This article was originally published on Jan. 24 2019 by The Lawyer's Daily (www.thelawyersdaily.ca), part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.
According to the most recent Statistics Canada report on the subject (2010), more than 1.7 million Canadians worked from home in 2008 at least once a week, an increase of almost 23 per cent from 1.4 million in 2000. Certainly, this number has continued to grow and many of those Canadians working from homeoffices are working for American companies.
In legal terms, we call them "remote" workers, and this type of an arrangement is becoming more popular in the global digital economy. However, it can create a lot of issues on both sides of the border, and there are many misconceptions out there.
With ongoing advancement in technology, countless people are able to work this way easily and efficiently. For employers, the benefits of having a remote workforce include cost savings, access to a larger pool of talent, reduced turnover and the ability to offer better work-life balance, allowing for the recruitment and retention of top talent. Employees spend less time commuting and more time doing what they enjoy. They also have the flexibility to deal with personal obligations without sacrificing their work.
These arrangements have many benefits for both parties. However, hiring workers who do not reside or work in the country, state or province where the employer is located can give rise to unforeseen risks by overlooking certain areas, such as payroll, classification of the relationship and several other tax considerations.
Payroll systems in the U.S. and Canada are similar, but there are important differences. While both countries have a social security regime, it is important to know which regime applies to a remote employee. If an employee is working on Canadian soil, regardless of where the employer is physically located, the employee is covered under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). This means the U.S. employer must withhold from the employee and remit CPP contributions to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), including the employer's portion of CPP.
This can become complicated because U.S. social security is more expensive than CPP. In 2019, maximum Social Security taxes are US$8,239.80 (6.2 per cent of maximum earnings $132,900). In contrast, CPP has a maximum annual contribution limit of $2,748.90 (5.1 per cent of maximum earnings of $57,400).
Employees will also pay into U.S. Medicare at a rate of 1.45 per cent of earnings up to $200,000 and 2.35 per cent thereafter, with no annual limit. If the employee does not contribute to U.S. Social Security for at least 40 quarters (i.e. 10 years), they will not receive benefits from the U.S. Social Security program, and coverage under Canada's employment insurance program would not be available as premiums would not be paid into the program.
It is important to note that even if the employer does not have a Canadian branch, keeping the remote employee on U.S. payroll would be considered negligent in terms of Canadian payroll legislation. In addition to payroll taxes, income taxes are required to be withheld from all Canadian resident employees and any employee rendering services on Canadian soil. These taxes must be remitted on a timely basis to the CRA, otherwise a penalty of 10 per cent of the balance that should have been withheld will be charged to the employer. Since the employee is not rendering services on U.S. soil, no U.S. taxes are required. However, if an employer insists on keeping the employee on U.S. payroll, the employee must obtain a U.S. Social Security number and file a U.S. tax return, which will be problematic if there is not a valid work visa issued to the employee.
Assuming the employee is using the U.S. refund to fund Canadian taxes due, there could be a cashflow problem if the refund isn't received prior to the Canadian payment due date. Further cashflow issues arise in the following year, when the employee is required to make quarterly instalment payments to the CRA and has taxes withheld in the U.S. There is even greater complexity when the employee works in both the U.S. and Canada.
A common workaround is for employers to classify workers as "independent contractors." While it may avoid withholding and reporting obligations for the remote worker, it could be very costly if either the IRS or CRA determines that there is an employment relationship. For U.S. employers, if the remote worker is classified as an employee, local employment law will prevail. This means the at-will employment standard in most U.S. states is replaced with Canadian provincial labour standards (i.e., wrongful termination, retroactive vacation and overtime pay, not to mention fines and penalties).
The bottom line is this: If you already have an employee working in another tax jurisdiction, you must consider whether you are subject to taxes such as corporate income tax, sales and local taxes, workers compensation premiums and the list goes on.
If you are considering a remote employment arrangement, educate yourself and fully understand your tax obligations. Compliance planning for these issues is important to do upfront, or you may have a situation on your hands once it's time to file annual tax returns.


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history:transition_to_kingdom
Transition to Kingdom
The Kingdom of Ealdormere officially came into being on October 24th, 1998, or as referred to in the Society for Creative Anachronism, A.S. (Anno Societatis) XXXIII (33). On the day that it was created, the border's contained all of the Province of Ontario, except Essex County. Within a year of becoming a Kingdom negotiations had been completed to transfer the area including Postal Code Regions P0Y, P0X, P0V, P0T and P0W (including the cities and towns of Thunder Bay, Kenora, Dryden, Souix Lookout and Fort Francis to the Principality of Northshield (now the Kingdom of Northshield) and the Middle Kingdom).
However, the Kingdom of Ealdormere unofficially began in January of 1998 at the Winter Board of Directors Meeting in California, when the Board voted to approve the application for Kingdom status from the Principality of Ealdormere, during the reign of Prince Gunther and Princess Morgon, with the blessings of King Palymar and Queen Aislinn of the Middle Kingdom. Present at the Board Meeting were Viscount Sir Menken Brechen (Board member) and Viscountess Moria the Black (Principality Seneschal). The bid was discussed over a period of 5 hours that day, being put forward and tabled 3 times before being passed, a move that surprised many of the people at the meeting as it was believed the agenda item would be dealt with quickly and the passage was a foregone conclusion. However, due to difficulties with the Canadian Postal Code system and the system that was currently being used to sort Kingdom newsletter labels, agreements and changes to procedures had to be arrived at throughout the day to address the concerns of the Society office and the Society Seneschal before the motion could be passed.
In order to accommodate the schedule agreed to at that Board meeting, the last Heirs to the Principality of Ealdormere, Berus and Marion were invested 2 weeks early, in March of 1998, and became Prince Berus Wolfsun and Princess Marion FitzWilliam, who presided over the first Crown Tournament for the Kingdom of Ealdormere on April 4th, 1998 (A.S. XXXII), in the Barony of Ramshaven. The Finals of the Tournament were between Earl Syr David Martin of Failsworth fighting for Viscountess Elina de Braose and Malik 'abd al-Rahman, Baron of Rising Waters, fighting for his Baroness, Genevieve Chastellain D'Anjou. At the end of the day, Earl Syr David was victorious, however, as there was technically no Kingdom to speak of, he and his consort were invested simply as the 'Heirs' of Ealdormere, and bore the titles 'Heir and Heiress to the Kingdom of Ealdormere'. On October 24th, 1998, King David the Greater, and Queen Elina de Braose were crowned at Merritt Hall in the Barony of Ben Dunfirth, the Kingdom Laws were read into Regents Courts throughout the day, and the Kingdom of Ealdormere came into existence.
history/transition_to_kingdom.txt · Last modified: 2022/08/09 21:45 (external edit)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Beauty Influencer's Sunday Column Vol.10: What are essential makeup brushes everyone should own?
Last year I put a little overview of my favorite make-up brushes for the eyes and face on the blog and now more than a year later I still stand by my choices. MAC and Sigma are my two favorite brands for eye make-up brushes. And one of my all-time favorite face brushes is the (crazy cheap) e.l.f. Stipple Brush and – of course – my trusted Beauty Blender. For a detailed review on all of my favorite brushes you can click here and here!
1) MAC 217/Hakuhodo J5523. It's great for applying a wash of color, blending eyeshadows out, and even buffing undereye concealer into the skin. Basically, you will have a hard time finding anything 217 cannot do!
2) MAC 219: I use it to highlight the inner corners, smudging eyeshadow over the gel liner on my lower lash line, and sometimes laying a darker eyeshadow in my outer v. If you want to do any detailed work to make your eye look more polished/finished, you need 219.
3) Let me cheat by adding Dior Backstage Blender to the list!
Wayne Goss 02 – a good quality yet relatively inexpensive substitute for the Suqqu cheek brush. It's SO soft and the size is perfect to use as a blush, bronzer, contour, or small powder brush. Super versatile.
I personally love a lot of different brands, but you can't beat Real Techniques or Sonia Kashuk for beginners and experts alike.
5. Sonia Kashuk Flat Top Brush.
Some of my high-end faves are from Chanel, Armani, and Jane Iredale. I'm looking to expand into Tom Ford and Japanese brands!
I love multi-functional brushes because they're best for travels and they're time savers! I am picking my best two! (1) MAC 239 Brush Eye Shader Brush: for pack, shade, and blend eyeshadows. (2) Sigma Beauty 3DHD Kabuki Brush: for cream, liquid and powder foundation application. Also best brush for under eye concealers and for hard-to-reach places like the side of the nose and mouth. Very modern and innovative!
For eye makeup, my recommendations include MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush (lid color), Chanel Eyeshadow Blender #19 (outer corner), MAC217 Blending Brush (crease and blending), Smashbox Crease Brush #10 (all-over blending), MAC 219 Pencil Brush (smudging), and MAC 211 Pointed Liner Brush (lining). See more.
For face makeup, my recommendations include Hourglass No 2 Blush/Foundation Brush (foundation), Tom Ford Bronzer Brush (setting), Charlotte Tilbury Powder & Sculpt Brush (highlighting), NARS Ita Kabuki Brush (contouring), Tom Ford Cheek Brush and MAC 168 Large Angled Contour Brush (cheek color), and Real Techniques Setting Brush (concealing). See more.


EA Sports has posted the Madden NFL 18 player ratings for the top wide receivers in the game this year. Check them out and post your thoughts!
I appreciate that they're not willing to inflate ratings to achieve a higher overall - Odell seems to be rated within the realm of his skillset. Still a fantastic receiver on Madden but docked in few categories (same with Dez). I still wish they'd separate the scale even further though.
I'm not sure if I agree with green being ahead of obj but other then that not too bad.
I have, I know greens a top 5 WR but I belive most people would have obj above him narrowly but maybe that's just me.
No problem, I think if he plays all 16 games this year then he can be better unquestionably.
Heehee. I love how they mention julios spin and stiff arm. Lol. He's always had the stiff arm. I'm not going to look up previous maddens, but it always seems like they didnt give him enough credit there. With his size and balance, he often catches a ball with one hand and then smacks a smaller DB with the other for some serious YAC. lol. Love me some Julio.
Go, dirty birds!! Let's play both halves of the super bowl this year!!!!
Its concerning to me that theres 62 total WRs over 80+ in this years game, as the blog points out. In my mind thats way too many. You look at the difference from the #1 Julio Jones to #5 Dez Bryant, 7 points, thats a big disparity and something I love to see. But the range from Dez's 91 OVR down to 80 OVR includes like... 60 guys? Theres going to be so many receivers who are so similar. I really want to see ratings more spread out so players feel more unique and team building is more of a challenge.
Yeah, this is always an interesting debate, I think. I think some people expect to see players in the 50s in the game for spreading the talent around. But, I think the problem is, there are no 50s in the NFL, u know? 50s don't make it. 50s might not even play college football. So, I mean, most WRs in the league are probably 70+, anyways. I'm not sure exactly where I would draw the bottom, honestly. But, WRs are athletic, in general. They all have some agility. Most have speed (88+, imo. NO WR should be slower than this), acc, etc. So, I mean, it's a heavy skill position. They're all talented.
I do agree on the team building and whatnot. And, I want to see unique players, too, but there's a limit between who even makes it in the NFL, first. So, idk, Rex and company seem to be moving in the direction of more uniqueness, I believe. Last year they really implemented the tiered RBs (70+, 80+, and 90+). Now, whether or not u witnessed that difference, I'm not sure. .
But, I'm hopeful they'll continue to nail down specific jukes and spins and the timing of these things that make a difference for WRs. But, honestly, I just don't expect a 60 WR to even be in the league.
I do share a lot of his opinions, yes, though there's plenty I disagree with.
I understand that people think that a greater disparity in the OVR of players will create more diversity, but IMO, one 83 WR may already be a radically different player than another 83 WR. One can have 93 speed, with poor Route running, low break press, and drops open passes. Another may be 86 in speed, but have a 90 CIT, high strength, and the clutch trait. The similarity in OVR for most of the starting WR for each team is not indicative of homogeneous player types, IMO.
Also, we'll see when the game drops, but I expect that most of those 80-84 WR are not going to be able to get open against CB and safeties like they did in past Maddens, because the improvement in man coverage, deep zones and the fixing of the legacy underneath zone bugs.
Ha! I was thinking almost the exact same thoughts while i was reading the post you replied to. I can't buy into the 'spread out the ratings' thing. Guys that make it to the NFL were in the top 10% of college players. They are all elite to some varying degree. Physically, there is just not much of a gap in general from the best to worst at each position. The difference is almost all mental except when injuries come into play. Who continues to hone their craft once they make the NFL where guys as talented as they are, are everywhere. Situation and scheme can also ruin a talented player. Roster attrition kicks 5-10% of the talent out of the league every year, too.
I think we need more and/or better traits to distinguish players' differences instead of widening the talent gap with ratings. Playbook knowledge is a huge factor that I wish EA would implement as well.
You are also right, IMO, that if a guy is rated in the 50's OVR, he has no business being in the NFL. That's an 'F' in how i look at it. It's either time for a position change or you'd better look into coaching or finish up that degree.
I see it like this: about 60-65% of the league should be in the 70's OVR, 15-20% in the 80's, 15% in the 60's, 5% in the 90's. Obviously there would be some outliers and % leeway up and down.
Speaking specifically to the post of being too many WR's in the 80's, I'd say 62 WRs is about right actually. There's 293 WR in the roster. So 21% are 80 and above.
You guys have made some great points. I still wish there was more disparity, but I'm a little more content with the ratings now after hearing the other side of the argument.
If you look at rosters team by team, and not just grouped together like this, it doesn't look nearly as bad.
That is 8 teams that have half or more of their starters at below 80 overall.
This is an excellent point and makes me wonder if total OVR is even important, or just a collection of position specific individual ratings which seems more lifelike. For instance rather than cling to debating OBJ vs Dez, acknowledge that they hardly play the same position and provide each players SPD, RTE, RLS, etc and allow the coach to make a decision on which fits their scheme better. I felt like OVR and age determine salaries on the game far more than skill set. This would impact that.
I really wish with these blogs they'd let you get a look at ALL the ratings. There are certain things in receivers I put a premium on like the RELEASE and catch in traffic ratings or the PMV FMW for linemen.
I do like that overalls here seem to have to spread, but their function in the actual game is in the positional skill ratings.
Really shocking seeing some of these responses. I think they are rated approximately.
Good to know. I didn't see it on the official site. I'll search around for it.
Glad to see Hilton is not on this list.
I am a Colt fan who watched Manning displace Harbaugh, but my horseshoe glasses are not so tinted that I would suggest Hilton is worth the $ he's getting paid, even if he's statistically one of the best in the game.
The guy's skill set is limited and Madden appears to respect that.


A steep, 12.7 mile out and back trail to the summit of Mount Defiance. Being the highest peak in the Columbia River Gorge at 4,960 feet, this hike offers incredible views of the surrounding area. This, and the Mount Defiance Starvation Ridge loop are known as the two most difficult hikes in Oregon. Starting at 130 feet above sea level, the trail climbs a total of 4,840 feet to the summit. The trail is in good shape and easy to follow. Even in the winter when there is quite a bit of snow on the summit, the trail is packed out. It is a great training hike for mountaineers being that it is a comparable elevation gain from Timberline Lodge to the summit of Mount Hood.
Start by heading West for about half a mile along the paved path. Take a left at the junction for the Mount Defiance trail and continue up past the picnic tables to Hole In the Wall Falls. The trail then crosses a wooden bridge and through about a mile long section of loose rocks. After this, the trail heads up never ending switchbacks, gaining over 3000 feet in the next three miles.
As you get closer to the summit, a temporary sign at a junction offers two different routes to the summit. Going left offers a straight shot to the summit, while the right takes a more scenic route, circumnavigating the upper part of the mountain, then taking a sharp left turn up to the summit.
On the summit you will see great views of Mount Hood, Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainer, Mount Adams, and many other peaks in the Columbia River Gorge. At last, this steep hike finally pays off. Remember to bring trekking poles for the steep descent to save your knees.


BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin Wallace University football team will open its training camp on August 16 as it begins its preparation for the season. This year's schedule will include five home and away games with each contest featuring a special promotion. The goals for the 2015 season include an Ohio Athletic Conference crown and a NCAA Division III national title.
On Aug. 16 when the Yellow Jackets open camp, BW will host its annual team picnic in the afternoon. At that time, each football student-athlete will donate school supplies for needy children. Each year the supplies are donated to the Church Street Ministries of Berea who support children in need of the supplies. Official pre-season practices begin the next day.
The annual pre-season scrimmage versus Cleveland cross-town rival Case Western Reserve University is scheduled for Saturday, August 29 at CWRU at 10 a.m.
BW has an all-time mark of 572-333-30 and has a series advantage against eight of its 10 opponents, is tied in another and trails in just one.
The Yellow Jackets, 5-5 in 2014, open the schedule with away games at non-league foe Bluffton University on September 12 at 1:30 p.m. and the OAC opener in Ada and at Ohio Northern University on Sept. 19 at 7:00 p.m. BW leads the all-time series against Bluffton, 5-0, including a 32-20 victory a year ago in Berea, and leads ONU, 27-12-1, in its all-time series.
BW opens its home schedule on Tressel Field at the nationally-renown The George Finnie Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26 when it hosts OAC and Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University in the 27th installment of the annual Cuyahoga Gold Bowl Trophy Game and on Family and Community Day at 2 p.m. The pregame picnic begins at noon. The all-time series is tied at 25-25-4 and the Cuyahoga Gold Bowl series also is tied at 13-13.
Following a game in New Concord at OAC-rival Muskingum University on October 3 at 1:30 p.m., BW hosts its Homecoming game and festivities against Marietta College on Saturday, October 10 at 2 p.m. It is the first of a two-game homestand. A year ago, BW beat Muskingum, 35-7, and topped Marietta, 40-33. The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series versus the Fighting Muskies, 43-13-2, and against the Pioneers, 32-5.
The second half of the homestand features an Oct. 17 contest versus Wilmington College at 1:30 in the 38th Annual Lee Tressel Shrine Classic. Partial gate proceeds are donated to the Shriners' philanthrophy of assisting children with severe burns and injuries caused by fire. Please join us for the pregame parade and an opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child in need. BW beat Wilmington, 56-17, last season and lead the all-time series, 13-3.
After a trip to Westerville and Otterbein University on October 24 at 1:30 p.m., the Yellow Jackets will be back on Tressel Field to host Capital University on October 31 in the annual Professor Appreciation Day game at 1:30 pm. On Professor Appreciation Day, each BW senior recognizes a member of the faculty or staff who has made a difference in his intercollegiate experience. BW owns a 35-10-1 series advantage against the Cardinals, and beat Capital, 48-14, last season in Columbus and lead the all-time series versus the Crusaders, 35-11.
On November 7, BW travels to the University of Mount Union for a 1:30 p.m. game and then hosts its final regular season home game on Saturday, Nov. 14 when it plays host to Heidelberg University on Seniors' & Parents' Day at 1:30 p.m. BW trails UMU in the season-series, 31-21-1, and leads the Student Princes, 46-22.


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As Protests Sweep the US, the UN Tweets Platitudes
The United Nations top leader, António Guterres, has not appeared before the media to say anything directly about the convulsions exploding across the UN's host city and far beyond.
Protesters swarm the roadway portion of the Brooklyn Bridge, heading from the City Hall area of lower Manhattan into Brooklyn. The crowd stopped incoming traffic, but there was no violence, May 30, 2020. JOHN PENNEY
Amid curfews in New York City, constant marches and protests, sirens from the streets and helicopters whirring above, the United Nations top leader, António Guterres, has not appeared before the media to say anything directly about the convulsions exploding across the five boroughs and far beyond. Instead, he has relied on his spokespeople to provide responses.
As protesters in New York City have been swelling the streets, highways, squares, plazas and bridges to express solidarity and outrage over the death of George Floyd, an African-American who was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25, the UN, the global beacon for "we, the peoples," has also been using social media to do most of the talking about the sudden civil rights movement across the country where the UN is based.
At its headquarters abutting the East River in Midtown Manhattan, the UN compound has remained physically shut in the lockdown since mid-March. But the UN itself has been active, pronouncing on the severe damage that Covid-19 is inflicting everywhere. Its mantra has been a call for unity, laced with practicality: how to overcome the financial and public health ruin as soon as possible.
Throughout the lockdown, New York City has also become a remarkably still place where mourning doves dominate at dawn.
Yet that aberration changed overnight as tens of thousands of protesters rallied across New York City and nationwide to voice their fury over not only Floyd's murder but also the rampant discrimination in the country against African-Americans, chanting slogans like "black lives matter" and "I can't breathe."
The lack of direct reference to the killing of Floyd and the turn of events here in the city in the last week and elsewhere extends to the UN Security Council, the General Assembly, the US mission to the UN and other national delegations. Only the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, a Chilean who is based in Geneva, Switzerland, has directly addressed Floyd's murder.
On her bilingual Twitter account, with nearly 734,000 followers, she was at first oblique, on May 29: "Many religious and ethnic minorities are being acutely affected by #COVID19. We need leadership and principles to #FightRacism and #HateSpeech." Her tweet on June 2 was more demanding: "We all have a responsibility to #FightRacism. #COVID19 or not, I call on everyone to take a stand, speak up and put an end to racism wherever present."
On May 29, she was quoted in a VOA article, referencing Floyd, saying that it was the latest "in a long line of killings of unarmed African Americans by U.S. police officers and members of the public."
"I am dismayed to have to add George Floyd's name to that of Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and many other unarmed African Americans who have died over the years at the hands of the police — as well as people such as Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin who were killed by armed members of the public," she said.
Back in New York City, the president of the General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, a Nigerian, has not said a word about the US protests on Twitter, where he has nearly 133,000 followers. On June 2, he wrote: "#HumanRights are the foundation for peace and prosperity. There is nothing more urgent than ensuring that all human beings are able to live in dignity, with justice and peace. It is in ensuring this that the work of the @UN is crucial."
The US mission to the UN has tweeted nothing about the protests or racial discrimination in the country, but it has plenty of retweets from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on rights abuses around the world, such as this on May 30, "The Chinese Communist Party is crushing what was so special about Hong Kong, what made it different from the rest of China."
Kelly Craft, the US ambassador to the UN, constantly retweets Pompeo. On June 2, she focused on Syria: "The Assad regime's campaigns of indiscriminate violence have resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. The Members of this Council must not remain silent. The United States certainly will not."
Craft has been working from her home in Kentucky since the lockdown in New York City. Louisville, a large city in northern Kentucky, has been one of dozens of urban areas where protesters have been marching in the country in the last week. Breonna Taylor, an African-American, was killed by the police in March, just weeks before Floyd's death, in Louisville.
New York City police at the Brooklyn Bridge entrance, near the protesters, May 30. DULCIE LEIMBACH
Although Guterres has been here in New York since Covid-19 first struck in early March, he has not read a statement or appeared before the media to convey any personal or professional message about the protesters' grievances, the violent tactics of police officers during the protests or the authoritarian dictates of the president of the US toward protesters' frustrations. That includes his photo-op walk from the White House to a church across the street on June 1 to hold a Bible as peaceful protesters had been tear-gassed, flash-bang-shelled and rubber-bulleted by police to make way for Trump's bizarre stunt.
The next day, responses to protests in Washington grew more militaristic, as one person tweeted, "We are under some sort of military occupation because this is the only place in the country Trump can bring out the military without running into major legal problems."
Guterres has always shown reluctance to criticize the US and other big powers as secretary-general. On May 29, he took the high road, tweeting: "Racism continues to be prevalent in our societies. We must raise our voices against all expressions of racism and instances of racist behaviour. We urgently need to dismantle racist structures and reform racist institutions."
The next day he remarked on the media being assaulted in the protests by police and other officials, tweeting: "When journalists are attacked, societies are attacked. No democracy can function without press freedom nor can any society be fair without journalists who investigate wrongdoing and speak truth to power."
It wasn't until June 2, after days — and a weekend — of unending protests in the five boroughs when Guterres said something about the city in which he lives, tweeting: "I am heartbroken to see violence on the streets in our host country and our host city of New York. Grievances must be heard, but should be expressed peacefully — and authorities must show restraint in responding to demonstrations."
That message was reposted by the Chinese ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, who had objected to the US and British calling for a UN Security Council meeting last week over China's new national security law in Hong Kong. Zhang wrote: "Support the strong voice of the @UN in fighting racism and discrimination."
Russia's mission to the UN and the deputy ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, seized the moment to retort to the European Union's message from Josep Borrell, the top foreign affairs official for the continent. Borrell, also late to the conversation on Twitter, wrote on June 2: "Like people in the United States, we were shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd. We condemn violence and racism of any kind and stress the need for de-escalation of tensions."
Polyanskiy messaged to Borrell: "We expect the #EU from now on to condemn violence and stress the need for de-escalation of tensions each time protests occur anywhere, starting from #HongKong#protests2020#Minneapolis."
In a May 29 media briefing at the UN led by Guterres's deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, he was asked if Guterres endorsed the "condemnation" expressed by Bachelet over the murder of Floyd.
Haq replied: "Well, as you know, she speaks in her capacity as the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and she's supported in the work that she does, and so I don't have anything in particular to add to what she said about Mr. Floyd's case."
Guterres's top spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, was asked about the protests and the death of Floyd in a June 1 media briefing. He gave a lengthy reply:
"Sure. I think, you know, the situation we're seeing today, we've seen in different parts of the world before, and the Secretary‑General's message has been consistent. One is that grievances must be heard, but they must be expressed in peaceful ways and authorities must show restraint in responding to demonstrators.
"I think, in the US, as in any other country in the world, diversity is a richness and not a threat, but the success of diverse societies, in any country, requires a massive investment in social cohesion. That means reducing inequalities, addressing possible areas of discrimination, strengthening social protection, providing opportunities for all.
"And these efforts, these investments, need to mobilize national Governments. They need to mobilize local authorities, the private sector, civil society, faith‑based organizations. In one word, society as a whole, needs to be mobilized.
"I think we've also seen, over the last few days, cases of police violence. And, again, I would just restate what we have been saying in many other cases when we have seen police violence, is that, first of all, cases, obviously, need to be investigated. We've always said that police forces around the world need to have adequate human rights training, and there also needs to be an investment in social and psychological support for police so they can do their job properly in terms of protecting the community."
A day later, a reporter asked about the secretary-general: "Do you expect this SG to make any comment of this on camera? It would be helpful to some of us." Dujarric said: "I understand. If something happens, I will definitely let you know."
The official UN twitter account, with 12.6 million followers, may lack a personal voice but collates messages from UN entities. A recent one from Unesco exemplifies how indirect the UN can be in profound moments, saying: "Against hate: education. Against racism: education. Against discrimination: education. Building peace & preventing #ViolentExtremism begins on the benches of schools. Join our call to #StandUp4HumanRights and #FightRacism & all forms of intolerance!"
Nevertheless, the UN has generally spoken up about discrimination in all its forms. The history of slavery — and its continuing existence in many parts of the world — has not been overlooked through such avenues as General Assembly resolutions and UN officials in the past commenting on racial and other violence in the US and conditions of African-Americans. A memorial commemorating the sorrowful history of the trans-Atlantic slavery era is installed in the plaza at the main entrance to New York headquarters.
But when it comes to criticizing the US or other great powers who control the UN, Guterres has built a reputation of making vague statements or letting other UN experts, from human-rights chiefs to refugee bosses — not a new reaction — to comment on the latest problem or conflict violating international law or overriding universal rights. When Trump first banned citizens from Muslim majority countries to the US right after his inauguration in 2017, Guterres was criticized for letting other UN leaders voice dissent over Trump's edict while remaining in the shadows.
In New York City, where the UN takes up a sizeable chunk of real estate donated by the US, it can seem that the UN exists in a bubble. This has been the case during the pandemic, and it may not be the entire fault of the UN. Throughout his daily media briefings about the crisis, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not mentioned the UN when he discusses the status of Covid-19 in the city. The UN has been working with local officials on decisions over telecommuting and reopening its campus, but the only public interaction has been a donation by the UN of protective masks to the city. Mayor Bill de Blasio showed up for the photo moment, but no top UN official appeared.
In 2016, one of PassBlue's most popular stories centered around an African-American in Baton Rouge, La., who wanted the UN to pay more attention to what he called the "hypocrisy" of the US and its treatment of African-Americans. Silky Slim, as he calls himself, started a nonprofit group, "Stop the Killing" that year, after the shooting deaths of three police officers and a black man, Alton Sterling, who had been selling CDs in a convenience-store parking lot in the Louisiana capital.
Both episodes and other killings at the time of black men and police officers jolted the US into examining once more race relations in the country. Slim told PassBlue that if he could come to the UN and talk to the Security Council, he would tell them to "make America rethink some of her laws, put racism on the table."
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Originally published at https://www.passblue.com on June 3, 2020.
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text:
December 18, 2016 - January 7, 2017: Issue 294
2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships
Local girls and RPAYC sailors Annie and Tash, currently placed well in the girls 29er after day 2 - photo ©Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Traditional and respectful opening to the 2016 Aon Youth Worlds
The 2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships has been declared open in a ceremony that focussed on tradition and youth in Auckland, New Zealand.
With the theme of 'youth welcoming youth' running throughout, the 389 sailors from 65 nations were welcomed to New Zealand with energy and culture at the ANZ Viaduct Event Centre in downtown Auckland.
Olympic gold medallist Blair Tuke led the parade of nations out of Silo Park and into Wynward Quarter with the sailors waving their flags high, the route lined with onlookers from the local bars and restaurants. Following the parade there were three Maori challenges laid down to Tuke and the competing sailors. Tuke duly accepted the challenges on behalf of every sailor.
In a break from tradition where an elder of the Maori tribe would lay down the challenge – the Wero, to find out if the visitors come in peace or in war, a younger member of the tribe - Ko Nga Matatahi, was this time given the honour to ensure that the youth were front and centre in every aspect.
An event in New Zealand would not be complete without the world famous Haka, and the Youth Worlds duly obliged with the Kapa Haka teenagers performing the iconic tribal war dance to greet the incoming sailors. It is not the first time the Kapa Haka teenagers have been involved in the sailing world as many have attended the Learn to Sail course at the Royal Akarana Club.
Sailors from the five classes were introduced before the mixing of the waters, a Youth Worlds tradition, where sea water from each country, brought by the sailors, is mixed and later poured in to the sea. In Auckland's twist, and in keeping with the theme, the waters were mixed in a P class boat, synonymous with youth sailing in New Zealand, called 'Black Magic' – the name of the successful America's Cup challenge in 1995.
The sailors, representatives and volunteers were welcomed in to the Events Centre by Kiwi sailors Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie and the speeches were delivered by Yachting New Zealand CEO, David Abercrombie, and World Sailing Vice-President Jan Dawson.
Aleh remembered the late Paul Elvstrom and passed on his sentiments of respect and honour in sailing. Aleh encouraged the sailors to embrace friendship at the event and take heed of the Elvstrom's most famous quote, 'you haven't won the race, if in winning the race you have lost the respect of your competitors.'
Abercrombie and Dawson thanked the sponsors, Aon and Volvo, and all the boat manufacturers that have made the event possible - Maclaren, Nacra Racing, Nautivela, Neil Pryde and Ovington before Dawson declared the event opening with the raising of the World Sailing flag.
Just before the sailors could enjoy dinner that would close proceedings they were treated to a mixture of Maori and contemporary dancing in an upbeat performance from three Auckland teens in a fun and frantic finale.
Attention will now turn to the first day of racing which is scheduled to start at 09:55 local time on Friday 16 December. Racing continues through to 20 December 2016 where nine Youth Sailing World Champions will be crowned.
By Richard Aspland - World Sailing
A full list of sailors registered to sail in Auckland is available to view here -www.isafyouthworlds.com/entries/auckland_entries.php. Results are available via the results centre here - www.isafyouthworlds.com/results/index.php
Australian Youth Team 2016
29ER - FLEET RACING - MEN
Helm John Cooley
Crew Simon Hoffman
420 - FLEET RACING - MEN
Helm Nicholas Sharman
Crew James Grogan
LASER RADIAL - FLEET RACING - MEN
Finnian Alexander Accepted
RS:X - WINDSURFING - MEN
Alexander Halank
29ER - FLEET RACING - WOMEN
Helm Natasha Bryant
Crew Annie Wilmot
420 - FLEET RACING - WOMEN
Helm Sophie McIntosh
Crew Emily Summerell
LASER RADIAL - FLEET RACING - WOMEN
Zoe Thomson
RS:X - WINDSURFING - WOMEN
Courtney Schoutrop
NACRA 15 - FLEET RACING - OPEN
Helm Kyle Fortier
Crew Bonnie Butler
Dazzling debut for Nacra 15
It was a dazzling debut for the Nacra 15 at the 2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships as sailors got their feet, and everything else, wet on day one of racing in Auckland New Zealand.
With plenty of thrills and spills, the youth multihull sailors had to get to grips with the new class and had a baptism of fire on a gusty and shifty Hauraki Gulf on the north shores of Auckland. The 389 sailors from 65 nations racing across the nine fleets were greeted with winds in the high teens, sometimes touching 20 knots, coming in from the south west which tested all, especially the multihull novices.
After winning the 2015 SL16 gold medal, France's Charles Dorange has had to change the class of boat and sailing partner. Now sailing with new helm, Tim Mourniac, Dorange is one of the most qualified in the Youth Worlds field and gave his assessment of the new multihull, "It was great," he exclaimed, "and for us we are first in the class at the moment so we are very happy."
Leading the fleet will leave any sailor happy, so was it the fact he was leading or was it the Nacra 15 itself? Dorange explained the differences between last year's and this year's Multihull, "The Nacra 15 is more speedy because of the dagger boards. I much prefer it.
"I think it's better for the Olympic pathway to have the Nacra 15 so you can progress to the [Nacra] 17."
Another experienced multihull sailor is Guillaume Rol who, in his home land of Switzerland, has raced on the Flying Phantom and F18. Compared to his partner, Rol has experience in abundance, "I sail lots of multihulls but Max just finished sailing the Optimist and we have only been sailing together for two months now."
The Max that Rol refers to is helm, Max Wallenberg. With little experience and moving into the Nacra 15 from the Optimist, Rol is far more qualified of the two.
Rol and Wallenberg currently sit 13th in the 20 boat fleet and that is down to simple decision making for Rol, "It was really nice wind and some waves out there today and we were pretty fast, but we made more mistakes than our rivals."
As Rol put it, his rivals have been making better decisions, but he highlighted another reason why they were not further up the leader board after day one, "There are many sailors I have already met in other fleets and I know they are good and the level is high. We are quite light for the boat in these types of winds compared to the other guys and when the level is high that counts."
Sitting in fifth overall are Great Britain's Jack Butters and James King. For crew King the introduction of the Nacra 15 and the diversity of fleet and conditions made for good viewing, "It was really good and really windy today. It was lots of fun and there were lots of boats going over and I think everyone had different results in each race.
"It's not the usual people at the top of the fleet so it makes for really good racing."
Like many in the Youth Worlds Nacra 15 fleet, the British team haven't quite had the time on the water that they have had in other classes. King explained, "We have been training on it for a couple of months now but it is our first regatta with other boats."
Among those other boats are Dorange and Mourniac who lead the way, New Zealand's Jackson Keon and Tom Fyfe in second and Belgium's Henri Demesmaeker and Isaura Maenhaut in third.
From a fleet making its first outing to the more established, the 29er boy's from Denmark, Marcus Piron Kirketerp and Sebastian Olsen continued the theme of mixed results, but did it in a wider range of ways.
As his crew was fixing a ripped mainsail back on shore, helm Kirketerp explained what had happened, "We went back to our coach to get some water and the wind died completely, like nothing, and we tipped over."
It had begun well for the pair with a top end finish to the first race. From there a UFD and that ripped sheet, "That UFD is a bummer. We only have one discard for the regatta and we have that already. I don't think it will affect our performance but maybe our decision making and being a bit more conservative from now on."
Sharing the secret to the first race result Kirketerp said, "It was pretty much just boat speed. We made safe calls and it looked like others were taking some risks, but we just did what we practiced and it paid off."
With mixed fortunes the Danes are in 11th overall. The podium is made up of Alexander Gronblom and Martin Mikkola (FIN) in first, John Colley and Simon Hoffman (AUS) in second and Gwendal Nael and Lilian Mercier (FRA) in third.
John Colley and Simon Hoffman ©Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/World Sailing
With two bullets, followed with a second, Great Britain's Hannah Bristow and Emily Covell are holding off the 2015 girl's 29er champions from Finland, Sirre Kronlof and Veera Hokka. Australia's Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot are currently in the final podium position.
Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin (USA) began the 2016 Aon Youth Worlds with a win in the boy's 420 and Rogers said what every sailor in Auckland was thinking, "It was pretty breeze on out there with tight and super competitive racing. We are right there in it, and as the saying goes, 'you can't win it on the first day but you can lose it'."
The Americans are just on the podium at the end of day one. Argentina's Fausto Peralta and Martin Arroyo Verdi top of the fleet and Italy's Edoardo Ferraro and Francesco Orlando are in second.
Sitting top of the girl's 420 are Poland's Julia Szmit and Hanna Dzik, the returning champions. They are top but also share a points tally of six with Kathryn Hall and Ashton Borcherding (USA) and Alexandra Stalder and Silvia Speri (ITA).
Youth Olympic Games competitor Mack van den Eerenbeemt (ARU) holds top spot in the boy's RS:X but is closely followed by Israel's Yoav Omer. Even at such an early stage the top two have a bit of daylight with Sil Hoekstra (NED) eight points back from Omer and nine from van den Eerenbeemt in third.
Looking to upgrade a 2015 Youth Worlds RS:X silver medal is Great Britain's Emma Wilson. The Briton has started well and is joint on points at the top of the girl's fleet with Maria Belen Bozo (PER). Aimee Hoff (NED) rounds up the podium in third.
From one sailor trying to upgrade a medal to one trying to defend hers, Hungary's Maria Erdi has started her defence of the girl's Laser Radial with a second and bullet to lead the fleet. The 2015 silver medallist Hannah Anderssohn (GER) also began well and is third. Sandwiched between the returning medallists in second overall is Croatia's Sandra Luli.
Kiwi hopes are with George Gautrey in the boy's Laser Radial, and he isn't disappointing. Gautrey holds on to second tied on points with Poland's Jakub Rodziewicz. Patrick Doepping (DEN) is ahead in first.
Racing will continue for the nine fleets at the Torbay Sailing Club on Saturday 17 December beginning at 09:55 local time.
Mixed fortunes at the Aon Youth Worlds
It's tight at the top of the 2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships Laser Radial fleets as the discard came into play, allowing a chosen few to start forming breakaways from the rest of the field.
Conditions were mixed on the Hauraki Gulf as a light 4-6 knot breeze dialled up later in the day to the mid-teens. The mixed breeze brought mixed results as light wind specialists excelled one minute and suffered the next, and vice versa for the sailors who thrive in strong breeze.
Laser Radial leader Patrick Doepping (DEN) had mixed fortunes. Doepping finished day one with two bullets but in Saturday's racing the Dane fell right to the back of the fleet finishing a lowly 37th, "I think the difference is I am a full rig sailor," explained Doepping. "I am 80-82 kilos so for me in the light breeze it's very hard to keep the speed. In the strong breeze I don't have the disadvantage I have in the light breeze and that's why I didn't do well today."
Doepping followed up with a seventh as the conditions fell in his favour enabling him to discard his 37th. Despite a self-proclaimed disappointing day, Doepping remains ahead of the fleet and isn't letting this affect his mentality, "I have been very calm and haven't been in any situations so far. I will keep doing what I've done over the last couple of days and avoid any mistakes."
Only four points separate the top five and Doepping's discard could play a big role at the end of the week if he does get in to any situations. Doepping will have to keep watch as Great Britain's Daniel Whiteley is ready to pounce, looking to move up from fifth. Whiteley has been sailing near the top of the fleet in every race so far, but it's not good enough, or great enough for the Briton, "It was pretty challenging out there today. I got a sixth in the first race and a 13th in the last race so I'm not too happy, but it leaves me in contention.
"Tomorrow I can go out and do a bit better and climb the leaderboard. I haven't properly messed up yet. I'm consistent and hopefully I can make it consistently great rather than consistently good."
Whiteley's discarded 13th is better than those around him and that gives him a little breathing space, "Maybe I have a little less pressure, but you can't think like that. We've got another three days, another five races and that's over half the championship so we will have to see how it shapes up."
Sandwiched between Doepping on top and Whiteley in fifth is George Gautrey (NZL) in second, Dominik Perkovic (CRO) in third and Finnian Alexander (AUS) fourth.
It was Sandra Luli's day in the girl's Laser Radial and the Croatian remains on top. Talking through her day Luli said, "Today it was light winds. Compared to yesterday, tactics and speed was more important as the wind was always changing. In the first race I finished eighth and second race I finished first."
Luli can discard her eighth place finish which gives her a nice six point cushion over Rio 2016 Olympian Dolores Moreira Fraschini (URU) who discards her 17th and counts her second.
Sitting in third is Germany's Anderssohn who summed up the day for just about every Laser Radial sailor in Auckland, "For me I think it wasn't such a good day. The first race was okay but the second wasn't very good. I think it changed a lot and everyone had a bad race. It was very shifty so you don't know where to go and there was less wind. It was hard conditions."
Of the day one frontrunners defending champion and Rio 2016 sailor Maria Erdi (HUN) dropped down to fifth after a 15th and a UFD, which she discards.
Erdi came ashore after racing and was left confused about her performance, "There are some pretty good people here, but I just wasn't expecting myself to do this bad in shifty winds." The Hungarian will have to sail smarter for the rest of the championship to stay in contention.
Unlike the Laser Radial sailors, France's Tim Mourniac and Charles Dorange seem to flourish in any conditions in the Nacra 15 and proved it on day two with a bullet and two second places. They have a ten-point advantage over Romain Screve and Ian Brill (USA).
If the French were fantastic then Israel's Yoav Omer was truly magnificent in the boy's RS:X. Omer was unbeatable, won three out of three on day two and now holds a healthy 16 point advantage over Mack van den Eerenbeemt (ARU) in second. After the Aruban, it's tight back to fifth before a ten point separation from the rest of the fleet.
Not quite hitting the heights that Omer reached, but coming pretty close, was Great Britain's Emma Wilson. Wilson took two bullets and a fourth place and sits top of the girl's RS:X. Maria Belen Bazo (PER) scored two seconds and a discarded tenth for second place followed by Israel's Katy Spychakov in third.
Another French team on top is Gwendal Nael and Lilian Mercier in the boy's 29er. The French pair started the day with a ninth but followed it up with a bullet and second to enable them to drop the earlier score. They sit just one point ahead of second placed John Cooley and Simon Hoffman (AUS).
The girl's 29er is led by Australia's Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot who scored a bullet and two thirds. They have a four point advantage over second placed Aleksandra Melzacka and Maja Micinska (POL) and a 14 point advantage over last year's champions Sirre Kronlof and Veera Hokka (FIN) who are in third.
Kathryn Hall and Ashton Borcherding (USA) lead a tight group of four teams at the top of the girl's 420 fleet despite a discarded 14th. They scored a second place in the last race of the day to hold a one point advantage over Isabel Davies and Gemma Keers (GBR). 2015 champions from Poland, Julia Szmit and Hanna Dzik are in third and Alexandra Stalder and Silvia Speri (ITA) are fourth.
There is a tie at the top of the boy's 420 with USA's Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin and Italy's Edoardo Ferraro and Francesco Orlando both on six points.
Australia's 420 fleet crew - Nicholas Sharman and James Grogan - photo © Georgia Schofield/Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Day three is scheduled to begin racing at 09:55 local time at the Torbay Sailing Club on Sunday 18 December.
Local girls and RPAYC sailors Annie and Tash, currently placed well in the girls 29er - photos ©Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Running away with the RS:X
There could be some early winners at the 2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships as Great Britain and Israel begin to run away with the RS:X gold medals on day three.
It was a day of opposites on the Hauraki Gulf as light north winds replaced the strong southerly winds that have been a feature of the first two race days, but that change didn't seem to disrupt Israel's Yaov Omer or Great Britain's Emma Wilson as they continued to take a strangle hold on the Youth Worlds RS:X fleets in Auckland, New Zealand.
Extending his lead at the top of the boy's competition, Yoav Omer knows that consistency is key when it comes to a top international regatta, "The most important thing is to be stable in your results and that's what I have been doing the past few days, and I want that to continue."
Omer certainly has been stable and that is evident as his day three results of 4-3-1 are his worst run of scores at this year's Youth Worlds. Explaining why his results had dropped from previous day's, Omer said, "It was light winds today and it was also from a different direction to the first two days. That was a little difficult for me. I think I have improved a lot though."
With a lead of 19 points and with four races to go you could think that the gold is all but wrapped up for the Israeli windsurfer, but Omer knows better than that, "No. No way is it over. Everything is open at competitions like this. Conditions can change and it takes just one bad race you know. Focus is the main thing."
The nearest competitor to Omer is Sil Hoekstra (NED) who scored two seconds and a third to move up to second overall. Third place is China's Chen Hao Chen.
Over in the girl's RS:X fleet the wins keep on coming for Great Britain's Emma Wilson. The Briton took two bullets and a second on day three and there is one simple reason why the results keep flowing, "I really like these conditions," said Wilson with a smile, "and I like this weather. I was really fast on the downwinds today."
Despite being in a fleet of 18, Wilson is adamant that only one person can affect how she sails, and that is her, "I sail how I want to sail and won't let anyone control me. I'm the only one that can dictate how I race."
It's that steely determination and focus that has given Wilson a 13 point lead over second placed Katy Spychakov (ISR), but the British windsurfer doesn't always get it right, "We had the RS:X Youth Worlds in Cyprus recently and I was fifth. I want to rectify that here."
Peruvian Maria Belen Bazo holds on to third behind Wilson and Spychakov with a 3-6-7 for the day.
Another team with daylight over the fleet are Tim Mourniac and Charles Dorange (FRA). Although the French duo are top after scoring a second and two thirds, they are now facing a comeback by Italy's Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei who took performance of the day with three bullets from three races. The Italians are in second, 15 points behind their European rivals.
There is a Trans-Tasman battle shaping up at the top of the girl's 29er fleet as Australia and New Zealand move up to first and second respectively. Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot (AUS) are top but have Kiwi sisters, Greta and Kate Stewart, hunting them down. The Stewart sisters made the best of a day when their rivals were making mistakes around them to move up in to medal contention.
Gwendal Nael and Lilian Mercier (FRA) sit top of the boy's 29er fleet despite a 12th place finish in the final race of the day. The French team discard that result to hold a five point lead over Crispin Beaumont and Tom Darling (GBR) who are second.
Poland's 2015 Youth Worlds 420 champions Julia Szmit and Hanna Dzik moved themselves up in to a great position to defend their title. The Polish team are top thanks to their consistent form. On day three they bagged themselves a bullet before slipping to 15th, which they now discard. Italy's Alexandra Stalder and Silvia Speri are their nearest rivals just four points back in second. Isabel Davies and Gemma Keers (GBR) are third.
A bullet and a discarded seventh keep USA's Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin at the top of the boy's 420 fleet. The top three are close on points though as Israel's Ido Bilik and Ofek Shalgi are just two points back. Italy's Edoardo Ferraro and Francesco Orlando are three points behind the Americans.
Australia's Finnian Alexander took two bullets to open up an 18 point gap back to Denmark's Patrick Doepping and New Zealand's George Gautrey who both have 33 in the boy's Laser Radial. Alexander however will tread with caution in the coming days as he has a disqualification on his scorecard from the very first race of the Youth Worlds. So far, so good for the Aussie sailor since then though.
Finnian Alexander - photo by Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Sandra Luli (CRO) is still top of the girl's Laser Radial, but Rio 2016 Olympian Dolores Moreira Fraschini (URU) is chasing hard. The Uruguayan took a bullet and a 10th compared to the sixth and discarded 20th Luli scored. The Croatian still leads by two points overall. Germany's Hannah Anderssohn rounds out the podium in third.
Racing continues at the Youth Worlds and is scheduled to begin at 09:55 local time at the Torbay Sailing Club on Monday 19 December.
Annie and Tash - still on top after Day 3 - - photo by Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Golds galore at 2016 Aon Youth Worlds
Gold medals tumbled in Auckland at the 2016 Aon Youth Sailing World Championships as five winners were confirmed with a race to spare.
The French multihull sailors secured the inaugural Nacra 15 gold, the Australian 29er girl's won their first ever regatta, USA's 420 boys dieting and dedication paid off and both Israel and Great Britain took the RS:X titles.
USA's Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin guaranteed themselves a gold medal with two wins from two races on day four. Explaining the key to the success Rogers said, "It took a lot of dedication, dieting and it hasn't really set in yet."
Rogers and Parkin have been in tune all week and are definitely in sync when it comes to the celebration, as Parkin excitedly says, "Eating! We have had to stay light for the boat so we have been dieting pretty hard but now we get to eat whatever we eat. Pancakes, waffles. Whatever we can get our hands on."
In second placed and with a 2-8 for the day, Israel's Ido Bilik and Ofek Shalgi will now have to take on Argentina's third placed sailors, Fausto Peralta and Martin Arroyo Verdi for the silver medal.
Nacra 15 pair, Tim Mourniac and Charles Dorange (FRA) lead the fleet by 23 points, enough of an advantage to win gold. The victory also handed crew Dorange his third Youth Worlds gold medal having won in the SL16 with Louis Flament in 2014 and 2015.
After coming ashore to congratulations from their team mates waiting to launch for the afternoon session, both boys had the same word to sum up the win, "It's amazing," said Mourniac before Dorange echoed, "Yes. It's amazing."
Mourniac continued, "We managed to win this regatta as we were good at all the things we could control like tactics and speed."
Talking of his third gold medal Doranage said, "I'm so very happy to win every medal I can."
Italy's Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei, USA's Romain Screve and Ian Brill and Belgium's Henri Demesmaeker and Isaura Maenhaut will have a three way shoot out on the final day to claim the other two medals.
The French were understandably excited by their win but Australia's Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot were still focussed and business like ashore, "We have had a pretty solid and consistent regatta," said Wilmot.
Despite the focus, when it finally hit home that they would walk away from Auckland with a Youth Worlds gold medal the relief was evident, "We are still pretty shocked actually," said Wilmot, "we haven't ever had a regatta win in the two and half years we have been sailing together.
"We have had a lot of seconds and thirds so it's nice to finally get a win."
The 29er girl's have secured their gold with an unassailable 22 point margin back to the second placed Aleksandra Melzacka and Maja Micinska of Poland. New Zealand's Greta and Kate Stewart will fight it out with the Polish girls for who will take home silver and bronze.
Right: Trophy photo by Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Both RS:X titles were wrapped up in Auckland as Great Britain's Emma Wilson took the girl's title and Israel's Yoav Omer took the boys.
Wilson claimed a bullet in the final race of the day, to go with her third and fourth to clinch the gold medal. For the Briton there was always a driving force in the background, a score she had to settle, "When I came fifth at the [RS:X} Worlds I was so upset, but this makes up for it. I always wanted a win, and to do it is amazing."
With gold out of sight, Israel's Katy Spychakov will concentrate on keeping hold of silver with a seven point cushion over Yue Tan (CHN) and Maria Belen Bazo (PER) heading in to the final day.
While Spychakov will go for silver, her male counterpart has got his gold in the bag. Yoav Omer has been an example of consistency, taking a stylish victory on the penultimate day with three wins from three races to give him an impressive 29 point lead.
On his win Omer said, "It's an incredible feeling and I am so happy to win before the last day. I can't really describe how I feel now. For sure my friends and family will be happy."
Sil Hoekstra (NED) is in second place and will look to hold on to a ten point lead over Mack van den Eerenbeemt (ARU) who pulled himself back in to contention with three second places.
Australia's Finnian Alexander has the boy's Laser Radial in his sights barring a complete final day meltdown and Germany's Hannah Anderssohn takes the initiative in a tight girl's Laser Radial battle.
The 2015 girl's 420 champions, Poland's Julia Szmit and Hanna Dzik have an eight point lead over Alexandra Stalder and Silvia Speri (ITA) to help them defend their title in the final race. Also in contention for a medal are Olivia Belda and Marina Arndt (BRA), Violette Dorange and Camille Orion (FRA) and Kathryn Hall and Ashton Borcherding (USA).
France's Gwendal Nael and Lilian Mercier take a four point advantage over second placed Crispin Beaumont and Tom Darling (GBR) in to the final race in the 29er boy's. Australia's John Colley and Simon Hoffman are third.
The final races are scheduled for 09:55 local time on Tuesday 20 December out of the Torbay Sailing Club.
Esctasy and despair at Aon Youth Worlds
Racing came to a thrilling climax in Auckland, New Zealand as all medals were confirmed in the finale of the 2016 Aon Youth World Sailing Championships.
Five gold medals had already been decided with a race to spare but there were still four golds on offer as well as silver and bronze to fight for in every fleet.
In the girl's Laser Radial it was anyone's guess who would claim the title. In contention was Germany's 2015 Youth Worlds silver medallist Hannah Anderssohn, Uruguay's Rio 2016 flag bearer, Dolores Moreira Fraschini and the reigning champion Maria Erdi (HUN). Sandra Luli (CRO) and Carolina Albano (ITA) were a little further back, but still in reach of a podium place.
Coming home in fifth ahead of her main rivals was Fraschini. The Uruguayan had completed her game plan, "I just knew I had to beat Germany, Hungary and Croatia. I was looking for them all through the race," explained the new Youth Worlds champion.
When the win had sunk in Fraschini said, "I feel super happy. I had a good start but then a bad upwind, so I had to just focus on recovering. I kept gaining and then I crossed the line, it was like a dream come true."
The dream was helped by Erdi finishing 13th and Anderssohn 19th. Those results also opened the door for Luli and Albano and dropped last year's medallists off the podium altogether.
It was Albano who came out fighting and headed straight for the front of the pack to win the final race. The Italian had done all she could and just had to sit and wait to see where her rivals would finish. Luli came home in sixth to give her 45 points to tie with Albano. Luli was awarded silver on countback.
With a lead of 27 points, Australia's Finnian Alexander just had to avoid a final day disaster to take the boy's Laser Radial title.
A smiling Alexander returned to shore after finishing 20th, enough to secure him the gold, "It feels so good and such a sense of relief after skating on thin ice all week," said Alexander.
That 'thin ice' was a disqualification from the very first race. A score that could have derailed his ambitions, "It took a lot to come back from that," said the relieved Aussie, "but crucial that I did. It's not the ideal start but it feels really good to know that I can carry myself through a regatta like I did from there."
Finnian Alexander photo by Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/World Sailing
Italy's Paolo Giargia had a seven point cushion over USA's Carrson Pearce and Spain's Ismael Iess Falcon. That cushion was enough in the end to give the Italian a silver medal as he crossed the line in 11th and Pearce ninth. Pearce took the bronze medal from Falcon as the Spanish sailor could only finish in 26th place.
Great Britain's Crispin Beaumont and Tom Darling took gold in the boy's 29er following a final race duel with France's Gwendal Nael and Lilian Mercier.
Starting the day four points behind their French rivals, the British team had to come out with a game plan. Beaumont explained, "We wanted to stay close to them and try and bounce them to the wrong side of the course because we knew there was a favoured side when we started."
Even with a plan, any sailor knows that they can change on the fly when it comes to race time, "Once we were out there though it was made up as we went along as there is so much that goes on that you can never fully plan."
Made up or not, Beaumont and Darling finished in third and had to sit and wait to see where the French team would finish. They crossed the line in tenth and the gold was there's.
Beaumont's immediate reaction to claiming a Youth Worlds was relief, "We feel pretty good. We had so much catching up to do in that race and things went our way and it happened."
With gold and silver confirmed it was down to Australia's John Cooley and Simon Hoffman to complete the podium. With a comfortable lead over the fourth placed Finnish team, the Aussies crossed the line in fourth to rubber stamp their medal.
Australia's Natasha Bryant and Annie Wilmot knew they had a gold medal in the girl's 29er and it was down to Poland and New Zealand for silver and bronze.
Kiwi sisters Greta and Kate Stewart had to finish with two boats between them and Aleksandra Melzacka and Maja Micinska (POL) to move up in to second place, but it wasn't to be. The Polish girls covered the Kiwis and crossed the line just behind the sixth placed sisters. Silver to Poland and the bronze for the New Zealand girls.
Poland's Julia Szmit and Hanna Dzik successfully defended their girl's 420 title. The Polish duo were top leading in to the final race and never looked like coming away with anything other than gold.
Winning for the second year in a row, the Polish girl's felt they had something to show the world, "We proved that we are good. We won last year and this year helped to prove we are good," Szmit said emphasizing her point.
Alexandra Stalder and Silvia Speri (ITA) claimed silver when they crossed in sixth and finished on 38 points. Although France's Violette Dorange and Camille Orion finished above the Italians in fourth they could not overhaul the points deficit and had to settle for the bronze medal.
Israel and Argentina were fighting for silver in the boy's 420 as USA's Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin already had the gold in the bag from the previous day. It was Ido Bilik and Ofek Shalgi (ISR) who took the silver in style from their Argentinean rivals Fausto Peralta and Martin Arroyo Verdi with a bullet in the final race. Peralta and Verdi had to settle for bronze.
Great Britain's Emma Wilson and Israel's Yoav Omer had already confirmed gold before the final race so left the rest of the potential medallists to fight it out for podium spots.
Sil Hoekstra (NED) knew that if he finished near the top of the fleet he would have a boy's RS:X silver medal. The Dutch sailor duly obliged and finished fifth to secure second place. It was the fight for bronze that really was the story of the final race as China's Chen Hao Chen took a bullet and had to sit and wait to see where Aruba's Mack van den Eerenbeemt would come in behind him. Van den Eerenbeemt could only manage an 11th and was distraught as he crossed the line knowing he had slipped off the Youth Worlds podium.
In a carbon copy of the boy's fleet, the girl's RS:X had a fight for bronze as its centrepiece. Israel's Katy Spychakov was this time looking for a top order finish and took silver with a third. For bronze it was between China's Yue Tan and Peru's Maria Belen Bazo. This time the Chinese sailor missed out as she was disqualified handing Peruvian Bazo the bronze medal.
With Tim Mourniac and Charles Dorange (FRA) comfortably winning gold with a race to spare it was down to Italy, USA and Belgium to battle for the podium.
Three in two doesn't go and it was Gianluigi Ugolini and Maria Giubilei (ITA) who were the unfortunate ones. They finished 12th which dropped them from second overnight to out of the medals entirely. Romain Screve and Ian Brill (USA) finished 14th but discarded that result to leave them on 55 points. Henri Demesmaeker and Isaura Maenhaut finished on the same points tally with a fifth place finish. Both sitting on the same overall score, it was USA who took silver and Belgium bronze on countback.
Italy won the Nations Trophy for the third time and will collect the award along with all the medal winners at the closing ceremony at the Auckland University of Technology City campus.
Annie Wilmot and Natasha Bryant take GOLD! - photo by Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/World Sailing


text:
Euhadra decorata is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Bradybaenidae. This species is found in Japan.

The shell of this species is sinistral.

References

Euhadra
Gastropods described in 1903
Taxa named by Henry Augustus Pilsbry

ja:ヒダリマキマイマイ

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


International Temari Appreciation Day: 66 days to go.
Tiny from The Netherlands is organising an exhibition on the 22 of October which will show case temari made by Tiny and students in Den Helder. The name of the gallery is "het tiende kind" and is situated near Tiny's home town. See Tiny's website in the links right or here.
If you are planning a special event which you would like to let everyone know about please contact me and I will post a note about it.


Come join us Saturday, April 27, for the music of singer/songwriter Robert Meade!
Join Toni and get ready for summer with an exploration on the white and light(er) side of wine.
Join us for Music Sunday and check out the soulful blues stylings of Portland's own Dante Zapata! This gifted, young musician focuses on soulful funk, R&B, and jazz. We will provide regular service with our full menu, flights, glasses or bottles for you and guests to enjoy. Music from 1-4.


To get your API key first you must be registered with our platform Kbit.co by clicking on SignUp button at the home page. Once you registered with Kbit.co portal, an API key is automatically generated for you inside your account. By using that API key & the below example you can easily integrate it.
The API key must be attached to request via the API parameter (see full example below).
Remember: The API keys are different & unique for each account so don't try to use or copy it by anyone else.
You can now request the response to be in plain text by just adding &format=text at the end of your request. This will return just http://kbit.co/DkZOb instead of the JSON response. Note that if an error occurs, it will not output anything (see full example below).


text:
Marine Fisheries - What BIG Program
The Fiscal Year 2021 funding opportunity is open. Proposals are being accepted until 5:00 p.m. Weds., Aug. 5, 2020.
North Carolina Boating Infrastructure Grant Program (BIG) FFY 2021 Request for Proposals
Boating Infrastructure Grant Program - Tier 1 - Fiscal Year 2021 Notice of Funding Opportunity
Where is the NC BIG Program?
Map (Click on map to open)
What is the N.C. BIG Program?
N.C. BIG Program Accomplishments
Applying for a N.C. BIG Grant
Grants Program Homepage
N.C. Boating Infrastructure Grant Program
What is the North Carolina BIG Program?
The Boating Infrastructure Grant Program (BIG) is a federal grant program, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that provides funding to states for the construction, renovation, and maintenance of boating infrastructure facilities for transient recreational vessels at least 26 feet long that are operated, leased, rented, or chartered primarily for pleasure.
You may propose to construct new boating infrastructure and supporting facilities where none existed before, or propose a major renovation to existing infrastructure. You may also propose facility maintenance activities if it directly benefits eligible users and is directly related to the proposed project.
Boating infrastructure means the structures, equipment, accessories, and services that are necessary or desirable for a facility to accommodate eligible vessels. Transient vessels are those passing through or by a place, staying up to 15 days. Projects completed using BIG funds must provide public access, but may be publicly or privately owned.
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is the lead agency for BIG in North Carolina. Through partnerships with other state agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and private marinas, the division provides funding for transient boating infrastructure and amenities.
Examples of potentially eligible activities include, but are not limited to:
Boat slips, piers, mooring buoys, dinghy docks, gangways
Restrooms, showers, laundry facilities
Dockside utility services (water, electricity, Internet)
Floating or fixed breakwaters, retaining walls, bulkheads
Planning, permitting, engineering services
Examples of ineligible activities include, but are not limited to:
Commercial vessel infrastructure
Tie-up facilities not open to the public
Haul-out features
Dry-land storage
Law enforcement activities
Acquisition of land or interest in land
Services or structures for food, retail, lodging or facility administration
(exp. ship's store and dockmaster's office)
The Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-178) established the Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program by amending the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777g-l). Subsequent reauthorizations of the Act allow expenditures from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund and the continuation of the BIG Program. The monies within this Trust Fund are derived from excise taxes on fishing equipment, motorboat and small engine fuels, import duties, and interest earned on the Fund.
N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries • 3441 Arendell Street • Morehead City, NC 28557 • 252-726-7021 800-682-2632


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University freshman Miles Edwards, a cello performance and math student from Marietta, Ga., is in some heady company. He recently scored in the top 20 students nationally in the prestigious William Lowell Putnam Mathematical competition.
"This is a day-long, theoretical math exam, comprising only 12 problems. Students who get one or two right are often approached by graduate schools asking them to apply. A score like Miles', while yet a freshman, is unheard of," said mathematics professor Kent Orr.
Edwards was competing in a group of 4,036 students from colleges and universities across the U.S. who took the exam in December. Miles was one of four students who tied for 16th place; each was given an official ranking of 17.5.
The annual competition, administered by the Mathematical Association of America, is designed for mathematics and physical science majors, to test originality as well as technical competence. Contestants are expected to be familiar with the formal theories embodied in undergraduate mathematics; areas covered include qualitative existence theorems, group theory, set theory, graph theory, lattice theory, number theory and cardinal arithmetic.
Mathematics Professor Marlies Gerber coached the students on IU's Putnam exam team. "Miles was a star student in the Putnam Seminar," she said. "I expected him to do very well, but the result was even more spectacular than I had anticipated."
This semester Edwards is taking a reading course with Professor Michael Larsen on algebraic geometry, a subject that is approximately at the second-year graduate level, according to Gerber.
The top 25 Putnam exam scores this year were dominated by students from schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (eight students in the top 25), Harvard University and the California Institute of Technology (four students each).
Miles, who plays in the University Orchestra, seems to take his achievement and the accolades in stride. "I love IU; I have met wonderful people here," he said. "I consider myself lucky to be in a place where I can get a first-rate education in the two subjects I really love. In particular, I am grateful to the math department for being flexible with me and for helping me to study math beyond the courses that a first-year undergraduate would normally take. "
"I enjoyed the exam and the challenge it posed," he added. And yes, he's planning to take it again. Three more times -- once for every year he is eligible as an undergraduate student. As for the future? "I just hope to keep doing both math and cello for as long as I can do both."
Miles Edwards graduated from Lassiter High School in Marietta, Ga., and plans to earn a Bachelor of Science in cello performance from the Jacobs School of Music and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the IU College of Arts and Sciences.
To speak with Edwards, please contact Jocelyn Bowie, director of communications and marketing, IU College of Arts and Sciences, at 812-855-5265 or jbowie [at] indiana [dot] edu (jbowie@indiana.edu) .


text:
Best laptop for college 2021
Find an affordable laptop for every type of student.
Joshua Goldman
June 22, 2021 3:00 p.m. PT
Best all-purpose Windows laptop for students
Lenovo Yoga 7i
$799 at Lenovo
Best MacBook for students
Best Windows 2-in-1 for students
Best entry-level gaming laptop for students
Dell G5 15
Best Chromebook for students
HP Chromebook x360 14c
Best lightweight laptop for students under $700
Show more (1 item)
One of the most important academic tools a college student needs is a laptop, a major financial investment. You can get a passable entry-level laptop for $300, but spending a few hundred more will give you options with better performance, longer battery life and a bigger and faster solid-state drive.
You might think between chip shortages and people continuing to work from home or remote learning, a good budget-friendly laptop for school might be tough to find. Luckily, you can still find laptops and two-in-ones with the latest processors from Intel and AMD. The only PCs you might have to wait for are those featuring the new powerful 11th-gen Intel Core processors that promise to increase performance in laptops for gamers, creatives and creators. You won't find models on this list with those processors just yet, but they are expected to be available later this spring and into summer -- just in time for your fall semester.
Note that most of our choices for the best laptops for college run between $500 and $1,000. If you're looking for a less expensive college laptop -- or if you're open to an alternative to Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac operating system -- we recommend checking out the best Chromebooks for students. On the flip side, if you're looking for a more powerful laptop for college, or a gaming laptop that doubles as a college laptop, we have some suggestions. So if you're ready to upgrade your tech, keep reading to find the best right laptop for you.
Read more: Best laptop under $500 for 2021
This thin three-pound two-in-one is a solid choice for anyone who needs a laptop for schoolwork. The all-metal chassis gives it a premium look and feel, and it has a comfortable keyboard and responsive, smooth precision touchpad. The 14-inch display gives you more room to work than competing 13-inch models at this price. As a two-in-one, you can use it as a laptop or tablet and it supports pen input with Lenovo's optional Active Pen. Though it's light on extra features compared to its premium linemate, the Yoga 9i, it does have one of Lenovo's sliding shutters for the webcam that gives you privacy when you want it and a fingerprint reader for fast sign-ins. It also has a long battery life to boot.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
The newest, fanless Apple MacBook Air hits all the right notes: This powerful laptop is back to the old $999 starting price, and if you're a teacher or student, you can take off an additional $100, thanks to Apple's educational discount. The base model features Apple's M1 processor with an eight‑core CPU, seven‑core GPU and 16‑core Neural Engine. Stepping up from the baseline Macbook model will bring you an eight-core GPU and double the storage capacity with a 512GB SSD, but you'll be forking out an additional $250.
Like the previous models, the M1 Air has Apple's Magic Keyboard, Touch ID, a Force Touch trackpad and a 13.3-inch Retina display. If you're a college student, it's hard to go wrong with the new MacBook Air.
Read our MacBook Air M1 review.
The Surface Pro remains the standard-bearer for Windows devices that work as both a Surface laptop and touch screen tablet, though this convertible laptop makes for a better tablet than it does for a laptop. (If you're looking for the opposite in a student laptop, Lenovo's two-in-one Yoga devices are better laptops than they are tablets.) In addition to the typical great performance and battery life you can expect, the seventh-edition Surface Pro finally gets a USB-C port. The Surface laptop's super-portable size makes it an ideal student laptop for high school and college students who may be carrying a lot of gear. Though this company still sells the Surface laptop Pro without its essential Type Cover keyboard and Surface Pen included, it can frequently be found for a relatively cheap laptop price-- sometimes with one or both accessories.
Read our Surface Pro 7 review.
Dell's G series laptops deliver a smart balance of build quality, battery life and performance, with plenty of graphics card power for college students looking to play the latest AAA games when they aren't hitting the books. The slim, compact design masks its gaming pedigree and power. And even the entry-level configuration is powerful, equipped with a 10th-gen Intel Core processor and Nvidia GTX GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GPU.
Josh Goldman/CNET
Most lower-end Chromebooks have small 11.6-inch displays, and even premium models tend to have 13.3-inch screens. This HP is roughly 0.75 inch wider than a premium 13.3-inch model, but that extra width in screen size makes it easier to work in two side-by-side windows. The two-in-one design means you can use it as a tablet (though it's a bit heavy to use handheld) or tent it and connect an external keyboard and mouse and use it as a small all-in-one computer. The Core i3 processor and 8GB of memory kept it running smoothly even with a couple dozen tabs open and streaming video in the background. And it has a long battery life, lasting 10 hours and 40 minutes in our tests.
Read our Lenovo Yoga C740 (14-inch) review.
Josh Goldman / CNET
A remarkable deal for simple tasks like email, word processing and much more, thanks to the new AMD Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 processors. This budget laptop has a backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader and a USB Type-C port, too. The Acer Swift 3 is also an incredibly lightweight laptop -- less than 3 pounds -- for a machine that can be found for less than $700.
In addition to this Acer Swift, we're also fans of the Acer Aspire 5, which has a larger 15.6-inch display. The Acer Aspire 5 is available in a variety of configurations starting as low as $430 but can go up to $690 if you want entry-level discrete graphics for basic gaming and content creation.
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Discuss: Best laptop for college 2021


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In my continuing effort to get my big tools organized and mobile, I worked on a rolling stand for my scroll saw. The scroll saw is a 1930's Craftsman saw that belonged to my grandfather. The frame is made of cast iron and the entire thing weighs about 9,247 metric tons… so the stand needed to be pretty solid, especially if it was going to be mobile. I based it off these plans from Donald on his Fun With Woodworking YouTube channel, modifying it a bit to make it fit my scroll saw and adding casters to one end so I can move it around like a wheelbarrow. I still need to add a bottom shelf and some retractable handles to it it's easier to manage, but it works pretty well.
The other project that I'm working on is a router table. I got the table top finished and have almost gotten the clamping fence done. It's currently designed to be portable so I can clamp it onto a workbench or sawhorses when I need to use it, but eventually, I'd like to mount the top onto a dedicated cabinet to give it a bit more functionality.
The top is a 3-layer laminate of 1/2″ plywood, 1/2″ MDF, and a 1/8″ layer of hardboard on top to give it a nice slippery surface. The fence is made of MDF with a hardboard face on it. I have some enhancements I plan on making to it eventually, but this gives me enough functionality for now, so after a few more "finishing touches," I'll be done with it for a bit.