Thank you, Jim. I'm honored to address, in its 18th year, the preeminent seismic meeting of its kind in the world.
This gathering comes at a crucial moment in the struggle to end nuclear testing, now in its fifth decade. For the first time ever, last month in the Geneva Conference on Disarmament, the world's five nuclear weapon states -- joined by two of the three "threshold" states and some fifty other countries -- together reached agreement on the text of a true zero yield CTBT. But the text was blocked. Now the Treaty's fate will be determined by the United Nations General Assembly, which will resume its 50th session next week in New York.
Your symposium also proves a point I've voiced repeatedly -- that science and technology are not the enemies of arms control and nonproliferation, but instead empower it.
Indeed, it is largely science that has made a comprehensive test ban feasible, because we can live with it and still protect our security, and because -- thanks in large part to your work -- it can be enforced.
The CTBT raises four technical questions I'd like to focus on briefly this morning -- and a fifth question that is largely political. First, can we maintain our stockpile without testing? Second, is the test ban a meaningful constraint? Third, can it be verified? Fourth, what role does your work play? And finally what are the test ban's immediate prospects?
As to the first, if the question is, can the United States know every bit as much about nuclear weapons technology without nuclear explosive testing as with testing, the answer is "No."
But the relevant question is a different one: Can the United States have the confidence it needs in the safety and reliability of its nuclear arsenal without explosive testing?
Here the answer is a clear "Yes... if." The most authoritative validation of that premise is the JASON's report of August 1995, under Sid Drell's chairmanship and co-authored by a virtual all-star team of the United States most distinguished nuclear bomb designers and scientists.
Those distinguished experts concluded unanimously that we can today have high confidence in the safety, reliability, and performance margins of the nuclear weapons in the enduring stockpile -- and that we can maintain that confidence "for several decades under a CTBT," (and here's the "if"), so long as the United States provides "continuing and steady support for a focused, multifaceted program" to understand, evaluate, and maintain our enduring stockpile.
Such a program is underway -- first defined by President Clinton in 1993, as part of his decision to pursue a global comprehensive test ban. Despite budget constraints, it is being funded by the Congress. And in August 1995, when he committed the United States to a true zero yield CTBT, the President added new safeguards and an annual requirement to certify the continuing safety and reliability of our nuclear deterrent as a supreme interest of the United States.
For as long as the United States relies on its nuclear deterrent, the safety and reliability of our stockpile will not be compromised.
Nor will the stockpile stewardship program compromise the CTBT -- which goes to my second question: Is the CTBT a meaningful constraint? Surrounding the treaty negotiations has been acute concern about what the nuclear weapon states will and will not be able to do under the CTBT.
The proper dividing line is between maintaining existing weapons and the confident development of new ones. And neither the intent nor the effect of stockpile stewardship will be to develop and deploy new nuclear warhead designs. Simply put, this program will not subvert the CTBT.
We are making sure the world understands that. First, as the JASONs recommended, our management of stockpile stewardship will be restrained and open. The Department of Energy is actively seeking ways to increase the transparency of related activities at the Nevada Test Site, the National Ignition Facility, and elsewhere.
And second, we have stressed the arms control as well as the nonproliferation benefits of the test ban.
Certainly the CTBT will help impede the spread of nuclear weapons. But its great practical impact will also be for arms control -- to end development of advanced new weapons and keep new military applications from emerging. As President Clinton said in this year's State of the Union address, a truly comprehensive test ban treaty can "end the race to create new nuclear weapons."
That constraint is far more than theoretical. Even the open literature points to a broad array of potential new weapons developments that testing could advance in the nuclear weapon states -- including several varieties of directed energy weapons that could enable greater military effects from smaller explosions, and perhaps define new roles for nuclear arms.
Of course, any state's nuclear weapons development program seeks to use nuclear materials more efficiently -- to increase yields, trim weights, reduce volumes, manipulate shapes. This quest for efficiency and flexibility is a basic reason for testing. It is also a most potent catalyst for arms races. To avert it is the test ban's core value.
The United States has conducted well over 1,000 nuclear explosive tests -- hundreds more than any other country. We are up toward the flattened far end of the learning curve; others are on steeper parts of the slope. So it serves both our direct interest and our interest in international stability for everyone's climb up that curve, including our own, to be arrested.
The third question is CTBT verification. Historically, of course, this has been a major stumbling block for the CTBT -- and during the past 2-1/2 years in Geneva, it was the most time-consuming issue to resolve.
As you know, the CTBT text presented in New York will set in place a new global information-gathering and -processing regime. Its International Monitoring System will include four distinct systems of sensors: seismic, radionuclide, hydroacoustic, and infrasound. Their data will be fed to the International Data Center, to be compiled, analyzed, combined with other data, and shared.
The CTBT will provide for a far-flung global network of fifty primary seismic stations -- either highly-capable arrays, or in some cases capable three-component single seismometers -- distributed so that the basic event detection capability will be significantly below a seismic magnitude of four, or roughly one kiloton fully-coupled in hard rock. For many places on the globe, the event detection threshold for the prototype system is routinely about seismic magnitude three -- roughly equivalent to an explosion of some 50-100 tons fully-coupled in hard rock.
To help localize seismic events, the IMS will also provide for a network of 120 auxiliary stations. Many of these are multiple-use stations designed for general geophysics purposes. Together, the primary and auxiliary seismic networks will seek to localize seismic events to 1,000 square kilometers or less -- an area sufficiently small to permit an on-site inspection with some reasonable prospects for success.
In addition, a network of eighty radionuclide sensors will provide further information -- and deterrence -- against atmospheric or underground testing attempts.
Because many natural seismic events occur under the oceans, a hydroacoustic network is also being established to assist in discriminating such events from nuclear explosions. And the network of infrasound (or very low-frequency acoustic) sensors will detect and deter atmospheric explosions, particularly in the remotest regions.
We intend to process all the data collected centrally by the IMS. For identifying an event as a nuclear explosion is a task left to the Treaty parties themselves.
And of course, we are not limited to the IMS. The Treaty text permits States Parties to provide supplementary data to the IDC from national monitoring stations outside the IMS -- which could be used either to raise or answer questions about a specific event. The treaty also supports the international exchange of data for scientific purposes, and promotes cooperation among States parties to strengthen Treaty implementation. And it provides for confidence-building measures, including information-sharing about large chemical explosions.
Most importantly, the Treaty spells out the right of States Parties to make use of national technical means -- provisions the United States made clear were indispensable, despite the opposition of several countries. Thus we will be able to draw on assets not specified in the IMS, including seismic, hydroacoustic, and satellite means of detecting nuclear explosions.
And we intend to integrate our national data along with that collected centrally by the IMS, in our own ongoing monitoring against any potential evader of the CTBT. When we do this, we expect the whole to exceed the sum of its parts. Our aim is a national capability that will meet our own standards for event detection in all environments.
All of this brings us to the bottom line question: as my Agency performs its statutory responsibility to report to the Congress on the verifiability of arms control treaties, what will we say about the CTBT?
We are still working on a final assessment. But we've been engaged for more than two years in a rolling assessment as the text evolved.
I expect a conclusion that this Treaty will meet our baseline standards for detecting and deterring violations.
Obviously we should not count on detecting events all the way down to zero explosive yield by remote sensing alone. But even down to very low yields, a potential evader runs the risk of detection -- and at any yield he runs the risk of being exposed by other means, and being subject to an on-site inspection.
Taken together, the IMS and its International Data Center, the other geophysical sensors spread around the world, the United States own sensor systems, other national means, plus the prospect of prompt on-site inspections, will create a risk of detection that a potential violator will not be able to calculate with any precision. That, and the prospect of global sanctions upon being found out, will create a powerful deterrent against violations.
My fourth question concerns the role of your work. As an arms control official, I am probably not the consumer you typically envision.
But in a larger sense arms control has been the direct beneficiary of a series of remarkable advances in your field in the decades since Gutenberg published his papers on the Trinity and Baker tests in the 1940s, and the Berkner Panel released its report in 1959. From the time of the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963, seismology has cemented its primary role.
Since then, supported by the U.S. Government, you and your predecessors have made great progress in event detection, location, and identification -- giving us truly sensitive seismic arrays and forensic seismology techniques of extraordinary utility. And we are gaining access to new realms of information from regional distances and even to data from close-in seismometer networks.
Your strides in pushing the seismic state of the art have already made substantial contributions to arms control and our national security. They provided a significant part of the basis for President Clinton's 1993 decisions to continue the testing moratorium and pursue a test ban treaty. They helped give us the requisite confidence to embrace a true zero-yield treaty last year.
And this year, they enabled us to achieve the agreement of all five declared nuclear powers to a Treaty that provides explicitly for both on-site inspections and the use of national technical means.
Each of these were significant milestones on the road to a test ban. This country could not have passed them but for the superb foundation in forensic seismology that you, your colleagues and our predecessors have built.
You deserve America's gratitude for this -- and more. You deserve the most stable funding and rational supervision of your efforts that our country can provide. Now, as we prepare to sign a CTBT, is no time to dissipate or take for granted the unparalleled expertise we have cultivated in your field.
For your work is not done. In announcing the zero-yield decision of August 1995, the President said: "I recognize that our present monitoring systems will not detect with high confidence very low-yield tests. Therefore, I am committed to pursuing a comprehensive research and development program to improve our treaty monitoring capabilities and operations."
Your efforts are vital to this program. So I am heartened to see how much of this Symposium is addressing practical monitoring needs, such as: work on the crustal geology of regions such as South Asia, the Middle East, the Korean Peninsula, and China; efforts to calibrate specific areas; the development of enhanced algorithms and calculational methods to help us understand data collected at regional distances; valuable empirical work on characterizing mining blasts; investigations of effective discriminants such as the Lg phase; refinements in epicenter determination such as those to be discussed in the "seismic location workshop" scheduled at the end of this Symposium; and a variety of efforts to understand and build forensic synergies between our dedicated national assets and other seismic stations -- and most broadly, between seismic and other detection techniques.
Such work is already enhancing our considerable abilities to monitor nuclear testing worldwide. And I know you will not rest until the President's call for high confidence even at very low yields is answered.
This brings us to our final question: Will we in fact be signing the Treaty soon?
For the United Nations to pick up where the Conference on Disarmament left off is unusual. We would have strongly preferred that the UN act only after receiving a consensus product from the CD. But India blocked that outcome. And we are convinced that the Australian initiative -- offering the CD's draft text directly in the UN General Assembly -- can work very nearly and perhaps equally well.
In recent days we have been working with the Australians and others to make the case that today's exceptional circumstances fully justify an extraordinary process. The 1995 NPT review conference, with no dissent, made the test ban an immediate priority, calling for a Treaty no later than the end of this year. Last fall the 50th United Nations General Assembly unanimously mandated that the CTBT be completed by this month. Over two and one-half years of painstaking work, the Conference on Disarmament produced a draft treaty reflecting every last ounce of consensus that could be drawn from 61 member countries -- and achieved near-unanimity, with only one or two dissenters.
And consider that for the first time in history, all five of the nuclear weapon states, and two of the three threshold states, have agreed not only on the concept of a test ban, but on a specific text.
We've argued that given these exceptional circumstances, we can now celebrate what the Conference on Disarmament has accomplished, and consolidate it, by extensive cosponsorship when the Australian resolution is introduced today, an overwhelming vote next week, and the widest possible participation when the Comprehensive Test Ban is opened for signature later this month.
I believe all these things will happen. For unlike the CD, where a single country, however isolated, can block consensus, a two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly can adopt the Treaty -- and one-third can block any amendments. And as we saw in Geneva, even countries who are impatient with the pace of disarmament recognize the test ban as an historic step forward that should stand on its own, without linkage to other goals not now attainable. The international community wants to seize this opportunity now, and not wait another forty years.
For these reasons and others, I believe the success formed in Geneva will be cemented next week in New York.
President Dwight Eisenhower, after leaving office, said that the greatest disappointment of his presidency was in not achieving a CTBT.
Since then, most of his successors have pursued the same goal -- with the strong support of the American people.
Since then, the Cold War has ended, the world's desire for an end to testing has reached a crescendo, and all five of the nuclear weapon states have stopped testing.
And also since then, advances in seismology and other fields have given us greater confidence in monitoring a CTBT than ever before.
But as the negotiations come to a close, a new phase of your work is beginning. Within a few months, when the treaty is submitted to the U.S. Senate, forensic seismology will have center stage, for verification is sure to be vigorously debated.
You and your colleagues will have the opportunity and obligation to explain -- in open and closed hearings -- all that you know about our ability to monitor nuclear testing in key parts of the world. And then both before and after entry into force, there will be work on verification and to continue strengthening our ability to monitor compliance down to smaller yields.
The era of nuclear explosive testing is over.
But seismology is sure to remain at the root of the confidence countries need to forswear such testing for all time.
So when the Treaty prevails and its history is written, your contributions will earn a lengthy chapter and an honored place. I thank you for that, and for all your work here this week to help advance a leading priority of President Clinton, and a profoundly important global mission.


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Slide 1: The Wisdom In Hot Chocolate. Please click through slides at your leisure A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were discussing their lives at a class reunion. They decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired, who was always an inspiration to them. : A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were discussing their lives at a class reunion. They decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired, who was always an inspiration to them. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work, lives and relationships. : During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work, lives and relationships. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups. Some cups were porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite. He invited each to help themselves to the hot chocolate. : Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups. Some cups were porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite. He invited each to help themselves to the hot chocolate. When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand,the professor shared his thoughts. : When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand,the professor shared his thoughts. "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones." : "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones." "While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress." : "While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress." "The cup that you are drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink." : "The cup that you are drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink." "What each of you really wanted was hot chocolate. You did not want the cup . . . but you consciously went for the best cups." : "What each of you really wanted was hot chocolate. You did not want the cup . . . but you consciously went for the best cups." "And soon, you began to eye one another's cups." : "And soon, you began to eye one another's cups." "Now friends, please consider this . . . : "Now friends, please consider this . . . "Life is the hot chocolate . . .your job, money and position in society are the cups." : "Life is the hot chocolate . . .your job, money and position in society are the cups." "They are just tools to hold and contain life." : "They are just tools to hold and contain life." "The cup you have does not define,nor does it change, the quality of life you are living." : "The cup you have does not define,nor does it change, the quality of life you are living." "Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup,we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us." : "Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup,we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us." Always remember this . . . . . . . . . . God brews the hot chocolate, He does not choose the cup. : Always remember this . . . . . . . . . . God brews the hot chocolate, He does not choose the cup. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. : The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have!! : They just make the best of everything that they have!! Live simply . . . Love generously . . . Care deeply . . .Speak kindly . . . : Live simply . . . Love generously . . . Care deeply . . .Speak kindly . . . Leave the rest to God.~ and remember ~ The richest person is not the one who has the most,but the one who needs the least. Enjoy your hot chocolate!! : Leave the rest to God.~ and remember ~ The richest person is not the one who has the most,but the one who needs the least. Enjoy your hot chocolate!!


Descriptions sorted into categories…. these looked a lot like programming smells! this was familiar territory! Programming smells are solved with recipes, and this was a pattern we could follow. We set out to create a recipe index, but quickly found that even a single recipe creation was impossible.
Here's the thing. Programming smells and recipes work because they are scenarios that can be addressed without understanding the why. It doesn't really matter why some code ended up with a primitive obsession, you shove that obsession into a new class and everything works out great. Like programming smells, dysfunctional pairing behaviors are an early warning system that indicate a change is warranted. But that's where the similarity ends. People are much more complex than programs, and why a pairing problem is manifesting changes how to address it. If your pair seems unengaged, treating them as a problem to be solved will make them feel worse.
Instead of looking at unengagement and other pairing dysfunctions as smells, we should look at them as symptoms. Smells lead us to clean up an area. When you have a smelly house, you can clean it up room by room. Symptoms show a system not operating as expected. When you have a system that's not working as expected, you have to understand the problem before you can start to address it.
These are all really different reasons that could be behind the same symptom! Addressing pairing symptoms is kind of similar to addressing health symptoms: you're more likely to be effective if you know what you're treating. A few weeks ago I had a bad headache, and painkillers weren't effective. It turned out my allergies were being really bad, and I needed allergy meds, not headache meds, to address my symptom and make the headache go away. In order to help your pair become engaged, you need to pick the right approach based on why they might not seem engaged.
If you have a good working relationship with your pair, you can probably stop and ask. Hey, you doing ok? you're more distracted than usual. But if you don't already have a lot of pre-existing trust in your relationship, it's not that simple. Your pair might not trust you enough to talk with you about it.
How about picking a neutral-seeming action? Maybe you could suggest they drive? Even that might not go over so well. If you don't know why your pair seems unengaged, asking them to drive might not address the symptom. What if the cause was that they weren't sure what you were doing and were scared to ask? And if your pair's scared to ask, that's an additional symptom as well..
Betsy and I set out to find solutions to common pairing dysfunctions to share. What we learned is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer for any of it. How you and your pair have been encouraged and discouraged throughout your life and career have an enormous impact on how you will behave and respond while pairing. You don't need to know anyone's past to be a better pair for them in the present. You do need to know not everyone has had the same positive or negative past experiences you've had. When you carry that awareness with you into your interactions is when you can be a better pair.


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2632 East Lehigh Ave, Philadelphia, PA
About Em's
Join Us For Happy Hour 4-6 PM
Happy Hour 4-6 PM
COME HANG WITH US!
Situated on a cozy-corner of Lehigh Avenue between Philadelphia's historic Port Richmond & Fishtown districts; Em's Place was founded by Lance and Emily Bachmann to provide their family, friends, and the community they've known, grown up in and loved their whole lives with a spot to enjoy drinks, dining, and each other.
In 2021, Em's Place was purchased from the Bachmann family by Loretta and Shawn Starck. Loretta is revered throughout the real estate industry as one of the top realtors in Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia counties and brings the fire and personality to light up any room!
Her husband Shawn Starck, brings an impressive military background, serving as Military Police for the Army National Guard and looks forward to giving back to the community and all who have served our country.
Together, this Philadelphia power-couple is excited to build on the Bachmanns' success and provide an unmatched dining experience for the Port Richmond community and all patrons of Em's Place!
Em's Place breaks the mold of your typical Philadelphia restaurant or bar, providing guests with a modern twist on the tasteful ambiance, mood, and a splash of the Roaring 20s.
We strive to create a memorable experience for the families of our community and invite you to get out of the house each weekend to bring the kids down for a delicious brunch!
EM'S CULINARY TEAM MISSION STATEMENT
To relentlessly pursue our guests' unwavering satisfaction by providing them with a meal that is undeniably delicious, fresh, and creative. We will have fun and enjoy the craft we love. We will be innovative and forward-thinking, and we will embrace change, for it is our catalyst to longevity and prosperity. In this quest, we will remain professional, courteous, and helpful to our peers and our neighbors, and we will act responsibly in all of our affairs, both professional and personal.
2632 East Lehigh Ave
Mon & Wed | 4PM – 10PM
Thu-Fri | 4PM – 12AM
Sat | 12PM – 12AM
Sun | Brunch 10AM – 4PM / 4PM – 9PM
Closed Tuesdays
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
import { GenderMale20 } from "../../";

export = GenderMale20;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
LTA still has 'a long way to go' in plan to make tennis more diverse
Lawn Tennis Association chief executive Scott Lloyd admitted the governing body still has "a long way to go" in building a more diverse sport following the release of its new inclusion strategy.
The strategy aims to drive change to ensure that all areas of tennis across Great Britain reflect their communities.
Lloyd has made broadening access to the sport a priority since taking over the role in 2018, with the release the following year of a five-year mission entitled Tennis Opened Up.
Everyday Inclusion – It's Just Tennis
Our aim is to make tennis the most inclusive sport and here's our strategy to make it happen 👉 https://t.co/3iVVjjavml pic.twitter.com/8gp3xtoAid
— LTA (@the_LTA) May 20, 2021
He told the PA news agency: "I think we have made progress. This is another step in that journey.
"Whether it was signing up to the Sporting Equals charter on race equality right at the very outset and all of the pieces that we've put in place since in trying to open up our sport – for participation, for our coaches, our venues, through our volunteer workforce – I do believe we're making progress but, equally, we've got a long way to go.
"And there are areas where, at this moment in time, individual audiences within our wider community don't all necessarily reflect the diversity of society.
"That's what this is about recognising and trying to drive the right culture and attitude and behaviours through our entire tennis community. It's an incredibly important moment in bringing all of that work and consultation and listening together in one coherent, clear and ambitious plan."
Kick It Out chairman Sanjay Bhandari has joined the LTA board (Bradley Collyer/PA)
The LTA has analysed current diversity data across the sport to get a broad picture of where it stands, with coaching and the volunteer workforce at clubs and other venues showing up as sectors where significant progress needs to be made.
"In terms of our coach workforce and coaches from ethnically diverse backgrounds, we are not where we need to be," said Lloyd.
"We are trying to put in place targeted interventions to help try to improve that number over time, albeit recognising that we don't control the appointment of those coaches.
"But the diversity of our player base broadly reflects the ethnic diversity in this country, and we're also proud of the fact that gender equality in tennis has led the way relative to many sports."
The LTA has introduced a number of schemes to broaden tennis' reach (LTA handout)
The strategy sets out five key areas of work with 25 commitments to drive change, underpinned by 46 priority actions.
For coaching, that includes grants through coach development centres aimed at encouraging those from underrepresented groups to sign up, as well as subsidised female taster courses.
The first area of work is in leadership and governance. Last summer, Lloyd wrote an open letter admitting the organisation had not done enough after it was highlighted that the LTA board did not include anyone from an ethnically diverse background.
On Thursday, the appointments of Sanjay Bhandari and Anil Jhingan as non-executive directors were announced. Bhandari is the chairman of Kick It Out while Jhingan brings experience of leadership roles in the media and entertainment industry and is also on the board of Formula E.
Lloyd said: "We've been blessed with a very strong board with a number of directors that operate at the very top of their industries.
"An area that tennis has been proud of is gender balance and our non-executive directors have been equally represented in that sense but an area we haven't perhaps had that breadth of representation is those from ethnically diverse communities.
"We're not appointing Sanjay and Anil singularly for those reasons because their corporate backgrounds speak for themselves and they bring a wealth of experience from different businesses and industries but, obviously, as an example, Sanjay's experience with Kick It Out will be of particular importance and highly valuable to this area of our work."
The appointments follow those of seven new board–nominated representatives to the LTA Council and the establishment of the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility) Group.
A partnership with the Beavers aims to introduce tennis to different communities (LTA handout)
Lloyd said: "There's no doubt all of these steps will help improve the work that we do. Anybody that knows me personally, I'm not about ticking boxes, that's not who I am, that's not the way I work.
"We've set out very clearly what the commitments and the actions are. We've set ourselves a timeline over the next two to two-and-a-half years, so it's not like this is a 10-year strategy.
"We want to be focused on this and we want to move quickly, we want to try to ensure that we support our wider tennis community and they know we mean business, and we want to bring them on the journey with us."
Emma Raducanu news: Tim Henman exclusive on what happens next for US Open champion
Henman has insisted Emma Raducanu will need time to adapt to life at the WTA Tour.
She's feeling confident ahead of her Australian Open first round tie with Sloane Stephens.
Andy Murray news: Former coach predicts what the Scot can achieve in 2022
Corretja told Tennis365 that the 34-year-old can make a big impact this year despite his enduring fitness issues.
Novak Djokovic news: Rafa Nadal believes the Aus Open is more important than any player
The Spaniard thinks it'll be a great tournament whether his rival plays or not.
Andy Murray news: Scot breaks down in tears after losing Sydney final
Murray broke down in tears as he mentioned his family in a post-match interview after his comprehensive defeat in Sydney.
Tennis legend Chris Evert reveals her ovarian cancer diagnosis
The 18 time Grand Slam winner feels lucky that the cancer was caught early.
Novak Djokovic news: The world No 1 returns to detention ahead of appeal hearing
His second appeal hearing is set to take place tonight at 10.30pm UK time.
Novak Djokovic news: Tim Henman exclusive on the 'shambles' in Australia
Henman has described the Novak Djokovic visa row in Australia as 'a shambles'.
Australian Open news: Can Craig Tiley survive amid Novak Djokovic crisis
Tiley is coming under increasing pressure, after Novak Djokovic's saw his visa to remain in Melbourne revoked for a second time on Friday.
Novak Djokovic deportation saga: What happened, how did we get here and what happens next?
Michael Graham on the Novak Djokovic drama.
Andy Murray news: Big fightback in Sydney sees Scot make his first ATP final since 2019


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MyPlate, MyState connects Americans with the foods and flavors grown in their states and regions. Use the information below to find out how the foods grown and raised by Iowa producers can help create a healthy eating style and support local farmers and communities!
Iowa is the top producer of corn, eggs, pork, soybeans, and egg-laying poultry.
Up to 29% of schools in Iowa are using local and regional foods to serve healthy, MyPlate-inspired meals to kids. That's over $3.8 million invested in the local economy!
What does your Iowa plate look like? Show how you use foods from your state and region by taking a picture of your plate and sharing on social media using the hashtag #MyPlateMyState. Check out the USDA Blog post for more information on how to share your plate!
My swing dance group loved listening to the Fruit-Veggie-Swag on your video page today. The music got us all moving, but also got us asking questions about different fruits and veggies that were mentioned in the songs that we had never tried. I searched your recipe website [What's Cooking?] and now I am eating kale and collards!
Since looking at this website in my Food 1 class, I have started to eat the needed amount of each food group! I am so thankful for the website!


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Excellent stuff. I love her bum!!
I am continually awestruck by how perfectly you capture what surrounds you in your sketches. Everything is so perfect -- the proportions, the relationships between elements -- all of it -- and I know that these people couldn't have been standing still for more than a minute or so. Just wonderful (as always!)!
I like the way you color just for expressivity and clearness (the light/shadow cliché can often be a real corset).
Again, great use of your markers -- i love the effect, and i love that you use just enough color.


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Mr. Church
September 16, 2016 (Wide)
Eddie Murphy, Britt Robertson, Xavier Samuel, Lucy Fry, Christian Madsen, Natascha McElhone
Bruce Beresford
Susan McMartin
Envision Media Arts/Cinelou Films
Set 1965 Los Angeles, Mr. Church begins with a stranger arriving on the doorstep of 10-year-old Charlotte "Charlie" Brody (Natalie Coughlin) and her single mother Marie Brody (Natascha McElhone), who is battling breast cancer. They soon learn that the quiet man, Henry Church (Eddie Murphy), has been hired by Marie's recently deceased former lover to cook for them and help maintain the household.
As Mr. Church's time with the Brodys extends from months into years, he becomes a father figure for Charlie during her formative years, nurturing her love of literature and making a lasting impact on her life. Even as Mr. Church tries to keep his own life separate from the Brodys, he eventually learns that the connection he feels to Charlie is what family is all about.


After almost a decade of waiting, we are set to see a brand new Ford Expedition model. The car which is Ford's largest SUV was first introduced in 1996 to replace the Bronco and the new model will be the fourth in its generation.
Ford used to sell about 200,000 of this unit in past years but with sales declining to a low of 40,000 units last year, it is high time Ford announced a new model to replace the current one which was manufactured way back in 2007.
Our insider sources have intimated that the new Ford Expedition is at an advanced development stage and will be released in 2016 going by the name 2016 Ford Expedition.
The overall weight has been reduced by about 250 pounds due to use of light weight materials such as aluminum alloy combined with strong steel. Both the front and rear fascias will be redesigned with a new grille, bumper and headlights. We understand that the car will feature 22-inch aluminum wheels.
The Next Generation of Ford's full-size SUV will have eight trim levels: Limited, EL XLT, Limited EL XLT, King Ranch, Platinum, King Ranch and Platinum EL EL.
The 2017 Ford Expedition will have a large interior which will fit 3-rows of seats that will accommodate five passengers. The interior will have plenty of cargo and passenger space. The interior has been finished with aluminum and premium wood and will be exceptionally stylish and luxurious.
The seats will be covered with quality upholstery. For entertainment, the vehicle will feature MyFord Touch infotainment system, a USB port and a Sony audio system with 10 speakers. The vehicle will also feature Bluetooth connectivity. Other interior feature will include a new air conditioning system, and a new navigation system connected to a LCD which will be located at the central part of the instrument panel.
Under the hood of the new Ford Expedition 2017, you will find new powertrains with better performance. Reports indicate that the manufacturer will go with a new twin turbo 3.5 L V6 EcoBoost engine. This engine will produce 365 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. The engine will be mated with a new 10 R80 SelectShift intelligent manumatic transmission system. This system will have ten speed but its transmission is still in the development phase.
The model will be offered in both RWD and AWD. When it comes to fuel economy, the RWD option will deliver 16 mpg and 23 mpg for city and town respectively. The AWD will deliver 15 mpg and 21 mpg for city and highway.
The vehicle will also feature a diesel engine which will be a 6.7 L Power Stroke V8 engine with a capacity to produce 440 hp and 860 lb-ft of torque.
The manufacturer will release official information concerning the release date and prices at a future date. We will inform you when such information is released. However, we expect the new full-size SUV to make foray into the market either in late 2016 or early 2017. The base model will attract a price of around $ 42,000 while the top trim will go for around $61,000.


Size 6 - $107.99 Size 8 - $107.99 Only 2 left! Size 10 - $107.99 Only 5 left! Size 12 - $107.99 Only 7 left! Size 14 - $107.99 Only 1 left!
When the weather outside is frightful your closet can kind of seem spiteful. You don't want to be one of those people that only wears black in winter, spurring fun holiday garb for black turtle necks and stream lined winter slacks but all those Christmas sweaters can be too bulk and casual. How is a girl to choose?
Winter calls for cheery colors and uplifted spirits but have you ever noticed that all those bulky sweaters sometimes make for less than flattering photos? Sure, a few photos wearing that Rudolph sweater can't hurt but if you're wearing it in every holiday photo for six years straight those family photos hung in Grandma's living room can start landing a blow to your self-esteem. You're more than a cheery reindeer head and yards of wooly yarn! We've got good news! It turns out, you don't have to sacrifice cheer for a more structured ensemble. In fact, whether you're showing up to a Swiss chalet, skis in hand, you're accompanying a companion to their company's holiday bash, or you're taking the annual family photo this Christmas sweat suit will be the perfect fit for each occasion!
This suit has a cheery royal blue background with Nordic flowers, red stripes, and reindeer making a classic sweater pattern. If you're lucky enough to live in a warmer climate you can pair it with a tank or if you're wrapped in a winter wonderland layer this ensemble up with a turtleneck and fleece lined tights. Staying classy and cozy as you're curling up with a hot cocoa or clinking glasses at a fancy party will be easy this holiday, suit up and embrace that Holiday spirit!


Calling all wallet-friendly lipstick fans, this one is for you! My new fav colors – Revlon Colorburst Lipsticks in Coral & Candy Pink. I was first drawn to the case (yeah, the diamond pattern)… silly me, but I really dig these two lip colors!
The lipstick goes on semi-sheer which I love. It's also moisturizing. The Coral is more like red-coral leaving a 'just bitten' look. Simply dab it on your lips then pat down with fingertips to create more natural looking lips. The Candy Pink goes on light as well with just enough sheen. So pretty! Definitely a good pick-me-up beauty grab on a budget!
Coral + Candy Pink = Coral Pink!
Previous post: Converse Winter Glitz Sneakers giveaway!


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Pizza Hut is the first Western fast-food chain in Ethiopia
It was a solemn moment, the US Ambassador gave a similar speech, the invited guests applauded, the uninvited joined the queue to grab a piece of pizza. A few days ago opened the first Pizza Hut branch in Ethiopia, it was a social event that also reminded a little of the year 1990 when the first opened McDonald's on Moscow's Gorky Street. It was like the final end of communism and the beginning of the consumption revolution.
In Ethiopia, the symbolism is now a similar one. It's not so much that in the capital Addis Ababa you can now buy pizza with an astonishing amount of cheese, you could do that before. Pizza Hut is the first Western fast food chain to settle in the country that has the second largest population in Africa – and many associate this with the famine of the 1980s. The arrival of Pizza Hut also means a new normal: we are now also part of it – nothing is withheld from us anymore.
If you ignore South Africa, then the big fast-food companies for decades have made a bow to sub-Saharan Africa. Industry critics considered this a godsend. But for many Africans, it was rather a judgment on the backwardness of a continent on which you can not even roast meatballs.
The longing for the symbols of the West therefore often takes adventurous forms: in Nigeria, the arrival of McDonald's is expected and longed for years. In many major African cities, some just started making their own McDonald's outlets, or a replica Pizza Hut. Also in Addis Ababa there is not far from the first real branch a more or less successful imitation, it must first stand still.
More stores are soon to follow, including a Halal variant for the Muslim part of the population. About 400 people want to employ the chain once in Addis, that's not very much in a country with 100 million inhabitants. However, US Ambassador Michael Raynor said in his speech that "Pizza Hut's presence is also a signal to other investors that there are good business opportunities in Ethiopia." The pizza as a door opener. The local licensee of the fast-food chain intends to open a production of the Korean carmaker Kia soon. That would be the first car factory in the country.
For some years, Ethiopia's economy has been growing at double-digit rates, and in the capital Addis Ababa, a tram is being used. In the suburbs, H & M and Tchibo are sewing their clothes. A pizza in the new restaurant is still not affordable for many Ethiopians, three euros are more than the average daily wage.
Some Ethiopians are quite right, they fear for the culinary tradition of the country. "Pizza Hut will pervert eating habits," Cook Yohannes Hailemariam told the BBC.
Obesity is hardly a problem in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian cuisine is one of the best on the continent, the staple food is Injera, a leavened flatbread, which is eaten with meat ragout, for example. A special delicacy is thin slices of raw beef, which are available at many street stalls.
All this can not be found on the Pizza Hut menu. Because the chain imports most of the ingredients from abroad.


The EcoMedia Collective is a Bristol-based community interest company made up of social enterprise and social media professionals who use social media innovation to promote change and broaden positive social outcomes. We help communities, clients and events use SOCIAL BROADCASTING - audio, podcasts,live web broadcasting and mobile friendly media - to reach and engage with more people online and on mobile devices. Our team delivers practical advice, hands-on help and simple, effective, all-in-one media production services. We provide services, not training.
We aim to actively encourage and broaden the use of sound audio as a bridge between communities that are divided from one another or isolated from their wider society. We want to help broaden the impact of projects working to benefit society, specifically businesses working for positive social change and ecologically-beneficial ('eco' or 'green') projects.
3. "Planet & People" Projects including environmental groups and conferences.
5. Socially-Isolated or housebound by phobias, incapacity or caring duties.


How to Spend a Day in Broad Avenue: Eat, Drink, Shop & Play!
The area now known as the Broad Avenue Arts District first emerged in the small, independent community of Binghampton, which officially became part of Memphis in 1919. Despite its role in the city's evolution in transportation and manufacturing as well as civil rights and labor organization, the street was left neglected after a failed but still damaging effort to bisect the neighborhood with an interstate highway. Broad Avenue's current resurgence began in the 2000s with grassroots efforts to activate and revitalize the street. Today it's a model of tactical urbanism and collaborative, inclusive entrepreneurship. It's also one of the most vibrant stretches of Memphis and a perfect destination for a full day of dining, shopping and exploring.
You can start your morning or evening on Broad at The Liquor Store, an upscale diner serving all-day breakfast as well as lunch and dinner fare with Caribbean flourishes like plantain wedges and Cuban pork. The curated cocktail menu complements everything from brunch onward. Just be careful how you tag that Instagram post afterward — your mom might not be pleased to see you hitting the liquor store at 11 a.m.
If you'd prefer your buzz from caffeine, City & State offers a full coffee bar next to a gift shop focused on small-scale creators from across the country. Lisa Toro, co-founder of both The Liquor Store and City & State, was initially drawn to the area because of its energy and has found a community of diverse but like-minded entrepreneurs.
You have even more options for dining as the day goes on. Broadway Pizza has been slinging "Memphis-style" thin-crust pizza since 1977. Maximo's on Broad offers a tapas and wine bar drawing from a range of international influences. Bounty on Broad welcomes guests to enjoy family-style servings of farm-to-table dishes with Southern accents. Bounty and Maximo's also dish out divine weekend brunches (Saturday and Sunday and just Sunday, respectively).
The district is also preparing to add a new tenant with the opening of Lucky Cat Ramen's new location. The restaurant began as a pop-up at City & State and then The Cove before opening its own doors on Cooper Street, and will now be returning to Broad Avenue this October.
Stop into Maximo's on Broad for a cocktail or a snack during your day on Broad Avenue.
Enjoy a gorgeous lunch and a glass of vino at Bounty on Broad.
WISEACRE Brewing became a craft beer pioneer by opening the first taproom in Memphis in 2013. Celebrate your own milestones beside their JV Northwest Brewhouse or outdoors on the patio, where you can catch a food truck for a bite.
For even deeper Memphis history, stop by The Cove, a nautically themed bar in both menu and decor. Slurp your oysters and sip a cocktail under the reclaimed art of Anderton's, a dearly departed Midtown seafood favorite.
The retailers of Broad Avenue have something for literally everyone, including your furry friends. Hollywood Feed, long a flagship of Broad's warehouse-laden east end, has moved to a brand-new building across the street that better features its locally made pet products, high-quality foods and knowledgeable service.
You might also see Argus, the mascot and main greeter of T Clifton Gallery, the first retailer to open on Broad Avenue in its latest iteration. Artist, design consultant and expert custom framer Tom Clifton opened the gallery nearly 35 years ago, and 10 years ago, Pat Brown joined him as co-owner after a career in banking. Pat is often referred to as the Mayor of Broad Avenue for her active role in raising the district's profile and amenities and helping to build its business community.
That theory has proven true with every Broad Avenue business opened since 2010 boasting local ownership and more than 60% of the district's professional tenants classified as MWBEs – minority or women-owned business enterprises. That make-up creates a spirit of camaraderie rather than competition.
"We take care of one another, and take pride in what we can accomplish together," said Pat.
Hollywood Feed has everything you need for all of your four-legged besties.
T Clifton Gallery often hosts neighborhood events and shows. Check out their Facebook page for the scoop.
Half the fun of shopping on Broad is hearing the stories of each entrepreneur. Grace Byeitima of Mbabazi House of Style designs the clothing she sells and then sends the patterns to her original store in Uganda to be sewn. Her shop features vibrant prints and intricate jewelry from throughout the African continent.
Chantal Johnson opened her lifestyle boutique 20twelve on Broad in 2014 because the area reminded her of New York's gritty-chic vibe. The space features anything you might find in a high-end Manhattan loft, from designer home decor to the latest runway styles.
Potter Brit McDaniel and jewelry designer Lauren Carlson became friends as students at the University of Memphis and each went on to build her own business — Brit's Paper & Clay and Lauren's Question the Answer — on different sides of the city.
"I was Downtown and Lauren was out east, and we both wanted to be on Broad," said Brit. They came together in a complementary collaborative space just around the corner on Hollywood Street a year and a half ago where you can pick up Brit's sleekly minimalist ceramics or Lauren's dark and delicate jewelry.
Edgy and elegant, 20twelve is like stepping into a chic Manhattan boutique.
The stores on Broad represent years of passion made into reality, and you can see that dedication in the quality products offered. Mary Claire White fell in love with candle-making more than a decade before opening her candle wholesale company and modern-inspired gift shop, Falling Into Place. Victory Bicycle Studio and its little brother Pedaltown Bicycle Company are part of owner Clark Butcher's efforts to help Memphis reach its potential as a cycling city.
Everbloom Designs founder Kristin Wolter-Canfield was drawn to Broad Avenue from the moment she saw it ten years ago. "After the very first Art Walk I knew I wanted to have a shop or studio there some day," says Kristin. "I love the artistic and urban feel of Broad. It is not too stuffy and has 'grit.' My design sense is the same." Kristin not only uses her space on Broad as a floral and creative styling studio but also offers it to other artists and small businesses for pop-up events.
City & State is an art-focussed boutique and coffee shop that searches near and far to bring quality, hand-made and fair-trade goods to your fingertips.
After strolling the shops of so many passionate artists and entrepreneurs, you'll likely be inspired to start following your own creative urges. Well, don't worry — Broad Avenue has room for your dreams, too! Five in One Social Club looks like a (relatively) ordinary Memphis-centric shop, but its back half provides space for craft workshops for projects like glass-blasting and printmaking, as well as the occasional game of Bingo.
If you want to step your DIY up to a professional level, check out A Makers' Studio, which Amy Howard founded to inspire, mentor and enable other women to make a living using their hands and hearts. She created her own line of furniture decorating and refinishing products based on her own professional experience and now trains others to build careers with these skills.
The beauty of Broad Avenue is that once you spend a day there, you'll have even more reasons to return. It's a district built on connection and character, and you'll find something new and different every time you visit.
For more neighborhood highlights, click here!


You could not find a more spectacular setting for a nine hole golf course than Achill - majestic, wind-swept and beautiful.
I recently played at Achill Golf Club and it was a delightful experience. The staff were great and they even loaned me a set of clubs. This is a no frills operation, but the setting couldn't be more spectacular, and for 5 pounds per nine holes you can't go wrong.


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Latin American Stock Markets: Winners in 2009, but Will They Remain Attractive in 2010?
December 16, 2009 • 9 min read
Emerging economies have suffered less than the major industrial nations during the global financial crisis, so investors have funneled capital into their stock markets, sending stock prices much higher throughout 2009. Latin America has been one of the preferred destinations for this capital flow -- especially Brazil, where the Bovespa index has risen more than 80% in value so far this year. Will stock prices in the region continue to rise in 2010? Experts provide their forecasts for Universia Knowledge at Wharton.
Emerging markets (EMs) have suffered less than developed countries during the financial crisis that has lashed the planet since the end of 2007. EM banks were not extensively exposed to high-risk credit derivatives and subprime loans, and they have suffered less damage from the shortage of financing than the major economies. This scenario has led many investors to view EMs as an opportunity for making money at a time when their portfolios were getting hit by losses.
As a result, stock markets in developing countries have registered significantly higher prices in 2009 — far above those in Western markets. The Shanghai stock index has gained 78% this year so far, according to Bloomberg. Aside from China, Latin America is the region capturing the most attention. There, the Merval Stock Market index in Buenos Aires has risen by more than 100% since January; Brazil's Bovespa is up by more than 80%; and the Chile Stock MKT Select is up 44%.
These increases are significant compared with the gains seen in the world's most important economies. For example, the EUROSTOXX 50, the benchmark index of the euro zone countries, has gained only around 13% so far this year; the FTSE 100 in London has risen only slightly more than 15%; the Dow Jones in New York is up 16%, and the Nikkei in Tokyo is barely up 11%.
Will emerging market stock prices continue their upward trend? Despite concerns about a potential bubble, experts who spoke with Universia Knowledge at Wharton say that these markets will continue to grow over the next year – but most likely not at the same pace.
Fear of a bubble
The high returns in many emerging markets have led some analysts to believe that a bubble is being created there. Olivier Blanchard, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, said at the end of November in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde that some emerging economies are seeing rapid, destabilizing capital movements that could create a bubble and threaten their long-term prospects.
"Generally speaking, markets in emerging nations — and Latin American markets in particular — are experiencing very strong price increases, but I don't know if we can talk about a bubble at this time," says Juan Carlos Martínez Lázaro, an economics professor at the IE Business School. According to Martínez, the strong inflow of capital to some Latin American economies is justified. The region "is doing a much better job of dealing with this crisis than on [past] occasions," and his own "expectations for growth are very high." Since 2003, he notes, Latin American markets "have experienced a very positive and stable economic cycle in which they reduced imbalances, applied realistic fiscal policies, and created jobs and sustainable growth."
However, Vitoria Saddi, professor of economists at Insper (Institute of Education and Research) in São Paulo, Brazil, believes that there is reason to be concerned. "The bubble in the emerging markets is a reality, since the developed countries have reduced their interest rates to almost zero. While this produced a low rate of return in the United States and Britain … it boosted returns in those countries that are considered 'emerging,' including Brazil, Turkey and Chile. All you have to do is look at the change in the Bovespa index, [which was] driven above all by the fall in the dollar in world markets." Saddi adds, "Nevertheless, the bubble only reflects the capital flows; that is to say, capital goes where there [are high returns]. The problem is that the bubble can explode; the dollar can recover and the impact of this explosion can be devastating for some countries."
This is not the case in Brazil, he adds, where the gains have "not just been caused by the global economic crisis; you're dealing with a structured economic policy." In fact, according to Robert Tornabell, professor of financial controls and management at the ESADE Business School, the situation in Brazil underscores that what is happening in emerging markets "is not a bubble" but a reflection of "the great influence that the incoming capital is having in these countries…. The rise in indices such as the Bovespa is not extraordinary, since Brazil can be considered the economic miracle of this year." In the wake of the global financial crisis, Brazil was the first country in Latin America to stage a recovery — in the second quarter of this year — and the country is expected to grow by between 5% and 5.5% in 2010, according to several sources.
Key factors for 2010
With this year coming to an end, investors are beginning to plan their strategies for next year. One of the questions they are asking is if Latin American markets can maintain their current pace of rising share prices.
One short-term factor that has provoked serious doubts about the future of emerging markets is the recent financial problems in Dubai, the United Arab Emirate whose real estate holding company, Dubai World, caused a commotion in markets when it asked for a moratorium on its debt, which has reached some US$60 billion. This week, a default was averted when neighboring emirate Abu Dhabi extended a US$10 billion bailout to Dubai.
According to Martínez, failure by Dubai to repay its debt could have influenced the rest of the emerging markets, as was the case during the Asian financial crisis of 1997, which began in Thailand. "But this time around, you have to separate what happened in the Emirate with the rest of the emerging markets, since the financial crisis has affected the richer economies while the emerging markets have not been affected as much."
For his part, Saddi believes that the impact of a debt default by Dubai would have been limited. "Any talk that investors will abandon all emerging markets because of a single market does not seem feasible to me," he says.
The second factor that will have an impact on the future of Latin American markets will be movements in the value of the dollar and the value of their own currencies, and the cost of raw materials. According to Saddi, "The fall of the dollar reveals a loss in confidence among investors. The increase in American debt is already unsustainable. The fiscal situation is more than sufficient for the risk agencies to lower their country rating [for the U.S.]"
Martínez notes that "raw material prices are on an upward swing thanks to the global industrial recovery, and you have to consider that there is a great deal of speculation in those markets where the great investment funds continuously take positions …." He adds, however, that there is a negative side to the fall of the dollar against the currencies of Latin American countries. "It restrains their exports to the United States, their main trading partner." Currencies such as the Brazilian Real "continue to appreciate against the greenback because of the arrival of foreign capital flows in the region." However, he believes that it will be "difficult" for these currencies to keep appreciating at the same pace as they have in recent years.
Lower Profits and Greater Stability
In this context, Tornabell anticipates that in coming months the main Latin American stock markets will suffer a small correction before moving forward again. "They will continue to grow but not at the current pace, since they have been going so quickly." He is especially positive about the prospects for Brazil. However, he notes that he is worried about Mexico "because of its social problems, and because it is exhausting its oil wealth. I tend toward Brazil, not Mexico." In fact, on December 14, Standard & Poor's, the rating agency, downgraded Mexico, citing "the country's falling oil output and anemic growth prospects," according to the Financial Times. As for Chile, Tornabell notes that its stock market "is more stable and less explosive than the country led by Felipe Calderon [Mexico], but also safer."
Martínez adds that "stock markets will tend to stabilize, but you have to remember that indices such as the Bovespa are still below the highs they reached in 2008, although I don't believe they will increase as the same pace [in 2010] as [they did] this year." Still, he expects that interest in Latin America will continue to be strong in 2010. "In Brazil, there is a lot of euphoria among investors about what they have to achieve for the 2016 Olympic Games, and about how local companies can take advantage [of the opportunities]." Beyond such factors, he believes that some countries in the region, such as Brazil and Chile "have gained the respect and recognition of international investors because of their serious and reliable economic policies."
Saddi believes that "interest in some economies tends to be long term," as in the case of Brazil, "whose attractiveness began [long] before the crisis." Since 2006, when President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva was reelected – or even before that, when the country repaid its US$15.57 billion debt to the IMF at the end of 2005 – "the country has been recognized as secure for investors, [not just] because of the stability of its market and its policies, but mainly because of its sustainable macroeconomic conditions. In addition, it has a strong financial system, comparable even with that of China. The situation in Brazil is not just a temporary one."
As for movements in the stock markets of the region, Saddi believes that if the European and U.S. central banks commit themselves to maintaining clear stability in interest rates for at least until the third quarter of 2010, Latin American markets will remain stable. "I am not betting on an increase, but on stability. If rates were to go up against our expectations, there could be an orderly outflow of capital and it could stop any further inflow of capital in emerging markets," he says.
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BENOÎT DEBIE, THE ATTRACTION OF OPPOSITES
May 20, 2018 May 20, 2018 ANTON MERTENS
In Liège, a small French-speaking town in Belgium and the self-proclaimed "waffle capital of the world," a child was born that no one could predict would become an internationally known cinematographer. Like so many kids, that child, Benoît Debie, has a character trait that all parents dread: he hates school. But he also has another trait, far more predominant – and deeply embedded: whatever he undertakes, he is determined to succeed. Although Benoît Debie now recalls those drawn-out years spent reading and writing on school benches as "sheer torture" (and that's an understatement), he works hard to get good marks and thus, ensure for himself a peaceful childhood and adolescence. Very early on, therefore, that paradox – wanting to succeed in something one hates doing – reveals a character at once flexible and uncompromising, and a perseverance that will definitely serve him later.
At the end of his high school years, Benoît Debie can't quite decide which profession to take on – eliminating from the outset, however, the kind of jobs that would have him spend his entire life in an office. Having an equal passion for, and interest in, both photography and music (he plays drums), he is torn between image and sound. Finally, it all clicks into place: he decides to enroll in the Image Department of a Belgian film school, the Institut des Arts de Diffusion at Louvain-la-Neuve. After graduating from the I.A.D., at 23, and after two jobs as camera assistant, Debie decides to join a rookie TV channel, R.T.L. that offers him the opportunity to work immediately as a cinematographer. For the following ten years, he will sharpen his claws, as it were, while also moonlighting on short films, video clips, commercials, whatever comes his way. Just waiting for his breakthrough.
In 2001, as he turns 33, planets finally line up and his life totally changes. He starts a family and is entrusted with lighting Gaspard Noé's Irréversible, that year's film event! At the time, Benoît Debie has just lit a short film that is to be screened just before Noé's feature, Seul contre tous ("I Stand Alone", 1998). The two men meet at the Brussels premiere and hit it off instantly. Six months later, much to Debie's surprise, Gaspard Noé offers him to light his upcoming film, starring two international icons, Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel. From then on, everything speeds up.
Full of noise and fury, Irreversible instantly becomes the talk of the town for its thirteen-scene structure – six of them sequence-shots, two of which (a rape scene and a murder scene) stand out for their extreme violence and realism. Its world premiere, in competition, at the Cannes Film Festival, causes quite a scandal, but also generates tremendous publicity, which helps turn the film into a huge box-office hit. Right after Cannes, Debie starts working on Card Player, directed by horror-meister Dario Argento whose penchant for dealing with death in a "gore" style is well known. Eros and Thanatos. The first two feature-film directors he has worked with as cinematographer – Gaspard Noé and Dario Argento – both explore the dark side of man. Yet, they both enjoy working with Benoît Debie, a man with a simple and easy-going manner who claims to be "more instinctive than intellectual." A textbook case of the attraction of opposites?
A few years later, Benoît Debie and Gaspard Noé meet again on Love (2015), an experimental and erotic (some will say "pornographic") film that shows the beauty of physical love-making between lovers. While prepping for the film, the ever-so-passionate Gaspard Noé suggests that Benoît Debie and he shoot in 3D, just to two of them – with the actors, of course, but without any crew. Debie patiently reminds Noé that the film must have sound, that the images must be clear and that somehow, someone might be needed to carry the dolly, the extension arm and the two cameras to the upper floors – not to mention the makeup trunks. Luckily, he concedes, they can do without costume design and wardrobe, since the actors are to be naked throughout the film! Ultimately, the crew will consist of about a dozen people. Rule of thumb: they must leave the set when the love scenes are to be shot, for it will then be restricted to the director, the cinematographer and the actors.
Benoît Debie always chooses his lenses with the utmost care. For Noé's Love, the Summilux-C series was obviously a must because "when you do 3D, you need perfect lenses." Having already used them on Wim Wenders' Everything Will Be Fine, he knows that, with their light weight, their identical size for all focal lengths and their minimal flare, they ideally suit a film that aims, first and foremost, to magnify the actors' naked bodies. "The Summilux-Cs give both a precision and an elegant softness to the skin". Love is the two men's third collaboration and the ritual is always the same. Noé personally puts some final touches to the set, then Debie sets up the lights. When that is done … the director changes it all. "If I go for a dominant red, he'll tell me to try green and … I'll go green. I serve the film before serving myself." Sometimes, Debie's mere abiding by the director's wishes makes the latter spontaneously change his mind and accept his cinematographer's choice. Or not.
"Sometimes, frustration allows me to be creative." Another director has just entered Benoît Debie's professional life. The man is legendary filmmaker Jacques Audiard and the feature a (very) dark western, Les Frères Sisters ("The Sisters Brothers"), which co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Joaquin Phoenix. Initially, Audiard states that he wants his movie – the action of which takes place mainly inside a forest – to be "a pitch-black film with a pitch-black image." Benoît Debie – who never says no – decides to take that exciting order to the letter and sets up a night shoot in some woods with actors sitting in front of a camp fire. He lights up the forest, lights up the actors and starts shooting a rather classic scene. Then he kills the forest lights off, shoots a bit, kills the lights off on the actors, shoots some more, finally asks someone to kill the camp fire and finishes the scene. Cut to the screening room the following day, as they all watch those 'dailies'. When it gets to the final segment… the actors are plunged in total darkness. The screen is, indeed, "pitch-black". The attendees burst out laughing, Jacques Audiard begins to grasp how difficult Debie's work will be and publicly thanks him "for his incredibly strong character that drives him to never let go, and bite the bullet whatever the circumstances". To try and solve the conundrum of some specific scenes, Benoît Debie decides to take still shots with a new Leica lens that is part of the M 0.8 series – the Noctilux 50mm, a mythical lens from the 1960s that opens at f: 0.95 and was retooled for cinema. Replicating the set-up he used for the 'pitch-black test', he first shoots the forest at 6 frames per second at f: 0.95; then, without moving the camera, he shoots the two cowboys by the camp fire at 24 frames per second – the two "passes" are subsequently combined in postproduction…
Once The Sisters Brothers (finally) wraps, Debie flies to Miami for The Beach Bum, to be directed by Harmony Korine with whom he made Spring Breakers in 2012. Much to Debie's delight, The Beach Bum is to be shot in 35mm. Silver-based film stock. Total rapture. A feeling that also fills him when he takes still photographs with his old Leica M7.
Back to the future. Benoît Debie is now more and more attracted to the idea of shooting only on silver-based stock, going back to a time when cinematographers were demi-gods who spent an entire day on ONE shot! It is hard to imagine he turned down Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive or a certain $200 million film or major perfume commercials – about which he simply says, with a modesty all the more enchanting as it is at such odds with his talent: "I'm always surprised to have gotten as far as I did."
Then try and imagine that phone call from actor Ryan Gosling (with whom he collaborated on Lost River, Gosling's directorial debut) offering him to shoot his second film in the summer of 2018… Yes, try and imagine – and start holding your breath…
Interview and photograph conducted by Ariane Damain Vergallo on behalf of CW Sonderoptic – Leica
Frédéric Noirhomme about Weldi
Björn Charpentier about Beirut
Voodoo at the boarding school in Zombie Child
Ruben Impens on Beautiful Boy
Qui m'aime me suive ! by Philippe Guilbert


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Shrek Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Vehicle
Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) vehicle
Shrek Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) vehicle variant was displayed at IDEX in February 2015. Image: courtesy of Streit Group.
The Shrek EOD vehicle accommodates five people, consisting of three operators and two crew members. Image: courtesy of Streit Group.
The EOD variant of the Shrek vehicle comes in white colour with black matte painted letters of UN. Image: courtesy of Streit Group.
The external articulated arm operated console of the Shrek EOD vehicle. Image: courtesy of Streit Group.
Shrek EOD can be attached with a digging fork, a surface roller, a crust breaker, and a grab hand to lift suspicious objects. Image: courtesy of Streit Group.
Shrek EOD can be customised to be used as an ambulance. Image: courtesy of Streit Group.
Shrek Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) vehicle is a EOD variant of the Shrek Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armoured vehicle. It was designed and developed by Streit Group, was showcased at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) held in UAE in February 2015.
The Shrek EOD vehicle can be used in peace-keeping, first aid response, border patrol, and counter terrorism missions. The Shrek MRAP series also includes armoured personnel carrier (APC) and ambulance version.
Design and features of Shrek EOD vehicle
Typhoon MRAP APC
A multi-purpose mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) 4×4 armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed and manufactured by Streit Group.
Shrek EOD is designed for the safe transportation of EOD teams in battlefields and other hostile environments. It can defuse bombs and explosives such as roadside improvised explosive devices (IEDs). It features a V-shaped, armoured hull made of certified ballistic steel and the hull can resist external ballistic threats from any angle.
The vehicle accommodates five people, comprising three operators and two crew members. Its multilayer glass windows incorporate bullet-resistant, transparent armour and polycarbonate inner level. The vehicle comes in white colour with black matte painted letters of UN on sides, rear, front and roof top.
The vehicle is installed with an external articulated arm operated console, PVC arm cover, and a crane manipulator. The bomb arm has a working reach of 6m and lift capability of approximately 200kg. It can also be attached with digging fork, a surface roller, a crust breaker, and a grab hand to lift suspicious objects.
A remote-controlled closed circuit camera fitted on the arm provides the operator with a view of its end area. The arm is also fitted with a double barrel water disruptor with lateral motorised movement and a focus camera.
The vehicle includes a tool box with a hydraulic jack and all necessary items for routine repair and maintenance as well as a wheel brace and other tools for replacing a punctured tire in the field.
The vehicle integrates a heavy-duty airconditioning system, allowing missions in tropic environment conditions. It also fitted with a winch mounted on the front, two spare wheels, VHF and HF radio system, and two fire extinguishers.
Two 12V power connectors at the front and four 12V power connectors at the rear of the vehicle. The connectors can power telephones, GPS and other devices fitted with standard 12V power adapters. It also includes an inverter or power supply of 220V AC for charging four laptops or telephones or similar devices. Power points are fitted at rear of the vehicle.
"It can withstand the explosion of one TM-57 landmine or 7kg TNT directly under hull, and a blast force of two TM-57 landmines or 14kg TNT under any wheel."
The vehicle also comes with a front and rear-mounted Nato rotating hitch, vehicle self-recovery kit, full operator and maintenance, and spare parts manuals.
The armoured vehicle has a length of 7.78m, width of 2.63m, and a height of 3.14m. The kerb weight of the vehicle is 16,000kg.
Shrek EOD self-protection
The Shrek mine interrogation vehicle offers STANAG 4569 Level 2 ballistic protection. It can withstand the explosion of one TM-57 landmine or 7kg TNT directly under hull, and a blast force of two TM-57 landmines or 14kg TNT under any wheel.
YAMZ-238D engine
The Shrek EOD vehicle is powered by a YAMZ-238D engine, which develops 243kW (330hp) of power. The EURO-0 emission standard four-stoke diesel engine is coupled with nine-speed manual transmission system and a 9JS150TA-B gearbox.
The vehicle's gear box and clutch were supplied respectively by China-based Fast Gear Company and German company, Zehnrad Fabrik. The vehicle has a maximum range of 600km.
The suspension and brake systems of the vehicle are upgraded to support the full armour weight. The wheels are fitted with 445.65 R22.5 XLZ Michelin tyres integrating built-in run-flats and bead lock systems.
The Global Armoured Vehicles and Counter-IED Vehicles Market 2011-21


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title: The Link Dump
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Archived Stats
Game Day Experience
2021 Record Book
Game Day Central
Future Schedule
2021 Signing Day Central
December 20, 2021 . Football
Woods to Play in East-West Shrine Bowl on Feb. 3
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Tight end Jelani Woods has accepted an invitation to play in the 2022 East-West Shrine Bowl on Feb. 3 in Las Vegas. He will join teammate Nick Grant who accepted his invitation earlier this month.
The Shrine Bowl, America's longest-running college football all-star game, which supports Shriners Children's®, will be played at the Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders as part of NFL Pro Bowl week.
Greatness!
The #ShrineBowl is excited to announce that @UVAFootball TE Jelani Woods, has accepted his invite to the 2022 East-West Shrine Bowl! @jelani_thegreat, we'll see you in Vegas! @ShrinersHosp | #ShrineBowlRoadToVegas🚘 pic.twitter.com/kpaD8rLNjW
— East-West Shrine Bowl (@ShrineBowl) December 20, 2021
Woods has put together one of the best seasons ever by a UVA tight end. In 11 games played in 2021 he's caught 44 passes for 598 yards and eight touchdowns. His eight scores are the second most by any Power-5 tight end and one shy of matching Heath Miller's 2002 single-season school record. He's looking to become the third Cavalier tight end ever to eclipse the 600-yard receiving mark.
Prior to UVA he played three seasons at Oklahoma State. For his career, he has caught 75 passes for 959 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns.
Woods will play in his final game in a Virginia uniform on Dec. 29 in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
Grant and Woods are the 35th and 36th Cavaliers to accept an invitation to the game. Including Grant and woods, six UVA players in the last three seasons to be invited. Joe Reed was the last UVA player to be invited (2020).
Armstrong Among 13 UVA VaSID All-State Honorees
Virginia Adds Transfer Jack Camper
John Rudzinski Named UVA Football Defensive Coordinator


Living Area: 36,734 sq. ft.
Three story Class A Executive Office Building.
Four High Profile National and Local Tenants.
Highest Quality Improvements in Downtown Santa Rosa.
Underground Parking - Elevator Served.
Beautiful Atrium with Common Area Seating.
Located in Downtown Santa Rosa on the Corner of E Street and Sonoma Avenue.


Funhouse - ZineWiki - the history and culture of zines, independent media and the small press.
Funhouse was a review zine published by Brian Johnson of Greenville, PA during the mid-'90s, subtitled "Digging in the Underground." It organized its reviews by cover price. Issues were in a 5.5" x 8.5" format, published sporadically and available for one dollar. The last issue was #7, published in the Summer of 1998.
This page was last modified on 4 February 2010, at 18:26.


text:
Q: CSS Gradient in BODY but not full length with fallback I know that you can set a gradient for a specific height in a body tag.
So I have my body background that has a blue gradient for 300px height and then continues with plain white.
But I want to have a fallback for that gradient for older browsers, how can I make sure that these 300px will have a plain blue color and then white in older browsers that don't support css3 gradients?

A: If you include modernizr on your page you'll be able to target css3 styles to browser that support them, your body tag would gain a class based on whether the browser supports css3-gradiants or not and you can style appropriately.
.cssgradients
{
background: /* CSS Gradiant */
}

.no-cssgradients
{
background: /* link to 1px by 300px blue background */ top left repeat-x;
}

A: set the style for older browsers first, then add it for css3-capable browsers:
#div{
    background: blue;
    background: linear-gradient(top, #1e5799 0%,#2989d8 50%,#207cca 51%,#7db9e8 100%);
}

It will fall back to blue if gradients are not supported.
edit: Kinda misread your question.
I think the easiest solution is to add the white color to the body tag, and then add the blue plain/gradient to a div that is nested in that body tag.
Hope this helps

A: try this
.cssgradients
{
background: /* CSS Gradiant */
}

.no-cssgradients
{
background: /* link 1px by 300px blue background */ top left repeat-x;
 /* more */
}

A: Laurens' answer works, but if you don't want to introduce extra elements with no semantic meaning, you can make the html background white and give the body a height of 300 pixels.
html {
   background: white}
body {
   margin:0;
   padding:8px;
   max-height:300px;
   overflow:visible;
   background:blue;
   background:linear-gradient(top, #1e5799 0%,#2989d8 50%,#207cca 51%,#7db9e8 100%);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The two action/adventure films that made the greatest impression on me as a young boy were The Black Stallion (1979) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). While I've seen the latter countless times over the years, I realized recently that I hadn't seen the former since my parents took me to see it in theaters back in 1979. How could this be? I seem to remember liking it enough that my folks bought me Walter Farley's 1941 novel of the same name on which it's based. It wasn't exactly hard to find on home video or see occasionally on television.
I recently caught up with it and was instantly taken back to when I first saw it as a child. I was also able to appreciate its artistry more now as an adult. The Black Stallion is beautifully shot – it's basically an art house film for children, which is unthinkable in this day and age of noisy CGI animated movies and dumbed-down live-action fare. This is due in large part to the intelligent screenplay – written by Melissa Mathison, Jeanne Rosenberg, and William D. Wittliff – and the masterful direction of Carroll Ballard who got an incredibly sensitive performance out of a young boy by the name of Kelly Reno. The film was regarded as a unique anomaly when it came out and continues to be one of the most under-appreciated children's films.
The latest discussions in regard to a possible new project for the late spring have revolved around the possibility of a "Greatest Television Shows of All-Time" countdown. We were thinking of Top 60. If the project happens it is posed to include all shows – including mini-series like The Civil War, I Claudius, The World at War and Pennies from Heaven among others. Obviously it would mix American, British and any other shows released around the world. This particular project has been discussed for years, and it seems 2017 may be the time to launch it. The poll on the greatest War Films is certainly still on the table, but perhaps for another year. The TV poll will strictly remain at 60, which is still a most formidable venture.
January weather in the Metropolitan area has been comparatively mild, though with February and March ahead it could change quick enough. The political climate though is pretty dreadful, but I'll save further discussion for the comment section should anyone desire to broach it.
In Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi classic, Space Odyssey (1968), one earthling, Dave, leverages his involvement in the American space program to strike up a unique and fertile relationship with a black monolith juke-box-resembling tower emitting unearthly music for the sake of an inter-species choir of lucid and ardent sensibilities. 48 years later, along comes filmmaker, Denis Villeneuve, from Quebec Canada (a place not even very good at streetcars), with a film, Arrival (2016)—also about inter-species progress—which, for the most part, exceeds expectations. Kubrick did have his Old Testament David; but unequivocally, the point was surpassing conventional relentment. What, on the other hand, are we to make of, after nearly two hours of thrilling headway, the Frank Capra denouement? Does the crashingly out of place designation, "Abbott and Costello," for the pair of aliens they are tasked to make sense of, by a military physicist (as apparently likewised amused on the part of the protagonist, Louise, a top-notch linguistics scholar), constitute a word to the wise that, though some remnants of an obsolete world still hang around, you are welcome to regard Louise's "triumph" as part of a vivid reverie centering upon the death from cancer of her teenaged daughter?
We have a new president, and after a contentious inaugural speech, violent protests and continued rage we seem to be headed for some difficult times, to put it mildly. But on the other hand I am happy that perhaps we can focus our attention now to the art and away from politics, which by now has run its course.
The Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow morning, so we can address that next week or even on this thread, should anyone wish too after the Tuesday morning announcement. However, the Caldecott Medal winners were announced today and all five (the gold medal winner and the four honors books) are books in the masterpiece category. They are: Medal winner: Radiant Child by Javaka Steptoe. Honor Books: Leave Me Alone by Vera Brosgol; Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford and R. Gregory Christie; Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis, and They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel. I want to thank all those who followed this marathon sixty (60) review series since it launched in early October, for those who placed 'likes' both here at the site and on FB, and to the regular commenters: Jim Clark, Frank Gallo, Laurie Buchanan, Celeste Fenster, John Grant, Peter M., Kimbra Power, Tony d'Ambra, Tim McCoy, Karen, Duane Porter, Alia Jones, Jarie Waterfall, Sergio Ruzzier, Patricia Hamilton, Sharon Lovejoy, Ricky Chinigo, Wendy Wahmann, David Noack, John R., Book Barn Steve and a number of others. This was a taxing venture that ate up the lion's share of my free time, or at least one that vied with film at the richest time of the year. The authors and illustrators themselves were amazing in their own sponsorship of the series and in the many shares on Facebook and Twitter. This year by far the series received more attention than it ever did. So many FB people were there with likes on practically every post, or liked many of them and I want to thank as many as I can gather together here: Fiona Robinson, Peter M., Susan Fabricant Hess, Laurie Buchanan, Sergio Ruzzier, Leon Duncan, Francy Stoller, Nancy Armo, Lorraine Rotundo, Dennis Polifroni, Toni Yuli, Jeff Gottesfeld, Roberta Rivera, Jennifer Thermes, Raul Colon, Ed Spicer, Wendell Minor, Florence Freedman Minor, Patricia Hamilton, Stacey Innerst, Jack Marsh, Dawn Annabelle, Jordan J. Scavone, Violet Charleston, Gail Maki Wilson, Adam Gudeon, Gina Marie Harner, Rob Costello, Ann Marie Kradenski, Heather Lang, Leon Duncan, Frank Aida, Steve Mazzone, Dana Willcox,, Helen Frost, Wendy Wahmann, Salina Yoon, Lucille Juliano, Tony Pistilli, Boris Kulikov, Elizabeth Stanton, Jessixa Bagley, Theresa Juliano Lynne Rae Perkins, Barbara McClintock, Jarie Waterwall, Denise Ann Saldutti Egielski, A. H. Taylor, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Matthew Cordell, Eric Fan, Sharon Lovejoy, Valerie Clark, Susan Hood, Maxine Grgurev, Deborah Freedman, Jonathan Bean, Kate Hoefler, Daniel Miyares, Stephanie Burke Bellucci, G. Gregory Christie, Sophie Blackall, Dan Richards, Jeff Newman, Anne Hunter, Lori Nichols, Lauren Castillo, Jillian Juliano, Melanie Juliano, Bart Talamini, Jason Giampietro and so many others.
Laurie Buchanan's regular shares went above and beyond, and to her send on a special thanks!! Patricia Hamilton shared so many as well and similarly I thank her from the bottom of my heart! Of course the authors and illustrators shared many to the tune of about 48% of the 60 I wrote! Thanks many times over!