text:
Kwok Wing Hang and others v Chief Executive in Council and another is a Hong Kong constitutional case concerning the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation (PFCR) and Emergency Regulations Ordinance (ERO).

Summary

The Court of First Instance (CFI) ruled that the granting of powers to the Chief Executive in Council on an occasion of public danger by the ERO was unconstitutional, and, therefore, that the entirety of the PFCR was unconstitutional because it was in exercise of those powers. On separate grounds it also declared all the substantive sections of the PFCR excepting that prohibiting the use of masks at an unlawful assembly inconsistent with the Basic Law and the Bill of Rights, and therefore of no effect.

The Court of Appeal ruled that the ERO was in fact constitutional on occasions of public danger, and therefore that the PFCR was not invalid on those grounds. It additionally held that section 3(1)(b) of the PFCR, which prohibited masks at certain "unauthorised assemblies", is proportionate, and therefore valid, but upheld the decision of the CFI that the PFCR is invalid insofar as it prohibits masks at authorised assemblies and meetings.

Both parties intended to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal (CFA).

Court of First Instance

The court heard two applications for judicial review, submitted in early October. The first was submitted by 24 members of the Legislative Council, and the second by Leung Kwok-hung, a former member. Four other applications were made, each of the applicants in which were instructed to await the outcome of the initial case. The court refused to grant an interim injunction. Both applications were conjoined into a single set of hearings. On 17 October, the judiciary decided that two judges should hear the case, instead of the usual one; the move was seen as indicative of the significance of the case by a number of legal experts.

The court considered 5 grounds of appeal. On Ground 1, the "delegation of legislative power ground", the Emergency Regulations Ordinance (ERO) in exercise of the powers granted by which the Chief Executive made the PFCR was an impermissible grant of legislative power that contravened the separation of powers under the Basic Law. On Ground 2, the "implied repeal ground" the ERO was repealed by implication by the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance and/or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as applied in Hong Kong by the Basic Law. On Ground 3, the ERO cannot empower the Chief Executive to make any regulation restricting fundamental rights under the Basic Law or Bill of Rights. On Ground 4, the "principle of legality ground", the Chief Executive acted ultra vires in that the ERO only applies to emergency situations. On Ground 5A, the "section 3 proportionality ground", section 3 of the PFCR, which prohibits the use of facial coverings, disproportionately restricts privacy, and freedom of expression and assembly; on Ground 5B, the "section 5 proportionality ground", section 5, concerning enforcement powers, is also disproportionate. The applicants were successful on Grounds 1, 5A, and 5B, but not Grounds 2, 3, and 4.

Ground 1: the delegation of legislative power ground

The applicants submitted that under the Basic Law, legislative power is exclusively vested in the Legislative Council; since the ERO would grant legislative power to the executive, it is inconsistent with the Basic Law. The government submitted that there is "nothing in the Basic Law which provides whether expressly or by implication that the LegCo cannot authorise the CEIC [Chief Executive in Council] to make regulations during an occasion of public danger or emergency", that the ERO had already twice been held to be valid, that regulations made thereunder were not intended to be permanent, and that the LegCo could apply negative vetting to such regulations.

The court declined to rule on the question of the constitutionality of the making of regulations by the Chief Executive in Council on an occasion of an emergency, and solely considered that concerning public danger. The court accepted that a distinction between "general legislative power" and the power to make "subordinate legislation". It drew such a distinction on the basis that the LegCo is "designated as the legislature" and that in the Chinese text of the Basic Law gives the LegCo 'functions which in Chinese is "" in the phrase ""', which 'connotes…[a] 'job'". The court then determined that the character of the powers granted by the ERO was more akin to that of a general legislative power than a subsidiary one, for several reasons. First, the powers granted by the ERO seemed not so much to "leav[e] another body to devise the detailed legal norms that elaborate or put flesh on the broad matters laid down in the primary legislation" so much as to allow general legislation—thus this very regulation was the first enactment to concern face covering in Hong Kong. Second, the phrase "any regulations whatsoever" grants powers "of the widest possible nature". Third, "public danger" is inadequately defined. Fourth, the ERO grants the Chief Executive power to amend or suspend any other enactment. Fifth, the ERO permits the Chief Executive to prescribe punishments up to life imprisonment, inter alia, which exceed those envisaged by the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) vis à vis subsidiary legislation. Sixth, no time limit is envisaged by the ERO. Seventh, negative vetting is an inadequate safeguard given, inter alia, that its operation could be suspended by a regulation under the ERO, and that the legal effects of its application before repeal by the Legislative Council would not be undone even if negative vetting were possible.

On the fourth ground, the government submitted that such clauses are entirely permissible in other common law jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom and Australia; however, the court rejected the applicability of such a Diceyan notion of absolute parliamentary sovereignty in Hong Kong, on the basis that the Legislative Council's powers are derived from the Basic Law. Ultimately the court concluded that the ERO in allowing for the making of regulations by the Chief Executive at a time of "public danger" did so sufficiently broadly that it "seems…to create in Hong Kong a separate source of laws that are primary legislation in all but name".

The government further submitted that the ERO had been vetted for constitutionality before the handover as a "factor in favour of validity"; however, the court held that article 160 of the Basic Law provided for the subsequent discovery of unconstitutionality. The court therefore held the PFCR unconstitutional under ground 1, at least insofar as "public danger" is concerned.

Ground 2: the "implied repeal ground"

The applicants submitted that legislation could only derogate from the Bill of Rights when "the life of the nation" is at risk, but that the ERO allowed for such derogations in a larger set of circumstances, and therefore was repealed by implication. However, the court held that rights under the Bill of Rights could also be restricted when "compliant with the principle of proportionality".

Ground 3: the "prescribed by law ground"

The applicants submitted that the ERO granted such wide powers that it violated the principle of legal certainty and accessibility provided for by Article 39 of the Basic Law, by which a citizen should be able to anticipate the legal consequences, if appropriately advised, of a particular action. The court, however, held that the ERO itself was not necessarily unconstitutional under this principle, but rather that regulations made in exercise of the powers granted by it would have to meet this principle.

Ground 4: the "principle of legality ground"

The applicants submitted that a "principle of statutory construction….requires that any abrogation or restriction of fundamental rights by statute should be done unmistakably", but that the ERO does not "advert to any specific fundamental right", and so does not grant the Chief Executive power to restrict fundamental rights. Since the PFCR does affect fundamental rights, it is ultra vires the ERO.

The court, however, was of the view that Grounds 1 and 4 were in tension: in the former, the applicants "submit that….the ERO is of the widest scope, essentially conferring an unrestricted and unfettered legislative power"' but in the latter, they suggested that it should be construed as "not authorising….any restrict[ion] of fundamental rights"—since the court had already dealt with Ground 1, it was not necessary to rule on "an alternative ground", that is, Ground 4.

Ground 5A: the "section 3 proportionality ground"

It was common ground between the applicant and respondent that a four-step proportionality analysis should be used to determine the validity of section 3, by which the use of face coverings in certain circumstances was prohibited. The first step was the question of whether the PFCR sought to achieve a "legitimate aim"; the court accepted the submission of the government that the maintenance of law and order generally is a legitimate, and is the aim of the PFCR. The court also held that there is a rational connection between the prohibition of the use of masks and those legitimate aims, rejecting the applicant's argument that lawful gatherings would also be impeded by the PFCR on the grounds that the wearing of masks made likelier the occurrence of unlawful activity at an otherwise lawful gathering, and accepting an affidavit submitted by the government that the wearing of masks could create a psychological disposition to commit unlawful acts that would otherwise not have occurred.

However, the court held that, excepting unlawful assemblies, the restrictions would unduly affect entirely peaceful gatherings, and that in view of, inter alia, the lack of clarity concerning those merely "at" but not participating in a gathering, the "absence of….case-by-case evaluation or assessment", "the lack of robust evidence on the effectiveness of the measure", and "the importance….[of] freedom of expression,…assembly,…procession,…and demonstration", the measure was not proportionate. This being the third step of the analysis, the need for the fourth step was obviated, though the court expressed the view that it would have reached a similar conclusion had it considered the fourth step, viz., whether the PFCR would strike "a reasonable balance between the societal benefits sought to promoted and the inroads made into the aforesaid protected rights."

Ground 5B: the "section 5 proportionality ground"

A similar four-step proportionality analysis was made of section 5, which allows police officers to demand the removal of a facial covering. As above, the court held that section 5 had a legitimate aim ('law enforcement'), and was rationally connected to that aim. However, because section 5 would apply extremely broadly, "irrespective of whether there is any public meeting or procession taking place in the vicinity", and regardless of the risk of violence, section 5 could "be used by a police officer for the random stoppage of anyone found wearing a facial covering in any public place", which "exceeds what is reasonably necessary to achieve the aim of law enforcement" etc., and so is disproportionate.

Relief order

In its judgment dated 18 November 2019, the court noted that it had "not heard submissions on the question of relief"; it therefore made a decision on 22 November.

It was common ground that the PFCR should be declared invalid on the basis that the ERO did not grant the Chief Executive power to make regulations on an occasion of public danger, and that all the substantive sections of the PFCR except for the prohibition on wearing a mask at an unlawful assembly were invalid in virtue of their disproportionality.

Suspension or temporary validity order

However, the government sought an order by which the PFCR, and therefore the provisions of the ERO in use of the powers granted by which the PFCR was purported to be made should remain "valid and of legal effect" pending a further appeal. Such an order was sought on the grounds that the quashing of the PFCR would endanger public safety and the rule of law; the court was of the view, however, that those most likely to be involved in violent acts would act regardless of the validity of the PFCR, and that the court had already emphasised the importance of the rule of law. To the latter, they added that they were unable to accept that they should make such an order purely because of the risk that to fail to do so could be perceived incorrectly by some.

The government, however, alternatively sought a "suspension order", whose effect would be ensure that the government would not "openly [act] against a court's declaration". It differs from the "temporary validity order" sought above in that it would not ultimately render actions taken under impugned enactments of legal validity. The court was of the view that the continued enforcement of the PFCR would likely cause more conflict, and therefore declined to make such a suspension order on the grounds the government sought.

Disposition

The court held the ERO, insofar as "public danger" is concerned, unconstitutional, and therefore declared the PFCR invalid and of no effect. On separate grounds it also declared all the substantive sections of the PFCR excepting that prohibiting the use of masks at an unlawful assembly inconsistent with the Basic Law and the Bill of Rights, and therefore of no effect.

Notwithstanding its deliberations above, the court in view of a likely appeal to the Court of Appeal granted a temporary suspension order of seven days.

Court of Appeal case

The government gave notice of its intention to appeal on 25 November 2020. On 9 April 2020, the court ruled that the ERO, insofar as occasions of public danger are concerned, is valid, and therefore that the PFCR is valid and of legal effect. It upheld the Court of First Instance's ruling on the disproportionality of the PFCR in public meetings and processions permitted by the Commissioner of Police as well as on the powers granted to police to require persons to remove face coverings, but quashed its ruling and therefore upheld the PFCR at unauthorised assemblies. Therefore, the Court of Appeal departed from the CFI's ruling in respect of Ground 1, and partially in respect of Ground 5A.

Ground 1: general or subordinate legislative power?

The court accepted the initial reasoning of the CFI concerning the criteria by which the constitutionality of the ERO on an occasion of public danger should be determined. If the ERO were to delegate power to make primary legislation, it would be unconstitutional, but if it were to delegate subordinate legislation, it would be constitutional.

Although, as the CFI noted, "public danger" is not defined by the ERO, the court was of the view that "there is nothing objectionable in itself to task the CEIC [Chief Executive in Council] to determine if an occasion of public danger exists". Since "emergency or public danger is not capable of exhaustive definition", legislation in that connection is "necessarily wide and extensive in scope", and so the broadness of the ERO was not sufficient to rule it unconstitutional. Further objections considered the norms established by the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1.) vis à vis subordinate legislation: the CFI were of the view that the ERO envisaged regulations beyond the scope of the norms established by the IGCO, and therefore that the ERO would allow the enactment of primary legislation by the Chief Executive, but the court held that the IGCO was disapplied by implication.

In view of the above, the court rejected the application for judicial review on Ground 1.

Grounds 5A and 5B

Section 3(1)(b): unauthorised assembly

Whereas the CFI held that "an assembly which is 'unauthorized' may yet be entirely peaceful", the Court objected to the CFI's decision that section 3(1)(b), which prohibits the wearing of masks at such assemblies, would be disproportionate. First, the court reconsidered the nature of the definition of an unauthorised assembly as defined by the POO. The first scenario in which an assembly would be unauthorised would be a procession or meeting in contravention of a requirement that the Commissioner of Police should be notified and indicate no objection thereto. The construction of the POO must be "compatible with the fundamental right of demonstration and procession", and therefore in line with "the principle of tolerance and proportionality"—in other words, "there should be prior warnings" before "arrests and dispersals" etc. occur, unless there is a "serious and imminent threat risk to public order and safety" due to violence or other "reprehensible conducts". Second, such a gathering could fail to obey an order by the Commissioner of Police. A gathering would be unlikely to solely fall under this provision, since an un-notified and un-notifiable gathering of this sort would likely not be one at which the Commissioner would be present, so the former analysis applies; moreover even if it were not to, "the principle of tolerance and requirement of proportionality" also hold. The third scenario is that some direction is given to disperse or vary the route or place etc. of a gathering under section 17(2) or (3) of the POO. Again, the principle of tolerance and proportionality holds. Therefore, at all unauthorised assemblies, either some sort of violent conduct has occurred, or the police have publicly issued a warning and order under section 17(3) of the POO. Moreover a person must be aware of the order to refuse or willfully neglect to obey it, and cannot knowingly take part in an unauthorised assembly unless aware that it was unauthorised. The court therefore held that the CFI had envisaged a highly improbable scenario in deciding that the prohibition on the wearing of masks at an entirely orderly assembly was implied by section 3(1)(b) of the PFCR.

The court summarised its reasoning in 12 steps.
 The PFCR is enacted in exercise of the powers granted to the Chief Executive under the ERO in response to a public danger arising from the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, and its repeal would be "expected" on the subsiding of that danger.
 The wearing of masks contributes to that public danger.
 Section 3(1)(b) prohibits facial coverings only at unauthorised assemblies. It does not prevent the wearing of masks at authorised gatherings held in compliance with conditions imposed by the police.
 The wearing of facial coverings is, however, only prohibited when a person remains at an unauthorised assembly after an order is made to disperse, or if violent conduct were to occur threatening public safety.
 Section 4 provides a defence on the basis of a "reasonable excuse", e.g., that there was no "reasonable opportunity to leave the scene".
 Refusal to disperse is itself an unlawful act.
 Even if those refusing to disperse do so in exercise of a right to peaceful demonstration, facial coverings are not "at the core of such right".
 An order to disperse would only be made where refusal to disperse would create a risk of a breach of the peace, especially in view of "black block tactics".
 Wearing of facial coverings impedes law enforcement by preventing identification and segregation of violent protesters.
 It also endangers the right of peaceful demonstration by precluding certain less intrusive police action.
 Therefore, the maintenance of law and order itself is necessary to preserve the right of assembly.
 Therefore, safeguards both from common law principles outlined above and the judiciary should "prevent arbitrariness in the exercise of discretion by the police".

In conclusion, it held that the prohibition on the use of masks at unauthorised assemblies is constitutional.

Sections 3(1)(c) and (d) and section 5: authorised assemblies and meetings, and power to remove masks

The court was of the view that the prohibition of the use of masks at "peaceful and orderly" events "is difficult to see"; in the event of "black bloc tactics" such an event would then quickly become "an unauthorized assembly or unlawful assembly", in which the prohibition would then apply. The court therefore agreed with the CFI that the prohibition of the wearing of face coverings at authorised assemblies and meetings was therefore disproportionate. It also agreed with the CFI on the disproportionality of section 5 granting the police powers to remove face masks and making refusal an offence.

Court of Final Appeal

After the Court of Appeal made its ruling, the applicants in the CFI case said that they would appeal to the Court of Final Appeal. The South China Morning Post later revealed that both parties intended to appeal. If the appeal is to be heard by the Court of Final Appeal, leave must either be obtained from the Court of Appeal, or directly from the Court of Final Appeal. On 10 July, the South China Morning Post reported that the Court of Appeal had granted permission to both sides to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal on ten questions of law deemed to be of "great general or public importance".

Reaction

Court of First Instance ruling
The central government immediately criticised the Court of First Instance's ruling, causing concern for the independence of Hong Kong's judiciary.

Henry Litton, a former judge of the Court of Final Appeal, strongly criticised the judgment. In an article in the South China Morning Post, Litton called the court's approach "startling". Litton argued that, because before the handover all laws were "scrutinised", but the ERO "stood intact", it could not be unconstitutional. He also criticised the court's citation of overseas cases, and suggested that Henry VIII clauses could have no relevance to Hong Kong because he "died in 1547". He further suggested that the first set of applicants, being 24 members of the Legislative Council, had "no rights or interests in the enactment of the face-mask regulation greater than anyone else".

In response, the government said that it would stop enforcing the ban for the time being. A spokesman from the Chinese legislative affairs commission, however, stated that "Whether the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region comply with the Basic Law of Hong Kong can only be judged and decided by the standing committee of the National People's Congress".

Court of Appeal ruling
A commentary in the state-run China Daily said that the Court of Appeal's partial allowing of the government's appeal "strengthens the rule of law", though criticised it for allowing those at permitted assemblies to wear masks.

See also
 Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation (PFCR)
 Emergency Regulations Ordinance (ERO)
 Public Order Ordinance (POO)

Notes

References

Hong Kong case law
Hong Kong Basic Law


text:
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// Same as above but with default values for params.
template <>
Measurement<double>::Measurement(const std::string &parent_full_name,
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// Same as above but with default values for ts as well.
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Measurement<double>::Measurement(const std::string &parent_full_name,
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


BP-funded research aims to understand and mitigate impacts of hydrocarbon pollution in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere.
(From physicstoday / by Rachel Berkowitz) — On 20 April 2010 the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) drilling rig operating in the Mocando Prospect, a drilling block in the Gulf of Mexico, experienced a catastrophic failure that resulted in an explosion and fire, the ultimate sinking of the rig, and a discharge of gas and light sweet crude oil from an ocean depth of 1500 m. Eleven men who were working on the rig at the time of the explosion lost their lives.
A month later, BP committed $500 million over 10 years to fund independent research on the environmental and public health impact of the blowout. On 15 July, a steel cap was installed to plug the bottom of the gushing well; by 19 September the borehole itself was sealed.
To understand the disaster's consequences, BP initiated the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI), which includes eight research consortia comprising dozens of universities. GOMRI studies have estimated the rate and volume of petroleum released during the event, the mechanisms by which hydrocarbons move through the Gulf environment, and the impact of oil and gas on ecosystems. Despite GOMRI's advances in understanding oceanographic effects associated with the spill, many uncertainties remain.
Two of the more pressing unsolved questions are how to determine the ecological health of the Gulf of Mexico, and how events in coastal regions connect to deep-ocean processes.
In a marine basin near any populated area, urban development and industrial activity affect freshwater supplies and contribute to oxygen depletion, coastal erosion, and other ecological concerns. "The massive input of pollution and residual effects of the DWH discharge comes on top of this background level of challenges to a healthy ecosystem," says Ian MacDonald, professor of biological oceanography at Florida State University.
The connections between the deep ocean, where DWH began to spurt oil, and the coastal zone are far from obvious. Some 80 km away from the stricken rig, the Mississippi River delta and beaches of Alabama and Florida are regions of extensive human interaction with the marine ecosystem. Oceanographers categorize ocean depths based on how much light they receive, and additional factors of wind mixing, thermocline, and shelf forcing affect each level. "We know the shallow realm is connected to the deep—things sink, and upwelling occurs—but we don't understand it that well," adds MacDonald.
River input to the northeast Gulf further complicates ecological relationships. Productivity—the rate of biomass generation—in the Gulf depends not only on basin dynamics, but also on Mississippi River outflow. "The spill highlighted how little we know about this part of the Gulf, and the ocean in general," confirms Richard Snyder, director of the Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation at the University of West Florida.
The oil on the ocean surface that came ashore on coastal marshes and beaches most upset the general public, perhaps because its effects were most immediately visible. But of possibly graver concern, the science community lacks detailed information about the physical processes by which oil moved from its source at 1500-m depth to the surface. The response effort to the event did not include fundamental measurements, including regular profiles of the plume or samples of the surface oil. The data shortfall means that the distribution of oil thickness in the surface slick, and how it spread throughout the Gulf, is not well known.
Mathematical modeling informs much of our knowledge about changes in dissolved volatile organic content in the water column, amounts of surface oil, and droplet size (as affected by application of dispersants). Measurements against which to calibrate these simulated results, including time series made over the course of the event, would greatly improve the models.
MacDonald's lab works with synthetic aperture radar data shared through international cooperation to provide hundreds of remote sensing images covering a large region in the northeastern Gulf. The goal is to create a daily time series of the oil location and provide a global gridded map. Those images will also be used to determine the distribution of oil thickness.
"Modeling is constrained by lack of data," says MacDonald. "My objective is to have a data set of surface oil over time where we're totally open about how confident we are, and share this with everyone who is concerned." Such data might be applied, for example, to the location of fish larvae and the dispersal of spawning populations during the spill. Incorporating this information into a spill model would help provide an estimate of oil exposure to biologically sensitive areas.
Another reason for developing a standardized time series for the disaster is to measure the efficiency of different response activities. Is it more efficient to apply dispersants from airplanes or to introduce them at the wellhead? Is it better to burn or skim surface oil? To evaluate these methods rigorously involves being able to objectively say what each achieved under specific conditions.
"The rising plume is how everything got to the surface, and the surface is how everything got to land and the coastal region," notes MacDonald. But the combined oil and gas bubbles coming out of the Macondo well created a multiphase plume of petroleum products more complicated than the classical laboratory model.
The classic buoyant plume model comprises a buoyant source that rapidly becomes unstable, breaks down into eddies, and entrains surrounding water. As the plume rises, mixes, and dilutes, it eventually reaches the surface or some equilibrium distribution.
In the Gulf of Mexico following the DWH blowout, large drops of oil rose straight to the surface. Other particles spread out at intermediate depths, creating nutrient-rich water for organisms that can eat hydrocarbons. As a plume forms, a rotating gyre effect may help to confine its output to near the source for some time. Eventually, these gyres become unstable and break from the source, which may have been an important mechanism in the distribution of subsurface oil, according to physical oceanography professor Kevin Speer of Florida State University.
Once the oil reaches the surface, its physics becomes controlled by wind and waves. Typical ocean models treat the upper 10 m of ocean as a thick grid, and assume uniformity within this layer. But the oil slick existed in the upper millimeters of water, so standard ocean circulation models cannot predict its fate.
The effects of the plume were felt by the entire Gulf of Mexico due in part to the Loop Current, which flows north into the Gulf, feeds into the Gulf Stream, and, on its way out of the Gulf, generates large, westward-moving eddies. The Loop Current runs mostly south of the oilfield. "But wind can blow the oil south, and some wiggles to the north, that spreads the oil much more quickly," says Speer. "What happens at the surface doesn't necessarily go along with what happens at depth, but helps us understand conditions under which oil might rapidly fill the Gulf." And oil on the surface calms the water beneath it. Thus, the DWH event has necessitated better representation of plumes in large-scale circulation models, a need that has many of its own technical problems.
Any geophysical modeling must balance the size of the domain and the level of descriptive detail. Ocean models typically have a resolution down to the kilometer-scale. But much finer than that, computational costs become prohibitive. As a result, modelers describe so-called sub-grid processes through parameterizations that in turn use derivations from the basic governing equations explicitly written for large-scale features.
Parameterizing plumes to incorporate them into a large-scale model requires attention to small-scale effects. "This has been done . . . by meteorologists because they have to parameterize clouds," explains Speer. But unlike the buoyant plumes of vapor that define clouds, an oil plume contains pressurized gases. When a non-water-soluble buoyant fluid mixes with gas, the rising bubbles will pull water along. It is therefore critical to better understand how bubbles influence the plume in order for the parameterization to capture the key elements of the dispersion process.
Plume movement since the DWH event has been tracked using a combination of tracers, floats, and current meters. These tools help quantify how much the oil and gas are being spread by turbulent mixing relative to spreading as a result of dispersal by large-scale currents.
At De Soto Canyon, in the Gulf due south of Panama City, Florida, the surface oil slick has moved up shore. Speer and colleague Nicolas Choplain suggest that it is primarily the shape of the ocean floor that controls the direction of oil movement. They have collected measurements of the circulation within the canyon to support their claim. Additionally, a laboratory simulation that builds the shape of the canyon into the base of a water-filled, rotating tank (to approximate Earth's rotation) will help provide a history of topographic control on surface effects.
Offshore drilling and production is often associated with deltaic systems. Rivers deliver organic matter with fast sedimentation rates, and can bury organic matter and spread pollutants. "If you are trying to preserve the marsh systems by opening [river] floodgates and flushing the system so that it doesn't contaminate the marshes, there are more complications," explains David Hollander, professor of chemical oceanography at the University of South Florida. Flushing transports fine-grained clay particles offshore, and brings contaminants to shallower sites on the continental shelf that then move directly through the food chain.
That's what happened when the Mississippi River floodgates were opened in response to the DWH blowout. The intersection of subsurface plume with continental slope sediments put toxic compounds into the sedimentary system, because oil microdroplets are so readily trapped by sediment surfaces. The "dirty blizzard" hypothesis suggests that oil mixed with deep ocean sediments fell to the sea floor at 10 times the normal deposition rate. This includes such toxic components as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, produced as a byproduct of burning fuel.
"This is the fascinating story," says Hollander. "Not only would this be a natural process, but could be augmented by application of dispersant, which lends to the formation of finer droplets with increased surface area." One goal of dispersants is to keep components in an aqueous environment where they have a residence time of weeks to months. But if those materials are brought into a sedimentary environment, the residence time increases to months, years, or decades.
Enhancing the concentration of those compounds in sediment becomes a potential mechanism by which they are more efficiently transferred to upper trophic levels of the marine ecosystem, where economically important fish dwell. Supporting this theory is the observation that the frequency of fish disease is now greatest at depths between 100 and 300–400 m, in line with the margins of the continental shelf.
"One beautiful thing we have from sediments is an approach to resolve timescale [of DWH spill products] from months to years," adds Hollander. Typically, lead-210 isotopes with a half-life of 22 years are used to provide a time series of Gulf of Mexico sediments. But this provides little accuracy for smaller time windows. Now, thorium-234 with its half-life of 22 days has been measured for six half-lives to provide a four-month chronology. Thus, taking core samples with a time window of four months allows an entire sedimentary pulse event to be pieced together. Hollander's work suggests that material reached bottom sediments and accumulated in a way associated with PAHs, leading to exposure for primary organisms and with subsequent uptake through the food chain.
Fortunately, although organisms higher in the food chain are adversely affected by oil spills, microorganisms are able to consume petroleum hydrocarbons and thus contribute to reducing their impact. DNA and RNA analyses suggest that different microbial groups fed on the DWH hydrocarbons at different times. New models suggest that once a bacterial community had depleted the new food source, they would linger and then, should another pulse of hydrocarbon come their way, degrade this more rapidly.
"This science will help us understand how the environment absorbs or does not absorb oil spills," concludes Snyder. The more we understand specific data, the more we can predict impacts relative to specific clean-up strategies.
Some three to four years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, people congratulated themselves that everything was back to normal in Alaska's Prince William Sound. Then the Sound's economically important herring fishery irrevocably collapsed. Many other permanent ecosystem changes, from top predators down to invertebrate communities also occurred. MacDonald notes that, despite the vast difference in the nature of these two disasters, the same paradigms regarding oil spills that were challenged after Exxon Valdez are being considered in light of DWH. This suggests that we have not yet learned to successfully mitigate such events.
Speer hopes that in the wake of DWH, people will have a better sense of how to respond and make proper measurements, how to incorporate meteorological information into a Gulf-wide dispersion measurement system, and how oil as a nutrient source influences microbe composition of the ocean and shoreline. The physical oceanography community is motivated to better represent boundary conditions and small-scale effects in plume models.
Hollander notes that DWH was "not your traditional oil spill." This was a three-dimensional catastrophe: the first extremely deep-sea blowout. Responders and decision makers need to think about using new scientific information not only to forecast for future potential events in the Gulf but also to set policy for other sensitive areas. Additionally, the sedimentation process of large river systems bears on global oil exploration and production, since most drill sites are associated with large river systems.
New paradigms are emerging as a result of DWH. With support from BP and others with an interest in ecosystem health, the scientific understanding coming from DWH could extend well beyond the boundaries of the Gulf of Mexico to other oil fields around the world.
S. B. Joye, I. R. MacDonald, I. Leifer, V. Asper, Nat. Geosci. 4, 160 (2011).
R. M. Atlas, T. C. Hazen, Environ. Sci. Technol. 45, 6709 (2011).
D. L. Valentine et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 20303 (2012).
C. H. Peterson et al., Science 302, 2082 (2003).


Traders Holdings Co., Ltd. Due Diligence Report provides a complete overview of the company's affairs. All available data is presented in a comprehensive and easily accessed format. The report includes financial and SWOT information, industry analysis, opinions, estimates, plus annual and quarterly forecasts made by stock market experts. The report also enables direct comparison to be made between Traders Holdings Co., Ltd. and its competitors. This provides our Clients with a clear understanding of Traders Holdings Co., Ltd. position in the Financial Services Industry.
The report contains detailed information about Traders Holdings Co., Ltd. that gives an unrivalled in-depth knowledge about internal business-environment of the company: data about the owners, senior executives, locations, subsidiaries, markets, products, and company history.
Another part of the report is a SWOT-analysis carried out for Traders Holdings Co., Ltd.. It involves specifying the objective of the company's business and identifies the different factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. SWOT-analysis helps to understand company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and possible threats against it.
The Traders Holdings Co., Ltd. financial analysis covers the income statement and ratio trend-charts with balance sheets and cash flows presented on an annual and quarterly basis. The report outlines the main financial ratios pertaining to profitability, margin analysis, asset turnover, credit ratios, and company's long-term solvency. This sort of company's information will assist and strengthen your company's decision-making processes.
In the part that describes Traders Holdings Co., Ltd. competitors and the industry in whole, the information about company's financial ratios is compared to those of its competitors and to the industry. The unique analysis of the market and company's competitors along with detailed information about the internal and external factors affecting the relevant industry will help to manage your business environment. Your company's business and sales activities will be boosted by gaining an insight into your competitors' businesses.
Also the report provides relevant news, an analysis of PR-activity, and stock price movements. The latter are correlated with pertinent news and press releases, and annual and quarterly forecasts are given by a variety of experts and market research firms. Such information creates your awareness about principal trends of Traders Holdings Co., Ltd. business.
About Traders Holdings Co., Ltd.
Traders Holdings Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides foreign exchange and securities trading services. It offers futures and options trading at Nikkei; spot trading of shares; online securities trading services; foreign exchange margin trading; and financial brokerage services. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Tokyo, Japan.


text:
import type {
  MockFunctionMetadata as _MockFunctionMetadata,
  ModuleMocker as _ModuleMocker,
} from 'jest-mock';

export type MockFunctionMetadata = _MockFunctionMetadata;
export type ModuleMocker = _ModuleMocker;


We had known for years that we would need to petition the court for guardianship of Benjamin when he became and adult, and we also knew full well how long the process should take. In early 2011, about nine months before his birthday, we began looking around for a lawyer to draw up the paperwork. We eventually connected with a fairly young attorney at a very large law firm (if you are in Central Florida, you would recognized the name of the firm), who told us he was in the process of spinning up an entire new division there dedicated entirely to legal matters for the special needs community. He then offered to handle Ben's Guardianship case pro bono, as a part of building up this new department. We were beyond delighted, and so we dove right in and signed the papers to start the process. After we finished answering extensive questions regarding Ben as well as both of us, our new lawyer sent us off with instructions to complete a guardianship training class that would be required by the court, and told us he would start working on the court filing. Life was good.
A few months went by with no word from the lawyer. I started to get nervous, because fall was approaching and I knew that we needed to have everything done and in place in order to get a court date as quickly as possible after Ben's birthday at the end of December. I sent a few emails, and received no response from the attorney. Clearly something was up. And then I saw an article in the newspaper about how a significant number of lawyers had been let go from Very Large Firm as part of a major restructuring. Those alarm bells that I had started to hear ringing grew into full-fledged sirens and red blinking lights. I called the law firm, and after being transferred multiple times I was finally connected to a woman who informed me that our previous attorney was no longer with the firm, and that our case had been handed to her. If I had had any sense at all, this should have been the point where I cancelled the contract and started looking for a new attorney, but the allure of "free" kept us hanging on. Our new lawyer assured us that there was still plenty of time to get the paperwork done and filed, not to worry. Time ticked on.
Over the course of the next two months I had several email exchanges with the paralegal assistant to our attorney, and was repeatedly assured that the court filing would be ready before Ben's birthday. Finally, in early January (several weeks after Ben's 18th birthday), I was contacted by the paralegal to set up an appointment to go over the final paperwork. Hooray! A few weeks late, but still manageable. The day came, we were given the paperwork, and we were also informed by the attorney that it was her last day with the firm. She was literally cleaning out her desk and throwing the documents at us on her way out the door. Would you like to make any guesses as to the quality of those documents?
Yup. We immediately had questions. Several of the filings did not make logical sense. We needed some clarification on whether or not these documents were actually correct before we took them down to the courthouse, and so we were assigned to lawyer #3 at Very Large Firm. January. February. March. Despite our repeatedly contacting the lawyer, no progress was being made. It was abundantly clear that 1) Neither lawyer #2 nor lawyer #3 had ever filed a guardianship case, and 2) The fact that our case was pro bono automatically placed it at the bottom of the list of priorities. We were now several months into Ben's legal adulthood with no indication of when we might finally be able to actually file the guardianship papers, and we became increasingly worried about any random accident or incident that might turn into a huge crisis without having the guardianship in place.
By late spring I had the good fortune to attend a seminar on guardianship that was being presented by a local attorney who specializes in that area of law. His class was excellent, and he clearly knew the process inside and out. After the class was over I went up to speak to him, explaining our situation. He literally groaned, and then gave me his card and asked me to phone his office to make an appointment. A few days later I sat in his office, and gave him the stack of paperwork from lawyer #2. He thumbed through each document, muttering, "This is crap.... this is crap... I might be able to salvage this... this is crap...."
Within 30 minutes he fully understood the current state of things, he had just a few more questions, and then he set an appointment for the following week when he would have the final documents ready. A week later Ben's mom and I sat in that office and signed everything, and then the documents were filed electronically with the court right from the lawyer's office. Technically speaking, he wasn't even our attorney -- he was Ben's. We had to bring Ben into the office for the attorney to meet, and of course we had to have all of the medical documentation to verify Ben's diagnosis of autism. The petition for guardianship was filed by us, and then as Ben's attorney the lawyer stipulated that Ben did in fact require guardianship. (Well, to be more specific, Guardian Advocacy, which is a special class of guardianship in the state of Florida specifically designed to meet the needs of autistic adults). Our background checks were completed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, a court date was secured, and before we knew it the case was all done. After a year of spinning our wheels with a never-ending cast of clown lawyers at Very Large Firm, the entire thing was wrapped up in a matter of weeks by an attorney who actually knew what he was doing.
The moral of the story is: don't mess around with your special needs child. When the time comes for creating the guardianship, find an attorney who specializes in that specific area of law and stay right on top of the process. Don't make the mistakes I did, sticking with a sub-optimal lawyer for months on end just because we had already spent so much time and energy there. A good lawyer is worth every single penny, and your adult special needs child has to have all of their legal needs covered. You do NOT want to find yourself sitting in an emergency room, frantically talking to a lawyer on the phone trying to get a judge to issue an emergency temporary guardianship just so that a doctor can talk to you about your child's treatment. Having those Letters of Guardianship really can be a matter of life or death.
If you happen to live in Central Florida and need an attorney to handle your guardianship, special needs trust, or any other legal matter related to your special needs child, I can highly recommend Frank Nisi of the Nisi Law Firm. He absolutely knows his stuff, and he will take care of your case in a timely manner with plenty of good communication about the process. I wish we had started with him, it would have saved us a year of aggravation.


Is JESUITICAL a valid Scrabble word? Find dictionary definitions, synonyms, Scrabble and Words with Friends information, and more about the word JESUITICAL below.
JESUITICAL is a valid Scrabble word worth 19 points. Scrabble uses the TWL word list.
JESUITICAL is a valid Words with Friends word worth 23 points. Words with Friends uses the ENABLE word list.
JESUITICAL is a 10 letter word containing the letters a, c, e, i, i, j, l, s, t, u.


Specialist threads for lifting Silhouette Soft ™ is a perfect proposal for those who want to improve the appearance of the cheeks, restore the skin volume around the cheek bones, reduce skin flaccidity on the face and neck, wrinkles and furrows, and raise eyebrows. Thread Silhouette Soft ™ is a unique invention of American scientists validated and approved for production by the FDA, an authority that in the United States exercises control over food and medicines. The materials from which they are made meet all safety requirements. The secret of the thread lies in their construction. Thanks to special cones after insertion into the skin, they can anchor in deep layers and tighten it. In this way, it raises the flaccid tissue and restores the volume of the skin.
The whole treatment is very safe and above all easy to perform. The specialist physician inserts Silhouette Soft ™ bioabsorbable threads into a specific area of the skin using a specially prepared thin needle.
The treatment lasts from 60 to 90 minutes.
The response to the procedure is always an individual matter, however, most patients do not show any changes requiring convalescence. In some cases, slight bruising may persist for up to 2 weeks.
The effects of this innovative method of reducing and diminishing wrinkles last from 12 to 24 months.


If you could do it all over again, would you accept the offer for your last job? For many managers and executives, the answer is no. The problem is many high-level employees don't do their due diligence in exploring the company's core values, culture, and opportunities before saying yes to a position. Hindsight is 20/20, but to ensure your next C-level job is one you never regret taking, these two steps before accepting a job offer can help.
Call people who are in the know. Track down prior direct reports and even prior board members. You can also try to find your predecessor. His or her opinion might have to be weighed very carefully, depending on the circumstances, but the person who left the job may be able to shed light on what awaits you. The basic idea is to do research on your potential new boss or bosses. Additionally, check out Glassdoor and other Internet review sites. Search trade and industry publications for articles by or about the people you might be working with. See if you can find out what the turnover is by area, especially sales, leadership positions, and IT.
Interview like a consultant! By asking the right people the right questions, you'll position yourself head and shoulders above the competition. Very few candidates are this thorough, and high-performing organizations truly appreciate potential employees who know what it means to do their homework. If talking with your peers isn't already part of the interview itinerary, ask if that's a possibility so you can get a true sense of your team. In addition to meeting with your boss, see if you can score an interview with the boss's boss. This will give you valuable insight into a company's vision. Finally, try to meet with internal customers. If you're in marketing, you need to interview some of the people on the sales team. If you're in sales, interview some folks in marketing. If your role is in HR or finance, meet with the heads of key departments.


text:
IBCSR Research Review
ExploringMyReligion.org
ScienceOnReligion.org
Journal: Religion, Brain & Behavior
Research Project Portals
Simulating Religion Project
Modeling Religion Project
Neuroscience and Religious Cognition Project
Quantifying Religious Experience Project
Spirituality and Health Causation Project
Cognitive Style and Religious Attitudes Project
Spectrums Project
Sex Differences and Religion Project
Comparative Cultural Systems Project Portal
IBCSR
What Does "Bio-Cultural" Mean?
Reflection on the Institute's Vision
Spectrums Project Portal
Predestined to be liberal?
Most people like to think they've carefully thought out their positions. They'll say that they've fairly assessed both sides of an issue and have come to their particular position through thoughtful analysis. Well, what if a large part of their decision-making process had absolutely nothing to do with the substance of the issues but instead with their genes? What if their thought process was more rationalization than analysis? This very well may be the case: a gene has been discovered that influences liberal beliefs.
The gene that scientists think leads to liberal beliefs is DRD4, a dopamine receptor gene. Dopamine affects novelty-seeking, and medical geneticist James H. Fowler (University of California, San Diego) argues that increased novelty-seeking results in being more interested in other people's points of view. Thus, people in whom this gene is very active will take their friends' positions seriously, and, as they befriend more and more people over time, they will eventually be open to a variety of opinions. Fowler and his colleagues in their study controlled for age, sex, culture, and ethnicity, and DRD4 appears to predispose people to liberalism regardless of these variables.
Of course, Fowler and company would not say that liberal belief is reducible to genetics—environmental factors play a role as well. The key to liberal belief is in fact that the person needs to be social enough to have made friends across the ideological spectrum. Fowler has no intention of replacing environmental factors with genetic ones but rather wants to show how genetics play an important role in belief formation.
Though Fowler's research did not directly address the topic of religious ideology, his argument seems to readily apply to it. After all, if "liberal" is defined as being open to several viewpoints, this definition is broad enough to encompass religion as well as politics. In that case, DRD4, combined with exposure to a variety of religious viewpoints, could result in someone being a religious liberal.
Liberal beliefs, then, appear to have at least a partial genetic grounding. It will be interesting to see if DRD4 or another gene impacts conservative belief as well. Even if conservative beliefs do not have a genetic base, the questions of how free will and rationality interact with genes and the environment will continue to be relevant in philosophical discussions. Are our beliefs more than the product of our genes and environment? Somehow, we'll have to decide.
For more, see "Researchers find a 'liberal gene'" in Medical Daily.
IBCSR Research Review Issues
The cognitive science of religion
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Simulating religious violence
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Religion, Brain & Behavior Information
The Spirituality, Medicine & Health Bibliography uses a rich categorization scheme and annotations. Free for everyone.
Membership benefits include a discounted journal subscription and online journal access. Join IBCSR today!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Can I exclude country specific users without breaking Google anayltics tracking? I really need to stop USA based visitors proceeding to buy products on our UK only website. We are getting a lot of fraud from USA based IP's. I have this nice solution ready to go live, but will it stop Google Analytics and any other USA based tracking scripts working on my website? Does anyone have a better solution?
    // Cut non UK countries out of going any further:
$ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$country = getCountryFromIP($ip, " NamE ");

if (strtolower($country) == "united states") {
    $pageOutput =  file_get_contents("country.exclusion.html");
    $pageOutput = str_replace("<quote:site-wide-footer-tracking.html>", file_get_contents("../static-includes/site-wide-footer-tracking.php"), $pageOutput );

A: I think a better way of doing this would be to prevent US based users from completing certain actions:

*

*Stop them adding a product to basket

*On the product page hide any 'Add to Cart' button and replace it with some simple 'This product is not available in your country' text.

This will prevent them from ever purchasing a product but still make sure Google and other US based entities can browse your site without restriction.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


While I believe that most people are social creatures and need and even sometimes crave positive interaction with others: children, parents, spouse, friends, etc., I believe that people by and large have a need for space from time to time. They need it to re-energize, to recharge, and to quietly consider their lives--what's important to them and even their relationship to God.
I've heard the term "man cave" so many times. For a guy, it is thought of his own space or spot in the house or own area he can retreat to for peace and quiet.
But, over time, I've come to a different understanding of what the meaning of 'man cave' (space) is. It doesn't have to be a spot to retreat to in one's house. It doesn't even necessarily have to be one's house.
Here are some examples of where one can find his (or her) man-cave (or she-shed)--that is their space.
Space can be somewhere besides one's place. If you love your work, it can be there. If you own a garage for example and are working on restoring an old Corvette Stingray that could be your place. It could be at your best friend's place. It could be at a place where you hang out listen to music, play pool, throw darts... It could be literally anywhere else.
Space can be your own place. You could have a room designated as your own in which you are not disturbed unless they knock. That's the classic definition. It could also be your garden area outside in which you are left alone to tend. It could be your work area. It could be literally anywhere on your property.
Space doesn't have to be a physical spot either. It could be a time that you have completely to yourself uninterrupted, while family is out at school, work or just doing something else.
Space doesn't actually have to be alone time either. For example, if everyone is around the house, but is quietly, peacefully and separately entertaining themselves, you can have your own virtual space For me, as you might imagine, this is my blog. If everyone else is reasonably and contently occupied and I'm just typing away, I feel a certain freedom.
Anyway, just some thoughts to consider as you search for your own space.
Some songs just grab your attention for reasons you don't know and one day when you are listening to it many years later, their meaning hits you and you realize that there is probably a reason you have always loved or connected with the song.
In the late 1980s, Brenda Russell co-wrote and recorded Piano in the Dark. The concept is at once both simple and involved. The words and the music are powerful. In the song, Ms. Russell's character is at a very disconnected place in her relationship. It feels dead to her. She's thinking she's strong enough to call it quits. But, her mate knows how to reach her and as she is getting ready to leave, he plays the piano for her and she realizes that she still loves him.
For me "Piano in the Dark" is a synonym for that special something about your significant other pulls you in, that keeps you from leaving. It is that special something about him or her that you just can't live without.
This got me to thinking the subject matter. In your relationship, do you have that special something that your mate does, says or is about him/her that you can hold onto? What is it about your relationship that keeps you there even through the rough spots? This blog is essentially about what keeps people in relationships, even through the rough patches.
Functional factor. This can be for raising kid(s) together, convenient living arrangement, appearances, etc. Sometimes, this can be a consideration or The Consideration.
Fear of the unknown or codependence factor. Sometimes, the idea of 'starting over' is too overwhelming and it just seems easier just to stay together. Sometimes, the idea of being without a someone, even if that someone doesn't treat us right, can be daunting, especially if we haven't spent enough time on ourselves.
Honorable factor. This can take the form of staying together for the sake of the kids or staying together because of a commitment to the Father or something similar. I believe that these are good reasons to stay together in a lot of cases. Definitely, take the children into account and definitely if you are married, don't think that a vow before God should be taken lightly. Too many people do that.
I would say we all, but there are some that don't care. But most people hope that find that someone special and that what made their mate special will always light up a glow in their heart. So, I will focus the rest of the blog entry on that.
I believe that it is important to spend a few moments from time to time in contemplation and prayer. Remembering what it is about our mate that we love and to remind them from time to time why we love them. Life can get hectic, difficult and/or cloudy and it is important to establish a pattern of keeping in mind what we like about our significant other. But, perhaps even more importantly, spending a few minutes letting them know we are thinking about them.
But, I digress, I challenge to find, remember or express what is your "Piano in the Dark".


Anasazi and, paiute tribes came here at least 2,000 years ago.
The project plans also include a parking garage.
The school was granted preliminary accreditation in late 2016 and can begin accepting students for its 2017 charter class.Revitalization edit The downtown area in recent decades has played second fiddle to the larger and more famous Las Vegas tokyo joe's salmon poke bowl nutrition Strip, which is located a few miles to the south."Giant bong, huggable buds: Marijuana museum opens in Vegas".Built in 1930, the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies and Performing Arts is the city's best example of Art Deco architecture.Retail edit Container Park entrance Cityscape edit Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health Architecture edit Several buildings of architectural significance exist downtown, although being founded in 1905, Las Vegas lacks the number of historical buildings of older cities.Featured in the opening credits of the TV series Vega."Downtown casino renovations maintain Old Vegas vibe".See also edit References edit Schoenmann, Joe (March 19, 2014).However, the smaller downtown casinos earn revenues that pale in comparison to the mega resorts on the Las Vegas Strip further south.With several court buildings located here, there are many judicial-related businesses such as law firms in the immediate area.Archived from the original on November 20, 2008.
A b "discovery Children's Museum".
"About the Historic parker poke bowl 5th Street School - American Institute of Architects Las Vegas".
29 It was completed in 2010.
During the 1960s, corporations and business powerhouses such as Howard Hughes were building and buying hotel-casino properties.
In 1989, entrepreneur Steve Wynn changed the face of the Las Vegas gaming industry by opening up The Mirage, the Las Vegas Strips first mega-casino resort.Exceptions include the Historic Fifth Street School, built in 1936 in the Spanish-mission style and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.The Clark County Government Center has a red sandstone exterior invoking a desert motif.This is one of several entities that are helping to diversity downtown Las Vegas' economy and job base."Architecture Studies Library - University Libraries".40 Film and media history edit The 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever featured a chase scene in which James Bond, running from Las Vegas police, side-rolls a car through an alley exiting onto Fremont Street.Ice Cube 's music video for "Chrome and Paint" took place on Fremont Street, with Ice Cube in a lowrider.
Horaires d ouverture du magasin.Aujourd hui de 08h30 à 20h30; vendredi 16 novembre de 08h30 à 20h30; samedi.Horaires d ouverture de Centre Commercial, géant, albi, géant, casino, 2 rue Francisco Goya, 81000.Découvrez ci-dessous le tableau des horaires d ouverture et..
Some are baby sloth gifs, and others are not.Sloth giving a rose gif smoothest slot ever!When I Realize The Joke Was Directed Towards.They are tiny, like the size of cats or small dogs.Here's A Venus Fly Trap Smoking A Cigarette.They..


text:
// https://github.com/FMS-Cat/experimental-npm/blob/cf685846488ed3765e0abf68c8f6cd4916049cfa/src/algorithm/binarySearch.ts

/**
 * Look for an index from a sorted list using binary search.
 *
 * If you don't provide a compare function, it will look for **the first same value** it can find.
 * If it cannot find an exactly matching value, it can return N where the length of given array is N.
 *
 * @param array A sorted array
 * @param compare Make this function return `false` if you want to point right side of given element, `true` if you want to point left side of given element.
 * @returns An index found
 */
export function binarySearch<T>( array: ArrayLike<T>, element: T ): number;
export function binarySearch<T>( array: ArrayLike<T>, compare: ( element: T ) => boolean ): number;
export function binarySearch<T>(
  array: ArrayLike<T>,
  elementOrCompare: T | ( ( element: T ) => boolean ),
): number {
  if ( typeof elementOrCompare !== 'function' ) {
    return binarySearch( array, ( element ) => ( element < elementOrCompare ) );
  }
  const compare = elementOrCompare as ( element: T ) => boolean;

  let start = 0;
  let end = array.length;

  while ( start < end ) {
    const center = ( start + end ) >> 1;
    const centerElement = array[ center ];

    const compareResult = compare( centerElement );

    if ( compareResult ) {
      start = center + 1;
    } else {
      end = center;
    }
  }

  return start;
}


Dilek Peninsula National Park in Kusadasi ( Dilek Peninsula – Great Menderes Delta National Park) is among the most important natural heritages of Turkey, with an area of 27.598 hectares. Dilek Peninsula, declared in 1966 as a national park, covers 10.985 hectares. Great Menderes Delta, declared in 1994 as national park, covers 16.613 hectares. The national park can be reached via the Kusadasi (Kuşadası) – Soke (Söke) highway, and lies roughly in the middle of the two towns. It is possible to stay in the national park in tents or caravans, and there is food available. Dilek Peninsula National Park in Kusadasi has extraordinary beauty of Mediterranean flora with blue and emerald colored clean beaches.
Dilek Peninsula National Park covering 10.985 hectare area at Dilek Peninsula is situated on the south of Kusadasi (Kuşadası) near Davutlar and Guzelcamli (Güzelçamlı) in the province of Aydin (Aydın). This mountainous land is divided with canyons and valleys. Dilek Peninsula including sandy, pebbled, horizontal and high coastal formations as well as such canyons and valleys, embrace natural, historical and cultural values. Besides its interesting geological formation, Dilek Peninsula National Park has a rare Mediterranean flora.
Dilek Peninsula National Park in Kusadasi also offers walking and climbing paths inside the forest for trekkers. Except daily facilities, no overnight facilities is allowed in the park to protect natural environments.
Nature photography, Best preserved Mediterranean maquis flora, Natural plant and animal communities, Recreation, Geology, Beaches of Dilek Peninsula are popular in summer months.
Regional Office: 4th District (Manisa), Province: Aydin, Town: Kusadasi, Coverage Area: 27.598 Hectares, Coordinates: 37°40'08.14" N – 27°09'42.32" E, Height: 500 m.
The Delta of Great Menderes covering 16.613 hectare area, is situated on the south of Kusadasi. Great Menderes Delta is one of the most important habitat in the Aegean Region for migratory birds. Great Menderes Delta is also the spawning ground of marine fishes. The route of Great Menderes Delta runs along a unique pastoral landscape.
The national park offers many alternatives for visitors to choose from. You can swim from beaches where the forest trees come right up to the water, go for a walk amongst the linden and chestnut trees, cycle through pine woods, go rock climbing, or fishing for example. Among the many rare and endangered bird species which can be seen in the park are the Dalmatian pelikan and pygmy cormorant, and if you are lucky you may catch a glimpse of wild horses.
The vegetation of the peninsula is as varied and interesting as its fauna. Dilek mountain (1237 m), creating significant temperature differences between the south and north sides of the peninsula. This means that plants belonging to no less than four different regions are to be found in close proximity here. As well as typical Aegean vegetation there are many plants normally more at home in the Mediterranean, Marmara and Black Sea regions. Red pine (Pinus brutia), Phoenician juniper, sumach, a variety of wild pear (Pyrus elaeagnifolia), myrtle, cornelian cherry, oak, chestnut, linden, ash, and many more species coexist here.
The sections where lagoons and wetlands are produced on the south of peninsula at Great Menderes Delta has international characteristics and the lagoons where the fresh water mixes with the salty water contain rich biological varieties in its structure. 209 different types of bird species can be found in this rich ecosystem and is not only an extremely important nesting area for the endangered Dalmation Pelican but it is also a safe environment for the pygmy cormarant species.
Due to its clean environment, breathtaking views and clean beaches, Dilek Peninsula National Park is the perfect place to have a picnic. There are facilities on offer such as benches, picnic tables, toilet and shower facilities. If you don't fancy a picnic there are also cafes available.
The boat trips from Guzelcamli and Kusadasi go in the complete opposite direction and head into the crystal clear waters of Dilek Peninsula National Park and close to Greek island of Samos. Beautiful bays and coastal scenery, rich marine life can be seen in this boat trip. If you're lucky you can even see dolphins.
The Cave of Zeus at Dilek Peninsula National Park entrance contains a pool of fresh water, and many visitors to the national park stop here to shower on their way home. Legends about the cave are diverse. Some say, on account of the name, that Zeus bathed here, and others that the Virgin Mary did so. As the house where she is supposed to have lived the last days of her life is near Ephesus, not far away from here, this is not as fantastic as it seems.
The south shores of the Dilek Peninsula are another world, with the wetland of the delta where flamingos and 208 others species of bird are to be seen at different times of year, including the Dalmatian pelikan and pygmy cormorant I have already mentioned. Of these, 76 species breed here. Wild boar are to be seen, some so used to human beings that they venture right down to the shore to beg for pickings like water melon peel which they will eat from your hands. Some visitors are also lucky enough to catch a glimpse of wild horses in the hills behind. The legendary Anatolian leopard was last seen in the flesh here, but for the past 30 years there has not been a sighting.
Dilek Peninsula – Great Menderes Delta National Park in Kusadasi is one of the wonderful places on the World. Ruby blue of sea, bright sun with beautiful nature.


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You are here: Home / Health / Medicine / UI survey quizzes Iowa Latinos about the impact of COVID on their lives
UI survey quizzes Iowa Latinos about the impact of COVID on their lives
May 31, 2021 By Radio Iowa Contributor
University of Iowa researchers are sending out surveys to randomly-selected Latino households in nine Iowa counties with significant Latino populations to gauge the long-term impact of COVID-19 on that segment of the population.
Miriam Velez-Bermudez is one of the UI doctoral students leading the study. She says the findings will be sent to organizations throughout the state to help public health responses in the future.
"We can't address those needs if we're not able to assess them," Velez-Bermudez says. "So, this is sort of the first step in knowing what needs there are, so it can inform public health measures moving forward."
The surveys come with a five-dollar incentive. The researchers hope to have enough data to analyze by early summer.
UI researcher Crystal Garcia says she's starting to receive feedback and the responses will help the team figure out what effect the virus is having on Latinos in the state.
"We don't really have a good sense of what those long-term impacts might be," Garcia says. "We've heard food security, mental health, but really quantifying what that looks like."
Other organizations have tried to find that data in the past, but their efforts hit obstacles. Garcia says with their research, "disappearing is not an option."
(By Kassidy Arena, Iowa Public Radio)
Filed Under: Health / Medicine, News


To showcase its Spring/Summer 2014 collection, Salvatore Ferragamo aimed to create a sumptuous catalogue that would be sent to customers and distributed within its retail stores.
Inspired by the feel of the Spring/Summer 2014 collection, Out There produced the artistic publication and oversaw every element of its creation, such as casting, location scouting, photography and styling. The images were later used for online advertising and were featured on the brand's global website.


QUETTA: Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, believed to have been killed in a US air strike in Balochistan on Saturday, was a frequent traveller and over the past nine years used at least two Pakistani airports for his visits abroad.
Mansour was coming to Quetta from Taftan when his car came under the drone attack, killing him and his driver.
A passport and a computerised national identity card found near the burnt car bore the name of Muhammad Wali. It's suspected that Mansour carried fake travel papers.
According to a senior official of an investigation agency, Wali frequently travelled between Karachi and Dubai, and Iran via the Pakistani border town of Taftan. He had returned to Taftan from Iran on May 21 and was killed the same day at around 3pm by the US drone in the Kochki area of Nushki district.
The national identity card, too, was issued to Wali from Quetta in 2002 and after completion of its 10 years' validity it was renewed from Karachi.
The official claimed that Wali was a frequent flyer and 70 per cent of his travel originated from Karachi airport; once he flew from Quetta airport.
He started travelling abroad on Mach 12, 2006, and flew to Dubai from Karachi airport. His last travel on March 31, 2015 was also from Karachi to Dubai.
As regards his visits to Iran, he travelled to Iran twice through the Taftan border crossing.
"He first went to Iran on Feb 19, 2016, and returned to Pakistan through the Taftan border town on March 10, 2016," the official said, adding that he again travelled to Iran on April 25 this year and returned to Pakistan through the same route on May 21.
"Wali reported at the FIA immigration checkpost at Taftan 9.7am on May 21," he said.
Sources said that he hired a car at Taftan to travel up to Quetta. He had lunch at Padak near the Dalbandin area of Chagai district before resuming the journey. However, before reaching Quetta his car came under the drone attack.
Meanwhile, Iran on Monday denied reports that Mullah Mansour had entered Pakistan from the Islamic republic before being killed in the drone strike, adds AFP.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari was quoted by the official Irna news agency on Monday as denying Mansour had been in the country before the attack.
"The competent authorities of the Islamic republic deny that this person on this date crossed Iran's border and into Pakistan," he said.
"Iran welcomes any positive action leading to peace and stability in Afghanistan," he added.
Iran supports the Afghan government in its fight against the Taliban.
The `mystery' shrouding the identity of the man killed along with his driver in the drone attack could not be resolved till Monday evening as no one approached the authorities concerned to claim the body which was brought to the Combined Military Hospital on Sunday.
"The body is still at the CMH in Quetta and no relative has come so far," sources said, adding that the body could not be identified because it had been charred when the car caught fire after the missile hit it.
Though US President Barack Obama and the Afghan government have claimed that the man killed along with his driver on the RCD highway was Mullah Mansour, authorities in Quetta did not confirm that the body lying at CMH was that of the Taliban chief's.
"The government agencies and other officials are investigating the drone attack," a spokesman for the Balochistan government said in a statement. "Immediately we cannot comment on the incident," he said, adding that a team of the district administration and Special Branch was in the area where the incident had occurred and had been looking at all aspects of the drone attack.
The spokesman said that the investigating team would submit its report to the provincial government soon.
It is learnt that a sample has been collected from the corpse for a DNA test which will be conducted in Islamabad as Quetta lacks the facility.
Who will lead Afghan Taliban after Mullah Mansour?
Frequenr flier. Wow !!! Will Pakistani authorities care to explain ?
Can anyone please enlighten me how come its possible that his car was completely destroyed after drone hit it and the bodies were not identifiable at all, but still the passport and ID card which supposed to be either in his pocket or bag pack remains safe and did not burn? Is it possible? I don't think so.
There are too many questions and too few answers.
"... the body could not be identified because it had been charred when the car caught fire after the missile hit it." .. while his passport and NIC were still 'safe'.
What if he is not mullah Mansour but another person called wali in actual fact. Then?
"A passport and a computerised national identity card found near the burnt car bore the name of Muhammad Wali. It's suspected that Mansour carried fake travel papers. " The discovery of the passport and a national identity card among the ashes and charred body is either a miracle or an act of some one planting the documents after the attack. Who found these documents and start searching the data bases to help produce this article with incredible speed in a country where one has to wait long time to get any information from the NADRA or other authorities..
A state of denial as always !!
His body was charred beyond recognition but his papers miraculously survived intact.
Why mention at Pakistani airport and not at dubai???
Appreciate your bold & brave reporting, keep it up Dawn.
With in 3 months after entering Iran he is dead !
The body burnt beyond recognition, together with the car, while the CNIC and passport remained intact. Who in this world, who can think and act on their own, are going to accept it?
Or either NADRA is issuing bomb, blast and fire proof CNIC and passports.
What if there exists a person whose name is M walli. And that person actually used to travel abroad and his passport was be used by mansour, because he must b using multiple identities and it can be one of them. Government should find out family tree of passport bearer.
@Ali jee How you arrived at your conclusion? Does not make sense.
He probably travelled business class with Emirates. Travelling with PIA would have been torturous even for him.
@anees from zaida Doesnt this echoes what was shown to the world within hours of attacks on World Trade Centers on 9/11?
A massive 110 story tower was predicted to dust, with not much left intact. Yet the passports of the allged hijackers were found in pristine condition, in millions of tons of rubble. That is, because not only they were planted, so some could find them quickly. Never mind, millions of other items in the rubble.
So finding a passport and ID card in a charred vehicle is not hard to imagine.
As many questioning, there is a scope for doubt about how documents can remain intact if body is not.
But there is a chance that these important documents have some way to keep ID/numbers visible even in burnt documents. They could be possibly designed considering fire/water damages- I would like to trust authorities that much.
As far as I know, Pakistani airports are connected with Interpol & with US-American Database. Why all these database were not able to identify such an important person in all these flights.
"A passport and a computerised national identity card found near the burnt car bore the name of Muhammad Wali. It's suspected that Mansour carried fake travel papers"
The bodies were burned beyond recognition, the car carrying them totally burned & destroyed by the missile fired by drone yet the passport & ID card found safe & untouched, baffling. Was the document kept in a black box.
@Kala Ingrez - کالا انگریز - काला अंग्रेज - কালো ইংরাজি Of course Govt. operated agencies have direct access to get any information from any institution including NADRA, so it is not a surprise.
@M. Ahmed Let's not forget, apart from 9/11 farce, the OBL raid in Abbottabad, apparently involved lots of firefight, shootings and commotion. Yet, days after the raid, according to the video footage shown on various US TV channels, there were bullet holes on the walls of the compound, no fire damage, or signs of explosives being used during the raid.
Leaves you to wondering about the veracity of the account.
Well, there are two pertinent questions which need to be answered. Firstly, if Mansour travelled in Pakistan so frequently, why talks could not be arranged by Pakistan ? Secondly, whether close proximity to Iran and cold-shouldering of Pakistan was the reason of his elimination ?
A passport and a computerised national identity card found near the burnt car bore the name of Muhammad Wali. So he managed to throw his passport and NI card out of the car before the drone targeted his car. Interesting infact amazing.
There is always a mystery in Pakistan as usual nobody is certain about this man found in the car. Ihope very soon it will be solved like the death of OBL.
@Raju this is modern day magic even aircraft hitting a building and burning it down and passport of a hijacker is found a few blocks away.
If Mansour was a frequent flyer who visited 18 times Dubai and four times Iran, every time through Pakistani ports during last 2 years, he cannot be a Taliban leader because, he would be immediately discovered absent. If he was Wali Muhammad, still he must have relatives responsible for his last rites who should come forward and claim compensations from the US authorities for killing him under wrong identity.
People don't blindly believe the western media. The actual facts are that US targeted Mulla Mansoor in Afghanistan but to put blame on Pakistan they planned to strike immediately any another random vehicle on the road in Pakistan near the Pak Iran boarder and swiftly issued the statements that Mansoor was targeted in Pakistan. Americans were of view that corpses will burn badly in that air strike and no one will know the truth where the Mulla Mansoor was targeted , but on the other side Pakistani Authorities succeeded to trace the identity of the 2 individuals died in the incident as this vehicle was en route from Iran to Pakistan and both died persons are identified. Americans are exposed now in the evil agenda in this double game. Next few months are game changing.
@Pokpok, Let us see, Mr. Rocket Scientist. There are over three million Afghans live in Pakistan and anyone can travel in and out. Especially if a person changes his identity there is no way you can find out which of the 3 million people has done this.
@Kala Ingrez - کالا انگریز - काला अंग्रेज - কালো ইংরাজি , The same way we found passports of 9/11 high jackers stacked in one place.
Did he travel first class???
This loose story is made up for Pakistani people. No one internationally is going to believe it. Our state is run by security forces and the people must have to follow forces, instead of forces following peoples' will.
@Raju "Can anyone please enlighten me how come its possible that his car was completely destroyed after drone hit it and the bodies were not identifiable at all, but still the passport and ID card which supposed to be either in his pocket or bag pack remains safe and did not burn? Is it possible? I don't think so." In Zia's flight crash, the ID papers of the pilot were retrieved.
@mba because he was traveling with a fake name and a Pakistani passport not under an Afghan passport or under his own name.
How can you say Wali Mohammed was Mulla Mansour? This story does not have a head or toe, I request not to tow America's line before complete investigation by Pakistani Agencies.
Anarchy. Classic outcome of nepotism, corruption and inefficiencies at large scale.
How about checking his dental records,DNA alone may not be enough since the body is charred. As some of you have mentioned, his passport and ID card happen to have fallen away from the car? So they were able to recover them, seriously, they really think people are that dumb?
Why they not detain him while in Dubie? After all they were aware of his travel. And than how Iran allow his free travel. Something fishi all around. Mr. Obama cool your heals aggression will not result in peace. Save your money and leave. Have mercy on taxpayers and what you to show for spending trillions and killing millions.
@Raju Its a conspiracy. Even the Taliban confirming Mullah Mansour's death is a conspiracy.
Is it surprising to anybody?
Wah..passport ho to aisa...Even a missile cannot do anything to it.Pakistan technology at its best. I am so proud.
@Raju did you forget that the passports and Ids of the 911 hijackers were recovered from the twin tower debri.!
@anees from zaida it happens as you plan it to happen , did you forget that 911 hijackers passport was found from the twin towers debris when every thing was burnt.
"He started travelling abroad on Mach 12, 2006, and flew to Dubai from Karachi airport" - He did not travel abroad on 12-3-06 he arrived at Jinnah Intl on that day from Dubai via flight ED119.
frequent flier? OK Landing in which countries??
why point out only pakistan?? was he travelling on domestic flights??? why shouldnt the blame be shared by dubai authorities??
@jamal "why point out only pakistan?? was he travelling on domestic flights??? why shouldn't the blame be shared by dubai authorities??"
Usually the country that issues the passport and national ID is responsible for confirming that the person in question is who he says he is. Other countries issuing Visas depend on that information to be correct.
@Raju Thats the beauty of drone. These are automatic drones which first search for passport and ID. If no ID's are found in that case before striking the target it makes the ID of the person put their ID's to safest distance from their vehicle and then strike.
I am not a fan of the current Govt. but the fact remains that a) why wasnt he attacked in Iran since he was tailed from Iran and b) why was he not caught at other international airports at the customs as he was an international wanted terrorist ? I hate to say this but there is a story behind this story.
@Not true. CNIC are bomb proof, drone proof, a secret technology exists which only NADRA knows!!!.


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Welcome To The Shangri-La Salons
By Jessica Bumpus
It'S party time over at London's Shangri-La Hotel as the Shard-based spot celebrates its first birthday this month and does so with a little help from a host of artists, performers and designers from across Europe and Asia. Over the next 12 months, the hotel will hold a range of cultural salon events to reflect its Asian origins - last night kicked off with a joint fashion presentation from London-based, South Korean designers Eudon Choi and J JS Lee. The pair get full marks for setting - a stunning backdrop of a sunlit-meets-rainy London to complement their spring/summer 2015 collections.
J Js Lee Spring/Summer 2015 Ready-To-Wear
"It's a great opportunity for my collection to be explored by new audiences. By showcasing J JS LEE collection within such a luxury, prestigious environment alongside the concept of 'East Meets West' makes me to feel proud to be a Korean designer at the heart of British fashion and design," said Lee.
Eudon Choi Spring/Summer 2015 Ready-To-Wear
"I'm a huge fan of both Shangri-La Hotels and the Shard and I was actually among one of the first guests to stay there in May last year," confessed Choi. "I'm really excited to be returning to help them celebrate their first year in London as part of the cultural salon."
Forthcoming salons will enable visitors to meet minds from across the creative spectrum who all have links to, or are inspired by, Asian culture. On June 10, for instance, Sir Paul Smith will speak about his Asian design inspiration, while on July 1, Indian poet Tishani Doshi will recite some of his works and hold a question-and-answer session. Beatrix Ong will host another in September. Tickets for events are £20 and will include champagne and canapés. Visit www.slculturalsalon.com or email cultural.salon@shangri-la.com for further information.
J Js Lee
Hershesons Opens Its Doors To A New Must-Visit Beauty Hub In Harvey Nichols
By Lauren Murdoch-Smith
The Vogue Guide To Salon & Spa Etiquette
By Daniela Morosini
How Salons Are Starting To Close The "Hair Pay Gap"
Kate And William Just Sent Meghan And Harry A Message That All New Parents Will Relate To
By Kerry McDermott


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