text:
AT&T Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S4 Active Receive Stagefright Updates
Tim August 11, 2015 10
For those who still use a Galaxy S4 or Galaxy S4 Active on AT&T, your Stagefright security patch update is now ready to download and install. Once installed, you should no longer have to fear the MMS vulnerabilities that Stagefright brought to light. The...
AT&T Galaxy S4 Active Gets Lollipop Update Today
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active on AT&T is getting its update to Android 5.0.1 Lollipop today. According to a post to AT&T's support site, the update weighs in at anywhere from 974MB to 1GB. It's a big one. Get your battery ready before attempting to...
AT&T Sends Minor Update Out to Galaxy S4 Active
Tim September 25, 2014
A minor update is being pushed out to the Galaxy S4 Active on AT&T, build number I537UCUCNH3, filled with fixes for network connectivity and security patches. In the official changelog posted on AT&T's support site, the company notes that connectivity...
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active Hit With Lawnmower Blades, Survives
Kyle July 11, 2014 77
I think it's safe to say this wasn't a scenario Samsung engineers had in mind when they were designing the Galaxy S4 Active. According to a story posted on reddit, an S4 Active owner's handset accidentally tumbled from his pocket while he was listening to...
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active on AT&T Receiving Kit Kat Update Today
AT&T continued its rollout of Kit Kat (Android 4.4.2) updates to its line of Samsung Galaxy devices this morning, adding the Galaxy S4 Active to the list, while Verizon can't seem to update any of its. AT&T has already updated the Note 3 and Galaxy S4,...
Samsung Confirms List of Phones and Tablets to Receive Kit Kat, Updates Begin Today
Kellen February 18, 2014 133
Been waiting impatiently for a list of Samsung devices that are guaranteed to see the update to Android 4.4.2 "Kit Kat"? We now have one, thanks to Samsung. The list features devices you would expect like the Galaxy S4 and S3, Galaxy Note 3 and 2, and Galaxy...
Android 4.3 Update Now Available for the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active
Tim January 14, 2014 9
Galaxy S4 Active owners can now celebrate, as their devices have received the head nod from AT&T to begin updating to Android 4.3. It's taken a while, but updates are always better late than never. Am I right, HTC One X and One X+ owners? Then again, don't...
Deal: Refurbished AT&T Galaxy S4 Active for Sale on eBay for $350, HTC One for $379
Kyle January 4, 2014 16
Once decidedly niche, "rugged" smartphones – those built to be punished by the severest elements of nature – have become mainstream. We've come a long way from the Casio G'Zone; Sony offers the Xperia Go, Kyocera offers the Torque, and Samsung offers the...


text:
Oct. 7 Jonny Gomes pregame interview
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Jonny Gomes. Questions.
Q. What's it like to be up and working this early in the morning? Is it any kind of an adjustment being a West Coast guy?
JONNY GOMES: Yeah. You absolutely could argue that. I guess, what, about a 6:05 and 5:05 bus, if you do the time change. So 5:05 bus, 4:30 a.m. alarm, it's tough to call that home field advantage.
But lucky we're so young and don't know any different. Go with that.
Q. You've obviously been in playoff situations before and it's just down one game at this point. But is there anything you say to your younger teammates who have not been in this position?
JONNY GOMES: Wake up. Wake up. No. The playoffs is actually it's a race to adjustments and who can make adjustments the fastest. So what you did well yesterday, what you didn't do well yesterday, we're less than 24 hours away from having to make that adjustment. Both sides.
I mean, we held Miggy and Prince to no hits yesterday but still lost the game. So we've still got to make adjustments there. That was one of the battles that we one. But we've got to continue to put the whole sandwich together.
Q. Can there be any positives to this early game in the sense you don't have to deal with all the extra anticipation of everything?
JONNY GOMES: No, to tell you the truth. I think that's what playoffs is all about, is all the hype, the adrenalin rush. And it's going to be it will be a challenge. I'm telling you, it really will.
But we live for this and it's what it's all about.
Q. You talk about the figuring out the things you did well and the things you didn't do well. What would you say you guys did well yesterday and didn't do well?
JONNY GOMES: Well, Verlander on the hill. We didn't get no hit. There's always an option that can happen with him on the hill. With Coco breaking that up and taking the monkey off our back right away.
That team over there, I think that's a good team. Built for playoffs. I just think we need to have little more timely hitting. And it's really hard to stick with a plan against Verlander.
So one of the best ways to face an ace like that is not screw your swing up for the following day. So hopefully we did that.
Q. With Jarrod's performance yesterday, he still had a quality start. You have another rookie, Tommy Milone, not really a rookie at this point, but how incredible is it to see these two guys and what they're doing at this point in their careers in the playoffs as well?
JONNY GOMES: Yeah, I mean, I've been saying it all along, there's so many young guys with awesome stuff through and through in the majority of these teams.
But the composure these guys bring to the mound is second to none. I mean, I think if I was their age and rolling through the lineups that they were rolling through, I'd be doing cartwheels off the mound being so excited. These guys, they might have suspenders under their uniform because they mean business every single day. And it's awesome to watch.
Q. You talk about not screwing up your swing after seeing a guy like Verlander. The fact that you guys did face him about two and a half weeks ago and then came out the next day and had one of the better offensive performances of the season, how much can the team draw on that experience?
JONNY GOMES: Hopefully well. But at the same time you look up at the board and everyone's batting zero. His ERA's zero. That's what playoffs is all about. It's a clean slate.
And it's a race to adjustments, like I said. So we could be having a whole different conversation of a few things tomorrow or the following day.
But, again, we're going to run that lineup out there that we ran yesterday. Those guys are obviously pressure tested with Verlander's stuff. So hopefully we can jump them early.
Q. What would it mean to you guys if you're able to see Brett Anderson back out on the mound in this series after hurting himself 21 days ago here?
JONNY GOMES: That would be just another awesome ending to an adverse chapter that this team's had. We just saw Pat Neshek the other day which was borderline a tearjerker, at least for me, to see the passion he has to this team and this game. Speaks miles for him and as well his team and as well for Bob for running him out there, not thinking he's just happy to be back in uni, just we need you to win.
And then Brett, I mean, definitely wasn't just time to get that injury fixed. It took a lot of rehab and a lot of work and our training staff to get him back.
So, again, just another adverse chapter. And it would be nice to open that book back up.
Q. You're obviously one of the important pieces of this team. With you guys facing all right handed starters, it's possible you might not get a start, but Bob mentioned to us yesterday that he could potentially get you in a game. Have you heard if you might get a start, and how are you dealing with sort of potentially not getting any?
JONNY GOMES: Well, I was telling the guys just let's just get to the next series. Baltimore's got a few lefties and so does New York. So I'm these guys' number one fan right now. Just get us to the next one so I can get my fighting license back.
But that's how the A's work. It really is. That's why Bob Melvin's been great. We've had all these platoons, and I think once you cross over the platoon once then, you've got to cross over with them all.
We've got the catcher platoon. Chris Carter, too, swung a great bat. He's got the lefties. And Adam Rosales has done a great job on defense and hitting, too. So it's not just me. Although I'd like to be in there. I'm sure we'd all like to be in there, but that's how the A's have won this year, and we've done a good job.
So just because we're in the playoffs doesn't really mean we've got to mix it up.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Weber Performer Charcoal Grill - You might like to know, that once you master the art of grilling over charcoal, you can pretty much cook on any kind of grill. But before you get too cocky, know that some charcoal can reach 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Take that as a hot reminder that barbecuing is a form of applied physics.


At Phoenix we can help you to reduce the risk of electrical failures and potential injury through performing electrical testing in your catering facility. Our team can ensure that you are running a safe and efficient facility for your employees by implementing the most up-to-date electrical tests required by governing bodies.
If you need assistance with electrical testing in your commercial kitchen, don't hesitate to get in touch with our team of experienced engineers to ensure you get the highest quality results from a company you can trust.


At 28 weeks pregnant, I've just reached that point where none of my pre-pregnancy clothes stand a chance of fitting. Even my underwear is too tight! I know that it's time to fully embrace maternity clothes, but since I'll only be wearing them for a few months, I don't want to over-spend. Here are the five essential items I'm investing in to get me past the finish line in style.


Featured in Chicago's Daily Herald newspaper as well as a BlogTalk favorite 643 Sports has been the premiere sports show on BlogTalkRadio for nearly three years. Join Rich and Jon for 90 minutes of uncensored, unbiased sports talk.Join 643 Sports LIVE every Monday at 7pm CST/8pm EST.
We have plenty to cover tonight after a week off, epic return time? Probably not. Either way, we're talking Gordon Beckham, NBA All-Star Game, Albert Pujols/Cubs, NFL draft, labor talks and some more surprises along the way. Join us live at 7:00 p.m. CST/8:00 p.m. EST, give us a call at 646-716-7510 or e-mail the show at 643sports@gmail.com.


On Nove mber 10, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit revived several privacy claims against Google pertaining to the Internet company's practice of side-stepping "cookie blockers" on Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Apple's Safari browsers.
The case, In re: Google Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation, consists of 24 consolidated suits alleging violations of California state law and federal statutes, specifically, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the Stored Communications Act (SCA) and the Wiretap Act. While the Third Circuit decision affirmed the dismissal of claims pertaining to the CFAA, SCA and the Wiretap Act, the Court vacated the trial court's dismissal of claims under California tort law and the state's constitutional right to privacy, reviving the suit.
The Third Circuit noted that Google's actions amounted to "deceit and disregard" as the Company "not only contravened the cookie blockers – it held itself out as respecting the cookie blockers." The Court concluded that a reasonable jury could find that Google's conduct was "highly offensive" or "an egregious breach of social norms" as the Company's actions touched millions of unsuspecting internet users over an indeterminable amount of time. Accordingly, the Third Circuit vacated the trial court's dismissal of the plaintiffs' claims under the California constitution and California tort law.
While Google's "cookie blocking" practices sparked both the instant lawsuits and settlements with the FTC and 38 state attorneys general, Google isn't the only company to come under fire for the use of cookie-blocking technology. Earlier this week, MoPub Inc., a mobile ad server owned by Twitter, was sued in California court for using "super cookies" to track and store the Internet browsing history of anyone accessing the web through their Verizon smartphone. The suit alleges that MoPub then used this information to build a personal profile which it then used to send targeted advertising, without subscribers' knowledge or consent. Similar to the Google litigation, MoPub is accused of misleading subscribers who believed that their browser's "opt-out" mechanism would stop MoPub's tracking.
Companies that use tracking cookies or obtain information from cookies should pay close attention to Google's current litigation. Companies should also be aware of their own privacy practices, specifically, who they are collecting data from, how that data is used and who the company may be sharing that data with. When it comes to privacy policies, companies should clearly communicate their practices to users and then live up to those commitments.


I know this one is going to have a lot of fans but I just don't love it in Alarm. Maybe I'll change my mind when I see it in person. There is something to be said about the high visibility of this color though. And I like the back line detail on this one better than the grey striped one.


Critical chance - can you explain?
Sorry for this very newbie question in advance. Please can someone explain how critical chance works with respect to all categories of survivors? Hunter and shooter charges are automatically critical shots, is that correct? How does crit chance operate outside that? What does a critical shot mean except no bodyshot?
Hunter, scout and shooter have a guaranteed critical hit on their charge attack.
If there is a body-shot, there can't be a critical hit.
A charge attack (for any survivor), can not be a body-shot.
A dodge can reduce a critical hit to a normal hit.
BaseCrit% + accurate + luck + powerstrike/sureshot + Critbadges + Critleadertrait.


Car is floating, swaying and bouncing on the open highway. I've had a lot of work done to the vehicle, the right strut and strut mount have been replaced 3 time, within a year. These two parts keep breaking and getting replaced. Now I'm having problems with the car driving sloppy, swaying and floating all over the road. I have brought it to two different dealships for this problem and nothing has been done. They are saying that its normal for this car to handle the way it does...I find that hard to understand since the car didn't hand or drive the way it is since all these repairs have been preformed. Also, they had to replace the rack and pinon (power strerring assy). I am totally scared of driving this car in fear of getting into an automoblie accident. This car has serious suspension problems and no one wants to fix this problem.


text:
British Envoy After Munich Attack: Let's 'put Ourselves in Their Shoes'
A British diplomat in Jerusalem showed sympathy for the Palestinian terrorists who kidnapped and killed Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, newly declassified documents show.
"Before we reproach the Arabs too much, perhaps we might try to put ourselves in their shoes," Britain's highest-ranking diplomat in Jerusalem wrote less than a week after the terrorist operation that led to the death of 11 Israeli athletes.
The Palestinians "have seen their land taken away from them by a group of mainly European invaders equipped with superior armed force and modern technology," the diplomat, Consul General Gayford Woodrow, wrote.
His official dispatch to the Foreign Office was made public Jan. 1 under rules that declassify most British government documents after 30 years.
An Israeli Embassy spokeswoman in London said the dispatch, quoted in Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, was "appalling if it's accurate."
She said the embassy had not seen the original document.
Woodrow wrote his report to London on Sept. 12, 1972, six days after a group of eight Palestinian terrorists attacked Israeli athletes at the Olympic village in what was then West Germany.
Two Israelis were killed in the attack and nine more were taken hostage. The terrorists demanded the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Israel refused, and German police stormed the terrorists at a Munich airport. Five Palestinians were killed and three were captured, but not before the terrorists killed the nine remaining Israeli captives.
In Jerusalem, Woodrow expressed admiration for the terrorists' performance.
"Whatever one's moral criticism, it must be agreed that the Munich operation was well planned and that the Arabs there carried it out to the bitter end. It is said that lives were really lost because of Israel and West German bungling incompetence," he wrote.
Woodrow's superior, James Craig, expressed mild criticism of the diplomat's report.
"Not bad but he goes just a little too far," Craig wrote on the letter.
The British Foreign Office declined to speak to JTA about the issue. A spokesman said the department does not comment on material from previous administrations.
A British special forces report on the event said the Germans had used the wrong kind of gun in the shootout. A quieter weapon would have been more appropriate for the ambush at a Munich airport, the report concluded.
A month later, another British diplomat cautioned against condemning the Palestinian hijacking of a Lufthansa flight from Beirut to Frankfurt.
"Before we shed too many tears about the Lufthansa hijacking," wrote David Gore-Booth, a first secretary at the Foreign Office, "it would be as well to ask ourselves what the implications are so far as the Arab/Israel dispute is concerned.
"What the hijacking does is to remind the international community that the Palestine problem exists," he wrote.
Hence Israel's "apoplectic reaction to the hijacking," his report continued.
"It also provides" the Israelis "with an excellent opportunity to slip into Syria, bomb a few more bases and kill a few more innocent people with impunity. Deplorable though the hijacking may be it caused the loss of no lives," while "casualties in Syria may be as many as 45 or even more."


text:
Q: Diagonalize the matrix $A$ and compute $e^{At}$ I have the matrix
$A = \pmatrix{ -21 & 36 & -4\\ -14 & 23 & -2 \\ -8 & 8 & 3}$
And I am asked to diagonlaize it. I have find that the eigen values are
$\lambda_1 = 3 \\ \lambda_2 = 1+2i \\ \lambda_3 = 1-2i$
By calculating the corresponding eigenvectors I mind that my matrix $M$ is
$M = \pmatrix{ 1 & 0.5 & 1.5 \\ 1 & 0.5 & 1 \\ 3 & 1 & 1}$
Where $M = (\vec e_1| \vec a + \vec b | \vec a - \vec b)$, $a$ and $b$ are the real and imaginary part of my eigenvectors.
I can then calculate $\tilde{A} = M^{-1}AM$ which gives me
$\tilde{A} = \pmatrix{3 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & -2 \\ 0 & 2 & 1}$
Now using this matrix I need to calculate the exponential map $e^{\tilde{A}t}$
which is given as
$\pmatrix{ e^{3t} & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & e^tcos(2t) & -e^tsin(2t) \\ 0 & e^tsin(2t) & e^tcos(2t)}$
but I don't know how to get that. Like I can't see how you go from our matrix $\tilde{A}$ to that matrix for $e^{\tilde{A}t}$
I just need someone to explain how to get the matrix for $e^{\tilde{A}t}$

A: Let$$A_1=\begin{pmatrix}3&0&0\\0&1&0\\0&0&1\end{pmatrix}\text{ and }A_2=\begin{pmatrix}0&0&0\\0&0&-2\\0&2&0\end{pmatrix}.$$Then $\tilde{A}=A_1+A_2$ and therefore, $t\tilde A=tA_1+tA_2$. Now, in general it is false that$$\exp(M+N)=\exp(M)\exp(N),$$but it is true when $M$ and $N$ commute. So, since $A_1$ and $A_2$ do commute$$\exp\left(t\tilde A\right)=\exp(tA_1)\exp(tA_2)$$and these exponentials are easy to compute. Note that, for each $n\in\mathbb  N$,$$(tA_1)^n=\begin{pmatrix}(3t)^n&0&0\\0&t^n&0\\0&0&t^n\end{pmatrix}$$and if you compute the first terms of the sequence $\left((tA_2)^n\right)_{n\in\mathbb N}$, a pattern emerges. Note that\begin{align}(tA_2)^0&=\begin{pmatrix}1&0&0\\0&1&0\\0&0&1\end{pmatrix}\\tA_2&=\begin{pmatrix}0&0&0\\0&0&-2t\\0&2t&0\end{pmatrix}\\(tA_2)^2&=\begin{pmatrix}0&0&0\\0&-4t^2&0\\0&0&-4t^2\end{pmatrix}\\(tA_2)^3&=\begin{pmatrix}0&0&0\\0&0&8t^3\\0&-8t^3&0\end{pmatrix}.\end{align}This will allow you to deduce that$$\exp(tA_2)=\begin{pmatrix}1&0&0\\0&\cos(2t)&-\sin(2t)\\0&\sin(2t)&\cos(2t)\end{pmatrix}.$$

A: A little works shows that
$v_1 = (1,1,3)^T, v_2 = (10, 7+i, 8+4i)^T, v_3 = \bar{v_2}$ are linearly
independent eigenvectors corresponding to the eigenvalues $\lambda_k$.
With $V=\begin{bmatrix} v_1 & v_2 & v_3 \end{bmatrix}$ that we have
Hence $A = V \operatorname{diag}(\lambda_1, \lambda_k, \lambda_3) V^{-1}$, and
so $e^{At} = V \operatorname{diag}(e^{\lambda_1 t}, e^{\lambda_k t}, e^{\lambda_3 t}) V^{-1}$.
If we let $P=\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & -i \\ 0 & 1 & i \end{bmatrix}$,
then $VP$ is real, and we get
$R = (VP)^{-1} A (VP) = \begin{bmatrix} 3 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 1 & -2 \\ 0 & 2 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$, and as before
$e^{At} = (VP) e^{Rt} (VP)^{-1}$.
We see that $e^{Rt} = \begin{bmatrix} e^{3t} & 0 \\ 0 & e^{(I+2J)t} \end{bmatrix}$, where $J=\begin{bmatrix} 0 & -1 \\ 1 & 0  \end{bmatrix}$. Since
$I,J$ commute, we have $e^{(I+2J)t} = e^{t} e^{2Jt}$, and a small amount of work
(using the fact that $J^2 = -I$) shows that
$e^{(I+2J)t} = e^{t} (\cos (2t) I + \sin (2t) J)$.
Hence
$e^{Rt} = \begin{bmatrix} e^{3t} & 0 & 0 \\
0 & e^t \cos (2t) & -e^t\sin (2t) \\
0 & e^t \sin(2t) & e^t \cos(2t)\end{bmatrix}$

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We debrief on the Fiber February frenzy and what's next for TFF, including our preparation for TEDxCU. Stay up to date by joining our private Facebook group, Thought For Food Club, signing up for our newsletter, and following us on Instagram (@tfflifestyle). Thanks for an awesome Fiber February! We'll be back soon.
Previous PostPrevious What's The Deal With Fiber?


text:
Hand Held Products (previously HHP) was a US electronics manufacturer, established in 1981 in North Carolina. The company was a manufacturer of linear and 2D handheld barcode scanners based on imaging technology. Its product range included rugged mobile computers, image kiosks, and barcode verification devices. Its range of data collection and communication products were designed for mobile, on-site, and transaction processing applications. In 2007, the company was subsumed into the Honeywell Group.

History
The Hand Held Products company, established in 1981 in Charlotte, North Carolina, began as a manufacturer of memory modules for Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments programmable calculators, and grew rapidly from 1983 thanks to an RFP hand-off by Hewett-Packard, as the package delivery company Federal Express selected their Micro-Wand portable data collection device to begin a proof of delivery system for package tracking.

In 1996, Hand Held Products launched a mobile computer with 2D imaging technology, the Dolphin 7200. In 1997, the Hand Held Product's Dolphin portable computer was selected by the United States Postal Service to be part of their proof of delivery system, although a third party provided the manufacturing. The deal was the industry's largest ever single order, at 300,000 units. In 2006–2007 United States Postal Service started replacing these portable computers with Motorola portable computers (370,000 units), which had bar code reading hardware (2D imager) and decoding and image processing software designed and supplied by Hand Held Products.

The company became HHP in late 1999, following a merger with Welch Allyn Data Collection, a subsidiary of Welch Allyn formed in 1972, which by the 1990s was manufacturing a complete line of handheld bar code readers. From then, the company had its company headquarters in New York.

Hand Held Products had a significant presence in Europe, with its EMEA headquarters and European repair center in Eindhoven, Netherlands. It also has offices in the UK, Germany and France and sales representation and resellers in most countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Hand Held Products also has offices in Latin America and Asia.

On January 1, 2005, the company dropped HHP as its brand name and returned to its original name Hand Held Products.

On October 15, 2007, Hand Held Products announced they had agreed with Honeywell to be purchased for $390 million. On December 20, 2007 Honeywell's acquisition of Hand Held was approved, and Hand Held became a new line of business within the Honeywell Security Group, initially called Honeywell Imaging and mobility. With Honeywell's acquisition of Metrologic in 2008 they renamed the business unit Honeywell Scanning and Mobility.

References

External links
Honeywell Scanning and Mobility

1981 establishments in North Carolina
2007 disestablishments in North Carolina
American companies established in 1981
American companies disestablished in 2007
Automatic identification and data capture
Computer companies established in 1981
Computer companies disestablished in 2007
Defunct computer companies of the United States
Defunct computer hardware companies

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home News 2015 New Title Showcase
2015 New Title Showcase
News 8 Jan 2015
January, 2015, New York
Royal Collins announced that the company will cooperate with American Collective Stand (ACS) who is the operator of BEA New Title Showcase project at 2015BEA. The New Title Showcase is an official exhibit at The London Book Fair and Bookexpo America. It is a low-cost way for any publisher to have their titles-both print and digital-on display at major international book fairs and at prime exhibiting locations. Official exhibits mean high visibility, promotion and traffic, and will help drive the audience, including book buyers, publishers, agents, media, librarians and more to your books and ebooks. The New Title Showcase is a partnership between Reed Exhibitions and The Combined Book Exhibit, a company of ACS.
To learn more, please read the following link.
http://www.newtitleshowcase.com
"New Title Showcase (NTS) offers a great opportunity for all of our partners in Asia, especially so for our China-based clients this year. As the featured, guest-of-honor country for BEA 2015 in New York, we anticipate a good number of exceptional new titles from China will be displayed in the NTS area," said Mr. Stephen Horowitz, Chief Editor at Royal Collins. So far, at least twenty-five new Chinese titles will be on display at NTS for BEA 2015.
Recommendation Title
I'll Be Old Next Year
Wang Meng's latest publication is a collection of seven short stories, written over the past decade, that address issues of age, memory and loss, in tones that range from sorrow, to rage, to tender irony. The stories are rooted in the traditional culture of places like Taiyuan and Beijing, and in the distant pasts of characters now grown old, but their branches extend around the world, and bear blooms in the present day.
Wang Meng's story is unique among Chinese writers. Born in 1934 in Beijing, he began life under Japanese occupation, and as a young man became an ardent supporter of the Communist Party and the Chinese revolutionary cause.
The short story "A Young Man Comes to the Organizational Department," published in 1956, nearly ended Wang's literary career before it began: its critique of bureaucracy was interpreted as an attack on Party authority. It wasn't until the story came to the attention of Chairman Mao himself, who praised its rebellious spirit, that Wang was assured of a career, and a reputation.
In 1963 he applied to be sent to Xinjiang, amid a general enthusiasm for re-connecting with rural society – he had long been told that his writing was too intellectual. He and his family would eventually spend sixteen years living and working in Yining, near the Khazahstan border, during which time he learned the Uighur language and became familiar with local culture. The experience left a profound mark on him as a person and a writer, and much of his most important later writing draws on his experiences in Xinjiang – most notably the short story "A Pair of Grey Eyes," and the novel "The Scenery Around Here." It also confirmed for him the importance of fiction grounded in real experience and real people, and while his literary voice bursts with lyrical creativity, his stories grow from close observation of life.
A year after the end of the Cultural Revolution, Wang and his family returned to Beijing, and to acceptance in literary society. Throughout the 80s, as enthusiasm for culture and literature steadily mounted, Wang's cachet continued to rise. He was gradually promoted within the China Writers Association, and finally was made Minister of Culture in 1986. He lasted three years in office, before quietly stepping down in late 1989, a year that also saw the publication of his seminal short story, "Tough Porridge," an allegorical commentary on reforms.
The light, ironic tone of that story characterizes much of Wang Meng's writing, particularly that produced since the early 90s. Humor and self-deprecation come easily to him, something he attributes to the influence of Uighur culture, but surely also stems from the staggering range of conditions under which he has lived and written over his long life.
Now, after more than six decades of writing, during which he produced six novels and countless novellas and short stories, Wang Meng is looking back over his personal and literary lives, full of memory, love, writing and passion. At the age of eighty, Wang Meng shows no signs of fatigue. He has the energy of a man of forty, and the passion of a man of twenty.
More than a dozen of Wang Meng's short stories have been translated and published in English, notably several pieces in the collection Loud Sparrows, published by Columbia University Press in 2008, and in The Stubborn Porridge and Other Stories, published by George Braziller in 1994.
Totl 241 pages
• Autumn Fogs (秋之雾), 39 pages
• Taiyuan (太原), 28 pages
• Suspense Amid the Brambles (悬疑的荒芜), 36 pages
• History in the Hills (山中有历日), 36 pages
• The Love Song (With Variations) of Mr Moustache (小胡子爱情变奏曲), 44 pages
• A Still Garden (岑寂的花园), 36 pages
• I'll Be Old Next Year (明年我将衰老), 22 pages
Autumn Fogs
In the depths of his sleep, Ye Yuanshi heard a sound. Was it a knocking on the door, or the rustling of the person next to him? Was it a soft sigh, or a moan of deep feeling? He didn't feel like waking.
But he was also a little afraid: What if he never woke again?!
It gradually became a crying-out: the sound grew stronger, but somehow not louder – was something weighing down his limbs? Who's voice was that? Strange and yet familiar; close and yet distant; secretive and yet resolute. Like something from the ancient past; like something fallen in a well. He dragged, he thought, he fought, and yet only went deeper down, unable to pull himself or anything else out.
"I'm not telling you." "I won't say." That was a playful and flirtatious way of talking. If a woman spoke to you that way, it meant she was already in love with you.
In the end, perhaps it was the watchman striking the hour, a sudden north wind in the night, that had suddenly awoken him from his sweet sleep? The weak yet penetrating whistling whine combined with the fluttering rustle outside his window to unsettle him. Could it be true that he had forgotten those very things he should never have forgotten about his past?
Ye Yuanshi decides, in his advanced old age, to accept an invitation to return from America to his native China, and revisit some of the scenes of his youth. He is returning to Peach-Blossom Village, in an area once famous for the Peach-Blossom style of folk song, an art-form that now survives only thanks government-sponsored cultural-preservation efforts. As Ye Yuanshi's driver takes him deeper into the mountains, thick autumn fogs envelop the car, and Ye loses himself in a haze of memory, where his long-lost wife is awaits him.
It's springtime, and he pushes a wheelchair out on the streets of Taiyuan.
His hair is speckled gray, his bearing upright, his spirits high. She in the wheelchair has a head of perfectly silver hair, and she has made herself up so carefully, so beautifully, so elegantly, that even as you glance in sympathy at her wheelchair, you'll find yourself taking another glance at her. Her features are lovely, and perfectly proportioned – there is a particular beauty about her nose and mouth. She is happy, in the main, and that serene smile, that seems to have traveled across the depths of suffering, is more affecting than any easy laughter.
Seeing them this way, you could imagine, you would guess, that they must have had beautiful youths.
Taken together, their ages add up to more than one hundred and fifty.
They talk continuously, but in seemingly broken sentences: could it be that Chinese is not their native tongue? Their voices are good, though; the man can sing bits of Pavorotti's "O Sole Mio" and "Torna A Surriento", while she hums, indistinctly, Barbara Streisand's "Woman in Love" and "Memory", the theme song from Cats. Her songs may be more charming for being indistinct.
More precious than any pop melody, of course, are the Hubei folk song "Cei-Dong-Cei", and the high song of the Shanxi bangzi.
But what could those things have in common?
The story begins with the tale of Liu Xia and Lang Nuoyi on their first trip together to Taiyuan, in Shanxi province, in the mid 1950s. The first time Lang Nuoyi heard Liu Xia's voice, she was reciting his own poetry on a local radio stations – he wrote her a letter that very night. Their relationship is nourished by the songs of Shanxi, by local culture before it was diluted by modernism and Mandarin Chinese, and by youthful ambition and naïvete. Fifty-two years later, the songs have faded from memory, but some flames still burn.
Suspense Amid the Brambles
By rights, December 8, 2008, should have been a happy day. The sky was clear, the air bright and full of vigor – you felt a "zing" from the moment you opened your eyes. It had been a very, very long time since old Wang had had any real reason to be unhappy. A visiting friend had once said to him: you've got in made in every way; what more could you want!?
He'd agreed to do an English-language interview with CCTV9, a special program in honor of the upcoming 3rd Plenum of the Community Party, and one that would also include a discussion between Wu Jianming, Long Yongtu and He Zhenliang. He'd done one practice round with the host, Ms Tian, and the results had been better than expected. At his age, he still liked to take on new challenges. He couldn't quite shake the secret desire to show off a bit. His English skills were mostly the result of self-study, starting at the age of forty-six; the year before he'd traveled to Russia to take part in the closing ceremony and book fair of the Chinese Language Year, and he'd spent three whole months learning how to sing the Soviet song "Distance, Oh the Distance!" in the original Russian. Though in conversation he wasn't able to make his tongue curl around the Russian syllables, in song his accent was entirely passable. At the Moscow book fair, an announcement was made about the publication of a collection of his fiction, a collection of criticism about his works, and an essay collection containing some of his essays, all translated into Russian. Sample copies were already out of his newest work, Some Help from Lao Tzu, and the Xinhua Wenxuan Group had already decided to do special promotion for it in 2009. The heavy smogs of a few days ago had dispersed, and the pollution indicators had fallen from 400 to 40. That morning he'd received an email linking to a bit of online news: a website had compiled a list of the top-earning authors of 2008, and he'd come in at number 24. He seemed to recall that, two years ago, he'd been number 12. Of course, talking about your earnings as a writer was as ridiculous as a high-heels on a pig.
In perhaps the most autobiographical piece in the collection, Wang Meng addresses his reputation as a writer in China, the ways in which that role has changed over the decades, and his conflicted relationship with the public.
The story begins with a break-in at his house. As the minor mystery develops, it is bound up with Wang's observations of his famous, wealthy neighbors in the housing complex where he lives. Who is the mysterious female poet living all alone in one of the houses? What are the roots of the feud between two irreconcilable neighbors? And why does the poetess so suddenly disappear?
History in the Hills
Old Wang's notice had been attracted to nothing in the mountain village so much as a particular young girl, around nine years old, and not too tall. Her eyes were big and lively, and so black they seemed to pierce you. She wasn't large, but there was a solidity to her, and she had an air of tautness, as if she were perpetually on the verge of flight or attack. She'd once put on lipstick and a pair of old high-heel shoes, wobbling from side to side as she walked. When she spoke, she smiled with complete abandon. Sometimes she joined in the conversations of adults, talking about the old tofu-maker Guo, who lived in Snail valley in the mountains, how his son was a little soft in the head and still hadn't found a wife, though he was past the age of thirty. There was no other girl, in all of old Wang's childhood, who had been so happy and thoughtless, so able to laugh and converse with adults as equals, and speak on any topic that came into her head.
The girl is Bai Xing, and in the decade or more in which old Wang stays in her village, he sees her grow from a feisty child into a hesitant young woman. In this small masterpiece of characterization, Wang Meng teases apart the complexities of youthful hope and mature resignation, deftly portraying the tension between Bai Xing, her father, and her step-mother, and her struggle to balance her own aspirations against the demands of family.
The Love Song (With Variations) of Mr Moustache
The news that Mr Moustache had hooked a massive carp, pushing ten kilos, spread instantly through the whole Zilizi valley area. They said that the fish showed itself while he was bathing (ie swimming), but when he went after it he not only failed to catch it, he drank no small quantity of riverwater, and nearly ended up at the bottom to boot. From that moment on he was determined to get it on the hook, and to that end bought no less than ten kilos of beef as bait, mixing it by hand with fish-attracting flavorings. Mr Moustache went to cast his hook no fewer than nine times, spending countless hours, before he finally achieved his aim of hooking the fish on his long line.
He hired the cook from a home restaurant at the edge of his village to make their specialty: "blanched carp". First marinaded, then boiled. Then you made the topping, and spread that piping-hot, rich, fragrant, salty topping all over the fish. This was the end of the last century, and incomes were limited in our little mountain village, yet Mr Moustache went to such great expense in putting on this banquet, even inviting old Wang along, an as something of an "honored guest", no less, seated at the head of the table… Many Chinese look askance at the Western tradition of putting the host at the head of the table, while the guests are seated to either side. But perhaps the size of that carp caused old Wang to re-evaluate his impression of Mr Moustache. Not to mention that glorious, alluring, swoon-inducing bowl of toppings…
Mr Moustache has problems: he knows this is the era of opportunity and ambition, he's just not quite sure how to take advantage of it. Over the course of the story he tries almost as many professions – shop-keeper, taxi driver, local government – as he does wives and girlfriends, but nothing quite seems like a good fit. In this allegory of contemporary society, Wang treats the Chinese self-made man with gentle mockery, and real compassion.
A Still Garden
All these houses seem to have popped up overnight. Them, and the lake and forest beside them. They grow like a clutch of illegitimate children. Before, there was only a stretch of old mud here, full of skewed, toppling rushes, and surrounded by willows, some of them rotting with their roots submerged, others with lush green crowns. They say the mudlands had produced countless frogs and turtles. According to Chinese tradition, one could think of the mud itself as having given birth to the frogs and turtles. They said there was an unusual connection between those frogs and those turtles, so much so that the frogs would sit silently on the logs, voiceless and frigid, while the turtles suddenly bulged their throats in belligerent, protesting calls.
Even the real estate agents couldn't explain the provenance of the villas or their parents' identities, nor could they explain the connection between this luxury housing estate known as "Lake-Gull Villas" and the frogs, turtles, waterbirds, and mudlands. Very few now alive had ever seen those lake gulls before this area was designated a nationally-protected wetlands. The luxury villas that leapt out of nowhere were even more unlocked for. No one could produce their birth certificates, or proof that they had not violated the One-Child Policy: they had no housing registration. You'd be forgiven for doubting the legality, the trustworthiness, even the propriety of their existence. But sure enough, after the area was given the lofty title of "Lake-Gull Villas", and the wetlands were nationally registered and protected, the most immediately-obvious change was the re-appearance and congregation of lake gulls. The gulls seemed to follow their own name – proof of the ancient concept of "man and nature in harmony". The gulls flew in flocks and clouds, swooping carelessly down over water and road alike, sometimes landing on the sand flats or the little island, until the people who came to fish started to complain of them. Perhaps it was the fish they were jealous of.
The great mystery of old Wang's housing complex is the estate with the beautiful garden, owned by a man no one has yet laid eyes on. At last two women – a painter and a writer – get a glimpse of half the man's face, and both swoon on the spot. Upon recovery they are moved to creativity, and the bulk of this piece is penned by the writer. She tells the story of the mysterious master of the garden: his personal history, his travels abroad, his love affairs, his family, and finally his daughter, who after many years has come home to find her father.
I know that within all of this there are your thoughts, your hopes and help, your smiles and tears, your breath that even until the last was still light and even, still gentle and prim. We have reached the autumn of 2012, this ruthless and terrible year. Visiting the gardens next to our home, the leaves are deepening from yellow to red, as though painted, or soaked in dye, the crimson gradually spreading, bright yet also heavy. They suffer waves of wind and rain, each more chill than the last. The so-called red-leaf season has begun with the first fall of frost, and the road to the Fragrant Hills is thronging – most people's impression is that the visitors are more numerous than the trees, and that one ends up looking at black-haired heads instead of the round blushing leaves. There may be some things missing from this great land, but the heat of bodies and the clamor of voices are not among them.
The final dream-like prose-poem in the collection finds Wang meditating on his own youth, and everything that has changed since his early days of idealism. As the story's heat grows more intense, Wang's discussion of the gains and losses of old age, his acceptance of age but insistence that he is not yet old, begin to thin and fray, eventually revealing the story for what it is: a love letter to his long-lost wife.
We will represent 70 Chinese publishers to attend 2015 New Delhi World Book Fair →
← Serial Books of Huizhou Culture
RCPG Catalog Summer 2021
RCPG Catalog Autumn 2020
RCPG Catalog Spring 2020
The Royal Collection of Imperial China Series
Highlights of Royalcollins
2014 2015 alibaba apg artemisinin bea bob bobsong book bookfair China Chinese medicine Chinese philosophy Chinese Silk Chinese Thought Collection Communist Party Communist Party of China COVID-19 CPC discovery of artemisinin Dong Yuan Five Dynasties and Ten States Handscroll Huawei humour Ideological History Imperial China Jack Ma Key Concepts Leadership Li Cheng malaria maritime silk road mayun Northern Song Dynasty Qian Xuan Royal song spm Tang Dynasty title Tu Youyou Yuan Dynasty Zhou Fang


text:
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Daniel KUNIN,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
BENEFIT TRUST LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellant. No. 88-6573.
Argued and Submitted Nov. 2, 1989.
As Amended on Denial of Rehearing July 27, 1990.
cite as 12 Employee Benefits Cases 1221, 19 A.L.R.5th 1017, 910 F.2d 534 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1013 (1990). Case cited in Phillips v. Lincoln Nat'l Life Ins. Co., 978 F.2d 302, 308 (7th Cir.1992).
Robert F. Keehn, Booth, Mitchel & Strange, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant.
Sanford M. Gage and Thomas F. Borcher, Beverly Hills, Cal., for plaintiff- appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
[Holding: autism is not a mental illness, and the policy exclusions should not apply.]
Before NORRIS, REINHARDT and TROTT, Circuit Judges.
REINHARDT, Circuit Judge:
Benefit Trust Life Insurance Company ("Benefit Trust") appeals the decision of the district court awarding benefits to Daniel Kunin ("Kunin"). Kunin, the Senior Vice-President of Maxim's Beauty Salons, Inc., incurred over $50,000 in medical bills for the treatment of his child for autism. Kunin sought reimbursement of his expenses under a group health insurance policy issued to his employer; the parties agree that this policy is itself an "employee welfare benefit plan" governed by ERISA, and that Benefit Trust functioned as both insurer and plan administrator. Following a brief investigation, Benefit Trust agreed to pay $10,000, but no more, on the ground that autism fell within the policy's limitation for "mental illness." The district court concluded that autism is not a mental illness and that the denial of benefits was arbitrary and capricious, and ordered that the claim be paid in full. We agree that Benefit Trust was obligated to pay the full amount of the claim.
Benefit Trust's medical director's cursory investigation did not provide reasonable grounds for determining that autism is a mental illness. The testimony of Kunin's experts amply supports the finding that Benefit Trust's denial of benefits on the basis of that inquiry was arbitrary and capricious. Moreover, it is unclear whether the term "mental illness" encompasses autism. Under the law of all fifty states and the District of Columbia, where an unclear or ambiguous term is used in an insurance policy, the ambiguity must be construed in favor of the insured. We therefore hold, in the alternative, that this rule of construction applies in the case before us, whether as a uniform rule of federal common law, or because federal common law incorporates state law on this point.
Benefit Trust is the insurer and plan administrator of a group health and medical policy which covers Kunin by virtue of his employment status with Maxim's. The policy is an "employee welfare benefit plan" as defined by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1002(1).
In 1986 Kunin's son, Alex, received treatment for autism for approximately thirty days at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. Having incurred $54,696.96 in hospital bills as a result of his son's stay, Kunin submitted a claim to Benefit Trust.
The policy limits medical benefits for "mental illness or nervous disorders" to $10,000 per calendar year. Benefit Trust refused to pay any amount in excess of that sum because it determined that autism was a mental illness within the meaning of the policy, and was therefore subject to the policy's limiting clause. This decision was based on the recommendation of Dr. Zolot, Benefit Trust's medical director. Dr. Zolot made the determination that autism was a mental illness after having informal conversations with three psychiatrists, whose experience with autism is unknown, and after reviewing a textbook definition of autism which states that autism is generally accepted to be organically based, although it was once thought to be "primarily psychiatric."
Kunin filed suit in state court, challenging Benefit Trust's interpretation of the policy. Benefit Trust removed the matter to federal court, asserting federal question jurisdiction under ERISA. Kunin acknowledged this basis of federal jurisdiction, conceded that his state claims were preempted, and proceeded solely on the basis of his ERISA claim.
THE DISTRICT COURT OPINION The issue put to the district court by the parties was whether Benefit Trust's denial of benefits, based on its view that autism was a mental illness, was arbitrary and capricious. The court noted that while administrators' decisions are normally reviewed under an "arbitrary and capricious" standard, less rigorous standards have been applied when the administrator is not entirely impartial or objective, and may have a vested interest in denying benefits. It said that where the plan administrator is also the insurer, as in the present case, a lower standard of review might be appropriate. Kunin v. Benefit Trust Life Ins. Co., 696 F.Supp. 1342, 1345 (C.D.Cal.1988). However, since it concluded that the decision of Benefit Trust could be overturned even under the "arbitrary and capricious" standard, the court declined to decide whether a lower standard of review would ordinarily be applicable. Id.
Although insurance contract terms are interpreted as a lay person would interpret them, the district court primarily considered the testimony of experts. However, it, correctly, relied on that testimony solely in order to determine the "plain and ordinary" meaning of the term "mental illness." Kunin's expert, Dr. Betty Jo Freeman, testified that "mental illness" refers to "a behavioral disturbance with no demonstrable organic or physical basis.... [It] stems from reaction to environmental conditions as distinguished from organic causes." Autism clearly falls outside the scope of mental illness under this definition. Dr. Ritvo, Kunin's second expert, agreed with the definition, and testified that his experiences with families of autistic individuals have shown that the disease is not commonly perceived as a mental illness. [FN1] The court found the testimony of these experts "clear, authoritative, and entirely convincing," and found their definition of "mental illness" consistent with the plain and ordinary meaning of the term. Id. at 1346.
FN1. Dr. Ritvo has participated in the publication of over 100 papers on autism, and, we are told, is generally recognized as the world's foremost authority on the subject.
Benefit Trust's expert, Dr. Marvin Gillick, first offered a definition of "mental disorder" found in the American Psychiatric Association's Psychiatric Glossary. "Mental disorder" is defined as "an illness with ... impairment in functioning due to a social, psychologic, genetic, physical/chemical, or biologic disturbance.... The illness is characterized by symptoms and/or impairment in functioning." [FN2]
FN2. Dr. Gillick is a board certified psychiatrist, but has had limited experience with autistic individuals.
The district court rejected Dr. Gillick's definition, noting that it could include a myriad of ailments that would never be considered mental illnesses, such as cancer or a broken leg. Dr. Gillick then suggested that mental illness was "an aberrant behavior syndrome or manifestation which has its basis in the neurological axis and/or central nervous system, but whose precise etiology is uncertain." The court rejected this definition as well, because it would exclude illnesses clearly within the ambit of mental illness solely because their causes are known. Id.
The court then accepted the definition offered by Kunin's experts. It held that including autism within the limitation clause covering mental illness was not a reasonable interpretation of the contract and the plan, and that the denial of benefits was arbitrary and capricious, and in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 1132. Kunin was awarded the claimed benefits plus pre-judgment interest. Id. at 1346-47.
A. The Standard of Review
1. Reviewing the ERISA Administrator's Denial of Benefits
Until recently in this circuit, denial of benefits by an ERISA administrator could ordinarily only be reversed by the district court if the decision was "arbitrary, capricious, made in bad faith, not supported by substantial evidence or erroneous as a matter of law." Johnson v. District 2 Marine Eng'rs Beneficial Ass'n, 857 F.2d 514, 516 (9th Cir.1988). An administrator's opinion was said not to be arbitrary or capricious "if it [was] a reasonable interpretation of the plan's terms and was made in good faith." Dockray v. Phelps Dodge Corp., 801 F.2d 1149, 1152 (9th Cir.1986). However, when an administrator had a conflict of interest, then the district court was required to give the determination less deference than ordinarily afforded under the arbitrary and capricious standard. Id. In the present case, Benefit Trust has a conflict of interest, because it was the insurer as well as the administrator of the plan.
After the district court issued its opinion, the Supreme Court adopted a substantially different rule concerning the standard of review. In Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101, 109 S.Ct. 948, 956, 103 L.Ed.2d 80 (1989), the Court held that denial of benefits challenged under section 1132(a)(1)(B) should be reviewed de novo unless the plan gives the administrator the authority to exercise discretion in determining ineligibility or construing the terms of the plan. Kunin would have this court review Benefit Trust's denial of benefits under the newly announced de novo standard.
While acknowledging that after Firestone the administrator's decision would ordinarily be reviewed de novo, Benefit Trust contends that here it tried the case in the lower court under the "arbitrary and capricious" standard, [FN3] and that because of its reliance on that standard, it would be improper for us to review the case as if a different standard had been applicable. We will assume, without deciding, that Benefit Trust is correct in this regard, although we have substantial doubt that it is. Among other reasons, we see little chance that Benefit Trust was prejudiced by any reliance on the more stringent standard of review.
FN3. Benefit Trust points to the pre-trial conference order, which states the relevant inquiry as "[w]hether the condition for which plaintiff's dependent, Alex Kunin, was examined and treated in approximately August of 1986 can be reasonably considered to be "mental illness or nervous disorders" (emphasis added).
For purposes of this appeal, therefore, we will review the district court's decision on the assumption that it was required to determine whether Benefit Trust's denial of Kunin's claim for benefits was arbitrary and capricious. In doing so we, like the district court, will ignore Benefit Trust's conflict of interest.
2. Reviewing the District Court's Findings
We next consider under what standards we review the district court's determinations. The district court's finding that "mental illness," as that term is commonly understood, does not include autism was based on substantial testimony from expert witnesses as to the meaning or scope of that term. Accordingly, that finding constitutes a finding of fact, reviewed by this court under the clearly erroneous standard. United States v. McConney, 728 F.2d 1195, 1200 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 824, 105 S.Ct. 101, 83 L.Ed.2d 46 (1984). The conclusion that denial of coverage was arbitrary and capricious followed a full examination of the facts and circumstances underlying that determination and was essentially fact governed. Thus the mixed question of fact and law presented here, unlike most such questions, is also reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. Id. at 1202. However, in this case, the question whether the term "mental illness" is ambiguous can be answered by an examination of the words of the policy alone. The district court's implied finding of ambiguity does not fall under any of the exceptions to the general rule that mixed questions of fact and law are reviewed de novo. Id. at 1203-04. Therefore, we review that finding under the nondeferential de novo standard.
B. The Medical Director's Opinion
The district court found that Benefit Trust acted unreasonably in determining that autism was a "mental illness," and therefore the decision to deny benefits was arbitrary and capricious. We agree with this result.
The evidence that Benefit Trust's medical director gathered provided an altogether inadequate basis for determining autism to be a mental illness. The record does not indicate that the doctors with whom the medical director consulted had any significant experience with or particular expertise concerning autism. Moreover, the director made no effort to discuss the matter with Alex Kunin's physicians, who later unequivocally testified that autism is not a mental illness. Additionally, the textbook definition Dr. Zolot relied on states that although autism was previously thought to be "primarily psychiatric, it is now thought to be organically based." On its face, this definition contains no conclusions about whether autism should be classified as a mental illness. If anything, the fact that autism is no longer considered "primarily psychiatric" suggests that autism is not a mental illness.
State-law cases have differed in their classification of organically based diseases like autism as mental illnesses. In Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Inc. v. Doe, 22 Ark.App. 89, 733 S.W.2d 429 (1987) (en banc), the Court of Appeals of Arkansas found that classifying bipolar affective disorder (formerly manic-depressive disorder) by cause rather than by symptom was proper. Because its cause was physical (organic), the disorder was held to be not subject to the policy's mental illness limitations.
Alternatively, in Equitable Life Assurance Society v. Berry, 212 Cal.App.3d 832, 260 Cal.Rptr. 819 (1989), a California court of appeals held that medical expenses incurred for the treatment of manic-depressive illness were not covered by an insurance policy that excluded coverage for "mental or nervous disorders." Equitable's expert testified that most serious psychiatric problems, including manic-depression, are caused by physiological disease processes. The witness further testified that the only problems that would fall into the "functional" category (what Drs. Freeman and Ritvo characterize as "environmentally induced") would be marital disorders, substance abuse, and other problems caused by "the complications of our industrial society." 260 Cal.Rptr. at 824. In Equitable, the court held that manifestation, not cause, provides the "yardstick" by which one determines whether a mental disorder occurs. It therefore rejected the organic/functional distinction as a basis of determining coverage.
We conclude that Dr. Zolot's inadequate investigation did not provide a reasonable basis for making a determination that autism is a mental illness. [FN4] This result is amply supported by the weight of the evidence adduced at trial. Drs. Ritvo and Freeman testified that mental illness "refers to a behavioral disturbance with no demonstrable organic or physical basis.... [It] stems from reaction to environmental conditions as distinguished from organic causes. Thus ... autism would clearly fall outside the aforesaid criteria and factors for mental illness." 696 F.Supp. at 1346. The district court agreed with this analysis. It noted autism's prevalence throughout the world and that its incidence and characteristics remain constant across socio- cultural environments. Moreover, it noted that autism cannot be treated by traditional methods of psychotherapy. Id. at 1347. The court's observations are wholly consistent with the conclusion of Drs. Ritvo and Freeman that autism is not a mental illness, in either the lay or the technical sense. The doctors' testimony, in turn, supports the district court's finding that the defendant's inclusion of autism within the policy's limitation clause was unreasonable. We therefore conclude that the district court's holding that the denial of benefits was arbitrary and capricious was not clearly erroneous.
FN4. The administrator's decision predated Equitable by more than two years. Therefore, Dr. Zolot could not have relied on that case in reaching his conclusion.
C. Ambiguity in the Language of the Policy Exclusion
According to the law of California [FN5] and, indeed, every other state as well as the District of Columbia, [FN6] ambiguities in insurance contracts must be construed against the insurer. This rule of contra proferentem has been called "the most familiar expression in the reports of insurance cases." 2 G. Couch et al., supra note 6, § 15:74, at 334. A typical statement of the rule is that if, after applying the normal principles of contractual construction,
FN5. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Partridge, 10 Cal.3d 94, 101-02, 514 P.2d 123, 109 Cal.Rptr. 811 (1973).
FN6. See 2 G. Couch, R. Anderson, and M. Rhodes, Couch on Insurance 2d, § 15:83, at 399 n. 4 (rev. ed. 1984) (citing cases from the District of Columbia and 47 states, with no cases cited for a contrary position); 13 J. Appleman & J. Appleman, Insurance Law and Practice § 7401, at 197 n. 1 (rev. ed. 1976 & Supp.1989) (citing cases from the District of Columbia and 48 states, including the three not included in the 47 listed in Couch, with no cases cited for a contrary position). See also A. Windt, Insurance Claims and Disputes § 6.02, at 286 (2d ed. 1988) (stating that "the rule favoring coverage will be applied in all jurisdictions").
the insurance contract is fairly susceptible of two different interpretations, another rule of construction will be applied: the interpretation that is most favorable to the insured will be adopted. The rule is based upon the principle of contract construction that when one party is responsible for the drafting of an instrument, absent evidence indicating the intention of the parties, any ambiguity will be resolved against the drafter. A. Windt, supra note 6, § 6.02, at 281-82 (footnote omitted). Because we find the language of the limitation in question to be ambiguous, we hold in favor of coverage on the alternative ground that Benefit Trust, in its capacity as insurer, did not properly construe the ambiguities in its policy in Kunin's favor.
Of course, neither the law of California nor that of any other state [FN7] is applicable here of its own force. The group health and medical policy that covers Kunin is an "employee welfare benefit plan" as defined by ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1002(1); section 502 of ERISA, rather than state contract law, provides the legal basis for Kunin's claim. However, "[c]ontroversies directly affecting the operations of federal programs, although governed by federal law, do not inevitably require resort to uniform federal rules." United States v. Kimbell Foods, 440 U.S. 715, 727-28, 99 S.Ct. 1448, 1458, 59 L.Ed.2d 711 (1979). State law can sometimes control such controversies, either because Congress intends courts to look to state law, or because the incorporation of state law into the federal common law is "appropriate as a matter of judicial policy under the three-part test established by Kimbell Foods." Mardan Corp. v. C.G.C. Music, Ltd., 804 F.2d 1454, 1458 (9th Cir.1986).
FN7. In discussing the construction of insurance contracts, Benefit Trust cites only California law. However, because Maxim's is a Minnesota corporation and the plaintiff is a resident of Minnesota, we note that Minnesota law is to the same effect. Hubred v. Control Data Corp., 442 N.W.2d 308 (Minn.1989). Without deciding the question, we therefore indulge in Benefit Trust's tacit assumption that if any state's law controls, it is the law of California.
There is room for disagreement as to whether a uniform federal rule of construction applies when we construe an ambiguous provision in an ERISA insurance contract or whether the applicable state rule of construction is incorporated into federal law for that purpose. [FN8] However, *540 we need not decide that question here, because the rule of contra proferentem would control in either event. As we noted above, the contra proferentem rule is followed in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, and with good reason. Insurance policies are almost always drafted by specialists employed by the insurer. In light of the drafters' expertise and experience, the insurer should be expected to set forth any limitations on its liability clearly enough for a common layperson to understand; if it fails to do this, it should not be allowed to take advantage of the very ambiguities that it could have prevented with greater diligence. Moreover, once the policy language has been drafted, it is not usually subject to amendment by the insured, even if he sees an ambiguity; an insurer's practice of forcing the insured to guess and hope regarding the scope of coverage requires that any doubts be resolved in favor of the party who has been placed in such a predicament. Were we to promulgate a federal rule, we would find these common-sense rationales sound. Indeed, it would take a certain degree of arrogance to controvert an opinion held with such unanimity in the various states and to adopt a contrary view as the federal rule. We hold, therefore, that the rule of contra proferentem applies to the case at bar, regardless of whether it applies as a matter of uniform federal law or because federal law incorporates state law on this point.
FN8. Briefly stated, the controversy revolves in substantial part around the effect of ERISA's preemption provisions, which provide the most probative evidence of Congress's intention regarding choice of law under ERISA (even though this is not a preemption case). Section 514(a) provides in sweeping terms for the preemption of "any and all State laws insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to any employee benefit plan. " 29 U.S.C. § 1144(a) (emphasis added). However, Congress also enacted an "insurance saving clause" in § 514(b)(2)(A), which states that with one exception not relevant here, "nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to exempt or relieve any person from any law of any State which regulates insurance...." 29 U.S.C. § 1144(b)(2)(A) (emphasis added). Although the breadth of § 514(a) leaves no doubt about the importance Congress attached to the federal interests involved, it seems equally clear that Congress meant to leave some state laws regulating insurance contracts intact--even though they may also "relate to" ERISA plans. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Massachusetts, 471 U.S. 724, 746-47, 105 S.Ct. 2380, 2392- 93, 85 L.Ed.2d 728 (1985). However, both this court and others have had some difficulty in determining when a law "regulates insurance" for the purpose of this complex preemption analysis. See, e.g., Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Dedeaux, 481 U.S. 41, 107 S.Ct. 1549, 95 L.Ed.2d 39 (1987) (holding that Mississippi's cause of action for tortious breach of a covenant of good faith and fair dealing is not a law "which regulates insurance," and is thus preempted by ERISA); Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Massachusetts, 471 U.S. 724, 744, 105 S.Ct. 2380, 2391, 85 L.Ed.2d 728 (1985) (holding that a state law requiring insurers to provide certain benefits "regulates insurance" and is therefore not preempted; and suggesting along the way that the interpretation of an insurance policy is at "the core of the 'business of insurance,' " (emphasis added) (quoting SEC v. National Securities, Inc., 393 U.S. 453, 460, 89 S.Ct. 564, 568, 21 L.Ed.2d 668 (1969)); Kanne v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co., 867 F.2d 489 (9th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 492 U.S. 906, 109 S.Ct. 3216, 106 L.Ed.2d 566 (1989) (relying on Pilot Life and holding that "California's common law of contract interpretation" is preempted in a suit founded exclusively upon state law); McMahan v. New England Mut. Life Ins. Co., 888 F.2d 426, 429-30 (6th Cir.1989) (following Kanne and holding that because Kentucky's rule of contra proferentem is a rule of general contract law rather than a law "which regulates insurance," state decisions applying that rule do not provide an independent state-law cause of action that escapes ERISA preemption, but not considering the content of federal common law). Moreover, if we were to determine that the Kimbell Foods test controls, there is ample room for disagreement as to whether the application of those standards in the case before us would result in the adoption of a uniform federal rule or the incorporation of each state's law. See Mardan Corp., 804 F.2d at 1458-60.
Benefit Trust points out additionally that in some instances this court has declined to apply the rule of contra proferentem in ERISA cases. See, e.g., Jung v. FMC Corp., 755 F.2d 708, 713 (9th Cir.1985); Smith v. CMTA-IAM Pension Trust, 654 F.2d 650, 655 (9th Cir.1981); Rehmar v. Smith, 555 F.2d 1362, 1369 (9th Cir.1976). As Benefit Trust concedes, however, those cases involved language that resulted from collective bargaining; Benefit Trust does not even suggest that this is such a case. Indeed, the district court found that the insurer was solely responsible for drafting the language at issue here. 696 F.Supp. at 1343.
Benefit Trust does argue, however, that Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101, 109 S.Ct. 948, 103 L.Ed.2d 80 (1989), effectively abolished the rule of contra proferentem for all ERISA plans. Benefit Trust is supported on this point by the Health Insurance Association of America and the American Council of Life Insurance, appearing as amici curiae. Benefit Trust and the amici point to the Firestone Court's adoption of "settled principles of trust law," which require courts to "construe terms in trust agreements without deferring to either party's interpretation." 489 U.S. at ----, 109 S.Ct. at 955. We are thus asked to conclude that trust-law principles leave no room for the rule of contra proferentem in ERISA cases. We decline to do so.
Even if we overlook the considerable irony involved in Benefit Trust's attempt to invoke the dicta of Firestone while asking us not to apply its holding, we do not read Firestone as broadly as we are urged. In that case, as we explained earlier, the Supreme Court was discussing the standard according to which courts should review a plan administrator's interpretation of plan provisions. The Court held that reviewing courts should interpret disputed provisions de novo, not defer to the administrator's interpretation. The Court said nothing whatsoever about the ordinary principles of construction according to which courts and administrators alike should arrive at their interpretations. Benefit Trust and the amici thus misread Firestone because they fail to distinguish between (1) using certain presumptions, including presumptions in favor of a party, in order to arrive at the correct interpretation, and (2) deferring to a particular party's interpretation. Rejecting (2) obviously does not undermine the soundness of (1). We might say, for example, that a jury should not defer to a defendant's plea of "not guilty"--we want the jury to determine his guilt or innocence de novo. However, this in no way implies that the jury, in making this determination, is not required to presume innocence--and indeed, to presume it quite strongly. Again, we might say that a baseball umpire should not defer to a baserunner's claim that he is safe; but this proposition is fully consistent with the separate rule that ties go the runner. Likewise, while we may not defer to an insured's construction, we must not fail to indulge in a presumption that ambiguous language favors the insured.
This common-sense view of the matter is supported by Firestone itself. The Court there noted, "The trust law de novo standard of review is consistent with the judicial interpretation of employee benefit plans prior to the enactment of ERISA[, when] [a]ctions challenging an employer's denial of benefits [were] governed by principles of contract law." 489 U.S. at ----, 109 S.Ct. at 955. It is, then, quite plain that the Firestone Court intended no wholesale rejection of prevailing principles of plan interpretation when it looked to trust law on the subject of the appropriate standard of judicial review.
It remains only for us to determine if the meaning of the term "mental illness" is so clear and well fixed that an ordinary reader of the policy would recognize that autism must be included. If not, in light of the rule that ambiguities in the policy must be construed against the insurer, Kunin must prevail. A plain reading of the language tells us beyond any question that "mental illness" is ambiguous, at least insofar as autism is concerned. The policy contains no definition or explanation of the term "mental illness," and offers no illustration of the conditions that are included or excluded. Nor does the policy contain any language suggesting whether the cause or the manifestation determines whether an illness is covered; yet in the case of autism the answer to that question may well be determinative. Here, the failure of the policy to define its terms is fatal to the insurer's attempt to limit payment.
Insurance contracts generally spell out in inordinate detail the meaning of terms that lack a fixed meaning. Great efforts are ordinarily made to eliminate the natural ambiguity that exists in so many of the words and phrases we use daily. In this policy, however, Benefit Trust made no attempt whatsoever to describe the scope of a term that has no precise or generally accepted definition. Under these circumstances, we conclude that the term "mental illness" is ambiguous. The vague evidence on which Benefit Trust's medical director based his determination, and the evidence in the form of opinion testimony offered by Alex Kunin's doctors, strongly support our conclusion. Thus, we hold that Benefit Trust erred in failing to construe the ambiguity in favor of the insured. [FN9]
FN9. In Equitable Life Assurance Soc'y v. Berry, 212 Cal.App.3d 832, 260 Cal.Rptr. 819 (Ct.App.1989), a California court recently ruled against a claimant in a case with some substantial similarities to the one before us. In Equitable the illness was manic-depression; however, the reasoning of the opinion appears to conflict in some respects with the basic view we have expressed. On the other hand the Equitable policy, unlike the one before us, defined "[m]ental or nervous treatment" in a manner that may well have covered the treatment involved; furthermore, the testimony of the experts in that case was of a wholly different order. In any event, we simply do not believe that the meaning of the bare, unexplained term "mental illness" is so plain and clear that the ordinary citizen would understand that autism, as opposed to manic-depression, is
excluded from full coverage under the policy.
For the two alternative reasons discussed above, the decision of the district court is


Yadiel Jamilstar Kennel added a new photo on WHITE SPIRIT OF DREAMS' CHARLIE BROWN- DZSEMIL.
Yadiel Jamilstar Kennel added a new photo on Litter born.24.04.2017 puppies for sale.
Yadiel Jamilstar Kennel added a new photo on MYSSY JAGODOWE BORY.
Yadiel Jamilstar Kennel added a new photo.
Yadiel Jamilstar Kennel added a new title.
Claudia Ambrogioni added a new photo on Litter of ASHER ARISTOTELES and ALISHA GRACE DELL'ISMA SILENTE.


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace F2F.Data.Entities
{
    public partial class DimSalesTerritory
    {
        public DimSalesTerritory()
        {
            DimEmployee = new HashSet<DimEmployee>();
            DimGeography = new HashSet<DimGeography>();
            FactInternetSales = new HashSet<FactInternetSales>();
            FactResellerSales = new HashSet<FactResellerSales>();
            FactResellerSalesXlCci = new HashSet<FactResellerSalesXlCci>();
            FactResellerSalesXlPageCompressed = new HashSet<FactResellerSalesXlPageCompressed>();
        }

        public int SalesTerritoryKey { get; set; }
        public int? SalesTerritoryAlternateKey { get; set; }
        public string SalesTerritoryRegion { get; set; }
        public string SalesTerritoryCountry { get; set; }
        public string SalesTerritoryGroup { get; set; }
        public byte[] SalesTerritoryImage { get; set; }

        public ICollection<DimEmployee> DimEmployee { get; set; }
        public ICollection<DimGeography> DimGeography { get; set; }
        public ICollection<FactInternetSales> FactInternetSales { get; set; }
        public ICollection<FactResellerSales> FactResellerSales { get; set; }
        public ICollection<FactResellerSalesXlCci> FactResellerSalesXlCci { get; set; }
        public ICollection<FactResellerSalesXlPageCompressed> FactResellerSalesXlPageCompressed { get; set; }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
PropOrNot
1 Comment Posted on January 22, 2017 July 1, 2017 Fake News Attacks, Media Madness, New World Disorder, The Deep State, War on Russia
Ben Swann, the only real investigative reporter on US mainstream TV, starts us off with a reality check.
Reality Check: Pres.Obama Signs New Law To Allow U.S. Gov. to Fund Propaganda For U.S. Citizens
The video directly above has now been removed from You Tube, an exact copy is at the following link:
Reality Check: Pentagon Paid $500 Million to PR Firm To Create Iraq Propaganda Videos
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-24/obama-signs-countering-disinformation-and-propaganda-act-law
Obama Quietly Signs The "Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act" Into Law
Late on Friday, with the US population embracing the upcoming holidays and oblivious of most news emerging from the administration, Obama quietly signed into law the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which authorizes $611 billion for the military in 2017.
In a statement, Obama said that:
Today, I have signed into law S. 2943, the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017." This Act authorizes fiscal year 2017 appropriations principally for the Department of Defense and for Department of Energy national security programs, provides vital benefits for military personnel and their families, and includes authorities to facilitate ongoing operations around the globe. It continues many critical authorizations necessary to ensure that we are able to sustain our momentum in countering the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to reassure our European allies, as well as many new authorizations that, among other things, provide the Departments of Defense and Energy more flexibility in countering cyber-attacks and our adversaries' use of unmanned aerial vehicles."
But while the passage of the NDAA – and the funding of the US military – was hardly a surprise, the biggest news is what was buried deep inside the provisions of the Defense Authortization Act.
Recall that as we reported in early June, "a bill to implement the U.S.' very own de facto Ministry of Truth had been quietly introduced in Congress. As with any legislation attempting to dodge the public spotlight the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016 marks a further curtailment of press freedom and another avenue to stultify avenues of accurate information. Introduced by Congressmen Adam Kinzinger and Ted Lieu, H.R. 5181 seeks a "whole-government approach without the bureaucratic restrictions" to counter "foreign disinformation and manipulation," which they believe threaten the world's "security and stability." Also called the Countering Information Warfare Act of 2016 (S. 2692), when introduced in March by Sen. Rob Portman, the legislation represents a dramatic return to Cold War-era government propaganda battles. "These countries spend vast sums of money on advanced broadcast and digital media capabilities, targeted campaigns, funding of foreign political movements, and other efforts to influence key audiences and populations," Portman explained, adding that while the U.S. spends a relatively small amount on its Voice of America, the Kremlin provides enormous funding for its news organization, RT.
More at ZH link above……
http://www.globalresearch.ca/news-speak-and-the-duplicity-of-mainstream-journalism/5563834
We are faced by a shocking fact these days: the profession of journalism, and I speak of mainstream media journalism, has descended into truly toxic levels of printed and broadcast disinformation. One can now virtually count on the fact that what is being said on any topic of political significance, will be a carefully scripted trotting-out of government and corporate propaganda.
That is not journalism. That is what George Orwell called 'Newspeak'.
It is a dangerous game which these news hacks are playing. They are witnessing one event and describing it as quite another event. Let me amplify this by looking at the stories emanating out of the Middle East.
It must be obvious to most of us by now that Russia, via Putin, is being held responsible for pretty much everything which is no longer working well for Western engineered neoliberal/neocon globalism. In fact, the stream of accusations against Putin's Russia have descended into near or actual farce, due mainly to the fact that they are not backed by any factual evidence. We are all simply supposed to 'know' that Mr Evil is at it again and that the West must ready itself to take action against his 'tyrannical activities'.
And here's how they do it……
http://www.niemanlab.org/2016/12/clamping-down-on-viral-fake-news-facebook-partners-with-sites-like-snopes-and-adds-new-user-reporting/
Clamping down on viral fake news, Facebook partners with sites like Snopes and adds new user reporting. A new system funnels fake news reports to fact-checkers from Snopes, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org, ABC, and AP.
Facebook screen image highlights the role the social media giant plays for the Deep State
Excerpt from article above:
Once a story has been flagged as fake, the most complex element of the new strategy begins. A Facebook spokesperson walked me through how the fact-checking process will work. Facebook is working with, to start, a handful of third-party, U.S.-based fact-checking organizations: ABC News, Snopes, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org, and AP. (The sites are part of Poynter's International Fact Checking Network and have agreed to a "fact-checkers' code of principles.")
Because the group of third-party fact-checkers is small at launch, and as part of its effort to focus on the highest-impact "worst of the worst," Facebook is doing some sorting before the reported stories go to the fact-checkers. Its algorithm will look at whether a large number of people are reporting a particular article, whether or not the article is going viral, and whether the article has a high rate of shares. Facebook has also already had a system in place, for about a year, that uses signals around content (such as how people are responding to it in comments) to determine whether that content is a hoax.
The end result is tailored to the Deep States needs via the Facebook process:
And who gets to do all this 'fact' checking for you? The FreeThought Project has the scoop on Snopes……
Snopes, the Supposed Arbiter of 'Fake News' — Accused of 'Defrauding Own Site to Pay for Prostitutes
Snopes, the Supposed Arbiter of 'Fake News' — Accused of 'Defrauding Own Site to Pay for Prostitutes' Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/snopes-fake-news-fraud/#Y7Zg8B1lsjShCDeA.99
Facebook's choice to hire Snopes to arbitrate which news items will be allowed to stand and which should receive the Scarlet-Letter label 'disputed' already brought outrage — the site is notoriously left-leaning — but an exclusive report from the Daily Mail on alleged shady dealings should turn Mark Zuckerberg's cheeks a deep shade of red.
David and Barbara Mikkelson, ex-spouses and founders of Snopes, have been hurling accusations allegations at one another in an ongoing bitter legal dispute following their divorce — and many of the claims don't exactly give the company an air of professionalism.
Barbara, in court filings, accuses David of "raiding" Snopes' bank account "for his personal use and attorney fees" and embezzling "$98,000 from our company over the course of four years, which were monies he expended upon himself and the prostitutes he hired …"
….Since the acrimonious divorce, David hired Elyssa Young — better known as Erin O'Bryn, a longtime escort and porn star, and now his wife — as administrative assistant at Snopes. According to the Daily Mail, Young's escort profiles on professional sites and social media are still active, though it's unclear whether she still works in that field.
This part interested me because this person writes so much for Snopes. Is it true? Don't know.
Young isn't the only eyebrow-raising Snopes employee — Kim LaCapria, the company's lead 'fact-checker,' boasts openly of being a dominatrix known as "Vice Vixen," and wrote on her personal blog she "played scrabble [sic], smoked pot, and posted to Snopes. That's what I did on my day 'on' too."
The irony of fake news being decided by Snopes is so ridiculous that even the Daily Mail UK saw fit to point it out…..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4042194/Facebook-fact-checker-arbitrate-fake-news-accused-defrauding-website-pay-prostitutes-staff-includes-escort-porn-star-Vice-Vixen-domme.html
But the website's own troubles and the intriguing choice of who carries out its 'fact checks' are revealed by DailyMail.com, as one of its main contributors is disclosed to be a former sex-blogger who called herself 'Vice Vixen'.
Snopes.com will benefit from Facebook's decision to allow users to report items in their newsfeed which they believe to be 'fake'.
It is asking a number of organizations to arbitrate on items which are reported or which Facebook staff think may not be genuine, and decide whether they should be marked as 'disputed'.
Picture credit of UK Mail
Husband and wife: David Mikkelson is now married to Snopes.com staff member Elyssa Young – but also engaged in a bitter legal battle with his former wife Barbara with whom he set up the site
How did this all come about? Fair.org decided to investigate the threat to powerful Washington Deep State information tools like the flagship "Washington Post" that sites that have been deemed 'fake news' are exposing…..
WaPo Spreading Own Falsehoods Shows Real Power of Fake News
By Adam Johnson
WaPo: Russian operation hacked a Vermont utility, showing risk to U.S. electrical grid security, officials say. Washington Post story (12/31/16) with revised headline and a never-mind editor's note. Is this "fake news"? The putative scourge of "fake news" has been one of the most pervasive post-election media narratives. The general thrust goes like this: A torrent of fake news swept the internet, damaging Hillary Clinton and possibly leading to a Donald Trump victory.
A primary problem with this convenient-to-some narrative is that "fake news" has yet to be clearly defined by anyone. Vaguely conceptualized as misleading or outright fabricated stories, it can mean anything—as FAIR has noted previously (12/1/16)—from outlets that align with "Russian viewpoints" to foreign spam.
http://fair.org/home/wapo-spreading-own-falsehoods-shows-real-power-of-fake-news/
More at link….
Additional Fair article explains how the whole 'fake' news meme was pushed out by dubious outfit PropOrNot in collaboration with the flag ship of the corrupt Deep State, the Washington Post….
Why Are Media Outlets Still Citing Discredited 'Fake News' Blacklist?
The Washington Post (11/24/16) last week published a front-page blockbuster that quickly went viral: Russia-promoted "fake news" had infiltrated the newsfeeds of 213 million Americans during the election, muddying the waters in a disinformation scheme to benefit Donald Trump. Craig Timberg's story was based on a "report" from an anonymous group (or simply a person, it's unclear) calling itself PropOrNot that blacklisted over 200 websites as agents or assets of the Russian state.
The obvious implication was that an elaborate Russian psyop had fooled the public into voting for Trump based on a torrent of misleading and false information posing as news. Everyone from Bloomberg's Sahil Kupar to CNN's to Robert Reich to Anne Navarro to MSNBC's Joy Ann Reid tweeted out the story in breathless tones. Center for American Progress and Clinton advocate Neera Tanden even did her best Ron Paul YouTube commenter impression, exclaiming, "Wake up people."
But the story didn't stand up to the most basic scrutiny. Follow-up reporting cast major doubt on the Washington Post's core claims and underlying logic, the two primary complaints being 1) the "research group" responsible for the meat of the story, PropOrNot, is an anonymous group of partisans (if more than one person is involved) who tweet like high schoolers, and 2) the list of supposed Russian media assets, because its criteria for Russian "fake news" encompasses "useful idiots," includes entirely well-within-the-mainstream progressive and libertarian websites such as Truth-Out, Consortium News, TruthDig and Antiwar.com (several of whom are now considering lawsuits against PropOrNot for libel).
PropOrNot says their criteria for "Russian propaganda" is "behavioral" and "motivation-agnostic," so even those who publish views that simply coincide with the Russian government's, regardless of intent or actual links to Russia, are per se Kremlin assets—an absurd metric that casts a net so wide as to render the concept meaningless. Glenn Greenwald and Ben Norton of The Intercept (11/26/16) called PropOrNot "amateur peddlers of primitive, shallow propagandistic clichés" who were "engaging in extremely dubious McCarthyite tactics about a wide range of critics and dissenters." Fortune magazine's Matthew Ingram (11/25/16) insisted the report had the "beginnings of a conspiracy theory, rather than a scientific analysis," while AlterNet's Max Blumenthal (11/26/16) lamented that "insiders have latched onto a McCarthyite campaign that calls for government investigations of a wide array of alternative media outlets."
'Fake News' Facebook PropOrNot Snopes Warshiton Post