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Netcrypt-2019
Programn 2019
Organising Committee 2019
Programme Committee 2019
Your are visiting
Netcrypt 2019
Professor Gadadhar Misra
Dr. P K Saxena
Professor Zaheeruddin
Prof. Geetam Singh Tomar
Prof. Iyyanki V Murali Krishna
Professor GadadharMisra, Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Gadadhar Misra after receiving his MSc from the Sambalpur University in the year 1979 completed his PhD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook under the supervision of Professor R. G. Douglas in the year 1982. He was a Visiting Asst Professor at University of Georgia (Athens, 1982 - 84) and the University of California (Irvine, 1984 - 85). He joined the Indian Statistical Institute in the year 1985. He then moved to the Indian Institute of Science in 2007.
GadadharMisra was elected a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999, Indian National Science Academy in 2009 and National Science Academy, India in 2013. He was selected for the J C Bose Fellowship in the year 2008. He was awarded the S. S. Bhatnagar Prize (CSIR) in 2001 and Biju Patnaik Award for Scientific Excellence of the Odisha Bigyan Academy in 2013.
Ten students have completed their Ph.D. under the supervision of GadadharMisra and he has mentored several post-doctoral researchers. His research in operator theory involves finding curvature inequalities for operators in the Cowen-Douglas class, describing homogeneous vector bundles and study of Hilbert modules.
Dr. P K Saxena, Scientific Consultant (Cyber Security), Office of the PSA to GoI
Former Director, SAG DRDO (MoD), Delhi
Dr. P. K. Saxena had been an Outstanding Scientist and Director of one of the Premier Laboratories of DRDO – Scientific Analysis Group – engaged in R&D in the area of Cryptology and Secure Communication for more than Fifty Years. He is currently engaged with the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to Govt of India as Scientific Consultant (Cyber Security). Dr Saxena did his M.Sc. (Mathematics) from Kanpur University in 1971 and Ph.D. (Algebra) from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1978.
There after he worked as Mathematics Lecturer for three years in Regional Engineering College ( now NIT), Silchar, Assam and National Defence Academy, Kharakwasla, Pune
He joined Scientific Analysis Group (SAG), DRDO, in 1981 as Scientist 'C' and became Scientist 'G' in 2002.He was appointed as Director of SAG in May 2003 and headed the Lab till his superannuation in July 2014. Dr. Saxena became Outstanding Scientist (Scientist 'H') in 2009.He held additional charges of 'Director Security' for Metcalfe House Complex of DRDO and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for DRDO (MoD) for more than three years (2010 2014)
His areas of interest include Algebra, Cryptology, Fuzzy Logic, Artificial Neural Networks, Information Security and Speech Technology. He has published 65 research papers in National & International Journals and Conference Proceedings. He has been Project Leader for some important Research and Development Projects of DRDO, guided many BE and ME projects apart from supervising Ph.D. work. Three of the Scientists have been awarded Ph,D from JadavpurUniv, Delhi Univ and IIT Delhi, all in the area of Information Security.
Dr. Saxena participated in around 150 Conferences/Seminars/Workshops delivering Key-note speeches and Invited talks. He also organized many such events including International conference INDOCRYPT three times. He has been instrumental in formation of Cryptology Research Society of India (CRSI) and its registration in the year 2001. He received Commendation Certificate for his significant contributions in the area of Fuzzy Logic. The book on Cryptography written by him in Hindi has been awarded first prize of DRDO.
Dr. Saxena has been Chairman/Member of several Govt Committees/Penal for review of Govt funded Projects and for evolving Policies/Procedures related to Information Security and Cryptology. He is Chairman of Working Group on Technology Development in Regional Languages (TDIL) under DeiTy.
Presently, he is working as a Scientific Consultant and advising Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to Govt of India on matters related to Cyber Security. He is the Chairman of the Advisory Board (AB) and member of the Governing Council (GC) of SETS (Chennai), which an organization supported by Office of the PSA and engaged in R&D activities in the area of Cryptology and Cyber Security.
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
Dr.Zaheeruddin is currently Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India since 2003. He was Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 2011 to 2014. He joined the Department as a Lecturer from the very beginning of its establishment in 1986.
He attended Welex Engineers Development Course at Duncan, Oklahoma, U.S.A. from March 5, 1984 to May 25, 1984. He was Visiting Researcher at the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA in 2003. Prof. Zaheeruddin has published eighty (80) research papers in International Journals and Conferences in the areas of Soft Computing, Noise Pollution, Wireless Sensor Networks, Optimization Techniques, and Smart Grid. He is Reviewer of many International journals of IEEE, Elsevier, Springer, and ACTA Press etc. He organized a Short Term Training Programme (STTP) on "MATLAB and Soft computing" sponsored by ISTE/AICTE (Government of India) at JamiaMilliaIslamia in 2004. He also organized a two days "Workshop on Curriculum Revision for B. Tech. and M. Tech. Courses in Electrical Engineering" during December 3-4, 2012
His one of the great contribution in the Department of Electrical Engineering is for starting first QIP Programme in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology in 2016. This QIP Programme was approved on his proposal submitted to AICTE in 2011 as a Coordinator. Another highly appreciable contribution to the Department is to start a PG Programme leading to the award of the Degree of Master of Technology (M. Tech.) in "Control and Instrumentation Systems" in the year 2012 as a founder Coordinator. During his tenure as Head, he also took initiation to get approved five (5) BSR Scholarship of UGC for full time Ph.D. Scholars in the Department of Electrical Engineering in 2012.
He received Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Visiting Fellowship Award for the year 2004-05 to work with Prof. N. R. Pal in Computational Intelligence Lab. at Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata, India. Prof. Zaheeruddin is a Fellow of IETE (India) and Life Member of World Federation of Soft Computing (U.S.A.), The Institution of Engineers (IE, India), Computer Society of India (CSI), Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), and Indian Chapter of The International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Indian Chapter of ICTP).
Prof. Geetam Singh Toma
/Member of Technical committee IEEE SMC and Industrial Electronics.
Associated with many boards and committees of Government.
Prof. Geetam Singh Tomar, received his UG, PG, and Ph. D. degrees in electronics engineering from The Institute of Engineers, Calcutta, REC Allahabad and State Technology Univ Bhopal, respectively and Post Doctoral Fellowship from University of Kent, Canterbury U.K. Currently Director of THDC Institute of Hydropower Engg & Technology, Tehri (Govt of Uttarakhand), India and Prior to this has worked as visiting Professor at School of Computing, University of Kent, UK, Faculty at University of west indies, Trinidad & Tobago. Apart from this, has served in IIITM Gwalior, MITS Gwalior and Private Institutes in India. He is BOG member of IIM Kashipur. He has worked in India Air Force for 17 Years prior to joining academics,having total experience of more than 35 years. Received International Pluto award for academic achievements in 2009 from IBC, Cambridge UK
He is IEEE Senior Member, Fellow IETE and IE (I) member CSI, ACM and ISTE. Chief editors of 4 International Journals and for 08 in past. Has published 04 patents more than 200 research papers in international journals/conferences. Has written 11 books from Springer, CRC, IGI and Indian publishers. Organized more than 35 IEEE International conferences in 07 countries and delivered more than 20 Keynotes abroad and regularly visiting 02 Universities abroad as Research Consultant. Completed 05 sponsored projects for DRDO and DST including two major projects. He is member of two IEEE/ISO Working group to finalise Standards for new protocols. Area of research is sensor networks and wireless networks
Professor Iyyanki V Murali Krishna
M Tech(IIT-Madras) PhD (IISc-Bangalore) FIE, FIS, FAPASc, FICDM, MIEEE, FIGU
Prof. Dr. Muralikrishna V Iyyanki, PhD from the Premier Institute -Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, is presently Dr Raja Ramanna Distinguished Fellow at the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), India, and the National Coordinator for Geospatial Public Health, which is National Networking Government of India Project. He is Professor and Founder Head of the Centre for Spatial Information Technology (CSIT) at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (1990-2005), and Director of Research and Development Centre (2005-2008). He has served as a guest scientist at German Space Research Institute (DLR) and GKSS Research Centre. His present research focuses are on hyperspectral remote sensing image classification and geospatial public health management and geospatial technology applications
Prof.Le Hoang Son
Dr. Ahmed Elsawy
Dr. Walid Osamy
Dr. Dhananjoy Dey
Professor Le Hoang Son
Vietnam National University, Hanoi, VNU Information Technology Institute, Vietnam.
Dr. Le Hoang Son obtained the PhD degree on Mathematics – Informatics at VNU University of Science, Vietnam National University (VNU) in conjunction with the Politecnico di Milano University, Italy in 2013. He has been promoted to Associate Professor in Information Technology in Vietnam since 2017. Dr. Son worked as senior researcher and Vice Director at the Center for High Performance Computing, VNU University of Science, Vietnam National University during 2007 - 2018. From August 2018, he is Senior Researcher of Department of Multimedia and Virtual Reality, VNU Information Technology Institute, VNU. His major fields include Artificial Intelligence, Data Mining, Soft Computing, Fuzzy Computing, Fuzzy Recommender Systems, and Geographic Information System. He is a member of International Association of Computer Science and Information Technology, Vietnam Society for Applications of Mathematics, and Key Laboratory of Geotechnical Engineering and Artificial Intelligence in University of Transport Technology (Vietnam).
Dr. Son is an Associate Editor of Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems (SCIE), IEEE Access (SCIE), Neutrosophic Sets and Systems (ESCI), Vietnam Research and Development on Information and Communication Technology, VNU Journal of Science: Computer Science and Communication Engineering, Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence. He serves as Editorial Board of Applied Soft Computing (SCIE), PLOS ONE (SCIE), International Journal of Ambient Computing and Intelligence (ESCI), and Vietnam Journal of Computer Science and Cybernetics. Recently, Dr. Son has been appointed as Consultant of Vietnam Government Office (http://vpcp.chinhphu.vn/). Dr. Son served as a reviewer for various international journals and conferences. He gave a number of invited talks at many conferences since 2015. Up to now, he has 159 publications in prestigious journals and conferences including 102 ISI papers (SCI: 19, SCIE: 76, ESCI: 7) and 01 SCOPUS paper and undertaken more than 20 major joint international and national research projects. He has published 6 books and book chapters. So far, he has awarded "2014 VNU Research Award for Young Scientists", "2015 VNU Annual Research Award", "2015 Vietnamese Mathematical Award", and "2017 Vietnamese Mathematical Award".
Associate professor in computer science at Benha University
Dr. Ahmed Elsawy is working as Associate professor in computer science at Benha University since 2017. From 2017, He served as head of computer science in faculty of computers and informatics, Benha University, Egypt. He has received B.S. and M.S. from Cairo University in 2000 and 2003 respectively. He received Ph.D. in computer science from Suez Canal University in 2011. His researches interests are artificial intelligence in computer network, bioinformatics, chimoinformatics, optimization, and deep learning.
Assistant professor at the Department of Computer Science, college of computers and informatics, Benha University, Egypt
Dr. Walid Osamy has been involved in the projects of Network Infrastructure, and Management information systems at Communication Information Technology Center (CITC), Zagazig University, Egypt. From December 2010 till now he has been working as assistant professor at the Department of Computer Science, college of computers and informatics, Benha University, Egypt. From Feb. 2015 till now he is working as assistant professor at Qassim University, KSA. He has coauthored 21 works in journals and conferences relating with Wireless Sensor Networks, Internet of Things, Distributing Computing and computational intelligence.
Scientific Analysis Group, Defence R&D Organisation, Delhi
Dhananjoy Dey obtained his academic degrees B.Sc. (Maths (Hons)) in 1996 from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, M. Sc. (Pure Maths) in 1998 and PhD (Multivariate Polynomials and its Applications to Cryptology) in 2011 from the same university. He joined Scientific Analysis Group, Defence R&D Organisation, Delhi in 2000 as Scientist 'B' and presently he is working as Scientist 'F'. He has more than 16 years of experience in the area of Design & Analysis of Block Ciphers, Design & Analysis of Cryptographic Hash Functions and Multivariate Public Key Cryptography. He has published 15 papers in the area of block ciphers and hash functions. He guided many B. Tech and M. Tech students for their projects and also guided one PhD students. Currently, he is guiding three PhD students from University of Delhi. His research interests cover areas of Design and Analysis of Block Ciphers, Hash Functions, Quantum and Post Quantum Cryptography.
© 2020, NETCRYPT


Optical Glass Prism, there are four lights, white light in any one of the illuminating surface intake, from the remaining three light shoot out three base colours of red, green and blue, respectively, is said three bases of the light.
This is light. And, that is, from three light in red, green, and blue, respectively the base light, one from the remaining surface emitting white light, which is light. This is one of the most important accessories on the projector, the projector is able to cast shadows of color on the screen, you should know what color light is composed of three primary colors on the screen, color important Prism Prism is formed of three primary colors.
If you have any questions about this product by MQB, contact us by completing and submitting the form below. If you are looking for a specif part number, please include it with your message.


The 2017 Women's March is for any person, regardless of gender or gender identity, who believes women's rights are human rights. ELGL will show our continued support for women's rights by highlighting our #13Percent series throughout the day on Facebook and Twitter. This post is one-stop shopping for articles written by ELGL members about women's rights. We encourage you to share your favorite article from the #13Percent series by sharing it on social media or the comments section below.
Write an article about women's issues for ELGL. Email kent@elgl.org if you are interested.


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Q: Python Count Number of Different Elements and How Many in a List I'm trying to count the number of different elements and how many of each of those elements exist in a list. The list has around 300 different elements and has a total of 1200 elements. My plan then was to plot it out in a table with plotly (https://plotly.com/python/table/). What is the best way to approach this?

A: You should use the built-in collections.Counter() function for that.
from collections import Counter

your_list = [1, 1, 1, 3, 2, 3, 1] # For example...
counted = Counter(your_list)
print(counted)

Will return a dictonary: Counter({1: 4, 2: 1, 3: 2})
Then just pass that dictionary to plotly

A: This sounds like a job for DefaultDict
from collections import defaultdict

d_dict = defaultdict(int)
for element in input_list:
    d_dict[element] += 1

The result should be a dictionary with all unique elements as keys, and the number of times they appear in the input list as values.
{"element_1": 2, "element_2": 5, "element_3": 1, ...}

A: I think this is best approach.
def count_duplicates(l):

    count = {}
    for i in l:
        count[i] = count[i]+1 if i in count else 1
    return count

l = [1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5,5,5,5,5]

ans = count_duplicates(l)
print(ans)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Agriculture and agriculture-related businesses are the backbone of the Macon County economy and Macon County's agricultural economy is quite diverse. In fact, Macon County is No. 1 in Georgia for dairy, peaches and sod (turf) production and ranked in the top 10 for livestock and aquaculture production and fruit and nut production.
Macon County produces more milk than any other county in Georgia, with a staggering 293.3 million pounds of milk produced in 2013, more than double the production of second place Putnam County.
Poultry has become a major business in Macon County. Tyson has a breeder farm, hatchery and feed mill in the county and more capital is invested in modern chicken houses and equipment each year.
Peaches have always been a mainstay in the county. Sam Henry Rumph of Macon County developed the Elberta Peach. This variety is responsible for establishing Georgia's reputation as the Peach State.
A wide variety of other crops is grown in Macon County including cotton, peanuts, soy beans, tomatoes, squash, bell peppers, pecans, corn, wheat, oats, peas, ... the list goes on.
Forest products play an important part in the local economy. Weyerhaeuser has a large pulp processing plant near Oglethorpe. This plant employees more than 500 people. Hundreds of others are employed by support industries such as trucking.
Southern Wood Suppliers has a large chip mill in Macon County that produces hard wood chips. These chips are used in the manufacturing of paper.
©2019 Macon County Commissioners. All Rights Reserved.


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Q: How to retrieve BLOB image from MySQL and write it to the rtf file using PHP? I am trying to retrieve an Image file from DB(MySql) and writing it to the rtf File.
Myquery is looks alike
select
  FirstTable.name.FirsTable.age,
  ifnull(
    select
      secondTable.object
    from secondTable
     where secondTable.Id=Firstable.Id
  ) As pic

When i execute the query everything is coming properly and i have written them to rtf.now the hurdle is with Image ,I am using Container.php 's addImage(string,margin) methode. at the time of inserting images to DB they all are encoded,i am also doing a base64_decode() with the image file.
In the rtf everytext is being written but at the place of image there is nothing even the size of rtf file doesn't increases,it means image is not being written there.
Any Help will be highly appreciable.Thanks in advance

A: Possibly your image is too big for mySQL. It has rather low limits for blob data.
So try put yours data into to gif/png/etc. before using rtf.


text:
200 soldiers contract COVID-19
September 15, 2020 Admin5 News 0
More than 200 Senegalese soldiers returning from The Gambia where they served in a regional security force have tested positive for COVID-19, Senegal's army and health ministry said Tuesday.
An earlier army statement had said 100 members of the more than 600-strong contingent had contracted the virus.
The 208 soldiers are staying at an army "hotel" in the village of Guereo, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of the capital Dakar, an army PR official told AFP.
The facility hosts troops who test positive for Covid-19 but are asymptomatic, he said.
The Gambia, a finger of territory surrounded by Senegal save for its Atlantic coast, has confirmed 3,428 cases of the disease and 105 deaths.
Senegal, for its part, has declared 14,529 cases and 298 deaths.
The Senegalese troops were part of a West African force first deployed in January 2017. They were there to assure a smooth transition of power after outgoing president Yahya Jammeh refused to concede defeat at the ballot box to Adama Barrow.
Its mission has since been prolonged at Barrow's request, despite Jammeh's departure into exile.
Source: News Express
test positive
Imported poultry foods now infected with COVID-19 ― Customs
Nigeria's COVID-19 cases shrinks to 90 on Tuesday – NCDC

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Real Scrutiny of Science and Scientists Goes Well Beyond FOIA
Michael Halpern, Deputy director, Center for Science & Democracy | March 20, 2016, 1:19 pm EDT
In today's Boston Globe, reporter David Abel profiles our work to push back on those who harass scientists through open records laws. The Globe article helps prove the point that the Freedom of Information Act is inadequate to root out corruption within science while also protecting scientists from harassment.
Sunlight laws are essential for holding governments accountable–but we also need better, more uniform disclosure standards to protect both scientists and democracy. Photo: James_wheeler via Flickr/creative commons
This will always be. Journalists argue that FOIA has been a valuable tool for reporters to expose undue influence from powerful industries on academics. Scientists argue that FOIA has been misused by these same well-funded industries (as well as others with an axe to grind) to harass scientists and unfairly cast doubt on research that threatens either their bottom line (or their worldview).
They're both right.
As I have written repeatedly, there are many legitimate types of scrutiny over science and scientists (and thus, I take issue with the article's original headline online asserting that UCS wishes to "shield scientists from public scrutiny" – see UPDATE below). For example, scientists should make public data and methodology related to published papers so that other researchers can attempt to replicate the work. They should make public anything that creates an actual or perceived conflict of interest—research funding, for example, or contributors to a scientist's public testimony.
But it is wishful thinking to believe that scientific discourse will not suffer if each peer review comment or academic exchange is in the public eye. Therefore, we criticize FOIA requests that are obvious fishing expeditions and commend those that are narrowly tailored, while bringing attention to the toll that the abuse of FOIA can have on individual researchers. It all comes down to what is in the public interest.
While some state FOIA laws could be reformed to strike a better balance between transparency and privacy, the fact remains that we can come up with better tools to hold scientists, academics institutions, and the private sector accountable. These laws, despite being an essential tool for democracy, have their limits.
They mostly apply only to public institutions, allowing those at public schools to be harassed while those at private institutions escape scrutiny. They are expensive and time-consuming to implement. Exemptions that do exist are often too widely applied. And it is extremely difficult to get the whole story without knowing what you don't know to ask for.
Those who champion full access to scientists' archives point to recent investigations where journalists used FOIA to uncover important information. For example, WBEZ's Monica Eng recently reported on a University of Illinois genetic engineering researcher who failed to disclose a $57,000 grant from Monsanto. Her piece also highlighted the troubling trend of university foundations laundering money from those who wish to keep their donations—and strings that are attached to those donations—private.
The Globe article cites the case of Willie Soon, a Harvard-Smithsonian researcher whose papers were approved provided before publication to the fossil fuel company that funded his work for "comment and input." Further, the Smithsonian agreed to "not publish and utilize the name or otherwise identify" the name of the funder without its written consent (see UPDATE #2 below).
In both of these cases, this information was revealed through FOIA requests (and UCS supports the use of FOIA to learn more about funding and funding agreements). Yet required, proactive disclosure would have brought this information into public view in advance of any requests.
We can, and should, expect academics whose work is related to contentious issues to be subject to significant scrutiny. And it's increasingly clear that we need better, more uniform, enforceable disclosure standards. Then we can move beyond the FOIA debate to more effectively balance the public's interest in transparency and the public's interest in the ability of academics to do their best work.
UPDATE, March 21 at 3:30 p.m.: The online article headline was changed this afternoon to the headline that was in print. It now reads, "How public must science be? Union of Concerned Scientists would limit disclosure."
UPDATE, March 23 at 5:45 p.m.: This post originally stated that the fossil fuel company (Southern Company) had approval power over Soon's research. This language was imprecise. Instead, it was provided with an "advance written copy of proposed publications regarding the deliverables for comment and input." The Smithsonian clarified to me in an email to me that such language would not be included in future grant agreements. I also left out the fact that the Smithsonian needed to ask for permission to disclose the funder's name. This was also in the grant agreement. The institution has since reviewed its policies and made commitments to more transparency.
Posted in: Science and Democracy, Science Communication Tags: Charles Seife, FOIA, GMOs., harassment, open records, Paul Thacker, PLOS, public universities, Transparency


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Five Banners Pushes the Limit
Six Flags Over Texas is planning to make the Texas Giant look like an old woman who lives in a shoe. In partnership with one of the top manufacturers of "high" "quality" attractions, Six Flags has entered into negotiations to beat the current record holder on "high" entertainment. We keep saying "high" because if they aren't smoking the Kingda Ka, then we at ARN&R are scared to death.
Vekoma, yes we said that name and if you've been with us for a week or more like 5 years (that's you nacho stand man) then you're picturing that same "high" quality. Vekoma has entered into negotiations to build the worlds first coaster 'Tetracoaster.' We don't know if that's a thing yet, but if it isn't we're claiming it now and will have our people sue your people. 500 feet of sheer Vekoma pain, err . . . umm . . . thrills. Yeah. That's it, thrills.
The best part is that the designers are pulling out all the best tricks we've learned over the past few years. First, there'll be an epic station. Complete with steel and wood that looks like some ancient deathtrap. Second, the slightly less epic need to open 6 months late because of a terribly designed heart-line roll. They are planning right now what they'll replace it with, but they're still going to design it and discover the error after the testing process starts. Finally, this 500 foot lift experience will be via CHAIN lift. None of those fancy, unreliable cable or LSM based technology. Chain. Do they even make that much stuff. Sufficient to say, half way up there'll be a station with a bathroom, gift shop, and pizza joint just in case. At 450 feet there'll be one final trash can like you find at the local drive-thru joint.
The best part, as if the last 45 minutes weren't epic enough, is that at 510 feet when you finally hear the chain and the kid in 3.3 shouting "MAKE IT STOP!!!" you'll start to drop. 505 feet straight down at 97 degrees of dropping goodness. 300 feet later you'll be at 85 degrees. Once you clear the 505 feet, they've announced the epic plan of oneupsmanship against Cedar Fair. That's right boys, girls, and assorted life forms (that's politically correct according to the Supreme Court this week) 505 feet into a BANKED TURN. Not an over-banked turn that'd be wide and practically a sideways loop. Nope, 30 degree left turn over a parking lot after dropping 505 feet.
Sufficient to say, next years "521st annual ARN&R Reliable Acon to piss off ACEr's CON" will be held at Kings Island. We don't want to be there for the first ever Vekoma that makes RCT Peep killing look tame.


This video basically sums up everything.
Qiu Ze has officially declared that they have broken up, but he does not have any romantic relationship with Tia, the Taiwanese actress who visited him on set and rumored to be feeding him food.
I have no words for him.


This post has already been read 3029 times!
Did you know there were water restrictions in Collingwood this summer? No? Well, there were. And that underscores the vulnerability of our community to climate change when a community situated on the Great Lakes has water restrictions.
In Ontario, climate change is anticipated to result in milder, shorter winters with earlier snowmelt, less ice cover on lakes, changing rainfall patterns and increased evapotranspiration. All of these factors have an impact on the normal variation we experience in water supplies and will affect water infrastructure capacity and design… Changes to water supply will be difficult to predict and could mean that there may be less water available for residential use, agriculture, industry, waterpower generation, transportation, or recreation. Ecologically, changes to water supply will impact Ontario's biodiversity, our wetlands, our shorelines and our forests.
Our municipal water system is good, but like most in the province, it was not designed to handle the increasing challenges of climate-related stresses we now face. 2018 is shaping up to be the fourth hottest year on record – the three hotter ones were the previous three years! Extreme heat encourages people to use water more – for lawns, golf courses, gardens, drinking, filling pools. Increased demand for water can empty water towers and reservoirs faster and the system can't fill them as quickly as the demand drains them.
But water use is just one issue.
We're extremely fortunate that it hasn't happened here.
It's likely we will see algal blooms in Georgian Bay. Even when you can't see them, the algae are already in the water, just not in significant amounts. But algae thrive on the nutrients used to fertilize crops, lawns and gold courses. And we have a lot of farms, homes and golf courses in our region to contribute to the runoff. It's only a matter of time.
Fortunately, we have a very good water treatment system that can filter out the toxic algae when it's in small quantities. But a serious bloom near our water intake like those in other Great Lakes could overwhelm the system.
Our water intake is located not far offshore from the eastern end of Sunset Point. Our treated water discharge goes into the harbour – from where the bay's currents draw it out in a counter-clockwise motion towards – you guessed it – our intake. Should we face a catastrophic event that dumped significant quantities of untreated sewage into the harbour – such events happened in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg and many other Canadian cities this year – it might affect out water supply, too.
Collingwood is fortunate in that almost all of its stormwater drainage is separate from its wastewater infrastructure so that it is not as vulnerable to flooding events like those in other cities (which is why it's illegal to connect your downspout to the wastewater pipe – cross connections – to avoid overwhelming the plant when it rains!). But other events could occur – pump failures, for example. Our staff have to be very vigilant these days to ensure our systems are operating properly.
Municipal water and wastewater treatment systems are not very effective dealing with some of the new challenges to water. In particular, some of the new chemicals like PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) and PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFASs (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) that have been in the news this year. Prescription drugs in wastewater are also a growing problem – in late 2017 a study found that prescription drugs in Ontario's rivers and streams were affecting fish and other wildlife.
Then there's microplastics – recently recognized as an merging threat, as they migrate into our food chain and our drinking water. Even into our beer! Contact lenses, too, have been recently identified as a problem for water systems. Yet few water or wastewater systems are designed to deal with this problem. The technology is evolving, of course, but upgrades cost money.
All of this is compounded by climate-related environmental challenges to our wetlands, rivers, and streams. Not to mention that much of our green space is vanishing under pressure to grow and develop – meaning more paved surfaces, more cars, more lawns, more chemicals – which adds up to more polluted runoff getting into the environment without going through any treatment. That puts additional stress on our water treatment plant to prevent it from getting back into our drinking water.
Ditto with shoreline development: increased development along the waterfront means more chances for runoff and pollution. Plus an increase in recreational use of the water means more greywater to manage – too often simply dumped into the bay.
We think we have an unlimited supply of fresh water beside us – but that's a mistake. There is pressure from the US to drain more water from the lakes for the drought-ridden states. The UN predicted in 2015 that worldwide water demand would increase 55% by 2030. There's pressure from corporations to take the water in bulk to sell overseas. We need a strong voice on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative to be sure our concerns are heard.
Making sure our own drinking water is safe, and our wastewater discharge is properly treated is the responsibility of our dedicated, hardworking staff. They stay abreast of changing technologies and processes to make sure we have what we need to protect our water.
But it's also the responsibility of council to ensure they are capable and competent and doing their job. Yes: council. The Safe Drinking Water Act puts the onus on elected officials to be sure we don't face a second Walkerton event. Unlike other liabilities that occur in office, municipal politicians are personally liable for water quality and can be sued into bankruptcy for failing to live up to their responsibilities. Councillors have to be informed, and must read a LOT to shoulder this responsibility.
Which is why thinking councillors have a competent, professional water utility board to oversee the process and make sure all of the technical requirements are met, that the operators are trained and professional, that the system is run efficiently and safely. Only a foolish council would put itself into that position, filling the board seats with people uneducated and inexperienced in water-related issues, Ministry requirements and legislation.
So, you ask: why then, in June 2015, did Brian Saunderson and his minions fire Collingwood's water utility board and replace the professional, experienced and competent members with Saunderson and four of his minions? Why put a group of amateurs who dislike reading into positions where the slightest mistake could be tragic for the town?
Deputy Mayor Brian Saunderson, Coun. Kathy Jeffery, Coun. Deb Doherty, Coun. Cam Ecclestone and Coun. Bob Madigan voted in favour of dissolving the CPUSB and bringing water and wastewater under town management while Coun. Mike Edwards, Coun. Kevin Lloyd and Mayor Sandra Cooper voted against the resolution.
The move was done to smooth the way to privatize our water utility to EPCOR. The Block didn't want to face opposition to their secretive plans from the board – like they faced from the Collus-PowerStream board. Raising ethical and moral issues is so tedious when you're doing backroom deals. So Brian and his lot fired them – even though doing so violated the town's own bylaws (laws, you remember are for others).
Derek Ali of BMA Management Consulting Inc. presented a report prior to the vote in which he outlined expected savings of just over $700,000 per year with adoption of the recommendations.
Noting that the external facilities are in "good condition," Ali nonetheless outlined what BMA concluded to be various impediments to "transparency" and "accountability" in the services provided through Collus PowerStream Solutions and operations of utilities through the CPUSB.
"Municipal direct operations is the best practice," Ali said of the recommendation to eliminate CPUSB and simplify the structure by putting water and wastewater in town hands.
Irony number one: a sole-sourced consultant preaching accountability and transparency to Saunderson and his cronies is like singing to stones. Consider Brian's group held almost 50 closed-door meetings to discuss the sale of our electricity utility without once ever consulting the public, let alone informing us of why. And how many public meetings were held about privatizing our water utility? Why, none, of course.
Irony number two: "Municipal direct operations is the best practice." Saunderson's group that has spent four years tripping over itself to sell off public assets and avoid municipal operations – without any public consultation, of course.
EPCOR representatives sat in on two sessions when the former CAO, John Brown, made sales pitches to staff about how great EPCOR was going to be when it took over the water utility. Judging by the questions they asked, staff were neither impressed nor convinced. No doubt the EPCOR reps were writing down the names of those who asked impertinent questions. The backroom deal fell off the table after the secret negotiations were exposed to the public. We were spared – but only temporarily. Expect it to happen if these incumbents get re-elected.
Water utility privatization has been a disaster in much of the USA (so much so that Baltimore recently passed a law to ban water privatization), the UK and elsewhere. Those lessons were, sadly, lost this term.
Water is our most precious resource. It has to be protected, managed properly and never taken for granted. That includes not just our municipal infrastructure and facilities, but our shoreline, waterfront and watershed. The challenges our water systems face are too important, too pressing for water to be used as a political pawn to further personal agendas.
For the past several years, I have worked with a non-profit association that advocates for municipal water systems and liaises with the provincial government over legislation and policy issues. I am also a representative on the regional source water protection committee. I am keenly aware of the importance of water and the challenges municipalities face.
I propose to return to a proper water utility management board – with a single political representative, not all five; the remainder populated by competent, experienced people who can assess the challenges and give us guidance for the future. Water is too important to leave to a bunch of inexperienced amateurs. Our lives depend on them.
I also want to bring back more public advisory committees to engage residents in the processes and get more input on a wide range of challenges and issues. Possibly we could create a shoreline/environmental committee to help identify then bring the issues to the fore and offer suggestions and ideas. As your next deputy mayor, I will ask for a public meeting on creating such committees.


UBM Americas has named Felicia Hamerman its new chief marketing officer. In this newly created position, she will provide direction and leadership to the company's marketing teams. Hamerman will also further develop marketing strategies and capabilities at UBM's events: trade shows, exhibitions, and conferences. Hamerman previously served as vice president of catering for the Catering, Chemical and Cruise (3Cs) portfolio under UBM Americas.
Brittany Cordova has been promoted to assistant general manager at Elden Electrical Exhibition Services. Cordova, who works out of the company's Anaheim office, joined the team in 2014 and played a major role in transitioning the new partnership with the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Derse has promoted Rick Stoner to the newly created role of vice president, sales and client strategy. Since 2015, he has served as director of marketing. In his new position, Stoner will focus on growth and retention strategies for key Derse clients, new business opportunities, and leading the client strategy department.
mg has promoted Linda Pang from senior account manager to senior account director in its West Coast office. She joined the company in 2012 as a new business development executive, bringing 15 years of marketing experience serving technology companies with her.


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Image: SERGIO PISTOI
THE FATHER OF MP3, Leonardo Chiariglione is engineering another media revolution.
GUIDE TO TERMINOLOGY
Digital Revolutionary: Interview with Leonardo Chiariglione
The father of MP3 recently established the Digital Media Project, which aims to formulate a new standard for digital audio and video. If things proceed according to plan, the media world will never be the same
A tortuous, vineyard-lined road leads to the secluded house of Leonardo Chiariglione. In this rural village near Turin, Italy, only a few locals are aware that their neighborhood engineer is the mastermind behind the revolution that has brought MP3, DVD and digital television into the lives of millions. An electronics engineer and former vice president of multimedia at the corporate research laboratories of Italian Telecom, Chiariglione is founder and chair of the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), which has established such ubiquitous digital multimedia formats as MP3 and MPEG-2.
Chiariglione would have good reason to rest on his laurels: in 1999 Time Digital ranked him among the top 50 innovators in the digital world, and his résumé lists an impressive series of awards, including an Emmy in 1996. Instead he has just called fellow experts to arms against "the stalemate" that he believes is crippling the development of digital media. Late last year Chiariglione established the Digital Media Project (DMP), a not-for-profit organization of individuals and companies--among them giants BT, Matsushita and Mitsubishi--with the ambitious goal of formulating a new standard for digital audio and video. If things proceed according to plan, the media world will never be the same.
Scientific American.com met Chiariglione at his home (and DMP headquarters) to talk with him about this new endeavor and his vision for the future of digital media. An edited translation of that conversation follows below.
Scientific American.com: Millions of people are using digital audio and video today. Why do you say that the dream of a digital revolution hasn't happened ?
LC: Everyone expected that these technologies would bring huge benefits to everybody along the value chain. Creators would be given new ways to express themselves, end users would enjoy new kinds of experiences, and industries would find new opportunities for business. Ten years later, this is not happening. I don't see any industry that is really thriving on digital audio and video--at least not as much as they do in other sectors like consumer electronics or telecommunications. The music industry is the most dramatic example: it is still based on a physical support--the CD--that you buy, bring home and put inside a player like you did before with vinyl records or cassettes. The quality of sound is better, but the overall experience hasn't really changed. Technologies such as MP3 and the internet have opened the way to revolutionary digital experiences--and also to an unprecedented development of piracy. Record labels are reluctant to adopt any new technology that does not guarantee their copyrights and prefer to stick to their old business models. But if nothing changes, many users will continue to steal music. It's a stalemate in which everybody loses in the long run: industries miss new opportunities for business, and users will not benefit from future technological advances.
SA: How do you feel about the fact that MP3 is so often associated with music piracy?
LC: The culture of theft that turns around MP3 is detestable, and I'm very disappointed about that. But neither MP3 nor peer-to-peer [the technology behind Napster, by which Internet users share files directly from their computers] are monsters. They are terrific technologies for distributing content with an enormous potential for business, but they are pieces of an uncompleted puzzle. Digital copyright management is the missing piece that we need.
SA: Wasn't it clear from the beginning that MP3 would be used to distribute music illegally?
LC: When we approved the standard in 1992 no one thought about piracy. PCs were not powerful enough to decode MP3, and internet connections were few and slow. The scenario that most had in mind was that companies would use MP3 to store music in big, powerful servers and broadcast it. It wasn't until the late '90s that PCs, the Web and then peer-to-peer created a completely different context. We were probably naïve, but we didn't expect that it would happen so fast.
SA: A number of online music stores, where you can legally download music for a fee, have started a profitable business. (Apple's iTunes, the leading online music store, reported in March that it had sold its first 50 millions tracks.) Are they a solution for the future?
LC: I don't see these systems as a solution in the long run, because they put too many limits on the users. The music is watermarked or encrypted with Digital Right Management [DRM] algorithms and is then decrypted by your player. The problem is that every store has its own proprietary system, which is incompatible with the others. Consequently, you can play music on your PC, but not in your salon CD player or in your wife's car, for example, because they use different systems. Where is the digital experience if you can't enjoy your music as easily as you did before with a disc or a cassette? Eventually people will say, "Let's go back to making MP3 copies. They are illegal but at least I can do what I like with them."
SA: How could you resolve this stalemate?
LC: What we need is a system that guarantees the protection of copyrights but at the same time is completely transparent and universal. With the Digital Media Project [DMP] we are working to develop a format that meets these requirements. The system will be nonproprietary, meaning that any manufacturer will be allowed to incorporate it into its products. It will also be designed to manage digital rights in a flexible way. For example, you could play a specific title until a certain date, or you could buy a subscription allowing you to play anything you want for a given period. People could even swap files on the Internet, as long as they have the right to play them. If DMP becomes the industry standard, you will be able to use music or video files as you do today with MP3 files, but legally. This will open endless opportunities.
SA: Can you build such a system with the current technology ?
LC: We don't know yet which technologies will be included in the format, since the DMP has just begun and we won't come out with full technical specifications before two years from now. However, I believe that most of the technology is already there. Formats for the compression of audio and video have attained excellent quality, and some standards, such as MPEG-21, are also designed to program which rights come with your copy [a 15-day license, for instance]. Our approach will be to integrate existing technologies and develop new ones only if we need to.
SA: With a universal platform wouldn't it be a disaster if the copyright protection were cracked?
LC: I don't think you can build a crack-proof system. But you can design one in which the algorithms used for copyright protection don't come as hardware but as software, so that you can update them with an Internet or wireless connection if they are cracked. Also, every manufacturer could choose its own algorithms, as long as they are compatible with the universal standard. However, our purpose is not to fight piracy. We want to create the right conditions so that users can enjoy a full digital experience legally and without the current limitations. I believe that this will remove many of the incentives that exist today for piracy.
SA: What do you envision for the future of digital media?
LC: I believe that there are hundreds of possible applications just waiting to be invented.The real value will be in providing the users with new experiences. When every published music or video is available on the Web you will need tools to catalogue and find these files. With MPEG-7, for example, you can create a simple description of a multimedia file that can be used by search engines. In the future we will have new generations of search engines in which you will directly enter music or video sequences. Software will interpret the content and compare it to millions of files on the Web, much as you do today for Web pages. You will discover new music and movies you didn't even know existed that have something in common to yours, and you will be able to access any kind of information about your tracks. The cultural impact of that would be immense. I also see a great potential for peer-to-peer. It's a wonderful system. If it is used to distribute contents legally, it will create new business opportunities.
SA: Are you a music lover?
LC: My preferences are broad, but I wouldn't say that I am an expert. I confess that my son is my mentor in this field.
Sergio Pistoi is a freelance science writer and a communications consultant based in Arezzo, Italy.


Johnny Golding is a philosopher and poet who is internationally renowned for her philosophy enactments, installations, and soundscape exhibitions. Golding's research covers the entangled dimensionalities of radical matter, an intradisciplinary arena of art, philosophy, and the wild sciences set on the playing fields of electronic/digital poetics, the logics of sense, metamathematics, and modern physics. She is a research professor of philosophy and fine art at the Royal College of Art, London. Previous roles include Director of the Centre for Fine Art Research (CFAR) at Birmingham School of Art (2012–16); professor of philosophy in the visual arts and communication technologies at The University of Greenwich, London; and Director of the Institute for the Converging Arts and Sciences (ICAS) in London (2003–12). Golding is currently finishing her latest monograph, entitled Radical Matter: Wild Science, Philosophy and the Courage of Art.


The 2nd Annual "The HERO Project" Coffee Social will be on Sunday, January 14, 2018, at Molten Java, 213 Greenwood Ave., Bethel, CT.
This is a free event with purchase of any Molten Java product. Donations to The HERO Project will gladly be accepted.
Please join us for a great time of awareness and community as The HERO Project presents a STELLAR group of performers that have donated their time and talents for this event, and to ALL of them AND Molten Java our heartfelt THANK YOUS- your continuing support is SO MUCH appreciated!
Stop by and enjoy some great coffee, tea and other MJ offerings, great food, great music, great readings … If you don't know about The HERO Project we'll tell you a little about ourselves. The HERO Project members will be on site to answer questions and invite anyone who is interested in making a difference to join us.
Along with great resources you can take away, we will also present some of the great events coming in 2018!


THIS IS A BOATER'S DREAM LOCATION!! Three bedroom two bath home on the barrier island in Pompano on the only private canal minutes from the ocean by boat, 3 blocks from the beach. There are only 14 houses on this canal and they rarely come up for sale. The house has gas stove, hot water heater and dryer. The dock and seawall are only a few years old. New accordion hurricane shutters. Re-model or re-build, this is your dream location!


You're stressed. You're anxious. Your mind is running all different directions and your mood swings are out of control. All you want to do is sleep, but you can't even do that. Aside from that, you suffer from headaches, often migraine-like, and could use a little help getting those last few pounds off.
5-HTP is a chemical compound that is produced in your body and naturally makes the important mood-regulating hormone, serotonin. Additionally, it has been known to be a natural appetite suppressant and sleep aid.
How To Take It: Take 1 capsule daily, or as recommended by your healthcare professional.
•If you are taking anti-depressant medication, please consult a physician prior to use.


contains updates made to the main web page, allows user input to provide suggestions to improve main section. for example to add new sections, bad links, suggested links, etc.
Welcome to your new YaBB 2.3.1 forum!


Keep calm and de-stress your skin in a jiffy! Infused with Superfruit Avocado extract, the Soothing Serum targets skin irritation and zoom in on redness and damaged skin cells to reveal a deeply rejuvenated appearance. Power up your skin's immunity with this avo concoction! Avocados are packed with essential nutrients that soothe and hydrate parched skin. The natural oils in an avocado can penetrate deep into the skin, helping to soften and hydrate dry and flaky patches, while soothing skin redness.


Founded by experts in business continuity, disaster recovery and crisis management in 1999, RecoveryPlanner enjoys a well-earned reputation as a leading authority on Business Continuity Management, Disaster Recovery, BIA, Risk and Crisis Management Services. At the core of the RecoveryPlanner approach is a belief in flexible customization based on direct interaction between our experts and your team. Having pioneered the concept of web-based BCP solutions,we have since gone on to define other emerging trends in the industry, such as comprehensive integration services, a true enterprise-wide planning platform, unparalleled flexibility, and assistance with compliance and governance. While other companies are moving to replicate our innovations, we continue to look ahead, constantly improving our products and services as businesses needs evolve and new technologies emerge.


We first heard about OVERSTIMS from French ultra running legend Sebastien Chaigneau last year. Seb loved the gluten-free options, the extra liquid gels and the easy to squeeze tubes.
An energy gel for every situation - mix the Antioxidant and Energix gels for a base level of energy during runs. Top up with the Coup de Fouet (translates to "whip"!) for hard efforts, and Red Tonic for a short but powerful surge of energy.
There's a great range of bars. The Amelix (marzipan / orange) and Protein Bar (white chocolate / red berries) are our personal favourites.
The Warm-up Drink and Recovery Drink both come in handy bottles so you don't need to muck around with powders and can get your protein in straight after a race - and yes the bottles are reusable too!
Regeprot is not just for recovery but makes a great daily supplement with high quality proteins rich in BCAAs and a neutral flavour so you can mix it into your favourite shake with the Kenwood 2GoSport.
Kilian Jornet's famous "energy cake" will be available in Hong Kong from March. Look out for the gluten-free chocolate Gatosport.
Come check it out now at Sportlicious Malaysia.


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The Whole Grain Stamp was created by the Whole Grains Council and a panel of scientific and culinary advisors in January 2005 as a visual marker to signal products that contain dietarily-significant amounts of whole grains. The Stamp features a stylized sheaf of grain on a golden-yellow background with a black border.

Every product that bears the "Basic Stamp" must contain at least 8 grams of whole grain per serving.  8 grams equals one half of a MyPyramid serving.  Products that bear the "100% Whole Grain Stamp" contain at least 16 grams of whole grain per serving – or a full MyPyramid serving as outlined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture – and do not contain any refined grains.

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that everyone over age 9 should eat at least three servings of whole grains each day for health.  For an outline of scientific studies published on the health benefits of whole grains, see resources below. In 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the use of a health claim that can be used on whole grain foods: "Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods, and low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may help reduce the risk of heart disease."*  However, these claims have certain limitations, and cannot be used on some whole grain foods even if the foods are 100% whole grain.  See resources below for more information on health claims and Guideline specifics.

References

Further reading
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Nov. 2003; vol 78:5/920-927.
Diabetes Care, February 2004; vol 27:538-546.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Dec. 2004; vol 80:1492-1499.
Nutrition Research Reviews, May 2004; Vol 17: 99-110.
USDA MyPyramid

Resources
Whole Grains Education Materials
Whole Grain Stamp

Health campaigns
Cereals

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The east African coast occupies a strategic position that allows maritime connections between the African continent and the Middle East and Asia. The ports of Mombasa, in Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, are the most important in the region.
Vital to the economies not only of Kenya and Tanzania, but also to the landlocked neighbouring countries, these ports are connected to their neighbours through a network of roads and railways that allow trade with other east African countries and with the rest of the world.
Strategically located about halfway between the Durban port in South Africa and the major Middle East ports, Mombasa's port is a gateway to east and central Africa. It has been a hub for international trade in the region since it was developed under British rule in the late 19th Century.
In 2015, Mombasa handled a total of 26.2m tonnes of cargo, more than double the volume handled in 2005. Transit cargo to the hinterlands, which consist of Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi, Somalia, northern Tanzania, and eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have also gone up at an annual rate of 8.2% between 2005 and 2015.
The Mombasa port has an expansion plan underway. A second container terminal started operating in April 2016, increasing the port's overall capacity to 1.65m containers. This is the first phase of a three-stage project, which, when completed, will bring the total length of the container terminals to 1,740 metres and throughput to 2.7m containers per year.
A new oil terminal to receive petroleum products imports is also projected for the coming years, additional to the construction of a modern cruise terminal and rehabilitation of the port's quay.
The port, however, receives more imports than it exports. According to the Kenya Ports Authority, in 2015 only 2.4m tonnes of goods were exported through Mombasa, while 23.8m tonnes were imported. This imbalance means that many containers leave the port empty, which opens room for the smuggling of all sorts of products.
In May 2015, Singaporean port authorities seized four tonnes of ivory hidden inside containers of tea coming from the Mombasa port. Two of the biggest ivory seizures in Asia in that year originated in Mombasa. However, Kenyan authorities successively failed to find any contraband at the point of origin. The 600 surveillance cameras, alarms with motion detectors, fingerprint scanners and dogs to sniff out drugs and ivory – all the additional measures implemented in the port to try to prevent smuggling – were futile.
Mombasa has also become the preferred route for drug trafficking. In September this year, Kenya's Standard reported that US$5.8m worth of cocaine was apprehended in the port. Since the surveillance equipment and active policing seem to not be enough to curb the rampant contraband, one of the theories for what is most likely happening is a complicit agreement between government officials and criminals. The few cases where illegal products are seized are probably the result of a clash between rival criminal networks for spoils.
Regardless of the many issues preventing Mombasa from operating with excellence, the port is important to the hinterlands past Kenya. Most of the products imported to those countries pass through this port. In 2015, 76.7% of all transit cargo through Mombasa had Uganda as the final destination, followed by South Sudan at 10.6% and 5.7% to DRC.
While most of the exported goods that cross Mombasa are tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, and cement, Kenya also imports machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins, and plastics through the same port.
China and India are the largest exporters to Kenya. These two countries account, respectively, for 30.0% and 15.5% of all goods that enter the country. The United Arab Emirates comes in third place, totalling 5.7% of the imports that arrive in Mombasa.
Kenya is developing another port that hopefully will balance the growing constraints observed in Mombasa. The Lamu port is part of a long-term vision to transform the economy of Northern Kenya, which will also include the development of the Lamu Southern Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET). This project is one of the largest infrastructure projects on the African continent. LAPSSET is set to include the port in Lamu's Manda Bay; a standard-gauge railway line to Juba, South Sudan's capital; oil pipelines to South Sudan and Ethiopia; an oil refinery; three airports; and three resort locations in the Kenyan towns of Isiolo and Lamu and at the shores of Lake Turkana. However, the project requires an additional $30m to ensure construction does not stall, and is already running behind schedule by two years.
The LAPSSET project, once completed, will link Kenya to its two northern neighbours, Ethiopia and South Sudan, opening up the region to immense socio-economic development, especially in the northern, eastern and north-eastern parts of the country, and promote cross-border trade. The whole LAPSSET Corridor is estimated to cost $26bn and will be fully completed by 2030.
Competing head-to-head with Mombasa, the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania handles about 90% of the country's international trade, with an annual capacity of more than 14m tonnes of cargo. The port's performance is far from satisfactory, however. According to the World Bank, trade costs are 60% higher between Tanzania and China than between Brazil and China, despite the distance being double. If the Dar es Salaam port reaches the same level of efficiency as that of Mombasa, the Tanzanian economy would gain almost $1.8bn a year, according to a World Bank analysis, which also said that inefficiencies at Dar es Salaam cost Tanzania and its neighbouring landlocked countries up to $2.6bn in 2014.
With the government forecasting throughput growth of 10% per year, Dar es Salaam is projected to reach full capacity by 2020. In order to cope with this situation, Tanzania Ports Authority, TradeMark East Africa, the World Bank, and the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2015 for a $750m expansion project that aims to increase Dar es Salaam's cargo handling capacity to 28m tonnes in 2020 and to 34m tonnes by 2025.
As the surroundings of Dar es Salaam are overcrowded and expansion of the port is limited, Tanzania is investing $10bn to develop the Bagamoyo port, located 75km north of Dar es Salaam. The port, together with new investments in Dar es Salaam and other spending on roads and railways,is part of efforts by the government to create a transport hub that can challenge the dominance of Mombasa in neighbouring Kenya. The port will occupy 800 hectares with an adjacent 1,700 hectare industrial zone.
The project is financially backed by China Merchants Holdings, China's largest port operator, which will also be responsible for much of the construction work. The other partner in financing the project is Oman's State General Reserve Fund. The development is expected to take many years until completion. It may even take more than a decade. However, the ultimate plan is to grow the port to a 20m-container unit capacity per year.
From Dar es Salaam, gold, coffee, cashew nuts, manufactured products, and cotton are exported to the world. India and China are the main importers of Tanzanian commodities with 21.4% and 8.1% of Tanzanian exports going to these countries, respectively.
Most of the imports come from China and India as well. These two countries account, respectively, for 34.6% and 13.5% of all goods imported to Tanzania. Of the total imports, 4.4% come from the United Arab Emirates. The most imported items to Tanzania are consumer goods, machinery and transportation equipment, industrial raw materials and crude oil. Similarly to Kenya, the trade balance leans to the imports side. While Tanzania exported $5.7bn of goods in 2015, it imported $9.8bn in the same year.
Singapore is also an important trading partner of Tanzania. Singapore's bilateral trade with that country amounted to $132.4m in 2015, a 37.2% increase year-on-year. The bulk of trade between the two countries consisted of Singapore's exports to Tanzania, which amounted to $123.5m in 2015. Top exports included petroleum products, aseptic bags and medical instruments.
Kenya and Tanzania still rank relatively low on the World Bank's Logistic Performance Index. The indicator is a weighted average of each country score on the following six performance dimensions: efficiency of the clearance process by border control agencies; quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure; ease of arranging competitively priced shipments; competence and quality of logistics services; ability to track and trace consignments; and timeliness of shipments in reaching a destination within the scheduled or expected delivery time. This measure indicates the relative ease and efficiency with which products can be moved into and inside a country. While Germany has the highest score, Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, are ranked at 42 and 61, out of 160.
While the East African countries show promising opportunities for trading, the two main gateways to this region still lack in terms of infrastructure. Mombasa and Dar es Salaam have to improve their operations. Corruption has to be tackled and bureaucracy in handling cargo must be eased. This will not only bring down importation and exportation costs, but will also increase the confidence level of foreign investors considering the east African market. Roads and railways must also be efficient and connect these ports to the countryside and to the landlocked countries of the region. Trade with India and China is already a reality. Expanding business to other regions will require an increased level of professionalism that the two ports are already pursuing – though they remain a few years behind.
This article was first published in How we made it in Africa on 1 December 2016.
Otavio Veras is a Research Associate at the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies in Singapore. He holds a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Instituto Militar de Engenharia (IME) in Brazil. Otavio also has a post-graduate degree in Oil and Gas Offshore Systems from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and an MBA degree from INSEAD.
Otavio has 8 years' experience in O&G and 3 years in Mining. Within the Oil and Gas industry, he held roles ranging from Structural Subsea Engineer and Project Manager to Business Intelligence Analyst. In Mining he worked as a Commercial and Logistics Analyst.


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You can stop pretending to work now, thank goodness.
First, a few gaming links.
Several of you sent in this link (Christophe Grandsire-Koevoets was first): Birdmen and the Casual Fallacy. Sean Maelstrom has written a sprawling, provocative examination of Nintendo and their strategy. I don't agree with some of his conclusions, but it's tremendously interesting and a terrific read.
Craig Miller sent me a link to a commercial (in Japan) for Shiren the Wanderer 3, which looks terrific, and I can only hope that they bring it out here.
Lummox JR sent in a link to The 7 Commandments All Video Games Should Obey.
From the New York Times, an article detailing the current scientific knowledge about post-workout recovery and how it can be maximized (DQ Fitness Advisor Doug Walsh, take note).
From Future Nobel Prize Winner Brian Pilnick, a link to CamSpace, which "enables you to play any PC game you want using almost any object as a controller." Very, very cool.
Ryan Malinowsky sent in a link to the website for the M-TRAN, the "modular transformer" robot. I linked to a short video last week, but there is much more information here.
Last week, it was Gene Kelly tap-dancing on roller skates. This week (thanks David Byron), it's Fred and Ginger.
Incredibly, and this will probably never happen again, here's a second dance link this week. Sent in by Cibby Pulikkaseril, it's a crazy video mash-up of Fred Astaire dancing to the music of Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson. Oh, and Cyd Charisse (red dress) had what might have been the finest legs in the history of the world. Also from Cibby, and this must be a record for the greatest distance between links, an article titled Can Machines Be Conscious?
I linked to Daytrotter last week, and "mts30+" sent in a link to La Blogotheque, which is different but also entirely wonderful. La Blogotheque features bands performing in environments that are usually startlingly intimate, and the results are remarkable. For a sample, take a look at the Arcade Fire songs. The second (starting at about 7:00 of the video) shows them performing Wake Up (which is a brilliant song) in the middle of a crowd--using a megaphone. It's stunning.
Oh, and here's R.E.M. as well. I think this is some of the best live footage R.E.M. has ever done.
Eric Higgins-Freese sent in an outstanding link--classic literature, now in Powerpoint.
From Ryan Leasher, a link to a 1967 Soviet demonstration of animation--according to the video, it represents the "first images to be animated with the use of a computer."
From Sirius, a 'paper towel' for oil spills.
From the Edwin Garcia Links Machine, Fail Boat Sails Home.
From Mike Gilbert, a link to Cereal Mascot Reunion. And also from Mike, an article that begins with this:
Of all the drugs young people can use at clubs, the latest trend in New York may be the least hip among all circles: Preparation H.
Read (incredibly) Preparation H Finds Place in Club Circuit.
From Michael O'Reilly, a link to a story revealing that the discovery of the Titanic in 1985 resulted from a secret U.S. Navy investigation of two wrecked nuclear subs.
Vista (your e-mail, part two)
DRM (your e-mail)
Grand Theft Childhood
Clarence Darrow Left a "Do Not Revive" Order
M-Rated Games (a post long overdue)
The Stanley Cup Playoffs
Solium Infernum
Boom Blox


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SUNDERLAND AND GASGAS WIN 2022 DAKAR RALLY
Sam Sunderland has won the 2022 Dakar Rally for GasGas. It was one of the closest finishes in years, with Honda's Pablo Quintanilla winning the 12th and final stage to close with a few minutes of taking the overall. In the end, Sunderland's 8th-place finish was enough to hold on to the lead.
Sam Sunderland: "Wow. What a feeling! That 10-minute period waiting at the end of the final stage to see if I'd won felt like a lifetime. But this feeling, knowing I've won a second Dakar, will stay in my memory forever. This win feels better than the first as this victory was anything but easy. The times were so close this year and there was no time to let off the gas, it was a really close race, right to the end. All of the hard work, the sacrifices, and everything that the GASGAS team has done for me makes it all worthwhile. It's been five years since my first Dakar win, and it's been a long time to wait! I'm super happy to get another win and claim the first one for GASGAS. Everyone on the team has worked so hard to achieve this and it's a true team effort – together we got the job done. Amazing."
With Mathias Walkner's 7th place finish today, he consolidated third place on the podium. Ricky Brabec finished seventh overall and was the best placing American. That would be an amazing performance for anyone else, but Ricky was disappointed. He lost 1 hour, 16 minutes on the very first stage and spent the rest of the rally catching up. He succeeded, for the most part, clawing back almost half of that deficit. On the final stage, he rode well, but sustained a 12-minute penalty, placing him all the way back in 21st. "Super happy to make it to the finish of this year's Dakar. Had a bunch of things I personally stumbled on both weeks and made it difficult to pick up the pieces but happy to be healthy, heading home and already looking forward to the next one. Thanks to the team for all the hard works and finishing in the podium. The Dakar is gnarly and so much goes on with so many moving people, parts, and pieces to make this work."
Yamaha broke a chain of bad luck to get two riders in the top 10 this year.
Andrew Short rode a clean race to finish right behind Brabec in eighth overall and 13th on the final stage. "I'm so happy to have reached the finish line. The Dakar is such a crazy race that finishing is a great achievement in itself. The final stage was pretty cool, a bit tight a twisty with some nice terrain. Before the rally I hoped to finish higher and it wasn't through lack of effort or anything – it was solely down to the issue I had on stage one. I did the best I could after that but that's just how rally is sometimes. The team have been amazing. They built a great bike for me, which didn't miss a beat all race and I'm happy that we had two guys in the top 10.".
Perhaps the brightest star for the Americans was 20 year-old Mason Klein, who won the Rally 2 class for privateers and placed 9th overall. Skyler Howes, who sustained a concussion after a stage 7 crash, was especially proud of Mason Klein's performance: "Congratulations kid! I'm super proud of you, but… I'm not surprised. I don't think most people realize how much preparation this kid puts in. I have never in my life met someone so dedicated. Every day training the body, navigation, riding skill, and mechanical skill. He did this the right way. Everything that I did wrong along the way, he did right. Went to the proper races to train, went to the proper school, he put in the work! I'm proud to have been able to mentor him a little and watch him succeed.
Top rookie
1st place Rally2
9th overall
All at 20 years old
That's a hell of an accomplishment buddy. Soak it up, cuz when you get back it's right back to work."
(CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLA
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA 01H 40′ 00"
(AUS) TOBY PRICE
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING + 00H 00′ 18"
(CHL) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA + 00H 00′ 29"
(ESP) JOAN BARREDA BORT
(USA) MASON KLEIN
BAS WORLD KTM RACING + 00H 01′ 23"
(ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDES
HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING + 00H 02′ 38"
(AUT) MATTHIAS WALKNER
(GBR) SAM SUNDERLAND
GASGAS FACTORY RACING + 00H 03′ 25"
(ESP) LORENZO SANTOLINO
SHERCO FACTORY + 00H 04′ 18"
(ARG) DIEGO GAMALIEL LLANOS
XRAIDS EXPERIENCIE TEAM + 00H 04′ 35"
(PRT) RUI GONÇALVES
(ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES
(USA) ANDREW SHORT
MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA + 00H 05′ 53"
(USA) RICKY BRABEC
PROVISIONAL RESULTS, 2022 DAKAR RALLY
GASGAS FACTORY RACING 38H 47′ 30′
(FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN
(SVK) STEFAN SVITKO
SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM + 00H 59′ 17"
(PRT) JOAQUIM RODRIGUES
HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM + 01H 15′ 44"
(FRA) XAVIER DE SOULTRAIT
HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA + 01H 26′ 25"
DakarDakar 2022
NEGATIVE FORK PRESSURE: MR. KNOW-IT-ALL
MITAS TERRA FORCE-EF SUPER TIRE: PRODUCT REVIEW


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Cuba debuts Chinese-made train
Cuba's first Chinese-made train departed Havana on July 13. The new locomotive and carriages travelled 915 kilometres (516 miles) through nine cities before arriving in Guantanamo 15 hours later. The new train, equipped with four air-conditioned wagons and a restaurant car, replaces an ageing and decrepit engine that took days on the same journey. This marks the start of an overhaul to repair some 4,200 kilometres (2,600 miles) of tired tracks and dozens of worn-down stations across Cuba.
Revitalising Chinese culture in Cuba
Nestled alongside Havana's old town lies a district once considered the biggest Chinatown in Latin America. Today it is known as the "Chinatown with no Chinese people" and only about 120 people still claim 100 per cent Chinese heritage in all of Cuba. But the Chinatown district is still valued enough by residents that most support its restoration in time for celebrations marking Havana's 500th anniversary.
Castro's changes to Cuban constitution include term limits
Revised constitution would also define marriage as 'the consensual union between two people, regardless of gender', paving the way for gay marriages.


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Tom Paxton farewell tour comes to Diana Wortham
Folk legend and icon Tom Paxton performs at 8 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Diana Wortham Theatre
Tom Paxton farewell tour comes to Diana Wortham Folk legend and icon Tom Paxton performs at 8 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Diana Wortham Theatre Check out this story on citizen-times.com: https://avlne.ws/1Rw6LTJ
Staff reports Published 12:46 p.m. ET Oct. 8, 2015 | Updated 3:16 p.m. ET Oct. 9, 2015
Tom Paxton performs at Diana Wortham Theatre during his final tour on Oct. 10.(Photo: Courtesy of the artist)
On his farewell tour, folk legend and icon Tom Paxton performs at 8 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Diana Wortham Theatre with many of his greatest hits, including songs from his early days in the 1960s Greenwich Village music scene.
Over the years, Paxton has become well known for his fluid and varied style, having recorded with artists such as Willie Nelson and Placido Domingo, as well as releasing critically acclaimed children's books and award-winning children's albums.
The author of modern folk standards like "The Last Thing On My Mind," "Bottle Of Wine," "Ramblin' Boy" and "Goin' To The Zoo" is adept at performing silly songs, romantic tales and even protest anthems as he transitions from one subject to the next, covering such topics as life and death, love and loss, in a relatable, humanized style.
Brought to New York courtesy of the U.S. Army, Paxton remained there following his discharge. His early success in Greenwich Village coffeehouses, such as The Gaslight and The Bitter End, led to an ever-increasing circle of work. In 1965, he made his first tour of the United Kingdom – the beginning of a still-thriving professional career in folk music.
Paxton's 40-year career has been documented by a catalog of hundreds of songs condensed onto 62 albums. The singer-songwriter was nominated for Grammys in 2002 for his children's album "Your Shoes, My Shoes," in 2003 for "Looking For The Moon," his "Live in the UK" album in 2006, and for "Comedians and Angels" in 2007. A recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from ASCAP, the BBC in London, and in 2009 from the Recording Academy, Paxton has also had the opportunity to perform thousands of concerts nationally as well as around the world.
The entrance for the Diana Wortham Theatre is marked by the location of the theater's marquee between 12 and 14 Biltmore Ave. Patrons enter the theater through the breezeway between Marble Slab Creamery and White Duck Taco, and into a large interior courtyard with multiple glass doors to the theater's main lobby and box office.
The intimate theater seats about 500 and boasts exceptional acoustics and sightlines. The Mainstage Series is supported by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency.
For information on the Mainstage Series or to purchase tickets, call the theater's box office at (828) 257-4530 or visit dwtheatre.com.
Read or Share this story: https://avlne.ws/1Rw6LTJ


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PhD Fellowships in MathematicsGeorg-August-Universität Göttingen • Fakultät für Mathematik und Informatik • Göttingen
Germany Universities
Open Positions 2
Time Span 01 Jul 2023 for 3 years Application Deadline 15 Feb 2023 Financing yes Type of Position
PhD - Doctoral Programme
Field of Research
Mathematics / Natural Sciences
Subjects Mathematics Description The Department of Mathematics in The University of Göttingen, Germany, pursues cutting-edge research in mathematics including excellent and manifold opportunities for pursuing doctoral studies. PhD Students are integrated into the international and inspiring environment of the department. The spectrum of possible PhD research topics ranges from pure over applied mathematics to mathematical statistics. PhD projects may also be interdisciplinary, with close connections to other disciplines, such as mathematical physics or mathematical foundations of data science.
The PhD programme in Mathematical Sciences focuses on high-level research in mathematics. It features intensive training and cutting-edge research projects in pure and applied mathematics, emphasising independent research on the part of the students. A list of research areas is available here: - https: // www. math.uni-goettingen.de/forschung/indexen.html - https: // www. uni-goettingen.de/en/607643.html - https: // www. uni-goettingen.de/en/628437.html
Applicants are required to include in their letter of motivation the area of research where they would like to pursue their doctoral studies.
As part of its structured doctoral programme, the Department of Mathematics provides training in the core competences of research methods, content-related expertise and interdisciplinary research skills; furthermore, it places the emphasis on competences which give its doctoral candidates a competitive edge across research areas and occupational fields as well as those that enhance their ability to assume executive functions.
The PhD programme in Mathematical Sciences is designed as a structured academic programme for graduates whose academic profile and outstanding interdisciplinary research proposals set them apart from the rest. Consequently, selection is based solely on the applicants' qualification.
The successful candidates are expected to hold an excellent master's degree that formally qualifies them for doctoral studies. In their previous studies, candidates are expected to have acquired relevant discipline-specific and methodological knowledge in their field of expertise that enables them to successfully complete their research project. Beyond the formal qualifications, seeing a research project through from beginning to end requires a great deal of dedication, the ability to deal with conflicts, self- management skills, the ability to think and act strategically, self- motivation, well-developed communication skills and the ability to work together with others. For further details and information about how to apply cf. the respective website: - https: // www. math.uni-goettingen.de/phdscholarship
The University of Göttingen wishes to increase the proportion of its female staff and, by maintaining a family-friendly working environment with flexible working hours, improve the family life and career balance. The University of Göttingen expressly encourages women as well as candidates with children to apply. Moreover, these posts are suitable for candidates with disabilities, who will be given preference, if their personal aptitudes and qualifications are otherwise equal.
Working Language
Language of Dissertation
Reports, certificates
Letter of Motivation
Others : Letters of recommendation
More Information https:// www. math.uni-goettingen.de/phdscholarship


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Mimostrangalia lateripicta är en skalbaggsart som först beskrevs av Leon Fairmaire 1895.  Mimostrangalia lateripicta ingår i släktet Mimostrangalia och familjen långhorningar. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Långhorningar
lateripicta


When I started this blog in June of this year, I did it to help others in my support community. I soon came to realize it could be so much more. I found it could reach a much wider audience which has the same needs as the moms I talk to every day. I would like each and every one of my readers to have the same opportunity to reach out to me privately. Please, don't hesitate to contact me. If I don't know how to help I'll do everything in my power to find someone that can.


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You are here: Home / Opinion / BLOG: Cluster bombs banned
BLOG: Cluster bombs banned
By Xin Huang
Xin Huang
Cluster munitions have finally been banned.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) took effect on Aug. 1, when it became binding international law in countries around the world. To date, 107 states have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and 37 nations have ratified it. Unfortunately, the big boys — the U.S., Russia, and China — have not agreed to join this convention.
Thomas Nash, spokesman of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, witnessed a family tragedy: A mother was terribly injured by a cluster bomb explosion. It was buried in front her house for more than 30 years, and two of her children were killed.
"The cluster bomb is dangerous," Mr. Nash explained, "[Compared with guided missiles] it attacks a much wider area; it creates massive and uncontrollable damage; most of its victims are civilians; so many of the bombs failed to explode when hitting on the ground, they are seriously threatening local inhabitants. Though the exact data of the global injuries from cluster bombs are unclear, we do know there are 300 victims yearly from cluster bombs in Laos; 3 months after the Lebanon cease-fire, there were 3 civilians being killed or injured every day."
Mr. Nash was very optimistic about this treaty. He said: "This treaty is going to save people's lives, protect them from being injured…we are celebrating this achievement, there will be drumming actions in 76 countries."
Peter Herby, head of the mines/arms unit of the ICRC (International Committee for the Red Cross), considered this treaty fairly innovative in terms of the broader definition of cluster bomb victims. "The definition of victims is not limited to civilians who are physically hurt by cluster munitions, but their dependents and family members whose life will also be terribly affected."
This treaty was initiated by NGOs, and the humanitarian progress that it marks is great and undeniable. This convention is still facing serious challenges, Mr. Herby admitted. cluster munitions are still considered an important weapon when attacking and threatening the enemy. The number of cluster bombs in existence is enormous. According to information provided by Mr. Nash, the United States has 800 million cluster bombs, Germany and the UK each have 50 million, and the number Russia and China has is unknown owing to their military secrecy. Mr. Herby remarked, "Most of those cluster munitions were designed and produced during the Cold War; they are over 40 years old, and should be eliminated just for military reasons."
Along with the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons and the Geneva Convention, CCM will further ensure that cluster bombs are illegal in member nations. Regarding the absence in the treaty of three of the biggest cluster weapons producers and holders, Mr. Herby pointed out that this convention will make those countries who have not joined the treaty "consider or reconsider to ban this weapon." This treaty has raised international awareness and a universal agreement on banning cluster bombs.
The proponents believe that with the influence this treaty has already established, the nations who have not joined will be pressured by the international civil society. Their political agendas would not be achieved if they were to use cluster weapons. Consequently, cluster bombs will less likely be used in future military actions and this will achieve the humanitarian purpose even if the treaty is lacking the participation of China, Russia, and the United States.
From Nov. 8-12, the first meeting of States Parties will be held in Vientiane, Laos PDR, which is the most severely bombed country in the world. A foundation will be laid for future engagement in the convention by bringing together the States Parties, UN agencies, international organizations, cluster bomb survivors, and other interest groups to the treaty for the first time. The CCM is encouraging member nations to develop action plans to implement the treaty. Meanwhile, the task of clearing unexploded bombs on the ground looms.
Xin Huang is a senior at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. He is participating in a summer internship in Geneva, Switzerland, where he is attending conferences at the United Nations.
Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: CCM, China, Cluster Munitions Coalition, Cold War, Geneva Convention, Laos, Northwest Asian Weekly, Pacific Lutheran University, Peter Herby, Russia, States Parties, Thomas Nash, United Nations, United States, lebanon
This is an enormous step towards a world free from the impact of cluster munitions, which continue to have terrible impacts on the lives of civilians even decades after wars end. In Laos, American cluster munitions from the 1960's continue to kill 300 people a year… read more about the devastating effect of US bombs in Laos: http://www.psaonline.org/blog/?p=3532
Joanne M. Lisosky, Ph.D. says
Xin Huang… here at Pacific Lutheran University we are very proud of the reporting you are doing from the United Nations in Geneva. Thank you for your dedicated work.
Joanne M. Lisosky, Ph.D.


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Home Resource What is client review and why do we recommend it?
review stage prior to final delivery of the translation.
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Located on 28 acres north of Nebraska Innovation Campus, the new Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center was completed in the summer of 2015. The Dillon Tennis Center was part of the $20.4 million Nebraska Soccer and Tennis Complex, which also includes Barbara Hibner Soccer Stadium.
The tennis center features six indoor courts with superior lighting and second-level seating that allows fans to watch every match. A total of 1,400 permanent seats are available in the combined indoor and outdoor areas for tennis.
The new facility is located on the east side of 14th street just south of Cornhusker Highway in the heart of Lincoln, with convenient access from campus, downtown, Cornhusker Highway and I-180. It also includes free parking for 600 vehicles in the adjacent lot on the southeast side of the outdoor courts.
The Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center provides Nebraska men's and women's student-athletes with some of the nation's best competition and practice facilities. The tennis facilities include 12 lighted outdoor courts with a central walkway that allows fans to watch action on all 12 courts simultaneously .
The indoor facility includes offices for Nebraska's men's and women's tennis coaches and outstanding locker rooms for the student-athletes. Conference and meeting rooms, athletic medicine areas and other convenient common areas are also available for coaches and student-athletes.