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Posted: September 9, 2020 | Author: JP Zanders | Filed under: Chemical | Tags: Assassination, Japan, Nerve agent, Novichok, Russia, Terrorism | 6 Comments
[Cross-posted from The Trench]
On 20 August, the Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny fell ill during a return flight to Moscow and was hospitalised in the Siberian town of Omsk after an emergency landing. Members of his travelling party immediately suspected poisoning, an impression hospital staff reinforced when they refused Navalny's personal physician access to his medical records.
Following his airlifting to Berlin for further examination and specialist treatment, the Charité hospital issued a statement on 24 August that preliminary findings indicated exposure to 'a substance from the group of cholinesterase inhibitors'. Even though the hospital could then not name the specific poison used, it added that multiple tests by independent laboratories had confirmed the effect of the poison. The hospital was also treating him with the antidote atropine. The references to a cholinesterase inhibitor and atropine were the first strong indicators of a neurotoxicant, to which nerve agents like sarin, VX or the novichoks belong.
A week later, on 2 September, German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed the assassination attempt with a novichok agent at a press conference. She drew on the conclusions from biomedical analyses by the Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie der Bundeswehr (Bundeswehr Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology), one of the top laboratories designated by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate biomedical samples.
From natural poisons to warfare agents
Poisoning political opponents or enemies is not new. In his almost 600 pages-long 'Die Gifte in der Weltgeschichte' (1920) the German pharmacologist Louis Lewin detailed chapter after chapter how besides criminals and spurned lovers, rulers, leaders, undercover agents and conspirators applied the most noxious substances in pursuing domestic political or international geopolitical objectives. Reviews of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) usage through the 20th century similarly list successful and attempted assassinations with mineral poisons or animal and plant toxins in and outside of war.
Modern chemical weapons (CW) – typically human-made toxic compounds standardised for use on battlefields – have rarely been selected to target individuals. Observers and journalists reported first use of nerve agents by Iraq against Iran in 1983, almost five decades after their initial discovery in Nazi Germany. In March 1995 the world learned of Aum Shinrikyo after its members had released the nerve agent sarin in the Tokyo underground. However, during the previous eight months the extremist cult had also resorted to both sarin and VX in attempts to assassinate judges about to rule against Aum Shinrikyo and individuals who posed a threat or had defected from the religious group. These were the first and for more than a decade and a half the only reports of neurotoxicants used to murder individuals.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) eliminated Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, with a binary form of VX in February 2017. Just over a year later, in March 2018, Russian operatives attempted to murder a former double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, UK with a nerve agent belonging to the lesser known family of so-called 'novichoks' (newcomer). Skripal's daughter and a police officer were also exposed to the toxicant. They too survived. In June two British citizens fell ill in the nearby town of Amesbury because of exposure to the agent in a small bottle discarded by the Russian agents. One exposed person succumbed.
Novichok family of nerve agents (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Following the Skripal case the Bulgarian Prosecutor General reopened a poisoning case in October 2018 at the request of the victim, arms manufacturer and trader Emilian Gebrev. The assassination attempt dated to April 2015. Also exposed were his son and the production manager of the Dunarit munitions factory. The Prosecutor General confirmed that a Russian operative linked to the Skripal attempt had visited Bulgaria at the time of the incident. Subsequent forensic analysis of serum and urine samples from Gebrev by the Finnish laboratory VERIFIN confirmed the poisoning. According to the UK-based CW expert Dan Kaszeta, who read a copy of the report, the Finnish institute intimated that Gebrev might have been exposed to an organophosphate pesticide. A Bulgarian news outlet has suggested the agricultural insecticide Amiton (also known as Tetram). Now commercially banned because of its high toxicity, in the 1950s the UK investigated its use as a nerve agent under the code VG.
Some reports have also claimed that Aum Shinrikyo murdered around 20 dissident members and defectors with VX in one of the cult's compounds. To the best of my knowledge no documentary evidence to support the claim has been published.
Previous assassination operations involving nerve agents
Nerve agents were battlefield weapons, mostly liquids of different viscosity. The volatile sarin could prepare the pathway of an attack, whereas the oilier tabun and VX had their greatest utility as area denial weapons for defending terrain or protecting flanks during an advance. Their manufacture in large volumes is complex and maintaining their stability during longer-term storage is a hurdle that even few states have satisfactorily crossed. In laboratory volumes, a skilled chemist may be able to synthesise agent of high purity. But this person would have to take the greatest precautions to avoid inadvertent exposure to its noxious properties. While the relatively high toxicity of nerve agents may appear attractive to terrorists or assassins, the marginal benefit they offer over other terrorist or criminal tools is usually too small to make the investments or risks worthwhile. Hence, their use by terrorists or criminals has been rare.
Until recently, their use in assassination operations would have been considered even rarer, especially because of the poor results obtained by the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo in the first half of the 1990s.
The following table summarises known assassination operations with neurotoxicants.
Date Perpetrator Comments
27 June 1994 Aum Shinrikyo Sarin released in Matsumoto from a converted lorry to kill three judges who were to rule in a land dispute. They survived. However, the drifting sarin cloud eventually killed eight persons and injured over 500.
Autumn 1994 Aum Shinrikyo Suspected VX attack against Taro Takimoto, lawyer for Aum victims. The agent had been applied on the handle of his car door. Failed, reasons unknown
Autumn 1994 Aum Shinrikyo Second suspected VX attack against Taro Takimoto. The agent had been inserted into a keyhole. Failed, reasons unknown. (Aum reportedly also attempted to murder this person with botulinum toxin around this time.)
28 November 1994 Aum Shinrikyo VX squirted from a syringe onto Noboru Mizonu in retaliation for offering shelter to former Aum members. Failed.
2 December 1994 Aum Shinrikyo Second attack on Noboru Mizonu with VX delivered drop by drop from a syringe. Hospitalisation for 45 days required.
12 December 1994 Aum Shinrikyo VX injected with a syringe into Tadahito Hamaguchi in Osaka, having been misidentified as a police spy. First person ever to have been deliberately killed with VX.
4 January 1995 Aum Shinrikyo VX syringe attack against the head of the Aum Victims Society, Hiroyuki Nagaoka. Hospitalised for several weeks.
28 April 2015 Russia Bulgarian arms trader Emilian Gebrev poisoned with an organophosphorus compound. Two other persons present also suffered consequences. Following the Skripal case in March 2018, a possible link to novichok has been suggested but not confirmed. Bulgaria charged three Russian operatives with attempted murder in January 2020, one of whom is also a suspect in the Skripal case.
13 February 2017 DPRK Attack with binary VX on Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of Kim Jong-un, DPRK leader, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. Killed.
4 March 2018 Russia Assassination attempt with a novichok agent, presumed to be A-234, on former Soviet/Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury, UK. His daughter Yulia was also exposed to the neurotoxicant, which Russian operatives had applied to the door handle of Skripal's home. Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey too suffered effects from exposure. All three persons recovered after multiple weeks in hospital.
30 June 2018 Russia Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess were hospitalised in the nearby town of Amesbury following inadvertent exposure to novichok after having recovered a vial discarded by the Russian operatives. Sturgess died on 8 July; Rowley recovered after hospitalisation.
20 August 2020 Russia Assassination attempt on Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny with a novichok agent, presumed in powdered form, at Tomsk airport, Russia. Still hospitalised in Berlin at the time of writing.
[Sources: Anthony T. Tu, The use of VX as a terrorist agent (2020); Monterey Institute of International Studies, Chronology of Aum Shinrikyo's CBW Activities (2001); and assorted press reports.]
There have been 12 incidents with neurotoxicants. Eleven persons were the direct target, of whom two died.
Around 520–530 other individuals in total suffered exposure to the poisonous substances. Nine among them died. Aum Shinrikyo's sarin cloud attack against the judges' dormitory in Matsumoto caused almost all collateral casualties.
Six persons other than the immediate targets fell victim to Russian operatives, one of whom succumbed to the poisoning.
Only in one listed operation (Gebrev) remains the use of a military type of nerve agent unconfirmed.
Novichok between opinion and fact – Part 2: When alternative facts become blatant untruths
Posted: April 20, 2018 | Author: JP Zanders | Filed under: Chemical | Tags: Assassination, CWC, Investigation of use, Nerve agent, Novichok, OPCW, Russia, UK | Leave a comment
On 18 April 2018 the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) held its 59th meeting, which was wholly dedicated to the assassination attempt with a nerve agent of the Novichok family. The Technical Secretariat presented its classified full 'Report on Activities Carried out in Support of a Request for Technical Assistance by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Technical Assistance Visit TAV/02/18)'. A summary released by the Technical Secretariat on 12 April, although lacking in detail, stated that:
Two OPCW designated laboratories confirmed that the three hospitalised individuals had been exposed to a toxic chemical;
Another two OPCW designated laboratories confirmed the presence of the toxic chemical in environmental samples;
The results confirmed the UK's findings relating to the identity of the toxic chemical; and
The TAV noted the high purity of the agent because of the almost complete absence of impurities.
Russia's unprecedented revelation of the identity of a designated laboratory in an investigation
Prior to the Executive Council meeting Russia caused an uproar when Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov publicly identified one of the designated laboratories involved in the analysis of samples (Spiez laboratory, Switzerland). In his address to the Assembly on Foreign and Defence Policy on 14 April, he also confirmed the identification of Substance A-234 (a Novichok agent) and furthermore claimed (from Russian via Google Translate):
Based on the results of the examination, the traces of the toxic chemical BZ and its precursors belonging to the chemical weapons of the second category in accordance with the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are found in the samples. BZ is a nerve agent temporarily disabling a person, psycho-toxic effect is achieved in 30-60 minutes and lasts up to four days.
This recipe was in the arsenal of the US Army, Great Britain and other NATO countries, there were no developments or accumulations of these chemical compounds in the Soviet Union and Russia.
The statement as such contains two errors.
Novichok between opinion and fact – Part 1: Deconstruction of the Russian denial
Posted: April 10, 2018 | Author: JP Zanders | Filed under: Chemical | Tags: Assassination, Compliance, CWC, Investigation of use, Nerve agent, Novichok, OPCW, Russia, UK, Verification | 2 Comments
Since the assassination attempt on Sergei and Yulia Skripal with a nerve agent now just over one month ago, so much has been written about 'Novichok'; so much has been opined about what 'Novichok' is meant to be (if it exists at all); and so much smoke has been spewed about what the identification of 'Novichok' suggests about culprits. This blog posting is the first of several to look into a specific aspect of the discussions concerning Novichok in the hope of clarifying where certain positions come from and what factual knowledge exists about this group of nerve agents.
Facts have been scarce. In fact, as a member of the public with long-time interest in chemical and biological weapons, I know very little about what took place in Salisbury on 4 March. I still have to see the first statement from British authorities—government officials, police, scientists at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down—in what form the Novichok agent was delivered. Was it a liquid? A solid in powdered form? A binary concoction? Delivered in a gel or ointment? Anything else?
'Novichok' as we know the family of nerve agents today was researched, developed, produced and field-tested in sizeable quantities in the Soviet Union and at least during the early years of Russia as an independent state. Little else beyond this basic information given by some of the chemists involved in the armament programme is available. Those researchers are not always in agreement with each other, especially as regards the skill levels required to synthesise the agent.
Meanwhile, government officials from both the United Kingdom and the Russian federation have launched a war of hyperbole. London overstated the nature and quality of evidence from forensic chemistry; Moscow, amid a broad smoke-and-mirrors campaign, used the exaggerations to poke holes in the British narrative. Just like with allegations of chemical weapon (CW) use in Syria, Russia has released a barrage of denials concerning the assassination attempt in the UK through disaffirmation of any involvement, construction of spurious logic and citation of any 'expert' willing to entertain conspiracy theories. It furthermore rejects any outcome unfavourable to its world view and questions procedures and methodologies applied by investigative bodies. Moscow, however, never supplies any physical evidence in support of its claims.
Yet, over the din there are two steadfast Russian positions: (1) Russia is not responsible for the Soviet Union's actions, and (2) CW declarations concern only 'produced' toxic chemicals for use in warfare. In the specific context of the CWC, it places the three Schedules central to the prohibitory regime.
Geopolitical manoeuvring behind Skripal
Posted: April 3, 2018 | Author: JP Zanders | Filed under: Chemical | Tags: Assassination, Compliance, CWC, Investigation of use, Nerve agent, Novichok, OPCW, Russia, UK, Verification | 1 Comment
On 4 April the Executive Council (EC) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will meet in a special session. Russia called the extraordinary meeting. It has been a month now since former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia had been exposed to a nerve agent in Salisbury. The United Kingdom (UK) government identified it as a member of the 'Novichok' family, once researched and developed by the Soviet Union. Russia is believed to have continued the programme at least during the first years after the breakup of the USSR. It has never come clear on the nature of the programme or identified the agents' characteristics. As no other country has ever been associated with the Novichok family of agents, London's finger-pointing at Moscow was not difficult.
War of loud words
Since the assassination attempt a war of loud words has erupted. The UK has continued with its investigation and called in the OPCW's expertise with a view of validating its analyses of the nerve agent. By the latest indications, the results from the OPCW-certified laboratories will not be available before the middle of this month.
Meanwhile, London also launched a diplomatic offensive to isolate Russia internationally (for an overview, see the dedicated UK government web page), which so far has ended with tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomatic staff. The rhetoric strayed off course. The assassination attempt got linked to similar incidents over the past years and decades, Russia's actions in its near-abroad and Syria, its cyber campaigns against the institutions of Western democracy, and the country's more assertive stance against Western interests, particularly those of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). And, of course, the post-penultimate British schoolboy's meme had to be called forth for domestic consumption: a mention of Nazi Germany.
Battle royale for the internet's heart and minds
The British government's (quite necessary) quietness about the investigation, the dearth of factual information beyond some generalities, and the distraction-causing verbal digressions into unrelated issue areas presented Russia with an open playing field. It was an opportunity it could not, and did not ignore.
Beyond the stacks of concealing black smoke and initial ridicule spouted by the government-sponsored international media and its diplomatic representatives to the UK, OPCW and EU, Moscow stayed much more focussed on the Skripal case. It was testing messages fast, discarding the ones failing to gain immediate traction and pursuing those that got picked up. Together, they addressed several issues simultaneously to drown out or cast doubt over any possible counterargument. That Russian officials or media contradicted themselves or seemingly confessed to total ignorance about past chemical warfare programmes did not matter. Speed was of the essence to avoid a coherent ripostes.
So, they challenged the notion that Russia was the sole originator of Novichok agents; they denied that there had ever been a Novichok programme; they suggested that the agent came form the British chemical defence laboratories at Porton Down or from similar facilities in other European countries; they questioned the OPCW's legitimacy in the investigation while embracing the procedures foreseen in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) to discuss the matter; etc. They upbraided the UK government for not releasing details about the nerve agent while the investigation is going on. And then Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proffered motive for the British using a Novichok agent against the Skripal family: covering up difficulties over Brexit.
However ludicrous some of the arguments, Moscow ultimately turned the tables on London. Russia now portrays itself as the victim of the attack because the UK was unable to guarantee the safety and security of its citizens, in addition to which it now refuses Russian consular access to Yulia. And exploiting both British silence on the heart of the matter and the waiting period for the OPCW test results, it called for an special session of the OPCW EC after having publicly released two sets of questions (1st set; 2nd set), some of which it could use to initiate the clarification process under CWC Article IX, 2. Quite a few of these questions Moscow has field-tested via its global megaphone. (A subset of questions Russia addressed to the French government too.)
Will Britain's hand be forced?
How will the EC meeting tomorrow pan out? Difficult to say, but if the debates over Syria's chemical weapon (CW) use offer any guidance, then the following broad lines may re-establish themselves: the Western countries will decry the violation of the CWC and seek justice; Russia will play out a geopolitical strategy based on nominal pledges of cooperation to influence the votes of members of the Non-Aligned Movement who are wary of being caught up in a new hegemonic struggle between Moscow and Washington.
Russia has definitely laid the groundwork for triggering Article IX, 2. But will it trigger it tomorrow? This is far from certain. Moscow's core aim may be to place some of the key questions it has already publicised into the formal record, thereby forcing the UK to respond. Any reluctance or avoidance by London would feed a certain narrative, at least until the OPCW submits its own laboratory findings to the UK. That narrative will anticipate those findings; at a minimum it will place the British government under great pressure to release the analyses to other OPCW members, including Russia. That pressure might also compel the British government to follow OPCW procedures rather than pursuing the case through other diplomatic means, in which case Moscow's gambit may already be anticipating crucial votes further down that path. (For an overview of the Article IX process, see my earlier blog posting Novichok and the Chemical Weapons Convention.)
Remains one question in all this: Where is Washington? в кармане?
VX murder in Kuala Lumpur?
Posted: February 24, 2017 | Author: JP Zanders | Filed under: Chemical | Tags: Assassination, DPRK, Malaysia, Nerve agent, Terrorism, VX | 4 Comments
[Cross-posted from The Trench.]
According to an overnight statement by the Malaysian police, Kim Jong Nam—half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un—was assassinated with the nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
VX is one of the high-end chemical warfare agents developed and produced in large quantities by the USA, USSR and some secondary powers during the cold war. Former military chemical weapon arsenals are being eliminated under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), of course, is together with Egypt, Israel and South Sudan one of the four hold-out states. It is widely believed to have a significant chemical warfare capacity, but how militarily effective it might be is anyone's guess.
Commentators will happily inform you that it possesses the world's largest stockpile, which is as good as meaningless given that all other arsenals have been almost entirely eliminated under international supervision. BBC World already broadcast a report in which an unidentified 'expert' said it had to be a nation-state because its synthesis is far too complex for your backroom.
Statement by the Malaysian Police on the identification of the VX nerve agent (24 February 2017)
However, the substance is not unknown in terrorism: Aum Shinrikyo synthesised somewhere between 100 and 200 grammes of the substance between 1993 and 1995. It tried to assassinate several opponents by spraying it in the face of the victim with a syringe. Only one person died; the others survived. It always appeared technological overkill: had the cult used more 'traditional' assassination weapons, such as knives or guns, their attacks would have been far more lethal.
Many questions; few answers so far
As the information stands right now, the Malaysian police's claim is remarkable for what it does not say. The preliminary toxicology report reportedly states that traces of VX were detected on swabs of the dead man's face and eyes. If this is the case, then the following questions require an answer:
Why were there no previous descriptions in press reports of symptoms typically associated with nerve agent exposure (spasms, foaming, discolouration, etc.)?
Why did it take 9 days since the assassination on 13 February before the poison was confirmed?
Why did the preliminary toxicology report (or at least the police officer) not mention physiological consequences of nerve agent exposure, such as increased acetylcholine levels (which is responsible for the spasms)?
What is meant by 'traces'? Residue? Or small amounts? VX is a pretty persistent agent that can last for days. Rubbing the agent in the face suggests an area with a rather high concentration of the agent, even if the amount was limited.
Why did the assassin not display any of those symptoms? Was she wearing gloves or was the agent contained in a capsule? (And if she was wearing gloves, were they then not found? Or frangments of a capsule?) Did she receive a nerve agent pretreatment antidote? There were some reports of vomiting, but was this reaction related to nerve agent exposure? Any splash of a tiny droplet anywhere on her body would have resulted in some symptoms of varying degree. She was jailed, but nothing to such effect was reported.
There was apparently no decontamination effort at the airport. So, were first responders or medical staff at the airport clinic, police officers and other persons who came to the victim's assistance or were in his vicinity affected through secondary contamination? No reports, thus far.
Have samples been sent to one of the top-level OPCW certified laboratories, such as the Verification Laboratory, Defence Medical and Environmental Research Institute, DSO National Laboratories in neighbouring Singapore (with or without involvement of the OPCW)?
Why did the Malaysian authorities say earlier today that they would sweep the airport and other locations for radioactive material? And apparently not for VX traces?
These, and I am sure, many more questions require clear answers before we can arrive at reasonable conclusions. More to come over the next days and weeks …


P&W 305A on ESP Gold w/ 4,477 hrs.
Executive 8 passenger: FWD RS 2-place divan opposite single forward-facing chair & aft 4-place club all upholstered in Townsend ivory classic shimmer leather, belted lav seat; Fireblocked; Off-white ultraleather headliner & sidewalls; off-white carpeting; FWD RS galley w/ warming oven, heated coffee pot, ice drawers, soda can dispenser & storage; High gloss walnut burl veneer cabinetry, FWD table, FWD foldout table, dual AFT foldout tables, dual AFT bulkhead pyramid cabinets, FWD crew cabinet; Airshow 4000, 14.1 inch FWD flat screen, DVD player, 10 disc CD player, audio & video system; AFT lav.
Overall Matterhorn white w/ gray.


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Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story
Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story is the fourth entry in the Disney's Animated Storybook point-and-click adventure interactive storybook PC game series, based on theatrical and home video releases. The game was developed by a computer game development subsidiary of Pixar Animation Studios that existed at the time, and published by Disney Interactive. The game is based on Pixar's 1995 film, Toy Story, which was the first feature-length computer-animated film.
PC, Classic Macintosh
Educational, Family
The Interactive Products Group
Other games in the series
Kinect Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure, Toy Story Mania!, Toy Story Racer, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue, Disney's Animated Storybook: Winnie The Pooh & Tigger Too, Disney's Animated Storybook: Mulan, Disney's Animated Storybook: Hercules, Disney's Animated Storybook: 101 Dalmatians, Disney's Animated Storybook: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney's Animated Storybook: Pocahontas, Disney's Animated Storybook: Winnie The Pooh and the Honey Tree, Toy Story, Disney's Animated Storybook: The Lion King
Story, animation, toy
System requirements for PC
System requirements for Classic Macintosh
Jorian Rutten
10 edits
iBarin
1 edit
Games like Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story
The LEGO Movie Video Game
Heart's Medicine ❤❤❤Doctor's Oath ❤❤❤
Fall of Porcupine: Prologue
Fat Princess
Boom Boat 2
Cathy's Crafts
Disney's Animated Storybook: Toy Story reviews and comments
Gino GallardoDec 10, 2022
Magic 2015 - Duels of the Planeswalkers, YOU DON'T KNOW JACK Vol. 1 XL, Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy, Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 - Steam Powered, ACID Music Studio 10 - Steam Powered

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: django Postgres ArrayField preserving list insert ordering I am looking to use an ArrayField in Django, and I was wondering if this field preserves the order of insertion. So, for example, if I insert the list:
["stackoverflow", "is", "awesome"]

I would like to have the exact same ordering when I retrieve this pkid.
I have looked around the django docs and I see no mention of preserving insert order and hence my question. It would be great if someone can link me to the django docs for this.
PS: I presume JSONField will NOT preserve order and thus looking into ArrayField.

A: The Django documentation says that an ArrayField is

a field for storing lists of data

Now a python list constructor preserves the order, as mentioned here:

The constructor builds a list whose items are the same and in the same order as iterable's items

Finally, if you look at the postgresql documentation for arrays, although order isn't mentioned explicitly, it's clear from the examples that a value stored at index i will be always found at the same index when retrieving it. It's probably not mentioned because in every programming language, arrays (called lists in python) preserve the order of the elements :-)
So basically, if you assign the field of your model a list and write it to the db, then you can be sure that when you retrieve it, you'll get the same list, i.e. with the order of elements preserved.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Lithuania shuns populism with the election of a pro-EU president
New Atlanticist by Agnia Grigas
Related Experts: Agnia Grigas,
Elections Northern Europe Populism
Lithuania's newly elected president, Gitanas Nausėda, spoke with journalists in Vilnius, Lithuania, on May 27. (Reuters/Ints Kalnins)
On May 26, Lithuanian voters rebuffed the populist trends sweeping Europe by electing Gitanas Nausėda, a pro-European Union independent centrist, as their new president. There is a lot at stake for Lithuania and Nausėda, an economist and political novice, has little room for error.
Lithuania navigates a complex geopolitical environment among its fellow members in the turbulent European Union (EU), the fragile transatlantic alliance, and a resurgent Russia. Domestically, Lithuanians demand higher living standards, greater income equality, and elimination of corruption, all while there is a marked divergence of interests and values among different segments of society. While emigration ebbed last year, the drain of brain and brawn from Lithuania has had an impact on families and the labor market. The political elite lacks a coherent vision for their large émigré community and breakthroughs are unlikely given the failed referendum on May 12 to allow dual citizenship.
In the presidential election, the runoff between Nausėda and fellow economist and more conservative candidate Ingrida Šimonytė was in and of itself a victory for Lithuania. These two pro-Europe, center-right candidates contrasted significantly with the other candidates in the first round and with the rising number of populist, Eurosceptic, and ethno-nationalist politicians across Europe. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said "the election showed the maturity of Lithuanian society. People have values that cannot be effected by populism or blackmail."
Both Šimonytė and Nausėda were expected to compete for the same electorate: younger, educated, pro-European, and urban voters. However, in the second round, Nausėda appealed to a much broader electoral sector winning more than 60 percent of the vote.
Who is Gitanas Nausėda?
Independent Nonpartisan
Continuing Lithuanian tradition and constitutional requirement, Nausėda is not a member of any political party. Even though political parties may propose candidates for the presidency and support their campaign, Nausėda remained an independent. This may have been the key to his success, making him appealing to a broader electorate. Meanwhile, Šimonytė was supported in the elections by the conservative Homeland Union-Christian Democrat party, possibly hurting her chances to be perceived as a true "people's candidate" as her campaign proclaimed.
Nausėda's victory may set a new bar in Lithuania. Political party affinity could be increasingly seen as a detriment to a presidential candidate, outweighing the benefits of party support such as financing, organizing, and getting out the voters.
New Face in Politics
Nausėda is a relatively fresh face on the Lithuanian political scene. This has worked to his advantage in the elections as established politicians rarely get high ratings from Lithuanian voters. In this regard, he is similar to both former presidents Grybauskaite and Valdas Adamkus, who were not widely known politicians before their election.
Nausėda spent his career in banking as an economist, analyst, and public intellectual. His public service included work in the Lithuanian state bank Lietuvos Bankas and subsequently as a senior adviser to Adamkus. Whether this experience will be a sufficient foundation for him as president to implement his vision and ideas and navigate the Lithuanian state apparatus remains to be seen.
The Lithuanian president's most important responsibilities center on foreign policy while the prime minister is the head of government. Here Nausėda's career with international banks and within the Adamkus presidency has provided him with some—albeit limited—experience in international relations. It remains to be seen how he will handle foreign policy crises in Lithuania's geopolitically charged neighborhood.
Grybauskaitė has been among the most vocal European critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin's government and a staunch supporter of Ukraine. Nausėda has said that he could change the rhetoric toward Moscow, but that foreign policy will remain unchanged until Russia's aggression toward Ukraine ends.
In an era of rising Euroscepticism, Nausėda is firm on the EU's vital importance to Lithuania and the country's role in a strong Union. Despite European trends of decreasing voter trust in European and national institutions, Nausėda's nonpartisanship and strong mandate will be great assets for the Lithuanian presidency.
Meanwhile, despite her defeat, Šimonytė is a rising political star. Nausėda, as well as the leader of the conservative Homeland Union party Gabrielius Landsbergis, noted that Šimonytė could be next prime minister following the 2020 parliamentary elections. Nausėda and Šimonytė could make a good team offering stability, consistency, and commitment to the EU.
Lithuania's presidential election has demonstrated the maturity of its electorate, who were not swayed by populism or extremism. Nausėda, like Šimonytė, represented the hopes of a new generation of Lithuanians and a politics of unity, transparency, and nonpartisanship. Whether these hopes will be met remains to be seen, but Nausėda will not have much room for failure given the pressure of geopolitics and the rising demands of the Lithuanian society.
Agnia Grigas is a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center and author of "The New Geopolitics of Natural Gas" and "Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire." Follow her on Twitter @AgniaGrigas.


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CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY /
and Frisk: Sex, Torture, Control
20 Oct, 2015 CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY 0
Stop and Frisk: Sex, Torture, Control
PAUL BUTLER
The officer must feel with sensitive fingers every portion of the prisoner's body. A thorough search must be made of the prisoner's arms and armpits, waistline and back, the groin and areas about the testicles, and entire surface of the legs down to the feet.1
—Searching and Disarming Criminals, Priar and Martin
I don't know if they fags or what/Search a nigga down and grabbin his nuts2
—Fuck tha Police, NWA
The Supreme Court's decision in Terry v. Ohio3 authorizes the police to "stop and frisk." The police can temporarily detain someone they suspect of a crime, and they can pat down suspects they think might be armed. Because the "reasonable suspicion" standard that authorizes stops and frisks is lenient, the police have wide discretion in whom they detain and frisk. Terry stops are probably the most common negative interaction that citizens have with the police (many more people get detained than arrested).
In this chapter, I explore the expressive meaning of stops and frisks, paying special attention to frisks—police touching of people who, in the eyes of the "law," are innocent.4
My thesis is that stops and frisks can be constructed as a form of torture, the effect of which is the assertion of police dominance of the streets. I do not mean that the police would be formally guilty, in a U.S. court or under international law, for the crime of torture. They would not be. My claim is that stops and frisks cause injuries similar to those of illegal forms of tortures, and have the same kinds of "benefits."
Stops and frisks blur the line between regulation and punishment. They are not supposed to be punishment, but they feel that way to their victims. After the police have detained you, and put their hands all over your body, and then let you go, you are supposed to go about your business as if nothing of consequence has happened. Most citizens don't take it personally when they are forced to wait at a red light; the Terry rule that you submit, often spread-eagle, and almost always in public, while the police do something (the Court never said exactly what) to see if they can arrest you for a crime, is supposedly regulatory in the same sense. Except that the red light does not prefer to stop black men, and the police do. The red light does not stop people as part of a performance that demonstrates its dominance and control, and the police do. The red light derives no pleasure from the public spectacle of submission to its order, and the police do.
To attempt to situate stop and frisk in the Artway definition of punishment is to appreciate exactly how much the Supreme Court just doesn't get it, or pretends not to. Its either/or, "punishment or regulation" categorization fails to comprehend that regulation can be a form of punishment, especially when it is selectively applied and perpetrated on the body of an innocent man or woman.
The chapter proceeds as follows: I describe the Terry doctrine and its practice in the real world. Then I offer a definition of torture, relying on Foucault's influential construct in Discipline and Punish.5 Next I attempt to prove that stops and frisks are a form of torture. The final part of the chapter considers the purpose that this torture serves.
In Terry v. Ohio, the Supreme Court ruled that the police can briefly detain someone when they have "reasonable suspicion" that a crime may be occurring, or is about to occur.6 Cops can "pat down" the person whom they have stopped if they have reasonable suspicion that the suspect is armed.7 The "sole justification" of the search is "the protection of the police officer and others nearby, and it must therefore be confined in scope" to discover weapons.8
In the Terry case, an experienced detective's attention was drawn to two African-American men who were standing on a street corner in downtown Cleveland. The detective didn't know why he had started watching them; he said he was "attracted" because "they didn't look right to me at the time."9 The detective observed the men to walk up and down the street looking in the same store window several times.10 He suspected they were "casing" a store with the intention of robbing it.11 Next, however, the two men walked away from the store, and were joined by a white man.12 At that point, the detective approached, asked the men to give their names, and when Mr. Terry "mumbled something" in response, he grabbed Mr. Terry and pushed him against a wall.13 The detective then patted down Mr. Terry and felt something that might have been a gun in his coat pocket.14 He ordered all three men inside a store, where he frisked them. Mr. Terry and one of the other men were carrying guns.15
The prosecutors argued that the Fourth Amendment, which regulates government searches and seizures, didn't apply because Mr. Terry had not been searched and seized within the meaning of the Amendment. The Supreme Court
emphatically reject[ed] this notion. . . . It must be recognized that, whenever a police officer accosts an individual and restrains his freedom to walk away, he has "seized" that person. And it is nothing less than sheer torture of the English language to suggest that a careful exploration of the outer surfaces of a person's clothing all over his or her body in an attempt to find weapons is not a "search." Moreover, it is simply fantastic to urge that such a procedure performed in public by a policeman while the citizen stands helpless, perhaps facing a wall with his hands raised, is a "petty indignity." It is a serious intrusion upon the sanctity of the person, which may inflict great indignity and arouse strong resentment, and it is not to be undertaken lightly.16
Since the Court found that Mr. Terry had been seized and searched, Fourth Amendment precedent required that police have "probable cause."17 The Court, however, declined to apply this (relatively) high standard, stating that "we deal here with an entire rubric of police conduct—necessarily swift action predicated upon the on-the-spot observations of the officer on the beat—which . . . as a practical matter could not be subjected to the warrant procedure."18 It held that the Fourth Amendment simply required the police conduct to be reasonable, which could be determined by balancing the government interest (investigating crime and officer safety) against the individual interest (privacy).19 The Court specifically noted that it was not abandoning the jurisprudence that a search is presumptively unconstitutional if there is no probable cause, but simply creating a limited exception.20
Justice Douglas was the lone dissenter.21 He observed that the probable cause standard was deeply rooted in the country's history, and the Court's precedent.22 Justice Douglas didn't think the reasonableness balancing test was constitutionally sound because he thought the Fourth Amendment itself already balanced the relevant interests.23 Douglas observed that there was no probable cause to arrest Mr. Terry before the search, because his crime, carrying a concealed weapon, had been discovered during the search.24 Thus, if before Mr. Terry had been searched, the police had gone to a magistrate and sought a warrant to search him, a judge would have had to deny the warrant.25 Douglas writes:
To give the police greater power than a magistrate is to take a long step down the totalitarian path. Perhaps such a step is desirable to cope with modern forms of lawlessness. But if it is taken, it should be the deliberate choice of the people through a constitutional amendment. There have been powerful hydraulic pressures throughout our history that bear heavily on the Court to water down constitutional guarantees and give the police the upper hand. That hydraulic pressure has probably never been greater than it is today. Yet if the individual is no longer to be sovereign, if the police can pick him up whenever they do not like the cut of his jib, if they can "seize" and "search" him in their discretion, we enter a new regime. The decision to enter it should be made only after a full debate by the people of this country.26
Terry and Race
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People believed that the Terry case had so much racial significance it wanted to participate in the oral argument. The Supreme Court denied this request, and the racial consequences of its decision weren't dwelt upon. In fact, the fact that Mr. Terry was African-American is never mentioned in the opinion. The Court acknowledged, however, that "minority groups, particularly, Negroes, frequently complain" about "wholesale harassment by certain elements of the police community."27
Significantly, the Court cited the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, which reported that frisking "cannot help but be a severely exacerbating factor in police-community tensions. This is particularly true in situations where the 'stop and frisk'" of youths or minority group members is "motivated by the officers' perceived need to maintain the power image of the beat officer, an aim sometimes accomplished by humiliating anyone who attempts to undermine police control of the streets."28 The Court's opinion does not discount this concern; it merely states that excluding evidence obtained as a result of a frisk would not resolve the problem.29
Terry's Progeny
The Supreme Court's post-Terry cases grant much power to the police. While the Court has never offered empirical guidance about how much proof "reasonable suspicion" requires, it is clear that the standard is considerably lower than the "probable cause" required for arrests and most other kinds of Fourth Amendment searches and seizures. In a 1972 case, for example, an informant told the police that a man sitting alone in his car at 12:15 a.m.in a high-crime area of Bridgeport, Connecticut, had a gun and drugs; the Court held that those facts created reasonable suspicion for a stop and frisk, even though the informant had no proven track record, and it was legal at the time to carry a gun in Connecticut.30
Terry authorizes the traffic stops that most drivers have experienced. In Pennsylvania v. Mimms, decided in 1977, the Court increased the discretion that police have during traffic stops, by granting them the power to order drivers to exit the vehicle.31 Mimms represents the first time that the Court allowed a Terry procedure without any individualized suspicion: the police can ask any driver to exit—even if they have no particular reason to think that the driver is armed. The Court subsequently extended this police power to passengers.32
Several post-Terry cases have involved the issue of what constitutes reasonable suspicion. According to the Court, the "totality of the circumstances—the whole picture—must be taken into account."33 In Illinois v. Wardlow, the Supreme Court held that in a high-crime area, running away from the police creates reasonable suspicion for a stop, even if the police otherwise have no reason to suspect one of a crime.34
Terry's progeny also permit the police to use profiles—indicia of suspicion that, combined with other facts, can create grounds for a stop. Chief Justice Rehnquist noted that "a court sitting to determine the existence of reasonable suspicion must require the agent to articulate the factors leading to that conclusion, but the fact that these factors may be set forth in a 'profile' does not somehow detract from their evidentiary significance, as seen by a trained agent."35 In dissent, Justice Thurgood Marshall worried about "the profile's chameleon-like way of adapting to any particular set of observations." To support his concern about police power, Marshall listed the factors that various courts had allowed to constitute part of the calculus of reasonable suspicion for drug couriers at airports. Those factors included:
suspect was first to deplane no luggage
last to deplane carrying new luggage
deplaned from the middle gym bag
one way ticket new suitcases
round trip ticket traveling alone
non-stop flight traveling with companion
changed planes acted nervously
acting too calmly36
One of the most controversial applications of Terry has been to racial profiles. The Supreme Court has never directly ruled on the issue, but the majority of federal and state courts have held that while race can't be dispositive, it is one factor that can be taken into account in the "totality of the circumstances" analysis.37 Thus, one's race, coupled with other facts, can legally make the police more suspicious. The Federal Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, for example, allowed police to consider the fact that suspects were black when deciding whom to investigate for suspicion of carrying drugs on flights from Los Angeles to Kansas City.38 The court stated that "facts are not to be ignored simply because they may be unpleasant," and it was unpleasant because "young male members of black Los Angeles gangs were flooding the Kansas City areas with cocaine."39 Since September 11, 2001, law enforcement agents have also relied on the Terry doctrine to profile Muslims and Arabs.40
Terry on the Street
I am riding in a squad car with Sgt. Brett Parson, of the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department. We are playing a game that Parson invented called "Pick a Car." I select a car—any car—and Sgt. Parson finds a legal reason, pursuant to the Terry doctrine, to stop it. It never takes long. There are so many traffic infractions, Sgt. Parson says, he can always find a reason.
Stops and frisks are probably the most common negative interaction that citizens have with law enforcement officers. Most police departments are not required to keep records of the number of persons subject to Terry detentions, but sometimes this information becomes public. The New York City Council, for example, has required the New York Police Department to provide quarterly reports on the race of persons whom officers stop and frisk. The Rand Corporation reviewed all pedestrian stops in New York City in 2006.41 There were 506, 491.42 Fewer than 10 percent resulted in arrests.43 Almost 90 percent of people who were both stopped and frisked were members of a minority group, mainly African-American.44 In two predominantly black neighborhoods, residents had a 30 to 36 percent chance of being stopped in 2006.45 The overall chance of a New York City resident being stopped was 6 percent.46
In summary, the Terry doctrine gives the police broad discretion to stop and detain. Stops and frisks are a key part of policing, especially in minority and low-income neighborhoods. Terry stops and frisks in general, and racial profiling in specific, have continued to arouse strong resentment in minority communities. In order to investigate whether the practice can fairly be analogized to torture, it will be useful to have a historical account of how torture works. The next section supplies one.
Torture, Defined
In Discipline and Punish, Michel Foucault presents and contrasts two theories of punishment: torture and treatment.47 The book details the historic transition of criminal justice from torture to treatment. In this context, stop and frisk looks remarkably like torture.
Torture was a public, spectacular, corporal, and punitive penalty that asserted the power of the sovereign (the king) and his agent (the torturer). The fact that torture was painful was one of its benefits.48 Foucault notes that " [t]he very excess of the violence employed is one of the elements of its glory: the fact that the guilty man should moan and cry out under the blows is not a shameful side-effect, it is the very ceremonial of justice being expressed in all its force."49
Torture was a public and confrontational spectacle, while treatment is private and restrained.50 Torture targets repression of the body, while treatment affects the soul.51 Torture was a reassertion and public declaration of power by the sovereign, while treatment is sympathetic.52 Torture was often used as both a punishment and a fact-finding method; treatment, on the other hand, is disciplinary and utilized only after conviction.53
Instead of justice, torture was the manifestation of the revenge of the monarchy; the king had to retaliate because the criminal's action was an affront to his power.54 Torture was an assertion of power, not justice. The goal was to make everyone aware of the unrestrained presence and authority of the sovereign; "The ceremony of the public torture . . . displayed for all to see the power relation that gave his force to the law."55 Treatment, by contrast, is rehabilitative.
While torture affected the body, treatment affects the soul. The goal of torture was not simply to harm the body, but to mark it.56 This marking of the body was a public manifestation of the crime; it made the guilty man the herald of his own condemnation by demonstrating it physically on his body.57
Significantly, torture served as both a punishment and a fact-finding tool.58 The basic construct was the "judicial torture" or trial of ordeals. If the defendant could endure torture, it would show his lack of guilt; if he could not, he would confess and affirm the government's suspicion.59
In describing torture, Foucault notes, "It was as if investigation and punishment had become mixed."60 He seems almost to anticipate the Terry standard, which allows the police to detain people for conduct that is at once "innocent" and "reasonably suspicious": "How can a penalty be used as a means? . . . The reason is to be found in the way in which criminal justice, in the classical period, operated in the production of truth. The different pieces of evidence did not constitute so many neutral elements . . . . Each piece of evidence aroused a particular degree of abomination. Guilt did not begin when all the evidence was gathered together; piece by piece, it was constituted by each of the elements that made it possible to recognize a guilty person. Thus a semi-proof did not leave the suspect innocent until such time as it was completed; it made him semi-guilty; slight evidence of a serious crime marked someone as slightly criminal. In short, penal demonstration did not obey a dualistic system: true or false; but a principle of continuous gradation; a degree reached in the demonstration already formed a degree of guilt and consequently involved a degree of punishment. The suspect as such always deserved punishment; one could not be the object of suspicion and be completely innocent."61
Frisks as Torture
Stops and frisks are not formally torture because they are legal and torture is illegal. Also frisks are not as violent as some forms of police brutality, such as, for example, the atrocities the police perpetrated against Rodney King,62 Abner Louima,63
the Prison of the Mind: Punishment, Social Order, and Self-Regulation
Consequences and the Perils of Categorical Ambiguity
the Blurred Boundary between Regulation and Punishment
and Legal Aspects of Penality
within the Social Contract: Rousseau on Punishment
The Rights of the Limited-English-Proficient Accused in the Criminal Courts
Ozymandias On Trial: Wrongs and Rights in DNA Cases
The Ground Rule
Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Exclusionary Safeguards in Ireland
The State, the Armed Forces and the Concept of Immunity
The Presumption of Innocence as a Human Right
Foreign Armed Forces on Allied Territory During Armed Conflict
Anti-Latino Hate Crimes
INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINAL LAW
Tags: Law as Punishment Law as Regulation


text:
<?php

namespace pathconfig\apps;

use pathconfig\PathConfig;

/**
 * Replacement Application class for Lumen 5.0 apps
 *
 * @package davestewart\pathconfig
 */
class Lumen50 extends \Laravel\Lumen\Application
{

    // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // properties

        /**
         * @var PathConfig
         */
        protected $paths;

    // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // instantiation

        /**
         * Override Lumen Application constructor and set config, resource and storage paths
         */
        public function __construct()
        {
            // initialise paths
            $this->paths            = PathConfig::instance()->load();

            // construct
            parent::__construct($this->paths->get());

            // update paths
            $this->resourcePath     = $this->paths->get('resources');
            $this->storagePath      = $this->paths->get('storage');

            // add config folder only if supplied
            if($config = $this->paths->get('config'))
            {
                $this->configPath = $config;
            }
        }

    // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // getters

        /**
         * Get any path via the PathConfig object
         *
         * @param string $key
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         */
        public function getPath($key = '', $filepath = '')
        {
            return $this->paths->get($key, $filepath);
        }

        /**
          * Override hardcoded database path
         *
          * @return string
          */
        public function databasePath()
        {
            return $this->paths->get('database');
        }

        /**
          * Override hardcoded language path
         *
          * @return string
          */
        protected function getLanguagePath()
        {
            return $this->paths->get('lang');
        }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Justice for Josiah rally on the UC Quad at Humboldt State on April 5. Photo by Surya Gopalan.
Justice for Josiah rally
By Abigail Leforge on April 9, 2018
On April 5 at 1:30 p.m., students at Humboldt State left class to attend a rally on the UC quad in remembrance of David Josiah Lawson, a student who was stabbed to death at a party in Arcata almost a year ago.
"It's been a year, and that is fucking ridiculous," Barbara Singleton, president of the Black Student Union at HSU said.
Singleton stands on the second floor of The Depot, surrounded by a crowd of students who all left class as a part of the student-led walkout for safety in honor of David Josiah Lawson. The rain pounds down relentlessly, seemingly undetturent to all in attendance. The walkout is a part of 12 days of events being hosted in honor of the anniversary of Lawson's unsolved murder.
Video by Surya Gopalan.
A year ago at a party in Arcata, Lawson, a black HSU student, was stabbed to death. There are currently no persons in custody. Students walked out of class at 1:30 p.m. on April 5 to be present at the 2 p.m. rally to bring justice to Josiah and demonstrate for student safety.
Kalyn Garcia, 18, social work major, left class to be present at the rally.
"I think that it is way bigger than Josiah," Garcia said. "Any black, Mexican or children of color should not be concerned to leave their house."
As the rally began, two students, Singleton, as well as Daniel Segura, 23, a critical race, gender and sexuality studies major, began leading the rally. They began by explaining there have been rumors about the Justice for Josiah movement being involved in illegal or destructive activities, and that they do not condone any violence or illegal actions.
Angel Sylva then performed a poem she wrote for Lawson, which will be performed again on the vigil held for Lawson on April 15.
"If it happened to one of us, it can happen again," Sylva said.
With no sound equipment available to students after 1:00 p.m., due to campus policy, Sylva projects her voice as her only tool to spread her message to students.
Students then began calling out the members of administration in the crowd. Alex Enyedi, the provost of HSU, as well as Wayne Brunfield, the interim vice president of Student Affairs, were two of the members of administration in attendance.
"They have been silent this whole 12 months," Singleton said.
Singleton directly addressed HSU administration, the Arcata city council and the police department.
"They have blood on their hands," Singleton said.
The crowd screamed for administration to speak, one individual saying, "It's fucked up for you to be here and not say anything."
Eventually, Enyedi took the stage after much student call-out. He thanked the crowd for the opportunity to speak, then began.
"Students are told you need to be patient, but I get it. How long should you be patient for?" Enyedi said. "I share your frustration, I share your impatience. It shouldn't take this long."
Enyedi is not the one the students want to hear from. The question on everybody's mind is where is Lisa Rossbacher, president of HSU? Students call out to Enyedi, demanding answers.
"I'll tell her you're unhappy she isn't here," Enyedi said.
A voice from the crowd screams, "We aren't unhappy, we're angry!"
President Rossbacher never showed up.
Brumfield was not getting away with silence either. Singleton and Segura called from the stage, "Wayne, where are you?"
Brumfield did go up to the stage and approved students to use a megaphone, but never addressed the crowd. Many continued asking why he did not speak.
When asked, Brumfield spoke of a racial equity plan he says he is currently working closely with students on. He said students deserve a voice in how equity and inclusion are happening in the community.
"We're working with the two chiefs of police, students and community members to look at policies of police reacting to students, both on and off campus," Brumfield said. "I think we are moving in the right direction."
As the rally continued, a song written about Josiah was performed and then different chants were yelled throughout the crowd.
The event coordinators then relayed the message of future events and concluded the event, inviting students to continue their activism and presence in the coming weeks.
"The Justice for Josiah movement is very peaceful," Singleton said.
At one point in the rally, a group of people visiting for spring preview walked past the UC quad.
"Anything they tell you will not justify his murder," Segura said to the passersby.
Segura, being in his 10th semester at HSU, he says he has seen how the administration deceives students. He said HSU goes down south and recruits students of color without disclosing the violence toward people of color that has happened in the area.
"How are we supposed to welcome students of color when they trick you?" Segura asked.
This article has been updated from its original version on Monday, April 9 at 5:58 p.m.
Published in David Josiah Lawson, News and Videos
Abigail Leforge
More from David Josiah LawsonMore posts in David Josiah Lawson »
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Breaking: No justice for Josiah
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Chris April 9, 2018
President of the black union sure shows how hostile all these people are. Way to go losers
Jacqueline Pennington April 9, 2018
This isn't the only unsolved murder that has taken over a year. Jennika a 17 year old murdered in her home remains insolved and it's been over a year.. Let the judicial system do their job as frustrating as it may seem. It's not sweep under the rug, takes time… Someone knows what happened in Josiahs murder they just aren't talking.
Henchman Of Justice April 16, 2018
As if the judicial system doesn't have a bunch of carpet laying about on the floor…… The judicial system is a fantasy….. It's where people go to work and make money and attorneys don't give a fuck about their clients at all…… You have to dig for a needle in the haystack to find a reputable attorney or judge or courtroom…..
And people of color are not the only people on the face of this fucked-up country soil that don't get Justice…..
And it sure as fuck doesn't help when you got a bunch of dumbass college students who are making the situation worse because they want to scream bloody murder about racism instead of just focusing on the separate issue of a crime being committed.
Do black people, brown people, polka dot people actually believe they get no support from Caucasian people whom have also suffered the same types of abuse…..
Maybe these dumbass college students should get prescription glasses and look at all the white people who show up at Arcata City Council meetings in a mobster style to support non-white human beings being abused…… It could be a real eye-opener but then again don't get your hopes up.
John April 22, 2018
The biggest challenge departments face in finding suspects is dealing with showing up to crime scenes where nobody wants to talk. All of this animosity towards police is the problem, because nobody wants to be a "snitch".
Joe April 9, 2018
"No charges have been brought about in the case"
Was this written by someone with no knowledge of the case, or was this a deliberate omission of facts in an attempt to sensationalize this story? Charges were filed, Kyle Zoellner was arrested and there was a week long preliminary hearing that was very well publicized elsewhere. The charges were then dismissed due to a complete lack of evidence. The fact that this article that is advocating for people to be aware of the case was written by someone who is so unaware of it is astounding, and if these facts were deliberately omitted, then it may be time to take a good, hard look at yourself and your sense of ethics.
letcommonsenseprevail April 12, 2018
The AED deliberators unless charged at the beginning of every sift, will always have less than 100 percent charge. Also, charging too frequently will also result in further battery degradation.
Also, the APD only has 28 officers…Less than 10 are on duty at any one time. Even less on patrol duty. What this means is that the personnel resources are not really adequate for handling large crowds.
It is SOP (standard operating procedure) to place any suspect or anyone under arrest or being detained in the back of a patrol car.
incompetence on the part of the APD has not been proven, they followed both the law and standard police practices.
The scene was secured in a "timely" manner as per CA POSt Standards.
Could everything have been done better? of course, but that would require more police, which the residents of Arcata have actively tried to prevent…
A tragedy yes, but the blame lies with the killer, not the police.
Unfortenley the sad fact is that the national "clearance rate" for homicide today is 64.1 percent. Fifty years ago, it was more than 90 percent.
this is due in large part to the underfunding shortfalls in resources and personnel available to the police agencies and also due to the public refusal to work with the police.
The source from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2015/03/30/395069137/open-cases-why-one-third-of-murders-in-america-go-unresolved
The scene wasn't secured, that's a big part of why people are bitching so much so don't try to Cherry coat it and say the scene was secured…..you deceitful shill….. Common Sense isn't letting a suspect vehicle be driven home by the suspect girlfriend's mom who just so happens to be connected to a former public employee whose name is quite popular…… In Arcata AND McKinleyville……
The only people who support government employees are the employees themselves, their family and their shoulder rubbing shills if you will….. It's an open secret society and they don't give a crud about anyone but themselves because it's their job…..
Proposition 47 also fucked up the criminal justice system's ability to catch criminals based on DNA……
All felons were required to be forcibly tested for DNA results….. You know to catch serial killers and shit…… To solve unsolved crimes….. To make sure past arrests were proper arrests and that they got the right individual…..
Note: the two ladies who just lost their lives on the highway 101 as they left TO AVOID (GUILT???) Josiah's ceremonial Memorial……. Personally predicted prior to all information that the two who died would be connected to Josiah….. As the reports came out, just had a feeling come over that these two victims were partly responsible or wholly responsible for the death of Josiah….. People have been saying since the death that the women involved can't be trusted….. NOT SAYING THESE TWO WOMEN KILLED JOSIAH BUT AM SAYING THEY KNEW SOMETHING….
IRONY DOES NOT KILL FOR THE HELL OF IT…..
AND WHAT'S THIS CLAIM ABOUT WHIPPETS BEING IN THE CAR AND WHAT'S THIS CLAIM ABOUT WHIPPETS BEING IN THE CAR? NO2?
BASED UPON THE PICTURES, WHOEVER THE GIRL DRIVER WAS SLAMMED ON HER BRAKES AND SKID INTO THE PATH OF THE VAN AFTER LOSING CONTROL. MURDER-SUICIDE?
IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS CALIFORNIA HAS HAD OVER A HANDFUL OF CARS DRIVING OVER A CLIFF WOW NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HAS JUST HAD SOME PLAIN BAD ACCIDENTS INVOLVING WOMEN…..
IT'S JUST THE CURRENT PATTERN LOCAL SOCIETY IS HAVING TO DEAL WITH RIGHT NOW.
SORRY FOR THE BOLD TYPE BUT SOMETHING SOFTWARE-WISE DOES NOT ALLOW THE KEYBOARD TO GO TO LOWER TYPESET SIZE……WEIRD, MAYBE SOMETHING WAS ACCIDENTALLY DONE AND THE USER JUST IS TOO STUPID TO FIGURE IT OUT.
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text:
E-commerce platform No Sir promotes women designers, highlights inequality
Environmental carpe diem
Kimberley Mok kimberleymok
Screen capture No Sir
Yet another International Women's Day has come and gone, but there's still a lot of work to be done to achieve gender equality in various industries. Design is one particular field where there's no dearth of talented women, yet it remains difficult for professional female designers get the same level of recognition and business opportunities as their male peers in this still male-dominated industry.
Aiming to focus attention on the great creative work that women are doing, Sweden-based industrial designer and entrepreneur Terese Alstin (co-creator of the inflatable Hövding bike helmet) has launched No Sir, an e-commerce platform for women to showcase and sell their designs. In addition to a brick-and-mortar location in Malmö, Sweden, there are also plans to set-up a pop-up shop that will tour Europe.
© No Sir
No Sir's roster is a result of Alstin's dedicated research to find fresh and emerging talent, featuring textiles, furniture, jewelry, artwork and more from makers like Marlène Huissoud (previously), Maria Jeglinska, Ejing Zhang and Karina Eibatova.
© Maria Jeglinska
© Ejing Zhang
© Karina Eibatova
In an interview with Fast Co.Design, Alstin recounts some of reasons why she started No Sir. She relates her own personal experience encountering gender-based discrimination within the field: leadership positions are largely held by men; female designers having to use email addresses with male names and bringing male colleagues to business meetings because they find the reception more favourable; professional women being perceived as the assistant or as the "lesser talent" in male-female teams. It's a problem that is rarely discussed, but is widespread and indicative of a sneaky double standard that operates even outside of design, says Alstin:
In a subjective field like design, denial of a female designer's professional expertise or talent is an easy way to reinforce gender discrimination. A successful product designed by a woman may be regarded a lucky shot rather than drawn from talent.
The inequality also becomes obvious when you take a look at the gender split of the designers employed by the big international design companies, which is very unbalanced. The same goes for juries of design awards. Women are underrepresented both as designers and as voices in discussions about the field. While opinionated men are often referred to as prominent 'thinkers' or even 'geniuses,' outspoken women are often labelled 'difficult' or 'radical feminists.'
But there's really nothing that radical about women taking on equal opportunities and equal recognition: women have a lot to contribute, and the design industry can benefit tremendously from women's creative expertise. Alstin explains her collaborative take on the issue:
I really want to show women that there is a lot to gain by collaborating and helping each other out. In a male-dominated industry, it's common that women isolate themselves from each other and become competitive. They fight each other because the career opportunities for women are so rare. But I believe that women being united is important in the pursuit of more equality in the business. Together we can become more powerful and have more influence.
It's an idea that is pretty common-sense: just as in the environmental movement, we put our money where our mouth is by supporting local producers, or buying fair trade items, or buying nothing at all. Here, we can also show our support by consciously purchasing designs created by a talented women designers, or at least becoming more aware and questioning the status quo. More over at Fast Co.Design and No Sir.
With the aim of showcasing and selling products designed by women, No Sir also draws attention to gender inequality in the design profession.
Help crowdfund $1 million in loans to women entrepreneurs for Inter...
In honor of International Women's Day here are 6 women killing it w...
Happy International Women's Day: 12 Innovations Helping Both Women ...
The circular economy comes to your living room


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Geocarpia é um raro processo de frutificação, que evoluiu para garantir o sucesso da prole. Ocorre quando uma flor aérea, depois de ter sido fecundada, penetra a terra com a ajuda do ginóforo e produz o fruto dentro do solo. Também pode ocorrer que a própria flor seja subterrânea (protogeocarpia).

O fenômeno é mais frequente em áreas tropicais e semi-desérticas. e espécies geocárpicas podem ser encontradas nas famílias Araceae, Begoniaceae, Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), Callitrichaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), Loganiaceae, Moraceae e Rubiaceae.

O exemplo mais famoso é o amendoim, Arachis hypogaea, uma cultura oleaginosa importante , mas também muito usada diretamente como alimento. Em Portugal é cultivado sobretudo em Aljezur .

Botânica

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Following the devastating August 28, 1962 fire that burned down most of the buildings at Melody Ranch, Gene Autry and his wife, Jackie, began selling off pieces of the 110-acre property in Placerita Canyon. The last 10 acres, where the buildings had stood, went on the market in November 1990. Patriarch Paul T. Veluzat and sons Renaud and Andre Veluzat, who owned other Santa Clarita Valley movie properties including a large movie ranch in Haskell Canyon and a motion picture vehicle rental business, bought the property and began rebuilding Melody Ranch to its former glory. Today the ranch is once again alive with feature, television, commercial and video filming. For 20 years, from 1994-2014, it was the main venue for the city of Santa Clarita's annual Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival (aka Cowboy Festival).
my dad used to work with you before he passed. John Harvey and I was looking at FB this morning and ran across this site of Melody Ranch.


imagine I have an architecture as shown.
In order to get to the internal web server, should I use a reverse proxy like as shown and redirect traffic to my web server? Is this a more secure way instead of just opening rules at Firewall A and B and let traffic through? And why is it more secure?
Do you want a layer of abstraction between your LAN and Web?
In terms of additional security, I believe a vulnerable application running anywhere will remain vulnerable, unless you are using WAF (Layer 7 firewall) in between. Web Application Firewalls (WAF) can provide some breathing space till you patch the actual application. Reverse Proxy won't help much in this regard.
You can go through below links to find some more inputs. I found many questions are already asked about this.
How effective are reverse proxies as a web application security measure?
Using a reverse proxy can thwart some exploits targeting the webserver.
Reverse proxies are usually simpler than webservers, so they are (in theory!) less likely to have vulnerabilities.
Note that this only applies to low-level exploits targeting the webserver directly. Any application-level exploits won't be affected by this at all. The proxy might also directly forward some exploitative connections as they are, so they work even through the proxy.
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged firewalls proxy dmz or ask your own question.
Reverse proxy or Public load balancer?
How can I use a proxy appliance as HTTP Proxy & Reverse Proxy at the same time?


On 9 August 2011, the SCF Novoship-owned crude oil tanker Adygeya finished loading crude oil from the Peregrino field in Brazil which is operated by Statoil. This event marks the start of new cooperation between the two companies.
For Statoil, owner of a 60 per cent shareholding in Peregrino and operator of the field, it has become the largest oilfield operated outside the continental platform of Norway. The oil-major paid significant attention to the selection of shippers to be involved with the project. SCF Group, a long-standing strategic partner of Statoil, has become one of only two shipping companies to meet the high and specific requirements of the project.
Development of the details surrounding SCF's participation in oil shipments from the Peregrino field started with Statoil in 2009. The resulting agreement foresees the chartering of up to six ships from SCF Group, when the project reaches its full capacity. SCF will provide shipping for half of the oil produced using its Aframax-type ships, on the basis of time-charter agreements for 3 to 5 years.
Peregrino crude oil has some special characteristics with implications for its transportation. In particular, it is a very heavy crude with the maximum possible viscosity, and requires heating for loading and subsequent transportation. The cargo requires additional attention from the tanker's crew: transshipment and sea transportation is fulfilled at a temperature of 70 degrees C. To provide the highest levels of safety and prevent possible environmental risks during transportation from Peregrino oilfield, Sovcomflot and Statoil plan to establish a working group to resolve any technical and commercial questions arising, in the most efficient way.
The Peregrino oil field is situated on the coast of Brazil, 85 km east of Rio de Janeiro. It was discovered in 1994 and the production of oil started in April 2011. At this point, estimated recoverable resources are in the range of 300 – 600 million barrels of oil. The production should reach its plateau of 100,000 bbl/day within the first year.


It's been a bit since the last build release. This one required a lot of work around savepoint management as we needed to be able to make a full copy / backup of a league before allowing you to actually copy another person's league. That's right, you can now copy another person's league (with their permission, of course). We also had to update the site to be GDPR compliant. That was fun. We've also added Pro Team Rivalries, assigning players to a team on creation and allowing you to supply a list of names for player creation.
The EU's deadline for GDPR compliance is May 25 and is approaching quickly. We've made some changes to comply with the new regulations concerning information and email governance and control.
– All accounts will be automatically set to require users to either opt in or opt out of system emails. You will not be able to use UHS until this is done.
– You must agree to receive emails from UHS otherwise you will not receive Trade Notification emails even if you opted in to those.
– Users will be able to delete their Real Name and Email from the system in the Account Preferences section.
– If you delete your email and then forget your password, your account is going to be irrecoverable. I highly recommend you do not do this.
The danger here is that with the new GDPR regulations, we potentially have a scenario where all users have opted out of receiving system emails, so no one will receive the automatically generated League Idle Warning email. Leagues will still be deleted regardless of whether anyone has opted in to receive such warning emails or not.
Due to the GDPR compliance changes, all new accounts will no longer automatically email the user their username and password. Instead, the user that creates the account, typically the Owner or COM in the case of GM accounts (or GMs in the case of creating Assistant GM accounts), will now be shown a username and automatically generated password that they must give the new user personally.
The new user can then log in, set their email preferences and change their password as desired.
Premium Leagues that have a paid subscription (ie. not Trial Premium leagues) have the ability to allow any other league (Premium or not) to make a copy of it. A code will be generated by the origin league to be used in the new Tools > Copy Code page.
When creating the code, the owner has the option of it being just a base copy or a full copy that includes statistics and league history. With just a base copy, the destination league (the league using and entering the code) will be reset back to Season 1 Off-Season, however, with a full copy, the destination league will start off at whatever stage the origin league is at, complete with any games already played.
A code may only be used once and will expire after 24 hours if not used.
Copying a league will not copy the league's Premium status, nor will it copy the origin's member information (that would be a pretty big privacy issue right there). Other than that, all data will be copied, including the origin league's player faces.
As with all data handling, we highly recommend creating a SavePoint before using a CopyCode.
We changed some things behind the scenes as it was necessary to allow League Copying to get developed. When creating a SavePoint, your league's player faces will be included in the SavePoint file. When loading a different SavePoint, the current face files will be deleted and replaced with the face files from the SavePoint being loaded. Additionally, when performing a League Reset, all face files will be deleted.
Face files cannot be recovered once deleted, so keeping them backed up through SavePoints will be more important than ever.
Additionally, all SavePoints will now be compressed to help save us disk space on the server. Testing has shown there is a marginal increase in SavePoint saving & loading, so you really shouldn't notice anything drastic.
Leagues can now set rivalries between teams. There is no impact on player performance, however, it does trigger an automatically successful bonus marketing revenue check. If either team is a rival of the other, the home team will receive extra money from the Bonus Marketing category.
Rivalries are only applicable to pro teams. During the Off-Season, the COM can edit a pro team to select another pro team it has a rivalry with. Marketing percentages can be modified in the Settings -> Game Settings page.
– Salaries / Contracts will use the League's Minimum Salary & Contract unless you are using the NHL Player / Team import. NHL Players assigned to teams will use pre-generated salaries at a 1-year contract.
– Creating mass amount of players will not check the player type and team assignment. It will be possible to create 50 junior players and assign them to a pro team.
We've rearranged the Add Players tools temporarily (until we go do a full site re-design), adding a new option to mass player creation: List of Names. You can now supply a list of player names and, optionally, their countries of origin when creating 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, or 500 players. The list will be used in the order that you have supplied and once it has run out, random names and countries will be selected (as usual) for the remainder of player creation.
If you opt to not supply a country, you can do both Sydney Crosby; Alex Ovechkin, ; Both formats are acceptable.
– Compare Teams will now have an additional "Overall" category at the bottom of the comparisons.
– Fixed an issue where player skill classes were not always being modified when a player was being trained. Hotfix: Jan.29 2018.
– Fixed an issue where some new leagues were not being created with the goaltender timer and differential settings. Hotfix: Feb.1 2018.
– Fixed an issue where Auto-setting a shoot-out list was resulting in errors. Hotfix: Feb.4 2018.
– Updated the AutoGM trade logic to make unusable players detract from the value of the trade. Hotfix: Feb.20 2018.
– Fixed an issue where the Leadership Bonus was being based on the pro team's maximum games played instead of their current games played. Hotfix: Mar.3 2018.
– Fixed an issue where the Leadership Bonus was only being applied to players that played 50% of the pro team's maximum games played instead of 25%. Player must still be considered "pro", having more pro games than farm or junior. Hotfix: Mar.3 2018.
– Fixed an issue where Tournament-style All-Star schedules would stop being created after the round of 8. Hotfix: Mar.16 2018.
– Fixed an issue where the COM's Ticket Price alert was directing leagues to our test system. Hotfix: Apr.11 2018.
– Fixed an issue where unassigned junior players were being placed in free agency in standard leagues. This issue resulted in system slow downs. Free Agents may only be 21+ in standard leagues. Hotfix: Apr.12 2018.
– Junior teams will no longer automatically create replacement players to fill incomplete rosters if the league is still in the Off-Season. Once the league advances to the Pre-Season (and beyond), junior team rosters will be set and players created if necessary. Hotfix: Apr.15 2018.
– Fixed an issue where deleting a lawyer option would instead delete a corresponding medical facility. Hotfix: Apr.27 2018.
– Fixed an issue affecting some leagues saving scouting cost options. Hotfix: Apr.27 2018.


Where is James A. Garfield in America?
James A. Garfield is situated in the region Ohio in America!
Here you will find the location of James A. Garfield on a map.
All places in the world called James A. Garfield.
Where is James A. Garfield on the map?
Where is James A. Garfield relative to other places?
Top 10 cities in Ohio and distance from James A. Garfield.
Top 10 cities in America and distance from James A. Garfield.


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Pajiba's Favorite Movies of the 2010s
'Alias' Brand Jennifer Garner Is Coming Back: [email protected]#k! And Yes!
By Dustin Rowles | Industry | August 9, 2017 |
When Alias debuted in 2001, J.J. Abrams originally envisioned it as "Bad-Ass Felicity." And remember that pilot? I know we're numb to the Ned Stark'ing of characters in 2017, but back in 2001, Alias killed off Sidney Bristow's fiance in the pilot. For network television, that was a huge deal, and it would jumpstart an incredibly good spy thriller that lasted for four pretty amazing seasons and two seasons we don't talk about.
Anyway, remember how good Jennifer Garner was in that role? Slipping in and out of wigs and costumes while beating Rimbaldi ass? Well, after that, there was Elektra, and then she got married and then separated, and lately, Jennifer Garner has mostly been playing Moms and Wives.
In her next role, however, Garner will once again play a Mom and Wife, but this time, she'll be playing an angry, bloodthirsty Mom and Wife who is seeking revenge for the murders of her husband and daughter in a movie called Peppermint:
From Deadline:
The high-action revenge thriller premise has been likened to John Wick, with a female protagonist. When her husband and daughter are gunned down in a drive-by, the heroine wakes up from a coma and spends years learning to become a lethal killing machine. On the 10th anniversary of her family's death, she targets everyone she holds responsible, the gang that committed the act, the lawyers that got them off, and the corrupt cops that enabled the murderous incidents.
Jennifer Garner as an Atomic Blonde-like lethal killing machine? From the director of Taken? Count me the hell in.
Oh, and as for that bad ass Felicity?
Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.
I Gave Up 'Game Of Thrones' For Love. Somebody Shoot Me
Review, with Spoilers: Netflix Really Gave Michael Bay $150 Million to Make the Wholly Grotesque and Orientalist '6 Underground,' Huh?
Review: 'Hala' is Precious and Poignant, a Coming-of-Age Story That Considers the Humanity of Making Mistakes


Doors aren't usually something you give lots of attention to when refurbishing a flat, but Louisa Guinness and Ben Brown aren't your usual homeowners, and their south London flat is far from run-of-the-mill.
When the couple bought it four years ago, they set to work with architects to bring out the best in the attractive, three metre tall rooms, including the living area with its five, long, south-facing windows.
Next on their list was swapping rooms about. 'The kitchen was at the back of the flat in what has become our son's bedroom, and where the kitchen is now, there was originally a bathroom,' says Louisa. 'The kitchen is important for us because we love to cook and often entertain friends and clients here,' she explains. The resulting changes have given them an open-plan functional space with two steel sinks, an oven and a broad white Corian-clad unit, which conceals appliances and storage beneath. The unit also serves as a divide between the kitchen and dining areas.


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Flights / North America / Caribbean / Dominican Republic
Flights to the Dominican Republic
Forget browsing online for your Dominican Republic flights! Free up your time and chat to our friendly Travel Consultants in-store, via Live Chat or over the phone – they'll do all the legwork for you.
Chat to Us About Your Dominican Republic Flights Today!
More Information about the Dominican Republic
How long is the flight to the Dominican Republic?
Flights from the UK to the Dominican Republic generally disembark in Punta Cana where the country's main international airport is based.
The long-haul flight to the Dominican Republic takes over 9 hours non-stop.
The total flight duration from London to Punta Cana is 9 hours and 15 minutes.
What airlines fly to the Dominican Republic?
The main airlines that fly to the Dominican Republic are...


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Audio & Video Technicians
Also called: Audio Visual Specialist (AV Specialist), Audio Visual Technician (AV Technician), Media Technician, Operations Technician
In the Air Force: Aerospace Medical Service; Aerospace Medical Service Journeyman, Flight and Operational Medical Technician; Cryptologic Language Analyst Apprentice; Cryptologic Language Analyst Craftsman, Spanish; Cryptologic Language Analyst Journeyman, Persian; Premier Band - The USAF Academy Band Manager; Regional Band Apprentice, Instrumentalist, General (Air National Guard Bands); Regional Band Craftsman, Guitar; Regional Band Helper, Euphonium; Regional Band Journeyman, Bassoon
In the Army: Musician; Public Affairs Mass Communication Specialist; Visual Information Equipment Operator-Maintainer; Visual Information Operations Chief; Visual Information Specialist
In the Coast Guard: Information System Technician; Intelligence Specialist; Musician; Public Affairs Specialist
In the Marine Corps: Advanced Visual Information-Motion Media Marine; Combat Photographer; Combat Videographer; Communication Strategy and Operations Chief; Cryptologic Language Analyst; Musician; Signal Intelligence/Ground Electronic Warfare Officer; Signals Intelligence/Electronic Warfare/Cyberspace Operations; Small Ensemble Leader
In the Navy: Broadcast Engineering Technician; Broadcaster; Closed Circuit TV Technician; Cryptologic Technician Interpretive; Cryptologic Technician Maintenance; Integrated Launch and Recovery Television Surveillance (ILARTS) System Maintenance Technician; Integrated Voice Communications Technician; Interior Communications Electrician; MarCom Integrated Voice Communication System (IVCS) Technician; Mass Communications Specialist
While the stars of popular media may get a lot of the recognition, their appearances are made possible —and optimized— by the work of broadcast and sound engineering technicians. They operate the electrical equipment for radio programs, television broadcasts, concerts, sound recordings, and movies. Audio and video equipment technicians handle equipment such as video screens, video monitors, microphones, and mixing boards. They record meetings, sports events, concerts, and conferences. Broadcast technicians set up and operate equipment that regulates the clarity, signal strength, sound, and color of the broadcasts. They use software to edit audio and video recordings. Sound engineering technicians run equipment that records and mixes music, voices, and sound effects. They work in recording studios, performance venues, and film and stage productions. Audio and video technicians typically work in studios, although some work on location for events or to broadcast news. They also set up systems in schools, hospitals, homes… or other locations. Technicians generally work full time, but schedules may include additional hours for live events or to keep up with production schedules. Radio and TV stations are typically on the air 24/7, so technicians' hours may run around the clock. Broadcast technicians generally need an associate's degree, while audio and video equipment technicians, and sound engineering technicians typically need a certificate or related training.
Set up, maintain, and dismantle audio and video equipment, such as microphones, sound speakers, connecting wires and cables, sound and mixing boards, video cameras, video monitors and servers, and related electronic equipment for live or recorded events, such as concerts, meetings, conventions, presentations, podcasts, news conferences, and sporting events.
Notify supervisors when major equipment repairs are needed.
Diagnose and resolve media system problems.
Direct and coordinate activities of assistants and other personnel during production.
product and service development
music, dance, visual arts, drama, or sculpture
keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements
pay attention to something without being distracted
do two or more things at the same time
Adobe Systems Adobe Photoshop
Operating system software
Broadcast Technicians
Computer User Support Specialists
Desktop Publishers
Librarians & Media Collections Specialists
Sound Engineering Technicians
See more details at O*NET OnLine about audio and video technicians.
Audio & Video Technicians by U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


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NII Holdings initiates Nextel Brasil sale process
US-based NII Holdings has hired financial advisory group Rothschild & Co to sell its 70% stake in Nextel Brasil, Reuters reports, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Interested parties are understood to include Telefonica Brasil (Vivo) and minority shareholder Access Industries, which acquired its 30% stake from Scandinavian telecoms firm Ice Group earlier this month. Rothschild has yet to set a date for the delivery of bids, one of the sources added.
In July 2017 Ice Group (then known as AINMT Holdings) successfully completed the USD50 million acquisition of a 30% stake in Nextel Brasil from NII Holdings. Ice Group was given the option to invest an additional USD150 million in Nextel Brasil by 15 November 2017, in exchange for a further 30% stake. Ice appealed for an extension from NII when no deal was secured, but in February 2018 the investment agreement was formally terminated, and Ice Group duly offloaded its stake to Access Industries, a firm backed by Ukrainian-born American industrialist Len Blavatnik.
Brazil, Access Industries, Claro-nxt (formerly Nextel Telecomunicacoes), NII Holdings, Corporate/Financial, Mergers/Acquisitions