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Due to recent changes to health insurance plans that affect acupuncture coverage, I regret to announce that the treatment sessions for TLC Medicine patients may be affected in the near future. The details are as follows.
Your insurance covers acupuncture…except when it doesn't!
In a previous post, I covered the basics of how health insurance coverage works. But there were a lot of details which I left out for simplicity's sake.
By now, most people in the U.S. have some level of health care coverage. But do you know what you are actually getting in return for paying your monthly premiums each month? Understanding your benefits will help you budget better and minimize unexpected costs when you do seek care.
In my acupuncture practice, about half of my patients are paying for their entire treatment costs out-of-pocket.
In recent weeks, I have been delighted to treat quite a few expecting mothers at my practice. Most of these new patients are in their final weeks of their pregnancy, and all are hoping to deliver their babies naturally, with as little medical interventions and complications as possible.
Spring is the season for cleaning—and not just for your house, but your body as well. Detox diets are especially popular this time of year as we all wish to feel revitalized to prepare for those long days of summer fun.
Happy 2014, everyone! My social media feeds are exploding today with New Year's resolutions. I haven't counted but my bet is that the most popular goals for 2014 are health-oriented.
Recently, an editorial published in a medical journal declared that vitamin and mineral supplements were "a waste of money" that not only fail to prevent mortality and disease, but possibly could be harmful.


I have a tradition of celebrating birthdays for a week. I believe birthdays are a good reason for being showered in small indulgences. Being single never stopped me from having a full Birthday Week. It helps that I am not shy. One of my best birthday week nights when I was single was at my neighborhood bar, the Saloon in Beverly Hills (sadly no longer in existence), where I managed to create a circle of celebration with indulgent strangers.
Being married changes the Birthday Week game. Friends can be rallied to participate but the husband or wife has the challenge and fun of creating each day of the Birthday Week.
Whether you are giving a Birthday Week or just a gift for the special day, have you ever noticed how a handcrafted gift can be so special in showing your affection for a friend or romantic partner?
A blog post can serve as a handmade gift. A blog post as a Birthday Gift is a treasure I just discovered.
9.	Enjoy the party! Take photos and video.
12.	Timely follow up is nice.
Preferably your follow-up post and original post are not separated by a one-month all consuming launch project.
We had a great party for my husband, Ray. He got birthday wishes from across the globe on the 888 blog post. Roxanne Darling and her partner Shane flew in from Honolulu for a day. Thank you!! We had Ray's Canon XL2 camera with us and Ray caught some early party footage. I knew that Shane shoots great video of Roxanne's Beach Walks and was delighted when he agreed to use the XL2 to continue shooting at our party. Shane focused on the moments before and after the "888" prosperity/birthday toast. Ray edited the footage. Here are both the 10 minute and 3 minute versions of the video, and a few stills from the party.
*Updates: You can send them a link to this article I wrote on How to Comment on a Website for Boomer Tech Talk.
The video on this post also inspired a diet to self-correct back to my favorite weight.
Seeing the video makes me feel like we were there.
Your birthday week concept is interesting in that I usually have a birthday month and have been known to celebrate my birthday in a variety of cities visited during the month. I still remember fondly the time I had birthday parties in three different cities.
Ray you look great for 55. May you enjoy yourself as much on 090909, 101010, and especially 111111! And may I see you before any of those.
A blog become a birthday gift is an interesting idea.


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Tag: Year of Anticipation
Books & Comics Features Gaming General Geekery Hot Movies & TV
January 1, 2019 December 31, 2018
2019: Year Of Anticipation
Posted By: tomk74 0 Comment 6 Underground, A Series of Unfortunate Events, A Song of Ice and Fire, Ad Astra, Al Pacino, Aladdin, Alan Moore, Alita: Battle Angel, AMC, Ang Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Arrow, Arrowverse, Artemis Fowl, Ava DuVernay, Avengers 4, Avengers Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, batman, Big Mouth, bill murray, Blake Crouch, Boba Fett, Bobby Cannavale, bohemian rhapsody, Brad Pitt, Brandon Sanderson, Brian K Vaughn, Brie Larson, Brightburn, Captain Marvel, Carmen Sandiego, CBS All Access, Charlize Theron, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworthj, City of Stairs, Coco, Cold Pursuit, Dark Age, Dark Matter, Dave Gibbons, David Harbour, David Tennant, DC Comics, DC Universe, DCAU, DCEU, Deadly Class, Detective Pikacu, Disney, Dumbo, Ellen Page, elmer fudd, Elton John, Eric Carter, Evan Goldberg, Fighting with my Family, Fire Season, Flarsky, Founders Trilogy, Frozen, frozen 2, G. Willow Wilson, Game of Thrones, Garth Ennis, Gemini Man, George RR Martin, Gerard Way, Get Out, Ghidorah, Gillian Anderson, Gina Rodriguez, Glass, Godzilla, Godzilla King of Monsters, Good Omens, Goodfellas, Greg Rucka, Guy Ritchie, Harry Potter, Harvey Keitel, HBO, Hellboy, Henry Cavill, Hierophant, How to Train Your Dragon 3, Image Comics, It, IT Chapter 1, It Chapter 2, iZombie, Jack Ryan, James Gunn, Jean-Luc Picard, Jemaine Clement, JJ Abrams, Joe Pesci, John Wick, John Wick 3, Jon Favreau, Jordan Peele, Judd Apatow, Jude Law, Jumanji, Jumanji 2, Jurassic Park, Karl Urban, Keanu Reeves, Kingsman, Kingsman 3, Kite Man, Kristin Chenoweth, Legends of Tomorrow, Liam Neeson, Linda Hamilton, Lion King, Lovecraft Country, M. Night Shyamalan, Mads Mikkelsen, Man Eaters, Margaret Atwood, Martin Scorsese, Marvel Comics, Matt Ruff, MCU, Meagan Spooner, Men In Black, Men in Black 4, Men in Black International, Michael Bay, Michael Sheen, Mike Mignola, mothra, Neil Patrick Harris, Netflix, Nick Kroll, Outcast, Outsiders, Paper Girls, Patrick Stewart, Pennywise, percy jackson, Pet Sematary, Pierce Brown, Pixar, Pokemon, Polar, preacher, PS4, Rat Queens, Recursion, Red Rising, Redneck, rian johnson, Rick Remender, Robert De Niro, Robert Jackson Bennet, Robert Jordan, Robert Kirkman, Robert Rodriguez, Robin Williams, rocketeer, Rocketman, Rodan, Ron Perlman, Ryan Reynolds, Saga, Samsung, Samsung Galaxy X, sarah connor, Seth Rogen, Shazam, Sherwood, Simon Pegg, Sin City, Snowpiercer, Spider-Man, spider-man 2, Spider-Man Far from Home, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Split, Star Trek, Star Wars, Star Wars Episode IX, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Stephen Blackamore, Stephen King, Stephen Merchant, stranger things, Super Drag, Super Mario Brother Super Show, Supergirl, Taika Waititi, Taron Egerton, Terminator, Terminator 6, Terry Pratchett, Tessa Thompson, Thanos, The Boys, The Central Park Five, The Flash, The Good Place, The Handmaid's Tale, The Last Jedi, The Lego Movie, The Lego Movie 2, The Lord of the Rings, The Lost City of Z, The Mandalorian, The New Pope, The Walking Dead, The Wheel of Time, The Winds of Winter, The Witcher, The Young Pope, This is Us, Tim Burton, Tom Holland, Tom King, tommy lee jones, Toy Story, toy story 4, Umbrella Academy, Unbreakable, Us, Vikings, Watchmen, Wayward Pines, what we do in the shadows, Wheel of Time, Will Smith, Wonder Woman, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Year of Anticipation, Young Justice, Zach Snyder, Zombieland, Zombieland 2
It's our annual appraisal of the coming year in Geek Entertainment. What are we looking forward to in 2019?
Books & Comics Hot Reviews
Comic Review: Monstress Volume One
Posted By: tomk74 0 Comment Image Comics, Jenny, Marjorie Liu, Monstress, Sana Takeda, Year of Anticipation
East meets West in this highly feminist fantasy adventure.
Books & Comics Gaming General Geekery Hot Movies & TV
Posted By: tomk74 4 Comments 10 Cloverfield Lane, 2017, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Akira, Alien, Alien: Covenant, AMC, American Gods, Andy Serkis, Aquaman, Arrival, Arrow, Arrowverse, Ash vs Evil Dead, Ash Williams, baby groot, batman, Batsoup, Beauty and the Beast, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benicio del Toro, Bill Condon, Bitch Planet, Black Bolt, Blade Runner 2049, bones, Brendan Fraser, Brian K Vaughn, Brie Larson, Caesar!, Captain America: Civil War, Captain Jack Sparrow, Carrie Fisher, cars 3, Cate Blanchett, Catwoman, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, City of Blades, City of Miracles, City of Stairs, Civil Rights Movement, Civil War II, Clint Eastwood, Cloverfield, Cloverfield 3, Clue, Clue Curse, Coco, Cyborg, Dan Stevens, Daredevil, Dark Tower, David Leitch, DCU, Defenders, Denis Villeneuve, Despicable Me, Despicable Me 3, Dexter, Diane Keaton, Disney, Doctor Strange, Dracula Untold, Duffer Brothers, Dwayne Johnson, Elektra, Elizabeth Moss, emma watson, Evil Dead, Fallen, Fargo, Farscape, Fate of the Furious, Flashpoint, Fox, Frank Underwood, furiosa, FX, Gal Gadot, Game of Thrones, Geoff Johns, Ghost in the Shell, Grand moff tarkin, Grandmaster, Great Wall, Groot, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Handmaid's Tale, Harrison Ford, Harry Dresden, HBO, Hela, Hodor, house of cards, Hugh Jackman, Hulu, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, I Am Not Your Negro, Idris Elba, Inside Out, Iron Fist, iron gold, Iron Man, It, iZombie, J Michael Straczynski, Jack Black, James Baldwin, James Gunn, Javier Bardem, Jeff Goldblum, Jenny, jim Butcher, Jimmy Impossible, JJ Abrams, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, John Wick 2, John Wick: Chapter 2, Johnny Depp, Jon Bernthal, Jon Snow, Joss Whedon, Jude Law, Jumanji, Justice League, Karen Gillan, Karl Urban, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Kevin Fiege, Kevin Hart, Kevin Spacey, King Kong, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kinsman 2, Kong: Skull Island, laurence fishburne, Legends of Tomorrow, legion, Lemony Snicket, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lev Grossman, Logan, Loki, Luc Besson, Mad Max: Fury Road, Mad Men, Mario, Mario Switch, Mark Millar, Martin Freeman, Martin Scorsese, Marvel vs Capcom 4, Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Master Chief, Matrix, Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey, MCU, Mega Man, Metroids, Mike Carey, Minions, Monstress, Mummy, Neil Gaiman, Neil Patrick Harris, Netflix, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, Noah Hawley, Old Man Logan, Outlander, Paper Girls, Papergirls, Patrick Stewart, Patty Jenkins, Paul Walker, Peace Talks, Pennywise, Peter Jackson, Pieces, Pierce Brown, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, Pixar, PLANET HULK, Planet of the Apes, Power Rangers, Predator, Professor X, Prometheus, Punisher, Ready Player One, Red Rising, Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil Biohazard, Robert De Niro, Robert Jackson Bennett, Robert Kirkman, Robin Williams, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Ryan, Ryan Gosling, Sam Neill, Samuel L Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Scott Buck, Secret Service, Sense8, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, Silence, Skurge the Executioner, Sleepy Hollow, South Park, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Stand By Me, Star Wars: Episode 8, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Starz, Stephen King, stranger things, Suicide Squad, Super Mario, Supergirl, Superman, syfy, Taika Waititi, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Coldest City, The Drawing of the Three, The Dresden Files, The Executioner, The Expanse, The Fifth Element, The Flash, The Girl With All The Gifts, The Good Dinosaur, The Gunslinger, The Legend of Zelda, The Lego Movie, The Magicians, The Mummy, The Royals, The Shining, The Wachowskis, The Walking Dead, The Wolf-Man, The Wolverine, The Young Pope, thor, Thor: Ragnarok, tim curry, Tom, Tom Cruise, Tom Hiddleston, Twilight, Twilight sucks, Twitter, Umbrella Corporation, Universal Monsters, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, VanHelsing, Vin Diesel, Voltron, Vulture, War of the Planet of the Apes, Watson, Will Arnett, Wizard and Glass, Wolverine, Wonder Woman, X-Men, Year of Anticipation, Zach Snyder
What's coming out this year that might be worth our time?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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NEWS: Taylor Swift's Safe & Sound, nominated for Top Honor Video of the Year in CMT Awards
Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars' Safe And Sound from The Hunger Games companion album has been nominated for a CMT Music Award as "Top Honor Video of the Year."
Access Hollywood reports:
NASHVILLE, TENN. – CaptionWith Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambertand Taylor Swift atop the list, look no further than the CMT Music Awards nominations for proof country music's new favorite color is blonde.
Underwood's "Good Girl" and her "Remind Me" collaboration with Brad Paisley, Lambert's "Over You" and Swift's collaboration with The Civil Wars on "The Hunger Games" soundtrack entry "Safe&Sound" are among the 10 nominees for top honor video of the year. Underwood also is up for female video, CMT performance and collaborative video of the year.
Source: Access Hollywood
Labels: News, Videos


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Russian, Iranian Diplomats To Discuss Iran Nuclear Deal This Week
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov
A senior Russian diplomat says he expects to hold talks with an Iranian counterpart this week to discuss the situation surrounding the Iran nuclear deal following U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to abandon the multinational accord if is not amended.
The Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on October 17 that he plans to meet with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Moscow in the coming days.
"Certainly, the focus is on the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in light of Trump's statement about his intentions to review the agreement's contents and signals that the United States is inclined to supplement, alter, or modify this document in a [way] that suits Washington," he said.
Ryabkov also said that Moscow and Tehran will work out a "common approach" in order to try to "persuade the American side that the proposed measures are not productive."
Under the JCPOA -- the July 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers, including the United States and Russia -- Tehran agreed to curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sanctions that have hurt its economy.
But in an October 13 speech, Trump said he would not certify that Iran is complying with the agreement and warned he might ultimately terminate it. He accused Tehran of violating the "spirit" of the agreement, in part for its continued testing of ballistic missiles and its support for extremists in the Middle East, and said he would ask Congress to strengthen a U.S. law to put additional pressure on Iran.
Trump on October 16 raised the possibility once again that he might try to end the deal completely.
"It might be total termination. That's a real possibility. Some would say that's a greater possibility," Trump told reporters ahead of a cabinet meeting.
Meeting in Luxembourg on October 16, European Union foreign ministers closed ranks in support of the Iran nuclear agreement, warning that Trump's threats jeopardize efforts to find a peaceful solution to the nuclear standoff with North Korea.
"At a time of acute nuclear threat, the EU is determined to preserve the JCPOA as a key pillar of the international nonproliferation architecture," the ministers said in a joint statement.
The bloc's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said she would visit Washington early next month to urge U.S. lawmakers not to pull out of the Iran deal, which was aimed to slow Iran's potential path toward creating a nuclear weapon. Tehran says its nuclear program has purely peaceful aims.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (Republican-Tennessee), who is leading efforts on behalf of Trump to toughen the Iran nuclear deal in Congress, urged Trump to cooperate with European allies in deciding what to do with the nuclear agreement.
"This is something that can only work if the administration exercises tremendous diplomacy with our European allies," Corker said, adding that Democrats in Congress are insisting that the White House must work with Europe.
Corker told reporters that he has tried to convince Europeans that Trump's decision to decertify Iran is not all bad and provides world powers with an opportunity to try to correct acknowledged "deficiencies" in the pact.
"Look, if I were them, I'd look at this as 'the glass is half full.' He didn't withdraw from the JCPOA, and that's step one," Corker said.
China also voiced its support for the agreement.
Tehran said it will remain committed to the deal as long as it serves the country's national interests.
In a statement on the presidency's website on October 17, Iranian President Hassan Rohani said that "the unanimous support for the agreement, particularly from the Europeans, is an important political achievement for Iran."
The planned talks between Ryabkov and Araqchi comes before Rohani is expected to host Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Tehran on November 1.
With reporting by Interfax, Reuters, and dpa


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About EfficiencyOne
2023-2025 Demand Side Management Plan
White Paper – 2050: Net-Zero Carbon Nova Scotia
Green Careers Virtual Info Session
Life at e1
Co-op and Early Career
Employee Q&A
A Federally-incorporated, non-profit organization proudly based in Nova Scotia, EfficiencyOne is led by an independent Board of Directors.
EfficiencyOne is federally incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. The purpose and objective of EfficiencyOne are to:
Contribute to economic prosperity, environmental sustainability and societal well-being: by working in partnership with individuals, communities and organizations to transform how we use, save and produce energy and other resources; through collaboration, innovation and other activities that lead to savings from the efficient use and conservation of energy, water, materials and other resources.
Improve health and standards of living and well-being of individuals and families, and the strength of organizations and communities, through efficiency and conservation.
Support and encourage positive public policy on efficiency and conservation in energy and other resources.
Advance and apply knowledge in the fields of conservation and efficiency practice, service delivery, engagement, support, public education, regulation and governance.
Utilize the resource of efficiency by developing and applying effective conservation and efficiency solutions that save, minimize or optimize the use and/or demand of energy, water, materials and other resources.
The management and control of the affairs of EfficiencyOne is vested in its Members and Board of Directors.
Governance Principles:
The Board of Directors of EfficiencyOne believes that effective and efficient governance is an essential foundation for the organization's success. The following principles describe the governance philosophy of the Board:
All Board members have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the organization as a whole, and not to any particular stakeholder interest.
Governance should be based on the recognition that the Board, the Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Leadership Team have a shared responsibility to provide integrated and high functioning leadership that will enable EfficiencyOne to excel in achieving its strategic and operational objectives.
The relationship between the Board, the Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Leadership Team, while being appropriately structured and managed from an accountability perspective, may also be characterized by strategic collaboration and generative thinking based on the idea that "great minds think differently" and the mutual understanding that each will be better at discharging their respective roles if they work together on the premise that each can and must learn from the knowledge, expertise, experience and wisdom of the other.
Once decisions are made in accordance with the processes and structures in place, everyone within EfficiencyOne should publicly support its position.
Governance should be rooted not only in ethical conduct and legal compliance, but also with EfficiencyOne's values of integrity, innovation and partnership.
Governance should promote and preserve the public trust in EfficiencyOne.
Governance needs to foster the ability to make difficult decisions and to keep EfficiencyOne moving forward.
Effective planning, implementation and monitoring/reporting systems are foundations for EfficiencyOne's organizational accountability.
There are two classes of Members in EfficiencyOne (Voting and Non-Voting Members). The original subscribing Members of EfficiencyOne are the Voting Members. The Board of Directors of EfficiencyOne may, by resolution, approve the admission of Members into the corporation. Membership into EfficiencyOne is available to individuals over the age of 18 years and organizations which:
have comprehensive or specialized information relating to the objects and purpose of the corporation; and
support the objects and purpose of the corporation.
The Board has absolute discretion whether an applicant for membership shall be admitted as a Member.
The Board may discharge the duties and responsibilities vested in it through delegation of its functions, for recommendation or decision as it deems appropriate, to the standing Committees of the Board. The Board may also create other Board committees from time to time to appropriately discharge its duties. Each Committee has its own written Terms of Reference, which set forth the responsibilities of the Committee and the Committee's Chair. Board committees are responsible for regular reporting to the Board and for making appropriate recommendations to the Board for its review and decision. There is an Executive Committee and three standing Committees of the Board (Governance; Finance; and Management Resources & Compensation).
Board Chair:
The Board Chair presides at all meetings of the Board and of the Executive Committee and performs such duties as may be required under the by-laws, or as are incidental to the office. The Board Chair is an ex-officio member of all Committees of the Board.
Committee Chairs:
The Committee Chairs assign work to the Committee members, sets the agenda and Chairs the Committee meetings, and also ensures meeting minutes have been distributed. They are responsible for setting the tone for the Committee work, and ensuring that Committee members have the information needed to do their jobs. The Committee Chairs are responsible for reporting to the Board on Committee activities, decisions and recommendations to the Board.
Board Member Recruitment:
The Governance Committee assists the Board in selecting proposed new Board members according to their skill, experience and personal qualities. The Board will seek a balance within the Board concerning the skills and experience of Board members, while considering any unique or special requirements of EfficiencyOne at a particular time.
Needs Identification
When a vacancy is due to occur on the Board, the Board, with the assistance of the Governance Committee, will review and consider the needs of the Board in relation to the situation involved (i.e. Board member resignation/replacement). The Governance Committee will assist the Board in determining the number of Board members required to be recruited, and will complete and/or update the Board competency matrix. The matrix will identify what gaps might exist on the Board as a result of the Board member vacancy or vacancies, and will assist the Board in determining what skills, knowledge and experience a new Board member should have in order to be considered.
Once the Governance Committee has determined what gaps are required to be filled, the recruitment process can be undertaken. The Governance Committee will prepare a recruitment ad for posting in newspapers and/or via the internet to gather names of potential candidates. In addition, the Governance Committee will also gather other names of potential candidates through referrals and/or recommendations from current Board members and the CEO. The Governance Committee will review all applicant submissions and create a short list of candidates for interviews. Candidates will be contacted to confirm their interest, provide them with an information package and to schedule a time to meet with the Governance Committee.
The selection process begins with the Governance Committee reviewing all of the necessary background information on each candidate to be interviewed (i.e. application, resume/biography). Comprehensive interviews, involving the Governance Committee and the short listed candidate, take place. During the interview, the Governance Committee provides each candidate with relevant information pertaining to EfficiencyOne and the position of Board member. In addition, the Governance Committee asks a series of pre-determined questions of each candidate to assist in assessing their suitability. Once interviews have taken place, it is the responsibility of the Governance Committee to conduct the necessary background checks on the candidates that were determined to be successful in the interview process.
Once the results of the background checks have been obtained, the Governance Committee shall determine what candidate(s) should be recommended as a Board member to the current Board for approval. The Governance Committee will provide a report and recommendation to the Board for approval on the candidate(s) to be appointed at EfficiencyOne's annual meeting of Members. Once approval by the membership is obtained, the Board Chair will extend offers for acceptance by the successful candidates. Once offers are accepted, the new Board member(s) will be offered orientation training relevant to their position as an EfficiencyOne Board member.
Terms of Office and Re-Election
A member of the Board can be appointed for a term of three years and may be appointed for a second consecutive term. He/she remains in office until the expiry of his/her term, or until the member resigns, or is reappointed or replaced. A Board member may be appointed for a term or consecutive terms exceeding six years where the Board, by resolution, so determines. Where a vacancy occurs on the Board, the Board may appoint a person to fill the vacancy for the balance of the term of the member replaced. When a Board member is eligible for re-election, the Governance Committee determines his or her qualifications and continued interest in serving as a Board member. The Governance Committee then makes recommendations to the Board at EfficiencyOne's Annual Meeting of Members regarding re-elections. The terms for EfficiencyOne Board members will be staggered to ensure a smooth succession of Board members and continuous governance of EfficiencyOne.
Board Evaluation
The Board has established an evaluation process that includes evaluating the collective performance of the Board, evaluating the performance of each Board Committee, and evaluating the performance of individual Board members.
Efficiency Nova Scotia
EfficiencyOne services
HCi3 Fund
© 2023 EfficiencyOne all rights reserved


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Home » Blogs » Up-Hill Drive for Spending Bills, But No Gas in the Tank for Paying for Them
Up-Hill Drive for Spending Bills, But No Gas in the Tank for Paying for Them
May 28, 2010 | Taxes| Other Spending
Two massive spending bills that congressional leaders wanted to dispose of before hitting the road for Memorial Day have hit potholes as lawmakers grow more uneasy about deficit spending. However, proposals to assert some degree of fiscal responsibility have yet to leave the driveway.
Legislation extending tax cuts, expanded unemployment and COBRA benefits, and a "doc fix" has stalled due to rising concerns over adding to the federal debt. The original version of the bill had a price tag of some $188 billion, with only about $56 billion of it offset. When moderates balked, leadership pared down the net costs to $84 billion by curtailing the Medicare "doc fix" through only the end of next year and having the unemployment and COBRA benefits expire a month earlier. With the votes still not there, House leaders have cut further, jettisoning the COBRA subsidies and separating out the "doc fix." The House is scheduled to vote later today while the Senate has decided to take up the issue after the recess.
Legislation providing supplemental funds for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as some disaster aid has fared somewhat better. The Senate late Thursday adopted a $59 billion version. However, a scheduled mark-up in the Appropriations Committee of a more expansive House version was abruptly cancelled later in the day. Members there reportedly are concerned about the bill's costs, which are not offset.
Hopefully the events will convince leaders in Washington that the wheels have come off their strategy of ignoring the mounting debt and continuing to deficit finance initiatives by labeling them "jobs" bills and "emergency" spending. But there still seems a long way to travel to get legislators to actually pay for their priorities.
The Senate Thursday set aside two amendments to the supplemental from Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) that would each have fully offset the cost of the bill by rescinding spending elsewhere. And the body never got a chance to vote on a pending amendment from Senators Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to institute a three year discretionary spending cap. The proposal has consistently received broad, bipartisan support and the sponsors made adjustments to achieve 60 votes. It is a shame that the Senate found time to vote on border security amendments, but had no time for a more germane proposal as it considered adding to the mounting debt.
Like many trips this weekend, the drive for fiscal responsibility will be a long one with many stops along the way.
Health Care | Taxes | Economic Recovery Measures | Defense | Senate | House of Representatives


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Aligned Energy has completed phase one of its Ashburn data center campus
The build includes the initial 368,755-square-foot, 60-megawatt facility, with expansion to come in Virginia's Data Center Alley.
By Michelai Graham / @ohmichgee
Aligned Energy's Ashburn campus packed with 400 workers in September. (Photo via @alignedenergy on Twitter)
Plano, Texas-based Aligned Energy, a data center provider and creator of cloud solutions, announced that it has completed phase one of its Ashburn, Virginia, data center campus. The 26-acre campus is located in Virginia's so-called Data Center Alley.
Phase one included the initial 368,755-square-foot, 60-megawatt (MW) facility, and will be followed by a 409,000-square-foot, 120-MW development.
"Leveraging our standardized supply chain methodology, a dedicated, 50 MW, auto-replenished inventory pool, and best-of-breed partners, Aligned constructed two data halls and built out the first 12 MW of data center space, expandable to 60 MW, in less than six months," Andrew Schaap, CEO of Aligned Energy, said in a statement.
The company said in a press release that it chose to place a data center in Ashburn for many reasons, including its favorable tax incentives, affordable and reliable power and a dense fiber network. Aligned Energy's new Ashburn campus is located less than 800 feet from an internet exchange point, a physical infrastructure where internet service providers and content delivery networks exchange internet traffic between their networks.
Aligned Energy said it prides itself in reducing the energy, water and space needed to operate its data center solutions through the usage of its patented cooling technology, Delta Cube. This tech allows customers to deploy infrastructure where and when they need it, as their requirements continuously change.
Aligned Energy joins Vantage Data Centers, which is also constructing a Data Center Alley campus.


Nature versus Nurture issue is one of the oldest issues in the field of psychology. Psychologists have been debating in this topic for a very long time. Nature versus nurture issue simply means whether the behavior and characteristics of individual are determined by nature (heredity) or nurture (environment). Nature is defined as behavior due to heredity. If a person's behavior is derived from the genes of his/her parents or other biological factors, then we can say it is the nature that determines his characters. On the other hand, nurture is defined as the behavior influenced from environment. If person's behavior is affected by the environment, he grew up then it is the nurture that determines his characters.
Previously this issue has been discussed by philosophers like Aristotle and Plato to understand the human behavior. Plato believed that behavior and innate were due to innate factors.


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/* jshint node: true */
'use strict';

module.exports = {
  name: 'ember-rl-year-picker'
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


3835 Thoreau Valdosta, GA. | MLS# 117286 | Valdosta and Moody AFB real estate and new homes. Search MLS Listings for Valdosta, Moody AFB and local areas. Our agents know the Valdosta area, we are experts in local real estate and homes in the Valdosta and Moody AFB area. MAFB discount. Rentals.
Beautiful new 4BR/2.5BA in Walden Woods. Open kitchen, split bedroom floorpan loaded with extras. Kitchen offers stainless appliances, large walk-in pantry, center island bar with double basin sink, granite countertop and beautiful cabinets. Large Mud Room with mud bench just inside garage door. Master Suite has walk-in closet with custom shelvings, custom tiled shower, double vanity, separate garden tub and built-in ironing board. Large covered porches front and back. Lots of extra trim. Don't miss out!!


You have the right to have an attorney present while you are questioned.
Just say that you want to speak with your attorney before you answer any other questions. Then, call an attorney and see him as soon as possible. Once you are booked into custody you have a right to make and complete three phone calls that are free within the local calling area.
The fact is, having an experienced criminal defense attorney on your side from early stages can often make a big difference in the ultimate outcome of your case.
As a criminal lawyer I can tell you that violating the laws in California can bring very severe penalties. There is nothing more important than having the right criminal defense lawyer. As an experienced defense attorney, I may be able to get your charges reduced and in some cases dismissed. If jail time is inevitable, I may be able to get this jail time reduced or find a suitable alternative to jail such as house arrest, swap, work release, drug rehabilitation or work furlough.
When you retain me as your defense attorney you will receive my personal attention. I will personally handle every part of your case. I prepare each case carefully to find any legal defenses and to see whether your constitutional rights were violated. Was evidence seized? Was an arrest made that violated your 4th amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure? Did the police explain your right to be silent before you were questioned? Was there a proper chain of custody for the evidence seized?
Fighting a criminal case can be very complicated. Did you know that many cases are dismissed on technicalities? An attorney must have knowledge of the court system and know the different personalities of Judges and Deputy District Attorneys.
I know that being accused of a criminal offense is very distressing and unsettling. You may have some questions as to what direction to take. Please contact my office 805.966.6806.


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Shop Talk | October 11, 2011
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Writing without reading?
by Celeste Ng
Some frustrated soul on Facebook has started an "I Hate Reading" page. Even though–in keeping with the "I hate reading" theme–there's nothing actually on the page, over 475,000 people "like" it. AbeBooks issued the following video, entitled "Long Live the Book," in response:
Okay, so some people hate to read. Some people aren't book people. But some writers apparently also hate to read. On the New Yorker's Book Bench, Macy Halford writes:
[William Giraldi] teaches writing at Boston University, and has been amazed at how many of the kids possess a passionate urge to write without also possessing an urge to read. This strikes him as crazy. "There's an analogy there that I haven't been able to complete," he said:
Wanting to write without wanting to read is like wanting to ____ without wanting to ____.
He'd come up with a couple, unsatisfying answers, one involving race cars, one involving sex (he wouldn't tell us what they were). But he threw it out to the audience to ponder, and now I'm throwing it out to you. What is wanting to write without wanting to read like? It's imperative that we figure it out, because Giraldi's right: it's both crazy and prevalent among budding writers.
(Via.) Why would budding writers hate to read? Can you really write without reading? And for those of you who teach writing: if the answer is no, do you have trouble convincing your students that reading is useful?
Celeste Ng, encouraging reading, reading, reading in peril, the writing life	Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Save Instapaper Pocket
Celeste Ng
Celeste Ng is the author of the novels Everything I Never Told You (2014) and Little Fires Everywhere (2017). She earned an MFA from the University of Michigan (now the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan), where she won the Hopwood Award. Her fiction and essays have appeared in One Story, TriQuarterly, Bellevue Literary Review, the Kenyon Review Online, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of the Pushcart Prize, the Massachusetts Book Award, the American Library Association's Alex Award, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Also from Celeste Ng
Messy Experiments, Elegant Solutions Smudging the Boundaries of Otherness: An Interview with Hasanthika Sirisena Guilty (Dis)Pleasures: 3 Things I Just Can't Get Into
Messy Experiments, Elegant Solutions
Stories We Love: Empathy and Omniscience in Paley's "Samuel"
Smudging the Boundaries of Otherness: An Interview with Hasanthika Sirisena
Shop Talk Editor
Brandon Bye
Rebecca Scherm
J.T. Bushnell
Lee Thomas


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Q: Why is "CPTAnnotation.h" not found? I am trying to install Core Plot for my iOS app via these instructions.
http://code.google.com/p/core-plot/wiki/UsingCorePlotInApplications
However, I am getting this error
"CPTAnnotation.h" not found

when I include #import "CorePlot-CocoaTouch.h" in my code. Why?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Announcements >
Galois and Guardtime Federal Awarded $1.8 Million DARPA Contract to Formally Verify Blockchain-Based Integrity Monitoring System
LinkedIn+
Software Correctness
Galois and Guardtime Federal today announced they have jointly been awarded a $1.8 million contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to verify the correctness of Guardtime Federal's Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI). The contract will fund a significant effort that aims to advance the state of formal verification tools and all blockchain-based integrity monitoring systems.
Galois is a leader in formal verification, a technique that goes beyond testing and evaluation to provide mathematical assurances that a system works only as intended in all cases. Verifying the correctness of Guardtime Federal's KSI will demonstrate the scalability and practicality of formal verification methods as a means for establishing trust in critical systems.
Integrity monitoring systems like Guardtime Federal's KSI detect evidence of advanced persistent threats (APTs) as they work to remain hidden in networks. APTs undermine the security of networks for long periods of time and have been central in many major network breaches. APTs carefully cover their tracks by removing evidence from system log files, adding information to "white-lists" used by security software, and altering network configurations. This project aims to verify the ability of keyless integrity monitoring systems to detect APTs and attest to the ongoing integrity of a system.
"Formal verification has evolved considerably over the past several years, but has only recently matured enough to tackle production-level software," said Stephen Magill, Research Lead for Software Analysis at Galois. "This collaborative effort seeks to advance our understanding of the role that integrity analysis plays in system security and lead to improvements in formal verification tools and methods that will be applicable to other existing systems."
"Guardtime Federal sees this formal verification of block chain and keyless infrastructure technology implemented to meet national security challenges as an amazing opportunity for our clients," said David Hamilton, President of Guardtime Federal. "By subjecting our cyber defense infrastructure to this most sophisticated methodology we will test both typical and exotic boundary conditions enabling further refinements of our defenses for protecting the most precious national security secrets and configurations of operational systems."
Data breaches cost the economy billions and affect government and private companies alike. One major factor in the severity of a breach is the length of time that the adversary can operate before being detected, which can often be months as they explore a network and identify the most valuable assets and data. Technology such as Guardtime's KSI can be used to ensure intruders are unable to cover their tracks. Formal verification aims to provide mathematically grounded assurance that the KSI system will not be compromised no matter what the intruder does to subvert it. This provides a much stronger level of assurance than conventional testing, which typically only covers non-malicious or randomly generated data.
About Galois
Galois has been performing computer science research and development since 1999. With many of the world's foremost experts in computer science and mathematics and a world-class team of programmers and engineers, Galois is uniquely positioned to take on the world's most difficult challenges in computer science. Galois is a trusted partner in the defense and intelligence industries, proving the feasibility of cutting edge research as it applies to critical systems. Technology companies turn to Galois to build reliability, safety and security into their product development efforts from day one. For additional information, visit www.galois.com.
About Guardtime Federal
Guardtime Federal has been providing digital integrity infrastructure and products in the US since 2015 with the objective to deliver capabilities originally developed in Europe by Guardtime into the US Government market (e.g. DoD, IC, DHS, and their support industry). Guardtime Federal offers Guardtime mathematics and architecture concepts in high-end tamper resistant hardware to protect industrial block chain software for defense related special purposes exploiting embedded or private networked environments.


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Signet Names Ex-President as Interim UK Head
Seb Hobbs stood down from his US-based position in April.
May 29, 2019 6:11 AM By Rapaport News
RAPAPORT... Former Signet Jewelers president Seb Hobbs will serve as interim managing director of the company's UK business for the next month.
Hobbs, who has been with the jewelry retailer for more than eight years, began his term at Signet in the UK. He was promoted to president in January 2017, and transferred to the US. He stood down in April, and will return to the UK to head operations there until June 30. He will then leave the company as previously announced, Signet told Rapaport News Tuesday.
Hobbs was managing director of the UK business until January 2017. Upon his move to the US, Emma Hayward took over as store-operations director.
Signet's UK banners include H. Samuel and Ernest Jones, each of which accounted for 5% of its global sales last year. Aside from the US and the UK, the company also has operations in Canada.
Image: Seb Hobbs. (Signet Jewelers)
Tags: Emma Hayward, ernest jones, H. Samuel, Rapaport News, Seb Hobbs, Signet, Signet Jewelers


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Epson Driver Printer - Driver and Software Support Download Windows, Mac Os X and Linux
Epson WorkForce 845 Driver Support Windows and Mac Os
By Admin Last updated Jan 28, 2022
Epson WorkForce 845 All-in-One Printer with Ink-jet-color technology that works for copier, fax, printer and scanner. This printer can print with resolutions Up to 5760 x 1440 dpi (black) and up to 5760 x 1440 dpi (color), and can print with speeds up to 15 ipm (black) and up to 9.3 ipm (color). This printer is available 4 cartridges, 1 each (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) and supports printing with Micro SD memory. To print available LAN, USB 2.0, USB host and Wi-Fi (n) connections, compatible with Windows and Mac Os.
The design is simple, suitable to be placed anywhere according to your needs, this printer is usually available in black, to make it easy for users to have a color LCD available on the front of the printer and is equipped with several function keys, for new users you have to install drivers that match the operating system used.
Below are the original drivers for Epson WorkForce 845 and the installation guide, to get them you have to adjust to the operating system used, then click download, then the file will automatically be saved to your storage.
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Some of the biggest high street banking names have refused to take part in the Government's scheme to help distressed home owners avoid repossession.
Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide and Santander – including Abbey and Alliance & Leicester – have opted out of the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme.
It means half of the banks that helped to develop the scheme when it was first announced in December last year have since decided against making it available to borrowers.
The banks and societies that have signed up for the scheme are the ones the Government has bailed out - including Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley and Lloyds.
At the time of the original announcement, the Government promised that eight of the largest lenders "covering 70 per cent of the mortgage market" would be involved. But critics said this does not appear to be the case.
The scheme, which helps struggling home owners defer their interest payments for up to two years, was finally introduced yesterday following a five month delay.
The Conservatives suggested that the major lenders which have refused to take part covered 55 per cent of the mortgage market.
And they claimed that up to 28,000 home owners have been thrown out of their homes as a result of the scheme not being available when it was first announced.
Grant Shapps, shadow housing minister, said: "Once again, the Government has been guilty of over-promising and under-delivering. The small print reveals that just a fraction of mortgages will be covered by the scheme and the only lenders willing to take part are the ones owned by the state.
"It's outrageous to announce schemes which promise immediate help, yet take five months to put in place."
Lenders that have signed up to the scheme include Lloyds Bank Group, Northern Rock, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Bradford and Bingley, Cumberland Building Society, and the National Australia Bank Group.
Margaret Beckett, the housing minister, said: "We know that many families are worried about how to pay the mortgage right now, and we're determined to ensure there is real help available for them."
The lenders which did not sign up to the scheme despite helping to develop it insisted that they remained committed to helping borrowers who had suffered a loss of income to stay in their homes.
Gillian Charlesworth, of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: "Given current market conditions, even those lenders who are holding back from joining the scheme will be reluctant to take on large numbers of repossessed properties which cannot be easily sold. As a result, many of them are already offering reduced monthly payments and increased levels of support without Government intervention."


You've heard the saying, don't judge a book by its cover or in this case, its author. While others elect to see Toke Makinwa's On Becoming clouded by the controversial personality of the author, this article seeks to appraise it as a work of literature embodying social consciousness; the reality of what African women go through in marriages with unfaithful partners.
Like books written by most female African authors, its main focus is on marriage, family and relationship which is usually the forte of a typical African woman.
The narrator, Toke Makinwa is a Nigerian from Ondo State and a Christian background. Her traditional Yoruba culture like most African cultures is patriarchal and upholds the importance of the family with the mantle of leadership falling on the man.
In the African setting, the family is regarded as the bedrock of society. This is because the value system of the society is handed down and preserved through marriage and family. This is why society sees marriage as the most important achievement of a woman. It doesn't matter if she's rich and famous, if she's unable to attract a man enough to have him marry her, then her achievements are useless.
For the narrator, self awareness is the key to the objective viewing of her choices which inevitably leads to her social and emotional development and freedom from a cheating husband. Thus, she is armed with an education, economic independence and qualities such as courage and persistence which opens an avenue for freer expression of self and enables her take charge of her life and destiny. Her choice of getting a divorce goes against the grain of the African society and allows the other woman win. But for the narrator, it is a choice of being true to herself which springs from an awareness of who she is and what she wants to achieve in life without the undue influence from others.
Don't waste your time trying to provide people with proof of deceit, in order to keep their love, win their love or salvage their respect for you. The truth is this: If they care they will go out of their way to learn the truth. If they don't then they really don't value you as a human being. The moment you have to sell people on who you are is the moment you let yourself believe that every good thing you have ever done or accomplished was invisible to the world. And, it is not!
It's not imperative for a woman to make a marriage work. If a marriage isn't working, it isn't an automatic pointer to the failings of the woman as a wife. And if a woman has lost faith in the union and no longer believes the marriage is worth investing in – either due to [repeated] emotional and/or physical abuse – she should be able to extricate herself from the murky quagmire without fear of being tailed by the shadows of stigma.
This is brilliant work, Kelly. Your review deifies the book and has succeeded in making it mouth-watering. I wish I could read it soon; my crowded reading schedule however cannot allow for that.
I think Toke's story should be made into a Nollywood movie. It would be box-office!
I think Toke's story should be made into a Hollywood movie. It would be box-office!
Player meets fall back girl.
I actually feel pity for Anita the most.
'cos he was and probably is still cheating on her too.
Toke created the disaster, she should have walked away but then, the heart wants what it wants.
Good read actually. Captivating too. Money well spent I'd say.
"Among the men, when they attempt comforting words, they usually end up with statements like: 'It's a man's world and what he did was bad, but forgive him because we are all not saints." Quite weird was reading the last chapter and I saw this and this" Women, on the other hand, tend to be more emotional so they rarely speak directly. Instead they give a hug or recite a Bible verse and expect you to get it. "
Reading Toke's book, that their relationship from the beginning na LAWMA get am. my first reaction was anger, at Maje for cheating on her serially with different women and expecting d door to always be open when he wanders back. Then at toke for always opening the door everytime he knocks. How the hell did she even breathe all through?.
I don't think we should rant over the book been published I think we should take the lessons with us recently she celebrated her dogs birthday and the question was why,I think after reading the book you should let Toke be Toke she had admit her mistake, and she is moving on.
You did notice my use of past tense right? She was that woman who gave advice and couldnt follow it but at the end of the day, she finally sees the light of her own advice and takes it. You should read the book tho, maybe you'll get a more objective look at it and not be influenced by media hype or snippets of scandalous statements.
Hmm, Thats just the basic truth. some of us knows this things, but it's easier said than done.
Toke just wanted to do to maje what tiwa did to teebillz, kill them off.
however, I wonder why Toke never mentioned her dating other people whenever she and maje were on a break. is she insinuating that maje was the only man she had ever been with in those 12 long years? she shld have mentioned it, but she was to busy portraying herself a saint.
Finished reading the book at 3am this morning.
its a rather interesting book i must say.
i think what really attracted her to maje from the very onset was his ''big boy'' status. He was British educated, his family owned a bank, he worked at the family's bank and his family had 'pedigree'.
i wish she had dwelt much more on her career, her fashion/style, etc.
overall, a very good book. i will rate it 7 out of 10.
A toxic marriage is not worth dying for! Real Happiness starts from within you, why should anyone waste the short span of our earthly existence trying to seek validation from the inconsistencies of a fellow mortal?


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Tag Archives: Ambassador
Russia and Estonia diplomatic communications break down as Moscow orders ambassador to leave
Revelations 6:3-4 "when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Russia orders Estonian ambassador to leave country
The Estonian ambassador in Russia has been ordered to leave the country by 7 February after the Kremlin accused the country of "Russophobia".
Margus Laidre is the first ambassador Russia has expelled since invading Ukraine last year.
Estonia responded by asking the Russian ambassador to leave by the same date.
Russia's move against Mr. Laidre comes after Estonia recently ordered a reduction in the size of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn.
Moscow was told to reduce its embassy from 17 to eight by the end of January. In a statement in January, Estonia said embassy staff had stopped seeking to advance relations between the countries since the conflict broke out.
Tensions were also raised last week after representatives from 11 Nato nations gathered at an army base in Estonia to discuss a range of new packages to help Ukraine recapture territory and fend off any further Russian advances.
Latvia's foreign ministry has also asked the Russian ambassador to leave by 24 February and said the country would support Estonia by reducing diplomatic relations with Russia.
Tagged Ambassador, Estonia, Russia | Leave a comment
Trump says won't deal with UK ambassador after leak of 'inept' memos
By Michael Holden and William James
LONDON (Reuters) – Donald Trump said he would not deal with Britain's ambassador to Washington after a leak of confidential memos in which the diplomat described the U.S. president's administration as "inept".
Trump also attacked Britain's outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May, who had said her government had full confidence in ambassador Kim Darroch, criticizing her handling of Brexit and saying she disregarded his advice.
"What a mess she and her representatives have created," he wrote on Twitter. "I do not know the Ambassador, but he is not liked or well thought of within the U.S. We will no longer deal with him. The good news for the wonderful United Kingdom is that they will soon have a new Prime Minister."
The spat between the two close allies followed the leak to a British newspaper on Sunday of memos from Darroch to London in which he said Trump's administration was "dysfunctional" and "diplomatically clumsy and inept".
May's spokesman said while Darroch's opinions did not reflect the view of the government or ministers, he said the diplomat had London's backing and ambassadors needed to have the confidence to give their frank assessments.
"Contact has been made with the Trump administration, setting out our view that we believe the leak is unacceptable," May's spokesman told reporters. "It is, of course, a matter of regret that this has happened."
May is also due to leave office before the end of the month and has previously clashed with Trump over a number of issues from Brexit to the Iran nuclear deal.
However, the timing of the discord comes as Britain is hoping to strike a major trade deal with its closest ally after it leaves the European Union, an exit scheduled for Oct. 31.
The two contenders to replace May, former London mayor Boris Johnson and foreign minister Jeremy Hunt, have both indicated they could support leaving the EU without a deal, making a future agreement with the United States even more important.
Trade minister Liam Fox, who was visiting Washington this week, said he would apologize to Trump's daughter Ivanka whom he was due to meet during his trip.
'SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES' FOR LEAKER
In confidential memos to his government dating from 2017 to the present, Darroch had said reports of in-fighting in the White House were "mostly true" and last month described confusion within the administration over Trump's decision to call off a military strike on Iran.
"We don't really believe this Administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction driven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept," Darroch wrote in one cable.
British officials have launched an inquiry to find out who was responsible for the leak and foreign minister Hunt promised "serious consequences" for whoever was responsible.
He told the Sun newspaper that the inquiry would consider whether the memos had been obtained by hacking by a hostile state such as Russia although he said he had seen no evidence for this.
Asked whether British spies would join in the hunt, Jeremy Fleming, the head of the GCHQ intelligence agency, told BBC radio: "I can't get into the detail of the investigation. If they require our services then GCHQ will help."
Christopher Meyer, a former British ambassador to Washington, said there was a "possible range of villains".
"It was clearly somebody who set out deliberately to sabotage Sir Kim's ambassadorship, to make his position untenable and to have him replaced by somebody more congenial to the leaker," he told BBC radio.
Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party and long a thorn in the side of British governments, said figures such as Darroch would be "not be around" if Johnson, the favorite to replace May, was selected by Conservative Party members.
However, former British foreign minister William Hague said Darroch should not be removed from his post, pointing out that no U.S. diplomats had been withdrawn from their roles after the mass release of secret U.S. cables by WikiLeaks in 2010 which included highly critical appraisals of world leaders.
"You can't change an ambassador at the demand of a host country. It is their job to give an honest assessment of what is happening in that country," Hague told BBC radio.
May's spokesman said police would be involved if there was evidence that the leaker had committed a crime.
Two months ago, May fired defense minister Gavin Williamson after secret discussions in the National Security Council about Chinese telecoms firm Huawei were leaked to the media, and an inquiry concluded that he was responsible.
Williamson denied any involvement and police said there was no reason for a criminal investigation.
(Additional reporting by Andrew MacAskill, Kate Holton and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Jon Boyle)
Tagged Ambassador, Brexit, Britain, confidential memos, Kim Darroch, Theresa May, Trump, United States, Washington | 1 Comment
Trump's U.N. envoy: 'Every day I feel like I put body armor on'
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump came into office disparaging the United Nations and appointed politician Nikki Haley as the ambassador to carry out his disruptive agenda, but she has also shown Trump how the world body serves his purposes, specifically on North Korea.
The U.N. Security Council's unanimous adoption of tougher sanctions three times last year that put pressure on Pyongyang to enter talks on scrapping its nuclear weapons program is the example Haley gave Trump in a phone call in June.
In an interview with Reuters, Haley recalled telling Trump: "We would not be in the situation we are with North Korea without the U.N. because that was the only way to get the international community on the same page."
The United States and other countries believe the sanctions helped to bring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un around to meeting with Trump at a historic summit in Singapore in June.
Haley said Trump asked her what she thought of the United Nations, then 17 months into her post and after the United States became the first country to quit the U.N. Human Rights Council. She said she rattled off a litany of complaints.
"Unbelievably bureaucratic, it wastes a lot of money, it has some real biases against Israel, against us at times, it ignores a lot that's going on that needs attention."
Haley's relay of their phone call illustrates how she guides the president who shuns the international forums and pacts the United States has helped build over decades. When Trump took office, he called the U.N. "just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time."
Some diplomats have said they see the former South Carolina governor as the stable face of U.S. foreign policy. When Trump leaves them confused, some say they look to her for interpretation.
"My job is to give clarity to everything the administration's doing so that no one wonders where we are. I always wanted to make sure there was no gray. That it was black and white," Haley said in the interview during a trip last month to India, the country from which her parents emigrated to the United States.
Richard Gowan, a U.N. expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, described Haley's job as selling the "administration's anti-U.N. positions to the public."
"That annoys other diplomats," Gowan added.
RUSSIA TENSIONS
Haley has long taken a tougher public stance on Russia than her boss. In May she described Russian expansionism in Ukraine as "outrageous" and said the U.S. position "will not waver."
Days later, however, Trump urged the Group of Seven countries to reinstate Russia, booted out for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Two weeks before Trump's July 16 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Haley told Reuters that "basically what the president is saying is it's better for us to have communication than not."
But then the summit turned into a nightmare for the White House when Trump, at the joint news conference, sided with Putin's denials of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election rather than the conclusions of his own intelligence agencies.
A political outcry in Washington drowned out Trump's message that the two nuclear powers should improve their relations, which are at a post-Cold War low.
Haley has not responded to Reuters' requests for comment on the summit.
Differences over Russia also caused rare public friction for Haley within the administration when she announced in April that Washington was going to sanction Moscow over its support of Syria's government. Trump then decided not to go ahead.
"The president has every right to change his mind, every right," Haley said. Trump never raised the incident with her, she said.
Her U.N. counterparts describe her as charming and yet very tough. She sees herself as a fighter.
"I don't see (my role) as pushing an 'America First' policy, I see it as defending America because every day I feel like I put body armor on. I just don't know who I'm fighting that day," Haley said.
Haley carved out a high-profile role within the Trump administration from the moment she was offered the job, telling the president she would only accept it if she was made a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council.
"She's got an eye and ear for where the politics of an issue are," said a senior Western diplomat, who, like all those consulted at the United Nations, would only speak on condition of anonymity.
Those kinds of instincts have helped put the 46-year-old mother of two on the list of possible Republican presidential candidates. She dismisses the presidential chatter and said it has never come up with Trump, who intends to run again in 2020, "because he knows he doesn't need to raise it."
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Mary Milliken and Grant McCool)
Tagged Ambassador, Nikki Haley, North Korea, President Trump, Russia, U.N Security Council, United Nations, United States | 1 Comment
U.S. still seeking explanation for arrest of staff in Turkey: ambassador
By Tulay Karadeniz and Gulsen Solaker
ANKARA (Reuters) – The United States is still seeking an explanation from Ankara for the detention of staff at U.S. missions in Turkey which led Washington to stop issuing visas and triggered a diplomatic crisis, the U.S. ambassador said on Wednesday.
Ambassador John Bass said the decision to suspend granting visas was not taken lightly, but the detentions indicated a breakdown in communication between the two NATO allies, whose relations have come under increasing strain.
"Unfortunately… the U.S. government still has not received any official communications from the Turkish government about the reasons why our local employees have been detained or arrested," he told reporters at the U.S. embassy in Ankara.
Washington says two locally employed staff were arrested in Turkey this year. In May, a translator at the consulate in the southern province of Adana was arrested and last week a Drug Enforcement Administration worker was detained in Istanbul.
President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said last week the Istanbul employee, Metin Topuz, had been in contact with a leading suspect in last year's failed military coup. Turkish media reported similar accusations against the translator.
"The notion that people in our employment are facing or are under suspicion of terrorism charges here, that is a very serious allegation," Bass said. "It is one we want to take seriously and we want to better understand the ostensible evidence that supports these allegations".
Since the failed military coup in July last year, in which at least 240 people were killed, more than 50,000 people have been detained and 150,000, including teachers, academics, soldiers and journalists, have been suspended from work.
Some Western allies fear the crackdown shows the country is slipping ever deeper into authoritarian rule under Erdogan.
Ankara says its critics fail to understand the scale of the security challenges in Turkey, which has also faced conflict on its southern borders with Iraq and Syria, and an insurgency in its mainly Kurdish southeast.
ENVOY TARGETED
Erdogan has blamed Bass for the latest dispute, suggesting he acted unilaterally in suspending visa services and declaring that his government no longer considered Bass to be Washington's envoy and would not hold meetings with him.
The U.S. State Department denied Bass acted alone, saying his actions were coordinated with officials in Washington.
In a sign that Ankara was stepping back from the pledge to exclude Bass, Turkish television channels reported that he met a foreign ministry official later on Wednesday. The ambassador is due to leave Turkey within days to take up a post in Afghanistan.
U.S.-Turkish tensions have risen in recent months over U.S. military support for Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria, considered by Ankara to be an extension of the banned PKK which has waged an insurgency for three decades in southeast Turkey.
Turkey has also pressed, so far in vain, for the United States to extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan who is viewed in Ankara as the mastermind behind the failed coup.
Another source of friction was the U.S. indictment of Turkey's former economy minister Zafer Caglayan for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran. A U.S. court also indicted 15 of Erdogan's guards after they clashed with protesters during his visit to Washington in May.
In addition to the two detained consulate workers, Turkey is holding a U.S. pastor on charges which Turkish media say include membership of Gulen's network. Bass called for the release of the Christian missionary, Andrew Brunson, saying he had seen nothing of merit in the charges against him.
He denied reports that Turkish police were trying to speak to another consulate employee. "To the best of our knowledge there are not any outstanding requests from Turkish law enforcement officials for any of our local staff to come in and talk to them," he said.
(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Gulsen Solaker; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Dominic Evans and Hugh Lawson)
Tagged Ambassador, Ankara, Istanbul, NATO, Turkey, United States | Leave a comment
New U.S. ambassador to China says North Korea a top priority
BEIJING (Reuters) – The new U.S. ambassador to China has said that stopping the threat posed by North Korea will be a top priority, along with resolving the U.S.-China trade imbalance, according to a video message to the Chinese people released on Monday.
Terry Branstad, a former Iowa governor, has been described by Beijing as an "old friend" of China. Branstad was confirmed on May 22 as President Donald Trump's new ambassador to China but his arrival date has yet to be announced.
"Resolving the bilateral trade imbalance, stopping the North Korea threat, and expanding people-to-people ties will be my top priorities," Branstad said in the video message, which was released on a popular Chinese video-streaming platform.
Trump has placed high hopes on China and its president, Xi Jinping, exerting greater influence on North Korea, although he said last week Chinese efforts to rein in the reclusive North's nuclear and missile programs had failed.
China's foreign ministry regularly says that Beijing is doing all that it can with regard to North Korea by implementing United Nations Security Council sanctions, while also pushing for greater dialogue to reduce tensions.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he had pressed China to ramp up economic and political pressure on North Korea during his meeting with top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Washington last week.
"We face many of the same challenges. A strong U.S.-China relationship can contribute to solutions," Branstad said in the video, without giving details about how he hoped to work with China.
Branstad also recounted his three decades of engagement with China, from his first visit there in 1984 to hosting Xi, then a county-level Communist Party leader, in Iowa in 1985, and then again in 2012 when Xi was vice president.
Trump pledged during his campaign to take a tough stance on Chinese trade practices deemed unfair to the United States, but his rhetoric softened after a friendlier-than-expected meeting with Xi in Florida in April.
Shortly after their meeting, Trump said he had told Xi that China would get a better trade deal if it worked to rein in the North. China is neighboring North Korea's lone major ally.
The United States ran a trade deficit of $347 billion with China last year, U.S. Treasury figures show.
(This story corrects date of ambassador's confirmation to May 22, not May 24, paragraph 2)
(Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Paul Tait)
Tagged Ambassador, Beijing, China, North Korea, United States | Leave a comment
Malaysia expels North Korean ambassador after Kim Jong Nam murder
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia on Saturday expelled the North Korean ambassador to the country, declaring him "persona non grata" and asking the envoy to leave Malaysia within 48 hours.
The move comes nearly three weeks after Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was murdered at Kuala Lumpur's airport with a toxic nerve agent.
U.S. and South Korean officials have said he was killed by agents of the North Korean regime.
Kang Chol, North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia, said last month his country "cannot trust" Malaysia's handling of the probe, and also accused the country of "colluding with outside forces" in a veiled reference to bitter rival South Korea.
Malaysian foreign minister Anifah Haji Aman said in a statement on Saturday that Malaysia had demanded an apology from the ambassador for his comments, but none was forthcoming.
"Malaysia will react strongly against any insults made against it or any attempt to tarnish its reputation," Anifah said.
(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi and Angie Teo; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Tagged Ambassador, Assassination, Kim Jong Nam, Malaysia, Murder, North Korea | Leave a comment
Russian envoy to United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, dies in New York
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, died suddenly at work in New York on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry gave no details on the circumstances of his death but offered condolences to his relatives and said the diplomat had died one day before his 65th birthday.
"The outstanding Russian diplomat passed away at his work post," it said.
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general's office, said: "He has been such a regular presence here that I am actually quite stunned. Our thoughts go to his family, to his friends and to his government."
Churkin was a pugnacious defender of Russian policy, notably its intensive bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo last year to crush rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.
When then-U.S. envoy to the U.N. Samantha Power accused Syria, Russia and Iran last year of bearing responsibility for atrocities there, Churkin said she was acting like Mother Teresa and forgetting her own country's track record in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Jack Stubbs; Editing by Gareth Jones and Mark Trevelyan)
Tagged Ambassador, New York City, Russia, Russian ministry | Leave a comment
U.S. ambassador at U.N. says Trump supports two-state solution
By Ned Parker
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Thursday the United States still supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a day after President Donald Trump suggested he is open to new ways to achieve peace.
"First of all, the two-state solution is what we support. Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support the two-state solution – that would be an error," Haley told reporters at the United Nations.
"We absolutely support the two-state solution but we are thinking out of the box as well: which is what does it take to bring these two sides to the table; what do we need to have them agree on."
Haley's comments came after Trump said on Wednesday that he was open to ideas beyond a two-state solution, the longstanding bedrock of Washington and the international community's policy for a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
"I'm looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like," Trump told a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I can live with either one."
Trump said that the United States would work toward peace but said he was leaving it up to the parties themselves ultimately to decide on the terms of any agreement. He said such a deal would require compromises from both Israelis and Palestinians.
Trump's announcement appeared to loosen the main tenet of U.S. Middle Eastern policy dating back three administrations and stunned the international community, which has crafted it diplomacy based on the premise of a Palestinian state co-existing alongside Israel.
Haley also echoed Trump in her remarks Thursday, stressing that a peace deal was not for Washington to impose but could only come from the parties themselves.
"The solution to what will bring peace in the Middle East is going to come from the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority," Haley said. "The United States is just there to support the process."
Haley, a Republican who previously served as South Carolina governor, also criticized the United Nations and the Security Council on Thursday for what she called a bias against Israel.
She described the day's scheduled Security Council meeting on the Middle East as "focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East."
Haley said the United States would not support any U.N. resolutions like the one approved by the Security Council in December calling for an end to Israeli settlement building, that passed only after the administration of former President Barack Obama chose not to wield its veto.
"I am here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore," Haley said. "I am here to emphasize that the United States is determined to stand up to the U.N.'s anti-Israel bias."
French and British diplomats also repeated their longstanding support of the policy, in a show of how Trump's remarks on Wednesday had caused confusion.
"The UK continues to believe that the best solution for peace in the Middle East is the two-state solution," said British ambassador to the United Nations, Matthew Rycroft.
On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had warned during a visit to Cairo that was no viable way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than the establishment of a Palestinian state co-existing alongside Israel.
(Reporting by Ned Parker; Editing by Dan Grebler and Lisa Shumaker)
Tagged Ambassador, Israel, Palestine, Tensions, Two-State Solution, United Nations, United States | 3 Comments
Trump nominee for Israel ambassador heckled, questioned at Senate
By Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Israel faced repeated heckling at a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday before he apologized for his stinging criticism of liberal American Jews and promised to be less inflammatory in an official capacity.
David Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer Trump has called a longtime friend and trusted adviser, has supported Jewish settlement building and advocated the annexation of the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war.
His nomination has been fiercely opposed by some American Jewish groups.
Friedman repeatedly expressed regret for likening liberal American Jews to Jewish prisoners who worked for the Nazis during the Holocaust, telling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in his opening statement, "I regret the use of such language."
Trump is following through on a promised shift in U.S. policy toward Israel after years of friction between former President Barack Obama and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Flanked by Netanyahu at a White House news conference, Trump on Wednesday dropped a U.S. commitment to a two-state solution, long a bedrock of its Middle East policy, even as he urged Netanyahu to curb settlement construction.
The heated opposition to Friedman's nomination erupted in the hearing room as Friedman began his opening statement, with several hecklers including a man who held up the Palestinian flag and shouted about Palestinian claims to the land of Israel.
"My grandfather was exiled," the man said before being escorted out of the room. "Palestinians will always be in Palestine!"
Democratic senators pressed Friedman on incendiary comments he made including calling Obama an anti-Semite and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, an appeaser.
"Frankly the language you have regularly used against those who disagree with your views has me concerned about your preparedness to enter the world of diplomacy," Ben Cardin, the senior Democrat on the committee, told the nominee.
Friedman acknowledged using overheated rhetoric as part of his passionate support for the Jewish state, which has included financial support of Jewish settlements built on land claimed by Palestinians. He promised to avoid inflammatory comments as a U.S. diplomat.
He told Cardin, "There is no excuse. If you want me to rationalize it or justify it, I cannot. These were hurtful words and I deeply regret them."
Cardin, citing Friedman's criticism of Schumer as having done the "worst appeasement of terrorists since Munich," retorted that those words were "beyond hurtful."
"We need a steady hand in the Middle East, not a bomb thrower," admonished Tom Udall, another Democrat.
'RECANT EVERY SINGLE STRONGLY HELD BELIEF'
Under questioning, Friedman tried to soften his positions on a number of hot-button regional issues.
While expressing skepticism of a two-state solution calling for the creation of Palestinian state next to Israel, he acknowledged it was the best option for peace. He said he did not personally support Israeli annexation of the West Bank and agreed with Trump's view that settlement activity "may not be helpful" to achieving peace.
"You're here today having to recant every single strongly held belief that you've expressed, almost," the committee's Republican chairman, Bob Corker, noted.
Friedman is likely to be confirmed by the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham acknowledged that Friedman has said things he did not agree with but backed the nominee as qualified, experienced and passionate.
"I believe he is the right guy at the right time. He'll be Trump's voice. Trump won the election," Graham said.
Five former U.S. ambassadors to Israel from both Republican and Democratic administrations urged the Senate in a letter to reject Friedman, saying that he holds "extreme, radical positions" on issues such as Jewish settlements and the two-state solution.
"We believe him to be unqualified for the position," wrote the former ambassadors including Thomas Pickering, Edward Walker, Daniel Kurtzer, James Cunningham and William Harrop.
While campaigning for the presidency, Trump pledged to switch the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been located for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel's capital regardless of international objections.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Frances Kerry and Cynthia Osterman)
Tagged Ambassador, Donald Trump, Government, Politics, Senate | Leave a comment
Trump's U.N. nominee to blast world body over Israel: testimony
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations will blast the world body over its treatment of Israel at her Senate confirmation hearing, according to prepared testimony seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
"Nowhere has the UN's failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel," Republican South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said in the opening remarks for her appearance on Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"Any honest assessment also finds an institution that is often at odds with American national interests and American taxpayers," the speech says.
In the remarks, Haley offered some praise for UN activities, such as health and food programs that have saved millions of lives, weapons monitoring and some peacekeeping missions, in something of a departure from Trump, who has disparaged the United Nations.
Other Trump national security nominees, notably his choices for Secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman Rex Tillerson, and Secretary of Defense, retired Marine General James Mattis, have also broken from the Republican president-elect in testimony before the Senate.
Noting that the United States contributes 22 percent of the UN budget, far more than any other country, Haley asked, "Are we getting what we pay for?" She promised to work with U.S. lawmakers to pursue what she described as "seriously needed change" at the United Nations.
Some Republican lawmakers, led by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, have threatened to cut U.S. funding for the United Nations after the Security Council adopted a Dec. 23 resolution demanding an end to settlement building by Israel.
Graham will introduce Haley at her hearing.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)
Tagged Ambassador, Donald Trump, Israel, NATO, Politics, United Nations | Leave a comment


text:
Stonekettle Station
Don't just embrace the crazy, sidle up next to it and lick its ear.
Commenting Rules / Using My Material / Popular Essays / Reader Links / Stonekettle Store
Down With Slogans!
Make America Great Again!
-- Donald Trump, 2016 campaign slogan and policy statement
I said a thing.
It didn't go well.
Or, on second thought, maybe it did. Days later, I'm still not sure one way or the other.
It began, as it usually does these days, on Twitter:
Just wait. Don't start screaming yet.
If you let me explain, I'll probably give you even more reason to be mad and outraged. Won't that be nice?
So, anyway, that's what I said.
We don't want to defund the police.
We want to fund police training, de-escalation, community outreach, oversight, and especially police ACCOUNTABILITY.
What we want is to defund police brutality, abuse, racism, escalation, and militarization.
Fund protect and serve EVERYONE.
Outrageous, right?
In my defense, Twitter is a lousy platform for political commentary. Tweets are limited to just under 300 characters, which doesn't allow for much in the way of detail or nuance. And sure, you can thread tweets, i.e. link them together into a longer message -- and I do that, a lot, and am in fact somewhat notorious for it -- but the truth of the matter is that not very many people read beyond the first tweet in the thread anyway.
And frankly, I thought this mostly a throwaway comment.
I posted that at 8:35AM on a Monday morning. First tweet of the week, while I had my first cup of coffee and settled in to get a feel for what was happening in an America on fire, burning from both ends and right down the middle.
But this was a Monday morning after two weeks of protests following the murder of yet another black man at the hands of police.
This was Monday after a weekend of the president throwing gasoline on the fire from the safety of his bunker, under a fortress, behind a wall, surrounded by a brand new fence, guarded by an army.
This was the day after police across the nation declared war on American citizens, a weekend of dogs, escalation, gas, tanks, and bullets -- some rubber, some not -- and yet more murders, more racism, more abuse by those who should be protecting Americans instead of killing them.
I want to say this Monday was unusual, but, you know, it's starting to feel like it's not.
Maybe that's where I went wrong -- if indeed I did.
Rage has become the norm of American existence and this just seemed like more of the same.
And that's the problem.
See, on that Monday, my various social media timelines were full, tens of thousands deep, with people shouting "Defund the Police!"
Defund The Police?
That's the message we've settled on, I guess. The shouted slogan, the unifying narrative that has emerged in the wake of the protests, the riots, the rhetoric, the war on American citizens waged by those sworn to protect and serve and openly led and encouraged by those supposedly elected to support and defend the Constitution for all.
Defund the police!
There were thousands of requests, demands, entreaties, for me to use my platform to push that message: Defund the Police! Come on, Jim! Join us! Use your voice to get others to join us! Defund the police!
Sure, but ... defund the police?
Defund?
The day before I saw a handful of people shouting this. Now? Monday morning it was thousands. Tens of thousands.
So, anyway, I...
Oh. I see.
You're mad. It was way before Monday morning, you say. You've been shouting it for years. Well, you know, maybe it was being shouted long before Monday. But maybe we don't all have the same view, the same input, the same shared experience -- and we're going to come back to that. So, for me, it was Monday when I really noticed the slogan "Defund the Police," when I realized it had become some sort of national movement, when people began demanding that I join up.
You? Your mileage may vary.
As I way saying: You want me to join you? You want me to push the message?
I might, but I'm going to need more than a slogan.
What does that mean? Get rid of the police? Abolish the police? Or just ... don't pay the police anymore? What are we talking about here?
I looked at what my readers were saying, over half a cup of cooling coffee at 7AM.
I looked at the thousands of comments and messages, and I listened to what people were shouting in the street, and it seemed to me they were saying they didn't really want to get rid of the police.
Instead, again it seemed to me, they wanted to reduce the things which lead to institutional bias (such as, you know, racism, for example), abuse of power (like kneeling on a man's throat until he dies, for example), unnecessary use and/or escalation of force (like tear gas and rubber bullets used on peaceful protesters outside the White House), militarization, lack of accountability, etc.
That sounds good.
I can certainly support that, and in fact, I have been shouting that very message myself for more than a decade right here.
And, again it seemed to me, they wanted to reward, fund, and/or increase the things which lead to better policing. Such as: community outreach to help cops and citizens see each other as people and not enemies, i.e. make policing local, community based and less like an invading army; programs which move some of the burden for non-policing matters (such as mental health intervention) away from law enforcement; increased oversight of police departments by community, state, and federal entities; significantly increased accountability of police officers and departments, training (which can be everything from de-escalation to civil rights to sexual harassment), etc.
That also sounds good to me. At least as a starting point.
Again, since it seems I might need to repeat myself on this, I've been preaching exactly that message for more than a decade now, right here on this blog, and on my various social media feeds -- and I haven't been exactly shy about it recently either.
I think "defund" might not be the best choice of words here, but you go to into revolution with the slogans you have and so I boiled what I was seeing down into a single summary small enough to fit into a tweet.
Monday morning and a throwaway tweet of agreement and, even now, this doesn't seem like a controversial statement to me.
But it only seems that way.
As it turns out, that's not what everybody meant.
See, some people really did mean "abolish" the police.
A lot of people, as it turns out.
There are thousands more.
Three days later, it's still going on.
You can take a look at my Twitter feed if you don't want to take my word for it. And tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of similar comments on Twitter outside of my feed, and on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, etc.
Fuck you, defund the police.
Fuck you, abolish the police.
Fuck you, eliminate the police.
Fuck you, defund means defund.
Well, okay. Fuck me. Whatever. Not exactly the first time Lefty social media has told me to go fuck myself. I try not to take it personally. But about the hundredth "fuck you" from people who I'm supposed to be sharing a side with, well, like the man said, it kinda feels personal.
Maybe I had it wrong.
It happens.
I was once -- allegedly -- trained to hold a full cup of coffee, while standing in a canoe, in the middle a hurricane, without spilling a drop. Something about attention to detail and focus, or so Navy Chiefs would have you believe. But, this? This makes a hurricane at sea in a canoe look pretty good. There are one hell of a lot of moving parts lately. Lot of people yelling. Lot of rage. Lot of hate filling my feeds. We're still in the midst of a pandemic, record numbers of new cases, record number of people dying -- and here in Florida, I'm right in the middle of it. Meanwhile, there's an economic crisis, a looming recession, a collapsing energy sector, a trade war, an election. Right now, half my social media is lit up with very angry people yelling about the Harry Potter lady...
So, maybe somewhere in that tempest, I missed something.
Unlike Trump, I don't claim every word I speak to be perfection. Maybe I got it wrong. Maybe I needed to apologize.
So I went to look.


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