Leawo's October Sale goes online today and is featuring Leawo Music Recorder as a free giveaway and all other products at discounted prices. This sales promotion of Leawo's will last for a whole month to November 12th.
Shenzhen, Guangdong -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/16/2018 -- Starting today, Leawo Software has officially kicked off its monthly sales promotion activity, putting some of its most featured products on sale with huge discounts. And there's even the free giveaway of the company's well-received audio recorder: the Leawo Music Recorder. Not only are the products on the promotion page being sold at discounted prices, all other products of Leawo Software are at 30% discount as Leawo's also offering a 30%-off coupon that can be applied to all products other than those on the promotion page. This October Sale will last for one month and end on November 13th.
Leawo Software is a world renowned software company that develops top-notch multimedia processing software that has helped millions of customers in processing media files. The highlight of this October sale is that the company's giving its Leawo Music Recorder away during the whole activity. Leawo Music Recorder is a practical piece of audio recording software that enables users to record audio from all kinds of sources. It can be used as a music downloader to download music online and it's able to help users complete the music information automatically using its data base after recording a song.
The way to obtain Leawo Music Recorder for free is easy. It only requires users to share the promotion information on social media, fill in the name of the user and a valid email address for receiving the registration code of the program. Then a one-year registration code will be sent to users via email.
There are several Apple-related products in the sale and all are featuring the same 40%-off discount. iTransfer is a simple and effective alternative to iTunes to help iOS device users to quickly and easily transfer data like music, video, photos, contacts, messages between iOS devices and PC. TunesCleaner can help iTunes users to organize their iTunes libraries by deleting duplicate songs in the library and completing music information of the existing songs. Leawo iOS Data Recovery is a practical data recovery program to help users recover up to 14 types of data from iOS device, iTunes and iCloud backup.
Leawo's Blu-ray processing software lineup contains 3 different programs, all of which are featuring a 35%-off discount. Leawo Blu-ray Ripper is a high-quality Blu-ray converter that's been a top seller in the range of Blu-ray ripper software. It can convert Blu-ray movies to MP4 or other video and audio files for unlimited playback. Leawo Blu-ray Copy is capable of performing 1:1 lossless Blu-ray/DVD copying for all kinds of Blu-ray/DVD discs. And Leawo Blu-ray Creator is a video burner to help users burn videos to Blu-ray/DVD discs with ease.
The 30%-off coupon code can be used on Leawo's products that are not on the promotion page and it'll be usable during the whole promotion. This October Sale will last until November 13th.


text:
San Francisco sues Trump administration, calls conscience rule a 'perversion' of civil rights mission
'It should be struck down in full,' City Attorney Dennis Herrera says.
The Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco skyline from the Marin Headlands above Sausalito, Calif. in 2015. (Eric Risberg/AP)
By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Ariana Eunjung Cha
The city of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit alleging that a new federal rule is unconstitutional. The rule greatly expands the types of cases in which a health-care worker or entity can decline, on religious grounds, to participate in providing a service.
In a filing in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said the new regulations — announced Thursday by President Trump — are discriminatory and prioritize "providers' religious beliefs over the health and lives of women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people, and other medically and socially vulnerable populations."
If San Francisco does not comply, the complaint states, it could lose $1 billion in federal funding that support critical services.
The rule is a hallmark project for the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services. OCR director Roger Severino said Thursday in a conference call with reporters that the new rule is necessary because, while there are numerous religion and conscience exemption statutes on the books, they have not been as strongly enforced as other civil rights laws.
[Trump touts new faith-based protections for health-care workers at National Day of Prayer ceremony]
In previous administrations, the OCR was known for increasing access to care by taking a lead in ending segregation in health-care facilities and taking on insurers who discriminated against people with HIV. In recent years, as more medical records have gone online, it has invested resources into ensuring the privacy and security of medical information. Under Trump, who was elected on a wave of support from social conservatives, however, the focus has been more on protecting people's expressions of religion.
Herrera said in the filing that the result has been that the OCR "has turned this legacy on its head. "
"This is a perversion of OCR's mission, it is unlawful, and San Francisco will not abide it," Herrera wrote.
The new rule is scheduled to take effect 60 days from its publication in the Federal Register. It has received widespread support from conservative groups such as the Family Research Council, March for Life and the Catholic Medical Association. But the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, Lambda Legal and other groups that support abortion and LGBTQ rights have opposed it, saying it will make it more difficult for hundreds of thousands of Americans to get the health care they need.
The Health 202: Trump administration sides with religious conservatives in key new policy
Christian conservatives in Trump administration build global antiabortion coalition
Trump administration prepares a rule civil rights groups worry may deny care to transgender patients
Ariana Eunjung Cha Ariana Eunjung Cha is a national reporter. She has previously served as The Post's bureau chief in Shanghai and San Francisco, and as a correspondent in Baghdad. Follow
Trump's presidency may be making Latinos sick

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Acne is caused by the effects of hormones on the pilosebaceous unit, consisting of a hair follicle, sebaceous gland, and a hair. The follicle becomes obstructed and an overgrowth of normal skin bacteria, Propionibacterium acnes, causes the destruction of the lining of the follicle. This process allows the follicular material to enter the dermis, causing an inflammatory response.
Topical antibiotics work by killing the Propionibacterium acnes bacteria. This not only helps reduce the small infections in the pores but also indirectly keeps the pores open. Topical antibiotics have been around for a while without many changes to the formulations; here's a brief summary of each. All topical antibiotics must be prescribed by a healthcare provider.
Clindamycin is the most frequently used topical antibiotic for acne, and it's available as a solution, lotion, or gel at 1% strength. It's applied twice a day to all acne prone areas. Clindamycin is generally well tolerated but may cause some irritation.
Erythromycin is the second most commonly used topical antibiotic used for acne, available as a solution, gel, and ointment at 2% strength. It's applied twice a day to all acne prone areas. Like clindamycin, it's generally well tolerated but may cause some irritation.
Erythromycin is safe for use by pregnant women.
Tetracycline is not used very often as a topical treatment, but it is available as an ointment and solution at different strengths. Tetracycline contains sodium bisulfite, a sulfa derivative that can cause allergic reactions. It may also cause yellowing of the skin.
Metronidazole is used frequently for acne caused by rosacea and is available as a gel at 0.75%. It's applied one or twice per day and is generally well tolerated but can cause irritation.
Is Clindamycin the Right Acne Treatment for You?


I feel like I am part of the family. Not that I have been there that long, but all the people on staff have been very welcoming and nice from the start.... I believe the exercises given to me by Jason are quite effective if followed as instructed..... If I can prevent surgery by going to physio then that is what I will do. I donâ??t know what I would have to deal with after surgery but I know where I stand now.


text:
Jackpot Alerts
Lottery Post
Search (text only)
Lottery Scams
Jackpot Analysis
Search Past Results
Mega Millions FAQ
Powerball FAQ
Pennsylvania Mega Millions Jackpot Annuity Payout Schedule for Jan 19, 2021
Media: You may freely use any information on this page, but you must credit usamega.com.
The tax information provided here is based on 2021 federal marginal rates and state tax rates. It shows the final federal and state tax burdens each year, not the amount initially withheld by the lottery.
The Mega Millions annuity jackpot is awarded according to an annually-increasing rate schedule, which increases the amount of the annuity payment every year. The table below shows the payout schedule for a jackpot of $850,000,000 for a ticket purchased in Pennsylvania, including taxes withheld.
Please note, the amounts shown are very close approximations to the amount a jackpot annuity winner would receive from the lottery every year. They are not intended to specify the exact final tax burden, which may vary depending on how the winner chooses to invest or dispense their prize money, as well as deductions claimed.
Drawing Date:
37% marginal rate
Mega Millions annuity payout schedule (30 annual payments)
Federal Filing Status: Single Married Filing Jointly Married Filing Separately Head of Household
Year Gross Payment Federal Taxes State Taxes Net Payment
1 $12,793,720 $4,697,749 $392,767 $7,703,204
7 $17,144,809 $6,307,651 $526,346 $10,310,812
10 $19,847,259 $7,307,558 $609,311 $11,930,390
17 $27,927,086 $10,297,094 $857,362 $16,772,630
21 $33,945,547 $12,523,925 $1,042,128 $20,379,494
Total $850,000,002 $313,422,167 $26,095,000 $510,482,835
◄ Back to Jackpot Analysis
Note: The Net Payment total above may be a few dollars off from the total after-tax annuity amount shown on the Jackpot Analysis page because the Jackpot Analysis page shows an average annual payment, whereas we calculate an exact payment here.
Tuesday Jackpot
Wednesday Jackpot
$80.9 Million
Friday Jackpot
TX Lotto Texas
About Us | Accuracy Statement | Privacy Policy | Site Map | DMCA | Terms of Use
Copyright © 1999-2021 Speednet Group. All rights reserved.


Available in 4, 6, 8 and 10 inch diameters and can be custom cut to any height requirement and custom fabrication is available.
Steel Pipe Bollards are designed to protect structures, parking and park areas. They are found at storefronts to keep vehicles from encroaching from the parking area, along sidewalks, protecting bank drive-thru ATMs and many other vehicle and pedestrian safety applications.
Constructed of ASTM 500 B structural grade steel, Steel Pipe Bollards are a permanent, fixed bollard at the point of installation. A portion of the pipe is buried in the ground and surrounded with concrete to assure a solid foundation. The steel pipe itself is also filled with concrete to provide the utmost protection.
Steel Pipe Bollards ship with or without prime painting and are ready to be covered by the Post Guard Bollard Cover to avoid the cost of painting.
Need a bollard cover that enhances your architectural style?
come in a variety of sizes and colors.
What size Post Guard do you need?


text:
Share this Story: Once the Fed drops 'patient,' rate hikes could come at any time, Yellen tells markets
Once the Fed drops 'patient,' rate hikes could come at any time, Yellen tells markets
The Fed chair laid out the groundwork for future hikes today while not locking policy makers into a timetable for tightening
Feb 24, 2015 • February 24, 2015 • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen served notice that a change in the Fed's pledge to be "patient" on the timing of an interest-rate increase would signal that liftoff could come at any meeting, while not locking policy makers into a timetable for tightening.
"It is important to emphasize that a modification of the forward guidance should not be read as indicating that the committee will necessarily increase the target range in a couple of meetings," Yellen said in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.
Once the Fed drops 'patient,' rate hikes could come at any time, Yellen tells markets Back to video
"Instead, the modification should be understood as reflecting the committee's judgment that conditions have improved to the point where it will soon be the case that a change in the target range could be warranted at any meeting."
Yellen Tuesday repeated that the Fed's pledge to be "patient" on beginning to raise the benchmark interest rate means an increase is unlikely for "at least the next couple" of meetings. The central bank adopted the guidance in December and repeated it in January.
Stocks rose to all-time highs on Yellen's testimony. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.2% to a record 2,115.05 as of 11:11 a.m. in New York. The Nasdaq Composite Index was little changed after a nine-day gain took it 1.7% away from its 2000 record. Ten-year Treasury yields fell two basis points to 2.04%.
While "important progress" has been made toward the Fed's goal of maximum employment, Yellen said today, "too many Americans remain unemployed, wage growth is still sluggish and inflation remains well below our longer-run objectives."
Fed policy makers are trying to judge whether the labor market has improved enough to warrant raising interest rates in coming months, even as inflation remains well below their 2% goal.
Federal Reserve may keep interest rates at zero for longer as officials fear dampening recovery
Alberta will sink into recession this year, as provincial fortunes turn amid oil's collapse, CIBC predicts
Rate Expectations
A market-based measure Tuesday put the odds of a June liftoff at around 19%, based on futures and options trading data compiled by Bloomberg. This compares with odds of around 25% before publication last week of minutes of the Jan. 27-28 meeting, which surprised many investors by showing that many officials were inclined to hold rates near zero for a longer time.
Yellen repeated that the FOMC, before raising rates, will want to be "reasonably confident" that inflation will move back up to the central bank's goal. Its preferred gauge of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures index, has stayed below 2% since April 2012, and it rose just 0.7% in the year through December.
She also restated the committee's view that the recent drop in inflation was principally due to oil's plunge.
"The committee expects inflation to decline further in the near term before rising gradually toward 2% over the medium term as the labor market improves further and the transitory effects of lower energy prices and other factors dissipate," she said.
Picture Brightens
The U.S. economic picture has brightened in recent months, encouraging the Fed to end its program of buying bonds in October in a first step in tightening policy.
In the seven months through January, employers added more than 1.9 million workers to non-farm payrolls, helping to reduce the jobless rate to 5.7%. The economy recovered from a first-quarter slump to expand at a 2.4% pace in 2014, the most since 2010.
Some of Yellen's colleagues on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee have argued the bank should already be raising rates in order to head off a potential jump in inflation or the emergence of destabilizing financial bubbles.
Yellen pointed to risks to the U.S. from abroad, citing "disappointing foreign growth and changes in monetary policy abroad" as reasons longer-term interest rates falling "significantly" since mid-2014 in the U.S. and other advanced economies.
Slowing across foreign economies "could pose risks to the outlook for U.S. economic growth" and despite slight pickups in the second half of last year, Yellen said other nations "are confronting a number of challenges that could restrain economic activity."
Yellen said China, the world's second-largest economy, "could slow more than anticipated" as policy makers work to reduce risk in financial markets and rely less on exports, while euro area still faces slow growth and low inflation.
Still, she cited a potential boost from other central banks adding stimulus. "We could see economic activity respond to the policy stimulus now being provided by foreign central banks more strongly than we currently anticipate, and the recent decline in world oil prices could boost overall global economic growth more than we expect," Yellen said.


Is there a better alternative to X-Mirage?
Is X-Mirage really the best app in Desktop category?
Will X-Mirage work good on macOS 10.13.4?
X-Mirage allows users to wirelessly mirror iOS devices on a Mac using AirPlay. X-Mirage supports mirroring multiple iOS devices to one Mac, as well as the ability to record the mirrored devices' screens.


Belleruche is a band that performs 'Turntable Soul' music. Comprised of Kathrin DeBoer, Ricky Fabulous and DJ Modest, they have several albums with independent label Tru Thoughts.
Kathrin DeBoer is the singer of Belleruche.
Belleruche have played Glastonbury, Montreaux Jazz Festival and the Sydney Opera House, as well as touring Europe and putting on shows in Tunisia and China. But they quickly admit they would not have been able to survive if they hadn't kept their day jobs.
"We play as many gigs as we can, but there's no guarantees. We consider ourselves lucky to be able to do this."
"It's difficult," says singer DeBoer, "but having a day job keeps you sane at times. The music industry can be utterly consuming of both your time and mind.
"Creativity and music can be first thing to suffer when you get caught up with the logistics of a band. Most of our weekends are spent touring. And since we don't have a manager, it's up to us to be organised and make things happen - setting up photo shoots, printing t-shirts, booking photographers and liaising with venues."
"We all have different roles," says Fabulous. "I book the band's train travel and that was daunting at first. You have to balance the travel time and cost. But as I became familiar with the train networks, it became less daunting - just a regular part of what we do.
The band was a challenging act to market. "We called what we do 'turntable soul music' when we started," says Modest, the band's turntablist. "We didn't know what else to call it. Our music never fitted neatly into traditional genres.
"Because the band includes a turntablist, we were initially booked for lots of DJ-style gigs in clubs. Over the last two years this has broadened into shows at jazz festivals, electro and rock events.
"Creativity and music can be first thing to suffer when you get caught up with the logistics of a band. Most of our weekends are spent touring."
"If you look at Ornette Coleman and lots of other jazz musicians from the 60s, they often set up their own labels," says Modest.
"Being resourceful is part of making music now. Everyone faces the same challenges, and you have to get results without the backing of a 'traditional' music industry structure. Essentially, that's all falling down around us as the world of music distribution changes".
It was setting up their own label that led Brighton independent label Tru Thoughts to notice Belleruche. The band agreed a three album deal, releasing 'Turntable Soul Music' in summer 2007 and 'The Express' in October 2008.
"We don't want to do the work of a record label right now," says Modest. "I think a musician can make music, have a part time job, or they can put out records. You might be able to do two of those things well simultaneously, but not all three. And you definitely can't make good music if you're too tired or stressed to spend the time on it".


This is the final installment of a three-part series exploring hidden spaces within the DePauw and Greencastle community.
Conspire: Contemporary Craft is a boutique located on the downtown square at 2 W. Washington Street. The business takes the idea of supporting local to a new level with over 120 local and regional artists featured. "We're trying to promote local art in a local economy, and art as activism," owner J.D. Grove said. Customers will not find corporate brand names on display at the shop, but rather handmade and homegrown items. "It's a really different experience than buying something not knowing where it's made or whether it's made in a very ethical way," Grove said. The space offers classes to learn how to make handmade soap, crochet and craft. The business is open Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Students can strike a deal with free bowling at 3G Bowl located approximately one mile from campus at 1250 S. Jackson St. Admission and shoes are covered for DePauw students with a valid student ID. While the bowling alley is open 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the lights go down at 9 p.m. and cosmic bowling is offered until midnight. Bowling is offered on Sundays from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Monday through Thursday 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Greencastle Farmers' Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday until the first weekend of October downtown on the courthouse square. The market sells locally grown, handmade and homemade good. Local artist Alex Hirt sells handmade cards and paintings at the market. Her dog Frederick Douglass serves as inspiration for her art and his can be identified in many of her paintings. "He's my live model," Hirt said.
"Our history is closely connected with DePauw," Steve Bonney said. Bonney is one of the first people to greet museum goers and enjoys the opportunity to learn more about the community that he has called home his entire life. Visitors can take a walk back in time to learn more about the county's agricultural roots, the relationship with the DePauw community, and the influence of prominent figures and places within the county. Students will notice a few familiar names on display including artwork by Marj and Richard Peeler. Admission is free and open to visitors Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.


Lots of photos of the first Buk-M2 unit in Russia.
Nice , I am keen to see BUK-3 now its been a long time we heard about it.
Though I am a bit worried when AW&ST says that Israel new generation Jammer then Jam these SAM ...... I just wonder how capable BUK-2 and its radar will operate under intense jamming.
What else would Israel say?
And for every system there are countermeasures... the question is will they work?
An over confident Israel saw SA-6 SAMs deployed and assumed they were just some more missiles like SA-2 and SA-3 that they thought they could deal with.
In real combat they found they had no effective counter to continuous wave illumination SAMs even though they had plenty of experience of using such systems (like HAWK).
A clever enemy will always find ways to reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of an enemies weapons, but that goes both ways.
Modern Russian SAMs are not designed to be operated without a challenge, and ECCM is part of the design... including passive optical guidance modes.
Nice pictures. Interesting is this sector radar on elevating telescoping arm. How many of them are in battalion or brigade?
TR1 wrote: Lots of photos of the first Buk-M2 unit in Russia.
First BUK-M2 unit????? Is that the only one they got?
I thought it was in service for a number of years now. After all we saw it paraded in Moscow a few years ago.
Nope, only 1 so far.
The mutli-channel engagement of a Buk-m2 unit is pretty crazy though.
TR1 wrote: The mutli-channel engagement of a Buk-m2 unit is pretty crazy though.
It could engage 6 targets simultaneously. However, it has a relatively slow reaction time compared to the other modern SAMs that Russia has.
Each launcher has 6 channels, many launchers per unit, you get the idea.
Reaction time may not be that of Pantsir, but it is still fine, and well, its a longer ranged system.
BUK-2ME reaction time is comparable to any medium range sam , its not a quick reaction Pantsyr system.
So each TEL with its battery and radar can engage six targets ? Since each TEL carries its own Phased Array Radar making them independent.
I just wonder why Iranians didnt opt for SA-17 and deployed it widely instead of waiting for the moon like S-300 and never getting it.
What's wrong with reaction time ? It is not an issue, especially if you cannot compare Buk with any other, because there is nothing similar to it in capability. Also, they developed for it missile variants with an active homing seeker, which allows a lock on before launch capability. That would improve it's performance (and reaction time I suppose) at closer ranges.
Having 6 guidance channels is rather more important than most people give it credit for.
With each TEL having 6 guidance channels it means that one vehicle can control and guide all the missiles it carries and two missiles from another launcher all at once.
As shown in Libya a single heavy SAM battery from the 1960s can be easily overwhelmed because with one or perhaps two guidance channels it can only engage one or two targets at once, so if 4 cruise missiles are coming in from detection to intercept it can only deal with one or two of them and during that engagement the other missiles are getting closer and closer.
The more guidance channels you have the more effort is needed to overwhelm a system.
Needless to say a single Flanker could probably carry 4-6 cruise missiles each, so while one aircraft could overwhelm a SAM battery, a BUK battery with 6 TELs would require at least 6 aircraft with heavy payloads... and that is assuming those missiles don't cross any Pantsir-S1 or Tunguska or TOR batteries on their way to the target.
Are you sure this is the first Buk-M2 unit?
In 2011 they receive first Buk-M2 unit in Ural region around Ufa. But there are Buk-M2 units around Moscow, which were shown on parades. I read, that Buk-M2 is in production since 2007.
Will ground forces also receive Buk-M2 on wheeled chassis or strictly tracked ones?
Apparently this is the 1st and last Buk-M2 unit. From now on Buk-M3 will be delivered, at what pace, don't know.
There is still a question, what were those Buk-M2s on parades in past years. On parade are vehicles, which are in operational units and not prototype vehicles, which are property of producers. Maybe they are relocated to the mentioned brigade.
297th AD brigade was formed from 4 batteries. If we go by Buk battery figures, thats 9 TELs and reload vehicles (they can fire as well but don't have the onboard radar) per battery. Assuming this, thats 36 launcher vehicles in the AD brigade.
medo wrote: There is still a question, what were those Buk-M2s on parades in past years. On parade are vehicles, which are in operational units and not prototype vehicles, which are property of producers. Maybe they are relocated to the mentioned brigade.
Hi, There is such thing as BUK M1-2 it is modernisation of M1 getting it pretty close to M2. Maybe when journalist talk of "modernised/new BUK's" they didn't hear of Buk-M1-2 and mistaken it for M2.
There must be a lot of these M1-2 already.
M2 itself was developed in mid-80's (85-86) and accepted into service in 1990 or 1991 so it was definately needed to be further upgraded. The recent ones are, i am sure, improved over the 1985 model but still it has its limitations.
Journalist could make mistakes, but I know, that on parades was Buk-M2, because TELARs have Buk-M2 PESA tracking radar, while Buk-M1-2 have the same mechanical radar as Buk-M1, only it could use missiles from Buk-M2, which give them longer range.
So russian army will base in S-300V, Buk-M2 in AD brigades, and Tor-M2 in the AD regiments?
Motorised brigades will consist of Tor-m2, Strela-10, Tunguska?
Not sure if any more Buk-M2 is due for delivery. Maybe Buk-M3 though.
Yes, though for the future there will be S-300V4, and Buk-M3, an TOR-M3.
And of course TOR-M3, Morfei and a new laser beam riding missile called Baikanuk or something, and Pantsir-S1.
Also Igla-S is supplimented with the new Verba MANPADs.
Had a question about the utility of BUk-M3- from what I understand now there will be a potent battery engagement radar, individual TEL phased arrays AND active seekers on each missile?
Is such redundancy really necessary, for a system that does not have that much range by Russian standards, and would that not make each battery very expensive?
Why are active seekers not being sought for S-300V and S-400?
TR1 wrote: Had a question about the utility of BUk-M3- from what I understand now there will be a potent battery engagement radar, individual TEL phased arrays AND active seekers on each missile?
Well I think the point is, is that these things are designed to be very hard to all track down and kill. Even if all of the S-300s batteries and Radar stations get taken out by the enemy, these BUKs (each one of them completely independent if need be) can still run around, hitting and hiding again and playing hell with the enemy, almost like vehicle guerilla warfare. Just look to the Georgia conflict for confirmation. No way anything else will be able to pull that off.
Of course while the air defense umbrella holds and Russian forces have the long-range, short-range, etc... SAMs to back-up the medium-range ones like the BUK; a Pechora-2M will be able to do much of the same job and much cheaper. However, if the Russian air defense is really pressed, assaulted and is hit by everything a powerful adversary has; the Pechoras would be in great trouble. The BUKs however would not be; and this is what makes them a valuable asset; they have less range than the S-300 but are more survivable and harder to find.
I just don't see the point of Active Seekers on the missiles if each TEL has more channels than it actually has deployed missiles.
Buk TELs never operate on their own in any case, and even if the battery level radars are attacked, there is still redundancy with the on board + on missile tracking.
The whole design focus behind the BUK was experience with KUB in the Middle East.
It was found that if the battery radar of the KUB system was taken out using UAVs and HARM or something similar then the entire battery became sitting ducks that could be taken out by F-16s with dumb bombs because the TELs had no search or track capability so the missiles on them were useless.
Newer ARH seekers are not as expensive as they used to be, and actually high frequency Ka band (MMW) transmitter/receiver seekers, or ARH seekers are not very expensive at all.
For a system like BUK having active radar homing seekers has many of the same advantages for the SAM system as it would for an aircraft using ARH R-77s instead of SARH R-27s. Remember the performance of radar drops off at the square of distance, so flying the radar seeker right up close to the enemy target means a better lock, and of course for low flying threats an active radar homing missile can be directed by off platform sensors to targets out of the line of sight of the SAM site yet the missile can still be directed to the targets vicinity and it can be engaged by that missile.
An example of that would be the first test of the R-37 where the Mig-31M that was used to launch the missile still had an old model radar with a lock on range of about 120km for fighters and about 200km for bombers, but with an Su-30M flying within 100km of the target passing target data to the Mig-31M it was able to launch its missile and direct it to the vicinity of the target without actually detecting and tracking the target itself. The result was a kill with a missile flight distance of 300km... which is pretty impressive.
For BUK with low flying threats, they won't be hitting targets 300km away, but missiles could be directed to places where targets have been detected and tracked by other nodes on the network and missiles can be fired to intercept targets on the other side of mountains or hills that would otherwise be safe from that battery if it has SARH missiles.
ARH missiles also often have much better terminal phase accuracy because the radar is in the nose of the missile instead of 60-70km away on a vehicle, so often the warhead weight can be reduced to allow an increase in flight performance. The BUK carries a 70kg HE warhead which makes it a big missile.
It will be interesting to see if they go to vertical launch tubes in the later models like they do with the naval Shtil-1.
Another advantage of vertical launch is engagement time... though with a vehicle like TOR you need to use the datalinking capacity of the 6 TELs because although they can each control multiple missiles at a time the tracking radar that controls the engagement is on the front of the turret so vertical launch in any direction means the vehicles must coordinate the directions their turrets face so they cover all potential threat directions... if all turrets are facing in one direction then their vertical launch capacity to engage from any direction becomes moot.
With ARH missiles there is less need to continue tracking though performance is certainly improved if the target is tracked and flight command updates are datalinked to the outgoing SAM to make sure that when it gets to its intercept point the target is nicely centred in its view so it can have maximum terminal manouver performance... if it reaches the intercept point it was given at launch with no updates because the target wasn't tracked after launch then you might find the target is not directly in front of your missile so your missile might have to turn hard just to acquire the target... if the target manouvers in the correct direction at the correct time even a very manouverable missile might not be able to turn fast enough before it blows past the target and loses lock.


text:
Saint-Laurent-du-Var – miejscowość i gmina we Francji, w regionie Prowansja-Alpy-Lazurowe Wybrzeże, w departamencie Alpy Nadmorskie.

Według danych na rok 1990 gminę zamieszkiwało 24 426 osób, a gęstość zaludnienia wynosiła 2416 osób/km² (wśród 963 gmin regionu Prowansja-Alpy-W. Lazurowe Saint-Laurent-du-Var plasuje się na 28. miejscu pod względem liczby ludności, natomiast pod względem powierzchni na miejscu 691.).

Współpraca
  Landsberg am Lech, Niemcy
  Siófok, Węgry
  Waldheim, Niemcy
  Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Gujana Francuska

Bibliografia

Miejscowości w departamencie Alpy Nadmorskie
Miasta w regionie Prowansja-Alpy-Lazurowe Wybrzeże

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


May 18, 2016—PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, announces the release of a new Mechatronics Certification test – Mechanical Components 2. PMMI's Mechatronics Certification tests help manufacturers identify levels of competency for new candidates and assess the capabilities of current employees. The release of this new test completes the second level of PMMI's Mechatronics Certifications.
The Mechanical Components 2 certification exam builds upon the knowledge assessed in Mechanical Components 1 by evaluating the candidate's mastery of the principles and application of mechanical components such as clutches, brakes, gear boxes, transmissions, ball screws, and linear components. It also tests competencies in sealing, lubricants and automated lubrication, precision alignment and timing, vibration analysis and the use of video to troubleshoot mechanical systems.
This certification is aimed at intermediate-level technicians and technologists who may be involved in the assembly, test, startup, troubleshooting, maintenance, repair or upgrade of mechanically complex processing, packaging or manufacturing machinery. Candidates must have already successfully earned the Industrial Mechanics 1 certification, or its equivalent, before taking the Mechanical Components 2 exam.
PMMI Mechatronics Certifications are recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor and endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers' Skills Certification System. This series of exams is related to the four general technology areas of mechatronics as practiced in industrial maintenance, including electrical, mechanical, instrumentation and controls and computer science.


text:
Join us for a LIVE speaker seminar followed by Q&A
Thursday, December 8, 2022 (5:00pm-6:00pm ET)
Taylor McCorkle
Sex-dependent mechanisms underlying cognitive deficits following repeated concussion in adolescence
Taylor McCorkle is currently a PhD student at Drexel University College of Medicine working with Dr. Ramesh Raghupathi. She has won a number of awards, including a 2022 IBNS Travel Award, an SfN Trainee Professional Development Award, and is a Fellow of the Neuroscience Scholars Program. Taylor's research aims to understand the sex-specific mechanisms through which traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to hippocampal cognitive deficits in adolescent rats. She co-founded and is the current President of Biomedical Graduate Students for Diversity at Drexel and is has been recognized for her commitment to diversity and outreach initiatives as a "Diversifying the Community of Neuroscience" Fellow.
Registration is FREE and you do not need to be a member!
Link to Register: https://ibns.memberclicks.net/iisc1222
CALL FOR SPEAKERS FOR THE
IBNS (is) STAYING CONNECTED SEMINAR SERIES
The International Behavioral Neuroscience Society is excited to continue the virtual, global seminar series for early career researchers, "IBNS (is) Staying Connected."
The next installment is scheduled for Thursday, December 8, 2022 (5-6pm ET) Please see the schedule below.
We will feature one speaker who is either a late-stage PhD student or a postdoctoral researcher and an IBNS member. The speaker will have 30 minutes to present their research, followed by 5 minutes of introspection about their own methods, data, and future directions, and finish off with a 10-15 minute Q&A. This will provide the selected ECR with a unique opportunity to engage with the IBNS membership. If you're interested in being a speaker, please submit a 200-word abstract of your research and a 150-word diversity statement by 11:59pm ET November 11, 2022. Complete your application here or by clicking the button below.
Your abstract should clearly articulate your research question and approach, the interpretation of your findings and their implications, the innovativeness and impact of these findings, and should incorporate behavior.
For the diversity statement, you should describe ways in which you have made efforts or plan to make future efforts to promote diversity and inclusion, with regards to culture, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, national origin, physical or mental difference, politics, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and/or subculture, as described in the IBNS Diversity Statement. A statement evaluated as Outstanding would include specific examples (e.g. partnering organizations, collaborators, and/or applicant led-initiatives/programs) of things that have been done or being planned, as well as a clear explanation how these examples promote diversity and inclusion within the field of behavioral neuroscience. Your diversity statement will remain private among the few members reviewing the applications. Nothing in the diversity statement will be made public.
Ethics and Diversity Committee
Janine Kwapis, Chair
Christian Bravo-Rivera, Co-Chair
Nii Addy
Anand Gururajan
Carlos Bolanos
Martin Job
Erica Glasper
Karly Turner
Nicole Ferrara
Madison Clement


text:
Paypal BLOCKS Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo
Dutch company gives 9 Syrian refugees a job: None return after first week
By Pamela Geller - on October 18, 2018
Muslim Immigration: The Hijrah
Add these soldiers to the ever growing invading army while the left spins tales of how these "refugees" need jobs, safe haven and other fairy tales.
By Voice of Europe, 17 October 2018
A construction company from Capelle aan den Ijssel had the plan to give nine Syrian asylum seekers, with a background in construction work, a job. As they hired the men, they did not show up after a week, Dutch newspaper AD reports.
Dominque De Vries, the owner of construction company DSPPM gave the nine men a two-year contract, but his warm gesture backfired.
"They've stayed for a week, because they didn't want to work fulltime (40 hours) … Afterwards I did not see them again," De Vries says.
The project between the company and the asylum seeker was even started by the mayor and the construction company invested heavily to educate the nine men.
"I was very enthusiastic and I invested a lot of time in it. I wanted to give these people a chance," De Vries says.
He furnished a complete class room with tables and chairs to school the men on construction work.
After all the failed asylum seeker project costs De Vries and his company a lot of money. His construction project is delayed and he needs new men to do the job.


text:
Spaz è un singolo della rapper statunitense Bhad Bhabie, pubblicato il 29 maggio 2018.

Tracce

Note


1.1 Cookies are small text files that are sent by a website to a web browser, and stored by the browser. This enables the website to identify and track the web browser. Cookies can, among other functions, enable a website to recognize a device each time it visits, remember user preferences and recommend content.
1.2 Cookies in themselves do not identify the individual user, but rather the computer used. However, some cookies will contain personal information such as a user name.
1.3.2 Persistent cookies will be used to enable our website to recognize you when you visit. Persistent cookies will remain stored on your computer until deleted, or until they reach a specified expiry date.
1.4 The site also employs cookies from third parties such as Google Analytics.
These cookies are essential to the functioning of a site, enabling you to move around the site and allowing the site to provide the services that you ask for. For example, a strictly necessary cookie might be used to log into secure areas of a site or to recognize the region you are in, thereby allowing the site operator to tailor the site accordingly.
These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website. They allow the site operator to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around the site when they are using it. This helps the site operator to improve the way the website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
These cookies allow a website to remember choices that a user makes and provide enhanced, more personalized features. For example, such cookies enable you to stay signed into the website and recognize you when you arrive. The information these cookies collect may be anonymized and they cannot track browsing activity on other websites.
These cookies record users' visits to a website, the pages they have visited and the links they have followed. They are also used to ensure that users are presented with adverts which are relevant to their interests, to limit the number of times a particular advert is displayed and to help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. The information is often shared with other organizations, such as advertisers.
You can find more information about the individual cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them in the table below. Whilst you are using the site, if you come across a cookie that is not listed in the table below, then please contact us. You can also find out more about cookies generally here http://www.allaboutcookies.org/cookies/persistent-cookies-used-for.html.
_utma 2 years These are Google Analytics cookies. Google Analytics is a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. Google holds this information and provides us with access to it.
c_user 30 days These cookies are needed for the Facebook social plugin. They are set to detect if the user is logged in to Facebook etc.
5.1 Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually change your browser settings to limit or prevent cookies. You can find out more about blocking or deleting cookies here http://www.allaboutcookies.org/cookies/persistent-cookies-used-for.html.
5.2 You can find out how to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics here https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
5.4 If you set your browser to not accept cookies, it may result in certain sections of our site not working properly and certain personalized services not being provided to users of your computer.


I woke up about half 6 and looked out the window to see the sun rising over the horizon which was pretty amazing. Having rolled out of bed and checked the surf it was about 1ft and clean due to the early offshore breeze. It looked like the start of a beautiful day, without a single cloud in the sky.
After some breakfast I skated up to the point and took some photos of the next beach over to the north. The surf there was the same size but looked less constant, so I decided I would go for a paddle out the same beach as yesterday.
I stayed in for about an hour and a half, but then I had to get out as I was just freezing cold. The air was a far amount cooler than the sea (which is about 15/16 I'm told) and the breeze made it freezing. The longer I was in the sea the closer a big weather front like last night arrived from the south. By the time I got out about 9:30am it was completely overcast and was threatening to rain.
The only way I could warm up was to get back into bed under my duvet, so I led there checking my surf book for where to go next up the coast, and text Lorraine. Apparently the surf has been much the same up at Spot X as here over the last few days, and they Havnt had the best weather either...at least I'm not missing much up there either.
When I had warmed up a bit I sorted out the car and headed off. First i went to a Maccas for the usual internet routine, then went on the next beach, in a place called 'Thirroul'. It wasn't as nice as where I has just come from, and I wasn't all that bothered about hanging around there really. I went for a bit of walk to check out down the beach more, while eating lunch. It turned out the surf was marginally better here, but not enough to make me want to go in..
Miraculously the sun came out, so I found a sheltered patch on the grass above the beach from the strong onshore winds, and listened to my music in the sun. For some reason I'm super tired, must be going to sleep later the last few nights, but I think I dozed off once or twice while laying there.
All of a sudden the unsettled weather struck again a few hours later. Big storm clouds blew over and it was raining and extremely strong winds within 15/20 mins. I sat in the car and faffed with my scruffy looking dreads until they were looking half respectable again, then drove on the next place north 5 minutes away called 'Austinmer'.
There was a beach car park which didn't appear to have any 'no camping' signs, so I guess I will stay here tonight?
The forecast is showing a 2m ESE swell to be here by morning, hense the gale force winds ripping through currently. I just hope it lives up to its forecast and there are some half decent waves in the morning!
It was horizontal torrential rain when I wanted to cook some dinner, and even the picnic areas were getting washed out. I ended angling the car so the passenger window could be fully opened without the rain coming in,then used gas stove on the passenger seat so heat up noodles cooked in soup. Not someone think I wish to do again in a hurry!


Ah, swimming, the one sport that every doctor, health magazine, and fitness web site (including RealJock) wants you to do. It strengthens the joints, builds the muscles, and improves the cardio vascular system. You can do it when you're four... and when you're 85. That's why it's no surprise that so many GLBT swimming masters teams exist, and that one exists in New York.
What is surprising, however, is the sheer size and organizational prowess of Team New York Aquatics (TNYA). New York's GLBT swim team took its first stroke in 1988 in preparation for Gay Games III in Vancouver. Eighteen some-odd years later, the team has over 300 members, practices at three different pools, has an Olympic gold medal winner (Bruce Hayes) on its team, and holds enough practices each week to keep an on-staff coach busy.
Jack Mackenroth, a long-term member of the team and current TNYA board member, has swam with TNYA since almost the beginning. He joined the team almost 16 years ago to get back into swimming and to meet other people in a daunting new city.
"I had been a competitive swimmer since I was a kid," says Mackenroth. "I didn't swim in college because I went to Berkeley, which is one of the most competitive swimming schools, and I was sort of through with swimming at that time. Then I moved to New York, and I didn't really know anyone, and I found Team New York my first year here and I've been with them ever since."


With this basic premise, Mary Kay invested her life's savings of $5,000 into the formation and launching of the new company. Her son, Richard, co-founded the company and worked alongside her to bring her dreams to fruition.
To date, Mary Kay Cosmetics has a sales force of over 300,000 Independent Beauty Consultants, paid solely by direct commission on the volume of their sales. She has been touted by both Baylor University and the Wharton School of Business as one of the greatest women entrepreneurs in American history.
A company is only as good as its people.
Praise people to success. The surest way to retain people and their motivation to work for you and your business is to give them praise frequently for doing things right – even the things that fall into their job description! Far too often we overlook the things that happen as "business as usual," because it is not exceptional. Yet, people need to have confirmation that they are doing well and that they are valuable in their role at the company.
Sandwich every bit of criticism between two thick layers of praise.
Follow through on your commitments to others. Your word is your bond.
Engage people to create something that you all value (people support that which they help to create).
You can't rest on previous success and expect to continue growing in the direction you want to go. You must continue striving to be better.
Be willing to take risks for the benefit of the company. Try new things so as not to stagnate.
Create an environment that allows room for mistakes, personal growth, and investment in the well-being of others.
While many of these ideas may seem common-sense, they have made Mary Kay Cosmetics into one of the most successful cosmetics companies in the world. It seems her advice is worth listening to and applying!


text:
Photo courtesy of Retired Fund for Religious
Religious communities grapple with rising cost of caring for aging members
by Amy Weindel
Skyrocketing health care costs have put many religious communities in a precarious financial position as they struggle to meet the needs of their older members. These members include several priests, sisters and brothers in the Archdiocese of Omaha.
Today, the number of religious over the age of 70 outnumber younger members three to one.
A special collection to benefit the Retirement Fund for Religious will be held in parishes across the archdiocese this weekend, Dec. 10-11, to help bridge the gap between religious orders' shrinking budgets and the need to care for their older members.
Aging religious, who worked most of their lives with little or no pay, and their communities are thankful for every contribution to the Retirement Fund for Religious.
Father Tom Cusack of the Missionary Society of St. Columban in Bellevue is grateful for the financial support but, more importantly, the intention behind that support.
"I have a great appreciation and a great sensitivity to people who help us," Father Cusack said. "Any money given to us, whether through the archdiocese, the retirement fund, or directly to us, there's a sacred dimension to it."
Although Father Cusack is considered a "retired" priest, he is quick to point out that just as one never retires from being a mother or a father, he is a priest for life.
"A priest will perform his pastoral commitments, even though they would be scaled back," Father Cusack said. "Even supposing he was paralyzed, and he couldn't do anything, if he unites his sufferings for the sufferings of Christ and the cross because he shares in the priesthood of Christ, he still functioning as a priest."
Mother Kathleen Hawkins of the Poor Clare Nuns community in Elkhorn is humbled by the support her community receives.
"I can't thank those who contribute enough," she said. "They help us out in so many ways. We are so blessed to be remembered. We pray that the Lord blesses them in so many ways for all we have been given."
Last year, Catholics in the Archdiocese of Omaha donated $168,774.07 to the Retirement Fund for Religious, according to the National Religious Retirement Office, which coordinates the annual appeal. Nationwide, the appeal raised nearly $28.5 million in 2021.


extropians: Re: EIG: STOCK MARKET!
Next message: Leevi Marttila: "Re: PHYS: dyson shell thermodynamics AND META: external posters"
Previous message: Michael Lorrey: "Re: More Libertarian questions"
Maybe in reply to: Natasha V. More: "EIG: STOCK MARKET!"
Next in thread: Peter C. McCluskey: "Re: EIG: STOCK MARKET!"


text:
The measure also would put tough new restrictions on issuing credit cards to minors and make it easier to use gift cards.
The House passed its own "Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights" last month with strong bipartisan support — and a strong push from President Barack Obama, who plans to discuss the issue at an Albuquerque, N.M., town hall meeting later this week.
Many banking industry officials are concerned about the legislation. The American Bankers Association sent a letter to senators Tuesday saying that while it understood the need for some of the bill's consumer protections, the measure also "contains various provisions that limit a lender's ability to manage risk, price fees, allocate payments, and otherwise prudently conduct business."
Those limits, the ABA warned, "will necessitate reductions in available credit given current economic conditions, while increasing the price of credit where it remains available."
The bankers, however, are up against strong political momentum that comes after some lawmakers and consumer groups have pushed for changes for more than a decade. Three recent developments have stoked a dramatic change in the legislative mood.
"The president is number one and the economy is number two," said Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America. "And third, little by little, the interest rates have affected so many households, I don't have to convince senators that this is a problem anymore."
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., felt the sting when his 7-year-old daughter got a credit card solicitation in the mail, at the same time he was hearing from constituents about sudden interest rate jolts.
"The range of abusive practices is as long as it is appalling," he said.
A Pew Safe Credit Cards Project survey of 12 large credit card issuers, conducted during 2008, found that 93 percent of cards "allowed the issuer to raise any interest rate at any time by changing the account agreement."
And, it said, some 87 percent of cards "allowed the issuer to impose automatic penalty interest rate increases on all balances, even if the account isn't 30 days or more past due. The median allowable penalty interest rate was 27.99 percent per year."
The study found that "current credit card practices place American cardholders at risk of sudden, potentially drastic price increases, which can seriously impair a household's stability and spending power."
There is some congressional resistance to approving changes, as some lawmakers were concerned that companies could tighten credit if faced with new restrictions.
"I appreciate trying to straighten out any problems, but sometimes we over-regulate," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "When you start doing that there are sometimes unforeseen consequences."
The bill also would:
_ Require a credit card issued to someone under 21, say, a college student, to be approved by a parent or guardian who would assume responsibility for unpaid debt.
_ Require any gift card to have at least a five-year lifespan and eliminate any hidden fees in the card, fees sometimes charged when a card is used.
_ Bar issuers from charging a fee to pay a credit card debt in most cases.
_ Require payments above the minimum balance to be applied first to the card balance with the highest interest rates
_ Bar issuers from establishing early morning deadlines for payments.
_ Require full, understandable disclosure in billing statements of due dates and late payment penalties.
The Federal Reserve Board has issued similar rules that would take effect next year, though the legislation goes further. For instance, the House bill bars adding fees for paying card balances by phone, requires companies to file detailed annual reports about card rates and usage with the proper regulatory agency, and bans issuance of cards to most minors under 18.
Pew report on credit card practices
Fact sheet on credit cardholders' bill of rights
Fact sheet on Senate credit cardholders protection bill
House roll call vote on credit card bill
MORE FROM MCCLATCHY
Deficits soar even with rosy Obama budget assumptions
House passes bill that favors credit card holders
Negotiators settle on federal budget blueprint for 2010
Obama spends big now, talks austerity later — 10 years later
Related stories from Tri-City Herald
Are credit cards the next collapse?
Using credit cards to pay loans, bills attracts interest
Congress takes aim at credit cards and college students
Credit ripoff: How a $100 purchase turns into a $1,000 debt
Scenes from a foot chase in Kennewick between police and a wanted man
Look out for this new froyo and custard shop in Kennewick
Teens say they were given beer and pot and were raped. A Pasco man is now in jail
Kennewick woman's persistence finally pays off. She's been selected the new Miss Tri-Cities
Police say Kennewick man possessed and dealt massive amounts of child porn. He denies it
She was shot in the head and made it to a hospital. Police wonder how it all happened
Police shoot at man during foot pursuit in Kennewick
Washington drivers might be charged by the mile to make up for lagging gas-tax revenue
By James Drew
Washington state would move toward replacing the gas tax with a pay-per-mile system under a proposal the state Transportation Commission is expected to vote on later this year.
Get full access to Tri-City Herald content across all your devices.
Death notices for July 17
Horizon Air is soaring, CEO says. Here's his news about reviving Pasco to Portland flights
Veterans have new choices for medical care in the Tri-Cities
A Kennewick driver left a big clue for police in a hit-and-run. Here's what they found
Tri-City Herald App
Digital Solutions Place a Classified Contact Us


text:
/************************************************
 ff_controllers.h
 Fodder Factory Monitoring and Control

 (c) Brendan McLearie - bmclearie@mclearie.com

 Controller Processing
 ************************************************/
#ifndef SRC_FF_CONTROLLERS_H_
#define SRC_FF_CONTROLLERS_H_

#include <registry.h>

/************************************************
 Data Structures
 ************************************************/

//typedef struct CONTROL_BLOCK ControlBlock;

/************************************************
 Function prototypes
 ************************************************/

void ControllerSetup(BlockNode *b);
void ControllerOperate(BlockNode *b);
void ControllerShow(BlockNode *b, void(Callback(const char *)));

#endif /* SRC_FF_CONTROLLERS_H_ */

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
O'Neill, Hugh, Inmaculada Arned llo-Sanchez and Brendan Tangney. "Implementing Accessible Online Learning for Blind and Visually Impaired Students: A Piolot Study." Advances in Universal Web Design and Evaluation: Research, Trends and Opportunities. IGI Global, 2007. 271-292. Web. 29 Jan. 2020. doi:10.4018/978-1-59904-096-7.ch012
O'Neill, H., Arned llo-Sanchez, I., & Tangney, B. (2007). Implementing Accessible Online Learning for Blind and Visually Impaired Students: A Piolot Study. In S. Kurniawan, & P. Zaphiris (Eds.), Advances in Universal Web Design and Evaluation: Research, Trends and Opportunities (pp. 271-292). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-59904-096-7.ch012
O'Neill, Hugh, Inmaculada Arned llo-Sanchez and Brendan Tangney. "Implementing Accessible Online Learning for Blind and Visually Impaired Students: A Piolot Study." In Advances in Universal Web Design and Evaluation: Research, Trends and Opportunities, ed. Sri Kurniawan and Panayiotis Zaphiris, 271-292 (2007), accessed January 29, 2020. doi:10.4018/978-1-59904-096-7.ch012
Implementing Accessible Online Learning for Blind and Visually Impaired Students: A Piolot Study
Hugh O'Neill (Central Remedial Clinic, Ireland), Inmaculada Arned llo-Sanchez (Centre for Research in IT in Education (CRITE) and University of Dublin, Ireland) and Brendan Tangney (Centre for Research in IT in Education (CRITE) and University of Dublin, Ireland)
Source Title: Advances in Universal Web Design and Evaluation: Research, Trends and Opportunities
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-096-7.ch012
This chapter presents a framework for the design of accessible online learning environments for blind and visually impaired students in terms of accessibility and the design process. The conjunction of the Web content Accessibility Guidelines Version 1 and the Principles of Universal Design for Learning (Centre for Applied Special Technology) into the instructional design process forms the basis of our approach. The first cycle of this iterative study implements objectivist instructional design theory to teach blind and visually impaired students how to write Web pages in HTML. For future iterations, we argue for the implementation of objectivist instructional design theories to provide clarity of structure beneficial for blind and visually impaired learners, together with constructivist notions such as a clientcentred design approach and mechanisms for interaction to promote collaborative construction of knowledge.
Purchase this chapter to continue reading all 22 pages >


Last Friday, the CDPQInfra released an article entitled "Claims and Realities regarding the REM project". It appears they want to address some of the criticisms that many have raised.
Unfortunately, their article of supposed "claims" vs supposed "reality" includes many big inaccuracies, so I'm feeling compelled to provide counterpoints to their "reality". I know at the end of the day their article is just a PR exercise, but It's a bit puzzling that they would resort to writing articles that come so dangerously close to being misinformation.
In short, I'm aiming to debunk the caisse's debunking of concerns.
In the following it shows the claim the CDPQInfra presents, then their response, then my response to that.
CLAIM #1: Buses, streetcars or tram-trains are technological options that offer the same service and the same performance as automatic light metro, but are much less costly.
CLAIM #2: The REM will have a negative impact on existing infrastructure and public transportation networks.
CLAIM #4: CDPQ Infra will acquire high-value public infrastructure without compensation.
CLAIM #5: CDPQ Infra has not adequately consulted with stakeholders and has not discussed the concerns of citizens and its partners.
CLAIM #6: The Québec government no longer has any control over this project.
CLAIM #7: To ensure that the REM is profitable, CDPQ Infra will have to set higher rates for users.
CDPQ Infra has chosen the solution that combines the most advantages to efficiently meet identified transportation needs. The automated light metro option (part of the LRT family) offers a dedicated corridor, ensuring fast, reliable service. It also guarantees greater safety and lower operating costs than most other systems. Finally, the capacity and flexibility of the automated light metro meets current and future demand, with the REM having the potential to achieve a frequency of 90 seconds. Throughout the world, there are approximately 800 km of automated light rail networks today, four times more than what existed 15 years ago.
The CDPQ claimed they studied various alternatives, but they didn't make this study public. They claim their automatic light metro is the best solution, but they provide no numbers or facts to back up that claim.
I would argue that our trunk line, the Mont-Royal tunnel, should be a high capacity line, continued as a heavy rail line (that is, for high capacity) that can serve several times the ridership that the Caisse is proposing.
Some people complain that right now, people get a direct connection downtown from Brossard, a single seat ride on a bus. In the future people will be forced to transfer at Panama, and this transfer may increase the perceived 'cost' of travelling to make it uncompetitive. Also, buses do have more flexibility for line routing than a fixed rail system. Their claim is that the future BRT on the Champlain bridge would provide sufficient capacity. After all, this has been the plan for years until the Caisse proposed a different one in April.
Others lament that we are spending billions building a metro serving the edge of the metropolitan area, with large parking lots that will induce sprawl. They would rather see the billions of dollars spent in more urban areas, where more people live, where they are more likely to take transit and where the billions could create more ridership — and they claim that could be better done with trams, which integrate well with the urban fabric and make cities stronger.
Basically both the supposed claim and the response from the Caisse are very vague here, there are many arguments that could be made to support many related ideas. In no way is the Caisse's claim a strong argument for or against their project. If they have studies proving precise versions of their claims, they should make them public so we can analyze them.
The REM will significantly improve public transportation in the Greater Montréal area. This complementary service will be seamlessly and effectively integrated into existing networks, metro, bus and commuter trains. Working groups are in place with transit authorities to align the REM with other networks in the metropolitan region, to speed up travel time and intermodal transfers. Operation of the REM will modify certain services, such as buses running along the reserved lane on the Champlain Bridge . But mobility in the Greater Montréal area will be significantly improved.
The main issue is the monopolization of the Mont-Royal tunnel and conversion from a potential high capacity trunk line serving many areas to a medium capacity light metro serving fewer areas. Yes those areas (West Island, Brossard) will receive improved service in some sense, but we do that at the expense of serving other areas (North, Est). Expansions to those other areas will be blocked in the future as well, due to the use of incompatible technology and lack of capacity in the tunnel.
In particular this pertains to the Mascouche line, which has the potential to serve more people than the West Island branch of the REM. Right now it doesn't, due to lack of stations and lack of service, but those could be added. The REM will cut the line and force a transfer, and not provide enough capacity for future upgrades — this means the people in Montreal-Est will never receive a direct connection downtown via an updated Mascouche line.
The issue also pertains to the St-Jerome line, which has the potential to be a rapid transit line serving the North of Montreal and Laval.
It also pertains to VIA rail, which needs to access the tunnel for the most efficient routing between Quebec City and Toronto.
A second issue is that the connections with the existing bus and metro network. In particular the bus connections will be long and awkward, the stations are placed at bad locations far away from the bus corridors. For example, the Fairview stations is 1.3km from Boulevard St-Jean, a major bus boulevard, meaning a 5-10minute detour to reach the station.
At Panama, the transfer from bus to LRT will also involve long walks, meaning the overall time for a bus+LRT trip in the future may not be compatible with buses today, which go directly downtown. So even if the LRT is faster, the long transfer may undo most of the benefit.
A third issue is that of financing. Right now the more profitable metro is used to cross-subsidize feeder buses. If the REM project is more profitable due to the feeders bringing in passengers, but those profits are all kept by the Caisse, it may increase the burden on the public to provide those feeder buses.
CLAIM #3: The REM stations serve low-density areas.
The REM will serve public transit corridors that are currently saturated. This is the case with the bus system on the Champlain Bridge and the Deux-Montagnes train line, whose capacity will be enhanced by the REM. Furthermore, by following existing railway lines or roads, the REM will considerably reduce environmental impacts, while reaching areas that are densely populated. Integration of the REM with other metropolitan transportation networks will allow stations to effectively serve a larger territory and maximize ridership. The REM will ensure faster service over long distances, while buses will facilitate home-to-station access.
Note how the issue isn't addressed: the concern is the placement of new stations in low density areas, the response relates to the capacity of the existing corridors. Then it goes on to claim that the suburbs are densely populated, without backing up that claim or even claiming that the stations will serve those populations directly.
There are several branches for the REM, and some of the corridors do have decent ridership (the Deux-Montagnes line claimed as 'saturated' has about the same ridership as the most busy bus lines in Montreal). The issue is that the stations are placed so that few will live within walking distance of them. This means people will have to get to the stations either by taking bus feeders (which are not well designed), or by driving to the stations (encouraging driving).
The main issue is that most new stations of the REM will be built along highways, where people don't live today and don't want to live in the future. Instead of building transit that will strengthen urban areas, they will weaken them.
At the same time, stations will be far away from downtown both in the West Island and in the South shore. The termini are in unpopulated areas serving only parking lots that will encourage people to live even further away because they can drive'n'ride quickly downtown. In effect, this will encourage sprawl.
one station for everybody else: Panama.
Basically the whole city is bypassed, providing only a single station to maybe 80% of the ridership, forcing everybody to pass through that station — while providing two more stations for few people in the middle of nowhere.
CDPQ Infra will pay fair market value for the the Deux-Montagnes line, including the Mont-Royal access tunnel, and will preserve public ownership of this infrastructure. The Deux-Montagnes line is currently saturated. The REM will triple the capacity of this line and will quadruple that of the Mont-Royal tunnel. The passage running under Mont-Royal will be provided through a completely electric service. Acquisition and transformation of this line by CDPQ Infra will make transportation in the metropolitan region more efficient, benefiting a much higher number of users.
There are several claims in this response, which are somewhat unrelated to the supposed claim.
First off, nobody claimed there will be 'no compensation'. The Caisse has always maintained they will pay 'fair market value' for the infrastructure. The problem is that there is no market for subway tunnels in Montreal. So right now there is a market of only one buyer – the Caisse. So 'fair market value' will be whatever they deem to be fair.
The public has invested hundreds if not billions into the infrastructure to slowly build a regional rail network centered around the tunnel. It's an incredibly important piece of infrastructure, the only direct access downtown — it's replacement value would be billions today. Note the difference here: "market value" (which cannot be determined) and "replacement value" (which can be determined). The caisse will not pay the replacement value for our infrastructure.
Since the Caisse will kick out all but their own lines from the tunnel, the public may be eventually forced to build another tunnel to bring all the extra lines downtown after all — and that will be a giant waste of money (billions), because we have a tunnel today that could have enough capacity to get all our rail lines downtown.
The caisse is not interested in sharing this infrastructure, they want to monopolize it. They intend to rebuild our infrastructure with not enough capacity to build this regional network we need.
This brings us to the capacity claim. Note the caisse they said they will "quadruple" the capacity, without saying what it is today and what it will be in the future.
Right now, the actual scheduled minimum headway in the tunnel is one train every 7 minutes. Each train can hold up to 2000 people. This gives a theoretical maximum capacity of 17,000 PPHD for the tunnel itself, without any upgrades. The system is not used at this frequency continuously, because the AMT doesn't have enough trains, and the Deux-Montagnes line is missing double-track sections, reducing the maximum possible headway. These issues are unrelated to the tunnel itself, and could be fixed using tens or hundreds of millions instead of billions.
The REM on the other hand proposes to have one train of 600 passengers as frequent as every 90 seconds, although it is unclear whether such frequency can be reliably sustained for such a heavily branched line with few downtown stations. Assuming this will work, it would provide a maximum theoretical capacity of 24,000 PPHD. So the capacity increase is not 300%, it's 40% — after spending several billions of dollars.
The 2007 study to put stations at Edouard-Montpetit and McGill envisioned one 2300 people train every 5 minutes (see page 6 of the study). Achieving this frequency could probably be done with very minor signalling upgrades, if they are necessary at all, and would provide a capacity of 27,600 PPHD. That's 15% more than the REM proposal, at a fraction of the cost.
If we upgraded the existing rail system aggressively, the minimum headway could be reduced from every 7 minutes today down to as often as every 2 minutes, as many cities have done with their heavy rail tunnel (like the RER in Paris). We could get a line with a capacity of 40,000 PPHD or maybe even 60,000 PPHD, which could serve the whole region.
But once we sell the tunnel to the Caisse, this cannot happen, because the contract between the Caisse and the government disallows the public to take any control, and the Caisse intends to convert the infrastructure to an incompatible technology that can not be applied along existing rail corridors that also serve freight.
It is a legal fiction that the assets of the Caisse are owned by the public — they are being managed by the caisse for its depositors. And most of those depositors (62%) are the employee pension funds of government and university workers. Effectively our infrastructure will be mostly owned by these private individuals via the employee pensions, with the aim of generating profit.
And even if the infrastructure were wholly owned by the Quebec Pension Plan (which is actually only 23% of the caisse today), we still have the problem that the interests of public pensions and transit users do not align. Pensions need profits to grow, and good transit is not always good for profit. The Caisse has essentially a legal obligation to sacrifice good transit for good profit.
I took a closer look at all the issues relating to privatization in my post "How the Caisse's "public-public-partnership" is privatization in disguise".
Since the REM route was announced on April 22, CDPQ Infra has met with more than 120 representatives from different municipalities and organizations interested in the REM project, including mayors, environmental groups and heritage specialists. We have organized six open house evenings, at which more than 1,500 citizens were met. An online survey enabled more than 1,000 respondents to share their concerns and propose solutions. Following these consultations, CDPQ Infra refined its project to minimize its impacts. Furthermore, CDPQ Infra requested public hearings on the REM project, led by the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE).
The solution by the CDPQ was largely presented as is, presented in April has a near final solution without discussion with any stakeholders. Since then the CDPQ supposedly has talked to many people, but there have mostly been only small cosmetic changes. So far, big issues have not been addressed.
Since the project is privately planned, and the AMT is currently being dismantled, it's unclear whether any public expertise in transit has had any meaningful influence on the project.
At the same time, many important documents, like the ridership studies, evaluation of route options, evaluation of technology choice, financing scheme, the purchasing agreement, and even the original mandate that the government gave to the Caisse have not been published.
Under the CDPQ Infra model, the government will continue to be responsible for identifying needs and priority projects, and for setting the main project parameters. The government can however entrust CDPQ Infra with the responsibility of proposing technical and financial solutions, and taking over execution and operation of infrastructure projects.
For the REM, committees and working groups involving different ministries are in place and construction of the project is conditional upon the government's green light. Calls for tenders will comply with international best practices in terms of transparency and competition, and the integrity of the process will be validated by an independent expert. Bidders will be required to obtain a certificate from the Autorité des marchés financiers.
Right now the government could control the project, but since the whole scheme was concocted between the Liberal government and the Caisse, it seems they are really keen on getting this built, without worrying too much about details. It is quite possible that the Caisse is meeting with the MTQ, but that ministry has fairly little expertise in transit. The project was basically presented as is, and the Caisse has shown that they are only willing to make cosmetic changes, while being unwilling to address major flaws.
The fares paid by users will not be set by CDPQ Infra but rather by the future Autorité régionale de Transport métropolitain (ARTM), in consultation with CDQP Infra. The ARTM will be responsible for managing and planning transportation in the Greater Montréal area. Its mandate will be to integrate and simplify the hundreds of different fares (over 700) currently used in the metropolitan region. CDPQ Infra expects that REM users will use a single transportation ticket and will pay a rate, to be integrated and comparable with rates currently in effect. The REM's profitability will instead come from high ridership, very competitive bids and a rigorous control over operating costs.
This is all good and well, but these are just promises. Promises like great integration with the existing metro and buses; or the promise by Finance minister Leitao that no existing lines will be privatized (we're now privatizing the Deux-Montagnes line).
People have done calculations that appear to show this scheme cannot be profitable without substantially increasing fares. All we got from CDPQInfra as a response is promises like the one above, but they didn't give us their business plan, or an exact idea of how the costs will flow and what the ticket prices will be.
The CDPQInfra's mandate is to make profit from the line, so pointing to the ARTM as the organization that will set fares is just bizarre. The public needs to know how much we will pay for every single rider, and how this financing will work, because we have to pay the fares and we have to finance the line using billions of taxpayer money and more billions worth of public assets.
CLAIM #8: CDPQ Infra is working hastily and its compressed timetable does not allow it to properly carry out this major project.
CDPQ Infra is committed to efficiently carry out the public transit projects under its responsibility. This efficiency implies no decline in rigour. For this purpose, CDPQ Infra has proposed an ongoing optimization process and a request for proposals that allows bidding companies to propose creative and more competitive solutions. Several projects around the world have been successfully carried out with schedules comparable to those proposed by CDPQ Infra.
The public has only been aware of this project in its current form since April 2016. The CDPQ seeks to have their contracts and financing set in stone early in 2017. For a project this big, that will affect transit for the next hundred years, that will cost billions of dollars, will affect development for decades, we have less than one year to study and evaluate the project, then it will be set in stone.
Most transit at this scale is built from regional transit plans that go decades into the future to identify needs and corridors to build transit. Having a project at this scale from the first time we hear about it to the time it's set in stone of less than one year is simply insane.
Transit plans should be made decades into the future, and this is actually one of the major weak spots of the REM. After this project, what follows is again unknown – especially due to the use of technology that's incompatible with other lines, and the low capacity in the trunk line. I'm concerned about how future lines will connect to it, in particular VIA and the transit corridors that are currently the Mascouche and the St-Jerome line, which have the potential to serve as urban rapid transit.
We need a proper regional rail plan that will cover not just this one project, but the ones that follows and the ones after; and the REM should be built to integrate with that.
Thank you Anton. This is another very good post!
I'm a bit surprised though that there is no mention of the potential impacts on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line, by draining (an unkown amount of) its current ridership.
Was mulling the project over again and came up with another missed opportunity in regards to urban development in Montreal. With the high rise development going on around Lucien-L'Allier investing in the most patronized train service leaving the station would make sense, especially when it's poised to be connected to the airport (15-20 minutes from the station). The amount of money to electrify the VH line, create a airport spur with 30m headway and accomplish all day headway of 60m for the line running EMUs would be a fraction of REM and accomplish 2/3 of its stated goals, and the ones it covers it does more efficiently as the VH line has the commuter history and follows the population centres of the west island unlike the St. Anne branch of REM, and the airport station shell already exists at YUL.


text:
home › County and City Records
Elizabeth City County - Land Records
indicates a copy is
for loan
Local Records Categories and Contents
No. Land Records
1 ILL Deeds, Wills, Etc., 1684 - 1699 c, Unpaged index (partially mutilated), p. 75-281 (Deeds, Wills, Etc., 1684 - 1699); p. 1-170 [4] (Orders, 1692 - 1699, follows p. 281) Film of Original
2 ILL Records [Deeds, Wills, Inventories, Orders & Settlements], 1684 - 1699 c, [xv] index, 503 p. Film of Transcript
3 ILL Deeds, Wills, Inventories & Orders, 1715 - 1721 c, p. 1-314 (Deeds, Wills, Inventories, 1715-1721); [1], p. 1-240 (Orders, 1715 - 1721, follows p. 314) Film of Original
4 ILL Record Book, No. 10, 1721 - 1723 c, Pt. 1, [3], [vii] index, p. 1-249 (Orders, 1721 - 1723); Pt. 2, [1], p. 1-178 (Deeds, Wills & Inventories, 1721 - 1723) (The index preceding Pt. 1 pertains to Pt.
5 ILL Deeds, Wills, & Orders, 1723 - 1730, Pt. 1, p. 2-192 (Deeds, Wills, 1723-1730); Pt. 2, p. 15-96 [2] (Ejectments, 1736 - 1770); Pt. 3, p. 1-345 (Orders, 1723-1729) Note: Parts 1 & 2 are bound together.
6 ILL Deeds, Wills, Bonds, Etc., 1737 - 1756 c, p. 2-351 (Deeds & Wills, 1737 - 1749); [8] p. (Bonds, Etc., 1743 - 1756, follows p. 351)
6 ILL Deeds and Wills, Vol. E, 1758 - 1764 c, Unpaged index, 539 p. (index repeated at end)
6 ILL Deeds and Wills, Vol. F, 1763 - 1771, p. 1, 8-440 (Deeds, 1772 - 1786, missing)
7 ILL Deeds [& Wills], Vol. 34, 1787 - 1800, [vii] index, 532 p.
8 ILL Deeds and Wills, Vol. 12, 1800 - 1807, 560 p.
9 ILL Deeds & Wills, Vol. 33, 1805 - 1819, [viii] index, 800 p.
10 ILL Deeds & Wills, Vol. 32, 1820 - 1826, p. 73-546
10 ILL Deeds, Vol. 38, 1825 - 1831, Unpaged index, 540 [2] p.
11 ILL Deeds, Vol. 31, 1831 - 1835, [xxi] index, 502 p.
12 ILL Re-Recorded Deeds, Vol. G, 1834 - 1838, [xxi] index, 500 p.
12 ILL Re-Recorded Deeds, Vol. H, 1838 - 1842, [xxv], [1] index, 500 p.
13 ILL Re-Recorded Deeds, Vol. I, 1839 - 1845, [xx] index, 500 p. Volume re-records deeds from 1837 - 1845.
13 ILL Re-Recorded Deeds, Vol. K, 1845 - 1848, [xxi] index, 500 p.
13 ILL Re-Recorded Deeds, Vol. L, 1848 - 1850, [xxi] index, 496 p.
14 ILL Re-Recorded Deeds, Vol. M, 1850 - 1853, [xxiii] index, 485 p.
14 ILL Re-Recorded Deeds, Vol. N, 1853 - 1858, [xxi] index, 500 p.
27 ILL Deeds, 1854 - 1855 (incomplete), Various pages
14 ILL Re-Recorded Deeds, Vol. O, 1858 - 1859, [xxi] index, 262 p.
15 ILL General Index to Deeds, Wills, Etc., No. 1, 1758 - 1899, A - M
15 ILL General Index to Deeds, Wills, Etc., No. 2, 1758 - 1899, N - Z
26 ILL Land Causes [Superior Court] 1809 - 1826, [i] index, 28 p.
26 ILL Land Causes [Superior Court] 1833 - 1836, Unpaged index (incomplete), 115 [11] p.
27 ILL Surveys & Plats, 1761 - 1883, Unpaged index, 240 p.


text:
Mixx Facebook Twitter Digg delicious reddit MySpace StumbleUpon LinkedIn
Mideast peace effort is a charade
By Ali Abunimah, Special to CNN
Ali Abunimah: U.S. slammed new Israeli settlements, but it's really empty rhetoric
In speech, Clinton stood by criticisms but mentioned no real Israeli concessions, he says
Abunimah: This is a replay of U.S. cave-in after demand for halt to West Bank settlements
He writes: In Jerusalem and West Bank, resistance growing to Israel's land confiscations
Editor's note: Ali Abunimah is the author of "One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse," and is a frequent speaker and commentator on the Middle East.
(CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Monday speech to America's leading pro-Israel lobby took on added significance in light of the spat between the U.S. and Israel over the expansion of Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
It indicated the Obama administration blinked in the face of continued Israeli defiance, but that Israel likely faces more trouble down the road.
The row began when Israel announced 1,600 new Jewish-only homes on occupied Palestinian land on March 9, the very day Vice President Joe Biden was in the country to launch indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
In an angry phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Clinton reportedly demanded that Israel rescind the decision, among other "confidence-building measures," to get the U.S.-brokered talks back on track.
At AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Clinton stood by the administration's criticism but could not point to any substantive Israeli concessions.
Palestinians [told to] return to the same merry-go-round of endless talks, and Israel pursues settlements unrestrained.
--Ali Abunimah
Netanyahu, she said, had responded to her demand for concrete steps with specific actions Israel is prepared to take. But halting settlement expansion was not one of them. Indeed, before leaving Israel for Washington where he was scheduled to meet President Obama on Tuesday, Netanyahu stressed that construction anywhere in Jerusalem was the same as construction in Tel Aviv and would continue as normal.
This is a replay of the administration's earlier cave-in. Almost a year ago, Obama sought to correct America's long-standing, pro-Israel tilt by demanding Israel stop building West Bank settlements, which have consumed much of the land on which a Palestinian state was supposed to be established.
But bowing to pressure from Israel's powerful U.S. lobby, the administration dropped the demand. Israel announced a fictional 10-month settlement freeze, excluding Jerusalem. Then Obama pressured Palestinians to return to the same merry-go-round of endless talks -- and still, Israel pursues settlements unrestrained.
In unusually stark language, Clinton warned that Israel needed a peace deal because "the status quo is unsustainable for all sides."
She pointed to the "inexorable mathematics of demography," a reference to projections that Palestinians will soon be the majority population in the area controlled by Israel. Only a two-state solution, Clinton asserted, could preserve Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state."
The problem is that the administration's plan to get to its objective of "two states for two peoples living side by side in peace" looks less credible today than ever.
With its aggressive settlement plans, Israel has chosen a one-state solution: but it is an apartheid state.
On the Palestinian side, the U.S. refuses to engage with Hamas, without which no credible deal can be struck, and the anemic U.S. vision of a Palestinian mini-state cannot hope to meet the aspirations or restore the rights of millions of Palestinian refugees.
And, after two embarrassing defeats at the Israel lobby's hands, chances that Obama will use America's massive financial aid to Israel as leverage are close to nil, especially as midterm elections approach.
The administration's dependence on the goodwill of the lobby was highlighted by the fact that AIPAC's new president, Lee Rosenberg, was a key member of the national finance committee for Obama's presidential campaign, and another AIPAC national board member, J.B. Pritzker -- who got a shout-out in Clinton's speech -- was national finance chair of Citizens for Hillary.
In the closely watched race for Obama's former Illinois Senate seat, the National Republican Senatorial Committee accused Republican Mark Kirk's Democratic opponent Alexi Giannoulias -- and by extension Obama, who is a close Giannoulias friend -- of being "anti-Israel." This may foreshadow a national GOP strategy to make unconditional support for Israeli policies more than ever a litmus test in American elections.
In this poisonous atmosphere, real progress is unlikely -- the best the Obama administration can hope for is to avoid a serious blowup until it can pass the problem to the next administration.
But the situation on the ground will not wait for the United States to come to its senses; in Jerusalem and the West Bank, popular resistance is growing, in the form of nonviolent protests, to Israel's land confiscations.
Israel's violent response, including the arrests of civil society leaders, may cause some Palestinians to react in kind.
Globally, Israel faces a growing campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions just like apartheid South Africa did in the 1980s. A leading Israeli think tank, the Reut Institute, warned the government recently that this campaign "possesses strategic significance, and may develop into a comprehensive existential threat within a few years."
It also stated that a "harbinger of such a threat would be the collapse of the two-state solution as an agreed framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the coalescence behind a 'one-state solution' as a new alternative framework." With its aggressive settlement expansion plans, Israel has in effect chosen a one-state instead of a two-state solution -- but it is indeed an apartheid state.
While the United States looks on impassively, or continues to tout a charade of a peace process, Palestinians, pro-democracy Israelis and their allies will intensify what is rapidly turning into a struggle for equal rights and citizenship for everyone who inhabits the narrow land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ali Abunimah.
Why U.S., Israel should welcome Palestinian move at U.N.
Fox should have let Ricks speak
Republican obsession with Benghazi makes no sense
NewsPulse
Most popular stories right now
Univision fires anchor for racist Michelle Obama insult
'Star Wars Episode 8' to be released May 2017
Buffett's $1 billion NCAA bet goes bust
Talking Barbie is too 'creepy' for some parents
Scammer tries to swindle top tax-crime fighter
Explore the news with NewsPulse »


Men's Basketball Opens 2011-12 Season at No. 22 Marquette on Friday night at 9 p.m.
Mount St. Mary's begins its 103rd season of men's basketball on Friday, November, 11, with a trip to #22 Marquette. The Mountaineers went 11-21 overall last year while tying for sixth place in the Northeast Conference with a 9-9 league record. The Mount lost to second-seeded Quinnipiac in the NEC Tournament.
The Mountaineers have been picked to finish in sixth place in the annual Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches poll. Defending champion Long Island was selected as the preseason favorite, followed by Robert Morris, Central Connecticut State, Wagner, Quinnipiac and the Mount.
This will be the first-ever meeting between the Mount and Marquette. The Mount is 0-12 all-time against the Big East Conference since joining NCAA Division I in 1988-89.
This will be the 17th time that the Mountaineers have played a team ranked in the top 25 since moving to Division I. The Mount is 1-15 all-time in those games with the win coming on a last-second shot at #21 Georgia Tech on Dec. 18, 1995. The last time the Mount played a ranked opponent was an 83-62 loss at #18 Georgetown on Nov. 30, 2009.
Last season, guard Lamar Trice paced the Mount in scoring at 13.3 points per game while Shawn Atupem, who is playing professionally in Ireland this year, chipped in 10.8 points and 5.0 rebounds.
The Mount had a couple of near upsets last year against BCS opponents, including a 57-53 loss at Penn State and a 69-59 loss at Cincinnati. Penn State's Talor Battle hit a three-pointer from 30-feet with just under a second remaining to snap a 53-53 tie last season to send Penn State to the win. The Mount trailed Cincinnati by four points with a minute left before free throws down the stretch allowed the Bearcats to pull away with the 10-point victory.