text:
Climate accord withdrawal divides White House
By Larry Bell |2017-04-25T22:33:50-04:00April 24th, 2017|CFACT Insights|1 Comment
Earlier this month, a Politico headline reported a "White House showdown on Paris deal set for next week," to resolve "simmering tensions" regarding "a major point of dispute between the moderate and nationalist wings of the White House."
That planned April 18 meeting was subsequently postponed indefinitely due to top official "scheduling conflicts." Reuters reported a White House official saying that Trump aides will later "discuss the options, with the goal of providing a recommendation to the President about the path forward."
Contentions surrounding various options revolve around three primary issues:
Whether the U.S. should opt out of the Obama administration's pledge to be party to agreement terms;
whether to stop financing the UN Green Climate fund; and
whether to withdraw all future taxpayer funding for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sponsors and publicizes the underlying political climate science.
The White House plans to announce a Paris deal decision on or before the start of a May 26th G-7 meeting in Taormina, Sicily. A determination to comply will have huge economic and social consequences. According to Nera Economic Consulting, meeting all of Obama's commitments to the Paris accord would cost the American economy $3 trillion and 6.5 million industrial sector jobs by the year 2040.
Premised upon ginned-up UN-sponsored alarmism, the global wealth redistribution hornswoggle hoodwinks developed countries into "helping developing nations deal with climate change" through blame and shame tactics. Obama committed the U.S. to do this by lowering our nation's agriculture-fertilizing CO2 emissions between 26% and 28% below 2005 levels by 2024. Emission reductions would then be ramped up every 5 years.
And how much of that climate change menace (also known as, global warming), are we helping to reduce?
To put the benefits into perspective, a peer-reviewed study by Bjørn Lomborg concludes that if every nation faithfully fulfilled their promises, it would (maybe) lower total global temperatures over not doing so only a total 0.306º C by this century's end.
U.S. participation in the Paris agreement also commits many more billions of U.S. financing to non-compliant polluting countries in penance and restitution for America's unfair fossil energy-enriched prosperity.
Much of the green we are generously pumping into that Green Climate Fund is going to China, whose "developing country" status not only exempts it from having to pony up contributions to the fund, but even enables it to cash in.
China has been building a new coal-fired plant about every 7 to 10 days. That fuel consumption amounts to more than 4 billion tons of coal each year, compared to less than 1 billion tons in the United States.
Meanwhile, as China, India, and other really dirty and expanding emitters enjoy exemptions, the U.S., with far better environmental protections, subsidizes their economic advantages.
On the campaign trail, presidential candidate Trump promised to cancel UN Paris accord participation as "bad for business," a deal that would delegate "foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use." He also pledged to stop all U.S. payments to UN global warming programs.
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has also gone on record stating that the U.S. should exit the deal, a view shared by Trump strategist Stephen Bannon.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, on the other hand, argued during his Senate confirmation hearing that the U.S. should maintain a "seat at the table." Others who likely agree, include National Economic Council head Gary Cohn who hosted a carbon tax meeting, along with Ivanka Trump and her influential husband Jared Kushner.
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who previously described the science behind climate change as "phony," now appears to be wobbling. He most recently told G-7 energy ministers in Rome that Washington, DC, is still reviewing its policies and "reserves its position on this issue."
Let's hope that position adopts an unfalteringly upright rejection of an assault upon virtually all aspects of American life. This includes costly impacts upon everything we produce, consume, and export, along with the industries, employment, and wages that go with them. The greatest of those burdens would weigh upon the poorest among us.
As Richard Morrison at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) warns, "The Paris Climate Treaty is inherently toxic to American institutions of self-government. The agreement provides a framework for a global, political pressure machine to exist for decades."
The planet and its creatures will be no worse off by opting out. The climate will continue to change as it always has, glaciers will continue to retreat and advance, polar bear populations will continue to grow, and rain forests will continue to be grateful for that CO2 nourishment.
Yes, and Al Gore's $9 million ocean-view Montecito, CA, home will continue to remain safely above rising tides of doom despite those copious emissions he spews jet-setting around the world to tell us otherwise.
CFACT Advisor Larry Bell heads the graduate program in space architecture at the University of Houston. He founded and directs the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture. He is also the author of "Climate of Corruption: Politics and Power Behind the Global Warming Hoax."
Bob Giargiari May 1, 2017 at 2:55 PM
Mr. President – Tear up this Paris boondoggle!


text:
E-cigarettes may not help smokers quit, small study says
Researchers say more studies need to be conducted to determine the best role for the devices in assisting with smoking cessation.
HealthDay News
While some smokers in a small study found e-cigarettes helpful in their effort to quit, researchers say the study suggests the devices are not an ideal method for smoking cessation -- but that more research is needed to determine their best role to help people quit. Photo by lindsayfox/Pixabay
TUESDAY, March 27, 2018 -- E-cigarettes did not help people quit smoking, a small study found, but the researchers said more studies are needed to determine if the devices could play some role in smoking cessation.
The investigation included more than 1,300 adult smokers who had been hospitalized and said they intended to quit smoking after being discharged from the hospital.
They received either usual care -- support services and recommendations on medications to help them quit smoking -- or an intervention that gave them their choice of medications to help them quit smoking and automated phone calls providing advice and encouragement.
Both groups were told they could use e-cigarettes if they wanted and more than one-quarter of them used the electronic devices in the three months after leaving the hospital. E-cigarette use was higher in the usual care group than in the intervention group.
RELATED E-cigarettes doing more harm than good, study says
Nearly 70 percent of study participants who used e-cigarettes said they did so to help them quit smoking, and frequency of use ranged from about once a week to once a day.
After six months, patients who used e-cigarettes were less likely to have quit smoking than those who didn't use the devices, according to the study.
But the researchers noted that the study doesn't prove definitively that e-cigarettes don't help people quit smoking.
RELATED Study: Teens who vape likely exposed to dangerous toxins
"Study participants who used e-cigarettes generally used them infrequently and not every day, a pattern that may not be an effective way to use them for quitting smoking," said study leader Dr. Nancy Rigotti. She directs the Tobacco Research and Treatment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
"It does not prove that e-cigarettes could not be of benefit if a smoker switches completely from tobacco cigarettes and uses them [e-cigarettes] regularly, in the same way that FDA-approved nicotine replacement products are intended to be used," Rigotti said in a hospital news release.
"These results indicate the urgent need for randomized, controlled trials to investigate whether e-cigarettes can help smokers to quit, which have been difficult to do in the U.S. because of regulatory challenges," she said.
RELATED Report to Congress: E-cigarettes may have long-term negative health effect
"In the meantime, I would tell smokers who want to quit or cut down to use one of the FDA-approved smoking cessation medications, which are known to be safe and effective, as a first choice," Rigotti said.
"If they do choose to try e-cigarettes, they should switch completely from tobacco cigarettes and use e-cigarettes daily, something the American Cancer Society has recently recommended," Rigotti added.
The findings were published March 26 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The American Cancer Society offers a guide to quitting smoking.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

FOUNDATION_EXPORT double AppNexusSDKVersionNumber;
FOUNDATION_EXPORT const unsigned char AppNexusSDKVersionString[];

#import <AppNexusSDK/ANAdConstants.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANAdProtocol.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANAdView.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANBannerAdView.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANCustomAdapter.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANInterstitialAd.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANLocation.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANLogManager.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANTargetingParameters.h>

#import <AppNexusSDK/ANNativeAdDelegate.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANNativeAdRequest.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANNativeAdResponse.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANNativeAdStarRating.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANNativeAdTargetingProtocol.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANNativeCustomAdapter.h>
#import <AppNexusSDK/ANNativeMediatedAdResponse.h>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Cider Finder
Ciders On Tap
The Apples
Greg Weber
Missoula's Western Cider feted as Northwest's best new cidery
Growing cider apples is a long process.
You don't want the tree to bear fruit for the first couple of years, so you pluck the flowers off, Matthew LaRubbio explained. The tree redirects its energy into growing taller and stronger.
Then, finally, in a few more years, it will be ready to bear prime cider apples.
Missoula's Western Cider grew the same way.
The business started as a seed in 2009. Co-owners and friends LaRubbio and Michael Billingsley were inspired while working in a peach orchard.
The next year, Billingsley bought 500 apple trees. In 2012, the rare heritage cultivars went in the ground just outside Stevensville, and the future owners of the cidery really got to work.
They converted a former tannery and tire manufacturing building on the Clark Fork River into a cider fermentation building and tasting room at 501 N. California St. in Missoula.
They created a brand and nurtured their orchard. Their canned hard cider, Poor Farmer, showed up in local grocery stores right before the Western Cider building opened in April 2017.
Western Cider co-owner Matthew LaRubbio explains the process of making cider. The only similarity to brewing beer is adding carbonation at the end, he said. (Katy Spence/Missoula Current)
Now, LaRubbio and Billingsley, along with co-owner Jon Clarenbach, have seen the fruits of their labor. Western Cider won Best New Cidery, and their McIntosh cider won Best in Show, at the Portland International Cider Cup in June.
"It legitimizes what we're doing," LaRubbio said. "Out of 170 ciders, we got best cider out of all of them. It's huge."
LaRubbio sees craft cider as a continuation of the craft movement and Western Cider as a way to emphasize the importance of farming and local produce.
Western Cider is currently the only cidery in Montana that grows its own apples. The rest of their apples come from other local growers and from growers in Washington and Oregon.
"It all came from planting an orchard," LaRubbio said. "We really want to tip the scale as far as where we get our apples from."
More than 20 varieties of apple tree grow in Western Cider's patio area, located right next to the bike trail and the Clark Fork River. (Katy Spence/Missoula Current)
Billingsley continues to plant trees every year, and now has more than 4,500 trees in the Stevensville orchard, with more than 50 varieties.
LaRubbio said there are big things in the works for Western Cider. Before the summer is over, Missoula cider lovers can expect to see three of the most popular flavors in bottles on grocery shelves.
By the time fall arrives, LaRubbio hopes to be serving food out of the cidery. Until then, he said, there's a food truck out by the patio in the evenings.
"The hop cider goes great with tacos," he said.
For now, LaRubbio said the goal is to make it through a full year and assess the demand. So far, demand is high.
When a cider runs out, it's out. LaRubbio said people can get really bummed, especially when their Whiskey Peach variety runs out. He hopes this summer's special, Summer Melon, will draw new customers.
Head cider maker Erik Brasher stands next to empty Poor Farmer cans, ready to be filled with cider and sent to local stores. (Katy Spence/Missoula Current)
Erik Brasher is the head cider maker at Western Cider. With a background in wine-making, Brasher said the transition to cider has been refreshing.
"There's a lot of playfulness in everything that's going on right now," Brasher said. "It's really fun to take a fresh look at a beverage and educate people about it."
The apples are pressed at the orchard and the juice is sent to the cidery. It sits in fermenting tanks for anywhere from five weeks to six months. The fermented cider is filtered and transferred to the brite, another large tank, to be carbonated and finished.
Right now, there are 12 ciders on tap at Western Cider, five of which are "Estate" ciders made from apples grown in their own orchard. LaRubbio said Whiskey Peach, Sour Cherry and Rose are the most popular flavors, but he anticipates Summer Melon to be a strong seasonal contender.
Marion Halsell began working at Western Cider in March. She said the spectrum and potential of cider surprised her, but it's great because there is usually something for everybody.
"There's a wide variety of people," Halsell said. "Most people are drawn to something, be it by the name or the ingredients."
Halsell added that the passion and vision of the owners has made for a very cohesive business model.
Casey Lalonde tries a cider from the six-drink flight he ordered at Western Cider. He said his favorite so far is Wickson. (Katy Spence/Missoula Current)
First-time visitor Casey Lalonde said he was excited to try something new, adding that the new venue made sense in the Missoula community.
"The fact that it's different makes it work," Lalonde said. His favorite cider so far is Wickson, one of the Estate ciders.
The Rambler was Jeri Stephens' choice for her second visit to the cidery. She said she wanted to see the patio outside since it was too cold the first time she visited. This time, the weather was perfect.
The sun set over a scattering of patrons and more than 20 young apple trees, which will grow into fruit-bearers within the next couple of years. With Western Cider beginning to bear its own fruit, co-owners, employees and customers alike are excited to see how the business will continue to grow.
Western Cider products can be found in Missoula, Butte, Kalispell, Whitefish and Bozeman, Montana markets. The company is online at westerncider.com.
Western Cider's Great Bear Apple Drive
Orchard to taphouse: Missoula's first hard cidery plans grand opening
Western Cider - 501 N. California Missoula, MT 59802
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text:
Fleeing Assad's Troops
I went to Syria to photograph the rebellion. But when the army took aim at the village where I was staying, I escaped to Turkey with 100 refugees.
Jonathan Alpeyrie
Since the uprising in Syria began more than a year ago, at least 20,000 Syrians have fled the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad to find some safety in refugee camps on the Turkish border or in Lebanese cities like Tripoli. The Syrian government makes fleeing a life-threatening proposition: Troops have been mining the Turkish and Lebanese borders; snipers have been deployed, especially near Lebanon; and artillery missions are attacking cars carrying "suspicious" groups of people.
My colleague and I entered Syria through the Turkish border on March 15, on the one-year anniversary of the rebellion. We could hear gun battles in the surrounding hills and hid often to evade Syrian troops. After a full night of hard walking in darkness through numerous Syrian positions, we finally entered a small enclave still held by rebels in Idlib province.
After covering the war for seven days with the Free Syrian Army, we had to make a decision: stay with the rebels in the mountains north of the city of Idlib or flee the area, as the Syrian Army troops were reinforcing their forward positions with tanks—a sign of imminent assault. We decided we had to make our way back to Turkey and asked the rebels to get us out of there. They agreed and told us to be ready on March 22.
(Less than 10 hours later, the Syrian army retook the enclave. It was an easy fight that left the rebels scattered and villages like Al Shatouria, where we were hiding, undefended. If we had stayed a few hours longer, we would have been killed or taken as prisoners—not much better, considering that the Assad regime allows the killing of Western journalists.)
In the early evening, 100 or so Syrian civilians, their children, my colleague, and I gathered with a small party of Free Syrian Army rebels on the side of a muddy road near Al Shatouria. We heard gunfire and artillery fire in the distance. The rebels gave us the order, and our group walked northward for five hours in silence. During that period, we were still inside the enclave, surrounded by Syrian troops, and thus still in the danger zone since the army will do everything in its power to stop the flow of civilians into Turkey.
But we were lucky. Heavily burdened with luggage and many children, the group moved slowly but quietly. We traveled close to Syrian positions known to have snipers. After a few more hours, a white truck with no lights arrived to pick us up and get us to safety more quickly.
We kept our heads down inside the open-top truck. Soon, the Turkish border was only a few miles away. The rebels asked everyone to get out of the truck and walk quickly into the nearby wooded hills, as we heard more shooting. Fathers and mothers rushed into the woods carrying the smallest children. Teenagers walked next to armed rebels.
More rebels joined the group—now there were about 50—to help with the protection. Armed with AK-47s, AK-74s, and one RPG, they led us through muddy terrain in darkness. The women found it hard to continue, so some rebels carried the youngest children or helped with the bags. A few hours later, at about 1 a.m., a few hundred yards from the Turkish border, they put together a makeshift camp with a fire to warm up the children, now scared and tired.
An hour later, my colleague and I were told to follow three men, including an armed rebel, to the Turkish border. Soon the rebels would take the refugees to the border, where they would be picked up by the Turkish army and processed before being allowed into the various camps—their new homes, for who knows how long.
Jonathan Alpeyrie is a staff photographer for Polaris images. He is currently at work on a photography book about World War II.
#AK 47
#Bashar Assad
#Civil War
#Free Syrian Army
#Idlib Province
#Lebanon
#refugees
#smuggling
#Syria


The Nation's TopConstruction Aggregates Producers.Theleading companies, in descending order of crushed stone production in, are listed below.
Basalt Aggregate production linesAggregate, Inc. operates two independent stand-alone production lines, allowing for simultaneous production of different products.
line, crushed stone production line, aggregate production line, on per hour basalt mobile crushing plant. Crushing, Screening and ConveyingOhio .


I remember very distinctly studying a practice cassette tape for a band I was in around 1980-81. One of the songs on the tape was AC/DC doing " It's A Long Way To The Top".
The song was ( is ) incredibly straightforward and starkly simple, as are all AC/DC songs.
Being a token hot guitar player in the 80s, I was not terribly impressed by this song, and was not very familiar with this band at the time. I listened along, presuming the all- pervasive format of two verses, obligatory guitar solo, one more verse and out.
Man, what a surprise. Two verses and then… bagpipes. Lots of them. And then, bagpipes doing trade-offs with Angus' guitar. Then another verse, and out. And bagpipes along the way.
It was lucky for me that I was home alone, because I actually stood up and cheered. Very out of character.
And then listened to it again about 6000 times.
This was the first time that the notion of " no guitar solo" ever presented itself to me, and it was a revelation. And this from a two- guitar hard rock band. It changed me.
Thanks for everything, Malcolm. Have a safe journey over.


text:
Metz 12 HP ist ein Personenkraftwagen. Hersteller war die Metz Company aus den USA.

Beschreibung
Metz hatte gute Erfahrungen damit gemacht, ihr erstes Modell Metz 10 HP nur in Bausätzen zu verkaufen. 1910 erschien der 12 HP als Nachfolger.

Er hat ebenfalls einen Zweizylindermotor, der vorn im Fahrgestell eingebaut ist und die Hinte antreibt. Die Zylinderbohrung wurde auf 3,5 Zoll (88,9 mm) erhöht. Der Kolbenhub blieb identisch mit 3,25 Zoll (82,55 mm). Das ergibt 1025 cm³ Hubraum und 12 PS.

Das Fahrgestell hat 2057 mm Radstand und 1422 mm Spurweite. Das Leergewicht betrug 227 kg. Angeboten wurde 1910 nur ein zweisitziger Runabout, der als Bausatz 378 US-Dollar und fertig montiert 475 Dollar kostete. 1911 entfiel der Bausatz. Der Runabout kostete nun 485 Dollar. Ein Kastenwagen war für 500 Dollar erhältlich.

1910 entstanden 1913 Fahrzeuge und im Folgejahr 1812. Eine andere Quelle gibt die Zahlen 2500 und 3000 an. Es gab keinen Nachfolger der gleichen Fahrzeugklasse.

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Roadster
Kastenwagen
Kit Car

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
UK lawsuit asks Qualcomm to pay $680 million to Apple and Samsung phone owners
February 25, 2021 by Sunrise
UK lawsuit asks Qualcomm to pay $680 million to Apple and Samsung phone owners – After being handed a series of antitrust fines over its apparent abuse of power, Qualcomm is now facing a consumer lawsuit that could see it forced to compensate UK phone owners. The country's leading consumer association Which? issuing the Snapdragon chip maker to the tune of £482.5 million ($683 million) in damages for allegedly breaching competition law.
it claims Qualcomm used its dominance in the patent-licensing and processor markets by charging Apple and Samsung inflated fees for its tech licenses, which were then passed on to consumers in the form of higher smartphone prices. It estimates that individuals who purchased Apple or Samsung handsets since 2015 could be entitled to between £17 to £30 ($24 to $42) depending on the number and type of smartphones they bought.
Qualcomm has rubbished the allegations. "As the plaintiffs are well aware, their claims were effectively put to rest last summer by a unanimous panel of judges at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the United States," a company spokesman told the BBC News, referencing the FTC suit for unfair practices from 2017 that was dismissed last year.
The latest challenge echoes the legal actions that have haunted the beleaguered chip giant over the past several years. While $683 million represents little more than 2.8 percent of Qualcomm's revenue in 2020, the company has struggled to free itself from the resulting bad publicity of fines and litigation woes. In Asia alone, it has previously been slapped with antitrust penalties in China, Korea and Taiwan that amounted to over $2.6 billion.
Meanwhile, the European Commission fined it €997 million ($1.23 billion) in 2018 for paying Apple to secure an exclusive modem deal. And again in 2019, when it was struck with a €242 million fine ($271 million at the time) for alleged price dumping on 3G chips.
Categories Tech Support Tags Apple and Samsung phone owners, Qualcomm to pay $680 million, UK lawsuit
How Coronavirus Stimulus Funds Helped One State Create a 'broadband miracle'
The Best Gaming TV 2021: Low Input Lag and High Picture Quality


Thank you so much, guys. I'm really sad. I haven't scheduled the surgery yet but it will be within two months.
Nice, you will love it.
Should be here early next week :). Can't wait to get my hands on it.
:D:D:D NGD post coming soon. Woohoo!!!!
Yes, absolutely, yes. The Dark Lord BFR Morse is the Les Paul killer.
I love the feel and tone of the Super Slinkys.
You're welcome. I like the finish, too. Are you going to make a neck from scratch?
That looks fantastic. Well done. The headstock bothers me, but otherwise it looks great.
I like your idea. Charity auction.
I think it's pretty cheesy when artists sell their free gear. They should return it if they are done with it.
Oh, hell, yes. They put a ton of flakes in that finish. I love it.
Come on, man...share the love...pics, please Oh, and do check my signature. I have a very special bass arriving tomorrow.
So perfect, but holding out for a HH Cutlass.
Mmmmmm, they did not disappoint us with this wonderful offering.
:D Yes, you are. That is such an unusual color.
Congrats and welcome back! That's a nice one!
Welcome back. Old school Floyd Rose...very nice.
Good lord, man, how could you let it slip through your fingers twice?!? Just kidding, mostly. Is it a StingRay5?
Based on your guitar collection, would I be correct in assuming that you're a mega Eddie Van Halen fan? Or did you just fall in love with the Axis body type?
Thanks for the friend invite, i appriciate it!


NEW YORK – A California wine collector has been convicted of fraud at a trial in New York.
Rudy Kurniawan (kuhr-NEE'-ah-wahn) was expressionless as the verdict was rendered Wednesday.
Prosecutors say Kurniawan put on a "magic show" to fool aficionados into thinking he had access to the world's rarest bottles of wine. They say he made millions of dollars from 2004 to 2012 by manufacturing fake vintage wine in his Arcadia, Calif., kitchen.
The Indonesian-born defendant was arrested last year. He was accused of selling more than $1.3 million worth of counterfeit bottles to other wealthy collectors.
Defense attorney Jerome Mooney portrayed his client as a scapegoat.


Should Pa. require students to pass standardized tests to graduate high school?
The clock is ticking. By 2017, in order to graduate high school in Pennsylvania, students must pass three state standardized tests.
By 2017, in order to graduate high school in Pennsylvania, students must pass three state standardized tests: algebra, literature and biology.
Based on most recent student scores — especially in biology — if trends continue, Pennsylvania will soon see far fewer of its students walking down the aisle in cap and gown.
In order to preempt that reality, state Rep. Mike Tobash (R-Dauphin County) has introduced a bill that would repeal the state-mandated graduation requirement, leaving the decision to local school districts.
"The children of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, they need to learn, they need to be assessed, but when we've gone so far that we end up handcuffing our educational system with really an overwhelming amount of standardized assessment, we need to stop and put the brakes on here, take a look at it," said Tobash.
The bill would also halt the creation and implementation of the seven other subject-specific Keystone exams called for by existing state law.
Tobash, who testified on the matter at a hearing at Philadelphia City Hall in November, is skeptical that the tests are actually judging students on material that's applicable to modern workforce.
State Rep. Stan Saylor (R-York County), newly-minted as majority chair of the house education committee, has scheduled a hearing for the bill in Harrisburg on February 12.
All students — no matter language fluency or special-education disability — are given the same state assessments. In addition to high school Keystone exams, Pennsylvania students take PSSA exams every year in grades three through eight.
If students can't pass the Keystone exam after two attempts, they can elect to complete a project assignment to be overseen by their teachers and then graded by educators from outside districts. Superintendents also have leeway to exempt the scores of 10 percent of their students.
The backlash against the Keystone exam graduation requirement has created some common ground between conservatives weary of top-down edicts and liberals who feel that inadequate school funding has set children up for failure.
Public Citizens for Children and Youth executive director Donna Cooper advocated for the successful passage of the Keystone graduation requirement when she was policy director under former Gov. Ed Rendell. But she testified at November's Council hearing that funding inequities make it unlikely that the poorest school districts have the wherewithal to adequately prepare their students.
State Rep. James Roebuck (D-Philadelphia), minority chair of the house education committee, agrees.
"The problem with Keystones, as structured, is that the state has not put sufficient resources into the education system to allow them to prepare students adequately to pass the exam," he said.
Tobash concurred, calling the exams themselves "a mandate that's unfunded" because of the lack of support given to schools to prepare and remediate students for the tests.
The state faces a projected $2 billion deficit for fiscal year 2015-16.
In the state senate, Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester County), has long advocated against testing, but his bills have failed to gain traction amongst the majority of the chamber. He introduced a similar bill last Spring that stalled in committee.
New Gov. Tom Wolf declined to comment specifically on the tenets of Tobash's bill.
In addition to state exams, individual school districts also administer standardized benchmark assessments of their own. Students in the School District of Philadelphia take three added benchmark exams.


text:
Ce qui me meut motion pictures est une société française de production cinématographique, créée en 1997 par le réalisateur Cédric Klapisch.

La société intervient généralement au titre de la production déléguée des films réalisés par Cédric Klapisch. Surtout active dans le cinéma, la société a également produit du contenu télévisuel, notamment la série Dix pour cent.

Son nom reprend le titre d'un des premiers courts métrages de Klapisch, tourné en 1989.

Filmographie
 1998 : Sodomites, court métrage de Gaspard Noé : production
 2000 : Princesses, de Sylvie Verheyde : production déléguée
 2002 : Filles perdues, cheveux gras, de Claude Duty : coproduction
 2002 : L'Auberge espagnole, de Cédric Klapisch : production déléguée
 2002 : Ni pour, ni contre (bien au contraire), de Cédric Klapisch : coproduction
 2004 : Casablanca Driver, de Maurice Barthélemy
 2005 : Une majorette peut en cacher une autre, L'habit ne fait pas la majorette et Faire contre mauvaise fortune, bonne majorette, trois courts métrages de Lola Doillon : production déléguée
 2005 : Les Poupées russes, de Cédric Klapisch : production déléguée
 2006 : 2 Filles, court métrage de Lola Doillon : production
 2007 : Ma place au soleil, d'Eric de Montalier : coproduction
 2008 : Et toi t'es sur qui ?, de Lola Doillon : production déléguée
 2008 : Paris, de Cédric Klapisch : production déléguée
 2011 : Ma part du gâteau, de Cédric Klapisch : production déléguée
 2013 : Casse-tête chinois, de Cédric Klapisch
 2015 : Dix pour cent (série télévisée ; saison 1) de Fanny Herrero
 2016 : Le Voyage de Fanny de Lola Doillon : co-production
 2017 : Dix pour cent (série télévisée ; saison 2) de Fanny Herrero
 2017 : Ce qui nous lie, de Cédric Klapisch
2018 : Les Confins du monde de Guillaume Nicloux, coproduction
2019 : Deux Moi de Cédric Klapisch
 2022 : En corps de Cédric Klapisch

Liens externes

Société de production de cinéma ayant son siège en France
Société de production et de distribution audiovisuelle fondée en 1998


text:
Gavin and Stacey cast have officially kicked off rehearsals – and Jason's back!
Tilly PearceWednesday 26 Jun 2019 4:18 pm
A new Gavin and Stacey special has been confirmed for this year (Picture: BBC)
Team Gavin and Stacey are officially rocking, rolling and setting the World in Motion after getting back together for rehearsals.
Ruth Jones (who plays Nessa) can be seen beaming among the whole of the Shipman/West clan in a photo captured and shared by her partner-in-crime, James Corden.
While Uncle Bryn (Rob Brydon) and James, who plays Smithy, appear to be missing, or at least hidden from view, the rest of the gang are all there and accounted for.
There's of course Gavin (Mat Horne) and Stacey (Joanna Page), then there's Pam and Mick (Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb), and then there's Gwen (Melanie Walters), sitting on the edge of the table.
On top of that is the surprise inclusion of Robert Wilfort, who plays Jason West on the series – Stacey's gay older brother who lives in Spain.
Appears he may have relocated back to Barry for a bit, but either way, his presence is giving us hope that we'll finally find out what happened on that darn fishing trip.
The gang are officially back together in rehearsals for the Christmas special (Picture: Twitter)
James announced just last month that Gavin and Stacey will be returning for a one-off Christmas special, catching up on the Essex/Welsh family and what they're up to now.
Ahead of the reunion, James, who has reached international success thanks to his late night US talk show, admitted he was 'sick with nerves' about what was to come for the beloved show.
Hey, it can't be as bad as the US version of the series.
More: James Corden
James Corden and Ruth Jones give fans free ice cream as Gavin and Stacey film special
Gavin and Stacey stars look tense while filming Christmas reunion
Joanna Page appears to wear prosthetic bump as Gavin and Stacey films in Barry
In joint statement on the show's return, creators Ruth and James said: 'Over the last 10 years we've talked a lot about Gavin and Stacey – where they might be today and what their lives might look like. And so in secret we took the plunge and wrote this one hour special.
'We've loved revisiting Barry and Essex again and bringing the characters back together has been a joy.'
Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special airs Christmas Day on BBC One.
MORE: When is the Gavin and Stacey reunion episode?
MORE: Bad news Gavin and Stacey fans, Sheridan Smith's Rudi won't be returning for the Christmas special
Gavin and StaceyJames Corden


Suspicious person, State Route 529/Rd 138, Cardington Township.
Threats/harassment, Road 20, Harmony Township.
Suspicious vehicle, Road 115, Gilead Township.
Assault, State Route 309, Canaan Township.
Neighbor trouble, Road 108, Franklin Township.
Suspicious vehicle, State Route 61, Bennington Township.
Suspicious person, State Route 529/Road 138, Cardington Township.
Animal call, Road 15, Bennington Township.
Domestic, Road 145, Gilead Township.
Juvenile complaint, Road 108, Franklin Township.
Threats/harassment, Road 173, Harmony Township.
Animal call, State Route 97/Road 48, North Bloomfield Township.
Vandalism, Road 25, Chester Township.


Please send us photos or videos of your solar project for your home, business, car, cell phone, whatever! Help get the word out about how easy and cheap solar is getting, and how much it saves you.
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A Look at NYCHA's Plans to Improve Public Housing
After a judge rejected a settlement of a lawsuit, New York City came up with a bolder proposal.
Bendix Anderson | Feb 12, 2019
Change can't come soon enough for thousands of people who had no heat in their homes on the freezing cold days of January 2019 at public housing properties across New York City.
Just the month prior, Mayor Bill de Blasio had announced a bold, multi-billion-dollar plan to repair the worst issues at the public housing buildings run by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The Mayor's plan—"NYCHA 2.0" —aims to repair and recapitalize New York's collapsing public housing with a web of public-private partnerships and billions in local, state, federal funds and money.
"With new leadership, new resources and new programs, we are going to deliver the change NYCHA residents deserve," de Blasio said in a statement. But the plan will take at least a decade to complete, and even then NYCHA apartments will still have unmet capital needs totaling billions of dollars.
"NYCHA 2.0 will raise $24 billion through conversions and other strategies, leaving an $8 billion budget gap," says Rachel Fee, executive director of New York Housing Conference. "Additional resources will be required."
Failing boilers, broken elevators
Problems at New York's public housing apartments came to a head in federal lawsuit settled in June 2018. NYCHA failed to comply with lead paint safety regulations and also failed to provide "decent, safe, and sanitary" housing. Mold grows unchecked, elevators and heating systems fail, rats and vermin are common, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also showed NYCHA workers going to absurd lengths to hide problems from federal inspectors. For a decade, NYCHA provided its staff with a list of "Quick Fix Tips." The suggestions include replacing damaged or stained ceiling tiles with painted cardboard. Mailboxes with missing doors could be temporarily covered. Improperly stored, flammable aerosol cans "should be placed out of sight. On the day of inspection, remove all gasoline powers equipment to an outside area."
Of course, it's easier to buy and install a new ceiling panel than to make a fake one out of cardboard and paint.
But NYCHA had been systematically starved for cash. For decades, federal budgets written by Congress have given local housing authorities less cash than federal officials said would be enough to maintain the properties. In the last ten years, Congress cut that already insufficient amount of federal money in half, according to the New York Housing Conference. Public housing across the country now has $50 billion in unmet capital needs, such as roofs and heating systems that need to be replaced.
NYCHA settled the lawsuit in June and agreed to oversight by a federal monitor, but that settlement was later rejected by a federal judge. That laid the groundwork for the more ambitious plan that has since followed, with the city committing a total of $3.7 billion of its own funds to support NYCHA capital infrastructure and operations through 2027.
NYCHA creates a web of partnerships
New York City has more public housing apartments—180,000—than any other city in the U.S. It also has more problems—as evidenced the failed heating systems this winter. The city's plan—if it works—will address nearly $24 billion in capital need over the next 10 years, or three-quarters of the NYCHA's total $31.8 billion in overall capital need.
That will mean partnerships with affordable housing developers to renovate and fully recapitalize more than a third—62,000—of the 180,000 public housing apartments in New York City over ten years, through NYCHA's Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) program. The housing authority has already begun the process with 1,395 public housing apartments at the Ocean Bay Apartments in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens.
Before PACT, the buildings at Ocean Bay were underfunded federal public housing. After PACT, the properties have a long-term commitment from the federal government to provide Section 8 rental subsidies and can support a loan based on that income, bringing hundreds of millions of new capital to the property.
The transformation also frees NYCHA from the constant threat that Congress will underfund the public housing program. Funding for the Section 8 rental subsidies has been much more dependable. Many private owners and large, national banks are currently invested in the Section 8 program across the U.S.
But the NYCHA 2.0 plan will still leave more than 100,000 apartments with serious capital needs and still dependent on federal funding.
More partnerships with private developers will bring in billions of dollars to repair more public housing apartments. The housing authority has identified several acres on its public housing sites throughout the five boroughs where developers could potentially build 10,000 new affordable apartments. In exchange, the developer would contribute $2 billion to renovate nearby public housing. But the new buildings will also have permanent restrictions on the rents they can charge for apartments, set by New York's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program.
New York City has also committed to spend billions of its own funding alongside millions more from New York State to fix problems including 405 broken elevators by 2027 and 297 boilers by 2026, dangerous lead paint, pests and mold.


I was referred to Texeuro Drapery by a friend. Very professional service and lodge of products. I would recommend visiting there showroom large selection of products it's a one stop shop. I would recommend to all my family and friends.
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December 17, 2022 - February 21, 2023
Library Closed
After over a decade of preparation, we are excited to open the NEW New Canaan Library in February 2023. To ensure that our books are on their shelves and that our


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Showcase | Story | 8/4/2022
CPBL Futures Game Scout Notes
Brian Sakowski Cade Schares
Photo: Brendan Lawson (Perfect Game)
CPBL Prospects All Star Game Scout Notes
Our Canadian excursion came to a close earlier this week following the CPBL Futures Game, a carbon copy of Saturday's Prospects Game, though with, on average, plays a little bit younger.
Brendan Lawson (2024, Toronto, Ontario) stole the show from a positional player perspective, showcasing a bevy of tools while also performing with the bat in a huge way. Lawson is a solidly-built 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, with good projection remaining on his frame along with a good bit of present strength there. A left-handed bat, Lawson won MVP of the game following a multi-XBH performance, and it's easy to see the upside overall the more you watch him. He's composed at the plate and does a good job staying balanced in spite of a bigger and more complex move, allowing both the barrel to lag really well in zone as well as his front side to really create leverage. The actions and hands are solid in the infield right now, and given that along with his athleticism, he should stay on the left side of the infield long term, whether that's at short or third. He looked like a future star in this event, to say the least.
Brayden Ricketts (2024, Brampton, Ontario) showed a lot to like to his overall profile throughout the course of Monday's action. A left-handed hitting catcher, Ricketts has legitimate bat speed at the plate with advanced strength in his core and hands, and when he's on time the ball jumps off of his bat differently than others. He's got solid tools behind the plate as well, showing consistently-improving receiving tools to go along with good arm strength, and he popped in the 2.1-2.2 seconds time consistently in-game. The upside of a left-handed, power-hitting catcher exists here, and while he still needs to continue refining his game, the tools and ability stand way out.
I was impressed by the all-around game of Jorge Valdes (2024, Milton, Ontario), a left-handed hitting outfielder who has a good collection of tools. We saw all of these guys take a ton of swings over the course of the weekend, both in game settings and in BP, and the consistency of Valdes' stroke through BP and into game play stands out. He's not overly physical yet but has some strength in his wrists and a whippy barrel, showing real ability to square the ball up to all fields with enough strength to work either gap for extra bases. He moves well in center, takes good routes, and has more than playable arm strength from center as well. A well-rounded player with a good collection of tools, Valdes will continue getting stronger as he matures as well, and is an obvious D-I fit.
Hendrik Vandermeer (2024, Simcoe, Ontario) is massive at 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, with a very long and very projectable body that is just now starting to fill out. Vandermeer's swing has some length to it as a result of the length of his limbs, and while he's going to continue needing to cut down on the swing as he gets stronger, you can see the bat speed he's able to create and just how much leverage those limbs create, and it combines to give him impressive present power as well as monstrous power projection. He smoked a double in this one that left the bat in a hurry and it's easy to envision the 6-foot-6, 230-pound version of Vandermeer having plus power in time.
Benjamin Kautto (2025, Toronto, Ontario) had a big day at the plate, picking up repeated barrels and standing out even as one of the younger players in attendance. Kautto is a medium-framed, left-handed hitting catcher with solid strength to his body at present. It's a very controlled and direct swing from the left side with innate feel for moving the barrel around and really showing the ability to consistently barrel the ball with authority. He is comfortable creating lift and does a very good job of staying connected through the stroke, and has a whole-field approach that he executed quite well. There's power into both gaps and even more in the dead-pull direction, and it's pretty exciting to envision the upside here as a left-handed hitting catcher who can really hit.
A Nebraska commit, Matt Evans (2023, Great Lake Canadians) is a lithely-built, left-handed hitting outfielder with some seriously loud tools at his disposal. Evans has good speed, running an event-best 6.60 60 time on the laser during the showcase day of the event, and he shows that speed off in the outfield. He's refining his reads and routes but once he decides on a destination, the speed he travels with does stand out. His left-handed swing is loose and whippy with bat speed and barrel path both checking positive boxes, and he hit a bomb to left center field in this game that just seemed to keep flying. With his speed and potential to play centerfield along with the makings of real left-handed power, Evans is a name to remember for the draft moving forward.
Jesse Dale (2024, Toronto, Ontario) has the makings of a huge offensive prospect moving forward, showing off those kind of offensive tools both in BP and in games. Listed 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, Dale has very good present strength to his game and his swing path allows him to consistently and easily elevate the baseball, allowing that strength to really show up and show out. He can lose balls pull side with huge back spun carry and brought that swing into the game as well, finding a fair number of hard barrels in his at-bats, though without a ton to show for it. A third baseman by trade, Dale's calling card is going to be his offense for the most part moving forward, but he has the makings of a legitimate college prospect with that bat.
Very long and lean at 6-foot-4, 160 pounds, Josh Davis (2024, Great Lake Canadians) is an uncommitted, left-handed hitting outfielder who has some real traits to his present game. He's obviously projectable with that much length to his frame, and there's a fair bit of bat speed present as well, making it somewhat easy to project continued power gains to his profile. He's already a good hitter, repeating a more complex move relatively well and showing off consistent timing skills as a result, and he can spray liners around well at the moment. He's also a burner out of the box, going 3.91 seconds down the line on a perfectly placed push bunt, and can impact the game with his speed.
-Brian Sakowski
As the starting pitcher for Team White, right-hander Matthew Brown (2024, Ontario) showed a lot of pieces to like on the bump. Standing at a long and lanky 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, Brown lived 85-86 mph and topped out at 88 mph. He featured a hard slider with short, cutting action and was very comfortable with the pitch, as threw it often and located it for strikes. The arm action is very fluid and easy, and he has advanced arm speed for his age. The projection is easy to see, and Brown is a high ceiling uncommitted arm who will begin to draw the attention of college coaches very soon.
Evan Schweizer (2023, Oakville, Ontario) would toe the rubber to start for Team Black, and we got a good two-inning look at the physical 6-foot-5, 205-pound right-hander. Schweizer showed a full, three-pitch mix with surprising pitchability for his size. He ran the fastball up to 83 mph with 2300+ RPMs, which is an excellent sign for future velocity development, especially given the imposing figure. He also flashed a breaking ball for strikes, but his best pitch might have been his changeup, which tunneled well off the fastball and showed late fade at 78 mph. The operation is very clean and easy all around, and you can expect a big jump from Schweizer in the near future.
Makai Cisneros (2024, Whitby, Ontario) was impressive in his two innings of work, showing a legit four-pitch repertoire. The live-armed prospect lived 86-87 mph and topped out at 88 mph with 2200+ RPMs on the fastball. He featured two distinct breaking balls, a slider at 77 mph and a curveball at 72 mph, and he could even pull the strong on a changeup. Cisneros located at the knees and the corners with the fastball, making his secondary offerings even more effective. The arm action is long and loose with plenty of life to it, the wiry 6-foot-1, 165-pound frame has more growing to do. Cisneros projects well long term and will continue to get batters out at this level and beyond.
Owen Slater (2024, Whitby, Ontario) was an interesting, projection-type arm who delivered a quick, one inning of work. Slater was up to 85 mph from a lower three-quarters slot, and has been up to 87 mph in previous looks. He has a lanky 6-foot-3 frame with plenty of room to fill, and he flashed two secondaries for strikes. After starting the season in the low-80s, he has been a big riser so far this summer, and you can expect that trend to continue moving forward.
Liam Cruickshank (2024, Mississauga, Ontario) was one of the biggest surprises of the day, as the big right-hander touched a couple of 88s during his outing and flashed intriguing potential. Standing at a strong and physical 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, Cruickshank is an imposing figure on the mound. He utilizes a long arm action with deep plunge and releases from a high slot. The secondaries are still developing, and although there are a few inefficiencies within the delivery, it's nothing that can't be cleaned up in time. It's still very raw at present, but the upside is certainly massive, as he could easily be a low- to mid-90s arm by this time next year.
Alex Uher (2024, Pickering, Ontario) was impressive in his inning of work, running his fastball up to 87 mph with 2500+ RPMs. The ball really explodes out of his hand, and the pitch has tons of carry through the zone, making it tough to hit when it's at chest height. Uher utilizes a long and loose arm action with a high energy delivery, and there is plenty of arm speed to project on. He flashed a breaker for strikes as well, and he is an intriguing uncommitted arm with a lot of pieces to like.
Ethan Wolf (2024, Duart, Ontario) and Adam Cameron (2024, Ontario) both tossed an inning for their respective squads, and both are physical right-handers who we see making big jumps in near future. Wolf was up to 87 mph and even showed a curveball and changeup within his arsenal. The arm works and there is more velo to unlock as he becomes more polished. Cameron is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound prospect that sat 83-85 mph with late arm-side life. He is also young for the grade with a December 2006 birthday, meaning he has yet to scratch the surface of his potential.
Carson Tehan (2024, Ontario) provided a solid inning of work later in the game, sitting in the mid 80s and topping out to 88 mph with 2400+ RPMs. The quick-armed right-hander profiles as a good bullpen-type guy at present, as he can fill up the zone with a heavy fastball and land his breaker for strikes. He utilizes a very simple and compact operation with a short arm action, and there is some twitch to the delivery.
Ethan Swaby (2024, Ontario) really opened some eyes and put-up staggering numbers in this one, running his fastball up to 87 mph with 2500 RPMs and flashing a wipeout slider at an impressive 2800+ RPMs. The spin rates were notable, especially for such a young prospect who is nowhere close to reaching his peak. He has a long and loose 6-foot frame with plenty of room to fill. The delivery is smooth, the arm action is tight and compact through the back, and he releases from a lower three-quarters slot. Our quick look at Swaby was a good one, and the young right-hander has a sky-high ceiling.
-Cade Schares
pic.twitter.com/XNx5AJmu5X
— Perfect Game International (@pg_int1) August 1, 2022
PERFECTGAME.TV
Underclass Main Event Leaderboard
The National Underclass Main Event is one of the biggest showcases of the year and as a result, we see some pretty eye-opening numbers and metrics. Lets dive into them as we'll continue to update throughout the event.
'22 PG Leaderboard: Class of 2025
The Class of 2025 impressed top to bottom when looking at these 8 individual categories, including the 2021 14u Select Festival MVP Omar Serna who finds his name towards the top of a couple categories.
Main Event: Historical BP Standouts
As the Main Event is set to kick off, David Rawnsley takes a look at some of the standout batting practices from over the years. Who will join the list this year?
From Main Event to Select Festival
Attending the Main Event Showcase in late December can help put your name on the map as a prospect, as it has for many Select Festival participants.
SHOP PERFECT GAME


With interest rates currently sitting at historical lows, we find that many borrowers wrongly assume that they are in the best home loan product just because it boasts a competitive interest rate.
While the interest rate is an important factor, it is also imperative that home loan customers look beyond the available rate when selecting a mortgage to ensure they're in the right home loan product for their needs.
Factors that should also be considered include home loan features, fees and lender servicing - this will allow customers to select a loan that is actually right for their overall needs, rather than just on rate alone.
For those who are currently searching for a home loan, here are a few features to consider to ensure you select a loan that is best suited to all of your financial needs.
Fixed or variable rate: Borrowers looking for certainty around their mortgage repayments might consider a fixed rate loan. But while fixed rate products offer interest rate security, they often lack other features including repayment flexibility.
Loan redraw or offset: Having a redraw facility or offset account could help borrowers to save thousands of dollars over the life of their loan. With a redraw facility, a borrower can put money straight on the loan which can help them to reduce their interest and principal loan amount. Meanwhile, an offset account allows borrowers to put money against the loan indirectly, reducing the interest that needs to be paid.
Loan fees: There are many kinds of home loan fees that borrowers may incur, including application fees, monthly account fees, redraw fees, additional repayments fees, rate lock fees and break fees. A qualified mortgage broker can provide a full list of features and fees that home loans have.
Loan term: The length of a home loan will impact a borrower's repayments and the amount of interest they pay on the loan. For example, if a borrower takes on a 30-yr $500,000 mortgage with an interest rate of 5%, principal and interest repayments are $2,684 per month. Total loan costs are $966,278 and the interest component is $466,278. If that same loan was paid out over 40 years, a borrower's monthly mortgage repayments would be $274 lower, but they would be required to pay an additional $190,993 in interest over the life of the loan.
Lender: Before selecting a lender, borrowers need to identify what it is they want from their lender. Features such as after hours service, call-centre support or weekend assistance might be worth checking your lender provides before deciding upon any individual lender.
And the most important thing to remember when choosing a home loan is that you will always have the team at Mortgage Choice in Joondalup by your side. Our years of expertise will help you make better choices for a better life.
And, as Mortgage Choice brokers, we get paid the same rate regardless of which home loan you choose from our wide choice of lenders. To get expert home loan advice at no cost to you, call the team of home loan experts at Mortgage Choice in Joondalup today on 9300 9322 or joondalup@mortgagechoice.com.au.


Join us in San Antonio, TX on August 3rd & 4th at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa for the 11th Annual Deer Breeders Corporation Convention. Activities include a live & silent whitetail deer auction, exhibitor booths, research updates, entertainment and more. Bar None Country Store will again proudly sponsor Saturday's lunch for all attendees. Be sure to stop by our booth in the exhibit hall, visit with us and see all that we have in our store and learn how we can help with deer nutrition.
To view a complete conventions schedule, click here.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2018 at 1:05 pm	and is filed under Events, News & Updates, Wildlife. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.


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Anderson Fair Contact
Guy Clark, dead at 74.
The following are excerpts from an article in the Houston Chronicle by Andrew Dansby. You can read the entire article by clicking on this link. [Chronicle Article by Andrew Dansby]
Guy Clark rolled up his sleeves before going to work. If he was posing for a photo, his cuffs would be buttoned. If he was writing, strumming or piecing together a guitar, the sleeves would be up past his elbows.
Best known as one of the great songwriters of the 20th century, Clark took unassuming characters and mundane happenings and projected them into narratives with epic scope. Among Texas songwriters, only Willie Nelson and Townes Van Zandt compare to Clark, who died at age 74 Tuesday morning at his Nashville home, after a long illness.
"I stepped into his home once, and it was full of art and guitars; it was this place full of artistic creation," said Lyle Lovett, a friend and admirer of Clark's work. "And that reaches into his songs as well. We're all trying to get to the same place through our discovery of things that make us feel like we're OK. That's basically what music and art does. You want to find a mutual point of view with somebody who understands how you feel.
"Guy's a master at expressing feeling in songs."
Off the stage, this respected luthier retreated to his workbench in Nashville and built beautiful flamenco-style guitars. The image of Clark, sleeves rolled, working with wood or words, earned him a reputation as a craftsman, a word that became the title of one of his recordings. "Workbench Songs" was another. But Clark's methodical process for creating things obscured a bright creative fire. He was a craftsman like other craftsmen - Faulkner, Twain, Picasso, which is to say he was an artist first. But Clark's frame of choice was the four-minute folk song. Within it he built worlds.
"Guy Clark was the best self-editor I've ever come across," said singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell. "He had lines that other songwriters could hang a career on, but Guy would throw them out if they didn't fit the narrative. That was the technical part of his skill as a writer. He was also like Cheever or Larry McMurtry in that he wrote about simple people and turned their narratives into something profound about the human condition. He had this song, 'Out in the Parking Lot,' I don't know. It's like a Van Gogh painting."
Other artists repeatedly went to Clark's well over the years - many whose fame eclipsed his own. Emmylou Harris covered Clark in the '70s. Ricky Skaggs in the '80s. Kenny Chesney made "Hemingway's Whiskey" the title track of his 2010 album.
Probably the best-known of Clark's numerous great works is "Desperados Waiting For a Train," popularized by Jerry Jeff Walker in the '70s and The Highwaymen in the '80s. The song is emblematic of Clark's narrative gifts, packing an old man's lifetime into just a few lines as seen through the eyes of his young companion.
As told by Clark, simple lives carried weight worthy of the big screen.


In a ruling issued this week by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California, the rights of families to be together was reaffirmed.
The ruling of the court was made by a 3-judge panel at the 9th Circuit. Judge Marsha S. Berzon was the leading concurring judge.
Wallis v. Spencer, 202 F.3d 1126, 1136 (9th Cir. 2000); accord Kirkpatrick v. Cty. of Washoe, 843 F.3d 784, 789 (9th Cir. 2016) (en banc); Burke v. Cty. of Alameda, 586 F.3d 725, 731 (9th Cir. 2009); Rogers v. Cty. of San Joaquin, 487 F.3d 1288, 1294 (9th Cir. 2007); Mabe v. San Bernardino Cty., 237 F.3d 1101, 1107 (9th Cir. 2001); Ram v. Rubin, 118 F.3d 1306, 1310 (9th Cir. 1997).
I concur in the per curiam opinion in full. I write separately to emphasize why it is essential that the courts scrupulously guard a child's constitutional right to remain at home absent a court order or true exigency.
Taking a child from his or her home, family, and community constitutes a separate trauma, in and of itself. Our cases so recognize, and so ordinarily permit that trauma to occur only after a court determination that the alternative is worse.


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Home Leafs News Maple Leafs Rumours Friedman: "I've heard about Connor Brown that the Maple Leafs might...
[Leafs Links] Friedman: "I've heard about Connor Brown that the Maple Leafs might be willing to do that for a second-round pick just to create the room"; LeBrun: Leafs, Canucks talked about Chris Tanev earlier this season
Less than 48 hours from the 2019 NHL Draft, the speculation is reaching a fever pitch as the Mitch Marner contract negotiations threaten to go past the draft and Kyle Dubas works to create space under a projected $81.5 million cap ceiling. More in today's Leafs Links.
Friedman discusses possible Leafs moves on Prime Time Sports (Sportsnet 590)
Elliotte Friedman joined PTS to discuss whether a short-term deal could be a possibility with Mitch Marner and what the Leafs might be up to in the trade market.
On whether a short-term deal is completely out of the question with Marner:
That whole situation is so different than everything else because of the battle of personalities that have gotten involved in it. I'll tell you this: I'll bet you if Marner and Toronto talk about a two-year deal or a three-year deal, depending on what the number would be, I wouldn't be surprised if the Maple Leafs said, "We can do that and extend you later." I could see Toronto… I mean, it depends on what the number is.
I reported it a while ago that when Matthews was going through his negotiations, at one point they talked about a three-year deal. Apparently, what Matthews' side argued was is that it is a big risk for us and we want $9 million a year. The Leafs just didn't want to do it at that number. If the number is nine, I'm not convinced that is going to sort it out. But if they sit there and say, "We're going to take less term, then we are coming at you again in a couple of years," I'm sure Toronto would consider it. If you're a player, you're taking a risk there, so what is that risk worth to you and to the team?
On whether Jake Gardiner could still return and how the Leafs might open up cap space:
I'd say it is unlikely. The whole thing with this is that so many things are happening with the Maple Leafs that I don't think we ever expected. The whole Marleau thing and what Toronto is going to have to do to extricate itself from that, now there is the Zaitsev thing and whether they can extricate themselves from that to create some cap room… I believe that they have been making a lot of calls. For example, one thing I have heard about Connor Brown is that the Maple Leafs might be willing to do that for a second round pick just to create the room.
I've heard internally there have been some big debates about Kadri. I've heard there are people in the organization who feel strongly they need to keep him because they need centers and they're not as strong without him. I think if Toronto ever wanted to move a Kapanen or a Johnsson, I think they'd have a ton of offers on it. I don't think they're necessarily trading Marner — I think it is a big game of chicken right now — but I am sure this weekend they will ask around and say, "If we have to do this, what is the value?"
I think the Zaitsev and Marleau situations have opened up possibilities we didn't know existed. I think the Maple Leafs are not afraid to be bold, and if they come across something that we might not see, I don't think they'll be afraid of going for it if they think it is the right thing.
LeBrun Notebook: Right-handed defensemen on the move (The Athletic)
Pierre LeBrun mentions that the Leafs and Canucks talked about Chris Tanev earlier this season and wonders if a larger package could come together at some point involving Zaitsev and Tanev:
The Leafs and Canucks had a chat about Chris Tanev earlier this season, before the trade deadline. I'm not sure it went very far at the time. But I wonder if Vancouver does decide to get more serious about Nikita Zaitsev if those two names can't be connected together in a larger package? I think Vancouver is aiming higher for its RHD, perhaps pending UFA Tyler Myers, or maybe a trade for Tyson Barrie? All I know is that Canucks GM Jim Benning is furiously working the phones looking for that on the right side of his defense.
LeBrun also mentions that the price of a Marleau-to-Coyotes move might not be as steep as giving up an Andreas Johnsson or Kasperi Kapanen:
Some good news potentially on dumping Marleau's contract. ARZ has maybe come off their stupidly high ask of Kapanen/Johnsson and they have a new rich owner. pic.twitter.com/CVC0lIau2U
— James (@Account4hockey) June 19, 2019
McKenzie on Maple Leafs off-season, trade targets and more (TSN1050)
Bob McKenzie joined First Up to discuss the Maple Leafs' off-season and which players are most likely to be moved.
They want to try to trade Zaitsev, obviously. They want to oblige his request for a trade. If they don't get something back, they're not just going to give him away because he wants to play elsewhere. But he wants to be traded.
Marleau and Brown — they definitely want to try to move the contracts, but the Marleau one is really complicated because he is in full control of the process and it is not going to be easy.
My short answer would be those three guys, in particular, are all going to be traded if they can be traded.
As far as Marner, I don't think so.
Sparks — I don't know what the market is for backup goaltenders coming off a not-so-great year.
Kadri — I don't believe the Leafs really have a strong appetite to trade him. And I'm sure they're getting lots of calls on him. I have no doubt about it. But they also know that if they trade Kadri for a defenseman, they've filled one hole and created another. They don't have anything in house to fill a third-line center spot for Kadri if he is gone. That is problematic. You never say never because if you could parlay him into some magnificent top-pairing defenseman as a package, you'd certainly have to look at it, but you are not just going to trade him for a top-four defenseman and come to camp at the beginning of the year and say to Mike Babcock, "You've got Tavares, Matthews, and Freddy on the fourth line. I don't know who you are going to put in the third line." You could put Nylander there, but that's probably not a preferred choice. They'd prefer to play him on the wing as opposed to center. That is the one where I think there is a much greater hesitation to move [Kadri].
The other guys — Kasperi Kapanen is a guy the Leafs are getting lots of calls on, I'm sure. I don't think they want to trade him, but I think they've got to be open to any and all possibilities. As I said during the Cup Final, Auston Matthews and John Tavares and Mitch Marner — assuming he signs a contract — those are the only four 100% untouchables on the Toronto Maple Leaf roster. Freddy Andersen and William Nylander are on a little sub list that is very close to being untouchable and they're highly unlikely to be traded unless something was to come in that was just right off the charts.
After that, it's wide open. They've got to make decisions and consider what would be coming in versus what would be going out. The Leafs would contemplate any of those.
Dreger on if Mitch Marner wants respect with a higher salary (TSN1050)
Darren Dreger joined Overdrive to discuss whether Marner's camp wanting the respect of being right there with Matthews in salary is more important than the money itself.
Maybe there is a small part of that. Maybe that's not just Mitch but those around Marner to some degree. But I don't think that is a heavy motivator. I think he just wants to experience and go through what he's earned. That is the leverage of being a restricted free agent. The only way there is leverage is if you go into the interview period and you are willing to visit with teams and you are willing to attract and potentially sign the offer sheet. Otherwise, it's just a wasted experience. But before it ever gets to that point, I expect the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have to table an offer here in the next number of days before June 26th and see where it goes.
I don't think that Mitch Marner is going to be too bent if the Leafs come in at $11 million or $10.5. He realizes that if the salary cap is below $82 million, three men probably can't win the Stanley Cup on their own. He can't control what happened with Matthews, Tavares or Nylander. He can only control his own environment. He wants to be treated fairly. If he's going to draw a line in the sand at $11.5 million, that might force the Leafs' hand. But I don't know if he's willing to do that.
Marner being asked to take the hit for Matthews, Nylander deals (Sportsnet 590)
Nick Kypreos discussed the dynamic of Marner signing after the Matthews and Nylander second contracts on Sportsnet's Starting Lineup.
You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know that at least a Jack Eichel contract is on the table for Mitch Marner. You are in the ballpark between 10 and 11.5 — a difference of a 1.5 million a season. In the big picture, I don't think we are talking about a ton of money, but it is enough for the Leafs to kind of hold their ground right now. Unfortunately for them, they didn't hold their ground on William Nylander and they didn't really hold their ground on the Matthews deal because they only locked up one year of UFA money and made him the second highest-paid player in the league. That is where Mitch is sitting there going, "Why do I have to eat the crap sandwich right now and take a hit for those two signings?" That's the stalemate right there.
And there is the term. Will they give him five years like they gave Matthews or are they going to force him to take the Jack Eichel eight-year deal? That's where the standstill really comes in. Mitch knows he can get it anywhere else, but the question is: How does he get there? Does he ask for a trade or does he wait for the offer sheet, or does he have to go into the next season not playing, much like Nylander did? That set another precedent, unfortunately, for the Toronto Maple Leafs. If you don't get it in September, wait until December 1st. You'll get it then.
Patrick Marleau only wants trade to Sharks (NBC Sports)
Maple Leafs Announce 2019 Development Camp Details (NHL.com)
Marner contract, trades, the draft on Dubas' plate this weekend (Toronto Sun)
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text:
La Reforma Emancipadora de 1861 a Rússia va ser la primera i més important de les reformes  liberals dutes a terme durant el govern del tsar Alexandre II de Rússia. La reforma va significar la liquidació de la dependència servil anteriorment soferta pels pagesos russos.

La base legal de la reforma va ser el Manifest d'Emancipació del tsar del 3 de març de 1861 (19 de febrer de 1861, al calendari julià), acompanyat per una sèrie de decrets legislatius sota el nom general de Disposicions dels camperols que surten de la servitud (, transliterat Polojéniia o krestiànakh vikhodiàsxikh iz krepostnói zavíssimosti). El Manifest va atorgar drets complets de ciutadans lliures als serfs i va prescriure que els camperols serien capaços de comprar les terres dels propietaris.

Rússia pre-reforma
L'Imperi Rus era una terra de pagesos, que conformaven almenys el 80% de la població total. Hi havia dues categories principals de camperols: aquells que vivien en terres de l'Estat i aquells que vivien en terres de propietaris privats. Només els últims eren serfs que, a més de les seves obligacions envers l'Estat, també estaven obligats amb l'amo de les terres, el qual tenia gran poder sobre les seves vides. A mitjan , menys de la meitat dels camperols russos eren serfs.

La població rural vivia en cases (dvorí, en singular dvor), reunides en llogarets (derevni, els poblats més grans eren anomenats seló), governades per un mir ('comunitat', o obsxina). Es tractava d'unitats aïllades, conservadores, en gran part autosuficients i autogovernades, dispersades al llarg del camp cada 10 km. Existien al voltant de 20 milions de dvorí en l'Imperi rus, el 40% dels quals tenia només de 6 a 10 persones.

L'assemblea dels mir, anomenada skhod (selski skhod), designava un сельский староста (selski stàrosta o cabdill del poble) i un писарь (píssar o escrivà) per bregar amb qualsevol assumpte extern. A l'interior del mir, les terres i els recursos eren compartits. Els camps eren dividits entre les famílies en un complex de franges de parcel·les distribuïdes d'acord amb la qualitat del sòl. Les franges eren periòdicament redistribuïdes a l'interior del derevni per produir millors condicions econòmiques, encara que a costa de l'eficiència real. Tot i que aquesta terra no era posseïda pel mir, la terra era la propietat legal dels aproximadament 100.000 terratinents (dvorianstvo o noblesa) i els habitants, com a serfs, no podien deixar la propietat on havien nascut. Els pagesos estaven obligats a fer pagaments regulars en treball i en béns. S'estima que, durant la primera meitat del , els terratinents prenien almenys un terç de l'ingrés i de la producció.

La necessitat d'una reforma urgent va ser entesa en la Rússia del , de manera que es van preparar diversos projectes de reformes d'emancipació per Mikhaïl Speranski, Nikolai Mordvínov i Pàvel Kisseliov, però, els seus esforços van ser frustrats pels conservadors o la noblesa reaccionària. En les gubèrnies de l'Oest, la servitud va ser abolida al principi del segle. A la Polònia russa, la servitud havia estat abolida abans de convertir-se en part de Rússia. La servitud va ser abolida a la Gubèrnia d'Estònia el 1816, a Curlàndia en 1817 i a Livònia el 1819. Però fins i tot en aquestes parts occidentals de l'imperi, els camperols encara estaven subjectes a diverses limitacions.

Implementació
Tot i que ben planificada en la legislació, la reforma no va funcionar sense problemes. Les condicions del manifest van ser vistes com a inacceptables per molts camperols. Així, «en moltes localitats, els camperols es van negar a creure que el manifest era genuí. Hi havia disturbis i les tropes havien de ser cridades per dispersar les multituds molestes ». D'altra banda, es va pagar als terratinents i a la noblesa amb bons del govern i els seus deutes van ser eliminats abans que els diners fossin lliurats. Aviat, el valor dels bons va caure.

Resultat
La legislació ni va alliberar als camperols d'excessives obligacions externes ni va arreglar en la seva majoria les seves restriccions socials i econòmiques. L'aplicació desigual de la legislació va deixar a molts camperols a la Polònia russa i el nord de Rússia lliures, però sense terres (batraks o jornalers), mentre que en altres àrees els camperols es va convertir en la majoria en propietaris de les terres de les seves províncies.

Vegeu també
 Servitud a Rússia

Referències

Enllaços externs
 El Manifiest de l'Emancipació

Història de Rússia
1861


text:
Home Woman China due to introduce face scans for mobile users
China due to introduce face scans for mobile users
People in China are now required to have their faces scanned when registering new mobile phone services, as the authorities seek to verify the identities of the country's hundreds of millions of internet users.
The regulation, announced in September, was due to come into effect Sunday.
The government says it wants to "protect the legitimate rights and interest of citizens in cyberspace".
China already uses facial recognition technology to survey its population.
It is a world leader in such technologies but its intensifying use across the country in recent years has sparked debate.
What are the new rules?
When signing up for new mobile or mobile data contracts, people already are required to show their national identification card (as required in many countries) and have their photos taken.
But now, they will also have their faces scanned in order to verify that they are a genuine match for the ID provided.
China has for years been trying to enforce rules to ensure that everyone using the internet does so under their "real-name" identities.
In 2017, for example. new rules required internet platforms to verify a user's true identity before letting them post online content.
The new regulation for telecom operators was framed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as a way to "strengthen" this system and ensure that the government can identify all mobile phone users. Most Chinese internet users access the web via their phones.
Jeffrey Ding, a researcher on Chinese artificial intelligence at Oxford University, said that one of China's motivations for getting rid of anonymous phone numbers and internet accounts was to boost cyber-security and reduce internet fraud.
But another likely motivation, he said, was to better track the population: "It's connected to a very centralised push to try to keep tabs on everyone, or that's at least the ambition."
Are people worried?
When the regulations were announced in September, the Chinese media did not make a big deal of it.
But online, hundreds of social media users voiced concerns about the increasing amount of data being held on them.
"People are being more and more strictly monitored," one user of the Sina Weibo microblogging website said. "What are they [the government] afraid of?"
Many others complained that China had already seen too many data breaches. "Before, thieves knew what your name was, in the future they'll know what you'll look like," said one user, receiving more than 1,000 likes. Another criticised the policy, saying: "This is being implemented without the consent of the public."
Another said they often received scam calls from people who knew their name and address, and asked: "Will they be able to tell what I look like now?"
But others were less cynical, saying that the move was simply in line with "technological progress".
China already extensively censors and polices the web, removing and blocking content it does not want its citizens to see and talk about.
How widespread is facial recognition in China?
China is often described as a surveillance state – in 2017 it had 170 million CCTV cameras in place across the country with the goal of installing an estimated 400 million new ones by 2020.
The country is also setting up a "social credit" system to keep score of the conduct and public interactions of all its citizens in one database.
The aim is that by 2020, everyone in China will be enrolled in a vast national database that compiles fiscal and government information to give a "ranking" for each citizen.
Facial recognition plays a key role in the surveillance system and it has been lauded as a way of catching fugitives. Last year, media noted that police were able to pick a fugitive out of a crowd of 60,000 at a concert using the technology.
In the western region of Xinjiang, where up to a million Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities have been detained for what the authorities call "re-educaRead More – Source
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