award the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in the year 1997. The 2nd/Second Prime Minister of India: Mr.LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI (Born in Moghalsarai, Varanasi on 2nd October 1904 and died at Tashkent in USSR, while negotiating ‘Peace Talks’ on behalf of India with Pakistan on 11th January 1966 at the age of 61 years) Lal Bahadur Shastri of the Indian National Congress/INC had been the 2nd/second Prime Minister of India from 9th June 1964 To 11th January 1966, for 1 year and 7 months. Mr.Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded the 1st / first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and was succeeded by Mrs.Indira Gandhi. The 2nd/Second Interim Prime Minister of India: Mr.GULZARILAL NANDA had been the 2nd/second Interim Prime Minister of India from 11th January 1966 To 24th January 1966 for 14 days until Mrs.Indira Gandhi was selected as the 3rd /third Prime Minister of India. Mr.Gulzarilal Nanda had been the 1st/first Interim Prime Minister of India from 27th May 1964 to 9th June 1964 for 14 days, after the death of the 1st /first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, until Lal Bahadur Shastri was elected as the 2nd / second Prime Minister of India. The 3rd/Third Prime Minister of India: Mrs.INDIRA GANDHI, Born in Allahabad on 19th November 1917 and shot dead in her Office-cum-Residence at New Delhi, by her own security guards on 31st October 1984 at the age of 66 years) Mrs.Indira Gandhi is the only daughter of the 1st/first Prime Minister of India-Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, hte first Prime Minister of India. Mrs.Indira Gandhi of the Indian National Congress/INC had been the 3rd / third Prime Minister of India, who had been in office for the following 2 different terms, for a total period of 15 years:. 1st Time:From 24th January 1966 To 24th March 1977, succeeding Lal Bahadur Shastri and succeeded by Morarji Desai and the 2nd Time: From 14th January 1980 To 31st October 1984 succeeding Charan Singh until she was shot dead by her own security guards Mrs.Indira Gandhi is the’First and the Only Lady Prime Minister of India’. Mrs.Indira Gandhi was conferred on with India’s highest civilian awar", "Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership WORLDWIDE GUIDE TO WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP This site is dedicated to the women who have ruled since the beginning of times - or as long as the sources date back - and those holding political offices to the present day. There have always been female rulers . Egyptian Queens are believed to have governed from around 3000 BCE, and the first to be named by the sources without any doubt is Ku-baba, who ruled the Mesopotamian City-State of Ur round 2500 BCE. First female ministers in the world However, it was not until during and just after the World War I that the first few women became members of the revolutionary governments in Ukraine, Russia, Hungary and Ireland. Nina Bang, Danish Minister of Education 1924-26, was the first woman to be minister in democratically elected parliamentary government. See more in First female ministers . Nevertheless, development was slow and it was not until the end of the 20th century that female ministers stopped being unusual, though a number of countries don't have women in their governments at the moment. First female Prime Minister and President in the world In 1960 Sirivamo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka became the world's first female elected Premier Minister and in 1974, Isabel Per�n of Argentina became the first woman President - one woman had been Acting Head of Government and two women Acting Heads of State before that. In 2009 Monaco became the last country in the world to have it's first female member of government. 1999 Sweden became the first country to have more female ministers than male. 11 women and 9 men and in 2007 the Finish government had 60% women. Current female heads of state and government There are 193 members of the United Nations, 2 independent states outside, a few self-declared de-facto independent states and many self-ruling decencies. There are currently 28 female leaders in countries or self-ruling territories (The lowest number for several years). Of the 25 monarchies, there are reigning Queens in 2 countries: Denmark and the United Kingdom - and the latter is represented by female Governor Generals in 4 of the other 15 countries in which she is also Queen; The Bahamas, Grenada, New Zealand and Saint Lucia. They function as their countries' de-facto Heads of State. The 13 current female Presidents are in Austria (Acting), Chile, Croatia, Estonia, Liberia, Lithuania, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Nepal, South Korea (Suspended), Switzerland and Taiwan And currently there are 9 woman Prime Ministers ; in Bangladesh, Germany, Namibia, Norway, Poland and United Kingdom, as well as in the self-governing territories of Srpska, Turk & Caicos Islands and the �land Islands. In addition, Aung San Suu Ky is State Councillor and De-facto leader of Myanmar. Content of www.guide2womenleaders.com The site contains lists of female Heads of State listed by country, a chronological list of Women in Power from B.C. 3000, female Prime Ministers, Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Defence and Ministers by country, female Chairpersons of Parliament, female Governors, Premiers and local Leaders by country, female Party Leaders for each country, a chronological list of female Presidential Candidates, Ambassadors to the United Nations and first female ambassadors for each country, lists of women's ordination to priesthood and female bishops and finally a list of female Danish leaders. (See entries to the left). Follow Guide2womenleaders.com on Facebook", "Sir Anthony Mamo: First elected president of Malta | The Independent Sir Anthony Mamo: First elected president of Malta Monday 5 May 2008 23:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Online A scion of one of Malta's oldest families, Anthony Mamo played a vital part in Malta's post-war transition – first to independence from Britain in 1964 and then, a decade later, from a democratic monarchy that had retained the Queen as head of state to a republic within the Commonwealth, of which Mamo was the first elected president. Through the offices he held, and thanks to his non-confrontational style and skill at promoting consensus, Mamo helped make sure these momentous changes proceeded as smoothly as humanly possible, in his tiny but politically fractious country. From 1971 to 1974 he was the island's last (and only native Maltese) Governor-General, technically exercising authority on the Queen's behalf. As such, he presided over discussions between the rival and frequently feuding parties, the Nationalists and the Labour Party, when the latter was led by Dom Mintoff, Malta's dominant 20th-century politician, who was Prime Minister between 1971 and 1984. Thanks to Mamo's quiet encouragement of the parties to find common ground, Malta's parliament approved the changeover to a republic, on 13 December 1974, by a handsome majority. Under the new constitution, which largely followed the Westminster model, the presidency was mainly ceremonial, with real power wielded by the prime minister. But Mamo's dignity and scrupulous sense of protocol made him an ideal figure to be head of state, a post he held until December 1976. His true lifelong passion, however, was the law. After a year in private practice, he joined the civil service in 1936, serving on a commission that produced a revised edition of Malta's entire legal code. In 1942, at the height of the Second World War, he entered the Attorney General's office, first as a Crown Counsel, then as Deputy Attorney General, before becoming Attorney General, the government's chief legal officer in 1954. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Mamo was the embodiment of the Maltese legal system. For 14 years he was Professor of Criminal Law at the Royal University of Malta, before becoming Chief Justice in 1957, then president of the Court of Appeals and finally president of the Constitutional Court in 1964. Until the end of his life he retained an intense interest in the law, \"enquiring about this or that judge or lawyer,\" according to Malta's current President and former prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami, a student of Mamo at the university. In an odd distinction which he also enjoyed, for the last few months of his life Mamo was the world's oldest living former head of state. Rupert Cornwell Anthony Joseph Mamo, lawyer and statesman: born Birkirkara, Malta 9 January 1909; Member, State Law Revision Commission 1936-42; Crown Counsel 1942-51; Professor of Criminal Law, Malta University 1943-57; Deputy Attorney General 1952-54, Attorney General 1955; OBE 1955; Chief Justice of Malta 1957-71; Kt 1960; Governor-General of Malta 1971-74; President of the Republic of Malta 1974-76; married 1939 Margaret Agius (one son, two daughters); died Mosta, Malta 1 May 2008. More about:", "Tonga: History History Tonga History Archaeological evidence indicates that the islands of Tonga were settled c.830 B.C., but the Polynesians are believed to have arrived some 400 years after that. The current ruling dynasty traces its rise to power to the 10th cent. Dutch navigators sighted the northern islands in 1616 and the rest of the group in 1643. Capt. James Cook visited the islands in 1773 and 1777 and named them the Friendly Islands. English missionaries arrived in 1797 and helped to strengthen British political influence. Internal wars in the early 19th cent. ended with the accession of King George Tupou I (1845–93), who unified the nation and gave it a constitution (1862), a legal code, and an administrative system. His successor, King George Tupou II (1893–1918) concluded a treaty making Tonga a British protectorate in 1900. Tonga remained self-governing, with the British responsible for foreign and defense affairs. Queen Salote Tupou III ruled from 1918 to 1965, when she was succeed by her son, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV. A new treaty in 1968 reduced British controls, and complete independence was attained on June 4, 1970. Since the late 1980s, Tongans have agitated for democratic reforms, but the king has generally opposed any change that would dilute the monarchy's power. In 2001 it was revealed that as much as $37 million in government funds had disappeared as a result of investment in a Nevada asset management company, and corruption within the royal family and government remains a problem. Amendments in 2003 to the constitution permit the restriction of freedom of speech, a move that was used to silence publications critical of the government, but parts of the amendments (and restrictive media laws passed in 2003) were subsequently declared void. In 2005 two commoners were selected to join the cabinet for the first time, and in 2006 one (Fred Sevele) was appointed prime minister, also a first. In July–Sept., 2005, the nation experienced a civil service strike that turned into a call for democratic reform, but the strike was settled without any addressing of the broader political issues. King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV died in 2006, and George Tupou V succeeded him. Frustration over the failure of the legislature to enact reforms led to rioting in the capital in Nov., 2006; many government offices and businesses were destroyed. Following the rioting, the government imposed a state of emergency that was not rescinded until Feb., 2011, and announced that there would be new legislative elections in 2008 and that a majority of the members of the legislature would be popularly elected. Subsequently, the government arrested a number of prodemocracy legislators on charges relating to the riots and moved to set back legislative reform to as late as 2010. In the 2008 legislative elections, prodemocracy candidates, including incumbent legislators facing sedition charges dating from the 2006 riots, won two thirds of the popularly elected seats. In July, 2008, prior to the king's formal coronation, he announced that he would yield much of his power as part of a move toward democracy, but progress toward that goal was slow. The five legislators accused of seditious conspiracy had all their indictments dismissed in Sept., 2009, except for a seditious speech charge against one representative. A tsunami the same month devastated the northern island of Niuatoputapu. In Nov., 2009, the constitutional commission issued its recommendations, which called for reducing the king's power, making the head of government answerable to the Legislative Assembly, and increasing the people's legislative representatives; in Apr., 2010, legislation increased the number of the people's representatives in future elections. In July, however, the judicial independence was undermined when the king was given control over the appointment of judges. In November, a prodemocracy party won a majority of the popularly elected seats, but an alliance of the noble representatives and independent representatives chose the new prime minister, Lord Tuivakano. In", "Portugal ex-PM Jose Socrates to be held amid corruption probe - BBC News Portugal ex-PM Jose Socrates to be held amid corruption probe 25 November 2014 Image copyright EPA Image caption The decision to detain Jose Socrates sent shockwaves through Portuguese politics Portugal's former centre-left PM, Jose Socrates, has been remanded in custody on suspicion of corruption, tax fraud and money laundering. Mr Socrates, 57, was detained on his return from Paris on Friday and has already spent three nights in jail. The judge delivered the decision after investigators looked into suspicious money transfers and banking operations. Mr Socrates, who denies any wrongdoing, is being investigated alongside his driver, a close friend, and a lawyer. The former prime minister was in office from 2005 to 2011. His lawyer, Joao Araujo, told reporters on Monday that his client would appeal against the decision. Under the Portuguese system, formal charges only come at the end of an investigation which could last up to eight months, says the BBC's Alison Roberts in Lisbon. Portuguese politics was already reeling after the resignation of Interior Minister Miguel Macedo in the wake of a separate corruption inquiry linked to the allocation of residence permits. Portugal in shock - by Alison Roberts, BBC News, Lisbon Jose Socrates' detention has sent shockwaves through the political system. Reports purporting to provide details of the investigation - which is covered by judicial secrecy - have swirled since Friday night, when the news broke. They focus on Mr Socrates' supposedly lavish lifestyle in Paris, where he moved after stepping down in 2011. In past interviews, he has denied anything untoward about his finances. Image copyright EPA Image caption Antonio Costa, elected Socialist leader on Saturday, said everyone was in shock over Mr Socrates' detention His detention - on arrival at Lisbon airport, rather than at his flat, and with photographers present - prompted some prominent Socialists to argue it was to divert attention from suspicions of corruption in the right-of-centre government's \"golden visa\" programme, which fast-tracks residence for foreign investors. The Socialists' newly elected leader, Antonio Costa, a minister under Mr Socrates, was until now expected to sweep to victory in next year's general election following years of austerity. He is conscious of the perils of the situation. Portugal's ex-PM Jose Socrates Because the case surrounding Mr Socrates comes under judicial secrecy, few details have been confirmed. It is unclear whether the inquiry relates to his time in office. However, Portuguese media has reported allegations that his driver Joao Perna made a number of trips transporting cash to Paris, where Mr Socrates has been working in a new role at a pharmaceutical company. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Current Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho gave his backing to the country's \"strong institutions\" One of Mr Socrates' long-time friends, Carlos Santos Silva, is being questioned along with lawyer Goncalo Trindade Ferreira. Two of the suspects are also being held on remand, while a fourth has been barred from foreign travel. Centre-right Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said the case involved law rather than politics, adding that \"Portugal has strong institutions that work\". But the investigation has rocked Mr Socrates' Socialists, now led by Lisbon Mayor Antonio Costa who was elected as secretary-general of the party on Saturday. Mr Socrates resigned in 2011 in the midst of Portugal's mounting debt crisis. The Socialists are currently leading in opinion polls and Mr Costa said on Saturday that \"we mustn't let personal feelings of solidarity and friendship impede the political action of the (party)\".", "Benjamin Netanyahu | prime minister of Israel | Britannica.com prime minister of Israel Alternative Titles: Bibi Netanyahu, Binyamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu, Benjamin also spelled Binyamin, byname Bibi (born October 21, 1949, Tel Aviv [now Tel Aviv–Yafo], Israel), Israeli politician and diplomat, who twice served as his country’s prime minister (1996–99 and 2009–). Benjamin Netanyahu, 1996. Ya’acov Sa’ar Ya’acov/© The State of Israel Government Press Office In 1963 Netanyahu, the son of the historian Benzion Netanyahu , moved with his family to Philadelphia in the United States . After enlisting in the Israeli military in 1967, he became a soldier in the elite special operations unit Sayeret Matcal and was on the team that rescued a hijacked jet plane at the Tel Aviv airport in 1972. He later studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.B.A., 1976), taking time out to fight in the Yom Kippur War in Israel in 1973. After his brother Jonathan died while leading the successful Entebbe raid in 1976, Benjamin founded the Jonathan Institute, which sponsored conferences on terrorism . Netanyahu held several ambassadorship positions before being elected to the Knesset (Israeli parliament) as a Likud member in 1988. He served as deputy minister of foreign affairs (1988–91) and then as a deputy minister in Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin ’s coalition cabinet (1991–92). In 1993 he easily won election as the leader of the Likud party, succeeding Yitzhak Shamir in that post. Netanyahu became noted for his opposition to the 1993 Israel-PLO peace accords and the resulting Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank and Gaza Strip . The governing Labour Party entered the 1996 elections with weakened electoral appeal following Rabin’s assassination in November 1995 and a series of suicide bombings by Muslim militants early in 1996. Netanyahu eked out a victory margin of about 1 percent over Prime Minister Shimon Peres in the elections of May 29, 1996, the first in which the prime minister was directly elected. Netanyahu became the youngest person ever to serve as Israel’s prime minister when he formed a government on June 18. Unrest dominated Netanyahu’s first prime ministership. Soon after he entered office, relations with Syria deteriorated, and his decision in September 1996 to open an ancient tunnel near Al-Aqsa Mosque angered Palestinians and sparked intense fighting. Netanyahu then reversed his earlier opposition to the 1993 peace accords and in 1997 agreed to withdraw troops from most of the West Bank town of Hebron . Pressure from within his coalition, however, led Netanyahu to announce his intention to establish a new Jewish settlement on land claimed by the Palestinians. He also significantly lowered the amount of land that would be handed over to the Palestinians during Israel’s next phase of withdrawal from the West Bank. Violent protests, including a series of bombings, ensued. In 1998 Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yāsir ʿArafāt participated in peace talks that resulted in the Wye Memorandum , the terms of which included placing as much as 40 percent of the West Bank under Palestinian control. The agreement was opposed by right-wing groups in Israel, and several factions in Netanyahu’s government coalition quit. In 1998 the Knesset dissolved the government, and new elections were scheduled for May 1999. Yāsir ʿArafāt (far left), leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, … Martin H. Simon/Corbis Methane Surge Worries Scientists Netanyahu’s reelection campaign was hindered by a fragmented right wing as well as by voters’ growing dislike of his inconsistent peace policies and his often abrasive style. In addition, a series of scandals had plagued his administration, including his appointment in 1997 of Roni Bar-On, a Likud party functionary, as attorney general. Allegations that Bar-On would arrange a plea bargain for a Netanyahu ally who had been charged with fraud and bribery led to a series of confidence votes in the Knesset. With his core political support undermined, Netanyahu was eas", "Folketinget - Chapter 3 - The Government Previous | Next Chapter 3 - The Government Part three deals with the King and the Ministers. It establishes that the power of the King is restricted. The country is governed by a Government accepted by Parliament. Section 12 Subject to the limitations laid down in this Constitutional Act, the King shall have supreme authority in all the affairs of the Realm, and shall exercise such supreme authority through the Ministers. Section 12 It may almost seem as if the Queen decides everything. However, in reality this is not the case as the Constitutional Act contains major restrictions on which decisions she can make. The Queen exercises power via her Ministers in a Government: she has no independent power. This is described in Sections 13 and 14. Section 13 The King shall not be answerable for his actions; his person shall be sacrosanct. The Ministers shall be responsible for the conduct of government; their responsibility shall be defined by statute. Section 13 The Queen has a very special legal status. She is not answerable for her actions. She must observe the laws of Denmark, but she cannot be indicted and sentenced by the Courts. On the other hand, the Queen has no power. The Ministers are responsible for what the Government does. Ministers’ responsibility is explicitly established in a special Act called the Danish Ministerial Responsibility Act. It was passed in 1964. Section 14 The King shall appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and the other Ministers. He shall decide upon the number of Ministers and upon the distribution of the duties of government among them. The signature of the King to resolutions relating to legislation and government shall make such resolutions valid, provided that the signature of the King is accompanied by the signature or signatures of one or more Ministers. A Minister who has signed a resolution shall be responsible for the resolution. Section 14 The Constitutional Act gives the Queen the power to appoint the Prime Minister and the other Ministers. She also decides how many Ministers there are to be and what they are to do. In addition, she can dismiss them again. However, this is no longer how things work. The Queen has no real influence on who will be a Minister or who will be dismissed. The Queen appoints the Ministers recommended by the Prime Minister. When a new Prime Minister is to be appointed, the current Prime Minister and the Queen decide which politician will be able to put together a majority of the Members of Parliament. The person in question may never have a majority against him or her. The Queen then appoints that person to be the new Prime Minister. The Queen must sign all Acts and important resolutions passed by the Government. However, the Acts and resolutions are valid only when one or more Ministers have also signed them. The Queen is not responsible for the Acts and resolutions she signs. It is the Ministers who are responsible for them. Section 15 Subsection 1. A Minister shall not remain in office after the Folketing has passed a vote of no confidence in him. Subsection 2. When the Folketing passes a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister, he shall ask for the dismissal of the Ministry unless writs are to be issued for a general election. When a vote of no confidence has been passed on a Ministry, or it has asked for its dismissal, it shall continue in office until a new Cabinet has been appointed. Ministers who remain in office as aforesaid shall perform only what may be necessary to ensure the uninterrupted conduct of official business. Section 15 Subsection 1. If a majority in Parliament no longer has confidence in a Minister, the Minister must resign. This is done by the Members of Parliament voting on a what is known as a no-confidence motion. Subsection 2. If Parliament expresses a lack of confidence in the Prime Minister, the Government must resign or call an election. The \"old\" Government remains as the acting Government until a new one has been elected. However, during this period, the Ministers may only carr", "Papua New Guinea: Maps, History, Geography, Government, Culture, Facts, Guide & Travel/Holidays/Cities Australia and New Zealand Help Manage Election Geography Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, just north of Australia, and many outlying islands. The Indonesian province of West Papua (Irian Jaya) is to the west. To the north and east are the islands of Manus, New Britain, New Ireland, and Bougainville, all part of Papua New Guinea. About one-tenth larger than California, its mountainous interior has only recently been explored. Two major rivers, the Sepik and the Fly, are navigable for shallow-draft vessels. Government Constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracy. History The first inhabitants of the island New Guinea were Papuan, Melanesian, and Negrito tribes, who altogether spoke more than 700 distinct languages. The eastern half of New Guinea was first explored by Spanish and Portuguese explorers in the 16th century. In 1828, the Dutch formally took possession of the western half of the island (now the province of West Papua [Irian Jaya], Indonesia). In 1885, Germany formally annexed the northern coast and Britain took similar action in the south. In 1906, Britain transferred its rights to British New Guinea to a newly independent Australia, and the name of the territory was changed to the Territory of Papua. Australian troops invaded German New Guinea (called Kaiser-Wilhelmsland) in World War I and gained control of the territory under a League of Nations mandate. New Guinea and some of Papua were invaded by Japanese forces in 1942. After being liberated by the Australians in 1945, it became a United Nations trusteeship, administered by Australia. The territories were combined and called the Territory of Papua and New Guinea (PNG). Australia granted limited home rule in 1951. Autonomy in internal affairs came nine years later, and in Sept. 1975, Papua New Guinea achieved complete independence from Britain. A violent nine-year secessionist movement took place on the island of Bougainville. In 1989, guerrillas of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) shut down the island's Australian-owned copper mine, a major source of revenue for the country. The rebels believed that Bougainville deserved a greater share of the earnings for its copper. In 1990, the BRA declared Bougainville's independence, whereupon the government blockaded the island until Jan. 1991, when a peace treaty was signed. On July 17, 1998, an earthquake-triggered tsunami off the northern coast of PNG killed at least 1,500 people and left thousands more injured and homeless. Many analysts say Papua New Guinea is in danger of political and economic collapse. The country's political system is unstable, the crime rate has soared, corruption is rampant, and essential services including health care and education continue to decline. According to the World Bank, 70% of the country lives in poverty. In 2006, Australia announced that it was gravely concerned about the country and had peacekeeping forces at the ready. Sir Michael Somare was elected to a second consecutive term as prime minister in August 2007, defeating Sir Julius Chan. Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane was reelected in June 2010, but was removed from office after the Supreme Court ruled that the election was unconstitutional. Jeffery Nape became acting governor-general on Dec. 13, but without explanation, Michael Ogio took over as acting governor-general on Dec. 20. In April 2011, a tribunal convicted Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare of misconduct and suspended him for two weeks. Citing ill health, he extended his absence and Sam Abal became acting prime minister. Somare officially resigned in June. In August, the parliamentary-designated vacancy in the prime minister's office and the election of Peter O'Neill were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court, who then ordered the reinstatement of Sir", "Justice Lowell Goddard: Profile - BBC News BBC News Close share panel Image copyright Home Office Image caption Justice Goddard became the first woman of Maori descent to be appointed as a New Zealand High Court judge in 1995 New Zealand judge Lowell Goddard, who has resigned as the head of the independent inquiry into historical child sex abuse in England and Wales, was not the first person to be appointed as its head. She was the third chairwoman of the inquiry since it was set up last July, before resigning on 4 August in a letter to Home Secretary Amber Rudd. She is a serving judge of the High Court of New Zealand and UN committee member who has experience of working with victims of sexual assault. In 2007, she was appointed chairwoman of New Zealand's Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) - the first woman to hold the position - and was in post when the authority released a report on the outcome of its inquiry into police handling of child abuse cases. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1948, Justice Goddard studied law at the University of Auckland, and started practicing as a barrister in 1977. In her earlier years as a barrister she worked as a member of the steering committee which helped establish the HELP Clinic, a facility for victims of sexual abuse. In that role, she assisted police to establish a better approach to the examination and interviewing of sex abuse victims. 'Highly respected' Justice Lowell Goddard was made Queen's Counsel in 1988 - one of the first two women to be appointed to the role - and deputy solicitor-general for New Zealand in 1992. She became the first woman of Maori descent to be appointed as a High Court judge in 1995, and has also sat as a member of the criminal division of the country's Court of Appeal. The BBC's home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw ‏said it is understood the then home secretary - now the prime minister - Theresa May personally interviewed Dame Lowell by video-link before deciding to appoint her as chairwoman of the inquiry into historical child sex abuse in England and Wales. The 66-year-old was described by the UK's Home Office as a \"highly respected member of the judiciary who has been at the forefront of criminal law and procedure\". Her appointment was also welcomed by Ben Emmerson QC, counsel to the inquiry, who described her as \"one of the most respected and experienced judges in the Commonwealth\". 'Courage' In June 2014, Justice Goddard was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to law. In 2008, she said she brought her \"own perspective\" to the role of IPCA chairwoman, which focussed on \"impartiality\" and \"absolute fairness\". \"In every case, a fair, rational and reasonable finding about allegations of misconduct will be made, based on the facts and in accordance with the law,\" she said. Justice Goddard said the \"real value\" of the organisation's independence is \"the reassurance that it brings, of impartial and robust scrutiny of police actions in the public interest\". Through her IPCA role, she was elected as an independent expert to the United Nations subcommittee on the prevention of torture, a human rights body with international oversight of places of custody and detention. Justice Goddard has also worked as a participant in a youth advocacy pilot for children and young people, and as a member of a children-in-care review panel for New Zealand's Department of Social Welfare. She is married to Christopher John Hodson QC and has three step-children and one daughter from her first marriage. She describes her interests as gardening, her family and grandchildren, and equestrian sport. She also breeds and races horses. Mrs May's first choice as inquiry chairwoman, Baroness Butler-Sloss, resigned after a week following calls to quit because her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general in the 1980s. Her replacement, Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf, stood down on 31 October amid concerns over her links to former Home Secretary Lord Brittan.", "Israel's Political System - Council on Foreign Relations Council on Foreign Relations Authors: Eben Kaplan, and Caroline Friedman Updated: February 11, 2009 The 2009 Election The Knesset Seats in Israel's legislative assembly, the Knesset , are assigned through a system of nationwide proportional representation: Rather than electing individual candidates, voters cast ballots for an entire party. Any party receiving more than 2 percent of the vote is assigned a proportional number of seats in the 120-member legislature. Prior to the general election, each party holds an internal election to decide on a list of representatives to occupy any seats the party should win. If, for instance, a party wins ten seats, the first ten names on the slate will become members of the new Knesset. Each Knesset is expected to serve a four-year term. However, if a majority of the representatives agree, they may elect to dissolve the body and hold early elections. The legislature's tenure may also be prolonged beyond four years, though this requires a \"special majority\" of eighty votes. The Knesset elects the prime minister, and also holds the power to remove the president. New laws require a simple majority vote. Share Post Email The prime minister is elected by the Knesset. A prime-ministerial candidate must be a member of the Knesset and needs a simply majority of votes to be confirmed. Prime ministers are expected to serve four-year terms, though these may be shortened by a vote of no confidence in the Knesset. Such votes name a replacement candidate, who is given the opportunity to form his or her own government. To form a new government, a prospective prime minister has forty-five days to fill cabinet positions and win Knesset approval. Since no single party has ever won a majority of the seats in the Knesset, this requires forming a coalition with other parties in order to win majority approval. After parliamentary elections, the president invites one of the party leaders to form a government. The president does not have to extend this invitation to the party that controls the most seats in the Knesset, rather, the invitation goes to the party the president believes is most capable of forming a coalition. In forming a coalition, a party leader must offer some cabinet positions to members of the smaller coalition partners, as smaller parties often represent the additional votes needed to pass legislation. These smaller parties tend to use this influence to further their political agendas. If a replacement candidate is unsuccessful at forming a new government, the Knesset is dissolved and new elections are held. Electoral Reform Because forming a coalition involves smaller parties, it often means that groups at the periphery of Israeli politics acquire disproportionate influence. For this reason, some experts, including CFR Senior Fellow Steven A. Cook , suggest that Israel needs to reform its electoral system by raising the threshold for a party to gain representation in the Knesset. Currently, a party only needs to obtain 2 percent of the vote. This percentage is relatively very low (Turkey's threshold, for instance, is 10 percent). Yet prime ministers must cobble together coalitions that number sixty seats, making them vulnerable to the demands of fringe groups. This can lead to policy stalemate and a majority beholden to much smaller political movements. Significant concessions, such as cabinet appointments or budgetary appropriations, are sometimes made to secure coalition support of policies. This creates a system where small, perhaps extreme, parties wield a disproportionate amount of influence. Political Parties Israel's major parties are Kadima, Likud, Yisrael Beytenu, and Labor. Eight other parties are also represented in the legislature. The largest parties are: Kadima (Twenty-eight seats). Formed by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on November 21, 2005, Kadima, or \"Forward\", seeks to find middle ground in the contentious Israeli political arena. A week after its formation, the party revealed its platfo", "records of prime ministers of the united kingdom : definition of records of prime ministers of the united kingdom and synonyms of records of prime ministers of the united kingdom (English) Period of service Robert Walpole , the longest-serving Prime Minister (1721–1742) The Prime Minister with the longest single term was Sir Robert Walpole , lasting 20 years and 314 days from 4 April 1721 until 11 February 1742. This is also longer than the accumulated terms of any other Prime Minister. George Canning , who served the shortest total period as an effective Prime Minister (1827) The shortest period in office is more confused, depending on the criteria. The shortest ever period was only two days, a record held by the Earl of Bath , from 10 February to 12 February 1746, who was asked to form a government but was unable to find more than one person who would agree to serve in his cabinet. A satirist of the time wrote: \"the minister to the astonishment of all wise men never transacted one rash thing; and, what is more marvellous, left as much money in the Treasury as he found in it.\" The 2nd Earl Waldegrave was prime minister for four days, from 8 June to 12 June 1757. However, since neither of these Earls actually formed an effective government, there are other contenders for the record of shortest term of office among those who actually governed the country. In November 1834, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington declined to become Prime Minister in favour of Sir Robert Peel but formed a \"caretaker\" administration for 25 days (17 November 1834 – 9 December 1834) while Peel returned from Europe. However, as a caretaker administration this might not necessarily be considered a term of office in its own right. Therefore of those with clear and effective terms, the Prime Minister with the shortest single one was Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham , whose second term lasted 96 days from 27 March 1782 until his death on 1 July 1782. However, combined with his first term (13 July 1765 – 30 July 1766) his total time in office was 1 year and 113 days, which exceeds the total periods of several other Prime Ministers. (The Duke of Wellington had also served as prime minister between 1828 and 1830.) Consequently, the Prime Minister with the total shortest period in office was George Canning , whose sole term lasted 119 days from 10 April 1827 until his death on 8 August 1827. Other notables The Prime Minister with the longest period between the start of their first appointment and the end of their final term was William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland , whose first term began on 2 April 1783 and his second and final term ended on 4 October 1809. Portland also holds the record for the longest period between terms—his first term ended on 19 December 1783 and his second term did not start until 31 March 1807. Number of terms William Ewart Gladstone , appointed Prime Minister more times than any other and the oldest person ever appointed to the office A Prime Minister's \"term\" is traditionally regarded as the period between their appointment and resignation, dismissal (or death, in the case of those who die in office), with the number of general elections taking place in the intervening period making no difference.[ citation needed ] The only Prime Minister to serve four terms was William Ewart Gladstone (3 December 1868 – 20 February 1874, 23 April 1880 – 23 June 1885, 1 February 1886 – 25 July 1886 and 15 August 1892 – 5 March 1894). Age at appointment William Pitt the Younger , the youngest ever Prime Minister The youngest Prime Minister to be appointed was William Pitt the Younger on 19 December 1783 at the age of 24 years, 6 months and 21 days. The oldest Prime Minister to be appointed for the first time was Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston on 6 February 1855 at the age of 71 years, 3 months and 17 days. Palmerston was also the last Prime Minister to die in office in 1865. The oldest Prime Minister to be appointed overall was William Ewart Gladstone , who was born on 29 December 1", "Former prime minister Kevin Rudd quits federal politics with emotional speech to Parliament - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Former prime minister Kevin Rudd quits federal politics with emotional speech to Parliament Updated November 14, 2013 15:19:52 Map: Australia Former prime minister Kevin Rudd announced his retirement from politics in an emotional speech to Parliament on Wednesday night, adding \"it really is time for me to zip\". Mr Rudd, who has served as the Member for Griffith since 1998, says he will leave Parliament at the end of this week. \"This has been the product of much soul-searching for us as a family over the last few months,\" he said, fighting back tears. Kevin Rudd Elected as MP for Griffith in 1998 Elected opposition leader in December, 2006 Elected prime minister in December, 2007 Ousted by Julia Gillard in June 2010 Foreign minister from September 2010 to February 2012 Sworn in as PM again on June 27, 2013 Defeated in federal election on September 7, 2013 Announces his retirement from Parliament on November 13, 2013 \"The decision that I have made has not been taken lightly. \"But for me, my family is everything, always has been, always will be, which is why I will not be continuing as a member of this Parliament beyond this week.\" Mr Rudd, who served in the top job between 2007 and 2010, and then again this year, went on to wish Tony Abbott luck, saying the office of Prime Minister was the \"hardest job in the land\". \"I wish Tony, his wife Margie and their family all the best for the rigours of high office that inevitably lie ahead,\" he said. On his side of politics he singled out Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, as well as key supporters Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen. Divisive figure: Rudd's political career Analysis: Labor, Liberal, friend or foe, Kevin Rudd had an almost unique ability to polarise opinions \"Having served as Leader of the Opposition myself, this is never a position for the faint-hearted. There are always long dark nights of the soul but believe it or not, morning does come, often sooner than you think,\" he said. \"Bill brings great strength to the position. I have every confidence he will lead Labor's return to the Treasury benches. \"I wish to thank Albo as his extraordinary service as deputy prime minister and leader of the house. Albo is the most formidable parliamentarian in this place, as is recognised on both sides of the chamber.\" When speaking of his future Mr Rudd said he was planning to establish a \"national apology foundation\", highlighting his apology to Indigenous Australians, which he said was a signature achievement of his time as prime minister. He also spoke of his desire to remain active in the international community. My family is everything, always has been, always will be, which is why I will not be continuing as a member of this Parliament beyond this week. Kevin Rudd \"I am passionately Australian and passionately a citizen of the world. I intend to be active in the international community in areas where I can make a genuine contribution to peace and stability, global economic governance and sustainable development, including climate change,\" he said. And despite the emotion of the situation, Mr Rudd ended the speech with his signature sign-off. \"On this final occasion in the Parliament, and as is now officially recorded in the classics for occasions such as this, it really is time for me to zip,\" he said. External Link: Kevin Rudd: A political life Rudd a 'big figure' in Australian public life: Abbott Mr Abbott paid tribute Mr Rudd, saying his retirement is a significant event in the history of the Parliament. \"To lose someone who has been one of the big figures in this Parliament and one of the big figures in the life, the public life of our country over the best part of two decades,\" he said. External Link: Rudd's service 'very significant': Abbott \"As a political opponent, but as someone who has known the Member for Griffith quite well for a long time, I salute him and I wish him and his family all the best for the future, and I express my", "Benazir Bhutto | About Benazir Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani politician who chaired the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a centre-left political party in Pakistan. Bhutto was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state, having twice been Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988–1990 & 1993-1996). She was Pakistan's first and to date only female Prime Minister. About Benazir Benazir Bhutto was the first lady to rule any muslim country in this world. She was also one of the most influential leaders of south asia. Benazir Bhutto was born in Karachi, Pakistan to a prominent political family. At age 16 she left her homeland to study at Harvard's Radcliffe College. After completing her undergraduate degree at Radcliffe she studied at England's Oxford University, where she was awarded a second degree in 1977. Later that year she returned to Pakistan where her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had been elected prime minister, but days after her arrival, the military seized power and her father was imprisoned. In 1979 he was hanged by the military government of General Zia Ul Haq. Bhutto herself was also arrested many times over the following years, and was detained for three years before being permitted to leave the country in 1984. She settled in London, but along with her two brothers, she founded an underground organization to resist the military dictatorship. When her brother died in 1985, she returned to Pakistan for his burial, and was again arrested for participating in anti-government rallies. She returned to London after her release, and martial law was lifted in Pakistan at the end of the year. Anti-Zia demonstrations resumed and Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in April 1986. The public response to her return was tumultuous, and she publicly called for the resignation of Zia Ul Haq, whose government had executed her father. She was elected co-chairwoman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) along with her mother, and when free elections were finally held in 1988, she herself became Prime Minister. At 35, she was one of the youngest chief executives in the world, and the first woman to serve as prime minister in an Islamic country. Only two years into her first term, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed Bhutto from office. She initiated an anti-corruption campaign, and in 1993 was re-elected as Prime Minister. While in office, she brought electricity to the countryside and built schools all over the country. She made hunger, housing and health care her top priorities, and looked forward to continuing to modernize Pakistan. At the same time, Bhutto faced constant opposition from the Islamic fundamentalist movement. Her brother Mir Murtaza, who had been estranged from Benazir since their father's death, returned from abroad and leveled charges of corruption at Benazir's husband, Asif Ali Zardari. Mir Murtaza died when his bodyguard became involved in a gunfight with police in Karachi. The Pakistani public was shocked by this turn of events and PPP supporters were divided over the charges against Zardari. In 1996 President Leghari of Pakistan dismissed Benazir Bhutto from office, alleging mismanagement, and dissolved the National Assembly. A Bhutto re-election bid failed in 1997, and the next elected government, headed by the more conservative Nawaz Sharif, was overthrown by the military. Bhutto's husband was imprisoned, and once again, she was forced to leave her homeland. For nine years, she and her children lived in exile in London, where she continued to advocate the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. In the autumn of 2007, in the face of death threats from radical Islamists, and the hostility of the government, she returned to her native country. Although she was greeted by enthusiastic crowds, within hours of her arrival, her motorcade was attacked by a suicide bomber. She survived this first assassination attempt, although more than 100 bystanders died in the attack. With national elections scheduled for January 2008, her Pakistan People's Party was poised for a victory that would make Bhutto prime", "Kosovo profile - BBC News BBC News Read more about sharing. Close share panel Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, after years of strained relations between its Serb and mainly Albanian inhabitants. It has been recognised by the United States and major European Union countries, but Serbia, backed by its powerful ally Russia, refuses to do so, as do most ethnic Serbs inside Kosovo. After the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Serbia responded to separatist pressure from Kosovo by launching a brutal crackdown on the territory's Albanian population, which was only brought to an end by Nato military intervention in 1999. Until 2008 the province was administered by the UN. Reconciliation between the majority Albanians, most of whom support independence, and the Serb minority remains elusive. Broke away from Serbia in 2008. UN-administered Capital Pristina Area 10,887 sq km (4,212 sq miles) Major languages Albanian, Serbian Image copyright Getty Images President: Hashim Thaci Hashim Thaci was elected by parliament to the largely ceremonial role in February 2016, at the end of a day marked by violent protests by the opposition which did not want him to be president. Mr Thaci was a guerrilla leader during a conflict that led to Kosovo's independence. He has played an important role in Kosovo's politics for nearly two decades, most recently as foreign minister from 2014 until his election as president. He served two terms as prime minister, from 2008 until 2010 and from 2011 until December 2014. He also served as prime minister of the provisional government of Kosovo between 1999 and 2001 and oversaw Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008. He has been the chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo since May 2000. Mr Thaci fell out with many opposition groups after helping to negotiate with Serbia a deal that gave more autonomy to Kosovo's minority Serbs. Prime minister: Isa Mustafa Parliament elected veteran politician Isa Mustafa to head a broad coalition government in November 2014, ending the six-month political deadlock that gripped Kosovo since snap elections earlier in the year. He replaced Hashim Thaci, who had served as premier since independence was declared in 2008. Mr Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) won the most votes in the June 2014 poll, with Mr Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) following close behind. Neither party was able to form a government without the other and finally agreed to team up. MEDIA Television is the most popular medium. Most households have cable, meaning that domestic stations face strong competition from popular channels based in Albania. Public broadcaster RTK was set up as an editorially independent service. Some 84% of the population was online by 2015. Some key dates in Kosovo's history: Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, a Serb nationalist, stripped Kosovo of autonomy. Serbs regard Kosovo as the birthplace of their nation 1st century AD - The Romans gain control of the area, populated by a people known as Dardani, who are thought to be either Illyrian or Thracian in origin. 6th century - Slavs begin to settle in the area, which slips from Roman/Byzantine control and becomes a disputed border area. 12th century - Serbia gains control of Kosovo, which goes on to become the heart of the Serbian empire. The period sees the building of many Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries. 1389 - Epic Battle of Kosovo heralds 500 years of Turkish Ottoman rule. Over the centuries the religious and ethnic balance tips in favour of Muslims and Albanians. 1912 - Balkan Wars: Serbia regains control of Kosovo from the Turks. 1946 - Kosovo is absorbed into the Yugoslav federation. 1974 - Yugoslav constitution recognises the autonomous status of Kosovo, giving the province de facto self-government. 1990 - Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic strips Kosovo of its autonomy and imposes Serbian administration on the territory, prompting Albanian protests. 1991 - Start of the violent b", "Jacques Chirac | president of France | Britannica.com president of France Alternative Title: Jacques René Chirac Jacques Chirac Jacques Chirac, in full Jacques René Chirac (born November 29, 1932, Paris , France ), French politician, who served as the country’s president (1995–2007) and prime minister (1974–76, 1986–88). Jacques Chirac, 2006. Marcello Casal Jr/ABr Education and early career Chirac, the son of a bank employee, graduated from the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris in 1954, served as an officer in the French army in Algeria (1956–57), and earned a graduate degree from the École Nationale d’Administration in 1959. He then became a civil servant and rose rapidly through the ranks, serving as a department head and a secretary of state before becoming minister for parliamentary relations in 1971–72 under President Georges Pompidou . He was first elected to the National Assembly as a Gaullist in 1967. Rise to national prominence After serving as minister for agriculture (1972–74) and of the interior (1974), Chirac was appointed prime minister by newly elected President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in 1974. Citing personal and professional differences with Giscard, Chirac resigned from that office in 1976 and set about reconstituting the Gaullist Union of Democrats for the Republic into a neo-Gaullist group, the Rally for the Republic (RPR). With the party firmly under his control, he was elected mayor of Paris in 1977 and continued to build his political base among the several conservative parties of France. Chirac’s first campaign for the presidency in 1981 split the conservative vote with Giscard and thereby allowed the Socialist Party candidate, François Mitterrand , to win. In parliamentary elections held in 1986, the coalition of right-wing parties won a slim majority of seats in the National Assembly, and Chirac was appointed prime minister by Mitterrand. This power-sharing arrangement between the two posts was the first of its kind in the history of the Fifth Republic , in which previously the president and the prime minister had always belonged to the same party or the same electoral coalition. In this arrangement, known as cohabitation , Chirac, as prime minister, was responsible for domestic affairs, while Mitterrand retained responsibility for foreign policy. Chirac’s most important achievement during his second term was his administration’s privatization of many major corporations that had been nationalized under Mitterrand. He also reduced payroll and other taxes in an effort to stimulate job creation in the private sector. As the candidate of the centre-right RPR, Chirac ran for the presidency against Mitterrand and was defeated in runoff elections in May 1988, whereupon he resigned the post of prime minister. Remaining mayor of Paris, he made his third run for the presidency in May 1995 and this time defeated the Socialist candidate, Lionel Jospin . Presidency Jacques René Chirac - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) (born 1932). After two terms as prime minister, from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, French politician Jacques Chirac began his first term as president of France in May 1995. His center-right nationalist, populist, and free-market policies built on the legacy of former president Charles de Gaulle. A practicing Roman Catholic with a taste for food, chess, cards, and Chinese archaeology, Chirac developed his political base from both rural and urban roots. His ancestral home in rural Correze, France, elected him to the National Assembly continuously from 1967, and he served as the elected mayor of his native Paris, France, from 1977 to 1995. In 2002 he was elected to a second consecutive term as president with the largest margin of victory in any French presidential election. His term ended in 2007. Article History", "Erna Solberg replaces Jens Stoltenberg as Norway's prime minister as centre-right bloc takes power - Telegraph Norway Erna Solberg replaces Jens Stoltenberg as Norway's prime minister as centre-right bloc takes power Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg – nicknamed \"Iron Erna\" – will become Norway's new prime minister as the leader of a centre-right coalition government likely including an anti-immigration party. Norway's right wing Monday hailed \"a historic election victory\" after gaining a majority of seats in parliament in a national poll Photo: GETTY IMAGES AP 3:33AM BST 10 Sep 2013 Preliminary results from the oil-rich Nordic country's parliamentary elections shows the Conservative Party got 26.8 per cent of votes, the best result for the party in 28 years. Solberg, who will be Norway's second female prime minister after Gro Harlem Brundtland, thanked the voters on Monday for a historic victory. \"The voters had the choice between 12 years of red-green government or a new government with new ideas and new solutions,\" Solberg said. The current prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who has led Norway for eight years, conceded defeat, saying his Labor Party tried \"to do what almost no one has done, to win three elections in a row, but it turned out to be tough.\" The discovery of oil and gas in Norway's waters in the 1960s turned the Scandinavian nation into one of the richest in the world, with a strong welfare system and a high living standard. The oil wealth helped it withstand Europe's financial crisis and retain low unemployment throughout Stoltenberg's years in power. Still, the Conservative Party has managed to attract votes amid pledges to increase the availability of private health care and cut taxes on assets over $140,000. Frank Aarebrot, Professor of comparative politics at the University of Bergen, said the election campaign was dominated by classical welfare issues, such as better care for the elderly, improved hospitals and better schools. Related Articles Norway poised to reject Labour party just two years after Utoya massacre 08 Sep 2013 Yet, none of the parties suggested that Norwegians should have to pay for things such as hospital visits, college education or elderly care. \"Everybody agrees that should be for free,\" he said. The Conservative Party has said for the first time that it is prepared to form a coalition government with the anti-immigration Progress Party, which was the third biggest party in the election. Solberg will now likely begin negotiations with them, as well as with the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats. According to preliminary results, she needs the support of all three parties to get a majority government, but could end up running a minority government with the Progress Party with support from the two others, if they refuse to share power with the Progress Party. This was the first parliamentary election since Anders Behring Breivik – who was a member of the Progress Party before he lost faith in democracy – killed 77 people in 2011 and thirty-three survivors of the massacre were seeking national office in the election. Stoltenberg was admired for his calm demeanour after the terror acts, which were unequivocally condemned by all parties, and there was a short-lived boost in support for Labor. However, a report last year criticising Norwegian police for a litany of institutional failures before and during the attacks dented his government's prestige. In Monday's election, the Labor Party appeared set to remain the biggest single party, with 30.8 per cent of the votes. Still, together with its two coalition partners, the Socialist Party and the Center Party, it lost support since the last election, getting only 40.4 per cent of votes. \"I want a change of government because I am liberal-conservative and believe in more deregulation and private solutions,\" said Haakon Gloersen, a 25-year-old communications adviser, who voted for the Liberal Party. Oeyvind Nordli, a 44-year-old salesman, said he voted for the conservatives because he thought it would benefit him personally and", "History of Sir Winston Churchill - GOV.UK GOV.UK Sir Winston Churchill Conservative 1951 to 1955, 1940 to 1945 Born 30 November 1874, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire Died 1951 to 1955, 1940 to 1945 Political party Education Act 1944: raised the school leavers age to 14; introduction of the 11+. Interesting facts Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his many published works. More information including archive footage can be found at the Churchill War Rooms. Winston Churchill was an inspirational statesman, writer, orator and leader who led Britain to victory in the Second World War. He served as Conservative Prime Minister twice - from 1940 to 1945 (before being defeated in the 1945 general election by the Labour leader Clement Attlee) and from 1951 to 1955. David Cameron’s Favourite Past Prime Minister Winston Churchill was born on 30 November 1874, in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire and was of rich, aristocratic ancestry. Although achieving poor grades at school, his early fascination with militarism saw him join the Royal Cavalry in 1895. As a soldier and part-time journalist, Churchill travelled widely, including trips to Cuba, Afghanistan, Egypt and South Africa. Churchill was elected as Conservative MP for Oldham in 1900, before defecting to the Liberal Party in 1904 and spending the next decade climbing the ranks of the Liberal government. He was First Lord of the Admiralty (the civil/political head of the Royal Navy) by the time of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign, which he created. Heavily criticised for this error, he resigned from this position and travelled to the Western Front to fight himself. The interwar years saw Churchill again ‘cross the floor’ from the Liberals, back to the Conservative Party. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1924, when he controversially opted for Britain to re-join the Gold Standard. Following the Tory electoral defeat in 1929, Churchill lost his seat and spent much of the next 11 years out of office, mainly writing and making speeches. Although he was alone in his firm opposition to Indian Independence, his warnings against the Appeasement of Nazi Germany were proven correct when the Second World War broke out in 1939. Following Neville Chamberlain ’s resignation in 1940, Churchill was chosen to succeed him as Prime Minister of an all-party coalition government. Churchill, who also adopted the self-created position of Minister for Defence, was active both in administrative and diplomatic functions in prosecuting the British war effort. Some of his most memorable speeches were given in this period, and are credited with stimulating British morale during periods of great hardship. However, Labour leader Clement Attlee ’s unexpected General Election victory in 1945 saw Churchill out of office and once again concentrating on public speaking. In his 1946 speech in the USA, the instinctive pro-American famously declared that “an iron curtain has descended across the Continent”, and warned of the continued danger from a powerful Soviet Russia. By his re-election in 1951, Churchill was, in the words of Roy Jenkins, “gloriously unfit for office”. Ageing and increasingly unwell, he often conducted business from his bedside, and while his powerful personality and oratory ability endured, the Prime Minister’s leadership was less decisive than during the war. His second term was most notable for the Conservative Party’s acceptance of Labour’s newly created Welfare State, and Churchill’s effect on domestic policy was limited. His later attempts at decreasing the developing Cold War through personal diplomacy failed to produce significant results, and poor health forced him to resign in 1955, making way for his Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, Anthony Eden . Churchill died in 1965, and was honoured with a state funeral. Written by Ben Draper and Jak Brown, Mile End Group Help us improve GOV.UK", "Governor of the Bank of England - Press releases - GOV.UK Governor of the Bank of England From: First published: 26 November 2012 This news article was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government Her Majesty the Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Mark Carney as Governor of the Bank of England from 1 July 2013. Her Majesty the Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Mark Carney as Governor of the Bank of England from 1 July 2013. He will succeed Sir Mervyn King. Welcoming the appointment the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon George Osborne MP, said: Mark Carney is the outstanding candidate to be Governor of the Bank of England and help steer Britain through these difficult economic times. He is quite simply the best, most experienced and most qualified person in the world to do the job. He has done a brilliant job for the Canadian economy as its central bank Governor, avoiding big bail outs and securing growth. He has been chosen by the rest of the world to be the chair of the international body, the Financial Stability Board, charged with strengthening global financial regulation after the financial crisis. Along with its central role in monetary policy, this Government has put the Bank of England back in charge of regulating our financial system so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the last decade. Mark Carney is the perfect candidate to take charge of the Bank as it takes on these vital new responsibilities. He will bring strong leadership and a fresh new perspective. I look forward to working with Mark as we continue to rebalance our economy, deal with our debts, and equip Britain to succeed in the global race. We needed the best - and in Mark Carney we’ve got it. Notes for editors Mr Carney is currently Governor of the Bank of Canada, having taken up his office on 1 February 2008. He also currently serves as Chairman of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). He is also a member of the Group of Thirty, and of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum. Prior to becoming the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mr Carney was Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Finance (2004 - 2007) and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada (2003 - 2004). Prior to that, Mr Carney had a thirteen-year career with Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices. Mr Carney has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University (1983 - 1988) and a Masters and Doctorate in economics from Nuffield College, Oxford University (1991 - 1995). Mr Carney was born in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada in 1965. As a Canadian citizen he is a subject of Her Majesty The Queen. He is married to Diana Fox Carney, an economist and British citizen. They have four daughters. Mr Carney has indicated he intends to apply for British citizenship. Mr Carney has indicated he intends to serve for five years. Under the Bank of England Act 1998, as expected to be amended by the Financial Services Bill which is currently being considered by Parliament, the Governor of the Bank of England is appointed by Her Majesty the Queen on advice from the Prime Minister. He was advised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who oversaw the appointment process, and, as with other public appointments, consulted the Deputy Prime Minister. The selection panel for the recruitment process comprised Sir Nicholas Macpherson, Permanent Secretary HM Treasury; Tom Scholar and John Kingman, Second Permanent Secretaries, HM Treasury; and Sir David Lees, Chair of the Court of the Bank of England. Her Majesty The Queen has also been pleased to approve, under the Bank of England Act 1998 as amended by the Banking Act 2009, the Chancellor and Prime Minister’s recommendations for the re-appointment of Charles Richard Bean as Deputy Governor of the Bank of England for Monetary Stability from 1 July 2013. Mr Bean has agreed to stay on for a year to help oversee the extension of the Bank of England", "Justice and Development Party | political party, Turkey | Britannica.com Justice and Development Party Alternative Titles: Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AK Parti, AK Party, AKP Related Topics Turkey Justice and Development Party, Turkish Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP), also called AK Party or Turkish AK Parti, political party that came to power in Turkey in the general elections of 2002. In spite of the party’s nonconfessional mandate , the AKP draws significant support from nonsecular Turks and has faced objections from some segments of Turkish society that it harbours an Islamist agenda that could undermine Turkey’s secular foundation. The success of the AKP in the early 2000s can be traced to inroads made in the 1990s by the Welfare Party (WP; Refah Partisi), an Islamic party founded in 1983. Buoyed by the increasing role of Islam in Turkish life in the 1980s and ’90s—evidenced by changes in dress and appearance, segregation of the sexes, the growth of Islamic schools and banks, and support for Sufi orders—the WP won an overwhelming victory in the 1995 parliamentary elections and became the first Islamic party ever to win a general election in Turkey. In January 1998, however, the WP was banned by Turkey’s constitutional court on charges of disturbing the secular order. A number of its members joined another Islamic party, the newly formed Virtue Party (VP; Fazilet Partisi), but in June 2001 it too was banned. In August a group led by Abdullah Gül and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (a former mayor of Istanbul [1994–98]) struck out to form the AKP—or AK Party, ak in Turkish also meaning “white” or “clean”—as a democratic, conservative , nonconfessional movement. Unlike its predecessors, the AKP did not centre its image around an Islamic identity; indeed, its leaders underscored that it was not an Islamist party and emphasized that its focus was democratization, not the politicization of religion. Nevertheless, the political roots of the AKP and its leadership, some of the party’s political endeavours (including proposed regulation of the display and advertisement of alcohol), and the head scarves worn by some AKP leaders’ wives—including Emine Erdoğan and Hayrünnisa Gül—meant that the AKP was viewed with suspicion by some segments of the Turkish population. Similar Topics Labour Party In spite of the fact that the AKP was a relatively new party, it won enough seats in the November 2002 parliamentary elections to earn an absolute majority in the 550-seat parliament. Although Erdoğan was legally barred from serving in parliament or as prime minister because of a 1998 conviction for inciting religious hatred—he had recited a poem that compared mosques to barracks, minarets to bayonets, and the faithful to an army—a constitutional amendment passed in December 2002 effectively removed Erdoğan’s disqualification. After he won a by-election on March 9, 2003, Erdoğan was asked by Pres. Ahmet Necdet Sezer to form a new government, and on May 14, 2003, Erdoğan took office as prime minister. At the AKP’s first general assembly, held in October of that year, members unanimously reelected Erdoğan as the party’s chairman. The next year the AKP was broadly successful in local elections. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 2008. Photo by Serkan Eldeleklioglu-Bora Omerogullari-Ozan Atasoy/Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org) Tensions that had been simmering between Turkey’s secularist parties and the AKP were heightened in 2007, when attempts by the parliament to elect Gül to the country’s presidency were blocked by an opposition boycott . In response to the subsequent stalemate, early general elections were held in July of that year and yielded an overwhelming victory for the AKP. Gül was subsequently again put forth as a candidate for president, and on August 28, 2007, he was elected by parliament to the position. Abdullah Gül and his wife, Hayrünnisa, greeting AKP supporters at an election victory … Murad Sezer/AP World Organizations: Fact or Fiction? The AKP and its secular opponents clashed again in early 2008, when parliament passed an amend", "Netanyahu Vs. the President—of Israel - The Daily Beast Bitter Rivalry Netanyahu Vs. the President—of Israel Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is a man of contradictions and a bitter rival of the prime minister’s. He is set to make a call that will determine the country’s future—and Netanyahu’s political career. Nira Yadin 03.16.15 9:15 AM ET The man who will ultimately determine who Israel’s next prime minister will be will get zero votes in the national elections on Tuesday. He is not running for office and no longer sits in parliament. Reuven “Ruvi” Rivlin, elected Israel’s 10th president eight months ago, now holds a largely ceremonial office and is no longer part of the legislature. Indeed, he has few key powers—but he’s about to exercise his most important one. A popular political hawk from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party for some 30 years, he was a bitter rival of the incumbent Israeli leader and falls to his right. He was a fierce opponent of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, remains firmly against the creation of a Palestinian state, and is a staunch defender of Israel’s settlement enterprise in the West Bank. Despite his unabashed nationalism, he also may be Israel’s most vocal and highest-ranking critic of anti-Arab racism and discrimination, a province generally left to Arab and left-wing politicians. Before he was president, as speaker of the Israeli parliament, he routinely voted against bills he deemed anti-democratic and harmful to Arabs, who make up 20 percent of the Israeli population. After the votes are counted on March 17, Rivlin will meet with the head of each party to receive his or her recommendation for prime minister, and will then decide which party leader to tap to assemble a coalition. Rivlin has already indicated that he will confer the task on the leader with the best prospects of forming a coalition and not necessarily the party with the highest number of seats. This is good news and bad news for Netanyahu, who seeks a fourth term as Israel’s prime minister. His ruling Likud party is falling behind in the polls but he retains the best chance of assembling a stable coalition. The Likud and its biggest rival, the center-left Zionist Union party led by Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, Israel’s former chief negotiator with the Palestinians, have been running neck and neck in recent weeks, but a most recent poll put the Likud at up to four seats behind its main opponent. However, the ruling party still has more natural allies among the far-right, center-right and religious parties and should still have an easier time than the Zionist Union assembling the 61 mandates out of 120 needed for a majority. But in the event of a close race, Rivlin is expected to call for a unity government, a nightmare scenario for Netanyahu who in a recent TV interview ruled out the option. Just three months ago Netanyahu called for early elections, claiming he was unable to govern due to ideological differences with his coalition partners, including Livni. In a unity government, Likud is set to weaken further and Netanyahu may regret the day he decided to dissolve Israel’s 19th Knesset less than two years after it took office. In a widely quoted but unconfirmed TV report, Rivlin is said to have indicated that he would ask the would-be unity government to push through legislation on electoral reform to amend the current system by which large parties must court smaller parties, often with opposing perspectives, to cobble together a coalition. We want to avoid “turning into Italy,” Rivlin is reported to have told a group of visitors, where elections are held even more often than in Israel. Though they are from the same party, Rivlin and Netanyahu have been bitter rivals and had a long history of locking horns. As a senior Likud politician, Rivlin was often defiant of Netanyahu, voting against bills backed by the prime minister even when coalition discipline was invoked, as was the case in 2013 when the government voted in favor of releasing convicted Palestinian terrorists as a gesture to Pales", "November 1963: that was the by-election that was | The Independent November 1963: that was the by-election that was REAR WINDOW: KINROSS AND WEST PERTHSHIRE Friday 10 March 1995 00:02 BST Click to follow Indy Lifestyle Online THE outcome of the 1963 Kinross and West Perthshire by-election, held on 7 November, was never seriously in doubt, but it remains one of the most celebrated of post-war by-elections and the only one in which a prime minister stood as candidate. In the coming weeks, much of the same rural territory will be trodden in the by-election to find a replacement for Sir Nicholas Fairbairn. It is unlikely to be as memorable a happening, though it may be a useful reminder of how much has changed (and how much has stayed the same) since 1963. An extraordinary sequence of events led to the 14th Earl of Home offering himself to the electorate of Kinross and West Perthshire - a constituency which fitted him like a glove and which he represented until retiring from the Commons in 1974. There were few more feudal or more solidly Tory corners of the kingdom than rural Perthshire. For most of the electorate, even during the Tory melt-down months of 1963, the appearance of an earl who was temporarily obliged to become a commoner for the purpose of being prime minister, was too good to be true. It was a year which had produced the Profumo scandal, a series of spy dramas and Dr Beeching's plans for the railways. Harold Macmillan's administration went into free-fall in the opinion polls, and pressure mounted for him to resign. On 8 October, he went into hospital leaving RA Butler to chair the Cabinet. A file of contenders and party grandees trooped into the King Edward VII Hospital for discussions. These were the days when leaders of the Conservative Party \"emerged\" rather than triumphed through any electoral process, and on 18 October Macmillan advised the Queen to send for Lord Home - the first peer to become prime minister since Lord Salisbury in 1895. By the early 1960s, however, the idea of a prime minister in the Lords was unacceptable. This was where chance recent events came to the aid of Home. Earlier in 1963, Parliament had passed the Peerage Act allowing hereditary peers to renounce their titles on accession, or within 12 months of the passing of the Act. The new prime minister quickly set about doing so. He had, however, to remain in Parliament. The Tory MP for Kinross and West Perthshire, Gilmour Leburn, had died in August at the age of 50. George Younger was to be the Tory candidate in a by-election scheduled for 7 November. Younger agreed to stand down, was found a seat in Ayr instead and never had cause to look back. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, as he now became, was nominated as Conservative and Unionist candidate, and the shortest by- election circus in modern political history was under way. Sir Alec combined the roles of prime minister and candidate. A colourful field lined up against him, including Willy Rushton. It was the hey-day of BBC Television's That Was the Week That Was, on which Rushton was accustomed to playing Macmillan, while Lance Percival sent up Home. However, his opening meeting in Killin attracted an audience of 300 who heard Rushton go \"lightly and scathingly through the Prime Minister's life\" and \"frequently mimicking\" the great man. Killin had seen nothing like it before. Rushton announced that his candidacy was a protest against \"the completely arrogant way Lord Home has moved into Downing Street\". This reflected a widespread resentment and sense of astonishment throughout the country, though Perth and Kinross itself was the least likely breeding ground for such sentiments of lse majest. Sir Alec went on his stately way through the constituency. Opponents protested when schoolchildren were given a half-day to cheer his presence. The Glasgow Herald reported admiringly how he combined the roles of candidate and statesman. \"In the morning, suitably dressed in an old tweed knickerbocker suit, thick woollen socks and stout shoes, he went hill- farming...This evening, he took off, as Prime Mi", "Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was Assassinated - 2007 Crime Magazine by Michael Thomas Barry On December 27, 2007, Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan and the first democratically elected female leader of a Muslim country was assassinated. A polarizing figure at home and abroad, Bhutto had spent three decades struggling to stay afloat in the murky waters of Pakistani politics. To many of her supporters, she represented the strongest hope for democratic and egalitarian leadership in a country unhinged by political corruption and Islamic extremism. Born in 1953 to a wealthy landowning family, Bhutto grew up in the privileged world of Pakistan’s political elite, receiving degrees from Harvard and Oxford. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the populist-leaning Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 1967. He then served as president and prime minister from 1971 to 1977, when he was ousted in a bloodless military coup led by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq and charged with authorizing a political opponent’s murder. Her father’s overthrow and subsequent execution in April 1979 thrust a young Benazir Bhutto into the political spotlight. She and her mother, Nusrat, whom she succeeded in 1982 as the PPP’s chairperson, spent several years in and out of detention for protesting her father’s arrest and actively campaigned against General Zia. In August 1988, Zia died in a plane crash; three months later, Bhutto won the general election and formed a government, becoming the first woman, and, at 35, the youngest person to head a Muslim state in modern times. Dismissed in 1990 after less than half a term as prime minister, she was reelected in 1993 and served again until 1996. Both times, she was removed from office by the sitting president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1990 and Farooq Leghari in 1996, amid charges of corruption and incompetent governance. After her second dismissal from office, Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, faced allegations of various forms of financial misconduct, including accepting multimillion-dollar kickbacks and laundering money through Swiss banks. Zardari spent eight years in prison, while Bhutto lived in exile in London and Dubai with the couple’s three children. In 2007, under pressure from Bhutto’s supporters within the U.S. government, President Pervez Musharraf granted amnesty to Bhutto, Zardari and other Pakistani politicians with pending graft charges. On October 18th of that year, despite a spate of death threats from Islamic militants, Bhutto returned to Pakistan with plans to participate in the 2008 general election. On the day of her arrival, she narrowly escaped a suicide bomb attack on her convoy that killed at least 136 people and injured more than 450. On December 27, 2007, as Bhutto was waving to a crowd at a PPP rally in Rawalpindi, a gunman opened fire on her bulletproof vehicle. A bomb then exploded near the car, killing more than 20 people and wounding 100 others, including Bhutto. She was pronounced dead later that night and buried the next day in her hometown of Gardi Khuda Bakhsh, next to her father's grave. The exact cause of her death remains in dispute: A subsequent investigation by Britain's Scotland Yard ruled that Bhutto died of head injuries caused by the force of the explosion, while the PPP maintained that she died from gunshot wounds. Bhutto’s death sparked widespread violence across Pakistan, with riots and demonstrations leading to violent police crackdowns. The political turmoil caused international fears of instability in a nuclear-armed nation already embroiled in a fight against Islamic extremists. In the weeks and months following Bhutto's death, Pakistani moderates and Western leaders waited anxiously to see who would emerge as her successor. Zardari, who had taken the helm of the PPP after his wife’s assassination, was elected president of Pakistan in September 2008. In the month following Bhutto’s murder, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Pakistani officials named Baitullah Mehsud, a Pakistani militant with links to al-Qaeda,", "History of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury - GOV.UK Conservative Major acts Naval Defence Act 1889: greatly enlarged the size of the Royal Navy, to ensure the '2 power standard' which maintained the number of battleships to at least the combined size of the next 2 largest navies (France and Russia). Interesting facts Founded the London County Council in 1889 - the directly elected municipal authority for the County of London. Was in existence until 1965. Salisbury was the last peer to serve as PM, with the brief exception of the 14th Earl of Home who renounced his peerage within a few days of being appointed. “English policy is to float lazily downstream, occasionally putting out a diplomatic boathook to avoid collisions.” Compared to the flamboyance of Disraeli and Gladstone, Lord Salisbury was a reserved, distant figure, yet he ranks among Britain’s longest-serving prime ministers. Born into an aristocratic family, Lord Salisbury was a descendent of Lord Burghley, a minister of Queen Elizabeth I. A frail child and prone to depression, he developed a love of books and botany. After gaining a fourth-class degree in mathematics from Oxford, he set out on a world tour for the good of his health, visiting South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. He returned much stronger, with a keen interest in the British Empire. Lord Salisbury entered the Commons in 1853 at the age of 23, as MP for Stamford. To earn enough to support himself and his wife, he started writing political articles for journals, gaining him a reputation as a sharp and clever commentator. His first political post came in 1866, when he was appointed Secretary of State for India under the Earl of Derby . Less than a year later, he resigned in opposition to plans to extend the electoral franchise. In 1868 he entered the House of Lords following the death of his father, and became Chancellor of Oxford University a year later. He maintained his intellectual interests, building a laboratory at Hatfield House where he experimented with electricity. When the Conservatives returned to office in 1874, he became Secretary of State for India under Disraeli . Although their relationship started out stormily, it improved so much that in 1878 Disraeli appointed Lord Salisbury as Foreign Secretary, and he helped to secure peace in the Balkans at the Congress of Berlin. He took over the Conservative leadership on Disraeli’s death in 1881, and reluctantly became prime minister of a minority administration in 1885. His first administration included legislation on housing the working class but within months an election cut short his term. Returning to office in 1886, his second administration was much stronger, benefiting from the Liberals’ internal strife. Reforms at home included the Local Government Act of 1888, transferring the administration of counties to elected county councils, and the 1891 Free Education Act that abolished fees for primary education. Instead of the traditional role of First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Salisbury unusually combined the role of the Prime Minister with that of Foreign Secretary - a demanding double job. Adopting a hands-off attitude to matters at home, his main interests lay in the direction of foreign affairs, especially British interests in Africa. His other political legacy was strengthening the Conservative party by unifying different factions. Under his direction, the colony of Rhodesia (today’s Zimbabwe) was established, with its capital city named Salisbury. The Prime Minister’s diplomatic skills were demonstrated in 1890 to 1891, through a settlement reached with the other European imperial powers over African territories. By the time he became Prime Minister for the third and final time in 1895, he had become a well-loved elder statesman. Home legislation included the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1897, making the employer liable for accidents at work. Abroad, problems were brewing in the Cape Colony in South Africa - the Boer War broke out in 1899, splitting the Cabinet and leading to his resignation in 1902. His ne", "Fraser and Churchill: A Working Partnership Between Two Prime Ministers Fraser and Churchill: A Working Partnership Between Two Prime Ministers Finest Hour Fraser and Churchill: A Working Partnership Between Two Prime Ministers Finest Hour 161, Winter 2013-14 Page 18 By Gerald Hensley Mr. Hensley was a New Zealand diplomat (1958-80), who subsequently served two premiers as head of the Prime Minister's Department and was Secretary of Defence. Retiring in 1999, he was honoured by being appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. A prolific writer on Pacific and Asian affairs, he is the author of a memoir, Final Approaches (2006); Beyond the Battlefield (2009), a history of New Zealand's relations with its World War II allies; and Friendly Fire (2013), on nuclear politics and the collapse of ANZUS, 1984-87. They couldn’t have been more different in outlook and in background—yet Winston Churchill and Peter Fraser had greatness, a quality more easily recognised than pinned down, but which might be summed up as the ability to rise to any large occasion. Both Britain and New Zealand acquired their true -war leaders after war had broken out—and both almost by accident. Neither Winston Churchill nor Peter Fraser had been heads of government, and both were distrusted by large elements of their own parties. But for both countries, half the globe away from each other, World War II was the direst emergency of their existence. Both sensed the need for someone who could rise to the challenge, and both were lucky that the lottery of politics threw up the right answers. When the war began New Zealand’s premier was Michael Savage, a sweet-natured optimist who believed that the world’s problems could be solved by discussion and was reluctant to prepare for war. His departmental head, who liked him, said he was “the most Christ-like figure I have ever known and an absolute ninny.”1 As Savage lay dying of cancer, Fraser, his tough-minded deputy, stepped in and won his nation’s trust as war leader, months before he formally became prime minister. Fraser and Churchill were entirely different in outlook and background. In contrast to Churchill’s comfortable upper-class upbringing, Fraser had emigrated from Scotland to New Zealand as a penniless young man. He was a committed socialist, working for radical change in New Zealand society, and was universally seen by friends and enemies as a dour, authoritarian Scot whose politics were those of dogmatic conviction. He was also a shy, rather unsociable man, and a sparing drinker. In the evenings he occasionally spent with Churchill at Chequers, it is hard to see him sparkling over the champagne and brandy. Yet they understood one another and formed a bond which survived the stresses of six years of war. Fraser’s tact in managing the differing relationships with Roosevelt and Churchill was an important part of the glue which held the United States and Britain and its four Dominions together in one of history’s most successful partnerships. Both were wide readers, conscious of History on their shoulders. Against Winston Churchill’s long experience of affairs, Peter Fraser’s intelligence and practicality enabled him quickly to grasp the issues of the wider world into which he had suddenly been propelled. Both could be exasperatingly wayward, autocratic and opinionated—common complaints about strong-minded leaders. Each was a loner, reluctant to share power, though each had an unvarying trust in his parliament and a constant care to confide in it. Of the two, Churchill was the better office manager. Fraser’s War Cabinet never started on time and rarely had an agenda. Most of its time, according to its secretary, who claimed it gave him an ulcer, was spent “in a kind of dreamy and leisurely rumination on the obvious,” with decisions bundled hastily together at the close. None of these shortcomings mattered very much (except to the harassed staff) because of the firm judgment and political skills of both men. They were not there as office managers, but as men who could unite and motivate thei", "Top 10 Most Famous Women Political Leaders by Ejaz Khan Politics they say is not a woman’s cup of tea, however there have been many who have proved this stereotyping statement wrong. If you do not agree, below is a list of ten women political leaders who have been very famous for their time in the politics. Let’s get started: 10. Golda Meir Belonging to Israel, Meyerson was a teacher and a politician who was later appointed as Israel’s fourth prime minister. She was elected Prime Minister of Israel on March 17, 1969, after serving as Minister of Labour and Foreign Minister. Israel’s first and the world’s third woman to hold such an office, she was described as the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics years before the epithet became associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion used to call Meir “the best man in the government”; she was often portrayed as the “strong-willed, straight-talking, grey-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people”. 9. Dilma Rousseff The current and 36th president of Brazil, Rousseff is the first woman to hold the office. She was previously the Chief of Staff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from 2005 to 2010. She is the daughter of a Bulgarian entrepreneur. Rousseff became a socialist during her youth, and following the 1964 coup d’état joined various left-wing and Marxist urban guerrilla groups that fought against the military dictatorship. She was eventually captured and jailed between 1970 and 1972. 8. Johanna Sigurdardottir She is the prime minister of Ireland. Sigurdardottir has also served as the minister of social affairs and security. This woman is also known to have become Iceland’s first prime minister and the world’s first openly lesbian head of government. In 2009, Forbes listed her among the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world. 7. Yingluck Shinawatra Nicknames as PU, Yingluck Shinawatra is a Thai businesswoman and politician, member of the Pheu Thai Party, the 28th and current Prime Minister of Thailand. She is Thailand’s first female Prime Minister and at 45 is the youngest Prime Minister of Thailand in over 60 years. 6. Sonia Gandhi As president of the Indian National Congress, Gandhi heads the ruling political party of the world’s second largest population. She is an Italian-born Indian politician. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi who belonged to the Nehru–Gandhi family. In 2013, Forbes listed her at #21 among the most powerful people, and was ranked as the world’s 9th most powerful woman. >> Political Leaders who were Assassinated . 5. Angela Merkel The world’s most powerful woman is the backbone of the 27-member European Union and carries the fate of the euro on her shoulders. Angela Merkel is a German politician and former research scientist, who has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005 and the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000. She is the first woman to hold either office. She was ranked as the world’s second most powerful person by Forbes magazine in 2012, the highest ranking ever achieved by a woman, and is now ranked fifth. >> Powerful Female Politicians . 4. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf The 24th and current president of Liberia, Sirleaf is one of the founders of National Patriotic Front of Liberia. She is also famous for being the first female head of state in Africa. She was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakel Karman of Yemen. The women were recognized “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.” She was conferred the coveted Indira Gandhi Prize by President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 12 September 2013. 3. Isabel Martinez de Peron Former president of Argentina, better known as Isabel Martínez de Perón or Isabel Perón, spent a controversial life. She was the third wife of the former President, Juan Perón. During her husband’s third term as president from 1973 to 1974, Isabel served as both vice president and First Lady. Following her husb", "Ex-UK Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher dies, aged 87 | Dilemma X Ex-UK Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher dies, aged 87 April 8, 2013 Ex-UK Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher dies, aged 87 BBC News Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher has died “peacefully” at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke, her family has announced. David Cameron called her a “great Briton” and the Queen spoke of her sadness at the death. Lady Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990. She was the first woman to hold the role. She will not have a state funeral but will be accorded the same status as Princess Diana and the Queen Mother. The ceremony, with full military honours, will take place at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral. The union jack above Number 10 Downing Street has been lowered to half-mast. Video: ‘Iron Lady’ Margaret Thatcher dies at 87 after stroke _________________________ Video: Margaret Thatcher: Obituary of former Prime Minister ________________________ Margaret Hilda Roberts born in Grantham, Lincolnshire. 1940 Attends the University of Oxford to read chemistry and law. Becomes president of the Oxford University Conservative Association, her first political job. 1950 Fights and loses her first parliamentary election to be MP for Dartmouth. 1951 Elected Conservative MP for Finchley. October 1961 Harold Macmillan appoints her junior minister of pensions and national insurance. 1970 After the Conservative victory in the 1970 general election, Edward Heath appoints her secretary of state for education and science, but she loses the position in the 1974 general election defeat. February 1975 Wins leadership challenge against Edward Heath. 4 May 1979 Thatcher is elected Britain’s first female prime minister. She retains the position for 11 and a half years, making her the longest serving prime minister of the 20th century. 2 April 1982 Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. Within days Thatcher sends a huge military task force to the southern Atlantic. 14 June 1982 British forces recapture Port Stanley. Argentina surrenders in what is seen as a resounding victory for Margaret Thatcher, confirming her “Iron Lady” nickname. 9 June 1983 Margaret Thatcher wins her second general election with a majority of 144 seats in the wake of the Falklands war that greatly increased her popularity. Unemployment was at 3 million. 6 March 1984 A national miners’ strike begins under NUM leader Arthur Scargill, in response to the closure of uncompetitive mines. Riots and the miners’ strikes dominate the news as Britain edges towards chaos. The strike collapses after a year, prompting the government to press ahead with its legislation restricting trade union rights. 12 October 1984 Thatcher is the target of an IRA bomb that explodes during the Conservative party conference at the Grand Hotel in Brighton. She escapes uninjured. Five people were killed, including Conservative MP Sir Anthony Berry. 11 June 1987 Thatcher wins a third general election with a majority of 101 seats. 1 April 1990 The hugely unpopular community charge, or “poll tax”, is introduced. Protests against the tax turn into riots. November 1990 A tearful Thatcher leaves Downing Street after losing the support of the party over differences on European Economic Community policy and the poll tax debacle. 30 June 1992 Takes her seat in the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. 22 March 2002 Doctors advise Thatcher to give up making public speeches for health reasons after suffering a series of strokes. 1 July 2002 Thatcher publishes a book on international relations, which includes the controversial idea that the UK should leave the EU and join Nafta. 26 June 2003 Thatcher’s husband Denis dies at the age of 88. They had been married for 52 years. 13 October 2005 Thatcher marks her 80th birthday at party in a Hyde Park hotel with the Queen and Prince Philip among the guests. 13 September 2007 Gordon Brown invites Thatcher back to 10 Downing St for a visit. 30 January 2008 David Cameron presents Thatcher with a lifetime achievement award a", "Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi Indira Nehru Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 and would be the only child of Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru. Being influenced and inspired by her parents, Indira Gandhi rose to power in India and eventually became prime minister. She dedicated her life to progress in her country despite the overwhelming problems and challenges she encountered. Her road to power and politics started when she turned twelve years of age. During the time of British imperialism, many Indian National Congress workers from Allahabad did not know when or if the British would arrest them or search their homes. In order to find out when this would occur, the Monkey Brigade was formed. Although Indira claimed to have thought of the idea, some asserted that the Monkey Brigade was the idea of the Congress. In any event, Indira became the leader of this children's group whose purpose was to help end British control in India. Being its leader, she delivered speeches while other children actually warned the people who were going to be arrested. The Congress figured that the British would not suspect children of participating in such involvement. Although some deemed it a joke, Indira took her job very seriously. One of the most significant actions of the Monkey Brigade involved Indira. The Congress party's top officials were organizing a civil disobedience movement. After the meeting, the documents containing the plans of the movement were placed in the trunk of a car with Indira in the back seat. Before the car was ready to leave the area, a police inspector stopped the car in order to search it. However, Indira pleaded with him not to inspect the car because the delay would cause her to arrive late at school. Fortunately, the inspector believed her and the car was not searched. In 1938, Indira finally joined the Indian National Congress Party, something she always longed to do. Soon afterwards in 1942, she married journalist Feroze Gandhi to whom she eventually bore two sons. Soon after the couple was married, they were sent to prison on charges of subversion by the British. Her first and only imprisonment lasted from September 11, 1942 until May 13, 1943 at the Naini Central Jail in Allahabad. Fortunately, India won its independence from Britain in 1947. In that same year, Indira's father Jawaharlal Nehru became prime minister and served until his death in 1964. Since her mother had died in 1936, Indira acted as hostess and confidante and traveled with Nehru to meet famous political figures. Later in 1959, Gandhi became the fourth woman elected president of the Indian National Congress. After her father's death, the new Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri appointed Indira Gandhi as minister of information and broadcasting. This position was the fourth highest ranking position in the Cabinet. Many Indians were illiterate. Therefore, radio and television played a major part in informing them. As minister, she most importantly encouraged the making of inexpensive radios and started a family planning program. After Shastri's death in 1966, Indira Gandhi served as prime minister until India held the next election. She won that election, and in 1967, became one of the first women ever elected to lead a democracy. In 1971, Gandhi was re-elected by campaigning with the slogan \"Abolish Poverty.\" However in 1975, Gandhi was found guilty of violating election laws. Later, the conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court of India. Also, to control population growth, Gandhi implemented a voluntary sterilization program. As a result, adversaries criticized her and her administration in general. To secure her power and because of escalating riots, on June 26, 1975, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency which limited the personal freedom of Indians. Also, she ordered the arrests of the main opposition leaders. In her opinion, her dictatorship was for the good of India. But she allowed free elections in 1977, and the Indian people voted her out of office. She regained her position as prime minister in 1980. Unfortunately on Octobe", "Americo Tomas : definition of Americo Tomas and synonyms of Americo Tomas (English) 3 References Biography Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás was born in Lisbon, Portugal on November 9, 1894 to parents António Rodrigues Tomás and Maria da Assunção Marques. He married Gertrudes Ribeiro da Costa in October, 1922. The couple had two children, Maria Natália Rodrigues Tomás (b. 1925) and Maria Madalena Rodrigues Tomás (b. 1930). Academic career Rear Admiral Américo Tomás Tomás attended the High School of Lapa, Portugal, in 1904, completing his secondary education in 1911. He then attended the Faculty of Sciences for two years (1912 - 1914), after which he joined the Naval Academy as a midshipman. Military Career After Tomás graduated from the Naval Academy in 1916, he was assigned to the Portuguese coast escort service on Vasco da Gama and later assigned to the Pedro Nunes and the destroyers Douro and Tejo. [1] during World War I . In 1918, he received a promotion to Lieutenant . On March 17, 1920, he was placed on the Survey vessel 5 de Outubro, where he served for the next sixteen years. During this time, he was assigned to the Survey mission of the Portuguese Coast and was a Board Member of the Technical commission for hydrography , Navigation and nautical Meteorology and a member of the Council for Studies of Oceanography and Fisheries . Tomás was also a member of the International Permanent Council for the Exploration of the Sea. [2] He was appointed Chief of Staff to the Minister of the Navy in 1936, President of the Merchant Marine National Junta from 1940 to 1944 and Minister of the Navy from 1944 to 1958. During his term as Minister of the Navy, he was responsible for the total reconstruction of the Portuguese commercial navy organized under \"Dispatch 100\". Fifty-six ships were ordered, with more than 300,000 tons of displacement. This dispatch included statutes that also allowed the formation of what is now the modern shipbuilding industry in Portugal. Tomás' actions while Minister of the Navy created a positive reputation in the marine community, unlike the infamy created by several of his colleagues in the Portuguese Armed Forces (FAP) and the Portuguese Government during their respective tenures. President of the Republic In 1958, he was chosen by then- Prime Minister António Salazar as the candidate of União Nacional party for the presidency of the republic, as the party was completely loyalty to Salazar. He ran against the opposition backed Humberto Delgado . In a highly contested election he was elected president of the Portuguese Republic. [3] He was re-elected in 1965 and 1972 (in an electoral college, not in a general election as in 1958). During this time, Portugal was ruled by the authoritarian regime of António de Oliveira Salazar and the president of the republic had only a figurative role. The virtual powerlessness of his office under Salazar made him a decorative figure in inaugurations and festivities. This, together with a natural inability for speech, made him target of frequent jokes. Tomás used his presidential prerogative just once: to dismiss Salazar when he became incapacitated by a severe stroke in September 1968. Tomás appointed Marcello Caetano to replace Salazar as prime minister. He took a much more active role in the government after Caetano took power, and became the rallying point for hard-liners who thought that even Caetano's cosmetic reforms went too far. Tomás, while President of the Republic and unlike his predecessor, always lived in his private residence, only using the Belém Palace for office and official ceremonies. Overthrow and death When, on April 25, 1974, the \" Carnation Revolution \" deposed Caetano, Tomás was also overthrown and sent to exile in Brazil . [4] He was allowed to return to Portugal in 1980, but he was denied the readmission in the Portuguese Navy and the special pension scheme currently in place for former Presidents of the Republic. In September 18, 1987, Americo Tomás died, at 92 in a Cascais clinic from complications after a surgery. Published", "Pervez Musharraf resigns as president of Pakistan | World news | The Guardian Pervez Musharraf resigns as president of Pakistan • Leader defends his record in televised address to the nation • Miliband hails president's 'commitment to tackle terrorism' Saeed Shah in Islamabad and agencies Monday 18 August 2008 10.30 EDT First published on Monday 18 August 2008 10.30 EDT Share on Messenger Close Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf , today bowed to intense pressure and resigned ahead of impeachment proceedings due to start this week. Musharraf appeared live on national television just after 1pm local time (8am BST) in an address that lasted for over an hour. Towards the finish, as the former army commander put an end to almost nine years in power, his voice trembled and he appeared to have tears in his eyes. \"If I was doing this just for myself, I might have chosen a different course,\" he said, wearing a western suit and tie but speaking in Urdu. \"But I put Pakistan first, as always. \"Whether I win or lose the impeachment, the dignity of the nation would be damaged, the office of the president harmed.\" It is likely that Musharraf stepped down as a part of a western-mediated deal between the president and the coalition government, according to which all charges against him will be dropped in return for his resignation. Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, said the move marked the end of a \"critical period\" in Pakistan's history and called for quick elections to find a successor. \"The Musharraf years yielded significant dividends… It is important to highlight President Musharraf's commitment to tackle terrorism, to promote dialogue with India, especially over Kashmir, and to root out corruption,\" he said. \"I look forward to the early election of a new president in Pakistan to take forward the important shared work that binds our two countries together.\" The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, praised Musharraf as a \"friend to the United States and one of the world's most committed partners in the war against terrorism and extremism\". She said the US would work with the new leaders and impress on them the need to stem \"the growth of extremism\". Although it was believed Musharraf resigned as part of a deal to avoid prosecution, it was a humiliation nevertheless for the ex-army chief to have to submit to the very politicians he hated. But he admitted he had been left with no choice. \"Even if I beat this impeachment, relations between the presidency and the government can never be fixed,\" he said. \"Pillars of the state – parliament and the judiciary – would be harmed and, God forbid, the army might have been dragged in.\" He said he wanted the people to be his judge. The foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said leaders of the ruling coalition were discussing whether to prosecute Musharraf in court on the impeachment charges. Qureshi would not say whether Musharraf might be granted a safe exit; there has been speculation he might go into exile in Saudi Arabia or Turkey. \"That is a decision that has to be taken by the democratic leadership,\" said Qureshi, a member of the Pakistan People's party (PPP), in a television interview with Dawn News. The Pakistan Muslim League-N, the second-biggest party in the coalition government with the PPP, said Musharraf should be tried for treason, which carries a maximum sentence of death. Its leader, Nawaz Sharif, whom Musharraf deposed as prime minister in a coup in October 1999, was the prime mover behind the impeachment. \"The crimes of Musharraf against the nation, against the judiciary, against democracy and against rule of law in the country cannot be forgiven by any party or individual,\" said the party's spokesman, Ahsan Iqbal. Musharraf, who was a near-absolute ruler until he stepped down as army chief in November last year and held elections this February, did not leave without first launching into an impassioned and lengthy defence of his record. He said the allegations against him were \"lies\". Musharraf laid the blame for Pakistan's economic crisis squarely on the cur" ]

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[ "Embassies and consulates will only assist their own citizens. For example, the section of the US embassy that performs this function is called \"American Citizen Services\". You and your spouse would have to contact your respective countries' embassies. As your children are dual citizens they could get assistance from either embassy. \n\nOnly in exceedingly rare emergency situations such as evacuations during times of war you might get assistance for your entire family despite that fact that some members are non-citizens. For anything else routine you would have to visit your home country's embassy. Many people are under the impression (usually from watching too many movies) that an embassy will going to extraordinary lengths to protect their citizens. In reality, it is usually the opposite and the embassy will rarely intervene in emergencies. For example, if you are arrested in a foreign country, you should only expect a consular visit and the telephone number of a local lawyer. If you run out of money, they are not going to loan you money to fly home etc.\n\nFinally, in theory, EU citizens can visit the embassy of any other EU country if their home country does not have local representation. For example, Portugal does not have an embassy in Cambodia, but in theory a Portuguese citizen living there could receive assistance at the French Embassy there. I've heard that in practice that this doesn't work as well as it should." ]

[ "When living outside Germany an application should be made at the local consulate that is responsible for your area. It can be made directly to the Bundesverwaltungsamt, but not to the local reponsible authority (Staatsangehörigkeitsbehörde) in Germany (which in Berlin would be the city district of permanent residence). \n\nNo, the time needed for the application will not be swifter since\n\n\nthe consulate will send the application to the responsible authority for processing \n\n\nThe consulate will do an initial check to advise you if making a application is needed. \n\nThey will also advise what specific documentation is needed based on the local nationality laws of the country your parents (possibly) became citizens of. The consulate will then know, based on the submitted documents. The goal is to insure that everything needed is complete before passing the application on to the next stage. \n\nThen the application will be sent on to the responsible authority in Germany (Bundesverwaltungsamt), from where any needed contact to a local authority or archives will be made. Often this will be where your parents (ancestor) were last registered. \n\nThere, in most cases they are looking for confirmation that they were citizens at the time of emigration. \n\nIf the information is available online (application of passport), then the confirmation process may be swift. If the material needed has to be searched for in older archives, then the 2-3 years meantioned may be needed. \n\nThe link below shows information from the German embassy in the United States. \n\nYou are advised to look at the German Embassy site from the country you are applying from, since the required information needed may differ based on your present citizenship or situation. \n\n\n\nSources:\n\n\nAnswer about applying for Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis \nBundesverwaltungsamt - Feststellung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit beantragen", "If your parents require a visa (that would depend on their citizenship), then they will have to apply for it themselves at the relevant French consulate. You could probably prepare the application and mail it to them so they just have to submit it to the consulate but you can't apply on their behalf from within France.\n\nIf they are going to stay with you and you are going to sponsor them, you need to get a specific form (called “attestation d'accueil”) from the administration of the town where you live. Once you have the form (signed and legalized), you have to send it to your parents who can join it to their application. The procedure is detailed in As an EU national just moved to France, how do I get a &quot;Attestation d&#39;accueil&quot; for a friend&#39;s visa?\n\nThe only difference between EU citizens and others for this purpose is that third-country citizens who want to invite someone also have to prove they are themselves in France legally by showing a carte de séjour, whereas EU citizens do not. You only need to show your passport or national ID card.", "Caveat: I'm answering on the basis of common sense and general life experience, not specific knowledge.\n\nThe IND is the relevant body which approves your request of an MVV, not the embassy. So, if the request is approved - it's an IND decision, and the embassy certainly can't overrule it, certainly not on grounds such as \"MVV recipient doesn't have a Master's degree\". In fact, the embassy would absolutely not even try to do anything like that - they have no motivation to second-guess the IND's work. Why would they care whether you have a degree or not? It's not their problem.\n\nHowever, if the embassy has reason to suspect you might pose some kind of risk; if you had a violent altercation with them; if they suspect you have misrepresented information etc. - in those case it is theoretically possible that they would withhold the sticker from you. And this is regardless of whether they have the official authority to do so.\n\nEdit: If you find the local consular staff uncooperative, you can try either writing the embassy/a consul/the ambassador, or perhaps asking for an appointment to see a consul or the ambassador. Still, I find it unlikely that local staff would be allowed to withhold documents from applicants; perhaps they're just unfriendly?", "There is a page specifically dealing with your situation though from the Dutch Embassy in the UK:\n\nDutch nationality\nA Dutch passport or identity card can only be issued to a Dutch national. You can find more information on the ways in which a person can acquire Dutch nationality under current Dutch nationality law on the Dutch government's website.\nNationality issues can be quite complex, especially those where one of the (great)grandparents was the Dutch national. The Embassy is not in a position to undertake nationality investigations as these can be very time-consuming. You may wish to contact a solicitor in the Netherlands who specializes in nationality law to obtain his/her opinion on your nationality status.\nIf you have all the necessary documents to show that you acquired Dutch nationality through your Dutch (grand)father or Dutch mother, then please read the information on this website with respect to a first time passport application.\nIf you are not a Dutch national yet but think that you are eligible to apply for Dutch nationality and you are living in the UK, then please read the information on the page 'Applying for Dutch nationality' before contacting the embassy.\n\nYou can look at the Dutch Government site for more information but as the embassy site suggests you should find a solicitor specializing in the citizenship cases and contact them for more help.", "Yes, for this situation you will certainly need a travel document from your baby's country of citizenship. These go by various names, such as:\n\nEmergency passport\nEmergency travel document\nProvisional travel document\n\nFor example, Australia can issue a Provisional Travel Document:\n\nA Provisional Travel Document (PTD) is generally issued in an emergency situation overseas to enable an Australian to travel to the nearest passport-issuing authority.\nTo obtain a PTD, you should contact the nearest Australian diplomatic mission or consulate to discuss your individual circumstances.\n\nIn your situation, you should contact your country's consulate or embassy as soon as possible to obtain a travel document for your baby.", "According to the German Missions in the United States page on Schengen Visa / Short Stay Visa an appointment in Washington is not going to work:\n\n\n Visas must be applied for at the German Embassy or Consulate General\n in charge of the applicants place of residence (for example an Indian\n citizen with H1B Visa residing in Portland/ Oregon must apply at the\n German Consulate in San Francisco; a Chinese citizen from Bejing\n visiting the US on a B1/B2 Visa must apply at the German Embassy in\n Bejing).\n \n Please note that visa applications cannot be processed at a different\n Consulate or Embassy within the US or in the home country, if the\n person is residing in the US.", "Today I went to the consular office of the Vietnamese Embassy here in Vientiane to ask them.\n\nWhether you want a one-month or three-month visa, the price is the same:\n\n\n$60 USD to pick up your passport after three working days.\n$70 USD for express service - pick up your passport the following day.\n\n\nI asked the staff there if the prices are the same at the Savannakhet consulate but they said they didn't know.\n\nThey did not ask my nationality and when I asked if that mattered and told them I'm Australian the price was the same. It made me think these prices cover all of the \"typical tourist countries\" but might be different if you're from a developing country I suppose. The staff were not very interested in my questions.", "Last time I researched this was about 10 years ago and for an (already approved) H4 visa. \n\nIt varied a lot: anywhere between one day and 6 weeks depending on the specific consulate and whatever person in the consulate you talk to. At the time many consulates basically made up their rules \"on the fly\" and any type of confirmed date was happily ignored by the next officer. You can try calling the consulates (which typically cost money) and you may or may not get accurate or useful information.\n\nCase in point: We had a dire emergency and we had confirmed a same day appointment in Amsterdam. We had also confirmation from the consulate that, this is indeed a same day process. We did confirm this through three independent sources, including two lawyers. However, when my wife showed up there the consular officer refused to put the (already approved!) visa in her passport because, \"he is underpaid and overworked\" .\n\nThings may be better now, but it's not easy to find out.", "If I answer your question in a generic way i.e. specifying if it is possible or not then: yes, it is possible to do that. A number of applicants get their visas stamped in another country. Having said that the process could be troublesome and the embassy/consulate concerned would take it on a case basis. \n\nHowever, it is totally at the discretion of the embassy or consulate you are dealing with and the answers you find here are mostly opinions and would be case specific. As suggested in the comments, you should call up the embassies and try to explain your situation.", "EU citizens who travel to or live in a third country where their\n Member State of nationality does not have an embassy or consulate have\n the right to consular protection by the consular authorities of any\n other Member State. That Member State has to assist these\n unrepresented EU citizens under the same conditions as its own\n nationals.\n\n\nSource: Council Directive Explanatory Memorandum\n\nShort answer: yes. You can report to the consular office of any member country and receive their assistance. Having said that, the consulate will get in touch with the Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This does not mean that they will necessarily call Den Haag because they may have other instructions such as contacting a Dutch consulate in the region, or they may act independently. \n\nThe framework for this legislation occurs in the EU Citizenship Report 2010, which says ...\n\n\n ...Dismantling the obstacles to EU citizens’ rights\" the Commission\n announced it would increase the effectiveness of the right of EU\n citizens to be assisted in third countries, including in times of\n crisis, by the diplomatic and consular authorities of all Member\n States, by proposing legislative measures in 2011 and by better\n informing citizens via a dedicated website and targeted communication\n measures . The Commission reiterated this commitment in its\n Communication of 23 March 2011 on consular protection for\n unrepresented EU citizens and announced that it would submit\n legislation establishing the coordination and cooperation measures\n necessary to facilitate consular protection for unrepresented citizens\n and addressing the issue of financial compensation of consular\n protection in crisis situations\n\n\nThis was enacted by the European Commission Thursday 25 October 2012 Consular protection for citizens of the Union abroad P7_TA(2012)0394 \n\nIn all events, you are advised to keep the Netherlands's Ministry of Foreign Affairs email with you so that you can reach them via your mobile or internet cafe, and so on.\n\nAdding at the suggestion of JoeBlow\nFor your other question, you may choose any member consulate, even if a Dutch consulate is present but does not provide the service you require. This is stated explicitly in the law...\n\n\n Unrepresented citizens should be able to freely choose the embassy,\n consulate or, where appropriate, the Union delegation from which they\n seek consular protection. Member States should be able to enter\n arrangements on burden-sharing. Such arrangements should be fairly\n distributed and take into account the capacities of each Member State\n . However such arrangements should be transparent for the citizen and\n should not jeopardize effective consular protection.\n\n\nThe protection available from a member consulate is very specific...\n\n\nBeing the victim of a crime;\nBeing detained or arrested;\nRequiring financial assistance;\nRequiring travel documents or other means to verify identity;\nFacilitated procedure in crisis situations;\nIllness or death.\n\n\nAll of these are governed by procedures which range from simple to complex. Financial assistance, for example, requires liaison with the person's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For all others, the service must be the same as that provided to their own citizens.\n\nThe regulations also address honorary consulates and explain that an honorary consulate may act as an embassy only within their competence. Their competence is established by the hosting country at the time the honorary consulate presents its credentials to the hosting country. \n\n\n The traditions regarding the competences of honorary consuls diverge\n among Member States. Honorary consuls are generally in a position to\n perform very limited consular tasks. Honorary consuls should only be\n regarded as equivalent to accessible embassies and consulates present\n in a third country on a permanent basis within the scope of their\n competences pursuant to national law and practices.\n\n\nThere is a body of real-life case studies where people have exercised these rights, but it is behind a pay wall and hence no use on SO. However, the main corpus of EU regulations is at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/homepage.html\n\nThere is an explanatory memorandum at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52011PC0881\n\nFor others reading this: this answer applies to EU member states only and does not necessarily apply to countries still applying for EU membership, or even countries in the EEA. Also note: some countries, like the ROI and the UK, have opt-outs from various portions of the EU regulations. Also note: the information in this answer cannot be reliably extended to non members like the US, Canada, and so on.", "The US-based French consulates have good resources for what a French national needs to do when repatriating to France. Here is the Los Angeles consular page for specifically this:\n\nhttp://consulfrance-losangeles.org/spip.php?rubrique450\n\nThe first item in the list (the “simulateur”) will walk her through all the questions about her status (how long she’s been gone, type of degree, whether she has French health insurance, etc.), then will provide a year-long list of administrative items to bring her to compliance with the authorities.", "Since the child is born out of wedlock to a U.S. citizen father (you) and an alien mother, the child is automatically a U.S. citizen at birth if:\n\n\nYou were physically present in the U.S. (in any status) before the child's birth for 5 years, including 2 years after turning 14\nBlood relationship between the child and the father is established by clear and convincing evidence\nYou agree in writing to provide financial support for the child until the child reaches 18 years of age\nOne of the following criteria is met before the child reaches 18 years of age:\n\n\nThe child is legitimated under the law of his or her residence or domicile;\nThe father acknowledges in writing and under oath the paternity of the child; or\nThe paternity of the child is established by adjudication of a competent court.\n\n\n\nBasically, what you need to do is go to a U.S. consulate and apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), not a \"birth certificate\". It is a proof that the child is a U.S. citizen from birth. During this process, they will ask you to agree in writing to support the child, and acknowledge the paternity. They will likely ask for a DNA test to establish the blood relationship, since in this case it may be questionable. You will also need to provide evidence of your physical presence in the U.S. before the child's birth.\n\nOne parent is enough to apply for CRBA.\n\nAlthough you can get the CRBA, you may not be able to get a U.S. passport for the child, because that requires the consent of both parents, unless you (or you and your wife) have sole custody or a court has given permission for the child to travel with you.", "According to The Nonimmigrant Visa Interview from the US Embassy in London:\n\n\n Applicants aged 14 - 79 are required to appear in person for an interview with a consular officer through a pre-arranged appointment. \n\n\nSince J-2 is a nonimmigrant visa, the above is what applies to you. (The rules are slightly different for immigrant visas.)\n\nYou may wish to check the web site for the US visa office you are actually going to visit, if it is not London. I found some variation in the posted rules depending on the particular embassy or consulate.", "This is a serious error that will have to be corrected by the consulate. You should contact the VFS office where you applied immediately and explain they've put someone else's visa in your passport.", "Simple: you will need to contact your home country's embassy/consulate in the country you are staying at, and they will issue you a travel document to be used to pass to your country. \n\nThe country in which you are staying can not issue you a passport (unless you are a refugee or stateless or something like that), when the passport is lost, the maximum the host country can do is issuing some sort of a report via a police station stating that you have lose your passport. The rest has to be done via the consulate/embassy. \n\nFor the visa, you will need to issue a new one. Unless the visa is not attached to the passport and it is in a separate card or so. You also most likely will have to re-issue it from your country as most consulates will issue you a single use travel document (in case you needed to get back quickly), this can not be used to issue visas. In case your consulate issued you a full passport, not much countries will issue you a visa while you are in the country, you will need to get back. Unless it is a long term visa, things tend to be different in these cases.", "Yes you can travel alone, but as you have US and Russian citizenship you should note this advice from the US Dept of State Bureau of Consular Affairs https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/RussianFederation.html \n\n“Minors who also have Russian citizenship and are traveling alone or in the company of adults who are not their parents, must carry a Russian passport as well as their parents’ notarized consent for the trip, which can be obtained at a Russian embassy or consulate, or a U.S. notary public. A consent obtained in the United States from a U.S. notary public must be apostilled, translated into Russian, and properly affixed. Authorities will prevent such minors from entering or leaving Russia if they cannot present this consent.”", "Yes. The US does not have the same geographical requirements that many countries have, where applicants must apply at the consulate whose territory includes the applicant's place of residence. Even if they did, surely a global systems outage that lasts for several weeks would be sufficient ground for an exception.\n\nThey may want you to show that you are in Dublin legally; if so, that should be no problem for you.\n\nNote, however, that the Dublin embassy's consular section is still unable to process visa applications, according to today's update (23 June 2015) on their web site (http://dublin.usembassy.gov/visas.html):\n\n\n Non-Immigrant Visa Information\n \n Message on Systems Issues from the Bureau of Consular Affairs:\n \n Updated: June 23, 2015.\n \n ** Although 22 posts have been reconnected worldwide, Embassy Dublin is not currently one of these posts. **\n \n The Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to experience technical problems with our visa systems.  Though some progress has been made, biometric data processing has not been fully restored.  This is a global issue and our team continues to work on this 24/7 to restore the systems to full functionality.\n \n Once full operability is restored to our visa systems, U.S. Embassy Dublin’s Consular Section will extend its normal business hours, which we expect to include weekend hours, to accommodate all visa applicants affected by this recent outage. \n \n The problems stem from a hardware failure in a State Department facility in the United States on June 9. That failure is preventing the Department from processing and transmitting biometric data checks at visa-issuing embassies and consulates. We cannot bypass the legal requirements to screen visa applicants before we issue visas for travel.  Each visa decision is a national security decision, and we take our obligation to protect the United States seriously.\n \n We regret the inconvenience to travelers and recognize that this is causing hardship to those waiting for visas, and in some cases, their family members or employers in the United States.  We will continue to post regular updates on our website, travel.state.gov.\n \n __________________________________________________ \n \n Applicants who have already appeared for an interview\n \n Due to these technical issues, we are not currently able to print any visas for visa applicants who have already appeared for an interview.  As a standard practice, we advise people never to make non-refundable travel plans before receiving the necessary travel documents.  Given the nature of this significant technical issue and the timing of your planned travel, you will need to change your travel itinerary as we do not know when our systems will be restored.\n \n If you require your passport back for other travel during this time, please let us know at and we will make those arrangements.\n \n __________________________________________________ \n \n Applicants requesting an appointment for an interview\n \n We understand you have upcoming planned travel and would like to schedule your interview as soon as possible.  However, due to ongoing technical issues, we are not able to accept and process visa applications at this time.  For this reason, no appointments are currently available before July 7.\n \n To schedule an appointment, applicants should log on to http://usvisa-info.com and follow the online instructions carefully.  Once you have scheduled an appointment, you will be able to select “Request Expedite”.   Once the technical problems have been resolved, these requests will be reviewed.  If there is an earlier time available, you will receive an email with a new appointment date and time.\n \n Please remember, do not make non-refundable travel plans before receiving the necessary travel documents.", "Your residence permit was issued based on §28 (1)(1) AufenthG. \n\n\nSpouse of a German citizen that resides in Germany \n\n\nIf you and your German spouse no longer reside in Germany, then the residence permit expires automatically, since the conditions it was issued against are no longer fullfilled. \n\nOnly if your spouse remained in Germany and/or you applied for an exception of the 6 month rule before leaving (need 12 months to take care of parents), would the residence permit had remained valid. \n\nOnce this condition is again fulfilled, a new residence permit will be issued. \n\nYou should contact the local German embassy / consulate, which will probably issue a D-Visa based on §28 (1)(1) AufenthG. \n\n\n\n\n Section 28 AufenthG\n Subsequent immigration of dependants to join a German national\n \n \n (1) The temporary residence permit shall be granted to the foreign \n \n \n spouse of a German,\n minor, unmarried child of a German,\n parent of a minor, unmarried German for the purpose of care and custody\n \n \n \n if the German’s habitual residence is in the federal territory.\n ... \n\n\n\n\nSources:\n\n\nAct on the Residence, Economic Activity and Integration of Foreigners in the Federal Territory Residence Act", "I've faced interviews at the US Embassy in Dhaka twice (in a span of five years) and both times it was for attending tech conferences/company retreats in the US. \n\nYou should present all the documents related to your work (any contract letter) along with the invitation letter when you go to the interview. \n\nAlso, make sure to keep some of the other paperwork like utility bills, bank statements, etc. Although they don't specifically ask for these, it may be useful to keep them in hand. Sometimes the consular officer will ask you to see if you have strong financial ties to the country which will prompt you to come back. So presenting those, in that case, will be helpful.\n\nAs for what to include in the invitation letter, it should mention that your role at the company, your full name and address, how long you've been working for them, the purpose of the travel, who will bear the expenses, and the fact that you won't be employed during your stay in the US (as that's illegal). In other words, the invitation letter should clearly tell the consular officer what you do, what that company does, why you need to visit the US, the purpose of the conference, and when you'll return to your home country. \n\nYour employer shouldn't send those directly to the embassy. You'll have to carry it with you when you face the interview. The US embassy does not mention specifically which documents should be brought with you. They just say supporting documents, and these will be whatever documents you think will help your case. \n\nHope that helps. \n\nSajib,\n\nhttps://ais.blog", "You seem to have received confusing and incomplete information.\n\nYour situation is dealt with by Directive 2004/38/EC.\n\nBelow important parts of that directive are explained. For exact text of relevant articles, see link above.\n\nA Union citizen is the national of an EU member state. A spouse of a Union citizen is a family member for the purpose of this directive [article 2]. The directive applies to Union citizens who move to or reside in a member state other than that of which they are a national and to their family members who accompany or join them [article 3].\n\nYour husband does not need to already reside in the Netherlands; when your husband moves there, he is covered. You and your husband can travel together or separately.\n\nA Union citizen can enter any member state with a passport or a identity card and will never require a visa. A family member may need a visa, which should be easy to obtain and issued quickly and free of charge. When eventually getting registered and obtaining a residence card you no longer need a visa [article 4].\n\nWhen covered by this directive, you are entitled to a free visa, if able to prove your status.\n\nA Union citizen has a right of residence for up to three months, just by having a valid passport or identity card. A family member accompanying or joining a Union citizen with a right of residence also has that right [article 6]. After three months a Union citizen has a right of residence only in certain situations, e.g. if being employed [article 7].\n\nOnly after three months will additional conditions apply. Initially just having your husband moving there will be enough for you to be entitled to a visa as a family member.\n\nYou should apply for a Schengen visa from a Dutch embassy or consulate. State that you plan to move to the Netherlands and that you intend to register after arrival. If already set, you may want to include travel dates, address in the Netherlands and planned employment or other activity. It may be best to file the application directly with the consulate or embassy and not use their commercial partner; you should be allowed to do that.", "The National Archives holds the Foreign Office records for New Grenada/Colombia in the FO (Foreign Office) series. Specifically, FO 736 covers \"...a roster of British subjects and registers of births and deaths from the British consulates in Santa Marta and Cartagena, Colombia (formerly Greater Colombia) respectively.\" Go to the Discovery section of the site at http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/ and search for FO 736. You may also want to search for \"New Grenada\" to see other related results. Granted, Consular birth/marriage/death registrations should appear on FindMyPast, but there may be other records at The National Archives that could help. Note that the archives refers to the country as \"United States of Grenada.\" You may also want to try British Newspaper Archive at http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/", "I don't think there is any easy way to look that up online. All online forms require you to specify where you are registered and provide your consular registration number (NUMIC). If you don't have one, you have to contact the consulate where you might be registered to recover it. But if you never got one, you probably never registered.\nIf you decide to register to vote and provide an email address, you will also get quite a bit of email and even some mail from political parties and your MP (who have the right to peruse the electoral register). If you never got any, it would suggest that you never registered (although you can also chose to register at the consulate but not on the electoral register so it's not a definite proof).", "Premium processing is for the petition, not the visa.\n\nAssuming your L-1 petition is accepted you next fill in your DS-160, you also fill DS-160 forms for each family member. You then schedule a consular interview for all family members, giving the DS-160 for references for all the family.", "Contact Norwegian embassy or consulate that has issued you the visa and explain them the situation. They may be able to fix this within days.", "The answer is MAYBE\n\nAccording to Spanish Exterior Ministry the conditions for consular marriage are:\n\n\n A consular marriage may only be held when at least one of the parties is Spanish and if the laws and regulations of the receiving state do not oppose consular marriages.\n\n\nSince you're non-EU citizen the Spanish consulate will not perform the marriage unless Bangadesh recognizes consular marriage (for which I can't find confirmation).", "A national of Bangladesh needs a visa to visit Japan. There is no exception for being a resident in Italy.\n\nYou can find instructions to apply for a visa on Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site. After you fill out the application and gather the required documents, you need to deliver them (they say via fax or e-mail) to the embassy/consulate serving the region of Italy you live in. The Japanese Embassy in Italy web site has more information (in Italian).", "I followed up on @AmericanLuke's reference and sent a request to the Holocaust Museum for the source of their information. (To send them questions, use the Virtual Reference Desk form.) The response (just hours later!) pointed me to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), which maintains a Genealogy section on their web site.\n\nThe USCIS can provide a range of genealogically-useful documents related to immigration and naturalization, including certificate files, alien registration forms, visa files, and other documents. The process for getting them is somewhat convoluted: you first have to order an index search for a specific individual ($20), and then use the results of this search to order specific files ($20 for documents on microfilm, $35 for documents stored as paper originals). Needless to say, it would be expensive to do extensive searching in this collection. On the other hand, judging by the description on the site, the visa papers are a treasure-trove of information, including details on the parents (such as the mother's maiden name). \n\nAlso note that if you request information on individuals who were born less than 100 years ago, you will need to provide evidence of death. The web site details what constitutes reasonable evidence, and things like obituaries and SSDI records are acceptable.", "The change in number and frequency of the suffect consuls just reflects the changing of the job of consul with the Principate.\n\nUnder the Republic, beyond ennobling your family, allowing you to run Rome for a year, and getting the year named for you, consulship was the bridge to a plum job administering a province where you could collect money and contacts that would allow you to pay off the amount you spent getting to the consulship in the first place, and set up for the next generation. If you left the consulship before the job, you would miss that payoff.\n\nWhen Augustus was in charge, he had no interest in ambitious senators using armies in the provinces to springboard themselves to power...like he had. For a while, he was always consul himself, which caused grumbling because this locked out the aristocrats. The need then was to reward aristocrats for toeing the line, and find candidates for the administrative jobs in the provinces. The multiple suffect consuls allowed a larger pool of candidates for these jobs to be created and allowed more rewards for the nobles to strive for and boost their families status.\n\nSo the main reason for the shift was that the nature of the consul's job had changed from Republic to Empire.", "During the verification process the passport office might contact them to ensure that the details furnished by you are indeed correct and up to date.\n\nIn addition, these names / details will be kept on your file with the Ministry of External Affairs.", "Try the Denmark forum on familysearch.org. The familysearch.org forums include very active volunteers who are very generous in contributing their time and expertise, including help with translation. I scanned the Denmark forum and saw that there were recent posts asking for translation, and replies giving help and translations. You'll want to drill down as follows: FamilySearch Forums > Research and Record Assistance > Localities> Europe > Nordic Countries > Denmark.", "First of all, if the child is really this friend's biological child, and your friend met the requirements under US law to transmit citizenship to a child born abroad, the child is already a US citizen under US law, from birth, and thus cannot \"obtain\" it. The question is only whether they will be able to prove this citizenship.\n\nAcquisition of US citizenship by birth abroad from a parent requires blood relationship*. A child who is born while the mother is married (as in this case) is generally presumed to be the biological child of that couple, but this is not determinative, and the consulate has discretion to investigate and request additional evidence if they suspect the child might not be the biological child.\n\n\n d. Children born in wedlock are generally presumed to be the issue of\n that marriage. This presumption is not determinative in citizenship\n cases, however, because an actual biological relationship to a U.S.\n citizen parent is required. If doubt arises that the U.S. citizen\n \"parent\" is biologically related to the child, the consular officer is\n expected to investigate carefully. Circumstances that might give rise\n to such a doubt include, but are not limited to:\n \n (1) Conception or birth of a child when either of the alleged\n biological parents was married to another person during the relevant\n time period;\n \n (2) Naming on the birth certificate, as father and/or mother,\n person(s) other than the alleged biological parents; and\n \n (3) Evidence or indications that the child was conceived at a time\n when the alleged father had no physical access to the mother.\n \n (4) If the child was conceived or born when the mother was married to\n someone other than the man claiming paternity, a statement from the\n man to whom the mother was married disavowing paternity, a divorce or\n custody decree mentioning certain of her children but omitting or\n specifically excluding the child in question, or credible statements\n from neighbors or friends having knowledge of the circumstances\n leading up to the birth may be required as evidence bearing on actual\n natural paternity.\n \n (5) The child was born through surrogacy or other forms of assisted\n reproductive technology. (8 FAM 304.3 provides guidance\n about acquisition of U.S. citizenship by birth abroad and assisted\n reproductive technology.)\n \n e. In such cases, it is within the consular officer's discretion to\n request additional evidence pursuant to 22 CFR 51.45.\n\n\nWhen there is doubt about the paternity, some things the consulate can do include obtaining records of the periods of time the father had physical access to the mother, interviewing the mother and father separately about when and where the child was conceived, interviewing neighbors and friends, and, if the parents want to pursue the claim even if the facts don't seem to support it, they can advise the parents to do a DNA test.\n\nWe don't know whether the consulate will find the other evidence of paternity for this child sufficient, or whether they will deem it necessary for your friend to do a DNA test. If the consulate deems a DNA test necessary and your friend doesn't do it, they can't prove the US citizenship of the child. In that case, if your friend and the child are moving to the US, maybe your friend can petition the child to immigrate (i.e. to become a US permanent resident); this doesn't require a blood relationship -- stepparents can petition as long as the child was under 18 when the marriage occurred. But I am not sure whether the consulate will issue the immigrant visa in such a case where the child's US citizenship isn't proved only due to the parent's refusal to do DNA test.\n\n*Update: Recent case law has thrown some doubt onto whether a blood relationship is really required. The 2nd Circuit court of appeals (which covers Connecticut, New York, and Vermont) ruled in the case Jaen v. Sessions (2018) that someone who was born to a married couple but who was not the biological child of his legal father nevertheless did acquire US citizenship from his legal father at birth. I don't know if this will be appealed and whether it will apply to other circuits. If blood relationship isn't required, then perhaps a DNA test won't be necessary.", "The Irish Government has a website that tells you if you need a visa. It only asks about your nationality, not about permanent residence. From this, it appears that only your nationality matters and, as a Lebanese national, you need a visa.\n\nIf you don't want to trust this argument of \"They'd ask about your permanent residence if it made a difference\", you can look for more information on the website of the Irish embassy in Italy or telephone them at +39&nbsp;06&nbsp;585&nbsp;2381." ]

[ "In his $2 trillion plan to improve America's infrastructure, President Biden is promising to address the racism ingrained in historical transportation and urban planning. Biden's plan includes $20 billion for a program that would \"reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments,\" according to the White House. It also looks to target \"40 percent of the benefits of climate and clean infrastructure investments to disadvantaged communities.\" Planners of the interstate highway system, which began to take shape after the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, routed some highways directly, and sometimes purposefully, through Black and brown communities. In some instances, the government took homes by eminent domain. It left a deep psychological scar on neighborhoods that lost homes, churches and schools, says Deborah Archer, a professor at the New York University School of Law and national board president of the American Civil Liberties Union. Archer recently wrote for the Iowa Law Review about how transportation policy affected the development of Black communities. She says the president will face major challenges in trying to rectify historical inequities. \"What is not clear is whether and how that money will be distributed in a way that will address the racial inequalities that are built into our transportation system and our infrastructure,\" she tells NPR's Morning Edition. \"I think it's also important for us to think about how we will shift culture within the relevant agencies so that white middle-class and affluent neighborhoods will not continue to be favored at the expense of communities of color, producing lopsided and skewed patterns of infrastructure development.\" Here are highlights from Archer's interview with NPR: Why would officials have targeted thriving vibrant communities? Was it just because the people who lived there were Black and or brown? Some of the time, yes, that was actually the case. The highways were being built just as courts around the country were striking down traditional tools of racial segregation. So, for example, courts were striking down the use of racial zoning to keep Black people in certain communities and white people in other communities. And so the highway development popped up at a time when the idea, the possibility of integration in housing was on the horizon. And so very intentionally, highways were sometimes built right on the formal boundary lines that we saw used during racial zoning. Sometimes community members asked the highway builders to create a barrier between their community and encroaching Black communities. As I read your paper, I was astonished to realize how many places this happened. Was there any successful resistance? There was certainly successful resistance. We can see good examples in Greenwich Village in New York. There were examples from Washington, D.C., which is where the phrase \"no white men's roads through Black men's homes\" came from. That was the rallying cry for folks in D.C. who resisted it. And there was also a successful effort in New Orleans. But I think it's important to point out the most successful efforts to stop the highways were not those that focused on racial justice or those that were put in place to protect Black communities. The people who were most successful were the ones that focused on environmental justice and protecting parks and their communities in that way. If this initiative works, in what ways do you see the country being different in five or 10 years? I think that right now, we can see that race frequently explains which communities receive the benefits of our transportation system and infrastructure and which communities were forced to host the burdens. Our transportation systems have really led to racial disparities and discrimination, which are reinforced daily from highways, roads, bridges to sidewalks and public transit. We make it harder for Black people and other people of color to access and take advantage of opportunities. So I would hope that at the end of this project — at the end of this plan — as you say in five years, that race would not be a way to explain who gets the benefits and who gets the burdens. It would not be a way to explain who has access and who doesn't. Marc Rivers and Simone Popperl produced and edited the audio interview. Digital News intern Farah Eltohamy produced for the Web." ]

[ "A winter storm that snarled traffic, knocked out power and disrupted flights in parts of Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska through the weekend is forecast to spread into the Midwest on Monday. The storm rolled into parts of the Rocky Mountains late Saturday into Sunday, dropping several feet of snow and heavy rain. Gusty winds caused whiteout conditions, and residents were warned to stay off roads. Some drivers on Arizona's Interstate 40 on Saturday night didn't make it home in time to heed the warning, forcing some to spend Saturday night on the road after icy conditions caused several crashes and shut the highway down. Lingering effects of the storm are expected to cause rough conditions through early Monday as residents dig out from under record-breaking levels of snowfall. Several school districts in Colorado ordered classes to be canceled on Monday. \"Even as the storm subsides, travel across the state will be extremely challenging on Monday morning,\" Chief Matthew Packard of the Colorado State Patrol said. In Wyoming, Gov. Mark Gordon said high winds and more snowfall were expected in the state and government operations would be limited. He tweeted for residents to \"stay safe and avoid unnecessary travel.\" Additional snow is predicted to fall in parts of South Dakota, southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. The National Weather Service in Phoenix warned that strong winds up to 40-50 mph are expected through Monday afternoon. Road closures Whiteout conditions closed dozens of roads in Colorado throughout most of Sunday — including several sections of Interstate 70, according to the state's Transportation Department. Sections of Interstate 25 and 76 were closed as well. Small avalanches were reported, affecting Colorado Highway 14 in the north-central region on Sunday, Colorado's DOT said. Major highway routes in Nebraska were also shut through Sunday due to blizzard conditions that left feet of snow on roads. Several sections of I-80 and I-25 were also closed in Wyoming. Snowplowing operations in Wyoming's Casper area Sunday afternoon were suspended, the region's transportation department said. \"We had several plows drive off the roadway due to limited to zero visibility,\" the agency said on its Facebook page. Power outages, canceled flights More than 54,000 homes and businesses were without power Sunday afternoon in Colorado. By Sunday night at 11, 26,000 were still without power. The winter weather also forced the closure of all six of Denver International Airport's runways through Sunday but the runways were reopened on Monday. The late-season winter storm dropped 24.1 inches at the airport, enough to make the storm the fourth-largest in the city's history, according to Colorado Public Radio.", "Update at 12:22 a.m. ET. Medical Examiner Confirms 5 Killed The Associated Press is reporting that the Oklahoma medical examiner's office says 5 people have been killed in the tornado outbreak in the Oklahoma suburbs. Update at 9:55 p.m. ET. Highway Patrol Says Two Killed: A mother and baby were killed in the Oklahoma City area during the storm, the Associated Press reports, citing the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. \"Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph says troopers found the bodies in a vehicle along Interstate 40 west of the city Friday. \"Tornadoes slammed Oklahoma City and its suburbs, crumbling cars and tractor-trailers.\" Update at 9:10 p.m. ET. Highway Patrol Says Motorists Hurt, Missing: The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says some motorists have been injured in the storms and others are missing, but has not given specific numbers. Update at 7:45 p.m. ET. NWS Issues Tornado Emergency for Oklahoma City Suburbs: The National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., says it is tracking \"a large and extremely dangerous tornado 6 miles southeast of El Reno. The emergency covers Oklahoma City, as well as Moore, which was hit by a massive EF-5 tornado last week that killed 24 people. NWS calls it a \"life threatening situation\" and warns people to get underground if possible. KFOR described the tornado as \"a mile wide.\" The Associated Press says damage was reported south of Interstate 40 near El Reno after the twister swept through, but that so far there had been no reports of injuries. It said several funnels had touched down south of El Reno, 25 miles west of Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has closed I-40 in Oklahoma City and issued a warning for motorists to exit the interstate and seek shelter. Trooper Betsy Randolph told the AP that numerous vehicles were damaged in the storm and that many motorists are stranded. KWTV reports that about 1,200 people were sheltered at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, which halted operations due to the storm. Here's our original post This has become a daily feature: The National Weather Service is warning — as it has each day for the past couple weeks — that there could be dangerous storms across much of the nation's mid-section. Where to be on alert: \"From northwest Texas to the Great Lakes,\" with the potential for \"tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds from central Oklahoma to parts of the Ozarks Friday afternoon and evening.\" On Thursday, according to The Weather Channel, \"at least three tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma, including one in Tulsa, and two more hit Arkansas. ... At least nine people were injured.\" Looking ahead, the National Weather Service expects strong storms will strike again on Saturday from Texas up to the Great Lakes, and predicts there will at least be thunderstorms across an even wider swath of the eastern half of the nation. There isn't any relief expected for the states that have suffered the most in recent weeks — most notably Oklahoma — until Sunday.", "Last month, Republican lawmakers decried critical race theory, an academic approach that examines how race and racism function in American institutions. \"Folks, we're in a cultural warfare today,\" Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said at a news conference alongside six other members of the all-Republican House Freedom Caucus. \"Critical race theory asserts that people with white skin are inherently racist, not because of their actions, words or what they actually believe in their heart — but by virtue of the color of their skin.\" Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., added: \"Democrats want to teach our children to hate each other.\" Many Republican lawmakers, who are fighting what they label as the teaching of critical race theory in schools, contend it divides Americans. Democrats and their allies maintain progress is unlikely without examining the root causes of disparity in the country, although they push back on the idea that critical race theory itself — a scholarly undertaking — is being taught on the K-12 level. The issue is shaping up to be a major cultural battle ahead of next year's midterm elections. Academics, particularly legal scholars, have studied critical race theory for decades. But its main entry into the partisan fray came in 2020, when former President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning federal contractors from conducting certain racial sensitivity trainings. It was challenged in court, and President Biden rescinded the order the day he took office. Since then, the issue has taken hold as a rallying cry among some Republican lawmakers who argue the approach unfairly forces students to consider race and racism. \"A stand-in for this larger anxiety\" Andrew Hartman, a history professor at Illinois State University, described the battle over critical race theory as typical of the culture wars, where \"the issue itself is not always the thing driving the controversy.\" \"I'm not really sure that the conservatives right now know what it is or know its history,\" said Hartman, author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars. He said critical race theory posits that racism is endemic to American society through history and that, consequently, Americans have to think about institutions like the justice system or schools through the perspective of race and racism. However, he said, \"conservatives, since the 1960s, have increasingly defined American society as a colorblind society, in the sense that maybe there were some problems in the past but American society corrected itself and now we have these laws and institutions that are meritocratic and anybody, regardless of race, can achieve the American dream.\" Confronted by the Black Lives Matter protests of last summer, as well as the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 curriculum, which roots American history in its racist past, Hartman said many Americans want simple answers. \"And so critical race theory becomes a stand-in for this larger anxiety about people being upset about persistent racism,\" he said. Legislative action States such as Idaho and Oklahoma have adopted laws that limit how public school teachers can talk about race in the classroom, and Republican legislatures in nearly half a dozen states have advanced similar bills that target teachings that some educators say they don't teach anyway. There's movement on the national level too. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has introduced the Combating Racist Training in the Military Act, a bill that would prohibit the armed forces and academics at the Defense Department from promoting \"anti-American and racist theories,\" which, according to the bill's text, includes critical race theory. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said he is co-sponsoring legislation that would prevent federal dollars from being spent on what he labels critical race theory in schools or government offices. \"The ideas behind critical race theory and [its] implementation is creating this oppressor-oppressed divide amongst our people,\" Donalds told NPR. \"And so no matter how you feel about the history of our country — as a Black man, I think our history has actually been quite awful, I mean, that's without question — but you also have to take into account the progression of our country, especially over the last 60 to 70 years.\" Donalds said the country's history, including its ills, should be taught, but that critical race theory causes more problems than solutions. \"It only causes more divisions, which doesn't help our union become the more perfect union,\" he said. A post-racial country? Nearly half of the speakers at the Republican news conference in May invoked Martin Luther King Jr., expressing their desire to be judged \"by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.\" But Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, a sociology professor at Duke University, said King's dream was about the future. \"He didn't say, 'We are now in a colorblind society,' \" he said. Bonilla-Silva, whose book Racism Without Racists critiques the notio", "Just how bad is the state of the nation's highway infrastructure? So bad, tires on FedEx trucks last only half as long as they did 20 years ago, as they deteriorate rapidly from crumbling pavement and get more flats from gaping potholes. \"We're using almost 100 percent more tires to produce the same mileage of transportation,\" FedEx Chairman and CEO Fred Smith told the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Wednesday. \"Why is that? Because the road infrastructure has so many potholes in it, it's tearing up tires faster than before.\" In addition, \"the cost of congestion is getting worse,\" Smith continued. \"It's preventing time-certain deliveries\" for his and other businesses whose growth is dependent upon on-demand orders and rapid, direct-to-consumers delivery. The House committee is beginning to lay the groundwork for what is expected to be a massive infrastructure proposal from the Trump administration in coming months. The president has said he will spend up to $1 trillion rebuilding the nation's roads, bridges, tunnels and airports but has offered few specifics. The hearing was intended to outline the vast need for infrastructure improvements and start discussing ways to pay for it; but therein lies the rub. There is almost universal agreement that there's a great list of things in need of repair, whether seaports or airports, railways or waterways. But few in Congress, especially in the majority party, seem willing to back specific taxes or fees to fund infrastructure. \"Finding the money is the 900-pound gorilla in the room,\" said Republican Rep. Brian Babin of Texas. Democrat Peter DeFazio of Oregon reminded fellow committee members that the Highway Trust Fund is running out of money because the current 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax falls far short of funding present needs. DeFazio says the existing highway and transit spending plan already relies on \"gimmicks\" and \"funny money that we'll never see.\" The Trump administration has floated a plan to use tax credits to lure private investment in infrastructure projects, but experts say that can work only for projects such as toll roads that will generate a revenue stream to pay off investors. And none of the corporate chief executives testifying before the committee Wednesday said they believe such public-private partnerships could generate anywhere near enough revenue to meet the infrastructure needs. \"We at Federal Express support an increase in the gas tax,\" said Smith. But he quickly added that his company is rapidly moving toward using more electric, hybrid electric and natural gas fueled vehicles, which would not pay traditional gasoline and diesel taxes. So he says his company would support a tax on vehicle miles traveled, tolls or congestion-based pricing, which would charge all highway users. Others testifying before the committee, including David MacLennan, CEO of agribusiness giant Cargill; BMW of North America CEO Ludwig Willisch; Mary Andringa, CEO of Iowa-based manufacturer Vermeer Corp.; and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, expressed support for increased user fees to pay for fixing up, rebuilding and expanding the nation's infrastructure. But a coalition called the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates, which includes the American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, asks committee members to \"reject tolling of existing interstates as a financing method.\" Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, a Republican from Pennsylvania, told The Washington Post this week that adding tolls to existing interstate highways is a political nonstarter. Such opposition to tolls, combined with \"no tax increase\" pledges signed by many Republicans, reduces the prospects for any increase in motor fuel taxes, frustrating some Democrats. DeFazio suggests his proposal for a small increase in the gas tax that is indexed to inflation would have few political consequences. \"Gas would go up 2 cents a gallon,\" he said. \"Anybody think they're going to lose their election over that?\" Near the end of the hearing, which lasted more than three hours, Democratic Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada said it ended up sounding like too many hearings in Congress in years past. \"We're having the same conversation,\" she said. \"I keep hearing the same rhetoric without action.\"", "A dispute over a $75 speeding ticket has climbed through the levels of Iowa's court system, reaching the lofty heights of the Iowa Supreme Court for oral arguments. Marla Leaf got a speeding ticket because a camera allegedly caught her driving 68 mph in a 55-mph zone on an interstate freeway through the city of Cedar Rapids in February 2015. It's not typical for the state's top court to hear small-claims cases. But in her case against the city of Cedar Rapids, Leaf argues that her constitutional rights and state law were violated because the city delegated police powers to the private company that maintains the speed cameras. Opponents of automated traffic enforcement may view such cameras as \"unduly intrusive, unfair and simply amounting to sophisticated speed traps designed to raise funds for cash-strapped municipalities by ensnaring unsuspected car owners in a municipal bureaucracy under the circumstances where most busy people find it preferable to shut up and pay rather than to scream and to fight,\" Leaf's attorney, James Larew, told the justices on Wednesday. He said his clients \"refuse to be stilled.\" Leaf's case has been joined with another that involves similar issues. At various levels of Iowa's court system over more than two years, Leaf has said she believes she was not speeding, especially because of slippery road conditions that day. The cameras are triggered if they record speeds of more than 12 miles over the speed limit. Leaf's case argues that it is unlawful to give the authority to assess speeding — something it says is police work — to the private camera company, Gatso. Can the assessment of a municipal violation be done, Larew asked, \"by the police department appointing a friend of theirs to serve as a hearing officer?\" Lower Iowa courts have been satisfied that the system is constitutional because it is the police department — and not the private company — that ultimately makes the decision to issue a speeding ticket. \"There is never a citation issued that does not get reviewed and approved by a police officer,\" Gatso attorney Paul Burns told the justices. According to court documents, Gatso receives $25 per citation. Larew also argued that there is no valid safety reason for the camera system on Interstate 380 — also the site of alleged speeding violations by the other parties to the case. He said the cameras don't issue tickets to semitrailers and government vehicles, calling the discrepancy arbitrary and a violation of equal protection. The camera system works by focusing on back license plates, which government vehicles do not have in Iowa. Patricia Kropf, an attorney for the city, told the court that the excluded vehicles are \"just not in the database that we need to use to do this in a cost-effective manner.\" Burns also claimed that photographs taken of front license plates would potentially pose privacy concerns because the faces of passengers in the vehicle might be included. Larew also challenged whether it is constitutional for the city of Cedar Rapids to assess fines for speed on federal interstate highways. The future of certain speed cameras is up in the air across the state, The Gazette newspaper writes: \"In March 2015, the Iowa [Department of Transportation] ordered 10 of 34 camera locations on primary highways and interstates around the state turned off, and another three moved or modified, stating they didn't improve the safety of the highway system. After losing an appeal to the Iowa DOT director, the cities of Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Muscatine — three of six cities in Iowa with traffic cameras on state highways or interstates under Iowa DOT control — sued in June 2015 to keep the cameras on.\"", "How do we explain the arrest of a firefighter by a police officer at the scene of an accident — after an argument over where a fire truck should park? The authorities are still discussing the incident, which took place Tuesday night on California's I-805, where a car had rolled over at the center road barrier. As San Diego's CBS 8 TV reports, an argument broke out between a California Highway Patrol officer and a firefighter from Chula Vista, as they clashed over where the Chula Vista crew's fire engine should be stationed. Firefighters had placed their vehicle along the center road divider, close to where a car had flipped over, and behind an ambulance. Emergency personnel tended to the car's two occupants as the conflict went on around them. CBS 8's cameras captured the incident, which ended with the firefighter being handcuffed and placed in the back of a police cruiser. The firefighter, Jacob Gregoire, 36, was held in the police car for about 30 minutes before being released, CBS 8 says. The station posted video showing Gregoire talking to the news crew to be sure they knew what was taking place. \"Hey, I just want to let you know, he's arresting me for not moving the fire truck,\" Gregoire can be heard yelling. And with that, he was handcuffed. Despite the unusual situation and the disagreement it followed, the firefighter and police officer aren't seen exhibiting much aggression toward one another in the video, which shows them talking as Gregoire is led away. The fire department's chief tells CBS 8 that while the CHP would have jurisdiction over a scene on the interstate, it wasn't yet clear whether the police had claimed control when the dispute escalated. The fire truck was reportedly the first to arrive at the scene. Members of the CHP and the Chula Vista fire department held a meeting Wednesday to discuss the conflict. A statement released by Fire Chief Dave Hanneman praises the fire department's members for not escalating the tension: \"In an emergency, the Chula Vista Fire Department is responsible for the safety and care of the injured victims and for the safety of the crew. Our goal at an emergency is to secure the scene and begin emergency care and transport victims to the hospital as soon as possible. Last night, there were two injured passengers our crew needed to reach and treat in a rollover vehicle accident on Interstate 805. One of our firefighters on the scene was detained by the California Highway Patrol. I am very proud of how Engineer Jacob Gregoire and the other firefighters on the scene handled the situation. While we work very well together with the CHP 99% of the time, we need to find out what happened last night and how we can improve training and communication to prevent something like this from happening in the future.\" The CHP hasn't released a statement about the incident. Thanks to NPR Senior Editor Susan Vavrick for sending this story our way.", "Teen pregnancy is often discussed in political rather than personal terms, says novelist Brit Bennett. \"We think often about teen pregnancies — or even think about abortion ... in this very politicized way,\" she tells NPR's Steve Inskeep. Bennett thinks people don't necessarily ask themselves: What would I do if I were in this situation? So in her debut novel, The Mothers, she tells the story of Nadia Turner, a 17-year-old high schooler who becomes pregnant after dating the son of a local pastor. \"I was drawn to the idea of this character who is driven and wants to go to college, but who gets pregnant unexpectedly and has to figure out what to do,\" Bennett explains. Nadia has an abortion, graduates from school in Oceanside, Calif., and then goes on to college. Bennett has been writing and re-writing and revising this novel since she herself was in high school in Oceanside. Interview Highlights On finding inspiration in her own teen years There's a way in which [Nadia's] situation was something that I feared at that age — the idea of this unwanted pregnancy and the way that that could change your life or dictate your future, depending on what you chose to do. So I sort of wrote in the direction of that fear and explored the idea of these young people in this church community — because I had grown up in the church myself — and had a lot of questions about being young in the church. On writing about \"ordinary black life\" I think I was interested in depicting this community that was racially diverse, which Oceanside is as a military town. ... But I also was interested in the experience of creating characters whose lives are inflected by race but whose lives are not necessarily dictated by racism. So I wanted to sort just depict ordinary black life. I think that there's something really powerful and humanizing of not fore-grounding white racism as the No.1 problem of being black. On the comparison between her own childhood and her mother's childhood I think it was very different. I grew up in a lot of culturally diverse spaces and definitely not majority black spaces. Where my mom lived in segregated Louisiana, she went to segregated schools. She told me a story about how they couldn't try on shoes in the store. You had to measure your foot with a string and bring the string to the shoe store because black people couldn't try on shoes. ... Just the idea of the experience like shoe shopping being so racialized, I feel like the way that I've had to come to think of race and to think of racism is complicated in a different way. I think that a lot of the ways in which I've learned to read it is a lot more nuanced than somebody saying, \"You can't try on shoes because you're black.\" On how the racism that her mother faced was much more explicit [My mom] didn't have to second-guess. ... People would tell you to your face how they felt about you so it wasn't that level of second-guessing. I think that that's something that I experienced, and a lot of people of color told me that they experienced that, too — this sort of question of: Is this person just rude? Are they doing this to me because I'm black? Is it because I'm a young person? That level of trying to constantly read into the intentions of other people. And does it matter why this person did this thing to me if it's harmful? On why she and other contemporary black writers are choosing not to make white racism central to their books' narratives I think it's indicative of our time. I think racism is something that is pervasive, that is systemic, that definitely still exists and shapes our lives, and shapes our perceptions and our reactions and our histories and all of that. That being said, I think that there is — that's something very powerful to shine a spotlight on black communities that are interacting with each other. Black relationships and black people living life going through whatever existential questions any person might experience. And that their major conflict is not whiteness. I think that that's something powerful to think about and I think that there are a lot of really exciting black writers who are doing that nowadays.", "NEW ORLEANS — Forecasters warned residents along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast to rush preparations Saturday ahead of an intensifying Hurricane Ida, which is expected to bring winds as high as 130 mph (209 kph), life-threatening storm surge and flooding rain when it slams ashore in Louisiana on Sunday. Coastal highways saw heavy traffic as people moved to get out of the path of Ida, which the National Hurricane Center warned could grow to an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm. Trucks pulling saltwater fishing boats and campers streamed away from the coast Interstate 65 in south Alabama. Traffic jams clogged Interstate 10 heading out of New Orleans. \"We're going to catch it head-on,\" said Bebe McElroy as she prepared to leave her home in the coastal Louisiana village of Cocodrie. \"I'm just going around praying, saying, 'Dear Lord, just watch over us.'\" Ida was poised to strike Louisiana 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts. A Category 3 storm, Katrina was blamed for 1,800 deaths and caused levee breaches and catastrophic flooding in New Orleans, which took years to recover. \"We're not the same state we were 16 years ago,\" Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Saturday, pointing to a federal levee system that's seen major improvements since Katrina swamped New Orleans in 2005. \"This system is going to be tested,\" Edwards said. \"The people of Louisiana are going to be tested. But we are resilient and tough people. And we're going to get through this.\" Edwards said 5,000 National Guard troops were being staged in 14 parishes for search and rescue efforts with high-water vehicles, boats and helicopters. And 10,000 linemen were on standby to respond to electrical outages. A tropical depression two days earlier, Ida was strengthening so quickly that New Orleans officials said there was no time to organize a mandatory evacuation of the city's 390,000 residents, a task that would require coordinating with the state and neighboring locales to turn highways into one-way routes away from the city. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called for a voluntary evacuation and reiterated Saturday that the time to safely leave was growing short. City officials also were preparing to open shelters for anyone displaced by the storm. They also warned those who stayed to be prepared for long power outages amid sweltering heat in the days ahead. Ramsey Green, the city's top infrastructure official, stressed that the levee and drainage systems protecting the city have been much improved since Katrina. \"That said, if we see 10 to 20 inches of rain over an abbreviated period of time, we will see flooding,\" he said. In Washington, President Joe Biden called Ida \"very dangerous\" and urged Americans \"to pay attention and be prepared.\" He spoke Saturday at the start of a virtual briefing with Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell on storm preparation. Lines at gas pumps and car rental agencies grew long as residents and tourists alike prepared to leave Saturday. \"We were willing to wait it out but the hotel said we had to leave,\" said visitor Lays Lafaurie of Fort Worth, Texas, waiting in a rental car line at the city's airport. \"They said we had to leave by 7 tomorrow morning. But if we'd waited that long there wouldn't have been any cars left.\" Ida posed a threat far beyond New Orleans. A hurricane warning was issued for nearly 200 miles (320 kilometers) of Louisiana's coastline, from Intracoastal City south of Lafayette to the Mississippi state line. A tropical storm warning was extended to the Alabama-Florida line, and Mobile Bay in Alabama was under a storm surge watch. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency Saturday for the state's coastal and western counties, warning Ida could bring flooding and tornadoes there. In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves urged residents to stay off of interstate highways to make room for people fleeing Louisiana. He said 19 shelters had opened to take in evacuees. Several casinos on the Mississippi coast had closed ahead of Ida. Meteorologist Jeff Masters, who flew hurricane missions for the government and founded Weather Underground, said Ida is forecast to move through \"the just absolute worst place for a hurricane.\" \"There's hundreds of major industry sites there, I mean petrochemical sites, three of the 15 largest ports in America, a nuclear power plant,\" Masters said. \"You're probably going to shut down the Mississippi River for barge traffic for multiple weeks.\" Phillips 66 said it was shutting operations at its refinery in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, based on Ida's projected path. Many gas stations in and around New Orleans were out of gas, and the few still open had lines more than a dozen cars deep. Mike Laurent of Marrero, Louisiana, was filling up about a dozen gas canisters to fuel his generator and those of friends and family. Laurent said he and his family will be riding out the storm at home despit" ]

[ "Currently, the state charges a $20 application fee (for first-time licenses), which includes the price of the driver's test, and a $25 licensing fee. After Oct. 1, those fees will increase to $35 for the application and $45 for the license." ]

[ "How much does it cost to take the GED in Ontario? The entire GED test (all five subject tests) costs $100.", "How much does it cost to renew your driver's license in Oregon? The fee to renew a regular Class C non-commercial driver's license in Oregon is $40, payable by cash or check in person at the OR DMV office.", "How much does a REAL ID cost? There is no additional charge to obtain a REAL ID, except for standard transaction fees, according to the New York DMV. An enhanced driver's license costs $30, plus transaction fees.", "How much does it cost to renew your driver's license in Ohio? The current fee to renew your driver's license in Ohio is $25.75. The Ohio DMV driver's license renewal agencies accept cash, check, money order or credit card.", "How much does an Indiana change of address cost? An update to your Indiana address with the DMV is free, but you'll need to pay $9 if you want a replacement driver's license with your new address.", "How much does it cost to take the GRE? The General Test will cost $160 for individuals testing in the United States, U.S. Territories, and Puerto Rico, and $190 for individuals testing in all other locations.", "Complete DMV-approved drivers education. Study for and take the written instruction permit test. Take drivers training and practice driving under supervision. Take the driving test for your California drivers license.", "How much does it cost to take the TCLEDDS? The examination fee is $25.00.", "Price & Payment How much does the GED® test cost? Alberta charges $40 per subject for the GED® test.", "How much does it cost to get a GED? According to the GED.com website, the cost of getting a GED total to $120. This means that each subject costs $30. Normally, however, test-takers don't take all the 4 GED tests altogether.", "How much does a private polygraph test cost? Trained polygraph examiners administer lie detector tests for a fee. The typical cost is between $200 and $2,000. The specific cost usually increases with the length of the test.", "How Much Does It Cost To Hire A Truck Driver? It depends on who you ask, but most folks throughout the industry say it costs $5,000 to hire one professional driver.", "No. How much does a New York change of address cost? It will cost $17.50 to get an updated driver's license or permit with your new address, and $8 for an non-driver ID card.", "Driver's License Renewal Fees How much does it cost to renew your driver's license in Vermont? A two-year license costs $32 and a four-year license costs $51. If you wish to apply for an Enhanced Driver License, that is an additional $30.", "How much does a Replacement Driver License or Identification Card cost? Replacement Driver License, Identification or Travel ID Cards will cost you a state fee of $12.00.", "['Complete the DATA Course - Drugs Alcohol Traffic Awareness (also known as TLSAE)', 'Prepare for the 50 Question Permit Test.', 'Take the Permit Test at a local DMV Office.', 'Go to the DMV and Pass the Road Test.', 'Get Your Drivers License.']", "How much does it cost to get an A1 motorcycle licence? To take your A1 category motorcycle licence you'll need: A CBT certificate (approx £75) A Motorcycle Theory Test (£25)", "How much does a driver's licence cost to renew? It costs $125 for drivers to renew Class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5 and 8 driver's licences. $65 for seniors (Class 5 and 6 only).", "Time limits: All drivers must renew their licenses in person at a DMV office every eight years. Vision test: Required at in-person renewal; DMV personnel will conduct a test free. Written test: May be required at the discretion of DMV personnel. Road test: May be required at the discretion of DMV personnel.", "How much does it cost to hire a personal driver? The average cost of hiring a personal diver through Airtasker is $60-$220, but your service could cost more or less than this.", "Once you have met these requirements, the DMV will issue you a Delaware Class D driver license. Your license will be for eight years. If your out-of-state driver license is expired, get ready to take the knowledge test at a DMV office.", "How much does the practical motorbike test cost? Module one costs £15.50 and module two costs £75 (£88.50 on weekends). Both modules together should take little over an hour, and you need to pass both to be given a full licence.", "Delaware DMV Drivers Test Information There are a total of 30 questions on the Delaware permit test.", "How much does a cat DNA test cost? The prices vary from test to test, with cheaper testes (like CatDNATest.org) going for as little as $45. More expensive tests can easily cost you over $100.", "How much does it cost to get an EDL or EID in Washington? If you're getting a new Enhanced Driver's License or ID and you've never had one before, it will cost $78. Each standard driver's license is valid for six years and costs $54 to renew.", "How much does it cost to take the HiSET exam in New Hampshire? The fee per subtest is $25.", "How much does a TX Driver's license cost? If you are between 15 and 18, the cost is $16. If you are between 18 and 85, the cost is $25. Individuals over the age of 85 must pay $9 for a Texas Driver's license.", "How much does the learner permit cost in Florida? Florida's learner permit fee is $48.00. This doesn't include the cost for the permit test or the DATA/TLSAE course.", "How Much Does it Cost to Take the GED in Texas? In Texas, the total cost of the GED is $145 ($36.25 for each of the four subject tests). You can retake any subject test up to two times at a reduced rate. You must retake within 12 months to be eligible for the discount.", "How Much Does a Mono Test Cost? On MDsave, the cost of a Mono Test ranges from $6 to $55. Those on high deductible health plans or without insurance can shop, compare prices and save.", "If your New York State driver license is expired for more than two years, you must apply for a new driver license. You must pass a vision test, a written test, and a road test. You must complete a pre-licensing course. Learn how to apply for a new driver license at the DMV website.", "['What type of health plan it is? ... ', 'What does the policy cover? ... ', 'What the policy does not cover? ... ', 'Does your health insurance policy cover routine tests? ... ', 'How much does the plan cost? ... ', 'How is the policy premium determined? ... ', 'How much money will you have to pay for availing medical care?']" ]

[ "Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) [\"China Aims To Save 69 Bln Cubic Meters of Water by 2010\" - Xinhua headline] Beijing, Feb." ]

[ "Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) [\"China Sets Water-Saving Target for per Unit GDP Growth by 2010\" - Xinhua headline] Beijing, Feb.", "Los Angeles residents were urged on Wednesday to take shorter showers, reduce lawn sprinklers and stop throwing trash in toilets in a bid to cut water usage by 10 percent in the driest year on record.", "China&#39;s Minister of Water Resources on Monday said China would have an average annual water shortage of 40 billion cubic meters, if it stopped over-tapping groundwater.", "Seventy percent of global water usage is taken up by agriculture and using water efficiently is seen as key in preventing serious shortages, with experts studying river basins across the world for clues to boost food production.", "Science & environment: UK's leading food and drink manufacturers join forces in new initiative to reduce water usage", "China says 312 million villagers face water shortages or use water contaminated by fluorine, arsenic and organic or industrial pollutants.", "BEIJING - Falling water levels in China's Yangtze River have left 1 million people short of drinking water, state media reported Monday.", "By the numbers: a snapshot of development's impact on water usage in the basin.", "By Anonymous Researchers at West Virginia University's West Virginia Water Research Institute have received a grant to develop a water quality trading program aimed at reducing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.", "China will selectively reduce spending to help trim its ballooning fiscal deficit, state media reported Monday, citing top economic officials.", "Polluters along two of China's main rivers have defied a decade-old clean-up effort, leaving much of the water unfit to touch, let alone drink, and a risk to a sixth of the population, state media said on Monday.", "By Zhan Lisheng GUANGZHOU: This city should put recycled water to better and more extensive use and save more fresh water to overcome water shortages and reduce salt tides, a deputy to the city's legislature has suggested.", "BEIJING: China faces water shortage of 40 billion cubic meters (1,400 billion cubic feet) every year with severe water pollution posing a threat to the health of millions of people, state media reported.", "China says it welcomes Russia&#39;s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol that aims to stem global warming by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.", "China is set to become to the world's largest consumer of energy by 2010, a report claims.", "Underground water reserves in around 9 out of every 10 Chinese cities are polluted or over-exploited, and could take hundreds of years to recover, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.", "By Ma Lie XI'AN: Northwest China's Gansu Province recently unveiled a water management plan to ease shortages in the province and curb pollution. The plan covers 116 rivers that run through the province.", "Rutgers signed Gary Waters to coach the Scarlet Knights basketball team through 2010, the school announced Thursday. Waters has coached the team three years.", "The auto giant aims to eliminate all waste at half its plants by 2010.", "Water supplies to 200,000 people in eastern China were cut for 40 hours due to groundwater pollution, allegedly from chemical plants, state media reported Wednesday.", "Il GP d'Inghilterra a Silverstone a partire dal 2010 rischierebbe di scomparire dal calendario del M...", "IBM is doubling its Boulder, Colorado data center capacity by 2010, without increasing energy usage or carbon emissions.", "Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Beijing, 14 December: The Chinese national capital will endeavour to make all rivers and lakes within the sixth ring road of the city free of pollution by the year 2010.", "China's government on Tuesday stepped up controls on land uses in a new effort to cool off an economic boom and threatened to punish local officials who fail to stop improper sales, a state news agency reported.", "Beijing determined to clean up all polluted rivers, lakes by 2010 BEIJING, Dec.14 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese national capital will endeavor to make all rivers and lakes within the sixth ring road of the city free of pollution by the year 2010.", "3rd Ld-China Focus: Drought leaves 300,000 people short of drinking water in northwest China XI'AN, Feb.", "Groundwater levels are dropping around China, where leaders face tough choices as cities, industry and farming compete for an unbalanced and finite water supply.", "China should see a \"turning point\" this year in its fight against pollution and will likely meet its clean air and water goals in coming years, an environmental official said Tuesday in an unusually optimistic assessment.", "Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said Monday that enacting legislation aimed at punishing China over its economic policies could unsettle markets.", "India and China's leaders pledge to double annual trade to $40bn by 2010 during talks in Delhi.", "Water release eases drinking water shortages in SW China city WUHAN, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Three hydropower dams on a major tributary of the Yangtze River have been ordered to discharge water to help drought-stricken residents in southwest China's Chongqing municipality.", "38 bln tons of waste water flows into China's three major rivers last year BEIJING, Dec." ]

[ "For H3K9me1:\n\n\nH3: name of the histone\nK9: amino acid and position (K = lysine, position 9) of modification\nme1: modification (me = methylation, ac = Acetylation), and number of modifications\n\n\nSo H3K9me1 means that the 9th residue (lysine) of histone H3 was monomethylated. Similarly H3K9Ac means that same residue was acetylated.\n\nWikipedia gives a decent explanation of the nomenclature of histone modifications, and there is also a more detailed table in Nature Structural &amp; Molecular Biology." ]

[ "I only know of one method, but here it is. You create a sphere the diameter of the VdW radius of water, and then 'roll' it along the surface. I know this as a Richards-Lee surface, wikipedia has another name for it. \n\n\n\nThis looks complicated, but its not. you move the probe sphere along the surface of the molecule in the XY plane until it just touches the vdW radius of the protein, keeping the center of the sphere as the surface, all the way around the molecule. If you like, you can color the surface by the charge of the position too, which is useful for discussing solvent interactions. \n\nThen you translate along the z axis and do another contour until you run out of protein. Apparently jmol and other packages will do this for you. \n\nWikipedia references a more mathematical method LCPO, which I am not so familiar with. \n\nIs this accurate? As usual with such calculations its more of a guess than an answer. You can do the calculation on any structure or any ensemble of structures (like NMR gives). It doesn't understand how the molecule might be flexible or dynamic. If you read up on your physical chemistry you see that proteins breathe and can allow diffusion into the core rather readily. If I recall right, you can get rather large molecules quenching heme flouresence in hemoglobin at room temperature. \n\nIf you are looking to dock 2 proteins, SAS might be more useful. Its an important piece of information, but not an ultimate answer. I'm afraid with proteins that doesn't happen so easily. \n\n@bobthejoe asked about SAS for which no structure exists.\nThis is an extremely difficult thing to even guess at. The non helpful answer is that the surface of the protein goes as the cube root of the molecular weight of the protein. \n\nBy getting a solution of the protein and shooting it in a syhcrotron, you can get a mean radius of gyration pretty easily which will give you an ellipsoidal volume (and surface area) for a protein. Again most of the particulars would be lost and this could easily be off by 25% for an irregularly shaped protein. For a regular globular protein it might give an answer similar to the power law above. \n\nI have seen physical chemistry experiments that look for changes in osmotic pressure when the salt concentration in a solution of the protein changes substantially (Adrian Parsegian's work at NIH in the late 80s). \n\nI doubt you will find any of these answers useful as their mean error is going to be very large (20-200%) and also assumes the protein is soluable and amenable to the experimental conditions. \n\nSolvent probes can help too. For instance exposing the protein to D20 then doing mass spectroscopy on the protein. This is still only going to give you a general idea of how much of the peptide is surface exposed. Protein structure is still pretty necessary to getting any accurate measurement of SAS I think.", "It's really not as simple as carbs are either used for energy or they turn into fat. Lyle McDonald has a great article that talks about Nutrient Storage and Oxidation.\nNutrient Storage\n\nCarbohydrates can be stored as liver or muscle glycogen, under rare\ncircumstances they are converted to and stored as fat. Dietary fat is\nstored either in fat cells or can be stored within muscle as\nintra-muscular triglyceride (IMTG). Under certain pathological\nconditions, fat gets stored in places it’s not supposed to go, a\nsituation called ectopic fat storage. In a very real sense there’s no\ntrue store of dietary protein although amino acids from protein\ndigestion are used to make various proteins and hormones in the body.\nSkeletal muscle is, in essence, a ‘store’ of protein in the body.\nThere is no store of alcohol in the body.\n\nFat Oxidation\n\nBut for the most part, ingested dietary fat has little impact on fat\nburning in the body; that is, when you eat dietary fat, your body\ndoesn’t increase fat oxidation. One exception is if an absolutely\nmassive amount of fat (like 80 g) is consumed all at once but even\nthen the effect is fairly mild. Some specific fats, notably medium\nchain triglycerides, are somewhat of an exception to this; they are\noxidized in the liver directly. Rather, the primary controller of\ndietary fat oxidation in the body is how many carbohydrates you’re\neating, which I’ll explain momentarily.\n\nCarb Oxidation\n\n[Since the body only has around ~500 grams of carb stores it]is\nextremely good at modulating carbohydrate oxidation to carbohydrate\nintake. Eat more carbs and you burn more carbs (you also store more\nglycogen); eat less carbs and you burn less carbs (and glycogen levels\ndrop). This occurs for a variety of reasons including changing\ninsulin levels (fructose, for example, since it doesn’t raise insulin,\ndoesn’t increase carbohydrate oxidation) and simple substrate\navailability. And, as it turns out, fat oxidation is basically\ninversely related to carbohydrate oxidation.\n\nProtein Oxidation\n\nAs I mentioned above, an under-appreciated fact is that about half of\nall ingested dietary protein is metabolized in the liver (details on\nthis can be found in The Protein Book). Some of it is oxidized for\nenergy while others are converted into other things (including glucose\nand ketones) for use elsewhere. But, protein oxidation rates do\nchange in response to intake. So, when protein intake goes up,\noxidation will increase; when protein intake goes down, oxidation\nrates decrease. This change isn’t immediate (as it more or less is\nfor carbohydrates) and takes 3-9 days to occur but mis-understanding\nof this process has led to some goofy ideas such as protein cycling.\n\nHaving gotten that out of the way, we can start to understand the role of fat from A Primer on Nutrition pt 2\n\nOf course, a primary role of dietary fats in the body is to be used\nfor energy and it was assumed for many years that this was the only\nreal role of fat, to provide energy storage. This was especially true\nof stored body fat which was thought for decades to provide only a\npassive storage depot of energy; rather it turns out that fat cells do\nmuch more in the body, producing hormones and such that affect myriad\nprocesses elsewhere in the body (a topic I’ve discussed at length on\nthe site and in my books).. Fats are also found in the cell membranes\nof various tissues (and the type of fat stored there can affect\nvarious cellular processes). As well, fats can be used to make\neicosanoids, chemical messengers made from specific fatty acids that\naffect numerous biological processes. Specific dietary fats can also\naffect gene expression in certain cells, impacting on things like fat\nstorage and oxidation and many others.\nSo what is dietary fat used for before turning into body fat?\n\nFat is mainly an energy source and the body's favorite one to store. It also has a host of other known and unknown functions in the body as per the quote above. Fat is also the only source of essential fatty acids, fat soluble vitamins, and other nutrients.\n\nI learned from a previous question here that dietary cholesterol\ndoesn't necessary increase cholesterol in the bloodstream. Maybe the\nsame principle applies to fat...\n\nAs always, the primary determinant of whether stored fat stays stored or gets used for energy is overall caloric balance. If you eat caloric excess, you will store fat. From carbs and proteins, this will occur once lean storage depots are full or inaccessible. Although fats are stored very efficiently, those stores will be tapped for energy (for example during sleep) unless you remain in an overall caloric surplus for the day.", "You can use one of the UniProt Protein APIs.\nAs you said you have your pdb entries in a text file line by line you can, like this example.txt containing:\n1brr\n4lzm\n2dyi\n\nUsing the commandline, you can use a little script like this to download the name, if it is available for the given pdb entry.\nwhile read line;\ndo \n curl -X GET --header 'Accept:application/json' &quot;https://www.ebi.ac.uk/proteins/api/proteins/pdb:$line&quot; | \n jq -r '.[].protein.recommendedName.fullName.value' |\n sed &quot;s/^/$line\\t/&quot; &gt;&gt; pdb_names.txt;\ndone &lt; example.txt;\n\nYou need to have curl, sed and jq installed on your system.\nThis gives you following output in pdb_names.txt\n1brr Bacteriorhodopsin\n4lzm Endolysin\n2dyi Ribosome maturation factor RimM\n\n\nUpdate\nif you want to speed it up, you can run it with parallel.\nparallel -j 4 'curl -X GET --header &quot;Accept:application/json&quot; &quot;https://www.ebi.ac.uk/proteins/api/proteins/pdb:{}&quot; | jq -r &quot;.[]. .protein.recommendedName.fullName.value&quot; | sed &quot;s/^/{}\\t/&quot; &gt;&gt; pdb_names_parallel.txt' :::: example.txt\n\nWith the -j option you call how many jobs should run in parallel. The limit of the UniProt API is 200 request per second per user.\n\nUpdate 7. Nov 2020\nTo get another info beside the protein name, you need to know how the JSON response from UniProt looks like.\nTo get also the scientific name, you can run following command:\nparallel -j 4 'curl -X GET --header &quot;Accept:application/json&quot; &quot;https://www.ebi.ac.uk/proteins/api/proteins/pdb:{}&quot; | jq -r &quot;.[] | .protein.recommendedName.fullName.value + \\&quot; - \\&quot; + .organism.names[0].value&quot; | sed &quot;s/^/{}\\t/&quot; &gt;&gt; pdb_names_parallel.txt' :::: example.txt\n\nAs result you get this:\n1brr Bacteriorhodopsin - Halobacterium salinarum (strain ATCC 700922 / JCM 11081 / NRC-1)\n4lzm Endolysin - Enterobacteria phage T4\n2dyi Ribosome maturation factor RimM - Thermus thermophilus (strain HB8 / ATCC 27634 / DSM 579)", "In biology, so far I've found Levinthal's Paradox. The transcript from a lecture given by Prof. Cyrus Levinthal can be found at the previous link. The gist of the paradox is this (not a quote; the indent is used for emphasis):\n\n\n There exists a multitude of shapes proteins can take, yet they manage to fold into the correct shape extremely quickly.\n\n\nThe thought experiment proper is as follows:\n\n\nTake an unfolded protein that will fold into a certain state in which it can perform its function\nObserve the various shapes it folds into\nNote that (this part is the kicker, and supported by experiment) the protein will fold into the correct shape within a fraction of a second.\n\n\nThe idea is explained slightly clearer here - at least, clearer to a biology layman like myself.\n\n\n\nThere's a long and interesting discourse here. (If it asks you if you want to join, simply click on the 'x' on the left to go straight to the document.) In it the authors (Schlaepfer and Weber) argue that Darwin put forth thought experiments in, among other publications, On the Origin of Species.\n\nAfter noting that there were quite a few thought experiments in the field of evolutionary biology, the authors then move on to molecular biology, mentioning Levinthal's paradox and a problem regarding protein synthesis - how the body can make so many different types of proteins. I think these are more paradoxes than thought experiments, but that's purely my opinion.\n\nThe authors go on in a new angle, talking about how some have argued that computational forays in biology count as thought experiments. They then conclude the text.", "I would second the recommendation for www.myfitnesspal.com or similar, and I would also recommend picking up a basic nutrition book. I would also caution you against revamping your diet in such a drastic way until you understand your needs a little better.\n\nThe diet you have listed is one that I'm afraid will introduce deficiencies, and I don't think it would support the activities that you have in your other post. You have minimal protein and fats, and are VERY heavy on carbohydrates.\n\nMay I ask why you want to go vegetarian? Vegetarian is not a \"recipe\" for weight loss. I know plenty of overweight vegetarians, and if you truly do go that way, you really need to know food makeup, as there are only two vegetarian complete protein sources (quinoa and...the name escapes me), so you have to be careful about knowing what amino acids are in various foods to get complete proteins for your body.", "The process is not clearly understood. Calcium helps in capacitation: During capacitation calcium enters the spermatozoa through ion channels; blocking these channels inhibits the acrosome reaction but what calcium does inside the spermatozoa is not very clear. This paper says that calcium activates a certain tyrosine kinase in the spermatozoa which in turn activates a protein called p32. This they say occurs \"concomitantly with capacitation\". Other papers cited by this article talk about involvement of calcium dependent adenylate cyclase. \n\nThis article also says that protein tyrosine phosphorylations are important for capacitation but doesn't describe how.\n\nI could not find a more precise information on this topic. I shall update the answer if I find one.", "The breakdown and reassembly of proteins is a ubiquitous process within cells, and yes this is expensive but transport is expensive, too, and recycling has the added benefit of dealing with proteins that become misfolded or otherwise damaged as well as allowing for transcription and translation to regulate overall protein levels. The Toyoma &amp; Hetzer 2013 review (see references below) cites estimates of the median protein half-life in a non-dividing mammalian cell to be about 43 hours, though they discuss some exceptions that do last much longer.\n\nHowever, it is possible to relocate transmembrane proteins via vesicles.\n\nEssentially the same way proteins are put in the plasma membrane in the first place, but in reverse. Endocytosis is often taught as a way that cells (often macrophages are used as an example) take in materials from the outside world, but it is just as applicable to internalizing chunks of membrane. Nature has an entire 'web focus' on entocytosis reviews. \n\nOne situation where this happens is in synaptic plasticity; receptors can be internalized or trafficked to the membrane to decrease or increase the potency of that synapse, respectively (see Carroll et al., 2001), but similar processes occur all over (and some proteins constantly cycle back and forth; see Trowbridge et al. 1993 for a more general review, though a bit dated). \n\nHowever, to your specific question, I don't know specifically of examples where transmembrane proteins are literally cycled from one side of the cytosol to the other. There may be examples I am not aware of, but my understanding is that it is more typical to think of a \"store\" of certain proteins in endosomes, from which they can be trafficked to the membrane and reinserted via exocytosis. Probabilistically, some will be transported from one place to another, but not so much in a stepwise fashion.\n\n\n\nToyama, B. H., &amp; Hetzer, M. W. (2013). Protein homeostasis: live long, won't prosper. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 14(1), 55.\n\nCarroll, R. C., Beattie, E. C., von Zastrow, M., &amp; Malenka, R. C. (2001). Role of AMPA receptor endocytosis in synaptic plasticity. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2(5), 315.\n\nTrowbridge, I. S., Collawn, J. F., &amp; Hopkins, C. R. (1993). Signal-dependent membrane protein trafficking in the endocytic pathway. Annual review of cell biology, 9(1), 129-161.", "I see what the metaphor has been inspired by, where I think it got turned around, and might have a better one.\n\nI'd like to back up a bit and establish some common ground. It isn't wrong to expect that some aspects of genetic code and software code are similar, and while biology is usually very specific, some aspects can be seen productively from the light of computer science ideas. For example, mass-action molecular dynamics, which are often a good model for protein interactions, are Turing-complete. Here's a fun example where people have written a programming language out of molecular dynamics: https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.07430\n\nIt's also true that proteins have particular substructures leading to certain functions, such as using alpha-helices to react less with the outside world. Learning about larger substructures, called protein domains, help identify the functions of families of proteins. \n\nThe problem is that the parts of the genome which appear nested like LISP cells actually aren't included in the protein. The regulatory regions, promoters, inhibitors, introns, and so forth never become part of the key \"computational\" machinery. This nesting isn't actively part of the computational activity proteins do perform. The main quality of LISP is that the structure and function are perfectly self-similar throughout an expression, but the structure of the regulatory regions are neither replicated down into the protein nor are necessarily recapitulated on a larger scale.\n\nUnfortunately, we don't expect the computational structure of proteins to be the same from one protein to another. This is because \"binds only with X\" and \"binds only with Y\" must be implemented differently to successfully be distinct operations, and it is these binding constraints by which molecular dynamics implement \"computational\" operations, such as \"not X\" and \"not Y\", and so those are distinct as well. \n\nI think a better way to think about the regular structures of the regulatory apparatus is more like a network protocol. Along an otherwise undifferentiated binary channel, one has to identify when and where the data is delivered to an application. Similarly, along a strand of bases, the machinery of translation has to have an indication of where the \"application\" of the protein starts and ends, and when that protein should be delivered to the cell. We might compare some of the images of genetic structure that provided in the original question with layouts of network headers: http://slideplayer.com/slide/4798836/15/images/16/TCP/IP+Packet+Structures.jpg We might compare bacterial versus multi-cellular regulation as having different delivery mechanisms and data structures for delivering the application information, for different functional consequences, in the same way TCP and UDP have different structures for different trade-offs.\n\nThis is all complicated somewhat by the fact that proteins do then interact with the regulation of genes, leading to interesting \"computational\" dynamics such as feed-forward regulation. However, I'm not aware of any particular structure of the regulatory apparatus that necessarily correlates with these larger functional patterns. The opposite is frequently biologically useful: the same structure of a protein helping to activate one gene might simultaneously inhibit another.\n\nOne book I've found very accessible and useful in understanding where computation is useful biologically is Dennis Bray's \"Wetware: a computer in every living cell\". It gave me a clearer picture of how computation occurs in cells. That should open up some introductions to systems biology which explains the biological-role of larger molecular \"computational\" patterns.", "Summary\nEnzymes catalysing oxido-reductive reactions (oxidoreductases) do so with the aid of non-protein molecules (prosthetic groups or cofactors) at their active sites. The three main types of such prosthetic groups or cofactors are iron–sulphur clusters, derivatives of flavin (FAD and FMN) and nucleotide derivatives of nicotinamide (NAD and NADP). The groups of proteins incorporating these type of cofactors are often referred to by the general terms ferredoxins (also iron-sulphur proteins), flavoproteins, and NAD(P)-linked oxidoreductases, respectively.\nIntroduction\nThe vast majority of enzymes are proteins, linear polypeptide chains folded into specific but irregular spheroidal shapes. In addition to interacting with the reaction substrates, the amino acid side-chains of the polypeptide chains participate in the actual reactions catalysed by many enzymes, and in many cases are sufficient for the catalytic properties of enzymes. However for the catalysis of some sophisticated reactions, additional non-protein molecules are required — metal ions or organic molecules — known generally as ‘co-factors’, ‘co-enzymes’ or ‘prosthetic groups’. This is the case for the various enzymes termed oxidoreductases, which catalyse oxidation/reduction reactions, involving the transfer of electrons.\nNucleotide derivatives of nicotinamide in NAD(P)-linked oxidoreductases\nThe cofactors found most frequently in oxidoreductases are nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). The pyridine ring of the cofactor is the electron acceptor, and the oxidized and reduced forms are termed NAD+ and NADH, respectively.\n\n[Own diagram]\nProteins with bound NAD or NADP (non-covalently) are the most common type involved in oxido-reductions, and have systematic names composed of the cofactor, substrate and ‘oxidoreductase’. e.g.\nSystematic Name: lactate:NAD+ oxidoreductase \nCommon Name: lactate dehydrogenase)\nFlavin Nucleotides in Flavoproteins\nThe other common cofactors in oxidoreductases are flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and flavin mononucleotide (FMN). The isoalloxazine ring is the electron acceptor, and the oxidized and reduced forms are termed FAD (FMN) and FADH2 (FMNH2), respectively.\n\n[Adapted from section 14.3 of Berg et al.]\nProteins containing FAD or FMN are called flavoproteins, and are less abundant than NAD(P)-linked oxidoreductases, and a few of them actually perform non-redox reactions. Example of nomenclature:\nSystemic name: short-chain acyl-CoA:electron-transfer flavoprotein 2,3-oxidoreductase\nCommon name: short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase\nIron–Sulphur Clusters in Ferredoxins\nWhereas the above two oxidoreductases are common in intermediary metabolism, those containing iron–sulphur clusters (some of which are known as ferredoxins) tend to be involved in more specialized and ancient reactions, such as photosynthesis, tagged in the question. The diagram shows one particular type (2Fe–2S) of iron–sulphur cluster and its covalent attachment to the ferredoxin through cysteine residues. 4Fe–4S stoichiometries are also found, as well as some others.\nThe electron transfer involves changes in the oxidation state — Fe(II)/Fe(III) — of the iron.\n\n[Adapted from section 19.3.3 of Berg et al.]\nThe figure also provides a good illustration of the relationship between a co-factor and the protein in which it resides.\nExample of nomenclature:\nSystematic name: hydrogen:ferredoxin oxidoreductase\nCommon name: ferredoxin hydrogenase\nThe situation here is complicated by the fact that iron–sulphur clusters are found in other proteins besides those termed ferredoxin, including some specialized oxidoreductases involved in the electron-transport chain, and in nitrogenases. The term ferredoxin is historical rather than systematic.\nDifferences between these oxidoreductase cofactors\nThe specific roles played by these three cofactors in oxidoreductases is a topic of its own. However, it should be mentioned that an important difference is their standard reduction potentials, the biochemical background to which can be found in Section 18.2.1 of Berg et al., available online.\nFerredoxin-NADP+ reductase (FNR)\nElectron transport occurs between the different cofactors in certain circumstances, one of which is photosynthesis where electrons are transferred from ferredoxin to NADP+. The enzyme catalysing this — Ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase — uses the third type of cofactor — FAD!", "The only study on bullet points I could find was done by Chris Atherton looking at the usage of bullet points in Power Point slides, and this concluded that they did not work when it came to the audience remembering the information presented. However, in written form, this study would likely not apply since it's a completely different setting.\n\nSomething that could help is a study that was done in the fifties of the \"magical number seven\", which suggests that the number of objects or chunks of information a person can hold in working memory is around seven, plus or minus two (in reality, the number is probably in the region of three or four).\n\nThis would suggest that long bullet point lists such as what you propose could hamper learning, and possibly understanding. Although they're brief, and bullet points are useful for scanning, the quantity and hierarchical organisation of that information may not lend itself well to cognitive performance.\n\nIt's worth pointing out, too, that the example you've given suggests you are grouping together items in a list that are not related. For example, it doesn't make sense to have \"Company policy for what to eat\" and \"how to deal with earthquakes\" in the same bullet point list. Those are better served as headings for each section, since these are not for \"remembering\" something, but rather used for \"finding\" the information you need to know. I would therefore rethink about what actually needs to be in my bullet points, and then number your headings into sections and subsections.\n\nI would then suggest two strategies. \n\nThe first is to present three or four bullet points that outline a particular section, and then include your paragraph(s) of text. In other words, the bullet points can be viewed as a summary of what follows. You're therefore outlining in brief the central points a person needs to understand, but also providing more in-depth information.\n\nExample:\n\n\n 1. Company Policy for what to Eat\n \n Eat your vegetables\n Eat protein Drink\n water \n \n Eating vegetables is vital to your\n body because blah blah.\n \n Protein is an important ingredient\n because ...\n \n Drinking regular water helps maintain\n alertness, and improves cognitive\n abilities.\n \n 2. How to Deal with Earthquakes\n \n 2.1 Be prepared beforehand\n \n Carry your earthquake\n hat Buy earthquake insurance\n ahead of time \n \n Since earthquakes can strike at any\n time, it's advisable to carry your\n hard-hat with you at all times, since\n there is a large amount of debris that\n could fall from the ceiling. It is\n also recommended that you insure\n yourself and your building against\n earthquakes, just to make sure your\n are better protected financially no\n matter what happens.\n\n\nAn alternative to bullet points could be to bold certain information in the paragraph since this would break the paragraph into manageable chunks to help understanding and memory retention.\n\nFor example:\n\n\n 1. Company Policy for what to\n Eat\n \n It is vital to eat plenty of\n vegetables because they are\n extremely important in helping your\n body to blah blah. Also eat\n protein because it is necessary\n for ... Finally, we recommend you\n drink water regularly, because\n it helps maintain alertness and\n improves cognitive abilities.\n \n 2. How to Deal with Earthquakes\n \n 2.1 Be prepared beforehand\n \n Since earthquakes can strike at any\n time, it's advisable to carry your\n hard-hat with you at all times,\n since there is a large amount of\n debris that could fall from the\n ceiling. It is also recommended that\n you get earthquake insurance\n for yourself and your building, just\n to make sure your are better protected\n financially no matter what happens.\n\n\nEdit: Oh, and obviously, the third option is to just present bullet points with headings, and no paragraphs. Example:\n\n\n 1. Company Policy for what to Eat\n \n Eat your vegetables\n Eat protein Drink\n water \n \n 2. How to Deal with Earthquakes\n \n 2.1 Be prepared beforehand\n \n Carry your earthquake\n hat Buy earthquake insurance\n ahead of time", "PEP8\nThe &quot;PEP 8 -- Style Guide for Python Code&quot; has many recommendations on how programs should be written, for maximum understandability between programmers.\nVariable Names\nThe one that you violate the most relates to variable naming. PEP8 recommends snake_case for all variables. So customerOrder should be customer_order, sandwichTotal should be sandwich_total, etc.\nConstants\nConstants, things which never change, should be named using UPPERCASE or UPPERCASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES. Therefore, optionPrices should be OPTION_PRICES.\nWhite Space\nPEP-8 recommends no space between a diction key and the :.\nEncapsulate Data into Containers\noptionPrices contains breads, proteins, cheeses, and extras. This seems like it is stuffing too much -- well, stuffings -- into one container.\nI might write:\nBREAD_PRICE = {'white':2.00, 'wheat': 2.50, 'sour dough': 3.00}\nPROTEIN_PRICE = {'chicken': 2.50, 'turkey': 2.25, 'ham': 1.75, 'tofu': 4.00}\nCHEESE_PRICE = {'cheddar': 1.00, 'swiss' : 1.25, 'mozzarella' : 2.00}\nEXTRA_PRICE = {'mayo': 0.25, 'mustard': 0.25, 'lettuce': 0.30, 'tomato': 0.50}\n\nWith the bread, protein, and cheese options, you could now write a common function:\ndef get_sandwich_choice(category, options):\n prompt = &quot;Please choose your &quot; + category + &quot;:\\n&quot;\n choices = list(options.keys())\n choice = pyip.inputMenu(choices, prompt, lettered=True)\n return choice\n\nbread_choice = get_sandwich_choice('bread', BREAD_PRICE)\nprotein_choice = get_sandwich_choice('protein', PROTEIN_PRICE)\n...\n\nThe price containers are all really the same kind of things, just in groups. So one might instead ...\nPRICE = {'bread': {'white':2.00, 'wheat': 2.50, 'sour dough': 3.00},\n 'protein': {'chicken': 2.50, 'turkey': 2.25, 'ham': 1.75, 'tofu': 4.00},\n 'cheese': {'cheddar': 1.00, 'swiss' : 1.25, 'mozzarella' : 2.00},\n 'extras': {'mayo': 0.25, 'mustard': 0.25, 'lettuce': 0.30, 'tomato': 0.50},\n }\n\nand the choices could be fetched with:\nbread_choice = get_sandwich_choice('bread', PRICE['bread'])\nprotein_choice = get_sandwich_choice('protein', PRICE['protein'])\n...\n\nYou could expand this further by adding more data. bread is choice, protein is a choice, cheese is an optional choice, extras are optionals. Based on the category type, you could call the appropriate user input functions. The prompt for each category could be customized, and so on. To add this extra data, I'd look into @dataclass.\nAre all things in customerOrder the same? The bread is kind of unique; you need two slices for the sandwich. The extras might eventually have options like &quot;light on the mayo&quot; or &quot;heavy on the mustard&quot;, where as you can't ask for extra bread. So it might make more sense keeping them separate. bread_choice, protein_choice, cheese_choice, and a list of extras. This also helps our cost, since the prices are in different containers.\ndef sandwich_cost(bread, protein, cheese, extras):\n cost = PRICE['bread'][bread] + PRICE['protein'][protein]\n if cheese:\n cost += PRICE['cheese'][cheese]\n for extra in extras:\n cost += PRICE['extra'][extra]\n\nsandwich_total = sandwich_cost(bread_choice, protein_choice, cheese_choice, extras)\n\nAgain, a @dataclass may be useful in construction a sandwich object.\nBy having a separate function for computing the sandwich cost, you make your code testable. For example, you could check:\nassert sandwich_cost('white', 'tofu', 'cheddar', ['tomato']) == 7.50\nassert sandwich_cost('white', 'tofu', '', []) == 6.00\n\nLook into unittest for better ways of writing test code.\nMain Guard\nIt is a good habit to move your code into functions, and call it from inside a &quot;main guard&quot; at the end of the code. Eg)\nimport pyinputplus as pyip\n\n... helper functions here ...\n\ndef main():\n ... code here ...\n\nif __name__ == '__main__':\n main()\n\nSummary\nLots of ways to improve this code. I've touched on a few. Experiment, and once you've got something working, post a new followup question for further advice.", "Based on my rudimentary understanding, PPIs are constructed from gene co-expression networks\n\n\nNot really, no. PPI stands for protein-protein interaction. In PPI networks, each node is a protein and each edge (line) connecting it to another node represents an interaction. A very common example is that an edge represents a physical interaction between these two proteins. This means that there have been experiments to indicate that these two proteins come into contact in the cell and interact. \n\nFor example, they might form part of a protein complex, so their interaction was seen using chromatin immunoprecipitation, where the two proteins were captured together. Or, they may have been seen together using FRET, a technique that lets you detect when two molecules are in very close proximity.\n\nAlternatively, some interactions can be theoretical, where in silico modelling has suggested that these two proteins can interact, even though we don't have any direct evidence that they do so. \n\nFinally, yes, it is also possible to make a PPI network based on gene co-expression data, under the assumption that if two genes are co-expressed, then their protein products will be present in the same tissue. However, that doesn't mean they interact in any way, so it isn't really a very common way of building PPI networks, as far as I know. \n\nIn co-expression networks, on the other hand, each node is a gene and not its protein product. And here, the edges indicate the coexpression. Often the level of correlation between the two genes' expression data. \n\nThe most important difference between these two kinds of network, apart from the obvious mentioned above, is that they are used in different ways. A gene coexpression network lets you identify genes that are regulated in similar ways. It is a tool you can use to investigate the regulatory network of the cell, to see what genes are \"turned on\" or \"off\" together. \n\nThe PPI network, on the other hand, is a way of understanding the result of this gene co-regulation. You are not looking at how the gene network is regulated any more, but how the products of the genes interact with one another. So it is a very different focus.\n\nYou can maybe think of this in terms of school children and their parents. You could make a network where each node represents a pair of parents, and then draw lines between them if their children were born in the same year. That would give you a general overview of when this group of people procreated. However, that two children were born on the same day doesn't necessarily imply that the children themselves will ever come into contact. This could be the equivalent of the gene co-expression network. \n\nThen, make another network where each node is a child and draw a line between any children who know each other. This would be the equivalent of the PPI network. You would likely find some correlations between the two, with children who know each other being more likely to have been born at around the same time, but the two networks give you very different information.", "I am not sure I understand your question.\n\nAccording to the article you mention the proteins in teardrops kill the bacteria which are invading the eye (e.g. also present in the teardrops):\n\n\n \"Those jaws chew apart the walls of the bacteria that are trying to\n get into your eyes and infect them,\"\n\n\nEDIT: These proteins are enzymes called lysozymes. Those are free-flowing proteins of the human tears. These proteins are actively produces in the lacrimal glands and actively secreted into the lacrimal liquid.", "Summary\n\nMessenger RNAs that are recruited to the ribosome for protein synthesis in vivo, need to satisfy particular structural requirements and must interact with the protein initiation factors that deliver them to the ribosome. Generic single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) does not have these structural characteristics and so cannot be translated on ribosomes under natural conditions. \n\nA single reported attempt to translate deoxyribose-based analogues of these mRNAs under conditions equivalent to those within the cell was unsuccessful. Thus, although experiments suggest that ssDNA may be able to bind transfer-RNA and allow some polypeptide synthesis under non-physiological conditions, this reflects only those aspects of protein biosynthesis that involve base-pairing interactions between the message and other RNAs involved in translation. In contrast, the stages involved in the selection of the first initiation codon and the recognition of termination codons involve interactions between protein factors and the message, where recognition of a hydroxyl group in the 2ʹ-position (and discrimination between thymine and uracil) may well occur and would prevent translation of a synthetic ssDNA message. \n\nIf, in fact, no discrimination against DNA has evolved for the ribosomal- and transfer-RNA components of the translation apparatus, this may be because the system arose in an ‘RNA World’ before DNA evolved, and because free ssDNA in the cell has never been a competitor with mRNA for ribosomes, especially after sophisticated protein-based systems arose for the selection of the appropriate initiation codon.\n\nContemporary physiological interactions of mRNA with ribosomes \n\nTranslation of mRNA by ribosomes (protein biosynthesis) is a complex process which can be divided into a number of stages, each generally involving a variety of RNA and protein molecules — initiation factors (IF), elongation factors (EF) and termination or release factors (RF). The reader who is not familiar with this is advised to read a text-book account such as that in Chapter 29 of Berg et al.. However, to summarize briefly, they are: selection of the correct AUG (usually) on the mRNA for initiation, IF-dependent binding of the initiator-tRNA to the P site, EF-dependent and codon-directed binding of an elongator-tRNA, peptide bond formation catalysed by the large ribosomal subunit, EF-dependent translocation, and eventually stop-codon directed and RF-dependent release of the completed polypeptide chain.\n\nThe first step, is crucial for the binding of natural mRNAs — the subject of this question. Under natural cellular conditions prokaryotes and eukaryotes have different methods of ensuring that the ribosome interacts with the correct mRNA codon to start translation. In prokaryotes a specific ribosome-binding signal (Shine and Dalgarno sequence) must interact with the 16S rRNA and a particular initiation factor protein is involved in this step. In eukaryotes the main method is recognition of a modified 5ʹ structure on the mRNA and unwinding of secondary structure, also modulated by protein initiation factors.\n\nI am aware of one report of an attempt to translate a DNA-based analogue of such natural mRNA structures under any conditions. This was by Damian et al. (Biochim. Biophys. Res. Commun 385, 296-301 (2009)), and was unsuccessful, even though physical methods indicated binding to the ribosome. I imagine that recognition by the protein initiation factors did not occur but I cannot be sure that base-pairing to the 16S rRNA was also hindered. \n\nRegardless, one can answer the question posed:\n\n\n The fact that ‘random’ single-stranded DNA would lack the structural features for selection of the correct initiation codon \n explains why it would not be translated under natural\n conditions — it could not bind to the ribosome.\n\n\nArtificial systems of protein synthesis\n\nThe full details of the reactions on the ribosome only emerged gradually. Nevertheless the lack of understanding of the features of natural mRNA required for binding to the ribosome did not prevent either the dissection of subsequent steps of protein biosynthesis, nor the use of ribosomal systems to decipher the genetic code. This is because it was possible to bypass the initial steps by using suitable unphysiological conditions, that allowed polynucleotides or oligonucleotide triplets to bind to the ribosome, where further reactions were possible, albeit generally less efficiently than in the cell. Such conditions included high concentrations of magnesium ions and certain antibiotics that affect the accuracy of protein synthesis. It has been suggested that the neutralization of the charge on the backbone phosphates of the RNA by Mg2+ enhances (non-specific hydrophobic interactions at the mRNA-binding channel, and that the antibiotics stabilize a state of the ribosome in which amino-acyl tRNA can bind more easily (and hence promote the binding of polynucleotides by base pairing). Once bound with the codons hydrogen-bonded to the cognate anticodons of tRNA, subsequent elongation reactions depended on components of the ribosome other than the artificial messenger.\n\nThus, it was that the genetic code was deciphered using bacterial cell-free systems to which were added simple synthetic polynucleotides, lacking Shine and Dalgarno sequences or start (or stop) codons; and by experiments in which amino acyl-tRNAs were bound to triplet codons in the absence of both IFs and EFs. Other partial reactions of protein synthesis were similarly dissected artificially — the peptidyl transferase reaction was studied on isolated 50S subunits using just a fragment of tRNA and puromycin by conducting the reaction in 50% ethanol!\n\nExperiments with single-stranded DNA\n\nUnderstanding that ribosomes can be induced to bind and translate ‘non-mRNA’ oligo-ribonucleotides under certain artificial conditions, we are in a position to consider the significance of reports of translation of oligo-deoxyribonucleotides — ssDNA.\n\nThe original experiments in this area by McCarthy and Holland in 1965 showed that denatured DNA from various sources (including animal cells) could stimulate the incorporation of radioactive amino acids in a bacterial cell-free system, but this depended on the presence of antibiotics. Furthermore, it was shown in Khorana’s lab that only certain synthetic poly-deoxynucleotides (analogous to the poly-ribonucleotides he used to decipher the genetic code) were active. Thus, it would appear that under the non-physiological conditions that favour promiscuous binding of poly- and oligo-ribonucleotides, there is some binding of ssDNA, and subsequent translation.\n\nA paper by Ricker and Kaji mentioned by @Mesentery — reports that oligodeoxynucleotides could function in some partial reactions (fmet-tRNA binding) although not in others. In particular it was not possible to perform RF-dependent termination reaction with oligonucleotides containing termination codons, but — in the presence of antibiotics — termination independent of release factors did occur. \n\nIt is, thus, obvious that these experiments in which ssDNA is translated on ribosomes have no physiological significance. However it is still pertinent to ask the complement to the question of the poster, why does the system work at all?\n\nWhy are deoxyribose (and thymine) not discriminated against under artificial conditions?\n\nEnzymes of synthesis and degradation of nucleic acids — RNA and DNA polymerases; ribonucleases and deoxyribonucleases — are specific for either RNA or DNA (or in some cases DNA/RNA hybrids). This is both important to ensure they fulfil their specific functions, and perhaps an inevitable consequence of the nature of their reactions — the making or breaking of sugar–phosphate bonds. Here we are dealing with catalysis by a protein enzyme that binds these structures at its active site.\n\nIn contrast, those reactions of protein synthesis for which certain requirements may be relaxed under non-physiological conditions involve base-pairing interactions. In modern ribosomes they may be optimized by associated proteins, but it is thought that the latter only evolved later. Artificial conditions, such as high concentrations of magnesium ions or antibiotics, may be thought of as allowing the essential interactions that existed in ‘ur-ribosomes’. And, of course as DNA/RNA hybrids readily form, the participation of DNA in such interactions is not so surprising. (In the RNA world of ‘ur-ribosomes’ — or even an RNA/protein world — there would be no need to discriminate against DNA, because it had not yet arisen. And chemically, the substitution of a hydrogen for a hydroxyl group could not hinder an interaction — at the worst it would only weaken it.) \n\nIt is pertinent that the contemporary AUG-selection and termination reactions depends on RNA–protein interaction. These might well involve recognition of ribose as well as base sequence, explaining the observations by Ricker and Kaji, and by Damian et al., mentioned above.", "It's a little unclear what you mean by &quot;protein with other atoms added to it&quot; -- are you referring to a prion protein that's become mutated by a genetic polymorphism, or a non-prion protein that has been become misfolded and whether this misfolding now makes it a prion?\nEither way, I believe that the answer is the same. My understanding is as follows:\nPrions can have a normal or abnormal conformation\nA prion is a 30­kD cytoplasmic protein of a specific type that's normally present in neurons. The term prion can either be used to refer to the normal protein, or one with the misfold. The nuances are as follows:\n\nPrion proteins (PrP) normally exist in an α­-helix­-containing isoform (PrP^c).\n\nThe PrP can undergo a conformational change to an abnormal β­-pleated sheet isoform (PrP^sc, for scrapie).\n\nThis conformational change makes it resistant to digestion with proteases.\n\nPrion disease will manifest as the PrP^Sc accumulates.\n\n\nHowever, when people refer to prions, they usually mean the misfolded PrP^Sc conformation, which causes prion disease.\nMutations increase the likelihood of a conformational changes\nThere's a good section in Robbins and Cotran relating to how mutations in the prion can trigger spontaneous conformational changes:\n\nThe conformational change resulting in PrPsc may occur\nspontaneously at an extremely low rate (resulting in\nsporadic cases) or at a higher rate if various mutations\nare present in PrPc, such as occurs in familial forms of\nCreutzfeldt­Jakob disease (CJD) and in Gerstmann­\nSträussler­Scheinker syndrome (GSS) and fatal familial\ninsomnia (FFI).\n\nThese conformational changes will in turn cause more conformational changes in a self-propagating manner:\n\nPrPsc, independent of the means by which\nit originates, then facilitates, in a cooperative fashion, the\nconversion of other PrPc molecules to PrPsc molecules. It is\nthis propagation of PrPsc that accounts for the transmissible\nnature of prion diseases. This capacity for a protein in an\nabnormal conformation to induce similar structural change\nin other molecules as a self=­propagating process has recently\nbeen demonstrated for many of the aggregating proteins\nassociated with traditional neurodegenerative diseases.\n\n\nRegarding mutations:\n\nThe gene encoding PrP, termed PRNP, shows a high degree of conservation across species. A variety of muta­tions in PRNP have been found to underlie familial forms of prion diseases. In addition, a polymorphism at codon 129 that encodes either methionine (Met) or valine (Val) influences development of the disease: individuals who are homozygous for either Met or Val are overrepresented among cases of CJD compared with the general popula­tion, implying that heterozygosity at codon 129 is protec­tive against development of the disease. The same protective effect of heterozygosity at codon 129 is observed for iatrogenic CJD (mostly cases that followed exposure to naturally derived pituitary hormone replacement).\n\nSo to be clear, any mutations that are relevant to the matter of prions are those that make a prion in a normal conformation switch to an abnormal one.\nSo in answer to the question...\nPrion protein refers to a specific type of protein that can exist in a normal or abnormal conformation. If a random protein had atoms added to it and it became misfolded, it wouldn't become a prion.\nHowever, polymorphisms and mutations in the prion protein can make it more susceptible to switching. So if the addition of atoms that you speak of happened to a prion and this resulted in such a switch, it would instantiate prion disease.\n\nThat is, my understanding was that the term &quot;prion&quot; is used for a protein\nthat is different from a normal protein only by virtue of its folding.\n\nWhat you're referring to can more accurately be parsed as follows:\nThe term prion disease is used to refer to a a abnormal prion that is different from a normal prion by virtue of its folding.", "Tuna is very high in protein and certain amino acids such as leucine (most essential BCAA for protein synthesis, i.e to build muscle), vitamin b-12 and a decent amount of potassium. Avacados are high in healthy fats, slow burning carbohydrates and a bunch of other minerals and vitamins. \n\nSo if you were to switch these two for a protein shake, you would be sacrificing some healthy fats and healthy carbohydrates for a little more protein. This really depends on your goals, if you're trying to build muscle, I wouldn't make the substitution since your effectively sacrificing calories as well. If you are trying to lose weight, this wouldn't be such a bad idea.\n\nIt is important to remember though that whey protein supplements are exactly that, supplements. They should supplement what you are deficient in that you can not get through your regular diet.", "While there are applications of density functional to biological systems and medical applications, there are far too many pathways possible for this to be currently useful.\n\nPeople do use DFT as part of docking or dynamics to predict the electrostatic potential of molecules - understanding how a compound might interact with a key protein or membrane.\n\nConsider the possibilities for current disinfecting / antimicrobial cleaning. (I am not a biologist, so there are undoubtedly far more - ask at Bio SE\n\n\nDissolve the cell membrane or viral capsid using alcohol or other solvents\nDenature key proteins\nDisrupt replication \n\n\netc.\n\nI don't believe the mechanisms for silver or copper anti-microbial properties are fully understood. So when you combine multiple possible pathways with not-fully-understood pathways, it's extremely hard to apply computational modeling like DFT in useful ways.", "Autoimmunity triggered by vaccination is a documented, but rare occurrence. The current research shows a correlation between autoimmune conditions and elevated levels of HLA proteins. Certain HLA proteins tend to have a predilection for activating the immune system against “self” cells. HLA proteins also can explain why certain people are more prone to autoimmune conditions that are induced or exacerbated by vaccines.\n\nThe risk of vaccine-related autoimmunity is by orders of magnitude lower than that of autoimmunity triggered by infectious disease. Since the latter includes vaccine-preventable infections, for most autoimmune conditions there is a net protective effect of vaccination. \n\nCurrent evidence supports administering appropriate vaccines in the absence of specific contraindications.\n\n\n\nSources\n\nhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26728772\n https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27435705\n http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S104366181400139X\n https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25937813\n https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10648110\n https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Srdja_Jankovic/publication/315656865_Vaccination_and_Autoimmune_Phenomena/links/58e1ed7eaca272059ab07f9c/Vaccination-and-Autoimmune-Phenomena.pdf", "Answering this question is not trivial, as there is no distinct, homogeneous group \"the vegans\". People become vegan for various reasons.\n\nBeyond that, the process of having children is complex. Diverse reasons may lead to a desire to have children (a scientific approach to social determinants of human reproduction can be found in this article). Also, various factors impact fertility.\n\nThere are studies investigating the effect of certain diets on fertility. With regards to a vegan diet, for instance, the impact of soy protein is considered (several studies find no impairing effects, e.g. this or this study). At the same time, there is evidence that \"replacing animal sources of protein with vegetable sources of protein may reduce ovulatory infertility risk.\" However, as with other veg-related studies, the number of studies as well as the representativity of the vegan samples are often limited.", "Let me put some primary points out that anyone doing resistance training needs to understand.\n\nProgramming\n\nYou need to follow an effective training program. Not some lifts you think are the right ones, not something out of a magazine. There are very well known strength training programs out there with solid track records: follow them. Understand where you are on internationally recognized strength standards, and aim to get to the intermediate level in all areas. \n\nDiet\n\nDirectly answering your question, you should eat north of 260 grams of protein per day. This has been well studied, and most people advocating for more than 3.3g/kg are trying to sell you supplements. From Lyle McDonald:\n\n\n ... strength/power athletes should aim for 1.5 g/lb protein per day\n (again, this is about 3.3 g/kg for the metrically inclined).\n\n\nPersonally, I shoot for 2.1 g/kg because I can accomplish that without severely altering my diet and don't have to eat chicken and whey seven times a day. The diet of a high level body builder is very different than what normal people eat. Planning, structuring, and preparing your meals is something that takes a lot of time, every day.\n\nUltimately I feel that a \"pretty good\" diet that you can actually stick with is better than the \"perfect\" diet which you can't effectively maintain. \n\nBe Patient\n\nThere really are no shortcuts to physical fitness. Our bodies take a while to respond, and it is the steady, consistent, and regular effort that wins. Give yourself at least six months to see any changes in the mirror, and two years is a reasonable time for people to honestly not recognize you anymore. Again, that's two years of steadily following the right diet and following an effective program.\n\nProtein Supplementation\n\nEating real food is much better than supplements. Your body needs fiber, fats, minerals, and nutrients that are not found in protein supplements. \n\n\nFind out the total amount of calories you need via a calculator. It's not going to be exact, but it will be close, and much closer than you guessing.\nFigure out your macronutrients also using a calculator. \nStart tracking your calories and macros. You know what you need (calories and macros) and now you can see what you're actually putting in. You should do this for at least a week, and anytime you can't honestly tell yourself down to the ~100 calorie mark how much you've had that day.\nAdjust your diet until you are meeting your macros and calories.\n\n\nIf this seems like a ton of work, you can start to see why everyone isn't walking around with 5% body fat and squatting 315lb. \n\nBut what you will probably find is that it is logistically tough and expensive to eat such a large amount of protein. Fats and carbs are cheap and easy to come by but protein is rare and expensive. This is the reason that people supplement with products like whey. Some proteins (like red meat) eaten on the regular have their own health problems as well. \n\nAdjust your real-food diet as much as you can to target your macros. If and when you fall short, do exactly what the name implies: supplement. \n\nWhey protein in particular is cheap, safe, and easy to prepare. A caveat to any supplementation (including whey) is consider the other ingredients as well. I personally have switched to the \"natural\" whey products without artificial sweeteners, because of the recently discussed link between those artificial sweeteners and dementia. \n\nEspecially if you're going to be taking a scoop or two of some product every day for years on end, you really want to know the safety of what you're consuming.", "I found the answer and I thought it may be useful for others. we can use pypdb package for that purpose (it works in unix systems):\n\nimport pypdb\n\nall_info = pypdb.get_all_info('1kf6')\nprint(all_info)\n\n\nthe output is as follows:\n\n{'polymer': [{'@entityNr': '1', '@length': '602', '@type': 'protein', '@weight': '66057.6', 'chain': [{'@id': 'A'}, {'@id': 'M'}], 'Taxonomy': {'@name': 'Escherichia coli', '@id': '562'}, 'macroMolecule': {'@name': 'Fumarate reductase flavoprotein subunit', 'accession': {'@id': 'P00363'}}, 'polymerDescription': {'@description': 'FUMARATE REDUCTASE FLAVOPROTEIN'}, 'enzClass': {'@ec': '1.3.5.4'}}, {'@entityNr': '2', '@length': '243', '@type': 'protein', '@weight': '27021.9', 'chain': [{'@id': 'B'}, {'@id': 'N'}], 'Taxonomy': {'@name': 'Escherichia coli', '@id': '562'}, 'macroMolecule': {'@name': 'Fumarate reductase iron-sulfur subunit', 'accession': {'@id': 'P0AC47'}}, 'polymerDescription': {'@description': 'FUMARATE REDUCTASE IRON-SULFUR PROTEIN'}, 'enzClass': {'@ec': '1.3.5.1'}}, {'@entityNr': '3', '@length': '130', '@type': 'protein', '@weight': '14898.8', 'chain': [{'@id': 'C'}, {'@id': 'O'}], 'Taxonomy': {'@name': 'Escherichia coli', '@id': '562'}, 'macroMolecule': {'@name': 'Fumarate reductase subunit C', 'accession': {'@id': 'P0A8Q0'}}, 'polymerDescription': {'@description': 'FUMARATE REDUCTASE 15 KDA HYDROPHOBIC PROTEIN'}}, {'@entityNr': '4', '@length': '119', '@type': 'protein', '@weight': '13118.9', 'chain': [{'@id': 'D'}, {'@id': 'P'}], 'Taxonomy': {'@name': 'Escherichia coli', '@id': '562'}, 'macroMolecule': {'@name': 'Fumarate reductase subunit D', 'accession': {'@id': 'P0A8Q3'}}, 'polymerDescription': {'@description': 'FUMARATE REDUCTASE 13 KDA HYDROPHOBIC PROTEIN'}}], 'id': '1KF6'}\n\n\nThis output gives all the information related to all chains and we can simply find uniprotkb AC of each chain in this output. I also found another answer for this question. This answer can be found here and the following code:\n\nimport requests\nfrom xml.etree.ElementTree import fromstring\n\npdb_id = '1kf6.A'\npdb_mapping_url = 'http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/rest/das/pdb_uniprot_mapping/alignment'\nuniprot_url = 'http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/{}.xml'\n\ndef get_uniprot_accession_id(response_xml):\n root = fromstring(response_xml)\n return next(\n el for el in root.getchildren()[0].getchildren()\n if el.attrib['dbSource'] == 'UniProt'\n ).attrib['dbAccessionId']\n\ndef get_uniprot_protein_name(uniport_id):\n uinprot_response = requests.get(\n uniprot_url.format(uniport_id)\n ).text\n return fromstring(uinprot_response).find('.//{http://uniprot.org/uniprot}recommendedName/{http://uniprot.org/uniprot}fullName'\n ).text\n\ndef map_pdb_to_uniprot(pdb_id):\n pdb_mapping_response = requests.get(\n pdb_mapping_url, params={'query': pdb_id}\n ).text\n uniprot_id = get_uniprot_accession_id(pdb_mapping_response)\n uniprot_name = get_uniprot_protein_name(uniprot_id)\n return {\n 'pdb_id': pdb_id,\n 'uniprot_id': uniprot_id,\n 'uniprot_name': uniprot_name\n }\n\nprint (map_pdb_to_uniprot(pdb_id))\n\n\nThe output of this code is as follows:\n\n{'pdb_id': '1kf6.A', 'uniprot_id': 'P00363', 'uniprot_name': 'Fumarate reductase flavoprotein subunit'}", "There are two approaches here.\nPhysiological\nIf domain A and B of your protein interact with each other physiologically, then you need to protein-protein docking. This is not too straightforward as protein are flexible.\nSeveral online servers exists such as Haddock and include ClusPro, which use more traditional approaches. While the online server DEMO (I-Tasser group) does a structural homology based search and a final MD based repacking to better minimise the structures (no protein-protein docking).\nMany of these work by magic as far as the user is concerned. But understanding what is going on is really important, even if it is overly laborious. When you don't know where a protein goes, it's called blind or global docking, which is computational expensive and so imprecise that the effort required to prove it is correct for peer-review is too steep for it to be useful. If you are doing local docking it is okay, which may be the case here depending on the linker. Specifically, you need to generate more 'decoys' (potential poses) the more unsure you are: tens of thousands or more. Then you have find clusters and see how each scores following more precise refinement. As an example of a tediously and manually set up run, Rosetta has several docking protocols, which explain the steps required —of note are the many judgement calls, such as in the local refinement, where one has to judge whether setting -dock_pert 3 8 (3 Å and 8° perturbation) is too strict etc.\nPretty picture\nThe protein-protein docking approach will result in a globular protein, which may be incorrect and majorly is not great for pictures.\nIf you want a pretty picture of two or more domains most likely you would want them placed like beads on a string. If you have a linker that is not solved the recommended distance to space them is $(3.5 N_{missing})^{0.5}$ Å —unfortunately I do not know where this lore comes from. If it helps I wrote a script that does this in automatic but manual placement works best.\nLinkers\nIn the situation you have a good confidence about how the two parts fit together (or have placed them like beads on a string), you may want to add linkers. If you absolutely don't care about correct bond topology here is a blog post on how to join bits (shoddily) with PyMOL and here is one to do it properly with Rosetta or Pyrosetta.\nIf one wanted to do a better job, one tool to use is Rosetta remodel, which has a bit of a learning curve, but is very powerful for protein design. This requires the PDB to be on a single chain (pymol alter command, followed by create will do the trick: more here) and actually the amino acids to not have gaps —PDB number being the same as the pose numbering. Rosetta gives better results if the poses are energy minimised, but for this it does not matter too much. Then a &quot;blueprint file&quot; formatted as discussed in the documentation. Briefly, in a way that residues left alone are in the form 1 M . (where residue 1 is a methionine), while the residues before and after the insertion are like 100 D L PIKAA D (meaning D100 is changed to a Asp in loop SS; not actual numbers or residue), while between entries are added 0 X L PIKAA G etc. To model loops, -generic_aa G is a good option as this tells the default rough fitting (centroid mode) to use glycine and not valine as generic residue.\nThe top pose will actually not have a superb score, so a 3 (regular) or more cycles (15 thorough) with Rosetta Relax application either of the whole protein or with a movemap specific to the linker, may be done.\nThere actually is an option in Rosetta remodel to have a domain insertion, i.e. it would swing around like a medieval flail. However, it will not repack and therefore properly dock so this option is a bad idea for this specific application.", "\"Is adding some supplementation \"just in case\" a good idea? If so, how much should I add?\" \n\"Can the conditioning training interfere with my body recomposition program, which is based on eating pattern changes?\"\n\"Can this program hinder my efforts to improve my endurance/condition?\"\n\n\nThe answer to all these questions is... yes! To understand why, ill answer each question starting at 1 and ending with 3.\n\nQ1. Protein supplementation is typically a wise move for those using strength training to accomplish fitness or physique based goals. While whey protein powder is one of the most efficient proteins you can use (based on bio availability), it's possible to get away without supplementing with it if you can stomach eating enough protein to cover it. However, even the most dedicated individual would have a difficult time trying to eat THAT MUCH chicken (or any other protein rich food source), instead of substituting an easy to drink shake instead. In terms of how much, there isn't a \"one size fits all\" type of answer, as it depends on many individual factors. Factors such as workout intensity, and how much a person weighs, are examples of things that differ per person, and this will factor into the optimal amount of protein a person needs. The Huntington College of Health Sciences, stated that 1.3-1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, is the range most authorities agree on [1]. However, this article from the Journal of Sports Sciences, recommends amounts up to 1.8-2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight per day [2]. Try different amounts for 2-3 weeks and note how you feel and look, if you feel good and like your making progress, keep the amounts the same and re-evaluate in another 2-3 weeks, otherwise, bump up the amount until you get to that level.\n\nQ2. The second source has a section in it titled \"Changes in body composition with nutrition and exercise\", and I'll bullet a few of the more important quotes from it.\n\n\n\"Emerging evidence suggests that reducing the intake of dietary carbohydrates is a critically important step in promoting both greater weight loss and greater loss of body fat\"\n\"However, following low carbohydrate, lower GI diets may be a problem for endurance athletes seeking to compete, since dietary carbohydrate intakes are recommended to be higher to allow a more rapid and full recovery of endogenous glycogen stores\"\n\"Thus, at the expense of carbohydrates, a higher protein or fat intake can obviously compromise performance\"\n\n\nA lower carb diet can be very effective at decreasing fat levels ** (I can personally vouch for this as well) **but there's a potential for it to have an adverse effect on performance.\n\nWhich leads to question 3...\n\nQ3. High intensity 90 sec bursts of activity means were talking endurance. Glycogen is an important source for creating ATP, which is a particularly important energy source for exercise bouts lasting 60-90 seconds [3]. And if you're removing carbohydrate sources as you said, it's going to be difficult to perform at the highest level possible in your fitness endeavors. On your days off, I personally believe switching to a more fats-based diet is a good way to boost insulin sensitivity which can be a powerful factor in preventing weight gain.\n\nHope that clears everything up, and that it helps you become one bad-ass medieval swordsmen.\n\nSources\n\n\nhttp://www.hchs.edu/literature/BCAA.pdf\nhttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2011.619204#.Urjl8fYsWpI\nhttp://www.faqs.org/sports-science/Ba-Ca/Carbohydrates.html", "Addressing Your First Question\nWe can tell whether an allele is dominant or recessive based on patterns in family trees, that is true, and it is very helpful! However, that is not the only way, since by looking at the molecular function of the alleles, the dominant and recessive relationship between alleles can be assessed without needing to look at family trees!\nI think a deeper understanding of what it means to be dominant versus recessive would be helpful, because usually biology isn't just that simple! In most scenarios where there is a distinct recessive and dominant trait, it is because the dominant trait causes some specific activity/functioning protein while the recessive trait does not. Let's look at an example of this:\nLet's choose eye color:1\nThere are multiple genes that affect eye color but let's just look at one: the one that codes for the brown pigment (melanin) to be produced in the iris [specifically the HERC2 gene]. As you probably already know, brown eyes are dominant and blue eyes are recessive.\nLet's call the dominant allele B and the recessive allele b. The only way for blue eyes to be the phenotype is for the allele combination to be bb. Now think about why this would occur on a molecular level. Alleles are just forms of genes, which then in turn code for some protein. Think back to what we said earlier about how most of the time dominant alleles cause some certain activity within the cell and recessive alleles do not. We can now use that knowledge to uncover the molecular basis of this eye color scenario: The B allele codes for the brown pigment to be produced in the iris, while the b allele codes for a dysfunctional protein that does not lead to melanin being produced, leading to a blue-ish color seen. So, if the B allele causes the production of melanin and the b allele does not, it makes sense by the B allele would be dominant in this case. In the case of Bb, melanin is still being produced (even if it is because of just one allele), so there still would be brown eyes! Therefore this makes sense by bb is the only allele combination that results in the blue-eye phenotype, because it is the only combination with no allele still producing melanin. This is why brown eyes are dominant to blue eyes, because blue eyes can only exist without the presence of any B allele.\nSo, by knowing how an allele actually functions on a molecular level, that can help us to understand if it is in fact dominant or recessive to another allele. We should also acknowledge that genes do not necessarily need to be in this black-and-white relationship of recessive or dominant. There is also incomplete dominance and co-dominance!\nNow to Your Second Question\nWhen talking about three alleles, it is important to understand that allele dominance only is used when comparing one allele to another allele. So with three alleles, the dominance, recessiveness, co-dominance, or incomplete dominance is between two of the alleles.2 So if we are talking about alleles A, B, and C. We could say things such as:\n\nA is recessive to B, B is dominant to C, C has in-complete dominance with A, etc...\n\nHowever, it is really up to the molecular function of each of the alleles and to determine how those interactions would take place. But to answer your question directly of &quot;can we have 2 dominant alleles,&quot; the answer is sort of. Allele B and C can both be dominant to allele A, but that says nothing about the interaction between Allele B and Allele C.\n\n1 This is a simplification of the actual molecular mechanism of eye color, but at a simplified level this works to illustrate our point. You can read more into the genetic/molecular basis of eye color here.\n2 This article is very good at discussing alleles and clarifying the point that dominance is only between two alleles.", "TL;DR - It's just a scientific convention. Whether it is good, broad enough etc is another question. \n\nThe question is a bit like asking why in mathematics, the set of natural numbers does not contain negative numbers. The reason is simply because it was defined like that as it was considered a useful working definition.\n\nAs you noted the definition of a gene has radically changed, from being defined by the oberved phenotype, to a molecular definition agnostic to functional consequences.\n\nMaybe your interpretation of the old definition of a gene (as an inheritable, modifiable piece of genetic information) is correct, but modern nomenclatures tend to focus on what one may call defining \"minimal functional categories\". You could define a gene as a group of all the sequences that lead to a given phenotype, sure, but for a complex phenotype like \"being tall\", you would have to include a huge part of the genome in your definition of the gene (growth factors, transcription factors, cellular metabolism, all of it!!). Pretty much anything could be a gene of some kind given a certain context. And if everything is a gene, well, then the definition is too broad and not really useful. \n\nThat is why a bottom-up definition is more useful: define the gene as small units that may or may not infuence certain phenotypes, and then define the phenotype as the result of all the genes involved.\n\nMany things that can be inherited and that exist in various forms are the product of distant pieces of DNA, some coding for proteins, others for regulatory RNAs, so the scientific community decided to define the gene as the \"minimal functional unit\" of genetic information. That does not mean that each gene is unaffected by other factors (just like for example a \"cell\" is a functional unit but must be considered as a part of a broader context to understand how it works), so genes may interfere with each other, overlap etc.\n\nIt's also important to emphasize that the gene is not only the protein/RNA coding sequence, but also includes promoter regions, untranslated ends and many other regulatory elements that can also have inheritable phenotypic consequences. So pretty much anything functional is part a gene; enhancers are a special case, and a recent challenge to this contemporary definition of a gene, because they challenge the previously accepted notion that genes are structurally continuous and therefore spatially well-defined.", "Milk does create gluten1 when combined with flour. The water in the milk does create a gluten structure. If it didn't, any bread made with milk would be dense and flat. But the dinner rolls I made yesterday (with no water, only milk) were light and airy. Milk clearly creates gluten.\n\nNote that gluten isn't only about elasticity. Beginning bread makers often associate gluten with stretchiness, but gluten is also necessary for the structure of bread. Without gluten development, bread won't rise high. Without gluten, gases will escape and bubble out, rather than stay in the dough. Without gluten, the final risen loaf of bread could collapse into a flat, dense pancake. Different doughs may be easier or harder to stretch into long strands, but that's not all that gluten development is about.\n\nThe other ingredients in milk will tend to alter how gluten behaves. As Jeffrey Hamelman notes in his book Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes:\n\n\n Although the lactic acid in milk tightens the gluten structure, the\n fats present soften the structure, and the result is baked products\n that have less elasticity and an even grain. [...] When milk is used\n in yeast breads, it should be heated to about 190&deg;F, a temperature\n higher than pasteurization, in order to denature the serum protein. \n Unheated, the serum is active and has a weakening effect on the\n structure of the gluten. Bakers often replace whole milk in formulas\n with dried milk, first for convenience, and second because the serum\n protein is deactivated in dry milk.\n\n\nA couple takeaways from that:\n\n\nMilk tightens the gluten structure (which means it won't stretch as easily)\nThe fats in milk soften the structure, leading to more fine-grained bonding\nSome milk proteins can weaken the gluten structure (which will make the dough easier to tear and bread won't rise quite as high; as Hamelman mentions, a remedy for this is using heated milk or dried milk, but bakers often also just use a high-protein flour that generates more gluten to begin with)\n\n\nThe question specifically mentions pizza, and the above issues are one reason that milk is less commonly found in pizza doughs than in things like soft rolls or soft white bread. Pizza dough needs to stretch easily, and it needs a very strong gluten structure to be stretched thinly. (Also, the sugars in milk will cause faster browning, which for pizza baked at high temperature may result in a crust that's quite dark.)\n\n\n\n1 In response to a comment, I should clarify what I mean as the word gluten is used in modern English in several different ways. Gluten comes from a Latin word for \"glue\" and, when used in the context of preparing dough, generally refers to a network created when certain proteins combine with liquid to form a sticky and elastic mass. The properties of the combined liquid and protein mixture are different from the protein alone, so most cooks use the word gluten to make reference to this specific mixture and its properties.\n\nNevertheless, as the proteins that occur in flour were isolated historically, the term gluten (or glutens, in plural; in wheat specifically called glutenins and gliadins) also came to refer to the specific proteins generally involved in creating this structure. Hence, one may also use the word \"gluten\" sometimes to refer to proteins in flour even when it is dry. And this dry substance can be isolated and sold separately as \"wheat gluten.\" (Important note: occasionally, one sees people using the word \"gluten\" as a synonym for \"protein content\" of flour. However, other proteins that are non-glutinous may be found in flour as well, so the total protein content -- often found on labels -- is often different from the fractional amount of that which is gluten.)\n\nThis ambiguity of usage -- a wet, elastic substance vs. the dry ingredient that enables its creation -- can be found in many sources. For a few examples, Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking writes:\n\n\n Gluten is a complex mixture of certain wheat proteins that can't\n dissolve in water, but do form associations with water molecules and\n with each other. When the proteins are dry, they're immobile and\n inert. When wetted with water, they can change their shape, move\n relative to each other, and form and break bonds with each other.\n\n\nHere McGee tends toward the second usage, but in subsequent paragraphs he switches nomenclature to refer to the dry components as \"glutenins\" and concludes by noting: \"The result [of bonding and stretching of glutenins] is an extensive interconnected network of coiled proteins, the gluten.\" Thus, in McGee's usage, \"the gluten\" only comes into being in the presence of liquids, conforming to the first usage.\n\nMichel Suas in Advanced Bread and Pastry tends toward the first usage, stating:\n\n\n The two primary proteins in wheat -- glutenin [...] and\n gliadin [...] -- are responsible for the formation of the dough. Depending on their quality, these proteins can absorb 200 to 250\n percent of their weight in water. As they inflate, they become\n attracted to each other and form chains of proteins called gluten.\n\n\nSome sources go further and even deny the existence of dry gluten (a view conflicting with the standard second English usage and product labeling). For example, Modernist Cuisine states:\n\n\n Gluten is formed when two of wheat’s native proteins, glutenin and\n gliadin, come into contact with water. That’s why it’s more accurate\n to talk about the gluten potential of a particular flour, rather than\n its gluten content.\n\n\nIn any case, it's important to note the distinct meanings of the two uses of the word gluten in English, which can usually be understood from context. In dough formation, as here, it's quite common to talk about the \"formation of gluten\" through the addition of liquid, which is what I assume OP was referring to by the phrase \"create gluten,\" a phrase I also incorporated into my answer.", "I think you're mixing up some essentials.\n\nGluconeogenesis can also be imposed on certain gluconeogenic amino acids, and not just carbohydrates.\n\nAdditionally, protein stored as muscle mass is still energy gain (measured in calories). A calory stored is not annulled simply because it's not stored as fat.", "Boiling in a large amount of water is probably the most efficient method. The water should be boiling to avoid spoilage and to promote fast diffusion, and there should be a lot of it to maximize the rate of diffusion. (Alternatively, you could replace the water one or more times during the process) Cutting up the pieces will speed up the process, but if time/texture/tastiness are not important then you can boil the stuff as long as you like.\nAs for the cooking process having affected how much salt can be drawn out: Possibly a bit. Chloride ions are known to bind to certain muscle proteins during the brining and cooking process. I would expect this to be a very minor effect, though. If you've ever tasted the meat left over from a long-cooking stock, you'll note how bland it can get.", "Certain vitamins, for example, vitamin B12, can be absorbed through the nasal mucosa by simple diffusion.\n\nMany nutrients can be absorbed through the intestinal mucosa only by the help of specific carriers. These carriers are not likely present in nasal mucosa, so the nutrients in question may not be absorbed there.\n\nThe other problem, especially with macronutrients (carbs, proteins, fats), is if the surface area of nasal mucosa is big enough to absorb large amounts of macronutrients (carbs, proteins, fats) needed to meet nutritional demands. In one experiment, only 0.1 mg of glucose from a given dose was absorbed through the oral mucosa.\n\nIn another experiment, some amino acids were absorbed from oral mucosa.", "This is a good question.\nThe first answer is that there are antibody therapeutics for cancer.\nThese fall into two categories which I will call therapeutic and immunotherapy (this is not typical naming but, keeping it simple they will do).\nTherapeutic antibodies are designed to bind to an enzyme or signalling protein that will weaken the tumor specifically. An example is an antibody to nutrient intake receptors (cancers eat a lot more than other cells). HER2 is a receptor that is heavily populated on breast cancer tissue. Antibodies that inhibit HER2 activity can slow the growth of breast cancer specifically with minimal toxic effects.\nThere are also antibodies to proteins found only on cancer cells. These can be specific antibodies (monoclonal antibodies) to proteins from a mutation that only the cancer cell has.", "What said by ebrohman is correct. In fact there are two factor that led to leaves falling when fall approaching: photoperiod and the circadian rhythm (24 hours) of the plant.\nIn the circadian rhythm is possible observe oscillation in proteins expression. Some of the proteins that regulate leaves abscission (aka falling) have an oscillations in their expression and present a pic of the expression in the late afternoon. Moreover to be active this protein need to be on \"a dark\" condition because the light will lead to proteins degradation. \n\nFor exemple\n\nImagine that in summer there is a long day condition with sunlight present from 7am until 20am (photoperiod) and that the proteins that lead to leaves abscission is expressed by the plant around 6pm (circadian rhythm). Due the presence of the sunlight the proteins will be degrade. \nWhen the hour of sunlight decrease (with fall approaching) the proteins is day by day less degraded and this could led to the plant to prepare itself for the winter, also with the leaves abscission.\n\nIf you are interested to know more about the argument I can suggest you an interesting review write by Pin and Nilsson (2012)\n\nCold\nIs possible that a decrease in the temperature lead to a leaves falling. However I think that temperature has to decrease significantly over more day to allow any changes in plants structure. \n\nI hope that my answer could help, if you do not understand something let me know. I will try to explain it in a different way.", "a) HIV uses a certain receptor that's expressed widely on T helper cells. As this is homework I suggest looking at the wikipedia article to look this up for yourself. It is under tropism. \n\nb) You mentioned mutation. That's very true but this question is excluding people with that mutation called the delta 32 mutation. Thus HIV can infect these people, but what happens to any virus in the context of infection? How does the human body deal with viral infections. Is there any variation that would account for why some people can be resistant to HIV and others not be? \n\nc) Yes! Well done :) You're thinking along the right lines. Look up the drug on wikipedia and look up it's mechanism. \n\nd) i) Yeah exactly that. But more than that. There's optimal HIV which in the absence of drugs does the best job at infecting. If we give a drug then HIV has to mutate away from optimal HIV to stay alive, but it's weaker. Give multiple drugs and it can't mutate away from all of them because if it did it would be so far from optimal it would be a rubbish virus. \n\nii) 1) It could affect the HIV binding receptor protein or the protein with which it binds on the host cell. So both! Logic would dictate we would use self receptor blockade because at least they're more conserved but I'm sure both are probably used. Enzymes and receptors are both proteins. \n\n2 + 3) Look up the lifecycle of HIV\n\ne) Theoretically possible. He might not take the drugs. If he takes the drugs unlikely because the virus basically becomes undetectable. Look this up, it should be on wikipedia again." ]

[ "Jonestown, TX. Jonestown is a city in Travis County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,681 at the 2000 census. Jonestown is located at 30°29′20″N 97°55′27″W / 30.488872°N 97.924208°W / 30.488872; -97.924208 (30.488872, -97.924208). This is at the north end of Lake Travis, 19 miles (31 km) northwest of Austin." ]

[ "What Was the Jonestown Massacre? On November 18, 1978, Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones instructed all members living in the Jonestown, Guyana compound to commit an act of revolutionary suicide, by drinking poisoned punch. In all, 918 people died that day, nearly a third of whom were children.", "In the end of Jonestown, whether it was forcefully or by choice, a total of 918 people died on November 18th, 1978 in the Jonestown Massacre – one of the largest mass deaths in U.S. history (American Experience, n.d.). The story of Jonestown is a difficult one to explain.", "This is exactly what happened to the people who died in Jonestown. In spite of the shock waves that rippled around the world from the jungle community in Guyana, the U.S. government failed to determine precisely how the people in Jonestown died. The Carter Administration characterized the suicides as an aberration lacking relevance to American society.", "Jonestown's population was just under 1,000 at its peak in 1978. Jonestown life after mass migration. Many members of the Temple believed that Guyana would be, as Jones promised, a paradise or utopia. After Jones arrived, however, Jonestown life significantly changed.", "Related Links. Two decades ago an unusual series of events led to the deaths of more than 900 people in the middle of a South American jungle. Though dubbed a massacre, what transpired at Jonestown on November 18, 1978, was to some extent done willingly, making the mass suicide all the more disturbing. The Jonestown cult (officially named the People's Temple) was founded in 1955 by Indianapolis preacher James Warren Jones.", "The Forgotten, Non-Kool-Aid-Drinking Victims of the Jonestown Massacre. Jonestown, circa 1978. On Nov. 18, 1978, 35 years ago today, more than 900 people died after drinking poison at a failed utopian settlement in Guyana, in an incident that has come to be known as the Jonestown massacre.", "On this day in History, Mass suicide at Jonestown on Nov 18, 1978. Learn more about what happened today on History.", "5 Jonestown victims buried in California. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Five victims of the 1978 mass suicide-murder in Jonestown, Guyana, were laid to rest after their cremated remains were recently discovered inside an abandoned Delaware funeral home.", "In fact, the notion of a mass suicide at Jonestown has been repeated so many times that it is accepted as fact, and the association is so strong that when most people hear Jonestown, the first thing which pops in their head is Kool-Aid.. This association is false.", "16 photos: Jonestown massacre anniversary – Bodies lie around the compound of the People's Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978. More than 900 members of the cult, led by the Rev. Jim Jones, died from cyanide poisoning; it was the largest mass-suicide in modern history.", "In the Valley of the Shadow of Death: Guyana After the Jonestown Massacre. Rolling Stone's 1979 story piecing together what happened after the tragedy masterminded by Rev. Jim Jones", "Today, on the 34th anniversary, Wilson said it's important to remember the California-based Peoples Temple Jonestown massacre, especially the survivors who have wrestled with their consciences for decades. PHOTOS: Jonestown Massacre Anniversary.", "People's Temple - Guyana. Jonestown Massacre. James Warren Jim Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 death of more than 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the deaths of nine other people at a nearby airstrip and in Georgetown.", "In her 2011 book about Jonestown, A Thousand Lives, Julia Scheeres argued convincingly that Jones compelled the settlers to drink the poisoned beverage, and that the Jonestown massacre was not a case of mass suicide, but mass murder.", "While some refer to the events in Jonestown as mass suicide, many others, including Jonestown survivors, regard them as mass murder. All who drank poison did so under duress, and a third of the victims (304) were minors.", "To a certain extent, the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass suicide; some sources, including Jonestown survivors, regard the event as a mass murder. It was the largest such event in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until September 11, 2001.he poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others by Temple members at Port Kaituma, including United States Congressman Leo Ryan. Four other Temple members died in Georgetown at Jones' command.", "Jonestown is mentioned 248 times on our forum: Latest news from Jonestown, TX collected exclusively by city-data.com from local newspapers, TV, and radio stations. Ancestries: German (21.1%), English (10.6%), Irish (10.3%), United States (6.5%), Scottish (4.6%), French (4.0%).", "Inside the Jonestown massacre. 1 Story Highlights. 2 In 1978, 909 Americans were led to mass murder-suicide by Rev. Jim Jones. 3 One-third of the dead at Jonestown were children; only 33 people survived. Jones was a self-appointed minister and phony faith healer from the Midwest.", "On November 17, 1978, Ryan arrived in Jonestown with a group of journalists and other observers. At first the visit went well, but the next day, as Ryan’s delegation was about to leave, several Jonestown residents approached the group and asked them for passage out of Guyana.", "Yet 30 years later, many questions about Jonestown remain only partly answered. Who was Jones, and what was life like in the jungle community built by his followers? Why did they believe in him so unquestioningly? And were their deaths a random act of madness, or could a similar horror ever happen again?", "Cremation of Jonestown victims in other states was the norm, even though all of the bodies were embalmed in Delaware, said Rebecca Moore, a San Diego State University professor who had two sisters and a nephew die in Jonestown.", "ABC News. Jonestown Massacre: Survivors Wrestle With Guilt, Shame. From the age of 13, Leslie Wagner Wilson had been indoctrinated in the California-based Peoples Temple, led by the charismatic Jim Jones, whose mission was to foster racial harmony and help the poor.", "This entry was posted in Crime History and tagged brian jonestown massacre, cult, cyanide, documentary, exploitation, fanatic, flavor-aid, gospel, guyana, heavy metal, jim jones, jonestown, kool aid, mass suicide, massacre, peoples temple, religious, religious cult, religious leader, reverend, suicide, true crime books.", "Kool-Aid's association with Jonestown has turned into a common meme and saying: An Internet meme depicts the Kool-Aid man in relation to Jonestown. The surprising thing is that all the sources on the massacre say the powder was the grape variety of another drink brand, Flavor Aid.", "Introduction. On November 18, 1978, in what became known as the “Jonestown Massacre,” more than 900 members of an American cult called the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide-murder under the direction of their leader Jim Jones (1931-78).ntroduction. On November 18, 1978, in what became known as the “Jonestown Massacre,” more than 900 members of an American cult called the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide-murder under the direction of their leader Jim Jones (1931-78).", "It has been almost 30 years since the mass suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, shocked the world. More than 900 people — men, women and children — followed the call of the Rev. Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple, killing themselves by drinking a soft drink laced with cyanide at the cult's sprawling compound.", "Brinton's analysis of the bizarre mass suicide of a socialist cult led by American Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana, which discusses the dynamics of political sects in general. Nakao, Annie.The ghastly Peoples Temple deaths shocked the world. Berkeley Rep takes on the challenge of coming to terms with it.", "Jonestown Massacre: The Biggest Mass Suicide in Modern History. This horrific tale of mass suicide was carried out by the followers of the People’s Temple – a cult born in the 1950’s. The People’s Temple was known as a sanctuary against racial and social inequality prevalent at the time. The Jonestown Massacre was the biggest single mass suicide in modern history. Jim Jones, the charismatic cult leader of the People’s Temple, ordered his loyal followers to drink a cocktail mixed with deadly cyanide and sedatives.", "Thirty-eight years ago, in a Guyanese settlement called Jonestown, the Reverend Jim Jones and more than 900 of his Peoples Temple followers — men, women, children, and entire families alike — killed themselves and each other by consuming punch laced with cyanide and other poisons.", "The Brian Jonestown Massacre ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ The Brian Jonestown Massacre ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ Release Date 13th of January 2017 Available on green coloured vinyl 10”. Groove Is In The Heart is the first of 3 singles from the forthcoming album “Don’t Get Lost” released in February 2017. Both tracks (Groove Is In The Heart & Throbbing Gristle) feature vocals by Tess Parks , these tracks give an idea of the changing rhythms of the Brian Jonestown Massacre for the new album.", "Teri Buford O'Shea fled Jonestown three weeks before all its inhabitants committed suicide. Here, she explains why the tragedy should be a cautionary tale for everyday people. On November 18, 1978, Jim Jones and more than 900 members of his People's Temple committed mass suicide in the jungle of Guyana. Since that time, the event has occupied a grotesque but fringy place in American history.", "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jonesville is a town in Wayne Township, Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 177 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbus, Indiana metropolitan statistical area." ]

[ "In a repeat of the 2016 final, Pablo Carreno Busta gained a measure of revenge over Nicolas Almagro in the Estoril Open last eight.\nPablo Carreno Busta avenged his defeat in last year's Estoril Open final by overcoming Nicolas Almagro to reach the last four.\nLast year, Carreno Busta fell at the final hurdle at the hands of his Spanish compatriot, but the roles were reversed 12 months on as the top seed won through 6-2 6-4.\nHis semi-final opponent will be another Spaniard in the shape of David Ferrer, who eased past Ryan Harrison 6-4 6-0.\nSaturday's other last-four clash sees Kevin Anderson, conqueror of 2015 champion Richard Gasquet, take on Gilles Muller, who came from behind to beat Taro Daniel 5-7 6-2 6-3.\nMeanwhile, at the BMW Open in Munich, Guido Pella overcame the disappointment of wasting two match points in the second set against Horacio Zeballos to prevail 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3).\nPella will face Chung Hyeon or 2014 champion Martin Klizan in the semis. Their quarter-final will be completed on Saturday with darkness halting the deciding set at 3-2 on serve in the South Korean's favour.\nIn the other semi-final, Roberto Bautista-Agut takes on Alexander Zverev following their respective wins over Yannick Hanfmann and Jan-Lennard Struff." ]

[ "In another [auth] first-round match, Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 6-3.\nThe four top-seeded players all have byes into the second round and did not play on Tuesday. Kei Nishikori of Japan is No. 1 followed by Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, David Ferrer of Spain, and Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.\nThe Argentina Open is the second stop on the Latin American clay-court swing. The big event is next week’s tournament in Rio de Janeiro, where Nishikori is also seeded No. 1.", "MARBELLA, Spain — Spain led Britain 2-1 in the Davis Cup World Group after Pablo Carreno-Busta and Feliciano Lopez beat Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in doubles on Saturday.\nThe Spanish pair forced 35 errors to win the match in just under 2 1/2 hours on the outdoor clay at Club de Tenis Puente Romano.", "Great Britain trail 2-1 in their Davis Cup World Group tie in Spain after Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot are beaten in the doubles by Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez.\nREAD MORE: GB trail Spain 2-1 after Murray & Inglot lose doubles", "Enrique Gonzalez scores on a trick play, but EC North falls to River Falls\nNolan Hellegers scores right before halftime as the Crickets top the Thunder", "Kyle Edmund is poised to be thrown into Britain's Davis Cup first round against Spain on Sunday in the hope that another near miracle can be produced to overturn a 2-1 deficit.\nThe Australian Open semi-finalist will be allowed to make the decision whether to take up one of the berths in the reverse singles, as the overmatched visitors try to somehow manufacture two wins after a defeat in Saturday's doubles.\nDom Inglot and Jamie Murray failed to replicate the heroics of Cameron Norrie when they went down 6-4 6-4 7-6 to the Spanish duo of Feliciano Lopez and Pablo Carreno Busta amid the winter sunshine at the Puente Romano resort.\nPablo Carreno Busta of Spain celebrates his doubles win alongside Feliciano Lopez to leave Great Britain with it all to do in their Davis Cup tie in Marbella\nLopez (top) and Busta proved too strong for the British pair of Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot\nInglot returns the ball during Britain's straight sets defeat to Spain in Marbella on Saturday\nBritain could throw in Kyle Edmund (top left) in an effort to turn around the tie on Sunday\nIf Edmund, who did not deem himself ready on Friday, does play then Captain Leon Smith has to decide whether to replace Norrie in the opening singles or, more likely, hold him back for a potential decider in place of Liam Broady.\nThe choice will not be made until the start of play this morning after a prolonged workout yesterday evening.\n'I'm not going to throw him in if he's not wanting to play, that's not fair, but if he wants to play, clearly as good a player as he is, he'll get a shot,' said Smith. 'But I'm not sure in which match.\n'Once he starts moving, he'll know what that feeling is. Most important is if he's happy to do it. It's his decision. He has been great around the team. You saw how much he was supporting the boys through the singles yesterday.\nThe travelling British fans show their support in Marbella but their team are 2-1 down in the tie\nMurray (left) and Inglot in action during Saturday's doubles rubber in Marbella\n'At the start of the week it was quite limited on the court. The last couple of days he has been much freer, moving around the court really well.'\nInglot's serve can be a potent weapon but it misfired too often in Saturday's opening two sets, with the hosts gratefully accepting nine double faults overall from their opposition. Inglot was broken twice, early on in each of the first two.\nThe Spaniards, notably pumped up before an 8,000 crowd which was much more animated than the opening day, always looked in control with world number ten singles player Carreno Busta predictably impressive with his groundstrokes.\nBusta and Lopez celebrate victory as they put Spain 2-1 ahead entering the return singles\nBritain will pin their hopes on Edmund in Sunday's singles matches to stay in the contest\nOn their least favourite surface Murray and Inglot did not always move in harmony together, getting their crosses at the net confused. The third set was tight, but they fell behind early in the tiebreak, which was conceded 7-4.\nReflecting on the doubles Smith said: 'The honest truth is that if you are going to cause an upset on a clay court you need both players paying their best tennis for a long period, and it didn't happen today.'", "GUADALAJARA, Mexico — David Vidal hit the go-ahead double during a three-run rally in the eighth inning, and reigning champion Puerto Rico beat Mexico 7-4 on Friday night to get their first win in the Caribbean Series.\nVidal had two hits with two RBIs for the Criollos de Caguas, who are trying to win their fifth title in the Series and 16th for Puerto Rico.\nThe Culiacan Tomateros will try to bounce back Saturday when they take on Cuba*s Alazanes de Granma.\nLazaro Blanco pitched six strong innings, Yurisbel Gracial had three RBIs and the Cubans started the Series with a 6-4 win over Venezuela.\nBlanco (1-0) took the win after allowing five hits and two runs with five strikeouts. Raidel Martinez got the save.\nCuba reached the semifinals last year and is looking for its ninth championship in the Caribbean Series.\nThe win came with a price for the Granma Alazanes because Alfredo Despaigne, one of their top players, hurt his left leg and is questionable for the second game.\nIn the Caribbean Series, five teams play against each other in the first round and the top four advance to the semifinals.\nFormer U.S. President Bill Clinton was on hand for the opening ceremony, and the first pitch was thrown by Mexican boxer Saul Canelo Alvarez.", "Julian Finney/Getty Images\nSpain have taken control of their Davis Cup clash with Great Britain after moving into a 2-1 lead, as Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez beat Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot in straight sets in the doubles on Saturday.\nElsewhere, defending champions France took the lead in their tie with the Netherlands, as Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut saw off Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer in four sets.\nAustralian Open runner-up Marin Cilic helped inspire Croatia to victory over Canada. Cilic and partner Ivan Dodig recovered from going two sets down to win in five sets and move into a 2-1 lead.\nMeanwhile, United States sealed their spot in the quarter-finals by beating Serbia to move into an unassailable 3-0 lead in the tie. Ryan Harrison and Steve Johnson lost the first set on a tiebreak but came back to beat Nikola Milojevic and Miljan Zekic in four sets\nHere's how things stand after Saturday's matches and a look back at some of the highlights from the doubles action.\nSaturday Scores\n(1) France 2-1 Netherlands\nSpain 2-1 (3) Great Britain\n(6) Australia 1-2 Germany\nJapan 1-2 (8) Italy\nKazakhstan 3-0 (5) Switzerland\n(4) Croatia 2-1 Canada\n(7) Serbia 0-3 United States\n(2) Belgium 2-1 Hungary\nFor Sunday's schedule in full visit the competition website.\nSaturday Recap\nGreat Britain will need to win both singles rubbers on Sunday if they are to beat Spain after being comfortably defeated in the doubles.\nCarreno Busta and Lopez got off to the perfect start by breaking serve in the opening game. Great Britain tried to hit straight back and earned the opportunity to pull level, but some excellent serving from Carreno Busta saw Spain hold and move into a 2-0 lead.\nThe Spanish duo continued to serve well to take the first set 6-4, and an early break in the second saw them move 2-1 up and put them in control of the match.\nThe Davis Cup's official Twitter account showed just how well Lopez was playing:\nMeanwhile, Charlie Eccleshare at the Telegraph highlighted Carreno Busta's performance:\nSpain took the second set 6-4 to leave Great Britain in real trouble, and the third set was far tighter. Murray did well to save two break points and hold serve at 6-5, and the set went into a tiebreak that Spain just edged 7-4.\nTennis writer Gaspar Ribeiro Lanca felt the Great Britain team were let down by their play at the net:\nSpain will now head into Sunday's rubbers with the lead, and with home advantage, they will be big favourites to claim the win.\nOne of Saturday's most exciting matches was in Osijek, as hosts Croatia pulled off a stunning comeback to defeat Canada's Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil.\nThe match was Cilic's first since his defeat in the final of the Australian Open to Roger Federer, and Croatia got off to a slow start as Canada comfortably took the first set 6-2.\nThe duo backed that up by taking the second set 6-3, to delight their support, as shown by Tennis Canada:\nBack came Croatia, taking the third set 6-4 and then forcing a decider after winning the fourth 7-5.\nAn early break followed for the hosts, with Dodig urging the home crowd to turn up the volume, per the Davis Cup:\nAnother break for Croatia sealed their comeback, taking the fifth set 6-2 and to move them ahead overall in the tie.\nTennis writer Carole Bouchard was particularly impressed with Cilic's display:\nThere was another five-set thriller in Liege as Belgium, runners-up last time out, took on Hungary hoping to take the win after claiming victory in both singles rubbers on Friday.\nHowever, Hungary had other ideas, and Attila Balazs and Marton Fucsovics stunned the home crowd by taking the first two sets 6-3 and 6-4.\nThere was little to choose between either side in the third, but Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore snatched it on the tiebreak to force the match into a fourth set.\nBelgium then looked on course to seal a superb comeback after taking the fourth set 6-4, but Hungary managed to dig deep to take the fifth 7-5 and stay alive in the tie.\nThe Davis Cup showed the moment of victory:\nIt's been another action-packed day of tennis, but there is still plenty left to play for on Sunday with the majority of the ties still to be decided.", "Australian Open semi-finalist Kyle Edmund will have the final say over his participation in the Davis Cup tie with Spain as Great Britain face a daunting task to avoid defeat in Marbella.\nCameron Norrie’s heroics in Friday’s second singles rubber had levelled the World Group first round tie at 1-1 and given the visitors a chance to pull off a shock result and claim a place in the quarter-finals.\nHowever, Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot never threatened to maintain the momentum at Club de Tenis Puente Romano as the untested Spanish pair of Pablo Carreno-Busta and Feliciano Lopez ran out 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7/4) winners in two hours and 28 minutes.\nKyle Edmund could feature on day 3 in Marbella (Steven Paston/PA)\nIn Sunday’s reverse singles Norrie is scheduled to take on Albert Ramos Vinolas and Liam Broady due to face Roberto Bautista-Agut, although both sides are allowed to make changes.\nEdmund, who has been struggling with a hip injury, could be drafted into the British line-up and was put through his paces on court after Saturday’s doubles rubber.\nGB captain Leon Smith said he would have a “good conversation” with Edmund following his practice session and told BBC Sport: “First and foremost, it’s got to be his decision because he’s coming back from an injury. Then the medical team will have their say and if he’s ready to go then of course he should go out and give it a go.”\nOne break of serve in each of the first two sets was enough to give Carreno-Busta and Lopez a commanding lead, with the British pair unable to convert the sole break point they were able to create.\nMurray and Inglot dug deep to save two break points in the 11th game of the third set, but quickly fell 5-1 down in the tie-break and their opponents duly closed out the match.\n\"Quite simply the Spanish team played an awful lot better\"@LeonSmith chats about a tough day for the Brits at the #DavisCup and looks ahead to singles Sunday. pic.twitter.com/L9njzcPZUI — British Tennis (@BritishTennis) February 3, 2018\n“The Spanish guys played an awful lot better than ours, it’s as simple as that,” Smith added.\n“The court definitely favoured them but they also played well. We would have needed to make an awful lot more returns to try and make some inroads into their service games, but they were holding so quickly and we never really got any momentum.”\nLopez, who served superbly throughout the contest, told the Davis Cup website: “We are very happy. We played a great match overall, very consistent. We played quite solid, we served well and we made them play all the time. It was really working today.”\nCarreno-Busta added: “Feli has more experience than me and it was great to play with him. We were serving really good. It was amazing and very exciting to play at home in Davis Cup. Yesterday I couldn’t play the singles but today the feeling with the crowd was very good.”", "\"Stay strong, mom,\" wrote del Potro on the camera after winning his first match since the death of his maternal grandfather. pic.twitter.com/2ydqhx8Nda", "WATCH: Noxapater gets it done in division play against their rival from across the creek on Friday evening.", "Cameron Spencer/Getty Images\nTop seed Simona Halep recovered from a slow start to beat Alison Riske at the French Open on Wednesday.\nHaving lost the opening set against the American, Halep eventually showed her class to win 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 and move into Round 2. Meanwhile, fourth seed Elina Svitolina and eighth seed Petra Kvitova progressed into Round 3 thanks to two-set wins.\nIn the men's draw, Novak Djokovic got past Jaume Munar in three tight sets, while 10th seed Pablo Carreno Busta is also through after beating Federico Delbonis in four.\nRead on for the key results early on from Roland Garros on Wednesday and a look back at some of the best moments from another absorbing day.\nFrench Open, Selected Wednesday Results\nWomen's Draw\n*(1) Simon Halep bt. Alison Riske, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1\n(4) Elina Svitolina bt. Viktoria Kuzmova, 6-3, 6-4\n(8) Petra Kvitova bt. Laura Arruabarrena, 6-0, 6-4\nMen's Draw\n(10) Pablo Carreno Busta bt. Federico Delbonis, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4\n(13) Roberto Bautista Agut bt. Santiago Giraldo, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3\nJeremy Chardy bt. (17) Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8), 1-6, 5-7, 6-2\n(20) Novak Djokovic bt. Jaume Munar, 7-6 (1), 6-4\n*Round 1 match, all others are Round 2\nFor the results in full, visit the French Open website.\nHalep Recovers to Reach Round 2\nERIC FEFERBERG/Getty Images\nHaving seen her match delayed on Tuesday due to continued poor weather in Paris, Halep had to wait until Wednesday to get her tournament underway.\nIt appeared as though the later start may have hindered her, as Riske took control in a lacklustre opening set from the two-time Roland Garros finalist. Eventually, as the match moved on, the Romanian was able to find some of her best form.\nAs noted by Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times, it was a match of differing standards from the world No. 1:\nHalep will be desperate to finally get over the line in a Grand Slam event, having now fallen at the last hurdle on three occasions, including this year's Australian Open in January. Next up for her is a meeting with Riske's compatriot, Taylor Townsend.\nThe women's draw is packed full of class players this year, though, and based on her recent efforts, Svitolina is definitely someone with the capabilities to challenge for glory.\nAs noted by tennis writer Matt Zemek, while she didn't show her best against Kuzmova, she was able to dig this one out:\nKvitova, meanwhile, is playing some of the finest clay-court tennis of her life, as she extended her run of successive wins on the surface to 13 with a routine victory over Arruabarrena, per the tournament's official Twitter account:\nIn the men's side of the draw, Djokovic, the 2016 champion, was in action against talented youngster Munar.\nWhile the Serb won this one in straight sets, the 21-year-old put in a fine display. Djokovic appeared keen to up the ante late in each of the three sets and once he did, his opponent simply couldn't reach the same levels.\nPer tennis journalist Abigail Johnson, Djokovic was improved from his first outing in the competition at least:\nHe'll take on Roberto Bautista Agut in the next round, who will pose a difficult challenge for Djokovic. The Spaniard played some sparkling stuff in his three-set win over Giraldo.\nThe match of the day was between Chardy and Berdych. Having led by two sets and then been pegged back, Chardy was in danger of letting a huge win slip. Eventually, roared on by the home crowd, he was able to rally in the final set and give the French another player to cheer on in Round 3.", "— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) . Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk . Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook .\nDuring this period, the site may be slow to load but the entire down time should be about 10 minutes. Thank you for your patience and understanding.\nA few weeks ago, we moved Noozhawk’s servers to make our site more responsive and better able to handle the explosive growth we’ve been experiencing in our traffic. Later tonight, we’ll be upgrading our ExpressionEngine content-management system in preparation for a host of new features we’ll be adding later this year.\nAsk\nVote\nInvestigate\nAnswer\nWelcome to Noozhawk Asks, a new feature in which you ask the questions, you help decide what Noozhawk investigates, and you work with us to find the answers.\nHere’s how it works: You share your questions with us in the nearby box. In some cases, we may work with you to find the answers. In others, we may ask you to vote on your top choices to help us narrow the scope. And we’ll be regularly asking you for your feedback on a specific issue or topic.\nWe also expect to work together with the reader who asked the winning questions to find the answer together. Noozhawk’s objective is to come at questions from a place of curiosity and openness, and we believe a transparent collaboration is the key to achieve it.\nThe results of our investigation will be published here in this Noozhawk Asks section. Once or twice a month, we plan to do a review of what was asked and answered.\nThanks for asking!\nClick Here to Get Started >", "MADRID A Spanish matador has undergone surgery on deep puncture wounds in his throat and leg after being gored by a bull at Madrid's famed Las Ventas bullring on Sunday.\nDaniel Garcia Navarrete was knocked off his feet after being gored in the leg by the 460 kg (1,014 pounds) bull, who then went for his throat as he lay on the ground covering his face.\nLas Ventas officials said the injuries were 15cm deep in the throat and 10cm into the leg.\nThe animal tossed Navarrete around the ring before other matadors came to his rescue and warned the animal off in an incident witnessed by more than 10,000 people at Spain's largest bullring.\n\"There was blood on his neck and a hole in his thigh,\" one spectator said.\n\"The bull was shaking him about like a rag doll.\"\nNavarrete, from the southern Spanish city of Jaen, was hurriedly carried away by the other matadors and underwent surgery on Sunday. He was resting in hospital on Monday, the Las Ventas bullring said in a statement.\nBullfighting is a centuries-old tradition in Spain and remains popular, but some local authorities have clamped down on fights amid a growing animal rights movement against the practice.\n(Reporting by Anna Valderrama. Writing by Patrick Johnston, editing by Pritha Sarkar)", "Feb 3 (Reuters) - The United State surged to an unbeatable 3-0 lead to eliminate 2010 champions Serbia in the first round of the Davis Cup on Saturday.\nJoining Serbia at the exit were 2014 winners Switzerland, who were also overwhelmed 3-0 by Kazakhstan after failing to mount much of a challenge in the absence of 20-times grand slam champion Roger Federer.\nHolding a 2-0 lead after Friday's singles, Americans Ryan Harrison and Steve Johnson came from a set down to beat Nikola Milojevic and Miljan Zekic 6-7(3) 6-2 7-5 6-4 in front of a partisan Serbian crowd.\nHolders France need one more victory on Sunday to progress to the quarter-finals after Pierre Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut earned them a 2-1 lead over the Netherlands following a 7-6(6) 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(2) victory over Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer in almost 3-1/2 hours in Albertville.\nBelgium, finalists last year, slipped up against Hungary after winning both of Friday's singles matches. Attila Balazs and Marton Fucsovics kept Hungary's chances alive with a 6-3 6-4 6-7(2) 4-6 7-5 win over Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore in Liege.\nCroatia mounted a superb comeback in their tie against Canada, with world number three Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodlig roaring back from two sets down to eke out a 2-6 3-6 6-4 7-5 6-2 win over Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil for a 2-1 lead.\nThe Spanish pairing of Feliciano Lopez and Pablo Carreno Busta comfortably beat Britain's Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot 6-4 6-4 7-6(4) to give them a 2-1 lead.\nItaly grabbed a 2-1 advantage over Japan, while Germany also stood one win away from a last eight place after beating Australia in the doubles.\nKazakhstan became the first team to reach the quarter-finals after Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov secured a 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-7(5) 6-3 win over Marc-Andrea Huesler and Luca Margaroli. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor in Stockholm, editing by Pritha Sarkar)", "For more information, contact project engineer Max Kashanian at 805.564.5450 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) .\nFrom 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, the City of Santa Barbara will conduct street maintenance activities on Carrillo Street between San Andres and De la Vina streets.\nAsk\nVote\nInvestigate\nAnswer\nWelcome to Noozhawk Asks, a new feature in which you ask the questions, you help decide what Noozhawk investigates, and you work with us to find the answers.\nHere’s how it works: You share your questions with us in the nearby box. In some cases, we may work with you to find the answers. In others, we may ask you to vote on your top choices to help us narrow the scope. And we’ll be regularly asking you for your feedback on a specific issue or topic.\nWe also expect to work together with the reader who asked the winning questions to find the answer together. Noozhawk’s objective is to come at questions from a place of curiosity and openness, and we believe a transparent collaboration is the key to achieve it.\nThe results of our investigation will be published here in this Noozhawk Asks section. Once or twice a month, we plan to do a review of what was asked and answered.\nThanks for asking!\nClick Here to Get Started >", "Feb 3 (Reuters) - The United States surged to an unbeatable 3-0 lead to eliminate 2010 champions Serbia in the first round of the Davis Cup on Saturday.\nJoining Serbia at the exit were 2014 winners Switzerland, who were also overwhelmed 3-0 by Kazakhstan after failing to mount much of a challenge in the absence of 20-times grand slam champion Roger Federer.\nHolding a 2-0 lead after Friday's singles, Americans Ryan Harrison and Steve Johnson came from a set down to beat Nikola Milojevic and Miljan Zekic 6-7(3) 6-2 7-5 6-4 in front of a partisan Serbian crowd.\n\"We are thrilled to be in the quarter-finals and most likely a home tie,\" U.S. captain Jim Courier, whose side will take on Belgium or Hungury, told reporters.\n\"That would be nice, it would give these guys a chance to play back in the U.S. as we have played the last two on the road, so we are looking forward to that opportunity.\"\nHolders France need one more victory on Sunday to progress to the quarter-finals after Pierre Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut earned them a 2-1 lead over the Netherlands following a 7-6(6) 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(2) victory over Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer in almost 3-1/2 hours in Albertville.\nBelgium, finalists last year, slipped up against Hungary after winning both of Friday's singles matches. Attila Balazs and Marton Fucsovics kept Hungary's chances alive with a 6-3 6-4 6-7(2) 4-6 7-5 win over Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore in Liege.\nCroatia mounted a superb comeback in their tie against Canada, with world number three Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodlig roaring back from two sets down to eke out a 2-6 3-6 6-4 7-5 6-2 win over Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil for a 2-1 lead.\nThe Spanish pairing of Feliciano Lopez and Pablo Carreno Busta comfortably beat Britain's Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot 6-4 6-4 7-6(4) to give them a 2-1 lead.\nItaly grabbed a 2-1 advantage over Japan, while Germany also stood one win away from a last eight place after beating Australia in the doubles.\nKazakhstan became the first team to reach the quarter-finals after Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov secured a 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-7(5) 6-3 win over Marc-Andrea Huesler and Luca Margaroli. (Reporting by Philip O'Connor in Stockholm, editing by Pritha Sarkar)", "MONTE CARLO, Monaco (AP) Tomas Berdych needed two hours and three sets to overcome strong resistance from Russian qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov and reach the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Monday.\nBerdych, a runner-up at the Country Club two years ago, converted only two of his 11 break points and rallied Kuznetsov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Berdych made the decisive break in the third game of the decider with a backhand winner down the line.\nAll six seeded players in action at the first big clay-court event of the season progressed to the second round: No. 12 Robert Bautista Agut, No. 13 Pablo Carreno Busta, No. 14 Alexander Zverev, No. 15 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and No. 16 Pablo Cuevas.\nWidely regarded as one of the most promising youngsters on the tour, the 19-year-old Zverev secured a convincing 6-1, 6-2 win over Italian veteran Andreas Seppi.\n”I like playing on clay,” Zverev said. ”It’s the surface I grew up on.”\nZverev will next be up against either Feliciano Lopez or Daniil Medvedev.\nNovak Djokovic, who has been drawn in the same half of the draw as nine-time champion Rafael Nadal, will start his campaign on Tuesday against Gilles Simon of France. Djokovic has been struggling with injuries and recently withdrew from the Miami Masters with a right elbow complaint.\n”The elbow is fine now,” Djokovic said. ”I’ve been training for the past couple of weeks, playing Davis Cup, and making the transition to clay that’s very demanding for the body. I was skeptical of how my elbow would react to the heavy balls on clay, but it’s been good so far.”", "Olimpia's Nestor Camacho (L) fights for the ball with Nacional's Carlos Montiel (C) and Jonathan Santana (R) during an Apertura tournament match on April 7, 2018, at Defensores del Chaco Stadium in Asuncion, Paraguay. EPA-EFE FILE/Andres Cristaldo\nOlimpia, which is coming off a 2-1 win over General Diaz, has widened its lead over Nacional in Paraguay's latest Apertura tournament standings.\nThe win gave Olimpia three points, pushing its point total to 33, while Nacional, which defeated Independiente de Campo Grande 1-0 in the last round of play, has 26 points.", "Chad Bettis goes 0-2 on Ender Inciarte to lead off. Then a liner to left gets by Gerardo Parra. But Inciarte thrown out going for home.", "SHARE COPY LINK More Videos 0:59 Miguel Bernal dives during the first day of the City League meet Pause 1:02 Kapaun edges Carroll in annual wrestling battle 1:40 Derby Invitational highlights: Goddard holds off Derby, Valley Center 0:58 Teacher receives proper send off before military deployment 0:29 Watch puppies predict Super Bowl winners 1:56 Police say armed robbers pepper sprayed Dollar General employees and customers 1:50 Justin Timberlake predicts Super Bowl halftime show with things \"never done before\" 1:05 What is n-bomb? 1:37 Masked men ram a stolen car through an Aldi and steal an ATM 1:28 Four armed men rob Wichita store Video Link copy Embed Code copy\nFacebook\nTwitter\nEmail\nOne of Wichita’s best divers ever, North’s Miguel Bernal, scored 345.3 points after the first day of the boys City League diving meet. [email protected]\nOne of Wichita’s best divers ever, North’s Miguel Bernal, scored 345.3 points after the first day of the boys City League diving meet. [email protected]", "BUENOS AIRES, April 17 (Reuters) - An Argentine soccer fan was declared dead after suffering a vicious attack by a group of men during a first division match at the weekend, local media reported on Monday.\nTV footage showed Belgrano supporter Emanuel Balbo being set upon by hooligan fans of the same team during Saturday´s derby against bitter rivals Talleres in the northern city of Cordoba.\nThe 22-year-old was pushed as he tried to get away, falling more than three metres into a concrete stairwell and landing on his head.\nJudge Liliana Sanchez told TyC Sports that four men already arrested and notorious \"barrabrava\" hooligan Oscar Gomez, who is said to have instigated the attack and is being sought by police, faced charges of aggravated homicide and up to 34 years in jail.\nBalbo´s father Raul told reporters his elder son had been killed in a hit and run incident by Gomez four years ago.\n\"Here at Belgrano we are praying that Emanuel Balbo and Diego Frydman recover,\" the club said in a statement, adding that another fan had been injured in a separate incident.\nBarrabrava violence is endemic in the Argentine game with Balbo the 317th fatal victim since 1922, according to statistics published by the NGO Salvemos al Futbol (let´s save football).\nA ban on travelling fans at Argentine league matches has been in place since 2013 in a bid to curb the violence. Efforts to lift it at selected matches have failed.\nThe first derby between the rival teams for 15 years ended 1-1 with Talleres in 10th place, 14 points behind leaders Boca Juniors, and Belgrano one from bottom of the 30-team championship standings. (Reporting by Rex Gowar, editing by Ed Osmond)", "(Reuters) - The United States surged to an unbeatable 3-0 lead to eliminate 2010 champions Serbia in the first round of the Davis Cup on Saturday.\nJoining Serbia at the exit were 2014 winners Switzerland, who were also overwhelmed 3-0 by Kazakhstan after failing to mount much of a challenge in the absence of 20-times grand slam champion Roger Federer.\nHolding a 2-0 lead after Friday’s singles, Americans Ryan Harrison and Steve Johnson came from a set down to beat Nikola Milojevic and Miljan Zekic 6-7(3) 6-2 7-5 6-4 in front of a partisan Serbian crowd.\n“We are thrilled to be in the quarter-finals and most likely a home tie,” U.S. captain Jim Courier, whose side will take on Belgium or Hungury, told reporters.\n“That would be nice, it would give these guys a chance to play back in the U.S. as we have played the last two on the road, so we are looking forward to that opportunity.”\nTennis - Davis Cup - World Group First Round - Serbia v United States - Sportski Centar Cair, Nis, Serbia - February 3, 2018 U.S. Davis Cup team poses for a picture after their win over Serbia. REUTERS/Marko Djurica\nHolders France need one more victory on Sunday to progress to the quarter-finals after Pierre Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut earned them a 2-1 lead over the Netherlands following a 7-6(6) 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(2) victory over Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer in almost 3-1/2 hours in Albertville.\nBelgium, finalists last year, slipped up against Hungary after winning both of Friday’s singles matches. Attila Balazs and Marton Fucsovics kept Hungary’s chances alive with a 6-3 6-4 6-7(2) 4-6 7-5 win over Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore in Liege.\nSlideshow (3 Images)\nCroatia mounted a superb comeback in their tie against Canada, with world number three Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodlig roaring back from two sets down to eke out a 2-6 3-6 6-4 7-5 6-2 win over Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil for a 2-1 lead.\nThe Spanish pairing of Feliciano Lopez and Pablo Carreno Busta comfortably beat Britain’s Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot 6-4 6-4 7-6(4) to give them a 2-1 lead.\nItaly grabbed a 2-1 advantage over Japan, while Germany also stood one win away from a last eight place after beating Australia in the doubles.\nKazakhstan became the first team to reach the quarter-finals after Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov secured a 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-7(5) 6-3 win over Marc-Andrea Huesler and Luca Margaroli.", "PARIS (Reuters) - Highlights from day four of the French Open tennis championships on Wednesday (all times GMT):\nTennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 30, 2018 Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov celebrates winning his second round match against Jared Donaldson of the U.S. REUTERS/Charles Platiau\n1810 STEPHENS ROLLS INTO THIRD ROUND\nU.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens moved into the third round with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 win over Polish qualifier Magdalena Frech.\nThe American struck 17 winners and never faced a break point in a one-sided match lasting just over an hour.\n1745 WOZNIACKI SENDS GARCIA PEREZ PACKING\nSecond seed Caroline Wozniacki produced a ruthless display to beat Spain’s Georgina Garcia Perez 6-1 6-0 in 51 minutes.\n1650 DIMITROV OUTLASTS DONALDSON\nFourth seed Grigor Dimitrov secured a decisive break in the 17th game of the final set to beat American Jared Donaldson 6-7(2) 6-4 4-6 6-4 10-8 in the second round.\nIt was the Bulgarian’s 50th Grand Slam match-win as he matched his best Roland Garros performance by reaching the third round for the third time.\n1630 NISHIKORI BREAKS FRENCH HEARTS\nJapan’s Kei Nishikori battled past home favorite Benoit Paire 6-3 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 to book a third round spot after three hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.\n1615 ZVEREV SURVIVES SCARE\nWorld number three Alexander Zverev survived a scare from unseeded Dusan Lajovic to beat the Serb 2-6 7-5 4-6 6-1 6-2 in the second round.\nIt was the German’s 32nd win of the season and he will face Bosnian Damir Dzumhur for a place in the last 16.\nTennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 30, 2018 General view of Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in action during her second round match against Slovakia's Viktoria Kuzmova REUTERS/Christian Hartmann\n1600 GOFFIN CRUISES THROUGH\nEighth seed Belgian David Goffin produced a clinical display to reach the third round for a fourth straight year, defeating Frenchman Corentin Moutet 7-5 6-0 6-1.\n1515 DOUBLES DELIGHT FOR WILLIAMS SISTERS\nSerena and Venus Williams won their first doubles match together since lifting the 2016 Wimbledon title, defeating Japanese pair Shuko Aoyama and Miyu Kato 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the opening round.\n1355 KEYS OUTPLAYS DOLEHIDE\nAmerican Madison Keys, seeded 13th, struck 21 winners on her way to a 6-4 6-1 second-round victory over compatriot Caroline Dolehide.\n1330 DJOKOVIC BOOKS THIRD ROUND SPOT\nFormer champion Novak Djokovic continued his steady progress with a 7-6(1) 6-4 6-4 victory over Spain’s Jaume Munar. The Serb extending his winning run to 17 matches against qualifiers at Grand Slam events.\nHe will make his 13th third round appearance at Roland Garros against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, who beat Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-4 7-5 6-3.\n1315 CHARDY STUNS BERDYCH IN FIVE-SET THRILLER\nLocal favorite Jeremy Chardy recovered well in the final set to beat 17th seed Tomas Berdych 7-6(5) 7-6(8) 1-6 5-7 6-2 in a rain-delayed second round encounter.\nWorld number 86 Chardy will meet fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert for a place in the last-16.\n1250 SVITOLINA HAILS HOME SUPPORT\nFourth seed Elina Svitolina hopes Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko’s interest in tennis could boost the sport’s development in her home country.\nSlideshow (2 Images)\nPoroshenko last week congratulated Svitolina on Twitter following her Italian Open triumph.\n“It’s very nice of him that he follows the sport,” Svitolina told reporters. “And hopefully, we’re going to now have not only attention but also maybe someone could invest some money into Ukrainian tennis for our juniors, for our upcoming generation.\n“You know, I know that our federation is also working really hard to build the center where juniors and the small girls and boys can train.”\n1230 CARRENO BUSTA BATTLES PAST DELBONIS\nPablo Carreno Busta’s nifty movement and measured approach proved decisive in a 7-6(0) 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4 win over Federico Delbonis of Argentina.\nThe 10th-seeded Spaniard will next face Italian Marco Cecchinato for a place in the last-16.\n1110 HALEP PREVAILS\nWorld number one Simona Halep, chasing a maiden Grand Slam title, secured a 2-6 6-1 6-1 win over American Alison Riske in the opening round.\nRomanian Halep, twice runner-up at Roland Garros, will next face American Taylor Townsend, who is ranked 72 in the world.\n1045 OSAKA MARCHES ON\nJapan’s Naomi Osaka, seeded 21st, booked a place in the third round with a 6-4 7-5 win over Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.\n1035 SVITOLINA ADVANCES\nFourth seed Elina Svitolina, who has won three WTA titles so far this season, progressed to the third round with an impressive 6-3 6-4 win over Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia.\n1020 KVITOVA EASES INTO THIRD ROUND\nTwice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova produced a sublime performance to beat Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena 6-0 6-4 in the second round.\nThe 28-year-old Czech, seeded eighth, struck 27 winners and converted five break-point opportunities to wrap up the match in just over an hour.", "Start the conversation - Add your comment\nAlthough the administrators and moderators of this website will attempt to keep all objectionable comments off these pages, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the poster, and neither Crash Media Group nor Crash.Net will be held responsible for the content of any message. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. If you find a message objectionable, please contact us and inform us of the problem or use the [report] function next to the offending post. Any message that does not conform with the policy of this service can be edited or removed with immediate effect.", "MADRID: Eibar hammered Vincenzo Montella's Sevilla 5-1 to move within a point of their stunned opponents in La Liga on Saturday.\nSevilla, with one eye on their King's Cup semi-final, second leg against Leganes on Wednesday, were far from their best and Eibar, inspired by winger Fabian Orellana, took full advantage.\nThe Basques, who are now one place behind Sevilla in seventh on 32 points, took 38 seconds to go ahead when Kike Garcia broke away and rifled an effort past Sergio Rico at his near post.\nOrellana stabbed home the second goal in the 17th minute before Pablo Sarabia pulled one back for the visitors with a penalty for handball by Dani Garcia.\nSevilla, who drew 1-1 in the first leg of their King's Cup semi-final, were unbeaten in five games before Saturday's match and seemed poised to mount a comeback but Ivan Ramis restored Eibar's two-goal lead with a towering header from a corner.\nOrellana grabbed his second after the break, with Anaitz Arbilla curling home a fine free kick to complete the rout and delight the home fans at the Ipurua Stadium.\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\n(Reporting by Rik Sharma; Editing by Ken Ferris)", "South Africa top tennis player, Kevin Anderson , has jumped five spots to No 27 on the official ATP rankings.\nThis follows Anderson's run to the quarter-finals of last week's Montreal Masters where he was defeated 7-5, 6-4 by eventual champion Alexander Zverev of Germany.\nAnderson, 31, also lost to Zverev the previous week in the Washington final - a result that catapulted him from No 45 to No 32 in the rankings.Anderson, whose highest ranking was No 10 in 2015, will be buoyed by his recent form after an injury plagued 2016.This week he is in action in the Cincinnati Masters where he will face Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine in his first match on Tuesday. Top 20 in the latest ATP Tour rankings:\n1. Andy Murray (GBR) 7 750\n2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 7 555\n3. Roger Federer (SUI) 7 145\n4. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 5 780\n5. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 5 325\n6. Marin Cilic (CRO) 5 155\n7. Alexander Zverev (GER) 4 470\n8. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 4 030\n9. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 3 285\n10. Milos Raonic (CAN) 3 230\n11. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 3 070\n12. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 2 770\n13. David Goffin (BEL) 2 560\n14. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 2 425\n15. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 2 390\n16. Jack Sock (USA) 2 335\n17. Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 2 305\n18. Lucas Pouille (FRA) 2 220\n19. John Isner (USA) 2 110\n20. Sam Querrey (USA) 2 060\nSelected others:\n27. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 1 440\n67. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 721\nSource: Sport24", ".@SloaneStephens eases into the third round at @rolandgarros!\nBests Frech 6-2, 6-2 --> https://t.co/FSeE5UFbcz pic.twitter.com/nQRwwSDrMp", "Great Britain head into the crucial Davis Cup doubles rubber on Saturday locked at 1-1 with Spain after Cameron Norrie’s stunning win.\nThe debutant hit back from two sets down against Roberto Bautista-Agut to win and level the World Cup first-round tie in Marbella on Friday.\nThe world number 114 trailed by two sets and was 3-1 down to the world number 23 before roaring back to win 4-6 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 in his first match on clay as a professional.\nCameron Norrie is making his Davis Cup debut this month (Adam Davy/PA)\nThat’s one of the most amazing wins/results/upsets I’ve seen in a long time on a tennis court.. Well done to cam norrie and all the team.. Broady was excellent too 🇬🇧🇬🇧🔥🔥 — Andy Murray (@andy_murray) February 2, 2018\nJamie Murray and Dominic Inglot now face Feliciano Lopez and Pablo Carreno Busta in the doubles rubber.\n“It’s 100 per cent the best day of my career,” Norrie told the BBC on court after his brilliant comeback.\n“I was nervous and had a streak in the second set where I couldn’t get a serve but I pulled it together.\n“Thanks to my team, they gave me great energy. I thought I was tougher and physically I had some problems but I played it point by point.\n“I managed to pull it together and keep Great Britain in the tie. It gave me a lot of confidence because it was my first match on clay.”\nBefore Norrie’s victory, Liam Broady battled well but lost 6-3 6-4 7-6 (8/6) to world number 21 Albert Ramos-Vinolas.\nBut his defeat was cancelled out by 22-year-old Norrie to earn praise from skipper Leon Smith.\nHe told the BBC: “At two sets down, you’re thinking, ‘just keep fighting, keep pride and passion’. It’s amazing to see Cam, as a rookie, a debutant, actually wear the opponent down. We’ve had a lot of good moments in Davis Cup and this is one of them right now.\n“I’m almost a bit lost for words. All you ask for is that they give their best effort and fight like hell. Cam fully deserves every bit of praise he gets.”", "Mar 25, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; Horacio Zeballos of Argentina hits a backhand against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland (not pictured) on day five of the 2017 Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center. Wawrinka won 6-3, 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports\nTennis - Monte Carlo Masters - Monaco - 23/04/2017 - Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a shot to his compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard\nBARCELONA Rafael Nadal reached the final of the Barcelona Open by dispatching Argentine Horacio Zeballos 6-3 6-4 on Saturday to book his place in Sunday's showpiece against Dominic Thiem where he will be looking to win the tournament for a 10th time.\nNadal struck the first blow by breaking the unseeded Zeballos in the fourth game and the difference in quality between the two players soon began to show.\nZeballos earned two break points in the fourth game of the second set but 14-time grand-slam winner Nadal recovered to hold his serve and wrapped up his victory in 94 minutes, setting up a re-match with Thiem, who beat him last year on clay in the Argentina Open semi-finals.\nThiem knocked out world number one Andy Murray 6-2 3-6 6-4 for the first time in his career, becoming the first Austrian since Thomas Muster in 1996 to reach the final of the claycourt tournament.\nJust as in Friday's gruelling quarter-final with Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Murray got off to a bad start.\nThe Briton relied on his serve to recover the second set but could not sustain the level and bowed out.\n(Reporting by Richard Martin, editing by Pritha Sarkar, Neville Dalton)", "Tennis: John Millman goes down after Milos Raonic produced a straight sets win against him.", "Richard Gasquet accounted for qualifier John-Patrick Smith at the ATP 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, where he will next play Rafael Nadal.\nRichard Gasquet earned a meeting with incoming world number one Rafael Nadal at the ATP Western and Southern Open, while Sam Querrey cruised into the second round.\nFrenchman Gasquet accounted for qualifier John-Patrick Smith at the ATP 1000 tournament in Cincinnati on Monday.\nGasquet's routine victory secured a showdown with top seed Nadal as he looks for his first win in 15 matches against the Spaniard.\nAmerican 15th seed and Wimbledon semi-finalist Querrey eased past Stefan Kozlov in straight sets.\nFellow American Frances Tiafoe will take on in-form Alexander Zverev in the next round after ousting qualifier Maximilian Marterer.\nGASQUET MAKES LIGHT WORK OF AUSSIE\nSmith was no match for Gasquet, who posted a 6-4 6-4 victory in the opening round.\nGasquet – coming off a three-set loss to Coupe Rogers champion Zverev in Montreal – broke four times in one hour, 25 minutes.\nCountryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will open his campaign against Ivo Karlovic, who outlasted Jiri Vesely 6-3 3-6 7-5.\nQUERREY SAILS INTO NEXT ROUND\nIt was a routine outing for Querrey as he dispatched Kozlov 6-3 6-0.\nQuerrey dropped only four points on serve and did not face a break point as he awaits the winner of Robin Haase versus Adrian Mannarino.\nCountryman Tiafoe will face Zverev next after defeating Marterer 6-3 7-6 (7-2).\nTiafoe did not face a break point against the German.\nVERDASCO BEATEN\nThe Spaniard lost in a battle of the lefties, suffering a 6-4 6-4 loss to Mischa Zverev.\nIn the pair's first meeting in nine years, Zverev did not face a break point and only dropped four points on his first serve.\nZverev will play either 11th seed Pablo Carreno Busta or Paolo Lorenzi in the second round.\nFeliciano Lopez and Fabio Fognini were among the other players to progress.\nPAIRE PULLED APART BY QUALIFIER KRUEGER\nThere was a stunning result as Benoit Paire, ranked 41 in the world, was hammered 6-2 6-1 in less than an hour by qualifier Mitchell Krueger.\nThe American, ranked over 200 places below his opponent, made light of that disparity to ease into the second round, where he will face either Tomas Berdych or Juan Martin del Potro.\nIt was Krueger's first main-draw victory of 2017, sealed with two breaks of serve to end the first set, before he reeled off four successive games to see out the match.", "Lets Get It On Promotions\nThe Fallon Rural Rumble once again delivered a night of sensational world-class professional boxing in it’s tenth installment on Saturday night.\nIn his first ten-round fight, Reno native and world-ranked flyweight Oscar “Chapito” Vasquez scored an impressive unanimous decision win over Javier Gallo in the evening’s main event. Vasquez improves to 14-1.\nIn the co-main, Stockton, CA sensation Gabriel Flores Jr. scored a shutout unanimous decision win over the tough Jorge Padron of Mexico. Flores improves to 3-0 (2 KOs).\nCarson City’s Diego Elizondo also scored a shutout UD victory over Chandler Clements in his pro debut.\nSacramento’s Pedro Moreno improves to 7-0 (5 KOs) with an impressive second-round TKO victory over Curtis Morton.\nIn the opening bout, Stockton CA’s Quilisto “Kilo the Kid” Madera with a sensational second-round, one-shot KO win over Austin Marcum. Madera improves to 7-0 (4 KOs).\nThe Fallon Rural Rumble is presented every summer by the City of Fallon and Let’s Get It On Promotions." ]

[ "Young offenders could serve their custodial sentences in children's homes, under Home Office plans." ]

[ "The home secretary launches a scheme to target the country's 5,000 most prolific criminals.", "Plans to decriminalise child offenders and raise the age of criminal responsibility will be debated by Lib Dems.", "Ray Mallon, the Mayor of Middlesbrough , calls for the children of persistent criminals to be taken into care.", "Two ex-care workers are jailed for a total of 29 years for abusing children at a Barnardo's home.", "More prisons will be built and criminals will serve their full sentences, under Tory plans if they are elected.", "Missionary group dropped its plans to place 300 Muslim victims in a Christian children's home.", "Nato troops in Bosnia search the homes of the children of indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic.", "A father and his two sons, aged 13 and 11, are tied up in their home while burglars steal money and jewellery.", "By Chris Echegaray, Tampa Tribune, Fla. Dec. 10--PLANT CITY -- A burglar broke into Harmony Baptist Church and stole Christmas from the children of Hope Children's Home in Tampa.", "ANKARA - Turkey backed off yesterday on plans to criminalize adultery, which were threatening the country&#39;s prospects of joining the European Union.", "Erdogan pledged to overhaul Turkey’s criminal-justice system by an Oct. 6 EU deadline and scrap a plan to criminalize extramarital affairs that the EU said would violate European standards of equality between the sexes and civil liberties.", "Plans to stop youngsters with convict fathers from following them into a life of crime are unveiled.", "Children can now stay on their parents’ health insurance plans well into their 20’s in a growing number of states.", "A couple facing a two-year prison sentence for forcing some of their 11 adopted special-needs children to sleep in cages hope to get the children back.", "Pop star Michael Jackson visited a Tokyo children&#039;s home on Sunday and told a group of 140 excited children &quot;I love you&quot; in Japanese.", "Almost 3,000 crimes were committed last year by suspects too young to be prosecuted. Should children face charges?", "France’s president touched off protests with a plan to have students learn the life stories of children the Nazis killed.", "Children too young to be prosecuted were the main suspects in almost 3,000 crimes last year including sexual offences, burglary, harassment and wounding, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.", "Scotland's children commissioner is to tackle the Home Office over the detention of children at Dungavel.", "A couple who forced some of their 11 adopted, special-needs children to sleep in wire-and-wood cages were sentenced to two years in prison Thursday, after the parents insisted they were only trying to keep the kids safe.", "Limited access under Violent Crime Action Plan The British government is to pilot the limited opening up of sex offender information to parents worried about specific individuals who have access to their children.…", "Home Office announces plan to X-ray suspected dealers, as well as tougher sentences on those operating near schools.", "The Schroeders adopted Victoria from a children&#39;s home in St. Petersburg and picked her up several weeks ago, Bild and ...", "Children under the age of 10 who are too young to be prosecuted were the chief suspects in nearly 3,000 crimes committed in England and Wales last year, official figures showed Sunday.", "BAE Systems says it is not aware of any planned criminal investigation into the company in the US.", "Controversial plan could force file swappers to face criminal charges.", "Five children and two disabled women were locked in a basement cell, fed meager food and rarely allowed to bathe, by a couple facing criminal charges over their care, authorities said. The couple were paid $9,000 a month to care for the seven.", "Former Atomic Kitten Kerry Katona and baby daughter held at home by three armed burglars, police say.", "By David Blackburn, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky. Jun. 19--The Volunteer Center is planning the first of at least two giveaways of used computers that are intended for Daviess County homes with children but no computer.", "Home Secretary John Reid insists violent criminals will not be allowed to escape with on-the-spot fines.", "By Amanda O'Toole, The Wichita Eagle, Kan. Jun. 14--The Sedgwick County sheriff's office continues to investigate two parents accused of locking their three young children in a room at an Oaklawn home on Monday, said district attorney spokeswoman Georgia Cole.", "Home computer users are now the favourite targets of hi-tech criminals, reveals research." ]

[ "Kyrgyzstan wants to name a mountain after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday." ]

[ "Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister Igor Chudinov meets with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow at the President Hotel.", "A powerful earthquake struck a mountainous region of southern Kyrgyzstan on the border with Uzbekistan early on Wednesday.", "Meeting between Mikheil Saakashvili, president of Georgia, and Vladimer Putin, president of the Russian Federation, is being held at Putin's residence located out of town.", "``For safe life in Kyrgyzstan, Zhanysh Bakiyev's gang should be beheaded,'' Felix Kulov, the ex-Prime-Minister of Kyrgyzstan, stated at a forum of political parties.", "Vladimir Putin was to be confirmed prime minister Thursday in a move that underscored his continued power one day after passing the Kremlin to his protege Dmitry Medvedev.", "US military plane crashes in Kyrgyzstan An American military refueling plane carrying three crew members crashed Friday in the rugged mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the Central Asian nation where the US operates an air base key to the war in Afghanistan.", "The International Monetary Fund will allocate $34 million for Kyrgyzstan in September 2010, Head of the IMF Mission in Kyrgyzstan Nadeem Ilahi stated Friday at a press conference.", "The RIA-Novosti news agency cited Sergei Prikhodko, a top Kremlin advisor as saying Wednesday that Kyrgyz and Russian officials have agreed in principle on putting a base in Kyrgyzstan's South.", "The monument to Heydar Aliyev will be built in the center of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, APA reports quoting Anadolu agency.", "A new rural park alongside Forbidden Plateau Road is likely to be named 'Mountain Spirit Nature Park'.", "Russia is ready to render full assistance to Kyrgyzstan, Russian Presidential Representative Vladimir Rushailo said after negotiations with Kyrgyz interim chief Rosa Otunbayeva on Friday.", "Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived on Friday in Kyrgyzstan for an informal regional security treaty organization summit.", "Kyrgyzstan plans to increase sales with Turkey, Akylbek Japarov, the Economic Development and Trade Minister of Kyrgyzstan said Wednesday opening the Kyrgyz-Turkish investment business forum in Bishkek.", "Kyrgyzstan will sell its state gas company to Russia's Gazprom early next year, to ease a crippling energy crisis, its president said on Monday.", "Kyrgyzstan will mark on Saturday the 7th anniversary of the Tulip Revolution, which ousted the country's first president Askar Akayev in 2005 over corruption, authoritarianism and nepotism, RIA Novosti reported.", "Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will pay a working visit to Mongolia on Wednesday to boost bilateral relations, Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Relations said Monday.", "Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin responded to criticism from US senator John McCain, who last week warned Putin of an Arab Spring, approaching to Russia in the wake of mass protests against allegedly rigged polls.", "A US military plane crashed in Kyrgyzstan today, shortly after taking off from the Manas Transit Center.", "Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he would go to Zurich to thank FIFA for awarding Russia the right to host the 2018 World Cup.", "Russians began voting Sunday in a presidential election that will produce a successor to Vladimir Putin and almost certainly open a path for Putin to take a new and powerful role after eight years in which Russia's global influence expanded and its domestic democracy contracted.", "``People are the main export item in Kyrgyzstan,' ex-President of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva stated at today's forum ``Mekendeshter''.", "``Kyrgyzstan will enhance and boost all forms of cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Collective Security Treaty Organization,'' 24.kg news agency quoted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev as saying at the end of the joint team exercises Security-2009 near Buzhum village in Batken province.", "Oroville residents are being warned to be extra careful at night after a mountain lion attacked a dog.", "The Kyrgyz government on Feb. 4 approved the closure of a US air base that serves as a vital supply route for NATO forces in Afghanistan, a spokesman said.", "The holy month of Ramazan has begun in Kyrgyzstan.", "Kyrgyzstan is ready to open both a Russian and US antiterrorism training center, President Roza Otunbayeva said on Tuesday.", "All regions of Kyrgyzstan are supplied with anthrax vaccine, press service of the State Inspection for Sanitary, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Security under Kyrgyzstan's government reported.", "Raiding becomes a professional service, business in Kyrgyzstan, Nurlan Sadykov director of the Constitutional Policy Institute informed the conference devoted to raiding problems in Kyrgyzstan.", "President Mahmoud Abbas will receive his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Bethlehem on June 26, said Palestinian ambassador to Russia Fayed Mustafa on Monday.", "Kyrgyzstan may renew its permit to the international coalition against terrorism to use its Manas airbase for transit of non-military supplies to Afghanistan, head of Kyrgyzstan's foreign policy department, Aibek Moldogaziev, has said.", "Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will head a delegation to Serbia and Slovenia on March 22-23 to discuss the implementation of the South Stream project and the European energy situation, deputy chief of the Russian government's office Yuri Ushakov said on Monday.", "Korea has set a 5,000 quote for labor migrants from Kyrgyzstan, Aigul Ryskulova head of the Kyrgyzstan State Labor and Migration Committee said at the news conference in Bishkek Thursday." ]

[ "Let's see if we can clean them up or not." ]

[ "I don't know if they are worth cleaning up.", "I wanted to know if we do.", "We have tried best we can to clean it up.", "I don't think I know what we could do to stop it.", "You know that we know that you do not know.", "We do not know this.", "I know we can rely on them.", "We might need some help.", "Do they know who we are?", "We don't know how to proceed.", "I know how we can do it but why would we want to?", "you clean them up.", "The bottom line is we do not know how.", "We could try to help by doing that.", "You cannot clean them up.", "I'm not certain if you can do that.", "We know.", "I do not know where we push.", "We are not sure yet.", "We are dishonest, you know.", "I know exactly what we can do about it.", "We can't be sure.", "I'm not sure if we have yet.", "I'm not sure of how we should do it.", "We are unsure of that.", "You can't do much on them.", "I don't know how we should proceed.", "What do we know of the competence?", "I am not sure that we have a solution.", "We didn't put one in but we do know it's a pop-up.", "In practice we may not be able to get around this issue.", "We know everything there is to know." ]

[ "Hotels in Cranbury. 1 Most bookedCourtyard by Marriott Cranbury South Brunswick 3 stars Excellent 4.3 / 5( 212 genuine reviews ) Hotels.com® RewardsFor every 10 nights, get 1 free! 66 people looked at this hotel in the last hour.", "Enjoy the convenient location of our Cranbury, NJ hotel. 1 Located off I-95 (NJ Turnpike) and Route 130, the newly renovated Residence Inn Cranbury South Brunswick hotel is convenient to Hurricane Harbor, Six Flags Great Adventure and Princeton University.", "Cranbury Hotels. Staybridge Suites Cranbury-South Brunswick. Come Home to Hotel's Suites in Cranbury, NJ. Whether you're looking for extended stay accommodations in the Princeton area or seeking hotels on the NJ Turnpike for an overnight stay, the Staybridge Suites® Hotel Cranbury - South Brunswick offers a welcome home away from home." ]

[ "Cranbury Hotel Guide. Visitors to Princeton are simply spoiled for choice when it comes to finding quality lodgings in Cranbury. Within Expedia's comprehensive accommodation pages you'll discover 21 hotels within a 0.1-mile radius of Cranbury's heart.", "Cranbury, New Jersey. Homefacts City Report. Cranbury is located in Middlesex County, NJ. The population is 2,175. There are 1 public schools in Cranbury with an average Homefacts rating of A+. The total crime rate for Cranbury is very low, and there are 1 registered sex offenders residing in the city.", "Take New Jersey Turnpike to Exit 8A. After toll plaza, bear right and follow signs for Cranbury South Brunswick (Route 32 West/Route 130). Make a left at traffic light onto Route 535 (Cranbury-South River Road). After 3rd traffic light (Dey Road.), rear entrance of hotel will be on the right, approximately 1/2 mile.", "The nearest hotels in Princeton include Lawrenceville and Ewing. Lawrenceville is 11 miles to the west of Cranbury, while Ewing is 15 miles to the west. Accommodations in Lawrenceville are the Inn at Glencairn and Comfort Inn Near Princeton.", "540 Cranbury Rd APT 442, East Brunswick, NJ, 08816 is a condo of 1,659 sqft. Zillow's Zestimate® for 540 Cranbury Rd APT 442 is $251,453 and the Rent Zestimate® is $1,950/mo. This condo has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and was built in 2007. The 2 bed condo at 16 Covington Ct # 16 in East Brunswick is comparable and priced for sale at $235,000. This condo is located in East Brunswick in zip code 08816.", "In addition to Cranbury NJ Middlesex County we service Central New Jersey, Northern New Jersey and Lower New Jersey State. (See map of regions we work in.) If you would like an estimate for a commercial property in Cranbury NJ Middlesex County please click here.", "Cranbury is host to many warehouses along Route 130 and the roads leading to the NJ Turnpike. A company making the Boy Scout Pinewood Derby cars is also here. Cranbury was noted for a used Rolls-Royce dealership located in the center of town, but it has gone out of business.", "Commercial Snow Removal and Ice Management for Cranbury NJ 08512 Middlesex County New Jersey. At Xtreme Snow Pros we are dedicated to excellence and strive to be the Cranbury NJ area leader for snow removal.", "Cranbury (CDP), New Jersey. (Redirected from Cranbury CDP, New Jersey) Cranbury is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Cranbury Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 2,181.", "Cranbury, New Jersey. (Redirected from Cranbury Township, New Jersey) Cranbury is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 3,857.", "Cranbury is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Cranbury Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The population was 2,008 at the 2000 census. Despite the similarity in the name of Cranbury Township and the CDP, the two are not one and the same, as is the case for most paired Township / CDP combinations.", "Cranbury Hotels. About Search Results. YP - The Real Yellow PagesSM - helps you find the right local businesses to meet your specific needs. Search results are sorted by a combination of factors to give you a set of choices in response to your search criteria.", "Enter dates to see accurate rates. Hotels in or near Cranbury. Pet-friendly hotel - allows pets up to 80 pounds - bring proof of pet vaccinations given within 10 days - $25 per night pet fee - $75 maximum per stay pet fee. Most Recent HotelGuides Review My stay was great. Friendly staff, nice pool, and good hot breakfast.", "According to our research of New Jersey and other state lists there was 1 registered sex offender living in Cranbury, New Jersey as of April 20, 2017. The ratio of number of residents in Cranbury to the number of sex offenders is 2,181 to 1. The number of registered sex offenders compared to the number of residents in this city is near the state average. Nearest city with pop. 50,000+: Trenton, NJ (14.0 miles , pop. 85,403).", "Manhattan cheap hotelsMidtown cheap hotelsChelsea - East and West Village NYHoboken NJ HotelsWeehawken budget hotelsLong Island City cheap hotelsHudson Valley Hotels/MotelsHagerstown, NY LodgingNew York City Hotels and ReviewsNorth Bergen, NJ HotelsFairview NJ HotelsWest New York, NJ.", "Cranbury hosts U.S. Route 130 and a 4-mile (6.4 km) section of Interstate 95 (the New Jersey Turnpike). Cranbury is accessible by the Turnpike in neighboring East Windsor Township (Exit 8) and Monroe Township (Exit 8A).", "You can reach us on phone number (609) 409-3940, fax number or email address . Our office is located on 1248 S River Rd, Cranbury, NJ, For full contact details to this lawyer have a look at the the column to your right (or scroll if you're viewing this on a mobile device.) Areas of practice & Law firm overview Esquire Staffing Solutions is listed under Lawyers in Cranbury, New Jersey .", "Nearest cities: Princeton Junction, NJ (1.3 miles ), Princeton Meadows, NJ (1.4 miles ), Kingston, NJ (1.7 miles ), Princeton borough, NJ (1.9 miles ), Princeton North, NJ (1.9 miles ), Heathcote, NJ (2.0 miles ), Monmouth Junction, NJ (2.1 miles ), Cranbury, NJ (2.1 miles ).", "Cranbury, NJ Other Information. 1 Located in MIDDLESEX County, New Jersey. 2 Cranbury, NJ is also known as: 3 E WINDSOR, NJ. EAST WINDSOR, NJ.", "Hotels in 07712 - Asbury Park NJ. Only hotels in 07712 zip code are listed below. Search for cheap and discount hotel rates in Asbury Park, NJ for your upcoming leisure or conference / group travel. We list the best 07712 hotels and motels so you can review the Asbury Park hotel list below to find the perfect lodging.", "Meet our Comfort Keepers; Planning & Funding Care; Testimonials; Locations. Monroe Township, NJ; Manalapan, NJ; East Brunswick, NJ; Jamesburg, NJ; Allentown, NJ; Helmetta, NJ; Middlesex County, NJ; South Brunswick, NJ; Old Bridge, NJ; Monmouth Junction, NJ; Cranbury, NJ; Spotswood, NJ; Careers. Apply to be a Comfort Keeper; View Job Openings; Blog; Contact Us", "enjoy the central location of our hotel in Fairfield, NJ. Just 30 minutes from Newark International Airport and MetLife Stadium, our Fairfield, NJ hotel provides the perfect base for discovering popular attractions. There are fantastic shopping opportunities at Willowbrook Mall, one of New Jersey's largest malls.", "The Breaker's Hotel & Suites is your ideal location to host your next corporate retreat, business meeting, or special event. Overlooking Lake Gerar and Cranberry park our conference room, boasts beautiful views and is within walking distance to all of the wonderful shops, restaurants and the Atlantic Ocean.", "Power law temporal dependence of InGaAs/InP SPAD afterpulsing Mark A. Itzler*, Xudong Jiang and Mark Entwistle Princeton Lightwave Inc., 2555 US Route 130S., Cranbury, NJ 08512, USA", "Hotels Near Caesars Atlantic City. 1 Bally's Atlantic City Boardwalk & Park Place, Atlantic City, NJ 08401. 2 The Claridge - A Radisson Hotel 123 S Indiana Ave, Atlantic City, NJ 08401. 3 Baymont Inn & Suites Madison Hotel 125 S Dr Martin Luther King, Atlantic City, NJ 08401-6815.", "After crossing Outerbridge, follow signs to NJ Turnpike South. Take to exit 8A/Jamesburg/Cranbury. After toll plaza, stay right and proceed to light, and make left onto CR535/Cranbury South River Road.", "Hotels closest to Boardwalk Hall. 1 0.2 mile Caesars Resort 2100 Pacific Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ 08401. 2 0.3 mile Bally's Resort 1900 Pacific Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ 08401. 3 0.4 mile Claridge Hotel 123 South Indiana Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ 08401. 0.4 mile Econo Lodge 3001 Pacific Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ 08401.", "Named to the state’s historic register in 1979 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, Cranbury’s downtown was described as “the best preserved 19th Century village in Middlesex County.” A map for a self-guided walking tour of the town’s historic sites is available online.", "Here is a list of Hotels & Motels close to Colonial Hotel. View all Hotels & Motels in Penns Grove, or Hotels & Motels in Zip code 08069. Map | Directions | sms 3.4 MILES Comfort Inn & Suites. 634 Soders Rd, Carneys Point, NJ-08069 (856) 299-8282. Map | Directions | sms 3.5 MILES Budget Inn. 380 Route 40, Carneys Point, NJ-08069 (856) 299-3933", "Exit the Airport to Interstate 95 North. Follow I-95 into New Jersey. I-95 will become Interstate 295, take 295 to 195 exit Shore Points, follow 195 to the exit for Route 130 North. Take Route 130 North for approximately 12 miles. The Cranbury Residence Inn by Marriott will be on your right.", "Latest news from Cranbury, NJ collected exclusively by city-data.com from local newspapers, TV, and radio stations. Ancestries: American (13.6%), Irish (11.9%), German (8.4%), Italian (6.3%), English (2.4%), Hungarian (2.4%).", "Order discount, full-color or custom business cards at any FedEx Office in Cranbury Township, NJ. Select a design template and personalize it to best suit your needs. Order online for easy and convenient printing and delivery." ]

[ "Lincolnshire County Council is using a special machine to cut and collect grass cuttings ready for anaerobic digestion.\nDelegates from councils across the country have been to see how this pilot scheme works.\nThe scheme is monitoring biogas yields, biodiversity impacts and the costs of harvesting grass in this way.\nThe cuttings are taken to a biomass plant at Scrivelsby near Horncastle and used as fuel.\nUltimately if the pilot scheme is successful the council could get up to 10 of these machines. The council has about 4,000 miles of grass verge to maintain.\nDr Nick Cheffins, who helps oversee the trial, said: \"It could be a renewable power source.\n\"We sell electricity to the grid and use the heat also produced for various agricultural processes\".\nThe scheme was looking to get enough data to produce a \"tool-kit\" for other interested councils, he added.\nCouncillor Richard Davies said: \"This is a first for a local authority.\n\"It's early days, but we think it's worth testing it out in the real world.\"\nMr Davies said removing the cuttings from the verges helped to protect wildflower growth and slow down the rate of grass growth.\n\"It makes sense from both an environmental and economic point of view\", he said.\nMark Schofield of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust said the scheme could \"throw a lifeline to grass land\" and change the way grass verges were managed.\nThe scheme is been run with support from the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and Leeds University." ]

[ "Many plants once found in meadows now only thrive beside roads, where they provide essential habitat for insects, says charity Plantlife International.\nBut it says one in 10 of the plants is at risk of extinction, in part because councils cut verges too early.\nLocal authorities say shorter verges are safer for drivers and pedestrians.\nDr Trevor Dines, botanical specialist for the charity, said more than 97% of meadows had been destroyed in England since the 1930s, with road verges becoming the last stretches of natural habitat for wildlife such as bees and other insects.\n\"Most of our farmland is now hostile to many of our wild plants and other wildlife due to the loss of wild flower meadows and the use of herbicides and fertilisers,\" he told BBC News.\n\"The roadside verges are often the last refuge for wild flowers and the wildlife there depends on them.\n\"It's almost as if plants have been squeezed out of farmland and now they're being squeezed out of road verges from bad management.\"\nThe Local Government Association has said keeping road verges well-maintained means motorists have a good line of sight and allows pedestrians to walk more safely alongside busy roads.\nPlantlife International says road verges are of particular importance to rare plants such as Deptford pink, tower mustard and spiked rampion.\nThey also act as wildlife corridors and provide pollen and nectar for bees, butterflies and moths.\nThe wild plant conservation charity says many of Britain's road verges are being cut down in full flower threatening the wildflowers and the wildlife that depends on them.\nIt is calling on members of the public to sign a petition urging councils to do more to enhance the wildlife value of road verges.\nIts management principles for road verges include:\nDr Dines added: \"If we just give them a chance, wildflowers can return.\"\nFollow Helen on Twitter.", "Across Northern Ireland, cutting usually takes place twice annually and up to five times in urban areas.\nDue to a funding shortfall, Derry City and Strabane District Council will now see its service diminished from three cuts a year, down to just one.\nSDLP councillor Brian Tierney said he was concerned at what it could mean for road maintenance.\n\"I'm disappointed and concerned that the levels of grass cutting within this council district have again been cut. They have now reduced that to one cut per year,\" Mr Tierney told BBC Radio Foyle.\n\"Council have been stepping in to pick up the slack in that and I've asked the road service what exactly it is that they're doing to address this funding deficit.\"\nThe issue was raised at a council meeting on Tuesday.\nUntil recently, district councils could cut grass for aesthetic and amenity reasons, and then be reimbursed for the work by the Department for Infrastructure.\nIn a statement to the BBC, the Department for Infrastructure confirmed they would have to reduce their routine maintenance service due to the current budget.\n\"The department is aiming to cut all roadside verges and sightline grassed areas at least once in the period April-October,\" a spokesperson said.\n\"With sightlines at bends and junctions being cut more frequently within available resources to ensure public safety is not compromised, regrettably, the department will not be able to fund councils to cut grass this year.\n\"Given the indicative budget settlement outlined by the secretary of state in April, it is likely there will be knock on impacts for services including routine maintenance of the road network including grass cutting. In this area, the department is likely to be reliant on additional resources becoming available.\n\"Many councils cut urban grass areas last year for the benefit of their residents and the department is hopeful that this practice will continue.\"", "The council said a £350,000 reduction in ground maintenance money would have a \"visible\" impact.\nBut a new contractor is \"behind schedule\" and this exacerbated things.\nPowys is the second local authority to experience issues with grass cutting after Gwynedd council was criticised earlier this month.\nUnder new arrangements, municipal areas should be cut 10 times a year and highway verges once in rural areas and three times in urban areas.\n\"The consequence of budget cuts of the scale faced by the service was always going to be visible in our communities,\" councillor John Brunt said.\nBut he said a new contract had seen work fall \"behind schedule\" and \"below the standard anticipated\".\n\"We have raised the issue with the company at the highest level and have been assured that urgent action will be taken,\" he said.", "Npower will provide vouchers worth up to £49 to people referred to Gloucester Foodbank who use pre-payment meters.\nIt said that would keep their lights and heating on for up to two weeks.\nThe latest statistics suggest that there were 2.35m households in fuel poverty in England in 2013, about 10.4% of households.\nThe pilot scheme is designed around the food bank service, which provides free food to people in acute need, usually after a referral from a doctor, social worker, or Jobcentre staff.\nNpower customers with pre-payment meters who are referred to Gloucester Foodbank, on Great Western Road, can apply for a credit to top up their meter. Those using other energy firms considered \"most in need\" by food bank managers could also be eligible.\nThe aim is to stop people deliberately going without gas and electricity to save money.\nThe Npower scheme is the first in south-west England, although it has also started four trials in Kingston-Upon-Thames, London, and 16 in County Durham.\nIt is being run in partnership with charities the Trussell Trust and National Energy Action.\nThe way food poverty in England is measured has changed: households are now considered to be in fuel poverty if, once they have paid essential energy bills, they are left with income below the official poverty line.\nThe government says the fuel poverty \"gap\" - which measures how much the poorest need to spend on bills, compared to typical households - is narrowing, because of rising incomes and energy-efficiency measures.", "Tommy McGlinchey said a fire crew took more than an hour to find the hydrant close to his plant near Londonderry.\nHe said he is angry with the Stormont department responsible for cutting grass along public roads.\nHe is now facing a £400,000 repair bill as a result of the delay, he claimed.\nA fire started at his Brickkiln Waste Ltd site on Heather Road on Tuesday 7 July, in a building containing a shredding machine, waste paper and cardboard.\nMr McGlinchey told BBC Radio Ulster's Stephen Nolan Show that he had to use a digger to scrape overgrowth from the hydrant along the roadside for firefighters to find and access it.\n\"It took them an hour, hour-and-a-half for them to connect to [the hydrant], and in the meantime the fire brigade couldn't deal with the fire properly,\" he said.\nHad the grass along the verge been cut, he said, \"the fire could've been out, saved us a lot of money and probably saved jobs, too\".\nHe added that the fire service was \"not to blame\" for being unable to find the hydrant.\nHowever, it is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) to \"inspect fire hydrants periodically\".\nIn response to a freedom of information request last year, NIFRS said it has a \"rolling programme of hydrant inspections\", and \"endeavours to inspect high-risk sites annually where possible\".\nNIFRS reports fire hydrants that require attention to Northern Ireland Water, which then carries out the work.\nBut maintenance of the ground and vegetation around fire hydrants does not fall within NI Water's remit.\nThe responsibility for grass-cutting along roadsides lies with Transport NI, a body within the Department for Regional Development (DRD).\nTransport NI has had its budget cut from about £40m to £12.8m, and an internal document seen by the BBC last month revealed that grass verges will only be cut once a year.\nDRD told the BBC it would be \"happy to respond to any requests for assistance\" from NIFRS regarding overgrowth at hydrants.\nA spokeswoman for the department said that there was \"no budget available\" for grass-cutting.\nBut she said DRD Minister Danny Kennedy had given the go-ahead for one cut this year because \"he cannot allow road safety related maintenance to be stopped\".\nMr McGlinchey described the situation as \"ridiculous\".\n\"This could've been a building with people in it, and the fire engines couldn't get the water. They need to sort this out,\" he said.\n\"I would advise them to take another look at it. It's dangerous.\"\nUKIP MLA David McNarry, who sits on Stormont's regional development committee, said he had warned about the dangers caused by the cutbacks to roadside maintenance.\n\"The risks are far too great to put lives and property bottom of the list,\" he said.\n\"We have verges looking like jungles and weeds growing like triffids.\n\"[The department] needs to identify, with the fire service, where these hydrants are, particularly in rural areas, and they need to tend to them.\n\"They need to move now to prevent serious loss of lives.\"\nOliver McMullan, a Sinn Féin MLA, said more compensation claims for damage caused as a result of reduction to road maintenance would to be inevitable.\n\"If the minister doesn't stop and turn around his policy, we're going to be spending more and more of his budget in the courtrooms instead of out on the roads.\"", "Countryside Renewables has submitted a planning application to develop 220 acres (89 hectares) of agricultural land at Llanbadrig.\nChartered surveyors ERW Consulting said the scheme could generate enough energy to power 15,500 houses a year, the equivalent of half of Anglesey's homes.\nIt said the carbon dioxide savings over 30 years would be equivalent to taking nearly 14,000 cars off the road.\nThe Welsh government has a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3% per year.", "The project to create the single-turbine sites would be led by Hamsin Wind.\nFarmers and other landowners would install the small turbines near their properties.\nThe machines involved would not measure more than 20 metres (65ft) high.", "The money will be used for research into hydrogen-based renewable energy technologies.\nKnown as the Gencomm project, it will involve a partnership with other educational institutions and companies in Ireland, France, Germany and Belgium.\nFunding is from the Interreg North-West Europe programme.\nIt supports cross-border research partnerships among the EU's north western countries.\nThe Gencomm scheme aims to help remote communities in the region produce and store renewable hydrogen.\nHydrogen can be used in fuel cells where it reacts with oxygen which produces energy that is used to generate electricity.\nGencomm will develop three pilot facilities fuelled by solar power, wind power and bioenergy to measure their ability to produce and store hydrogen.\nBelfast Met director of development, Damian Duffy, said the grant is the largest award of EU funding Belfast Met has secured and the first time a college in Northern Ireland has been awarded funds from Interreg North-West Europe.", "Experts have warned that one third of Ireland's bee species are threatened with extinction, partly due to the decline in wildflower meadows.\nAccording to conservationists, 98% of this species-rich habitat has disappeared in the last 50 years.\nAn unusual solution has been provided by spending cuts which left many roadside verges uncut over the summer.\nIn County Fermanagh and Omagh in County Tyrone, a dozen verges were managed as wildlife corridors by Ulster Wildlife.\nA small strip was cut to keep sightlines clear for motorists, but allowed the wildflowers which attracted bees and insects to grow.\nGiles Knight who is leading Ulster Wildlife's Save Our Magnificent Meadows project said: \"Clearly we use roads to get places, well wildlife is exactly the same.\n\"It travels up and down these corridors to get from meadow to meadow which luckily we still have in places like Fermanagh.\"\nThe verges have now been cut and the wildflower seeds collected to help recreate or restore more areas of meadow.\nOne seed in particular could even provide a money-saving solution to cutting grass along the roadside.\nA wildflower called hay rattle weakens more aggressive grasses and creates space for other wildflowers to grow, keeping down the height of the sward.\nMr Knight added: \"If you can gather that seed and spread it out, it will lower the height of the grass and increase your chances of having a broad range of wildflowers and insects in the meadow.\n\"You are saving money from the cutting regime and you are making space for wildlife at the same time.\"\nAn overgrown patch of ground at Mount Lourdes Grammar School in Enniskillen is one area that has been transformed into a hay meadow.\nMr Knight said it represents a gentler style of farming: \"You're cutting late in the season, you're allowing the flowers to set seed, you're taking the crop, but you're giving wildlife a bit of a chance to flourish over the summer.\"\n\"That's why so many species of wildlife have disappeared because the silage making culture has changed the face of the landscape completely.\"", "Media playback is unsupported on your device\n8 August 2015 Last updated at 13:53 BST\nPeople along the route turn their front gardens, which they call yards, into shops and sell unwanted household items and toys, along with food and drink.\nThe sale is now in its 28th year and around 5,000 vendors are expected to take part.", "The work will see streetlamps, the lights on road signs and illuminated bollards replaced with LEDs.\nReading council said the scheme was expected to halve electricity bills and save on maintenance costs because the lights last longer.\nA £19.3m grant from the government's Highways Challenge Fund has been used to help finance the project.", "Plans for the 430ft (132m) turbines at Killington, near Kendal, were approved by South Lakeland District Council earlier this year.\nBut the application was called in by the government and a public inquiry was scheduled for September.\nDevelopers Banks Renewables said the likely costs of the inquiry meant it had no choice but to scrap the plans.", "It is hoped the Donside Hydro project - aimed at powering about 130 homes on the site of the former Donside paper mill, as well as selling energy to the National Grid - will be generating electricity later this month.\nAberdeen Community Energy (ACE) is behind the project.\nThe hydro power scheme will harness energy from the River Don.", "Media playback is unsupported on your device\n2 October 2014 Last updated at 09:05 BST\nThe plant in Minworth, Warwickshire, treats the waste of two-and-a-half million people in Birmingham, and the gas will provide enough energy to help power about 4,000 homes.\nBBC Midlands Today's science correspondent, David Gregory-Kumar, has been finding out more.", "It says ash dieback disease is spreading and wants landowners to plant different species near to existing ash trees to replace them when they die.\nIts pilot planting scheme is offering 1,000 subsidised \"disease recovery packs\", each with 45 native trees.\nThe project will focus on areas most at risk, including Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, East Sussex and Northumberland.\nThe Woodland Trust is using data to map 280 million trees across England and Wales to assess the potential impact of tree diseases, including ash dieback.\nThe organisation says the mapping technology has shown the importance of trees outside woods in contributing to wildlife corridors in hedges and along roadside verges.\nAbout 12 million ash trees have been identified outside woodlands.\nSource: Forestry Commission\nAustin Brady, Woodland Trust director of conservation, said: \"The difficulty with these trees in the wider landscape is there is no obligation on people to replace them if they die, so it's a one-way ticket for many of these trees.\n\"In lots of hedgerows, field corners and roadsides, it's difficult to imagine how these trees will get replaced.\n\"By the time people really notice the problem, we've almost left it too late to do something about it.\"\nA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesman said there was a \"duty to protect\" trees and woodland, and added that the government had invested £4.2m since 2012 to combat ash dieback.\nAll the trees the Woodland Trust provides are grown in the UK from fully traceable seeds gathered in the UK and Ireland to prevent the importation of diseased trees.", "The initiative by Forest Green Rovers is part of the Sustainability in Sport scheme set up by chairman Dale Vince.\nMr Vince, who also runs energy firm Ecotricity, said it was former Manchester United player Gary Neville's idea to launch the project.\nThe club said the 180 panels would generate about 10% of electricity used by the stadium.\nThe Blue Square Bet Premier club, based in Nailsworth, already spreads cow manure on its grass to create an organic pitch, and red meat was banned from the menu earlier this year.\nMr Vince said it was now looking at installing low energy LED floodlights, an electric robotic lawn mower and possibly an electric minibus for the team.\nHe said: \"On the whole the fans have been very supportive. The fans are up for this eco adventure that we're on and it's good fun.\"\nSustainability in Sport, which was launched by Mr Vince and Gary Neville in May, is a not-for-profit foundation which aims to help sporting clubs and organisations in the UK to lower their carbon footprints.", "A group of bakers, community gardeners and farmers are trying to establish a healthier Scottish flour.\nTheir crop trials are being run in Granton on land that had originally been set aside on street corners for communities to grow crops.\nThey are now using the land again after it had become derelict in recent decades.", "By clubbing together, 100 households in Bethesda will be able to purchase the power generated by a local hydro scheme for half the price.\nThe aim is to help communities benefit more directly from renewable energy projects in their area.\nSeveral organisations have been involved in pulling the pilot together.\nIt could be rolled out across the country if successful, focusing on areas of high fuel poverty.\nSo how does it work?\nAt the moment, community energy schemes as well as large conventional power stations feed the grid network which transmits electricity to our homes.\nConsumers have no real connection with where or how that electricity is generated - it is just there when they flick on a switch.\nThe trial aims to help communities support green energy projects in their own area. By making sure the power is used locally and does not have to travel for miles, the community gets cheaper bills.\nThe electricity produced by the Bethesda hydro will be split evenly between club members using energy at any given time.\nEach home will pay 7p/KWh for their share. That is about half the average price for electricity in the UK, but more than the hydro would usually receive for selling it.\nIt is conceptual - the villagers' homes are not physically plugged into the hydro. But through the use of smart meters they will be able to show the extent to which they are using power at times when the hydro is generating.\nTo maximise the benefits they will have to change their habits - like using the washing machine or dishwasher after it has been raining and the hydro is running at full pelt, for example.\nCathrin Alwen Llywelyn is one of the homeowners taking part in the Bethesda trial.\n\"I have three children, I'm thinking about the future,\" she said.\n\"We've only got finite resources and so we need to be more aware of the energy we're using.\n\"This is a wonderful opportunity both financially and in a green sense as well.\n\"It's going to be a huge challenge to change our habits around the house in order to save money on our bills. But this will help us make better choices and that's a good thing.\"\nThose behind the pilot believe each household will be able to save between 10-30% on their electricity bill.\nEnergy Local, a company set up to help communities benefit from locally-owned generation projects, has been coordinating the trial.\nIts founder, Dr Mary Gillie, told BBC Wales that until now the people of Bethesda had not been able to take advantage of the \"amazing renewable resources around them\".\n\"The special thing about the project we're doing is allowing them to share the electricity generated locally within their community,\" she explained.\n\"So they can provide more money for their own hydro through their bills, but also get a lower bill at the same time. It's a win-win.\"\nInitially the villagers are working with a National Trust hydro on the Berthen river but have been fundraising to build another community-owned plant nearby.\nKeith Jones, the trust's environmental adviser in Wales, said he had been blown away by the amount of interest the scheme had received from across the UK.\n\"I'm being emailed or phoned by different people every week. People want to retain more of the benefit of energy generation locally,\" he said.\nThe electricity itself is being supplied by Co-operative Energy, which buys from the hydro and sells it to the households involved, as well as topping them up at times when the hydro is not running.\nHow significant is hydro electricity?\nPowering Wales: Behind the scenes at the National Grid\nMark Billsborough, head of renewable energy at the Co-op, said it had been \"quite difficult to get this working\" and that it \"really is innovative\".\n\"Within the community energy sector we've constantly got people talking to us about this particular scheme - they desperately want to allow their investors and communities to be able to buy their own energy directly from the site,\" he said.\n\"It's the closest things we've got yet to be able to do that. This is taking a big step into the future.\"\nThe big hope, according to energy experts, is schemes like this one will help customers take more ownership over their electricity use and become more energy conscious.\nIt is also hoped the idea will help with efforts to cut carbon emissions through giving the community energy sector - which includes schemes like small solar farms and wind turbines - a boost.\nDr Gillie described the trial as \"a great step change, turning the energy system upside down\".\n\"Bethesda is a really special place and they deserve to be put on the map for this,\" she added.", "10 June 2016 Last updated at 08:36 BST\nChris Horn, from Newbury in Berkshire, came up with the idea whilst on his tractor and hopes the idea could spread across the UK.\nHe says the business model could help other young farmers but adds that 40% of their revenue goes on licensing fees.", "A demonstration of the machinery needed to harvest the plant, usually regarded as a nuisance by landowners, was held near Blair Atholl last week,\nScottish Land & Estates, a body representing estate owners and farmers, helped to organise the event in the Cairngorms National Park.\nThe study is looking at the possibility of establishing a biofuel plant.\nThe business Oakland Biofuels is involved in the research.\nIf the project goes ahead, 70 jobs could be created, with half of the posts involved in harvesting bracken and the rest in the operation of the fuel processing plant.\nDouglas MacAdam, of Scottish Land & Estates, told BBC Alba: \"Bracken is a bit of a scourge.\n\"It is a problem across Scotland and we have got to find ways of controlling it.\"\nHe said rather than destroying bracken by spraying it, it could be cut and processed.", "A third of Ireland's 98 bee species are threatened with extinction because places where they nest and feed have been greatly reduced.\nThe use of fertiliser has also hit wildflower growth.\nThe problem is so serious that authorities have drawn up a strategy to save bees.\nThat involves ideas on how to make farms, roadsides, public parks and private gardens more bee-friendly.\nAmong the ideas are leaving roadside verges and field boundaries uncut to encourage wildflowers and create \"pollinator highways\".\nSixty-eight organisations across Ireland have signed up to the strategy.\nThe Department of the Environment and the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland helped produce the plan.\nEnvironment Minister Mark H Durkan said the statistics on the risk to bee populations were \"startling\".\n\"In coming together to protect pollinators, we will also protect the livelihoods of farmers and growers who rely on their free pollinator service, as well as improving the general health of our environment,\" he said.\nAs well as the honeybee, Ireland has 97 wild bee species.\nTwenty of them are species of bumblebee that make their nests on the ground, often in long grass, bracken or at the base of a hedgerow.\nExperts say importing more honeybees will not solve the problem because there needs to be a mix of wild and honeybees to maintain diversity and effective pollination.\nIt is estimated that in spring a queen bumblebee will need to visit up to 6,000 flowers a day to get enough energy to hatch her eggs.\nIreland has three rare bumblebees, all threatened with extinction.\nThey are the great yellow bumblebee, the shrill carder bee and the red shanked carder bee.", "The report found that low-cost projects offered communities an incentive to protect the habitats in return for job opportunities and income sources.\nSuch schemes also enhanced ecosystems, restored biodiversity and increase carbon storage, the authors added.\nThe results were published at the start of the UN Asia-Pacific Forestry Week.\nDespite the threats from illegal deforestation, forest fires and climate change, the Forest Beneath the Grass report - produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) - said the region had \"not only stopped the drastic decline in forest cover of the 1990s\", but had actually increased tree cover over the past decade.\n\"The Asia-Pacific region has accomplished this feat of reversing the trend of forest loss faster than any other region in history,\" said Eduardo Rojas, assistant director-general of the FAO's Forestry Department.\nHelping hand\nThe report credited \"assisted natural regeneration\" (ANR) projects as one of the key factors in turning the net loss of tree cover into an annual net gain.\nANR is a forest restoration and rehabilitation technique that converts grass dominated areas into productive forests, based on the natural process of plant succession, encouraging the regeneration and growth of indigenous tree species.\nOne of the most invasive grass species is Imperata cyclindrica, also known as blady grass. Native to the region, it thrives on disturbed soil - such as roadsides and felled forests. Once established, it quickly forms a monoculture and suppresses other species from becoming established.\nAs opposed to more resource-intensive programmes, such as agro-forestry schemes or large-scale plantation projects, the authors highlighted how ANR schemes were relatively passive and cheap, allowing local communities to become actively involved.\nThey added that while the vast grasslands provided grazing sites for cattle and roofing material, there were relatively few other benefits when the potential productivity of the area was taken into account.\nThe scheme follows a number of stages, including:\n\"The success of ANR is dependent on the effective involvement of local residents in its implementation,\" explained FAO senior forestry officer Patrick Durst, who presented the report's findings at a news conference in Beijing.\n\"It is important that local communities are given incentives and ultimately benefit from [the] programmes.\"\nThe benefits come in a number of guises, such as a diversity in harvestable crops, cost-effective land management, hunting grounds, and improved ecological services.\nAccording to the FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment, the region recorded an average annual net gain of 1.5m hectares of tree cover over the past decade.\nHowever, deforestation remains a global concern, with 13m hectares - with a large volume being primary, natural forests - being lost each year over the same period.\nMr Rojas observed: \"The rate of deforestation is still very high in many countries and the area of primary forest - forests undisturbed by human activity - continues to decrease.\n\"Countries must further strengthen their efforts to better conserve and manage them.\"", "The film from 2012 has Dame Judi Dench's M and Daniel Craig's 007 standing side by side looking out over the landscape of Glen Etive.\nSocial media campaign, Glen Etive the Dirty Truth, blames visitors to the same spot for causing erosion.\nNational Trust for Scotland said it was aware of the problem and has asked people to respect the environment.\nThe trust (NTS), which manages land in the area involved, said the damage was being done to a roadside verge, but it did not believe the wider landscape had been harmed.\nThe popularity of Glen Etive, and the wider Glen Coe area, with tourists has increased because scenes were shot there for Skyfall, the 23rd film in the Bond movie franchise.\nThe campaign, Glen Etive the Dirty Truth, flags up problems with wild camping and littering in the area.\nIt has highlighted an issue with visitors' cars causing damage to ground in the glen.\nA spokesperson for NTS said: \"We are aware that an impromptu layby has developed where people are stopping to see the Skyfall spot.\n\"This is on the roadside verge and is a limited area, which, is not impacting on the wider landscape.\n\"It's great that so many people want to visit the area and experience this wonderful place for themselves.\n\"As a conservation charity, we would always encourage visitors to think about their impact on the places they visit and what they leave behind, whether that's litter or tyre tracks.\"\nNTS said that the arrival of spring would likely see a rise in visitors to the area.\nThe spokesperson said: \"It's a good time to remind visitors of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code - take your litter home, if you're camping, remove all traces of your pitch and don't pollute.\n\"Unfortunately, some people just don't follow this advice.\n\"The trust takes responsibility for tidying up our land - every year we remove hundreds of bags of rubbish.\"\nThe spokesperson added: \"In the next few weeks, we're running a roadside tidy up to help get Glen Coe ready for springtime. We're really grateful to our dedicated volunteers and partners who help us in this work.\"", "They hope to raise £900,000 through a community shares issue to help finance the project at Lael, near Ullapool.\nThe effort, being led by Lochbroom Community Renewables, has collected £25,000 so far.\nWater from the Allt a' Mhuilinn burn, which flows through woodland into the River Broom, would power the scheme.\nThe shares issue for the project, called BroomPower, closes in August.", "But what if the cars they spend so much time in could be used to generate electricity using crystals embedded in tarmac that can capture energy via the vehicle's vibrations?\nIt may sound like a typical La La Land idea but in fact the California Energy Commission is investing $2m in two pilot studies of the technology.\nIt is part of a wider effort towards cleaner air in the state, which currently has a goal to provide half of the state's energy supply via renewable electricity by 2030.\nPiezoelectricity is not new technology - one of the most common applications is electric cigarette lighters which use piezoelectric crystals to create a flame. The electric lighters for barbecues use the same technology.\nAnd microphones in laptops also used such crystals to convert the sound vibrations in voices into electrical signals that can be processed by the computers.\nPiezoelectric crystals generate an electrical charge when compressed and scientists estimate that if they were positioned on a 10-mile stretch of highway they could generate enough electricity to power the city of Burbank, which has a population of more than 100,000.\nCurrently the technology is used on a much smaller scale.\nSince 2009, all the displays at the East Japan Railway Company's Tokyo station have been powered by people walking on floor tiles that utilise piezoelectricity.\nAnd start-up PaveGen has put similar tiles beneath the floor of a football pitch in one of Rio de Janeiro's most notorious favelas to offer night-time floodlights powered by footsteps. It means children can play at night rather than hang out in gangs.\nIt is now installing the tech on a street in central London to provide street light and has similar schemes in Washington.\nMike Gatto, a Californian legislator, is pleased that the value of the technology has finally been acknowledged.\n\"California is criss-crossed with roads and our car culture is both a blessing and a curse,\" he explained.\n\"No society can be 100% solar and so energy needs to be procured from a variety of different sources and I think that this has tremendous potential.\"\nMr Gatto actually proposed a similar scheme back in 2011 which was vetoed by the state governor.\n\"Six months later I got a call from one of his aides saying that they had got it wrong and were going to get the State Energy Commission to look into it,\" he told the BBC.\nMoney has been awarded to The University of California, among others, to investigate the potential of the tech.\nMike Gravely, from the California Energy Commission, explains why it is pursuing the technology.\n\"California has an aggressive renewable energy policy and we have a lot of cars. They roll by and the energy is lost, so if we could capture that energy if would be another type of renewable to meet the future policy goal,\" he said.\nCrystals will be embedded into a device the size of a coin which will be laid along a stretch of highway a few millimetres apart.\nThe pilot programmes will run in about 18 months time and will assess how many of the devices are needed, how deep into the concrete they need to be embedded and what the best location for them will be.\nMr Gravely said that if the pilots prove successful, they could be rolled out more widely.\n\"When roads are extended or repaired will be the time to do it to avoid tearing up the highway,\" he said.\n\"There are some people who would like us to do it for all the roads in California but we don't know if it will work yet.\"\nIt might not just be energy that the devices capture.\n\"One of the contractors is looking at using them to capture information to help with road management,\" he said.\nCritics might say that the move away from fossil fuel should mean fewer cars, not a scheme to utilise the vast amounts of traffic on California's roads. But Mr Graveley points out that California wants to introduce 1.5 million zero-emissions vehicles by 2025.\nIn April 2017 the American Lung Association reported that LA had hit its lowest levels of particle pollution ever. Despite that, Southern California remains the most polluted region in the US and is ranked the worst nationally for ozone pollution.\nA study from New York University revealed that better air quality in the state could prevent more than 3,000 deaths a year from pollution-related conditions.\nSome people remain sceptical about what a crystal energy scheme can achieve.\nPeter Calthorpe is an urban architect who has long been campaigning for greener cities via lifestyle changes.\n\"I am pretty cynical about fancy gadget solutions. There are lots of these technologies that capture a bit of energy here and there but it is not the answer.\n\"Everyone loves a solution that doesn't change their lives, but this is about the way we live,\" he said.\nHe wants to change the landscape of cities in Southern California, taking lanes from the arterial roads which criss-cross the state and converting them specifically for public transport while making suburbs more connected via high-speed rail and locating shops within walking distance of people's homes.", "There was a protest in the public gallery after the decision on the Glyn Rhonwy pump storage project was made.\nThe Snowdonia Society is concerned about its possible effects on wildlife, culture and heritage.\nBut developer Quarry Battery Company (QBC) said it was the \"missing piece of the jigsaw for renewables\".\nThe proposed pump storage scheme is based on the same principle as Dinorwig's First Hydro plant in Llanberis.\nBy Iolo ap DafyddBBC Wales environment correspondent\nThe value of pump storage is that it offers almost immediate access to electricity by allowing water to rush down the mountainside from one abandoned quarry - Cefn Du in this instance - through a pipe into hydroelectric generators and a lower reservoir in the second quarry Glyn Rhonwy.\nThe water is then pumped back up the mountain at night when the price of electricity is cheaper.\nThe biggest value is energy or electricity when needed. Demand in the UK is not constant.\nThe focus is now on smaller sites, including using old quarries, because large holes in the mountains have already been excavated to mine slates over the past 100 to 150 years.\nSo provided the company can find investors, contractors for this scheme could build and engineer smaller scale pump storage commercially.\nWater there is pumped uphill to a reservoir and then released back down through a turbine to generate electricity to sell on to suppliers.\nUnder the proposals, a dam will be built at the upper reservoir.\nQBC managing director Dave Holmes said the project can help Britain \"keep the lights on\" and was environmentally more acceptable than another Dinorwig-sized facility.\nHe said: \"Our scheme for the Glyn Rhonwy quarries is just the start.\n\"By putting small-scale storage near to centres of energy generation such as wind farms, and others near centres of heavy consumption such as major cities, we will cut down on distribution losses and network transmission costs, making whole regions of the UK increasingly self-sufficient in renewable electricity.\n\"Not only will pumped storage smooth out the supply of electricity, but it will enable conventional power stations to be stood down, rather than kept on standby to fill gaps in generation.\n\"This will save further costs and carbon emissions.\"\nThe Snowdonia Society has said it was concerned about the effects of construction.\nThe society is also concerned about how the scheme will be connected to the national grid, fearing that extra pylons would have to be built.\nThe Open Spaces Society had added its objection, claiming the scheme would encroach on common land and be an eyesore.\nIt previously said the applicant needed to be aware that it could not develop common land unless it offered land in exchange.\nThe site has previously been the subject of planning applications for schemes ranging from a large ski dome to a mountain biking centre.", "Drivers parked on the roadside near the Storey Arms over the weekend after the visitor car parks overflowed.\nBut Dyfed-Powys Police said the number of parked cars led to \"significant disruption and traffic issues\", and it started handing out notices.\nAbout 115 drivers were issued with tickets, set at £50 each.\nThe force tweeted: \"If your vehicle is one of those parked on A470 Storey Arms you are in the process of receiving a parking ticket. Move your vehicle please.\"\nTom Martin, 30, said he was \"astounded\" to see rows of cars with yellow parking tickets plastered on their windshields.\n\"I couldn't see anything telling people not to park on the side of the road, and there were hundreds of cars there by late morning so it would've looked like a legitimate parking spot to people passing by,\" he said.\nJames Morgan wrote on Facebook: \"I think people are missing the point here. The roads were impassable.\n\"It was bedlam there - hundreds of cars parked on grass verge for miles. It made access for emergency vehicles impossible.\"\nInsp Matt Scrase said: \"We have to ensure that emergency vehicles have access in the event of an incident.\n\"This was particularly important over the weekend when road conditions were poor and there was an endurance event taking place.\"", "The plans would see electricity-generating panels covering almost 90 hectares (222 acres) between Cemaes and Amlwch on Anglesey.\nThe 49.9MW development could produce enough electricity to power 15,500 houses - half the homes on the island.\nBut planners are being asked to defer a decision until after the 4 May vote.\nThe authority's head of regulation has told the council's planning committee that national guidelines means approving \"contentious matters\" should be avoided while campaigning is under way.\nThe proposals for the solar farm were first submitted by Countryside Renewables in February 2016.\nBut it has led to 100 objections about the scale of the project and the impact on the environment.\nThe site on farm land at Rhosgoch is already home to 22 wind turbines, towering 150ft (46m) over the landscape.\nIn March, a report by planning officers recommended allowing the solar farm to go ahead.\nA decision on whether to defer the matter will be taken on Wednesday.", "8 January 2016 Last updated at 20:03 GMT\nThe vehicles are designed to charge wirelessly when parked over a induction plate.\nThe plates could eventually be installed throughout the city road network, allowing electric buses to charge on the go.\nGeo-fencing GPS technology has been fitted to the vehicles, which will switch from diesel to electric mode in areas with poor air quality.\nScott Ellis spoke to James Freeman, managing director of First West of England.", "Energiekontor UK had originally been looking at building 15 turbines as part of the Pines Burn project.\nIt has scaled down its proposals following a series of public exhibitions in the area.\nThe company has estimated that the development could meet the annual energy needs of more than 22,000 homes if it goes ahead.", "RepowerBalcombe has installed 69 solar panels on a cowshed in Crawley Down.\nNow shares are to be offered for the installation of solar arrays at Balcombe Primary School and Turners Hill Primary School, near Crawley.\nThe co-operative said it anticipated the Balcombe school would use about 80% of the electricity generated\nThe rest will be fed into the national grid.\nA spokesman for RepowerBalcombe said: \"This will save the school approximately £530 on their energy bill each year.\"\nTurners Hill Primary School is expected to use about 50% of the energy it produces, saving £400 each year.\nRepowerBalcombe said the pilot installation of 69 panels at Grange Farm would generate just over 1% of the community's electricity, but with the roll out of other projects by the summer, it hoped this would rise to 10%.\nCommunity energy campaigner Leo Murray said: \"The ambition of the co-op is to finance and install enough panels to match the village's annual demand.\"\nWhen the 20-year investment comes to an end, the solar panels, which have a life expectancy of around 40 years, will be gifted to the schools, Mr Murray said.\nThe minimum investment in the schools' scheme is £250 and the maximum investment is 30% of the total share offer value, RepowerBalcombe said.\nMore than 1,000 protesters set up camp there in 2013 when energy firm Cuadrilla was test-drilling for oil, amid fears it would lead to fracking.\nThe company said it had found oil at the site but had no plans to frack for oil \"now or in the future\" in Balcombe.", "The water runs into the River Ogwen and the aim is to capture the power of its flow to produce electrical energy using hydro technology.\nIt would provide power for Bethesda and Llanberis whose communities funded the £700,000 project through shares.\nBoth schemes will be launched on Saturday.\nKeith Jones, environmental adviser for National Trust Wales, said a return on its investment was only one of the reasons for the communities getting involved in the hydro projects.\n\"The main motivation was that the residents wanted to invest in their own area for future generations to have their own electricity supply\", he added.\n\"People from one of the poorest areas of western Europe wanted to control their own future and now they can.\n\"They have locally-generated electricity from natural water in the mountains that surrounds their homes.\"" ]

[ "Try Classmates.com, Reunion.com or one of the free people search engine. Be careful if you pay to on some of those engines because I read the info on the person is outdated on some engines." ]

[ "I´m sure there is someone who knows him - but it´s not me!", "For the nth level, the quantum numbers left are l,m, and s.\\nWe have that l goes from 0 to n-1 and is an integer, and m goes from -l to l and is an integer, while s takes on two values +-(1/2). Pauli's exclusion principle says that no two electrons can have exactly the same quantum numbers. So there is one electron for each valid choice of l,m, and s. Now count the possibilities.", "sunmool\\n(sun as in sun, m as in mother, oo as in cook, l as in fail)\\nㅅ=>s ㅓ=>u ㄴ=>n ㅁ=>m ㅜ=>oo ㄹ=>l/r", "http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EIXIC&t=my&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=", "Consider a conductor of uniform area of crossection A, length L. Let resistivity of conductor be S and resistance of material to current be R.\\n\\n Then, R = SL/A\\n\\n Multiply and divide by mass of conductor say m and L\\n\\n R = SL*L*m/L*A*m\\n\\n But L * A = Volume = V\\nAnd m / V = Density = d\\n\\n Hence, R = S*L*L*d/m\\n S = (m*R/L*L)/d\\n\\nThus, Resistvity (S) is inversely proportional to density(d) when other quantities are kept constant.", "M E D I C A L R E S O N A N C E T H E R A P Y M U S I C® \\nREDUCTION OF PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF STRESS", "a b s o l u t e l y c o r r e c t l y q u e s t i o n m a r k", "The wavelength can be easily found from the formula C=F*L, where C is the speed, F is the frequency and L is the wavelenght. \\n\\nIn a vacuum, C=299792458 m / s, \\n\\nso L=C/(1Hz)=299792458 m , since 1 Hz= 1/s. \\n\\nIn other media, the speed C will be less, and the wavelength L will therefore be less.", "This is ultrasonic, not electromagnetic, so C is irrelevant. The equation is:\\nF=V/L where V=sound velocity in water (~1475 m/s), F=frequency in Hz, L=wavelength (0.0003 m)\\nResult is you need 4.9 MHz or higher.", "we don't use k,l,m,n anymore. The letters are s,p,d and f. They refer to the different shapes of the shells(orbitals)", "Replace m with 9.\\nIf the resulting statement is true, then 9 is a solution.\\nOtherwise, 9 is not a solution.\\n8(9) + 7 = 91\\n72 + 7 = 91\\n79 = 91\\nThis is false.\\nThus, 9 is not a solution.", "y e a h , s u r e , b o r r o w a l l o f m i n e y o u w a n t , b e c a r e f u l , t h e y l i k e t h e i r s p a c e . . .", "This looked interesting but I am still very confused ?!?!?!\\n\\nWeighing the Universe \\n\\nThere are obvious contributions to the density of the Universe, e.g., planets, galaxies, ... , however, there are also other not so obvious contributions. We need \\nrho = rho(baryons) + rho(neutrinos) + rho(photons) + ... \\n\\nUsing the above, we define \\n\\nOmega = Omega(baryons) + Omega(neutrinos) + Omega(photons) + ... \\n\\nSo the issue becomes what are all of these contributions to Omega? \\n\\nBefore we go on, photons are in there, but why? Aren't photons massless? And what if neutrinos turn out to be massless? Why are they there? \\n\\n\\nAccording to Einstein, E = mc2, and mass and energy are equivalent. They are just different forms of a single entity \\n===> mass = Energy / c2 \\n\\n\\nCMBR ===> rho(photons) = 4.7 x 10-34 gm per cubic centimeter << than any reasonable rho(critical) \\n\\nThe neutrinos are more problematic. \\nFor the Cosmic Neutrino Background Radiation (CNBR) \\n\\n====> rho(neutrinos) = 0.3 rho(photons) and if neutrinos are massless (like photons) then the CNBR does not make a large contribution to the density of the Universe. \\n\\n\\nWhat if neutrinos are not massless? \\n\\nnumber of neutrinos per c.c. is N(neutrinos) ~ 375 per c.c. ===> rho(neutrinos) ~ 375 m(neutrino) gm per c.c. \\n\\nTo get an idea about when neutrinos are important, let's use H(now) ~ 25 [km/s] per Million light years ===> rho(critical) ~ 1.2 x 10-29 gm per c.c. ===> rho(neutrinos) > rho(critical) if m(neutrino) > 3.2 x 10-32 gm ~ m(electron)/300,000 (or so). \\nNeutrinos can either be important or not depending upon whether they have a significant rest mass. \\n\\n\\nGalactic Masses (Individuals and Groups) \\nI will discuss galaxies as probes of the mass of the Universe. In some cases, there will be direct counting of galaxies, in other cases, the galaxies will be used as test particles. Define \\n\\n\\nOmega(gal) = Omega(baryon) + Omega(other?) \\nWe will measure Omega(galaxy) using light and dynamical techniques \\n\\n\\nLight Method \\nThis is straight-forward. We simply count up galaxies. The complication is that we observe primarily the galaxies which are easy to see. However, there are also many galaxies which are hard to see. These hard to see galaxies are the ones with low surface brightness (which means that they are very hard to see against the pervasive background of the night sky. The number of these low surface brightness galaxies is not yet well-established, however, the current density distribution of galaxies is interesting. But anyway, let's press onward under the assumption that we may be making a factor of 2 error or so by only considering the bright galaxies in our discussion. \\n\\nRecall, galaxies are divided up into different types: \\n\\n\\n \\nThe different types of galaxies have different Mass-to-Light (M/L) ratios. To get a feel for what M/L tells us, consider: \\n\\n\\nA galaxy made of 1011 stars like the Sun. We then have M/L = 1011 M(Sun) / 1011 L(Sun) ===> M/L = 1 M(Sun)/L(Sun). If we measure M/L in units of solar masses to solar luminosities, then this galaxy has M/L = 1. \\n\\nSuppose that this same galaxy had in addition to its stars, 1011 black holes of mass 1 M(Sun) ===> M/L = 2 x 1011 M(Sun) / 1011 L(Sun) ===> M/L = 2 \\n\\nSuppose that we had a galaxy composed of 1011 stars of mass 10 M(Sun) and 104 L(Sun) ===> M/L = 1011 x 10 M(Sun) / [1011 x 104 L(Sun)] ===> M/L = 0.001 \\n\\nThe Mass-to-Light ratio depends on the types of stars that populate galaxies and how much unseen matter exists in the galaxies. \\nThe typical M/L for the visible parts of galaxies are: \\n\\n\\nEllipticals: (M/L) ~ 7 - 20 \\nSpirals: (M/L) ~ 3 - 5 \\n===> Omega(gal,visible) ~ 0.007 (factor of 2 uncertainty) << 1 \\n\\n\\nDynamical Methods \\nThe dynamical methods are indirect in the sense that you do not count-up things. You rely on Newton's laws of physics and gravity. The dynamical methods are applied on all scale", "It depends: With close friends I prefer personal contact\\nI have several penpals in foreign countries, friends who study in another city, relatives in Australia, etc. With all those I chat on e-mail.\\nI use text messages to remind colleagues; also for birthday/new year/christmas/... wishes\\n\\nI don´t use snail mail at all ... when I´m on vacation I write lots of post cards, but I don´t write any letters. The postal way is too long and it´s also expansive.", "e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z", "nested loops and if..then jump\\n\\nfor I = 1 to 42\\nfor J = I+1 to 43\\nfor K = J+1 to 45\\nfor L = K+1 to 47\\nfor M = L+1 to 48\\nfor N = M+1 to 49\\nif K-I=2 or L-J=2 or M-K=2 or N-L = 2 then [skip next line]\\nprint I,J,K,L,M,N\\nnext\\nnext\\nnext\\nnext\\nnext\\nnext\\n\\nSomething like that;\\nTranslate into your language's syntax", "what are you looking for exactly. how to grow it at how . give me some details and iam sure i can help.", "In ODI's it is Wasim Akram from Pakistan\\nWasim Akram Pakistan 14/10/1989 1989-1990 Pakistan v. West Indies Sharjah Stadium Dujon, P J L; Marshall, M D;\\nAmbrose, C E L \\nWasim Akram Pakistan 04/05/1990 1989-1990 Australia v. Pakistan Sharjah Stadium Hughes, M G; Rackeman, C G;\\nAlderman, T M \\n\\nIn Test matches\\nThere are three bowlers, all with two hattricks\\nThe first in 1902 and 1904 by H.Trumble \\nTrumble, H Australia 01/01/1902 1901-1902 Australia v. England Melbourne Cricket Gr Jones, A O; Gunn, J R;\\nBarnes, S F \\nTrumble, H Australia 01/01/1904 1903-1904 Australia v. England Melbourne Cricket Gr Rhodes, W; Knight, A E;\\nLilley, A F A \\nThe second in 1912, a hat trick in same innings by T.J.Matthews\\nMatthews, T J * Australia 27/05/1912 1912 Australia v. South Africa Old Trafford Beaumont, R; Pegler, S J;\\nWard, T A \\nMatthews, T J * Australia 27/05/1912 1912 Australia v. South Africa Old Trafford Taylor, H W; Schwarz, R O;\\nWard, T A \\nAnd in recent times, it is Wasim Akram once again\\nWasim Akram Pakistan 04/03/1999 1998-1999 Pakistan v. Sri Lanka Gadaffi Stadium Kaluwitharana, R S; Bandarathilake, M R C; Wickremasinghe, G P \\nWasim Akram Pakistan 12/03/1999 1998-1999 Sri Lanka v. Pakistan Bangabandhu Stadium Gunawardene, D A; Vaas, W P U;\\nJayawardene, D P M", "Hi,\\n\\nMagnetic Quantum Number \"m\" in relation to Azimuthal Quantum Number \"l\" can be depicted by- \\n\\nm = 2l + 1\\n\\nSo, for any subshell (defined by the value of L), there are (2L + 1) values of M possible given by-\\n\\nM = -L, -(L-1), ......, 0, ....., (L-1), L\\n\\nSo, from your given options, I think the second one- -L, 0, L is the closest.", "Well if you are invited is acceptable to go, and the party is not for your sister in law it is for your mother in law and i think your mother in law is the one you are honoring when you go. If she is nasty to you just turn the other cheek, and explain to your children that you are going for your m-i-l and not take anything that your sister in law says to you to heart. She might be jealous of your relationship with your m-i-l. In the end it will all smooth over, trust me from a person who knows.", "Shirley Temple was a child actess who ended her career in her early 20's to go into politics. In the 1990's she was a foreign ambassador but I don't remember to what nation.", "I studied at the University of Guelph and the University of Saskatchewan. There were a lot more foreign undergraduate students as the U of S. The tuition is a lot less at some of the lesser known universities. Each of those universities had a office for international students.", "The speed of light is indeed a constant. What's important is that it is a constant to every observer. If you are traveling toward a light source at 1000 m/s, you will measure the light's velocity at 300,000 m/s. If you are traveling AWAY from the light source, it will still measure 300,000 m/s.\\n\\nLight IS the absolute speed limit. (Of this universe anyway)", "When I was at the university I had the same problem for a couple of years. It was so good having fun as a young student. As Oscar Wilde put it, \"I can resist everything except temptation\".\\nThen one day, a friend of mine who already finished the studies at that time, told me this phrase: \"Look, you are throwing away yourself\".\\nAt that precise moment I realized the situation. I restarted studying hard and in short time I graduated. Today, I still thank that friend of mine.\\nSo simple. You have to get to the point where you feel that you may be throwing away yourself. Perhaps that moment is not now, but I suggest you start think about it. Hold on, and good luck!", "Assuming that you mean 33 liters,\\n\\n33 L = 33/1000 m^3\\n\\nV = lwh\\n33/1000 m^3 = 55m * 48m * h\\nh = 0.0000125 m, or 0.0125 mm\\n\\nThat seems pretty shallow to me, so I may be off in assuming what 33 is. In any event, you can go back and recalculate if you know how much water you have. For reference, 1000 L = 1 m^3.", "if you assume Italian alphabeth, which has no x in it, the full answer is...\\n\\nx^21 - S(1)x^20 + S(2)x^19 - S(3)x^18 + S(4)x^17 - S(5)x^16 + S(6)x^15 - S(7)x^14 + S(8)x^13 - S(9)x^12 + S(10)x^11 - S(11)x^10 + S(12)x^9 - S(13)x^8 + S(14)x^7 - S(15)x^6 + S(16)x^5 - S(17)x^4 + S(18)x^3 - S(19)x^2 + S(20)x - S(21)\\n\\nwhere\\n\\nS(1) = a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h + i + l + m + n + o + p + q + r + s + t + u + v + z\\nS(2) = sum of all different products of two letters choosen in the set [ a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, z]\\nS(3) = sum of all different products of 3 letters chosen in the set [ a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, z]\\n\\n... and for each n\\n\\nS(n) = sum of all different products of n letters chosen in the set [ a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, z]\\n\\nso that \\n\\nS(21) = abcdefghilmnopqrstuvz\\n\\n-------\\n\\nif you assume the anglo-saxon alphabeth, AND YOU ASSUME THAT YOUR VARIABLE x IS THE SAME THAN THE PARAMETER x IN THE SECOND TERM OF EACH PARENTHESYS, then the answer is 0.\\n\\nOtherwise, you get a polynomial of the 26th order similar to the one described above, and an error in assigning the name to the variables", "hahaha. do it yourself. ill start you off.\\nfirst write out the 5 possibilities of the first letter. then for each letter, write out the 4 possibilities of the 2nd letter. then for each of those combinations, write out the 3 possibilities of the 3rd letter and for each of those write otu the 2 possibilities of the 4th letter and then theres only 1 possibility of the last letter for each of them.\\n\\nF L A S H\\nF L A H S\\nF L S A H\\nF L S H A\\nF L H A S\\nF L H S A\\nF A L S H\\nF A L H S\\nF A S L H\\nF A S H L\\nF A H L S\\nF A H S L\\nF S L A H\\nF S L H A\\nF S A L H\\nF S A H L\\nF S H L A\\nF S H A L\\nF H L A S\\nF H L S A\\nF H A L S\\nF H A S L\\nF H S L A\\nF H S A L\\n\\nL F\\n A\\n S\\n H\\n\\nA F\\n L\\n S\\n H\\n\\nS F\\n L\\n A\\n H\\n\\nH F\\n L\\n A\\n S", "sorry I dont live in jersey, but iam argentine!!\\nemail me!", "nothing;s wrong with my face.. something;s wrong with either the mirror i m looking at .. or the cam that took my pics !", "If I consider a rectangular box of length L and breadth B and mass M. Then Moment of Inertia of the box is :\\n\\n I = M * [(L^2)+(B^2)] / 12\\n\\n (Notation : x^2 denotes square of x)\\n\\n So, for a cube, put L = B = a (say)\\n\\n Then,\\n \\n I for cube = M * (a^2) / 6\\n\\n (Notation : x^2 denotes square of x)\\n\\n I hope that this answer satisfies your query.", "I think they are a great team. I was sad to see Randel El leave to free agency. I hope they make that up by drafting powerful running back LenDale White from USC. He would fit perfectly with the Steelers running game.\\n\\n\\nP I T T S B U R G H ***S T E E L E R S\\n\\n+++++++C H A M P I O N S+++++++", "Yes my freinds do. Thjey love BMX. The twins that are friends with me have a combined 11 bikes. My other frieds have one each. Most of them are S&M's" ]

[ "(Reuters) - Activist investor Elliott Management Corp said on Monday NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI.O) is worth about 23 percent more than Qualcomm Inc’s (QCOM.O) $38-billion offer to buy the chipmaker.\nA man works on a tent for NXP Semiconductors in preparation for the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. on January 4, 2015. REUTERS/Steve Marcus/File Photo\nElliott, which has a stake of about 6 percent in NXP, said NXP was worth $135 per share on an intrinsic standalone basis, compared with Qualcomm’s offer of $110 made in October 2016.\nNXP shares were up 0.6 percent at $116 in morning trading, while Qualcomm’s shares were up about 1 percent at $64.87.\nElliott, a New York-based hedge fund, said Qualcomm’s offer had taken advantage of NXP’s depressed stock price last year and has acted as a ceiling on its valuation.\n“We believe NXP’s prospects are bright. Approximately half of NXP’s revenue is exposed to exciting growth engines of the semiconductor market – automotive and industrial,” Elliott said in a letter to other NXP shareholders.\nQualcomm replied saying it believed the agreed-upon price of $110 is full and fair, and that it remained fully committed to closing the acquisition.\n“Elliott’s value assertion for NXP is unsupportable and is clearly nothing more than an attempt to advance its own self-serving agenda,” Qualcomm said in a statement.\nElliott said it has retained UBS to conduct a financial analysis on NXP and that it would share the report with other shareholders.\nNXP’s shares have been trading above Qualcomm’s offer price since Aug. 4 when Elliott indicated it was pushing for a higher price.\nBesides trying to convince NXP investors of the planned acquisition, Qualcomm has also toiled to win regulatory approval and has offered certain concessions to address concerns the deal would hamper competition in the market.\nSince it offered to buy NXP, Qualcomm itself has been the target of an acquisition approach from Broadcom Ltd (AVGO.O), but it rejected the $103-billion offer last month.\nBroadcom had indicated it was willing to acquire Qualcomm, for $70 per share, irrespective of whether it closed the NXP deal.\nAcquiring NXP would make Qualcomm the leading chip supplier to the fast-growing automotive market." ]

[ "Analysts clashed over a suggestion Intel could find itself a takeover target by 2021 due to lack of strength in the smartphone market.\nJack Gold, president and principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, told Mobile World Live he does not see any companies on the horizon which could acquire Intel and focusing on the US-based chipmaker’s mobile presence overlooked strength in emerging areas including artificial intelligence (AI).\n“I strongly disagree with this assessment and speculation. I expect Intel to continue to be an acquirer of technology companies. Just because they are not a major power in mobile devices does not mean they don’t have a future,” he said.\nGold was responding to an assertion by Canalys president and CEO Steve Brazier in his keynote at the Canalys Channels Forum last week that Intel is in big trouble because it missed the smartphone wave.\nAs a result, Brazier expects Intel to be the subject of a takeover attempt by 2021 at the latest.\nIn July, Intel switched the focus of its New Technologies Group from wearables to augmented reality (AR): potentially a bid to reposition itself for future growth after the wearables market failed to live up to its hype.\nConsolidation\nBrazier’s comments come in the wake of Broadcom’s audacious unsolicited $130 billion offer for Qualcomm, a deal which would be the biggest ever struck for a technology company and one of the largest of all time (despite Qualcomm’s claims the price is too low).\nTo date, the highest successful bid for a chip company is Qualcomm’s $38 billion deal for NXP Semiconductors, an acquisition still going through a lengthy regulatory approval process.\nAny approach for Intel would likely need to be more than twice the size of Broadcom’s bid for Qualcomm, since Intel’s revenue is estimated at $61 billion (similar to Samsung’s), while Qualcomm’s revenue is $23 billion ($32 billion if the purchase of NXP is concluded according to data compiled by Broadcom).\nAutomotive focus\nGold emphasised a bid for Intel would be optimistic, noting the real action in the semiconductor sector will take place behind the scenes in the cloud where many servers will be processing information and performing high-performance computing functions including data analytics, AI, and virtual and augmented reality powering autonomous vehicles.\nIntel acquired Mobileye in March for $15.3 billion, a move analysts said put the chipmaker in a good position to gain traction in the autonomous vehicle industry. The company is pushing aggressively in the automotive space, setting up its Automated Driving Group in November 2016. It also took a stake in digital mapping company Here.\n“Intel has a commanding lead in that market and will continue to do so even as the ARM-based vendors, particularly Qualcomm, attempt to take market share in this area. Intel’s sales continue to increase, its profits are good and it makes high margins in sales of chips and components,” Gold said.\n“How is that a recipe to be acquired? And by whom? Too many still see Intel as a PC chip supplier, when in reality that is a decreasing part of their overall business, and the rest of their growing businesses are quite healthy,” he added.", "Chip maker Broadcom on Monday announced an unsolicited bid to buy peer Qualcomm for $103 billion as it looks to boost its presence in the wireless market, setting the stage for what could be one of the biggest takeover battles.\nQualcomm said it would review the proposal and act in the best interests of its shareholders. The company is inclined to reject the bid as too low and fraught with risk that regulators would reject it or take too long to approve it, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.\nA tie-up would combine two of the largest makers of wireless communications chips for mobile phones and raise the stakes for Intel, which has been diversifying into smartphone technology from its stronghold in computers.\nBroadcom approached Qualcomm last year to discuss a potential combination, but it did not contact Qualcomm prior to unveiling its $70 per share offer on Monday, according to the sources.\nQualcomm is more vulnerable to a takeover now because its shares have been held down by a legal dispute with Apple, as well as concerns it may have to raise its own $38 billion bid for NXP Semiconductors NV that it made last year.\nBroadcom said Qualcomm shareholders would get $60 in cash and $10 per share in Broadcom shares in a deal. Including debt, Broadcom’s bid values the transaction at $130 billion.\nShares of Qualcomm were up 3.5 percent at $63.98 in premarket trading, well below the offer price, indicating that investors were skeptical a deal would happen.\n“In our view, $70 per share wouldn’t be sufficient,” Nomura Instinet analyst Romit Shah wrote in a client note.\nQualcomm shares traded above $70 as recently as December 2016 and topped $80 in 2014.\nCanaccord Genuity analysts said they believed Qualcomm’s board would likely reject the initial bid as too low and said the company would prefer to remain independent.\nThe bid for Qualcomm is an ambitious move by Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan, who turned a small, scrappy chipmaker into a $100-billion company that is based in Singapore and the United States. It has pulled off a string of purchases over a decade.\nTan appeared at the White House last week with US President Donald Trump, describing the United States as a great country for businesses.\nBroadcom plans to move its headquarters solely to the United States, which would allow it to avoid review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews foreign ownership of US assets.\nQualcomm, an early pioneer in mobile phone chips, supplies so-called modem chips to phone makers such as Apple , Samsung and LG that help phones connect to wireless data networks. Broadcom is also a major supplier to many of the same companies for Wi-Fi chips.\nBroadcom’s offer represents a premium of 27.6 percent to Qualcomm’s closing price of $54.84 on Thursday, a day before media reports of a potential deal pushed up the company’s shares.", "The company's prospects for 5G and the NXP acquisition may be damaged, with no sign of an early settlement with Apple.\nThere is broad dissatisfaction with Qualcomm's board on the part of institutional holders of the stock, who are in possession of 78.71% of the shares outstanding.\nDemise Of The Hostile Bid\nAs the acrid smell of cordite fades from the battlefield of the Broadcom Ltd. (AVGO) attempt to acquire Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), what remains for investors is to digest the implications of what transpired, and form a view of the future for Qualcomm.\nThis author's view that the circumstances surrounding Broadcom's hostile bid for Qualcomm had evolved to comprise too many variables of uncertain outcome to justify continuing to hold the stock was published on Seeking Alpha On February 5, 2018 in an article titled \"Qualcomm: A Tipping Point\".\nAmong those potentially disruptive factors to which Qualcomm was subject were an enormous tax charge, large regulatory fines, a disappointing company forecast, customer resistance to a takeover of the company, and the rising cost of the NXP acquisition. This view has now been vindicated by subsequent events, with Qualcomm's stock exhibiting a downward trend since that time. Qualcomm's stock price has dropped 11.72% since January 22, 2018.\nQCOM data by YCharts\nTies To China\nIn the end, Broadcom's hostile bid was defeated by a heady mix of politics, national security, and trade protectionism, a cocktail which developed in the final days of the bid. From before his election President Donald Trump propounded trade protectionism and a confrontational approach to trade with China. He implemented those views upon ascending to the presidency by appointing Peter Navarro, a polarizing protectionist on trade with China, to be director of trade and industrial policy as well as director of the White House national trade council.\nWhere did politics play a direct role in determining the outcome of Broadcom's attempt to acquire Qualcomm? Qualcomm made much of Broadcom's ties to China, while ironically itself having extensive connections with that nation. Qualcomm has both joint ventures and partnerships in China. The company has also assisted Chinese enterprises, including Huawei, in penetrating international markets. Additionally, Qualcomm has been fined by the U.S. government for breaching the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.\nWith Broadcom's relocation to the U.S. imminent, and as a growing number of institutional shareholders like T. Rowe Price Group Inc. submitted early votes for Broadcom's slate of directors, a desperate Qualcomm board, after outspending Broadcom on Washington lobbying by 100 to 1 at $8.3 million, filed a voluntary complaint with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.\nJurisdiction Slipping Away\nThat committee would not normally consider a takeover transaction until a legal acquisition agreement had been entered into, but it chose to do so on this occasion. In just another few days, by which time Broadcom was scheduled to complete its relocation to the U.S., CFIUS would no longer have had jurisdiction over the transaction. Using the CFIUS complaint as an entree, shortly thereafter Trump issued an order citing national security and nixing the deal even before the committee's investigation was complete.\nAs a strategic matter, Broadcom should clearly have effected their redomicile to the U.S. before launching a bid for Qualcomm. This would have negated national security objections and sidelined CFIUS.\nFor investors then, the outcome is clearly a political determination and one which is not reflective of the economics or valuation of Qualcomm's business. Nonetheless the episode has brought into sharp focus dissatisfaction with Qualcomm management on the part of many of the stock's institutional shareholders. Together institutional investors own 78.71% of Qualcomm's outstanding stock as of the most recent 13F filings, and it became apparent over time that there was broad support among them for Broadcom's bid.\nWish For Management Change\nThe reasons for this dissatisfaction are quite distinct. Since FY 2014 Qualcomm's annual sales revenue has fallen by an average of 5% annually, from $26.49 billion in 2014 to $22.29 billion in 2017, as net income dropped from $7.54 billion to $2.47 billion in the same period. In that time, diluted EPS was down to $1.66 from $4.40.\nWith portfolio managers having mark-to-market targets to meet, these numbers explain why there is a strong wish for management change being harbored by a majority of institutional holders of Qualcomm. The company is to hold its rescheduled annual shareholder meeting on March 23, and more institutional shareholder dissatisfaction with the board is expected to surface at that time.\nDespite these concerns many portfolio managers have stayed in the stock because of the market expansion promised by 5G, due in late 2018 after international wireless standards for the network were agreed in December. There was also hope of an early resolution of the legal dispute with Apple Inc. (AAPL) over patent licensing fees, the issue producing customer withholding and regulatory fines which have been the main cause of Qualcomm's revenue decline. However the majority of institutional investors would have liked to have seen those landmarks achieved through a takeover by Broadcom, rather than at the hands of the existing Qualcomm board.\nA Literary Twist\nAn anomaly in that landscape is the pending acquisition by Qualcomm of NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXPI). NXP, as the biggest supplier of processors to the car industry, promises desirable diversification for Qualcomm into markets other than smartphones, such as rapidly growing IoT and auto applications, at a time when the smartphone market is softening and sales of high-end phones are falling. In the waning days of Broadcom's bid for Qualcomm though, it became increasingly obvious that, as a result of the limitations on Broadcom's financing ability in the corporate bond market, Broadcom upon acquiring Qualcomm would seek to nullify the NXP deal or, if that were no longer legally feasible, spin off NXP at the earliest opportunity.\nNow that Qualcomm has the opportunity to complete the NXP acquisition unhindered, the deal should render improved financial fundamentals for Qualcomm. To use the same financial metrics as employed to describe Qualcomm earlier, in contrast NXP's annual sales revenue since FY 2014 has grown from $5.65 billion to $9.26 billion in 2017, an increase of nearly 64%. In that time net income has climbed from $539 million to $2.22 billion. Diluted EPS is up to $6.41 from $2.17 in 2014.\nIn a twist of literary proportions though, Qualcomm, having complained to the U.S. government and the world in general regarding Broadcom's ties with China, and having gained the benefit of a political decision to terminate that company's bid on the grounds of national security with regard to China, now stands at the mercy of Chinese regulators concerning the necessary final approval to facilitate consummation of the $127.50 a share NXP transaction. Without Chinese approval, the NXP deal is unlikely to go through. It remains to be seen whether China through its Ministry of Commerce wishes to retaliate in political kind and administer a demarche to Qualcomm which would set the company back considerably.\nDramatic Irony At Play\nThis concern is set in a wider context which itself does not favor a positive outcome for the NXP deal. Trump blocked the $1.3 billion bid of Canyon Bridge Capital Partners Inc.'s, a firm with Chinese ties, for Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (LSCC) in line with CFIUS recommendations. Also, in February the SEC nixed a proposed $20 billion purchase of the Chicago Stock Exchange by a group that included Chinese buyers.\nAs to 5G, the value of the market for 5G infrastructure is projected to be $2.86 billion by the year 2020, reaching $33.72 Billion by 2026, with a CAGR of 50.9% from 2020 to 2026. These figures cover rising demand for mobile data services, network software implementation, growing machine-to-machine (M2M) industrial communication, and increasing demand for high speed and large network coverage. Qualcomm is looking to profit from 5G with its Snapdragon product line. Yet here again there is dramatic irony at play, as reflected in the following quote.\nChina will dominate 5G thanks to its political ambition to lead technology development, the inexorable rise of local manufacturer Huawei and the breakneck speed at which consumers have upgraded to 4G connections.\"\n-- Marina Koytcheva, VP Forecasting, CCS Insight\nIf China, with the largest semiconductor market in the world, now seeks to be obstructive to Qualcomm's profiting from the innovation of 5G because of the demise of the Broadcom deal and other transactions to which it had connections, that fact will come to haunt Qualcomm and will then seriously reflect on the board's handling of the Broadcom bid.\nAs regards resolution of the dispute with Apple, there are no indications at present that a settlement agreement is close at hand, leaving the prospect of a long and tortuous legal battle. Apple is seeking $1 billion from Qualcomm, and the related withholding by Apple and its contract manufacturers of patent license fees has already seriously depleted Qualcomm's annual revenue, with the apparent probability of this continuing to be the case for some time to come.\nConclusion\nLooking across all three major issues for Qualcomm going forward, namely the NXP acquisition, 5G launch, and the legal dispute with Apple, there are substantial concerns and uncertainties hanging over each. Added to these considerations is the fact that, as recently evidenced, a majority of Qualcomm's institutional holders are frustrated with the level of earnings and share price performance achieved by the current board over the past four years. For these reasons this author continues to advocate exiting Qualcomm to await more propitious times to hold the stock.\nConsider following this author. To receive immediate alerts upon publication of future articles by this author, please click on either of the \"Follow\" buttons at the top and bottom of this page, and then select \"Real Time Alerts.\" To review previously published articles by The Structure Of Price, click on the author's name at the top of this page.\nDisclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.\nI wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.", "The chief executive officer of CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. says two directors launched a covert campaign to sell the medical cannabis producer after they and the rest of the board agreed to pursue a deal that would position it for the recreational weed market. Story (Jeffrey Jones and Christina Pellegrini, for subscribers)\nRichard Carleton can't help but laugh when he's asked: \"In 2014, how much did you know about pot?\" The question isn't about consumption, but it still catches him off guard. A lawyer by training, Mr. Carleton, 57, has spent decades building a career in the financial exchange business. Today, he runs the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), a stock market for early-stage companies. Story (Christina Pellegrini, for subscribers)\nDEAL WRAP\nStory continues below advertisement\nOnex Corp. says it has agreed to acquire a U.S. company that manages hundreds of sports, entertainment and business venues including Soldier Field, home to the NFL's Chicago Bears. Story\nCanniMed Therapeutics is seeking regulatory action in both Saskatchewan and Ontario, the company's latest push back against a hostile takeover attempt by Aurora Cannabis. Story\nShares in Canadian Solar Inc. rose Monday after the company revealed it has received a non-binding takeover offer from its chairman, Shawn (Xiaohua) Qu, who is also CEO and president. Story\nWhile the process may take months, Brookfield Property Partners LP is likely to be ultimately successful in its bid to take over the portion of mall owner GGP Inc. it doesn't already own, said the chief executive officer of Brookfield's parent company. Story (for subscribers)\nCanada's Fairfax Africa Investments Proprietary Ltd will not proceed with a plan to buy 23 per cent of cement producer PPC for 2 billion rand ($188.36-million), the South African company said on Monday. Story (for subscribers)\nActivist investor Elliott Management Corp said on Monday that NXP Semiconductors NV is worth $135 per share on an intrinsic standalone basis, more than the $110 Qualcomm Inc has offered to buy the company. Story (for subscribers)\nApple Inc. on Monday confirmed it had reached a deal to acquire Shazam Entertainment Ltd, the U.K.-based app that lets users identify songs by pointing a smart phone at the audio source. Reuters\nStory continues below advertisement\nStory continues below advertisement\nFINANCIAL SERVICES WRAP\nHSBC drew a line under its punishment for lapses in anti-money laundering controls on Monday, saying the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) would end its deferred prosecution agreement, lifting the threat of further penalties. Story\nWHAT WE'RE READING\nGay on Wall Street: An Investigation Institutional Investor", "The question is whether Mr. Icahn can solve what ails Xerox. Breakingviews’ Lauren Silva Laughlin argues that Xerox has few options to right itself and might do better “realigning itself inside a larger firm, or finding a buyer to take it private.”\n“Corporate actions taken by Xerox, though commendable, are no match for the ravages of the digital world. Selling the company may be the logical next move.”\nPhoto\nAdvertisement Continue reading the main story\nIt’s a deal that seemed destined to happen: Shazam-Apple.\nApple confirmed Monday that it has reached a deal to buy Shazam, the maker of an app that identifies songs after listening to just a few seconds of them.\nApple did not disclose the price tag on the deal, but The New York Times reported Friday that it was expected to be far less than the $1 billion that Shazam was valued at in its most recent fund-raising round in 2015.\nIn 2016, Shazam had about $54 million in revenue and $4.9 million in net losses, according to public filings in Britain, where the company is based. That performance was an improvement over 2015, when the company reported $47 million in revenue and $22 million in losses.\nShazam’s technology was introduced in 2002 as a dial-up service that would listen to a song for 30 seconds and send its user a text message identifying it. It eventually became one of the most popular mobile apps on Apple’s App Store. Last year, the company said that it had surpassed a billion mobile downloads and was used by “hundreds of millions of people each month.”\nFor Apple, the deal is all about Siri, writes VentureBeat’s Emil Protalinski:\nApple likely wants Siri to do what both Amazon and Google are working on: help the user figure out the world around them, and also sell them content. Siri should be able to extract valuable information for the user from what it hears and what it sees. It could also then let you add that song to your Apple Music playlist, watch the trailer, or even buy the movie on iTunes, and so on. That’s much easier to achieve once Siri has swallowed Shazam.\nPaul Pendergass, formerly DealBook’s “Jack Flack” columnist, offers up his unique take on the deal:\nPhoto\nPhoto\nIs Elliott a headache for Qualcomm — or a useful tool?\nIn arguing that NXP Semiconductors is worth $135 per share — on an independent basis, and therefore leaving aside Qualcomm’s takeover bid — the activist hedge fund is threatening to add more to Broadcom’s hostile acquisition campaign for Qualcomm.\nElliott argued in a presentation this morning that the market hasn’t appreciated how much of a revival NXP’s business has enjoyed, particularly now that it has fully processed its acquisition of fellow chip maker Freescale Semiconductor. And Qualcomm’s $110-a-share bid is currently acting as a cap on how much higher the stock can go.\nFrom the activist's letter to other shareholders:\n“While NXP’s operating performance has fully bounced back over the past year, its stock price has not – again, likely due to, in our view, the ceiling created by Qualcomm’s low priced offer.”\nThe bigger picture: Qualcomm has been fighting off Broadcom’s $105 billion takeover offer. But Broadcom said that its current bid is contingent in part on the NXP transaction being completed at the original level of $110 a share. Analysts and investors have speculated that, by paying more for NXP, Qualcomm could effectively persuade Broadcom to walk away — though some also have suggested that Elliott’s move could be a useful way to persuade Broadcom to raise its price.\nWhere things stand: Qualcomm is currently in the middle of a tender offer for NXP shares. A small fraction of NXP shareholders have currently agreed to accept the bid, with many waiting until the end of the offer period. At the moment, the earliest that Qualcomm’s tender could wrap up is middle-to-late January.\nAdvertisement Continue reading the main story\nThe Qualcomm response\nFor now, the chip maker said that it disagrees with Elliott’s analysis. Its statement:\n“Elliott’s value assertion for NXP is unsupportable and is clearly nothing more than an attempt to advance its own self-serving agenda. We remain fully committed to closing the acquisition of NXP and believe that the agreed-upon price of $110 is full and fair.”\n— Michael J. de la Merced\nBitcoin mania now extends to futures trading.\nCboe’s recently introduced futures proved so popular that the Chicago exchange’s website went down amid overwhelming traffic and circuit breakers were triggered — twice.\nAs of this morning, Bitcoin futures hit $17,540, from an open of $15,000.\n“It is rare that you see something more volatile than bitcoin, but we found it: Bitcoin futures,” Zennon Kapron, managing director of the Shanghai-based consulting firm Kapronasia, told Bloomberg.\nWhy the frenzy? Futures are the first way that investors can bet on the direction of Bitcoin without having to buy the digital currency.\nThe Bitcoin flyaround\n• About 40 percent of all Bitcoins are held by about 1,000 users. (Bloomberg)\n• Could China be the one to tamp down the Bitcoin frenzy? (MIT Technology Review)\n• A sign of the times: A gas station near Newark Airport reportedly has a Bitcoin A.T.M. (Twitter)\nPhoto\nMario Batali is the latest to face misconduct accusations.\nHe has stepped away from day-to-day operations of his food empire, Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group in the wake of an Eater story in which four women described what they said were incidents of unwanted groping and sexual harassment.\nFrom the article by Irene Plagianos and Kitty Greenwald:\nBatali did not deny all the allegations, saying that they “match up” with ways he has behaved. “I apologize to the people I have mistreated and hurt. Although the identities of most of the individuals mentioned in these stories have not been revealed to me, much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted. That behavior was wrong and there are no excuses.\nAs recently as October, one of his employees had reported inappropriate behavior by the celebrity chef to human resources, according to Eater.\nMr. Batali is the best-known restaurateur to date to face misconduct allegations amid a sweeping wave of accusations against powerful men. (Another well-known chef, John Besh, stepped down in October after the publication of a lengthy investigation by the Times-Picayune of New Orleans.)\n— Michael J. de la Merced\nPhoto\nHow the Republican tax plan tilted toward corporations.\nWhen President Trump lays out on Wednesday how he sees the tax overhaul benefiting the middle class — as reported by Axios — his argument runs counter to how the legislation has actually evolved.\nAdvertisement Continue reading the main story\nDamian Paletta of the WaPo has outlined the transformation of the tax plan and how it began to emphasize issues like a $1 trillion cut for businesses while scaling back tax cuts for middle-class families. From his piece:\n“Fundamentally, the bill has been mislabeled. From a truth-in-advertising standpoint, it would have been a lot simpler if we just acknowledged reality on this bill, which is it’s fundamentally a corporate tax reduction and restructuring bill, period,” said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.).\nSpeed kills?\nOne thing that lawmakers are trying to fix, according to Richard Rubin of the WSJ:\nSome high-income business owners could face marginal tax rates exceeding 100 percent under the Senate’s tax bill, far beyond the listed rates in the Republican plan. That means a business owner’s next $100 in earnings, under certain circumstances, would require paying more than $100 in additional federal and state taxes.\nMore on the hits to New York: Wall Street is still lobbying against the current version of the bill, particularly on issues like limits to deductions for state and local taxes. “Over time this will be a major blow to keeping New York City the world’s undisputed financial capital,” Paul Taubman of PJT Partners told the FT.\nIf you want to understand Alabama and Roy Moore, read this.\nThis Op-Ed by the former NYT executive editor Howell Raines, an Alabama native, is worth noting as the state’s residents head to the polls tomorrow. At stake: whether the Republicans’ already-slim majority shrinks to just one seat.\nFrom Mr. Raines’s piece:\nMr. Bishop, a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, said he had drifted over to the Democrats when Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal paid him and his jobless friends to work on the kind of infrastructure projects promised by candidate Trump. But he sees modern Democrats as detached from common folk. He’ll vote for Mr. Moore and intends to “sway” his wife from her plan to support Mr. Jones.\nPhoto\nWho will follow Dina Powell out the door?\nAs the Trump administration closes in on its one-year anniversary, expect more officials to make their exits. Ms. Powell’s move is notable in that she is leaving on good terms with Mr. Trump, according to the WaPo.\nWho else is on deck?\n• Rex Tillerson could leave as secretary of state in February, according to Politico.\nNewsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story The All-New DealBook Newsletter Our columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and his Times colleagues help you make sense of major business and policy headlines — and the power-brokers who shape them. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.\n• The big question remains: When will Gary Cohn leave? He’s currently promoting the Republican tax plan, but will he depart afterward?\nPhoto\nThe net neutrality fight comes to a head this week.\nThe F.C.C. is scheduled to vote on Thursday on its proposal to roll back regulations. Expect protesters to keep up demonstrations against the move. “We want members of Congress to think of this as a third-rail issue that they have to support or else they will suffer in their elections,” Craig Aaron of the advocacy group Free Press told the NYT.\nIn the F.C.C.’s corner\nRoger Stone, one of Mr. Trump’s most prominent advisers. From his op-ed in The Daily Caller:\nBut since the giant edge providers — companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter — are content providers, they are exempt from “Net Neutrality” rules, free to restrain content by censoring out all conservative and libertarian views at will, without so much as an explanation to anyone why the objectionable views were banned.\nAcross the pond: Strong competition and regulation have generally prevented bad behavior from internet service providers in Europe — but telecommunications companies have managed to push boundaries in other ways, the NYT reports.\nPhoto\nThe Fed is likely to raise interest rates this week. What’s next?\nEconomists are starting to believe that the Fed may have to raise rates more quickly than expected after its meeting — the last to be chaired by Janet Yellen — on Wednesday. Binyamin Appelbaum of the NYT lays out many of the factors that Jerome Powell and the Fed will have to weigh, including strong economic growth and sluggish inflation.\nAdvertisement Continue reading the main story\nEconomists at Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase predict that interest rates across advanced economies will rise by at least 1 percent next year, in what Bloomberg says would be the biggest jump since 2006.\nA lament for Ms. Yellen’s one term\nFrom Amy Chozick’s article in the NYT on the departing Fed chair:\n“Janet should’ve been renominated, as every past Fed chair has been renominated for nearly the last 40 years,” Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said in an interview. “But it’s not the first time and certainly not the last a highly qualified woman is passed over for a job she clearly deserves.”\nPhoto\n“Rational exuberance is the stock market’s theme for 2018.”\nThat’s the prediction that David Kostin, the chief U.S. equity strategist, gave Barron’s for its look at what next year holds for the markets. The publication surveyed 10 strategists at major financial firms. Among the consensus predictions: a 7 percent gain in the S.&P. 500.\nBut Barron’s also offers some caveats:\nThe outlook isn’t entirely rosy: Interest rates are headed higher, stocks are expensive, and a tax overhaul could still stall or fail. But so long as corporate earnings keep climbing and the Federal Reserve raises rates in a measured way, the strategists see more room for gains.\nExtra credit: Mr. Trump’s overall approval ratings may be low, but Americans surveyed by the WSJ and NBC News in late October gave the president a 42 percent approval rating for his handling of the economy. (WSJ)\nPhoto\nHow would a Fox-Disney deal remake Hollywood?\nFirst, a status update: The two companies are still in advanced negotiations, and a transaction could be announced this week. The standard caveats of deal reporting, including that the talks could still fall apart, apply here.\nIf Disney succeeds in buying Fox, it would upend the decades-old status quo of the Hollywood movie system. But what happens with the 20th Century Fox movie studio is still in flux, according to Ben Fritz of the WSJ:\nSome people close to the deal talks said 20th Century Fox could become a production label within the Walt Disney Studios, akin to Pixar and Marvel. In that scenario, Fox operations such as theatrical and home-video distribution would likely be cut back, resulting in job losses among the studio’s approximately 3,200 employees.\nThe M. & A. flyaround\n• In selling itself to Apple, Shazam would formally become a part of the company that made it famous. But the sale price will likely be far less than the $1 billion valuation of Shazam’s most recent fund-raising round. (NYT)\n• Two hospital networks, Ascension and Providence St. Joseph Health, are in talks about a potential merger, which if completed would leap past HCA Healthcare to become the country’s biggest hospital operator, according to unidentified people. (WSJ)\n• GGP, the mall owner, has rejected Brookfield Property Partners’s $14.8 billion takeover bid, though talks between the two will continue, according to unidentified people. (Reuters)\nA serial acquirer is in trouble after accounting issues.\nShares in Steinhoff International, a retailer that went on a debt-heavy buying spree in recent years, plunged 84 percent (wiping out nearly $12 billion in market value) over the past week after the company disclosed potential accounting irregularities. The company has hired Moelis & Company and Alixpartners to help with “liquidity management and operational measures.”\nAdvertisement Continue reading the main story\nThe bigger picture\nDavid Fickling of Gadfly writes that there’s a lesson here for other inveterate corporate deal makers — notably HNA of China. From his piece:\nThere’s a simple reason that few companies spend long on the sort of shopping spree that Steinhoff and HNA followed in recent years: Takeovers tend to destroy shareholder value.\nThe Speed Read\n• Vinnie Viola, the founder of the trading firm Virtu Financial and once Mr. Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Army, is close to selling his 80,000-square-foot Manhattan townhouse for about $80 million, in what would be the highest-priced home sale in New York City history. (WSJ)\n• During a conference call with a digital media company, three Snap executives who thought they were on mute were overheard talking about their weekend plans, including hiring prostitutes. (NY Post)\n• France is attempting a sweeping national rebranding, changing labor laws and slashing a wealth tax, as it competes to be Europe’s financial capital. (NYT)\n• Two organizations founded by Charles Koch have been working in Silicon Valley to advance the argument that innovators are most likely to flourish when legislators and regulators leave them alone. (Politico)\n• Banking executives in London say that they would halt, or even reverse, moves out of London if there were an 11th-hour deal to keep Britain in the single market. (FT)\n• Tougher bank regulations, ultralow interest rates and low market volatility have raised the prospect of a decline in the Swiss private bank. (FT)\n• The recommendation last month that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund sell its oil and gas stocks is pushing Norwegian policymakers to grapple with the question of what the fund and the country should stand for. (FT)\n• The government of Qatar and BAE Systems have finalized a roughly $6.7 billion deal for 24 combat jets, training and related items. (WSJ)\nAdvertisement Continue reading the main story\n• The C.E.O. of Volkswagen said that Germany should consider phasing out subsidies for diesel cars, a startling change of position by the automaker largely responsible for diesel’s popularity in Europe. (NYT)\n• Man Group will market a new quantitative hedge fund to wealthy Chinese investors, becoming the first foreign investment company to start an onshore hedge fund there. (FT)\n• Loyal customers of Starwood feel uneasy about the takeover by “big, beige” Marriott, which faces the challenge of keeping Starwood’s “cool” culture — its customers. (NYT)\nEach weekday, DealBook reporters in New York and London offer commentary and analysis on the day’s most important business news. Want this in your own email inbox? Here’s the sign-up.\nYou can find live updates of DealBook coverage throughout the day at nytimes.com/dealbook.\nFollow Andrew Ross Sorkin @andrewrsorkin, Michael J. de la Merced @m_delamerced and Amie Tsang @amietsang on Twitter.\nWe’d love your feedback as we experiment with the writing, format and design of this briefing. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [email protected].", "Yet it was only theater.\nWithin 24 hours — for those paying attention — Broadcom’s real motivation emerged: The company was planning to mount a $100 billion bid for the rival chip maker Qualcomm in what would amount to the largest hostile takeover of technology company in history.\nThe reason for Broadcom’s sudden move back to the United States was clear: Given President Trump’s aversion to foreign companies, there was no way that Broadcom would ever receive regulatory approval for a takeover of one of the crown jewels of Silicon Valley if it were based anywhere but here. After all, Qualcomm’s chips are inside virtually every major American device, starting with Apple’s iPhone.\nSo Broadcom played to Mr. Trump’s soft spot — bringing companies back home. But the result may not be what Mr. Trump is envisioning — a Broadcom takeover of Qualcomm would most likely cost thousands of jobs, doing the very opposite of what the president said would happen.\nSome of those workers who stood behind Mr. Trump in the Oval Office could very well end up on the chopping block.\nIf there is any question about Broadcom’s job killing ambitions, look no further than its own news release, which said “the combination of our two companies and associated synergies will be accretive to Broadcom’s earnings.”\nNotice the word “synergies”? That word, a throwback to the 1990s merger days, has returned, but no one has forgotten what it is a euphemism for: cost-saving layoffs. Analysts have estimated that the savings from such synergy in Broadcom’s case would most likely be about $1.5 billion.\nQualcomm has about 33,000 employees worldwide; about 10,000 of which are based in San Diego. Broadcom has nearly 16,000 employees worldwide, nearly half of them in the United States.\nNewsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.\nWhen Broadcom merged with in Avago in 2014, it said it expected $750 million in “synergies.” At the time, Broadcom had 10,650 employees and Avago 8,200, for a total of 18,850 workers. Yet by 2016, after the two companies had integrated (and accounting for a divestiture that included 430 employees), the total head count was 15,700. In other words, 2,700 people lost their jobs.\nAdvertisement Continue reading the main story\nBy that math, considering Broadcom said it could achieve twice those savings in a deal with Qualcomm, some 5,400 people could lose their jobs — a good portion of the entire domestic head count at Broadcom.\nBroadcom has made a business model of acquiring other companies, and their technology, and laying off employees. Some analysts describe the company as a “roll-up” — a company that keeps rolling-up more companies.\nQualcomm has been one of technology’s great innovators, helping to establish many of the mobile telephone standards like LTE and the coming 5G. It has one of the largest research and development budgets in the world, spending $5 billion last year alone. Over the past decade, it has spent nearly $40 billion.\nMr. Tan of Broadcom has boasted that he plans to spend $3 billion “in research and engineering.” Mr. Tan has been given high marks for managing the portfolio of Broadcom assets effectively, but he has never been known for industry-changing innovations.\nAnd while the sound bite about Broadcom’s bringing its $20 billion in revenues back to the United States sounds great, it isn’t so clear it will happen immediately — or ever. About half of the company’s revenues come from its Chinese partners. It is impossible to think the company won’t have to continue to invest there given that’s where much of the growth in the world is taking place.\nSo far, Qualcomm has rejected Broadcom’s overtures, calling the bid an opportunistic effort to buy the company on the cheap. Qualcomm’s stock has been under pressure because it has been engaged in a patent lawsuit with Apple, which has argued that Qualcomm is trying to gouge it for using its chips in its phones and has threatened to use Intel chips instead. Broadcom, in turn, has hinted that if it were to succeed in its bid for Qualcomm, it would reach a settlement with Apple.\nThe deal, which is already complicated, was made more so on Monday when Elliott Management, an activist hedge fund, argued that a planned deal by Qualcomm for NXP — which had been moving ahead despite the Broadcom bid — undervalues NXP, creating new questions about the fate of that transaction. If Qualcomm were to raise its offer for NXP, it could make itself less attractive for Broadcom.\nEven if Broadcom doesn’t end up merging with Qualcomm, it is unimaginable that it won’t try to acquire other American companies, which may make its decision to redomicile ultimately make more sense.\nIf Broadcom was not intending to repatriate to the United States, you can only imagine the early morning tweetstorms we would have read from Mr. Trump denouncing the hostile bid.\nAdvertisement Continue reading the main story\nBut at least for now, he hasn’t said a word.", "By Ted Greenwald\nFor some chief executives, fending off an unwanted takeover is a chance to declare victory. For Qualcomm Inc. CEO Steve Mollenkopf, the end of one fight has only left him facing several others.\nMr. Mollenkopf not only has to fix disputes with customers that predate Broadcom Ltd.'s hostile bid, he now also has to assuage shareholders unhappy with how Qualcomm handled the four-month takeover battle. On top of that, former Qualcomm Executive Chairman Paul Jacobs has embarked on his own takeover bid that, while a long shot, could trigger new tumult.\nQualcomm's plan, as pitched to investors during the Broadcom fight, hinges on several hard-to-predict pieces falling into place over the next year.\nThe company promises to deliver adjusted earnings of between $6.75 and $7.50 a share in fiscal 2019 -- roughly double Wall Street's current estimate of $3.76 for that period, according to FactSet. That is premised on Qualcomm's completing its slow-moving purchase of Dutch chip maker NXP Semiconductors NV and settling its patent-royalty disputes with Apple Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co., among other things.\nIf investors believe Qualcomm can meet its goals for next year, it would make the stock worth $85 to $90 a share today, discounting for the risk of failure, said Mike Walkley, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.\nShareholders are showing doubt: Qualcomm's stock ended Friday at $60.62 a share, down 3.5% from before President Donald Trump blocked Broadcom's proposed deal last Monday and far below the $79 that Broadcom was offering.\n\"I was hoping a deal would go through, and Qualcomm would become Broadcom's problem,\" said Tom Herzig of investment firm P.R. Herzig & Co. \"Now it seems to be my problem.\" Mr. Herzig's firm has about 2.5% of its portfolio in Qualcomm stock, which he said he plans to hold despite his concerns over whether management eventually can reignite the shares.\nShareholders will get another chance to register their opinion on Friday, at Qualcomm's annual meeting. Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., an advisory service that had urged shareholders to push for negotiations between the two companies, on Wednesday recommended that Qualcomm shareholders show their discontent by voting for four of Broadcom's candidates -- even though such votes won't be counted -- and none of the incumbents.\nA possible bid from Mr. Jacobs, who was Mr. Mollenkopf's predecessor as CEO and is the son of Qualcomm co-founder and former leader Irwin Jacobs, further clouds the situation.\n\"There are real opportunities to accelerate Qualcomm's innovation success and strengthen its position in the global marketplace,\" Paul Jacobs said in a statement Friday. He said taking the company private makes sense because taking advantage of the opportunities is \"challenging as a stand-alone public company.\"\nThe buyout suggestion, widely seen as having little chance of success, stirred discord on the board, which on Friday said Mr. Jacobs wouldn't be renominated as a director at this week's shareholder meeting.\nQualcomm declined to comment or to make Mr. Mollenkopf available. The company said in a statement Friday that it is \"focused on executing its business plan and maximizing value for shareholders as an independent company.\"\nAn understated engineer who joined Qualcomm more than two decades ago, Mr. Mollenkopf, 49 years old, has presided over a difficult period. Qualcomm has battled not only with some of its biggest customers but also with regulators around the world, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which sued it last year alleging anticompetitive practices. Apple and Huawei have been withholding revenue, which crimped Qualcomm's profit last year, and its shares are down 18% since Mr. Mollenkopf became CEO four years ago.\nMr. Mollenkopf is counting on NXP to supercharge Qualcomm's ability to sell chips for cars, security and internet-connected devices -- combined markets he has said could be worth $77 billion by 2020. He has said he expects Qualcomm's leadership in next-generation cellular technology to be a big advantage in those areas.\nQualcomm initially expected the $44 billion transaction, announced in late 2016, to close by the end of 2017. But the deal has been held up in antitrust review in China, and its prospects for approval have been clouded by rising trade tensions with the U.S. -- and potentially by the Trump administration's treatment of Qualcomm as a sort of national champion in the U.S.'s competition with China.\nAlso critical for Mr. Mollenkopf is settling the disputes with Apple and Huawei in a way that doesn't hobble Qualcomm's highly profitable intellectual-property licensing business, which collects royalties on nearly every smartphone sold because it holds key patents on cellular technology.\nQualcomm's 2019 forecast includes between $2.5 billion and $4 billion in payments it assumes would flow from resolving its customer disputes. It leaves out a further $5 billion to $7 billion in so-called catch-up payments that Qualcomm has said Apple and Huawei will owe by then for royalties they have withheld.\nQualcomm has said it is confident it can resolve the disputes. It is making headway with Huawei, which also stopped paying royalties. In January, it announced a patent-licensing agreement with Samsung Electronics Co. that strengthens its position against Apple, some patent lawyers said.\nWrite to Ted Greenwald at [email protected]", "US chipmaker Micron has run into trouble in a court battle in China, according to one of its rivals.\nA Chinese court has temporarily barred Micron (MICR) from selling 26 products in the country including memory chips, memory sticks and hard drives, Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) said in a statement late Tuesday.\nUMC filed patent infringement lawsuits against Micron in China in January.\nA spokesman for Micron, which is based in Idaho, said Wednesday that the company hasn't yet received the court order and won't comment until it does.\nThe court, in the southeastern city of Fuzhou, didn't respond to requests for comment.\nShares in Micron dropped more than 5% in New York on Tuesday. UMC shares jumped more than 3% in morning trading in Taiwan on Wednesday but ended the day flat.\nRelated: China is trying to kick its foreign tech habit\nThe ruling comes in the middle of a clash between the United States and China over trade and technology. The two countries are set to impose new tariffs on tens of billions of dollar's of each other's products on Friday. Washington says the measures are a response to intellectual property theft by China.\nSeveral companies and high-profile deals have become bargaining chips in the dispute.\nBeijing is holding up US chipmaker Qualcomm's (QCOM) proposed $44 billion takeover of NXP Semiconductors (NXPI). The deal has been approved by regulators in eight other jurisdictions including the European Union and South Korea. Only China has not yet cleared it on antitrust grounds.\nThe delay in approving the deal has coincided with uncertainty over the fate of Chinese smartphone and telecommunications company ZTE (ZTCOF).\nZTE has been in crisis since April, when the US Commerce Department banned American companies from selling vital components to the Chinese firm, including chips. It said ZTE had breached the terms of an earlier agreement concerning the company's violation of sanctions on North Korea and Iran.\nRelated: Analysis: Tariffs won't slow China's tech rise\nThe Trump administration struck a new deal with the company in June to end the ban in exchange for an additional fine and a drastic management overhaul. But ZTE still faces an uncertain future, and some members of Congress are seeking to keep the ban in place.\nChina wants more homegrown chips\nThe ZTE crisis has intensified China's desire to slash its dependence on foreign-made computer chips. China buys far more chips than any other country, and about 90% came from foreign companies last year, according to technology consultancy International Business Strategies.\nBut there are concerns about how Chinese companies are obtaining the technology needed to develop a homegrown semiconductor industry.\nMicron and UMC are also battling it out in Californian courts. Micron filed a lawsuit in December alleging UMC stole Micron's intellectual property and gave it to a Chinese firm, Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit.\nUMC denies the allegations, and has filed to have the California case dismissed.\nMicron was one of three big foreign chipmakers whose offices in China were visited last month by investigators from a Chinese market regulator. One of the other companies, South Korea's SK Hynix, said the investigation is over suspected price fixing.\n-- Serenitie Wang contributed to this report.", "May 30 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by Wednesday 1430 GMT on Wednesday: ** Twenty-First Century Fox Inc will hold a special meeting on July 10th for its stockholders to vote on a proposed merger with Walt Disney Co, the company said. ** Shares of NXP Semiconductors NV fell 5 percent after China’s latest warning against U.S. trade threats dulled hopes of an early approval by Beijing for Qualcomm’s $44 billion acquisition of the chipmaker. ** Drugmaker Allergan Plc plans to sell off its women’s health and infectious disease businesses as Chief Executive Brent Saunders works to end the steep slide in its share price over the last year. ** Zynga Inc has bought mobile gaming startup Gram Games for $250 million to boost its portfolio of franchise-based titles, it said. ** The European Commission said it had cleared the purchase of Dutch cable operator Ziggo by Liberty Global subject to conditions. ** Standard Life Aberdeen said it expected to save an extra 100 million pounds ($132.64 million) a year in ‘efficiency savings’ by 2020 after it completes the sale of its insurance business to Phoenix Group. ** Italian utility Enel and its Spanish peer Iberdrola have until the end of Wednesday to present improved bids for Eletropaulo, the Brazilian power grid operator said, citing the country’s market regulator. ** Deutsche Bank is looking to sell its small stake in Dubai-based Abraaj, the embattled private equity firm involved in a row over alleged misuse of investor money, two sources familiar with the matter said. ** Samsung Group’s two insurance firms said they will sell $1.3 billion worth of stock in the conglomerate’s biggest earner, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, to maintain regulatory compliance. ** Aviva Investors, the fund arm of insurer Aviva, said it would combine its real estate, infrastructure and private debt businesses into a new unit called Aviva Investors Real Assets. ** Bayer won U.S. approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto after agreeing to sell about $9 billion in assets, clearing a major hurdle for the $62.5 billion deal that will create by far the largest seeds and pesticides maker. ** German seed seller KWS Saat has bowed out of an eleventh-hour bid for Bayer’s vegetable seed business saying it accepts a decision by the European Commission that BASF is the most suitable buyer. ** Deutsche Boerse AG is beefing up its foreign exchange business with a $100 million deal to buy GTX’s Electronic Communication Network (ECN) business from GAIN Capital Holdings Inc. ** The supervisory board of Uniper has recommended that shareholders reject calls to appoint a special auditor to probe possible breaches of duty by the group’s management in relation to Fortum’s proposed acquisition. ** WellCare Health Plans Inc said it would buy Meridian Health Plans of Michigan and Illinois for $2.5 billion in cash to become the top Medicaid provider in those states. ** Marketing company Didit has made an offer of $1.1 million for defunct news gossip website Gawker, an initial proposal that will set the floor for higher bids in a bankruptcy auction, according to a filing. ** Norway’s BW LPG, the world’s largest liquid petroleum gas shipper, said it had offered to buy competitor Dorian LPG in a $1.1 billion all-stock deal in an effort to boost its earnings in a weak market. (Compiled by Akshara P in Bengaluru)", "A Universal Robots robotic arm is displayed in their office in Singapore March 3, 2017. Picture taken March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su\nA Universal Robots employee demonstrates how a model of their industrial robot arms works in Singapore March 3, 2017. Picture taken March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su\nA Universal Robots employee demonstrates how a model of their industrial robot arms works in Singapore March 3, 2017. Picture taken March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su\nA Universal Robots employee demonstrates how a model of their industrial robot arms works in Singapore March 3, 2017. Picture taken March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su\nSINGAPORE Foreign precision engineering firms are investing more in Singapore, drawn by strong semiconductor demand and government incentives aimed at re-tooling an economy short of skilled labour.\nThe city-state is running programs worth billions of dollars to support productivity, automation and research, attracting global chipmakers including U.S.-based Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) and Germany's Infineon Technologies (IFXGn.DE).\nThis investment rush into electronics helped the technology sector log 57 percent output growth on average in October-February from a year ago, and kept Singapore from recession late last year.\n\"I've lived in Europe, I've lived in Japan, I've spent a lot of time in Taiwan and other countries. From a proactive standpoint, Singapore is about as good as it gets,\" said Wayne Allan, vice president of global manufacturing at Micron, adding the Singapore government's long-term vision was key to Micron expanding its investment.\nTaking advantage of government grants, Micron is investing $4 billion to make more flash-memory chips in Singapore. It increased output by a third in the second half of last year and expects similar growth in the first half of this year.\nLinear Technology Corp, a maker of analog integrated circuits, has opened a third chip testing facility in Singapore, and will produce 90 percent of its global test equipment in the city-state.\nAll this has created something of a virtuous circle in the semiconductor supply chain, with chip testing equipment supplier Applied Materials (AMAT.O) reporting record shipments to Singapore last year, said its regional chief, Russell Tham.\nIt's unclear how much of this revival in Singapore's $40 billion chip industry is due to a so-called ultra-super-cycle in the global memory chip sector, and Singapore remains a smaller player than South Korea and Taiwan.\n\"It is vulnerable to a pull-back,\" said Nomura economist Brian Tan. \"If there's a turnaround in the semiconductor industry ... it becomes a lot more apparent that the underlying growth momentum is not great.\"\n-For graphic on 'global memory chip market forecast' click: tmsnrt.rs/2k8LOqk\n-For graphic on 'Singapore's semiconductor industry performance' click: tmsnrt.rs/2oLaZOi\nMOVING UP\nHowever, there are real signs that the targeted government incentives are helping firms move up the value chain.\nOne of the larger programs is the Productivity and Innovation Credit, where Singapore has budgeted S$3.6 billion ($2.6 billion) for 2016-18. Another S$400 million automation support package is aimed at small firms, and a S$500 million Future of Manufacturing plan encourages testing new technologies.\nThe Ministry of Trade and Industry says it encourages manufacturers to \"embrace disruptive technologies\" such as robotics. \"These measures will help ensure the manufacturing sector in Singapore remains globally competitive,\" it said, attributing the strong semiconductors performance partly to demand from China's smartphone market and improved global semiconductor demand.\nFor Feinmetall Singapore, whose products are used for testing semiconductor wafers, grants covered about two thirds of the $100,000 cost of a needle-bending machine it needed to help overcome an island-wide labour shortage.\n\"If we use the same methods as before ... I don't think we can expect any growth,\" said Sam Chee Wah, the company's general manager, noting Feinmetall Singapore struggled to retain some workers for much longer than a year, even after nine months of training.\nGlobalFoundries Singapore, a wafer maker, has spent $50 million on 77 robots, each able to perform the tasks of 3-4 workers. This has helped the company move up the value chain into parts for self-driving cars and security-related chips for credit cards and mobile payments, says general manager KC Ang.\nSingapore now has about 400 robots per 10,000 workers, the world's second-highest density after South Korea. Most robots are used in electronics, according to the International Federation of Robots.\nAnd further developments are in the pipeline.\nAUTOS, IOT\nAt its Singapore manufacturing hub, Infineon is developing productivity tools such as robotics and automated guided vehicles which it hopes to deploy to other production sites. Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors (NXPI.O) is also developing vehicle-to-everything technology, enabling vehicles to communicate with each other and roadside infrastructure.\nInstead of trying to compete with high-volume producers such as China or Malaysia, Singapore has shifted to higher-end products, said Jagadish C.V., head of Systems on Silicon Manufacturing, another firm making semiconductor wafers.\n\"So you do the products which others can't do so easily,\" he said, adding his firm had shifted most of its output to specialized products, such as chips used in smartphones.\nCK Tan, President of the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association, noted the global chip industry is automating faster than other sectors because of cost pressure, a need to eliminate or reduce error, and have a consistent process control.\n\"In Singapore, it's even more important for us to ... look at how to speed up or increase the level of automation because of the lack of skilled resources,\" he said. \"The industry has recognized it has to move upscale. The government incentives play a part to allow the manufacturing side to be relevant, to be at least cost competitive.\"\nThe Ministry of Trade and Industry said first-quarter growth in manufacturing - up 6.6 percent year-on-year, while overall GDP was up 2.5 percent - was due mainly to output expansion in electronics and precision engineering.\nIntegrated circuits were Singapore's biggest export product among non-oil domestic exports in January-March, topping S$6 billion ($4.29 billion), according to trade agency IE Singapore.\n($1 = 1.3972 Singapore dollars)\n(Additional reporting by Christine Kim in SEOUL, Jessica Yu in HONG KONG and Orathai Sriring in BANGKOK; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)", "FILE PHOTO - The Netflix sign on screen is shown on an iPad in Encinitas, California, U.S. on April 19,2013. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo\nSAN FRANCISCO The longevity of the technology stocks rally is on the line next week as Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) kicks off the earnings season for a sector that has mushroomed to account for more than a fifth of the U.S. stock market's value.\nSurges in Apple (AAPL.O), Facebook (FB.O) and other Silicon Valley heavyweights have pushed the S&P 500 technology index 10 percent higher this year, more than double the broader S&P 500 index's 4 percent gain. The tech sector's aggregate value now tops $4.4 trillion, 30 percent higher than No. 2 financials, and even rivals the size of the Federal Reserve's massive balance sheet.\nThe next test for these companies is whether their profit growth is sufficient to justify their outsized share price gains.\nEnter Netflix, which reports after the bell on Monday. The video streaming pioneer is expected by analysts to quintuple its earnings per share. But with its stock surging 43 percent in the past six months and now trading at 109 times expected earnings, Netflix's valuation is based more on sentiment than on fundamentals, many investors believe.\n\"The market's reaction to whatever the news is from Netflix will be telling,\" said Stephen Massocca, Senior Vice President at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. \"If the slightest little negative leads to a 15-point decline, that tells you things are elevated and the market is only going to reward the most excellent of news.\"\nMomentum in many tech stocks has been driven by ambitious expectations for earnings. Tech profits are seen climbing 14.7 percent for the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. That would account for nearly a third of the 10.4 percent earnings growth predicted across the S&P 500.\n\"It's great for everybody to feel good, but if nobody is buying stuff and the companies are reporting disappointing sales and that affects their margins, then you'll be starting to say - wait a second,\" said Thomas Martin, a portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments.\nAlong with the S&P 500, tech shares have flatlined for weeks as Wall Street reassesses whether President Donald Trump will be able to push corporate tax cuts through Congress.\nStill, so far in April investors have poured $122 million into the U.S.-listed Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK.P), bringing total flows into the fund this year to $1.4 billion, according to ETF.com, which tracks fund flows.\nInside the tech rally, chip makers have been notable outperformers, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index up 40 percent in the past year. Semiconductor companies are expected to boost EPS by 46 percent in the first quarter, helped by the growing use of chips in cars and mobile gadgets. One of the biggest - Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) - reports on Wednesday.\nWhile shares of the mobile chipmaker have been bogged down by a legal battle with Apple, its sales are seen rising by 6 percent and EPS by 14 percent.\n(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by James Dalgleish)", "Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM), or TSMC for short, is the largest contract chip manufacturer. As such, its financial performance can be a reasonable indication of how things are going for many other chipmakers, particularly those chipmakers that sell products into mobile devices (since more than half of TSMC’s revenue comes from sales of chips into communications applications).\nContinue Reading Below\nIn this column, I’d like to look at the comments that TSMC made about its business expectations and the overall chip industry on its most recent earnings call, which should be useful not just to investors in TSMC, but more generally to investors with exposure to the semiconductor industry.\nTSMC relies on sales of phones like the iPhone for much of its revenue. Image source: Apple.\nSecond-quarter drop explained\nTSMC CFO Lora Ho explained that the company will see lower demand during the second quarter of the year (that’s the current quarter) “due to supply chain inventory management during the second quarter and mobile product seasonality.”\nTSMC co-CEO Mark Liu added some additional color to the inventory situation, saying that the company’s guidance in the second quarter “reflects a quite severe inventory adjustment by [TSMC’s] customers, particularly in smartphone and PC market.” Despite that, Liu claims that actual smartphone demand in the marketplace “appears stable in the second quarter [of 2017].”\nContinue Reading Below ADVERTISEMENT\nIn other words, the sky doesn’t appear to be falling in the smartphone market (Liu didn’t explicitly address end-demand in the PC market), but TSMC’s customers may have gotten ahead of themselves in terms of the kind of inventory they built up.\nMarket view and TSMC’s guidance\nLiu also offered TSMC’s view of the overall chip market as well as TSMC’s growth expectations for the year. He said TSMC’s view of the semiconductor market — excluding memory (i.e., NAND flash and DRAM) — will grow 4% this year. TSMC’s growth expectations for the contract chip manufacturing market, Liu indicated, is now 5%, down from a previous expectation of 7% thanks to “elevated inventory in the supply chain.”\nInterestingly, Liu reiterated the company’s previous full-year revenue growth target of between 5% and 10%, highlighting that this forecast indicates that TSMC expects to gain share in the contract chip manufacturing market.\nIt might come down to Apple\nI think one of the keys to TSMC’s performance this year — particularly in the second half of the year — will be the performance of Apple‘s (NASDAQ: AAPL) upcoming iPhone models in the marketplace.\nApple’s upcoming iPhone models are hotly anticipated, and many analysts and investors appear to be expecting a “super cycle” for Apple once these new phones launch. Considering that TSMC generates significant direct revenue from Apple (Apple has TSMC build its internally designed chips) as well as significant indirect revenue (Apple suppliers build their chips at TSMC), robust iPhone performance in the marketplace would clearly be a positive for TSMC.\nMoreover, it’s worth noting that, broadly speaking, to the extent that Apple captures share against the major Android device vendors, TSMC should benefit. This is because most non-Apple flagship phones use integrated applications processors and modems designed by Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) and built by TSMC’s direct rival, Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF).\nThis year’s iPhone models, on the other hand, will likely feature applications processors built by TSMC as well as cellular modems also built by TSMC.\nThe better Apple does in the second half of this year, the better off TSMC should be.\n10 stocks we like better than Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing\nWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*\nDavid and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now…and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing wasn’t one of them! That’s right — they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.\nClick here to learn about these picks!\n*Stock Advisor returns as of April 3, 2017.\nAshraf Eassa owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.", "Texas Instruments Inc., the largest maker of chips that help run most electronic devices, gave a quarterly sales and profit forecast that topped estimates, defusing concerns that orders are trailing off amid weaker demand across the semiconductor industry.\nSecond-quarter net income will be as much as $1.39 a share, the Dallas-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Revenue will be $3.78 billion to $4.1 billion. On average, analysts predicted profit of $1.22 a share on sales of $3.9 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Texas Instruments shares jumped 4.7 percent in extended trading.\nThe company said it’s seeing strong demand from industrial and automotive customers. The forecast may help allay fears that some of the semiconductor industry’s biggest end markets are slowing down, sparked by a spate of downbeat news from other technology companies in recent days. More than any other chipmaker, the company’s reach makes it a proxy for demand across the economy. Texas Instruments, one of the oldest companies in technology, produces a part for almost everything that runs on electricity.\n“The macro economy continues to be constructive,” Chief Financial Officer Rafael Lizardi said on a conference call following the report. It’s too early to say whether increasing geopolitical concerns will hurt the economy, he said.\nConcerns about the health of the chip business began when Lam Research Corp., a maker of equipment used primarily in the production of memory chips and the first large chip-related company to report earnings, spooked investors last week by predicting a decline in orders in the second half of the year. That was followed by Apple Inc.’s main chip manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., giving a revenue forecast for the current quarter that missed analysts’ average estimate by about $1 billion. The reports arrived against the backdrop of a brewing trade war between the U.S. and China, which could put some chipmakers’ fastest-growing markets at risk.\nTexas Instruments shares had gained less than 1 percent in regular New York trading before the report, and have dropped 5.8 percent this year. That’s compared with a decline of 0.7 percent in the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index in the same period.\nIn the first quarter, Texas Instruments said net income rose to $1.37 billion, or $1.35 a share, from $997 million, or 97 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 11 percent to $3.79 billion. Analysts on average had estimated earnings of $1.10 on revenue of $3.65 billion.\nWhile Texas Instruments saw stronger demand across its product range, orders from communications-equipment makers fell from a year earlier, the company said. The industrial and automotive markets will continue to be the fastest-growing areas for chipmakers because demand is being fueled in part by an increasing number of semiconductors used in each device.\nTexas Instruments’ analog chips perform the fundamental task of translating real-world inputs, like sounds and touch, into electronic signals. These semiconductors can be found in everything from refrigerators to satellites. Texas Instruments has deliberately avoided concentrating on one product area.\nThe company gets the biggest chunk of its sales from makers of industrial equipment. It’s also one of the biggest providers of silicon to the automotive industry. Unlike Intel Corp. and Qualcomm Inc., it doesn’t make chips that cost tens of millions of dollars to develop and then quickly become obsolete, making it less vulnerable to sudden swings in demand or competitive pressure. That’s paid off by increasing the company’s profitability, but hasn’t yet driven sustained revenue growth.", "(Updates Public Power Corp; Adds Qualcomm, Apollo Global Management, ECOM, Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group, Vitol, Noble Energy, ProSiebenSat.1, Dow Chemical)\nMay 2 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday:\n** Managers at Italian motorway group Atlantia and Spanish peer Abertis will meet this week in Italy to discuss plans for a tie up, two sources close to the matter said.\n** EU regulators will decide by June 9 whether to clear smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm's $38 billion takeover of NXP Semiconductors NV, with rivals voicing concerns about continued access to key NXP technology after the deal.\n** Buyout firms Apollo Global Management LLC, Blackstone Group LP and Centerbridge Partners LP are among potential suitors studying bids for Canada's biggest alternative mortgage lender, Home Capital Group Inc, which sought emergency funding last week, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.\n** Swiss commodities trading group ECOM has received approval from German cartel authorities to purchase German cocoa grinder Euromar Commodities GmbH, which declared insolvency in December, Euromar's insolvency administrator said.\n** Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Group Co Ltd (ZMJ) has teamed up with private equity firm China Renaissance Capital Investment (CRCI) to buy Robert Bosch's starters and generators business SG Holding for 545 million euros ($595 million).\n** Commodities trader Vitol has agreed to buy an 85,000 barrel per day (bpd) condensate splitter in the Netherlands from Koch Supply and Trading, a subsidiary of U.S. conglomerate Koch Industries, Vitol said in a statement.\n** U.S. oil and gas producer Noble Energy Inc said it would sell all its natural gas production assets in the Marcellus shale field for $1.23 billion, as it shifts focus to liquids-rich, higher-margin assets.\n** German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery Communications Inc will join forces to stream TV shows via Internet and wireless services in Germany.\n** China has conditionally approved the proposed merger between Dow Chemical Co and Dupont, the country's Commerce Ministry said, a step forward for the deal whose closing has been repeatedly delayed by regulatory hurdles.\n** Jack Ma's private equity firm Yunfeng Capital and Singapore's Temasek have led a $75 million fund-raising round into genomics company WuXi NextCODE, the firm said in a statement, underlining a race for medical data in China.\n** British housebuilder Bovis, which was subject to two failed buyout bids earlier this year, said it would take a 2.8 million-pound hit from the talks and a review conducted in February after the firm warned on profits.\n** Accell Group, the maker of Dutch bicycle brands Sparta and Batavus, has had ended talks with Pon Holdings regarding takeover bid from the Dutch transportation conglomerate as the offer was not high enough, it said.\n** British bank Shawbrook Group's independent directors said they could not recommend a buyout bid from a consortium of private equity firms.\n** Greece has agreed to sell coal-fired plants and coal mines equal to about 40 percent of its dominant power utility Public Power Corp's coal-fired capacity, to help open up its electricity market, the energy ministry said.\n** A three-member consortium that includes German insurer Allianz has agreed to buy Affinity Water Ltd , the largest water-only supply firm in England and Wales by revenue, through two transactions, the group said.\n** Sumitomo Corp said it and Korea Resources Corp (Kores) will get a larger stake in the Ambatovy nickel project in Madagascar, as part of a debt restructuring deal with partner Sherritt International Corp.\n** IAC/InterActiveCorp said on Monday it would buy consumer review website operator Angie's List Inc in a $500 million deal that bolsters its online home contractor services.\n** Monsanto Co has terminated an agreement to sell its Precision Planting LLC farm equipment business to machinery maker Deere & Co, the companies said on Monday, ending a legal fight with antitrust authorities over the deal. (Compiled by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay and John Benny in Bengaluru)", "Driven by strong growth in the memory market, worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $420.4 billion in 2017, a 21.6 percent increase from 2016 revenue of $345.9 billion, according to final results by Gartner, Inc.\n“2017 saw two semiconductor industry milestones — revenue surpassed $400 billion, and Intel, the No. 1 vendor for the last 25 years, was pushed into second place by Samsung Electronics,” said George Brocklehurst, research director at Gartner. “Both milestones happened due to rapid growth in the memory market as undersupply drove pricing for DRAM and NAND flash higher.”\nThe memory market surged nearly $50 billion to reach $130 billion in 2017, a 61.8 percent increase from 2016. Samsung’s memory revenue alone increased nearly $20 billion in 2017, moving the company into the top spot in 2017 (see Table 1). However, Gartner predicts that the company’s lead will be short-lived and will disappear when the memory market goes into its bust cycle, most likely in late 2019.\nTable 1. Top 10 Semiconductor Vendors by Revenue, Worldwide, 2017 (Millions of U.S. Dollars)\n2017 Rank 2016 Rank Vendor 2017 Revenue 2017 Market Share (%) 2016 Revenue 2016-2017 Growth (%) 1 2 Samsung Electronics 59,875 14.2 40,104 49.3 2 1 Intel 58,725 14.0 54,091 8.6 3 4 SK hynix 26,370 6.3 14,681 79.6 4 5 Micron Technology 22,895 5.4 13,381 71.1 5 3 Qualcomm 16,099 3.8 15,415 4.4 6 6 Broadcom 15,405 3.7 13,223 16.4 7 7 Texas Instruments 13,506 3.2 11,899 13.5 8 8 Toshiba 12,408 3.0 9,918 25.1 9 17 Western Digital 9,159 2.2 4,170 119.6 10 9 NXP 8,750 2.1 9,314 -6.1 Others 177,201 42.2 159,655 11.0 Total Market 420,393 100.0 345,851 21.6\nSource: Gartner (April 2018)\nThe booming memory segment overshadowed strong growth in other categories in 2017. Nonmemory semiconductors grew $24.8 billion to reach $290 billion, representing a growth rate of 9.3 percent. Many of the broadline suppliers in the top 25 semiconductor vendors, including Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics and Infineon, experience high growth as two key markets, industrial and automotive, continued double-digit growth, buoyed by broad-based growth across most other end markets.\nThe combined revenue of the top 10 semiconductor vendors increased by 30.6 percent during 2017 and accounted for 58 percent of the total market, outperforming the rest of the market, which saw a milder 11.0 percent revenue increase.\nM&As are taking longer\n2017 was a slower year for closing mergers and acquisitions (M&As), with roughly half the deal value and number of deals compared with 2016. However, the semiconductor industry continues to see escalating deal sizes with greater complexity, which are becoming more challenging to close. Avago set a record in its acquisition of Broadcom for $37 billion in 2016, and this record should soon be broken by Qualcomm’s acquisition of NXP Semiconductors for $44 billion.\nThe IoT is starting to pay vendor dividends\nGrowth in the Internet of Things (IoT) is having a significant impact on the semiconductor market, with application-specific standard products (ASSPs) for consumer applications up by 14.3 percent and industrial ASSPs rising by 19.1 percent in 2017. Semiconductors for wireless connectivity showed the highest growth with 19.3 percent in 2017, and topping $10 billion for the first time, despite reduced component prices and the static smartphone industry.\nMore detailed analysis is available to Gartner clients in the report “Market Share Analysis: Semiconductors, Worldwide, 2017.”", "In a patent ruling in favor of Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court of the People's Republic of China has issued a preliminary injunction stopping Micron from selling 26 products, including dynamic random access memory and Nand flash memory-related products.\nIdaho-based Micron was slapped with an injunction for \"violating UMC's patent rights in a court verdict that applies to all of mainland China,\" UMC said in a statement on Tuesday that disclosed the ruling.\nRead more: Trump's China trade dispute: Is it a war for tech supremacy?\nMicron said in a statement it hadn't been served with the injunction yet and \"will not be commenting further until the company has received and reviewed documentation from the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court of China.\" Micron, which gets half of its revenue from China, saw its shares plummet 6.3 percent following the announcement.\nUMC and its Chinese partners had filed patent infringement lawsuits against Micron subsidiaries in Chinese courts earlier this year, relating to several products including some solid-state hard drives and memory sticks.\nPrice surge\nDuring the patent infringement trial, the remedies UMC sought were to stop Micron from making, importing or selling the allegedly infringing products, and also that Micron destroy all inventories and pay compensation.\nWatch video 01:32 Now live 01:32 mins. Share As tariffs loom, Chinese consumers say “Cheerio” to American products Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/30iTZ As tariffs loom, Chinese consumers say “Cheerio” to American products\nNews agency Bloomberg reported that an official of the Chinese court had confirmed the injunction, but had refused to provide details of the ruling because the case is still ongoing.\nThe decision comes as China is investigating Micron and its South Korean rivals over price fixing allegations amid a surge in chip prices.\nThe case is also part of a broader dispute between the two companies after the US chipmaker accused UMC last year of stealing Micron's designs in an attempt to help China advance its domestic chip industry.\nChina is the world's largest semiconductor market, but isn't home to even one of the top 10 producers worldwide. The global chip market is mainly in the hands of Micron and its two Korean rivals, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.\nTrade dispute escalation\nThe ruling by the Chinese court is likely to fuel trade tensions between China and the United States, unleashed by President Donald Trump, who accuses China of stealing US intellectual property.\nOn Monday, the Trump administration banned the world's largest mobile phone provider, China Mobile, from entering the American market, citing national security concerns.\nChina's Huawei and ZTE are also fighting US government action that threatens to cut them off from crucial suppliers and potential customers in the US.\nMeanwhile, US chipmaker Qualcomm is still waiting for permission from Chinese regulators to complete its acquisition of NXP Semiconductors — a deal that was scheduled to be closed at the end of last year and has already been approved by regulators across the world.\nWatch video 01:32 Now live 01:32 mins. Share US describes China Mobile as national security threat Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/30l5K US describes China Mobile as national security threat\nuhe/bb (Reuters, dpa, AFP)", "Pretty much every mobile VR platform runs on a smartphone SoC in one way or the other. The most popular implementations of Samsung's Gear VR and Google's Daydream platforms strap entire smartphones onto users' faces, and HTC's Vive Focus and Oculus' Go are built around Qualcomm processors. The San Diego-based chipmaker hopes its new XR1 SoC can help it secure its footing as the leader in silicon for mobile VR and AR, a broad product category it calls \"XR.\"\nQualcomm's press release was pretty short on details, vaguely stating that the new silicon would bring together the company's ARM CPU cores, vector processor, GPU, and AI engine. The company says the XR1's hardware features are backed up by an advanced XR software service layer, an XR-specific SDK, and Qualcomm's security-and-connectivity special sauce. The company's announcement specifically listed support for 4K video playback at up to 60 FPS and the Vulkan, OpenCL, and OpenGL APIs.\nThe XR1 supports controller-tracking schemes with three or six degrees-of-freedom, depending on the camera and sensor configuration of the surrounding device. As for audio, Qualcomm says the XR1 SoC supports its proprietary Aqstic 3D audio and aptX hi-fi technologies. The platform also has visual inertial odometry features for placing augmented objects into scenes. Qualcomm says its Spectra ISP can reduce noise from incoming camera feeds in order to provide the user a better representation of the outside world in augmented reality applications, too.\nQualcomm didn't provide any information about pricing or availability for the XR1 SoC, but that's not terribly surprising—this is more of a foundation for mobile AR and VR companies to build atop on the way to selling retail hardware. Anandtech says the new platform is designed for a midrange class of mobile headset in between low-cost strap-a-phone-on-your-face systems and premium HMDs based on the latest whiz-bang smartphone tech like HTC's pricey Vive Focus. The most prominent current member of the mobile VR middle class is the Oculus Go, a headset that uses a midrange Snapdragon smartphone chip with more performance-oriented power management to deliver a three-DoF experience for under $200. We'll be keeping an eye out to see where the XR1 shows up.", "* Target, Amazon boost discretionary sector\n* UnitedHealth weighs on Dow\n* Vertex jumps on success of cystic fibrosis treatment\n* Dow down 0.17 pct, S&P up 0.11 pct, Nasdaq up 0.3 pct (Adds details, comments, updates prices)\nBy Yashaswini Swamynathan\nMarch 29 Gains in energy and consumer discretionary stocks propped up the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on Wednesday, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped due to losses in healthcare stocks.\nOil prices rose more than 1.5 percent after data showed a smaller-than-expected build in U.S. crude stockpiles. The data lifted the S&P 500 energy index by 1 percent, led by Exxon .\nThe consumer discretionary index was up 0.5 percent, helped by Amazon.com and Target.\nWith an August target date set for a highly anticipated tax reform bill and the quarter nearing an end, analysts expect the market to trade in a tight range.\n\"We're going to be fairly range-bound as we get to the earnings season or until there is some significant development on tax reforms,\" said Michael Scanlon, portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management in Boston.\nAt 10:49 a.m. ET (1449 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 36.01 points, or 0.17 percent, at 20,665.49, the S&P 500 was up 2.81 points, or 0.11 percent, at 2,361.38 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 17.40 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,892.54.\nThe reaction of U.S. markets to Britain formally initiating a process to separate from the European Union was muted.\nAmong stocks, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, jumped 23 percent to $110.37 after its cystic fibrosis treatment succeeded in a late-stage trial.\nUnitedHealth was off 1 percent and weighed the most on the Dow.\nLuxury furniture retailer RH was up 11.3 percent at $42.41 following a quarterly profit that beat analysts' expectations.\nChipmaker Exar Corp was up 22 percent at $12.95 following a deal to be bought by Maxlinear for about $700 million.\nAdvancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,744 to 1,067. On the Nasdaq, 1,553 issues rose and 1,066 fell.\nThe S&P 500 index showed 10 52-week highs and one low, while the Nasdaq recorded 58 highs and 19 lows. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)", "April 13 Canada's main stock index looked set to extend losses from previous session on Thursday, with June futures on the S&P TSX index down 0.15 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET.\nWeakness in financial and natural resource sectors weighed on Canada's main stock index on Wednesday, offsetting a sharp boost in BlackBerry Ltd's shares after it won an arbitration ruling against chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.\nNew home prices index and data on manufacturing sales is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.\nDow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures were down 0.19 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 0.29 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were up/down 0.27 percent.\n(Morning News Call newsletter here ; The Day Ahead newsletter here)\nTOP STORIES\nChipmaker Qualcomm Inc said on Wednesday it was asked to refund Canada's BlackBerry Ltd $814.9 million in an arbitration over royalties for certain past sales.\nANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS\nMedical Facilities Corp: RBC cuts rating to \"sector perform\" from \"outperform\"\nRogers Communications: Morgan Stanley raises target price to C$61 from C$54\nTFI International Inc: RBC cuts rating to \"sector perform\" from \"outperform\"\nCOMMODITIES AT 7:15 a.m. ET\nGold futures: $1286.3; +0.86 percent\nUS crude: $53.17; +0.11 percent\nBrent crude: $55.96; +0.18 percent\nLME 3-month copper: $5688; +1.07 percent\nU.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON THURSDAY\n08:30 Initial jobless claims: Expected 245,000; Prior 234,000\n08:30 Jobless claim 4 week average: Prior 250,000\n08:30 Continued jobless claim: Expected 2.028 mln; Prior 2.028 mln\n08:30 PPI final demand yy for Mar: Expected 2.4 pct; Prior 2.2 pct\n08:30 PPI final demand mm for Mar: Expected 0.0 pct; Prior 0.3 pct\n08:30 PPI ex food/energy yy for Mar: Expected 1.8 pct; Prior 1.5 pct\n08:30 PPI ex food/energy mm for Mar: Expected 0.2 pct; Prior 0.3 pct\n08:30 PPI ex food/energy/transport yy for Mar: Prior 1.8 pct\n08:30 PPI ex food/energy/transport mm for Mar: Prior 0.3 pct\n10:00 U Mich Sentiment Preliminary for Apr: Expected 96.5; Prior 96.9\n10:00 U Mich Conditions Preliminary for Apr: Expected 112.4; Prior 113.2\n10:00 U Mich Expectations Preliminary for Apr: Expected 86.0; Prior 86.5\n10:00 U Mich 1 year inflation preliminary for Apr: Prior 2.5 pct\n10:00 U Mich 5-year inflation preliminary for Apr: Prior 2.4 pct\n10:30 ECRI Weekly Index: Prior 145.0\n10:30 ECRI weekly annualized: Prior 7.5 pct\nFOR CANADIAN MARKETS NEWS, CLICK ON CODES:\nTSX market report\nCanadian dollar and bonds report\nReuters global stocks poll for Canada\nCanadian markets directory ($1= C$1.32) (Reporting by Nikhil Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)", "Stocks are rallying Monday morning as the tensions between the U.S. and North Korea that flared last week appeared to ease. Technology companies and banks are making some of the largest gains as stocks bounce back from their losses with some of the biggest gains the market has seen this year. All 11 industrial groups in the Standard & Poor's 500 index are moving higher.\nContinue Reading Below\nKEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 jumped 24 points, or 1 percent, to 2,466 as of 11:15 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 147 points, or 0.7 percent, to 22,005. The Nasdaq composite added 73 points, or 1.2 percent, to 6,329. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 14 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,388.\nLast week was the worst for stocks since late March, as the S&P 500 fell more than 1.4 percent. Rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea startled investors out of the complacency that has weighed on the stock market for most of this year. That eased Monday after officials said fighting is not imminent. The top U.S. military officer said the country wants to resolve the standoff peacefully.\nThursday was the worst day for stocks since mid-May, and Monday is shaping up to be the best day since late April.\nLEADERS: Technology stocks rose in early trading. Apple added $1.88, or 1.2 percent, to $159.36 and Microsoft picked up $1.07, or 1.5 percent, to $73.57. Western Digital advanced $2.77, or 3.5 percent, to $82.67.\nChipmaker Nvidia rebounded after two days of sharp losses. It rose $6.32, or 4.1 percent, to $162.28. Competitors like Micron Technology and Analog Devices also rose.\nContinue Reading Below ADVERTISEMENT\nNEW BUYER NETS NEFF: Equipment rental company Neff said it received a buyout offer worth $25 per share, or $596 million. It did not say who made the offer, but Neff said its board has decided the new offer is superior to a bid from H&E Equipment Services that the company accepted last month. H&E Equipment has the right to match the new offer and is entitled to a breakup payment if Neff it acquired by another company. Neff climbed $3.85, or 17.6 percent, to $25.70. H&E's offer valued Neff at $21.07 a share.\nH&E Equipment lost 48 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $21.11.\nFRIENDLY NABORS: Drilling technology developer Tesco said it will be acquired by drilling contractor Nabors Industries in an all-stock deal. The companies said Tesco is being valued at $4.62 a share. Tesco added 43 cents, or 10.9 percent, to $4.33. Nabors lost 33 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $6.48.\nSTICKER SHOCK? Fiat Chrysler climbed after Automotive News reported that a Chinese car maker offered to buy the company. It did not identify that company and said Fiat Chrysler rejected the offer because it wasn't high enough, but investors hoped another bid would come. Fiat Chrysler stock gained 88 cents, or 7.6 percent, to $12.50.\nRHIMES AND REASON: Netflix signed a deal with Shonda Rhimes, the creator of popular television series such as \"Scandal\" and \"Grey's Anatomy.\" She will leave ABC and make shows for Netflix, although those shows will remain on ABC. Financial terms were not disclosed, but recently Netflix has started shelling out more money to try to get own and develop shows that more people will watch. Its stock dipped 23 cents to $171.17 Monday.\nENERGY: U.S. crude oil rose 18 cents to $49 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 11 cents to $52.21 a barrel in London.\nBONDS: Bond prices turned lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.21 percent from 2.19 percent late Friday. That helped banks, as higher bond yields mean higher interest rates and greater profits on mortgages and other loans.\nBank of America climbed 48 cents, or 2 percent, to $24.35 and JPMorgan Chase gained $1.21, or 1.3 percent, to $92.63.\nCURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 109.45 yen from 109.04 yen. The euro fell to $1.1785 from $1.1824.\nOVERSEAS: Germany's DAX jumped 1.4 percent, as did the CAC 40 in France. In Britain, the FTSE 100 index added 0.8 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.4 percent and the South Korean Kospi rose 0.6 percent. Japanese stocks fell sharply as investors played catch-up after an extended holiday weekend. The Nikkei ended 1 percent lower.\n___\nAP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay", "Hedge fund Elliott Advisors is close to securing support from enough Akzo Nobel NV (AKZO.AS) investors to call for an extraordinary general meeting of the Dutch paint maker's shareholders, according to people familiar with the matter.\nElliott is hoping the move will add to pressure on Akzo to negotiate a potential sale to U.S. coatings manufacturer PPG Industries Inc (PPG.N). Akzo rejected a sweetened 22.4 billion euro ($24 billion) cash-and-stock offer from PPG last month, and has resisted engaging in deal talks. [nL5N1GZ1KR]\nWhile Akzo is due to hold its regular annual general meeting on April 25, an extraordinary general meeting would allow shareholders to remove Akzo supervisory board and management board members.\nAkzo shareholders must hold in total at least 10 percent of the company's issued stock to be able to convene an extraordinary general meeting, which would then take a few weeks to organise.\nElliott, which owns a little more than 3 percent of Akzo, is close to mustering support from enough investors to reach the 10 percent threshold and may trigger an extraordinary general meeting within days, the sources said this week.\nThe sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Elliott, Akzo Nobel and PPG did not respond to requests for comment.\nAkzo has scheduled an investor day for April 19, which it will use to provide updated financial guidance and argue that its standalone operational plan, which calls for shedding its speciality chemicals business, will deliver more value with less risk than a merger with PPG.\nAkzo is considering spinning off its speciality chemical unit, but it is also mulling a sale after fielding acquisition interest in that business, which could fetch between $9 billion and $10 billion in a sale, according to the sources.\nPrivate equity firms and smaller companies seeking to team up with buyout firms to make offers will participate in a sale process for the speciality chemicals unit, the sources said.\nPPG's Akzo bid is a major test for PPG Chief Executive Michael McGarry. PPG shares are up 16 percent since he became CEO in September 2015. In comparison, the S&P 500 speciality chemicals index is up 21 percent.\nIn private meetings with shareholders, Akzo has cited McGarry's track record, as well as the antitrust risks of a potential merger, as a reason why a deal with PPG would be risky, according to the sources.\nPPG is waiting for Akzo to come under more shareholder pressure before making a new acquisition offer, one of the sources said.\n(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Leslie Adler)", "Qualcomm Incorporated today announced that the Qualcomm Innovation Lab – Taiwan has made significant progress enabling Taiwan’s global competitiveness. Since its launch in November 2016, the lab has supported more than 50 designs every month on more than 200 projects and more than 400 advanced designs and innovations from more than 20 Taiwanese companies. Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL), the licensing business of Qualcomm Incorporated, offers this lab as a resource for Taiwan’s mobile ecosystem, giving access to highly specialized engineering skills and equipment which enables them to deliver industry leading products for the global market.\nThe Qualcomm Innovation Lab – Taiwan was established in collaboration with Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs with the aim to support Taiwan’s global competitiveness in areas including mobile phone, mobile computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), 4G+/5G, and connected automotive. The lab enables Taiwan-based companies to design high quality products with advanced differentiating features, accelerate product development and time-to-market, access global markets, and grow their technical expertise.\nThe Lab currently conducts 4G+ modem radio frequency (RF) pre-certification tests and Android-tuning activities. The main components tested by the lab include protocol, RF, camera, displays, power, performance, thermal and memory, which are all crucial parts in consumer electronics, 4G+/5G, and IoT devices. The Lab’s testing ensures that the devices are compatible with each other and meet the latest industry standards, thereby shortening their time-to-market for Taiwan-based ODMs and OEMs.\n“Qualcomm has been an essential enabler for Taiwan’s technology industry for more than two decades, extending across semiconductors, device manufacturing, network services and beyond. The Qualcomm Innovation Lab - Taiwan is a testament of Qualcomm’s commitment to enhancing Taiwan’s competitiveness on the global stage,” said Jim Cathey, senior vice president and president of Asia Pacific and India, Qualcomm International, Inc. “Looking forward, we expect the Qualcomm lab to become a hub of innovation for Taiwan’s high-tech industry and to cement Taiwan’s leadership in the emerging 5G and IoT sectors through our continuous collaboration with our valued partners in Taiwan.”\nQualcomm is uniquely positioned to deliver emerging new technologies to support Taiwanese companies in developing and commercializing their IoT and 5G solutions quickly and cost-effectively. Qualcomm has been working closely with Taiwanese partners including semiconductor suppliers, equipment manufacturers (OEMs and ODMs), and mobile network operators for more than 20 years. The Qualcomm Innovation Lab – Taiwan is another milestone in Qualcomm’s ongoing commitment to support Taiwan’s innovation agenda together with the local partners.\nAbout Qualcomm\nQualcomm’s technologies powered the smartphone revolution and connected billions of people. We pioneered 3G and 4G – and now we are leading the way to 5G and a new era of intelligent, connected devices. Our products are revolutionizing industries, including automotive, computing, IoT, healthcare and data center, and are allowing millions of devices to connect with each other in ways never before imagined. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, all of our engineering, research and development functions, and all of our products and services businesses, including, our QCT semiconductor business. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website", "Augmented reality (AR) is going to be big business thanks to its growing adoption in the retail and manufacturing industries. Digi-Capital estimates that increasing AR adoption on mobile platforms could push the industry's revenue to as much as $83 billion by 2021, driven by an increase in sales of related hardware, software, and services.\nContinue Reading Below\nOne way to tap this huge opportunity is through chipmakers such as Himax Technologies (NASDAQ: HIMX) and Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR), which are already developing the hardware to enable AR experiences on smartphones and other platforms. Augmented reality overlays digital information on a user's real-life environment. Let's take a look at how these two companies are approaching the AR opportunity.\nHimax is gaining traction in AR\nHimax Technologies has been looking for its next big play after the death of Alphabet's Google Glass project, and AR could turn out to be a much-needed catalyst. The chipmaker has already made some progress on this front, supplying the technology for Microsoft's AR headset, HoloLens. However, HoloLens hasn't gained traction in the mass market thanks to its prohibitive pricing, restricting the kit to the developer community.\nBut Himax seems to have made a good display of its AR capabilities with this product, which is considered the most developed AR device on the market. Additionally, the HoloLens is gaining traction in the commercial space.\nFor instance, automaker Volvo is using the technology to help customers customize their cars, while Lowe's is helping customers customize their homes virtually before buying a product. The increasing commercial adoption of the HoloLens platform could be a big deal for Himax in the long run. .\nContinue Reading Below ADVERTISEMENT\nHimax could soon tap the mass-market AR opportunity on the back of its recent partnership with Qualcomm. The two companies are going to develop a 3D camera system to enable vision-based functions for different use cases such as biometric face authentication and scene perception, among others, for use in smartphones, cars, and Internet of Things applications.\nQualcomm and Himax believe that they can start manufacturing the new platform on a mass scale from the first quarter of 2018. This is a big deal for Himax, as a partnership with Qualcomm opens the doors to tapping the fast-growing AR opportunity in smartphones.\nAllied Market Research expects the smartphone 3D camera market to grow at an annual rate of almost 50% until 2022. Himax is now in pole position to tap this growth.\nFinisar has started making moves\nFinisar's moves in the AR space aren't as visible as those of Himax, but it could make a big splash very soon as some expect Finisar to land the 3D sensing chip spot in the upcoming Apple iPhone.\nCEO Jerry Rawls has already talked about receiving purchase orders for its 3D sensing solution powered by vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) technology. The chipmaker believes that it could start shipping its 3D sensing chips from the current quarter after receiving customer approval.\nFinisar is a leading player in VCSEL technology, having shipped more than 150 million units of the chip for commercial applications. The chipmaker has now decided to extend VCSEL's applicability to gesture recognition and 3D optical sensing, optimizing it to work at high levels of efficiency and consume less power at the same time.\nFinisar claims to be the largest supplier of VCSEL for the data communications market, so it can leverage its existing expertise and sales channels to tap the AR opportunity.\n10 stocks we like better than Finisar\nWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*\nDavid and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Finisar wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.\nClick here to learn about these picks!\n*Stock Advisor returns as of September 5, 2017\nSuzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Teresa Kersten is an employee of LinkedIn and is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. LinkedIn is owned by MSFT. Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends GOOG, GOOGL, and AAPL. The Motley Fool recommends Lowe's. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.", "(Corrects bullet to show Alphabet, not Apple, hit record high)\n* Q1 GDP up 0.7 pct vs. est. increase of 1.2 pct\n* Amazon, Alphabet rise after results beat expectations\n* Starbucks falls after cutting profit forecast\n* All three major indexes on track to end the month higher\n* Futures: Dow up 22 pts, S&P up 1 pt, Nasdaq off 4 pts\nBy Tanya Agrawal\nApril 28 U.S. stocks looked set to open little changed on Friday after data showed the economy grew at its weakest pace in three years in the first quarter, while investors remained cautious due to simmering tensions between North Korea and the United States.\nData showed gross domestic product increased at a 0.7 percent annual rate, below the 1.2 percent rise estimated by economists, as consumer spending barely increased and businesses invested less on inventories.\nThe economy grew at a pace of 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter.\nStill, the Nasdaq Composite is on track to post gains for the sixth straight month, after closing at a record high on Thursday, following stellar earnings from index heavyweights.\nAmazon rose 3.4 percent at $949.80 in premarket trading, while Google's parent Alphabet gained 4.1 percent to $927.40 after their quarterly results beat estimates.\nThe S&P and the Dow were also on track to end the month higher as the first-quarter corporate earnings season continued to impress.\nOverall profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 12.4 percent in the first quarter, the most since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.\nWhile strong earnings have kept the market at or near record levels, persistent geopolitical tensions in North Korea and Syria have weighed on investors' minds.\nPresident Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that a \"major, major conflict\" with North Korea was possible over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.\n\"While we had some strong tech earnings last night, the market is taking a cautious attitude towards Trump's comments on North Korea and other geopolitical concerns,\" said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.\nDow e-minis were up 22 points, or 0.11 percent, with 17,937 contracts changing hands at 8:35 a.m. ET (1235 GMT).\nS&P 500 e-minis were up 1 points, or 0.04 percent, with 94,647 contracts traded.\nNasdaq 100 e-minis were down 4 points, or 0.07 percent, on volume of 22,534 contracts.\nUniversity of Michigan's consumer sentiment data for April is expected at 10 a.m. ET and will likely remain unchanged at 98.0 from a month ago.\nQualcomm fell 3.8 percent to $51.15 after it said Apple decided to withhold royalty payments to its contract manufacturers that are owed to the chipmaker until a legal dispute between the companies is resolved. Apple was up marginally at $143.95.\nStarbucks fell 4.1 percent to $58.76 after the world's biggest coffee chain cut its full-year profit target.\nIntel was down 3 percent at $36.30, while Microsoft was little changed at $68.26 after the two companies reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue. (Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Anil D'Silva)", "* TSX ends down 78.71 points, or 0.50 percent, at 15,648.40\n* Half of the TSX's 10 main groups fall\n* BlackBerry jumps 15.4 pct after arbitration win\nBy Alastair Sharp\nTORONTO, April 12 Canada's main stock index fell on Wednesday, as losses for its heavyweight financial and natural resource sectors offset a sharp boost in BlackBerry Ltd shares after it won an arbitration ruling against chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.\nLower oil prices pulled the index's influential energy group down 1.1 percent overall, while the financials group fell 0.8 percent, as investors took a cautious approach to lingering geopolitical tensions ahead of corporate earnings season.\nMajor oil sands player Canadian Natural Resources Ltd fell 1.2 percent at C$44.72.\n\"Earnings season is coming up fast and furious and we'll get a good idea of what companies are predicting for the rest of the year,\" said Barry Schwartz, portfolio manager at Baskin Financial Services.\n\"Corporations aren't putting money to work because they're not seeing demand like they were seeing, and of course we're very resource-heavy and prices don't dictate for anyone to start a new oil sands project here.\"\nCenovus Energy Inc declined 1.8 percent to C$14.45. The company's chief executive said on Tuesday that Cenovus will do more hedging after its acquisition of ConocoPhillips assets as he mounted a charm offensive on investors who balked at the deal.\nRoyal Bank of Canada, the country's largest lender, fell 0.8 percent to C$96.06 and Toronto-Dominion Bank lost 0.9 percent to C$65.57.\nBombardier Inc fell 6.3 percent to C$2.22 after a sharp gain in the prior session on reports its rail division is in merger talks with Siemens AG.\nThe Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index settled down 78.71 points, or 0.50 percent, at 15,648.40, with half its 10 main groups in negative territory.\nDecliners outnumbered advancers by 1.5-to-1.\nBlackBerry surged 15.4 percent to C$11.85, hitting its highest level since January 2016, after Qualcomm was ordered to repay it $814.9 million in royalty payments.\nShaw Communications Inc also gained, up 4.8 percent at C$28.77 after reporting a jump in revenue driven by the addition of more wireless customers.\nThe Bank of Canada said it did not consider cutting interest rates as it left monetary policy unchanged amid signs of strong growth, but it is too early to conclude the economic growth is sustainable, Governor Stephen Poloz said on Wednesday.\nGold prices steadied after hitting a five-month peak in the prior session and copper fell.\nThe materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.4 percent. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)", "Empyrean Capital Partners LP decreased its holdings in shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI) by 80.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,204 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock after selling 916,310 shares during the quarter. NXP Semiconductors N.V. accounts for approximately 1.0% of Empyrean Capital Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Empyrean Capital Partners LP owned about 0.09% of NXP Semiconductors N.V. worth $24,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.\nSeveral other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Colonial Trust Advisors grew its holdings in shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. by 48.0% during the second quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 15,415 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. by 169.8% during the second quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 100,234 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $10,967,000 after purchasing an additional 63,078 shares in the last quarter. Flinton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. by 893.3% during the second quarter. Flinton Capital Management LLC now owns 8,344 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 7,504 shares in the last quarter. Fore Research & Management LP grew its holdings in shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. by 250.0% during the second quarter. Fore Research & Management LP now owns 70,000 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $7,661,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halcyon Management Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. by 44.2% during the second quarter. Halcyon Management Partners LP now owns 655,542 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $71,749,000 after purchasing an additional 201,041 shares in the last quarter. 78.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.\nGet NXP Semiconductors N.V. alerts:\nNXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI) traded up 0.34% during trading on Friday, reaching $114.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,951,962 shares. NXP Semiconductors N.V. has a 12-month low of $95.88 and a 12-month high of $114.42. The company has a market capitalization of $28.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $112.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.00.\nILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: This piece was posted by Chaffey Breeze and is owned by of Chaffey Breeze. If you are reading this piece on another site, it was stolen and reposted in violation of U.S. and international copyright & trademark legislation. The legal version of this piece can be read at https://www.chaffeybreeze.com/2017/10/06/nxp-semiconductors-n-v-nxpi-stake-lowered-by-empyrean-capital-partners-lp.html.\nNXPI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. ValuEngine raised NXP Semiconductors N.V. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. BidaskClub raised NXP Semiconductors N.V. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on NXP Semiconductors N.V. from $110.00 to $117.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Drexel Hamilton reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.83.\nAbout NXP Semiconductors N.V.\nNXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXP) is a holding company. The Company operates as a semiconductor company. The Company provides high performance mixed signal and standard product solutions. The Company’s segments are High Performance Mixed Signal (HPMS), Standard Products (SP), and Corporate and Other. Its product solutions are used in a range of end-market applications, including automotive, personal security and identification, wireless and wireline infrastructure, mobile communications, multi-market industrial, consumer and computing.\nReceive News & Ratings for NXP Semiconductors N.V. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for NXP Semiconductors N.V. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.", "MARLEY JAY, AP Markets Writer\nNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are starting higher Monday as investors get back to trading after the Easter holiday weekend. Technology companies are making some of the largest gains and industrial and consumer-focused companies are also rising after the Chinese government said that country’s economy grew at a slightly faster pace in the first quarter.\nKEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 12 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,341 as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 113 points, or 0.6 percent, to 20,566. The Nasdaq composite picked up 36 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,840. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks edged up 8 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,353. Stocks have declined three weeks out of the last four.\nLeaders included chipmaker Nvidia, which gained $2.44, or 2.6 percent, to $97.93, and Google parent company Alphabet, which picked up $10.46, or 1.2 percent, to $850.64. Among consumer companies, online retail giant Amazon jumped $9.57, or 1.1 percent, to $894.24 and streaming video company Netflix added $3.38, or 2.4 percent, to $146.30. Netflix will report its quarterly results after the market closes.\nCHINA: China’s recovering economy appeared to get stronger in the first quarter, as it grew 6.9 percent compared to a year ago. That was a slightly faster pace than the quarter before. The world’s second-largest economy grew at its slowest pace in almost 30 years in 2016. Policies aimed at tempering the slowdown included higher spending on construction of infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Relatively cheap credit spurred booming property sales. The official full-year economic growth target for 2017 is 6.5 percent.\nLET’S NOT SPLIT UP: Medical device maker Alere surged after it accepted a new, lower buyout offer from Abbott Laboratories. Abbott will pay $51 a share, or about $5.3 billion. Abbott agreed to buy Alere more than a year ago for $56 per share, or $5.8 billion, but filed a lawsuit to end the deal after Alere recalled a key product, delayed filing a financial statement, and faced an investigation into its business outside the U.S.\nAlere climbed $6.95, or 16.4 percent, to $49.26. It had traded as low as $31.47 last July, as investors worried the deal would fall apart after news of the investigation broke. Abbott rose 58 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $43.25.\nACHES AND PAINS: Eli Lilly and Incyte stumbled after the Food and Drug Administration refused to approve their much-anticipated pill for the immune disorder rheumatoid arthritis. Incyte said the FDA wants more clinical data about the most appropriate doses of Olumiant and address safety concerns. That may mean the companies will have to run more studies of the drug.\nOlumiant was approved in Europe in February and Lilly has high hopes for it because it’s a pill instead of an injection like most other new rheumatoid arthritis drugs. It’s the second drug development setback for Lilly since November and its stock lost $3.34, or 3.9 percent, to $82.54. Incyte sank $15.09, or 10.7 percent, to $125.75.\nCRUNCHED: Pretzel, nuts and salty snack maker Snyder’s-Lance is tumbling after it gave a weak first-quarter forecast that included more spending on marketing and lower profit margins. Snyder’s-Lance also said its CEO Carl Lee Jr. retired after 12 years with the company. Brian Driscoll will be its interim CEO. Driscoll was the CEO of Diamond Foods, a company Snyder’s-Lance bought in 2016 for more than $1 billion. Snyder’s-Lance dropped $7.41, or 18.6 percent, to $32.51.\nRETURN TO SENDER: Arconic jumped after the company said CEO and Chairman Klaus Kleinfeld agreed to step down after the board of directors discovered that he sent a letter to Arconic’s largest shareholder, activist investment firm Elliott Management, without telling them. Arconic said that was “poor judgment” but didn’t say what was written in the letter.\nArconic makes aluminum, titanium and nickel parts for planes, cars and electronics. It was spun off from aluminum company Alcoa last year. Elliott has been pushing the company to replace Kleinfeld to improve returns for shareholders. The stock gained $1.23, or 4.7 percent, to $27.13.\nPATH TO A NEW DEAL? Wireless spectrum license company Straight Path Communications climbed after it said it might get a new buyout offer. A week ago it agreed to be bought by AT&T for $95.63 a share in stock, or $1.25 billion. Straight Path said it was contacted by another company Thursday, and that company may make an offer to compete with AT&T’s. Straight Path stock rose $15.16, or 16.5 percent, to $106.86.\nOIL: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 13 cents to $53.05 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 11 cents to $55.78 per barrel in London.\nBONDS: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped to 2.23 percent. It finished at 2.24 percent Thursday. Banks traded higher despite the decline in bond yields and interest rates.\nCURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 108.44 yen from 109.16 yen. The euro rose to $1.0662 from $1.0612.\nOVERSEAS: Markets in Hong Kong, France, Germany and Britain were all closed for the Easter holiday. In Japan the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.1 percent and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.5 percent.\n___\nAP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay", "Chipmaker Texas Instruments topped Wall Street targets for first-quarter profit and gave a stronger-than-expected outlook for the second quarter, thanks to higher sales of semiconductors used in cars and industrial machinery.\nREUTERS: Chipmaker Texas Instruments topped Wall Street targets for first-quarter profit and gave a stronger-than-expected outlook for the second quarter, thanks to higher sales of semiconductors used in cars and industrial machinery.\nTI's shares, which have fallen 6 percent in 2018, climbed more than 5 percent in after-hours trading on Tuesday.\nThe Dallas-based chipmaker, which primarily develops analogue chips used in industrial equipment, automobiles and consumer electronics, has benefited as automakers increasingly invest in self-driving technology.\nThe automotive industry accounted for 19 percent of TI's revenue last year, up from 18 percent in 2016 and 15 percent in the previous year.\nThe company has continued to invest in its industrial and automotive chip businesses to strengthen its position, Dave Pahl, the company's vice president and head of investor relations, said on a call with analysts.\n\"This is based on our belief that industrial and automotive will be the fastest-growing semiconductor markets. They have increasing semiconductor content. These markets also provide diversity and longevity,\" Pahl said.\nAdvertisement\nAdvertisement\nTI's results come one week after semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research Corp's quarterly report showed that its shipments missed Wall Street expectations for the first time since 2013.\nLam's results dragged other semiconductor stocks lower, and the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index has since fallen 8.4 percent.\nThe index has almost doubled in value over the past two years thanks to booming demand for chips used in automobiles, internet-connected devices and consumer gadgets.\nFor the second quarter, TI expects revenue of between US$3.78 billion (£2.7 billion) and US$4.10 billion, and earnings of US$1.19 to US$1.39 per share. The earnings forecast includes an estimated US$10 million tax benefit.\nAnalysts were expecting revenue of US$3.90 billion and earnings of US$1.23 per share.\n\"(TI's second-quarter outlook) indicates that at least for them, the industry must be holding up well. We are not seeing any type of slowdown in demand for TI,\" said David Heger, an analyst at Edward Jones.\nTI's net income rose 37 percent to US$1.37 billion or US$1.35 per share in the three months ended March 31. Excluding items, the company earned US$1.21 per share, beating analysts' average estimate by 10 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.\nFirst-quarter revenue rose about 11 percent to US$3.90 billion and topped expectations of US$3.65 billion.\n(Reporting by Muvija M and Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)", "LONDON Imagination Technologies (IMG.L) has been told by Apple (AAPL.O), its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its graphics technology in its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday.\nImagination said Apple, which accounts for about half its revenue, had notified the British firm it was developing its own graphics chips and would no longer use Imagination's processing designs in 15 months to two years time.\n\"The biggest risk to Imagination's business model was realized this morning,\" analysts at Investec said. \"The loss of this revenue stream will have a material impact on the financials of the company.\"\nThe technology company, which was founded in 1985 and listed in 1994, has licensed its processing designs to Apple from the time of the first iPod and receives a small royalty on every device using its graphics.\nImagination said it doubted Apple could go it alone without violating Imagination's patents, and analysts said legal battles could lie ahead.\n\"It would be extremely challenging for Apple to design a brand new GPU (graphics processor unit) architecture from basics, that is, without infringing our IP rights and also infringing our confidential information,\" Chief Executive Andrew Heath said.\n\"As such we do not accept their assertion that they no longer require our technology.\"\nThe company said it had asked Apple for evidence that it could dispense with all of Imagination's technology, \"but Apple has declined to provide it\".\nApple declined to comment.\nShares in Imagination, in which Apple holds an 8 percent stake, plunged to 76 pence, their lowest level since 2009 and about a 10th of their record of 734 pence hit in 2012.\nThey were down 64 percent at 97 pence by 1350 GMT, giving the company a market value of 275 million pounds ($372 million), or 479 million pounds less than it was worth on Friday.\nAnalysts at Morgan Stanley said it was not the first time Apple had cut off a supplier - Portal Player, Sigmatel, CSR and Wolfson were all abruptedly dropped.\n\"There is a difference here though\", they said. \"Imagination holds significant patents around graphics cores, in particular those which allow lower power use, and is considering discussing different commercial arrangements with Apple.\"\nImagination's shares rose sharply between 2009 and 2012 as sales of smartphones boomed and Apple and Intel (INTC.O) bought stakes. The company was valued at more than 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) in April 2012.\nIt struggled, however, to reduce its reliance on Apple, and has faced increased competition from the likes of chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM.O) and British rival ARM, which developed its own graphics to complement its core processor blueprints.\nImagination says it has just over 50 percent of the high-end smartphone market - nearly all of which stems from Apple, although MediaTek (2454.TW) also selected its graphics for its new chipset last month.\nBut Imagination only has 7 percent of the market for mid-tier devices, where it has been trying to gain share, including in phones made by Chinese manufacturers.\nImagination said it would talk with Apple about alternative commercial arrangements.\nAnalysts said there could be room for compromise, and it could even be a bargaining move by Apple to reduce royalties.\nApple paid Imagination license fees and royalties totaling 60.7 million pounds for the year to end-April 2016, half of its total revenue, and is expected to pay about 65 million pounds for this year, Imagination said.\nMost of its costs are incurred in developing technologies years ahead of when they are deployed in products, and it said there were minimal direct costs associated with Apple's revenue.\nAround half of its non-Apple revenue comes from the MIPS processing platform it bought in 2012 in an attempt to extend its product line-up beyond graphics.\nCustomers for the MIPS technology include Israeli automated vehicle driving systems specialist Mobileye (MBLY.N) and Chinese chipmaker Spreadtrum Communications, according to analysts.\n(Editing by David Clarke, Greg Mahlich)", "NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks are rallying Monday as the tensions between the U.S. and North Korea that flared last week appeared to ease. Technology companies and banks are making some of the largest gains as stocks bounce back from their losses with some of the biggest gains the market has seen this year. All 11 industrial groups in the Standard & Poor's 500 index are moving higher.\nKEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 jumped 24 points, or 1 percent, to 2,466 as of 1 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 144 points, or 0.7 percent, to 22,003. The Nasdaq composite added 80 points, or 1.3 percent, to 6,336. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies climbed 18 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,392.\nLast week was the worst for stocks since late March, as the S&P 500 fell more than 1.4 percent. Rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea startled investors out of the complacency that has weighed on the stock market for most of this year. That eased Monday after officials said fighting is not imminent. The top U.S. military officer said the country wants to resolve the standoff peacefully.\nFILE - This Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, file photo shows the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stocks are rallying early Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, as investors breathe a sigh of relief following the tensions between the U.S. and North Korea a week earlier. Technology companies and banks are making some of the largest gains as all 11 Standard & Poor's 500 industrial groups move higher. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)\nThursday was the worst day for stocks since mid-May, and Monday is shaping up to be the best day since late April.\nLEADERS: Technology stocks outpaced the rest of the market. Apple added $1.85, or 1.2 percent, to $159.33 and Microsoft picked up $1.05, or 1.4 percent, to $73.55. Western Digital advanced $2.57, or 3.2 percent, to $82.47.\nChipmaker Nvidia rebounded after two days of sharp losses. It rose $8.95, or 5.7 percent, to $164.92. Competitors like Micron Technology and Analog Devices also rose.\nNEW BUYER NETS NEFF: Equipment rental company Neff said it received a buyout offer worth $25 per share, or $596 million. It did not say who made the offer, but Neff said its board has decided the new offer is superior to a bid from H&E Equipment Services that the company accepted last month. H&E Equipment has the right to match the new offer and is entitled to a breakup payment if Neff it acquired by another company. Neff climbed $4.05, or 18.5 percent, to $25.90. H&E's offer valued Neff at $21.07 a share.\nH&E Equipment lost 40 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $21.19.\nFRIENDLY NABORS: Drilling technology developer Tesco said it will be acquired by drilling contractor Nabors Industries in an all-stock deal. The companies said Tesco is being valued at $4.62 a share. Tesco added 50 cents, or 12.8 percent, to $4.40. Nabors lost 15 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $6.65.\nSTICKER SHOCK? Fiat Chrysler climbed after Automotive News reported that a Chinese car maker offered to buy the company. It did not identify that company and said Fiat Chrysler rejected the offer because it wasn't high enough, but investors hoped another bid would come. Fiat Chrysler stock gained $1.06, or 9.2 percent, to $12.67.\nRHIMES AND REASON: Shonda Rhimes, the creator of popular television series such as \"Scandal\" and \"Grey's Anatomy,\" will leave ABC and make shows for Netflix under a new contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. Netflix, which already spends billions of dollars a year on programming, has recently started shelling out more money for new shows. Last week it bought comic book publisher Millarworld, its first-ever acquisition.\nNetflix lost $1.14 to $170.26.\nTARGET'S GRAND PLAN: Retailer Target is buying a delivery logistics company to help it offer same-day delivery service to in-store shoppers. The company did not say how much it will pay for Grand Junction, a firm that connects retailers with about 700 delivery companies around the country that pick up items from distribution centers and take them to customers. It is already testing same-day delivery at a New York store.\nTarget stock climbed 80 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $55.83.\nBONDS: Bond prices turned lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.21 percent from 2.19 percent late Friday. That helped banks, as higher bond yields mean higher interest rates and greater profits on mortgages and other loans.\nBank of America climbed 53 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $24.39 and JPMorgan Chase gained $1.27, or 1.4 percent, to $92.70.\nENERGY: U.S. crude oil lost 91 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $47.91 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard, shed $1.04, or 2 percent, to $51.06 a barrel in London. Energy companies were little changed.\nCURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 109.45 yen from 109.04 yen. The euro fell to $1.1796 from $1.1824.\nOVERSEAS: Germany's DAX jumped 1.3 percent and the CAC 40 in France gained 1.2 percent. In Britain, the FTSE 100 index added 0.6 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.4 percent and the South Korean Kospi rose 0.6 percent. Japanese stocks fell sharply as investors played catch-up after an extended holiday weekend. The Nikkei ended 1 percent lower.\n___\nAP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/marley%20jay", "By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter\nDRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday saw last month’s revenue climb to a record high as the company offered a bulked-up, more cost-effective 20-nanometer chip to satisfy robust customer demand.\nThe gain marked the third consecutive month that the chipmaker broke a company record, as it benefits from the longest boom period for the DRAM industry since the second half of 2016.\nRevenue last month rose 3.12 percent to NT$8.59 billion (US$280.85 million), compared with NT$8.33 billion in May and NT$4.19 billion in June last year, bringing second-quarter revenue up 30.85 percent to NT$24.6 billion from NT$18.8 billion in the first quarter, a company statement said.\nPlanning to convert more chips from 30 nanometer to 20 nanometer technology and to sell more of the higher-priced DDR4 chips, Nanya Technology expects second-quarter shipments to grow at a quarterly rate of 15 percent from the first quarter.\nDDR4 chips deliver 20 to 30 percent more of a price premium than the DDR3 chips, the company said, adding that it expects shipments this year to increase 48 percent year-on-year.\nThe revenue growth was also supported by constant price increases. DRAM chip prices have been increasing since the second half of 2016 due to a supply crunch, although price increases are slowing.\nThe average selling price during the second quarter was expected to increase by a low-to-middle single digit percentage as demand continued to outpace supply, following a 6.1 percent price increase in the first quarter, Nanya Technology said in May.\nThe price uptrend is expected to carry into the current quarter, driven by seasonal demand for DRAM chips used in servers and mobile phones, the chipmaker projected at the time.\nIn particular, most high-end smartphones are to be equipped with bigger memory of about 6 gigabytes, Nanya Technology said.\nIncreasing replacement demand for entry-level smartphones in developing countries such as India and Indonesia would also spur demand for memory chips, it said.\nIn the first six months of this year, revenue soared 74.56 percent to NT$43.39 billion, compared with NT$24.86 billion during the same period last year, it said.\nAbout 65 percent of the chipmaker’s revenue came from niche DRAM chips for consumer electronics such as TVs, while 15 percent came from low-power DRAM chips for mobile phones and about 10 percent from PC DRAM chips, it said.\nShares in Nanya Technology yesterday inched up 0.99 percent to close at NT$81.8 in Taipei trading.", "Qualcomm announces first end-to-end 802.11ax portfolio\nSolutions for infrastructure and client devices\nStandard offers up to four time more capacity and connection speeds\nAlso promises extended range and longer battery life\nQualcomm has announced an end-to-end 802.11ax portfolio, which includes a new system-on-chip (SoC) product for network infrastructure and a corresponding solution for client devices, with initial shipments due in the first half of the year, although commercial client devices tend to appear six to nine months after the first access point products reach the market.\nThe new IEEE 802.11ax standard focuses primarily on expanding network capacity and making better use of existing unlicensed WiFi spectrum to maintain connectivity in more complex environments. It’s a response to the growing number of connected devices, diversity of traffic, and density of overlapping networks that is placing strain on current WiFi solutions and consequently risking service degradation.\nQualcomm Technologies’ 802.11ax solutions support 12 data streams – eight 5GHz and four 2.4GHz – and utilises 8x8 MU-MIMO, 80MHz channels and other features to maximize capacity and coverage. Perhaps more interestingly, the solutions feature Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) and traffic scheduling that are already used to great effect in LTE cellular networks.\nAccording to Qualcomm, this managed approach of resource allocation, along with the optimisation of wake-up time, can reduce WiFi power consumption by up to two-thirds, thereby extending device battery life without impacting performance. Furthermore, Qualcomm says existing 802.11n and 802.11ac client devices will see performance improvements when they connect to 802.11ax infrastructure.\n“Capacity, not peak speed, has become the most important measure of a network’s ability to handle the ever-increasing demands of today’s diverse mix of application and services,” said Rahul Patel, SVP & GM Connectivity at Qualcomm Technologies. “We were the first to commercialise capacity utilisation-focused solutions, such as MU-MIMO, Wi-Fi SON (self organising networks) and 802.11ad, and are now on the front lines of 11ax innovation that will propel the WiFi industry into the next phase.”\nQualcomm’s IPQ8074 SoC product for enterprise access points, carrier gateways and consumer routers uses a 12x12 configuration, uplink and downlink MU-MIMO, and supports eight 80MHz streams to quadruple current capacity limits and deliver up to 4.8Gbit/s. The QCA6290 client device SoC supports 2x2 MU-MIMO and offers up to 1.8Gbit/s peak speed through Dual Band Simultaneous (DBS) techniques that combine 2.4 and 5GHz bands, along with 1024 QAM modulation. Qualcomm is emphasising its potential within the home and offices to deliver 4K UHD video, video conferencing and content sharing, as well as potential use in vehicles to create gigabit-level in-car WiFi hotspots. Its partners are also fully aware of its potential for traffic offload.\n\"The sheer number of devices and density of networks sharing the WiFi spectrum is placing enormous strain on Carrier WiFi infrastructure,” said Mamoru Nagatani, VP of NEC Platforms. “By multiplying capacity and coverage, 802.11ax can be a real game-changer for LTE offload, as well as outdoor and public WiFi deployments.”" ]

[ "Feral pigs are a problem across the South. That&#8217;s especially true in Texas, where the animals cause more than $50 million in damage to agriculture each year. But some entrepreneurs are finding ways to turn the pigs into profit. Texas Public Radio&#8217;s Paul Flahive (@paulflahive) has more." ]

[ "Wild pigs are a menace to farmers in Texas. The state has approved a new pesticide that kills feral pigs. The decision is controversial with environment groups.", "Wild pigs are a problem in Florida. Hundreds of thousands are roaming the state and destroying scores of acres of fields and crops. There's an effort now to turn the pest into a profit.", "Early this summer, amid fears of the spread of swine flu, the Egyptian government ordered the slaughter of some 250,000 pigs in Cairo. The pigs used to eat much of the city's garbage. Now a non-profit organization called Solar Cities is looking to put all that extra organic waste to use---by turning it into natural gas.", "Wild pigs are a nuisance in Texas. There are more than 1.5 million that roam the state and do a lot of damage to crops. One company has come up with one way to try to eliminate some hogs: shooting them from helicopters.", "NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates talks to two Los Angeles entrepreneurs who donate profits from their bottled water sales to support clean water projects in the developing world. Ethos H2O charges almost twice as much for its bottled water as the competition -- but people buy it because Ethos profits have brought clean drinking water to villages in India and Ethiopia.", "NPR's John Burnett reports on the controversial Texas entrepreneur's effort to pump water and sell it to thirsty cities like Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso. T. Boone Pickens hopes to build a $1 billion pipeline that would shoot water from an underground reservoir to parts of the West that need it. But there are still no takers, and some are concerned that he may be pumping an irreplaceable, ancient water source for his own personal profit.", "In Austin, Texas, a commercial real-estate entrepreneur is employing catering trucks to feed the homeless. His organization, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, uses customized trucks and volunteer drivers to deliver meals to those living in the streets.", "The U.S. pork industry is on the upswing compared to past years, mainly due to exports to China and Russia. However, large food corporations receive most of the profit -- small pig farms make up only 1 percent of the industry. Producer Kelly McEvers reports on an industry which less than10 years ago was largely made up of family farms.", "There are lots of entrepreneurs who would love to fly drones — tiny unmanned aircraft — all over the country. They dream of drones delivering packages and taking photos, but there's a battle in the courts right now standing in their way. The battle is about whether it's legal for drones to take to the sky. The question at the core of the battle: Who owns the air? It's a question that goes back to the Middle Ages, to a Latin phrase that translates to \"he owns the soil owns up to the heavens.\" In England, this phrase was the law of the land for centuries, and it worked well when disputes involved simple things like overhanging tree branches and lopsided buildings. But once hot air balloons and airplanes came into the picture, things got a lot more complicated. In 1926, Congress created what we now call the FAA, and declared that the air above 500 feet is the public domain. But what about the air below that? Thomas Causby was a chicken farmer in North Carolina who lived near a tiny airport. During World War II, the Army took over the airport, and suddenly big military planes were flying over Causby's chicken coops all the time. The planes scared Causby's chickens. They flew into the walls of the coop and died. Causby sued the government, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. In the end, the court sided with Causby, ruling that landowners own the sky above their homes up to at least 83 feet. But the decision still left a gap. If the air above 500 feet is public property, and the air below 83 feet is private property, what about the space in between? This is the territory that entrepreneurs dreaming of drones have their eyes on. Cy Brown, for example, wants to use drones to tackle the problem of feral wild pigs. In Louisiana, where Brown lives, feral pigs run around wrecking crops, causing problems for farmers. Brown's idea was to use drones to track the pigs and then relay their locations to hunters in the fields who could kill the pigs. He tested it out, and it worked. Farmers liked it. Even the U.S. Department of Agriculture wanted to copy it. But when I called Cy last month to ask if he'd take me hunting, he said no. His drone had been grounded. When I asked why, he referred me to his lawyer. Cy's lawyer told me that the FAA has been sending out cease-and-desist letters to commercial drone pilots all over the country, threatening big fines for flying little drones. The FAA says that, for safety reasons, it is regulating the airspace between 83 and 500 feet. Drone pilots are fighting this in court, trying to reclaim that airspace. You can find lots more drone coverage from our colleagues over at All Tech Considered.", "The Texacan Beef and Pork company is a smoked meat operation in Virginia that uses the latest in technological advancements to streamline its operation and increase revenues. NPR's Jack Speer reports.", "Journalist Barry Estabrook knows how to enjoy a juicy heritage pork chop. He'll also be the first to tell you what intelligent, sensitive creatures pigs are. \"I had no idea how smart they were until I got in the research,\" Estabrook tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies. Estabrook is the author of Pig Tales: An Omnivore's Quest for Sustainable Meat, out May 4. \"I set out on the premise that if you're going to eat an animal, maybe you owed it to yourself to find out as much as you could about the way the animal thought, its cognitive abilities,\" Estabrook explains. In the course of his research, Estabrook spoke with scientists who taught pigs how to play computer games. He learned that pigs have a sense of self and that they can recognize themselves in mirrors. Pigs, he says, can look at another pig and calculate what that pig might do or how it might act. Estabrook also witnessed brutality at some large-scale pig operations firsthand. One facility he visited held 1,500 pregnant pigs in cramped individual cages. \"They were like people sitting in the seats of one of those regional aircrafts,\" Estabrook says. \"Their sides stuck out through the bars; they could not turn around. They could not move in any way at all and that's the way those pigs basically lived their entire life.\" Estabrook estimates that 80 percent of the sows in the U.S. live their lives in factory conditions where they are crammed into cages and fed an abundance of antibiotics to prevent disease. But, he adds, there are other options, such as one farm he visited in upstate New York, where the pigs are raised on pasture. \"They don't get antibiotics unless they're sick, they're never cooped up, the mother sows are not kept in crates,\" Estabrook says. \"They live in a great amiable sorority under the trees with a little mud puddle in the center of it, and the end result is this pork is incredible. It's sold to some of the very best restaurants in New York City.\" Interview Highlights On the emotional intelligence of pigs I interviewed a woman named Sy Montgomery, a writer, who kept a pet pig for 14 years and [the pig] had incredible emotional intelligence, far more than her dogs, she said. He knew when she was sad and he was normally quite rambunctious around her, which is something for a 750 pound animal, when she was sad (her parents had died) he was very quiet, he was like a kitten. For some reason, he loved certain people that he met and even if that person would only come once every year or two he would greet him with the same effusive grunts and squeals. There was a little girl who lived down the road who was suffering [from] cancer and she would come and sit beside the pig after particularly bad bouts of chemotherapy and the pig would let her lie on him and he was just as gentle as could be. On feral pigs At last count, they know that wild, feral pig populations exist in 48 states and probably all of them — but think of them, they breed better than rabbits. A feral sow can have 12 piglets every year and those piglets are ready to breed in less than a year. There's no other large animal that breeds at anything close to that pace. These animals can run 30 miles an hour, they can jump 3 feet high; they can smell a morsel of food 7 miles away. A pig's snout is a marvel of excavating engineering technology. I mean, they can root up a patch of land in no time and it looks like a bulldozer has been through. They can and do eat anything. So they're ideally poised to take over an area once they get there. On the conditions of industrial pig slaughterhouses Of all the things I saw, the thing that hit me the hardest, twisted my guts the hardest, was when I walked into a low, dark barn in Iowa and in that barn there were 1,500 sows, pregnant female pigs, and they were all in individual cages that were too small to hold them. ... When they did have their babies they would move into something called a 'farrowing crate' which allowed the sow no more room to move, and you take these intelligent, inquisitive, emotional creatures and confine them to a lifetime — it would be like being confined to a coffin for a lifetime or worse than your dog being confined to its travel case for a lifetime. But that's the way 80 percent of the sows in this country live their entire life. On disposal of pig excrement In a typical industrial pig farm, both sows, piglets and growing pigs, they're kept on grated floors, hard, grated floors and the excrement either dribbles or is squished through the grates into the equivalent of a basement directly below them where it sits. It can sit for up to a year, creating incredible noxious odors which also happen to be poison — ammonia, hydrogen sulfite — those are poisonous gasses. [The farms] keep the pigs alive by having these huge jet engine-like fans on the end of the barns that are constantly blowing in fresh air, or the pigs could asphyxiate. A farmer in Missouri — it happened late one Saturday night — a thunderstorm went through and the", "In the foothills of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, a gravel road leads to a 10-foot-tall fence. Type in a key code, and a gate scrapes open. Undo a chain to get behind another. Everything here is made of metal, because the residents of this facility are experts at invasion and destruction. They're wild pigs, aka feral swine, wild hogs or Sus scrofa. And biologists at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins have invented a promising new way to track the invasive animals by looking for tiny traces of them in mud and water. Biologist Morgan Wehtje points to a boar who's asking her to scratch his bristled back. At 280 pounds, he weighs about as much as an NFL tight end. \"His name is Makunakane, which means 'Big Papa' in Hawaiian,\" says Wehtje. The smaller pigs, like a female named Bobbie Socks, weigh about 150 pounds. They're dense and compact, says Wehtje, \"which is why if they were to run at you they'd take you out.\" Wehtje and her colleagues study the biology and behavior of these pigs, which were raised in captivity. They're playing in the snow and scoping out the fence with their wet snouts. But their wild, much less cuddly counterparts are destroying the landscape in most U.S. states — inflicting an estimated $1.5 billion in damage per year. These animals will eat anything, from rows of corn to sea turtle eggs, to baby deer and goats. \"People don't realize that wild pigs are voracious predators,\" says Jack Mayer, a biologist with the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C., who has studied wild pigs for 40 years. \"They will run down and kill and eat lamb, sheep, goats, calves, domestic chickens.\" And more. \"Pigs will eat humans,\" says Mayer. \"It's been documented in combat, remote area homicide situations and plane crashes. Pigs will go in and feed on human carcasses.\" They are \"opportunistic omnivores,\" Mayer says. \"If they can get their mouth around it and it has a calorie in it, they will eat it.\" In Texas, feral pigs are tearing up suburban yards. In Louisiana, they damaged levees by digging for food. Pigs came to North America 500 years ago with early explorers as a source of food. Centuries later, the Eurasian wild boar was introduced to parts of the U.S. by sports hunters, and today's feral swine are \"a combination of escaped domestic pigs, Eurasian wild boars, and hybrids of the two,\" according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Once female wild pigs are about 6 months old or so, they can produce as many as a dozen offspring per year. For a number of reasons that haven't been completely nailed down, their populations have really exploded in the last 30 years, Mayer says. There are now at least 6 million wild pigs across the country, with established populations in 35 states. State and federal legislators have funneled a lot of money into controlling and eliminating these animals because of the trail of destruction they leave behind. But controlling them can feel like an infuriating game of whack-a-mole, because they move a lot, reproduce quickly and are smart enough to learn to avoid traps and bait. They're also sneaky. \"These things are very secretive,\" says Mayer. \"A lot of people didn't know about wild pigs until they walked out their front door on Sunday morning and saw that it looked like somebody on drugs had rototilled their yard.\" But the pigs may have met their match. Kelly Williams, a biological science technician at the National Wildlife Research Center, is going high-tech on these hogs. She and her colleagues at the National Wildlife Research Center have recently developed a way to keep tabs on the animals without ever even laying eyes on them. All she needs is a scoop of water. \"So, for example, right now in New Mexico the forest service is out collecting water for me,\" says Williams. \"All they have to do is carry around a little Nalgene bottle, scoop up a water sample and ship it back to me.\" Pigs love water and mud. They drink it, play in it and roll in it to keep heat and bugs away. When they do, they leave bits of themselves behind — drool, skin cells, hair and urine — like a wildlife crime scene. Each of those bits contains pig DNA. \"We know pigs are pretty messy, dirty animals, so they might shed more DNA than a coyote lapping up water or something,\" Williams says. She worked with wild pigs at the National Wildlife Research Center to identify these tiny bits of DNA — called \"environmental DNA,\" or eDNA — which can sometimes be detectable up to a month after a pig has visited a site. Ecologists have used eDNA to monitor invasive fish in the Great Lakes and endangered whale sharks in the Arabian Gulf. Williams' colleagues developed a version to track the presence of Burmese pythons in Florida. Wild pigs are one of the first land animals to be tracked so extensively using eDNA. Williams starts with a bottle of dirty water, mixed with a solution to preserve the DNA inside. \"Sometimes it looks like chocolate milk,\" she says. \"Sometimes it looks like lemonad", "Texas has a pig problem. Wild hogs have overrun the state so rapidly that in 2011, Texas allowed them to be hunted all year round. The feral hog epidemic even spawned a reality show called Aporkalypse Now, following Ted Nugent as he shoots hogs from a helicopter. But what was once just a rural problem is now closing in on the city of Dallas. So Dallas decided to bring in Osvaldo Rojas, a professional trapper with years of hog-catching experience. His company, City Trapping, was hired to eradicate Dallas' wild hogs over the next three years. \"I've hunted all my life, ever since I was small, and my father always told me, if you do something you love, you never work a day in your life,\" Rojas says. Left alone, hogs are about as fertile as rats, Rojas says. \"One adult sow can have six to 10 piglets. Out in the woods, I guarantee you 99 percent of the piglets are going to make it. At six months, that same piglet is already fertile.\" The feral pig population in Texas has grown to nearly 3 million, roughly half of all the feral hogs in the country. In Dallas, they are bathing in rivers, spreading diseases, ruining the parks — basically, turning the city into a pig sty. \"If you think about it, Dallas spends millions of dollars on up-keeping at a park,\" Rojas says. \"And one hog can tear up half an acre in a night.\" The Texas Department of Agriculture says feral hogs cause $52 million in damage every year. On top of that, they're dangerous: People have reported hog attacks in the parks. \"It's a 300-pound hog,\" Rojas says. \"If it's a big boar or a mama with piglets, it's gonna charge.\" Rojas says he's been flipped about five times in the last month. Even someone who deals with hogs every day doesn't always come away scratch-free. \"I've had quite a bit of injuries: stitches, a couple of broken bones,\" he says. \"About eight pairs of boots, you name it, jeans. I just stopped buying jeans. I just wear them ripped now. There's no reason to keep buying them if they're gonna continue to get ripped, so might as well keep wearing 'em.\" His plan involves placing large traps with video cameras all around the city, luring the hogs with feeding stations. Once the entire pack is in the trap, he closes the gates from his smartphone. Constant video surveillance allows him to study their behavior for days. Rojas estimates it will take about two years to trap most of the hogs, and then the last year to capture the stragglers. He says has a strategy that sets him apart. \"It doesn't take much, but it has to do with patience,\" he explains. \"I can sit out there for eight hours and not see anything, and I'm totally fine. It takes somebody to have patience. And a little bit of know-how.\" JACKI LYDEN, HOST: Now, we turn to a different kind of sport. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, \"APORKALYPSE NOW\") UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Unintelligible) UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: They're about to die. UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: OK. UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: (Unintelligible) UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: I got two. There's three. I got three. LYDEN: Hunters in Texas shooting their game from a helicopter, but they're not aiming at bears or deer. They're hunting feral hogs. These wild animals repopulate at such a rapid rate, about 20 percent per year, that in 2011, Texas allowed them to be hunted all year round. It even spawned a reality show called \"Aporkalypse Now,\" featuring who else, Ted Nugent shooting hogs from the sky. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, \"APORKALYPSE NOW\") UNIDENTIFIED MAN #4: Wild hogs are now spreading out of control. UNIDENTIFIED MAN #5: They are a growing menace. LYDEN: Once just a rural problem, the Aporkalypse is closing in on Dallas. The city isn't shooting the animals from the sky. What they're doing is bringing in a professional trapper with years of experience. OSVALDO ROJAS: Well, I've hunted all my life, ever since I was small, and my father always told me, if you do something you love, you never work a day in your life. LYDEN: That's Osvaldo Rojas. His company, City Trapping, is trying to remove the hogs from the city within a few years, because left alone, these hogs are about as fertile as rats. ROJAS: One adult sow can have six to 10 piglets. Out in the woods, I guarantee you 99 percent of the piglets are going to make it. At six months, that same piglet is already fertile. LYDEN: The population has grown to nearly three million in Texas. That's roughly half of all the feral hogs in the country. And because they do hog-like things like bathing in rivers, they're spreading diseases, ruining the parks, turning the city into a pig sty. ROJAS: I mean, if you think about it, Dallas spends millions of dollars on upkeeping at a park. And one hog can tear up half an acre in a night. LYDEN: Hog damage is costing Texas $52 million annually. And there have been close feral encounters. People have reported attacks. ROJAS: It's a 300-pound hog. If it's a big boar or a mama with piglets, it's going to charge. LYDEN: Rojas says hogs have actually flipped him over about five times in ", "On a humid mid-June morning, John Mayer and I drove deep into Gum Swamp near Aiken, South Carolina — classic feral pig habitat, he assured me. Pigs could have it, I thought. Whenever I stepped out of Mayer's SUV, sweat instantly soaked my shirt and dribbled down my spine. Squadrons of piranha-like deer flies dive-bombed us if we ventured even a few yards into the boggy bottomland forest, an impenetrable tangle of oak, pine, tupelo, bald cypress, saw palmetto, swamp ferns, and prickly greenbrier vines. The placed reverberated with the squeaking, chirping, and trilling of insects, and periodically some hidden creature would bellow a frightening cwah, cwah, cwah. A panther, perhaps, or an angry feral boar? But Mayer, who goes by the name of Jack, told me it was just a tree frog. \"They are borderline deafening some times of the year,\" he said. I had traveled to Aiken expressly to see a wild pig. Unique among animals that humans commonly raise to eat, pigs can abandon domesticity and revert to lives exactly like those of their wild ancestors. These feral creatures constitute a porcine underground, animals that survive in the wild, abide by their own rules, go wherever their curiosity takes them, and flaunt their essential piggyness. They remind us that this is the way a pig goes about life, given its druthers. And they are doing just fine. More than fine. Wild pigs now live on every continent except Antarctica — and what pig would want to live there? An all-out war is raging, with farmers, ranchers, wildlife officials, and conservationists on one side and a guerrilla army of wild pigs on the other. The pigs are winning. But Mayer and I weren't having much luck finding a feral pig. Thunderstorms had walloped the area the previous night, and nasty black clouds lingered, making the morning dull and muggy. For over two hours, he and I raised the back roads that crisscrossed the floodplain, or as he said, \"the boonies,\" on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River about an hour from Augusta, Georgia. We had seen deer, rabbits, armadillos (both scurrying across the road and run-over), barred owls, wild turkeys, cattle egrets, a coyote, and perhaps the world's largest turkey vulture. But not a single wild pig, even though more than 2,000 supposedly lived in the area, and possibly had called the swamp home for 450 years. The Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto crossed the Savannah River not far away and lost some pigs in the process. \"They are down here somewhere. And it's not a bad day for spotting pigs,\" Mayer said. \"One might be in the trees looking at us right now, but we'd never see it. But they gotta cross the road sometime. If we're lucky, they'll cross right in front of us.\" If you want to do some serious hog watching, you could pick no better guide than Mayer. Officially, he is in charge of the environmental sciences group that oversees 310 square miles of swamp and forest that serves as a buffer around the Savannah River Site, a nuclear facility that was built in the 1950s to make tritium and plutonium-239 for US bombs and missiles. Although he is too modest to claim the title, Mayer is the country's foremost authority on wild pigs — the \"guru of wild pigs,\" according to one colleague. He did his PhD on feral pigs in the mid-1970s, at a time when virtually no one else thought the animals worthy of serious study. In addition to writing scores of scientific papers, Mayer has led international wild-pig symposiums and cowritten the definitive book on wild pigs in the United States. He has trapped wild pigs, hunted them with dogs, and has tackled more than one 200-pounder by the hind legs. He bears a four-inch-long scar on his calf, acquired when he accidentally came between a sharp-tusked sow and her path of escape. A trim, sixtyish man with close-cropped graying hair, Mayer has spent four decades patrolling the forests and swampland surrounding the Savannah River facility. As part of their mandate, people who work for the federal government like him must reforest higher areas of the buffer zone with longleaf pine trees. They also have to mitigate the damage caused by invasive species, the most troublesome being feral hogs. One pig can unearth as many as 1,000 recently planted pine seedlings in a single night. Pigs compete with deer for forage and can kill fawns. They are even a threat to people trying to manage them. Collisions between pigs and trucks damage government vehicles and injure drivers. Mayer hit the brakes and leapt from the vehicle. By the time I joined him he was bent over, poking a cloven hoof stamped into the wet sand that passed for road surface. The track was the circumference of a tennis ball. \"These are fresh. Very fresh. No question about it,\" Mayer said, following the tracks across the road. \"Oh my goodness, look here. We have a mom and her kids.\" He pointed to dozens of fifty-cent-piece-sized replicas of the big track. \"That's quite a brood. She'd go close to a hundred pounds from the", "NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with Gregg Hora, a pig farmer and president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association, who has seen the price of pigs plummet with market uncertainty over tariffs and the meat surplus.", "From today's survey of news worth an honorable mention: Sixteen tons of pork products pilfered from Sydney warehouse/ Sperm donor owes child support, says court/ Paleontologists excavate rare dino flesh, scales, in North Dakota/ Liz Taylor wins a \"one night dispensation\" from striking writers to stage a play", "Rural parts of New Jersey are having trouble with wild hogs. The feral pigs root up lawns and golf courses. Biologists are trying to trap the feral pigs so they won't spread disease to livestock and want to contain the wild hogs' population. Eugene Sonn reports for member station WHYY. MELISSA BLOCK, host: And now to New Jersey and some pests you might not expect to find root around there, wild hogs. Reporter Eugene Sonn has this story on how people in New Jersey are dealing with the swine. EUGENE SONN: Wild hogs are not native to New Jersey or the most the country for that matter. Between 50 and a hundred feral pigs are living a corner of Gloucester County, halfway between Philadelphia and Atlantic City. It's a flat, sandy-soiled area known as the Pinelands. The wild pigs are rooting up the most trouble at the White Oaks Country Club in Newfield. At the eighth hole, groundskeeper David Foot(ph) describes the worst damage of the season. Mr. DAVID FOOT (Groundskeeper, White Oaks Country Club): Literally looked like somebody took a roto-tiller across the approach (unintelligible) all the way up to this bunker here and all the grass, the green side's down and the roots are up and the roots are all eaten off of it. SONN: Foot and his workers had to get on their hands and knees replacing the torn-up sod, piecing it together like a jigsaw puzzle. Eric Dobson is co-owner of the country club. He says three or winters ago the hogs would attack the course almost every night. He got so frustrated doing repair work that he tried to shoo them away. Mr. ERIC DOBSON (Co-owner, White Oaks Country Club): We put guys out there at nighttime to try to scare them off the course and of course that's the night they don't come, so nobody wants to sit out there at one o'clock in the morning and wait for a pig to come by. (Soundbite of running tractor) SONN: Just up the road from the golf course Wayne Biyashi(ph) has been growing shrubs and plants at the Piney Hollow Nursery for over 30 years. Sitting on his tractor among rows of forsythia and cherry laurels, Biyashi says the hogs are an ongoing problem. Mr. WAYNE BIYASHI (Gardener, Piney Hollow Nursery): Ten years ago they were really bad, then I would see 40, 50 of them out here. They actually haven't bothered my plants, they just come and they dig everything up like (unintelligible) looking for worms or the roots or grass or something. So far they haven't bothered my crop, thank God. SONN: Biyashi(ph) thinks it's just a matter of time before the pigs get into his green houses so he's happy to let the USDA set a trap on his property. Three wild hogs, including a 250 pounder, have been caught at the nursery. (Soundbite of running tractor) SONN: Biologists from the USDA ride into the woods on ATVs to check their ten-foot trap. It has spring-loaded saloon-style doors that will slam shut if a hog roots into a trip line. (Soundbite of doors slamming shut) SONN: Nicole Rhines(ph) says the key is tricking the hogs into thinking it's safe to come in and eat the corn bait. Ms. NICOLE RHINES (USDA): So we let them go in and be able to come out. That's why the doors are wired- tied open, so they're not actually trapped, and once they get comfortable doing that we actually set the trap and come out every day, every 24 hours, to monitor it, to see, what we have caught. SONN: Kevin Sullivan of the USDA says he doesn't know how the wild pigs got to New Jersey. They could be escaped livestock that have adapted to living in the woods or someone may have let them lose for hunting. He's not surprised that they're thriving since the hogs are as adaptable as white-tailed deer. Sullivan says they're a threat to more than golf courses and nurseries. Mr. KEVIN SULLIVAN (USDA): Ground-nesting birds, turkey, quail, the feral swine can eat their eggs, destroy their nests, they can compete with deer, raccoons, or any of the native wildlife. SONN: Nationally there are an estimated four to six million wild pigs. As many as two million of those are in Texas. There, Sullivan says, it's a matter of trying to reduce their impact but here he thinks they can eradicate the whole herd. Other states have enlisted hunters to shoot the wild pigs, but New Jersey is waiting to see if trapping and killing them will work. For NPR News, I'm Eugene Sonn.", "The city pound of San Antonio, Tex., will gas nearly 50,000 stray dogs and cats this year -- significantly higher than the number of animals put to death in nearby Austin. Reporter Steven Cuevas investigates the reasons behind the disparity. <EM>This audio contains descriptions of animal euthanasia that some listeners may find disturbing.</EM>", "Convicted murderers are profiting from their notoriety by selling \"murderabilia\" to the public. Texas Sen. John Cornyn has recently introduced legislation that will crack down on sellers of the merchandise and prohibit prisoners from profiting from it.", "PETA's offering $1 million for the first viable scheme for producing meat in the lab. Call it the medium-rare Ramble. Activists call for test-tube meat/ Blind patients get bionic eyes/ Candidates take turn on World Wrestling Entertainment", "Fourth generation cattle rancher Loren Poncia and his wife Lisa transformed Stemple Creek Ranch into one of the few carbon neutral livestock ranches in the United States, and have since made their ranch carbon positive, sequestering more carbon than they emit. Lisa and Loren spoke with Guy about how consumers are helping drive the sustainable farming movement, and how they doubled down on online retail after many restaurants shut down. These conversations are excerpts from our How I Built Resilience series, where Guy talks online with founders and entrepreneurs about how they're navigating turbulent times.", "Robertson County has the smallest population of any county in the state of Kentucky, and it's the only one, word has it, without a stoplight. So it's an unlikely place to find a campaign to keep the food system more genetically diverse. But that is exactly what's happening on a small farm owned by Travis Hood, called Hood's Heritage Hogs. Hood raises Red Wattle pigs, a heritage breed that the Livestock Conservancy, a nonprofit working to protect breeds and poultry from extinction, says is threatened. In 1999, there were fewer than 50 of these pigs left in the U.S. Today, that number is back up to about 6,000. \"As counterproductive as it may seem, to save these pigs we have to eat them,\" says Hood. Hood is part of a small but growing movement across the country of small producers and Slow Food advocates working to hold on to biodiversity by building demand for heritage breed meats. It doesn't hurt that Red Wattle meat is known to be exceptionally juicy with a rich texture. The origins of this tasty breed are fuzzy; some believe the pig came from the Iberian Peninsula, but first appeared in the U.S. in eastern Texas when a farmer found two in the woods and began breeding them. The Red Wattle Hog Association says there's another, unverified story that's been passed down: Decades ago, a pig thief infiltrated a Swiss veterinary school, stole three Red Wattle piglets and snuck them into the U.S. The pigs are known to be good-natured and can be as friendly as golden retrievers. They grow on average to about 600 to 800 pounds and range from a strawberry blonde to a deep cherry color. Wattles, pieces of cartilage 1 to 5 inches long, hang from either side of their necks like fleshy dreadlocks. (The wattles don't have a function, as far as anyone can tell.) Warren Beeler of Kentucky's Department of Agriculture says what Hood is doing is critical for pig production everywhere. \"You don't want to lose any genetics, because when you do, you lose them forever,\" he says. According to Beeler, the Red Wattle is used to raising its babies outside and braving the elements. That makes it genetically tougher than an industrially raised pig that lives its life in a pen. That toughness is important, says Beeler, if farmers want to cross-breed. But Gregg Rentfrow, a meat scientist at the University of Kentucky, says raising the Red Wattle doesn't generate much meat to feed people, because heritage breeds take longer to get to market than conventional pigs. \"We're faced with in the next 25 to 50 years of how we're going to feed 9 billion people, and the ability to get an animal to market faster not only helps us feed those 9 billion people, but it helps us do it more cheaply than before,\" says Rentfrow. Hood started raising Red Wattles five years ago. At that time he was a golf-course superintendent, a career he'd had for 16 years. Then came job cuts. \"It went from a salaried position with benefits to an hourly position with no benefits,\" he says. \"Well, I thought, the least we can do is feed ourselves. So I got a couple of hogs and then it started to snowball.\" Now, he lives on 78 acres with a four-generation blended version of Modern Family, all committed to making the farm work. It's not an easy life. Over the winter of the polar vortex, Hood hauled 20-gallon buckets of water for the pigs to drink three times a day at 20 below zero degrees Fahrenheit. One windy night, the roof folded up like a gum wrapper. Hood's mother-in-law has been keeping everything afloat through her full-time job as a nurse. Hood has been lucky. So far, he's escaped the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus that has killed nearly 8 million pigs since May 2013. He sells his meat at the Lexington Farmers Market and straight off the farm, and he turned a profit of $100 for the first time in February. In June, that profit was up to $1,600. Hood is hopeful he can continue to make a go of it. \"If we weren't doing this,\" Hood says of the Red Wattle, \"they wouldn't exist.\" Leslie Guttman is a freelance journalist based in Lexington, Ky.", "Attorneys for Steve Trunnell has filed a court petition seeking to discover what role a U.S.-owned pig farm played in the outbreak of swine flu that claimed his wife as the first American fatality of the epidemic, the Austin American Statesman reports today. The suit blames U.S.-based Smithfield Foods Inc. of keeping \"horrifically unscientific conditions\" at a pig farm the company owns near the village of La Gloria in eastern Mexico where the epidemic began in late February. \"The conditions in which they allow this pig farm to operate ... would not be allowed in the United States\" said Trunnell attorney Marc Rosenthal. From the Statesman: \"Medical authorities have not determined the origins of the swine flu outbreak. Rosenthal said the petition will enable the law firm to investigate the outbreak and gather evidence for a potential wrongful death lawsuit. Damages of up to $1 billion will be sought, he said.\"", "Just 12 years ago, researchers feared that the California Island fox, a species about the size of a cat inhabiting a group of islands off the Southern California coast, was toast. Nonnative predators and pesticides had dramatically reduced their ranks. The few that remained were placed on the endangered species list. Now, thanks to an aggressive recovery effort, U.S. wildlife officials have removed three subspecies on San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands from the endangered list. A fourth subspecies, the Santa Catalina Island fox, has been upgraded from \"endangered\" to \"threatened.\" Officials say the Island foxes' recovery is the fastest of any mammal ever listed under the Endangered Species Act. \"We're ecstatic that we've reached this point so quickly,\" Steve Henry, field supervisor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's office in Ventura told the Associated Press. Researchers say the Channel Islands have been home to the diminutive Island fox for thousands of years, but no one knows how they wound up there in the first place. They do know that in the 19th Century, ranchers and farmers introduced non-native pigs, cattle and sheep. Later, DDT wiped out the native, fish-eating (and therefore fox-friendly) bald eagle. In its place came the non-native golden eagle that preyed on feral pigs and island foxes. By 2000, only a few dozen island foxes remained. The recovery effort was a collaboration between the National Park Service, Nature Conservancy and Catalina Island Conservancy in a multi-stage program involving relocating the golden eagles, eliminating feral pigs, and then trapping and captive-breeding the Island foxes. The pigs had to go first. Some animal rights groups weren't happy that thousands were tracked by helicopters and shot by snipers. With the pigs gone, the golden eagle departed, some voluntarily, others not. \"Re-introducing the bald eagle helped evict the golden eagle because the bald eagle is dominant and it eats fish, not foxes,\" said Jeff Miller, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity. \"Other golden eagles were trapped and relocated.\" By 2008, about a year after the pigs were eliminated, some 230 captive-bred foxes were released into the wild. There are now almost 6,000 on the four islands. Miller said the on-going threat of disease, particularly canine distemper, is still a problem and the reason why the Catalina Island fox is still considered a threatened species. A vaccination effort is underway.", "Andrew Herrington slips on a battered green backpack, stashes a .308 bolt-action rifle under his arm and steps off a boat onto the steep, rocky shores of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. \"It's about a half-mile that we're going to walk up to for those traps,\" he says. In almost every circumstance, hunting is strictly forbidden at national parks. But there's an exception to that rule. Herrington's job is to hunt at Great Smoky Mountains National Park for an invasive and hugely destructive species: feral hogs. Through most of the summer, he'll camp out in the backcountry for five days at a time, hunting at night for his prey. Today, he's checking a half-dozen baited traps that they've set near the shores of Fontana Lake before going to check an area where hogs were seen a week before. The goal is to hunt them, find them and kill them. Herrington hikes up an old, overgrown road that follows the course of a small creek. The traps are set in these narrow, shaded draws because it's a popular place for hogs when the temperature's right. \"The good thing about traps,\" he says, \"is they work for you 24/7.\" A War of Attrition The pigs that Herrington is after are not your Farmer John variety oinkers. These feral hogs weigh more than 100 pounds on average. They're covered in fur. And they're not native to this part of the country — in fact, they're not native to this country. They're the descendants of wild boars, brought over from Europe decades ago by people who wanted to hunt them. Those boars escaped the preserve where they were being held, made their way to the park and started interbreeding with domestic pigs. Feral hogs are adaptable animals and they reproduce at a high rate, so it didn't take long for their numbers to explode in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And a higher population means higher demands on the forests' limited resources. \"If you got the native species — bears, turkeys, deer — that are competing for the same food, they just get out-competed,\" Herrington says. It's a war of attrition that the native species cannot win. They don't reproduce fast enough. Herrington explains that to people when they ask about his job. People always have questions when you say you hunt in a park, he says. It's controversial, even in his family. \"My wife is a vegetarian and an animal lover, so we have those conversations a lot,\" he says. \"What I tell her is: You like baby bears or do you like pigs? Because every time I pull the trigger, a baby bear gets to live.\" And his wife understands it. \"She doesn't like it, but she understands it,\" he says. A Destructive Animal Hiking up to traps, there is plenty of proof that hogs have been in the area. There are wide swaths of forest floor that are all torn up, like they've been plowed. This is the result of hogs rooting around for food. And there are other areas — closer to the streams — that look like little swamps. These are called wallows, mud-holes that hogs create to keep themselves cool. The runoff from the swamps can flood the adjacent creek, poisoning native trout and insects. \"It's empty,\" Herrington says, walking up to the first trap. It's a rectangular structure, about 4 feet tall and 6 feet long, made out of chain-link fence. One side of the cage is open, with a big sheet of metal propped up over it. A trail of corn kernels leads into the cage and stops in a pile at its far end. Just above that pile is a stick, held in place by two bent pieces of rebar. Tied around the middle of the stick is a piece of rope that triggers the open door. \"So when he comes in and he roots, [the] door drops down,\" Herrington explains. He pushes the stick and the door whooshes down. If it's a pig in the trap, a hog hunter like Herrington will show up to finish it off and drag the carcass into the woods. The hog hunting program at Great Smoky Mountains National Park has removed or killed more than 13,000 feral hogs since its inception. There was a time when wildlife techs like Herrington would transport trapped hogs out of the park and into other forests. That's not the case anymore, for a couple of reasons. Feral hogs have been found to carry a number of diseases. If those diseases made their way into the domestic pig population, it could shut down pork production. And North Carolina is one of the largest hog-producing states in the country, so nobody wants feral hogs released anywhere near them. Some of the diseases can also be contracted by humans. They can carry swine brucellosis, which can cause fevers; leptospirosis, which can be deadly; and swine influenza. That's why, although some have suggested that killed hogs be tested and donated to local food banks, there's no human consumption of these animals. The other reason is that moving feral hogs from the park to another location is expensive and time-consuming. \"You want to talk about fun?\" Herrington says. \"Try carrying a 225-pound boar out.\" He checks a few more traps before returning to the boat. All are empty. The Hu", "It's estimated that as many as 3,000 wild pigs are on the loose in Michigan. Nationwide, they cause more than $1.8 billion in damage to farms each year. So recently, the state's Department of Natural Resources put Russian boar on the state's invasive species list. Mark Baker left the military eight years ago to start Baker's Green Acres, a small farm in Marion, Mich., with his wife and kids. Since then, he's put a whole lot of love, money and time into developing tasty charcuterie: salted and cured pork, derived from his hybrids of Russian boar and the heritage breed Mangalitsa. \"My chefs love it,\" Baker says. \"They like the dark red meat, the woody flavor and the glistening fat.\" At the moment, Baker is the only farmer raising the swine for human consumption who freely admits he has them. But with Michigan's new order, Baker's herd was suddenly classified as an illegal invasive species — putting him at risk of up to two years in jail and $20,000 in fines. If Baker complies, he will receive no compensation for the loss of his investment. Continue Reading That, he says, would finish his business. \"It's over at that point,\" he says. \"I'd be done.\" Ed Golder, public information officer for Michigan's DNR, says \"these invasive swine are nothing more than Asian carp with legs. They will come in and devastate a natural ecosystem, and they will pose a serious threat to farms of all sorts.\" Wild pig experts say Michigan officials have the right idea — trying to cut the Russian boar population before it can spiral out of control. And the agency didn't mean for the order to reach into agriculture; in fact, it specifically states it isn't intended to harm the domestic pork industry in the state. According to the agency, there are two species of pigs: Sus scrofa, or Russian boar, which are the subject of the order; and Sus domestica — domestic pigs, the source of most bacon and ham. In a ruling, the agency listed eight visual characteristics they argue are common to Russian boar and their hybrids. The wording indicates that a pig with just one of the listed characteristics could potentially be identified as a Russian boar or Russian boar hybrid. But critics, including Michigan state Sen. Joe Hune, say those guidelines are overly vague. If \"the tail is either curly or straight, you can be a felon for owning that hog,\" Hune says. Wildlife biologist Shannon Hanna, who is overseeing the agency's order, concedes that \"some of the characteristics in the ruling are similar to a domestic hog breed,\" like light-colored underfur and striped piglets. But, she says, \"it is highly unlikely that we would just pull one characteristic out of there.\" The agency's use of the word \"feral\" in the order has also further stoked the debate. \"How can the DNR say that the pigs that are under my control, livin' in my barns — how can they say that they are feral?\" asks farmer Mark Baker. So Baker filed suit against the agency, and gathered his kids and some squirming Russian piglets to make his case in a YouTube video. Before it knew it, the DNR found itself in a massive food fight. But the DNR says it can't comment on Baker's charges because of his lawsuit, so Baker has the stage all to himself — and now has about 100,000 hits on his video. Mike Adams, an Arizona-based conservative commentator, produced a podcast charging that \"the state of Michigan is now just days away from kicking in the doors of all these farmers, shooting the pigs, and then arresting all of these farmers as felons.\" \"I wish there was a way to have folks feel more comfortable with this,\" says Hanna, \"and know that we really are just looking at this Russian boar variety of swine, and not looking at the domestic breeds of swine that other folks have been worried about.\" Misinformation certainly hasn't helped. Dave Tuxbury, a rancher who raised Russian boar primarily for hunting facilities, had his boar — and their piglets — killed to comply with the state's order. But a misleading version of his story, reporting that Tuxbury was forced to kill his herd in an armed raid, was spread by both social and traditional media. DNR never conducted raids forcing farmers to kill their pigs on the spot, and has created a Web page to help combat misinformation. But, as the DNR's Shannon Hanna explains, those who raise the swine \"need to, by law, abate a public nuisance. These folks can shoot their own swine, they can harvest it, use it as they want, eat it,\" she says. Mark Baker contends he's fond of his swine, just as he's fond of his dogs. \"They can't force me to shoot an animal. I won't do it. I refuse to do it,\" he says. Baker also says he never expected people to get so riled up over the issue. But, as Michigan state Sen. Darwin Booher says, \"if you threaten my livelihood, you threaten feeding my family tonight — eventually something is going to happen.\" The ultimate resolution to the debate may lie in court. Baker's lawsuit against the Michigan DNR has been joined with four other cas", "In North Carolina, a project is converting pig waste into renewable natural gas for electricity. The system eliminates pig farms&#8217; methane, a climate change gas, and is helping the state move away from fossil fuels. James Morrison (@JCMorrisn) reports for WUNC.", "An entrepreneur in Chicago faces accusations from a pastor that he's \"pimping out\" a community already struggling with crime, according to the <em>Wall Street Journal</em>. James Andrews opened Felony Franks on the city's tough West Side. With ex-convicts as staff, he offers \"misdemeanor weiners\" and \"probation burgers.\"", "-- NPR's John Nielsen reports on American businesses that are trying to make money and save the earth.", "After weeks of working from home, your video calls are probably starting to feel a little monotonous. But what if there was fresh, nonhuman face in your virtual meeting? Maybe a cow, a llama, a ... goat? That's the idea behind Goat 2 Meeting, a new service run by the Sweet Farm animal sanctuary in Half Moon Bay, Calif., south of San Francisco. The farm works to save farm animals from slaughter and to educate visitors about the impacts of factory farming. Sweet Farm is funded by grants and donations, which usually come from in-person activities such as tours and corporate events. \"Sixty to 70 percent of our revenue has gone out the door\" since the coronavirus hit, says Nate Salpeter, who founded the farm with his wife, Anna Sweet. \"So very quickly we had to figure out a way that we can still execute on our mission while also driving revenue,\" he tells NPR's All Things Considered. Now, with various amounts of donation, Paco the llama, Juno the goat, Magnolia the cow or even Steve the rooster could be the one to join in on your dreary video conference calls. Seattle-based Rebellyous Foods is one of the dozens of companies that have surprised employees with a virtual visitor. \"There was a quite a bit of squeals with joy as a fun diversion in the middle of a very busy Monday morning,\" says Rebellyous Foods CEO Christie Lagally. \"Some of them were kind of coming in to eat or coming in from grazing, so ... they're very busy animals it seems like. I'm glad they took time out of their day to meet with us.\"", "A key factor in soaring food prices is growing demand, not just from increasing population but also because people in big developing countries like China are becoming richer and can afford more food. Even though the nation's eating habits are changing, and even though there are now 1.3 billion mouths to feed, this old Chinese saying still holds true: \"To the common people, food is as important as heaven.\" Profitable Time for Pig Farmers It's feeding time for the big, pink pigs in farmer Zhu Shangzun's pen. With 200 hogs, he's one of the biggest pig farmers in his village on the outskirts of Beijing. Most of China's pigs are bred on small, family-owned farms like his. Zhu says prices for his pigs have more than doubled in the past couple of years, and he's clearing $70 in profit for each of the 30 pigs he sells every month. \"I doubt prices will rise further,\" he says. \"This is the most profitable time for us pig farmers, but I think this is as far as it's going to go.\" Pork is the main meat for most Chinese. In 2006, China produced more than 50 million tons of pork, accounting for more than half of the world's total — and it consumes most of that itself. Fallout from Rising Inflation Rising pork prices have been a major factor in inflation, which reached nearly 5 percent last year, a level not seen here in more than a decade. One reason for the rising prices is a recent outbreak of blue ear disease, which decimated the hog population. But farmer Zhu cites another reason. \"It's because of the fuel issue,\" Zhu says. \"They make corn into ethanol, and it's cheaper than oil. But that drives up the price of the corn in our pig feed.\" China's leaders are worried about the political fallout from inflation, because inflation has historically been a factor in social unrest. In a bid to halt rising food prices, the government has limited the use of corn for making ethanol and introduced agricultural subsidies. Zhu gets subsidies worth about $14 for each pig. But Zhu's profits translate into grocery sticker shock for consumers like Li Shujuan. Spending More for Groceries Li is a publishing house editor. She's making her daily trip to the market to buy meat and vegetables for dinner. She looks at the frozen pork ribs, which are selling for about $2 a pound. Compared to a year ago, she says, the prices are much higher — \"almost double. That's why, you know, I bought this big rib, it cost me 38 [yuan], I thought, 'Wow, so expensive.' \" There are a lot of foods that weren't available here 10 or 20 years ago, and all of them command higher prices. There is a lot more lean meat. There are convenience foods, like frozen dumplings and instant noodles. Li remembers when she was a child, she used to fight with her family members over who got the chicken drumsticks. \"At that time, I thought, 'Wow, if the chicken had more legs, everyone can have one.' But now, you can see, the chicken is divided into different parts, so people can choose whatever they want.\" Li goes home to prepare dinner. She knows that many poor people in China are being hit hard by inflation. They already spend most of their income on food, and now they have to cut back on their meat intake. She says that's not an option for her family. \"You have to spend more money, because you have to live in this way,\" she says. \"We cannot say, 'OK, the price of pork rises and we won't eat it,' because that's impossible, because we need that for daily life. So the only thing is we have to make more money to cover the expense. That's why we work hard and we come back home late.\" China's Role in Global Food Prices Foreign media often cite China's increasing consumption as a reason for higher global food prices. Nicholas Lardy, an economist with the Peterson Institute of International Economics in Washington, says that so far the statistics don't bear this out. \"When you look at the trade data, China is a small exporter of food, but they're mostly exporting high value-added products, vegetables and other things like that,\" Lardy says. \"They are importing huge quantities of soybeans, but they're not importing a lot of other grains, like rice and wheat. And they don't transmit much of their higher prices for pork to the rest of the world.\" China's leaders bristle at the suggestion that their country is exporting its inflation overseas or that feeding China will ever become the world's problem. But it is clear that as Chinese people become more affluent, they will want more meats and more grains to feed their livestock, so demand has nowhere to go but up. RENEE MONTAGNE, host: People in China are finding food has gotten more expensive as they change their eating habits. That nation now has 1.3 billion mouths to feed. NPR's Anthony Kuhn found in this report, though, that an old Chinese saying still holds true: To the common people, food is as important as heaven. (Soundbite of pig grunting) ANTHONY KUHN: It's feeding time for the big pink pigs in farmer Zhu Shangzun's pen. ", "It's not just shady smugglers profiting off the misery of refugees pouring into Europe. A Pakistani entrepreneur is tracking the flow of the human river, looking for spots to set up all-service cafes." ]

[ "Some studies suggest that compounds in grape seed extract may reduce edema (swelling) and help with symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency, but the evidence isn’t strong. Grape seed extract may have some heart benefits, including lowering systolic blood pressure and heart rate. The lower heart rate may cause the decrease in systolic blood pressure. The extract had no effect on lipid levels such as cholesterol or C-reactive protein, an indication of inflammation in your arteries." ]

[ "Italian table grapes varieties with seeds include Italia (Muscat), Vittoria and Red Globe. Grape seeds are said to be the sex of the fruit-by removing the seeds, you remove the sexiness, the romanticism and the true nature of the grape.There are two ways to eat seeded grapes.talian table grapes varieties with seeds include Italia (Muscat), Vittoria and Red Globe. Grape seeds are said to be the sex of the fruit-by removing the seeds, you remove the sexiness, the romanticism and the true nature of the grape. There are two ways to eat seeded grapes.", "For this reason, most of the health research on grape antioxidants has not been conducted on whole grapes. Instead, this research has been conducted on grape skin, grape skin extract, grape seed, grape seed extract, or on grape extracts that contain skin and seed and flesh.", "White grapes are actually pale green. A delicious lunchbox treat, grapes also contain health benefits for your heart, eyes, brain, blood, and joints (to name just a few areas of the body grapes are good for) with the seed and skin containing the richest concentration of antioxidants.", "Selecting Your Grape Seeds. 1 1. Choose the right variety. There are thousands of grape varieties in the world. 2 2. Obtain the grape seeds. Once you identify the variety of grapes you want to grow, get your seeds. 3 3. Ensure the seeds are viable. Examine the seeds to make sure they are healthy and in good condition.", "Italy is the world's largest producer of table grapes (Vitis vinifera), accounting for 21% of all grapes harvested worldwide. Italian table grape production is concentrated in southern Italy, in the Apulia (65%) and Sicily (25%) regions of the country. Italians consume about 8 pounds per capita per year.talian table grapes varieties with seeds include Italia (Muscat), Vittoria and Red Globe. Grape seeds are said to be the sex of the fruit-by removing the seeds, you remove the sexiness, the romanticism and the true nature of the grape. There are two ways to eat seeded grapes.", "What is grape seed flour? Grape seed flour is made from the seeds of grapes that have been used to make wine. The seeds are ground into a fine powder that is roughly the same texture as wheat flour. The pulp, skins, seeds and stems that remain after wine product are called pomace.", "Other types are seedless. Seedless grapes may be easier to eat, but grapes with seeds tend to be sweeter. The seed itself may taste slightly bitter. The grapes you find in your local grocery store are known as table grapes. Wine grapes are used to make wine. They are smaller than table grapes, but have thicker skins and larger seeds.", "If you're willing to get past the bitter taste, then whole grape seeds are an option. If not, grape seed and grape seed extract is available in supplement form. There is no daily recommended amount at this time, but some studies used doses of between 100 to 300 milligrams/day.", "Grapes are the fruit of a vine (Vitis vinifera). The whole fruit, skin, leaves and seed of the grape plant are used as medicine. Grape seeds are by-products of the manufacturing of wine. Be careful not to confuse grape with grapefruit, and other similar sounding medicines.", "White table grapes. A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten fresh as table grapes or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.", "Grapes can be eaten fresh as table grapes or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. 1 History.", "Shop all GNC Natural Brand. Related Searches. mens prostate formula. grape seed extract complex. natural brand super digestive enzymes. digestive enzymes. apple cider vinegar herbs. ultra ...", "A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten fresh as table grapes or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.", "Can Rabbits eat Grapes? Grapes are a fruiting berry of the deciduous woody vines of the botanical genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non-climacterictype of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.", "Grape seeds are not hard to find. Look at a local nursery or online. Increase your odds of success by choosing a cultavar that does well in your area. You can even get your seeds directly from grapes. If this is interesting to you, just collect the grapes, remove the seeds and then clean them well.", "Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. grape A type of fruit berry created and cultivated in various shapes and sizes on a variety of species of grapevine.", "Benefits of Eating Green Grapes: Nutritional Health Benefits of Grapes. Health Benefits of Green Grapes. Eating grapes is both a pleasant and highly beneficial experience. There is a long list of attributes or benefits of eating green grapes, providing a long list of advantages. The main highlight about health benefits from eating green grapes has to do with weight loss.", "Early-ripening, generally in July or early August, seeded cultivars include Campbell Early and Niabell, black grapes for juice or fresh consumption. Other early-ripening seeded grapes are Edelweiss, a white grape and Price, a blue grape for eating fresh or juiced.", "A Little History About Grape Seed Oil. Grapeseed oil has existed for over 6,000 years. the oil was a substance used in a dish known as Pulse and that the prophet Daniel liked eating this dish for beneficial health reasons. People knew about the health benefits and treatments that grapes and their oil offered.", "A grape is a fruiting berry of the deciduous woody vines of the botanical genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil.Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.esveratrol is found in widely varying amounts among grape varieties, primarily in their skins and seeds, which, in muscadine grapes, have about one hundred times higher concentration than pulp. Fresh grape skin contains about 50 to 100 micrograms of resveratrol per gram.", "In North America, the most common grape juice is purple and made from Concord grapes, while white grape juice is commonly made from Niagara grapes, both of which are varieties of native American grapes, a different species from European wine grapes. grape is a fruiting berry of the deciduous woody vines of the botanical genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.", "Grapes come in a plethora of varieties. There are grapes used for wine, grapes used to make raisins, grapes to eat and, finally, grapes used specifically to make grape-seed oil. There are fundamental differences between grapes depending on their intended use.", "Polyphenols in Grape Berries. Today, grapes are consumed primarily as fresh fruit, wine or juice. Grapes, however, have also been consumed as an herb for millennia.Recent findings that the berries, particularly their seeds, are a rich source of dietary polyphenols, led to a renaissance in the plant’s herbal use.We are interested in polyphenol biosynthesis in the grape seed.ecent findings that the berries, particularly their seeds, are a rich source of dietary polyphenols, led to a renaissance in the plant’s herbal use. We are interested in polyphenol biosynthesis in the grape seed.", "They are a cross between Red Flame (or Flame Tokay) and Ribier grapes. Cardinal grapes are large, have thick, crunchy skins, and are known for their noticeable (large) seeds. Similar Emperor grapes are large, red, sweet, and seeded. They have thick skins and a mild cherry flavor. of 11.", "1 To do this calculation, divide the total number of seeds by the number of pieces of fruit that you counted for each variety. 2 For example, if you counted 20 seeds total in 5 grapes, then the productivity of a single grape would be 4 seeds per fruit.", "Seeded grapes and seedless grapes can both be grown at home, but growing seedless grapes is more popular for how easy they are to grow as well as harvest and snack on.", "Proanthocyanidin, also known as OPC/PCO, is the antioxidant complex contained in Pycnogenol. Proanthocyanidin is found in extremely small amounts in the peels, skins, or seeds of grapes, blueberries, cherries, and plums; in the barks of the lemon tree and the Landis pine tree; and in the leaves of the hazelnut tree.", "A grape is a fruiting berry of the deciduous woody vines of the botanical genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making wine, jam, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.n North America, the most common grape juice is purple and made from Concord grapes, while white grape juice is commonly made from Niagara grapes, both of which are varieties of native American grapes, a different species from European wine grapes.", "Seeds also darken as grapes mature, but the most reliable way to tell if grapes are ripe is to taste a grape from the tip of the cluster where grapes mature last. Early season grapes ripen over a shorter period of time than midseason-and late-ripening grapes.", "Marsala wine has a unique taste for two reasons: the use of only Sicilian indigenous grapes and a complex winemaking process. Making Marsala wine is complex: 1 Marsala is fortified with brandy or neutral grape spirit usually made with regional grapes.", "Grape, a juicy fruit found in variety of colors. Grape is used for eating, wine making and as a dry fruit. It is also used in jelly, vinegar, candy, seed extraction, seed oil and jam.Vitis vinifera and vitis labrusca regions act as the origin for the grapes.Wine making became the main reason for cultivating grapes.rape is used for eating, wine making and as a dry fruit. It is also used in jelly, vinegar, candy, seed extraction, seed oil and jam. Vitis vinifera and vitis labrusca regions act as the origin for the grapes. Wine making became the main reason for cultivating grapes.", "Although it is possible to grow grape vines from either seeds or cuttings, the balance tips on the side of using cuttings if you look at all the factors. Growing grapes from seeds. As previously stated, it is entirely possible to start your vines from seeds." ]

[ "We&#39;ll give you two nominations, one in each conference. And here&#39;s a hint: Both of these teams started 5-0 last season and went deep into the playoffs, meaning they&#39;ve already strayed from their 2003 blueprint." ]

[ "The CEO's resignation likely means more trouble ahead.", "Pharma company weathered a tough year but should ride out its Vioxx troubles.", "The Oakland Athletics eked out a 1-0 road win at Minnesota on Wednesday, in a game where the Twins' playoff hopes were dealt a severe blow after pitcher Francisco Liriano aggravated an elbow injury.", "The U.S. Congress on Saturday passed a $388 billion package financing government programs in this fiscal year after days of tough talks, but a last minute snag means it may not be sent to President Bush for signing into law for several days.", "With nearly six weeks left on the NBA schedule, the Dallas Mavericks already are in the playoffs.", "Dr. Marcia Angell's case against drug companies and their business practices is tough, persuasive and troubling.", "NHL officials decided Tuesday that there will be no immediate changes in regular-season scheduling or in the way playoffs matches are determined.", "The Philadelphia Phillies are clinging to their slim playoff hopes even if they're having trouble hanging onto fly balls.", "Over budget and behind schedule, rail to Dulles International Airport is in trouble.", "The demise of California's attempt at comprehensive health-care reform this week means that advocates of overhauling the health-care system will turn their focus back to Washington, several experts said yesterday, as an increasingly tough budget climate raises new questions about whether states can...", "After a tough year, Detroit's troubled carmaker is back -- thanks to a maverick designer and a car that is dazzling the hip-hop crowd", "The trouble with trying to explain the meaning of these acronyms is that it requires using language that confuses rather than clarifies the situation.", "Lookin' good, relaxed and tough Ever the marketing whiz, Carly Fiorina has set up a non-stop touring schedule and flash web site to promote her soon-to-be-released epic Tough Choices.…", "The judge gives the defense a tough time but that doesn't mean he thinks the case against the toilet-tapping senator is a slam-dunk", "Several airlines are aggressively cutting fares in hopes of beating back tough competition for holiday passengers.", "Life and death on the mean streets of Copenhagen — they evidently exist — are rendered with pungent detail and excellent discipline in this tough trio of underworld thrillers.", "The Detroit Red Wings acquire Todd Bertuzzi from Florida just before the NHL trading deadline, adding the tough forward they wanted for the Stanley Cup playoffs.", "Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis withdrew from the Pro Bowl because of a hand injury he sustained in a playoff loss to Indianapolis.", "Doctors warn that injuries are more severe when lightning strikes an iPod user.", "The inexperienced receivers had a tough time getting open. The retooled offensive line had some trouble protecting the star quarterback.", "The Ravens opened the season with Super Bowl aspirations and have a tough schedule ahead. Nonetheless, the team is still in the hunt for an AFC North title.", "Work by British scientists could mean people paralysed by spinal injuries may one day be able to walk again.", "Brett Favre will return for his 17th NFL season, undeterred by his injuries and hoping to lead the Green Bay Packers back to the playoffs.", "Vibrations in NASA’s new rocket may cause severe, perhaps fatal, injuries.", "Several people are reported killed in a large blast in Nazran, in the troubled Russian republic of Ingushetia.", "The severe drought in Australia dents profits at the country's troubled wheat exporting business.", "Sport: Rugby World Cup: The Springboks destroy England in Paris, a defeat compounded by several injuries.", "The Bush administration says an all-out effort will be made to secure troubled parts of Iraq before scheduled elections in January.", "“Over the G W” follows a troubled brother and sister as they are committed to a New Jersey treatment center by their well-meaning parents.", "A come-from-behind victory over the Bills means the Giants will go to the playoffs for the third consecutive season and relieves the persistent pressure that follows Coach Tom Coughlin.", "The Pittsburgh Penguins added some grit and experience to their playoff push by acquiring forward Gary Roberts and tough guy Georges Laraque at the NHL trade deadline on Tuesday.", "Ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is bundled out of Pakistan as soon as he arrives. But it may mean more trouble for Musharraf" ]

[ "(CNN) -- Pundit Glenn Reynolds recently wrote: \"So as I understand it, Atticus Finch is now the bad guy in \"To Kill A Mockingbird,\" because he doubted a story about rape.\" How right he was. A story with a rape allegation carries an immediate electric charge. In Jim Crow's South, lynchings often came with a story of the victim having raped a white girl. With the energy of such a story, it wasn't too hard to whip up a fury strong enough to leave a man hanging from a tree. The \"rape propaganda\" was necessary to garner the emotions necessary to press the real, dark, agenda. Al Sharpton took a page out of the old South's playbook and brought us Tawana Brawley, who accused six white men of raping her. The story of white on black crime resonated, and it helped to promote a social justice agenda, but Tawana Brawley was no more a rape victim than two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama, who falsely accused nine black teenagers more than 80 years ago. What do these stories have in common? Someone had an agenda, and they knew that a rape story would put it on a rocket powered toboggan. And, therein lies the origin of today's \"rape culture\" frenzy. This is not to say that there are not unreported and unprosecuted sexual assaults. I have dear friends who suffered such injustice, and I believe their stories with every drop of blood in my body. I'll bet that nearly everyone knows someone who has a verifiably true story. But, is that really \"rape culture?\" What does that silly phrase mean? It means the same thing as Jim Crow stories of rape meant. It means the same thing that Tawana Brawley meant. It means that someone has an agenda, and they want to harness the emotional power of rape to promote it. Which brings us to the University of Virginia. When Sabrina Erdely's Rolling Stone story about a gang rape in a UVA frat house hit the presses, it went viral. Why? It was like a horror movie. I'll admit that when I read it, my own prejudices rose up, and I believed \"Jackie\" (the victim in the story). I thought of my friends who had been harmed and couldn't even begin to doubt that \"Jackie\" was telling the truth. Why wouldn't I believe her? The antagonists were a bunch of over-privileged white fraternity jerks from UVA, it seemed. The victim was yet another young woman who had had justice withheld. The story confirmed what I wanted to believe: that the elite run roughshod over the rest of us. It proved so much, and I \"knew\" which side was right. And it confirmed the bias of left-wing academics who have collectively decided that the \"war on boys\" must have more victims, because everything with a penis is a rapist. As the story burned, cries of \"rape culture\" started to sound less like fairy tales and more like factual reports. All of a sudden, embattled sexual harassment policies on college campuses started to look good, perhaps unquestionable. These policies that have been attacked by those who still believe in that quaint notion known as due process, and the tide started to turn. The Boston Globe recently ran the story of Patrick Whitt, who found himself falsely accused, and immediately judged guilty by mere suspicion. But then we had Jackie. Rape culture was real, after all! And then someone dared to question the story. Even I was aghast. How could he? This account was not published in some rag -- this was Rolling Stone, a publication of editorial ethics. Some schools of feminist thought consider questioning a victim to be utterly taboo. If she said it, then it must be true. Such is the mentality of those who would lynch Atticus Finch, or at least call for his disbarment, if he were practicing in modern day America. \"Jackie\" may not be Mayella Ewell, \"Mockingbird's\" faux victim. I wasn't there in that UVA frat house. But Jackie supposedly was. Nevertheless, the \"journalist\" who brought us the story has now been revealed to have been, at least, lazy and willfully blind to the holes in Jackie's story. She claims that she never asked the men in the story for their account of events because of an agreement with Jackie. And therein lie so many problems. This is the kind of \"believe the victim\" mentality that is so darkly infecting academia. \"Presumed guilty\" is the new standard. Patrick Whitt is the new Tom Robinson, the black man accused of the rape in \"To Kill a Mockingbird.\" Due process loses, ethics are out the window, because there is an agenda, and it needs the fuel of a rape story. And who loses? The casualty list is still being compiled. Terrible journalism or not, maybe Jackie was telling the truth. Maybe she was lying. If she was lying, the UVA Greek system already paid a terrible price. If she was telling the truth, she won't ever be believed now. Why? Because Sabrina Erdely was so utterly void of journalistic ethics that she committed \"journalistic malpractice.\" Because now, nobody will believe Jackie. And after Erdely's lazy journalism, the next girl who reports a rape might find it to be that much more difficult to get to justice. I don't know what Erdely's agenda was, but it wasn't responsible journalism. Responsible journalism is hard. It isn't public relations. A responsible journalist digs for the truth, she doesn't just take her subject's agenda and run with it. That isn't journalism, that's \"gossip,\" and like all gossip, it doesn't do anything positive for anyone." ]

[ "By . Jill Reilly . Arrested: Elmi Mouhamaud Muhidin 24, was arrested while hiding on island of Lampedusa . The women who travelled on a migrant boat that sank off the coast of Italy have claimed they were covered in petrol and raped in front of their tortured husbands before boarding the doomed craft. The revelation came in a criminal complaint against suspected Somali trafficker Elmi Mouhamud Muhidin, 34, who was arrested on the island of Lampedusa where he was living in an overcrowded migrant centre and pretending to be one of the refugees. Together with some Libyan militiamen, . the man is accused of taking part in dozens of rapes while the migrants . were being held in a refugee detention centre in Sabha in the Libyan . desert. 'All the women in that centre were raped,' Maurizio Scalia, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, told reporters. The . La Repubblica daily quoted one of the criminal complaints against the . Somali - the heart-rending story of one female survivor, a 17-year-old . girl, as told to the police. She said she was in a group of 130 people from Eritrea including 20 women walking through the desert from Sudan into Libya when they were seized by kidnappers and taken to a house in Sabha. They asked for ransom of $3,300 (£2,000) to release their victims. Two Italian policemen hold pictures of Palestinian Attour Abdalmenem, left, and Somali Mouhamud Elmi Muhidin during a press conference in Palermo, Sicily, today . Mouhamud Elmi Muhidin arrived on one of his own boats on October 25 and an alleged co-conspirator, a Palestinian, landed on November 3, the police said . 'They forced us to watch our men being tortured with various methods including batons, electric shocks to the feet. Whoever rebelled was tied up.' 'The . women who could not pay were assaulted,' she was quoted as saying. Once . the payment was made, they were then passed on for the voyage to . Europe. 'They threw me . on the ground, held me down and poured fuel on my head. Then three of . them raped me without protection. After a quarter of an hour I was . beaten and taken back to the house,' she said. Grim: Italian soldiers carrying the body of a victim from the October 3 shipwreck in the Lampedusa harbour . Trafficking ring: Investigators said some of the survivors of the October 3 tragedy had spotted Elmi Mouhamud Muhidin at the centre and identified him as a member of a trafficking ring . Investigators said some of the survivors of the October 3 tragedy had spotted Elmi Mouhamud Muhidin at the centre and identified him as a member of a trafficking ring that smuggles migrants from Libya to Italy. The Somali arrived on one of his own boats on October 25 and an alleged co-conspirator, a Palestinian, landed on November 3, the police said. The Palestinian has also been arrested. Another man, the boat's 35-year-old Tunisian captain Khaled Bensalam, was detained immediately after the tragedy on charges of manslaughter. Some of the 155 survivors - most of them Eritreans - attacked the Somali and the Palestinian when they saw them and the police said they could have been lynched. The Somali was flown from the remote Italian island to Sicily on Thursday and could be seen in photo and video images distributed by the police. He faces 30 years in prison under the charges. Italian authorities have vowed to crack down on the people trafficking rings that have been behind the influx of more than 35,000 asylum-seekers so far this year to the country's coasts. The police suspect that smugglers across north Africa - particularly in an increasingly lawless Libya - are working together with criminal contacts in Italy to arrange the landings.", "Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is banned from the NBA for life. Sterling has confirmed it is his voice expressing racist views on audio of a private conversation that was leaked to the media. Some who have followed Sterling over the years say he had shown this side before and the leaked audio led to public outcry too loud for the NBA commissioner to ignore. But what of the recording itself? Was it legal to record? To leak? Here's a look at some of the legal aspects of the recorded conversation between Sterling and his alleged mistress, V. Stiviano, who said she recorded the conversation. Was it legal to record the conversation? It depends what state you are in during the conversation. Most states require that only one person have knowledge that a conversation is being recorded for it to be legal. But some states, like California, are \"two-party consent\" states where all of those involved in the conversation have to know they are being recorded for it to be legal. So depending on the location of the recording, if Sterling didn't know he was being recorded, the audio might very well have been obtained illegally. Stiviano's lawyer, however, told the Los Angeles Times that Sterling knew he was being recorded. The lawyer, Mac Nehoray, declined to tell the Times why Stiviano recorded the conversation, but said it was \"by mutual agreement,\" he told the Times. Banning Sterling good for NBA's bottom line . Was it legal to leak the audio? Though some may question the ethics of the act, if the audio was legally obtained, no laws were violated by leaking it to a reporter. The reporters who received the audio and disseminated its contents to the public also did nothing illegal, said Joel Kurtzberg, a New York attorney with expertise in First Amendment and media law. Stiviano's lawyer has said that Stiviano was not the one who released the audio to the media. Clippers unite and win . Was this a First Amendment violation? Have Sterling's First Amendment rights been violated? No, Kurtzberg said. No one is questioning that Sterling has the right to speak as he pleases, but the public and the NBA are also free to condemn what he says, Kurtzberg said. Marc J. Randazza, a Las Vegas-based First Amendment attorney, wrote in an op-ed for CNN that the NBA is private club and can punish Sterling as it sees fit. But, Randazza wrote, it was morally wrong to leak the audio and violate Sterling's privacy. We all say things in private that we may not say in public, he said, but \"we now live in a world where if you have any views that are unpopular, you now not only need to fear saying them in public, but you need to fear saying them at all -- even to your intimate friends.\" Opinion: What happened to Sterling was morally wrong . Who wants to buy out a billionaire?", "One of the two former Vanderbilt football players on trial for raping an unconscious student in a dorm room has been accused of urinating on the woman while she was passed out. But while the claims against Cory Batey were mentioned in opening statements on Tuesday, on Wednesday one of his lawyers argued that jurors should not have heard the allegation. 'Your honor, the prejudicial value of that is enormous, absolutely enormous,' Worrick Robinson said as he battled to keep the claim out of court. The judge said they would revisit the issue. Batey is on trial for rape with fellow former football player Brandon Vandenburg, who is accused of encouraging three players to assault the woman, who had been his date that night, in June 2013. On trial: Former Vanderbilt football player Cory Batey, right, has been accused of urinating on a woman after raping her with fellow former football player Brandon Vandenburg (left) in a dorm room in June 2013 . Both Batey and Vandenburg - as well as the two other men - have pleaded not guilty. The two others, Jaborian 'Tip' McKenzie and Brandon Banks, are expected to testify against Batey and Vandenburg. Batey's lawyers said that the claim he urinated on the woman - as well as another claim that he made a racial statement - came from one of the two men set to testify against their friends. Defense attorneys have said McKenzie and Banks have repeatedly changed their stories and are only testifying to help themselves. Judge Monte Watkins ruled that jurors would not hear about the alleged racial statement because there are no racial undertones to the case. Batey and two of the former ex-players are black. Vandenburg is white. It is not clear what the statement was. The judge, however, said they would revisit the allegations about the urination later. Graphic details: Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman told jurors that the former players giggled, shot video, and one of them violated the victim with a water bottle . Prosecutors have argued that rape is an act of power, control and humiliation and jurors should hear the allegations that Batey urinated on the woman. Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman said it was the final act in the attack in the dorm room after the rape. But Robinson, the defense attorney, said there was no evidence of urine in the room. Watkins ruled that the allegation of the urination could only be introduced if there was corroborating evidence. According to published accounts, on June 23, 2013, Vandenburg, a star player who had recently transferred to Vanderbilt from College of the Desert in California, took the 21-year-old student to a bar called Tin Roof, and on the ride back the player's date reportedly passed out in the car. Lieutenant Donnie Harville of the Vanderbilt Police Department testified during the rape trial of the former Vanderbilt football players on Wednesday . Several Vanderbilt students stated that the woman was then carried to Vandenburg's room on the second floor of Gillette House, where she was allegedly raped by a group of young men. Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman told Tennessee jurors that Vandenburg and Batey giggled, shot video and sent text messages while they sexually abused her. He described in sometimes graphic detail how one former player violated the female student with a water bottle while a teammate egged him on. The prosecutor said one of the players passed out condoms and raped her. During the opening statements, the alleged victim, an Oklahoma native, sat in the audience wiping her eyes with a tissue. She is expected to take the stand as a witness for the prosecution. Star witnesses: Brandon Banks (left) and Jaborian 'Tip' McKenzie (right) also have been charged in the rape case but are expected to testify against Vandenburg and Batey . 'Unreliable': Defense attorneys for Vandenburg (left) and Batey (right) warned jurors that Banks and McKenzie have changed their stories repeatedly . Crime scene: Police say Vandenburg brought his unconscious date to his second-floor room in the Gillette House dormitory, where he proceeded to rape her . Testimony so far has come from friends of the woman who saw her earlier that evening and from Vanderbilt police showing surveillance video from inside the dorm. Vandenburg and Batey are being tried on five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Vandenburg is also charged with one count of tampering with evidence and one count of unlawful photography. The defense will blame alcohol and a culture of binge drinking and sexual promiscuity on campus. Robinson also told jurors that there is no evidence of Batey's DNA in the dorm room and no evidence of his fingerprints on a condom box. One of Vandenburg's attorneys said evidence would show that his client was not responsible for what someone else did to the woman, who allegedly was his date that night. The case comes in the midst of a roiling debate about the prevalence of rape on campuses of the nation's colleges and universities. The Obama administration launching its own campaign to end sexual assault on America's campuses.", "A former surgeon at the hospital where Jimmy Savile had an office has been accused of sexually abusing a patient from the age of four. Bruce Bailey, who worked at the world-renowned Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, allegedly attacked the girl while reading her bedtime stories. She says the plastic surgeon, who died in 2001, then raped her when she was 11 as she waited to have an operation. The late Bruce Bailey, a former surgeon, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire in 1983 . Bruce Bailey has been accused of raping a girl when she was 11 as she waited to have an operation . Bailey is believed to have known paedophile DJ and TV presenter Savile, the Sunday Mirror reported today. Bailey's alleged victim, now in her 50s, said the abuse took place at a time when she underwent more than 100 ­operations. 'The first time I was abused by Mr Bailey was when I was just four,' she said. 'I remember being completely ­terrified and confused. 'Soon after he abused me again while he read me a bedtime story on the ­children's ward. I was recovering from my operation,' she told the Sunday Mirror. 'I was a tiny child – I froze and did . not say anything, I was too scared. Each time I was re-admitted I would . plead not to be left.' The . alleged victim - who says she was also indecently assaulted by Savile - . claims a junior doctor saw Bailey indecently touching her but nothing . was done. Accused: Bruce Bailey, surgeon, relaxes after a 12 hour operation in 1983 . Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where surgeon Bruce Bailey worked and where paedophile DJ Jimmy Savile had an office . Paedophile DJ Jimmy Savile had an office at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and sexually abused children there . Bailey is the second doctor at the hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to be accused of abusing patients. Dr Michael Salmon, who worked Stoke Mandeville, is accused of rape and four counts of indecent assault. The 78-year-old is alleged to have carried out the attacks in hospitals across Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, over a 13-year period between 1972 and 1983. Dr Michael Salmon pictured in 1990. He has been charged with offences of rape and indecent assault involving four victims at hospitals in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire . A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said the charges stemmed from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Yewtree - the investigation into the Jimmy Saville abuse scandal. Salmon, from Woodgreen, Hampshire, was arrested by detectives and then later charged. He has been bailed to appear at Aylesbury Magistrates' Court on December 17. Last week it emerged new sex abuse claims against Jimmy . Savile are being made weekly, as the number of . hospitals under investigation over the scandal more than doubled to 32. Health . Secretary Jeremy Hunt said an extra 19 hospitals had been caught up in . the scandal, in addition to 13 already subject to an urgent inquiry. It suggests the disgraced former BBC . presenter’s abuse of children on NHS premises may have been more regular . and more serious than those offences committed at the Corporation. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.", "By . Steve Doughty, Social Affairs Correspondent . Anonymity: Maura McGowan, chairwoman of the Bar Council, believes people accused of sex crimes, including rape, should have their identities protected . The identities of men accused of rape and other sex crimes should be kept secret unless they are found guilty in court, a leading lawyer said yesterday. Maura McGowan, a deputy High Court judge and chief of the professional body for barristers, said the law should protect the identity of those charged with sex offences because the crimes ‘carry such a stigma’. ‘Until they have been proven to have done something as awful as this – I think there is a strong argument in cases of this sort, because they carry such stigma with them, to maintain the defendant’s anonymity, until he is convicted,’ she said. ‘But once the defendant is convicted then of course everything should be open to scrutiny and to the public.’ Miss McGowan, who is chairman of the Bar Council, acknowledged that there were arguments in favour of allowing suspects to be named. ‘There is obviously a public interest in open justice,’ she said. ‘People would say that they are entitled to know not simply who has been convicted but who has been accused.’ She added that if Jimmy Savile had been accused of sex crimes when he was alive he should have been named. ‘In a case like that, people would say, if one complainant comes forward against a person it might give other people who don’t know her, but who went through the same experience, the courage to come forward as well.’ The idea of anonymity for rape defendants was a surprise inclusion in the list of promises made by David Cameron and Nick Clegg when the Coalition was formed in 2010. Ms McGowan says the law should be changed because rape allegations 'carry such a stigma' (file picture) Backing: Terry Harrison, who was falsely accused of rape five years ago, has backed Ms Mcgowan's stance . But the plan was dropped by the end . of that year in the face of criticism and fears that protection for some . defendants would mean secrecy could be extended in future to others. John Cooper, a human rights barrister, said: ‘Anonymity for sex crime . victims is unworkable. ‘Why should somebody who is accused of a sex crime receive anonymity? ‘Why don’t we broaden that out to . include people who are accused of beating children or murdering . children? There’s no distinguishing case for sex crimes to be singled . out, it has to be anonymity for all or anonymity for none.’ Alleged victims of certain sexual offences, including rape, have been entitled to lifelong anonymity after making their complaint, since 1976. Anonymity can be lifted if the complainant chooses to reveal their identity of if the court orders it to encourage witnesses to come forward. The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976, which brought in anonymity for complainants, also provided for anonymity for defendants. This was done to provide equality between complainants and defendants, and to protect potentially innocent defendants from stigma. This provision was repealed in 1988, meaning those accused of sexual offences no longer have any particular entitlement to anonymity. Source: parliament.uk . Victims and alleged victims of rape . have been granted anonymity since 1976 to spare women from humiliation . and encourage more victims to report attacks. The law originally gave the same protection to those charged with rape. But anonymity for defendants was . withdrawn in 1988 after judges protested that it prevented police from . appealing for witnesses. Judges also said that the acquittal of a man charged with rape was enough to clear his name and reputation. But Terry Harrison, who was falsely . accused of rape in 2007, told the BBC: ‘If the person has done a crime . as heinous as that, then they should be named and shamed, I agree, but . not until they’ve actually been done for it. ‘Innocent until proven guilty is a . load of rubbish. I was guilty until I was proven innocent, and even when . I was proven innocent I’m still getting judged. ‘I ended up going to jail for something I didn’t do. ‘I was in the paedophile wing, the . rapists’ wing, the grass wing. I was there for three months before the . DNA results finally came back negative.’ The woman who falsely accused Mr . Harrison, 42- year-old Shirley Prince, was jailed for three months in . 2008 for perverting the course of justice. In September, MailOnline reported how Janet Higginbottom (right), 36, was jailed for 15 months after she tried to frame her ex-lover for rape after he refused to rekindle their affair. Higginbottom got drunk and dialled 999 at 2am falsely claiming she had been stalked and then raped in the street after being followed home. Manchester Crown Court heard how Higginbottom of Broadbottom, Hyde, then identified her ex as the culprit, wrongly claiming he had fled in a car after the incident even though he was at home all the time. Higginbottom’s unnamed former boyfriend was later arrested in a 4am raid in front of his current girlfriend and held for 11 hours. He was eventually freed without charge after Higginbottom broke down and confessed she had fabricated her story after detectives uncovered inconsistencies in her evidence. Jailing her for 15 months the judge, recorder Simon Killeen told her: 'This offence was malicious.' Earlier the court heard how Higginbottom, who was described as 'lonely and isolated', had had a fling with the victim in 2007. They had split, but on 2011 Higginbottom had sent him a series of text messages in a bid to rekindle the relationship. When he did not respond to her advances, Higginbottom began sending him abusive text messages, the court heard. Shortly afterwards she called 999 and claimed in a rambling 20-minute phone call that he had raped her in the Levenshulme area of Manchester. Police went to the scene after the false report was made at 2.30am on November 26. They found Higginbottom staggering in the street and took her to a station so she could receive specialist help and support. When she was examined by a doctor, it was claimed she had injuries which supported her claim. Higginbottom was interviewed by officers and told them how she had seen her 'attacker' in Manchester and he had followed her and raped her on the street. She said he then drove off in a car and provided the registration number for it. But Greater Manchester Police said the investigation highlighted a number of serious inconsistencies and when asked about these Higginbottom later admitted she had lied about the rape and it hadn’t happened.", "A fantasist who was jailed in 2003 for falsely claiming she was raped by Neil and Christine Hamilton is back behind bars for wrongly telling police her boyfriend had attacked her with a samurai sword. Nadine Milroy-Sloan, 41, was sentenced to three years after wrongly claiming that the former MP and his wife had sexually assaulted her. Now she has been jailed for four years for perverting the course of justice, after lying that her now ex-boyfriend had threatened to kill her at the home they shared in Rye, East Sussex. Scroll down for video . Fantasist: Nadine Milroy-Sloan, 41, (left) who was jailed in 2003 for falsely claiming she was raped by Neil and Christine Hamilton (pictured outside a police station after the allegations were made in 2001) is back behind bars for wrongly telling police her boyfriend had attacked her with a samurai sword . He was arrested and later charged, spending three months on remand before police realised that she was lying. Mrs Hamilton said she had been contacted by the man's mother following his arrest. Although Milroy-Sloan was using her maiden name Checksfield and the first name Emily, she had suspected it was the same woman who had wrongly accused the couple in 2001. 'This poor guy was on remand for three months on totally trumped up charges,' Mrs Hamilton told MailOnline. 'Thank goodness he had the resolution to follow it through because there is a big cost, not just in terms of money but time, and he was determined that she was not going to get away with it.' False allegations: Milroy-Sloan (left) arrives at the Old Bailey for her 2003 trial. After their arrest in 2001, the Hamiltons launched a very public defence against the allegations, which were dropped when it became apparent they were entirely false . Falsely accused: Milroy-Sloan had made up the allegations against the couple . In June 2003, Nadine Milroy-Sloan was jailed for three years for falsely accusing Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine Hamilton of rape. Milroy-Sloan, then 29, was convicted by a jury at the Old Bailey of two charges of perverting the course of justice, having lied to police in May 2001, claiming she had been attacked by former Tory minister Mr Hamilton and his wife in a flat in Ilford, Essex. She claimed she had been lured to the flat by 62-year-old Barry Lehaney, who she said had told her he was the Hamiltons' chauffeur. But Milroy-Sloan had never met the couple and invented the story to make money. Just two days before the alleged attack, she had been to see publicist Max Clifford with a story about the Hamiltons being involved in a vice ring and a tax scam. Following their arrest on August 10, 2001, the couple mounted a very public defence against the allegations, and said they were not at the alleged scene because they were hosting a dinner party, producing alibis from guests including former Conservative speechwriter and Big Brother contestant Derek Laud. The investigation against the couple was dropped when it became apparent that the accusations were entirely false. The jury of ten men and two women agreed with the prosecution that Milroy-Sloan, of Peterhouse Road, Grimsby, Lincs, was a 'cunning' fantasist who had come up with the scheme to find fame and fortune. The jury heard that shamed publicist Clifford, who was jailed earlier this year for a string of sex charges, told Milroy-Sloan she could expect around £100,000 from the media if she could prove her vice ring claims. Prosecutor Orlando Pownall QC said the Hamiltons were totally innocent and had been at Claridges Hotel on the night of the alleged rape. Milroy-Sloan's claims led to Mr Lehaney being arrested on May 7 and the Hamiltons being detained on August 10 'in a blaze of wholly unwarranted publicity'. Mr Pownall also told the court that Milroy-Sloan had been paid £50,000 by a Sunday newspaper to reveal her identity. The rape allegation was not the first time Milroy-Sloan made false complaints to the police. In 1997, she was convicted of a breach of the peace after attacking a friend. Six weeks later, she told police the woman had since attacked her in the street. Her mother-in-law Karen Sloan said she had also told police that her elderly, terminally-ill mother was a drug dealer who had hit her. Clifford, jailed for sexually assaulting a string of women earlier this year, later agreed to pay undisclosed damages and costs over comments he made to newspapers and to GMTV on the false allegations against the Hamiltons. Weeks after he was charged, the man had recorded a conversation with Milroy-Sloan, in which she admitted that the allegation made in April 2012 was false. She then tried to get police to withdraw the allegations, and the charges against him were dropped. Milroy-Sloan, of Deal, Kent, was jailed last week after she was found guilty of perverting the course of justice. She was cleared of a separate alleged offence of burglary. Police confirmed to MailOnline that Nadine Milroy-Sloan and Emily Checksfield were the same person. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Ling said; 'Checksfield had put this man through the ordeal of a convincing allegation, arrest, charge, initial court appearance and, for a while, a remand in custody until he secured bail. Anger: Mrs Hamilton, pictured earlier this year with her husband, described Milroy-Sloan as 'mad, bad and dangerous to know', and said she had 'devastated' her ex-boyfriend's life . 'We will always take all allegations of violent offences very seriously, and this one was thoroughly investigated, but it became clear that Checksfield had made the allegation out of personal spite and that it had no foundation. 'It is equally important that false allegations are considered for prosecution and we worked closely with the CPS to help ensure that she was eventually brought to justice.' In August 2001, Former Conservative MP for Tatton, Cheshire, Mr Hamilton, 65, and his wife, 64, were arrested after Milroy-Sloan claimed she had been attacked by them at a flat in Ilford, Essex. She claimed she had been lured to the flat by a man who had told her he was the Hamiltons' chauffeur. But Milroy-Sloan, who already had a criminal record, had never met the couple and had invented the story to make money. Two days before the alleged attack, she went to see publicist Max Clifford with a story about the Hamiltons being involved in a vice ring and a tax scam. The jury of ten men and two women agreed with the prosecution that Milroy-Sloan was a 'cunning' fantasist who had come up with the scheme to find fame and fortune. The Hamiltons were arrested and questioned for five hours in August 2001. But it emerged they had never met Milroy-Sloan or been near Ilford at the time of the alleged offence. ''It's a scandal,' said Mrs Hamilton today. She added: 'I know she didn't accuse him of rape, but she did in our case, and what she did to this poor guy was appalling. 'He real crime is against genuine victims because every time someone cries wolf it makes it harder for them to be believed. It's a crime against women. 'She is thoroughly mad, bad, and dangerous to know and thank God she has not got away with it. 'She has devastated this fellow's life and it's terrible. Let's hope she is not allowed to do this to anyone else again.' A Sussex Police spokesman said: 'The allegation made by Checksfield against her then-partner in Rye in 2012 was thoroughly investigated and the facts, including her previous conviction in 2003, were submitted to the CPS who authorised his prosecution.'", "By . Martin Robinson . and Lucy Osborne . and Mark Duell . Stuart Hall has been charged with more historic sex attacks including the rape of a young woman and 14 counts of indecent assault on children as young as a nine. The veteran broadcaster, 83, was arrested yesterday when he attended a Lancashire police station by appointment over allegations stretching over a 19-year period. The rape is alleged to have been in 1976 on a 22-year-old and the indecent assault offences are reported to have been committed between 1967 and 1986. They concern ten girls aged between nine and 16. The 83-year-old BBC television and radio . presenter had appeared in court earlier this month to face accusations . of three other sex attacks. Further charges: Stuart Hall (pictured outside court on January 7) was arrested yesterday on suspicion of rape and several indecent assaults over a 19-year period . A Lancashire Police statement said: . ‘Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service an . 83-year-old man has this evening been charged with one offence of rape . and 14 offences of indecent assault.’ Hall had already been charged in December with indecently assaulting three girls. These charges included an alleged . assault of an eight-year-old, an 11-year-old and a woman who was then . aged 16. The allegations cover the period between 1974 and 1984. Hall, who is known for his . distinctively highbrow approach to football commentary on Radio 5 Live, . was released from custody and bailed to appear before court this month . over the three charges. But now that case will go before magistrates in . Preston on April 16. He has already pleaded not guilty. And, in light of the new allegations . laid against him, he has been bailed to appear before magistrates, again . in Preston, on February 7. Heyday: Veteran broadcaster Stuart Hall, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, is pictured in 1979 at home with his wife Hazel . In December, Hall’s employers at BBC . Radio 5 Live announced he would not be working for them while the police . investigation was continuing. Hall was first arrested in December . during a dawn swoop on his £1.5million detached home in Wilmslow, . Cheshire, where he lives with his wife of 44 years, Hazel, who is 74. The couple, who have two grown-up . children, Daniel, 50, and Francesca, 52, are popular among the local . community where they carry out charity work. Hall won legions of fans in the 1970s . and 1980s for his inimitable style and habit of breaking down in fits of . infectious laughter during It’s a Knockout. He became an OBE in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and charity. Hall’s solicitor, Louise Straw, said . last night: ‘A number of historic allegations have been made, all of . which are denied. 'None of these allegations have been raised with the . authorities in the last three to four decades which raises concerns and . issues.’ A police spokesman said: ‘We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously.’ Scrum: There was huge interest as the broadcaster British broadcaster walked to court a fortnight ago . Appearance: Stuart Hall faces prosecutor Jo Ann Cunnife as judge Peter Ward looks on at Preston Magistrates' Court earlier this month . Mr Hall appeared before magistrates a fortnight ago to deny the first three allegations of sexually abusing young girls he was accused of in December. The veteran broadcaster, who has not been seen in public since, looked drawn and grey – a shadow of his normal ebullient self – as he entered court to face three counts of indecent assault. Hall was asked if he understood that he faced three separate charges of indecent assault and if he wanted to enter a plea. He replied: ‘Yes I do. Not guilty to all three charges.’ Hall, who gave his full name, James Stuart Hall, was then allowed to sit down in the witness box while further details of the charges were given at Preston Magistrates’ Court. Following his arrest Hall condemned the police decision to carry out a dawn raid at his home. At the time his solicitor, Miss Straw, expressed anger saying her client should not have had to suffer the humiliation of being arrested at his family home in the early hours of the morning. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.", "The body of a gang-raped teenager who was burned to death after her attackers threatened her family was 'hijacked' by police who attempted to forcibly cremate it, reports today suggest. The girl, 16, was gang-raped in October in Madhyamgram, near Calcutta, by a group of six men - who are believed to have links with West Bengal’s ruling party, the Trinamool Congress. They again attacked her the following day as she returned from reporting the crime to police with her father, it is claimed. Scroll down for video . Tragedy: The mother of the 16-year-old rape victim who was burned alive following a series of threats from the perpetrators cries over the teen's body on Wednesday . The group were arrested - but the teen and her family say they received a series of threats from the men. The alleged threats included one saying the girl's taxi-driver father would be killed if she continued to pursue charges. The family’s landlord, who is reportedly related to one of the gang, allegedly told them they must leave their one-bedroom property also. On the morning of her death, two friends of the accused allegedly visited the girl's home and verbally abused the girl. The teen victim was set alight on December 23 and died from her injuries on New Year's Eve. Doctors said the victim - who had 40 per . cent burns - had suffered severe damage to her throat and face, making . it difficult for her to breathe. Location: The terrible series of events took place in Madhyamgram, Calcutta (pictured) Earlier reports suggested the victim had committed suicide - a story that initially came from police - but today it was revealed the girl said two men poured kerosene over her and burned her before she died. Doctors have also said the girl was pregnant when she died. Reports today suggest police 'hijacked' the hearse carrying the girl's body and attempted to have it cremated despite the family's wishes to wait to give her a proper funeral. On Tuesday evening police are alleged to have intercepted the hearse, which was travelling from RG Kar Hospital to a mortuary. They took it to a crematorium where the body remained for three hours, it is claimed. Officers are then said to have gone to the home of the . bereaved family at around 2am and threatened to break . down the door if they did not give them the death certificate needed for the cremation. The girl's father refused, but officers allegedly tormented the family all night. In a letter written to Govenor M K Narayanan the father said: 'The superintendent of police and other officers reached our house in the dead of the night and asked us to open the door. Taking to the streets: A group of protestors rally in Kolkata following news of the horrific series of events . 'We were scared and refused to come out before day broke. They threatened to break down the door.' It is currently unclear as to why officers were so desperate to have the girl cremated on Tuesday night. Some reports suggest it could have been due to pressure from the Trinamool Congress. Eventually, with the help of the Communist Party of India (CPM), the family took control of the body on Wednesday afternoon. CPM supporters carried out a rally with the body and the victim's father agreed to cremation after he was given assurances the family would be protected from the gang and its associates. The events have led to protests across Calcutta - with campaigners saying nothing has changed in the country since the death of a student who was gang raped on a Delhi bus last year. Brinda Karat, a leading Women's Rights campaigner in India told The Telegraph: 'This gang raped her twice, she went to the police, and they had the temerity to go to her house and threaten her. 'Clearly they have political patronage, otherwise it is impossible for that to happen. 'What is so tragic is that her life could have been saved if the government and ordinary processes of law had worked — they would not have delayed bringing justice and protection for the victim. 'It’s a year since this terrible case in Delhi outraged the country and forced the government to make public commitments about preventative, protective and legal measures to punish [perpetrators] when these cases occur.'", "A judge set bail at $1.22 million for a 23-year-old Saudi Arabia air force sergeant jailed on New Year's Eve after he was accused of raping a 13-year-old boy in a Las Vegas Strip hotel room. In Las Vegas Justice Court on Friday, defense attorney Don Chairez says he believes police unfairly questioned Mazen Alotaibi because he was too drunk on cognac to surrender his right to a lawyer after the alleged December 31 attack. Alotaibi stood in court with an Arabic language interpreter and said nothing, while judge Bill Kephart called the allegations against him 'appalling.' Mazen Alotaibi, a 24-year-old Saudi air force sergeant, is seen in his shackles in court during an earlier hearing . Mute: Mazen Alotaibi (right), seen here with his interpreter at an earlier hearing, admitted raping the boy when he refused to have sex with him . Chairez said his client would plead not guilty to all charges but recommended that Alotaibi remain in jail until an evidence hearing on January 31. Prosecutors added two lesser charges . alleging lewdness with a minor to the kidnapping, sexual assault with a . minor, coercion and burglary charges that could put Alotaibi in prison . for life if he is convicted. Alotaibi was . arrested in Las Vegas after police say he pulled the boy, who is younger than 14, into his room at the Circus Circus hotel and raped him. ‘There was a kidnapping and sexual . assault with force,’ Las Vegas police Lt. Dan McGrath said. ‘The victim . said he was forced into the room and sexually assaulted. We have a . strong case based on the evidence.' 'Predator': Mazen Alotaibi, a sergeant in the Saudi Arabian Air Force, was arrested on New Year's Eve for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy in a Las Vegas hotel . The boy, who lives out of state, was staying at the hotel with his family, McGrath said. He was taken to a hospital for medical treatment and evidence collection and released later to family members. According to the police reported cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, three other men were in Alotaibi's room smoking marijuana. Alotaibi told police he was drinking Hennessy all night and was drunk when he met the boy. He first denied allegations, but later admitted to raping the teen after he refused to have sex with him for money. The report stated that the 23-year-old Saudi national told investigators that he had the boy perform oral sex on him 'for just a couple of seconds,' and then 'accidentally' raped him. McGrath said Alotaibi produced a Saudi Arabian military identification and said he was stationed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland near San Antonio, Texas. U.S. federal authorities and Saudi military officials were notified, the police lieutenant said. Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland spokesman Brent Boller told The Associated Press that records showed Alotaibi is currently stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Boller said he could not immediately verify if Alotaibi had been at Lackland, but noted that international military students attend a Defense Language Institute English Language Center on the base to improve their English-language skills. Crime scene: Police said Alotaibi was staying at Circus Circus hotel on the Strip while on holiday when he sexually assaulted the teenager inside his sixth-floor room . Chairez of Newport Beach, California, said earlier in the month that he had been in contact with U.S. military authorities at both air force bases and with the Saudi government. He said Alotaibi had come to Las Vegas for the New Year's celebration. Alotaibi also is charged with burglary, which in Nevada can stem from a person entering a building with intent to commit a felony. The alleged attack took place on the sixth floor of a 15-story hotel tower. Circus Circus has a total of 3,767 guest rooms in three towers and five three-story motor lodge-style buildings dubbed Circus Circus Manor. The arrest was first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It cited a police report saying the boy was 13. Far from home: Alotaibi is currently stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi . Saudi Arabia operates under Sharia, or Islamic, law and punishes homosexuality, or sodomy, with sentences of corporal and capital punishment. Saudi law also bans the consumption of alcohol. Those found guilty of drinking liqour could face anything from several weeks to several months in jail.", "By . Chris Parsons . Last updated at 12:41 AM on 17th February 2012 . 'Rape': Derek Chartres, 59, is alleged to have carried out the rape on the schoolgirl between 1982 and 1984 . A senior Chamber of Commerce figure and former RAF police officer raped a schoolgirl while his wife lay on the bed watching, a court heard today. Derek Chartres, 59, allegedly watched pornography and engaged in sex acts in front of schoolgirls and is also accused of raping a girl under 16. The former Chamber of Commerce president is accused of a string of sex acts against two girls, while his wife Pearl, 51, denies aiding and abetting the rape after she allegedly lay on the bed and watched. The alleged offences took place . between 1982 and 1984 when Chartres, from Newport, Isle of Wight, . committed the offences on the two schoolgirls, who are now both women in . their 40s, telling one it was 'sex education'. One . of the women complained to police in 2010 that Mr Chartres raped her . when she was a schoolgirl in the couple's bedroom, while his wife lay on . the bed and watched. One . girl, who recalled being around 11 at the time, told police how Mr . Chartres would watch pornographic videos in her presence and had once . kissed her intimately. She . said Mr and Mrs Chartres asked if she liked sex and engaged in sex acts . in front of her. They once had full sex in front of her calling it 'sex . education', according to prosecutor Roderick Blain. She said she also remembered Mr Chartres kissing her, which she found 'disgusting'. In . a DVD interview conducted by police, played to jurors, the other alleged victim . said Mr Chartres watched pornographic videos and rubbed her leg. On another occasion Mr and Mrs Chartres had full sex in front of her in the couple’s bedroom, she claimed. 'Sex attack': Derek Chartres allegedly raped a . schoolgirl while his wife Pearl is said to have lay on the couple's bed . and watched . She said: 'I could not believe what I was seeing.' Under cross examination from Mr Chartres’s barrister, Robert Bryan, she agreed she could not be sure how old she was when the alleged offences took place. Mr Bryan put it to the woman that she had 'made everything up'. However, she told the court everything she had said about the couple was the 'absolute truth'. Mr Chartres, managing director of business logistics and support company The Business Services Group and a former officer in the Royal Air Force police, helped found a youth version of the Chamber of Commerce called Young Chamber. He faces one charge of committing indecent assault, one of committing gross indecency with a child under the age of 14 and one of raping another girl under 16. His wife, on trial alongside her husband this week, is accused of aiding and abetting a rape and indecent assault. The couple are jointly charged with four counts of committing indecency with a child under the age of 14. They deny all charges. The defence was due to start its case on Thursday. The case at Portsmouth Crown Court continues.", "Former NFL star Darren Sharper pleaded not guilty in a Los Angeles court Thursday in the alleged druggings and rapes of two women. Judge Renee Korn raised Sharper's bail to $1 million from $200,000 in response to a prosecution request to raise it to as high as $10 million. The judge also ordered Sharper not to frequent clubs, bars or any venue where alcohol is the primary item for sale. Korn also ordered Sharper \"not be alone with any women he does not have a previous relationship with (from) prior to October 30, 2013,\" the date of the first alleged rape in Los Angeles County. Sharper has already surrendered his passport, the judge noted. \"Mr. Sharper must stay in Los Angeles County,\" the judge said. Sharper, who had been free on bail, stood quietly in a gray pinstripe suit with a black shirt and no tie. One of his defense attorneys, Blair Berk, said that Sharper was pleading not guilty. Berk has said that she is \"hopeful that before the case is concluded that Mr. Sharper will be exonerated.\" Leonard Levine, another of Sharper's attorneys, indicated his client would post his residence and his father's residence for the $1 million bail. The five-time Pro Bowl player, who became an NFL Network analyst, is charged with two counts of rape by use of drugs, four counts of furnishing a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance, all felonies, according to Los Angeles County prosecutors. The alleged rapes occurred in October and last month, authorities said. Sharper also is under investigation in Arizona, Louisiana and Nevada in connection with a total of five alleged rape cases in those states, according to Los Angeles authorities. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Stacy Okun-Wiese said in court that Sharper is also being investigated in sexual battery case in a fifth state, in Miami Beach, Florida. But in court, a Sharper lawyer disputed all the rape allegations. \"It was all consensual contact with women who wanted to be in his company,\" Levine said. In unsuccessfully seeking a $10 million bail, the prosecutor argued that \"Sharper is a danger to women.\" \"He hangs out with them in clubs. Takes them back. It's the same story,\" Okun-Wiese told the court. \"He gives them a shot. They black out. \"The next day they have no idea of what happened the previous night,\" she said. In the Los Angeles cases, Sharper is accused of using morphine and zolpidem -- another name for the prescription sleep aid Ambien -- on his two alleged victims, who said they blacked after Sharper served them a shot of alcohol, according to authorities. Okun-Wiese said authorities took count of Sharper's Ambien pills. \"I counted it up and Mr. Sharper has gone through 70 pills in 65 days,\" the prosecutor said. When Los Angeles County authorities filed the rape charges last month, they weren't aware of the Nevada and Arizona investigations, Okun-Wiese said. \"The circumstances have changed tremendously since the January 17 arrest\" of Sharper in California, Okun-Wiese said. Defense attorney Levine, however, said \"there is no probable cause\" against Sharper in those other states' cases. In the latest accusation, a Florida woman last month filed a sexual battery complaint in Miami Beach against Sharper relating to a 2012 incident, a police report said. The alleged victim filed the complaint shortly after an acquaintance told her last month that Sharper was arrested in California on rape charges, the Miami Beach police report says. The alleged Florida victim filed the report because \"she felt she needed to clear her conscious,\" the report said. According to the police report, in September or October 2012, the woman was with two friends at a Miami Beach club when she met Sharper, and when she, her friends, and another person went to Sharper's condo, the woman was \"extremely intoxicated.\" The woman's two friends later told her she went with Sharper into his bedroom, and the friends heard her telling Sharper, \"No, no, stop. I don't want to,\" the report said. The two friends knocked on the bedroom door, entered the room and tried to take the woman home, but because \"she was so intoxicated, she can't remember what she said to (the two friends) because her speech was slurred and she wanted to sleep,\" the report said. Everyone subsequently left Sharper's Miami Beach condo, except for Sharper and the woman, according to the report. The woman awoke the following morning, the report said, with Sharper allegedly sexually assaulting her without a condom. The woman was treated by a doctor a week after the incident, the report said. Miami Beach police are investigating the case, Miami Beach Detective Vivian Hernandez said Thursday.", "Jon Krakauer will release Missoula: Rape and the Justice System In a College Town on April 21 . For his next book, Jon Krakauer looked into a series of campus rapes at the University of Montana after he learned that a close family friend had been raped by a man she trusted. Mr Krakauer announced Monday that he would release 'Missoula: Rape and the Justice System In a College Town' on April 21. The best-selling author says that the story 'makes clear why rape is so prevalent on American campuses, and why rape victims are so reluctant to report assault'. He has previously written narrative non-fiction about topical issues, including a biography of football player and soldier Pat Tillman. The book's release in April follows several years where sexual assaults and how they are handled by universities have gotten increased attention. The Department of Justice investigated 350 sexual assaults reported to the Missoula police between January 2008 and May 2012, according to Mr Krakauer's website. The Colorado-based journalist says the new book 'chronicles the searing experiences of several women in Missoula' with both the police system and their university. The book purportedly tells how one district attorney testified for an alleged rapist during university proceedings against him. She later left the prosecutor's office, becoming an attorney for the university's star football player who was accused on rape. The Department of Justice began an investigation into Missoula County in May 2012 after receiving complaints about the way officials handled rapes reported by University of Montana students. A June 2014 agreement ended the investigation, with the county agreeing to training and special prosecutors for sexual assault cases. The university itself has created a small sexual assault prevention department last year with a coordinator and three interns, according to the Montana Kaimin. The Department of Justice investigated 350 sexual assaults reported to the Missoula police between January 2008 and May 2012 . While Mr Krakauer's story focuses on Montana, the book's scope is more global. Missoula is described as 'a typical college town' and Mr Krakauer's website said that rape victims are 'deserving of compassion from society and fairness from a justice system that is clearly broken'. Mr Krakauer decided to write the book 'after learning that a young woman with whom he and his wife have a close relationship suffered intensely in secret for many years after she was raped by a man she trusted,' according to USA Today. Sexual assault and rape have become issues at campuses across the country, with victims speaking out against the way that universities dealt with their allegations. Emma Sulkowicz at Columbia University attended the State of the Union with New York Senator Kristen Gillbrand after carrying a mattress around to classes in protest against her alleged attacker's continued presence on campus. Mr Krakauer, pictured speaking in 2009, is the best selling author of works such as Into Thin Air and Into the Wild . President Obama sent a pre-recorded message to the Grammys on Sunday urging artists to advocate against sexual and domestic violence. Ninety-four colleges and universities were under investigation by the Department of Justice for their handling of sexual assault cases as of the beginning of this year. Mr Krakauer's book says that it 'cuts through the abstract ideological debate about campus rape'. The writer's other works include Into the Wild, Under the Banner of Heaven and Into Thin Air, for which he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Publisher Doubleday plans a first printing of 500,000 copies for the new book.", "Jailed: Rhiannon Brooker, 30, has been jailed for three and a half years after she falsely accused her boyfriend of rape so she would have an excuse for failing her legal exams . A lying law graduate has been labelled 'utterly wicked' after she falsely accused her boyfriend of rape so she would have an excuse for failing her legal exams. Rhiannon Brooker, 30, has been jailed for three and a half years after she was found guilty of perverting the course of justice by claiming Paul Fensome, 46, forced her to have sex with him on five occasions. The Birmingham law graduate even faked injuries to suggest Mr Fensome had beaten her, and alleged that he caused her to have a miscarriage by punching her in the stomach. Bristol Crown Court heard that Brooker falsified the allegations because her party lifestyle led her to fail her bar assessments. She repeatedly told an exam committee that her performance suffered from 'extenuating circumstances'. Mr Fensome, a 6ft 8in heavy metal fan, was arrested, charged and held in custody for 36 days before police realised he had clear alibis for the dates of the alleged rapes. Brooker, of Frampton Cotterell, South Gloucestershire, denied 20 charges of perverting the course of justice between May 2011 and January 2012. But a jury of 10 men and two women convicted her of 12 charges - five false rape claims, six assaults and one of false imprisonment - earlier this month. Jurors were discharged after failing to reach verdicts on the eight remaining charges. Judge Julian Lambert said Brooker, who did not wish to be present in court as the sentence was passed, had lied in an 'utterly wicked' way. 'Rhiannon Brooker was a bright star and shining example of what can be achieved by those who lack special privileges,' the judge said. 'All that went terribly wrong with tragic consequences when she began to lie. These lies had a terrible, corrosive effect. The effect was like ripples spreading through a pool of sadness. 'The effect continues today. Rhiannon Brooker lied and lied and lied again and was relentless in her attempts to mislead.' Judge Lambert said Brooker began to circulate false stories about being sexually abused by Mr Fensome in 2011. Scroll down for video . Victim: Mr Fensome, a 6ft 8in heavy metal fan, was arrested, charged and held in custody for 36 days before police realised he had clear alibis for the dates of the alleged rapes . Her lies led to Mr Fensome’s arrest, . charge and detention in Horfield Prison, where he was subjected to abuse . by fellow inmates. 'She does bear the ultimate responsibility for circulating then doggedly pursuing false rape allegations,' the judge said. 'Prison . is a terrible humiliation and degradation, particularly for a person of . previous good character. The irony is that is what she inflicted on her . former partner.' Judge . Lambert said he had sat through 'hour after hour' of video interviews in . which Brooker told officers how she had been raped, during the . eight-week trial. 'What I . observed was someone of high intelligence who went to significant . devious lengths to pervert the course of public justice,' he said. 'The conduct was utterly cynical, calculating, determined and repeated.' Judge . Lambert said two people suffered 'dreadfully' as a consequence of . Brooker’s actions - Mr Fensome and Brooker’s nine-month-old baby, who . cannot be named for legal reasons. Fake: Bristol Crown Court heard that Brooker falsified the allegations because her party lifestyle led her to fail her bar assessments . 'What the defendant did here was cold, calculated, sustained, repeated and under any analysis utterly wicked,' he added. Judge Lambert sentenced Brooker to three and a half years for each of the five false rape allegations, to run concurrently. He imposed nine-month sentences for . the remaining six false assault allegations and one charge of false . imprisonment, also to run concurrently. Prosecutor . David Bartlett had told the court that Brooker’s actions could have . resulted in Mr Fensome, an innocent man, receiving a substantial prison . sentence. 'There can be no doubt that if Mr . Fensome was convicted of five rapes, six assaults and one false . imprisonment, he would have faced a very long term of imprisonment, . measured in double figures,' Mr Bartlett said. 'Despite his good character, a sentence of life imprisonment would have been considered.' 'Prison is a terrible humiliation and . degradation, particularly for a person of previous good character. The . irony is that is what she inflicted on her former partner.' Judge Julian Lambert . Mr . Bartlett said Brooker submitted a statement containing the false . allegations to her tutor at the University of West of England on April . 11 2011. Police were called and began their investigation on May 24 that year, with Mr Fensome arrested on August 1. Brooker . continued her lies in interviews with police between August 2 and . August 22 and further interviews in November that year. Mr . Fensome spent 36 days in custody, after which he was subjected to an . electronic tag and curfew and had to report to police by phone call six . times per day. In January 2012, prosecutors offered no evidence against Mr Fensome as phone records and work rosters from his railway signalman job proved he could not have committed the attacks. Mr Bartlett said Brooker even used a secret second phone to send abusive messages to herself - then pretended they were from Mr Fensome. 'Miss Brooker has shown no remorse,' Mr Bartlett said. In a victim impact statement, Mr Fensome, who has since received £38,000 in compensation from Avon and Somerset Police, said: 'My life has been turned upside-down and ripped apart. My family and I have been put through an immense amount of stress and heartache, which continues to the present day. 'We cannot come to terms with why we have been put through this. If I had not been able to prove my whereabouts, I could have been locked away for something that I had not done which would have lost me my career, my home - everything I have worked so hard for. 'Please be assured I have the utmost sympathy for anyone who has been through a genuine attack but I also feel strongly that false claims must be dealt with strongly to send the message that such acts will not be tolerated.'", "By . Rob Cooper . PUBLISHED: . 06:35 EST, 23 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:43 EST, 23 April 2013 . Accused: Leeds United youth player Simon Lenighan is standing trial over the alleged rape of a woman in a city centre hotel . A Leeds United youth team footballer raped a drunk woman in a hotel after a night out and filmed the attack on a mobile phone, a court heard. Simon Lenighan, 18, is alleged to have carried out the sex attack on the woman with another man, Nathan Campbell, 23, in the Etap Hotel in Leeds. Leeds Crown Court heard the woman, aged in her 20s, was woken by a chambermaid the next morning and had no idea where she was how she got there. The court heard yesterday that Lenighan and Campbell had left and her mobile phone and money were missing. Police were contacted and video footage was found on Campbell's mobile phone, the court was told. Robin Mairs, prosecuting, said: 'What we say is both Campbell and Lenighan used their video phones to film (the woman) while she lay naked in bed.' Mr Mairs said the men were laughing on the video but did not want to be seen on camera. He added: 'This video, the Crown says, is more than simply a sordid souvenir of what happened in that hotel room. It is more than a lack of decency.' Lenighan, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, denies three charges of rape and one of perverting the course of justice. Campbell, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, denies three charges of rape, one of sexual assault and perverting the course of justice. Mr Mairs said Lenighan and Campbell met each other for the first time on the night of the alleged incident, August 29 last year, when they were drinking in the Tiger Tiger bar in Leeds. The woman, who knew Lenighan, had also been drinking in the bar and agreed to go back to the hotel with the two men. Mr Mairs said the girl had been drinking vodka and friends had been concerned for her safety because she had so much to drink. Attack: The rape is alleged to have happened at the Etap Hotel in Leeds city centre . The jury heard staff at the Etap, which is now the Ibis hotel, noticed that the woman was 'particularly drunk' and the two men appeared 'more sober' when they checked in at 4.15am. One worker was so concerned that he followed them to the room and listened at the door but couldn't hear anything and left. After they were arrested both men claimed the woman was a willing partner in the sexual intercourse that took place between them. Mr Mairs said: 'If someone becomes so intoxicated, so drunk, that they no longer have the capacity to choose, then there cannot be any meaningful consent.' The case continues. Young star: Lenighan, 18, is a youth team player for Leeds who play at Elland Road (pictured) Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.", "By . Chris Greenwood . PUBLISHED: . 17:33 EST, 12 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 18:48 EST, 12 January 2014 . Family occasion: Kabeer Yousaf, 30, in traditional Asian wedding dress. The PCSO charged with blackmail, rape and misconduct in a public office . Relaxing in sequinned slippers at a wedding, Kabeer Yousaf looks every inch the family man. But the 30-year-old police community support officer has been accused of extorting money and sexual favours from prostitutes. Yousaf, whose alleged offences include rape and blackmail, was arrested during a long-running investigation into the trafficking of women from Eastern Europe as sex workers. The Scotland Yard civilian employee, pictured at what is believed to be a Punjabi family wedding, is suspected of demanding cash in return for keeping quiet about their activities. Anti-corruption investigators believe he pocketed hundreds of pounds while working his beat in Upton Park, East London. The married PCSO appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with blackmail, rape and misconduct in a public office. Watched by his mother and other family members, Yousaf was remanded in custody after the brief appearance. The court was told he is accused of blackmailing women at a brothel on St Stephen’s Road near Upton Park Tube Station. According to the charge, he visited the illicit business in September and offered to keep police away in return for £500 a week. It is claimed he also gave the women a mobile phone number – which ended in 999 – and told them to call him directly if they had any problems. Yousaf allegedly later reduced the payment to £500 a fortnight. The rape charge states that the PCSO demanded that one of  the women perform a sex act on him on December 22 in lieu  of payment. The third charge, misconduct in a public office, involves the alleged offences of blackmail and forcing the woman to perform a sex act while on duty. Yousaf was arrested 24 hours before his court appearance as part of what the Met described as an ‘ongoing investigation’ by its Human Trafficking Unit. It is understood the force is examining suspected trafficking of women from Albania into London by a crime gang. This inquiry is unrelated to Yousaf’s case. Yousaf worked in the Green Street East ward of Newham borough, alongside PCs, a sergeant and an inspector. His role involved high-visibility patrols, meeting members of the community and dealing with low-level antisocial behaviour. Claims: The PCSO is thought to have pocketed hundreds of pounds while working on his East London patch (library image) The PCSO has ambitions to be a fully-fledged police officer and had recently completed a course to help him qualify. A Met police spokesman confirmed Yousaf was charged with rape, blackmail and misconduct in a public office last Friday. ‘The arrest follows an ongoing investigation by the Human Trafficking Unit,’ said. ‘The officer will be suspended from duty.’ Yousaf was ordered to appear  at Southwark Crown Court on January 24. Rape and misconduct in a public office carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Anyone convicted of blackmail could face a maximum sentence of 14 years . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.", "Daisy Coleman became suicidal after she was allegedly raped at age 14, then tormented by cyber bullies, her mother says . A mother says she was driven from a rural Missouri town and her home mysteriously burned down after her 14-year-old daughter accused a popular football player of rape. High school freshman Daisy Coleman was subjected to constant cyber-bullying from classmates - and even parents - in Maryville, Missouri, after she reported in January 2012 that she had been raped. She told police the 17-year-old boy invited her to a party where she became so intoxicated she couldn't stand and then had sex with her while a friend filmed the incident on an iPhone. She told CNN's 'Erin Burnett OutFront' that she and her friend had been drinking and went to his house, where they 'snuck in through his basement window. 'He gave me a big glass of a clear liquid. And that's all I remember,' the teenager said yesterday on CNN. The athlete and his friends then allegedly dumped Daisy on her front porch, where she passed out - with no shoes or socks and no coat - in 22-degree weather. When her mother found her several hours later, Daisy's hair was frozen and she had frostbite on her hands and feet. 'There was frost on the ground,' Daisy's mother Melinda Coleman told CNN. 'It wasn't until I undressed her to put her in a warm tub that I realised that maybe she had been sexually assaulted. So I asked her if she was hurting, and she said yes, and started to cry,' she said. The Kansas City Star reports . that Mrs Coleman, a veterinarian, lost her job as a . result of the police report her daughter filed. Mrs Coleman says her . three sons - Daisy's brothers - were threatened at school and booed on . the field - often by boys they had counted as their friends just weeks . earlier. The charred remains of the fire-damaged home of Melinda Coleman and her children in October. The cause of the fire could not be determined . Accusations: Daisy, pictured left with her brother, told police that she became so drunk she couldn't remember anything at a party thrown by several older high school boys . She said she had no . choice but leave. Town officials and many residents had made it clear . that she was no longer welcome in the town of 12,000, she said. 'Basically . I was terrified, I wanted to protect my children, I wanted to get them . out of there,' she told MailOnline, agreeing that her family's names and photographs be used to highlight their case. In April, eight months after she left town, Mrs Coleman's house in Maryville - which she was trying to sell - burned down. Fire investigators have ruled the cause 'undetermined,' but Mrs Coleman told MailOnline that she suspects the blaze could be arson - connected with town residents who were furious over her daughter's rape allegations. 'On one hand, it would almost be a comfort to think it was an electrical problem that caused the fire, but on the other other hand, there’s a part of me that really thinks that the fire could be part of all this,' Mrs Coleman said. 'They threatened me. I’d been threatened and my daughter had been threatened and I lost my job because of threats.' Daisy, seen here with her three brothers, was threatened by residents of Maryville after the charges against a popular football player went public. Her brothers were threatened and harassed, as well . Melinda Coleman, Daisy's mother, said she feared for her family's safety after she and her children received threats . Mrs Coleman says she moved her family to . Maryville after her husband, a doctor, died in a car crash in 2006. She . was hoping for a fresh start for herself and for her children. Sheriff's deputies arrested two teens within hours and charged them with felonies. A few weeks later, the prosecutor, Robert Rice, dropped the rape charges - citing insufficient evidence. Mrs Coleman told MailOnline the torrents of hatred came only days after the case went public. The backlash on social media was . vitriolic. Classmates said the Daisy had been 'asking for it' at the party. A girl showed . up to one of the teen girl's dance recitals with a shirt alluding to . the alleged rape. When the charges against her alleged rapist were dismissed, one local . student wrote to the teen on Twitter, saying, 'F*** yea. That’s what you . get for bein a skank : )'. One of Daisy's brothers was booed at his final wrestling match of the . year. Mrs Coleman says a friend warned her that students were planning . to beat up her sons in the parking lot of the high school over the . incident. Mrs . Coleman lost her job at the local veterinary clinic. She . says her boss admitted that she was fired because the case had become . too contentious. Veterinarian . Sally Hayse told the Star: 'This is a small community, and it . definitely was stressful for us here, without a doubt. The entrance of Maryville High School - High school freshman Daisy Coleman was subjected to constant bullying from classmates - and even parents - in Maryville, Missouri, after she reported she had been raped in January 2012 . Life at Maryville High School became difficult for the four Coleman children after numerous former friends lashed out over the sex assault report . Maryville is a tight-knit town of 12,000 in rural northern Missouri . But, she said, 'If you were to ask me point-blank (why Mrs Coleman was fired), I would say it’s because our style of medicine didn’t jive.' Mrs Coleman said her daughter suffered heavily - both from the alleged assault and from the online abuse. She tried to kill herself twice, including once when her brother found her in the bathroom and took her to the hospital. 'She had a really hard time. She went through a period, a really dark time. She did the self-mutilation and the anger,' Mrs Coleman told MailOnline. 'So much of being told it was her fault ... it really does seem like it’s your fault when people keep saying it over and over again.' But, Daisy, now 16, is recovering, her mother says. After intensive therapy, she is beginning to move past the trauma of the alleged attack.", "By . Martin Robinson . Dropped: Peter Rippon shelved Newsnight's investigation into paedophile Jimmy Savile and it was alleged today he refused to reopn it because he was furious when his decision was leaked . Peter Rippon, the man who shelved the Newsnight investigation into decades of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile, refused to reopen it because he was apoplectic his decision had been leaked, BBC sources have said. His call last December sparked the greatest crisis the corporation has faced for 50 years, and he was accused of orchestrating a cover-up just because they had spent huge sums on tributes to the paedophile who died last year. The BBC has since been dragged through the mud and forced to set up an inquiry into why exactly Newsnight's investigation was stopped. Mr Rippon has said that the investigation was cancelled because the Crown Prosecution Service did not charge Savile, and he has always denied there was any cover-up. Savile, who died last year at the age of 84, is being described as one of the most prolific sex offenders in UK history. He is thought to have abused at least 300 victims over four decades, and police are following more than 400 leads. A friend of Mr Rippon told The Times: 'Peter said he always intended to pursue it (Savile's abuse). He then got so angry over the leaks. He spent most of Christmas dealing with that. Another added: 'He felt the leak was being used to attack the BBC and that influenced his decision not to resume the investigation.' It took a ITV documentary to reveal that Savile had raped and abused hundreds of children. It then emerged that Newsnight had carried out its own investigation into the paedophile DJ - including an interview with the same victim in the ITV documentary - nearly a year before. A BBC team spent six weeks probing allegations that the presenter abused pupils at a school in Surrey, speaking to at least four women who claimed they had been assaulted or knew about events. But the report was shelved at the last minute at the request of Mr Rippon. It was not until last month that the BBC aired its own investigation into the scandal, on Panorama. Beast: Jimmy Savile's abuse, which involved at least 300 victims, included some attacks on BBC premises . It covered both Savile's crimes and the Corporation's reaction. Mr Rippon stood aside from his role at Newsnight after the BBC said his explanation for shelving the story was 'inaccurate or incomplete'. The corporation's director general George Entwistle was hauled before a select committee last month to explain why and how it happened. He denied that the broadcaster helped cover up allegations that Savile preyed on women. Yesterday police arrested Freddie Starr and released him on bail after being questioned by detectives investigating claims he molested a schoolgirl in Jimmy Savile's BBC dressing room. Arrested: Freddie Starr and Gary Glitter have both been questioned this week about alleged sexual offences . He denies claims by Karin Ward that he tried to grope her in 1974 when she was a 14-year-old schoolgirl. He is the second celebrity to be arrested after Gary Glitter, 68, was questioned for ten hours on Sunday on suspicion of committing sexual offences. Detectives warned Savile’s living accomplices last week that ‘we are coming for you’, and have drawn up a detailed list of people they plan to arrest. Pressure: New BBC Director General George Entwistle after his appearance in front of MPs having been quizzed about the corporation's handling of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal . Last night Newsnight sensationally claimed that a 'leading politician from the Thatcher years' was embroiled in a widespread paedophile ring - and repeatedly raped boys from a children's home. Alleged victim Steven Messham told reporters he was raped 'more than a dozen times' by the man, described on the programme as a 'shadowy figure of high public standing'. But despite a string of damning allegations, Newsnight reporters said it didn't have 'enough evidence' to name the politician, sparking angry claims on Twitter that the Beeb 'bottled it'. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.", "Two Burmese workers charged with the murder of two British tourists in Thailand have pleaded . not guilty, their lawyer said on Monday. Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun are on trial for the murder of 24-year-old David Miller and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, on the island of Koh Tao in September. Police say DNA taken from the Burmese migrant workers, both aged 21, matched samples found on the victims. The pair initially confessed to the murders but later retracted their confessions, saying they had been made under duress. Scroll down for video . Burmese migrant workers who are accused of the killing of two British tourists Win Zaw Htun (left) and Zaw Lin (right) sit behind bar of a prisoner vehicle as they arrive for trial at a court in Samui island . Win Zaw Htun (left) and Zaw Lin (right) have pleaded not guilty to charges including murder . On Thursday, Thai prosecutors filed charges against the Burmese men ranging from conspiracy to commit murder and rape to . illegal entry. They were taken to court on the island of Samui . on Monday to hear the charges. 'They pleaded not guilty to all the charges today,' Thanu . Akekachote, a lawyer representing the pair, told Reuters. 'It is . my understanding that the court wants to speed this up given its . impact on tourism and international relations.' The investigation into the murders has been marred by allegations of police incompetence and torture. The suspects said they were beaten and threatened by police - allegations which police deny. Last week the head of the defendants' legal team said defense witnesses had refused to come forward because they were too scared to speak up on behalf of low-status migrant workers in a case which has garnered global attention. Win Zaw Htun (middle) and Zaw Lin (left) arrive at the Koh Samui Provincial Court. The pair are on trial for the murder of two British tourists on the island of Koh Tao in September . Zaw Lin is escorted into the Koh Samui Provincial Court. The workers initially confessed to the murders but later retracted their confessions, saying they had been made under duress . Rights groups have accused Thai authorities of using the men as scapegoats. The two suspects were paraded in front of cameras after apparently making murder confessions, but it was reported that a Burmese embassy official later formally retracted their confessions amid allegations the pair were tortured. In November British detectives traveled to Thailand to review the police investigation into the murders after widespread criticism of blunders including allowing reporters to trample over the crime scene. On Saturday the victims' families said they had seen strong evidence against the suspects and expressed confidence in the case. David Miller (left), 24, from Jersey, and 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge (right), from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, were found dead on a beach on the island of Ko Tao on September 15 . 'There is a great deal of detail and vast areas of investigative work which has been shared with us,' Witheridge's family said in a statement released through Britain's Foreign Office. 'We would like to stress that as a family we are confident in the work that has been carried out into these atrocious crimes.' Mr Miller's family has urged restraint from rights groups and the media while the court case unfolds. 'The support for the Myanmar suspects has been strong and vocal, but please do not jump to conclusions until you have considered the evidence from both sides in full,' Miller's family said in its statement. Nakhon Chomphuchat, lawyer for Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, speaks with media. Last week he said defense witnesses had refused to come forward because they were too scared to speak up on behalf of low-status migrant workers . The two suspects were paraded in front of cameras after apparently making murder confessions, but a Burmese embassy official later formally retracted their confessions amid allegations the pair were tortured . They added: 'They must respond to these charges, and their arguments must be considered with the same scrutiny as those of the prosecution. 'Please remember that this is above all a story of two wonderful young people, David and Hannah, killed in the prime of their lives in a senseless and brutal way.' Tourism generates almost 10 per cent of gross domestic . product and Thailand was already struggling to recover from . months of political upheaval that culminated in a May 22 coup, . with the unrest keeping some visitors away. Thailand is still under martial law, which was imposed two . days before the coup. Zaw Lin (back left) and Win Zaw Htun (back centre) arrive at the Koh Samui Court from a nearby prison . Friends and family members of inmates pray at a shrine outside of the Koh Samui District Prison where Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun are being held .", "By . Lucy Crossley . Accused: Leeds United squad player Simon Lenighan, 19, is accused of joining a friend in the rape of a young woman and filming the attack on a phone . A Leeds United footballer joined a friend in the rape of a young woman in a hotel room and filmed the attack on a mobile phone, a jury has heard. Simon Lenighan, 19, is alleged to have carried out the attack with Nathan Campbell in a room at the Etap Hotel in Leeds in August 2012. Prosecutors told the jury that the alleged victim woke up naked and alone the following morning with no idea where she was or how she got there. Her phone and money were missing and she alerted police who found video footage on Campbell’s mobile, the court was told yesterday. Andrew Haslam, prosecuting, told Doncaster Crown Court: 'We say that Nathan Campbell and Simon Lenighan raped her. 'We have a window in to that hotel room. That window shows how the defendants treated and continued to treat her.' Mr . Haslam said the two defendants both used their mobile phones to video . the woman and were heard laughing as they avoided being seen on the . camera. The jury saw footage which showed the woman, who can not be named for legal reasons, lying naked on a bed and intimate shots of her body. At . one point both men are heard using slang words including 'pum pum' and . 'batty' and describing the woman as 'looking a bit stretched'. At one point Campbell, 24, is heard telling the woman, 'Ah yeah it hurts too much - calm down'. Mr . Haslam said Lenighan and Campbell met for the first time on the night . of the alleged incident as they drank in the Tiger Tiger bar in Leeds. The woman, who knew Lenighan, had also been drinking in the bar and agreed to go back to the hotel with the two men. Mr Haslam said friends were concerned for her safety because she had so much to drink, with one describing her as 'very drunk'. Allegations: The woman, who knew Lenighan, had also been drinking in the bar and agreed to go back to the hotel with the two men, the jury heard . After they were arrested both men admitted having sex with the woman but claimed she was a willing partner, the court heard. Lenighan . claimed they started to have sex but he realised she was too drunk and . she said no.He told her that he fell asleep and did not know what . Campbell was doing. Mr . Haslam said: 'The prosecution say that she was so drunk she could not . give meaningful and proper consent. The capacity to give consent is . affected by drink. Arrival: Lenighan outside Doncaster Crown Court before the trial. He denies denies three charges of rape and one of perverting the course of justice . “Drunken consent is still consent but if someone becomes so intoxicated their ability to choose can evaporate, it can be lost.' When Campbell was arrested by police they found the video on his mobile phone. He told police that the woman was the instigator and said that he had sex with her. Lenighan, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, denies three charges of rape and one of perverting the course of justice. Campbell, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, denies three charges of rape and one of perverting the course of justice. The trial continues. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.", "A police officer and former Mr Gay UK is facing the sack after head-butting a man in the toilets of a nightclub. Police Constable Mark Carter has been suspended from duty following the assault during which he headbutted a man in the toilets of The Thompsons Arms in Manchester's gay village. The high profile cop was convicted of assault by beating following a trial before Manchester Magistrates Court last week. The victim was a man Carter had been friends with on Facebook. Police officer and former Mr Gay UK Mark Carter (pictured left and right) has been suspended from duties after he was convicted of assault for headbutting a man in the toilets of a nightclub . Carter was made the subject of a 12 month community order and told to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £100 compensation to his victim. The conviction comes three years after Carter, of Gomersal, West Yorkshire, was cleared by a jury of raping a man at a Leeds hotel following a high-profile court trial. Carter, who was named Mr Gay UK in 2006, was cleared of raping the man and carrying out two sexual assaults following an alleged incident in December 2009. Speaking after Carter's assault conviction last week, Detective Chief Superintendent Clive Wain, of West Yorkshire Police's professional standards department, said: 'West Yorkshire Police expects the very highest standards of its officers and staff, both on and off duty. Left, Carter is pictured during his acceptance speech for the 2006 Mr Gay UK title. Right, he poses topless in a promotional photograph . Carter pictured posing for photographs in a mock police uniform. The police officer won the Mr Gay UK competition in 2006 . 'Criminal behaviour or conduct which falls below this standard will not be tolerated. 'We note the verdict of the court in relation to this officer. PC Carter remains suspended from duty ahead of an internal misconduct hearing.' When approached yesterday, Carter said he was appealing the conviction and would not comment further until matters were concluded, but said he wanted to 'move on'. Nick Smart, chairman of West Yorkshire Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said it would be inappropriate comment until the conclusion of internal disciplinary proceedings. In 2009, Carter was alleged to have sexually assaulted three men before raping a 22-year-old man in the Leeds hotel room Carter was staying in. Carter pictured accepting the title of Mr Gay UK at the Flamingo nightclub in Blackpool in 2006 . Two years later, a jury returned not guilty verdicts on the two rape and two sex assault charges laid following what was a police Christmas night out. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a third sex assault charge but a decision was taken not to pursue a further trial. Carter told the jury he believed the 22-year-old complainant had willingly gone back with him to the hotel to have sex. Following the acquittals, Carter was also charged with possessing anabolic steroids but the case was discontinued after prosecutors accepted his explanation that the drug was for a medicinal purpose. He returned to work in December 2011.", "Jurors in the rape trial of two former Vanderbilt football players watched dorm surveillance video on Thursday showing their alleged victim being carried inside and dragged out of an elevator. Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey are accused of assaulting the 21-year-old unconscious woman in a dorm room in June 2013. Two other football players are also accused in the case. The surveillance footage, which was discovered when officials were looking into vandalism, prompted the rape investigation. Vanderbilt police Lieutenant Donnie Harville testified on Thursday that the video showed a male student walking naked out of a bathroom in the coed dorm. Defendant Brandon Vandenburg, left, and Cory Batey, right, listen with attorney Fletcher Long, center during their trial for sexually assaulting a fellow student on Thursday . Vandenburg and Batey are the only two suspects who did not strike a plea deal with with prosecutors and plead guilty. The other two defendants are slated to testify against them . Jurors saw a surveillance video that showed the victim being dragged out of an elevator before she was gang raped . It also appeared that no one called police to report concern for the woman, even though the video showed two female students nearby when she was carried inside Gillette House around 2.30 a.m. 'To your knowledge, did she contact anyone out of concern?' defense attorney Worrick Robinson said. 'To my knowledge, no,' Harville said. The footage did not show any bystanders around when the woman was dragged out of the elevator. Defense attorneys say the video portrays a culture of binge drinking and promiscuous sex that their clients were caught up in. The defense also appears to be trying to convince jurors that no one would have been concerned for the woman because it was commonplace to see students drunk. Prosecutors accuse the players of laughing, taking photos and videos while the incapacitated woman was being violated in a dorm room. One is accused of inserting something in her while another egged him on. Another player is said to have had sex with her and urinating on her. On trial: Pictured in court on Wednesday, Brandon Vandenburg, left, and Cory Batey, right, are accused of raping a 21-year-old unconscious woman in a dorm room at Vanderbilt in June 2013 . Lieutenant Donnie Harville of the Vanderbilt Police Department testified about the surveillance footage and said that Vandenburg placed a towel over a campus surveillance camera on the morning of the incident . On Wednesday, Harville also testified that Vandenburg placed a towel over a campus surveillance camera on the morning of the incident. The footage shows the woman lying on the floor of a dorm hallway and being photographed in a compromising position, prosecutors said. Defense attorneys have said Vandenburg and Batey were drunk despite not being old enough to drink. Vandenburg, a star player who had recently transferred to Vanderbilt from College of the Desert in California, took the student to a bar called Tin Roof for a date on the night of the alleged attack. On the ride back, she reportedly passed out in the car and he drove to the dorm, where he ran into the other players. During the opening statements, the alleged victim, an Oklahoma native, sat in the audience wiping her eyes with a tissue. She is expected to take the stand as a witness for the prosecution. Star witnesses: Fellow football players Brandon Banks (left) and Jaborian 'Tip' McKenzie (right) also have been charged in the rape case but are expected to testify against Vandenburg and Batey . Accused: Vandenburg (left) had been on a date with the woman the night she says she was attacked. On the way back, she passed out and Vandenburg took her to the dorm where he saw Batey (right) and the others . Crime scene: Prosecutors say Vandenburg brought his unconscious date to his second-floor room in the Gillette House dormitory, where the men egged each other on and proceeded to rape the young woman . Vandenburg and Batey are being tried on five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Vandenburg is also charged with one count of tampering with evidence and one count of unlawful photography. The two ex-players not on trial but also charged in the case, Jaborian 'Tip' McKenzie and Brandon Banks, are expected to testify against Vandenburg and Batey. All have pleaded not guilty. The trial comes in the midst of a debate about the prevalence of rapes on America's college campuses. The Obama administration has launched a campaign to end sexual assault on university campuses. Officials at Vanderbilt University did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.", "In the clear: No further action will be taken against Oxford Union President Ben Sullivan . The president of the Oxford Union will not face charges over claims he raped one fellow student and attacked another. Ben Sullivan, a third-year undergraduate, was arrested at dawn early last month in his college room at Christ Church and has been on bail for six weeks. Yesterday police informed the 21-year-old that no further action would be taken against him following an investigation into the allegations, thought to have been made by the young women more than a year ago. Mr Sullivan's arrest rocked the prestigious 200-year-old debating society, a breeding ground for political leaders whose former presidents include cabinet ministers William Hague and Michael Gove, London Mayor Boris Johnson and prime ministers from William Gladstone and Herbert Asquith to Edward Heath. Publicity surrounding the case  sparked a boycott campaign by students that saw a host of high-profile speakers cancel their appearances. A picture of banker's son Mr Sullivan in evening suit and bow tie made headlines across the world, even though he had not been charged. Human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman, Interpol secretary-general Robert Noble, US entrepreneur Julie Meyer and David Mepham, the UK director of Human Rights Watch, were all said to have pulled out of debates at the Oxford Union citing concerns about Mr Sullivan's arrest. A letter written by student politicians to around 30 speakers who had been booked to attend asked them to boycott the Union, and for Mr Sullivan to resign in what they called a 'push for equality'. The letter, by student union official Sarah Pine, was signed by feminist activists Laurie Penny and Caroline Criado-Perez. Case dropped: Ben Sullivan, 21, will face no further action over allegations of rape and attempted rape . Mr Sullivan, a former pupil at . £22,000-a-year St Paul's School in London, repeatedly rejected calls to . stand down as president while the police carried out their . investigation. He avoided a vote of no confidence after fellow Union . officers defeated a motion to call one by a single vote. The rape was alleged to have occurred in January 2013 and the attempted rape in April 2013. Last . night Nigel Evans, the Tory MP and former Deputy Speaker of the Commons . who was cleared of a number of rape and sexual assault charges earlier . this year at Preston Crown Court, said Mr Sullivan's case demonstrated . the need for alleged rapists to be given anonymity until they are . charged. Mr Sullivan, 21, will face no charges after police decided there was insufficient evidence . Mr Evans, who has been supporting the student, said: 'To go through the torture of a public trial by students is appalling. 'Anonymity . would have made his life easier by a great margin. It would still have . been very stressful but he wouldn't have had to put up with people . dropping out of speaking at the Union and a vote of no confidence in . him. It gives further credibility to my campaign to have that. The glare . of publicity this lad went through is appalling.' Mr Evans is calling . for the Home Affairs Select Committee to investigate the granting of . anonymity to arrested sex offenders until they are charged. A . judge could still decide to name them if the circumstances were . exceptional, he said. Last month Jennifer Perry, an author who was . booked at speak at the Union on stalking and harassment, said she felt . uncomfortable about the feminist boycott. She . said: 'It shouldn't be a group of young women making that decision; it . should be in the hands of the police. This campaign could harm their . investigations.' Mr . Sullivan, a history and politics student who is taking his final exams . this summer, was informed yesterday afternoon there would no charges. He . spent  a quiet evening with his family. A . Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: 'We have decided that there . is insufficient evidence to prosecute a 21-year-old man from Oxford who . was arrested following a complaint of rape and a complaint of attempted . rape made by two women. We will be writing to the complainants to . explain our decision in more detail.' The . Union released a statement last night saying: 'As far as the Society is . concerned, this is the end of the matter. We would like to thank Mr . Sullivan for his work as president under the most difficult of . circumstances and wish him well for the future.' Prestigious: A previous debate at the 191-year-old society, with Mr Sullivan pictured centre . Training ground: Previous leaders of the debating society have included William Hague, pictured in 1987 .", "By . Rob Cooper . A former consultant at the hospital where Jimmy Savile had an office was last night charged with carrying out five sex attacks. Dr Michael Salmon, who worked at the world-renowned Stoke Mandeville Hospital is accused of rape and four counts of indecent assault. The 78-year-old is alleged to have carried out the attacks in hospitals across Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, over a 13-year period between 1972 and 1983. Accused: Dr Michael Salmon, 78, who is charged with rape and four counts of indecent assault . A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said the charges stemmed from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Yewtree - the investigation into the Jimmy Saville abuse scandal. Salmon, from Woodgreen, Hampshire, was arrested by detectives yesterday and then later charged. He has been bailed to appear at Aylesbury Magistrates' Court on December 17. The doctor was praised in 1987 by Princess Diana for arranging a trip to Disney World in Florida for 300 disabled children. A . police spokesman said: 'We have charged a 78-year-old man with one . count of rape and four counts of indecent assault following advice from . the Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service. 'Michael Salmon, from Woodgreen, was arrested on November 20 and charged the same day. Operation Yewtree is the national investigation prompted after claims were made against the disgraced TV presenter Jimmy Savile. Scotland . Yard has led the probe, and separated its inquiries into those . involving Savile, those involving Savile and others, and those involving . others. Michael . Salmon, from Wood Green, Hampshire, has been charged with rape and . indecent assault in connection with incidents at several hospitals . including Stoke Mandeville . Inquiry: Hundreds of Jimmy Savile victims have now come forward to tell police about his crimes . Entertainer Rolf Harris, former Radio 1 . DJ Dave Lee Travis and PR consultant Max Clifford are among the high . profile figures already arrested and charged with sex offences following . Operation Yewtree. They all deny wrongdoing. Comedian Jim Davidson, who was arrested in January, learned in the summer that he would not be charged. Paul Gambaccini last week admitted he was the latest celebrity to be arrested by detectives investigating the Savile scandal. Fellow entertainer Freddie Starr remains on police bail, as prosecutors decide whether to charge him. Former pop star Gary Glitter is also waiting to learn his fate after his arrest. Gambaccini was the 15th suspect to be arrested under Operation Yewtree. Police confirmed another man, aged 74, was arrested as part of the investigation. Both men have been bailed to a date in early January. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article." ]

[ "Dallas is not a cheap city. At that price for a condo, I would think it's a bad neighborhood. You can call the Dallas police department and ask. Otherwise, call the realty companies and ask them. They have to tell you why the price is so low." ]

[ "Tank? As in ....M1 Abrams Tank?", "Different Drummer's Kitchen in Stuyvesant Plaza has lot's of high end kitchen equipment - with equally high end prices. For a reasonable price I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond on Wolf Road and got the xyliss. It has held up well, even after a putting through a torture test with ginger. Cleanup isn't bad either, especially with the cleaning tool it comes with.", "Clearly Abram was operating out of fear rather than trusting God for his protection because God just promised Abram that He will make him into a great nation. Sarai on the other hand heeded to her husband's request in order that his life would be spared. She loved her husband because she obeyed Abram and pretended to be his sister.", "It's bad for 2 reasons. First of all, she is put herself at a higher risk of developing TMJ down the road, which is extremely painful. Secondly, it is extremely bad for her tooth enamel.", "The Constitution says, \"high crimes or misdemeanors\". But, basically, if he does something slightly wrong and Congress is against him, he can get impeached (like Clinton). Conversely, if he's commited several high crimes but Congress is with him, he won't be (like now).", "It has to do with high and low pressure systems. Wind moves from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas.", "your modem is probly bad. mine does it to i just havent been to road runner to get another modem", "The M1 Abrams series has probably the best record in combat of any modern tank. The latest versions, the M1A2s and A2 SEPs, have all kinds of computerized gear to increase their battlefield effectiveness, such as GPS, digital communications, and an advanced targeting computer. The Abrams series of tanks use a 120mm main gun (105mm on the origional M1), one .50 caliber machine gun, and two 7.62mm machine guns, which give it the flexibility to deal with MBTs, infantry, and everything in between. The Abrams has been shown to be extremly tough to knock out, due to it's composite depleted uranium armor. Even a 120mm sabot round (the standard anti-armor weapon for the 120mm main gun) can't penetrate it's frontal armor. As far as speed goes, the Abrams can reach a top speed of 45mph with the speed governor installed, and around 60 without it. The M1 series is the penultimate in armor development, imo.\\n\\nP.S.- The Challenger 2 is overrated. Ask anyone who has ever been on an Abrams how long it takes them to load a round. Aint' no 10 seconds, that's for DAMN sure!", "Interesting question...... I'd have to say I dream in both.\\n\\nFor example: \\nI had this dream that I was on top of a really high building once, and then someone pushed me off and I pretty much plunged to my death (but I woke up before I hit the ground.) And that was in black and white. Maybe that's because that's how you see flashbacks of crime scenes on crime shows and stuff?\\nAnd another example:\\nI had ANOTHER dream on ANOTHER day that I was swimming in a river with my friends, but the current was really strong so I was just sort of letting it carry me. And nothing bad happened to me, so it was in color.\\n\\nSo maybe good dreams are in color and bad are in black and white? You decide. I hope that helps! =)", "In a way, yes. The NSA offers internships to high school students, so, in a way, they do help fight crime.", "RUMBLE-STRIPS SAFER\\nRumble strips on rural roads can reduce\\ninjury accidents on rural roads by up to\\n25% according to a recent paper\\npublished in Accident Analysis and\\nPrevention. In “Crash reduction\\nfollowing installation of centreline\\nrumble strips on rural two-lane roads”\\nPersaud, Retting and Lyon conclude\\nthat rumble strips should not be\\nreserved for specific areas and should\\nbe applied to all reasonably well\\ntravelled rural roads. As in New Zealand\\nthe majority of injury accidents in the\\nUS occur in open road areas. They note\\nof all the treatments available to\\nprevent head-on sideswipe collisions\\nrumblestrips are the cheapest.\\nsource: Accident Analysis and\\nPrevention 2004", "Impeachment is reserved for 'high crimes and misdemeanors'. Incompetence doesn't qualify - if it did, half of the government would be gone.", "Name History and Origin for Abramowski \\nLast Name \\nAbramowski\\nJewish (from Poland): patronymic from Abram, a reduced form of the personal name Abraham.", "Roads in Texas are funded through various taxes, and I heard recently on ABC that there is a large gap between the taxes and the forcast spending. Now, it is a law that a road may not be opened as a non-toll road and then converted to a toll road. At least by creating toll roads, then those that use them most are paying the most, as opposed to other taxes which may be inversely proportional; like sales taxes where it is a greater burden on lower income people than the upper brackets. It doesn't seem fair that tolls from north Texas might be used in the Houston area, for example, so there should be some sort of limit. I think perhaps it would be fair to create regions, maybe four or five for all of Texas, and limit the use of tolls from those areas to the area from which they are collected. Hope this helps, but it is just my opinion. Try checking the NTTA web site, or search for other toll authorities to find credible sources to cite.", "UK is cleaning its act up and maybe it is due to the youth cults which have taken on brands such as Nike and Adidas as there uniform for terrorising neighbourhoods in the country. The reason for shell and BP being disliked is that fuel prices in UK are very high and constantly rising, this angers the motorists. The UK is also on a health mission and Coke and Nestle produce unhealthly snacks which are produced for a target market of children and adolescents.", "A Honeywell AGT-1500 gas turbine. It provides 1,500 horsepower and can move the 68 ton Abrams from 0-20mph in seven seconds. With the speed governor installed, it can reach a top speed of 45mph on flat terrain, and about 30mph over rough terrain. The Abrams carries 502 gallons of JP8 jet fuel, which gives the tank a range of about 265 miles on flat ground.", "Bay Area Discovery Museum \\nEast Fort Baker \\n557 McReynolds Road \\nSausalito, CA 94965-2614 \\n415-339-3900", "Disposal methods also vary widely. In Australia, the most common method of disposal of solid waste is to landfills, because it is a large country with a low-density population. By contrast, in Japan it is more common for waste to be incinerated, because the country is smaller and land is scarce.\\n\\nMany local authorities (especially in urban areas) have found it difficult to establish new landfills, due to opposition from adjacent landowners. Few people want a landfill in their local neighbourhood. As a result, solid waste disposal in these areas has become more expensive as material must be transported further away for disposal.", "Hmmm, hell no! Canada in general doesn't have a large crime rate so first of all the jobs are not in high demand. Most areas looking for people are the RCMP, and they work in a profession that makes them move around quite a bit and they make no more money than say computer techs or doctors, and such.\\n\\nAs far as lawyers go, I'm not entirely sure- I don't see them being in high demand and I can't say I know any lawyers doing really well for themselves, but who knows... there's a chance.", "Most of the money for road construction and repair goes to Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Small towns and rural areas do good to have what they get.", "Because it is an easy excuse that takes the blame away from where it really belongs = on the bad parents of the kids who commit those crimes.", "Since he's your \"new\" boss, I'd say take the high road and try to grin and bear it.\\n\\nGood luck!", "Best job opportunities are in the Triangle (Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill), and Triad (Greensboro / Winston-Salem) areas. But, of course, cost of living is high there. (Unless you're willing to commute from outlying communities - public transport is virtually non-existent, and roads are painfully congested.)\\n\\nI live in Wilson (east of Raleigh); cost of living is definitely lower, and employment opportunities are OK. Rocky Mount and Greenville are close to Wilson (30-min drive), and have comparable costs & opportunities.\\n\\nWhat sort of work do you need?\\n(High-tech & engineering work can be hard to find outside of Charlotte and the Triangle.)", "Fortune Star Australia Pty Ltd\\nSuite 1b \\n398 Chapel Road, Bankstown\\nAustralia 2200\\nphone (area code 02) 9793 3433\\nwhen calling from international location, omit the 0 from area code.", "he can be impeached for high crimes and mistemeaners. So there would have to be a specific charge. If he was given erroneous information and he thought it to be true, then it is not a lie.", "Actually they are the:\\n\\nAH-64 Apache Longbow (UH stands for utility helicopter, AH stands for Attack helicopter)\\nM1A2 Abrams Tank (Upgrade of original, more features)\\n\\nGranted the Chinese have a bigger gun, but the Abrams can shoot farther, and has a lot more upgrades and features the Chinese don't have. Plus they don't have that many of them. Oh and the prototyped the one guy is talking about was called the Comanche, and it got scrapped by the Pentegon, if he ever read the news.", "Unfortunately you can't pick your friend's friends, and giving the ultimatum it is either her or me will most likely make you look like the bad guy.\\n\\nJust take the high road on this one. Most girls say mean things because they are jealous or insecure. Don't bad mouth the other girl back, even though your feelings may be hurt.\\nIt will just make her come up with more hurtful things to say. \\n\\nJust arrange to spend time with your friend alone. Remember that she is free to be friends with whomever she likes.", "\"Becoming a Crime Scene Investigator\"\\nhttp://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/becomeone.html\\n\\n\"Some positions require you have a 4 year degree in science while others only require a GED or High School graduation. Generally, if you want to work in a crime laboratory as a Criminalist you will need at least a 4 year degree in science (such as Biology or Chemistry). If you want to be a Crime Scene Technician you usually need less formal education. Some agencies require you be a sworn police officer before becoming a Crime Scene Investigator.\"", "Well I live in Sydney, Australia. In a place called Holsworthy. This area was basically all army in world war 2. Well the high school and the primary just up the road use to be gaol's (jail's) when the war was going on. Now most of the houses are haunted. We have a little girl haunting our place currently. She giggles and we can never find the source. Toys get moved around by unknown sources. Its pretty cool!", "William Henry Harrison, Ulysses Simpson Grant, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, James Abram Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft,Warren Gamaliel Harding.", "The chemical reaction from adding\\nsalt lowers the temperature in which water freezes.\\n\\nThat is why they throw in onto the roads in areas of winter freezing.", "Looks like trouble, my high school coach went on a fishing trip to Canada with a group on a bus and one of the guys had a record and they got stuck at the border until they got it straightened out. I believe you are persona non-gratis (stay out)...Sorry, better here than the border, but check with the Canadian Consulate, maybe you can get a wavier if your crime wasn't that bad. Good luck, you can fly or boat to Alaska too, avoiding Canada." ]

[ "Erin Energy (ERN +8.3% ) is on the move after announcing the start of drilling of the Oyo-9 well offshore Nigeria, despite a dispute with Malaysian offshore contractor Bumi Armada.\nERN expects the well to take ~62 days to drill and complete, with the tie-in of the well to the floating production, storage and offloading unit for the start of production anticipated late in Q4; the well is expected to add 6K-7K boe/day to the field’s current production.\nERN has been in dispute with the Malaysian contractor over delays in bareboat charter payments due by ERN as well as irregular payments on the operations and maintenance contract; ERN recently was allowed to flow its Oyo field oil into cargo tanks of the FPSO despite the debts." ]

[ "Read more: The Globe and Mail\nA worker prepares drills at a rig owned by Endeavor Energy Resources in Midland, Tex., in 2014. A worker prepares drills at a rig owned by Endeavor Energy Resources in Midland, Tex., in 2014.\nStart the conversation, or Read more at The Globe and Mail.", "MELBOURNE, March 31 China's CNOOC Ltd has agreed to team up with Australian minnow FAR Ltd to look for oil and gas prospects in what is seen as a promising frontier off Senegal and Gambia over the next two years, FAR said on Friday.\nFAR is already active in Senegal, where it is working with Woodside Petroleum and Cairn Energy to develop a deepwater oil field and this week bought an 80 percent stake in blocks off Gambia, just south of the Senegal acreage, from U.S. firm Erin Energy Corp.\n\"The partnership and AMI (Area of Mutual Interest agreement) with CNOOC UK dramatically enhances FAR's ability to acquire new assets in our core strategic geographic area of expertise,\" FAR Managing Director Cath Norman said in a statement.\nFAR plans to sell part of its 80 percent stake in the Gambian acreage over the next 18 months to help cover the $25 million to $30 million it will need to fund an exploration well there in late 2018, Norman said on the company's web site.\nAn external spokeswoman for CNOOC was not immediately available to comment.\n(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Richard Pullin)", "NIGERIAN independent, Oranto Petroleum, said it is investing $500 million to develop South Sudan's Block B3, launching a comprehensive exploration campaign starting immediately. The Ministry of Petroleum and Oranto Petroleum Company, South Sudan signed the exploration and production sharing agreement, EPSA, for the block last week in capital city of Juba.\nStart the conversation, or Read more at Vanguard.", "The opposition parties under the aegis of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Oyo State Chapter through a message stated that it would not participate in the scheduled elections, if the ruling party (APC) proceeds with the process that it described as undemocratic and misnomer.\nDespite the controversy and contradictions over the announcement of May 12, 2018 as the date for the local government elections in Oyo State, four political parties under the aegis of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) have expressed their disinterest in the exercise. The parties are African Peoples Alliance (APA), Peoples for Democratic Change (PDC), Progressive People Alliance (PPA) and the United Democratic Party (UDP).\nThe opposition parties under the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) have however vowed to boycott the election.\nSpeaking further on the issue, the Oyo State Chairman of CNPP who is also the Southwest Chairman of the Conference, Alh. Yinka Olona explained that the participating political parties under their platform would boycott the exercise as they have taken the case to court.\nAlh. Yinka Olona further reiterated the fact the four opposition parties under their platform had kicked against the proposed fee to be paid by various political parties aspiring for Chairmanship and Councillorship positions. It would be recalled that OYSIEC had fixed N150, 000 for Chairmanship Candidates and N100, 000 for Councillorship Candidates.\nMr. Folorunsho Angel, the General Secretary of Oyo State CNPP described the proposed forthcoming Oyo State local government election as illegal, undemocratic and biased.\nOne of the Chairmen of the four parties involved, Mr. Tolulope Adedoyin, who is also the Chairman of the African People Alliance (APA) said they’ve met with the leadership of the CNPP and are ready to support their cause.\nAccording to him, organizing free, credible, democratic and fair election is what CNPP under the leadership of Alh. Yinka Olona is fighting for.", "Oil prices inched higher Monday, but concerns over a rise in OPEC crude production helped keep U.S. prices under the key $50-a-barrel level.\nCrude oil for September delivery CLU7, +0.57% tacked on 10 cents, or 0.2%, to $48.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It tapped a low of $48.37 in early trading, which would have been its lowest settlement since late July. Brent oil for October LCOV7, +0.44% rose 2 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $52.12 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.\nThe weakness comes after both the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency last week said oil production from the cartel had risen in July to almost reach 33 million barrels a day. The increased production came as Libya, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia ramped up output in the period, fueling concerns OPEC’s efforts to cut production are being wasted.\n“There will no longer be any significant supply deficit in the second half of the year, so there is hardly likely to be any further inventory reduction,” analysts at Commerzbank said in a note.\nMeanwhile, data released Friday from Baker Hughes BHGE, +0.52% showed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil edged up by three for the week after a decline of one the previous week.\n“The U.S. oil rig count is still rising, but more slowly and not enough to make up for the lack of completions and the existing well production decline rate,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, in a daily email. “The slowing rig count will mean that U.S. production will start to level off and drop.”\nFlynn also noted that “shale producers will continue to struggle” as oil stays below $50 a barrel.\n“Many may be able to produce at sub $50.00 levels but can’t make money because of debt and well head economics such as rising costs,” he said.\nThe Energy Information Administration will release its monthly Drilling Productivity Report later Monday. It will include estimates for September U.S. shale production.\nBack on Nymex, gasoline for September RBU7, +0.29% added half a cent to $1.613 a gallon, while September heating oil HOU7, +0.92% rose under a cent to $1.641 a gallon.\nSeptember natural gas NGU17, -1.37% lost 3.6 cents, or 1.2%, to $2.948 per million British thermal unit, pulling back from an earlier intraday high above $3.", "Economic legacy: APC chief, Balarabe Musa tackle Jonathan\nQuit notices: An eye for an eye will blind Nigeria, Atiku warns\nLassa fever: Ogun places 106 under surveillance\nKwara: We’ve lost 74 people to strange illness, community leader insists\nDavido’s police escorts detained for reckless shooting\nClark, others using PANDEF to seek political relevance — MEND\nHunger led us into crime –Suspects\nDSS arraigns eight kidnap suspects in Rivers\nLet Buhari go home, protesters tell President’s aides\nDon’t distract investors with probes, LCCI tells N’Assembly\nSymptoms of Lassa fever\nEFCC on the heels of vice-chancellors\nJonathan under attack for ‘we did well’ claim\nWrest power from old politicians, Obasanjo tells youths\n45,312 pensioners for verification\nOyo govt to sanction churches, mosques, others for noise pollution\nWe’ll make abductors of Lagos school boys give up arms, says Akeredolu\nOndo workers reject modulated salary\n$60m World Bank project for Abia\nJoy as Owan gets first indigenous Anglican bishop\nKashamu to PDP leaders: don’t kill our party in Southwest\nStates ignore flood warnings, says NiMet DG\nYouths key to Nigeria’s future, says UK envoy\n‘10,000 farmers can’t access N350m donor fund’\nAtiku: state of residence should replace state of origin\nThree remanded for ‘killing don’ in Rivers\nAir passengers pay more taxes, surcharges than ticket fare\nIf you can run a home, you can run a business – Diamond Bank CEO\nThings not to borrow for\nInstall prepaid meters or stop billing us, youths tell Abuja Disco\nPenCom criticises bill to exclude paramilitary agencies from contributory pension scheme\nYobe govt, World Bank, others support IDPs with farm inputs\nLafarge Africa restates commitment to promoting renewable energy\nConoil shareholders assured of improved returns\nSkye Bank expands digital financing with SkyeXperience\nChinese banks begin funding oil, gas projects in Nigeria\nFirm to celebrate outstanding young entrepreneurs\nDangote sponsors Niger Investment Summit\n‘Too much summons of CEOs by legislatures hurts economy’\nNNDC moves to resuscitate Kaduna textile company\nAll hands on deck to ennoble Ondo school\n4 secondary school students steal N1.4m laptops in Jigawa\nSuspected car thieves arrested in Benue\nPolice nab armed robbers’ informant\n9 remanded over doctor’s abduction in Rivers", "Lagos — SOME 500 Nigerian youths have been empowered in information, communications technology (ICT) and business skills following an initiative by the country's biggest mobile network operator.\nMTN Nigeria, through its foundation, organised the ICT and business skills training for youths in the southwestern Oyo State. The initiative was held under the theme, \"Preparing Oyo's 500 for the Future Global 500.\"\nExpert facilitators from ecosystem partners- KPMG, Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), IBM and Oracle- handled the training sessions at the University of Ibadan. Mosun Belo-Olusoga, Director of the MTN Foundation, an alumnus of the university, encouraged the participants to make the most of the ICT and business skills training.\nNiyi Ajao, Special Adviser to Governor Abiola Ajimobi, reiterated the MTN Foundation director's sentiments.\nBarrister Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communications, also graced the event. MTN Nigeria, with 54 million subscribers, is the second-biggest operator in Africa by subscriber base.", "LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Monday as rising U.S. drilling activity pointed to a further increase in American production, countering OPEC-led output cuts.\nFILE PHOTO - A drilling rig owned by Parsley Energy Inc. seen near Midland, Texas, U.S. on May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Ernest Scheyder/File Photo\nBrent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were 10 cents lower at $63.30 a barrel by 1115 GMT.\nU.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $57.10 a barrel, down 26 cents from their last settlement.\nBrent and WTI settled more than 1 percent higher on Friday, and oil prices have gained well over a third from 2017 lows.\n“It’s time for a breather,” said Warren Patterson, commodities strategist with ING.\nThe gains are largely due to production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a group of non-OPEC producers, including Russia, which have been in place since the start of the year.\nAnalysts at PVM Oil Associates also said the “deteriorating geopolitical backdrop acted as a pillar of price support” over the past week, with turmoil in Yemen and potential worker strikes in Nigeria underpinning the market.\nBut all this could be undermined by rising output from the United States, which is not participating in the deal to withhold production.\nThe number of rigs drilling for new oil output in the United States rose by two in the week to Dec. 8, to 751, the highest level since September, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday. RIG-OL-USA-BHI\n“The largest concern for investors currently remains the rise in the U.S. rig count,” said Shane Chanel, equities and derivatives adviser at ASR Wealth Advisers.\nA higher rig count points to a further rise in U.S. crude production C-OUT-T-EIA, which is already up more than 15 percent since mid-2016 at 9.71 million barrels per day.\nThat’s the highest since the early 1970s, and close to the output levels of top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia.\nOPEC started withholding supplies in January, and announced late last month an extension through 2018.\nThe United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said on Monday that OPEC plans to announce in June an exit strategy from the cuts, though he added it did not mean the pact would end by then. On Sunday, Kuwait’s oil minister said producers would study before June the possibility of an exit strategy.", "As the Otakikpo Marginal field in OML 11 Andoni Local Governement of Rivers state moves towards production,the indigenes of Ikuru town community and adjoining communities of Ayama Ekede,Ugama Ekede, Asuk ama and ASUK Oyet are in expectant mood following the arrival of 6 MW generators for the provision of uninterrupted electricity for the communities.Installation works has also commenced for the project.The Electricity project which is expected to boost the economic empowerment of the fishing communities was part of the commitment of Green Energy International ltd (GEIL), the Operator of the field and its Technical Partner,Lekoil towards utilizing the gas produced on the marginal field for power generation and domestic gas production.\nPart of the package to transform the area economically is the plan to encourage the communities to establish an Industrial park, where companies can leverage on the uninterrupted electricity for industrial use and small scale industries. The total initial cost of the Electricity project is in excess of N2billion", "news\nAdo-Awaye has been gaining media attention for a while now, after it was found to house the only other suspended lake in the world.\nRich in history and culture, Ado-Awaye is quickly becoming the tourist's paradise. From its formation to its mountains and plains, everything about the small town in Oyo state is a wonder.\nAdo-Awaye started in 15000 AD. The Alaafin of Oyo's crown prince, Koyi, who was supposed to become the Alaafin was denied and his younger brother, Onigbogi, took over. In anger, he left Oyo with one of his father’s crowns and decided to go and settle in Otta, his mother’s town. However, he went through plain grounds until he got foot of the Ado Hill, where he saw a smoke. He climbed the mountain and there, he met some escapees from the Dahomey war. Having agreed and discussed with them, they decided to make him King of Ado.\nIn this article, we highlight the tourist attractions that make Ado-Awaye a wonder.\n1. Iyake Lake\nIyake Lake is the only recognized suspended/hanging lake in Africa – one of the only two in the world after the Hanging Lake in Colorado. It has been named as one of the fascinating sites to visit in Nigeria as well as one of the seven wonders of Nigeria . is said to be bottomless and have swallowed those who have tried to measure its depth. Till today, whoever enters the lake never comes out of it. It is said to be the main god of fertility of the Mountain. The villagers believe that beneath the lake exists another world that looks like the earth, and whoever transits into that world by diving into the lake will never be able to return to our own world again.\n2. Agbómofúnyàké\nAgbómofúnyàké literally mean \"collects child and gives to iyake\". This little hole is located just beside the iyake lake. It is believed that, whenever the hole has water in it, whoever puts leg into it gets dragged to iyake lake.\n3. Ìyá-Aláró Lake\nIt is also one of the numerous lakes on the mountain. The lake was named after an old woman in the Ado-Awaye village, who specializes in dying of clothes. It is said that the old woman, known as “Iya Alaro”, worships the lakes and sacrifices to it at specific times during the year. The lake is characterized by a gloomy depth which underscores its association with Iya Alaro and its surface and surrounding is bedecked with a lush overgrowth of colourful vegetation.\n4. Oke Ishage (Ishage Rock)\nIshage Rock is the bringer of rain for the Ado-Awaye people. It is a large elongate boulder of rock, balanced and standing upright on one of its small edges. The fact that this boulder has not fallen off the steep mountain side on which it rests remains a mystery to the Ado-Awaye people and tourists visiting the mountain.\nWhenever it doesn’t rain and rain is needed, the chief priest goes to the rock, covers the \"waist\" of the rock with a white cloth, then rain falls for 3-4 days straight.\n5. Esè àwon Àgbà\nEsè àwon Àgbà translates to “the footprint of the elders”. It is a cluster of large “footprints” found all over the mountain. It is believed that the gods once walked over the mountain to protect the locals during the time the locals stayed up the mountain.\n6. The Elephant Tree\nThis is composed of the tangled trunk or root of a fallen tree which dramatically takes the form of the head and trunk of an elephant. The eyes of the elephant are also well represented on the formation. Hikers on the mountain are often tempted to climb the formation and sit on the ‘elephant’s head’ while posing for photos.\n7. Esè kan Aiyé Esè kan Òrun\nThis is a wide and deep chasm on the mountain which separates one part of the mountain from the other part which hosts the peak of the mountain. Only brave mountain climbers dare cross this valley as the rock slopes steeply along the valley walls. Only a narrow, very steep and slippery path across the valley, links the two parts of the mountain.\nAfter a 34-year vacancy on the seat of office, a newly installed Alado of Ado-Awaye, Oyo State, Oba Ademola Folakanmi, Makuledoye II, speaks to the Tribune on tourism in the town.\n\"All these places are amusing and should have attracted tourists from all over the world, if they had been given attention. Unfortunately, the governments both at the state and federal levels have not been able to harness the tourism potential of the country. We started Nigeria with agriculture; now, cocoa and groundnut are gone. We switched to crude oil and oil will go too. But tourism will last forever; so I encourage the government to develop the tourism potential of Ado-Awaye.\"", "© Report\nBaku. 10 October. REPORT.AZ/ Well No 2624 from fixed offshore platform No 620A at \"Oil Rocks\" field has been commissioned after drilling.\nReport informs citing the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), the well drilled to the Girmeki ustu lay destesi by the Complex Drilling Works Trust, oil produced by fountain extraction method, received to the exploitation fund with oil production of daily 11 tons from 1 840-1 836 meters interval.\nNotably, the well was drilled by order of the \"Oil Rocks\" Oil & Gas Production Department (OGPD) of the \"Azneft\" PU.", "(Adds junior minister quote, context)\nBy Felix Onuah\nABUJA, July 4 (Reuters) - Nigeria will offer a 12.7 billion naira ($41.6 million) mining contract to eight companies in exploration and consultancy, its junior mining minister said on Wednesday, adding both foreign and local firms were encouraged to participate.\nNigeria’s economy, one of Africa’s largest, has been built largely on its rich crude oil reserves, leaving other sectors to stagnate. In an attempt to diversify, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is now seeking to build up other sectors, including mining, though results have been mixed, according to economic data.\n“Today the Federal Executive Council (Nigeria’s cabinet) approved the contract for exploration and consultancy on some of our targeted minerals - like gold, industrial minerals, earth metals, iron ore - for four companies in exploration and four companies in consultancy,” Abubakar Bawa Bwari, the minister of state for solid minerals, told reporters after the cabinet meeting.\nBwari said the exploration and consultancy work would result in data that would encourage potential mining firms to invest in Nigeria.\n“Our major challenge is the bankable data, most mining companies will not want to come into your country when they are not sure of what they are going to meet,” he said. ($1 = 305.2000 naira) (Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Mark Potter and David Evans)", "• Oil price slips as U.S. output rises\nNigeria said it lost as much as $100 billion in revenue last year as attacks by militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta cut crude output to a record low.\nProduction fell by one million barrels a day (bpd) to 1.2 million bpd at the peak of the attacks, Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu, said yesterday in a video-clip on his Facebook page.\nLast year, Nigeria suffered its first full-year recession since 1991 as a resurgence of armed conflict in the Niger Delta, combined with lower oil prices, blighted the economy.\nWhile recent peace efforts have curbed the frequency of attacks on oil infrastructure, the West African nation has struggled to boost output as one of its largest export terminals remains closed.\n“We continue to engage,” Kachikwu said, referring to peace talks between the government and local leaders from the Niger Delta. “It is a difficult undertaking to try to embark on trying to resolve it once and for all, but we’re very bullish about this.”\nMeanwhile, oil prices yesterday declined as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC’s) supply cuts are tempered by a revival of shale drilling in the U.S..\nFutures slid 1.7 per cent in New York, the biggest drop in more than three weeks. Saudi Arabia told OPEC it cut oil production by the most in eight years, while Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam Al-Marzooq said the organisation as a whole has delivered 92 percent of the output curbs it pledged. Meanwhile, U.S. oil drillers increased the rig count to the highest since October 2015, and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) sees U.S. shale-oil output jumping next month to the highest level since May last year.\nOil has fluctuated above $50 a barrel since the OPEC and 11 other nations started trimming supply from Jan. 1 to help ease a global glut. The market will shift into a deficit during the first half of the year, and U.S. crude stockpiles will shrink amid a decline in imports as the curbs take effect, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said last week.", "news\nNigeria's state oil firm, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is set to raise fund from the Capital market to fund its new projects.\nThe projects include the NNPC/NAOC JV Idu-Redevelopment, South Gas Project, North Gas Project and Central Gas Project.\nMaikanti Baru, the Group Managing Director of the corporation, dropped the hint at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas Strategic Conference and Exhibition (2018 NOG) in Abuja.\nBaru, however, did not give further details about Nigeria's corporation entrance into the Capital market.\nWith the theme: “Driving Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry Towards Sustained Economic Development and Growth”, Dr Baru explained that funds from the Capital market would also be used to develop the NNPC/TEPNG JV’s Ikike Project, NNPC/SPDC JV Southern Swamp and Associated Gas Solution Step 2 Project, among others.\n“We intend to sanction the Multibillion dollars Bonga South West/Aparo (BSWA) project as soon as we conclude an agreement on the Heads of Terms with SNEPCO on the various pending PSC Arbitration disputes. This will jump start the resolution of all the other PSC Arbitration Disputes,” he said.\nTwo weeks ago, the NNPC GMD outlined plans to attract private investments, ensure sustainable development and spur growth in the nation’s oil and gas industry.\nHe made this known at the sideline of the 7th International Seminar of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria.\nHe said investment in the oil industry had become imperative in the wake of recent turbulence experienced in oil price cycle, the supply-driven glut in the oil market, world economic growth, uncertainties regarding oil’s future, as well as the fiscal imbalance experienced by OPEC member nations.\nAlso from Business Insider Sub-Sahara Africa:", "By Egufe YAFUGBORHI\nOIL services investor, Tein George, has said the absence of a clear national oil and gas policy in Nigeria was responsibile for perceived reluctance by International Oil Companies (IOC) to expand their investments in the country.\nGeorge, Chairman Aveon Offshore, said this in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, where the firm unveiled the Egina Offshore Loading Terminal (OLT) Buoy, a key component to drive the Egina ultra-deep offshore field belonging to Total in Nigeria.\nHe said, “I have been active in the oil and gas industry for over thirty years. I will soon retire, and it is sad to say I have no clear idea of what the national oil and gas policy is. This is something government must address.\n“This is why IOCs are reluctant on investment expansion in the industry. If they are concerned that the fiscal regime governing their operations is opaque, how do government and regulators expect them to invest in refineries and expand their investments” He urged government to redress this challenge by addressing it in the portion of the pending Petroleum Industry Governance Bill to drive new projects in the industry.\n“The IOCs should be given room to consider the commerciality of a clear oil and gas policy to guard investors on expansion. People say IOCs do not support the Petroleum Industry Bill. Why would they if they have no clear understanding of the policies?” he asked. The Egina OLT Buoy, built locally by Aveon in concert with APL/NOV was commissioned by Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Simbi Wabote who rated it, “one of the greatest feat by an indigenous firm in Nigeria”.", "- Advertisement -\nGov. Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on Monday commended the army for its support in ensuring security of lives and properties in the state.\nThe governor gave the commendation in Ibadan while receiving the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Tukur Buratai, who visited him in his office.\nThe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buratai had led other senior army officers to Ibadan for the weeklong Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference.\nAjimobi said that the Nigeria Army had released some of its men to lead a special task force set up by his administration to restore peace and order in the state.\n“The state before our assumption of office in 2011 was popularly known as a garrison where brigandage, thuggery and other criminal activities were the order of the day.\n“When we assumed office, we set up a special task force known as ‘Operation Burst’ which involved the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Nigeria Air Force which was led by the Nigerian Army.\n“Today, Oyo State is one of the safest states in the country. We want you to help us commend your personnel for their support,” he said.\n- Advertisement -\nThe governor also described Buratai as a worthy leader who epitomises professionalism in status and character.\nEarlier, Buratai had said that he was in Ibadan for the COAS Annual Conference where senior officers meet to brainstorm.\n“The conference is an annual ritual where top brass of the Nigeria Army gather to brainstorm on what transpired during the year, analyse and focus on activities of the following year,” he said.\nHe said that the army had chosen the state after considering its strategic importance.\n“We are also here to rub minds and interact with stakeholders in the academia, civil society and government functionaries to have a very good background for subsequent years.\n“This would help us a lot in terms of training, operations and general administration,” he said.\nBuratai acknowledged the support received by the army, hinging this on the cordial working relationship with the state government.\nNAN reports that the programme featured exchange of gifts by the governor and the army chief.", "Adewale Sanyaolu\nThe Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed plans to raise fresh funds from the nation’s capital market to fund some new oil and gas projects.\nManaging Director of NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, stated this in his keynote address at the Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Conference 2018, which entered its second day in Abuja yesterday.\nBaru listed some of the new projects to be funded from the stock market funds to include the NNPC/NAOC JV Idu-redevelopment, South Gas Project, North Gas Project and Central Gas Project. Others are NNPC/TEPNG JV’s Ikike Project, NNPC/SPDC JV Southern Swamp and Associated Gas Solution Step 2 Project, among a host of other new projects.\n“We intend to sanction the multibillion US dollars Bonga South West/Aparo (BSWA) project as soon as we conclude an agreement on the Heads of Terms with SNEPCO on the various pending Production Sharing Contract (PSC) arbitration disputes. This will jump start the resolution of all the other PSC arbitration disputes,’’ he said.\nOn gas production, he said the domestic demand for gas in Nigeria is unprecedented, with a current daily realistic gas demand of 4,000mmscfd and expected to grow exponentially to about 7,500mmscfd in the next five years.\n“However, within the next three years, with our Joint Venture (JV) partners, we are committed to increasing natural gas availability from the current 1.5bscf/d to about five billion standard cubic feet per day in 2020. Consequently, the government will supply enough gas to generate up to 15GW of electricity to the power sector by 2020 and stimulate gas-based industrialisation.", "Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has advised the federal government against the planned establishment of cattle colonies across the country, describing the move as tantamount to modern slavery.\nThe governor made his position known on the raging matter during a visit by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who led some prominent traditional rulers to the Government House, Ibadan thursday.\nThe Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, who shared similar sentiments with the governor on the matter, also said that the idea was ill-advised and unacceptable to the people of Oyo kingdom.\nThe governor advocated true federalism as solution to the national question, stressing that the proposal to states to make land available for the establishment of cattle colonies was against the letters and spirit of true federalism that vested ownership and control of land on states.\nAccording to him, the proposed cattle colony was disguised slavery similar to the long-forgotten colonization that Africa still rues till date.\nInstead, the governor said t the state was prepared for a controlled ranching that would be established by the state government, which would have all the required modern facilities for good cattle breeding and ancillary services.\nThis, he said, would be at minimal cost to whoever wishes to make use of the facility, but would end the regime of open grazing.\nAjimobi said: \"Cattle colony is tantamount to modern slavery, because colony is synonymous with colonisation. We cannot have that in Oyo State. It is a pointer to the fact that federalism is not working in Nigeria.\n\"If poultry farmers or owners of piggeries, among others, are not being offered colonies for their own livestock, why should herdsmen be a survival category.\n\"Our position is to support controlled ranching, under which we will provide land and other basic modern facilities for good cattle business as well as breeding. Those wishing to rear cattle will use the facilities at moderate cost. No more, no less.\"\n\"You will say that the governor is the Chief Security Officer of his state, but he has no control over the police. That is another problem we have with our type of federalism. Another example is about those digging for treasures in our communities but collect licenses from the federal government.\n\"This is wrong. Nigeria needs true federalism. We will keep talking about it until it materialises.\"\nThe governor said that colonies were not established for cattle or any livestock in South Africa and other emerging economies, insisting that the state would also not allow such.\nHe empathised with those he called notable Nigerians that had farms in the state, whom he said had been complaining to him about herdsmen destroying their farms, expressing confidence that solution was in sight now that the menace had become pervading.\nAjimobi said he was happy that Oyo State was on the committee recently put together by the federal government to find solutions to the incessant farmers-herdsmen clashes, expressing optimism that the associated problems would soon be resolved in the mutual interest of all stakeholders.\nEarlier, Oba Adeyemi, who said he was speaking the minds of other traditional rulers that were in company with him, applauded the state government for its stand on land acquisition for farming and livestock purposes.\nAt a broad level, he said the committee of Obas in the state was in support of the stance taken by the state government on the proposed cattle colony, stressing that all land belonged to the state government.\nThe foremost monarch said: \"We appreciate the governor for his forthrightness on this issue and for standing for the rights of the downtrodden, especially the people of his state. The federal government does not own land; it belongs to the state.\n\"So, if truly we are practicing federalism, the federal government should not be collecting value added tax on businesses in Ibadan while the state struggles to provide facilities for the same businesses.\n\"Our own people are not cattle rustlers. Therefore, we can vehemently say now that we stand against cattle colony. We support our governor on his stand on ranching and against colony.\"\nThe Alaafin used the opportunity to advise the governor to ensure that his successor was someone with sterling qualities and vision to sustain the legacy he would bequeath on the state, having, according to him, done so much that must be leveraged upon to further develop the state.\nOn his entourage were the Iba of Kishi, Oba Aweda Lawal; Sabiganna of Iganna, Oba Saliu Oyemonlaa, Ona-Onibode, Oba Rasheed Anikulapo; and Olokaka of Okaka, Oba Abdulazeez Olatunji.", "The Secretary General, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Dr. Mohammed Barkindo, says Nigeria has assumed a strong, proactive role in the oil industry globally. Barkindo said this while delivering a keynote address at the 17th edition of the annual Nigeria Oil and Gas Strategic Conference and International Exhibition in Abuja on Tuesday. “We can truly say that we are living through a golden era of Nigerian statesmanship. This is testimony to the way in which President Muhammadu Buhari has elevated the international profile of our country.\n“Nigeria has historically assumed a strong, proactive leadership role in OPEC. I am delighted to be able to inform you that following a decision at the 174th OPEC Conference on June 22, 2018, the African continent gained an additional voice in our organisation; the Republic of Congo became the 15th member country of OPEC. “This is a tremendous boost for our entire organisation, a positive trajectory, which saw Gabon rejoin OPEC in 2016 and Equatorial Guinea in 2017.’’ The OPEC boss said petroleum would remain a rallying factor that brings units of people together to facilitate day to day activities.\n“At this very moment as I speak, school children are boarding the bus to make their way to morning lessons. Mothers and fathers are returning home after working nightshifts. “An elderly grandparent is being transported to see their doctor. Farmers are fertilising their fields. Families are being reunited, communities are being brought together. “These are scenes being repeated millions of times here and across the globe. What links these seemingly disparate scenes of everyday life? Petroleum.", "Baku. 18 January. REPORT.AZ/ “SOCAR-AQŞ” joint venture has started drilling works at the well No.113 with project depth of 6,200 meters from the fixed offshore platform No.6 in the \"Bulla-deniz\" field.\nReport informs referring to \"SOCAR-AQŞ\", the well is planned to be drilled to the VIII horizon of productive layer.\nThe well's customer is \"Azneft\" Production Union of SOCAR.\nNotably, \"SOCAR- AQŞ\" LLC was established as an integrated drilling and well services management company by SOCAR and Absheron Drilling Company in 2007. Main scope of activities of the company is provision of work and services related with well design and planning; drilling of oil and gas wells; drilling of directionally deviated wells; drilling of horizontal wells; well completion; well workover; sidetracking and drilling of multilateral wells.", "CHIBA, Japan, April 6 Nigeria LNG (NLNG) has begun talks with potential buyers on new contracts for gas supplies from its first three production units at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, a senior official from the African company told Reuters.\nContracts for gas supplies from Trains 1, 2 and 3 - which together produce 9 million tonnes of LNG a year - are being discussed, said the official who requested anonymity. He was attending the Gastech trade conference in Chiba outside Tokyo.\n\"Trains 1-3 are coming back to the market as they are out of contract by 2022. We started to remarket today,\" he told Reuters late on Wednesday at the conference. The units that freeze natural gas into liquid form for export on ships are known as trains in the industry.\nInitial responses from buyers have been positive, he said.\n\"There are some who are guaranteed to buy,\" the official said, though he provided no further details.\nNigeria LNG is a venture between state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Royal Dutch Shell , Total and Eni.\nIts Bonny Island LNG plant on Nigeria's southern coast has six trains with a total capacity of 22 million tonnes a year. (Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Tom Hogue)", "This is its latest discovery to date in the country, adding to previous discoveries at Liza, Payara, Snoek and Liza Deep.\nExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. began drilling the Turbot-1 well on August 14, and encountered a reservoir of 75 feet of high-quality, oil-bearing sandstone in the primary objective.\nThe well was safely drilled to 18,445 feet in 5,912 feet of water on September 29.\n“The results from this latest well further illustrate the tremendous potential we see from our exploration activities offshore Guyana,” said Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company. “ExxonMobil, along with its partners, will continue to further evaluate opportunities on the Stabroek Block.”\nThe Turbot-1 well is located in the southeastern portion of the 26,800-square-kilometre Stabroek Block, about 30 miles to the southeast of the Liza Phase 1 project.", "Related News\nA Federal High Court in Lagos will on October 9 resume trial of a former Governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, who is charged with N4.7 billion fraud.\nMr. Ladoja is being tried alongside a former State Commissioner for Finance, Waheed Akanbi.\nJustice Mohammed Idris adjourned the case on Friday at the instance of Mr. Akanbi’s lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika.\nHe had requested that an official from Oyo State should be summoned by the court to tender some documents as exhibits.\nMr. Olumide-Fusika had attempted to tender the document during the proceedings on Friday, but counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Oluwafemi Olabisi, opposed it.\nHe contended that Mr. Olumide-Fusika failed to lay proper foundation for the tendering of the documents.\nBut Mr. Olumide-Fusika maintained that the document was important to the defence of Mr. Akanbi and urged the court to summon the official to appear for the purpose of tendering the document as an exhibit.\nHis application for adjournment was not opposed by other defence counsel.\nConsequently, Justice Idris adjourned the case until October 9 to allow for the invitation and appearance of the official.\nThe News Agency of Nigeria reports that Messes. Ladoja and Akanbi are being prosecuted for alleged money laundering and unlawful conversion of funds belonging to the state government to their own.\nIn one of the counts, Messes. Ladoja and Akanbi were accused of converting N1.9 billion belonging to the state to personal use sometime in 2007.\nThe EFCC also accused Mr. Ladoja of removing 600,000 pounds from the state coffers in 2007 which he sent to one Bimpe Ladoja, who was at the time in London as well as converting another N42 million to purchase a bullet-proof Land Cruiser Jeep.\nThe offences contravened the provisions of Sections 17(a) and 18 (1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004.\n(NAN)", "The Federal High Court, Ring Road, Ibadan, presided over by Honorable Justice Ismail Saka, on Friday restrained, Vincent Okumagba and his group from inaugurating a rival Nigeria Football Supporters Club in Oyo State.\nRuling on motion injunction filed, Ogunjobi Taofeek (Secretary Oyo chapter) and others on behalf of the club against the inauguration of the following members, Demola Olalekan, Waidi Lawal, Bose Akinlabi, Dotun Ayeni to mention but a few who have been dismissed the club.\nThe presiding Judge ruled that they should not Cary out their planned inauguration slated for the liberty Stadium, Ibadan pending the determination of the suit.\nAfter the ruling the plaintiff took the court injunction to the Police Station, Iyaganku, Ibadan who invited Okumagba group made up of Kemi Popoola, Demola Olalekan, Waidi Lawal who were all in Ibadan for the inauguration and advised them to obey the court order.\nSpeaking on the development, the secretary of the club Oyo chapter, Ogujobi Taofeek, has described the judgment as victory over darkness nothing that his group decided to go to Court in order to stop those he described as dissidents who have been expelled for anti-club activities from destroying the image of the club.\n“I’m very happy with the judgment because those who wanted to come and inaugurate rival club in Oyo have since been ceased to be a members of the club following their explosion by the National Headquarters to anti club activities saying they are ready to follow the case to a logical conclusion” he stated.\nAlso reacting, the National Chairman, Reverend Samuel Ikpea said that the club was happy over the judgment as the body had taken them to court preventing them from inaugurating an illegal body and to also prevent them from using the name of the club to swindle unsuspecting members of the public. – Authentic News.", "The logo of Italian energy company Eni is seen at an Agip gas station in Lugano, Switzerland June 3, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo\nMILAN Italian oil and gas group Eni (ENI.MI) reiterated on Thursday it had not paid any intermediary or any bribes to acquire the OPL-245 oilfield in Nigeria.\nSpeaking at the group's annual shareholder meeting chairwoman Emma Marcegaglia said Eni had only ever dealt with the Nigerian government.\nCourts in Nigeria and Italy are investigating the purchase of OPL 245. Eni and major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) paid $1.3 billion (1.04 billion pounds) for the rights to the block in 2011.\nOn Wednesday Shell said for the first time it was aware that some of the payments it made to Nigeria would go to a company associated with former Nigerian oil minister and convicted money launderer Dan Etete.\nEtete awarded the block in 1998 for $20 million to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company in which he was a leading shareholder.\nMarcegaglia said Shell's comments did not change Eni's position, adding the company had not paid any money to Etete or sealed any deal with Malabu.\nShe added Eni has made no provisions for the Nigeria probe.\nAt the same meeting, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said in the future the group did not rule out a share buy-back programme but added for the time being he had no intention to discuss the issue with the board.\n(Reporting by Giancarlo Navach, writing by Stephen Jewkes, editing by Francesca Landini)", "ABUJA, July 4 (Reuters) - Nigeria will offer a 12.7 billion naira ($41.6 million) mining contract to eight companies in exploration and consultancy, its junior mining minister said on Wednesday, adding both foreign and local firms were encouraged to participate.\n$1 = 305.2000 naira Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Mark Potter", "The Head of the Federal Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita has re-emphasized the commitment of the Federal Government to reposition the Nigerian Civil Service for a better and more efficient service delivery in line with the change agenda of the present administration.\nA press statement signed, Wednesday by the Director, Media and Public Relations, Mrs Olawunmi Ogunmosunle reveals that Mrs. Oyo-Ita stated this commitment during the visit of the bench marking and study tour group of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Heads of Service in the States and Federal and State Permanent Secretaries to the Public Service Commission and Public Service Department of Malaysia on Monday, 2nd July, 2018.\nThe Head of the Civil Service of the Federation said the visit to Malaysia by key officials responsible for the formulation and the charting of the course of governance in Nigeria is to understand how Malaysia achieved its success story in public service administration.\nMrs. Oyo-Ita commended the widened recruitment drive of the Malaysian Government. According to her the online recruitment which has made it possible for Malaysian graduates all over the world to apply for employment from anywhere in the world and track the progress of their application which is valid for one year is a good innovation.\nThe Head of Federal Civil Service of the Federation said she was equally impressed by the encompassing requirements listed for recruitment into the public service. She was impressed that the recruitment has been widened to encompass different areas of competence. This includes talent, physical /fitness, leadership and aptitude tests and not just paper qualification.\nMrs Oyo-Ita said the pensionable length of service pegged at three (3) years is admirable because it allows for easy exit for officers who are not getting job satisfaction.\nThe Head of Civil Service of the Federation reiterated the role of the Civil Service as the base and engine room for development of any nation. She therefore emphasized the need to expose the relevant people to drive the process to the best practices as it obtains in some countries.\nThe visit will afford the Nigerian delegation the opportunity to interact, share experiences and explore areas of partnership aimed at improving the Nigerian Civil Service and possibly sign partnerships agreements in the areas of capacity building and training, talent management, performance management, innovation, culture change and Human Resources Management system and process automation.", "Oil prices edged lower on Monday as rising U.S. drilling activity pointed to a further increase in American production, countering OPEC-led output cuts.\nBrent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were 10 cents lower at $63.30 a barrel by 1115 GMT.\nU.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $57.10 a barrel, down 26 cents from their last settlement.\nStory continues below advertisement\nBrent and WTI settled more than 1 per cent higher on Friday, and oil prices have gained well over a third from 2017 lows.\n\"It's time for a breather,\" said Warren Patterson, commodities strategist with ING.\nThe gains are largely due to production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a group of non-OPEC producers, including Russia, which have been in place since the start of the year.\nAnalysts at PVM Oil Associates also said the \"deteriorating geopolitical backdrop acted as a pillar of price support\" over the past week, with turmoil in Yemen and potential worker strikes in Nigeria underpinning the market.\nBut all this could be undermined by rising output from the United States, which is not participating in the deal to withhold production.\nThe number of rigs drilling for new oil output in the United States rose by two in the week to Dec. 8, to 751, the highest level since September, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday.\n\"The largest concern for investors currently remains the rise in the U.S. rig count,\" said Shane Chanel, equities and derivatives adviser at ASR Wealth Advisers.\nStory continues below advertisement\nStory continues below advertisement\nA higher rig count points to a further rise in U.S. crude production, which is already up more than 15 per cent since mid-2016 at 9.71 million barrels per day.\nThat's the highest since the early 1970s, and close to the output levels of top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia.\nOPEC started withholding supplies in January, and announced late last month an extension through 2018.\nThe United Arab Emirates' energy minister said on Monday that OPEC plans to announce in June an exit strategy from the cuts, though he added it did not mean the pact would end by then. On Sunday, Kuwait's oil minister said producers would study before June the possibility of an exit strategy.", "DOHA, April 5 Qatar Petroleum (QP) and ExxonMobil will start drilling for oil and gas off the southern coast of Cyprus in 2018, the Qatari firm said after signing an exploration and production sharing contract with the Mediterranean island.\nExploring the Mediterranean's Levant Basin has become more attractive since Eni discovered Egypt's offshore Zohr field in 2015, the biggest gas field in the Mediterranean and estimated to contain 850 billion cubic metres of gas.\nState-owned Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil were among bidders last year for a contract for Cyprus's offshore Block 10.\n\"A 3D seismic survey is already underway, as the consortium partners prepare to begin exploration drilling in 2018,\" QP said in a statement.\nTo maintain its dominance over competitors in the United States and Australia, QP is cutting costs at its domestic operations and seeking to expand overseas through joint ventures with international oil firms, QP said in February.\n(Reporting by Tom Finn; Editing by Edmund Blair)", "As Kachikwu says Nigeria has 50-year crude deposit Uche Usim, Abuja The Oil-Producing Exporting Countries (OPEC) yesterday disclosed that a whopping $10.3 trillion investment would be required to meet the 15 million barrels per day (mb/d) projected increase in global oil demand from 94.5 mb/d in 2016 to 111.1 mb/d in 2040. This was as the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, revealed that the nation’s crude oil deposit of over 39 billion barrels could sustain the country for over 50 years\nby which time a veritable alternative energy source would have been developed. He further said the golden objective was achieving higher production volume at less cost as it is presently. The two senior industry stakeholders spoke in Abuja at the opening of the 18th Annual Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference yesterday. In his remarks, the Secretary General of OPEC, Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, said the $10.3 trillion investment was also necessary to offset the impact of natural decline rates, which could be as high as 5 per cent per year.\nHe said: “To maintain current production levels, the industry might need to add upwards of 4mb/d each year. This background gives a sense of the gravity of the situation as OPEC and its non-OPEC partners held a series of meetings, which culminated in the Declaration of Cooperation among which entails promoting mutual respect among all nations. “Bringing together 25 sovereign producing nations is unparalleled in the history of the oil industry. The ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ stra- tegic partnership constitutes a fundamental and essential feature of the ‘new world of energy.’", "President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday night met with Governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) inside the Presidential Villa in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.\nVice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha also attended the meeting, which took place at the First Lady’s conference room in the Villa.\nGovernors in attendance include Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, Simon Lalung of Plateau, Jubrila Bindow of Adamawa, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, Rochas Okorocha of Imo, and Abdulahi Ganduje of Kano.\nOthers are Kassim Shetima of Borno, Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger, Tanko Almakura of Nassarawa, Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, Godwin Obaseki of Edo, and Abubakar Bagudu of Jigawa.\nThe meeting started around 8 pm and ended around 11 pm.", "This report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies\nPUNE, INDIA, August 14, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Increase in demand for crude oil and fuel along with preventive steps for ageing wells from well owners, increasing number of drill rig count and decrease in the productivity of various gas and oil wells, are the basic reasons behind increased demands for the intervention services in both onshore and offshore areas.\nLogging and Bottomhole Survey and Tubing/Packer Failure Repair Service is expected to dominate the Well Intervention Market with Stimulation Services showing the highest growth rate. Boost in the Africa and Asia Pacific Market with North America expected to dominate in future. Offshore region will be the emerging market while Onshore will cater to most of the demand of Well Intervention Services Market. The African Market is the highest growing market with Nigeria being the major market. North America is having high growth with U.S. providing momentum, and Europe is having sluggish growth with Russia being the major market. North & Central America shows moderate growth in Well Intervention industry.\nRequest a Sample Report @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/822735-global-well-intervention-market-nigeria-russia-brazil\nThere has been a growing need for prolongation of well life due to ageing well assets. Hike in Exploration & Production (E&P) activities especially in U.S. has led to increase in demand for energy. Development of new Oil fields along with maturing wells has also driven the market. This has increased drilling rig counts which in turn increases the demand for Well Intervention Services. Stringent government regulations regarding oil & gas leaks, water contamination, environmental & public health is one of the biggest restraints faced by this industry. The level of spending in the energy industry is heavily influenced by changes in the current and expected future prices of oil and natural gas, drilling rig counts, well counts, well completions and workover activity. Moreover, there is existence of high technical cost and operational efficiency.\nGlobal Well Intervention Market is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 4.34% during 2016 – 2021, driven by rising demand in the oil and gas energy along with ageing well assets. The increasing trend in the well intervention market is set to continue further with the current surge in offshore and onshore activities and unconventional resources exploratory activities.\nThe market in developed regions is matured and is witnessing high growth except for Europe while the developing regions are expected to witness consistent growth in the Well Intervention market especially in Africa & Asia Pacific.\nAccording to research report, “Global Well Intervention Market (By Service, By Application, By Region): Opportunities and Forecasts (2016-2021): (By Service – Logging & Bottom Hole Survey, Tubing/Packer Failure & Repair, Stimulation, Sand Control Services, Re-Perforation, Remedial Cementing, Zonal Isolation, Artificial Lift, Fishing; By Application – Onshore & Offshore; By Country -USA, Saudi Arabia, China, Nigeria, Russia, Brazil)”, Global Well Intervention Market is projected to exhibit a CAGR of over ~4.3% during 2016 - 2021. On the basis of market segment, the market has been segmented into three categories namely - By Service, By Applications, and By Region and Country. Few of the leading companies operating in Well Intervention market are Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes and Weatherford International Ltd.\nScope of the Report\nThe report provides coverage By Service and By Application:\n•By Well Intervention Services:\n-By Logging & Bottomhole Survey\n-By Tubing/Packer Failure Repair\n-By Stimulation\n-By Sand Control Services\n- By Re-Perforation\n-By Remedial Cementing\n-By Zonal Isolation\n-By Artificial Lift\n-By Fishing\n-By Others\n•By Well Intervention Application\n-Onshore and Offshore\nThe report provides coverage by Region\n•North America\n•Europe\n•South America & Central America\n•Asia Pacific\n•Africa\n•Middle East\nThe report provides coverage by Country\n•United States\n•Russia\n•Brazil\n•China\n•Nigeria\n•Saudi Arabia\nAccess Complete Report@ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/822735-global-well-intervention-market-nigeria-russia-brazil\nResearch Methodology\n•The objective of the research is to present the historical growth (2010-2015) and the future projections (2016-2021) of the global well intervention market (global, regional, country-specific).\n•Historical market trend of well intervention has been figured out through secondary research (associations, annual reports, magazines, journals) and by various paid databases.\n•Extensive primary research was conducted and experts from the industry were interviewed for presenting the dynamics of the industry and future projections.\nCustomization of the Report\nThe report could be customized according to the client’s specific research requirements. No additional cost will be required to pay for limited additional research.\nTable of Contents ( Key Points )\n1. Research Methodology\n2. Executive Summary\n3. Strategic Recommendation\n3.1 Well Intervention Market to be led by high growth in Africa and Asia Pacific\n3.2 Logging & Bottom Hole and Stimulation Services to drive the Well Intervention Market\n3.3 Offshore Well Intervention Market to Rise due to growth in the New Offshore Discoveries\n4. Global Well Intervention Market: An Overview\n4.1 Product Overview\n4.2 Market Segmentation\n4.2.1 By Service\n4.2.2 By Applications\n4.3 Market size By Value\n4.3.1 Historical (2011-2015)\n4.3.2 Forecast (2016-2021)\n5. Global Well Intervention Market: By Applications (Onshore, Offshore)\n5.1 Global Well Intervention Market - By Applications: Breakdown\n5.1.1.By Application - Actual (2015)\n5.1.2.By Application - Forecast (2021)\n5.2 Onshore\n5.2.1.Global Well Intervention Market - By Onshore -By Value (2011-2015)\n5.2.2.Global Well Intervention Market - By Onshore- By Volume (2016-2021)\n5.3 Offshore\n5.3.1.Global Well Intervention Market - By Offshore -By Value (2011-2015)\n5.3.2.Global Well Intervention Market - By Offshore- By Volume (2016-2021)\n6. Global Well Intervention Market: By Services (Logging & Bottomhole Survey, Tubing/Packer Failure Repair, Stimulation, Sand Control Services, Re-Perforation, Remedial Cementing, Zonal Isolation, Artificial Lift Services, Fishing, Others)\n6.1. Global Well Intervention Market - By Service: Breakdown\n6.1.1.By Source-Actual (2015)\n6.1.2.By Source-Forecast (2021)\n6.2 Logging & Bottomhole Survey Well Intervention Market\n6.2.1.Market Size By Value (2011-2015)\n6.2.2.Market Size By Value (2016-2021)\n6.3 Tubing/Packer Failure Repair Well Intervention Market\n6.3.1 Market Size By Value (2011-2015)\n6.3.2 Market Size By Value (2016-2021)\n6.4 Stimulation Well Intervention Market\n6.4.1 Market Size By Value (2011-2015)\n6.4.2 Market Size By Value (2016-2021)\n6.5 Sand Control Services Well Intervention Market\n6.5.1.Market Size By Value (2011-2015)\n6.5.2.Market Size By Value (2016-2021)\n6.6 Re-Perforation Well Intervention Market\n……Continued\nMake an enquiry before buying this Report @ https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/822735-global-well-intervention-market-nigeria-russia-brazil" ]

[ "northern" ]

[ "that which burns", "that which purifies", "locators", "record locator", "downtown locations", "a storage location", "part 4.5", "co-location", "part B", "Part of the Union", "A Part of the Sky", "that which is heard", "no moving parts", "Part 2", "intimate part", "interchangeable parts", "part number", "Part V", "Part VII", "The Parting Glass", "Temporal parts", "squamous part", "Part One", "Parting of the Waters", "Part XIV", "fractional part", "Part 6", "Inter partes", "uniform resource locators", "interdependent parts", "Private Parts", "Part 13" ]

[ "Mail is packed into a special nose cone and shot to its destination by a guided missile fired from a submarine." ]

[ "Driving directions redux You’ll never use MapQuest again. With a new addition to its Google Maps service, Google has completely reinvented the notion of online driving directions, letting you adjust routes in with a simple drag and drop.…", "Indians pitcher Kyle Denney will never complain about having to dress like a cheerleader again. The white go-go boots that went with the outfit might have prevented a bullet from seriously injuring his leg.", "By Hannah Mitchell, The Charlotte Observer, N.C. Jun. 25--Forest fires that started in and near the Linville Gorge Wilderness in Burke County on June 8 are actively burning again due to dry conditions, U.S. Forest Service officials said.", "All those complaining about Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer will have to quiet down for a while. The Volunteers are in position to play for a conference title again.", "Ending nearly three months of suspense about his future, the Miami Heat center said Sunday night that he’ll play again next season.", "According to the deal worth $35 million, it will supply and install human resources software to help the US Postal Service manage its staff of about 700,000.", "JEROME THOMAS last night promised to make Arsenal regret never giving him a proper chance at Highbury. He warned: &quot;If they want me that badly again then they&#39;ll have to buy me back.", "THE ISLAND'S postal service has again come under scrutiny from foreign drug enforcement agencies as a report out of the United Kingdom said packages of crack/cocaine worth millions of dollars were seized in ...", "com Arabic Editor Caroline Faraj. Born June 6, 1959, in Kobar near Ramallah, eight years before the Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza.", "Bill Gates has a Google thing. When I asked him about the search competition last summer, he turned on the sarcasm. &quot;We&#39;ll never be as cool as them.", "A second U.S. Republican lawmaker has acknowledged calling a federal prosecutor to complain about the slow pace of corruption cases just before elections last year, The Washington Post reported on Monday.", "WINSTON-SALEM -- Mrs. Dorothy Mae \"Dot\" Murphy, passed away Wednesday, June 6, 2007. A funeral service will be held 2 p.m. on Friday, June 8, in the Sanctuary of New Mt. Vernon Methodist Church. Interment will follow the service at Parklawn Memorial Park. Arrangements by J.C.", "Tracy Miller thinks about her son's touch and his voice, trying to grasp that she will never experience either again.", "PHILADELPHIA, June 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SEPTA will operate regular Market-Frankford Line service this weekend (Friday, June 29 through Sunday, July 1) to accommodate passengers traveling during the July 4th holiday weekend. Regular service will also operate the weekend of July 6-8.", "'Green' postal mail scanning service plans to open retail stores around the country.", "U.S. consumer confidence increased modestly in June but uncertainty about the near future suggested the economy may be poised to slow in the months ahead, a survey showed on Tuesday.", "About two years ago you may remember we were in the throes of the SOAP revolution. \"Web services everywhere!\" was the cry and have to confess I'm one of those guilty of having gone for it, for a while. There were going to be these giant UDDI servers that would aggregate everyone's web services and the Internet would never look the same again...", "Lockheed Martin Corp. won a contract potentially worth $3 billion to provide managed network services to the U.S. Postal Service.", "Motorola Israel Ltd. said Monday it will provide the U.S. Postal Service with new hand-held scanning devices under a three-year deal worth about &#36;300 million.", "Troy Hambrick is playing behind Emmitt Smith again, but this time he's not complaining.", "WASHINGTON, June 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- FreedomWorks is continuing the fight for choice in video services for Ohio consumers with the release of a new study by Diane Katz that examines the benefits of franchise reform.", "PORT-AU-PRINCE : Interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue complained on Friday about the slow rate of delivery of 1.4 billion dollars of aid pledged by international donors at a conference in Washington in July.", "The Internal Revenue Service is looking for 1,713 Coloradans whose income-tax refund checks were returned by the Postal Service as undeliverable.", "Northern Ireland's postal service is set to be disrupted by a national strike by Royal Mail staff.", "LONDON A British consumers&#39; lobbying group has complained to the Office of Fair Trading about prices on Apple&#39;s iTunes online music download service.", "A Maryland company is about to market a new service aimed at a group of notoriously late-adapters: 8-year-olds", "New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin opened a visit to New York on Friday by expressing regret for having criticized the slow redevelopment at the World Trade Center site, saying he will \"never again refer to that site as a hole.\"", "United Parcel Service Inc. UPS.N, the world's largest package delivery firm, said on Friday that it is evaluating China's domestic express market but is concerned about the country's proposed postal legislation.", "Worried about security at the Republican National Convention? Rest easy: the Environmental Protection Agency is on the job. So are the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Postal Service. The Coast Guard too.", "Royal Mail has written to conciliation service Acas, offering to meet postal unions ahead of a proposed strike.", "About $200,000 in monthly expenses is a big check to write to run a radio station you may never own. That&#39;s the reality facing Chris Egan, who will have to decide how long he&#39;ll", "Fong became a US senator in 1959 when Hawaii was admitted as a state. The Republican served from 1959 until 1977." ]

[ "Analysts have offered their latest judgment of the Christmas shopping season: good, but not great." ]

[ "Findomestic, boom si registra nel settore auto", "Boom incarichi si verifico' con arrivo Tavaroli in Telecom", "More than just a boom box, the Miuro listens to the beat and follows its muse around the room.", "Loans made to people with weak credit during the housing boom have pushed more than 20 companies into bankruptcy.", "As the virtual world booms, users yearn for something more than a subpar search engine--and work is now under way.", "Agenzia Entrate:nel 2007 400mila richieste,boom non si ferma", "A booming China now consumes more grain, meat, coal and steel - but not oil - than the US, a survey says.", "Sales at retailers rose more in September than analysts estimated because of lower gas prices.", "Incheon and Seoul are part of one of the biggest booms in tall-building construction since the skyscraper appeared more than a century ago.", "The world needs to invest more than $2 billion in irrigation, roads and other rural development to wean Afghanistan off booming opium cultivation", "More than 100 firefighters bring a fire at a retail warehouse in County Antrim under control.", "A pair of accidents that killed more than 300 miners has underscored the human price China pays for its booming economy and ravenous appetite for coal, an industry that's seen more than 4,500 workers killed on the job this year.", "The United States will spend more than $500 billion on security this year, a high-water mark that is creating boom times in the armaments industry.", "Studies of children indicate that people may be inherently prejudiced against those less fortunate. Bah, humbug, indeed.", "A new survey shows that Ireland's population now totals more than four-million with this rise reflecting immigration stemming from the country's economic boom.", "That was the topic of a posh tea at the Prime Minister's house recently, as business leaders struggle with making sure that India's boom benefits more than just the urban professionals", "A review of more than 700 studies has concluded that echinacea has a substantial effect in preventing colds and in limiting their duration.", "The teen retailer/skateboard purveyor's stock rose more than 10% in pre-market trading.", "Federal spending on contractors is expected to grow more quickly than it has historically, though not quite at the booming pace of the three years after Sept. 11, 2001.", "F reshman algebra teacher Deanne Florindi launches into a review a little more than two weeks into the school year.", "Shares of Amazon.com fell more than 16 percent on Thursday after the online retailer reported earnings that fell short of analysts estimates and raised concerns the company was focusing more on sales than profits.", "Have Wi-Fi, can call via VoIP Review VoIP may be revolutionising the telecoms industry by allowing us to make free calls with little more than a broadband connection and computer, but it's also tying us to our PCs. If you'd rather spend more time talking than being tied to a machine, a Wi-Fi phone like the EnGenius SI-680H will help you cut the cord.…", "Prosecutors are recommending that former Qwest Communications International chief Joseph Nacchio serve more than seven years in prison for insider trading during the telecommunications boom.", "Fueled by the growth of a local retailer and a general wave of prosperity, Nebraska town finds itself with more jobs than people.", "Australian retail giant Coles puts itself up for sale, saying it expects to be worth more than $14bn.", "The inaugural Organic Summit (www.theorganicsummit.com), held here June 20 to 22, attracted more than 200 organic activists, representing the full spectrum of the booming organic industry.", "Verizon is the latest electronics retailer to open an outlet that feels more like an entertainment center or arcade than a phone store.", "Shares in fashion retailer Giordano International Ltd. jumped more than 8 percent on Monday amid speculation that three global retail giants were considering buying a stake in the company.", "Festive hustings Who's that gut lord marching... you should cut down on your mince pies mate... bah, Humbug!…", "After reviewing more than a decade of air quality reports and medical records, a team of scientists says it has linked ozone to premature death.", "SHARES in Australian Pharmaceutical Industries surged more than 5 per cent today after the healthcare conglomerate moved to boost its retail pharmacy operations by acquiring health, beauty and lifestyle retailer New Price Retail for $112.", "Landlords are enjoying booming times these days as more people are choosing to rent." ]