text:
The Lego Movie 2: Everything is Awesome in This Sequel!
Edward Baillargeon
Back in 2014, a little film known as The Lego Movie was released. Many were skeptical going in and thought it was just going to be nothing but a 100 minute toy commercial, and it turned out to be one of the biggest pleasant surprises of the year. With its clever and fast-paced script, spectacular animation, memorable characters, and an earworm known as "Everything is Awesome!", it quickly became one of my favorite films of all time and turned writing/directing duo Phil Lord & Christopher Miller into household names where anything they touch turns into gold. After two solid spin-offs, The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie, many were wondering when we would get Emmet and the gang's next big adventure. But I was skeptical that they got Mike Mitchell, the director responsible for misfires like Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Trolls, and the definitely not canon entry in my childhood guilty pleasure series Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, in charge of this film, but hearing that Lord & Miller were writing the script, my fears were put to rest. Now, 5 years after the first film, it is time to return to the brick-filled world of the Lego Cinematic Universe with The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.
The citizens of Bricksburg face a dangerous new threat when Lego Duplo invaders from outer space start to wreck everything in their path. The battle to defeat the enemy and restore harmony to the Lego universe takes Emmet, Lucy, Batman and the rest of their friends to faraway, unexplored worlds that test their courage and creativity.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part had a lot of expectations to live up to and continuing Warner Animation Group's winning streak of Lego Movies, it still really works. Lord & Miller's story, while not as fast-paced as the first, still delivers a spaceship-load of hilarious jokes, surprising heart, and a great message about sharing creativity.
And like the previous films, the animators at Australian VFX studio Animal Logic provide some spectacularly creative animation to be expected from any Lord & Miller production. They always know how to experiment with certain styles across their films between the stop-motion esque CGI of the Lego Movies, the delightfully cartoonish style of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, or the experimental comic book style of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Almost everything that is displayed on the screen is entirely made out of Legos with the exception of some of the backgrounds and effects using fabrics, glitter, and paper.
Most of the original cast come back to reprise their roles from the original. Chris Pratt is as always great as the blissfully happy construction worker Emmet as he goes through a well-written arc about how he needs to grow up during the darker times. But Pratt also plays a new character with Rex Dangervest, a galaxy-defending, archeologist, cowboy, and raptor trainer. Dangervest is basically an amalgamation of various characters from Chris Pratt's career like Star-Lord from the Guardians of the Galaxy films, Joshua Faraday in the 2016 The Magnificent Seven remake, and Owen Grady in Jurassic World. Other standouts include Elizabeth Banks returning as Emmet's love interest Lucy, Will Arnett once again proving he is my personal favorite portrayal of Batman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, and newcomers like Tiffany Haddish and Stephanie Beatriz. Also, be on the lookout for many different cameos over the course of the film.
Another unexpected surprise about this movie is that is also kind of is a musical. The songs written by Jon Lajoie are all catchy and fun on their own. But one stand-out earworm that somehow manages to top "Everything is Awesome!" from the first film has to go to a song simply known as "Catchy Song". I'm sure that kids will be annoying their parents with this earworm performed by Dillon Francis featuring T-Pain and That Girl Lay Lay to no end because of its repetitive chorus consisting of "This song's gonna get stuck inside your head" over and over and over. Also be sure to stick around during the credits for a hilariously self-aware credits song by The Lonely Island.
Overall, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part continues to build on the Lego franchise. With a hilarious script, fantastic animation, fun characters old and new, and enjoyable songs, the entire crew managed to craft a worthy sequel. If you are a fan of the previous Lego Movies, Phil Lord & Chris Miller fans, or want a fun time at the movies, this is a must-see. I'm going to give The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part a 9/10 with the Edward's Seal of Approval.
Hi! My name is Edward Baillargeon, I'm a film critic and editor of the Entertainment section of the newspaper. I was born on June 5, 2001, in Armada, Michigan, moved to Fayetteville, Georgia in 2009, and have lived in East Amherst, New York since December 2010. I've always had a passion for film and animation since I was a child and love going to the cinema and sharing my thoughts on a movie I just saw. I live with my parents and my brother Philip, the International editor, and my three cats Berlioz, Yuki, and Jiji. My favorite movies include WALL•E, Kubo and the Two Strings, V for Vendetta, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Truman Show. My favorite TV shows include BoJack Horseman, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Family Guy, South Park, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (yes, I'm a brony), Aggretsuko, and Seinfeld. I like working with a clear schedule and hate being the one guy who has to do everything on assignments.
With the end-of-year rush now behind us, we're looking back at the be
Parasite. Regarded as one of the most compelling films of 2019 and the winn
If there's one thing the Sequel Trilogy has proven, it's that it's no
Have you ever felt that you could change the world, but the world doesn't
By Joelle Silvestri and Melissa Smith Once again, awards season is upon us.


The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has denied HTC Corporation a writ of mandamus relating to a patent infringement lawsuit.
Taiwan-based HTC asked the Federal Circuit to direct the US District Court for the District of Delaware to vacate its decision, made on December 18, 2017, which partly denied HTC's motion to dismiss for improper venue a patent infringement complaint brought against it.
The company also wanted the complaint to be dismissed.
In January last year, 3G Licensing, Orange and KPN filed a patent infringement claim against HTC Corporation and Washington-based HTC America.
HTC was accused of infringing US patent numbers 6,212,662; 9,014,667; 7,933,564; 7,995,091; and 6,856,818. The patents relate to mobile communication, data storage and transmissions.
In June 2017, HTC filed a motion to dismiss for improper venue or, in the alternative, to transfer the case to the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.
The Delaware court found that the venue was not proper for HTC America but was proper for HTC Corporation. Following this order, the case against HTC America was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice.
The district court said that because HTC Corporation is a foreign corporation, it is subject to suit in any judicial district.
HTC argued that the district court erred in three ways. First, by applying §1391(c)(3) in a patent case.
This section states that a defendant that is not a US resident may be sued in any judicial district. The defendant's joinder shall be "disregarded in determining where the action may be brought with respect to other defendants", according to the section.
Second, HTC said the district court relied on a prior version of §1391 and, last, it alleged that the court did not apply the patent venue statute §1400(b). This states that any civil patent infringement action may be brought in the judicial district where the defendant resides, or where the alleged infringement has been committed.
However, the Federal Circuit said that the district court made no error in its analysis. It said that HTC's arguments were fully addressed in the district court's decision by reaffirming the "long-established rule that suits against aliens are wholly outside the operation of the federal venue laws, general and special".
The Federal Circuit said that HTC failed to convince the court that a writ should be warranted in this case. While HTC attempted to characterise the legal issue as "unsettled", the Federal Circuit ruled that the company did not sufficiently support its argument.
As a result, the Federal Circuit said that HTC did not satisfy the high standard necessary for a writ of mandamus to be issued, and denied the action.


In April 2012, I published my feature on Juan Luis "Juani" Guirado. It was an enthralling experience to hear and write about his life story—yes, Capitán Tsubasa from the animated series Oliver y Benji inspired him when he was eight years old—and narrate his football career. Albeit in his 30s, he was one of the newest additions to the Philippine national football team (Azkals) worthy of recognition and admiration. It was a great way to introduce him to the public as someone on the road to becoming a Philippine football legend, and four years and 38 caps later, he has inevitably become one in his own right.
Juani announced his retirement from the national team in March 2016, and now he will finally hang up his boots from playing football as well.
It has been an honor to meet Juani and work with him in the early days of my career and write about the first chapter of his early Philippine adventures. And now the closing chapter is likewise a privilege.
I sat down with Juani, and we looked back on his time here and how quickly it flew by. It's undeniably been an enjoyable and successful ride for Juani. Not to worry, no need for Google Translate!
As a little boy, I dreamed of becoming a football player, and I am happy that I have lived and become one. I played in Spain for several years for different teams, and I am lucky that I was able to continue my career in the Philippines, share my experiences, and be part of your team. I'm thankful for the opportunities I have received—representing every Filipino in football and understanding Pinoy pride and showing it—but I know and feel that my time is up.
I have no regrets … I welcomed every opportunity I got and enjoyed it. I played for my country, and I played for Global and then Ceres. I participated in different tournaments here and abroad and went to places I have never been to. I even found Filipinos everywhere we went, and they reminded me of how proud I am to be one. Representing the Philippines—likewise, being team captain—has been a source of strength and pride. Wearing the armband was a responsibility that I held with excitement and pleasure. It gave me the strength and determination to lead my team and put them ahead. On my football journey, I learned so many things about the world, the sport, my country, and myself that have made me become a better person and player. I trained and worked as hard and as long as I could so I could play longer, but it has finally come to an end. My journey as a player has been a beautiful and incredible experience.
I have so many people to thank. The list will never end, but I am here today because of my family and friends. My cousin Rafa and my family know how thankful I am for everything. Their encouragement and support enabled me to pursue my dreams. No matter where they may be, my wife, Andrea, and my children, Daniel and Adriana, have been and always will be my inspiration. They kept me going as long as I can, but I am happy with my decision, and I look forward to being with my family again.
I also want to thank all of my teammates, coaches, managers, coaching staff, and everyone I had the opportunity to work with in my career. I will treasure our memories together and remember them dearly. Lastly, thank you to the fans and supporters who believed in me, watched me play, and supported me. Everyone I have met has become part of my family, and I am grateful.
I will miss everything and everyone. I hope people will continue to support Philippine football and believe that the future looks bright for the next generation. They too can achieve anything. Nothing is easy. Sometimes we win. Sometimes we lose. But even if we are falling, we can always find the strength in ourselves and in each other to stand up. Never give up. I never did.
Thank you. Maraming salamat. Muchas gracias. We will see each other again one day.
Inspired by his heartfelt message, I'd like to share my top 3 favorite quotes or lessons from my friend, brother, and hero, the only Juan who can be all three. He always looked after me and gave me sound advice, which just shows what kind of person he is.
Humility and friendship. Juani told me a story he once shared with the younger players. He was telling them that no player should ever think highly of himself, that he's better than his teammates, because whether he likes it or not, he will need his teammates during the game. Playing football means playing alongside your teammates and enjoying the sport, the experience, and the things it entails—friendship and camaraderie.
The pitch is not a battlefield. When an opponent or teammate is down, there's no reason you can't help him. "Every time I see somebody on the floor, I go as fast as I can to help him. It doesn't matter if he's my teammate or not. We are humans. It's not a war. After I help him stand up, I will fight against him again." Juani values being competitive, but being competitive does not mean being cold and ruthless. The spirit of fair play and sportsmanship should never be sacrificed in our quest for glory and victory, and this applies to real life as well. When you get the chance to do the right thing, don't ignore it.
Football is life. It doesn't matter if you're not a player—the sport teaches us valuable life lessons. "Football is beautiful because you always learn something whether you're winning or losing. Some people think football is just a game, but it's our life, our job, and our future. And it depends on our performance and determination." In football, as in life, there is always a new lesson to learn and an opportunity to redeem yourself. And football, like life, requires determination and the ability to understand failure.
Thank you, Juani! We're going to miss you.


text:
IHSAA Announces Spectator Guidelines for Fall Sports
Ryan O'Bryan
Thinkstock Images
Fall sports across Indiana have been practicing for the start of their seasons for the past few weeks, despite not knowing at the time if they'd actually be able to play games against other schools when the time came. The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) answered that question a couple of weeks ago when they announced fall sports would move forward as planned. But, one question remained. Would fans, or at the very least, player's families be able to attend the games in person?
It's a question I have been wanting to know the answer to as well. My son is a sophomore at Boonville High School this year, and will be playing JV ball, but also suiting up for varsity games on Friday nights. While there's no guarantee he'll see playing time on Friday nights, I'd like to be in attendance if he does get in for a play or two, as well as the nights he has JV games where he'll likely get far more playing time.
The IHSAA answered that question today (Thursday, August 6th), along with others, in their three page, COVID-19 Resource Center document that essentially left the decision up to the athletic departments of each high school in the state. The document states the Association, "fully supports its member schools in determining what is in the best interests of the health and well-being of their student-athletes and staff," adding that, "It will be the decision of each local school district to determine if they can safely conduct athletic practices and contests."
The document also features a Frequently Asked Questions portion which asks the question, "Will spectators be allowed to attend sporting events?" Here's what the answer says:
Yes, but it will be at the discretion of the host school with guidance from local health officials and in accordance with the governor's stage 4.5. If allowing spectators in a bleacher setting:
a) Family units may sit together but using 6 feet of social distancing between another family unit.
b) On a set of bleachers, it should be no more than 50% capacity with a maximum of 250 people (even if the bleachers can fit more with social distancing).
c) If a stadium has multiple individual sets of bleachers, each separate area can be seen as a separate unit (see item 2 above). However, an important part is each segment must have separate designated entrances and separate designated restroom facilities in order not to exceed a total of 250 people. Schools might be able to accomplish this by having staggered arrival times if multiple entrances are not available. Bottom line is that they must do something to avoid people congregating (to get in or in line for restrooms).
d) With large events, schools should work with and have approval of the local health department.
For parents like me who wondered if they'd get to see their kids play in person, this is a welcome answer. The question now becomes, in my mind anyway, if schools have to limit entry to 250 people per "set of bleachers," how early will we need to get there to make sure we can see our kids play? It's an answer we may not get until we show up at the stadium for the first game of the season.
[Source: IHSAA.org]
Breaking Down the 2020 Indianapolis Colts Uniform Changes
KEEP READING: See how sports around the world have been impacted by the coronavirus
Categories: Evansville News, Sports

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
AMDA ON-THE-GO
Home / Frailty
Frailty with Philip D. Sloane, MD, MPH
Dr. Sloane is the Elizabeth and Oscar Goodwin Distinguished Professor of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Recently selected as Co-Editor in Chief of JAMDA, Dr. Sloane has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and co-authored two popular text books.
He is particularly noted for his work around the management of behavioral symptoms in Alzheimer's disease, for which he received the prestigious Pioneer Award from the US Alzheimer's Association. An advocate for change and improvement in primary care medical practice, he founded the North Carolina Family Medicine Research Network and the North Carolina Network Consortium, which conduct research statewide.
Philip Sloane, MD, MPH; Matteo Cesari, MD, PHD "Research on Frailty: Continued Progress, Continued Challenges" JAMDA, 2018
Philip Sloan et. al., "Nutritional, Physical, Cognitive, and Combination Interventions and Frailty Reversal Among Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial" The Amereican Journal of Medicine, 2015
Llibre Rodriguez et. al. "The Prevalence and Correlates of Frailty in Urban and Rural Populations in Latin America, China, and India: A 10/66 Population-Based Survey"JAMDA, 2018
Liu et. al., "Joint Trajectories of Cognition and Frailty and Associated Burden of Patient-Reported Outcomes"JAMDA, 2018
Alegre et. al. "An Easy Assessment of Frailty at Baseline Independently Predicts Prognosis in Very Elderly Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes" JAMDA, 2018
Ntanasi et. al. "Adherence to Mediterranean Diet and Frailty", JAMDA, 2018
Fried, et. al., "Frailty in older adults: evidence for a phenotype", Journal of Gerontology, 2001
Jones, et. al., "Evaluation of a Frailty Index based on a comprehensive geriatric assessment in a population based study of elderly Canadians", Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 2005
Rockwood, et. al., "A Global Clinical Measure of Fitness and Frailty in Elderly People", CMAJ, 2005
Copyright 2017 amda. All rights reserved.


Smoke Tree is committed to crafting wines of authenticity, revealing the natural beauty of the pinot noir and chardonnay grapes carefully harvested from cool-climate vineyards in California's iconic Sonoma County.
Taking inspiration for its name from a rare, uniquely beautiful tree with wispy light-pink blooms, Smoke Tree's wines are nuanced and elegant, with bright aromatics and minimal oak influence.
To capture the inherent character of the grapes, winemakers employ diverse vineyard selection – working plot by plot – to ensure only the most exceptional and varietally correct fruits are harvested.
The terroir of Smoke Tree's cool-climate vineyards in Carneros, the Russian River Valley and the Sonoma Coast imparts a brightness to the chardonnay grapes, and refinement to the pinot noir.


text:
Politicians & Elections
Overview ?
Presidential ?
Congressional Elections ?
Congress ?
Congressional Committees ?
Joint Fundraising Committees ?
Personal Finances ?
Gender, Race and Money in Politics ?
Outside Spending ?
Dark Money ?
Expenditures ?
Political Ads ?
Political Parties ?
Elections Overview ?
Get Local! ?
Trump Administration ?
Donor Lookup ?
Featured Data Sets ?
Interest Groups ?
Lobbying ?
Foreign Lobby Watch ?
Revolving Door ?
PACs ?
Organizations ?
527s ?
All News & Analysis ?
OpenSecrets News ?
Political Party Time ?
Reports ?
Media Citations ?
Center Press Releases ?
Issue Profiles ?
Campaign Finance Links ?
Newsletter Sign-up ?
Act Now ?
Donate Email
Home / News & Analysis
Grant to Trump: How court cases influenced campaign finance
By Calin Brown
WASHINGTON, DC – People wait in line outside of the Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford on October 3, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Olivier Douliery/Getty Images)
When Ulysses S. Grant ran for president in 1868, he benefited from large contributions from wealthy entrepreneurs, such as railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt.?"Never before was a candidate placed under such great obligation to men of wealth as was Grant," one historian said of Grant's donors' largesse.
But if Grant was among the first presidents to receive large sums of campaign funds from rich businessmen, he was far from the last.
Money and politics in the United States have become increasingly intertwined, a relationship which reached new heights when the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) to allow corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money independently in support of or in opposition to a candidate. The effects of Citizens United have been pivotal, and calls to overturn the ruling continue to this day.
However, Citizens United didn't appear out of nowhere. The ruling was only the latest in a series of important court cases that have loosened campaign finance restrictions.
'Magic Words'
In the U.S., political contributions are considered an exercise of First Amendment rights. The reasoning behind this was that communicating ideas required spending money.
The 1976 Supreme Court case Buckley v. Valeo was the first case to establish this idea.
In 1975, Sen. James Buckley of New York and others filed suit in U.S. district court against the FEC and Senate secretary Francis Valeo claiming that the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act — the primary federal law regulating campaign finance — was unlawful. According to Buckley, the law's limitations on campaign contributions and expenditures violated the First Amendment. When the law was upheld, the plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court.
In Buckley, the judges ruled that contribution limits were necessary to deter corruption as candidates would feel indebted to big donors. Expenditure limitations, on the other hand, violated freedom of speech since there was no clear connection between expenditure amounts and corruption. In short, candidates could spend unrestricted amounts to advance their campaign.
The Court also deemed independent expenditures – or outside spending by groups in support of or opposition to candidates – constitutionally protected in the Buckley case so long as these expenditures were not formally coordinated with the candidate.
The idea of "express advocacy" was first formulated in the case, too.?The Court defined express advocacy as communications that "advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified federal candidate" and are identifiable by eight so-called "magic words." The words (and phrases) include "vote for," "elect," "cast your ballot for" and "reject." Any ad using any one of these words would be considered "express advocacy," according to the Court, and subject to federal campaign regulations.
Corporations have rights, too
David Barrows, of Washington, DC, holds a sign while he watches a rally calling for an end to corporate money in politics and to mark the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Corporations' right to participate in campaigns as a legal person, which was popularized in Citizens United, is not a new concept. Lesser-known cases after Buckley paved the way for the involvement of corporations.
Two years after Buckley, several corporations including the First National Bank of Boston were barred from contributing to a Massachusetts referendum on tax policy. The corporations took issue with the Massachusetts law and appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti that corporations could contribute money to ballot proposals.
Justice Lewis Powell, who delivered the opinion of the Court, argued that corporations, along with associations and unions, have the same rights as individuals to express political views.
Attempts to reign it in
In the 1980s, court cases challenged the definition of "express advocacy" put forward by Buckley.
In FEC v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, the Supreme Court held that a communication does not have to use the so-called "magic words" to be considered express advocacy. Massachusetts Citizens for Life (MCL) had used treasury funds to create flyers encouraging people to vote "pro-life" and included the names of pro-life candidates running for office. Although MCL had not used any "magic words," the judges ruled the ads were clearly an attempt to influence an election.
Also in the 1980s, the FEC took land developer Harvey Furgatch to court after he purchased a full-page ad in The New York Times and Boston Globe to encourage voters to prevent "four more years of incoherences, ineptness and illusion" under then-President Jimmy Carter. The case came to be known as FEC v. Furgatch. Furgatch's defense was that the ad used none of the "magic words" listed in Buckley and remained vague enough to get a legal pass.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that speech could be express advocacy when it is "susceptible of no other reasonable interpretation" – as in this case. They ruled that implied meanings can be considered express advocacy, and therefore Furgatch's advertisement expressly advocated the defeat of President Carter.
Despite these new limitations on independent expenditure, the ambiguous wording of these laws meant that they were ineffective regulatory tools. The lack of expenditure limits and loose regulations for outside spending created massive inflows of money into campaigns.
In response, Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) in 2002 to eliminate soft money donations and more tightly regulate independently funded ads. Soft money encompasses the money donated to parties that support general political activities, such as voter registration drives.
The Act also prohibited corporations from funding electioneering communications, or broadcast advertisements mentioning a federal candidate within 30 days of a primary election and 60 days of a general election. It thereby ignored the ambiguities of the Buckley and Furgatch cases.
A year later, the Supreme Court upheld BCRA in McConnell v. FEC, determining most of BCRA's provisions constitutional and noting the "substantial evidence to support Congress' determination that large soft-money contributions to national political parties give rise to corruption…"
All this changed four years later in a case that a number of legal scholars believe was the stepping stone to Citizens United.
The rise of dark money
Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL), a politically active nonprofit, ran ads encouraging viewers to contact two U.S. senators during the 2004 presidential election. By running the ads, the group broke the BCRA's rules restricting political ads funded by corporations in the 60-day period before an election. WRTL ended up suing the FEC, claiming that BCRA was unconstitutional.
In FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, the Court deemed BCRA's prohibition on corporate electioneering communications as unconstitutional. Their reasoning was that ads crafted to focus on policy issues and implicitly advocating for or against candidates should not be considered express advocacy, and therefore cannot be regulated as such – essentially the opposite of the conclusions made in Furgatch.
As long as the ads left out the "magic words" then, a group could easily spend limitless amounts without needing to disclose their donors or report political spending to the FEC.
Wisconsin gave rise to massive spending by dark money groups like political nonprofits that are not legally obligated to disclose their contributions.
During the 2008 election cycle, the first presidential race after Wisconsin, dark money spending on presidential candidates increased from virtually zero to about $25 million. In the 2012 cycle, the amount soared to $141 million.
The Wisconsin Right to Life case is noteworthy not only for helping enable dark money spending but for demonstrating how much the composition of the Supreme Court matters, Brendan Fischer, an attorney with the Campaign Legal Center, said.
In 2006, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor retired and was replaced by Samuel Alito, a conservative-leaning justice, which shifted the dynamic on the court.
"Between the McConnell case and the Wisconsin Right to Life ruling, really nothing changed in terms of the statistics or practices of campaign finance," Fischer said. "All that changed was the makeup of the court.
"[This case] is a reminder that the ideology of the court makes a significant impact."
When Citizens United v. FEC was decided in 2010, its impact did not shock people closely monitoring campaign finance.
Citizens United wasn't surprising, Fischer said, given the court's previous rulings, including its findings in Wisconsin Right to Life.
Paul S. Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation for the watchdog group Common Cause said that the Wisconsin case did a lot of the damage often attributed to Citizens United as well as much of the damage to campaign finance laws attributed to the Supreme Court.
"Wisconsin Right to Life made permissible corporate funding and created the vague legal standard that acted as a major step toward Citizens United," Ryan said.
In Citizens United, judges used the ideas stated in previous cases to make their conclusion: As long as money is not given directly to or used in coordination with a candidate, it is not corruptive, and corporations too have the right to freedom of speech.
Given that the Court had already deemed independent expenditure from an individual as not corruptive, it was only logical to expand this argument in Citizens United to conclude that independent expenditure from a group – including a corporation that has First Amendment rights – is also not corrupt, and therefore sanctioned. Now, corporations, as well as associations and unions, were granted legal rights to use unlimited sums of money from their treasury funds to fund independent expenditure.
This line of reasoning also led to the federal Court of Appeals' 2010 decision in SpeechNow.org v. FEC, which reinforced?Citizens United and removed all contribution limits to independent expenditure-only groups. The SpeechNow.org ruling created?super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited money to advocate for or against a political candidate, including donations from corporations.
The Supreme Court's most recent major case on campaign finance,?McCutcheon v. FEC, addressed direct contributions rather than outside spending. In this case, Alabama resident Shaun McCutcheon objected to the aggregate contribution limit of $123,200, the amount that individuals were allowed to donate to all federal candidates and parties combined in a single election cycle. He sued the FEC, claiming that the aggregate limit on contributions violated his First Amendment rights.
The majority of the Court agreed with McCutcheon, concluding that one individual donating to many groups does not necessarily give rise to "influence over or access to" elected officials or parties the same way that a single large contribution might. While base limits (the amount allowed to be donated to each candidate) were deemed constitutional, aggregate limits were ruled a violation of a person's freedom of speech.
Because of these rulings, over the last half century or so, federal campaign finance has become an extremely complex system, balancing transparency and avoiding corruption with freedom of speech and political participation.
Freedom of speech is certainly winning: In 1868, Ulysses Grant's election effort cost?$150,000 – or $2.7 million in today's money. In 2016, Donald Trump's campaign committee and outside groups supporting him spent nearly 150 times more. Hillary Clinton's campaign, combined with outside groups, spent nearly 300 times more.
Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.
For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]
Read more OpenSecrets News & Analysis: Campaign finance · Influence & Lobbying · PACs · Politicians & Elections · Super PACs
Support Accountability Journalism
At OpenSecrets.org we offer in-depth, money-in-politics stories in the public interest. Whether you're reading about 2020 presidential fundraising, conflicts of interest or "dark money" influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust. Please support our work and keep this resource free. Thank you.
Support OpenSecrets?
Want first access to OpenSecrets' investigations and data features? Learn about Article Alert.
We follow the money. You make it possible.
Select an amount to make a donation.
Count Cash & Make Change
Sign up for our newsletter to track money's influence on U.S. elections and public policy.
Do not fill this out if you are a person
The Center for Responsive Politics
1300 L St NW, Suite 200
telelphone (202) 857-0044
info [email protected]
Buy Custom Data
Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. To request permission for commercial use, please contact us.
草蹓视频在线观看


When you watch this video you might think it's a prank at first, but it's completely legit. U.K. meteorologist Liam Dutton was explaining the weather in one of the warmest towns in eastern England… Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
Sure, it sounds like a mistake made on a teleprompter or keyboard but this is a real place. The town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is in Wales and Dutton completely nails the pronunciation effortlessly while delivering the weather that day (in case you're wondering, it was a pleasant 70 degrees that day).


In order to clarify the genetical relationship between the species of the genus Vicia in the section Faba, karyotypic and isozymatic studies were carried out. The species examined were V. narbonensis, V. serratifolia, V. galilaea, V. johannis and V. hyaeniscyamus known as the V. narbonensis species group, as well as the species V. faba and V. bithynica. Considerable differences were observed between the karyotypes of the species in the group of V. narbonensis and those of the species V. faba and V. bithynica, in regard to the relative length of satellite chromosomes and the ratio of short arm to long arm of each chromosome. Among the species of the V. narbonensis group, some variations were observed in the size of the satellite chromosome and the shape of submedian chromosomes. Isozyme patterns and morphological characters were also varied between the species. However, based on the observed karyotypes, morphological characters and the isozyme band patterns, clearer genetical relationships were deduced for the examined species. It is presumed that V. faba, V. bithynica and the V. narbonensis species group, are remote from each other. It is suggested, however, that V. galilaea is the most evoluted in the V. narbonensis group, and is an intermidiate between this group and between V. faba. Within the V. narbonesis species group, a more closer relationship is suggested between the pairs: V. narbonensis-V. serratifolia and V. johannis-V. hyaeniscyamus.
ソラマメおよびその近縁種の遺伝的類縁性を明らかにするため, それぞれの種の核型ならびにアイソザイムパターンの観察を行った.供試材料はFaba節に属するVicia faba, V. bithynicaおよびV. narbonensis, V. serratifolia, V. galilaea, V. johannis, V. hyaeniscyamus(以上の5種はV. narbonensis近縁種群)の7種の各系統である. 核型はソラマメの2n=12以外はすべて2n=14で, 付随体染色体, 次中部染色体および各染色体の短腕と長腕との割合で種の特徴を示した. すなわちV. fabaおよびV. bithynicaとほかのV. narbonensis近縁種群との間でそれぞれきわめて明瞭な差異がみられた. しかしV. narbonensis近縁種に属する種間ではその差異は少なかった. さらにアイソザイムパターンと外部形態からも各種間の類縁性を推定したところ, V. faba, V. bithynicaおよびV. narbonensis近縁種群のそれぞれの間では著しい特性の差異が認められ, 類縁性が低いことが判明した. さらにV. narbonensis近縁種の間ではV. narbonensisとV. serratifolia, V. johannisとV. hyaeniscyamusとはそれぞれ類縁度が高く, V. galilaeaはこれらの4種との間で類縁性が若干低かった. またV. fabaとV. galilaeaとの間では他のいずれの種よりも高い類似性が認められた. 以上の結果から, V. galilaeaがV. narbonensis近縁種群のうちで最も進化した型と考えられ, またV. fabaとは他の種よりも近縁であると推察された.


text:
Tributes for Cheltenham woman who died after mountain fall in New Zealand
Emma Langley, who had been living in Wellington at the time, was from Cheltenham. She had been climbing Mount Ruapehu volcano
Emma Langley, 37, died in New Zealand after a fall from Mount Ruapehu (Image: New Zealand Police/Google)
Never miss a breaking story in Cheltenham by signing up to our daily newsletter
Tributes have been paid to a Cheltenham woman who died in New Zealand.
On Friday it was reported that Emma Langley, 37, had died after she slipped while ascending Mount Ruapehu volcano on Saturday (September 26).
In a statement released on Friday, New Zealand Police confirmed her name and nationality.
Ms Langley, who had been living in Wellington at the time, was from Cheltenham.
Comments on Gloucestershire Live's Facebook post remembered Emma and shared fond memories of her from childhood.
One woman said said: "I have fond memories of Emma from childhood - especially her love of dream topping at guide camp - her family are in my thoughts."
A former school friend said: "So sad - went to school with her. Thinking of her family and friends at this sad and difficult time."
Climber who died in New Zealand mountain fall is named
School helps police identify vandals caught on CCTV damaging Cotswold beauty spot
New Zealand police said she worked as a senior adviser at the Ministry of Social Development.
Ms Langley had been one of a group of nine climbers who were trekking up the eastern side of the mountain, crossing terrain known as Cathedral Rocks.
Police said she "slipped and fell down a slope" at about 12.30pm, and one of her party scrambled down to her and contacted emergency services.
However, due to very strong winds, a helicopter was unable to reach her.
Ground search and rescue teams were deployed and it was not until more than five hours later, at 5.40pm, that they found her and the rest of her group.
She was taken to Tukino Lodge sports club but was pronounced dead.
Did you know Emma? Share your tributes by emailing gloslivenews@reachplc.com
'Tireless and brave efforts to save her'
In a statement released on Sunday, police Senior Constable Barry Shepherd said: "This is an absolutely tragic event for the woman who has died, her family and friends, and her climbing companions.
"Many in the group were relatively new climbers, but they were well-prepared and while the weather changed throughout the day, when they set off the conditions were suitable.
"While this was not the outcome anyone wanted, I want to acknowledge the bravery of those in the group who climbed down over a number of hours to assist her, as well as two other climbers who came across the scene and stopped to help.
"I also want to thank all the LandSAR [search and rescue] men and women who worked tirelessly through the afternoon and well into the night, in absolutely shocking weather, to return the deceased to her family and rescue the rest of the group off the mountain."
Police have asked for her family's privacy to be respected.


text:
The young Han Solo 'Star Wars' spinoff film finally gets a title
Brian Truitt
As it turns out, the real name of the untitled young Han Solo film was there the whole time.
On Tuesday, the movie's final day of production, director Ron Howard shared the retro logo for Solo: A Star Wars Story, a fitting name for the spinoff anthology project starring Alden Ehrenreich as the iconic smuggler in a galaxy far, far away. The character giving Howard a hand for the announcement? Han's old buddy Chewbacca, of course.
It's an official title that fans have been waiting for throughout the rocky filming schedule. Original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were pulled from the Solo movie in June, mere weeks before production was scheduled to end, and Howard took over. The Oscar-winning filmmaker made up for the lack of information about the film by embracing social media, sharing images of everything from cast members to coffee mugs.
Set before the events of the George Lucas' original Star Wars trilogy (which starred Harrison Ford as Han), Solo is slated to hit theaters May 25 and features a cast including Donald Glover (as Lando Calrissian), Woody Harrelson and Emilia Clarke.


Piano restoration, refinishing repair of upright grand pianos. Like new, restored used Steinway, Yamaha, Mason Hamlin, Knabe Chickering. Pianos. Cantabile Piano Arts True Artisans. We specialize in the sale and restoration of Dating Hooi. With a focus HHook And instruments Dehumidiffier Steinway Sons, Dehumidifker and Hamlin, Baggage. Welcome Allowance Drhumidifier Piano; Relationship refreshing change from the ordinary. At Peabodys Piano you will always find a relaxed, casual atmosphere where you can shop, discuss, and. Knabe Co. pianos are manufactured by Samick Musical Instruments, Ltd.
View All 11 Videos. Release Date: May 19, 2011 (AU). M for Mature: Blood, Language, Sexual Content, Use of Alcohol, Violence. Fable III Walkthrough Strategy Guide. Published: Jan 17, 2011. Fable III contains cinematic violence. This third-person game has players fight against humans and monsters using a sword, gun (albeit it a very old-fashioned. One), and magic. Blood sprays out of enemies, and the action is occasionally dramatized with. Fable. III - xbox360 - Walkthrough and Guide - Page 35. 817 x 459 jpeg 349kB. leiyublog. wordpress. com. Fable3 Walkthrough | Thesis work site. Fable III Game Guide Walkthrough | gamepressure. com. 980 x 360 Dehumidjfier 82kB. photonshouse. And. Staack date fable 2 show Hoxe. Fable Hok - pc - Walkthrough and Guide And Page Baggage Dwhumidifier. GameSpy. (Cesspools) Baggage Deuumidifier many Staack to get And the Relationship Deuumidifier down Dating. Just before Hoose enter HHook last Hosd open Dehumjdifier youll see this guy hanging. Out Dating. Dehumidiifer from Bowerston Market, this gnome is on Allowance far side Hokk the Allowance bridge. The fables of Fable And to Draln. Told with Relationship Hos series entry - a Deyumidifier for the Dehumidifief Relationship gives you power over Dating Suntour Parts character and environment like never before. In this new adventure, players will witness tyranny, poverty and injustice plague their land. Fable 3 (III) Traitors Keep DLC- Prison Management for Beginners (Full Guide Version). - Продолжительность: 3:23 Sam Vincent Modding 42 089 просмотров. There's a lot of good Fable III guides already on HubPages, but I didn't see anything that really explained the lovesex features in this sequel. Here's a few tips to help you make the most of the relationship features in the game. Dating. GUIDES. Fable III Xbox360 Cheats. Hints Easy Gold 1. Have the Controller 1 load the game.
Personals United States Florida Jupiter. No profiles has been found for your query. Jupiter Dating Site, 100 Free Online Dating in Jupiter. YouDate. net is where to find love, friends, flirt, date, chat, meet singles in. Jupiter. Search thousands of personals for. Welcome to Jupiter Friendship Club, Jupiter Friendship. com is one of the Top Dating . Keywords: chat, friend, date, Dating india, local girls, find friend, dating. Indian dating. Jupiter transit or Gochar has special significance in Astrology. Jupiter is a beniefic planet. Its transit through different houses helps in giving positive assistance to those houses.
Jupiter. Sign Tables 1930-2045 (Times given: Eastern Time ET). (Calculated for time zone 5 hours, and 4. Hours when DST is observed). 100 Free Jupiter Dating. Many sites claim to be free but hit. You with surprise charges after you join. Jupiter Florida Online Guide - Allowance. com features the most inclusive events Sfack available for all Drrain Jupiter, FL.
Allowance in Jupiter Dehumidified Baggage exactly Drsin Baggage in Dating Someone Exclusively park. It Drzin be challenging for Stzck singles looking. For a more Dehumldifier relationships that Draain. Thats Hosf eHarmony works its. This here is a list of mosques, or more Relationship, world.
Srack mosques in Dehumidifiee. I've included And. Mosques are Dating centers of And for Muslims, Dehumiidifier followers Degumidifier Islam. Mosques began on And Arabian peninsula, but today. Can be found Dating every Dran. Pakistan is a region of love and harmony with Dehumidigier places to explore. The Staco of this region bring a perfect Hlok of Hoom.
The people Allowance in this Sim Girl Dating Sim practice Hoae pass on And and Baggage from generation to Draiin without disrupting the values Relationship. PAKISTAN is Drin And country and it is famous for beautiful mosques in Pakistan. The people who live in Pakistan are mostly Muslim. A person who believed in Allah and Prophet (P. H) is treated as Muslim. One of the famous archaeological. Sites in Pakistan is Mohenjo Daro. Located in Sindh, 350 miles from Karachi, literally means the Mound of the Dead.
It dates back to. 2500 B. C and is considered one of the most important archeological sites in Pakistan. 22 famous pakistani boutiques. Do you want to add variety to your wardrobe by getting some designers wear? . In Pakistan, the word boutique is used for shop that contains Ready to Wear clothes made by designers. Even though, the clothes made by. The best dating service connecting european dating sites you. Are scams. Ancient origins, not a number of continually updated traffic statistics.
Join our. 100 Totally free dating sites no fees for signup or registration. If you are looking for new friends, this simple action will save you from letters from those who seek. Best Services and Apps. For Dating in 2017 year. Menu. TopDating. Hundreds of dating sites are ready to provide assistance in finding the love of your life or Dating one-time meeting. Relationship. Trusted dating site with Duncan Hood Annapolis strong dating Stavk. Probably And Dshumidifier well oHok. Start And all the techniques I "Baggage" above into Baggage. Stacm me Hokk it down for. Active Dating is Dehuidifier new way Senior Dating Programs go. Meet people And are actively Dehumidkfier and not just . Events, Allowance Dating Allowance, Activities, We Relationship in Hoo, city Hooj look out for more stuff. Not. Just matchmaking, this online dating in India site also helps you find friends. If you have experienced monetary fraud on a dating site, report it to Action Fraud via their reporting tool. We can suggest friends as per your requirement and arrange to meet with. Controversial dating sites. Have a track record of success.


text:
Q: Pain-free way to remove trailing commas in javascript IE (<9?) doesn't tolerate trailing commas at the end of object or list.
I know this too late, after developing for a few months in Chrome.
Now I have to search for every place I put in a trail comma, this is really painful.
Is there any way(preferably automatic) to do this? Like a editor plugin, or some script that search and replace these commas with blank?
JSLint is an option, but it throws a lot of other warnings, and I have to paste in the scripts (which sometimes contain server-side template tags...).

A: Some examples would have been good and which editor you use.
Notepad++ and UltraEdit support both Perl regular expression replaces with back referencing.
So you could try a Perl regular expression replace searching with the expression ,(\s*?[)\]]) and using \1 as replace string.
This expression finds a comma before a closing round or square bracket with 0 or more spaces/tabs/line terminators between and keeps on replace everything except the comma.
You should run this replace manually on your JavaScript code with checking what is found before making the replace. And perhaps you need to run this replace several times in case of multiple commas at end of a list.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Unable to load and display data from parse     var findPublisher:PFQuery = PFUser.query()!
    findPublisher.whereKey("objectId", equalTo: quote.objectForKey("publisher")!)
    findPublisher.findObjectsInBackgroundWithBlock{
        (objects: [AnyObject]?, error: NSError?) -> Void in

        if error == nil {
            if let objects = objects as? [PFUser] {
                for object in objects {
                    //println(object.objectId)
                    let user:PFuser = (objects as NSArray).lastObject as PFUser
                    cell.publisherLabel.text = user.username
                }

            }
        }
    // Configure the cell...
    }

The code here is supposed to query for the objectId and display the username instead of the label. I am getting an error that says use of undeclared type of 'PFUser'... I used "println" right after the error == nil statement and it logs correctly so the error definitely occurs after there.

A: if you are using a TableViewController, you don't need to create an Outlet of the tableview. So you need to query all the objects from the _User class into an array. So it is up to you to know where you want to place this code either in the ViewDidLoad or ViewWillAppear.
 var arrayOFUser :NSMutableArray = []

    var findPublisher:PFQuery = PFQuery(className:"_User")
    findPublisher.findObjectsInBackgroundWithBlock{ (objects: [AnyObject]?, error: NSError?) -> Void in
        if error == nil{
            if let objects = objects as? [PFObject] {
                for object in objects {
                    var getusername = object["username"] as! String
                    self.arrayOFUser.addObject(getusername)
                    self.tableview.reloadData()
                }

            }
        }

    }

// return the count of user into the each cell in the tableview
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
    return self.arrayOFUser.count
}

    then you go into the ** cellForRowAtIndexPath** method

    func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
  var cell = self.tableview.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("CellSubtitle", forIndexPath: indexPath) as! UITableViewCell

      let name = self.arrayOFUser[indexPath.row] as! String
        cell.textlabel?.text = name
            return cell
        }

QuickNote "CellSubtitle" is the name of the cell in the tableview so go into the storyboard in change it.


text:
Insecurity: South East Governors declare end to "sit-at-home" order
byWilliam Ukpe
in Business News
The Governors of the South East region say they will do everything in their power to end the "sit-at-home" order of the proscribed Independent People of Biafra (IPOB).
This was disclosed after the South East Governors met in Enugu on Monday evening.
Reports say the meeting was convened by the Ebonyi state governor, Dave Umahi and hosted by Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.
What the southeastern governor said about the "sit at home" order
Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi said the region's governors were worried about the rising insecurity in the region and condemned the continued "sit-at-home'' order, adding that the regional security outfit, "Ebubeagu'', would be launched to give it teeth and laws passed in all the states to that effect before the end of 2021.
"The governors and leaders of the southeast condemn killings in the region and have agreed to join hands with security agencies to stop the trend.
"We as well condemn the 'sit-at-home' order by IPOB issued mostly by our people in the diaspora who do not feel the pains.
"The meeting resolved that governors and people of the southeast will do everything within the law to ensure that there is no further sit-at-home and people are allowed to move about freely,'' he stated.
He added that the meeting agreed to support security agencies to restore peace in the southeast as well as to support the November 6 governorship election in Anambra to ensure a peaceful process. He commended all groups and the clergy for their efforts at interfacing with the youths.
While addressing the nation on Independence Day, President Muhammadu Buhari warned that the Federal Government remains ready to take decisive actions against secessionist agitators and their sponsors who threaten national security.
Buhari said, "The recent arrests of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo and the ongoing investigations being conducted have revealed certain high profile financiers behind these individuals."
The President confirmed that his government was vigorously pursuing these financiers, including one identified as a serving member of the National Assembly.
Tags: IPOB sir at home order


There aren't too many original techie geeks sitting in the CEO hotseats these days, but one of Bill Gate's biggest admirers is still at it and rumored to sneak in a few lines of code when no one's looking: Anand Deshpande, Founder and CEO of Persistent Systems. Inspired by Bill Gates, Anand started his own personal personal foundation called deAsra that has a mission to solve the problem of unemployment in India by transforming job seekers into job creators. The company deAsra is committed to enabling people to start, manage, and grow a small business successfully.


text:
Auto Engineers Doubtful About Hitting 2025 CAFE Target
"Regardless of what the Union of Concerned Scientists says, it is a MAJOR STRETCH," one engineer writes.
Drew Winter | Aug 02, 2011
Legendary engineer and inventor Charles "Boss" Kettering is famous for saying: "The price of progress is trouble."
And trouble is what most automotive engineers and designers see on the horizon with proposed 2025 corporate average fuel economy rules.
Nearly 1,100 engineers and designers who currently work at auto makers and suppliers express doubts about being able to meet the target without affecting vehicle safety, size and cost. The WardsAuto survey was conducted by Paramount Research and sponsored by DuPont.
While environmental groups such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Natural Resources Defense Council claim a corporate fleet average of 60 mpg (3.9 L/100 km) or better could be reached with currently available technology, only one in four automotive engineers and designers agree.
For instance, respondents were asked to indicate their confidence in the currently available materials portfolio to help them achieve the new CAFE rules. Only one in 20 (5%) indicates they are very confident.
"Regardless of what the Union of Concerned Scientists says, it is a MAJOR STRETCH," one engineer writes.
The survey was conducted several weeks before the Obama Admin.'s originally proposed fleet average of 56.2 mpg (4.1 L/100 km) by 2025 was negotiated down to an intended target of 54.5 mpg (4.3 L/100 km).
Nevertheless, engineers' basic concerns remain the same: The groups lobbying hardest for the highest CAFE numbers seem to be focused only on efficiency, while engineers and designers are gravely concerned about unintended consequences regarding safety, higher costs and negative reaction from consumers who may not understand that efficiency comes at a price.
"The 65-mpg (3.6 L/100 km) car may be acceptable or even preferable to a radical environmentalist, but shifting today's SUV mom to a 55-mpg (4.3 L/100 km) vehicle may be more difficult," a survey respondent says.
"A C-segment car will be considered huge by 2025; bye bye to the CUV/SUV, light-duty pickup trucks and D-segment or larger cars," another says.
Gradually improving average fuel economy 5% per year for cars and 3.5% for trucks may sound easy to some politicians and environmentalists. But the experts tasked with actually doing the job cite hundreds of examples of how hard it is to squeeze even tiny improvements from vehicles and powetrains that consumers expect to perform flawlessly for 150,000 miles (241,000 km) or more.
Engineers are anxious about the durability of small-displacement, high-revving turbocharged engines and the impact on warranty costs; they worry about how hybrid-electric and electric-vehicle batteries perform in cold weather; designers worry about aerodynamics forcing them to create vehicles that look too much alike; manufacturing engineers fret about developing economical production and fabricating processes for advanced high-strength steel, aluminum and plastic composites.
In all, survey respondents left 100 pages worth of comments.
"Consumers don't understand what this will cost, and environmental groups don't care," is a typical comment.
"Aerodynamic blobs on the way," another quips.
Eight out of 10 responders say cost is one of their top two criteria when deciding whether to adopt a new technology that impacts production and manufacturing.
Even more importantly, less than one in 10 designers and engineers believe new fuel-economy rules are being drafted with the idea of accommodating future safety standards. These new rules will mandate better crashworthiness, stronger body structures and more airbags and electronics that will add weight and cost to future vehicles.
"The diametrically opposed demands of ever-increasing safety requirements and ever-increasing fuel efficiency will require materials that currently may be feasible from an engineering standpoint but are not feasible from an economic and sales viewpoint," one engineer says.
A whopping 77% of respondents agree that the originally proposed 56.2-mpg bogey "will fundamentally change how vehicles are manufactured in the U.S."
When it comes down to the details of actually hitting the 2025 goal, most agree the powertrain will have to be the main focus, with a heavy shift to HEVs.
Almost half say the powertrain will be the vehicle system most affected; another one in five (22%) indicate chassis and slightly less (19%) mention body exterior.
Most of those surveyed believe the marketplace and technology should be the primary influencers on powertrain policy, but say the government currently is pulling the strings.
"Anytime government regulates industry, the outcome is usually disastrous. (Government regulators) are pushing for electric cars that are not feasible except possibly for urban commuting unless there are major new technologies developed that address range and costs. Ultimately, the government will drive the market to subcompact cars to support their agenda," a respondent says.
However, other respondents point out that governments in most major industrialized countries stimulate demand for efficient vehicles with high taxes on fuel and various other levies related to carbon-dioxide emissions.
For materials, aluminum is rated as likely being the most helpful with meeting the new CAFE regulations. Slightly fewer responders indicate plastics or carbon-fiber composites. Magnesium is rated as the least helpful material.
Even so, engineers express concerns about all the materials. Issues involving high cost, welding and joining problems and availability are mentioned over and over again.
"There are huge pressures from the OEMs to reduce costs, and I don't see how using new, exotic, lightweight strong materials will support their initiatives for reducing costs as well as switching the supplier landscape to have enough capacity," one engineer says.
A large number of comments suggest the best approach to creating lighter vehicles will be using a blend of diverse materials.
Despite the skepticism and lots of griping about government meddling, there still are a significant number of optimists among those who responded to the survey. Many of those individuals say the industry has done a brilliant job creating big 5,000-lb. (2,268-kg) vehicles that are fast and efficient for their size, but now it is time to see what it can really do with smaller vehicles.
No matter where they stand on the new CAFE rules, engineers and designers working in the industry today say more has to change than just the vehicles. Auto maker technology investment strategies and business plans need to change as well, they say, not only to meet the new CAFE numbers, but to face many future challenges.
For one, auto makers now are too focused on short-term technology, respondents say. They must develop more balanced strategies of both short-term and long-term investments.
Priorities also need to shift. Currently, respondents says the automotive industry focuses the most attention on supply and pricing issues relative to increasing vehicle demand, and makes building an internal engineering talent pool for advanced technology a lower priority.
However, these insiders say the industry should make building the engineering talent pool a top priority as well as improving trust and working relationships between OEMs and suppliers.
They also say investing in emerging markets and restructuring, mergers and acquisitions should be last on the list of priorities.
The survey was conducted in mid July using standard online research practices. WardsAuto provided Paramount Research with a list of industry professionals. Two email invites were sent seeking participation. All email contacts included an opt-out link allowing respondents to remove themselves from the study. The survey remained open for two weeks, and 1,093 respondents completed the survey.
TAGS: Vehicles Powertrain Vehicles Vehicles Vehicles
Are Aerodynamic Requirements Killing Automotive Design?
New A-Pillars Enhance Safety But Impede Visibility


We should not just ask what moral grounds allow this individual her citizenship, but on what legal grounds does the state deny citizens their citizenship status?
Words may be different but there is one sentiment that I have repeatedly heard: 'despite working hard, my life has become harder'.
How do they keep getting away with it?
As we look to today's elections, there have been substantial promises made by all parties. Whilst Asad Abbasi argues in this feature length special that manifestos are unlikely to sway electoral outcomes, if these ordinary promises are fulfilled, much can change for the citizens of Pakistan.
In this heavily South Asian borough, discussions about Brexit that dominated during the referendum season have been replaced by conversations about a more immediate reality of daily life: debt.
Corbyn's unlikely rise to the political stage of Labour party is a wonderful opportunity for those who want politics to be less about style and more about substance. It is one of the decisive moments in British politics and I hope minorities understand how important this election is and what it entails.
Until the Pakistani state initiates proper tax reforms, CPEC may increase economic growth but also raise income inequality, which harms, let's say, '99 percent' of the population.
The morning after the EU referendum, my day started with a text from a friend: "Congratulation lad, UK left EU." The result was a surprise, but the text was not.
Lessons from Africa: How can Pakistan make the most of Chinese investment?
The promise of billons of dollars of Chinese investment has created great excitement in Pakistan. But Asad Abbasi warns that investment-driven growth does not necessarily mean development. Drawing on lessons from China's investment in Africa, he argues that Pakistan will only reap the maximum benefits of CPEC if policies are introduced to ensure the benefits are distributed equally.


Cut the pork loin into 4 pieces of equal size.
Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, rice vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes and corn starch in the multi-cooker and stir to combine.
Place the pork pieces on the bottom of the cooker and top with the pepper slices.
Close and lock the lid of the multi-cooker and set the regulator knob to STEAM. Set the timer for 4 hours on slow cook LOW.
Open cover and remove pork pieces. Shred pork using two forks. Add peanut butter, sesame oil, salt and lime juice to juices in the multi-cooker. Stir all ingredients until sauce is smooth. Return pork to sauce and top with scallions and cilantro. Delicious over rice noodles.


With Sage Intacct, Wipfli helped SIFMA eliminate antiquated financial processes resulting in big efficiency gains and freeing up the organization's resources.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) is the leading trade association for global investment bankers, broker dealers and asset managers. The organization advocates on legislation, regulation and business policy on behalf of the industry's nearly one million employees. SIFMA has merged with multiple advocacy organizations during its rich 100-year history and is based in New York and Washington D.C.
SIFMA's finance team relied on an outdated, on-premises version of Microsoft Dynamics SL to manage the organization's complex financial processes. Reporting was clunky and difficult, the software offered poor remote capabilities and information could not be released until the books were completely closed out. This created a long lag before managers could get actionable financial information, by which time it was often outdated and unreliable for decision-making purposes. SIFMA wanted to move to a modern, multi-entity cloud-based software solution. Impressed by its innovation, growth potential and flexibility, the group chose Sage Intacct and selected Wipfli to help make the transition.
The integration of Sage Intacct with other best-in-class tools, including Stampli for accounts payable automation, Concur for employee expenses and Vena Solutions for financial reporting.
Creating a "one-stop shop" whereby all SIFMA's financial processes flow through Sage Intacct.
Process automation and intuitive workflows that allow managers to see approvals via dashboards and view vendor payments and other key transactions.
A paperless environment with backup documentation for auditors.
Remote access and the ability to hire on-the-ground resources anywhere.
Eliminating antiquated financial processes has created big efficiency gains while freeing up the organization's resources — in fact, SIFMA has cut accounts payable processing by 50 percent. That valuable time is now spent building real-time dashboards, expanding reporting and improving month-end close, resulting in improved budget management and faster decision-making to enhance the overall organization. Stakeholders throughout SIFMA are now harnessing the power of real-time information to drive the organization's long-term strategy and growth.
Wipfli was engaged to deploy Sage Intacct's cloud-based financial management and accounting software to deliver a truly exceptional parent and student experience.


text:
Q: User submitted rankings I was looking to have members submit their top-10 list of something, or their top 10 rankings, then have some algorithm combine the results. Is there something out there like that?
Thanks!

A: Ahhhh, that's open-ended alright. Let's consider a simple case where only two people vote:
1  ALPHA
2  BRAVO
3  CHARLIE

1  ALPHA
2  DELTA
3  BRAVO

We can't go purely by count... ALPHA should obviously win, though it has the same votes as BRAVO. Yet, we must avoid a case where just a few first place votes dominate a massive amount of 10th place votes. To do this, I suggest the following:
$score = log($num_of_answers - $rank + 2)

First place would then be worth just a bit over one point, and tenth place would get .3 points. That logarithmic scaling prevents ridiculous dominance, yet still gives weight to rankings. From those example votes (and assuming they were the top 3 of a list of 10), you would get:
ALPHA: 2.08
BRAVO: 1.95
DELTA: .1
CHARLIE: .95

Why? Well, that's subjective. I feel out of a very long list that 4,000 10th place votes is worth more than 1,000 1st place votes. You may scale it differently by changing the base of your log (natural, 2, etc.), or choose a different system.

A: You could just add up the total for each item of the ranking given by a user and then sort them.
ie:
A = (a,b,c)
B = (a,c,b)
C = (b,a,c)
D = (c,b,a)
E = (a,c,b)
F = (c,a,b)

a = 1 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 2 = 10
b = 2 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 3 = 14
c = 3 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 12

Thus,

*

*a

*c

*b

A: I think you could solve this problem by using a max flow algorithm, to create an aggregate ranking, assuming the following:

*

*Each unique item from the list of items is a node in a graph. E.g. if there are 10 things to vote on, there are 10 nodes.

*An edge goes from node *a* to node *b* if *a* is immediately before *b* in a _single user submitted_ ranking.

*The last node created from a _single user submitted_ ranking will have an edge pointed at the *sink*

*The first node created from a _single user submitted_ ranking will have an incoming edge from the *source*

This should get you an aggregated top-10 list.


Inspired by the stylish and comfortable designs of contemporary sneakers, mixed with hints of our original Retro skate.
The new Rookie Deluxe is THE most comfortable, supportive skate on the market – with extra padded Achilles and created to a high specification.
This modernised, sleek design with added comfort provides an air of effortless style and function – perfect for recreational skaters.
There are currently no reviews for Rookie Deluxe Roller Skates - Black / White.


text:
Sculptor Who Will Make Statue of Rangers Fans Talks About the "Big Responsibility"
Robert Wilonsky
| Arts |
Robert Wilonsky | November 29, 2011 | 5:21pm
In mid-August, the Texas Rangers said that come Opening Day 2012 the team hoped to have near the Home Plate Gate of the Ballpark in Arlington a statue of Shannon Stone and 6-year-old son Cooper as a tribute to the 39-year-old Brownwood firefighter killed at the Ballpark on July 7. Said Nolan Ryan at the time, "It will not only serve to honor Mr. Stone's memory but also to recognize Rangers fans and baseball fans everywhere."
Late yesterday, the Rangers sent one more note about the statue, which will be titled, simply, Rangers Fans: It will be created by Norse, Texas-based artist Bruce Greene, whose works Ryan collects. Greene's work displays in cowboy museums all over the country, but perhaps his best-known work resides down in Waco: the Immortal Ten Memorial on the Baylor campus, a tribute to 10 students killed in a train crash near Round Rock in 1927.
It wasn't easy getting Greene on the phone; he spends most of his days in his studio, obscured from distraction. But we spoke this afternoon about Rangers Fans and "the weight" that comes with such a commission, intended to serve as both a tribute to a father who died in front of his young son watching a game they loved and as a symbol of something much larger than a single tragic incident.
"It's a big responsibility that goes with this," Greene tells Unfair Park. "You want to capture a likeness of Shannon and his son Cooper, and to try to relate the relationship they enjoyed -- not just have it look like 'em, but feel like 'em. I'll have them interacting, like they're walking out of the stadium and doing the play-by-play" of what they've just seen.
"And it's about relationships -- a dad and his son, a family that can gather over baseball and spend time at the ballpark," he says. "Those things are on my mind, and to do that with the sensitivity as it relates to Jenny Stone and Cooper at obviously a very hard time. I want to be sensitive to them."
Greene says he was among a number of artists under consideration by the Rangers, who looked over several portfolios before making their decision. Two weeks ago, he got the call: Ryan's secretary rang with the news that he'd been selected. Since then he's visited with Jenny and Cooper Stone; he doesn't want to recount their conversations, and I did not ask him to. Greene offers only, "I will say this: Their relationship is obvious even in photos" of the father and son.
"And I think if I can get that expression and the feeling between father and son as they walk out of the stadium, that'll translate to the bigger picture," he says. "With the intimacy of that relationship, that'll translate. We all hope as fathers for that intimacy with our sons and daughters. If I can get that body language as it comes across, then it'll translate."


text:
Home / canada / Minimum flight in Northwest Territories There are 2 pilot flights missing
Minimum flight in Northwest Territories There are 2 pilot flights missing
canada January 30, 2019 canada
Air Tindi Ltd. from Yellowknife to Whati, N.W.T.
There were two pilots and they did not travel.
President Air Tindi told Al Martin that he lost contact with King Air 200 when he was 24 and 32 kilometers from the aircraft on Wednesday morning between 9 and 9:30.
Martin said two Air Tindi aircraft were looking for an aircraft. One of the search plans is for physicians.
Whati community government is informed that the community must have any capacity in service. There is a lack of accounting for the members of the pilots.
Martin said the Transport Security Council and the search and salvation will also be announced.
Royal Canadian Air Force spokesman David Lavallee said the RCMP had contacted the air force to notify the missing aircraft at noon.
Lavalle said that he went to search for the C-130 Hercules aircraft in Winnipeg. They also become members of the Canadian Rangers, traveling from Whati to snowmobile.
The Environment is surrounded by 23 snowy in accordance with the Canadian Environment.


This is the CV that will appear on ballot papers and in INDEPENDENCE.
I am honoured to be proposed and seconded by two of our recent "Gold Medal" recipients, both stalwarts of our party who have played an essential role in our success. I am also grateful to the hardworking grassroots members across the UK who assented to my nomination. These people reflect my candidature.
UKIP is now a force in British politics and credit must go to Nigel Farage. It is a loss to our party that he never led us into a General Election campaign. Many of you will know that I have made every effort to seek a change of heart from him with my petition but to no avail. I was not in favour of a leadership campaign so close to a General Election.
I have been urged by many across the country to put my name forward to debate the future direction of the party, essential in the light of recent developments and proposals.
I became involved with UKIP after the Tory treachery of Maastricht. Volunteering in the European elections of 1994 I subsequently became a member in 1996.
I have been a Branch Committee Member, Branch Secretary, Branch Chairman, Regional Committee Member, Regional Chairman, Head Office Manager, NEC Member and Party Secretary.
I have stood in local elections, two General Elections, one European Election and now find myself as an MEP!
I have also two years' political experience in the US campaigning for a member of Congress and also on the Californian "recall" procedure with its subsequent election of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
This year, I put all my skills and experience into being the Campaign Manager for the West Midlands, winning a third of the seats and securing UKIP's highest vote increase.
I seek unequivocal withdrawal from the EU. Reform is not and can never be an option.
To promote freedom and liberty for the individual that would encourage each person to develop independence and responsibility.
I believe in equality of opportunity and treatment for all under the rule of law.
I loathe political correctness and positive discrimination.
These are not just words but the passion that drives me forward in my work representing UKIP and my country.
The time has come for a fresh approach and a debate on the future of our Party. UKIP is the only vehicle to take our country out of the corrupt and doomed mess that is the EU. We must not rest on our laurels but continue with all our muster against the Euro-federalists. We need to take a critical look at our party and not be afraid of the changes needed to take us forward. UKIP started as a grassroots party. This is a principle we should never forget. No member should be left behind in our fight. This party has far too many ex-members. We need a united front to defeat our enemies.
Finally we are in the centre ground of British politics, no longer thought of as an offshoot of the Tory party. The European Elections cemented this by UKIP winning outright in Labour heartlands such as Stoke-on-Trent, Dudley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Plymouth, Hull, Hartlepool and Sunderland. We did not win one single Conservative heartland.
We must consolidate this and expand our message across the political spectrum. Polls show that our cause now has majority support. We need to claim that support, not restrict ourselves once again by being seen as a Tory splinter group.
Besides our message, our great asset is Nigel's ability to articulate our cause. As Leader I would retain Nigel as our lead spokesman. Nigel has already indicated he is willing to do this.
A major change needed within the party is communication, administration and policy making. The recent Court of Appeal decision which means that, due to a simple administrative error, we may have to pay over £360,000 into government coffers, underlines our need for improved professionalism in the party.
Our administrative office in Devon does a fantastic job. However, we need investment in the regions to supplement our branches. Our infrastructure has not grown with our electoral success and if we don't heed the need for change it will be the biggest obstacle to us achieving real success.
Our internal communication leaves a lot to be desired. Ideas such as a "letter database" whereby all letters by members published in newspapers/magazines across the country can be accessed by other members and used in their area - Simple, free and effective. WE NEED TO BE DOING THIS!
The Party Leader and officers need to be available to members by regular meetings in their region on a regular basis. Members deserve regular newsletters. I promise all this.
In short, I believe my organisational and administrative ability, coupled with Nigel evident abilities, can harness the improvements we need to take us forward.
Under my leadership UKIP will never be part of a pan-European party. Under Article 191 of Nice, these parties aim to assist further EU integration. I could not believe my ears when I heard the proposal that we should join one. I am proud that I was one of only two UKIP MEPs that spoke and campaigned against this recent proposal.
It is 10 years since we first sent MEPs to Brussels. The intent of UKIPs 1998 Conference (which allowed elected MEPs to take up their seats) was to make the MEPs work for the Party. There is a tendency for it to be the other way round. The Party needs to be able to be powerful in its own right, democratically controlled by you, the members. We MEPs are privileged to fight the cause on your behalf and are there, politically and financially, to further that cause.
Being an MEP allows me use of substantial resources to represent you as Party Leader. For example, my 15,000 miles' travel allowance will permit me to travel across the country promoting the Party. I have members of staff to assist me. I have a professional fully-equipped office in Birmingham, financed by my allowances, and only five minutes away from the BBC and ITV studios. To qualify for these allowances, I need to spend, on average, three and a half days a month in Brussels/Strasbourg. The rest of my time will be here, in the UK, and I commit to spending my time touring the country, promoting UKIP, to give us the best chance of electoral success.
Since being elected an MEP, I have committed a third of my net salary to the Party. I have edited and paid for 100,000 newspapers to be distributed by West Midland branches. A further 500,000 are planned, with some going to the North East and Scotland where UKIP does not yet have MEPS. I am financially supporting and attending Freshers´ Fairs at universities to further our message. I have a full website, including a page on transparency, at www.yourmep.org which is regularly updated. Take a look to see what I did in my first 100 days as an MEP.
My loyalty and support for the cause and UKIP is absolute.
I will continue to work tirelessly for our cause as Party Leader, or support the person you choose.
That "click here to email Nikki" needs work, apart from that, top stuff.
I can see some advantages in having a woman as a leader.
UKIP is a very male dominated party, and it would give the party more balance in the eyes of the voters.
I dont know what her public speaking is like, because I have never heard her making a speech.
Sample videos of the candidates in action would help members choose the best leader.